FoE RPG G0 - #012 Landfill: Locks and Shadows

[22:53]<SpiritOfFate> ==========================================
[22:54]<SpiritOfFate>	After a long day of work and countless piles of garbage sorted, the night approaches. The taskmaster calls the slaves and gets ready to lead them back to the slavehouse
[22:56]?	Royal_Lace yawns as she stretches, her eyes once again moving to look at Nick Nacks boarded up windows, wondering what could be going on at the large house looming over her and the other slaves.
[22:59]<SpiritOfFate>	The window is harder to see as it darkens, but it is still boarded up.
[23:02]?	Royal_Lace frowns and stands by to be guided back to the slave house, she had some work to do tonight
[23:08]<SpiritOfFate>	The slaves gather up and are led to the road back. Shaky looks at the house's general direction, following your gaze as he catches up. "...is there something wrong?"
[23:12]?	Royal_Lace frowns, looking back to the mechanic with a solum face. "I just... well I dont like the look of that, That window wasnt broken yesterday and I cant help but wonder what happened".
[23:16]?	SpiritOfFate blinks and shrugs. "Maybe that mare threw a tantrum... she looks like the kind that would, spoiled to the bone."
[23:22]?	Royal_Lace nods, "Yes... that is probably the case, still I cant help but wonder".
[23:26]<SpiritOfFate>	Shaky tilts his head, but dismisses. "If it's any trouble they deserve all of it..." He keeps his way as you approach the slavehouse again. Slop and soggy hay already fills the food through'
[23:29]?	Royal_Lace frowns and lowers he head, not wanting to start arguing in favor of wishing well to slavers after a long day of work, she just didnt have it in her. Instead she just shrugs and moves with the group to the slave house, steping into line to take a bite to eat.
[23:37]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace meets a glare at her back, the stallion twin, though his eyes seem to have no energy and he almost instantly.
[23:39]<SpiritOfFate>	faces away
[23:43]?	Royal_Lace raises a brow and steps out of line, allowing another hungry pony to take her place. Troting over to the twin she slows to a stop not far from him and cautiously asks, "Pardon me sir, but have I somehow offended you?"
[23:46]<SpiritOfFate>	The twin stays silend for a moment before saying. "...I shouldn't have to put up with this."
[23:48]?	Royal_Lace raises a brow, unsure what the pony ment, "Ummm... Pardon? Im afraid I dont understand"
[23:56]<SpiritOfFate>	"This slog that never end, and we are herded like pigs..." He grumbles.
[23:59]?	Royal_Lace turns her head and looks at the grule that the ponies were subjected to before looking back at the pony. "Oh... yes, well I suppose its better than nothing... but still I think I may have something that could make it more paletable for you, or at least help it go down easier".
[00:02]<SpiritOfFate>	The twin blinks. 'What could possibly make a difference?"
[00:03]?	Royal_Lace glances both ways to make sure no one is paying to much attention as she pulls out the beer and flashes it at the pony, "I found it today... I was going to use it to maybe trade for something eventually but if you want it you can have it, Im not much of a drinker myself"
[00:05]?	SpiritOfFate eyes it with interest before leaning back. "...what do you want?"
****
[22:58]?	Royal_Lace shakes her head as she wraps the old beer in another fragment of her old dress before sliding it his way. "Nothing, honest. I would probobly have neded up loosing it anyway, not like I can bring every one of the few things I own with me to work every day. Probably would have been stolen before I could trade with it anyway"
[23:03]<SpiritOfFate>	The twin ponders before taking it and slippin into his tail. "Guess so."
[23:05]?	Royal_Lace smiles, "I hope you enjoy it"
[23:06]<SpiritOfFate>	The twin smiles before slipping away. The crowd moves around the food through as the slaves get their fill and enter the slavehouse. The sun sets beyond the metal walls.
[23:07]?	Royal_Lace sighs and returns to the line for food
[23:13]<SpiritOfFate>	The line moves and soon Royal_Lace reaches the throughs
[23:14]?	Royal_Lace eats her fill before moving to take a drink of water, she would return later tonight and check if the bobby pins were still where she left them. Glancing back at the house she wonders if other trips in the dark were not also a good idea.
[23:17]<SpiritOfFate>	The watchtower spotlights were lighting up, but the distance seemed manageable, with some care.
[23:20]?	Royal_Lace moves back toward the slave house, making plans in here head as she entered. She would of course wait for the other slaves to go to sleep first, there would be little rest for her tonight.
[23:33]<SpiritOfFate>	In a few hours, all that can be heard is the snores and the breathing of sleeping slaves. Light goes past the house once, but it leaves and the silence grows
[23:35]?	Royal_Lace rises silently and sneaks to the doorway, poking her head out cautiously to see if any guards are nearby as well as scoping the feeding area for potential trouble
[23:44]<SpiritOfFate>	The guards seem to be distant, as seen by the lights farther into the landfill
[23:45]?	Royal_Lace sneaks out the door as quietly as she can to where she burried the picks and digs up the dirt to see if they are still there.
[23:45]<SpiritOfFate>	She can find them where she left them, luckily
[23:46]?	Royal_Lace thanks her lucky stars as she pockets the picks and takes a look towards the main house to see how the security is looking in that direction
[23:47]<SpiritOfFate>	There is a guard moving away from that direction, further into the north area
[23:49]?	Royal_Lace takes a close look at the rough of the buiding, it would be hard to spot a guard from this far at that height but that was her target and with so many griffin guards you never could tell if one was purched for a good vantage point.
[23:54]<SpiritOfFate>	It's hard to tell in the dark, you see the light bearing griffin in the watchtowers and over the landfill, but you can't be sure of any other.
[23:55]?	Royal_Lace says a quiet prayer and teleports herself to the top of the main house with a soft pop
[00:01]<SpiritOfFate>	The triangular tiled roof gives you clear view to the entirety of the wall and all towers around it, as well as the forest and grassfields away from it.  The roof itself has a chimney and quite a few broken tiles, covered by wooden boards in some spots..
[00:02]?	Royal_Lace looks about the roof again as she kneels down to obscure her from ponies below... not that it would help if somepony was up here with her or even above her...
[00:11]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace manages to see a subtle light going through a hole by the boarded part of the roof.
[00:12]<Royal_Lace>	Not seeing anypony nearby she carfully makes her way toward the boarded up hole in the roof to see if she had found a possible point of entrance or could at least spy or listen in on what was going on below.
[00:16]<SpiritOfFate>	It looks like an attic, though there doesn't seem to be anybody there. Through the silence, you can hear occasional hoofsteps, and muffled sobbing
[00:18]?	Royal_Lace doubting she could pull the boards up without bringing attention to herself... or at all, Lace teleports herself into the attic.
[00:22]<SpiritOfFate>	Several boxes are spread around the corners of the surprisingly clean, if worn attic. A stack of magazines is in a bookcase. There is a trapdoor in the middle of the room and soft sounds of hoofsteps comin from the floor below
[00:25]?	Royal_Lace moves about the attic and tries to determin if her suspicion that the sobing is coming from Nick Nacks room
[00:29]<SpiritOfFate>	Remembering the house layout, it does seem to be the case.
[00:31]?	Royal_Lace bites her lips, she didnt want to try the hall very much in case whosever hoofsteps those were meant trouble... but she was also scared to teleport directly into the room, she was draining herself so quickly and there was a chance Nick Nack might scream. Looking around Lace decides to check the attick in case anything here could be of use, taking her time with the book shelf as well.
[00:40]<SpiritOfFate>	Most of the magazines were faded and blurred, possibly from rain expousure. She can discern the cover of one of them, called The Truth. Its headline reads "Candycane Invasion: Is the real menace a different kind of stripes?"
[00:42]?	Royal_Lace pockets the one readable magazine for later and moves back into position over Knick Nacks room, takes a deep breath, and teleports herself down to the floor below.
[00:44]<SpiritOfFate>	The room is dark and messy. Royal_Lace can feel one of the metal trinkets under her hoof. The brief flash of her teleportation shows a curled up mare sobbing by a corner, though it's hard to see in the dark.
[00:46]?	Royal_Lace activates her light spell and delicatly weaves her way across the room trying not to step on anything while inspecting the sobbing form.
[00:49]<SpiritOfFate>	The light shows shard of glass you can easily avoid. The mare looks at you, one eye red from crying, the other black and swollen. The mare looks battered.
[00:50]?	Royal_Lace looks horrified as she quickens her pace to join Knick Nack at her side, dropping to her knees and inspecter her beaten face, whispering in a low voice. "By the princesses light what in the name of equestria happened here Miss?"
[00:57]<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack wipes her tears, looking at you. "F-father... he found out and... " She says between sobs. "He said I-I'm a failure of a d-daughter..."
[01:01]?	Royal_Lace eyes tear up as well, slaver or not she could not stand seeing anypony like this. Nick Nack was not very plesant but she wasnt bad, she didnt deserve this. Crying she embrases the beaten and bruised mare gently, "Oh Miss Nack, Im so, so sorry"
[01:05]?	SpiritOfFate mumbles. "You d-didn't run... it's the other's fault..."
[01:06]?	Royal_Lace crys into her mane, "No, its your fathers fault for not seeing you as anything but a failure. What did he do to you?"
[01:10]<SpiritOfFate>	"H-he beat me up... said he couldn't make me learn"
****
[17:20]?	Royal_Lace rubs her back and tries to pull herself together, to wrap her mind around who could do soemthing like this to his own daughter. "Miss Nick you should not have to be subjected to... to, to such Brutality! No pony should, he treats you as one of his slave dirvers would a worker. Something no pony should have to endure
[17:20]<Royal_Lace>	"
[17:23]<LuckyLeaf>	"...yeah." She wipes her tears again and blinks. "...how did you get here? The door is locked."
[17:24]?	Royal_Lace continues to snug and pet the poor beaten mare as she expains. "The same way I brought us back from the wall the other night, magic"
[17:25]<LuckyLeaf>	"Oh." She blinks again. "But slaves can't do that."
[17:27]?	Royal_Lace pulls back and looks to Nick, "No... we are not suppose to Miss, and it took me a considerable amount of effort to be able to once again"
[17:33]<LuckyLeaf>	"...but that is a free pony thing. Well, unicorn. Slaves can't do that."
[17:35]?	Royal_Lace frowns a bit, eyes still red and water from crying, "Well all unicorns can use magic, we just arnt aloud to. I dont belive in such restrictions so I removed them, its the one bit of freedom I have found for myself"
[17:38]<LuckyLeaf>	Knick Knack rubs one of her bruises. Her mind seems to reach for something but not quite get it. She pauses for a moment before asking. "...why are you here?"
[17:40]?	Royal_Lace "To see how you were doing miss. I saw your window broken and boarded up this morning while I worked, I asked around but none of the other ponies knew what had happened. Once everyone was alseep I came to check on you"
[17:44]<LuckyLeaf>	A small smile grows on her face before being replaced by worry. "Go away! I'll be in trouble if they find you here."
[17:52]?	Royal_Lace shakes her head, "No miss, I cant leave you like this. You need help, more than I knew before. Nick Nack you cant stay here... no pony should put up with with such cruelty"
[17:58]<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack sobs. "B-but... I have nowhere to go..."
[18:00]?	Royal_Lace returns back to her reasuring hug, rubbing her back and trying her best to sooth her. "Its ok Nick Nack... we can figure this out, we can make things better. You do that all the time, dont you? Take things that others would consider hopeless and make them into something beutiful. We just have to do that here with this situation"
[18:02]<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack nods and hugs Royal_Lace back.
[18:03]?	Royal_Lace smiles as she embraces Nick Nack, "Now... we have two options from what I can see. We can try getting you out of here and away from your father.... or try and make things better here"
[18:06]<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack dries her tears on Royal_Lace's dress. "...how?"
[18:08]?	Royal_Lace frowns as she thinks, "I... Im not sure, we would have to deal with your father and i dont know much about him. Could we talk to him about this like reasonable ponies"
[18:10]<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack shakes her head in defeat. "You are a slave, he would never listen."
[18:12]?	Royal_Lace pulls back again to look Nick Nack in the face very seriously, "Is he a busness pony? Will he listen to numbers? If the caps were not worth the trouble would things be this way?"
[18:14]<SpiritOfFate>	Knick Knack ponders for a moment. "...I guess?"
[18:16]?	Royal_Lace smiles reasurangly, "Well maybe he will listen to caps if nothing ells, do you know where he keeps his books?"
[18:17]<SpiritOfFate>	"It's the office... on the other side of the hallway."
[18:21]?	Royal_Lace nods, "Do you think that would work... or do you want to leave? Its your home Miss Nack, Ill let you decide. Ill back you up however you want to go about this"
[18:21]<SpiritOfFate>	She shrinks a little. "...I don't know..."
[18:23]?	Royal_Lace nods, "Alright... we will try reason, but if that dosent work Ill take you away". Standing she moves to the doorway before looking back, "You said in the office across the hall correct?"
[18:23]<SpiritOfFate>	"Hallway, yeah."
[18:27]?	Royal_Lace focuses her magic and teleports back up to the attic and moves swiftly to the trap door, opening it a crack to see the hall below.
[18:30]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace sees Flannel approaching the door to Knick Knack's room.
[18:31]?	Royal_Lace watches to see what will happen
[18:36]<SpiritOfFate>	She knockson the door. "Is something wrong? Do you need water or a bedpan?"
[18:40]?	Royal_Lace bites her lip, she didnt want to push herself to hard and didnt know what was waiting for her inside the office but with a pony in the hall, even distracted, she was going to have to teleport into the office is Flannel didnt move soon. She would have liked to think she could trust her but the risk was a bit to high.
[18:42]<SpiritOfFate>	"No? Are you sure?" Flannel says to the muffled voice of Knick Knack.
[18:45]?	Royal_Lace makes a dicision and closes the trap door, moving to the spot over where the office should be and teleports down into it hoping for the best, her head already spinning from over use of her magic.
[18:45]<SpiritOfFate>	"If you say so. I will go back to my room. Call me if you need, miss." She trots to another room in the hallway and goes in,closing it again.
[18:49]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace, finds herself in a room with full bookshelves, a large desk with a terminal and a notebook and a safe
[18:50]?	Royal_Lace sets about searching the room, leaving the safe and terminal for last
[19:00]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal Lace finds a book of Barter, "Tales of a Travelling Donkey" and a book of Mechanics. "World of Cogs", as well as the finances book of the landfill, paper and quills
[19:02]<Royal_Lace>	smiles at the find but realizes she has no way of bringing all of this along with her at the moment, she will have to hide it away... but first she would try and open that safe, if only to see what was in it.
[19:09]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace, finds 3 bags of caps, a pearl necklace, an amber pendant and a coral hooflet, another collar key and a trigger
[19:11]?	Royal_Lace frowns distatfully at the trigger and decides that such a dangerous thing cant be allowed to remain here.
[19:15]?	Royal_Lace screws up her face trying to figure it out before shruging and counting out how many caps are in the bags.
[19:16]<SpiritOfFate>	There are about 500 caps per bag
[19:17]?	Royal_Lace nods at her find and pockets at least the key for now before looking across the room to the terminal. Standing she sighs and moves to the screen, deciding to at least give it a shot.
[19:25]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace, meets a screen demanding a password, but manages to figure it out, leading to a screen full of messages. Invoices.
[19:26]?	Royal_Lace studies the invoices to see if she can glean anything about Knick nacks father, his buisness, or anything ells useful to her situation
[19:34]<SpiritOfFate>	A good part of them are either recycled material orders from several different groups, or orders of hay for the landfill to a place called Overgrowth Farming Co. Recently though, there are several requests of weaponry from Railgun Guard and of griffin gunmen from Blackfeather. Many recent expenditures.
[19:36]?	Royal_Lace makes note of these developments before moving back to the ledger and opening it, It was time to give the books a good hard look and see how the numbers were looking.
[19:38]<SpiritOfFate>	Royal_Lace can't be sure from all the numbers, but she doesn't think the landfill business is endangered at least.
[19:42]?	Royal_Lace rubs her temples, grinding her teeth in though. 'Ok Lace', she thinks to herself, 'You can do this.... The scrap yard it doing fine finacially so you could always try and destabalize it, but that could have uninteded results like making things worse for slaves. But you could also let the slaves go with teh key... bu then the guards... '
[19:42]<Royal_Lace>	It was all just so much... she needed a plan
[19:43]<Royal_Lace>	Frowning she looks around the room for insperation, moving to a windo if there was one to look out over the scrap yard.
[19:57]<SpiritOfFate>	The scrapyard is below where she can see. The watchtowers light spots all over it.
[20:05]?	Royal_Lace sighs, continueing to think out her delima. '... ok, cause and effect. Guard cant be paid they will leave, so I could steam the money but then that would leave Nick Nack and her father unprotected from the slaves wrath. I could instead make the guards look like they dont know what they are doing.... but then he could always get more or better guards, but how long could he keep that up for?'
[20:06]?	Royal_Lace nods, that sounded as close to a plan as anything yet. Make the guards look incompetent and cost the owner caps. Then Let Nick Nack approch him with a better way, freeing the slaves and offering them work for pay instead of paying for expensive guards to force them to do it.
[20:06]<Royal_Lace>	she wasnt sure if it would work but it was all she had
[20:10]<Royal_Lace>	Turning she gets to work on her first step.... staging a robbery. Pulling out her knife Lace begins to carf letters in the wall spelling out the words, "CANT EVEN CATCH A DRAGON HIDING IN THE JUNK". Smiling she grows to like the idea more and more, maybe the slavers would stop looking for ignis and the rest if they think they never left. Grabbing all the belongings from the safe and the books she teleports back to the attic.
[20:11]<Royal_Lace>	Here she stops to try and hide the loot as best as she can