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:
We could technically do two seperate study actions, but I kind of doubt we'll want to go for that, for AP reasons. And if we're only doing one on T17, the Edge artifact + Lantern books gets us the most benefit out of that AP, even if it is technically less efficient in the long run.
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Id be up for two study actions. Still wanna scry the klave and talk to stormchaser though.

reborn214 said:
Speaking of Jade I do wonder how emotionally fulfilled she is by our tasks given her Extereme complex on that. Given the last few turns, I think we have had a good job fulfilling that need of Jade feeling useful. It seems that we mostly have given her the task of learning information about Selene which does seem like something only she can do. Turn 13 tasks though was way more extreme than the others look at how low key the other tasks are.

Turn 10-16
Preturn 10 Cult work
Turn 10: Do the Cult Work
Turn 11: Research Selene.
Turn 12: Scry the bottom of the castle
Turn 13: DECIDED WHO LIVES AND DIES BY COMETS HANDS as a changeling infiltrator
Turn 14: Research Selene unlock a memory of light
Turn 15: Scry Twilight's jail cell
Turn 16: MORE SELENE research
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I mean...?

Aside from brief terrifying stints into cult activity. She is studying princess Luna and harmony. The current ruling powers of the WORLD. To try and save that world. Alongside helping us.

She also probably does have a life outside our basement.

Shaper47 said:
Remember that time the Master ended up having Twilight's horn broken and grinded into glass and a whole bunch of potential recruits killed because we weren't there to try and convince them otherwise. Remember how we weren't called to join them because of our low health.

If something like that happens again I'm going to be holding it over people's heads forever. I'm going to say I told you so. Mock people about it. And just generally be really bitter about the life choices we're having Velvet make. Especially if Velvet or somepony close to Velvet dies.

Just giving everyone a heads up.

I'll try my best to not be totally unreasonable. And please let me know if I'm going too far, but I suspect I'm going to be throwing a whole lot of salt around here.
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I remember making similar promises about the changelings. But bird stepped in on that vote. Velvet will survive. As will you. And the quest.

Shaper47 said:
True, but like we've already betrayed Cadence's trust. That's a choice we've already made and there's no takebackies. Her being sad is totally tragic but she still has us and Shining there for her so she can get though this.
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Honestly. As I said before. I think we're very close to being able to get Cadence to side with us over Celestia. I mean have you looked at Celestia recently?

Starlit Horizon said:
I mean, why Twilight? Why only Twilight?

To be honest, I am kind of perplexed that the choice what to do with Selene, or the Door vote, or hell, changeling sacrifice vote aren't that radioactive? Because they were more impactful, I think?

The first can be explained through the Mother phenomenon, but what about the rest of them?

And maybe that's my bias, but I do think that Twilight vote is (by far) the only actually radioactive vote in this thread, the rest has been surprisingly quiet since they have finished.

Edit, moth'd:
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A beloved friend was lost to us.

Shaper47 said:
The one that ended up being picked was the one not guaranteed to deal with her grief and self hatred and so she killed herself.
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This is reprehensible

jelloloaf said:
May I offer another meme in these trying times?

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I love it :V

Aranfan said:
The truth, of course, is that Velvet was failing to provide something vital to her daughter: Autonomy. The ability to make meaningful decisions on her own, without needing prior approval from Velvet or Stormchaser. Which is something that a child will be miserable without, but it's not something a protective mother can easily provide.

Velvet is a bit of a smother apparently.
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...that fits.
 
zxzx24 said:
Honestly. As I said before. I think we're very close to being able to get Cadence to side with us over Celestia. I mean have you looked at Celestia recently?
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And whose fault is it that she's like that? :V

(Not actually Velvet's but it could certainly look that way if certain information comes to light)
 
Vote closed
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by BirdBodhisattva on Jun 22, 2023 at 7:30 PM, finished with 629 posts and 81 votes.
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  • Voting
    • Ericwinter said:
    Realistically though, I don't think I voted to avoid going to the hive because of health so much as not wanting to piss off our dad, which was a whole other issue. Blaming it on just the health isn't taking the entire picture into account.
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    Wasn't the Master the one calling the shots? And the Master decided not to take us with her because of our low health.

    If the Master said, "Hop to it Velvet your coming with me." I don't think we'd have the option of not going.
     
    Shaper47 said:
    Wasn't the Master the one calling the shots? And the Master decided not to take us with her because of our low health.

    If the Master said, "Hop to it Velvet your coming with me." I don't think we'd have the option of not going.
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    There was, in fact, an option to say "fuck that, I'm coming with". A couple people were worried that Comet and the Windigoes might not be able to protect Velvet if she came along, or that it would annoy the Master if we tried, but the vast majority of opposition was due to our Father placing an embargo on us leaving Ponyville and the potential that he would notice if we left for the expedition.
     
    Dice Calculator (for combat, WIP)
  • Informational
    • wanders back into thread, gazes upon last several pages

    Alas, events took me from my computer before I could post this as a diversion from recent arguments, but it's still a significant tool from which more then one useful insight just kind of falls out. So, without further ado:


    Changelog
    • Vastly simplified default output, now outputs probability distributions for wounds inflicted by each side.
      • Includes difference, probabilities of one side being X wounds 'ahead' of the other.
      • WOUND_COUNT_CAP enables 'muting' of irrelevantly extreme outcomes.
    • Title, section/subsection heads, added; failed-feature editing shrapnel, removed.
    • Groundwork laid for new future features, great things ahead!
    Usage
    1. BONUS_AA and BA denote the personal combat score of the singular (for now) fighter on side A and side B. Tweak those to simulate different basic strengths.
    2. PROGRESS_A and B are the damage done by each side at the start of the simulation. Not terribly useful for the moment, but essential to the guts of the simulator and quite useful should we one day hit a mid-fight vote.
    3. CLASH_NUM is the number of clashes to run through, those being two roll-offs each. (See the inside of a combat rolls spoiler.)
      1. Important engine limitation: I haven't yet been able to set up the fight to end under particular circumstances.
      2. Higher numbers of clash and simulated fights to the death should be taken with several pinchs of salt. This is not version 1.0.
    4. And WOUND_COUNT_CAP sets the outer limits for what results to actually display.
      1. Consider the most extreme display outputs to represent 'this and more'.
    Major Findings (so far)
    • Different combat bonuses give a edge precisely proportional to their difference, regardless of magnitude. (Reality of course contains things like Confident Certainty rerolls and Celestia's environmental effect damage, but nonetheless.)
    • Even a +-5 difference is surprisingly effectual, over the course of multiple clashes. Over 3 clashes it's a difference of 0.58 Wounds comparative Wounds inflicted, and more then twice the chance of doing 3 wounds total to the other guy.
      • Note, the latter is likely distorted by the 'conditionals are weirdly hard so everyone's being modelled as having Yes total Health'.
      • Significant takeaway: Having better personal combat then one's opponent or some other quite significant advantage is very important. (Though keep in mind one easy source of such a advantage is 'have a easier goal then your opponent'. Recall Velvet vs. Marinette.)
    • Larger advantages are just murder—no two ways about it, one needs to not be in that situation for long. Outnumbering maluses come to mind, and present a route of no little interest in what to try and be able to model.
    For the moment, this is all, at least without another experimentation session and/or really racking my memory about it. Of course, I am one person, and the thread is many.

    Enjoy.

    (But please don't forget those caveats about large numbers of clashes and the lack of death/escape conditionals.)
     
  • Informational
    • Ericwinter said:
    There was, in fact, an option to say "fuck that, I'm coming with". A couple people were worried that Comet and the Windigoes might not be able to protect Velvet if she came along, or that it would annoy the Master if we tried, but the vast majority of opposition was due to our Father placing an embargo on us leaving Ponyville and the potential that he would notice if we left for the expedition.
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    Our dad continues to suck massively.
     
    Ericwinter said:
    There was, in fact, an option to say "fuck that, I'm coming with". A couple people were worried that Comet and the Windigoes might not be able to protect Velvet if she came along, or that it would annoy the Master if we tried, but the vast majority of opposition was due to our Father placing an embargo on us leaving Ponyville and the potential that he would notice if we left for the expedition.
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    Yeah, but I'm saying the Master might not have given us a choice. She was hand picking her expedition team and if she picked Velvet. Well it might have been like her summoning. It's going to happen no matter what Velvet wants to do.
     
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    Ericwinter said:
    There was, in fact, an option to say "fuck that, I'm coming with". A couple people were worried that Comet and the Windigoes might not be able to protect Velvet if she came along, or that it would annoy the Master if we tried, but the vast majority of opposition was due to our Father placing an embargo on us leaving Ponyville and the potential that he would notice if we left for the expedition.
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    also, you know, the "how in the hell do we explain it to our family, which will absolutely believe we disappeared like everyone else?!"

    With a side of "and how do we explain our coming back when nobody else did?"
     
    Shaper47 said:
    Yeah, but I'm saying the Master might not have given us a choice. She was hand picking her expedition team and if she picked Velvet. Well it might have been like her summoning. It's going to happen no what Velvet wants to do.
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    Maybe, maybe not. We never even tried, and what I'm saying is that the pressure was from both of them, not just the Master saying "you're wounded, stay here". And my original point was that I, personally, voted that way more because of the dad, not because of the Master or our wound.
    Pittauro said:
    also, you know, the "how in the hell do we explain it to our family, which will absolutely believe we disappeared like everyone else?!"

    With a side of "and how do we explain our coming back when nobody else did?"
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    That too, yes. Put simply there were a lot of pressures to stay home, and blaming it all on the wound is ignoring a lot of context. I didn't give a fuck about the wound, and from what I recall a lot of others didn't either.
     
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    Ericwinter said:
    That too, yes. Put simply there were a lot of pressures to stay home, and blaming it all on the wound is ignoring a lot of context. I didn't give a fuck about the wound, and from what I recall a lot of others didn't either.
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    I'm not blaming it on the wound I'm saying it might not have been a choice at all if we had higher health.
     
    Emissary said:
    Has the thread seen any push to End Is Beautiful him yet? Because that feels like an ethically neutral option.
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    There were, but pretty restrained.

    Too suspisous, because even if Celestia isn't sure what Lores can do, some kind of long distance attack is known, and it sure is suspisous if our father dies shortly after punishing us.

    Also, AP hell.

    Maybe the latter is even more important than the former, I don't know.
     
    Emissary said:
    Has the thread seen any push to End Is Beautiful him yet? Because that feels like an ethically neutral option.
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    Oh there's at least half a dozen complaints that we haven't offed him yet every turn. Sadly, he has yet to blatantly preform an actually evil action that would justify such a thing. Velvet did once have a chance of rolling to just murder him once though.
    Shaper47 said:
    I'm not blaming it on the wound I'm saying it might not have been a choice at all if we had higher health.
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    Ah. Well, yeah, sure. But that's far from a guaruntee. Velvet didn't really bring much to the table that he couldn't already have, so I wouldn't bet on it myself.
     
    Ericwinter said:
    That too, yes. Put simply there were a lot of pressures to stay home, and blaming it all on the wound is ignoring a lot of context. I didn't give a fuck about the wound, and from what I recall a lot of others didn't either.
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    same. my main point of worry was basically that Stormchaser would be insanely worried and unlikely to keep our absence a secret, and once we came back we would have had to come up with an explanation both for our family and for the community at large.

    Basically our absence and return would have made us absurdly suspicious, and wasn't the detective already around by then?

    Emissary said:
    Has the thread seen any push to End Is Beautiful him yet? Because that feels like an ethically neutral option.
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    We've mostly joked about it, but let's be real, "killing your dad" is not ethically neutral. It's explicitly evil.

    We don't even know if he's guilty of anything more than... well, basically disowning us and emotional abuse, which is bad, but not "Kill him" levels of bad.

    All in all, he doesn't deserve any love or respect, but he doesn't quite deserve death either. Unless he's directly responsible for Velvet's scar, but we just don't know because Bird doesn't want to tell us.

    On that note, HOPEFULLY after we remove "frightened" Bird will finally let us know because Velvet will be able to think about it.
     
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