White Out

So Dippy had gone and gotten herself lost in the Everfree. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last, so the mare wasn't all too worried this time around. The forest was typically pretty dark, but like the last few times she'd ventured in, Serendipity's Compulsive Hoarding paid off yet again, and she procured a flashlight from her much-too-heavily-stuffed saddlebags. Like all earth ponies, the only thing she had to properly hold the tool was her teeth, unfortunately. As for finding the gem itself...well, Dippy didn't have a plan. Or more accurately, she did, but the 'plan' was to wander around until she stumbled across it, or some clue of where it might be. Eight years she'd been running a lost-and-found business with that plan, and her cutie mark hadn't let her down yet.

I figured. It'd be a shame if the RP died off so early; there are two applications that have yet to post in the first place, and Midnight_Aurora seems to have disappeared now as well.

"You got it, sir!" Dippy feigned a mock-salute to the stallion as he trotted away, only managing to hold her stature for a few seconds before devolving into what could only be described as a maniacal cross between an evil laugh and a giggle. Once the bit-coin symbols faded from her eyes, Serendipity carefully folded the contract(s) away before positively skipping down the street. Assuming she could actually find this thing (and she put some heavy confidence in her skills as a thing-finder), this sale alone might very well save the business! Or at the very least let her live comfortably for another few months. With no time like the present (and a tendency to leave the house with a saddlebag full of supplies anyway), Dippy took advantage of the good mood to start her search Everfree Forest-wards, taking a merry jaunt towards the woods with the promise of a heck-load of bits in the near future.

"-fantastic!" Dippy interrupted the red stallion before he left, inexplicably conjuring a very wordy piece of paper from her bag and a quill as she skirted in front of his walking path once more. "I'll just need you to sign-...here! And here. And initial there," she goaded merrily, holding the contract inches from his face, "Oh, and if this is a group expedition you'll need to sign here too!" This was not actually the first time Serendipity had been to the Everfree to find something lost, though it was much better for business if the rest of the town didn't know that. The wordy contract held a couple clauses, mostly just potential extra fees for injury or damages, but the kicker was that it had a vaguely-defined 'emotional damages' fee, which mostly meant that Dippy could kick up the price depending on how much danger she or the rest of the group ended up in. And of course, the cost of finding the item herself. She pushed the paper and quill to the stallion with pleading eyes, knowing that this was one of her only big shots at saving the business.

Cha-Ching. Serendipity tried to hide the small money signs in her eyes as she was suddenly approached with exactly what she had been hoping for, walking right out of Crystalwing's shop itself. The mare pretended her smile was one of empathy, but oh boy, this stallion done goofed big-time , and Dippy was already first in line to make a quick chunk of bits from it. She cleared her throat and feigned disinterest for a moment. "Well...I am an expert on finding lost items, but...unfortunately," she put on a disheartened face, pretending to look disappointed, "Sorry mister, but I only find stuff in Ponyville. I can't go out to a dangerous place like that!" She let the words hang in the air, and made the motion to sadly walk away for a moment before 'suddenly' coming up with an idea. "...unless..." she added in a faked hopeful tone, "...well, I could make an exception...if it's that important to you. Business hasn't been so good lately, and...well, I guess I could find one of grand-dad's old contracts for a commissioned treasure hunt." She bit her lip, pretending to be nervous and apologetic about the whole ordeal. "It's a little pricey, but if your gem is that important to you...I guarantee I'd be able to get it back to you. That's a company promise!"

Dippy let out a hiss of disappointment as the crowd dispersed, a sudden glum mood overcoming the area as a cloud decided to rudely take up its position in the sky. With the crowd gone, it was easy to see that there wasn't a single other lost piece of 'treasure' in the area, and Serendipity was forced to move on to greener pastures. But where to go? Maybe a bar or two? Drunken ponies tended to drop stuff a whole lot in her experience, but it wasn't late enough for the usual clumsy crowd to start in those yet. The park might be a good place to check, but she'd already combed through that place yesterday, so there wasn't much of a chance she'd find something new this quickly. Business had been dry recently; not a whole lot of big finds, besides maybe the scroll she'd just procured. Ponies were getting smart about keeping their stuff under a close eye, and while that was good for the security of the townsponies' wealth, it wasn't so good for the business. Eventual bankruptcy loomed on the far horizon, but it wasn't close enough to spark a panic yet. It'd be nice for somepony to stupidly lose, like, a priceless artifact or something right now, though. Is one really stupid, really expensive mistake on somepony else's part really too much to ask for? Nah, that'd never happen. Dippy decided she would pay the local shops a visit; she hadn't talked with any of the girls recently anyway. Maybe Crystalwing lost something pricey recently; that pegasus would lose her head if it wasn't screwed onto her shoulders.

(Hasbro owns the rights to Wizards of the Coast, so technically the bestiary is canon in MLP. Go for it.) Serendipity tromped along, not quite able to figure out where the crowd was going but certainly capable of her usual scavenging habits. She scanned the ground, looking for any signs of a glimmer of jewelry, when suddenly- "...oh?" the mare inquired, almost stepping on what she originally assumed was a rolled-up piece of newspaper. She lifted a hoof and the scroll with it, yawned as the surrounding crowd passed her by, and squinted inquisitively at the outsides. Looked like trash, old and slightly torn and yellowing with age, but something wasn't quite right here...she wasn't nearly awake enough to think straight to figure it out immediately, unfortunately. Dippy ran her best appraisal on the item post-haste, trying to shake off the afternoon tiredness. Old...maybe old enough to have value? Could be a magic scroll some unicorn lost; those are pricey. The ribbon sure is fancy, so it's gotta be worth something to somepony. The nagging curiosity to see what was inside bit at the back of the mare's mind, but she was more professional than that; Dowser's Dowsings had a very strict guarantee on not opening lost messages, and she wasn't about to compromise her own company's promises just to see what the inside of a dirty old scroll was. Shrugging away the last of the niggling curiosity, Dippy opened a flap and carefully placed the rolled-up parchment inside of her saddlebag. Somepony would probably be happy to find it at her shop, at the very least. She'd appraise a good fee later. For now, Dippy continued her search; the day was off to a good start, and she didn't want to lose her momentum yet. [inventory Added: 1x Unusual Scroll]

I know your rules stated that we're not supposed to post right after each other and instead wait for your own posts to book-end ours, but since our characters are performing unrelated actions (for now), is it alright that I posted right after Midnight's?

(Leave it to me to forget that there was a link to the actual RP board, and sit around wondering when and where we were supposed to start. My bad entirely.) Serendipity yawned and pushed a mop of mane out of her face once the door was open; mornings were never her strong suit. Mind you, it was the middle of the afternoon, but Dippy referred to 'mornings' as any time she woke up. Rearranging paperclips kept her up longer than she intended. The crowd outside was certainly bustling, which was odd for taking place right outside of her house. Dippy didn't see ponies, however-- she saw potential customers. Cha-ching. She threw on her saddlebags and haphazardly flopped her hair into something semi-respectable before leaving the house, making sure to lock the door behind her and flip the sign hanging off the knob to 'The Manager Is Out'. Seeing that the crowd seemed to be following a stampeding route, the earth pony yawned heartily again and turned her attention to the direction they were heading. Maybe somepony would drop a wedding band or a nice earring in the commotion; it never hurt to dream. (Also, Equestria's fine, and Ponyville is something we're all familiar enough with so you don't have to describe every road in detail. It's not the most original setting, but it's certainly one we're all on the same page about.)

I'll give it a go. Name: Serendipity "Dippy" Dowser Doo Description: Dippy is a well-to-do business manager and (in her mind, at least) treasure hunter, though 'treasure' is usually miscellaneous knick-knacks she tends to find laying around. Dippy keeps a large, old and durable pair of saddlebags, which she is rarely seen without and are rarely emptied of the items she comes across. She shares the color palette of a treasure map, with a tanned yellow coat, charcoal mane and a red 'X' as her cutie mark. Race: Earth Pony Cutie Mark/Talent: A red 'X', as if on a treasure map. Dippy has a talent for finding things, though she tends to hoard more knick-knacks than she would ever need. Background: Dippy runs a small family business called "Dowser's Dowsings", named after her grandfather who was the original founder. Dowser's Dowsings is a lost-and-found shop located on the first floor of Dippy's house, where she will put up items that she has scavenged around town and return them to their original owners for a small fee. A loss in family has led to Dippy now managing the house and business on her own, which can get dull at times, but she has shown to be responsible enough to survive alone. Weakness, Flaw, or Phobia: Dippy has a fear of heights, and prefers to keep her hooves on the ground if she can help it.

Heya, it's me! The one with Lamp Wick, here to steal all y'all's chances of being in this particular RP.

This sounds quite exciting, actually! I haven't touched this forum account in months, but it brings a smile to actually see another group of people who love to play the more "traditional" RPGs. I'd love to join, but if my schedule doesn't match up with the rest of the group's (my most available time is all throughout Sunday), I'll probably need to back out. With some luck and happy thoughts, though, I'd love to take another go at throwing some dice around! Now just to fill out this resume... Prior experience: I've been playing a scattering of tabletop systems for the last three years or so, my favorite systems being Pathfinder, Final Fantasy D6, Pokemon: Tabletop Adventures, and as of late there's this nice My Little Pony: Roleplaying is Magic (second edition) game that one of my friends has been running, and we've had a ton of fun! System: I'm much more familiar with the d20 system so I would probably throw my vote in for that, but I'm not afraid to try out something new for a change. MLP-centric: If things came out in my favor, I'd prefer an MLP-themed campaign, but I wouldn't scoff at a more traditional setting. Availability: My most available time is all throughout Sunday, as I'm afraid the rest of my weekend is taken up either with schoolwork or other campaigns. My timezone is Pacific Time. Position: I've tried my hand at GMing once or twice, and it has worked out...less than what I'd hoped. Crashed and burned, unfortunately. I would much prefer a player position.

Your OTP? Heavens me, it does seem that the Midnight♠Scorpiok pairing is losing its caliginous touch recently. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, I'm afraid, which is a terrible state for the beautiful blooming kismesissitude between the black pegasus and his unicorn frenemy. I suggest putting the two in the same group once again to let them unsettle their differences. I can assure you, once blood has been drawn we can safely say that a proper state of healthy black romance will have been achieved once more! Putting aside the silliness, however, the RP seems to be slowly grinding to a halt. The groups have split even further, some characters haven't responded for than a week, and there seems to be glaringly little to do without, and excuse my D&D references, "GM Intervention". As none of us (besides Thunder Knight, as you've said) know what what is supposed to happen, we are all relying on you as the thread creator to take charge of the rest of the world, regardless of what your character is doing. By creating this Roleplaying thread you've stepped into the shoes of a GM, and without a proper GM, there is no storyline to follow. Our dear friend Galvin Starlight has resorted to self-dialogue to keep his character posts interesting, and while I applaud that, it is simply not enough to keep the entire thread afloat by itself. Characters are becoming passive and unresponsive, and while Libra and Scorpio are off on their own adventure, the other 'half' of the group have already run out of novel stimuli to respond to. I apologize for coming off as aggressive, but I assure you my spiel is simply my best attempt at being forthright: Something needs to happen, or the thread is going to die. Since our only point of leverage is through our characters, it is up to you to take charge of what that 'something' is, and it is imperative that you are able to choreograph both sides of the encounter regardless of what your personal OC is doing. While this might require breaking the 'two post wait' rule that King_Sombrero proposed, I believe that it is necessary for the GM of a campaign to be able to respond to all actions without restriction.

In the small amount of time since Sagittarius had discovered the magic blank tome of un-knowledge, the stupid black pegasus 'leader' had decided to take a route that only a winged pony was able to take, effectively leaving the rest of the party alone, the new unicorn (was White Flower her name?) had wandered off to another room as well, and Pisces...was talking to a wall. What about Arannia? Was she still sane? Please let Arianna be sane. Arianna was sitting on a pile of books, it seemed. Sagittarius supposed that was sane enough. He at least had that anchor to the rational world, though that was like tying a rock to a string in the middle of an ocean and calling it a proper mooring. Sure, it fit the technical definition, but if you were planning on using it to actually dock yourself to anything safe, good luck hahaha! But seriously, this group was bucking crazy. Sagittarius decided to stick close to the most logical of the group, and shifted his location to Arianna and the pile of books underneath. Pisces was beyond help in his opinion; when ponies started talking to walls, the hope for recovery had already passed. Maybe Midnight would return with some semblance of hope. Or news about zomponies or something. With his luck, it was probably the latter.

Hm? An undocumented, unprecedented medical condition? And yet, you know that you have it? My trite optimism in the subject is beginning to lose its edge, rolle, as your capricious claims have yet to hold any ground on anything remotely resembling conclusive footing. Usually I would simply let this go, but I feel as if I have been personally lied to. Do not take this to heart, however; I understand that you most probably have your own feelings to protect as well, so if any of this is particularly hurtful, remember that this is from a non-judgmental standpoint and you are still entitled to your own opinions. rolle, there is no such thing as a 'brain plane'; our understanding of the human mind is not so two-dimensional (excuse the pun), and our understanding so far is much too crude to form any sort of theory on what shape it might take if it were realized. For all of our knowledge on the subject, it might be a tesseract. Hell, it might be a pentaract for all we know. There is no 'brain plane', and there most certainly is not a method for using more than one. Brains do not generate electricity, rolle. At least, not in the conventional sense. It is a common misconception: the 'Electrical Activity' we hear of in TV shows or comic books is really just changes in the ion concentration on the outside and insides of neurons, and the difference between the inside and out can be measured in voltage. I could go into the specifics of potassium, chloride, and sodium ions and how they specifically play a roll in this, but I'll spare you as well as anyone else reading. To put it simply: The brain does not generate electricity. If it generated any sort of measurable voltage all willy-nilly, it would not cause a 'headache', as you put it; the person would die as their autonomic nervous system went haywire indefinitely, since the human body is conductive almost to a hilariously macabre point. I understand and respect that you feel that you are special, rolle, but please, for the sake of our sanity, this is neither the time nor place for playing pretend. That's what the RP thread is for.