1089 replies and 98 files omitted.
>>179629Amber's curiosity gets the better of her.
"How many spells do you know? I know unicorns are the best at magic of all the creatures in the world, save for the Princesses themselves. I haven't seen that much magic here in Baltimare though, which has me curious." >>180281"What?" She looks down in evident surprise, and then back up and towards Amber, and briefly lifts her right hoof.
"Well, what would you call a 'spell'? Is mending a tear in a jacket a spell, or simply a particular exertion of telekenesis? And what of the ability to simply look at a young mare, and recognize what would work best on her when she visits the mountains, or her aunt and uncle in Dodge Junction, or what she wears to the school dance with the colt that asked her? Is that a 'spell'? Well, it's a, it's a knowledge more than anything. A kind of insight you need both talent and experience to execute properly."
>>180280See
>>180277 >>180282She blinks as she mulls High Sewn's explanation over, and ends up looking more confused than before.
"I never thought of it that way. I've read about magic in stories, but I ain't got a clue of what it really is. Is it really just experience and insight like any other task?" >>180283With a small smile
"Well, what is magic, anyways? With enough practice, maybe you could have it one day, too." She frowns looking at Amber
"Even though that jacket of yours says otherwise..." She lifts a hoof to her chin, staring at Amber inquisitively
"Hmmmm... Perhaps I should recommend some reading for you to do, to see if that helps."
>>180284The younger mare perks up at High Sewn's encouragement.
"I'd love to do some reading, but what about? And where would I find the books? I met this older mare who's in a sort of reading club, maybe I could join that…what sort of books do you like to read?" >>180285"There's magazines on the latest designs in Manehattan and Canterlot. Even Aquelia and Aris, though those are a bit less... communicative, nowadays. Books on the industry, the history of the industry, and especially on the materials themselves. Honestly, even reading a field manual on Army uniforms would do you some good.
As for me." She moves back as if leaning "I
do like to do a quite a bit of reading. Tales of Romance, stories of love lost, and spy thrillers... And I like to delve a bit into" staring into Amber's eyes and with a smug smile, as if confident that simply uttering the name of the following esoteric field of black magic would give her power
"Economics."
>>180286Amber wags her tail as she grins.
"Oh, oh, so do I! I love old stories about adventure and romance, and I've read a few of the newer ones about spies," she replies, tactfully refraining from mentioning how her coltfriend's mother disapproves of such stories and has likely kept them from him.
Her smile falters into a more awkward expression with the mention of the dismal field.
"I don't know much about economics, aside from knowing how to account for my own money and how to save and invest. I mean, it sounds like I ain't doin' a good job of it now with my current situation, but it'll get better…but you probably learn all about economics from bein' a business owner." >>180289Hmmmmmmmmmm
Last I remember, he shot up some mobsters. But he didn't seem to want to tag along to kill some communists and rescue downed airmen.
Unless....
>>180290"Really?" She raises an eyebrow in an unrestrained expression of disbelief. But she does not linger on that.
"Well, you learn more about economics being a business owner than being a demogauge,
I can tell you that."
>>180292"Heh." She looks away. "Yes, I suppose I do. And oh no. It's
so much worse."
>>180294"Ugh. No, it's all too real. It means a creature who looks to rile up ignorant mobs with empty rhetoric to exert her own will. Take for instance this last Mayor - Blessedly I'm blanking on the name, though I doubt that will last much longer - that nonsensical pony they let come in after Ash. He had this scheme of regulations and taxes and-"
Amber may have realized that she made a mistake here. Like cracking open a dam.
>>180295Amber visibly does not like it when Sewn gets into a tizzy.
"Um, I'm sure I have a lot to learn about politics too, but I'd like to know more about what books you read. It's much more interesting and pleasant." >>180296High Sewn looks over at Amber and scrunches
"Oh sure, let's look to fantasy instead of what directly affects us. Anyways..." She repositions herself.
"Are you looking for specific recommendations? Or just my most recent read? I assume you're not talking about the 1013 New Mareland Army Corp Field Uniform Manual."
>>180297She taps her hooves together.
"Um, either? I ain't picky. I don't mind reading anything, even uniform manuals. I'd actually be curious as to how fashion is different for those foreign cultures you mentioned." >>180298"Oh, they have their own traditions. Aquelia has long been a tendsetter. Certainly more so in griffin spheres than here in Equestria, but it would be false to say that looking across the ocean to griffin styles is a recent phenomenon. Aris is newer on the world stage, but their styles are tried and tested. But that's a whole other subject. As for books... I suppose my most recent book has been
When the Apricot Blossums Fall, a sort of coming of age and romance set in Somland, at around about the turn of the millennium. Not the best, mind you, but I
do recommend it."
>>180299"That sounds intriguing, and it's a beautiful book title. How did you find it?"Rolling for knowledge about where Somland is:
[1d20+6 = (2+6) = 8] >>180300Amber could not find it on a map
"There's a bookstore I frequent. The mare there will give me recommendations. That's how I found that one, anyways. There are also reviewers in the magazine who read and recommend books in their monthly reviews."
>>180277>Nopony rolled>>180278>slipBalance check (watch me roll another 1)
[1d20+6 = (20+6) = 26]>saltCheck the bottom of the salt bags for treasure.
>>180280You didn't have to.
>>180303Bwahahaha! Slippery surfaces are no match for my vampony hooves.
>>180289I really liked him and the adorable romance he had with Blue Skies and I also really liked his interactions with Lunar Nadir. I hope we get to see them again soon.
>>180277>>180278Search: Kira gives searching the building her best shot, hopefully while finding more traction on the floor than Posey.
[1d20+5 = (1+5) = 6] >>180306Are all of the search rolls going to be 1s?
Cavalier, Dust, pls help us.
>>180303>>180304Posey is able to use her talent at spreading her legs to regain balance on the slipper floor.
>>180306The floor is oddly slippery; Kira simply slithers in place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO2d90YedN0>>180306>>180303The floor appears to be covered in a thin layer of water that has frozen back over.
>>180307Yes.
>>180311>her talent at spreading her legsuwu
>Yes.I guess we could just spend several minutes here taking 20...
Posey helps Kira up.
>>180278Is there anything at the bottom of the bags?
Posey pokes around in the container of blood, looking for anything in it, and inspecting its quality.
>>180311>>180313Kira: "Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The snej slithers and flails along uselessly, unable to get any traction on the icy floor. With a bit of help, Kira's able to be pulled back out of the building with Posey and Silver's help. She thanks both creatures for their help, but pouts and crosses her forelegs as she's unable to come inside to help with the search. Silver
is able to come inside, however. If Mala can come inside despite the icy floor, Silver looks over to his fellow fluffy friend.
Silver: "This may be weird question, but...can you tell what kind of creature blood came from through scent or some other manner? I will admit part of me is curious if blood belongs to all of this meat or...something else."
>>180319"Yes, I can, actually."
Posey smells the blood to determine it's origin, as she's stirring through it for hidden treasure.
Garv's player will not be available tonight. I think the same is true of Dust.>>180315Yes.
Salt. Curative salt.
>>180320Uh huh...
>>180319>Can Mala come inHe has paws that would give him better traction, but at the same time, let's see if the Nat 1 trend continues.
Mala
"I think... maybe... I can try"
[1d20 = 9] >>180321If they're not available, we should refrain from going to additional areas, lest they miss combat.
>>180322"Did you find anything, big guy?"
>>180324The location of encounters can change
>>180325>>180323>>180319Posey is a necrologist, but Mala is an evolved carrion eater. If anycreature can use the sense of smell to sniff out the subtle differences between blood and corpses, it's Mala
Mala:
"Griffin... I think."
>>180326Posey knows what griffon blood smells like. She had it just last week.
"Why would there be a container of griffon blood there? This isn't proper medical storage. It could only logically be for sacramental, or to be fed to some monster..." She appears confused, despite the comforting familiarity of the sight
"Something weird is going on. And something weirder is being planned. Whoever left this here did so for a reason."
>>180326Silver: "That is...oddly enough what my suspicious were going to be."
Kira, from outside: "They bled a griffon
dry!?!?!? Who would do such a thing!?"
Silver: "And more to point, who does it belong to?"
The blood appears coagulated, right? Could it be hiding something under the surface, such as was the case with the barrel of oil and the outhouse?
>>180328>Who would do such a thing"Vampires, ghoul merchants, cultists, demons, evil wizards, alchemists, the list goes on." Posey says
"The real question is why. For what purpose would they want this enough to store it here?"
Her gripe here polearm
"I have a hunch that whoever left it here might come back for it. Stay alert."
>>180329Kira, from outside: "Are you talking about
blood magic!? But that's, like, the most evil kind of magic there is! Who would be foolish or mad enough to think of trying it!? There's so heavy a price to be paid for using it!"
Silver: "Should we...dump it out? If it
is intended for something like blood magic, should we not deny them its use?"
>>180330"I'm more interested in seeing what they were thinking of doing."
>>180327Having an adequate number of receptors in the nasal cavity and brain to process food of smell isn't the same thing as familiarity... But nevermind that
>>180329>>180330>>180328>>180327Clarification:
The blood is not inside of a container. It is in two pools, which is to say, on top of, a wooden box/crate that was later found to contain bags of salt, and on the floor, next to the box, as well as in a smaller trail going to the door.
The amount of blood on the floor and on the crate is not as much as fits in a griffin, nor even necessarily fatal
The blood is coagulated, yes
>>180332Ohhhhhh, okay, that clears things up. Well, it's definitely a lot easier to dig through salt to see if it contains anything rather than a container of blood.
>>180332Oh
"Looks like a griffon was wounded in this room, and either limped their way out the door, or was dragged. Same as with the ice pick."
Are there footprints that could tell us more of the situation?
>>180333I thought we already checked the salt bags?
Anyway, I have to sleep. We can have the others roll checks to discover hidden compartments later.
>>180307Cavaliere indeed checks the salt bags and anywhere else that could be a hiding place.
[1d20+2 = (13+2) = 15]>>180313We don't have that much time.
>>180321I'm late but available now
>>180327"A griffon driven to the depths of madness can do many frightful things. So can one with a cold reason." >>180334If the blood left claw prints, it has since been disturbed by hooves, paws, claws, and especially the giant reptile. The blood looked undisturbed at first save for a claw print, but it's hard to say.
>>180336Inside the salt is only a piece of the bag evidently ripped off, and a single droplet of blood.
>>180339What about Nadir?
>>180337Oh, can Kira or Silver tell which direction the blood trail seems to be coming from?