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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Talon TigerDino said:
I like how people are still saying we have a plan for the frangiclave when Bird himself said that we really don't. Because scrying is not foolproof. So why not have someone do more mundane manners of investigation for free? We both want Axe to stick around, after all.
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Scrying for the Frangiclave is a plan, by definition. It's not a particularly detailed one, but it's better than the nothing we currently have.
 
lurker9875 said:
If Baldomare can't at least find us a significant clue without her rolling double Nat 1s on a RoTT, mundane methods ain't gonna help much?

And if the Frangiclave is in a Mansus Expedition then mundane methods (or scrying) ain't gonna do anything?
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I am pretty sure RoTT either finds exactly what you ask for, or it fizzles. Not start showing you clues or hints or any such thing. And something warded against magical scrying isn't necessarily shielded from mundane investigative techniques as following up on rumors or legends or ancient documented appearances or what-have-you.
 
Also, if we wanted help with Expeditions, why not write Steppes accordingly, and mention we didn't tell Pride because we thought he might do something stupid in response?

BirdBodhisattva said:
Information given can always be trusted to be true, even if frustratingly hard to interpret.
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It's not binary pass/failure, and we'd need -60 worth of net malus in order to not have minimal success? (Thresholds every 20 after subtraction of maluses)

Talon TigerDino said:
mundane investigative techniques as following up on rumors or legends or ancient documented appearances or what-have-you.
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Behold, we have the Bureau for that?
 
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BirdBodhisattva said:
But as I read the end of your phrase, my answer became "You actually don't have a plan to find the Key".

No, really. There has only been talks of "scrying and going on an expedition". Respectfully, that is not a plan. That course of action applies to almost everything on this quest, and like most plans might not survive contact with the enemy. So saying you have a plan is disingenuous, or just a lie.
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Behold, our glorious QM straight-up declaring that we don't have a plan and that saying otherwise is either disingenuous or a lie. It gives me low hopes for scrying.
 
Talon TigerDino said:
I am pretty sure RoTT either finds exactly what you ask for, or it fizzles. Not start showing you clues or hints or any such thing. And something warded against magical scrying isn't necessarily shielded from mundane investigative techniques as following up on rumors or legends or ancient documented appearances or what-have-you.
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Not exactly correct.
BirdBodhisattva said:
-Effect: Choose a "Subject" or "Location" to learn about. LANTERN roll provides information based on its value, subtracted by any defenses (mundane or otherwise) that the target might possess. Information given is incrementally better at every +20 rolled over the target's basic "resistance". Undefended targets have a basic resistance of "0".
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It's an incremental success thing.
Talon TigerDino said:
Behold, our glorious QM straight-up declaring that we don't have a plan and that saying otherwise is either disingenuous or a lie. It gives me low hopes for scrying.
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I will note that the lack of solid plan is actually why I don't want to tell him. Because if we tell him it narrows possibilities down to one of two options. Either we let him get involved, and probably let him be the primary "giver" of the Frangiclave, or he'll have to deal with the fact that Velvet basically steals his best chance at earning DoA's favor for herself. Because unless we let him give her the key, that's pretty much what it is.

Since we don't know if that's smart or even viable, I really don't want to put that onus onto all of our future plans.

Also while Bird certainly has a point that we're not entirely sure what's going to happen, that doesn't mean we don't know how to correct that deficiency, and in a manner which can't be shared with Pride.

Or, put more simply, we do not have a plan for getting the Frangiclave. We do, however, have a plan for how to make a plan to get the Frangiclave.
 
Talon TigerDino said:
Behold, our glorious QM straight-up declaring that we don't have a plan and that saying otherwise is either disingenuous or a lie. It gives me low hopes for scrying.
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Telling Pride we have a plan is disingenuous because it's not specific relative to how we're going to actually accomplish the goal.

Scrying is a plan for us, because that's the only step we have. It's the prerequisite to having a plan. Unless Uncle is sitting on a lot more hidden lore than we're realizing.
 
Spector29 said:
Telling Pride we have a plan is disingenuous because it's not specific relative to how we're going to actually accomplish the goal.

Scrying is a plan for us, because that's the only step we have. It's the prerequisite to having a plan. Unless Uncle is sitting on a lot more hidden lore than we're realizing.
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…Hmm. Have we ever seen the Master and Uncle Steppes in the same place before? :V
lurker9875 said:
If we are willing to accompany Pride along with any hypothetical Expeditions he might do, it'd be fine: At most we get injured together.
But we aren't?
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Ah, but it might not be fine, for one simple reason.

Who gets the credit?
 
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Thinking on it, I'm actually surprised that Velvet IC knows nothing of the Crime of the Sky. The book we read on the Intercalcate should have at least talked about it briefly, considering it's the entire motivation for the Forge killing the Sun.
 
Ericwinter said:
Who gets the credit?
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If we have Confidante Pride through this it wouldn't matter to me, I'd happily give him the credit.
However, I don't think we can get to that point due to the aforementioned reasons, so it's moot?

As for the other people reading,
in relation to Pride and Axe, when he hears about the Quest, his likely reaction would be to assist.
And what better way to assist (and be seen in assisting) than going himself?
But Expeditions can be dangerous, Rarity got injured in the Very Easy Expedition way back when, so if Pride gets injured, and Velvet's father investigates and finds out that's it's indirectly due to our advice/influence?

If we want to make Twilight comparisons,
it could be similar to teaching Twilight about the Lores and then disappearing (because no AP to follow up)?

Therefore, we should NOT tell him about the quest now, to eliminate the possibility of things blowing up in our faces?
 
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lurker9875 said:
If we have Confidante Pride through this it wouldn't matter to me, I'd happily give him the credit.
However, I don't think we can get to that point due to the aforementioned reasons, so it's moot?
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While I can't really comment on viability, I will note, we know what happens if we have a Confidante who has a confidante that we want to make use of, as opposed to that second person being a confidante themselves. I don't know about you, but I would rather not let DoA become another Comet Feet.
 
Ericwinter said:
but I would rather not let DoA become another Comet Feet
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To be very fair, Comet Feet hates us, in any reasonable scenario Pride knows that we were the ones that made them able to meet to begin with, AND invested effort on making it happen too - I think he wouldn't mind sharing credit?

Then again, DoA thinks of us as a Monster right now, so maybe it may be a closer match than it looks?
 
Steady Gaze said:
Which reminds me... the Master is still out there, and we have no idea what they're doing... I had a random idea that maybe she's been plotting to kill Celestia somehow, to get the Blood of the Outsider trait. But I don't think the Master could actually pull that off; those Alicorn combat bonuses are quite impressive. Have there been other speculations?
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I wonder... The master was kins of implied to be tied to the woods (and likely part of it, in a way), so I think he had basically two possible plans

1) indoctrinate Luna so SHE will reach Glory

2) have one of his cultist kill her to get the blood of the outsider trait.

...might he have been considering having Velvet kill Luna, in that case?

Talon TigerDino said:
I like how people are still saying we have a plan for the frangiclave when Bird himself said that we really don't. Because scrying is not foolproof. So why not have someone do more mundane manners of investigation for free? We both want Axe to stick around, after all.
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Eh, we have a way to find out our available options.

There's a big difference between "Frangiclave is in a forgotten ruin" vs "Frangiclave is in Celestia's vaults" Vs "Frangiclave is a treasure of the dragon lord"
 
lurker9875 said:
To be very fair, Comet Feet hates us, in any reasonable scenario Pride knows that we were the ones that made them able to meet to begin with, AND invested effort on making it happen too - I think he wouldn't mind sharing credit?

Then again, DoA thinks of us as a Monster right now, so maybe it may be a closer match than it looks?
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They're both Edge, they both fear Velvet, at the very least, and yeah, DoA definitely seems to be starting to hate us at least a little. And Velvet being largely responsible for Fluttershy and Comet being able to get together didn't help much there, either. :V
 
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