Grey Mane's ears perked up at the mention of Spike. "There is another thing I saw while I was there, which I never got the chance to tell my team before. Her bath. It was filled with a red liquid. Any light on that?"
The zebra rubs his chin with a hoof. "Her bath was filled with red liquid? Perhaps she needed to clean herself...? Ritual magic can be...an unclean undertaking." He snickers slightly at his "joke". "What did her floors look like? For a large spell, like one perhaps to remove an Aspect Stone, one would need a large circle painted on the floor as a focus."
Grey Mane tapped her chin. "I cannot recall but I do remember a red, shiny liquid in her bath. Her assistant Spike seems like he is not telling me something when I talked to him though..."
Virulento turns toward one of his displays and taps on the glass, rousing the fire-breathing faeires. One of them blows a small puff of flame at him. "Perhaps the dragon still feels a sense of loyalty to his Master. It must be a difficult spot to be in, knowing that your Master is dealing in horrors from beyond this world and being powerless to stop her..."
Follia stopped, squinting at the door. He waves his head back and forth, back and forth until he's able to see the same glimmer as Toxic on the surface of the wood. "Pah! It's a nice spell but I believe we can get around it. Mitzy!" The Shelty's ear's prick up, looking at her owner. "Brief the ferret of the mission!" Briefing, as it turns out, was twenty seconds of Mitzy barking at the ferret while it stared at the dog through the bars of the cage. Either the ferret was soaking up the instructions intently, staying still to avoid being eaten or attempting to fathom what the dog was doing. Follia lifts the cage out of the wagon and onto the floor, opening the small door on the side. The ferret leaps out of the cage and pelts towards the wall of the tree-house. Only a few meters away from the trunk, the ferret assaults the ground with great speed, burrowing down into the earth and towards the floorboards inside. "It's a burrowing Ferret. A result of a speed spell of some sort going wrong in another University made the little guy really quick. We'll have a mole in there soon enough."
Toxic smiled largely at her companion. "Very clever, Professor! I must say, it seems well trained. But how shall you communicate with it once its inside?" She quietly trotted around the treehouse, trying to catch a glimpse inside one of the large, brightly framed windows.
Silver started to get some hope, until he recalled What Twilight had said that they had heard as they left her house. He gulped. "Um, call it intuition, or an assumption, but I have a feeling Spike might be out of commission." He recounted the purple unicorn's ominous words to his companions, including Virulento.
Follia and Toxic Rain Spoiler: Note to Tyro: That was pretty clever. +10XP As the critter makes its way underground, Toxic Rain checks out the windows. Spoiler: Roll Perception for Toxic Rain 23 + 8 = 31 The shielding spell creates a glare on most of the windows, making it exceptionally hard to see inside. She does, however, see the purple silhouette of a figure in the main area of the library, near some furniture. She can't tell what exactly the figure is doing, but it doesn't appear that they know they're being watched. Spoiler: Roll Animal Whispering for Follia (Perception) 77 + 6 = 83 The ferret returns after a short time and chitters at Mitzy in an excited tone. Clearly, it's found something. Mitzy barks twice in reply. The ferret goes near the hole it made and sniffs, then backs away, clearly afraid. ----- Silver Shield, Grey Mane, and Mystic Heart "Hmm...She speaks as if her friends are still there...interesting. This may bode well for you, even if she has 'put Spike out of commission'. Who needs to speak to the dead, after all?" He snickers.
Mitzy is the University Guinea Pig. A stray puppy that was found by former students on the grounds, she eventually became the go to animal to test certain elixires and charms. Nothing was ever harmful or malicious about the years of testing. She would be introduced to the class, wagging and panting in the excitement of new people and then the students would all take it in turns to attempt to make Mitzy speak. First English, then Spanish, then French. Other lessons would use her as a highly advanced levitation exam. Some would transform the squat, shaggy dog into a multi-coloured Great Dane. Some turned her invisible but, occasionally, the students would be asked to make her breathe fire. It was not that they couldn't find anything to practice on, it was that something that was alive forced a level of concentration from the students that ensured Mitzy wouldn't be harmed by the anti-gravity spell. However, over the years, it would appear a few strange changes in the animal have been created relating to the intelligence of the dog. It soon appeared that the linguistic spells seemed to stick. Mitzy couldn't talk, but she appeared to be taking it all in. Some members of staff have shown her to fetch drinks. Even more unusual is her literacy. She reaches into the wagon and grabs a small note pad then drops it to the ground. The dog's head reaches in again to grab a pencil in her front teeth and sets about carefully scrawling on the page. Fillies could manage better cursive than Mitzy as she drags the pencil over the sheet of paper, held in place by her paws. She was soon done, letting the pencil fall from her mouth then leaving the notepad on the ground for Follia to read. "Mitzy's my interpreter. This isn't the first time I've used this trick. Never know what's in student dorms. I can't remember if you've ever joined me on a little raid." He said as he leans over the dog, reading out loud: "She is inside whispering. Ferret wants to quit." Folia looks towards the ferret: "Well, why? What's she doing in there?" Mitzy translates for the ferret. (And that's were you can come in Quill)
Spoiler: Roll Animal Whispering for Follia 87 + 6 = 93 By the way, if you ever roll over 100 to use a skill, you learn that skill forever, gaining a bonus to your d100 roll for that skill. Mitzy informs you that the ferret never actually made it into the library proper. As the ferret begins covering the hole with copious amounts of dirt, Mitzy goes on to "say" that the ferret somehow made a miscalculation and ended up in the root cellar. The root cellar was dark, but there was enough light coming in from the hole the ferret made, and the keyhole from the cellar door that the ferret could make out a shape in the darkness. The shape looked kind of like a pony but the physiology was all wrong. This pony had longer legs than most, and sat "really weirdly". Mitzy tears off a piece of paper and continues writing: The pony asked of there was anyone there and asked specifically if it was Twilight Sparkle. The pony crawled forward a couple of feet and the ferret "freaked out" and left the burrow. This you gleaned from a few simple words and pictographs. What can I say? Mitzy and Follia are thick as thieves.
Toxic Rain frowns at the shady purple figure, and leans over the note that Mitzy wrote. She then broke out into a wondrous grin, fascinated by the small dog's abilities. "That is absolutely impressive, Professor! I can definitely relate with you about what students will bring; once I had a stink bomb go off in my classroom instead of the simple healing brew we were making. Extremely unpleasant, I can assure you." She shakes her head, not able to make out much from the dog's writing, but raises her head to consider the library. She trotted around it's circumferance, analyzing the tree, and nodded self-satisfactorily. "Hmm, well, about the library, Follia. I can perhaps change the substance of the windows and try to disrupt her spell. She's obviously hiding something, and it seems very shady. Or we can simply knock, as you did earlier?"
"No! No, we cannot simply knock!" Follia said, raising a dramatic hoof. "She'll just cover it all up in an instant if she doesn't simply bar us access. No! We need to convince the ferret to go back in or we attempt to infiltrate Ms Sparkle's home so as to observe her altered behaviours in an attempt to gain further insight in to her new motives." Follia chuckles: "I would go and attempt to search for clues about the pony the ferret saw but the nearest library - heh - is being guarded by a mad mare that babbles about stones that probably don't exist." He strokes Mitzy before whispering into her ear. She paid special attention to the babbling then approached the ferret once Follia had finished. She attempts to address a few of the issues the ferret had about the mission he was being set. She lead with steaks the size of the ferret's body and a bigger cage but apparently the ferret wasn't having any of it. Mitzy gave a self-concerned glance back at the professors before moving to where the ferret hole was and began to scratch away at the already loose soil.
Silver frowned. "I thought she was just crazy. I think she was talking to the dolls..." He stared into space, considering. "Um...so I guess we have all we need. Is there anything else you can help us with?" he asked the zebra hopefully. "If not, I suppose we should be going. We have limited time, after all, before Twilight executes her plan, whatever it is."
Toxic considers her companion's words. "You are right; barging in would be brash. I hope your ferrets can find something out, because we are getting a few strange looks," she said quietly, her eyes darting about the town square where many passer-by ponies gave them suspicious glares. She lowered her head to the hole where Mitzy dug around, and she closed her eyes tightly, toughing the rough dirt with her hoof. She concentrated on the basic molecular composition of the thick gravel, and attempted to separate out the mix of soils and minerals until the dirt turned into fine grains of sand and fell through the hole and into the basement.
You guys get so much post! Silver Shield, Grey Mane, and Mystic Heart Virulento considers Silver’s words. “Hmm…I’m not normally in the business of handing out my exhibits, but seeing as how you ponies already have my book and my doll, I suppose I can part with something else for now…” He crouches down by the display case that held the book and reaches under a loose floorboard. “Besides,” he mutters, “I really want my book back.” From the space in the floor, he pulls out two or three pieces of paper. He lays them on the table, face-up. The pages read thusly: Per Adonai Has-bro, Adonai Laurenfaust, Adonai Celestia, Luna On Agla Mathon, verbum pythonicum, mysterium salamandrae, conventus sylvorum, antra gnomorum, daemonia Coeli God, Almonsin, Gibor, Jehosua, Evam, Zariatnatmik, veni, veni, veni. DIES MIES JESCHET BOENE DOESEF DOUVEMA ENITEMAUS Yi Nash Yog Sothoth He Lgeb Fi Throdog Yah Yah Virulento explains: “I have not read much of the book, for to be honest, the thing gives me terrible nightmares.” He shudders, then continues. “But there are certain excerpts which have…caught my interest. The notes before you are supposedly a spell to raise the dead. Although,” he admits, “I’ve not had a chance to try it myself, and I do not know what, if any materials you would need. The book mentions something about ‘essential salts’. I assume that means as long as you have the body, or most of it, the spell will work.” He pauses a moment, then he point to the first and second notes. “These words are Ancient Unicornian. The third is in a language I do not know. I think perhaps it is Deep Draconequine, or some other, more ancient language.” As he pushed the notes toward you, he mentions, “Bring these back, too, when you have concluded your business in Ponyville. I’d hate to have to rewrite them.” Follia and Toxic Rain Spoiler: Roll Earth Manipulation for Toxic Rain(Magic) 61 – 2 = 59 The hole gives way, but not without a little extra coaxing. This extra coaxing has left a rather large hole beside the library that both Follia and Toxic Rain have fallen through. The library, being a tree and all, tilts about 18 degrees. Spoiler: Roll Perception for Twilight and everypony else. Twilight = 85 Spike = 41 Ponies who are around = 93 Results = Everypony notices that the there is a giant hole next to the library and that it has shifted a bit. :derpe: Follia and Toxic Rain land in the basement with a [size=-2]pff[/size] since they landed on sand. Spoiler: Roll Impact Damage for falling >8 feet. 2 – 1 (For landing on sand) = 1 damage to Toxic Rain and Follia. There is plenty of light flooding into the basement, even with the tangle of roots that is partially covering the hole. Follia and Toxic Rain would notice that Twilight has been quite busy down here lately. The floor (the parts of which that aren’t covered by sand, anyway) appears to have been painted with many dark red circles, triangles, and squares, all intersecting with one another like some sort of macabre and complex Venn diagram. The center of the floor is completely clear of obstructions as it seems that everything has been pushed to the walls in order to make room for the floor paintings. In one corner, the professors spot the very book they’ve been searching for. It’s open. In another corner, and very aware of the professors’ presence, is a pony unlike anything they’ve ever seen before: The pony, who is crouched at the moment, appears to be an amalgamation of pony and…something else. The head and torso are that of a pony, but its limbs are gangly and more ape-like, but hairless. The limbs are a different color than the rest of the body (which is light blue) and appear to have been sewn to it. The “pony” does not appear to have a Cutie Mark and its eyes are almost completely devoid of color, save for its large, black-as-night, pupils. When the creature opens its mouth to speak, its lips split apart at the sides, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth. Its voice is raspy and dry. “Ahh…Aspect Stones…” The creature lifts a large hammer in its “claw” and slowly lumbers toward the two professors.
Mizty growls, not bothering to shake off the sand that dusts her fur as she bares teeth at the creature in the shadow while lowering her stance. "I, I b-beg your pardon?" Follia stutters, pulling himself onto his hooves. "I don't suppose you might be open to a few questions about all this business about Twilight and such, would you?" His voice rose in pitch as the creature hobbles over till he spoke in a tiny squeak.
Silver thanked Virulento. "I do, in fact, know a bit of ancient Unicornian. I am sure this will be useful." He levitated it to Heart, and then said, "Thank you so much once again, Mr. Virulento. You have been a massive help." He smiled. "We will try to recover your book, and return your other artifacts as well." As he was talking, he walked toward the door at a leisurely pace.
Seeing the notes levitated to her, she took telekenetic control and rolled them up to set them into her bag with the other objects of possession. She smiled and bowed her head towards Virulento with a friendly smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to our next meeting."
Silver Shield, Mystic Heart, and Grey Mane "You're very welcome, Mister Shield. And I look forward to seeing you again, Ms. Heart," Virulento replies. He nods to Grey Mane. As you all step out of the wagon, you glance around to see if you've been noticed. Spoiler: Roll Luck 91 There is nopony around. As you approach town, you finally see why: It seems that somepony has caused a great deal of damage to the library, causing it to list to the side. Many of the townsponies seem to be gathered around, but nopony is actually doing anything about it. You spot Licorice and Tip Top among the onlookers. ----- Follia and Toxic Rain The creature stops midstride and stares at Follia. It remains crouched and supports itself with its free hand. (Apparently, it's too tall to simply stand up.) It glances at the hole in the ground, then back at Follia. "Spineless summoned Buttercup for harvesting. So Buttercup harvests." The creature takes another step before the cellar door opens, revealing an incredibly irate Twilight Sparkle. "What the hay is going on?!" Behind her is Spike. He looks past her and spots "Buttercup." "HOLY GUACAMOLE! WHAT IS THAT?!" Twilight turns toward Spike and levitates him. "You've seen too much! Go away!" She suddenly throws him back into the library, then runs downstairs, slamming the door behind her. As she skids to a halt, she turns toward Follia and Toxic Rain and narrows her eyes. "...and so have you." Buttercup hefts her hammer. "Spineless returns. Shall I harvest?" Twilight screams, "STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Her gaze darts this way and that; she seems unsure about whether she should tell you to run, or help Buttercup with her "harvesting". Buttercup looks at Twilight, then back to the professors. "Harvest..." Spoiler: Battle has been joined. Roll Initiative Follia: 91 + 6 = 97 Toxic Rain: 46 + 4 = 50 Buttercup: Total = 33 Twilight Sparkle: Total = 26 Results: Follia goes first, then Toxic, Buttercup, and Twilight. You have several options at your disposal: You can try to escape through the hole which you came in - Roots are covering the entrance, but you could probably break through with sufficent strength and speed. You can try to get the book - This requires speed. Twilight is between you and the book at the moment. You can try going upstairs - The stairs are to your left and nothing bars your way except a closed door. You can attack either Buttercup or Twilight. As for Silver Shield, Mystic Heart, and Grey Mane: You are all outside the library. Since you're on the far edge of the small crowd that's gathered, you can't see the hole yet, and you are unaware that anything is happening in the basement. Licorice and Tip Top are present.
Mystic Heart, curious of the tilted Library, makes her way over. As her hooves meet dirt, she shifts her back and makes sure the saddlebags aren't going anywhere. Carrying too much of importance, at least that's what she believed. Getting closer, she noticed a familiar pair of faces, and decided it best to trot up near Licorice and wait until her presence has been noticed before she'd ask in a polite manner; "What happenings did I miss?"
