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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Solace2117 said:
I'd rather start the sacrament as well, but climbing the Manse is never a bad second choice. I understand those that think the 3 wedding picks are worth it, but I stand by my opinion it's not. On the same note that you say we are overestimating the risk, I think you're doing the opposite. There seems to be the sense that with Luna's return things will change pretty drastically. While true narratively, I'm skeptical of the extent to Velvet herself.
Functionally we're stuck as always with too many important priorities and not enough actions. Frankly I just don't think the wedding is important enough to risk adding actions to mitigate problems on the back end. Also if this is our one free blow off the Bureau card we're burning, I'd rather save it for something more important. Finally if the wedding is important to Equestria as a whole, this is the worst time for Velvet to slack off, especially since she's already taking a vacation.
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it depends a lot on how much you value the wedding. I think it's a unique chance of removing some of our old problems.

Shining leash? I can see a wedding pick resolving it.
Scraps of Grail or Heart? I can see us getting them
Artifacts or reagents or books? I can see Cadance wanting to share some of her wedding gifts as a thank you to Velvet, kinda like how Uncle Steppes decided to buy us the Lantern 6 book in Impulse.
Calming Celestia down a bit? Well, sure, if something beside Luna could do it it would be the wedding of her niece.

I see a lot of potential value in the wedding picks, and I want as many of them as we can get.
 
A MiTL costs 55 bits to summon. With a possible Lvl 5 book purchase needed in the coming turns, possibly multiple scryings, and at least one presumably looooong expedition for the Frangliclave, where are we going to find the bits for extra summons? The last person who did the math concluded we would need to put off summoning Biedde, and he's only 45 bits more!

Ugh, we are under a constant bits crunch, and peoples' allergy to building up our finances to alleviate this problem that plagues us every. single. turn. in favor of addressing things that only might be a problem frustrates me to no end.
 
Greymere said:
I could but it wouldn't really matter. Considering.
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Well that's just quitter talk, my friend! The only way to turn a vote around is to show support for what you want! Makes sure that people see the more neglected plans rather than just the current front-runners.
bookworm702 said:
I do hope it's at the end of the month. So Luna really can just show up at the vows and be all "Oh, don't mind me, sorry I'm late. Please, continue."
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I'd rather she not steal Cadance's thunder like that, honestly.
 
Iustus Vitae said:
Like sure starting out earlier is better but the simple fact to the matter is that people beating us to the Glory isn't gonna fuck us over, something else will come along first. Mostly because everyone else is so far behind in this race it isn't even funny.
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Anybody getting to the Glory is an auto lose condition. And we not nearly as far ahead as you think. Copper will be at the Ruined Church this turn for sure, if they are not already at it. Windy has become a Wolf acolyte and as such is making moves that threaten the entire land with destruction and ruination, every turn that passes Windy increments an apocalypse counter one step closer.
 
I would like for the winning plan to have a escaling the mansus action, apparently were close to something.
Earth-Destroyer said:
Copper will be at the Ruined Church this turn for sure, if they are not already at it. Windy has become a Wolf acolyte and as such is making moves that threaten the entire land with destruction and ruination, every turn that passes Windy increments an apocalypse counter one step closer.
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Proof?

Just because you think that is happening, and it makes sense why, doesn't means that's what's happening.
 
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Earth-Destroyer said:
Anybody getting to the Glory is an auto lose condition. And we not nearly as far ahead as you think. Copper will be at the Ruined Church this turn for sure, if they are not already at it. Windy has become a Wolf acolyte and as such is making moves that threaten the entire land with destruction and ruination, every turn that passes Windy increments an apocalypse counter one step closer.
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We don't know that Windy is a Wolf Acolyte yet. For all we know he bombed his rolls to listen to the whispers and is just too busy trying to make ends meet after uprooting his entire life save for his girlfriend. He's not Velvet, his ability to yolo solo being a cult unto himself is rather limited.
 
Pittauro said:
a cheap summon that is maybe of the right principles to be summoned by our confidants or Names would be very good, depending on what it does. a Moth Edge summon to keep on permanent guard, for example. They can also replace reagents as sacrifices for Names, potentially, and a summon is actually a bit cheaper than a comparable reagent, much less 2.
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You'd be trading bits for actions then and only for what'll be chump change in the grander scheme of things.
BunnyLord said:
Source on this? We truly don't know what's gone on above us in the Mansus, you're saying this as if it's fact. There could be different requirements for the doors.
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While Birb has deviated from CS in the nature of the Ways they over all remain the same and the Peacock Door either requires the destruction of repairable artefacts or the Frangclaive. I will legitimately be surprised if it doesn't involve artefact in some way.

As for the Tricuspid Gate it is the final door to cross beyond which lies the Glory. You need a ritual powered by 36 of your chosen aspect in our case that would be T18. In CS you can use Lores (that go up to 14 there so 7 here), artefacts and reagents (12 in game 6 here), cultists/minions (12 in game unless you sacrifice tools and 6 here) and an Influence which is not a thing in this system but in CS go up to 15. We currently have 4 in SH, a 2 in artefact and 6 in cultist as an e.g. So yeah looking at all of that I really don't think Birb has made it any easier for us to do. Glory is way off and something else will fuck us over way before we get to it.

For all that Baldomare (and through her Birb) said to continue the climb and focus on the Glory slowing down and or dealing with Copper isn't going to cause us to lose the game. Playing whack a mole with cults that spring up, outside threats and disasters will but that's not what I propose anyways. We need to take a step back, firm up our foundations and then move.
Earth-Destroyer said:
Anybody getting to the Glory is an auto lose condition. And we not nearly as far ahead as you think. Copper will be at the Ruined Church this turn for sure, if they are not already at it. Windy has become a Wolf acolyte and as such is making moves that threaten the entire land with destruction and ruination, every turn that passes Windy increments an apocalypse counter one step closer.
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Anyone getting to the Glory might be a loss condition but again that shit is way off. And where are you getting this? All we've got hints of as to Copper's progress is Birb's hint that she has visited the Forest and after the contested summons we know she doesn't have a Knock artefact. Do you really think she'll have managed to climb past the Stairways never mind find the church as it's one of three locations there? And no Windy being a wolf acolyte doesn't mean he is an existential threat never mind that we don't even know if he is one.

If there is one threat from Windy it's that he has his Winter Sacrament and has already visited the resting place of the Sun-in-Splendour.
 
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rafuki22 said:
I would like for the winning plan to have a escaling the mansus action, apparently were close to something.
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The winning plan will always have that action since we get it for free with our extra Knock action, the only thing the the extra Manus exploration action will get us is the temple expedition(Probably useful but not in the short term if its a summon) and either getting us to the door which persumably we will be blocked by either Frangclaive or Sacrament requirements or checking out the stairways which again might be useful or its another summon we can't afford.

If it were a binary choice between the Sacrament and scaling the Manus i would choose the Manus but since we aren't actually delaying anything and continuing to climb anyway, i think preemptively starting our Sacrament before we actually need it will be the smarter choice in the long run.
 
Pittauro said:
it depends a lot on how much you value the wedding. I think it's a unique chance of removing some of our old problems.

Shining leash? I can see a wedding pick resolving it.
Scraps of Grail or Heart? I can see us getting them
Artifacts or reagents or books? I can see Cadance wanting to share some of her wedding gifts as a thank you to Velvet, kinda like how Uncle Steppes decided to buy us the Lantern 6 book in Impulse.
Calming Celestia down a bit? Well, sure, if something beside Luna could do it it would be the wedding of her niece.

I see a lot of potential value in the wedding picks, and I want as many of them as we can get.
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Which is totally fair, but if we solve old problems just to create new ones we end up in the same position.
 
Talon TigerDino said:
A MiTL costs 55 bits to summon. With a possible Lvl 5 book purchase needed in the coming turns, possibly multiple scryings, and at least one presumably looooong expedition for the Frangliclave, where are we going to find the bits for extra summons? The last person who did the math concluded we would need to put off summoning Biedde, and he's only 45 bits more!

Ugh, we are under a constant bits crunch, and peoples' allergy to building up our finances to alleviate this problem that plagues us every. single. turn. in favor of addressing things that only might be a problem frustrates me to no end.
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I have some hope of finding a moth/Edge summon that would be perfect as a sacrifice for Biedde... and I'm hoping we'll basically never buy books or artifacts again, instead doing expeditions and getting stuff to study (and hopefully also sell) from there.

I won't comment much on our finances, but I'm hoping they'll get better. To start with we're teaching Rarity, and once she's at 4/2 I expect her to get even better at her job, raising her income significantly.

rafuki22 said:
I would like for the winning plan to have a escaling the mansus action, apparently were close to something.
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there's a non-zero chance we'll reach the door even without a dedicated action, actually, though we can't know for sure. It's probably 1 or 2 points of exploration before we reach the not-Peacock-Door, which we THINK will require artifact sacrifices or possibly the Frangiclave to be opened

Iustus Vitae said:
As for the Tricuspid Gate it is the final door to cross beyond which lies the Glory. You need a ritual powered by 36 of your chosen aspect in our case that would be T18. In CS you can use Lores (that go up to 14 there so 7 here), artefacts (12 in game 6 here), cultists/minions (12 in game unless you sacrifice tools and 6 here) and an Influence which is not a thing in this system but in CS go up to 15. We currently have 4 in SH, a 2 in artefact and 6 in cultist as an e.g. So yeah looking at all of that I really don't think Birb has made it any easier for us to do. Glory is way off and something else will fuck us over way before we get to it.
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technically it IS easier for us.

After all we can make reagents. if to pass through the Tricuspid is STILL a mono-lore ritual, we could presumably sacrifice multiple lvl 4 reagents, and ensure a massive bonus. Or we might be able to sacrifice summons for it, potentially.
 
I am sure the Tricuspid Gate will be something much more meaningfully then just throw lore numbers at it. Something like bring lore knowledge to the world, or at least raise the family lore knowledge to level 4, if not level 5.

And people are severely underestimating Copper, they have been branded since before the cult broke up. Getting to the ruined church is just a matter of throwing rolls at going up from that point.
 
Pittauro said:
technically it IS easier for us.

After all we can make reagents. if to pass through the Tricuspid is STILL a mono-lore ritual, we could presumably sacrifice multiple lvl 4 reagents, and ensure a massive bonus. Or we might be able to sacrifice summons for it, potentially.
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Let us assume that the ritual is analogous to CS in that one slot is provided by our lore and the rest is sacrifices. We get 2 sacrifices in that case and even if we have Lore 6 that leaves us with 12 to hit. Suppose we sacrifice Baldomare then a T6 reagent covers it. But here's the thing. It took us what? 14 or there about turns to get to Lore 4? It's gonna take us just as long if not longer to get to 6. So technically easier or not it's not actually that much easier.
Earth-Destroyer said:
I am sure the Tricuspid Gate will be something much more meaningfully then just throw lore numbers at it. Something like bring lore knowledge to the world, or at least raise the family lore knowledge to level 4, if not level 5.

And people are severely underestimating Copper, they have been branded since before the cult broke up. Getting to the ruined church is just a matter of throwing rolls at going up from that point.
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And why would the Mansus give a shit about that? The House of the Sun at it's base exists for one reason and one reason only: to allow the worthy to climb to the Glory. It's challenges do not care about what we do, how good we are, how much knowledge we spread only that we can prove ourselves worthy in that oldest of ways. Through sheer uncontestable might. The Hours might care and elevate us to Namehood for our deeds but raising a bunch of acolytes to Exalted is not that impressive in the grand scheme of things. Sacrificing untold thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) to the Lantern light or turning the greater London area into a slag filled crater via magical nuke is.

As for Copper. Didn't we just have this argument when we voted on whether or not to contest Baldomare? She doesn't have an infinite amount of actions, money or health to burn at this. She is labouring under this system just as we are and for all that she has a cult backing her (which along with other tasks are a drain on her resources) evidently it's simply not enough to match up. Beyond all of that she may simply not be trying to climb as hard. Maybe she's focusing entirely on killing us and the rest of the inner circle members so no one can rival her? Maybe she has her own fires to put out and plates to spin.
 
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Iustus Vitae said:
I feel like you guys have a skewed image of how important the temple expedition is and how far along we are in the Mansus. The temple is gonna hand us a normal summon and maybe a Name neither of which we will use for god knows how many turns 'cause our bits situation is fucked. Crossing the Peacock Door will require an artefact we don't have and won't till turn 20th at the latest and even if we do cross it the Tricuspid gate will require more of us then we can muster for another 10 or so turns minimum. Like sure starting out earlier is better but the simple fact to the matter is that people beating us to the Glory isn't gonna fuck us over, something else will come along first. Mostly because everyone else is so far behind in this race it isn't even funny.
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I mean, it is not like we are only doing the temple expedition. The Mansus action let's us choose two locations and one of them is keep climbing. So we are climbing with our free action, climbing with half our mansus action and then with the other half of our mansus action we do an expedition that should be relatively low level, costs no bits and might still get us lore scraps.
 
Bakkasama said:
I mean, it is not like we are only doing the temple expedition. The Mansus action let's us choose two locations and one of them is keep climbing. So we are climbing with our free action, climbing with half our mansus action and then with the other half of our mansus action we do an expedition that should be relatively low level, costs no bits and might still get us lore scraps.
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Yes but does it need to be done this turn of all turns?
 
Bakkasama said:
I mean, it is not like we are only doing the temple expedition. The Mansus action let's us choose two locations and one of them is keep climbing. So we are climbing with our free action, climbing with half our mansus action and then with the other half of our mansus action we do an expedition that should be relatively low level, costs no bits and might still get us lore scraps.
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also we can only do one mansus expedition per turn I think, so I wanted to knock out one of the two available, and potentially do the second one next turn if we're stuck at the door with the free action.

Iustus Vitae said:
Yes but does it need to be done this turn of all turns?
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no, but I'm hoping Copper also ignored it thus far so we'd still be first in there, and expeditions give plenty of nice goodies.

Like, here is what we got from the ruined church expedition:

BirdBodhisattva said:
It was a crevice, or maybe an opening, or maybe something much more private and intimate. Still, you found your way into it, and brought its secrets back with you. You have found a Level 4 Grail Reagent.

The Ruined Church is old, but in its distant past it has witnessed the quenching of many a great thirst. And that history is still echoed in its halls, even if only as a whisper. In listening to that whisper, you have gained one scrap of Grail Lore.

The Ruined Church is old, and its present reflects the only possible end it could have met. Indulgence was pursued to the point of obsession, and now it is infested by chaos. In witnessing this fall, you have gained one scrap of Moth Lore.

You have successfully completed the Mansus Expedition "The Ruined Church". You are now able to safely traverse the Ruined Church.
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BirdBodhisattva said:
You have learned the Rite of Raucous Birth.
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1 grail 4 reagent, 1 moth and 1 grail scraps, and Mareinette.

I expect the TEmple of the Wheel to offer a Heart scrap and a random summon at least. This would allow us to go Heart influence next turn and reach Heart 4 if we wanted, and then we'd only be missing Forge for the last lvl 4 to learn.
 
well, it currently looks like we ARE going to start our work on the SH sacrament. I would have preferred the mansus exploration, but this is fine too.

And with the first of 3 actions out of the way, there's a non-zero chance we might actually do the other two together next turn, and finally see what a Sacrament power and bonuses look like. I wonder what Baldomare will think of it.

It's hard to guess what next turn will be like, due to Luna being there, but a few possibilities are:

1) SH sacrament completed. Not a certainty, but it's at least possible
2)More lessons for our confidants. Rarity will be 3/1, Fluttershy 1/?, and Jade 3/1. We have good reasons to upgrade all of them, especially Jade (Memory of Light) and Rarity (social assistance. I could see her easily helping in socialing Filthy Rich if we want to go that way for example)
3)Studying books is always a possibility, especially if we get the forge scrap we're still missing. and if we get the heart scrap we could ask Mareinette for an heart influence and also reach heart 4.
4)we could go to the tower SH immediately if we complete the sacrament mid-turn, though it's probably wiser to wait a turn.
5)We could devote more time to the Mansus. Tower SH, Temple of the Wheel, Ruined Church, 1 wood and 1 stairways location. we'll want to knock some off as we can.
6)Canterlot Expedition, MAYBE.
7)Axe summoning. Frangiclave scrying.

and plenty more options.
 
Man, I've been really neglecting this vote, but I think

[X] Plan Pittauro, but with our SH Sacrament.
[X] Plan Pittauro, All in wedding without key but with expedition.

For the sake of Cadence's wedding. I'm genuinely torn on whether to climb faster or start on our SH sacrament. Either is fine, I guess.
 
The last thought I'll add in the defense of two wedding actions is we're banking on nothing coming up that Velvet needs to deal with. Bird mentioned it's taking the extra wedding action and hoping nothing major comes up at the time. If it does come up, and I think it's dangerous to think it won't, we miss the opportunity to influence it and cede the decision to our subordinates and/or miss the chance to get out in front of it.
 
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