The P-Files

"A real-life super hero huh? That would be pretty exciting!" Chitin responded with a smile. Even as a changeling she'd heard super hero stories growing up. Granted, most ponies would consider her super heroes super villains, but the stories were mostly the same aside from some details here and there she figured. She blinked and tilted her head thinking. "historical artifacts... well if this were a super hero story there would probably be a super villain behind the thefts who plans to use those artifacts to take over the world or something." Chitin chuckled, seeming a little more enthusiastic than normal as she remembered some of the stories she'd heard of heroes, super or otherwise, when she was little.

Turning her attention away from her memories for the moment, Chitin noticed the care and attention Happy Trails was giving her necklace."That's a very beautiful necklace if I may say so. It seems like its very important to you."

She shifted in her seat a little, surprised at there apparently being a big secret to this, before leaning in closer as Happy did, turning an ear to hear better. She sat back a little confused after. "Wanted? I thought he was a hero... Why would the police be after him? And I thought this Big Mike character was supposed to be a pretty good guy too? Is there something about him personally that's off?

---

((I have no idea if the necklace is beautiful since I don't think it's been described, or maybe I just didn't notice?))
((if getting Happy to talk about Big Mike requires another persuasion roll. 9(roll) + 11(persuasion)= 20. Will that do?))

Seeing how MW seems to be absent, I'll just continue where I left off.

---

Seeing that Dreamsmoke Glitter was back off into her own special little world, Clue Seeker merely shook his head and turned his attention to his new newspaper. He grabbed it with his right hoof and was about to read it when his ears perked up on hearing the attendant talking about superheroes and the recent crime spree in New Orreigns.

"You mean to tell us that there is a vigilante running about in New Orreigns?" Clue Seeker asked with a equal hint of interest and disbelief in his voice. "Isn't that more something for the police force to handle?"

'Although,' He thought to himself, 'Matching wits with a veritable Batmare of sorts could be interesting.'

Going over what Happy Trails, Clue Seeker tried to make sense of what little he was told.

'Historical artifacts? Those cannot be pawned off at the black market for risk of exposure. So the thieves aren't in it for the money. Prestige? Fame? The thrill of a challenge? I'll come back on this.' Clue Seeker rolled his eyes as his thoughts moved to a different subject. 'Then there's this Theorycraft fellow. Sounds like a fallen former hero. So what made him or her turn? Dissatisfaction with the justice system? Taking the law into his or her own hooves? Is he or she connected to the recent crime spree? A former hero would make a good thief I suppose...'

Clue Seeker made a mental note to follow through with these points of interests later before he took another look at the attendant. Talking about Theorycraft seemed to make her almost burst out in tears.

'Either a personal connection or a disillusioned fan.' He thought.

Not wanting to upset the attendant any further, Clue Seeker decided to change the subject.

"That's a lovely necklace you've got there, miss." He said as he focused on the necklace. "If you don't mind me asking, where did you get it?"

---

If I need to persuade her to talk about the necklace, I rolled a 29 for that [16 + 13 Persuasion]
Also, I see if I can notice anything particular about the necklace. I rolled a 31 for that [16 + 15 Perception]
Using D&D dice roller

Also, if you don't mind posting the contents of the articles in the newspaper, it would be very much appreciated. So I can prepare future posts

(Alright, here are more in-depth article descriptions...)

As Clue Seeker asked about Happy's necklace, he was still sifting through the newspaper in his mind's eye. The front page article mentioned how the thieves had struck the home of a Dr. Ivory Tower, Dean of the University of New Orreigns. Apparently, the thieves got away with priceless historical artifacts from Dr. Tower's private vault, even though Dr. Tower's security systems were thought to be some of the best in the city. The pony police weren't releasing any details yet about how the thieves could have broken in without getting caught, and the journalist writing the article speculated that perhaps the thieves might be supernatural in origin - like ghosts maybe?

The Maredi Gras article was on the reasoning behind the festival colors - those being purple, green, and gold. Each represented a different virtue of friendship and a different race of pony - purple represented justice and fairness as well as Unicorns, green represented faith and fortitude as well as Earth Ponies, and gold representing the unity and the power of friendship's bond as well as Pegasi.

From the three articles on Big Mike's "Labryinth's United," it seemed that business was good for Mr. Mike. He was building a new road, "Minos Street," was being built in downtown New Orreigns, while the Mikey Likey Toy Shoppe was opening on Bonbon Street, and Big Mike's Novelty Goods Shoppes were also opening up on Bonbon, Airborne, and Equinade.

The interview with Rubber Nose had been in honor of the Unicorn's 30 years of service as a local (and popular!) comedian and party clown in the New Orreigns area. The article went into Rubber's humble beginnings as a door-to-door Whoopie-Cushion salesmen, and ended with a discussion of his new partnership with Big Mike's party supply store, "Party Time Guaranteed." Rubber Nose was excited to see where this partnership would take him in the future, but he hoped that whatever happened, he'd be able to spread some laughs along the way.

The article on Theorycraft wasn't really all that informative. It speculated that the masked pony could be anyone from the local bum down the street to the mayor of New Orreigns, and as for the Surefire Swamp article, (something Coffee Mug had also been reading recently) it discussed strange flashes of light that some eyewitnesses had reported seeing out on the bayous late at night. Apparently, this had all started about three months ago, but nopony had yet been brave enough (or foalish enough) to venture out into the swamp to investigate. The journalist cautioned readers to stay away from the bayous themselves, as everypony knew they were just too natural to be safe.

Coffee turned back to the front page on the the thefts, and read through a little.


"Interesting. Looks like the theft was in my new backyard, so to speak. Wonder what Ivory Tower was keeping in his vault."

Whisper gave Coffee Mug an expectant but, not demanding look.

((Can I roll Streetwise to know what Ivory Tower keeps in his vault? Streetwise: 12 + 10 = 22.)

Dr Blight wrote:Chitin noticed the care and attention Happy Trails was giving her necklace."That's a very beautiful necklace if I may say so. It seems like its very important to you."

She shifted in her seat a little, surprised at there apparently being a big secret to this, before leaning in closer as Happy did, turning an ear to hear better. She sat back a little confused after. "Wanted? I thought he was a hero... Why would the police be after him? And I thought this Big Mike character was supposed to be a pretty good guy too? Is there something about him personally that's off?

((I have no idea if the necklace is beautiful since I don't think it's been described, or maybe I just didn't notice?))
((if getting Happy to talk about Big Mike requires another persuasion roll. 9(roll) + 11(persuasion)= 20. Will that do?))

Demonu wrote: 'Historical artifacts? Those cannot be pawned off at the black market for risk of exposure. So the thieves aren't in it for the money. Prestige? Fame? The thrill of a challenge? I'll come back on this.' Clue Seeker rolled his eyes as his thoughts moved to a different subject. 'Then there's this Theorycraft fellow. Sounds like a fallen former hero. So what made him or her turn? Dissatisfaction with the justice system? Taking the law into his or her own hooves? Is he or she connected to the recent crime spree? A former hero would make a good thief I suppose...'

Clue Seeker made a mental note to follow through with these points of interests later before he took another look at the attendant. Talking about Theorycraft seemed to make her almost burst out in tears.

'Either a personal connection or a disillusioned fan.' He thought.

Not wanting to upset the attendant any further, Clue Seeker decided to change the subject.

"That's a lovely necklace you've got there, miss." He said as he focused on the necklace. "If you don't mind me asking, where did you get it?"

If I need to persuade her to talk about the necklace, I rolled a 29 for that [16 + 13 Persuasion]
Also, I see if I can notice anything particular about the necklace. I rolled a 31 for that [16 + 15 Perception]
Using D&D dice roller

As Clueseeker inspected the necklace more closely, it appeared to be made of a long golden chain linking a number of sizable diamonds together. It was a lovely necklace - but Clueseeker realized something. The diamonds were fake - stage jewelry that had been carefully crafted to look like real diamonds. They'd seen a lot of wear, and a few had been lightly scratched. The "golden" chain also showed signs of tarnish too.

Happy beamed, nodding at Clueseeker's and Chitin's compliments, "Thanks!" She raised her necklace in her hoof so they could both get a better look. "I really think it is a beautiful necklace. It's not really worth as much as it looks, but it was my mother's, so it means a lot to me. She was an actress, used to perform at the old Oat Theater before it was torn down - even went on stage at the Ponydome a couple of times." Happy took a deep breath, but this time her voice didn't speed up. "She went missing about a decade ago though, and nopony's heard from her since. After she left," Happy looked down at the necklace, "this was all I had to remember her by, and I wouldn't even have this if it hadn't been for Theorycraft.""

She looked to Chitin, "To answer your question, I shouldn't really say anything bad about Mr. Mike because I've never really met him, but some of the things he's done in the city..." She clutched her necklace tight, ringing it in her hooves. She took a deep breath and frowned (the others could tell frowning was something Happy Trails wasn't used to doing - and was that a cracking sound they heard as the tips of her mouth turned downward?), "He's forced ponies out of business, he's paved over so much history, I wish he would stop, but he just keeps building more shoppes and companies, it's just business, business, business to him isn't it - and you know as we speak a supply for his toy company is being shipped on this very train?!" She paused and took another breath, "It just makes me so... so..." She seemed to be struggling for the right word, and then she finally said, "unhappy!"

Ramsus wrote:Whisper gave Coffee Mug an expectant but, not demanding look.

Coffee looks confused for a moment and then realization dawns on his face. "Oh right. The paper." He folds it and tk lifts it over to Whisper.

"Thank you." she says, taking the paper but, she doesn't get a chance to read it before she overhears Happy Trails' remark.

Whisper visibly perks up, "Well that's not good. Is there anything I can do to help? I'd be more than happy to."

Clue Seeker nodded silently as Happy Trails talked about her necklace.

"I'm sorry about your mother." He said with what he thought was a sympathetic smile. "You must miss her dearly."

But in his mind, Clue Seeker added another mental note to the list. 'There is a connection between Theorycraft and Happy Trails' mother. I should take a look into this.'

He looked up at Happy Trails' face and concluded that maybe this wasn't the appropriate time to press the subject. 'Not really something to talk about with a complete stranger'

Clue Seeker decided to go with the last thing Happy Trails said. "Unhappy? Pardon me, miss but that sounds like a rather..." Clue Seeker paused, "unusual thing to say." Clue Seeker put his hoof to his chin. "I can figure you'd be angry but unhappy? That's a tad odd, if you don't mind me saying so. Could you please elaborate as to why you're unhappy with Mighty Mike's economic expansions?"

---

I try to persuade her to talk a bit more about her feelings/views on Mighty Mike's business endeavors. [18 + 13 Persuasion = 31]

Ramsus wrote:Whisper visibly perked up, "Well that's not good. Is there anything I can do to help? I'd be more than happy to."

Happy took a deep breath and sighed even deeper. "That's sweet of you to offer. I wish there was a way you could help... " When she turned to Whisper, her smile was back, "But unless you've got time-travelling powers..." She laughed, but not unkindly. "-And you don't seem to have an hourglass cutie-mark, sooooooooooooo - I guess we're out of luck."

Outside, the sun was shining again through the trees, and Happy Trails seemed to brighten up. She ran a hoof through her orange mane and laughed again. "I guess maybe I'm just homesick."

Demonu wrote:Clue Seeker decided to go with the last thing Happy Trails said. "Unhappy? Pardon me, miss but that sounds like a rather..." Clue Seeker paused, "unusual thing to say." Clue Seeker put his hoof to his chin. "I can figure you'd be angry but unhappy? That's a tad odd, if you don't mind me saying so. Could you please elaborate as to why you're unhappy with Mighty Mike's economic expansions?"

I try to persuade her to talk a bit more about her feelings/views on Mighty Mike's business endeavors. [18 + 13 Persuasion = 31]

"Unhappy? Did I really say that?" Happy Trails laughed again, then caught herself, turning to Clue Seeker while putting a hoof to her mouth, "Oh, sorry. I don't mean to laugh, but by Luna's left hoof, why am I even telling you all this? Here you all are enjoying your ride, and then I come in... I don't even know your names, and..." Happy bowed her head, "I'm sorry. I should really get going. There's a lot of other ponies to serve," and she looked up at Clue Seeker, smiling, "but since you asked..."

Happy stood up on her hind hooves and leaned on her dolly, seeming to think for a moment. "Hmm... I guess I could say I'm angry, but I don't think that's the right word. I'm more 'unhappy'," she nodded thoughtfully, "yes, unhappy's the right word, and I know it's an odd thing to say," Happy shrugged, "but I guess I'm just an odd pony. That's how I was raised, you know. My mom always said that anger isn't good for anypony. Better to be unhappy than angry, because when you're angry, you see the world in shades of red - and I never really liked that color anyway.

"As for why I'm unhappy? I guess I'm unhappy with Mr. Mike's expansions because he's driven a lot of ponies out of business. They just can't compete with a big-time businessminotaur like him. He's changing New Orreigns so much, I'm afraid that when I do go back to the city, I won't even recognize it anymore." Happy Trails rolled her eyes, and in a yes-I-know-I-made-a-mistake kind of voice, she added, "I know it's not his fault, it's just good business." She put a hoof to her necklace, "I guess I still kind of blame him for my mother's disappearance though - and no," she shook her head, "I don't think he pony-napped her or anything. He tore down my mother's theater, and I think he just drove her off, indirectly, like he drove off a lot of us. "

Happy Trails put her hoofs on the handles of her dolly, "Now, I really should be getting back to work. I'm not looking forward to meeting Mr. Mike's friends two cabins down," she nodded towards the back of the train car, "but a pony's got to do what a pony's got to do, right?"

After Happy Trails says she doesn't like red, Whisper reaches over and gives Chitin an "it's ok" pat on the shoulder.

((So, we're on a train, with a single viable quest hook eh? =P ))

Clue Seeker silently nodded to himself. Sure, it was a rather odd conversation to be having, let alone with total strangers, but talking about it seemed something Happy Trails wasn't appalled against. Clue Seeker stood up upon hearing the lack of enthusiasm in Happy Trails' voice when she said she had to go visit Mr. Mike's friends two cabins down. Or rather, he tried to before he realized that Dreamsmoke Glitter was still leaning against him. Seeing that she didn't seem to be aware of what was going on, Clue Seeker gently shifted her weight against the back of the seat before turning his attention again to Happy Trails.

"If you like, I can accompany you." He said with a smile, "To provide some moral support or backbone. And even a firm hoof should they provide trouble."

---

Seeing how I'm asking, I suppose I don't have to roll Persuasion for that?

Chitin went silent for a moment at mention of Happy's mother disappearing. Not sure what to say in response to something like that. She continued to listen closely however, flicking her ears towards each pony as they spoke and shifting slightly as more and more was said about Mike the Minotaur. Happy seemed like a nice pony to Chitin which made this somewhat awkward for her. She sat quietly, continuing to listen and think until she received a pat from the quiet mare beside her. She jumped slightly in surprise before looking over and laughing, if somewhat awkwardly. "hehe. Thanks."

Chitin turned her attention back to Happy for a moment. She chuckled slightly before hopping down from her seat. Trotting quickly over near her bag, with a flair of magic in her horn, one of the pouches on the side of her bag detached and levitated down to her. The straps that had held it onto her bag clipping together around her like a harness securing the pouch to her back. She then turned around and gave a big smile. "I'd like to come along myself! Heh, sorry about all the red."

Without waiting for a response she quietly strolled out of the cabin and turned to wait for Happy and the others. Big Mike was one of the potential employers she had been looking into and meeting the kind of company he kept would help Chitin learn more about what kind of minotaur he was.

Whisper took this moment to scarf down her sammich and drink her root beer (she did get a second one right?) as quietly and quickly as possible. ((What would that even be like? NOM NOM NOM. Sluuuuuuuuurp?)

"If you like, I can accompany you." Clue Seeker said with a smile, "To provide some moral support or backbone. And even a firm hoof should they provide trouble."

"Um..." Happy didn't expect much trouble, but...

"Oh! I'll come along as well. If you don't mind that is."

"Weeell..." Happy didn't really mind, but...

"I'd like to come along myself! Heh, sorry about all the red."

"Oh. No problem. It looks fine on you," Happy smiled. She'd completely forgotten that one pony was red, "Oh - but wait a second..."

"Miss Trails, this must be horribly awkward for you. Perhaps our group can delay any business with Mr. Mike's employees until after you've concluded your business with them."

Happy shook her head out of habit, "Oh no. Don't be silly. It's alright. I'd love the -" Happy paused. What was she saying? "Um..." Happy sucked in a deep breath, "actually guys, I don't know if this is such a good idea. I've got other cabins to visit first, and I don't think Mike's guys will bother me, and if they do I wouldn't want a fight to break out, and I'd feel a little strange with all of you following behind me when I don't even really know who you are and - no offense mind you - the last thing I want to do is offend anypony, but the other passengers might not appreciate quite sooooooo much company in their tightly packed cabins and it's really not allowed anyway and I might get in trouble if the conductor finds out and I don't want the conductor to get mad at me because I need this job, I really do, it's all I've done for years now and if the conductor gets mad he could fire me and I'd be out of a job and they might even throw me out of the train, right in the swamp, and I'd have to hoof it all the way to New Orreigns just so I could sit on a street corner somewhere and beg for bits but bits can only get you so far unless you have a lot of them and I'd need a lot of them and no one'd want to give me any because I'd be a hopeless bum and..."

Happy exhaled slowly, scanning the faces of all the others uncertainly, running that nervous hoof through her mane again. "IIIIIIIIIII guess what I'm really trying to say is..."

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Let's start over." She opened her eyes and offered her hoof. "Hi. My name's Happy Trails. Pleased to meet ya. What's your names?"

(Don't take this the wrong way guys. You could still convince Happy to let you come with her if you want, but keep in mind that you are putting her in an awkward position. What you're asking is highly irregular, and she'll need some convincing before she lets you come along. It wouldn't hurt to introduce yourselves either - as I don't think anyone has yet.

P.S. Yes Ramsus, Happy did give Whisper another root beer.)

Persuasion checks galore!

---

"Oh, that's right!" Clue Seeker said while slapping his forehead, "How terribly rude of us to just barge in without even introducing ourselves properly."

He cleared his throat. "My name is Clue Seeker. I'm a detective. Consulting detective if you want to be technical about it." He extended a hoof towards his fellow passengers. "And these are."

(I'll let you introduce your character yourself. Assume I also introduce Dreamsmoke Glitter if MW doesn't come back any time soon)

Seeing that Happy Trails didn't seem all that sure of the idea herself, Clue Seeker tried to assure her of the circumstances.

"If you're really adamant about going on alone," he spoke with a warm smile, "then we, or at least I, will stay put as it is not becoming to distress a lady. And if you think you'll get into trouble with your boss, I'll take the blame for it. Just tell him we pressured you into it. Or that we're holding you hostage and forcing you to hold a conversation with us." Clue Seeker concluded with a wink.

---

I roll to convince her [15 + 13 Persuasion = 28]
I hope that's enough as I don't want to use The Stare on Happy Trails. Seems rather cruel...

If the group stays however, then Clue Seeker will as well.

"Oops. Sorry sorry sorry. How rude of us. I'm Whisper. I...well, I do all sorts of things. Anything to help out really."

She pauses to think for a moment. "Well, we wouldn't want to get you in trouble. Maybe you could tell them we'd be happy to entertain them here?"

"Coffee Mug" after which he nods his head in the direction of Happy Trails.

(Hey guys, I think I'm gonna try something I saw once on youtube (: If you want to convince Happy Trails to let you tag along with her, I'm going to ask that everypony interested make an in-character argument for why you should go (that'll count as a bonus modifier - depending on the strength of your argument), then roll persuasion. I'm going to need to see at least two successes. Demonu makes one.)

((Well, Whisper is now actually opposed to that idea as it could be bad for Happy Trails. She went above and beyond the helpfulness required for her job and if there's one thing Whisper appreciates, it's helpfulness.))

12(roll)+11(persuasion)=23 will that do?

---

Chitin smiled. "My name is Dawn Trek, it's sincerely been my pleasure meeting you so far!" She frowned and was silent for a moment as she thought. "Well, you might get in trouble if you asked a group of passengers to accompany you. That's certainly true." Chitin nodded a little. "But if a group of passengers decided to stretch their legs and it happened to take them down the same way as you, there's nothing you can really do about that. And pretending for a moment something happened while you were doing your job, and these passengers who'd gone for a walk just happened to be outside and came to help. Well that would just be a very lucky coincidence now wouldn't it?" Chitin gave a big grin as she finished her little thought.

XandZero2 wrote:(Hey guys, I think I'm gonna try something I saw once on youtube (: If you want to convince Happy Trails to let you tag along with her, I'm going to ask that everypony interested make an in-character argument for why you should go (that'll count as a bonus modifier - depending on the strength of your argument), then roll persuasion. I'm going to need to see at least two successes. Demonu makes one.)

That's called a Skill Challenge in regular D&D, a new feature from the 4e.

Out of curiosity, could you post the modifiers you used after the skill challenge is over? Kind of curious how much a bonus my argument was worth so that I can figure out what best to say next time.

Or is that meta-gaming and frowned upon? I'm good either way

OOC: Coffee isn't going to try to persuade Happy Trails into allowing him to go with her. However, once she leaves, he's going to to move closer to door to he can see if she needs help when she goes 2 cabins down.