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

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spiderhellian said:
3) Does anyone have an idea what's in Celestia's mystery box? Anything important from MLP that could fit in a jewellery box and would fit?
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One of the Elements of Harmony could fit, though it would be a little odd to hand such to Cadence. Same with the Alicorn Amulet. I really don't know any other small macguffins that would fit the size requirement though.
 
Talon Tiger Dino said:
One of the Elements of Harmony could fit, though it would be a little odd to hand such to Cadence. Same with the Alicorn Amulet. I really don't know any other small macguffins that would fit the size requirement though.
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Lets see: the jewel box was described as small, the Elements are useless without each other and their bearers, the Alicorn Amulet is in a weird shop somewhere, the Crystal Heart is in the Crystal Empire...
Yeah I have no idea what it could be. Are we sure it even is magical? It could just be a regular gift and the meaning from that choice is Cadance seeing that Celestia can come back to her life one day.
 
Talon Tiger Dino said:
One of the Elements of Harmony could fit, though it would be a little odd to hand such to Cadence. Same with the Alicorn Amulet. I really don't know any other small macguffins that would fit the size requirement though.
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Oh. It's probably Twilight's Magic Tiara, isn't it.

(Or wait, do the Elements even hang on to their jewellery?)

Edit: I feel there has to be something at least somewhat interesting in it. What's the point of a mystery box that is just as impactful if it's totally empty, ie the meaning is all in the giving of the gift?
 
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I don't necessarily think a host of guests is inherently better than the other options. It's more I don't think it's something we can easily replicate. Finding the outsider using Baldomare or ingraining ourselves with the Fair Trial/Midday Dew are things we're pretty sure we can do. This just saves us steps, which to be fair, with our limited actions is valuable. Sure reaching Glory is the most important goal in the end and we'll have to make more harsh decisions to get there. I would like to do what we can to blunt the blows where possible. People have also brought up that Celestia showing up could help with Cadence's fear she's being abandoned. Plus her showing up to the Wedding could help thaw her a little.
 
spiderhellian said:
No. That's not what she said. She reminded us that the only way to win is to focus on Winning, not on Not Losing. Making your opponents lose is a common past time of those who fail to adequately focus on winning!
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Thinking back over it, I think you are correct. I couldn't quite find the exact phrasing she used, but I do think you have the right of it.

I do still feel A Royal Guest is the right answer, but on this, you are correct. A self-invited guest is closer to Glory.
 
Solace2117 said:
I don't necessarily think a host of guests is inherently better than the other options. It's more I don't think it's something we can easily replicate. Finding the outsider using Baldomare or ingraining ourselves with the Fair Trial/Midday Dew are things we're pretty sure we can do.
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If finding an Outsider where that easy, one of the massivly more powerful then Baldomare Hours would have done so.
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
If finding an Outsider where that easy, one of the massivly more powerful then Baldomare Hours would have done so.
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Well at the time the Forge of Days made the barrier on the Gate there were no Outsiders, we had a whole scene where we talked with Baldomare about the seal and she said about how nothing from this world/obeys this worlds laws could break it, when we mentioned Outsiders in response to this Baldomare got real intense and weighed trying for Glory again but then just went ''ah im too old for this'' so really we are the first people other than the Master possibly to have even figured out that the seal can be broken in the first place.
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
If finding an Outsider where that easy, one of the massivly more powerful then Baldomare Hours would have done so.
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in case you don't remember, Baldomare did not even CONSIDER the possibility of using outsider "blood" to open the way. She basically... yellowscreened when we pointed it out to her
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
If finding an Outsider where that easy, one of the massivly more powerful then Baldomare Hours would have done so.
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Counter point, finding an outsider we are willing to kill is the issue. The Master knew about Discord. The fact it seems like none of the Names attempted to kill the Sisters that we know of raises interesting questions about how much they knew about the requirements to break the gates. Yes they're powerful, but one of the goals of each starting time was to kill the Alicorn if we couldn't convert them to our cause. Also considering what happened to Luna we know they're not unbeatable.
 
Solace2117 said:
Counter point, finding an outsider we are willing to kill is the issue. The Master knew about Discord. The fact it seems like none of the Names attempted to kill the Sisters that we know of raises interesting questions about how much they knew about the requirements to break the gates. Yes they're powerful, but one of the goals of each starting time was to kill the Alicorn if we couldn't convert them to our cause. Also considering what happened to Luna we know they're not unbeatable.
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If I remember correctly Baldomare pointed out that by the time Outsiders entered the world everyone had died or given up on getting Glory so when the Sisters or Discord showed up they didn't actually care or even realise that they might be useful for breaking the gates. I think people said something about how the Master type chosen would be the one driven into action instead of apathy by realising that or something, I dont remember exactly?
 
Contacts and Names threadmark added and updated. Let me know if when you inevitably find typos for me to fix up.

As always, hope you are all doing well.

Edit: Also, I am aware that (at least in my computer) the Character Sheet threadmark doesn't have an "arrow" that would take to the next "Index" threadmark. No idea what that's happening, but I'll check with staff later.
 
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OurLadyOfWires said:
Soft Sweeps:
-Lores: [YOUKNOWWHATYOUDID 3] None.
-Info: Your oldest daughter. An extremely loyal mare who, more than just being your daughter's caretaker, eventually became like an older sister for her. A young and hardworking maid who... had a family in Canterlot, until tragedy changed her life forever. But when she lost everypony else, your family took her in without a second thought. So even though she is still attached to her maid uniform, you treat her like one of your own. No matter how embarrassed that makes her.
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Well, that Soft Sweeps bit is new.
As is some of the other bits too. Very nice to see some more... eldritchy stuff slowly leaking into the contacts list. Very nice and not terrifying at all.
 
Biedde's Dyad without a Dyad is interesting. By all rights they should kill each other, or at least the surviving one withers away. Maybe it's different for Names, or maybe he has set the Worms as his new eternal adversary. Which would be a rather one-sided feud, but it certainly means that Biedde will have a foe he'll never lose.
 
Only the other member of the Long Edge Dyad might kill each other and the killer dies in the attempt, if Biede is here then that means he didn't manage to get his partner and they were both raised to Namehood or only he was raised.
 
Man, Discord….

From a narrative sense I absolutely love that he'll be something of a final boss (this could be wrong, admittedly). He's an iconic villain. We had him teased so long ago. And I both love and dread the dilemma of freeing him to get at his Outsider blood.

From a gameplay perspective, I'm kinda terrified. If we had a chance to take down an Outsider, I assumed it would be by having a thorough plan and concentrating Name and Personal firepower. But it looks like we'll be going up against a creature who rejoices in spoiling the best laid plans? Where being anathema to expectations is a key character trait? And who if unleashed could certainly bring about a calamity to rival any that have come before?

Scary.


Contacts update is awesome. The hint that Biedde's dyad partner is out there is very good to know. Where and who… I suppose another reward of summoning. Perhaps doing something with him will be his Friendship quest?
 
Discord...

Toss aside the preconceived notions about them, I do wonder what his relationship to the lores is.
While, yes, we can not-confirm-but-heavily-suspect he is an outsider, wonder what type?

The Born into the world type? The Falling meteor from the heavens type? Invading archangel of violence type?

Personally, I'm a fan of the idea that he is something akin to.... This. Us in relationship to the story.
External, looking in and down on the fabric. But, found some... secret. Some thread and something that they could tangle and wrap up around themselves so they were and are a part of the grand tapestry.
Least, that's what makes sense to me.
 
Honestly, I'd rather see about breaking into Tartarus and cutting down the weak, anemic Tirek, because the jolt of magic he could drain from us would in no way overcome the Lorepower we could drop on him. Sadly we don't know where Tartarus is and we also don't know about how weak he would be right now.
 
So I've been thinking it over and if people want to pick the more pragmatic option I think you all are better of picking the Midday Dew or even the Fair Trial option. I mean, I'm always down for more Baldomare, but realistically Velvet needs to be stronger before she takes on any Outsider, especially Discord considering his status in Canon. Yeah knowing where an outsider is helps in the long term, but in the short term she needs Sacraments and friendly Names if she wants to do anything about it. Considering the fine line we're walking with the Bureau, having more connections in the other pillars government could do more to free up actions over the coming turns to focus on getting ready and being better prepared for whatever surprises come up.
 
Interesting that Cadance only has 3 affinities vs Luna's (and presumably Celestia's) 4. Maybe because she's not a fully "matured" alicorn yet?
 
So if Biede's Dyad partner is still around wouldn't that mean he's the Forge Name? Well, Heart Edge is also an option but people are insistent Marinette is pulling double duty there sooooooo.
 
Looking at votes looking into Discord situation is clearly leading.
Well, I still think that we need to focus on improving our Lore levels and action economy before investing into dealing with Discord. I mean raising more ponies to confidante status gives as additional actions, and I counted and I think we can do it very fast. If we befriend Dew now, we can raise his status to good friend in one action (with good enough roll or if we put Marinette on it) and we also have free Leash so it is immediate confidante status, which gives us additional action NEXT turn.

Or on the other hand I still have hopes that Cadence will give us some of her actions after her honeymoon ends. She already should be confidante status, although it may work different with Alicorns. For one, they give two actions, if we take Selena as example. Of course Cadence is quite busy, but if she completes her lift ponykind spirits project ahead of shedule she should be less busy, right? It is far less certain than with Dew/Fair Trial options but hope is still there.

Granted [] A host of guests and []A disturbed guest are two cations that I have picked so I am biased but I still think that there are valid arguments to choose them over Discord. Unless we are afraid that Discord is currently free and plotting something of course. If he is still statue which I think is more likely then he can gather dust in Celesta closet some more time.
 
[X] A self-invited guest

Cadenz is good at what she does. A few hickups with her goal are expected and can be solved but the capital should be good again.
Celestia should be better as well soon as her sisters return is imminent.
An in with our other heads of institution would be nice but pale to the need for outsider blood.
 
Iustus Vitea said:
So if Biede's Dyad partner is still around wouldn't that mean he's the Forge Name? Well, Heart Edge is also an option but people are insistent Marinette is pulling double duty there sooooooo.
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Could be. I could see a Name of the Lionsmith being Forge/Edge, and Lionsmith vs. Colonel is the traditional dyad pair.

(Edit: Forge Name could also be someone completely separate though and the other half of the dyad is related to Biedde's friendship quest instead. Maybe they're fucking around in the Wake somewhere.)

Nevermort said:
Unless we are afraid that Discord is currently free and plotting something of course. If he is still statue which I think is more likely then he can gather dust in Celesta closet some more time.
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Considering our track record, I'm not sure if assuming Discord will stay statue'd indefinitely is a good idea.
 
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Greymere said:
Considering our track record, I'm not sure if assuming Discord will stay statue'd indefinitely is a good idea.
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He won't, unless Celestia noticed the spell weakening and reinforced it somehow and considering the reason stated in Canon for that was the Elements being connected to the Mane 6 instead of Celestia and Luna I doubt it will last much longer otherwise especially since all it took to break it was three fillies fighting in front of him.

There is also the matter of the plunderseeds and the Tree of Harmony which will take the Sisters and make the Everfree Forest start to invade Equestria but there is still quite a bit of time for that.
 
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