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

Greymere · 2025-04-21T18:15:46+0100

ses said:
Woo! I was right!

Okay, that makes it possible to spend 1 Baldomare action on the hike and the other on a SH influence for double SH Sacrament on Turn 23, and we can Lantern lesson+Lantern sacrament for Lantern sacrament on turn 24 if we do the level 7 book expedition next turn.

It also makes Biedde even more annoying. Bastard is permanently keeping an extra +1 Name AP from us.

...I wonder if the Forge Name will start out as befriended, considering the circumstances of its 'summoning'. That'd be nice.

ses · 2025-04-21T18:20:52+0100

Greymere said:
It also makes Biedde even more annoying. Bastard is permanently keeping an extra +1 Name AP from us.

...I wonder if the Forge Name will start out as befriended, considering the circumstances of its 'summoning'. That'd be nice.

Considering he does a Guard action for free every turn, it's more like he came pre-Befriended?

That is indeed 2 name AP every turn after all!

(This was a joke please dont jump down my throat for it plz)

Pittauro · 2025-04-21T19:21:52+0100

OurLadyOfWires said:
old man

...MAN?!

OurLadyOfWires said:
And besides, soon enough the house will be filled with activity again. Soon enough, your grandchildren will come back from another day at Canterlot High, and will fill the house with their yells and plays and energy. And that too will be good.

...oh, hey, we're back in the mirror!

and from the title, it's easy to guess Axe is going to meet her extended family.

Hopefully it's a... positive meeting.

OurLadyOfWires said:
Because you don't have the ears to listen to what just truly happened. You could not hear the wards cracking, or the oaths breaking, or the scale-hard fields that surround your house being dismantled.

Ouch. Axe destroyed all of their defenses...

I wonder if she'll rebuild them before leaving.

OurLadyOfWires said:
"After all our promiss's, an' all our trips, an' all our years… ye still…"

It can't be easy, to be the sister of a Name while only being a Mortal...

She didn't even have the Sacrament!

OurLadyOfWires said:
Her hair is a bright orange

...ORANGE?!

OurLadyOfWires said:
"Ye took 'er from me. 'Er smell es all over ye, an' ae can see tha' shape of 'er scales against yer skin. Ye took 'er from me, didn'tcha? DIDN'TCHA?!"

OurLadyOfWires said:
"YE TOOK ME PASHARKA FROM ME! YE TOOK AWAY ME SISSER! DIDN'TCHA?! FOKKEN ANSWER ME!"

Completely understandable anger.

I mean, apparently even if she wasn't a Long (or maybe she WAS a Long, and that's how her immortality worked?), she could shed her skin (and emotions/personality?) to become young again.

I wonder though... if she feared leaving because she'd have lost the feeling of love for this man by shedding her skin... wouldn't that also apply to her relationship with Axe?

OurLadyOfWires said:
"Wot do ye kno aboot loss aneeways… yer just a fokken… yer jus'…" the woman mumbles, but you understand enough of her thick accent to know what she just said.

just a man.

just a mortal.

OurLadyOfWires said:
You ask that, and you hope that she accepts. Because the way she is crying, and the way that seeing your late wife affected her, makes it very clear that… well, that she deserves it. She deserves to meet your family, she deserves to see your wife's children and heirs, and she deserves to know that a part of the woman you loved still lives on.

How would she feel about having so many nephews and nieces...?

OurLadyOfWires said:
"Ae s'pose ae can stae…" you hear a mumble, thick with sadness, but with the slightest hint of a forced reluctance in it. "Et's not right tae have a shrine without a snek in it, and…"

a bit of a tsundere as always, really...

OurLadyOfWires said:
The hours turn into days, and the days turn into weeks. And for all that the strange woman never really grows to like you, she doesn't hate you either. Plus, she has such a soft spot for your children and grandchildren.

He took Parsharka from her, and for that she could never like him.

But Parsharka loved him, and for that she can't bring herself to hate him.

And OF COURSE she has a soft spot for the children!

though... I was half-assuming this world was "fake". Which makes me wonder... did PARSHARKA make them real? Or were they real in the first place?

Maybe it's not that this world is fake, but that Velvet could only imperfectly interact with it... And that yeah, time is sort of stopped when there isn't someone from the other world in here.

OurLadyOfWires said:
However, the fact remains that, for a few days now, one of the doors in the Velvet estate has disappeared.

It's not something anypony would notice. In fact, it's not something anypony can rightfully prove. But still, the more experienced and trustworthy maids who are allowed into the second floor all agree, and they all share the same gossip through hushed whispers.

There used to be a certain number of guest rooms, on the eastern wing of the second floor. And now, suddenly, there is one less.

I wonder if the room would still be there if you broke the wall... or if you came in from the window.

OurLadyOfWires said:
Or rather, it is now hidden.

Because the same day that door disappeared, a certain guest returned.

She returned, and she once again occupied her room, and she told a secret to the one pony who was the reason she came back to begin with.

"Ae'll be stayin' fer a while, aye? Tell me if ye need anythin'. Oh, an how tha fok did ye get a Brand? Tha's messed up fer a hatchling so young…"

ah, so it's only hidden. AND Axe is back!

Hopefully she tells Velvet though. We kinda need her help!

As for the brand comment... Has she really not noticed yet that EVERYONE has cutie marks? I think she interacted with the CMCs a few times, she should have noticed at least Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

I think she was there at the Cutecenera for Selene as well.

...or maybe she can feel Silky's mark is different from a normal cutie mark? I mean, it HAS an explicit connection to the Lores... though it should lack the "feel" of a proper Brand...

OurLadyOfWires said:
In fact, it was a very simple trick. You just had to enter Silky's room, close the door behind you, then turn around and open it again. And voila, the door to Axe's room would be right in front of you, on the opposite side of the corridor.

Granted, she did not explain to the filly how she did that. And granted, her room was now in a place that made no sense, and that if you really think about it placed it above the entrance hall.

She literally moved the room closer to her favourite filly!

OurLadyOfWires said:
Because the Daughter-of-Axes was not going anywhere. Not while she had a hatchling to take care of. And even though her true body, and her true nest, were elsewhere, taking care of her departed sister's brood, she knew more than enough tricks to keep an eye in two places at once.

So that was exactly what she was going to do.

...REALLY INTERESTING!

So, her Mansus-Body (or at least another instance of herself) is in the Mirror-World (which implies we SHOULD be able to visit again, if we ever feel the need for it), while her "summoned" self is here with us... and we should not need to summon her ever again!

On a side note, this explains why we can Trust a befriended Axe with the All-In Expedition. Her Mansus-self is not in the Mansus, so she could not (and probably would NOT want to) steal the Outsider from us to reach Glory, as she's busy with her newfound extended family.

OurLadyOfWires said:
The Daughter-of-Axes' skill "Unique" has transformed into the skill "Loyal".

The Daughter-of-Axes' skills "Crafter" has changed slightly.

The Daughter-of-Axes has lost the skill "Uninterested".

The Daughter-of-Axes has (reluctantly) learned the skill "Subrogate".

The Daughter-of-Axes is now a befriended Name, and has become a permanent guest of the Velvet estate. She has been "resummoned" for free, this time only, for her permanent return.

I imagine Crafter changed to account for the "permanent" duration of her summon. I wonder what happens if she dies or is sacrificed (though she'd probably NOT allow it now).

well, let me read her new description...

OurLadyOfWires said:
-The Daughter-of-Axes is considered to be a Minion, and does not mind being sacrificed for Rituals.

@OurLadyOfWires why did she not mind actually? I thought she hated staying in the desert, all alone.

And does she STILL not mind? Even if she came back to STAY with Silky?

OurLadyOfWires said:
[CRAFTER]: Is capable of producing "Wrong Keys" (three in a single action, but only once ~~per summon~~ every three turns).

To clarify, are we talking "three turns after the last time we asked her", or once every three turns so we'd be, say, from turn 19 to 24, we could do it on turn 21 and 22 (so twice in 6 turns)?

Basically, do we need to wait for 3 turns counting from the last request, and then we have a strong incentive to ask IMMEDIATELY to not waste turns of countdown?

OurLadyOfWires said:
[LOYAL]: Is now loyal to Silky Stream's faction. She will refuse summons from any other faction, has one additional action per turn (for a total of two), and regenerates one health per turn if wounded. She is also more likely to activate influences on herself, as needed, and to lend aid to Silky Stream's faction when narratively relevant. If destroyed, she may be resummoned ~~after one full month~~ immediately.

TWO ACTIONS, I KNEW IT!

Also nice, she recovers health now! Would the Heartifact help in recovering more than 1 per turn by the way? I imagine not, but worth asking.

And yes, nice she's more willing to take the initiative and use influences!

AND we can resummon her immediately, which means we can effectively use her as a Knock 6 Edge 3 reagent which we can recover for the low cost of... I think Selene can summon her fairly easily with one her own actions and maybe just one wrong key to help with the Knock roll.

maybe an edge reagent made with the "free per turn" one if we want to be sure.

So, my point is that IF we need a Knock or edge "sacrifice", we can sacrifice her AND resummon her immediately with a Selene action. And if we have Keys close to expiring we can use them to remove the bits cost anyway too.

OurLadyOfWires said:
[SUBROGATE]: The Daughter-of-Axes will (grudgingly, and dragging her hoofs) allow "Velvet Covers' faction" to be read wherever "Silky Stream's faction" is written in other skills. But she will not be happy about it.

Ok, yeah, Axe friendship was worth the effort, AND we can now count on her for All In!

Though hey, @OurLadyOfWires maybe she'd be happier if we said that Velvet is part of Silky's faction instead? I'm willing to concede that point, and Silky will probably be fine with it too

Next one is Baldomare. we JUST need that lvl 7 book and it SHOULD probably be enough to finish it, and get a second action from her.

Biedde is not an option, and Mareinette... well, we're not ready for her Sacrament EVEN if we wanted to take it (and we probably don't want it, so who knows how things will go).

That leaves the Forge Name... who knows, maybe we'll be lucky and it will start fully befriended because we rebuilt them. The cost IS higher than any other name summons, so it's possible that just like Biedde CAN'T be befriended, but keeping him summoned is kind of easier AND he gives a "restricted" second action from the beginning, I could see the forge name (which was EXPLICITLY at the top of the MAnsus and thus a late-game summon) to start fully befriended instead, and so with 2 unlocked actions.

Or maybe the way to befriend them is what we want to do. They might want to reach beyond the Tricuspid because it's implied the Forge-of-Days is in there.

ses said:
Woo! I was right!

Okay, that makes it possible to spend 1 Baldomare action on the hike and the other on a SH influence for double SH Sacrament on Turn 23, and we can Lantern lesson+Lantern sacrament for Lantern sacrament on turn 24 if we do the level 7 book expedition next turn.

Also, I didn't see her keeping her true body in EQG land, but that makes sense! Also Scitwi can get lessons until she learns the Silver Key in the epilogue, so that's that concern wrapped up nicely with a bow. I no longer feel guilty about abandoning her and everything worked out for the best.

Axe wouldn't care about Sci-twi. I doubt she'll do that.

That said, in an hypothetical post-ending (be it apostle-run-like sequel, or epilogue, or anything like it) Velvet SHOULD be able, once she has the time, to visit again.

As for the lvl 7 thing... that's assuming that's the LAST step to befriend Baldomare.

Which SEEMS likely, but we're not 100% certain.

Sadly sending Axe on Medium expeditions as a leader, or long expeditions as a follower, would STILL use all her actions (so for short and medium expeditions we'd still want her to be a follower if possible), but it's obviously still great.

DelightedOne said:
Axe is not a Branded so she can't detect them, she just saw a cutie mark and assumed it was one since the physical manifestation is apparently identical.

...oh, I suppose... she is NOT a pony, she's a SNAKE, so it would make sense if she's not branded.

That answers a few questions I had.

ses said:
Man it's embarrassing that we only now got our very first Befriended name. We may have been ahead of the curve on Turn 14 but we've likely drifted horribly behind since then because holy crap. We started Turn 21 with 0 befriended names and 0 sacraments! We now have one of each at least, with more to come.

Well, granted Luna probably counts as a befriended Name-equivalent I suppose.

[Stares in despair at the horrible black hole of Baldomare actions that could have been but weren't]

we made a few mistakes, and were unlucky in that we got the lvl 6 book the turn BEFORE we found out Baldomare needed those for her friendship quest (AFTER we had voted to decypher it).

Still, keep in mind we also went for a "generalist" build with Lores, and have them ALL at 4 (except Heart). Which means that we're in the perfect position to now get 1 to 2 sacraments per turn.

the TWO SH Sacrament, the Lantern Sacrament, possibly the Forge Sacrament (thanks to the about to be summoned FORGE NAME), the Winter Sacrament, the Moth Sacrament... we could get all of those in 3 turns or so! Just in time for our worst case scenario on Celestia's Countdown.

ses said:
Considering he does a Guard action for free every turn, it's more like he came pre-Befriended?

That is indeed 2 name AP every turn after all!

(This was a joke please dont jump down my throat for it plz)

well, better a restricted AP that none at all. It's obviously a balance decision to make up for his lack of potential upgrades.

Which is why I'm now wondering if the Forge Name, to make up for the more expensive initial summoning AND the fact it's literally at the top of the mansus...

If it might start pre-befriended.

spiderhellian · 2025-04-21T19:46:38+0100

Ohhh, this is delightful.

I thought we might see The Mother and The Axe. But I love that this focused on Axe's story — which has only rarely engaged with Velvet's. Her tale is threaded through with her sister and Silky, and we got to see that tale brought to a lovely end.

Subrogate is hilarious.

Uruguayan spider · 2025-04-21T19:53:16+0100

DelightedOne said:
Not trying to spike your copium with reality but how is DoA gonna find Twilight, be willing to teach her or even be able to teach her since she had Lantern as a primary affinity?

We could try to point her to SciTwi or ask her to give a copy of a Lantern manuscript but I'm not sure she would be willing.

I think Twilight will find her on her own. She has already created her own sensor to track magic. She has learned about magic and that her dreams can come true. She will have at least a few years before canon happens (if we don't do something). During this time, she will finish her invention and go looking. In her search, she will stumble upon either Daughter-of-Axes or Celestia's orange former student. And then everything will depend only on her, but I think she will succeed.

This is a good idea for an omake, but I doubt I will ever write it.

Sveta08 · 2025-04-21T19:59:23+0100

Pittauro said:
Though hey, @OurLadyOfWires maybe she'd be happier if we said that Velvet is part of Silky's faction instead? I'm willing to concede that point, and Silky will probably be fine with it too

Oh yes! Thank you. Reminded me of the thing I was going to look up and find.

Aaaaaand...

OurLadyOfWires said:
Silky Stream is… a filly. And in truth no filly should have to go through what she went through. No foal should grow up as an orphan, and no foal should live through the fear they might lose a parent the next day. But still, thanks to everypony around her, and a conversation you had very recently, you can see that her smile is finally back on her face.

I still need you to take care of me, she said. And those words cut… a lot deeper than you expected.

She....
Silky is...
There's more things there than I think we really realize. Not just with the cutie mark, or with the surrounded by Names, or being daughter of Velvet. It's...

There's something there. And I think it's going to be a good thing if we don't find out what.

Zxzx24 · 2025-04-21T20:02:53+0100

OurLadyOfWires said:
The Daughter-of-Axes' skill "Unique" has transformed into the skill "Loyal".

I wonder if the other names friending Qualities correspond to the other elements of Harmony.

If so I wonder what the Masters would have been. Laughter?

Pittauro said:
Axe wouldn't care about Sci-twi. I doubt she'll do that.

That said, in an hypothetical post-ending (be it apostle-run-like sequel, or epilogue, or anything like it) Velvet SHOULD be able, once she has the time, to visit again.

As for the lvl 7 thing... that's assuming that's the LAST step to befriend Baldomare.

Which SEEMS likely, but we're not 100% certain.

Sadly sending Axe on Medium expeditions as a leader, or long expeditions as a follower, would STILL use all her actions (so for short and medium expeditions we'd still want her to be a follower if possible), but it's obviously still great.

No. But the world around Axe will surely be changed.

Nevermort · 2025-04-21T20:38:32+0100

So Luna have 3 actions and DoA now have 2. Are there any particular actions we want them to take? I wanted to suggest for Luna to search for 3 circle ritual sites as she goes flying at night and by now have a good picture of surrounding land.

Maybe to look for expedition sites near Ponyville too, we don't need scrying for everything. Or maybe looking for expedition counts as Expedition bonus? DoA would be better suited for it then.

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T20:58:23+0100

Nevermort said:
So Luna have 3 actions and DoA now have 2. Are there any particular actions we want them to take? I wanted to suggest for Luna to search for 3 circle ritual sites as she goes flying at night and by now have a good picture of surrounding land.

I am particularly insistent in separating an action for Selene to soothe the night every turn.

After we study the Lantern 4 artifact, preferably next turn with the Moth 5 book using a Lantern Influence from Baldomare(hmm, wonder what happens if we try to social Midday Dew with A Splendour), she will become our second best scryer so we should use her for that. We currently have no need for 3 circle ritual sites so that can wait till turn 23.

If we go looking for Expeditions near Ponyville I think it is obvious where we have more to gain to explore: Celestia and Luna's old castle.
And no that has nothing to do with the Tree of Harmony being right next to it(yes it does).

Pittauro · 2025-04-21T21:03:40+0100

DelightedOne said:
If we go looking for Expeditions near Ponyville I think it is obvious where we have more to gain to explore: Celestia and Luna's old castle.
And no that has nothing to do with the Tree of Harmony being right next to it(yes it does).

which is somewhere that Luna should reasonably be able to find.

Also we were told once that there was a good and easy expedition site near ponyville with a good reward (I think it was implied to be a lvl 4 artifact), and I can't help but think of how there's supposed to be a magical book (Inspiration Manifestation) that looked a LOT like a Forge Artifact of some kind, allowing you to reshape things as you like (Rarity went on a beautifying spree with it in canon)

ses · 2025-04-21T21:07:35+0100

Hmm, with Axe being more willing to hit the Influence button, Biedde seems more superfluous to the Book Expedition. Since it's now even less likely that Axe would have trouble with a Combat hurdle since she'll just hit the big red button at the very start. But it feels risky to send her alone? Maybe that's just being wrongheaded about the whole thing though, especially since we don't really have any doubled up artifacts of the same type that would need extra hoofs to carry compared to just giving Axe all our studied artifacts for the expedition.

We could send the Forge name with her? Our artifact inventory provides +3 SH, +4 Lantern, +4 Winter, +3 Heart. That's basically an entire extra Name? Selene seems like a waste since it'll likely cost multiple AP from her, and her lore levels kind of go to waste with Axe being willing to Wrong Door herself to obliterate knock challenges even more than she already does, and her winter levels meaning that we miss out on +1 winter level from Axe and her partner wielding both Winter artifacts.

If we Leash Filthy Rich we can afford 2 velvet actions from Cover Your Bases alongside Rarity and Fluttershy, but if we want to spend that final action on Biedde's sacrament we'd need to dip into a Selene action for the 2nd Edge AotL alongside our free monthly one. 2 Edge AotLs is kinda the minimum, and even then it's a 27% chance of 2 wounds and nothing to show for it. I think I'd rather just take the follower actions.

It's very ironic that the very first turn Axe has two AP we're sending her on a Book Expedition that presumably eats all her AP regardless.

Nevermort said:
So Luna have 3 actions and DoA now have 2. Are there any particular actions we want them to take? I wanted to suggest for Luna to search for 3 circle ritual sites as she goes flying at night and by now have a good picture of surrounding land.

Maybe to look for expedition sites near Ponyville too, we don't need scrying for everything. Or maybe looking for expedition counts as Expedition bonus? DoA would be better suited for it then.

I also wanted easy expedition sites as well at first, but the fact that we're probably reading the Manehattan expedition book next turn nudges it down in priority. I honestly think we end up doing Knock Realization-Spy on Windy Flakes, Knock Realization-Divine Moon Revelations on Reproach, Soothe the Night. Rarity and Fluttercomet can both search for a 3circle site.

DelightedOne said:
I am particularly insistent in separating an action for Selene to soothe the night every turn.

After we study the Lantern 4 artifact, preferably next turn with the Moth 5 book using a Lantern Influence from Baldomare(hmm, wonder what happens if we try to social Midday Dew with A Splendour), she will become our second best scryer so we should use her for that. We currently have no need for 3 circle ritual sites so that can wait till turn 23.

If we go looking for Expeditions near Ponyville I think it is obvious where we have more to gain to explore: Celestia and Luna's old castle.
And no that has nothing to do with the Tree of Harmony being right next to it(yes it does).

I agree on Soothing the Night next turn because Selene is likely going to have a lot more competition for those AP once we have the Lantern 4 artifact studied, but delaying a 3circle site next turn I dont agree with because I want Selene to start summoning MITLs more than I want her to scry things. I'm down to reserve a Selene action for having Selene personally search for an expedition site instead of a Reproach action.

Honestly the fact that Selene can use her Knock realization to spy on people's brains seems more useful than having her scry if we want to use her AP for gaining information.

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T21:17:37+0100

Pittauro said:
Also we were told once that there was a good and easy expedition site near ponyville with a good reward (I think it was implied to be a lvl 4 artifact)

Not implied, it was explicitly said to be one.

OurLadyOfWires said:
You see, there is an expedition site that's both easy and nearby, and it would reward her with a relatively good artifact pretty early in her story. It was a level four or five trinket, I believe.

Pittauro said:
and I can't help but think of how there's supposed to be a magical book (Inspiration Manifestation) that looked a LOT like a Forge Artifact of some kind, allowing you to reshape things as you like (Rarity went on a beautifying spree with it in canon)

It was also very much a cursed object, hard to say if it is actually lore related here.

Zxzx24 · 2025-04-21T21:21:54+0100

Still don't know what soothing the night does. If anything?

It's probably very good though.

I think-

I don't want her to get in the habit of doing it EVERY turn.

Luna could stand to be less of a work-a-holic.

ses · 2025-04-21T21:23:46+0100

Zxzx24 said:
Still don't know what soothing the night does. If anything?

It's probably very good though.

I think-

I don't want her to get in the habit of doing it EVERY turn.

Luna could stand to be less of a work-a-holic.

Yeah but consider that there's a very real chance that Turn 23's Selene AP is a wall of "Summon a MITL""Summon a MITL""Summon a MITL", Turn 22 might be the last chance she has to Soothe the Night, since we almost certainly stop doing it once we have a 3circle site secured.

Three natures hath the Selene AP; she summons a MITL; she summons a MITL; at the last, she summons a MITL

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T21:29:15+0100

Zxzx24 said:
Still don't know what soothing the night does. If anything?

It's probably very good though.

I think-

I don't want her to get in the habit of doing it EVERY turn.

Luna could stand to be less of a work-a-holic.

We will find out soon, but it is very likely to be the way we get rid of Daybreaker.

I mean, that is her job that she is supposed to do every night(because ponies sleep every night) and she has been absent for a thousand years causing Worms to infest the Dreamlands and making ponies be in over-mortal danger so if she is doing that maybe the Dreamlands will be safer and we could go take a look there.

Limabot · 2025-04-21T21:34:45+0100

ses said:
Yeah but consider that there's a very real chance that Turn 23's Selene AP is a wall of "Summon a MITL""Summon a MITL""Summon a MITL", Turn 22 might be the last chance she has to Soothe the Night, since we almost certainly stop doing it once we have a 3circle site secured.

Three natures hath the Selene AP; she summons a MITL; she summons a MITL; at the last, she summons a MITL

Though if it helps stall the Celestia doom counter (even if it's a small hope), it would be one of the most valuable things Selene can do, especially with how seemingly underleveled Velvet is right now.

Shaper47 · 2025-04-21T22:13:35+0100

DelightedOne said:
I mean, that is her job that she is supposed to do every night(because ponies sleep every night) and she has been absent for a thousand years causing Worms to infest the Dreamlands and making ponies be in over-mortal danger so if she is doing that maybe the Dreamlands will be safer and we could go take a look there.

Wouldn't that do the exact opposite.

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T22:17:14+0100

Shaper47 said:
Wouldn't that do the exact opposite.

Selene kills Worms. We know that, end of story.

spiderhellian · 2025-04-21T22:33:51+0100

We don't even know what Soothe the Night does yet, lol. We don't need to pre-commit to it!

Sveta08 · 2025-04-21T22:59:05+0100

spiderhellian said:
We don't even know what Soothe the Night does yet, lol. We don't need to pre-commit to it!

While this is true, I also don't want to fall into the Infrastructure Maintenance problem.

Or, in short, It's very hard to see the result, and potentially convince people of it's worth, of an action that prevents something from happening.

Pittauro · 2025-04-21T23:08:40+0100

DelightedOne said:
It was also very much a cursed object, hard to say if it is actually lore related here.

It might have been because she had no lore levels. Artifacts can be dangerous, there's a reason we have to study them before we can use them.

Zxzx24 said:
Still don't know what soothing the night does. If anything?

It's probably very good though.

I think-

I don't want her to get in the habit of doing it EVERY turn.

Luna could stand to be less of a work-a-holic.

Luna always LIKED patrolling dreams.

If anything she probably would like it more than many of the things we'd ask her to do. Unless we're using one of her actions to force her on a vacation it's not like anything else we might ask her would be LESS stressing.

DelightedOne said:
We will find out soon, but it is very likely to be the way we get rid of Daybreaker.

I mean, that is her job that she is supposed to do every night(because ponies sleep every night) and she has been absent for a thousand years causing Worms to infest the Dreamlands and making ponies be in over-mortal danger so if she is doing that maybe the Dreamlands will be safer and we could go take a look there.

I really REALLY doubt Sooth the Night will solve Daybreaker. I think it will make Equestria a bit more peaceful, countering Evil and Paranoia. It might indirectly help the Bureau in that it will reduce criminality, maybe.

But it's likely going to have a mostly only narrative effect on stuff that doesn't DIRECTLY affect us.

I suppose she might do stuff like improve Diamond Tiara's condition (she was quite tense recently, partly our fault too), but again it's not stuff that affects us directly.

Oh, she might indirectly help with the Wolf Cult, in that by soothing their dreams she might reduce their agony...

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T23:25:00+0100

Pittauro said:
I really REALLY doubt Sooth the Night will solve Daybreaker.

I should have been more clear on what I meant.

I believe Soothing the Night is the way as in, the path, the start, the trigger, something to give Selene an idea on how to fight Daybreaker in her own terms. Considering she has not materialized yet, it is very likely she will be defeated like her dream version in canon.

ses · 2025-04-21T23:26:40+0100

We failed the first time in trying to buy an Edge weapon and got pocket sand instead, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was impossible in principle? We could put a Selene AP to scry for "An expedition containing an Edge weapon", after all she gets access to the Lantern 4 artifact next turn if we choose to study it iirc, and it's not a scry that likely needs big dick Baldomare scry numbers. Even just an artifact that gives a +5 artifact bonus would help MASSIVELY in Biedde's invitation, and considering the bonus that the SH artifact gives to study rolls it doesn't seem out of the question. That might be a worthy AP if we end up not wanting to Soothe the Night.

Man in hindsight spending that Jade AP on memory of light was a mistake. She's probably going to need a rest month turn 23, which means we dont get another Jade action till turn 24. Can someone remind me if "Ask Jade/Comet to do a Calling of Influence on Velvet" is a valid action? Or is Calling of Influence self-only? Jade's Lantern 4 and reroll is probably a more sensible use of resources when expedition spam starts bringing a flow of artifact studying to our table rather than a Baldomare action for a max level influence that only lasts a turn. Kind of overkill in terms of resources spent when we dont have multiple critical-importance studies to do in the same turn.

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T23:30:08+0100

ses said:
She's probably going to need a rest month turn 23, which means we dont get another Jade action till turn 24.

No, no, no dooming before we get to turn 22.

ses said:
Can someone remind me if "Ask Jade/Comet to do a Calling of Influence on Velvet" is a valid action? Or is Calling of Influence self-only?

Self-only. The only thing others can call for us is Attention of the Laws.

Shaper47 · 2025-04-21T23:31:20+0100

DelightedOne said:
Selene kills Worms. We know that, end of story.

???

Attracts Worms not kills.

DelightedOne · 2025-04-21T23:37:44+0100

Shaper47 said:
???

Attracts Worms not kills.

She does both.

OurLadyOfWires said:
"You know, we already are in the dreamlands. We always have been," she says, her voice a perfect resemblance of your sister, only wrong, "but those that come first are too small and frail. Your very sight destroys them, before you even notice they are there. Your very presence dissolves them, like a bonfire might evaporate drops of a light rain."

End.

Venerable Ro · 2025-04-22T00:05:22+0100

Greymere said:
It also makes Biedde even more annoying. Bastard is permanently keeping an extra +1 Name AP from us.

I'm still convinced that Biedde is a penultimate boss encounter that we simply never triggered because we somehow completely missed the Lionsmith Name much lower down in the Mansus. It was supposed to be this big dramatic Edge duel in that suspiciously arena-shaped zone between The Colonel's Last Solider and our Rebellious Friend, but instead we turned up by ourselves without the slightest whiff of the enemy about us.

ses · 2025-04-22T00:32:25+0100

You know Level 6 is... actually not out of reach within the scope of the remaining time for one or two Lores? That's three turns of a Befriended name doing nothing but lessons, less any incidental scraps from Expedition loot or Mansus. Very expensive but possible! Honestly less expensive than going from 4 to 5. Consider that we're spending two Mareinette actions for the sake of the Moth sacrament and that doesn't even include the Moth scraps. If we find another level 7 book in a high level expedition that's two scraps at level 5: at which point two full turns of a Befriended Name's lessons start to look like a good deal for the sake of Level 6.

With Selene taking over any Scry needs, I can kinda see us going for Level 6 in Secret Histories. If we wind up getting a scrap or two worth of studyables or Mansus scraps I think we should go for it, since the level 6 benefit seems to be "reroll for ALL checks of that lore" (we've seen Mareinette get rerolls on multiple Grail checks in the same turn, during the Assault on Copper). We have to do a solo Mansus expedition that's notably harder than Red Church to win the game, and Red Church kicked our ass. We cant get a victory in the sort of abridged timeframe some people are talking about committing to: we had to lucksack our way past a CD 120 Lantern check just to find the front door, and there's no indication that the expedition itself wont be just as bad.

Shaper47 · 2025-04-22T04:34:09+0100

Given it's near the end of the turn and the stuff that has happened it's time to do some prep planing.

I'm thinking

Cover bases - Filthy Rich and Risen (1 extra Velvet AP)

Servants - search books Ponyville

Selene - Dream walk Windy, get corpse for another Risen, get Silver Key

Fluttershy and Risen - 2 lantern Aotl for Velvet

Jade - Read Manehattan documents

Mareinette - prepare Spoiled

Biedde - create prison

Baldomare - SH Sacrament

Velvet Axe - knock lesson x 2

Rarity - focus on work

Velvet free social - Rarity teaching

Velvet free Camelot social - Caddy time

Velvet - Soft task

Velvet - Study lantern artifact

Velvet - Read Moth Book with Aotls

Velvet - birth Forge Name Daughter

Velvet - SH Sacrament

Spacemurica · 2025-04-22T07:09:27+0100

OurLadyOfWires said:
It is a beautiful day outside.

You can hear birds chirping in the distance.

megalovania sofly plays

Ok, this was an awesome update. Finally, Finally there is a befriended Name at our estate.

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

In hell we live, lament

Experienced.

Versed in the lewd.

Araneae

Getting sticky.

Shinning Glimmering and Dangerous

I trust you know where the happy button is?

A truly intelligent being has no time for testing

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Versed in the lewd.

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Expedition Probe from SV

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Araneae

Shinning Glimmering and Dangerous

Versed in the lewd.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Mystagogue of the Dreaming Muse

Experienced.

Experienced.

Making the rounds.

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