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

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The second, is less an idea and more a question.
There is a great deal of talk and planning and discussion that has happened in the past, and in the present, about changing Velvet's personal sacrament. Do we even know if that's possible?

Sacraments require a personal discovery and challenge, or an invitation. We know what some personal sacraments are... And forgive the question and implication, but if memory serves....
Baldomare warned against this very idea. Back when she realized Selene was enough to potentially reach for Glory, she warned Velvet. That everyone always thinks they are the one who will truly figure it out, while walking on the bones and relics of those who came before. That if Velvet found a way forward, grasp it. Don't waste away hunting and searching for routes that may or may not exist this time, and decide with what is known.

It strikes me the.... similarity.
So we even know if the personal sacrament can change?

Click to shrink...

If they can't, them I'll just pursue the Sacraments I like instead of the ones I don't. Such as throwing hooves with Biedde, that one will be really fun.

 

[Venerable Ro]

It's very unlikely. The absolute closest Bird has gotten to even hinting that it'd be possible was a "Maybe" in regard to Pittauro asking if Velvet's Moth Sacrament would change if her self-loathing stopped. I wouldn't count on it.

Click to shrink...

For this one must apply the ineffable technique that is "entice the author with a compelling story". It's not enough to ask if it's possible, you've got to suggest an alternative that's entertaining enough for the QM to change his plans.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

In Which (S) Collide - Part 4

Click to shrink...

Absolutely delightful! Thank you for sharing this with us!

And like every other well-adjusted individual of good taste, I am sad they are treating Mareinette like that. Leave the best girl alone!

For this one must apply the ineffable technique that is "entice the author with a compelling story". It's not enough to ask if it's possible, you've got to suggest an alternative that's entertaining enough for the QM to change his plans.

Click to shrink...

I can confirm this has already happened at least twice.



In other news, I hope you are all doing well! I will close the vote now, and there is a little something I would like to share right after that.



Voting is CLOSED

Spoiler: Tally

Vote Tally : Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience | Page 135 | Questionable Questing [Posts: 4138-4233]
##### NetTally 4.0.2

[X] Compromise.
No. of Votes: 35

Spoiler: Voters

[X] angelsadvocate666
[X] Anjaxis
[X] AuthorTransient
[X] Bakkasama
[X] BritBiscuit
[X] Calico J
[X] Cochimetl
[X] DelightedOne
[X] des-pair-2
[X] EgoDiscite
[X] F#A#
[X] Greymere
[X] Iustus Vitea
[X] Jame
[X] jason1stlegion
[X] Krix
[X] LieutenantSpirit
[X] Limabot
[X] Maer
[X] moonlock
[X] Nate700
[X] oceanes
[X] Pittauro
[X] Pororurin
[X] Portec
[X] Potdl
[X] Quaxotia
[X] Rafuki22
[X] Reclai
[X] Solace2117
[X] Spacemurica
[X] Sveta08
[X] Talon Tiger Dino
[X] Venerable Ro
[X] Zxzx24

[X] Conscription.
No. of Votes: 7

Spoiler: Voters

[X] Shaper47
[X] Alan975
[X] Bakkasama
[X] Earth-Destroyer
[X] HellFire666
[X] Nevermort
[X] Random Anon

[X] Negotiation
No. of Votes: 2

Spoiler: Voters

[X] AuthorTransient
[X] Portec

[X] Assassination.
No. of Votes: 1

Spoiler: Voters

[X] Alan975

[X] Status Quo.
No. of Votes: 1

Spoiler: Voters

[x] Earth-Destroyer

Total No. of Voters: 41

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[Y] Assassination

You stare at Comet Feet, as he stands at the other end of the bridge.

He does not look like a stallion as much as he looks like a wall. Or perhaps a machine made for killing.

The muscles under his skin are taut, like metal springs ready to be unleashed. The veins on his throat, and on the other few places where you can see them, are like thick cords of iron, as his heart pumps blood and adrenaline to every last part of his body.

And his eyes… if glares could hurt, then you are sure you would be feeling some degree of pain right now. But of course, you do not begrudge this treatment from him.

After all, you are everything he hates, everything he wants gone. You are an Edge-sharp invader, standing at the threshold that separates his home from everything else. You are the crushing reminder that his past did not simply disappear, and that there are still ponies out there who remember who he is, and what he has done.

You are the consequence of his actions. Reckoning incarnate, clad in battle Edge and sharp vengeance, who came to collect the price for the latest of his many wrongs.

You are everything he hates, and everything he knows he cannot escape from.

But most of all, more than just the hate in his eyes, you can also see… fear.

Because you know, just by looking at him, that you can probably kill him, if the two of you fight.

So, given how you know his senses are as accurate as yours, you know that he knows he will probably lose, if it comes down to it.

If you had the mind for idle thoughts, you would probably wonder how you look like, right now, in his eyes. If you had the capacity to be distracted right now, you would probably be wondering what he is seeing right now, that would elicit that kind of reaction from him.

But you do not have the mind for such frivolities.



So, you act.



"I would have you serve me, if I could truly assure your obedience. But I do not. Fluttershy is of use to me, but yours is a double-edged blade."

You say that, and you can almost feel the stallion preparing to do… something. Perhaps attack you, or perhaps try to escape.

You can almost hear the solid muscles of his legs moving into position, like stone grinding against stone, as he prepares to pounce.

"If you leave, you have my word I will not cross your path," he says, the acid in his words dwarfed only by the honesty in them.

And you know, in that moment, that he is telling the truth. You know he only wants to be left alone, with the one pony who ever cared about him.

You know that, if you leave now, then the two of you will be done.

But you had already made your decision several days ago. And you will not change your mind.

"Your word means nothing. I have already seen you break your oaths twice now."

You shake your head.



And Comet Feet's eyes go wide as-

Spoiler: Combat rolls

[Biedde has initiated combat]

[Biedde has drawn his blowpipe (invoked A Resolution)]

[Comet Feet has invoked the Attention of the Laws]



[Comet Feet's current health: 4/4]

[Biedde's health: 5/5]

[Current overflow (damage occurs on 50): Comet – 0, Biedde – 0]

[A Confident Certainty: Comet Feet can reroll one every six dice]

[?????: Biedde can reroll one every two dice]



[Comet's first roll: 16 65 + 39 (Personal Combat) + 20 (Attention of the Laws) + 20 (A Rousing Air) = 144]

[Biedde's first roll: 41 99 + 80 (Personal Combat) + 40 (A Resolution) = 219]



[Overflow: Comet – 0, Biedde – 75]

[Comet suffers one wound (-50 to Biedde's overflow)]



[Comet's first roll: 25 + 39 (Personal Combat) + 20 (Attention of the Laws) + 20 (A Rousing Air) = 104]

[Biedde's first roll: 74 + 80 (Personal Combat) + 40 (A Resolution) = 194]



[Overflow: Comet – 0, Biedde – 115]

[Comet suffers two wound (-100 to Biedde's overflow)]



[Comet Feet attempts to escape…]

[Biedde successfully intercepts]

!!!!!!!



-as you suddenly go deaf.

You feel like a stray bolt of lightning just struck the ground, right next to you. And more than just that, a hurricane-like gale of wind crashes into your side, hammering at your dress and nearly pushing you towards the ground.

You can't hear a thing. You really can't hear anything at all, for several seconds. And the best your alarmed body can do is root your four legs under you, to at least try and stabilize your posture. Your ears ringing all the while during the fraction of a second you have to understand what just happened.

But the answer appears at your side before you can even string two thoughts together.

Because the next moment, Biedde is walking past you. You have no idea where he came from, or when he got so close. But he is walking past you as if he had been standing three steps behind you this whole time.

Except this is not the cordial, careful Biedde you have seen this whole time. Far from it.

The Biedde walking by you is not the careful and grandfatherly stallion who has been lodging at your home. And he is not walking past you as if he had just dropped a coin nearby, and was moving to pick it up.

No.

He doesn't look like a grandfather. And he doesn't just look like a dangerous pony either. He is walking past you, carrying an item you have never fully seen before. A long and old blowpipe that is hanging from his neck from a battered bandolier.

And the look he has in his eyes… the arctic cold he has in his gaze, and the utter disgust he has on his expression...

He does not look like a murderer, but only because that word is not enough to do this sight justice.

He looks like inevitability itself. Like a guillotine that is currently in mid-fall.

And a quarter of a second after that deafening sound, when you finally realized what just happened, you turn your gaze back to Comet Feet.



"N-no!"



You turn your eyes back to Comet Feet, and your mind can't truly accept what you are looking at.

The large pegasus is ruined. His right foreleg is completely gone, and he is currently lying on his back, belly up, as he tries to crawl away from Biedde.

There is blood everywhere. You can see a large, cone-shaped spray of blood behind the stallion, marring the green of the grass with its bright red. And you can see a growing pool of it surrounding Comet Feet, leaking freely from the stump of his leg and other places besides, as he weakly tries to crawl away.

And you… you…

It has now been three full seconds since you heard that noise. And the ringing on your ear is finally starting to die down. Slowly, and painfully. But as your hearing starts to clear up, your mind finally pieces together what just happened.

Biedde was waiting nearby… somewhere. Maybe a hundred meters away, behind the trees. Maybe right behind you. And the moment you gave him the signal, he…

… he used his blowpipe. He shot a single dart at Comet Feet, from wherever he was hiding.

The gale-speed wind, the deafening crack, and the immediate shearing oh his leg, followed by the massive concussive damage to the rest of his body… that was all from a single dart.



"Please…! I-I beg you! I will do anything just please-!"

"I could have said you would have made a fine apprentice, but that would be a lie."

Spoiler: Combat rolls

[Comet Feet's current health: 1/4]

[Biedde's health: 5/5]

[Current overflow (damage occurs on 50): Comet – 0, Biedde – 15]



[Comet's first roll: 42 + 39 (Personal Combat) + 20 (Attention of the Laws) + 20 (A Rousing Air) = 121]

[Biedde's first roll: 39 64 + 80 (Personal Combat) + 40 (A Resolution) = 184]



[Overflow: Comet – 0, Biedde – 78]

[Comet suffers one wound (-50 to Biedde's overflow)]

[Comet Feet has been defeated]

The bleeding stallion tries to do everything at once. And only now do you realize that his harsh expression is completely gone. Instead, there are tears in his eyes, and a deathly fear on his face, as he begs.

He begs, and he uses his remaining foreleg to drag his bleeding body away. And when Biedde's measured pace finally reaches him, Comet Feet uses his hindleg to give him a pair of kicks so strong that they could have felled a tree or cracked a boulder.

But he was not trying to kick something as soft as those. And the result of his kicks are as expected as they are horrifying to watch.

The first kick lands squarely in the middle of Biedde's chest. And a loud, dry sound fills the air when it does. You think you hear something break, and a moment later you realize the metal horseshoe Comet Feet had on his hoof is now cracked.

Comet Feet hit him, yes, but only because Biedde did not bother to block it. Or perhaps he did block it, with his clothes and with his skin and with the countless scars that exist upon both of them. Either way, the only pony who was hurt by the first kick was Comet himself.

The second kick, born more out of panic than anything else, is caught by Biedde's hoof. He grabs the lightning-fast hindleg as easily as he might have grabbed a toy that was offered by a foal.

He then proceeds to coil his foreleg around the stallion's hindleg and-



CRACK



-it is bent in all the wrong directions on the next moment.



"…-!"



Comet's eyes roll to the back of his head. He tries to say something, but the ringing in your ears is still too loud for you to understand it.

Although Biedde's words cut through your horror just fine.



"That would have been a lie, because success, and victory, are self-executing virtues. And that you fell off from the Path is evidence that you were never suited for it."



The older stallion keeps walking towards Comet, and you realize he never really broke his stride. Ever since he took a shot from his blowpipe, heaven knows from where, he has been walking towards Comet Feet. Even as Comet crawled away, and even as Biedde casually broke his leg, he has still been walking towards him.

You only realized that because the older stallion has finally stopped. Biedde is now standing over the broken body of Comet Feet, looking down at the larger stallion as he weakly tries to breathe, and as he bleeds out from too many different places.

And still, the only thing in his cold expression is disgust.



"I would also have thanked you for sparing me the effort of learning you were made of such brittle material. But I do not thank an unworthy blade for its failure."



He says that, and then he raises a hoof.

He raises a hoof as casually as if he is about to take another step forward.

And just as casually, he brings it down on the stallion's throat.

The movement is so fluid that he might as well have missed. His hoof meets so little resistance that he might as well have been dipping his hoof on a pool of water, or on a pile of dry leaves.

But the liquid that gushes out from his action is not the color of clear water, and the snapping and crackling sounds that follow are not the sound of dry leaves being crushed.

And when the old stallion is done, less than ten seconds have passed since this all began. The ringing in your ears is still there, and you are only beginning to realize that your body is so tense it is actually painful.

…

Still, Biedde looks down at the broken corpse for one more moment, and then he casually turns back from where he came from. Making his way to the bridge, and to the river stream, as if nothing unusual has happened.

In fact, the tone he has in his voice when he speaks up is so calm you almost think there is another pony nearby, who is talking to you.

"You have use for bodies, yes? I recall you telling me that you have ways to put them to use," he says, as he cleans his hoof on the river. The red stains on his old uniform washing away as he calmly rubs them. "In that case, I will leave the cleanup to you. Have a good day, employer."

He says that, and as soon as he is done cleaning his hoofs he is gone.

Leaving you alone.

The sole winner of the disagreement that just happened, over the humble wooden bridge.





The resources that Comet Feet had gathered to fight you are not accurate or "canon" to the main story.

But the fact that he would have died like a dog is.

Spoiler

I also kinda just want to see Comet and Biedde fight?

Click to shrink...

This makes as much sense as saying you would like to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy compete in a race.

This was not a fight. This was an execution.

But none of this ever happened, did it? So why don't you go back to where you came from?

 

[Spacemurica]

That might actually happen if the Winter Realization unlocks Selene's memories, we would also have some claim to it since our daughter is one of the Sisters, keep the property in the hooves of the family and all that... wait, are we going to be part of the royal family after Daybreaker? I don't think Luna would hide us from Celestia after that so it might happen

Click to shrink...

Now I'm hoping that Selene teaches her sister her whole filly form thing, so we can formally adopt another alicorn.

 

[DelightedOne]

Now I'm hoping that Selene teaches her sister her whole filly form thing, so we can formally adopt another alicorn.

Click to shrink...

Now that would be fun. And also extremely unlikely to happen since that was the result of a severe case of Eldritch Trauma(1000 years of otherwordly torture that gets worse and worse and worse and worse...) AND a lucky roll.

But if Celestia goes off the deep end and needs to recover as a filly after she might learn the trick by herself. Harmony might make that the default coping mecanism for Alicorns in that state since Selene was a success.

 

[Greymere]

[?????: Biedde can reroll one every two dice]

Click to shrink...

Huh.

So not only does Biedde get rerolls, he gets better rerolls. I wonder if that's the Sacrament effect, or the Level 6 effect?

On a related note, anyone who is stupid enough to attack our home while Biedde is guarding it is fuuuuucked.

 

[spiderhellian]

Holy shit when Biedde is not grandfather-maxing he is indeed terrifying.

The large pegasus is ruined. His right foreleg is completely gone, and he is currently lying on his back, belly up, as he tries to crawl away from Biedde.

Click to shrink...

The gale-speed wind, the deafening crack, and the immediate shearing oh his leg, followed by the massive concussive damage to the rest of his body… that was all from a single dart.

Click to shrink...

But I do not thank an unworthy blade for its failure

Click to shrink...

So very terrifying.

That would have been a lie, because success, and victory, are self-executing virtues. And that you fell off from the Path is evidence that you were never suited for it.

Click to shrink...

Also what a badass line. Damn.

[?????: Biedde can reroll one every two dice]

Click to shrink...

Uhhhh is this something we should be aware of in planning our Sacrament fight @OurLadyOfWires ? Or is this one of the many times we shouldn't read into Apocrypha?

(Does it have to do with how punishing Comet Is so well aligned with the Colonel's focus and purpose?)

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

But none of this ever happened, did it? So why don't you go back to where you came from?

Click to shrink...

Jesus Christ you scared me until this line, Bird. I thought that Biedde had interrupted a Compromise going South and we were too gobsmacked to stop him, all because I didn't pay attention to the Winning Vote section of this false update.

 

[DelightedOne]

[?????: Biedde can reroll one every two dice]

Click to shrink...

That is useful, I wonder if that is because of Biedde's Sacrament in particular or if it is a Level 5(or 6) thing.

After reading everything I think we made the right choice, seeing Comet like this was a bit of a shock but it made me realize he is still just a pony, a pony that made a lot of mistakes and just wants peace after everything that happened.

Of course he won't get it, the World isn't that kind anymore, but if we become part of that peace or contribute to it(like with Compromise) he might become more... symphatetic to us and our goals.

 

[Sveta08]

I can confirm this has already happened at least twice.

Click to shrink...

How
Tempting


Either way, a beautiful... execution.
How fortunate it was not in this History.

 

[Pittauro]

Murdering a murderer doesn't decrease the amount of murderers in the world, so we need to kill two.

Click to shrink...

or more.

after all, when you kill (for the first time) a murderer, the number of murderers in the world stays the same. but after that it's all net positive!

Yepers to this, people here are also talking as if a win is preordained and that we only need to pick the path that refelcts best on us.
Isn't this a horror story?

With the tone that Bird has had so far, I would not be surprised nor disapointed if we end up loosing because everyone is so sure of our victory that it's all treated as a thought experiment instead of as a game.
And if we lose once? What happens then?
Wolf-tinted Softy playthrough.

So whats worse, a wolf reaching glory or a bit of murder?
Murdering a murderer doesn't decrease the amount of murderers in the world, so we need to kill two.

Click to shrink...

we're "close enough" (presumably two or three steps away: find outsider location, get outsider, kill/sacrifice outsider) to glory ending that I don't think we can REALLY lose there, unless we REALLY take our time (and say Discord frees himself and becomes far more difficult to deal with. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an hidden deadline)

I still don't expect it to be the end of things though. It feels too easy, and if solving the Worms problem was this easy then why/how did they manage to conquer one History in CS when multiple hours were around and presumably all of them agreed on Worms = no good?

In Which (S) Collide - Part 4

Click to shrink...

Mareinette really feels like a Dark Souls boss here.

I also note that Conscription gives at best marginally better rewards at the cost of requiring active maintenance and/or fiddling with more actions, to say nothing of the whole "Comet will murder us if something goes wrong" bit. Got to remember the 48th rule of the Evil Overlord's Guidebook.

Click to shrink...

truly a work of wisdom that list.

Personally I'd say that the prohibition on teaching Fluttershy eldritch secrets or having her carry out our cryptic will would hurt more if we'd ever actually taught her anything or asked her to do something more nefarious than sort our mail. In-universe Velvet would likely (if not for the Influence) react to Comet's demands with no small amount of confusion, as it has genuinely never occurred to her that Fluttershy might even be interested in such things.

Click to shrink...

Nah, Fluttershy did express some interest in the lores, mostly as a way to better understand Comet.

Velvet might disagree in principle with the request, in that she'd agree on "don't put her in danger" but probably not the "don't teach lores", considering she's been willing to teach her family.

I can confirm this has already happened at least twice.

Click to shrink...

If we talk times we changed your mind with good and entertaining idea, the first thing to come to mind is that time we sacrificed 2 risen as a way to avoid the Master's "gift" of a living sacrifice (before we knew that sacrifice was actually a changeling).

Not quite sure what the second one would be.

and oh, an update!

goes to read
EDIT:

[Y] Assassination

Click to shrink...

I nearly had an heart attack here Bird! You can't do this to me!

 

[Pittauro]

You are the consequence of his actions. Reckoning incarnate, clad in battle Edge and sharp vengeance, who came to collect the price for the latest of his many wrongs.

You are everything he hates, and everything he knows he cannot escape from.

But most of all, more than just the hate in his eyes, you can also see… fear.

Click to shrink...

He did a lot of bad stuff, and he knows it.

"I would have you serve me, if I could truly assure your obedience. But I do not. Fluttershy is of use to me, but yours is a double-edged blade."

Click to shrink...

This sounds so wrong coming from Velvet...

"If you leave, you have my word I will not cross your path," he says, the acid in his words dwarfed only by the honesty in them.

And you know, in that moment, that he is telling the truth. You know he only wants to be left alone, with the one pony who ever cared about him.

You know that, if you leave now, then the two of you will be done.

Click to shrink...

I'd believe him. Comet has his own sense of honor, I think.

[?????: Biedde can reroll one every two dice]

Click to shrink...

oh? Is that the Sacrament I wonder? Or maybe the lvl 6 bonus instead.

It would make sense for lvl 6 bonus to be extra rerolls...

[Comet Feet attempts to escape…]

[Biedde successfully intercepts]

Click to shrink...

damn, this hurt to read.

And the look he has in his eyes… the arctic cold he has in his gaze, and the utter disgust he has on his expression...

Click to shrink...

Because Comet is an oathbreaker, I wonder? Because he refused the Colonel's ideals?

The gale-speed wind, the deafening crack, and the immediate shearing oh his leg, followed by the massive concussive damage to the rest of his body… that was all from a single dart.

Click to shrink...

that's quite impressive. he's basically an artillery piece!

"Please…! I-I beg you! I will do anything just please-!"

"I could have said you would have made a fine apprentice, but that would be a lie."

Click to shrink...

...seriously, it hurts to read Strong Comet reduced to this...

Comet Feet hit him, yes, but only because Biedde did not bother to block it. Or perhaps he did block it, with his clothes and with his skin and with the countless scars that exist upon both of them. Either way, the only pony who was hurt by the first kick was Comet himself.

Click to shrink...

...Biedde can literally go "I block the enemy's weapon with my body" and it unironically works.

It's that standard scene of "block a sword with your arm and the sword break"!

"That would have been a lie, because success, and victory, are self-executing virtues. And that you fell off from the Path is evidence that you were never suited for it."

Click to shrink...

an harsh view of things, but not exactly untrue.

You can be as virtuous and good as you wish, but if you fail... the world is not kind to the losers.

"You have use for bodies, yes? I recall you telling me that you have ways to put them to use," he says, as he cleans his hoof on the river. The red stains on his old uniform washing away as he calmly rubs them. "In that case, I will leave the cleanup to you. Have a good day, employer."

Click to shrink...

uh. I didn't even consider we could have used Comet's body as a Risen.

I suppose if we had the prison ready we could have instead kept him as a potential sacrifice, which would be... +10 to everything, +40 to edge?

The sole winner of the disagreement that just happened, over the humble wooden bridge.

Click to shrink...

what do you know, Victory can ALSO tastes like Ash!

This makes as much sense as saying you would like to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy compete in a race.

This was not a fight. This was an execution.

Click to shrink...

and I now feel bad for Comet.

Uhhhh is this something we should be aware of in planning our Sacrament fight @OurLadyOfWires ? Or is this one of the many times we shouldn't read into Apocrypha?

Click to shrink...

if he ACTUALLY rerolls every two rolls against us, I take it as proof we're not meant to win, just to show him our best (and by win I mean do 1 health of damage)

 

[Sveta08]

and I now feel bad for Comet.


if he ACTUALLY rerolls every two rolls against us, I take it as proof we're not meant to win, just to show him our best (and by win I mean do 1 health of damage)

Click to shrink...

? Only now?

But, no.
I fully believe the intent is to deal a wound.
Look back to the Apocrypha we were just given and tell me that Edge believes in "Good Enough"

Besides. Biedde is a professional warrior from an era where that meant something.
Velvet is his employer. He would not lie in such a way.

And that bonus.... It is not described for a reason.
It is likely "Do not stand the Deserter" if I have to guess.

 

[Alan975]

Ah, how beautiful.

You all see what we are missing out on now?

No no, lets play into our sense of collectors anxiety instead, Comet isn't going to be a problem no sir.

I am expecting that we will get some trouble from our new necktie from this compromise, and I think that we're going to miss out on making something interesting out of Flutersky.

Face it, we are evil.

Velvet is a bad pony that would burn the world down to provide some kindling for her famelies living room Instead of chopping down a tree.

That is what we have been so far, and that is what we will continue to be.

Except in these rare occasions, where a flighty conscience strikes.

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

 

[Quaxotia]

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

Click to shrink...

I find a character trying to cling to "good" even to the point of hypocrisy or rationalizing their sins to be more compelling.

Otherwise Velvet might as well have killed Selene all those moons ago and reached Glory by now.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Ah, how beautiful.

You all see what we are missing out on now?

No no, lets play into our sense of collectors anxiety instead, Comet isn't going to be a problem no sir.

I am expecting that we will get some trouble from our new necktie from this compromise, and I think that we're going to miss out on making something interesting out of Flutersky.

Face it, we are evil.

Velvet is a bad pony that would burn the world down to provide some kindling for her famelies living room Instead of chopping down a tree.

That is what we have been so far, and that is what we will continue to be.

Except in these rare occasions, where a flighty conscience strikes.

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

Click to shrink...

Fluttershy, not Flutersky. And yeah, I see us not missing out on a Lore 4 Cultist who has an extra Wound that is so much more useful than a Lore 1 Cultist. Feels pretty good to not casually slaughter that and risk the Lore 1 Confidante to boot for no good reason.

 

[Rafuki22]

That is what we have been so far, and that is what we will continue to be.

Click to shrink...

I believe that you are exaggerating

Even then, the moment you stop trying to be good because of notions like "Oh, it is too late for redemption. I'm too evil." is the moment you truly lose.

 

[The Unaligned Player]

Ah, how beautiful.

You all see what we are missing out on now?

No no, lets play into our sense of collectors anxiety instead, Comet isn't going to be a problem no sir.

I am expecting that we will get some trouble from our new necktie from this compromise, and I think that we're going to miss out on making something interesting out of Flutersky.

Face it, we are evil.

Velvet is a bad pony that would burn the world down to provide some kindling for her famelies living room Instead of chopping down a tree.

That is what we have been so far, and that is what we will continue to be.

Except in these rare occasions, where a flighty conscience strikes.

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

Click to shrink...

Mate, I also didn't have high hopes for this ending well. But the good players have managed to do better than I expected. However, even if they were going exactly as I expected, careening into a pit of fire, that would be no reason to encourage them to stop trying to make things better. That would not be consistent with what I first believed Velvet to be, a person willing to damn herself and those she cares about for the world. Nor would it be consistent with what I currently believe her to be, a person willing to damn the world for those she cares for, even as she tries her damndest to find a way to save both.

And in a meta sense, it would just be rage quitting.

 

[Solace2117]

Ah, how beautiful.

You all see what we are missing out on now?

No no, lets play into our sense of collectors anxiety instead, Comet isn't going to be a problem no sir.

I am expecting that we will get some trouble from our new necktie from this compromise, and I think that we're going to miss out on making something interesting out of Flutersky.

Face it, we are evil.

Velvet is a bad pony that would burn the world down to provide some kindling for her famelies living room Instead of chopping down a tree.

That is what we have been so far, and that is what we will continue to be.

Except in these rare occasions, where a flighty conscience strikes.

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

Click to shrink...

I feel like we're reading different quests. I mean, I suppose that's a view you could take, but it feels very black and white in story that has lived in shades of grey. Velvet is the protagonist in an Eldritch horror story. As with many of those stories she feels more like someone with good intentions in over her head against forces beyond her current understanding. The choices we are given often make giving into the darker aspects of the world easier. Look at the choices when we first found Luna. Killing her would have given us the blood of an Outsider and we'd already be past the final gate. Adopting her was the harder choice, but I don't think the easier option would be as compelling as the current outcome.
That's ultimately the tightrope we're walking. Considering the threats she's up against Velvet can't always take the high road, but if she always gives into the darker aspects she becomes a shell of herself and the story is weaker for it. I don't think she's evil, flawed certainly, willing to at times make hard decisions, but that just makes her a well rounded character with strengths and weaknesses.
And yes I see what we're missing out on and I'm glad we didn't make that choice. If it ends up being a mistake, it is what it is. I think Compromise made more sense narratively and mechanically to me.

 

[Venerable Ro]

And yes I see what we're missing out on and I'm glad we didn't make that choice. If it ends up being a mistake, it is what it is. I think Compromise made more sense narratively and mechanically to me.

Click to shrink...

Personally I've been running more or less this entire time as a Moth-rebel, take all the best parts and abandon the rest in a whirl of confusion and frustrated enemies.

Velvet was never much of a conventional cultist, far too many ties to the outside world and far too many emotional connections to her husband and children. As the man said, "well-adjusted ponies don't normally join cults". Velvet is certainly not well-adjusted, true, but she's also lacking the kind of deprivations and desires that would have lured other more traditional adepts.

We have, in fact, been playing this game without a Temptation, save Glory itself of course. Velvet doesn't really desire Power, Sensation, or Enlightenment, for all that she'd inadvertently achieved, tasted, and accumulated all of these things. Some whimsical sort of irony to be found there, the mare who would skip away from Power Enthroned to celebrate her child's coming of age is the mare who speaks with Names in their own Tongues. Perhaps we are favored by The Velvet in truth.

Velvet is as Velvet does, happiest when loving and being loved, favored indeed by Love, and like any loving mother prepared to commit incredible violence upon that which threatens her loves.

Ah, I've distracted myself. As I was saying, I at least am playing to win, I just have a slightly different definition of winning. In that it should be a victory by Velvet's definition, not just by that of the world, the Names, or the Hours. What Savor is there in victory that tastes of ashes, what use is there in Power with no purpose to enact, what meaning is there in Enlightenment that illuminates nothing but isolation?

It's telling, we've met a multitude of immortals, Names who have gone where we're going and have done what we seek to do. Power isn't the be-all and end-all, not without something to give meaning to it all. Everything that gives Velvet's existence meaning can be found in the Wake, not in the Mansus, and personally I think that's a quality to be embraced rather than shorn.

 

[Solace2117]

Personally I've been running more or less this entire time as a Moth-rebel, take all the best parts and abandon the rest in a whirl of confusion and frustrated enemies.

Velvet was never much of a conventional cultist, far too many ties to the outside world and far too many emotional connections to her husband and children. As the man said, "well-adjusted ponies don't normally join cults". Velvet is certainly not well-adjusted, true, but she's also lacking the kind of deprivations and desires that would have lured other more traditional adepts.

We have, in fact, been playing this game without a Temptation, save Glory itself of course. Velvet doesn't really desire Power, Sensation, or Enlightenment, for all that she'd inadvertently achieved, tasted, and accumulated all of these things. Some whimsical sort of irony to be found there, the mare who would skip away from Power Enthroned to celebrate her child's coming of age is the mare who speaks with Names in their own Tongues. Perhaps we are favored by The Velvet in truth.

Velvet is as Velvet does, happiest when loving and being loved, favored indeed by Love, and like any loving mother prepared to commit incredible violence upon that which threatens her loves.

Ah, I've distracted myself. As I was saying, I at least am playing to win, I just have a slightly different definition of winning. In that it should be a victory by Velvet's definition, not just by that of the world, the Names, or the Hours. What Savor is there in victory that tastes of ashes, what use is there in Power with no purpose to enact, what meaning is there in Enlightenment that illuminates nothing but isolation?

It's telling, we've met a multitude of immortals, Names who have gone where we're going and have done what we seek to do. Power isn't the be-all and end-all, not without something to give meaning to it all. Everything that give's Velvet's existence meaning can be found in the Wake, not in the Mansus, and personally I think that's a quality to be embraced rather than shorn.

Click to shrink...

I love the description of Velvet as a Moth-rebel. I don't know that it fully fits, but it's close enough to work. I agree overall though on the sentiment about Velvet's goals and the nature of winning. I think we see some of that in how the Names look at her and the conversation between Baldomare and Biedde. She's the first in a long time, but she has some "peculiar habits".

 

[spiderhellian]

I agree that Velvet's contradictions are part of why she's such a compelling character and this is such a fun quest!

I do think it's true that the Quest has tended to take middle-of-the-road options. Which admittedly probably reflects the general vibe and cautiousness of Questers.

I do sometimes wonder how things would play with a different voting system? Approval voting sort of favours that middle-of-the-road approach, which most people find it at least okay. I wonder if something else would have us taking more extreme options at times.

(I'm not really encouraging an alternative, but I am curious.)

 

[jelloloaf]

I do sometimes wonder how things would play with a different voting system? Approval voting sort of favours that middle-of-the-road approach, which most people find it at least okay. I wonder if something else would have us taking more extreme options at times.

Click to shrink...

I forget where it was but I remember seeing a system once where votes would be given different weights based on how much the character wanted to do them; holding back from something they greatly desired took near-unanimous consensus while following characterization didn't need as many votes. It was pretty cool.

 

[AuthorTransient]

[Y] Assassination

Click to shrink...

I wondered if you had accidentally placed the post under the wrong threadmark until I got jumpscared by Biedde's combat roll. Shook.

Mareinette really feels like a Dark Souls boss here.

Click to shrink...

I come from a line of questers where the boss keeps stacking bonuses so we have to keep stacking bonuses as well. Narratively it's been a struggle trying to figure out how having large success in Grail translates into eldritch horror.

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

Click to shrink...

Good and evil only exist in a vacuum. In this quest, there is a lot of nuance and context shaping each of our actions. In my personal opinion, Velvet Covers is still trying to figure out what kind of pony she is.

 

[Sveta08]

I...

The story from Comet's perspective is still in the margins of my brain, still slowly unfurling into something sharp and sad and sweet and tender. But this is not that little tidbit of story.
This... is a moment I couldn't tell you, but that I woke up with the vague impressions of it etched in my mind, and as I've written it it has become more clear.
This is... it's at the furthest edges of what I know how to write. How to even express.
But it has something.... I don't know.
Something I feel we keep forgetting.



In which even the shackled dance

---

The air is thick in the perfect sort of way.
The lights are low, the scent of something rich and floral flourishing. A delicate sense of decay just beneath. The tension in the air like a glass held too tight. Too sharp. Too firm and just about to-

Snap.

But it doesn't.
It can't.
You won't let it.

Because the air is thick in the perfect sort of way.



You are chewing on a book.
It's already been used. Been read. Been lost.
No one was going to miss it if it was gone.
And it had such a history in it.

The words in it were bright. Brighter than bright. A useful kind of bright.
The sort of bright that once would have ponies talk about things in terms of iron and metal and stone. Flesh and blood and bone.
But now, the words are too bright for that.
Chemistry.

But as your teeth touched it, you could feel it.
A past where it had been something more than it was.
Where there had been something worth savoring.
And that's why the air is so perfect.



The book had no idea why it was right that a story of a sordid love affair might have once found its way into it's pages.
It had no way of knowing the connection between the beating of a heart and the pulsing in the air.
Neither the author nor the students who read about the things now called vibrations truly understood the way in which the heart and the world pulsed.
Nor why it mattered that those two were linked.
But you do.

Between passions, between lovers, in an embrace there is dew. Moisture and heat, and friction and texture.
The air it grows thick.
Between sound, in the pulses, in the rhythm of the heart. Voice and volume, song and dance.
The air grows thick.

In the most perfect of ways.



The others are still off. It's their nature to notice it. To befoul it.
Light... refracts, they call it now. What a beautiful word for it. Present, yet twisted, all according to your own view.
Paths are forgotten. Blades dull in their sheaths. Cold is fought with warmth of magic.
They all... grow frustrated at it.
But not you.

As long as the sky is above.
As long as there is earth below.
As long as he heart beats.
As long as the
Heart
Beats



She left today.
Resolved

And you feel it beneath you.
In the earth she walks upon.
The pulse between each step of her hooves.
The purpose that pushes her forward.
Demanding she march to the beat.

It's a dance.
An old dance.
You like old dances. The new ones are too full of flesh.
Not enough blood. Not enough bone.
But it's not the old dance you know.



The world is bent.
Step step. Step step.
It was different before.
Step step step. Step step step.

You already know what the outcome will be.
Because the dance is different than it once was.
You know what it will not be.
What it once was.

You wonder.
If she even knows.
How full of [HEART] she is?


But you are still moving to that beat.
In motions no one can see. At a pace no one would know.
Because the air is thick.
In the most perfect way.
You can feel it.

The shackles.
Dance

It's nearly time

 

[Venerable Ro]

This... is a moment I couldn't tell you, but that I woke up with the vague impressions of it etched in my mind, and as I've written it it has become more clear.
This is... it's at the furthest edges of what I know how to write. How to even express.
But it has something.... I don't know.

Click to shrink...

View: https://youtu.be/oJLRNwmNn7o?feature=shared

[An Old Moment], Heart in its own ways can be as perceptive as Lantern, for what has come before will be again. This is the nature of the Dance, repetition in all its profound banality until comprehension arrives like a forgotten memory. Join the roundelay, the revels will bring you back to your beginning soon enough, though you will never be the same as you were.

---

That was a wonderful piece, very atmospheric and a compelling look at a very old thing of Heart. Thank you for writing it!

 

[Pittauro]

Ah, how beautiful.

You all see what we are missing out on now?

No no, lets play into our sense of collectors anxiety instead, Comet isn't going to be a problem no sir.

I am expecting that we will get some trouble from our new necktie from this compromise, and I think that we're going to miss out on making something interesting out of Flutersky.

Face it, we are evil.

Velvet is a bad pony that would burn the world down to provide some kindling for her famelies living room Instead of chopping down a tree.

That is what we have been so far, and that is what we will continue to be.

Except in these rare occasions, where a flighty conscience strikes.

By all means, I would not mind if we play as a good pony, but then it has to be consistent.

Click to shrink...

eh, Velvet is not evil.

She's also not good.

she's just a person with more power and influence than a single individual should have.

I imagine most people would be willing to doom the world to save their loved ones. If they wouldn't, they either don't really love them, or are INCREDIBLY good people.

Velvet TRIES to be good. problem is, she has some things she HAS to accomplish (and some things she simply WANTS to accomplish), and to her those are more important than a vague "be good".

so she has to compromise with herself. I find it pretty understandable.

I agree that Velvet's contradictions are part of why she's such a compelling character and this is such a fun quest!

I do think it's true that the Quest has tended to take middle-of-the-road options. Which admittedly probably reflects the general vibe and cautiousness of Questers.

I do sometimes wonder how things would play with a different voting system? Approval voting sort of favours that middle-of-the-road approach, which most people find it at least okay. I wonder if something else would have us taking more extreme options at times.

(I'm not really encouraging an alternative, but I am curious.)

Click to shrink...

I saw this one method of voting once I found pretty interesting, where basically you pick a random vote between all voters.

Like, let's say that we had a tally sort of like this:

30 votes on Compromise
10 votes on Conscription
5 votes on assassination
1 vote on Status Quo.

Once voting is done, you roll 1d(30+10+5+1)= 1d46.

1 to 30, compromise wins
31 to 40, Conscription wins
41 to 45, Assassination wins
46, Status Quo wins.

This way everything that got voted on has a CHANCE of winning, and more votes means a better chance, but there's always the possibility of something unexpected winning.

Of course it could come with some obvious problems. Imagine the chaos if just a single person voted to, say, "Kill Selene for Blood of the Outsider" or to get the Wolf's sacrament, and that vote won. the thread would likely explode.

I forget where it was but I remember seeing a system once where votes would be given different weights based on how much the character wanted to do them; holding back from something they greatly desired took near-unanimous consensus while following characterization didn't need as many votes. It was pretty cool.

Click to shrink...

I've seen that sometimes too. or on SV there's this quest "Distant Stars" where the MC has a malus where basically when voting there's automatically X votes put on a specific option to represent a kind of mental influence. In that context you need more votes to go against that to express mental resistance.

 

[Greymere]

Of course it could come with some obvious problems. Imagine the chaos if just a single person voted to, say, "Kill Selene for Blood of the Outsider" or to get the Wolf's sacrament, and that vote won. the thread would likely explode.

Click to shrink...

The thread would very quickly become saltier than the Dead Sea

 

[DelightedOne]

if he ACTUALLY rerolls every two rolls against us, I take it as proof we're not meant to win, just to show him our best (and by win I mean do 1 health of damage)

Click to shrink...

Unlikely. The Colonel doesn't seem very interested in "do your best" if we go by Biedde's comments to Comet(heh), he wants "the best"(it makes sense since the Colonel is supposed to support the status quo and the elite) so by doing 1 damage to Biedde we prove that we are worthy, that we are one of the best.

We should also keep in mind that was Biedde in his killing mode so we might not be that overwhelmed since he is not supposed to kill us. He might not even use A Resolution since his personal combat is +80.

Oh, before I forget it. @OurLadyOfWires if we get a Heart influence from Mareinette will that help with Biedde's Sacrament? So we can resist being wounded better.