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

[Maer]

OKAY! Sorry for posting twice in a row- again- but someone on the sister quest on Earth Bet just brought up some neat ideas that we could maybe make into a ritual with the right effort.

Quenchings & Quellings

Arts which quench fires and bring solace to the troubled mind. 'A true adept is never troubled by fire, nor by fever, nor by restless spirit'.Ambrose Westcott Quenchings & Quellings is a Skill card that starts with 2 Winter and 1 Heart. Unwise words are dangerous. Mourn them, remember them...

book-of-hours.fandom.com

Basically, Winter as a primary, Heart as a secondary, and it specializes in soothing the pain of troubled minds, and reducing physical discomfort.

It heals and eases mental and physical pain and suffering. That could be VERY useful for Celestia, and any number of other people. Perhaps even Twilight. Selene and Cadence working with us could likely pull off that kind of ritual with absurd effectiveness and potency, given the right knowledge and preparation… I doubt we'll have much time for it unless we adjust our plans, but the idea remains.

What do people think? Sure it's technically a BoH thing, but making a ritual based on it instead of accessing the thing itself shouldn't be too much of a problem, I don't think… We could even add in some Moth to help soothe fascination and maybe help people forget their troubles or pain for a while- steal away the memories causing such mental trauma and such.

 

[Potdl]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

OKAY! Sorry for posting twice in a row- again- but someone on the sister quest on Earth Bet just brought up some neat ideas that we could maybe make into a ritual with the right effort.

Quenchings & Quellings

Arts which quench fires and bring solace to the troubled mind. 'A true adept is never troubled by fire, nor by fever, nor by restless spirit'.Ambrose Westcott Quenchings & Quellings is a Skill card that starts with 2 Winter and 1 Heart. Unwise words are dangerous. Mourn them, remember them...

book-of-hours.fandom.com

Basically, Winter as a primary, Heart as a secondary, and it specializes in soothing the pain of troubled minds, and reducing physical discomfort.

It heals and eases mental and physical pain and suffering. That could be VERY useful for Celestia, and any number of other people. Perhaps even Twilight. Selene and Cadence working with us could likely pull off that kind of ritual with absurd effectiveness and potency, given the right knowledge and preparation… I doubt we'll have much time for it unless we adjust our plans, but the idea remains.

What do people think? Sure it's technically a BoH thing, but making a ritual based on it instead of accessing the thing itself shouldn't be too much of a problem, I don't think… We could even add in some Moth to help soothe fascination and maybe help people forget their troubles or pain for a while- steal away the memories causing such mental trauma and such.

Click to shrink...

The biggest problem, I think, is the damn QM. Ritual-crafting has not been a focus on the quest so far, so he hasn't really bothered to expand that for us.

I mean, we haven't even cast that many rituals to begin with. A couple of influences (including that failed Grail influence from a while back), a few Name-summonings (which, given the risk of letting someone else summon, are practically mandatory), and... that's basically it? We never bothered to summon creatures, we only did one Incision of the Heart, and we cast an offensive ritual precisely once, against Copper. I think we just don't use "generic" rituals enough for QM to bother exploring this part of the mechanic, especially given how late we are in the quest.

Could this be a "lack of supply causing a lack of demand" problem? Perhaps. But this could also be an AP-balancing issue. Perhaps if Velvet had a "free ritual per turn" deal things might have turned out differently. But really, we are so close to the endgame that this might not matter at this point.

So yeah, I blame the damn QM, but I don't think this is much of a problem tbh.



What do you mean I'm the QM?

 

[Maer]

Alright. Word from QM says that idea is a no-go. That idea lasted nearly no time at all. XD!

Oh stars and Glory I love this community so much. X3

On other thoughts and ideas, then, Soft learning Winter and Heart, followed by Edge could be very interesting. Keeping Edge out of it into later would let Soft develop something separate from the Wolf for herself, if it's possible. Something very interesting at that. I like the idea.

Not likely to actually be DONE any time soon, if at all, but still. A fun idea. :3

 

[Zxzx24]

Velvet was ultimately shaped into a very different kind of protagonist from one who would...

Well do tons of rituals?

Even though just looking at her lores... it is something she would be very good at. Being so heavily trained in all lores.

Edit:
That ritual also seems very similar to incision of the heart...?

 

[Nevermort]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[Maer]

Potentially very similar to incision of the heart, just focused outward on others. No idea if it'd be all that useful at all or not. Can incision of the heart even target someone other than the main caster…? Especially at a distance?

Edit: Silly idea being put here purely because it's so ridiculous, probably impossible, and likely to fail that I may as well get a chuckle out of it.

1. Finish BtRC-3;

2. (assuming we DO get a new ritual space from it) Convince Selene to place Celestia in an enchanted sleep using every drop of Lore and Magic and Skill she can muster;

3. Bring DoA(DoV), Baldomare, and Mareinette to help you sneakily Moth and Grail and Knock and SH your way into Celestia's sleeping quarters.

4. Use excessive Name Power to Moth, Grail, Knock, and SH your way out of the palace with Celestia's unconscious body on your back, to carry her down to your new Ritual site.

5. Use excessive Artifacts and Reagents and Names to Lore-Bomb an Incision of the Heart ritual with DoA and Mareinette and probably also Selene aiding you, targeting Celestia.

6. Return her to her bedroom via the same methods you used to foal-nap her earlier.

7. Profit. B)

 

[Greymere]

5. Use excessive Artifacts and Reagents and Names to Lore-Bomb an Incision of the Heart ritual with DoA and Mareinette and probably also Selene aiding you, targeting Celestia.

Click to shrink...

Alas! IotH must be performed on a willing and aware target.

 

[Maer]

Ah. Of course, how silly of me. T'was but a silly fight of fancy. Unless Selene convinced her to go along with it in the dream, it likely would not work.

Silly idea, though.

 

[jelloloaf]

Silly idea, though.

Click to shrink...

Hmm. Omake senses are tingling. Give me a few days, I think there might be something here.

 

[Flaregamer82253]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[Sintonir]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[LieutenantSpirit]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[spiderhellian]

The Hooves In Front of You

You are Princess Lu—

…

You are Sele—

…

You are...

As you stare at your hooves in front of you, you can only think one thing.

You are a murderer.

It was retribution. It was reasonable. And you know in your heart that it was right.

But even so, these hooves? The ones that sit absently on the worksheet in front of you, with a but a smudge of dirt to mar from morning recess to mar their inky-blue surface? These hooves have taken a life.

You still remember how they felt draped in the warmth of another pony's insides. You were just so frustrated, and you didn't want to let your dying mother down, and you weren't going to let that criminal get away. You moved, and your foe did not, and then her blood was on your hooves.

You scourged them mostly clean when you let loose with your magic in the skies above Manehattan, your foe's lifeblood just another piece of evidence to eradicate. You wouldn't want to be traipsing it around in the streets afterwards. But you can't stop thinking about what you've done, and you can't help but see yourself a—

WHUMP!

You look up with a start, as the classroom bursts into giggles. Ms. Cheerilee has just slammed shut the large dictionary she keeps in the corner — and she did it not two inches away from your muzzle. You can feel your mane ruffle in the outrush of air.

A blush spreads across your face, but your teacher only gives you a kind smile. "Day-dreaming in class, Selene? I know math might not be the most interesting subject, but you never know how important it might be in your future. Who knows, you could be an architect or an engineer or senior policymaker, and need to grapple with numbers every day." She looks up to the rest of the class, raising her voice to continue "And if you're a farmer, you need to track your seed-stock; if you're a field-worker, you need to count your paycheck. What ever you become, you'll be using the lessons you're learning now."

You know she's a good teacher. Silky loves her, and you did too.

But somehow, you don't think she'd say the same if she knew what you're becoming. Or what you already became.

Spoiler: AN

A short piece inspired by the peek we got at Selene last chapter. She's juggling a lot. What she's done, what she's doing, who she is.

I'm not sure if her thoughts get quite this dark. I hope they don't. But I'm definitely glad she's Moth-aligned first and foremost, it can't be easy.

 

[jelloloaf]

(Medical advisory: All Copper simping should be taken with a grain of salt, to ensure the appropriate balance of humors)

The Hooves In Front of You

Click to shrink...

!!! Spiderhellian omake!

As you stare at your hooves in front of you, you can only think one thing.

You are a murderer.

Click to shrink...

Yes, yes, acknowledge your guilt! Copper Secateur did nothing wrong!

It was retribution. It was reasonable. And you know in your heart that it was right.

Click to shrink...

Sure. Very reasonable to murder somepony for something they didn't even do. She was tricked by the Master just like Velvet was. What ever happened to the magic of friendship? Smh my head.

"Day-dreaming in class, Selene?"

Click to shrink...

It's job training for her very important work of safeguarding the dream-realm. Maybe she can register it as an extracurricular?

Great omake, thanks for sharing!

 

[spiderhellian]

(Medical advisory: All Copper simping should be taken with a grain of salt, to ensure the appropriate balance of humors)

Click to shrink...

NO DOCTOR, I WANT IT MAINLINED, I CAN TAKE IT, I NEED IT!

Thanks for the kind words

 

[jelloloaf]

NO DOCTOR, I WANT IT MAINLINED, I CAN TAKE IT, I NEED IT!

Click to shrink...

Hmm. I'll start you on 50ccs of 'Copper is a narrative mirror to Velvet and is just as much the hero of her own story as Velvet is of this one' and we'll see how it turns out. Call me if you feel any symptoms of emotional fixation or excessive theming, it could be a sign that you're starting to develop a fic outline.

Thanks for the kind words

Click to shrink...

:3

 

[Turamarth]

[X] You promise to let her help you.

 

[Sveta08]

The Hooves In Front of You

Click to shrink...

Ha! Good bit! Good story. Good dichotomy.
Love it.


Guilt is not a good look on Selene. But it is the cost of action.
The cost of understanding.

The Cost of Power

I don't know if it's Winter, Lantern, or Edge. But it's a weight she and her Mother will bear

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Yes, yes, acknowledge your guilt! Copper Secateur did nothing wrong!



Sure. Very reasonable to murder somepony for something they didn't even do. She was tricked by the Master just like Velvet was. What ever happened to the magic of friendship? Smh my head.

Click to shrink...

We just going to ignore all the pony sacrifice then. And all the murder attempts on Velvet after the initial Master-Made Ritual Exchange.

 

[jelloloaf]

We just going to ignore all the pony sacrifice then. And all the murder attempts on Velvet after the initial Master-Made Ritual Exchange.

Click to shrink...

Serious answer: I won't deny that Copper did some bad stuff. Within the context of this story, she's definitely a villain. I'm not trying to call anything into question, I just really like Copper as a character and I wish that we could have become friends with her instead of enemies.

Joke answer: The sacrifices were for a greater cause (personal power), everypony involved was honored that they were able to assist Copper's ascent. And the key word in murder attempts is the attempts. Velvet is the only pony here to have committed a murder success. One of those seems much worse than the other, don't you think?

 

[Pittauro]

Sure. Very reasonable to murder somepony for something they didn't even do. She was tricked by the Master just like Velvet was. What ever happened to the magic of friendship? Smh my head.

Click to shrink...

We just going to ignore all the pony sacrifice then. And all the murder attempts on Velvet after the initial Master-Made Ritual Exchange.

Click to shrink...

also... we murdered her for something she DID do.

Namely, send assassins after Velvet directly.

Now, was she the one who started it?

No.

Was she the first one to betray us?

Also no.

Was she innocent?

HELL NO! No innocent ponies here at all, only different levels of guilt

Serious answer: I won't deny that Copper did some bad stuff. Within the context of this story, she's definitely a villain. I'm not trying to call anything into question, I just really like Copper as a character and I wish that we could have become friends with her instead of enemies.

Joke answer: The sacrifices were for a greater cause (personal power), everypony involved was honored that they were able to assist Copper's ascent. And the key word in murder attempts is the attempts. Velvet is the only pony here to have committed a murder success. One of those seems much worse than the other, don't you think?

Click to shrink...

to the serious one: I agree on everything.

to the joke answer... wasn't she involved in the murder of the former owner of the Wildhoof Club building? Though it was probably physically Comet, not her...

 

[spiderhellian]

to the joke answer... wasn't she involved in the murder of the former owner of the Wildhoof Club building? Though it was probably physically Comet, not her

Click to shrink...

If we start going into this I think we start having to weigh the impact of Velvet introducing Windigos to the cult, and things devolve from there

 

[Zxzx24]

Now, was she the one who started it?

No.

Was she the first one to betray us?

Also no.

Was she innocent?

Click to shrink...

Man if only there had been somebody to point out all those potential off ramps...

Velvet DID do somethings. Namely she threw fuel onto the fire of Coppers hatred and paranoia.

In one case Velvet LITERALLY FUELD COPPERS MADNESS.

 

[Limabot]

Man if only there had been somebody to point out all those potential off ramps...

Velvet DID do somethings. Namely she threw fuel onto the fire of Coppers hatred and paranoia.

In one case Velvet LITERALLY FUELD COPPERS MADNESS.

Click to shrink...

I agree that counterattacking there was a mistake (I wanted to do an investigation ritual instead), and that we should have just helped the cult skip town when that vote came up (even just to get the manuscripts).
Overall, it's a mix of the original thread going into war footing against the cult faster than I think was warranted and simply lacking the AP to do much more in depth. The poor Grail roll from the one time we did try to check in on Copper didn't help.

 

[Greymere]

to the joke answer... wasn't she involved in the murder of the former owner of the Wildhoof Club building? Though it was probably physically Comet, not her...

Click to shrink...

Nah, that was Windy. You know, the other potential serial killer-at-large

 

[Shaper47]

Nah, that was Windy. You know, the other potential serial killer-at-large

Click to shrink...

Windy and Comet.

Stallion bonding at work.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The only way I can consider attacking Copper at the time we did a mistake is in terms of AP lost to almost dying to her hit squad. It was, after all, only done after she tried killing us with Neighnia casting an EiB. So we would have to have investigated why Copper started flinging EIBs at us, then convince the mare that hated us that we never fired a PtN at her, that it must have been someone else. Good luck with that. Honestly in hindsight we should have just Name-Dumped on her immediately rather than pitter about with PtN.

 

[Zxzx24]

I agree that counterattacking there was a mistake (I wanted to do an investigation ritual instead), and that we should have just helped the cult skip town when that vote came up (even just to get the manuscripts).
Overall, it's a mix of the original thread going into war footing against the cult faster than I think was warranted and simply lacking the AP to do much more in depth. The poor Grail roll from the one time we did try to check in on Copper didn't help.

Click to shrink...

"War footing" is a kinder term than I might use. But mmm.