Occupied Equestria: set six years after season 6, it presents an alternative history where Chrysalis chose a different approach to her second attack on Equestria. The Changelings have conquered half of Equestria, while an Equestrian splinter colony - soured to Princesses notion of harmony with all creatures thank to their dealing with griffins - Invaded and took the other half. In Baltimare and the Equestruan Southlands, the magic of friendship has weakened, as Communists, Changeling infiltrators, Fascists, gangs, and even ancient necormancers and dark gods threaten the city and the surrounding regions. This role play is based in large part upon the Equestria at War mod for Hearts of Iron 4, and uses D&d 3.5e mechanics.
In this latest episode, the crew has united once again, and returned in full to the catacombs under the Curwhinny farm. What old secrets they will unearth, whether they will survive without being turned into undead monsters... whether Silver will ever get paid... will be determined in this thread.
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Sister Ash wanders off to where she left the jars, trailing smoke as her body settles down.
>>81462>>81460>>81458Without taking the time to carefully study the book, it's very difficult to say just what, precisely, is going on. It looks as if the book is saying that in those short years before the Windigos. Before Discord. Before Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia. There was a dedicated group of unicorns. They opperated under the assumption that beyond the lunar sphere, out in the either, there were creatures. You could call them angels, you could call them minor gods - but immortal god-like creatures that danced and played on their own. They wanted to... actually, what they were trying to do is hard to determine, again, without taking a full 10 hours to read it. They wanted to access the outer planes. Or bring what was in the planes here. Or merge them...
>>81461"Not necessarily. Who knows what were in the books I
couldn't save
>>81464She gets to where the jars are, and sits upright cross-legged, completely silent before them.
>>81466They are equally silent to her
>>81465"Gods? from Beyond the moon?"
>>81465Iron still curses silently, strapping all his armor pieces and equiping his shield. He then follows Spark.
>>81459Silver just sighs once more. He gets up from where he is sitting. And goes to where Ash is heading.
>>81466"I still would like to know why." Silver's voice no longer carries the anger it once had, though it's clear he's still looking for an answer. "You are kirin. I have never heard of your people until now. It is clear you are gifted with fire...sometimes too gifted...I want to understand reasoning behind your decision. Why you made it, and why you made it so rash."
>>81468"... I am fine..." She says after a whike, visibly
not on fire anymore.
>>81467She's praying, silently
>>81469The text refers to them as "outer ones." They seem to be creatures that date from beyond creation. They are not monolithic, but rather are of diverse kind. Now he sees it. They wanted to talk to one under the light of a full moon. Or at least, that is what they did on one moonlit gathering - the unicorns all wearing their robes and prostrating themselves before the night sky
>>81473When is the next full moon?
>>81474Well, the moon last night was waxing gibbous, so definitely within one week. Like tonight or in two days, maybe three
>>81475Dark Star seems like he is considering something
>>81472Iron, still angry, now stands next to the prone Ash, looking for threats.
>>81471"Silver, as much as I would like to know her motives, I would suggest leaving some time for her to think it through." Iron states, fully armored except his good hitting hoof and shield equipped on his other hoof.
>>81477"Spark, do not be a fool. She is clearly not fine. Leave her be until then."
>>81476Reading on... wait. Wait a minute. The author
did try to get the incantations. He seems to stop to relate this part very carefully. He has at least two different versions of the same spell here, evidently coming from two different witnesses. He makes notes about translation issues. He talks also about what the subtleties could mean. He implies that he got this knowledge from "spirits" and at some point had to coerce the information out. It's obvious he doesn't know if the evocation permutations would work or not. He mere tried to write it down with as much detail as possible. That was a 5 page tangent as he describes the night
>>81478"Sometimes a fool learns the hard way."
>>81471She speaks again after a few seconds
"... I was wandering through the lair of that stallion. I found the place where he kept his treasures. In the moment, nothing in that place seemed worth saving to me, nothing alive.. so I decided it may as well burn..."
She opens her eyes slowly
"... I cannot say what I did was the right thing to do, but it felt like that in the moment.. a room full of stolen masterpieces, all stolen from the ones who would have properly valued them, for the greed of a wicked pony willing to torture souls to amass his wealth and power... At the time, I only wanted it all to burn, perhaps not because the things in that room deserved it, but because it I felt they should..."
Her shawl gas finally stopped smoking
>>81479Dark star continues reading
>>81483Sources vary as to exactly what animals were brought, and what needed to be done for the ritutal, although the author clearly has his theory of what the components were, and he points out other details of the event that would be helpful should anypony reading it decide they want to come up with their own theory. Anyways, it seems as if it was successful in its first attempt with the unicorn contacting one of the Outer Ones. But the Outer Ones quickly filled his mind with a slew of negative emotions, causing him to break contact. This concerned the onlookers, but convinced them the process was working in part, and they committed to meet at the next full moon in an even larger session
>>81482Iron looks sternly at Ash. "As much as I would like to forgive this transgression, it is a sign of something more problematic. You need to rein in your emotions or this will happen again, and maybe somepony will die for it next time you lose control again, and I can guarantee that you would feel devastated by killing somepony who did not really deserve it."
Ironic isn't it? >>81471"Silver. Psst!" Blue Skies comes up to him and whispers
>>81482Silver nods. He understands, or at least, understands enough. "You are young, yet. You have not yet learned control of such feelings. It is not something I could blame you for, so long as you understand where you went wrong, and are willing to take steps towards controlling it." He gives her a pat on the back, no longer afraid of having his hoof catching fire from contact.
>>81487Silver turns to her, wondering what she wants of him.
>>81484is there any notes on what it said to him?
>>81489"Can we move away and talk in private?"
>>81490The unicorn who was the conduit of the activity was not one of the perspectives who relate the story. The unicorn seemed to have been filled with hate at the time, and after contact was broken, seemed to have this theory that the rest of the group were plotting against him. That is just the first time, anyways
>>81491As if Dark Star has been put under a compulsion spell, he continues reading.
>>81489Sister Ash nods slowly as her eyes shut and she resumes her prayer.
>>81491Silver nods, standing up.
>>81493"If you wish, we can talk more later. I do not know what help I can be to you, but I can try to help you on path of control, if you will allow me."
>>81491With his talk with Ash concluded, he goes with Blue.
Well, with everypony busy, the sorcerer, glass by his side, trots back to camp.
>>81494"... I must finish this reposition.. These lost ones must have heir eulogy, if they are to rest..." She replies, before resuming her unintelligible prayer
>>81493Iron stands by her side. He has composed himself from his anger and stands straight. He wonders how could someone be taught not to be angry.
>>81492There was a debate among the unicorns of the circle. Some of them thought that the incident proved the outer ones were hostile, some thought them a mix of good and evil, and some of them thought that they could be placated. There was another session. In this incident, when they contacted the outer ones, one responded very clearly. The outer one seemed to think that everypony was... boring. Dreadfully boring and normal. He convinced the conduit that his quest for knowledge was futile because of the finite perceptual abilities and mental faculties of a pony. This revelation was said to visibly dull his coat and break him emotionally. But the effect was confined to the pony who had been the conduit, and everypony else began to believe that it may be possible to select who to speak to, or perhaps even to summon to the terrestrial plane
>>81494She takes him over to the side, and whispers
"Did you pocket anything else?"
>>81498"so they're evil? hmmmm"
Dark Star continues reading
>>81498"There was not much, I am afraid. Most valuable thing I found was this." He pulls out Alabaster's silver locket; he tries to carefully remove the picture it contains. He also pulls out the necklace the native skeleton wore from yesterday. "It seems, if there was treasure, it was either burnt down, or in area of catacombs we did not search."
>>81499In the third session, the conduit managed to contact a different outer one. This one was proper, well speaking, and at least seemed to be trustworthy. This Outer One seemed to have a problem with the ponies and their nature, finding them disorderly and in need of stern guidance. The conversation with the outer one continued for quite some time, but it is very clear that this one took a deep interest in the lives of ponies on the terrestrial plane
>>81500She examines it
"This locket is much too old to have belonged to that foal"
Sister Ash remains in prayer position before the jars for as long as the rest of the party remains outside, not moving from her position even once.
>>81501He seems interested in this particular bit of information. "Are you sure it was not just gift to him?"
>>81503"Look at the attire on this unicorn mare"
She shows him the image in the locket
"This looks older than 930"
>>81502Iron stands besides her, also not moving from his position as a guard.
>>81501"He contacted another one? wow!"
Where in Equestria is this set?
>>81504He examines it himself, even if he's unsure about his own knowledge on the styles of attire for different time periods.
>>81507A style of bun that looks particularly old, with ornate red dress. The locket it heart shaped and silver
>>81506Still another one responded as well. This one was not quite as enthusiastic as the previous: the outer one liked the freedom of the outer planes, and the creativity it allowed, and did not want to loose that. But neither was the outer one indifferent to the land of ponies
This is set in the northern lands north of Equestria, in Dream valley of the kingdom of the Unicorns, prior to the migration
>>81508"Hmm. That is odd. What do you think this means, if anything?"
>>81509"That this isn't Alabaster's locket. That, or somepony gave him a locket far older than his grandmother. I think he had it in his hoof or something"
Okay, it's getting really late for me.
Sister Ash will be praying for each jar individually. It may take her more than an hour, while the of the party does whatever.
>>81477>>81508"Hey Spark. come check this out."