Luna: King Sombra?
Celestia: Mm hm.
Luna: But... Didn't we kill him?
Celestia: Ya. But he has this annoying habit of coming back to life! Seriously, this is like the 6th time.
Luna: How is that possible?
Celestia: Oh you know, there's always some lone follower that sacrifices their hoof or something to bring him back. It's annoying as hell…
We might kill him, but that doesn't mean he'll stay dead.
Let's just hope he doesn't team up with the changelings in this universe, If he does, he'll actually be vaguely competent at intrigue. The only reason we've been able to beat him is that he's playing blind. After all, he's basically playing Warcraft while everyone else is playing Crusader Kings; he doesn't have half the things to worry about that we do.
We might kill him, but that doesn't mean he'll stay dead.
Let's just hope he doesn't team up with the changelings in this universe, If he does, he'll actually be vaguely competent at intrigue. The only reason we've been able to beat him is that he's playing blind. After all, he's basically playing Warcraft while everyone else is playing Crusader Kings; he doesn't have half the things to worry about that we do.
Don't worry, after getting a positive response to my first mention of Sombra-killing, my need for assurances and validation have lead me to think more about ways to take care of other villains, such as Chrysalis.
Don't worry, after getting a positive response to my first mention of Sombra-killing, my need for assurances and validation have lead me to think more about ways to take care of other villains, such as Chrysalis.
eh, Chrysalis could become an ally simply out of self-interest. Why should she fight us when we'd probably agree to TRADE love for the services (and magic) of her people? I can even imagine a political marriage with one of ours descendants (though if she was capable of living for much longer than a gryph that becomes an harder sell...)
In the end it will probably depend on the starting rolls, but if Good Sombra was possible, a good Chrysalis can't be that much out there.
Still as long as we don't get MY-EYES-IT-BURNS colored changelings i'll be happy.
eh, Chrysalis could become an ally simply out of self-interest. Why should she fight us when we'd probably agree to TRADE love for the services (and magic) of her people? I can even imagine a political marriage with one of ours descendants (though if she was capable of living for much longer than a gryph that becomes an harder sell...)
In the end it will probably depend on the starting rolls, but if Good Sombra was possible, a good Chrysalis can't be that much out there.
Still as long as we don't get MY-EYES-IT-BURNS colored changelings i'll be happy.
After the whole experience of Sombra trying to enslave us all plus seeing firsthand the plight of the crystal ponies, I imagine our nation is going to end up being very against domination and enslavement of other peoples. I feel like allying Chrysalis would be fairly unpopular so long as she keeps going around trying to crush other people under her boot. Too many comparisons to Sombra would come up, and our people are going to have a long grudge against him.
eh, Chrysalis could become an ally simply out of self-interest. Why should she fight us when we'd probably agree to TRADE love for the services (and magic) of her people? I can even imagine a political marriage with one of ours descendants (though if she was capable of living for much longer than a gryph that becomes an harder sell...)
In the end it will probably depend on the starting rolls, but if Good Sombra was possible, a good Chrysalis can't be that much out there.
Still as long as we don't get MY-EYES-IT-BURNS colored changelings i'll be happy.
If we go off Equestria at War, which is a significant influence, there's a Minotaur kingdom somewhere, as well as groups of ponies not ruled by Celestia. Plus we may run into some independent Griffon kingdoms who were forcibly separated by all the landmass shifting that went on under Discord.
eh, Chrysalis could become an ally simply out of self-interest. Why should she fight us when we'd probably agree to TRADE love for the services (and magic) of her people? I can even imagine a political marriage with one of ours descendants (though if she was capable of living for much longer than a gryph that becomes an harder sell...)
In the end it will probably depend on the starting rolls, but if Good Sombra was possible, a good Chrysalis can't be that much out there.
Still as long as we don't get MY-EYES-IT-BURNS colored changelings i'll be happy.
With sombra, emotionally dead drones would starve changelings, so there is incentive for Chrysalis to not let sombra succeed.
If there is no convenient alicorn-sue macguffin (I don't like the show making ponies the only civ to have love and friendship)for the changelings, or even a leader like chrysalis, then wild, scattered changelings would prefer sneaking around and not removing the food source.
I don't know if Chrysalis was natural or normal, as she may of only bred an entire army because she thought they'd take equestria, only to starve when that failed.
But part of me wants to see a gryphon x changeling relationship. Some guard or spy that charms a changeling like Captain Kirk and get a boyfriend /girlfriend.
But part of me wants to see a gryphon x changeling relationship. Some guard or spy that charms a changeling like Captain Kirk and get a boyfriend /girlfriend.
It is easy to see how a changeling would fall for a large fluffboy gryph. Getting to nuzzle those feathers on a cold night is one a bug would appreciate. And getting embraced by such a big figure could leave them paralyzed with love. No changeling has a chance against Ravenburg's spy charisma.
I am not against the new design, and like the old one, but it has unfortunate implications, that "beautiful" is good like tv tropes said, and probably a few others.
I don't see Grogar being 'good', considering him being a necromancer. At best I picture him as a retired monarch, a ghost of the previous era who focuses more on researching magic and preserving the chronicles of history, isolated in his tower merely offering cryptic yet helpful advice to the Royals of Tambelon.
However, when Tambelon is in crisis and their champions lay beaten, the Monarch can ring the forbidden bell. Grogar will step out of his tower and with a Legion of the Dammed at his back to save the Kingdom... for a price.
I'm more curious about what a low roll means for Equestria. We can't have Daybreaker or Nightmare Moon off the bat as their rise would have been rather obvious.
Solar Empire vs Luna Republic?
Racial segregation between the pony tribes?
Speciesism towards any non-pony creatures?
The Equestrian Burden, to 'civilise' the rest of the world under pony rule?
Discordian cultists?
Necromancy isn't necessarily evil. It really depends on how It works.
If it's all about "manipulating and tormenting the souls of the dead" then There Is really Little that can be said to justify it.
If it's all about the body, or if the "souls" are not actually suffering.. well, then it becomes as evil as what you're Actually doing with it.
I remember reading about a d&d campaign in which a necromancer used zombies and skeletons in the fields and mines, to let people avoid the heaviest and most dangerous works. That's not evil (as long as there isn't any tormented soul involved)
Necromancy isn't necessarily evil. It really depends on how It works.
If it's all about "manipulating and tormenting the souls of the dead" then There Is really Little that can be said to justify it.
If it's all about the body, or if the "souls" are not actually suffering.. well, then it becomes as evil as what you're Actually doing with it.
I remember reading about a d&d campaign in which a necromancer used zombies and skeletons in the fields and mines, to let people avoid the heaviest and most dangerous works. That's not evil (as long as there isn't any tormented soul involved)
Alternatively, you can have a necromancer who only reanimates willing subjects, and treats them well. Like that one greentext about the gravekeeper who secretly builds an all-volunteer undead army of former villagers to protect the town.
honestly I'm a little worried that they'll show up as we're sieging the crystal kingdom when they come to liberate it and it's inhabitance from sombra like they did in canon only to find us already their and mistake use as an enemy as well and then attack us to try and "protect" the crystal kingdom and it's people from the horde of outside invaders. Because I mean we are going to be killing A LOT of crystal ponies barring a miracle because I feel like sombra is going to throw everything he has at us when we finally bring the war to his doorstep.
I am writing a second, better, and more understandable continuation for the persona omake stuff.
I am not trying to change the quest or introduce magic. I just want to explore the effects of the world we make on the psyche and collective unconscious of Griffonia centuries down the line. plus to help give little things to read while we wait.
I am refining my ability to write and make sense, but if it is inappropriate here, I do not mind taking my stuff elsewhere.
As long as it is relevant to the quest -and since you're writing about a potential future for our nation, it is- omakes are accepted, and even sometimes rewarded, by the GM. You should be fine.
Note: these Persona crossover bits are mostly just my little side story and tribute to our characters and empire, and how they are building a legacy that will shape the physical and mental world for our people. And regardless, a persona is not really magic or something that can be used in the real world, as it is a defense in the collective unconscious if you are self-realized and have the potential, so it would not introduce magic.
Chapter 2: Diamond in the Rough.
---
Centuries after the age of Goldfeather, a portside town in Griffonia is drawn partway into the spirit world. While most inhabitants are still safely at home, others are pulled deeply into the world made of the thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams of Gryphonia. Some are pulled even more deeply into their own mind and are trapped with a shadow made of their own denials and repressed feelings.
Galvin, a teenage trouble maker and his younger brother, Dim, are set at the very outside of this shadow world, forced to run and hide till the shadows finally corner the two.
Faced with possibly losing his brother, and pushing his body beyond its limits for the sake of protecting someone important to him, Galvin had no choice but to accept that there was something good in himself after all, and his own Shadow became his Persona, a figure of the Legendary Hardbeak.
---
Walking along, the two are silent in the rain as they get closer to the bright, glowing gate.
"So...." Dim starts, glancing up at his brother, the big, fiery ghost still above the bigger gryphon and causing the shadows to flee.
With the winds, rain, and possibility of getting crushed against the cliffslide, the easiest course of action is to killdoze through everything that dares attack them.
"No, I am not the actual Hardbeak from history". the big spirit says, using its sword to toss one of the armed phantasms off the cliff to the side.
"But you are all fiery and unbeatable, and you are mowing through everything that looks at us funny" the small gryphon counters.
Galvin himself shoulders one of those enemies into the wall to the other side, and it collapses in a puff of smoke. The big phantasm of Hardbeak turns to reply.
"Firstly, the real Hardbeak was not some 'magic, fiery warrior' as gryphons don't have magic. He just knew when something needed to be burnt with his torch. What I and Galvin can now do is just a representation of that due to dramatic story-telling in the real world."
The ghost tosses one flaming foe into a dozen others, all of them igniting.
"Second, hardbeak was not unbeatable. He was charred after defeating Sombra for the first time, and needed weeks of recovery.
Third-", Galvin slices through a few enemies himself, with the sword that manifested with the ghost and armor earlier, and the Persona continues. "Third, Galvin has taken down at least half of the Shadows around us, while I am merely taking down the bigger ones for you two. But fourth and finally, I am a cross between the Collective Unconsciousness's idea of Hardbeak, and am also Galvin's Persona. I have no real power in the real world."
"What is a persona?" The younger brother ask, wide-eyed and very curious. "Well, I am not sure if you saw earlier, but I had been manifesting and talking with your brother throughout your trip here, as his own Shadow."
"One of these things?" Dim ask with a pointing claw at one of the hidinh, non-hostile shadow, the little gryphon's head tilting in curiosity.
"No, not really like these. We where both shadows, yes, but unlike me, these are only half-finished ideas from the thoughts of all living things, that then became trapped here, and changed to fit what this place is. I myself was born from Galvin's years of refusing to acknowledge the good in himself." The persona and its user make eye contact for a moment before getting back to fighting.
"When he tried so hard to be a bad boy gryphon, I was born; he tried to avoid the guilt that came from fighting and stealing to impress his friends. And it got easier to convince himself the world was rotten years ago, when he was almost expelled for defeating a teenager when he was only six." Galvin, usually a very silent gryphon, growls in anger at the memory, grabbing an armored shadow with an axe by the shoulders, and tossing them into the sea below.
"It was to defend a diamond dog getting throttled and slapped, but the state of the attacker after the fight, and the fear students and teachers had of such a display marked him as a trouble child, a violent thing that could snap at any moment. The only ones who'd spend time with him where former victims themselves. Sadly, that only lead to them to form a gang of their own, and I am sure you know how downhill things went from there." Dim hugs his brother's shoulder, and Galvin gently pats the little one in appreciation.
"But no matter what Galvin did, a part of him always felt like he was better than that. That there where people who did not see him as just another punk, and that it is not weakness to not fight needlessly. And that repressed side of him became me. I could not control the fact that I was being created, and that I would soon become a hostile force if he ever entered this realm.Due to the strength of his rejection, all of it had to go somewhere in the end.
But by saving you, even while being injured and close to death himself, just for the off chance that you'd be free to go, he could deny me no longer. It is unusual that someone's heroic side would be a shadow, but nevertheless, accepting me let both of us grow stronger once the doubts where gone. That is why he both gained a weapon, armor, and persona, and the strength and speed to use all three.
I happen to be Hardbeak because of how even with his reputation, his ability to take down those bigger than himself left an impression on others, along with those who do truly see him as good being stronger than those who feared him."Galvin gives Dim a big hug, and the young gryphon realizes he must be one of those good influences the persona is talking about.
Yes, galvin rarely talks, but this gentle moment speaks a thousand words before they continue again.
"So... if I want one of you, I have to find my shadow?" The little gryphon ask, bouncing in excitement.
"It might not seem like it, but I was a very mild-mannered and controlled shadow, and not really an ugly truth or pit of self-loathing or entire split-personality other shadows are. Where I tried and succeeded in pushing Galvin to be the hero of the small that he is, if a bit briskly and bluntly, other shadows would happily destroy their counterpart or torture them into acceptance. I am sure you can imagine someone who thinks they are utterly weak and worthless being mocked by their shadow. Galvin won't say it, but we both hope you never have to face the mental anguish he did."
They have reached the door, cautiously opening it as they leave the ruins for the next area.
---
The two brothers look around, and find the second area is like the Diamond Dog Undertown below the city.
Buildings are set into the rocky walls, and stone walkways crisscross the sky above. Shadows walk on these paths, carting gems and carrying equipment. None seem hostile, but Galvin is still armored from before, and keeps Dim close. Hardbeak has went back into Galvin for now, for the two to rest and recover, but can easily be redrawn when needed.
As they walk, they notice things getting stranger. Those carts are not full of gems, but candy, flour, sugar, and so on.
The equipment is things like lamps, instruments, and many tools of entertainment and science. It is as if this little realm is like a surrealist resort and university town.
Before they get too far though, they encounter someone very familiar and unexpected.
A grey-furred diamond dog, a real, non-shadowy one, makes his way up to them with wide eyes, anxious eyes. "G...Galvin!" The dog stammers. "You... you're real. Real!"
it is Keet, the Diamond Dog that was Galvin's best frienemy in the real world. At times, the two argue and almost come to blows, but Keet was always there to back the Gryphon up in school and in fights in their gang. "Its complicated" is the best way to put it for these two.
The Diamond Dog taps Galvin on the shoulder pauldron once, then twice, and then circles the two before he is satisfied.
"I have a hundred questions, but we need to get out of site ASAP!" Keet grabs a front leg of the white gryphon, and urgently tries guide them out of site of the shadows. Galvin gasp in suprise at such insistance, but knows Keet too well for him to pull something. The armored gryphon keeps his brother close though. Its not like he has a reason to doubt someone who always stood up for him at times others would of eagerly kicked him in the gut. But that worried look is one the gryphon had seen often, when the Diamond dog found a reason to leave the room.
"You're not going to make the guest of honor leave after he and a plus one just arrived, are you?" A strange voice calls out, and the group turns around.
Keet yelps and looks away, his ears down.
It is another yellow-eyed shadow. This time, it is Keet's.
It walks forward,
in an apron,
and chef's hat,
with a mixing bowel while stirring something in it,
flanked by two shadow workers like the others carting things about.
And these two are carrying the rest of the ingredients for a cake.
The shadow smiles knowingly, raising the spoon as it drips batter and winks to his real-world counterpart. "We both know that as embarrassed as you are now and trying to push him onward, you wish he'd do more than simply stay. So take the time to enjoy a night on the town.
It would be less romantic if I just popped the bubble now, so I will give you two time to talk. And for you, Keet, time to spill those well-baked beans." The shadow's grin gets wider. "But if you don't tell him out before you reach the exit, I am going to make sure he knows. Its tough and rough for it to go down that way, but you, and me, have been hurting for far too long. Take the opportunity to do it right."
The shadow hums to himself and walks away, stirring the mix still.
Keet looks a little flustered, and blushes under his soft, short fur. He looks to the two confused gryphons with a handpaw behind his head.
"heh... I guess you have a hundred questions also... but can we... take a moment first, like it said?"
---
part three in the next omake
---
1. I was thinking that eventually, guilds and apprenticeship would eventually turn into a public school system, probably a lot better than the US one.
2. diamond dogs would probably be numerous enough and integrated so well, that having an underground district makes sense, as that exist in many modern cities in our world. it might even happen earlier in the quest, for defense and economic reasons.
3. I think even with relations between species well, there would still be individuals who do cause nothing but harm to anyone of any species.
4. Inter-species relationships would be unavoidable. If like in the diamond dog integration post speaking of rumors of relationships, it would definitely become common knowledge latter on.
5. legends, conspiracies, and rumors would abound, floating through the decades and affection public imagination and perception, as well as changing in the zeitgeist .
He went from a dark lord to a snob!
