Mutequest Finale

Okay, this is going to be somewhat of a storyboarding summary than a short thing, but I'll try to be concise as I can. Note, this is based on ideal choices by players (which things were going that way anyways).

The monster in that last post wasn't anything special, more just a pitfall and mainly from Parsnip being there and snoring loud. The next important part would be meeting the Deer, which would end up in capture for destroying Timberwolves/being trespassers-not liking gryphons or minotaur very much and Poppy just along for the ride. There would be a way to avoid this, but like I said above, ideal choices in my opinion (more character development/interaction is always ideal to me).

Despite trying to explain your purposes, the Deer don't care (although how it is explained can help later) and hold you prisoner until word is sent to and received from the king (this is a fringe village compared to big Deertown). That will take time which you don't have, so you have to escape. There's a choice that comes about that you could either get freed by a calf that took interest in your party when you came in or, if not that, Poppy would ask for conference with the leader of this subsect of Deer and make magic happen and get you off. I think the former would be 'ideal' for me, but the calf would follow you and thus more Deer would do the same, which might have ended up being a cluster.

Either way, turns out the Deer had herded the Beast as best they could, but Zebra got involved and it ended up in the stripey lands. It would be late in the escape, though, so one more sleep, one more dream. Would be with Constable dealing with his manager at the art museum/arts center dealing with his exhibit. It'd be short like the first dream and basically give a little more information insight into what Constable had left behind.

Wake up, a little more adventure happens, then the trio meets up with small hunting band of zebra wearing skirts, the leader of it a pretty 'mare-ish' zebra calling Poppy sister upon spotting her. Pretty stripes is Poppy's brother - Subira - and concerned about Poppy being there whereas the rest of the hunting party is either agitated or happy to catch her (and you).

Get taken to zebra camp, placed in front of king (Guvu) and queen (Kujali) with the rest of the tribe circled around you. King does most of the talking, all in rhyming tongue as that is royal Zebra speak (and yes, this is implying Zecora is some kind of zebra royalty - I would have made mention of this one way or another). He barely speaks to you, addressing Poppy, but as Furaha and as his daughter. He admonishes her for running away after poisoning her husband to be (Shindi) and for doing so for as long as she had as well as her other un-Zebra-like habits, then gives her a firm little smack to the face when she tries to explain things in common tongue, trying to rhyme talk despite stumbling in it some.

A little more of that, then you all three get locked up in a hut with guards, given a little food and water. Poppy (she doesn't want to be called her 'Zebra' name) is kind of distant and untalkative even if she gets prodded, so it leaves you and Parsnip and the guard. Despite what has been going on, when you and the minotaur start to nibble some of the food, Poppy offers up the medicine like usual; however, this time, the guard knocks it out of her hooves onto the ground before you can take it (or refuse it considering the whole poisoning thing with the other zebra) and mocks you for taking anything from Furaha. This, in turn, gets Poppy worked up, jumping him in anger, giving you a chance to join in fighting the guard... but once you get outside, it's still a tribe of hunting zebra.

Poppy gets separated for a short time and you and Parsnip get a rougher treatment. It's some unknown amount of time, but still the same day that you get retrieved and brought back before the King and Queen, Poppy beside in formal clothing, Shindi beside her looking smug. The King says you get to witness the wedding of his daughter and their champion before being taken care of. Poppy contests this, saying that she is romantically entangled with you, the tribe making all kinds of ruckus about this. Whether the players acknowledged this or denied it, Shindi's honor would be challenged at the mere concept and there would have to be a fight over it. I'm not usually a hard-mode kind of QM, but this would have been pretty close to breaking that depending on victory of failure. The fight would be harder since the players decided on the not-going into the guard like their father earlier in the CYOA, so they'd have to figure out a brains vs. brawn way of winning.

Victory would have Constable and Poppy 'together' even if the players didn't want it. It'd just be in the eyes of the King and Queen/tribe, though, nothing forced to happen. Winning would also have freedom for Parsnip and you, Poppy and Subira let to lead you to the quarry. This would be getting closer to the climax of things, so not much would happen beyond idle conversation. Maybe another sleep and short dream, albeit without the dose of medicine with food earlier, it wouldn't be much of anything.

Finding the Beast, there'd probably be some strategy talk. Could be some sort of attack or some form of trapping - this would have been largely up to the players. Something would work out and they'd get The Beast caught enough and Subira would explain the legend on needing its saliva for a potion that might work. Luckily, Poppy is the best potion-maker there is in the zebra tribe (and very unconventional at that), so she'll give it a shot. She seems only slightly hesitant, but she'll do it for you. She just hopes things will be the same if it does work.

She makes the potion, dream sequences ensue. I'm not sure how I would have done this, but since the end of the sequence would have to end a certain way, I'd probably just make it another short instance like the first dream was, but a little longer. Basically, would be instances with Poppy, from saving you (and ending up giving her the painting as a gift like she said), to helping you get better and moving around - the end of it would be an agitated Constable dealing with zebra living. It would have been an indeterminate time, Poppy trying to be chipper, but seeming off herself. She'd comment on knowing the catbird wants to go out looking for the Beast that did this to him, but it just wasn't time yet. He'd just try to assert the point that he was tired of waiting and that they should go then. Poppy instead decides she is tired of waiting, gets kind of close with him, wanting to be more intimate since it had been so long.

This turns out to be the last straw, Constable leaving, moving back to where he remembered he lived before - he had gone there (where the CYOA started) as temporary residence for painting in the Everfree for the big show (or that's what he thinks). He goes looking into the forest himself, but finds nothing, returning home. Lacking Poppy's medicine, he loses his memory again until it's to the point where he barely remembers to eat and is focused on his sole purpose for being there - preparing for his exhibit.

That's when the snapback happens and the present returns. Based on this new information, would be the other big choice - to keep around the zebra or not. After everything that had happened, I imagine the players would stay with Poppy - unhappy end happens if they don't. So, we'll assume they do for the rest of this. The potion restored those memories, but nothing too much further just yet aside. It does restore Constable's voice, though, able to talk for the first time. Cue heartwarming embrace, everyone's happy, hooray! I had no plans on what to do with the Beast after this considering the setup with the Deer and all - probably would have tried to convince the players just to let it go. It only 'cursed' the griffon because it crashed into it and all.

The next part would be many more paragraphs to type out and I think I've gone too much in a 'summary' as it is, so I'm going to actually summarize here. Poppy lends Constable the painting of the Poison Joke for his last piece he needs, griffon goes to Canterlot and hopes he isn't late. Turns out he isn't... but he's also not the star he thought he was. Constable is his artist name, the minotaur 'managing' him did suggest that - Gad is his actual name (I had intended to reveal this far earlier, but I could never figure a good time on it). This art show was his last chance at making it into the art world and the paintings that the griffon had done get him into the proper spot. He ends up remembering more, about his parents (his father didn't survive - the artist name was in honor of that) and about his life before heading to the Everfree (he was actually lacking in funds and the house he had near the forest was his actual home instead of just a place for ease of getting to the forest to paint).

Despite thinking griffons were so great, he'd been helped by Poppy (and Parsnip) and had kind of fallen for the former. He learns life lessons about humility and all of that kind of stuff. In the end of it all (in an epilogue-y sort of way), he does turn out to be somewhat successful in art, although he doesn't move to Canterlot. Poppy and he end up settling in a town neighboring the mostly missing Nowhere's Better, zebra opening a potion shop and Gad doing his painting thing among some minor assistance in keeping the peace.

And that's about the sum of everything. Sorry this took forever, sorry it's probably not so great because of several reasons (most of all, being forced to stop writing shortly after I started, then coming back so long later). But hopefully it's some kind of satisfaction to see where things could have gone. Thanks to the players for participating, the bumpers for keeping the thread up, and the readers too.



PS This thing has been sitting around in all my busy times, I realize I never elaborated on the Beast. It was based off of the Catoblepas - http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasios/Katoblepones.html - with what plants it grazed on in the Everfree contributing to what afflictions it caused upon those it breathed upon. The Poison Joke it was eating when Gad encountered it was what mainly caused the lost voice and other herbs making other maladies happen - however, Poppy couldn't heal him fully because of the cursey sort of way things work with the creature. This is why you had to hunt it down and get its saliva.