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 thing is that lores doesn't lean into bad or good actually. They can alter your state of mind, but they can't really made you into a bad person. It's not some corruptive knowledge from other fictions that is cartoonishly evil and wants destruction by definition (khe, whole warhammer chaos thing, khe). So, the only reason for ponies/human to become a worse versions of themselfs is becsuse they were quite shitty inside from the beggining. They just get power to express that.
And i don't think think Equerstria will neccecary become a worse place even if everypony will suddenly get lore'd, for the same reason that existing in canon magic didn't blow it up.
They can alter your state of mind, but they can't really make you into a bad person. It's not some corrupting knowledge from other fictions that is cartoonishly evil and wants destruction by definition (khe, whole warhammer chaos thing, khe).
First and foremost, if you consider violence or hedonism or industry or destroying parts of your personality bad, then you're going to consider Edge or Grail or Forge or Moth bad accordingly. People's belief systems are diverse.
But lores aren't evil IMO. Pursuit of power being easier (and sometimes straight up requiring) occasional murder isn't a solely Mansus property — I'm sure (considering our father is close connected to mafia AND we literally had an ancestor called Velvet dagger) equestrian nobles kill each other sometimes. And I'm sure there are murders involved in organized crime even in Equestria. Not to mention that other nations (like Griffons) probably have war sometimes. I guess union leaders are never assassinated there because ponies live too well on average to start labour unions.
But in general it isn't exactly the fault of Mansus that we are too weak to climb the walls of sharp place (yeah, the ones that are knifes — in canon CS, it's how mirror maids are made. other dead supposedly sink to nowhere). Or that Colonel's door (aimed at supporting the status quo of war between tribes because Colonel is Colonel) was the only one left standing.
And for sure, no one forced us to kill those changelings. It was fully our decision.
I believe the Master made a point of saying that reaching the Glory allows you to shape the world and thus was one of the paths to stopping the Worms. Though I may be misremembering that.
We are no closer to understanding the mysteries because we haven't been investigating them. Too busy spinning other plates.
The thing is that lores doesn't lean into bad or good actually. They can alter your state of mind, but they can't really made you into a bad person. It's not some corruptive knowledge from other fictions that is cartoonishly evil and wants destruction by definition (khe, whole warhammer chaos thing, khe). So, the only reason for ponies/human to become a worse versions of themselfs is becsuse they were quite shitty inside from the beggining. They just get power to express that.
And i don't think think Equerstria will neccecary become a worse place even if everypony will suddenly get lore'd, for the same reason that existing in canon magic didn't blow it up.
While I do agree with this in principle, I disagree with it in practice.
Yes the lores aren't inherently good or evil,* (as for mental problems that's a whole nother kettle of fish**) the problem is that they're also inherently accessible. To be sure we've never really gotten to see the Mansus when its not in some kind of post-apocalypse which has really stirred things up (or just flat out trashed the place).*** Not to imply it is easy to become a power with the lores, but with them basically entirely unregulated at the moment, well a lot of people are assholes but don't have access to a means of expressing that. Magic in MLP seems to require objects or specific spells, but if you pick up one bit of a lore you kinda can't avoid the others.
*Forge is the destruction just as much as the creation for example, and I like for ironically being the only main ending where you don't have to kill anyone.
**The alterations to people that come from the lores are extensive, but its a bit of a chicken and egg dillemma. You probably wouldn't have gone into a lore sufficiently if you weren't already inclined in that direction to some degree. Otherwise, there do seem to be risks of despair, fascination and restlessness, but that's game mechanics I think more than anything else. The character most divergent from "standard" still gets them, but they're not potential deaths.
***
The Mansus obviously has no cops, but there are cops in the waking world, and the Mansus does have enforcers who stomp down on people being idiots. The Colonel's got people for that in particular targetting Long who refuse to get with the programme. Things are in a state of chaos of course due to the worm war, the sun's death, and various other apocalypses, but even then the hours aren't just letting things crumble. The Horned Axe severs the crowned growth from the Woods, the Thunderskin and Sister and Witch still provide protections etc. and the impression I got from various bits of lore was that the supernatural side of the world seemed to have been better regulated pre Intercaclate, with systems that are still working in the present day to a degree, although still with massive problems.
Obviously for our purposes, its a tricky one. As an entirely OOC thing (for example) we know its possible to do business with the Mansus while having next to no knowledge of it. If that crops up how do we react? How do we keep that knowledge from spreading as to its source etc.
But lores aren't evil IMO. Pursuit of power requiring to do a little murder sometimes isn't a solely Mansus property — I'm sure (considering our father is close connected to mafia AND we literally had an ancestor called Velvet dagger) equestrian nobles kill each other sometimes. And I'm sure there are murders involved in organized crime even in Equestria. Not to mention that nations outside Equestria (like Griffons) probably have war sometimes. I guess union leaders won't get killed because ponies lives too well on average to start labour unions.
But in general it isn't exactly fault of Mansus that we are too weak to climb the walls of sharp place (yeah, the ones that are knifes — in canon CS, it's how mirror maids are made. other dead supposedly sink to nowhere). Or that Colonel's door (aimed at supporting status quo of war between tribes) is the only one left standing.
And for sure, no one forced us to kill those changelings. It was fully our decision.
Its also possible, just expensive and sometimes impractical, to not do the murder. Unsurprisingly murder and kidnapping creates attention. To go in the game for example, I basically never use the spider door, and just skip straight to the Peacock, since you don't have enter the door, its far too risky and there's butter stuff further up anyyway. With commissions I'm rolling in Spinnatrae, so can absorb the cost until I can find the Frangiclave.
Point is avoiding these things is possible, just really freaking hard and travelling up the Mansus cleanly is possible, but you do need to know the path.
Sometimes it's straight up required. Forge apostle dudette won't help you unless you give her one of your cultists (dunno about other apostle playthroughs). Lantern and Grail Longhood ascensions require you to eat people too. Didn't know that you can skip entering spider door, actually!
Considering accessibility of lores, I think even if lores become relatively public (like it was in tribe times), it still wouldn't be for everyone. Lores are hard and scary, y'know? Not everyone would be willing to say 'fuck it, Power/Enlightenment/Sensation is worth it all!' and start climbing.
Not to mention that you need to find how to get into Mansus in the first place (Which is what societies and apprenticeships are for! Although our cult is the most wild and 'fuck rules' one, other ones do impose regulations on its members).
Sometimes it's straight up required. Forge apostle dudette won't help you unless you give her one of your cultists (dunno about other apostle playthroughs). Lantern and Grail Longhood ascensions require you to eat people too. Didn't know that you can skip entering spider door, actually!
Yeah. The longer you're in the game the more likely it is you're going to have to do some fucked up stuff.
The forge apostle especially has to make essentially a magic nuke to blast a place in five different timelines, but RP wise since I loose control over my character I find that annoying. Since not how I was RPing. Oh well.
The Medium? Legacy also introduces the eyebrow-raising thing of "dude there's graveyards." Which is annoying for the grail ascension since even if you can't avoid cannibalism, you could at least not need to murder people, even if it'd be tricky to manage the notoriety gained. Sigh, the issues of DLC.
Yeah, you just need Way: spider door, which you get automatically when you reach it even if you can't enter without a prisoner, and the right level 10 lore. Not that its not fairly RNG dependent, but you can get a mirror before even leaving the capital and can get one of the level 10 lores that work in a continent vault straight up.
Then as long as you've a decent income of Spinnatrae you can just keep milling the place indefinitely. I am very familiar with the worm museum at this point to the degree I imagine the Colonel getting annoyed at me constantly breaking in going "GIVE ME THE MAP YOU SCARRED BASTARD!"
Anyway, point is so many actions create notoriety in the game that figuring out how to minimize them is key to a successful playthrough. Despite its encouragement to sacrifice people, unless you're in a massive bind it tends to backfire hard. Same reason the master's cult is going to backfire ultimately, if it wasn't for being moth in nature it probably would have been discovered by now.
Which is annoying for the grail ascension since even if you can't avoid cannibalism, you could at least not need to murder people, even if it'd be tricky to manage the notoriety gained. Sigh, the issues of DLC.
I mean. I think it's because eating slightly smelly corpses is kinda not Grail enough (blood spoils extremely quickly). It isn't a true indulgence this way!
Anyway, point is so many actions create notoriety in the game that figuring out how to minimize them is key to a successful playthrough. Despite its encouragement to sacrifice people, unless you're in a massive bind it tends to backfire hard. Same reason the master's cult is going to backfire ultimately, if it wasn't for being moth in nature it probably would have been discovered by now.
In my experience, not really if you go full murder — can't be hurt by notoriety if there's no detective on board. You just get rid of the messy hunters and then keep breaking douglas' necks (when that doesn't work and they're too scarried to talk to you, I guess you need to summon someone).
I RPd for a long time too, but then I kinda got through 25 hours without getting a The Way: Wood card and then I was too frustrated to do whole notoriety-evidence management instead of murdering the Douglasses xD
I mean. I think it's because eating slightly smelly corpses is kinda not Grail enough (blood spoils extremely quickly). It isn't a true indulgence this way!
In my experience, not really if you go full murder — can't be hurt by notoriety if there's no detective on board. You just get rid of the messy hunters and then keep breaking douglas' necks (when that doesn't work and they're too scarried to talk to you, I guess you need to summon someone).
Maybe I've just had bad RNG, but killing one detective seems to cause a new one to spawn rapidly. As for Douglas, respect the hell out of the mad lad.
I hit him with Wolf Word, he became idealistic so I shrugged and hit him with the illuminate mysteries, and he not only became grim and idealistic, but picked up tenacious for good measure.
So I decided fine, have it your way and summoned king crucible on his ass, surely my luck can't be this bad!
Tenacious means he always has a chance to survive, but its king crucible, he can't fuck this up right?
King crucible was banished and Douglas gained the mystic trait.
FOR FUCKS SAKES!
Is Connie Lee your daughter for fucks sakes, I am not sure I can kill you anymore, but after that I just gave up trying. If he's survived all of that he 100% deserves to live because holy shit man...
Is Connie Lee your daughter for fucks sakes, I am not sure I can kill you anymore, but after that I just gave up trying. If he's survived all of that he 100% deserves to live because holy shit man...
(....)
But lores aren't evil IMO. Pursuit of power being easier (and sometimes straight up requiring) occasional murder isn't a solely Mansus property — I'm sure (considering our father is close connected to mafia AND we literally had an ancestor called Velvet dagger) equestrian nobles kill each other sometimes. And I'm sure there are murders involved in organized crime even in Equestria. Not to mention that other nations (like Griffons) probably have war sometimes. I guess union leaders are never assassinated there because ponies live too well on average to start labour unions. (....)
And for sure, no one forced us to kill those changelings. It was fully our decision.
Lores are not evil because they are knowledge, they lack agency. It is their use that may be evil. Admittedly, they certainly are dangerous, so I can see an argument to keep their spread regulated, but not destroying. At bare minimum, they are required to keep away occult treats. After all, the alicorns are in deep shit in part because they were not aware of occult treats.
As for murder, Velvet already damned ponies to death by her decision and is likely to so again in future. The only significance of this ritual I see is that she managed to perform it personally, taking personal responsibility. That's a sign of necessary even if unpleasant growth.
I mean. I think it's because eating slightly smelly corpses is kinda not Grail enough (blood spoils extremely quickly). It isn't a true indulgence this way!
The problem is not that already dead corpses aren't Grail enough, it's that they're too Winter. Entirely different lore, with different purposes and meanings. Also the beautiful—read: absolutely horrible and disgusting—thing about eating people is that there's such a wide variety of kinds. Different colors, different genders, fat, skinny, muscled… and, of course, their personalities, jobs, and particular flavors of terror. So you're not really going to get bored.
…Man, I have spent far too long in the CS fandom if I can recognize that. Fucking Grail.
Or maybe the Grail ascension requires consuming life-force or vitality or whatever from victims, and that requires them to be alive, the same way the Lantern ascension requires the thoughts and mind of a living person because corpses don't have those.
Or maybe the Grail ascension requires consuming life-force or vitality or whatever from victims, and that requires them to be alive, the same way the Lantern ascension requires the thoughts and mind of a living person because corpses don't have those.
That could also be it. Blood is often mythologized as life force, and there's quite a strong focus on blood with Grail. Especially considering how in some vampire myths, a dead man's blood can be poisonous to them, rather than beneficial.
That could also be it. Blood is often mythologized as life force, and there's quite a strong focus on blood with Grail. Especially considering how in some vampire myths, a dead man's blood can be poisonous to them, rather than beneficial.
It's also worth noting that canon Grail ascension is sponsored by the Red Grail, with all that implies. Grail ascensions under the auspices of other Hours would probably be quite a bit different.
Like, I doubt the Winter ascension underneath the Elegiast (i.e. Ghoul legacy) is how the Sun-in-Rags normally goes about creating Winter Long. That probably holds true for other ascensions.
Edit: To elaborate a bit for those who may be unfamiliar w/ the CS side of things, canon Long ascensions are basically a big, ritualistic endeavor to attract the attention of an Hour and enter their service as an immortal. So the method of ascension will vary depending on, more-or-less, what that particular Hour finds interesting.
Which is also the reason why I think Long ascension, if it's even still a thing, will be very, very different for Velvet.
I mean, passing the first door requires that your lust for power be stronger than literally any other desire in your life, else you never leave the blank plains.
Second door requires you to kill people, or wound the entire world if you have that workaround.
So regardless of what the lores DO to people who learn then, Mansus WAS set up so only power-hungry murderers get to climb.
Sure. But it wasn't always that way. Its current state was dictated by the Forge (the Hour, not the Lore). So if we want the Mansus to take a new shape, we're going to have to remake it ourself. Which means Hourhood.
Edit: And yes, we don't know what the Mansus looked like before this universe's Lithomachy. It also doesn't really matter. What matters is that if the Mansus was changed once before, it can be changed again.
If @BirdBodhisattva says "no that's unreasonable" then I know that now and will stop persuing that line of reasoning and if you think that is poor form I don't know what you consider "good" form aside from whatever agrees with your opinion.
Let me just honor this ping and say that I don't see anything unreasonable in what was discussed so far. I think I'm pretty clear when things are beyond your knowledge, be it IC or OOC, and I even allow some OOC knowledge to influence your decisions in some votes.
True, I haven't felt the need to point out that "you don't know that" for a while now, but mostly because you all are also aware of the difference between this setting and the canon MLP/CS setting. But still, I openly said that you should all climb the Mansus, so I don't see any vices in your thoughts given what has been presented so far.
EDIT: also, given how slow I am I should finish editing this update into the forum within the hour.
We've also seen, in character, somebody at the peak of the Mansus enact changes. It's just that, you know, there were a bunch of other gods around at the same time who took offense to that and did their own bullshit right after.
We know personally everyone in the world with a rank 3 or more in any lore, and everyone at 2 is there because they read our book so we know basically who they are too.
This is entirely controllable, for the moment. It won't be again after this turn. It's not like anyone else found the lores in the last thousand years.
Harmony isn't corrosive to the world the way Mansus is.
Speculation and wishful thinking. Nice that you make the argument, but it's not reliable. And phrasing it as of it is the obvious and well-known truth just casts doubt on all the other hypotheses you've phrased as assertions.
Since you seem to be deliberately ignoring the question repeatedly and instead focusing on the parts which you think is somehow possible. I will answer what you said and repeat what I said earlier again.
First knowing who the high ranking individuals are in terms of ranking of 3 to 2 does not at all equal to ability to control and stops its spread. It does not equal Velvet being able to stop any of other council members or the multitude of members which exist at an the second rank. Knowing the what is part of the problem so it is the question which have avoided is how can it be stopped. Which is the pickle here.
Velvet does not have the capacity at all within the timeframe to not only simultaneously stage a rescue of Twilight, ensure protections of the family is done, stop the councilors, stop the second and first rank members from spreading to all corners of the land without comprising the major objectives which we already have or even if we decide to complete ignore them and completely focus on stopping it does not give us the capabilities to do so against reality of first not knowing where they are at all times and overcoming the capabilities of the Cult. Which is impossible for some such as Starry Dancer without losing in the long run ort defeat the Edge master in the long run or simply requires so much energy as to lead to our family likely completely dying.
Essentially explain how it is controllable as their are numerous pieces of information indicating it is not by Velvet or by Celestia herself.
This is entirely controllable, for the moment. It won't be again after this turn. It's not like anyone else found the lores in the last thousand years.
Harmony isn't corrosive to the world the way Mansus is.
For the second part I will emphasize what you seem to have ignored again. "As for wishing of no one having the power, that is an impossibility since it is a power which has its own agency to chose, give or help such as harmony has its own agency to chose, give or help. So how do you propose Velvet prevents its spread?
I was drawing connection on how like harmony, it is something with its own agency to chose, give, help or hinder as it pleases and asked how Velvet can prevent its spread with her capabilities despite its agency from numerous agents that exist both within the Mansus and outside and the limitations place upon her current situation and the additional limitations placed by your demands.
Stating The Mansus being corrosive and Harmony being not is an answer and instead dodging the question such as how you did the main questions earlier for it as saying it is corrosive is a not answer which does actually answer the question which of AGENCY. Along with matter of it not being found in a thousand years as irrelevant as the problem is the situation now.
Speculation and wishful thinking. Nice that you make the argument, but it's not reliable. And phrasing it as of it is the obvious and well-known truth just casts doubt on all the other hypotheses you've phrased as assertions.
And for the third I had based it on the information which is present on IC in the quest and the information which is present OOC such as the information in Cultist Simulator. Which is the undeniable fact that the entirety of the Mansus revolves around the Sun known as the Glory to the point it defines every aspect of it in its entirety from the Woods, the Church, the Center, its roads and more. it can be easily inferred as the foundation of the Mansus where if no opposing force is present and you have the ability, you can change the entirety of reality and its rules. Such as for Example the Crime of Sky something which did not exist until it was decided the Mansus was changed that it should exist.
As for your accusation I could also say the same for you. Your assertion of it being controllable even in this turn is also speculation and wishful thinking which is contradicted by the fundamental reality of the situation which you seem to continuously refuse to contemplate such the limitations and constraints of on Velvet and the Capabilities of every individual effect the goal of controlling it. Also casting doubt to your own assertions on their reliability as you continuously refused to explain at all the logic behind your assertions such as the how and outright refuse the logic asserted by the QM of seeking glory as the best option currently.
I suppose. I'll keep it short and sweet then. Taking in account everything she knows, everything she doesn't know, and the direction that the wind is blowing, I really, really think she should aim at the top of the House.
None of those answers are in Mansus, as far as I can tell. It feels like more power might just be a red herring- taking us into a game where we are a player against/with the other entities in Mansus, but irrelevant to the dangers to the world.
This is speculation at its highest, an assumption that what you believe is correct on it being irrelevant to the world despite the numerous contradictions I can point out by quoting the material. And the same flaw which you accuse me off despite not being based either on IC or OOC information.
In essence my problem with your statements is your refusal to answer the what and how through dodging or misdirection.
So actually answer what I asked earlier instead of avoiding them. Which is of How and What.
Precisely what choices would be not selfish for you for Velvet to take?
How does Velvet getting more power or removing detrimental traits to her make things worse for everyone else around her and better for everyone else it she does not? It does not remove the already existent beings with power, it does not remove each of the characters agency in their pursuits. It does not hinder any of them if Velvet stops attempting getting more power or removing detrimental traits to her. It does no remove any of the capabilities that make them obstacles in the first place! How is it all going to lead to a better outcome for everyone else instead of something worse occurring instead?
And right now, you are witnessing the most incredible thing you have ever seen in your entire life.
"Did… did we do it? Did it really work?"
"I… I think it did…!"
Around you, the rest of the Cadre mutters and whispers in excitement, the low conversation turning into a growing rumble as the pall of Winter fades, and everypony collectively begins to come to terms with the fact that this is really happening.
But you can't really bring yourself to join the hushed conversation. Or rather, you are physically unable to do so, right now. Your body is petrified in awe, your mind is frozen in shock, and you know that you wouldn't be able to say anything even if you tried.
The only thing you can really do is look on in muted excitement.
You feel like you are watching a dream come true. Except that you mean that in the most literal way possible. After all, you are watching with your very own eyes as the largest glyph on the ground, the one freshly-carved by the cloaked Loremaster himself, yawns and expands like a gate. The serpent-like symbol leaking a deep-purple light that is the exact same color of your Mansus-dreams.
And much more than merely see, you can also feel it. The base of your fur tingles with the heavy sensation of Knock in the air. Your mane billows underneath your cloak, as a gust of wind suddenly comes from the growing opening -from the growing portal- on the ground, a fierce gale enveloping the room even though you are in a sealed-off and locked place.
But far more shocking is the fact that you can feel the Mansus itself. You can feel its very presence, even. That sensation that you only have in the deepest of dreams, when you look up from within the dark Woods and towards the House. That humbling feeling of staring at something great and old and unreachable, knowing that you are both tied to it in some deep and unexplainable way, and that you are as unimportant to it as a speck of dust is to a mountain.
You stare, wide-eyed and in awe, as you witness the Loremaster rip a hole into a place that is deeper and higher within the Mansus than you have ever seen. Higher than you ever even thought it was possible to reach.
"Is… is this really happening?"
"It is. It has to. We can't all be going insane at the same time!"
"I can't… I still can't believe that we helped. That we actually helped, and it actually worked."
The hushed words become more and more excited as the purple light grows, the Loremaster's own cloak billowing fiercely as he is the closest pony to the opening rift.
And to be honest, for all that you lack the strength to join the rest of the Cadre in its whispering, you can't help but share in your fellow Cadre members' amazement.
This, right now, really feels like a dream. In fact the whole experience, the whole ritual that preceded this moment, felt unreal.
It felt like you were watching a drama, like you were watching the most emotional of theatrical plays, when you saw the Loremaster kill the first changeling. The Winter settling around him like falling snow as he pierced the sacrifice with the long dagger. And even though the changeling was a monster, you couldn't help but feel the heavy weight of mourning as the changeling's life was extinguished.
There was so much Winter about, in fact, that you almost thought the Loremaster cradled the dying changeling on his forelegs, for a few moments. You almost thought that the Loremaster somehow regretted it.
And in truth, you felt like that as well, while Winter was the sole Lore that had been invoked. In truth, you even think a tear fell from your eyes.
That is, until the Loremaster's face snapped towards the second sacrifice, and the whole atmosphere changed with it.
Witnessing the Loremaster walking, almost marching, towards the second changeling was like witnessing inevitability itself. You watched, the Lore-words you were required to speak barely making it out of your mouth, as he picked up the sharp axe with a resolute and heavy motion. Every movement seemingly unstoppable, as if he were an executioner from ancient stories. Every action inexorable, as if he were death itself.
And when the Loremaster swung down the axe, you swear the changeling's throat was cut before the axe even touched it, so extreme was the thrilling intensity of Edge coiled around the blade itself.
"Look, look! It's happening! I can see it!"
But right now?
Right now, you are witnessing the impossible.
The Loremaster raises a single hoof, and the whole room comes into an abrupt silence, everypony holding their collective breaths as they stare into the deep-glowing scar on the ground.
The seconds stretch by as you all stare into the portal, watching as it slowly coalesces into an image, then a path, then into reality, as if there is no portal at all, but instead a hole that has been carved into the ground.
You all watch, amazed, as a terrible figure stares back.
And the fur on your entire body stands on its end as a terrible voice, older than Equestria and sickly-sweet with the weight of the Lores, speaks from the depths of the portal, towards the Loremater.
"Well, et's aboot foken time ye summned me, innit?"
None of you understand what eldritch words the creature just spoke. But you all know, without a doubt, that it must have uttered ancient knowledge that will forever remain beyond your comprehension.
- - -
- - -
- - -
You are Lady Velvet Covers, although right now you are trying very hard to keep that fact covered up.
Literally covered up, in this case, by the heavy cultist cloak that you are wearing. But that doesn't really matter right now.
What really matters is that you have… let's say a bit of a problem.
"How en all foks sake de ye managed tae do tha?!"
"The… the creature, it speaks to the Loremaster? But how?"
"It speaks the language of the Gods, there is no other explanation!"
A very angry, snake-like problem, who is currently yelling at you.
It's actually a little funny, in a rather ironic way. Because you might have managed to punch a literal hole through reality, sure. But the mare on the other side of said hole is not only thoroughly unimpressed, but is also using said hole to berate you, of all things.
"No, seerisly, ae'd be mpressed if et wasn't so daft of ye. Canny ye even follow sum simpl' foken nstroctions?! Long-martyr o' Bethlehem, this is part of me curse innit? Et's gotta be!"
"The Loremaster understands it! He is communing with the Mansus-thing!"
"Praise the Loremaster! Praise the enlightened one!"
Although you…
"Well, uhm… I'm sorry?" you say in a low tone, whispering towards the purple-glowing rift on the ground, hoping the Cadre around you won't be able to hear you.
Although you can't help but admit that you… may have, somehow, messed this up.
"WELL BEING FOKEN SORRY AIN' MAKING ME JOB ANY EASIER, EH?!"
"Th- the beast is angry! It will devour us all!"
"Hold fast, the circle still stands. The Loremaster will subdue its wrath, have faith!"
You instinctively lower your ears as the mare, the Name, the Daughter-of-Axes, continues to yell at you from literally a whole reality away.
And the whole problem is that, to put it very simply, the Knock-portal from the ritual is placed on the ground. Which means, in very few words, that you are looking down at the Daughter-of-Axes.
However, you have no idea why, the Daughter-of-Axes is also looking down towards you. As if the two of you have your respective ends of the portal on the ground. It feels, in a sense, like you are looking down at a mirror, or perhaps a puddle of water.
But the fact remains, as the Daughter-of-Axes made it very clear through her yelling, that this makes it so that it is very hard to walk through the portal.
Because you might have created a portal to the Mansus, yes. But, she made it very clear through the prodigious use of expletives, that doesn't mean that she can just ignore the basic rules of gravity.
"But, uhm," you say meekly, as the snakemare glares at you, "can't you just… cross it?"
The only answer she gives you is to pick up a rock she has nearby, and drop it towards her own side of the portal.
And you watch, with nervous tension growing inside your chest, as the rock quite literally "falls" towards you, rises up through your side of the portal thanks to the accumulated momentum, and then proceeds to fall back towards her side. The rock coming to and from the portal in an almost pendulum-like movement, as the gravity of each side of the portal takes it in turn and throws it back to the other side.
You cringe under the Daughter's growingly intense glare, as she communicates without words that you probably breached a whole book's worth of summoning etiquette.
But still, you can't help but think that… well, isn't she being just a little unreasonable? Can't she just…
"But can't you just… you know," you say, tentatively, hesitantly, "snake your way through the portal? I mean, I know it might be a bit uncomfortable, but maybe just come through it as if you were climbing? I mean, the portal is right there, and I can just lend you a hoof and help y-"
"AN AEMBARESS MESELF IN FRON' OF YER WHOL FOKEN FANCLOB?! WO' IF AE TRIP AN FALL?! THIS YER WHOL PLAN TAE ASSERT DOMNENCE OVER ME OR SOMETHIN'?!"
The Daughter-of-Axes yells (yells!) at you, to your and the entire Cadre's shock.
And before you can do anything about it, be it try to placate her or even cover your ears.
"Well, fok all this!"
She taps at the portal with one of her hoofs.
And the portal closes shut, fizzling out of existence in less than a moment. A strange silence, that you can somehow taste with your eyes, settling over the parched ground where the portal once stood.
And you…
You…
"What… what just happened?"
"Did the Loremaster banish it? Was the creature's power too vast to control?"
You have no idea what just happened, or what to do.
…
You stand there, in utter shock, as you try to process the… the…
The yelling you just heard, and… and the rage you just saw, and…
And the sheer tantrum that you just witnessed!
Until it finally dawns upon you what just happened, you can't help but feel anger boiling inside of you.
Because how the hay does she dare to act like that?! Isn't… isn't she a Name, for heavens sake? Isn't she an old, ancient, and "wise" creature from the damn Mansus?! That whole outburst of yelling and hoofstomping just now was something you'd expect from a… from a teenager! And not from an Hours-blasted Name, not from a weird… snake, mare, whatever the Tartarus she is.
Oh, but you are going to summon her again. You are going to summon that young lady, and she is the one who is going to get a good dressing down from you this time! You are going to repeat the whole ritual right freaking now, and you are going to drag her to the Wake in by the ear if needed be.
Because you don't care how old or alien she is. That mare has the word "daughter" in her name, and you'll be damned if you don't teach her some discipline!
You take in a deep breath, and you are about to order to Cadre to prepare itself when-
!!!!!
-when suddenly, the whole world becomes heavy, and you are nearly forced into the ground by the sheer weight of a presence that just manifested itself inside the room.
!!!!!!!!!!
It feels as if the whole world just turned upside down. It feels as if a veil is being cut by an axe, or as if an acrid poison is spreading underneath the skin of time or your body or the world itself. You feel like bowing, and running, and cowering in sheer terror all at the same time. But above all else, you feel like a rat, frozen in terror as if a snake the size of the horizon is staring down at you.
You feel like that. The whole Cadre feels it as well, you are sure. And you all feel the opening pressure covering and coating you like a storm as your eyes are forced open and your ears hear more clearly than ever before and the heavy doors of the room, locked from the outside for safety, buckle as if struck by a battering ram.
But above all else, everypony in the room, without exception, has their attention drawn to the very center of the summoning circle. As a loud and sickening ripping noise comes from the body of the dead changeling.
"Et's foken demeaning, tha's wot et es."
You feel like you are watching a scene straight out of a horror book. You feel like you are witnessing a nightmare, a twisted parody of reality given form.
Because you watch with your very own eyes as the changeling in the center of the room… as the dead changeling on the center of the Winter circle begins to move.
As you hear a voice, a very familiar voice, coming from its dead and unmoving mouth.
"Canny hav a competent sumna fer once. Canny evn' hav a wee bit o' dignety, evn' on the foken Wake."
The deceased changeling is still tied to the ground. It is still very much dead, with the long dagger buried on it.
However, it is also moving. Or rather, it is being moved, almost as if…
Almost as if there is something stirring inside of it.
"So ae gotta do all the damned legwork, as usual. An ae gotta do it the 'ard wae. As. Foken. USUAL."
You watch, in muted horror, as the changelings mouth… slooooowly begins to open. Wider, and wider, and wider still. Wider than anypony, or any creature, should ever be able to. And at the same time, you can see how the rest of the changeling's body begins to… deflate? No, that's not it. You don't know how to describe it, but you can see the changeling's skin… flatten, almost as if his insides are being emptied out.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The weight of Knock grows around you, to the point that it almost becomes painful. To the point that you almost feel something inside of you will open, or your scar on your hindleg will burst, just by being here. And together with that feeling, you watch in sickened horror as… as a pair of hoofs spring out of the changeling's outstretched mouth, followed by forelegs, and finally what looks like a snout.
You hear a muted gasp come from somepony in the room, heralding the sound of a pony fainting and falling towards the floor.
And then it dawns upon you. It dawns upon you what is happening, what exactly you are witnessing. As more and more of the Daughter-of-Axes quite literally crawls out of the changeling's mouth, and the dead changeling itself deflates into an empty husk, you realize that… that you are watching a snake shedding, that somehow the Daughter-of-Axes used the changeling's corpse as a path, and that she is crawling out of it like a snake might crawl out of its own old skin.
And by the time she is finished, you can see in her face how very little she enjoyed doing it.
"The walls of the world are cracking! Run! Run for your lives!"
"She comes! By all the trees in the Woods she comes!"
"Let us out, let us out!"
By the time she is finished, also, you are the only pony left in the room, the whole Cadre having run away in terror as soon as the doors of the summoning room slammed themselves open thanks to the sheer weight of Knock.
Which means that, right now, you are alone. With a very angry Daughter-of-Axes. Who doesn't seem at all pleased with the fact that she is covered in changeling's innards, which her glare somehow makes you feel she also thinks is your fault.
"Well?!" her utterly pissed voice resounds through the now-empty summoning room. "Canny ye a'least borrow me yer cloak? Cuidn't bring me own fer obveous reasons."
You very carefully wonder how you should word your suggestion that she should take a shower first, and considering her... apparent demeanor, you very cautiously wonder how exactly you should go about dealing with her.
You have summoned the Daughter-of-Axes. Her full status are now available to you.
You have discovered an added functionality for the Wrong Keys: "Using a Wrong Key as a sacrifice to summon the Daughter-of-Axes will decrease the ritual cost by 50 bits, and will give you one level of [Priority] over any opposing rituals". (Priority meaning that, if an opposing party attempts to summon her as well, you will not "compete" for the summoning and will always "win", as long as you successfully roll the minimum required for her summoning and have a [Priority] level greater than your foes).
"She claims that she was the Daughter of 'another', before, but that she had to bind herself to a new patron once her Mother 'did what she did'. Always wearing a cloak upon her body, and a scowl upon her face, you have slowly come to realize that, perhaps, her problem is that she simply isn't good with words. Or with ponies. Most likely with both, to tell the truth. You are also pretty sure that she has scales underneath that cloak, instead of fur, but you will definitely not pry. Especially given how she seems to hide that great horn-topped axe so easily underneath that cloak. And considering her Lore nature, you wouldn't be surprised at all if the inside of her cloak is a lot larger than it appears."
Summoning details:
-The Daughter-of-Axes is capable of crafting THREE "Wrong Keys" to you, in a single turn. however, she is only willing to do that ONCE per summoning period.
-The Daughter-of-Axes is capable of CHANNELING the highest intensity of Influence in her Lore, and gifting it to you for a full month. She is also capable of CHANNELING a lower-intensity Influence of her secondary Lore, although both of you consider that to be a waste of her time.
-The Daughter-of-Axes is considered to be a Minion, and does not mind being sacrificed for Rituals.
Health: 5
General bonus: +30
"Expedition actions" bonus: +50 (applies to any expedition roll that is NOT combat [or social] related)
Aspects: KNOCK6, EDGE3 [NAME]: There is, or was, a hierarchy within the Mansus. She has reached high within its ranks. [ONE WHO IS VERY GREAT]: The Daughter-of-Axes is willing to offer you Sacrament in the Lore of Knock, should you fulfill her requirements. [WEIGHT OF PRESENCE]: The Daughter-of-Axes grants a full level up to the Wildhoof Club for her preferred Lore. [CRAFTER]: Is capable of producing "Wrong Keys" (three in a single action, but only once per summon).
[PROUD]: Will refuse to cast any rituals that do not involve Knock. [UNIQUE]: The Daughter-of-Axes is a unique creature. She may refuse summons at will, and will refuse re-summons for threeONE full month should she be unsummoned for any reason (including if she is killed). [UNINTERESTED]: Will refuse any gifts to stay in the Wake (however, her cooldown for re-summoning is a single full month) [ANTISOCIAL]: All her bonus, regardless of circumstance or situation, fall down to a flat "+10" if she attempts to engage in any social action (even her usual +50 expedition bonus, if the hurdle being faced is social in nature).
You have discovered an added functionality for the Wrong Keys: "Using a Wrong Key as a sacrifice to summon the Daughter-of-Axes will decrease the ritual cost by 50 bits, and will give you one level of [Priority] over any opposing rituals". (Priority meaning that, if an opposing party attempts to summon her as well, you will not "compete" for the summoning and will always "win", as long as you successfully roll the minimum required for her summoning and have a [Priority] level greater than your foes).
-The Daughter-of-Axes is capable of crafting THREE "Wrong Keys" to you, in a single turn. however, she is only willing to do that ONCE per summoning period.
Unfortunate. But we do have priority because of the Wrong Keys, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Better start looking for probably-Frangiclave though.
Also, it's kind of... interesting that the Cadre have, apparently, forgotten that the Loremaster is female? Like, we've used them for rituals before.
Witnessing the Loremaster walking, almost marching, towards the second changeling was like witnessing inevitability itself. You watched, the Lore-words you were required to speak barely making it out of your mouth, as he picked up the sharp axe with a resolute and heavy motion. Every movement seemingly unstoppable, as if he were an executioner from ancient stories. Every action inexorable, as if he were death itself.
None of you understand what eldritch words the creature just spoke. But you all know, without a doubt, that it must have uttered ancient knowledge that will forever remain beyond your comprehension.
