Equestria Begins IC

[DracoDei]

((OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501307-Equestria-Begins-OOC)))

The sky has that "unsettled" look of weather half tamed as the heavily armed caravan you have joined arrives in Oatburrough. Sighs of relief are heard as the heavy doors swing shut. The wooden ramparts are topped with hundreds of buckets to ward of the flames of the Goliaths that menace the town. Only a little of the walls have been replaced with stone, and those are actually furthest from the gate.

The caravan master approaches you and pulls out the letters of record for the debt you owed her for a loan to get additional equipment for your long-term mission.

"Thank you, that clears your responsibility to me. Good work!" she says as she starts to sign them as 'Paid in Full'.

[DracoDei]

((Did some roleplay via Skype with Percival's player.))

Percival walked around, hoping to gather more information on how to defeat these goliaths. "stupid goliaths...I've got to do something. but what can I do?". He wanted more information on where to find them. He finds himself in the crafts-district and inquires of several of the shop-keepers. This results mostly in noticeable embarrassment for himself due to his asking highly technical questions that he emphasizes are of life-and-death importance of before somepony points him towards the local guard garrison/weather-patrol office.

"Ah, thank you!" he said as he went towards the weather patrol. He growled to himself. "They'd better have an answer..."

He presents his letter of authority to the guards at the gates to that area of the town (who he notices aren't doing anything to impede Ponies going in and out of it). They direct him/you* to the military commander. Unsurprisingly she is a Pegasus. Her name is Captain Hail. The peon who escorted you* introduces you*.
*Probably the whole group unless somepony has some-place else they would especially like to go.

"Ah, that is good. This situation is getting really out of hoof. What can I help you with?" she asks.


"I am trying to gather information on where to find these goliaths. And to gather magic."

"Well, they don't congregate much... territorial except when mating or raising young. Any territory for at least a hundred miles around is either claimed by one, claimed by the Sheep, or a Goliath is looking to move into."

"I see. So...what do we do? we need a plan."

"Well, obviously my plans are either last resorts, or have failed. In the first category we have 'wipe out the Sheep except for the Lambs who will end up in orphanages' or 'wipe out the Goliaths'... neither would be easy, but at least the Sheep are all in one place. Not to mention, wiping out the Goliaths would probably lead to war with the Sheep anyway, since they hold that the Goliath's are somewhat sacred in a sense, and claim that a great disaster will befall if too many of them are killed."

"Hmm, sounds like a rock and hard place we have here..."


"Personally, I'd try to find out how the Sheep are keeping the Goliaths from attacking them nearly as much as they do us. The negotiators around here seemed to be pretty on the ball when I got here, but something must have slipped through the cracks. My scouts have tried to catch the Sheep at whatever they do to keep the Goliaths from attacking them but we haven't gotten anything so far. Mostly been high altitude stuff, or at night with magic for seeing in the dark. Not much on the ground.

"Or find out WHY they are withholding that information... apparently there were Ponies living here at some time in the past. Or maybe it was just non-Sheep? You'd have to talk to Shard Digger about that. He's the one who digs up bits of old buildings for whatever crazy reason."

"So the question is what made the Sheep not like us, when they got along with the previous other town on this site just fine as far as they claim?"

"I'd say our best bet is to interrogate them on why they're withholding important information. Should I see Shard Digger then?"

"Well, if you think that wise before discussing what magic you might want us to aid you with... I don't know your group, so I can't comment on which should be first."

"Hmm...that's right. Maybe we should discuss magic first then?"

"Certainly. I'm sure that we could work out an arrangement. What were you thinking of? Casting? Consumables? If you place a deposit I could perhaps even see my way clear to allowing you to borrow some of our equipment."

"I was thinking Casting. How much should I deposit?"


"Well, that would be a charge, not a security deposit, and depending on how much I trust your plan I might even be willing to waive that..."

"Ah....well I've been known to make the WORST plans. You don't want to trust me, do you?"

"Well, I'm sure your group is competent enough in general given that paper you showed me. It isn't about competence. It is about how risky the solution turns out to have to be really."

"Alright...I didn't expect to get this much trust but okay..."
((Everyone else give me a Sense Motive roll at this point.))

It occurs to Percival that this town, and even the military personnel he is seeing, include more than a few members of all three tribes. He even thinks he saw some non-Ponies...

"What the? what is this place?"

Hail looks confused and cautious (as if you might POSSIBLY be dangerously insane). "Huh?"

"It's just um...there's non ponies here too."

"Yes... under the same theory of peace to avoid a 'protracted chill' as is the reason why I haven't beaten the answers we need out of the Sheep..."

"Right..." he looked around, feeling out of place.

[igordragonian]

Dream Chaser shifted the weight in his moustach from side to side.

"It seems, there are giant around that should be beaten! But worry not, my comrades! This Knight is up to the job!" he said very loudly.

[Ishimi]

SteelHeart looks around the settlement. Everypony seems to be happy living here, they seem to be getting along: good.
The giant problem? not so much.

Normally he would just go and fight the blasted things, but it seemed these "sheep" that were mentioned revere them for some reason. It still seemed logical to take out the goliaths, but perhaps he should wait until they have more information to go off of.

for now he's lost in thought as he-
Dream Chaser shifted the weight in his moustach from side to side.

"It seems, there are giant around that should be beaten! But worry not, my comrades! This Knight is up to the job!" he said very loudly.

He suddenly looks to his new compatriot. He was... loud. loud was okay, but unexpected. Hopefully his spear is as "loud" as his voice.

[igordragonian]

B]"We should work harder to make this noble alicorn overlord to trust our heroism!"[/B] Dream Chaser had need to share what his senses told him about this

[DracoDei]

Hail's eyes bore into Dream Chaser's for less than a second as her right forehoof points to her hornless forehead.

Then she looks to the rest of you. "Get this blasphemer off of my base." she growls. "And count yourselves lucky my Faith is especially merciful and also that it places alicorns as humble servants of God come from Heaven, rather than as anything more Holy than that or I'd have him flogged even if he did prove as mad as he seems."

[igordragonian]

"OH my Oh my! What a miserable misunderstanding! We came here to save you!"

[DracoDei]

Hippocrates Leech places one foreleg over Dream Chaser's neck and seems to be gently trying to guide him out of the building.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine's Wisdom chuckles quietly as the rather loud pegasus is gently herded towards the door. lowering his hood and directing his attention to the captain.
"If I may... a few questions, you mentioned scouting.. we don't particularly know the area very well d'you have a map or chart we could look at it would be valuable to learn about the area."
he pauses for a moment squinting his eyes and leaning slightly to the left.
"I don't suppose there's a library or even just a record-keeper we could speak too is there?"
Straitening back up without pausing long enough for an answer he smacks his lips slightly and adds
"and perhaps could you direct us the best place to get food and drink?"
He finally stops speaking long enough for Hail to get a word in edgewise his posture returning to a slouch.

[igordragonian]

"Aha! You are so eager, that we'l go and save the world already?" he agreed to get out.

"Aha! Yes! We should have a victory banquet!"

[DracoDei]

Wine's Wisdom chuckles quietly as the rather loud pegasus is gently herded towards the door. lowering his hood and directing his attention to the captain.
"If I may... a few questions, you mentioned scouting.. we don't particularly know the area very well d'you have a map or chart we could look at it would be valuable to learn about the area."
he pauses for a moment squinting his eyes and leaning slightly to the left.
"I don't suppose there's a library or even just a record-keeper we could speak too is there?"

"Yes, there are a few references and records. Two places actually. One for the base, and one for the rest of the town. " Hail replies, and then proceeds to give Wine's Wisdom directions to both of those locations.

He pens something carefully onto the top of a scroll, then places his seal at the bottom and thriftily cuts off the remaining blank portion of the scroll.

"This will allow you and/or Hippocrates Leech to borrow maps from the quartermaster. Of course those required some work, so we shall require a security deposit of 10 gold bits for each such map that leaves the records office. No interest, but please check in to see if anyone else needs it at least once a day while you are in town, or every week if you are out exploring unless you make prior arrangements in advance. I suppose you could copy the maps yourselves or hire somepony to do it if you are worried about damages."

He hoofs Wine's Wisdom the authorization slip.


Straitening back up without pausing long enough for an answer he smacks his lips slightly and adds
"and perhaps could you direct us the best place to get food and drink?"
He finally stops speaking long enough for Hail to get a word in edgewise his posture returning to a slouch.
"Food would be in the market-place. I'd ask the mayor about where you will be staying since the barracks no longer seem like an option I can countenance. Of course, if you meant 'conversation' as well... well, that would be the market place if you don't have any too particular subject that I could direct you to somepony more conversant with."

Hippocrates Leech and Dream Chaser head for the gates from the military base leading back into the rest of the Pony town.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine's wisdom tucks the slip in his robe nodding.
"thank you that should be a great help."
He nods a few times and turns to trot away stopping after a few feet turning back around
"where can I find the ponies who negotiate with the sheep village I'd like to get their thoughts on some things as well."

[DracoDei]

"That would be the mayor if you want somepony with authority over our relations... or myself, but I don't really think you want my input at this time since your major goal is making nice with the Sheep as I understand it, where-as I've been taking a firmer stance and preparing for what to do if words fail.

If you want the person who is over there the most then trader Cart would fit the bill.

I suppose you could also ask Shard Digger if you want a different perspective on the Sheep. He does most of his digging inside the palisade of the town when he isn't wandering around the area near this town looking for some fool thing... and even he will admit it is a fool's quest. It isn't my place to say more about that however.

In any case, when he isn't doing one of those two things he used to go and talk to the Sheep some." says Commander Hail.

[DracoDei]

You all meet back up just outside the military base in the Pony town.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine's Wisdom puts on a practiced lopsided smile and takes a surreptitious pull from his flask.
"it seems to me we need more information I'd like to start somewhere more basic and learn the layout of this area and check those maps at the records office, unless somepony else has a better idea?"

[igordragonian]

"We could charge forward!" Dream Chaser has offered with a wide smile.

[DracoDei]

"Yes, as usual we could. But as usual we probably will not be doing that. Which particular direction or target were you thinking of charging this time?" asks Hippocrates Leech.

[igordragonian]

"You might have a point, oh wise comrade!" Dream Chaser thanked him with a bow.
"Then, where shall we charge?"

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine's wisdom nodded his head in the direction of the market
"lets go speak to Trader cart I'd like to know a bit more about the sheep and we can get a bit of a feel for this place."

[DracoDei]

"That sounds as good a place to start as any." says Hippocrates.

You find Cart in the marketplace selling various yarns and other wool goods. Unusually for a travelling merchant he is a Pegasus.

He seems to have picked you out of the crowd (with his eyes) while you are still at least 3 stands away.

"Well hello my good sirs, and how can I help you today?" Cart says cheerfully.

[igordragonian]

"WE NEED DIRECTION, OF THE RIGHT WAY TO CHARGE AT!" Dream Chaser yelled, as if the trader was deaf or something.

[DracoDei]

Cart looks shocked.

"What!? I don't understand! Is the village under attack?"

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine sighs and speaks up.
"No-no nothing like that! my friend is just very excitable"
wine smiled hopefully at the confused pegasus before continuing
we just want to talk to you for a few minutes and maybe trade?

[igordragonian]

"The Village is under attack?! By whom?!" Dream Chaser has asked with worry.

"Ahh. No. I just always charging somewhere." he has explained, wriggling his mustachio.

[DracoDei]

'Well certainly! Certainly! Always glad to assist our.defenders against the windegoes.' replies Cart to Wine's, seeming to put Cloud out of his mind for now after Cloud's last statement.

[Cloudy_daze]

"well you see having only recently arrived we'd like to know a bit more about the area particularly the sheep village you trade with really any tidbits could be helpful.

[DracoDei]

"That is a request I could easily grant. But in return, and actually somewhat relevant to that, I could use your opinion on the value of some weapons. Quality of workpersonship and that sort of thing. Especially of the metalworking and any magics that might interact with them."

((I may be appending this post. Feel free to respond to it, just make sure to refresh the thread and make sure you have read the latest version before you do so.))

[igordragonian]

"You want us to test the value of your artifacts? Why of course! I know all the elements of an ultimate artifact!"

[DracoDei]

He lays a blanket over a chest, then ducks under it and opens the chest (apparently wishing to keep the contents a secret).

His two daughters keep a keen eye on everyone nearby in case of shoplifters.

After much careful clunking around and a bit of muttering, he emerges from under the blanket with a spear and a lance. A stone on a chain around his neck is glowing brightly, probably a simple illumination charm.

Hippocrates' horn glows. "Well, these don't appear to be magical... although I think some of the stuff in the chest is. Might want to invest in a lead lining if you are worried about bandits." your medic reports.

"I've considered it but... the weight simply isn't worth it."

Wine's Wisdom and Dream Chaser examine the weapons. The spear looks to be of good quality. ((Not going to qualify if it is Masterwork or not, simply because that is the wrong way to think of it for these purposes. Basically it is "Noticeably Above Average".)

It looks like the lance would be a good weapon, but... it also necks down smoothly towards the middle of the shaft, much like you have sometimes done with your own shafts to make them break more easily. It is very finely balanced, and the tip sharp and hard, but the shaft might be somewhat prone to breaking if someone tried to chop it (("Sunder" combat action)) or even in the process of hitting a well-armored target. Basically someone turned this into a single-use weapon, and given the overall work-person-ship appears to have done so deliberately.

Hippocrates saw an odd dip in the blanket that Cart was working under as if something was pulling it downward from below, right about the time Cart was muttering.

[igordragonian]

"I am afraid someone turned this fine weapon into one use weapon." Dream Chaser said sadly.
"Such a loss..." he has mourned the weapon

[DracoDei]

"Indeed, indeed..."

He continues to discuss the finer points of those weapons and a few others... oddly enough you all feel like you are falling short of the mark as far as the understanding of the matters that he is most concerned with. He seems to be more interested in the weapons-smithing aspect of things, particularly how it interacts with the process of enhancing a weapon with magic.

Dream Chaser could try to fake it with a Bluff roll... but this guy seems to be pretty experienced as a trader, and thus good at having a feeling for when he is being mislead (In game mechanics terms he probably has some skill ranks in Sense Motive, and not a terrible wisdom to go along with it.

The topic turns to the issue of illegal weapons. (Regardless of which direction you took with the above option).

"So... as persons charged with ensuring the peace between groups, do you have any thoughts on such matters? I am most interested because the Sheep in this town don't seem to be on the same page with most others on what constitutes acceptable weaponry on the field of battle. Oh, and before you ask, their town is simply known as 'The First Village", which I've discovered isn't so much a commonly known name, as what they used as a placeholder on the rare occasions when they spoke to outsiders before Oatburrough was founded." says Cart.

[igordragonian]

"OH?! What marvelous weapons does the sheep use?!" Dream Chaser has asked with excitment

[DracoDei]

((To speed things along here is another part of the conversation. Please tell me if the multipie path's of discussion get to be a problem for either of you.))
CART:
"What you have to understand is that the Sheep are violent. Notice I didn't say they were dangerous, although they might be that too. There violence is currently SEEMS to be directed towards the Goliath's but at the same time they consider the Goliath's sacred, and that a victory over them is a ill omen. I know that doesn't make any sense, but I don't want to risk offense in an unknown society lest I harm my business so I haven't tried to investigate any further than that.

"Now, as you probably already know, there is a faction that claims that they should drive us out and take Oatburrough for their own. This despite their initial welcome to us Ponies not only lacking any such strong dissenters, but almost being reverential. They claim that the Goliath's have shown their disfavor for us by attacking us so much.

"Now, us Pegasi as a whole are pretty ready for a fight, but we fight with discipline and tactics, and honor our heroes greatly. The Sheep? They seem to have some sort of ranking of heroism near as I can tell among the rams, although I can't quite suss it out. For the Ewes, there is nothing of the sort. I know that even implying a Ewe has a number is considered very insulting to the Ewe. Anyway, most adult Rams seem to be a 'one', with higher numbers being progressively rarer.

"A bigger number gives a Ram more honor, and means he can take more than one wife. A Ram with a zero is not allowed to marry at all, and one with a one is limited to monogamy. I'm still unclear on how many wives a Ram with a two or higher is allowed.

"Unlike the Pegasi that appears to always be the case, rather than only in years of emergency, and the first wife has no veto power on the matter... incidentally, if you can't be polite about that, best not to even go there in the first place. But what it doesn't give them is authority on the field of battle. In fact, I'm almost tempted to say that they don't really grasp the idea of the more advanced sorts of tactics based on the conversations I've had with them on the subject of weaponry. Maybe I'm just biased since they don't come off to me as being the sharpest tools in the shed. Of course, I wonder if the impression of them as not very wise or smart is just my prejudices on the whole."

Feel free to have your characters take a strong stance against this, just as long as they are not rude about it... which, based on prior experience probably means that Dream Chaser isn't allowed to speak on the subject at all. This requirement is just to keep y'all from failing the mission.

Polygamy is used by Pegasi as a emergency measure to make sure their race does not die out. When deaths are predicted to be high Stallions are assigned more dangerous duties than Mares are and the resulting gender imbalance determines how many Stallions are allowed to have two wives. The first wife must give her approval for her husband to take a second wife.

Coomander Hurricane did, in fact, declare such a state of emergency during the Windigo crisis, but repealed it about two years after Hearth's Warming.

SOME Earthponies practice polygamy and polyandry under VERY limited circumstances. In both cases this is to allow the line of somepony who died without heir to be continued by the sibling of the deceased marrying the widow(er). Among the Unicorns this is only used to make sure that the noble titles pass to a direct descendant if the widow(er) does not remarry within a year.

Among the most conservative of Earth Ponies (at least as conservative as the Pies or maybe SOME of the Apples from the show) this applies to all widows/widowers and the widow(er) must petition the elders for permission to NOT do so. Such petitions are most commonly only granted when their is a different marriage basically already lined up, and the engagement usually must be set in stone within a single week of the death.

Note that the marrying your brother's wife if he dies without heir thing was actually mandated by at least one major real world religion at one time, and at least allowed (and possibly mandated) by at least one more. I have never heard of something like that for polyandry, but I figure since this is Proto-Equestria...

Hippocrate's
Hippocrates interjects at this point to say this. "No, from what I have heard of the Ovine species they really were created with lesser minds than Ponies. Not that that is an excuse to look down on them, but rather a call to look after them I firmly believe."
Sheep get -2 to Intelligence and Wisdom. So this is so much a true thing that the game mechanics back him up.

And yes, Hippocrates attitude IS partially taken from some of the false beliefs/rationalizations that were applied to Native Americans and Blacks... but this is a much different take, closer to the medieval dim mirror of the care our society shows for those with mild mental disabilities... except better in a lot of ways.

I can provide more information if requested, but I don't want to make this post any longer than it already is going to be. I can particularly explain how this plays out in my fanon in the modern Equestria we see in the show itself. Please remember Rule Number One, and do NOT make assumptions.

CART:
"Ah... good to have that confirmed, and I agree with you on that last point. Huh... I wonder how their practices relate to... eh, never mind. Enough of such subjects that fly a tight route to avoid the tawdry!

"As for their religion, they seemed very interested in our own religions, but seem curiously reluctant to discuss their own in very much detail. They say such inquiries should be reserved for their king, but when somepony asked him what his role in their religion is the answer was less than clear... or so I hear. You know how gossip is.

"Their priests all seem to display battle-scars and are all Rams. Their temple is large, but I have never seen them gather in it in numbers sufficient to justify its size. Now Ponies are warned with dire consequences if they get within about two-hundred pony paces of the place, but when that was accidentally violated no big deal was made of it and their King actually seemed to consider the matter beneath his notice when we tried to apologize for it.

"I suppose I should clarify that the Rams do not rule over the Ewes nearly as much as what I've said so far would imply. A Ewe may speak in council, may divorce her husband for striking her, marital unfaithfulness, or, apparently, infertility, just as a husband may divorce his wife for the same reasons. All may own property, enter into contracts, and so on and so forth.

"But, circling back to their odd sort of violence. To kill another sheep is always forbidden. Even murderers are given a different sentence. To cause injury to a Sheep is punishable by enslavement to the injured for a certain period of time. Even a small wound is requires a few minutes or hours of service, although such cases do not make it to the magistrate. The exceptions for even the most foolish of accidents in the training ring are very great however. Both Rams and Ewes are expected to know how to fight, just as with the Pegasi, but for Rams and Ewes to train together seems to be something that is rare enough that it only happens by direct order of the King.

"Crimes against non-Sheep are apparently punished nearly as harshly, with the biggest difference being that the injured can choose to pardon the Sheep, and in the case of death the punishment can be less if both the next of kin and a sufficiently high authority over the non-Sheep agree. In our case either the Mayor or the Commander would qualify as a sufficiently high authority."

[DracoDei]

((Missed igordragonian's question before...))
"Barbed ones, which OUR laws of warfare disallow. Of course, it could be argued that without Earth Ponies around to smarten up the beasts that that rule would be less valid, but I'd say it is still too cruel for my tastes."

[igordragonian]

Dream Chaser frowned.
'Those sheep sound like a barbarian to me! How could we handle them, without shiskabbing them?!'

[Cloudy_daze]

"This is going to be tricky indeed do you think perhaps the barbed weapons are meant to confer an advantage against the Goliaths?"
wine looks to dream chaser and cart thoughtfully only half speaking to them half muttering to himself
at any rate any attempt at contact with them will have to be very carefully thought out

[DracoDei]

"We can deal with them by showing them a better way I suppose. Such is our duty to the lesser races.

As for conferring an advantage again the Goliaths, that is certainly possible in theory if the shafts caused it difficulty in moving through tight spaces but in practice however they hardly seem to notice them if the number of snapped off shafts I've seen on some of the ones I've seen while flying between the settlements is anything to go by. Their wounds heal before ones' very eyes unless they are killed and it seems to hold the heads in place rather than pushing them out when the wound seals."

This is Fast Healing 1/round. That means you don't need special weapons to kill them (although they do also have DR/Magic I'm thinking. You just hurt them faster than they can heal. This is NOT regeneration. That is a different ability that they do NOT have.

Goliaths are known to attack with their claws, fire breath, and thrown chunks of dirt/rock that they rip from the ground with minor Earth magic that seems to be inherent in their claws.

What they DON'T do is bite for some reason. This despite having teeth almost as strong as those of a dragon.

[igordragonian]

"Well, I guess we could!" Dream chaser said with dramatic heroic tone

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine sighs and rubs at his temple with a hoof."well so much for that theory anyway perhaps we should speak to the ponies who have dealt with the golliaths first hoof next. Perhaps first we should secure lodgings and some food."
He turns back to the trader Pegasus"thank you again for your help you've been very informative"

[DracoDei]

"You are quite welcome. Have a look at my wares?"

((There is nothing I have planned out that would be helpful information from his wares, it just seems like the sort of thing he would ask...))
Finding lodgings won't be a problem in and of itself.

As for who has fought these things... that would be going back to the military base. While we can sorta 'off screen' rather than RPing out the conversation since one of our two PCs is banned from that location.

95% what is on the character sheet I created in leau of a Monster Manual type entry is stuff that will be... VERY available. I'd just link you except for that other 5%... well, and the fact that I am still trying to get the darn thing balanced right to do what I need it to do from a narrative perspective. Hopefully I will succeed. I may give you a copy of my current rough draft with all the stuff that the military types who have been studying combat reports and such to find better ways of fighting them WOULDN'T know redacted.

Also, I think you may be over-estimating how touchy these Sheep are as a whole. Even the ones who want to go to war the Ponies would be very unlikely to attack you unless they got enough Sheep to join them that there was a concensus and/or convinced the Sheep King.

I will also mention that Sheep in general aren't any more violent than Ponies of this era, it is the Sheep of this SPECIFIC Sheep village that have the violent tendencies.

Another point... -2 to Int and Wis doesn't make them total morons on the whole. That's like... a C average highschool student or something. That being said... well, "pay attention". Point out anything that doesn't seem to fit that assessment. It could be a mistake on my part, or it might be an important clue.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine smiled at the trader and departed making for the pallisade. "Perhaps we might find Shard Digger and have a chat with him for another perspective" he mumbled outloud to the group.

[igordragonian]

"It sound like a grandiose and marvelous idea!" Dream Chaser said filled with energies.

[DracoDei]

As soon as you are well away from Cart:
Hippocrates Leech notes he saw an odd dip in the blanket that Cart was working under to get stuff out of the chest as if something was pulling it downward from below, right about the time Cart was muttering.

Later:
You approach a large pit in the ground inside a fairly large area denoted with posts with upward-facing signs with the symbol denoting "Rain Forbidden" on the posts. The posts are linked with twine. Various pits are visible scattered about the area with the fill dirt piled just beyond the demarcated area.

An Earth Pony canters towards you in answer to your calls as you enter the area. His coat is sepia and his mane the color of dust. A yellow-white unicorn filly of about 14 years can also be seen moving at a cautious walk well back from him.

"Please remain there and come no further! I shall approach you!" the stallion calls out.

[igordragonian]

"What seems to be wrong, dear friend!? Have you witnessed a foe!?" Dream Chaser looked around dramatically.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine shakes his head. "No foes here eere just going to talk, please come right over Mr. Digger.
"He probobly juat doeant want us disturbing his dig site"

[DracoDei]

"You have the right of it. I am, indeed, Shard Digger, and this is my apprentice, Bone. Who might you be my good stallions?"

You both note that Bone is wearing a very expensive looking necklace, but the matter is not relevant enough to mention YET.

[igordragonian]

"I am the great knight of dreams and justice- Dream Chaser!" Dream chaser presented himself dramatically, with a stomp.

[Cloudy_daze]

"I'm wine's wisdom it's a pleasure" wine grinned at the dust colored pony. "Might we impose on your time briefly?"

[DracoDei]

The Stallion looks non-plussed at Dream Chaser's volume, and was about to say something when Wine's Wisdom managed to distract him.
'
Strangely enough this seems to arguably make things WORSE as he goes from "annoyed" to "exasperated". He speaks very quickly, ignoring your confused expressions and/or raised hooves (if any of either)

"Ugh... sure sure. But if you are here for what I think you are, then the answer is that you are probably on a fools errand, but just in case it ISN'T I want my pick of five percent of the market value or any one item. In addition I want to examine everything before it is moved or potentially damaged and take notes, draw pictures, that sort of thing. That means I will probably be taking the lead a lot of the time. Finally, I want the right to refuse any buyer who I think won't take proper care of things."

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine ***** hisbhead to the aide with an oddly befuddled expression. "What do youbthibk we are here for?"

[DracoDei]

Wine c*cks his head to the side with an oddly befuddled expression. "What do you think we are here for?"
Between the profanity filter and what I assume was typing on a touchscreen I have provided a cleaned up version to make sure I am reading you correct... My only other hypothesis for non-filter typoes if you are having Wine's Wisdom fake being drunk, and the typo outside the quotemarks was just a random error. Seems unlikely though.

I'm mostly providing this for our non-native English-speaker...
"The probably mythical burial grounds of the ancient city that this town is built on. Said to be filled with fantastic riches beyond the wildest dreams of equines of course, and/or specific tombs of Ponies who were buried with artifacts of monumental power." says the Stallion, arching one eyebrow as if not sure whether to believe your claims of ignorance.

To you two: This is that sidequest I said was coming up soon that I didn't want you two to be too distracted by. Don't TOTALLY ignore it, but it isn't something that is going to be terribly fruitful to pursue beyond talking to this pair and thinking/talking between the party about the situation.

To myself (partially so you can remind me!): He is going to be consulting with you to double-check his hypothesis about how the old city fell.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine raises an eyebrow in poorly concealed interest. "I don't suppose there's a tale to go with that is there? It sounds like it would be worth hearing."

[DracoDei]

"Many tales, most of which contradict each-other. I've no time to waste telling them all.

What I will say is why I believe that there is nothing any so called "adventurer" could hope to find.

Bone here *points with a hoof to unicorn filly* has been able to confirm that there are few to no burials within the old limits of the town. I was also able to confirm that at the later stages of the town dying out of a plague that they reluctantly resorted to cremation, which would strongly imply they didn't use that methodology usually. With heavy guard escorts we managed to search the surrounding area for several miles in every direction, and out from where we believe the old major roads ran and we only found small scattered fragments of Pony bones. This matches with the one mural I have found that MIGHT represent a funeral procession leaving the city. If correct this would imply that they did NOT feed their dead to the natural-carnivores their Earthponies' auras had rendered functional omnivores. Of course, it could be them transporting a statue that was a major effort on their parts that they were going to sell for a lot of gold. Or it could be an exhausted hero or noble sleeping on their palequin after performing some great task, but needing to go on to their next business so quickly that they could not afford to sleep in a bed before departing... or any of a number of other things.

At the end of the day I'm not sure the mystery will ever be solved, but if it is it will be by slow and patient effort I believe, rather than get-rich-quick treasure hunters chasing myths and Flutter-Pony tales. Oh, there are plenty of sites that would be PERFECT for a hidden graveyard, or that various legends COULD indicate as the place, but the thing is that I found signs of previous excavations at all of them, but nothing extensive enough to imply a mass exhumation, nor did Bone detect any bones, and our few exploratory holes to see if they just used a burial method that altered or destroyed the bones found absolutely nothing. So, no, I don't think that only part of the burial ground was plundered if someone found it."

[DracoDei]

As Shard Digger is going through his latest rant Bone gulps with nervously then turns sideways to you and points a hoof at one of her shoulders. You both see Shard Digger's Cutie Mark branded there (her own cutie-mark turns out to be a Equine skull). She looks at the three party members with a touch of belligerence. She then turns the other way and shows an identical brand on her other shoulder.

Such a brand would, at first glance, mark her as Shard Digger's slave. The only problem with that is the unified government of the three tribes has declared that slaves who are not fully adults are blanket disallowed and emancipated them officially. On top of that, according to the laws you were briefed on applying to this area, the guards should not only have be keeping the two of them apart even if she expressed a strong desire to speak to him or even write him a letter (not even if they read it first). Despite this there was no effort made to hide the brands. Come to that, the fact that she is branded on BOTH shoulders would be fairly unusual even for a slave.

Hippocrates Leech says in a quiet voice that he seems to be hoping will not reach the ears of Shard and Bone: "Those brands are less than a year old."

"Hey! What's up with those brands?" Leech then shouts.

Shard turns back to Bone.

"Now, now, there is no need to be afraid. These are honest Ponies. They aren't going to try to kidnap you."

Then to you: "Sorry, about that. She's never been my slave, only my apprentice. But... well, let's just say that any strange Pony she was with without me around would be detained for questioning at the very least. I'm sure a bit of thought will work out the reasoning given what I just told you..."

"Yeah, so don't get any funny ideas!" growls Bone, pawing aggressively at the ground with one fore-hoof.

((EDIT: Just to be clear, OOC, those brands really are for her own protection, he brought the idea up to her and she went along with it. She isn't his slave except perhaps in some convoluted legal sense that would only apply if she was kidnapped by Diamond Dogs or others outside the direct jurisdiction of Ponies. AKA "She can't be your slave because if she is anyones slave she is mine, now give her back you curs before these guards I brought with me hold you down while I kick the stuffing out of you..." . She has been his apprentice for several years probably but there wasn't any reason to be worried about kidnappers until they came to this area.))

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine smiles and shakes his head. "Nothing funny here just actually wanted to ask you about the first village."

[igordragonian]

"We are nothing but funny! We are heroes! Protectors of the people in the search for knowledge!"

[DracoDei]

Shard and Bone seem to calm for the most part at your reassurances.

"I've said a few things, in what I really hope will prove an incorrect assumption on my part... What else were you interested in about it specifically? It may have been gone for hundreds of years, but it lasted at least three centuries before that I am pretty sure, so a lot happened during its time.

Or did you mean the Sheep town? I can verify that the Pony town that was here seemed to have good relations with them. The core of the trading was wool and wool goods for steel weapons and tools. Some intermariage even, despite the obvious problem of childlessness. Actually a bit weird... The weapons and trainigs techniques both towns used were noticeably inferior to our own, although the training was not as bad as what the Sheep seem to have now. Anyway, you would expect that mixed marriages could easily find orphans to adopt, but... that doesn't seem to be the case.

I will mention that the Sheep have, unsurprisingly seen a sharp decline in most ways since the Ponies died out.

You have to understand, I mostly talked to the Sheep to better direct and understand my digging... Focusing on my specific job, rather than worrying about how the information might or might not help our relations with the Sheep in the plong term. That is the problem of the higher-ups who are sponsoring me, not mine and... I'm guessing... Well it might be your concern now that I think of it, but you needn't say if you don't wish to!"

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine nodded with a smile. "Ah interesting can you tell me more about the village before the ponies left and particularly how the "golliaths" fit in if at all to their culture" wine looked hipfully at thr grubby digger with a grin.

[DracoDei]

"Well, as I think I mentioned before, they didn't so much 'leave' as 'die out of a plague'. It hit the Sheep too at the time I think, but they apparently managed to pull through were the Ponies didn't. Of course a few survived to go elsewhere.

As for the Goliaths, they seem to have had surprisingly little role. I mean there are occasional mentions, but they seemed to view them as much more a threat to property than to the life to anyone who didn't attack them first, usually in defense of said property. They didn't seem to be after anything in particular, just behaving like brute beasts, for all their cunning in battle.

There... is one story though... two Ponies of war, one a pegasus named Flightmare, and one an Earth Pony named Sharp Flint. The short version is that they had a big rivalry going. They could never resolve it to their satisfaction, because they could never agree on what were fair rules for a sparring match. So they settled it by having a contest to see who could slay the most Goliaths in a single day. Barbaric really, given how smart Goliaths seem to be even without any Earthponies nearby... at least if the Goliaths were the non-threat that they seemed to be. But in any case: Fairly standard story of blood and hooves. EXCEPT that it is actually pretty boring to read because half of it is about how Sharp Flint did a bunch of favors for various people to build up political capital to go and get permission from the lord of the city for this contest to take place. Now, of course, a lot of these favors were the sort of tales of blood and hooves that could have made a good story, except that the way it is written goes out of its way to emphasize just how piddling easy it was for Flint because he was so great and all, and every time it mentions that it has to go into emphasizing that Flightmare was his equal. Then king gives this big long speech about how great these two fighters are and how it would be a very very great loss if there honor were to eventually, by some mischance, demand that they fight to the death to prove which of them was the greater. The actual day of the hunt is pretty dramatic, but I don't have any idea why they wasted parchment* on that middle section..."

*Yes, he DID find this story written on the skin of Sheep who, it would be the implicit unquestioned (because it is so unlikely it would be false) that they died for reasons completely unrelated to what their skins got used for afterward.

You discuss the tactics from that story, but nothing useful comes of it as far as honing your ability to fight a Goliath if it comes to that.
((Mechanics: There were no rolls involved in this.))

Shard Digger then turns the talk to the plague that ended the city. He is getting your help (tit for tat after all...) with verifying the causes. The disease in question usually only reaches epidemic levels if the bodies of those who died early on in the plague are not burned or buried DEEP within about two days of death... which gets back to the allure of finding this legendary graveyard.
((Mechanics: Basically everypony is "Taking 10" (in non-stressful/distracting situations you can elect not to roll a d20 and just proceed as if it came up 10), with either Shard Digger or Hippocrates Leech making the main roll and everyone else doing 'aid another' which only requires beating DC 10 which means automatic success.))

[igordragonian]

"well, that does sound epicly horrible. Comrades- what should we do next?!"

[DracoDei]

Bone levitates a small wooden box out of her saddlebags and places it slowly and carefully on the ground in front of her.

Still using her telekinesis she opens the box (the lid at least appears to be lined with soft velvet) and floats many bones out of the box. She assembles them into a chicken in front of her, and concentrating fiercely makes it strut around and peck at the ground. Her control is nearly flawless, much better than what you saw when she was manipulating the box.

Hippocrates Leech watches her.

He seems to have taken quite an interest in her ability, but appears to be trying to 'play it cool'.

Hippocrates goes over to her and they begin to talk very quietly, manipulating the bones. She is smiling happily.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine sidles up near bone and Hippocrates watching the animated chicken strut around with interest. He attempts to listen to their conversation as he gets closer before remarking. "that's really quite impressive can you do that with any skeleton?"

[DracoDei]

Hippocrates tenses a bit at your approach but then continues apparently exactly as before.

"Yeah. My special talent is bones, so that is why I changed my name* to Bone. I can find them, move them, and even set broken ones... really frustrating though that unless the bone is poking out through the skin I can't move bones inside of a Pony or an animal or whatever**."

*((Part of my fanon on why names match up with talents so frequently.))
**((This is a common limitation of most kinds of magic. Otherwise, for example, a unicorn could telekinetically give brain aneurysms as easily as lifting a teacup they didn't have line of sight to.))

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine watches the chicken closely fascinated. "have you ever tried to move something made of bone that's been carved?"

[DracoDei]

"No. I guess that could look nice if I learned scrum-saw*. I've been meaning to start, but everypony says I gotta learn on wood and maybe even rocks first** which is harder for me."

Splitting her attention causes some of the bones to go "out of joint" temporarily, and she pauses in the strutting to re-align them before continuing the puppet's aping of the life of a living bird.

*Very young. Thus mispronounced 'scrimshaw' which is the art of carving bone, especially, I think, whalebone, but in this case not meant to be limited to that.
**Many(1) animals are people(2) when there are enough Earth Ponies around. Spike was literally trying to frame Owlysious for murder in "Owl's Well That Ends Well". Did a terrible job of it of course, and even if Owlysious had really done so he would have basically been committed to a psychological care facility (a locked cage at Fluttershy's) since he was probably new to the tamer areas and thus both hadn't learned the rules and also might not have had as much time for the Earth Pony magic to overcome his instincts (although it did apparently have enough time to transfer the knowledge of how to read into him so... whatever, side-trail!).

Anyway, the point is that biologically-animal(3) products are fairly well accepted in Pony culture, but they are treated as very valuable and worthy of respect. Thus nopony is going to teach her scrimshaw until she has demonstrated skill in whittling and/or stone-carving.

(1) Earth Pony magic literally only works on animals that are considered 'cute', 'noble', 'cool/awesome/radical', or otherwise worthy. So... Butterflies? Yes. Catapilars? As long as most Earth Ponies in the area know that caterpillars turn into butterflies. Earthworms? Not so much... Bees? Yes (but with gestalt hive-mind). Ants? Probably (and ditto if so). Dung Beatles? Only in the Egyptian-equivalent area (I do not have a Pony pun ready to hoof for Egypt). Microbes? Not a chance even if it would work on them in the first place.
(2) Albeit those without an owner (of whatever tribe) focusing on them usually don't get very smart, and thus are under the same category of 'mentally semi-incompetent as Sheep and possibly Pigs will get filed into in modern Equestria. On major issue in the unification of the tribes is that voting was seen as a bad system of government in that it would leave a back door for 'shouldn't animals be allowed to vote' which would basically be something between ballot-box stuffing and gerrymandering in the Earth Ponies favors.
(3) Biological Kingdom Animalia, rather than just 'beasts that may or may not have been uplifted to intelligence'. Thus this includes Ponies themselves, not to mention Cows, Sheep, Buffalo (who actually can make magical armor out of the hides of their ancestors with their species magic), etc. In modern Equestria, the really swank Griffon restaurants will be back to back (side to side would be in poor taste) with the Old Folks Homes and/or Hospitals, and some days will not have ANY of their higher priced selections available, because no one has died recently. For another thing, Granny Smith's rocking chair is held together with glue made from her late husband. Naturally, even in the Sugarbowl of Equestria all of this requires a non-trivial amount of paperwork.Even when Fluttershy serves a fish that was placed (dead of natural causes) on Magnum(4)'s hook by the other fish to an eagle she has to note it in a log book or two. Also, I DID mention a parchment before?
(4) Rarity and Sweetie Belle's father.

[Cloudy_daze]

Wine smiles at Bone and continues to watch the bird skeleton.
"that's really neat I bet with a bit more practice you'll have it dancing"
wine chuckles to himself at the idea and grins at Bone and Hippocrates Leech.
"I'd pay to see a dancing bird skeleton wouldn't you?"

[DracoDei]

"I might at that!" says Hippocrates. He chews on his lip and glances speculatively at Shard Digger.

[DracoDei]

Wine's Wisdom and Dream Chaser's perspective:
A pegasus soldier flies overhead. There actually seems to be a lot of soldiers moving around now that you notice it...

The Pegasus lands and passes along an order for you both to report to the military base. You are assembled along with many soldiers and Commander Hail hovers in front of the formation (Pegasi don't need stages to get elevation on those they are addressing).

"We've got a bit of a situation with the Sheep. Now, the one thing I don't want happening is things being escalated from our side without my specific orders. We are in a defensive and preparational mode ONLY. Any Sheep you see in town are to be asked POLITELY not to leave the town.

Now that you know what you SHOULDN'T be doing, let me explain the situation. As you may know, to the west of here is a large icy area. Obviously Windigoes were our first concern. A team of 20 was dispatched about six weeks ago to scout the area. They all made it out intact, and without detecting any Windigoes. On there way out they stopped by the Sheep town, which was along their way. The Sheep king expressed great interest in their mission, and asked many questions. These were answered politely and thoroughly, as the leader of the recon group is an expert in anti-Windigo operations, and felt that openness was a good defense, and saw no reason to consider the information privileged. The Sheep king asked them to come to him on their way back, and said he was very anxious to hear what they had discovered.

"It was on this return visit where things seemed to go wrong. They were met, seemingly by chance, by a lone Sheep, several miles outside the walls of the Sheep town. His name was apparently Rubaa. One of the team members, a Warm Fires by name struck up a bit of a friendship with Rubaa and they discussed the mission at great length on the rest of their journey. Rubaa seemed to have sprained a leg, but refused treatment, and we now think that he was faking so as to buy time or gain greater sympathy.

"Upon their arrival before the King, they delivered their report, and were betrayed, as the King''s guards informed them they were under arrest. The Team Leader gave the code phrase to cooperate rather than fight back. They were separated. That was two days ago.

"Warm Fires was released a few hours ago, and returned here with all haste. He informs us he was not harmed, but was questioned most aggressively about their mission and what they had discovered, as well as concerning the fine details of what we know of Windigoes. They took the position that Warm Fires, and by extension Equestria was lying about the existence of the Windigos, and sought to destroy them in ice and snow. He was released to inform us that our Ponies will not be released when and if the Sheep have reason to believe us about the Windigoes. They naturally said that they would consider any attempt to rescue them or gain leverage against the Sheep to be proof of our 'lies'.

"We are going to mobilize and proceed to the boarder between us and the Sheep. We will NOT provoke them, and a diplomatic team will meet at the border to discuss matters with the Sheep. I want you all ready within one hour. We may be remaining on station for several weeks, although logistics with Oatsborough will, naturally exist, I don't have to tell you that travel through the woods is best done by air or in large numbers. I want thunderheads in place 400 pony-lengths from the barrier, and not one hoof closer! No discharges except on my direct orders.

"Am I understood?"

Everypony Else's Perspective:
You are being grilled. ((If you really wish to we can roleplay this in some detail, but a general description of how you respond to your captors would probably suffice.))

[DracoDei]

The next three days are very tense at the forward base set up by Oatsburough.

The grilling of the detainees continues. Still nothing much worse than modern police are allowed.

Early on the third day they are released. The Mayor and Commander Hail are handling accepting the Sheep King's apology (he seems to be insisting it was a necessary evil).

The leader of the Windigo hunting group instructs (New PCs) to join the investigators to resolve this issue, since he feels that this is the use of their talents best suited to preventing the return of the Windigoes.

Part of the Sheep King's apology/explanation turns out to be opening up about the Sheeps' religion. The major point that they were keeping hidden was the fact that they actually are revere Amazing. Now, Amazing goes by many names. "The Word-Splitter", "The Unpredictable One", "The Bringer of Gifts and Curses", "The Tester of Minds", "The Quested After Power"... He is dangerous and not to be trusted. At the same time you are safe enough around him if you simply are polite to him, keep the conversation as short as possible, and do not ever ask him to do anything for you. He is a draconequus. He doesn't have the zaniness that Discord will show when he takes over Equestria, but he DOES have a sense of irony, twisting requests or cursing those who spend too long talking to him. He seems to have an especial grudge against anyone who presents themselves as having a leadership position, even if they explicitly disclaim any authority over him and approach him as a vastly superior person.

However, to the Sheep, he is a benevolent god, if one aloof enough that praying to him is not common, and nosheep worships him primarily. His only legend/myth is that he created the Goliaths as a blessing to the Sheep and Ponies. His only rite beyond prayers of thanks for his gift is that before he may marry, a Ram must have a spear stick in a Goliath and stay there (thus the barbed spears that the Sheep carry). The number of spears one has succeeded with is the number that is the measure of strength for a Rams and determines how many wives a Ram can take. Rams go out in groups every so once in a while for this purpose. Any of important persons representing Oatsburough who wish to join in this rite may do so, provided they do so fully as part of the hunt. Spectators during the hunt itself are forbidden. In contrast to this, the ceremonies before and after can merely be observed due to religious differences.

The rest of the information was not deemed important enough that it was specifically relayed to you, but questions are welcome.

[Triskavanski]

Macabre's coat still has the marks from the grill on it. Honestly the past three days went by in a blur he wasn't exactly sure why those burn marks where there anymore. "So... you don't have any pudding?" he asks, rubbing his chin, before shrugging. "I'd love to help really I would, but well, I can't hear anything you just said. Other than Sheeps gotta stick a spear in a golem to get married because someone is Amazing. But what does that have to do with stopping freezy breezies from coming back?"

Macabre looked around, as he wavered in his spot, never really looking at anyone in the room, as he began to pace back and forth, eventually walking up the nearest wall. "Well unless.." he says coming back down around around. "The freezy breezies are being used by Amazing, but then that wouldn't do." he reaches up tapping his horn. "Only have one of these, not too, and I don't have wool. And from the sounds of it.. This Amazing guy ain't going to like some unicorn coming in and being all like 'Open up! This is the Pony Police!'." Macabre rolls a hoof around. "And its totally forbidden too."

[DracoDei]

"Well, locating Amazing to talk to him would be nearly impossible anyway, and you are correct that it would be foolhardy. And what precisely would it 'not do' if Amazing is using the ice insects? I am missing something I think." says Hippocrates Leech.

[Triskavanski]

Macabre lets out a sigh. "If he is using them, we either have to ask him to stop. Which you said not to do. Or come in as a position of authority. Which we shouldn't do either."

[DracoDei]

"I suspect you mean the Goliaths, not the Ice Insects. The Goliaths are what Amazing supposedly created, and also what the Sheep have to stick spears in to get married. I think a critical question may be what is specifically causing the Goliaths to go after us, but not the Sheep at any time in history nor the Ponies that died out."

[Cloudy_daze]

"well If he created them are they under his control or do they behave like any other natural beast?"
Wine cocked his head to the side as he thought out loud.

[Triskavanski]

"The golems are for sheeps to get married a festival that outsiders are not allowed to join in on. So.. as an outsider I'm not sure what I can do. But maybe its because an outsider did a thing.
Are you sure those participating aren't timberwolves?"

[DracoDei]

"So, to review, what have we learned about the situation since we arrived? Wine's?"

[Cloudy_daze]

Well we've learned a little bit. The nearby sheep village is called "the first village" and it has been there for a long time and used to co-exist with a lstge pony ovllage that died out. We know that there is a large apex predator in the area amd that they are attacking ponies but not sheep at an increased rate. Interestingly this creature is not natural to the area and was created by a powerful entity called "Amazing."
Here wine pauses furrowing his brow.
"Id like to know if their behavoir is dictated by instinct like a natural beast or if they are controlled or follow set objective by their creator, also ad they are not natural to this area and are quite clearly predatory what is their normal food source?
Wine clears his throat
"We also know that these creatures are used in sheeps marriage tradition perhaps we should find out more about that as well.

[DracoDei]

Hippocrates Leech:
"Mmmm... yes. More specifically the Ponies died out of a plague spread through bodies that weren't buried or cremated promptly enough.

Well, that sounds like enough to be moving forwards with, although more would be better. Also, I think your previous idea of the Sheep's spears having a spell or poison on them that makes the Goliaths controllable bears investigation, although I don't know where they would get magic in the metal or wood, so some sort of alchemical magic seems more likely... we probably shouldn't rule anything out just yet though. I'll remind you I do know a spell for detecting toxins."

[DracoDei]

"So do either of you have any ideas on how we could pursue these avenues of investigation?"

[Cloudy_daze]

I suppose sooner or later we will have to investigate the first village for ourselves huh?

[DracoDei]

I suppose sooner or later we will have to investigate the first village for ourselves huh?

"It seemed a good source of information from the start. Do you two favor 'sooner' or 'later'?"

[Cloudy_daze]

Personally I'm all for investigating it right now!