Illiad Easle

@Blitz Boom Good points, I'll keep them in mind as I design him. Depending on how Null goes forward she'll either meet him soon, or later.

@Blitz Boom (By staging area it was a landing platform for airships to take them up to the Æther, no worries though.) The thestral sniffled, "I... I hope she got away at least. She cared about us much more than the others. She was the only one who told us we were real, the only one who treated us that way." The thestral shook his head, "They aren't keeping us here, we just have nowhere to go. They still lurk around in the deeper hallways, but we closed off that area so they couldn't get to us. I'll..." He started to get up, but his gaze turned to the corpse and he sat back down, "...no, I can't go back now. They'll wonder where Rare went. They'll feed me to the monsters if they find out." He turned towards Null, a bit of confusion and hope, "You... you came from somewhere else didn't you? I mean, you don't look like the monsters, too much, and I don't think I ever saw you in the hallways before. Where did you come from? Could I, maybe, go with you?"

@Blitz Boom I can't tell if it's you misunderstanding the purpose of Mercy and Vengeance, or just Null. But in case I didn't explain it well enough before here's a basic rundown of how it works: A follower of Vengeance, like Null, has purview over those who owe a karmic debt or those whose trails are red or black. It is up to her how they are to be made to repay their debts. (In some cases death would be insufficient a punishment.) A follower of Mercy, like potentially Void, has purview over those who are owed a karmic debt or those whose trails are blue or white. It is up to her how their debt is repaid. (I suppose now that I think about it a mercy killing could be one of those recompenses, but Mercy also has very powerful healing abilities so a killing would only be warranted when the one receiving it earnestly desires it.) As is I think Null's concerns are valid given her level of understanding, I just wanted to make sure you understood what it meant in case I wasn't clear. Also, planning ahead, was thinking of bringing up a potential romantic interest for Null. If you're on board with that, what sort of personality do you think she would like best? Any specific attributes they should have? (Race/Gender/height/age) I was thinking someone with dwarfism so they'd be about her size, but I'll only put them in if you're okay with it.

Moondancer nodded with a smile, "Of course! It's no trouble, I love teaching those who are as passionate to learn as you. Now, by 'the rest of the clans' do you mean the other Thestral clans of the world? Or are you referring to the other groups here? If you mean the former then we'll be here a while as they are many, but if you mean the latter it won't take nearly as long, Mohotma has an interesting story after all." It seemed like she had a clear preference for Sherem to pick. (Celestia) There was a knock on Celestia's door before Magpie's voice called in, "Princess Celestia? The council will begin it's meeting soon. Are you ready to meet them?"

@Blitz Boom Nine shrugged, "The way you talk about your father, and how you usually solve your problems, I had figured violence was typically your first response to this sort of thing. Glad to see otherwise." The thestral looked a bit surprised at Null's kindness, the tears lightening up a bit as he turned towards Null. (I assume she got closer?) It would be obvious if she had gotten closer that the colt was also blind in one eye, the scar running through it was not fresh, but it had not been treated well. "Y, you would? I suppose I could tell you, I think you're the first who's come down here since Mistress left, she cared about us more than the others, came back for us when everyone else left. She said she'd take us to Æther if we were good, but I guess we weren't because she left us here instead. She said she'd come back to get us, left us in a room like the one we came from... we didn't stay there long and we found we weren't the only ones here." He pointed to his scarred eye. "I think that's when this..." he pointed to the corpse, "...started. I suppose that's how there were so many of them, it might be why no one came back for us." Null might remember that when they had first arrived at the plateau Branch had said that it had been used as a staging area for the evacuation to the Æther before it got overrun by the tarspawn.

@Blitz Boom Glad I could inspire! I thought this encounter would resonate with her.

@Blitz Boom (Dead unfortunately) The thestral was startled by Null's words, distancing himself from the body a short distance, "Wh... who are you? How'd you get down here? Mistress said..." He trailed off as his attention turned back to the body. The thestral deflated, "You might as well, I'm a monster aren't I? Monsters deserve to die." The sobbing returned, but he did not move from where he was, "I, I tried to help. Tried to keep them safe after Mistress left. I fought off the monsters, but now I'm the monster." Nine sounded conflicted, "Murder is a pretty serious karmic debt, especially against one who was owed so much. It looks like this thestral's own owed relief is sufficient that you don't have to kill them. They could perhaps redeem themselves in time and service. But that's up to you."

Midnight was surprised at first, most of the dragons he had met before were prideful, never admitting to weakness or fear, and never backing down from a fight. Nonetheless, upon seeing Gale's genuine fear his whole countenance changed, gone was the fiery passionate war horse, in his place was a gentle and kind stallion, a fatherly expression as his whole body seemed to soften with his expression. He sat down on the edge of the clearing, and motioned for Gale to sit beside him, "I can understand how you feel, you certainly aren't the first to exhibit such worries. You can't make someone a soldier and expect them on their first day to be a skilled fighter. Mercy is not a weakness inasmuch as you do not let yourself be taken advantage of, often those spared never return to being slavers, those that do do not warrant being spared again. Your other concerns are very valid. Sir, when he fought at my side, often had to take great care to not strike our allies with his lightning, Mohotma when he first started would regularly get separated from the rest of the group because of his pride, allowing him to be taken down more easily. I assume you don't have personal experience with either though, right? You haven't hit an ally before nor been taken down? If you have, it is likely the source of these worries, and it would do you good to talk about it." Midnight would wait patiently for her response.

Moondancer nodded, "That is a prevailing theme in the clan's history, according to their scholars Fastar often talked about how he was guided to do certain things, to fulfill certain events, but he also spoke that while certain things may be up to fate, there are also many things that we can change through our own effort. One quote attributed to him is: It need not happen the same way again. Which is used today as a mantra to escape bad habits or behavioral patterns." Moondancer looked back towards the library, at some point during their discussion the two thestrals from the previous night had arrived again, Picotee waved at Sherem when she noticed him. Moondancer waved back before turning her attention back to Sherem. "Is there something else you wanted to know about the Fastar Clan? Or would you like to move on to another nation or race?"

Midnight nodded, "Glad to hear you approve, it shouldn't take long for them to be ready to stage the attack, so if there's anything you need to do to get ready for it, now's the time. If there's something you need help with, I'd be happy to assist in any way I can."

@Blitz Boom Dove simply nodded, "I'll... think about what you've said." [She'd then offer the farewell she gave earlier and depart.] Nine nodded, "Of course," Null would feel the numbing sensation start to cover her coat, then faint trails started to appear in front of her vision, mostly white but one red. "I've turned the eye on as well, might help you navigate a bit better. It looks like a few creatures have been through here somewhat recently." At the T the trails looked like they went back and forth quite a bit, it looked like this junction was a frequent path between the lit and the loud sides. The red trail was widest on the loud side, while the white trails were widest on the lit side, except for one which was slightly wider than the red one on the loud side. "It looks like there's a dark entity where you hear the voices along with an innocent while the others who passed through here went down the lit path. Provided these branches don't meet up again later they should be on their respective sides still, these paths are still pretty fresh." (Assuming she goes down the dark side with the sound.) As she entered the dark passage it was easier to see the trails on the ground, but the sound that had previously sounded like speech resolved itself into the sound of running water, likely from an underwater spring or a leak from the oasis above them. Above the sound of the water though was the sound of sobbing, the tunnel entered a larger room dotted with the glowing moss. The white and read trails were jumbled together as if the ones making the trails got into a fight, then the white trail suddenly stopped, the red trail continuing onward in the direction of the sobbing, it was complimented by a thin trail of blood headed the same way. At the end of the trail, at the far end of the room, were what looked like two young ponies, one was slumped on the ground, lifeless, white coat stained with drops of blood, the other had the appearance of a thestral or bat pony, blood dripping from their mouth. If Null were familiar with vampire ponies, she'd notice some signs of vampirism on the thestral. "I'm sorry... so sorry! I I didn't mean to, shouldn't have been you."

Midnight nodded, "Their leader, Rorik, has been planning to liberate a slave camp nearby for some time, it's the same one we were about to attack by ourselves. Now we will have a much better chance of freeing more of the slaves given we have more to assist and a better understanding of our enemy's preparations. We're going to smuggle in weapons to the slaves they have hidden in the mountain, and then trap the slavers between us and the newly armed slaves so that they have no choice but to surrender or die." He slammed his hooves together for emphasis, it was clear he had something of a passion for liberating slaves, or more specifically eliminating slavers. He seemed to come to his senses as he turned back to Gale, "I do hope that is alright with you? The plan as it stands is for you to scare the slavers into retreating into the mountain so they can be trapped between the forces without and the armed slaves within, if you're good enough with your fire you could even try to burn or smoke them out of their holes."

(We'll give Celestia a moment to prepare herself, I'll collect her for the meeting in my next post.) Moondancer looked pleased that Sherem was taking notes on what she had to say, "It isn't too surprising that they'd be loyal, I'd say that their trust is hard to gain, but once gained they honor it with their full strength. They are so proud of their honor that they'd rather die than be dishonored by such an action as going back on their word or hurting their own clan or allies. Nonetheless, we can also guarantee that if they had to choose between their clan and us they would choose their clan every time." She looked thoughtful, "Other peculiarities to them... They do have a rather interesting history, according to their historians they were founded when a mysterious creature named Fastar saved a thestral filly from creatures of the forest after her own parents had perished. This was about two or three centuries ago. Fastar cared for the filly like their own foal, training her to defend herself. Also this Fastar was said to posses a unique type of magic in the form of a special staff that it used to change the world around them. With this power many weaker clans joined together under their banner and leadership until they became the strong unified force they are today. When Fastar died about twenty years after they saved the filly their body was laid to rest in a mausoleum Fastar had constructed for this purpose. Perhaps what is more interesting than this is that even after their death Fastar's ideals and unity continued on, leading to an unbroken line of succession from the filly he saved's descendants."

When I imagine the colors for a crystal pony I think of what mineral or gemstone they could represent and use those colors. For Sherem being white and grey is good as a relation to quartz, which is a fairly solid crystal but prone to corruption and impurity, which fits well with his character. If you're thinking of changing him up I'd suggest you find a mineral or gem that represents his personality and color him accordingly. As to his character, He's subservient, which is not a bad thing by any means. He feels like he's broken on the inside, like he doesn't trust himself and fears for his own future which is perfectly understandable given what he's gone through. I hope that through his experiences he'll be able to heal from his traumas and regain a bit of self-confidence, be sure enough in himself to plan for the future and make decisions for his own benefit rather than simply relying on others to make decisions for him. There is nothing about his character I would change at this time, I think he is well written and a very understandable character.

@Blitz Boom No worries! I really should have planned this interim better anyway, but I assure you there's good things coming.

@Blitz Boom Dove was a little taken aback, "Come now, I know Troy isn't perfect, it never was, but it survived. Blackwater, Himillama, Archback, the Æther... they all survived because creatures came together to defend against Discord. Hundreds died to ensure those bastions would stand, and if they did it, why couldn't this one too? Still, I agree, Branch is too optimistic about this trip. I have no doubts that Pegas is not the shining city on the sea she remembers from her foalhood." The guard nodded, "If we can find a forge in the city, I'll be sure to ask you about it. Remind me if I don't." The same guard with the telescope shard was the one she had found, he stood up to follow, "No sense in going alone, wouldn't want you getting ambushed or replaced. I'll watch your back." The guard would not be deterred from accompanying Null, it was a good sign that he didn't seem to doubt her if that counted for anything. If Null did return to the doorway with the other guard in tow he'd be surprised to find it, "Wonder why I didn't see that on my patrol, must have gotten distracted by something to miss a hole like that. You want me to follow you in or keep watch up here?" If Null asked why he didn't offer to go down with Null watching the opening: "Hey now, you were all set to investigate it yourself just a moment ago, I see no need to change that plan." If Null decided to go down she'd find the tunnel rather small, it was large enough that she could get through it comfortably, but anyone larger would have some trouble getting through. It was reminiscent of a diamond dog tunnel or a changeling hive passage, but smaller than normal. Away from the entrance, turning a corner from the opening she'd find the tunnel illuminated by luminescent moss. It didn't give off much light, but it was enough to see where the tunnel went without feeling along the side. After a few more meters she'd come to a fork, to the left was more of the moss, to the right was dark, but had a faint murmuring sound almost like speech.

Magpie looked surprised, "Indeed? That is quite unexpected your grace, but a most welcome development. It would certainly make my job much easier if I don't have to deal with as many complaints from the other nations. Nonetheless, let us head to your room so you can ensure your presentable-ity before the council." The associated guards of course would file in behind the pair as they made their way down the hall to one of the rooms, Magpie stuck her head in first, giving it a quick look before she opened the door for the princess, "Here we are, I hope it pleases you." The room was about similar in layout to Sherem's room if not a bit larger, the bed would more than accommodate the princess's size and the bathroom was fully equipped to take care of any cosmetic need or other she may need. Where there would typically be a window there was a magical projection of the view from the exterior of the mountain, Celestia would be able to understand the enchantment and even adjust it to show any direction of a view from the top of the mountain. Magpie would bow before leaving, "If it pleases you, I will return when the time comes for the meeting such that you are not late." (Library) Moondancer looked thoughtful, "Hmm, the other clans joining Archback. I assume you refer to how Mohotma City and the Fastar Clan work so closely with Archabck? Mohotma itself is most easily understood as both Archback and they share a figurehead in Midnight Star, on our part because of being our father, and on their part because he was instrumental in their liberation from slavery, he gave them the will, the hope to fight back, and so they decided to remain by his side as repayment. The Fastar Clan is a bit more complex, even I don't fully understand why they work with us so openly given most Thestral clans pride themselves on their independence and isolation from other races. We only first encountered them when they built their second city on the edge of the Shimmerwood Forest about two decades ago, so they're a rather recent addition to the Archback Coalition and still mostly operate independently from us, but they are fiercely loyal and as such we agreed to a mutual defensive pact." Moondancer shook herself back to the present moment, "Sorry, I do tend to ramble. Did that answer your question? Or did it just confuse you further?"

@Blitz Boom Dove nodded, "Makes sense, and no offence, but I did wonder why someone so small was put on as a guard. Nonetheless, your file did mention your age being high enough as well as your varied experience in the sort of things you'd want in a guard." She looked out across the ruins of Alphyns, "Discord destroyed so much, was so hard to stop. It's a wonder they survived out there. Most of those who were left alone were those who sided with him. I know the reports say that this new leader of theirs liberated the town from the legionaries who had captured it, I'm just not sure it's as good as it sounds." She gave a slight smile back at Null, "It comforts me a bit to know that you've got friend there, it makes this trip a bit less stressful. I hope you're able to find them when we get there." Dove seemed to pick up that Null wasn't much for conversation, and so got up to move on to her tent. "Be sure to rest up, we wouldn't want you to be tired on your watch." The next section of travel was more of the same, the occasional scorpion and crab to kick off the path or kill, the rarer tar-spawn to dispatch. Early on they passed the remains of the Alphyns Observatory, the sight of the giant telescope sitting in pieces on the sand brought a somber mood to the group, one of the guards collected a piece of a shattered lens to take with them. When asked, either by Null or another guard, he commented, "I'll make a spear or maybe a short sword out of it. It seems just retribution to defend the future of Troy with the remnants of its past." They came to rest once the sun was too hot to continue at an elevated oasis atop a plateau, from which they could barely see the dead oasis to one side and a cluster of clouds which Ambassador Branch proclaimed was New Pegas, she had almost wanted to continue on immediately, but the guards assured her they'd get there just fine waiting for nightfall. On Null's patrol while they rested she'd encounter a doorway hidden in the clay on the far side of the oasis, most likely it had been hidden by some enchantment as none of the other guards had reported it on their patrols, and it was fairly obvious when she stumbled upon it. Would she enter alone? Call for assistance? Ignore it completely?

Of course! Go right ahead!

@Randimaxis While the changelings and assorted guests down below were applauding vigorously, Dax was right to show restraint as the queens and Oracle showed much more formal applause. The unicorn bowed before departing the stage, Sleipnir commented, "A shame, I was hoping to hear more from her. She doesn't come to Manehatten often." Sleipnir's disappointment turned to surprise as the next performers, a changeling of the same colors as the rest in the hive and a light grey pegasus mare, came on stage. "He revealed? Didn't think he had it in him." Permu smiled, "One of the benefits of Troy is their much more open stance on changelings, it isn't nearly so risky here as in Equestria. Still, I was also surprised when he asked my guidance." The changeling played the guitar while the pegasus sang: Given the more emotional nature of these songs the applause was less energetic, but clearly just as appreciative. It would likely be obvious to Dax that these songs had been designed to cultivate an emotional response in the audience, which made sense given the changeling's purpose in having the concert. Oracle would lean in close to Dax, enjoying his physical presence as she swayed to the slow beats of the first song, her head bobbing to the faster beat of the second song. Once the two songs were done she'd turn to face Dax, almost bumping snouts as they were so close, "So... if you want to, I could, maybe, show you around the hive later?"

@Randimaxis Sleipnir chuckled, "Not at all! But I suppose I wasn't actually conscious for it, Permu would be better suited to tell you." Permu looked surprised that the attention was tossed back at her, but snorted and rolled her eyes, "You never tire of my telling this story do you?" She turned to Dax, "There's a bit of background you need to understand for the story to make sense. Most changelings are formed in cocoons filled with about a dozen eggs and gel charged with the dominant emotions of the hive, they don't take long to mature, only spending a few months in the cocoon before becoming foalings. They then mature about twice as fast as a pony at which point they don their first disguise and are full fledged changelings. When a queen is made however they are the only egg in their cocoon, and can spend up to three years in there before being ready to emerge, They then mature about at the same rate as a pony." Sleipnir added, "As you can see, a queen is very costly to make." Permu had a bit of a sad look on her face as she continued, "Our mother was, troubled. It was a different time, over eleven hundred years ago in fact. Our mother was one of the only queens at that time, and so had the task of making new queens in order to spread our race through the world. Near the end she grew... less sane, experimenting on her own children." she shuddered, "One such experiment was Sleipnir, she put two eggs in the same cocoon in an attempt to create two queens at the same time, but the two bodies merged together instead." Sleipnir smiled, "So I ended up not quite twice the changeling as anyone else, unique because no one would ever try it again, but fundamentally the same as any other." Permu seemed lost in thought, "I poisoned her for what she did, I couldn't stand by and wait to see if she'd try again. Once Sleipnir was matured I ensured that Gelatine wouldn't hurt anyone else, her violent hive dying out without her, all of them corrupted by her influence." The conversation had certainly turned dark there, it looked like Permu did not want to elaborate on it. Luckily a much needed distraction arose in that moment, the auditorium lights dimmed as the stage lit up for the first performance, it was a lone unicorn mare with a trio of violins in her magic. She held one to either side of her face, the other directly in front of her as she sat in the middle of the stage, eyes closed she began to play.

@Blitz Boom (Good scene, well written) The desert was hot when the sun was out, luckily their walkers had covers to keep the sun off of them as they traveled, but very cold when the sun went down. They sat one ambassador and one secretary with two guards per walker, the ninth one patrolling either on wing or hoof to ensure no traps lay ahead. This ninth position rotated among the guards hourly so none of them were out in the heat or cold for too long, and they'd have four hours rest between shifts. Outside of a few stops where they had to drive some stone crabs and the odd silt scorpion off the path, their first day of travel was relatively uneventful. The guards had started talking to each other when they weren't on patrol, each sharing about their lives before the event. There were five guards including Null, two of them were younger, having only joined the guard after the event, the other two were older, ones who had stayed behind as the final defense of Troy at the end of the event. The older ones told stories of how the world was before, the younger ones talked of how they hoped the world would be now. Null of course could decide whether she wanted to be a part of their comradery, but if she listened to their discussion she'd learn that after the Summer war Las Pegasus, Appaloosa, and Dodge JCT had all been made Trojan cities as part of the peace treaty, but that they had also practically demanded it themselves while the war was ongoing. They made camp the first time in the ruins of Alphyns, camping by the edge of the nearly depleted oasis. Dove, the less talkative of the ambassadors, came over to Null while they were camped, "So Event, what's your story? You don't seem much like the other guards, and the Consul said you were being added to this trip for special reasons, care to elaborate?" Dove didn't seem aggressive about it, she seemed genuinely curious.

When the dust cleared the changeling moved up to the top of the hill, now having the high ground over the sisters, he found and fired at Solstice, who was almost able to dodge it. Solstice is at 170/220 Eclipse is at 146/200

@Sherem The pair were surprised at Celestia's response, sharing a look before responding, "Well, provided it pleases you, we could present you at the meeting later this evening, it should start in about two hours if you'd like to retire to your quarters to prepare yourself in the mean time." Both Sir and Midnight rose from the table, Midnight leaving the room to make the necessary preparations for the meeting. Sir took a moment to simply look at Celestia, "You've changed since last we met, you're not the prideful mare you used to be. The Celestia I knew would have demanded the nations apologize for their offence. Let us see if this change is as profound as it appears." If Celestia did not stop him, Sir would leave out the door opposite the one Celestia had entered from, leaving her alone in the room. Magpie would be waiting outside for Celestia to exit, and when she did so would say: "I hope the meeting went well, shall I take you to your quarters now? or will you be departing already?" (The Library) Moondancer waved him off, "It's no problem really, I would have been here anyway so I'm glad to have the company and opportunity to share rather than just learn. So, what would you like to learn about first?"

@Randimaxis The larger changelings looked, surprised? happy? it was hard to tell on their faces but they seemed to have had a positive shift by Dax's introduction. Only once the guards had closed the doors behind them, leaving the five of them alone, did they relax and respond. The golden colored one gave a polite laugh, "Nonsense, you're our guest tonight. Did you think money was the only reward? I of all creatures know that no quantity of gold can replace a life, so no amount of gold is sufficient recompense for saving one. Our trust in you is further reward." Despite his mantra to ignore it, the cyan one noticed his initial count even if he didn't look at them again. She waited until Oracle had pulled Dax over to get up and move to the other side of the pair, making a show of moving as if to show off her many legs, she spoke with a kind tone, very motherly, "It's okay, you can admire them as much as you like. I've grown rather fond of them myself." She would lay in such a way that Dax would have full view of all eight of the legs, making it clear that rather than equidistant, like a spider, they were simply doubled, a pair of hind legs from each flank and a pair of forelegs from each whither. "It is good to meet you two, my sister has told me much about you, how you saved my favorite niece from slavery? Very noble of you." She gave a polite nod, "I'm Queen Sleipnir, Queen Polymorph's younger sister and the last of Queen Gelatine. And you," she turned to Illiad who had taken a seat behind Dax and Oracle, "I had assumed Permu was exaggerating when she called you a brilliant light, nonetheless your friend seems to outshine even you tonight." Oracle giggled at Dax's enthusiasm and blushed hotly, "I am, I'm so happy you could be here! Both in the hive, for the concert, and even here in the balcony! Mother never lets anyone up here! No non-changelings at least. But she said you deserved a special reward."