Pretzelparty

"Well... I did hear some rumors about an mythical blade of somekind by some papers in one of the college's journal." He took a sip of his of his tea, " I believe it was some blade called 'Chaac' Myth says ancient pegasus chieftains could use it to strike clouds and make rainstorms." Stories involving storms never failed to grab this dog's attention. Perhaps it was his affinity to them. Mom and dad always said he looked like a little thundercloud as a pup. If the rumors about this artifact were true he'd be especially curious if it was in any usable condition, sounds like a once in a lifetime chance to wield a weapon of legend! ... but parting with such a thing for the sake of the noble pursuits of archaeology was also good. Hogo-sha smiled and held up his own cup, "I have actually. I'd been hoping to try Pur'erh for a while. I have some spare coin so I'd be happy to pay for your drink." He seemed to fluff up rather proudly at that. "If you've got a magic detection spell , it might be more effective than my temperamental method.... and if you've got some methods of defense then we can definitely watch each other's backs.

The diamond dog's ears perked up at the sound of Pocket's voice. He looked surprised at first... the university certainly worked fast. He'd sent out that letter less than a week ago and already someone had responded to it. "Ah!" Hogo-sha stood up from his chair and gave a formal bow in greeting, "It is a pleasure, Mister Change. I'm glad to see that the university took an interest in my request for aide." He gestured to the chair opposite him with a smile, "Please, have a seat if you'd like!" Once Pocket took his seat, Hogosha would slide the book his way. "To be blunt... I'm looking for an artifact in that book. Not one in particular... but one that hasn't been found yet. One that would bring quite a bit of prestige to both of our names if we can find it together." Hogo-sha was trying to be honest but he had a habit of trying to cut to the point when it was necessary. Having that Daring Do book on the table as well may have added to a feeling of urgency. "I have a certain gift that helps me locate magical items easier than others... and I can protect you from just about any threat we come across."

"I love the enthusiasm, Daze." Spoke fiver, "But you should be careful with training and flying twenty four seven... over-training can be a real worry even to the best of athletes. Can hurt your muscles long-term... even hurt your motivation." Fiver knew all too well the dangers of over-training, having been through many of those herself in her youth. Some times she had to wonder if all the work she'd done might have contributed to her own peak she'd been feeling recently. Brushing such dour topics out of her mind she picked up on Daze' mention of Cloudsdale, "I'd say Cloudsdale is a pretty special place, not everypony or even every-creature can even walk there... I had a lot of trouble learning to walk on cloud when I first visited the place..." Loose Cannon got her attention not long after, "Actually yes! A nod to my name and a flight trick that got me enough attention to join the team I was on. My name 'Khamsa' means five in Saddle arabian." That aerial trick she mentioned earlier was part of what inspired the nickname too, but in Fiver's mind it wasn't nearly as important now. ... especially after that weird clicking sound. At first she was going to get up from her seat but then noticed something odd bout the window: The scenery. There were some mountains that they were in the process of passing by, including some rocks and other arctic imagery... but after that clicking sound things seemed to be getting slower. "Something... seems off." She said as she stood herself up, "Anyone up for some investigation?"

In the cozy little teahouse there was a diamond dog with a sword. The blade left leaning against the wall in its sheath while the owner calmly sipped some fragrant tea. It was nice to be able to find a place that brewed the tea close to the way it was back home on the mountain. The unusually classy canine sipping as he thumbed through a book. The Title was: “Lore of Equestria: Tenochtitlan Basin Volume 2”. The book was full of various mythical accounts of sacred artifacts, ancient treasures, the various pony tribes there that protected the various ancient tombs. Seemed like most of them had apparently made appearances in those Daring Do books that were so popular around here. Finding just one that supposedly hadn’t been found, lost or returned to it’s pedestal by the heroine was strangely frustrating. Even if the events were fictional it would lessen the impact of this dog finding any to make use of himself if somepony popped up to say “Daring Do did it first.” Hogo-sha let out a sigh through his nose and leaned back in his chair, “Isn’t there some sort of ancient artifact in the Basin somepony hasn’t retrieved yet?” He asked to noone in particular.

I have a few characters who'd love to meet Thrilly sometime too! My royal chef has been out traveling and was hoping find more chefs and learn from them... along with seeing and meeting new people. She's never met a cat person and would love to spend time with a companion like her! Pocket change could easily run into my wolf yokai Hogo-sha. He's a globetrotter too, but more of an amateur archeologist. He's mostly looking for fame and power for the most part but he works to always keep his word and act reasonably. He's a very big nerd, and loves poetry. My travelling Bard recently met Smolder in another Rp! Maybe we can develop a friendship off that interaction!

The unicorn looked to Pathfinder in her odd position on the table. She tilted her head a bit to try and get a better look at the cover and title while she responded, "Studying. I've been looking to further my knowledge of the magic I use. Are you still doing all those adventures? I only went on a couple and I got cursed after the second one..." She huffed through her nose in annoyance before smiling to Pathfinder and giving the slightest of smiles, "It's good to see you again. The rest of you as well." She bowed her head to Firewalker, "I'm almost scared to ask what might be int pitcher... I would like some orange juice if it isn't any trouble." She said in her usual calm register as she approached the table and the rest of the group. Squall sure seemed different since the last time Rose was here. somehow the unicorn seemed more mature, did he get taller too? What he was talking about though was going a bit over Rose's head. Perhaps she'd come in a bit late in the conversation to truly get the grasp. "Um... I just got here so I'm not sure I have all the context." She slid her currently deactivated headphones down to hang off her neck, "What was your Epiphany, Mister Squall?"

Rather than taking the time to lay back Hogo sha pushed forward. Closing the distance between him and Tempest with surprising speed. His Arms were up and guarding his body until he prepared to throw a right hook. His eyes locked on to the cow's with a fierce intensity as he let the punch fly only to abort as soon as she brought up her guard and then would rain down a series of sharp jabs to her side. Any attempts to made by tempest to back off weren't going to bear fruit, Seems her opponent was determined to keep up the pressure on her and not give her a moment to analyze.

With the training finally getting its start, Fiver relaxed a bit. She looked back to the Daze and smiled, "Well thanks. I try to keep myself in shape but for me I've done all I can so... I'll be sitting this one out and watching from the sidelines. " Fiver always liked seeing new athletes enter the scene, not just fliers but runners or even swimmers. Some might say she was too old be feeling so nostalgic, and maybe they were right. Still, she was content for the most part and willing to cheer on anyone with a dream to improve themselves. When Golden Daze spoke up her name, Fiver quickly answered with her own. "Khamsa Alriah. My friends call me 'Fiver'." The musings of Zelda brought another smile to Fiver's muzzle. A chance to relax and not worry about what was left behind was exactly what she'd been hoping for. Shame it was only to last as long as this ride. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Zelda. I'm a ... stunt flier more or less. Been a part of a good team for a while, but I'm thinking about exploring other options in time. I'm on my own little vacation for the same reasons as you are." Loose cannon sounded much more knowledgeable about the nature of governments than Fiver did. Just hearing words like principality took the Pegasus back to the days of schooling with her mother back in Saddle arabia. Scholars could be such a boar, strange neither her nor her brother took to knowledge in the same way her parent had. "Frankly I stopped thinking about how Equestria's government is run a long time ago. It seems as though things will be as they will be regardless of what I or others do."

"Not much to be nervous about, Stranger. It's a nice place according to the brochure." She said as she held up the aforementioned item, "That fancy festival they have seems to have passed, but there's gonna be a big race when we arrive." She pulled her eyes up from the paper and looked over Daze's cold weather gear and smiled, "Are you gonna be racing in it? You've definitely got the build of an athlete." Seeing her fellow Pegasus passenger like this really took her back, when she was a recruit in the Wonderbolts she had that same nervous look meddled with excitement. The griffin turned out to be quite the skilled artist. When Zelda spoke up about the rest of the cabin being her sketch subject Fiver cracked a smile, "If I can get a look at the result I'm fine with it. Are you a professional sketch artist? Or do you do other types of work alongside it?" The earth pony with the salmon colored coat was especially talkative. Her interest in the culture of the crystal empire was something that caught Fiver's attention, That bit about not interested in the crystals was a tad eyebrow raising. Not so much that Fiver was terribly interested in their architecture or artifacts either, but she couldn't help but think it was odd to mention that specifically. That last question about it also drew the pegasus' attention too, "That's a good question actually... The empire doesn't really seem to fit the definition of an empire. Seems more like a king-- er princessdom maybe?"

The black dog itched his muzzle a moment on the roof. Nilaavin's fur still bothering his senses and that paw smack earlier not having helped. He fished around the inside of his coat until he pulled out a kerchief and brought it to his nose. "Thank you for the insight, Friend. " The sniffling diamond dog gave a bow, "I am Hogo-sha of the east. Have you come to this land in the hopes of broadening your horizons as I have?" He pressed the true diamond dog on in conversation, in part to distract himself from the scent of cat in the air and also out of genuine curiosity. Hogo-sha was not a real diamond dog, but meeting a genuinely civilized one was always something that he tried to to take advantage of... and Anu was certainly not one he had ever run into before. Regarding the sphinx, Hogo-sha couldn't help but feel a bit insulted. Not just by the rude dismissal of his offer of help through literature, but somehow through the ancient words he could tell that whatever Nilaavin was saying: it wasn't at all kind. A huff of annoyance escaped the dog as he looked back at giant cat, "Dare I ask what he thinks of us, Your highness?" He looks back to Blueblood, "It is alright, Your highness. It is a waste of time to hold grudges over one's life ... or prejudices." He glanced back down at the cat then back to his master, "In my travels I had once heard that the wisdom of a sphinx was like an Oasis in the desert. I would tell him 'expect poison from the standing water.'" Those with a knowledge of poetry may recognize that line was from a work by some semi-obscure poet of the equestrian canon. He spoke through his handkerchief at his muzzle, "I may not speak his language, but I feel as though I can hear the tone of contempt in it. It worries me.... but while he is in your care he must be in the best of hooves."

The punch just barely met its mark, it's target having rolled along with the blow to mitigate some of the force. After taking the hit, Hogo-sha puled his weapon free and swiftly leapt backwards to put some distance between them. At first his face was down for a few seconds, then shot back up with a delighted grin. "The first blow landed on me tonight." He took in a breath and stood back up in a flash, "Now..." His arm moved in a blur in front of him in blur of blue and black colors. Tempest would have felt a rush of wind blast past her face and some knick her ear. Some sort of impact behind her. A roar erupted from the audience as they beheld the feat. The wooden sword had been jammed into the wall as (wooden) sword in stone, "... I'm Motivated!" A cloud dust flew up behind him as he again closed the distance between himself and the cow. At first it seemed like he was going to put all of himself into a haymaker but it turned out to be a feint. If Tempest fell for it, Hogo-sha would step back and then thrust forward with a fast straight aimed at her shoulder. At this point, the diamond dog felt he may have figured out what type of fighter this cow was. The kind who tries to draw out an opponent, open up their guard, and capitalize on their mistakes. There were a couple ways to fight such a style, a few of which this dog knew of. He figured to try for the careful method... Tempest had taken on most of the fighter's before he'd gotten her attention. Her stamina was incredible, but even the best have their limits. The smile on her face was practically mirrored by her opponent, the wolf having his hopes renewed. Maybe he'll actually need to drop his disguise in this fight and resort to magic...

That saying gave the dog pause... the foreigner seemingly mulling it over before smiling up at the pony atop the sphinx, "Those are wise words, Sir." He said with a short bow, "I see now why you have the privilege of riding a top a sphinx." He wrinkled his muzzle in the presence of the big cat as it looked down upon him in spoke that curious language, "Sorry to say I can't understand your words, Nil-san. I do think you should consider growing past your reluctance to speak common tongue... some can find it rude if it becomes to often an occurrence." The dog fumbled his pockets for a moment before picking up a book labeled: Equestrian for beginners. "I had a hard enough time getting ponies comfortable around me looking like this... I can only imagine how rough it could be for you being the size of a small building." Hogo-sha proffered the book in the Sphinx's direction, "If the print is too small for you to read then perhaps your master can help you out?" Seeing how large the creature's paw was he thought for a moment, "Maybe I should just offer this to your master instead--" Something on the wind caught his attention... Was it bacon?! no, of course not. He was more than civilized enough to avoid a tantalizing scent like that. Instead it was something the smelled of Saddle Arabia. Hogo-sha turned towards the source of the scent and took note of a curious looking diamond dog on the rooftops. That little ankh hanging from his neck brought a smile to Hogo-sha's face. In a couple bounds, the black dog hopped from the nearby canopy to a roof in front of Nilaavin. Now he was eye to eye with Blueblood... and was easily able to see the dog nearby, to whom he waved offer. "Excuse me, Sir!" He called over, "You seem like you might have some knowledge of the prince's new servant. Perhaps you have some insight?"

Already going for the cheap and dirty? This was already getting disappointing and the dog's smile faded slowly until it turned to one of a kind of focused boredom. Aware enough of his surroundings and ready to react, but having already starting to have some doubts about his opponent. If She had really only gotten this many with raw strength and pragmatic tactics she was still very impressive, but he'd hoped to find someone skilled. "You take what you get in the end I guess..." he thought to himself as he tensed up, "I hope she's clever enough to get me to really push myself today." Not long after the cow dug her hoof into the dirt, the dog jumped back in a flash. Moist dirt flung in clumps fell to the arena floor as Hogo-sha did. When he landed he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid that punch coming for him and ... to be frank he didn't want to. Upon landing Hogo-sha swung his blade once so that the cow's punch was met by the flat of the wooden sword and then batted away to force an opening. Hoping to take advantage of the opportunity he made he Thrust the blunt end of his sword at the cow. The blow containing a great deal of force, enough to send her skidding backwards and leave a deep indent in her armor... if she was hit at least. If she managed to Dodge he would press the attack doing some quick but forceful thrusts with the bokken in a quick flurry. Making sure to keep up the pressure.

It was awfully nice for someone to invite Fiver to the racing event in the Crystal Empire. At first they floated the possibility she could be a judge, but by this time Fiver decided that her discernment had been somewhat impaired as of late. Thankfully, the organizer on the other end of the mail service understood and simply gave her some fairly nice stand to watch from. If she was being completely honest with herself, she really wasn't terribly interested in going: Especially if someone was only calling her in because of her wonderbolt status. She'd hoped the calls would have stopped by now. With how little she'd been going to the demonstrations lately, being forgotten about would have been preferable. In the end, she accepted the offer so already she was on her way. Making it to the station just in time to hear the conductor calling out for the late arriving passengers. With a short rush of wind she was already past the doors, ticket in hoof. "Thanks, Mister." She said almost reflexively as she started down the Hallway, "See you when you collect the tickets." Toting her luggage behind, her eyes bounced between each cabin numbers and the ticket in her hoof. The bag was fairly heavy, even for her. So many larger than average clothes for a larger than average flier. Her Saddle Arabian ancestry made her shopping in general pretty difficult thanks to her taller build. Finding winter clothes for the crystal empire was almost an ordeal by itself. Still, she found some and now they were packed up in the bag behind her. Maybe she should have taken up Mother's offer to make use of the tailor's back home but Fiver's pride hadn't fallen so far ... yet. Finally finding a matching number on her ticket, Fiver knocked a few times for courtesy and then opened up the door. She looked over the occupants already present and smiled. This was a varied group she'd stumbled in upon. A griffin, an Earth Pony, a pegasus. If she waited a little longer maybe a dragon could pop by. That green maned pegasus looked like she might just be about ready to explode with how much she was shaking... Must be nervous. The black griffin sketching away at her pad made her curious, but she managed to resist the urge to peek: She heard some artists were very touchy about being watched in the middle of a work in progress. Seeing a seat by the corner of the cabin, Fiver took it and carefully put her luggage in the proper compartment. "Okay..." Once that was done she slacked down into her seat with a sigh, "Um... This everyone's first trip to the empire?"

Sorry for the wait. I talked ot staff and you should now be certified!

Yeesh. That was certainly... a look. Hogo-sha had seen shellshocked gaze here and there. He'd even given a few of his own when he was first starting out and trying get past his hangups with failure. Thankfully, he'd managed to pull through such a look with time and experience. Like He'd said before, he'd been fighting a while... more then likely twice as long as his opponent had. On some level he envied her raw strength, but goodness that was a sad gaze. The Dog stood unshaken, the stare only managing to stimulate his curiosity. A smile coming to his muzzle as she tapped the wooden sword, his narrowed as he felt his heartbeat quicken in anticipation. His ears twitched ever so slightly as the cow's hoofs clopped against the cold ground of the arena. On the first tap he dropped the smile, the second tap his eyes narrowed, and on the third he was ready. He was surprised, not so much by her speed but by this risky venture. Eyes were glued to her haunches as they came around... he waited for the moment when they would soon be thrust in his direction and swiftly moved out of way: looking for a moment like a blur of black and blue. When the cow's leg's came out he was already at her side and delivered a quick jab at the cow's side. The impact wouldn't deal much damage to a hardy 'caribou' like her but being jabbed by a blunt object still hurt... and her opponent's strength managed to slide her backwards about two feet. "You've got very good Hoofing there!" He called out, "If you’re done testing the waters. I hope I've been satisfactory."

I could definitely give Fiver a try. Haven't played her in years but it could be fun! As for what causes of wha tstrands them there... How about someone just uncouples the latch connecting their car to to the train? If they were near the back and in the middle of a snowstorm thent eh car could get sorta left behind and the train could just keep on going?

I'd like to offer up a few characters if that's okay! There's my former Wonderbolt, Fiver. My Neighponese Bartender (and secret yokai)... and nothing else, Toboe Hiretsuna. And lastly my Neighponese Golem trainer, Hoshi Shirogane.

As renowned caribou were for their warriors, Lately Hogo-sha's time in their land was getting... disappointing. It wasn't his first time in Saarvagerg, this traveler had made several visits in the past to hone his skills in a fight. When he first showed up he he had already been tempered through training with his old master, so he had a bit of an edge of the regular fighter. But now he'd become something of a seasonal regular. He had the advantage of experience now over most of the competition, normally he had his most fun in the royales, or when there was a notable talent in the ring. Seems that one had finally managed to show up. This curious scarred caribou showed remarkable strength, even for... whatever she was. There was no fooling this "dog's" nose. An unmistakable scent of magic seemed almost baked into her form or whatever was covering it. Whatever reason she had for concealing herself from the caribou wasn't something Hogo-sha was concerned with. Right now there was a promising scrap in front of him and he was not about to let the chance slip. The black dog nimbly hopped over the fallen bou around him, his own number of beaten opponents already fairly impressive, though clearly this silent cow had outpaced him. "It's good to see someone around here with a some genuine talent..." The dog approached his opponent with a warm smile, "I'm Hogo-sha." While the strange dog seemed welcoming enough to his opponent, he was hardly open. He had an air about him, something that just said he was prepared for what was to come his way... or that he at least felt he was. "I've been coming here a long time... and I look forward to days when I meet someone skilled." He casually handed off the weapon in his left hand to his right and pointed the Bokken* toward the cow. This wooden sword was entirely clean, not a speck of blood or dent on it. Members of the audience might have noticed that earlier he's not really been fighting with the sword in any serious way. Mostly just tapping opponents in vital areas here and there then knocking them across the stage or into other fighters. None he hit though were ever preocupied and he took care to not interrupt the battles of others in the arena.

Yama was always eager to meet new creatures himself so as soon as Silverstream zipped back over to him he mirrored her words with perfect intonation. "I'm a w--- I'm a Kirin! From the eastern lands of Neighpon! I've never gotten to meet a bird um... pony?" The stallion paused a moment to ponitficate what exactly made a pony a pony (one of life's deepest philosophical queries) but then perked back up and bowed his head in greeting. "I'm Yamakara no Ongaku! Means "music of the mountains" back home but my friends all call me 'Yama' for short! It's nice to meet you and it wouldn't bother me if you played a kirin!" Him not actually being a kirin probably made that call so much easier to make. Gallus' little "Hey." managed to catch Yama's attention very easily, "Hey there! Nice to meet you, stranger!" Yama didn't say anything, but watched as the peppy Hippogriff shared a couple words with the griffin. His brow arched a moment and his eyes widened when he saw the blue birdcat fluff up and took note of him catching his breath. A small smile came to his face as Gallus stumbled through a response to SIlverstream's question. Yama was not a stallion who was good at concealing his feelings so his gleeful smile as his eyes bounced between the two feathery friends might seem a little out of place. Realizing that this thing between the two of them probably couldn't benefit from his excitement right now he brought his attention back to the game... then made his way over to the table across from the orange dragon. He gave Smolder a cheery smile and wave from across the table, "Hey there! I like your horns! Maybe one day I can grow mine to be as long and shiny too!" Was that an insensitive thing to say? Yama hadn't met many dragons but from the stories he heard they sounded really cool if a bit rough around the edges when it came to friendliness. But he came from a family where play wrestling was common. Had to be tough to live on the mountains after all! Oh! Was that common ground for them? He heard Dragons often lived among mountain peaks...maybe that could be a conversation topic later! Hearing Smolder elaborate on her character and the spells she'd use he grinned, "Thanks for making my job a little easier! I'm gonna bring in a cleric character I made a loooooooooooong time ago." The stallion took in a deep breath and exhaled some wisps of green flames... although they didn't set fire to the table. Instead they picked up a pencil and drew out a simple but decent doodle of a dragon in what seemed like to be clerical vestments and holding a hammer. "Her name's Lamplight and she's a a good natured dragon whose left her homeland in the far mountains to spread the word of her faith mostly through healing but other times by smashing if the need arrives." He looked up to smolder, "When i first made her up I actually pictured her around your size! She didn't turn out as cool looking as you did I think." "Thanks again for the seat and sheats, Miss Yona! I do have some questions though? Are the racials and stats for dragons in the game still the same as I remember?" The stallion scoured his brain for the text he recalled reading all that time ago, "If I remember right was like a plus one to physical and magic for every ten gold pieces on you? Having to role for constitution every turn when battle is going on around those red and orange trees? The ability to fly a short distance?" To any of those familiar with the game some of these might sound familiar to varying degrees... but the odd thing was that the bonuses he listed were from an older edition of the game. About at least forty years old. Maybe his first game was just with a really old set. Sure. That's it.