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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reborn214 said:
I do not think sacraments are immediately relevant to betraying the cult and stopping random cult members for snatch and grabbing our daughter, hopping up on edge at influence and stabbing stormchasers or them throwing a windingo through our window. Since our betrayal is like this or next turn after we break out twilight.

I do think the sacraments are useful to win, but not at this very moment when we could for real die by staying in a place with high cult influence without an exit plan.
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I meant more like what do we need to bring with us out of this situation so that we can start on the sacraments as fast as possible. What invitations can you "take" from the cult. Do we for example want to meet the other name the cult has before we leave to see if we can get their invitation. If we want to hurry for winter sacrament we want to focus on getting ritual power and things. Do we and to take the Masters sacrament before we leave because then we need to REALLY hurry on getting more moth.
 
Aranfan said:
I am unable to brain today, I have the dumb. Hopefully someone will make a "heal twilight" plan I can vote for.
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Would this be acceptable, in your opinion?

Rarity on her job
Jade on RotT at our house - Sacrifice SH2
Hintchasers get a body
Risen steal the manuscripts
DoA/Velvet Axe on Wrong Key crafting
Servants on expeditions searching
Knock boon on the Woods
Winter boon on Flourishing Risen (w/ body from Hintchasers)
Winter for Selene

Velvet's actions:
CoI (Grail) - Sacrifice Grail 3
Comet Feet - With Fluttershy, not in reserve
Soft Sweeps
Craft reagents: SH2, Grail 3, Forge 3
Reserve for a FR for Twilight - Sacrifice Forge 3
Rescue Twilight
 
Bakkasama said:
Wouldn't it be better to just... lend her our SH3 artifact? It gives a greater bonus and costs us no money
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The SH2 sacrifice is made with the assumption that Jade is using the SH3 artifact. They're not mutually exclusive options.

Total bonus would come out to 13 + 30 + 20 = +63, i.e. it would guarantee the SH roll succeeds.

The only reason I don't have it in my first (and preferred) plan is that making a Grail 3 and a SH2 reagent would take an extra action, in which case we might as well do the RotT ourself.
 
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Greymere said:
Would this be acceptable, in your opinion?

Rarity on her job
Jade on RotT at our house - Sacrifice SH2
Hintchasers get a body
Risen steal the manuscripts
DoA/Velvet Axe on Wrong Key crafting
Servants on expeditions searching
Knock boon on the Woods
Winter boon on Flourishing Risen (w/ body from Hintchasers)
Winter for Selene

Velvet's actions:
CoI (Grail) - Sacrifice Grail 3
Comet Feet - With Fluttershy, not in reserve
Soft Sweeps
Craft reagents: SH2, Grail 3, Forge 3
Reserve for a FR for Twilight - Sacrifice Forge 3
Rescue Twilight
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Personally I would do the Red Church, not the Woods but that's a minor thing. Also you should probably come up with a conditional for if we can't do the healing ritual. I suggest teaching either Rarity or our family.
 
I know that our family being suspiscious is not that much of a concern anymore, but I am still wary of doing rituals at home. In part because it risks one of our servants seeing Twilight before she is officially found and in part because we don't know how many of them report to our father or if any of them is a cultist.
 
Ericwinter said:
Personally I would do the Red Church, not the Woods but that's a minor thing. Also you should probably come up with a conditional for if we can't do the healing ritual. I suggest teaching either Rarity or our family.
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The only reason I'm leery of doing the Church this turn is cause. Well. We pretty much have no idea what next turn is going to look like. Risking dealing with a Fascination/Dread/Wound on the turn that is either going to be our last chance of prep or our first turn as an open traitor seems unnecessarily risky, imo.

I kind of assumed that Bird would just refund the AP and open a vote on what to do with it. I think he said something along those lines earlier?
 
Bakkasama said:
I know that our family being suspiscious is not that much of a concern anymore, but I am still wary of doing rituals at home. In part because it risks one of our servants seeing Twilight before she is officially found and in part because we don't know how many of them report to our father or if any of them is a cultist.
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…Why would doing rituals let them see Twilight early? Well, maybe the Forge ritual, but the Tapestry ritual should be fine.
Greymere said:
The only reason I'm leery of doing the Church this turn is cause. Well. We pretty much have no idea what next turn is going to look like. Risking dealing with a Fascination/Dread/Wound on the turn that is either going to be our last chance of prep or our first turn as an open traitor seems unnecessarily risky, imo.

I kind of assumed that Bird would just refund the AP and open a vote on what to do with it. I think he said something along those lines earlier?
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Fair enough. Not sure I agree, but those are reasonable concerns.
 
Bakkasama said:
I know that our family being suspiscious is not that much of a concern anymore, but I am still wary of doing rituals at home. In part because it risks one of our servants seeing Twilight before she is officially found and in part because we don't know how many of them report to our father or if any of them is a cultist.
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Doing it in Rarity's will hurt her career, when she's already neglected it for a while.

Jade's house needs to be cleaned up, which would take an additional action on top of the RotT; and if Jade is doing the RotT, her old house would be a bad idea for different reasons.

We could do it in the club w/o the Cadre I guess, but that would add even more cult suspicion on top of what we're going to get for not doing our cult tasks.

Edit: Unless you're talking about the FR and not the RotT, in which case I say that's Aranfan's problem to figure out. Or anyone else who wants to include a FR for Twilight in the plan. I'm still of the opinion that a FR on Twilight isn't of particularly high priority compared to covering our trail and teaching our family to defend themselves against the occult.
 
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Greymere said:
@BirdBodhisattva, I've got a (probably premature) question about moving and things. If our place of work ends up being in Canterlot, but we can't move there because of Soft Sweeps or some other reason, how would that work?
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My best drafts so far involve you continuing in Ponyville, or tapping your non-Canterlot out-of-city resources (currently only your uncle). Staying in Ponyville would involve at least negotiating things with your father, since you would be living there without actually administering the place. But to be brutally honest, that would actually be a negotiation among equals if everything goes well. You would, very best case scenario, be talking to him as a high level government official to be. And to be honest, you live in an estate. It is perfectly reasonable for you to stay there (it's normal for large noble-owned houses to simply accommodate several branches of a family) while somepony else takes over the farm-related stuff.

But again, too many options this turn, we will all be playing by ear during this near future.

Ericwinter said:
Also you should probably come up with a conditional for if we can't do the healing ritual.
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Don't worry about that. If a plan has a ritual to heal Twilight, we'll play it by ear and I'll open a new vote if doing that action is not possible.

Expeditions happen at the end of turns, so the alleged healing would happen after all (or almost all) other actions took place. So it'd be a pretty simple and non-contentious vote.

Greymere said:
Unless you're talking about the FR and not the RotT, in which case I say that's Aranfan's problem to figure out. Or anyone else who wants to include a FR for Twilight in the plan.
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Oh, right. IF you cast Redemption of the Forge, deciding "where" will definitely be a problem :V
 
Tentative Plan
[] Plan hope for the best, plan for the worst
Rarity: [] Focus on her work. She has a contract with high-end merchants and a noble family, after all. (DEFAULT PICK) (She will still work on her designs if this is not picked, but there will be a chance for this month to be a "failure" by her reckoning)
Jade: IF cover is blown and trigger event occurs [] Jade Whistle thinks she saw something in Selene, and would like to investigate that further. (Research "A Memory of Light") IF Cover still intact at end of turn, []Summon Mare in the Mirror
---It's not what the cult wants and it gives the cult a new tool, but it still does work for the cult to avoid suspicion and makes it so they don't get more windigos or force Jade to go through with the process of summoning one, which she clearly doesn't want to do.
DoA: [] Lead an Expedition. (Rescue Twilight)
Selene: [] There is something that she must learn now… for everypony's sake. (Teach Selene the final lesson of WINTER)
AotL: Grail (Convince Comet Feet)
---If the trigger event does happen this turn, Comet Feet is very much a big problem that I want to put every effort into avoiding having to deal with.
Free Mansus Action:
-[] The Woods
--[] There has to be somewhere in or around the Woods you have not yet seem. Looking for them will help you understand this place better.
---As the comment about losing access to the cults resources says, we probably want to try to get our hooves on some single circle rituals and this seems like where we're likely to find them. Also, we'll probably lose easy access to the Woods when we make an enemy of the Master, so this is probably our last chances to do things there.
Personal Actions:
[] Dedicate time to Soft Sweeps. You do not take your loved ones for granted, and you do not think of their suffering lightly. Soft Sweeps needs help, so there you will be. (NOT taking this action will incur in a "Stressed" malus for all your other actions this turn)
[] Teach your family the Lores. This will take time, but you consider it to be utterly important. For their safety, if nothing else. So, you better start sooner rather than later. (You will dedicate yourself to teach Stormchaser and Silky. You will also cover Soft Sweeps if you ALSO pick the action to spend time with Soft.)
[] Take Fluttershy with you, of course, and have her be by your side the moment you find Comet. Making her trust you enough to help her was no small feat, so you would be remiss if you didn't follow through with your promise. (Fluttershy will appreciate this, but you have no idea how Comet Feet will react)
[] Go save Twilight. What are you waiting for?
[] To be performed in your own estate, where you might leave traces for somepony to find.
IF Trigger event does not occur [] Write a Manuscript for the Cult. You will make sure not to do it in your hoofwriting. (WRITE IN what Lore) IF Trigger Event Occurs [] "The Forge's Redemption"
[] Invoke a Risen (Hint Chaser Body ONE Risen is a FREE ACTION)
Hintchasers: [] Acquire a dead body from the local cemetery.
Servants: Honestly no ideas here

The main point here is accounting for the, admittedly not entirely likely, possibility that we might manage to rescue Twilight without the cult blowing up on us.
 
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Alchemist767676 said:
DoA: [] Lead an Expedition. (Rescue Twilight)
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Just a quick aside. If I understand your draft correctly, then you are using an action to also scout Manehattan (with a ritual, from that "to be performed in your own estate" right under "go save twilight".
So DoA can accompany you without spending an action, which mean she can have an action on her own.
Because if you're going on an expedition, you'll lead it. No need to worry about issues of "does the leader applies their bonus or...?" leave those optimizations to me.
So yeah, if you're scouting Manehattan, and Velvet is going to the expedition, anypony else can accompany her without spending an action.
 
[] Plan Rarity to the rescue
-[] Selene (Winter)
-[] Rarity (Assist Velvet)
-[] Servants (Help to reequip one of your farm barns into play ground for your fillies. Trampoline, table tennis and so on. Nothing suspicious here.)
-[] Jade (RotT at our barn after its refurbishment, equip SH artifact. Hide ritual circles under carpets. If anyone finds them then they are here for Wizards&Knights game)
-[] Hintchasers (get a body)
-[] Raisen (steal manuscripts)
-[]DoA (Lead Rescue Twilight expedition, take Rarity)
-[]Velvet actions
--[]AoTL for Comet action (Free)
--[] Visit the Dry Well (Free)
--[] Craft Reagent (Grail 3 , Free)
--[]1.Teach Rarity
--[]2.Grail Influence with Cadre bonus, Grail 3 reagent and Rarity assistance
--[]3.Comet Feet social. With Fluttershy, not in reserve
--[]4.Soft Sweeps social
--[]5.If doing FR for Twilight craft Forge 3 reagent x2. Otherwise try to increase your influence, especially over the Hintchasers. With Rarity assistance
--[] 6.FR for Twilight at barn or another appropriate action (Rarity assistance if applicable).

While Rarity career is important if given a choice I think she would go to Twilight rescue instead. Plus we can help with her career later by asking Cadance to wear her dresses. I know that we can take her on expedition as free action but she would be more useful as Grail 3 and for it we will need to spend her action one way or another.

Also barn would be a great (and long term) location for rituals. Even if we go for Jade house instead we will need to redo everything again couple of turns later to gain access to big summoning rituals for Baldomare and DoA. We just need to come with some misdirection for why we are using it. My initial suggestion is to reequip it into playground.

Edit. To keep Rarity work we can try to go with
--[]5.If doing FR for Twilight craft Forge 3 reagent x2. Otherwise assist Rarity with doing her main job.
 
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reborn214 said:
Also subverting the ponyville branch would require us to either kill Windy or subvert Windy as he is like the actual head now.
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He is leaving this turn to find himself, with Master permission. Nothing stops us from claiming his cabinet. Also we probably will be given a choice for our Lunar bureau headquarters.

To not go too far I suggest Wildhoof Club. On odd days we can pose as government agency pretending to be cult. On even days we can pose as a cult pretending to be government agency.
 
We are likely to try to foist Twilight on Shining Armor this turn and we can't heal Twilight after they see her crippled like that without it being suspiscious af. Rarity would also push to heal Twilight even if that happens.

So the way I see it, either we find a way to fit healing Twilight into this turn or we accept that she will likely be crippled forever and Rarity will remain leashed.

Could we ask our uncle for help finding a safe house where we can perform rituals (without telling him it is for rituals)?
 
Ericwinter said:
I mean, at worst we can probably do it when Luna reawakens? Or if we go hard enough on the Grail this and next turn and really earn Celestia or Cadence's trust.
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I don't think we're getting the Solar Seal of Approval on Unknown Eldritch Healing Rituals no matter how hard on Grail we go.

Not that I think we should go out of the way to fit in a Forge's Redemption this turn. We've got other stuff to do that actually helps protect our core priorities.
 
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Greymere said:
I don't think we're getting the Solar Seal of Approval on Unknown Eldritch Healing Rituals no matter how hard on Grail we go.

Not that I think we should go out of the way to fit in a Forge's Redemption this turn. We've got other stuff to do that actually helps protect our core priorities.
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Oh, that was just for "introduce the Lores without getting murder beamed for having similar spooky magic to the bad guys". It would probably take a bit more to get the healing rituals approved as well, but that would at least set us on the path and make it possible that we could eventually do it.
 
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