so we managed to turn someone from thinking we're a guy who busted into their house wrecking everything to a friend
speechcraft op
So. Yeah. Awesomicus is actually Rainbow Dash. Who else uses the term 'egghead'? The rolling-on-his-back-laughing-at-his-own-jokes mannerism also fits. The werewoof is almost certainly Pinkie, given the breaks in the fourth wall and cheerful nonsense.
In other news, speechcraft is great.
In other other news, we need to find Clover or Adorabella, i.e. two of the people who we can be sure won't kill us because they're bored and can hold a rational conversation.
Before that, we should look around and find out the results of the battle. Also we should see if Awesomicus is around.
Speaking of Awesomicus, I can't believe we didn't think to check him for a mark of Azura. Next time we see him, that should be a high priority.
I agree with all of this.
In addition to being manic and party-happy, Pinkie's frequently shown to guess or be aware of things she probably shouldn't be. She has a "Pinkie Sense" that warns her of danger, and occasionally makes elaborate long-winded wild guesses that turn out to be completely right. Being aware of the voices and able to listen to Michael's thoughts makes a fair amount of sense for her.
Speaking of which, that means we're back in the running for being Spike. Not that we're certain there is a Spike or anything.
"Those bites look like they're from a slaughterfish, not a werewolf."
"You a forensic expert?"
"Well, no."
"There you go. Werewolf did it."
Speechcraft is now 23
Best quote yet.
I dunno, I'm pretty fond of:
: "I did your quest, so give me stuff."
: "Ahh, actually there's no reward for finding me just yet. That comes later. You're on a rare quest chain here, not some dinky little fetch quest."
: "I am? Awesome! What's next?"
: "Well, first I have to ask you some questions."
I'd say, at least for Awesomicus, the PC thing is confirmed. He talks like a true gamer, though not one big on RP or lore. "Cut the dialogue," acknowledging the term "quest chain." And he's got Eltonbrand, which no native mind to this universe would ever think to get. And "Wayn" might be the name of whoever plays Clover. Next time we see her, we should call her that and see what happens.
I'd be careful here. It's true he talks like a gamer, but everything he's said so far is fairly reasonable in meaning, just phrased strangely. You'll notice the one who told us about the duel used the term "DoTs." It's plausible that some gamer slang is a result of having to deal with the same things gamers do (and that cultural similarity Yagrum told us about) rather than because they're literal gamers from our or a similar world.
I think what we
really need to ask are questions about his/their origins. Presumably every native was born and such (or at least has memories consistent with that); if the ponies weren't and are willing to admit as much, that could provide some invaluable insight into what they are. If they were, that wouldn't rule out them being special in some way, but it'd complicate things.
BTW, that ascended sleeper moment was awesome. As I read it I imagined something cinematic, like all the other sounds going mute except for the sleeper's voice. A legitimate "oh crap" moment. I think we should find and interrogate a lower-level operative of the Sixth House, a dreamer or sleeper maybe. Someone with a hotline to the Sharmat, but who wouldn't easily overpower us. We need to talk but not be taken.
I think it may be time for another visit to Vivec. We should tell him about these recent developments, perhaps not a meeting but we should at least tip him off through another letter under the door.
I'm in favor of these as medium/long term plans. Finding out exactly what Dagoth Ur wants, both in general and with us, could be pretty vital.
That said, I'm not familiar with either in-game, so maybe that's just my unfamiliarity with vanilla's workings. I still maintain that if the Nerevarine is ponies, Dagoth Ur might be as well, though.
As far as finding the ponies goes... that's a tough one. In-show they typically just sort of wander around and meet up or fetch each other as necessary, but they do have places they're often found. In-game, PCs are likely to keep pretty busy.
That said, I do have a guess on finding one in particular: the new construction near Dren Plantation. Being located near an existing plantation makes me suspect it's a farm itself, and Applejack is shown working on her farm fairly frequently. The odds that her equivalent is there at any given moment sounds reasonably likely... unless, of course, the quirks of the game world mean there's nothing for her to work on except harvesting alchemy ingredients once a month.
Twilight (Clover) is usually found in a library, which is also where she lives. It's a giant tree in-show. The odds that she's obsessively researching Corprus at the moment sounds fairly likely, though I have no idea where that might be. Somewhere in Vivec or the Corprusarium maybe?
Rarity (Adorabella) is usually found in her clothing shop. A Hlaalu manor could work for that, but so could a lot of places.
Rainbow Dash (Awesomeicus) doesn't have a static place to stay, that I know of. Of course, in-show she can treat clouds as solid objects, which gives her the ability to lounge about anywhere.
Flutteryshy (*Unknown*) is typically found at her home stuffed with animals, some of which are patients. Could be anywhere/anything.
Applejack (*Unknown*) is usually found on her farm, working hard. As mentioned, the new place near Dren Plantation could fit the bill.
Pinkie Pie (Pink Elf/Werewoof) is usually found working at a sweets shop. I know of nothing that would mimic that in-game.
Speaking of which, SexyWithers has some potential to be Fluttershy. I don't like the theory, but the fact that she's snagged Ulvirith bothers me. With Awesomeicus likely being Dash, we're running out of ponies for Sexy. It's possible she's simply not a pony, but that raises all kinds of headaches regarding what PCs are or aren't.
If she is a pony, we're left with one of the following:
Applejack. Hard-working, so potentially the skill grinding could be determination... but nothing else fits. She's not psychotic, she's got no similarity with Telvanni except growing things, and I wouldn't think she'd shout "thirty points!" while murdering people.
Fluttershy. Fluttershy's been shown to have a darker side that sometimes triggers, so I guess if she's just in constant rage mode she could be Sexy. Otherwise, she's basically the opposite of a bold murderer. The question then would be why she's been a lunatic for every piece of evidence we've seen her in; in-show it's a rather rare event brought about by magic or deliberate attempts to overcome her weakness.
Spike. If we're going by the gamertag theory, Spike could potentially have a thing for ponies and thus be playing a hot female character. For added minutiae, Yagrum called her flat-chested a bunch, which might fit with a dragon's sense of taste. Other than that, though, he's not known for being a psychopath either unless he's on a greed binge. If we assume Balmora Butcher and Sexy aren't the same, this might make more sense, but we've still got Yagrum calling her a sociopath directly.
Rainbow Dash. It's possible we're wrong on Awesomeicus; we've certainly been wrong before. But calling Clover an egghead and then rolling on the ground laughing really reminds me of Dash more than Spike. Spike would, I think, make a bad joke and then maybe slap his knee or something. Maybe a bad pun. But egghead and then uncontrollable fits of laughter makes this one really hard to write off as a mistake, at least for me.
So... Berserkershy seems like the most likely, unless we can write off Sexy as a not-pony. But since the "withers" are a part on a horse, it really doesn't make any sense that she's not a pony at all. I guess... she could be a pony villain or something? The MLP movie did feature a pony slipping into a mirror-world where everyone was human(ish). I guess something similar is possible here...