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

[dcoconeo]

Meh, just scry and then say hi if time permits, the Investigators AND Edge Names can come later.

(He left thinking of us as a friend, but we have no idea what that means to him. So best not do anything that even risks changing that, especially with him probably having the Heirloom with mystery powers by now?)

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Investigator action doesn't mean hostile action. Just fact finding. We're not sending constables after him.

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The dude who left because he was convinced the law was going to come down like a hammer on the cult and who got to hear about the bureau cleaning up shop where the largest remnants of said cult were is probably going to interpret any investigators sent his way as a prelude to the hammer being dropped on himself.

 

[Shaper47]

We also have Analyse your options regarding the Changeling Colony which probably should be done this turn.

-You will have a Bureau option to "Analyse your options regarding the Changeling Colony" (can be picked by either Investigator action or Commissioner action)

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[Greymere]

The dude who left because he was convinced the law was going to come down like a hammer on the cult and who got to hear about the bureau cleaning up shop where the largest remnants of said cult were is probably going to interpret any investigators sent his way as a prelude to the hammer being dropped on himself.

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And that was when they weren't actually investigating him, they just happened to be in the same town bcuz of Cadance/Velvet. And the Bureau sniffing around would probably be even more alarming, seeing as they are an organization that's publicly dedicated to handling threats against Equestria rather than 'just' the Royal Guard.

Edit: Just going to leave this here.

IF: Bureau on Quarry w/ Selene + Mareinette (Introduce SH), DoA + Cherenkolt (Grail) on City (w/ artifacts), Get Your Hooves Dirty

Quarry of Yuxtabai
Knock: +85 (+40 Base, +20 Selene, +25 Velvet)
Moth: +80 (+40 Base, +20 Selene, +20 Velvet)
Lantern: +70 (+40 Base, +10 Bureau, +20 Velvet)
Winter: +85 (+40 Base, +5 Bureau, +20 Selene, +20 Velvet)
Forge: +70 (+40 Base, +10 Bureau, +20 Velvet)
Edge: +95 (+40 Base, +10 Bureau, +20 Selene, +25 Velvet)
Grail: +110 (+60 Base, +30 Mareinette, +20 Velvet)
Heart: +85 (+40 Base, +30 Mareinette, +15 Velvet)
Secret Histories: +70 (+40 Base, +10 Bureau, +20 Velvet)

Choked City
Knock: +80 (+50 Base, +30 DoA)
Moth: +50 | +65 (+50 Base, +15 Artifact?)
Lantern: +70 (+50 Base, +20 Artifact)
Winter: +75 (+50 Base, +25 Artifacts)
Forge: +80 (+50 Base, +30 Cherenkolt)
Edge: +65 (+50 Base, +15 DoA)
Grail: +45 (+30 Base, +15 Cherenkolt)
Heart: +65 (+50 Base, +15 Artifact)
Secret Histories: +65 (+50 Base, +15 Artifact)

Alternatively, have Cherenkolt recalibrate to SH, Moth, or Heart for an extra +15 in those areas.

With this, I have admittedly become more amenable to scrying the City to ensure that there are definitely no social obstacles there, and have changed my vote to reflect that.

 

[dcoconeo]

have changed my vote to reflect that

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How does that affect our finances/actions?

[X] (SCRY) What are you looking at? (Choked City, Selene)

 

[Greymere]

How does that affect our finances/actions?

[X] (SCRY) What are you looking at? (Choked City, Selene)

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Can you clarify? The scry? The calculated bonuses? Something else?

 

[Shaper47]

IF: Bureau on Quarry w/ Selene + Mareinette (Introduce SH), DoA + Cherenkolt (Grail) on City (w/ artifacts), Get Your Hooves Dirty

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Umm, does get your hooves dirty count as the only requirement for long expeditions?

Because I don't think that's the case which would leave us with only three Velvet ap on helping Cadance at most. (and no Mareinette ap which I heavily suspect is worth around two Velvet ap on this)

Besides Quarry of Yuxtabai probably has a bunch of valuable stuff that would go to the Bureau instead of Velvet anyways so I'd prefer Bureau on Choked City.

 

[AuthorTransient]

Idly speculating if we could use the Husk for personal Lantern Sacrament... but otherwise, eh. Does a choice being hard make it correct? The intention to harm... But we are out of time. Sacrament, Name befriending... I'm still naive enough to hesitate, but honestly. Damn it. Damn it all. I'm starting to sympathize with Cauldron from the Parahumans series, of all things.

[X] (ALL IN) You will NOT attempt the "All In" expedition.

[X] (MAREINETTE) Accept her "Invitation to Dinner" (Prisoner)

[X] (MOOD) Mareinette was oh so interested in the Bureau, after your introductions.

 

[Greymere]

Idly speculating if we could use the Husk for personal Lantern Sacrament... but otherwise, eh.

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Well considering that it's dead and our personal Lantern requires a live prisoner/minion...

 

[Shaper47]

Actually hold on a minute here.

The roots of the Woods are still ablaze, under this ocean of Ash and ash. They still blaze, and the secrets that they held for so long are now boiling to the surface of this ashen ocean like bubbles of air escaping from the lungs of a drowning pony.

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The Woods can't hold their secrets anymore.

So what happened to the corpse of Velvet?

I kinda assume that when the Hour Velvet died she had managed to crawl back to the Woods for her end and had her body/secrets taken by the Woods.

The remains of a Moth/Heart Hour are valuable.

I wonder if we can scry for it?

 

[ses]

Winter: +75 (+50 Base, +25 Artifacts)

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An individual can only wield one artifact at a time

 

[Greymere]

An individual can only wield one artifact at a time

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...okay? That has no relevance to what I wrote down there because DoA and Cherenkolt are, in fact, two people.

 

[ses]

...okay? That has no relevance to what I wrote down there because DoA and Cherenkolt are, in fact, two people.

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Yeah sorry I admit I didn't see cherenkolt was full size in that. I admit it works as a plan, since the purification doesnt require rolls from him and therefore he can safely use the winter 4 artifact. It does rankle though at the inefficiency.

 

[Greymere]

How attached do we feel to the Knock 2 artifact btw? Alternatively, how strong of feelings do people have about making a Lantern 1 reagent for a MitL summoning by Selene? Since it seems like the general vibe is "just risk the suspicion, doesn't matter right now".

Because since summoning a MitL involves Edge, we can also have Smiles take a shot at summoning one. Same +70 to Lantern w/ artifact as Selene, autosucceeds on Edge, so would just need a bit of help on the Knock rolls. Technically we could also ask Jade to study the Knock artifact rather than the Moth one, but the Moth one would be more useful for the Choked City (probably), seeing as DoA already has the Knock bonus well in hand.

Downside is, ofc, that if we make a Knock reagent for Smiles we can't then make a Lantern one for Selene.

 

[ses]

How attached do we feel to the Knock 2 artifact btw? Alternatively, how strong of feelings do people have about making a Lantern 1 reagent for a MitL summoning by Selene? Since it seems like the general vibe is "just risk the suspicion, doesn't matter right now".

Because since summoning a MitL involves Edge, we can also have Smiles take a shot at summoning one. Same +70 to Lantern w/ artifact as Selene, autosucceeds on Edge, so would just need a bit of help on the Knock rolls. Technically we could also ask Jade to study the Knock artifact rather than the Moth one, but the Moth one would be more useful for the Choked City (probably), seeing as DoA already has the Knock bonus well in hand.

Downside is, ofc, that if we make a Knock reagent for Smiles we can't then make a Lantern one for Selene.

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If we want Smiles to summon a MITL he just burns one of our Wrong Keys that are close to expiry anyway. I'm confused at this question. That's Knock 3 and takes Smiles to autosuccess on the Knock roll. Smiles(Wrong Key) and Selene raw both have 89.1% chance of MITL summon due to being one Lantern level short plus chance of critfails, a Lantern 1 reagent can take one of them to 97%, the maximum without Confident Certainty rerolls to remove one of the critfail chances.

EDIT: Selene has a knock reroll so her chances are slightly better. But that's irrelevant.

 

[DelightedOne]

Since it seems like the general vibe is "just risk the suspicion, doesn't matter right now".

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We really should not say "fuck it" and just summon recklessly, not only because of the Wolf cult. Baldomare could just get us summoning places again couldn't she?

 

[Greymere]

We really should not say "fuck it" and just summon recklessly, not only because of the Wolf cult. Baldomare could just get us summoning places again couldn't she?

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Not in the same turn, I don't think. And only if we want to potentially give up on Lantern Sacrament depending on if Selene can extend the doom clock.

 

[ses]

We really should not say "fuck it" and just summon recklessly, not only because of the Wolf cult. Baldomare could just get us summoning places again couldn't she?

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The risks of "suspicion" among the servants was stuff like "If you build up high suspicion from multiple failures you wont be able to safely go on Expeditions personally without risking your allowance getting cut off."

Stuff similar in vein to when Hill put us on a travel ban and cut our allowance for fucking up the Canterlot visit and being disfavored by bugbutt!Luna

We have disabled basically every route that suspicion has to causing us actual problems. And what few problems could be possibly caused by it both wont happen from one or two failed rolls on followers doing summonings in the barn, and can easily and cheaply be crushed by Velvet's personal power as the 3rd most powerful politician in the country and the most powerful that isn't an immortal demigoddess. Suspicion of the type caused by doing summoning rituals or other spooky stuff from personal actions was always intended to become a non-issue by lategame.

 

[DelightedOne]

Hmm, good arguments. But for the sake of the future, I must ask.

@OurLadyOfWires have we gotten to a point where suspicion doesn't really matter or are there still significant consequences?

 

[Greymere]

If we want Smiles to summon a MITL he just burns one of our Wrong Keys that are close to expiry anyway. I'm confused at this question. That's Knock 3 and takes Smiles to autosuccess on the Knock roll. Smiles(Wrong Key) and Selene raw both have 89.1% chance of MITL summon due to being one Lantern level short plus chance of critfails, a Lantern 1 reagent can take one of them to 97%, the maximum without Confident Certainty rerolls to remove one of the critfail chances.

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I forgot about the Wrong Keys is why

 

[Pittauro]

Actually hold on a minute here.



The Woods can't hold their secrets anymore.

So what happened to the corpse of Velvet?

I kinda assume that when the Hour Velvet died she had managed to crawl back to the Woods for her end and had her body/secrets taken by the Woods.

The remains of a Moth/Heart Hour are valuable.

I wonder if we can scry for it?

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Ignoring how likely it is it would be there, we can only scry things in the Wake. Otherwise we would have definitely scried the mansus expeditions to know which influences to bring on them.

We really should not say "fuck it" and just summon recklessly, not only because of the Wolf cult. Baldomare could just get us summoning places again couldn't she?

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Kind of irrelevant, Baldomare's actions are too valuable to use on getting another temporary summoning place.

We need her for Lantern lesson (which makes us ready for Lantern Sacrament), we need one action for her expedition/SH Sacrament, AND we need 1 action for the SH influence if we want to try for personal SH sacrament.

...actually, if we get the lvl 7 book this turn and give it to her immediately, we can then do both sacraments in the same turn on turn 24, at the cost of basically both her actions and 3 Velvet actions. It was probably mentioned already, but I'll mention it again just in case.