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#Post#: 3637--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Tinder Date: May 21, 2018, 9:11 pm
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Tinder finishes up her artwork and follows the rest out, staying
a nice bit behind the rest as she downs a couple pills, not
caring all too much about what they are saying. Her eyes tired
and her steps slow as she enters the inn, but knowing she won't
be able to sleep anyway she stays downstairs with the rest.
"He'll be fine, just let him sleep it off."
#Post#: 3639--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Nivalia Date: May 22, 2018, 10:05 pm
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Niv and Fox were both quiet on the trip back; the mare was
thinking about her bed, the stallion... other matters, and bed
too. Once everyone arrived, they still stuck to themselves. They
couldn't help but chuckle at the attempt to get Mana awake.
Foxtrot himself trots over, looking over to Onyx. "You hauled
him over all the way from the barn. You deserve a break. I'll
carry him over. His room is next to mine so I'll be heading
there anyway."
Nivalia walks over to Tinder, the pillows and blankets from
their room popping up next to them. She places a blanket over
the orange unicorn and a pillow underneath. Doing the same for
herself, Nivalia plops onto the sofa and gets comfortable.
#Post#: 3640--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Tinder Date: May 27, 2018, 11:17 pm
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Tinder smiles and mumbles a quick, "thank you" to Nivalia as the
blanket is placed on her. She pulls the pillow over and lays
down on the floor in front of the couch, hoping to get some
sleep.
#Post#: 3641--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Mana Burn Date: May 28, 2018, 1:40 am
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Thunder allowed the carting off of Mana, a wave of his hoof
being all he could manage in between his stifled giggles at
Mana’s now mildly damp robes. Spirit, shifting focus to the jar
they recovered, picked it from the cart and gave its damage a
frown as a small trickle of powder escaped and fell to the
ground.
“Aww…” she groaned, squirting the spillage with her bottle to
immediately dilute and neutralize the lost sample, “Its like…
half empty, now. It must have been leaking all over the place!
Aether is gonna be mad…”
“Aether can cry all he wants when he gets back,” Alacrity
dismissed with another yawn, “its probably his fault this
happened anyway. Blabbed to the wrong person about… like, you
know, how he’s making some kind of special world… world changing
thing or something… you know… like how he’s… making some kind of
thing…” Alacrity’s head bobbed, and she needed to shift a hoof
to right herself.
Spirit gasped upon seeing the bruises on Mana and any other
bandages or bang ups obvious enough to be spotted on the others,
“We didn’t want you to get hurt!” she exclaimed, “Was it scary?
If it was scary you didn’t have to go after them! Hey, Alacrity!
Can we help them out?
“… Alacrity?” Alacrity wasn’t responding but was instead staring
at the ground in front of her. Or was she staring? It wasn’t
clear without getting closer but it was possible she’d let her
eyes close a little too far and was now sleeping while sitting
up.
“… Alacrity and I want to say thanks by letting you take
whatever you need from the shop to treat any injuries you might
have gotten while helping us!” Spirit announced with a grin, “I
don’t think we really have much else to give, but if you think
of anything we can do for you, anything at all, you just let us
know and we’ll do our darndest!”
“Sounds good to me,” Thunder said, “I think I’ll be fine at
least. Just need to get some sleep is all. Tomorrow Mana is
probably going to want to have a word with you two about all
this but for now I’d say this has been enough excitement for a
night, yeah? I’m going to bed.”
He gave those still present a nod, “Don’t forget our meetup
tomorrow! We could play cards while we do it. Make it fun.”
Thunder left to catch up with Mana in their room and hopefully
catch up on some sleep.
--
The next day Mana would have questions. Thunder, wanting to keep
his friend up to date with accurate information, explained how
Mana had tripped over his own hooves and faceplanted into a
crate of sleepy dust before suffering a fit of giggly sneezes
and running three panicked laps around the barn before snuggling
up against a support beam he’d referred to as “Seashell” and
passing out. Mana’s memory was a little better than Thunder had
been expecting though, and the charade lacked the punch he’d
hoped for with Mana instead recalling enough information to
deduce what had happened, his further questioning of the two
mares at the Green Lion allowing him enough info to craft a
solid theory. Satisfied that he understood what had happened to
himself his questions then shifted in focus to the people
responsible and what they’d said. Like Thunder, Mana was
suspicious, but took note of the names and places mentioned for
looking into later as Thunder relayed everything he’d been told
to the best of his memory. For now, if what the Griffin had said
was true, Mana was far more concerned with what could happen
today as opposed to what could be happening halfway across the
country.
Mana would encourage a shift of the plan that Thunder had
suggested the night before. Instead of meeting in the lobby,
he’d instead decide that a better place would be their personal
room and would ask Thunder to meet and redirect anyone waiting
at the lobby to go there instead where Mana would get true
introductions out of the way and wait for the rest. With
instructions given to Spirit and a VERY groggy Alacrity to watch
both the street outside the inn and the people entering the
building Mana hoped to be given immediate warning as to any
strange or suspicious behavior that could be picked up from the
crowds passing through. A slim chance of working, sure, but a
heads-up to the start of trouble might at least get them
mobilized quickly enough to do something to help.
For now, Mana sat in his room and watched as Thunder returned
from the lobby with the last of those interested in being part
of whatever they were hoping to do about whatever might come.
“So,” he spoke after becoming familiar enough with the people in
attendance to get right to business, “You know who we are and
have an idea of what might go down, and the fact that you’re
still here means I can only assume you want to try and do
something about it. Since this isn’t an official investigation
under the Crown there’s nothing strictly prohibiting you from
lending a hand, but like before I want to make it clear that
this could get very dangerous very quickly and that I would
strongly urge you to reconsider.”
“Mana, half of them are super mages or lightning rods or
something,” Thunder chimed in, “And while you were napping they
were wrecking a barn. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“Against a group trying to take prisoners maybe,” Mana was blunt
with the reality of the situation, “But against a pack of… we
don’t even know yet it might get a rough. I’m not trying to put
any of you down. I just don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“They’ll be fine, and the less time spent worrying means more
time spent finding bad guys. Speaking of, has anyone been
thinking about where this ‘secluded’ place might be that Griffin
mentioned? I think she said it was like a barn? I remember the
words ‘condemned’ and ‘ignored’. That doesn’t really narrow it
down, there’s tons of barns around here but I don’t think a
whole lot of them are being torn down.”
“Didn’t you say she mentioned how her group thought the last few
attacks involved a portal of some sort?” Mana asked, “How its
all going to come from the same place? Most of the barns for
Weaver are out on the edges of town to make use of the land
meant for growing cotton. The one we went to last night was
being torn down specifically because it was too far away from
the fields to be any good to them. If whatever they sent came in
from the edge of the town there’d be a lot of people around to
see them charging up, and that’s *if* they even come this way
once they’re through and don’t bolt for the wilderness instead.
No, I think its going to be somewhere inside of the town to
cause maximum damage.”
“There’s a festival going on, Mana, there aren’t very many
places in town that would be left alone long enough for someone
to summon a bunch of monsters. Why don’t I just go do a few fly
overs and see if there’s anything boarded up by the fields?”
“We don’t have time to split up and sniff around. We need to
actually investigate wherever we go or we might waste too much
time and lose our chance to prevent anything.”
“Well, why don’t we just bring the Watch in on this then? I know
we don’t want to scare them off but if it’s crunch time and we
can’t decide where to go then it’s sort of time to start raising
an alarm isn’t it? Let’s talk to the Mayor.”
“Mayor Barrel is prone to panicking over anything that might
threaten his plans for Weaver. Gleam and the rest of the mayors
kept him in the dark specifically because they didn’t want word
getting out that there was anyone looking into this and I
guarantee if we even mention the possibility of something going
wrong he’ll either ignore it and harass us over our credentials
or have the Watch bang-up the town to try and find any clues.
Either way we’d be screwed.”
“Again, if it’s coming down to the wire maybe we should be
kicking some doors in instead of hoping we get lucky and just
guess the right spot through sheer luck.”
“You do realize we’re trying to catch people who have been using
teleportation magic to do what they do, right? We make noise and
they could potentially just vanish without even leaving whatever
rock they’re hiding under.”
“Ugh, I was hoping this would be a vacation…” Thunder groaned
and looked over towards the rest, “Everyone wants to explain to
you how I’m right, Mana. Right, everyone?”
#Post#: 3642--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Onyx Lotus Date: May 28, 2018, 10:10 am
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Nyx was at the forefront of the group, her eyes bright after
finally getting some sleep. She listened to Mana's warnings but
didn't comment on them. She had decided to be fully invested in
this mission, and it would take more than the idea of a pack of
wild animals to change her mind. At speculations of where a
portal might be created, Nyx's expression turned thoughtful.
"I'm with Mana on this one," she told Thunder when there was a
pause in conversation. "Creating such a portal would require a
significant amount of magical energy. Whoever's doing this isn't
going to waste that energy by choosing a target that's anything
less than ideal. Logically speaking, the best place would be
right in the middle of a highly populated area." She paused as
something hit her.
"When I was headed here from the train yesterday, there was a
building that appeared to be under construction. Maybe the town
hall? I can't quite remember, I should have paid more attention
to my surroundings. Either way, it was smack in the middle of
the town and I'm sure in its current state that nopony is
supposed to go inside. Even so, I doubt it would be difficult to
sneak into, and would provide the perpetrator with the space and
privacy to summon a portal. After that, the animals, whatever
they might be, would have nowhere to go but out. They'd flood
the town in no time," Nyx said before adding, "And whoever
formed the portal could teleport away without even needing to
come out of the building. On that note, they probably have the
skill to teleport into the building without anyone seeing them
as well. Of course, even though it's probably supposed to be
off-limits, that's no guarantee nopony will wander in. If I was
doing this, I would enter the building manually so I could make
sure no one was there before I revealed myself. I think it would
be a good plan to have some of us stay near and keep a close eye
on the town hall. If we can catch the perpetrator sneaking in,
we can end this before it begins," she finally finished.
She looked around at the others. "What do you all think? Though
it makes sense to me, I confess that I don't have much
experience with this sort of thing."
#Post#: 3643--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Foxtrot Date: May 29, 2018, 9:52 pm
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Foxtrot listens to the conversation as it unfolds. With rest and
a clear mind, his thoughts start to put together the pieces as
to how to resolve this dilemma. When Onyx explains her
reasoning, the stallion nods. "I agree. The building and
location appear to be convenient for such an endeavor. Hiding in
plain sight. I think most of us should stay near there. A couple
of us could keep patrolling the town though. Eyes in the sky
never hurts to have around."
Nivalia steps forward, "I can be one of the latter. I can cover
the distance, then teleport back to you guys if anything bucks
off."
"I'll be near the building," Foxtrot follows up, "I'd rather be
right in the action if it starts at that building."
#Post#: 3644--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Faded Glory Date: June 3, 2018, 9:09 pm
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Glory stays downstairs for a short while after the others all
get whatever they may need from the shop and then head up to
their rooms. She just stands and looks out the front windows for
a while, just relaxing a little bit after the standoff and the
barn. There won't be much time for rest tomorrow, she's sure.
Especially if they aren't able to stop them before they can
summon whatever they're planning to bring in. She frowns a
little. The way they'd been before, it would almost certainly be
worse than the last time. Glory takes a deep breath and turns to
head upstairs. There was no use worrying about it now.
Lily is still in bed when Glory comes back to their room,
mumbling something in her sleep. Glory listens for a moment but
it only seems be something about textiles. She goes over to her
own bed, removing the belt and her pistols and dropping them
with the rest of her stuff. At least tomorrow she'll be going in
with all her gear. She gets into bed, figuring that it's still a
while before Harvestman gets back and that she'll need all the
rest she can get. Harvestman returns while it's still dark, and
Glory wakes up to the sound of him entering the room. She yawns
and stretches, then climbs back out of bed to wake Lily up. She
explains what had happened in the barn and informs them of the
meeting in the morning.
Once it's light they all head out to meet up in Mana and
Thunder's room, and Glory introduces Harvestman and Day Lily.
"The town hall is probably most likely, I'm sure we all saw it
on the way in and it's right in the middle." Glory agrees, and
looks over to Lily. "You got anything on it?"
"Well, it was supposedly the original house owned by the mare
the town formed around, though I have my doubts about that.
There hasn't been any actual evidence of it that I found, but
I'm sure you know how these politicians love to have that sort
of thing to talk up." Lily flashes a grin at the rest of them,
then continues. "Originally it was three levels, the ground
floor being for all the things you'd expect from a town hall.
The second floor is just a residence sometimes used by the
mayors. There's also a basement which is just used for storage.
Personally, I'd say they're most likely to just be using the
first floor. So they don't have to be herding a bunch of
monsters up or down a staircase."
"I'll be going in." Glory says after Lily had finished with her
explanation. "Harvesmant will be staying outside, so he'll be
ready to give us help or in case they appear from somewhere
else. Lily's not a fighter, so she'll just help keep an eye on
things with you." She says, nodding toward Nivalia.
#Post#: 3645--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Mana Burn Date: June 4, 2018, 2:18 am
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“Yeah,” Thunder said with a nod, “They got all poetic with how
they wanted to word it, but they agree, see?”
“The town hall sounds like a good start,” Mana ignored Thunder
and addressed the group, Thunder rolling his eyes and sighing,
“If anything it’ll be a good place to go from if it turns out to
be a bust, a lot of the larger buildings in town are within
walking distance of it so we could radiate outwards if need be.
I’ll go there myself.”
“I’m going to keep to the idea of checking the outer parts of
town with the B-team,” Thunder decided, “’B’ for ‘Best’ team, am
I right? We’ll find whatever’s going on out there and take care
of it while the rest of you sneak off to eat churros at the
festival. Some of us work for a living, Mana, but don’t worry,
I’ll put your name on the report complete with a gold star and
mention you when I accept my medal and give a speech.” Thunder
made to leave but was stopped by Mana.
“If you’re going out there, I want you to keep an eye out for
that griffon and her group,” Mana said, “I don’t like the idea
of them out there doing whatever they want wherever they want,
and I doubt they’re just here to help. If we can find them or at
least get an idea of where they’re hold up, we might help
ourselves later on.”
“Oh, trust me, I’ll be looking,” Thunder assured him, “and it
shouldn’t be too hard. All I need to do is look for tinfoil,
right? Conspiracy nuts cover themselves in it I hear.” Thunder
casual salute before leaving the room, Mana turning to the rest
and giving them a nod.
“Shall we?”
--
From there the group would divide depending on who volunteered
to go where. Thunder group composed of those who would help with
patrolling the town would head out either with him or in their
own directions depending on if they voted to split up to cover
more ground with Thunder committing to the task of surveying the
outskirts of town and the many ignored buildings that the
tourists within paid no mind. On his way he and whoever was with
him would be treated to the sight of a small group of ponies
gathered around the barn from the night before.
“How did this happen!?” one shouted to the heavens in a demand
for answers, “It was fine LITERALLY YESTERDAY!” Though there
were a few members of the towns Watch present, they looked to
not be terribly concerned with the state of the building since
there were plans in place to tear it down anyway.
Thunder couldn’t help but laugh as he passed by.
Mana, however, was not laughing as he and the rest of the group
made their way through town towards the town’s center. As there
was a festival going on, their traveling as a group would be
normal and go without drawing any suspicion making it easy for
them to make good time with only the occasional crowded street
slowing them down.
Regardless it wasn’t long before they made it to their
destination and they were faced with Weaver’s half renovated
town hall looking naked and improper with scaffolding up one
side and wooden boards covering up several windows. There was a
clocktower being built onto the building that was as of right
now only a skeleton squatting over the roof. Sections of the
roof itself were missing with only planks and light sheets of
plywood covering the openings to keep out debris. The parts of
the hall that hadn’t been touched yet and remained a shadow of
its original construction were quaint and attractive though.
Mana couldn’t help but wonder as to what the entire place had
looked like before being torn apart.
Signs were hung discouraging people from disturbing the building
or any of the work being done with dates written to explain when
work was to resume. Other than these the festivals layout and
attractions had clearly been organized in a way to funnel the
tourists and such away from the town hall as its unfinished
state could only serve to act as an embarrassing eyesore despite
what the Watch and Mayor may say. Because of this the group only
had the occasional lost ponies or desensitized local wandering
by to deal with, and each time they were few and far between.
“well, its quiet enough,” Mana commented as he gave the place a
thorough look over from the front, “I’m confident in guessing
that most of the windows and doors are locked. If they wanted to
keep everyone away from even seeing the place then the town
would have probably gone out of their way to keep people from
getting inside where they could hurt themselves or break
something new. Looking at the place though, I’m also confident
in saying that there’s a strong chance we could lean on a wall
and tear down a wall here and there. The roof is flimsy and some
of the windows aren’t even secure.”
His horn lit up for a moment and wrapped around the nob of the
front entrance before vanishing. “Yeah, that’s locked… I can’t
teleport,” Mana admitted, “It’s not my kind of magic – not that
I’d want to try without a clear line of sight to where I’m going
- and I can’t fly to reach the roof. I’d prefer to keep this as
quiet as we can so as not to raise an alarm for civilian and
criminal alike, but without a key there’s not much I can do
other than kick down some boards or break a lock right now.
Anyone want to find another way in and take a peak or maybe
unlock it from the inside? We could try picking it too, but I’m
not sure if tampering with the lock will trip anything.”
#Post#: 3646--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Foxtrot Date: June 6, 2018, 7:46 pm
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As the group split, Fox and Nivalia said their goodbyes. Niv
giving her brother extra medicine to take with him. Now he was
more prepared. His machete holsters by his side; something not
much noticed as other than a simple farming instrument. He had
to admit, he wanted to have fun at the festival. Food,
attractions, all of it. But that can come later. For now, the
security of the whole town was at risk.
It wouldn't take long for them to reach their destination. The
rather... "in the works" looking structure before them. The
stallion's eyes flickered white as his other mind began
measuring heights and distances. Once Mana finished making his
assessment and request for a volunteer, Foxtrot steps forward.
"I'll give it a go. Hop onto the roof and get a top down view of
what's inside. Just have to line myself up..." With a step to
the left and a tilt of his torso, the unicorn bends his knees to
prepare for launch. His hooves begin to glow, the magic becoming
brighter as his pupils dilate. In one swift motion, Foxtrot
vaults upward. Higher than even the clock tower, those with
astute hearing could pick up possible panicked cursing from a
stallion who may have overshot the leap. Still, he lands without
fuss. Picking a loose board, he pushes it away and peeks inside.
Paint. The smell of paint is the first thing he notices. So much
paint. Why? Paint shops smell less paint-y than this. But wait!
There's more! Tools, paint cans, building supplies, but no one
here to use them. A set of stairs at the back of the complex
leads to a room with a broken down wall; most likely planned for
expansion. It's elevated position compared to the main floor
could be seen from there as well. By the stairs, a raised
platform rests to be a possible stage for one to speak to a
crowd. By the front door, a thin wall stretches around the
corner of the chamber, a door embedded within it. It sticks out
considering the rooms further in the back don't. Anyone at the
front of the room could see parts of them with ease. But that
paint smell though... bleh
#Post#: 3647--------------------------------------------------
Re: Weaver
By: Onyx Lotus Date: June 7, 2018, 11:28 am
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Nyx stepped up as well, watching Foxtrot as he leapt onto the
roof. She waited until he seems to have made a safe landing. Her
natural supply of magic restored after sleeping, the magic that
flowed from her horn was its typical gold as it quickly formed a
simple, slightly precarious-looking, ladder that leaned against
the side of the building. Without missing a beat, Nyx started
climbing. The ladder swayed a bit, but Nyx didn't seem concerned
as she made her way higher.
Finally reaching the roof, the ladder vanished and she made her
way over to Foxtrot. Looking inside the room, she wrinkled her
nose as the strong smell of paint washed over her. This made her
tilt her head slightly. Closed paint cans should not make smell
like this. Such as smell seemed like it would only come from a
freshly painted wall. But that didn't make sense, there didn't
appear to be anypony in the building, and she doubted they would
be working on construction in the middle of the festival
However, she gave a slight shrug, dismissing her reasoning as
unimportant.
"We need to get inside and unlock the door for the others," she
murmured to Foxtrot. She stuck her head through the hole. I
think I can squeeze through, I just need to- ow ow ow,
splinters- okay, just a bit further and- SHI-" Her wriggling
caused a quiet crack in the next board over, and the hole
widened, sending her tumbling down into the town hall. Instinct
kicked in and a tendril of magic shot from her horn to firmly
attach itself to the roof, and she managed to grab the hastily
formed rope right before she hit the ground. She winced slightly
as she slowly lowered herself the last few feet, and examined
her throbbing hooves. She was not used to swinging around like
an ape in the jungle.
She surveyed the interior of the building, the strong odor of
paint starting to make her head hurt slightly. "Come on," she
called out quietly, beckoning to Foxtrot.
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