At the End Commentary: Chapter 33 · 6:52pm Dec 2nd, 2013
This entry contains spoilers for its corresponding chapter of At the End. Be warned...
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
This is likely the most difficult chapter I have ever written. Never before had my brain refused to write more than this. More often than not I had to sit down and force myself to write, as this was taking an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to complete. I had the entire thing scripted about a week after chapter 32 was posted, so there was no excuse.
I understand that part of the reason why was my pet project, the 13 Days of Nightmare Night. Understandably, that took a fair amount of time to complete and I put At the End on temporary hiatus to finish up some of those stories. It still took me about three months total to complete this.
I really wanted to call this chapter “The Calm Before the Storm” like the first chapter, but I did that for the first chapter. I can’t really do that twice. That’s... against the rules or something. Still, it’s not hard to guess why, even after the last scene. I’ve been building up a battle with Era’doth for quite some time, and now it has finally begun. I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
This chapter was dedicated to a variety of scenes that needed to be touched upon before the battle actually occurs. Developing what I had planned for the Crafter’s powers. While not a complete just yet for what has occurred, the idea of using him as an energy battery was something I had planned from the start. It was one of the only real plausible explanations for the abilities the Crafter would develop in the game, and it was something I ran with since day one. Wishing to add a little science into the mix, I did a little studying to have a better scientific reason for more facets, and thus why you have to beat the tar out of everything in order to pick it up.
I also took the time to partition the Crafter’s abilities into ranks. His powers could do one of three things: affect himself, others, or both. I hinted this when the soldier did not heal with the loaf of bread, but Lyra still suffered from a Potion of Slowness’ effects. More elaboration in the future.
The next scene will make a lot more sense in time, but if you hadn’t guessed, Skylar was the host for Brimstone. Although it does make sense to develop the magic flare in case of attack, it hints it’s a little too Crazy Prepared for most officers. This is a problem Brimstone has anticipated, and is willing to call for the Royal Guard for help if needed. This also ties up the loose end of the Crafter describing the Overworld monsters. They know that the attack on Canterlot was due to a creeper now. The only question is how did it get there.
Hexxus’ scene, although injected with a little comedy because he finds Rainbow Dash attractive, was about Diamond Solitaire’s passing line of unexpected weather. Not even Rainbow knows where the weather came from, and that’s something you can always count on she’s on top of. In Dragon’s Teeth, Era’doth is crafting an army of monsters and is using the clouds for a very special purpose. You will see why when the battle begins.
I’ve always imagined Lightning Chaser to be somewhat of a Sherlock Holmes for ponies. What kind of investigator doesn’t investigate? Certainly not her. i needed to fix that, and used her deductions in Dragon’s Teeth in order to help her discover what is going on. The one pony who had any ties to Jetstream, even tangentially, was Zecora. It gave me a little time to develop them both, and show that Brimstone’s machinations are slowly unraveling. There is a confirmed mentalist among them now.
The Crafter coming back allowed me to do two things: fix a mistake I made earlier, which Jim Beam pointed out, and to do something I had been contemplating for some time: minecraft technic. Given that there are more materials available in Equestria, I deemed it only fair that he could develop more recipes based upon their stuff. It was theoretically sound, and I saw no real reason not to do so.
While Cadance and Celestia discuss Herobrine and the oncoming griffons, which I had been hinting at in the background of the story for some time, I also firmly enforce the lingering sense of wrongness that the Crafter’s powers and life exude. For some time now, there have been several mysteries concerning our friend. You may have noticed a few, with the most recent being his blood. Hemos was of course the best one to discover something biologically wrong with the Crafter. Can you guess what it is? I’ve hinted at it a couple times already.
Rarity’s entrance was something I have been wanting to do for a while, mostly because it is the start of the backstory behind Brimstone and Era’doth/Herobrine. Plus, creepy children are creepy, and none more creepy than Sweetie Belle. Brimstone speaking to Rarity via Sweetie is the preamble to the next chapter, Ballad of the Broken King, where something awful and awesome happens. I can’t say. Let’s just state that I will love to write the next chapter.
That squirrel comes. Not much to say about that other than begin Fluttershy’s role in the battle to come, but the ending was something that needed to be there. Of course it does; it is the ending. I felt like I might have made a mistake in the chapter First Blood. I feel like Herobrine is one of those characters where the more he talks, the less interesting he is. He didn’t talk much in that chapter, but it still felt too much. that’s why he is completely silent here as he prepares his army and the Wither. Wondering why that Wither is there? Well, to help with his one real problem. There is going to be a fair amount of tactics and strategy involved in the fight on both ends.
The fog’s rolled in. Pray for your favorites, fans. These ponies are going to have to fight their way out.
Hm.
Really a shame there isn't any Redstone in Equestria...
Imagine the technology!
About the Miner, let me guess: He is artificial, a 'Construct' as you put it, isn't he?
1565171
You'll see...
Congrats on making the front page with this update.
I find Lightning Chaser to be a rather interesting character, hopefully we will see more of her as the story progresses. I mean who isn't a sucker for elite detectives
Now even though this chapter was dedicated to tying up loose ends and the like, I didn't seem out of place within the overall pacing of the story. If I remember correctly, this is something you've mentioned being unhappy with in some of your past blog entries. Perhaps this chapter can stand as a base from which you can refocus, as we continue through the second act.
1565171
Interesting theory you have there. I'm more inclined to believe that the Crafter is a fragment of Eradoth's power. Ergo one cannot exist without the other, or something to that effect. But hey that's just my wildly speculative theory with no real evidence to back it up.
I'm guessing the Crafter's "blood" doesn't actually contain any of the little quirks that actual blood does, like platelets, white blood cells, DNA etc. All that stuff seems a bit too... complicated for the Minecraft engine to handle.
Also, I'm not sure if you've already seen this, but Relevant Video:
1565914
I usually make the heat box with this, mostly because a lot of people have it favorited. As for the lieutenant, I do like her. Her scene with Zecora is a little wonky because I see there there were some things I didn't delete all the way, like the axed scene where Zecora and and Lightning just talk.
Right now, I'm working on two stories, along with a Fallout: Equestria campaign. I've already gathered maps, music, and tokens. Now to write the plot.
1565914
Actually, I do need a few more players. Interested? I believe I recall you saying you dabbled in the dice before.
1566900
Gods don't bleed........ still on the fence on whether I should make a passive reference to it.
1574345
Well you've already confirmed that the Crafter doesn't bleed per say, but if you want something reasonably famous to shout out to with a chapter title or somesuch, might I suggest:
1573731
While my Fallout Equestria knowledge base is some what rusty, I actually have prior experience in play testing table top RPGs. So I would be happy to help out a fellow dice roller
PM me the details whenever you get around to it, and we will take it from there.
1575875
I exposite most of the details very early on, and I will be providing an additional little campaign outline before any gaming begins. It will at least give a fairly comprehensive setting and goals for players. The actual game will probably be sometime in early January, once I can find at least two more players. Including you, I've got one other, and one's who is so on the fence about it I don't know if he can do it. It would be awesome if I could get Kkat to come along, mostly to catch my mistakes.
I hope you have a microphone. I'm using the RollD20 system to host the game, and hopefully use twitch to broadcast it live.
As for additional material, there are already character perks, weapon lists, and game rules available.
1576226
Journeyman pls....it's 2013, I've got a microphone XD
But yeah I gave the guides a quick gander, this looks like it's gonna be pretty hype.
Excuse me while I spend the next several weeks obsessing over what sort of character I'm gonna make
1576421
I might ask you to livestream with me, just so I can test the stream and a few aspects of rolld20. Okay with that? how does saturday sound?
1576509
Yeah Saturday should be just fine for me.
I get home from work around 5:30pm, so anytime after that would be chill.
Sunday and Monday are my true days off. So if we had to reschedule for some reason, those days would work also.
I'll PM you my RollD20 account info, so you can add me to the test campaign.