Plot for the arc that never finished.So what was supposed to happen was:
Tartarus was being occupied by a mercenary force that gained entry after a few unicorns like those in Weaver infiltrated an incoming rotation sent to relieve some of the boys. They sabotaged junk enough to open the doors and cause the real guards to retreat down to the third level (high value but otherwise mundane prisoners). You’d have figured things out – aside from it being obvious I felt – through clues such as no supplies, discarded personal effects, the files and information in the archives being picked through without care etc.
After the characters figured it out you’d have been forced to retreat down like the guards had since the mercenaries would have turned the battery of turrets and stuff at the entrance against you. There you’d have met the real warden (guy upstairs is the second in command of the mercs) who would have recognized Charybdis to in fact be someone named Scylla who is known in the Griffon Empire to be a terrorist. Blah blah relevance WAAAAAY down the line but would have probably been a brief discussion here given more pressing matters.
Once given a full explanation of how the prison got dingle danged youd have been told that communications could be made through some devices on the second level. Hopes would be low though since that level got royally crunched by the unicorns when they broke everything since cutting comms would obviously be one of the first things they’d go for. You would have had the option to take the second level anyway but wouldn’t have been able to get any word out. You WOULD have gotten food and supplies for the remaining guards though since they’d basically been starving down on the third level with nothing but the stuff they had on them when
**** went down. Ultimately you would need to go further down to solve things.
Charybdis, now just going by Scylla since the secret would be out, would be familiar with these mercenaries, as would anyone with extensive knowledge of such groups. She’d be able to fill everyone in if need be as you go down to try and find out both where they’re leader was and what they were up to.
On your way downstairs youd have dealt with a few prisoners and things released by the mercs on the condition they act as extra muscle in exchange for freedom. These included: A large golem of stone and metal, some serpent people with spook magic, and an accidentally released magical pox infecting the fifth or sixth level. There also would have been a satyr with weird powers that blew off the mercs after getting released and was just kind of doing whatever he wanted.
Reaching… I don’t remember… the seventh level? Something like that. You’d have found the boss of this little area. The unicorns that sabotaged the prison would be at work disarming a bunch of magic runes and
**** keeping a sarcophagus contained in a woo woo magic bubble so arcane wow. With them would be the second in command – he’d have gone down soon after you got chased lower to catch up with the boss – and the guy in charge. He’d have been a minotaur for funsies and hefting a big ol’ axe and a full suit of armor with crystals and
**** to make it fancy and magikarp. Strategy there would have been removing the crystals – conveniently floating just off the surface of what they’re set into – to weaken him enough to either knock him out or trap him in one of the vacant cells around the level.
Way I saw the encounter going was either the group spreading out even amongst the unicorns, lieutenant and boss or people focusing on certain areas. The unicorns would mostly ignore you all to focus on the cell with the lieutenant using his chain and sickle to distract and keep you back while boss played the major threat in trying to make you all notably less lively. If, for whatever reason, you tried to ignore the minotaur entirely then Scylla would have managed to deal with him alone since she’d had to in the past. She’d have just been pissed afterwards and junk.
Notable detail here would have been the boss’ axe crystal allowing him to cut through magical barriers, this being show when Mana Burn would have tried to just contain him right away. Scylla would keep this crystal through sleight of hand after he was beaten since it would probably come in handy against all these dang ass unicorns and their superior race’s magic.
Anyway, you’d fail to stop them from releasing what’s in the sarcophagus. Damn, twice? You’re not super great at this are you? That’s fine, there’s always next time. Anyway, there’s a unicorn in it cause of course there is. The remaining unicorns help him through another portal cause that’s their gimmick in this arc. They’d keep the mercenary lieutenant with them too, so he’d escape with ‘em while the boss stays behind all beaten and stuff. The characters, the warden or Scylla would force him to call of the rest of the mercs who would just bail since they’d think they didn’t stand a chance if he lost to you guys and your shiny stat blocks. The satyr I mentioned earlier would make a brief appearance and would be livid that the unicorn actually got out as theres a chance he’d have actually gotten around to helping you guys if he’d learned more about what they were doing. He escapes by the way.
You guys – or Thunder if no one thinks to – would most likely ask the obvious question of “who was in the sarcophagus?”
Cutting backwards in time a little while we’d have some story with Gleam going to Corona to investigate things. He’d have grown suspicious of Lion Hearts handling of the investigation after his visit from the person claiming to be sent by him to update Gleam. While in Corona he’d have met with the captain of their guard. Willows woulda been her name. I remember that because she’d have been important for a while if things had gone how I’d hoped. Anywho, in Corona he’d eventually have reason to be poking around the castle and Heart would have been noticeably uncomfortable with his presence and confused if his agent is mentioned at all.
Punchline is hes arrested like seconds before a portal opens and drops off the unicorn from Tartarus. Gleam would know who it was and said the name “Kash” just before we cut back to the crew at Tartarus.
Jump forward a few hours from the fight and the guards are running their protocols to contain the prisons lower levels while you guys are getting first aid or otherwise resting near the top. The real warden would promise that the repairs on the communications device would take only a few days to fix and that so long as they have the gate under control nothing should be able to escape before help can be called. A team is also immediately dispatched to Weaver to secure the cyclops.
Returning to the question of who the unicorn was youd be given a file with limited information. Basically all you’d have learned is that he was in Tartarus to serve a life sentence for “international crime” and that his abilities can “affect peoples loyalties”. Basically he mess with peoples egg salads but they don’t want to outright say it. Frustratingly vaguebut at least slightly helpful you’d be left with asking about how the unicorns got into the prison and would learn here – if you hadn’t already by then – that the group they’d arrived with were sent from Corona.
Oh. The no. What have we but betrayal to look back on. Kinda, sorta, meh and humbug.
You’d make plans to go to Corona from here since going to Canterlot would take too long and waiting for help would also take too long. The file, while vague, would at least make a point of mentioning that if the prisoner escaped that time would be of the essence in containing him lest things get serious all quick like givin the egg salads and his messing of them.
Point is you’d go to Corona or I’d turn this car around.
“But wait!” says Scylla, “I might have a mcguffin to help with mind control! Trust me - the terrorist - and follow me to a remote location where no one can hear you scream.”
You’d better do it, cause she knows some things you don’t, mainly where this mcguffin is and why you’d need it cause its actually real. Mostly.
Following her – I WILL turn this car around – you come to a shack on the way to Corona. Scylla has a secret here in the form of another god dang horn pony named Cada whom is intended to be kind of creepy. She… Let’s just say she was intended to be the most important character I’d have ever written here on this forum- or anything pony related I guess - and leave it there for now cause she’d take up the rest of this post.
You spend time there and would be offered a deal to help. You get what you need to deal with Kash, she knows who he is, and you, or more specifically anyone with the authority, promise her one afternoon of unsupervised access to Corona Castle’s library. The car keeps going whether or not you take this deal but it would change how things rolled at Corona since taking it provides you with a journal written by someone involved with Kash’ original imprisonment. Included with this journal would have been a
**** load of backstory and some hastily jotted down notes near the end that, through study, can be translated to a sort of defensive spell intended to keep someone’s mind from being tampered with. Mana Burn would be capable of using this spell along with anyone of noteworthy magical aptitude. The rest of you… hmph… “people” are just going to have to be careful. And try not to scuff the horns they’re more valuable than your lives.
If asked, Scylla claims that she will be fine and the group doesn’t need to worry about her when it comes to getting brain boggled.
Mewving on, I’d never decided on if I wanted to actually put this in but I considered a short cutaway where Captan Willows of Corona is escaping her own guards as they are being converted over to same side as the Cortoza whom are revealed to be totally loyal to Kash. Sprinkled in would also be scenes of Kash and Gleam talking as they have a long history and it would allow people to get some character from him even if it was out of character.
Once you get to Corona you would have found the city in lockdown and the weather would finally be breaking into some rain. How thematically convenient! Civilians are being kept from leaving through the gates and anyone trying to fly would be either tackled or shot down then captured. Getting in would obviously be a challenge but help comes in the form of Minos.
Remember Minos? No, I’m not letting that idea go, I swear I could have done something with them and you can’t convince me otherwise. They’d have in some way or another gotten into contact with you guys outside of Corona with an offer to help smuggle you inside. Scylla would be against trusting them and would remind you all of her theories from the beginning with her still kind of convinced this is all their fault.
Minos would explain: Yes, they are to blame! But only to a point, and they aren’t happy with how things are going down.
See, they were hired way back by Lion Heart to acquire some journals for him to add to his collection of Tartarus relevant items. These journals were penned by Kash himself before he was imprisoned and were enchanted in a way that would compel someone to want to seek him out and return them. Originally this was legit just his way of not wanting people to run off with his personal writings or to just get them returned if he forgot them somewhere, but overtime the magic went off and his imprisonment meant he couldn’t be reached. This caused the enchantments to go from simple compulsion to return a lost item to a growing obsession that eventually took over Lion Hearts gray matter. Kash was also related to the original Cortoza – the connection that Gleam shared with him – and this obsession eventually caused Lion Heart to reform the group and make the journals required reading. Bingo bango cult-a-made-o.
Now, Minos don’t
**** with no spookums from Tartarus, so none of their agents read the journals for fear they might learn something they didn’t want to know, but they were more than happy to let some other idiot do it if they paid them first. This means they didn’t now about any of that but they did know about how they were hired to get information about the guard rotations and such in Tartarus. Normally they don’t do anything if it means tampering with Tartarus’ security since they also live on this planet and having things kill it would be lame, but they were offered a LOT of money to do this and couldn’t refuse. They could, however, give a very stern warning using their tough guy voices telling Lion Heart that he better not, like for serious don’t(Im not even kidding – I mean come on - ), do anything to jeopardize Tartarus beyond level 4 (moderate magical threats).
So he did.
Minos is trying to fix things in a way that doesn’t get them killed and needs you guys in the city to do it. They’ve been smuggling supplies in to assist the remaining free guards, including Willows, and keep them going. Why don’t they leave? Because they’re all that’s stopping the turned guards from steamrolling over the civilians and getting this whole processing step of Kash’ plan done in a few hours. They’re refusing to leave out of loyalty to their oaths to protect the people and Minos thinks they are a bunch of goobers because of it though they appreciate how they’re slowing them down.
Why don’t you guys go get help while they work on things here? If you don’t get back in time youll find the city “normal”. If you prove it isn’t normal then you suddenly have a CITY full of people willing to die to protect Kash. Ever try to cut through mobs of civilians to reach the main baddie? Your arm gets tired.
I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND!
So how come if Minos knew about how this stuff was getting bad and wanted to stop it they didn’t just go tell the royal guards? Or heck the regular guards in corona?