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

It's not really feasible this turn, but we should really start sending people out to look for expeditions to clear out.

Also didn't Bird mention that there's an easy expedition near Ponyville somewhere that rewards a Level 5 artifact of some kind?
 
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It's not really feasible this turn, but we should really start sending people out to look for expeditions to clear out.

Also didn't Bird mention that there's an easy expedition near Ponyville somewhere that rewards a Level 5 artifact of some kind?

Oh man, a use for low-Lore Confidantes? Say it ain't so.
I wonder if one could rope Good Friends into such "adventures," if they were of a more daring sort, as a way to further befriend them. (We all know that at least Rainbow Dash would love Tomb Raiding, you can't convince me otherwise.)
 
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In the unfortunate event that she's unsummoned before we can finish the keys will also help with resummoning her.
Hmm, I didn't think of the possibility of Axe getting "killed" during the assault on Copper and us being left without any wrong keys for three turns. But that would be a strong argument for making wrong keys this turn.

@OurLadyOfWires the copyedits:

Walking up and down the house, sneakily checking if the constables were at their posts, and giving her mother good dreams whenever she wasn't it too deep of a sleep.
in

Yeap, there is nothing to think about.
So, Yep is the more common spelling. It is in the dictionary, but it's probably one of those variant spellings from when people were still deciding how the word should be spelled.

But what's really been buzzing around is that a candidate appeared who is here form Ponyville!
from

Your family will be extremely worried about your (and their) safety.
"Is… is any bad pony coming to hurt us tonight? I-is… is mom going to wake up tomorrow…?"
ok, I suppose there WERE good reasons to not make the attack known...
They did not need this. They did not want this. And this, is why Velvet did not want them to know.
Maybe it would be kinder had they not known. Or...
Ah yes, trauma is a difficult thing. The best things we can do are to restore our family's sense of safety, and to give them something to do to let them not feel helpless. We need to show our family we can fully heal, and that we have enough guards to be safe now. Letting Selene guard us will help as well. And Stormchaser might find his own way to contribute. Silky Stream and Soft Sweeps are tougher.

It is clear from Cadance's tone of voice that she is begging right now.

She is begging Luna, an alicorn who is older than her, to tell her that she did not fail.

She is begging Luna, the pony who has the greatest understanding of dreams and nightmares, to tell her those words were just mirages and illusions conjured by her own worries.

She is begging Luna… to tell her that she didn't fail. That this isn't her fault.

However, Cadance is so deep in her own misery that she doesn't even realize that Luna herself…

She doesn't even realize that Luna herself is wearing the same expression that she is, right now. That the Princess of the Moon is asking the same question, and that she is being crushed by the same weight.

She doesn't realize any of that.

So, when Luna finally answers, her words feel like a hammer's blow against Cadance's back.

"Cadance, I need you to get yourself together. I can't keep doing this every night."

And as Luna says those words, Cadance doesn't even realize the other alicorn is also talking to herself.

"If you think this is your fault, then do better."
Self-blame (or, a lack of self-compassion) is a significant aspect of trauma. Now, the desire to do better isn't a bad thing, but most people would do well to remember that we are flawed human beings, in flawed circumstances, working with flawed information, from which one can only demand so much. This reminds me of Monochromatic's excellent Enchanted Library series. In it, Twilight's key insight to heal from trauma was to really believe that the state of the world was not her fault, and to stop blaming herself. If I had to comfort Cadance, I might say that Velvet stepped into the breach willingly, and if not Velvet, then it would be somepony else who would have to take on the burden and the risk for Equestria.

EDIT: Also, Luna sure is cold to Cadance in this dream. A big contrast from the comfort she gives ponies from their nightmares in canon (see Sleepless in Ponyville for example, as Luna's first dreamwalking episode). I pray the warmth she has in the show is still in there somewhere.
 
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I will want to read this very carefully, very soon. But for now, no further comments on it.

View: https://youtu.be/tvsDObIQFhg?si=3A7Ry-KcSpFjTLXH
:V :V:V
actually I think we did the math before, and with Influence and after healing we have a decent-ish chance of giving him that wound.
I need to redo the math with him rerolling every second die, it definitely makes it harder.
Now that I stopped to think about it, how suspicious would it be for Mareinette to be Velvet if she is supposed to be half-dead?
Mareinette and suspicious never belong in the same sentence!
-[SOCIAL] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
- You died. You'd be scared if you had the energy for it. They certainly do. Speak to them
-[SOCIAL] Princess Cadence. Or, to you Cadence. Half sister from another Lore to Selene. You gave her hope, and near stole it from her in the same breath. Speak to her
I sort of wonder if we can do this in one action… invite Cadance to spend some time with us and our family?

But I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Anyone have a thought on what that one thing Cadance could think of is?

Also, on More Heart — without SH3 we also don't have a level up to a servants book search action. I think we're not very likely to get a Level 3 heart book.
 
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And if you can, save that protagonist from the terrible mistakes Velvet Covers has done! :V
If a MLP/Cultist Simulator fusion has things like the Changelling invasion, Evil, Paranoia, Ash, The Master, [Grail] and WORMS(not the alien worms of worm) and as you can see most of the problems don't come from the MLP side, so what do you think it will happen in a Worm/Cultist Simulator fusion? MLP is a positive world and it barely restrains, if it even does, the Cultist Simulator side, Worm, Earth Bet...well, it isn't very positive is it? What with the Slaughter House 9, the machine army, Heartbreaker, Nilbog, the fallen, the Endbringers, the eventual Gold Morning and if you add the lores, if they learn the lores...well, the protagonist, Michael, is really going to need the Edge.
I need to redo the math with him rerolling every second die, it definitely makes it harder.
Luck will always be a factor.
 
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Also, on More Heart — without SH3 we also don't have a level up to a servants book search action. I think we're not very likely to get a Level 3 heart book.

On an average roll we get a level 3 book.

It's happened before.

[Book search: Manehattan – Servant action]

[Roll: 51 + 12 (Learning) = 63]

-Lvl 3 EDGE, "a posthumous, and rather contentious, biography of the legendary pegasus called Flash Magnus," costs 30 bits

Besides our husband might help out. Narratively he does desire to be useful at the moment and a lore that would help his delicate wife be healthy is something he'd be interested in supporting.
 
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On an average roll we get a level 3 book.

It's happened before.
That was with the SH 3 upgrade, which we don't have this turn.
Besides our husband might help out. Narratively he does desire to be useful at the moment and a lore that would help his delicate wife be healthy is something he'd be interested in supporting.
Stormchaser supporting an action, which has literally never happened before, is one hell of a might.
 
Stormchaser supporting an action, which has literally never happened before, is one hell of a might.

He did buy us medicine that one time. So him acting when Velvet is injured isn't too out there.

He normally acts in the background like befriending Comet.

Narratively through Velvet giving her hubby a chance to feel/be useful seems like something to do.
 
(As it turns out Grail is the Lore of brain surgery, who knew?)
As I was totally not letting my mind idle and spool down, this bit caught my eye.

Cause, that's weird. Right? Yeah Grail touches upon... physicality I suppose. But way more that feel's Hearts' domain. But here it's...
Well, that's not really right. Or... Grail does touch upon physicality, but that's not what it is here.
It's desire.

It's the desire to have a pain numb. For that little, incessent aching and struggling of pain that is ever and always present recede. Yes, it's like Pittauro mentioned, Morphine and Pain killers... but only because those fulfill a desire. Escape, relief, pleasure as much as satisfaction... It's the tool of Grail.
Like, it's right on the edge there though. Is it more dappled in Grail for a pain, an itch to be scratched? Or is it more in Heart for the body to continue unceasing?

It feels a bit close either way... but considering how it was Mareinette who acted, how Velvet plead and all but begged for help, and there were bodies right there...
Well. Makes sense. Or at least, makes sense enough for [ONE WHO IS VERY GREAT] to work with.
 
Or at least, makes sense enough for [ONE WHO IS VERY GREAT] to work with.
[ONE WHO IS VERY GREAT] in both Grail and Heart, at that.

Edit: Though, I do want to point out that we do have one other example of Grail being involved in "healing", in the Forge's Redemption as the minor aspect. Also in CS canon, the Marks of the Grail make you start growing odd mutations and organs all over your body.

Cause like... while Heart is associated with physicality, it's more about the endurance and persistence than a direct theme, really. Duendrazons (Heart-Long) don't even seem to have a physical form, since they can only enter the Wake in the form of music which implies that, like Lantern-Long, they lack a body and primarily dwell in the Mansus.

Meanwhile, Grail is very much associated with the body and the physical form, since it's very... visceral, as a Lore. It's all about physical sensation, the birth, the feast, hunger and thirst.
 
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"Well, I heard Subtle Glare is already working on finding replacements. Most I heard is that he sent out a missive to the main house in Canterlot. But what's really been buzzing around is that a candidate appeared who is here form Ponyville!"

I can't believe this hasn't been already pointed out but...

Tax evasion Maids of Light time baby!!!

We even have Mareinette to deal with any suspicion.

Edit. Also I think that's supposed to be "from" not "form".

The nature of the Woods is not necessarily to take, but it certainly is not to give either. It reaches out for things, and then it hides them underneath its roots, and as time passes and the dark trees grow skinthechang, those secrets become the Woods' own secrets. Such has been its nature ever since thethreadsofth, and so shall it be until it is burned to the ground or its branches finally reach Glory.

So I'm guessing those secrets belong to Ash now.

I wonder if we can ask our cute little son to cough up those secrets and tell them to us?
 
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Crying into my mug and then chugging them and then crying some more (metaphorically) right now. Oof, ouch, my heart, my soul. We have people who care for us (they're not all ponies), and I guess - hurting ourself is easier than reading about how our being hurt would hurt others. I think that what I'm feeling right now can only be triumphed if Bird had written an interlude during Dies Irae of Softy's family.

With the confirmation from Bird about our personal phase coming up, I'll go look through the plans and make a decision. If you'll excuse me... I'm going to get a less bitter and less sour drink.
 
Something to consider for our personal phase is our letter to uncle Velvet Steppes.

I'm thinking of asking him if he wants to borrow Biedde for some work next turn. He mentioned enemy's messing with his business dealings a while ago and Biedde would totally be able to help with that kinda stuff. He can pay us back in bits to help cover Biedde's costs.
 
Something to consider for our personal phase is our letter to uncle Velvet Steppes.

I'm thinking of asking him if he wants to borrow Biedde for some work next turn. He mentioned enemy's messing with his business dealings a while ago and Biedde would totally be able to help with that kinda stuff. He can pay us back in bits to help cover Biedde's costs.

Given that Biedde refrained from killing them all only because Silky Stream spoke well of Uncle Steppes, I would hesitate to send Biedde to help them with anything. He could very well make that help hurt.

Unless you want to damage the criminal org without damaging Steppe's person, in which case it's perfect.
 
Given that Biedde refrained from killing them all only because Silky Stream spoke well of Uncle Steppes, I would hesitate to send Biedde to help them with anything. He could very well make that help hurt.

Unless you want to damage the criminal org without damaging Steppe's person, in which case it's perfect.

Biedde is a professional.

It's more the thread has hangups about telling Biedde to go get us bits but the thread also really likes Uncle Steppes. So lending Biedde to Steppes to put that TERRIFYING OPPONENT trait to use in intimidating some ponies for Steppes should be something their fine with.

Basically Steppes pays us big time and Biedde deals with rival criminal organizations.

So pretty much a write-in go get us bits option with a side of helping out our helpful Uncle.
 
[Velvet: 5 + 69 (total combat bonus) = 74]
[Invader: 91 + 37 (total combat bonus) = 128]

[Overflow: Velvet – 35, Invader – 54]

[Velvet Covers suffers one wound (-50 to Invader's overflow)]
It's old news by now, but I got morbidly curious and ran this through a proper calculator (chance of d100 beating another d100 with such and such bonuses):
Chance of losing the clash by 50 or more ~ 1.7%
Chance of losing the clash by 54 or more ~1.1%
In summary, Velvet Covers tried the classic XCOM "99%" shot and missed.
 
Is Cadance someone we can pick to talk to with our AP? I feel like she might need it. (@OurLadyOfWires?)
She already visited, and we can't exactly PICK for her. I imagine we might get another Cadance interlude later maybe?

@OurLadyOfWires a clarification: Let's say Grail influence win, and we then spend an action with our family.
As far as I remember, almost no "family actions" you took ever used Grail. Maybe the one where you tried to mend your relationship with Stormchaser did? But other than that, I don't remember rolling Grail dice when you spent time with your family. So I don't think a Grail influence would be important for that.

But more importantly, you won't have a chance to run "damage control" with your family and friends this turn because you will stay at zero health until the END of the turn.

Come next turn, there will probably be Fleeting Opportunities to address your family and friends. But don't put the cart ahead of the pony. Right now, you still look like a corpse. And I think the last few updates make it very clear how debilitated you are. Trying to console your family while you are still in that situation is a waste of time at best, and damaging at worst.

@OurLadyOfWires if the Forge ritual succeeds and we remove the scar, would we immediately go to health 3? If so, we might want to do Biedde's Sacrament that same turn...
If you succeed in a Forge Redemption to take away your scar, your gain the health that "scarred" was keeping away from you.

@OurLadyOfWires the copyedits:
Thank you!



I don't see any more pings. So that seems to be it. Good night to us all.
 
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But more importantly, you won't have a chance to run "damage control" with your family and friends this turn because you will stay at zero health until the END of the turn.

Come next turn, there will probably be Fleeting Opportunities to address your family and friends. But don't put the cart ahead of the pony. Right now, you still look like a corpse. And I think the last few updates make it very clear how debilitated you are. Trying to console your family while you are still in that situation is a waste of time at best, and damaging at worst.
Hmm

Yeah I don't think we're going to have enough free AP to finish DoA's Sacrament on T21.

Anyway...so if family time will only help from next turn, I guess its back to talking to people and see if anything sticks?

Edit: Actually if we're still literally corpse-like while we're doing socials to the point it could be actively detrimental to our friends and family, then maybe we should only stick to the free social except for whatever Mareinette is doing.

Which leaves... uh... trying to study the Lantern artifact, I guess? Or we could throw dice at the wall and see if we can find any easy expeditions for our Names to bust through next turn.

Edit 2: Also, while I'm here, allow me to argue against Plan More Heat

Firstly, it doesn't make any progress at all towards finding the Outsider, which, as a reminder, is the key to our closest win condition. "Play to win, don't play to not lose" and all that.

Secondly, it tries to do a book search to try and find Heart books. This ignores that not only is our book searching action currently worse that is usually would be due to the lack of our SH3 realization upgrading it (which is, in fact, also applied to when other people do it), it also ignores that finding a Heart 3 book specifically is pretty unlikely. If we look back on our past book searching rolls which gave us a Level 3, from before we had the upgraded book search...

[Book Hunting in Ponyville]

[Roll: 86 + 12 (Learning) + 5 (SECRET HISTORIES bonus) = 103]
-A treatise on the relationship of Equestria and its neighboring lands – SECRET HISTORIES Level 3, costs 30 bits

-A dramatic reading of an ancient war – SECRET HISTORIES Level 2, costs 15 bits

-A historical atlas of Ponyville and its surrounding lands – Reveals TWO places for expeditions, costs 15 bits
[Book Hunting in Ponyville]

[Roll: 86 + 12 (Learning) + 5 (SECRET HISTORIES bonus) = 103]
-A treatise on the relationship of Equestria and its neighboring lands – SECRET HISTORIES Level 3, costs 30 bits

-A dramatic reading of an ancient war – SECRET HISTORIES Level 2, costs 15 bits

-A historical atlas of Ponyville and its surrounding lands – Reveals TWO places for expeditions, costs 15 bits
[Book Hunting – Servant Action]

[Roll: 55 + 12 (Learning) + 20 (Royal Favor) = 87]

-KNOCK Level 2 – "An absolutely boring encyclopedia about how the tunnels, on the mountain in which Canterlot is perched, were dug. Reading this will be a challenge…", costs 15 bits.

-GRAIL Level 2 – "It's a book. About food. It has food on the cover, so that's what it is. If your daughter ever finds it, that's what you'll tell her. If your husband finds it, however…", costs 15 bits.

-SECRET HISTORIES Level 3 – "A curious scroll, a copy from the original of course, detailing the appearance of King Sombra, centuries ago.", costs 30 bits.
Three times, all of which found a single Level 3 book, and all three rolled above 80. Even if the Level 3 breakpoint is at 60 rather than 80, which we can't determine due to the data, that's still just barely better than coinflip odds to even find a Level 3 book. nevermind the chances of it actually being what we'd want it to be (i.e. Heart 3). If the Level 3 breakpoint is 80, there's, what, a 30% chance of finding a Level 3 book, and therefore an unknown-but-definitely-less-than-that chance of us finding a Level 3 Heart book specifically.

It's just not worth it imo, and one extra Heart scrap isn't going to let us teach both Luna and our family on T21 anyway, because we'd need four scraps and not three. And that also ignores that we'd have to find some AP somewhere between the Fleeting Opportunities dealing with our friends and family, the Forge's Redemption, starting DoA's Sacrament, and anything else that might come up!

Thirdly, it has someone building a prison. Why? Yes, yes, we might get prisoners from the cult blah blah blah. But this ignores that that's not going to be an incidental thing. We're the ones who set the goals, and if we don't tell them to drag a prisoner back, they're not going to (or, at least, not one that we can treat as a resource). Which leads me to my next point: we have no reason to take a prisoner right now. We have only two Sacrament options that can use up a prisoner, one of which most people don't want to do because alukite-flavored Grail sure is a thing, and the other for which we have a much easier option for that doesn't require consuming a person. And, perhaps most pertinently, both Grail and Lantern are at 0/4. Lantern is closer, due to Influence + studying Lantern artifact getting us to 3/4, but a) that is still not 4/4, b) we're probably going to want Baldomare to do more useful things besides give us a Lantern Influence (like finding or scouting expeditions which have books and artifacts, or granting us Sacrament), and c) again, we have an alternate option that doesn't require consuming a pony anyway. So we'd go through all this effort of building a prison and setting an assault goal to bring back a prisoner, only to let said prisoner rot for upwards of several months anyway because there is legitimately zero pressing need for any of this, possibly even eating into our Follower AP because someone has to made sure that they're being fed, watered, and not escaping.

And, again, the plan does these things that have unlikely or minimal reward instead of actually pursing victory.
 
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then maybe we should only stick to the free social except for whatever Mareinette is doing.

Probably.

Which leaves... uh... trying to study the Lantern artifact, I guess? Or we could throw dice at the wall and see if we can find any easy expeditions for our Names to bust through next turn.

Studying high level lore artifacts without having the lores sounds hard and dangerous.

Actions we could take:

We could backfill our library by reading the level one books.

Visit daughters grief group about Starry.

Talk to our sons.

Do some prep work for putting some Maids of Light onto the payroll.

Send a letter to our older brother asking him how he's been.

Ask Biedde about the Scarred Pony in the Dark (Names are probably cool with us being corpse-like for socials).

Anyone got an other ideas?
 
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[X] Plan Time's Up - Rarity Working
[X] Plan Time's Up - Rarity Searching
[X] A tighter security detail, at all times

Plans including a search for Windy seems like an overreaction to recent events. Needs to be done, but can wait.
Building a prison seems like a waste of time right now. There's no guarantee it succeeds and we're not doing the sacraments that need them anytime soon. Plus we're involving the Bureau more now, so probably not the best idea.
 
Building a prison seems like a waste of time right now. There's no guarantee it succeeds and we're not doing the sacraments that need them anytime soon.

A few turns is relatively soon especially since we're assaulting the Copper Cult now. So it's a great time to have a prison.

Plus we're involving the Bureau more now, so probably not the best idea.

I don't see how this is related at all.
 
A few turns is relatively soon especially since we're assaulting the Copper Cult now. So it's a great time to have a prison.
Not really. There's a lot of stuff that's higher on the priority list than a Grail Sacrament that most people don't even want to take, and a Lantern Sacrament that isn't even necessary because we have an alternative* that doesn't require a prisoner (or even that much extra effort, considering it amounts to sending DoA + Comet to take a hike with Baldomare). And "a few turns" isn't as short of a time period as you think.

In a few turns, we could find the Outsider and explore the Malleary. But that requires actually looking for the Outsider which, notably, your plan does not do in exchange for minimally useful tasks.

If we send them to beat down Copper and they don't bring back a prisoner, or the prison isn't successfully built, we are legitimately not affected at all.

Edit: *an alternative that is likely to have an effect that is extremely helpful for leveling up our other Lores, at that!
 
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There's a lot of stuff that's higher on the priority list than a Grail Sacrament that most people don't even want to take,

It's a part of befriending our Lady of Wires which is important.

The idea of killing her is kinda ridiculous.

Even more people don't want to take our personal Grail Sacrament.

And no, deliberately crippling our lore knowledge is a very bad idea.

and a Lantern Sacrament that isn't even necessary because we have an alternative that doesn't require a prisoner (or even that much extra effort, considering it amounts to sending DoA + Comet to take a hike with Baldomare)

Personal Lantern Sacrament costs 1 AP.

The alternative is a dangerous expedition that costs at least 2 AP and DoA does not heal in the Wake.


In a few turns, we could find the Outsider and explore the Malleary. But that requires actually looking for the Outsider which, notably, your plan does not do in exchange for minimally useful tasks.

Calling them minimally useful is a disservice.

The people other plans put on searching for the Outsider are not well suited. Their minimally useful compared to what they could be doing.

Covering things that they are actually suited for this turn allows them to be done. Freeing them up to cover for Velvet next turn giving her extra AP. Which would be far more efficiently spent on the search for the Outsider. Or more importantly getting that Knock Sacrament.
 
The people other plans put on searching for the Outsider are not well suited. Their minimally useful compared to what they could be doing.
Wow, I didn't realize Baldomare with her +80(!!!) bonus to looking for things is considered "not well suited". I really must wonder what your standards for that are. And plus, dice is dice. Even 1d100 or 2d100 is still better than no progress at all toward our victory condition and instead having them work on something that we might (might!!!) use once, ever.

It's a part of befriending our Lady of Wires which is important.

The idea of killing her is kinda ridiculous.

Even more people don't want to take our personal Grail Sacrament.
It's not "even more people", as far as I can tell, the same people who don't want to take the personal Grail Sacrament also are the ones that don't want to take the alukite's Grail Sacrament. Because they're both unpleasant for very different reasons.

And besides, you know what a great solution is to the very distant problem of what to do when we eventually dig up four Grail scraps somewhere? Reach victory before it ever becomes a meaningful question.

Personal Lantern Sacrament costs 1 AP.

The alternative is a dangerous expedition that costs at least 2 AP and DoA does not heal in the Wake.
Personal Lantern Sacrament also a) can fail (which would make it cost more than 1 AP total) and b) eats our personal AP, which is (most turns) more valuable than follower AP, and Baldomare's Lantern Sacrament only uses her own AP so it's not like it would prevent DoA from being useful elsewhere on the turn. DoA also currently doesn't heal in the Wake because she's a temporary summon. Man, it sure would be helpful if we only knew of some way to make her a permanent summon.
 
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