Dear reader! Whether you are new here, archive-reading and whatnot, or you are already someone who has been with us for quite a while, I would like to say a few words that I believe are best kept close to mind.
-This is an MLP quest. And more importantly, none of us are gratuitously cruel. So good things will happen on this quest, and I hope that enough good things have already happened to prove that.
-This is also a horror quest, so bad things will happen. Bad things might happen to good characters if you are not able to protect them, and you most certainly will not be able to intervene if you lack the tools to do so.
-And finally, this is a quest in which you jostle with powers greater than yourself, with all that it entails.
Please, do keep those things in mind as you go forward. But ultimately, this is also a quest in which it is hoped we all have fun! So if any of the above points is not exactly your cup of tea, or somehow make the experience as a whole "not worth it", then this quest might not be for you. Which is fine! Individual tastes are a thing, so don't think any more about it if you don't want to read anymore. And regardless, I hope you have a lovely day!
Readers should take their own mental health into consideration when voting and not subject themselves to triggering narrative elements like rape or constant mental torture of a friend just for the Greatest Good of a world that doesn't exist.
If those are fine for you or Regrettable is even more triggering, then GREAT! More power to you. But you aren't a bad or selfish person for picking the option that keeps the characters you've emotionally connected with safe. [REDACTED for spoiler warning]
This is a high intensity quest that doesn't hold back when it comes to horror and negative consequences. Take care of yourself.
do you guys think we should try and help out Comet feet with edge lore? I'm just thinking that personal combat is kind of our biggest weakness and who knows what things we may face in the Mansus or the dream realm and while I don't believe we need to be a combat monster I would feel better if we can at least get enough self defense to hold off a threat long enough to run away.
Oh and we should probably talk to Cheerilee to see if there was a reason why our maid seemed to act so odd around the subject of our daughter.
Outside of that what do you guys think our focuses should be this turn? I'm half tempted to see if we can't help Copper Secateur since she seems to be the closest thing to a friend we have in the cult or Windy Flanks since finding a larger meeting ground for our cult would probably be easier for a noble like us then it would be for anyone else in the cult. Oh and obviously I think we should get the book. Swear to god though if this turns out to be another flim flam brothers waste of money I'm going to suggest we either see if we can't use what little influence our family has to make life harder for them or for when they finally show up in town that we help the main six ruin them for all the bits they've made us waste on them.
MOTH - Current Bonus: +10 when attempting to evade someone, or when you do not want to be found. +1 Intrigue.
alternatively
KNOCK - Current Bonus: May access the Mansus, +5 when attempting to open something.
LANTERN - Current Bonus: +5 when attempting to learn the secrets that are within an object.
WINTER - Current Bonus: +5 when resisting things that would harm your mind.
HEART - Current Bonus: +5 when resisting things that would harm your body;
SECRET HISTORIES - Current Bonus: +5 when attempting to find something.
the other are +1, not worth it.
possibly interesting actions to take:
1)Examine the Blank Door again.
2)Canterlot libraries with Twilight. I'd wait next turn to either become better friends and/or (hopefully) get access to Grail 2 to double. We can still get books up to level 3 in Ponyville anyway, and we only have a level 3 Lore anyway (that can STILL be raise by level 3 books). We're also kind of short on bits, and Canterlot with Twilight costs 40 before we even consider the books themselves.
-[ ] You have access to ledgers, but only your ledgers, and the fact that most of your produce is syphoned to Canterlot or to the railroads means that you actually don't have much of a feel when it comes to the merchants and bit-handlers of Ponyville. Attempt to contact the merchant guild of Ponyville, or whoever makes bits exchange hoofs, and expand your influence. Not suspicious.
--[ ] Help Copper Secateur
---[ ] What she did when she first met you, the whole recruiting dance, seems to be something she does often. Accompany her during one such night out and see if you can be of use.
--[ ] Help Jade Whistle
---[ ] She mentioned she got a team together, a fledgling and untested team, help her make sure that they are on par to their task.
-[ ] The matters of [SPECIFY LORE] intrigues you, petition your cult's Master for a lesson (currently willing to teach all Lores up to level 3, gives a scrap of Lore WITHOUT triggering a test)
-[ ] The Woods
--[ ] Explore the Woods, and its many whispers
--[ ] There are other places connected to the Woods, but that are not in the Mansus proper. Look for them.
-[ ] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
--[ ] Just another pleasant day that you will spend with them. Perfect for cooling your head off.
--[ ] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
--[ ] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
--[ ] Alright, this might be a BIT on the cult-y side, but… why not start giving your family subtle hints of Lore here and there? You might catch their attention, or perhaps even their interest.
-[ ] Despite the current kerfuffle you have with your family, you are still a noble. Try and reach out to others like you. Expanding one's influence has to start somewhere after all.
--[ ] Reach out to your family, at least the ones you go along well with.
--[ ] Reach out to other minor nobles of Canterlot.
--[ ] Reach out to other higher nobles of Canterlot, although that might be more complicated.
--[ ] Reach out to nobles who, like you, do not live in Canterlot. They, much like yourself, might not be deeply entangled on the webs of politics that surround the capital, but that just means they can also act with more freedom, right?
9) we could try and contact more nobles. That has several possible uses: business connections, a IN to the Gala (if we want to meet either of the princesses there, especially Luna), a way to help Rarity get into high society and bring her friendship to the next rank maybe, we could find possible recruits for the cult amongst them...
Also if we had better noble contacts we might be better able to leverage social pressure against our family for a raise.
10) Twilight Sparkle for better friendship, Cheerilee to check on school situation (and maybe to get access to interesting children foals?), the Mayor for influence. All interesting possibilities.
I'll probably make one plan, maybe even two different ones, later.
Possible write-in idea.
1)We could talk with Twilight about magic, maybe even ask for lessons. She might very well get excited at the idea of being the TEACHER for once, especially of someone who actually went to University. Or we could exchange stories, university vs her school. If we have her remember of her friends in Canterlot we might very well avoid the whole Moondancer issue (she forgot about her old friend, she got depressed).
2)We could involve Rarity with a "make noble contacts" action, preferably minor nobles though, they're likely to be more welcoming to a virtual unknown like her.
3)There are very few unicorn foals in town, and Cherilee is an EARTH PONY teacher. We might offer to give a few lessons about basic unicorn magic, get some good rep and a way to check on foals with good potential for the future. Or we could try and involve Twilight in this, she might enjoy teaching magic to children (In canon she really enjoyed her "twilight time" with the crusaders after she became a princess)
4)We could gather some info about the Everfree forest in preparation for trying to get something out of it. While it's a dangerous place, if also has a lot to offer. The Castle of the two sisters has ancient books (and at least one magical one, the Inspiration Manifestation, which apparently allows someone to basically conjure anything out of thin air. Maybe it's an high level forge book?), Zecora lives in there and if we got to know her we could maybe induct her in the cult, or get into business with her. She knows lots of different potions, some of which could probably sell for a good sum if we got the recipes and ingredients (and others we could very well use for ourselves), there are interesting plants like the Poison Joke we might be able to use, Zap Apples came from there as well... Of course there's also timberwolves, cragadiles, manticores...)
Also the Tree of Harmony is in there!
"From in the head to out in the world, every thought to action. Hold close this book and through its spell, you'll start a chain reaction. Projecting forth whatever beauty you see. Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free."— The "Inspiration Manifestation" incantation
Our options to spend AP are inflating dramatically, but we've only got a few per turn. This makes plan voting harder.
One way I've seen it done was to lock some AP into important things, but keep other AP free-floating. That way we stay dedicated to whatever we're dedicated to (doing our job, managing subordinates, speaking to ponies) but still have some wiggle room.
(As a quality of life thing, the hardest part has been having to fish inside the vote brackets and delete all those ' ' spaces; if they're still there, the tally won't accept the vote-line, so I have to delete them all by hand.)
[ ] There is too much you do not yet know. You must further your knowledge.
-[ ] The matters of [SPECIFY LORE] intrigues you, petition your cult's Master for a lesson (currently willing to teach all Lores up to level 3, gives a scrap of Lore WITHOUT triggering a test)
-[ ] There is something about this… thing, and you must learn what it is (pick a single artifact to learn from its Lore, and check it for hidden abilities).
--[ ] No artifacts available.
-[ ] It doesn't have to be just during a leisure evening weekend, you can fit a few minutes of reading even when walking between rooms if you really get into it! (Pick up to two books to attempt to learn a scrap of Lore. Consumes books).
--[ ] No books available, unless recently bought.
I was thinking of buying this book and studying it, and then I realized that we could just ask our master for a lesson without having to test for it. Heart and Lantern are on the threshold, but grail is what we use for social calls so that would increase our diplomacy. I guess I'd still buy it, but I'd want to wait until we have two in order to alleviate the time crunch.
[ ] On what must be done (searching for instructions to the Ritual that allows for two aspects of Lore)
-[ ] You have reached the Blank Door, but have not crossed it out of caution. However, you could see the patterns you seek written in the wet grass and on the glowing bushes, and you might yet learn them if you but inspect them more closely. Reach for the Blank Door again. (CD 70, WINTER. Will trigger another "cross" or "do not" subvote if test is failed.)
-[ ] Although you are personally judicious about such habits, you are still a noble. Searching for "peculiar items" to "add to your collection" is certainly not out of place… right? Not suspicious. Suspicion might arise if you later decide to buy the item, depending on its individual suspicion level.
[ ] Your personal life, or at least the non cult-y part
-[ ] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
--[ ] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
--[ ] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
We need to look into this. Two actions seems like a lot, but pinning it down quickly is better than letting it fester. Months are long times for small ponies.
[X] Make Sure Your Daughter Isn't Evil
-[X] Purchase Last Turn:
--[X] BOOK – HEART Level 1, buy for 7 bits
-[X] Before this month starts, you will perform a ritual to draw the attention of LANTERN
-[X] On what must be done (searching for instructions to the Ritual that allows for two aspects of Lore)
--[X] You have reached the Blank Door, but have not crossed it out of caution. However, you could see the patterns you seek written in the wet grass and on the glowing bushes, and you might yet learn them if you but inspect them more closely. Reach for the Blank Door again. (CD 70, WINTER. Will trigger another "cross" or "do not" subvote if test is failed.)
---[X] LANTERN should be applied to increase our chances of understanding this object.
-[X] There is too much you do not yet know. You must further your knowledge.
--[X] The matters of GRAIL intrigue you, petition your cult's Master for a lesson (currently willing to teach all Lores up to level 3, gives a scrap of Lore WITHOUT triggering a test)
-[X] Your personal life, or at least the non cult-y part
--[X] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
---[X] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
---[X] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
-[X] On furthering the cause
--[X] Although you are personally judicious about such habits, you are still a noble. Searching for "peculiar items" to "add to your collection" is certainly not out of place… right? Not suspicious. Suspicion might arise if you later decide to buy the item, depending on its individual suspicion level.
---[X] Ask your servants to do this.
That's trying out the Winter door again, bringing Grail up to 1 for that +5 to diplomancy, and doubling down on Lantern to try to uncover what's going on with our small pony. This plan sends the servants out searching for artifacts again.
I'd like to do everything else, and I might not mind swapping out one of the investigation actions for something else, but how our daughter acts where a teacher can see and how she acts at home are two different things, and Soft Sweeps seems to think she's a little monster so I don't want to ignore her. This is the pain of only having four AP.
Edit: The LANTERN application has been moved in order to comply with the proper usage of the ritual.
Wouldn't books be better? Artifacts have an unknown price and are potentially more suspicious, and we also already have a book, so we might get three or more to choose from.
We're also starting to build a small reserve of bits that we could use for other actions.. Another Artifact might very well take all the money we have.
Still, this is a valid daughter-focused plan, and I certainly like there being a Grail lesson... and books are not that essential when we have two other lores we could possibly raise with direct lessons instead...
Wouldn't books be better? Artifacts have an unknown price and are potentially more suspicious, and we also already have a book, so we might get three or more to choose from.
I'm a bit burnt out on books right now. We don't have to buy artifacts the turn we find them, so we're not stuck staring at a spread of them we can't afford and will never get to interact with if we roll a one and drop all our money in a sewer or something, and they provide both lore and nice auxiliary effects.
If we take a write-in to capture them and use them as pony sacrifices, do you think we could get some kind of critical-one-mitigation effect for a few turns?
If we take a write-in to capture them and use them as pony sacrifices, do you think we could get some kind of critical-one-mitigation effect for a few turns?
I'm a bit burnt out on books right now. We don't have to buy artifacts the turn we find them, so we're not stuck staring at a spread of them we can't afford and will never get to interact with if we roll a one and drop all our money in a sewer or something, and they provide both lore and nice auxiliary effects.
Artifacts are expensive, though; and it is nice to have a buffer of money in reserve so that we have the option to act if an immediate need for it arises.
Also, it would be much harder to drop 200 bits into the sewer than 20, so I don't think we really risk last turn's fiasco with not being able to buy the books we found coming up again.
Artifacts are expensive, though; and it is nice to have a buffer of money in reserve so that we have the option to act if an immediate need for it arises.
Also, it would be much harder to drop 200 bits into the sewer than 20, so I don't think we really risk last turn's fiasco with not being able to buy the books we found coming up again.
Another thing to consider is that we got three scraps of Heart Lore from our artifact; that's the equivalent of three heart books gained in a single research action, in addition to it sticking around and being useful in other ways, such as being able to use it ourselves or sell it on to somebody else.
Note that we normally examine two books in one action, and they return one scrap each if the study succeeds. So based on what we've seen so far, I would say that lore gain between the artifacts and books is comparable.
Of course, there are other tradeoffs other than lore gain. Books are cheaper, but provide no advantage outside of lore training, while artifacts are more expensive but can have potentially useful effects in various ways.
The way I see it, if we have money to burn, Artifacts are the easiest way to turn that money into a power boost of some sort - albeit a fairly random one. But for this week's vote, I contend that we DON'T want to be burning money. I think it is more valuable to have that wealth as a reserve, plus I would prefer having more cash on hand before we go digging for artifacts so that if we find something cool but expensive we don't have to risk needing to wait to be able to afford it.
(As a quality of life thing, the hardest part has been having to fish inside the vote brackets and delete all those ' ' spaces; if they're still there, the tally won't accept the vote-line, so I have to delete them all by hand.)
Thanks for the advice! But... to be honest i really didn't get it, could you explain it please?
I don't get what the ' ' spaces are, but i'll edit the thread right now if it entails better quality of life. Also, fishing the options inside the brackets is hard in what way? Should i add a space between each individual option in order to make it more easily selectable? Please, do tell!
Your LANTERN is currently capable of unearthing the secrets of physical things. Abstract things and the consumption of other ponies' thoughtsmight come in later if sufficiently developed. So im afraid it wont do for this roll.
And on that matter, using the ritual for your WINTER wont double your "+10 bonus" from it being level 1, for the Blank Door, but ritual-ing LANTERN will double the "+5 when attempting to..." if you apply it on the Blank Door re-roll. Just food for thought.
And i think i said that rituals only applied in the Wake... ill change the text to make it clear that it doubles the BONUS, but it can still apply to the Mansus (double SECRET HISTORIES for searches, HEART and WINTER for resists, etc)
Aye for that. You had HEART level 0 and studied a level 3 artifact. Studies will always yield one scrap, and you got an extra due to it being two levels over your current. Had it been a level 4 artifact, then you would have gotten a total of three (1+2) scraps.
Voting will remain open for at least another 48 hours (untill wednesday night, depending on your timezone).
Thanks for the advice! But... to be honest i really didn't get it, could you explain it please?
I don't get what the ' ' spaces are, but i'll edit the thread right now if it entails better quality of life. Also, fishing the options inside the brackets is hard in what way? Should i add a space between each individual option in order to make it more easily selectable? Please, do tell!
Ah, sorry if this sounds like a small problem; basically, when putting the Xs in the boxes, I have to move the cursor to that box, find the button that will make the space character (the ' ' that you get when you push the space-bar) go away, and then manually type in an X. A click and two or three button presses to maneuver the cursor and make a character go away doesn't sound like much, but in a vote with fifteen boxes that means I have to do it fifteen times, so that adds up.
So, take these options, for example:
-[ ] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
--[ ] Just another pleasant day that you will spend with them. Perfect for cooling your head off.
--[ ] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
--[ ] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
--[ ] Alright, this might be a BIT on the cult-y side, but… why not start giving your family subtle hints of Lore here and there? You might catch their attention, or perhaps even their interest.
If any ' 's are inside the brackets, the tally won't accept them. So you could also envision them looking something like this:
-[E] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
--[E] Just another pleasant day that you will spend with them. Perfect for cooling your head off.
--[E] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
--[E] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
--[E] Alright, this might be a BIT on the cult-y side, but… why not start giving your family subtle hints of Lore here and there? You might catch their attention, or perhaps even their interest.
And you have to delete all of those 'E's in order to make the vote count.
Sorry if that sounds trivial. I can't help but feel like all I do is complain.
Your LANTERN is currently capable of unearthing the secrets of physical things. Abstract things and the consumption of other ponies' thoughtsmight come in later if sufficiently developed. So im afraid it wont do for this roll.
And on that matter, using the ritual for your WINTER wont double your "+10 bonus" from it being level 1, for the Blank Door, but ritual-ing LANTERN will double the "+5 when attempting to..." if you apply it on the Blank Door re-roll. Just food for thought.
And i think i said that rituals only applied in the Wake... ill change the text to make it clear that it doubles the BONUS, but it can still apply to the Mansus (double SECRET HISTORIES for searches, HEART and WINTER for resists, etc)
Ah, so there's Knowledge Checks and Application checks; the knowledge check is +10 per level, and the Application check is a bonus to some course of action granted by having the knowledge that high? So Level 2 Moth means +20 Moth Knowledge, and +10 when running or hiding, which is what Moth can be applied to?
And the ritual works on Application checks, not Knowledge checks?
[X] Make Sure Your Daughter Isn't Evil
I like the extra lore point, the door, and the daughter. Artifacts are iffy with me, but there isn't a ton i'd rather the servants do.
Ah, so there's Knowledge Checks and Application checks; the knowledge check is +10 per level, and the Application check is a bonus to some course of action granted by having the knowledge that high? So Level 2 Moth means +20 Moth Knowledge, and +10 when running or hiding, which is what Moth can be applied to?
And the ritual works on Application checks, not Knowledge checks?
Quite right. "Knowledge" and "Application", i like those terms! Will try to work them in. I'm too used to the word "Intensity", which i also favor, but lets see how it goes.
Yes, the Single Lore ritual doubles the Application checks (so it doubles the +10 when hiding AND the +1 intrigue, which you got on Level 2), but it does not double Knowledge check (the +10 per level).
And its not complaints, its helpful pointers! Thanks a lot! I'll get to editing the last turn right away, although it does looks weird (for me) to have the options be "[]" without the space, but i'll get used to it in no time.
And its not complaints, its helpful pointers! Thanks a lot! I'll get to editing the last turn right away, although it does looks weird (for me) to have the options be "[]" without the space, but i'll get used to it in no time.
Eh; I guess it is a bit of extra hassle. On the other hand, its only a couple of extra operations. Open up a text editor, paste the text there, Crtl-H to replace the text, then copy it back into your browser.
Adhoc vote count started by BirdBodhisattva on Sep 16, 2020 at 6:23 PM, finished with 21 posts and 2 votes.
[X] Make Sure Your Daughter Isn't Evil
-[X] Purchase Last Turn:
--[X] BOOK – HEART Level 1, buy for 7 bits
-[X] Before this month starts, you will perform a ritual to draw the attention of LANTERN
-[X] On what must be done (searching for instructions to the Ritual that allows for two aspects of Lore)
--[X] You have reached the Blank Door, but have not crossed it out of caution. However, you could see the patterns you seek written in the wet grass and on the glowing bushes, and you might yet learn them if you but inspect them more closely. Reach for the Blank Door again. (CD 70, WINTER. Will trigger another "cross" or "do not" subvote if test is failed.)
---[X] LANTERN should be applied to increase our chances of understanding this object.
-[X] There is too much you do not yet know. You must further your knowledge.
--[X] The matters of GRAIL intrigue you, petition your cult's Master for a lesson (currently willing to teach all Lores up to level 3, gives a scrap of Lore WITHOUT triggering a test)
-[X] Your personal life, or at least the non cult-y part
--[X] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
---[X] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
---[X] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
-[X] On furthering the cause
--[X] Although you are personally judicious about such habits, you are still a noble. Searching for "peculiar items" to "add to your collection" is certainly not out of place… right? Not suspicious. Suspicion might arise if you later decide to buy the item, depending on its individual suspicion level.
---[X] Ask your servants to do this.
And i'll take this opportunity to apologize, i take it that planning was discouraged by the ammount of choices versus how few actions you have.
I already had something in mind, but i believe my timing for implementation was poor, hence this uncomfortable turn. Kindly take this as my honest lack of experience.
(And i hope what i have in mind won't turn out to be a shot on one's own foot!)
But this is neither here nor there, and while i apologize there's also nothing to be really sorry about. So let's keep this moving!
[X] Make Sure Your Daughter Isn't Evil
-[X] Purchase Last Turn:
--[X] BOOK – HEART Level 1, buy for 7 bits
-[X] Before this month starts, you will perform a ritual to draw the attention of LANTERN
-[X] On what must be done (searching for instructions to the Ritual that allows for two aspects of Lore)
--[X] You have reached the Blank Door, but have not crossed it out of caution. However, you could see the patterns you seek written in the wet grass and on the glowing bushes, and you might yet learn them if you but inspect them more closely. Reach for the Blank Door again. (CD 70, WINTER. Will trigger another "cross" or "do not" subvote if test is failed.)
---[X] LANTERN should be applied to increase our chances of understanding this object.
-[X] There is too much you do not yet know. You must further your knowledge.
--[X] The matters of GRAIL intrigue you, petition your cult's Master for a lesson (currently willing to teach all Lores up to level 3, gives a scrap of Lore WITHOUT triggering a test)
-[X] Your personal life, or at least the non cult-y part
--[X] Of course you love your family very much, but you could always spend a bit more time with them.
---[X] Raising a daughter is hard, even one as perfect as yours, and you think you might have heard a thing or two recently. You should consult Cheerilee to see how she has really been doing.
---[X] Raising a daughter is hard, especially when she is a cute little noble filly, and you think you have seen Soft Sweeps act strangely as of late. Try and find out what this might be about.
-[X] On furthering the cause
--[X] Although you are personally judicious about such habits, you are still a noble. Searching for "peculiar items" to "add to your collection" is certainly not out of place… right? Not suspicious. Suspicion might arise if you later decide to buy the item, depending on its individual suspicion level.
---[X] Ask your servants to do this.
- - -
You mull over your thoughts, your mind still a bit sharp after a somewhat dull and slow day.
There are nine Lores that you know of, or at least that your Master is willing to tell you about, and you can't help but think of how slightly frustrating seeking them is. Mostly because they are not obvious, even on hindsight, not being the sort of realization that you can easily reach even if you do a good deal of studying by yourself. And yet they have some sort of logic to them, an internal and consistent logic. Like a whole new set of rules that you have to slowly piece together.
You are sure that you would have given up long ago, or at least grown uninterested, if they didn't actually work, and if deep down you didn't know that they actually make some sort of sense. But you still feel like a little filly learning how to do basic additions, struggling to learn the most basic rules of math. Except that as a grown mare you also know that, following that analogy, you still have dozens of other more complex rules to learn before you can start thinking on your own four hoofs and extrapolating based on your knowledge. Or at least that's how it was with mathematics and calculus, during your time in school.
You let out a small sigh, looking at your own reflection in the mirror, the room behind you dimly illuminated by moonlight and your empty bed ready. "But arduous as it might sound…" you say to yourself absent-mindedly, "there's really no other way to do it."
And with that, you float a pair of scissors towards your mane.
You should really find another way into the Mansus, you think idly, or your mane will start suffering as the frequency of your visits increase.
Snip, goes the scissors, and off you go to bed.
And not long after, you reach the Woods.
Snap.
You look around, your mind coming to a sharp focus once again.
You have been walking for a while now, with no real objective in mind, through places far from the light of Glory, where moonlight is plentiful and the roots and branches seem to caress you rather than try to choke you. But although your mind had started to idle away long ago, to the point where you didn't even realize you were lost, you immediately recognize that sound.
"Master?" you look around, searching for the source of the familiar noise, before realizing the effort is futile. "I have come for a lesson, Master, if you would teach me," you finally say out loud, giving a short one-hoof bow to no direction in particular.
You nearly think that you might have miss-heard it, until the answer finally comes.
"Velvet Covers…" there is a… curious tone to the voice? Something about it that makes you unsure whether if it is you, or your Master, who is intrigued, but intrigued somepony surely is, "you search for me, and yet you came here into the Woods, vast and secretive, instead of our gathering place where you might have more easily found me… Why is that?"
"I…" an answer almost escapes your mouth, but something, perhaps your logic finally catching up to you, stills it, and you forget what you were about to say. "I… am not sure, Master. I just thought that…"
You stop again, thinking a bit harder on your answer. Your Master is right, why did you come to the Woods instead of looking for him in your cult's lodge? By all rights, the way this should have turned out was with you simply getting lost in the Woods, and waking up befuddled and frustrated, and nothing else. So why did you come here?
And for that matter, why did it work? How exactly did your Master find you here in the first place? You have been to the Mansus many times before, and you have only ever met your Master when you were summoned here. All your other voyages you have made by yourself, with not a single hint of their presence.
"Progress…" you hear that whisper, heavy with some thoughtful feeling, reach your ears. "But you have come for a lesson, have you not? Your knowledge does you some merit so far, but there is far too much you do not yet understand. Name what you seek."
The curious feelings are gone from the voice, and all that you hear now is the preaching and teaching tone from which you have heard many things over the years. A part of you feels a tinge of excitement at that, thinking that you are about to hear that voice directly teach you a secret, and not simply engage in the roundabout and furtive oratory that you would hear in a normal cult gathering.
But another part of you is mulling over the answer you are about to give, wondering if it is the correct one. You are starting to get a better grasp of how you might apply part of the knowledge you have, and you can feel that you are close to some sort of breakthrough in some areas of it. But there are also Lores that you know nothing about, and despite the clear inclinations of your Master there is one in particular that you know will be of great use to you, although you certainly hope your Master won't take your request as an offence.
Only one way to find out, you think.
"I would like to learn the secrets of Grail" you say plainly, your eyes searching for something to focus on thanks to the ingrained habit that you should look at your teachers in the eye.
But this is not university, and you definitely don't find anything in the shadows as the seconds go by and you remain without an answer.
"A married, respectable mare like you, asking for such a thing?" until an unexpected answer comes, followed by a gust of wind and the sound of leaves scraping against wood. You tilt your head slightly, unsure of what exactly your Master meant by that.
And does that noise of leaves and wind sound almost like… laughter…?
"Pardon, Master?" you ask quizzically, and the wind dies out almost immediately, your Master's voice seeming to focus back on a single unidentified place once more.
"Think nothing of it," you hear it shortly after, although you can swear that you feel a smirk about it, "but there is unfortunately little that I can teach you."
Your eyes go wide in surprise, this is surely not what you had expected, but you keep your mouth shut out of respect. You try to think of alternatives of what you could do, then. Maybe ask your Master for a lesson on something else? Maybe try and search for a book? Or perhaps Copper Secateur knows enough about it to share? She surely seems to be oriented towards Grail after all, or-
"After all," the voice interrupts you, almost as if it knew your chain of thought, "you know so little of it that it might as well be nothing. You know so little that, so to speak, you do not even understand what it is that you ask."
Another sudden snap of a twig comes from right behind you, followed by the clear sound of a hoof digging through dirt. You actually jump up in surprise, but the noise is gone before you turn around, and as you half-expected there is nopony there when you face the direction it came from.
But when you look down you see it, the clear sign of a clear hoof-print on the black dirt, and a short trail indicating that it had taken a small hoof-full of dirt, unearthing the soil.
You also see the faintest gleam of glass, coming from that tiny makeshift hole. The very tip of a small, empty vial that you quickly dig out with a curious expression.
Not empty, you soon realize, there is a trace amount of some sort of liquid inside the unmarked vial.
"Your ignorance made itself known," your Master's voice comes once again, but from farther away this time, and you can hear that it is growing more and more distant with every word, "when you asked for a lesson of Grail. One does not learn Grail, one tastes from it. And that in your hoofs is a taste, something that long ago had power and relevance, and that might have been revered at higher places within the Mansus or of the Wake. But it is old now, the powers that upheld it are long gone, and it is but a single drop…"
Your heartbeat quickens as you eye the small glass vial, and the viscous fluid on its very bottom. The pale moonlight is such that you can't be certain, but you swear that the single drop of liquid looks too much like blood, its vibrant red concealed by the blue glow that penetrates through the trees from high above.
"So… diminished as its power is… it might be just enough that it will not totally overwhelm and consume you," you hear you Master say with something akin to a smirk, "so I will leave you alone with your… 'lesson', Velvet Covers…"
And the voice disappears, something inside of you telling you that you are truly alone now.
But your eyes have not yet left the small vial, even though you can feel some alarm ringing at the back of your head from what your Master had just said. Your rationality is gripping at you, telling you to take heed that this might be dangerous, and that perhaps there are other, better options, to learn what you seek. But that grip is so weak right now.
And that single drop inside the vial looks so… delicious.
You open it with your mouth, spitting the tiny and ancient bottle cork into the darkness of the forest around you, and on the next second you have the vial upended, flinging its minute content into your open mouth.
And you watch that small, viscous drop slowly inch down through the interior of the glass.
Slowly.
Your body tenses with an anticipation you can't explain, and you can swear that the inanimate drop is actually taunting you.
But on the next second it finally leaves the vial, travelling through the air for a moment until it lands on your tongue.
And you can't even feel its taste.
Your whole body immediately tenses up. Every muscle in your body, every strand in your mane, every thought in your brain, your whole self seems to contract into itself, only to be released outwards a moment later with another sensation you have never felt before.
It is not the feeling of electricity coursing through you, it is not pain, it is not pleasure or release either, but instead some sort of tingling warmth that you can't explain or describe, a maddening sensation that spread out through your body like fire might spread on oil. You can feel it in every fiber of your body, but you can't even begin to describe it, you mind is racing too much right now for you to even bother trying.
You can no longer see the Woods around you, you can't feel your own labored breath, your mind can't even properly identify that the color that took over your vision is a bright red. The only thing you can barely compute is that you are seeing the dreams that your ancestors once shared, long ago, running through your mind as if they were your own, and that you are hearing the lessons that might be learned from warm whispers under dim candlelight, words you can't understand caressing your ears like soft feathers.
You feel the blood coursing through your heart, and the sensation of drowning with your lungs full of air, and the pleasures of consuming and being consumed, and so much more. You would have thought that you were burning alive, if it wasn't for the fact that you are feeling more alive right now than you ever have in your whole life.
And you only realize you are awake, and back in your room, when you hit a writhing hoof against the hard wood of your nightstand, the ache of your limb bringing you back to reality.
You immediately realize you are under your covers, and that you hare hot, drenched in sweat and other things under the weight of your blanket. You throw them aside and gulp greedily from the welcome cold air of your room.
You feel exhausted, yet full of energy, something almost like agony riling from within you as you realize you are both regretful and thankful that the visions and sensations have finally ended.
There might be a lesson in this, but you don't care, you can't even think straight right now.
But there is one thing that you are sure of. You thoroughly regret that your husband is not with you tonight.
You Master has given you a fraction of a mystery of Grail, and while even that was too much for you, you will not forget its taste. And perhaps that was the lesson all along.
Gained one scrap of GRAIL Lore.
Your GRAIL Lore is now level one!
Turn actions will usually be taken from least to most dangerous acts, or from the ones that can be most beneficial (or involve the least amount of tests and dice rolls) to the ones where you actually might gain less and risk more, so as to maximize your bonus. That is to say, this Lore level will apply to the following actions this turn.
So I just found this--and Cultist simulator, interestingly enough, so thanks for that--and damn does it already look amazing. Already, I'm wondering at a whole of of things, loving both Velvet and our super Mothy Cult master--seriously, the fucker never shows his face and is clearly very powerful in the Mansus. If he's not a Long or Name already I'll eat my maybe-existant hat--and the fact we've got access to two of the Elements almost instantly to convert. Twilight will be really easy, she loves learning any kind of knowledge and generally fails to recognize any danger that could be inherent to them, and Rarity is totally the type of person I would peg as a Cultist in real life.
Although honestly, I'm more concerned about the dangers and threats our Master keeps hinting at, such as how the Mansus is weakening and the Fire and Light filling Equiss. The really interesting this is that from a meta-level--unless the QM has messed with a lot of MLP history to make it work--he's very clearly lying or simply mistaken about the Alicorn's part in it. Most of the threats mentioned, such as Discord, Scorpus, and Tirek are actually older than them--and Scorpus, at least, was actually a good guy who just never got a chance to publicize that fact--as is the concept of controlling Equestria's natural cycle and even Harmony. At the same time, I can definitely see them having made things worse--Pony magic seems to be the problem, and they're practically blazing with all three kinds--and there being threats that the Mansus was meant to keep out is probably referring to Worms, with are an actual major threat in Cultist Simulator. Especially with most of the Hours seeming to have died or at least be severely weakened.
Our Master gave us a Vital Pigment, I believe, which is heavily implied to be mystically preserved human blood. So yeah. Honestly, Grail is pretty much the only Lore I actually dislike, being far more fucked up than the rest.
Maybe in general, but the Moth will be deeply unappealing to her.
It's deliberate disorganisation, it only offers answers if you are willing to forget the question, at times the Moth feeds on knowledge and leaves only remnants behind.
She might be a catch for a cultist offering better Lantern or Secret Histories lore and most of the others would be at least theoretically interesting to Twilight, if not personally appealing.
Our Master gave us a Vital Pigment, I believe, which is heavily implied to be mystically preserved human blood. So yeah. Honestly, Grail is pretty much the only Lore I actually dislike, being far more fucked up than the rest.
Eh, all ascensions consume prisoners.
Wether you transform your flesh in the way of the Grail, you loose it by following the Lantern until it flows off your shining soul, or you scar, harden and master it by wrestling the Forge is in the end not that different.
