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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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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!

Kaelor said:
PSA for whoever needs to hear it:

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.
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(Quote slightly edited to avoid spoilers)
 
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BirdBodhisattva said:
But that's the problem. You feel like… no, you know there is something out there, but you can't put a hoof on what it is. You have been going up and down these streets for years, you know every corner and alley there is, and you have already seen more than one ugly gang war. And yet, this feeling you have is… it's just different.

As if something else is roaming the shadowy corners of your city. Something smarter than the gangs, more focused than the swindlers… hay, you dare say it's even more dangerous than the freaks that rampaged during the Catastrophe.
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he might be feeling Paranoia.

BirdBodhisattva said:
"What am I doing here? I'm waiting for you, that's what," he says, in a tone that you can only describe as panicked. "You're the only damn detective that takes ten hours to do an eight-hour route so we had no freaking choice but to wait!"
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well, our new hero unit is definitely diligent.

BirdBodhisattva said:
"Did you hear the news already?" he asks, and you are not sure if he really wants to hear your answer or if he is just trying to ease you into whatever bad news he has in store.

"Can't say I have, Chief. Mousetrap seemed to be on edge downstairs, but he didn't tell me much. Besides, I'm not sure it would've been possible for me to hear about… whatever this is," you say, easing yourself into the chair. Wondering how wet your uniform is while you are at it.

And you watch as the Chief Constable raises an eyebrow at your words.

"Really? And why do you figure that?"

"Well, because you have access to my schedule, so if this was really urgent you'd have sent a runner after me. So I figure that whatever happened, happened just a few hours ago. After the time it was better to wait for me here than to send somepony to look for me in my patrol route," you say, shrugging slightly as you talk. "Besides, Mousetrap was waiting for me in Administration like this was urgent, but Loose Bolt didn't mention anything when I arrived at the lobby. Which either means everypony is finally admitting Bolt has a bad memory… or that this is need-to-know only, and I wouldn't have been able to hear this news from anywhere else."
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yeah, he's obviously pretty good at logical deductions.

I feel like he's going to both be a great asset AND a constant risk. I'm betting his malus will be about him finding something on Velvet or the occult we don't want him to find out.

BirdBodhisattva said:
Because it's always something like this. This kind of shit has been going on for years now. Ever since you tracked down that bit-counterfeiter and had your name plastered on the newspapers as if you were some sort of hero. The tophats from uptown think you're some sort of private hound they can call on, and every now and then they try to bully the Chief into assigning you some petty case that affected some rich pony.
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a good reputation from a pretty important case. Money Counterfeiting is a more serious crime that many think of, because if it goes too far it can bring doubts about the value and trustworthiness of a currency, and that can cause massive problems.

BirdBodhisattva said:
He says that, but you don't really… understand. You feel your pulse quicken slightly at that, realizing all the gaps in information that you are working with. Because what did he mean by up? And what the hay does he mean by permanent?
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literally from high up, from the top of the Canterlot Peaks. potentially you could argue from up in the sky, straight from the very Sun :V

BirdBodhisattva said:
"The Governor is fucking scared, Roach. There's no beating around the bush. That letter arrived by courier on the town four hours ago, and it reached the Governor while he was having dinner in his own damn house. And you know what he did? He didn't even ask a pony to come here and summon me, no. He got out of his own damn house after hours and came here himself."

You feel your breath get caught inside your lungs. That damned Governor? Scared? Doing stuff with his own hoofs?!
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Yeah, Angry Celestia made an impression I'm sure.

BirdBodhisattva said:
"And uh, I hope you keep this just between you and me Roach. But the Governor actually said he wanted you fired. No, hang on, calm down. Not because you did anything wrong. But, and these are his words, because he didn't want even the smallest impression that we were trying to keep you here."
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understandable, though probably unnecessary. I don't think we're FORCING people to work for us if they don't want to, so that might actually come as taking it too far if he had decided to reject our offer.

BirdBodhisattva said:
Beyond Reproach
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this name is both a promise and a threat to us, really.

one the one hoof, it means he's not compromised.

On the other, it means WE won't be able to compromise him.


And now for the next update...
 
Pittauro said:
tentative plan is, I think, to somehow have the Bureau "find" occult material, then use that as a justification for Velvet learning it quickly, possibly thanks to her Cutie Mark Special Talent (she DOES have a book with Moths...), and once enough time has passed for Velvet being able to successfully complete a ritual to not be COMPLETELY ludicrous
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That will take like 6 to 12 months at quickest along with containing major risks nobody here has been offering any solutions too. Given how dangerous low health is being for us these days it might be better to create an alternate plan.

We could heal our scar on a successful very hard expedition. Make up some story about an ancient magic artifact from a begone era that healed us before collapsing to pieces. Celestia has that Mirror that does things normal pony magic can't so it's not unprecedented. Give some actual evidence of ancient ruins we explored and our story has some backing.

Or we could just say Mareinette did it and show off our Skeleton pony Monster that we happened to run into and make friends with. The social dc would be pretty high but Mareinette does have mega high Grail and if we got her a forge artifact we could have her heal Shinning which would probably help deal with any worries Cadence has. Keep Mareinette away from Celestia and convince Cadence she totally cool to hang with.

Or some other plan somebody can come with.
 
Pittauro said:
side-note, I actually did a couple short runs through CS (basic, no DLC) in the last few days. I got despair ending both times and never even passed through the White Door, I'm out of practice :V

I think I'm starting to get into it, so next sale I'll probably buy the DLC and Book of Hours and play it some more. I'll probably do a few more runs in the meantime, see if I can win without outright watching at guides (though I've read a few tips).
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I'm new to the quest, found it during the latest impromptu hiatus and loved it, but I'm not new to the setting. Done multiple endings and runs of both CS (dlc included) and BoH. If you guys want to know anything I can answer.

Also if the Lantern artefact is the same as the one in game then it's tier 6 and liable to breaking if it's ever pushed. Repairs are easy if expensive.
 
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Iustus Vitae said:
I'm new to the quest, found it during the latest impromptu hiatus and loved it, but I'm not new to the setting. Done multiple endings and runs of both CS (dlc included) and BoH. If you guys want to know anything I can answer.

Also if the Lantern artefact is the same as the one in game then it's tier 6 and liable to breaking if it's ever pushed. Repairs are easy if expensive.
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oh, it's not the first time I play it. It's just I usually didn't have much patience for it. My most advanced run was up to Stag Door, but then I overextended on an expedition.

Also I didn't really get/take advantage of rituals and cult in general, and didn't buy/study that many books.


I now know to buy all low level books at the bookshop, to be more careful of Dread, and to not overextend. If I continue to play (and I think I just might) I'm sure I'll get further.

...I'm just annoyed there isn't a faster way to get Reason/Passion/Health to higher levels. it's annoying how you COULD in theory max them out (well, NEARLY max them out) basically at the near-beginning, but it's just so boring to do...
 
Velvet you saw she was sitting on a literal mountain of wrong keys in the Mansus, of course she brought some with her.

…also DoA can kick the ass of any summon if she actually cares to by just pulling out that keyring. Because each is a wound and she has enough to put down a Heart name several times over. Just among the wrong keys she bothered to bring with her.
 
Byzantine said:
Velvet you saw she was sitting on a literal mountain of wrong keys in the Mansus, of course she brought some with her.

…also DoA can kick the ass of any summon if she actually cares to by just pulling out that keyring. Because each is a wound and she has enough to put down a Heart name several times over. Just among the wrong keys she bothered to bring with her.
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You ever heard that saying about never giving a Wizard time to prepare? Names are a lot more powerful than Wizards, and DoA has had a very long time to prepare. :V
 
Pittauro said:
I now know to buy all low level books at the bookshop, to be more careful of Dread, and to not overextend. If I continue to play (and I think I just might) I'm sure I'll get further.
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Why do you keep bad ending to dread? Unless you were actively generating restlessness and not dealing with it via either passion or the painting skill you should be fine. Unless you're doing a detective run as your first set of runs, bold if foolish move then.
Pittauro said:
...I'm just annoyed there isn't a faster way to get Reason/Passion/Health to higher levels. it's annoying how you COULD in theory max them out (well, NEARLY max them out) basically at the near-beginning, but it's just so boring to do...
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You really only need to worry about Vitality as there are no books for it. Get all of the skills, this should give you 2 in all three and give you enough action economy to be fine. Then coast and get the Poetry and Essay books from the bookstore and auction house. You can read those for a Glimmering and Erudition Understanding/Lesson (forget what they're called) ready made.
Pittauro said:
Also I didn't really get/take advantage of rituals and cult in general
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Did you know you could talk to your cultists about the cult and get them to do jobs for you dependent on their Aspect? I didn't for my first 4 successful runs :V.

As for rituals hey @BirdBodhisattva is the in quest Winter ritual that got used in this chapter also untargetted like it's game counterpart?
Pittauro said:
It's just I usually didn't have much patience for it. My most advanced run was up to Stag Door, but then I overextended on an expedition.
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Kill the older Alden (use the Moth 5 hireling) and get his job. Gives three money so you have a lot more room.
 
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Greymere said:
Nah, EiB is targeted here. You can see the details for all our known rituals in the "Known Rituals, and Lore Invocations" informational.

So someone intentionally tried to kill us.
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Oh I know it's targeted here but even in game it wasn't a luck of the draw thing, different people got different values attributed to them. I take that to mean ic (to CS and BoH) we fire off the ritual in the vague direction of the person we want to kill and hope it doesn't decide to go after someone else. So I was asking from that perspective, is it perfect targeting or an aoe spread kind of thing.
 
Absolutely delighted this quest is back! It's a singular story and one of my favourite pieces of online writing, period.

Also how wonderful that the first two parts back are exemplars of scenes the quest does so well: characters presented and developed in a way that feels deeply authentic and real, and evocative pieces that blend the eerie and eldritch (the end is... beautiful) with the comfortable and familiar (returning home to a family you love!).
 
I do find it funny that Velvet so casually noticed Reproach noticing Shining's fake horn, when Shining didn't. He obviously knew she was deserving of the job, so it's probably not all that surprising, but it's just another one of those moments that really drives home just how much more she is in most fields. Now, the question is if Reproach noticed her noticing him doing that.
 
You know Cover's can take many descriptors but it's still funny that "horny horse lady" apply to her in 2 diferent ways.
 
I have a proposal.

We should take all the Lunar Bureau bits and buy, like, an INQUISITION TRAIN. Think about it, it lets us travel, it lets us work all the time, it lets us spend time in Ponyville, and it projects the eldritch power of magic (and bureaucracy) across every corner of Equestria.

And I dunno about all curses, but I'm sure being on a moving train would make some ritual attacks harder to hit us. And we can decorate the train with racing stripes.
 
Iustus Vitae said:
So I was asking from that perspective, is it perfect targeting or an aoe spread kind of thing.
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It's perfect targeting. Granted, someone allegedly always dies when EiB is cast, even if you fail to kill your target, but nothing in the ritual's text says it's going to be someone near the primary target. And it's not an AoE; so like, if we ever have to facetank an EiB, everyone around us isn't going to start dropping like flies just for being nearby when the curse arrived.

As far as we know, anyway. This is technically the first time we're actually seeing EiB in use.
 
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The weird part about EiB is it does X wounds to the target… but someone always dies.

So… do you just keep rolling until one of you drops, or does someone nearby just drop if it fails to kill them?

I'm also questioning what the wrong key just did to the ritual. It clearly broke it… but the ritual is explicit that someone always dies, so did we just kill one of the ritualists?

…fuck re-reading the segment I think we literally picked the rebound target when we picked that particular cloud to use the key on.
 
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Byzantine said:
The weird part about EiB is it does X wounds to the target… but someone always dies.

So… do you just keep rolling until one of you drops, or does someone nearby just drop if it fails to kill them?

I'm also questioning what the wrong key just did to the ritual. It clearly broke it… but the ritual is explicit that someone always dies, so did we just kill one of the ritualists?

…fuck re-reading the segment I think we literally picked the rebound target when we picked that particular cloud to use the key on.
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To be fair, Knock does subvert everything. It might have undone the "someone has to die" clause.
 
BirdBodhisattva said:
You then very carefully aim it towards that one particular cloud that is so charged with anticipation and regret, and then you-
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Mm. On the one hand, this could be aiming at the ritual itself, the cold wind that is coming for her. On the other hand, yeah, I could buy that it was aiming back at the particular person responsible for it, though I doubt Velvet realizes that or she would have made a bigger fuss.

Kinda depends on whether the anticipation and regret is just the energy of the EiB, or if it's the emotions of the person trying to kill her. In the latter case though that really makes me think this isn't even Copper Secatour, since I find it unlikely she would be regretful about trying to kill Velvet:
 
Ericwinter said:
Mm. On the one hand, this could be aiming at the ritual itself, the cold wind that is coming for her. On the other hand, yeah, I could buy that it was aiming back at the particular person responsible for it, though I doubt Velvet realizes that or she would have made a bigger fuss.

Kinda depends on whether the anticipation and regret is just the energy of the EiB, or if it's the emotions of the person trying to kill her. In the latter case though that really makes me think this isn't even Copper Secatour, since I find it unlikely she would be regretful about trying to kill Velvet:
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Probably regrets it failing though
 
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