Illiad Easle

@Blitz Boom (NP) She didn't have the ability to reply to the staff member, and she couldn't find anything in the trash cans. Eventually the timer hit 0, but the objective didn't go away, if anything it was clearer now. A textbox appeared: "The casino floor is now closed. the Top Suits wishes you a Happy Hearthswarming." An arrow appeared pointing her back to the casino floor in the color of both her objectives. If she returned to the doors to the casino she would be able to interact and swipe her pass to get in. It was dark and quiet in the empty casino. The silence in the game seemed to almost overpower the noise of the real casino behind her. (Assuming she goes over to Cabinet Mare to repair it) (Troy) Vale had sliced the whole loaf into even slices, they weren't perfectly even of course, but they were pretty close for having been done by hoof. They all tried the small amount of bread they had been offered, Toupé was the first to comment, "That's much better than the magic bread, it's dryer but sweeter." Teal giggled as she tried it, "It's like eating a sponge made of bread and sugar." Having tried the bread they looked for guidance on how a sandwich was to be made, and gathered that, like the yogurt that morning, they were supposed to try the ingredients before combining them somehow. Vale demonstrated as they were tasting small amounts of the ingredients how to make a sandwich, spreading the pastes on two pieces of bread and adding ingredients to one before topping with the other. Elef was a big fan of the critter butter, while the rest were very off-put when he pointed out the small bits of insect in it. None of the others tried it after he did, and he used a generous helping on his sandwich. Their sandwiches in the end were nearly identical outside of the butter, Elef's was lighter on the vegetables than the others as well. Teal and Toupé each made up a small pile of the tamer ingredients and some of the leftover cubes of bread for the foals when they would wake up.

@Blitz Boom While I won't stop her from losing, there is a way to 'win' though I get the feeling she won't feel like she's won if/when she gets there. Really I should put the foals in the AI and see how it characterizes their responses, it would at least try to keep them consistent better than I can.

@Catpone Cerberus Ætheron shrugged, "If you remember rotting then you probably didn't do it to yourself. The dead seldom reanimate themselves. More than likely you were reanimated by someone else, and they either destroyed or you already lost your long term memory, hence why you can't keep track of time or events beyond the past few days." He turned his gaze to Ædriga, "Sense danger? Is threat? Seems harmless." He turned his attention back to the lich, "So, you just here out of boredom? Or do you want us to find someone to help you move on?"

@Scar (Are you saying you lifted them off him?) Blu nodded, "All the more reason for the regulators, batteries, and a tap into a ley line. All things I had only briefly considered a possibility before, but now I can actually bring them to fruition." It was Blu's turn to smirk, "Ah, but that's the easiest part. Princess Sparkle is terrified of shades and any other 'dark' creature. Having them at our command would make fighting her much easier. Plus, shades and shadow specters attack mentally, while Princess Sparkle's mental defences are stronger than most, if not all, others, even she won't be able to defend against a swarm." Gripping the staff he used it to stand on his hind legs, "Woah, I haven't been up like this in a long time. It's... weird, I've gotten used to not having to balance."

@Blitz Boom (NP) Returning to the workshop, the mare had seemingly reverted to the state she was in when Null had first encountered her, wandering about the workshop muttering to herself "I didn't mean to... I didn't know... I shouldn't have... I should have known." She would be given the opportunity to interact with the mare, if she asked about the Final piece the mare would continue wandering around, but a text box would appear: "The final piece is the part that kills you." On that cryptic yet morbid message, the timer would reach 8 minutes On the casino floor ponies were making their way out both the front doors as well as the rear exit towards the hotel portion. Returning to the safe she was not able interact with the safe, being given the prompt that she already had everything she needed from the safe. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the casino. 5 minutes A staff member would approach her, "Excuse me ma'am, we're closing the gambling floor soon, if you could please make your way to the exit?" (Troy) Vale nodded, "To be fair, I don't think you've been exactly on guard lately. One rarely notices that they're being watched when they aren't looking out for watchers. Still, I'll pass your recommendation along. The guard mare should be back in the evening for Elef anyway, she and Pen can keep them safe while I inform Judge Diamond." She sighed, "I hope you're right, and this is purely innocuous, but it is better to be safe than sorry." They all sat back a safe distance as they quietly and patiently waited for Void and Vale to finish, though Elef spoke up after a few moments, "Um, what are you making for us today? It all looks and smells good."

@Blitz Boom If only to ease the stress, Null won't lose if she doesn't find the Final piece before the time runs out.

@Catpone Cerberus Ætheron lowered his bow and switched it for his polearm, he had it ready, but not in an obvious aggressive nor defensive pose. He held it more to say: 'I have a weapon and am capable of using it.' "Good, I'm glad there aren't enough like you for the locals to recognize your kind." Ætheron leaned on his polearm, "So, you do this to yourself? A mage looking for immortality? Or were you the unfortunate subject of another mage's experiments? I assume the second as the first rarely claim to be so nobly intentioned."

@Scar Blu snorted as he put the glasses down, "It would take quite a bit of resources and precision carving before we reach that point, but theoretically yes, if we were based over a leyline and had a direct tap we could do that. It is certainly worth looking into further once we have the gems to precisely regulate the power flow." He stowed the glasses away on his coat before looking to see what else the room had, he took interest in an ebony staff, and its associated tome, "Says here, this is a staff of specters, gives the wielder the ability to command shadows and hold influence over shadow-kind including, to a limited extent, thestrals. Though it note for them the influence on them is more akin to light persuasion. It is much more effective the closer to shadows the entity is question is. For instance, it gives near perfect dominance over Shadow Specters, notes say that it was once used to dominate even a Specter King. It may not be too effective against Princess Sparkle, but it would serve well to establish order afterwards. Why risk guards when you can conjure a loyal force from the darkness itself?"

@Sherem Midnight looked impressed as he nodded, "Very astute, let's head over there now." He steered their course over to another thoroughfare which soon opened up to a grand marketplace filled with stalls peddling all sorts of wares from baked goods to fine spun cloths, aromatic spices as well as clay works of varying shapes. It was full of zebra selling and buying, overall there was a happy atmosphere around the market as some zebra bid on more unique wares from more distanced stalls while others bought more staple goods in greater quantities. In one corner of the marketplace was a covered stall that most of the zebra stayed away from, a sign by the entrance said: 'Madame Zeroni Sees All'

@Blitz Boom (NP) She may be surprised to find the necklace in the third can she searched. Upon finding the necklace her objective progressed to 'Leave the City' again. She could give up and leave the city, or she could go back to the mare in the workshop and get her to move the objective again. But then again... now that she had the necklace her progress meter looked off, like it said both 5/6 and 7/8 overlayed on top of each other. Wherever she decided to go, her objective would soon update: 'Find the final piece: 15:00' the timer would start counting down from fifteen minutes. Coincidentally there would be a text bubble, "The casino floor will close in fifteen minutes, please make your way to the exits, and have a Happy Hearthswarming." (Troy) Vale nodded with concern in her eyes as she hurried over to help, Her hoof split open to better grip the knife she had been given. Vale nodded again, "Of course! We'd be happy to give it a look, but I think that's beside the point. I assume this Molotov isn't a friend, you're at least not excited to see him. Is there something more to him we should prepare for? I'm going to get more guards here just in case, maybe even a dragon commando if the Consul can spare one. We can't risk anything happening to the foals after all." They would only have a few more moments to speak privately before the young ponies would come over with Pen to see what Vale and Void were making for them, they were intrigued by all the new things on display for them.

@Scar "Now that's something impressive, and immediately useful. I suspect even the most powerful mages wouldn't be able to power it enough by their own power to see too far in the future, and I assume the power directly correlates to the distance into the future? Well, it would be a trivial matter to connect them to a battery and regulator rune, With enough battery gems and time to charge them, we could then peer with great accuracy at any point in the future." He'd examine the glasses with his own, with a flash of his magic a pair of runes appeared on his lenses, allowing him to see is if through a magnifying glass, trying to see if he could find any small runes or other clues in the artifact.

@Blitz Boom (NP) The mare looked bemused, "Hey now, you knew you couldn't win when you started. I've given you enough hints already, but if you need another hint... it's an unlucky necklace, most ponies can't keep a hold on it for long before some misfortune befalls them." If she went looking in the hotel area the first cleaning staff member she would find would be a pegasus mare cleaning one of the windows, she had a white scarf tied around her head, perhaps part of the uniform for the cleaning staff? If she asked the staff member about the necklace, she would indicate that she hadn't seen it, "You might have some luck checking in the lost and found at the front desk." She might notice that she had the option to search the trash cans as she was looking for staff members. (Troy) Pen nodded, "She told me, back when she first freed me when she was Codex, that science had no purpose if it couldn't be shared with others." Pen didn't have facial features with which to convey concern beyond the shape of her eye holes, but it was clear that she was concerned about what had surprised Void, she wouldn't stop her leaving but would quietly say, "...but no one should know you're here." When Void returned Vale had moved the focus of learning to a more physical exercise as they were playing what looked like charades. Someone had moved the foals back to their crib as well as cleaned up the toy area, though Void and Ardee's unfinished game of jenga was left untouched. The young ponies paused their game when Void returned, but Vale encouraged them to finish the round while lunch was prepared for them. She came over to Void, "Pen mentioned something about you getting a letter here... is everything alright? Are they going to be safe here?"

@Blitz Boom I noticed you were suddenly posting every day, don't worry if you can't always keep it up, but I'm not complaining if you do manage it. The AI can keep the quest going forever, it's designed to do that, after all... you can't win a game that does not end. I am subtly advancing plot elements on that end behind the scenes while Null is distracted. I'm intrigued, and look forward to seeing what exactly it is you have in mind. As you may have noticed, my cannon (Similar to Equestria itself) has plenty of room for new additions to story and lore.

@Catpone Cerberus Ætheron briefly considered taking the creature up on its offer, but decided that anyone asking to be shot either had a trick planned, was confident enough to take no damage, or was simply crazy. It would be best to wait until more information was available before considering an effective attact. He kept his bow ready just in case. Ætheron was visibly repulsed at the sight of the creature before him, and seeing it did little to ease the tension he felt, zombies and other such perversions of nature often disgusted Fey creatures like himself. Nonetheless, arrows would not be very effective against the undead, he would use more stabbing and slicing implements if it came to a fight. "What do you want Lich? You've been following us for some time, too long."

@Scar Blu shook his head, "Looks like whoever built this place didn't know either, though they suspect that the marks were added by a certain ancient king who used those artifacts in conjunction to rule for hundreds of years. Likely any others we find with that symbol will have been in the possession of this ancient ruler." He looked sidelong at Cali as she stowed away the dagger, "Not to be ungrateful or anything, but of the two of us I am at the greater risk of death, generally speaking that is." He turned his attention back to the room, "Anyway, what else to we have here?"