Adventures in Saint-Trotez - On Set (Episodes 1 - 3)

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"Don' believe I caught why you were ou' here," Aces said, taking a careful look around. "Do you mind too much repeating yourself?"

AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:

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"Sure thing. Me and my compadres thought there was something in the water, y'know, 'cus the businesses poisoned it to force ponies to buy medicines, y'know? So I went to get some water from the lake to check it out." As he is explaining this, he almost walks into a tree, but by being so attentive, you manage to spot this and gently steer him away without him noticing...

"Vait, I thought ze thieves did zis, not the businesses."

"I don't think the thieves did this, but I don't think it was the businesses either," Splash Control chimes in...

(Four successes down. Two to go. Necrar, you're up. Also, as a thing on the side, can I get an Endurance check from Aces High and Storm Blade (without your illness penalty) whenever you get a chance?)

"It doesn't make sense that either of them benefit from poisoning the river. Sure, theirs been an increasing of use of medical drugs, but I'm pretty sure because of the emergency situation, the cost of the drugs has been cut sharply, or taken away all together. If the theives did this, then high-profile targets would have probably been hit, but they haven't as far as I know."

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Aces High said nothing in particular, merely thinking about what had just been said.

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"I'd have to agree with Splash and Storm. This doesn't seem like something they would do." Necrar says, trying to get an idea on how close they were to the lake.

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"Come to think 'bout it half the things you say are a bit off... could you have been fed lies by somepony?" Sparks comments while walking along the group.

roll:

Fury of the Tempest wrote:

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AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:

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Neither Aces High or Storm Blade's conditions deteriorate, but Storm Blade's doesn't improve either...

Colter Bolt wrote:

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tygerburningbright wrote:

roll:

"No way. Listen to me friend, you may think that you can trust the system, but you can't believe the lies they feed you, y'know. That's how they get you. You can't be a sheepony, you know what I'm saying?"

Necrar, you feel that you are pretty close to the lake. In fact, only a short while later, the group finds themselves within an opening in the forest. A large but calm lake awaits before you. The pale moonlit reflects of the surface, creating a relaxing glow to the surrounding area. You hear the occasional whistle of wind swaying the leaves and grass. All in all, this feels like a great place for a picnic. As you arrive, Doctor Scope makes her way to the front of the group and trots over to the lake, and starts levitating supplies out of her saddlebag on the edge of it...

(Everyone who wants to, roll Perception...)

"At this point I'm thinking this guy's hopeless." Mutters more to himself than to anyone.Then he turns directly to Zippy. "Anyway I've gota thank you Zippy for the help you have given us." Sparks then looks around the area around the lake for anything of intrest.

roll:

"Yeah, thanks for leading us here Zippy." Necrar says, walking over to the lake. "Hey Doc, anything I can do to help? Also, what are the chances that something in nature is causing this?" As he asks, he looks around the area for anything strange.

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Fury of the Tempest wrote:

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"Well, you've got to be careful, my amigo," the unicorn tells you, slinging his foreleg around your shoulder. "Before you know it, you'll be in the military, working for the Stallion without realising it, y'know?" He then removes his leg off you and trots off to appreciate some nature...

You don't notice anything other than how scenic this place is...

tygerburningbright wrote:

roll:

Colter Bolt wrote:

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"No problem guys, it's all good, y'know?"

Meanwhile, Doctor Scope is far too preoccupied with her preparations to notice you ask her stuff. You see her calibrate some science stuff. You also can see how pleasant this place is...

Sparks, you notice some more useful things. Aside from what the other ponies are doing (Doctor Scope is doing science, Zippy is looking at a bush of berries, Splash Control slowly trots over to a patch of grass and lies on his back), you notice that the water starts rippling slightly, although nothing seems to be causing the ripples. They seem to originate from where Doctor Scope is as she levitates her equipment around, but she isn't touching the water or anything...

Aces takes a quick look around; nothing fancy.

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"DOCTOR! GET BACK! ISN'T SAFE!" Sparks shouts and rushes over to the doctor's side attempting to pull her back.

rolls:

Fury of the Tempest wrote:"I'm a royal guard, I'm already in the military." Storm Blade answered flatly when he was warned against joining the military by Zippy, even through he walked of afterwards. "I doubt that means I'm going to be working or am working for this 'stallion' of yours. The guard protects others and that's it."

Zippy looks away from the berries he was watching, still calm, but you can see some slight concern. "Oh. Well, promise me this. Don't believe everything they tell you, y'know, make sure your thoughts are your own, and always be true to yourself, you know what I'm saying?" He looks at you with a glossy stare, zoning out for a bit before continuing. "Can you promise me that?"

AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:

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(No more Zippy bonus, sadly. It was only available for the skill challenge, which you won with flying colours...)

You see Doctor Scope carefully levitate her equipment out of her saddle bag, calibrating them one at a time, before fetching the next piece of equipment. Zippy is looking at a bush with colourful berries, but he doesn't seem to be actually looking at the berries, but in fact looking at the bush in different angles, as if he was searching for something. You spot Splash Control slowly walk over to a rather pleasant looking patch of grass, then gradually lie down and turn on his back, resting one hoof on his forehead...

In addition, you notice that the lake slightly rippling, but you see that nothing is touching the lake to cause it. The ripples seem to originate around Doctor Scope, and seem to happen only when she is levitating a piece of equipment. When she puts it down, the ripples stop, and only begin again when she starts to levitate another object. You also spot something along the river downstream of the lake, you it's too far away to identify what it is...

tygerburningbright wrote:

rolls:

While, at first, you don't seem to go fast, but then you kick it up a notch and quickly pull Doctor Scope away from the lake before she knows what's happening. She lets out a surprised yelp as you pull her away from the lake, breaking her concentration, causing the beaker she was levitating to drop onto the ground, its fall cushioned by the grass. As you pull her away, you notice that the rippling stops...

"Vait, vhat are you doing?" the mare questions, still somewhat in shock from the sudden pull from seemingly nothing...

"Guess he saw the same thing I did," Aces says. "Every time you use your magic that lake ripples just a tad." A small smirk. "Maybe two tads."

"Hm looks like my instincts are sending me bad signals again..." Sparks says slightly sheepishly.

AProcrastinatingWriter wrote:"Guess he saw the same thing I did," Aces says. "Every time you use your magic that lake ripples just a tad." A small smirk. "Maybe two tads."

"Every time I use magic? Interesting. Let me zink zis over." Doctor Scope ponders for a bit. "Can anypony here use magic vell?"

"Just Ponykinesis a few basic survival spells and that pair of spells that effect the strength of stuff."

"My best ones will chain a pony up and place an invisible mark on them. Well, invisible to you."

The doctor takes your statements into consideration. She levitates the water bottle from before out of her bag and places it on the ground. Now that its been pointed out to you, you notice the lake ripple as she does this, but since she is away from the edge now, it barely does it. Doctor Scope then points to Sparks. "Okay, can you affect ze strength of zis bottle? I think zat vill be enough to test my hypothesis."

"Sure" Sparks concentrates on the bottle muttering slightly under his breath stopping after ten seconds. "It should be a lot stronger for a while now."

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tygerburningbright wrote:

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As you do this, the others notice the lake react a bit more violently than the times when Doctor Scope was just levitating stuff by the lake, but it still doesn't do too much. When Sparks finishes his spell, Doctor Scope quickly removes the lid, levitates the bottle upside down, and shakes it vigorously. "Come on, don't reattach yourself," she murmurs. Oddly, barely any water escapes the bottle, and soon, something starts to emerge from it. At first, you think it is some sort of bubble, as it is almost transparent, but as it seems to grow, it becomes apparent that it couldn't be that. Eventually, the "bubble" drops from the bottle, followed by a rush of water, which is stopped as the doctor turns the bottle right-side up. The glob falls upon the grass, where it starts to head for the closest pony, which is Doctor Scope, but then changes its direction to Sparks when the doctor walks away in a happy trot, sounding pretty excited at the result...

"Yes, I knew it! I vas right! Yes Yes Yes! Yes. Yes..." However, the excitement turned into concern as she stopped, and turned to face the lake. "...Oh, zis is not good."