Continuing
/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal
1328 replies and 60 files omitted.
>>191455
Kira: "Wait, Light Water? The hippogriff scientist guy we got the journal page about, talking about your dream you had with the Traveler where he appeared to you like a god and kept changing forms as he figured out you don't believe in a god and then you told him all that stuff about how you think the world should be fixed?"
Kira: "Wait, Light Water? The hippogriff scientist guy we got the journal page about, talking about your dream you had with the Traveler where he appeared to you like a god and kept changing forms as he figured out you don't believe in a god and then you told him all that stuff about how you think the world should be fixed?"
>>191455
Cavaliere looks to the other party members, in case another might be interested in speaking. He nods to Kira's inquiry.
"We are a rescue party. Roger-easy-sugar-charlie-uncle-easy peter-able-roger-tare-yoke. Communications are not secure, I repeat, they are not secure."
Cavaliere looks to the other party members, in case another might be interested in speaking. He nods to Kira's inquiry.
"We are a rescue party. Roger-easy-sugar-charlie-uncle-easy peter-able-roger-tare-yoke. Communications are not secure, I repeat, they are not secure."
>>191456
There is silence for a few seconds. When he speaks his voice goes lower for just a moment, and dropping his usual tone, he says almost flatly
"You read my private journal?" After a moment, it returns
"That is... sort of. Yes, I was the first here to realize the potential of Our Fellow Traveller... I can tell you haven't come around to realize the same."
>>191458
"Oh, I know. But the truth need not be kept secret."
There is silence for a few seconds. When he speaks his voice goes lower for just a moment, and dropping his usual tone, he says almost flatly
"You read my private journal?" After a moment, it returns
"That is... sort of. Yes, I was the first here to realize the potential of Our Fellow Traveller... I can tell you haven't come around to realize the same."
>>191458
"Oh, I know. But the truth need not be kept secret."
>>191459
The griffon bluffs, "We are in the process of leaving. If you can give any reason to be rescued, you should say it now."
The griffon bluffs, "We are in the process of leaving. If you can give any reason to be rescued, you should say it now."
>>191460
"I'm not really the one in need of rescue, am I? No, you don't really need to leave now, do you? You still have that little bit of curiousity, that lingering capacity for wonder that you first had as a child when you saw fireflies in the sky, or saw something new and grand in the glossy, colored pages of a book - that hasn't left you. It tells you that there is something more here. Something new, something... Wonderful. That marvelous instinct is one you should listen to."
"I'm not really the one in need of rescue, am I? No, you don't really need to leave now, do you? You still have that little bit of curiousity, that lingering capacity for wonder that you first had as a child when you saw fireflies in the sky, or saw something new and grand in the glossy, colored pages of a book - that hasn't left you. It tells you that there is something more here. Something new, something... Wonderful. That marvelous instinct is one you should listen to."
>>191459
Kira: "Oh, uh, sorry about reading your private journal. We just kinda found it on one of the possessed ponies we came across and we read it hoping it might give us some insight on what the heck was going on because we had no idea why there were Stalliongrad ponies wandering the island acting like they were suffering from hypothermia talking about commissars and Travelers or whatever the other name for him was (I think it was chernobog?) but I have to say it really did help, so thank you for writing it! Anyways, don't you think the Traveler is kinda weird? Like, have you seen the stuff that he's been summoning, they're super creepy. Also mean. One of the hellhounds he summoned bit me..."
Kira: "Oh, uh, sorry about reading your private journal. We just kinda found it on one of the possessed ponies we came across and we read it hoping it might give us some insight on what the heck was going on because we had no idea why there were Stalliongrad ponies wandering the island acting like they were suffering from hypothermia talking about commissars and Travelers or whatever the other name for him was (I think it was chernobog?) but I have to say it really did help, so thank you for writing it! Anyways, don't you think the Traveler is kinda weird? Like, have you seen the stuff that he's been summoning, they're super creepy. Also mean. One of the hellhounds he summoned bit me..."
>>191462
“Oh, now what is ‘weird’ or ‘creepy’ but something new or out of the ordinary. Those instincts to fear what is different, or alien, are crafted in for survival in the darkness of primordial cave dwellings. But every creature must needs leave security of the cave for warmth and glory of the light.
But you need not fear the alien. Have we not all, at one time or another, found ourselves alone in a crowded room? Have we not all felt like we were the outsider? The stranger? The alien? We have.
We can overcome our instinctive aversions. No, we must overcome them. It’s the only way towards something better.
If those first interactions were less than pleasant, let’s put the past aside. Let’s make a new start.”
“Oh, now what is ‘weird’ or ‘creepy’ but something new or out of the ordinary. Those instincts to fear what is different, or alien, are crafted in for survival in the darkness of primordial cave dwellings. But every creature must needs leave security of the cave for warmth and glory of the light.
But you need not fear the alien. Have we not all, at one time or another, found ourselves alone in a crowded room? Have we not all felt like we were the outsider? The stranger? The alien? We have.
We can overcome our instinctive aversions. No, we must overcome them. It’s the only way towards something better.
If those first interactions were less than pleasant, let’s put the past aside. Let’s make a new start.”
>>191463
Kira blinks, even though Light Water can't she her do so. She also flicks her tongue. "Soooooooooooooooooo...does that mean you'll tell the Traveler to stop sending monsters to attack us and our friends? Because now there's the 'gee are you' on the island and they're also being mean and attacking our friends, and if we know we have one less enemy to worry about then we can save all of our friends lickety split!"
Kira blinks, even though Light Water can't she her do so. She also flicks her tongue. "Soooooooooooooooooo...does that mean you'll tell the Traveler to stop sending monsters to attack us and our friends? Because now there's the 'gee are you' on the island and they're also being mean and attacking our friends, and if we know we have one less enemy to worry about then we can save all of our friends lickety split!"
>>191463
Cavaliere speaks into the microphone again.
"Doctor, this island is already crowded, and with ponies who will treat you as an outsider to be experimented on. Your only way off this island that's not with them is with us. You know that staying here will not lead to good results and will cut off your knowledge."
Cavaliere speaks into the microphone again.
"Doctor, this island is already crowded, and with ponies who will treat you as an outsider to be experimented on. Your only way off this island that's not with them is with us. You know that staying here will not lead to good results and will cut off your knowledge."
"We should keep moving. Staying in one place may let it track our position." Posey says
>>191465
"He should be more concerned with freezing to death, given the circumstances." Posey says
"The island is no place for civilians this time of year, and judging by the lack of monstrous activity aside from the Traveller, even drowners know that there is nothing for them on Mended Horn." she says, looking towards the coastline
>>191461
Posey finally addresses the radio
"If you stay here, you will inevitably be captured, and if that does not happen before the night has fallen, you will surely freeze." She states, flatly
"You, and all of your enthralled comrades, will perish. Perhaps you will manage to survive for a few days by burning through the supplies on the ship, but sooner or later you will die here on this desolate rock." she continues
"The entity that you foolishly serve is either too alien to comprehend your biological limits and is marching you to your doom, or it has realized that there is nothing for it on this island and plans to relocate itself, for creatures of its ilk quickly get bored of such limited environments. Perhaps it is even plotting to commandeer the vessel of the GRU and have its thralls carry it to a more bountiful locale after it enthralls enough sailors..."
Her tone shifts, and she glares, her voice dripping with venom, as if addressing a certain other creature listening in
"Am I right, Traveller? You have already noticed it, the sarkic limitations of your thralls. You have their minds, but their bodies will fail you. Every one on your so-called comrades will fall to the freezing winds of the night, which is why you are already plotting to move on without them after they can no longer carry you. I am familiar with the sentiment. I have seen it all before..."
"Well know it now, that I will see it that you never see the world beyond this rock." she finishes, with a bit of a deranged grin
"He should be more concerned with freezing to death, given the circumstances." Posey says
"The island is no place for civilians this time of year, and judging by the lack of monstrous activity aside from the Traveller, even drowners know that there is nothing for them on Mended Horn." she says, looking towards the coastline
>>191461
Posey finally addresses the radio
"If you stay here, you will inevitably be captured, and if that does not happen before the night has fallen, you will surely freeze." She states, flatly
"You, and all of your enthralled comrades, will perish. Perhaps you will manage to survive for a few days by burning through the supplies on the ship, but sooner or later you will die here on this desolate rock." she continues
"The entity that you foolishly serve is either too alien to comprehend your biological limits and is marching you to your doom, or it has realized that there is nothing for it on this island and plans to relocate itself, for creatures of its ilk quickly get bored of such limited environments. Perhaps it is even plotting to commandeer the vessel of the GRU and have its thralls carry it to a more bountiful locale after it enthralls enough sailors..."
Her tone shifts, and she glares, her voice dripping with venom, as if addressing a certain other creature listening in
"Am I right, Traveller? You have already noticed it, the sarkic limitations of your thralls. You have their minds, but their bodies will fail you. Every one on your so-called comrades will fall to the freezing winds of the night, which is why you are already plotting to move on without them after they can no longer carry you. I am familiar with the sentiment. I have seen it all before..."
"Well know it now, that I will see it that you never see the world beyond this rock." she finishes, with a bit of a deranged grin
>>191470
Kira pipes in with a further addition. "Um, but p-p-please don't, like, get them hurt or, uh, or worse. Ponies are really super fragile creatures!"
Kira pipes in with a further addition. "Um, but p-p-please don't, like, get them hurt or, uh, or worse. Ponies are really super fragile creatures!"
>>191465
"I am well aware that there are limited means of progress available. The issue is the nature of the relationship between yourselves and our plan going forward."
>>191470
Posey can look towards two different sets of coastlines. Towards the north, and that beachhead controlled by the GRU, or to the south, and what is controlled by the Traveller and his puppets.
"Oh, Miss Ring. You alone wish to reach out to Our Fellow Traveller directly, and you alone are willing to voice your skepticism so openly. I understand what it is that draws you to him. What makes him - her, it, them - so - so fascinating. What I do not understand is your aversion to that which is so beautiful. It must only be some lingering pain, some trauma that you haven't yet overcome. No matter.
Yes, I am well aware of the limitations of this desolate rock, and how unsuitable to all life it is. Would you believe me if I told you that this climate is rather foreign to me? I much prefer sandy beaches and warm waters.
Yes, I would like very much to leave this island. If you haven't gathered, Stalliongrad and their... Their 'particularistic' understanding of Equalism is, well, it's getting in the way of meaningful progress. As it always does.
You say Our Fellow Traveller does not understand the limits of our biology. And that is true. But it is learning, and it is learning fast. I have seen few creatures so curious, so willing to learn, and so receptive to education as Our Fellow Traveller. I have little doubt that between its magic, and our collective efforts, even these limitations that you take for granted may be overcome. Our comrades, I hope, if they can survive the GRU, may find shelter from the elements, or at least, that closer integration with Our Fellow Traveller may provide an escape from the horrors of our world...
As you've gathered, Our Fellow Traveller, much like ponies and most creatures, gains magical strength through comradery and friendship. Much is needed and expended in the fight against the obstructionists in the GRU and that... that Commissar. If only you could offer your own strength, it would help considerably. Even those soldiers sent by Stalliongrad could be of help, if only they could go to sleep, or stay around long enough for the song and education to do its work..."
>>191471
"Oh, indeed they are. But they needn't be."
"I am well aware that there are limited means of progress available. The issue is the nature of the relationship between yourselves and our plan going forward."
>>191470
Posey can look towards two different sets of coastlines. Towards the north, and that beachhead controlled by the GRU, or to the south, and what is controlled by the Traveller and his puppets.
"Oh, Miss Ring. You alone wish to reach out to Our Fellow Traveller directly, and you alone are willing to voice your skepticism so openly. I understand what it is that draws you to him. What makes him - her, it, them - so - so fascinating. What I do not understand is your aversion to that which is so beautiful. It must only be some lingering pain, some trauma that you haven't yet overcome. No matter.
Yes, I am well aware of the limitations of this desolate rock, and how unsuitable to all life it is. Would you believe me if I told you that this climate is rather foreign to me? I much prefer sandy beaches and warm waters.
Yes, I would like very much to leave this island. If you haven't gathered, Stalliongrad and their... Their 'particularistic' understanding of Equalism is, well, it's getting in the way of meaningful progress. As it always does.
You say Our Fellow Traveller does not understand the limits of our biology. And that is true. But it is learning, and it is learning fast. I have seen few creatures so curious, so willing to learn, and so receptive to education as Our Fellow Traveller. I have little doubt that between its magic, and our collective efforts, even these limitations that you take for granted may be overcome. Our comrades, I hope, if they can survive the GRU, may find shelter from the elements, or at least, that closer integration with Our Fellow Traveller may provide an escape from the horrors of our world...
As you've gathered, Our Fellow Traveller, much like ponies and most creatures, gains magical strength through comradery and friendship. Much is needed and expended in the fight against the obstructionists in the GRU and that... that Commissar. If only you could offer your own strength, it would help considerably. Even those soldiers sent by Stalliongrad could be of help, if only they could go to sleep, or stay around long enough for the song and education to do its work..."
>>191471
"Oh, indeed they are. But they needn't be."
>>191472
Now Silver pipes up with a groan. "Equalists...of all forms of communism..."
Kira's voice expresses confusion. "Uh...I'm guessing you believe that all creatures are or should be equal and that assimilating all living beings into the mind of the Traveler will achieve that goal, which...I'm not sure there's many lamias in the tribe who would agree with that idea, I mean what with the different castes and all of the varied beliefs about the roles of predators, prey, and parasites. Also Ouroboros probably doesn't like that the Traveler is here, so he should probably be worried about divine retribution if he decides it's time to hatch. Also, wait a moment..." Kira puts a hoof to her chin as a thought comes to her.
"How are you still in control of your own faculties? Everyone else loses their minds, but you seemingly haven't or at least you aren't talking like the possessed ponies are."
Now Silver pipes up with a groan. "Equalists...of all forms of communism..."
Kira's voice expresses confusion. "Uh...I'm guessing you believe that all creatures are or should be equal and that assimilating all living beings into the mind of the Traveler will achieve that goal, which...I'm not sure there's many lamias in the tribe who would agree with that idea, I mean what with the different castes and all of the varied beliefs about the roles of predators, prey, and parasites. Also Ouroboros probably doesn't like that the Traveler is here, so he should probably be worried about divine retribution if he decides it's time to hatch. Also, wait a moment..." Kira puts a hoof to her chin as a thought comes to her.
"How are you still in control of your own faculties? Everyone else loses their minds, but you seemingly haven't or at least you aren't talking like the possessed ponies are."
>>191472
Cavaliere replies, "Dr. Light Water, you know better than any other pony about the reports regarding where this thing was found. An entire village was forcibly drowned, with no distinction between collaborators and obstructionists. It has no sympathy for others' lives and views them merely as tools to be discarded when their use runs out. You and I value friendship for its own sake, I hope, but to this thing it's an empty platitude for domination. You are under its sway stronger than anything else it's talked to, but if you reflect on the truth you know that there's no future for a "Dr. Light Water" as an independent, thinking being in this thing's plans. Kindle enough strength to choose a path that will let you keep your dignity."
Cavaliere replies, "Dr. Light Water, you know better than any other pony about the reports regarding where this thing was found. An entire village was forcibly drowned, with no distinction between collaborators and obstructionists. It has no sympathy for others' lives and views them merely as tools to be discarded when their use runs out. You and I value friendship for its own sake, I hope, but to this thing it's an empty platitude for domination. You are under its sway stronger than anything else it's talked to, but if you reflect on the truth you know that there's no future for a "Dr. Light Water" as an independent, thinking being in this thing's plans. Kindle enough strength to choose a path that will let you keep your dignity."
>>191474
>>191473
"You are unlikely to get anything useful out of him. A thrall is a thrall." Posey says
"We need to keep moving. The remaining airponies could be falling asleep by now."
>>191472
Posey glares into the microphone, her eyes reflexively glinting with a futile charm
"It is just as I thought then... I have heard this song before." she hisses
>an escape from the horrors of our world...
"If you want to escape, you had best do it quickly. I am coming." she finishes, before turning with a huff
How far along were we on our path towards the airponies once this message reached us?
"I am glad we brought this bomb with us. It looks like we will need to sink a battleship tonight." She says, once she's away from the microphone, smiling once again
"It is something I have wanted to try for a very long time."
>>191473
"You are unlikely to get anything useful out of him. A thrall is a thrall." Posey says
"We need to keep moving. The remaining airponies could be falling asleep by now."
>>191472
Posey glares into the microphone, her eyes reflexively glinting with a futile charm
"It is just as I thought then... I have heard this song before." she hisses
>an escape from the horrors of our world...
"If you want to escape, you had best do it quickly. I am coming." she finishes, before turning with a huff
How far along were we on our path towards the airponies once this message reached us?
"I am glad we brought this bomb with us. It looks like we will need to sink a battleship tonight." She says, once she's away from the microphone, smiling once again
"It is something I have wanted to try for a very long time."
>>191473
"Miss Kirafiki. That is you, right? The lamia. There is quite the gap in worldviews between the two of us, but please bear with me.
You would be amazed - and I mean truly amazed - what can be accomplished through empathy, patience, and especially force of will. You live in a world of gods and masters. I do not. But, let me ask you this. Please bear with me - have you ever asked yourself why these alleged gods need your faith and your sacrifices? Or why they have rivalries against other gods? Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps they are simply creatures like us, that feed off of our faith like wendigos or changelings, and fight for dominance? Have you ever wondered what you could achieve if you could bring one to you, and domesticate it? Make it serve only the good?
No, I don't believe in castes or predators or prey or parasites. Yes, there are natural differences between creatures, but these differences do not need to divide us. We are all in need and want. In that, we are all equal. To divide us into hierarchies and to make some serve others breeds only distrust going both ways. Much more can be accomplished when all serve the good of all and none pretend to be higher than the other.
Our Fellow Traveller is well aware of those things you call gods, and I assure you, he has a deeply personal hatred of them in a way I never could. He shares in my hope to eliminate their worship. The future we are building will have no castes, no classes, no gods and no masters. Who nature does not create equal, we shall make equal through morality."
>>191474
"Heh heh. There we go. We've gotten to the point now. The real reason why you are so skeptical of my venture. It seems to have gone awry, hasn't it?
No doubt the events of the last twenty-four hours haven't gone exactly to plan... But I implore you. Look at the world not as it is, but as it could be. Neigh, as it shall be. See the potential right in front of your own eyes. How often have you seen such magic? The ability to form creatures never seen before out of air? To eliminate even the barriers between consciousness.
No, I do not question that Progress shall have its price. But I am far from the first down this path towards progress and this is far from the first time such price has been paid.
The very first creature ever to pick up a burning ember and recognize the potential of fire was probably burned. The first creature to try to tame a wild auroch was gored, and the first to tame the ancestors of our dogs was bitten. The first unicorn to teleport surely did so into solid matter, the first to try to move the sun was scorched. The first pegasus or griffin to fly fell and broke bones or worse. The first to climb a mountain slipped and fell to their doom; the first to sail beyond the horizon to unknown shores did not return. The first to eat new plants and vegetables to find foods and drugs were surely poisoned, and the first to discover radioactivity and the power of the atom suffered far worse. The first flying machines crashed, the first steam engines exploded, and our rockets do both. And yes, I am fully aware that the first ever pony - the first dozen, perhaps even the first one hundred creatures - to come across Our Fellow Traveller were killed or eaten by it.
But I will not be denied my trot along the road of progress, for I know that I am in very good company. Everything around you, everything you know, everything within your civilization, is the collected, inherited knowledge of those risk takers who came before. Those who looked on that which is dangerous not with fear and aversion, but with awe, and who willing to behold the power and the glory and to take it for their own. They took the power to harm and wielded for themselves, so that we may all benefit from the good.
I am aware of reports of a village that encountered Our Fellow Traveller before I did. Those reports spooked my fellow scientists and created a mistrust of him. But I am aware, likewise, that there was one pony - one very special pony - who looked upon Our Fellow Traveller and saw not simply an alien of immense powers that nourished itself upon the physic energy of ponies - anyone could see that - but saw a defeated, confused, scared, fellow consciousness banished from its homeland and literally dying of loneliness. And he saw what he could do with that. He failed, to be sure, but his failure was in no small part the result of obstructionists, neigh sayers, conservatives, and reactionaries among his kinfolk. Sadly I suffer the same problem here, but I have been able to build upon his work.
No, I do not consider his failure to be proof of the folly of the venture, any more than I would consider the disappearance of an explorer to discredit the idea of exploration, or of the accidental death of an inventor to discredit the idea of invention. All great things come only with great risk. So I have taken up that risk myself, in the hopes that I may mold this great power for the benefit of all.
I do not serve Our Fellow Traveller. I serve only one Master, the only Master worth serving. I serve Progress, that spirit of the universal reason inherent in the march of history that leads all of us - we who think and feel - towards something greater. I am slowly but inevitably persuading Our Fellow Traveller towards this belief. I am committed to an insatiable thirst for knowledge - to dive beak-first into the unknown. To empathy and understanding over fear and hate. To welcome the outsider with open claw and not shy away in aversion. I implore you to do the same.
When a monster comes to you in your bed, intent on eating you - do not fear the monster. Fear that you lack the daring and the audacity to catch, tame, and train that monster, and set it to solving your other problems."
>>191475
"Think it over, miss Ring. When you change your mind, you know where to find me."
"Miss Kirafiki. That is you, right? The lamia. There is quite the gap in worldviews between the two of us, but please bear with me.
You would be amazed - and I mean truly amazed - what can be accomplished through empathy, patience, and especially force of will. You live in a world of gods and masters. I do not. But, let me ask you this. Please bear with me - have you ever asked yourself why these alleged gods need your faith and your sacrifices? Or why they have rivalries against other gods? Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps they are simply creatures like us, that feed off of our faith like wendigos or changelings, and fight for dominance? Have you ever wondered what you could achieve if you could bring one to you, and domesticate it? Make it serve only the good?
No, I don't believe in castes or predators or prey or parasites. Yes, there are natural differences between creatures, but these differences do not need to divide us. We are all in need and want. In that, we are all equal. To divide us into hierarchies and to make some serve others breeds only distrust going both ways. Much more can be accomplished when all serve the good of all and none pretend to be higher than the other.
Our Fellow Traveller is well aware of those things you call gods, and I assure you, he has a deeply personal hatred of them in a way I never could. He shares in my hope to eliminate their worship. The future we are building will have no castes, no classes, no gods and no masters. Who nature does not create equal, we shall make equal through morality."
>>191474
"Heh heh. There we go. We've gotten to the point now. The real reason why you are so skeptical of my venture. It seems to have gone awry, hasn't it?
No doubt the events of the last twenty-four hours haven't gone exactly to plan... But I implore you. Look at the world not as it is, but as it could be. Neigh, as it shall be. See the potential right in front of your own eyes. How often have you seen such magic? The ability to form creatures never seen before out of air? To eliminate even the barriers between consciousness.
No, I do not question that Progress shall have its price. But I am far from the first down this path towards progress and this is far from the first time such price has been paid.
The very first creature ever to pick up a burning ember and recognize the potential of fire was probably burned. The first creature to try to tame a wild auroch was gored, and the first to tame the ancestors of our dogs was bitten. The first unicorn to teleport surely did so into solid matter, the first to try to move the sun was scorched. The first pegasus or griffin to fly fell and broke bones or worse. The first to climb a mountain slipped and fell to their doom; the first to sail beyond the horizon to unknown shores did not return. The first to eat new plants and vegetables to find foods and drugs were surely poisoned, and the first to discover radioactivity and the power of the atom suffered far worse. The first flying machines crashed, the first steam engines exploded, and our rockets do both. And yes, I am fully aware that the first ever pony - the first dozen, perhaps even the first one hundred creatures - to come across Our Fellow Traveller were killed or eaten by it.
But I will not be denied my trot along the road of progress, for I know that I am in very good company. Everything around you, everything you know, everything within your civilization, is the collected, inherited knowledge of those risk takers who came before. Those who looked on that which is dangerous not with fear and aversion, but with awe, and who willing to behold the power and the glory and to take it for their own. They took the power to harm and wielded for themselves, so that we may all benefit from the good.
I am aware of reports of a village that encountered Our Fellow Traveller before I did. Those reports spooked my fellow scientists and created a mistrust of him. But I am aware, likewise, that there was one pony - one very special pony - who looked upon Our Fellow Traveller and saw not simply an alien of immense powers that nourished itself upon the physic energy of ponies - anyone could see that - but saw a defeated, confused, scared, fellow consciousness banished from its homeland and literally dying of loneliness. And he saw what he could do with that. He failed, to be sure, but his failure was in no small part the result of obstructionists, neigh sayers, conservatives, and reactionaries among his kinfolk. Sadly I suffer the same problem here, but I have been able to build upon his work.
No, I do not consider his failure to be proof of the folly of the venture, any more than I would consider the disappearance of an explorer to discredit the idea of exploration, or of the accidental death of an inventor to discredit the idea of invention. All great things come only with great risk. So I have taken up that risk myself, in the hopes that I may mold this great power for the benefit of all.
I do not serve Our Fellow Traveller. I serve only one Master, the only Master worth serving. I serve Progress, that spirit of the universal reason inherent in the march of history that leads all of us - we who think and feel - towards something greater. I am slowly but inevitably persuading Our Fellow Traveller towards this belief. I am committed to an insatiable thirst for knowledge - to dive beak-first into the unknown. To empathy and understanding over fear and hate. To welcome the outsider with open claw and not shy away in aversion. I implore you to do the same.
When a monster comes to you in your bed, intent on eating you - do not fear the monster. Fear that you lack the daring and the audacity to catch, tame, and train that monster, and set it to solving your other problems."
>>191475
"Think it over, miss Ring. When you change your mind, you know where to find me."
>>191476
Are we close to our destination at this point?
"It is true that you need to break a few eggs to make an omelette. The real question is who is being broken by whom, and I have no intention of being broken again."
Posey ascends her animation to keep moving.
"That was quite the exhaustive monologue. You should be saving your breath instead, lest the freezing wind take you before we do."
Are we close to our destination at this point?
"It is true that you need to break a few eggs to make an omelette. The real question is who is being broken by whom, and I have no intention of being broken again."
Posey ascends her animation to keep moving.
"That was quite the exhaustive monologue. You should be saving your breath instead, lest the freezing wind take you before we do."
>>191477
My dear Ring, don’t you see? One of the best features of a play by post system is that no matter how badly the players may want to, they can’t interrupt the BBEG’s villian monologue
My dear Ring, don’t you see? One of the best features of a play by post system is that no matter how badly the players may want to, they can’t interrupt the BBEG’s villian monologue
>>191476
Silver, who has been quiet for most of his monologuing, speaks up. "If there is monster that needs fearing, it is not Traveler: it is you. Perhaps just as we need to save those on this island, we also need to save Traveler from your influence."
Silver, who has been quiet for most of his monologuing, speaks up. "If there is monster that needs fearing, it is not Traveler: it is you. Perhaps just as we need to save those on this island, we also need to save Traveler from your influence."
>>191479
Posey pulls Silver aside, away from the microphone
"I have a hypothesis: it appears as though the Traveller may be using this hippogriff as a figurehead, and an anchor through which it gives itself meaningful perspective in this causal reality. I have read of other monsters with similar behavioral patterns; creatures that are mindless or incapable of coherent thought on the material plane who use mortal subjects as reality anchors to pin their perspective in the dimensional metanarrative... I suspect that this may be the case."
"We should consider him a high value target. If we eliminate him, the Traveller may be deprived of its sensory and cognitive functions on this plane, at which point it may regress into a highly-psionic amoeba lashing out without any higher plans."
Also, DM is presenting this NPC to us right now for a reason; We should take it as a hint.
Posey pulls Silver aside, away from the microphone
"I have a hypothesis: it appears as though the Traveller may be using this hippogriff as a figurehead, and an anchor through which it gives itself meaningful perspective in this causal reality. I have read of other monsters with similar behavioral patterns; creatures that are mindless or incapable of coherent thought on the material plane who use mortal subjects as reality anchors to pin their perspective in the dimensional metanarrative... I suspect that this may be the case."
"We should consider him a high value target. If we eliminate him, the Traveller may be deprived of its sensory and cognitive functions on this plane, at which point it may regress into a highly-psionic amoeba lashing out without any higher plans."
Also, DM is presenting this NPC to us right now for a reason; We should take it as a hint.
>>191482
Silver looks to ponder through what Posey says, before coming up with a reply of his own. "It is possible. It is also equally possible that Traveler may be closer to lost foal than anything, and has been and is continuing to be used by bad actors like Light Water for their own gains. Either way, I have idea. I think it might be possible to communicate with Traveler without losing one's mind, if you can remain grounded in reality well enough and can maintain strong enough beliefs to center yourself. Perhaps then one could convince Traveler to abandon Light Water and search for way back home on his own."
Silver looks to ponder through what Posey says, before coming up with a reply of his own. "It is possible. It is also equally possible that Traveler may be closer to lost foal than anything, and has been and is continuing to be used by bad actors like Light Water for their own gains. Either way, I have idea. I think it might be possible to communicate with Traveler without losing one's mind, if you can remain grounded in reality well enough and can maintain strong enough beliefs to center yourself. Perhaps then one could convince Traveler to abandon Light Water and search for way back home on his own."
>>191476
Cavaliere scratches his talons together thoughtfully as Light Water mentions certain interesting details.
He holds up the microphone to the side of his mouth again, and says, "I fear you may be insulting your friend by comparing him to a common animal or an inanimate object. The way you describe him, it seems you want him tamed and bent to the will of ponykind. Was that inquisitive pony of the same view? You have a fond view of the 'progress' that pony made and to you it's valuable."
Cavaliere scratches his talons together thoughtfully as Light Water mentions certain interesting details.
He holds up the microphone to the side of his mouth again, and says, "I fear you may be insulting your friend by comparing him to a common animal or an inanimate object. The way you describe him, it seems you want him tamed and bent to the will of ponykind. Was that inquisitive pony of the same view? You have a fond view of the 'progress' that pony made and to you it's valuable."
>>191479
>>191484
"Ponykind? Ha! Do you take me for a fascist? No, I serve the Universal Good, and that too is what Our Fellow Traveller shall serve.
Every child and primitive civilization starts out caring only about the simplest of interests. Hunger, revenge, power, and so forth. But as they mature, and reason develops, they start to care for high needs. Learning, art, and morality. And they care less for their own needs than those of others.
Our Fellow Traveller is like an animal or child, but I believe more so the later. When the former pony found him he was in a very weakened state and cared only for nourishment and to get back at those who had harmed him. It was his great development to persuade Our Fellow Traveller to see ponies not simply as a source of that magic or energy it can use to grow and rebuild, but as objects of interest in themselves. Sadly that pony was caught up in ideas of religion and hierarchy - he never would never have made it all the way, and Our Fellow Traveller was more than willing to play the role of a high angel herald. I don't think his development could have survived being called a 'god'. Pride is the greatest threat to moral maturation.
Where I have innovated is to persuade, or try to persuade, Our Fellow Traveller to consider his domain of concern not just the immediate world around him, but the Ecumene. To care for every feeling being that is, has ever been, and ever will be. To every nation, world, and dimension that is. And to see them not simply as means to an end but as ends in themselves; to see to it that their needs are met, both higher and lower.
You must understand. I have found the next level of Harmony, Unity, and Equality, a level that was not merely physically impossible, but metaphysically impossible before I came across Our Fellow Traveller. He, it, is our - and I mean 'our' in the truest possible sense - he is our means towards levels of progress and development that were before considered impossible.
Now when this entity... for want of a better term, let's say, when it 'eats' another sapient being, the consciousness of that being is not entirely destroyed, but is reformed melded onto its own. This does not modify the consciousness of Our Fellow Traveller - he wouldn't notice the difference - but his memories and knowledge can be assimilated. And from the perspective of the assimilated being it would be like rejoining the Universe, all sensation of individuality and personhood tossed aside to become part of something greater. At least, this is the best of what my research can tell.
But you see, Our Fellow Traveller doesn't have to go all the way in assimilating another consciousness. At lesser degrees of psychic infiltration, the personhood of the less powerful consciousness still exists, with Our Fellow Traveller overlaying some of its own consciousness. But through it, those barriers of consciousness break down until the emotions, thoughts, knowledge, and so much more of one can be felt by many or all. A true brotherhood of all creaturedom. No one could ever be lonely ever again. No one could be misunderstood. Anyone could empathize with anyone. Everyone could share in an experience that would otherwise be... be lost. You could understand an inside joke, you could feel someone else's loss or pain... and...
It's so much more than that. This entity is not restricted by physical barriers. That last pony thought Our Fellow Traveller - he called it "The Seraph" - could bring back the souls of the dead. I am skeptical if they still exits, but imagine if it could? Our Fellow Traveller thinks it could. You could see through the eyes of anyone else. Even experience experiences of those who are long dead. Talk to them, hear their perspectives.
And then it has power over matter, the power to create and transform and make new things. I know it's kind of weak now, but imagine what it could do when it grows stronger, when it has more psychic power to draw from. It could end the fascists forever, it could end all disease, aging, even death itself. It could fight off any number of powerful beings.
The Stalliongraders want to kill it and study it. What good will that do? You can't understand or use magic by dissecting a unicorn master. You need it alive to get its full power. I know Our Fellow Traveller is weak right now, low in knowledge, and still very much angry and afraid, but the potential is near infinite. Please. You know I am right. For the benefit of all zookind."
>>191480
Soon(TM)
>>191484
"Ponykind? Ha! Do you take me for a fascist? No, I serve the Universal Good, and that too is what Our Fellow Traveller shall serve.
Every child and primitive civilization starts out caring only about the simplest of interests. Hunger, revenge, power, and so forth. But as they mature, and reason develops, they start to care for high needs. Learning, art, and morality. And they care less for their own needs than those of others.
Our Fellow Traveller is like an animal or child, but I believe more so the later. When the former pony found him he was in a very weakened state and cared only for nourishment and to get back at those who had harmed him. It was his great development to persuade Our Fellow Traveller to see ponies not simply as a source of that magic or energy it can use to grow and rebuild, but as objects of interest in themselves. Sadly that pony was caught up in ideas of religion and hierarchy - he never would never have made it all the way, and Our Fellow Traveller was more than willing to play the role of a high angel herald. I don't think his development could have survived being called a 'god'. Pride is the greatest threat to moral maturation.
Where I have innovated is to persuade, or try to persuade, Our Fellow Traveller to consider his domain of concern not just the immediate world around him, but the Ecumene. To care for every feeling being that is, has ever been, and ever will be. To every nation, world, and dimension that is. And to see them not simply as means to an end but as ends in themselves; to see to it that their needs are met, both higher and lower.
You must understand. I have found the next level of Harmony, Unity, and Equality, a level that was not merely physically impossible, but metaphysically impossible before I came across Our Fellow Traveller. He, it, is our - and I mean 'our' in the truest possible sense - he is our means towards levels of progress and development that were before considered impossible.
Now when this entity... for want of a better term, let's say, when it 'eats' another sapient being, the consciousness of that being is not entirely destroyed, but is reformed melded onto its own. This does not modify the consciousness of Our Fellow Traveller - he wouldn't notice the difference - but his memories and knowledge can be assimilated. And from the perspective of the assimilated being it would be like rejoining the Universe, all sensation of individuality and personhood tossed aside to become part of something greater. At least, this is the best of what my research can tell.
But you see, Our Fellow Traveller doesn't have to go all the way in assimilating another consciousness. At lesser degrees of psychic infiltration, the personhood of the less powerful consciousness still exists, with Our Fellow Traveller overlaying some of its own consciousness. But through it, those barriers of consciousness break down until the emotions, thoughts, knowledge, and so much more of one can be felt by many or all. A true brotherhood of all creaturedom. No one could ever be lonely ever again. No one could be misunderstood. Anyone could empathize with anyone. Everyone could share in an experience that would otherwise be... be lost. You could understand an inside joke, you could feel someone else's loss or pain... and...
It's so much more than that. This entity is not restricted by physical barriers. That last pony thought Our Fellow Traveller - he called it "The Seraph" - could bring back the souls of the dead. I am skeptical if they still exits, but imagine if it could? Our Fellow Traveller thinks it could. You could see through the eyes of anyone else. Even experience experiences of those who are long dead. Talk to them, hear their perspectives.
And then it has power over matter, the power to create and transform and make new things. I know it's kind of weak now, but imagine what it could do when it grows stronger, when it has more psychic power to draw from. It could end the fascists forever, it could end all disease, aging, even death itself. It could fight off any number of powerful beings.
The Stalliongraders want to kill it and study it. What good will that do? You can't understand or use magic by dissecting a unicorn master. You need it alive to get its full power. I know Our Fellow Traveller is weak right now, low in knowledge, and still very much angry and afraid, but the potential is near infinite. Please. You know I am right. For the benefit of all zookind."
>>191480
Soon(TM)
>>191485
Kira scrunches, not particular fond of how the Traveler seems to have the same sort of processes as what lamias believe happens when they eat a creature. "The Traveler is stealing our schtick!"
Silver: "He needs to go home, where he can no longer be used and abused by creatures like you, and where he will not cause the realm any more suffering."
Kira scrunches, not particular fond of how the Traveler seems to have the same sort of processes as what lamias believe happens when they eat a creature. "The Traveler is stealing our schtick!"
Silver: "He needs to go home, where he can no longer be used and abused by creatures like you, and where he will not cause the realm any more suffering."
>>191485
>Communist
>Hippogriff
>made contact with space comrades
>Posada meme
>EaW setting
Oh Celestia, it's even worse than I thought...
>Communist
>Hippogriff
>made contact with space comrades
>Posada meme
>EaW setting
Oh Celestia, it's even worse than I thought...
>>191485
>zookind
sausage
Cavaliere glances around to his companions, making sure they're paying attention. At last, he replies, "You mentioned that he was harmed by some other entities. Who are they? Did they harm him out of prejudice or for some other reason? There must be information that lets you have such implicit trust in an outcast. Or is it more of a gut feeling?"
>zookind
sausage
Cavaliere glances around to his companions, making sure they're paying attention. At last, he replies, "You mentioned that he was harmed by some other entities. Who are they? Did they harm him out of prejudice or for some other reason? There must be information that lets you have such implicit trust in an outcast. Or is it more of a gut feeling?"
>>191492
"Some were ponies. Neighsayers who interrupted and challenged the work of the would-be-prophet. Of course the science crew who tried to dissect him, and failed. Your comrade Blackheel over there. Some were simply ignorant, some were motivated by that spirit of reaction that drives so many. Our Fellow Traveller is more concerned by the action of entities it cannot name from its former home. They are the ones who reduced it to its current state. What motivated them I cannot say. I would assume territorial rivalry, the same as motivates nearly every animal and sapient creature to harm its fellow, but that is only a guess."
"Some were ponies. Neighsayers who interrupted and challenged the work of the would-be-prophet. Of course the science crew who tried to dissect him, and failed. Your comrade Blackheel over there. Some were simply ignorant, some were motivated by that spirit of reaction that drives so many. Our Fellow Traveller is more concerned by the action of entities it cannot name from its former home. They are the ones who reduced it to its current state. What motivated them I cannot say. I would assume territorial rivalry, the same as motivates nearly every animal and sapient creature to harm its fellow, but that is only a guess."
>>191493
"Dr. Light Water, given your scholarship in zoology you should know of the many situations when a species arrives in a foreign habitat. If it is at all suited to that habitat, it will adapt to new food sources and continuously expand due to a lack of natural predators. You can see that this 'Fellow Traveler' is an invasive species and its prey is the minds of ponies and other creatures. What you call 'loneliness' is its hunger, and like wasp larvae in a caterpillar it consumes the mind of its host and leaves only a husk as a housing. You are temporarily useful left alive, but all others under its control are in a slow torment until their eventual deaths. That is why this thing is so eager for new hosts. I think you'll find your own colleagues can back up what I'm saying."
He beckons Patient Pipette and Star Fire over to the radio.
"Dr. Light Water, given your scholarship in zoology you should know of the many situations when a species arrives in a foreign habitat. If it is at all suited to that habitat, it will adapt to new food sources and continuously expand due to a lack of natural predators. You can see that this 'Fellow Traveler' is an invasive species and its prey is the minds of ponies and other creatures. What you call 'loneliness' is its hunger, and like wasp larvae in a caterpillar it consumes the mind of its host and leaves only a husk as a housing. You are temporarily useful left alive, but all others under its control are in a slow torment until their eventual deaths. That is why this thing is so eager for new hosts. I think you'll find your own colleagues can back up what I'm saying."
He beckons Patient Pipette and Star Fire over to the radio.
>>191494
Cavaliere surely looks out to the surrounding set of ponies for Pipette and Star Fire. Several ponies have indeed taken up position near the radio. These would be Blackheel, Pipette, Star Fire, the grey engineer pony, and Steppe Eagle, with the Captain, Primed Well, and Pinup Locker in a group a bit beyond that, Johan close by, and the clearly non-ponish speaking ponies and griffins beyond them or even not paying attention to the scene. The Captain is the only of the airship ponies paying close attention. The other two are monitoring the injured ponies, and attempting a sort of treatment. Star Fire stands next to Blackheel, who has a look of pure rage rivalled by none in the group, save possibly Posey, and who firmly grasps his revolver, which he brandishes low to the ground.
Cavaliere surely turns around and moves the voice piece closer to the two ponies he asks to join. Pipette is the closest. She does not focus her eyes on the radio or Cavaliere, but has been nodding her head up and down in rhythmic fashion. When Cavaliere approaches with the receiver she turns her head, her ears go down, she shakes her head, places her tail between her legs and backs away from him.
"No no no, that thing already knows me as the one who tried to stab it. It doesn't need to remember me as opposing it. I've seen how it is with Blackheel. I do not want to be marked as an enemy by that thing."
The grey engineer pony bites his lip in a look of concern at this scene, and Cavaliere presumably walks past Steppe Eagle on the way towards Starfire. Starfire's eyes go wide, his ears go down, and he sits down as he's approached by Cavaliere. He stands back up and with a glow of his green magic, takes the receiver. Blackheel, standing next to Starfire, has an expression that may slightly unnerve Cavaliere, as there can be no doubt he would have shot Light Water were he present.
Light Water does not wait for Starfire to respond:
"Invasive species? Let me ask you. If you take ponies, zebras, or kirin, and introduce them to a new location. A sprawling rainforest, rolling hills, fertile plains - do you consider them an invasive species, soon to eat up all of the vegetation of the area and leave it dry and barren? You would never, and this is for two very obvious reasons. For one, there are simply not enough of them to eat themselves out of a larger, fertile area, where only a few are introduced. And second, but more importantly, they are intelligent. They have concern for the environment and for the limited resources. They are far from being mindless locusts, infinite in number and thoughtless in hunger. And so it is with Our Fellow Traveller. He is but one entity. His magical needs are greater than say, a single changeling drone, to be sure, but he only needs so many hosts, and the more he has, the less he needs from each host. With many thousands of hosts the amount taken from each would be near imperceptible. And more than that, he is sapient as you and I. He can perceive how what he does affects others, and can be-"
Starfire starts to speak, though all he manages is an "ech" as he attempts to form a word, but finds that his mouth is dry. This tiny sliver of a word is all it takes to make Light Water pause for the moment, though all Starfire can do is smile with all of his teeth.
"Doctor.... Uh,"
"Hello again, Starfire" Light Water says "And hello again to your supervisor over there, Blackheel."
Starfore manages to speak again,
"Doctor, you know that if it wanted to expand over all of the world you don't really have a means to contain it."
"Yes, but only if it wanted to"
"But if it did."
"I don't think it does."
"But what if it did? What if you're wrong. What if it wants to oppress or consume or..."
Light Water: "Those are all what ifs, but what if I'm right? Why not ask that question?"
Starfire: "We don't have a backup planet if what you're claiming fails."
Light Water: "It has neither the power nor the desire to take on the whole planet now"
Starfire: "But obviously it will need to for your plan."
Light Water: "You should know better than to just assume that every outsider is a mindless, evil monster. I believe it has the same better angels of its nature as do we."
Starfire: "But you know it has the same inner demons as well. Where's the leash. How will you control it?"
Light Water: "It cares what I think of it. It cares what everyone thinks of it. Like a child it wants to be loved. It wants the affection. And your griffin friend is wrong. Well technically speaking he is strictly correct. It's loneliness, its hunger, is very real. It has a very real need for friends, for love, and for the approval of others. In the same way as a changeling does, yes, but also the same as a hippogriff chick or pony foal."
Starfire: "That helps you control it somehow?"
Light Water: "It does, yes. Just like a child."
Starfire: "You know others have failed to control it before."
Light Water: "They were not me."
Starfire: "How do you know it hasn't been fooling you?"
Light Water: "I've been around it."
Starfire: "So did the would-be-prophet of Suon Ruenalla."
Light Water: "When I was in university, I watched a classmate of mine, a young university pony, accidently catch herself on fire with a sample of lithium during a simple lab assignment. She died from it. Many years before that I watched a foalhood friend drown because his fin was trapped by collapsing coral. I'm aware that everything in life comes with a risk. It's never hard to die. I think that if I die in this, it is with far more dignity than in a stupid lab assignment. I will take that risk."
Starfire: "But it's a risk for the whole planet. There is no backup planet."
Light Water: "I think we'll succeed or fail long before we get to that point."
Cavaliere surely looks out to the surrounding set of ponies for Pipette and Star Fire. Several ponies have indeed taken up position near the radio. These would be Blackheel, Pipette, Star Fire, the grey engineer pony, and Steppe Eagle, with the Captain, Primed Well, and Pinup Locker in a group a bit beyond that, Johan close by, and the clearly non-ponish speaking ponies and griffins beyond them or even not paying attention to the scene. The Captain is the only of the airship ponies paying close attention. The other two are monitoring the injured ponies, and attempting a sort of treatment. Star Fire stands next to Blackheel, who has a look of pure rage rivalled by none in the group, save possibly Posey, and who firmly grasps his revolver, which he brandishes low to the ground.
Cavaliere surely turns around and moves the voice piece closer to the two ponies he asks to join. Pipette is the closest. She does not focus her eyes on the radio or Cavaliere, but has been nodding her head up and down in rhythmic fashion. When Cavaliere approaches with the receiver she turns her head, her ears go down, she shakes her head, places her tail between her legs and backs away from him.
"No no no, that thing already knows me as the one who tried to stab it. It doesn't need to remember me as opposing it. I've seen how it is with Blackheel. I do not want to be marked as an enemy by that thing."
The grey engineer pony bites his lip in a look of concern at this scene, and Cavaliere presumably walks past Steppe Eagle on the way towards Starfire. Starfire's eyes go wide, his ears go down, and he sits down as he's approached by Cavaliere. He stands back up and with a glow of his green magic, takes the receiver. Blackheel, standing next to Starfire, has an expression that may slightly unnerve Cavaliere, as there can be no doubt he would have shot Light Water were he present.
Light Water does not wait for Starfire to respond:
"Invasive species? Let me ask you. If you take ponies, zebras, or kirin, and introduce them to a new location. A sprawling rainforest, rolling hills, fertile plains - do you consider them an invasive species, soon to eat up all of the vegetation of the area and leave it dry and barren? You would never, and this is for two very obvious reasons. For one, there are simply not enough of them to eat themselves out of a larger, fertile area, where only a few are introduced. And second, but more importantly, they are intelligent. They have concern for the environment and for the limited resources. They are far from being mindless locusts, infinite in number and thoughtless in hunger. And so it is with Our Fellow Traveller. He is but one entity. His magical needs are greater than say, a single changeling drone, to be sure, but he only needs so many hosts, and the more he has, the less he needs from each host. With many thousands of hosts the amount taken from each would be near imperceptible. And more than that, he is sapient as you and I. He can perceive how what he does affects others, and can be-"
Starfire starts to speak, though all he manages is an "ech" as he attempts to form a word, but finds that his mouth is dry. This tiny sliver of a word is all it takes to make Light Water pause for the moment, though all Starfire can do is smile with all of his teeth.
"Doctor.... Uh,"
"Hello again, Starfire" Light Water says "And hello again to your supervisor over there, Blackheel."
Starfore manages to speak again,
"Doctor, you know that if it wanted to expand over all of the world you don't really have a means to contain it."
"Yes, but only if it wanted to"
"But if it did."
"I don't think it does."
"But what if it did? What if you're wrong. What if it wants to oppress or consume or..."
Light Water: "Those are all what ifs, but what if I'm right? Why not ask that question?"
Starfire: "We don't have a backup planet if what you're claiming fails."
Light Water: "It has neither the power nor the desire to take on the whole planet now"
Starfire: "But obviously it will need to for your plan."
Light Water: "You should know better than to just assume that every outsider is a mindless, evil monster. I believe it has the same better angels of its nature as do we."
Starfire: "But you know it has the same inner demons as well. Where's the leash. How will you control it?"
Light Water: "It cares what I think of it. It cares what everyone thinks of it. Like a child it wants to be loved. It wants the affection. And your griffin friend is wrong. Well technically speaking he is strictly correct. It's loneliness, its hunger, is very real. It has a very real need for friends, for love, and for the approval of others. In the same way as a changeling does, yes, but also the same as a hippogriff chick or pony foal."
Starfire: "That helps you control it somehow?"
Light Water: "It does, yes. Just like a child."
Starfire: "You know others have failed to control it before."
Light Water: "They were not me."
Starfire: "How do you know it hasn't been fooling you?"
Light Water: "I've been around it."
Starfire: "So did the would-be-prophet of Suon Ruenalla."
Light Water: "When I was in university, I watched a classmate of mine, a young university pony, accidently catch herself on fire with a sample of lithium during a simple lab assignment. She died from it. Many years before that I watched a foalhood friend drown because his fin was trapped by collapsing coral. I'm aware that everything in life comes with a risk. It's never hard to die. I think that if I die in this, it is with far more dignity than in a stupid lab assignment. I will take that risk."
Starfire: "But it's a risk for the whole planet. There is no backup planet."
Light Water: "I think we'll succeed or fail long before we get to that point."
>>191495
Silver: "And what if Traveler were to learn of better way? If he were to learn that this current path you have forced upon him has made him feared and hated, but that by being guided by better hoof he could find that love and approval he so desires?"
Silver: "And what if Traveler were to learn of better way? If he were to learn that this current path you have forced upon him has made him feared and hated, but that by being guided by better hoof he could find that love and approval he so desires?"
>>191495
Posey speaks up
"You did not seem concerned with freezing to death tonight. Are you you sheltered in a secure room? Where are you?How many are with you?" she implores
Posey speaks up
"You did not seem concerned with freezing to death tonight. Are you you sheltered in a secure room? Where are you?How many are with you?" she implores
>>191495
Cavaliere nods understandingly to Pipette.
With Starfire and Dr. Light Water arguing in circles, he finally takes back the microphone and interrupts with vitriol.
"Dr. Light Water, you are a quack and a fraud! You have been treating this as an experiment of yours but you have no parameters to speak of. On top of that, you don't even have a control for this experiment. Your blind trust and reliance on what you call an 'outsider' has long left the realm of science and become occultism with a Soviet veneer. And because you are now in the occult, you are out of your element. A zebra witch doctor would be better suited for this sort of situation than you are."
"And Doctor? Do you have any foals? I doubt you do, because if you did you would realize that children when lacking any possibility of being disciplined are capable of far worse than you know. Today's murderers and cutthroats were set on their path long ago. Yet you think yourself able to control a supposed child that has killed and will kill again, when you have no experience with even foals of your own species. Like a doting, poorly trained nanny you are letting yourself be led along."
Cavaliere nods understandingly to Pipette.
With Starfire and Dr. Light Water arguing in circles, he finally takes back the microphone and interrupts with vitriol.
"Dr. Light Water, you are a quack and a fraud! You have been treating this as an experiment of yours but you have no parameters to speak of. On top of that, you don't even have a control for this experiment. Your blind trust and reliance on what you call an 'outsider' has long left the realm of science and become occultism with a Soviet veneer. And because you are now in the occult, you are out of your element. A zebra witch doctor would be better suited for this sort of situation than you are."
"And Doctor? Do you have any foals? I doubt you do, because if you did you would realize that children when lacking any possibility of being disciplined are capable of far worse than you know. Today's murderers and cutthroats were set on their path long ago. Yet you think yourself able to control a supposed child that has killed and will kill again, when you have no experience with even foals of your own species. Like a doting, poorly trained nanny you are letting yourself be led along."
>>191496
"Bah! I am the only not to consider him a monster. Save for those who saw him as the high, herald angel... That is indeed a danger that must be warded against. I hope I have persuaded it to proper atheism but... You can never be too careful."
>>191497
"You wish to join me in my room, miss Ring? Come on up. You know where to find me."
>>191498
"Ba! I am on the cutting edge of discovery here! It's clear from the results so far that my - my - my perception is - uniquely suited for this work! And if you think you can guide Our Fellow Traveller's development so much better - why don't you join me?!
Those first brave explorers, those earliest inventors, wizards, engineers and alchemists - they too were ridiculed! I shall be in good company with them. But this is a great potential. Don't you see it? Yes I know it has killed ponies. And yes I know it is not done killing. With how reactionary the Stalliongraders are, I think that's a good thing. But if you only give Our Fellow Traveller a chance... I know he can do you much good. He can do us all good. If you just be patient and try to educate rather than discipline its errors, you will go far."
"Bah! I am the only not to consider him a monster. Save for those who saw him as the high, herald angel... That is indeed a danger that must be warded against. I hope I have persuaded it to proper atheism but... You can never be too careful."
>>191497
"You wish to join me in my room, miss Ring? Come on up. You know where to find me."
>>191498
"Ba! I am on the cutting edge of discovery here! It's clear from the results so far that my - my - my perception is - uniquely suited for this work! And if you think you can guide Our Fellow Traveller's development so much better - why don't you join me?!
Those first brave explorers, those earliest inventors, wizards, engineers and alchemists - they too were ridiculed! I shall be in good company with them. But this is a great potential. Don't you see it? Yes I know it has killed ponies. And yes I know it is not done killing. With how reactionary the Stalliongraders are, I think that's a good thing. But if you only give Our Fellow Traveller a chance... I know he can do you much good. He can do us all good. If you just be patient and try to educate rather than discipline its errors, you will go far."
>>191499
Cavaliere says nothing more but lets the others have another turn at the radio if they wish.
Cavaliere says nothing more but lets the others have another turn at the radio if they wish.
>>191499
"For every successful explorer there have been dozens who flung themselves on the rocks of fate and were forgotten. Only those who planned ahead and navigated around danger survived. How many chances will you give to a murderous invader before you understand the peril you put yourself in?
"For every successful explorer there have been dozens who flung themselves on the rocks of fate and were forgotten. Only those who planned ahead and navigated around danger survived. How many chances will you give to a murderous invader before you understand the peril you put yourself in?
>>191499
Kira: "Bah? Did the Traveler turn you into a goat?"
Silver: "It seems to me that these actions he is taking as result of your instructions are making him seem more of monster to other creatures."
Kira: "Bah? Did the Traveler turn you into a goat?"
Silver: "It seems to me that these actions he is taking as result of your instructions are making him seem more of monster to other creatures."
>>191503
"Why are you talking about goats, miss Kirafiki? sigh. I think you, of all creatures, should sympathize with being an outsider, viewed only as a dangerous, pony-eating monster by so many of the ignorant.
>>191502
>>191503
"No. No. You don't understand. I - It escaped its containment all on its own. Those Stalliongraders, they didn't know what they were handling. They assumed it was dead. They thought they could cut into it. They didn't understand just how strong it was. It got them in their sleep. It didn't get me because I talked to it. It liked me. It liked what I had to say. I didn't make it do what... The remaining sailors wouldn't listen to me. We couldn't pilot the ship. So we stopped here. It was always going to make its move. I am simply riding the tiger. You should too."
>>191501
"Miss Ring, immoral intent do you have here? Are you looking to fight me, or get to know me better?"
"Why are you talking about goats, miss Kirafiki? sigh. I think you, of all creatures, should sympathize with being an outsider, viewed only as a dangerous, pony-eating monster by so many of the ignorant.
>>191502
>>191503
"No. No. You don't understand. I - It escaped its containment all on its own. Those Stalliongraders, they didn't know what they were handling. They assumed it was dead. They thought they could cut into it. They didn't understand just how strong it was. It got them in their sleep. It didn't get me because I talked to it. It liked me. It liked what I had to say. I didn't make it do what... The remaining sailors wouldn't listen to me. We couldn't pilot the ship. So we stopped here. It was always going to make its move. I am simply riding the tiger. You should too."
>>191501
"Miss Ring, immoral intent do you have here? Are you looking to fight me, or get to know me better?"
>>191504
Kira: "But I'm not going around trying to take over the minds of ponies to convince them that I'm okay. I wouldn't want that. I want ponies to view me differently because they saw for themselves that I'm not a dangerous, pony-eating monster."
Silver is intrigued. This manner of speaking from Light Water seems to lack the same confidence that he had when speaking earlier. In fact, he sounds even a bit...fearful. Silver turns to the other commie ponies in the party to see if they have any thoughts.
Kira: "But I'm not going around trying to take over the minds of ponies to convince them that I'm okay. I wouldn't want that. I want ponies to view me differently because they saw for themselves that I'm not a dangerous, pony-eating monster."
Silver is intrigued. This manner of speaking from Light Water seems to lack the same confidence that he had when speaking earlier. In fact, he sounds even a bit...fearful. Silver turns to the other commie ponies in the party to see if they have any thoughts.
>>191505
"Would that goats had the same harmonic energy as ponies... Or that Our Fellow Traveller had ever even encountered a goat. No, this is the hand we are dealt, and we must play it."
Blackheel has the same expression he's had. The "I'm going to kill that damn hippogriff." Pipette looks like a student who very much does not want to be called on by the teacher. Starfire looks about the same, not wanting to speak unless he had to.
"Would that goats had the same harmonic energy as ponies... Or that Our Fellow Traveller had ever even encountered a goat. No, this is the hand we are dealt, and we must play it."
Blackheel has the same expression he's had. The "I'm going to kill that damn hippogriff." Pipette looks like a student who very much does not want to be called on by the teacher. Starfire looks about the same, not wanting to speak unless he had to.
>>191504
"You don't feel hope, but rather desperation. You know this thing is uncontrollable and could easily kill you, so you're placating it just to survive. The idea of an 'Ecumene' is just what you tell yourself to pretend the killing will stop at some point, but in your heart you know it won't.
"You don't feel hope, but rather desperation. You know this thing is uncontrollable and could easily kill you, so you're placating it just to survive. The idea of an 'Ecumene' is just what you tell yourself to pretend the killing will stop at some point, but in your heart you know it won't.
>>191506
In that case, Silver is the one to speak. "You are not controlling it, are you? You are merely distracting it, preventing it from doing what it really wants to do by directing its energy towards other goals. You are afraid of what will happen if you slip up."
In that case, Silver is the one to speak. "You are not controlling it, are you? You are merely distracting it, preventing it from doing what it really wants to do by directing its energy towards other goals. You are afraid of what will happen if you slip up."
>>191504
"I am a busy mare, and my crew cannot afford distractions. I have targets I need to locate my targets before they perish at nightfall. If you are unwilling to divulge anything helpful right now, I think it is better that we speak again later, in-pony."
"I am a busy mare, and my crew cannot afford distractions. I have targets I need to locate my targets before they perish at nightfall. If you are unwilling to divulge anything helpful right now, I think it is better that we speak again later, in-pony."
>>191506
>Blackheel has the same expression he's had. The "I'm going to kill that damn hippogriff."
~Ooh, wrath
Posey glides past Blackheel and whispers: "I can sense you are chomping on the bit as much as I am. Do not be distracted by the mad ravings of a mere thrall. Your retribution will be victory. Let us see to it that our strike resolves as swift and fierce as we can marshal."
"I believe we have heard enough from this bird. Let us not canter off course, for losing direction spells doom.. Onwards!" she says, drawing her sword and pointing it in the air
>>191505
"Kira, make sure you keep track of the trail. The airponies could be moving."
>Blackheel has the same expression he's had. The "I'm going to kill that damn hippogriff."
~Ooh, wrath
Posey glides past Blackheel and whispers: "I can sense you are chomping on the bit as much as I am. Do not be distracted by the mad ravings of a mere thrall. Your retribution will be victory. Let us see to it that our strike resolves as swift and fierce as we can marshal."
"I believe we have heard enough from this bird. Let us not canter off course, for losing direction spells doom.. Onwards!" she says, drawing her sword and pointing it in the air
>>191505
"Kira, make sure you keep track of the trail. The airponies could be moving."
>>191508
>>191509
Silence. One, two, three seconds. There's a slight static sound. It isn't serious electronic interference, just the slightest hint that informs the listening ponies that yes, the receiver is still on. Then finally,
"Ha. Hahahaha! Do you hear yourselves? What you say could just as easily be applied to any revolution. 'Saturn eating his own children' and all that. Or wars, for that matter. Any war. And yet who would deny that violence is indeed, sometimes, the only solution. That revolutions must needs happen and wars must be fought. You may feel as if you've lost control of the machine once put in motion. You may wonder when the violence will end, and whether you yourself will be consumed. But the long arc of history tends towards Harmony, and in the end, reason and morality will prevail. We are travelling - neigh - hurdling towards the better world at a pace so rapid, you may fear being left behind. But once we're there, the price you paid won't seem so great. All of the suffering, all of the cost, all of the loss.... all of it, all of it will be shown to have been towards a good end. All of it.
Why do I trust Our Fellow Traveller? Because he's intelligent enough to speak to and patient and humble enough to listen. And I believe that that shows he has what is needed to see the good. It is why I speak to you. And if it is my faith in the good of all beings that leads me astray, well... it's better than drowning while playing in the coral, or from some stupid lab accident....
And besides. He who rides the tiger, is rightly afraid to dismount..."
Static interference noises.
>>191509
Silence. One, two, three seconds. There's a slight static sound. It isn't serious electronic interference, just the slightest hint that informs the listening ponies that yes, the receiver is still on. Then finally,
"Ha. Hahahaha! Do you hear yourselves? What you say could just as easily be applied to any revolution. 'Saturn eating his own children' and all that. Or wars, for that matter. Any war. And yet who would deny that violence is indeed, sometimes, the only solution. That revolutions must needs happen and wars must be fought. You may feel as if you've lost control of the machine once put in motion. You may wonder when the violence will end, and whether you yourself will be consumed. But the long arc of history tends towards Harmony, and in the end, reason and morality will prevail. We are travelling - neigh - hurdling towards the better world at a pace so rapid, you may fear being left behind. But once we're there, the price you paid won't seem so great. All of the suffering, all of the cost, all of the loss.... all of it, all of it will be shown to have been towards a good end. All of it.
Why do I trust Our Fellow Traveller? Because he's intelligent enough to speak to and patient and humble enough to listen. And I believe that that shows he has what is needed to see the good. It is why I speak to you. And if it is my faith in the good of all beings that leads me astray, well... it's better than drowning while playing in the coral, or from some stupid lab accident....
And besides. He who rides the tiger, is rightly afraid to dismount..."
Static interference noises.
>>191517
Cavaliere keeps the radio on for several seconds. He looks to the others. "We should get moving. It was worth a try for dissuasion, but the information we got out of him can prove useful."
Cavaliere keeps the radio on for several seconds. He looks to the others. "We should get moving. It was worth a try for dissuasion, but the information we got out of him can prove useful."
>>191517
>>191518
>>191519
Of course, before the radio is turned off, Kira gets one last confused statement in: "Riding a tiger seems like a really stupid and bad idea. They'd probably be more likely to turn around and bite you than actually take you anyplace. Big cats aren't really good riding mounts."
>>191518
>>191519
Of course, before the radio is turned off, Kira gets one last confused statement in: "Riding a tiger seems like a really stupid and bad idea. They'd probably be more likely to turn around and bite you than actually take you anyplace. Big cats aren't really good riding mounts."
I think extending the dialogue had been a mistake…
Lesson learned for next time, I suppose….
Lesson learned for next time, I suppose….
>>191521
I would be glad to continue dialogue, but perhaps we could also change the scene and find the airponies.
>>191520
>Big cats aren't really good riding mounts."
Posey, who can barely stay on top of Monstro's skull with her grippy , spider-like vampony hooves, looks at Kira in confusion and shaky legs
"What sort of creature would be suitable as a... Did you say it was called a 'mount'?"
I would be glad to continue dialogue, but perhaps we could also change the scene and find the airponies.
>>191520
>Big cats aren't really good riding mounts."
Posey, who can barely stay on top of Monstro's skull with her grippy , spider-like vampony hooves, looks at Kira in confusion and shaky legs
"What sort of creature would be suitable as a... Did you say it was called a 'mount'?"
>>191523
Kira: "A dragon would be a good option, or at least the mature adult dragons. You know, something big enough to ride that wouldn't immediately kill you. If you can convince a dragon to let it ride you, that is. Oooo! I've heard stories about elephants being used as war mounts, too! That sounds cool."
Kira: "A dragon would be a good option, or at least the mature adult dragons. You know, something big enough to ride that wouldn't immediately kill you. If you can convince a dragon to let it ride you, that is. Oooo! I've heard stories about elephants being used as war mounts, too! That sounds cool."
>>191524
"Elephants are hardly faster than ponies, are they? As for dragons, they are not so easily controlled... I have met more affluent warmages who stood on them in battle though. My master has a particular young fire dragon, Vesuvius. Bring carried by him was ever so frightful...."
She wobbles a bit as her clumsy vehicle rattles about in the air
"Monster husbandry was part of my training in the army, as my skillset allowed me to command monsters that more powerful mages conjured, but few warponies ever even thought to consider riding atop of monsters, much less trained for it."
Ride check (DC 5)
[1d20-2 = (20-2) = 18]
"Elephants are hardly faster than ponies, are they? As for dragons, they are not so easily controlled... I have met more affluent warmages who stood on them in battle though. My master has a particular young fire dragon, Vesuvius. Bring carried by him was ever so frightful...."
She wobbles a bit as her clumsy vehicle rattles about in the air
"Monster husbandry was part of my training in the army, as my skillset allowed me to command monsters that more powerful mages conjured, but few warponies ever even thought to consider riding atop of monsters, much less trained for it."
Ride check (DC 5)
[1d20-2 = (20-2) = 18]
>>191525
Fuck yeah!
"I, however, have a talent for it. My commanding personality forces creatures beneath me to treat me with respect." Posey continues, raising her chin
Fuck yeah!
"I, however, have a talent for it. My commanding personality forces creatures beneath me to treat me with respect." Posey continues, raising her chin
>>191509
"If you don't consider all that I have offered you, all that I have hopefully shown you to be helpful, Miss Ring... No, no I don't believe we shall be meeting together in-pony. Not every creature makes that journey to the better tomorrow. Some are willfully left behind."
Static quickly overwhelms the radio until it is turned off only a second later. The wind moves again and with it, a new spray of fine mist blankets all in sight. But the tendency of the wind is to clear out the fog, and visibility in the greying, twilight sky is increasing even as the sun goes down.
But ten or so yards from Posey, several tendrils of black smoke do not move with the wind, but hang in the air, and thicken, as if they were tears in the very fabric of space and time. What is seen next is a larger figure exiting from this smaller space that bends over itself like the distorted view of an object through curved or broken glass; as if in a reverse implosion.
From these black cracks that hang in the air, a vaguely quadrupedal figure appears some fifteen above the ground. "Quadrupedal" is incorrect; the figure is clearly hexapedal, like an insect, or a pegasus, or a griffin, or hippogriff. Indeed, that last trio of mammalian and avian creatures is the closest analogue, with it possessing the concave belly of most ungulates or carnivora, and a head that reaches out on an extended neck almost like a bird, but with a head like that of a Saddle Arabian horse, with a long, thick muzzle that rounds at the end. The end of said "muzzle" has no nostrils, but only round depressions where nostrils should be. The thing is rather large, at least as big as a large griffin, and probably more than twice the size of a pegasus. Curves along its back show allow multiple sets of shoulders to be seen under its skin, even as no ribs may be seen. From a distance it's hard to tell just what precisely covers the body. It is grey in color to be sure, but is it scales? Fur? Or is it skin? The best guess is an elephant-like skin, but imperfect dimples and rises give at least the false impression, if not reality of fur. Likewise, raised sections of what must be fur rise like short sails along the backbone of the creature, giving it the appearance of a dragon's spikes, or the sails of an antique reptile.
Yet by far the most distinct aspect of this sudden interloper is certainly its six limbs. It has no legs, no hooves, and no claws. It has instead, six wings, one pair where each set of legs should be and a third just before the front shoulders, like a six-winged seraphim angel. All of the sets of wings have what is more or less a decent enough mimicry of feathers, though no pony present could doubt that a closer look would show these simply to be very many oddly shaped flaps of skin attached to a leathery wing. These "feathered" wings more or less resemble those of a griffin of hippogriff, rather long from tip to tip but not very thick. They all move in sequence up and down as the creature tries to maintain itself in the air.
Its eyes are black, save oddly enough for the actual pupil which is a milky white. It hovers there for one, then two seconds. It moves its head like a bird scanning for prey, side to side, the tiny white pupils scanning around, until it sees Posey. It opens its mouth. It has no lips, no visible teeth, and only black can be seen inside its only-partly open mouth - though no one can say what better lighting would reveal. It makes no sound, but a spark can be seen within its open mouth.
"If you don't consider all that I have offered you, all that I have hopefully shown you to be helpful, Miss Ring... No, no I don't believe we shall be meeting together in-pony. Not every creature makes that journey to the better tomorrow. Some are willfully left behind."
Static quickly overwhelms the radio until it is turned off only a second later. The wind moves again and with it, a new spray of fine mist blankets all in sight. But the tendency of the wind is to clear out the fog, and visibility in the greying, twilight sky is increasing even as the sun goes down.
But ten or so yards from Posey, several tendrils of black smoke do not move with the wind, but hang in the air, and thicken, as if they were tears in the very fabric of space and time. What is seen next is a larger figure exiting from this smaller space that bends over itself like the distorted view of an object through curved or broken glass; as if in a reverse implosion.
From these black cracks that hang in the air, a vaguely quadrupedal figure appears some fifteen above the ground. "Quadrupedal" is incorrect; the figure is clearly hexapedal, like an insect, or a pegasus, or a griffin, or hippogriff. Indeed, that last trio of mammalian and avian creatures is the closest analogue, with it possessing the concave belly of most ungulates or carnivora, and a head that reaches out on an extended neck almost like a bird, but with a head like that of a Saddle Arabian horse, with a long, thick muzzle that rounds at the end. The end of said "muzzle" has no nostrils, but only round depressions where nostrils should be. The thing is rather large, at least as big as a large griffin, and probably more than twice the size of a pegasus. Curves along its back show allow multiple sets of shoulders to be seen under its skin, even as no ribs may be seen. From a distance it's hard to tell just what precisely covers the body. It is grey in color to be sure, but is it scales? Fur? Or is it skin? The best guess is an elephant-like skin, but imperfect dimples and rises give at least the false impression, if not reality of fur. Likewise, raised sections of what must be fur rise like short sails along the backbone of the creature, giving it the appearance of a dragon's spikes, or the sails of an antique reptile.
Yet by far the most distinct aspect of this sudden interloper is certainly its six limbs. It has no legs, no hooves, and no claws. It has instead, six wings, one pair where each set of legs should be and a third just before the front shoulders, like a six-winged seraphim angel. All of the sets of wings have what is more or less a decent enough mimicry of feathers, though no pony present could doubt that a closer look would show these simply to be very many oddly shaped flaps of skin attached to a leathery wing. These "feathered" wings more or less resemble those of a griffin of hippogriff, rather long from tip to tip but not very thick. They all move in sequence up and down as the creature tries to maintain itself in the air.
Its eyes are black, save oddly enough for the actual pupil which is a milky white. It hovers there for one, then two seconds. It moves its head like a bird scanning for prey, side to side, the tiny white pupils scanning around, until it sees Posey. It opens its mouth. It has no lips, no visible teeth, and only black can be seen inside its only-partly open mouth - though no one can say what better lighting would reveal. It makes no sound, but a spark can be seen within its open mouth.
>>191550
Silver readies his rifle, keeping a steady disposition despite the unease he feels. "О, милая Селестия..."
[1d20+4 = (1+4) = 5]
Kira pulls out her bow and draws arrows, definitelly not looking as calm as Silver with this revelation as her ears fold and her eyes widen and pupils narrow to thin slits. "Now what kind of horror is THIS!?!?!?"
[1d20+3 = (2+3) = 5]
Silver readies his rifle, keeping a steady disposition despite the unease he feels. "О, милая Селестия..."
[1d20+4 = (1+4) = 5]
Kira pulls out her bow and draws arrows, definitelly not looking as calm as Silver with this revelation as her ears fold and her eyes widen and pupils narrow to thin slits. "Now what kind of horror is THIS!?!?!?"
[1d20+3 = (2+3) = 5]
>>191550
"What did I say about it giving away our position..." Posey growls, luckily already having her sword drawn and ready for battle
Her mount rears in mid air, ready to make a charge.
"What did I say about it giving away our position..." Posey growls, luckily already having her sword drawn and ready for battle
Her mount rears in mid air, ready to make a charge.
>>191556
The thing stares down at posey with its inverted eyes
Ready:
Posey
The seraph
Cavaliere
Fluffernoodle
The thing stares down at posey with its inverted eyes
Ready:
Posey
The seraph
Cavaliere
Fluffernoodle
>>191561
15 feet above the ground, maybe 40 feet away.
It’s of the same fundamental nature as the other creations of Our Fellow Traveller, though it is new. It has no obvious weapons. The creatures it is modeled off of must be ponies, griffins, and hippogriffs.
15 feet above the ground, maybe 40 feet away.
It’s of the same fundamental nature as the other creations of Our Fellow Traveller, though it is new. It has no obvious weapons. The creatures it is modeled off of must be ponies, griffins, and hippogriffs.
>>191562
Oh, that's the same height as me then.
Taking advantage of that nat 20 ride check from a few seconds ago, Posey enters melee to attack while her mount also attacks. She recognizes this false angel as her opponent, and enters melee to strike first, while also distracting its attention from the rest of the wounded party.
Monstro Charges the beast, body checking it with all of his rattling weight
[1d20+14 = (5+14) = 19]
[2d6+15 = (7+15) = 22] + DC 14 Paralysis
Posey gloriously brandishes her sword
[1d20+9 = (13+9) = 22]
[1d8+4 = (7+4) = 11]
"~YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Oh, that's the same height as me then.
Taking advantage of that nat 20 ride check from a few seconds ago, Posey enters melee to attack while her mount also attacks. She recognizes this false angel as her opponent, and enters melee to strike first, while also distracting its attention from the rest of the wounded party.
Monstro Charges the beast, body checking it with all of his rattling weight
[1d20+14 = (5+14) = 19]
[2d6+15 = (7+15) = 22] + DC 14 Paralysis
Posey gloriously brandishes her sword
[1d20+9 = (13+9) = 22]
[1d8+4 = (7+4) = 11]
"~YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
>>191567
Alright. Monstro's improved grab does not work on it.
Do we still hit it?
Posey's turn is over
Alright. Monstro's improved grab does not work on it.
Do we still hit it?
Posey's turn is over
>>191568
Oh, did you mean the enemy and not the whale skeleton? Yes, it's on the medium/large border.
And yes, it is hit
Oh, did you mean the enemy and not the whale skeleton? Yes, it's on the medium/large border.
And yes, it is hit
>>191569
Alright, Monstro begins to coil its spine around the creature, trapping it in its ribs in a grapple
[1d20+23 = (15+23) = 38]
Constrict Damage (if the opposed grapples is successful)
[2d6+15 = (5+15) = 20]
Now my turn is actually over.
Alright, Monstro begins to coil its spine around the creature, trapping it in its ribs in a grapple
[1d20+23 = (15+23) = 38]
Constrict Damage (if the opposed grapples is successful)
[2d6+15 = (5+15) = 20]
Now my turn is actually over.
>>191563
As Posey and Monstro cut into the creature's flesh, Posey can see that there is no blood. What can be seen inside is simply darker, black or dark grey, but with no running fluids. A small amount of air escapes the creature's mouth, barely making a "hissing" sound. One of the wings is so badly hit by Posey near the shoulder that it only just barely hangs on. It is nearly completely severed off, and certainly cannot flap. The opposing wing now moves in towards the body, unable to flap for the unequal lift. But even with four wings, it hovers just fine.
>>191570
Actually, that should kill it
As Posey and Monstro cut into the creature's flesh, Posey can see that there is no blood. What can be seen inside is simply darker, black or dark grey, but with no running fluids. A small amount of air escapes the creature's mouth, barely making a "hissing" sound. One of the wings is so badly hit by Posey near the shoulder that it only just barely hangs on. It is nearly completely severed off, and certainly cannot flap. The opposing wing now moves in towards the body, unable to flap for the unequal lift. But even with four wings, it hovers just fine.
>>191570
Actually, that should kill it
>What can be seen inside is simply darker, black or dark grey, but with no running fluids.
Spooky
>>191571
Posey howls in vainglory, but her victory is unceremoniously cut short as her mount falls and slide into the ground, having stopped in mid air to grapple.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHcGce1Vl0
Fall damage
[1d6 = 4]
She slowly crawls out of the heap on shaky legs, Monstro reassembling itself and once again flying in a clumsy circle.
She takes a moment to fix her mane, before speaking
"....E-E-Everypony be on guard. The Traveller knows where we are, and it it can attack us now it can do so again at any time."
Spooky
>>191571
Posey howls in vainglory, but her victory is unceremoniously cut short as her mount falls and slide into the ground, having stopped in mid air to grapple.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHcGce1Vl0
Fall damage
[1d6 = 4]
She slowly crawls out of the heap on shaky legs, Monstro reassembling itself and once again flying in a clumsy circle.
She takes a moment to fix her mane, before speaking
"....E-E-Everypony be on guard. The Traveller knows where we are, and it it can attack us now it can do so again at any time."
Cavaliere turns the radio off, and just to be safe, disconnects the power supply. He had drawn his revolver, and now re-holsters it. "It looks like Dr. Water was able to convince his friend to send that at us. No doubt he wants to cling onto that sense of power."
>>191574
"Be on guard. There could be more out there." Posey says, looking out into the foggy night, her eyes tracking wisps in the fog as they disappear beyond the range of her darkvision.
"Be on guard. There could be more out there." Posey says, looking out into the foggy night, her eyes tracking wisps in the fog as they disappear beyond the range of her darkvision.
Silver and Kira both blink seemingly in unison, both still stunned as they don't know what to react to or how at the moment.
>>191582
Posey limps past Silver, doing her best to conceal the injury from her fall
"It was not as tough as I expected it to be, but the attack it was about to fire looked especially nasty. I am sure a veteran like you knows the importance of eliminating mages before they eliminate you."
She turns to inspect Monstro, checking to see if the bomb is still secured in its ribcage.
"But we cannot be too confident now. I do not think I can afford to have Monstro rush in like that again. We nearly damaged the payload just now..." she adds, grimacing at the thought of her reckless oversight
Posey limps past Silver, doing her best to conceal the injury from her fall
"It was not as tough as I expected it to be, but the attack it was about to fire looked especially nasty. I am sure a veteran like you knows the importance of eliminating mages before they eliminate you."
She turns to inspect Monstro, checking to see if the bomb is still secured in its ribcage.
"But we cannot be too confident now. I do not think I can afford to have Monstro rush in like that again. We nearly damaged the payload just now..." she adds, grimacing at the thought of her reckless oversight
>>191583
Silver eventually decides that to keep his rifle out, but he no longer looks frozen in place. "We were more on receiving end of that philosophy than on giving end. Changelings do not have mage support corps as we do, but they knew to focus them should presence of mages on battlefield be known." Looking up at where the creature spawned, Silver frowns. "No doubt Traveler will know that it was killed so swiftly. He may try to focus on you and Monstro in future, seeing you both as greatest threat within our party."
Kira: "There were way too many wings on that thing. That was a very disturbing creature the Traveler made..."
Silver eventually decides that to keep his rifle out, but he no longer looks frozen in place. "We were more on receiving end of that philosophy than on giving end. Changelings do not have mage support corps as we do, but they knew to focus them should presence of mages on battlefield be known." Looking up at where the creature spawned, Silver frowns. "No doubt Traveler will know that it was killed so swiftly. He may try to focus on you and Monstro in future, seeing you both as greatest threat within our party."
Kira: "There were way too many wings on that thing. That was a very disturbing creature the Traveler made..."
>>191590
>He may try to focus on you and Monstro in future, seeing you both as greatest threat within our party.
Posey tosses her mane gloriously
"Then let him come at me. Being the focus of enemy aggression is the duty of a mounted warmagus such as myself, and it is a duty I welcome with pride. Besides, the rest of you are wounded, and you need to save your strength to take the Kostroma."
She looks towards monstro, circling in the air as it usually does, her ears droop as she realizes something
"It may have gotten a good look at the bomb when Monstro crushed it. I doubt The Traveller comprehends its significance, but if Light Water sees through the eyes of the beasts like the Traveller does, then he likely has a clue of what we are planning, and it conjuring countermeasures. If Monstro is destroyed, we cannot transport the bomb, so I will have to use him cautiously to defend the payload. I can repair Monstro indefinitely with my powers, but if it takes too much damage at once it will still collapse."
She looks back to Silver
"I will be relying on you to defend the bomb from attackers, going forward."
>He may try to focus on you and Monstro in future, seeing you both as greatest threat within our party.
Posey tosses her mane gloriously
"Then let him come at me. Being the focus of enemy aggression is the duty of a mounted warmagus such as myself, and it is a duty I welcome with pride. Besides, the rest of you are wounded, and you need to save your strength to take the Kostroma."
She looks towards monstro, circling in the air as it usually does, her ears droop as she realizes something
"It may have gotten a good look at the bomb when Monstro crushed it. I doubt The Traveller comprehends its significance, but if Light Water sees through the eyes of the beasts like the Traveller does, then he likely has a clue of what we are planning, and it conjuring countermeasures. If Monstro is destroyed, we cannot transport the bomb, so I will have to use him cautiously to defend the payload. I can repair Monstro indefinitely with my powers, but if it takes too much damage at once it will still collapse."
She looks back to Silver
"I will be relying on you to defend the bomb from attackers, going forward."
>>191593
Silver: "I will do what I can, but if Traveler sends group of those Seraphims all at once..."
Silver: "I will do what I can, but if Traveler sends group of those Seraphims all at once..."
The mulberry pony starts to speak almost hysterically
"Почему ты провоцируешь это? Разве ты не увидел, что это оставило нас в покое так надолго?"
He falls onto his belly and places his forelegs over his head, trembling.
>>191583
>>191593
Blackheel speaks:
"If that 'Chernobog' or whatever it is wants to focus on... your... that thing, then let it. What I am more concerned about is how that... flying whale thing will attract the derstroyer's five-inch guns, or possibly anti-aircraft."
"Почему ты провоцируешь это? Разве ты не увидел, что это оставило нас в покое так надолго?"
He falls onto his belly and places his forelegs over his head, trembling.
>>191583
>>191593
Blackheel speaks:
"If that 'Chernobog' or whatever it is wants to focus on... your... that thing, then let it. What I am more concerned about is how that... flying whale thing will attract the derstroyer's five-inch guns, or possibly anti-aircraft."
>>191597
"Any attack directed at the whale bones is an attack not directed at the rest of us. The eventual purpose of every thrall is to be destroyed drawing fire from its master: even The Traveller knows this." Posey says
"Perhaps it could be a sufficient distraction." she adds
She sheaves her sword
"But for now, we must keep moving, before it sends more creatures to our position. Giddy up."
"Any attack directed at the whale bones is an attack not directed at the rest of us. The eventual purpose of every thrall is to be destroyed drawing fire from its master: even The Traveller knows this." Posey says
"Perhaps it could be a sufficient distraction." she adds
She sheaves her sword
"But for now, we must keep moving, before it sends more creatures to our position. Giddy up."
>>191597
Silver goes over to the mulberry pony and uses his hooves to remove the pony's hooves from his face. Silver then puts his own hooves on the side of the mulberry pony's head and turn it towards his. Silver speaks in a calm voice that's halfway between fatherly and like a military officer. "Посмотри на меня, солдат. С нами всё будет хорошо. Обещаю, мы вытащим вас всех отсюда целыми и невредимыми."
Silver goes over to the mulberry pony and uses his hooves to remove the pony's hooves from his face. Silver then puts his own hooves on the side of the mulberry pony's head and turn it towards his. Silver speaks in a calm voice that's halfway between fatherly and like a military officer. "Посмотри на меня, солдат. С нами всё будет хорошо. Обещаю, мы вытащим вас всех отсюда целыми и невредимыми."
>>191600
He slowly looks up towards Silver, raising his ears and moving his hooves down to the ground. His lips are pulled back, showing teeth. After a couple seconds, he nods.
He slowly looks up towards Silver, raising his ears and moving his hooves down to the ground. His lips are pulled back, showing teeth. After a couple seconds, he nods.
>>191602
Silver releases his hooves from the mulberry pony's head and pats both of his shoulders with a smile. "Молодец парень. Как тебя зовут, солдат?"
>>191601
Kira looks at Posey, looking uncertain, though the reason isn't immediately obvious to the undead mare. "Uh, sure, I can certainly try. We're a lot closer now, so it should be a lot clearer."
Survival: Kira lifts up her head, and flicks her tongue into the air to pick up the scents of nearby ponies.
[1d20+11 = (11+11) = 22]
Silver releases his hooves from the mulberry pony's head and pats both of his shoulders with a smile. "Молодец парень. Как тебя зовут, солдат?"
>>191601
Kira looks at Posey, looking uncertain, though the reason isn't immediately obvious to the undead mare. "Uh, sure, I can certainly try. We're a lot closer now, so it should be a lot clearer."
Survival: Kira lifts up her head, and flicks her tongue into the air to pick up the scents of nearby ponies.
[1d20+11 = (11+11) = 22]
Posey heals Monstro's fall damage with her Channel Touch, touches up her damaged bones, and proceeds to follow Kira.
>>191603
The pony sits upright, curling his tail around his body, and answers
"Речной туман" - River Mist
Kira smells many ponies
The pony sits upright, curling his tail around his body, and answers
"Речной туман" - River Mist
Kira smells many ponies
>>191606
"Ну, Речной Туман..." Silver gets up and offers River Mist a hoof with which to stand back up with. "Я сражался в Великой войне против метаморфов, ведя войска в бой. Я сталкивался с их меняющими облик агентами, терпел грохот их пулемётов и артиллерии, слышал грохот приближающихся танков. По сравнению со всем этим: этот остров — почти как отпуск."
Hmm...that's a bit inconvenient. Perhaps she can narrow her search: can she smell *bat pony*?
"Ну, Речной Туман..." Silver gets up and offers River Mist a hoof with which to stand back up with. "Я сражался в Великой войне против метаморфов, ведя войска в бой. Я сталкивался с их меняющими облик агентами, терпел грохот их пулемётов и артиллерии, слышал грохот приближающихся танков. По сравнению со всем этим: этот остров — почти как отпуск."
Hmm...that's a bit inconvenient. Perhaps she can narrow her search: can she smell *bat pony*?
>>191607
He takes the hoof, and stands up. He says, looking away, and his left ear going down,
"Я... Я присоединился к торговому флоту, потому что не смог поступить в университет, и это казалось единственным способом уйти с фермы. Я хочу вернуться на ферму..."
Unfortunately, yes she can. Along the left shore. There will be GRU soldiers there, and the Traveller's creations as well
He takes the hoof, and stands up. He says, looking away, and his left ear going down,
"Я... Я присоединился к торговому флоту, потому что не смог поступить в университет, и это казалось единственным способом уйти с фермы. Я хочу вернуться на ферму..."
Unfortunately, yes she can. Along the left shore. There will be GRU soldiers there, and the Traveller's creations as well
>>191608
Silver gives River Mist a comforting smile, and a pat on the shoulder. "Мы все вступаем в ряды по разным причинам. Кто-то из-за трудностей, кто-то потому, что чувствовал, что у него нет другого выбора, а кто-то просто хотел отдать долг своей стране. Но независимо от причины, мы все в конечном итоге разделяем общие обязанности, как братья и товарищи по оружию." Encouraging River Mist to look back at him, he continues. "Мы не умрём сегодня. Этот остров не станет нашей могилой. Я отказываюсь оставлять солдата. Обещаю тебе."
Kira looks over to the group, her ears folded back. "It's bad. Everyone - everything - is there. I think there's a saying that's popular over here: out of the frying pan, into the fire..."
Silver gives River Mist a comforting smile, and a pat on the shoulder. "Мы все вступаем в ряды по разным причинам. Кто-то из-за трудностей, кто-то потому, что чувствовал, что у него нет другого выбора, а кто-то просто хотел отдать долг своей стране. Но независимо от причины, мы все в конечном итоге разделяем общие обязанности, как братья и товарищи по оружию." Encouraging River Mist to look back at him, he continues. "Мы не умрём сегодня. Этот остров не станет нашей могилой. Я отказываюсь оставлять солдата. Обещаю тебе."
Kira looks over to the group, her ears folded back. "It's bad. Everyone - everything - is there. I think there's a saying that's popular over here: out of the frying pan, into the fire..."
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