[FWM] OOC 5: Egocentric Changeling Hive

[Grif]

A place to discuss OOC ideas about the MLP Friendship is was Magic RP.


FAQs
Q: How dark is this RP?
A: Somewhere below 'Happy Sunshine Fun Land' and above 'Hopeless'. Happy endings are the bulk of life, but the possibility always exists for a sad ending. Darkness also runs rampant across the world and is always lurking outside the safe walls of town.

Q: What is the tech level?
A: I think the general consensus is 'Steampunk' right now. There may be occasional alien technology influence as well.

Q: What is the general policy on weapons?
A: Equestria is an armed society right now. Every military member, including the common town guards, carries a potentially lethal weapon with them everywhere, even off duty. Even civilian ponies are commonly seen carrying weapons. However, it is standard practice to never draw your weapon unless you intend to use it. Drawing a weapon, for whatever reason, is considered a hostile act by most ponies.

Q: How dangerous is the town of Bridle Shores?
A: Interesting question. The town has seen much more than its fair share of action and odd occurrences over the years since its founding, and no one can say why this is. Skirmishes with monsters at one or more town entrances happen almost daily, and certain loud noises are common enough that they no longer enough by themselves to induce a panic in any town resident. That said, the Town Guard and Militia are good at what they do, and few things are a high enough threat level to greatly disrupt life in the town for long. In D&D terms, this is a town where your neighbor is likely to have one or more levels in a PC class.

Q: How are threats classified?
A: Threat Ranks (guidelines):

F-Rank - Helpless. No threat at all.
E-Rank - Mild threat. Only about as dangerous as an average civilian.
D-Rank - Competent combatant. Not something a pony could be expected to defeat without combat training.
C-Rank - Dangerous combatant. Not something your average soldier could defeat reliably.
B-Rank - Highly dangerous. Defeating something like this is what makes your average heroes. Super-Mook/Sub-Boss/Early Boss status.
A-Rank - Extremely dangerous. 'You and what army?' is no longer a joke at this point. Big Sub-Boss/Late Boss status.
A-Rank+ - Army Killers, unofficial ranking. No official is really willing to admit that such dangers even exist at all. End boss status.

Q: Where is the Roleplay thread?
A: There's a link to it right below.

Q: Where can I post my character and find info on existing characters and backstory?
A: There's a link to that below too.


The Roleplay Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200312)

The Roleplay Thread 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204691)

The Roleplay Thread 3 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207812)

The Roleplay Thread 4 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209857)

The Roleplay Thread 5 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212519)

The Roleplay Thread 6 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218173)

The Roleplay Thread 7 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222561)

The Roleplay Thread 8 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228358)

The Roleplay Thread 9 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=235541)

The Roleplay Thread 10 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240645)

The Roleplay Thread 11 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246172)

The Roleplay Thread 12 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13598028#post13598028)

The Roleplay Thread 13 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255343)


The Character and Recruitment Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209474)

OOC Thread 1 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209475)

OOC Thread 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221353)

OOC Thread 3 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246833)

OOC Thread 4 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273786)

I am bad at puns, so here's a new thread instead.

RP overhaul information here!
Background Information, Noble Houses, and other assorted tidbits. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DOm-KXAccfjrZwSF0WM2MDlOq5C7ZLRqqZJIFEOoZbc/edit)

Character Profiles. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lsycucKst0gVJoGR7VkT5oTXqJjdE7dpbWCCRAfK4FM/edit)

(now with 100% more tags.)

[Merellis]

Okay wow yeah that might actually surprise Prose just a tiny bit maybe. :smalleek:
If you aren't willing to tear off a limb for victory, you just don't believe in the cause! :smallfurious:

[TheAmishPirate]

Thanks for making the thread, Grif. I was planning on making it this morning, so good job reading my mind and beating me to the punch. :smallbiggrin:

As usual, if anybody has any questions, post 'em here. With any luck, we'll have this big fight wrapped up soon and we can shift to scenes that are less inter-dependent on each other.

[Grif]

Thanks for making the thread, Grif. I was planning on making it this morning, so good job reading my mind and beating me to the punch. :smallbiggrin:

As usual, if anybody has any questions, post 'em here. With any luck, we'll have this big fight wrapped up soon and we can shift to scenes that are less inter-dependent on each other.

You're welcome. :smallsmile:

[Grif]

Here comes the poking stick. :smalltongue:

Benson for Misc Adventures.

Amish for Game of Ponies.

Myself and MCerberus for Backstage: Cut! (Possibly Lycan if Prose is still awake in the bar.) Also HalfTangible and Benson.

Merellis for the remainder of his post in the General thread, as well as any assorted responses to be made to him.

[Merellis]

Day off today, posts will be written up and added to thread. :smallsmile:

[HalfTangible]

Benson, we're waitin on you in the misc thread.

Last time everything exploded =/

[Grif]

Benson, we're waitin on you in the misc thread.

Last time everything exploded =/

Was such a beautiful explosion too. ;-;

[Grif]

Well, definitely been very quiet for the past few days. :smalltongue:

[Kelvin360]

The entire forum has been dead quiet. I think Academia is heating up before the storm cools down, plus it's Memorial Weekend in the U.S. of A. Once summer gets going, I reckon we'll see an explosion.

[Grif]

The entire forum has been dead quiet. I think Academia is heating up before the storm cools down, plus it's Memorial Weekend in the U.S. of A. Once summer gets going, I reckon we'll see an explosion.

That'll explain it. I been quite busy myself, so I can't quite devote time to this just yet.

(And still need to get that character worked out.)

[PurityIcekiller]

I can't blame business myself. I've had a lot of free time. I'm just sapped for creativity for a bit, I guess.

[MCerberus]

My classes are ending (forEVERRRRRRRR) this week, plus it seems my characters are coming out of the holding pattern, so that's good.

[Grif]

My classes are ending (forEVERRRRRRRR) this week, plus it seems my characters are coming out of the holding pattern, so that's good.

Good to hear that! :smallbiggrin:

[Grif]

Right. Been a week since this has last been posted in, and the general RP has ground to a halt.

So, at risk of sounding pushy, are you guys okay with the pace? Do you think we need to change things up? Switch to a more GM-centric format? (Which would entail moving the Structured Games forum, I think.)

[MCerberus]

The main problem is that the main thread has been in time lock for a long time with too many locking parts, making a feedback system of slow.
If we could break out of that, it would be great.

[Kelvin360]

I was under the impression that we were already operating under GM supervision. I think the Backstage thread is actually the only one without any, and it's doing the best overall. Not by much, mind you, but by fractions at least. Also I think we somehow lost half of our regular posters. I count Benson, Grif, me, MCerberus, Amish, Purity, Merellis, Orzel, Mindfreak, HalfTangible and Lycan as all of our involved players, I think.

Of those, only five have posted within the past week. Three in backstage (HalfTangible, Grif, and Benson), three here (me and MCerberus, and Grif again), and one in Game of Ponies (Amish). That means more than half of us are AWOL. I don't know if hyper-initializing DM supervision is the solution. What we really need to do is figure out who's even left. I know Purity said he was still floating around, but how many of us are waiting and how many are gone? That's what we need to figure out. And, if necessary, we may need to start from scratch with a timeskip and just one, maybe two threads. The main thread hasn't been used for 11 days and the Misc thread has been rotting for nearly two months. I have some ideas about this, but I'll spoiler them because we don't know if they're wanted or necessary.

I don't think the threads we have are dispensable, exactly, we just need to contain what we've got to a smaller venue. Thus, the main thread should contain current events (in this case, Game of Ponies and, if the current battle doesn't pan out, a 'few days later' version of the main thread we have now), and the secondary thread should be a time-neutral zone, sort of a combination of everything happening outside of Bridle Shores with a sketchy timeframe and the Backstage events.

Our posts would end up being longer and more segmented by necessity, but is that really a bad thing? It'd certainly be easier to keep track of than four different threads.

So yeah. Sound the clarion call for everyone even thinking about posting at some point to post here about their availability, and THEN we can act. Personally, I favor downsizing either way, but it depends on what we've got to work with.

[Grif]

The main problem is that the main thread has been in time lock for a long time with too many locking parts, making a feedback system of slow.
If we could break out of that, it would be great.

That is true. I think I'll try to rouse Merellis to post his other half and we'll see how we go from there.

@Kelvin
A fresh start/timeskip is a good idea. At this rate, all the threads are carrying a significant amount of baggage and interlocking time-freezes.

EDIT: (Now that I have more time to type and not so distracted)


I know Purity said he was still floating around, but how many of us are waiting and how many are gone? That's what we need to figure out. And, if necessary, we may need to start from scratch with a timeskip and just one, maybe two threads. The main thread hasn't been used for 11 days and the Misc thread has been rotting for nearly two months. I have some ideas about this, but I'll spoiler them because we don't know if they're wanted or necessary.

You make a good point as well. A roll call and taking stock on who's left so that we don't end up waiting endlessly for a post that'll never come will be key to getting somewhere.

[TheAmishPirate]

Part of the problem has been that I've been having less time to handle this game, owing to a myriad of real-life things cropping up. Otherwise, I would've tried to get a handle on this much, much sooner. :smallsigh:


That is true. I think I'll try to rouse Merellis to post his other half and we'll see how we go from there.

@Kelvin
A fresh start/timeskip is a good idea. At this rate, all the threads are carrying a significant amount of baggage and interlocking time-freezes.

Both of these are good ideas that I approve of. Going forward, we also won't have these large-scale battles, simply because we don't have the speed and population to pull them off. Scenes and conflicts will be much smaller and focused to keep things moving.

Additionally, a time-skip would give folks chances to introduce new characters that they've been brewing up.


You make a good point as well. A roll call and taking stock on who's left so that we don't end up waiting endlessly for a post that'll never come will be key to getting somewhere.

I do know that Mindfreak formally left a few months ago. And while Orzel seems to want to post, real-life is hitting him hard. Until we get a confirmation that he's free and ready and able to post, we should treat his characters as sidelined for now.

Poor Sandy will have to cope without the help of his special somepony, it seems. :smallamused:

[HalfTangible]

@Roll call: I'm here. Benson just made a post, so he's here.

[Grif]

@Roll call: I'm here. Benson just made a post, so he's here.

Aye, we can count Benson in.

Another thing I'd suggest is to start consolidating threads and storylines. Quite likely Misc Adventures can be merged back to the General thread, while Game of Ponies is up in the air. I don't think it's affecting anything at the moment, but it's also progressing at a snail's pace, which might make keeping interest difficult.

[Lycan 01]

I'm here. Kinda had to pull out of the "Backstage" thread, but I'm still active in the main thread. My sole character is just tied up in the big battle thing right now, so I haven't got much room or reason to post. :smalltongue:

[PurityIcekiller]

Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I'm just still trying to figure out what to post in Backstage, and I'm waiting on people in the main thread.

[HalfTangible]

For the record, I have no plan for what's going on in the backstage thread now.

I'm just rping what makes sense for the characters to say and do and letting the chips fall where they may.

[Grif]

For the record, I have no plan for what's going on in the backstage thread now.

I'm just rping what makes sense for the characters to say and do and letting the chips fall where they may.

Don't worry, neither do I. :smallwink: (I had expected something chaotic, but well...)

[MCerberus]

I actually have an idea for something after a little time skip.
Now, who wants to be someone "in" on it. I need 1-3 kidnapping volunteers.

[Grif]

I actually have an idea for something after a little time skip.
Now, who wants to be someone "in" on it. I need 1-3 kidnapping volunteers.

I'm intrigued. Tell me more.

[Merellis]

I really seem to keep running into real-life stresses lately and just generally making you lot wait in general. :smallsigh:

Catching up on thread, posting tonight, and everything has slowed down for now so I can keep a far better schedule now.

Course I've said that before so lets see how that goes. :smallannoyed:

[TheAmishPirate]

I really seem to keep running into real-life stresses lately and just generally making you lot wait in general. :smallsigh:

Catching up on thread, posting tonight, and everything has slowed down for now so I can keep a far better schedule now.

Course I've said that before so lets see how that goes. :smallannoyed:

Trust me; life is pretty good at beating us senseless. I know that feel all too well. :smallsigh:

If you need help with anything, just let us know.

[Merellis]

Trust me; life is pretty good at beating us senseless. I know that feel all too well. :smallsigh:

If you need help with anything, just let us know.

I'll be annoying the hell out of Grif later. :smalltongue:

As for Game of Pony's, think you can hop on Steam or something this week? :smallbiggrin:

[TheAmishPirate]

I'll be annoying the hell out of Grif later. :smalltongue:

As for Game of Pony's, think you can hop on Steam or something this week? :smallbiggrin:

Roger that, will be on later this week.

[MCerberus]

I'm intrigued. Tell me more.

right now the best general-knowledge thing I can drop is "fun with dopplegangers"

[Grif]

right now the best general-knowledge thing I can drop is "fun with dopplegangers"

There's no way this cannot end well. :smallwink:

[Merellis]

Make that tomorrow night, just spent my evening moving furniture and trying to make my kid sleep on time...

Which has still not worked so yay for that. :smallannoyed:

[Grif]

I'm back. Somewhat. Let me get my poking stick so we can start wrapping up scenes.

*poking Purity for Game of Ponies*

[Merellis]

*continues to bash head against wall because finding time to sit down and just write is ridiculous this week* :smallfurious:

DAY OFF TODAY, WILL WRITE AND FINISH THIS.

THEN NEVER INVADE A TOWN AGAIN.

[TheAmishPirate]

THEN NEVER INVADE A TOWN AGAIN.

And thus, Bridle Shores starts to employ all potential villains in tedious, but well-paying 9-5 jobs as a strategic defense.

The town is never invaded again.

[Findpathfencer]

I want to join you...you know if you let me to

[Grif]

I want to join you...you know if you let me to

Do you have a character in mind? :smalltongue::smallwink:

[Merellis]

I'll have something up later today, my apologies for constantly screwing this over on my end. :smallannoyed:

[Findpathfencer]

Do you have a character in mind? :smalltongue::smallwink:

Well the last one in the characters list or...a changeling

[Merellis]

My apologies, issue with my bath came up that took up more of my weekend than I realized. Have it mostly done, posting by my lunchtime today.:smallredface:

[Grif]

Well the last one in the characters list or...a changeling

Ah. My apologies, real-life is running rings around me and this slipped my mind. Did you post it in the character threads by any chance?

(I hope you're reading this.)

[Findpathfencer]

Ah. My apologies, real-life is running rings around me and this slipped my mind. Did you post it in the character threads by any chance?

(I hope you're reading this.)

I'm always reading this.


Um probably.

[PurityIcekiller]

Quick question, Merellis: Exactly how much is being smashed in the hospital? Are the edges of the room's floor still intact, or the walls?

[Kelvin360]

My question is more minor and basically just a small grammar issue.


The force-field shimmering into being is the only thing that saves Bumble, well, that and the shout from their little intruder.

Did Starbeam accidentally save Bumble, or did you mean...uh...whatever the pegasus' name is and just slipped? :smallsmile:

[Grif]

My question is more minor and basically just a small grammar issue.



Did Starbeam accidentally save Bumble, or did you mean...uh...whatever the pegasus' name is and just slipped? :smallsmile:

Windy Breeze. :smallsmile:

@Findpathfencer
Apologies for the long delay. It's been quite a lull in the RP. I'll look over the character tonight and tell you what I tell, mmkay?

[Merellis]

Okay, posted. Posted faaaar too late.

Lets get this scene finished off so we can go back to me not mucking it all up! :D

@Kelvin: Both Night Jewel and Starbeam assisted in helping Bumble through the shield, and Night Jewel giving a nice little shout.

Sure Strike most likely cracked the walls and took a bit of them down to the second floor with her, Bumble, and the floor... and possibly the force-fielded victim unless it floats.

[Kelvin360]

Also, could I maybe get a little more info on the shadow network in the guardhouse? What levels does it cover, what's it aiming for, etc? Specifically, is it connected to the first level, or is it exclusive to the second?

[Mindfreak]

I would like to apologize for up and disappearing completely. Life has been a crazy mismash.
I love you all, but I'm afraid I'll no longer be roleplaying.
My apologies for any trouble I've caused in my time here, and I just wanted to say
You were all fantastic. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa3NM9Jhkn0#t=02m)

[TheAmishPirate]

I would like to apologize for up and disappearing completely. Life has been a crazy mismash.
I love you all, but I'm afraid I'll no longer be roleplaying.
My apologies for any trouble I've caused in my time here, and I just wanted to say
You were all fantastic. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa3NM9Jhkn0#t=02m)

Glad to have you on board while you were here, and best of luck to wherever life takes you. :smallsmile:

[Grif]

I would like to apologize for up and disappearing completely. Life has been a crazy mismash.
I love you all, but I'm afraid I'll no longer be roleplaying.
My apologies for any trouble I've caused in my time here, and I just wanted to say
You were all fantastic. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa3NM9Jhkn0#t=02m)

Good luck in your life! It was fun while it lasted.

As for FWM proper, I'm waiting for Kelvin's reply before proceeding with the scene.

[Lycan 01]

I'm still around. Just waiting for Merellis to respond to a PM, since I need to check with him about something before progressing. :smallsmile:


Also, I'm thinking of adding a new character, actually. Some of you may remember Lucky Break from the Fallout: Equestria RP? :smallamused: I'm thinking I may reprise my role of the idiot pegasus, albeit with a few tweaks to better fit this setting. I'm thinking he may be a hired gun, treasure hunter, and general jack-of-all trades from the Badlands down in the Equestrian south, whose travels now bring him up towards Bridle Shores.

Assuming he even gets there. His introduction may involve a messy encounter with a Timberwolf and an inability to keep possession of his hat. :smalltongue:

[Grif]

I'm still around. Just waiting for Merellis to respond to a PM, since I need to check with him about something before progressing. :smallsmile:


Also, I'm thinking of adding a new character, actually. Some of you may remember Lucky Break from the Fallout: Equestria RP? :smallamused: I'm thinking I may reprise my role of the idiot pegasus, albeit with a few tweaks to better fit this setting. I'm thinking he may be a hired gun, treasure hunter, and general jack-of-all trades from the Badlands down in the Equestrian south, whose travels now bring him up towards Bridle Shores.

Assuming he even gets there. His introduction may involve a messy encounter with a Timberwolf and an inability to keep possession of his hat. :smalltongue:

As it so happens. Merellis and I have been cooking up a pair of very interesting characters that might run into yours. :smallamused:

[Merellis]

Sorry Lycan, that'll be responded to in full at some point today. Currently at work.

As for the shadow network, it's all over the second floor at this point, lugging explosives that are hidden in the shadows. :smallamused: Shame so many ponies are busy with the walls, the fires, and the ruckus at both the first floor of the Guardhouse and the multiple booms and explosive sounds at the Hospital.

Hopefully this scene can end with a bang~ :smallwink:

Speaking of new characters, I'll have one up soon enough that's working with another of Grif's.

[PurityIcekiller]

Also, I'm thinking of adding a new character, actually. Some of you may remember Lucky Break from the Fallout: Equestria RP? :smallamused: I'm thinking I may reprise my role of the idiot pegasus, albeit with a few tweaks to better fit this setting. I'm thinking he may be a hired gun, treasure hunter, and general jack-of-all trades from the Badlands down in the Equestrian south, whose travels now bring him up towards Bridle Shores.

Assuming he even gets there. His introduction may involve a messy encounter with a Timberwolf and an inability to keep possession of his hat. :smalltongue:

Considering that I'm working on Violetta's profile right now myself, that sounds good to me. It'd be interesting to see him interact with other characters, including FO:E characters he never met - in particular, I'm picturing Violetta seeing him as a hero while Fleetwing thinks he's just some show-off. :smallbiggrin:

[Lycan 01]

...okay yeah that sounds hilarious and awesome. :smallbiggrin:

I think I'll introduce Lucky a few miles out from Bridle Shores proper, out on the road/in the woods en route, so that other players can have a chance to introduce new characters too, and so it won't be bogged down in the big ol' battle thing going on right now. I figure by the time the Lucky gets to town, the battle stuff should be wrapped up. In theory. :smalltongue:

Anyhoo, character sheet!

Name: Lucky Break
Title: None
Race: Pegasus
Age: 28
Appearance: Light brown coat, dark brown mane, bright blue eyes, facial scars on left side of chin, across bridge of nose, and notched left ear, and dashing good looks. Cutie mark is a silver coin. He wears a white shirt, black vest, and black cowboy hat.
Skills: Sneaking, hiding, and general stealth. Flying, dodging, evasion, general agility. Repairing and tinkering with tech and gear. Fast talk, flirting, negotiation, and otherwise being a silver-tongued weasel. Skilled marksman with ranged weapons, particularly crossbows and muskets. Modest hoof-to-hoof combat ability.
Equipment: Saddle bags, spare clothes, a small bag of bits, binoculars, compass, small tool kit, small first aid kit, a scoped crossbow, small quiver of crossbow bolts, bottle of BBQ sauce.
Personality: Snarky, charming, and playful. A bit lacking in common sense, and prone to not really planning things through. He's a kind, loyal pony, though, and genuinely believes in doing the right thing and helping other ponies in need. Thinks with his heart rather than his brain.
Relationships: None at the moment. That's right, ladies. He's single~
Cutie Mark: A silver coin, representing a coin toss. Lucky's special talent is dumb luck - for better or worse. He's never too lucky or unlucky. He can never catch a break, but when really bad stuff happens, even if it would kill another pony, he somehow comes out on top by the skin of his teeth. (Usually.) Biography: Lucky grew up down south, in the Equestrian Badlands. He's had a bit of a rough life, but he always manages to make it through whatever stupid problems he's faced with. He mostly makes a living as a "treasure finder," which is a polite way of saying he's an archeologist at best and a grave robber at worst. He's also done a few stints as a mercenary, hired gun, hunter, bodyguard, and general rough-and-tumble jack of all trades. Recently he decided to hit the road and head North for green pastures, in order to explore new opportunities, and totally not avoid some ponies he may or may not have really pissed off.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/bb2819a0de2b6e89248c47efeaa17bde/tumblr_mzaqgycB3i1rypswfo1_1280.png


Look good, GMs? :smallbiggrin:

[Kelvin360]

Good luck in your life! It was fun while it lasted.

As for FWM proper, I'm waiting for Kelvin's reply before proceeding with the scene.

Yeah, sorry. I'm still trying to figure out logistics and kick the authorial groove into gear. I'll give a tentative 'it'll be done by tomorrow evening'.

[TheAmishPirate]

Glad to see all the ideas getting kicked around in here. :smallbiggrin:

I'll have a post up in Backstage tomorrow. Got swamped with some things what needed taking care of.

[Benson]

What part of the day is it in regards to what is going on in Bridle Shores in the main rp thread?

[Grif]

What part of the day is it in regards to what is going on in Bridle Shores in the main rp thread?

Evening, going onto dusk, at the moment. (If we're counting the big fight.)

[Benson]

Oooh, if it starts turning dark soon, maybe some vamponies can go help with the big fight. Miss M does have some frustration to relieve after all :smalltongue:

[Grif]

For Lycan's benefit, first draft of my character:

Name: Pulp Fiction (AKA Persimmon Flitterbloom)
Title: Writer/Novelist
Race: Unicorn
Appearance: Brown coat with purple mane. Wears a black beret and brown & beige scarf
Age: 24
Skills: Writing, minor defensive spells
Personality: A very mild, and unassuming pony, best described as a mouse in pony form. Has a very kindly personality. Can be somewhat of a doormat. Has a slight stutter that persists even to this day.
Relationships: Bodyguard with Bitter Herb. None with any existing characters in Bridle Shores.
Cutie Mark: A stylised quill on parchment
Biography: Pulp Fiction was born in a time of uneasy peace during the troubled years leading up to the Long Summer. As the only daughter of a loyalist family, she led a sheltered life, her parents believing that their daughter was too young to partake in politics, and that they could at least shield her from the troubles they foresaw was coming.

At the tender age of eight, The Long Summer erupted and civil war engulfed the country. Fortunately, Manehattan was spared from the worst of the war, and Pulp and her family managed to escape any serious fighting. During this time, she discovered her love for writing and earned her cutie this way, a small glimpse of happiness amidst the grim reality of war.

Despite her family loyalist tendency, they managed to slip under radar of the new government, and settled on rebuilding their life. Pulp got herself into college and graduated with degress in Writing.

In the meantime, Pulp tried to start a career as a budding novelist. However, her first manuscript, about a couple torn by war, was rejected by most major publishing houses, mostly with the reason that she's too young and unknown. Dejected, she tried her last resort, the somewhat ill-reputed Smokewood Publishing. The response was lukewarm, though Pulp was told that her work had potential. The editor also suggested, off the cuff, that she should try adding "spice" into the work. Heartened, Pulp sent in a second manuscript, this time putting in shockingly racy scenes that she mistakenly believed that will get her accepted. A decision which she soon regretted intensely, and tried in vain, to unsend her work.

Much to her surprise and delight though, Smokewood accepted the manuscript, enamoured by her salacious story. Pulp decided to allow her work to be published though, under the condition that they use a pseudonym: Persimmon Flitterbloom. The book was a smashing success, at least in the world of thrashy romance novels. Despite this, her family knew nothing of her work and she carefully maintained the facade that she was working for a newspaper company. Pulp remained remarkably evasive about the exact nature of the newspaper she's working for.


Merellis should post his shortly, and we'll see if we can join the scene in a timely manner. :smallwink:

[PurityIcekiller]

Violetta's profile is in the character thread. I'm waiting for Amish to establish Fleetwing now.

[TheAmishPirate]

Violetta's profile is in the character thread. I'm waiting for Amish to establish Fleetwing now.

Apologies, this may have to wait a bit. Currently recovering from strain/overuse in my arms, and I have to limit my typing. :smallsigh:

[Grif]

To share a bit of good news, many years ago this day - about an hour and 25 minutes ago at that - I was successfully brought into this world!

Many years later, I am sitting on a forum and talking about ponies.

I have done good things with my life.


Since I don't quite post in ponythread anymore, Happy belated Birthday. :smallsmile:

Have a Lyra.
https://derpicdn.net/img/2014/7/17/677056/large.gif


EDIT: Benson. A new contender appears? :smalltongue:

[Kelvin360]

WOOOO! Happy manymanyth-and-a-week, Amish!

[MCerberus]

There's been talk of newsponies.
Is it time for a hyper-caffeinated ninja reporter to make her appearance?

[Merellis]

Name: Bitter Herb

Title: Unbreakable

Race: Pegasus (Islander Variant)

Appearance: Bitter is a tall pegasus with a skyblue coat and wings. Her mane is a cropped cut of lavender with pink highlights with bangs that end just above a pair of simple glasses and frightningly intense eyes of a storming sea. Her build is lean yet muscular, most of her body is toned with scars covering various places. The most exotic thing about this rough and tumble pegasus is her wings, they're more than twice the average wingspan of a pegasus! It seems to be a trait shared within her family that reaches back generations.

She carries a pair of old saddlebags that are equipped with various survival gear, books on plants, maps, and a bag of bits. The only weapon she carries with her are her hooves, and a solid set of heavy horseshoes that seem built for defence

Age: 25

Skills: Bitter is a pony trained in a variety of skills, ranging from cookery to herbology. More specifically she's been trained since young to handle herself in a kitchen, has a natural affinity with nature and herbs, a good grasp of cartography, and a solid mastery of hoof-to-hoof combat, namely the Soul of the Forest Style.

Her time as a member of the intelligence teams that moved information to various rebel groups during the Long Summer has given the mare a good grasp of tactics for dealing with a group, as well as how to generally avoid danger and stay alive in the wilds.

Biography: Bitter Herb was born on an island far off the shores of Equestria and as such had managed to avoid the general unease that built up towards the Long Summer. Her parents were both kind to her, even if her mother would occasionally lock herself away when an experiment demanded her attention. She lived in a decent sized village above a bustling resteraunt, which is incidently where she learned to cook and about the general effect of herbs and spices. The filly was a stubborn little thing and had a rather volatile temper, which her parents were able to work around simply because they knew how to deal with her.

Her cutie mark came one day when she had surprised her parents in bed with a generous helping scrambled eggs stuffed with herbs and spices. From there the little filly begain to learn and attend lessons on a variety of subjects. This also brought her into contact with a lot of other colts and fillies, where her stubborn and crash attitude, alongside the temper she had yet to master, caused her to get into many fights and scuffles.

Fearing the worst for their angry and stubborn child, Ocean Breeze and Bitter Taste saught the advice of an old stallion named Stone Strike. The Earth Pony of considerable girth and age asked to take the filly in as a student and teach her hoof-to-hoof in an attempt to give Bitter Herb the discipline she would need to make it as an adult, her parents agreed and Bitter was soon learning an odd style called the Soul of the Forest. The incidents soon stopped as Bitter Herb learned to control her temper for the most part, though the filly still had a pretty nasty mouth when the fires of her anger were stoked.

Sadly things were not meant to go this well in anyponies life, for as the Long Summer entered it's second year, tragedy soon struck their town in the form of two incidents. First, Stone Strike lost his son to violence. Violence that was done to him by his own daughter, Sure Strike. The pegasus left the island very soon after that catastraphe with her faithful friend, Mask. The second incident was far more close to home in Bitter's case. Her mother, her energetic and brilliant mother was struck down by an illness that none could cure.

Stricken with grief and not wanting to allow her anger to sully her mothers good name, Bitter Herb left the island and headed for Equestria. There she was dragged into the Long Summer and spent eight long years working in intelligence by carrying information through enemy territories to the scattered rebellions against Iron Hoof. It was during these years that Bitter happened upon a dying stallion and learned something that broke her so tightly controlled temper.

This stallion had been part of a plot to assassinate key individuals who posed a threat, among them, was Ocean Breeze, Royal Artificer to the Kingdom of Equestria. He soon died as Bitter tried to get more out of him, taking what he knew with him. As the Long Summer drew to a close, Bitter Herb continued to look for more information on her mother's assassination but had only managed to find that the order had come from far up the food chain in Equestria's royalty.

She struck a dead end in her search and was forced to drop the desire for vengence for a more sorely needed desire to survive. Bitter started to hire herself out as a bodyguard, eventually making the aquaintence of Pulp Fiction.

Personality: Bitter is a tempermental, brash, loudmouthed, prideful, and all over blunt and opinionated pony. She's also loyal to her friends, softspoken when she needs to be, and disciplined enough to reign in her temper when she needs to. She likes to tease her friends but learns the limit soon enough.

Relationships: Currently a Bodyguard to Pulp Fiction.

Cutie Mark: A sprig of sage.

Question, did Windy, the pegasus that was hiding under the bed manage to fall down or is still up?

[TheAmishPirate]

I'm sorry I'm so late on my posts. These last few days have been murder for business. :smallsigh:

[Grif]

So. Anyone wants their ponies to take part in the play? :smallsmile:

[PurityIcekiller]

It would be amusing to have Blueshield somehow convinced/coerced into joining.

[Grif]

It would be amusing to have Blueshield somehow convinced/coerced into joining.

I think it's very hard to coerce somepony who isn't very coerce-able to begin with. :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

[Lycan 01]

Coerce them with the threat of somehow finding a way to coerce them despite them being uncoercable. That's coercive, right? :smallbiggrin:



Also, a little heads up for those who may be interested: I started a Tumblr ask blog for Lucky (http://ask-lucky-break.tumblr.com/). Figured I'd mention it since some of y'all seem to like his antics. :smalltongue:

[PurityIcekiller]

I think it's very hard to coerce somepony who isn't very coerce-able to begin with. :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

That just makes it even funnier to imagine how she'd end up in that situation. :smallwink: Of course, if that's too ridiculous, I could have Flare join out of curiosity instead.

[Merellis]

Post coming tonight, sorry for the wait this weekend. Was a long one. :smallannoyed:

[TheAmishPirate]

@Kelvin: Waiting on Taylor in the Backstage thread.

[Kelvin360]

Yeeeaaaaahhhh. Actually, I can't think of anything for him to say. I was going to wait on Gear and Silverpine to bust in at an amusing inopportune moment and kickstart hijinks. >_>

[Merellis]

Just got back last night from a family reunion, no internet service at the cabin, no cell service unless I wanted to stand on a river, so was unable to check on the thread or get a post out. Will be starting it tonight after work if I'm not too tired.

Fun but exausting weekend, should have gotten today off too. :smallsigh:

[Grif]

Obligatory poke for... well, everyone? :smalltongue::smallwink:

[Benson]

I am uncertain/on the fence about the restaurant that Balboa and Co be the same as the one where Lone Star and Es.

Grif, HalfTangible, your thoughts?

[Grif]

I am uncertain/on the fence about the restaurant that Balboa and Co be the same as the one where Lone Star and Es.

Grif, HalfTangible, your thoughts?

I'm fine with either choice. Same restaurant might be hilarious, but it might crowd the scene some.

[HalfTangible]

I am uncertain/on the fence about the restaurant that Balboa and Co be the same as the one where Lone Star and Es.

Grif, HalfTangible, your thoughts?

I'm running out of conversation topics. By all means, crash the party.

[Kelvin360]

You lot know how much I hate being 'that guy', but is Game of Ponies even a thing anymore? Or are deliberations just offscreen for now?

[PurityIcekiller]

I think it's supposed to be my turn to post, but Amish's last post suggests he had more to write that he was unable to put down. I don't feel I should reply until that has been clarified.

[TheAmishPirate]

I think it's supposed to be my turn to post, but Amish's last post suggests he had more to write that he was unable to put down. I don't feel I should reply until that has been clarified.

Next time, let me know before we go on a...jeez, two month hiatus? I didn't even realize my post had been cut off or typo'd or what. :smallsigh:

Go ahead and post. I can't recall if there was anything more important to say there.

I'm sorry I've been so inactive here. Among other things, I've been dealing with some arm pain for the last two months, and it's hindered my ability to type. Going to see a chiropractor, should hopefully resolve the matter finally.

[Merellis]

Typing up, should be done soon. :smallbiggrin:

[Grif]

Next time, let me know before we go on a...jeez, two month hiatus? I didn't even realize my post had been cut off or typo'd or what. :smallsigh:

Go ahead and post. I can't recall if there was anything more important to say there.

I'm sorry I've been so inactive here. Among other things, I've been dealing with some arm pain for the last two months, and it's hindered my ability to type. Going to see a chiropractor, should hopefully resolve the matter finally.

I should stress on this more. Don't be afraid to poke someone. :smallsmile: (Such hiatus are never really good for a game.)

[Grif]

Poking HalfTangible to see if he has anything to add, or should I just move on. :smallsmile:

[HalfTangible]

Poking HalfTangible to see if he has anything to add, or should I just move on. :smallsmile:

Well no, not really. No idea what to say or do here. Not enitrely sure we even heard Balboa or Fox Trot.

[Grif]

Well no, not really. No idea what to say or do here. Not enitrely sure we even heard Balboa or Fox Trot.

Aha. I was more waiting your confirmation post that neither noticed Fox/Balboa/Icy before I posted the next round. Alrighty, I'll move it along soonish.

[HalfTangible]

Aha. I was more waiting your confirmation post that neither noticed Fox/Balboa/Icy before I posted the next round. Alrighty, I'll move it along soonish.

... But LS/Es already knew they were there. They SAW THEM come in :smalltongue:

But yeah.

[Grif]

... But LS/Es already knew they were there. They SAW THEM come in :smalltongue:

But yeah.

Crap. Brain fuzzed. Need sleep. x.X (Been running on 4-6 hours of sleep lately)

[Merellis]

Grif is possibly going to be posting something soon to try and finish up the battle situation.

I'd like to get ahead of the pack and apologize again. It's because of me that the thread has slowed to a crawl with a lot of things and I can't do anything about it beyond apologize for letting my lesser habits get in the way and screw things up.

I'd like to try and just summarize the battle and leave it there with a good number of enemies surviving so that based on narrative there is the weight of an enemy who is able to break into the town and cause that much chaos while being able to make a getaway.

Will be posting up what I had in mind for plans to finish this off on my end.

Bumble and Sure Strike immediately escape out of their own windows with Bumble using a poisonous smoke bomb to cover her escape and take one final attempt at killing the witness. They'd then use the shadows, the general chaos of the battle and fires, as well as another scheme to cover their own escape over the northern walls.

Dive Bomb would die and try to poison Prose before succumbing to the substances in his veins. The plan was for him to show up again far later in the timeline, after having Bumble or Sure pick up an object on his corpse, and keeping to be a rival/antagonist towards Purple Prose. Mostly gonna scrap the idea of him being some sort of creepy lich... Even if I did have a dark and twisted way for him to keep having a form.

Divine Knowledge and Mask would mostly complete their objective by placing strong explosives over each of the antimagic cells and just generally blowing up the Guardhouse. This is to be the scheme to both kill the traitor and cover their escape via teleporting, it also has the added bonus of being a good way to take eyes off the north wall and let Sure/Bumble escape with the help of one griffon sniper in the woods.

This would leave the heroes with being able to save an innocent witness, but losing a traitor who would actually know something about the army that attacked their gates. The real idea here is to shake up the town with some actual villains who can do major damage to them and get away with it at the time.

But due a number of my own faults, perfectionism and general procrastination being the main one, I have not really been able to get this done and have harmed the RP as a result.

My apologies again.

[Grif]

Okay here's the deal. I think we all can agree this situation has stalled long enough, and this isn't the best way to keep interest. With that in mind, there're several things I propose:

1) We should probably do a roll call. As I can tell, there're several characters that are now inactive and should be cycled out.

2) The current town siege/spy shenanigans in town should be time-skipped, and a summary post be posted instead to move things along and free up whatever characters that are currently stuck in the scene. Exact details can be worked out OOC, I think, and you can refer to Merellis post to read about the direction he had intended to take it too. My suggestion:

- Villains get away. Dive Bomb may or may not be killed in the process.
- Red Shift (aka prisoner in guardhouse) gets shafted and dies.
- Windy Breeze lives through the efforts of all the ponies in the hospital.
- Army retreats, leaving a battered town.

3) Some of the outlying threads like Misc Adventures and Games of Ponies should be consolidated. They're mostly inactive now. At this point, I think we should only have three threads: General FWM (for Bridle Shores), Misc Adventures (for the rest of Equestria) and CUT! for those who want a timey-wimey shenanigan.

[TheAmishPirate]

Chiming in to say that I agree with what's been said, and apologize that things have gotten to where they are.

Sandy is absolutely still in. I'm honestly not sure if I want to introduce Fleetwing, as I'm concerned with getting overloaded with characters. Currently in 9 games right now, so that's a thing. >_>

[Lycan 01]

Yo, still here. :smalltongue:

Posting has been a bit slow for me lately since real life has been throwing problems and obstacles my way with great gusto. Might slow even more in a few weeks, if my dad ends up having back surgery. But we'll see. I'll still be around, regardless, even if my posting may be sparse.

[Kelvin360]

I cast a vote to give Dive a Never Found The Body clause in case Merellis wants to bring him back as a sure thing.

Aside from that, roll called. After the time skip, it's just going to be Arvadraa, Stellar and Dawnstrider in Bridle Shores proper. I'm debating whether or not to leave Moonlight with the Cirrus. That one depends on what we're doing with the vampires. That said, could we also timeskip just a teensy more, past the part where the Motes pull out? I'm not sure how well I'd deal with actually RPing something that awkward out to its fullest extent.

I'm also in support of pretty much all the suggestions put forth above me.

And, Merellis...don't be too hard on yourself, alright? Not everybody has the time necessary to do as much as they'd like with minutia like this, and I for one appreciate both your efforts to keep it going previously despite the odds and your biting the bullet to give us all some leeway now.

[HalfTangible]

I'm still here, but of my characters only Wrench is in Bridle Shores...... And I'm honestly not sure what he's doing during all the invasion stuff =/

[Grif]

Cool, cool. Glad to see you guys are still around. :smalltongue:

I gather that, from the responses, that the only sticking point is whether Dive gets to live or not. So, thoughts? Lycan, does Prose kill him dead? Or shall he rise like Xykon to be a lich? :smalltongue:

Also @Kelvin, we probably can just handwave the Moon Motes leavinga at some point. That shouldn't be a problem. The vampony thing I feel should be dealt with in the RP though, instead of here.

[Lycan 01]

I was actually going to have Prose brutally coup de grace him in my last post, but I thought that would be going too far. >.>;

Soooo yeeeeeeaaah... He probably deathmurdered the mess out of Dive Bomb the moment he had the opportunity. With a priority target like that, especially one which has shown it can bounce back easily, he needs to make sure he's properly neutralized. And...

Prose isn't above using psychological warfare. In fact, he's probably pretty good at it. So keeping Dive Bomb's severed head or flayed hide/cutie mark seems likely, if not for Psy Ops stuff, then to serve as proof or a trophy or whatever to send back to Canterlot. Kinda like how famous pirates and rebels would have their remains strung up or set on pikes as a warning...

So yeah. Dunno how well that Lich thing would work out when Prose is done with him. :smalleek:

[Grif]

I was actually going to have Prose brutally coup de grace him in my last post, but I thought that would be going too far. >.>;

Soooo yeeeeeeaaah... He probably deathmurdered the mess out of Dive Bomb the moment he had the opportunity. With a priority target like that, especially one which has shown it can bounce back easily, he needs to make sure he's properly neutralized. And...

Prose isn't above using psychological warfare. In fact, he's probably pretty good at it. So keeping Dive Bomb's severed head or flayed hide/cutie mark seems likely, if not for Psy Ops stuff, then to serve as proof or a trophy or whatever to send back to Canterlot. Kinda like how famous pirates and rebels would have their remains strung up or set on pikes as a warning...

So yeah. Dunno how well that Lich thing would work out when Prose is done with him. :smalleek:

Given that Dive's "phylactery" is probably something inconspicuous on his body, do you think it's possible Prose would miss such a thing? Battle rush/conditions and all.

[Lycan 01]

He would probably give a quick look over the body to make sure he isn't holding any valuable intel or traps or anything, but if it's something innocuous, he'll leave it. For now. He'll probably look over the rest of his stuff more closely after the battle, but if anybody can get past the guards or something and loot the body before Prose gets back, he could probably "escape" that way.

Especially if it's something like a rusty spoon. :smalltongue: A cursed medallion? Prose is gonna confiscate. A pocket-watch or some other mundane item won't be worth his time right now.

[PurityIcekiller]

I'm happy to say I'm amazed that I'm still around.

I'd say the planned ending is all right. An attempt to poison-bomb the hospital is all right; Night Jewel would probably focus on disabling the bomb, preventing her from pursuing properly.

As for my characters, the ones who are here will still be here. The ones who are not here won't be here until they're ready.

[Grif]

He would probably give a quick look over the body to make sure he isn't holding any valuable intel or traps or anything, but if it's something innocuous, he'll leave it. For now. He'll probably look over the rest of his stuff more closely after the battle, but if anybody can get past the guards or something and loot the body before Prose gets back, he could probably "escape" that way.

Especially if it's something like a rusty spoon. :smalltongue: A cursed medallion? Prose is gonna confiscate. A pocket-watch or some other mundane item won't be worth his time right now.

Cool, cool. I'll get started on the finishing up post.

In the meantime, could y'all just state in brief on what your characters would do from where we left off till the battle ended. Maybe even afterwards?

[Lycan 01]

Prose? Oh that's simple.

Kill. :smalltongue:



Nah but seriously, he would just focus on neutralizing any enemy operatives he comes across, with his priority objective being the capture or neutralization of the spy/spies he saw earlier in the day. He met Troubadour, after all, so he knows who to look for...

[Kelvin360]

Taylor's going to be spending his time doing what he does best - assist with the massive influx of wounded. When he has that date with Goldie, he'll gently turn her down, citing the attack as the kind of thing that he has to get involved with regularly.

Snowstorm will start on fire maintenance, blowing around cold fronts and ice sheets to kill the burning before making a 360 perimeter around the town to keep an eye out for stragglers.

Starbeam will go into paranoia mode and guard Refugirl until the hospital is in better shape. After that, she'll vanish for a while as she makes an attempt to put some time in with Stellar and keep a magical eye on their entrance to the teleportation network.

Dawnstrider and Moonlight are going to mop up the goons. Moonlight grabs Riposte and shadowalks them out of harm's way while Dawn crosses blades with Beefy. The explosion allows Beefy and Smugface (I'm really terrible with names this morning). After, Dawn shucks his armor and makes a beeline for the hospital to do what he can. Moonlight'll stop by the Cirrus to ensure the snafu didn't apply to their operations.

Within half a week, all of them except Dawn are outta there.

[PurityIcekiller]

When things are clearly secure at the front gate, Blueshield will go around town inspecting the damage and doing what she can to fix things up. She'll probably find out about the infiltrators and lecture the guards about inspecting newcomers more carefully. Once all that is dealt with, she'll proceed with training militia and the less experienced guards.

Night Jewel remains in the hospital, keeping watch over the wounded to make sure this doesn't happen again. Once the coast is clear, she'll make sure the guards are informed about this incident, then head back to her den and wait for Dawnstrider to come.

Those at the shop will continue to wait out the attack. When things are safe again, Flare will come out to help with repairs. Stellar and 'Vadraa will do whatever Kelvin360 wants them to.

[Merellis]

Guardhouse invaders get a one-way teleport past the walls of Bridle Shores via Divine Knowledge and her cards, though some are most likely dead due to Dawnstrider. They then make a beeline for the backing army and begin to fallback to the base. Inspection of the rubble that used to be the second floor and anti-magic zones will reveal odd runes etched into the walls and floor at certain sports and a set of shimmerite cards that are mostly shattered.

Investigation would generally mean a trip to Canterlot to visit the large selection of books their, because the symbols look really off.

Cards though do reveal some basic formula and parts of equations that some ponies would remember if they've studied the teleport spell.

Bumble and Sure Strike make a swift retreat to the northern wall, managing to come across Dive's corpse and pick up his phylactery, a simple medal given to those loyal to the two sisters, that was stitched into the inside of his armor. If Prose takes the time to steal the armor he will find it's +5 with magic resistant properties. :smalltongue:

Dive Bomb does his very best to be a corpse, and is really selling the act by actually being dead!

The army does a forced march to head back to their base of operations. With the damage to the town, the wounded, the gates, and the fact that most of the guardhouse is leveled, I don't really suspect many to be ordered into chasing them down.

[MCerberus]

I'm alive. I think. Too tired to post now though

[Grif]

Danke, all of you. I'll just wait for MCerberus to post what griffon and possibly Staccata is doing before putting up a version for y'all to scrutinise.

EDIT: Amish, I think I may require your input as well.

[TheAmishPirate]

Danke, all of you. I'll just wait for MCerberus to post what griffon and possibly Staccata is doing before putting up a version for y'all to scrutinise.

EDIT: Amish, I think I may require your input as well.

For what specifically?

[Grif]

For what specifically?

Ah, more of what Captain et al may be doing. Sorry for the vague request.

[PurityIcekiller]

Okaaay, so while most of the Backstage thread isn't necessarily canon, I think some of the conversations that happened there must also happen offscreen in the actual canon. We're getting some good character development here.

[Kelvin360]

Yeah, since we're timeskipping the main thread anyway, it'd be a breeze to say that certain conversations are also occurring in a parallel timeline in between the end of the battle and where we decide to pick up again. Particularly for Esmerelda, Lone Star, Balboa, Astrid, Icy, Wrench, Shell Shock, the Heavy Metal crew, and the Cirrus crew, since none of those groups were part of the fighting. For others, we've all but set up spaces for them to converse (Snowstorm/Prose/Blueshield could well have taken place during an actual aerial patrol directly afterwards, though I imagine Prose would be substantially less relaxed; Blueshield/Staccata/Tyrol/Lemongrass seems like the type of consideration exchange that could take place during a ground examination, though whether that chess match stays is up to personal preference; Purity left a blank in Night's schedule for her and Dawn to have their talk, but it won't be as emotionally impactful without Silver there, I believe; Taylor/Sandy might have occurred if he went to the Cirrus post-battle to make sure everyone was alright, but the breakdown would have happened for different reasons).

Did I miss anyone? I'm on a roll here.

[HalfTangible]

Okaaay, so while most of the Backstage thread isn't necessarily canon, I think some of the conversations that happened there must also happen offscreen in the actual canon. We're getting some good character development here.

Personally I'm treating the backstage thread as semi-canon - it might have happened, but it definitely didn't happen as presented (particularly with scenarios that couldn't have happened, like Icy and Fox Trot running into Es and LS. Since they're still fused together in the main timeline.).

[TheAmishPirate]

Ah, more of what Captain et al may be doing. Sorry for the vague request.

Right. Let's see...

The Captain and the other named/higher-up guards get to work mopping up the last of the enemies in the town, and recovering any equipment they might've left behind. They'd be looking for how so many infiltrated the town without an obvious entry point, and recruiting what magical help they have to figure it out. Other than that, the main order of the day is securing the town. The Guardhouse - built as solid as it is - was thankfully not completely destroyed when the bombs went off. Much of the second floor was damaged and a few key areas on lower floor (and the areas above them) were totaled. But repairs to the Guardhouse would be secondary to repairs on the gates. The damage from the ram and the fire would be repaired and the gates reinforced. They'd also start work on walltop defenses to help counter the Griffon rifles; namely, some extra protection near the ballista and gatehouse defenses to help divert shots or hide crews. For the retreating army, he would send out at least Prose to get as much intel as possible and snipe off any stragglers. Prose's actions in battle have definitely served to mend their relationship, and he recognizes the bat pony's skill and resourcefulness. But as far as a full-scale counter-invasion goes, he knows that Bridle Shores lacks the resources to do so. He and his higher-ups spend many an evening locked in the Guardhouse, planning their next move...


Yeah, since we're timeskipping the main thread anyway, it'd be a breeze to say that certain conversations are also occurring in a parallel timeline in between the end of the battle and where we decide to pick up again. Particularly for Esmerelda, Lone Star, Balboa, Astrid, Icy, Wrench, Shell Shock, the Heavy Metal crew, and the Cirrus crew, since none of those groups were part of the fighting. For others, we've all but set up spaces for them to converse (Snowstorm/Prose/Blueshield could well have taken place during an actual aerial patrol directly afterwards, though I imagine Prose would be substantially less relaxed; Blueshield/Staccata/Tyrol/Lemongrass seems like the type of consideration exchange that could take place during a ground examination, though whether that chess match stays is up to personal preference; Purity left a blank in Night's schedule for her and Dawn to have their talk, but it won't be as emotionally impactful without Silver there, I believe; Taylor/Sandy might have occurred if he went to the Cirrus post-battle to make sure everyone was alright, but the breakdown would have happened for different reasons).

Did I miss anyone? I'm on a roll here.

Actually, the Taylor/Sandy conversation requires a lot more work to get to that point. What we saw there was a relapse brought on by talking with the family of the stallion Sandy thinks he had a hand in killing. Conversations on the ship are going to be much less progress-filled, especially since Orzel/Rainbow's not around.

[MCerberus]

A moment of silence for my old computer, replaced in its prime long after it should have been due to being a refab without a GPU. It died how it lived, struggling to render anything at 5fps

Will post tonight

[Grif]

I think doing a newspaper article style is kinda fun. Here's the first part.

Excerpt from the Baltimare Tribune
[...]

While the information regarding closing stages of the Fifth Battle of Bridle Shores remained sketchy due to the chaos that follows any battle, a few salient facts were still evident:

The guardhouse was severely damaged by the infiltrators, who managed set off some sort of magical bomb within. How they managed to do so still remains a mystery. Regardless, the explosion killed the prisoner that was held in the cell, and injured several guardsponies that was in the building. Through means yet unknown, the cunning perpetrators disappeared without a trace, along with the spy that had infiltrated earlier.

The town hospital also suffered severe damage, where another group of infiltrators had apparently targeted a pegasus merchant for reasons yet unknown. Despite collapsing an entire wing and injuring dozens of civilians in the area, they were thwarted by a timely group of Moon Motes and adventurers. Again, the villains escaped successfully, in no small part due to their willingness to use innocents to buy time for their escape.

On the other side of town, a furious duel took place between the self-declared leader of the besiegers, calling himself Dive Bomb, and a retired soldier who declined to be named. Fortunately for Bridle Shores, the leader was no match for the skill and experience of Equestria’s finest and was struck down without mercy.

With their leader struck down, his dark minions began to falter and retreat from the walls. By the same token, the defenders rallied to push back their attackers, and began inflicting heavy losses on the retreating army. By nightfall, only the dead and dying remained outside the walls of Bridle Shores…

[...]


Thoughts? (Intentionally vague, but I'll also compile and post a list of things that happened in a OOC view.)

[Lycan 01]

Sounds good to me. :smallsmile:

[PurityIcekiller]

Don't think anyone's got any complaints. I can always add some narration to cover what my characters do more thoroughly.

Say, Amish, how's Fleety coming along?

[Grif]

Cool. I'm just slowly plugging away at the next part. God, my writing is so rusty these days.

[TheAmishPirate]

Don't think anyone's got any complaints. I can always add some narration to cover what my characters do more thoroughly.

Say, Amish, how's Fleety coming along?

Not well, unfortunately. Life decided that, in lieu of the usual bombshell, it'd rather just go with the carpet-bombing approach. Much more efficient that way.

To put it more plainly, I have a lot of personal stuff going on right now that I need to deal with, and it's left me with not a lot of energy to spare. I don't think I can handle another character at this time. :smallsigh:

[PurityIcekiller]

Sorry to hear that. I guess I'll have to make do with the others for now.

[Grif]

Not well, unfortunately. Life decided that, in lieu of the usual bombshell, it'd rather just go with the carpet-bombing approach. Much more efficient that way.

To put it more plainly, I have a lot of personal stuff going on right now that I need to deal with, and it's left me with not a lot of energy to spare. I don't think I can handle another character at this time. :smallsigh:

Oldie but goodie:

http://s.mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-782253-2-c1c4a53d4b6a22f9a7bd188bb4583972.jpg

I hope life treats you better soon.

[Grif]

Canterlot Radio
Interview transcript with Emerald, Assistant Mayor
A: Miss Emerald, what’s your comment on the recent events that had transpired? Specifically, the one the newspapers are now dubbing the Battle of Bridle Shores.

E: We got off lucky, all things told. The nasty fire that had broken out all across town was contained relatively quickly, thanks to the brave efforts of our local guard.

A: I hear there was quite the battle.

E: Quite. Fortunately it was short and only lasted half a day, but that’s half a day too long for me.

A: What about the casualties?

E: All in all, the captain estimated that as many as fifty guardspony were injured. Few outright fatalities, fortunately. Casualties amongst the townsfolk were regrettable higher, as many as four hundred were injured, though again, few deaths.

A: I’m sorry to hear that.

E: We’re all are. These villains should be brought to justice.

A: How’s the town coping, in general?

E: Those who have passed will be sorely missed, may they be forever blessed by Princess Luna. But we’ll move on. We’ll survive. We’ll rebuild and grow stronger. We won’t be brought low by these scum.

A: A commendable sentiment, Miss Emerald. Perhaps you could tell us what do you plan to do after this?

E: We intend to rebuild, of course. The Public Works Guild has already started work on repairing the West Gate and its walls. The guardhouse will relocate to a temporary building near the market square, and continue its usual activities. As for the hospital, I am informed we have started transferring out critical patients to Canterlot where they’ll be better cared for in a safer environment. The director is insistent that the facility run at a diminished capacity until the hospital can be repaired to an acceptable standard. In short, we’ll only have the equivalent of a field hospital for the interim.

A: What about safety concerns?

E: For the moment, travellers would be discouraged to come down to Bridle Shore. I must stress this in no uncertain terms: the town is in a state of emergency. We have reliable information that this was only a small part of a larger rogue warlord army that had seized control of a nearby town. We have also appealed to Canterlot for military assistance, but thus far, we have had no positive response. The captain have also introduced new security measures for any future visitors to the town, in light of recent events.

A: Rogue warlord army? That sounds very worrisome. Could you tell us more?

E: I cannot, unfortunately. That’ll be more of the purview of the captain. What I have told you, is what he deems is safe enough to share with me. More than that, I cannot say.

A: I see. Let’s hope the Lunar Republic will be able to deal with this crisis in good time.

E: They better! It’s about time somepony from the capital city does something about this, rather than leaving it to us honest folks to deal with this.

A: I hear reports of vamponies that have infested this town. Can you confirm this rumour?

E: Ah, the vamponies. Yes, this matter has been brought to my attention. Most happened to be the former townsfolk who had been forcibly converted against their will. We're currently arranging for suitable accommodation for them, as well as extra measures to help them adapt to their new life. Hopefully, they can regain some semblance of their normal life, but their need for blood is proving to be a difficult obstacle to overcome.

A: That's quite generous of you. Unfortunately, I think we’ve run out of time. I wish you all the best.

E: I think we need all the luck we can get now.

Trying something different again. Not sure how well it turned out.

[TheAmishPirate]

Let's talk about the Game of Ponies thread.

In the last months, I've been dropping the ball on it. I should've been moving the scene along, instead of waiting for an acknowledgement post first. However, leading up to that point, I've usually had to poke and prod multiple times to get things moving. And in the end, we still only have the one adventure going on in there. Grif and I have been chatting, and we're wondering what to even do with this beastie. So, given that we all have an equal stake in the fun here, I'd like to get some of your guys' thoughts about what to do with it:

A) Can it. No sense in continuing a section of a game that nobody's really interested in. We can keep political stuff in the background, and bring it up when it directly influences the town.

B) Keep it running as a slow adventure. We remember to post more, and the poking stick sees liberal use if a week/a bit less than a week goes by without a post.

C) Keep it running as a faster adventure. We pledge to post more, and will keep moving onward if folks delay too long on their turns.

D) Keep it running, but add another plotline for folks to interact with/advance.

E) Keep it running, but replace the current plotline.

F) Some other thing?

What are your thoughts? What do you want to see for that thread? What do you want to get out of it?

[Kelvin360]

There is so much lore in Canterlot we haven't even touched yet that we could get a secondary main thread at least out of this thing if we put even a tenth as many resources into it as Bridle Shores prime. D, vehemently. I do think we should have separate 'DMs' if we decide to go that far, however. Just so that one person isn't so bombarded by the responsibility of managing multiple threads' plotlines (this very issue, on smaller and larger scales, appears responsible for about 99 of our problems, although a switch ain't one). We've got Grif, Amish, and possibly Merellis in official capacities - maybe the former could draw straws?

[Grif]

There is so much lore in Canterlot we haven't even touched yet that we could get a secondary main thread at least out of this thing if we put even a tenth as many resources into it as Bridle Shores prime. D, vehemently. I do think we should have separate 'DMs' if we decide to go that far, however. Just so that one person isn't so bombarded by the responsibility of managing multiple threads' plotlines (this very issue, on smaller and larger scales, appears responsible for about 99 of our problems, although a switch ain't one). We've got Grif, Amish, and possibly Merellis in official capacities - maybe the former could draw straws?

Dae, you gonna need to PM me those delicious plotlines if you want to kick off another one. :smalltongue:

[Grif]

Last one I had planned to do. Now only to finish up the timeskip post and we should get going.

The following are the minutes of the daily Situation Brief on <redacted>, convened to discuss the prevailing strategic situation.

Present in the meeting are the Captain, Lieutenant Stormcloak, […]

[…] and myself, Lemongrass.

The meeting started off with a longwinded recap by the Captain about the grave situation and calling for all present to dedicate their resources to ending the menace to the town. (little heart doodles in the side) Private Beayn was notably already nodding off; the first casualty of this meeting.

Lt Stormcloak then raised the issue of the shortage of manpower in the town, as most of the Moon Motes have been recalled and the town is vulnerable. To which one of the Moon Motes suggests conscription. The idea was shot down immediately by the Captain, who insisted that it further spread unrest amongst the town populace to the agreement of the other senior guards. Cpl. Snowflake appears to have succumbed to the allures of sleep.

(more heart doodles) Lt Stormcloak then moved on to the issue of intelligence, which aside from the paladin known as Luka and the rescued pegasus merchant, we had none. The Captain proposes a scouting party to ascertain the intentions of the enemy.

Dawnstrider, acting as a true paladin, immediately offers himself to join the party. To which the Captain simply grunts in acknowledgement. The enigma Purple Prose also volunteers. Lt Stormcloak suggests that the Captain seeks the services of one Staccata and Night Jewel, both known shady figures who might be of interest. Three more guards dozes off. The Captain replies he’ll consider all of them.

Blueshield suggests that the town patrols be spread further to provide more advanced warning of any future invasion. The idea was accepted with some reluctance by Lt Stormcloak, who voiced the concern of spreading the existing pegasus squad too thin. Blueshields offers to lead some of the missions herself, much to the chagrin of some of the still-awake guards. (badly drawn picture of Blueshield screaming at what presumably is ponies)

[...]

[PurityIcekiller]

I must admit I'm mostly responsible for what happened to Game of Ponies. I didn't really know what I could do aside from follow along with my one character who's actually involved in a plotline, and kind of dropped off. Perhaps it would help if it were a little more open.

[TheAmishPirate]

I must admit I'm mostly responsible for what happened to Game of Ponies. I didn't really know what I could do aside from follow along with my one character who's actually involved in a plotline, and kind of dropped off. Perhaps it would help if it were a little more open.

Thing is, I should've recognized there wasn't much for you to do, and moved things along. It should be more open once we're at the proper investigation stage.

[Grif]

Okay, those of you who have military inclined ponies in Bridle Shores. (IIRC, Lycan, Kelvin, Purity, MCerberus) I should have asked this days ago, but it kept slipping my mind.

Kelvin, might I have a list of which ponies you have still available say, ten days after the incident? All of them please. I took some liberties in my last excerpt, but it pays to be sure.

At the same time, I also alluded to a scouting mission into Rusty Falls itself. I have assumed that four ponies will be in it, and they'll be Dawnstrider, Prose, Staccata and Night Jewel. Will this be alright, or would they be unavailable/unwilling for some reason?

[Lycan 01]

Scouting and espionage is pretty much a major part of the Shadowbolt job description, so Prose would be perfect for the job. He'd agree, out of a sense of duty and responsibility to Equestria and its citizens. The promise of coffee wouldn't hurt, though. :smalltongue:

[Kelvin360]

Kelvin, might I have a list of which ponies you have still available say, ten days after the incident? All of them please. I took some liberties in my last excerpt, but it pays to be sure.

Ten days...hm. Starbeam will have left around the same time as the Motes to gather information elsewhere. Moonlight wants to makes 100% sure the vampire situation isn't in any danger of boiling over before he leaves. Taylor's going to stick around until his skillset isn't as direly needed. Coconut and Joyous are still recovering from their injuries and due to their nature, couldn't be moved with the Motes proper, and Eclipse will have put Striker in charge of his force and stayed behind with his special somepony.

In short, most of them are going to be leaving soon, I swear, and I'm placing Coconut's recovery as the maximum duration (because that'll take longest).

But! Not exactly what you asked.

Dr. Sunshine is located in the medical facilities, either tending to the injured or quietly passed out in a back room for the exertion. The exception, of course, being a singular afternoon spent in a charming tea shop.

Sir Moonlight will be inside the Cirrus or around it, unless the crew asked him not to be when he came calling again, which he will accept with no objections, it being a matter of their property's security.

Snowstorm will yell in the Head Weatherpony's ear (and possibly the Captain's) until she's placed on direct aerial rotation, wherein she'll spend time keeping eyes and ears on the surrounds and start putting up weather traps and advanced warning systems so that nothing like the invisible snipers happens again. If she gets approached by someone wanting to know how she does it, she'll go out of her way to make sure that she isn't the only one who knows the basics.

Lieutenant Coconut is incapacitated and in medical treatment. A broken spine'll do that to you.

Commander Eclipse will make Coconut's ward his unofficial headquarters - any questions or orders for him or the Motes go there.

PFC Joyous Boon was cleared by Sunshine almost immediately after his surgery. He spends his hours finding a quiet spot to let his thoughts go dark, or else performing mild groundside exercises to build up endurance with his one remaining lung, though obviously a broken hind leg and amputated wings increase the difficulty substantially. If asked, he'd be willing to give spear lessons to the guard.

Dawnstrider has finally been removing his armor when visiting the medical ward to help his father, after an incident in which he was mistaken for a member of the dark army. He can't Lay on Hooves without the boots, but he is experienced with field medicine, even if the circumstances under which he practiced were substantially more dire. Otherwise, he'll be walking and talking or sometimes sitting and talking to Night Jewel.

Arvadraa, as a part of the Public Works Guild, will have made a beeline for the town to assess the damage. After bringing up her concerns with Blades, she'll go visit the Captain and ask if assistance from the forestlands would be acceptable. Assuming he says yes, she'll spend her time moving between Bridle Shores and the forests, bringing back herbs for the doctors and animals to help with the rebuilding process.

Stellar refuses point-blank to magically repair anything, and states if confronted that she answers to Blades, not the township. Despite this, however, she's more than happy to begin designing schematics for sturdier defenses and fallback points, trying her darndest to account for everything the attack did catastrophic damage to.

I expect everyone on that list save the last three to be gone inside of a week or so, game-time.


At the same time, I also alluded to a scouting mission into Rusty Falls itself. I have assumed that four ponies will be in it, and they'll be Dawnstrider, Prose, Staccata and Night Jewel. Will this be alright, or would they be unavailable/unwilling for some reason?

Dawn would have raised a ruckus about Night Jewel being put in danger almost immediately. That said, it's not exactly an epic-level challenge for her to convince him to let her go, especially since he'll physically be there to make sure nothing goes 100% awry.

[Grif]

Scouting and espionage is pretty much a major part of the Shadowbolt job description, so Prose would be perfect for the job. He'd agree, out of a sense of duty and responsibility to Equestria and its citizens. The promise of coffee wouldn't hurt, though. :smalltongue:

Cool. I'm sure coffee can be negotiated. :smalltongue:


Ten days...hm. Starbeam will have left around the same time as the Motes to gather information elsewhere. Moonlight wants to makes 100% sure the vampire situation isn't in any danger of boiling over before he leaves. Taylor's going to stick around until his skillset isn't as direly needed. Coconut and Joyous are still recovering from their injuries and due to their nature, couldn't be moved with the Motes proper, and Eclipse will have put Striker in charge of his force and stayed behind with his special somepony.

In short, most of them are going to be leaving soon, I swear, and I'm placing Coconut's recovery as the maximum duration (because that'll take longest).

But! Not exactly what you asked.

Dr. Sunshine is located in the medical facilities, either tending to the injured or quietly passed out in a back room for the exertion. The exception, of course, being a singular afternoon spent in a charming tea shop.

Sir Moonlight will be inside the Cirrus or around it, unless the crew asked him not to be when he came calling again, which he will accept with no objections, it being a matter of their property's security.

Snowstorm will yell in the Head Weatherpony's ear (and possibly the Captain's) until she's placed on direct aerial rotation, wherein she'll spend time keeping eyes and ears on the surrounds and start putting up weather traps and advanced warning systems so that nothing like the invisible snipers happens again. If she gets approached by someone wanting to know how she does it, she'll go out of her way to make sure that she isn't the only one who knows the basics.

Lieutenant Coconut is incapacitated and in medical treatment. A broken spine'll do that to you.

Commander Eclipse will make Coconut's ward his unofficial headquarters - any questions or orders for him or the Motes go there.

PFC Joyous Boon was cleared by Sunshine almost immediately after his surgery. He spends his hours finding a quiet spot to let his thoughts go dark, or else performing mild groundside exercises to build up endurance with his one remaining lung, though obviously a broken hind leg and amputated wings increase the difficulty substantially. If asked, he'd be willing to give spear lessons to the guard.

Dawnstrider has finally been removing his armor when visiting the medical ward to help his father, after an incident in which he was mistaken for a member of the dark army. He can't Lay on Hooves without the boots, but he is experienced with field medicine, even if the circumstances under which he practiced were substantially more dire. Otherwise, he'll be walking and talking or sometimes sitting and talking to Night Jewel.

Arvadraa, as a part of the Public Works Guild, will have made a beeline for the town to assess the damage. After bringing up her concerns with Blades, she'll go visit the Captain and ask if assistance from the forestlands would be acceptable. Assuming he says yes, she'll spend her time moving between Bridle Shores and the forests, bringing back herbs for the doctors and animals to help with the rebuilding process.

Stellar refuses point-blank to magically repair anything, and states if confronted that she answers to Blades, not the township. Despite this, however, she's more than happy to begin designing schematics for sturdier defenses and fallback points, trying her darndest to account for everything the attack did catastrophic damage to.
I expect everyone on that list save the last three to be gone inside of a week or so, game-time.

Mmmkay. I'm more making sure who might be attending a strategic meeting with the senior officers in the local guard. I'd assume most of the higher ranked Motes would be around, in that case.


Dawn would have raised a ruckus about Night Jewel being put in danger almost immediately. That said, it's not exactly an epic-level challenge for her to convince him to let her go, especially since he'll physically be there to make sure nothing goes 100% awry.

This'll be up to Purity to make the call, I think.

[Benson]

Mmmm, any ponies available in the CUT thread for interacting with Ember and Aubade? They are on their way to downtown/mainstreet. It is cool if there is not, I could probably just solo scene them for a bit.

[HalfTangible]

Mmmm, any ponies available in the CUT thread for interacting with Ember and Aubade? They are on their way to downtown/mainstreet. It is cool if there is not, I could probably just solo scene them for a bit.

Hay Bale's not doing anything.

[PurityIcekiller]

At the same time, I also alluded to a scouting mission into Rusty Falls itself. I have assumed that four ponies will be in it, and they'll be Dawnstrider, Prose, Staccata and Night Jewel. Will this be alright, or would they be unavailable/unwilling for some reason?

Night Jewel would definitely be involved. It's her area of expertise, and she's not missing a chance to screw the Rusty Falls villains over.


Dawn would have raised a ruckus about Night Jewel being put in danger almost immediately. That said, it's not exactly an epic-level challenge for her to convince him to let her go, especially since he'll physically be there to make sure nothing goes 100% awry.

"Hey, it's more sneaking than fighting. If you can pull it off, I certainly can."


Mmmm, any ponies available in the CUT thread for interacting with Ember and Aubade? They are on their way to downtown/mainstreet. It is cool if there is not, I could probably just solo scene them for a bit.

They could meet either of the Heavy Metal groups, I s'pose.

[Benson]

errr, who are the Heavy Metal groups again? :smallredface:

[Grif]

errr, who are the Heavy Metal groups again? :smallredface:

I believe it's those in Blades' shop atm.

[TheAmishPirate]

There is so much lore in Canterlot we haven't even touched yet that we could get a secondary main thread at least out of this thing if we put even a tenth as many resources into it as Bridle Shores prime. D, vehemently. I do think we should have separate 'DMs' if we decide to go that far, however. Just so that one person isn't so bombarded by the responsibility of managing multiple threads' plotlines (this very issue, on smaller and larger scales, appears responsible for about 99 of our problems, although a switch ain't one). We've got Grif, Amish, and possibly Merellis in official capacities - maybe the former could draw straws?

I do like this idea. While it may not be a huge additional responsibility, managing both Bridle Shores proper and the Game of Ponies adventure can get to be a little much. Plus, spreading the responsibility around means that no one DM carries the full weight of things. If something goes wrong, it's relatively easy for one of the other folks to pick up the slack in the meanwhile.

[PurityIcekiller]

errr, who are the Heavy Metal groups again? :smallredface:

There's Blades+Stellar+Starbeam and Arvadraa+Blades in that thread.

[TheAmishPirate]

Also, apologies for the delays on my end. The last few days have been jam-packed, and I haven't gotten a chance to get a bunch of posts together. They'll be going up in the next couple of days, across pretty much all three threads.

[Grif]

Speaking of. There's one more issue to take care of before we officially relaunch FWM after the time skip. The vamponies themselves.

How do you think the town should handle them, and as a side note, would anypony be interested in RP-ing them?

EDIT: Also @TheAmishPirate Did we ever describe the engine of the Cirrus in great detail?

[HalfTangible]

Speaking of. There's one more issue to take care of before we officially relaunch FWM after the time skip. The vamponies themselves.

How do you think the town should handle them, and as a side note, would anypony be interested in RP-ing them?

As in, the vamponies as a whole, or individual vamponies?

Because I'm interested in the latter =/ I haven't paid enough attention to do well with the former.

[Grif]

As in, the vamponies as a whole, or individual vamponies?

Because I'm interested in the latter =/ I haven't paid enough attention to do well with the former.

Both as a whole and individually. There's basically two groups at this point. One who had been Spectre's minion, and the others who had been citizens of Bridle Shores and been forcibly turned against their will. (Likely still considering themselves to be normal townsfolk, if that was possible.) It's okay if you don't follow enough to comment on the first, but if you're interested in playing one, then well... do you have a concept in mind?

[TheAmishPirate]

EDIT: Also @TheAmishPirate Did we ever describe the engine of the Cirrus in great detail?

Basically? Safety hazards everywhere. Cogs and steam and furnaces and gears and explosions and smoke and danger. Sandy works it because his dumb luck makes him able to survive regular contact with the room.

[Grif]

Basically? Safety hazards everywhere. Cogs and steam and furnaces and gears and explosions and smoke and danger. Sandy works it because his dumb luck makes him able to survive regular contact with the room.

Ummmm, I should rephrase. So, is it some sort of big large jet engine that's mounted on the rear of the ship? :smalltongue::smallbiggrin: (For science. You know.)

[HalfTangible]

Both as a whole and individually. There's basically two groups at this point. One who had been Spectre's minion, and the others who had been citizens of Bridle Shores and been forcibly turned against their will. (Likely still considering themselves to be normal townsfolk, if that was possible.) It's okay if you don't follow enough to comment on the first, but if you're interested in playing one, then well... do you have a concept in mind?

Disgraced bastard daughter of a noblepony with a cowgirl aesthetic. Cold, ruthless and efficient. Beyond that, not really. I'm planning on writing a story about the last vampire and werewolf in the world, and i wanted to get some practice in on one of the characters. LS and HB are fun to write for, but they're also extremely easy to write for. Wanna push myself a bit.

[TheAmishPirate]

Ummmm, I should rephrase. So, is it some sort of big large jet engine that's mounted on the rear of the ship? :smalltongue::smallbiggrin: (For science. You know.)

I think it's more like...engines that provide power to propellers and other such devices. They might have some emergency experimental engine thing that's more like a jet engine, but for this tech level we're still looking at engine-powered propellers.

[Lycan 01]

I'm imagining something akin to the engine rooms of the Titanic or some other old and monstrous steamship. A mess of gears, pistols, steam pipes, cogs, drive-shafts, turbines, and various other things that would love to chew a pony up and really ruin their day.

In other words, a horrible place to take Lucky. :smalltongue:

[TheAmishPirate]

I'm imagining something akin to the engine rooms of the Titanic or some other old and monstrous steamship. A mess of gears, pistols, steam pipes, cogs, drive-shafts, turbines, and various other things that would love to chew a pony up and really ruin their day.

In other words, a horrible place to take Lucky. :smalltongue:

If Sandy and Lucky were ever both present in the engine room at the same time, the ship would either run at 3000% capacity or instantly explode. :smallbiggrin:

[Merellis]

... *sends assassins that manages to get those two into that room* :smallamused:

[PurityIcekiller]

Speaking of. There's one more issue to take care of before we officially relaunch FWM after the time skip. The vamponies themselves.

How do you think the town should handle them, and as a side note, would anypony be interested in RP-ing them?

Hmm... I might be able to play a sort of "harmless evil" vampire character. As for "how they're handled", do you mean the way their presence will be announced or ponies' reactions to them?

[Kelvin360]

Speaking of. There's one more issue to take care of before we officially relaunch FWM after the time skip. The vamponies themselves.

How do you think the town should handle them, and as a side note, would anypony be interested in RP-ing them?

Moonlight will have extended the offer to take them to Canterlot, if that means anything. I doubt any of the civilians would have accepted, but the lot of them are still under Lunatic's protection, if unofficially. Perhaps something could be said for him and M pushing the idea that this does not mean a sentence of exile for any of them, to raise morale.

Taylor's gonna be pissed when he finds out Moonlight is pushing for the civilians to be house-trained and then released back into their lives, though.

[Grif]

Disgraced bastard daughter of a noblepony with a cowgirl aesthetic. Cold, ruthless and efficient. Beyond that, not really. I'm planning on writing a story about the last vampire and werewolf in the world, and i wanted to get some practice in on one of the characters. LS and HB are fun to write for, but they're also extremely easy to write for. Wanna push myself a bit.

Aaaah. In that case you'd probably want to go with the Spectre group vampony thingamajig. Would you like a summary of events so far?


Hmm... I might be able to play a sort of "harmless evil" vampire character. As for "how they're handled", do you mean the way their presence will be announced or ponies' reactions to them?

Ponies reaction to them mostly, as well as how do you they'll be treated. Would they be re-accepted back, or treated with fear and suspicion.


Moonlight will have extended the offer to take them to Canterlot, if that means anything. I doubt any of the civilians would have accepted, but the lot of them are still under Lunatic's protection, if unofficially. Perhaps something could be said for him and M pushing the idea that this does not mean a sentence of exile for any of them, to raise morale.

Taylor's gonna be pissed when he finds out Moonlight is pushing for the civilians to be house-trained and then released back into their lives, though.

I see. Hm, I think a few might accept, actually. Not many, mind, but for quite a few, that would be tempting.

[HalfTangible]

Aaaah. In that case you'd probably want to go with the Spectre group vampony thingamajig. Would you like a summary of events so far?


Yes please. Sorry to be a bother. :smallfrown:

[Kelvin360]

Ponies reaction to them mostly, as well as how do you they'll be treated. Would they be re-accepted back, or treated with fear and suspicion.

It depends on how the Crew presents the case. If they're careful about it and get officials both on their side and in the know, they might be able to get the condition passed off as a magical curse created by a dark army terrorist. It's not like anyone aside from a conspiracy theorist would jump to 'vampire' right off the bat.

That said, if I were looking at a human population, you'd be getting a lot of 'othering' with the change in physical and possibly mental dynamics. But...ponies are naturally more kindhearted than humans are, so I'm willing to give the whole the benefit of the doubt. Most likely scenario: Those close to the afflicted will notice something off, but a vast majority will either ignore it because, hey their friends and family are back, or will simply accept the magic curse explanation. The worst of the worst might try and start a ruckus, but those individuals are likely to have been branded troublemakers in the first place.

So, yeah. My opinion. Not catastrophic, definitely strange, but absolutely manageable if the right cards are played. Which might actually include leaving Miss M out of the diplomatic affairs entirely. She doesn't seem to have the temperament that would make certain authority figures feel at ease. I do want these poor guys to get a happy ending both IC and OOC (Taylor, again, being the notable exception). However, we'll need a contingency argument against the Captain. At this point, his first (very reasonable) instinct may be to start conscripting these ludicrously strong, nigh-unkillable, night-hunting superbeings that used to be part of his citizenry.

[Grif]

Yes please. Sorry to be a bother. :smallfrown:

Benson, you're going to have to correct me if I get details wrong. It's been awhile, and I wasn't quite privy to all the details.

Essentially, there's this group of vamponies led by this BBEG, called Spectre. He was starting to kidnap the townsfolk to induct into his group. There was also a few other vamponies, not affliated with him, Miss M and Meadow(?), doing their stuff in the town, whom the Cirrus recruited to fight against this mysterious vampony group. (I think Miss M was once Spectre's master? Or Spectre killed their master? But anyway.)
After a good old-fashioned adventure down to the crypts, they fought and killed Spectre, and freed everyone in his cabal from his direct control. But now the Cirrus has to deal with the refugees, and the civilians who were unwillingly converted.

And here we are.

[TheAmishPirate]

Taylor's gonna be pissed when he finds out Moonlight is pushing for the civilians to be house-trained and then released back into their lives, though.

That might be a problem, because Sandy would be pushing for the same thing. :smalltongue:


It depends on how the Crew presents the case. If they're careful about it and get officials both on their side and in the know, they might be able to get the condition passed off as a magical curse created by a dark army terrorist. It's not like anyone aside from a conspiracy theorist would jump to 'vampire' right off the bat.

That said, if I were looking at a human population, you'd be getting a lot of 'othering' with the change in physical and possibly mental dynamics. But...ponies are naturally more kindhearted than humans are, so I'm willing to give the whole the benefit of the doubt. Most likely scenario: Those close to the afflicted will notice something off, but a vast majority will either ignore it because, hey their friends and family are back, or will simply accept the magic curse explanation. The worst of the worst might try and start a ruckus, but those individuals are likely to have been branded troublemakers in the first place.

So, yeah. My opinion. Not catastrophic, definitely strange, but absolutely manageable if the right cards are played. Which might actually include leaving Miss M out of the diplomatic affairs entirely. She doesn't seem to have the temperament that would make certain authority figures feel at ease. I do want these poor guys to get a happy ending both IC and OOC (Taylor, again, being the notable exception). However, we'll need a contingency argument against the Captain. At this point, his first (very reasonable) instinct may be to start conscripting these ludicrously strong, nigh-unkillable, night-hunting superbeings that used to be part of his citizenry.

Here's a thing to remember; we live in a world where magic is real, hydras and manticores and all manner of monsters are real, and friendship is literally a force capable of blasting villains into the moon. Plus, the Captain already knows about the vamponies' existence and their location.

I'm too tired at the moment to fully address this, will give more thoughts later. Something here doesn't sit right with me - and I wager it's a core assumption rather than any one detail - but I can't put my finger on it just yet. Gonna sleep on it.

EDIT: @Grif: The name you're looking for is Zephyr. Meadow was the vampony currently chilling with/feeding on Grills.

[HalfTangible]

That might be a problem, because Sandy would be pushing for the same thing. :smalltongue:



Here's a thing to remember; we live in a world where magic is real, hydras and manticores and all manner of monsters are real, and friendship is literally a force capable of blasting villains into the moon. Plus, the Captain already knows about the vamponies' existence and their location.

I'm too tired at the moment to fully address this, will give more thoughts later. Something here doesn't sit right with me - and I wager it's a core assumption rather than any one detail - but I can't put my finger on it just yet. Gonna sleep on it.

EDIT: @Grif: The name you're looking for is Zephyr. Meadow was the vampony currently chilling with/feeding on Grills.

1) The PONIES live in that world
2) This world turned grimdark down the line, remember. At least darker than the canon MLP universe.

[Grif]

1) The PONIES live in that world
2) This world turned grimdark down the line, remember. At least darker than the canon MLP universe.

Turned grimdark at the start of the Nightmare Moon debacle, actually.

[Benson]

Benson, you're going to have to correct me if I get details wrong. It's been awhile, and I wasn't quite privy to all the details.

Essentially, there's this group of vamponies led by this BBEG, called Spectre. He was starting to kidnap the townsfolk to induct into his group. There was also a few other vamponies, not affliated with him, Miss M and Meadow(?), doing their stuff in the town, whom the Cirrus recruited to fight against this mysterious vampony group. (I think Miss M was once Spectre's master? Or Spectre killed their master? But anyway.)
After a good old-fashioned adventure down to the crypts, they fought and killed Spectre, and freed everyone in his cabal from his direct control. But now the Cirrus has to deal with the refugees, and the civilians who were unwillingly converted.

And here we are.

Yes and no.

Spectre was the main guy for this scenario, he led his gang of unnaturally loyal brood to Bridle Shores to increase his numbers via kidnapped, killed, and then brought back as vamponies, unnaturally loyal to Spectre.

Spectre and Miss M are unrelated, different masters who sired them. Miss M and Zephyr were a pair, she sired him, brought him back from the dead, however you want to pull it. But yea, basically underground crypt romp. Spectre was killed, Zephyr died and Zippity Do (or something...I actually forgot her name, that is just what I think it is), another elite-ish vampony took her small brood and booked it. She had a partnership with Spectre, they were actually sired by the same vampony. However she saw his plan was going to fail so she was all like "Ciao, see ya loser" more or less.

aaaand yea.

Anyways, I actually have a fairly comprehensive list for the Bridle Shores residents turned vamponies, they are actually going to be off limits. However, the vamponies brought in by Spectre, his original brood are not all accounted for, so they up for grabs to play and make up their own history and personality.

[Grif]

Yes and no.

Spectre was the main guy for this scenario, he led his gang of unnaturally loyal brood to Bridle Shores to increase his numbers via kidnapped, killed, and then brought back as vamponies, unnaturally loyal to Spectre.

Spectre and Miss M are unrelated, different masters who sired them. Miss M and Zephyr were a pair, she sired him, brought him back from the dead, however you want to pull it. But yea, basically underground crypt romp. Spectre was killed, Zephyr died and Zippity Do (or something...I actually forgot her name, that is just what I think it is), another elite-ish vampony took her small brood and booked it. She had a partnership with Spectre, they were actually sired by the same vampony. However she saw his plan was going to fail so she was all like "Ciao, see ya loser" more or less.

aaaand yea.

Anyways, I actually have a fairly comprehensive list for the Bridle Shores residents turned vamponies, they are actually going to be off limits. However, the vamponies brought in by Spectre, his original brood are not all accounted for, so they up for grabs to play and make up their own history and personality.

Good to know. :smallsmile: Thanks for the clarification.

(Yes, I think it was Zippity Do as well. I assume she has no more part to do with the story?)

[Grif]

Ohey Purity, should we wrap up our tavern scene in Cut? I think everyone said that needs to be said.

[PurityIcekiller]

Ohey Purity, should we wrap up our tavern scene in Cut? I think everyone said that needs to be said.

Yeah, I suppose so. Things seem to be coming to a close there, and the players not involved in the conversation may be getting eager for action.

And while I'm here, might I ask how exactly the members of the infiltration mission were informed of their task? Did they have messengers tell them, or get notes, or something else?

[Grif]

Yeah, I suppose so. Things seem to be coming to a close there, and the players not involved in the conversation may be getting eager for action.

And while I'm here, might I ask how exactly the members of the infiltration mission were informed of their task? Did they have messengers tell them, or get notes, or something else?

Alrighty. We'll just close that one then.

As for the mission? Probably summoned to the captain's office. We can either do the actual briefing in the RP, or skip ahead to the mission (depending on whether or not Amish wants to play Capt'n.)

[PurityIcekiller]

Alrighty. We'll just close that one then.

As for the mission? Probably summoned to the captain's office. We can either do the actual briefing in the RP, or skip ahead to the mission (depending on whether or not Amish wants to play Capt'n.)

Yes, but summoned how exactly? I want to know what to write for when Night Jewel gets the message.

[Grif]

Yes, but summoned how exactly? I want to know what to write for when Night Jewel gets the message.

Messenger. Sorry. :smallsmile:

[Kelvin360]

My supremely long-plot post was going to start en route to Rusty Falls. Should I break up the pieces between characters, or just wait?

Also, remember this?


"Then there are these." Moonlight sets a bag on the table. "To spread to the troops. If you want, I can go down the list of their properties."


I intend to use that Chekov's gun for everything it's got.

[TheAmishPirate]

Yes, but summoned how exactly? I want to know what to write for when Night Jewel gets the message.

If you think that there's something to be said/discussed as the terms for the mission are being drawn up, then sure, a messenger's going to come for her. Otherwise, we could get away with just skipping to them on the road.

[PurityIcekiller]

If you think that there's something to be said/discussed as the terms for the mission are being drawn up, then sure, a messenger's going to come for her. Otherwise, we could get away with just skipping to them on the road.

What I had in mind was just a little flavour scene beforehoof. Given her background, it's only natural that she'd be a little wary of the guards wanting to see her. After that, we can either skip to the mission or not depending on what other people want.

[MCerberus]

What I had in mind was just a little flavour scene beforehoof. Given her background, it's only natural that she'd be a little wary of the guards wanting to see her. After that, we can either skip to the mission or not depending on what other people want.

Would Staccata being a middle-mare help in this regard? Or would that just lead to even more questions about the situation?

[PurityIcekiller]

Would Staccata being a middle-mare help in this regard? Or would that just lead to even more questions about the situation?

Probably. She'd be better than most alternatives, at any rate.

[Grif]

Probably. She'd be better than most alternatives, at any rate.

That sounds good. We can open up with that?

For Staccata, all she'd be told is that she'd need to fetch a certain Night Jewel and bring her to the Captain's office for an important mission.

EDIT: @Lycan

Lucky. :smalleek:

[TheAmishPirate]

EDIT: @Lycan

Lucky. :smalleek:

He didn't get that name for nothing. :smalltongue:

[Lycan 01]

EDIT: @Lycan

Lucky. :smalleek:

Psh, you should have seen the stuff he survived in the Fallout: Equestria RP. This is a (painful) stroll in the park for him. :smalltongue:

[Grif]

He didn't get that name for nothing. :smalltongue:


Psh, you should have seen the stuff he survived in the Fallout: Equestria RP. This is a (painful) stroll in the park for him. :smalltongue:

I am somewhat both horrified and morbidly curious at the same time.

Also, Lycan, poke for Prose in Cut! as well, if you want him to interact with Tyrol or something. (Or someone else for that matter.)

[Kelvin360]

On that note, poke at Purity or MCerberus for Game of Ponies.

[Grif]

Oh MCerberus, I'll respond to your "present" post sometime soon. I just need to work a few more things out first.

[TheAmishPirate]

Also, we'll be trying to wrap up the past Cirrus stuff ASAP, so that timeline stuff will stop being confusing. In the meantime, feel free to start making scenes in the present.

[Merellis]

Er, using Slightheart as a nasty little title for any and all Pegasi/Unicorns born into the Stoutheart House. Could change it to something else if it just doesn't sound right, but I figured there would be some bullying and tension within the house concerning these obvious... lesser Ponies in the honorable House of Stoutheart!

[TheAmishPirate]

Er, using Slightheart as a nasty little title for any and all Pegasi/Unicorns born into the Stoutheart House. Could change it to something else if it just doesn't sound right, but I figured there would be some bullying and tension within the house concerning these obvious... lesser Ponies in the honorable House of Stoutheart!

Honestly, I'm sore I didn't think of it first. :smalltongue:

[Kelvin360]

Jeez, do any of the noble houses have ANY redeeming qualities?

[Merellis]

House Stoutheart feeds Equestria, which is enough of a redeeming quality to allow their lesser qualities. It's horrible, but there'd be starving ponies all over if it weren't for them... And they know it.

[TheAmishPirate]

Jeez, do any of the noble houses have ANY redeeming qualities?

Apologies if I mix things up here, my tired brain may not be thinking straight.

For all of House Stoutheart's crap, they do a lot in terms of hospitality and food production. They make a point of keeping solid, quality inns along major roads and ensuring they're always stocked with good food. In times of need they are among the first houses to take a loss if it means that ponies can still eat and sleep in relative comfort. Furthermore, once you're in with Stoutheart? You're in for life. If they together decided that Princess Luna wasn't going to go bonkers like her sister and that she was deserving of their trust, Stoutheart would literally fight to the last pony to keep Equestria united and safe. This doesn't excuse the massive problems they exhibit, but it shows that there is good to be found in each of the houses. At least, if I'm doing my job right. :smalltongue:

And as an aside, despite how often everypony fears another shunning like in the days of Iron Hoof, they really don't wave that weapon around because that's bringing out big, nasty, M.A.D. guns. They'll win that confrontation only by losing less than the other guy.

[Kelvin360]

I had a whole tangent prepared, and now I just feel really, really sad. How is it even possible that the house does any humanitarian efforts if it's full of people like that? That's reminiscent of a situation in which the KKK was a world power and for some reason decided to push out orphanages and food banks - universal ones, at that. The actions of Burdock and the dead noble in particular make me think that the whole thing is a really well-executed Cult front. When we add in Solace, who supported a regime that was Equestria's version of Stalinist Russia, and Lunatic, whose domestic policy is something like the worst bits of the CIA and NSA, Luna must be going insane both dealing with this and trying to stop a full-out civil war ifwhen the populace catches on. Hurricane is the best example of 'good pony' groups we have so far, and they're our token racists.

[TheAmishPirate]

I had a whole tangent prepared, and now I just feel really, really sad. How is it even possible that the house does any humanitarian efforts if it's full of people like that? That's reminiscent of a situation in which the KKK was a world power and for some reason decided to push out orphanages and food banks - universal ones, at that. The actions of Burdock and the dead noble in particular make me think that the whole thing is a really well-executed Cult front. When we add in Solace, who supported a regime that was Equestria's version of Stalinist Russia, and Lunatic, whose domestic policy is something like the worst bits of the CIA and NSA, Luna must be going insane both dealing with this and trying to stop a full-out civil war ifwhen the populace catches on. Hurricane is the best example of 'good pony' groups we have so far, and they're our token racists.

The short answer: People are complicated.

The long answer: All you've seen of Lord Burdock is a politician seeking justice for a slain kinsman. All you know of the dead noble is what has been told IC, which - by the by - is still a far cry from the whole truth. All you know of the foot soldiers is...well, they're foot soldiers. They have their orders, and all they've heard is that Solace murdered one of their own. As for Stoutheart as a whole, let me put it like this; less than a generation ago, the house went all-in on Celestia. They placed their full and unwavering trust in their rightful ruler, and as a direct result got burned. Hard. To say that they have trust issues is something of an understatement.

I wish I could say more, but that would be going into spoiler territory. Needless to say, House Stoutheart is a big, messy beast with a lot of folks trying to make sense of a world gone wrong, and I hope this adventure offers a glimpse into their workings.

[Kelvin360]

I'll do my best to reserve judgment, then. I just have this personal bias against the 'all political bodies are vile' trope that's...eh, pretty much everywhere. I mean, we have it here on Earth in force, no need to spread it around. :smalltongue: The real question is, should I try to match the setting's values with Lunatic, Solace, and the Thunderguard, or hit them with some of my idealism as we move forward?

[PurityIcekiller]

So who's being Night Jewel's messenger again? Am I to do it myself, or can I expect a response from someone else?

[Grif]

So who's being Night Jewel's messenger again? Am I to do it myself, or can I expect a response from someone else?

MCerberus was supposed to do it, I think. Poke him and see?

[MCerberus]

MCerberus was supposed to do it, I think. Poke him and see?

I think I have a way to get things rolling.

[TheAmishPirate]

I'll do my best to reserve judgment, then. I just have this personal bias against the 'all political bodies are vile' trope that's...eh, pretty much everywhere. I mean, we have it here on Earth in force, no need to spread it around. :smalltongue: The real question is, should I try to match the setting's values with Lunatic, Solace, and the Thunderguard, or hit them with some of my idealism as we move forward?

I try to treat a noble house a lot like a person; some good intentions, mixed in with a lot of ignorance, misinformation, and general brokenness that keeps it from fully shining through. You can be idealistic all you want, but just remember that these people and situations are tricky, and finding out what's right isn't always easy.

[TheAmishPirate]

As a head's up, I'm going to be gone on vacation this weekend. Posting will be incredibly limited, but I should be back Sunday evening sometime.

[TheAmishPirate]

I've figured out a post to get the Cirrus group back up to the present. I'll have a post up sometime in the next day or so.

[Kelvin360]

Updates!

So, I dunno what's going on with Taylor and Sandy in backstage. Is this going to be montaged-out, or...?

I'm just holding steady for Purity to jump in before Aria and Harp continue in GoP.

In the main thread, should it be assumed Starbeam and Dawnstrider are already in the guardhouse?

Basically, poking Amish (nevermind that he just provided a notice >_>), Benson, and Purity.

[Grif]

Updates!

So, I dunno what's going on with Taylor and Sandy in backstage. Is this going to be montaged-out, or...?

I'm just holding steady for Purity to jump in before Aria and Harp continue in GoP.

In the main thread, should it be assumed Starbeam and Dawnstrider are already in the guardhouse?

Basically, poking Amish (nevermind that he just provided a notice >_>), Benson, and Purity.

Main thread: Yeah, it can be assumed. Do you want a filler scene before the meeting?

[Kelvin360]

That's up to you. I assume we'd all start off once NJ got there at any rate. Although a setup period might provide impetus for Starbeam to start showing/passing off her bag of tricks.

[Grif]

(Part of me wants to know why she keeps a black corset at LS' place, but yeah. I think we're done here.)

Gonna just answer this here. The answer is Es might have been storing up stuff over the weeks. :smalltongue:

Also, any news on your vampony character? Are you still interested?

[HalfTangible]

Gonna just answer this here. The answer is Es might have been storing up stuff over the weeks. :smalltongue:Okay, Es? We need to talk. Specifically, about this statue that won't stop. Talking, i mean.

BANANAS AND CONGEALED ORGANS MADE OF HAMMER AND RYE~


Also, any news on your vampony character? Are you still interested?

Having second thoughts (mostly nervous I'm gonna post and then immediately have to rewrite to keep from messing something up) but yeah, still interested. How extensive are vampony powers?

[Grif]

Okay, Es? We need to talk. Specifically, about this statue that won't stop. Talking, i mean.

BANANAS AND CONGEALED ORGANS MADE OF HAMMER AND RYE~

"But it's my favourite!"



Having second thoughts (mostly nervous I'm gonna post and then immediately have to rewrite to keep from messing something up) but yeah, still interested. How extensive are vampony powers?

Let's see. The known ones are:
Mind control (and ability to make minions out of victims)
Glamour
Extensive regenerative powers
Supernatural strength and speed
Does not sparkle
Retains their abilities from their previous life, maybe even amplified

[TheAmishPirate]

@Grif: You said something about wanting Sandy to meet with Pulp, right? I thought of a very easy way to handle that; one of Sandy's superiors orders him to take a relaxing walk around town for his own sanity's sake. :smalltongue:

[PurityIcekiller]

Let's see. The known ones are:
Mind control (and ability to make minions out of victims)
Glamour
Extensive regenerative powers
Supernatural strength and speed
Does not sparkle
Retains their abilities from their previous life, maybe even amplified

What about known weaknesses? Can they do things like crossing running water?

[TheAmishPirate]

What about known weaknesses? Can they do things like crossing running water?

They burn very easily. Wooden weapons will halt their regeneration/hurt like the dickens, and a stake to the heart kills them for good. Exposure to sunlight will also burn them to ashes incredibly quickly. As we saw with Zephyr and a bit of Miss M, they cannot regenerate full limbs; they have to put their old limb back in place and only then will it heal. This also means that decapitation will kill a vampony dead.

Furthermore, they have to train themselves to feed properly. Miss M has had time and experience, so she can get her daily sustenance a pint of blood. Spectre's vamponies - the ones that are up for grabs - have been taught that they need significantly more, and have spent their whole existences gorging themselves. It will take some doing to train themselves to feed off a pony without killing them outright. Y'know, if they even want to. :smallamused:

A few more notes on general physical capabilities:
-Vampony bite marks don't go away on their own. A vampony must lick the wound in order to close it, otherwise it'll keep bleeding out.
-Vampony saliva also contains a powerful venom of sorts. When introduced through a bite, it induces a blissful, numbing euphoria in the victim. Highly addictive, it helps keep the victim from resisting the vampony's assault.
-Vamponies can feed their blood to mortals to grant them a measure of their regenerative capabilities. In addition the unpleasant taste, some people might take issue with the whole process *cough cough Taylor cough* but as far as Miss M's seen, it carries no lasting side effects.
-Vamponies turn mortals by draining them dry, and them performing some sort of ritual on the body. I believe it involves the vampony giving up a measure of their own blood, as well as a sliver of their soul. That's why vamponies with large numbers of "children" tend to be heartless monsters; their souls are so fragmented and shattered they haven't any empathy left. (This is also why Miss M has only had the one child, and is reluctant to take another.)

[Merellis]

That sounds hilariously fun. :smallbiggrin:

[HalfTangible]

"But it's my favourite!"

But do we need to keep it in the front? *wary look at it* It keeps insulting the customers.

McCHUBBY WITH A SIDE OF BUGF$#@ER

[PurityIcekiller]

They burn very easily. Wooden weapons will halt their regeneration/hurt like the dickens, and a stake to the heart kills them for good. Exposure to sunlight will also burn them to ashes incredibly quickly. As we saw with Zephyr and a bit of Miss M, they cannot regenerate full limbs; they have to put their old limb back in place and only then will it heal. This also means that decapitation will kill a vampony dead.

Furthermore, they have to train themselves to feed properly. Miss M has had time and experience, so she can get her daily sustenance a pint of blood. Spectre's vamponies - the ones that are up for grabs - have been taught that they need significantly more, and have spent their whole existences gorging themselves. It will take some doing to train themselves to feed off a pony without killing them outright. Y'know, if they even want to. :smallamused:

A few more notes on general physical capabilities:
-Vampony bite marks don't go away on their own. A vampony must lick the wound in order to close it, otherwise it'll keep bleeding out.
-Vampony saliva also contains a powerful venom of sorts. When introduced through a bite, it induces a blissful, numbing euphoria in the victim. Highly addictive, it helps keep the victim from resisting the vampony's assault.
-Vamponies can feed their blood to mortals to grant them a measure of their regenerative capabilities. In addition the unpleasant taste, some people might take issue with the whole process *cough cough Taylor cough* but as far as Miss M's seen, it carries no lasting side effects.
-Vamponies turn mortals by draining them dry, and them performing some sort of ritual on the body. I believe it involves the vampony giving up a measure of their own blood, as well as a sliver of their soul. That's why vamponies with large numbers of "children" tend to be heartless monsters; their souls are so fragmented and shattered they haven't any empathy left. (This is also why Miss M has only had the one child, and is reluctant to take another.)

Well, that addresses pretty much everything except the "running water" bit. I'll get to work on a character sheet shortly, then. This could be fun.

[Grif]

Well, that addresses pretty much everything except the "running water" bit. I'll get to work on a character sheet shortly, then. This could be fun.

While you're here... *pokes towards Game o' Ponies*

[Lycan 01]

I am somewhat both horrified and morbidly curious at the same time.

Also, Lycan, poke for Prose in Cut! as well, if you want him to interact with Tyrol or something. (Or someone else for that matter.)

Oh gosh I'm sorry I forgot to respond to this. :smalleek:

I'm afraid I haven't been keeping up with the Cut thread, and don't really have the time or focus to do so now. Sorry. Thanks for the offer, though. :smallredface:

[Benson]

Updates!

Basically, poking Amish (nevermind that he just provided a notice >_>), Benson, and Purity.

Gah...just having a little trouble thinking moving that scene along....not sure if to just skip ahead to the end of the play since we already know how the story goes.


Well, that addresses pretty much everything except the "running water" bit. I'll get to work on a character sheet shortly, then. This could be fun.

One more thing about Vampony weaknesses, and no, not being able to cross running water is not one of them, but in a similar vein, is that they cannot enter a private home without the permission of the resident inside. It starts to hurt if they try to force themselves in. The resident of the home can kick them out whenever they want to causing an unseen force to push them out. This was seen a few times with Meadow asking Grills to invite her in.

In some cases, some vamponies would just glamour their target to let them in. ya know, good ol Jedi mind trick.

/You want to let me in your house/

[Grif]

Oh gosh I'm sorry I forgot to respond to this. :smalleek:

I'm afraid I haven't been keeping up with the Cut thread, and don't really have the time or focus to do so now. Sorry. Thanks for the offer, though. :smallredface:
It's fine. Just offering if ya interested. :smallsmile:

[Merellis]

So any bets on the reaction of a dirty, smelly, rough, and utterly loyal to Stoutheart unicorn joining up with our heroes in the GoP thread? :smallbiggrin:

Mostly on the 'Here are a bunch of earth ponies that look pretty decent, and here's their unicorn cousin who looks like they roll around in sewage' side here.

[Grif]

*sneaky boop?*

Sneaky boop.

[Kelvin360]

Uh, am I needed in a scene? Better question; is everyone/anyone around?

[Benson]

I am here, I will be getting my posts up tonight after work.

[Grif]

Uh, am I needed in a scene? Better question; is everyone/anyone around?

Yeah. Just had a busy weekend. Now settling in to make my posts. :smallsmile:

[PurityIcekiller]

Uh, am I needed in a scene? Better question; is everyone/anyone around?

Estoy presente. I am simply waiting for a response at the Guardhouse before proceeding there and a little stuck on figuring out where to go next in other threads.

[TheAmishPirate]

I was away for the last few days, apologies. Forgot to mention that here. :smallredface:

[TheAmishPirate]

Welp. That is a thing we're dealing with now.

@HalfTangible: What time of day is it in your post? You do know vamponies can't do direct sunlight, right?

[HalfTangible]

Welp. That is a thing we're dealing with now.

@HalfTangible: What time of day is it in your post? You do know vamponies can't do direct sunlight, right?

It's supposed to be night.

I kept tinkering with the thing but after two weeks in the tab doing nothing I just decided to post and get on with it.

[TheAmishPirate]

It's supposed to be night.

I kept tinkering with the thing but after two weeks in the tab doing nothing I just decided to post and get on with it.

Gotcha. It adds some major conflict to the vampony situation, so unless anyone has a major objection to it, then I'm all for it.

[Merellis]

Bitter: "PULP! YOU DO NOT GO OUT AT NIGHT, EVER!" *spends forever sharpening stakes and making amulets of the moon and sun*

[Benson]

If no one minds, I am going to respond to HalfTangible's post....I have some ideas on how to go about with that.

[Grif]

If no one minds, I am going to respond to HalfTangible's post....I have some ideas on how to go about with that.

Go right on ahead. :smallsmile:

[HalfTangible]

If no one minds, I am going to respond to HalfTangible's post....I have some ideas on how to go about with that.

That makes one of us :smallwink::smalltongue:

[Benson]

Ya know, I kinda wanna think that Crescent's little nightly encounter, happened the night before the current day, it would fit better with the timeline. hmmm..

[HalfTangible]

Ya know, I kinda wanna think that Crescent's little nightly encounter, happened the night before the current day, it would fit better with the timeline. hmmm..

Sure why not.

[Kelvin360]

Oh god, I can't wait for this whole thing to reach Rigmund and Taylor's ears. They're going to absolutely lose it, probably with one another. :smallbiggrin:

[Grif]

Hm. I do wonder what are people going to do with that vampony thing... :smallwink:

[Grif]

@HalfTangible

Do you want to restart Es/Lone Star in "Cut!"? Doesn't necessarily have to follow the timeline, I think.

[HalfTangible]

@HalfTangible

Do you want to restart Es/Lone Star in "Cut!"? Doesn't necessarily have to follow the timeline, I think.

As in start a new scene? Sure.

[Grif]

As in start a new scene? Sure.

Yeah. Only question is... what would they do? :smalltongue:

[HalfTangible]

Yeah. Only question is... what would they do? :smalltongue:

Well, Star would bring Es breakfast in bed and generally dote on her like a submissive coltservant until she told him to stop, all while whistling Cabin Fever from that muppets movie I've never actually seen.

But heck if I know. It was your suggestion :smalltongue:

[Grif]

Well, Star would bring Es breakfast in bed and generally dote on her like a submissive coltservant until she told him to stop, all while whistling Cabin Fever from that muppets movie I've never actually seen.

But heck if I know. It was your suggestion :smalltongue:

:smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

That sounds like a delightfully silly way to start things. And we may as well get some headway with Lone Star's things while we're at it.

[HalfTangible]

:smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

That sounds like a delightfully silly way to start things. And we may as well get some headway with Lone Star's things while we're at it.

In that case I should warn you: The plan is that he's going to get worse. MUCH worse.

[Grif]

In that case I should warn you: The plan is that he's going to get worse. MUCH worse.

That's totally not omnious at all. :smalleek:

[Grif]

*slinks in*

*pokes*

*slinks out*

[HalfTangible]

That's totally not omnious at all. :smalleek:

:smallamused::smalltongue:

[Grif]

So. What's everyone up to? :smalltongue:

[Grif]

Dislike double posting, but here we go.

MCerberus, Kelvin, Purity and Lycan_01, are you here?

[Kelvin360]

I'm always ready and raring, sirrah. I kind of feel like I'm missing something in Backstage, though. Are there any scenes I should have been butting in on?

[PurityIcekiller]

I'm here. Just suffering from extreme writer's block. I'm waiting at the Guardhouse in Main, but I really ought to get posts done in Backstage and Game of Ponies.

[Grif]

I'm always ready and raring, sirrah. I kind of feel like I'm missing something in Backstage, though. Are there any scenes I should have been butting in on?

Not really. Though if you really want to butt into either Icy's or Esmeralda's scenes, I have no objections. I'm kinda waiting on Merellis for the Pulp/Joyous thing.


I'm here. Just suffering from extreme writer's block. I'm waiting at the Guardhouse in Main, but I really ought to get posts done in Backstage and Game of Ponies.

Cool. I just confirmed that Lycan will be sitting out the RP for the time being, so I'll be moving FWM general on shortly so that we can continue.

[MCerberus]

The funny thing was the "are you here" question came between a post I made and a long stretch where I had stuff going on.
But yes I'm here.

[Kelvin360]

I hate doing this, but sweet summer child what happened to GoP and the main thread? It feels like we're barely touching them.

[TheAmishPirate]

I hate doing this, but sweet summer child what happened to GoP and the main thread? It feels like we're barely touching them.

I'm sorry. I've had a bit of a family crisis (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18470044&postcount=755) going on, and I haven't had the presence of mind to properly post here in a while.

[Kelvin360]

I really need to start checking more forum topics before I put finger to keypad. I am so sorry. Is there anything you need from me, on forum or off, aside from way more patience?

[TheAmishPirate]

I really need to start checking more forum topics before I put finger to keypad. I am so sorry. Is there anything you need from me, on forum or off, aside from way more patience?

No, it's alright. I can understand the impatience, and I really ought to have posted here sooner. You had no real way of knowing, and it's cool.

I do appreciate the offer. I'm doing relatively well at the moment, and just focusing on each day as it comes. Bear with me, and I should be back to posting soon enough.

[Grif]

I really need to start checking more forum topics before I put finger to keypad. I am so sorry. Is there anything you need from me, on forum or off, aside from way more patience?

Hm. While we're waiting, do you have any other characters available in Canterlot?


No, it's alright. I can understand the impatience, and I really ought to have posted here sooner. You had no real way of knowing, and it's cool.

I do appreciate the offer. I'm doing relatively well at the moment, and just focusing on each day as it comes. Bear with me, and I should be back to posting soon enough.

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28600000/Hugs-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-28638743-900-668.png