Previous thread: >>27739331
You quietly evaluate your moral compass on the elevator ride back upstairs. Why didn't you do something? You could have done SOMETHING. You're an accomplice to MURDER. You say these things over and over in your mind but you're still in shock so the self-inflicted guilt trip isn't exactly working as you'd figured. Or is it because you sympathize with the baroness?
Needle Weaver definitely IS evil, no doubt about it. But she murdered that creature in the name of science. Just because you don't like to think about it, it's not like things like this don't happen everyday. The way she took pleasure in doing it was sadistic, obviously, but you can't help but admire her enthusiasm for whatever it is she's plotting. In another time and place you feel as though you might have been comfortable sinking to her methods. Maybe the alternate universe version of you even did... Sigh.
"Now, now, no sulking in MY estate," commanded the young baroness as she wrung some ichor out of her mane, "we still have much to gleam from each other!" You both exit the rickety transport when it reaches the ground floor, Needle Weaver guiding you to the staircase that leads upstairs to her lab. "If you will excuse me but for a little while, my friend, I simply must clean this blood off right away. Once it dries it has this musty, old cheese smell that takes AGES to wear off! Haha! Run along upstairs for the time being and feel free to browse around."
She heads down the opposite hallway but pauses for a moment to turn and face you, grinning slyly. "I trust you'll use your discretion and avoid touching things you feel you... shouldn't... be touching. I simply abhor having my trust broken. So do those who discover they shouldn't have broken it. HAVE FUN! HEE HEE!" The baroness hums a cheery tune and vanishes around the corner and you hear a door open and close in the distance.
>>27804924
You're left to your own devices inside the manor. You can still hear that slime creature thrashing about trying to get inside the building; looks like you aren't going anywhere right now. Down the hall is the elevator to the basement where Talker is cleaning up that dead body. In the grand hall you could probably get something to eat. Upstairs is the lab and a bunch of other rooms you haven't seen. It's been a long, physically and emotionally exhausting day. Regardless of your actions you're going to need to rest soon enough.
>>27804925
Find a quest room to sleep in since we don't want to pass out from exhaustion.I swear if there's a plot twist where we get raped in our sleep or something... at least allow it to be someone hot enough for us. Because secret fantasies and all.
>>27804925
I don't think we'd have much of an appetite after that. Lets see if we can use any of our magic here or if the black magic is completely disabling us.
>>27804997
The baroness is pretty hot if you can get past the scars, which are better than ours, and the whole being evil thing.
>>27804925
You take a moment to just let everything sink in. Your heart aches, your head aches, you're just exhausted and don't really feel like indulging any research right now. You slog your way up the stairs and poke around the random doors looking for an empty bedroom to just relax for a while. Surely the baroness wouldn't mind this. You wish you could use your all nighter spell from home to take the edge off of your weariness.
You try to draw some mana in but your senses are dull. You wonder if the black mana isn't negating your abilities somehow. But now that you think of it... how can you still SENSE mana with your planeswalking ability but yet have no ACCESS to your spells or the ability to planeswalk home? Could it be that Needle Weaver cursed you?
You crack open a door along the wall opposite the lab and peek inside. Dust closet. Next door is an ornate bedroom that looks lived in. This must be Needle Weaver's!
Dare you snoop around? Or will you respect her privacy? If she DID curse you, one of your spells might be able to break it, but without knowing the exact curse you might have to do some research anyway.
>>27805184
...Let's not. If we don't have magic, then we'd be defenseless if we get caught. She's probably just aching for us to mess with something from the way she was acting.
Let's just do >>27804997 and try to naturally sleep instead.
>>27805184
The baroness surely didn't intend for you to ransack her bedroom while she bathed, and surely would not be lenient when she discovered your betrayal of her trust. As best she could kick you out of her home and into the waiting tendrils of whatever the creature outside is. No, now is not the time for espionage or subterfuge. You just need sleep.
The next room down is a guest room that appears to have been vacant for a great while. You brush a layer of dust off of the blanket and crawl into bed. You're so tired... way more... than just... a...
You pass out.
You're vulnerable right now. Anypony could just come right in and do all sorts of lewd things to you while you slept and you wouldn't be able to defend yourself.
Does anything l-lewd happen in the night?
Are you interrupted by Talker or Needle Weaver or anypony else?
Do you have a prophetic or strange dream?
Do you need to pee?
Or something else?
>>27805377
Surprise us.
>>27805377
>>27805409
This.
>Plot twist coming in 3...2....
"Oh my..." you hear a soft voice whisper in the darkness, "your body is simply aching for this, is it not?" You try to crane your head around to see who is talking to you but you cannot seem to move it. Your limbs are likewise useless as if they were being restrained. You feel somepony running something firm down the middle of your back and down your flank. Your heart races as you struggle helplessly against the invisible forces.
The touch works its way to your tail, petting it as well as sliding around on your flank. This is the first time you've ever been in a situation like this, you tremble at the unknown. "Shhh... easy now. Indulge yourself. Lift your tail for me." The voice is so sultry and assertive, commanding your body to follow its instructions, you moan reflexively in defeat as your tail raises to expose your sensitive areas. Another command to bend over has your bottom in the air, the coolness of the room making your sex quiver and drip.
You wince as the firm feeling teasingly slides up and down the length of your tail dock, your body shivering as it brushes against your ponut accidentally. "Oh. What is this, now? One of your weakness? You certainly are a slutty littlecolt."
Wut.
You open your eyes and allow them to adjust to the twilight filtering through the shuttered window. You're pretty disoriented right now. That was the weirdest dream you ever had. At least you hope it was a dream. You check under your flank just to be sure. Yup, just a dream.
You smell something funny, though. Looking around you discover a stack of lukewarm pancakes laying on the nightstand nearby. A small note addressed to "The Mistress's friend, Cascade" says they are a sleepy snack and to please enjoy them.
Do you have any plans for today?
>>27805705
>ColtSorry for being rude, but I was about to become very disappointed. Good thing it was just a dream.
Eat the pancakes. Check for sludge monster. See if we have our spark.
>>27805705
You find yourself gulping down the pancakes regardless of their taste. You were far more hungry than you thought. But if you can't leave the manor you might have to get used to their bland flavor. You test your spark to see if you can planeswalk away now. Just like yesterday you simply cannot access it. There HAS to be something disabling it somehow. You'll have to get to the bottom of it if you ever want to see your homeland again.
You quietly trot down the hall and hear loud snoring coming from the other bedroom. Needle Weaver must be asleep. You continue softly walking down the stairs where you find Talker sitting patiently in the foyer. As you approach him your heart sinks as you hear the same slapping and slashing against the front door as yesterday, the monster apparently still outside.
Talker glances up at you and shakily nods his head in greeting before continuing to stare at the opposite wall.
>>27805998
Say.. why don't we study the front door? That way we know how it works.
So here's the plan: We study the door so we can learn to open it later. That way we can search the house for whatever curse there is. If we get caught, then simply run to the front door and open it and run away while sludge attacks Needle.
Sludge creature must be very unhappy about Needle if he's been at the door for this long. Also, why hasn't Needle killed it yet? Maybe she can't beat him and has to hide behind the door?
>>27805998
As you're standing there quietly with Talker, you begin to question the actual sturdiness of the door. You can tell that it's stone-reinforced mahogany but otherwise the locking mechanism is all but non-existent! How then could the monster as strong as it was when it attacked you, not have damaged the door by now? Is the door warded somehow? Does Needle keep it sealed with magic because she would otherwise be unable to deal with its threat?
You draw close to the door now, focusing your attention on it. While you don't notice any wards ON the door you do stumble upon a curiosity - the monster is making the exact same set of sounds each and every time it attacks. And the door thumps in response the same way each time as well. You turn to Talker with your brows raised. He catches your attention and stands up, bowing respectfully.
"Is there something the Mistress's friend, Cascade, desires? Please allow me to assist the Mistress's friend, Cascade."
>>27806274
Maybe whatever is happening outside is actually fake? I bet Needle is trying to keep us in here. If sludge wasn't there the whole time, it'll sorta shatter the plan.
Tell talker to open the door.
>>27806274
Where are the windows?
>>27806325
The manor has shuttered slit windows like a bomb shelter. You can't escape out of them.
>>27806332
We can look.
>>27806274
Considering the evidence, you now have reason to believe the monster outside isn't even real! But if that's the case then did your nameless stallion companion even attack you, and if not then where is he? You ask Talker if he would open the door for you. He bows his head sadly.
"The Mistress has ordered me to never use this door. I am a 'live to obey', I must live to obey. I am sorry, the Mistress's friend, Cascade."
Rejected, you walk over to the nearest shutter slit and look out in the direction of the front entrance. You can't see the creature from that vantage point but it continues to beat upon the entrance in repetition.
>>27806396
We have experienced seeing things that weren't real in this place before and it doesn't make any sense for the stallion to suddenly turn into a monster and attack us. It would be dangerous to confront the mare about this since we're powerless and shes shown a certain level of insanity down in the basement. We have to keep on her good side for now.
>>27806396
The slave creature is wholly devoted to his owner but he's shown nothing to make you believe he will go out of his way to do you harm. Needle Weaver on the other hoof is going to be troublesome. If she's orchestrated some plot to separate you from the stallion and keep you here you have no idea for what end. If she knows you're a planeswalker then why capture you instead of the stallion? Or maybe she already had caught him. So many questions swim through your head.
You're going to have to discover what's inhibiting your powers before relations with the baroness turn sour. Otherwise never going home ever again might be the least of your concerns.
To Be Continued...
>>27806612
I think we should wait for Needle to wake up and go off to use the elevator. The elevator should make a distinct noise when used so we should know when she's gone or going to come back up. We could use that noise as a signal while searching to avoid getting caught.
But first. Let's start by examining that mystery tea she made us drink a while back.
>>27808758
I understand the paranoia, but we left ourself completely defenseless last night. If she has any malicious intentions towards us, she probably isn't ready to do anything. For all we know, she could just be extremely desperate for companionship and, considering her lack of morals, tricking somebody to stay with her isn't out of the question.
>>27809648
Ya, true. But if she really wanted companionship, then why didn't she just take the stallion instead? Unless we're both trapped in here or something. I don't really believe that the stallion was a sludge creature. He was developed to the point where I don't think he'd be wasted like that.
>>27812458
He also seems to know the place rather well. It's possible she separated us from him at some point.
>>27812458
>>27812481
I agree that it was weird for the stallion to suddenly turn on us. On the one hand, he could have just wanted to lead us to a place where we couldn't walk away when he attacked, but the fact that the monster is still there and it repeats like it is a recording makes me think something else is up. Perhaps asking our host what she knows about him/the monster (since she mentioned before that it tried to get into her house) would either 1. make her slip up on her story and thus reveal her true intentions or 2. clarify some key points for us. (Also, if we can find a mirror in the house to levitate through a slit and angle so we can see the front of the house, that may reveal what is really going on.)
Then again, I find it strange the baroness would show us her downstairs project if she was planning to do something malicious to us. Seeing such an act would obviously put us on edge. It seemed more like she was sincerely trying to show off to impress us. I know from what little MTG lore I have read that Blue and Black are allied colors so usually they get along better than most. It sort of feels like she is legit trying to make a friend, but then again, black isn't usually the color to strive for friendship so much as power. So unless she sees having you as a friend as an asset there are probably darker motives at play.
Prying more into her motives may be a good thing as long as we step carefully and don't full spaghetti over the "hur dur killing is bad" emotions which could tick her off. I'm surprised at the lack of questioning going on currently when I feel there is a lot of good questions to ask.
Also, I just caught up reading this thread so I will attempt to be more active in it during decision making.
>>27812659
Ya, as much as we would have wanted to ask questions, you should realize the kinda QM we have. If we don't manage to get enough food, sleep, or drink, we'll end up passing out for another three days.
There are a lot of things we could do, but past experiences have taught us to take seriously good care of our well being as a top priority.
Also, plot twists. He showed us how we can't really trust anything without absolutely solid proof it's safe. She could easily tell the truth as well as lie when we ask. I imagine we're gonna get metaphorically slapped in the face again this session.
>>27812659
If he wanted to harm us he could've had his giant worm eat us. I agree with doing some detective work and being careful not to antagonize her. She also seems to have plenty of power so companionship might actually be her intention.
>>27812697
We did all of that teleporting in a single day and overexerted our self. Also we've been allowed to sleep and eat a full meal since we got here. The only important thing right now is the mystery.
>>27812697
I'm a bit new to this biz so I apologize if food/water/sleep is more important than I am used to.
Still, I said ask questions, I didn't say take every word as truth. If all she does is lie, then eventually we should be able to figure something out. I feel like "knowledge is power" is the motto of this character and so having her question everything will both 1. keep us somewhat aligned to the main character's personality and 2. keep us as informed as possible so we might stay alive through all this while putting the pieces together.
>>27812731
The overexertion was a big part of it, but it was mainly a bunch of factors combined. All we had was like a cup of tea I think before we left to the desert. After we came back, we packed food and water for the second trip, but we forgot to eat or drink it while we were there. I think it was vaguely mentioned somewhere that dehydration was the biggest factor to why we passed out. Could be wrong though.
>>27812880
The dehydration came from being unconscious for several days. And as I said, when we woke up, there was a big meal of pancakes waiting for us. Neither food, water, nor sleep is a concern for the time being.
Frustrated at your situation, you step away from the door and walk down the hall into the dining area to think awhile. You don't trust the baroness but you're a pony of logic and you would prefer to discover the reason WHY you're a potential prisoner here. If you can do that then perhaps you'll also discover Needle Weaver's plans for the giant mana battery thing she built - the research value of that alone would be worth some temporary suffering if you could build one of your own using a slightly less evil magic.
As you sit alone in the hall you wonder if you haven't also been drugged somehow and that's effecting your magic. You don't feel any different after eating those pancakes earlier this morning, but despite everything else that happened yesterday you did feel pretty awful. Maybe it was the tea the baroness brewed for you?
As you rummage around a bit in the coffee cart you hear quiet breathing behind you. You nearly shit yourself when you turn around and find Talker standing way too close for comfort. When you yelp in surprise he recoils in fear himself, tripping on his robe and falling hard on the floor.
"I-I-I'm so s-sorry, the M-Mistress's friend, Cascade! I did not m-mean to cause you fear!"
He then explains that when he saw you walk to the dining area he figured you didn't like the sleepy snack pancakes and could he please serve you something you'd enjoy better. Noticing the tea bags you dropped in your surprise he offers to brew some.
Thirsty for tea?
Thirsty for knowledge?
What's your agenda?
>>27813319
Tell him we could make it ourselves and make sure to take an extra teabag for later.
In the meantime, let's ask Talker a few questions. First, ask him what he can and cannot answer without getting in trouble. Then we can move on to more questions from there.
>>27813319
Ask how he came to serve the mistress.
>>27813360
I'd like to know what he is and how he came to be in Weaver's service
>>27813319
You reject his offer and tell him that you'll just make some when you're thirsty later. He bows sadly and turns to leave. You quickly stuff a teabag in your mane scrunchie so that you can inspect it more thoroughly later and ask Talker if he wouldn't mind answering some of your questions.
Talker seems both confused and delighted by your request. You can guess it's because Needle treats him as a slave and probably only ever talks to him when she's ordering him around. You ask him if there's anything he isn't allowed to say, to which he pauses in thought.
"The Mistress has never ordered me not to say something I was not allowed to say. But... but if I don't know what I am not allowed to say then I should ask the Mistress what that would be! But the Mistress is asleep right now and will be asleep for most of the day! I... I must... but...!"
You quickly explain to him that you promise not to ask him anything he is not allowed to say and he calms down. He certainly is a strange creature. You decide to ask him just what he is and why he's serving the baroness.
"I began to live downstairs, the Mistress's friend, Cascade. The Mistress told the 'live to make' to give birth to me. I am a 'live to obey', I must live to obey."
Live to make? Live to obey? Strange answers from a strange creature. You wonder what knowledge if any you are going to gain from him. However, if what he says is true, then Needle will be asleep for most of the day. That could be useful.
>>27813559
Has Needle Weaver said anything about us? What does she think of us?
>>27813559
Seeing how talking with Talker about himself only raised new questions, you shift focus to the baroness and her feelings towards you.
"I have heard the Mistress call the Mistress's friend, Cascade her friend several times. She also said that the Mistress's friend, Cascade will have no choice but to be her best friend by the time she's finished with her. I think that it would please the Mistress greatly, the Mistress's friend, Cascade to have a best friend."
You're not surprised by the revelation, only uncertain. Best friend? By force? Why you? Talker just stands there smiling, unaware that he's a traitor. You could probably coax a bunch of information from him as long as you don't mind his vague replies and childlike mentality. Hopefully it won't come back to bite either of you.
Continue chatting? Go explore the manor? Something else?
>>27813715
Well then. How exactly is she planning on making us her "friend"?
>>27813715
We should limit how much information we get from him since she can get him to tell her what we talked about very easily.
>>27813715
Wondering just what this "friendship" method will ensue, you ask Talker if he knows anything about it. He shakes his head.
"The Mistress did not say, the Mistress's friend, Cascade. I do not know how you will become her best friend." Talker drops his head in thought for a moment and writes his misshapen claws sporadically. He then turns to you and bows respectfully as he takes a few short steps backwards.
"I am sorry, the Mistress's friend, Cascade, but the sun is almost up and the 'live to make' needs to speak with me. Please enjoy your tea when you decide to be thirsty. And please do not speak loudly and wake the Mistress, the Mistress does not like that."
Talker then turns and slowly hobbles out of the room, disappearing in the direction of the elevator. Now that you're alone you can search for answers in private. But then again you might not get another chance to speak to Talker alone like this and he just might eventually have something useful to say. There's plenty of research in the lab as well, you could get a close and personal view of the battery without supervision.
Decisions...
>>27813914
Man... too many things and too little time. I guess we can go to the research lab and look for something like records and documents to see exactly what her goals are.
>>27813982
Following Talker to see who he is talking to may provide insight as well.
pg10
>>27814539
>>27813982
We can't be in two places at once.
>>27813914
>No viable compromise available; using the first choice.
As Talker slowly descends into the basement on the elevator for who knows what, you creep up the staircase and tiptoe up to the baroness's bedroom door. Loud snores can be heard from the other side, she's still fast asleep. You silently hope she'll stay that way for as long as Talker implied, giving you plenty of time to delve into her research. Peeking around the door frame of the lab you find it thankfully empty.
Where to even begin, you wonder. Books of varying thickness line shelves, various chemicals occupy beakers, pages of notes are piled here and there around the room and, obviously, there's the giant skull, aka: the mana battery that dominates an entire corner of the room.
Check the open spellbook?
Check the notes?
Check the battery?
Check the chalkboard?
>>27819862
Inspect the large floppy dildo. Than the chalkboard.
>>27819862
You trot over to the bookcase and check out a few pages of notes that appear to have been dropped in haste. There's nothing noticeably valuable about them, though a few crude sketches of a stallion and mare rutting each other catch your attention in the margins. The art is kinda crappy, it doesn't really do anything for you and is slightly embarrassing to imagine the baroness getting off on this.
As you tuck the papers into a box on the bookcase your eyes happen to catch sight of a terrifyingly large rubber dildo just above you. You are awestruck by its size and girth. There's no way any REAL stallion c-could ever be that b-big, right? You turn away blushing, wondering just how that would feel inside you. You can't picture the baroness ever being able to handle that thing, thrusting onto it like a broodmare, moaning and panting as her fluids spray out of her marevag... UGH! Just thinking about it is getting you hot and bothered. Focus. Focus. You take a deep breath and walk away from the lewd "device".
A large chalkboard sitting on the other side of the room catches your eye and you walk over to it. Several detailed diagrams and numbers are drawn all over it. You don't know what the numbers relate to but the diagrams are drawn descriptively enough that you can guess what they correspond to.
There's the mana battery, the crystals out in town and the ponies around them, the cage in the basement, a unicorn... and you're unsure of the last two which show a drop of water and a sphere or something. The baroness certainly has an ambitious plan in motion, whatever that may be.
>>27820066
Don't forget the arrows going to and from the battery.
>>27820092
Also, could the drop of water relate to blue mana in some way?
>>27820066
>Those crude drawings
She must be really desperate if she can get off to that. Kek.
>>27820066
The plan, though... What if it was all detailed here in plain sight? You take a moment studying the diagram again. The arrows pointing to and from the battery go out to the various other places, some returning back to the battery with larger numbers. The baroness did say that she was trying to perfect the efficiency of the battery, maybe it's fueling and being fueled by all these things?
An arrow connects the battery to the crystals and returns back to the battery from the pony next to it. When you first entered Marblehaven you saw groups of sickly ponies huddled around some crystals. Is the battery drawing life force out of them? The baroness killed that creature in the basement yesterday and its mana signature was drawn upstairs and surely into the battery as well. You're fairly certain you've sussed out this part of the plan, the battery being a central part in it.
But the other diagrams, what are they for? The water droplet? That only points down to the unicorn but there are no mana returns. It is a symbol for blue mana? Is it a spell? The same goes for the sphere, though that alleged number is very high. Would that be the charge it's building? You can only guess.
If Needle Weaver is willing to brutally kill a creature as an end to her means, then she surely wouldn't stop at harming ponies. Without knowing the entire story, however, you have to be objective. You could make things ten times worse by interfering blindly like your counterpart did with the deadly spores...
Will you check out anything else in the room or will you look for answers elsewhere?
>>27820245
Lets check that suspicious box under the dildo.
>>27820245
Obtain the dildo. We could use it as a distraction in case we get caught snooping around.
>>27820245
Confident you're on the right track you step back from the chalkboard and begin browsing around for points of interest. A box sitting on the same bookcase as the dil... ahem, mare hysteria alleviation device, catches your eye. You walk back over to it and open it up. Inside is a curious mix of beads on strings, squishy packets of oil, a tin of lubricating jelly, a vibra- EW! It's more sex toys! Needle Weaver must get pent up being stuck inside all day. But why keep all this stuff in the lab? Why not in her bedroom! Doesn't she know guests might just stumble upon her collection and get lewd ideas?!
Tch.
You put the box back and look back up at the "object". Actually, having this on hoof could come in handy as a distraction in case you're caught somewhere you shouldn't be. You cringe as you reach up and remove the dildo from its proud position on the bookcase. However, you weren't counting on it still being slippery from use and it flounders out of your grip, slaps you in the face and bounces out the door and into the hallway. Your heart skips a beat in terror, thinking Needle would hear the commotion and come walking out of her room. How would you even explain THAT?
You then realize you have an unidentified goo on your face and wipe it away while trying not to vomit. Hmm. Smells like cherries... Ohgodwhy! You pick the dildo up and set it on your back for now. You kick yourself for not wearing your saddlebags before you left home.
>>27820651
Well then..... something tells me this lab most likely doesn't have what we're looking for.
>Unidentified goo that smells like cherries
...t-taste it....
>>27820651
What other rooms haven't we checked yet?
>>27820771
The confirmed rooms in the manor are the foyer, the dining hall, the hallway to the basement elevator, the stairs leading up the the upper floor which contain the broom closet, the lab, the master bedroom and guest room. Unchecked rooms are 2 other rooms upstairs and the hallway downstairs that presumably led to the shower.
>>27820796
Lets check one of the upstairs rooms.
>>27820651
Some of the slick jelly is still on your hooves. You smell it closer, it must be one of those packets of sex jelly mares use to lube up their toys. You've... always been a little curious as to what another mare... would taste like, but you never told a soul. I-it's not like you'd ever, you know, d-do anything with them or anything! You have tasted your own fluids before during long, lonely nights of research - as an experiment and nothing more, of course - but now an opportunity to, um, compare results has arisen and... it would be valuable knowledge! For sure!
You look around the hall several times to be doubly-triply sure nopony is in sight. Slowly you raise your hoof to your muzzle and stick out your tongue, carefully and cautiously. Then the tiniest tip of your tongue makes contact with the fluid and you pull your hoof away. You let it sit for a moment before drawing your tongue back into your mouth for evaluation. It tastes like cherries... w-with a hint of s-salty musk. Is this what the baroness t-tastes like?
Okay! Focus. FOCUS! WEW! You've got evil plans to identify! Gotta get moving! Haha! Ha...
Standing in the hallway you realize there's a few more rooms you haven't seen on this floor. You quietly make your way to the one at the end of the hall and crack the door open. Nopony in sight. You step inside and close the door behind you. The room doesn't appear to have been in use for quite some time. Long white clothes cover the furniture and stacks of framed paintings sit off to the side in a halfhearted newspaper wrapping.
Check the wardrobe?
Check under the bed?
Check the paintings?
Check the nightstand?
Something else?
>>27820927
Under the bed sounds good. Or maybe a closet if the room has one.
>>27820927
Everypony you know tend to stash some personal effects under their beds. The occupant of this room was no different. You discover a small album with lithographs inside. They depict a family of ponies, one of whom strangely enough resembles the baroness, except that she's a bat pony.
The mother is a unicorn, the father is a bat pony. They have two bat pony fillies and a little unicorn colt. The pictures themselves are unremarkable, just individual pictures of the family posing around town. If this room is in disuse then who is the owner of the album? Could the baroness BE one of the fillies in the pictures?
You went looking for answers and now you have MORE questions that need them! What to do...
>>27821093
Check behind the paintings and under the carpets if there is any. It's time to look for secret compartments.
>>27821093
Does the unicorn colt have an identifiable cutie mark? Does the bat pone that looks similar to the baroness have her exact cutie mark?
>>27821093
Could the baroness be more than one of the ponies in the picture?
>>27821093
You look a little more closely at the pictures, hoping to see any visible cutie marks but only the parents had some at the time. The mare's mark looks like a black crown over a black diamond, the stallion's a river with a crescent moon over it. What intrigues you most about the pictures is the young bat pony filly, the one who looks like the baroness. Is it possible that she IS the baroness? Needle Weaver told you the scars on her back were from a failed experiment... could she have taken to experimenting on herself? But then her horn? You don't just GROW a horn, let alone attach one... right?
You shake your head and close the album, tucking it back under the bed for now. Determined to reveal more secrets you check for any potential loose floorboards but find none. A cursory check behind the large stack of paintings reveals even less.
The rising sun filters through the shutters of the manor. You've been at this longer than you thought. Hopefully the baroness is as heavy a sleeper as Talker claims.
Search the room some more?
Try the next room?
Go back to the lab?
Check the basement?
Bathroom break?
>>27821414
(I bet the baroness is actually the little unicorn colt. That would explain the dream we had as well.)
I vote go to the batheroom, then, after using it check if baroness is still sleeping, and then explore more unexplored rooms.
>>27821414
Check to see if the Baroness is up or not. If we have to, take an inconspicuous bathroom break.
>>27821461
Wouldn't that mean... that the one using that huge dildo is a colt? How would it even fit in his butt?That's kinda hot though.
>>27821414
Walking down the hall you pass by the master bedroom and are relieved to still hear snoring. Good. Needle Weaver still being asleep means more time to figure this all out. You've yet to see the bathroom in this place and could really use a refresher. Walking down the stairs you pass the front door.
*THUMP* *GRRRR* *THUMP* *GRRRR*
Same as earlier. Same as yesterday. You're so convinced its just an illusion on the other side that nothing would prevent you from opening the door to check now, except for the fact that the door might be warded with an alarm spell. The last thing you need to do is to raise suspicions while your magic is being negated somehow.
You round the end of the hall where the baroness had walked yesterday and find a short hallway to the bathroom and two open rooms that appear to be a servant's quarters and the building's laundry room.
You close the ornately gilded door and shut yourself in the bathroom. It's quite lavish and well-maintained, almost as big as your lab back home. There are multiple toilets (facing each other oddly enough), a large marble showering bench and a deep luxurious bathing pool.
You set the dildo down on the sink for the time being and relieve yourself. It sure is quiet in here, though. No one's on this side of the building and there's no ambient noises coming from outside. The room must be soundproofed or something. Interesting.
While you're sitting here you take a moment to reaffirm your game plan.
>>27821577
Anything interesting behind the mirror? Any medicine cabinets?
>>27821577
Looks like we need to do a lot more detective work.
>>27821577
You wonder if there might be something of interest in this room. You check the vanity mirror over the sink, and open up the tiny compartments to the side of it. The only thing you find are several tiny compacts of eye shadow, standard primping kits and a tiny bottle of bathroom spray. Sometimes a bathroom is just a bathroom it seems. You pick up the dildo and open the door.
The baroness is standing there.
Good thing you just emptied yourself or else you would have right here and now.
"Mmmnng... Hrrrmmm... the way. Rrrng..." she groggily mutters as she walks past you. She flops down on the toilet and starts relieving herself in a daze, without even closing the door you're standing in. Is she sleepwalking?!
Well... what, uh, what are you going to do?
>>27821811
Well then... If she's going to be in there a while, we'll be able to search her room. Keep the dildo on you as an excuse saying you were just looking for more of her toys.
>>27821811
Without saying a word you quietly back out the door and hustle down the hallway. The baroness shows no signs of comprehending that you were even there. You quickly charge up the stairs and slip into her bedroom, eager to pursue the only chance you might ever get. You're met with quite a sight to say the least.
A giant canopy bed covered in silk dominates the majority of the room. At the corner of the headboard the silk ties in a noose, and from each noose is arranged a stone statue of a pony gasping in agony. Another stone statue is tied by its front legs at the foot of the bed, its face frozen in silent terror as it looks towards the front of the bed. Your stomach sinks as you recognize the figures to be the family from the lithographs - the father, the colt and one of the fillies.
As you wander around the bed you see a giant framed mural of the family dominating the wall over a set of his-and-her dressers. The mother is the only pony in the painting, however, as the images of the rest of the family has been torn or burned away. The rest of the room is rather spartan and only contains a few glass trinkets arranged on display shelves.
But there's just one more thing - the soundless humming coming from somewhere in the room. You can't hear it, rather feel it, and you know instinctively that whatever it is is the thing holding your powers back. You've found ground zero.
Quickly give the room a once over to find the source before the baroness gets back?
Ransack it and hope you can get away in time?
Leave everything where it is and try to search sometime later or tomorrow?
What's your plan?
>>27822000
Let's wait, those statues give me an extremely bad vibe. We should at least get some idea about the experiment that scared her first.
>>27822000
I dunno why, but I feel as if those aren't really natural statues.....
Wait for a better time.
>>27822000
Comfortable in the knowledge that you've at least found the source of your power drain, you back down from exploring for it right away. The whole room was giving you a very bad feeling; the macabre placed statues to the fact that something with so much magical potential being hidden so well in a room so empty. It could even be trapped and a hasty ransack could trigger something. Best not to push your luck yet.
You're standing outside Needle Weaver's room and everything was as you left it. Aside form the fact you're carting around her giant sex toy there's really no evidence you've been exploring all morning.
You hear somepony walking through the foyer towards the stairs. What do you do?
>>27822138
When she finds us. Act suspicious like we're hiding something, and after she presses us, we reveal the dildo and create the awkwardest of moments.
>>27822138
The hoofsteps accelerate up the stairs faster than you had anticipated and you find yourself sitting in the middle of the hallway with the giant, silicone horse cock hidden behind your back when the baroness finds you.
"Oh. Hnng. I thought I saw you up and about, too. Huh. You, uh, going down for breakfast or something?" The young baroness is still quite groggy but she's coherent enough to realize you acting so suspicious. "Hey. Friend. What're you doing up so early anyway?" She wipes the sleep from her eyes and raises an eyebrow in irritation. "I trust you've been a model guest, friend, polite and considerate of the boundaries I've placed within my generosity. I would hate to have to mete out punishments..." her voice stern, her eyes piercing into yours.
Slowly you reach behind yourself and drag out the giant toy. Needle Weaver stares in silence before rubbing her eyes to make sure she's seeing strait. When she realizes she is and that you're holding one of her more private tools, her jaw drops and she stammers to find an appropriate response. Eventually the extremely awkward spaghetti-filled silence is broken by her clearing her throat and curling her mane with a hoof.
"Well then. It would appear that you need to be 'punished' after all..." she says with a wink and a come-hither motion with her hooves as she backs into her bedroom.
To Be Continued...
>>27822354
Okay, so, we are going to get fucked literally but at least we aren't getting fucked metaphorically... yet... hopefully we don't disappoint her in bed to the point she gets us stoned. (lel)
>>27822354
>inb4 plot twist ruins the moment.
