The Sun Sets

"Whu? Whass all the commotion about this early? Its only six..." Jaquir grumbled as he staggered off the small bunk in his rented room. He thought about yesterday's events in more detail than at the time - specifically the three deaths in the common room fight, one directly caused by him. In a town on the frontiers or deep in the wilds, where he usually travelled, the incident would not have brought much notice. Bunch of bandits got cocky, and paid for it. But here, so deep int Equestria, there would be consequences. The bartender might have seemed accepting of it, but that might not be the case - he'd shot the Pegasus casualty point blank with a crossbow, and the pony might simply have been intimidated into not commenting on that fact.
He was fairly sure that he'd given the bartender a fake name when he hired the room, and his distinctive costume that the other fighters would remember him in was stashed in an allley, but even so he decided not to risk carelessness and dressed himself in his backup gear - clothes that were rugged, protecting, and while not all-covering like his hooded cloak would change his profile and hide his distinguishing wounds while not instantly pointing him out as avoiding scrutiny. He packed his remaining, sparse possessions into a bag and then went downstairs casually behind another client of the tavern come to see what the noise was about. He kept at the back of the room, keeping his face always innocuously away from those who would recognize him. He made it to the alcove by the door, ready for a quick escape, and tried to see what was gong on.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: If a Stealth roll is needed, I've got 14 + 7

Perception is ( if needed, they did wake us all up with their noise after all) 6 + 7

Star slowly rose to her hooves. "This is just like... like that one time I threw an all nighter! That, in hindsight, was a terrible idea." She stumbled for a moment, before steadying. "If waking up is anything like being drunk, I will never touch a bottle of alcohol again. Oh! I really need to check on... on..." She shook her head and slapped herself lightly with one hoof. "Emerald! Tr... tr... Emerald Trick? Yeah, let's go with that. Her. The green one." She headed up the stairs. "I hope she's feeling alright."

SE:
"We need help, all hands on deck!" You don't recognize the nurse- probably never worked any shifts with her, and she wasn't there last night- but she obviously knows you work here. "We don't know how or when, but they got out last night! We managed to round them up and keep them contained in the hospital, but their everywhere inside, and we have to evacuate the other patients." She rushes back to the door and peeks into the hallway. "On top of that, there seem to be a lot in even worse shape- unconscious, discolored, no Cutie Marks." Her voice increases in volume and tempo as she nears a panicked state. "The ones that are still zombified are getting violent now. We need to find out what's going on and stop it, and so far the only one who knows anything about it, Dr. Medicine, hasn't come back yet!" She nervously dances around on her hooves "So come on, get up we gotta go!"

ET, SS:
Emerald finds no such water source in her room, just an empty glass and a bottle of the "painkiller" from the night before. At this point, Star walks in, finding Emerald in the midst of her bedridden search, still in obvious discomfort.

HS, JS, D:
Jaquir, Stealth: 21
You by no means go unnoticed as one of the three figures not immediately engaged in the conversation, but the only ones there to pick you out from the fight were your allies- the Bartender, Smokes, and the pony that came along with the Pegasus nurse. The rest of the crowd takes little interest in you.

Meanwhile, it isn't hard to tell to the three of you that the argument is about the three dead bodies lying a few feet away. The Mayor is conversing with the Bartender, and the general idea is that he is not happy about this new turn of events. Figure Head is with him, but is silent, simply surveying the damage. He looks at each of you in turn, but does not react significantly to any of you.
"...and I've heard the reports about this gang. Vandalism and petty theft, that's it! And now I have to bury three of them, and you're claiming self defense? DO you have any idea how bad this looks?" "I told you, they had foalnapped a young unicorn mare, and they started the fight. She's still upstairs recovering from her injuries, if you want to get her side of it. I- we- acted on the situation, because it's not like we could count on any support from Town Hall to help. We didn't mean to kill them, they were accidents." The Bartender's arguments sounded defensive and flimsy, but his tone was unwavering. "Accidents?! One of them was shot point blank with a crossbow! That's deadly force... and..." The Mayor now has looked around the room, recognizing the supposed combatants- specifically, the terrifying Priest. He looks at Jaquir, and you can almost see him put the pieces together- Griffon. Close proximity to Smokes. One pegasus killed by a crossbow. He knows. he says nothing to either of you, though. "Fine then. It's not like we can conduct an investigation right now. But you have to answer to the families." "As long as you're moving them out of the bar, then I 'm fine with it." The mayor glares at the Bartender a bit longer, but then turns and leaves. He signals to the group of Stallions, who between them carry the bodies outside. Through the door, Smokes can make out a few wagons, and a crowd amassing.

Smokes looks over to Jaquire, or at least who he's assuming is Jaquir being that the creature is the only griffon in the room, and says, "I think we might want to exit out the back."

Dodger, being the only pony there since last night that didn't have a good reason to be, figures it's just about time to go and heads for the front door... but sees the numerous ponies outside. He then tries to make for the back exit.

Jaquir nodded to smokes and made his way out of the rear entrance.
-------------
IF "Smokes_follow" = True;
Then print 'Text1';
End;
ELSE
End;
-------------
Text1 == "I still need to pick up my outfit, stashed it in an alley yesterday," he said quietly, "but what then?"

"Water?" Emerald asks hopefully at the sound of her door opening. She supposed she never locked it after everything in the end, there.

Bronymous wrote:SE:
"We need help, all hands on deck!" You don't recognize the nurse- probably never worked any shifts with her, and she wasn't there last night- but she obviously knows you work here. "We don't know how or when, but they got out last night! We managed to round them up and keep them contained in the hospital, but their everywhere inside, and we have to evacuate the other patients." She rushes back to the door and peeks into the hallway. "On top of that, there seem to be a lot in even worse shape- unconscious, discolored, no Cutie Marks." Her voice increases in volume and tempo as she nears a panicked state. "The ones that are still zombified are getting violent now. We need to find out what's going on and stop it, and so far the only one who knows anything about it, Dr. Medicine, hasn't come back yet!" She nervously dances around on her hooves "So come on, get up we gotta go!"

"Right. Right!" Storm slips out of the bed and lands on his cloud. "The violent ones, have they reached the second floor?"

"Oh! Yes! Of course! You're probably feeling a bit dehydrated. I'll see if there's anything to eat, also. Be back in a sec!" Star closed the door as gently as the could (although that wasn't much) and trotted back down the stairs. "Uh... Mr Bartender? Do you have any water, maybe something for Emerald to eat?"

Emerald flinches at the door's shutting, then moans at the flinch's movement pulling her wrong.

This was going to be a long day.

She started to move her legs, only to have them stilled by the dressings from yesterday. The unicorn wondered if they would be alright. Some bones healed quickly, but others took forever, she heard.

HS, JS, D, SS:
The three of you converge at the hall leading to the back exit, but the Bartender halts you. "Not so fast you three. One last thing to do before you leave." Conveniently, Star descends the stairs at this moment, asking for water. The Bartender points to a tap and a shelf of glasses, one of two still standing after the fight. He continues speaking, now to Star as well as the others. "I want you all to take the Unicorn out of here. There's no telling where that griffon and his boys got to last night after you let them leave, so I want you three to escort the nurse and patient to the clinic. It should be safer there. I have to clean up and get this place presentable again, and I can't do that while watching over a crippled mare and watching out for a vengeful gang."

ET:
Most of the pain in your limbs subside as they regain function. The only thing you can feel from the bound leg is a dull swollen throbbing, but the other three seem to be ok. Your back injures still hurt, but the restorative powers of a drunken sleep seem to have had an overall positive effect on you, minus the hangover.

SE:
"Yes, they're everywhere. There still might be some wandering around outside, we haven't been able to do a head co-" her rapid exposition is cut out by a single, terrifyingly loud and painful scream coming from the hallway. You can't see anything through the window, though. As you watch, it fogs up with condensation, as if it were a bathroom mirror during a very hot shower.

"After all you've done, it would be my pleasure," said Dodger, trotting up to Emerald. "How are you feeling?"

Star quickly rushed over to fill up the glass. "That m-might be a bit hard, though, considering she is an injured pony. How do we get her out of here without causing too much pain, discomfort, or further injury? Make a stretcher?"

Bronymous wrote:
SE:
"Yes, they're everywhere. There still might be some wandering around outside, we haven't been able to do a head co-" her rapid exposition is cut out by a single, terrifyingly loud and painful scream coming from the hallway. You can't see anything through the window, though. As you watch, it fogs up with condensation, as if it were a bathroom mirror during a very hot shower.

Storm rushes out into the hallway, adrenalin beginning to pump into his veins.

Apparently she forgot to lock the door again. Emerald groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I am just fine." She informs Dodger with clenched teeth. "Hale as a horse."

SE:
It's sweltering in the hallway, as if it had become a sauna. Slowly, your cloud begins to descend as the air around it becomes hotter and thinner, until it is resting on the floor. There isn't any steam, though, and you can see the probable source of the phenomenon: an enraged Unicorn mare stands a few doors away. Snorting and frothing at the mouth, horn shimmering with magic, and giving that same unfocused glare you received from the Stallion last night. The nurse eeps and shuts the door behind you, leaving you alone in the hallway with the angry Unicorn. She paws the ground and then shrieks like a banshee and charges.

Roll initiative.

ET, D, HS, JS, SS:
Continue to discuss your next moves.

Initiative: 14

Edit: Oh right.... combat talents.

Spoiler:

I think only SE is supposed to roll initiative, not us.

---

It was then that Dodger realized he just barged in again. Hardly gentlemanly. Still, better that then discover the door was locked and have to pick it open.

"Well," said Dodger. "We're meant to get you back to the clinic for further, and dare I say, better treatment. We're in the process of looking for a stretcher. I just wanted you to know so you didn't have the idea to run off."

Well, that certainly wouldn't improve her outlook on him.

"Oh, don't worry about little old me."

Emerald informs him (happy that at least he had this hard-to-hear fading voice, regular ones were painful), her own voice betraying her hangover as she gives longer phrases, cracking every so often in her speech.

"You don't need to be concerned on that front, I'm a good patient. I'm not about to go sprouting wings on you." She pauses for a moment, considering something.

"...Unless it's necessary."

SE: Combat Start
At full sprint, she closes on you before you can make a move, gouging at your side with her horn. Stormeye takes 6 damage.

Storm's turn. (If you haven't guessed, turn order is her, then you, then her).

Bronymous wrote:SE: Combat Start
At full sprint, she closes on you before you can make a move, gouging at your side with her horn. Stormeye takes 6 damage.

Storm's turn. (If you haven't guessed, turn order is her, then you, then her).

"Ach cha ch!" Storm pauses puts a hoof over his side. "Well lets see how you like it!"

Storm gathers up the mist here into a dark storm cloud and knocks it over to the unicorn, peppering her with an abundant array of lightning bolts.(13 Damage)

Spoiler:

OOC: Damage
Roll(2d10)+0:
4,9,+0
Total:13

OOC: Heal Check. This unicorn can't be in great shape, sick as she is. I suspect she has less than normal HP. Going to try to see where she's at so as not to go overboard.
Roll(1d20)+10:
13,+10
Total:23

The Pony does not flinch when hit. She does react though, and her horn flares to life. Directing it at you it fires off a beam of light that blinds you. Stormeye is Blinded until the end of his next turn.

Stormeye's turn.

Bronymous wrote:The Pony does not flinch when hit. She does react though, and her horn flares to life. Directing it at you it fires off a beam of light that blinds you. Stormeye is Blinded until the end of his next turn.

Stormeye's turn.

"Blaw!" 'Alright, can't see, so an attack is dicey. but...' Storm felt into his saddlebags and pulled out a hip flask and started to pour the liquid down his throat, blinking all the while to get the light out of his eyes.

Spoiler:

OOC:Heals
Roll(1d10)+3:
6,+3
Total:9

OOC:Saving throw.
Roll(1d20)+0:
1,+0
Total:1
Wow. Just wow.

(HP:30, Pips 2, Feeling: Blinded)

Well now I wish it was a save ends, just so I could do something with that.

---

The Unicorn still staggers a bit, but charges up her horn again, hitting you with a jet of green sparks that become like needles when they hit your skin.
Stormeye takes 11 damage, and suffers 3 ongoing damage (save ends). Stormeye is no longer Blinded.

Stormeye's turn.

Bronymous wrote:Well now I wish it was a save ends, just so I could do something with that.

---

The Unicorn still staggers a bit, but charges up her horn again, hitting you with a jet of green sparks that become like needles when they hit your skin.
Stormeye takes 11 damage, and suffers 3 ongoing damage (save ends). Stormeye is no longer Blinded.

Stormeye's turn.

"Argh!" Storm taps the cloud he pulled together earlier and a bolt shoots out at the unicorn, grazing her, but causing a bleeding wound.

Spoiler:

OOC:Saving throw
Roll(1d20)+0:
12,+0
Total:12

IC: Storm sweeps his side with wing scattering the bolts.

(HP:16, Pips: 5, Feeling:Anemic)