MLPFEMTORPG -- Skeletons ahead, and then skeletons

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>>30642087
Post sheets

>>30642093
https://pastebin.com/w7vFkeLu

>>30642093

>>30642114

The actual sheet might be nice.

https://pastebin.com/RU3ctyY9

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452KB, 807x485px

>>30642093
https://pastebin.com/haMVj8ts

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69KB, 948x1185px

>>30642093
https://pastebin.com/7FyBUa0q

>>30642087
https://pastebin.com/68nd0GB3

Last time on Pirates...

>Cloud 5/3 (5/5)
>Alder 5/4 (5/5)
>Cutlass 5/5 (5/5)
>Rin 7/4 (7/5)
>Cerulean 8/5 (8/6)
>HHS 9/6 (9/6)

After landing on the strange new island, the crew were bewildered by the foreign landscape, plants and critters inhabiting the island. Everything was unlike what they had seen before, in color, shape and size. It was all a bit overwhelming at first, but after taking in the sights, they split up to forage and scout out the island.

HHS and Cloud went after Rin, who had spied a gigantic tortoise's nest by the base of a cliff in a valley, full of treasure and furniture.

Cerulean and Alder encountered a large two-headed lizard, as well as some animated skeletons whose bodies were made out of bones from numerous creatures. Initial communications proved difficult, as neither party could understand the other's language.

Meanwhile, Cutlass stalked Godot in order to gain access to Schwartzwelt's office (and her possessions). Schniztel's initial blurb about Godot proved to be false, because not only did he have accomplices, his apparent method of drug manufacturing would presumably leave some kind of physical evidence. One of the goats under Godot's service was seen scraping flecks of soft ore off of the rocks that were being mined in the prison.

>>30642093
https://pastebin.com/HZDtCp5g

>>30642129
>>30642206
The lizard makes a few groggy snaps in your direction, but apart from a few of Alder's tailfeathers, fails to grab make a dent in either of you, before you can make your grand escape with the skeletons. Upon closer inspection, while each of them seems vaguely to be a pony's skeleton, you notice that some of their bones seem to be from different creatures. Indeed, it seems like all three of them have several bones from other species, even down to the teeth. Eventually, you all get far away enough from the lizard that you can pause and take a breather. Even the skeletons do this. They turn and start to talk to you, but you can't understand their language at all.

>>30642107
You slightly augment the trees nearby, and the turtle lazily glances over at them. Without moving, it lowers its jaw and unfolds a tongue that soon folds out to be as long as a plane. The giant tongue yanks one of the trees out of the ground without requiring the turtle to move at all.

>>30642122
"Oh, I was wrong, you're all illiterate, then. No matter. That's me, yeah. Now, what are you here about in the first place?"

>>30642107
>>30642136
As Rin stealthily sneaks along the cliff wall, outside of the tortoise's vision, you notice the tortoise's head raise, and its nose perking up as it smells the air. Its gargantuan tongue sets down the giant tree, and with a shockwave, its massive left foot begins to raise upward...

>>30642213
"U-Uh..."
Cloud stammers in shock as the turtle just rips up the tree with a massive tongue.

As the turtle starts to raise it's foot, Loud's eyes glow. The only way to keep it fended off he can think of is to match it's size, and hopefully it'll be slow enough to not be a problem.
>Wax/Wane [Grow] [1d10]

>>30642213
Steve watches idly, not knowing how to better this situation.

>>30642199
>>30642213
Alder warks a little as the lizard takes a nibble on his tail tuft, luckily not doing any actual damage! The griffon skids to a stop around the same time the others do. He looks at the skeletons curiously, taking a moment to look over their collection, before humming... and gasping!
"Miss Cerulean! Maybe we should try charades! I-It will not be easy, but, perhaps it could help?" He attempts to try and get the object of their scouting across through charades, after some mulling over what to try.
>[1d10]

>>30642213
Rin attempts to squeeze in tight close to the wall, remaining silent as the lumbering giant. As the foot begins to raise, she prepares to swiftly and stealthily roll out of the way.

>Stealth
[1d10]
>Dodge
[1d10]

>>30642285
But wait, what could be the source of that out of place, or possibly even much too usual for the current environment, perceivable difference enacting on Steve's senses?

>Perception [1d10]

>>30642213
Cerulean stares at the skeleton as it talks with a somewhat blank expression on her face like one has when they have no idea what they're saying, but they're trying to be nice and listen anyway. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again without a clue what to say back. Then, she got an idea!

Cerulean tries to draw some pictures in the dirt/sand with her tail. She tries to draw them walking around a cliff. Then tries to draw a crude, self portrait with happy things around her to signal she is a friend. And then the same to equally cartoony, crude pictures of the others in the group.

>Quality of the pictures
[1d10]

>>30642213

"Illiterate!" Cutlass squeaks out, suddenly angry. "I'll have you know my mother brought in the finest teacher money could buy! I am most certainly literate and well read!"

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>>30642293
>[1d10] Perception

>>30642342
>Perception!
[1d10]
>using talent of seeing stealthed/invisible enemies via electroception if applicable

>>30642244
>>30642285
>>30642301
>>30642326
Cloud doubles, triples and then quadruples his own stature, until he is about half as big as the gigantic tortoise. He could possibly grow larger with another roll. After pulling in the gigantic tree, the tortoise sets its foot down gently, apparently conscious of the baby tortoises nearby. But, the impact from it is still enough to rattle Rin's bones from tip to tail, causing her to stumble with deafened ears and goose-bumped skin.

>Rin 2/5

Having gotten somewhat closer, Rin sees many extra broken eggshells laying amid the treasure, suggesting other tortoises have already hatched and left. After setting its foot down, the tortoise starts gnawing its tree.

HHS's eyes are caught by a white bit of movement on the rocks above the valley. A small team of skeletal ponies, armed with bags and potions, are crouching on an outcropping on the cliff above Rin, talking among themselves.

>>30642342
>>30642293
https://youtu.be/65fy83-WDy0
Alder feels a calm, pleasant sensation pass by him. It's like a breeze, but there's no wind. It passes above, below and through him. He sees one of the smaller skeleton's heads glowing a tiny bit.

The skeletons consider each of your gestures, then talk among themselves for a few moments. After a moment, they nod and turn back to you. The biggest skeleton starts adding onto Cerulean's drawing, making an arrow in the sand to the northeast, then scribbles in some houses on a hill. He draws a large cauldron, and then two groups of heads: Half of them are skulls and half are ponies. Above the heads, he starts writing down letters, though like the spoken words you don't recognize them. But it seems like the ponies and skulls are having a conversation. Then, the skeletons look back at you, motioning for you to follow.

>>30642369
"Fine, fine, I believe you!" Godot squawks. "Pipe down, already you well-read bint." He peeks around suspiciously, and you see a goat watching. "So, how much do you want?"

>>30642432

Cutlass looks to the goat, then back to Godot. "Does he work with you?" she asks.

[1d10] if necessary

>>30642432
"Uh, ah don't know how pertinent dis infermation is to y'all but derz a bunch of undead bones up on dat cliff. After we finish with dis shellhead I think we oughta check it out."

Steve, now realizing what he should be doing, throws his shield down in front of him and shoves all his weight into it at the tortoise's legs.

>Slam; Crit 8+ [1d10+1]

>>30642432
>>30642406
As the skeleton draws, Cerulean's tail sways gently, watching intently and curiously. She tilts her head and looks back to Alder.
"Call it a gut feeling, but I think they might have a way to let us talk with them. C'mon!"
She follows the skeletons excitedly, her curiosity rising and looking like it will be sated.

>>30642432
Rin's teeth chatter as her bones are rattled, feeling her core shaken just by the beast setting down it's foot. After she catches her bearings again, Rin sifts through the treasure silently for valuables while allowing her Mimic to munch on any coins or jewels. "Better get what I need before that thing rattles me more... There's only one thing that's allowed to make me shake." Rin thinks to herself with a greedy grin plastered on her face.

>Stealth: Gather treasure silently
[1d10]
>Find most valuable weapons/trinkets
[1d10]

>>30642432
Alder warbles a little bit from the sudden, warm sensation, before looking around a little. He focuses on the skeleton's head a little, a confused look on his face as he tries to figure out the cause of the glowing.
"O-Oh, uhm, right. Miss Cerulean, should we follow?"

>>30642432
Cloud pauses after growing, looking up at how much bigger the turtle still is
"Phew, that... that took a little more than I thought. J-Just a little more, and maybe I can hold that thing back."
Cloud's eyes glow again as he boosts his size even further, aiming to reach tortoise size, or close to it.
>Wax/Wane [Grow Self, Again] [1d10+1]

>>30642506
"Oh, alright!" he warks back, before hurrying after the sharkpony excitedly

>>30642476
"Him, and a lot more," Godot says, scooting away slightly. "So if you're really not here to buy, I suggest you trot along back to your cell... actually, hold that thought. You're new around 'ere, aren't you? What's got you asking so many questions? I run a discrete business 'ere."

>>30642478
The shield makes almost no impact against the tortoise, and it has no reaction.

>>30642513
You grow a bit larger, until you're about five times your original size, but you feel that you're nearing the limits of your spell.

>>30642508
As you start grabbing clawfuls of treasure and jewelry, four skeletons climb down from the cliff face, and start to scramble through the treasure themselves. They start to make a bit of noise as they comb through the loot, but whisper to each other as if they're being subtle.

>>30642509
>>30642506
The skeletons lead you through a fresh path through the jungle, following a trail of subtle markings driven into the trees. The journey is long, and a bit humid. The clatters and rustles of jungle life abound around you, and the skeletons start to appear nervous as the sounds grow more prominent. Suddenly, there's the hum of wind rushing, and the steady beat of wings overhead. The skeletons look up, gasp and dive for the ground. [If doing the same, roll for stealth]

>>30642581
Falling back onto his ass from the force of his own hit, "Maybe this ain't such a good idea fellers."

>>30642581

Cutlass stares at Godot. Many different scenarios run through her head. It takes her a while before she finally speaks up again.

"How badly do you want to get out of here?" she asks.

[1d10] just throwing that in if you want it

>>30642581
Alder blinks once or twice, and tries to hide to the best of his ability!
>Stealth: [1d10]

>>30642581
Remembering the giant lizard, Cerulean decides to take a page from their book and try to hide for once.

[1d10]

>>30642581
>>30642508
Cloud holds his head, taking a breather.
"I... I think this was a bit of a bad idea so soon after that shipwreck..."

Cloud looks down as Rin grabs some treasure, and skeletons come in to raid some more.
"Whoa whoa where did these guys come from?"
Cloud questions under his breath. with the turtle still very unreactive, Cloud gestures to Rin to back up from the lootpile, and then uses his massive size to scoop away the treasures and scrap away from the turtle so they can search through the pile at a safer distance.

>>30642581
Rin's mix of bloodlust and greet overtake her as she unsheaths her sword to threaten the skeletons. "Ye only get a small portion. Ye hear?" Rin says, attempting to split off some of the treasure for herself with intimidation. A ghostly hand appearing as it moves over the treasure to pull it closer to Rin, still leaving a small but even for each portion while she takes off with at least slightly over half majority of the profits.

>Wenches & Mead: Steal treasure
[1d10+2]
>Intimidation: Force an agreement
[1d10+3]

>>30642667
"Some of them helped me earlier, I think... maybe. But they aren't getting a larger portion than I, I've been through a lot to get here." Rin says with a silent growl.

>>30642683
"No worries about that, I should be able to grab mostly everything at this point."

>>30642616
He pauses, and slowly, his frown becomes very grave and deep. "I'm not doing anything for you unless you've gotten yourself a very, very good plan and some competent people behind you," Godot hisses. You can tell just from his tone and the faded color of his eyes that he wants it more than anything.

>>30642667
>>30642602
The tortoise glances down at HHS, and starts to grunt. But when Cloud gets closer to the treasure, he notices the trio of car-sized eggs, each with an equally-large baby tortoise inside, and the tortoise squawks ferociously at him. It stomps over the tree, and cranes its neck out at Cloud as he draws near. The neck stretches out longer than a normal tortoise's should, and comes quite close to Cloud's. Its beak drips with a purple gunk that, when it hits the ground, dissolves the grasses.

>>30642683
The baby tortoises start to chirp in alarm as the larger one confronts Cloud.

The skeletons wave dismissively at you, and you realize they aren't taking any treasure at all. Instead, they pick up broken pieces of the older, now-abandoned eggshells, stuffing them into their packs.

>>30642621
>>30642626
A terrifyingly wide, long form passes overhead, and its shadow is so vast that it covers the whole area in complete shadow. Through sparse openings in the trees, you see pale blue scales, enormous wings and a tail as long as a hoofball field. The form flies toward the center of the island, leaving you alone. After a little while, the skeletons stand back up and watch the path of the dragon. Sighing, they begin to resume their trip, and motion for you to follow.

>>30642726
"G-Goodness gracious, what a sight! Was that a dragon?" he asks, cocking his head to the side curiously, before following after the skeletons.

>>30642726
"Hey, hey, chill. I'm not going to touch your babies, just these scraps we could use. Here, how about I trade ya?"
Cloud says to the screeching tortoise, growing up some plants as a food trade/distraction to the beast.
>Earthen Grasp [Instant Minion] [1d10+1]

While doing so, Cloud makes a grab to scoop up what his giant hooves can hold out of the pile.
>Scoop [1d10+1]

>>30642726
Steve sees that a fight is in the works, and tries to end it.

"Experience Peace you beast!" Steve calmly yells, as if he were yelling to a crewmember on another floor of the ship.

>Word of Power [1d10]

>>30642726
>>30642751
"I...think so? It was some kind of big thing."
Cerulean gives an unsettled sigh as she follows the skeletons.
"I really don't like feeling like small fish right now...."

>>30642726
Rin continues to feed her Mimic, raising her brow in reaction to the skeletons collecting eggshells. She simply grumbles and immediately stops her hostility against the skeletons, thinking it's a waste to be aggressive at something so passive.

>Help Mimic eat treasure while tail sifts through for any unique treasures.
[1d10]

>>30642773
"Cloud, can ye grow me pet, Tok? I need it to eat more and faster so we can get out of here." Rin says to Cloud.

>>30642726

Cutlass meets Godot's frown with a widening grin.

"I've seen your goats work," she says, now speaking in a more business-like tone. "I know they know what that glowing magic is. Which means you probably know too. I have a room of 4 of us. We've all got it. We just need someone to show us how to use it. You can help us with that. With a whole group of us using that stuff, we can definitely pull off a lot, don't you think?"

[1d10] for convincing

>>30642777
"W-Well, you are a big fish! To me, at least. A-And a strong fish, too!" he offers, trying to reassure the shark pony

>>30642804
"Give me a sec while I get this turtle to calm down."

>>30642821
"Thanks...but I still don't like that bigger thing that can swim in the air when I can't."
She grumbles slightly.

>>30642822
"Well maybe ye should have not bothered it in the first place when there's big fucking turtle nearby!" Rin attempts to shout silently, flustered by her hurried attempts to satisfy her greed.

>>30642841
"I was getting big to help hold it off if things went wrong!"

>>30642751
>>30642777
One of the skeletons, apparently understanding your general impression, points up at the sky where the dragon vanished, then pantomimes grabbing at the ground, yanking up several blades of grass. He points at the grass, then at you, and then himself.
https://youtu.be/0dlFvJXD8RY

After an hour or so of journeying, the skeletons bring you to a sprawling, multi-leveled city on a hill with adobe houses, colorful flags and many inhabitants, all of whom are skeletons. Many are wearing fancy dresses and tuxedoes, putting makeup on one another's faces, like Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls. Upbeat music with plenty of drumming wafts through the air, as does the smells of food and drink.

The skeletons sigh and relax once they leave the jungle. They start leading you down to the middle level, which is built within the side of the cliff. Below that is a beach with a large shipyard.

>>30642776
>>30642773
>>30642804
The turtle doesn't even acknowledge HHS. As Cloud reaches at the gold pile, the turtle stomps to the left, body-blocking him before he can grab any. A group of four skeletons runs past, hugging the cliff wall carefully. They wave in your direction silently, as if wanting you to follow them. The turtle makes another loud warning grunt.

Rin's mimic manages to slurp up some of the treasure, but due to its small stature, has a hard time chewing up more than a few coins or bits of gemstones at a time.

>>30642820
Godot narrows his eyes. "Show me what you have so far. I can't teach you how to use it, but if you're telling the truth, I can still... help you draw it out, so to speak."

>>30642867
Rin attempts to grab more treasure for herself and feeding her Mimic. Her tail continuing to sift through the treasure.

>Cash Grab for Mimic!
[1d10]

>>30642867

Cutlass sighs and thinks for a moment. She can't lose his confidence yet.

"I don't know much, but I can show you that I know how to... show it," she lies.

Cutlass was never good at magic. She mastered telekinesis, but that was about it. Her teacher was always impatient with her. She tries desperately to think back to the lessons she endured many times just learning how to draw out magic. It had to be a similar concept for this, right?

She closes her eyes and concentrates on just making herself glow. Something HAD to happen. [1d10]

>>30642867
"Hey, relax. I'm. Not. Going. To. Bother. Your. Babies."
Cloud says slowly to get the message across. Thinking of what else to help, he reaches over to rip up a few trees and shrubs, offering them out to the tortoise like he would a pet to get on it's god side.
>Peace Offering [1d10+1]

>>30642867
"Whale den, in light of mah own inability to affect the life of this creature, ah think its time to get goin in search ah greener pastures and glimmerier gold rite boys?"

Steve triumphantly walks away and goes to follow the skeletons he saw a while ago.

>>30642867
"I see... not friendly, then." he looks up at the sky, before continuing.

"Oooh!" the griffon warks excitedly at the end of their journey, and looks around the town curiously. He stretches his wings out and flutters them a little to gain altitude, before grinning as he takes in the sights "Truly, a fascinating place! It looks like they are throwing a festival of sorts!" he chirps out, before hurrying to return to the rest of the group. He lands back down next to Cerulean as they reach the shipyard, and hums a little "Perhaps they come from elsewhere, too?"

>>30642867
Cerulean seems to get the gist of the skeleton's motions, feeling glad she was able to hide for once.

Cerulean looks around, looking a lot more relieved to be out of the jungle as well. She looks all around her, sometimes doing a circle as she walks to try and see everything.
"Okay, forget the beach. THIS is more like a lively coral reef!"

Not wanting to get lost in this vibrant, yet unknown, city, Cerulean decides to stick with the skeleton tour guides.

>>30642900
The mimic coughs, evidently choking on the coins, and then spits up some of the coins that it was just fed. Apparently, mimics can overeat. Tok hops over and nips your finger.

>>30642953
Apparently, the turtle's maternal instincts are stronger than its appetite, and the turtle starts to push you away with its head.

>>30642959
You see that the skeletons have gathered a big stack of old eggshell pieces. The skeletons say something, seemingly greeting you, but you don't understand a word of their language. You notice, now up close, that the skeletons are made of bones from all kinds of different creatures, becoming an amalgam of different bones.

>>30642960
>>30642998
The skeletons lead you to an older, darker building in the middle layer. Inside is a kind of apothecary's shop, cramped and claustrophobic with ingredients, spices and herbs all stacked on the tables and hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room, a smaller, hooded skeleton hunches over a towering cauldron that's the width of a pool and the height of two alicorns stacked on top of one another. A light orange broth stews within. Your guides talk to the new skeleton, then gesture at you. After a brief conversation, the hooded skeleton comes down with two shot glasses full of blue potion and offers them to you.

>>30642946
But nothing does. Godot frowns and folds his arms in thought. "Well, the fact that you called it 'magic' should've given it away, but I wanted to hope you were just vague on the terminology. But, in either case... you, or whoever you're working for, can see the so-called 'glow'. If you were with the Gates of Justice, you would have just come and dragged me away. I can at least know that you're a prisoner. Even though you're a liar, you're still a chance. And a chance is... closer than I've gotten before."

He sits up straight, and you realize he's nearly a full head taller than you. "Speaking of chances, this is your LAST one. Lie again and I'll sell you out to Schwarzwelt myself. I want to know everything that you know, and everything that you, or whoever you're working for, has planned."

You notice a small shimmering about his eyes.

>>30643017
>>30642900
"Rghh..."
Cloud grumbles as the turtle starts to push him. He lightly pushes back, not enough to be aggressive but enough to keep the turtle distracted in keeping him back, while his eyes glow to help make Rin's mimic bigger as requested.
>Wax/Wane [Grow Mimic] [1d10+1]

>>30643017
>>30643046
>Shove [1d10+1]

>>30643017
Alder follows along curiously as they decend deeper, and squeezes into the Apothecary's shop. The griffon looks around a little more excitedly once he gets a chance to check the interior, looking for any reagents similar to his own. "Maybe I should take notes. I have never seen this much potionwork before!"
>Perception: [1d10]
"Uhm... so, we should drink this?" he asks, giving a soft shrug before gulping the mixture down

>>30643017
Cerulean seems to plan each step she takes very carefully while inside the shop, making sure her tail doesn't whack itself against anything as well. Her head is moving all over the place, however, as her sense of smell goes into overdrive from all the spices and herbs.
"So...many...smells...."
She says in a light daze, but snaps out of it as the shot glasses are presented. Her tilts at it for a moment, but after everything so far, she was feeling a bit thirsty. She takes it and downs it in one go, smacking her lips as she does so.
"Hey thanks. I was starting to feel a bit dry from all that running."

>>30643017
>>30643046
Rin sighs and interrupts Clouds attempts by smacking his head. "Let's just get out of here before it stomps on us." Rin says before following the skeletal ponies.

>>30643017
"Uh, howdy, y'all make meh sick to mah stomach bein' abominashuns uv nature and all, but ah guess we ca-"
Steve realizes that the skeletons probably don't understand him since he didn't understand them.
Searching his mind for proverbs of Sugar Hoof, he attempts to make peaceful communication.
"Bah-weep-gra-nah-weep-nini-bong!" whilst offering some of the fruits from his knapsack.

>Word of Power [1d10]

>>30643096
"Seriously, after all this work I put in?"

>>30643022

Cutlass looks down at herself and frowns when she sees nothing happened. However, as Godot speaks, she looks back up at him with a smile again.

"Okay, first of all, the only lie I've told so far was that I know what this glowing stuff is. I have no idea. Neither do they. I needed you to have confidence in me to play along. But, trust me, you should have confidence in me anyway. I've gotten out of some pretty ridiculous situations before."

"As for our plan, this is why I wanted to talk to you in the first place. I am pretty sure I'm being set up. That dog, Schnitzel, do you know him? He came up with a plan to find evidence against you so that we had a good enough reason to be brought to the warden. Then, we'd pull off a heist to get our stuff back."

"I have a map to the Rib Cage, you see. If we can get that back, we'll all be rich. If you're in, then you're in our crew that we are forming. If the goats want to come along, then we'd love to have more crew hooves."

"The Captain is currently a diamond dog named Plague. Which brings me to the first of my concerns. I never told him about my map. Yet, somehow he knows about it. For time being, I'm playing along, letting him call the shots. But, the only way he could know about the map is if he has been to the storage room. However that's possible, it certainly means he is NOT a long-term ally. Eventually, I plan to be rid of him. But, for now he is useful."

"Schnitzel, on the other hoof," Cutlass continues. "I believe is of more immediate concern. When he came up with the plan to rat you out, he told me you work alone. I've been watching you for less than a day, and I cannot imagine how someone could make that mistake. You obviously have quite an extensive staff under you. I don't know why he lied to me, but he's obviously plotting something."

"Now, YOU I like. You seem reasonable. So, I'd very gladly trade Schnitzel for you. So, how do we play things from here?"

>>30643114
"We got some treasure already, we're here for the crimson king, remember?"

>>30643130
"Yea but I'm gonna need a lot of treasure to get my wings back, so we got different priorities."

>>30643075
The turtle pushes you back through the grasses, leaving you unable on increasing the size of Rin's mimic.

"Maaaybe we ought to take this as a sign and leave her alone?" Chiu asks, standing on your shoulder.

>>30643096
>>30643113
>>30643114
The skeletons talk among themselves upon realizing that neither group can understand the other's language. One of the skeletons starts gesturing over to the northeast, then makes a motion like drinking a potion. However, partway through the pantomiming, he's interrupted by a loud snoring sound coming from HHS's bag.

>>30643197
unable to focus on*

>>30643092
>>30643095
Alder, despite his expertise, realizes that many of the plants and ingredients around the shop are totally foreign to him, and likely due to the Ribcage's wild and foreign biology and isolation from the outside world. But, he sees a few that he does recognize. In doing so, he realizes that this is probably less of a potion shop and more of a bakery, since most of the ingredients that he recognizes are used more in making tasty food.

The skeleton starts speaking, and partway through her words, you start to understand her.
"--if you've got any cursed aboard your ship?" she asks. "Or, did you two escape from the bees?"

>>30643119
He laughs. "Oh, you MUST be new if you're working for Schnitzel. Ordinarily, the guards never ask prison snitches to bring them physical evidence. Snitches are too valuable to risk being killed like that. But him, he always has to bring in physical evidence to corroborate his bullshit. He's a compulsive liar, but they haven't hanged him because he's too damn useful when he's not lying."

His pupils shrink as you bring up the Ribcage, but he quickly regains his cool. "Well, I've heard of Captain Plague, and I know that Captains go through a more thorough searching and screening process before they're let in, so it's possible he could've been to the loot room that way. But, I don't know because I didn't go through that myself."

After your talk finishes, he sits and thinks. "I've got two conditions you must agree to before I say anything more: One, I can leave your crew at any time, with or without prior warning. Two, when I leave the crew, neither you, the crew, nor anyone you or any crewmember know, can follow me, track me or tell others about me. You are to forget I ever existed once I tell you I'm off. Do you agree?"

>>30643197
Rin scratches her head and peers off to the northeast.

>Perception
[1d10]

>>30643197
"Hmph, fine," Cloud grumbles at Chiu's suggestion, "You're lucky I'm exhausted after fighting off some other joker!"
Cloud shouts to the tortoise to make it sound like he's leaving on his own terms.

"Well, since I've gotten big, might as well keep climbing and seeing if there's somewhere else with some stuff to grab."
Cloud looks around, continuing along to island to look for higher elevation.

>>30643197
Steve smacks his bag out of impulsive anger that the bag is sleeping through the skeletons' attempts to communicate.

>>30643208

"Well, I'm a captain too!" Cutlass begins to object, looking cross. "Why didn't they-" she cuts herself off, just shaking her head.

She stares down Godot a moment before responding to his demands. "I get where you're coming from. You've spent so much time in here, you don't want to be imprisoned in someone's crew. I'm not going to hold you hostage or anything like that. But, I've had crews... leave me at pretty crappy times in the past. I have absolutely no objections to your second demand so long as you don't give me a REASON to chase you down. As for your first condition... I simply ask that you talk to me first. If you have a problem with being in my crew, I'd rather you talk to me about it instead of just abandoning me. At least let me try to fix the problem for you. At the very least, it will help me find time to replace you."

"Can we agree on that?"

[1d10] for agreement

>>30643208
"Hrm... more for food than for tincture, I would wager." The griffon remarks, before blinking in surprise "O-Oh! I can understand you now! "Any cursed aboard our ship? I do not believe I know what you mean... I do not remember these bees."

>>30643208
Cerulean has a look of surprise on her face, her tail moving around excitedly that she has to grab it to keep it from hitting anything in the cramp space.
"Holy shrimp! I can understand you now!"
Cerulean calms herself down a bit.
"Uhh...I don't know anything about bees. But what was that first part? Kinda took a bit to get the whole 'understanding you thing' going."

"But we actually came from an ocean very, very far away from here, if that helps."

>>30643214
Whatever they're talking about, it's obscured by the towering trees and mushrooms making up the jungles in the areas, even when you fly upward to have a look.

>>30643231
The turtle lumbers back to its nest after you back away. "You know, it doesn't seem too adept at noticing smaller things," Chiu suggests. "Maybe try that?"

Much of the area around here is flatland besides the occasional low cliff and valley, but most of the jungles northeast are of higher elevation.

>>30643236
Suddenly, whatever was snoring inside the bag wakes up, and starts shouting in the same language that the skeletons speak!

The skeletons glare at you and back away, reaching into their bags. They shout, pointing at your bag and then the ground.

>>30643239
"Hmm... if you became a captain recently, or were the victim of a recent mutiny or loss of ship and crew, perhaps they marked you down as just being another pirate. Or, perhaps it has something to do with your dress. They definitely would've taken it if they could've. Did you have it enchanted?"

He shakes his head. "I could be part of the best crew in the world and I'd still want to have that freedom to leave. I could love them like brothers, but I'd still need to have it. It's not something I can discuss. But, I will let you know a day before I leave that I plan to leave. If it makes you feel any better, you'll know when we get close to a certain island."

He extends his claw to shake, and you see that he's got a small, circular white pill inside it. Seems like he wants to pass it to you.

(1/2)

>>30643243
>>30643252
"Far away from here?" the hooded mare asks in surprise. You can tell from her voice that she's quite old. "Well, that explains the language barrier. So, you're SURE you don't have any skeletons, zombies or ghosts around the ship? Not even sealed away inside of chests or urns?"

"If you don't know, you should avoid any bee-ponies you see in the sky." One of the skeleton warriors, his voice gruff and deep, adds. "They're from Kaco Island, and they love taking slaves."
"Oh, and welcome to Simetyer Island!" another skeleton (a young mare's voice) says. "Will you be staying for the Funerevival Service tonight?"

>>30643315
"I do not believe we do, no. We could look when we return, to be extra sure." he offers, before cocking his head to the side "Funerevival? I do not believe I understand the meaning... It does indeed look fun, if the outside festivities have anything to do with it!"

>>30643311
Steve takes an aggressive stance and tries to make a growling noise to breach the language barrier and signal that his bag is his and that they don't tell him what to do.

However, out of his own curiosity that his bag can now shout, he does spill the contents of his bag out on the ground behind him, away from the skeletons, maintaining his aggressive stance as best he can.

>>30643311
"And here I thought being big enough to not get squashed was better..."
Cloud complains.
"Maybe on the way back, come by when it's sleeping."

Looking around, Cloud heads off to the northeast, walking through more confidently with a bigger size so they don't need to worry about any island predators.
"What do you think of this place so far? barely even entered and we're getting attacked by nutjobs and magic immune beasts. Not looking like the vacation I thought'd it be."

>>30643315
Cerulean sits and crosses her hooves, thinking on it.
"Not that I'm aware of. Closest thing to skeletons may be whatever fishbones didn't go overboard from my many mid-voyage snacks."

"Woah, there are a lot of different things out here," she says at the mention of bee ponies, trying to imagine what they could possibly look like.

"Funerevival? Is that what all those bones were for?"
Cerulean thinks about the staying part.
"Well, maybe we can spare a little bit of time, I think? After all that's happened, something relaxing sounds pretty nice right about now."
At the thought of relaxing, her stomach growls slightly, causing her to nervously laugh a bit.

>>30643311

"I understand," Cutlass sighs. "Far be it from me to take away someone's freedom. It's certainly a fear I can identify with. But..." Cutlass pauses, blushing a bit. "Just... know that you're not the only one with phobias. I'm admitting more than I like here. In fact- I'm going to shut up now..." she blushes.

"My dress was enchanted by a genie," Cutlass suddenly says, desperate to change the subject. "It can't be harmed or stained, and will change shape and size as I do. But, I never wished for it to be unable to be removed..." she says with increasing worry.

She shakes his claw and takes the pill. She discreetly telekinetically inserts it into her pleat of her dress. "What does it do exactly?" she asks.

>>30643311
Rin then goes off to explore what they were gesturing about.

>>30643381
[1d10]

>>30643378
"If that's the case, it would certainly be a genie's work to stick you with such a crappy curse. Well, have you tried removing it yourself?" he suggests. "Maybe someone else can't remove it, but you can. Forgive me but I don't want to volunteer for that."
"Well, if you're able to see Aura, then you can take that, and if it doesn't turn your insides out, it should force your own Aura into growing stronger. It's like a training montage in a tiny pill form. So... now what? What's your plan for getting into Schwarzwelt's office?"

>>30643333
>>30643373
"You big dummy, what makes you think they'd understand what the Service is if they're foreigners?" another skeleton chides the second. "In a nutshell, whenever our scouts that comb the oceans find more ponies who have been cursed to eternal life, whether as ghosts, zombies or skeletons, our scouts will try to invite them here, to live among us. If they agree to live by the island's laws, we accept them and hold a festival for them on the full moon after they join. Tonight's the full moon, so the city's going to get crazy!"
The second skeleton rolls her non-existent eyes. "You should join us if you like, you're definitely welcome even if you're all fleshy. But, more importantly: You said you're from far away? Well, HOW far away? Because I really doubt that the two of you came here by yourselves, if you came by boat, especially since you can't use--"
The hooded pony taps the second on the hoof and shakes her head. "You're being rude."

>>30643346
As you dump out your bag, the skull rolls out and glances around in surprise. The four whole skeletons gasp, then glare at you, but the skull shouts at them. As the skull talks, the four skeleton warriors start to relax a little. The skull pivots to look up at you, then gestures with his chin toward the northeast.

>>30643353
"It's to be expected," Chiu says. "If it weren't hard to reach, it wouldn't be worth it. And besides, if that's the kind of treasure a local tortoise is hoarding, I bet that there'll be much more than just that lying around for the taking elsewhere."

>>30643381
>>30643353
You head northeast through the jungle, with the creaking and squeaking of jungle critters and plants all around you. Eventually, you come across a system of markings etched into trees. There's a certain logic to the markings, and with a little thought, you're able to follow them back to their apparent source. After about an hour's journey, you reach a marvelous, three-layered city built into a hilly cliff with a beach at the base. It's populated entirely by skeletons. (see the first reply of: >>30642867)

>>30643456

"I'm not taking off my dress here!" Cutlass overly objects. She puts a hoof up to her chest in disgust and outrage.

"Perv," she mumbles as she takes the pill back out. "If it's going to kill me, I'd rather know sooner than later," she says.

Completely disregarding his question asked of her, she swallows the pill.

>>30643458
Looking around the place Rin sighs a bit. "I have a feeling it might not be here... Well, no reason I can't buy a drink." Rin says, trying to reach the middle level of the city.

>>30643458
Steve picks up the skull and tries to use it like a compass, following in the direction it points.

>>30643458
"Yea, you're right. We don't need some animal's findings, we can just find another cave like we did before that had that genie."
Cloud says with boosting vigor.

>>30643458
Cloud looks down at the village as they get close.
"Well this is certainly a sight, wonder if there's some sort of mage running the place."
He comments at seeing only skeletons running around.
"Does explain those few I spotted earlier."

>>30643458
"Uh, what am I lookin' at here skull buddy?" Steve wanders aimlessly in the marvelous city staring at all the skeletons he sees.
Amazed at how they all live so civilized for undead monstrosities, he is sure to examine each one closely as he proceeds through the city.

>>30643456
"Woah, sounds neat! Now I'm even more curious to see it all. Thanks for letting us join."

"Very far. Like so far that where we come from, it's not part of the ribcage," Cerulean answers excitedly, "I know I lived off the coast of Equestria...I think? Honestly, the ocean is so big I just kinda forget where I go sometimes.
Oh, and we have a whole bunch of other people with us. They climbed a cliff, and I thought we could find another way without climbing, but ended up running into that lizard thing in that really big jungle."
She tilts her head curiously.
"But use what, exactly? Sounds super helpful if it could let us travel quick and easy."

>>30643456
"Interesting. I suppose that would be good for those with eternal life, so they might have a place to stay with others like themselves. And, I would love to join in on the festivities!" the griffon chirps excitedly, ruffling his wings a tad
"Yes, we came with many others. We came by boat, which is docked down on the shore." he explains, before noding to Cerulean's explanation "Like that, yes."

>>30643480
"Wait!" Godot gasps, attempting to stop you. But, it's too late. The taste is extremely sour, and your tongue curls in protest. A feeling like fizzling trickles down your throat, then spreads outward down through your body, all the way to the tip of your tail and bottoms of your hooves. It's like being bathed in carbonated water. Then, a rush of wind circulates through you. Your vision brightens, and it's like all colors have become brighter. You can hear and feel more too, and it's as if every sense in your body was made twice as strong as your vigor and zest for life skyrockets. But, the sensation causes your body to twitch uncontrollably. Godot reaches up and grabs you to keep you from shaking, but the guards are already looking your way. "Idiot!"

>>30643534
>>30643547
The old hooded pony (apothecary for short) seems to ignore Cerulean's question. The young mare puts her hooves together in a show of apology.
"Well, it won't do to keep you just in here," the apothecary says, leading you outside. "Let's get your ship properly anchored in the port."

>>30643481
>>30643495
>>30643515
>>30643547
>>30643534
When Rin, Cloud, Chiu and HHS come into town, most of the townsfolk eye them cautiously, gossiping among themselves, though of course they understand none of it. Shortly after, Cerulean and Alder leave the apothecary's shop in the company of a group of skeletons, and the two groups see each other.
"Those must be your crew?" the apothecary asks.
"Way to perpetuate the stereotype," the big skeleton adds.

>>30643570
"Alder and co.! What a coinky dink dat we all ended up in this big 'ole mess uv bonez in our expeditions! What'd y'all find so far?"

>>30643570

Cutlass smiles. "Improvise," is all she says as she tries to keep her body calm and in control. She breathes deeply.

[1d10] for controlling self

>>30643570
>>30643547
>>30643534
"There ye two are. While ye two have been busy vacationing, we got ourselves some treasure!" Rin announces, holding up some of the gold she was able to make off with personally.

>>30643570
>>30643606
>>30643612

"Nah, she's right. That is them."
Cerulean bounds up to them.
"Hey everyone! Guess we found the shortcut, right Alder?"
Cerulean has a cheeky grin on her face when she says that.

"Ooo, neat shiny stuff. But you all should check in with her over there," Cerulean says, pointing to the apothecary pony, "she's got this blue stuff that can let you understand what they're saying! And they're having a big festival soon, too! Oh, and we can get the ship tucked in here nice and safe to get it patched up! And we also saw a HUUUUGE flying dragon that made me look more like a lanturn shark!"

>>30643570
>>30643534
>>30643547
As Cerulean and Alder come into view, Cloud crouches down to the ground so they can all talk, making sure not to break anything on the way down.
"You two sure got ahead of us. So what's going on here, this place looks like they forgot to end Nightmare Night."

>>30643626
> >>30643625

>>30643570
"Hmm? Alright, I suppose. It is probably safer than where it is docked now." he offers, before following the skeleton out. He smiles as they spot the rest of their crew (save Cutlass) and lets out a happy wark as they approach the rest of the group
>>30643606
>>30643612
"Hello hello! Good to see we all ended up in the same place, then! We did not find treasure, but we can understand the skeletons now!" he offers, before giggling at Cerulean
>>30643625
"We did, I would agree!" he offers with a small giggle, before nuzzling her side happily "The apothecary was nice enough to allow us to have some!"

>>30643625
Cloud sighs in relief.
"Good, a place we can rest. I was thinking everything in this place wanted to kill us."

Cloud looks up into the sky at the mention of a dragon.
"There was a dragon? I didn't see anything, unless we really did get that far off track."

>>30643664
"Yes, there was! Only for a short time... a-and goodness, Mister Cloud Shear! You are enormous!" he chirps out "What situation brought this about?"

>>30643612
"Y'know what I like about you Rin? Ya always speak your mind about how greedy and rude you are, its what them manehattan folks would call becoming I think."

>>30643643
"Well that sounds like the 1st order of business then, lets get goin'!" Steve cries enthusiastically and starts marching over to the apothecary.

Mumbling to the skull, "Soon I'll understand you bonehead and we'll be the best of friends," before stashing it back away in his bag.

>>30643612
Now that you've had a free moment to tally up the treasure, you estimate that you took about 500 Bits' worth of gold and other assorted small baubles.

>>30643612
>>30643625
>>30643626
>>30643643
>>30643606
Both sets of skeleton warriors who accompanied Cerulean and Alder as well as Rin, Cloud, HHS and Chiu, excuse themselves, and tell Cerulean and Alder they'll be at the festival tonight. They then leave to go take care of other business first.

Meanwhile, the Apothecary re-enters the shack, and then comes back out with several more shot glasses of the blue liquid that Cerulean mentioned.

>>30643609
As quickly as they began, the shaking stops. The guards trot over just as Godot peels himself off. "The hell's going on over here? Hooves to yourselves."
Godot shoots you a suspicious glare.

>>30643702
"We were trying to get treasure that a giant turtle had in its nest. Rin got some of it while I... kept it busy."

>>30643711
Cloud looks down at the shot glass, holding his hoof out for the skeleton to place it on since he can't grab it too well with his size.
"Here's hoping one portion works for all sizes."
Cloud comments as he throws back the potion, and the cup for a second before spitting it back out.
"My bad."
He coughs.

>>30643711

Cutlass is giddy from just a taste of the power. "Nothing happening over here," she says with a massive grin on her face, practically giggling.

She looks at her hoof as it glows a dim grey. "I just got dizzy is all..." she mutters.

>>30643711
"Whale, before you can understand me ah guess I'd just like to say that you're all gross trashbeasts that oughta be in the ground for the sake of the balance," was casually commented before the stallion slammed the bottle's contents to the back of his throat.

>>30643664
"Dunno how you could miss it, cause it was a big one. We were even in a giant-sized jungle when we saw it, too."

>>30643711
>>30643735
"A giant turtle? That sounds kinda tasty right about now."
Cerulean looks to the apothecary pony.
"Not to be rude, but will there be food? All this talk of turtles and the smells in your grotto really has my appetite going."

>>30643707
"I'll take that as a compliment, if I found out it be an insult I'll punch you in the gut." Rin replies.

>>30643711
Rin takes the shot of potion the apothecary offers.

>>30643711
"Sounds good! See you then!" he warks to the skeletons as they depart, before turning back to Cloud Shear and co.
>>30643735
He offers a small giggle as Cloud Shear attempts to hold the glass, and takes it out of his massive hoof before carefully administering it to the stallion himself "There we go! Much easier, would you not say?" he offers, before giggling again "And, I am glad that it went well, Mister Cloud Shear!"
>>30643761
"Food could be nice, yes."

>>30643761
"Good luck if you wanna snack on it, it was twice as big as I am right now."

>>30643797
"Thanks."
Cloud says as Alder helps with drinking the potion.
"And here's hoping it gets better. Who knows what else we can find if a turtle of all things gathered up some gold."

>>30643782
"See thats exactly what I mean, I ahm de captain of the ship, your mon capitan, but you got no tact for things like dat! You're a valuable member of the crew guy, I'd give ya a medal if it didn't mean raising your pay."

>>30643761
>>30643797
"Just what are they talkin' about seein' you 2 at? Y'all didn't betray us to these calcium deposits did ya?"

>>30643744
The guards look down at your hoof, but it doesn't seem like they realize what's happening to it. "Move along, keep it clean over here," one says, before wandering off. But soon after, you hear a loud gonging sound, signaling the end of the break. And then another gong. Then another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bndUdAMCfLQ
Up in the watchtower where they keep the gong, you see the mare that Godot identified as Devotchka, standing on her two pigtails, with arms folded and legs crossed haughtily. She has a golden aura and it circulates around her pigtails in a twirling, vibrant light. From the frown on her face, you can tell she knows what just happened.

>>30643782
>>30643761
>>30643758
>>30643735
>>30643797
HHS feels Chiu shoot him an acidic glare.
The apothecary glances at her watch, then locks the door to her shop and turns a sign on the front door around. Although you can't really read the words, you can just tell that it means "Closed." Seems the potion has granted you insight on their character system as well. "Well, it's rare we get visitors from outside the islands. Okay okay, I'll get you all something to eat. But, in exchange, you have to tell me the most interesting stories from what you've seen of the outside world! Ah, by the way, my name is Brewhaha. All of you are...?"
>Paused

File: Calculating.gif (1MB, 560x240px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 560x240px

>>30643816
"Woah! That could keep me fed for maybe...," she stares off blankly as her simple, shark mind seems to be doing a labor-intensive amount of math, "like, two weeks! Maybe more!"

>>30643820
"They're having a big festival for cursed zombie, skeleton, and ghost ponies that wanna join their city. And we get to be guests! Also," Cerulean gives him a firm tailslap across his face, "how rude! I don't really get those big, fancy words you said, but I can tell by how you said it it wasn't nice."

>>30643871
"Only two weeks? Man, you sharks must eat a ton. I'd offer to make ya big to have a go, but I'm beat just getting myself to this size as is."

>>30643884
"If its as big as you say, then yeah, two weeks. Maybe more if I get bored of turtle for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. And the sometimes guilty, but so worth it, midnight snack."
She grins widely and giggles a bit.

>>30643918
"Don't forget mid-day snacks, or nap snacks."

>>30643922
"Oh yes! Those ones are great as well!"
Her tail sways back and forth excitedly.

>>30643816
"Glad I could help, friend! And yes, who knows what else we may find!"
>>30643820
"Oh, nothing bad! Merely a festival!" he chirps, before offering a soft giggle
>>30643871
>>30643884
>>30643918
>>30643922
>>30643934
"I have never had turtle before! D-Does it taste good?" he asks, his tail flicking about curiously

>>30643934
"Oooh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them."
Cloud says, practically drooling.

>>30643953
"Haven't tried any myself, more of a fruit bat type myself."

>>30643953
"Mmhmm! Depends what kind you eat, but some don't even have that fishy taste. Some have this texture that is tougher, but in a satisfying way. A bit fatty, but that's what makes it taste so good."
She wipes her jaws a bit, feeling herself drool at the thought of the taste.

>>30643975
"Yeah same."
Her stomach growls, as if to say 'me three!'

>>30643975
>>30643978
"Well, I believe I am quite excited! Here is hoping they have it ready soon!" the griffon warks excitedly, before hopping up and down a little

>>30643871
"Ay watch yourself subordinate, you ain't Rin yer just bein' plain out disrespectful to the capitan with that. I'll let it slide the situation bein' such that we oughta naughta come off as violent individuals and that I quite appreciate a bit of a slap now and again."

"I say we get some of these boneheads to accompany us on a hunt for that turtle then! Who here is a charismatic individual capable of accomplishin' sucha feat of persuasion prowess?"

>>30643978
>>30643997
"Sounds like we got a plan for dinner and some treasure on our way off this island."

"Does anyone remember why the hoof we came to this hecking island anyway? I've honestly forgotten as a result of all these fights we been through."

>>30643999
"But I never agreed to be your suborbinate? Or anyones, really." She looked genuinely confused.

>>30644015
"Sweet! Love it when a plan all comes together!"

>>30644015
Alder bobs his head happily, and chirps a little in response
>>30644027
"To find the one we need to confront to end the Gustie and Windie curse!"

>>30644037
"Bah, you agreed to come aboard the Bee Holder as a crewmate, well that is my ship now and so you are currently a subordinate crewmate on MY SHIP ya scaly swine you."

>>30644040
"Are we cursed or are they? Why do we, bein' greedy pirates, want to end their curse? Is this the genie's doin'? I just don't know anymore my guy this whole journey has got me lost as an ape and now we're surrounded in ghouls and the like, I don't like one bit uv et.

>>30644061
"W-Well, I would like to help them. they seemed rather nice. Aside from that, perhaps they, and Stone Cold Steve would reward us with treasure?"
"A-And, rude! Cerulean is not swine!" he scowls a little, and ruffles his wings

>>30644061
"I'm a shark, not a manatee," she says matter of factly, the other parts of what he said lost to the wind to her.

"Maybe, but relax teeny birdo, its a term uv endearment, like cheatin' bastard or money-stealin'-whore yknow. The point is though Cerulean unless you want tah be swimmin' back you'll be respectin' dah capitan uv diz ship.
But enough cluckin' chickens, there is a hole floor to sleep on and food to eat!"

>>30644136
"I am NOT teeny!" he huffs in response, his feathers puffing out a little