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

Reader mode
I feel like compromise is the only real "everyone wins" type option, since Fluttershy not learning the Lores doesn't really take anything away from our plans. And it's not really that big a deal if her endgame potential is limited? If we get Comet as a willing tool, that is worth the potential cost of whatever Fluttershy would eventually bring to the table. Sure, she's an Element, but we don't really have a use for them?

The other options just have too great a potential cost, either losing Comet as a tool, maybe losing Fluttershy, or losing health (which would absolutely draw attention might I add).
 
Alan975 said:
I'm not particularly fond of Comet, I don't want to take too big a risk when it concerns Velvet and, as in practical and unlikely it is, I want Fluttershy in our circle.
Even if we can't get all of the bearers, that don't mean that we can't snatch up most of them.
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I... don't think Compromise actually impairs using Fluttershy as an Element Bearer? The only thing it does is keep us from teaching her Lores and using her on Expeditions.

Political influence (though... Fluttershy) or just "having the Elements on our side instead of against us" isn't affected at all, and we still have a Confidant-level personal bond with her for social actions / weekly-tea-parties / etc.

Alan975 said:
as in practical and unlikely it is, I want Fluttershy in our circle.
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...On the other hand, if we take Assasinate and Fluttershy learns we killed Comet she'll never be in our circle again.

EDIT: Edited the above for clarity
 
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jason1stlegion said:
Political influence (though... Fluttershy) or just "having the Elements on our side instead of against us" isn't affected at all, and we still have a Confidant-level personal bond with her for social actions / weekly-tea-parties / etc.
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Comet vanishing or turning up dead would probably make her do a Twilight though, even if she somehow didn't twig to us being the only reasonable suspect given our relationship.
 
Did anyone else catch this:
OurLadyOfWires said:
And even the sun that shines down upon Equestria has… changed.

The sun that witnessed that dark past of ponykind is not the same that shines today. The sun of today did not witness what happened in that long-forgotten past.
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I feel like we focused so much on Comet and Velvet's "fight" that we missed this.

The sun has changed... THE SUN HAS CHANGED.

It is not the one of the past, so it must be a new one. So Harmony really is a new sun...

If we go with the "Forge and SiS" became Harmony theory it makes sense if the Solar Hours also became part of the Sun-in-Splendor that explains why there are two Alicorns for the sun and the moon(because the Meniscate is the moon and the sun's night-self).

It also fits the 5 come together to form 1 whole that Harmony has:
Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity and Laughter allow Magic to exist.

The Sun-in-Splendour, The Forge of Days, The Madrugad, The Sun-in-Rags and The Meniscate allowed Harmony to be made.
 
jason1stlegion said:
...On the other hand, if we take Assasinate and Fluttershy learns we killed Comet she'll never be in our circle again.
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True but consider, I wanna 🔪🔪.

In actuality, neither option is great, but the rest are worse, so I'm just trying to wringe out the most satisfaktion.

Venerable Ro said:
Comet vanishing or turning up dead would probably make her do a Twilight though, even if she somehow didn't twig to us being the only reasonable suspect given our relationship.
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All or nothing baby! that's our maxim so far

Jame said:
For sake of argument and nothing else, there is one thing to be said for negotiation, it is a very clean way to resolve things that won't end with anyone dead
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Yes, but as mentioned before it is a waste of an action and not 100% a safe bet.
Don't you want to play with fire? not even a little bit?
 
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Okay. Let me do some stuff first, one at a time.

-30 bits have been removed from your inventory for Jade's ritual (and you had already given Jade the SH reagent prior to that.)
-Expedition added to expedition list.
-Personal Forge Sacrament added to your Sacraments list.

Now...

Steady Gaze said:
@OurLadyOfWires a very short list of copyedits. I actually didn't even notice anything to correct in the updates posted today, but it's hard to read critically when reading for pleasure. ;)
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Steady Gaze said:
@OurLadyOfWires copyedits for Your biggest fan:
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Thank you kindly!

AuthorTransient said:
I could see that you had a lot of fun writing this.
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The mental image of Mareinette wearing a (proportionally) tiny set of opera glasses as she looks down at a "show" will not leave my mind. So yes, that was a lot of fun :V

Steady Gaze said:
A "verbal" person is a person capable of speaking or writing
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And about this. I thought the term "X is a very verbal person" existed, and that it meant "
Never mind, I think I had "vocal" in mind.


[Several pings about the latest vote]

Okay, rather than answer all individual pings, I'll try to answer all questions here. Or at least make a list of clarifications that I hope are helpful.

-Currently, you should think of Fluttershy and Comet as a "single" Confidante. They are literally "Comet + Flutter" rather than two separate characters (for mechanical reasons, that is), for a total of one follower action.
-So, "Conscription" will turn them into two SEPARATE Confidantes. If you choose to conscript, you will have "Confidante Fluttershy" and "Confidante Comet". For a total of two follower actions, and two characters working under separate rules (because Comet will have his Conscription rules to follow)
-Negotiation (and ALL other options, really) will maintain "Comet + Flutter" as a single Confidante (mechanically speaking).
-For example "Compromise" will make "Comet + Flutter" more... easy to manage. With Comet automatically taking over the actions of Fluttershy if he is more adequate, or if the action involves the Lores. Status Quo will keep things as they are (with you having to manually request for Comet Feet to act, through Flutter) and so on.
-Leashing Comet Feet is not applicable, because he hates you. Right now, Comet is outside of the "acquaintance-minion" mechanic, because... well, because he hates you. You can only ask for him through Fluttershy's intervention, and that is in fact the REASON of why he is "joined" into Fluttershy's file when you plan your follower's actions.

Finally, a small recap on how combat works:
-When combat starts the combatants roll the dice TWICE. And their two dice rolls (added up to all combat bonuses) are compared to the enemy's combat rolls.
-These two dice rolls are, so to speak, one "combat turn".
-After the dice rolls are compared, the "difference" between the two dice (the greater value minus the lower value) is added to the loser's "overflow". A character accumulates "overflow" until they reach a certain threshold (usually 50), and then they lose one health.
-At the end of a combat turn, characters may try (depending on the narrative) to perform a Martial-roll action to do something else. Most of the times that will be a roll to try to escape, if the character is afraid of death and feel they will lose.

Furthermore:
-One charge of Edge Attention of the Laws (henceforth "AotL") lasts for one "turn". So, it will apply to two dice rolls of a character, and then it is over.
-Multiple charges of Edge AotL will be used in consecutive combat "turns", until they are all used up.
-The reroll of an Edge level 4 Lore happens once every six dice rolls. So, because we roll combat dice in twos, it will apply to the first dice roll of the first turn, fourth turn, seventh combat turn, and so on.
-Edge AotL also "doubles" your +1 Martial, turning it into +2 for that combat turn (but as someone pointed out, I may have forgotten about that in previous combats, I didn't check)


Right. I do not see any more pings. Kindly let me know if I missed anything. And please ask questions if there is anything I can clarify!
 
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Alan975 said:
True but consider, I wanna 🔪🔪.

In actuality, neither option is great, but the rest are worse, so I'm just trying to wringe out the most satisfaktion.



All or nothing baby! that's our maxim so far


Yes, but as mentioned before it is a waste of an action and not 100% a safe bet.
Don't you want to play with fire? not even a little bit?
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I do regard it as a100% safe thing, since it's listed as stoping before dying, the only risk is in losing, and besides, I'm pro compromise, I just wanted to put forward a good point for negotiation
 
Jame said:
I do regard it as a100% safe thing, since it's listed as stoping before dying, the only risk is in losing, and besides, I'm pro compromise, I just wanted to put forward a good point for negotiation
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Their is no pro for Negotiation it something like less 5% chance of Velvet winning before Comet.
 
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OurLadyOfWires said:
Location: There is a grave, somewhere on the northern plains of Equestria, where a particular item lies buried. The map you have shows you precisely where that grave is. The only problem is that the map is approximately seven hundred years out of date. You acquired this map in a dream, you see, and dreams do not follow the same rules of the Wake.

Expected duration: SHORT

Base cost: 5 bits (you must have at least 25 bits per creature sent)

Expected dangers: UNKNOWN (expedition not scouted)
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Well it's nice that it's short. Probably not that hard, either, since the difficulty seems to be more about finding the grave and navigating what is probably a town around it.
OurLadyOfWires said:
Actions of your own: "The next logical step is to make reagents that are capable of changing something else: that delicate and fragile engine that ponies refer to as their bodies. You never fancied yourself as a potion maker. But then again, you will not be making mere potions."
-Perform the action "Experiment, Craft, Create" until you finish its progress.
-The action "Experiment, Craft, Create" costs 50 bits to be performed each time you do it. You apply your Magic, Forge Level, and you may use any Forge Reagents you have at your disposal.
-This action requires you to reach a cumulative "progress" of 300 points, and may be repeated as many times as needed (though you will pay the cost in bits each time separately).
-Velvet Covers must have at least 2/4 scraps of Forge before she performs this action.
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Huh. Not quite what I expected, which was probably an artifact crafting, but… this does actually sound really freaking useful. A way to change physical traits is probably the first step towards extra health and whatnot.
 
Interesting!

Assuming we aren't going to fight, I sort of do wish we had approached this sans influence, now. I think the narrative would have been nicer, even if the votes were the same.

But of course, having the influence is the only thing that lets us fight…

I think there is a genuine argument for Conscript, if we're planning to rush for the Glory. Which to be honest we probably should focus on. We've got 2 turns of Biedde remaining and he is definitely a sufficient priority that we really shouldn't be letting him get unsummoned. So I think we can survive it, and the extra action is quite helpful.

But I'm okay with Compromise, which seems like the alternative. I don't think we were going to do much in the way of using Fluttershy for eldritch things anyways… she's a lot of turns from being effective at it.

… @OurLadyOfWires is that knife we're wearing going to mess us up if we Compromise?


Short expedition should make things smooth. Forge Sacrament looks super interesting, if we can get the scraps I'm intrigued.
 
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spiderhellian said:
Short expedition should make things smooth. Forge Sacrament looks super interesting, if we can get the scraps I'm intrigued.
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How are the money calcs looking? Since even with good rolls that Sacrament costs an absolute shitton.

Like, our magic stat is thirteen, so not counting any potential reagents, that's a +53 total. With two rolls minimum it would till cost 100 bits and we would have to roll... 97 twice, I think? Probably not happening.
 
spiderhellian said:
Two Level 4 scraps will take a bit I'm not really making imminent plans. Just nice that we have an intriguing, acceptable if quite expensive, option for a Sacrament.
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I mean, we have the Malleary right there, and hit looks like we have to at least visit it to reach the Glory Ending. If anywhere would give us two Forge scraps, it's gonna be that place, and I expect it to be our free exploration next turn.
 
DelightedOne said:
feel like we focused so much on Comet and Velvet's "fight" that we missed this.

The sun has changed... THE SUN HAS CHANGED.

It is not the one of the past, so it must be a new one. So Harmony really is a new sun...
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We haven't commented on this because we already knew it. It has come up in the quest before, though I don't recall in which update.
 
OurLadyOfWires said:
She had been using them to look rather intently at the foals as they play in the party down below. But of course, nopony found anything strange in that because Mareinette can do no wrong.
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Thinking about Mareinette and our personal Moth sacrament. We could send Mareinette to befriend Cheerilee for our sacrament.
 
I will point out, we made a similar agreement to Compromise with Stormchaser way back when. To keep the Lores out of our family life.

Things changed, and he changed his mind.

Just because we agree to put our differences aside now and keep Fluttershy out of Lore business, does not mean that is how things stick. Especially when Fluttershy herself is an independent actor.

This could be our chance to befriend Comet PROPERLY. I say we take it.
 
Shaper47 said:
We could send Mareinette to befriend Cheerilee for our sacrament.
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I see no possible way this could ever end poorly :V

In all seriousness, this actually does seem like a decent idea, although maybe we don't send the alukite to the place full of children. Or, at the very least, not near a school without at least some oversight. Maybe a different contact? We just need to be careful not to Moth Sacrament someone with influence who could hinder us, or make our lives more difficult.
 
Well
I'm all for Compromise still.

Oh boy new Forge Sacrament, shiny with Grease aaaaaaaand of course it costs loads of Bits. Biedde, please go murder a drug smuggling ring for all of their cash, we are ever so very poor. Our Sacrament needs Reagents to be realized efficiently, you see, and those cost money. Everything costs money. I hope there are sellable treasures coming our way.
 
OurLadyOfWires said:
Location: There is a grave, somewhere on the northern plains of Equestria, where a particular item lies buried. The map you have shows you precisely where that grave is. The only problem is that the map is approximately seven hundred years out of date. You acquired this map in a dream, you see, and dreams do not follow the same rules of the Wake.

Expected duration: SHORT

Base cost: 5 bits (you must have at least 25 bits per creature sent)

Expected dangers: UNKNOWN (expedition not scouted)
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Excellent, nice and short (and cheap)! We should be able to throw Biedde or Mareinette at this next turn and get our Baldomare's shiny Level 6 book for a measly 25 bits.

OurLadyOfWires said:
Actions of your own: "The next logical step is to make reagents that are capable of changing something else: that delicate and fragile engine that ponies refer to as their bodies. You never fancied yourself as a potion maker. But then again, you will not be making mere potions."
-Perform the action "Experiment, Craft, Create" until you finish its progress.
-The action "Experiment, Craft, Create" costs 50 bits to be performed each time you do it. You apply your Magic, Forge Level, and you may use any Forge Reagents you have at your disposal.
-This action requires you to reach a cumulative "progress" of 300 points, and may be repeated as many times as needed (though you will pay the cost in bits each time separately).
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Oh this seems fine, actually? Expensive, but fine, morally speaking.

angelsadvocate666 said:
I mean, we have the Malleary right there, and hit looks like we have to at least visit it to reach the Glory Ending. If anywhere would give us two Forge scraps, it's gonna be that place, and I expect it to be our free exploration next turn.
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Malleary is also likely to have the Forge Name. And you know what Names can do? Grant Influences.
 
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