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

Reader mode
Working on a little writing bit, but, I will tap the scales just a bit.

I see that we right now are looking pretty well exclusively at what we can handle, and what our actions and economy looks like for these results. Not... specifically what is being said or being done. Not what these pieces represent.
Er... choices.

I don't know how to explain better succinctly, so I shan't.
 
Shaper47 said:
You know a Winter heirloom from the previous Hour of the Sun could probably really assist Selene in making the Alicorn of the Sun calmer

@OurLadyOfWires Does Velvet think Sun Winter Heirloom would help Selene's deam actuon calm Celestia
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This is not the time to push a Regrettable Action.

And the roll clearly has no bonuses applied besides the reroll.
 
OurLadyOfWires said:
You will not go out in the middle of the night to prepare the things your mother asked of you. You will not burn the midnight candle to catch up with your homework, to change it from Silky's hoofwriting. And you will not take to the night sky, to patrol a city or to get to know the darker corners of Equestria a little bit better.
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Is this a hint that Confidante Cheerilee might result in extra Selene AP?
 
DelightedOne said:
Please remember the back up victory in case Velvet dies at All-In.

The Wolf fans will have a field day if we don't.
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Wasting more actions on studying the ritual is really silly. It kinda made sense to take the first step on the path, just to make sure we weren't missing anything, it makes absolutely no sense to invest what's required in taking more.

Because think of what is required.

We have multiple actions to get the next chunk of the ritual -- Knock isn't even one of Jade's lores. We have even more actions after that to get Part 3. Then we have an expensive, very difficult ritual.

And all that only gets us to Harmony's Door. There's still whatever 'key' is needed for victory, probably something like teaching Harmony the lores, which is going to be at least as hard as finding an Outsider.

The Harmony path made sense to pursue when we first encountered it, literally more than half the quest ago. It doesn't make sense now.
 
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I dont know what thought process results in you reading millions of words of a writer's quest and then just ignoring him when he says flat out your best choice is Glory.


Anyway. Soothe the Night each turn was objectively the correct choice. That's 1 Selene AP per turn for a 52% chance of delaying the Doom Clock by a turn, with a small chance of disabling it entirely. That's massively net-positive in expected AP, as 1 Selene AP vs 50% of all the Velvet and Name AP we get from an extra turn.
 
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Let's look at Smiles progress for a moment, assuming we go with Cadance, that Mareinette + DoA duo the Quarry, and we make the reagent.

Two of Selene's AP and Jade's AP can probably safely be used for Smiles on T23. The rest of our Follower AP is going to be tangled up in Doing Things or Covering Our Bases. Cherenkolt could recalibrate to Moth to sub in for the lack of Moth artifact, or we can double up on something and YOLO the Moth.

Either way. That leaves us at 9/40 at EoT23, +6 from Selene, +2 from Jade, +1 from natural progress.

Turn 24. Doesn't matter if 4 AP wasn't enough to defuse, it's time to fucking gun it, unless we get very lucky on Selene's roll.

1 AP reserved for FR, 1 AP and Cherenkolt's AP for Blue Gold. Everything else is free.

+1 natural progress gets it to 10/40. Two Selene AP gets it to 16/40. Two Mareinette AP gets it to 26/40. Two regular Follower AP gets it to 30/40. And two Velvet AP gets it to 40/40.

(and Velvet AP can be swapped for Mareinette AP at a 1-to-1 ratio)

Edit: We could also gamble on 3 AP being enough to defuse, and squeezing in a +5 on T23.
 
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@OurLadyOfWires How does sacrament work for Celestia? If we get Moth sacrament and hence Moth 5, are we safe from Celestia until she arranges a Lantern Sacrament? I know Comet Feet's personal Edge Sacrament was the same as ours, but I don't know if we can count on the same applying to an alicorn.

Edit: Also, does the Glare modifier apply to Mansus actions or just Wake actions?
 
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Greymere said:
Let's look at Smiles progress for a moment, assuming we go with Cadance, that Mareinette + DoA duo the Quarry, and we make the reagent.

Two of Selene's AP and Jade's AP can probably safely be used for Smiles on T23. The rest of our Follower AP is going to be tangled up in Doing Things or Covering Our Bases. Cherenkolt could recalibrate to Moth to sub in for the lack of Moth artifact, or we can double up on something and YOLO the Moth.

Either way. That leaves us at 9/40 at EoT23, +6 from Selene, +2 from Jade, +1 from natural progress.

Turn 24. Doesn't matter if 4 AP wasn't enough to defuse, it's time to fucking gun it, unless we get very lucky on Selene's roll.

1 AP reserved for FR, 1 AP and Cherenkolt's AP for Blue Gold. Everything else is free.

+1 natural progress gets it to 10/40. Two Selene AP gets it to 16/40. Two Mareinette AP gets it to 26/40. Two regular Follower AP gets it to 30/40. And two Velvet AP gets it to 40/40.

(and Velvet AP can be swapped for Mareinette AP at a 1-to-1 ratio)
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If we lowroll Selene next turn I think we can consider FR to be something we can compromise on considering our Edge sacrament. Not saying we do or dont, but that it doesn't rank as "unnegotiable"

I dont think we possibly supply less than 4 AP if we go Cadance.
 
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ses said:
If we lowroll Selene next turn I think we can consider FR to be something we can compromise on considering our Edge sacrament. Not saying we do or dont, but that it doesn't rank as "unnegotiable"

I dont think we possibly supply less than 4 AP if we go Cadance.
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Sure but also, it's clearly still very much possible to hit the 40/40 mark even assuming a reserved AP for FR.
 
ses said:
I dont know what thought process results in you reading millions of words of a writer's quest and then just ignoring him when he says flat out your best choice is Glory
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"Glory is boring" "I prefer Harmony." "I don't like the Mansus as much" "I'm worried about what it means to Velvet's family" "I don't trust Velvet with that much, if any, power" "I think Equestria is better this way" "I am against the Hours" "The Stains are not a good thing for a active Hour".

Take your pick.

Rafuki22 said:
Making assumptions there.
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Well.

OurLadyOfWires said:
[IT IS SHAPED LIKE A FILLY, BUT IT IS NOT.
And that one thing is-
IT IS SHAPED LIKE A GODDESS, BUT IT IS NOT.
That one thing is-
A HALF-REMEMBERED KISS TO THE FOREHEAD. A HALF-FORGOTTEN SCREAM OF PAIN.
That thing is-
THE CERTAINTY THAT ONE BECAME TWO.
That thing-
A REPETITION OF THAT MOST ABOMINABLE OF FATES.
That-
IT CAME FROM THE OUTSIDE. PERFECT. COMPLETE. ALONE.
IT WAS ALLOWED ENTRANCE, SHELTER FROM THE DARKNESS. ON ONE CONDITION.
HALF A DOOR CANNOT BE OPENED. HALF A PATH CANNOT BE TREAD. HALF A BRIDGE LEADS NOWHERE.
BUT THE DOOR, AND THE PATH, AND THE BRIDGE, IF MADE WHOLE ONCE AGAIN, MAY STILL LEAD BACK TO THE THING THAT DIVIDED IT.
And that one thing is the filly that Velvet Covers said is Selene.
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OurLadyOfWires said:
"… because two equals one. But three also equals two, and that is important." The mare is talking in circles, repeating herself over and over again as she tries to say… something.

But try as she might, you can tell that she isn't making any sense. Event to herself.

"But here is the thing. Three does not equal one. It can't."
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That is clearly what this meant. The ritual will reveal the path to the door where the sisters will open it so that we may reach Harmony.
 
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Well, now you guys finally have all the relevant information for this turn, and we can move to the "in between turn" phase.

After this vote, of course.

Yes, yes, there is still the Mansus Exploration and your final book reading action. But that can be addressed later and quickly.

I'll answer the pings now.

Shaper47 said:
@OurLadyOfWires Can we have Mareinette give Cadence a Grail Influence to help Cadance here? Or send Mareinette to assist?
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Your personal social actions can be used to aid Cadance, and Mareinette can step in, so Mareinette can be used for that action yes.

Rafuki22 said:
@OurLadyOfWires i assume that a Winter Influence wouldn't help Selene with Soothing the Night? Or it would?
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Winter bonuses did not apply.

Shaper47 said:
@OurLadyOfWires Does Velvet think Sun Winter Heirloom would help Selene's deam actuon calm Celestia
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Velvet Covers doesn't even know what a Heirloom is, in-character.

No.

Wise Wolf said:
@OurLadyOfWires How does sacrament work for Celestia? If we get Moth sacrament and hence Moth 5, are we safe from Celestia until she arranges a Lantern Sacrament? I know Comet Feet's personal Edge Sacrament was the same as ours, but I don't know if we can count on the same applying to an alicorn.

Edit: Also, does the Glare modifier apply to Mansus actions or just Wake actions?
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What you do know: If you reach Moth 5, Celestia needs to reach Lantern 5 to game-over you.

What you don't know: Celestia's rules or requirement for Sacraments.

I say this without malice, but this dry explanation is everything Velvet knows and everything I can reveal.



Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
 
@OurLadyOfWires Does Glare affect the Mansus? Knowing if it debuffs us during the Malleary is kind of important. Or do we only suffer Glare debuffs in the Wake? Also does Glare affect Soothe the Sun rolls in the future?
 
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ses said:
@OurLadyOfWires Does Glare affect the Mansus? Knowing if it debuffs us during the Malleary is kind of important. Or do we only suffer Glare debuffs in the Wake? Also does Glare affect Soothe the Sun rolls in the future?
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Even if it only affects us in the Wake, that means it'd still be debuffing us during All In which, isn't great.
 
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Rafuki22 said:
Not sure if she will be allowed to help, but i wish she could.
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Well Honored Guest is thing so I assume so.

OurLadyOfWires said:
[HONORED GUEST]: Mareinette can "step in" on Velvet's horseshoes, and perform social actions in her stead even if only Velvet should have been able to perform them. (HOWEVER, see "Old Intelligence")
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QM says it's kosher.

OurLadyOfWires said:
Your personal social actions can be used to aid Cadance, and Mareinette can step in, so Mareinette can be used for that action yes.
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DelightedOne said:
This is not the time to push a Regrettable Action.

And the roll clearly has no bonuses applied besides the reroll.
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It could just involve shaking down Windy.

But dismissing the effects of a Heirloom just because Velvet hasn't had a decent chance to study one is pretty foolish.

The Velvet's Stone and Watchpony's Mirror are examples of how powerful they are.

OurLadyOfWires said:
Velvet Covers doesn't even know what a Heirloom is, in-character.

No.
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Damn you Baldomare your letting us down!

So basically it might help and it might just be a super powerful artifact.

IC we don't know.

OOC I'm pretty sure it would help.

OurLadyOfWires said:
What you do know: If you reach Moth 5, Celestia needs to reach Lantern 5 to game-over you.

What you don't know: Celestia's rules or requirement for Sacraments.

I say this without malice, but this dry explanation is everything Velvet knows and everything I can reveal.
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@OurLadyOfWires What about Celestia reaching Mastery? Surely Axe or Baldomare can give some hints of what's required.
 
Shaper47 said:
What about Celestia reaching Mastery? Surely Axe or Baldomare can give some hints of what's required.
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It is best to assume that she will reach Lantern 5 by the begining of turn 25, prepare for the worst and all that.

Okay, one last time, with just 1.

Edit: ...Maybe i absorbed the bad luck so we have better rolls latter?
 
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Rafuki22 said:
It is best to assume that she will reach Lantern 5 by the begining of turn 25, prepare for the worst and all that.

Okay, one last time, with just 1.

Edit: ...Maybe i absorbed the bad luck so we have better rolls latter?
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Guys, I think @Rafuki22 might be the Princess of the Moon in disguise. You can tell because they roll dice in the same way.
 
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Right, if these rolls are telling me anything, it's that we really shouldn't count on the dice to give us a stay of execution.
 
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