MLPFEMTORPG -- Card game version when

File: 1497032120074.jpg (277KB, 1024x1295px) Image search: [Google]

277KB, 1024x1295px

>>30648985
Post sheets

>>30649004
https://pastebin.com/RaZG8KLM

>>30649004

https://pastebin.com/9aS5VFTs

>>30649004
https://pastebin.com/6dTx6i08

File: angry bison.jpg (124KB, 500x334px) Image search: [Google]

124KB, 500x334px

>>30649004
https://pastebin.com/p1dtY3qj

>>30649004
https://pastebin.com/YJFusUgn

Pryce 9/5 (9/5)
Flaming 8/6 (8/7)
Amy 7/5 (7/5)
Flow 11/3 (11/5)
Observer 2/5 (7/6)
Golem 0/0 (5/5)
Shei 8/4 (8/5)

Last time on HQ...

LJ and Busta returned to the ship in the arms of Temper Tantrums, whom they had apparently run into in the Cozy Vimana. The three of them were coated in white dust and horrifically mutilated, with much of their bodies having been turned into pure, translucent glass. They were not the only ones, as through Tantra's dark corridor ran dozens of terrified, half-mutated mortals and demons. Moments later, the Cozy Vimana was devastated by four colossal explosions that only spread the white dust and feathers even further.

Meanwhile, Observer and Yes Mare traveled through the shape-shifting corridors, until they encountered a room with a large tree inside. The roots and vines of the tree reacted to Observer's magic, suggesting they were part of the network-being that Observer had seen outside.

Flow finally defeated Voir Dire, and stood triumphant over his corpse. Yet, the horrible drumming of his blackened heart still rattled Flow's body, even now.
(1/2)

>Flow
You clear your mind for a few moments, but you feel like a stone in the deepest part of an overflowing river, with only the tip of your head managing not to be submerged. Vice is not so fortunate, and Flow sees him rapidly fall apart, into much smaller gooponies, each turning into a different color and expressing a caricature of a different emotion. But in that brief moment, you stab your sword into the heart, and break its blackened carapace, exposing its insides to the open air. Gegenschein tosses you a splinter of wood from his crucifix, and it gets lodged into the heart.
The heart quakes, tumbles and, eventually, begins to dissolve. The demons, seeing their leader utterly destroyed, fall apart, and flee.

>>30649011
>>30649013
Full of questions and confusion, those in the back room start to file out and follow KP back. Neither picks up the farm on his back, while Spitshine, Sugar and Prisca work together to take the inert Calque out of his bed, before returning to the dark corridor.
"Gods be with us," Renee says, though her voice is full of doubt and bitterness.

>>30649065
>>30649063
"I don't have any clue of what location would be safe enough to take them to, unless... that qilin village! It's been abandoned in the time since Orcus, and the qilin have moved into Fantasia!" River exclaims.
"But what of the exposure you'll face?" Blessings asks.
"We'll deal with it later!"

(2/3)

>>30649011
>>30649013
>>30649065
>>30649063
Unfortunately, there are no more weather balls, and the array is built into the wall itself, so it remains there. You open the door just enough to let the family in, and then shepherd them, along with Busta, Tantra and LJ into the storeroom. Many members of the party give shocked glares to Pryce and Flaming.

In the meantime, River jumps out and makes a dark corridor of her own, even as the ash-covered victims start to crowd around her. Almost immediately, she begins to cough, badly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Wp5VtRBy0

Volkama gasps, his pupils shrunken in sudden realization. He takes the three rats out of his coat, sets them on the couch, and then wrenches the doorway open, running outside after River. A mere instant afterward, Mocha jumps out as well. Their faces are white with horror.
>Pryce, Flaming and Shei can make an optional knowledge roll here

"What's going on!?" Rus shouts as she enters behind Amy.
"Volkama, wait!" Zjetya shouts. As dust-covered survivors try to climb aboard, she pushes them back out with a gust of wind.

>>30649037
As you attempt to levitate her, Yes Mare puts her hoof on your horn. "Wait, did you see that move just now?" she asks, pointing at the tree. "I saw it move in response to your magic. We're staying. I want to investigate this room further."

>>30603263
>>30649063
>Last game
"If you want to throw your life away so badly then do it already!" Pryce snaps back in a raised voice, "Anything to give a few seconds more to the endless masses." He follows after in a mocking, scoldful tone.

>>30603267
>>30649065
>Last game
"I *had* a family, you've all just stuck around too long."

>>30649119
>"You can say that again..."
KP agrees as they all start to rise and head back to the ship. While the others move, KP walks over to Wireframe to head back with her.
>"Hey. I hope you got all the prayers you wanted finished."

>>30649138
Pryce's anger and frustration are cut almost in an instant as he notices River jumping from the ship. He stands there frozen for a moment, looking down into the sea of ash.
"Damn it."
He mutters, as he turns and leaps out after her, horn glowing white as he attempts to shield them from the swarming clouds and whatever infection Tantra warned them of.
>Palisade [Self & River] [1d10]
Pryce unfurls his wing in the fall, gliding to land down next to River so the shielding magic spreads to her, another flash of his horn following to help stave off the coughs as they reach his ears.
>Mantra of Purity [River] [1d10]
"Hurry up and get them through, my magic can't hold out for long."

>>30649119

Amy comes rushing back into the ship with Renee. "Is something wrong, Renee?" she asks her with concern.

>>30649140
>[1d10]

>>30649138
Observer begins to scan the tree more, analyzing the tree itself while looking at any magic surrounding it.

>Analyze
[1d10+1]
>Fourth Eye
[1d10]

>>30649140
"Fine! I will!" Flaming shouts back simply and equally as angrily, already turning towards the bulkhead to leap out and help the masses as River leaps out

>>30649119
Flaming looks on as River jumps out to the crowd below, swiftly followed by Volkama and Mocha and even Pryce himself,and the buffalo quickly leaps out to join the group, landing among the crowd of half-glassified citizens as she gives a sharp cough, trying her best to avoid inhaling the petrifying fog.

"That's it everyone! Stick together, and follow us! We'll get you somewhere safe before another explosion hits," She turns to River, shouting, "Quick, to the Qilin village!" as she charges a bright white light between her horns to grace herself and her friends with the blessings of the gods.

>-Commandment of Harmony (automatic

>>30649181
She smirks at Pryce as he joins them down among the masses, "Oh? Suddenly ready to throw your life away for a few extra seconds to the endless masses?"

>>30649250
[1d10] holding breath

>>30649110
Shei-Sher curses Observer's name "tch Observer" for having used up all the weather balls before he could have a chance with even one.

After leading the infected ponies into the storeroom, all the while pulling his robe over his mouth as a filter, he urges them "For the sake of everyone's safety please relent leaving this room and remain calm." Shei-Sher slams the door shut and promptly leaves toward the entrance of the ship.

>>30649119
>>30649140
^family
Shei-Sher raises his staff and summons a gust of wind to blow the ashes surrounding the crowd away from Pryce and River.
"No matter how callous you may act Pryce, this is what we are! We're brothers in arms and I shall never give up on you!"
(1d10+1) cloudsmith, autumn I need you to do the roll

Shei-Sher tosses his staff to Pryce as he calls his attention "Pryce!" Hopefully he catches "Please protect River"
Shei-Sher looks to River with an emotion of great concern. Whether he's worried for his own life or River's isn't obvious in his expression.

And if I could take an instant knowledge roll for Volkama's rats that'd be cool
(1d10+1)

>>30649307
>[1d10+1]

>[1d10+1]

File: example.jpg (73KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

73KB, 1280x720px

>>30649140
Wireframe numbly watches the scene outside the ship unfold, unaware of anything KP is saying.

>>30649145
River sighs. "I've had my doubts of the gods' favor shining upon anyone in these past months..."

You exit the corridor and see the chaotic scene unfolding outside the ship (ponies and demons covered in dust and feathers, their bodies half-mutated into glass, scrambling to flee in all directions, with some trying to force their way aboard the airship). Renee whimpers, dropping her bag. "And truly, my doubts have been put to rest."

>>30649140
>>30649260
As the shield takes effect, the particles of dust and feathers fall atop it as gently and slowly as snow, but begin to slowly corrode through as though the shield. Your quick exit has left you with little time for a solid breath, and as you follow River as she leads the survivors through the corridor, your lungs already begin to strain. You notice that your movements are much slower, as are River's. Putting one hoof in front of the other gradually becomes a conscious, straining effort.
Someone shouts in terror from behind. As the survivors trudge along the dark corridor, you see flecks of the darkness chip away and fall into the abyss below, being replaced with an eerie, clinical whiteness. White lines of words run across the darkness around you, like threads being pulled from a worn-out shirt. The dark corridor is falling apart behind you.
>Roll to keep moving

(1/2)

>>30649189
It seems to be absorbing the Data of the local area. It's not merely drawing it in, but rather recording it, much like a kind of self-contained library. "This must be that large power I've felt jumping around," Yes Mare announces, not really talking to you so much as narrating. "How do I get inside?"

>>30649307
As you try to summon a breeze, one of the survivors tries to push his way aboard and ends up falling upon you. His weight knocks the wind out of your stomach, and you end up inhaling a clump of dust and feathers. Your vision and hearing begin to cloud with a hum of static that eats at your peripherals, and the movements of your body slow, even after Zjetya yanks the pony off you and shoves him back to the ground. You begin to hear one thing clearly: The slow intonations of bells.

>>30649341

Amy frowns at the scene around them. "I never really liked gods," Amy says somberly. "Even before all this stuff started. They always seemed to me like they cared more about what they said than what was good."

"But, that's why - to me, anyway - gods watching over us was never important. We didn't need them. That's not what protected us. We protected us. Not just ourselves, but each other. Yeah, maybe the gods inspired some of us to do that. But, it was still US all along."

Amy speaks as if she's contemplating this for herself for the first time as well. "Which is why I think it's time we stopped letting gods inspire us and get inspired by each other instead."

As she looks out over the mayhem, she continues to contemplate. [1d10] for knowledge roll because I was told I could

>>30649350
Basing this action off knowledge of the game's themes

Shei-Sher rises up feeling noticeably heavier and stiffer, its a different feeling from when his instincts cause his body to paralyze. This feels much more fatal.
Shei has a faint notion about the ailment, and decides to try something. He holds his nose and promptly goes into gnosis and then sends a hot breath of air through his body as he pulses with energy subsequently.
Phantasmagoria of conquest
(1h4)

Alchemy
(1d10+3)

>>30649404
>retroactive post
Before Shorty leaps from the landing bay, she stops short, reaching into her jacket to pull out Vizsla's ice key to throw at Shei. "Here! Just in case something happens to me, you'll need that to get to Mirror Image to help the others! Don't worry though, I promise I'll be back!"

>>30649341
As she touches down on the ground, she lets out a few extra coughs, feeling her lungs strain from the effort of breathing in and out as the whiteness grows around the dark corridor. She strains to pull herself along, coughing non-stop among the fog, but grunts and pushes onwards as her horns glow bright as a beacon for the others. "EVERYONE! This way! Follow us, keep together, don't get seperated!"

As the darkcorridor starts to fall apart, she adds on as she doubles her sprint, "And hurry!"
[1d10] Pulling through the corridor at all due speed
[1d10]

>>30649350
Observer's eyes metaphorically light up once he discovers what this tree is. His hunger growing stronger than ever, he is unable to help himself but attempt to retrieve the information by sapping it from the tree. "Curious things you will find in odd places..." Observer mumbles, focused too much on trying to feed off this new large source of information.

>Knowledge Extraction
[1d10+1]

>>30649341
KP opens his mouth to ask Wireframe, but seeing this chaos as they step back onto the ship has him silent as well.

>>30649341
Pryce tries to keep the magic up as best he can, holding the ash off as long as possible so they can step through the gate.

As they enter, Pryce ignores his slowed movements, just continuing to walk with River as he coughs from the dust they've breathed. He looks back as the scream echoes and the corridor fades from dark to light.
"Use those horseshoes, keep moving."
Pryce says to River as he keeps moving himself along steadily with his eyes towards the end gate.
>Move [1d10]

>>30649404

"He's trying to infect everyone," Amy comments contemplatively to Shei. "He's making everyone run away so they run to where people aren't infected. Unless we have a cure, this is going to infect the demons lords. Then, we have no plan."

>>30649404
>[1d4]

>[1d0+3]

>>30649421
In his haste Shei-Sher fumbles for the key but indeed catches after scrambling his hooves for it.

Shei-Sher gives you an affirmative look and stalwartly says "indeed you shall. Be forewarned Flaming. If you die, I will kill you."
He means it as a joke but he says it so dryly it's hard to tell.

>>30649404
>>30649458
>[1d10+3]

>>30649455
"The demon lords will surely save their own skin. They're demons after all. Nevertheless we need to find vizsla at once. Through her we might chance up Mirror Image and then.. maybe cure this affliction"

>>30649404
>>30649399
You see Volkama and Mocha chasing down frightened survivors, tossing them into the dark corridor after the ones who followed River. But there are simply too many for them to chase after, and while many flee toward the ground below, many others are running frantically toward the Windhill for shelter.

>>30649421
>>30649454
Between overlapping screams, you hear Volkama gasping and shouting as he and Mocha throw more of the survivors through the dark corridor. The entrance starts to waver, and a few of the infected fall behind, with their bodies slowly, bit by bit, turning gray and translucent. River stumbles and coughs, falling still for a moment.
A most dreadful feeling starts to well up within Flaming. A feeling like separation, abandonment, isolation. Her skin runs cold, and a void tumbles through her. The light around her fades.
>Commandment of Harmony has been broken, and remains unusable.
As Pryce drags River ahead, he sees the exit floating tantalizingly in the distance. "Tell me," River slowly asks. "Please tell me that I'm the only one that can hear them..."

>>30649455
>>30649459
Shei forces his body to spit back up some of the dust and feathers, and the clanging of bells starts to recede. His body remains numb, but the sensation no longer grows worse.
"You're right... That's what they ran outside for!" Wireframe gasps, looking at Volkama and Mocha as the two try to drag survivors into the dark corridor.
There's a loud banging on the outside of the entrance's door as survivors beg to be let in. "This ship can't stay here or they'll find another way of breaking in," Blessings says grimly. "Wireframe, you pilot and get it airborne. Someone needs to go out there and warn the demon lords before they're infected-- MUDI! Damn it all... someone is going to have to check if those three are still in the Birdcage. Imaal said earlier that he hasn't been able to scry inside!"
"I'll go," Zjetya says with a heavy gulp.
"You'd never survive!" Blessings protests.
"Do you want them back or not!?" Zjetya shouts.

>>30649439
You are unable to draw anything out of the tree, not even a little drop. As you get near it, the vines ring out with a light tone, swaying in an unseen breeze. "It must be some kind of barrier," Yes Mare comments. She turns her hoof into a triangular, pointed shape, like a low-polygon model, and jabs it into the bark.

>>30649514
"A barrier..." Observer mumbles. His horn lighting up before a small bolt of light fires out to hit the tree.

>Spellbreaker
[1d10+1]

>>30649514
>>30649500

"Wait, who's still down there?" Amy asks, suddenly sounding far more concerned.

>>30649514
>>30649455
"Blessings is right Zjetya. Please stay, I have a safer form of travel."
Shei-Sher uses the ice key flaming gave him on the bathroom door and beckons to Amy "Amy would you come with me please? We might be seeing Mudi." He says the last part as if to entice you. "I want to see the Demon Lords first. Imaal before any other pony should know of Viszla's whereabouts"

>>30649505
As the screams and shouting intensify, Flaming looks back and turns towards Mocha and Volkama as they force themselves to pull more survivors through the rift. "D-don't stop! We almost have them all, you can do it!"

She keeps trying to shepherd her part of the herd through the portal, but stops and sputters as she feels her light flicker and go out. She shivers in place, the darkness filling her every fiber as she tries and fails to feel her power. "I... n-no... don't leave me, please, I need you..." she whispers silently, eyes widening with fear as she ponders what she got herself into, but grits her teach,

"T-too late to go back, have to go forward..." she tells herself as she tries to pull more of the lost number through the portal, or pushes those who are about to collapse on through with all the vigor she can muster
[1d10] Getting as many as she can through the portal

>>30649572
"Erm I believe they've all fled into River's dark corridor"

>>30649590
>>30649580
>>30649514

"Oh good," Amy says thankfully as she follows Shei through a magical door. "Let's go."

>>30649505
Pryce lifts River up, carrying her on his back as he marches on towards the exit corridor, not stopping for any of his slowing legs or growing coughs.
"The screams? I can hear them too. Try to block them out, we did what we could."
He responds, continuing on.
>Move [1d10]

>>30649514
>"You can't go!"
KP protests to the discussion, running over to Zjetya.
>"Every time you've gone off alone before you end up practically dead or nearly dismembered, and that's in normal times! I'm not gonna let you go out there with all this craziness and panic!"

>>30649533
As you attempt to break into the tree's defenses, one of the vines brushes against your horn with a clatter. You see a crystal in the tip. A cooling sensation breaks across you like a wave of water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guoOn-z008c
>You behold strange visions, shifting perspective periodically. You are a soldier, called away to duty, waving goodbye to your parents, stomach torn with terror, despite the stoic frown that you must force yourself to wear. The colors shift, and you become a hummingbird, dancing among a meadow in bloom. You are an ordinary boulder, but the townsfolk worship you as a god and adorn you with wreaths and prayer tags each harvest season. You are a storm, unable to control your path. Everything that you gaze upon withers under your gales and perishes by your lightning, and the whole land curses the gods for your existence.
The vision fades, and you are back to your ordinary form, lying at the base of the tree while Yes Mare shakes you.

>>30649572
>>30649580
As Shei uses the ice key upon the bathroom door, you enter Vizsla's snowy world. Only, it is far different and far less gentle then when you last entered. Many broken ice crystals with hollow opening lay strewn about, and dead demons, many with an ice theme or appearance, lay dead and broken nearby. A howling storm rages around you, and the damage seems to get worse further in.

(1/2)

>>30649613
>>30649584
"I can hear... bells," River says lifelessly. Lines of gray start to run up her coat, spreading from underneath her robe up through her neck. She coughs up a gray substance on the ground. Shortly after she says this, Flaming's head starts to hurt. Static clouds her vision and hearing, and the world around her turns gray and blurry.

Flaming trudges along, pushing River and Pryce ahead and then going back for more. River and Pryce collapse on the cobblestone road of the qilin village, the small and quaint town at the base of the hill upon which Fantasia has been built. There are a few people around, mostly qilin who are going from house to house collecting possessions.

Back in the corridor, Flaming collapses. An unbearable weight clamps around her neck and shoulders, like a yoke, though her mind returns to the slave collars worn by disobedient workers when Climbing-Fire was owned by Buiwong.
>must roll to stand, effectively helpless right now

>>30649613
Zjetya stomps her hoof in anger. "Th-then what am I supposed to do to help!?" she shouts desperately.

>>30649650
>>30649590

"Do you know where to go...?" Amy asks Shei with loud concern over the sounds of the raging storm.

>>30649656
>rolling Huge as an instant to fight against the weight
[1d10]

>>30649650
Observer shakes his head once he regains consciousness. He stands back up once more and stares at the tree with confusion as he inspects it further, pulling out notes to write down, wondering what created this odd plant. Once again he attempts to peer into the tree's defenses to get past the barrier.

>Spellbreaker
[1d10+1]

>>30649656
Flaming can barely hear the words of River or her other comrades as her vision begins to blur, causing her will to plummet as everything around her goes hazy in her efforts to push the others along before going back to help the rest of the herd. "Just... a little... more...."

As she moves through the corridor moving others, she finally falls down to the ground, the buffalo whimpering against the sudden stiffness in her neck and shoulders as she struggles to power through. "*GASP* c-can't... breath... gotta get up... can't... stop..." she mouths out the words 'can't die' silently as she feels the weight harshly, but fights with every drop of Climbing Fire warrior blood in her veins
[1d10] to stand

>>30649673
>>30649650
Shei-Sher yells back over the loud winds "Indeed! My Pupil always shows me the way."
Shei-Sher dangles an eyeball as it peers at each of the doors.
>looking for a the Demon Lord's chamber
[1d10+1] Appraise

>>30649656
"Bells?"
Pryce questions with worry, increasing as the color spreads over her body and fills her coughs.

Pryce falls to his knees, then crumbles to the ground completely as they leave the portal, keeping River on his back the whole time to not drop her. Inert on the ground, he folds his wings out to gently rest River down next to him.
"Look, we made it. Hold on, I—" Pryce coughs, "...I can fix this."
Pryce's horn glows white as he sends out a pulse of healing magic, then focusing a glow to River's body.
>Commandment of Balance [Auto]
>Mantra of Purity [River] [1d10]

>>30649656
>"Stay here and don't worry me anymore!"
KP shouts, hopping up in the air as he does.
>"I don't like seeing you all beat up whenever we get back to the ship, so you can help by helping out in here where its safe!"

>>30649739

Amy snickers childishly.

>>30649754
Shei-Sher looks behind him to see Amy snickering. he has no idea why she's snickering and doesn't bother to ask. Instead he smiles and takes Amy's hoof in his hoof.

>>30649772
>>30649739
yes this is shei bark

>>30649772

Amy stops snickering and looks at Shei, somewhat shocked. He's not usually the one to take charge in romantic expression.

"I-is something wrong?" she asks. Her face is red, but that could be from the cold.

>>30649698
As you try again, the barrier around the tree gradually parts, but it feels more like the parting of curtains, or the blooming of a flower, than the breaking of a shield. All around you, the vines make that same tone, and a few come toward you. You feel them ogling you.

>>30649709
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ4dmzUBrlI
Shuddering movements start to break at your body, leaving you nearly ready to vomit as you trudge along on your knees, half-dragging your head across the ground, the strength leaving your body.
>Flaming 1/5
There's another form of shaking within the ground, but it doesn't seem like anyone but you is aware of it. It's a deep rumbling, and feels just like the thundering of thousands of buffalo hooves.

>>30649745
Zjetya throws her hooves up in frustration and shouts, bucking the couch before going to join Blessings and the others in protecting the entryway.

>>30649754
>>30649739
You take the first door that appears remotely like the ones in the Windhill palace. As you enter, you see the hallways are cramped and stuffy, full of the tremors and clashings of weapons and armor, and thousands of bodies cramped, crushed against each other. The halls are a madhouse, with demons and ponies alike trying to run around each other. Some seem like they're running to defend the doors, others seem like they're trying to evacuate, and others are simply trying to survive the mayhem.
[roll to push through]

>>30649745
Only when they arrive in the qilin village do the survivors calm down ever so slightly, long enough that the more steady survivors start to usher them into one of the larger buildings, while you lay River down to the ground. Your spells seem to have little effect on her body, besides wiping away the gray substance from her mouth, which you suspect is possibly blood.

>>30649780
"No?" Shei says peculiarly "Why do you ask?

>>30649791

"Usually I have to make you do stuff like this," she says, holding up her hoof being held by his.

>>30649785

"Well, looks like this will be useful," Amy says, referring to the hoof-holding. "Don't let go. Let's push together."

"Excuuuuuuuuuse me," she starts to sing as she pushes through the crowd. [1d10]

>>30649785
Flaming falls flat to the ground, practically pushing herself to move as she tries to pull the horrific weight off her neck. "Aaagh... too.. .heavy... so.... weak..." Flaming mutters to herself, her shoulders feeling ready to disconnect from her head as the terrible, stifling feeling that pushes her down begins to overwhelm her. "M-mocha... and Volkama... d-did they make it through... can't see...."

She hears the shaking from the ground, and the thousands of hoofs of buffalo thundering against her ears, and she strains to look up. "W-what... what is that?"
[1d10] To stand!

>>30649785
Observer glances between the vines, now attempting to read and extract the knowledge the tree has underneath the barrier. Starved for the amount of knowledge this tree is offering over the small bits of information he finds in his travels.

>Knowledge Extract
[1d10+1]

>>30649803
Shei is taken aback at the criticism "I-it isn't that odd. I am your boyfriend after all. I should hold your hoof every now and again." he says almost dutifully.

>>30649803
>>30649785
"Right-O!" Shei-Sher affirms. He rears his head forward as if he was charging ahead with his horns.

>>30649846
>>30649785
forgot roll
[1d10]

>>30649785
KP takes a step back at Zjetya's little outburst, but doesn't recoil or back down. As she walks over to join the others, KP does as well to do his part in helping.

>>30649785
Pryce spirit starts to fall as his magic does nothing. His horn glows again as he tries to pour every bit of healing magic he knows into River.
>Prayer for Deliverance [1d10+1]
"Please... please don't leave me. I can't lose anypony else..."
Pryce stammers through coughs, struggling to try and stand on his hooves with all his might.
>Stand [1d10]

>>30649803
"So Amy.." Shei-Sher says casually "Needless to say my plans for an outing are canceled but care to have a guess what I had planned?"

>>30649846

Amy smiles. "Good," she says, not letting go of his hoof.

>>30649881

"Some sort of ritualistic sacrifice?" Amy laughs.

It's unclear how sarcastic she's being.

>>30649891
"eh.. it is a good guess -but try once more" Shei says with good humor.

>>30649907

"Fried chicken?" Amy asks in a more perky tone.

>>30649816
You start to become dizzy, quickly falling into hallucinations of chaotic sounds and colors. Your muscles begin to spasm, and above the high chaos of the survivors running around you, you hear a distant choir of bells.
>Flaming 1/4
The buffalo's hooves thunder all around you, and in your hallucinating mind, they sound much like the stomping of a single buffalo, as tall as the mountains, as wide as the grasses, with horns that keep the night sky in terror of his power: The mythological archetype of hero, whom warriors hope to see in their dreams on the nights before battle.

Your vision starts going dark...

>>30649829
You retrieve only scant, brief visions from the tree: Conversations half-remembered between lovers on the tops of star-kissed hills, the dances of blades of grasses and flowers, the flapping of pages in a student's book on a rainy morning.
"If you're having trouble, maybe you should eat something and then sleep. You child. You infant. You embryo," Yes Mare suggests condescendingly.

>>30649846
>>30649803
Those in the crowd hardly take notice of you and refuse to part for Shei. Elbows are thrown his way multiple times by the panicking and rioting crowd.
>Shei 5/4
Eventually, you make it yet again into the meeting hall that the demon lords preside over. Imaal sits at the head of the table, head perched behind his hands, which are locked into one another. A flame burns in the hollow of his skull, and his cape of arms is spread out behind him, with each hand holding a glass sphere like an eye. Urapth is also there, and is sending various groups of demons and mortals out of the Windhill via dozens of portals which he is opening with his eyes.

>>30649872
Again, the power does nothing. It's likely that a cure, if one exists, may have to be pursued through alternate means. But, now that she's been isolated, her condition isn't growing any worse. You remain standing. "Calm down, you idiot. You'll need to keep a straight head. I'm not much good to anyone right now, and Flaming's... where is she?" River asks, raising her head in worry.

>>30649914
Flaming's vision darkening causes her to close her eyelids, trying to strain herself to focus despite the unbearable dizziness over-coming her. She reaches out to her limbs to urge them to move, but struggles to bring even one to stand as she doubles her efforts.
[1d10] attempt to stand

As she hallucinates, she mumbles as she tries to see the 'single buffalo' the chorus of hooves make, looking to the almighty archetype of the hero to give her guidance. Despite the pain and confusion, she takes some solace in imagining she is once again surrounded by her kin and showing off their united might in an evening tribal gathering.

>>30649913
"Perhaps when we returned?" SheI says amused with Amy's answers "Try clothes shopping. I wanted to find a nice a shop in the area and purchase a Tuxedo. My current attire makes me appear so harmless. I look as though I was a flower child begotten to a commune of prancing deer. And my other cloak is simply unwearable, sorry to mention I just haven't been able to scrub the stench out. I was going to suggest we burn it on a pyre. I know that would have Flaming like a cow over the moon."

Shei-Sher wonders to himself for a moment "On second thought your first guess was correct. I did plan a ritualistic sacrifice afterall."

>>30649952

Amy laughs at Shei. "Clothes shopping!? That sounds suuuuper boring! I don't even LIKE clothes! A TUXEDO is supposed to make you look scary?" she laughs again. "How is looking fancy going to scare anyone?"

However, her laughing fades as she realizes that Shei is uncomfortable. "But..." she says more softly. "ANYTHING is nice when I'm with you."

She gives him a kiss on the lips.

>>30649918
>>30649943
"Thank the heavens."
Pryce mutters under his breath as River responds, coughing after.
"She's uh, she came out with us..."
Pryce looks around the area, and seeing no sign of the buffalo looks into the open corridor. His body drops and seeing her body laying there, so far back after everypony else got out.
"I'll be right back, hold on."

Pryce turns and heads to the corridor, pushing his body to move as quickly as he is able to make his way to the fallen buffalo.

"Hold o... I got you..."
Pryce breathes through his strained efforts, lifting Flaming over his back to carry her to safety.
>Carry [1d10]

>>30649914

Amy waits for Shei to do the talking.

>>30649914
Observer's eyes close half way as he seems to ignore and slowly feast off these visions the tree brings. This is the most "pleasure" his kind could come closest to and he is going to savor it.

>Knowledge Extraction
[1d10+1]

>>30649914
"Ba-a-a-h! Yokels!" Shei-Sher bleats as he unceremoniously makes it through the crowd and into the meeting hall and closing the door behind them.

"My sincerest apologies for barging in like this my most honorable council. I ask of thee if someone should know the whereabouts of Vizsla or the angel she carried out to save in the Birdcage."
One of the lords might notice Shei-Sher looks smaller than last seen, if they care to mention anything about.

>>30649981
Shei-Sher appears a mite bit embarassed at Amy laughing at the idea. He perks up however and his face becomes red at her kiss. "um- Thanks. hahaha" Shei humbly laughs through the blushing "There is not even an iota of curiosity in you for clothing? You might like how you look in a dress. i for one always wished to wear a tuxedo. They're not necessarily scary but are certainly a dashing counterpart to my gown. Even rouge-ish!"

>>30649943
But again your body slips out from beneath you.
>Flaming 1/3

The earth trembles again for a final time, only to be replaced with a more thunderous, awesome earthquake, believed by all the Accorsian buffalo tribes to be the eternal stampeding of their ancestors in the lands far below the earth. A force tugs at the back of your neck, like a set of teeth gently picking you up by the scruff, and you hear a most familiar voice, that of Vir-can. "Entrust thy flesh to me."

>>30649985
As you grab Flaming, you see Mocha coming through the dark corridor, with an unconscious and completely gray Volkama upon her shoulder. Mocha seems to be fine, apart from the look of sadness on her face. (Flaming is unaware of any of this happening). Together, you evacuate into the qilin village, while the other survivors are shepherded into one of the abandoned houses.

>>30649981
>>30650003
"I do not see her," Imaal answers curtly. "For better or for worse, she and her sister are still within the Birdcage."
"Imaal, the disease," Urapth says, gesturing with a vine down one of the hallways. After that hallway clears out a little, you see many demons bringing in the sick and injured, covered with dust and ashes from Metatron's earlier attack.
Imaal gives a short wave of his free hand, and the hall is engulfed in lightning. An instant later, all of the figures, demon and pony alike, that were even remotely close to the infected or first responders, are completely gone. Only smoke and scorch marks signal that they were ever there.
"Retrieve Vizsla, or at minimum, Mudi," Imaal says, as if nothing happened. "We are busy here."

>>30650000
Nothing more comes of the extractions. "Maybe this isn't the best place to hunt," Yes Mare says, turning her hoof back. "I haven't gotten much either."

She starts to climb up the tree's bark. Behind you, two powerful presences draw near.

>>30650067
Observer looks up at Yes Mare who climbs up the tree, attempting to levitate himself up to reach the center of the tree above, perhaps assist Yes Mare if he finds the strength to do so. "We should attempt to harvest more where it branches off." Observer says. "I shall check above if you wish to check the trunk bellow the branches."

>TK Levitate
[1d10]

>>30650067
Flaming struggles to see something, anything, as she loses herself almost completely to the hallucinations, feeling the tremendous thundering earthquake beneath her. She feels that sense of nostalgia overpowering her, trying to hear out for the buffalo cries accompanying the stampeding of the underworld. "Where am I..." she mumbles incoherently under her breath, trying to get a sense of where she is before she feels the force taking her up by the neck much like her parents used to do. She doesn't fight hte force at all, hanging 'limply' in whatever carries her as she hears Vir-can's voice.

"Vir-can... Vir-can, where are you? I... I can't move. I can barely think. I'm... I'm not...?" she can't bring herself to ask if she's on her way to join her ancestors, weakly hanging by a thread.
[1d10] Stand just in case

>>30650067

When Amy sees the diseased, she starts to say, "You have to get rid of-" but, the deed is already done. She frowns.

She looks up to Imaal. "At least clear the hallways of the not-infected," she suggests. "That was just a waste."

Then, she turns to leave with Shei.

>>30650064

"How are we going to not get sick?" Amy asks.

At the question, she screws her face up in contemplation. "Nope," she says with a sudden conclusive nod. "Never really thought about it. I don't really get it."

>>30650067
Even Shei-Sher is mortified at the casual killing of innocents. He tries not to look too taken aback when he answers Imaal "Yes my Lord."

>>30650067
>>30649996
Shei-Sher expects Amy to be enraged by the sudden deaths of helpless ponies and demons. He holds her hoof tighter and looks into her eyes as he speaks in a hush tone
"Come Amy, it's not worth it."
[1d10] to calm Amy, leaving it up to Timber what to do with this.

Shei-Sher takes Amy's hoof in his and uses the Ice-Key again on a door.

>>30650067
>>30649943
Pryce looks up at Mocha, his own body conveying despair at the situation. He turns and walks back with Flaming over his shoulders out of the corridor and back into reality. He steps to River, lifting her up as well and carrying the two of them to an abandoned house, finding two beds for to lay down the both of them to recover from the ordeal.

And after he places them two into safety, he collapses to the ground himself. Silent, eyes closed.

>>30650116
>"How are we going to not get sick?"
"Do you remember what I taught you about projecting your spirit?"

>>30650131

Amy smiles. "I do. I actually just did it a little while ago."

>prayer of enlightenment for astral projection

>>30650122

"I'm actually not that upset about it," Amy says, breathing heavily a bit. Her body is only slightly darker than normal.

>>30650155
Though Shei-Sher wears a solemn expression he's impressed "You have gotten better. In this way I wish I was more like you." Shei brushes a sliver of Amy's hair behind her ear with his hoof "We should go, there isn't much time."

>>30650180

Amy smiles as he brushes her mane. "Don't get me wrong, I still think what he did was gross and a waste. But, I've never really CARED about people I don't know. Maybe that's my tattoos talking..." she contemplates.

>>30650114
The two of you levitate yourselves up onto the lowest of the tree's mighty branches. As you peek over the edge of the rocky ceiling, you see that the roof houses an immense garden, with many fruits and flowering plants nearby. From below, you hear Malicey clear her throat. Down there, you see her standing with the floating mare that you saw her fighting with earlier. Neither look to be injured. "How's the hunt going? Is that your special somepony?" Malicey asks.

>>30650116
>>30650122
You return to the realm of ice. The sounds of fighting have grown more intense, and off in the distance, where you saw many of the ice crystals full of demons, you see that many of the doors are ajar, though guarded by the intense snowstorm.

>>30650115
>Flaming 1/2
Flaming vaguely hears the voices of tribal elders chatting idly, cups clattering, dishes roasting and being blessed and seasoned. Young warriors laugh and joke coarsely, and the females sing as they instruct the calves in the ways of tribal life. The sounds dim. Flaming feels like a leaf adrift in the wind, stripped from its tree, at mercy of the elements and the world that she has been yanked into. "It was not my intent to bring this burden upon you so soon," Vir-can quietly says, as if whispering to a sleeping child. "Indeed, it may deliver you to a place darker than this."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzVljKThlCI

You land atop water-- no, a purple, odd-smelling drink. It is wine, and stretches into the blackness all around you. Below you, the mouth of the Slumbering Dragon lies open, its magma bubbling and churning, ready to erupt.

"Establish with me thy Covenant... thy salvation," Vir-can's mighty voice declares.

>>30650124
Together, you and Mocha settle the two down into beds. Volkama looks much, MUCH worse off than River, and Mocha sits beside him, head bowed in prayer.

>>30650210
"I used to be of the same mind, until recently an old friend changed my mind." Shei says cryptically, he's reminescing on his discussion with Y'dryth.

>>30650217
>>30650210
Shei-Sher gets an eerie feeling from these developments "I don't like this.. We shouldn't project here. Somebody might tamper with our bodies."

Shei-Sher takes Pupil and starts appraising the doors for Mudi's pocket dimension cabin
"Let's go to Mudi's cabin, she might have something to amplify our projection."

>>30650217
[1d10+1] appraise

[1d10] mystery

>>30650217
Flaming looks around in the darkness, hearing the sounds of her home. Of the Climbing-Fire's clan's camps and the sounds of her fellow Buffalo singing of the old stories, fires crackling as they cook their food and the boasting of their warriors. She frowns deeply as the voices fade, seeking to hear them for longer, but looks around in darkness as Vir-can's voice makes itself known

Upon landing gently upon the infinite pool of wine, she stops, looking down deep into the boiling pits of the volcano that looked after her lands with awe. She'd never seen it from straight up before, and seeing the 'breath' of the mighty Slumbering Dragon through the wine was unforgettable. She looks up into the darkness. "A Covenant with you....?" She looks around, "I... Vir-can, you are the greatest among all Buffalo. There are warriors with ten times my experience who would do anything to be at your side!" She stares down at the volcano. "What... what could I have done to earn such honor? I'm... I'm small. And weak."

>>30650217
"This is... what I wanted to avoid."
Pryce gasps out from the floor, body and spirit drained.
"I didn't, I didn't want to see any of you like this."
He coughs.
"I didn't... I cou—"
He coughs again.
"I can't..."

>>30650245
>>30650217

Amy follows Shei.

"It's also cold here," she remarks in agreement as if that isn't obvious.

"I mean, it's not like I don't care about them," Amy elaborates as they walk. She sounds as if she's trying to convince herself. "It's just... you know... Ponies die."

>>30650217
"Special Somepony?" Observer asks in more of a dismissive mumble. "We're currently researching this tree and what exactly is contained inside. It has a unique trait of holding memories and sensations..."

>Find a spot to more easily knowledge extract
[1d10]

>>30650276
You feel your life ebbing away...
>Flaming 1/1
"In days before yours, gods would humiliate and drive out their opponents with a smaller, weaker force. A god once vanquished a military of one million souls with a force of but five hundred. Gods live and die by the numbers of lives under them. Nothing is a greater shame and death sentence than for an almighty god's forces to be routed by a few people in the right place at the right time. You are weak. You are small. But you have endured. And that is why I shall make you my single arrow of victory. My eternal redemption.

"Now dive. If you let your neck be bent by no god nor demon nor pony nor angel, I shall take the horizons and give them to you as a crown. I shall make the countless seas your wine, and all of the fields your supper, down to your last descendant, and my love will not leave thee until the embers of life across every world have quieted within the Dragon's heart."

>>30650277
"Shh," Mocha says. She gets up and hugs you for a long time.

>>30650328
>>30650257
Shei identifies a smaller, magical door that could've come out of a cartoon. It takes them to the upper floor of Mudi's cartoon cottage (needless to say they transform as well). Mudi does not seem to be around. In her place, however, the Shades have taken over the room quite handily. They're in the middle of a tea party, it seems. When you appear, they greet you with strange, yet friendly gibberish.

It seems like there are a few more Shades around than before, but it's likely that these other Shades were hiding from Blessings when you first arrived.

>>30650338
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PbnT0x0e5I
The floating green mare picks up Malicey like a football and floats up beside you. "Ah! What a lucky find!" she says. "Have you found any good spots to find memories?"

It's not clear where the tree of memories ends, and the garden begins. As you wander around, your senses are overloaded with the sweetness and brightness of the flowers. In all your time in this world, nothing has struck you as more... what's the word for it? Voidlings have difficulty appreciating beauty.

"What does that term mean?" Yes Mare shouts from nearby, pushing through the gardens without a care, as typical for a power voidling.

>>30650410
>>30650245

"What now?'

>>30650421
"I do not know, I believe it means a pony that is equally unique in traits. It's fanciful term they made up." Observer shouts back, as his small feeding of knowledge continues as he "sniffs" for the best spot.

>Knowledge Extract: Feel for sweet spots around garden and tree.
[1d10+1]

>>30650468
>Phantasmagoria
[1d10]

>>30650328
"The way I used to think of it was if they are not your kin and if they are not your friends then what are they worth to you, but I'm not so sure that is a healthy way to think of things. It's hard to explain, I just feel a greater appreciation for the ripples in the pond, you know how the analogy goes don't you?"

>>30650410
Shei-Sher waves a greeting at the shades. He's amused but weirded out. "I'll rummage through Mudi's items. A witch like her must have something that can help us."
Shei-Sher rummages through the cabin searching for an object to amplify their projection so they can reach out of the dimension and into the birdcage.
[1d10+1]

>>30650461
"Now we look for something useful, and try not to make a mess."

>>30650410
Pryce's groans silence as Mocha takes him up and embraces him. His mind is blanked, unsure of how to act to this unexpected response. Glancing upward at Mocha's face, Pryce almost looks like a lost, scared child that's been finally been found by someone. The tension in his body begins to melt away, body slumping as falls against Mocha's body. His hooves reach around Mocha to hold on, returning the hug as his face rests into her shoulder quietly.

>>30650487

"I don't, but I get what you mean, I think," Amy responds with a simple smile.

"I guess I just never gave it much thought..." Amy contemplates. "That's true of a lot of things..."

>>30650492
>>30650410

"Right," Amy says as she shuffles through all of Mudi's valuables.

[1d10] to not make a mess

>>30650410
Flaming re-opens her eyes as she listens to Vir-can's words, her own slipping life span dripping away by the moment as she considers his thoughts. She feels herself completely taken aback by his request, by his compliments. The feeling of hopelessness begins to waver as she looks down at her small hooves, "I have not been able to do much more than endure... they can take my home. They can take my family. They can take away every chance for me to do a little good... but they can't take my fire. That's mine and mine alone..."

She looks down into the mouth of the volcano, steeling her gaze. "No god, no pony, no angel, no demon... if you will give me the strength to protect the ones I love, the clan I gained and lost, and to see this world through its darkest age... then let me become your arrow." She takes one last deep gulf and pushes herself down into the wine-pool, aiming straight for the volcanic opening below

[1d10]

>>30650468
Something most odd happens. As you spread your senses out to the area, in the hunt for knowledge, your mind becomes more occupied with how the world is, instead of what you seek of it. The wind is pleasantly cool, and the bouquet of sweet flower scents relax your body. You feel hunger, but it is of a physical nature than a mental one, and many of the fruits look ripe and-- you realize that, for the first time, you aren't sure what's happening to your body. Nothing that is known of voidling physiology suggests this is possible.

>>30650512
"Now let Flaming, the child die. Emerge, Flaming the Conqueror!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acm0F-3eIkE

As you dive through the wine, the warmth of the magma is all that you can concentrate on, in the dwindling moments of your life. The warmth becomes heat, and the heat becomes a searing pain that threatens to tear you apart. And yet you press onward, and with a final mighty push, dive into the heart of the Dragon. Everything, from your fur, down all the way to the thoughts of your head, are burned away as you sink in a moment of flame that is both eternal and instant.

>Flaming Shorthorns 0/0

>>30650512
>>30650498
Mocha continues to hold Pryce silently, until they both hear a stirring. Flaming's body is completely healed, and shows no signs of infection. The only difference on her body now is a set of red and black war paint on her cheeks, and a circle of war paint, in the shape of a buffalo's hoofprint, on her forehead.

Flaming awakens.

>Flaming 8/6

>>30650487
All you find are some goofy-looking sketches of Mudi, signed by Mudi herself, and some spare sets of neatly-folded clothes, for both males and females of all ages. There's even a drawing of the three Witches having fun at a beach, clearly drawn by Mudi.

>>30650509
Amy finds a cloak with a murky underside, resembling stars glimmering in the night sky. It has a soft, velvety texture.

>Paused