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Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest

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Deltamaster said:
Your making one key assumption there, your assuming the architect of the wall (a wall made by the crystal kingdom preSombra) isn't built on sturdy foundation near as makes no difference down to bedrock, even assuming the wall isn't warded to hell and back, kaboom would have needed to have planted enough explosive to have obliterated said foundations (which would need a stupid amount of explosive as we ain't using C4 or stuff like that, were using crude dynamite (which is only marginally better than black powder)

... Bleep it I'lI just waiting for the QM to clarify now so to see if the Trojan plan is even viable now...
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Must admit, while I am not certain how effective the explosives will be logistically at least (It will likely depend on the damage that is rollled from the explosions going off though), I HIGHLY doubt that the explosives that we were insanely lucky enough to plant underneath Sombras fortifications for his ONLY city would have such a small impact. Especially considering the fact that even if the explosives aren't highly effective against the wall, the unenchanted terrain underneath the crystal cities walls is likely a very different story, and with enough damage to it the walls would come collapsing down anyways.
 
Raptor580 said:
Im not saying were gonna free them now im saying thats the only time soilders had the orichalum on them i doubt we have much of them here now except for the swords themselves which are infused with the stuff.

@Questor how powerful is the explosives we currently have under the city. And will it be enough to destroy the wall?


Also heres the exact update for the explosives we planted underneath the city

-Captain Karl Kaboom's Explosive Adventures: The sabotage mission against your Southern enemy went well. So well there's almost nothing left to sabotage. Almost. At some point you're going to have to assault the Shadow King's fortress, and when you do it's going to be a hard fight. Perhaps you can make things easier for yourself by planting some explosives under and around your enemy's defenses in advance? You think you know the right person for the job. Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Explosives pre-planted on and under Crystal Empire defenses, to be triggered during attack. Chance of Success: 50%

Required: 50. Rolled: 42+5+13+10(What if WE were King Sombra Omake)+15(Comparisons of Mythology and History, Part 2 Omake)=85

The Captain is given his assignment, access to the new blasting jelly and camouflage cloaks, and departs to enemy territory with a team of his fellow dogs to burrow beneath the fortifications of the Crystal City and plant enough explosives "to launch the whole damned thing skyward" as you'd so eloquently worded it. A few months after initially departing, returning occasionally for additional cartloads of explosives, the Captain returns for the final time to report mission success, having not lost a single dog under his command and confident that neither he nor the copious explosives caches have been detected by the enemy. You congratulate him on his accomplishment, and, after being on the receiving end of a truly epic case of "puppy-dog eyes", promise that he will be given the honor of setting off the explosives he planted when the invasion of the Crystal Empire occurs. Honestly, who else would you have even given the job to? Explosives planted on and under Crystal Empire defenses, to be triggered during attack. Charges undetected.
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The good captain planted a truly copious amount of explosives along structural weakpoints both under the exterior wall and elsewhere within the city. These explosives are the new "blasting jelly" aka Gelignite.

Whether they will be enough to collapse the magic-reinforced walls will depend on a dice roll that will be weighted in your favor. You can expect that, between the explosives and the cannons, a very decent amount of damage will be done to Sombra's fortifications and you will almost certainly be given an opening to March your army through.
 
[X] Within and Without: Captain Karl actually raised this idea, and with some refinement it might be workable. The freed slaves have provided you and your forces with detailed layouts of the city, and knowledge of lesser-used entrances and pathways that Sombra's forces may neglect to patrol. Exploit this information by having the Diamond Dogs tunnel under the walls and into the center of the city itself, catching the defenders between attacks from their front and their rear.
 
[X]Trojan Awe Amended (use QM info)
[X]Shock and Awe (If we do that we can keep Sombra off guard, normal siege will never work when Sombra's kingdom is surrounded by WINDIGO's, let alone the fact sombra can use the time to magic ritual us...)- We attack the main city gates using illusionists to cloak our forces and allow for closer approach to the fortress wall prior to the assault (less time in the kill Box so we lose less soldiers to magic and arrows, also the enemy will be more easily caught off guard, especially if they are attempting to clean up from Kaboom's Explosives).
[X]Set Kaboom's charges to detonate just prior to offensive (It will cripple any defensive plan Sombra has concocted and likely make breaching the defences much easier, )
*REMOVED INFILTRATORS AS NO NEED TO PLANT CHARGES IF CURRENT EXPLOSIVES SUFFICIENT
[X] Use information from the liberated Crystal ponies to get a clearer image of the palace layout (We send Hardbeak with a heavy combat contingent to where ever the throne room is while we send our demolition team (to destroy/ sever Sombra's link to the Phylactory or failing that to his crystal core computer in-charge of enslaving his army)
[X]Use Diamond Dogs coupled with remaining illusionists to burrow into castle catacombs during main offence and attack from multiple angles or sabotage/ scouting (in case the Ponies are unaware of where the phylactery or Crystal Core computer are- They attack after the offensive begins as it will draw all enemies to the front line,allowing easier movement and sabotage by our Diamond Dog teams, illusionists increase stealth after breaching palace by cloaking troops).
[X]Have our 3 knight orders leaders on standby for Sombra's inner sanctum (the grandmasters have Orichalcum blades so even if Hardbeak is busy/not available/fighting off a dragon army the others can step in)
[X]Use bonuses from units supporting hardbeak to ensure Sombra gets no chance against Hardbeak (lets face it Sombra will focus solely on him for cutting of his horn and Stabbing him in the face with a fiery sword)

Removed Omake usage points and left to Qm disgression as he knows best points to use Omakes at.
 
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Omake: Centuries after the Age of Goldenfeather
  • Sidestory
    • @Questor
    I should take my persona idea and make a little side omake centuries after this quest.

    Not to interfere with it, but to have some fun between chapters. Hardbeak as a Persona is fun.

    Edit: For those who are confused : Persona is a series based on Jungian psychology.

    The main characters both enter the collective unconscious of everyone's thoughts, and sometimes the specific minds of others.

    Shadows are ideas that have gained semi-life, or are the shadow-selfs of people in the real world.

    Your personal shadow is all the things you repress about yourself. The more you deny it, the worse it gets, and might get hostile.

    But if you can accept that it is you, it becomes a "Persona". You understand yourself better after being honest and not rejecting part of who you are.

    Personas often appear as figures from stories, archetypes, gods and spirits, etc. And I had thought about something interesting that would not influence the quest.
    ---
    Centuries after the age of Goldfeather.
    ---

    A fog had come in to town.
    A very opaque mist that left everything wet in an instant, and was enough to ground gryphons from flying today for the most part.
    A fog, that when it cleared, left the city looking very different. And this is why two young gryphons had ended up lost, even though they had been at home.

    They had gone from keeping entertained while waiting for a change in weather, to somehow being on a stony, grassy, and rainy passage on the side of a very long cliff. A passage with a view of a dark and stormy ocean, and big enough for many huts and standing stones to line the almost endless-looking pathway. On the other side, a blue-grey, rocky cliff, too high to fly over, loomed above, with entrances to canyons here and there.
    It was not likely a place in the real world, and there was no clue as to what was going on.

    Galvin, an adolescent gryphon, had rested with his little brother in one of the after the two escaped the shadows after a long time evading, and where resting as best they could when they where corned in an instant by weapon-wielding shadows. These dark, wispy figures looking like gryphons and other creatures had popped into existence right when they could not get away again, and the two where separated by the shadows breaking into two circles. The shadows did not even need to rough up the two to get them subdued, just from the shear level of power between the two sides.

    Galvin's pure-white body was pushed down by shadows on either side of him, claws on his shoulders. A third shadow readies a black, shiny axe into position for a beheading. The young gryphon squawks like a wild animal in despair while his heart races. There is not even time to process this or to feel the hopelessness kill his soul yet.

    He is able to see his tiny sibling, Dim, struggling under a large set of talons and flailing in resistance, the younger of the two gryphons trying to look be brave as he futilely nips and claws at that shadow above. Galvin shudders and feels his breath catch, torn between how he will die and not know the fate of his brother, and guilt at caring so much about his own safety. A hundred thoughts are formed and lost while he is forced to wait for what seems to be inevitable.

    He is able to meet eye to eye with his sibling, and realizes that as much as he wants to live, he has to do so for his brother as well in the first place. Dim should not have to deal with being alone, and that his fears are not so selfish, as someone truly does need Galvin to survive as much as he needs them. He can't just let his head roll and let the same happen across from him latter, so he pushes up against claws digging into his shoulders.

    The executioner waivers, and watches his would-be victim rise even as talons dig into Galvin's muscles.
    He shakes and trembles, gasping and going light-headed with pain, but the second wind lets him shove with his side to dislodge one of his oppressors.
    He calls out in a regal, feral caw-roar of adrenaline as he scrabbles away.

    As he is tackled by almost all of the shadows there in retaliation, leaving his brother more likely to escape, a doppleganger, grey-feathered to his white and with glowing yellow eyes, appears before him and looks down with a claw reaching out.

    "We have always doubted our resolve or self-worth, but here we are, fighting like the good gryphon our brother always reassured us we are." Galvin grunts as he locks claws with his shadow. "You where afraid of me before. The the knight in shining armor you are to many around you, but that you denied that you could be. But I know you are no longer fighting that."

    The are shines with a white-gold light as the two blend together, Galvin being bathed in a healing light as the shadows flinch and back away, Dim catching his breath as his captor retreats.

    "I am thou, though Art I.
    You have a duty, and an honor.
    A duty to protect those who trust you.
    And the honor of putting yourself between
    them and those that mean them harm."

    When the light clears, Galvin is in a suit of thick, silver armor, just his eyes are visible, a large sword in his claws.
    A red, flaming circle surrounds him.

    "Be the Knight and Lion,
    and for those you cherish,
    be the reason they get to
    have another day of peace."

    A large, flaming ghost in armor appears above Galvin, looking over the enemies calmly, and swings at the shadows.
    ---

    As the shadows dissipate, some still staggering from the searing blows before unraveling into dark wisp, Galvin pulls his brother up to his chest.

    The tiny gryphon returns the hug, and the two set off for the first of the lights that have appeared in the distance.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • [X]Trojan Awe Amended

    @Deltamaster while I like the plan 1 thing about combat is during combat all omakes are free to be used and placed by questor unless said otherwise by the omake creator to give us the best outcome possible but it still being limited to 2 per roll. So there's no need to specify where you want omakes put questor will handle that during rolls.
     
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    So Trojan Awe Amended aren't gonna look for the Crystal Heart? What are you on about this Crystal Core computer that has only appeared in a omake?
    Isn't it much likelier it's the Crystal Heart down there, since the crystal ponies mentioned there is something Sombra fears down there? Compared to some "Crystal Mind Control Computer".

    We know where Sombra's soul jar is: it's on the top of the crystal palace's tower remember? The place our spy-scouts saw Sombra periodically take refreshing magic baths so to speak?
     
    Somebodynobody10 said:
    So Trojan Awe Amended aren't gonna look for the Crystal Heart? What are you on about this Crystal Core computer that has only appeared in a omake?
    Isn't it much likelier it's the Crystal Heart down there, since the crystal ponies mentioned there is something Sombra fears down there? Compared to some "Crystal Mind Control Computer".

    We know where Sombra's soul jar is: it's on the top of the crystal palace's tower remember? The place our spy-scouts saw Sombra periodically take refreshing magic baths so to speak?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hes just calling the crystal heart that dont worry about that to much, also we know that sombra is scared of something he has locked away in the catacombs so if hes scared of it we want it, considering it will be easier to get to that then what will probably the most heavily guarded thing at the top of his tower.
     
    Omake: Good Intentions (Canon)
  • Sidestory
    • Good intentions

    @Questor



    A company: when one or a few beings got together to earn money. A company can take many shapes and forms, engage in many activities and enterprises but at the end a company is defined by the desire to earn money. A bank is no different, a group of beings wanting to earn money.

    Thus, by definition, the Bank of Griffon is not a company. It does not exist to earn money. It can and does earn money. Like any other bank it lends out money and collects interest on that loan but that isn't the purpose of this Institution. The idea and will which begat the bank was the desire to help the empire's economy grow, to help everyone else earn money.

    Nicklas Bones heaved a sigh and looked at the night sky through large window in his, in his opinion, all too lavish office. He hadn't been there for the design, architecture and decoration of the bank which he now regretted slightly. They had obviously made a great effort to display it's royal backing as a headquarter of a institute directly under the imperial office but he still didn't like it. He was a servant of the empire, and he would never allow this house to use it's power for its own gain.

    "How very you" an unwelcome voice said mockingly.

    Nicklas answered with a groan. "I should probably get a bed in here given how often I fall asleep here." he said.

    "It would probably help your whining about back pain." The wolf-like creature remarked. The nonchalance in its tone and gait as infuriating as anything. Looking at him over his desk.

    "I need to think." Nicklas bit out. "Get your poison off your tongue so I can have some quiet time."

    "Oh, why don't we discuss it together? Maybe those young ones? Those little birds seem to finally have found their wings. So many wonderful ideas of how we can-"

    "Shut up."

    His declaration left the room quiet. At least until he felt it's eyes land on him.

    "What did you just say?" it said in a dangerous voice.

    It deterred him none.

    "Shut. Up. There is no We. There isn't even an I in this. My job is not to feather my own nest nor to impoverish anyone else. Those ideas that those young Griffs I hired? They will be used to know what dangers we might face and how we can control the risks while reaping the benefits."

    It was angry, teeth slightly bared in a snarl. but it was smaller than before and he had overcome worse.

    He turned away from it, dismissing it. It Hated when he did that

    "Now get out of my office."

    "You grow arrogant little one." It growled out. "You can not simply will me away nor can you keep me quiet. I AM you, all you want to be."

    "A large ugly beast constantly slavering for pretty paper? Thanks but no thanks."

    It ignored his jape.

    "You can't hide anything from me for I am in your every thought and act. You think I would be here if you didn't think of using the Crystal ponies and their delightfully defunct kingdom to 'enrich' the empire?"

    Damn It. "...that is exactly why I need to think."

    It gave It's ugly laughter, a growl and purr of amusement that vibrated the room It filled. "You can lie to yourself but you can't lie to me. I know your thoughts. We both know the chance that is right before us. They will need help in remaking their entire society. Their entire economy. It's helping them really in making it linked to ours. Backing their currency in our own. Letting griffins establish industry and companies will provide jobs for the civilians. Letting them take loans to rebuild their homes and lands is a kindness. They will tie themselves in strings with a smile and give you the control with a thank you."

    He could see it. It couldn't even be called a trap, no one "aid" would be anything but a kindness, something to help the kingdom recover. It would be years, decades, maybe even generations before anyone realized how the crystal ponies had been released from a yoke of iron into a yoke of silk.

    He could feel the looming if it, great and oppressive. The heavy fall of it's paws sounding next to him as it stepped over the desk. A soft breathing in his ear as it leaned in.

    "The Crystal Protectorate has a good sound to it, don't you think?"

    He looked at the moon through the window. It silently looked back.

    WHAM! "YIPP!"

    And then Nicklas Bones moved.

    Nicklas Bones was not a spring Griff anymore. But if it was one thing that every griffin knew and no Griff ever forgot it was how to throw a punch.

    It had no chance to recover before he was on top of the small, pitiful thing.

    "You listen here and you listen good." He growled out. "If you ever utter the words 'Crystal Protectorate' again then, by my House and all my ancestors, I will stuff you down into the darkest, smallest little box I can find and retire."

    "Y-you ca-" It tried to say, eyes wide.

    "I can't?" He cut it off. "I have more money than I could spend if I stayed in the Hotbarrel hotel for the rest of my life. My son is handling the household well enough that it is just a formality that I'm the patriarch at this point. I have every ability to walk away."

    "W-we-" It tried desperately to interject.

    "There is no damn We!" he cut it off again "There is Me, and there is You and YOU just suggested we bring more suffering on those whom have already suffered too much by half! You have depleted my patience and outstayed your welcome."

    He grabbed the mutt by the scruff of its neck and flew to the door out to the hall.

    "Now…"

    He threw open the door, uncaring of the stars and void beyond it's threshold.

    "GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" He screeched and threw the runt out before slamming the door shut.





    The next morning Nicklas immediately sent for everyone in the "Think Office" as it had become known for a meeting in his office. The meeting was relatively short where he described the good ideas and intentions for the crystal kingdom that had the possibility of going so wrong. The last words he said before the young economics Griffs walked briskly to their own office to prepare the paper, ink and alcohol that a brainstorm of this magnitude required would stick with them for a long, long time.

    "It is our duty to help but we must remember that we can't always help by showing kindness. If we only try to help in the most direct and obvious way then those good intentions will pave road straight to Tartarus."

    _____________________________________________

    Oh shit, I have just been half writing some ideas and then let them languish in my Google docs folder.

    Let's see if we can change that. Especially after a fucking coding course test. A creative clean flush is EXACTLY what I need.
     
    Last edited:
  • Sidestory
    • ChaosRuneSmith said:
    Good intentions

    @Questor



    A company: when one or a few beings got together to earn money. A company can take many shapes and forms, engage in many activities and enterprises but at the end a company is defined by the desire to earn money. A bank is no different, a group of beings wanting to earn money.

    Thus, by definition, the Bank of Griffon is not a company. It does not exist to earn money. It can and does earn money. Like any other bank it lends out money and collects interest on that loan but that isn't the purpose of this Institution. The idea and will which begat the bank was the desire to help the empire's economy grow, to help everyone else earn money.

    Nicklas Bones heaved a sigh and looked at the night sky through large window in his, in his opinion, all too lavish office. He hadn't been there for the design, architecture and decoration of the bank which he now regretted slightly. They had obviously made a great effort to display it's royal backing as a headquarter of a institute directly under the imperial office but he still didn't like it. He was a servant of the empire, and he would never allow this house to use it's power for its own gain.

    "How very you" an unwelcome voice said mockingly.

    Nicklas answered with a groan. "I should probably get a bed in here given how often I fall asleep here." he said.

    "It would probably help your whining about back pain." The wolf-like creature remarked. The nonchalance in its tone and gait as infuriating as anything. Looking at him over his desk.

    "I need to think." Nicklas bit out. "Get your poison off your tongue so I can have some quiet time."

    "Oh, why don't we discuss it together? Maybe those young ones? Those little birds seem to finally have found their wings. So many wonderful ideas of how we can-"

    "Shut up."

    His declaration left the room quiet. At least until he felt it's eyes land on him.

    "What did you just say?" it said in a dangerous voice.

    It deterred him none.

    "Shut. Up. There is no We. There isn't even an I in this. My job is not to feather my own nest nor to impoverish anyone else. Those ideas that those young Griffs I hired? They will be used to know what dangers we might face and how we can control the risks while reaping the benefits."

    It was angry, teeth slightly bared in a snarl. but it was smaller than before and he had overcome worse.

    He turned away from it, dismissing it. It Hated when he did that

    "Now get out of my office."

    "You grow arrogant little one." It growled out. "You can not simply will me away nor can you keep me quiet. I AM you, all you want to be."

    "A large ugly beast constantly slavering for pretty paper? Thanks but no thanks."

    It ignored his jape.

    "You can't hide anything from me for I am in your every thought and act. You think I would be here if you didn't think of using the Crystal ponies and their delightfully defunct kingdom to 'enrich' the empire?"

    Damn It. "...that is exactly why I need to think."

    It gave It's ugly laughter, a growl and purr of amusement that vibrated the room It filled. "You can lie to yourself but you can't lie to me. I know your thoughts. We both know the chance that is right before us. They will need help in remaking their entire society. Their entire economy. It's helping them really in making it linked to ours. Backing their currency in our own. Letting griffins establish industry and companies will provide jobs for the civilians. Letting them take loans to rebuild their homes and lands is a kindness. They will tie themselves in strings with a smile and give you the control with a thank you."

    He could see it. It couldn't even be called a trap, no one "aid" would be anything but a kindness, something to help the kingdom recover. It would be years, decades, maybe even generations before anyone realized how the crystal ponies had been released from a yoke of iron into a yoke of silk.

    He could feel the looming if it, great and oppressive. The heavy fall of it's paws sounding next to him as it stepped over the desk. A soft breathing in his ear as it leaned in.

    "The Crystal Protectorate has a good sound to it, don't you think?"

    He lookedlat the moon through the window. It silently looked back.

    WHAM! "YIPP!"

    And then Nicklas Bones moved.

    Nicklas Bones was not a spring Griff anymore. But if it was one thing that every griffin knew and no Griff ever forgot it was how to throw a punch.

    It had no chance to recover before he was on top of the small, pitiful thing.

    "You listen here and you listen good." He growled out. "If you ever utter the words 'Crystal Protectorate' again then, by my House and all my ancestors, I will stuff you down into the darkest, smallest little box I can find and retire."

    "Y-you ca-" It tried to say, eyes wide.

    "I can't?" He cut it off. "I have more money than I could spend if I stayed in the Hotbarrel hotel for the rest of my life. My son is handling the household well enough that it is just a formality that I'm the patriarch at this point. I have every ability to walk away."

    "W-we-" It tried desperately to interject.

    "There is no damn We!" he cut it off again "There is Me, and there is You and YOU just suggested we bring more suffering on those whom have already suffered too much by half! You have depleted my patience and outstayed your welcome."

    He grabbed the mutt by the scruff of its neck and flew to the door out to the hall.

    "Now…"

    He threw open the door, uncaring of the stars and void beyond it's threshold.

    "GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" He screeched and threw the runt out before slamming the door shut.





    The next morning Nicklas immediately sent for everyone in the "Think Office" as it had become known for a meeting in his office. The meeting was relatively short where he described the good ideas and intentions for the crystal kingdom that had the possibility of going so wrong. The last words he said before the young economics Griffs walked briskly to their own office to prepare the paper, ink and alcohol that a brainstorm of this magnitude required would stick with them for a long, long time.

    "It is our duty to help but we must remember that we can't always help by showing kindness. If we only try to help in the most direct and obvious way then those good intentions will pave road straight to Tartarus."

    _____________________________________________

    Oh shit, I have just been half writing some ideas and then let them languish in my Google docs folder.

    Let's see if we can change that. Especially after a fucking coding course test. A creative clean flush is EXACTLY what I need.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    +15 to a roll! Great Omake! Love the financial view of the Empire!
     
    Zavvnao said:
    @Questor
    I should take my persona idea and make a little side omake centuries after this quest.

    Not to interfere with it, but to have some fun between chapters. Hardbeak as a Persona is fun.

    Edit: For those who are confused : Persona is a series based on Jungian psychology.

    The main characters both enter the collective unconscious of everyone's thoughts, and sometimes the specific minds of others.

    Shadows are ideas that have gained semi-life, or are the shadow-selfs of people in the real world.

    Your personal shadow is all the things you repress about yourself. The more you deny it, the worse it gets, and might get hostile.

    But if you can accept that it is you, it becomes a "Persona". You understand yourself better after being honest and not rejecting part of who you are.

    Personas often appear as figures from stories, archetypes, gods and spirits, etc. And I had thought about something interesting that would not influence the quest.
    ---
    Centuries after the age of Goldfeather.
    ---

    A fog had come in to town.
    A very opaque mist that left everything wet in an instant, and was enough to ground gryphons from flying today for the most part.
    A fog, that when it cleared, left the city looking very different. And this is why two young gryphons had ended up lost, even though they had been at home.

    They had gone from keeping entertained while waiting for a change in weather, to somehow being on a stony, grassy, and rainy passage on the side of a very long cliff. A passage with a view of a dark and stormy ocean, and big enough for many huts and standing stones to line the almost endless-looking pathway. On the other side, a blue-grey, rocky cliff, too high to fly over, loomed above, with entrances to canyons here and there.
    It was not likely a place in the real world, and there was no clue as to what was going on.

    Galvin, an adolescent gryphon, had rested with his little brother in one of the after the two escaped the shadows after a long time evading, and where resting as best they could when they where corned in an instant by weapon-wielding shadows. These dark, wispy figures looking like gryphons and other creatures had popped into existence right when they could not get away again, and the two where separated by the shadows breaking into two circles. The shadows did not even need to rough up the two to get them subdued, just from the shear level of power between the two sides.

    Galvin's pure-white body was pushed down by shadows on either side of him, claws on his shoulders. A third shadow readies a black, shiny axe into position for a beheading. The young gryphon squawks like a wild animal in despair while his heart races. There is not even time to process this or to feel the hopelessness kill his soul yet.

    He is able to see his tiny sibling, Dim, struggling under a large set of talons and flailing in resistance, the younger of the two gryphons trying to look be brave as he futilely nips and claws at that shadow above. Galvin shudders and feels his breath catch, torn between how he will die and not know the fate of his brother, and guilt at caring so much about his own safety. A hundred thoughts are formed and lost while he is forced to wait for what seems to be inevitable.

    He is able to meet eye to eye with his sibling, and realizes that as much as he wants to live, he has to do so for his brother as well in the first place. Dim should not have to deal with being alone, and that his fears are not so selfish, as someone truly does need Galvin to survive as much as he needs them. He can't just let his head roll and let the same happen across from him latter, so he pushes up against claws digging into his shoulders.

    The executioner waivers, and watches his would-be victim rise even as talons dig into Galvin's muscles.
    He shakes and trembles, gasping and going light-headed with pain, but the second wind lets him shove with his side to dislodge one of his oppressors.
    He calls out in a regal, feral caw-roar of adrenaline as he scrabbles away.

    As he is tackled by almost all of the shadows there in retaliation, leaving his brother more likely to escape, a doppleganger, grey-feathered to his white and with glowing yellow eyes, appears before him and looks down with a claw reaching out.

    "We have always doubted our resolve or self-worth, but here we are, fighting like the good gryphon our brother always reassured us we are." Galvin grunts as he locks claws with his shadow. "You where afraid of me before. The the knight in shining armor you are to many around you, but that you denied that you could be. But I know you are no longer fighting that."

    The are shines with a white-gold light as the two blend together, Galvin being bathed in a healing light as the shadows flinch and back away, Dim catching his breath as his captor retreats.

    "I am thou, though Art I.
    You have a duty, and an honor.
    A duty to protect those who trust you.
    And the honor of putting yourself between
    them and those that mean them harm."

    When the light clears, Galvin is in a suit of thick, silver armor, just his eyes are visible, a large sword in his claws.
    A red, flaming circle surrounds him.

    "Be the Knight and Lion,
    and for those you cherish,
    be the reason they get to
    have another day of peace."

    A large, flaming ghost in armor above Galvin looks over the enemies calmly, and swings at the shadows.
    ---

    As the shadows dissipate, some still staggering from the searing blows before unraveling into dark wisp, Galvin pulls his brother up to his chest.

    The tiny gryphon returns the hug, and the two set off for the first of the lights that have appeared in the distance.
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