private What the Wasteland Hooves Out

[Standard User 2,127]

OOC Thread

 

---

 

The old stallion has lost his keen and fervent edge – a glass of scotch has once again reduced him to a somber blight on the counter of the bar. His gibbering slowly fades away until he is all but silent. He could be asleep or he could be dead. Not that anyone would care about an old buzzard, right?

 

The ragtag six of you crowd around the map. There was an unspoken agreement, an acknowledging nod – everyone knew of this map now, so everyone would get at least a peek. One by one you each inspect the map, trying to discern the mad scribbles and stains. One by one, you come up empty hoofed. Perhaps letting it sit in the back of your mind for a while may help.

 

Once you’ve all inspected the map, you share another silent nod. For whatever reason, you want to accept this challenge. You can find Haven, if it really does exist. You can help the Wasteland, if not cure it. You can make your name known in the history books, if you don’t die trying.

 

Wouldn’t that make for a great chapter? Two griffons, a robot, two ponies with Steel Ranger’s backgrounds, and a Stable mare team up to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the wastes. Ha, this’ll be a good story.

 

Finishing off your drinks, you glance once more at the map…and encounter your first obstacle: you have, quite literally, zero leads on where to go. The crumby shantytown you are currently in isn’t even on the map. For all you know, Haven is on the other side of Equestria!

 

“Alright, you lot.” The bartender, a light blue mare with one eye missing, interrupts your thoughts with a glare. “The Club is closing. Get your asses outside before I have to bring ole’ Gemshot out.” Just like in all of the holotapes you’ve seen of old Equestrian movies with an angry bartender, the mare levitates out a banged-up shotgun with the word GEMSHOT spray-painted down the barrel.

 

Boy, that escalated quickly.

 

You all quickly leave the bar, congregating just outside the front door. The road you find yourself on is the only paved path that runs through the meager town. You can see where the buildings end and sparse farmlands begin in either direction – no one would remember a tiny gathering like this if it wasn’t for the RADigator.

 

So this is it. The exposition of your adventure is on the footsteps of a bar. The stallions’ words still ring in your ears, and something deep inside yourself tells you that Haven does exist and you will be the ones to find it. Of course, you need a direction to search in. You could ask around, although the stallion said that no one believes his story. Or you could just start walking. Not like there is much else you can do, unless you want to call for the Enclave to give you an airlift. Heh, like that would happen.

 

So what’s the plan?

 

 

OOC: Alright, ball is in your court. If you guys want to talk over a plan in the OOC, go ahead. Or if someone wants to pony up and take the lead, that is cool too. Remember, while this DOES have an element of randomness and gaming this is a ROLEPLAY FIRST AND FOREMOST. Develop your characters, build/destroy relationships, and make your mark. Don't just worry about the combat.

 

 

Okay, one more quick note. One thing I want to try is this: occasionally I will need to make a separate roll for all of you -- most often Perception to see if you notice something hidden. When I do this, I will make a roll for everyone, then put your character's name and your username before a spoiler. ONLY OPEN YOUR SPOILER. That is the thing you notice. If you have the time/opportunity to tell the others what you noticed, then you can include that in your post. But don't open up the other spoilers -- that is metagaming and every time you metagame, a kitten dies.

 

Don't kill kittens.

 

Anyway, this is just an idea that I had that I would like to try out at some point. I'm throwing it here so I don't forget later.

 

[UnitP0N13 25]

Pegatron Model-M4L1K, also known as Malik, put on his thinking cap (a party hat), but rather than spend a few moments in thoughtful contemplation towards their first move towards Haven, he just did what he's always done: he flicked on his radio and started getting down to the upbeat tune of the music. He wasn't one for leading, so he stayed silent, and kept his music to a low and tolerable level of volume, all the while strutting his metal hooves to and fro.

 

He remains silent for the most part. He doesn't have a plan and quite frankly couldn't care less. As long as a journey was involved, there were people to save, and he had his radio with him, nothing else really mattered. He'll let someone else do the thinking until needed.

Edited April 19, 2013 by UnitP0N13

[00Pony 286]

Alizarin trots out onto the pavement, glancing at the dreary sky, then back down to the group before him. Two griffins, one bearing scars, another definately mercenary, and he could tell by the look in his eye he wasn't entirely happy about being with pony folk. There was also a robotic Pegasus who was... Dancing? Alizarin shrugged, looking to the only other ponies, a young Unicorn mare and a Steel Ranger. Alizarin sighed, thinking to himself, "Just my luck there's a Steel Ranger here. He doesn't look Imperial though... So I shouldn't have to worry to much. I'll have to keep an eye on that Griffon Merc. I've run into enough of them in my life to know that they are fearsome. The other one doesn't seem like to much trouble, wonder what his story is? For that matter, what's the Bot's story? I was a Ranger and I've never seen anything quite on his technological level. Then there's that young mare, I have a feeling she's new here."

 

Alizarin waited a few seconds for someone to speak. When no one did, he took it upon himself, "I suppose I could open with a welcome. So, welcome. It seems we'll all be working together towards a common goal, find this 'Haven'. We all come from different walks of life, different pasts, different philosophies," on that last one, he made a pointed look in Guardian Angel's direction, "For now I'll just let you know me as Dawn, but I'm sure we'll all come to know about each other as time goes on. After all, we will be traveling together. I think we can all agree our first order of business is figuring out a good direction to go. There should be at least one of us that has an auto-map, so if we can find a common landmark on there, as well as this map here, we can get a course started."

 

Alizarin looks at each of them in turn, "Any of you recognize these landmarks?"

Edited April 17, 2013 by 00Pony

[Half-Note 273]

Guardian Angel stepped outside and looked around at his new companions. Two Griffons, a wanted brotherhood rouge, and a stable mare. "Well isn't it just my luck," he said under his breath before turning his head towards his companions. "I can't say that I know that place," he told Dawn in answer to his question. "Well I know at least two of you have combat experience," he said while gesturing to Dawn and the Griffon who was obviously a mercenary. "What about you three," he asked the other three. He saw the robot was dancing and made a clang as he facehooved.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Half-Note

[SilverHeart 741]

Silver Heart followed the rest of the group outside of the RADigator. This was one of the first times she had seen a Griffon up close. She found their anatomy interesting, particularly their talons. Unfortunately both of the Griffons had their bodies mostly covered. One was leaner than the other and wearing a large leather overcoat. The other larger Griffon was wearing a suit of old armor, possibly from before the war ended. The larger Griffons face had numerous scars on it. Despite her best efforts not to, Silver stole a quick glance at the numerous scars that covered Raptor. She wanted to ask him how he got the scars but the way he carried himself suggested that he wasn't very friendly. Before she could stare too long, the sound of music caught her attention. She turned her head and found a much more interesting sight, a dancing Pegatron wearing a party hat. She stared for a few seconds, wondering if the Pegatron was in need of repairs. She knew a little bit about robotics, not as much as she knew about Pony anatomy, but enough to do basic maintenance...at least on cybernetic implants. She didn't think there would be too much of a difference. She would ask later.

 

She looked at the last two members of the group; both of them were wearing suits of metal armor. She couldn't tell but it looked like they both had the same emblem on their armor. Unfortunately one of them had scratched through the emblem and placed another one near it. She briefly entertained the thought that they might be friends or at least allies. Once more Silver Heart shifted her attention to the map.

 

Silver Heart looked at the map before responding to Dawn's question, "I think that these two spots might be an old quarry and weapons factory South of my Stable...I'm not too sure though." Silver said as she pulled up a map of the area around her Stable.

 

"I have a bit of combat experience, I helped guard a trade caravan from some raider's....I mostly helped with first aid though." Silver Heart responded to Guardian Angel. "My parents have given me some military training though, if that helps."

Edited April 17, 2013 by SilverHeart

[UnitP0N13 25]

The robot cut the music for a moment to introduce himself.

 

"I'm Pegatron Model-M4L1K, but you may refer to me as 'Malik'. I've fought a fair share of my own battles out here in the Wastes trying to protect the innocent ponies who live out here. If any of you need mobile cover, I'll be glad to assist. That's not to say I don't have my own weaponry, though." Malik states in a rather cheery tone.

 

He looked to the map and studied it carefully.

 

"As for this thing...I'm not sure if I ever charted my travels in the Wasteland. Regrettably, I won't be able to help very much with the map...oh, hold on! If anyone here has one of those doo-dads that the Vault Dwellers wear on their hoof, we could probably cross-reference the map the device has with this map here...if the stallion wasn't horribly drunk when he drew up the map. We might end up having to explore the highlighted landmarks anyway to find out what's actually there, because I can barely read this offensively terrible handwriting." The robot gave out a electronic huff, shaking his head at the god awful writing for each landmark.

 

"Honestly, he could've at least stayed sober for the time he was making this map."

Edited April 17, 2013 by UnitP0N13

[00Pony 286]

Alizarin nods to Malik, tapping his helmet, "I've got something along the lines of those. However, I had to remove the auto-mapping feature for various reasons." 

He looks at Silver Heart, then to the map, "Which Stable did you come from? I'm from a lot further north of here, but I might still have an idea of where some things are."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

(Sorry about not posting sooner. I just got my technical difficulties resolved, so it shouldn't be a problem anymore.)

 

@@SilverHeart, 

 

Raptor noticed the mare staring at him for a moment and flashed a menacing grin. "Like what you see, sweetheart?"

 

He looked over at the map. "Beats me. I never liked maps. Better to rely on one's own sense of direction."

Edited April 19, 2013 by Alex Kennedy

[Ghostpony 17]

Unlike most, Seeker had remained silent for most of the conversation, it hadn't been out of disrespect to his new partners. It was Just that most of his attention was drawn to the poor map, most of the landmarks to Seeker seemed odd, but their was something almost in the direct path of what looked like some broken buildings on the map. At first glance it had looked like some old world confectionery, the way it had seemed rounded a donut came to mind. Though seeing what looked like a small outcropping coming from the circular land mark,it made fare more sense, it wasn't a donut...it was a slave collar and that meant "Slavers..." Seeker whispered to himself as old wounds made themselves prominent once again. With the small spike of pain it seemed to bring Seeker out of his own world and back into reality as Guardian Angel's question returned to the forefront of his mind, Seeker seemed to wait for another moment as he figured out what he wanted to say to the group. "I'm Seeker, and i wouldn't be hear if i didn't have a bit of combat experience."

 

{{sorry it took so long to post}}

[00Pony 286]

Alizarin turns to the griffins, nodding to each in turn, "Good to have you here. The two of you being griffins, obviously, you can fly, and as such can see more than the rest of us. Either of you recognize these landmarks? If not, we can ask around the town. Maybe somepony here has an idea of where something is.."

[UnitP0N13 25]

Malik would have frowned at Raptor's comment if he had any lips to manipulate. Nevertheless, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like this merc' fellow. He already didn't like him simply for being a merc, due to the fact that most of the time Talon mercs showed up it was to collect your corpse and the bounty on your head. At least, this was Malik's experience. From what he's heard, they mainly go after do-gooders, which the robot himself would fall under, and perhaps the others as well, especially Silver from what she said about her background.

 

He'd have to keep a close eye on this one. Not sure what he's doing in this group or why, but mercs don't tend to be very nice. For all he knows, the griffin could be planning to lure the group out to his buddies, if he has any. But there's no use in throwing wild accusations with no base or evidence to support it. Conjecture would get him no where in a group full of strangers. For now, the best thing to do is to watch...and wait.

 

Malik turned to Silver and spoke to her, just so she wouldn't have to respond to the rather shady griffon. No need for arguments this early on, much less loss of life or limb as a result. "So you're our medic, then? Good to have you aboard Miss...actually, I don't think you told us your name yet. Nicknames and aliases are fine if you'd rather keep your name to yourself, I just think it'd be more polite to use your name rather than call you 'medic' all the time." The bot chuckled a little.

 

"Well, that and we wouldn't want to draw fire to you in case anyone facing off against us decides to get smart after hearing 'medic!' and scopes out anyone running to our aid with medical supplies."

[Half-Note 273]

Guardian Angel nodded at each team mate as they confirmed their combat experience. Upon hearing Silver say she was from a Stable he knew he would need to keep an eye on and protect her.

 

"If I may make a suggestion, If we go to the local brotherhood chapter I can attempt to get map info from their maneframe and download it to this mare's pipbuck," he told everyone as he took a step closer to Silver.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Half-Note

[00Pony 286]

"Go to the local chapter of Rangers huh?" Alizarin thinks to himself, biting the inside of his cheek, "We should be far enough from home that they shouldn't be to adamant about collecting on the bounty... let's hope." He takes a long glance at Guardian, looking over his armor for any sort of identification of what chapter he was from, "I wonder if he's recognized me, and is doing this just to get help from his technology hoarding buddies...? I can't deny the fact going to them may be our best bet, but I still don't like it."

Alizarin sighs, looking at the old Ranger insignia on his shoulder, one that was now scratched away and replaced with that of his cutie mark. He stamps a hoof onto the pavement, saying his next words carefully, as if saying them left a bad taste in his mouth, "That may be our best bet, if we can convince zealots to part with such information."

Edited April 20, 2013 by 00Pony

[SilverHeart 741]

(OOC: I'm sorry it took me so long to post again. Also I have no idea which stable numbers have been used so I'm choosing one at random. I hope that is fine with everyone.)

@@00Pony, 

Silver Heart looked at Alizarin. "I'm from Stable 79...I don't think we had much contact with the rest of the world except for some trading."

 

@@UnitP0N13, 

Silver Heart frowned at Raptor's response, she wasn't sure of what to say. She never was very good with comebacks. Thankfully the pegatron spoke up before she embarrassed herself. She looked at Malik and smiled. "My name is Silver Heart...I guess I would be a medic, unless there's some...one more skilled than I am."

[UnitP0N13 25]

"Silver Heart? That's a very pretty name!" He almost said 'for a pretty pony', but he realized that he might seem like he's hitting on her rather than complementing her. Boy, that would've been awkward, and just thinking about is giving him the vapors.

 

...wait. Robots don't sweat. Phew. For a second, he thought he was going to light up in a dazzling display of sparks and fireworks, or at the very least smell funny. Then again, he can't smell, but he doubted that everyone here smelled like roses. Not a lot of showers out here in the Wastes.

 

"Well, Silver, I lived in a library a while before I came here to this bar. I spent a good portion of my time reading and recording data from the books I found. I managed to learn a great deal, and I was hoping to go through the whole library of books...unfortunately, some raider thought it would be funny if they threw an incendiary apple while I was still inside. So while I might be well-learned in a variety of topics, skill and knowledge are two very different things. I don't have any experience in actually patching up a pony, but I could possibly give it a decent shot if I tried. Hopefully..." Malik chuckled sheepishly, not wanting to think about touching anything remotely liquid. Like blood. Dear god, the blood.

 

"Point is, I'm pretty sure you're the only here with any real medical experience. Aside from that, I hope your time out here in the Wastes hasn't been to harsh on you. It must be a lot to take in after living in the Stable for so long."

Edited April 21, 2013 by UnitP0N13

[00Pony 286]

Alizarin bits his cheek in thought, then shrugged, adjusting the pistol strapped to his shoulder, "Can't say I've heard much about 79. What was the experiment?"

 

He listened as Malik spoke to her. His next words were partially directed towards the whole group, "As for medical prowess, unless you're like Malik, the most I could do is put you out of your misery, or give you a healing potion. My skills are geared more towards equipment maintenance, so if you need armor or weapons fixed, I can help you there, so long as your patient if it's a magical energy weapon. As for combat skills, I'm a pretty decent shot with a rifle," he gestured to the collapsed AMR strapped on one of his extra saddlebags, "but mid to short range combat isn't a problem." Alizarin adjusted the lens covering his left eye with one hoof, chuckling to himself, "Why I'm explaining this is a mystery to me. I guess if we get into a fight with any raiders or something along those lines, I want you guys to know why I'm hanging back."

[Standard User 2,127]

[Gonna try and nudge the ball in a general direction here...]

 

The twilight air sends a slight chill through each of you in turn (aside from Malik. Y'know, being a robot and all). As you stand on the front stoop of the Club inspecting the map, you hear the mutterings of young voices across the dirt road. The filly and colt -- school age earth ponies, if there was even a school in this no-name shantytown -- notice that you've caught wind of their words and speak up.

 

"Yeah, you heard us, you stupid Ranger shitheads!" The filly points an accusatory hoof at Alizarin and Guardian in turn. "We don't want ya' here!  Go back to your stupid holes in the ground and leave us alone!" The filly hoists a rock in her hoof and lobs it over the road, aiming for one of the suits of power armor, but it falls woefully short of its intended target. "My daddy had a nice laser rifle not long ago. And then you stupid shitheads come strollin' through town and y'know what happened then? I woke up to a dead dad and no stupid rifle! You stupid, stupid shitty shitheads killed him and took our stupid rifle!"

 

The filly breaks down into sobs and runs away, followed by the colt. Before turning to chase his friend down an alley, the colt stops and turns, giving you all a look. His eyes offer both a look of hatred and a look of confusion, and his mouth opens and closes like a fish as if he is struggling to say something or not. Apparently making up his mind, he breaks eye contact and follows the filly, yelling for Ruby to wait up.

 

Apparently the Steel Rangers aren't wanted here, but something in the filly's story doesn't quite add up. Not that this is really your problem. Right?

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

Raptor shook his head in disgust at the foals. He would have taught them a lesson, but their insults weren't directed at him, and he had better things to do anyway "You ponies really need to teach your young better. Are all foals so crude and disrespectful? A hatchling griffon knows its place better than to talk to its elders that way."

[00Pony 286]

Alizarin grunts, shaking his head at the foals, "That is one of the many reasons I defected from the Rangers in the first place."

 

He looks back at the Talon, "Depends on where you go. In my old Chapter, they were all disciplined."

He looks back at where the foals had been, trotting a foot or so from the rest of the group, muttering, "Something doesn't seem right to me. Not even the Imperials would murder a pony in his sleep for a mere laser rifle," he scoffs, "It'd have to be more valuable than that." He looks out into the distance, "If I'm not mistaken we'd fall under the jurisdiction of the Trottingham Chapter." He turns and trots back to the party, looking directly at Guardian Angel, "You, knight, paladin or whatever your rank, what do you know of the behavior patterns of the Trottingham Chapter?"

 

Alizarin hadn't noticed his tone had changed from it's original calm into the authoritative one of a squadron leader. Just like old times.

[UnitP0N13 25]

Malik made no hesitation to make chase after the foals. He had to know what was going on.

 

"Wait up!" the robot galloped after them, following them into the alleyway.

 

He didn't care to stick around long enough to hear Guardian Angel's answer. If the foals have no parents and no weapon, the chances of there survival are incredibly low should a band of raiders drop by or anything else. Even if protecting these foals meant taking them under his wing for the moment, he would do it. It's better than not doing anything at all for them.

[SilverHeart 741]

@@UnitP0N13, 

 

Silver Heart smiled once again at Malik, "Thank you, Malik. It is very different, ponies aren't as nice or educated in general. From what I've been told the living conditions are also pretty horrible. Personally I think I preferred living in the Stable, quality medical supplies aren't as hard to get access to. Fortunately healing potions are still easy to come across out here though. Also bottle caps as currency confuse me. I don't know why bits aren't used anymore."

 

The Pegatron so far had defied what Silver Heart had expected from a robot. This one seemed to have a strong personality. At the mention of a library Silver Heart became noticeably excited. When she lived in the Stable one of her favorite (and sorely missed) past times was reading. She hadn't read a book since before she was forced outside. "Where is the library? Are there any books left? From what little I've seen there isn't too much left of the old Equestria." 

 

@@00Pony,

 

Silver Heart stared at Alizarin for a few moments trying to make sense of the question. "I.." she paused briefly, "I'm afraid I don't understand. What experiment? Do you mean " Before Alizarin could respond two foals started shouting at the group. She knew that foul language was common among adult ponies in The Wasteland but it was still rather shocking to hear it come from foals. In the Stable such behavior was strongly discouraged.

 

@@Alex Kennedy,

 

"In the Stable if we ever cursed, insulted, or defied somepony that was a higher authority we were disciplined . Usually by physical punishment or solitary isolation." Silver said as she watched Malik ran down the alley after the two foals. She looked back towards the group. "I think I'm going to check on those two..." 

 

Silver Heart started trotting into the alley searching for signs of the foals. 

 

@@Kolth Perception Roll: 32

 

Edit One: Adding roll.

Edit Two: Messed up spoiler.

Edited April 22, 2013 by SilverHeart

[Half-Note 273]

Guardian Angel kept a straight face as the foals yelled at him. "The Trottingham chapter is known for being less cruel and violent than the rest of the Steel Rangers. They don't help ponies but they don't hurt anypony either," he told Alizarin.

 

Guardian noticed the stable pony and trotted after her. Luna forbid she get jumped with only a dancing robot to help.

 

(I used the Trottingham chapter from Project Horizons as a reference)

[00Pony 286]

"If that's the case then this would be incredibly out of character..." Alizarin muses to himself, walking out to where the stone that the filly had thrown landed. He turned back to face the two Griffins, "Are you two coming? Whether or not, it makes no difference to me."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@00Pony,

 

Raptor shrugged. "I don't see the point, but it's not like we'd be accomplishing anything by sitting here anyway. I guess if you guys are going to follow them, I might as well go too." He sighed and started walking in the same direction the others had gone off in. 

[Ghostpony 17]

Seeker could only stand there as his words seemed to go threw one ear and out the other for most if not all of the ponies in the group not even his fellow griffin seemed to acknowledge him as he tried to introduce himself. Though it didn't bother him as much as the group's attention drifted from introductions of the individuals in the group to the lone mare because of her history of being from a stable. True he knew what Stables were, though he never exactly met a pony from one of them, but the curiosity in his mind was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as he saw two little foals throw insults to the two Steal Rangers in the group as well as a rock that feel short, and well something didn't add up. Could their have been something the two young ponies didn't tell them or was their more, but once again he was brought back to reality as he heard Raptor and Alizarin's words. With quick flaps of his wings he took off into the air "from here i should get a better view" Seeker spoke as he followed the group.

 

True the Steel Rangers weren't the nicest group in the waste but they didn't go out and kill ponies and take their weapons even if they were energy weapons. After all if they did he would have met them sooner, then he originally did. Seekers eyes scanned the streets below him as he looked for the two younger foals to get some answers for where their out burst was coming from.

 

total roll: 32

Edited April 23, 2013 by Ghostpony