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.
The author does not intend to (and should not be interpreted as intending to) break the site's Terms of Service or site rules at any point.
None of the above subjects are condoned, glorified or encouraged by the author, and their presence in this story is purely for narrative purposes.
If you do not wish to be exposed to any of the subjects cited above, you should STOP READING IMMEDIATELY.
- - -
- - -
- - -
Your senses. They are all overwhelmed. You have nothing left to tether your mind to. Nothing.
Not even a body. For when you are in the Mansus, your dream-body is only as real as you understand it to be. You only exist in the Mansus while you have cohesive thoughts, shaped in the form of Velvet Covers.
So, right now, you do not exist. Velvet Covers does not exist.
Because your thoughts are overwhelmed.
They are all taken over by what is outside of you.
Your vision is bleached white by the glare of Glory, for you have spent so long within the confines of the Ruined Church that its light is now blinding.
Your thoughts are painted red by the memories of the Grail. And for all that you are witnessing everything that happened, from its inception to the shattering of the Mansus, your overwhelmed mind is incapable of understanding any of it. Let alone remembering it.
Your ears are filled with blessed noise. The melodious cries of birth. The mournful groans of pleasure denied. The wet noises of liquid being quaffed.
Your coat is covered with the sticky sensation of Grail-matter. For even though the floor has long ago been licked and scraped dry, it still bears the mark that it was touched.
Your mouth is empty, but at the same time filled with the taste of flesh. And even though this is utterly contrary to pony biology, you think you understand for the first time how some creatures might be carnivorous.
Your nose is drowned by the smell of blood. As well as…
… as…
You can also smell that…
There is something nearby.
That urgent thought lurches you into consciousness. Or at least it shocks you out of whatever torpid lethargy you were under just a moment ago.
You have no idea what just happened. You have no idea how you could fall "unconscious" when you are already in a dream. Part of you even thinks that you just didn't exist for a moment. That your brain had been hijacked by a deafening echo from the past, to the point that you were no longer Velvet Covers.
But still, you are much, much more worried about what you just felt.
Because you just sensed something. There is a presence nearby, that is at the same time achingly close and disgustingly wrong.
However, you can't feel it anymore. Or rather, you can't sense it anymore.
And that is the whole problem.
Because your skills… these tricks you learned. They don't work in the Mansus. Or at least you have never learned how to apply them either confidently or regularly while in the Mansus. So, the same way that you can't see in the dark through your closed eyelids, you also know you aren't able to smell things with your Edge-sense. At least not while you are here.
And yet, somehow, you just did.
Or at least you think you did… at least, something happened that lurched you out of that… of that shock, or daze, or dissolution, or whatever the hay that was.
Still, you have no idea of what just happened. You just know two things.
One, that there is something nearby.
And two, that it is dangerous.
You are currently lying on your side, slowly regaining your balance after the sudden vertigo, so you at least try to put your legs under you. But still, you don't really stand up. Not yet, at least. You just reorient yourself, feeling your body heavy and sticky as if you had just been coated with… something.
It's the ground, you know. The floor of this hall is bone-dry, but you still feel a slight pressure pulling you down whenever you try to raise a hoof.
But you don't have time to worry about this. Even if the marble of the floor might sometimes feel like the inside of an organ. Even if this whole place might as well be an analogy to a… to a stomach, or maybe something else, you still don't care. You can't care.
Because you are not alone here.
You look behind you, and you see that you are just a few hoofsteps beyond the metal door you just opened. It seems you dragged yourself a few meters forward, after opening the door. Probably during your stupor.
Still, as you look around you can confirm that you are indeed in a… nave, of sorts.
This knowledge, you know, is being given to you more than anything else. You have studied a lot during your life, and you have read a lot. Sometimes even about the culture of other species. But ponykind has never really developed religious practices. In fact, the very concept of religion is something that you only heard about when reading about other species. So, you are confident that you… that you definitely don't know about churches. You don't know about churches, or cathedrals, or the precise terminology of where a nave ends and a transept begins.
And yet, right now, you do know this. By sheer virtue of having reached this place, this alien knowledge of how to properly carry yourself in such a holy place is now second nature to you. Almost as if it was gifted to you, as a courtesy, or perhaps self-evident in itself as soon as you laid your eyes upon this place. But still, you can tell that this knowledge you possess comes from somewhere outside of you.
Still, it is strange to think that this was the norm. It is strange, to think that ponykind once had gods. And that they were not only forgotten, but that you are now in a place where one of them took residence.
But still, none of that matters. At least not right now.
You get back on your hoofs, but you remain crouched. The metal door brought you to the middle section of the this cathedral-like hall, and you are currently crouched between two sets of bone-like pews.
You try not to think about how the pews literally look like bones. As if this entire hall was a living creature that had grown to look like a church. You try not to think of the implications as to why the air is so humid, and why the breeze seems to come and go in time with a ponderous breath.
In front of you, just the length of a few pews away, you see the central passage. The long, richly carpeted pathway that goes from the entrance door all the way to the altar. And you can also see the cutting, and achingly close light of Glory shining down from your left. So, you know the entrance is that way, and that the altar of this grand hall is to the right.
Still, you stay where you are. You stay crouched behind the pews and you stay silent. Straining your ears as you try to listen for… something. Feeling the beat of your frantic, terrified heart all the way on the top of your head, even though you know this is a dream and your dream-body probably doesn't have a heart.
You just stay there.
And you wait.
…
Until you convince yourself that you… can't really hear anything.
Or rather, that you can only hear yourself. Your own breathing, and your own heartbeat, and the thoughts you have inside your head.
So you slowly… very slowly, get up from your crouching position. You cautiously peek your head from behind the pews, and you take a longer, more careful look at the surrounding hall.
And you feel a strange, awesome pressure rise in your chest as you do that. Because you feel that, if not for your sudden tension and panic, you might have been swept away again.
Because this is it. This is the interior of the Red Church.
As you look around, you see rows upon rows of glistening, bone-shaped pews. The large ones at the front in a place of honor, left for the Grail-Long. The cushioned ones in the middle for honored guests. The countless ones towards the back for those who managed to climb this far in ancient times.
There are no pews for the Names, you realize, for they would always aid in the ceremonies.
You turn your gaze slightly upwards, and you see the arched, rib-like columns that reach the ceiling, flanked by visages of colored glass that seem to move. The columns seem at the same time sculpted and alive. The glass windows seem at the same time like works of art and multi-faceted eyes.
Some of the windows are broken. Most of them are not.
But most of all you see, all around you, the mark of Grail. The places where new pleasures were birthed. The alcoves where new torments were designed. The frescos where enticements were memorialized. You look all around you at a hall that seems to be very much alive. A place where birth itself was once celebrated.
And you also see... the clear signs of age and stagnation.
Because for all the life and abundance that this place once boasted, it still inevitably… dried.
Everywhere you look, you feel as if… you feel like you are looking at the stones that were left behind, after a waterfall dried. Because the stones themselves might be smooth and beautiful. They might have been ideal to permit the flow of water, and were indeed shaped by the constant passage of the water itself.
However, the waterfall is gone, and all around you there are nothing but the stones that were left behind. They might be beautiful, and smooth, and crafted by the rushing flow that one caresser it. But now, they are nothing but abandoned stones. Not, they are nothing but the empty receptacle that once held something, but that is now rendered meaningless after the drying of its source.
Because this place is beautiful. It is beautiful, and it is alive only because it once carried the stuff of life itself. This was the place where Grail held court, and you can see from its shape and contour how the Church itself became a larger basin. A larger receptacle, that could contain and bask in the endless overflow of its mistress.
But that endless overflow has finally dried up. And this place is now…
Great.
And smooth.
And sculpted.
And still living.
But ultimately dry and meaningless.
Because the Great Mother is no longer here.
You see all of that. You finally understand the nature and torment that the Ruined Church has carried this whole time, as you look around this grand and dry hall of adoration.
You see all of that, and you can't help but feel an empty sense of loss and awe.
That is, until your eyes finally settle on the far end of the hall. Until you finally look at the end of the elegant carpet, that leads to the elevated altar.
And your blood freezes.
Because there it is.
You can see it now. The thing that you sensed. The offending presence that made you fear for your life. Even when you were in a state where you couldn't think.
It is right there.
You think it is a statue. For a moment you think, you hope, that it is just a statue. But it is not. You immediately understand, you somehow know, that it is not a mere statue.
You are in danger.
It is large. Even from this far away you can tell that it is large. Larger than anypony has the right to be. Larger than an alicorn. Larger than Celestia herself, even though it feels wrong, terrifying, to even think that.
You should run.
You can tell that it is at least equine in nature. But it is not a pony. It might be horse-shaped, but it is only a pony in the sense that a tiger is also technically a cat. Still, you can't see most of its body. You can't see most of its body and you know you should be thankful for that. You can only see that it is covered in a lavish cloak, from head to hind. A lavish cloak of the darkest red, its hems embroidered with precious threads, with writings in dead and mournful languages.
You want to run.
The cloak covers its entire body, except for its head. Or at least part of its head. You can see its snout, if nothing else. You can see its snout… no, you can see her snout. And you immediately realize that it is made of bones.
But she already knows you are here.
Her head is nothing but a bony skull. And when she turns to face you, you see nothing but a thirsty dryness coming from her empty eye sockets. The hem of her robes sways with her movement, and you can see that her forelegs, and maybe part of her chest, are also the skeletal mockery of an overly large equine.
She already knows you are here,and she can see you.
She is… or rather, she was mounted over the altar. Cradling it like a desperate lover. Slack-jawed from thirst as she tried to scrape it from any last drop of succulence it might still have. You know that only because the altar… is not there anymore. Half of its top is missing, and it is covered with years and decades and centuries and millennia of toothy scratches.
She can see you, and she can smell you.
Because this horrible thing that is staring down at you doesn't have a tongue. Or at least not one that it chooses to show. It doesn't have a tongue, and yet it still thirsts. It thirsts because its bone-dry existence knows nothing else, ever since she assumed that accursed form.
She can smell you. And she knows you have already celebrated both blood and birth.
So, she has been here since the Church fell. She crawled like a vermin through the forbidden paths of the Mansus until she reached this place. And she had been sucking it dry of every last ounce it carried ever since. Until the Church stands as it is today, bone-dry and maddened with thirst. Because once she took residence here, this hallowed place had no choice but to be torturously changed until it resembled her more than anything else.
She smells all of that. Her empty nostrils takes in your entire life with a long, greedy breath.
…
She smells all of that…
And oh, how that causes her to THIRST.
The great, wrong thing stands up from the altar. The once holy pinnacle now serving as both plate and throne for the overly large, cloaked horse. She stands upon the altar, and part of it snaps under her shifted weight. Because she had been sitting upon it, gnawing upon its surface, for almost as long as she has been thirsty, and the fragile altar is now very brittle indeed.
She stands upon it, and you feel an overwhelming pressure crush you. The kind of pressure that is only possible when one is under the gaze of something very old.
She stares at you with her empty, ruby-like eyes.
And a chill runs down your spine as you see a thin, translucent line of droll drop from her teeth-filled skull of a mouth.
She then opens her mouth slightly wider.
And her skull clack-clack-clacks with a dry noise, as it opens and closes. All while she speaks to you.
"[Grail]…"
She speaks with words. Words that your mind understands, even if you are not fully capable of repeating them. She tells you of her thirst. And of how she forged her way into this place after it was abandoned. And she tells you about her thirst. And of how she has already gnawed and scratched and scraped at every last surface of this Church with her dry teeth. And she tells you about her thirst. And of how she is so, so very parched.
"[Grail]."
She tells you about her children, and how not even they were able to slake her thirst.
And she tells you about your children, and how she knows that they exist, from the scent you have and the fruits you carry in your body.
And she tells you about her thirst, and how it is so maddeningly all-consuming.
"[GRAIL]!!!"
And she tells you how Mareinette will finally, finally, finally be able to drink again.
You think she was talking to herself.
You think that was her name.
But you weren't really concerned with your own thoughts.
You could barely hear your own terrified scream, as you ran away. Back into the depths of the Church. As the heavy, thunderous and dry stampede of her bony hoofs followed right after you.
- - -
"[GRAIL]!!!"
Your blood is tasty and you have bore fruits and your blood is tasty and she will slake her thirst and your blood is tasty and she will suck you dry until she drinks the marrow of your bones and your blood is tas-
You run into the dark depths of the Ruined Church, unheeding of whatever dangers might be in front of you.
None of them matter. Not the things that crawl, not the winding passages, and not the sharp and broken mosaics.
All of them are better than the certainty of maddening murder that is chasing after you.
You can't even think straight. You just run. You think you would be crying if your dream-body was capable of that, but you can't even muster the sanity to create tears within a dream.
You just run.
But Mareinette, if that is even her name, is at least twice your height. Maybe even thrice. And her legs are at least as large as you are tall.
[Velvet Covers will be solely focusing on escaping alive]
[Velvet's first roll: 55 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 69]
[Mareinette's first roll: 19 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 59]
[Overflow: Velvet – 10, Mareinette – 0]
[Velvet's second roll: 48 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 62]
[Mareinette's second roll: 87 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 127]
[Overflow: Velvet – 10, Mareinette – 65]
[Velvet Covers' Influence is drained. -50 to Mareinette's overflow]
[Escape attempt]
[Velvet's roll: 62 + 9 (Martial) = 71]
[Mareinette's interrupt: 38 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 78]
[Failure]
The mare, if you can even call her that, is huge. And she is even larger up close.
But more than that, she is upon you in an instant.
Because you can see in her eyes how much she wants you. How much she needs you. You can see in her a dryness that borders insanity.
But any hopes that her thirst might have detracted from her capabilities are gone in an instant.
She chases you like a single-minded apparition of white bone and gleaming ruby, even as you run through the deserted corridors of the Ruined Church.
She jumps towards you in a movement that feels too unnatural. And you swear that the shape underneath her cloak was utterly monstrous, if only for an instant, as she lunged in your direction.
But you can't care about those trifling details. Because on the next moment she is already upon you. Heavy and white and reeking of old blood and meat and regrets. Before you have time to understand what is happening, a horribly strong hoof made out of dry bones slams you against the ground, pinning you in place. And you feel nothing but horror as the sharp jaws of her skull-head close around you like a guillotine.
There is pain. You think there is pain. You think something is being taken from you, like a wedding dress might be torn away from a bride. You think you are less than you were before as her sharp teeth tear at you. You think you howl in pain or panic.
You are not really sure. Given your situation, a shriek of panic would sound exactly the same as a pained yell.
But much, much more importantly. As soon as Mareinette bites that something away from you, she begins to thrash on the floor. Openly chewing at the soul-shaped thing she just took from you. Wolfing down on it like a rabid predator that was moments away from dying of starvation.
And she focuses so completely on consuming what she just took from you, that she doesn't even realize she took her hoof away from your chest. She doesn't even realize she lost her grip on you.
You run away. Limping from the loss of a limb that wasn't any of your legs. Leaving behind a dripping trail of red soul-stuff from whatever you just lost.
Better to lose that than your truer, more precious blood.
"[GRAIL]!!!"
You hear her thirst-maddened cry but a few seconds later.
And this time, tears begin to stream down your face as you run.
[Velvet Covers' current health: 2/2 + 1/2 Influence]
[Velvet Covers will be solely focusing on escaping alive]
[Velvet's first roll: 20 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 34]
[Mareinette's first roll: 73 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 113]
[Overflow: Velvet – 10, Mareinette – 94]
[Velvet Covers' Influence is drained. -50 to Mareinette's overflow]
[Velvet Cover's Influence has been completely drained. It will no longer stand between her and Mareinette.]
[Velvet's second roll: 81 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 95]
[Mareinette's second roll: 40 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 80]
[Overflow: Velvet – 25, Mareinette – 44]
[Escape attempt]
[Velvet's roll: 19 + 9 (Martial) = 28]
[Mareinette's interrupt: 27 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 67]
[Failure]
You hear that howl, that promise, that makes the very walls of the Ruined Church shake. A promise to you, that you will become one with her. A promise to herself, that she will finally, finally, finally be slaked from her thirst.
You know her promises are all false. You know her tone is covered in madness.
But you still have no illusion that she is a fool.
To the point that you don't even try to hide. You just run. Because she probably knows this place better than you know your way around your own estate. And also because you understand your only chance to survive is to flee. Down to the Shattered Stairways, all the way to the Blank Plains. And who knows, the utter wrongness you feel from that monster of a mare-thing might mean you won't be safe even as a Blank Pony.
Because you somehow know, with a bone-deep certainty you can't explain, that the monstrous mare doesn't exactly follow the rules. And for all that her existence might be its own punishment, that still means she might as well be able to chase you even in the Winter-pall of the Blank Plains.
Still, you run. And you run. And you run.
And again, she reaches you almost without effort. You watch as the shadows of the corridor in front of you grow deeper and bloodier, and before you realize it you are staring up at the lustrous cloak that the monstrous horse wears.
Her heavy hoof, almost the size of your head, pins you down once again. Striking at the middle of your back and pushing you down like a bug.
Her jaws are around you right after that.
And this time you really feel pain. You feel the exposure of your last defenses being stripped away from you. You finally understand that she had been munching away from your Grail Influence, but only because it is now almost totally gone. And worse of all, you feel the scrape of her sharp teeth against your side, as she rips away your Grail-dress with all the hunger of a lustful criminal.
You don't even feel relief as she once again focuses her entire attention on wolfing down the part of your soul that she just stole. You just feel horror.
Because you know she will probably catch up to you again just as easily.
And you are nowhere near the end of the Ruined Church.
[Velvet Covers' current health: 2/2 + 0/2 Influence]
[Velvet Covers will be solely focusing on escaping alive]
[Velvet's first roll: 70 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 84]
[Mareinette's first roll: 86 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 126]
[Overflow: Velvet – 25, Mareinette – 86]
[Velvet Covers suffers ???. -50 to Mareinette's overflow]
[Velvet's second roll: 63 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 77]
[Mareinette's second roll: 39 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 79]
[Overflow: Velvet – 25, Mareinette – 38]
[Escape attempt]
[Velvet's roll: 86 + 9 (Martial) = 95]
[Mareinette's interrupt: 25 + 40 (Old and Terrible) = 65]
[Success]
You feel like a mouse. You feel like a pathetic, shivering rodent, running within the confines of a maze. Being chased not by a snake, and not by a hunting cat. But instead by a pony, who is watching you from above. An intelligence beyond your understanding that is for some reason bent on tormenting you.
That is how you feel as you run through the claustrophobic confines of the Ruined Church. As you cry, gasp and run while trying to retrace your steps.
But you know it will be to no avail.
You know this is where you will die.
And true to her promise, Mareinette once again all but materializes next to you. Exploding out of a closed door, spraying splinters of wood everywhere, with all the voracity of a rabid boar.
She doesn't even pin you down this time. She just lunges at your midsection. Her enormous skull-jaw closing around your entire thorax with ease.
You barely have the breath in you to shout in agony, as her very real teeth sink into the stuff of your dream-body.
And this time, she draws blood.
Her jaws are around you only for a moment. Because on the next, thanks to her maddened shaking, she throws you away.
You can see her, in the corner of your vision. Choking on the blood she just gulped down. Scraping and rolling and dragging herself on the floor where splashes of your blood fell. Competing with the marble Ruined Church's floor to see who will drink more of it first.
You think you see a tongue-like appendage rolling out of her dry mouth. But you are not sure, because you see all of that only from the corner of your vision.
You are much more focused on running away. Praying that the taste of real blood will keep her at bay. At least for longer than munching down on your Grail Influence did.
You focus on running. And you run, and you run, and you run.
And every time your galloping hoofs approach a corner, you die a little bit inside. Every time you run by a door, you are sure this will be it. You are sure that this time she will burst out from the wet shadows and devour you for good.
But that moment… never comes.
You leave the Ruined Church. And you go down, and down, and down. Until you reach the Woods and the Crossroads and the empty spaces in between its stony paths.
You run until you Wake.
You wake up the same way you went to sleep. On your bed, covered by your blankets, surrounded by the soft cushion of your pillows.
You wake up the same way you went to sleep. Except that this time you are shivering.
Because you remember what you saw.
And you remember what you felt.
And you remember how you bled.
But the worst part is that…
The worst part is that you somehow understand. The same way that you had the knowledge of churches presented to your brain, as you entered the main hall of the Ruined Church, you now also understand something else. Somehow, this deep and intimate part of you just knows that...
That what just happened was nothing but a conversation. You had nothing but a conversation with Mareinette.
And everything that happened to you just now...? It was just that. It was a dream-expression of her thirst. A enactment of something that she can't help but do, magnified by her presence in a place that couldn't help but become like her after she claimed it.
The worst part is exactly that. The fact that you understand that you... just had a nightmare. That you just shared a nightmare. But you were sharing it with a creature that is so much larger and older and greater than you are, that even that nightmare was horrible beyond understanding. You understand that you stepped into a place that belongs to something higher, so you had no choice but to partake in the effects of its existence. For the Ruined Church belongs to her the same way that an abandoned house belongs to a rat. But still, even if Mareinette is but an invading rat, you realize you might as well but just an ant.
And of course, given how this was a nightmare from the Mansus, it was definitely real.
But still, you had nothing but a conversation.
And you are left with the lingering impression that… that she even liked you. That she liked you. Or your blood. Or perhaps there is no appreciable difference between the two. Not for her, at least.
And as surely as she drooled when she first saw you, you somehow know that she is absolutely sure that she will meet you once again.
One way or the other.
You understand all of that, as soon as you open your eyes and wake up shivering.
And you just... lay there. You just lay on your bed, for a very long time.
You only try to move after the sun rises. And only then you finally realize what else happened to you.
Because a wound taken in the Mansus is as real as any other. The only difference is that it can also hurt in places where a knife cannot.
So, as you try to move, you finally realize that Mareinette also…
[] Mareinette drunk deeply from your body, and you can feel how dry it is now. Or water. Of blood. Of the ability to bear fruit. You can barely muster the strength to move from your bed. (Receive one wound)
[] Mareinette drunk deeply from your soul, and you can feel how dry it is now. Of colors. Of joy. Of the succulence you had been gathering through such effort. You can barely muster the will to move on. (Lose three scraps of Grail Lore)
You have met Mareinette, Our Lady of Wires.
Regardless of your decision, your Influence has degraded from "An Incarnadescence" (+40) to "An Urgency of Appetite" (+20). It will still completely vanish at the end of Turn 16.
Your blood bears all the Nine Tastes, and it is like a wine that is at the same time nostalgic and novel. Mareinette has taken an interest in your blood, and consequently in you. She might be willing to barter for it, in the future. Velvet Covers will receive an additional "+20 (Interest)" bonus to perform the Rite of Raucous Birth.
It is impossible to cross the Ruined Church, and reach higher in the Mansus, as long as Mareinette remains there. Summoning her into the Wake is a way to remove her from there.
Well, it is really unfortunate that our Moth reroll was spent?
Not actually an edit, update came earlier:
Well. That was a thing.
And we have to summon her if we want to climb further?
...We probably want to wait a bit. Maybe get a level 5 or two. Because we do not want to let her be free. If nothing else, because she took liking to our blood, who says that those whose in whom our blood flows will not be objects of interest as well?
Also, hm. Wound? May be suspicious, not sure, but losing three scraps stings.
I mean, dam, at least coper wil not be getting past that anytime soon.
@BirdBodhisattva can we still explore the church without having to run into her?
But on a less serious note, it's just me or every powerful woman here is terrifying in a way that lets them not understand how scary they are, even skelehorse here basically gave the grail zombie thing equivalent of saying hello.
Mareinette seems to be a very useful summon wish we got the details on how to rebind her. High Lore summoning requirements though in Grail and Heart, that's going to be tricky for us. We do have the regrents already which is nice.
Along with our interest bonus we could actually summon her straight away.
Losing 3 grail scraps is just a non-starter for me, compared to the what two actions it would take to heal from the wound? We are never getting those scraps back from the same sources and I feel like we would have to accept that grail is never getting past level 4 if we give up those scraps.
Just on a pure opportunity cost basis we are far better off tanking the wound and dealing with whatever suspension comes from it. We are already planning to do a forge redemption ritual anyway so what's one more later of suspension on how weird it is velvet goes from sickly to healthy.
We can only hope that copper gets herself killed while we are healing up, if she goes in unprepared with no influence there is a good chance copper might just get eaten before she can even challenge us.
Also I think it'd be a really good idea to hit All-4 before we do more Mansus expeditions. I'm guessing those were DC 100 checks, which is basically a coin flip even w/ Lore 4 (discounting the reroll).
well, that's the ideal. We're close to lvl up for most of them anyway though.
We might want to wait a bit before trying to go even deeper into the Red Church. In the meantime I'd go for the woods and stairways locations instead. Maybe even visit Baldomare again.
That would definitely help a lot. Knock and SH specifically (or even Lantern) Are likely to help a LOT after all.
and hey... lvl 4 influences give us 4 scraps. we can lvl up Lantern with a Lantern Influence, and we could try to get an influence for another lore to help our growth..
we also still have the lantern/forge books to study...
I do have to admit, it's kinda hilarious that we didn't actually need the Grail Influence. It got us the extra reagent, but that's a really big meh comparatively speaking. Winter was the real mvp this time, with a bit of Moth or Edge to get past the monsters.
meh, I expected as much and called Winter being the most important lore here. and Grail might still be useful to talk with what I imagine is going to be our grail name summon.
and hey, the ingredient will help if/when we want to summon a grail influence again, OR the Grail Summon if we get it now. it's worth quite a few saved bits in ingredients too, as a lvl 3 ingredient costs us 45 bits I think, and we don't yet know the cost of lvl 4 ones... nor can we yet make them.
Well, that was suitably hungry for the greatest place of Grail in the old Mansus, save maybe - maybe - the Concursum in some of its guises.
Still, based on the fact that 84 has triggered a reroll, it seems that all those hurdles were DC100. That is rather high, especially if you don't have casual access to every lore like Velvet.
If you can apply your lore to one and precisely one hurdle, the other two by themselves make the chance of success somewhere from 1% to 4% (at both attributes equal to 10 and both attributes equal to 20).
Unless you use artifacts or can substitute your lore at least at reduced effectiveness, you are basically not passing through the Ruined Church.
well, you can just try again and again. Failure is not death, usually, so you should be able to recover and try again.
but yeah, most people would likely take years of efforts to get through this. Years to gather artifacts to help in the climb. Years to get the influence ritual just right and get a good enough bonus to help.
Velvet did it in one session.
we should expect DC for post-church (or deeper church) to all be at 100 at least too. From now on further climbing will become even harder, which means we have a chance to instead catch up to the places we left behind.
2 wood locations, 1 stairway location, and maybe revisiting old places too.
And working more on our lores and sacraments, to get ready for the other places.
As for the thing we're about to meet, I'm about 99% certain it's the Grail Name. The most holy location to Grail, at the end of an expedition? There's not much else that would make sense.
We were saving the Attention of the Laws ritual boost that doubles our application bonus. Basically an extra +15 in our case. And we used it to convince her to follow us/trust us.
So, I got bored again and decided to analyze just how hard it would be for our potential rival to scale the Mansus, or anybody else for that matter. You know, an actual hard numbers overview. And… wow. No wonder Windy is the only guy who has made it to be Branded. Look at this:
That's every roll we've ever had in the Mansus. Without SH, Knock, or Winter, it's basically useless. Lantern also occasionally helps—but Jade doesn't want to go past the Blank Door—but mostly only on the Doors, while Edge, Heart, and Moth barely appear, and Grail or Forge just plain don't matter. Yet, at least.
And while Artifacts can make up the difference, they are disgustingly expensive. Like, one Level Three costs almost two times our monthly paycheck, and while I can't remember the specific comparison, we make a lot. Windy, the one other guy who doesn't need it as much, is the one other person with a lot of money.
Our Cult just really wasn't built to scale the Mansus. But hey, at least Stormchaser will probably climb quickly.
EDIT: and now we have the rolls for the Ruined Church.
We're starting to get more spread now, but most of the original analyst still holds true. Winter and SH remain mvp, Grail is still useless except for a neat extra bonus, and while Forge makes its first appearance, you probably have something better on hand if you've made it this far. Moth/Edge could be useful though.
It's also been noted that these were single Lore checks with no extra Application bonuses. Which only ups the difficulty further.
hey @BirdBodhisattva could we get this post threadmarked as informational? It's neat to be able to see all Mansus obstacles in a single place after all.
I think I'll recheck it more thoroughly in a bit, once I'm fully caught up.
Hmm. This is an interesting check. Both for the fact that it could be passed in a multitude of ways, but also in what is not shown. Unless Knock and Heart just couldn't be fit in the colors and are also options—unlikely, Bird hasn't refrained from splitting words before—they're not available for some reason.
But still, it's interesting that the most blatant mental attack, one you would think is perfectly suited for just Winter, can be defended against with almost anything except Grail. Makes me wonder how the other answers would have manifested.
Lantern is pretty easy just visit the lodge of the Sage Pony. Edge is a lot trickier, I've mentioned the difficulties earlier but if we're avoiding the guaranteed free edge scrap the only other option is to aim for a level 3 influence which is costly and has about a 40dc to pass after bonuses.
We're actually pretty close to leveling up Forge, we can get 2 scraps from our books so we just need one more.
Keep in mind we don't get to choose the reward from the Lodge.
Lantern is definitely an option, especially if, say, we visit with only one scrap missing for the lvl up. Baldomare could likely sense how close we'd be to the lvl up. but it's not the only option.
There MIGHT be an option for Edge lesson from Comet, maybe.
and the wolf scraps are NOT free. Only you would call them free.
Wolf. If Shaper mentions something and doesn't mention a downside or where it's from it's the Wolf.
In this case we can get a free 'lesson' from the Wolf, just at the cost of a regrettable action and fucking something else in the world up for everyone else. Also tying (some of) our sacraments to the Wolf forever.
If we are serious about Edge, we can try also do one last book hunt. We might be able to spare an AP, given that current problems are kind of resolved.
We can use Lantern 3 (one scrap remaining, very useful), Forge 3 (one scrap remaining, very useful), Edge 3 (one scrap remaining, very useful), potentially Grail 3 (in that scenario one scrap remaining, very useful) and Heart 3 (4 scraps remaining, not very useful, but not useless).
We have that Lantern 6 book for one more scrap if we need it, but we also might want to delay it. Level 6 scraps are not very plentiful.
lvl 3-4 books are kinda expensive, AND we can't study them the same turn we find them anyway.
It might just be more efficient to do Canterlot Expedition part 2 instead. Though with DoA being hurt that's a bit tricky. We'd probably want to have DoA AND Velvet go together... we CAN afford it, though. and we should get some of the bits back anyway.
Those certainly didn't help, but no, it was confirmed that odd levels of Lore put a tension on your mind as you reach a new profound understanding, and the next level eases it up. Hence why level Four is called a Confident Certainty. It's also why you get new abilities more than just "do better at x".
We… had a conversation about this, like, a week or two ago. I could have sworn you even participated, though I might be wrong there.
I was there, but I don't remember a quote saying that applies to lvl 5 too. We mostly know it to be true for lvl 3, but we don't know how a Sacrament affects someone... because, hey, we haven't seen one yet.
You know, I have a thought. This place, this Church, it is alive, isn't it? It is desperate for as much as attention, for anything at all right?
So, maybe, maybe, we can give it enough attention so it is no longer quite as desperate? That it would think of us as an ally of sorts (and not a dinner), if not as friend, not as a lover (because lover would almost certainly be dinner).
No, don't get me wrong, it is all but certain that even if it is possible at all, it is impossible for a mortal, and Velvet is only that. Even if it is possible at all, maybe it is not something that should be done.
The Red Church was so far beyond us it wouldn't be even funny. And yet, and yet, with possibility to befriend Names, maybe befriending the reduced husk that is the Ruined Church may be just barely imaginable.
That heavily depends on the next update, and it is 99.9999% a bad, no, a horrible idea, but it is a funny thought.
Let's adopt a stray daughterChurch, as if all the shenanigans Velvet are already capable are not enough
Since when can Grail be satisfied with just one being? It might be possible to "befriend/tame" the Church, but that would likely require a GROUP of people at the very least
ETERNAL ENMITY
'Think of the Corrivality as a fire. It warms, and then it burns.So my Foe and I warm the world around us, and then eventually it burns. But we're a wandering fire. So the world burns not in one place, but many. And we're not alone. There are other wandering flames. And another thing a fire does: it spreads, as long as it finds fuel. The world is our fuel. One day, then, sooner than you think, the world will be all aflame. And a final function of fire: if you've ever cooked meat, you'll know it brings out the juices. So when the flame burns down, the Wolf and all the wandering flames will feast. My mouth is watering already.'
'Interviews with the Invisible', Kaunas, Lithuania, December 1926
You understand that summon her fully and completely in the wake is bad right? An giant grail monster with an general +40 that will need to be rebinded constantly? She is like copper but with the power to be a treath.
And if she break free she will be a problem to us as the head of the ocult police?
Like i know pushing for "the wrong thing" is kinda you stick but i eve offering to feed her to puppers.
Lack of Grail sucks but not as if we don't have a bajillion more things to study and research. A Wound is an immediate problem that is literally making us one step closer to death. Not something we want on the eve of becoming a public servant. Knowledge we may or may not use and a vague upgrade we might not even find helpful versus certain complication and action cost needed to heal? I'd say those Lore scraps did their purpose above and beyond by saving our bacon.
"Do not invite her to drink. Do not leave her alone with foals. Under no circumstances try to look at the hoofs of her hindlegs. She is large, larger than a pony could ever possibly be. If her horse-shaped silhouette can even be trusted, that is. She wears a dark-red and regal cloak, and she reeks of old blood. Her bony visage clacks whenever she speaks, and at times you swear she is nothing but a puppeteer's trick. And yet, for some maddening reason, you cannot point out a single thing that is wrong with her, and you cannot explain to yourself why you shouldn't treat her as anything but an honored guest."
Summoning cost: 100 bits, to procure a black boar to be sacrificed, as well as other items besides.
Summoning details:
-Upon successful completion of the ritual, Mareinette will be PERMANENTLY and COMPLETELY summoned into the Wake. She will no longer reside within the Mansus.
-Upon successful completion of the ritual, Mareinette will be bound and obedient like a regular summon.
-However, her bindings will only last for three whole turns. It will be necessary to rebind her, somehow, once that time is up.
-[CURRENTLY UNKNOWN]
Health: [CURRENTLY UNKNOWN]
General bonus: +40 ("Old and Terrible")
"Specific action" bonus: [CURRENTLY UNKNOWN]
Aspects: GRAIL 6, HEART 6 [ONE WHO IS VERY GREAT]: Mareinette is willing to offer you Sacraments in the Lores of Grail and Heart, should you fulfill her requirements. [OUR LADY OF WIRES]: Mareinette is immune to the effects of "Monstrous Appearance". [Other traits positive, unknown]
[MONSTROUS APPEARANCE]: Cannot be used for Social Actions. (Immune) [Other traits negative, unknown]
First. It summons the Name equivalent - a fucking Ligeian - in her fullest, and its binds her to our will.
...Full power Names are still most likely greater, but that still is a lot of power.
A little bit of lore: in CS, there are seven Keys that are instrumental in ascension to Namehood or Hourhood. There is an old Law that makes possession of them impossible, let alone use them, but Alukites - immortals who ate their children - are not really inside the Laws of Mansus.
Marinette, Our Lady of Wires holds (or maybe held, or could have come in possession of) the Flaying Key, which opens the Kingskin Gate. It is a key that was present in the Ascension of every God-from-Blood. Also, her role in quest - her inevitability - has implications on what kind of ascension Glory Ending is.
Second. We can not allow Copper to summon her, under no circumstances. Maybe we can delay a turn or two, but not longer.
I can not stress this enough.
Third. If we are to summon her, we probably should seek advice from Baldomare. She is familiar with the Ligeia Club, and might hold answers how to rebind her.
Also, we really should not lose our Grail progress, to gain a reroll by the time when we'll need to deal with her.
Would it be possible to sacrifice Her before the bindings end? Seeing as She permanently moves to the Wake, I don't think so, but it could be a good way to get rid of Her for good.
In canon Cultist Simulator, Marinette was a Ligean (Ligeans are a group of 7 Alukites that are needed to use the Keys that allow for the ascention of Names and Hours). I wonder if she still has her Key, or if it was lost in the collapse of the House.
You understand that summon her fully and completely in the wake is bad right? An giant grail monster with an general +40 that will need to be rebinded constantly? And if she break free she will be a problem to us as the head of the ocult police?
Given that Marinette should be a Key-Holder, it is entirely possible that Names will sanction any possibility of her death.
Without her, the World will need to wait until someone becomes a Long, that is, if it is even possible without an Hour to sponsor such an ascension, then wait until they eat their children, and only then the path to becoming a Name or an Hour would be open.
The Master in particular might object, given their goals.
Read what i said, never sai we do not summon her, i say we have luna kill (or seal discord style) her or feed her to the wolf. Truth is, we don't have any way to rebind her as right now, so summoning is not an option to anyone that cares for the world and velvet daughters
Hmm. We might have a small problem if we take the wound...
Velvet will have to engage the Daughter-of-Axes in an epic struggle to reclaim the 'Blanky of Boo Boo Kissing'!
Truely, with our skills I doubt Velvet would succeed. She'll just have to schedule a doctor's appointment for a likely overdue checkup. Like a normal pony.
I can give you a freebie, and maybe an Edge scrap of Lore, if you all agree to cut said message into your skin, but it will cost you one Health... any more ideas?
Not having any way to rebind her is fear mongering given how we don't have the full details of her summoning and ignoring the hints of blood for rebinding we can always just sacrifice her to send her out if the wake if needed.
I have no idea what you are trying to say for the second half of your sentence. Your incoherent.
Read what i said, never sai we do not summon her, i say we have luna kill (or seal discord style) her or feed her to the wolf. Truth is, we don't have any way to rebind her as right now, so summoning is not an option to anyone that cares for the world and velvet daughters
This is just plain stupid, you are proposing we completely cut off our manus ascent just because we might not be able to rebind her in three turns?
I'm sorry but you are going to have to accept we need to take some risks if we want to keep ascending the Manus, having us delay until we can get everything just right risks copper getting her hands on the summon before us and that's a worst case scenario. Also having a powerful grail name permanently bound to us is a very powerful asset, we are just going to have to focus our actions a bit more on ways to rebind the summon.
I also think that 'feeding the wof divided' idea is insane, that'll almost certainly be a regrettable action and we wouldn't even get anything out of it other than getting rid of the a powerful asset. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and say we absolutely can't rebind her and they need to be killed.
-Upon successful completion of the ritual, Mareinette will be PERMANENTLY and COMPLETELY summoned into the Wake. She will no longer reside within the Mansus.
