The SSRS Kostroma lies idle in the southeastern bay of Mended Horn Island. Only the front portion, the two forward masts and the front of the superstructure that sits in the center of the freighter's hull, is illuminated by a pair of dim lights that glow orange-red, a sure sign that the boilers of the Kostroma are dying, and the lights will soon go off. The remainder of the ship's funnel, and the mast behind the superstructure are visible only in silhouette. The gibbous moon and starry night that would have provided a clear backdrop to the black hulk of the Kostroma have been smothered by the overcast skies and light rain.
A sound comes, not from the Kostroma, and indeed, not from anywhere at all. A low, vaguely tinnitus-like sound that drains out the sound of silence. It calls to you. It calls to everyone.
"Come to the Kostroma, good soldier. Join us here. Come."
/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal
1370 replies and 54 files omitted.
>>193661
"Well, Lt. Sand, it will be good to have you with us. I don't suppose you are much of a photographer? The remainder of our film roll should be used to gather evidence, but we all have a bad habit of forgetting to snap pictures. I'd like to entrust the camera to you, if there are no objections."
Cavaliere waits for Silver to answer his question before responding to Zara. He looks over at the Kostroma scientists and at Wonder. They had shown interest prior but had not spoken up before. "Do you have any comments on any of this?" he asks them.
"Well, Lt. Sand, it will be good to have you with us. I don't suppose you are much of a photographer? The remainder of our film roll should be used to gather evidence, but we all have a bad habit of forgetting to snap pictures. I'd like to entrust the camera to you, if there are no objections."
Cavaliere waits for Silver to answer his question before responding to Zara. He looks over at the Kostroma scientists and at Wonder. They had shown interest prior but had not spoken up before. "Do you have any comments on any of this?" he asks them.
>>193661
Silver gives the qt squeaky zebra mare a friendly squeeze into his side. Even through her clothes she can feel how soft, warm, and fluffy he is. "It is okay. As I said, we will protect you."
>>193660
Silver then addresses the griffon. "We should at least see if it is possible first. We should clear out major rooms of enemies and phenomena before facing Traveler, lest they come to stab us in back as we face it. And it is very likely that there is still plenty left to help us with this fight if we only look for it."
Silver gives the qt squeaky zebra mare a friendly squeeze into his side. Even through her clothes she can feel how soft, warm, and fluffy he is. "It is okay. As I said, we will protect you."
>>193660
Silver then addresses the griffon. "We should at least see if it is possible first. We should clear out major rooms of enemies and phenomena before facing Traveler, lest they come to stab us in back as we face it. And it is very likely that there is still plenty left to help us with this fight if we only look for it."
>>193663
Cavaliere frowns at the flippant, arguably manipulative, touching happening during a decision that could mean life or death. "I don't necessarily think a systematic approach is a bad choice, but there are other risks to it. We will have to fight for a longer period of time, and against an intelligent enemy that will have more chances to counter our tactics. The longer we spend in there, the more risk there is for our boats to be found."
He responds to Zara with concern in his eyes. "He's not being forthright with you. When we go in there, we will be fighting otherworldly monsters that can appear anywhere at any time, and which have made brave ponies flee in terror. If any of your friends have come under control of the Entity we want to destroy, they will fight us, and if we can't subdue them we may have to kill them. The worst danger is the Entity itself; if it contacts you, there is no telling what it will say to you or if you can resist it taking over your mind. It killed an entire village on a whim, simply by making all the ponies drown themselves. This is unlike anything you've ever heard of, let alone seen." He says all this out loud, letting interested NPCs hear an explanation of the risks.
Cavaliere frowns at the flippant, arguably manipulative, touching happening during a decision that could mean life or death. "I don't necessarily think a systematic approach is a bad choice, but there are other risks to it. We will have to fight for a longer period of time, and against an intelligent enemy that will have more chances to counter our tactics. The longer we spend in there, the more risk there is for our boats to be found."
He responds to Zara with concern in his eyes. "He's not being forthright with you. When we go in there, we will be fighting otherworldly monsters that can appear anywhere at any time, and which have made brave ponies flee in terror. If any of your friends have come under control of the Entity we want to destroy, they will fight us, and if we can't subdue them we may have to kill them. The worst danger is the Entity itself; if it contacts you, there is no telling what it will say to you or if you can resist it taking over your mind. It killed an entire village on a whim, simply by making all the ponies drown themselves. This is unlike anything you've ever heard of, let alone seen." He says all this out loud, letting interested NPCs hear an explanation of the risks.
>>193664
Kira pulls herself up onto the deck of the torpedo boat, as she has something to say and isn't sure that she's being listened to from her position in the water. "So, the Traveler just tried to talk with me and get me to join him. At first he took the form of Ouroboros, or something like him, but that didn't work because honestly I found it kinda insulting so he then took the form of Hopper who is this goat that I...uh...ahem..." She clears her throat and doesn't finish that sentence before moving onto the next. "He makes a lot of promises about making a better world and just needing your help for it, but as long as you know what he's actually promising and what your 'help' is then it's pretty easy to say no until he gives up. I mean, as long as you're conscious, I imagine if you're unconscious then he might have an easier time of things."
Kira pulls herself up onto the deck of the torpedo boat, as she has something to say and isn't sure that she's being listened to from her position in the water. "So, the Traveler just tried to talk with me and get me to join him. At first he took the form of Ouroboros, or something like him, but that didn't work because honestly I found it kinda insulting so he then took the form of Hopper who is this goat that I...uh...ahem..." She clears her throat and doesn't finish that sentence before moving onto the next. "He makes a lot of promises about making a better world and just needing your help for it, but as long as you know what he's actually promising and what your 'help' is then it's pretty easy to say no until he gives up. I mean, as long as you're conscious, I imagine if you're unconscious then he might have an easier time of things."
>>193662
Sand:
"Well, I've used a camera before, taking pictures at the school dance of my friends..." He looks at the camera with curiosity
Starfire looks a bit lost
"Uh... On what, exactly?"
>>193663
>>193664
At first, Zara smiles. Then she pushes Silver's leg away, then backs up, then sits down, then lays down, shivering with her hooves over her head. Then when Kira slithers onto the deck, she looks over, screams, and runs off.
Sand:
"Well, I've used a camera before, taking pictures at the school dance of my friends..." He looks at the camera with curiosity
Starfire looks a bit lost
"Uh... On what, exactly?"
>>193663
>>193664
At first, Zara smiles. Then she pushes Silver's leg away, then backs up, then sits down, then lays down, shivering with her hooves over her head. Then when Kira slithers onto the deck, she looks over, screams, and runs off.
>>193667
"On the situation with the Kostroma. Do you have any advice to give, considering you worked near the entity?"
He calls after Zara, "She is with us, don't worry!"
"On the situation with the Kostroma. Do you have any advice to give, considering you worked near the entity?"
He calls after Zara, "She is with us, don't worry!"
>>193668
>>193669
"Yip yip!"
Zara goes into the deckhouse, almost makes it to the stares, and then lays down, placing her hooves over her head
>>193669
Starfire
"Don't assume anything about the entity. Its skin is very tough. It seems to be able to generate heat at will. You can feel an effect on your mind when you enter the room. Like headaches. You can have hallucinations. Both auditory and visual. And don't remove the tarp."
>>193669
"Yip yip!"
Zara goes into the deckhouse, almost makes it to the stares, and then lays down, placing her hooves over her head
>>193669
Starfire
"Don't assume anything about the entity. Its skin is very tough. It seems to be able to generate heat at will. You can feel an effect on your mind when you enter the room. Like headaches. You can have hallucinations. Both auditory and visual. And don't remove the tarp."
>>193670
Silver reaches her, sliding to a stop next to her and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Zara, it is okay!"
Silver reaches her, sliding to a stop next to her and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Zara, it is okay!"
>>193661
"It seems as though it is a monster with the ability to undergo hypotrophy. I have heard of several such creatures in my studies, but few with passive mental domination abilities such as this one. Its body likely resists exterior damage in that form, although its damage resistance cannot be absolute if it lashed out with matter agitation when exposed to a scalpel. Still, it must be exceptionally durable in its dormant state if it really survived a fall from terminal velocity. Perhaps an interior approach can damage it, or at the very least taunt it into a form where it is vulnerable to damage." Posey replies
"The creature demonstrates pyrokinetic and matter agitation capabilities with enough awareness and precision to melt tools, which complicate an approach to destroying it with explosives. Perhaps I may be able to counter that though: I have recently developed a spell that conjures frigid vapors like the stygian mists of Tartarus. If I surround it in the cloud icy mist, I should be able to prevent it from damaging the detonator before we trigger it. The drawback is that the stygian mists will exhaust any slowly freeze anypony but me in the cloud."
She continues
"I suspect that this monster must be in a dormant state, which may explain its telepathic control abilities: it is attacking its thralls in the dreamscape. No creature, not even the eldest vampire lords, can actively dominate so many creatures at once, but the dreamscape has no such limits, and vampires, demons and dream vestiges are fabled to have enslaved entire cities and even countries this way. Once its victims are asleep within range of its telepathic presence, the Intruder only needs to enter their dreams and drag them into a deeper nightmare of its own fabrication, a nightmare tailored to keep its victim in a perpetual state of compliance. Before my travels, I assisted in writing a thesis on how recent military developments in Equestria may affect necroecology, as ponies all over the world have nopony to defend them from nameless horrors in the dreamscape."
She continues
"The Intruder speaks about a world without limits, and hails from beyond the filament of creation. Not a space between spaces, but rather no space at all. Arcanists refer to this place as the Far Realm, but really, it is nearer than you think. The aberrant void intersects with the minds and dreams of creatures living and dead, in a place known as the Cerebrotic Periphery: place of delirium and revelation. For a telepathic beast such as the Intruder, entering the dreams of ponies through the periphery of thought would be a simple task."
She continues
"As a Cerebrant, I would know. My tutors threw me into the mire and refused to pull me out until I demonstrated my own revelations." she says
She pauses
"Anyways, if the Traveller is truly dormant and controlling ponies by attacking them in the dreamscape, then it may yet be plausible to release ponies under its control yet before it is completely destroyed. If we were to taunt it into motion, or wound it enough to make it wake up, its dream should collapse, and the ponies under its command may regain their lucidity."
"It seems as though it is a monster with the ability to undergo hypotrophy. I have heard of several such creatures in my studies, but few with passive mental domination abilities such as this one. Its body likely resists exterior damage in that form, although its damage resistance cannot be absolute if it lashed out with matter agitation when exposed to a scalpel. Still, it must be exceptionally durable in its dormant state if it really survived a fall from terminal velocity. Perhaps an interior approach can damage it, or at the very least taunt it into a form where it is vulnerable to damage." Posey replies
"The creature demonstrates pyrokinetic and matter agitation capabilities with enough awareness and precision to melt tools, which complicate an approach to destroying it with explosives. Perhaps I may be able to counter that though: I have recently developed a spell that conjures frigid vapors like the stygian mists of Tartarus. If I surround it in the cloud icy mist, I should be able to prevent it from damaging the detonator before we trigger it. The drawback is that the stygian mists will exhaust any slowly freeze anypony but me in the cloud."
She continues
"I suspect that this monster must be in a dormant state, which may explain its telepathic control abilities: it is attacking its thralls in the dreamscape. No creature, not even the eldest vampire lords, can actively dominate so many creatures at once, but the dreamscape has no such limits, and vampires, demons and dream vestiges are fabled to have enslaved entire cities and even countries this way. Once its victims are asleep within range of its telepathic presence, the Intruder only needs to enter their dreams and drag them into a deeper nightmare of its own fabrication, a nightmare tailored to keep its victim in a perpetual state of compliance. Before my travels, I assisted in writing a thesis on how recent military developments in Equestria may affect necroecology, as ponies all over the world have nopony to defend them from nameless horrors in the dreamscape."
She continues
"The Intruder speaks about a world without limits, and hails from beyond the filament of creation. Not a space between spaces, but rather no space at all. Arcanists refer to this place as the Far Realm, but really, it is nearer than you think. The aberrant void intersects with the minds and dreams of creatures living and dead, in a place known as the Cerebrotic Periphery: place of delirium and revelation. For a telepathic beast such as the Intruder, entering the dreams of ponies through the periphery of thought would be a simple task."
She continues
"As a Cerebrant, I would know. My tutors threw me into the mire and refused to pull me out until I demonstrated my own revelations." she says
She pauses
"Anyways, if the Traveller is truly dormant and controlling ponies by attacking them in the dreamscape, then it may yet be plausible to release ponies under its control yet before it is completely destroyed. If we were to taunt it into motion, or wound it enough to make it wake up, its dream should collapse, and the ponies under its command may regain their lucidity."
>>193670
"What would be the most direct path from the deck of the ship to that hold? Would we be passing through the laboratory? What should we look out for?"
"What would be the most direct path from the deck of the ship to that hold? Would we be passing through the laboratory? What should we look out for?"
"The Intruder may seem formidable, but in its hypotrophic state it is completely dependent on its flock. Despite the capacity to summon aliens with numbers that match even that legendary Starspawned Sorceress, it remains stranded here. It appears as though its monstrous minions have no understanding of how to crew a ship, and the Intruder itself has no context with which to guide them. This suggests that it lacks the mindset to function capably in our consensus reality without parasitizing the minds of native creatures: if isolated from its flock, it should become feral, insane, and savage, like all its other alien brethren in the madness beyond the firmament." she says
"I suspect that it has a focus to anchor itself within consensus reality, to it itself a perception of time, space, intention and conviction, likely one of the minds within its flock. The hippogriff is an obvious focus, as their perverse notions have been telepathically grafted to one another. If we neutralize the hippogriff, we may be able to regress the Traveller into an animalistic state, and taunt it out of dormancy so that it can be killed like any other animal."
"I suspect that it has a focus to anchor itself within consensus reality, to it itself a perception of time, space, intention and conviction, likely one of the minds within its flock. The hippogriff is an obvious focus, as their perverse notions have been telepathically grafted to one another. If we neutralize the hippogriff, we may be able to regress the Traveller into an animalistic state, and taunt it out of dormancy so that it can be killed like any other animal."
>>193673
"The top deck is made of wood. I can conjure an ooze that should be able to melt through it with ease, allowing us a direct route down to the Intruder, as well as the advantage of high ground for those who would prefer to fire through the hole."
"The top deck is made of wood. I can conjure an ooze that should be able to melt through it with ease, allowing us a direct route down to the Intruder, as well as the advantage of high ground for those who would prefer to fire through the hole."
>>193672
Kira raises her hoof. "I might be able to survive in your icy mists! One of the spells Ouroboros blessed me with was filling me with His light and warmth to allow me to exist comfortably despite the outside temperature. I even used it to bring the captain back from the brink of total possession by letting him share in Ouroboro's warmth. I...don't know how cold the stygian mists are, but if anything can keep me warm, it's His light!". She caps it off with a huge, bright smile.
Kira raises her hoof. "I might be able to survive in your icy mists! One of the spells Ouroboros blessed me with was filling me with His light and warmth to allow me to exist comfortably despite the outside temperature. I even used it to bring the captain back from the brink of total possession by letting him share in Ouroboro's warmth. I...don't know how cold the stygian mists are, but if anything can keep me warm, it's His light!". She caps it off with a huge, bright smile.
>>193676
"No. That will not save you." Posey says flatly
"I do not bother myself with learning cold spells that can be trumped by basic elemental endurance."
"No. That will not save you." Posey says flatly
"I do not bother myself with learning cold spells that can be trumped by basic elemental endurance."
>>193672
Cavaliere takes out a small notebook and writes in it with a black and silver pen.
"If nothing else, the mists may surprise it long enough for you to slip in and out. I suppose any of us could do it with risk of frostbite. What makes you immune?"
He continues, "We don't know where Light Water is. If we drop in directly, we would be exposing ourselves to the full brunt of its might without being able to kill it, if he is in a different room. That is, unless if you're confident that we can kill it regardless. Doing that first would likely free the minds of every creature, and we could capture Light Water safely."
Cavaliere takes out a small notebook and writes in it with a black and silver pen.
"If nothing else, the mists may surprise it long enough for you to slip in and out. I suppose any of us could do it with risk of frostbite. What makes you immune?"
He continues, "We don't know where Light Water is. If we drop in directly, we would be exposing ourselves to the full brunt of its might without being able to kill it, if he is in a different room. That is, unless if you're confident that we can kill it regardless. Doing that first would likely free the minds of every creature, and we could capture Light Water safely."
>>193677
>>193675
"Oh..." Kira's ears fold down. "I mean...His light is pretty warm..." After a couple moments, she raises her hoof again. "Also I'm with Silver on clearing out the ship first. It's a simple hunting tactic to get your prey to focus on defending (or in this case attacking) in one direction while the other members of your hunting pack hit them from behind. The Traveler's not stupid, he's going to know we're coming for him, I mean he's the big baddie after all, or maybe Light Water is actually but either way if we don't clear the ship there's a very good chance some horrible monster we were unaware of gets the drop on us as we're figuring out how we even hurt the Traveler."
>>193675
"Oh..." Kira's ears fold down. "I mean...His light is pretty warm..." After a couple moments, she raises her hoof again. "Also I'm with Silver on clearing out the ship first. It's a simple hunting tactic to get your prey to focus on defending (or in this case attacking) in one direction while the other members of your hunting pack hit them from behind. The Traveler's not stupid, he's going to know we're coming for him, I mean he's the big baddie after all, or maybe Light Water is actually but either way if we don't clear the ship there's a very good chance some horrible monster we were unaware of gets the drop on us as we're figuring out how we even hurt the Traveler."
>>193678
"My body is fortified against that sort of magic. It is part of my profession. And it is not the frostbite you should be worried about, it is the exhaustion." Posey says
"There were no ponies above the deck to be seen, which means they are all below deck. It seems as though the Intruder has bunched them together. Light Water should be among them."
>>193661
She turns to Blackheel
"Unless you could imagine any other place that Light Water would prefer to lair?" she asks
"My body is fortified against that sort of magic. It is part of my profession. And it is not the frostbite you should be worried about, it is the exhaustion." Posey says
"There were no ponies above the deck to be seen, which means they are all below deck. It seems as though the Intruder has bunched them together. Light Water should be among them."
>>193661
She turns to Blackheel
"Unless you could imagine any other place that Light Water would prefer to lair?" she asks
>>193680
"I looked through the aft deckhouse and it's likewise deserted. There is a stairway from there deeper into the ship."
"I looked through the aft deckhouse and it's likewise deserted. There is a stairway from there deeper into the ship."
>>193671
"Yip"
The zehbruh is caught
>>193672
Pippette comments
"The scapel didn't cut it, but..." She stares past Posey, and into the steel hull of the ship. "I don't know. It's like it could have burned me instead, and that was its point. That it could have burned me. It was a warning to not touch it."
Starfire speaks
"It could go as low as negative 20 in that marsh, but evidently it was able to melt the snow. It must have decent heating powers. The cold didn't stop it. Neither in the marsh nor the cargo hold. But I don't know. Maybe more cold would harm it. Maybe the cold is hurting it, and it would be much more capable in a warmer environment."
The ponies stand and listen, almost in awe, as Posey speaks of the Far Realm, and of the vulnerability of dreams.
>>193672
>>193674
Starfire speaks again
"The snow ponies say that the anomalies started several months after an explosion in a remote forest south of the coast. It shook windows all the way in Everfrost and flattened miles of forest. The consensus explanation was a meteorite, or maybe a comet, exploded in the atmosphere. The entity was found near the epicenter of that blast. It wasn't noticed at first as it was partly buried in a swamp. Ponies went around that area and didn't even know it was there for months. You know, the most important thing, I think, to note is that it took some time to become active. Like it was completely dormant at first then became more powerful and active. Then when the central government officials found it, it was dormant again. To the degree they could pick it up and haul it on a sled train.
Maybe it just takes time for it to ramp up, but... I think that... when it takes over a pony's mind, it feeds off of it. It draws energy from it. When it went dormant after it killed the village, it may have overexerted itself. But it also lost all of its thralls. And then when the mutiny happened on the Kostroma. That did not happen until after days of strange dreams and it messing with our minds. And then that pony that opened its eye..."
After a pause
"I would not want to wake it. I do not know how vulnerable it will be when awoken, but I know how vulnerable it isn't when it was sleeping."
Another pause
"Maybe it awoke before it went to sleep again in the snow pony village, I don't know. I do know that the earth around it had been disturbed in a way it was not when the first crews came by after the explosion."
>>193673
Starfire
"It, uh... I think there are a couple sets of stairs that go down there. It is on deck one, hold two."
>>193677
Blackheel:
"I knew you were cold."
>>193680
Blackheel:
"I suspect Light Water will be on deck 5, on the bridge, in the radio room, or the captain's quarters. But he could just as well be in cargo hold 4, the boiler room, or wherever for all I know."
"Yip"
The zehbruh is caught
>>193672
Pippette comments
"The scapel didn't cut it, but..." She stares past Posey, and into the steel hull of the ship. "I don't know. It's like it could have burned me instead, and that was its point. That it could have burned me. It was a warning to not touch it."
Starfire speaks
"It could go as low as negative 20 in that marsh, but evidently it was able to melt the snow. It must have decent heating powers. The cold didn't stop it. Neither in the marsh nor the cargo hold. But I don't know. Maybe more cold would harm it. Maybe the cold is hurting it, and it would be much more capable in a warmer environment."
The ponies stand and listen, almost in awe, as Posey speaks of the Far Realm, and of the vulnerability of dreams.
>>193672
>>193674
Starfire speaks again
"The snow ponies say that the anomalies started several months after an explosion in a remote forest south of the coast. It shook windows all the way in Everfrost and flattened miles of forest. The consensus explanation was a meteorite, or maybe a comet, exploded in the atmosphere. The entity was found near the epicenter of that blast. It wasn't noticed at first as it was partly buried in a swamp. Ponies went around that area and didn't even know it was there for months. You know, the most important thing, I think, to note is that it took some time to become active. Like it was completely dormant at first then became more powerful and active. Then when the central government officials found it, it was dormant again. To the degree they could pick it up and haul it on a sled train.
Maybe it just takes time for it to ramp up, but... I think that... when it takes over a pony's mind, it feeds off of it. It draws energy from it. When it went dormant after it killed the village, it may have overexerted itself. But it also lost all of its thralls. And then when the mutiny happened on the Kostroma. That did not happen until after days of strange dreams and it messing with our minds. And then that pony that opened its eye..."
After a pause
"I would not want to wake it. I do not know how vulnerable it will be when awoken, but I know how vulnerable it isn't when it was sleeping."
Another pause
"Maybe it awoke before it went to sleep again in the snow pony village, I don't know. I do know that the earth around it had been disturbed in a way it was not when the first crews came by after the explosion."
>>193673
Starfire
"It, uh... I think there are a couple sets of stairs that go down there. It is on deck one, hold two."
>>193677
Blackheel:
"I knew you were cold."
>>193680
Blackheel:
"I suspect Light Water will be on deck 5, on the bridge, in the radio room, or the captain's quarters. But he could just as well be in cargo hold 4, the boiler room, or wherever for all I know."
>>193684
Cavaliere listens attentively to the scientists and takes a few notes. Finally, he questions, "If it is reliant on a 'focus' like she speculates," with a nod to Posey, "why wouldn't its focus among the Northern Tribes have been left alive? Were there any indications of a pony that served to focus its will? Any evidence of violence among the ponies there prior to their mass murder?" This was probably in the written accounts Cavaliere picked up, I should go look for them "Regardless, we cannot be content with putting it into a dormant state, even if we sank it to the bottom of the ocean. We would be relegating this problem to future generations. Also, justice must be served."
He responds to Blackheel, "It's a big ship. If Light Water wants to run and hide from us, he would have no trouble doing so. And time is against our side."
Cavaliere listens attentively to the scientists and takes a few notes. Finally, he questions, "If it is reliant on a 'focus' like she speculates," with a nod to Posey, "why wouldn't its focus among the Northern Tribes have been left alive? Were there any indications of a pony that served to focus its will? Any evidence of violence among the ponies there prior to their mass murder?" This was probably in the written accounts Cavaliere picked up, I should go look for them "Regardless, we cannot be content with putting it into a dormant state, even if we sank it to the bottom of the ocean. We would be relegating this problem to future generations. Also, justice must be served."
He responds to Blackheel, "It's a big ship. If Light Water wants to run and hide from us, he would have no trouble doing so. And time is against our side."
>>193686
Starfire:
"Well..."
Blackheel:
"There was, kind of. A 'Lightwater-like' figure. You see, these ponies in the rural villages are not well educated. They perceive Socialism not as the vehicle to bring themselves into a better future as it is, but as a foreign imposed doctrine. In the few instances that the old prejudices actually are stamped out, they are replaced by new superstitions. The entity encountered a figure who decided he was going to be a prophet. We don't actually have a good surviving account as no survivors retained their minds, but the best guess is that this would-be-prophet convinced the entity that it was a god, then went about convincing, or trying to convince the whole village that the entity was the center of a new religion. Or something to that effect, judging by a couple journal notes and cryptic runes. There were signs of violence, yes. It wasn't as bad as occurred on our ship but... it seems the prophet was killed by another pony."
"Hippogriffs in general are cowards, and nothing about that Lightwater tells me he is an exception. At least he has no where to go off of the ship."
Starfire:
"Well..."
Blackheel:
"There was, kind of. A 'Lightwater-like' figure. You see, these ponies in the rural villages are not well educated. They perceive Socialism not as the vehicle to bring themselves into a better future as it is, but as a foreign imposed doctrine. In the few instances that the old prejudices actually are stamped out, they are replaced by new superstitions. The entity encountered a figure who decided he was going to be a prophet. We don't actually have a good surviving account as no survivors retained their minds, but the best guess is that this would-be-prophet convinced the entity that it was a god, then went about convincing, or trying to convince the whole village that the entity was the center of a new religion. Or something to that effect, judging by a couple journal notes and cryptic runes. There were signs of violence, yes. It wasn't as bad as occurred on our ship but... it seems the prophet was killed by another pony."
"Hippogriffs in general are cowards, and nothing about that Lightwater tells me he is an exception. At least he has no where to go off of the ship."
>>193686
>>193687
Kira raises her hoof again. "Well, if the Traveler is basing this new personality and goals off of Light Water's, then I imagine that Light Water is pretty full of him. So, you could try taunting him, insulting him, getting him to show himself. Or you could try to feign interest in his ideals and have him lead us right to his hiding place."
>>193684
Silver gently pets Zara, as he has a realization. "You started shivering just before you saw Kira and run away. Did...did Traveler try getting into your head?"
>>193687
Kira raises her hoof again. "Well, if the Traveler is basing this new personality and goals off of Light Water's, then I imagine that Light Water is pretty full of him. So, you could try taunting him, insulting him, getting him to show himself. Or you could try to feign interest in his ideals and have him lead us right to his hiding place."
>>193684
Silver gently pets Zara, as he has a realization. "You started shivering just before you saw Kira and run away. Did...did Traveler try getting into your head?"
>>193687
>>193688
"It seems we have a basis to go off then. I would much rather we capture Light Water alive, but if we either eliminate him or subdue the entity's control over him, we might bait it out. As for Light Water himself, he strikes me as an egomaniac who will come out and gloat if he thinks himself invulnerable."
>>193688
"It seems we have a basis to go off then. I would much rather we capture Light Water alive, but if we either eliminate him or subdue the entity's control over him, we might bait it out. As for Light Water himself, he strikes me as an egomaniac who will come out and gloat if he thinks himself invulnerable."
>>193691
He nods. "It does help us that he is the only hippogriff for miles around. We can find him, and it shouldn't take us the whole night. If you remember that cocooned pony, when we do fight him we will have a fight to reckon with."
He nods. "It does help us that he is the only hippogriff for miles around. We can find him, and it shouldn't take us the whole night. If you remember that cocooned pony, when we do fight him we will have a fight to reckon with."
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Posey turns to the herd
"In the interest of inclusion, before we selflessly throw ourselves into the Eldritch cesspool, does any pony have any questions, concerns or suggestions for how to board the vessel? Any plans you might be confident in?"
>>193687
She turns to Blackheel in particular
"We may be pirates, and I have amateur knowledge of dealing with Eldritch horrors, but our crew's experience in this particular manner is quite limited. It is your ship, and I am sure your experienced sailors and tacticians have all had strong opinions on plans for how to approach this situation, that they have graciously kept to themselves to preserve peace. Would you be so kind as to speak on behalf of yourself and your comrades for how to approach this mess?" she requests
.
Also, i would like to make an Arcana check to see if Posey has any kind of hunch in what Light Water's connection to The Traveller might be, and if sending an infiltration team to kidnap him first might be worthwhile in any way. As a Warmagus, Posey's only relevant knowledge to gain a Strategic Advantage in warfare would be discerning the nature of supernatural effects and creatures.
Arcana:
[1d20+11 = (16+11) = 27]
Religion (if this thing is actually a deity, demigod, or abomination; also since Light Water is acting as a sort of 'prophet' with a connection to the entity)
[1d20+11 = (11+11) = 22]
(If these rolls could tell me anything about the tactical limits of the creature's summoning or mind control abilities, or any weaknesses it might have, that would be nice too)
"In the interest of inclusion, before we selflessly throw ourselves into the Eldritch cesspool, does any pony have any questions, concerns or suggestions for how to board the vessel? Any plans you might be confident in?"
>>193687
She turns to Blackheel in particular
"We may be pirates, and I have amateur knowledge of dealing with Eldritch horrors, but our crew's experience in this particular manner is quite limited. It is your ship, and I am sure your experienced sailors and tacticians have all had strong opinions on plans for how to approach this situation, that they have graciously kept to themselves to preserve peace. Would you be so kind as to speak on behalf of yourself and your comrades for how to approach this mess?" she requests
.
Also, i would like to make an Arcana check to see if Posey has any kind of hunch in what Light Water's connection to The Traveller might be, and if sending an infiltration team to kidnap him first might be worthwhile in any way. As a Warmagus, Posey's only relevant knowledge to gain a Strategic Advantage in warfare would be discerning the nature of supernatural effects and creatures.
Arcana:
[1d20+11 = (16+11) = 27]
Religion (if this thing is actually a deity, demigod, or abomination; also since Light Water is acting as a sort of 'prophet' with a connection to the entity)
[1d20+11 = (11+11) = 22]
(If these rolls could tell me anything about the tactical limits of the creature's summoning or mind control abilities, or any weaknesses it might have, that would be nice too)
>>193712
Weary Weeks points his hoof at the covered, steel ladder going up the side of the Kostroma and terminating immediately behind the midship deck house.
"Up the ladder"
Blackheel steps forward
"Sure." He says. "Kill the hippogriff, kill the griffin, and bury 'Chernobog' at sea."
Starfire comes up
"I, uh... Well, the Entity exudes energy in multiple forms. Not heat or light energy, but magic, certainly in more than one form, and likely electromagnetic as well. We didn't actually have the ability to properly conduct tests, but it would sometimes interfere with our radios. And... You can feel it. You can definitely feel it. You can hear it. Like electromagnetic waves it can be blocked or at least reduced. Tin foil will stop it and applying it in the form of a helmet delays the effects of the Traveler's Influence."
It's a much, much weaker form of a much, much more powerful type of thing. Light Water absolutely has significant power over the Traveler
Weary Weeks points his hoof at the covered, steel ladder going up the side of the Kostroma and terminating immediately behind the midship deck house.
"Up the ladder"
Blackheel steps forward
"Sure." He says. "Kill the hippogriff, kill the griffin, and bury 'Chernobog' at sea."
Starfire comes up
"I, uh... Well, the Entity exudes energy in multiple forms. Not heat or light energy, but magic, certainly in more than one form, and likely electromagnetic as well. We didn't actually have the ability to properly conduct tests, but it would sometimes interfere with our radios. And... You can feel it. You can definitely feel it. You can hear it. Like electromagnetic waves it can be blocked or at least reduced. Tin foil will stop it and applying it in the form of a helmet delays the effects of the Traveler's Influence."
It's a much, much weaker form of a much, much more powerful type of thing. Light Water absolutely has significant power over the Traveler
>>193713
>"Up the ladder"
>"Sure." He says. "Kill the hippogriff, kill the griffin, and bury 'Chernobog' at sea."
Posey's paralyzed face twitches very subtly
"...Yes, yes, that was already our plan..." she replies
"Very well then..." she continues
"Since there were no thralls on deck, the majority must be centered around the Intruder in the cargo hold. Light Water is probably still playing with the radio, so he should be on the bridge. Cavalier, Kira and I, those of us with the most mobility and stealth, will sneak towards the bridge to find, capture and incapacitate Light Water. In the mean time, Silver and Blackheel will organize all remaining able bodies to mount the ladders and organize on the deck above the Cargo hold. Once Kira, Cavalier and I capture our objective, we will meet the combat forces rallying on the main deck, where I will conjure an ooze to dissolve the deck and expose a direct path towards the Intruder beneath: after that, our forces can fire on the Intruder's forces within with the advantage of high ground and near total cover, while melee oriented forces can enter the cargo hold themselves. Or objective thereafter will be to execute Light Water while simultaneously detonating the explosive Harpoon in the mouth of the Intruder, and I will then attempt a recitation to prevent it from resurrecting."
She continues
"The New Mareland hostages as well as all too wounded or otherwise unable to fight will wait aboard this torpedo ship, or the Swan boat if they prefer. They will see to repairs of the ship to ensure that it is seaworthy should we need to retreat, and they will also watch over the enthralled prisoners. The New Mareland Lieutenant will join the main assault herd above the cargo hold, which should erase any doubts of the New Mareland forces leaving with the torpedo boat."
She pauses
"Considering the sensory abilities of the Intruder, it is likely already privy to this plan. It has not conjured any monsters to attack us at this moment, which means it is waiting for us to make a move before then, which means we must expect the unexpected and know that we are entering into a trap..."
She perks up
"Are there any questions before we leave?"
>"Up the ladder"
>"Sure." He says. "Kill the hippogriff, kill the griffin, and bury 'Chernobog' at sea."
Posey's paralyzed face twitches very subtly
"...Yes, yes, that was already our plan..." she replies
"Very well then..." she continues
"Since there were no thralls on deck, the majority must be centered around the Intruder in the cargo hold. Light Water is probably still playing with the radio, so he should be on the bridge. Cavalier, Kira and I, those of us with the most mobility and stealth, will sneak towards the bridge to find, capture and incapacitate Light Water. In the mean time, Silver and Blackheel will organize all remaining able bodies to mount the ladders and organize on the deck above the Cargo hold. Once Kira, Cavalier and I capture our objective, we will meet the combat forces rallying on the main deck, where I will conjure an ooze to dissolve the deck and expose a direct path towards the Intruder beneath: after that, our forces can fire on the Intruder's forces within with the advantage of high ground and near total cover, while melee oriented forces can enter the cargo hold themselves. Or objective thereafter will be to execute Light Water while simultaneously detonating the explosive Harpoon in the mouth of the Intruder, and I will then attempt a recitation to prevent it from resurrecting."
She continues
"The New Mareland hostages as well as all too wounded or otherwise unable to fight will wait aboard this torpedo ship, or the Swan boat if they prefer. They will see to repairs of the ship to ensure that it is seaworthy should we need to retreat, and they will also watch over the enthralled prisoners. The New Mareland Lieutenant will join the main assault herd above the cargo hold, which should erase any doubts of the New Mareland forces leaving with the torpedo boat."
She pauses
"Considering the sensory abilities of the Intruder, it is likely already privy to this plan. It has not conjured any monsters to attack us at this moment, which means it is waiting for us to make a move before then, which means we must expect the unexpected and know that we are entering into a trap..."
She perks up
"Are there any questions before we leave?"
>>193714
Blackheel tilts his head:
“You absolutely expect that you’re entering into a trap with no ability to hide your movements, and your first instinct is to divide your forces in half and let your enemy eliminate one half, and then the other?”
Blackheel tilts his head:
“You absolutely expect that you’re entering into a trap with no ability to hide your movements, and your first instinct is to divide your forces in half and let your enemy eliminate one half, and then the other?”
>>193715
"My intent is to capture Light Water as quickly as possible, which should create a sufficient distraction for the rest of the herd to organize. Once he is captured, the Intruder should focus its attention on me, and I should be able to taunt it long enough holding the hippogriff hostage." Posey replies
"Getting this many ponies on deck will take time."
"My intent is to capture Light Water as quickly as possible, which should create a sufficient distraction for the rest of the herd to organize. Once he is captured, the Intruder should focus its attention on me, and I should be able to taunt it long enough holding the hippogriff hostage." Posey replies
"Getting this many ponies on deck will take time."
>>193713
With Silver tending to the scared zebra mare, Kira raises her hoof while deciding to fill in for the fluffy unicorn. "I've heard there's a rule in motion pictures that if you don't see a body then they aren't actually...um...killed. I've never seen a motion picture before so I don't know how true that is but I know it's true in real life."
>>193715
>>193716
Kira continues to raise her hoof. "Also don't we have fliers and a really big flier to help bring everyone onto the ship?"
With Silver tending to the scared zebra mare, Kira raises her hoof while deciding to fill in for the fluffy unicorn. "I've heard there's a rule in motion pictures that if you don't see a body then they aren't actually...um...killed. I've never seen a motion picture before so I don't know how true that is but I know it's true in real life."
>>193715
>>193716
Kira continues to raise her hoof. "Also don't we have fliers and a really big flier to help bring everyone onto the ship?"
>>193717
"They can climb the ladders while we find Light Water." Posey says, climbing back onto the deck herself
"They can climb the ladders while we find Light Water." Posey says, climbing back onto the deck herself
>>193713
The griffon replies to Starfire, "You mentioned a tarp. Did you try covering it with metal sheets to subdue it? Metal disrupting its powers would explain why we are not too badly affected out here."
And to Posey, "I agree that we should get Light Water first. But Starfire raised an important point about metal. Melting a hole in the roof could remove the last barrier the outside world has from this thing's powers. We also have a clawful of able-bodied creatures and even fewer rifles. Rappelling into the belly of the beast is the fastest way, but it also sounds like suicide. It may well be preparing a trap, but we don't know if we can catch it by surprise with this method."
The griffon replies to Starfire, "You mentioned a tarp. Did you try covering it with metal sheets to subdue it? Metal disrupting its powers would explain why we are not too badly affected out here."
And to Posey, "I agree that we should get Light Water first. But Starfire raised an important point about metal. Melting a hole in the roof could remove the last barrier the outside world has from this thing's powers. We also have a clawful of able-bodied creatures and even fewer rifles. Rappelling into the belly of the beast is the fastest way, but it also sounds like suicide. It may well be preparing a trap, but we don't know if we can catch it by surprise with this method."
Patient Pipette has come towards the fore in the recent discussions, rather than stay around in the back. She stands on all fours, though she keeps her legs tightly together in a pose that seems odd and perhaps unstable. She rocks herself back and forth, and sometimes leans her head down and closes her eyes. Once, she almost falls over, and nearly off the boat, being caught by a combination of the railing and the stallion behind her. What parts of her mane come out from under the conical tin foil hat are frizzled and unkempt. Her tail has tangles in its blue hairs.
But all of a sudden, her round eyes, already made to look large by the magnification of her corrective lenses, become wider than before. And she shouts in a way that cannot be thought but mad.
"Don't you get it? Do you really not get it? Our Fellow Traveller, the Entity, the thing - it really is the Black God. It really is a god. That's what it is. It is a god. Just the same as that Tiamat or your ouro-whatever. It is a god. It feeds off of your faith. Or off of the souls of sacrifices, or whatever. It doesn't just want to have power over you. It needs you. It needs you as its food. It is a parasite and you are its host. Without it, it is completely dead, like a plant without water, or a fire without fuel or air. That is why it was dead, drifting through the emptiness of space, or wherever it was. That is why it gained power when a cult was established around it. That is why it became dead again when its followers died. That is why it awoke again when it fed off of the minds of our sailors. Don't you see? Do you not get it? That's why it hasn't killed us yet. Not because it can't, but because - because it can't. It needs us alive as its food. That's why it's been toying with the Spetsnaz, putting on a show of force just to lead them to the ship. That's why it still calls to us, constantly reaches out to us. Always wants to make Mephistopheles pacts with us. It needs us. Because it needs to draw on our spirits for power, and because the deals it makes with sapient creatures give it purpose and meaning, something for it to do with its time. Without followers it has nothing. It came to us like this because it fought its fellow gods and was expelled. Now it hopes to gain power off of all creaturedom, and to fight its rivals again. That is why it is so happy to adopt atheism. It wants to cut off the supply of its rivals. How do you kill the black god? The same way you kill every god! By eliminating its worship, and erasing it from memory."
Pipette's right forehoof slips - presumably in the lose diesel fuel, but possibly on sea water, and she almost falls to the ground, though she stabilizes herself before she hits the deck. Her ears pop up and eyes widen still further in fear from her near collapse. Blackheel himself walks over, places a foreleg to pick her up, and starts petting her.
But all of a sudden, her round eyes, already made to look large by the magnification of her corrective lenses, become wider than before. And she shouts in a way that cannot be thought but mad.
"Don't you get it? Do you really not get it? Our Fellow Traveller, the Entity, the thing - it really is the Black God. It really is a god. That's what it is. It is a god. Just the same as that Tiamat or your ouro-whatever. It is a god. It feeds off of your faith. Or off of the souls of sacrifices, or whatever. It doesn't just want to have power over you. It needs you. It needs you as its food. It is a parasite and you are its host. Without it, it is completely dead, like a plant without water, or a fire without fuel or air. That is why it was dead, drifting through the emptiness of space, or wherever it was. That is why it gained power when a cult was established around it. That is why it became dead again when its followers died. That is why it awoke again when it fed off of the minds of our sailors. Don't you see? Do you not get it? That's why it hasn't killed us yet. Not because it can't, but because - because it can't. It needs us alive as its food. That's why it's been toying with the Spetsnaz, putting on a show of force just to lead them to the ship. That's why it still calls to us, constantly reaches out to us. Always wants to make Mephistopheles pacts with us. It needs us. Because it needs to draw on our spirits for power, and because the deals it makes with sapient creatures give it purpose and meaning, something for it to do with its time. Without followers it has nothing. It came to us like this because it fought its fellow gods and was expelled. Now it hopes to gain power off of all creaturedom, and to fight its rivals again. That is why it is so happy to adopt atheism. It wants to cut off the supply of its rivals. How do you kill the black god? The same way you kill every god! By eliminating its worship, and erasing it from memory."
Pipette's right forehoof slips - presumably in the lose diesel fuel, but possibly on sea water, and she almost falls to the ground, though she stabilizes herself before she hits the deck. Her ears pop up and eyes widen still further in fear from her near collapse. Blackheel himself walks over, places a foreleg to pick her up, and starts petting her.
>>193721
>NPC becoming unglued again
"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!!" Posey commands
Intimidate
[1d20+14 = (2+14) = 16]
>How do you kill the black god? The same way you kill every god! By eliminating its worship, and erasing it from memory
"Be patient. I once wrote a thesis on theoretical deicide for my apprenticeship. I am prepared to do whatever it takes."
>NPC becoming unglued again
"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!!" Posey commands
Intimidate
[1d20+14 = (2+14) = 16]
>How do you kill the black god? The same way you kill every god! By eliminating its worship, and erasing it from memory
"Be patient. I once wrote a thesis on theoretical deicide for my apprenticeship. I am prepared to do whatever it takes."
>>193721
Cavaliere looks sympathetically toward Patient Pipette. He starts to move toward her but stops due to the other ponies being closer. "If it only were that simple. If you're suggesting we execute its thralls, let me remind you that they are creatures we are trying to save. They could have been any of us, and they might be restored when we deal with this thing."
He turns to Posey. "In their weakened state we can't risk opening the cargo hold and exposing them directly. Yet. we must be fast since they won't hold out much longer even now."
Cavaliere looks sympathetically toward Patient Pipette. He starts to move toward her but stops due to the other ponies being closer. "If it only were that simple. If you're suggesting we execute its thralls, let me remind you that they are creatures we are trying to save. They could have been any of us, and they might be restored when we deal with this thing."
He turns to Posey. "In their weakened state we can't risk opening the cargo hold and exposing them directly. Yet. we must be fast since they won't hold out much longer even now."
Shortly after the madmare's ramblings, there is a flicker of the two lights over the deck of the Kostroma, and then the whole world is plunged into blackness. A pony may believe, justly, that they have just died. Is this what the afterlife is like? Just blackness? Where you have the consciousness to perceive, but no eyes to see with? Could, perhaps, we all have been transported to a new world? Maybe a shell has gone off and blinded us?
Ask yourself, how often have you seen actual, true darkness? Not simply a relative lack of lights, but actual darkness? It rather rare. Even on a moonless night outside there will still be the innumerable stars in the sky and the lights of distant galaxies. On even a clouded night in Baltimare there will be the lights of the oil refineries reflected by the clouds, glowing. Streetlights and the headlights of passing automobiles. Even indoors, there are the lights of electronics and what pierces the windows. In the outdoors away from civilization, there are the lights of distant houses, of fishing boats and containerships in the water, of campfires and numerous other sources.
So far the party has not been without light. The last rays of the sun persisted even after sunset for a while. In the village, the magnesium, mortar-launched flares of the GRU lit the world in a dim, green glow. Then the electric discharges of the seraphs, the flashes of gun muzzles, green tracer rounds, and the flashlights of the GRU soldiers have provided at least some amount of light, with the lights of the Kostroma in the opposite direction. Now, the island of Mended Horn is dark. Electricity never came here, and the GRU has evidently not lit it, perhaps not willing to give away their positions with flashlights or thinking their mission on the island accomplished. The return of the fog may as well have drowned out any lights. The interior of the torpedo boat, to be sure, was lit by electric lights supplied by its limited batteries. But the exterior is and has been under a complete blackout protocol, to the extent the boat is nearly invisible.
Those two lights of the Kostroma were the last stable, general lights. When they flick off, there is nothing but perfect darkness. Though there is no light, there is the sting of falling rain drops, the smell of saltwater, blood and diesel fuel, the sound of the waves and especially that ever present ringing, that robs the world of all silence, and with this the party may have faith that they are not dead, and that they are still in fact on that island in the middle of nowhere, far away from civilization, and from any kind of light.
Even Posey, who so disdains Celestia's light, may have noticed that her universe has shrunken to a bubble sixty feet in diameter. If a thrall at the anti aircraft gun at the stern took a shot at her with the four inch gun, she would never know. She would simply pass from existence to non-existence. If one of the Traveller's Seraphs took a pass at her, she'd have enough time to know what hit her, but not enough time to do anything about it.
It's maybe a second and a half before the first lights come on. Cavaliere surely turns his flashlight back on, and a soldier flicks a cigarette lighter. The scratching sound of a lighted flare is sure to follow.
After four seconds, the two lights flicker back on. They glow red. Not as a sign of danger, not out of any malign plan, but because the amount of power they are receiving is less than the wattage of the bulbs. The darkness is nothing other than the entropy of civilizational systems, of a boiler no longer fed by fire and a battery system that will not be recharged. With the next cold wind that comes down from the north over the Nova Griffonian Tiaga, the oil will gel and the water of the boiler will freeze. Then the Kostroma will be one with the ruined huts of Mended Horn - one with the stone temples covered in vines in deep forests, of cut stones in the empty, zebrican deserts, and of decaying castles on lonely Equestrian hills. A sign of a civilization that once was and now is not, and nothing more.
A few things become blatantly obvious. One, that the light, so long taken for granted, is not going to remain. Second, that everyone except for Posey is useless without light, and even Posey is less effective. Third, that your own sources of light reveal your position. Fourth, that handheld sources of light are not extremely effective at illumination. Fifth, that they are unwieldy, requiring a hoof or claw. And then unnervingly and finally, that if you light a flare, you best keep a hold of it, lest it fall on a wooden deck covered in diesel fuel.
Ask yourself, how often have you seen actual, true darkness? Not simply a relative lack of lights, but actual darkness? It rather rare. Even on a moonless night outside there will still be the innumerable stars in the sky and the lights of distant galaxies. On even a clouded night in Baltimare there will be the lights of the oil refineries reflected by the clouds, glowing. Streetlights and the headlights of passing automobiles. Even indoors, there are the lights of electronics and what pierces the windows. In the outdoors away from civilization, there are the lights of distant houses, of fishing boats and containerships in the water, of campfires and numerous other sources.
So far the party has not been without light. The last rays of the sun persisted even after sunset for a while. In the village, the magnesium, mortar-launched flares of the GRU lit the world in a dim, green glow. Then the electric discharges of the seraphs, the flashes of gun muzzles, green tracer rounds, and the flashlights of the GRU soldiers have provided at least some amount of light, with the lights of the Kostroma in the opposite direction. Now, the island of Mended Horn is dark. Electricity never came here, and the GRU has evidently not lit it, perhaps not willing to give away their positions with flashlights or thinking their mission on the island accomplished. The return of the fog may as well have drowned out any lights. The interior of the torpedo boat, to be sure, was lit by electric lights supplied by its limited batteries. But the exterior is and has been under a complete blackout protocol, to the extent the boat is nearly invisible.
Those two lights of the Kostroma were the last stable, general lights. When they flick off, there is nothing but perfect darkness. Though there is no light, there is the sting of falling rain drops, the smell of saltwater, blood and diesel fuel, the sound of the waves and especially that ever present ringing, that robs the world of all silence, and with this the party may have faith that they are not dead, and that they are still in fact on that island in the middle of nowhere, far away from civilization, and from any kind of light.
Even Posey, who so disdains Celestia's light, may have noticed that her universe has shrunken to a bubble sixty feet in diameter. If a thrall at the anti aircraft gun at the stern took a shot at her with the four inch gun, she would never know. She would simply pass from existence to non-existence. If one of the Traveller's Seraphs took a pass at her, she'd have enough time to know what hit her, but not enough time to do anything about it.
It's maybe a second and a half before the first lights come on. Cavaliere surely turns his flashlight back on, and a soldier flicks a cigarette lighter. The scratching sound of a lighted flare is sure to follow.
After four seconds, the two lights flicker back on. They glow red. Not as a sign of danger, not out of any malign plan, but because the amount of power they are receiving is less than the wattage of the bulbs. The darkness is nothing other than the entropy of civilizational systems, of a boiler no longer fed by fire and a battery system that will not be recharged. With the next cold wind that comes down from the north over the Nova Griffonian Tiaga, the oil will gel and the water of the boiler will freeze. Then the Kostroma will be one with the ruined huts of Mended Horn - one with the stone temples covered in vines in deep forests, of cut stones in the empty, zebrican deserts, and of decaying castles on lonely Equestrian hills. A sign of a civilization that once was and now is not, and nothing more.
A few things become blatantly obvious. One, that the light, so long taken for granted, is not going to remain. Second, that everyone except for Posey is useless without light, and even Posey is less effective. Third, that your own sources of light reveal your position. Fourth, that handheld sources of light are not extremely effective at illumination. Fifth, that they are unwieldy, requiring a hoof or claw. And then unnervingly and finally, that if you light a flare, you best keep a hold of it, lest it fall on a wooden deck covered in diesel fuel.
>>193725
>I chose to believe that Posey slapped her
Sure, I'll do that too if I can reach her with my horn.
>>193724
>then the whole world is plunged into blackness
"...Oh buck...!" Posey says, well versed in her occultism tropes
At least my crawlers would have an advantage.
>Second, that everyone except for Posey is useless without light, and even Posey is less effective.
Kira has scent, doesn't she? She should be able to detect incoming creatures within 30-60 ft.
>>193723
>>193693
She taps Kira and Cavalier on the shoulders with the subtle glow of her horn, guiding them towards her
"We need to catch that bird. Follow me." She says, crawling upwards
>I chose to believe that Posey slapped her
Sure, I'll do that too if I can reach her with my horn.
>>193724
>then the whole world is plunged into blackness
"...Oh buck...!" Posey says, well versed in her occultism tropes
At least my crawlers would have an advantage.
>Second, that everyone except for Posey is useless without light, and even Posey is less effective.
Kira has scent, doesn't she? She should be able to detect incoming creatures within 30-60 ft.
>>193723
>>193693
She taps Kira and Cavalier on the shoulders with the subtle glow of her horn, guiding them towards her
"We need to catch that bird. Follow me." She says, crawling upwards
>>193724
"Do not light a flare, and stay away from the edges of the boat," Cavaliere cautions. His flashlight is tilted downwards, a claw wrapped around the end, focusing the beam onto a spot amidst the huddling ponies. The light reflecting off the deck is not much, and probably not visible at a long distance (though it's important not to assume), but even that is probably a welcome relief to the frightened ponies.
"I wish we had made it here sooner. Still—"
>>193726
"I'll be up shortly. Set a rotating watch of able-bodied creatures on the deck of this boat, but get all the conscious, free-minded creatures below into the light. We will contact you when we get Light Water. Before that, however, can you tell me if radio signals can penetrate the hull of the Kostroma? How narrow are the corridors aboard? Is there any of you experienced with the ship's boilers?"
"Do not light a flare, and stay away from the edges of the boat," Cavaliere cautions. His flashlight is tilted downwards, a claw wrapped around the end, focusing the beam onto a spot amidst the huddling ponies. The light reflecting off the deck is not much, and probably not visible at a long distance (though it's important not to assume), but even that is probably a welcome relief to the frightened ponies.
"I wish we had made it here sooner. Still—"
>>193726
"I'll be up shortly. Set a rotating watch of able-bodied creatures on the deck of this boat, but get all the conscious, free-minded creatures below into the light. We will contact you when we get Light Water. Before that, however, can you tell me if radio signals can penetrate the hull of the Kostroma? How narrow are the corridors aboard? Is there any of you experienced with the ship's boilers?"
>>193727
The pony tosses the flare into the water. It continues to burn, and a fish in the upper water can be seen before it darts away and the light goes out.
Star Fire
"Well, the steel hull reflects some radio waves, but not all. It doesn't stop it, no. The corridors are... well, about one, to one point three meters in width. And..."
Blackheel:
"One pony here should be conscious and among the engine crew. And Partial view as well. One oiler, one engineer."
The pony tosses the flare into the water. It continues to burn, and a fish in the upper water can be seen before it darts away and the light goes out.
Star Fire
"Well, the steel hull reflects some radio waves, but not all. It doesn't stop it, no. The corridors are... well, about one, to one point three meters in width. And..."
Blackheel:
"One pony here should be conscious and among the engine crew. And Partial view as well. One oiler, one engineer."
>>193728
He asks Partial View and the other, "What would it take for the engines to be relit enough for electricity?"
He asks Partial View and the other, "What would it take for the engines to be relit enough for electricity?"
Posey crawls onto the deck and gestures with her horn for Cavalier and Kira to follow.
>>193729
There is a moment of silence, then another pony (Pipette) translates for him. After a relation through the interpreter, the reply comes:
"Electricity comes from a separate power generator that is fed by steam from the boiler. It requires much less steam than the engines."
There is a moment of silence, then another pony (Pipette) translates for him. After a relation through the interpreter, the reply comes:
"Electricity comes from a separate power generator that is fed by steam from the boiler. It requires much less steam than the engines."
>>193724
>>193726
>>193730
Kira lets out an "eep!" and shrinks down. She has much experience with the dark, but this? This is...different. Even with the other sources of light, Kira's own keen snake vision is rendered nearly useless. Just as Posey's observation, Kira will have to rely on her other keen senses to get around. Her ears turn to follow Posey's voice as she speaks, and her eyes seek out the very little light being produced from Posey's horn. "Okay...here we go..."
Silver, meanwhile, looks out at the darkened ship from the windows of the deck house, and turns to Zara. "I know it is dangerous, that much is correct, but there are others relying on you now. Us, your comrades inside...we all need you to stand with us against this darkness. You have significant experience with working on ships, and with your help we can relight Kostroma's boiler and bring back light." He smiles at the zebra mare as he offers her a hoof to stand back up. "Plus if it does come to fighting, there is not much for you to worry about; we are pretty good at it."
>>193726
>>193730
Kira lets out an "eep!" and shrinks down. She has much experience with the dark, but this? This is...different. Even with the other sources of light, Kira's own keen snake vision is rendered nearly useless. Just as Posey's observation, Kira will have to rely on her other keen senses to get around. Her ears turn to follow Posey's voice as she speaks, and her eyes seek out the very little light being produced from Posey's horn. "Okay...here we go..."
Silver, meanwhile, looks out at the darkened ship from the windows of the deck house, and turns to Zara. "I know it is dangerous, that much is correct, but there are others relying on you now. Us, your comrades inside...we all need you to stand with us against this darkness. You have significant experience with working on ships, and with your help we can relight Kostroma's boiler and bring back light." He smiles at the zebra mare as he offers her a hoof to stand back up. "Plus if it does come to fighting, there is not much for you to worry about; we are pretty good at it."
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