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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Greymere said:
@BirdBodhisattva, this would only apply if she's leading the expedition, right?
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I'll play fast and loose with that. In the sense that she doesn't need to be "leading" the expedition to make herself useful.
She'll still bemoan the leader's actions all the way, of course, but she'll put her weight in.
(So, if an expedition only lasts one month, she can be involved, give her bonus, and not need to spend her action to be part of it as per our usual rules.)

She IS the expedition Name, after all.

EDIT:

StormySky said:
So if we sacrifice two Wrong Keys, does that mean we get to do the DoA summoning for free?
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Get back to me on that question later. I might not allow that for balancing reasons.
But hey, three months do take a bit of a while to pass don't they? So no need to rush that decision.
 
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BirdBodhisattva said:
I'll play fast and loose with that. In the sense that she doesn't need to be "leading" the expedition to make herself useful.
She'll still bemoan the leader's actions all the way, of course, but she'll put her weight in.
(So, if an expedition only lasts one month, she can be involved, give her bonus, and not need to spend her action to be part of it as per our usual rules.)

She IS the expedition Name, after all.

EDIT:


Get back to me on that question later. I might not allow that for balancing reasons.
But hey, three months do take a bit of a while to pass don't they? So no need to rush that decision.
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...between Velvet's universal competence in the Lores and DoA, those Manehattan cultists really aren't going to know what hit them, huh?
 
Well. That was both hilarious, terrifying, and legitimately awesome. Also DoA is pretty freaking useful, especially for the expedition we're about to do.
 
Well then that was fascinating and funny to read.

For the specific traits here of DOA.
[UNIQUE]: The Daughter-of-Axes is a unique creature. She may refuse summons at will, and will refuse re-summons for three ONE 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)

I suspect that if we ever find the Frangiclave and free her from her current preditament, this would fundamentally alter the relationship in a way
that alter very large amounts of the behavior and aspects of DOA towards the one who did so.
 
StormySky said:
So if we sacrifice two Wrong Keys, does that mean we get to do the DoA summoning for free?
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Even if it doesn't, we'd get to summon a Name for a measly 50 bits! That's cheaper than even a normal summon!

Edit:
Dheer said:
I suspect that if we ever find the Frangiclave and free her from her current preditament, this would fundamentally alter the relationship in a way that alter very large amounts of the behavior and aspects of DOA towards the one who did so.
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She'd become a tsundere, obviously :V
 
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Also 5 health, that's decent. She doesn't get her +50 for combat, but with Edge three and even a lesser Edge Influence on herself she would still be nasty.

Still, that means throwing her full weight at an expedition gives… +120 to Knock stuff, +150 if she's able to Attention. And even non-Knock still gets +50. If Velvet throws her own attention and base stats, they can roll over +200 to Knock, or a second Influence for almost +250…

Jesus Christ. Given the demonstration of literal fucking portal opening we just saw, I wouldn't be surprised if we just warp into Twilight's room flat out.
 
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Also I can just imagine next time the DoA's summoning period rolls around:

Master: Chop chop, my little ponies! Time to summon the angry snakemare again!

Cadre: *crying in terror in the corner*
 
BirdBodhisattva said:
The Daughter-of-Axes' invitation: "Ae sppose ae can wash yer hoof, s'long as ye wash mine as well. Ae need ye te run me an errant. Do tha' an' ae'll make et worth yer time. Bu' get sum'more Knock on ye farst, or else ye won' survive th' trip."
-Successfully complete her request on the "Through the foggy mirror" action. You do not know how many actions this will take.
-Your forays into the "Through the foggy mirror" action may be spaced through however many turns you wish, and you may invest however many actions per turn you wish into it. But the Daughter-of-Axes must be summoned every time you want to try it.
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Knock before taking this action.
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Also this. Looks a lot like an inter-dimensional abiltity? Or maybe it's the actual just walk into the Mansus wholesale thing we thought the other one might be, and that one is bringing the Mansus to us.

Also wonder what the actual errand would be. Not really sure if this one will be worth it or not, to be honest. Combo with the personal SH Sacrament, and we might really be able to start History jumping…
 
So we've managed to summon her.

Is this going to be a bait and switch to screw over the Master, since I can't imagine we're actually going to let them fuck off with them.

Or do we just want them to do their job?

Also impressive tonal shift.
 
Greymere said:
Also I can just imagine next time the DoA's summoning period rolls around:

Master: Chop chop, my little ponies! Time to summon the angry snakemare again!

Cadre: *crying in terror in the corner*
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Man, our legend just keeps growing. Like, there was the sheer weight of power we called down—not needing to roll for Winter, and barely for Edge—and then all that Knock, but also just… talking to the Name. Understanding what apparently seems like an eldritch language, and not even really flinching or running from the fucking Name. A comparative creature to the Master, or even worse given her summoning requirements. Also the third we've called down in about half a year or so.

Also, it's almost a shame we don't want to level the Cult up. Level 3 Knock is so close… hopefully, when we can introduce the Lores to the Bureau, we'll finally get to see that infrastructure bonus. Knock and Forge together would be really useful, actually.
 
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Doomed Wombat said:
So we've managed to summon her.

Is this going to be a bait and switch to screw over the Master, since I can't imagine we're actually going to let them fuck off with them.

Or do we just want them to do their job?

Also impressive tonal shift.
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Ah right you missed the plan - we summoned her for the express purpose of betraying the Master by freeing Twilight with the cult's resources.

More or less we hold the leash to the summon, as much as one can leash a name, and so while we let the cult know how to summon her we have no intentions of letting her do anything for the Master.

On a different note I suspect Velvet did not do anything about the ritual wrong. It's just… not quite right. Either because the DoA is bound, or the damage to the mansus has fundamentally altered how things work in a way that doesn't really impede the DoA because she's that good, but does screw with everyone else.
 
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Also, we should probably start looking for Expeditions to send the DoA on, since that seems to be her specialty. Shame Knock isn't really needed for the Canterlot one.
 
Ericwinter said:
Also, we should probably start looking for Expeditions to send the DoA on, since that seems to be her specialty. Shame Knock isn't really needed for the Canterlot one.
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I mean, yeah, but also consider: +50 general bonus for expeditions. And the Canterlot one isn't supposed to be that difficult. She'll probably be able to steamroll it, even without any of the expedition Lores.
 
Okay, if the DoA can join us on the expedition to rescue Twilight without using her monthly action, it might be worth having her craft the three WRONG KEYS up front, in case there are any summons where Twilight is being held. There still is that one Windigo that hasn't been used yet after all.

But now that we've seen her full stats, I think we should be fine just bringing the DoA, Velvet, and maybe a Risen on the expedition to rescue Twilight. Especially if Jade and Velvet cast a "The Reflection of the Tapestry" ritual to uncover Twilight's location beforehand.
 
Intermitent Threadmark - Voting opened
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    • Doomed Wombat said:
    Also impressive tonal shift.
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    Thank you kindly. If you mean the shift from the serious murdering to DoA comedy, that is. That was intentional, and the reason why I divided the summoning into two different updates.



    On other news, Sacraments updates.



    On other, OTHER news.

    So, during my impromptu hiatus I missed... maybe 50 pages of discussion. And I do enjoy everyone's participation, so I fully intent on catching up.

    So here's the thing. I'll work on the Vote Turn (which is the next update) but I'll only post it after I'm comfortably up to date.

    IN THE MEANTIME, I'll ask you all to decide one thing.

    "Silky Stream will decide DoA's name."

    That's all the prompt I will give you all, because more details will come with the next update itself. But bottom line is that you can all start discussing for it.

    Make it silly, make it funny, make it innocent. I (and DoA) really don't mind it, as long as it's not mean or something that wouldn't come out of Silky's mouth (and remember, kids CAN be clever).

    So, uh, voting open? Yeah, voting open.



    DoA's name will be...

    [] Rattled Snake

    [] Bush Whacker

    [] Foul Mood

    [] WRITE IN


    Edit: Loathe as I am to have so many temp threadmarks, should probably mark this one down.
    Edit2: Also, kindly add any explanation/comments if any? Some puns might fly way over my head, and I'd rather they didn't. Still, go ahead!
     
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    • Greymere said:
    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.
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    Half the Cult can't even agree that she's a pony. And we're not entirely convince the Master is actually female, despite them appearing as a mare. I'm honestly not surprised some people think Velvet's male.
    Greymere said:
    I mean, yeah, but also consider: +50 general bonus for expeditions. And the Canterlot one isn't supposed to be that difficult. She'll probably be able to steamroll it, even without any of the expedition Lores.
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    Fair. I mean, I expect the checks to be, like, 70 or 80, so she could still mess up, but it should be relatively easy, and if we don't have anything better for her to do…

    Then again, if Velvet went as well, there would probably be no difficulty at all.
    Doctor Elsewhere said:
    Okay, if the DoA can join us on the expedition to rescue Twilight without using her monthly action, it might be worth having her craft the three WRONG KEYS up front, in case there are any summons where Twilight is being held. There still is that one Windigo that hasn't been used yet after all.

    But now that we've seen her full stats, I think we should be fine just bringing the DoA, Velvet, and maybe a Risen on the expedition to rescue Twilight. Especially if Jade and Velvet cast a "The Reflection of the Tapestry" ritual to uncover Twilight's location beforehand.
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    Definitely. Not really sure a Risen would be necessary though.

    And hey, next turn we can throw DoA at the Canterlot expedition too! Especially if we manage to make the move immediately. Maybe we'll actually get some useful books and Artifacts finally…
     
    BirdBodhisattva said:
    "Silky Stream will decide DoA's name."

    That's all the prompt I will give you all, because more details will come with the next update itself. But bottom line is that you can all start discussing for it.

    Make it silly, make it funny, make it innocent. I (and DoA) really don't mind it, as long as it's not mean or something that wouldn't come out of Silky's mouth (and remember, kids CAN be clever).

    So, uh, voting open? Yeah, voting open.

    DoA's name will be...

    [] WRITE IN
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    DoA's Name? Alright then, how about:

    [X] Missus Rya
     
    BirdBodhisattva said:
    "Silky Stream will decide DoA's name."

    That's all the prompt I will give you all, because more details will come with the next update itself. But bottom line is that you can all start discussing for it.

    Make it silly, make it funny, make it innocent. I (and DoA) really don't mind it, as long as it's not mean or something that wouldn't come out of Silky's mouth (and remember, kids CAN be clever).

    So, uh, voting open? Yeah, voting open.

    DoA's name will be...
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    !!!

    Naming time!

    [X] Vena
    [X] Miss Violet

    'Vena' from the feminine forms of amphisbaena, a mythological snake also called the Mother of Ants.

    Miss Violet, because Knock.

    Can't come up with anything else off the top of my head at the moment :V

    Edit:
    Adding other people's proposed names as they come up

    [X] Dory
    [X] Cora
    [X] Velvet Axe
     
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    BirdBodhisattva said:
    Actions of your own: "You will only ever stop being afraid of it when you truly understand it. You cannot run from it, any longer. You must understand what it means to die. You must... understand death."
    -Perform, three times, the "Investigating the End" action. (Costs 30 bits per action, rolls using your Winter level)
    -This action is the equivalent of performing a "The End is Beautiful" ritual WITHOUT specifying a target.
    -Each time you do so, somepony, somewhere, will die.
    -No ponies in your contact list will die.

    The Wolf's Invitation: "He will give you what you desire, and you will beg for it as He does. He will give you the knowledge of what it means to End."
    -Seek audience with the Wolf-Divided. (Costs one Mansus-action.)
    -This action will give you both Winter AND Edge Sacraments.
    -This action may be taken even if you have not reached Edge level 4, and it WILL fulfill (and lock) your Edge Sacrament.
    -This action may be taken with your "free" monthly Mansus action.
    -[THIS IS A REGRETTABLE ACTION]
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    …Welp! We're never doing either of those! Definitely need to steal control of Neighnia at some point if we ever want a Winter Sacrament. And hopefully fin an Edge Name somewhere.

    [X] Dory.

    [X] Rattled Snake
     
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    Ugh, sacraments. Why is it that we get multiple appealing ones for some lores we have to painfully choose between, and struggle to find anything we can stomach for others?
     
    StormySky said:
    Ugh, sacraments. Why is it that we get multiple appealing ones for some lores we have to painfully choose between, and struggle to find anything we can stomach for others?
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    That's the Lores for you. Sometimes they're really cool. Sometimes, they're really not.
    Greymere said:
    ...yeah, no kidding. Though hopefully our personal Edge Sacrament won't be as uhhh, lethal?
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    Personally I'm hoping it will require fighting some dangerous beast or something, rather than a pony. But honestly, I expect it to be just as bad, if only because we've been tainted by the Wolf. Chances are that experience affected even our personal Sacraments, outside of just metaphysical tainting. Though maybe removing frightened will change that.

    But yeah, I'm honestly resigned to having to get Names for those two.

    Now, to wait for Shaper shilling it as hard as they possibly can…
     
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    BirdBodhisattva said:
    The Wolf's Invitation: "He will give you what you desire, and you will beg for it as He does. He will give you the knowledge of what it means to End."
    -Seek audience with the Wolf-Divided. (Costs one Mansus-action.)
    -This action will give you both Winter AND Edge Sacraments.
    -This action may be taken even if you have not reached Edge level 4, and it WILL fulfill (and lock) your Edge Sacrament.
    -This action may be taken with your "free" monthly Mansus action.
    -[THIS IS A REGRETTABLE ACTION]
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    Hm. Considering the Wolf's Invitation would give both a Winter and Edge Sacrament, I wonder if Windy would gain an Edge affinity if he took it?
     
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