Rose Picking: Bloody Roses v. Straw Hats

[allendsmeat]

Who: The Straw Hat Pirates v. The Bloody Roses
Where: Isla d Quarzo Rosa
When: 12th-13th
What: Finding that token! hopefully not in bird poo
Warnings: The usual
Status: Closed



The officiant here says a bird ate our token. Good luck getting it. B|

Also info on the island:

♦ ISLA DE QUARZO ROSA

[Direction from Isla Empieza]: Somewhere in the South.

[Terrain]: Clouds and rose quartz gemstones. Wild twisted thorn jungles and cities built out of crystal pillars.

[Weather]: Crystal clear. It’s always warm and bright, thanks to the sunlight reflecting off the stones. It’s best to wear a pair of tinted sunglasses the entire time you are here. Light storms hover over the jungles once in a while but otherwise the island floats high enough that it’s almost always perfect weather.

[Is the island inhabited?]: Yes!

[If so, what is the culture like here?]: The people of the island are very short, the tallest standing around four foot tall, rounded faces, feet flat and duck like, body rounded but human. They are all slightly pink tinted in hair, like everything else around this place. The people here have learned to carve out huge villages in the centers of rose courts crystal pillars. They hunt for food, mostly birds, in the twisting thorn forest.

[Island peculiarities]: The jungles are light brown, pink to green and roll round and round in thick loops, twisting around each other. When tapped the sap inside the twisted tree like roots and thorny vines are sweet and almost intoxicating if you’re not raised on the stuff. Traders will sometimes come and collect sap for sale on the seas.

The island is made up purely of crystal stone, rose colored, jutting out here and there. There is a large deep patch of earth in the far northern side of the island that grows a forest, but nothing else will actually grow there. No crops are made here. This jungle however is FULL of birds. The larger crystal pillars can be hollowed out to build homes in.

The clouds under the city keep it hidden from the seas below, but the vines in the north have gotten so large and so wild that through the clouds thick spiny arms seem to grow and twist under the island as well.

The only food here is some form of bird or another, or strips of baked vines from the forest.

Full jars of sap tapped from the trees of this place fetch a nice price on the "below seas".


Have at, guys!

Comments

[hoodwinking]

[What the hell is this?! First Strider screws things up and now suddenly, the wind's against her. This streak of bad luck's starting to piss her off, but she can detect the faintest bit of foul play involved here. Then, she hears the voice.

Turning her head, she sees... a unicorn? No, this would be an alicorn, wouldn't it? She's certainly a pretty one, but seriously.]

It certainly looked to be. Now now, Miss Pretty Pony, it's not nice to interfere like that.

[letteropener]

Oh, I beg your pardon. I hadn't realized 'nice' was a factor in these races. Certainly, I'm not sure anypony else thinks it is.

[Celestia smiles slyly, tipping her cowboy hat back just a bit with a flicker of magic.]

[hoodwinking]

Of course it is! Honor amongst thieves, and all.

[Smiling sweetly, she brandishes her pistol without a care in the world.]

And it would be really nice if you had let me kill that bird.

[letteropener]

Ah, well. I suppose I'll have to live with the shame of my deeds.

[A pistol, hmm? Magic flares around the alicorn's horn, again, and from beneath her duster she telekinetically produces no fewer than four pistols, drawing them up into loose formation at her sides.]

[hoodwinking]

[She lowered hers a bit, a shocked expression on her face. Shit, was this what this was like?]

N...Now, look, I know that we both wish to win this race, but you don't have to go that far!

[letteropener]

[Oh my. Did she really seem so fearsome? Has she -- has she actually scared someone, not with the force of royal displeasure, but as a legitimate threat and personal danger?]

[Celestia is so delighted by this that she actually stamps her forehooves giddily, twice, even as she does her very best not to grin too broadly.]

Well, you needn't fear. I've modified these guns. They couldn't cause lasting harm unless you struck someone over the head with them. But they are quite a magnificent deterrent!

[hoodwinking]

[For the moment. Truthfully, she wasn't sure how well that pony's aim was, but if it were magic-based, she would be in trouble.]

You're... joking, right? They're not filled with bullets?

[letteropener]

Not these ones. The outmost two are charged with fire and lightning. The ones closest to me are chambered with crystal that resonates with unicorn magic, firing bolts of various intensity depending on how much power I place into them.

[She flips two more guns out from beneath her duster-- a rifle and a long-barreled revolved -- as she speaks, but these her magic keeps carefully aimed at the sky.]

Now these two are unmodified.

[hoodwinking]

[Her tone turns from frightened to... amused! giggling, she leans forward with her hands behind her back. If the pony fired, she'd know what she was dealing with. but, she'll play a little, gazing into the barrel of the rifle.]

Magic is really fascinating! I've been around quite a bit of it, and I've never seen it used like this!

[letteropener]

[Oh no, Celestia isn't here to cause any harm wantonly. But she hasn't quite dropped her guard, either.]

Humans seem to have much less contact with magic in general than ponies do, or so I believe from my time associating with them. I haven't heard of anywhere besides Equestria where the seasons are changed and the sun and moon are raised by magic.

[hoodwinking]

I've never heard of that either! Where I'm from, magic is used as a weapon itself! Which is why this-- [As she points to the rifle.] --doesn't surprise me!

But, this is something new to you too, right?

[letteropener]

Equestria has dabbled in gunpowder for things such as fireworks, but it has never been seriously weaponized. I have guided the land towards peace, so for that to have happened would have been a terrible failure on my part.

[hoodwinking]

Goodness me, and yet here you are, brandishing weapons at a poor cute little girl! [Nevermind the fact that she had a gun in her hand first.]

All I want to do is find the token.

[letteropener]

And all I want to do is stop you, so we are fairly even, are we not? [Celestia sounds more amused than the situation warrants, but this is so out of her normal experience that she can't help but enjoy it. Also she is fearsome, apparently!]

[hoodwinking]

Just a bit! I had no idea you were so invested in the token yourself. [because why else would she be held up like this?]

[letteropener]

My crew wishes to win. And since they are my crew, I will support them to the best of my abilities. [Loyalty, simple as that.]

[hoodwinking]

Oh, be reasonable. What would that Straw Hat even use the shard for? A backscratcher?

[Even if he were rubbery enough to scratch his own back, it's not the point!]

[letteropener]

[Without losing any of her calm, Celestia takes on a tone of mild rebuke.] We all want to get home too, you know.

[hoodwinking]

Of course, of course, and what's wrong with working together to achieve that goal? After all, it's just one round, isn't it?

[Contemplatively, she takes a half-step back, ready to just leave. No, she's not interested in fighting a magical alicorn, especially one that's packing.]

[letteropener]

[That might be a good tactical decision, and one Celestia acknowledges with a sweet smile.] Yes, although I should add, we do intend to win three rounds. So while I wish your crew luck, I don't wish them better luck than ours, I'm afraid.

[hoodwinking]

Well, I can still hope your luck isn't as good as your magical capabilities! [Well, anyway.]

Regardless, I wish you luck anyway! It's no fun if our opponents are weaklings.

[letteropener]

[Celestia laughs brightly, tipping her head back as her mane streams out behind her. Then I can guarantee you plenty of fun!