I'm highly tempted by the blast option but we might as well answer seriously, it's a dumb riddle but there could be countermeasures to ruin the Chalice of Blood if we just blast our way through. Better to play it safe and give the obvious answer.
That seems to be working. Alright. There may be some issues, but I imagine they won't affect us.
[X] Answer Death
"Death. Obviously. What does this door think I am, a simpleton?"
Rosa's return was quiet and unnoticed at first. The first inkling anyone had of it was a surge of dark magic erupting from the Coven's citadel in Magehold. As the League scrambled to determine the source, Rosa Maledicta appeared in front of the Dread Council in a puff of smoke. But not the Rosa Maledicta they had known. This new Rosa was politer, more agreeable, more… confident. Assured. Her transformation had granted her power but more importantly it had granted her understanding. Her will was supreme. There was no need for petty displays of anger like those that she had indulged in before. The living would fall before her, and they would do nothing, could do nothing to stop it.
Rosa Maledicta was dead.
Long live Rosa Maledicta, Queen of the Dead.
With pure magical power running through her, the new Queen of the Dead could easily cast spells that would have been utterly beyond her capabilities before her rediscovery of the Chalice. One of the first she cast was an improvement upon her previous research into blood magic. Now, not only the land but the people of the Dread League would be bound to her will. Permanently.
Meanwhile, Chrysalis is managing to do slightly better than expected. One thing I should have remembered is that the Changelings' ponypower is untapped, whereas the Equestrians had to deal with Sombra.
In addition to binding the League to herself, Queen Rosa could now cast numerous other spells, ones of great use to her and her goals.
Basically, we can temporarily spend crystals to gain buffs. The main one of use is 'Begin Converting the Living', which will be our main source of ponypower once the Black Crusade kicks off. Direct conversion of state population to ponypower, regardless of coring status, is hideously useful.
With her power secured, it was time for the first steps of the Black Crusade to begin.
Chrysalis continues to make slow progress. For some reason, I suspect it's going to speed up in the near future.
The Arcturian Order. The first line of defense for the living, and our eternal enemy. They needed to be dealt with, but how?
The obvious solution was the simplest one. The Dread League outnumbered the Order two-to-one. Launching an attack would easy, and likely quick.
However… Rosa was tempted by the opportunity that her new vampiric powers presented to her. The new Headmaster was a weak Griffon, obsessed with the ideals of Harmony and Justice and Redemption. Pah. Playing into that would be easy. Rosa could just bat her eyelashes, mention something about "Not being evil, just misunderstood. Honest!" and she'd have William Steel Beak wrapped around her hoof.
And if that failed, well. She could just send in the hordes anyway.
[ ] Try, ahem, 'Diplomacy'
[ ] Just Send in The Hordes!
Also, after an accidental misclick, I have discovered that giving the wrong answer to the riddle has no effect. It just spits the same event back at you.
Also, after an accidental misclick, I have discovered that giving the wrong answer to the riddle has no effect. It just spits the same event back at you.
Using stealth and subversion seems rather Vampish, I like the idea of crushing them with a horde of slaves and monsters but I'm sure we'll have more opportunities to do that later. There's just something hilarious about subverting the leadership of our old foes and making them dance to our tune.
Also, I found a perfect theme for this playthrough:
Just, don't take the 'surrender' option. Any other playthrough, I would advocate the one that didn't result in global genocide, but Rosa's gone too far already. It wouldn't make sense for her to back off now.
