- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
[X] Plan: Infrastructural Upgrades & More Wartime Prep v2
not fully sold that its the best plan but it sounds fine to me.
not fully sold that its the best plan but it sounds fine to me.
Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
ChaosTheVoid
Beyond the Outer Gates
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
[X] Plan: Infrastructural Upgrades & More Wartime Prep v2
Works for me.
Works for me.
- Location
- MN
[X] Plan: Infrastructural Upgrades & More Wartime Prep v2
- Location
- Germany
Hey, as-is it's both a national landmark and a decent state work creation scheme. Those 100 gold per turn give quite a few soldiers and suppliers something to do.
It doubles the per-turn cost of the action, not just the cost for this turn, and the extra cost is mentioned as generous application of funds:
Markala
Hannor & Polycho Shipper
- Location
- At the Junction of Angst and Fluff
Costs aside, at this point in the vote I feel that we need the Sanitation Order more asap than we do AgriCult Expansion (which we could do another Imp Order in next turn if we wanted if we're in a timecrunch).
...Huh, I didn't notice that actually, ty. But I'm unsure if it refers to the turns after; I forget and it's been a long quest thread, does anybody remember if an Imperial Order was ever applied to something with more than 2 turns long before (my brain is weirdly specifically pedantic, so examples help me remember)? I was under the impression that Imperial Order functioned the way I said I thought it did (Cram 2 years' cost into 1 yr for 2yrs of work in single yr, & regular cost next turn if longer next turn?)? But if I'm totally wrong on that end, I apologize for my ignorance.
...Huh, I didn't notice that actually, ty. But I'm unsure if it refers to the turns after; I forget and it's been a long quest thread, does anybody remember if an Imperial Order was ever applied to something with more than 2 turns long before (my brain is weirdly specifically pedantic, so examples help me remember)? I was under the impression that Imperial Order functioned the way I said I thought it did (Cram 2 years' cost into 1 yr for 2yrs of work in single yr, & regular cost next turn if longer next turn?)? But if I'm totally wrong on that end, I apologize for my ignorance.
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Keani
C̵͍̈t̷̼̓h̴̀ͅŭ̶̹l̴̡̈u̸̫͗ ̶̟͌F̵͚́h̶̠͊t̶͍͌ă̷̺g̴̯̊n̷
- Location
- R͈̥̲̦͍͓͗̽̈́̚'̞ͧ͛ͥ̄l̫̰̤̖̽̐y͍̲ͧ̒́̐̌̀e̪͆h̸̩͔̟ͣ͐͐̎ͤ
I really think we should focus on developing few large urban centers as opposed to many smaller ones. Once you've managed issues of sanitation and construction safety centralizing urban centers has so much more benefits than devolving them. Especially since we have absurd heights off go without the major steel and such costs by virtue of going deep, even better if we build mountain through valley cities that let us maximise surface area.
This will become all the more worthwhile as we advance in industrialization and services and specialist industries enlarge and advance as Agricultrual labour burdens wither.
Further, such mentality should hopefully head off obsessive sprawl and suburban anything which is just ugly, inefficient, expensive, and bad for the environment.
*Insert pages long rant on the evils of uban sprawl, small to medium sized cities, suburbia, Marsh and plains construction, short buildings without basements, coastal constructions on ahitry foundations because B E A C H F R O N T instead of building your Port and keeping the city just off the coast, failing to properly check water tables, not having designated waste disposal sites, zoning for almost anything other than keeping industrial and ultility shit where it's safe, uniform design, buildings designed without being pretty in mind, highways, lacking public transportation, unwalkable cities, strip malls, lacking plants, aesthetic focused anti homeless measures, economically stratified urban design, and all the other bullshit that comes from putting off preparing for highly centralized urban economies before they just pop up out of nowhere which they inevitably will rather than accepting the necessity and working hard to facilitate it on the cusp of industrialization and beyond rather than leaving it for long after peak inefficiency industrialization has already occured*
Seriously though, we'd be better off preparing hard for big cities before they happen rather than trying to stave them off because while the point in between seems sexy because it happens after the tech occurs it's only seductive because it comes from minimizing effort and is two steps removed from peak inefficiency and is where the worst sprawl comes from.
Like, the worst urban sprawl is when no planning goes into making a viable big city and small to medium cities naturally expand because that is what non agrarian settlements do.
I really wanna not see Port au Prince(beautiful but the very incarnation of the worst possible city design like omfg we had to have been putting an active effort into failing that hard) but griffons but everywhere because we chose to tap dance around urbanization rather than just going hard in solving the obstacles it presents which we're being given the option to do literally right now when the boom is just beginning and we have years to pull it off.
This will become all the more worthwhile as we advance in industrialization and services and specialist industries enlarge and advance as Agricultrual labour burdens wither.
Further, such mentality should hopefully head off obsessive sprawl and suburban anything which is just ugly, inefficient, expensive, and bad for the environment.
*Insert pages long rant on the evils of uban sprawl, small to medium sized cities, suburbia, Marsh and plains construction, short buildings without basements, coastal constructions on ahitry foundations because B E A C H F R O N T instead of building your Port and keeping the city just off the coast, failing to properly check water tables, not having designated waste disposal sites, zoning for almost anything other than keeping industrial and ultility shit where it's safe, uniform design, buildings designed without being pretty in mind, highways, lacking public transportation, unwalkable cities, strip malls, lacking plants, aesthetic focused anti homeless measures, economically stratified urban design, and all the other bullshit that comes from putting off preparing for highly centralized urban economies before they just pop up out of nowhere which they inevitably will rather than accepting the necessity and working hard to facilitate it on the cusp of industrialization and beyond rather than leaving it for long after peak inefficiency industrialization has already occured*
Seriously though, we'd be better off preparing hard for big cities before they happen rather than trying to stave them off because while the point in between seems sexy because it happens after the tech occurs it's only seductive because it comes from minimizing effort and is two steps removed from peak inefficiency and is where the worst sprawl comes from.
Like, the worst urban sprawl is when no planning goes into making a viable big city and small to medium cities naturally expand because that is what non agrarian settlements do.
I really wanna not see Port au Prince(beautiful but the very incarnation of the worst possible city design like omfg we had to have been putting an active effort into failing that hard) but griffons but everywhere because we chose to tap dance around urbanization rather than just going hard in solving the obstacles it presents which we're being given the option to do literally right now when the boom is just beginning and we have years to pull it off.
- Location
- Maryland
It refers to how much influence the religion has on society, not the influence that you personally hold over it.
- Location
- Maryland
I'll consider it.
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh dear, I typed out 'and' instead of using '&' didn't I?
Curse grammatical correctness!
Curse grammatical correctness!
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
You want it beta'd or just looked over? I am not a good beta but i wouldnt turn down an early access pass to an omake.
Omake: A Calm After the Storm (Canon)
- Location
- A house
So, I cant seem to find the page breaks. Rip to that I guess. Wrote this cause I had a few questions I wanted to answer. Big one being 'the emperor was out for a few minutes when he was opening the door. If I was sombra, I'd stay nearby. How did he not get there instantly?' And some of this was the result.
So, BIG QUESTION for @Questor , what do you call the current curreny? Currently just using notes as short for bank notes, but is there something official to call them? Gryphon dollars? Garrits? what exactly?
Anyway heres the Omake.
(tentative title cause I cant think of anything better)
A Calm After the Storm
Gustav Kingfeather always cursed his decision to put the Lion's Den on top of a mountain.
On paper, it only seemed right. Put the citadel in a high place, somewhere where the common folk could see from a distance and gaze in awe, knowing that there lied the protectors of the realm.
Now, most Griffons could fly, so getting to such a place wasn't an issue.
Most.
He, with only one wing to spare, was relegated to climbing the seemingly infinite steps up to the entrance.
Almost 20 years ago, he had simply sighed and accepted the fact that he'd just be taking the stairs every time he wanted to go there. So what if he didn't have all his appendages? No set of stairs would knock the wind out of him.
But these days… well, he certainly was getting up there in age. And the stairs now seemed all the more daunting.
Doubly so because, for reasons he couldn't care to recall, he had decided to come when it was storming. High winds and heavy rain had threatened to send him flying off the path, and the wet stone had done no favors for attempting to stay on it. Not to mention the coat he had worn to try and mitigate getting his clothes wet had already soaked completely through, making wearing it redundant.
He sent some mental curses to past Gustav for getting present Gustav to do this today, of all days.
But, at least he had finally arrived at the top.
As per usual, two Griffons in full armor were standing on either side of the large oak doors leading inside, spears at rest next to them. Walking forward so he was now under the roof, he removed the hood from his face, drops of water falling from the waterlogged garment and down onto his beak.
"Morning!" He called out, both saluting to him in response, "Konrad in right now or is he doing flight drills with the rest?"
"Good morning to you as well, sir!" The one on the left responded, redoubling his posture and saluting even harder, "He is currently in the private training hall, sir!"
"At ease." The guardsgriffon lowered his arm, but his posture remained stone stiff, "I'm retired, and I've always been a civilian. There's no need for formalities."
At this point, it was a practiced phrase, given the sheer number of times he'd said it in the past.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" He nodded, knowing exactly what would come next, "Being frank, what you have done for the empire is more than worthy of this one's complete and utter respect, sir!"
And there was the usual response. At his point, he felt he had heard every variation of that phrase.
Not that he didn't mind. Certainly helped boost his pride a bit.
"Fine, fine, do as you wish…" He found himself shaking his head, a small smile on his face, "Mind letting me in?"
This time, the one on the right spoke up, "I am sorry sir, but we can not do that. Protocol dictates you must have proper authorization."
"Ah, right, right… Give me a moment…" He took off his coat, the feeling of it peeling away from his clothes underneath causing him to shiver, before rummaging around in one of the few dry spots he had left on his body, a pocket on his chest. "Here."
In his talon he held two letters, both bearing the official seal of the emperor himself, and passed one off to the guard. A quick swipe of a talon and read through later, the guard spoke once again.
"You are free to enter. Apologies for the inconvenience, sir."
He waved it off with his good wing, "Bah, you both are just doing your jobs. If you hadn't stopped me I would have been worried."
Wish another salute, both guards stepped to the side, each attending to a nearby crankshaft, before the clinks of gears sounded out, opening the massive doors to the front of the citadel for him to pass through.
"Have a good rest of your day, sir!" One of the guards spoke up, saluting him once more.
He returned the gesture with a nod before entering, the door shutting behind him with a thud.
As usual, the inside of the citadel had a certain chill to it, enhanced by the rain pattering away at the stained glass outside. Faint, multicolored light broken up by falling raindrops illuminated the large hall, providing enough light to see properly without needing to light the torches and braziers that lined the walls.
His peg leg echoed across the marble floor as he made his way with purpose toward where he knew the master of the Knights Lion resided, arriving at the very back of the citadel in front of another large oak door, although this one was not nearly the size of the entrance.
"You may enter."
Even before attempting to knock, the deep, rumbling voice of Konrad Hardbeak called out from behind the door.
Shaking his head, he simply pushed on the handle and went in.
"... I see you still refuse to use the elevator."
Konrad stood in the center of the room in his usual mountainous glory, neighponese sword in claw and eyes focused on a pile of dull colored bricks, around which rested many other, smaller bricks, each half the size of the stacked ones. Behind him, the large curved window that took up the entirety of the back wall revealed the dark storm clouds outside, where shadows of griffons in formation could be seen darting in and out of.
"That death trap?" He recalled the one time he took the metal coffin up and shivered, "No thank you, I will take the stairs any day of the week."
"And yet various other griffons use it without issue." He replied, eyes narrowing, talons gripping ever tighter around the hilt of his blade, "Not once has there been any fault in its use."
"I think I trust the ground more than a metal box on a pulley. Plus I need the exercise anyway." He walked over closer to him, taking a seat on one of the benches in the room near a burning brazier to try and dry off, "Sitting around all day and acting the crotchety old grandpa doesn't sit well with me."
If Gustav had blinked he would have missed it.
One moment, the griffon had been some distance away from his target. The next, a sudden crack sounded out, and Hardbeak was on the other side of the pile, sword slowly being sheathed. A second passed, and the brick stack fell evely to either side in two parts, clattering with dull thuds against their fallen brethren.
"Tch… Another failure…" He heard Hardbeak whisper under his breath before sighing. He let his sword sheath fully with a high pitched shink, before turning back to him and walking over "Well, if you insist on not using the elevator, I will not say anything against it. I assume you are not here to trade pleasantries?"
"Failure? Oh now you're just showing off…" Gustav placed his coat on one of the spears nearby, hanging it and his talons over the fire to dry them out and warm them up, "Look at me teleporting across the room and slicing bricks in half with my fancy Neighponese sword, can't use a proper griffonian sword like everyone else, no, because I'm Hardbeak… But on that note, yes, you'd be right. Was visiting his majesty when I noticed he had a job lined up in his never ending stack of papers. Since it involved you, I killed two cockatrices with one stone and took it upon myself to deliver it, seeing as I was planning on visiting you anyway."
"Whatever task the Emperor tasks me with, I will perform it with my utmost capabilities." He jumped up, flapping his wings once, and landed next to him, "As for 'showing off,' as you say, I do not see how it could be. This-" He pointed to the bricks, "-was merely some strength training practice."
Gustav tilted his head. Strength training? Hardbeak, of all griffons, needed strength training practice?
"Many amongst the knight's Lion feel it is impossible to spar with me, so I have taken it upon myself to try to control my strength, from my maximum to a minimum, while also taking the chance to see how precise I can be." Ah, now that made more sense, "Currently, I have only managed to do one full stack of bricks, rather than merely all but one, as I'd hoped. Still. It is much better my initial attempts. I am uncertain if the citadel could have continued to take the abuse."
The citadel…? It was then that Gustav took a closer look at the ground with his one good eye, noting a thin, yet deep gouge in the floor…. That was also mirrored on the ceiling. And if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, on the far wall as well. "... Oh. So those rumors I'd heard from your recruits about you nearly slicing the citadel off the mountain are…?"
"I will neither confirm nor deny. My reputation is overblown as is, and I do not want nor need any more fame. Thus, any rumors will remain as such." The words 'even if they are true' went unsaid, "Now, as for the mission…?"
"... Every time, I can't help but think, how can a griffon like you possibly exist, but here you are. What did the recruits say about you again…? Ah, that's right, It's clucking Hardbeak. It doesn't need to make sense." He replied, an exasperated sigh coming from his beak, "As for the job, it's nothing so serious... feel like taking a trip to the Crystal Protectorate?"
Konrad raised an eyebrow, "For what purpose?"
Pulling back one of his talons, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the other letter he had brought with him today, "How do you feel about guard detail?"
Initially, Gustav had made no plans to come along.
After all, why would he? It wasn't like the job was for him. He had just been planning on delivering the letter and catching up, since it had been a while since he had last seen Konrad.
Except...
"Wewannagowewannagowewannago!"
He had fought ogres, trolls, and dragons in his life time… yet, for the life of him, he couldn't bear the onslaught of his two grandchildren circling around him begging to go there.
Thus, he now found himself with Vera on his back, talon gripped on his head as she gazed in wonder at the sights and sounds of the Crystal Protectorate, and Quartz atop his wing, gripping onto his older sister with his hooves, a similar look of delight on his face.
"13!" Vera practically shouted into his ear, "That's 13!"
"Where?!" The quieter voice of Quartz questioned, although still very loud.
"There, over there!" He felt the talon on his head move, a claw now blocking the vision from his one good eye, "See? On top of the stairs!"
He let out a small grunt as the weights on his back shifted, "Oh, you're right! That's 13!"
The claw moved out of the way, allowing him to spot another one of the many Griffon statues that were set up around the Protectorate. In full armor, it stood at the ready, the sun bouncing off it and causing it to gleam in a gem-like way he had only seen the architecture in this place do.
"Oi, don't move around too much!" He called out, "My back ain't what it used to be."
"But gramps is super strong!" His granddaughter called out, a hum of agreement from her sibling, "Like, cha, cha, pow! Dragon slayer strong!"
She flailed around, miming out punching the legendary beast, causing more strain on his poor back. Gritting his beak and bearing with the aches and pains, he smiled and shook his head lightly, "You give this old man too much credit…"
"Nu-uh! Gramps is the best! Right Arty?"
"Mhm! Mhm! Grandpa is the coolest!"
He let out a sigh... Kids will be kids. "Yes, your grandpa is the coolest, but he's also getting older. So, he would appreciate it if you would kindly stopped jumping around before his spine snaps in two. Besides, it's time for you two to climb down anyway."
"Eh? But I don't wanna come down…" Quartz muttered.
"Yeah! I don't wanna either!"
"I guess you two don't want to go see the gardens, then."
The two weights shifted again, both perking up and leaning forward onto his skull. Too busy trying to locate griffon statues, they had missed the forest for the trees, and had completely missed a large, half built, glass dome structure the size of several buildings not too far in front of them beyond a shining gate, a large grassy green area surrounding it filled to the brim with a variety of flowers and trees. The large sign naming the area "The Crystal Botanical Gardens" shone brightly under the sun, appearing different colors depending on the viewing angle.
"Oh! We're here, we're here! Come on, let's go, Arty!"
The two children pushed down against his back, causing another shot of pain to race through his back, before the forms of a small griffon chick and a smaller crystal pony desperately holding on to the former took off down the multicolored path, zigzagging here and there to take in the sights as quickly as they could.
"Stay near the entrance!" He bellowed out, "I'll be right back!"
""Got it gramps!"" They shouted back in sync, already disappearing around the bend.
He let out a small sigh, a small smile on his face. Kids, as excitable as ever…
Now, where was that food cart again…?
Carefully surveying the area, he once again spotted the small red cart stuffed full of various baked goods some distance away, headed by a humming crystal pony with a beaming smile on her face.
He hobbled over and called out to her, breaking her out of her own little world and directing her attention over to him. "Good morning!"
"O-oh, Um, good morning, sir griffon!" Her eyes darted across him before settling on his face, her smile still present, "How can this humble shopkeeper serve you today?"
"No need to be so formal around me, lass." He met her smile with a small one of his own, pointing a talon at a small section of her cart where several chocolate apples sat, the smell of cinnamon emanating strongly from them, "Just wanted to purchase two of those lovely apple treats of yours."
"Right away, sir!" She flashed him her own salute and dashed over to the other side of the cart, plopping three apples into a bag before rushing over and holding it out for him, "Here you are!"
"... I believe I asked for two apples, not three."
She pushed it further toward him, "It's on me, sir!"
The urge to refuse built up within him, but he let it go with a sigh. He had already learned to just accept whenever a crystal pony decided to do something extra for him. Any time he refused they would simply insist otherwise until he gave in. Didn't make him feel any better about taking advantage of the situation, however…
"Alright, alright… What do I owe you?" He reached into the bag at his side and pulled out a few pieces of the new paper currency his emperor had instituted some time ago, "Two notes, right..?"
She shook her head once again, "Once again sir, it's on me! I could not possibly charge the heroes of our nation, so please, accept it as a gift from me."
Once more he found himself suppressing a sigh, "Listen, lass, I appreciate the sentiment, but these days I am nothing more than a retired grif with more money than he knows what to do with." He pushed forward one note, her smile dipping slightly as it was pushed toward her, "So please, at least do me the favor of accepting this much."
"... I am sorry sir but I cannot accept."
This time, he did let out a breath and started the process of withdrawing the note. It seems he would have to resort to plan B. "I suppose this once I will accept your- By the emperor what is that?!"
He widened his good eye and pointed off down the street, where it seemed nothing in particular was happening. The mare's eyes followed his talon, squinting her eyes and leaning out of her stall to try and see what he was pointing at.
Seeing his 'enemy' had been sufficiently distracted, he did as all good generals did once in their life; ordered a tactical retreat.
Leaving the two notes he initially wanted to pay on the stall, he quickly turned around and dashed in the opposite direction, back toward the gardens and well away from the overly generous citizen. Her voice echoed out behind him, but by then he had already turned the corner to the garden entrance and was well out of her sight.
He shook his head as he slowed down to a walk, putting the bag of apples in his satchel. If he had a note for every time that happened, he was sure he'd have more money than a featherisian trader.
Following the grass patched cobble path, he wandered past an entire rainbow's worth of various flowers, each patch organized by color, until he found himself standing at the entrance to a grassy field, the large, barely constructed dome dominating the background. Off in the distance, he spotted his grandchildren running around with several other similarly aged crystal ponies, a disk being tossed between them.
Well, he wouldn't ruin their fun. When they were tired, he would call them over.
Looking around, he spotted an empty bench near a patch of yellow flowers on one side of the field and hobbled over, settling down on top of it.
Gustav kept watch for a few minutes, soon he found himself letting out a yawn. The sun and the slight breeze just felt so nice on his back…
Well, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to shut his eye and rest for a few moments…
"You know, I did not take you for the sleeping old man stereotype, yet here it is before me."
His good eye opened, locking on to the person who spoke the comment, "Bah. I've worked enough in my life and children are tiring. Let an old man rest, would you?"
His new companion took to his other side, his armor plate rattling as he took position sitting on the bench next to him, "Rest all you like. You've done more than enough after all."
"Ha. You make it sound like I'm heading for an early grave… I have more years in me yet, Konrad." He replied, "How are Archimedes and his cohorts settling in? Everything good?"
"As well as you would expect." He shrugged, "He and Genevieve have always wanted a place of study, and now that the emperor has invested in the idea, one would think them hummingbirds rather than griffons. We have advised them heavily to rest, lest they find themselves sleeping in one of the unbuilt halls, but it seems they are drawing upon some infinite supply of stamina and continue to work regardless."
"The neighponese aren't rebuking him?"
Hardbeak sighed, "If anything, they are encouraging it. They consider it an honor to work with someone who works so hard, and from what I recall, it seems working for long hours until one is forced to rest is what is the expectation in Neighponese society."
Gustav let out a groan, "Send him a message will you? If he doesn't rest, I will personally kick him into next week."
"Acknowledged. But do remember I am obligated to protect him should you make due on your words."
"It'll only be a little knock on the noggin. Nothing permanent, just something to get that birdbrain to listen…" Konrad's response was merely to stare at him through his opened helmet, "Fine fine, no knocking… But on that note, how has guard duty been treating you? Bored out of your skull?"
"Any duty taken seriously is one bereft of boredom."
"So boring it is then."
The large griffon shifted a bit, looking away from him and staring out at the field, where the children were still playing, "I would not say boring. There is not much in the way of action, yes, but boring? I would not say so."
"Hmm? Really?" He spoke with a hint of skepticism.
"Indeed. Being in the Crystal protectorate has been an… interesting experience." He said, "The ponies here are very forward in their attempts to show gratitude. In the morning, when we do our usual drills, many tend to gather around and watch. Small children have taken to marching along beside or behind us while we do our rounds, and many tend to leave small gifts or tokens of thanks in the form of food while we stand guard."
"Sounds troublesome, for a guard."
He nodded, "That it is. We cannot eat the food they give us lest we risk the chance of poison, nor can we properly respond if it is outside our parameters. It has gotten to the point where I have decided to relax some of the restrictions on talking, simply because it is easier to keep morale up for everyone, and to put in a request to our science division to have a way to check for poisons using some form of magic."
"You? Relax restrictions?" He asked, incredulously, "Did Griffonia fall sometime in the last 5 minutes?"
"You should know it the best, si-" He gave him a glare, a reminder of his official retired status, "...Gustav. The emperor has said it best himself; A good leader knows the law to the letter. A great leader knows when to disregard them. The current situation has required me to re-evaluate policy."
A smile crept up his face, "I suppose that is true."
"Aside from that, Archimedes and Genevieve will take any chance to answer any questions the populace may have, which often lead to impromptu lessons in the streets. Those too, are rather interesting. Genevieve, unsurprisingly, is a natural teacher."
Gustav nodded. "She always did have a knack for instruction..."
"They've been using those lessons as building blocks for their lesson plans. So far, it seems to be going quite well, on that end."
He slowly nodded, "Well, that is good to hear..."
A moment passed, and he heard Hardbeak's armor squeak as he attempted to reply, but instead another sound cut him off.
"Grandpaaaa!" He perked up a bit and lifted his head at the sudden exclamation.
His grand daughter had decided to stop playing and instead lead a herd of small crystal ponies behind her toward his location, her brother trailing by at her side. Next to him, Konrad lowered his visor with a clink, hiding his face from the oncoming storm.
""Grandpa, grandpa!"" His two children called out, bouncing up and down with the boundless energy they seemed to have. "Who's that?!"
The sentiment was echoed by the rest of the crowd, who gathered up around him and began bombarding him with questions.
He raised an eyebrow, an amused smile stretching across his beak. Huh, so they couldn't recognize one of their national heroes with his helmet down? Well, he wasn't wearing his usual armor, instead having taken his advice to wear the armor of the inner circle instead to prevent the denizens here from swarming him en masse. "A friend of mine from when I still worked. Remember your manners."
Vero took a moment to look bashful, her brother following suit, before both sprang up to him, "Good afternoon, sir knight!"
"""Good afternoon sir knight!""" The rest followed suit.
Instead of talking, probably because he was sure the two would recognize his voice, he instead nodded.
"Alright, calm down you two." He chuckled, "Now, what do you need from this old grif today? Finally feeling hungry?"
"Uhuh, not hungry yet," Quartz replied, "But we were talking about how grandpa was the best-"
"-And they were like, nuh uh!" Vera continued, "Hardbeak and the emperor are the best! But we said-"
"-No way! Grandpa was Hardbeak's boss and told the emperor to do stuff all the time, that means he's obviously the best, so-"
"-they were like, cooooool! And we were like, yeah yeah! grandpa's the coolest and the best and always tells the best stories-"
"-So they asked if you could tell them some stories so Grandpa-"
""Tell some stories please!"" They both pleaded, stars in their eyes and smiles on their faces.
Well, he supposed there was no helping it then, if his grandkids were asking. "Very well, very well-"
"""Yaaay!""" The children cheered.
"Settle down, settle down!" He called out, waiting for the children to organize and sit on the grassy hill in front of him, "Now give me a moment, I have to come up with a story to tell… Hmm…"
What could he tell…? Perhaps his battle with the manticore…? No, his grandchildren had heard that one one too many times… maybe from one of the campaigns? No, those would go over their heads…
He looked to his side and had a thought. Well, he had promised not to go spilling the story at bars in griffonia, but he wasn't in a bar, was he? And he deserved to have a bit of fun on this outing too.
"Well, I promised not to go around telling this story willy nilly to just anyone, but I am sure you all can keep a secret, right?"
He did not need to turn his head to know Konrad was glaring daggers at him through his armor, but he kept quiet, which was more than enough reason for him to continue.
A series of affirmatives sounded out mixed with nodding heads, several of them leaning in closer to hear him better, "Very well, then allow me to begin…I am sure you all know the story of how Sombra was banished for good, right?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" One of the crystal ponies in the back, a small blue colored filly, raised her hoof, "Hardbeak slashed him with his sword and he went poof!"
"That's not what my mom said!" A red colt on the other side said, "She said the Emperor made it so he never comes back!"
"Mine said the crystal heart did it!" Another spoke up, this time a rose tinted girl near the front.
"It was totally Hardbeak though!"
"No, it was the heart!"
"The emperor!"
"Enough, enough!" Gustav interrupted, "Now, technically, you are all correct."
The group looked at him quizzically.
"All of us?" One spoke.
"Yes, all of you. The true end of the war is not much of a secret, if one looks for it. The Emperor, along with his wife, journeyed below the earth, accompanied by an expedition of his finest warriors and several brave crystal ponies as guides. There, in the catacombs, was where Sombra hid the Crystal Heart."
He paused for effect, carefully watching their enraptured expressions as they hung onto his words, "Past wicked beasts and creatures most foul, they went down and down and down, until they reached a door. Too tall and too heavy for any normal creature to use, one opened by facing one's worst fears… yet beyond this door was what the ponies said rested the only hope of the crystal protectorate. And so the Emperor stepped forward to open the door, a key of his will tested against the lock of the Dark Tyrant's magics.
"However, as one would expect, Sombra could feel his door being opened, the chamber to his deepest secrets slowly being picked apart. Calling upon the poor citizens he had enslaved and his own evil mystical might, he gathered an army to march down the catacombs while he himself would take the life of the emperor.
"But!" He could practically feel Hardbeak mentally telling him to stop talking from the sheer force of his glare, but he paid it no mind and carried on, "The brave warriors, the Imperial Knightly Orders, set forth to intercept, defending their last hope until they could draw breath no more. And it is here where Sombra's fatal flaw once again reared its head.
"Now, since you all seem to know so much about the Grandmaster of the Knights Lion, Hardbeak, why don't one of you tell me about him?"
"Oh! Oh! Me me me me!" The blue filly once again spoke up, "He took his sword and went hiyah at Sombra until he went away!"
Gustav nodded, "Yes. Twice, Hardbeak would face Sombra, and twice he would, with practiced ease, swing his sword and drive him back. The Black King, in all his hubris, could not take such slights against him lightly. So, even though his vault was soon to be opened, he stopped for but a moment to deal with the eternal thorn in his side, Hardbeak.
"Using his magic, he called forth three beasts, kept locked away just for this moment. The first, a troll of gigantic proportions that towered over its brethren and dwarfed the army around it. The second, a twisted creature from beyond understanding, a blackened thing that convulsed and writhed itself through space. And third, a dragon, corrupted into a shadow of its former self, yet lacking in none of its former power."
He heard a sigh came out from the armor next to him, and the pressure on his side lessened. Well, it seemed Konrad had decided to accept his fate.
"What happened grandpa?!" Quartz asked.
"Yeah, what happened, what happened?!" Vera echoed his sentiment, the nods of the rest of the children joining her.
"Now, now, I'm getting to that part," He spoke, "Three monsters, more than enough to occupy the Knights of the empire. Or so he would think. The Grandmaster of the Knights Panther, Adrian Dawnquill, took sword against the Giant, while his brother in arms, the Grandmaster of the Knights Talon, Colombroni Pigeonio, commanded his troops against the Eldritch Mass. Thus, leaving Konrad Hardbeak, Grandmaster of the Knights Lion, to face a dragon.
"Now, dragons are no problem for knights of the caliber of the Grandmasters. Any one of them could face a dragon and live to tell the tale, and Hardbeak himself, in his last fight with the evil king, defeated a dragon as easily as one would find breathing to be. But, the problem, you see, was that even for Hardbeak, defeating a dragon takes time, time he did not have. On one talon, he could defeat the dragon in his way and hope he could catch sombra before it reached his Emperor. On the other talon, he could fly past the dragon and face Sombra, leaving his own troops to face the dragon itself and hope they could defeat it with their lives intact.
"For most, it would be a dilemma. Defeat the dragon, and save one's soldiers? Or go after the tyrant, and sacrifice his soldiers lives for the sake of everyone? But not to Hardbeak. In one motion, he drew his sword, a curved blade crafted by the finest of Neighpon, and threw it with all his might.
"Like an arrow, it pierced the dragon's eye, passing straight through its head and out the back…. Straight into Sombra's retreating side. A blade of special properties, it turned his incorporeal form back to flesh and pinned him to the side of the cavern. For a third time, Sombra had been thwarted by Hardbeak.
"At least, for a time. The dragon, while such a blow would normally be enough to end its life, had many rituals enacted upon it. While his sword, made to work against evil magics, dispelled some of them, some magics had penetrated too deep into its bones, grafting itself onto its very soul, letting it move even after death. Not to mention, wave after wave of enslaved crystal ponies were still pouring in to the catacombs.
"By the time he had defeated the dragon, sufficiently cleared the hordes, and reached where he had left sombra, all the was left was a sword with blackened mist still drifting off the edge, the only clue left that he had managed to, for a short time, stop the mad king.
"But that short amount of time was just enough. The Emperor, his steel will having passed the door's test, entered the chamber and came across the Crystal Heart just as Sombra entered. The Emperor, with love for his people, his country, and his beloved wife, could use the power of the crystal heart where sombra never could, and used it to banish him and all his evil sorcery from this realm forever.
"And that children, is what truly happened at the final battle of the winter war."
The faces of his audience were ones filled with starry eyes and open jaws. Well, he supposed that was another story telling session well done.
"Hardbeak is so cool!"
"He really threw his sword through a dragon?"
"I wanna join the knights when I grow up!"
"How'd he get so strong?!"
"I'm gonna defeat a dragon one day!"
"If Hardbeak is super strong, then the Emperor's gotta be super duper strong to be the Emperor!"
"Once again, settle down, settle down!" He raised his talons and lowered them in a calming motion, "I am sure if you all try hard you too can join the knights. But for now, enjoy your days and go play as much as you'd like."
Vera, seeing a chance to have more fun, hopped around and called out to the group, "C'mon Let's go play knights and dragons! I'll be the dragon! Arty, you're on team knights!"
With a cheer, the group rushed off to the treeline behind him to grab some small branches before running back off to the field.
"Children really are precious, aren't they…?" He found himself muttering under his breath.
"It is why we fight," Hardbeak replied, "Did you really have to go telling tall tales?"
"Tall tales? That's not what the report the knights under your service sent me after the battle. Really, why was it only your report that said it was only a 'minor inconvenience' and nothing else?"
"And it should have remained that way, a footnote." He stayed silent for a moment. "... My reputation is no doubt going to get even more overblown thanks to you, now."
He let out a bark of a laugh, "Your reputation is overblown as is, I'm sure one more on the pile won't change it that much."
"You'd be surprised what the younger generation can accomplish."
Gustav hmm'd in acceptance, "Suppose you're right…"
They sat together in silence, watching the children run back and forth across the field, swords of wood and facing off against legendary dragons of their own making.
"My time is up, Gustav. I really must return to my post," the soldier said, "I doubt you asked me to drop by just for pleasantries."
"And if I did?" Hardbeak tossed him another look, "... It wasn't for any particular reason… Just, I can feel it... in my bones. I'm getting older, and we've just gone from one storm straight into another. I may not be here much longer."
"I'm sure you have many years left, Gustav. You said so yourself."
"That I did…" He trailed off, "I just want you to promise me you'll keep doing what you are doing and protect Griffonia. And, if I do pass, and my grandchildren ever decide to take up arms in the army, you'll take care of them."
A breeze passed by the two as Hardbeak contemplated his response, "My father once said I would have made it far as a scholar. 'He never forgets anything,' he often told his friends. My path took me to the army, but the words still hold true. I will never forget anything I've seen.
"We've all seen horrific things. I'm sure many will never forget those we were forced to cut down or the nightmares we faced. They will haunt me just as much as they will haunt those that served. But down there-" He pointed toward the children, "-They are innocent. And I hope they will never have to see what we saw.
"So yes, Gustav, I always have and always will do my utmost to protect Griffonia and her allies." He let out a sigh, "And should the worst come to pass, I will make it so that they will be ready to face what is to come."
"... Thank you, Konrad."
He picked himself up off the bench and headed off in the direction of the path, "As you were, sir."
His eyebrow twitched, "Oi, I told you to stop calling me sir!"
While he couldn't see his face under the armor, he was sure Hardbeak was smiling to himself.
So, couple of things. On hardbeak's feats, wasn't quite sure how strong I wanted to make him seem, so left it a little ambiguous on if he could actually do the whole 'could accdentally cut the citadel in half' thing. Maybe he just went to fast and wound up slashing the wall instead, or maybe he accidentally left go. Or maybe it's just clucking hardbeak and he could cut the citadel in half with an Iado slash if he wanted to. Who knows?
Put in a botanical Gardens for the crystal ponies cause I am sure they would want to bring thegreen back to all the tundra thats around. SO I assume they imported a whole bunch of plants and trees from everywhere and put em in one place until they could relocate them. Hence, the gardens. We do have greenhouse tech, and since crystal ponies work with crystal stuff, why not? Something like this:
Except not entirely built yet.
Wanted to include something on Gustav not being there just for fun and also help set up a place where crystal ponies who'd lost limbs from overwork, the war, frostbite, any number of things, could go and rehabilitate. Couldn't quite find a place to put that. Along with Hardbeak saying something along the lines of "The era of swords and legends may be at an end. I trust Ravenburg and his agents to take my place so that less blood may be shed," but again, couldn't fit that anywhere.
On Gustav's family, I dont recall any mention of em, so I decided to just include that he probably has a crystal pony and a daimond dog he adopted as a grandson and a son, respectively, with some actual family too. Couldnt mention the diamond dog somehwere, unfortunately.
So, BIG QUESTION for @Questor , what do you call the current curreny? Currently just using notes as short for bank notes, but is there something official to call them? Gryphon dollars? Garrits? what exactly?
Anyway heres the Omake.
(tentative title cause I cant think of anything better)
A Calm After the Storm
Gustav Kingfeather always cursed his decision to put the Lion's Den on top of a mountain.
On paper, it only seemed right. Put the citadel in a high place, somewhere where the common folk could see from a distance and gaze in awe, knowing that there lied the protectors of the realm.
Now, most Griffons could fly, so getting to such a place wasn't an issue.
Most.
He, with only one wing to spare, was relegated to climbing the seemingly infinite steps up to the entrance.
Almost 20 years ago, he had simply sighed and accepted the fact that he'd just be taking the stairs every time he wanted to go there. So what if he didn't have all his appendages? No set of stairs would knock the wind out of him.
But these days… well, he certainly was getting up there in age. And the stairs now seemed all the more daunting.
Doubly so because, for reasons he couldn't care to recall, he had decided to come when it was storming. High winds and heavy rain had threatened to send him flying off the path, and the wet stone had done no favors for attempting to stay on it. Not to mention the coat he had worn to try and mitigate getting his clothes wet had already soaked completely through, making wearing it redundant.
He sent some mental curses to past Gustav for getting present Gustav to do this today, of all days.
But, at least he had finally arrived at the top.
As per usual, two Griffons in full armor were standing on either side of the large oak doors leading inside, spears at rest next to them. Walking forward so he was now under the roof, he removed the hood from his face, drops of water falling from the waterlogged garment and down onto his beak.
"Morning!" He called out, both saluting to him in response, "Konrad in right now or is he doing flight drills with the rest?"
"Good morning to you as well, sir!" The one on the left responded, redoubling his posture and saluting even harder, "He is currently in the private training hall, sir!"
"At ease." The guardsgriffon lowered his arm, but his posture remained stone stiff, "I'm retired, and I've always been a civilian. There's no need for formalities."
At this point, it was a practiced phrase, given the sheer number of times he'd said it in the past.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" He nodded, knowing exactly what would come next, "Being frank, what you have done for the empire is more than worthy of this one's complete and utter respect, sir!"
And there was the usual response. At his point, he felt he had heard every variation of that phrase.
Not that he didn't mind. Certainly helped boost his pride a bit.
"Fine, fine, do as you wish…" He found himself shaking his head, a small smile on his face, "Mind letting me in?"
This time, the one on the right spoke up, "I am sorry sir, but we can not do that. Protocol dictates you must have proper authorization."
"Ah, right, right… Give me a moment…" He took off his coat, the feeling of it peeling away from his clothes underneath causing him to shiver, before rummaging around in one of the few dry spots he had left on his body, a pocket on his chest. "Here."
In his talon he held two letters, both bearing the official seal of the emperor himself, and passed one off to the guard. A quick swipe of a talon and read through later, the guard spoke once again.
"You are free to enter. Apologies for the inconvenience, sir."
He waved it off with his good wing, "Bah, you both are just doing your jobs. If you hadn't stopped me I would have been worried."
Wish another salute, both guards stepped to the side, each attending to a nearby crankshaft, before the clinks of gears sounded out, opening the massive doors to the front of the citadel for him to pass through.
"Have a good rest of your day, sir!" One of the guards spoke up, saluting him once more.
He returned the gesture with a nod before entering, the door shutting behind him with a thud.
As usual, the inside of the citadel had a certain chill to it, enhanced by the rain pattering away at the stained glass outside. Faint, multicolored light broken up by falling raindrops illuminated the large hall, providing enough light to see properly without needing to light the torches and braziers that lined the walls.
His peg leg echoed across the marble floor as he made his way with purpose toward where he knew the master of the Knights Lion resided, arriving at the very back of the citadel in front of another large oak door, although this one was not nearly the size of the entrance.
"You may enter."
Even before attempting to knock, the deep, rumbling voice of Konrad Hardbeak called out from behind the door.
Shaking his head, he simply pushed on the handle and went in.
"... I see you still refuse to use the elevator."
Konrad stood in the center of the room in his usual mountainous glory, neighponese sword in claw and eyes focused on a pile of dull colored bricks, around which rested many other, smaller bricks, each half the size of the stacked ones. Behind him, the large curved window that took up the entirety of the back wall revealed the dark storm clouds outside, where shadows of griffons in formation could be seen darting in and out of.
"That death trap?" He recalled the one time he took the metal coffin up and shivered, "No thank you, I will take the stairs any day of the week."
"And yet various other griffons use it without issue." He replied, eyes narrowing, talons gripping ever tighter around the hilt of his blade, "Not once has there been any fault in its use."
"I think I trust the ground more than a metal box on a pulley. Plus I need the exercise anyway." He walked over closer to him, taking a seat on one of the benches in the room near a burning brazier to try and dry off, "Sitting around all day and acting the crotchety old grandpa doesn't sit well with me."
If Gustav had blinked he would have missed it.
One moment, the griffon had been some distance away from his target. The next, a sudden crack sounded out, and Hardbeak was on the other side of the pile, sword slowly being sheathed. A second passed, and the brick stack fell evely to either side in two parts, clattering with dull thuds against their fallen brethren.
"Tch… Another failure…" He heard Hardbeak whisper under his breath before sighing. He let his sword sheath fully with a high pitched shink, before turning back to him and walking over "Well, if you insist on not using the elevator, I will not say anything against it. I assume you are not here to trade pleasantries?"
"Failure? Oh now you're just showing off…" Gustav placed his coat on one of the spears nearby, hanging it and his talons over the fire to dry them out and warm them up, "Look at me teleporting across the room and slicing bricks in half with my fancy Neighponese sword, can't use a proper griffonian sword like everyone else, no, because I'm Hardbeak… But on that note, yes, you'd be right. Was visiting his majesty when I noticed he had a job lined up in his never ending stack of papers. Since it involved you, I killed two cockatrices with one stone and took it upon myself to deliver it, seeing as I was planning on visiting you anyway."
"Whatever task the Emperor tasks me with, I will perform it with my utmost capabilities." He jumped up, flapping his wings once, and landed next to him, "As for 'showing off,' as you say, I do not see how it could be. This-" He pointed to the bricks, "-was merely some strength training practice."
Gustav tilted his head. Strength training? Hardbeak, of all griffons, needed strength training practice?
"Many amongst the knight's Lion feel it is impossible to spar with me, so I have taken it upon myself to try to control my strength, from my maximum to a minimum, while also taking the chance to see how precise I can be." Ah, now that made more sense, "Currently, I have only managed to do one full stack of bricks, rather than merely all but one, as I'd hoped. Still. It is much better my initial attempts. I am uncertain if the citadel could have continued to take the abuse."
The citadel…? It was then that Gustav took a closer look at the ground with his one good eye, noting a thin, yet deep gouge in the floor…. That was also mirrored on the ceiling. And if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, on the far wall as well. "... Oh. So those rumors I'd heard from your recruits about you nearly slicing the citadel off the mountain are…?"
"I will neither confirm nor deny. My reputation is overblown as is, and I do not want nor need any more fame. Thus, any rumors will remain as such." The words 'even if they are true' went unsaid, "Now, as for the mission…?"
"... Every time, I can't help but think, how can a griffon like you possibly exist, but here you are. What did the recruits say about you again…? Ah, that's right, It's clucking Hardbeak. It doesn't need to make sense." He replied, an exasperated sigh coming from his beak, "As for the job, it's nothing so serious... feel like taking a trip to the Crystal Protectorate?"
Konrad raised an eyebrow, "For what purpose?"
Pulling back one of his talons, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the other letter he had brought with him today, "How do you feel about guard detail?"
Initially, Gustav had made no plans to come along.
After all, why would he? It wasn't like the job was for him. He had just been planning on delivering the letter and catching up, since it had been a while since he had last seen Konrad.
Except...
"Wewannagowewannagowewannago!"
He had fought ogres, trolls, and dragons in his life time… yet, for the life of him, he couldn't bear the onslaught of his two grandchildren circling around him begging to go there.
Thus, he now found himself with Vera on his back, talon gripped on his head as she gazed in wonder at the sights and sounds of the Crystal Protectorate, and Quartz atop his wing, gripping onto his older sister with his hooves, a similar look of delight on his face.
"13!" Vera practically shouted into his ear, "That's 13!"
"Where?!" The quieter voice of Quartz questioned, although still very loud.
"There, over there!" He felt the talon on his head move, a claw now blocking the vision from his one good eye, "See? On top of the stairs!"
He let out a small grunt as the weights on his back shifted, "Oh, you're right! That's 13!"
The claw moved out of the way, allowing him to spot another one of the many Griffon statues that were set up around the Protectorate. In full armor, it stood at the ready, the sun bouncing off it and causing it to gleam in a gem-like way he had only seen the architecture in this place do.
"Oi, don't move around too much!" He called out, "My back ain't what it used to be."
"But gramps is super strong!" His granddaughter called out, a hum of agreement from her sibling, "Like, cha, cha, pow! Dragon slayer strong!"
She flailed around, miming out punching the legendary beast, causing more strain on his poor back. Gritting his beak and bearing with the aches and pains, he smiled and shook his head lightly, "You give this old man too much credit…"
"Nu-uh! Gramps is the best! Right Arty?"
"Mhm! Mhm! Grandpa is the coolest!"
He let out a sigh... Kids will be kids. "Yes, your grandpa is the coolest, but he's also getting older. So, he would appreciate it if you would kindly stopped jumping around before his spine snaps in two. Besides, it's time for you two to climb down anyway."
"Eh? But I don't wanna come down…" Quartz muttered.
"Yeah! I don't wanna either!"
"I guess you two don't want to go see the gardens, then."
The two weights shifted again, both perking up and leaning forward onto his skull. Too busy trying to locate griffon statues, they had missed the forest for the trees, and had completely missed a large, half built, glass dome structure the size of several buildings not too far in front of them beyond a shining gate, a large grassy green area surrounding it filled to the brim with a variety of flowers and trees. The large sign naming the area "The Crystal Botanical Gardens" shone brightly under the sun, appearing different colors depending on the viewing angle.
"Oh! We're here, we're here! Come on, let's go, Arty!"
The two children pushed down against his back, causing another shot of pain to race through his back, before the forms of a small griffon chick and a smaller crystal pony desperately holding on to the former took off down the multicolored path, zigzagging here and there to take in the sights as quickly as they could.
"Stay near the entrance!" He bellowed out, "I'll be right back!"
""Got it gramps!"" They shouted back in sync, already disappearing around the bend.
He let out a small sigh, a small smile on his face. Kids, as excitable as ever…
Now, where was that food cart again…?
Carefully surveying the area, he once again spotted the small red cart stuffed full of various baked goods some distance away, headed by a humming crystal pony with a beaming smile on her face.
He hobbled over and called out to her, breaking her out of her own little world and directing her attention over to him. "Good morning!"
"O-oh, Um, good morning, sir griffon!" Her eyes darted across him before settling on his face, her smile still present, "How can this humble shopkeeper serve you today?"
"No need to be so formal around me, lass." He met her smile with a small one of his own, pointing a talon at a small section of her cart where several chocolate apples sat, the smell of cinnamon emanating strongly from them, "Just wanted to purchase two of those lovely apple treats of yours."
"Right away, sir!" She flashed him her own salute and dashed over to the other side of the cart, plopping three apples into a bag before rushing over and holding it out for him, "Here you are!"
"... I believe I asked for two apples, not three."
She pushed it further toward him, "It's on me, sir!"
The urge to refuse built up within him, but he let it go with a sigh. He had already learned to just accept whenever a crystal pony decided to do something extra for him. Any time he refused they would simply insist otherwise until he gave in. Didn't make him feel any better about taking advantage of the situation, however…
"Alright, alright… What do I owe you?" He reached into the bag at his side and pulled out a few pieces of the new paper currency his emperor had instituted some time ago, "Two notes, right..?"
She shook her head once again, "Once again sir, it's on me! I could not possibly charge the heroes of our nation, so please, accept it as a gift from me."
Once more he found himself suppressing a sigh, "Listen, lass, I appreciate the sentiment, but these days I am nothing more than a retired grif with more money than he knows what to do with." He pushed forward one note, her smile dipping slightly as it was pushed toward her, "So please, at least do me the favor of accepting this much."
"... I am sorry sir but I cannot accept."
This time, he did let out a breath and started the process of withdrawing the note. It seems he would have to resort to plan B. "I suppose this once I will accept your- By the emperor what is that?!"
He widened his good eye and pointed off down the street, where it seemed nothing in particular was happening. The mare's eyes followed his talon, squinting her eyes and leaning out of her stall to try and see what he was pointing at.
Seeing his 'enemy' had been sufficiently distracted, he did as all good generals did once in their life; ordered a tactical retreat.
Leaving the two notes he initially wanted to pay on the stall, he quickly turned around and dashed in the opposite direction, back toward the gardens and well away from the overly generous citizen. Her voice echoed out behind him, but by then he had already turned the corner to the garden entrance and was well out of her sight.
He shook his head as he slowed down to a walk, putting the bag of apples in his satchel. If he had a note for every time that happened, he was sure he'd have more money than a featherisian trader.
Following the grass patched cobble path, he wandered past an entire rainbow's worth of various flowers, each patch organized by color, until he found himself standing at the entrance to a grassy field, the large, barely constructed dome dominating the background. Off in the distance, he spotted his grandchildren running around with several other similarly aged crystal ponies, a disk being tossed between them.
Well, he wouldn't ruin their fun. When they were tired, he would call them over.
Looking around, he spotted an empty bench near a patch of yellow flowers on one side of the field and hobbled over, settling down on top of it.
Gustav kept watch for a few minutes, soon he found himself letting out a yawn. The sun and the slight breeze just felt so nice on his back…
Well, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to shut his eye and rest for a few moments…
"You know, I did not take you for the sleeping old man stereotype, yet here it is before me."
His good eye opened, locking on to the person who spoke the comment, "Bah. I've worked enough in my life and children are tiring. Let an old man rest, would you?"
His new companion took to his other side, his armor plate rattling as he took position sitting on the bench next to him, "Rest all you like. You've done more than enough after all."
"Ha. You make it sound like I'm heading for an early grave… I have more years in me yet, Konrad." He replied, "How are Archimedes and his cohorts settling in? Everything good?"
"As well as you would expect." He shrugged, "He and Genevieve have always wanted a place of study, and now that the emperor has invested in the idea, one would think them hummingbirds rather than griffons. We have advised them heavily to rest, lest they find themselves sleeping in one of the unbuilt halls, but it seems they are drawing upon some infinite supply of stamina and continue to work regardless."
"The neighponese aren't rebuking him?"
Hardbeak sighed, "If anything, they are encouraging it. They consider it an honor to work with someone who works so hard, and from what I recall, it seems working for long hours until one is forced to rest is what is the expectation in Neighponese society."
Gustav let out a groan, "Send him a message will you? If he doesn't rest, I will personally kick him into next week."
"Acknowledged. But do remember I am obligated to protect him should you make due on your words."
"It'll only be a little knock on the noggin. Nothing permanent, just something to get that birdbrain to listen…" Konrad's response was merely to stare at him through his opened helmet, "Fine fine, no knocking… But on that note, how has guard duty been treating you? Bored out of your skull?"
"Any duty taken seriously is one bereft of boredom."
"So boring it is then."
The large griffon shifted a bit, looking away from him and staring out at the field, where the children were still playing, "I would not say boring. There is not much in the way of action, yes, but boring? I would not say so."
"Hmm? Really?" He spoke with a hint of skepticism.
"Indeed. Being in the Crystal protectorate has been an… interesting experience." He said, "The ponies here are very forward in their attempts to show gratitude. In the morning, when we do our usual drills, many tend to gather around and watch. Small children have taken to marching along beside or behind us while we do our rounds, and many tend to leave small gifts or tokens of thanks in the form of food while we stand guard."
"Sounds troublesome, for a guard."
He nodded, "That it is. We cannot eat the food they give us lest we risk the chance of poison, nor can we properly respond if it is outside our parameters. It has gotten to the point where I have decided to relax some of the restrictions on talking, simply because it is easier to keep morale up for everyone, and to put in a request to our science division to have a way to check for poisons using some form of magic."
"You? Relax restrictions?" He asked, incredulously, "Did Griffonia fall sometime in the last 5 minutes?"
"You should know it the best, si-" He gave him a glare, a reminder of his official retired status, "...Gustav. The emperor has said it best himself; A good leader knows the law to the letter. A great leader knows when to disregard them. The current situation has required me to re-evaluate policy."
A smile crept up his face, "I suppose that is true."
"Aside from that, Archimedes and Genevieve will take any chance to answer any questions the populace may have, which often lead to impromptu lessons in the streets. Those too, are rather interesting. Genevieve, unsurprisingly, is a natural teacher."
Gustav nodded. "She always did have a knack for instruction..."
"They've been using those lessons as building blocks for their lesson plans. So far, it seems to be going quite well, on that end."
He slowly nodded, "Well, that is good to hear..."
A moment passed, and he heard Hardbeak's armor squeak as he attempted to reply, but instead another sound cut him off.
"Grandpaaaa!" He perked up a bit and lifted his head at the sudden exclamation.
His grand daughter had decided to stop playing and instead lead a herd of small crystal ponies behind her toward his location, her brother trailing by at her side. Next to him, Konrad lowered his visor with a clink, hiding his face from the oncoming storm.
""Grandpa, grandpa!"" His two children called out, bouncing up and down with the boundless energy they seemed to have. "Who's that?!"
The sentiment was echoed by the rest of the crowd, who gathered up around him and began bombarding him with questions.
He raised an eyebrow, an amused smile stretching across his beak. Huh, so they couldn't recognize one of their national heroes with his helmet down? Well, he wasn't wearing his usual armor, instead having taken his advice to wear the armor of the inner circle instead to prevent the denizens here from swarming him en masse. "A friend of mine from when I still worked. Remember your manners."
Vero took a moment to look bashful, her brother following suit, before both sprang up to him, "Good afternoon, sir knight!"
"""Good afternoon sir knight!""" The rest followed suit.
Instead of talking, probably because he was sure the two would recognize his voice, he instead nodded.
"Alright, calm down you two." He chuckled, "Now, what do you need from this old grif today? Finally feeling hungry?"
"Uhuh, not hungry yet," Quartz replied, "But we were talking about how grandpa was the best-"
"-And they were like, nuh uh!" Vera continued, "Hardbeak and the emperor are the best! But we said-"
"-No way! Grandpa was Hardbeak's boss and told the emperor to do stuff all the time, that means he's obviously the best, so-"
"-they were like, cooooool! And we were like, yeah yeah! grandpa's the coolest and the best and always tells the best stories-"
"-So they asked if you could tell them some stories so Grandpa-"
""Tell some stories please!"" They both pleaded, stars in their eyes and smiles on their faces.
Well, he supposed there was no helping it then, if his grandkids were asking. "Very well, very well-"
"""Yaaay!""" The children cheered.
"Settle down, settle down!" He called out, waiting for the children to organize and sit on the grassy hill in front of him, "Now give me a moment, I have to come up with a story to tell… Hmm…"
What could he tell…? Perhaps his battle with the manticore…? No, his grandchildren had heard that one one too many times… maybe from one of the campaigns? No, those would go over their heads…
He looked to his side and had a thought. Well, he had promised not to go spilling the story at bars in griffonia, but he wasn't in a bar, was he? And he deserved to have a bit of fun on this outing too.
"Well, I promised not to go around telling this story willy nilly to just anyone, but I am sure you all can keep a secret, right?"
He did not need to turn his head to know Konrad was glaring daggers at him through his armor, but he kept quiet, which was more than enough reason for him to continue.
A series of affirmatives sounded out mixed with nodding heads, several of them leaning in closer to hear him better, "Very well, then allow me to begin…I am sure you all know the story of how Sombra was banished for good, right?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" One of the crystal ponies in the back, a small blue colored filly, raised her hoof, "Hardbeak slashed him with his sword and he went poof!"
"That's not what my mom said!" A red colt on the other side said, "She said the Emperor made it so he never comes back!"
"Mine said the crystal heart did it!" Another spoke up, this time a rose tinted girl near the front.
"It was totally Hardbeak though!"
"No, it was the heart!"
"The emperor!"
"Enough, enough!" Gustav interrupted, "Now, technically, you are all correct."
The group looked at him quizzically.
"All of us?" One spoke.
"Yes, all of you. The true end of the war is not much of a secret, if one looks for it. The Emperor, along with his wife, journeyed below the earth, accompanied by an expedition of his finest warriors and several brave crystal ponies as guides. There, in the catacombs, was where Sombra hid the Crystal Heart."
He paused for effect, carefully watching their enraptured expressions as they hung onto his words, "Past wicked beasts and creatures most foul, they went down and down and down, until they reached a door. Too tall and too heavy for any normal creature to use, one opened by facing one's worst fears… yet beyond this door was what the ponies said rested the only hope of the crystal protectorate. And so the Emperor stepped forward to open the door, a key of his will tested against the lock of the Dark Tyrant's magics.
"However, as one would expect, Sombra could feel his door being opened, the chamber to his deepest secrets slowly being picked apart. Calling upon the poor citizens he had enslaved and his own evil mystical might, he gathered an army to march down the catacombs while he himself would take the life of the emperor.
"But!" He could practically feel Hardbeak mentally telling him to stop talking from the sheer force of his glare, but he paid it no mind and carried on, "The brave warriors, the Imperial Knightly Orders, set forth to intercept, defending their last hope until they could draw breath no more. And it is here where Sombra's fatal flaw once again reared its head.
"Now, since you all seem to know so much about the Grandmaster of the Knights Lion, Hardbeak, why don't one of you tell me about him?"
"Oh! Oh! Me me me me!" The blue filly once again spoke up, "He took his sword and went hiyah at Sombra until he went away!"
Gustav nodded, "Yes. Twice, Hardbeak would face Sombra, and twice he would, with practiced ease, swing his sword and drive him back. The Black King, in all his hubris, could not take such slights against him lightly. So, even though his vault was soon to be opened, he stopped for but a moment to deal with the eternal thorn in his side, Hardbeak.
"Using his magic, he called forth three beasts, kept locked away just for this moment. The first, a troll of gigantic proportions that towered over its brethren and dwarfed the army around it. The second, a twisted creature from beyond understanding, a blackened thing that convulsed and writhed itself through space. And third, a dragon, corrupted into a shadow of its former self, yet lacking in none of its former power."
He heard a sigh came out from the armor next to him, and the pressure on his side lessened. Well, it seemed Konrad had decided to accept his fate.
"What happened grandpa?!" Quartz asked.
"Yeah, what happened, what happened?!" Vera echoed his sentiment, the nods of the rest of the children joining her.
"Now, now, I'm getting to that part," He spoke, "Three monsters, more than enough to occupy the Knights of the empire. Or so he would think. The Grandmaster of the Knights Panther, Adrian Dawnquill, took sword against the Giant, while his brother in arms, the Grandmaster of the Knights Talon, Colombroni Pigeonio, commanded his troops against the Eldritch Mass. Thus, leaving Konrad Hardbeak, Grandmaster of the Knights Lion, to face a dragon.
"Now, dragons are no problem for knights of the caliber of the Grandmasters. Any one of them could face a dragon and live to tell the tale, and Hardbeak himself, in his last fight with the evil king, defeated a dragon as easily as one would find breathing to be. But, the problem, you see, was that even for Hardbeak, defeating a dragon takes time, time he did not have. On one talon, he could defeat the dragon in his way and hope he could catch sombra before it reached his Emperor. On the other talon, he could fly past the dragon and face Sombra, leaving his own troops to face the dragon itself and hope they could defeat it with their lives intact.
"For most, it would be a dilemma. Defeat the dragon, and save one's soldiers? Or go after the tyrant, and sacrifice his soldiers lives for the sake of everyone? But not to Hardbeak. In one motion, he drew his sword, a curved blade crafted by the finest of Neighpon, and threw it with all his might.
"Like an arrow, it pierced the dragon's eye, passing straight through its head and out the back…. Straight into Sombra's retreating side. A blade of special properties, it turned his incorporeal form back to flesh and pinned him to the side of the cavern. For a third time, Sombra had been thwarted by Hardbeak.
"At least, for a time. The dragon, while such a blow would normally be enough to end its life, had many rituals enacted upon it. While his sword, made to work against evil magics, dispelled some of them, some magics had penetrated too deep into its bones, grafting itself onto its very soul, letting it move even after death. Not to mention, wave after wave of enslaved crystal ponies were still pouring in to the catacombs.
"By the time he had defeated the dragon, sufficiently cleared the hordes, and reached where he had left sombra, all the was left was a sword with blackened mist still drifting off the edge, the only clue left that he had managed to, for a short time, stop the mad king.
"But that short amount of time was just enough. The Emperor, his steel will having passed the door's test, entered the chamber and came across the Crystal Heart just as Sombra entered. The Emperor, with love for his people, his country, and his beloved wife, could use the power of the crystal heart where sombra never could, and used it to banish him and all his evil sorcery from this realm forever.
"And that children, is what truly happened at the final battle of the winter war."
The faces of his audience were ones filled with starry eyes and open jaws. Well, he supposed that was another story telling session well done.
"Hardbeak is so cool!"
"He really threw his sword through a dragon?"
"I wanna join the knights when I grow up!"
"How'd he get so strong?!"
"I'm gonna defeat a dragon one day!"
"If Hardbeak is super strong, then the Emperor's gotta be super duper strong to be the Emperor!"
"Once again, settle down, settle down!" He raised his talons and lowered them in a calming motion, "I am sure if you all try hard you too can join the knights. But for now, enjoy your days and go play as much as you'd like."
Vera, seeing a chance to have more fun, hopped around and called out to the group, "C'mon Let's go play knights and dragons! I'll be the dragon! Arty, you're on team knights!"
With a cheer, the group rushed off to the treeline behind him to grab some small branches before running back off to the field.
"Children really are precious, aren't they…?" He found himself muttering under his breath.
"It is why we fight," Hardbeak replied, "Did you really have to go telling tall tales?"
"Tall tales? That's not what the report the knights under your service sent me after the battle. Really, why was it only your report that said it was only a 'minor inconvenience' and nothing else?"
"And it should have remained that way, a footnote." He stayed silent for a moment. "... My reputation is no doubt going to get even more overblown thanks to you, now."
He let out a bark of a laugh, "Your reputation is overblown as is, I'm sure one more on the pile won't change it that much."
"You'd be surprised what the younger generation can accomplish."
Gustav hmm'd in acceptance, "Suppose you're right…"
They sat together in silence, watching the children run back and forth across the field, swords of wood and facing off against legendary dragons of their own making.
"My time is up, Gustav. I really must return to my post," the soldier said, "I doubt you asked me to drop by just for pleasantries."
"And if I did?" Hardbeak tossed him another look, "... It wasn't for any particular reason… Just, I can feel it... in my bones. I'm getting older, and we've just gone from one storm straight into another. I may not be here much longer."
"I'm sure you have many years left, Gustav. You said so yourself."
"That I did…" He trailed off, "I just want you to promise me you'll keep doing what you are doing and protect Griffonia. And, if I do pass, and my grandchildren ever decide to take up arms in the army, you'll take care of them."
A breeze passed by the two as Hardbeak contemplated his response, "My father once said I would have made it far as a scholar. 'He never forgets anything,' he often told his friends. My path took me to the army, but the words still hold true. I will never forget anything I've seen.
"We've all seen horrific things. I'm sure many will never forget those we were forced to cut down or the nightmares we faced. They will haunt me just as much as they will haunt those that served. But down there-" He pointed toward the children, "-They are innocent. And I hope they will never have to see what we saw.
"So yes, Gustav, I always have and always will do my utmost to protect Griffonia and her allies." He let out a sigh, "And should the worst come to pass, I will make it so that they will be ready to face what is to come."
"... Thank you, Konrad."
He picked himself up off the bench and headed off in the direction of the path, "As you were, sir."
His eyebrow twitched, "Oi, I told you to stop calling me sir!"
While he couldn't see his face under the armor, he was sure Hardbeak was smiling to himself.
So, couple of things. On hardbeak's feats, wasn't quite sure how strong I wanted to make him seem, so left it a little ambiguous on if he could actually do the whole 'could accdentally cut the citadel in half' thing. Maybe he just went to fast and wound up slashing the wall instead, or maybe he accidentally left go. Or maybe it's just clucking hardbeak and he could cut the citadel in half with an Iado slash if he wanted to. Who knows?
Put in a botanical Gardens for the crystal ponies cause I am sure they would want to bring thegreen back to all the tundra thats around. SO I assume they imported a whole bunch of plants and trees from everywhere and put em in one place until they could relocate them. Hence, the gardens. We do have greenhouse tech, and since crystal ponies work with crystal stuff, why not? Something like this:
Except not entirely built yet.
Wanted to include something on Gustav not being there just for fun and also help set up a place where crystal ponies who'd lost limbs from overwork, the war, frostbite, any number of things, could go and rehabilitate. Couldn't quite find a place to put that. Along with Hardbeak saying something along the lines of "The era of swords and legends may be at an end. I trust Ravenburg and his agents to take my place so that less blood may be shed," but again, couldn't fit that anywhere.
On Gustav's family, I dont recall any mention of em, so I decided to just include that he probably has a crystal pony and a daimond dog he adopted as a grandson and a son, respectively, with some actual family too. Couldnt mention the diamond dog somehwere, unfortunately.
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Markala
Hannor & Polycho Shipper
- Location
- At the Junction of Angst and Fluff
Well then, assuming the vote's won by a landslide, here are the rolly percentages for the plan that could use some Omake love if anybody wants! In the meantime, I'll just roll in that sweetsweet validation!
Plan % Success Chances (ya'll can decide what needs Omake Bonuses):
Island Investment: 70% + 18% (Garrick DIPLO) = Base 88%
Canterbury Magic Experts: 65% + 18% (Garrick LEARNING) = Base 83%
Follow the Money: 55% + 13% (Garrick INTRIGUE) = Base 68% << Most Need of Omake Bonus
Plan % Success Chances (ya'll can decide what needs Omake Bonuses):
Island Investment: 70% + 18% (Garrick DIPLO) = Base 88%
Canterbury Magic Experts: 65% + 18% (Garrick LEARNING) = Base 83%
Follow the Money: 55% + 13% (Garrick INTRIGUE) = Base 68% << Most Need of Omake Bonus
Omake: There’ll Always Be Griffonia (Canon)
There'll Always Be Griffonia
I give you a toast, Ladies and Gentlebeings.
I give you a toast, Ladies and Gentlebeings.
May this fair dear land we love so well,
In dignity and freedom dwell.
Though world may change and go awry,
Our voices echo across the sky.
There'll always be Griffonia,
While there's a forest trail.
Wherever there's a mountain tall,
And friends with tavern ale.
There'll always be Griffonia,
While there's a busy street.
Wherever there's a turning wheel,
And friendly souls to greet.
Red, Black and Gold; what tales has it told?
Surely you're proud, shout it aloud,
"Citizens, Awake!"
The Empire too, we can depend on you.
Emperor proclaims, "Throw off the chains,
A new life you'll make!"
There'll always be Griffonia,
And Griffonia shall be free.
If Griffonia means as much to you,
As Griffonia means to me.
@Questor
I give you a toast, Ladies and Gentlebeings.
I give you a toast, Ladies and Gentlebeings.
May this fair dear land we love so well,
In dignity and freedom dwell.
Though world may change and go awry,
Our voices echo across the sky.
There'll always be Griffonia,
While there's a forest trail.
Wherever there's a mountain tall,
And friends with tavern ale.
There'll always be Griffonia,
While there's a busy street.
Wherever there's a turning wheel,
And friendly souls to greet.
Red, Black and Gold; what tales has it told?
Surely you're proud, shout it aloud,
"Citizens, Awake!"
The Empire too, we can depend on you.
Emperor proclaims, "Throw off the chains,
A new life you'll make!"
There'll always be Griffonia,
And Griffonia shall be free.
If Griffonia means as much to you,
As Griffonia means to me.
Song was created by former Maretonian slaves after escaping the bonds of their masters. In their eyes, combined with stories from the Crystal Ponies, the song portrays The Empire as a promised lands where they can be anyone and make their own destiny through the magical gift of choice.
@Questor
b-wolf95
Secretly a good boy
I love how Griffonia is slowly turning into America the longer the quest goes on.
- Location
- Greece
HERESY!!! we are obviously the empire of (man)Griffus and the god-emperor of (man)Griffus leads our empire
- Location
- Germany
I dearly hope that we are a less egomanicially ignorant and hypocritical version of the USA at least