Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

[Nevermort]

Bird: I'll tell you if a decision has ramifications on your epilogue.

Reader: Ah, but what if the decision has secret, sneaky, ramifications on our epilogue!

Like, come on. You can not want to do the Mareinette Sacrament, fine. But at some point this is just silly.

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Final state of Mareinette would affect epilogue one way or another unless you consider her to be so insignificant that she would not even deserve a mention in it. Be it friendly cannibal Mareinette, theorized Harmonized Mareinette, or free and holding a grudge Mareinette any should have enough power to affect epilogue one way or another.

What QM post tells us is that taking Sacrament would not be the decision that would cement it. Which is of course is useful to know. It does not mean that we would not be offered such decision later down the line, with all QM warnings that this is the decision that would affect epilogue and all that.

And it may be significantly later after taking her Sacrament, but I would not be surprised if it is directly after taking it too. I mean we likely would learn more about process of Name befriending when DoA returns, but some discussion between her and Velvet about how things will go going forward is not out of question, or so I am thinking.

If Velvet takes her Grail Sacrament does it mean that she automatically start trusting Mareinette with access to Glory? Without any mind control shenanigans I kind of doubt it. Instead I can imagine Velvet discussing things with Mareinette after the nice dinner they had, Mareinette telling her more about herself and so on, and then Velvet asking what Mareinette would do if she got power of a Hour or had a chance to become one. And then Mareinette will tell us, and after getting a glimpse on how Marienette sees her perfect ending we get to decide.

So my thoughts on the matter is that taking Sacrament indeed allows Velvet to befriend Name as we were told, but it may not be the only thing that is necessary for it, and in the end it would be up to Velvet to accept or not accept said friendship, especially after she learns what said friendship entails and how it affects things going further.

 

[Greymere]

Tbh, while the Biedde-taking-Steppes thing isn't exactly desirable, I think focusing on it is missing the forest for the trees.

Biedde, an unbefriended Name and servant of the Colonel, has done what his kind is wont to do: He has taken another step.

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Combined with Biedde's "it's what you don't know that kills you" to Luna... these things, together, suggest that Biedde is actively working towards something that will be 'against' us in some way... and because he is categorically unbefriendable, there is no condition under which he won't keep doing so. Even Mareinette, as much as I don't want to do it, has a friendship condition.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Inb4 this is a step towards retirement for Biedde, Gehrman style. (Though personally I doubt it.)

 

[IronHydra]

Oh wow that was sooo unexpected!!!

Who's surprised here, cuz I'm not. We've been saying over and over again that Biedde wasn't to be trusted, that he had goals that were going to end up harming us, and some of y'all just kept coping and didn't want to listen.

Now he's going to kill our family if we can't do anything to stop it, and that's even if we can know about it in the first place. We should absolutely do whatever we can to stop this from happening.

You can scream "No" all you want about the Wolf Sacrament, but you can't make that choice for everyone, you don't get to say "we" unanimously like you speak for us all.

How many times is something like this gonna happen before some of y'all learn? You think Mareinette's going to be any better? We'll end up having to do something about her lest she end up corrupting Cadence, or with Velvet taking her Sacrament.

These names have their own goals and you can not think that they'll always be in your favor or wants.

So.....
"is it time to awoo"

 

[Greymere]

Oh wow that was sooo unexpected!!!

Who's surprised here, cuz I'm not. We've been saying over and over again that Biedde wasn't to be trusted, that he had goals that were going to end up harming us, and some of y'all just kept coping and didn't want to listen.

Now he's going to kill our family if we can't do anything to stop it, and that's even if we can know about it in the first place. We should absolutely do whatever we can to stop this from happening.

You can scream "No" all you want about the Wolf Sacrament, but you can't make that choice for everyone, you don't get to say "we" unanimously like you speak for us all.

How many times is something like this gonna happen before some of y'all learn? You think Mareinette's going to be any better? We'll end up having to do something about her lest she end up corrupting Cadence, or with Velvet taking her Sacrament.

These names have their own goals and you can not think that they'll always be in your favor or wants.

So.....
"is it time to awoo"

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Why are you acting like Biedde or Wolf are the only options for our Edge Sacrament? Did you forget that we do, in fact, have a personal Edge Sacrament?

Edit: Also re: Mareinette... sorry, but saying "hey we should avoid taking the alukite cannibalism Sacrament by instead taking the PAIN AND SUFFERING TO ALL THINGS Sacrament (and make the world objectively even worse again)" is not very convincing. Like if there's a point where to keep Mareinette not-a-problem the two options are "take Mareinette's Sacrament" or "take the Wolf Sacrament(s)", I'm going to go for Mareinette's without a second thought. And, unfortunately, it's probably going to happen that way, because I have my doubts that Bird will ever let us into a position where we could feasibly try and kill her.

 

[DelightedOne]

And, unfortunately, it's probably going to happen that way, because I have my doubts that Bird will ever let us into a position where we could feasibly try and kill her.

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Well, the personal Edge Sacrament is available every turn and we still have Biedde for A Resolution, if we attack first she loses a "tremendous amount of health" to lose her bindings to defend herself soooooo... it is theorically possible.

 

[Nevermort]

Well, the personal Edge Sacrament is available every turn and we still have Biedde for A Resolution, if we attack first she loses a "tremendous amount of health" to lose her bindings to defend herself soooooo... it is theorically possible.

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I would say send her to Cadance so we can see if Cadance have a chance here and to be in better position to make preparations. Scry for lvl6-7 Edge weapon and maybe ask Baldomare for ritual to weaken/ neutralize Mareinette using her bindings/any other way. Then if we see that Cadance starts to change and looks at Shining with different kind hunger or something along those lines we either make assassination attempt or rash on All-in expedition depending on what looks more risky to us at the moment.

 

[Pittauro]

A/N: Just signal boosting our fellow quest. Something very good just happened there!

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...I never got around reading that one... I just don't have the time

I'm also behind on a... certain niche pokemon quest on spacebattles...

As in, over there we are a lot more willing to stay in the cult (which also means committing to the cult, and spending resources investing in the cult) because, well, the cult is actually not the biggest evil out there.

Here, Equestria is an objectively good place (it is the setting for a children's show, after all). And the "Unknowable Eldritch Being" in the background here is Harmony. There, almost everyone is involved in crimes or shady deals one way or the other, and the "Unknowable Eldritch Being" pulling the strings is, well, Scion, and the Shards, and whatever else you can call the aliens.

So, for all that I do not regret or resent how you guys, well, derailed the quest in a sense (we never even got to see Infrastructure Bonuses for the cult, for example), it is still nice to see an actual cult at work. Also refreshing to see another writer being able to say "yeah, your cult can do X" without having to bend over backwards to trace an interesting storyline where the main character can still progress and be relevant

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well, yeah, fair enough, from what I know of Worm EVERYONE has dirty and bloody hands, to the point even a Wolf Cult wouldn't make the top 5 of worst and most evil associations.

"She really is a good filly," the old -youngest- pony says, reminiscing on his memory of just a few hours ago. When the night was still not as cold, and his surroundings still not quite as harsh.

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and yet... I wonder just how much Steppes knows or suspects, at this point.

A really good filly wouldn't have Biedde in her employ.

"You have been there with me all along, haven't you? No physically, I know. But still, you have been with me ever since we first met. Right there. Right behind me. Watching. Waiting… Judging," he says.

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...terrifying.

Did the starts change

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stars. and they MIGHT have changed a bit when Luna came back?

Then again she has yet to work on the night sky...

"I do not know what you should do. But I know what you will do," the presence, his cold and unwelcome companion, said. With a voice filled with certainty that only the very old can have.

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...how very Colonel of him...

should and would don't matter. Only what you WILL do, because I will it, matters.

"You will put your affairs in order. You will appoint successors where they need to be appointed. And you will ensure your efforts are continued even after you are gone. And then… you will come to me."

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...ominous, but in a way it's also surprisingly merciful.

He IS giving time to "put things in order". Those efforts... would that be his "criminal" organization, or something NEW he started working on after?

Of the desire, the need, to be the dirty hoof that pushes away the filth.

He saw… what he could be.

And the older stallion, in turn, saw what he once was.

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...he's making Steppes his Long?

maybe he wants to have him guard the Worm Museum in his place while he does other things, or alternatively to be his agents as he's otherwise busy?

"When that happens. When I have done everything I need to do. Will you kill me? Will I die?" Velvet Steppes asks.

And the answer, again, is obvious.

"In all the ways that matter, yes. You will die. But whether your body continues to move, or you fail and break, will be for you to decide."

"I see," Steppes says. Not because he agrees or disagrees, and not because he has accepted those words like an order. But instead, because it is…

…inevitable.

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yeah, I'm leaning towards Steppes becoming an agent of Biedde, and so also an agent of the Colonel.

... and Velvet doesn't know...

You can no longer "Ask uncle Steppes for favors". But come next turn, uncle Steppes will give you something.

Biedde, an unbefriended Name and servant of the Colonel, has done what his kind is wont to do: He has taken another step.

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...hopefully bits, we need so many of those!

Cadance, Steppes, why don't you release the strings on your pursue a bit?!

I wonder if this could in theory be stopped by banishing Biedde...

@OurLadyOfWires if we choose "Get our Hoofs Dirty" for our Commissioner action, does that mean we're forced to spend AP to join the Tall Tale expedition if the constables go to Tall Tale, or is that covered by our commissioner action spent?

Cause I was going through potential plans for next turn that used Baldomare's action on a max Lantern influence so we could study, and had a single spare action so I figured "What the hell, we might as well take Biedde's edge sacrament with a Servant/Risen cover your bases action". I was originally going to send Biedde on the book hunt expedition but then I remembered we'd get the Forge Name's action next turn and the Forge Name can go on the book hunt with Axe so Biedde can give us that max edge influence.

And uh... having a max lantern and max edge influence on the turn we raid Tall Tale works out pretty nicely? If we get to go there alongside our constables we should be able to utterly destroy Tall Tale, get a bunch more Bureau loyalty, and maybe teach them a few things on the down low

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Good point. Lantern to detect the Changelings (maybe we can narratively pretend our candle dust is more effective when WE use it), Edge to fight them.

and as we're there, we could potentially hide some of the loot... or add more to it. As in, maybe we could add more lore knowledge to bring back to the Bureau, like the forge ritual, more edge manuscripts, lantern manuscripts and so on.

I kinda want to let him go after this, Uncle Steppes being taken by the Colonel is a bit too far for me to handle(we need more Harmony in this house ASAP).

Huh, I wonder if he is trying to make Velvet his rival, the corrivality is basically dead so it would make sense for Biedde to have received orders to restart it, either with him and Velvet or Velvet and Steppes(so glad we forgave him, resenting him would make Biedde even more prepared if I'm right).

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...this makes me wonder...

@OurLadyOfWires was this confession from Steppes supposed to be a "Great Secret Of Betrayal"?

Hmm, so Wolf Sacrament time then?

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If this is bits or AP biedde did nothing wrong. I love Steppes and would indeed consider invoking the Wolf and damning Equestria if it really is the only way to protect him but for 200 bits he's dead to me.

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so a loving uncle you'd damn Equestria for is worth 200 bits?

you're pretty cheap.

No, this is Cultist Simulator and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Death is not what it once was, the lack of Voiceless Dead in the Blank Plains proves this, if Biedde wants Velvet's uncle he better be ready for the consequences.

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admittedly we saw that Luna's parents had enough left of them in whatever afterlife they live in that they were able to come back for a short bit, which is something that's not really possible in CS.

So it's very much possible that Harmony has made a new afterlife that's MUCH better than what was before (and let's be real, it doesn't take THAT much to make it better than blank plains or Nowhere)

Someone that -because of ya'lls landslide vote! - Velvet considers to be capital F Family and innocent of the crimes of her father is potentially being subverted to a fate worse than death (eternal indentured service,if Biddie and the Hours refusal to let go are any clue).

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nah, capital F Family is basically only Stormchaser, Silky, Selene and Soft Sweeps.

Uncle Steppes is the best of the REST of our blood family, but he's closer to, say, "really good friend" status than ACTUAL family I think.

I mean, I don't think he's closer to us than Rarity and Cadance are, for example. And the definition of "Family" for Velvet is basically that "if they die, it's game over or at least you devote all your time and resources getting them back somehow".

"In all the ways that matter, yes. You will die. But whether your body continues to move, or you fail and break, will be for you to decide." is literally just "You'll be a new person because of character development" with maybe a bit of training from hell for good measure.

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I see it more as "you'll either die, or become my soldier with near zero free will".

Which, admittedly, might NOT be worse than death. It kinda depends on how Steppes himself feels about it.

In a way, Biedde is basically going "instead of killing you for your crimes, I'm offering community services (forever) as an alternative"

Why are you acting like Biedde or Wolf are the only options for our Edge Sacrament? Did you forget that we do, in fact, have a personal Edge Sacrament?

Edit: Also re: Mareinette... sorry, but saying "hey we should avoid taking the alukite cannibalism Sacrament by instead taking the PAIN AND SUFFERING TO ALL THINGS Sacrament (and make the world objectively even worse again)" is not very convincing. Like if there's a point where to keep Mareinette not-a-problem the two options are "take Mareinette's Sacrament" or "take the Wolf Sacrament(s)", I'm going to go for Mareinette's without a second thought. And, unfortunately, it's probably going to happen that way, because I have my doubts that Bird will ever let us into a position where we could feasibly try and kill her.

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well, to be fair we lack an acceptable target for Edge Sacrament. Right now the known ones are basically the princesses, Comet, Mareinette and Shining Armor (which might not count anymore after he was crippled).

fully agree on Mareinette vs Wolf sacraments by the way.

As I'll say until I'm out of breath, Regrettable Actions are our LAST RESORT when we're out of options. Nearly anything is better than taking those. Including the cannibal sacrament.

 

[DelightedOne]

was this confession from Steppes supposed to be a "Great Secret Of Betrayal"?

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I actually alluded to that(just to check the vibes). Finally someone said it directly.

 

[Sveta08]

Oh wow that was sooo unexpected!!!

Who's surprised here, cuz I'm not. We've been saying over and over again that Biedde wasn't to be trusted, that he had goals that were going to end up harming us, and some of y'all just kept coping and didn't want to listen.

Now he's going to kill our family if we can't do anything to stop it, and that's even if we can know about it in the first place. We should absolutely do whatever we can to stop this from happening.

You can scream "No" all you want about the Wolf Sacrament, but you can't make that choice for everyone, you don't get to say "we" unanimously like you speak for us all.

How many times is something like this gonna happen before some of y'all learn? You think Mareinette's going to be any better? We'll end up having to do something about her lest she end up corrupting Cadence, or with Velvet taking her Sacrament.

These names have their own goals and you can not think that they'll always be in your favor or wants.

So.....
"is it time to awoo"

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Ha! Oh goodness. Goodness me that's.... Heh.
I love this post.

I love it! It makes me giggle and wiggle and clap my hands. Kick my feet (flippers? Suppose to be more a tail, ah well) and smile like an idiot. I love it! Thank you for making my day.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

If only people weren't still trying to kill us, I'd be fine with saccing Biedde.

However, a Wrong Key disintegrated this turn deflecting a Ritual, so sadly patterns indicate a more... conventional attempt on our life is coming soon. And I really don't want to fight like, a fully pumped Ash Ghoul or something with just Velvet and her two mortal bodyguards.

Oh, and Mareinette. Pretty sure she'd be willing to eat one at least once, being a new dish and all.

 

[spiderhellian]

However, a Wrong Key disintegrated this turn deflecting a Ritual

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No?

It disintegrated because it timed out!

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

No?

It disintegrated because it timed out!

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Huh. I checked and you are right. Yeah, let's dump this chump in a sac circle for a Resolution and see if Tall Tale Hive has any Worthy Foes in it.

 

[DelightedOne]

How nice of the Edge Sacrament to not require killing ponies, anything that is strong enough can be a Worthy Opponent.

 

[spiderhellian]

Huh. I checked and you are right. Yeah, let's dump this chump in a sac circle for a Resolution and see if Tall Tale Hive has any Worthy Foes in it.

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Wait a sec, this is still wild. We know Windy and Neighnea and 2 Windigos are still out there!

 

[ses]

This is literally the exact same plan Comet attempted with the main changeling hive. Names are too damn valuable to not keep around, and it's very premature to start calling Biedde a threat. The update explicitly stated that they both saw themselves in each other, and I don't think Steppes is going to actually die. Biedde is starting an edge cult behind our back with Steppes as his first inner circle? That's not actually incompatible with our and Steppes best interest, especially if we pay the 60 bits and do Steppes FO next turn to ensure we're a part of it.

...he's making Steppes his Long?

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Steppes isn't Long material, he's literally not even initiated into the lores yet. You should be thinking "Jade Whistle:Master :: Velvet Steppes:Biedde", he's going to start with "first inner circle member of burgeoning edge cult", not skip straight to immortality lmao.

Considering that the Colonel hunts monsters and has sworn an oath to protect humanity/ponies, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world as long as we keep ourselves involved and any new edge adepts pointed in the direction of Equestria's many gribbly monsters. We literally JUST wrote a free manuscript to initiate the Bureau into Edge with a manuscript titled "Monster Hunting Techniques" for that exact same reason after all!

 

[DelightedOne]

This is literally the exact same plan Comet attempted with the main changeling hive.

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And it worked.

The update explicitly stated that they both saw themselves in each other, and I don't think Steppes is going to actually die. Biedde is starting an edge cult behind our back with Steppes as his first inner circle? That's not actually incompatible with our and Steppes best interest, especially if we pay the 60 bits and do Steppes FO next turn to ensure we're a part of it.

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Death is not the worst thing that can happen to anyone, it is just the last thing that will ever happen to someone.

Biedde is a slave, he likes it and thinks Steppes would like it too. Is that healthy or sane? Nope.

I agree with you, we should not try to fight the combat specialist Name. But we also can't trust him, he is not our friend, he can't be our friend and he will always work for his master... unless there is a way to break his chains(I wonder if there is a Great Secret of Betrayal available for that situation).

 

[ses]

And it worked.

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He did not get his sacrament. Though granted we wont have Windigos being kill stealers.

Death is not the worst thing that can happen to anyone, it is just the last thing that will ever happen to someone.

Biedde is a slave, he likes it and thinks Steppes would like it too. Is that healthy or sane? Nope.

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You guys are really really really putting the cart before the horse, holy shit. There are a LOT of intermediary steps between a normie with zero Lore knowledge and anything remotely resembling what you're talking about. "Comet Feet's role but with a loving family and support network from the very start instead of swooping in at the very last second before he went off the deep end on his own" is not within a million miles of "fate worse than death". We already spent a FO this turn and will likely spend a FO next turn. That's, uh, likely to have an effect on the outcome compared to Steppes' fate if we hadn't done his FO this turn and Biedde recruited him without us having spoken to him at all.

 

[DelightedOne]

There are a LOT of intermediary steps between a normie with zero Lore knowledge and anything remotely resembling what you're talking about.

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What are you talking about? Because I'm thinking of Biedde conscripting Steppes(not exactly, but close enough), kinda like what happened/could have happened with Comet Feet.

 

[Alan975]

You guys are really really really putting the cart before the horse, holy shit.

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Why do you have to be resonable? now is the time for recless action!

Fine ya, it's not really a problem yet, it just annoys me when this kind of behind-the-back action happens. Also because the ever present reaction is some waffling like "but is it really a problem? if you squint, look at it through a mirror and tilt your head just right, then it might actually turn out fine!".
Some kind of action is better than a reaction

 

[Zxzx24]

The wolf Divided would never get rid of Velvets love for her family.

It's both an immense source of pain for her AND its the best leverage it could ever have.

Whether it understands that love. Well love caused its pain didnt it?

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The wolf Divided would never get rid of Velvets love for her family.

It's both an immense source of pain for her AND its the best leverage it could ever have.

Whether it understands that love. Well love caused its pain didnt it?

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How is Velvet's love of her family a source of immense pain for her? They mostly seem to make her life happier.

It is definitely the best leverage though, you are 100% correct about that.

 

[ses]

"Disrobe," he said, and she removed her dress.
"Disrobe," he said, and she cut away her fur.
"Disrobe," he said, and she undressed herself of her skin.
"Disrobe," he said. And not knowing what else to remove, she let go of the love she felt for her dear ones.
To which he nodded, satisfied.
And once again he ordered, "disrobe".

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Literally quoted from the exact same post where it talks about potential Gifts from the "go ask Wolf for a gift" action

Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience Crossover - Mature - Users' Choice!

This quest is alive and well, just being updated in another site on the following link: https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/esquestria-the-house-of-the-sun-a-pony-cultist-experience.28651/ You are part of a cult. In Equestria. What started out as a very interesting book club...

forums.sufficientvelocity.com

I'm not saying that'll happen specifically guaranteed but it's certainly on the table, and taking a Wolf Sacrament specifically on the 50% threshold seems more likely than most potential RAs to do so.

 

[Shaper47]

Literally quoted from the exact same post where it talks about potential Gifts from the "go ask Wolf for a gift" action

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Errr, that was the Master. The Will of the Woods.

Not the Wolf-Divided.

They are two separate beings.

 

[Zxzx24]

How is Velvet's love of her family a source of immense pain for her? They mostly seem to make her life happier.

It is definitely the best leverage though, you are 100% correct about that.

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Oh if something happens to them they will be.

 

[Alan975]

They are two separate beings.

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Well, they were

 

[AuthorTransient]

We just keep going, then. The last things remaining for this turn is to wrap up the research into Memory of Light, Book 7, and the remains of the cult, right?

Planning for the next turn, I would want to lock in getting that Book 7, finding Axe, and the Moth Sacrament. Other tasks such as Forge reagent and the Forge Name or searching for another Edge Name, I'm willing to be negotiated down. Probably come up with a punny plan name like [X] Plan to Doubt.

 

[ses]

We just keep going, then. The last things remaining for this turn is to wrap up the research into Memory of Light, Book 7, and the remains of the cult, right?

Planning for the next turn, I would want to lock in getting that Book 7, finding Axe, and the Moth Sacrament. Other tasks such as Forge reagent and the Forge Name or searching for another Edge Name, I'm willing to be negotiated down. Probably come up with a punny plan name like [X] Plan to Doubt.

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Yeah all that remains is minion reports of various flavors. Detective report on changelings, constables report on Gardeners remnants, Luna report on Soothing the Night's effects and Celestia progress, Jade report on book expedition and Memory of Light. Pretty sure Axe's plotline getting wrapped up will be a free action at the end of the turn as well.

I really really can't make a plan that seems acceptable that gets us our Secret Histories sacrament next turn, and I'm anticipating a fight on that. But we just need that max level Lantern influence too badly. Yeah we can get 90% odds on reading the Moth book if we devote ALL THREE reading attempts to it... but I dont wanna spend an AP on reading if we're not at minimum getting the Moth book AND the manehattan expedition book! Plus we can get extra mileage out of the Lantern influence by going to Tall Tale personally, as well as near-guaranteeing that we study the Lantern 4 and Winter 4 artifacts. I have a sneaking suspicion that Winter 4 artifact will end up being spent to rebind Mareinette next turn, what with Velvet AP at a premium, and all our bits being eaten by the hungry Forge.

The overall skeleton I'm planning on is:
Cover your Bases (1 action)
Study Books(Moth 5 until complete, Manehattan Expeditions, if we got lucky and oneshot the moth book go ahead and attempt to read the Knock book)
Study Artifacts(Lantern 4 until complete, Winter 4)
Soft's Request
Steppes' Request
Summon Forge Name
(Social) most likely Teach Rarity but this is flexible
(Knock) Stairways location

Axe+(Biedde/Selene/Forge Name) as a two man team for Book Expedition. If it's a long expedition it kinda has to be Biedde or Forge Name instead because otherwise it eats lots of Selene AP. Otherwise Axe's partner can be decided based on if Forge Name has any crazy unique actions we want it to do or if we really want an Edge influence for Tall Tale
Mareinette finishes turning Spoiled into a confidante for turn 23 Moth sacrament
Selene spies on Windy with her knock realization in spymode
Someone, either Rarity or Selene most likely, searches for 3circle Site.
Forge name possibly builds a prison, possibly does a crazy unique ability similar in scope to Wrong Key crafting, or very slim chance of going with Axe on the expedition.
Detectives try and search for an expedition.

I really want to get serious about expedition spam now that Axe is befriended! Just because we bypassed that mechanic for most of the game doesnt mean we get to continue bypassing it now that we're in late-game. Manehattan expedition book read plus Detectives searching for an expedition should leave us stacked for expedition spam to get serious about building up an artifact hoard.

Level 7 book expedition should be 2-mannable with Axe+another Name or Name Equivalent. Mostly because I dont want to send Axe alone against possible Combat hurdles without a 2nd name with Edge levels (Axe can lose attempting to solo a normal Watchers hurdle as we saw during the twilight jailbreak if she's very unlucky). But between Selene's 16 combined lore levels and the artifacts we already have and are studying 2 should be the correct number to send.

 

[Spacemurica]

I'm also behind on a... certain niche pokemon quest on spacebattles...

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man tell me about it, I never seen to be able to vote on that quest.

 

[Pittauro]

Summon Forge Name

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I really want to get serious about expedition spam now that Axe is befriended! Just because we bypassed that mechanic for most of the game doesnt mean we get to continue bypassing it now that we're in late-game. Manehattan expedition book read plus Detectives searching for an expedition should leave us stacked for expedition spam to get serious about building up an artifact hoard.

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I'm not sure it's worth it to do Forge Name NOW.

On the plus side, OF COURSE extra Names help a lot. There's a pretty good chance that it will give us a Forge Scrap too, bringing us to 2/4. Then we take an influence, we're at 4/4, and we can go for either Name Sacrament or potentially for Personal Sacrament.

FORGE
Actions of your own: "The next logical step is to make reagents that are capable of changing something else: that delicate and fragile engine that ponies refer to as their bodies. You never fancied yourself as a potion maker. But then again, you will not be making mere potions."
-Perform the action "Experiment, Craft, Create" until you finish its progress.
-The action "Experiment, Craft, Create" costs 50 bits to be performed each time you do it. You apply your Magic, Forge Level, and you may use any Forge Reagents you have at your disposal.
-This action requires you to reach a cumulative "progress" of 300 points, and may be repeated as many times as needed (though you will pay the cost in bits each time separately).
-Velvet Covers must have at least 2/4 scraps of Forge before she performs this action.
Invitation: You do not know any creature that may help you

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Assuming the Influence helps, we'd roll +13+40+40= +93 per action, so 2 or 3 actions to finish it (and another 100 or 150 bits). And the Name's Sacrament might very well be cheaper or better, who knows. This one SEEMS to be about making potions that boost people instead of helping with rituals, so I'd guess we can give the +10 per level of "potion" to a pony's roll instead.

...Which means that, for example, we could give forge potions to Rarity and have her make even MORE money on commissions, for example... or make potions that might help with OTHER sacraments!

Or imagine an Edge potion to help against Biedde!

the possibilities are endless.



ON THE OTHER HOOF... we're talking about spending HUNDREDS of bits on this summon. Most of our bits, in fact.

And I'm unsure if that's a better use of our resources than, you know, the unlocked expeditions we have, which are likely to get us artifacts, lore books, potentially rituals, reagents (maybe even rituals we could use to reduce the cost a bit), and "normal" treasures we could sell for bits.

IF Cadance or Steppes give us more money, that changes things. But if not... using all those bits NOW on the Forge Name likely means we won't be able to afford Canterlot Part 3 and Tall Tale.

We don't even know if we'll have to resummon Axe (and pay her ritual cost AGAIN... though we DO have wrong keys to use if we need to), and we'll soon have to pay for Biedde too.