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

[Flaregamer82253]

[] Plan Responsible KISSing (Forge Variant)
-[] (AotL) Lantern/Heart (undecided)
-[] (Forge) LV3 Forge Reagent
-[] (Knock) Explore the Summit
-[] (Winter) Invoke a Risen
-[] (Social) Fleeting Opportunity: Friends
-[] Fleeting Opportunity: Family
-[] Forge's Redemption - Velvet
--[] at Jade's House
--[] Sacrifice LV3 Forge Reagent
-[] Sacrament: Through the Foggy Mirror (5x)

I'll just put this one out there too.

(We're literally knifing each other over AotL and Mansus action...)

 

[Alan975]

But not picking your family's FleetOp ont he base plan will give you a malus

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I say that we do the bare minimum and invest every other action in Axe.

I'm a bit on the fence between Summit and Wastes, but assuming that the top's inherent danger is higher than Wolf-shenanigans, then we should wait to see if there will be enough AP left for the preparations for the climb.

 

[Shaper47]

While we may get scraps, I don't think we are particularly lacking in Winter or Edge scraps (the main ones we'd most likely get from the Ashlands.

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I don't we'd get edge scraps from exploration. That's more a revisit to the Hunting Grounds as the Huntress sort of thing.

Moth, Grail, lantern or winter scraps are possibilities though.

Moth because it used to be the Woods, an echo, a remnant of its plundered secrets may be bestowed upon us.

Grail because it was a birth born of blood that sung with passion. If we find where the blood still pours, a monument of passion.

Winter because the beautiful Woods ended. Beauty fades, that is why it is beautiful.

Lantern because the light is no longer hidden. What could we see without the shadows blocking our view.

 

[Alan975]

You know, there's one thought rattling around in my head that makes exploring the waste appealing.

The Master is not dead, they belong to The Wolf.

Y'all think we could find them?


If yes, then it's likely to be in some horrendous Pandora situation.

Or yet another Filly.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

6 AP or 5 AP and a SH Sacrament action or 4 AP and 2 SH Sacrament actions.

Should probably go with 6 AP to be safe.



We don't know what dangers and what lore is needed for the Summit.

So we should probably go somewhere we know for sure SH will be useful. Somewhere safe like the Wastes.

People can fight over FR or Selene or study but they come after the SH Sacrament.



It could give scraps, exploration in the Mansus often does.

There also might be first come first served wolf goodies. Would you rather those go to Windy?

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From what we've seen so far, its closer to first-come-first-mauled, really. We just have an Executive Pass. Honestly the smart thing to do is to save Ash exploration any turns we are hurting, to avoid getting further injured via forced exploration and to dodge the malus for not going anywhere new. Which is really, really weird to say of a Wolf Zone.

And we don't need the Ash Wastes for Glory, we need a place to extract the Blood of an Outsider, and to know if it too has any special requirements for access.

 

[spiderhellian]

If we're not doing the Summit we should do shattered staircases and finally find the other Edge name

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

You know, there's one thought rattling around in my head that makes exploring the waste appealing.

The Master is not dead, they belong to The Wolf.

Y'all think we could find them?


If yes, then it's likely to be in some horrendous Pandora situation.

Or yet another Filly.

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They belong to the Wolf, not to Ash. We are not getting them back in any way.

If we're not doing the Summit we should do shattered staircases and finally find the other Edge name

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Ah yes, I too crave the sweet relief of liony death.

 

[Shaper47]

Or yet another Filly.

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Shaded Leaf possibility?

Stormy has always wanted a colt.

Just for that it's probably worth looking for what remains.

The Master is not dead, they belong to The Wolf.

Y'all think we could find them?

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Actually remember what happened when the Moth died. What happened to their Ashes.

I wonder what Ashes the Master left behind?

We know what Ashes the Wood left behind but the Master could have separated themselves from the Woods. They were pretty close to betraying the Woods for Harmony afterall.

And we don't need the Ash Wastes for Glory, we need a place to extract the Blood of an Outsider, and to know if it too has any special requirements for access.

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Muh efficiency though.

Besides it can wait till next turn. It's not time sensitive like taking advantage of our SH influence is.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Shaded Leaf possibility?

Stormy has always wanted a colt.

Just for that it's probably worth looking for what remains.



Actually remember what happened when the Moth died. What happened to their Ashes.

I wonder what Ashes the Master left behind?

We know what Ashes the Wood left behind but the Master could have separated themselves from the Woods. They were pretty close to betraying the Woods for Harmony afterall.





Muh efficiency though.

Besides it can wait till next turn. It's not time sensitive like taking advantage of our SH influence is.

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But our Wound Count keeps holding us back from cool stuff, putting off our next glory hurdle feels silly, and I want to punch Biedde next turn while studying artifacts/books to recuperate from punching aforementioned Biedde. I can't do that on a two-wound chassis!

 

[Venerable Ro]

Why not explore the Stairs? We never even touched those, might be something nifty in there that's less tinged with bad feelings.

 

[Shaper47]

But our Wound Count keeps holding us back from cool stuff, putting off our next glory hurdle feels silly, and I want to punch Biedde next turn while studying artifacts/books to recuperate from punching aforementioned Biedde. I can't do that on a two-wound chassis!

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First off, even once we know how to properly eat and Outsider for the trait we need to prepare of the All In expedition. That's going to take a while so there's no rush.

Secondly, we can do FR on the turn we duel Biedde. We don't need to do it a turn beforehand.

Thirdly, if you want us to showdown with Biedde in turn 22 you don't want to do FR in turn 21. You want to study in turn 21 because we don't get unlimited AotL's. We need two study AP's with 2 AotL's before turn 23. Biedde fighting requires 2 AotL's. Doing both on the same turn would mean 3 lore followers being used for AotL's. That's pretty expensive.

 

[spiderhellian]

And I don't like plans with conditionals that hinge on things as minute as whether a certain reroll was used.

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@OurLadyOfWires It's your call.

But I would object to calling the reroll minute.

Whatever the DC is, there's roughly a 25% difference in the probability of success. That's a 1 in 4 chance that we fail when the reroll would have saved it. And face whatever consequences come of failing a dangerous action.

That's not minute.

It's fair to want us to damn the dangers. But the reroll is not some small optimization. It's one of the precisely two things we can do to improve our odds at a difficult, dangerous, action, and it makes a meaningful difference.

Ah yes, I too crave the sweet relief of liony death.

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I was worried about that, but now we know Biedde is keeping a secret from us, and so now we're well set up to partner with the other side of the Dyad as well.

Plus this one we can befriend! And Friendship is Magic, haven't you heard?

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Why not explore the Stairs? We never even touched those, might be something nifty in there that's less tinged with bad feelings.

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First off, even once we know how to properly eat and Outsider for the trait we need to prepare of the All In expedition. That's going to take a while so there's no rush.

Secondly, we can do FR on the turn we duel Biedde. We don't need to do it a turn beforehand.

Thirdly, if you want us to showdown with Biedde in turn 22 you don't want to do FR in turn 21. You want to study in turn 21 because we don't get unlimited AotL's. We need two study AP's with 2 AotL's before turn 23. Biedde fighting requires 2 AotL's. Doing both on the same turn would mean 3 lore followers being used for AotL's. That's pretty expensive.

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Why use Study AotL's when you can just pop a Lantern Influence instead? 14 Learning + 20 Lantern + 40 Lantern SI + (5 to 15 Study Book Bonus) means you are rocking +79 to +89 to study. For a DC 90 check. That can be repeated. An AotL per study is massive overkill.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

@OurLadyOfWires It's your call.

But I would object to calling the reroll minute.

If that last DC is 140, it's the difference between a 40% chance of success and a 64% chance.

That's a 1 in 4 chance that we fail when the reroll would have saved it. And face whatever consequences come of failing a dangerous action.

That's not minute.

It's fair to want us to damn the dangers. But the reroll is not some small optimization, it's a meaningful difference.


I was worried about that, but now we know Biedde is keeping a secret from us, and so now we're well set up to partner with the other side of the Dyad as well.

Plus this one we can befriend! And Friendship is Magic, haven't you heard?

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Ah, my mistake. You crave the sweet release of Colonely death, yes.

 

[Shaper47]

Why not explore the Stairs? We never even touched those, might be something nifty in there that's less tinged with bad feelings.

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Wastes are completely safe, no danger.

Stairs might be dangerous.

Afterall what if Velvet falls down some stairs?

Why use Study AotL's when you can just pop a Lantern Influence instead? 14 Learning + 20 Lantern + 40 Lantern SI + (5 to 15 Study Book Bonus) means you are rocking +79 to +89 to study. For a DC 90 check. That can be repeated. An AotL per study is massive overkill.

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If we want a Lantern Sacrament by turn 23 we need a Lantern lesson on turn 22.

 

[Steady Gaze]

Spoiler: Various copyedits from recent updates

@OurLadyOfWires copyedit delivery! Some of these have already been pointed out by others, so ignore those if you've gotten to them already.

But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is focused on, and prepared to, go after the real monsters.

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Don't forget the rule of how prepositions mix with commas. Basically the sentence must make sense with and without the phrase:

But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is focused on go after the real monsters.
But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is prepared to go after the real monsters.

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Notice if we put the comma in a different place

But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is focused on, and prepared to go after, the real monsters.

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it becomes:

But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is focused on the real monsters.
But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is prepared to go after the real monsters.

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EDIT: The same goes for parentheticals. So for example

But the Lunar Bureau is the only organization that is focused on, and prepared to go after, the real monsters.

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The familiar voice of Iron Burron, your assigned partner, comes from the dormitory's door.

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Button

Today was mostly dedicated for paperwork, so when Butto was called upstairs earlier today you thought it was just for the usual.

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Pick one of dedicated to or for; "dedicated for" I think is the wrong preposition (similar to "on accident" vs. "by accident").
EDIT: Also don't do my man Iron Button dirty like that .

This isn't, so to speak, the product that leaves you groundstomper's hoofs and makes its way to Operations to get filtered and analyzed.

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Perhaps your or the.

As you mixed that strange mixture of ravenous pillaging and mindful cataloguing, you noticed something that even your primitive and unprepared mind could comprehend.

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Maybe you meant something like beheld that strange mixture?

The ham was half-full, and the lighthouse was cracked.

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Based on the context, I think you meant dam.

Perhaps a disagreement with your former Master, or the wounds she accrued while wandering through the Wake, checking whatever forgotten places she know about.

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knows or knew

More importantly, you feel that you finally will be able to…

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Did someone point out this cliffhanger already? This is after we increased the Bureau's respect greatly. So we crossed a threshold and we'll be able to… what? Introduce the Lores to the Bureau openly? That still seems like a stretch to me, but if not that, what else?

You are now under the effect of "An Incarnadescence", until the end of the turn.

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Saw Pittauro (the site won't let me @ them) talk about this once, but I wonder if things will kick off with Rarity because of this… It might be a bit "dangerous" to be in the same room as her this month.

If you had a studied Moth 4 artifact sitting around, I could consider an alternative. But for now, I am waiting to see where certain chips will fall.

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This may get lost, but can we consider studying that artifact to see what it helps with the Celestia doom counter situation somehow?

EDIT: thought this was referring to an artifact we had in our possession, but I see we only have a Moth 3 artifact. Unfortunate. We'd need to scry or start scouring Equestria for expeditions if we want a Moth 4 artifact.

 

[spiderhellian]

Ah, my mistake. You crave the sweet release of Colonely death, yes.

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I wrote the plan to have Biedde summoned and was very excited to do so.

And all those wishes have been fulfilled, for sure.

But yes, I'm definitely not as big on Biedde as I was!

He let Velvet face death. He's keeping a secret. And most importantly, we can't bring him to All In.

I can't imagine him ever disobeying orders. But, well, I really would love to find that other Edge name. Not least because I've been curious about him ever since Bird posted the contacts sheet!

 

[Alan975]

Stairs might be dangerous.

Afterall what if Velvet falls down some stairs?

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Are you forgeting what happened last time we tried to take the stairs?

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

If we want a Lantern Sacrament by turn 23 we need a Lantern lesson on turn 22.

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I have no interest in Velvet's Personal Lantern Sacrament and thus would not have Lantern Sacrament by Turn 23 anyways.

 

[Venerable Ro]

Wastes are completely safe, no danger.

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Also no opportunities, the readership is never gonna vote to use anything we find.

Are you forgeting what happened last time we tried to take the stairs?

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We rolled the worst possible option first, so anything else by definition will be better! Also, now that we know where the fluffiest apocalypse is we can go literally anywhere else. Maybe the Edge Relic is in there, wouldn't that be neat...

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

We rolled the worst possible option first, so anything else by definition will be better! Also, now that we know where the fluffiest apocalypse is we can go literally anywhere else.

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Pretty sure they are referring to the Ruined Church's stairs. The ones that stole a Health and a Heart Scrap. Stupid Church.

 

[Shaper47]

Are you forgeting what happened last time we tried to take the stairs?

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As wonderful as it is to have children that love us.

Directly stated as love even!

We still got hurt giving birth that first time.

I have no interest in Velvet's Personal Lantern Sacrament and thus would not have Lantern Sacrament by Turn 23 anyways.

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But don't you want Teresa to not be hurt?

Our personal sacrament is more in the theme of being able to see how wounded she is and thus how to save her.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

But don't you want Teresa to not be hurt?

Our personal sacrament is more in the theme of being able to see how wounded she is and thus how to save her.

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Our Sacrament has nothing to do with that. Giving her a Level 7 Book is what will let us see that. It is a QM stated Requirement. No more and no less will suffice.

 

[Nevermort]

For people wanting to put 5 or 6 actions into DoA. What if DoA is a increasing DC action like SH sacrament? Perhaps we will complete step 1 or step 2 but if we don't have necessary influence would not we just waste leftover actions by trying to pass some really high DC ? I mean if there is no chance I guess Bird would allow us to stop, but I am not so sure for actions with at least some chance of success.

 

[Shaper47]

Also no opportunities, the readership is never gonna vote to use anything we find.

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There's still possible scraps, first come first served wolf goodies (unless you want Windy to have them and cool lore.

Also don't be so sure. We're crossing lines turn by turn.

Our Sacrament has nothing to do with that. Giving her a Level 7 Book is what will let us see that. It is a QM stated Requirement. No more and no less will suffice.

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It's a requirement to start the befriending quest.

to advance Baldomare's quest, during said book-gifting.

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Not complete it advance it.

The description mentions how Velvet can't really see and comprehend enough.

It is just that… that you did not have the tools to comprehend it.

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Who knows, perhaps if you give her enough knowledge…. You might be able to get a better look at her wound, as the light bleeds out of it.

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Our personal sacrament would probably help with the seeing and comprehending.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

It's a requirement to start the befriending quest.



Not complete it advance it.

The description mentions how Velvet can't really see and comprehend enough.





Our personal sacrament would probably help with the seeing and comprehending.

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We already started the friendship quest a long time ago, according to the QM. And you seem to have missed this particular part of the update you were quoting.

You think you will be able to solve this enigma, and help her for good, if you gift her a Level 7 book.

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"Solve this enigma," and, "help her for good," are some pretty final terms. Now I will grant that knowing the wound and healing the wound could well be two separate things, but our Sacrament is clearly not required for the knowing. Otherwise it would be listed as a requirement. And it very clearly does not heal people given that it kills them, so I don't think it will help heal Baldomare either.
To say nothing of the damage that might be done to Velvet's brain trying to hoof-read something so vast and knowledgeable.

 

[Shaper47]

Sacrament is clearly not required for the knowing. Otherwise it would be listed as a requirement.

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There's a bunch of question marks for what comes next.

I'm suspecting that the Sacrament would help there.

And it very clearly does not heal people given that it kills them, so I don't think it will help heal Baldomare either.

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I'm not saying the Sacrament has healing powers I'm saying the Sacrament has seeing/understanding/comprehending powers.

To heal Baldomare first we need to understand her wound.

Giving her a Level 7 book gets us a good look at the wound but I fear without the ability to comprehend we'd need to do more. For example give her a few more level 7 books till we finally see enough.

Having our Sacrament hopefully makes the next step easier.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

There's a bunch of question marks for what comes next.

I'm suspecting that the Sacrament would help there.



I'm not saying the Sacrament has healing powers I'm saying the Sacrament has seeing/understanding/comprehending powers.

To heal Baldomare first we need to understand her wound.

Giving her a Level 7 book gets us a good look at the wound but I fear without the ability to comprehend we'd need to do more. For example give her a few more level 7 books till we finally see enough.

Having our Sacrament hopefully makes the next step easier.

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Shaper, the requirement has already been listed. A Level 7 Books. Not multiple Level 7 Books. You are assigning yourself extra work here.

And do not use a Sacrament that unmakes people for knowledge on a being containing half an ocean's worth of knowledge, it cannot end well.

 

[Shaper47]

And do not use a Sacrament that unmakes people for knowledge on a being containing half an ocean's worth of knowledge, it cannot end well.

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The Sacrament theme isn't about unmaking for knowledge but in understanding knowledge that is mutable.

 

[spiderhellian]

For people wanting to put 5 or 6 actions into DoA. What if DoA is a increasing DC action like SH sacrament? Perhaps we will complete step 1 or step 2 but if we don't have necessary influence would not we just waste leftover actions by trying to pass some really high DC ? I mean if there is no chance I guess Bird would allow us to stop, but I am not so sure for actions with at least some chance of success.

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Yeah this is fair. I think it falls under trust the QM, and that Bird won't unduly punish us. There's some level of Yes we are explicitly getting into something where we don't know how it works, but I hope if we're "stuck" at a tough obstacle that we could eg get an Influence to solve, we'll be given that choice?

Velvet does have solid lores, handling this would be a conditional mess/risk not finishing it, I'm willing to risk it.

Also…

QM:

You think you will be able to solve this enigma, and help her for good, if you gift her a Level 7 book.

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Reader: But what if we give her a Level 7 book, and it doesn't solve the enigma or help her for good?