MLP - Age of Exploration (D&D 5e Custom System)

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver GeneralTyrus Shadeofshade Cyan Hide Avedon
Rainbow watched Solaris fade and recede back into Spitfire, the lava slowly disappearing with them. That was the thing hiding inside of them that they had just beaten back. Wow... she really had a hard time grasping the reality of this situation. Maybe Spitfire wasn't just all talk when it came to that thing inside of her being dangerous to them both. How she kept worrying over Rainbow's safety at every step, considering protecting them by breaking up. Which... as far as Rainbow is concerned... not happening!

No, this didn't really deter the rainbow maned mare at all. Instead she felt emboldened, a stronger will to support Spitfire. She'll need as much of it as she can get to deal with that thing inside of her. That also means that she'll need somepony to be there that is able to actually fight back against it if she loses control like that again. Rainbow is one such pony... she'll need the help of others, but they're never far away. Her friends are pretty good for snapping to attention for these sorts of things, particularly Twilight!

Slowly coming over, Rainbow gently picked up Spitfire from the ground. "We need to find a better place to rest..." She started, looking back at her companions, lifting Spitfire up and putting them on her back. "Anypony got ideas?"

While she asked that, Rainbow started working on packing up her own things and tent. It was kind of ruined by the hyenas but it was still salvageable.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Avedon Cyan Hide Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Shadeofshade
"MY SCABBARD IS RIGHT OVER THERE, FOOL! RIGHT THERE!" the sword was evidently trying to point in a direction, but could not do so because it had no actual limbs. Mud would notice that Devotion's scabbard was indeed nearby, laying in the sand. "... Don't you dare put me in that until you've cleaned the scabbard out, mortal."

Seeing as how the group had no actual healing magic, and no potions, Applebloom was kinda out of luck right now. Best case scenario, they explain to the dragon that they wanna help him get his egg back? Worst case scenario, she is now fighting a dragon with a broken hoof. There wasn't much that could really be done about that.

While everyone was packing up camp, or what was left of camp, Spitfire finally awakened again. She looked around for a moment before realizing she was on Rainbow's back. After giving her marefriend a quick kiss on the neck, Spitfire rolled off of her and landed on her hooves a little wobbly! "... I feel like my head is on fire. What happened?"

While the group looked around, they'd come to realize that the Arabian sky wasn't getting any colder. The sun had risen and was bearing down on them brutally. They had no real cover, with most of their tents being tattered and incinerated. Their provisions were running low. They had to do something...

Everybody who is not resistant/immune to fire damage... make a Constitution saving throw. Post the number in you next post.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Rainbow packed whatever she could. The camp was in tatters, that bandit attack, followed up by Spitfire losing it and Solaris coming out, was just awful the group. A bad situation became even worse. Now they're all injured, tired, and in desperate need for any sort of aid. What a bad turn this whole adventure had taken for the lot of them... they were running short on options. The best choice they may be able to make is returning to the city and finding any sort of relief they can get. At least so they can heal themselves.

Spitfire waking up was a bit of a surprise. She felt the kiss to her neck and shivered slightly, turning her head to look at them as they rolled off. Her hoof shot out, holding Spitfire's shoulder. "Easy there..." She murmured, turning around to them. "That's not a surprise. You fell unconscious and then the dickbag inside of you came out. Torched the camp and us. We beat him but... we're in a bad way."

That was pretty obvious. Rainbow lazily motioned around the camp. "Not sure what to do... we might have to call it and return to the city. We're in no state for a potential fight with a blue dragon."

Constitution Saving Check: 24 (19, +5)

 

[Avedon]

Dreamweaver Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus
Valentine rode up on her magical bug-skeleton to Applebloo..
"Hey, want to get on? It's going to be hard to walk around with a broken hoof!"

For all the heat Valentine felt perfectly fine. She was like a god among tiny sweaty ants and also Spitfire.
"Oh you guys are probably going to die doing that. No tents, half the supplies gone, a three-day march over open desert...I mean if you really want to you can but I feel it's a much more boring death than dying to a blue-dragon. There's probably shade and water near his lair at least!"

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver Avedon Dumbledoof


Mud looked around, before eventually spotting the scabbard. She picked it up, cleaned it off and enptied it of sand, and put Devotion back in her scabbard, and then put the scabbard itself in the slot on her pack, having no belt to attach the scabbard to. Mud was clearly no warrior despite having wielded Devotion with such competence before. She was unskilled and her 'technique', if it could be called that, was as refined as 'hit the bad thing with the sword very hard'. At least when Mud wasn't in the throes of battle, she was very calm, patient and methodical.

She approached the now waking Spitfire, and though it was hard to read any hint of concern in her voice or face, it was clearly showing in her eyes. "A fire demon came out of you but we fought it back. More importantly, are you okay?"

Valentine brought up some good points, as did Rainbow Dash. They were in no state to face the dragon, but they were also in no state to make the return journey without equipment, shade or rest. Mud thought about this. "I don't have much experience with dragons, but I have enough to know that they like to live in caves. And sand is too soft to make structurally sound caves from. This dragon would either be living in underground caverns beneath the sand, or there is mountainous terrain ahead of us. If we press on, we will find shade and shelter, and possibly water too. Caverns are a good place to find water, and mountains attract rainfall. I vote we go on ahead. We will likely find somewhere to recover before we face the Dragon."


Con Save = 13 (6+7)

 

[Dreamweaver]

Avedon Cyan Hide Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Shadeofshade
Spitfire looked absolutely distraught at that news. She was the cause of all the destruction around her? She knew the creature living inside of her was powerful, but she never imagined it would be powerful enough to challenge this group. All of the ponies (and devils) present were quite capable of defending themselves. Spitfire was absolutely heartbroken to see how badly everybody was burned!

"I... I'm sorry. I did not realize such a thing could happen. I need to avoid getting knocked unconscious again..." that was a good lesson to learn. She needed to not run up to the monsters. That's twice she had been injured by them! Spitfire was still barely standing and had blood dripping from her wounds, but wasn't complaining at all. She listened to what everypony said and nodded a bit.

The heat wasn't bothering her or Valentine in the slightest, but everypony else was at risk. Not even the toughest of ponies could survive a day in the desert sun. "We have come to far to head back now, Saddle Arabia is a 4 day walk away. We have to press on."

Cyan Hide
Meanwhile, Devotion's voice once again filled Mud's head. "... I could help mend some of the damage done to you all, but it will take a good portion of my energy for the day. Would you like me to do that, or assist with the dragon should it come to a fight?"

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver Dumbledoof Cyan Hide Avedon Shadeofshade

Applebloom would look around the scorching desert, and then to the remains of the of the tents, and the two or so that still remained. They were canvas, and she'd think for a moment, before looking up, hearing everyone speaking, blinking a few times, "Why not jus' use the tents?" She'd ask, before using her own, holding it up over her head after climbing onto the... bug thing with Val, smiling, "Thank ya, Val." She'd say, smiling warmly at the Devil. She'd hold the tent forward, over Val's head, and let the back of it rest over her own back, giving both her and Val a little shade, not that Val needed the shade!

Con Save: 17 (r11 + 6)

 

[Shadeofshade]

Dreamweaver Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Avedon Cyan Hide

It seemed no pony wanted to use his cloak to try and shield themselves from the sun or as makeshift medical bandages. Midnight shrugged and proceeded to pack his things away, including the hoodless cloak he left for Mud.

When he was packed, he turned and trotted to Valentine and asked “Miss Valentine, please tell me that the...er...Scorpan?...whatever that thing you’re riding is isn’t going to attack us? I would love it if that creature didn’t poison us. From what I could tell from when it poisoned me, there was more than just poison. What it was I do not know I'm afraid, my body fought it off before it could do any harm.” As Midnight spoke, he tried to convey that he trusted Valentine but didn’t trust the Ticlanni until told otherwise. “Also, what in the name of the Night Mother is that thing anyway?”

Constitution Saving throw - 3

HP 14/44
AC 15
Spell Slots
Novice 2/3
Apprentice 1/1

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver Shadeofshade

Midnight might have found it particularly strange that Mud hadn't picked up the cloak as she was busy talking to her sword as if it could talk back. Mud was currently considering Devotion's offer as she walked alongside the group. "While help with the Dragon should it come to a fight would be ideal, it might not even come to a fight. I think you should heal us now. If you don't, it's possible we might die before we even reach shelter. Nopony would know where we are. We'd all be buried by sand. At least the rest of us would have the luxury of dying long before hundreds of years pass..."

Was Mud doing that on purpose? Yes. Yes, she was.

 

[Avedon]

Dreamweaver GeneralTyrus
"That's what I said!"
Valentine would make sure Applebloom could rely on the skeleton for her broken hoof to make the travel a bit more bearable and was set to go.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Cyan Hide
Devotion did not seem impressed. An angry orange glow was emanating from the sword now, just barely leaking out of the sheath. "Allow me to be lost in these sands, and I assure you that your soul will be meeting no form of afterlife..." Devotion bluffed, though it was pretty easy to call her on it. At the end of the day, she was a good-aligned artifact and would never actually hurt Mud. She just talked tough.

"If taking care of the others is what you wish, I shall do so. It is a very selfless act that you have asked for." She said with obvious approval.

Shadeofshade
The desert sun was proving to be too much for Midnight, and he found himself growing weaker as the group travelled onwards!
Midnight has a -2 to-hit while in the desert. This can stack up to 3 times and one stack is alleviated by a night's rest.

Avedon Cyan Hide Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Shadeofshade
There was a flash of light from Devotion and the group immediately felt some of their wounds close. Except for Valentine who got a little burnt by the radiant light. Devotion totally could have avoided burning Valentine, she just didn't want too!

All characters except for Valentine (fuck you) regain 29 hit points. Valentine takes 2 damage.

Spitfire immediately felt better as most of her more serious wounds closed! She was still covered in blood, but hey at least her head wasn't hurting anymore. Plus she wasn't bothered by the heat. Heck yeah.

As the group kept walking, Mud and Applebloom got the strange sense that something was... off with this area.

APPLEBLOOM, MUD: Intelligence checks, you two. With advantage because you are earth ponies.

 

[Avedon]

Dreamweaver
Valentine blinked and stared at the strange holy nimbus that engulfed the group.
"Wait a second..."
She squinted at it. There was something about this.
"Oh yes. That's right."
She grabbed her face with her hooves as smoke billowed from her eyes and she rolled around the ground.
"NGHAGHL! AAAARBLRR! Insolent fool-girl! I will be avenged upon you! AVENGED!!!"

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver


Mud's response to Devotion was simply to smile slightly, and look back at her. For all her stoicism she did have a very playful, teasing sense of humor. She carried on walking while Devotion began to heal them. Mud felt all her pain and fatigue was away. She sighed with happiness. "Life's all about the nice little moments," she openly mused, before she carried on walking. She continued to converse with Devotion. "I'm not sure if I should get called selfless. I never think of it in terms of helping myself, or helping others. It's just...what should be done right now."

Mud sensed that something was off immediately, even before Applebloom did. Applebloom was a farmer and adventurer, so was no stranger to the earth, but Mud's connection to the earth bordered on an obsession. The ground was her life.


Intelligence Check (Mind Palace): 21 (18+3)

HP: 34/73
AC: 16

 

[Shadeofshade]

Dreamweaver Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Avedon Cyan Hide

Midnight was glad about the healing from the...talking sword? Wait what? The sword talked… “Another question, another time.” thought Midnight. He wished he had spent more time training to withstand the heat of deserts or that he didn’t have a Dark Purple Coat.

Midnight gets -2 to-hit because of Desert Heat 1/3

When the light faded, Midnight saw Valentine grabbing her face with her hoofs and screaming about being avenged?...no idea what she was talking about. Taking out his normal Dagger, Midnight started to wrap the blade with the hood of his cloak he cut off. When he finished wrapping his dagger he packed it into his backpack.

As Midnight was walking with the rest of the group, he realised something, he forgot to ask for his La Téne back from Mud. As they were walking Midnight trotted up to Mud and asked “Mud, by any chance, can I have my La Téne back?” Realising that Mud might not know what he was talking about he added “Oh, by-the-by, my La Téne is the Long Knife that I threw to you during the fight with the Elemental.”

HP 43/44
AC 15
-2 to-hit because of Desert Heat 1/3
Spell Slots
Novice 2/3
Apprentice 1/1

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver

Applebloom would ride along, before watching as Val fell to the ground, shaking and all kinds of madness. She'd look to the sword, raising a brow, before just sighing deeply. Then, she felt the strange feeling come over her, and she'd look around, wondering what it was exactly.

Int Roll: 19 (r17 + 2)
-------
Applebloom
HP: 59/59
AC: 17

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver Avedon
Guess that means they're footing the rest of the way then. Shrugging her shoulders, Rainbow carried on with the group. Hopefully the dragon was in a bit of an amicable mood when they finally reached him, otherwise they all might be facing a bit of a disappointing end. Mostly for herself. All of the adventures of facing down gods and stuff, she gets killed by some random blue dragon out in Saddle Arabia. What a way to go out. Not with a bang but probably being eaten by a big blue asshole.

The healing that Devotion provided helped greatly to ease her aching and sore body from the previous battle. Many of the burns disappeared, along with cuts and bruises. Her neck, in particular, was feeling much better. No longer bleeding! That doesn't really help with all the crap that has become caked to her coat, however, which made her really uncomfortable. Combined with the desert heat this whole trip kind of sucked!

Valentine going fucking crazy on the floor made her stop and... stare. "What the hell are you doing? Do you always overreact to everything or are you just that deranged?"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Avedon
Valentine going insane on the floor also got the attention of Devotion, who began to speak in Valentine's mind. "... There really is no need to be so overdramatic, Devil. I barely harmed you." and then the voice completely disappeared! At least now Valentine knew that the sword could actually talk. The only ones it hadn't spoken to so far were Rainbow, Spitfire and Midnight.

Cyan Hide
Mud earned even more points with Devotion, but the sword did not respond. However, with her growing connection to Devotion, Mud would sense that the sword wasn't growing silent out of boredom; it was concentrated on something.

Avedon Cyan Hide Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Shadeofshade
Applebloom and Mud were both on point! They sensed the same thing that Devotion did. A hundred feet or so beneath the desert sands, there was a cave system. A massive, sprawling cave system. The earth ponies earth-sense was not infinite, but they were fairly certain that the cave continued on mostly to the south. If they continued to walk in that direction, it was pretty certain that they would find some kind of an entrance.

... As the group walked, the heat began to worsen.
EVERYONE: Everybody who is not resistant/immune to fire damage... make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save a character gets heat sickness and has a -2 to-hit while in the desert. This can stack up to 3 times and one stack is alleviated by a night's rest.

Soon enough they came to an oasis. Here, the characters could relax for a moment and drink water to cool themselves down. This will alleviate one stack of heat sickness.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Shadeofshade Dreamweaver

Mud nodded, stopped, and started fishing in her bag for the knife. "Sure. It's in here somewhere. Hold on....Here you go." She handed him back the knife. It's shape was slightly more curved than before as a result of warping due to stabbing a creature made of fire with it. After handing it back, she carried on walking.

When they reached the oasis. Mud took off her pack and took a very, very long drink from the pool. Once her thirst was sated, she set about testing her step around the oasis. "There's a tunnel system below us, and it's getting closer to the surface. A few more hours of travel and we should reach an entrance. I'm fairly sure the Dragon will be down there but the tunnel system is so expansive there will be ample time to rest and recover before we face it."


Con save: 26 (19+7)

 

[Shadeofshade]

Dreamweaver Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Avedon Cyan Hide

Midnight was thankful for his La Téne back, thankful for his flexible scabbard that he used to hold it and thankful that it might have helped with the fight. “Thank you Miss Mud, I’m glad that I could have been of some help in the fight with my La Téne.” He then sheathed his Long knife and continued to walk along. He noticed that the heat was getting worse but it didn’t bother him as much before “Maybe I’m getting better at handling heat” thought Midnight.

Constitution save vs DC 10 - 18

As everypony got to an Oasis, Midnight thought this would be an excellent idea for everyone to freshen up and/or cool off. He looked around for a good spot, went over there while taking out his waterskin and filling it up with the Oasis. When he got to that spot, Midnight completely striped, he did not know why the next thought he got was “Oo la la” and felt incredibly embarrassed about it, and put all his stuff out of the way except for his waterskin.

With that all done he set about doing something that he hadn’t done in a while, taking a shower. He did this by casting Magic Hoof, using it to lift his waterskin high enough above his head and slowly pouring the water over himself. The water was cold but, in the desert, refreshing. As he was having the shower he made sure to listen to what Mud was saying.

When he was finished, and feeling incredibly refreshed, he had the magic hoof take the waterskin to the Oasis to fill it back up as he shook his coat and wings dry. After that he said to everyone, “Well then, in that case, why not we all have a shower now? I can use my Magic Hoof and Waterskin as a makeshift shower head and I can have it refill the waterskin with the water from the Oasis as many times as needed.” He motioned to the Magic hoof that was just finishing up filling the waterskin and returning to the position it was in before, without pouring the water. “I can do this for anyone that wants to have a shower so who would like one?” As he said that he made an inviting motion for anyone to come and have a shower. “I do believe it will at least make us feel better and give us a chance to rest and come up with a few plans for when we meet this Dragon” He added.

HP 43/44
AC 15
-2 to-hit because of Desert Heat 1/3
Spell Slots
Novice 2/3
Apprentice 1/1

 

[Avedon]

Dreamweaver
"Hmph! Of course you barely harmed me! Do you know who you're talking to? I am the greatest of all the Devils! You needn't feel ashamed for being only able to scratch me, it's truly an accomplishment just on it's own...for an angel's butterknife!~"
Valentine said turning to look at the sword, talking to herself like a maniac.

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver Cyan Hide

Con Check: 16 (r10 + 6)

Applebloom would trot along quietly, smiling at the fact that Mud could feel the cave system beneath them. Following it was smart, and it even led them to the oasis! Applebloom would trot forward slowly, before kneeling next to the shore, before just laying down with a grunt on the remains of her tent. She'd sigh deeply, before drinking some of the water, smiling happily at the water that tasted lovely! She'd lay back, and take her time to relax in the little shade there was.

She'd look around at the others, before looking at Mud, "How're you holding up, Mud?" She'd ask, smiling at the earth pony mare.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Rainbow was dealing with the heat rather well, all things considered. She seems to have acclimated to the weather of the desert... but that would only take a pony but so far. Heat stroke, dehydration, both of those things will set in after too long out here. Luckily for her, they were about to catch a bit of a break. An oasis was off in the distance. What a great find for the group! A place for them to relax and cool off before heading back out into the heat again.

She took a moment to go to the water and get a drink. She turned her head to Spitfire. "I know this probably doesn't even bother you, but are you doing okay, Spitfire?" Rainbow asked, splashing at the water a bit with her hoof. "You've gone through a lot so quickly. Having any second thoughts about all this yet?"

Constitution save: 17 (12, +5)

 

[Dreamweaver]

Avedon
Devotion was seriously considering smiting Valentine right now. She flared with an angry holy light, before simmering back down again. No, if they were going to fight a dragon they needed the devils help. "... I am going to pretend I was not just called a butter knife, Devil." the blades voice rang out in Valentine's head again. It was a female voice and seemed kind of... done. It's tone definitely sounded like it didn't care much anymore.

Dumbledoof Shadeofshade
Spitfire looked between Rainbow and Midnight as they were both speaking, but of course answered Rainbow first. Obviously. "I am... okay. I feel more powerful already! My magic seems to be evolving at a rapid pace and I feel more in control than ever. Plus, now you've seen first-hoof what the thing living inside of me looks like. Perhaps we can take that to Princess Aurora and Twilight Sparkle, see if they know anything..."

She then turned to look at Midnight. "Heat doesn't bother me, so no shower here. Rainbow doesn't need a shower, she's already had one."

Without skipping a beat Spitfire lunged forward and shoved Rainbow Dash right into the river! Or at least, she tried.

Unfortunately Rainbow was the only Pegasus who was actually faster than Spitfire. What's more important than their travel speed was the fact that they had very different specializations. Spitfire was a sorcerer, Rainbow was a monk. Rainbow was a lot faster in combat. The fact that Spitfire was even able to get so close to Rainbow showed how fast Spitfire was, but she wasn't fast enough with those reactions.

When Rainbow dodged out of the way, Spitfire pretty much immediately expected a retaliation. Which came as expected. Spitfire was even shocked by her own speed here! When Rainbow lunged to shove her in, Spitfire took right off into the air and circled around Rainbow, landing beside her. "... Hah! I am not getting wet today!"

Avedon Cyan Hide Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Shadeofshade
All characters regain full HP

While Spitfire and Rainbow were playing a fun game of 'launch each other into the river', the party had something else to focus on. Off to the side was another group of adventurers who were now settling down. They were a good fifty meters away, but kept eyeing the group. You could never be too sure if other adventurers were enemies or not, so the other group was understandably cautious.

... Did anybody want to approach the other group?

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver Cyan Hide Avedon Dumbledoof Shadeofshade

Applebloom would let out a deep ragged breath, before looking out across the water to the group that had just arrived. She'd sit up slowly, raising a brow at them, before looking around her own group of companions. She'd smile, before slowly getting up, and shaking out her hooves, glad that her hoof had not been hurt that bad apparently, it had just hurt like hell!

She'd sigh, happy to trot around normally, and kicked up some sand as she'd trot around the oasis, before pausing, looking back at the group, "I... I think I'll go say hello to our guests." She'd say, before popping her neck. Her body tensed violently for a moment, before she'd start off again, going at a brisk, but graceful pace, hoping to come off as friendly, smiling as she approached.

 

[Shadeofshade]

Dreamweaver Dumbledoof GeneralTyrus Avedon Cyan Hide

Confused at Spitfire’s remark, Midnight then understood what she meant when she tried, and failed, to shove Rainbow into the Oasis, nearly falling in herself. He could not help but chuckle at that and the new game that they had started.

When Applebloom said something about guests, Midnight looked around to see what she was on about. Sure enough, there were a group of Ponies not to far from them. They were settling down but seemed to be keeping an eye on everyone.

Guessing what might happen if Applebloom went alone, and the fact that no pony seemed to want to have a shower, Midnight brought his Magic Hoofs and waterskin down so that he could have it slung around his neck, fastening the stopper as he did so. “Hold up a moment Miss Applebloom. Since no one seems to want to have a shower, I’ll come with you.” Said Midnight as he grabbed his family cloak, his La Téne and his Magic Dagger, fastening the Cloak around his neck and his two weapons around his side and purposely keeping the hood down. With that done, along his waterskin slung around his neck and the Magic Hoofs dispelled, He trotted up to Applebloom to join her.

HP 44/44
AC 15
-2 to-hit because of Desert Heat 1/3
Spell Slots
Novice 3/4
Apprentice 1/1