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

... I... don't know about that?
Like, we got her to design The Wedding Dress. Big The.
I think she'll be fine.

We made her fail her career roll to make money, that happens 3 times in row said career is over. The problem is I haven't seen anyway for us to assist her in those rolls as a regular action...which means they are completely up to luck. Which given this quest...yeah.
 
We made her fail her career roll to make money, that happens 3 times in row said career is over. The problem is I haven't seen anyway for us to assist her in those rolls as a regular action...which means they are completely up to luck. Which given this quest...yeah.
Having her take the "Focus on her career" action makes her autosucceed her career roll
 
I would really like to continue working on our SH Sacrament, I simply fear that it will be left unfinished for entire turns. There always will be something else to do and I think the Sacrament should take priority.
Don't worry too much, if we get that level 6 book for Baldomare we can take her SH Influence next turn and double down on the Sacrament.
 
We made her fail her career roll to make money, that happens 3 times in row said career is over. The problem is I haven't seen anyway for us to assist her in those rolls as a regular action...which means they are completely up to luck. Which given this quest...yeah.
The only two real ways to improve Rarity's career besides upping her level in the lores, we came up with is to scry for a Forge artifact that would help/assist her.
 
SH4 for Sacrament actions :V

(Edit: Though if we're walking around with a +40 SH Influence, we might want to set aside an AP to search for an Outsider on T20, so someone with ridiculous SH bonuses would still be contributing)
ops, you're right, not sure how I forgot that.

Well, still Fluttershy and Selene can do it turn 20 and 21, with Baldomare MAYBE helping turn 21?

I don't really want to have Velvet do outsider search because...

Well, let's assume it uses application bonus (so SH 5 = +25, not +50). admittedly we can boost it with AotL in that case.

so Velvet can do 1d100 + 12+ 25 = +37 with reroll (or +62 with AotL). so average 112.

Fluttershy + Selene, which are less valuable, are 2d100 + 25 (Selene) + 6 (I'm assuming Fluttershy has low intrigue, definitely no more than 10). Average around 131.

So my point is that I'd rather let the less useful ponies do it. OR Baldomare if we don't have other uses for her, as she's so good at it (+80, maybe +110 if knowledge instead of application bonus).

If we have the +40 influence, I just would rather do two sacrament actions in a row. And after doing that, I'd rather have Baldomare search on her own than boost Velvet.

If we really want to trawl for a Heart scrap, 2 Mansus AP this turn would probably be better. Part of why I also have Mapping the Wastes in addition to Wake and Dream. Though if we're putting off the Outsider stuff for later anyway, I should probably replace the last exploration point for the Ruined Church Part 2 also.
My lack of urgency on that is that I'm hoping to get lucky, AND next turn we can probably spare another AP, plus the Frangiclave expedition probably... so there's 3 points of exploration this turn, probably 3 next turn, AND possibly a scrap from sacrament actions, AND possibly books from the canterlot expedition, AND maybe we'll find other books on frangiclave expedition...

We need Heart 4 by mid turn 21, so we have three turns (19, 20 and 21) to get that single scrap. No reason to go too heavy on Mansus JUST for that.


that said, 2 points on Mansus wouldn't be that bad. I'd be willing to give up either Rarity lesson or Mare in the light summon for it (most likely rarity).

Good point, but the reason why I even bothered to put that in Velvet's phase this turn while knowing Jade's level was going to be raised for the RotT is to avoid the procrastination that happens when people say "We can do that next turn".

There also isn't anything else that is urgent this turn, so might as well do what I want. Velvet also has 4% more chance than Jade of completing it in one turn.
some level of procrastination is kind of unavoidable. We just can't do everything we want.

I want to summon Biedde, AND to finish the Sacrament, AND to explore the Red Church, AND to teach Jade, Rarity AND Fluttershy, AND to talk to Comet, and and AND!

I have to keep track of what's urgent, what's useful now, and what doesn't really change anything.

Outsider blood is kinda useless until we have an Outsider, so it can wait if we're not exploring for them.

Comet, if we care for it, Can't be delayed.

I really want to reach Heart 4, but I can spread my attempts for an heart scrap among 3 turns, no super rush.

Memory of Light is probably not that urgent, in any case whatever it is we likely want Luna fully trained as it will likely involve her, so I could see it not being urgent until turn 21 at the earliest.

...admittedly Memory of Light MIGHT help with Daybreak, but that's why I think she's perfect to do it on turn 20 (and then again 21). After all pure lantern research and ritual crafting are Jade's specialties. We don't need her for scrying any longer, and we don't have a ritual to craft (unless we want to try such a solution to Daybreaker, but I'd rather wait for Memory of Light first, and such a ritual crafting action would be better done by BOTH Velvet and Jade together anyway.

I would really like to continue working on our SH Sacrament, I simply fear that it will be left unfinished for entire turns. There always will be something else to do and I think the Sacrament should take priority.
Working on it without an influence is just foolish. so to work on it now we'd have to either take a reagent AND Call of influence actions to make an SH3 (or 3) reagent, or use the free reagent crafting for it instead than to help Jade find a lvl 6 book.

Best thing to do is in my opinion to have Baldomare give us an influence next turn (automatic tier 4), and then do two actions in a turn which we roll at

+40 (SH 4)+14 (Learning)+40 (influence) = +94.

older DC was 110. worst case we're assuming it would go up by max 20 each time, so DC might be 130 (we need a 46) and 150 (we need a 66).

and we have a reroll, and probably abort the second attempt if we don't have a reroll left.

So best we can do in my opinion is to try and get the Sacrament on turn 20 (2 actions and baldomare influence), and be ready to finish only on turn 21 if the first attempt consumes the reroll

Indeed I think it's basically our only option. Normal influence from ritual could be anything from tier 2 (unlikely) to 4, and I think we can't afford the risk of trying with only a tier 2 or 3 influence.


[] Plan Wake and Dream
-[] (AotL) Grail
-[] (Steppes) Ask about any rumors and general perceptions of us, Fair Trial, and our respective institutions, among both nobles and the commonfolk.
-[] (Forge) SH2, for Jade's RotT
-[] (Social) Level up Jade
-[] Summon a Mare-in-the-Light
--[] To be performed on an inconspicuous place, located by Baldomare
-[] Fleeting Opportunity: Comet Feet
-[] Study: Forge 3, Forge 3, Mystery Book
-[] Search Canterlot for the Outsider (Progress: 0/200)
-[] Explore the Mansus
--[] Find a new location in the Ashen Wastes
--[] Explore the depths of the Ruined Church

[] Plan Mapping the Wastes
-[] (AotL) Grail
-[] (Steppes) Ask about any rumors and general perceptions of us, Fair Trial, and our respective institutions, among both nobles and the commonfolk.
-[] (Forge) SH2, for Jade's RotT
-[] (Social) Level up Jade
-[] Summon a Mare-in-the-Light
--[] To be performed on an inconspicuous place, located by Baldomare
-[] Fleeting Opportunity: Comet Feet
-[] Study: Forge 3, Forge 3, Mystery Book
-[] Explore the Mansus (x2)
--[] Find a new location in the Ashen Wastes (3x)
--[] Explore the depths of the Ruined Church
--[] Any overflow from exploring the Ashen Wastes should go to finding a new location in the Shattered Stairways

well, as I already said I'm against searching for the Outsider.

I'd be fine with Plan Mapping the Wastes though. I'd slightly prefer teaching Rarity over the second mansus action, but I can accept a delay on that for next turn with the free social.

just one thought about AotL: we've been told in the past that Grail doesn't help much with Copper specifically because he's kind of aware of it and he sees everything in the light of Edge, so a conversation is more of verbal sparring, right?

Would AotL Grail actually help with Comet @OurLadyOfWires ? If not we might be better off going for Heart or Winter, in case of such rolls in the Mansus (as they're the "defensive" lores).

We made her fail her career roll to make money, that happens 3 times in row said career is over. The problem is I haven't seen anyway for us to assist her in those rolls as a regular action...which means they are completely up to luck. Which given this quest...yeah.
context matters.

She has now TWO ways to make money out of her career.

1) She works for the Needles as usual, to keep up with that she needs AT LEAST one success every 3 turn for her season's lineup to not be a disaster, the more the better.

2)She can ignore her usual work and do a SPECIAL commission for a very wealthy client. This means she's not working on the clothes sold in the Needle's boutiques, BUT she's instead working for a single individual. She can then work again on the season's lineup on the other turns.

if she's working on the commission, Needle Work is autofail
If she's doing any action for us, it's rolled for if she ALSO manages to keep up with her work or not
if she's using her action on her career specifically, it's an automatic success

and she needs to always have at least 1 success every 3 turns.

Actually, @OurLadyOfWires has Rarity ever failed a roll thus far? and if she's working on her career, does she also rolls for the quality of her work besides the automatic success?

The only two real ways to improve Rarity's career besides upping her level in the lores, we came up with is to scry for a Forge artifact that would help/assist her.
or Grail artifact, potentially.

That said she's already likely the most famous and successful fashion designer in the world. She can't get THAT much better, really.

Grail Sacrament is also an option, but well...

...

@OurLadyOfWires does Rarity gets a potential Sacrament to achieve on her own, like Velvet does?

And if she does, could SHE then share it with us?

In general, do lvl 4 confidants get a personal sacrament option?
 
My lack of urgency on that is that I'm hoping to get lucky, AND next turn we can probably spare another AP, plus the Frangiclave expedition probably... so there's 3 points of exploration this turn, probably 3 next turn, AND possibly a scrap from sacrament actions, AND possibly books from the canterlot expedition, AND maybe we'll find other books on frangiclave expedition...

We need Heart 4 by mid turn 21, so we have three turns (19, 20 and 21) to get that single scrap. No reason to go too heavy on Mansus JUST for that.
If we're summoning Biedde next turn, Frangiclave almost certainly isn't happening until T21, especially if you want to double up on Sacrament actions on T20, which mean any loot we get from Frangiclave expedition won't be available for study until T22.

just one thought about AotL: we've been told in the past that Grail doesn't help much with Copper specifically because he's kind of aware of it and he sees everything in the light of Edge, so a conversation is more of verbal sparring, right?
I'm like, 95% certain that we've used Grail on Comet before. It was Jade that we were told that Grail wouldn't really have applied to, because those were different sorts of conversations being had.

Actually, @OurLadyOfWires has Rarity ever failed a roll thus far? and if she's working on her career, does she also rolls for the quality of her work besides the automatic success?
I believe she had. Sometime around when we were on the verge of leaving the cult, we were told that if we asked Rarity to do something she might put her career at risk, which wouldn't have been an issue if she'd hadn't failed at least once.
 
RotT evidence and have the Mare take up the search then?
I won't comment on mares until we get them and see what they're good for.

Maybe we'll have THEM scry for the evidence.


If we're summoning Biedde next turn, Frangiclave almost certainly isn't happening until T21, especially if you want to double up on Sacrament actions on T20, which mean any loot we get from Frangiclave expedition won't be available for study until T22.
Right... It depends a lot on the kind of expedition it is.

Worst case it might actually use 3 velvet actions, which I nearly forgot.
 
She has now TWO ways to make money out of her career.

1) She works for the Needles as usual, to keep up with that she needs AT LEAST one success every 3 turn for her season's lineup to not be a disaster, the more the better.

2)She can ignore her usual work and do a SPECIAL commission for a very wealthy client. This means she's not working on the clothes sold in the Needle's boutiques, BUT she's instead working for a single individual. She can then work again on the season's lineup on the other turns.

if she's working on the commission, Needle Work is autofail
If she's doing any action for us, it's rolled for if she ALSO manages to keep up with her work or not
if she's using her action on her career specifically, it's an automatic success

and she needs to always have at least 1 success every 3 turns.

Yeah I know that. The issue isn't how she can make money, the issue is that career roll is completely dependent on luck right now. Not having a success every three turns isn't likely, but its not impossible especially if something happens that prevents Rarity from working (injury, expedition, etc). The problem is that if that does happen we don't have the ability to run damage control.
 
In which a Lioness hunts
A Lioness Hunts

You thought, by this point, you understood the wreckage that the Mansus had been left as. You had seen and traversed the shattered ruins of the shattered stairways. You had navigated the bloodthirsty shards of what was once the Concursum, avoiding their mirrored edges. You have gazed upon a door obliterated (and one ruined).

As you step up to the Malleary, you are reminded of the truth of that ancient history. All that wreckage was mere — "mere" — side-effects. It was shock-wave, echo, corollary. But it was not the true act of destruction.

You know this, because that true act of destruction is what you gaze on now.

You imagine the Malleary was once a place of efficiency and efficaciousness, if not elegance. Now it is ruined. In twisted pipe and spilled metal (or is it magma), the Forge of Days wrote a testament to one of the most important lessons she taught: the artisan may achieve their highest goal only by destroying their most precious tool.

What an artisan she was. What a tool it was. If only you better understood her goal.

But that is why you are here, is it not? Though as you pick your way through the wreckage, making a passage more often than you find one, it's clear that clues are going to be awfully hard to come by. The same is true of any curios you might bring back from a dream so threaded through with the lore of making. The same is true, really, of anything usable at all. This place really has been destroyed, more than it has been transformed.

You are just about to turn back — or wake up? — when you pause. Because you are being hunted.



You hear a breath amidst the ruins, and it is not the breath of bellows. Something rises and then falls, and it is not a hammer. And then out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse. Of something unbroken, perhaps unbreakable. Something that amidst the ruin, remains seamless.

Your senses are screaming by this point, and your flight has grown wild. You are afraid, but -- for now -- you remain in control of that fear, and channel it to add your own touch to the ruined Malleary, carving passageways in hope they transform into an escape route.

But the thing that chases you is, as ever, stronger.

It leaps. It lands atop you, and brings you to the cold metallic floor. For a moment still you shift, and fight, and try to keep going. And then a mouth encircles your neck, sharp teeth poking into soft flesh, and you freeze.

You think of Silky. You think of Stormchaser. You think of Selene, and Soft Sweeps. You most certainly do not move a muscle, even as you feel the predator's warm breath on your neck.

It could have been an instant, it could have been an era, it could have been seven years. And then the mouth moves away, replaced by a single razor-sharp claw. You do not move, you do not look at the creature who has granted you this moment of mercy, even as you almost gasp in relief.



"A scarred mare. An era alone, and they send me a scarred mare."

The voice is slow at first, an instrument not used in millennia being picked back up. For all that, it is smooth.

"And do you know what an era it has been?"

"All this," the creature gestures, and you see a bright-golden paw point to the surrounding ruins, "Really makes for a piss-poor forge."

The words come faster now, "Truly, I'm lucky to make a Manticore instead of a house cat! And even when I do, so what? I send them on their merry way, hoping they'll make it to the Wake. Do you even know how much a pain it is to never see the results of your work?"

The voice pauses in its onslaught. "They do make it to the Wake, right?"

You find the claw against your throat lifts an inch, giving you room to speak. An image of a blood soaked cave, filled with slaughter, flashes bright in your memory.

"Yes, we have Manticores," you reply, your voice only trembling a little.

"Oh thank the Golden General. I can't even really send a good creation against my oldest friend, given what he's up to. One of that knife in the dark's more brilliant maneuvers, spending an entire damn era in the one role I can't have too much fun with him."

The entity growls, a sound deep in its throat that sends chills down your spine. But maybe… maybe that was its version of a sigh?

It continues, "And then they send me a scarred mare. Really!"

For all its seeming irritation, the creature takes a step back (though its claws stay out). You remain motionless, but the creature goes on, "Well, get up. Let me see what they've sent me to work with, here."

You could flee, but you would be caught. You could fight, but you would lose. So instead you rise.



Before you is a Name. That's unquestionable. With a bit of distance, and a few moments to catch your breath, you can almost feel the strength, and violence, and endurance that the creature exudes. It reminds you of its breath against your neck.

Similarly unquestionable: what's before you is a predator. One that likes its prey warm, and running, and then freshly killed.

But other than that, you have questions, and you peruse the Name even as she looks you over in turn. She is great and golden, a form out of old University lectures you have more than half forgotten.

But if you are simply trying to understand what you see, she is forming a judgment. She mutters to herself again, "A scarred mare!"

Slowly, however, her lips turn up in a smile.

"But you have made monsters, haven't you."



When you awake, you have a Forge-hot, Edge-sharp name on your tongue. You have a long scratch on your neck. And you have her chiding reminder still ringing in your ears — "Really, get that scar sorted out!"

Had an idea about Biedde's dyad partner that I wanted to write up. This is thinking that it's the Lion-goddess Menhit, who is not going to settle for being some Lion-pony, no she is not.

I also think the Malleary will be a cool place to explore, even if it's sub optimal to do it this turn. I hadn't made the connection to its destruction and the secret of the FoD the Lionsmith invoked in breaking his sword until now!
 
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Yeah I know that. The issue isn't how she can make money, the issue is that career roll is completely dependent on luck right now. Not having a success every three turns isn't likely, but its not impossible especially if something happens that prevents Rarity from working (injury, expedition, etc). The problem is that if that does happen we don't have the ability to run damage control.
I guess, but I also don't really see that being an issue in the immediate future. It's not like we're going to be sending her on expeditions anytime soon. We've got Names (and Selene) for that, and maybe even Raw Prophets (Grail spirits) in the near future if we find them in the Church's depths, instead of risking our incredibly valuable source of More Bits.
 
I hadn't made the connection to its destruction and the secret of the FoD the Lionsmith invoked in breaking his sword until now!
Great omake.

Also, it's a bit hard to call it a secret when it was probably also used to Divide the Sun.
 
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I really want to reach Heart 4, but I can spread my attempts for an heart scrap among 3 turns, no super rush.

Memory of Light is probably not that urgent, in any case whatever it is we likely want Luna fully trained as it will likely involve her, so I could see it not being urgent until turn 21 at the earliest.

...admittedly Memory of Light MIGHT help with Daybreak, but that's why I think she's perfect to do it on turn 20 (and then again 21). After all pure lantern research and ritual crafting are Jade's specialties. We don't need her for scrying any longer, and we don't have a ritual to craft (unless we want to try such a solution to Daybreaker, but I'd rather wait for Memory of Light first, and such a ritual crafting action would be better done by BOTH Velvet and Jade together anyway.
Maybe we could use 1 Velvet action in book searching in Ponyville when she is under Baldomare's Influence? Or to be cheaper just send the servants instead, we do only need Heart 3 scraps at the moment. There is always Mareinette of course but burning through her max level Heart influence(plus the Heart lesson) already could be wasteful if the Sacrament options are good. The only place left in the Mansus that has any canon association with Heart that I found is the Orchard so we could go there(the others were the Temple of the Wheel and the Spider/Tribal door and they got Wolf'd so...)

A Memory of Light is part of the Harmony Path and came from a Nat 100. Doing that feels so urgent to me I might just scream. I'm also pretty sure Luna will only consider taking action about Daybreaker when she completes her training so if the ritual is ready she might just jump on it first thing and I want that plot thread if it is possible.

Random crazy thought: Is it possible for Jade to research Selene's Knock 4? That would be crazy.
 
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Good morning folks.

Not able to say as much here today as a bit ago, but.
I just ask that we keep in mind that we should aim to keep our Leash on Shining for now.

Simply put, we interact with him too much on the job for him to remember Twilight and start to go snooping like the loyal brother he is. It would eat too much of our time and potentially AP to deal with that.
Yes, Cadence knows stuff about Twilight, but Shining has not known and poked it while not leashed. Best to keep that box sealed for now.

No serious conversations seem to be suggesting moving that leash, but, felt I should make that concern known.

Hope we are all having fun planning.
 
A Memory of Light is part of the Harmony Path and came from a Nat 100. Doing that feels so urgent to me I might just scream.
I mean, why though? Like even if we completely finish researching it this turn, it's not like the next step is going to be the "I win" button. So I don't see why it would qualify as urgent as opposed to like, medium-to-high priority just like the Outsider search.

The only thing that should truly count as urgent right now imo is keeping the Names around. Everything else can be procrastinated to some degree or another, Names are always going to be on a short time limit unless/until we get their permanent loyalty.

(Edit: Which, annoyingly, means we're probably going to have to ask Baldomare to scry for a Level 7 book real soon. Yay. More expensive expeditions. At least we should have perma-DoA at that point. )
 
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I want to prioritize taking Copper down and getting the Winter Name. A Name is a serious threat, on par with an entirely new faction showing up.
 
Not able to say as much here today as a bit ago, but.
I just ask that we keep in mind that we should aim to keep our Leash on Shining for now.

Simply put, we interact with him too much on the job for him to remember Twilight and start to go snooping like the loyal brother he is. It would eat too much of our time and potentially AP to deal with that.
Yes, Cadence knows stuff about Twilight, but Shining has not known and poked it while not leashed. Best to keep that box sealed for now.
There is no point to the Leash on Shining. As in, we literally didn't choose to take it off. The QM took it off for us automatically because we reached a point where it had no extra effect on the relationship.
 
I just ask that we keep in mind that we should aim to keep our Leash on Shining for now.

Way too late for that mate, that ship is sailed as of that whole, business, before the wedding. Besides, Shining's married now, the only one who'll be putting a Leash on him is Cadence.
 
I mean, why though? Like even if we completely finish researching it this turn, it's not like the next step is going to be the "I win" button. So I don't see why it would qualify as urgent as opposed to like, medium-to-high priority just like the Outsider search.

The only thing that should truly count as urgent right now imo is keeping the Names around. Everything else can be procrastinated to some degree or another, Names are always going to be on a short time limit unless/until we get their permanent loyalty.

(Edit: Which, annoyingly, means we're probably going to have to ask Baldomare to scry for a Level 7 book real soon. Yay. More expensive expeditions. At least we should have perma-DoA at that point. )
Because it is a Victory condition that makes the world a better place, that is why. About that, you are right it is not an instant victory but I remember something Bird said about that Nat 100 from Jade that went kinda like this:" Jade's way of doing it was easy." So I think we actually skipped some of the most annoying parts and got the straight ahead way and that makes my brain go"hum, opportunity".

I agree that Names are important but they are not the only pieces of the puzzle, having them is helpful but it ain't going to solve all of our problems, only some of them. We should try to get them to stay but there are also other things we should be doing.

Now that you mentioned it the Frangiclave feels too good to be true, I mean give this to the Name and keep her forever, that is crazy... Unless the expedition is hard as adamantium or we lose the Frangiclave after giving it to DoA. Also Level 7 books are definitely gonna be a hell quest to get.
 
Now that you mentioned it the Frangiclave feels too good to be true, I mean give this to the Name and keep her forever, that is crazy... Unless the expedition is hard as adamantium or we lose the Frangiclave after giving it to DoA.

Breaking an Hour's personal binding explicitly designed to imprison a Knock-Name in perpetuity is a bit beyond the conventional use of the Frangiclave, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the process proved unusually destructive, or if Axe needs it on a permanent basis to keep the lock/binding opened.
 
Now that you mentioned it the Frangiclave feels too good to be true, I mean give this to the Name and keep her forever, that is crazy... Unless the expedition is hard as adamantium or we lose the Frangiclave after giving it to DoA. Also Level 7 books are definitely gonna be a hell quest to get.
I mean there's a reason that I've been assuming that Frangiclave is going to cost us a small fortune and 3 AP to get, and it's not because I expect it to be easy to get :V

I'm fully expecting we're going to want to run a max-level Influence from every Name we have available at the time (which should be Mareinette, Baldomare, and Biedde) and maybe even a Called Influence on top of that, if there's enough bits to spare.
 
There's also the matter of bits, because summoning Biedde is pretty expensive :V
Fair enough.

the main problem is that we just don't know how many bits and actions Frangiclave expeditions will cost.

It's PROBABLY a max 3 actions (15 days) and 10 bits per day. so at its very worst it should be around 300 bits if we go with Axe and Velvet (if it's less than that I might consider bringing Selene too I suppose. make it a family trip! Velvet Axe, Velvet Covers and Velvet Selene :V ).

(Velvet Selene doesn't sound that good...)

Yeah I know that. The issue isn't how she can make money, the issue is that career roll is completely dependent on luck right now. Not having a success every three turns isn't likely, but its not impossible especially if something happens that prevents Rarity from working (injury, expedition, etc). The problem is that if that does happen we don't have the ability to run damage control.
and we're saying that's false. The moment we're at risk of not getting that third success we can just let her focus on her career. And Ideally we limit the commissions to max 1 every 3 turns, MAYBE 2 if/when we're REALLY desperate as long as that third turn is a career focus action.

I guess, but I also don't really see that being an issue in the immediate future. It's not like we're going to be sending her on expeditions anytime soon. We've got Names (and Selene) for that, and maybe even Raw Prophets (Grail spirits) in the near future if we find them in the Church's depths, instead of risking our incredibly valuable source of More Bits.
Very much this.

We have Mareinette (+40 to everything, +60 social, HEART 6 GRAIL 6, unknown health but HIGH)

Axe (+30 to everything, +50 on expeditions (except combat and social), +10 if social, KNOCK 6 EDGE 3, Health 5)

Selene (on turn 21 she should reach +30 to everything, MOTH/EDGE/WINTER/KNOCK 4, 7 Health)

Velvet Covers, the MC (base stats between 10 and 15, soon to be ALL-4, can get influences from the Names, soon to have the SH sacrament, but only 2 Health).

any of the above can solo the "easier" expeditions, though we'd hesitate with Velvet due to her low health.

Mareinette and Axe can basically do an expedition each per turn, really, and Selene too. Velvet is more someone we'd want to send for the narratively important ones, like Frangiclave, but not in general.

There's near zero reasons to ever send anyone but those 4 on Expeditions.

as for other actions... Rarity is a convenient source of bits from commission and work. We might occasionally want to use her for Social actions, but it's not something we usually really need.

Maybe we could use 1 Velvet action in book searching in Ponyville when she is under Baldomare's Influence? Or to be cheaper just send the servants instead, we do only need Heart 3 scraps at the moment. There is always Mareinette of course but burning through her max level Heart influence(plus the Heart lesson) already could be wasteful if the Sacrament options are good. The only place left in the Mansus that has any canon association with Heart that I found is the Orchard so we could go there(the others were the Temple of the Wheel and the Spider/Tribal door and they got Wolf'd so...)

A Memory of Light is part of the Harmony Path and came from a Nat 100. Doing that feels so urgent to me I might just scream. I'm also pretty sure Luna will only consider taking action about Daybreaker when she completes her training so if the ritual is ready she might just jump on it first thing and I want that plot thread if it is possible.

Random crazy thought: Is it possible for Jade to research Selene's Knock 4? That would be crazy.
Servant search... maybe. but servant + (probably) fluttershy is likely to be our standard +1 AP action. and we might NOT find a lvl 3 Heart book, and anything else (except expedition books I suppose) would be useless to us.

Burning through the influence for Mareinette is fine, but as she gives only one action per turn it would be better to get at least one of the 3 scraps we need somewhere else in the next two turns.

It's not like we're lacking for Sacraments to work on.

1) SH is in progress. we'll probably finish it in a turn or two.

2) One more knock scrap and we can work on Axe Knock Sacrament.

3) 4 Lantern scraps (and we can get 2 from influence) and we can work on Baldomare Lantern Sacrament (we just need to give her two Mares in the Light for an expedition, basically. Or Axe + anything else, even a Risen.

4) 2 more Edge Scraps (Edge Influence is an option) and we could try for Biedde's

5) 3 Winter scraps (and 1 or 2 could be from influence, and at least 1 probably from the action itself) and we could go for the Winter Sacrament (morally questionable.).

there's also Edge/Winter from wolf, but I'm fairly sure most of us are not even considering it.



So, in short, there's

1 Sacrament we're working on (SH)
2 Sacraments that are not that far away AND are morally neutral (Lantern, Knock)
2 Sacraments that are currently unknown on morality (Forge both personal and Name-given, and Edge Name-given)
and 1 Sacraments (Winter) that's bad, but potentially justifiable in that we REALLY need more power in any way we can get it.

Also winter Name-given and Heart Personal are still unknowns.

of the 9 principles, we have ways to proceed we're fine with for at least 3 sacraments, are in doubt about 4 others we still don't know, and the ONLY Sacraments that are morally questionable and we might hesitate with are MOTH and GRAIL

As for your Orchard comment... better to visit NEW areas first. If we run out of those we can consider revisiting, though we'd then probably have to worry about that "if you don't visit new areas you start getting depressed" thing.

we still have plenty left though. 3 areas in the woods (presumably), 1 in the stairways, the red church, I think 2 at the top of the Mansus, the Areas unlocked by SH Sacrament (Tower of the Moon and beyond), Possibly the area behind the Winter Sacrament, and who knows what else.

Random crazy thought: Is it possible for Jade to research Selene's Knock 4? That would be crazy.
what? Jade doesn't have Knock, how could she?

Or did you mean Selene with Axe?

In that case it's easier for Velvet to do it first, and then teach Selene.

...I wonder...

@OurLadyOfWires I don't suppose Selene can research her own personal Sacraments for Moth and Winter and then share them with us, can she? I already asked about the other confidants, though I don't think you answered (not recently at least. If I had asked in the old thread I don't remember it).

I mean, why though? Like even if we completely finish researching it this turn, it's not like the next step is going to be the "I win" button. So I don't see why it would qualify as urgent as opposed to like, medium-to-high priority just like the Outsider search.

The only thing that should truly count as urgent right now imo is keeping the Names around. Everything else can be procrastinated to some degree or another, Names are always going to be on a short time limit unless/until we get their permanent loyalty.

(Edit: Which, annoyingly, means we're probably going to have to ask Baldomare to scry for a Level 7 book real soon. Yay. More expensive expeditions. At least we should have perma-DoA at that point. )
We have at least a few more turns before lvl 7 book, and we COULD just give her an extra lvl 5 to gain more time if we had to.

I agree on Names being the one thing we can't really afford to delay, at least for the "keep them summoned" things. Baldomare lvl 7 can be delayed, even lvl 6.

lvl 5 minimum can't. Frangiclave expedition can't. Whenever we find out about Biedde, we CAN'T allow him to expire either, especially if Copper is still around (though we'll probably use him to kill her if we can't find an alternative)

Memory of Light... I'd like it done next turn, ideally. Let Jade do it next turn with her shiny +40 LANTERN, a reroll, and probably +10 to 14 from base stat.

It's something like a 75% chance of her finishing it in a turn I think, probably a bit more.

Admittedly it's only stage 1, but that will give us an idea of it's relevant to our current short term problems (Mainly Daybreaker) or not.

Way too late for that mate, that ship is sailed as of that whole, business, before the wedding. Besides, Shining's married now, the only one who'll be putting a Leash on him is Cadence.
...we're on QQ now, when will Cadance invite Velvet and Stormchaser to some private soirée ? :Vx3

Now that you mentioned it the Frangiclave feels too good to be true, I mean give this to the Name and keep her forever, that is crazy... Unless the expedition is hard as adamantium or we lose the Frangiclave after giving it to DoA. Also Level 7 books are definitely gonna be a hell quest to get.
Expedition is near certainly 15 days (3 velvet actions) and fairly expensive. We might want to go heavy on it, and that to me looks like

Velvet + Axe + Selene + Biedde's Influence on either Velvet or Selene, just in case.

That's POTENTIALLY up to 450 bits required (I fully expect us to get a LARGE refund if we go that heavy though) 3 velvet actions and 2 Follower actions.

We'll probably want to scout/scry first too.

It's a lot of work, is what I'm saying. It's probably not even JUST the Frangiclave, there's likely more stuff too. The last owner of the Frangiclave would after all likely have been a pretty successful occultist.

Breaking an Hour's personal binding explicitly designed to imprison a Knock-Name in perpetuity is a bit beyond the conventional use of the Frangiclave, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the process proved unusually destructive, or if Axe needs it on a permanent basis to keep the lock/binding opened.
uh. That's true. I could see the Frangiclave being sacrificed in the process.

Still worth it, but it would be pretty sad.
 
I don't hate the plans I've seen — woohoo finally getting a MitL! — but I would love to see a Biedde-sunmoning plan.

And maybe a SH-maxing plan as well. Rerolls are quite powerful (for success and for getting bonus scraps!), which makes me worried about trying to concentrate the Sacrament actions into one turn.

EDIT: ALSO, I really think we should consider not getting Jade a reagent and instead getting a free Level 2 knock/Level 1 Edge reagent. That's a lot of value!
 
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As for your Orchard comment... better to visit NEW areas first. If we run out of those we can consider revisiting, though we'd then probably have to worry about that "if you don't visit new areas you start getting depressed" thing.
Considering what the source of the "need to climb" impulse is, I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually got replaced with "make progress toward Glory some way" if we manage to completely run out of areas.

Let Jade do it next turn with her shiny +40 LANTERN, a reroll, and probably +10 to 14 from base stat.
Don't forget the variable +5 to +15 from the SH3 artifact.
 
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Their is zero reason for Velvet to ever go on a expedition when we have the 2 best names for expeditions. The 2 of them can easily clear anything even a DC 200 wont stop them.
 
Their is zero reason for Velvet to ever go on a expedition when we have the 2 best names for expeditions. The 2 of them can easily clear anything even a DC 200 wont stop them.
Other Lores exist beyond Knock, Heart, and Grail, you know. Having a +50 expedition bonus isn't going to save the DoA if she runs into a DC 160 Secret Histories obstacle.
 
So something I realized when I was talking about Influences for the Frangiclave expedition. If we're summoning a MitL this turn, she'll expire on T21. Meaning it may be possible to use up her last action then use her as a sacrifice to summon a Lantern Influence if it would be useful.

We could potentially be running a max Grail/Heart, Edge, Secret Histories, and Lantern Influence all at the same time when we go to do the Frangiclave expedition.
 

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