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

[Shaper47]

I just don't want us playing with fire. Not when there is something that big(Glory) just around the corner.

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Well we could always just scry and send Smiles with some wrong keys to spawn camp him.

So he's a problem we are able to deal with.

 

[DelightedOne]

Trust you? Are you, like, Baldomare in disguise or something?

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Maybe. Are you going to risk it?

Well we could always just scry and send Smiles with some wrong keys to spawn camp him.

So he's a problem we are able to deal with.

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Okay second try. We really should go for Glory by turn 25, like really really. I can't express how important it is we don't delay things more than the necessary to befriend the remaining Names.

I love that idea but we shouldn't stay without the Blood that long.

 

[Shaper47]

Okay second try. We really should go for Glory by turn 25, like really really. I can't express how important it is we don't delay things more than the necessary to befriend the remaining Names.

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I'd prefer to delay myself but in the end it really depends on what the Stalking mechanics turn out to be and how well Selene does with Celestia.

 

[Sveta08]

We REALLY shouldn't try to get past turn 25. Trust me on that.

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I like this. Not because I like this, but because I like this.
I like the fundamental misatribution of lantern.

As for delaying things, I do not know. There is an endless skill of always wanting more time than you will be given. That's how it works after all. If you were given the time to do all the things you wanted to do, you wouldn't be making a choice now would you? Or, rather, you would be choosing. But there wouldn't be evaluation. Not really.

And much as I might style myself in prophecy and mystery, I try to be very careful to never simply state how things will be or are. Not unless I feel undeniable evidence.
And with Celestia as she is? Ha! Even Castle once stood tall in perpetuity may crumble. I would not be so bold to venture to tell you how things might be.
Not beyond what a careful word can be given to help... curb appetite, so to speak.

And yes, that's not grail red. That's intentional.

 

[DelightedOne]

*Facepalm*

I see I am really bad at giving hints even when I am outright stating it. At least I tried. In my defense I am an "indulgement" secondary grail occultist, not a "socializer".


Going any further would require breaking something important... And I don't think anyone here would like the results.


But yeah, let's just pretend I have no reason to do this. That I'm just worried, that's easier.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Cease thy vagueness and just be out with it: what supposedly happens Turn 25?

 

[DelightedOne]

These lips are sealed.

And I am already pushing it. I need you all to trust me on this, I promise I have a good reason.

I think everyone knows by now that I am a Harmonist and that I was vocally against Glory before, if I'm saying we should go it is because there is a motive for that. I swear on Honesty it is worth it, something all of us, be you a Glory Seeker, Moon Cartographer, Harmonist or Wolf Worshiper will benefit from(that last one is conditional, but it is still possible).

It is not about what happens if we reach turn 25 it is about what it means. If we get there I am pretty sure the general consensus will be "keep soothing and getting even more prepared for All In" and that is not necessarily the best course of action considering... everything.

I won't say there is a bomb waiting to go off at turn 25, there isn't. I just saw that as the best moment to act(mostly because if Bird doesn't let us ask Mareimette to heal Poisonous Blood in the same turn we get it) and I think we should be good to go by then from what I know.

Oh and we need to keep Soothing the night even if it is the turn before we go... I think that's all.

 

[Sveta08]

...but we shouldn't stay without the Blood that long.

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Hrm.

I, perhaps one of few, am one to place stock in prophecy and narrative and theme over mechanics. I am often advocating for less than purposeful and actionable results because of the story those choices tell. I wanted us to stay this very turn and leave the expedition to capable hooves. And now.

You place me in an awkward position.
Perhaps I could divine your intent with time. With hunting and searching and casting eyes across Ages and Seasons. Perhaps I would find the thing you have seen and been incensed to act upon. Maybe I would have words and eyes different than your own. Maybe by siren song and clever cry could others be rounded to your way of thinking. Yet maybe those words would decry and cast asunder aspirations. Without looking, without hunting, and without advice, I cannot know.

More than that, you speak in disquieted understanding. Shroud the word in Lantern when it is Moth and Histories. And over the, well, years now, I have come to see how and what you write and trust in some small part.
And I do not understand why it was spoken of here and now. When the path is so far yet removed and uncertain, when fate is yet turning. Twice have I sown the seeds of things to come before to let the thoughts be ripe by the time we arrived, once have I had to helm the ship and turn it by hand. But this....
This sows the seeds of actions already to be taken. This attempts to wrest the wheel to not let it drift. This.... does not make sense to me.


But

Very well.
I will make certain my plans culminate at the 25th.

 

[spiderhellian]

Help, help, my cultist simulator horror quest is becoming an actual cult!

 

[DelightedOne]

This sows the seeds of actions already to be taken. This attempts to wrest the wheel to not let it drift. This.... does not make sense to me.

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I mean... if people stop things from happening then the hints I saw will not be proven.

The Dreamlands has a way into the Mansus and it is the realm of one of our daughters.

The Wolf can work through Velvet.

Velvet will have a SH Sacrament.

And the Blood is the key to Glory.

So we can choose which type of Glory we want! Sure it will still be a Glory victory, but it will be shaded how we want it to.


This is the perfect theory!

 

[Wise Wolf]

These lips are sealed.

And I am already pushing it. I need you all to trust me on this, I promise I have a good reason.

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Frankly, I can only see two possibilities. You're breaching a trust, in which case I should ignore you to avoid rewarding antisocial behavior. Or you're justifying ordinary inference based on sources available to all of us using obscurantism, in which case I should ignore you in the service of Lantern

 

[DelightedOne]

Frankly, I can only see two possibilities. You're breaching a trust, in which case I should ignore you to avoid rewarding antisocial behavior. Or you're justifying ordinary inference based on sources available to all of us using obscurantism, in which case I should ignore you in the service of Lantern

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I did not break any trust. And while I do have antisocial traits, they do not apply this time.

I just didn't want to spoil anything that could happen because guessing endings and twists is something I'm known for back home. But with the chance of putting Velvet even more at risk than she is right now made me start talking about it.


And really there are clues: the Stains being part of the Epilogue even though they are from the Wolf Victory, the Moon Victory being accessible below the Glory victory, the literal portal between the Dreamlands, Silky getting a lore Cutie Mark implying DIPLOMACY, the last In Which showing the best possible future that looks suspiciously as if Harmony came to an understanding with the Mansus and is proposing a deal to the Names with Silky as a proxy.

The last one convinced me completely.


All that points to our capacity to affect the narrative of a Victory. Everything can be connected somehow.


I am not a telepath or a hacker so it is not like I could invade Bird's mind or files to see, if he even keeps it digitally.


So yeah we are getting Glory, but the Epilogue can be biased towards Harmony if we share it with Selene, from what I can see. I could be wrong, but the story really doesn't feel like it was built that way and unfortunately it doesn't look like we will have more after this unless it is a legacy quest with Silky.


So yeah, theory crafting and me wanting to look misterious and being so sure of something doesn't look like it worked well, sorry. You can ignore this if you want but I still feel it is safer to keep a limit on how long we are here.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

It is not about what happens if we reach turn 25 it is about what it means. If we get there I am pretty sure the general consensus will be "keep soothing and getting even more prepared for All In" and that is not necessarily the best course of action considering... everything.

I won't say there is a bomb waiting to go off at turn 25, there isn't. I just saw that as the best moment to act(mostly because if Bird doesn't let us ask Mareimette to heal Poisonous Blood in the same turn we get it) and I think we should be good to go by then from what I know.

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So vibes. Your entire deadline is based off of vibes. There is no bomb, there is no breaking, you just feel that Turn 25 is an arbitrary turning point that locks us into forever prep if we don't go for Glory then and there.

In that case I shall disregard this deadline and plan according to circumstance and actionable knowledge at that time.

 

[Shaper47]

Yeah I have to agree with Talon Tiger Dino here.

 

[Limabot]

So vibes. Your entire deadline is based off of vibes. There is no bomb, there is no breaking, you just feel that Turn 25 is an arbitrary turning point that locks us into forever prep if we don't go for Glory then and there.

In that case I shall disregard this deadline and plan according to circumstance and actionable knowledge at that time.

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I do think Turn 25 is about the turn we should have a "Minimum Viable Product" in terms of whether we can do All In and succeed, but I agree that any additional turns we can squeeze in beyond then will be incredibly valuable, and thus should not be dismissed.

 

[ses]

Minimum Viable All In is at end of turn 24, having befriended Mareinette, Baldomare, Cherry, and Smiles. End of turn 25 would be very nice though, as it would let us get both SH sacraments and possibly Personal Forge.

The thread is once again systemically underestimating the dangers of the High Mansus.

All In isn't the Final Dungeon. The Final Dungeon is "Into the Malleary", which is a Mansus expedition which Velvet must undergo alone.

Ruined Church 1 was wall to wall DC 100 checks, the exact same as all the other DCs of its floor in the Mansus, testing it repeatedly in a variety of Lores. Ruined Church 2 was also DC 100, but it was mono-lore. Mansus Expeditions are the exact same DC as the hurdles of exploring that floor of the Mansus, but punishing on failure and extremely dangerous and you have to pass like half a dozen of them in a row.

[Channeling the LIGHT, cd 120]

[Roll: 61 + 13 (Magic) + 40 (Lantern, level 4) = 114]

[Velvet Covers invokes a re-roll]

[Re-roll: 70 + 13 (Magic) + 40 (Lantern, level 4) = 123]

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The DC for Mansus Hurdles at the Summit is DC 120. Into the Malleary is going to be half a dozen DC 120 hurdles in a row that we need to survive, and knowing our previous luck (RC2, BTRC2) it'll target exactly whichever lores we're least prepared on because we have had zero success in predicting what lores expeditions will test.

We. Are. Not. Ready.

All In isn't the danger, the Malleary is, and the only ways to empower ourselves are
1) Level up our Lores further. Try and hit Lore 6 in at least one lore maybe? Get as many sacraments as possible at least.
2) Befriend Names. We're already working on this, but getting hold of Neighnia would be absolutely huge if we manage this.
3) Find the Heirlooms. Heart and Moth are already destroyed and we have basically no chance of getting the Winter Heirloom unless Windy has it and we end up bullying it off him (unlikely the QM would reward us for failing to obtain the rewards ourselves though so I doubt it.). We can find the Grail Heirloom in Ruined Church 2 most likely. As well as the SH Heirloom in the Tower.
4) This one is a bit of a longshot but Personal Forge is the only sacrament that seems like it has a decent chance of being actually helpful in the Mansus due to being about buff potions.

 

[Greymere]

Minimum Viable All In is at end of turn 24, having befriended Mareinette, Baldomare, Cherry, and Smiles. End of turn 25 would be very nice though, as it would let us get both SH sacraments and possibly Personal Forge.

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I think, if we're talking about preparing for All In, having both SH Sacraments isn't really going to do much for us. It'd be a bit disappointing not to get our personal SH Sacrament, sure, but going for it is arguably not a great use of AP when we're trying to get ready for All In and already planning on taking Baldomare's. And the problem with trying to aim for Heirlooms is that... well. 1) We have absolutely no idea what they actually do. And 2) as you pointed out, the Mansus is dangerous. And we're on a timer. These things do not mix well. Remember what happened the first and only time that we Danced With Death? We really, really need that to not happen right now.

Edit: This is also, perhaps, a discussion best saved until after we've seen the results of the Celestia defusing. Since Hours only know what's going to come of that.

 

[ses]

I think, if we're talking about preparing for All In, having both SH Sacraments isn't really going to do much for us. It'd be a bit disappointing not to get our personal SH Sacrament, sure, but going for it is arguably not a great use of AP when we're trying to get ready for All In and already planning on taking Baldomare's. And the problem with trying to aim for Heirlooms is that... well. 1) We have absolutely no idea what they actually do. And 2) as you pointed out, the Mansus is dangerous. And we're on a timer. These things do not mix well. Remember what happened the first and only time that we Danced With Death? We really, really need that to not happen right now.

Edit: This is also, perhaps, a discussion best saved until after we've seen the results of the Celestia defusing. Since Hours only know what's going to come of that.

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Yeah but Personal SH seems like it has a decent chance of being useful in the Malleary, so I think it's a good use of AP. Personal Forge and Personal SH are my top two sacraments that I think might be useful in the Malleary for their traits: our Lantern options are almost certain to be useless in mansus expeditions, same with Personal Moth and Personal Winter. I'd rather spend the AP on personal SH to see what the trait does than spend the AP on personal winter for the +1 lore and non-relevant trait even completely ignoring moral costs, just what I predict would be better for the Malleary.