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

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Pittauro said:
If I remember right, Rarity very quietly (which is extremely out of character for her) Told us she'd name her firstborn daughter after us.

So... yeah, short of asking for something insane like killing or torturing Sweetie Belle, she'd basically do anything for us. Anything we're actually likely to ever consider asking of her, at least.

So she's effectively a Minion.
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Yep. I mean, Bird also pretty heavily hinted even before that that the whole "as long as her Grail matches yours she's not a minion" is 100% just Velvet coping that she doesn't actually have that much power over her friend because she doesn't want minions. In the same way that Jade is technically just a Confidante. Technically. It says it on our Contacts Sheet so it has to be true, right? :V
Pittauro said:
but can they detected by everyone in the city, or JUST by their "faction" (sort of like they're blessed)?

I doubt our enemies get a Knock bonus from Axe being present just because they act physically close to us, for example.
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I'm pretty sure it influences the whole city, yes. Every time the effect has been described it was an outright environmental effect, with the heightened Lore levels being incidental of them also blessing that faction. Like how we noticed when Neighnia was summoned because there was a major snowfall over that city for no reason, and Baldomare was making the whole town reflect light when she first showed up.

Not sure how Edge will manifest, but it's noticeable whether you're being buffed or not.
 
For the plan using a wrong key for Biedde...Do we even still have one? I don't remember.

[X] Plan Mapping the Wastes

my current pick.

Study Books
Summon Mare
FO Comet with Aotl Edge
double mansus
reagent on Jade's scrying to help in securing Baldomare.

I'm starting to reconsider Biedde though. Trying to summon him without an edge reagent is I think too likely to fail, so for him we'd either have to give up the SH reagent, or potentially use an action on making reagents (and pay even more bits).

Our budget is 349 bits.

we summoned Axe for free, right?

two scrying rituals, 30 bits twice.

349-60= 289.

Canterlot part 2. 70 bits (we're likely to get a partial refund).

289-70= 219.

-45 for edge 3 reagent.

219 - 45 = 174.


-100 for Biedde. 74.

that probably leaves us short of the (presumed) 300 bits we'll need next turn for Frangiclave expedition in the worst case...


angelsadvocate666 said:
I'm pretty sure it influences the whole city, yes. Every time the effect has been described it was an outright environmental effect, with the heightened Lore levels being incidental of them also blessing that faction. Like how we noticed when Neighnia was summoned because there was a major snowfall over that city for no reason, and Baldomare was making the whole town reflect light when she first showed up.

Not sure how Edge will manifest, but it's noticeable whether you're being buffed or not.
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wasn't the snowfall because we stopped the EiB? I kinda assumed that was a subtle way of saying "someone else died", as EiB demands.
 
Pittauro said:
For the plan using a wrong key for Biedde...Do we even still have one? I don't remember.
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We had two, and only used one for DoA.
Pittauro said:
wasn't the snowfall because we stopped the EiB? I kinda assumed that was a subtle way of saying "someone else died", as EiB demands.
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No? I mean, it might have been, but even reflected that ritual isn't really powerful enough to drop snow on an entire city. Not even with Neighnia behind it. It makes far more sense for it to be the manifestation of the Winter Name who, in canon, is accompanied by a heavy snowfall when manifested.

IIRC, anyways.
 
None of these appeal to me too deeply. I do want to help Jade out...

Why aren't we both looking for the Outsider and going to the place the mansus was struck in any plans?

Don't we want to win?
 
Zxzx24 said:
Why aren't we both looking for the Outsider and going to the place the mansus was struck in any plans?
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I can't answer for anyone else, but for me personally it's because if we're going to do the Church expedition part 2 in the near future, I'd rather do it on this turn than next so we can have T20 to recover if anything goes wrong so we're not dragging around a Wound when we go after Frangiclave. And I want to see what the Waste holds now, because we keep missing out on spirits by refusing to fully explore the lower Mansus levels.
 
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As for worries about Jade's scrying, @Pittauro : the SH requirement is just 60, the Lantern is the variable part that determines how hard one succeeds/fails. With the Book, Jade counts as having an SH of 3, which translates to a +30 Bonus. Let's assume she has a perfectly average Magic Score of 8. She is rolling a +38 against a DC of 60, which means she only needs to roll a 22 or higher. An SH 2 Reagent would make it so she only falls on a 2. Don't splurge on SH 3, it's frankly a waste of Bits.
 
Talon Tiger Dino said:
As for worries about Jade's scrying, @Pittauro : the SH requirement is just 60, the Lantern is the variable part that determines how hard one succeeds/fails. With the Book, Jade counts as having an SH of 3, which translates to a +30 Bonus. Let's assume she has a perfectly average Magic Score of 8. She is rolling a +38 against a DC of 60, which means she only needs to roll a 22 or higher. An SH 2 Reagent would make it so she only falls on a 2. Don't splurge on SH 3, it's frankly a waste of Bits.
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my worries are not on needing SH3.

It's that if we're trying to get Biedde we either give up on SH 2 reagent, or we have to use ANOTHER action on making it
 
Pittauro said:
my worries are not on needing SH3.

It's that if we're trying to get Biedde we either give up on SH 2 reagent, or we have to use ANOTHER action on making it
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My apologies for the misunderstanding. Still, I think that we can risk the at-most 22% chance that the SH roll fizzles.

Actually, wait. Did we destroy the Woods later on the same turn we won our contest for Baldomare?

I just checked and we did. So there was a less than one-turn window Copper's Cult could have ran into him. Knowing that I could be persuaded to hold off for a turn on Biedde just so that we can save money by using a Torn Risen to save on bits when summoning him.
 
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Talon Tiger Dino said:
My apologies for the misunderstanding. Still, I think that we can risk the at-most 22% chance that the SH roll fizzles.

Actually, wait. Did we destroy the Woods later on the same turn we won our contest against Baldomare?
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…Technically, yes. She got summoned at the beginning of Turn 18. The Woods went down in the latter half of turn 18.

Also, for, not against. I don't think we would win a contest against Baldomare ever. :V
 
[X] Plan Sacrament
-[X] (AotL) Edge
-[X] (Forge) SH3, for The calling of an influence
-[X] (Social) Level up Jade
-[X] (Steppes) ask what's the general opinion about you and the Bureau among nobles and common ponies alike.
-[X] "The proper things, in the proper manner, in the proper order. God help us all." (Perform a Ritual)
--[X] "The calling of Influence" (Secret Histories)
--[X] To be performed on an inconspicuous place, located by Baldomare
-[X] Fleeting Opportunity: Comet Feet
-[X] Study: Forge 3, Forge 3, Mystery Book
-[X] Explore the Mansus
--[X] Explore the Red Church
--[X] [MANSUS] Tarrying in the Wastes is always a poor idea… but there is no other way to discover what this place holds. (Search for a new area)
-[X] These are the skills that allow you to climb the Mansus. (Actions towards your possible Sacraments)
--[X] Attempt, even if foolishly, to untangle the webs of the Secret Histories
---[X] Investigate your current skills. To try to understand them, if nothing else. (Current progress 1/3) (THIS IS A DANGEROUS ACTION)
 
Zxzx24 said:
Why aren't we both looking for the Outsider and going to the place the mansus was struck in any plans?

Don't we want to win?
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For me it's because while there's no guarantee it ends that way, it is at least starting as the first quiet turn we've had in a while. It's a chance to cover our bases. Despite all of Velvet's strengths we keep running into issues because of her weaknesses. Whether it's threats like the Master, a lack of bits, or not enough reagents/artifacts to counteract that. We also need sacraments which some plans address/some don't, but we're at least moving in that direction. Even if we find the Outsider and a place to extract the blood, it doesn't help if we don't have the means to do anything about it.
 
for me, it's the fact that even if we finished both Outsider Search AND mansus blood extraction, I don't believe we're ready to kill an Outsider.

I want to prepare more. and I think we can afford to wait a turn or two for outsider search.

I also don't want to use velvet actions on it, when followers can do it too. Fluttershy, Selene, Baldomare, Mare in the Light, they can ALL do the search for us. I'd say Mareinette too, but... I don't really want Mareinette close to the outsider, just in case.

and, as I said, we're not ready, and I want to unlock one or more sacraments to feel readier.

SH is close. Knock, Edge and Winter are potentially close too. First get SH Sacrament, then based on what it does I'll reprioritize.
 
Personally I wouldn't mind doing both, but I'm also not making plans as usual. And to be fair, there's plenty of other stuff that would be nice to get soon. Like general Mansus exploration, or murder grandpa.

I really want murder grandpa. :V
 
I'm personally inclined to focus on Biedde, given that Moth and Edge are both his specialties, and we're sure to have ample use for both in the very near future. I'm not much inclined to scaremongering about someone else summoning him out from under our noses, but it is a possibility whereas the Mares are always available. We don't know what all he can do, but as a Name he's certainly more flexible than a simple summon, heck his "get them to stick around" process/requirements might even be something we genuinely want to do or are already doing. Name of the colonel that he is we're almost an ideal summoner for him as a scarred mare of authority charged with protecting the nation against threats known and unknown.

Money is as money does, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Rarity's commission, directly after sewing the wedding dress for the Alicorn of Love, pulls in a lot more than "just" a 100 bits even as a one-off. She did get that calling-card as a reaction to said dress at the wedding after all.

So, all that said, I'm inclined to go with:

[X] Plan A Better Beckoning of Biedde

People want AP for expeditions? Let's get some AP for expeditions. People want something that can pull guard duty and definitely win? Let's get the Name defined by his devotion to Duty. People want dead bodies and other dirty deeds done dirt cheap with a minimum of risk? Let's get the Moth/Edge ex-highwayman Name who almost certainly won't have an issue finding some criminals or other undesirables to unalive.
 
One thing that confuses me on Better Biedde... How does it make an Edge 3 and an Edge 2 Reagent?
How many Bits does that leave us with?
 
Talon Tiger Dino said:
One thing that confuses me on Better Biedde... How does it make an Edge 3 and an Edge 2 Reagent?
How many Bits does that leave us with?
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Well if you would kindly look right underneath the original outline :V

Greymere said:
Start of Turn: 16 + 160 (income) + 55 (Rarity) = 231

Costs:
-85 (Reagents)
-100 (Biedde)
-60 (RotT x2)
-70 (BtRC2)
+118 (Commission)
Total: -197

End of Turn: 231 - 117 = 34
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This was including a SH2 reagent also, though, which the current version does not. So the actual final total for this turn should be 54 bits.
 
WAIT. BETTER BIEDDE SHOULD MAKE A KNOCK 2/EDGE 1 AS THE SECOND REAGENT. (And then we retroactively use Pride's gift on it, and summon with Edge 3 + Knock 2/Edge 1)

It's strictly better:

1) Better odds. 93.3% vs 92.9%.
2) Cheaper, because we get the second reagent for free with the gift.

(Unless we want to use a gift on something else, they expire/we have to give it this turn. And it doesn't look like that's happening.)

@Greymere , can you edit the plan?

(And then maybe we should make a SH1 reagent too… it's only 5 bits!)
 
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Man. Re-reading Biedde's introduction and his summoning info, I really wish we had gone with an Edge Cult at the beginning of the quest. He just feels really frigging cool, you know? This old ass soldier who's slow and careful, but could still shatter a pony's spine the moment he feels a need without even blinking.
 
angelsadvocate666 said:
I really wish we had gone with an Edge Cult at the beginning of the quest
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Things would be so different… it's wild rereading the quest start because the absolutely foundational decisions are made with like a handful of votes and not much discussion. Which is just the nature of a quest, but it's wild how different things could be.

(Though I'm not 100% if Biedde would have been the Edge Master… do we know that for sure? Leaving his guard over the Worm Museum seems quite unlikely. Perhaps it would have been the other side of the coin.)
 
It's probably him if only because the Names are supposed to be potential Masters, and he obviously wasn't the Moth. Unless he just happens to not be any sort of potential Master at all, but that would be weird. No idea how it would shake out with his duty, but Names are also definitively able to split their attention. So…
 
spiderhellian said:
Things would be so different… it's wild rereading the quest start because the absolutely foundational decisions are made with like a handful of votes and not much discussion. Which is just the nature of a quest, but it's wild how different things could be.

(Though I'm not 100% if Biedde would have been the Edge Master… do we know that for sure? Leaving his guard over the Worm Museum seems quite unlikely. Perhaps it would have been the other side of the coin.)
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Perhaps after an indeterminate span of ages with nothing to do but watch the Museum and listen to the Wolf's inane screeching, in a certain History even the legendary patience of the Colonel's Name finally ran out. Or perhaps he decided that taking action against a possible incursion of Worms was a natural evolution of his duty to guard the Museum.
 
spiderhellian said:
Yes. But:

There is another…
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My point was less that there has to be an Sdge Master than that Biedde is probably a Master, and what would he be Master of if not Edge? We know it's not Moth, which is his other known aspect.

And the other could be Forge main if speculation is correct.
 
Sorry, I was too focused on the meme and didn't explain.

There are two Edge names! For Dyad reasons.

So one of them would have been the Edge master, and the other wouldn't. And I wonder if the Master might have been the other, because Biedde leaving the Worm Museum is surprising.

Can't know for sure, but a definite possibility.


On a separate note, what are people hoping to get out of writing to our Uncle about how people perceive us? I don't really understand it.
 
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