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Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest

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Questor said:
Still writing up the infiltration of the castle. Anyone know of any mapmaking tools for a dungeon or labyrinth? Rooms rather than land masses, etc?

And, because I don't want to just post a boring question, have a meme to tide you over.

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threadmark this in media! also, what are the 2 tiny flags on the children through the window?
 
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The Crystal Invasion, Part 3
  • Threadmarks


    • You march forwards through the cramped, hastily excavated tunnel, just barely big enough to accommodate the hundreds of fighters forced to squeeze themselves through the tight space, shrouded in complete darkness barring the rare lantern or flicker of flame summoned forth by the Qilin. But most of those are at the head of the column that composes this subterranean strike force, far from your squinting eyes at the rear. Though the Grandmasters could not object to you accompanying them, you had reluctantly agreed to their suggestion that you be among the last to enter the tunnel and exit into the catacombs beneath Sombra's fortress. This way, if something went wrong, you'd be in the best position to escape and continue to lead the Empire. If there's something waiting for you at the end of this tunnel, the Grandmasters will be the first to face it.

    Gabriella walks beside you, one of her wings or taloned hands occasionally extending a bit to make contact with you. Whether this is to reassure you or her, you don't know, but it brings you comfort to know that the one you love is by your side. Just in front of the two of you, the clip-clop of their hooves serving as a constant reminder of their presence, the three Crystal Ponies who had volunteered to serve as guides through the castle walk towards the home of their oppressor. You have to commend them for their bravery. Most Crystal Ponies can't even say Sombra's name without flinching, and yet here these three were, returning to their former home with an army on their side, intent on bringing an end to the Shadow King's reign and freeing their fellow Equines from his control...one way or the other.

    You don't know how the battle raging above is going. The only indication of the status of the rest of your army is the occasional vibration or rain of dust whenever a cannonball strikes the ground above you. You trust in the Shogun and every other warrior on the field of battle to hold Sombra's attention while your smaller force moves to stab at the heart of the beast. You only hope they can manage to hold their own.

    (Infiltration: 88)

    After what feels like an hour but is in reality only a few minutes, you finally reach the end of the tunnel, the other members of the strike force assembled beyond it already taking up defensive positions in front of you and their escape route. True to the word of your Crystal companions, the tunnel has led straight into the heart of the catacombs beneath Sombra's castle.



    You're honestly surprised at how spacious it is. Even though it's undeniably a basement, it's still recognizable as the basement of a palace. In fact it's so well done you could easily mistake it for the palace of some subterranean king all its own. Tall, vaulted ceilings, wide open rooms with equally wide halls connecting them, numerous glowing crystals growing out of the ceiling or walls providing illumination without fire...you can already see a few Diamond Dogs scattered about the chamber you're in thinking about how they might imitate such an architectural style. Underground cities...something to think about...later.

    By a stroke of luck, the chamber you've entered is both unoccupied and massive, large enough to accommodate most of your forces, the remainder taking up positions in the three hallways leading out to the rest of the catacombs below the Crystal Palace: one leading South, one leading West, and one leading East.

    Your Crystal guides take a quick look around the room and shake their heads, apologizing for their ignorance and telling you that they've never seen this part of the catacombs, theorizing that you are in the deepest reaches of the underground labyrinth that only Sombra himself frequented. The few Crystal Ponies that did venture into this part of the underground on his orders never returned to the surface. They insist that, once you reach more recognizable sections of the catacombs, they can lead you straight to the Throne room or wherever else you may wish to go.

    You nod, pondering the situation for a moment as the leaders of the strike force gather around you for orders.



    You are in the lowest reaches of the Crystal Catacombs. Sombra does not seem to be aware of your presence. The battle still rages outside, but you have no way of knowing how it is proceeding. There are three unbarred paths before you. What orders will you give?

    [ ] Write In


    Strike Force Composition
    Garrick Golden-Feather, Emperor of Gryphus
    Gabriella Golden-Feather, Empress of Gryphus
    Grandmaster Colombroni Pigeonio
    Grandmaster Adrian Dawnquill
    Grandmaster Konrad Hardbeak, "The Kingslayer"
    35 Knights of the Inner Circle
    200 Imperial Knights
    80 Squires
    450 Griffons-at-Arms
    5 Qilin Pyro-Masters
    200 Qilin Fire Warriors
    1485 Diamond Dogs



    Had to use a flowchart app to create a dungeon Map from scratch that wasn't randomly generated. Not ideal, but better than trusting my mouse with MS Paint. It tells you what you need to know at least. There will be a six hour moratorium to allow for discussion and plan construction. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.

    I promise I'll be a bit faster getting these updates out, seeing as how they're not that big.
     
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    • soooo, should we try to set up some fortifications in here incase we need to fall back to hopefully not get pushed back out the tunnel or should we just press on?
     
    Throwing ideas at the wall here.

    1. Air flow. there must be air coming from somewhere and that might be the exit. Use the pyromancers flame and smoke to see the airflow

    2. Smell. Dunno if Sombra has enough physical form to have a smell when he moves but worth a shot. We have a lot of diamond DOGS, let's see if they have that in common.

    3. Architecture. The crystal kingdom is built around the palace and the 4 pillars it stands on. It's probably a decent idea to move towards the center with the main force.

    4. Signals. If we spread out having a calling signal to tell who is where and what they found and a indication what path they took. Diamond dog howling, griffon shrieking and scorch marks can help tell what path they took.

    Sound signals may kill the element of surprise but one signal that says "group left has found the exit" without explicitly saying that "hey, the two other groups down there, come this way"
     
    @Questor since I intend to edit the Hannibal omake, could you give me some advice on what to remove or change to make it better and canon?
     
    It's incredibly unlikely for Sombra to have placed a large force down here. I'd expect a couple of monsters that can deal with scouts, but we have enough forces that we could send a grandmaster with 80 knights in each direction. Of course there are going to be more than 3 directions later on, so we'll have to split up further.
    I know, never split the party, but this isn't an adventuring group, we have an army that can't bring its size to bear in these small tunnels anyhow. It's only sensible to work in parallel.

    x0Nothing0x said:
    should we try to set up some fortifications in here
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    We have an overwhelming force and every minute is precious. In any situation where fortifications would be useful, our mission would already have failed since Sombra would be aware that we're down here and could evacuate his palace.

    ChaosRuneSmith said:
    1. Air flow. there must be air coming from somewhere and that might be the exit. Use the pyromancers flame and smoke to see the airflow
    3. Architecture. The crystal kingdom is built around the palace and the 4 pillars it stands on. It's probably a decent idea to move towards the center with the main force.
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    1 is worth trying although I doubt it'll work since there's probably a locked door between here and the palace.
    You're right that we should keep 3 in mind.
    ChaosRuneSmith said:
    2. Smell. Dunno if Sombra has enough physical form to have a smell when he moves but worth a shot. We have a lot of diamond DOGS, let's see if they have that in common.
    4. Signals. If we spread out having a calling signal to tell who is where and what they found and a indication what path they took. Diamond dog howling, griffon shrieking and scorch marks can help tell what path they took.
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    Since we're inside catacombs, any scent is likely covered by the stink of decay.
    Sound signals are rather hard to locate in a labyrinth of chambers, I'd rather give each group a long rope to mark their trail and send back runners if a group finds the palace.


    Tentative strategy:
    [] The hallways limit how much force any one group can bring to bear if they encountered an enemy. Spread out at each intersection until there are 10 groups of equal size.
    -[] Assign the 10 groups from the beginning to avoid squabbles.
    -[] Garrick, 50 Griffons-at-Arms, and 85 Diamond Dogs stay back in the Entrance Chamber to coordinate.
    -[] Focus more powerful units (Gransmasters, Gabriella, Pyro-Masters) on paths that lead forwards or where the architecture indicates a main passageway. That also means sending 4 groups forward from the entrance chamber.
    -[] A few Diamond Dog scouts look for traps, knights are right behind to quickly deal with opponents before they can sound the alarm.
    -[] Each group has a long coil of rope which they use to mark their path, and send back Diamond Dog runners to Garrick every two rooms to report what they found.
    -[] Gabriella has the most experience with situations like this. If she sees any flaws in this plan, correct them.
    -[] Stop for a vote if Garrick hears that a group has major problems or there are more paths than groups.

    Each group still has 24 knights, 48 Griffons, 20 Qilin, 120 DD which is more than enough to deal with most threats. Larger groups would be hindered by the hallways, smaller groups might split existing squads and would be hard to coordinate.
     
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    Ardyn said:
    @Questor since I intend to edit the Hannibal omake, could you give me some advice on what to remove or change to make it better and canon?
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    The semi-Canon label was more to do with the fact that, as of yet, Hannibal has yet to be mentioned in Canon.

    I might add Hannibal into the Canon story at a later date, at which point the post would become canon. Let me know if/when you edit the post.

    It's a good piece of writing, and it adds a good bit to the scene of the battle. Gives a look at how the rank and file on the frontline see things.
     
    Questor said:
    The semi-Canon label was more to do with the fact that, as of yet, Hannibal has yet to be mentioned in Canon.

    I might add Hannibal into the Canon story at a later date, at which point the post would become canon. Let me know if/when you edit the post.

    It's a good piece of writing, and it adds a good bit to the scene of the battle. Gives a look at how the rank and file on the frontline see things.
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    I see, thank you for that, but I'm still gonna change a few things since I didn't mean to post it yet, I wrote it at 4 in the morning after being awake for 40+ hours and working for 13 of them, I meant to go over it after resting, but derped and hit post.
     
    So the moratarium ended an hour ago. Just fyi to everyone.

    Must say that this plan the @Nachtigall made is the best ive seen. just needs a name

    [] The hallways limit how much force any one group can bring to bear if they encountered an enemy. Spread out at each intersection until there are 10 groups of equal size.
    -[] Assign the 10 groups from the beginning to avoid squabbles.
    -[] Garrick, 50 Griffons-at-Arms, and 85 Diamond Dogs stay back in the Entrance Chamber to coordinate.
    -[] Focus more powerful units (Gransmasters, Gabriella, Pyro-Masters) on paths that lead forwards or where the architecture indicates a main passageway. That also means sending 4 groups forward from the entrance chamber.
    -[] A few Diamond Dog scouts look for traps, knights are right behind to quickly deal with opponents before they can sound the alarm.
    -[] Each group has a long coil of rope which they use to mark their path, and send back Diamond Dog runners to Garrick every two rooms to report what they found.
    -[] Gabriella has the most experience with situations like this. If she sees any flaws in this plan, correct them.
    -[] Stop for a vote if Garrick hears that a group has major problems or there are more paths than groups.
     
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    [X]Plan Tentative strategy
    -[X] The hallways limit how much force any one group can bring to bear if they encountered an enemy. Spread out at each intersection until there are 10 groups of equal size.
    -[X] Assign the 10 groups from the beginning to avoid squabbles.
    -[X] Garrick, 50 Griffons-at-Arms, and 85 Diamond Dogs stay back in the Entrance Chamber to coordinate.
    -[X] Focus more powerful units (Gransmasters, Gabriella, Pyro-Masters) on paths that lead forwards or where the architecture indicates a main passageway. That also means sending 4 groups forward from the entrance chamber.
    -[X] A few Diamond Dog scouts look for traps, knights are right behind to quickly deal with opponents before they can sound the alarm.
    -[X] Each group has a long coil of rope which they use to mark their path, and send back Diamond Dog runners to Garrick every two rooms to report what they found.
    -[X] Gabriella has the most experience with situations like this. If she sees any flaws in this plan, correct them.
    -[X] Stop for a vote if Garrick hears that a group has major problems or there are more paths than groups.

    I'm going with @Nachtigall's plan.
     
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    [x] Plan Tentative strategy:
    [] The hallways limit how much force any one group can bring to bear if they encountered an enemy. Spread out at each intersection until there are 10 groups of equal size.
    -[] Assign the 10 groups from the beginning to avoid squabbles.
    -[] Garrick, 50 Griffons-at-Arms, and 85 Diamond Dogs stay back in the Entrance Chamber to coordinate.
    -[] Focus more powerful units (Gransmasters, Gabriella, Pyro-Masters) on paths that lead forwards or where the architecture indicates a main passageway. That also means sending 4 groups forward from the entrance chamber.
    -[] A few Diamond Dog scouts look for traps, knights are right behind to quickly deal with opponents before they can sound the alarm.
    -[] Each group has a long coil of rope which they use to mark their path, and send back Diamond Dog runners to Garrick every two rooms to report what they found.
    -[] Gabriella has the most experience with situations like this. If she sees any flaws in this plan, correct them.
    -[] Stop for a vote if Garrick hears that a group has major problems or there are more paths than groups.
    Adhoc vote count started by Raptor580 on Apr 17, 2019 at 5:49 PM, finished with 8609 posts and 9 votes.
    • [X]Plan Tentative strategy
      -[X] The hallways limit how much force any one group can bring to bear if they encountered an enemy. Spread out at each intersection until there are 10 groups of equal size.
      -[X] Assign the 10 groups from the beginning to avoid squabbles.
      -[X] Garrick, 50 Griffons-at-Arms, and 85 Diamond Dogs stay back in the Entrance Chamber to coordinate.
      -[X] Focus more powerful units (Gransmasters, Gabriella, Pyro-Masters) on paths that lead forwards or where the architecture indicates a main passageway. That also means sending 4 groups forward from the entrance chamber.
      -[X] A few Diamond Dog scouts look for traps, knights are right behind to quickly deal with opponents before they can sound the alarm.
      -[X] Each group has a long coil of rope which they use to mark their path, and send back Diamond Dog runners to Garrick every two rooms to report what they found.
      -[X] Gabriella has the most experience with situations like this. If she sees any flaws in this plan, correct them.
      -[X] Stop for a vote if Garrick hears that a group has major problems or there are more paths than groups.
      [X] Charge straight forward.
      -[X] Hardbeak leads the way.
    Click to expand...
     
    Well, that plan name is as good as any.

    @Travler66, would you mind changing the second line to a subpoint? Plan votes only work properly when they're all in the same block.
    Thanks!

    [x] Plan Tentative strategy
    -[x] The hallways limit how much force any one group can bring to bear if they encountered an enemy. Spread out at each intersection until there are 10 groups of equal size.
    -[x] Assign the 10 groups from the beginning to avoid squabbles.
    -[x] Garrick, 50 Griffons-at-Arms, and 85 Diamond Dogs stay back in the Entrance Chamber to coordinate.
    -[x] Focus more powerful units (Gransmasters, Gabriella, Pyro-Masters) on paths that lead forwards or where the architecture indicates a main passageway. That also means sending 4 groups forward from the entrance chamber.
    -[x] A few Diamond Dog scouts look for traps, knights are right behind to quickly deal with opponents before they can sound the alarm.
    -[x] Each group has a long coil of rope which they use to mark their path, and send back Diamond Dog runners to Garrick every two rooms to report what they found.
    -[x] Gabriella has the most experience with situations like this. If she sees any flaws in this plan, correct them.
    -[x] Stop for a vote if Garrick hears that a group has major problems or there are more paths than groups.
     
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