Prologue B: Brookwind

[15:58] <~RadioHooves> --- Group 80, the Coltifornia Campaign ---
[15:58] <~RadioHooves> --- Prologue B: Brookwind ---
[15:59] <~RadioHooves> Society establishes values. Society lays down the rules, and when ponies cross the line they must pay the price. Such is the way of things, as they should be. But of course, in the Wasteland, “should be” is a ridiculously idealistic sentiment. Many do not pay the price for their deeds, and many suffer for it.
[15:59] <~RadioHooves> You, however, have been better than the norm. Far better, in fact, as you have valiantly served as a Veteran Ranger in the fledgling New Canterlot Republic. Only a tremendous injury has stopped you, when the NCR forced you to retire for it. You have become a private eye since, continuing to brandish that sense of justice you held for so long.
[15:59] <~RadioHooves> So what, then, brought you to Coltifornia? Perhaps the promises of a better, more fulfilling life in what was once Equestria’s Golden Coast? Whatever it was, here you are now, traveling the trails in the looming Sierra Neighvada mountains. It has been a difficult journey, but you have managed to pass through the snow-capped peaks without much mishap.
[15:59] <~RadioHooves> Time passes, and you are now at the base of the Sierra Neighvadas, having sunk your hoof in Coltifornian soil for the first time. The air is still, the sky overcast, the sun beating down through patches in the clouds. The wind is chilly, biting at your muzzle, the ground around you rocky.  A small creek gurgles by you, carrying runoff from the snowy mountains you just left behind.
[15:59] <~RadioHooves> Coltifornia awaits. It is now your turn to take the reins.
[16:02] * Brookwind sighs lightly, pushing her fedora up and pulling her trenchcoat tight. She takes a deep breath of the crisp air. "Mmmm..." She looks about, taking in her surroundings, looking to see either where the path she was on was taking her, or where there was a path to take her somewhere.
[16:08] <~RadioHooves> You look around you, taking in the still air, but you notice no path except for the one you are already on…then you notice something out of the corner of your eye. It is a faint trail, now covered by the short, stubby yellow grass that permeates the entire area.
[16:08] <~RadioHooves> It is well-hidden by the grass, but you notice it branching off of the main path to an area somewhere to your right, curving back towards the forest covering the base of the mountains.
[16:13] * Brookwind mmmmms. Swishing her tail, she decides to do what she does best and investigate, starting down the mostly-covered path.
[16:14] <~RadioHooves> The path takes you deeper into the trees, seeming to twist and turn its way about the trees, the light of the midday sun filtering from above. On and on and on it goes, until nearly an hour passes of decent trotting. Do you continue, or turn back?
[16:20] * Brookwind hums lightly to herself, looking around at the trees and things. She was starting to consider heading back now, seeing as nothing out of the ordinary had cropped up yet, but she decides to keep going for another 15 minutes, just to see if she could find anything interesting yet.
[16:22] <~RadioHooves> Just as your fifteen minutes are up, the sun sinking lower, at last you come to the edge of a large meadow in the mountains. In the distance, you think you can see some wooden structures set low in the grass.
[16:24] * Brookwind hmmms. She looks at the sky, and then back to the buildings. "Well... if it gets too dark perhaps I can just stay the night here." She mutters to herself, before trotting onwards.
[16:24] <~RadioHooves> As you approach closer, you see that it is the remains of an old town at the bottom of the mountains. The ghost town appears empty, an old wooden sign at the edge of the town welcoming you to what was once Greenwood Town.
[16:25] <~RadioHooves> The buildings are old, made mostly from adobe brick. They were once painted white, but age and time has worn much of it away to reveal the old fire-dried mud brick beneath. A wagon wheel rests against the side of one of the buildings, as do the remains of an old apple cart, mushrooms sprouting from the rotten wood. At least the buildings look clean.
[16:25] <~RadioHooves> As you look about, you spot what appears to be bullet holes pockmarking the side of the building you are next to. As you look further around you, you can see that there are indeed many such holes in many of the buildings…
[16:27] * Brookwind frowns a little as she looks around, reaching into her trench coat and unclipping her revolver from its holster slowly as she examined the holes, trying to determine how recent they were.
[16:28] <~RadioHooves> You soundly determine that these are old marks from a centuries-old battle. You're sure of it! You think...
[16:29] * Brookwind frowns. Something about here just seemed... off. "Hello?" She calls out.
[16:30] <~RadioHooves> Only silence greets you. There is nothing around.
[16:31] * Brookwind calls out again as she starts moving slowly through the town, looking around carefully.
[16:35] <~RadioHooves> As you walk about, you pass by the old rotten apple cart and the first building. This building is surrounded by a wall-like structure of rocks about the length of your foreleg. But then you notice - is that a hoof resting on the wall?
[16:36] * Brookwind draws her revolver slowly, carefully peering over the wall.
[16:41] <~RadioHooves> You approach, and see the body of an orange stallion. He is wearing a strange armored uniform of brown leather, the mark of a red horseshoe and star printed on his chest. Three gunshot wounds pierce his torso, the now-brownish dried blood splattered on the rocks.
[16:41] <~RadioHooves> A battered hunting rifle lies by his side, a revolver tucked into a holster on his foreleg.
[16:42] <~RadioHooves> You can see that he died recently. Very recently, in fact. The body is stiff with rigor mortis and can't be much older than a day old.
[16:43] <~RadioHooves> As for the bullets piercing his chest...you can't really tell. As far as you know, they were made by some sort of high-powered rifle, but that's as much as you can tell.
[16:45] * Brookwind swipes her hoof through the stallion's blood, licking it and then spitting it out. "Well shit..." She mutters, tucking her revolver away for now and looking over the body. "High powered rounds... likely armor piercing considering how they went through his armor and not out the other side..." She looks around, particularly in the direction the stallion had been facing when he got shot.
[16:58] <~RadioHooves> You can see one exit wound entered from his back and exited, gruesomely enough, out of his stomach. Clearly, it was indeed a high-powered shot, most likely an armor-powered round from a medium-caliber rifle.
[16:58] <~RadioHooves> But that, of course, begs the question – how could he have been shot from above? Were the pony standing, the bullet would have entered almost from a perpendicular angle to the ground…
[16:58] <~RadioHooves> You calculate that, from all vantage points around you atop the buildings, it simply could not have been possible to have shot the pony in such a manner; the buildings are too low, and the angle too straight, for that to be the case.
[16:59] <~RadioHooves> As the old adage goes, when one eliminates the impossible, whatever is left must be the truth. Thus it strikes you, with little room for doubt, that the one who shot this pony must have been aloft in the air somehow.
[17:00] <~RadioHooves> To clarify, this wound is in addition to the three in his torso.
[17:02] * Brookwind looks upwards again, frowning. She too takes to the air now, looking down at the victim, drawing her revolver and trying to pinpoint where his attacker would have had the best shot at him from above.
[17:06] <~RadioHooves> You consider the fact that, given the nearly-perpendicular angle of the shot, the attacker would likely be diving down straight from above as he or she took the shot. The attacker must have attacked from farther up in the air in order to have time to pull out of the dive.
[17:06] <~RadioHooves> As you investigate, a strange noise suddenly filters through the trees. It is a soft, haunting melody that echoes in the woods, reaching your ears from afar. It is airy, musical, and flowing, like the music of a flute.
[17:07] * Brookwind reaches for her revolver again, winging around and trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.
[17:07] <~RadioHooves> As you look about, the sound suddenly stops. You hear a faint rustling, as though of wings, and then silence sets in once more.
[17:09] * Brookwind draws her revolver again, slowly turning in place, eyes flicking about, trying to catch the sight of anypony fleeing.
[17:10] <~RadioHooves> There is nothing to be seen.
[17:11] * Brookwind swears. "Well there goes my lead..." She mutters, turning her attentions back towards the town below. "That's a lot of bullet holes to kill just one pony... or for just one pony to have been doing the killing..."
[17:12] <~RadioHooves> Indeed. From your point above, you begin to see many such bodies littered around the area. Many, in fact. You spot at least 12 more bodies from the air, and you can easily see that all of them are wearing the same strange uniform.
[17:16] * Brookwind lands near one of them, nicking her notepad and pencil out from her packs, drawing a sketch of the symbol that was on the uniform. "Hmm, well it seems as if whoever these ponies were they were hiding out up here, and whoever they were hiding from found them. Either that or they were protecting somepony from whoever attacked them..."
[17:18] <~RadioHooves> As you make your deductions, the sun sets yet lower. If you are to rest, you must do it soon.
[17:20] * Brookwind starts to poke through the buildings about then, looking both for more clues and somewhere to bed down for the night.
[17:21] <~RadioHooves> In the first adobe building you enter, you come across more bodies. Two of them, both wearing the same uniform.
[17:26] <~RadioHooves> It occurs to you that one thing other than the uniforms holds all these ponies in common. All of these ponies had been carrying different weapons – the first one you saw had been carrying a hunting rifle, and these two carry a baseball bat and a broken machete, respectively. From the air, you’d also seen various pistols, a single-shot shotgun, and a billy club.
[17:26] <~RadioHooves> It strikes you that there doesn't seem to be anything common between their choice of weaponry.
[17:27] * Brookwind hmmms. "Well, definitely armor piercing then..." She says, before noting the difference and randomness of the weapons. "Though... it seems like a surprise attack." She muses, going over the town again in her head.
[17:30] <~RadioHooves> The central part of town is arranged as a circle, the buildings facing one another. Many of the other buildings, one of which you are in now, are scattered about apart from the central part of town without any real arrangement whatsoever.
[17:32] <Brookwind> "That and the best point of defense would have been the center of town, though the bodies are scattered around randomly it seems..." She mutters, starting to further investigate the building she was currently in.
[17:44] <~RadioHooves> The building is not particularly large. It seems to have been a shop once, though the shelves have been thoroughly picked clean of any valuables, the only things left being a few crates on the shelves. The rug on the floor is matted with grime, a corner of it torn completely off.
[17:45] <~RadioHooves> There is a door behind the counter that leads to a storage room, and a stairway that leads to the upstairs floor.
[17:47] * Brookwind heads towards the stairway, figuring that was likely where the ponies slept.
[17:48] <~RadioHooves> Indeed, you can see that this is where a few mattresses are scattered about on the floor. You can rest here tonight if you would like, but a few hours remain until sundown.
[17:51] * Brookwind decides since she'd been travelling all day, to go ahead and bed down for the night. She would be able to face the town better with a refreshed mind in the morning.
[17:52] <~RadioHooves> You sink into sleep, managing to cast off the weariness from your travels for now, until the morning time.
--------------
[16:33] <~Radio_GM> Brookwind has discovered the remains of an old town, with a mystery awaiting her as perplexing as any she has found. A number of dead ponies, all wearing the same uniform bearing the same strange mark, all riddled with bullets, are littered around the area. The details have continued to elude her, even as she has settled in to take a rest. Will she perhaps uncover anything more substantial now that day has broken?
[16:36] * Brookwind grumbles and half-stumbles down the stairs, yawning and rubbing her eyes, stretching her wings. "Bah, great way to start the day. Investigation time! But first, coffee."
[16:42] <~Radio_GM> The can of coffee is cold, chilled by the morning air, but it provides a pleasant tingle as the caffeine sets in nonetheless.
[16:42] * Brookwind shakes her head, knocking it back in one go before trudging out of the building, taking a look around again.
[16:47] <~Radio_GM> One detail strikes you about those corpses that you somehow missed before. Perhaps you were tired? Whatever it was, it occurs to your refined mind that the ponies carry a myriad of weapons, all of different make and type. Some carry pistols, others carry single-shot shotguns, others carry billy clubs, and still others use nailed boards. None of these weapons, unfortunately, appear to be in good enough condition to salvage.
[16:47] <~Radio_GM> But more importantly, you notice that of their weapons, these corpses have only one thing in common. Each is armed with a revolver, of the exact same make and caliber, holstered to their forelegs. Aside from their uniforms, that is the only thing they have in common.
[16:49] * Brookwind hmms, kneeling down and examining one of the revolvers.
[16:51] <~Radio_GM> It seems to be in relatively good condition. It is chambered for .32 Caliber, much like the one you are currently carrying. But beyond that, no other details seem to strike you as noteworthy.
[16:54] * Brookwind mmms, reaching down and taking her .32 out of the holster on her hindleg and comparing it to the one the other ponies were carrying, curious.
[16:56] <~Radio_GM> Both were manufactured by Ironshod Firearms, and appear to be of the same model, though yours appears more clean. No other details about the gun itself strikes you, but you do notice one curious thing about the weapon you are investigating - the cylinders don't seem to be filled the whole way through.
[16:57] * Brookwind frowns, flicking the cylinder open.
[16:59] <~Radio_GM> A curious sight awaits you. Wherever one of the chambers is filled, the ones immediately to either side are not. The pattern alternates around all six chambers, so that 3 are filled and three are empty.
[17:04] * Brookwind spins the cylinder around slowly, puzzled. Why only have three shots loaded?
[17:06] <~Radio_GM> The cylinder spins, the chambers spinning with it. The mystery persists.
[17:08] * Brookwind snaps the cylinder closed with a flick, pointing the revolver in the air and pulling the trigger six times in rapid succession.
[17:11] <~Radio_GM> The gun clicks for all six chambers. The shells in the chamber are empty, their shots already used up.
[17:13] * Brookwind tosses the revolver aside, standing and looking around. She suspected last night that due to the seemingly random assortment of weapons that this had been a very well-planed surprise attack, and that the defenders barely had time to get ready.
[17:14] <~Radio_GM> Perhaps you are correct, perhaps you aren't. It simply isn't possible to make any conclusions at this point, though, since you know you don't have enough evidence. You can't make bricks without clay, after all.
[17:16] * Brookwind takes out her notepad and pencil again, taking to the air. She begins to sketch out a map of the town, marking the positions of the bodies on it as well.
[17:21] <~Radio_GM> The town is the same as before, as when you observed it from above. The bodies are scattered about the entire area. You do notice, though, that they seem to be placed in strategic areas - such as behind walls, or atop roofs - where it would be difficult for a pony to shoot at.
[17:25] * Brookwind hmms, finishing her map. "Maybe not a surprise attack... they look like they were expecting it. A merc group perhaps..." She lands in the center of town, looking around before starting to look inside each of the buildings, searching them fully.
[17:33] <~Radio_GM> The first of the buildings you enter is large, and was once one of the grander-looking of these adobe buildings. A faded sign on the outer door tells you that it is the Greenwood Courthouse. Inside, you see the remains of what was once a lavishly decorated foyer, the carpet's original rich red tint now faded and grimy. About the windows, around the old, torn, dusty drapes, hang old oil lanterns. The room branches off into a number of courtrooms, arranged with a number of desks and other furniture, all covered in a thick layer of dust.
[17:36] <~Radio_GM> At last, you enter one room where the dust isn't quite so thick. It seems that the ponies occupying this area, whoever they were, made good use of it, as it has obvious signs of being lived in before. The room appears to have been a lavish office once, but the old creaking bookshelves have been stripped of their books, the delicate glass figures on the window sill smashed to pieces on the floor, and the room in general disarray. In a corner are a few grimy sheets, as though somepony has been sleeping there.
[17:38] <~Radio_GM> A desk sits in the corner, bearing a plaque with the words "Honored Judge Goldtrotter" engraved into it, the words still showing through the corroded brass. Nothing strikes you as out of the ordinary until you notice a very slight bulge in the decaying rug underneath.
[17:40] * Brookwind hmmms, trotting over and pulling the rug up carefully.
[17:41] <~Radio_GM> You discover a small brass ring embedded in the floor to what seems to be a solid plank that makes up the wooden floor. As you look closer, though, you can see that the board, unlike the others, has been nailed thoroughly down.
[17:42] <Brookwind> "Like a few nails are going to stop me."
[17:42] * Brookwind takes the ring and yanks up as hard as she can.
[17:45] <~Radio_GM> Apparently they are going to stop you. The nails won't budge.
[17:47] * Brookwind growls, and yanks at it again!
[17:48] <~Radio_GM> With a loud creak, the board finally gives way, a thick cloud of dust billowing from the inside! There's something inside, but it's too dark for you to make out what it is. It seems to be a box of some sort.
[17:49] * Brookwind coughs a few times, clicking on her flashlight and shining it into the hole.
[17:51] <~Radio_GM> It is indeed a small black box, thoroughly covered in dust.
[17:51] * Brookwind takes it out of the hole, and opens it if she can.
[17:55] <~Radio_GM> The box opens to reveal a peasant surprise. Within the box, carefully wrapped in cloth, gleaming as lustrously as the day it was created, is a revolver. It is small and compact, but seems quite sturdy for a weapon of its size. You notice that this weapon, strangely, has a hexagonal cylinder rather than a circular one as is common with most revolvers. Moreover, the barrel lines with the bottom chamber rather than the top.
[17:57] <~Radio_GM> You can’t tell why the gun would be engineered in such a way, but it certainly looks fascinating! You, however, find no ammunition.
[17:59] <~Radio_GM> Underneath, you find a scrap of paper in the box.
[18:00] * Brookwind carefully extracts the weapon from the box, sitting down and reading the note that was also there.
[18:05] <~Radio_GM> The paper seems to be a letter, the top bearing a header logo for a company called “Hoofbeaten Firearms”, and runs thus:
[18:05] <~Radio_GM> ”Dear Judge Goldtrotter, I must express my gratitude for your ruling on our case. Had you not revealed that claim as a sham, I would have, more likely than not, lost this business of mine which I created myself. It is thus that I would like to present to you a small gift, of my own making. I know you have been in the market for a new weapon lately (indeed, it is a pity that your first pistol was stolen, it was quite a nice piece), so please accept this small offering from me. I believe it will serve you well whenever you need it most. – CS”
[18:32] * Brookwind sets the note down, examining the pistol, taking out her own revolver and loading the shots from it into the new one.
[18:37] <~Radio_GM> With a series of metallic clicks, the revolver is loaded. The pistol doesn't seem to have any other particularly defining features.
[18:38] * Brookwind tucks it into the chest holster opposite her badge, patting it and throwing her trench coat over it, putting her old revolver into her packs.
[18:39] <~Radio_GM> There doesn't seem to be anything else in the box.
[18:40] * Brookwind heads out of the building when nothing more of value is found, heading next door to search the next one.
[18:41] <~Radio_GM> This building appears to have been a restaurant, once. The faded sign advertises a joint called, "The Stone Pot. Come Gather While It's Still Hot!"
[18:43] * Brookwind steps inside, taking a careful look around.
[18:44] <~Radio_GM> You find many upended chairs and tables, and shattered plates on the ground. Beyond that, you see nothing.
[18:45] * Brookwind heads on to the next building then!
[18:48] <~Radio_GM> You make your way to the next building over...then suddenly, you see a spurt of rock suddenly burst from the side of the building, followed by the sound of a loud gunshot, cutting through the still air like a razor. The bullet misses you, but the pieces of adobe brick that fly off from the damage wall graze your foreleg.
[18:49] <Brookwind> "SHIT MOTHERFUCKER!"
[18:50] * Brookwind ducks behind cover, yanking her revolver out.
[18:51] <~Radio_GM> From your vantage point, you can see a pair of ponies firing at you. Both of them are alive, firing at you wildly. Even from where you are, you can see that their uniform is the same as those of their fallen comrades around them.
[19:01] * Brookwind peers around the corner again. "HEY!"
[19:02] <~Radio_GM> They make no reply, as they continue to try and gun you down. It is obvious that speaking to them wil only end badly.
[19:04] * Brookwind sighs, looking around for a spot of cover closer to where the two ponies were firing from.
[19:05] <~Radio_GM> There doesn't seem to be a better spot than where you are, as all other hiding spots are within their line of fire.
[19:06] * Brookwind carefully lines up the first pony in her sights, and pulls the trigger thrice.
[19:07] <~Radio_GM> The weapon fires and gives off a very satisfying series of bangs, but does not, unfortunately, hit either.
[19:10] <~Radio_GM> A sudden loud series of bangs come straight from above, as one of the ponies cries out with pain, a spurt of blood gushing from his torso. A shadow passes above you, moving quickly somewhere above, then disappears in a flash. Both of the other two ponies seem in shock at this sudden turn of events - it seems that another, unbeknownst to all of you, has joined the fray on your side.
[19:11] * Brookwind is pretty sure that she's on neither side at this point.
[19:13] <~Radio_GM> Indeed. Is this other party trying to help? Or trying to gun it for everypony? In either case, it certainly seems to confuse the two ponies facing you, as the unwounded one fires once at the shadowy figure above before turning to you.
[19:14] <~Radio_GM> Each shot, pathetically enough, misses each and every target.
[19:15] <~Radio_GM> The wounded stallion gives a loud, guttural roar, as he focuses his energy at firing towards you, three shots from his pistol coming your way.
[19:17] <~Radio_GM> This one's shots ring more true. The first one misses its mark, but the other two bury deep into your torso with tremendous force, like that of an iron pony's punch.
[19:21] * Brookwind grunts, her vest taking most of the bullets' force, the mare letting out an annoyed growl. She levels her revolver at the one who just hit her, and lets off her last 3 shots at him.
[19:24] <~Radio_GM> That one falls. Already wounded, he simply slumps and does not get up.
[19:26] <~Radio_GM> His unhurt companion roars with rage, as he readies his own weapon...but then, that shadow swoops far above both of you, and lets loose another three shots of lead from above. One hits its mark, as that stallion clutches his own chest and howls to the sky.
[19:34] * Brookwind dumps the spent casings out, loading in a fresh set of round and pulling the trigger twice more at the other injured stallion now.
[19:37] <~Radio_GM> The first shot lands hard into his chest once more, as the second nails his straight in the middle of his forehead with a sickening squelch. He drops to the ground, as dead as his companion.
[19:38] * Brookwind reloads again, backing into the shop and taking cover from whoever the other shooter had been, looking for a back way out.
[19:38] <~Radio_GM> You hear, once again, the rustling of wings. That blurred shadow sails somewhere far over your head, as it flies swiftly away. From your spot inside the window, you can't see who or what it is, but you see something fall to the ground as he passes. It is slow, and you cannot see what it is since it's so far up.
[19:39] * Brookwind carefully steps out of the shop, holstering her revolver and then looking for what had been dropped.
[19:42] <~Radio_GM> It falls from the sky. It's...a parachute? Yes, you can see it now. It's a small piece of cloth, tied to a larger white cloth that billows out by the weight of the thing it holds, gently making its way to the ground below. It lands in front of you and stays still.
[19:42] <~Radio_GM> You can see a small note attached to the bundle.
[19:42] * Brookwind picks it up and reads it!
[19:44] <~Radio_GM> "Take this and use it if you're hurt. If you're not hurt, take it anyway."
[19:45] * Brookwind raises an eyebrow and opens up the cloth.
[19:46] <~Radio_GM> Inside are two standard healing potions and a bandage roll.
[19:53] * Brookwind shurgs. She wasn't really hurt, but her vest stopped the rounds, so she downs one of the potions anyway.
[19:59] <~Radio_GM> You feel a strange, sharp prickle in your wounds as the potion does its work, but it heals them perfectly. The potion could certainly use some sugar, though.
[20:01] * Brookwind tucks the others away in her pack. "Well, I think that solves that."
[20:04] <~Radio_GM> Solves everything but the mystery still at hand, that is. You have been healed properly, if nothing else.
[20:07] * Brookwind is starting to think that there's not so much a mystery as to why they were killed anymore. She was starting to suspect that these were the quote bad guys unquote.
[20:08] <~Radio_GM> Whether they are or not, the aftermath of your little skirmish leaves you in silence to ponder what to do next.
[20:13] * Brookwind hmmms. "Well, there's still the puzzle of why they were here in the first place..." She turns back to the town, continuing her search of each and every building.
[20:15] <~Radio_GM> Your searching proves fruitless in the way of clues about this gang of ponies. However, as you search the last building, you feel a small metallic object from underneath your hoof as you search about.
[20:17] * Brookwind stops cold, looking slowly down at her hoof.
[20:19] <~Radio_GM> It's a small, rectangular piece of metal with what seems to be a square metallic plug at the end. There seems to be something written on its side.
[20:22] * Brookwind examines it closely.
[20:28] <~Radio_GM> You positively identify the object as a storage device for digital information, like the kind processed by terminals. Colloquially called Memory Sticks, they were often used in the Pre-War era to store important information to be transferred between terminals. This one is lined with black plastic, with the logo of an institution called "UC Buckley" on it. On the other side is a logo that .you recognize as that of the pre-war Ministry of Wartime Technologies.
[20:30] * Brookwind picks it up, stowing it in her packs before heading back outside. "Huh..."
[20:32] <~Radio_GM> The rest of yoursearch leads you to much overturned furniture, and another body just like the others, but nothing else.
[20:35] * Brookwind wings herself back into the air. "Hmmm, well the next logical step is to find out who these ponies are, so off to the nearest town." She says, banking around and angling towards the way she had come the previous day.
[20:35] <~Radio_GM> It is a long, winding trot back to the main path, but eventually you find it, and soon you are set off on your way once more.
[20:37] * Brookwind heads along it, humming lightly and looking around as she went.
[20:42] <~Radio_GM> The path takes you on a long journey, but in a few hours time you find what you had been looking for. The path overlooks a hill as you look down below at an expansive, large fortified structure, ponies milling about as they go about their business. A sign there tells you that this is Trotters Fort, just half a mile down.
[20:42] * Brookwind glides on down to it, landing outside the gate.
[20:45] <~Radio_GM> And so Brookwind's adventures begin proper, as the rest of Coltifornia awaits.
[20:45] <~Radio_GM> ---End Prologue B---
[20:46] <~Radio_GM> ---Brookwind has completed the quest “A Study in Bullets”.”
[20:46] <~Radio_GM> ---Brookwind has reached Level 3!---
[20:46] <~Radio_GM> ---Brookwind has gained the quest trait, “Last Shot Laughs”. You have a distinct sense of justice that permeates what you do, along with your love of sleuthing and a good puzzle. Whenever you critfail a Perception roll in any circumstance, you may reroll using your Intelligence stat. Moreover, if you are the last pony to carry out a combat move whenever the team is in combat, you get a 10% bonus to Experience Points gained at the end of the session. This occurs only once a session.