/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>191395
He shakes his head

“Not really…”
He tilts his head
“Do you?”

>>191396
Kira: "Well, I'm not gonna force you to talk about stuff you don't want to, that would be silly. Unless you're talking about me talking about stuff, then I don't really mind. I like being able to talk about stuff with others, especially others who will listen or understand." She looks forward as she slithers, tilting her head to one side or the other occasionally as she speaks. "I mean, I get why my appearance is off-putting to some. It's just basic biology, most creatures evolved to be fearful of snakes, and us lamias have snake tails and we look perhaps a little similar to creatures like manticores and chimeras and such and those are pretty scary, especially when they're baring down on you in attack mode. But we're not monsters, we're just otherwise normal creatures like everyone else. I just wish others would give me and my race a chance, you know? Get to see the real me underneath these scales. Then they'd see that we're not actually monsters like they keep calling us."

>>191397
“Why did that yellow winged-pony say you were trying to eat one of his ponies?” Mala asks

>>191398
Kira: "Oh, well, see, Silver recommended that I try to use my appearance to try to spook the possessed ponies in that airship straight like I did with the other pony earlier that I coiled around. Anyways it didn't work so I tried beating down the door so I could get in and subdue them so we could get moving, and also because I assumed the door was locked because if it wasn't then they could have just exited the room at any time and they never did. Well I guess I overdid it a bit because the door kinda...came off it's hinges and flew across the room. It pinned one of the possessed ponies under it and I couldn't come into the room without risking crushing the pony under the door, so in order to subdue the pony who was not underneath a door I kinda put his head in my mouth and dragged him out to constrict him. I wasn't hurting him, I just needed to make him pass out due to lack of oxygen, and of course I would never in a million years actually try to eat him. It's just easier for us to use our mouths to grab onto others in that instance, you know? There wasn't enough room to get my tail in there and it would have left me exposed, and hooves aren't exactly the greatest grappling instruments in the world. Anyways, the captain saw that and I guess it's not exactly the best introduction to lamias to see one with your pony's head in their mouth and them coiled around tightly."

>>191399
“But would you ever?” He asks, evidently hoping the “what” is sufficiently understood as to not need to be said.

>>191400
Kira: "Well, no, no. I mean, ponies are friends, not food. Plus, I mean, it would be a little awkward to say yes while in a group full of ponies, even if I did want to. Which I don't! I just want to make sure that's clear, you know? If fact I don't think there's ever been a lamia to eat a pony before. Which would be a good argument to use to help convince the governor..."

>>191401
“Would you want to talk later, away from the ponies?”

>>191402
Kira beams a bright smile at Mala. "Sure! I love talking with you, Mala." She reaches over with one of her hooves, and gives Mala some pets on the top and back of his head.

>>191403
He presses his lips together, evidently in a scrunch.

“Okay. Okay. Why did you say you felt ‘useless’?”

>>191404
Kira's ears, which had perked up during their chat earlier, droop down a little more again. "I can't defeat a monster in a single attack like Silver or Black Heel can, or summon allies to fight for me like Posey. When I met those soldiers I wasn't able to sneak away, which is why me and Cavaliere got so hurt. And just now, I couldn't even find any medicinal herbs or roots or anything to help with all of the wounded creatures here."

>>191405
“But, you succeed or fail as a group. It doesn’t really matter much what you do, just don’t fuck up. Keep your head down and do what you’re told, and be quiet.”

His eyes go wide, ears perk up, and he immediately looks backwards towards the rescued ponies. He can be heard counting under his breath.

>>191406
Kira, intrigued on what has Mala so worried, looks back with him.

>>191407
Mala extends his paw, counting each one of the rescued ponies and griffins, and making sure each is accounted for.

>>191408
Kira joins him, the tip of her tail pointing to each creature as she counts along.

>>191387
Cavaliere for his part helps with the movement of the wounded ponies, making sure the entire caravan makes maintains a fast pace away from the danger zone.

He has already consumed a "cure moderate wounds" potion, what should I roll for HP?

>>191410
Cure Moderate wounds heals 2d8+CL HP. Potions are brewed at minimum caster level, so it would cure 2d8+3 HP (assuming it was made by a Cleric).

Posey assists as well, in whatever way she can.

>>191412
Decent roll. What's your HP at now?

>>191409
Six of the lucid Kostroma crew members are in the rear (Blackheel and Star Fire have moved forward, as are the able bodied airship crew, who must each carry a wounded airship crew member, with the help of three more griffins and Kostroma crew. Every single pony and griffin has to engage in the task of pulling the wounded, though some of the possessed ponies are pulled in a train by the engineer.

Mala moves behind them, and tells them “keep moving. Rest later.”

>>191414
Could we hook up the train to Monstro to give the engineer a break? It can drag much more than he can carry. It would probably help us move faster.

>>191415
Perhaps, though the odds that monster would fly to fast or too high and knock the ponies over is high. The bottom line is that any unconscious pony necessarily has to be carried by other ponies. That requires two able bodied ponies per unconscious one, and they will move at at best half the pace of free, able bodied ponies.

>>191413
19

>>191416
This group is certainly not combat-ready, especially not if the party members leave the rest to deal with the Fellow Traveler.
Cavaliere states, "We're sitting ducks out here. I suggest we call an early evacuation for all these ponies and griffons, while we stay behind on the island."

>>191417
Silver: "Even that carries risk that whatever comes to evacuate them will end up getting shot down by GRU."

>>191416
Very well then.
Posey remains on top of Monstro, using her vantage point to scan the horizon for any threats, or any signs of the airponies.
>>191417
>19
I think you should stick to ranged combat next encounter. Maybe grab a rifle and some javelins, and take advantage of your flight to stay out of reach of most monsters.
>"We're sitting ducks out here. I suggest we call an early evacuation for all these ponies and griffons, while we stay behind on the island."
"Our mission is to leave the island with the airponies. The other captives, the GRU and even the Traveller are only secondary priorities to our main mission. We would not be fighting the Traveller if we could simply leave with our Talisman without risking being sunk by the GRU..."
The looks down, through Monstro's ribs at the bomb
"We will need to take care of them first..."

Btw, who has the explosive harpoon? I want to use it on The Traveller, so we can save Monstro's bomb on the GRU ship.

>>191385
>The party knows where the last set are most likely to be - on the opposite side of the bay, along that long peninsula leading towards the lighthouse. Down the mountain, along the ridge that runs down the middle of the island, then up the string of hills north of the whaling station. At every point, however, the party will be near - not necessarily on, but near - the bay that is the landing spot of the GRU soldiers.
How long would it take is to get there, at our current rate?

>>191420
It isn’t a quick journey. 20 or even more minutes. The double danger is that the GRU will escape their beachhead, or that the airship ponies will be overrun.

>>191421
Then I guess we had better hurry.
Are we able to make it there?

>>191421
>>191422
Are there any checks you want us to make to get there or something?

>>191418
"Yes... That really complicates our extraction plans in general... I suppose we will have to neutralize the GRU as soon as we take care of The Traveller..."

The radio turns on. There is static. It is loud at first, but then smooths out, until the channel is clear and almost non-existent. Then there is a voice. The voice is accented, but not to Severyana. In fact, it's likely a native ponish speaker. The voice is relatively deep and draws his words out, slowly and deliberately.

"Hello there, my fellow creatures. I gather you have some hesitance towards what our future can be?"

A pause, and
"Come on, I know you can hear me."

>>191436
Silver blinks. Kira blinks. Both look down at the radio that has just started speaking to the party. Kira eventually grabs it and starts speaking into it, though interestingly enough she seems to have forgotten to actually press the thing to transmit so she just speaks to the radio itself. "Hey, who gave you permission to possess our radio!"

>>191437
A small laugh,

"Hmm hmm"

After the pause,
"You don't wait for an invitation to extend a helping claw, do you? No, I don't think you do. You wouldn't wait to help a stranger injured by a cart on the street, to pull up elderly who has fallen, or to give a loaf of bread to a hungry chick. Nor shall I, when I can tell you're in need. Tell me, what is the source of the hesitation?"

>>191437
"Do not engage with it. It could be memetic." Posey hisses in a hushed tone
>>191438
Posey wordlessly brandishes a small silver object and attempts a Turning check to exorcise the object
[1d20+8 = (12+8) = 20]

(No idea if this would work, but I have like 9 uses of Rebuke Undead today, so I may as well try)

>>191439
"kssshk"

The radio produces static for a few seconds. There is another small laugh.

"You must have learned such mistrust over a lifetime, haven't you? That's alright. It's never too late to learn and to develop."

>>191440
Posey scowls as she magically boops the off switch on the radio

>>191439
>>191440
>>191441
Kira looks down at the radio. "I mean, he turned it on remotely. Why wouldn't he be able to turn it back on again?"

>>191442
"Shush!" Posey hisses

At this point, she looks for the power supply to the radio, intent on extracting the battery.

>>191443
I mean... The battery can be taken out, yes.

>>191444
Can I do that without damaging the radio?

>>191445
Yes

>>191446
Then she does so, placing the battery in her satchel pocket.

>>191446
>>191447
Silver: "Well...I suppose we are down one radio, then."

"I did not expect it to be able to infest the radio. It appears as though it is not only limited to the minds of living creatures. I originally thought its influence was telepathic, but it may be memetic..." Posey mutters, clearly more nervous than before
>>191448
"Be ready to engage incoming hostiles. It likely knows where we are now, and it is taunting us." She says, drawing her sword

>>191449
Kira: "What's 'memetic'?

Regardless, Kira tries to see if she can sense the static-y feeling that usually accompanies summoned monsters.

>>191436
>>191440
>>191449
>>191450
Cavaliere responds, "We could have at least determined who it was. If we were careful, we could get valuable information from him."

>>191450
"An idea or concept capable of spreading itself, sometimes manifesting as information hazardous when perceived." Posey replies
>>191451
Posey levitates Cavalier the battery
"I took what precautions I deemed necessary in the moment against what may have been a psychic attack from a yet-unknown entity. If that is a risk you are willing to take, I will not stop you from trying to contact it again, on your own terms." she says

>realizes obvious plot hook
"... I may have overreacted..." Posey says, her ears drooping a bit

>>191452
Cavaliere reinserts the battery and turns the battery back on, before pressing the microphone button and speaking into it. "Hello. If you can hear me, identify yourself."

>>191454
The radio comes on to much static, which then dies down.

"Testing testing. Can you hear me?" It's the same voice. He doesn't wait for a reply.

"Ah, you're back. Yes, I think you know who this is. We're still doing names, are we? For now at least. Very well. This is Science Officer Light Water." A short pause. "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

>>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?"

>>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."

>>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."

>>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."

>>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."

>>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..."

>>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.”

>>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!"

>>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."

"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

>>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!"

>>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."

>>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."

>>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."

>>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
"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."

>>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

>>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."

>>191478
But I wanna go kill stuff!

>>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.

>>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."

>>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."

>>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)

>>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."

>>191485
>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?"

>>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."

>>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.

>>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."

>>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?"

>>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

>>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."

>>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."

>>191499
Cavaliere says nothing more but lets the others have another turn at the radio if they wish.

>>191499
"Where would that be exactly? Are you on the ship? Where on it?"
>>191500
I'm just taking the occasional turn to participate in ongoing dialogue. I can move on to the airponies whenever everyone has asked their questions.

>>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."

>>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?"

>>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.

>>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.

>>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."

>>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."

>>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."

>>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.

>>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."

>>191518
Posey nods.
"Turn it off. We have heard enough. At least we know who to kill first now."

>>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."

I think extending the dialogue had been a mistake…

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'?"

>>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."

>>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]

>>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

>>191525
>has
*had

>>191525
>>191526
Kira looks up to Posey with awe. She quite literally has stars in her eyes as the catchlights seem to change shape into stars. "Wow! That's amazing!"

>>191525
>>191526
Well... I can't do what I intended to have happen next

>>191529
Well, what would have happened next?

>>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.

>>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]

>>191551
Sorry. I was asleep.
[1d20+7 = (10+7) = 17]

>>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.

>>191556
The thing stares down at posey with its inverted eyes

Ready:

Posey
The seraph
Cavaliere
Fluffernoodle

>>191550
Can Posey roll Arcana or some other skill to see if she can identify this creature?

>>191559
Sure

>>191558
How far away is it from Posey? And how high up?
I need to know because Monstro has only a 30 ft fly speed and poor maneuverability, so reaching him from this angle might be difficult.
>>191560
[1d20+11 = (2+11) = 13]

>>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.

>>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!"

>>191563
I messed up that sword damage roll and forgot the +2, so it should be 13

>>191563
The save for Paralysis is Fortitude, btw.
>>191565
Yeah I forgot the Improved Grab.
>>191562
Is this monster smaller than huge?

>>191566
No.

>>191567
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

>>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.

>>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

>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.
[YouTube] Fluttershy - Evil Laughter [Embed]
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.

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

>>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..."

>>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."

>>191593
Silver: "I will do what I can, but if Traveler sends group of those Seraphims all at once..."

>>191594
"That is why we need to keep moving. Let us find the airponies swiftly."

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."

>>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."

>>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."

>>191600
Posey approaches Kira
"Kira, can you smell if the airponies are nearby?"

>>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.

>>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]

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

>>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*?

>>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

>>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..."

>>191609
He smiles widely, and his tail starts to move back and forth in a wagging fashion

"Мы уходим?"

>>191610
Silver chuckles, and pats River Mist on the top of his head, between his ears. "Мы это сделаем, но сначала нам нужно спасти нескольких солдат, ваших товарищей и других."

>>191611
His tail stops moving and drops down by the center. His smile fades

"Так.... Мы же не отдаляемся от Чернобога и этого проклятого острова?"

>>191612
Silver looks at River Mist with the same expression that a father has when he knows he's about to break his foal's heart by telling them that some mythical holiday mascot isn't actually real, and it's been their parents leaving them money and gifts all along. He breathes in and lets it out as a sigh. "Ну... может быть. А может и нет. Некоторые из этих солдат недостаточно здоровы, чтобы эффективно сражаться. Наши возможности безопасно покинуть остров сейчас... ограничены. Мы должны были вызвать самолёт для эвакуации, но не можем связаться с ним по радио, а даже если бы и смогли, боюсь, этот корабль просто уничтожил бы его в воздухе."

He looks down, then to the side, as if in contemplation before looking back to River Mist. "Мы сделаем всё, что в наших силах. Что бы ни случилось, моё обещание остаётся твёрдым и верным: ты УЖЕ покинешь этот остров целым и невредимым. Но пока мы не вытащим тебя с острова, мне нужно, чтобы ты был сильным. Не только ради себя, но и ради своих товарищей. Вам нужно будет искать друг у друга силы, чтобы сделать то, что необходимо."

>>191613
His ears, along with every other feature, droop down. He nearly barks out:

"Что нам делать? Что нам нужно сделать? Что мне делать?"

>>191614
Silver speaks loudly and suddenly, hoping to snap River Mist out of it. "ОСТАНАВЛИВАТЬСЯ!"

>>191615
His eyes go wide, his ears back, and he sits back down. he stops talking.

>>191616
With River Mist snapped out of it, Silver's voice returns to the authoritative hybrid of sergeant and father. He places his hooves back on either side of River Mist's head. "Мы не поддадимся панике. Страх убивает разум. Страх — это тихий голосок в нашей голове, который ведёт нас к полной гибели. Мы сохраним спокойствие, будем бороться, победим и выживем. Мы сделаем это, потому что должны, потому что мы единственные, кто может, и потому что если мы этого не сделаем... миллионы погибнут."

>>191617
His ears go up, then back down, then up again as his lips remain firmly closed, until he speaks:

"Эм... Как именно мы это делаем?

While Silver is talking to his fellow Severyanans, Cavaliere takes Posey, Kira, and Dust (if he's willing) aside.

"Are there any signs of the missing airship crew we can follow?" he asks Kira. "We will have to make the difficult choice of taking the risk to find them before the GRU have them captured, or to save our limited resources and time to deal with the Fellow Traveler while keeping our entourage safe. I'm concerned there might not be a right answer."

>>191619
"I am more concerned by the possibility that the Traveller has already enthralled them. The night is coming, and without knowledge of the beast's powers they would logically try to conserve their energy with periodic rests. We may have more minutes to save them before it becomes a firefight." Posey replies, kicking at the ground in eagerness

>>191618
Moving his hooves down to River Mist's shoulders, Silver keeps a firm hold of the pony. "С упорством, решимостью и чистой силой воли — тем, чего нет у Странника. С практической точки зрения, у нас есть оружие, взрывчатка и магия. То, что учёные не смогли разрезать его хирургическим инструментом, не означает, что он неуязвим ко всем видам повреждений."

>>191619
>>191620
Kira frowns a she looks to her companions. "It's worse than that. The area is littered with 'gee are you' soldiers and those..." Kira shivers in disgust, "...things the Traveler's made. It's going to be a fight to rescue those Airponies."

>>191621
Sitting again, tail wrapped around himself, he tilts his head, both ears pointed up

"Ты собираешься попробовать взорвать это? Почему бы и нет - почему бы не уйти от этого? Могу ли я уйти от этого?"

>>191621
"How far are the airponies?"

>>191622
Silver repeats himself to River Mist, "Потому что мы должны это сделать. Потому что никто другой этого сделать не может. И потому что, если мы этого не сделаем, миллионы людей умрут."

>>191624
>>191622
Hmmmmm...that's a good question. Can Kira tell how far away they are?

>>191625
"Хорошо..." he says, head tilting down slightly and ears going back

Something along the lines of a third of a mile. Maybe more, maybe less

>>191626
Silver pats River Mist's shoulders and offers him a "Хороший парень" as he helps him to his hooves.

Kira: "It's not far, we just need to keep going."

>>191626
Great. We should be able to hustle that far without exhausting ourselves
"GIDDY UP!" Posey cries, rearing and kicking her legs in the air before taking off in the direction Kira indicated.

No longer riding monstro, she orders it to fly in the rear if the group and guard the bomb (removing it from combat for the time being).

>>191628
Kira giggles at this display before slithering behind her. "You ponies are so cute and silly when you do your kicky hooves thing."

Cavaliere takes up position between Posey and Kira, offset to the right to better keep an eye out. "It's a small island so we're bound to encounter something. At least the enemy has many things to keep track of, and keeping on the move will be to our advantage. They cannot surround us, but we have to maintain surprise if we are to have a chance."

>>191632
Silver has the rest of the group, including the commies, the airponies, and the griffs, follow along. "I see you are learning basics of being soldier."

>>191633
Cavaliere wryly chuckles in response. "It will take more than basics to solve this conundrum. But, I wouldn't be here if I was a novice."

Posey keeps galloping at full speed until she sees any signs of activity ahead, taking advantage of not needing to stop to breath.
Kira and Cavalier have Endurance, so they should be able to keep pace with her in the front.

>>191634
Silver lets out his own, hearty chuckle with a subtle shake of his head. "Heh, I supposed you have me there, fair enough."

>>191634
"The closer the mission brushes with death, the greater our powers will grow when this is all over. Bring it on!" Posey says boastfully, still galloping
The golden glint of her infravision shines in her eyes, scanning ahead for anything lurking in the dark.

A brief kick of the breeze coats a fine mist over the ponies. But this is the last gasp of the retreating fog that rolls over the center hill before traversing the summit of the eastern edges and leaving the field of view.

The view before them is as clear as it has been, with a view deep into the twilight sky, tinged purple and dark grey but still tainted grey by the ubiquitous haze. A single light shines in the night above the horizon. Very possibly it is a star, the north star, perhaps. Perhaps it is the planet Chiron, making its long rotation, and standing out brightly in the night. Or perhaps it is a plane, or some other artifice much closer. It is more than could be seen before.

The party has a good view down the center of the bay, half-circle that it is, with its black sand beaches, long fields of brown-yellow dormant grasses that roll down towards the water, and surrounded on either side by peaking hills that at their summits are crowned in innumerable stones and black-grey basalt. Further off in the distance, partly obscured by the left/western line of the bay, is the island to the north of Mended Horn, smaller but still reasonable in its own right. Its hilly peak, surrounding sea stacks, and sheer vertical black-rock cliffs can be distinguished even at this distance. In the center of the bay and edging in closer is the grey-painted warship, with a smaller boat by its side. It must be an older Equestrian design. A bright yellow flash can be seen from its forward gun. Its projectile can be traced across the sky, leaving a grey trail as it arcs towards the hill on the right. There, smoke still rises from the ruins of the airship. A grey explosion can be seen, then felt as it shakes the ground, and then heard. It's plume continues to rise towards the sky. One, two, three little squads move towards this area of the right side of the bay.

In front of the party, towards the center, is a small camp with several tents and two large mortars set up. They pop and streak, with projectiles going towards unseen enemies. The whistling hum of the mortars can be heard periodically, the rotors winding in the air.

But on the eastern side, where the party is going, the ridge of the hill obstructs the view of the sea beyond. At the far end, perched on what is presumably a cliff from the seaside, is a small-ish painted white lighthouse with a black painted head. It isn't especially tall, but it's perched high enough on the hill such that its light would rise above most of the hill line of the eastern ridges, and would be visible in the eastern ocean, which is indeed the main shipping lane for Equestrian and Severyanan travelers going from the Village Up North or Ravensyoke to Trottingham or out to the open ocean. The eastern hills are not as tall or well defined as in the west, but they are still capped in basalt stones and appear grey or black at the top from a distance, with dull yellow-brown grass dominating the great majority of its surface, here as everywhere on the island. Long, grey lines of antique stone walls that once dividing the land into many padlocks and fields can be seen all along the rind of the bay, more so in the center and east than the west, as can several small, cone-like stone buildings that periodically dot the hillsides.

At least one squad is making its way towards the lighthouse, while a couple more are ascending towards the ridge line. A group of three in the center are moving towards the center of the island, the old medieval village, near where the party is now.

>>191648
>A single light shines in the night above the horizon. Very possibly it is a star, the north star, perhaps. Perhaps it is the planet Chiron, making its long rotation, and standing out brightly in the night. Or perhaps it is a plane, or some other artifice much closer. It is more than could be seen before.
Pic
I have Profession (Astrology) on my character sheet, but I still haven't put any ranks in it.
Going to make an untrained Int check to identify it, because what kind of unicorn mage doesn't value knowledge of the cosmos?
[1d20+3 = (8+3) = 11]
>Warship getting involved
>Airship being shelled
>Mortar fire
>Unseen enemies
"This island is becoming a warzone! The GRU will be shooting at summons until the Traveler makes them turn on eachother. If The Traveller has any limits to how many beasts it can summon at once, this chaos may serve to our advantage. We must find the airponies swiftly!" Posey remarks, still galloping
>Phrase not found
Posey gazes towards that squad
"That would have been my first place to look for sheltering survivors too. It is a good thing Kira was able to track their scent before we went there."

Posey commands Monstro to float low to the ground to avoid detection, still running.

>>191650
>>Phrase not found
Ignore that. I was talking about the lighthouse.

>>191649
>>191650
Kira, being from the southern hemisphere, is completely lost as to the names and positions of these foreign stars. All she knows is that this one, just like the ones that hang above her homeland, are all pieces of Ouroboros, and seeing them even here is at least a small comfort in this trying time.

Silver: "We have to hurry. Those airponies will be cut to shreds by that squad if they get to them first."

>>191650
Now that the fog has cleared, and we're mere minutes from our destination, can we see or hear any activity from where the airponies should be ahead of us? Any rifle flashes or gunshots? Shadows of lumbering monsters? Spells going off?

>>191649
Cavaliere avoids placing himself on the ridgeline. Despite being a griffon he moves quite fast along the ground, keeping up with the others.

>>191652
"May I suggest intercepting that squad and pinning them down while one of us investigates the lighthouse? If we enter the lighthouse first, they will be on us for sure."

>>191654
>splitting the party
>again
"While I am quite curious what the GRU plans to do with the lighthouse, and I would have galloped there first under different circumstances, are you certain you want to be caught in a firefight alone again? You have lost quite a bit of valuable blood." Posey replies

>>191650
After being observed for a few seconds, it doesn't visibly move. That makes it unlike to be an artifice like a plane, although the possibility of an airship, or a plane further away and coming towards them, cannot be ruled out. Posey is not aware of a star both exceptionally bright and in that particular part of the northern sky; it must be Chiron, shining in the night and rotating along its respective sphere.

>low to the ground
The bay is almost like a bowl, cut in half. The bay itself is low, but everything around the water rises upwards in an incline. So long as you are in the north side there is no cover at all save for a few, tiny, scattered constructs. It is impossible for Monstro, or anything so big, to move on the interior portion of the bay and not be noticed. Not in the twilight. Not until the fog returns.

>>191652
The stars are different. It's all different.

>>191653
Posey is quick to notice just how comparatively quiet it is. She can't see any monsters - that may change if she looked more carefully, but it's clearly a comparative lull in the attacks of Our Fellow Traveller. There are some rifle cracks at the far left/east end of the bay. There are several cracks of mortar fire and artillery, but the targets are not obvious.

>>191654
He would essentially have to travel around the ring, out of the line of sight of the bay. This is not impossible, but it does require a minor detour along the eastern and southern slopes

>>191654
>>191656
Silver looks to Black Heel to get his opinion on Cavaliere's suggestion, since it would bring him and the commies into direct conflict against the GRU.

>>191657
"And what, exactly, does it mean to 'pin them down'?"
He looks skeptical, and generally not pleased with the plan.

>>191655
>>191658
"If you want every hoof on the attack, we could do that as well, but we will lose valuable time getting to the remaining survivors. They are definitely scared and possibly injured. We could try to get inside the lighthouse first and use it as cover, but we would risk being trapped. I would prefer it if we scare the enemy squad into halting and set up the machine gun for an enfilade as our main force makes a tactical retreat. Let's avoid a head-on engagement if we can. Your thoughts, Commissar?"

>>191656
Cavaliere directs the rest of the group to make this detour with him. A slight delay is worth the element of surprise.

>>191659
“I can never counsel attacking my countrymen. But even besides that, I would not recommend a pitched battle. They are strong, and more than that, they, and not we, have the potential to be reinforced and strengthened should any battle last too long. That is the far end of the island, away from your demonic allies, but close to their ship and fire support. And further, if we are too delayed, they could cut off the line of retreat without even intending to do so.”

>>191659
>>191660
Silver: "And of course we must worry about them skipping firefight altogether and simply calling in mortar and artillery strikes on us."

As Kira looks on at the ponies discussing what they should do, she takes a deep breath and speaks up. "I'll go. Alone. I'm not a fighter, I'm out of magic, you won't need me for the battle against the Traveler. I'm sneaky, this is what I've done my whole life. Let me take a radio and go try to get those ponies out of there, without bloodshed."

>>191661
Cavaliere looks skeptically at Kira. "Last time you did…well, diplomacy will not work. Flying is not much use out here, but I could get around the lighthouse and get to the top. You may need my help."

>>191662
Kira smiles at Cavaliere. "This time will be different. It has to be. And the more creatures that come along...well, I'm worried that the chance of failure will go up dramatically. There's no time to lose, I have to go."

And before she forgets, Kira takes the potion out that she got from Cavaliere at the airship. She uncorks the vial, looks inside at its contents, and flicks her tongue inside, licking up the potion that's contained.

[2d8+3 = (9+3) = 12]

>>191656
>She can't see any monsters - that may change if she looked more carefully
Spot
[1d20+3 = (2+3) = 5]

>>191665
Is that a monster, or a pony walking across the far hill, or the glimmer of a fragment of aluminum debris flittering in the wind? Is that movement in the sky a flying monster, or just the rolling fog? Hard to tell in the twilight. But what Posey can tell unambiguously is that the monster activity now is less than before, and everywhere it seems the GRU is on the advance. The eastern side of the bay in particular is monster free, and is the GRU's to take. But will it stay that way? That is even harder to tell

>>191663
Cavaliere nods. "I will scout the perimeter. Everyone else should stick together."

>>191666
"We need to move, swiftly!" Posey declares, forging ahead in full gallop.

>>191666
>>191667
>>191670
Kira slithers ahead of the group towards the lighthouse, trying this time to be as stealthy as the noodle can possibly be. Silver looks to the rest of the group as they move on. "Let us keep our distance, yet try to keep eye on Kira and GRU squad. We can radio her their movements and warn of their impending arrival when they get close to lighthouse."

>>191671
Before she leaves, Cavaliere asks, "Ms. Kirafiki, how do you intend to convince the sailors you are a friendly creature, given your odd shape?
And what would you have us do if the enemy reaches the lighthouse?"

>>191672
Kira stops, and turns to look at Cavaliere. "I'd tell them that we were sent by the Captain. Seems simple enough...I hope..." Looking over at the GRU squad, she continues. "I guess...don't go too far? I'll try not to linger though."

Wait, I'm confused, what direction are we going in?

>>191675
North, towards the lighthouse, and towards the end of the eastern peninsula. Cavaliere’s proposal was to move on the outside of the bay - on the opposite side of the hill by the ocean, so as to not be visible to GRU forces.

>>191676
But we're still headed in the general direction of the airponies, right?
Not complaining because I thought the Lighthouse would clues/supplies/items/npcs in it (D&D pro tip: there is always a reward for investing large, obvious structures on abandoned islands), I just want to make sure we succeed with finding the airponies.

>>191677
Yeah, we're heading towards the lighthouse. Kira is going to try to sneak her way up to it while the rest of the party keeps an eye on the GRU squad and keeps her informed about their movements.