Equestrian Radio Show's Adventure Variety Hour: Explorers of STOMP

Field solemnly nods at the blue baby dragon riding the pink griffon. " Currently I have two ideas. We can just go the direct route and just force our ways through and taking a page from the old Filliliad (Iliad) and with a false prisoner gambit and sneak in."

"False prisoner gambit? But we have a real prisoner...oh, I see." Says Grease, looking down at Muse.

((Point of pedantism:Grease is only electric blue when his bow tie is activated. He's normally a very dark blue, almost black. There's a color swatch on his character sheet for reference.))

Muse shuffled uncomfortably at the proposal. "Are...are you suggesting I be used as bait?  Don't you think that could go badly?  You may just want to charge through.  I absolutely hate suggesting that but they're already ahead of us.  Only other way would be seeing if that side entrance wasn't discovered."

"A secondary entrance hm... if it truly did go undiscovered by the opposition then that would be a viable option. Also time is limited so lead the way. Any more details shall have to be discussed as we walk that is unless the directions to the side and main entrance are not the same." Field says while stroking his beard in a contemplative manner.

Making a makeshift net out of vines to contain the prior attackers, the group continued onward.  Reaching a dense cluster of trees and bushes, Muse motioned for everyone to slip between them into a hidden tunnel.  With Spotlight lighting the way, they eventually reached a void of darkness.  Spotlight's light did not pass through it and it had a gentle, yet forceful wind blowing out from it. "Um...what now?"

"I can see awfully well in the dark" Grease say, walking over to Kegs. "I should probably be on point to catch anything Spotlight doesn't illuminate. And I won't take up too much space...hm." Grease stops to think for a second, settles his weight like he's about to jump, then stops and looks at his claws. "Kegs, what if I just sat on your shoulders? You're plenty broad enough, I'll get a bit better viewpoint, and I won't take up space in the convoy. I was going to try clambering up you, but these claws can hurt, so it's probably better if you bent over or something."

"An anagram..." Professor Field pauses,crouches down, steeples his fingers, closes his eyes, and begins muttering under his breath. After a few moments he stands back up and says "Never is Forever, Forever Inverse, Forever is Never and Inverse Forever those are my best answers."

Grease glances back at the White Griffon. "Muse, do you know anything about this puzzle? This is part of getting into the side entrance, isn't it?"

"'Forever is Never' sound the most 'ominous magical letters password'-ish. Unless anyone has any other suggestions, we may as well start with that, and see if the cave collapses around us." Grease says.

Upon rearranging the letters, the phrase brightly glowed.  Slowly, the whole wall started to melt and then turned to vapor.  A new pathway opened up revealing that the group was on an overhang above a massively grand meeting hall.  On the far wall was a large lion statue with numerous engravings.  In the center of the room was a banquet table with two covered plates that showed no signs of age or wear.  Off to the side was the sound of voices and slowly several figures filled the room.  First was a dull grey griffon with dark tinted glasses and a smug expression.  In the grip of one of his talons was a bridle used to restrain Princess Sliver Swirl.  A multitude of dark crystals covered her horn and seemed to be growing.  Next was a blue unicorn mare with a black mane who had a small beige dragon trapped in a tight bubble that floated in front of her.  Behind them both was a small legion of earth ponies, several started to guard the exit.  "You've been so cooperative princess, I'm almost contemplating letting you live" The griffon purred as the unicorn snickered.

Muse slunk back from the ledge with tears in her eyes. "A griffon?  Why?  Why would he do this?"

Grease looked down with an increasingly worried expression on his face "I'm rather puzzled as to why a griffon is helping someone collect an artifact that brings them under someone else's control myself, Gearick. It just doesn't make sense. Muse, you live here, right? What do the engravings on the lion say? Also, those plates wouldn't happen to have some ancient Griffon-kingdom magic in them, would they?" Grease sighs. "On a different note, given 10 seconds and a safe route down, I can probably free the princess, or probably free the Dragon, or definitely get us all out of here in a tail twitch--though not necessarily straight back to the zeppelin--but I can only do one of those. I could probably free the dragon and the princess, if I had something that could split that chain...Which I probably do. I've got a couple strong metals in the gearkit, and those plates might work..."

Field gives a very disapproving stare toward the griffon. "Hm it is likely he is some sort of fiendish "Revolutionary" that wishes to dominate his own people. Now Grease if there is anything you think I can help with in your plan you need only say the word." The Professor pauses for a moment before muttering to himself " Where have I seen those crystals before?"

rolls:

A spark passed between Grease's Eyebrows, and he slaps a claw to his forehead before remembering that they weren't actually in danger of being noticed yet. "Crystals?...Crystals!" Grease quickly pulls his gear kit over his shoulder and quickly finds the pocket with the black crystal in it, removes the crystal, and holds it up in line with the princess. "This is what's in the princess' horn, isn't it?!" Gearick exclaims, trying to keep his excitement down to stealthy levels of noise. "Gearick, Fields, can you help me figure out how this thing works? We might be able to pull the crystals out of the princess' horn, or cancel the detention sphere, or, or..." Grease stops, and takes a deep breath. "The changeling said this crystal is a magic canceller of some kind, on a small scale. Gearick, what can you do with this?"

OOC:

Crystals:

Identities:

Engravings:

"While the Brayzores are part of the Pacifilly rim, those things look...weird.  Like someone tried writing in some of the older griffin languages but with a bad translation guide.  I do know the covered plates are definitely magic.  It's an outdated custom to give leaders a treasure stolen from someone and placed in those to nullify its power.  Sometimes the gifts were...well, you may or may not want to leave that to your imagination..."

The griffon made a sweeping motion towards the table. "That delightful smell.  Here it is princess.  You and your dragon friend are to lift the covers off of those plates.  You know, just in case there's any surprises.  For your sake, it will simply be what we came here for.  Oh, and don't choose this moment to try anything funny.  You'd be surprised of all the things we could do to you." The griffon nodded to the unicorn who then telekinetically slammed the bubble holding the dragon on the ground so it popped.  She gave a fiendish giggle then gleefully trotted towards the statue.  The dragon and the princess nervously walked towards the table, giving each other worried looks.

Grease shakes his head. "Pah, no time to think. Spotlight, can you rejigger yourself or something? We need a sort of gondola. Like an non-see-through egg on rails, but generally impervious and really fast-moving. preferably with seat belts, but those are generally option. I'd build one myself, but I don't want to waste resources, so if you can pull something out, then do so. Aim your destination right in front of the princess and the dragon...preferably on the table, where those two plates are. Oh, and don't forget to make the egg-scalator retractable. Sorry if that was condescending to someone such as yourself...Honey."
He quickly turns to Kegs and hands him the black crystal. "Kegs, I'm not sure if this will work, but just hold this crystal. If the unicorn gets too close to you, try to stick it in its horn. Get in the egg-scalator when it's done, get down there, grab the princess and her dragon, then get back in and we'll pull you back up."
A spark passed between Grease's eyebrows and he spun back to Spotlight "Spotlight, can you still do that blinding thing? If not, can I recharge it somehow? That would give us just the opening we needed for the eggscalator to be built."

"Oh, dear, Oh, dear. Kegs, just take the crystal and go, please."

OOC: