Re: [Fallout Equestria] Setting discussions

[Icy Shake]

We should maybe make a list at the end of PH of the named characters from FoE and PH who are still alive then. Maybe Silentcarto could help?

Maybe, though for PH, at least, there's also Icy Shake's doc.

... Yeah, right, I had completely forgotten that this document existed, now that you remind me of it.

I think I'm adding it to my signature.

You know, when you look at it not through the lense of Littlepip's prejudice or as the crazed psychos of Hoofington who were literally mad-sick, raiders are mostly just ponies who have had no other options for survival than to band as roving hordes of, well, raiders, to survives. We have enough examples in both stories to show that raiders aren't -inherently- bad persons, but may have simply led to this kind of life through the circumstances.

Now, shake the landscape of the Wasteland enough, with on one side a genocidal power bent on exterminating everyone on the surface, and on the other side a power fighting against these genocidal bastards, and offering amnesty, food and protection to anyone joining it to fight against the people wanting to kill everyone (Hoofington at the end of PH, the NCR during the Bitter War...)

I think the choice would have been easy to make for a lot of the raider population in the Wasteland (and indeed we already see it in PH, to some degree).

Would remain only the most hardcore bands of raiders, or those led by charismatic enough leaders (see the background of Sasha and the Defilers). Which basically would be less "bands of raiders" and more "extremely minor powers led by one or several warlords" (see: Rose Eye, with her being probably the most successful and famous example).

Thus I posit that by 30 SR, the Raider Problem is "mostly" solved in the Equestrian Wasteland, by sheer virtue of the Raider, as it existed before, to be an endangered species at this point.


Also and by the way, this also mean that a large part of the NCR's population is made up of ex-raiders and or descendants of ex-raiders.

THUS, the importance of the Commissars in the NCR's armed forces and even in its civil society...

I wonder if part of this was a failure to properly communicate what was wanted in Kkat's part, since it seemed to me that they weren't really supposed to get better, certainly not easily, since it was supposed to be a state, basically, of utter depravity, of individuals with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In a way, it sounds like what you're describing is more along the lines of Kkat's idea of bandits. But then, gotta work based on what actually happened, and of course the expansions included, right?

[Harmony Ltd.]

Well, what's the difference between a bandit and a raider? Especially when the point of view character of Kkat's story has such a big prejudice against the criminal elements living on the surface?

Mind you, it's been a while now since I read FoE, but it seemed to me that most of all, the raider psychology respected strength, survival instinct, and tended to latch on the biggest, baddest badass around. Or at least to an environment which supported their habits (Fillydelphia).

But if everything goes to shit in a major way, like it did with Operation Cauterize and then the Bitter War, and you add to that the implosion of Fillydelphia and the whole economy it supported (who was going to buy slaves after that?), most of them would have had little choice in order to survive than to join the NCR and to fight alongside it. The alternative would have been to try scrapping by in isolated communities, which were the first thing the Bitters were making sure to wipe off the map as often as they could.

And trying to live from raiding caravans or the like was becoming increasingly hazardous as the NCR was making its damned best to protect them.

So even if they were depraved and unredeemable, I think sheer pragmatism would have prevailed in a lot of cases.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Unrelated, but I was re-reading once again what little I've written already in the Wasteland Companion, and a few things dawned on me regarding the New Enclave, its relationship with the NCR and other powers on the Peninsula, and its re-industrialization.

For starter, here's what I wrote:

Spoiler:

So, what then?

Well, let's looks at it a bit closer...

The New Enclave is trading with the surface. Its relationship with the NCR is warm enough that it's sending its scientists helping it rediscover old technologies. It is also industrialized, and has now access to the resources of the surface, which it can maximize the use of with the accumulated experience of two centuries of operating on very limited resources.


Now, this may seem unrelated at first, but let's have a look at the Noble Republic of Geneighva:

Spoiler:

If we look at the map, we can see that Geneighva and Friedrichshorfen are almost next door from each other, and are on the shore the same lake. Which mean they can easily trade with each others.


So, where am I getting at?

Well, what this means is that there IS an industrial powerhouse on the Peninsula outside of the Alliance that the NCR can trade with. One with advanced technologies. And already sharing some of said technologies with it.

Suddenly, it becomes much clearer how the NCR might have been able to rebuild so fast in only two decades since the end of the Bitter War while not being outright bought up by the Alliance.


Add to the mix the fact that Draconia is also a large exporter of foodstuff, and the (for now, until the stuff with Hoofington isn't sorted) unknown of the Northern League; and the dynamics of the Equestrian Peninsula against the Alliance shifts from "hopelessly outmatched" to "severely disadvantaged". Mostly because of the division(s) between the various powers on the Peninsula.



I'll probably have more to say later, but basically, the TL;DR is:

- I've finally found a good explanation for how the NCR was able to industrialize so much and so fast in so little time.
- I've set the scene for some interesting politicking on the Peninsula, and strengthened the relative positions of both the New Enclave and Geneighva.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Oh, also, Geneighva probably has all the necessary technologies to start-up mining operations & ore-processing again; in order to produce new raw materials that aren't dependent on recycling the ruins of the Old World.



Also also... I'm starting to wonder if the NCR may not take a page from Elusive, and try to start its own equivalent of the Alliance, with the Enclave, Geneighva, [Neo-Hoofington], and possibly the Northern League and Draconia. And trying to bring into the fold all the rest of the peninsula through it, as a less direct way of taking over than directly planting the flag.

I dunno. That may be an interesting possibility to explore.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Was thinking that the Stable that held Stable-Tec's technological archives in Geneighva may have also held the archives of other corporations. As some kind of secure data-center, to save sensible data in case the worst happened, in order to not lose them.

Though due to the sensible nature of such data, it would probably have only been corporations relatively close to Stable-Tec.

... Would Mr. Horse's Robronco be one of such corporations?

[O. Hinds]

(Sorry if this is a bit less coherent/more mistake-filled than usual; I'm still somewhat tired and still have a lot to catch up on.)

regarding the three-tier system:
Ah, thanks, but I'm still uncertain what the third tier is.

Probably, yeah. The NCR walks a fine line anyway, as there remains little un-organized opposition to it on the Equestrian Peninsula, most of the raiders having either been slaughtered or more commonly brought into the fold / rehabilitated (*), and its force structure nowadays being mostly geared toward such kind of asymmetrical warfare / peace-keeping operations

Wouldn't that mean that its force structure is geared towards a fight that no longer exists (on the Peninsula, at least)? Or am I misunderstanding you?

they would need to mobilize the Citizen Force and the Reserve for any serious war, and that would cripple them economically to the breaking point

And, as covered above, quite possibly might not help much anyway.

Yeah, good point. Still, I like the idea that the code can't be triffled with lest it become inactive, or worse, bad things happen.

What do you mean?

I suppose you could say it's the computer that write these "electronic runes" that needs to be magical itself? I dunno. I'll think about that later.

Oh, okay.

see the background of Sasha and the Defilers

I remember (hopefully correctly) that Sasha is the NCR's hellhound cyborg, but what are the Defilers again? Sorry for forgetting.

Which basically would be less "bands of raiders" and more "extremely minor powers led by one or several warlords" (see: Rose Eye, with her being probably the most successful and famous example).

Just letting you know, in case you've someone in-universe doing it, that Rose Eye would really not appreciate being called a raider and would appreciate far less the Banner in general being called raiders.

regarding your sub-post on raiders in general:
I think that you may be using a "raider" category larger than mine. I see that there's more discussion of this further down, though.

I think I'm adding it to my signature.

Might be a good idea, yeah.

I wonder if part of this was a failure to properly communicate what was wanted in Kkat's part, since it seemed to me that they weren't really supposed to get better, certainly not easily, since it was supposed to be a state, basically, of utter depravity, of individuals with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In a way, it sounds like what you're describing is more along the lines of Kkat's idea of bandits.

This sounds more like my thoughts on the matter.

But then, gotta work based on what actually happened, and of course the expansions included, right?

What do you mean?

Well, what's the difference between a bandit and a raider?

In my view, depravity and internal cohesion. Bandits might rob you and slavers beat and sell you, but they're not going to wear your entrails as a hat and are probably just as repelled by that behavior as you are. They're also much more likely to genuinely work together, rather than just with each other, and have friends, instead of temporary allies, within (and outside of) their groups. And I'd say more here, but I think it would fit better as a reply to this:

Mind you, it's been a while now since I read FoE, but it seemed to me that most of all, the raider psychology respected strength, survival instinct, and tended to latch on the biggest, baddest badass around. Or at least to an environment which supported their habits (Fillydelphia).

It's been a while since I read it too, granted, but I think that it's more than that (though we might hypothesize that the raider lifestyle started with just that, with the body part decoration stuff being a conscious intimidation tactic, and degenerated over the generations). Though "raider" is of course a category with internal variation. I'd say that the worst of the bandits/slavers and the best of the raiders are about on the same level, say that of Arbu. On that level, it could be difficult to determine where an individual or group fell; they have some raider aspects, but not so many that that's what they obviously are. Moving further down the scale, though, it becomes obvious that you're not dealing with people who are just looking to survive and are unscrupulous about how they go about it. Continue to move further down and you can't even make temporary deals with them or buy them off. The raiders at the very bottom (though these would be very much in the minority) are worse than most of the diseased ones in Hoofington.

I agree that, during the Bitter War, many of them might have tried to join the NCR and been accepted, and that a fair number of those might have, for one reason or another, not tried to betray the NCR after the war was over. I'm rather curious what effect this would have on NCR society, though, regarding both how the raiders (ex or "ex") integrate and how the non-raider-stock citizens regard them.

regarding the New Enclave/Geneighva stuff:
Interesting ideas, yes.

Add to the mix the fact that Draconia is also a large exporter of foodstuff, and the (for now, until the stuff with Hoofington isn't sorted) unknown of the Northern League; and the dynamics of the Equestrian Peninsula against the Alliance shifts from "hopelessly outmatched" to "severely disadvantaged".

Well, I didn't previously think that the Peninsula was hopelessly outmatched previously. I mean, in a straight-up tactical-level military engagement, considered before or after these new thoughts, the Miliozi would still have a significantly nonzero chance of winning even if the Miliozi force in question had fewer bullets than the opposing force had soldiers, but there are a lot of ways to fight besides straight-up tactical-level military engagements.

Mostly because of the division(s) between the various powers on the Peninsula.

The (non-Miliozi, possibly non-Hoofington) Peninsula would be in a much better position if it was unified, yes. And the Alliance would definitely be try to exploit the possibility that it isn't. Among other things in its arsenal, it's already proven that it can integrate other states and nations into itself while leaving them largely intact; that's probably going to be a lot more attractive to powers trying to decide who to throw their lot in with than the NCR's, well, NCR-centrism. And, of course, while it's possible to stop the Alliance from ultimately winning a strategic war over the land and people of the NCR and any allies it might have, that doesn't mean that your country might not be among the areas stomped hard in the process; the NCR may be closer, but I'm guessing that the Miliozi beat the NCR military (the bulk of it, at least) in psychological warfare, too. And in the meantime, well, why definitively join one power when you could get both to vie (and pay) for your favor?

I dunno. That may be an interesting possibility to explore.

Aye! I was starting to think of that too. I expect that a fair percentage of NCR citizens and politicians wouldn't be happy with that instead of the NCR flag flying all across the Peninsula, but all but the fringe ought to see that an NCR-led alliance covering the Peninsula is better than the Alliance covering the peninsula, especially as, depending on how badly the conflict went, that could mean that NCR flag hanging only in museums instead of just flying below the Alliance one.
Of course, we don't know what Hoofington would be doing here.

Though due to the sensible nature of such data, it would probably have only been corporations relatively close to Stable-Tec.

Aye. APE, for instance (since its position here could be pretty important), probably bet on its own secure installations (I'm guessing on the Elusive, under Stalliongrad, and somewhere deep within their Moojave headquarters).

Also, I think that you may have meant "sensitive" instead of "sensible".

... Would Mr. Horse's Robronco be one of such corporations?

Well, according to my research, they do seem to have been working well at one point, but, um

>AB, hey Bloom. I was digging through some of the MWT’s Stable-Tec files and lookie what I found. Mind transfer to a computer? Sexy, Bloom. Really sexy. You’ve been holding out. I saw what you have cooking at 29, 33, and 94. Hope you don’t mind if I snag the designs, ROFL. This has got some real possibilities if we can reverse it. Play around a bit. -H.
>P.S. You should check out my Sweetie Bot.

>H, I heard all about the “Crusader” you tried to make. Look forward to reading about your lobotomy when you fail to upload yourself into it. -AB
>P.S. SB hopes you get tetanus.

I'm guessing that the answer to that question would be an emphatic no from both parties. Horse wouldn't trust them with his real data, and the CMCs would probably be happier setting it on fire at a company party than protecting it for him.

...Though now, combining those two, I'm wondering if Mr. Horse might have bought some data security with APE. Hm. Probably not, though; I rather doubt he trusted any other group with it.

[Harmony Ltd.]

1st Tier: Special Forces
2nd Tier: NCR Army (regular army)
3rd Tier: Citizen Defense Force (which is by current day standards a relatively well organized Militia, or a very poorly equipped National Guard, depending on your optimism / pessimism)

Wouldn't that mean that its force structure is geared towards a fight that no longer exists (on the Peninsula, at least)? Or am I misunderstanding you?

Nah, that's essentially it.

What do you mean?

Basically, think about EC-1101's properties: Can't be replicated (only one instance possible), can't be "cut" and re-assembled. Generally speaking, cannot be altered (or maybe that's only a property born of the fact it's a Soul Jar?)

but what are the Defilers again? Sorry for forgetting.

Understandable you forget, as for now they have only been casually mentioned once, in the context of Sasha and her team wiping them from the map; and I haven't really fleshed them out.
It was a big raider / bandit band roughly a thousand members strong that had been united through fear, force and folly by a warlord only known as The Ripper. Once the warlord killed, and after getting a fourth / a third of its members killed in a week, it imploded into a myriad of rival bands, which got later mopped-up by the regular army of the NCR in Operation Streetcleaner. (*)

I think that you may be using a "raider" category larger than mine.

Most probable, as I've been using it as a generic term for "wasteland people who live through pillaging, ransacking, and generally stealing from other people (slavery counting as theft in this case)". Raider as in "person who raid".


Your (and Icy Shake's) definition of "Raider", though, I can agree with.

What other word than "raider" can I use for my own broad-term definition? Bandit seems a little too unspecific, as mercenaries could probably be considered as such. Dunno. Thoughts?


RE: NCR-led peninsula-wide alliance. It's one of those things that we'll need to sort out once PH is over, but for now, I suppose we could say the idea is probably at least as old as 5-7 SR, roughly a few years before the end of the Bitter War, when the relations with the New Enclave were already starting to normalize (they were still neutral, but food shipments had been a thing for a few years), and after Geneighva was rediscovered; but only really started to take off in the last decade, as the NCR grew more powerful, and the trading ties have grown stronger between the three powers. With actual, official talks only going a few years back, with an official treaty MAYBE being being signed in 28-29 SR. Most probably still being in the talks in 30 SR.



(*): Operation Streetcleaner:

In 26-27-28 SR, the NCR launched an ambitious "anti-raider" offensive throughout the Peninsula, sending its various special forces teams to recon & weaken if possible the various bands of the whole peninsula; with the regular army systemically mopping up any remaining opposition.
It was ambitious show of force, for internal and external consumption, and globally a success (see the Defilers' story above), although success wasn't universal, and some nuts proved harder to crack than others (unreliable intel, tough opposition, shitty logistics, incompetent commanders, pick what you want).
It at least succeeded in making the Peninsula safer for the general populace, enough that a wave of colonists is starting to take of, mostly toward the north and the south of the NCR (respectively the Northern Territories, on the margins of the "Northern League", and into the Moojave), and also toward Stalliongrad and its region.
The downside is that the NCR isn't the only power who's taken the opportunity to re-colonize, and on the new frontiers, tensions may be arising =>

“In other news, new round of violence in the Northern Territories, as settlers have yet again come under attack from an organized band of armed locals. The Presidency has denounced this attack as quote 'an odious attack against the NCR's very flesh and blood', end quote, and warned against any new acts of violence. Stockhast could not be reached for comments.

Maybe not as dramatic, and mostly it's just trying to "share" the new land, but overall it's kinda bumpy. Think "The Old West".

[O. Hinds]

1st Tier: Special Forces
2nd Tier: NCR Army (regular army)
3rd Tier: Citizen Defense Force (which is by current day standards a relatively well organized Militia, or a very poorly equipped National Guard, depending on your optimism / pessimism)

Nah, that's essentially it.

Ah, thanks.

Basically, think about EC-1101's properties: Can't be replicated (only one instance possible), can't be "cut" and re-assembled. Generally speaking, cannot be altered (or maybe that's only a property born of the fact it's a Soul Jar?)

Quite possibly, or it could be the way the program was designed. Whether it's one of those two or inherent, though, couldn't one still use smaller interacting spell-programs linked through mundane code?

regarding the Defilers:
Ah, thanks.

Most probable, as I've been using it as a generic term for "wasteland people who live through pillaging, ransacking, and generally stealing from other people (slavery counting as theft in this case)". Raider as in "person who raid".

Ah, okay; that does clarify things. And the NCR would have a much easier time integrating/be much more likely to get the former bandits and slavers making up probably over half of the group you were calling raiders.

Your (and Icy Shake's) definition of "Raider", though, I can agree with.

Ah, good. It could have been a bit bothersom if we had to keep asking "Wait, which definition of "raider" are you using there?" :)

What other word than "raider" can I use for my own broad-term definition? Bandit seems a little too unspecific, as mercenaries could probably be considered as such. Dunno. Thoughts?

...Hm. That's a good question, though. I've no ideas for it at the moment, I'm afraid.
(Also, "bandit" wouldn't cover it all, either, at least by my definitions. Bandits may be slavers and vice versa, but there can also be non-slaver bandits and non-bandit slavers. And both of them are distinct from raiders.)

with an official treaty MAYBE being being signed in 28-29 SR. Most probably still being in the talks in 30 SR.

The alliance on the Peninsula not existing yet also might have a higher Plot yield.

regarding that last bit:
Interesting.

[O. Hinds]

Oh, unrelated, but I think I forgot to mention that I changed the rotodaens to just using tipjets.  The "blade vent" idea does, I think, still have some advantages, but the more I thought about it, the more problems became apparent.

[Harmony Ltd.]

What is this "hot spice" stuff, by the way?

Dunno.

Could be dessicated chili pepper that's been ground up into dust (kinda like Harissa), or maybe a blend of various spices (like this or curry). That one is being left vague.

But I'm thinking that spices may be a popular element in cooking on the Peninsula, to cover for the blandness of the products produced through mass-agriculture. And also as a luxury that's become popular in the ""post-wasteland"" world.

The alliance on the Peninsula not existing yet also might have a higher Plot yield.

Indeed.

[O. Hinds]

Dunno.

Could be dessicated chili pepper that's been ground up into dust (kinda like Harissa), or maybe a blend of various spices (like this or curry). That one is being left vague.

Ah, but not actually heated spices? I'm not sure what it is, but something just seemed off to me about the way this was referred to in the story. It ought to be innocuous and obviously just a spicy flavoring, looking at it, I think, but something seems... I'm not sure.

But I'm thinking that spices may be a popular element in cooking on the Peninsula, to cover for the blandness of the products produced through mass-agriculture. And also as a luxury that's become popular in the ""post-wasteland"" world.

That makes some sense, I think.

[Harmony Ltd.]

How extensive is Elusive's internal surveillance apparatus?

By which I mean, how hard would it be for people inside the Alliance to do things without him knowing? In Elusive Corporation-held territories? In Elusive City?

And same question for the Miliozi. How aware are they of the things happening inside the Alliance or their territories?

[O. Hinds]

By which I mean, how hard would it be for people inside the Alliance to do things without him knowing? In Elusive Corporation-held territories? In Elusive City?

In Elusive City, don't even try it. It might be possible, by tremendous luck or a very complicated espionage operation, to get away with something, but even then, the chances are quite far from good. Getting away from something significant is even harder.
Other territories of the Elusive Company are mostly much less closely monitored (though not for lack of desire), however, and they also tend, by necessity, to be more porous. Most Company facilities are still very secure by non-AI standards, but only a few areas have such omnipresent and effective surveillance as the capital. Open territory, Company farmland, oilfields, and the like, has even less monitoring.
In the Alliance in general, well, that would depend on where they were. His surveillance tends to be heavily limited for one reason or another inside territories of other powers; its mostly still there, but it's spotty. The Miliozi are probably the Alliance power least surveilled by him, and while some areas of Profectum have nearly as much coverage as Elusive City, others he's never seen inside at all.

And same question for the Miliozi. How aware are they of the things happening inside the Alliance or their territories?

Much less than Elusive, in both cases. They have a good internal security apparatus, but it's not exceptional; to a large extent, they rely on their culture and its more distributed enforcement mechanisms. For Miliozi, that is; non-Miliozi in Miliozi territory are likely to be closely watched. Their foreign intelligence, focusing primarily on the world outside the Alliance but also keeping an eye on the other Alliance powers, is more developed and at its peak nearly match Elusive, but, relying far less on machines, its peak is much, much narrower in terms of how much it can do at any given time.

Also, both the Company and the Miliozi have access to surveillance from the ARCANN aerostats and later satellites, including both high-altitude photography and radio traffic monitoring.

Does that answer your questions?

[Harmony Ltd.]

It does, yes. At least it gives some beginning of an idea what a clandestine cell might get away with in the Alliance.

[O. Hinds]

Ah, good.

[O. Hinds]

Semi-random idea: Do you think it might be profitable or otherwise useful to ship moon dust back from the moon?

[Icy Shake]

One of the difficulties is getting the quantity right. Because of the tiny active dose (which seemed to me to be a small fraction of a gram, what with a tiny sliver from a disk half the size of a bit had Blackjack high as fuck for three days), probably less than .1g per user per day, you could support over 3,00030,000 users for a year on a ton of the stuff. Obviously it'd depend on the mass capacity of the rockets, because there seems to be ample storage space, but it seems likely the best route, if it were to be pursued, would be to get as much as you could on one trip every several years or decades and guard the product, rather than to make frequent trips. But that comes under pressure if a second group is able to bring moonstone back, because then there'll be pressure for each to undercut the other, and a limited buy side of the market.

Another interesting aspect here, less relevant due to the assumption Gardens would make it unnecessary and the Eater is probably going to be destroyed anyway, is whether reimporting large quantities of stored proto-souls/life energy (and then consuming it as a drug) would have helped push Equus back over the point where it was self-sustaining even with the Eater drawing in what souls he was, as seemed to be the case before the war.

[O. Hinds]

...Oh. I just had another thought, based on that second paragraph. What makes Equestrian gems special? Ancient life energy. And they have all sorts of uses; pity for people not on the Peninsula that they can only be found there. Except... Where else has lots of ancient life energy? Far, far, far more than the Peninsula, and mineable by just scooping it out of the ground? Sure, it would probably need to be processed somehow, and there's the matter of retrieving it... but this, once someone in-universe thinks of it, seems like it might be a pretty good motive for getting up there in a much bigger way. Thoughts? Do you think moonstone could actually be used to synthesize gems?

Thanks for the analysis and idea spark, Icy Shake.

[Harmony Ltd.]

On another note, my mind was wandering around Geneighva yet again, and it struck me that since roughly a fifth of the locals, and generally the most wealthy / powerful at that, are ghouls; they probably finance at least in part the Followers' efforts to build Radiation Hammams (by importing radioactive wastes from beyond the Peninsula) and the distribution of Aqua Cura by Ditzy's AESC.

Also, I went further with the idea that they know how to mine and have the equipment, and I realized that by 20 SR they've probably made deals with both the NCR and the Enclave to open and operate mineshafts in their territories. Most probably for iron and other base metals.

I suspect they are also in the market of refining the mined ores.

[O. Hinds]

Hm, interesting. The Enclave I can see, but would the NCR really give up independence on that?

Also, no thoughts on the moonstone thing?

[Harmony Ltd.]

I haven't alloted braintime to the moonstone stuff yet, sorry. Will try to later.

As for the NCR, I think it's a matter of "we'd like to do it ourselves, but we just don't have the know-how to do it; and we're certainly not going to ask the Alliance for help with this one.".

Plus, it's probably some contract to the tune of "you provide the tools and technical know-how, we provide the workers and the mining concession, and we'll split the goods and profits."

[O. Hinds]

Ah, okay.

And I suppose it makes sense that they wouldn't want to take the time, expense, and risk of redeveloping it themselves. That makes sense.

[Harmony Ltd.]

re moon-stuff and magical gems:

I have no idea about the possibility of recombining moondust into "synthesized" gems. It depends, I suppose, on if the process is purely chemical, or analogous to it; or if it requires alchemy, the use of magical catalysts, actively casting spells, or any other variation of arcano-technobabble.

So let's ask ourselves another question: what would be the most interesting, or at least what would seem most consistent with the (loose) rules about souls and magic we have?

[O. Hinds]

Well, I don't think that it's especially inconsistent. And as for being interesting, well, it's a big motivation to get to the moon.

Hm. And now I'm wondering if cast megaspells have the range to strike the moon from Equus or vice versa.

[Harmony Ltd.]

So, I finally watched MPL:FiM S05E08, and I have to note it's a nice bit of confirmation of the FoE "canon" that the griffins are indeed greedy bastards.

Plus, seeing the state of Griffonstone in the episode, I have no difficulties picturing them turning to being mercenaries during the War as one lucrative market. Especially given they weren't really strongly united internally, and would have been pretty much an Anarchy in all but name.

Still wondering about the contract thing, though...

Maybe it could have been something set in motion by Gilda?


I dunno...

[O. Hinds]

It didn't even occur to me that show canon and what we have from the stories might be reconcilable there.

[Harmony Ltd.]

I know, right? Always a pleasant surprise when that happens.

[O. Hinds]

I'm still not entirely sure how it would work. Might be able to put Griffonstone somewhere in the Highlands, I suppose... Or maybe in Zebrica, in the mountains south of the Peninsula. There's still the contract issue, though, yeah. And PH has them predate Gilda:

Our Contract is a reflection of who we are and what we will and won’t do. For a griffin to claim what they will and won’t do, and then do just that, justifies our existence. I won’t kill young, nor will I lie. No order, no threat, no bribe will make me do so. To do otherwise would violate my Contract. Once, whole rookeries were bound by common Contracts that defined them. There was even a griffin who once tried to get all of griffinkind to adopt a common clause in our Contracts putting griffin interests first… but unfortunately Gilda failed, and none know what became of her.

[Harmony Ltd.]

An actual shower thought from this morning:

I remembered that piece you wrote on the journalist interviewing Elusive, and more particularly the bit about how the generators and the cooling system for Elusive's mainframe(s) produce clouds (like nuclear plants cooling towers); with it being known that the quantity of clouds being produced is directly correlated to how much processing power Elusive is currently using.

And I was wondering if it's a thing that people in Elusive City talk about.

Like:

"Elusive has been thinking his hardest for a week straight now. Think we should worry?"
*Elusive's voice coming from a speaker in one of the room's walls - you can feel the 10 charisma and 100 speech dripping from it* "There's nothing for you to worry about, citizens. I've just stumbled upon old books I'm trying to digest."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks for the clarification, Elusive."

[O. Hinds]

It is, yes. :)
Life in Elusive city can be a bit... odd, at times, from the perspective of outsiders.
...I'm now wondering what Blackjack or Scotch would think on a visit there. Probably something along the lines of "This is creepy and I want to leave".

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