Loud Opinion

@Derpy Pon-3, Trixie's very sensible decision to cower rest on the structures exterior proved fruitful, or not -- depending on your perspective. Her ward both tinted and dimly illuminated the dark forest to her right. Whenever her eyes wandered to that woeful place the dim glow could only stretch so far into the silent dark. A few moths, as if to help Trixie distract herself, landed on her ward, rippling it as they made contact. As the seconds turned to minuets Trixie could hear a muffled conversation from within the building. A gentle mare and a slightly androgynous stallion by the inflection and pitch. Most was unintelligible. Perhaps there was a joke in there somewhere? The two stopped what they were saying to laugh. As they continued to speak the sound of hooves acceding stone stairs accompanied them. @ReverieRiver, The only response to Silver's question was a quick shuffling through the moonlit grass. Whatever she had noticed was unnaturally flighty and, invisible? Behind her was nothing but a large rock embedded in the ground to her left --a little smaller than a newborn foal-- and a puddle that was barely the size of a cauldron to her right. Aside from that all their was was a field of grass for miles, only broken by the dirt path cutting across. Could it have been a bird? The shuffling was too loud for any pigeon or blue jay --more like a black bear--, and sounded like it was moving through the grass instead of over it. As soon as it was gone, the feeling of being watched disappeared. As if one of the millions of stars dotting the sky shifted their gaze away from you and the sky seemed just a little less bright. @ExplosionMare, Meanwhile, while there was still sunlight in Ponyville a refined looking earthpony hesitantly approached Starlight with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me, but are you alright? It's just that you were talking to yourself and I felt a little concerned". All around Starlight there seamed to be ponies giving her odd looks somewhere between concern, annoyance, and fear. The mare that approached had a purple bow around her neck to match her eyes. She appeared to be struggling with a large instrument's case on her back along with a generic case of luggage. Whatever the instrument was, it seemed like more than a one-pony-job.

@ReverieRiver, There was nothing wrong with your post. In fact, I can't count all the things right about your post. This whole thing has been a tremendous success so far! I actually had a good idea for a response. Originally, I expected Starlight Glimmer to be the one you saw but I've come up with an idea of my own that I think works perfectly.

@Derpy Pon-3, @ExplosionMare, @ReverieRiver, I should mention the time specified on the invitation was a few hours after dark. Sorry for the oversight. @Derpy Pon-3, I'll assume you meant to wait for the time of the event @ReverieRiver, you'll be a few minuets early, and @ExplosionMare, you're character should still be able to get to the event in time.

@ReverieRiver, An excellent addition to the journey. Approved! Let our appetite be our virtue. (Although you may end up giving one of the NPC's an identity crisis) RP is open BTW, feel free to post.

@Randimaxis, Gold had to be impressed by Oglevy's presence. Despite being half his size, Oglevy spoke with authority. It was only sensible given the Gold's current status, but a sensible child is still a rare find. Oglevy made solid points so readily that there was no question that he had the best intention for Gold. That and he was in a trusting mood. There was another hurdle though. Gold could have trouble accepting advice at the best of times. Luckily, this was not the best of times so change can permeate though the cracks of unwellness. With all the typical barriers down, Gold could feel bring himself to reassess his approach. "So, I can keep the part about company image, I'll just leave out clients as an example..." Gold trailed as he adjusted his pitch, "Less emphasis on criticism and more emphasis on improvement..." "Alright, I think I'm ready!", Gold Dust exclaimed with newfound vigor, "Let's see Mrs. Blackwater!" He then stopped with a realization: Sore mussels = work out = sweat. Gold was about to mention needing a shower, but decided against it. "I feel like I'm forgetting something..." Gold trailed again and glanced at Oglevy. "Ah, just a quick question, do you know who's room you found me in? I suspect it isn't the guest room I was led to believe."

Alright @ExplosionMare, you're up.

@Derpy Pon-3, Ah, that's what you meant in your parenthesis. I thought you were referring to the spaces. I didn't know you already corrected that. No harm done then. Sorry for the false alarm.

@Derpy Pon-3, Right... Look, I have the character limit up for a reason (and I was hoping I wouldn't have to say that). It's supposed to encourage people to give some depth to their character interactions. Do you know how discouraging it is to put your heart into crafting a story only to see others giving a one sentence response? Sorry if I'm coming across as emotional, but I really have no other way to put it. Your just taking the wind out of peoples sails. I'm going to have to ask you to edit your post with a little more effort and try to remember what character you applied with. If you aren't capable or interested in giving those in-depth posts consistently then I'll have to ask you to find your Role Plays elsewhere.

@Derpy Pon-3, How did you do that? There's a 1,000 character minimum?

It is ready. You may post at your leisure!

OOC The address on the invitation was easy to find as it was the only house to show up on the road for some distance just barely cutting into the edge of the Everfree Forest. The long, tall building before you was made mostly of stone bricks. Each were perfectly flat and large enough to come up to a pony's neck, with only the thinnest layers of mortar as to not interrupt the aesthetic. The outside walls would show off their impressive depth with a row of tall, arched windows being set so far inward that a pony could take comfortable shelter. These tall windows repeated along either side and took up about a quarter of the viable surface. So close were they, that if the glass was gone, then the walls would look like a series of pillars in an acropolis. A lone tower connected on the right side, near the back. It only rose a single story over the rest of the building, but still stood comfortably above the treeline. The roof was a humble 'V' shape, only interrupted in the middle where the elevation rises like a fault-line. The yard leading up to the structure encompassed the building generously with a short wall that seemed to indicate the end of the yard instead of acting as an actual barrier. Based on the invitations, it looks like the first session wasn't quite ready yet. The night was though as the sun hovered over the Everfree's oddly cloudless horizon.

@Derpy Pon-3 @ExplosionMare, Hey all, Do you think I should wait for more applicants or are we excited to start now?

@ExplosionMare, Approved! May we all be elevated.

@ExplosionMare, I actually was the last one to post there. My long absence probably discouraged the GM though. Wish granted, the role play I plan on hosting has plenty of opportunity for that. self promotion.

@Randimaxis, Gold, having gone through his prepared laymen friendly speech on investments, scale, and useful competition it was time for him to get on with what he was waiting for "... on to a more personal note. I would strongly suggest for your employees to be tested not just for productivity, but also for how they treat guests. If a certain type of employee is the first thing someone sees, then they should reflect the rest of the company. If that employee is dismissive, or even worse: misleading, that can lead to lost opportunities; fewer potential employees to choose from, fewer investors, or even fewer sales." Of course, the colt probably had no say in what 'Redd' could do, but if Gold was going to have his revenge, better for it to be premeditated. He paused there for a moment taking extra care to memorize the colts response. Then it was time to drop the F-bomb. "Well, with that being said, what would an accountant be if he couldn't manage finances? Before making the final decision, I'll throw in a free audit to showcase my capability." With a thundering shake in the ground, Gold Dust was interrupted. He followed the gaze of his astray audience to see catastrophe on a scale beyond his precedent. A mountain in mayhem. "Do you think I should mention something about workplace safety?" Gold half-said, half-whispered.

@Duality, Excellent points. I'll say that the runes were actually a signal for the entity, (which I will refer to as an 'Hour') to take the marked person into their dreams for as long as the mark remains. The marked person is given youth so that they may serve the Hour as an unknowing surveyor in the dream world for longer than humanly possible. If one were to find the Hour, they would find him in their dreams as a long, pale, gold-dripping arm reaching out of a bee infested tree. What exists within the tree is up to you or the imagination. It could once be found in the 'real' world in a forest of Limbo's island home, but that forest did not survive the eruption. A single, unpleasant story of a pale arm reaching all the way out of the forest and into a villagers home survived the eruption and seems to predate the ritual. Thanks to Cultist Simulator for the inspiration/source material. Let me know if it's still out of scale?

@Randimaxis, Gold paused for a second expecting the colt to make a cheep jab at his optimism. When none come, he doped his tension and cleared his throat, "Well, without looking at your books I can't offer too much insight. However, with that being said, I can make some financial recommendations even in my short time here. For starters, an inventory counter at this stage is not a step in the right direction. It makes it harder to expand your company and runs some security risks. As your company grows you'll end up having to hire a new counter for every expansion. That's more ponies that expect a certain standard and more ponies that need to be watched to make sure they are doing their job and not taking actions detrimental to the company. A statistician can make a 95% accurate estimate in a fraction of the time allowing informed decisions to happen sooner. It scales well, keeps low-wage, overworked ponies away from your high value product, and looks nicer for visiting investors. On to the topic of investors..." Gold continued on, gauging his audience of one to determine the pace and when to allow for interjection.

@Duality, I was going to reveal it in-game, but I suppose any staff member would have access to this, so I might as well explain now. If a member of staff were to ask for her records they would find a colorful history: Limbo was originally found during a geological expedition after a volcanic eruption in a British Caribbean territory The sole survivor among an undocumented village covered in ash. After Limbo --still a sleeping baby-- was evacuated back to the motherland, an anthropologist was brought on to look through whatever records the village had. Within, a history of worship to something claimed to 'attack us that lack fear'. Another direct translation describes 'Our sacrifice won't be allowed to rise or the sea will turn black and the world will blink'. Evidence of runes along the entire lodge Limbo was found in suggests a massive project to loop time in the lodge every 6 hours so that their sleeping sacrifice should never wake up. To further support this theory, the lodge was noticeably far from the rest of the village and heavily insulated with large leaves all along the outside. The foster care Limbo was sent to requested a name so the historian was given the honor. She didn't spend long in the foster care with such a fantastical story attached to her and was soon adopted by Mr. and Miss. Glover. After searching through a grimoire found in the village, the aforementioned the historian claimed to have found nothing dangerous and a copy was sent to Limbo's residence (with the time loop ritual strangely absent) in case her birth family were the original owners. Limbo Dreams seemed to have a normal life after the adoption aside for very regular calls to the fire department and a court case for insurance fraud. Presto: we're up to the present.

@Duality, It's here! Bring out the mariachi band! Limbo Dreams: Link in the description. AU specific differences: She's a lamb-like humanoid with horns from London. She also has wool instead of hair (early-domestication wool. No permanent sweater for her). She's self taught in basic rune magic from a family grimoire but has only ever been able to craft a single rune for 'lite'. She is going to S.U. to master whatever makes her surroundings smolder in her sleep.

@Randimaxis, Gold simply sat at the front porch watching the clouds go by and waiting for his mussels to relax. Gold did tune in a few times, but not for long enough to gather enough context to jump in. He did pick up the fact that they apparently hired someone to keep a direct count of their stock which was a little odd. Gold just made that story up. He didn't know ponies actually got hired for that. Wouldn't they be able to higher a statistician for that? A single professional working for an hour a week would be a lot more cost-effective than a dedicated worker counting warehouses endlessly. Maybe Gold was selling them short. Professionals like that aren't exactly flooding the market after all. Still, when dealing with raw recourse that could go a long way. Maybe there was a reason the Blackwaters would avoid professionals. Then there was something about biting. Maybe he was talking about a sales pitch with a lot of bite. 'Maybe I should pay more attention,' Gold thought again. The world around him seemed to get a little duller. Like the color was being drained out everything. His ring hoof was warm too. Being both weak in body and heart was no condition to be in now. Something had to change, but his thoughts seemed so far away. Then he heard him talking about his cutie mark. His comments struck Gold as weird though. 'Easy to understand?' 'Do they even think of you?' These don't sound at all like something a child would come up with. It's almost like he was fed those words. He's been talking a lot about his mother, maybe he should expect the same kind of thing from her. That reminded him, maybe he should come up with an excuse for waiting outside in case 'Redd' was being genuine. Of course, there was still something bothering him about the colt next to him, besides the constant noise. Why me? maybe he is talking so much because he doesn't get a lot of opportunities. Sometimes his old school friends were like that. That part made him laugh a little bit. His latest annoyance had problems of his own too. "You know what," Gold said, regaining some of his color, "at first I was just trying to get you to leave me alone, but I like your persistence. I know what you're getting at though. So, no I don't actually do thread counts. How about I give you a real pitch, and you tell me if that's impressive."

@Randimaxis, Gold Dust stewed as his unwilling companion droned on and on. At first, he was worried that the colt didn't believe his story, but when started questioning his competence instead of his honesty, Gold just tuned him out. It probably wasn't smart to ignore him if he was a Blackwater, the keyword being 'if', but listening on couldn't be good for his heart-rate. Besides, a child's opinion on competence doesn't go nearly as far as their opinion on honesty. Gold could prove his worth through his work, but if he got a reputation for being dishonest then he might never get that opportunity. Gold started to wonder if he had done anything to deserve this. 'Let's see,' Gold thought, 'I show up, ask for directions, and take a brief sit down on a couch. I think I'm pretty justified here.' With that thought out of the way, Gold was about to tune back into whatever the colt was saying only to hear 'Prince of Thread Counts' and tune right back out. The only indicator that Gold was even awake was the fact that he kept walking. Even that wasn't too convincing with his heavy movements and the occasional tremor of fatigue. Thankfully the front door was in sight. As garish as the paintings were, they at least made it easy to tell unfamiliar hallways from familiar ones.

@Randimaxis, This colt was something else. It wouldn't be impossible for a colt that age to know that kind of terminology but that begged to question as to why something so dry and abstract would get his attention. What was most likely, Gold deduced was that the colt was just reciting what his mother told him without full context. What solidified Golds conclusion was that his story wasn't actually that impressive. Big profits were expected from a big ticket company like PegAir, and spotting something like as flashy as embezzlement is something he could see himself doing as new as he was to accounting. He smiled at his own reassurance, even though he didn't remember when he started frowning. Remembering his predicament and the tension, Gold's tried to make his smile seem forced. There was no need to show his hoof yet. "Hehe, w-well," Gold acted as he tried to walk past the troublesome colt, "I --um-- have to go, away." Gold's patience was running thin. That 'Redd' was going to have some hell to pay if Gold had any say on the matter.

Gold looked at the colt with suspicion. He couldn't help but relate, being an only child and not having any friends before school, but he was primed for deception. He had to be at the front door before anyone with authority saw him. The halls seemed more and more intimidating by the second. many of it's paintings were portraits, and their eyes seemed to sneer in silent hostility. Gold needed a second to slow his heart-rate, but a second was far more than he had to spare. An impatient colt wanted an answer, and he needed one that the colt wouldn't feel the need to tell his parents about, just in case he was a child of the house. "I've been looking for someone I can talk about accounting with," Gold said with a smile and took a breath now that he was satisfied with his plan, "I remember my first audit. It was so peaceful and calm. Isle seven of warehouse fore had the best welcome mats. The thread-count must have been about ninety-nine each." As Gold went on his tirade, he gestured for the colt to follow as he walked down the hall trying to use the more familiar paintings to retrace his steps. Hopefully the colt could see where this was going and paint drying would be time better spent.

@Flow, I'm in. It'll give Gold some potential to show his callus side.

@Randimaxis, "Ya, but it's all so wasteful," Gold said out loud in his room, "It can't be fair to have it all in one place." Even the Gold family never spent half as much on aesthetics. What helped give the Gold's their well suited look was that most of it had some utility. Gold edged cutlery might seem like a gross waste, but when considering how resistant gold is to tarnishing, you realize that the display adds some tangible value. A fifth painting on the same hall wall didn't have the same effect. Perhaps Gold Dust was dwelling on this too much. He had a clear goal that was going to be hard enough as it was; no reason to complicate things, but it stuck for whatever reason. This room was more leagues more subtle, but the same feel of excess was unshakable. As he sat on the couch opposite the painted vista of the quarry as he tried to get it out of his mind. He almost nodded off when a jolt from his left fore-hoof brought his attention to his ring. The constant reminder of the fruits of trust got his mind wandering over to Redd's wordy departure. "So this was guest suite..." That didn't sit well with Gold. Why would it be so modest? If this house was all about flashy displays, wouldn't it make more seance for this room to be a crescendo of flash to dazzle everypony. This suited a pony that expected to see flair and pizzazz every day. Like a resident. Gold Dust immediately jumped out of his couch seat and opened the door to find his way back to the front door, hopping the trap hadn't been sprung. "Nice try Redd, but it won't be that easy," Gold muttered as he flapped his fatigued wings ready to start flying through the halls.