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Occupied Equestria - Boiler Room
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
f914c1b
?
No.195000
195001
The rear portions of the SSRS Kostroma have been cleared. The Boiler room draws near. Still that sound persists. Calling them.
887 replies and 72 files omitted.
Posey
d73d23d
?
No.196072
196073
>>196068
Pardon, I fell asleep right after saying I led the way.
Posey opens the door with her unseen servant, her horn ready to draw her weapon in the event of combat.
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196073
196074 196075 196079
>>196071
>>196072
The door is in the center, next to a landing made of steel grate. Pull down to unbolt the door. With a strong pull, the lever comes down. The door opens inwards. But it doesn't open.

Blackheel:
"Pull harder. The door may be damaged and stuck in it's threshold."

Perhaps it's Kira who finally pulls hard enough to open the door. All the same, it opens. The door opens above the level of the floor, and one has to pull their hooves up to clear the threshold.

Looking inside, Cavaliere sees.... nothing. It's a completely dark room. Unlike Cargo hold 5, Cargo Hold 4, or the engine room, there are no lights on.

Posey looks into the room to see that it is completely empty. By "empty" I do not mean "empty" in the way that Cargo Hold 5 was. Cargo Hold five held stacks of barrels, some empty, some with residual fuel oil. There were piles of chromium ore, and bricks of refined substance. This room is not like that. There is a floor made of wood, steel walls on every side, and a set of wood in the center that presumably marks the opening to the lower level, and a ceiling of wood with a closed hatch. And that is all. There are no barrels, no corpses of dead ponies, no waiting petrushkas or hell hounds, no piles of ore, no ammunition, no make shift hammocks, no lanterns, no equipment. There is nothing. Genuinely nothing.

Cargo Hold 3 is unique among the cargo holds in that the length of the cargo hold is short. Maybe 40 feet long, it is by far the shortest of the cargo holds. Every other cargo hold is the same length, and this one is maybe 60% or so of that length. It is wider than it is long. It is the smallest of the cargo holds by area and by volume.
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196074
196075
>>196073
Kira whistles, which makes a strong echo in the completely empty room. "Wow, this is really empty. Even the poorest lamia has at least something in every room of their burrow. Come on, let's get the possessed creatures inside."

Silver nods in response, and gets to work herding the possessed into the room, pulling those that cooperate and pushing those that resist.
Posey
e23f8a7
?
No.196075
196079 196081
>>196073
Hmmm, sounds a lot like a boss arena.

Posey enters the room, checks one more time for monsters in the dark, before ushering the herd through.
"Clear." she says
"Let us get this over with..." she says

Posey enters the room.

She levitates a piece of chalk from her spell components pouch and then she floats a piece to her Unseen Servant, which immediately begins to draw a large circular sigil. Posey personally fills in details of the sigil, various runes featuring serpent iconography in Celestial, Draconic and Infernal.

Posey draws the fake prayer beads she looted and carved earlier from the same pouch she kept her cursed tiara in, and as she does so she casts Nystul's Magical Aura on the beads as a Spell-Like-Ability (no components, therefore not obvious that she is using an illusion), changing the trinkets magical aura to that of a powerful kingdom-ending Greater Strand Of Prayer Beads, paying particular attention to the Bead Of Summons. A false aura detectable through several clairesentience and scrying sensors, but also requiring direct contact to disbelieve...

She speaks out loud.
"It was rather lucky that we found these beads in that sunken chest. It is a shame to use them now, we could have sold them for a fortune, but the Gate function might be the only way to solve this." She says, out loud,
Bluff, to convince eavesdroppers that they am holding a powerful magic item and attempting to call a rival demigod into the Intruder's territory.
[1d20+16 = (10+16) = 26]
(Luckily, Wizards don't have sense motive as a class skill)
As the sigil continues to draw itself, she turns to Kira.
>>196074
"Kira, I want you to hold these beads and stand right there in the middle of the circle and pray just like you remember the shaman of your tribe doing. If what you are attempting to do actually works, distance should not matter."
She turns to the group
"Everypony else watch from the corner of the room. I only need one to make this work." she gestures to the unconscious white unicorn on her floating disk

She places a red candle down in the middle of the circle and lights it, a candle that looks ominously similar to a Candle Of Invocation.

She looks at the rest of the herd. Drawing her flashlight
"Everypony else keep your weapons readied and watch. In case hostiles appear, be ready to engage."
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196076
196077 196081
The room is completely dark. Every creature who is not Posey should see only what little slivers of the floor and surrounding creatures are illuminated by the candle, an area around the door to the engine room that is illuminated by that room's lights, and nothing else. Only Posey would have any ability to know if monsters were entering the room, and she would not know because she must focus her attention on other matters.

I don't recall if any of the NPC allies were or were not let in on the plan

I believe the party has one, lonely, captured Petrushka with them - a white pony captured after the last fight
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196077
196078 196091
>>196076
Did we leave them somewhere?
Posey
45d6c47
?
No.196078
196081
>>196077
We only need one. If things go well this will be resolved within the next hour anyway.
Cavaliere
846edf7
?
No.196079
196091
>>196073
>>196075
Cavaliere dutifully checks the corners of the room.

"It's a relief to finally have an open room without any obstacles or distractions to disturb us. In better contexts it might be a good place to meditate."
Posey
45d6c47
?
No.196080
Posey takes out her flashlight and levitates it out to her unseen servant.
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196081
196082 196086
>>196078
>>196075
>>196076
Silver nods, and gets his sword at the ready, it glowing faintly in the darkness. Kira seems...uncertain, but she relents. She swallows nervously, taking in a shaky breath and letting it out in a sigh, trying to let go of the nerves now that she's actually going to go through with this. "Okay...wish I had some incense on me, but maybe burning it in here wouldn't be a good idea, you know with it being a confined space and the risk of stale air. Anyways..."

Kira lays her tail along the inside of the chalk sigil, with her pony half and the tip of her snake tail meeting to complete a circle. She has the unconscious unicorn brought within the circle, between her and the red candle. She closes her eyes, and spreads her forelegs to the sky, and begins chanting in her people's native tongue, at first quietly, then gradually increasing in volume. She recalls the words spoken by the shamans, seeking to grow connected with Ouroboros. She opens herself up to Him, feeling Him in the world around her: the air, the metal of the ship, the ocean it floats on, all a part of Him, just like her, just like the unfortunate soul in front of her. At the peak of the intensity of the chanting, Kira switches to Ponish, placing a hoof on the leopard pendant around her neck, and placing the other on the pony's forehead just below the horn.

"Ouroboros, we beseech You, in our hour of greatest need, to render unto us Your aid. This entity, this 'Traveler', has profaned against You and Your realm, plunging Your children into an endless dream and creating a waking nightmare. It seeks to control them, to spread its influence far beyond and infect even more creatures. Please, Ouroboros, Your children need help! Hear me, work through me, and cast this insanity back into the darkness from whence it came, free the minds of these plagued creatures, and return them to Your shining, guiding light!"
Posey
45d6c47
?
No.196082
>>196081
I was going to go into more detail for my trap later. Let me get off of work and I will make my checks.
Posey
695f0a0
?
No.196083
Posey reaches into her satchel and pulls out her med pack, extracting the smelling salts. She levitates the white unicorn on her floating disk.
"To succeed, the ceremony should take some time. We want the thrall to gain consciousness right at the end of it. I want him to open his eyes and see the sigil."
Posey
695f0a0
?
No.196084
196085 196097
Theosophicalsealfrench.svg.png
Posey puts herself to work etching her chalkline with increasing complexity. As she etches, she speaks
"There are many names for the Sibilant Beast, Ⲙⲉϩⲉⲛ, ʊərəˈbɒrəs, Jǫrmungandr, Miðgarðsormr, Ahmon-Ilbor, Merrshaulk, Shekinester, Ssharstrune, and names that no occultist who values their life would dare say out loud. An idol of both death and fertility, the serpent represents the perpetual locked cycle of death and birth that all must serve in this world. The Sibilant Beast encircles the firmament of heaven, and it's role is to prevent anything from getting in or out that would subvert the cycle. Good and evil, chaos and order, death and birth, nature and civilization: all must serve the cycle, or so it was decreed by the Demiurge. The Sibilant Beast possesses as many aspects as it has names, for none could ever conceive its true enormity as one of the primordials. To some, it is a campfire myth of a monster that might take you in the night, to some it is an oppressive demon who enforces the suffering wrought by the demiurge, certain monstrous and aberrant tribes like the Nagas even worship it. Alchemists study its sigils to evade the eye of the beast, for the cycle of death and birth is something all alchemists seek to subvert, but since we are dealing with an alien incursion we will be doing the opposite. Tonight, we will be appealing to its aspect I suspect is most likely to reply. Kira will assume the position appealing to the mouth of the serpent, and I will apply my expertise appealing to the tail."
Posey gives a bit of a deranged grin and shudders, all of her fur standing on end, the piece of chalk trembling erratically in the air as she stops just short of dotting the eye of the dragon.
"This is going to be ~fun!

>Theosophical shitpost
Posey
695f0a0
?
No.196085
>>196084
Pic unrelated, btw
Posey
695f0a0
?
No.196086
196098
>>196081
Posey turns to Kira
"Very nice Kira. Now, I want you to repeat any part of that prayer as a mantra. Choose whatever phrase fits your faith the most, just do not stop until I tell you to."
She etches a semicircle on one side of the inner serpent.
"Slither here and repeat the mantra while I apply the invocations." she says, moving to her own semicircle on the opposite side of the etching, murmuring an some occult jargon under her breath in an indescribable language.
Posey
695f0a0
?
No.196087
196091
"Everypony else light your torches and be ready for what happens next. Once the Intruder discovers what is happening, it is guaranteed to interfere." she says before going back to her unintelligible murmur.
Posey
695f0a0
?
No.196088
I will wait for GM's participation before I do my ritual/trap, but it will involve a Forgery check, a Bluff Check, an Intimidate check, and the highest level spell I have available.
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196089
196090
Okay, so there is one petrushka, that petrushka is unconscious, and the NPCs were informed? Were not informed?
Posey
18d4a43
?
No.196090
>>196089
Posey informed Blackheel and Stained Sand with innuendo of her plan to trap the Intruder by baiting it using Kira's prayers. She did not inform any other NPCs because she wants to minimize the chance of telepathic interference. The NPCs being creeped out aids her performance.
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196091
196092 196098
The hold has no special smell. After the oil and diesel of the previous blessings, the damp wood and chipping paint are blessings. Cargo Hold 3 is not as silent as the previous chambers. Not any more. The knocking sound of hooves on wood has not subsided, not with Rustling Pine, Blackheel, Mala and Stained Sand moving about. The sound of steam running through pipes, and the vibration of reverberating steam pistons has likewise increased, as has the buzzing sound of electrical appliances, even as none are visible. Yet through the noise, that droning noise - that noise of interference - is still audible. It too, has grown in strength, even as all the sounds of the industrial world have returned.

>>196087
Torches what now?

>>196079
There is "nothing in that dark room that was not there when you turned off the lights."

>>196077
Well yeah, on the boat, You can't take a whole train of hostiles with you everywhere.
Posey
18d4a43
?
No.196092
>>196091
>Torches what now?
Flashlights, lanterns, any equipment they have to let them see.
Posey
18d4a43
?
No.196093
Posey waits for Kira to begin her mantra before she intensifies her own.
Posey
18d4a43
?
No.196094
Posey makes a Forgery check to fake an authentic runic summoning circle, the kind that calls higher beings.

This check is made secretly. Posey rolls with a +13 modifier.

To any viewer, it is opposed by Forgery, but notably it would take several minutes of scrutiny to recognize the inscription as fake.
Posey
02b12b7
?
No.196095
196097
Are we all ready to do the ceremony? I'm about to start casting.
Posey
02b12b7
?
No.196096
Oh wait, it's 2:00 AM in the UK. Nevermind.
Cavaliere
846edf7
?
No.196097
>>196084
Cavaliere raises an eyebrow at Posey's description. He keeps his flashlight on and pans it around the hold, making sure none of the shadows have time to "coalesce."
>>196095
I'll be ready this weekend, without a doubt.
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196098
196102
>>196086
Kira does so, repeating, "Ouroboros render unto us!" Over and over again. She's thankful for her large lamia lungs, as she'd probably get out of breath pretty quickly from all of this chanting. She thinks she feels a tingle along her spine, hoping that it's a sign that it's working.

>>196091
Awwww. I mean, fair enough, but awww.
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196099
196102 196103
Zara, Starfire, and Partial View remain in the boiler room. They do not like being left alone, but neither are they thrilled to enter a dark room.

Stained Sand, Mala, and Rustling Pine do not wish to stand on the edge of the room, but neither are they fond of... whatever it is that Posey is doing.

As they stand under the light of a flashlight, there is a moment wherein all four can be seen to have their mouths closed, and it is at this point that the sound of hushed talking and whispers becomes more disturbing.

Eventually, they are persuaded to go to corners of the room, though they seem oddly insecure. Blackheel seems to want to keep an eye on Posey and Kira, but he too goes to a corner with Rustling Pine.

The room is fairly warm. Not properly so, but more than most. It must still retain the heat of the daytime and the boiler. No air circulates down from above, and only a small amount of water trickles in in droplets from the wooden ceiling.
Posey
dce2101
?
No.196102
196104 196106
download_1.jpg
download_2.jpg
download.jpg
download_3.jpg
Screenshot_20260711-172254.png
Watch me waste spell slots on this retarded plan to trap a creature that may not even be physically capable of getting to this room.
>>196099
>>196098
Posey begins her mantra, chanting in draconic in praise to the all-consuming awe of the Sibilant Beast.

Posey mantra increases to a crescendo, her voice distorting magically. Her horn sparkles and her eyes roll back as she burns two lvl 2 spell slots with Versatile Spellcaster to perform a feat of arcane might, the most powerful spell she has cast yet. As she chants she mixes in the verbal components for Rain Of Terror. The sounds of thunder should be intensifying outside right now.
She takes 10 on Concentration to create two effects.

Rain Of Terror is a Necromancy spell that distorts all forces of nature to bend to Posey's nightmare. Above the Kostroma, the clouds erupt with red lightning before a heavy rain of steaming-hot blood, actual, real blood, not illusionary. In addition to the blood, hundreds of not thousands of tiny live snakes begin to fall from the sky. 50% of the snakes fall to their deaths and splatter on the deck of the ship; the others slither off to find their own destiny as Posey has no control over them (animals created by this spell are considered to be summons, but since this is not a summoning spell they do not disappear when slain).
>That's it? For a lvl 3 spell? Isn't this spell worthless?
Aura farming. More importantly, it telegraphs an incoming snake-based catastrophe in a way that is glaringly obvious to the telepathic hive mind that is the Intruder's flock.

.

From the party's perspective, they are shielded from the heavy rain (depends how DM interpret "100 ft radius centered on you"), as much as I wanted to get showered in blood and snakes. However, the trickle of water from the wooden ceiling should be replaced with fresh hot blood.

As dying snakes hiss above the deck and blood trickles down onto her face, Posey's mantra stops
"Proof of our devotion." she says flatly

Posey then immediately draws the smellingsalts from her medicine pack and takes 10 to administer first aid to the unconscious bound pretrushka, restoring 1d4 HP to the unicorn.
She makes sure to orient the unicorn on the floating disk so that he can see the (fake) magical beads glammered with false aura, on Kira's tail, the forged magical sigils written on the floor, red candle, and can hear Kira's mantra soon as he wakes up.

"It is coming." Posey says, looking at the ceiling
"Little could stop it now."
Bluff

she takes 10 on Bluff for this (I will roll my actual checks after seeing the unicorn's response)
Cavaliere
846edf7
?
No.196103
>>196099
Since the others are occupied, Cavaliere takes up position close enough to the door that he can keep an eye on the boiler room. It's bad form to let any party members out of one's sight, especially if they can't handle themselves in combat. He isn't particularly uneasy here even with Posey's performance; it certainly isn't any more dangerous than the other rooms they have been through and this ritual is a welcome break from battle.
Posey
dce2101
?
No.196104
196105
>>196102
HP gained by the unicorn
[1d4 = 2]
Posey
dce2101
?
No.196105
>>196104
That should be enough to gain consciousness (I hope)
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196106
196107
>>196102
Posey believes that she has caused snakes to rain from the sky. She "believes" it, because she can see no sign nor confirmation within the dark cargo hold. No creature witness to her casting knows what has happened, or is alleged to have happened. If anyone did witness snakes fall from the sky, they have no way of knowing it was caused by Posey.

The Unicorn opens its eyes, which dart about, and it attempts to stand up. It looks at anything illuminated by the light within the room - very little - and then to the presumably open door, the only other thing its eyes can see besides darkness.
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196107
196108
>>196106
I lit the candle for a reason, so that he can see the ritual. Does it give any impression that Light Water is responding to my bluff?
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196108
196109 196110
>>196107
No, it looks like when you wake up an animal or a person and they are confused and perhaps frightened as to what is going on.
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196109
196111
>>196108
Oh, ffs, I thought Light Water could see through his eyes...

Gonna roll my checks anyway. It's do or die. Maybe

"Oh, he woke up." Posey says, her voice dull, dejected, and vaguely sardonic
"Nevermind, it is almost done. None of your writhing beasts can stop its calling. The serpent will take us both to oblivion."
Bluff
[1d20+16 = (13+16) = 29]

"Goodbye, Light Water. You know, fate brought us here as foes are not so different. I, too, shared my soul with a godling from beyond the firmament, my soul sister, and through our contract I promised to conquer and remake this world, to end this cruel and unfair cycle of life and death. I dabbled with monstrosities from beyond the void to give myself the power to control others and summon monstrosities. Perhaps it was because we were so similar that I was so bellicose with you, but in another world perhaps we could have been friends. My sister is a jealous god though, and she would sooner face than let an invader take her dream from her; as per our pact, it is a mandate that I must honor, for she gave me the strength to claw my way back up from the Sheol again when we had both been rejected by our mothers. I have come to terms with this; I should have faced the serpent years ago." As she speaks, the cyst in her chest squirms and the black veins become visible, as the failed godling within laments within its rotten cradle
(not a lie)
"... And to you, 'Traveller', my sister sends her regards." she says, patting her chest
(Not a lie)
Intimidate:
[1d20+25 = (13+25) = 38]
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196110
196112 196114
>>196108
Kira wonders if it's working but doesn't want to break her concentration to check. Wait, is she breaking concentration by thinking this? Ah, whatever, she'll keep going. Wow, how do the shamans keep this up?
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196111
196112
>>196109
The unicorn pulls back its lips to expose well-kept teeth, and hisses
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196112
196115 196120
>>196110
You're doing great, it's me who fucked up.
>>196111
Well, that was disappointing. I typed all that dialogue thinking Light Water would hear it...

Posey winces in humiliation, seeing that her plan failed.

Time for plan B

"Ouroboros, guardian of the great cycle, good and evil, in the name of death I offer you this life so that you shall hear the prayers of that pious serpent."
Posey then immediately draws her sword and decapitates the white unicorn
Sacrifice check
[1d20+20 = (13+20) = 33]
Posey is not praying for any specific reward this time and is therefore not aiming for any specific DC, only making the offering so that Kira's prayers will be heard. The DC for Planar Ally should be 30 though.
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196114
>>196110
A ranger, no matter how minor, is still a priest, and you are standing directly on a sigil carved of your deity, which means your deity can see you directly. You are standing on the symbol that represents its good half. A sacrifice has been offered to its evil half.

The attention of your God is all but guaranteed. The Sibilant Beast will decide if it cares enough to answer.

It's now or never.

Make a wish.
GM Pony
!PonerGM.4A
184689b
?
No.196115
196116
>>196112
What Kira was trying to do was to remove the influence of the Traveler from the prisoner. But the prisoner is dead. So....

Stained Sand
"What the fuck? The fuck is this shit?!"

Rustling Pine:
"Что происходит? Она убила одного из наших, и с какой целью? Что эта ведьма творит?"

Blackheel:
"Я знала, что она хитрая. Я знала, что она против нас. У неё всё это время был какой-то другой план. Змея выдала себя!"

Mala:
"Light Water isn't listening. Call him over the radio. He loves to chat over that thing. I think he sits beside it. Like he is waiting for an important call."
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196116
>>196115
What Kira wanted was to break the Traveller's influence on ALL of the thralls by appealing for divine intervention.
Does my Sacrifice check help her with that?
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196117
6812711__safe_imported+from+derpibooru_screencap_twilight+sparkle_alicorn_pony_season+8_the+washouts+28episode29_spoiler-colon-s08_awkward_caught_cropped_cute_e.png
I was going to try to use that check to call a Glabrezu, but I wanted to give Kira her moment instead because it's her ritual.
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196118
Gonna wait for the other players to be around before I try to do anything else.....
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196119
>midnight in UK
Oh...
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196120
196121
>>196112
Maybe killing the possessed pony isn't the best call in the current moment.
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196121
196128
2411365__safe_twilight+sparkle_solo_female_alicorn_screencap_cute_twilight+sparkle+(alicorn)_cropped_sad_looking+down_a+trivial+pursuit_sadorable.png
>>196120
I could not accept that this ritual thing didn't do anything productive after we spent three irl weeks preparing for it (also we have to go back to arguing whether to kill Light Water or the Intruder first if this doesn't work), so I figured more drastic measures had to be taken to appeal to this higher power. I even spent two of my highest level spell slots just to make it look cool.

I think I fucked up... Am sorry.
Posey
59cc2b0
?
No.196122
196124
Technically, I can't actually draw my sword and also make a coup de grace in the same turn..., so...
The Floof and The Noodle
193b490
?
No.196124
196125
>>196122
In that case, Silver would definitely step in to stop her. "Why is killing always your solution to things?"
Anonymous
59cc2b0
?
No.196125
>>196124
I'm going to wait until the entire party and GM is present before I do it say anything.