Equestria Girls: Sword Coast Adventures

by King Cuddles

Chapter 1 (edited)

Sword Coast Adventures

By: King Julius I

Chapter I

Making his way down the stairs, Shining Armor carried two large, Grey plastic tubs into the basement of his home. The two hundred square foot room, which was just a storage area in recent years, was not long ago made into what his mother calls "Your dad's man cave". A soft, grass colored carpet was put down, insulation and sheet rock were put up, the latter of which was painted his father's high school colors and was covered with pictures of his friends and family. A sofa and a couple of reclining chairs surrounded a wooden coffee table which sat in front of a 60" flat screen T.V. mounted on the south wall. A large poker table sat at the room's center, which Shining sat the tubs on. Walking around the table, satisfied that it should have enough room for him, his sister Twilight and all of her friends, he began to unpack one of the tubs. He pulled out a small stack of books, which he set aside. Next, he pulled out a long piece of folded cardboard, which he unfolded and placed on the table. The image of a group of adventurers fending off an enraged dragon adorned one side of the cardboard, which provides a barricade for Shinings' section of the table. He then took out a worn black and white notebook and a large, black, velvet bag and places them behind his screen. Opening the notebook, he looked over its pages, rearranging any loose papers or notes within.

After spending some time re-familiarizing himself with the material he would need tonight, he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Looking up he could see his sister Twilight Sparkle, followed by three of her new friends.
"Wow Twilight," Sunset Shimmer looked around the room, "This is pretty amazing."

"Yea, when you said you had the room you weren't kiddin." Applejack spoke up next, walking over to examine the T.V.

“It's...Nice.” Fluttershy meekly said from behind Sunset.
Twilight fiddled with a lock of hair, "It's nothing much, Dad got a big promotion at work and he always wanted to do something with the basement so...." She moves over to the table with Shining Armor, "Thanks for doing this for us Shiny, the others should be here soon."

"It's okay Twily," Shining replied, "I was just going over everything to get ready. Does everyone have their characters ready?"

"Got mine right here," Sunset spoke up, walking over to the table and handing him a piece of paper.

“Got mine too.” Applejack replied.

“Um...me too.” Fluttershy quietly squeaked.

The two of them took a piece of paper out of a book they were each holding, handed them to Shining Armor and joined Twilight and Sunset at the table.

“And here's mine,” Twilight pulled some paper out of her own book and handed it to Shining.
He looked over each piece of paper, "let's see, we have a Barbarian, a wizard, a sorcerer and a druid. Hm. Not bad, but none of them have names." He wrote down a few things and handed everyone back their characters.

Twilight opened her bookmark loaded Players Handbook and laid out her character sheet. “Nobody could think of any good names so we decided to use our own.”

Shining thought for a second, “Sounds okay to me. Did anyone bring any dice?” He looked around the table, Everyone shook their heads. “That's okay, I have plenty.” As Shining Armor went through one of the plastic tubs three more people came down the stairs.

“Wow, This is pretty awesome,” Rainbow Dash said, approaching the table.
"Yes, It certainly is...," Rarity took note of the rooms horribly clashing colors, "Something else."

Pinkie Pie darted around the room in a blur, "Perfect for our PARTY!!!" She shouted and threw confetti everywhere.

"It's not that kind of party Pinkie." Twilight reminds her. "Did you have any trouble finding the house?"

“Not at all darling.” Rarity said as she took a seat between Rainbow Dash and Flutter Shy. “The directions you gave us were very clear, and your mother let us in as soon as we arrived.”
"That's good," Twilight said, "Do you have your characters?"

“Of course darling” Rarity laid her backpack onto the table.

“Got mine right here” replied Rainbow.
"YEP," said Pinkie. They each pulled out a sheet of paper and gave them to Twilight, who passed them to Shining Armor as soon as he was done shuffling around in his tubs.

Shining took the sheets and looked them over. "A Rogue, Ranger and a Bard, Nice diversity." He made a few more notes then gave them back their sheets. "Okay", Shining sat down a black velvet sack the size of a football on the table, "There's plenty of dice to go around."

As Applejack, Sunset, Fluttershy And Twilight searched through the diverse colors of dice, Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow pulled out little clear boxes, each with a set of polyhedral dice. "We passed a hobby store on the way here," Rarity said, "I had been there a few times before and remembered seeing these, so we each got some," She held up a purple d10, Pinkie pulled out a cotton candy colored one and Rainbow spread hers out, each one adorned with the colors of the rainbow. "If I had known everyone else needed some I would have got more."

“That's okay Rarity.” Applejack replied, “Looks like we got plenty.”

Shining Armor looked over his screen, “You each should have a d6, 4, 8, two 10's, a 12, and a 20.”
Everyone looked through their dice and confirmed they had the right ones.

Shining stood up and cleared his throat to address everyone, "Hello, My name is Shining Armor, I'm Twilights’ older brother and tonight I'll be your Dungeon Master, your guide to the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Tonight we're going to play a game I made during my second year of high school so I think it will be an excellent adventure for your group to start on. Now I'm going to walk you through the game slowly at first so if you have any questions, just ask.

Rarity raised her hand as if waiting for the teacher to call on her.

“Yes?”

“How long do these games usually last?”
"Normally a couple of hours, but I can stop whenever your all ready," Shining replied. "Anything else?"

"When are we having dinner I'm starving?" Rainbow groaned which earned an elbow to the side and a stern look from Rarity. "What?"

Shining chuckled. "When Twily told me you all were staying the weekend, Mom went ahead and stocked up on food. But for tonight I ordered some pizzas, they should be here in a bit." Shining's statement was met with cheers of appreciation. "Anything else?"

“Don't we need some of those little figures?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Usually yes. I have some for you when we need them.”

Sunset smiled and leaned back in her chair.
"If there are no more questions then everyone can introduce your character and we can begin."

Pinkie pie almost jumps out of her chair, "I'm a Human Bard. I play music and entertain people. Also, it's how I use my magic."

Applejack stood next. “Ah'm a Human Barbarian. Ah use my strength to protect everyone.”

Twilight looked over her character. “I'll be playing a Half-Elf Wizard. I'm not very strong and only a few spells I have are offensive so I'll be fighting from the back.”

Sunset stood next. “I'm a Human Sorceress. My HP is low, but most of my spells are for fighting.”

Rainbow was next. “I'm a Half-Elf Ranger. I'll be Shooting bad guys with my bow. And being generally awesome.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. “I shall be the Moon Elf Rouge. What I lack in strength I make up for in stealth and elegance.”

Everyone looked to Fluttershy, who after trying and failing to disappear into her seat, slowly stood and spoke in a quiet voice, “I'll be the Wood Elf Druid. I can talk to animals and um...” she stopped talking and sat down, Signaling Shining the begin.

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Our story begins on the Sword Coast, in the city of Neverwinter. An exciting place, where many have come to start anew. Each of you, for one reason or another, have found yourselves in an inn known as The Soggy Rat. After a few hours of talking to different people about yourselves and your adventures, you were called to the back by one of the barmaids to meet with a mysterious Hooded man. Once you are seated, the man tells you that he has been listening to each of you and may be able to provide a job. "My Employers," he starts, "Are looking to hire those who can prove themselves worthy. There's steady pay, you'll be helping people, and on your journey, you may find whatever it is each of you seeks. All you must do is pass a little......entrance exam."

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"I'm not too sure about this guy." Applejack said.

“I agree.” replied Rarity, “He seems a bit shady if you ask me, what if he's lying just to cheat us?”

“You can check.” Shining said, “You can make a perception, or if you have it, an insight check.”

“How?” Asked Rarity.
"Roll a d20 and add your Wisdom or Insight bonus."

Rarity looked over her Character sheet, then rolls. "Thirteen plus..... I get another two if I'm proficient in it yes?" Shining nodded. "Then it's 17."

“Nice, you pass. You can tell that this man's offer is genuine and he doesn't seem to be misleading you.”

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“What kind of employers?” Applejack asked.

“You will know once you complete your test.” The Hooded Man replied. “So are you in?”

Everyone shared a worried look.

The next morning the party was on their way to a small town on the other side of the Sword Mountains. They had all agreed to go and the Hooded Man informed them that two weeks ago a regular caravan of supplies was sent to a small, soon to be, farming town that had yet to even be named. When the caravan didn't return, a small party was sent to investigate but they haven't been heard from either. They must find the mayor of the town, a dwarf named Ironcliff, and discover what, if anything, has happened to the town and solve the problem.

“So where are we going?” Sunset asked, looking over Twilights shoulder at the map. Pinkie had begun playing traveling music on her lute and Rainbow was telling very hard to believe stories about some of her adventures.

“Around here.” Twilight points to an otherwise empty clearing on the map. “That guy said the town is new and wouldn't appear on many maps.” she pointed to where they were and drew a line across the map with her finger, “If we go this way we should get there in another couple of days.”

“Cool, Where should we stop to rest?”

Twilight looked over the map, then points to an area along the coast, “Here should be fine. We can take a few breaks but we should try to travel as much as we can during the day.”

“Sounds good, I'll let everyone know.”

*******************************************************************************

Shining flipped through a few pages of his notebook. “The next few days are mostly uneventful. You would see or hear wolves or goblins now and again but the size of the party kept them from getting too close. The day came for you to arrive, you're about two miles outside of town when you come across an overturned cart. As you approach you can see a number more, either turned over or almost destroyed.”
"I want to look around," Rainbow said.

“Roll Perception”

“....Um....22”

********************************************************************************

"You can see the signs of battle everywhere. Blood, both new and old, can be seen on all of the carts and along the ground. Looking into the carts you can see that any useful supplies have been taken."

Rainbow turns to the party, "looks like they were attacked and robbed.

“They must be the supply carts.” Fluttershy looked around, trying to avoid touching any blood.
"Maybe it's raiders?" Applejack suggested as she uses one of her javelins to poke around some broken crates.

Rarity moved around to look at the carts. "I don't see any bodies. If it were raiders, then why would they take the bodies." The party got a chill then looked around worriedly. "What say we continue on?" everyone agreed and continued towards their destination.

When the party finally arrived at the town, the first thing they noticed was a wall made of more overturned carts, wooden crates, and barrels. Walking along the wall they came to an opening that looked to have been forced inward and there was blood around the insides.

"Oh my, isn't this quite grim." Rarity stepped through behind Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack. The town was devoid of any signs of life. Looking around, everyone could see that the town had been through a hard time. most of the buildings look to have been broken into, the doors forced in and the rooms inside ransacked. Only a few building seemed to still be intact, their shutters and doors closed tight.

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"Everyone make a perception check," Shinning said, looking at everyone over his screen.

The sound or dice rolling across the table echoes through the room.

“13” replied Rainbow Dash.

Rarity happily cheers, “I rolled a 20, that's good right?”

“A natural 20 is a critical success.” Shining replies.

“I got 18.” Pinkie nearly shouts.

“5 for me.” said Twilight.

“Same” Sunset states.

“Ah got a 10.” Applejack said plainly.
The last was Fluttershy who sunk into her seat, "7," she squeaked.

************************************************************************************************************

Shining clears his throat, "Okay, Rarity and Pinkie look around and notice a building that they believe to be the mayor's home."

"This looks to be the place." Rarity walked down the street with Pinkie alongside and everyone following behind.

The party came to a boarded up building in the middle of town, it seemed to have been beaten and attacked several times but has held. Scratches and blood streaks cover the door and shutters.

“So,” Rainbow looked around the outside of the house. “Should we knock?”
"I'LL DO IT!!!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she pushes past her friends and approaches the door. She knocked heavily on the door, "Hellooooo, Is anyone iiinnnn there?" she sing songs. Silence fills the air, after a few seconds she tried again, "We're here to help!"

After a few more seconds of silence, a voice comes from inside the house, “Prove it.”

Everyone looks at each other.

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“What?” Rainbow asked.

“Prove it? How are we suppose to do that?” Applejack looked around the table.

Sunset folded her hands in thought, and after a moment turns to Shinning, “Did that hooded guy give us anything that might help?”

“Roll Intelligence to remember.”

Sunset rolled,”......12”
"You remember seeing a seal or logo on the back corner of the map when you were looking at it yesterday."

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Sunset pulled the map they were given from her pack and pushes it through a knothole in one of the window shutters. After a few seconds, the door opens to reveal an old Dwarf with a long white beard hanging down to his knees. His bald head is covered in a few scars and his wrinkled face speaks of his age. "It's about time someone came," the Dwarf said, "Hurry, come inside."

The party entered the modest sized house and either sat on some of the small furniture or simply stood around waiting for the Dwarf. Once the Dwarf had the door secure he walked over to his guests and took a seat in a wooden rocking chair. "I'm glad someone has finally come to our aid. It's been weeks since our last supplies failed to arrive and anyone we sent out gets taken or killed by those "Things". I am Ironcliff, the mayor of this little town and I am in desperate need of your help."

“That's what were here for sir,” Sunset said with a reassuring smile. “What exactly happened here? Where are the town guards, and what “Things” are you talking about?”
Ironcliff let out a small sigh. "It all started a little over two weeks ago. You see this town is still being thrown together and we require certain supplies from outside sources like raw iron, building materials, some foods, and guards. About once a month a small caravan will deliver the supplies and bring in new guards to rotate out the old. But this month the caravan was late. I sent out a few men to Waterdeep to check on the shipment, but they have yet to return. A few nights later a small group of about six came into town killing and dragging off two whole families. About twelve of the town guard were sent north after the killers. The next morning only seven of them returned, beaten and bloodied. When I asked them what happened they said that a necromancer had made camp at some ancient graveyard a few hours to the north of here and was raising the dead." Everyone was listening intently to the old dwarf's story, except Fluttershy, who was now hiding behind Applejack. "That night, more of those things came into town and attacked my citizens. We started to construct a barricade and tried to wait it out but they surprised us during the day and almost all of our guards fell. Even after the barricade was finished, they found a way to break through. At this moment there are maybe a dozen citizens remaining, including myself, and their fear has kept them from seeing reason and they hold up in their homes, instead of staying together." He rose from his chair, "I am old and my old battle wounds are great, would you seek out the cause of our strife and deal it the justice it so rightly deserves?"

The group of friends exchange knowing glances and they all stood straight and proud, except Fluttershy who was still trying to disappear behind Applejack.
"Of course we will," Sunset stated proudly.

“Darn right we will.” Applejack confirmed, making Fluttershy “eep” in response.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about this necromancer ?” Twilight asked as she recorded everything Ironcliff had said on a piece of parchment.

“I myself never saw him, and the guards never said anything more that he was a black cloaked figure that could raise the dead.”

Twilight nodded, scribbled down some final notes and put away her parchment.

The Party stood outside Ironcliffs' house, checking their weapons and going over their prepared spells. "I wish you luck adventurers," Ironcliff said, "Please, do come back in one......oh no!"

The party turned to where Ironcliff was looking to see a small group of shambling figures headed there way. The figures were covered in wounds and blood. One was holding his own intestines in his hand as he moaned and unsteadily approached the Party.

************************************************************************************************************

“ZOMBIES!!!!!” Shouted Pinkie Pie.
"That's right," Said Shining Armor, "And it also means that it's time to roll Initiative."

“Roll what?” Asked Applejack.
"Initiative," Replied Twilight as she turned to a bookmarked page in here Handbook. "It determines the order in combat. Everyone rolls a d20 and adds their dexterity bonus."

Everyone rolled their dice and Shining recorded the results. He then started rummaging through one of his tubs until he pulled out and unfolded a large hand drawn map of a town which was covered in a square grid. He then set out a number of zombie looking figures at one side of the grid and then placed seven different looking figures out near one of the houses. "Okay, these here are your figures" Shining showed each of them the figure that represented their characters. "And these down here are your enemies. The order is Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack, Zombies and then Fluttershy.

************************************************************************************************************

Twilight pulls out a magic tome,"I'll Start this off with Magic Missile," She said as she held out her free hand and casts the spell. Three bolts of energy launched forth from her hands and struck the first zombie. It Staggered back but then continued to approach. "Aw man, it's still up." She said, little crestfallen.

************************************************************************************************************

"It's okay Twilight." Shining put his hand on his sister's shoulder, "Your only level one, and that was a good hit." Twilight seemed to perk up at her brother's kind words. "Alright Pinkie, Your up." Shining moved the game along.

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“Okay” Pinkie moved her miniature, "I'll move between A.J. and Rainbow and cast Bardic Inspiration on Rarity. And that will be it"

“Oh. Thank you darling,” Rarity looked over the battlefield in front of her. She then dashed off to another building.
"Hey" Rainbow shouted after Her, “Where are you going?”

“I have a plan.” was the only response she got as Rarity continued running away from the group.
"Don't worry Rainbow," Sunset called, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing." She then turned back to the fight. “I cast Fire Bolt.” she held out one of her hands to cast the spell and an orb of fire shot forth towards the first zombie. The flame struck the zombie and lit what clothes it was wearing ablaze. “You see, no problem.”
"Not bad," Rainbow pulled out her bow and an arrow, lined up a shot with the second zombie and let it fly. The arrow found purchase in the creature's chest. "YEA, that's how it's done. Applejack, Your up."

Applejack looked over the enemies in front of her. After a moment's thought, she set aside her Greataxe and pulled out a Javelin. She held out her left arm as a guide and with a great shout, hurled the weapon as hard as she could.

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“Ah got a 1.” Applejack said, looking at Shining.
"Oh," Shining replied with a wince. "Well, that's a critical fail."

Rainbow Dash launched into a fit of laughter, which earned an angry look from A.J.
"Okay," Shining drew their attention back, "Let's see what happens." the rolling of his dice could be heard from behind his screen.

************************************************************************************************************

The Javelin flew over the enemies and into a window, eliciting a scream from some of the survivors inside.

Rainbow placed a hand on Applejack's shoulder. "The enemies are down here." her teasing only earned a growl from the Barbarian.

Whilst the two argued, the Zombies bared down on the party.

“Um...I think I'm just going to move over here.” Fluttershy ran to a building on the left side of the road.

“Not you too.” Call Rainbow.

“It's okay.” Twilight spoke up, “Her character isn't much of a fighter so keeping her distance is a good idea.”

“What about you?” asked Applejack.

“I can support you from here for a bit.” Twilight lifted a fist towards one of the approaching zombies. She then opened her hand to reveal a small diamond, which began to glow as she chanted an incantation. Before long the glowing orb launching off towards its target and struck it in the chest. The ball erupted in a flash of fire, knocking the zombie back.

Immediately after Twilights' attack hit, Pinkie Pie charged forward unsheathed her Rapier and loped off the closest zombies head, causing its body to fall to the ground.

“Nice one Pinks.” Cheered Sunset. "But Um," She looks around, "Wheres Rarity?" Just then, an arrow flew out of an alleyway and embedded itself in a zombies neck, “Never mind.” Sunset moved to the left and then unslung her crossbow. She took aim and launched a bolt into the head of the same zombie, which promptly fell to the ground. “Nailed it!”

As Sunset celebrates, Rainbow Dash quickly produced another arrow and dispatched the zombie directly if front of her. “Aw yea baby, I'm in it to win it!”
Deciding not to take another chance with a Javelin, Applejack held up her Greataxe and charged one of the zombies. She swung wildly and managed to take off one of its arms and embedded her weapon in its torso.

The creature responded by flailing its remaining arm at her, but couldn't seem to reach her in this awkward state.
Just then all of the remaining zombies seemed to stop dead in their tracks. They stood like statues for a moment and then turned to leave town all at once. A.J. quickly finished off the one in front of her before meeting with everyone in front of the Mayors' house. "What was that? They all just took off."

"I'm not sure." Ironcliff said, "They've never left without taking someone, perhaps their master has summoned them back?"

“Perhaps.” Sunset looked at her friends. “I know we just finished a fight but I think we need to hurry and find that necromancer.”

“Shouldn't we rest?” Asked Rarity, “Should we not be at the top of our game when we face him?”

“Normally I'd agree, but the longer we wait the more zombies he can create, and if were careful we might catch him off guard.”
The group spent several minutes discussing whether or not to go after him now of rest, in the end, they decided to attack.

“That settles it then,” Sunset looked out towards the distant horizon. “We're off to fight the necromancer.”

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"I'm glad everyone is ready to fight but I think now is a good place to stop for a bit," Shining said, standing from the table. "Besides, the pizza’s here.”
A silence filled the room before the chime of the doorbell could be heard throughout the house.

“PIZZA!!!!” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash shouted in unison.

“We'll continue when everyone is done eating.” Shining headed upstairs with the girls in tow, paid for the pizza, and relaxed as the girls sat around the dinner table eating and talking battle strategy.[/pre]

Comments

[Rhulain]

I knew it. As soon as it said the bodies and supplies were gone. I knew it was zombies.

Any army, even an undead one, needs supplies on some level.