pathfinder v merlot showdown! Pathfinder and the Emperor's Testament (Closed: Invite Only)

[Bellosh]

*OOC REQUIRED READING*: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/22604-lore-long-guo-mount-faba/

 

 

This should have been the crowning achievement of Dr. Merlot's career.

 

No prize in the field of archaeology had been sought after more than the resting place of the monstrous serpent dragon Faba, the Great Tyrant King of the Ancient East. According to the lore of the Long Sun, King Faba and his army of serpent dragons were turned into terracotta statues upon their overthrow and buried beneath an unknown mountain. However, most archaeologists had come to the conclusion that King Faba's mythical tomb never existed, as no evidence could be found anywhere that the supposed subterranean complex was ever constructed.

 

...Until now.

 

Dr. Merlot didn't believe it at first when word privately reached his ears via new "benefactors" of his that physical evidence of King Faba's Tomb had come to light. Apparently, a shadowy cult devoted to Faba managed to safeguard a millennia-old scroll detailing the exact location of Mount Faba; a desolate nondescript mountain on Long Guo's eastern frontier. Merlot's benefactors were suspicious of the discovered clue too, hence why they sought out the good doctor for his expertise. Believe it or not, the gentlecolt's examinations revealed that the artifact in question was indeed genuine.

 

And now from a rocky vantage point flanking the excavation camp on Mt. Faba's western slope, Merlot took in his surroundings as he fidgeted with a new pin on his lapel.

 

...A pin depicting the black kraken of WRAITH.

 

 

Despite partaking in the greatest archaeological endeavor since the discovery of King Mutt's Tomb in Diamond Dog territory, Dr. Merlot was not in a mood to celebrate. The stallion might have been the lead archaeologist of this expedition on paper, but in truth WRAITH was in charge... and without actual clues in their possession as to the actual entrance of Faba's mausoleum nor what was inside, WRAITH's goons saw fit to carelessly drill and dynamite the mountainside wherever they pleased. Dr. Merlot tried raising objections, but was silenced; they claimed the good doctor should be grateful he had an organization backing him with the horsepower and willingness to maintain absolute security at every cost.

 

Tsk tsk tsk... at least Merlot would get to retire in splendor as the most renowned archaeologist of all time. And there would be nopony to stop him this time!!!

[Zeig]

 

Now, this was exactly the sort of lovely vacation he'd been aching for. 

 

Because after he'd made a right dog's breakfast out of the Rally, he had been half expecting some grueling correctional sessions back at headquarters for the foreseeable future. Standard procedure, really, especially for the higher-ups. Grunts? Grunts came and went just as quickly, none too worried about them. There was a reason why grunts were kept ignorant and unknowledgeable of the true going-ons of the organization - they were a liability, useful for the hard labor and scapegoats and little else. But with the higher numbers? WRAITH invested time and training in them, didn't they, and could scarcely afford to replace him.

 

Was the highest form of compliment, in its own way. 

 

And yet here he was, pleased as all punch, strolling across the rocky ridge as the chavs scurried below him and chipped away at the mountainside with a frenzied determination. Revenant himself had been against this...wanton display of ignorance and foolery, but the leads on the excavation had assured him of no other viable course. Considering that no one knew where the bloody entrance was in the first place, well...that limited their options a fair amount.

 

Still, he didn't have to rightly like the dust and debris and explosions that were flying away from the mountainsides at a steady rate, easy spotting for any aerial patrol to catch them bang to rights. He could make a stand as well as the next stallion, but if a job could be done without the attention of every, single, bloody Watcher in the area, well...that would be aces by him. 

 

But again...limited options.

 

"You look right well and chuffed," the darkly colored stallion commented as he strolled up to meet the Unicorn on his perch, knowing full well the good doctor looking anything but. Dr. Merlot was as bent as a nine-bob note as the rest of them, and the poor bloke probably thought this excavation would be the crown jewel in his archeological career, to brag and boast to the ends of the earth. "Ease up there, mate," Revenant added as he settled himself comfortable on the ledge next to the Unicorn, staring down at the camp below, "doesn't take an archeologist to know this tomb has been guarded by more than a layer of rock and gravel. It'll hold for a bit of digging and blasting." 

 

 

[SteelEagle]

 

Pathfinder was never one to turn down an adventure, no matter the location. Unless it was the inside of a hospital wing or a court room since neither place looked all to favorably upon her. She was also never one to turn down a foreign journey of great joy and expert trap spelunking. Of course a good seventy six percent of the time it was a trap by one of her old debtors, none of whom believed she was married to Chief Executive of a major corporation. But for all of her inability or lack of desire to turn down adventuring opportunities wherever and whenever they turned up, that didn't mean that events outside her control couldn't conspire to ground her. They were insidious each and every time in their own way, events twirling in place around her to form a cage of frustration and inaction while the world sped around her. Sometimes even the most pleasant of prisons, the prison you chose, was a cage too much for a pegasi.

 

She was in her own self-made cage now. She was married to the greatest mare of all time, Snowfall! She was totally down with her adventuring and such, but Pathfinder felt really bad about those looks she gave her betrothed every time she had to scoop her up at the hospital. Pathfinder may have been able to bounce back time and time again from her injuries, but she still carried some with her. And the worse pain of all was the sobs of Snowfall as the doctors gave her the worst case prognosis. The fact these never came to pass or even close to passing didn't mean that the worst pain of all wasn't suffered. So she had slowed down her pace. Not because of physical troubles or lack of desire, but because Snowfall was the greatest mare and deserved the greatest love and it was hard to show the greatest amount of love possible when you weren't home to give her all that love!

 

And thus she had given Snowfall lots and lots of love.

 

But boy oh boy, did she want adventure again. She wanted to do something big though- she had dozens of ideas for other adventures, but she wanted something unique and grand. Few ponies really appreciated awesome cool relics like she did. even fewer understood that the real treasure was the adventure leading to that relic! Finding that right combination of purpose and difficulty was never fun. Still, she had her hope! And after a few log, tortuous weeks spent loving and looking at walls and waiting for everything to pass, she received a super awesome bit of mail. The mail gave her purpose! It gave her difficulty! it gave her a time and a place and it even told her of potential issues! That part she mentally blablabla'd because it was totally more fun to go in there with half, but not full knowledge. She wrestled with what to do for a full five seconds before deciding that this was as an adventure which called out to her. She told Snowfall, got her gear (plus some extras thanks to Snowy), loved her a little more, and then flew across the world and then some to where she was told to be.

 

She didn't know Pressysauce all that well but she knew her well enough to know that adventure was a real possibility with her and that was always fun, because if both of you were down and funky with the adventure then you could pull off some amazing feats of daring and do'ing. When one of you was a little less excited by it all then it all fell a little flat, at least lately. Just seemed like fewer and fewer ponies ventured into the dangerous parts of the world and that was laaaame with a capital L and a long trail of a's in the middle. So when she was told to go to Long Guo to find the tomb of Faba, she was all about it. Apparently the central government was about to get their scaly hooves on it when the manuscript had been intercepted. Some intelligence agents got word out, but were shut down. Judging by the lack of the world's most foremost villain archaeologist in Merlot, Pathfinder was sure what that meant: Somepony else had the manuscript and thought they knew where the tomb was, and were powerful enough to have a lot of high ranking sources in Long Guo.

 

Excellent opposition for an adventure she thought as she arrived where she had been told to meet Pressysauce, her figure darting gracefully and hiding from view as much as possible because it was always more cool to assume your opposition was awesome!

[Pretzelparty]

 

Dying, gnarled trees and dry, cracked earth seemed to spread out for miles before her. The painter coughed as all the dust in the wind tainted her lungs. Bright blue eyes raised to the sky to see that it somehow seemed... off. The clouds seemed extra billowy, as if the very land itself was warning all those present something very important was occurring. Given the nature of the documents she'd found earlier this week, it very well might be. 

 

While Presteza was no stranger to the odd adventure of dangerous situation, something told her she'd need help on this one! There was only one pony who was brave, loyal, smart...ish, and had the kind of drive for this undertaking: Pathfinder, explorer extraordinaire. In the past, Presteza had gone on a quest in Unyasi with her to find a secret city of the abada hidden in the brackenweld. That had been one doozy of a trip, but what she saw on that day convinced her that Pathfinder was the perfect partner for this mission (so long as she promised not to blow anything up and tried REALLY hard not to destroy this sacred site). 

 

On these silent plains, the only sound the foreign born unicorn could hear was the rustling of her bags as she rifled through them in search of her diary. The sound of paper brought her back to about a day earlier when she'd told Yu about what she had found. It had been a slow day in the palace and she was in need of art supplies. All the guards and guides were already busy with one of the many very important events involving the dynasty. The artists hunt for the tools of her trade soon brought her to a dusty old closet. After pinching her nose shut with magic and feeling like she'd hacked up a lung from all the accumulated muck of the ages she found an oddly pristine-in comparison- scroll among a multitude of tapestries, sheets, and old portraits of a worldly looking stallion. Carefully levitating it up she unfurled it and read it. 

 

It was a simple Journal, not unlike what she'd been keeping. In her time in Long Guo studying the writing of the long sun, Presteza noticed a strange quirk in the script. There was an a sort of gap in between the text lines. Out of a curiosity she would summon an old spell that she used as a foal to reveal hidden messages she would leave for her old friend Fire Walker. The paper was engulfed in a steady heat.... and soon a message was revealed! Eager eyes ran across the paper to absorb the information and once she realized who this paper had belonged to, had galloped to find the empress as soon as possible. Once she'd met Yu, well she was much less then happy. Before Presteza could get a word out she was ordered to leave and from how Yu looked, Presteza only left with her gaze cast to the floor. If Yu wouldn't listen then something would need to be done by herself and quick. The guard would never take her seriously, the court would likely laugh in her face, so she turned to a past adventuring friend.

 

So here she had arrived, standing at the edge of the safety of the dynasty and in the shadow of an ancient danger of the past. Finally having found the scroll she'd been keeping her thoughts on for the days so far and unfurled it... Then her Jaw hit the floor. No. No.Nonononononononono! This was bad, this was very bad! This wasn't her scroll, it was the parchment she was supposed to leave with Yu! A trickle of sweat slithered down her neck as the image of an enraged empress flashed in her mind. A panicked looking smile soon scrawled over her face as she tried to look on the bright side, "I'm sure she'll understand the mistake! It's not like... accidentally stole ad messed with the transcript of a ... prosperous... divinely inspired... emperor..." A small tumbleweed rolled right past her before she clapped her hooves to her temples and squealed in a panic, "Oh by the princess' twin round, suns! I'm gonna be exiled or worse!"

 

The sound of a light thump caught her attention, soon she spun in place to see what it was. Was it the squad of elite guards sent to ensnare a traitorous painter and set her up for her justly deserved punishme-- oh wait no. No, It was Pathfinder. The sight of a tan rump and greyscale tail poking out from the top of a bush making it obvious where she was hidden. A light laugh escaped Presteza at the sight, her momentary panic relieved by the sight of a past friend. "Nice to see you again, Pathy! How's Snowfall?"

[Bellosh]

 

Dr. Merlot glared at the arrival of WRAITH's roguish Number Two. The black-hearted gentlecolt imagined that had the two stallions met under entirely different circumstances not related to the Cause, he would have dismissed the other as little more than a ruffian. Still though, Merlot couldn't bring himself to devalue anyone willing to go through any length to elevate themselves over the dim-witted plebeian masses. That didn't excuse the sorry state of how the "archaeology" was being conducted at this site.

 

"I can't say I agree with these primitive methods of WRAITH's," the good doctor griped; "Your grunts would plow through an entire field just to find a single Polyneighsian necklace. Who knows what valuable traces of history are being destroyed as we speak? Gaaah! If only those miserable cultists had provided actual clues on the Tomb's entrance....." Dr. Merlot wished he had access to the knowledge of Longri-La right about now, but that would have risked exposing WRAITH's goals to the Serpent Dragons... not to mention a solo trek up Mt. Suncrest. And Merlot was a fashionable social climber damn it; not a mountain hiker!

 

"Num-" An out-of-breath WRAITH officer intruded from the direction from which Number Two had just come from. The equine officer meant to finish his original sentence before noticing Dr. Merlot, whereupon he was quick to change his words; "Errr... sir! The Scryer-on-Watch reports two life sign disturbances closing in on hoof from the west. They are not yet in visual range of our encampment."

 

"Sacrebleu! They must be the relief lookouts sent by the Imperial Watch." Or so Merlot immediately assumed. The archaeologist rubbed his aggravated forehead as he turned to question Number Two; "I trust you were at least smart enough to plan a contingency that'll keep the Watch from growing suspicious?"

[Zeig]

 

Well, then. Who said the grunts couldn't be taught?

 

The mask hid most of it, but Revenant still smiled indulgently at the officer, a smile that sharpened at the sudden report. They had been expecting to draw some attention, with the way they had been blindingly digging away at the side of a mountain, but to have it arrive so early certainly had the potential to turn the entire operation belly-side up. Just because they could deal with unwanted attention didn't exactly make it welcome.

 

Still, WRAITH wouldn't exactly be in business if they lost their heads the moment things went sour, now would they? 

 

"Get the operatives in position," the darkly colored stallion ordered, with a nod of his head towards the elite WRAITH members that were waiting on standby down below, "hidden out of sight. Tell them to prepare their weakening spells." Only two of the elite units were Unicorns, but WRAITH equipped its units with plenty of nifty gadgets that could temporarily house magic to achieve certain effects. Magic horns, bow and arrows, slingshots - whatever could hit a target from a distance, and fast. "Everyone else," the stallion continued, completely ignoring Dr. Merlot's blusters at his side, "ease up on the excavation. No dynamite and magic, just the pickaxes." Less aggressive and suspicious, right, for a group of ponies to be gently mining away at a mountain rather than blowing it sky high.

 

Of course, the telltale signs of blasting and magic use would be easy to tell the closer the Watchers got. But by that point, Revenant was counting on their contingency plans to be firmly set in motion.

 

"Calm down, mate," Revenant finally deigned to say to the tan colored Unicorn at his side, getting up from where he had been lounging on the cliffside. "We're not breaking any laws here - you're a simple archeologist following up some ruins about some civilization that used to be camped 'round these mountains." The stallion slipped the hood over his head as he shot Dr. Merlot another hidden grin, red eyes moving past the Unicorn and over the treetops. "Soon as the relief gets within range, we'll take them down and give them a right proper treatment. Just do us a favor and play your part, yeah?" the

 

It wasn't so much a request as it was an order, and Revenant didn't bother waiting for a response as he slipped backwards into the shadows, nodding at a waiting operative before circling around to the far front of the excavation camp. Merlot would seem the obvious leader in charge of the excavation, and once the relief confronted him, their backs would be exposed and vulnerable.

 

Exactly how he liked them.

 

 

 

[SteelEagle]

Pressysauce With a Side of Haybacon didn't seem to be all that into it, really. She looked at whatever scroll she had with the confused, then horrified, expression of a layer who realized that his restraining orders were being used as toilet paper. She seemed excited enough with Pathfinder but wasn't all geared up the way she'd want. A little geared up, not a lot geared up. Pathfidner was still super excited to see her though, waving excitedly t her painter friend ally partner in adventure. "Hey hey hey there Pressysauce! How've you been? Snowfall's doing pretty awesome, as always. She's too awesome to not be awesome!" Pathfinder chortled with delight. Then she leaped directly into her friend's face, eye to eye.

 

"So, tell me where this adventure is? Is it up there?" She pointed up and towards the mountain  without looking away where, yes, the adventure was. "I'm really excited to be here today because I was just lounging around the house and it was really boring Snowfall taught me cribbage and that was fun but not in the fun FUN way just in the fun fun way and that was okay because every moment spent with her is a moment in bliss but not always as blissful as an adventure so when I got your mail which was on a Wednesday by the way because the mail was slow I was like-" She took a really deep breath and then continued, "because I was so bored ad so I got all my stuff and I came lickity ickity splitey because I said to myself, I said, 'Pathfinder? Pathfinder, you deserve this filly, you go out there and have an adventure' and then I came so where's the scroll?" She asked, smile wide and wide.

 

A pregnant pause. As Pressy tried to answer, Pathfinder interrupted.

 

"Oh! By the way, got some new tricksies of the tradies. Here, throw this on," She said as she fastball'd a robe at Pressy. "I was running into a lot of advanced detection which is fun and all when I know its coming but less fun when I don't, so Snowfall helped make me magic dampening cloaks. And by dampening I mean cloaking- helps keep us all sorts of hidden from prying magical eyes. Scryers, third eye sight, all sorts of things- it doesn't work when we move really fast, but it keeps us all sorts of hidden in every movement outside of blazing fast. Also, its fashionable!" she said, donning her own robe which had the cover of the first Daring Do novel woven into it on one side, and Snowfall laying out on a silk bed with a dangerously sensual look on her face. "See? High fashion! I brought lots of goodies," she clapped her hooves. Then a few seconds passed.

 

"So, that scroll?"

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

 

 

Pressy's eyes popped wide as Pathfinder pounced in front of her, "Oh um, yes it is! I'm pretty sure what we're looking for is over on that mountain... also I'm glad to hear Snowfall's doin' good! Maybe I can stop by and see her when all this is through." Her friend was as energetic as ever! If there was anything consistent about Pathfinder it was that boundless adventurer's enthusiasm she possessed. Her exuberance over the prospects of a potential adventure was so much it kept the foreign artist from getting a word in edgewise when she asked about the scroll, instead the words were bumped out of her as a robe was thrown at her chest. 

The unicorn fumbled around with the bundle of cloth for a minute before collecting herself, "Stealth robes? Wow... snowy's really outdone herself." Presteza hugged the robe a moment as she remembered her old babysitter then got to putting on her own... and  blushing deeply as she the rather intimate gaze of her old friend sewn on her other friend's cloak. Immediately she looked away with a shade of red over her cheeks, laughing awkwardly. "U-uh! Yes, the scroll!" She reached into her bags and pulled out the scroll in question, grimacing as she remembered that there would be consequences for it even being in her hooves right now. "Please be careful with it, okay?"  She offered Pathfinder the rolled up parchment.

[Bellosh]

 

Right then, time for Dr. Merlot to play his part. Fortunately, very few things within the camp itself or outside was emblazoned with any WRAITH imagery. And for the few things that were — like the uniformed officers, the explosives, or the consignments of steam-powered "enchanted machinery" meant for "emergencies" — they were easily hidden in shut tents or with ordinary looking tarps. As far as anybody would see at first glance, there was nothing here but an ordinary archaeological dig.

 

Within a couple short minutes, all the excavators were redeployed off the mountainside towards flat terrain north of the camp so as to avoid arousing suspicion from the suspected Watchers. As for Merlot, he took his kraken pin off the lapel of his suit; couldn't be openly showing support for a ruthless extremist organization determined to rule the world and all that. Until the intruders made their presence known, all the gentlecolt could do was appear busy directing the dig.

 

As for Revenant and his crew of elite operatives, they were going to have to do with reduced intelligence from either the Scryer-on-Watch's station or from hoof-held crystal ball devices (which were not as powerful or reliable as stationary scrying orbs). Something had caused the life sign disturbances to vanish, meaning WRAITH's seeing stones was limited to plain ole' visual sight. Not a good development at all.....

[SteelEagle]

 

Pathfinder allowed herself some freedom in her movement with the cloak, not getting too far away from Pressy but moving at a nice clip. It was so nice to be out and about! Adventuring! With friends! Against probable baddies! It was a virtual cornucopia of good times and feelings, all thanks to whatever silly filly decided to go messing with ancient ruins and relics this time around. She caught the scroll as it was passed to her, playfully batting it up and laughing as she did so. “Whoops! Oh I got it. Whoops! Oh I got it. Whoops! Oh I got it, hahahaha!” She giggled and hovered up front, taking the scroll in hoof eventually. She opened it up and read it very quickly, nodding along to it. “Hmmm, interesting! Cool! That should be exciting. Hahaha, that's a good one!” She laughed once ore, curling it back up and tossing it back to Pressy.

“Looks like its gonna be fun. Directions seem pretty clear to me, anyway. What do you make of all the rumors of the place?” She asked, not trying too put too much distance between her and Pressy. The cloaks certainly did cover them up but it came with some setbacks. It not only restricted the rate of movement, but it looked weird to a Scryer when two equally blank spots in coverage moved not far from one another. There were plenty of blank spots and deadzones that made it so the dead zone created by a cloak wasn't unusual as long as it appeared to be one larger deadzone and not two small, pony sized ones. Since Scrying wasn't accurate down to the meter the didn't have to huddle up too close, but Pathfinder was careful not to get too far away. Of course depending on the quality of those scrying, the gap may not always have been small enough.

The trek up the mountain was not very exciting. They hadn't set up rows upon rows of defenses against them or raps for her to dismantle, which made sense considering they were probably trying to be all manner of secrets and lies up here. Eventually the trees started to thin out and the signs of more recent habitation was evident for all to see. Pathfinder slowed down and looked around. She could swear that she could hear the sound of voices not far off and every part of her wanted desperately to just zoom on up and see what the haps was, but she knew better than that. Or thought she did. She stopped and bade Pressy closer, looking at her friend with hungry eyes. “So, we're getting really super duper close. We can go in together or we can take different routes. Together will limit our view but it'll be easier, probably. If we use separate paths we will have to take a bit more of a risky-pisky, but we'll have more vision on the target. I'm fine with both! It should be fun no matter what, so I'll leave it up to you- like a roll of the dice!”

 

[Ciraxis]

Emperor. Few knew the meaning of such title like Jinhua, even if the Dragon Throne that belonged to her was still out of reach. Still she was waiting. Still she was unrecognized. But her crimson eyes already saw what other could not. That sometimes hoof of fate. Must. Be. Forced.

 

Even if tipping it was only for such minor things like being...overlooked.

Hua gritted her teeth. She...omited? Not, that was inconceivable, she was the Empress and place she was heading towards to was part of her legacy. What kind of fool one would need to be to commit such an error?

 

And yet...no one informed about her, neither about the findings, nor the excavation that was undertaken. How dare they....!

                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                      FOOLS!

CRUSH THEM!

 

                                                                               VERMIN!

Quilin mare took a couple of deep breaths while clutching the now glowing gem on her forehead with her hoof.

'If you don't master your anger, your anger will master you.' A reminiscence of wise words of her father helped to soothe the painful pulsing in her temples. It was after all, unbecoming of Empress to lash out in fury, even if it was righteous one. Perhaps there was a valid explanation that would answer why this outrageous overlooking that took place. The answer or lack of it will determinate the henever or not she will bring down the punishment  for this omission.

 

That said, first she needed to find someone who had the answers. And aside from the Shadowmane itself, who would know better the organization inner workings but the Number Two? How fortunate that he was present in the place Jinhua was going to. Apparently some recent actions of his irritated 'Mane and he was delegate to some remote location in Long Guo for a time being.  Well, all for the Jinhua's benefit. This way she could obtain answer she sough, as well as be able to see the glory of the accomplishment that her ancestors made for the good of the world....

 

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No later then ten minutes after Revenant left to intercept the intruders, a carriage rolled into the digging side. And as soon as the vehicle wheels stopped, a tall quilin mare departed from it. She was tall, wearing a businesses suit and built like an amazon. But what was the most striking about her, was the fact that she appeared as if she was a living metal statue. Her mane glittered like a sliver, her horns could be compared to steel swords, and her coat appeared as if it was cast in bronze. Even her red scales and eye had a metallic shine in them. The female arriver seemed to study her surroundings for a moment before musing.

"Not as much of a progress as I expected. Still, demanding that much from the servants would be unreasonable." Hua said in a husky contralto. "You there! Approach!" she called one of the workers that has been staring at her with slack jaw in a demanding tone.

"Y-yes?" the digger said meekly as he stepped forward, clearly intimidated by the mare's stature and confidence.

"That is appropriate reaction...but..." Jinhua though. "Fear not. Those who knows their place like yourself needs not to tremble. Tell me now, where is the one overseeing this operation?"

"H-He's there!" the stallion quickly pointed towards Mt. Faba western slope.

"Very good. You obedience is noted. Now, return to you prior duties." she ordered before proceeding towards the given direction. As she climbed up Jinhua passed numerous of workers but she paid then no heed to them, it seemed like she didn't even registered their presence.

Soon she reached a place that looked like the good vantage point . However instead of Revenant she a stallion in a white jacket and matching fedora. What kind of nincompoop wears white garbs for the excavation? No matter, maybe this clown at least had information about the one she sough.

"You there, mongrel. Where is the leader of this endeavor?" quilin businessesmare demanded, her words directed at Merlot.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

 

The painter winced as she was Pathfinder fake fumble with the scroll. With each bounce of the sacred text Presteza's horn flicked on to be ready to catch it in case it looked like the worst may happen. A sigh of relief escaped her freckled muzzle as she caught the scroll when it was tossed back to her, holding it close like a newborn foal before she slipped it carefully up into her bags, "I really hope Yue'll talk ta me again once all this is done." If there was anything she could count on her adventure loving friend, it was not letting quiet last too long.  "Hm..." Presteza thought for a few moments, "Well there were some stories about tribes of barbarian Taotie who've been stalking the border for a while... so we might need to deal with them." 

 

It rally had been a long time since the Trottingham painter had been on one of these types of adventures. This long trip up the mountain was getting her a little winded, not panting, huffing and covered in sweat winded, but lagging a little bit behind her friend type of winded. Presteza did manage to eventually catch up to Pathfinder just as she was urged to come in closer. Pathfinder's question was easy enough for her to answer, "I say we stick together for now... Not even sure who we're dealing with yet." SHe said in a hushed tone in case anyone might be listening or sneaking up behind them.

 

 

[Zeig]

 

...Well, then.

 

Revenant kept himself still and hidden as the carriage pulled up, but the deviation from the Watch's norm soon proved itself to not be the Watch at all, but another operative of WRAITH that was based in Long Guo. Despite himself, the darkly colored stallion couldn't help the amusement and mirth that spoked through him as the abrasive Qilin verbally assaulted the archeologist still standing on the outcropping, as if he were no more than a common grunt of WRAITH. 

 

In their eyes, he supposed the doctor may as well have been nothing but a common grunt. Still, never hurt to keep the help happy and content, and Dr. Merlot had already been irritated and vexed from the very start of the excavation. 

 

He could only hope the archaeologist would have the good sense not to blab his location - or rather, the fact that he was bloody hiding for an ambush - to the operative, though. For all he knew, the relief patrol could be sneaking their way towards their camp rather than performing their customary fly-over. They'd already dealt with one or two that had approached in unorthodox ways, and while they weren't doing anything illegal, it still didn't bode well. For now, Revenant continued to keep his mouth shut as he eyed Dr. Merlot and the newly arrived WRAITH member, blood red eyes fixed on the archaeologist as if he could will the other pony to keep his bloody mouth shut.

 

 

[Bellosh]

 

...Mongrel.....!

 

Despite his urge to fume, Dr. Merlot bit his tongue when he turned around and recognized the newest bigshot on the scene. Anypony who was anypony climbing the social ladder would know of the self-made qilin mare who forged Iron Dragon Metal Industries with a will of steel. Lesser-minded ponies would think Ms. Jinhua eccentric or well... megalomaniacal, but to Merlot it was a privilege of wealth to proudly display one's elitism. Faust only knows what she was doing way out here under the shadow of Mt. Faba though; the good doctor wasn't told to expect visitors. But evidently, WRAITH's sentries saw fit to lit her through unopposed.

 

...Or maybe they were outright terrified of her. Heh, Merlot couldn't blame them.

 

Keeping a brave smile on his face, the gentlecolt proceeded to greet the imposing CEO who towered over him. "Ah," Dr. Merlot forced a chuckle; "You must be the Madam Jinhua I've heard so much about! I do say your uhhh, reputation precedes you. Ahem... allow me to introduce myself." The stallion tipped his fedora towards the statuesque qilin mare. "The name's Doctor Merlot; Equestria's preeminent archaeologist." Unsure of Jinhua's motivations, Merlot nervously stuck to his assigned cover story; "I was uhhh, invited by my Long Sun colleagues to help validate claims that an ancient civilization once settled underneath Mount Faba here." The stallion gestured towards the mountain behind him.....

[SteelEagle]

 

Pathfinder was pretty happy that the Pressypoo pony decided to stick with her for the time being. Separating doubled their possible total view range and also doubled the chance for adventure type things to happen, which meant she had a certain fondness for it. Of course having Pressy wanting to stick together meant more safety and time to hang out with her which was a double boon since it wasn't gonna be long until they ran into something worthy of the duo of super awesome adventure mares. "Gotcha. We'll remain together, dig a little deeper, maybe get chased by angry hornet unicorn spies' she replied excitedly, her mind racing to formulate the plot of that particular adventure that would give her hornet unicorn spies. She decided to think about it later and focus more on the here and now. Maybe they would show up here? "Move slowly, but be ready to be awesome at any moment."

 

Pathfinder moved closer, trying her best to move consistently and without any sudden movements. Anypony who was watching would find it harder to spot her than otherwise but she was going to remain extra cautious. As she moved up she could start to hear voices- talking, distant but close enough for concern. Or fun, depending, and she thought fun. Couldn't make out what was being said though. Rushing forward was appealing, but Pathfinder decided not to. Gotta be smarties! She instead decided on a more secure approach to the target zone. If she went forward, she would be at what looked like a tree-line. Instead, she would circle a little bit further up and around, and come at it from a better angle while getting a better view. "Alright, we're gettin' close Pressy wessy! We're going to move along the ridgeline next to the tree-line, staying below it, and we'll pop up a few miles up. Should give us ane excellent vantage point!"

 

And so she moved. She moved quicker this time because time was always of the essence and while rushing in blind was silly, being slow was a terrible crime in and of itself. She moved with enough speed to break the barrier that had kept them hidden once or twice, though just barely, and in due time found herself a nice vantage point. She whipped out some binoculars, or binocs to the cool fillies, and looked down as she sat in a tree. "Hmm...looks like a dig. Nothing too dramatic- oh, is that Merry Merlot? Awesome! Then that means there is definitely something cool going on. Who is that big one next to him? Looks old," she said as she tossed Pressy the binocs, or binoculars to the cool fillies, and waited for something awesome to happen.

[Ciraxis]

"Hmph...." Jinhua snorted as Merlot addressed her with respective wariness. Good, that how the most should feel when blessed by her presence. The Empress was existence that should by all means overwhelm others, even if they were cursed with ignorance about truth of her bloodline. The stallion also seemed recognize her despite her famous 'Armor' being active. Either he was throughout indoctrinated or he had enough between his ears to to identify her features on his own. Either way, it was enough to elevate him from 'Maggot Beneath My Hooves' to 'Can Be Trusted With Privilege of Carrying My Luggage'. It also put into question the sense of using Armor as a disguise. Regardless he wasn't an utter waste of her time it seemed.

"Such things is to be expected. This is a natural order of things that some shine brighter then others." she answered Merlot's remark about her renown. "That said it's somewhat refreshing that there are some who still have enough self preservation to know what they need to know." she added.

 

At the same time unicorn stallion could witness firsthoof how her colors faded to their natural state. Now that she wasn't shining like a polished metal statue anymore, Merlot could see that the quilin mare before him had to be around the same age as Princess of Crystal Empire, Mi Amore Cadenza. Still the body build couldn't be more different between the two. Hua looked like a mare could snap the Pink Princess in two with nothing but her bare hooves. The business suit that she was wearing was snug tightly to her curves and muscle alike, which only seemed to emphasize this. It was clear that she must've have wished for it to be this way, it couldn't be coincidence by any means.

 

His introduction didn't seemed to impress businessesmare at all, however his next words made her flip her now qureolin mane and smile in amusement for the first time...even if the smile was still lanced with the infuriating sense of superiority.

"Did he told you to say that Doctor?" Hua asked, with his title spoken in such a tone that she may very well well say 'servant'.

"Sound like he did. So be it. I allow you privilege of basking in my presence, while I myself await for him to appear. In the meantime...show me." she said, or rather demanded.

With those words one of her front legs shot forward with incredible speed. Merlot couldn't even react before her hoof grabbed him by the chin.

With his head held in quilin firm grasp, he could only stand there as his view was filled with crimson of her irises, with her gaze coming from above. It was a piercing glare, one who seemed to read depths of his existence, with sparks of madness dancing in the far corners of her irises, - so far held on the leash.

 

"Hmmm. Those eyes...those are the eyes of someone who was in this game for a long time." Jinhua mused as she started her 'reading' The eyes of someone who knows all the rules and all the tricks. One who could easily discern an ant from the giants even when it's not obvious, one who know when to use honey and when venom would be more effective.....but who also doesn't know what this game's prize truly is. Do you think it is all for fame? Do you think it is for wealth? Position? Humph, all but just the perceptions of chittering monkeys......But if you stayed in play for so long I am sure you can figure this one out as well Little Doctor" Hua said before letting Merlot's head go.

 

"Now, tell me, what did you found so far?" she commanded in autocratic voice.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

Presteza carefully followed along behind the mare, blushing a bit as she looked at the visage of her old babysitter on the cloak she wore. The unicorn shook her head as i trying to dislodge those thoughts before peering through the binoculars offered. "A di--- ... did you say Merlot was here?" It took a moment before that statement could even register, "Why in Equestria would he be all the way out... here...." The painter felt her heart sink as she took the time to think about it, "I think Merlot might be in trouble."

 

If he wasn't he probably going to be later. The two ponies beside him weren't anyone she recognized, she did have a bad feeling about the stallion glaring at him... and a vague uneasiness when she laid eyes upon the mare who seemed have the kind of personality implying she was in charge. "I think we should steer clear of these guys for the most part, wot do you think?"

 

[Bellosh]

 

If Dr. Merlot believed he had a chance to maintain the operational secrecy of WRAITH's mission from those he wasn't told to expect, any semblance of that belief vanished when Jinhua forcibly seized the gentlecolt's head and commenced a staredown. What Merlot saw in Jinhua's eyes was unlike nothing he'd ever seen before, not even from the likes of Shadowmane's followers. It could only be described... as pure malevolence.

 

Within his mind, Merlot worried that whatever he wished to accomplish with the discovery of King Faba's Tomb, the good doctor was meddling with great undiscovered powers beyond his comprehension; normally the fodder of intellect-destroying Daring Do books. Perhaps the archaeologist should have asked more questions about why an extremist organization determined to rule Equestria would bother getting its hooves dirty with international archaeology. And now with the arrival of the fearsome Jinhua, Merlot suspected that the humble pursuit of knowledge (along with some wealth on the side) was only the tip of the iceberg.

 

Then again... things could be worse. At least the loathsome Pathfinder wasn't here..... *shudder*

 

Accepting that compliance was preferable to the alternatives, Dr. Merlot subconsciously straightened the tie on his suit as he hastily explained the excavation’s actual state of affairs. "Well heh heh, we have it on good authority that the Tomb of the Tyrant King Faba himself is located somewhere inside this mountain. Unfortunately madam, we have been unsuccessful in either finding the Tomb's entrance or otherwise penetrating inside. I'm afraid to say that unless we can acquire uhhh, other sources which answer these questions, we may be stuck digging here for a very long time....."