That is why we are equipped with weapons to stop magically animated monsters. Also we have the four of the best fighters in the Empire with us. Also we are no longer a hindrance in a fight the training and sword make us a good warrior now. We could probably have taken Blowhard with our current strength and ablity.
That is why we are equipped with weapons to stop magically animated monsters. Also we have the four of the best fighters in the Empire with us. Also we are no longer a hindrance in a fight the training and sword make us a good warrior now. We could probably have taken Blowhard with our current strength and ablity.
The point of divergence is when Scion appeared in the early 80s. Monty Python formed in 69 and Holy Grail was 75. So yes, that meme exists in Earth Bet.
Not sure what relevance that has to this quest, seeing as this is MLP not Worm, but just so you know.
You send the messengers back with new orders: prepare to defend. Pigeonio and his forces move to link up with Dawnquil, who is doing what he can to fortify his position at the bottom of the stairwell. Diamond Dogs try to be respectful of the bones of the dead, gently shifting the remains of the long-deceased Crystal Ponies as they hastily erect an earthen berm to serve as a barricade, the Knights and Qilin taking cover behind it. You head deeper into the catacombs, gingerly stepping around the dark pool of ominous liquid, still guarded by several Qilin, as Hardbeak and most of his troops rush past you to add their own strength to the defense.
After forcing your way through against the flow of armored warriors (a act made easier both by your status as Emperor and the fact you're built like a brick) you make your way into the chamber containing the entrance to the Vault, Gabriella and a few remaining soldiers waiting there for you. Your wife gives the briefest flicker of a smile (amused or relieved, you're not sure. Perhaps both) before schooling her features and gesturing to the almost comically grandiose and menacing door.
"Well beloved, any ideas? I've picked a few locks in my day but this thing doesn't even have a key hole."
She gives the gargoyle a wary look.
"And I think there might be some extra security on top of that. I swear that thing keeps giving me looks."
Sure enough, the stone sculpture appears to almost move in the flickering light out of the corner of one's eye. You give it and the door a good once-over as you walk closer to your wife. This whole place is...off. You feel anxious, on-edge. More-so than you'd expect to feel in such a situation. Part of the magic defenses? No matter, just another obstacle to overcome.
You tear your eyes off of the door and turn to your wife, unsheathing your sword and handing it to her hilt-first. You take a breath, trying to put on your most serious face as you brace yourself for an argument.
"I have an idea for how to get the door open...but I'm going to need the Orichalcum swords out of the chamber. If the locking mechanism is magic I'll have to let it play out."
Gabriella takes the sword with a raised eye ridge.
"Alright, fair enough. I'll leave our swords with the Knights and we..."
You cut her off.
"No. Just me."
You sigh at your wife's incredulous look.
"There's no telling what will happen once the swords are no longer suppressing the magic. If I'm wrong and this sets off a death trap of some kind, a trap I might not be able to escape from..."
You put a taloned-hand on your wife's shoulder, staring her in the face as you speak with conviction.
"At least one of us needs to walk out of here alive. The army and the Empire can't be left leaderless...and our children can't be left orphans."
Gabriella stares at you silently, and you brace yourself for a verbal tirade. But it doesn't come. Instead she suddenly grabs you by the breastplate of your armor and pulls you into an embrace. As she speaks, though she tries to be stoic, she can't hide the undercurrent of uncertainty in her tone.
"I am not happy about this. But I know better than to argue with you."
She pulls away, one of her taloned hands grasping yours as she gives you one of the most intense gazes of your marriage.
"You stay alive...you hear me? I'm not ruling the Empire or raising our children alone. I'll drag you back from the afterlife if I have to."
Despite the circumstances, you can't help but smile. It was times like these that reminded you why you'd married her. You nod, reluctantly letting go of her talons as she turns and leads your bodyguards out of the chamber. Once the room is empty save you, you walk to the door...and look back up at the Gargoyle.
There is a paradoxical flash of darkness, and everything goes black.
You can't see, hear, move or speak. A paralyzation spell? Did Sombra put a cockatrice's eyes in the Gargoyle's sockets? No...you can still sense your heartbeat, you haven't been turned to stone...so what is happening?
..................
Suddenly, the effect fades. Your vision and control of your body returns. You shiver and stretch your limbs, cautiously peering back up at the gargoyle out of the corner of your eye. Nothing happens. Nothing's changed. The door is still closed.
You sigh. Now what?
As you ponder your next step, you realize that, though your hearing has returned, you don't hear anything from elsewhere in the catacombs. No echoes of metal on metal, no shouted orders, no footfalls on the stone floor, not even the slightest whisper.
Something is wrong. There are hundreds of soldiers in these catacombs, it should not be this silent.
You turn and fly back down the hall, back to the entrance tunnel. You pass the Black Pit, empty and unguarded. You arrive in the massive central chamber to find it equally empty. Now in a near-panic, you fly through the rest of the catacombs. Nothing. No soldiers, no trolls, no bones, not even scuff marks on the damn floors! And it's unnervingly, oppressively silent, the only noise being the beating of your wings and the creaking of your armor joints.
Thoroughly freaked out by this point, you rush back down the entrance tunnel you'd entered the catacombs through. Perhaps Gabriella and the Knights had fallen back? But then where were the bodies? Why had they left you? What was going on?
Then you emerge from the tunnel...and behold a nightmare.
Corpses. Mountains of them. Griffons, Qilin, Yaks, Dogs, Crystal Ponies...every race is counted among the dead, tens of thousands piled atop each other to the horizon, their spilled blood intermixing into a sea of red. You stare uncomprehendingly. What had happened?
Your heart nearly stops as you realize most of the dead have no armor...no uniforms...civilians. What were they doing here? How did...
You freeze. There, atop the largest mound of bodies, is Gabriella. You are by her side in an instant.
"Gabriella!"
She doesn't respond. She can't. The blood-soaked hole in her breastplate, large enough for you to shove your fist through, shows why.
For the first time since the death of your parents, you break down and weep.
Through your tears and sobs, you spy a sword, twisted out of shape.
It will have to do.
With a trembling grip, you reach out to take hold of it...
(Snap Out of It!: 81)
And suddenly find your head tilted, a stinging pain in your cheek and a ringing in your ears.
"Wake up damnit, you're freaking me out!"
You blink, struggling to get your wits about you as you realize that Gabriella is A: alive and B: shaking you violently. You also notice that you're sprawled out on the ground in front of the vault door, clutching a sharp-edged shard of crystal...sharp enough to pierce flesh.
Once you've gotten over the rush of conflicting emotions (relief and joy at your wife being alive followed shortly thereafter by unyielding rage as you realize what just happened), and once Gabriella is sure you're not going to kill yourself or lapse back into a magically-induced daze, you take notice of the echoing din of battle elsewhere in the catacombs. It seems the shadow king has finally taken notice of your presence.
(Fighting in the Underdark: 73+5(Defensive Position)=78)
Gabriella fills you in. Though you'd only been under Sombra's spell for a few minutes, that had been enough time for a mob of crystal slaves to come pouring down the stairwell and slam against the Knights, Dogs and Qilin and their defensive line in the "bone pit". The battle still raged as you spoke, but from what Gabriella could tell you, while your forces were holding, they were taking some casualties. They couldn't hold out forever. So intense was the fighting there that she had dispatched nearly all of the soldiers in the catacombs to the site of the battle, leaving the two of you to try and open the vault yourselves.
Before you can respond to this news, the vault door begins to emit an ominous groaning noise as it ever so slowly begins to open. You exchange a confused look with your wife and shrug. You weren't about to question a stroke of good fortune...though you were of course wary of a trap...especially given what had just nearly happened to you.
And so, with blades drawn (regular steel, Gabriella having left the Orichalcum blades outside the chamber in accordance with your instructions) an Emperor and Empress enter the innermost sanctum of Sombra's Palace.
At first, you're confused. There are no mounds of gold, no piles of gemstones, no imprisoned royalty. All that's visible is what appears to be some kind of altar, carved of dark, almost light-absorbing rock, strange and indecipherable symbols carved and etched into its surface. Upon it rests nothing but a single tome, it's binding a patchwork of different materials and worn with age.
You're hesitant to approach it. You'd already triggered one nearly-fatal trap, you weren't about to go and set off another.
Gabriella has no such compunctions, marching right up and flipping open the book, revealing pages filled with odd symbols and words written in a language neither of you have ever seen before.
Despite your concerns, no traps are triggered.
You feel disappointed. Is this it? An old spell book that you can't even use? This is what you nearly died for? You sigh, glancing up towards the ceiling...and spot the heart-shaped hunk of crystal suspended in mid-air by chains that practically radiate dark magic.
You blink. Well...that's more like it.
As you and your wife take flight to inspect the object more closely, you begin to notice even more odd details about the thing. For starters, while it's wreathed in dark magic emanating from the chains surrounding it, it's center faintly pulses with a just-barely perceptible white light, briefly pushing back the darkness around it before it is obscured again. Was this what the Crystal Ponies had told you about? The power that Sombra feared?
As if in answer to your question, a menacing hiss from above heralds the Dark King's arrival, his amorphous form phasing through the ceiling in a dark cloud, red eyes blazing with fury.
(The Power of Love: 81+20(Maxed out Spousal Relationship)=101)
As the Shadow Sorcerer descends upon you, a look of rage on his face, the heart suddenly pulses with light, bright enough to pierce through the cloak of dark magic strangling it. Sombra halts, eyes wide with fear. An emotion you're starting to feel a little of, as the chains binding the crystal artifact suddenly disintegrate, leaving it floating suspended in mid air as it begins rapidly pulsing with energy. Sombra actually turns to flee when the heart starts spinning like a top, it's luminescence now almost blinding in its intensity. You and Gabriella lock hands. You had no idea what was happening, but whatever happened you'd face it together.
Then, an explosion and a massive flash of light.
................
You awake to a paw on your shoulder roughly shaking you awake.
"Boss! Alpha! Wake up!"
You eyes blearily take in the concerned visage of a Diamond Dog, one of the few specifically designated as messengers. Eyes wide, you turn your head...and sigh in relief at the sight of your Wife laying next to you. Despite having apparently fallen from a great height, neither of you appear to be injured in any way. The dog draws your attention back to him.
"Boss, Knights say that all the ponies have stopped fighting! What we do now?"
As you whirl your head back around to face the giver of this odd piece of news, you catch sight of a Crystal Pony, who you recognize as one of your guides, out of the corner of your eye, and are dumbstruck by his appearance. Namely, the fact that his fur coat seems to have become crystalline. He's smiling, something you don't think you've ever seen a Crystal Pony do before, tears running down his face as he stares up at the Crystal Heart, still floating in the center of the chamber and glowing with magic.
"It's over. We're free. Everypony is free."
You could hear the cheers erupting from thousands of throats, both within the catacombs and even from those on the surface, their volume seeming to shake the earth itself.
It would be hours before things could be explained to you by some of the more "in-the-know" former slaves. They would tell you of the nature of the Crystal Heart, the destruction of Sombra and all of his crystal creations, the sudden retreat of the Windigoes, and the simultaneous liberation of every living Crystal Pony.
But right now you don't know any of that. You just know that the battle has been won, and that your Wife is ok and by your side. And as you take her talon in yours as she begins to stir, that's all that really matters.
Crystal Invasion: Victory! All Crystal Ponies Freed, Crystal Heart and Mysterious Tome Acquired, Crystal Empire Liberated.
Imperial Army of Gryphus
9,873 Warriors
4975 Polearms
5987 Archers
1286 Diamond Dogs
4 Mobile Ballistae
19 Cannons
10 Flame Projectors
Imperial Knightly Orders The Knights Lion
1 Grandmaster Konrad Hardbeak, "The Kingslayer"
29 Knights of the Inner Circle
171 Imperial Knights
66 Squires
387 Griffons-at-Arms
The Knights Talon
1 Grandmaster Colombroni Pigeonio
22 Knights of the Inner Circle
189 Imperial Knights
76 Squires
323 Griffons-at-Arms
The Knights Panther
1 Grandmaster Adrian Dawnquill
27 Knights of the Inner Circle
190 Imperial Knights
49 Squires
239 Griffons-at-Arms
Neighponese Expeditionary Force
12 Qilin Pyromasters
1162 Qilin Fire Warriors
16 Armored Oni
97 Oni Brawlers
35 Kitsune Illusionaries
25 Tanuki Tricksters
10 Cannons
5 Fire Mangonels
Yak Volunteers
684 Yak Chargers
I've realized why I made this a CK2 Quest: I'm terrible at writing scenes like this. I really don't think I did this whole thing justice, which was part of the reason this segment took so long, but I wanted to finish it up so we could get back to regular turns.
A Rumor Mill will be out soon detailing the aftermath of the victory in further detail.
In the meantime, here's some info to explain what just happened:
The locking mechanism on the door to the vault was a spell designed to place anyone trying to open it in an illusion that would make the target believe their worst nightmare had become reality, to the point that the only thing that they could conceive of doing was to take their own life. Garrick escaped it due to the timely intervention of Gabriella with some unknowing help from the Crystal Heart. Everyone who tries to enter the vault has to go through the illusion. Yes, even Sombra. He's already faced his worst nightmare...that was the day he realized he wasn't a pony.
Which brings me to the Crystal macguffin. I wasn't planning on it being the "instant win" device it was in Canon, but then you rolled high and had a great relationship with your spouse, so it became OP. As to why the Crystal Heart defeated Sombra now and not earlier...well, with Sombra's activities leaving it incapable of harnessing the power of love from the Crystal Ponies, it couldn't. Not until an army with a love of country and a couple with an unshakeable bond showed up right outside its door. That gave it all the power it needed to take down the greatly weakened Sombra.
As for Sombra himself...you found a dark stain on the wall he'd been trying to phase through when the shockwave hit him, and every spell he'd cast or been maintaining ceased to be when the "Heart-Wave" enveloped the Crystal City. Everything that could have contained a fragment of his essence was either purged or outright destroyed. You're pretty sure he's dead, but since you technically don't have a body to bury you can't be completely certain.
The Crystal Heart only defeated Sombra and freed his slaves, it didn't magically revitalize the land or remove the years of mental trauma. That's something you're going to have to take care of yourself. Magic macguffins can only take you so far.
Please let me know of any edits that could be made to improve the quality of this post. I promise I'll get back my writing back up to snuff once we return to regular turns.
That is obviously a grimore of dark magic. We should study it EXTREMELY carefully (anyone doing so MUST have guards armed with orichalcum weaponry), and destroy it with an orichalcum blade the moment something funny happens.
That is obviously a grimore of dark magic. We should study it EXTREMELY carefully (anyone doing so MUST have guards armed with orichalcum weaponry), and destroy it with an orichalcum blade the moment something funny happens.
Ya don't fuck with eldritch shit. Take the orichulum to it ASAP and destroy it utterly before lighting it on fire and dumping the ashes in a pot of molton orichulum that we then throw in the bottom of a distant and dead volcano.
That is obviously a grimore of dark magic. We should study it EXTREMELY carefully (anyone doing so MUST have guards armed with orichalcum weaponry), and destroy it with an orichalcum blade the moment something funny happens.
You feel disappointed. Is this it? An old spell book that you can't even use? This is what you nearly died for? You sigh, glancing up towards the ceiling...and spot the heart-shaped hunk of crystal suspended in mid-air by chains that practically radiate dark magic.
You blink. Well...that's more like it.
As you and your wife take flight to inspect the object more closely, you begin to notice even more odd details about the thing. For starters, while it's wreathed in dark magic emanating from the chains surrounding it, it's center faintly pulses with a just-barely perceptible white light, briefly pushing back the darkness around it before it is obscured again. Was this what the Crystal Ponies had told you about? The power that Sombra feared?
As if in answer to your question, a menacing hiss from above heralds the Dark King's arrival, his amorphous form phasing through the ceiling in a dark cloud, red eyes blazing with fury.
(The Power of Love: 81+20(Maxed out Spousal Relationship)=101)
As the Shadow Sorcerer descends upon you, a look of rage on his face, the heart suddenly pulses with light, bright enough to pierce through the cloak of dark magic strangling it. Sombra halts, eyes wide with fear. An emotion you're starting to feel a little of, as the chains binding the crystal artifact suddenly disintegrate, leaving it floating suspended in mid air as it begins rapidly pulsing with energy. Sombra actually turns to flee when the heart starts spinning like a top, it's luminescence now almost blinding in its intensity. You and Gabriella lock hands. You had no idea what was happening, but whatever happened you'd face it together.
Deep in the caves under Gryphus Peak there is a crypt, not one reserved for the emperors of old, or the warlord pretenders. One that is the ultimate in security for state secrets. Past the Imperial Treasury, past the un-indexed archives that would drive a lavender pony in the future into a mad mare, past the where only the Knights tread there was the lock on the vault of the darkest of secrets in the Gryphus Empire. Past the Orichalcum doors, locked and bound as if the book was feral and bite someone lay... the book. A book which held power that it would cause generations to waste away, kings and queens to run in fear, psychologriffins into years of study... and yet the secrets it whispered in ones ears were too tantalizing to ignore, anything could be at your grasp with nothing more then listening to it's poisonous ideas and twisting them to your own desire...
Oh yeah and I guess Sombra's old grimoire of Dark Magic was in here too, honestly that book just whimpers in fear from the sheer power of the treatise on paper money and imperial bank promissory notes.
Oh yeah and I guess Sombra's old grimoire of Dark Magic was in here too, honestly that book just whimpers in fear from the sheer power of the treatise on paper money and imperial bank promissory notes.
Snrk, at this rate someone will eventually need to push this into a Nightmare Scenario Doom Ed. for Sombre's Tome; someone from Stalliongrad will write about the Classes in a Manifesto. A Communist Manifesto.
Yeah no we are not studying that book, for one, we are griffins we are the muggles of this magical world, so no thank you magic book of obvious evil origins, but we are destroying you and f!ck your secrets we are not interested in what your selling.
The equivalent of slamming the door shut (then locking the door and shutting the curtains) on a pushy eldritch salesman.
Snrk, at this rate someone will eventually need to push this into a Nightmare Scenario Doom Ed. for Sombre's Tome; someone from Stalliongrad will write about the Classes in a Manifesto. A Communist Manifesto.
A Qilin Fire mage, exiled by the aristocrats of Neighpon by the name of Mao... spots said pamphlet in the library and checks out the Stalliongrad manifesto... nothing bad could happen from this
I liked the scene, I feel you did well, just try to express what you got in your head the best you can and people will be more than happy.
Bit of a shame our swords didn't get to be stabbed into Sombra but hey, we can find some other evil to drain with the blood of an Old One or whatever it really is.
Crystal Heart ending is nice to me, relationship power! Now for the cleaning up, the repairs and of course, the celebrating!
I for one think we should study the book. Stop jumping to conclusions guys that's a great way to really screw up. Sure take some safety measures but maybe this could be a way for us to get magic. We should study it why would it be locked up with the crystal heart if it was so bad?
