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

[DelightedOne]

Seems like a short and sweet turn plan. I hate hate hate spending bits on healing when we have the Heartifact. But I know people will get mad at me if I try to argue against it, even though it's 30 bits to avoid a 15% failure chance.

Click to shrink...

I agree on bits being not worth paying in this case.

Though why did you choose the Starways instead of the safe(for us) Wastes?

 

[ses]

I agree on bits being not worth paying in this case.

Though why did you choose the Starways instead of the safe(for us) Wastes?

Click to shrink...

The Stairways are safe for us too, it takes 3 mansus AP to find and fully explore a new zone in the Stairways and the first AP is only a Knock+SH roll to find a new area in the Stairways. Danger only starts for the Stairways on the 2nd and 3rd AP. And the Wastes are... not very rewarding. They dont give scraps, and they dont give useful summons.

 

[Shaper47]

[] Plan: Take that terrifying leap, into the abyss we call change
-[] You are wounded! (You currently have 1 wounds. You must pick one of each option.)
--[] You either don't care, or you don't have enough bits to care. Either way, your body will have to mend itself on its own terms. (Costs nothing.)
-[] Before this month starts, you will perform a ritual to draw the attention of [SECRET HISTORIES]
-[] The delights of subservience (Leash currently targeting: NO TARGET)
--[] Change Leash to another target. (Spoiled Rich)
--[] Take that terrifying leap, into the abyss we call change
---[] Don the mask, shear your mane, pick the only pony who will notice it. Snip snip snip (Spoiled Rich)
-[] [FORGE] It's actually a lot simpler than it sounds, now that you know what you are doing
--[] [FORGE] Level 4 Forge reagent (80 bits)
-[] Purify level 4 Forge reagent into a level 6 Forge reagent (110 bits)
-[] [MANSUS] The Wastes
--[] [MANSUS] Stalk the Ashen Wastes. The alternative is to be stalked.
--[] [MANSUS] Visit the Hunting Grounds, and pray that tonight you are the huntress rather than the hunted.
-[] Filthy Rich has reached a crossroad in his personal life. His marriage is not where he wants it to be, and he is not sure what he should do. You should nudge him in the right direction. (FREE ACTION) (RUIN his marriage)
-[] The Royal Castle feels, quite literally, like a powder keg, and the temperature is rising. Cadance will come out of that boiler at some point. When she does, she will need your help. (May be picked multiple times) x 4
-[] [KNOCK] The Shattered Stairways
--[] [KNOCK] A labyrinth of stairs. A monument of a gone age. A sprawling ruin. See where the many paths might lead you.

 

[swarm]

Pushing spoiled towards her husband to connect instead of trying to get into Noble games way over her status would be neat

 

[Solace2117]

Normally I'd agree it's not worth the 30 bits with how high our success chance is, but considering we may have to rush All in if things go south we probably want to guarantee we are not wounded.
Also I assume we're getting the free AotL to secret histories because of the Manse roll. We don't know what, if any lores will help Cadence, but I'd think if anything could it would be Winter considering we are potentially helping to calm Celestia down.

 

[ses]

Normally I'd agree it's not worth the 30 bits with how high our success chance is, but considering we may have to rush All in if things go south we probably want to guarantee we are not wounded.
Also I assume we're getting the free AotL to secret histories because of the Manse roll. We don't know what, if any lores will help Cadence, but I'd think if anything could it would be Winter considering we are potentially helping to calm Celestia down.

Click to shrink...

It's almost certain that no Attention will help Cadance, especially since we're probably going to spend most of our helping cadance actions "running Equestria for her to give her more time" and "Giving her a crash course in the Lores", neither of which will be helped by Attention really. And Attention only helps on "Application" rolls, not Lore rolls, so for Winter it would only apply to a roll "To protect against something that harms your mind"

Meanwhile we're on Get Your Hooves Dirty, so SH will almost certainly be rolled at least once. If we dont get to use it in the Expedition for finding stuff, we'll probably be called for it in our Investigator action, and if not that then it at least defaults to the Mansus roll.

 

[Solace2117]

It's almost certain that no Attention will help Cadance, especially since we're probably going to spend most of our helping cadance actions "running Equestria for her to give her more time" and "Giving her a crash course in the Lores", neither of which will be helped by Attention really.

Meanwhile we're on Cover Your Bases, so SH will almost certainly be rolled at least once. If we dont get to use it in the Expedition for finding stuff, we'll probably be called for it in our Investigator action, and if not that then it at least defaults to the Mansus roll.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough and makes sense, just a thought, considering the Soothe the night use a winter reroll and the nature of Celestia's anger.

 

[ses]

Fair enough and makes sense, just a thought, considering the Soothe the night use a winter reroll and the nature of Celestia's anger.

Click to shrink...

Attentions are a lot narrower than "Any roll that uses that Lore", they only apply to the specific Application Bonus (Find Something, Open Something, Discover the Secrets in an Object, Destroy Something, Personal Combat, Resist Something that Harms Your Mind, Resist Something that Harms Your Body, Convince Somepony, Not be Found)

Soothe the Night also doesn't use Winter attentions or influences, the fact that it can use Selene's winter reroll is a special case.

Heck if anything Heart is actually the lore most likely to have a relevant Attention-eligible roll this turn other than SH. But trying to use the attention to help with the cadance crisis is so futile we should just take the +20 SH bonus to our Investigator action since we wont be teaching the Bureau SH this turn. That's much more guaranteed to be useful.

 

[Pittauro]

"Trust me, you really can't tell from down here," your husband continues, as he takes another bite from his lunch. "But every time I fly over Ponyville, it looks a little bit bigger. The colors, also, are changing. Like it's slowly being painted gray as the weeks go by."

Click to shrink...

that's a bit sad. The price of progress.

Hay, you haven't even had the chance to tell him you are nursing a broken rib! You were planning to do that later today.

Click to shrink...

or better wait, don't tell him!

"You told us not to interrupt you unless there was an emergency, or something was on fire, and…"

Click to shrink...

and Celestia is on fire, yes, we know...

But you don't bother pulling the thing out of the envelope. You don't have the mind to pretend right now. Instead, you float the letter towards you and you touch it with your hoofs.

Click to shrink...

a bit careless of Velvet.

The fact of the matter is that the floor… the marbled floor of the Royal Castle, even though it is covered in rich carpet, is hot. The very floor feels warm to the touch, and you can feel it even through your metal horseshoes and the thick carpet.

Click to shrink...

ok, LITERALLY on fire...

Does somepony want to die? Cause the last time someone ambushed Velvet they died... nevermind she also died.

Click to shrink...

but she got better!

Turns out, Death is a good dance partner

 

[Greymere]

I'm inclined to ruin the marriage instead of save it. Like... have we ever seen any indication that Spoiled actually gives a shit about Filthy, as a person?

I know Bird said we can't really write in the narrative, but mostly I just want Filthy to understand that Spoiled doesn't love him, and possibly never has. Just what she can use him for. She's described as practically a natural-born sycophant, for Glory's sake.

 

[DelightedOne]

I know Bird said we can't really write in the narrative, but mostly I just want Filthy to understand that Spoiled doesn't love him, and possibly never has. Just what she can use him for. She's described as practically a natural-born sycophant, for Glory's sake.

Click to shrink...

*Le gasp*

THAT is what I wanted to do! Finally I see something that fits. Velvet going "Bro... Your wife isn't a good pony and she doesn't love you if she ever did." to Filthy is gold.

 

[Shaper47]

I'm inclined to ruin the marriage instead of save it. Like... have we ever seen any indication that Spoiled actually gives a shit about Filthy, as a person?

I know Bird said we can't really write in the narrative, but mostly I just want Filthy to understand that Spoiled doesn't love him, and possibly never has. Just what she can use him for. She's described as practically a natural-born sycophant, for Glory's sake.

Click to shrink...

I'm more concerned about the consequences of a combo of using Spoiled for the Moth Sacrament with leash and marriage saving. It just seems like a bad idea.

But like, what degree does ruining involve anyways? How far does Velvet go?

Is it just pushing buttons so Spoiled go's forth with her plans and Velvet is there for Filithy Rich when he falls apart. Or is it the terrible breakup/divorce that ends with a bunch of missing bits and Spoiled as a prisoner. Or maybe just another missing pony case. Or the Changeling plot idea.

 

[ses]

I'm inclined to ruin the marriage instead of save it. Like... have we ever seen any indication that Spoiled actually gives a shit about Filthy, as a person?

I know Bird said we can't really write in the narrative, but mostly I just want Filthy to understand that Spoiled doesn't love him, and possibly never has. Just what she can use him for. She's described as practically a natural-born sycophant, for Glory's sake.

Click to shrink...

Look, I agree that that's all we've seen but Filthy Rich claims that there was a time when they were happy. Just because he's fucking delulu doesn't mean that there might not be a decent marriage in there if Spoiled no longer thinks that she has the opportunity to climb higher by acting like a raging bitch.

Like... Filthy doesn't sound like he's completely crazy, and we don't actually know them well enough to really know Spoiled's inner heart to the point I'd be comfortable saying there's no possibility. It was pretty well implied by Mareinette's Old Intelligence vote that Mareinette could have picked the option that was least good for Velvet's sacrament plan and steered her into a decent marriage. "This is without a doubt the healthiest option for everypony involved". She took the "Neutral route" instead of that or the "Set their marriage on fire right now, This is without a doubt the unhealthiest option for everypony involved, except you" route

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

We were hoping she would go up one level and we would be allowed to Leash Mayor Mare after the leash on Spoiled breaks from our Moth Sacrament? Is that not how it works? We have until the END of this turn after all. If we aren't allowed to do that we should have been told during follower's phase, that was critical to our plan.

Click to shrink...

That is a fair expectation, and I don't mean to "I told you so" or anything. Please take this as kindly as possible. But-

So, please keep this in mind as you make your plans:
-No conditional actions (so no plans with "do X if Y succeeds")
-No actions counting on resources you do not possess (so no plans with "summon a creature, and creature will do X")
-The ONLY exception is if you dig up a dead body, and summon a Risen (because digging a body is quick and easy, and making one Risen is free action)

Click to shrink...

-my biggest concern is that something could blow up in the "middle" of the turn. After some actions, but before others.

So, I'd rather you guys make unequivocal decision with what you have right now, and open mid-turn votes to decide details if the circumstances allow, rather than line up too many ducks and have something bad happen.

 

[Greymere]

Look, I agree that that's all we've seen but Filthy Rich claims that there was a time when they were happy. Just because he's fucking delulu doesn't mean that there might not be a decent marriage in there if Spoiled no longer thinks that she has the opportunity to climb higher by acting like a raging bitch.

Like... Filthy doesn't sound like he's completely crazy, and we don't actually know them well enough to really know Spoiled's inner heart to the point I'd be comfortable saying there's no possibility. It was pretty well implied by Mareinette's Old Intelligence vote that Mareinette could have picked the option that was least good for Velvet's sacrament plan and steered her into a decent marriage. "This is without a doubt the healthiest option for everypony involved". She took the "Neutral route" instead of that or the "Set their marriage on fire right now, This is without a doubt the unhealthiest option for everypony involved, except you" route

Click to shrink...

My main problem with that is, well... that doesn't really have anything to do with our approach to Filthy. If we wanted to change Spoiled's mind, then we'd have to approach it from Spoiled's side - except we're about to lock her to Acquaintance. So... not much we can really do to change her attitude at this point.

So, I'd rather you guys make unequivocal decision with what you have right now, and open mid-turn votes to decide details if the circumstances allow, rather than line up too many ducks and have something bad happen.

Click to shrink...

So, just to clarify: if nothing explodes mid-turn that would affect Leashing decisions, we'll still get the chance to switch it over after Moth Sacrament?

Also @OurLadyOfWires, is something like what I mentioned above a possible write-in? Less of a "Save" or "Ruin" and more of a "Reveal"? Point out to Filthy that Spoiled cares for what he can do for what she wants, not who he is as a person, but ultimately let him decide whether or not he can be happy with that sort of relationship?

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Is (Mareinette) Honored Guest: Mayor Mare somehow unable to do the job.

 

[ses]

That is a fair expectation, and I don't mean to "I told you so" or anything. Please take this as kindly as possible. But-

-my biggest concern is that something could blow up in the "middle" of the turn. After some actions, but before others.

So, I'd rather you guys make unequivocal decision with what you have right now, and open mid-turn votes to decide details if the circumstances allow, rather than line up too many ducks and have something bad happen.

Click to shrink...

If Equestria explodes mid-turn we don't care about Mayor Mare. We were explicitly told that Mayor Mare wasn't in danger until the End of the turn in the Soft vote, and if we reach the end of the turn with Equestria not having exploded and forced an all in then our Leash would be free?

Like I get not voting on it now, I never thought we would, the phrasing of the update just made it sound like we had made a plan that couldn't possibly work as intended by accident and then voted for it.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

So, just to clarify: if nothing explodes mid-turn that would affect Leashing decisions, we'll still get the chance to switch it over after Moth Sacrament?

Click to shrink...

No promises, but my answer is a soft "yes."

Seriously, it's not just the Celestia roll failing. You will also get your hooves dirty with the option to follow the Bureau on a long expedition, and you will have your investigators poking an unknown Name.

There are a lot of plates being thrown in the air this turn, and I can't tell right now how many of them will be successfully caught and re-spinned. So I seriously don't want to make promises because even your personal plan will impact that.

But sure, if Velvet can Leash Mayor Mare in time, the option will be offered. It's something you guys want to happen, so there's no reason not to let it happen if possible.

However, again, right now you can choose to either Leash Spoiled or Mayor Mare, and not both (or you can Leash neither, of course). So, I am asking for the decision on the now, and we can figure out the later in the future.

Also @OurLadyOfWires, is something like what I mentioned above a possible write-in? Less of a "Save" or "Ruin" and more of a "Reveal"? Point out to Filthy that Spoiled cares for what he can do for what she wants, not who he is as a person, but ultimately let him decide whether or not he can be happy with that sort of relationship?

Click to shrink...

Going to Filthy and telling him that his wife doesn't love him sounds like "Ruin" to me.

I don't mean to sound dramatic. Nor do I mean to imply this option is cruel or anything. But if a friend of yours is going through a rough spot in their relationship, asks you for advice, and your answer is "she doesn't really love you bro" that's just a sugarcoated suggestion to break up.
I get it that Velvet would usually be kind and tactful about it. But since a Moth Sacrament may be involved, telling me you want Filthy to break up with Spoiled, while also doing a high-level Moth fuckery, probably won't go as kindly as "revealing" to him she doesn't love him.



Anything else I can help you with? Please let me know.
And sorry if my language is unusually curt. I had a very tough week.

 

[Wise Wolf]

Well, last turn we incidentally alienated Silky's best grandpa-figure. Given how toxic her actual grandfather is, we probably shouldn't just let this rest.

-[] [MANSUS] Beyond the Tribal Door
--[] [MANSUS] Visit Biedde on his post, and gaze upon the Worm Museum

We should meet up and try to talk this out.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Well, last turn we incidentally alienated Silky's best grandpa-figure. Given how toxic her actual grandfather is, we probably shouldn't just let this rest.

-[] [MANSUS] Beyond the Tribal Door
--[] [MANSUS] Visit Biedde on his post, and gaze upon the Worm Museum

We should meet up and try to talk this out.

Click to shrink...

Oh, wow. Thank you for pointing that out. Definitely edited it to no longer be an option

 

[spiderhellian]

@OurLadyOfWires What I would like for the Filthy marriage is to shatter Spoiled's confidence (that she can play this game of nobility, that she has people she can trust outside of Filthy, that she can have friends in this world beyond her family) and drive her back into his arms that way.

Is that feasible? Is that too much the narrative, and not the intentions?

Click to shrink...

@OurLadyOfWires was this missed, or is it something you are pondering?

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

@OurLadyOfWires was this missed, or is it something you are pondering?

Click to shrink...

Thank you, I definitely missed it.

@OurLadyOfWires What I would like for the Filthy marriage is to shatter Spoiled's confidence (that she can play this game of nobility, that she has people she can trust outside of Filthy, that she can have friends in this world beyond her family) and drive her back into his arms that way.

Is that feasible? Is that too much the narrative, and not the intentions?

Click to shrink...

That sounds like "Save."

Apologies if the wording was not clear. "Saving" their marriage is anything that ends with them together. "Ruining" their marriage is anything that ends with them separated.

So yes, this sounds like trying to save Filthy's marriage. Other decisions like whether or not you will use her for the Moth Sacrament, whether or not something explodes, and the general theme of the turn will educate the narrative of it. But shattering her confidence (or perhaps her high opinion of herself) is definitely in the books.

 

[ses]

That sounds like "Save."

Apologies if the wording was not clear. "Saving" their marriage is anything that ends with them together. "Ruining" their marriage is anything that ends with them separated.

So yes, this sounds like trying to save Filthy's marriage. Other decisions like whether or not you will use her for the Moth Sacrament, whether or not something explodes, and the general theme of the turn will educate the narrative of it. But shattering her confidence (or perhaps her high opinion of herself) is definitely in the books.

Click to shrink...

So do a write-in if we want a polycule?

Sorry if we frustrated you in any way! I hope you have a good weekend to make up for it.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

That would have been "The Act"

 

[DelightedOne]

Apologies if the wording was not clear. "Saving" their marriage is anything that ends with them together. "Ruining" their marriage is anything that ends with them separated.

So yes, this sounds like trying to save Filthy's marriage. Other decisions like whether or not you will use her for the Moth Sacrament, whether or not something explodes, and the general theme of the turn will educate the narrative of it. But shattering her confidence (or perhaps her high opinion of herself) is definitely in the books.

Click to shrink...

In that case. I will be voting to save a marriage and breaking the delusions of grandeur of a frustrated with everything in her life Rich mare.

 

[Shaper47]

Anything else I can help you with? Please let me know.

Click to shrink...

@OurLadyOfWires Well I noticed that "Contacts and Names" is a bit outdated.

Also for future turns would a write-in to search for Velvet's corpse within the Roots be allowed?

 

[spiderhellian]

That sounds like "Save."

Apologies if the wording was not clear. "Saving" their marriage is anything that ends with them together. "Ruining" their marriage is anything that ends with them separated.

So yes, this sounds like trying to save Filthy's marriage. Other decisions like whether or not you will use her for the Moth Sacrament, whether or not something explodes, and the general theme of the turn will educate the narrative of it. But shattering her confidence (or perhaps her high opinion of herself) is definitely in the books.

Click to shrink...

Okay, thanks!

So we should in general choose Save/Ruin, and let you handle the best narrative approach to it @OurLadyOfWires ?

I'm totally happy with that, but I guess I'm not really sure where the room for the write in is

 

[ses]

Okay, thanks!

So we should in general choose Save/Ruin, and let you handle the best narrative approach to it @OurLadyOfWires ?

I'm totally happy with that, but I guess I'm not really sure where the room for the write in is

Click to shrink...

"Set Filthy up with Rarity" would be a write in.

"Have Smiles capture a Changeling to replace Spoiled with to "save" his "marraige"" would work too as a write-in.

...there's not a lot of room.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

"Set Filthy up with Rarity" would be a write in.

"Have Smiles capture a Changeling to replace Spoiled with to "save" his "marraige"" would work too as a write-in.

...there's not a lot of room.

Click to shrink...

Just to be clear to everyone, swapping Spoiled with a Changeling is an awful idea we should keep strictly theoretical.

As for setting him up with Rarity... it's okay I guess. Never really have seen Rarity interacting with any stallions, so not sure if any chemistry or feelings are there though.

Also I decided to look up what Filthy looks like and my goodness does he have some serious bags under his eyes. Dude looks like he is perpetually tired and stressed. I feel bad for him.