Ponies & Dragons - Episode 1: A Tail of Two Cities

[Starburst]

The bubble tightens up and instead of rebounding the chair, the chair breaks upon crashing into the barrier. It's clear that the rat creature is using the time to recover. It's no longer bleeding, and the glowing is stronger than it was before.

[Trilobite]

Ironmane whips her head around in surprise..."It yet blights this place?" She rears up to bring both hooves down on the bubble. "Unnatural shadow, the light abhors thee! By its power, BEGONE!"

(Using my second 'smite evil' here)

[Starburst]

Like before, the shield is unable to withstand the wielded power of Ironmane's holy hooves and can't rebound the power back, so the shield shatters, psionic energy radiating outwards as her hooves land on, and splatter into the rat with force. It moves for just a moment, leaking ooze onto the ground, and then dies.

In the chair Brambles mother awakens, confused to her location. It takes her a few moments to realize that she's sitting in the study of her own home, and not in some grand psionic illusion as she had previously thought. She turns to Bramble Rose and wraps her hooves around him in a loving embrace upon seeing the anger upon his face.

"You need not worry about me, Bramble. That creature kept me imprisoned in a jail of my own making and used my energy to power its malicious mind-powers. I am not injured.. but I am hungry. Might we go get something to eat?" she says rather jokingly. It's obvious that she's using humor to mask her weakness, as when she tries getting to her hooves she falls over onto Bramble, causing them both to crash to the floor in a dusty explosion. ( Failed fortitude save vs. Dust Curtain, Experience coughing for 2 rounds )

"It looks as though the maid has had it far worse off than I. The creature used me as a battery.. but she is not a unicorn. She has no energy to feed the creature with other than her own. So It sapped it away.."

She begins to make her way downstairs with Brambles help, and lifts a hoof into a jar of peanut butter, eating it almost voraciously with no need for bread nor cracker. It's very obvious that she's hungry... If only someone could cook for her she wouldn't be reduced to foraging throughout her kitchen for sustenance.. Ironhoof is a capable mare. Perhaps she could attempt some culinary arts to assist Bramble's Dam and the maid?

[Kirby Krackle]

(This thread was about to hit the bottom of the page. Can't let that happen.)

Once again, the day is saved, no? Ma Rose and her help are certainly rough around the edges but they seem otherwise unharmed. Unharmed being a relative term. All they need now are the caring hooves of a priestess and a doting son. But Curtain Call is a professional beguiler and he admits to having no place in domestic affairs. Best he find a quiet spot to rest until business can be discussed once more. Though something amiss and he couldn't quite place what-

"Oh no." His heart sank.

Alas, the casualties of war! His fancy fedora flattened and lying in the dust. While he was no hatter by any means, he lamented the nicks and tears to the fabric, the tainted dye, the warped brim and the new unpleasant odor. It would never be showroom quality again. He would shed a tear for his friend later, alone and quiet.

He shook as much dust off his lid as he could, mindful to do no more unnecessary damage. Still in a dreadful state, he mourned, but placed it atop his head all the same. The rogue tipped it to the mare of the house then politely excused himself. Perhaps he would enjoy the garden that Bramble wouldn't shut up about earlier. At any rate, seeing the gentle embrace between a mother and son made him leave all the quicker. That's not a view he's used to anymore.

[Trilobite]

Ironmane looks over. "Curtain Call, excellent idea. Lady Silk Scroll, Miss," and here she nods to the maid, "This brave stallion and I will check the rest of your home. Further assistance should be forthcoming shortly. Bramble Rose, perhaps you wish to tend to your mother and co-ordinate with help when it arrives?" She's edging toward the door as she speaks, and is looking at Bramble Rose, eager for his agreement.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose is there for his dam in a heartbeat, his shoulder under hers for her to lean upon. He smiles gratefully to his two friends, giving them a brief nod. "I shall see thee later, my allies," and nodded in thanks. "Make secure the perimeter, I shall take care of these." He made his way with his dam and the maid slowly to the kitchen, staggering the whole way as he tried to help the two mares to the best of his abilities.

Once there, he set to - he was no chef, but he had made dinner for himself often enough in the wild. There was no reason he couldn't manage a hearty and nutricious meal here in his own home! He pulled out a mixing bowl and started at it - dumping a cannister of oats into it, then a hearty supply of raisins. His knife made quick work of a half-dozen apples, dropping the diced, juicy fruit bits into the bowl as well. Some brown sugar, some chocolate chips, yes, that should bring their energy levels up! And to finish it off, he took the peanut butter tub from his mother, and scooped half of it into the bowl. He floated the tub back to her, then took up a mixing spoon and laboriously stirred up the concoction. Protein, sugar, carbs ... that should have everything necessary to rejuvinate the weakened mares, and help give them back some of what had been taken!

He took a quick taste, himself. Mmmmm. :9 Who wouldn't love this? He grabbed down a couple bowls and dumped the mixture into them, then offered them to the two, along with some cider he found in the icebox.

( Heal check for adding in anything else they might need. Survival check for actually making it edible. )

[Starburst]

( Nah they're not actually injured, just energy-starved. )

The maid digs into the food hooves first and stuffs her face. It's obvious by her expression that she's slightly crazed. As the concoction hits her mouth her eyes roll back in her head. "This is delicious." she says. Although she hasn't eaten for a few days.. so there's that. Silk scroll eats, but with a more measured disposition. She's lacking magical power, so she's mentally exhausted, not physically exhausted.

Curtain call explores the rest of the house, and other than finding expensive furnishings and layers of dust. There's a safe behind the painting in the study, but the lock looks deliciously complicated. And you'd technically be robbing Bramble and his family.. but it's there. Looking all.. safety...and no one's around since Bramble took his mother and the maid to the kitchen.. No one but Ironmane.. and two piles of purple goo that used to be brainwashing animals.

Ironmane's faith comes through and the clergy arrives to examine and heal Silk Scroll and her maid. The maid is exhausted and they take her back to the church for observation after she finishes eating. They determine that Silk scroll only needs a night of bedrest to regenerate her magical reserves.

[Kirby Krackle]

The safe is a Kitnercolt Redoubt. It's a good brand and notorious among his circles for being nigh-unbreakable. Are these rumors just that? Well, as a matter of fact, a much younger Curtain Call encountered one way back when. The job was a simple break in: get in (into a house much like this one), get the cliched family jewels, get out, fence the goods. It was an otherwise easy night, free of security. Until he saw, behind the massive family portrait, was the Kitnercolt Redoubt. For three hours, the little colt worked his hooves on the door that just wouldn't budge. He broke most of his tools as well. Eventually, his team got impatient and the brutish griffin acting as enforcer just ripped the darn thing out of the wall and they walked off with it. Curtain Call never got his cut from that job.

The Kitnercolt Redoubt is, obviously top of the line and very expensive. He's only seen them in banks or, on the rare occasion, high class houses such as these. Clearly Bramble's family not only needs something worth this level of protection, but also can afford this level of protection. His magpie senses were on red alert and his mouth watered at what secrets lie behind three and a quarter inches of reinforced (and probably enchanted. Darn Unicorns) steel. Curtain Call definitely made a mental note of where this safe was, just in case, but realized instantly the level of bad manners it would be to rob the house that's putting him up for the night.

He was thankful that this metallic temptress is all his search revealed. Finally the house is rid of evil. Which means he's off duty. Officially. He made a beeline for the garden, taking a few awkward turns to avoid the clergy also patrolling, but a beeline none the less. Time to be antisocial. Let his mates find him.

[Trilobite]

Shortly after leaving the kitchen, Ironmane had breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Curtain Call. I am hopeless in the kitchen, and it is dreadfully embarassing." During the rest of the search, she had maintained a business-like demeanor, her horn lighting the darkest areas as the two sought out any trace of evil, and, thankfully, finding none.

After Curtain Call vanished, Ironmane looked for him briefly before realizing that perhaps he needed some time to be alone. After what he had said out loud while in the power of that...disgusting thing...perhaps he needed some time with his thoughts...and away from her, especially. She decided to let him be, and headed down to where Silk Scroll and Bramble Rose were to be found.

"This house...is clean," she announced. "Lady Silk Scroll," she said, bowing deeply. "I know we have not been properly introduced, and it pains me to burden you thus after your ordeal, but if we were to know how this vileness came to be inflicted upon you it might aid us in preventing its reocurrance."

[Starburst]

Silk Scroll shakes her head. "I don't remember anything from the last few days. It's all a blur. The last thing I remember is needing to look up a spell and going into my study, then I remember sitting in the chair a little while ago."

[Trilobite]

"Do you happen to recall what spell you needed to look up, or why? Any detail could be of use."

[Starburst]

"I was looking up a variant on a spell for a colleague of mine from Canterlot university. I had the casting recorded in one of the spell-books here.. While I was looking for it I remembered waking up in this chair.. I don't recall what the spell was for anymore.."

[Trilobite]

"I'm certain it wasn't important, Lady. Is there anything else you recall, or anything you might know about these vile beasts?"

[Starburst]

Silk scroll shakes her head.

[Trilobite]

"Rest assured we will do everything in our power to discover the source of this evil and prevent its shadow from darkening your lovely home again." She turns to Bramble Rose, giving the short, deferential bow one gives to a superior with whom there is a close working relationship. "What next, Bramble Rose?" Her tone is slightly softer, almost deferential.

[Kirby Krackle]

Bramble Rose sighed, mostly from relief, now that his dear Dam would be well. She was eating and she will be well, he repeated to himself. He would make absolute certain of that. He was also very grateful to his lucky stars that his friends would as well. He smiled warmly up at Ironmane, bless her heart for caring so much. He owed Curtain Call gratitude as well though he seems to have vanished yet again. Slippery.

"Ironmane, right now, the only thing I want to do is get a good night's sleep. I'm drained physically, emotionally and... well, magically. We could all use a good night's rest, I think. Besides, I would rather not leave the house right now." He looked to his Dam, still sloppily stuffing her face, wishing there was an iron box he could stuff her in with heavily armored guards posted around the clock. Lacking all that, he would just stay by her side all night.

* * * *

Was it the absolute chaos of the previous day? The promise of more chaos tomorrow? A few dangling strands of guilt? Maybe it was his head still buzzing from constant psychic invasion. The visions forced on him were still fresh, like recent memories and sure enough, every time he thought about nodding off under a tree, his eyes jerked open again from seeing Ironmane as a bride. Looks like no sleep for Curtain Call yet, he grumbled, and decided to go off and do something productive. This aimless wandering lead him, not by coincidence, back to the study where the majority of his bad night started. Best place to find a distraction as anywhere. Besides, what was Bramble's mother reading anyway?

(Search check. Because this is a mystery yet unsolved!)

[Bramble Rose]

(ah-heh. Thanks, Kirby. )

Bramble straightened up, his brain only belatedly catching up with events. He was acting sloppy before his dam! He drew himself up, brushed his hoof across his mane, and let his mind race for a moment to try to think up some way to salvage the evening. He drew a giant blank. Thinking was definitely out the window, just now, as his adreneline levels crashed ... oh, blessed sleep, what a seductive mare you are, beckoning me to bed with you. "My apologies, I'm afraid this visit hasn't been quite as planned, and we have imposed on you greatly. Please, by our gratitude, take what comfort and shelter we can offer for the night." He paused, and ran over the last few minutes. "Ah, and I have been terribly rude ... I have not even introduced you all! My wits are scattered today. Ironmane, this is my dam, SIlk Scroll. Mother, this is my friend and colleague, the Paladin Ironmane of the Order of Princess Platinum."

Silk Scroll nodded, a faint smile on her face, and despite her hunger, she let off of eating for a moment to stand up straight, herself ... unlike Bramble, who had to make an obvious effort to slip into the refined tastes of Canterlot, before it became second nature, Silk Scroll had never lost it, even in the midst of stuffing her face. Her pale, weary composure was portrayed, through subtle shifts of body language, into a minor inconvenience that she nobly suffered, and her mein demanded you ignore the disheveled mane and coat, as it was just the latest style to look days unkempt. "Ah, and at last I meet the one my son has spoken so highly and frequently of. Indeed, I'm pleased my son has brought home such a very capable mare." Bramble blushed at his dam's faint teasing. "I don't know where we'd be now if it wasn't for you, and your friend. Let our home be yours, tonight and any future night you so need shelter. I hope you come to consider it as comfortable as your own home."

Bramble was too well trained by his dam to actually wail, "Mooooooom!" but it was a close thing. He could only hope that Ironmane didn't quite catch the implications there!

[Starburst]

Curtain call finds on the floor in front of the chair a spellbook.. but like most spellbooks, its cleverly encoded as to not reveal its contents to those unversed in spell-casting. However, the spellbook is face down, its pages are open. The book itself looks quite old and valuable. Gold trimmings ring the outside of the book, and sapphires are set into the four corners in the front and back of the book. Most spellbooks usually contain some form of trap or ward to prevent people from getting their hands on it, but you can feel that this one contains nothing of the sort. The cover of the book is bound in velvet that has been enchanted to be quite strong to the touch. When brushing your hooves across it, it feels as though you're lying naked on a shag carpet staring into a roaring fireplace. The pages are un-tearable, which you find out soon after picking up the book when tired hands grasp it by the cover and one of its pages and the page neither tears nor stresses at the awkward positioning.

Even with Curtain call lacking the magical sight or the evil sensing sight of his companions, he deduces that this book is quite valuable, and heavily enchanted.. and likely worth more than a few bits on its own.

[Trilobite]

(Previously on Dungeons and Ponies:)

Ironmane performed her best curtsy. "The pleasure is entirely mine, Lady Silk Scarf. I thank you for your most generous offer, and may I say that your son is a kind and capable stallion, truly a credit to his dam. He has often spoken of you, and I am grateful the Higher Powers have brought us together. Regardless of the circumstances it is an honor to meet you." To Bramble Rose, she says. "I will stand guard while you rest. I need to seek Princess Platinum's guidance in this matter in any case."

(Cut back to that night? Ironmane would be moving about the house, easy enough for Curtain Call to avoid if he wanted to.)

[Kirby Krackle]

"Typical. Magical unicorn scribledigook. Write coherently, why don't you? Nopony is trying to steal your secret recipe for gingerbread cookies."

That was a lie. In fact, Curtain Call has been hired to steal more from the category of "Magic book/Scroll" than any other precious commodity. More than gold or jewels, which boggles his mind. More than intelligence and military secrets, which he has done a seldom few jobs for. The "buyers" of these items are also typically high bidders, sometimes willing to throw in some extra incentive pay should the job be done quickly. But like all high rewards, there are always high risks. Too many times has Curtain Call nearly been burned, shocked, frozen, dissolved, teleported, diseased or given a massive dose of Poison Joke simply because that's the hocus pocus put on the goods in question. And then there's actually escaping with some crotchity old wizard breathing fire, fully prepared to reduce this Rogue to cinders or, scratch that, the book. Better it be ash than its secrets revealed, they think.

Balderdash.

Lately, that secret resentment towards magic that he's pretty sure every Earth Pony carries has tried to sway him away from such business. Tried. Not succeeded. This book was a nice one, he thought. With a few fences in mind, he considered slipping it into his bag for keepsies. Instead, he dog-eared the page that was open and slipped it into his back for temporaries. Right now, this was evidence. To what crime, he didn't know. But at least it was something to think about until he fell asleep.

Speaking of sleep, back to the garden with him. Perhaps he'll be in a better detecting mood when the sun was up. He considered how that might have looked, casually pocketing a family heirloom but dismissed the thought. He's just going to lie under a tree.

The thought of being caught with his hoof in the cookie jar by a friend has been coming up a lot lately. One friend in particular, considering recent events. But dang it, he was tired. Introspect tomorrow. Plopping down with an unfittingly ungraceful thud, and tipping his battered hat over his eyes, he let a song come out as he nodded off. It happened to be one he would hear as a foal, from his Ma and Pa. To and from one to the other, but most often in duet on stage.

"You do something to me.

Something that simply mystifies me.

Tell me, why should it be

You have the power to hypnotize me.

Let me live 'neath your spell.

Do do that voodoo that you do so well.

For you do something to me

That nobody else could do."

[Trilobite]

Ironmane was on patrol. A shame about the dust and tracks in the main hall, she thought. Bramble Rose might well have been able to have gathered some information from it. She closed her eyes briefls, trying to remember: something dragging itself through the dust, something--smaller than the other thing? Landing, then dragging itself along? It might have been the tracks of a slug and perhaps a rat, seized by malevolent power, falling from the rafters and the moving on it its target. But the tracks had seemed to large...

She calmed her mind. It was as the Princesses had willed it. She and her friends had arrived, and stopped the fiends in time. Doubtless their actions had been but one small movement in the delicate jeweled clockwork of the universe, constantly attended to by the Princesses and all the Higher Powers. That her companions had done what was in their best natures was enough. She and they would do all they could in the future. Once Lady Silk Scarf was as safe as they could make her, they would set off on the trail of the blackguard who had been preying upon innocent ponies and see to it that justice was done. She did not doubt for a moment that the two matters were connected, even if it were in a way a humble pony such as herself could never hope to perceive. The Princesses would guide things.

Motion caught her eye, and she moved to the window, trying to keep Bramble Rose's lessons in mind. Quick motion caught the eye, he said. So she stepped slowly to the window overlooking the garden. Motes of light, like spring sunshine through new leaves, danced in the indigo night. Fireflies. That was all she had seen. Beauty everywhere you looked. Beauty that needed to be tended and protected, and which she, as a member of the Order of Princess Platinum, had a special duty to serve. It had been a long time since she had done any proper gardening, and after who knew how long of being neglected, the garden could use it. Princess Platinum was doubtless calling her to remember the gentler side of the Order, a great relief to Ironmane, who understood the need for action but rather disliked having to be so...brutish.

Downstairs, the Paladin opened the rear door and stepped out quietly into the garden. Fireflies danced their dances and the stars shone overhead. And there was a sound...singing. A stallion, the voice homespun but smooth with experience and rich with sincere feeling. Stepping softly so as not to interrupt, Ironmane moved toward the tree that was the source of the song, arriving just as the verse was dying down.

[Bramble Rose]

Bramble Rose got his mother and the maid set into bed to sleep and rest, the city guard out the door, but not till the cleric had done detect-evil sweep of the entire estate. Not that he didn't trust Ironmane, but this was his mother, and if he could have had a hundred clerics and paladins go through here and each do their own sweep, he would have. he didn't want to find some purple spider hiding in a corner, some violet fly landing on him in his mother in her sleep ... he was the only lavendar critter to live here, thank you very much!

And finally, finally he could relax... lean himself on the railing of the rear balcony, his forelegs crossed on the bar with his head resting on them, looking out into Luna's sky. He let out a long breath, a soft release of all the tension that had him wound tight, and then he smiled as the soft music came up from below. He was used to it being more of a duet, a back-and-forth ... he wondered who was singing. He didn't recall any of the neighbors being musically inclinded! As the first voice started to drift away quietly, he figured, what the hay? Not like Ironmane was here to hear him.

His light, soft skilled voice drifted out over the garden, carrying well but with a delicate tone to it, lifted up into higher registers than normal as he responded to the unknown singer ...

o/` o/` o/` o/` o/`

Won't you tell me, dear

Why, when you appear,

Something happens to me

And the strangest feeling goes through me?

Let me live 'neath your spell

Do do that voodoo that you do so well

For you do something to me

That nobody else could do

o/` o/` o/` o/` o/`

[Kirby Krackle]

Paladins. So darn loud. Every time. At this point, Curtain Call was pretty certain that he could hear that mare breathing from across a crowded hallway. One day, that kind of presence will get her in trouble. Though, to be fair, he noticed her hooves crunching the grass and her armor rattling against itself slightly less. Cute, he thought. She's trying. So, just for her, why not spend that karma early and play a little joke.

Joke in question, calling her name from a great distance to spook her (great fun for the gullible), became waylaid by the second verse. This is an old tune though. How many ponies still know this one? At least, he's never heard it being played at the old saloon anymore. He listened for a bit, appreciating it and smiling, reminding him of good old days and making a mental note that Bramble Rose was a Tenor.

Suddenly day(night?) dreaming of going straight, finding a Lead and a Bass and forming a Barbershop Quarter, he completely forgot his surroundings and was, of all things, caught by surprise by Ironmane. The Paladin. Snuck up. On him. She's getting him into bad habits. He jumped on her approach and, above all things, began to stutter.

"[colour=#006400]I-I-Ironmane! I- *ahem* I d-didn't hear you approach[/colour]."

[Trilobite]

Ironmane has a gentle, wistful smile on her face, looking back toward the house as Bramble Rose's voice finishes drifting across the garden. There's no third verse from the mare, but a nightingale does burst into song in the tree above Curtain Call. "A lovely evening," she says, after the bird finishes its call. "Do you mind if I join you for a moment Curtain Call? I need a break if I am to remain alert until dawn."

[Kirby Krackle]

Curtain Call gave a wordless invitation; simply scooting over a step and a half. As manners dictated, he took off his hat in the presence of a lady. And once his eyes adjusted to Luna's moonlight, he noticed how pretty she looked bathed in it. Even the armor she wore, which as a symbol of authority he resents, somehow got an extra twinkle or two that he just found pleasant.

"Alert until dawn. Understood. Or you could try a less crazy idea and your friends could keep watch in shifts with you. I have noticed you bear a lot of weight on your shoulders and I don't mean your tin suit. Take a break. Take ten breaks. One night of self-interest won't kill you."

It did dawn on Curtain Call the humor behind telling the holy avenger to act selfish. He smiled to himself and began pondering his responses when she would inevitably ask the exact opposite of him.