Canterlot Dorks of the Round Table [Private = JavaSun, Shining Armor, Gaffer, PocketChange, Princess Cadenza]

[moonshineTheleocat]

Prologue: The Setup

JavaSun; Engineer; Science and Technology Scholar

The day was finally here! Not only was it the day of Java's own personal vacation away from work and all those pesky business contracts that he has! But it was also the day that Java would be finally starting his latest Obilites and Ogres campaigns with some acquaintances he's made back at the game store, Roll for Initiative. But not only that, he was also having royalty come over! How wonderful was that?! Well, not quite so for Java.

As it was, such an occasion has Java panicking over the littlest details in his own proud home. Even though the house was cleaned daily, and generally remained free of any dirt or loose fur... he had scrambled about frantically re-cleaning everything, at least six times. Possible splinters, or rough feeling wood? Sanded down and smoothed to perfection. Even the glass was so clean, that it was nearly invisible. The only warning a pony would get would be a sudden glare on the invisible wall if the light strikes it just right.

The pony gave his house a look over once more, making sure everything was perfect! Oh how nervous was he, receiving such a high class company that came from a much different life style... to his humble home. Though humble would not be a proper adjective for the interior... but only the size.

If one were to describe his home's main-room with one adjective, it would be unorthodox. Uncanny, would only be a terrible understatement.

The flooring had been finished with a white outdoors marble, that had the mortar carefully sealed for what chaos was soon to come. Tearing through the flooring in the center of the room was what appeared to have been a small pond, where it's main source of water had been coming from a stream of water fed through the side of the house by a screened grate. This stream first treckles down a granite construction of black and white speckled of square blocks, that was surrounded by a large variety of evergreen plants in fertile soil just slightly below the layering of tile. The stream then flows into a moat that runs around the room in a squared spiral pattern before it finally meats the pond. Over the top of this moat was a layer of heavy duty glass to keep ponies, and other items from stepping inside the water.

Bookshelves were lined around the walls, and were laid out carefully in row in the middle of the floor. The ones in the center of the room surrounding the pond had a much sturdier look behind them. Perhaps this was due to the fact that these bookshelves were also part of an elaborate construction of a loft supporting a large round table and a few large pillows. Connecting to this lofted platform where walkways that ran across the many other bookshelves. A few small shelves hung from the ceiling, and requires one to literally walk across the many other bookshelves.

What wasn't intended to be walking space had became patches of more fertile soil, holding more evergreen shrubbery. In some places of the walls, were modified tubing that had origionally been used as plumbing, became interesting methods of decoration. Painted, and reshaped to become a sconces lighting, that also held smaller plants.

Decorating the walls were a large variety of imagery and prose. Poems that the pony loved were framed and hung on the walls. Paintings and other forms of artwork were also hunged up, non-from any real famous artist, but the pony adored them anyways. Nerdy posters of comic heroes, and some real classics were also among them. Boxes full of notes and scrolls, reference books, comics, toys, building blocks, and even some odd contraptions littered the bookshelves. Glass doors kept everything protected from it's bizzare surroundings.

The only sane construction for a home, would be the stairwell leading up to the second floor, and down to the basement level. The doors leading to the kitchen, and outside. Though the kitchen door was actually located on one of the walkways in the main room.

On the lofted section in the main room, Java had already set up everything they needed for a successful campaign. Spare sets of dice in case some pony needs em. Java's own personal set, and well adored Nightmare moon edition dice that was stored in a bag with a rune on the side. Plenty of food, snacks, and beverages for the guest. Just about every single rulebook, and add on that Java owned. A map of the world, the DM's notes, and lastly... the DM's privacy screen.

Yes, tonight will be a successful one at that! There was only one final thing Java had left to do. He sauntered on up to the door, and pulled it open, thus exposing the inside to all the on looking ponies. And to make it a gesture to invite his guest on inside.

“Welp! Everything's ready,” Java hummed happily to himself, taking a moment to bask in the glorious glow of a stupendously clean house! One most certainly fit for the arrival of a princess. “I... hope there are no secret service though... it'll make this... awkward...”

[Hippo]

He couldn't believe it! He had always known the possibility, but it hadn't sunk in yet. Who would have thought that of all the rare times the Crystal Empire government council would allow the princess and her sturdy captain to take a leave of absence? And for personal time, of course. Neither Cadance nor Shining would ever reveal the true context to their time off, but it always had a romantic implication. What else were two married ponies of their age supposed to do on their time off? Travel the world? Pfft. Shining just hoped they wouldn't be counting the months after they returned to see if the crystal princess' belly ever began to swell.

And who would have ever believed that Cadance would accept an invitation to a tabletop gaming session? Of course, giving the invitation as an anniversary gift should always be a questionable act, but Shining always had this sneaking suspicion that Cadance might enjoy it, and today was finally the moment that he would get to share one of his youthful activities with the love of his life. Stallions always loved sharing silly stuff with the mares they admired. Custom mixed vinyl records, a copy of his favorite comic, that one trick where he drank a milkshake with a straw through his nose. All in the vein of showing her how much he loved sharing his life. Not that the message was always well received.

Shining walked the path on the residential side of Canterlot, a bit off from the main city, but not too far. "Here it is, I think." Shining walked swiftly, trying not to outpace his princess partner. Cadance was holding a few boxes of food for the affair. Shining was using his own telekinesis to carry his own treats, his coming in the form of a six-pack of Honey Dew, his favorite soda for role playing. He also had some old folders containing old character sheets and stories from his most developed characters. He figured since he was able to find them stashed in an unpacked box from Canterlot, he could possibly use them to impress his wife, who matched his imagination better than anypony else ever cool dream of doing.

He stepped up to the house with the correct address, the door already wide open, as if it was OK to enter. So he stepped inside, his hoofsteps immediately bringing a ringing vibration slabbed with marble and several sheets of glass on the walls. "Hello!?" His voice dissipated in the vast space of the building. "Is this Javasun's place?"

​

[tacobob]

While Pocket Change had it in his head that playing a bit of ‘Oubliettes and Ogres’ in the Crystal Empire would have been the thing to do, it was a bit more convenient to have it in his hometown of Canterlot. Not only did he not have to buy a train ticket, he discovered that Javasun only lived just a few short blocks away from where he lived. After gathering up his supplies, the young stallion started to make his way through town to the address listed on the small card he had written on during his little trip to the hobby store. Normally, he would have hailed a cab, but it was such a perfect day outside, he wanted to enjoy it all, before, "Cripes."

There was a good deal of Pegasus activity in the sky, and many appeared to be getting ready for a bit of a storm, which would have accounted for the strangely cool weather he was experiencing. Thankfully, they were just getting started, so there would be more than enough time for him to get to Java's place before it started to pour. The unicorn's saddlebags were filled with the needed rulebooks, dice, his 'Lucky' quill and his collection of character sheets and blank parchment paper secured in his old binder. A small paper bag that was held into the air by Pocket's telekinesis was stocked with a six pack of Canter-Cola and eXTREME flavored Kale Krispies. And as customary when joining a new group, the grateful stallion also brought along a small gift for his host.

As he continued his trek, the stallion pondered what character he should use for this new campaign. Would it be Lord Majesty, the brave, but vain unicorn sorcerer? Or would it be the snarky earth pony bard, 'Half-Note'? Whatever it was, he might even need to make up a new character depending on the setting and level requirements. As he got closer to Java's residence, he spotted Shining Armor as he disappeared into the strange looking house. Following his lead, Pocket Change entered the home just moments after the 'prince' or was it 'king?' of the Crystal Empire.

[Bellosh]

Of all of Shining Armor’s anniversary presents throughout their marriage, Princess Cadence thought of being invited to an Oubliettes and Ogres game in Canterlot as one of the more... innovative of the bunch. From a negative point of view, one could argue how Shining was such a self-centered cheapskate, especially because Cadence gifted to her husband an expensive airship yacht as her wedding anniversary present. On the contrary, one could also claim that the royal alicorn’s offering was excessively overpriced since she had no idea whether Shining would appreciate sailing the skies above the Crystal Empire. Cadence really hoped she and her white knight could form many happy memories with their new air yacht.

Back to the subject of tabletop gaming, Princess Cadence ever since she first met Shining Armor understood how much roleplaying meant to him. She never felt any inclination previously to follow in her lover’s hoofsteps other than observe a match here and there, but the princess nonetheless never let herself be bothered by how she and Shining kept their hobbies separate from their relationship. After all, not every couple needed to be attached at the hip. But with their adolescent days far behind them and with Cadence more busy than ever managing the Crystal Empire, frankly she’d latch onto any excuse to do something romantic with her dear Prince Armor... even if it entailed participating in a roleplay game for the first time.

Princess Cadence didn’t content herself with mere observer status; she’d do her part to give this meetup a her own personal flavor. For snacking, the mostly-unskilled chef replicated a rock candy recipe the alicorn replicated as best she could. Hopefully the RP group appreciated a few boxes’ worth of the crystal pony delicacy! Cadence also already had a playable character ready to use; a lovely bard named “Aria Heart”. Despite being told that alicorns in the O&O setting were more or less obscenely-powerful gods, the pink princess held out hope that she could portray Aria Heart as an alicorn like herself.

Keeping pace with Shining Armor’s canter, the pink princess brought along her treats as the royal couple entered the peculiar house of their host for the night.....

​

[moonshineTheleocat]

Java smiled after hearing a familiar voice ring through the air. He slowly exited his room door down in the basement and began to trot up the staircase, humming a soft tune to himself. When he heard the query of the owner of such a proud home, Java quickly scampered around a few bookshelves until he came sliding into view.

He waved a hoof, beckoning them in. “And if it's not? Then I guess we'll have to get the heck out of here before the owner shows up. We won't have to worry about that, though. But please just call me Java.” Java chuckled as he now trotted up to the door.

He then gave a polite bow to the both of them before stepping away, and towards the center of the foyer. His head quickly glanced over his shoulder, letting his eyes dance between all three of the arrivals. With one still missing, there might be a small delay. But nothing to major if he could get the players set up and briefed. “Please, come on in! Make yourselves at home,” Java chimed as he now trotted up the steps to the raised platform just over the pond.

“Looks like well have to wait for Gaffer. But we could use this time to set up and go over a few details,” he chuckled as he took a seat just where he had set up his own bag of dice. The pillow he was on, like the rest around the table, was quite large. Large enough for a large pony to sprawl out on, and sleep the day away. It may have been overkill, but with the pony's terrible sleeping habits, it tends to help to have options. Especially if he has guest stay for the night, he can simply turn his room into the missing guess room and the foyer to his own.

The pony cleared his throat after pulling a small piece of paper out from his note book and taped it up onto a break away glass case on the wall. Just right over the sign that read, “In Case of Spiders.” Inside the case was a large dementedly crafted “hammer” or what looks to be. It had been made of a metal sledge handle, and two large clothe irons. Holding the irons to the handle was a metal coil that could easily be a spring. Such an item could easily have been a joke, or mantle piece. Except that it looks to have been used. On multiple accounts.

“Erm....” Java hummed with a nervous look. He quickly realized he had forgotten to cover a few major quirks in his house. He slowly shuffled to step in front of the case, blocking the rests view. “heh... I have a tiny...small....major fear of spiders. But the hammer is not my design. No... it was inspired by a comic series... so I made it a reality. WrinkleBucker.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, erm...” he mumbled to himself, before recalling what he was about to say. “I do have just one main house rule. 'Just Roll With It.'”

The pony then smiled as he explained, “As a Dungeon Master, I tend to allow players to inject their characters into the stories background. After an event in one of my past games... it decided to allow it to happen and it created some interesting situations and scenarios ever since. But I won't always allow it. Especially if it effects the entire arc.”

[SteelEagle]

 

Gaffer led a very busy life. Too busy for his taste. Running a shop was always asking for life to be a constant rush of business if you happened to have a line straight to the creators of the world's most popular tabletop RPG after all. He didn't regret it and in many ways he led a blessed life. How many ponies truly did what they loved to do as a career? It was a lower number than some probably thought and he counted himself lucky. But oh boy, was it ever not busy? Ponies holding games, ponies buying, selling, trading, playing, and just discussing everything and anything gaming and in a larger sense nerd related. It was a nirvana worthy of him but it required a great deal of time to ensure that everything worked out well, a fine sheen on the clearest of desires which was the honest truth of his success. Good, hard work for the benefit of his customers. He loved it. He also worked so hard that it cut into his own free time.

 

It used to be he had time for game sessions whenever he had the inclination, involved in thee or four at a time. It was his passion and his hobby and he had all the time in the world. But as his business grew and success followed, it started to eat away at the time he had for gaming. Four sessions became three very quickly and two quite easily. It was brought down to one after a while, and that last session was squeezed out of his life bitterly and left him grasping at one and done sessions once in a great blue moon. The feeling was bittersweet because as his gaming died a slow death he was able to share his love for it with so many new ponies and over time his customers learned to appreciate his experiences and passion for Oubliettes and Ogres, which in the long run only made him happy.

 

But he still wanted to game, darnit, and his chances were few. So when his newest coltfriend Java decided to start up a group, he wanted to say yes so bad...that he did. Of course they had to work out the schedule but that was less of a concern. he would just have to use the night before a day off if not the day off itself, as he was able and willing to stay up for as long as it took if he could gamble away the currency of the night on frivolous pursuits. Besides, it had been a while since he had played with Shining and Java's reputation as a dungeon master preceded him. No doubt only a few things were needed to make Gaffer take time to play, and there was a high percentage of them in just one place! Of course, something had to get in the way and a particularly late delivery meant he was a little later than he would have liked.

 

But in the end it mattered little to Gaffer, who had a small saddlebag with his gaming materials and notebook. He approached the house with less trepidation than he had immediately, having been here before. It truly was a weird house, but then again Equestria was the land of really odd interior design decisions! So much freedom and creativity that teamed with one another to make a lot of houses almost impossible to sell. His last house was not really a big hit on the market because, odd enough, ponies didn't like houses that had famous gaming slogans imprinted on the wall and ceiling. Ponies, c'mon, get some class! Speaking of class, he made his way and found friends and a lover getting ready for a game.

 

"Hey there! Sorry about being late. Crystal distribution delivered six boxes an hour before close! you'd think they'd get it through their head that I am simply one pony with one set of hooves! Hey there, Shining. Nice to see your bribe to get Cadence here worked! Long time no see, Madame Princess of the North. Hopefully our Dungeon Master of Doom here won't get your character killed in the first encounter. Java! Ignore what I just said. Make it brutal," Gaffer said with a smile and a wink as he trotted in, putting his saddlebag down. He was ready for some serious engagement!

[Hippo]

Java's peculiar introduction only served to create an odd image of the pony who was hosting this meet. Although it would never phase Captain Shining Armor, he feared it would be inevitable that his Princess would make gawking faces in response to a pony's strange attitude. But worst case scenario, Shining wouldn't predict any harm would come of it. Unless they said something outrageously rude to her, of course. "Hi, this is my wife, uh, Princess Cadance." Shining never felt normal introducing the love of his life to ponies who could care less about who she was to him. Obviously it was more important who she was to them.

"And please, no need to be formal, you can just act as yourselves," Shining said to Java, and to the pony who walked in behind them, the one with the hat. He turned to the white unicorn to make a greeting, but fumbled a social value in the process. "Good to see you again, um, oh sorry. What was your name again?"

"I'll just set these candies on the table here." Shining grabbed the boxes of Cadance's hard candies. Something the other ponies might soon find out, is that what makes them hard isn't just their texture, but rather it explains the difficulty in enjoying them. A quick look around the room and noticing the glass box where Java stuck a piece of paper covering what was written underneath. A comic-inspired work of art that served a practical use. Killing spiders. Shining chuckled at Java's reveal of his item, but more importantly, his personality. He could see pretty well how this meet was going to go. And though being in the hooves of a kooky game master was always scary for the characters, it provided a unique experience thriving off the master's imagination most times.

And then Gaffer came in. It didn't take him very long before he would say something smug to Shining and imply a tasteful death to the character the Princess would create. He would. In some ways, Shining imaged Gaffer felt like he was such a major part of Shining and Cadance being together, that he would also have the power to split them. But instead of Shining being able to come back to Gaffer with a good one-liner, he had to retreat to the social sphere of influence Cadance would provide for the entire evening. Shining looked to her, assuming she would wonder what Gaffer had meant about making it brutal. "Don't worry, he's just kidding. I think he's just trying to get in character."

Speaking of characters, now was the time to show off what was so great about this whole meet. "So guys, Cadance already made a character. Isn't that great? She did a good amount of studying the rulesets too. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew a rule or two better than me!" Shining put a foreleg around Cadance, and led her to sit down on one of the giant pillows next to Shining. Assuming the role of his character, but also her husband in support, Shining would sit closer to Cadance at the table than most tabletop role players do. All in the interest of creativity, of course.

​

[Bellosh]

“Please, come on in! Make yourselves at home.”

"Hi, this is my wife, uh, Princess Cadance."

“Hello Java Sun,” Princess Cadence waved in a casual neighborly way; “Thanks for inviting us over here tonight. It looks like you’ve got an interesting home here!” The alicorn’s polite smile hid her outright curiosity concerning the eccentricity of the home she was in. After only a few moments of being around the host himself, Cadence quickly deduced that Java custom built the building himself. Even as her eyes darted here and there, the princess figured she could wait til everypony got settled in before asking Java how he constructed his home.

​

"Hey there! .....Long time no see, Madame Princess of the North. Hopefully our Dungeon Master of Doom here won't get your character killed in the first encounter. Java! Ignore what I just said. Make it brutal."

And here was an old acquaintance back from the past! Princess Cadence was too excited to see Shining’s friend Gaffer again to fret over his ominous threats about what should happen during the game. “Gaaaaafer!” Cadence gently hugged Gaffer with a foreleg before quickly pulling back; “How’s it shaking? I hope your game shop’s been doing well.” The pink princess wished that Shining's other Academy friends could have been here too, to make it feel completely like old times. But such was life, where friends routinely drifted away from one another due to the webs and flows of time. Hopefully, Poindexter and 8-Bit were doing well for themselves.

​

"So guys, Cadance already made a character. Isn't that great? She did a good amount of studying the rulesets too. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew a rule or two better than me!"

Pulled close to her husband, Cadence blushed at how he exaggerated her knowledge of O&O’s ruleset. Yes, she crammed all she could on the journey to Canterlot, but the mare knew she’d have to ask her white knight for advice every so often. Getting her act together, the princess used this moment while everypony was sitting down to describe her character.

“Yep, her name’s Aria Heart, and she’s an alicorn bard.” Cadence nervously glanced at the others; “Yeah yeah, I read in the Core Rulebook that alicorns have such high stats that they’re basically gods, but I really didn’t want to play as somepony that powerful anyway. So Shining,” she elbowed her heroic nerd with a most loving of grins; “Figured you’ll all be cool with her just as long as I don't overpower her.

So... what characters do you guys have?”

​

[tacobob]

The white coated stallion followed the good prince to the room that had been set up for the day's game. Being the proper sort of Canterlot pony, he did not even blink at Shining Armor's question. "I'm Pocket Change. We spoke briefly at the hobby shop.", as he spoke, the unicorn found a place near the shop's owner and slowly unloaded his saddlebags. His rulebooks, character sheet binders and other gear found a spot at his section of the table. The stallion's hat drifted from his head and found a place to hang. Before sitting down, he gave a polite, but quick blow to Princess Cadance. He knew this wasn't the place for full formality, but he was bound to at least address Princess Cadence's presence as the gentlecolt that he was.

The unicorn couldn't believe it! He was going to be gaming with not just a prince, but an actual real live Alicorn princess, so he really needed to be at his best behavior. There wasn't going to be any silliness going on here! While he doubted that acting up would get him banished to the Everfree, he had to come to terms we the fact that he was no longer a goofy teenager, but an responsible adult. As he made himself comfortable, he glanced up at Cadence before returning his eyes back to his books. Technically he had never seen her before, as the one he had managed to steal a look upon back at the pair's wedding, was in fact a shape-shifting villain. While he had not been at the wedding proper, he was outside along with the other excited citizens of Canterlot. The day had been going on rather well, until the horde of ebony bug ponies decided to crash the whole thing.

"I have a few already made set of character sheets here. Wasn't sure what type of campaign we would be playing, so I just brought a whole stack with me.", he shuffled through a small stack of papers, "I have Sir Gallophoof the paladin.Lord Majesty the caviler. Sunglory the cleric. and also my bard character, Half-Note. Depending what characters you all use, I might just end up rolling up a new character, or at least finish one. I have several half-finished nameless characters who I can easily adapt to whatever campaign that we may run today. Ooh." he stopped and studied one of his sheets, "A Diamond Dog monk. I've never played one of those before."

[moonshineTheleocat]

"Hey there! Sorry about being late. Crystal distribution delivered six boxes an hour before close! you'd think they'd get it through their head that I am simply one pony with one set of hooves! Hey there, Shining. Nice to see your bribe to get Cadence here worked! Long time no see, Madame Princess of the North. Hopefully our Dungeon Master of Doom here won't get your character killed in the first encounter. Java! Ignore what I just said. Make it brutal," Gaffer said with a smile and a wink as he trotted in, putting his saddlebag down. He was ready for some serious engagement!

Java smiled as he found his newest arrival finally trotting through his doorway. “Ah! There you are Gaffer,” Java chimed with a cheery tone. The pony didn’t quite expect tonight to suddenly come close to a double or triple date, but it was still quite nice to enjoy a game with a new coltfriend. Especially when that same lover apparently enjoys the idea of all the player’s experiencing a tormenting malefactor governing their quest. It was almost beautiful really. If the Gaffer’s character was evil, then it could easily be the lovers of evil vs the lovers of darkness, in roleplay of course! Perhaps that would be an idea for later? Once this game is complete, of course. He’d of course reinvite Pocket Change, but Java wasn’t quite sure what his status was just yet.

“Tch, I do enjoy making things difficult, hun,” Java paused for a moment. His ears burning after a minor slip up. But regardless he quickly continued. “But it’s still has to be possible.”

"And please, no need to be formal, you can just act as yourselves," Shining said to Java, and to the pony who walked in behind them, the one with the hat. He turned to the white unicorn to make a greeting, but fumbled a social value in the process. "Good to see you again, um, oh sorry. What was your name again?"

"I'll just set these candies on the table here." Shining grabbed the boxes of Cadance's hard candies. Something the other ponies might soon find out, is that what makes them hard isn't just their texture, but rather it explains the difficulty in enjoying them. A quick look around the room and noticing the glass box where Java stuck a piece of paper covering what was written underneath. A comic-inspired work of art that served a practical use. Killing spiders. Shining chuckled at Java's reveal of his item, but more importantly, his personality. He could see pretty well how this meet was going to go. And though being in the hooves of a kooky game master was always scary for the characters, it provided a unique experience thriving off the master's imagination most times.

Java’s gaze then flicked back to Shining, who mentioned something about being themselves. The pony swore he was being himself? Or was he? He wasn’t quite sure anymore, after holding up a masquerade for so long to keep the snobby nobles and rich ponies away from him for so long that he might be a little daft? Or perhaps it was from the lack of sleep? Or maybe it was both? Or maybe the pony actually was a little daft? Such a revelation that just now occurred made the pony suddenly contemplating seeking help.

But he quickly tossed the thought aside as his ears suddenly perked up at the sight of a box. His curiosity was now starting to get the better of him as he slowly leaned over the table to see what was inside. By the stars of Luna! It looks like this box was full of colorful edible rocks! Though Java didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, he was always interested in trying new things! And so, he quickly dipped his head in, and caught the edge of a stone with his teeth and pulled it out. Once he returned to his seat, it set it down, and glanced up to Cadenza.

“Yep, her name’s Aria Heart, and she’s an alicorn bard.” Cadence nervously glanced at the others; “Yeah yeah, I read in the Core Rulebook that alicorns have such high stats that they’re basically gods, but I really didn’t want to play as somepony that powerful anyway. So Shining,” she elbowed her heroic nerd with a most loving of grins; “Figured you’ll all be cool with her just as long as I don't overpower her.

So... what characters do you guys have?”

Java gave a blank stare after hearing the very first character to be mentioned so far in his campaign. He was slouched to the side in his pillow, with his slackened jaw resting on his chin. It wasn’t as odd as all the other characters he had shot down, however. As each one of those ranged in the way beyond to things like, immortal pony generals that can transform into a dragon and use two ton armor without penalties, or a lich king that wouldn’t be killed, OR a druid pony that has been blessed by the gods. No! Those were far worst, and for a character to be an Alicorn? This was actually more so a very NORMAL and unexpected character to have been rolled up! SO NORMAL THAT IT’S NEARLY SHOCKING!

But the pony couldn’t just simply allow a goddess to walk among mortals could he? But given the situation, he already is sitting down right in front of a pseudo goddess. And he couldn’t just turn down the character of a princess, could he? Honestly, he could – and very easily in fact. It was actually much easier for Java to do so than probably any other pony. He was the sort, who simply didn’t care for consequences. Complete and conditioned with a “Do first, ask for forgiveness later” sort of mentality that a lot of engineers tend to have.

He was about to say something, moving a hoof to point to Princess Cadenza till something in the back of his mind stopped him. His hoof lowered down to the table and rapidly tapped it. His expression dominated by a very contemplative look. The character was above normal, but given what he’s seen in the past… it was almost so… standard. But that wasn’t it. No, but it was something else. A light. An Idea! An idea that had sparked such an ignition that it had flooded his thoughts with it’s violent glow! How perfect this character was! Especially with the house rules.

A dark grin appeared over Java’s maw as he now leaned forward and inhaled deeply. Oh the things he could do with this new story. The poor princess just poured fuel onto the fire that Java was about to rain on them like the buckin apocalypse. “Alright, I’ll allow the Alicorn this time around. But I hope you know what you are getting into~” He ended with a lilting tone. He leaned back once more and then cleared his throat.

“Now for advice? I think really the best one is to use your common sense. While O&O has a set of rules that needs to be followed, those are only for the more basic situations. If you really wanted to, you could abuse an object away from it’s original design. Say use a broad sword to paint a hallway. The game gives you free will of course. Unlike most other games.”

"I have a few already made set of character sheets here. Wasn't sure what type of campaign we would be playing, so I just brought a whole stack with me.", he shuffled through a small stack of papers, "I have Sir Gallophoof the paladin.Lord Majesty the caviler. Sunglory the cleric. and also my bard character, Half-Note. Depending what characters you all use, I might just end up rolling up a new character, or at least finish one. I have several half-finished nameless characters who I can easily adapt to whatever campaign that we may run today. Ooh." he stopped and studied one of his sheets, "A Diamond Dog monk. I've never played one of those before."

His gaze then flicked by Pocket Change, curious of what he was going to choose. The pony was actually interested in seeing the play of a Diamond Dog Monk, however.

“Right! Now I just need to see the character sheets when yall have them completed! We will be starting off at level 4. Your starting bits will be 750, use that to supply your characters before we start. You’re also allowed one magic item. If it requires a charge, it will have seven remaining.”

While he waited for everyone to finish their sheets, or bicker among themselves, the pony glanced down to the treat he had selected. “How cute,” Java thought to himself after gaining a closer inspection. The small delicious looking rock actually looked like a heart! Perhaps it was merely coincidence? Or maybe the princess herself decided to make them after both her cutie mark and the charm of the crystal empire, the crystal heart.

Which ever the design choice was, it made such a little treat sacred. To be forged from the crack candy temperature inside a large pot over a stove, and then chizeled away at delicately was truly a show of craftsmanship inside of a wonderful chef!

With a bit of saliva in his jaws, Java opened wide and clamped his jaws down hard onto the delicate candy. Though, delicate would be quite the understatement. Instead of being greeted with the usual soft crackling crunch. He was suddenly violently awakened from a fantasy as a metalic clang errupted from his teeth. The pony blinked, and slowly lifted his head up. His teeth hurting, but not at all damaged. The candy in his jaws? Not even a single scratch on it's surface.

The pony tried once more, opening up and kicking back his head to bring it into his jaws, and towards his molars. He crunched down once more, hoping to crush it... only to find that it didn't work.

“Wh...what the buck...” Java whined in dismay as he desperately tried to crush the stone. The poor earth pony was determined. He was going to make sure that something gave that day. Be it his teeth, or be it the rock candy that might as well be diamonds.

And then after a torturous three minutes, finally the candy gave away, and shattered into dust in his jaws with a sickening crunch. Java had been quite hopeful of a wonderful flavor after so much work.

But once again, something else had greeted him. The candy made of sugar and spices, and every thing nice... turned out to not be so nice after all. It tasted like the princess had mistaken the term of rock candy, and merely mined real crystals from the surface of the cave.

The taste was atrocious. So bitter, and loaded with salt with bits of incredibly sharp candy, jamming it's way into Java's gums. The pony began to whine as pain and sorrow overtook him. He continued to chew, his eyes watering, till finally it was a fine enough powder to swallow.

This was his next greatest mistake. The shards had caught in the back of the ponies throat, causing him to suddenly break out into a fit of weezing and gagging. It was clear he was not chocking as he was clearly able to breath. Instead, the pony began to rub the bottom of his chin and neck against the table before him in an effort to stop the pain. He was practically knocking everything he had set up for himself aside.

And eventually... he had calm down. Weezing for air, and slowly rising back up to his sitting position. His eyes were red and watery, the fur on his neck on end. He raised a hoof in the air to signal he's fine.

“S-sorry... I hadn't eatten candy in a very long time... probably not used to it....” he weakly informed everyone. Before leaning on the table looking back to the box. Perhaps it was just the bad luck of the draw the pony thought to himself.

“I... I think I'll have another,” and with that, the pony reached into the box, and pulled out yet another malicious treat.

[SteelEagle]

Gaffer was ever vigilant when it came to troubled foods. As owner of a game store, he had seen a mess of incidents due to the poor diet of many gamers and had keen sense of what was and was not right to stuff down your gullet at any meeting of gamers and like-minded ponies who had sweet tooths and a dislike of good sense. He sold some candies and drinks at his business and felt like a hypocrite for doing so, but business was business. For himself he tended to enjoy a nice and light mix of salad greens with only the occasional pop-rock and candy bar to spoil himself. Well, okay. That was a bit of a lie. In all honesty he could be a pig, but his sense of danger was still really nice. Shining didn't seem to have all the confidence in the world if his body language told the truth, and body language almost certainly did- harder to fake that than all the smiles in the world. he should know- Gaffer was one of the leading experts on faking things.

"I'll decline for now. My stomach isn't feeling well as it is. Maybe later though- they look great," as did Java after he ate some of the candy. Every group needed a guinea pig and with no Pointdexter, Java would have to do.

What he couldn't fake was his honest joy at seeing Cadance again. For all of the classism that existed in Equestrian academies- and despite what other said, it certainly did exist- she had been one of the few ponies to truly make a mark in the opposite direction. Her role as a Princess had been proven many times over to be not something gifted, but only came after a lifetime of good spirits. She was a good, old friend. When they had left Canterlot to start their lives together in the Crystal Empire north of Equestria, Gaffer's heart broke for more than the loss of contact of his best friend- it was also for the loss of yet another friend to the turnstyle of existence. Now they were reunited and she had proven herself once more capable and willing to charge through the invisible barriers of class and systems into a world...with classes and systems. It was progress in the right direction in any case.

His lovercolt was also making progress, at least in as much making things difficult. A good DM knew the difference between a challenge and masochism and while masochism was desired to a certain degree on some campaigns as that was the only sure way to ensure the experience lived up to the reputation, most of the time you needed to treat players with foalgloves until the time was right. There were generally two ways. A gradual and steady increase in the difficulty leading to a perfectly prepared climax, or the hills and valleys of a dramatically inconsistent campaign. There was a lot of fun to be had with the hills and valleys and watching players react to such dramatic rises in difficulty followed by the simplest events was entertainment all its own. It was probably better to just do the normal route though as long as they had new players, hopefully working themselves into a nice rhythm before diving deep into the chaos that was more specialized gaming habits. Oh well. One couldn't hope for it every time anyway.

"I think that just about any character can work, Pocket. Worry less about classes meshing and game mechanics and more about having fun playing your character. As for me, I went a bit odd. A Viking Caribou Deiologist. Look in the Lords of the Winter Version Three: The Hammers of Life Limited Edition for it. Really fun class- mix between a paladin and archivist. Has the Virtue- Hoch's Chosen, Faith of the Five. Pretty good at combat but nothing to write home about- mostly support in battle. Can work wonderfully as an information source outside of battle. Smart. Is a viking. Carries a huge axe. Will be fun to use," Gaffer ended with a laugh. So many classes to choose from, so little time!

[Hippo]

"Oh, right. Pocket Change, sorry. I knew you were at the shop that day, I just couldn't remember the name for the life of me."

Shining grinded his teeth at moment Java picked up a piece of candy, but then exhaled as it was placed on the table to be eaten at a later time. To Shining's complete surprise, Java had no overwhelming issues allowing Cadance to use an alicorn. Which was good news, but it also stung a bit for Shining. Having lost the argument to even suggest using an alicorn character on the way to Java's place, Shining must now admit a double defeat when the layer of acceptance was clearly shown. Perhaps it didn't turn out the way Shining thought it would, but that was fine. He would just have to admit to being wrong again. A normal afternoon with the wife.

"What do you mean by that?" Shining asked with a smirk. Java had something up his sleeve concerning Cadance's character. Maybe the alicorn magic would be used against the rest of the clan. Maybe Aria Heart would be put into circumstances in which she would be sacrificed first, or targeted first by the baddies that would assume her to be the strongest character. For sure, there must be some trap involved in the allowance of an Alicorn, and it would be Shining's duty to avoid those triggers as he walked with Aria with his paladin.

But just then, Java decided to try and eat the candy. Shining wanted to shout something to object, but he realized it would have to happen eventually. Shining had seen ponies eat Cadance's candy before. It was never easy to watch, and he never got used to watching the anguish. Java, combined with his eating of the candy and his interesting personality, ended up turning into a quasi-entertaining display of a pony attempting to digest something that was advertised as edible. Gaffer was smart to have an alibi against trying one. When the drama subsided and the pony grew back to his regular stance, Shining was good to see his mood had not changed. But when Java said he would try another, he felt he needed to interrupt.

"Um, so! Java. My Character is a level sixteen paladin. His name is Lord Seageon. Scion of the Sea of Sorrow and Sorcerer Supreme of the Holy Temple of the High Tsar, to name a few titles. Uh, am I going to have to roll him back to level one?"

​

[Bellosh]

Other than the other players describing their characters, nothing much of note occurred during this time period. The dungeonmaster thankfully approved of Cadence’s choice to use an alicorn character (take THAT Mr. Shining “All Alicorns Are Overpowered” Armor), although a demonic look appeared on Java’s face as he gave his consent. He wasn’t planning something twisted for Aria Heart, was he?

Java’s cringing as he ate Princess Cadence’s crystal candy unsettled the princess even more. For several moments, thinking that she somehow bungled up the recipe, Cadence grimaced. She knew cooking was not her area of expertise, but the alicorn dearly hoped that a culinary catastrophe wouldn’t be on her hooves tonight.

Thus did Cadence subtly sigh in relief when Java indicated a mere unfamiliarity with candy, absolving the mare of all wrongdoing. Even so, the dungeonmaster ought to refrain from gorging himself on crystal candy if his stomach couldn’t handle it. “Hey uhhh Java,” Cadence looked at the stallion with concern; “It's best to not eat anymore candy if it's upsetting your stomach.”

Shining Armor swooped in to the social rescue by revealing his character, this Lord Seageon paladin that Cadence’s love bragged about for the last couple of days. And boy, did Shining lay it thick on the noble titles. Rolling her eyes, Cadence jested with a blank face; “Aren’t we going a little heavy with the alliteration, Shining?”

​

[tacobob]

A sly smile formed on Pocket Change’s snout as some sweets were passed around. “Not sure if you’ve ever seen these before.”, he pulled out what appeared to be a common bag of twenty sided dice. “These look like regular dice, but if you look closer, you may be able to tell that they’re made of chocolate. But from what I’ve been told, if you roll one of these, the flavors change depending on what you end up with. I’ve only had these once before, so it might be a bit of a humbug, or actually, these might be humbugs.”, he studied the bag before setting them aside with the other community treats. “Got these at the little ‘joke palace’ they have not that far from ‘College Park’ here in Canterlot."

The unicorn listened to the group chatter as he started to fill in spaces in his character sheet, “Let’s see. This is going to be Fast Paw. He’s going to be a unarmed master. No sticks. No stones.”, he muttered to himself as he picked out proper feats. ‘Crane Style, Snapping Turtle Style and Snapping Turtle Clutch.', he continued to fill out his sheet. Thankfully intelligence, a rather poor stat for Diamond Dogs was not a main stat for monks. Strength, dexterity and wisdom were the key stats. His selected race also had good starting stats for constitution, and their heavy coats also supplemented their armor classes. Fast Paw's slightly over-sized front paws would also be incredibly useful, but he's going to be very poor in projectile combat. So maybe a sling will be of some use.

He nodded his head politely as Gaffer spoke, "Oh yeah, I'm actually picking both a race and class I've never played before. Normally many of us tend to make characters who are idea versions of ourselves, but I believe I've been doing this long enough, I should step out of my comport zone.", he chuckled as the stallion mentioned his character, "A Viking Caribou? He could wear a helmet with antlers, giving him four alters to attack if needed."

His grin never faded as Shining Armor spoke of his character, "That sure is a lot of 's's, and while that’s your character's name, isn't an Seageon, part Seagull, part pigeon?" The stallion continued to listen as the others worked on their characters, "We've already got a few melee characters, and mine can do the sneaky stuff, and a bard is ever so useful at spells, sneaky bits and even motivate the party during combat and travel, but do you think we should get a full blown and proper wizard in the group?"

[moonshineTheleocat]

Java was literally fixing to bite down on the new piece of candy once more. This time sure it would taste much better than before. But luckily, and luckily for his own personal health, he was stopped just a hair short of his teeth sticking into another metaphorical mine that was not meant for pony consumption.

“Hm...,” the pony hummed in a curious note after hearing Shining call his name. Then his eyes flicked to his wife after being spoon fed a bucket of wisdom. She was quite right on that note. He slowly pulled his maw away from the candy, and closed his jaws as he gave the stallion his full attention. He blinked when he heard the alliteration of all the titles. The pony was even struck for confusion. Was this all one title? Or is this just multiple titles that all sound like they should be together? Or maybe it was something that civilians screamed out. Something that tells of all the deeds that this one particular paladin has done. As if hailing his glory for all to hear.

“Well, as I said. Just roll him down to level 4. You don't ever want to start at level one in my campaigns. It...” he paused for a moment. He recalled when he first started playing the role of a dungeon master. All of his campaigns that started at level one, usually left players instantaneously dying in the worlds stupidest ways. A harpoon trap. A poisoned pie. Even a bear trap that was thrown through the air.

“...it,” he started back up again with a friendly, and crooked smile, “does not leave much room for error.”

He then turned to Gaffer, and listened to his character. He gave him a nod of approval with a smile. A viking? Well it's certainly different from a berserker. But how far was that margin really?

Then that meant all that was left. Was Pocket Change's character. Then the adventure begins.

“Alright! So we have a Paladin. A Viking, and a bard,” he then looked to Pocket Change with curious eyes. He half expected the white stallion to say his character is a rogue. It would be a very reasonable choice given that the rogue easily keeps the party alive longer than a healer ever could.

[SteelEagle]

Shining was going to be using Lord See How I Die? Good character but there was a reason he was getting beaten around in all of Gaffer's campaigns as a clueless NPC. All that charisma and no luck or intelligence created a poor situation for anypony who tagged along. Of course, rolling all the way back to level four might give him the chance to redo some of his worst mistakes. But as long as it was good ol' Shining Armor rolling his cursed dice eternally then poor Lord Seageon was cursed to failure. At least somepony here would suck up all the negative luck! Better than Gaffer. Maybe because of that they would actually make progress. Failing that, they could always just use him as a meat-shield. He generally could take a beating. Somepony had to at some point. Gaffer nodded and mimed a toast to the good Lord Seageon, a sick smile slathered on his face. What fin would they have.

"To the good Lord Seageon in all of his arrow-attracting glory! And to Pocket Change for bringing the best edible dice on the market!" Gaffer laughed, having once sold those very same dice. They were hard to get for a good price nowadays and a bit too much theft had occurred involving them, but he remembered them fondly. Picket himself seemed like a nice stallion with a good grasp of the lifestyle. This would be fun, a good group forming- good players, a solid GM, an excited newbie and then the newbie's husband. Not much more could be asked out of a group! Pocket wondered what his character should be. No need for a wizard. Even an Alicorn bard would have powerfu magics native to her species, effectively making Aria a master of all trades. They did need somepony sneaky though.

"A rogue would be nice. You always need the rogue," Gaffer nodded solemnly before turning to his coltfriend.

"Once we have Pocket's character we're ready to go, right? That's all?" Gaffer asked expectantly as he started levitating materials around in preparation. Time for the fun.

[Hippo]

Shining grunted softly at each attempt to tame his poise for his character. It seemed like everypony had something snarky to say about the palidin. "Hey you laugh now, but we'll see who comes crawling for the righteous to save them when they've all lost their power." Shining smirked back at everyone. He couldn't tell if the attacks were just to liven the environment up, or if they were trying to hint at him overplaying his character before the game had even begun. regardless, he knew he could at least count on Gaffer to make his character have a trolling vendetta against Lord Seagon.

"Yeah, Pocket, just do whatever you want. It's not that big of a deal, especially with my level sixteen, I mean four," a quick look at the game master in apology, "palidin will be able to support whatever you want." Shining kept his head held high, and put a strong hoof around Cadance. It was like a fetlock-jerk reaction that he had to appear to be the dominant male in a session with himself and Cadance. Although he noticed it immediately, he decided not to hold himself down any, especially if it helped him get into his character anyway.

"I'm ready to start when you guys are. You gonna cue up an intro story, or are is it going to be a blind retelling?"

​

[Bellosh]

"Hey you laugh now, but we'll see who comes crawling for the righteous to save them when they've all lost their power."

“Or,” Princess Cadence defiantly interjected; “Lord Seageon will need to be bailed out of the trouble caused by his excessive self-righteousness.” All this trash talk from the princess served to mask her worries over how the game will turn out for Aria Heart. In all fairness, Shining Armor’s experience probably meant that his player character would be doing most of the rescuing for this game. That’d obviously be romantic and all, but regardless, wouldn’t it be nice for the princess’s boastful husband to eat his own words at least once?

WIth the session soon to begin, a primed Cadence affirmed her readiness; “I’m good to go too.” Time to get this party started!

​

[tacobob]

Pocket Change smiled as the hobby store owner cheered his selection of candies that he had brought with him, but something he said made him think. "Oooh! I know! I can fix Fast Paw's little problem by giving him a 'deflect arrows' feat. That should at least solve one of his issues." After a few strokes of his quill, the character sheet was finished, and the Diamond Dog Monk was finished!

The unicorn let his sheet float over to the 'Game Master' through the use of his ever-helpful telekinesis so he could give it a look-over. Being a monk, his starting equipment was very basic with no actual weapons, beyond a useful Kama which was used not to injure an opponent, but to simply trip them up with its dull blades. Fast Paw's story was also rather simple. The Diamond Dog was lost while traveling underground with his family. He was discovered by a heroic hermit who spent his life learning the ways of the Suraisu, the Path of Precision! The hermit raised the young pup as his own, and made sure to teach him all that he had known. Fast Paw had stayed with the hermit until his master was....This part apparently had been written and rewritten several times over. Originally it looked like he was destroyed by Sapphire Cats. It was changed to DEVIL DOGS, whatever those are. Using the skills his master taught him, Fast Paw had been able to track down and defeat the Devil Dogs, and eventually he came face to face with their leader, the dreaded 'Akuma No Inu'. While Fast Paw's heart was pure and his skills were divine, he was no match for the Devil Dog's leader who defeated him due to his use of trickery and other dishonorable methods. Thankfully a good spirit known as 'Ī hito' rescued Fast Paw before he was to be destroyed and whisked the young pup to the safety of the above ground. From now on, he would learn to become stronger until he was good enough to face his master's killer.

"If there's anything that needs to be changed or edited, just give me a holler. I was going to give him punch daggers, but that would have made him just too dang powerful.". As he waited for the GM's confirmation, young Pocket could not get over the craziness of the situation he was in. Playing Oubliettes and Ogres with royalty! What's next? Twister with Princess Celestia? Apple bobbing with Princess Luna, or maybe even a round of Scattergories with Princess Twilight?

His ears perked up as Prince Shining Armor asked a question, "Guess we'll just have to go with the traditional 'group meets each other at ye old tavern' intro, or should the group already know each other?"

[moonshineTheleocat]

Java flashed his teeth into a devilish grin after hearing the confirmations of his current group of players. He waited for their bickering to end before slowly leaning forward. His hoofs gripping at his pillow as he throws his weight forward to slide himself closer into the table.

“Well Gaffer, love. You don’t need a rogue unless the campaign is going to be riddled with traps and ambu- oh wait…” He stopped himself with a knowing grin. “Well, I’m going to say use common sense. They won’t be everywhere, but they will most certainly be in places where they should be.”

After the brief moment of readjusting himself, the pony slowly placed his hooves onto the table and leaned over his Dungeon Master’s screen. His chin running parallel to the table as he looked over each and everyone of them. His tongue slide from his lips, prepping for the long prose that was the opening to his campaign.

“Era twenty second,” He began as a quick note. His body now settling back down into his seat, “the land of Mareheart has seen many years of great prosperity among ponies and other creatures who roam it’s provinces under the rule of Good King Maverick. Often described as the golden land, Mareheart was perhaps the most well-known trading continent in its time. It’s docks were always open to receive shipments of goods. And it’s waters kept clear of pirates and other villainous atrocities who cursed areas of other locations. Good King Maverick often looked down to his kingdom and smiled. For he knew that this land, was the purest jewel across the world. But sadly, good things always comes to an end. And he knew this too. As prophesized by seers and heralders of the future. But no evil was mentioned. No soul was spoken of. The events were said that when four young adventurers touch soil, the future of Mareheart would become scrambled. Each of the future eyes, visions all had gone black the moment they have seen four sets of limbs touch stone. For better… or worst. And this… my friends. Is where our story begins.”

- IN GAME -

The skies were partly cloudy. And Sunlight was only beginning to fade away as the sun was swallowed by the horizon of the shifting ocean. The ocean was near calm, kept for the occasional gentle rise and fall of the waters. And skimming along the water’s flesh was a lone wooden ship.

The ship had metal pipes extending from the decks, expelling an ample amount of steam. Large tubular engines were on both sides of the ships. And fins extruded from the sides that followed the motions of the pistons controlling them. They rose up and pulled back to the front, to dip back into the water once more, and push the ship along.

This very ship had been recently ferrying a large group of adventurers whom all heard of promises of glory and adventure in the young kingdom of Solance. A large number of the lot hailed from the lands of Equestria. Especially one particular Alicorn, and her loyal paladin who was assigned to protect her.

- Out of game -

Java looked up to the princess of love to see if she approves of the current backstory before proceeding.

- In game

A monk Diamond dog. And of course a wayfaring Viking. They were all below decks inside of a small makeshift tavern where a distasteful dinner was being served. Stale bread and rotting veggies. Each plate was practically a culture of flies and fungus, and the “fresh” water brought promises of dysentery. You could only expect such pitiful accommodations given the ship had been sailing for months on end with an overloaded payload of ponies and gryphons. And a diamond dog.

[Hippo]

As Cadance fired back a typical response, one Shining got so often he would have been offended if it wasn't said, he smiled back at her into her eyes. Cadance was already having fun it seemed, and this made Shining happy as well. It had been a long time since Shining had a chance to do some tabletop with friends, and now family. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as a response to her comeback and turned towards the table for instructions.

Pocket Change questioned where they would start. Shining nodded as a concern, but listened to Java's response in the form of entertaining story-telling.

Lord Seagon was sitting at a table in the pathetic excuse for a ship's tavern. The conditions were pretty bad, and they had been at sail for several month. But soon, he figured that the journey would end, and when land is breached, he would be able to taste the glory and beauty that the land they were going to beheld. Of course, he would do this all for the one he cared most for. Aria Heart.

Around the tavern, Lord Seagon noticed several characters and had seen them again and again during the trip, causing several passes at conversation about the land they were about to approach. "So, what riches are thou expecting to obtain, ye adventurers.?" Of course, Lord Seagon intended to find many riches, and share them with all the orphaned foals of the world, and pay the appropriate taxes and fees along the way.

​

Of course, Shining was a bit washed up from his old role playing days. But first and foremost, he wanted to impress Cadance with his character's values. The cheese was a factor.

​

[SteelEagle]

Jgarben huffed at Seagon's flacid tone and message. He had met the Lord not long ago and found in him what he thought he had been seeking for such a long time- the perfect way to spread Hoche's message. But alas, the Lord he chose was imperfect and chose poor places and poor messages to follow. Hopefully, further contact with Jgarben and Hoche's message would change him. For now, he took his vow seriously enough to support his lord wherever he my go. Today, it was a lowly ship tavern. Tomorrow it may be a ruin. Hoche knew. Jgarben did not. The viking grabbed another mug of the ship's stale brew and downed it, wiping off his long beard as he replied Seagon.

“Treasure is secondary to the Word. Wherever we go, do not let the promise of treasure lead you astray,” Jgarben spoke softly and carried a big axe. He was a wanderer at heart and had no great idea on where to go, but could only hope that wherever they went that they would be blessed by Hoche.

[Bellosh]

Princess Cadence nodded in approval of the DM’s framework, being paired up with Shining Armor’s character from the start. And it sounded like Lord Seagon spoke in the Royal Canterlot Voice; abit in a less bombastic fashion than its actual historical use (years of history tutoring were paying off tonight). Even so, very nice touch on Shining’s part.

It had been a long and miserable voyage for Aria Heart, lady of Equestria, but soon it would all be over. Thankfully, the mare’s choice to avail herself to the companionship of her long-time intimate, the dashing Lord Seagon, made the seas more tolerable than they ought to been. Throughout the entire time on the ship, Lady Aria wore a royal blue cloak with gold embroidery, hiding her wings from unsavory eyes. In unfamiliar lands, the precious few alicorns who lived in the world were wise to keep their true form hidden, least they attracted the wrong type of attention.

Aria Heart was sitting with Seagon, inspecting her precious gold lyre, when her trusted protector brashly inquired about who among the passengers were adventurers. Seagon was the bravest, most skilled, and caring paladin that Lady Aria knew, and she accordingly provided a most special place for the lord in her heart... but not even such a cherished stallion as Seagon was immune to foalish desires. “I bid you Seagon,” the gentle alicorn’s words implored; “Remember wherefore we travel far and wide for.” For Aria Heart was an appointed ambassador of goodwill; tasked with strengthening ties between Equestria and King Maverick’s distant realm.

​

​

[tacobob]

Pocket Change waved his hoof over at the game master, "Java, don't forget about my character sheet." Hopefully as the stallion started into the game, he would have the sheet approved and secure back at Pocket's side. He listened to the GM's opening story with great interest while pouring himself a beverage. As he pictured the setting, something quickly dawned on him. He had never met a Diamond Dog before. He had heard about them, and had even seen a few shuffling about the busy streets of Canterlot, but he had never directly interacted with one before. He had heard they were considered to be intellectually underdeveloped. But his monk could not be simple! He would not be a poacher! He would not hide behind trees! * Especially with that wisdom score! He was a dog of excellent willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition! Not someone who would say 'duh' and or 'derp'.

So a light bulb appeared briefly over his head, or at least metaphorically it did. While the idea of a mute character would be fitting for 'Fast Paw', he decided maybe instead of being born without the ability to speak, or even as someone who took a vow of silence, his monk would be someone who spoke very rarely. Fast Paw would be the type who spoke mostly with his mighty fists, and after growing up in an monastery, he wasn't going to be the most sociable creature around.

The unicorn smiled as the story was laid out. It was a fun little intro. A leaky boat, with a creaky deck, and poor creatures huddled underneath it all. The food and water were nasty, and while the young monk was probably used to such a thing, Pocket hoped the reference of 'dysentery' was just to add color to the story, and not something that would come up. While 'Lord Bird' was immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases, including mummy rot, due to him being level four and his 'Divine Health' class feature, the young monk would need to make it to another level before he could gain 'Purity Of Body'. Thankfully, the paladin could at least do some healing.

Once, the game master's intro had been told, the others started off with the introductions. Now it was Pocket's turn. The stallion took a sip of his cup to clear his throat before speaking...

Brother Fast Paw was at ease with himself and the world itself. The crude conditions on the boat were very similar to his life when he stayed with his master, while learning Suraisu, the Path of Precision! And being a Diamond Dog, he could eat pretty much anything with the exception of quiche. The evil pie was considered unholy to his kind! A simple brown robe, backpack and a necklace that bore the symbol of his goddess was all that he wore. Fast Paw was considered somewhat attractive for a Diamond Dog, and greatly resembled a golden retriever. He was tall and strong, standing well over the tallest pony, and his slightly over-sized paws made him quite the threat.

He broke from his daily silent prayers as the good Lord Seagon spoke. When asked about the riches, Fast Paw only pointed to his heart and then his holy symbol. When the monk first met the heroic Paladin, he spoke of his early life. He told the young heroic pony about his stay with his master, his master's destruction under the evil claws of the Devil Dogs and their leader, 'Akuma No Inu' and his confrontation with the evil doers, and his rescue by the good spirit, 'Ī hito'. While he would require coin for his basic needs, most of what he would gain, would be donated to his church. The dog only required one thing, and that was to become strong enough to send the evil Devil Dogs packing to Yomi-no-kuni for their just deserts.

​

* Twenty bits for someone who gets that reference!

[moonshineTheleocat]

Java smiled to the nod and slowly glanced back over the entire group for a moment to check on their status, and opinions expressed in their facial expressions before finally continuing on. The stallion slowly leaned back in his pillow and hummed to himself in thought. His hoof raised up to tap one of his dies in motion behind the curtain. His eyes studied the results for a moment, then glanced back to the group. They didn't betray the stallion. Revealing absolutely nothing about the rolls purpose.

The stallion inhaled deeply as he stretched and exhaled when he relaxed. He then rose up to his hooves as he prepared to act out one of the many, NPC's to approach them.

--In Game--

Sailors continued to shuffle around the boat to tend to their duties. A few ponies who worked on the ship happened to get stuck with the blunt end of the job, cleaning up the gunk of the ralphing passengers. For them, it was a never ending job. Because when one disgusting little puddle had been cleaned up. Another came to take it's place. It only grew worse. The sailors continued to dump their buckets out, and refill them with more water in the sea. But their efforts were all in vain, as the mess only grew worst. It certainly didn't help that some of the passengers had been drinking heavily in their journey.

And so it was, perhaps the most disgusting journey that the group had taken so far. But least they were well off, unlike a certain mare whom happened to step into the room. The mare was young, and perhaps cute underneath the grit that clung to her coat. She was dressed in tattered rags, and was carrying around a bucket of disgusting water. She was on her way to dump it out, when one of her hooves had found it's way in a puddle of stomach bile and corn.

The mare lost her footing almost immediately, and tumbled off to her side. With little action she could take. She let out a surprised cry. The bucket was now free from her jaws, and went hurtling to a nearby patron of the ship. A large, scared brute and his companions of three. A thin mare who was hidden under a hood, but held a sultry form. A balding stallion whom looked like a one eyed murderer. And another brute. This particular one was much larger than the first, and was heavily contrasted in size by the other two... or the entire room for that matter. His ears were nearly touching the ceiling, and he was sitting. He was wearing some thick iron armor. This brute was breathing heavily through large stone like teeth. He had crazy eyes. Quite literally in fact as they were both facing different directions. Veins popping from the sides of his neck, easily seen under his short fur. And finally, an expression that spoke quite unkindly of anyone to, well.... buck off.

Needless to say, the bucket clanged against the top of the large-

​

Java paused his story telling. He quickly clopped his hooves together.

“Oh! Erm! Give me one second here...” The pony chimed as he quickly scampered out of his seat, and over the railing. He landed on the ground below with a thump, and scampered off to his basement. It took a minute, but he quickly returned with a fold out table.

He set it up in the middle of his foyer, and sat down in front of it before continuing the story.

- largest brute's head. The bucket bounced off of the stallion's head and spiraled in the air. It's contents splattered everywhere within a fifteen hoof raidus. Leaving the counter's dripping, the walls soaked, food containment, and drinks deflowered.

The largest brute didn't seem to happy. He was more than unhappy. Livid would be only an understatement. Rancorous wasn't even enough to describe the amount of visible rage. His eyes were twitching. His breathing which couldn't possibly be any harder, certainly did grow to become very audible while the rest of the room became quiet.

“SSSSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH-SSSSSS-SHHHHHH”

The sounds became faster and faster before finally, something inside of him snapped.

Foam poured profusely from his jaws, as his massive hooves raised up to violently send the table flying through the air, smashing a poor group of ponies against the ship's wall.

​

By this point of time, Java had found a way to effectively simulate foam, and had in fact, sent the fold-out table flying through the air quite violently. Hard enough for it to find it's way outside of an open window. There was no sound of a thump, which meant it had found it's way over the cliffe and down to the valleys below.

“Uh.... ig-ignore that gaffe,” The stallion hummed nervously. He quickly cleared his throat and continued.

“DOOOOOOOOOOMASCIA!” roared the hulking brute as he now came rushing towards the screaming and clusmy mare.

​

– outside of game –

“Alrighty! This... should get us started quite nicely. And... it will give us an excellent chance to let Cadenza to have a feel of the games combat style! Roll initiative everyone!” Java quickly rolled a handful of dice before finally looking up.

“Oh! And do you need a refresher on the actions you can take? This is still a role-playing game. You don't have to always strike with a sword.”