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

[LieutenantSpirit]

Also please remember that we cannot attempt "All In" unless we find a way to extract an Outsider's Blood, first.

-You may only attempt this expedition AFTER discovering a way to extract an Outsider's "Blood".

Click to shrink...

Given what actions we have available to take, a Memory of Light or the third Canterlot Expedition might be our first step toward discovering that.
EDIT: This requires a Mansus exploration.

 

[Greymere]

They all know the requirements, they lost hope because an age passed without ever finding an outsider. They even knew Discord was an outsider, just one strong enough to fight them off. Had Celestial, and Luna, arrived even just a 1000 early they would not have made to 5 years old, before being killed.

Click to shrink...

No, they explicitly don't. Baldomare, the Lantern Name, didn't realize until the moment we suggested using the power of an Outsider that such a thing would even be possible.

There is no reason for them to be checking to see if an Outsider died. And there is no reason for any Name except Baldomare to make the connection between "the death of an Outsider" and "the way to Glory", even if they do notice.

Edit: Or at least that's true of the ones we met. Perhaps Neighnia or the Forge Name know for some reason, but even if they do they don't seem particularly motivated to do anything about it.

 

[Pittauro]

And have him panic, and be more a worry when it inevitably comes out that we need Spoiled for the Moth Sacrament?

The whole thing is foul and unpleasant to the tongue. It's Moth, not Grail.
The problem is as the problem is. Someone was always going to have to know that Velvet can put on a mask. Someone was always going to realize that. No one exists alone and separate from everyone else. And those who do....
It would be preying on the vulnerable.

What was it Baldomare said when talking to Biedde...

Click to shrink...

oh, no, I basically want to either intimidate Spoiled Rich in NOT talking about it, or something along those lines. She WON'T tell Filthy Rich, because... why would he believe her?

Appearances will likely be something along the lines of "it SEEMED we were becoming friends, but we had a falling out due to "reasons"".

Because, hilarious as that would be, you can always fail at reading.

Click to shrink...

Three rolls in a row? It's so unlikely as to be irrelevant, really.

But you make the rules. I just disagree on this one thing.

No. Memory of light is a purely theoretical research. Not the kind of thing (like your Forge personal Sacrament) that could use materials.

Click to shrink...

I was kind hoping for some kind of enlightenment drug

As a fun aside, there is also, mechanically, absolutely nothing stopping you from having Rarity give Sweetie Belle to Mareinette

Click to shrink...

And isn't THAT a frightening thought...

1. We're having Biedde cover our bases? Committing BIEDDE, NAME OF EDGE to the type of action a SERVANT does?
2. We are one step away from the Glory ending. And we're having Jade do the first step towards a Harmony one? At the price of the above?

Click to shrink...

Unless you have an action for which Biedde is significantly better, I don't see a problem with it.

And I'd argue Memory of light is not step 1. Getting Luna would likely have been step 1, having her recover would be step 2 (and it took A YEAR), and now this is at least step 3.

and the hope is it will give us something useful in the meanwhile.


On the road to Glory (top of the Mansus) we found many valuable summons, scraps of lores and so on.

On the road to Harmony we "acquired" Luna.

Presumably on the Path to the Moon we'd find treasures in the tower, and possibly more stuff like summons or lore teachers/patrons from the House of the Moon.

...and on the road to Wolf-ending, we get the benefits (and maluses) of the Regrettable Actions.

It's not just about what we get at the end, but also about the rewards and earnings during the journey, the middle steps.

3. I also think we're being a little cocky sending Selene to spy on Windy. The knock realization reads "[KNOCK SKILL]: Selene may once again dream-walk with confidence. She may also contact almost any character, even if she does not know her location or if they do not want to be contacted. However, she may not impersonate Velvet Covers, or anypony else, when doing so." We are sending Luna to scout the Most-Lore-Steeped-Person-Other-Than-Velvet's dreams, as herself?

Click to shrink...

THat's admittedly a decent point.

mh... what if we had her scry instead?

General bonus of +25, +30 from SH artifact on that, we can make a lantern reagent to scry Windy instead...

5. We just had the danger of being on 2 Health demonstrated vividly, and we're not going to bother with the Forge's Redemption on a turn we have a reagent available?

Click to shrink...

we have a lot of other priorities too to be fair...

-[] (Biedde) Build a prison

Click to shrink...

meh, we don't need it.

We're not? We're bringing her close to... the Outsider? We summoned her to the Wake, she is no longer in the Mansus at all, she's not going to the Glory.

Click to shrink...

If she's our friend, than Velvet would be her friend. WHY Would we not bring her with us to the Glory?

I don't think friendship is a one-way street. If we befriend her, it will affect how Velvet thinks of her, and particularly here where Velvet would "partake" of one of the many "sins" of Mareinette.

You need to read what the GM said ONLY Befriended Names, and Minions can come along on the trips, mare in the light are not either. This is the GLORY the ultimate enlightenment and godhood. Velvet trusts no mortal with it save people could say kill yourself and they will, or Names that have proven they given up on it, and will support Velvet instead. Mare in the light are a race we don't get repeats upon summoning so we cannot befriend them.

Again this is the Glory true godhood is up for grabs, assume all the Names we don't befriend will attack us and try and take it for themselves. The person that gets it will be able to make the rules for the next eon, nobody sane would ever allow anybody they don't trust absolutely to ever have it.

Click to shrink...

as far as I know, summoned creatures OTHER THAN NAMES count as minions, because THEY can't defy our orders, while Names CAN (though usually we can desummon them in that case).

Also Mares in the Light are probably unable to climb the mansus. They're sort of confined to the Orchard, I imagine.

Regarding this paragraph in particular. Non-Name summoned creatures can be taken with you. You are correct that I usually refer to them as "summons", so I see the confusion over the specific wording of "minions". But you may take summons to "All in." as well.

No comments on your second paragraph.

Click to shrink...

as I thought.

as for Names not befriended... well, Biedde has been ordered to guard the Worm Museum, so I'm assuming he can't leave, not even to reach Glory.

He'd be defying his Master's orders for that, after all.

As for Mareinette... there's 2 different thoughts I have in mind.

1) Can she even GO back into the Mansus? And can she do it quickly and easily? We know she DID make her way there because we summoned her from the Church, but it's unclear how easy it is for her

2) Baldomare knows. Axe will likely learn about it once she's befriended and we bring there. Mareinette does not know, and ideally she won't know until we've already reached Glory.

1. I would have him looking for Books in my plan, since he's be better at it than generic servants. Though we could have him put that Moth to work and get us a dead body sneakily for us to make a Risen as a Free Action to have that thing help Cover our Bases, I guess. A prison just isn't that important, really.

Click to shrink...

I find the idea of using a Risen to do our chores so weird...

And, considering that anyone else claiming Glory besides Velvet is a Game Over, did the conditions of the Glory ending in some way make our betrayal of the Master inevitable?

Click to shrink...

The Master was the Will of the Woods. I don't think he even CAN climb the Mansus.

not as he is. If he had been reborn as an Alicorn though...

As I have pointed out repeatedly the only reason passing the last door and basking in the Glory does not make you an hour instantly is because the existing hours kick you out, actively preventing you from doing that

Click to shrink...

Is that EXPLICITLY stated in the games? Or could it be that just bathing in the light of Glory is not enough?

There would be no Hours but us. No one with the Glory but us. It's a victory.

We're not just becoming a Long here!

Click to shrink...

I won't allow myself to believe it until we're there. It feels too easy...

 

[spiderhellian]

Given what actions we have available to take, a Memory of Light or the third Canterlot Expedition might be our first step toward discovering that.

Click to shrink...

What? We've been told that there's a place we can look for this near the Tricuspid Gate.

 

[DelightedOne]

They all know the requirements, they lost hope because an age passed without ever finding an outsider.

Click to shrink...

The only thing they know is that no power from the World can break the lock. The Blood is a thing that is not immediately obvious and all of them gave up, the only way for them to know about it is if we(or Baldomare) tell them.

 

[Greymere]

3. I also think we're being a little cocky sending Selene to spy on Windy. The knock realization reads "[KNOCK SKILL]: Selene may once again dream-walk with confidence. She may also contact almost any character, even if she does not know her location or if they do not want to be contacted. However, she may not impersonate Velvet Covers, or anypony else, when doing so." We are sending Luna to scout the Most-Lore-Steeped-Person-Other-Than-Velvet's dreams, as herself?

Click to shrink...

Btw, just wanted to point out: "herself" is a very loose concept, with Selene. It can mean Luna, Princess of the Moon. It can mean Selene, beloved child of Velvet Covers. And it can mean "Midnight Breeze", a perfectly ordinary and boring unicorn mare. She's got options.

 

[LieutenantSpirit]

What? We've been told that there's a place we can look for this near the Tricuspid Gate.

Click to shrink...

Ah, whoops. There's a lot going on in this quest. It's easy to forget.

 

[spiderhellian]

Btw, just wanted to point out: "herself" is a very loose concept, with Selene. It can mean Luna, Princess of the Moon. It can mean Selene, beloved child of Velvet Covers. And it can mean "Midnight Breeze", a perfectly ordinary and boring unicorn mare. She's got options.

Click to shrink...

This seems doubtful but let's clarify --

@OurLadyOfWires Can you clarify what the last part in "Selene may once again dream-walk with confidence. She may also contact almost any character, even if she does not know her location or if they do not want to be contacted. However, she may not impersonate Velvet Covers, or anypony else, when doing so" Does she dreamwalk as Luna, or can she still pretend to be Selene or Midnight Breeze?

Three rolls in a row? It's so unlikely as to be irrelevant, really.

Click to shrink...

It's actually impossible to fail to read the Moth book over three study actions, with a Lantern influence!

And I'd argue Memory of light is not step 1. Getting Luna would likely have been step 1, having her recover would be step 2 (and it took A YEAR), and now this is at least step 3.

Click to shrink...

We got the Memory of Light more than half a year ago! And the Harmony victory would have been achievable even if none of the stuff with Luna happened! I'll take Step 2, nothing more. We're on like Step 12 of Glory!

On the road to Glory (top of the Mansus) we found many valuable summons, scraps of lores and so on.

Click to shrink...

Yes, the Mansus is explicitly a place with lots of power and tools for the power-hungry. Why would we at all expect the path to Harmony to have the same?

we have a lot of other priorities too to be fair...

Click to shrink...

Not dying is really important!

WHY Would we not bring her with us to the Glory?

Click to shrink...

Why would we? Only we can walk through those gates. Why would we reverse-summon her back to the Mansus???

I don't think friendship is a one-way street. If we befriend her, it will affect how Velvet thinks of her, and particularly here where Velvet would "partake" of one of the many "sins" of Mareinette.

Click to shrink...

Velvet... will still be Velvet? She's not going to start eating children or letting Mareinette babysit Silky or inviting her to stroll along to the Summit gate with her? Why on earth would she?

 

[Greymere]

Velvet... will still be Velvet? She's not going to start eating children or letting Mareinette babysit Silky or inviting her to stroll along to the Summit gate with her? Why on earth would she?

Click to shrink...

*stares pointedly at the very alukite-flavored Grail Sacrament*

Yeah I wonder why that might be a concern....

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Yes, the Mansus is explicitly a place with lots of power and tools for the power-hungry. Why would we at all expect the path to Harmony to have the same?

Click to shrink...

It called having friends, something Velvet has pretty much failed at IE the harmony path.

 

[Pittauro]

We got the Memory of Light more than half a year ago! And the Harmony victory would have been achievable even if none of the stuff with Luna happened! I'll take Step 2, nothing more. We're on like Step 12 of Glory!

Click to shrink...

on a nat 100 from Jade, by the way.

without her nat100, unlocking it would have likely been harder. Same for Rite of Mother and Father I imagine.

Yes, the Mansus is explicitly a place with lots of power and tools for the power-hungry. Why would we at all expect the path to Harmony to have the same?

Click to shrink...

Because on that path we'll better understand the nature of Alicorns and their powers, and from understanding comes power.

Maybe not directly for Velvet, but I could see it allowing us to further empower Selene for example. Or to give us a counter to Celestia/Daybreaker.

 

[Bakkasama]

It's actually impossible to fail to read the Moth book over three study actions, with a Lantern influence!

Click to shrink...

Is it? I remember that the book studying rules were revised, but not the specific. So is it impossible for us to roll really bad and the book turning out to be a dud like that time with the Forge book written by the Flim & Flam brothers? Or for us to roll a 1 and have the book turn to dust from how old it is?

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

@OurLadyOfWires Can you clarify what the last part in "Selene may once again dream-walk with confidence. She may also contact almost any character, even if she does not know her location or if they do not want to be contacted. However, she may not impersonate Velvet Covers, or anypony else, when doing so" Does she dreamwalk as Luna, or can she still pretend to be Selene or Midnight Breeze?

Click to shrink...

So.

When I say that one character may "impersonate" another character, I mean it as an assurance that "Yes, the Rich family will believe that Velvet Covers had a pleasant afternoon with them, and they will attribute all positive aspects of that action to her." It's the guarantee that you can, mechanically, plan around the concept of a target pony believing that "Velvet" did something, even if some other character performed said action.

Mareinette can do that. It's her mechanical perk, even.
And, in another subject, Selene can do it as well. But only to the extent that "Selene will not be revealed as Luna". That, too, is her Moth 3 mechanical ability.

But if Selene visits someone's dreams, she won't have that same liberty. Not to the degree of certainty you guys would be satisfied with, and willing to plan around.

This isn't the final build, but if you order Selene to visit a character's dream, you can expect an additional mid-turn vote where you will decide if:
[-] Selene will only OBSERVE their dreams (attempt to gain intelligence, only)
[-] Selene will attempt to CONTACT them, in their dreams (write-in what you want Selene to try to discover, or what message you would like her to convey. But no guarantees)
[-] Selene will REVEAL herself to them (Princess Luna will reveal herself in this character's dream, write-in what goal you want her to try to achieve)

The third option is, basically, the second option, but with the whomp of an alicorn. It is the equivalent of having an angel reveal itself to someone with a message, ESPECIALLY while Selene is still hiding her presence, and Equestria believes Luna is still missing. Might work, might not work, might backfire, but it's an option.

Still, that's what you should expect from a dream-visit. Either observation, attempt to talk to a pony's subconscious and hope they let something spill, or really show your colors. All of that based on a write-in of what you want Selene to try, and the rest comes down to how well she performs.


- - -

On another note, regarding the current discussion, reading a book takes time. That is why I don't like this "read book, do Sacrament" thing. You still need time to get stuff done, and one month isn't a lot for something as important as that.

- - -

On ANOTHER note.

Allowing the Master to be reborn as Shaded Leaf, the first Prince of Equestria, would have explicitly "altered your epilogue". Maybe positively, maybe negatively, but certainly up to interpretation.
As it stands, Mareinette's Sacrament wouldn't have that kind of effect. I plan on explicitly telling you guys if you have a doom clock that is close to exploding (Celestia) or if a certain decision might have ramifications on your endgame (Shaded Leaf).
To be clear, I won't hold your hand. So if it's a known threat, like your disappeared Master, I won't let you guys know when it's about to bite. But if it's something sufficiently unpredictable and important, I'll give you guys a clear warning.
Mareinette's Sacrament does not reach that bar.

But you should still read the obvious signs, and consult your conscience. I am not invalidating everything else that was said. Only the specific assumptions about an epilogue.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Just roll three 1s and your book reading goes caput.

 

[Arrkhon]

So like
Do we even need ponies for sacraments? Wouldn't changelings work too? Mareinette may even like it more this way since it's kinda exotic

 

[Limabot]

So like
Do we even need ponies for sacraments? Wouldn't changelings work too? Mareinette may even like it more this way since it's kinda exotic

Click to shrink...

I think we've been told a few times that only Ponies would work for the Sacraments. We haven't been given a reason why yet, but it's what it is.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The Mansus is pony-centric. In all things.

 

[spiderhellian]

Right, glad we clarified, with that I'm alright Selene scouting. Still hate that we're leaving Neighnea to her own devices, but I see the argument for sending Selene after Windy instead.

[] Plan We Can Be More
-[] (Detectives) Follow Up: Changelings
-[] (Constables) Follow Up: The Gardeners
-[] (Commissioner) Midday Dew
-[] (Grail-Leash) Filthy Rich
-[] (Baldomare-Gift) Edge 6 book
-[] (Baldomare) Channel a SH Influence
-[] (Mareinette) Honored Guest: Spoiled Rich + Filthy Rich
-[] (DoA) Knock lesson
-[] (Selene) Soothe the night
-[] (Selene) Scout Windy's dreams
-[] (Rarity) Take a commission
-[] (Biedde) Build a prison
-[] Cover your bases (-9 Follower AP, +3 Velvet AP)
-[] (Other) Lend Comet the Heart 3 artifact for the turn, if he's willing

Velvet action draft:

• Explore the Summit (Free Mansus)
• Teach Selene (Free Social)
• Fleeting Opportunity: Family
• Fleeting Opportunity: Friends
• DoA Sacrament x 4 (Better to over-commit, hopefully with room for the SH Sacrament!)
• Forge Redemption

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Teased with an intro, and edited it out so quickly the message didn't even have the "edited at:" timestamp.

Like we wouldn't notice.

Guys, is... is this how it feels? Is this what suffering is like?

 

[Rafuki22]

Guys, is... is this how it feels? Is this what suffering is like?

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't know, but if you don't mind...

...What are you talking about?

 

[spiderhellian]

Teased with an intro, and edited it out so quickly the message didn't even have the "edited at:" timestamp.

Like we wouldn't notice.

Guys, is... is this how it feels? Is this what suffering is like?

Click to shrink...

"Tell me, Bird, do you know… what anticipation tastes like?"

(For those curious: I included a snippet of an Apocrypha I had just started in that post and quickly edited it out. But not quickly enough, it seems!)

 

[Shaper47]

OurLadyOfWires Does artifact study follow the same rules as books for doing a Sacrament in the same turn?

Basically I was thinking of getting a Lantern lesson turn 22 and then studying the lantern artifact with Baldomare's lantern influence (and lantern Aotl) turn 23 and doing the lantern Sacrament Turn 23.

Is that allowed?

Edit.

Lantern artifact DC is 90, 15 learning (AotL lantern) + 40 lantern application (Aotl doubled) + 40 lantern influence = 95. So an autopass.

Also for our free Bureau action could Velvet attempt to social Princess Celestia?

 

[Maer]

Hey! Out of curiosity, does anyone have the Hexadecimal code for the color used in Love words?

 

[spiderhellian]

A Guest is Honoured

It was a lovely evening in Ponyville. The sun's last rays still kissed the horizon. The air hung like a warm shawl, with but the occasional sweet breeze to disturb it. It was the kind of evening where friends and family gather after a day spent apart.

In one part of Ponyville, that was exactly what was happening. Two stallions were sitting down -- well, one was laying down, his ribs were still bruised -- the room lit sunset-orange as they passed a bottle of wine between them. The maids clustered as the day shift swapped over to the night shift, sharing jokes and the day's gossip. In a small courtyard, a hoofful of fillies played, not even imagining that bedtime creeps ever nearer.

Or that one creature did -- ah, no. This evening, she does not.

Tonight, in a small out-building, a Monster lays the table.

---

The world is askew. She could feel it the very first time she tread its soil with her -- let's call them hooves. She can sense all the earth's beats, the rhythms that shape it from morning to night, and they reverberate differently now.

She knows this bothers one of her fellow guests, reminds another to adjust his aim, and has caused a third no small amount of consternation.

She, on the other hand, doesn't mind it one bit. Perhaps she steps a little more truly, sees the sights more faithfully, than those who merely deign to lend the Wake a fragment of their attention.

After an era spent thirsting, why would she not give this land her full attention?

She is not some dainty Noblemare, treading lightly as if she walked with porcelain horseshoes, ever afraid of expressing an opinion or desire for fear of what the gossip rags might say the next day, or what unspoken rule of etiquette might be smudged with an ounce's dirt, or that it wouldn't be proper.

The plates on the table rattle as she laughs, CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK.

For it seems -- surprisingly! -- tonight's guest is not either.

She had long thought otherwise. That first evening set the tone, when the whips of etiquette and the bindings of summoning had been wielded so harshly against one who solely meant to admire. The next few months were not much better, as her ostensible host invited over guest after guest she deemed sufficiently refined, while leaving Her out in the cold. She had to beg and plead merely to offer her host a gift that none of those snooty stayers-on even dreamed of providing!

Then there had been a visit, not one fortnight prior. A gift, and a promise. While any haughty Noble would consider groceries a paltry gift, to Mareinette they weighed more than gold. Precious metals could never produce that intoxicating aroma drifting in from the kitchen.

That visit had left her oh-so-busy, there's always a rush when you're having people over. It left her thinking, as well.

Perhaps her host, too, esteemed desire, more than she esteemed the cage that so often surrounds it. Perhaps she respected it, as a lion-tamer respects a lion, or a tornado-chaser respects a storm. Perhaps she knows the oenophile always at least samples a vintage, trying a drop and a sniff, before rejecting it out of turn.

Perhaps not. Perhaps, instead, it was merely out of respect for Her. Thankfully, there is little difference between the two.

With the last of the table decorations laid out, Mareinette is complete. She is tempted to check on the food, but all this work has left her simply ravenous, and it wouldn't do to pick at the meal ahead of time. That, at least, is a rule of etiquette she will obey.

She steps back, and surveys what she has prepared. She is proud of what she has accomplished. Perhaps this, too, leaves the world a little less askew. The knives are well-honed, the crystal goblets are full, and the table merely awaits its centerpiece.

And the guest of honour, of course, who does her honour in turn. But look, there she comes now!

Spoiler

I don't think Mareinette's sacrament is going to indelibly corrupt Velvet. It's not going to make her into a filly-hungry monster. It's not going to be a stain on our hooves that bleeds into the Glory. It's not going to turn the Pony we know into a monster, or take decisions out of our hands.

It's about respect. For Mareinette and for desire. For Grail. The kind of lesson a Sacrament is made of.

It takes a degree of honour, to make our Honoured Guest a friend. We have forced her to obey our desires, and disrespected hers. To have her truly honour those desires, and respect them in turn, we need to at least give her a shred of doing the same.

 

[jelloloaf]

A Guest is Honoured

Click to shrink...

Always happy to see respectful depictions of cannibalism. Interesting perspective on Mareinette too; the idea of reciprocity makes a lot of sense for Grail.

 

[Pittauro]

After an era spent thirsting, why would she not give this land her full attention?

Click to shrink...

You know, this bit makes me realize something.

It makes SENSE that Mareinette would deign herself to be bound to Velvet.

She IS a monster. We shouldn't forget that.

But even monsters have feelings and emotions, and maybe their own code of honor.

And Velvet is, after all, the one who "saved her" from an eternity thirsting in the Ruined Church.

What are a few months of service to an admittedly interesting (and nice-smelling) Mare, that in some ways reminds her of herself oh so long ago, as a way to express her gratitude?

And of course, as the last of the Ligeians, she might have an interest in recruiting anew... maybe to find a kindred spirit to keep her company. To initiate to her delights, because isn't a Feast more fun when there's more people like you in it?

So, from her point of view, it makes complete sense what she's doing.

She's investing the one thing she has in abundance, time, both as a way to repay a debt she might or might not feel honor-bound to repay, AND at the same time she's making an investment in an interesting mortal who might, one day, become a peer or even just a... well... friend.

Even monsters want friends sometimes, and she's been alone for so long... why, introducing all her pleasures to a new soul would be a pleasure in and of itself, wouldn't it? and to an Old Monster like Mareinette, Velvet must look like a cute, precocious child who might one day actually become someone worth knowing, maybe even befriending....

I wonder if it's a doomed story. Is there a middle ground, somewhere? Is it possible to "reform" Mareinette? For all of her crimes, she basically imprisoned herself for an era. There's an argument to be made that she payed any old debt that way, just like in canon it's probably assumed that Discord's crimes were repaid in his long, LONG imprisonment as a statue...

@OurLadyOfWires just a couple thoughts about Mareinette, thought you might enjoy them

I don't think Mareinette's sacrament is going to indelibly corrupt Velvet. It's not going to make her into a filly-hungry monster. It's not going to be a stain on our hooves that bleeds into the Glory. It's not going to turn the Pony we know into a monster, or take decisions out of our hands.

It's about respect. For Mareinette and for desire. For Grail. The kind of lesson a Sacrament is made of.

It takes a degree of honour, to make our Honoured Guest a friend. We have forced her to obey our desires, and disrespected hers. To have her truly honour those desires, and respect them in turn, we need to at least give her a shred of doing the same.

Click to shrink...

You know, I actually agree with you in that I don't think Mareinette's sacrament is inherently corrupting.

I'm actually, even, willing to take it, depending on the victim.

The thing is, we should acknowledge it DOES mark a change in Velvet.

NOT a supernatural one (well, beside the Sacrament itself). Not an inherently corrupting one.

But it changes Velvet, in a Velvet that WOULD eat another pony. Just like sacrificing the changelings turned Velvet into someone who'd sacrifice and DIRECTLY kill changelings, and just how sending a kill-team against Copper turned Velvet into someone that WOULD kill a former friend now turned enemy if things got bad enough.

So what I'm saying is that the sacrament means nothing more and nothing less than Velvet being willing to eat a pony, for power mostly, to gain the respect and friendship of an Old Monster, for curiosity, for any reason the narrative assigns her.

And some people will know and notice. AT THE VERY LEAST the Names will know, because the change in the relationship with Mareinette will be obvious after that.

Our family might not know if we don't tell them. Same for our confidants. but the Names will know, and most importantly, Velvet will know.


I don't think cannibalism is the worst thing Velvet would have done up to now. We indirectly caused many deaths, and even a few direct ones. We did regrettable things

But while it's not something regrettable, it's still something... inhuman. monstrous.

Then again, Velvet CAN do monstrous things when it comes down to protecting her family and friends... and she can easily rationalize anything in the name of "Saving the world, and thus my loved ones, from the Worms" or "Once I have power I can make things better".

But let us all keep in mind that while the end CAN justify the means, the end is also SHAPED by the means.

You can't clean the blood from your hands/hooves once spilled.

...or I suppose in this case it would be that you can't brush your teeth to clean them of Mareinette's meal?

Always happy to see respectful depictions of cannibalism.

Click to shrink...

... this is a signature-worthy quote! I never bothered with adding quotes to it, but now I'm kinda tempted...

 

[Sveta08]

A Guest is Honoured

Click to shrink...

This makes me happy in a difficult way.

I suppose the simple fact that it treats Mareinette as... a person. Or something close to it. Something we should do more.
Good stuff. Makes me happy.

 

[Arrkhon]

Be careful guys, first you sympathize with an ancient monster from bygone era and before you know it you are trying to comfort Wolf while ignoring Glory, Harmony is a dangerous drug

 

[Pittauro]

Be careful guys, first you sympathize with an ancient monster from bygone era and before you know it you are trying to comfort Wolf while ignoring Glory, Harmony is a dangerous drug

Click to shrink...

I don't know if sympathizing with the cannibal is very harmonious...

 

[jelloloaf]

I don't know if sympathizing with the cannibal is very harmonious...

Click to shrink...

Of course it is! When has Harmony not given a tragic villain the chance to redeem themselves?