Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

[Sveta08]

Ha! Oh how wonderful!
Was almost worried there for a minute! But, ah, so sweet! So delightful.

And how clever of Selene! She is not quite a documentarian as Velvet is. Yet.

 

[Venerable Ro]

Well alright! Let's get this train rolling, Eclipse can eat our dust.

 

[DelightedOne]

Ah, Selene is going to appear in this isn't she? The title is a dead giveaway.

Iron Button and Beyond Reproach are good. I wonder if they will be loyal after this.

She called them AND has Cadance in the room? She is feeling quite mothy tonight isn't she.

Yes, Iron Button, Cadance is on our side so you're kinda fucked if you don't cooperate.

Question games? She is awfully confident in this, it doesn't even feel like Velvet.

CLOP

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...

Okay, she got me. You're doing great sweetie!

She wanted you to act like there is a Princess in the room.

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Oooh, that makes so much more sense now. I was wondering what exactly was in her mind to say that.

"During the search, an unknown, and by all accounts disinherited, noblemare comes to prominence. She somehow makes her way to the heart of the search efforts in Canterlot. And after the false Princess Luna takes over the castle, she attempts to break in with one of Celestia's former apprentices."

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Here comes the build up. Wait, he thinks Velvet is a changeling?

So we are lying about everything and making luna's disappearance be a setup. Meh, I guess it works.

You have reached the maximum "loyalty" you can reach with the Lunar Bureau. For that, you have automatically "converted" it to your use, and started to secretly spread the use of the Lores among its ranks. You may no longer spend Commissioner actions to "ingratiate yourself with the Bureau", because there is no need for that. However, you also (currently) cannot "speed up" the process of bringing more Bureau ponies into the know.

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Hahahahahaha. Amazing, truly, completely and utterly amazing... but I already knew it would happen.

We cannot accelerate the growth of our cult yet, but there is a path for that in the future, let's keep that in mind.

You can now "Create institutional knowledge" for free, once per turn, during your Follower's phase. "Institutional Knowledge" is a level 1 manuscript that will "introduce" the Bureau to the selected Lore, giving them access to your Library on the relevant Lore as well. You may create an additional piece of "Institutional Knowledge" by using your Commissioner's Action for the turn.

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This is delicious. Finally something to make the Bureau more useful to us, we need to make these things as much as we can.


Oooh Selene and Velvet were there. I was fooled again it seems.

 

[Random Anon]

I'm actually a bit disappointed that Velvet didn't actually answer the last question .
I guess she only promised to tell the truth.

Anyway, what a great chapter. Didn't expect max rep so fast.

Edit: for the first two questions:

So here is your answer: My cutie mark looks like an open book, with blank pages, with a butterflies flying around it.

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True

My house was attacked by four armed ponies… and one of the ice-made creatures we have classified as a Windigo

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True

But no direct true answer for the third and last.

 

[ses]

So we finally have a cult of our own! Cadre bonus back soon lets gooooooooo.

To be honest I didn't actually expect them to be to certain that Velvet was a changeling, rather than being onto all the wonderful and varied forms of treason we actually have done. I loved that they had a conspiracy board up in their home though. I always love that trope.

Also LMAO at Drummer Clap being our personal pony-fetcher. To be honest I absolutely love Drummer Clap and our ability to send her to carry out "arrest warrants" whenever our friends decide to be hikkimoris.

After all, if your "suspicions" about the Commissioner are correct, then she has other ways to deal with you two that are much more convenient than calling you like this. So, the best thing you can do is hope against hope, and act like nothing is wrong.

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My actual reaction to his was "How the fuck did they figure out we can Death Note people?", not anything sane or related to what they actually thought they knew.

"My turn," she says, her voice almost sounding excited as she speaks. "So, for my question I want to ask… What is your favorite number? No, no, let me rephrase that. Pick a number between ten and twenty," she says.

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I'm surprised Button didn't think "Fuck should have said ten in case there's some horrible thing she's going to do to us that many times before we die"

 

[Zxzx24]

Oh that was wonderful!

 

[ses]

Frees up a Selene AP that I was wondering if should be spent on Divine Moon Revelations.

Maximum Loyalty means we get to keep any goodies that the Bureau finds in Tall Tale, right? Right?!

But yeah do we take Lantern institutional knowledge for free next turn? It'll be hilarious if Velvet and the Bureau casually outpaces Eclipse in lore knowledge. Though the fact we've already maxed the loyalty meter means less reward to personally shreddering the bugs with maximum max-Lantern/Edge overkill.

Overall well worth the 400 bits I'd say. You can't normally just buy a cult that believes you to be a divine moon demigoddess for 400 bits.

Funny, I wonder if we'll be able to take generic constables to Expeditions led by Selene like we used to have the option to take generic cultists that we never took. Would be kinda hilarious to see the soon to be adepts of the Bureau doing an Expedition with the actual Princess Luna while she's pretending to be "Princess Luna pretending to be Velvet Covers the Commissioner"

RIP to all the Death Note memes I had prepared and ready for next turn. Game was over before it even began.

Honestly I'm just shocked Reproach never figured out that it was Velvet all along who was responsible for the exploding Gardener base. Like, the HQ of the gang that attacked her getting exploded along with the leader right after an attempted assassination should have rung 'cui bono' bells in his head to at least be on the conspiracy board and get mentioned under the list of weirdness. Seeing that they assumed their break-in was due to counter-surveillance rather than simply being detected by our secret extra-competent non-Bureau bodyguard I guess that shows where their head was at, and it wasn't "secret black ops parallel organization using very naughty resources and methods", despite that explaining the attack being repelled as well as the Gardener base going boom as well as the Greenhoofs folder.

 

[DelightedOne]

Maximum Loyalty means we get to keep any goodies that the Bureau finds in Tall Tale, right? Right?!

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Well, we couldn't mess with evidence because of our deal with Fair Trial but maximum loyalty seems like it could help with that.

But yeah do we take Lantern institutional knowledge for free next turn?

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You actually made a good point, we received a hint that something might be happening in Tall Tale earlier-

"The first order of business is from a representative of Tall Tale. They wish to express their concerns about certain occurrences that are happening in their city."

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- so Lantern to help the Bureau identify changelings fits well. Now we just need to decide if we are going or not so we can spend the Commissioner action in one more Institutional Knowledge, preferably Moth.

 

[ses]

- so Lantern to help the Bureau identify changelings fits well. Now we just need to decide if we are going or not so we can spend the Commissioner action in one more Institutional Knowledge, preferably Moth.

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We need to spend that Commissioner action to go to Tall Tale personally, which honestly I still want to do because it'll be awesome, plus it ensures extreme overkill victory right when we need a win to justify how fucking long we delayed that assault by to Celestia. I could see taking our free manuscript on Moth instead for Celestia reasons and just relying on Velvet's personal Splendor on handling Tall Tale.

I don't think we'll be allowed to double our Free manuscript via Lapdog even if we spend our free reagent next turn on a Forge 1 battery. Sad! Well we wouldn't do that anyway next turn because Forge name. But in the future.

 

[DelightedOne]

I could see taking our free manuscript on Moth instead for Celestia reasons and just relying on Velvet's personal Splendor on handling Tall Tale.

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Fuck, forgot if we introduce the lores it uses our Secret Library level. It is 2 now(and would be anyway if we made the manuscript) and as far as we know Celestia is still at 1, it is far too risky.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

I want to go to Tall Tale on the off-chance that there is a Worthy Opponent in that hive. As Comet vs Shining shows, you can rig the deck as much as you want beforehand, so a Resolution to absolutely body their equivalent is perfectly fine.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

What's funny is that if Celestia nabs a Bureau pony and asks who taught them the spooky magic, they can say "Princess Luna" with absolute certainty. Even if she slaps them in front of the interrogation mirror.

 

[Alan975]

What's funny is that if Celestia nabs a pony and asks who taught them the spooky magic, they can say "Princess Luna" with absolute certainty.

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and then scream in pain as a burning horn roots around in their memories

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

and then scream in pain as a burning horn roots around in their memories

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Well yeah, it'd be utterly awful for them, but even then their memory will show the Commissioner moving the stars on demand.
...which might lead to Celestia kicking in some doors and demanding to know why Velvet never revealed her true self to Celestia, which would get really, really awkward until Selene emerges from her closet cubby and goes, "I just don't want to deal with the paperwork so I offload all this shit on Velvet as the strangest form of body double history will never know."

 

[ses]

So does this mean that Selene can spend an AP to [Honored Guest] a commissioner action? Because what better way to sell the lie that Velvet is Luna in disguise than to have Luna show up disguised as Luna disguised as Velvet? Her Moth realization only gives QM-guarantee that it will go undetected for her Selene guise, but... it's not like infallibility is even a benefit in this case.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

All I know is that you can tell this quest started with a Moth Cult protag that dove hard into SH.

 

[Alan975]

Its very Moth-y that we're infiltrating our own organization.

Better yet, we're doing it by wearing the mask of our minion that is our boss, no one can predict our moves if the flowchart goes in a loop!

 

[ses]

So now that we have cultists have we unlocked the classic "fleece money off your devoted believers" action that every cult leader ends up having to lean on because it's just so damned handy?

 

[BritBiscuit]

Really cool chapter, you can really see the Moth and SH influences on how Velvet acts and even with the plan as Selene also started as a Moth primary. Super cool writing I could really put myself into the scene in my head.

Also its really funny how despite Velvet being ignorant of the Velvet family mafia, she somehow still managed to get her own legbreaker, Mafioso Drummer Clap rocking up to Reproach and his partner in a mob outfit smoking a big cigar, "The Commissionah wants to see yah on the double and I gots told to bring ya to her. If you appretiate having unbroken doors as much as I enjoy breaking them then you'll head over to her real snappy see."

 

[BritBiscuit]

So now that we have cultists have we unlocked the classic "fleece money off your devoted believers" action that every cult leader ends up having to lean on because it's just so damned handy?

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At this point wouldn't that just be embesling funds under the guise of a pay cut to our followers. Considering that we are their employer and also their cult leader, we'd be essentially paying ourselves but I guess it'd work as like a money laundering thing.

 

[spiderhellian]

It's been almost 2 years…. But now, finally, Velvet Covers nears Apotheosis… the ultimate power is so close she can almost taste…

Finally, finally, she will embezzle funds!

 

[ses]

Really cool chapter, you can really see the Moth and SH influences on how Velvet acts and even with the plan as Selene also started as a Moth primary. Super cool writing I could really put myself into the scene in my head.

Also its really funny how despite Velvet being ignorant of the Velvet family mafia, she somehow still managed to get her own legbreaker, Mafioso Drummer Clap rocking up to Reproach and his partner in a mob outfit smoking a big cigar, "The Commissionah wants to see yah on the double and I gots told to bring ya to her. If you appretiate having unbroken doors as much as I enjoy breaking them then you'll head over to her real snappy see."

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Drummer Clap is our new The Enforcer. Which Bureau constable is going to be our new Stewardship advisor? Because we need bits. Hopefully when we get one established they're better at their job than Windy was.

And yes indeed Velvet did learn very well from the Master how to run a cult the Moth way. It's very funny how we're the only member of the Inner Circle who was truly into the Moth way. No wonder the Master was disappointed we didn't take a Moth Brand. Imagine the alternate timeline where we did and were able to take Master's invitation after The Brazen Step but before Trigger Event. Though we wouldn't have been able to Morning, An Afternoon, a History without the reroll that we wouldnt have had if we hadn't taken a SH brand, and that was a true core moment of the quest.

Of course if we had taken a Moth brand we wouldn't have lost Baldomare so the entire timeline would have gone completely off the rails.

 

[Pittauro]

...damn, I'm sleepy but I kinda want to read this now...

You already heard stories about doors being kicked out, court orders being torn into pieces, several cases of "collateral damage", and even about a kidnapping. All because the Commissioner wanted something done, and Drummer Clap had been picked to do it.

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oh, so she's the one who kidnapped Cherilee for us!?

But yeah... if we're calling them, then we're about to have a friendly talk with Beyond Reproach about his latest nightly activities?!

"Fuck," Beyond Reproach says again, as he paces around the room. "We are fucked, plain and simple."

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eh, not really.

You're probably about to get a "promotion", even.

You're about to (probably) meet your boss' boss! Which is also her daughter, even as she's 1000+ years older than her!

The more you two dig, the deeper this hole gets. And for all that you two haven't reached the bottom of it yet, the picture that you have painted so far is… bad. Very bad. Because the only piece that fits all of this together, the only way that all the evidence you found makes sense, is if…

…

Well, it doesn't sound like you two will get to the bottom of it anyways, so what does it matter?

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damn, they already found out THAT much!?

Impressive, really.

After all, if your "suspicions" about the Commissioner are correct, then she has other ways to deal with you two that are much more convenient than calling you like this. So, the best thing you can do is hope against hope, and act like nothing is wrong.

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REALLY impressive.

The worst thing that can happen tonight is an execution. The worst day this night can end is with you and your partner either dead, or locked so deep underground the Bureau that it doesn't make a difference if you are alive or not.

The best thing that can happen is that the Commissioner is just calling you two for some sort of briefing, or because she wants your input on a delicate situation that just came up.

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of course he can't imagine he'll likely meet LUNA now...

"Well, tonight feels like business as usual. Plus, we passed by plenty of witnesses," Reproach says under his breath, as you two walk down the corridor. "Doesn't feel like bad news to me."

"Except, of course, for the fact that Equestria is riddled with shapeshifters," you say, mirroring his tone.

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he's not wrong. But if the changelings had infiltrated the Bureau THAT deeply, then they'd be doomed anyway.

And the second reason why you are so nervous is because-

"These are the two I've been telling you about, Cadance."

"I see, I see. It is a pleasure to meet you two, and I apologize for only being available this late at night."

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damn, we're REALLY bringing them into the "conspiracy".

But if the presence of TWO princesses doesn't earn their trust, literally NOTHING will.

"Well, let me begin by saying that Princess Cadance is here at my invitation. This is a meeting that I called for, so I'm afraid you two aren't here because the Princess of Love needs us to do something for her," she says. "However, for all that I called her here to listen into this meeting, she is also here because… well, I wanted you two to act like there is a Princess in the room. And what better way than having one where you can see her?" she asks.

Her tone is sharp, but still somewhat amused. And you get the sinking feeling that she is somehow toying with you two.

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not to talk of the one that is NOT where they can see her

"Wonderful. Now, here's the kicker, I promise to tell the truth. You two have been investigating me, right? So, ask away! You get one question, and then I get one in return. What would you two like to know, that could help with… whatever it is you discovered so far?"

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well, Moth makes us masters of misleading while saying the truth.

Velvet hasn't lied ONCE yet in this conversation. and yet the implication that Luna is watching went COMPLETELY over their head (and understandably so!)

"What does your cutie mark look like?"

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uh. An Unexpected Question.

then again, she always wore dresses covering it...

"Are you asking this because you want to know, or did you two… find out about my scar?" she asks.

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which no longer exists...

...and we JUST skipped the "reveal lack of scar to Cadance" choice... are we going to reveal it IN HER PRESENCE now?!

"But if I know this much about the Commissioner's flank, then I also know about her scar, and I would have copied it if I were a changeling," she concludes, reaching the same inferences you had also reached the moment she started speaking. "So I'm afraid this wasn't a useful question for you to ask."

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...and this way, she got out of showing the HEALED scar.

truly incredible.

"My turn," she says, her voice almost sounding excited as she speaks. "So, for my question I want to ask… What is your favorite number? No, no, let me rephrase that. Pick a number between ten and twenty," she says.

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...damn.

Truly Mothy in its nonsense!

"My house was attacked by four armed ponies… and one of the ice-made creatures we have classified as a Windigo."

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"and you know who won."

such a flex!

"My turn," she says. "What time is it?"

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...Velvet is really good at this game, in the most frustrating way possible

"It's late," Reproach answers, clearly as unhappy as you are about all this. "And we don't know the exact time, so that's the truth. And your rules said we just need to tell the truth, and not that we need to give a correct answer."

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He should remember it about OUR answers too.

We never lied. but the truth can be so misleading depending on what you say, don't say, and HOW you say it and don't say it...

"For our last question then… Who are you?"

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In fact, this should have been your first question.

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It really should have been their first question.

And yet, they asked all the WRONG questions, really. Questions Velvet could answer honestly to, and yet tell them nothing of what they REALLY want to know.

"So, my final question is… who could do something like this?"

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...Is she going to pretend she IS Luna?!

And almost as if in cue, your mind reminds you of something she said at the very beginning of this meeting.

She wanted you to act like there is a Princess in the room.

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and the funny thing is, she still hasn't lied even once!

"Because think about it from this perspective. After the first attack against the Royal Castle… Princess Luna disappeared from the public eye. But what if… what if she wasn't really gone?"

Your mind is finally recovering itself from the shock. And yes… yes. Yes!

Now it all makes sense.

Now all the pieces come together.

And now, all you can ask yourself is how you could have been so blind.

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...

this is amazing

This is mothy beyond belief!

Who could have possibly suspected that the Luna that was found was false… if not the original herself?

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so close to the truth... after all, we ONLY knew that Luna was false because we KNEW beyond any doubt the real Luna was living as our daughter Selene all along...

Chrysalis would have fooled even our Lantern Sight otherwise.

"But I am a firm believer that the right ponies, in the right place, can make all the difference.

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'The proper things, in the proper manner, in the proper order. God help us all.'

Find the ponies in the Bureau who I can trust. The ones who I can trust to follow me even before they follow Princess Celestia. Bring them to me. And I will give them, and you, the tools to fight against the darkness.

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...are those the ponies we'll share the LORES with?!

That we can send on expeditions, while trusting they'll do what we say and keep/hide what we ask them to?

"Princess Luna is the Director of the Lunar Bureau." That phrase has started to be whispered a lot more frequently, within the walls of the Lunar Bureau. To some that is just a catchy saying, which carries with it some hope, and also some wistfulness. But to others, those ponies who answer that phrase with a knowing smile, it means something else entirely. Like a code word or a secret hoofshake, used by those in the know.

You have established a cult within the Lunar Bureau. It is not a "cult" in the true sense of the word. And it is not a "cult" as you were supposed to be a part of in the beginning of this quest. But still, a number of ponies in the Bureau have become privy to a secret, and are being educated in the ways of the Lores. And that number is slowly, but steadily, growing thanks to the efforts of your diligent "lieutenants".

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...well, I'd say this makes the "bureau loyalty" reward worth it!

You have reached the maximum "loyalty" you can reach with the Lunar Bureau. For that, you have automatically "converted" it to your use, and started to secretly spread the use of the Lores among its ranks. You may no longer spend Commissioner actions to "ingratiate yourself with the Bureau", because there is no need for that. However, you also (currently) cannot "speed up" the process of bringing more Bureau ponies into the know.

Narratively, your "lieutenants" will slowly bring more Bureau ponies into the know, and into your grasp. Mechanically, for all intents and purposes, you have converted "The Lunar Bureau" in its entirety. Although problems can still appear depending on your actions.

You can now "Create institutional knowledge" for free, once per turn, during your Follower's phase. "Institutional Knowledge" is a level 1 manuscript that will "introduce" the Bureau to the selected Lore, giving them access to your Library on the relevant Lore as well. You may create an additional piece of "Institutional Knowledge" by using your Commissioner's Action for the turn.

And for now, you will let the slow process of introducing the Lores to the Bureau to happen at its own pace.

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...nice!

What should be the next lore then? I'm leaning Moth, Forge or Grail. We already have Edge.

actually...

MOTH: Level 1 ( [1/1] )
LANTERN: Level 2 ( [Baldomare] + [6/2] )
FORGE: Level 2 ( [3/1] + [4/2] + [3/3] )
EDGE: Level 1 ( [1/1] + [3/2] )
WINTER: Level 1 ( [2/1] )
HEART: Level 2 ( [Mareinette] + [2/2 + 2/2] + [3/3] )
GRAIL: Level 2 ( [Mareinette] + [2/2 + 3/2] )
SECRET HISTORIES: Level 1 ( [Baldomare] + [3/2] )
KNOCK: Level 2 ( [Daughter-of-Axes] + [1/2 + 3/2] + [2/3] )

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If I'm reading this right, with institutional knowledge effectively being an extra lvl 1 book.

Forge Name and Forge Institutional Knowledge would make it ((FORGE NAME) + ([1/2] + [3/2]) + ([4/3] + [3/3]) Which means a SINGLE extra forge 2 book would bring the Bureau to Forge 3, allowing for Institution bonuses (lvl 3 game some kind of special trait I think).


an extra lvl 1 edge manuscript would also bring it to Edge 2... or winter Institutional Knowledge + Manuscript...


... let me check another thing...

BOOK, HEART Level 1. "A small book that covers a particular kind of elegant dancing".
BOOK EDGE Level 1. "The title is self-explanatory: 'Four self-defense spells every unicorn should know'. You doubt they are anything more than different variations of concentrated telekinesis."
BOOK, FORGE Level 1. "A small handbook on camping, explaining the basics of how to build a tent and start a small fire".
BOOK KNOCK Level 2. "A fairly recent, and short, book about dream interpretation. You know it is recent because it was dedicated to Princess Luna's return".
BOOK MOTH Level 5. "The language used in this is indecipherable. The cover, if it even has one, yields no clue about its subject. And yet, you cannot resist the urge to read it." (Requires deciphering. Progress 0/100. From an Era that is Ancient Beyond History, "-50" to deciphering rolls.)
BOOK KNOCK Level 5. "An initial survey of its pages reveals several drawings, or perhaps instructions, on how to build bridges and maintain clocks. You suspect the book is about more than just that." (Requires deciphering. Progress 0/100. From One Era Ago, "-30" to deciphering rolls.)
BOOK, of no Lore levels. "A pile of reports, letters and maps. No doubt containing a wealth of information about the less reputable places of Manehattan. And perhaps of the treasures they hide."

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mh... edge 1 and moth 5 books (+ moth institutional knowledge) would allow us to reach Bureau Edge 2 and Moth 2. Maybe if we get lucky with the study rolls we can fit in the Edge book?

making a manuscript later on (after Edge Sacrament?) would allow us to give the cult Edge 3...

well, we'll see if it's worth investing in the Bureau like that. If we can use it for expeditions and keep loot from it... maybe.

"Speaking of acting, Selene dear, are you sure about this as well? I mean, the Lunar Bureau is… this is all yours. Literally. Are you sure you want them to think all of this about me?" the noblemare asked, this time voicing another concern.

"Yes, I do. I thought this over, mom. I don't have the time to foalsit the Bureau, and you are doing a great job. And this way, they get the morale boost of working for a Princess without me having to learn how to… run all of this. Everypony wins," she finished with a confident smile. One that didn't look nearly as mature as she hoped, and much cuter than expected, on a filly her size.

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All things considered this works pretty well.

Though I wonder what they think the "real" Velvet is doing during this whole thing.

---

@OurLadyOfWires Mechanically, you say the Bureau is loyal. Does that mean we have more or less free use of its resources?

By which I mean, let's say Tall Tale expedition finds artifacts. Can we take them for ourselves if we want/need to? Could we bring in Biedde to support? Could we plant or remove evidence now?

@Shaper47 does this make up a bit for the "lost" bits? I mean it unironically, Bits are objectively super valuable right now, but if we can ACTUALLY sort of treat the Bureau as our ACTUAL cult, unlocking one more lore (or two if we use the commissioner action) each turn... it starts to become potentially worth it mechanically.

Narratively I like it.

---

I wonder if we could have our detectives search for BOOKS for us... and buy them with Bureau funds...

Edit: for the first two questions:


True




True

But no direct true answer for the third and last.

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Velvet actually gave her a hint she was misleading them.

She swore to tell the truth. She told them her cutie mark is a book.

And then she implied she's Luna.

But Luna has a MOON cutie mark.

So she said the truth, but if they REALLY thought about it they should have realized that IF she's saying the truth THEN she can't be Luna. Because she would have lied about her cutie mark.

@OurLadyOfWires is that on purpose? It feels like Velvet purposefully left them a hint to the REAL truth for some reason.

I'm surprised Button didn't think "Fuck should have said ten in case there's some horrible thing she's going to do to us that many times before we die"

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...I only realized now they said 17, and then got 17 falling stars.

Somehow I missed that detail until you requoted that line.

Overall well worth the 400 bits I'd say. You can't normally just buy a cult that believes you to be a divine moon demigoddess for 400 bits.

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Narratively I love it. MECHANICALLY it depends on how much we can benefit from it (can we keep loot of expeditions paid for by the Bureau, can we get extra actions from constables whenever we want, can we do expeditions with bureau bits and still get all the loot and benefits...)

...Actually... could we, in theory, send the Bureau on Canterlot Part 3, with our artifacts, and let THEM pay for it in actions and bits cost?!

That would save us HUNDREDS of bits and multiple name actions!

Admittedly they're probably NOT good enough to solve it easily... but they have enough people that they could cycle ponies taking part in it as they get hurt, potentially... and even if it takes them longer, the bit cost would be the Bureau's to pay...

Then again, if we can send Velvet using Bureau Actions, or Selene in our place as she pretends to be Velvet pretending to be Luna... well, we'd get basically a Name-tier character (either Velvet or Selene are nearly up there after all!), while having the bureau ponies as hp meatshields.

AND we don't have to pay the bit cost!

Fuck, forgot if we introduce the lores it uses our Secret Library level. It is 2 now(and would be anyway if we made the manuscript) and as far as we know Celestia is still at 1, it is far too risky.

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oh, this adds the obvious question

@OurLadyOfWires We know that Celestia's Lantern surpassing our Moth is potential Game Over.

Does this work for her Lantern vs Bureau moth too? Or she wouldn't think to check them instead of just their leader?

All I know is that you can tell this quest started with a Moth Cult protag that dove hard into SH.

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And is now feeling nostalgic for her more Mothy days!

And yes indeed Velvet did learn very well from the Master how to run a cult the Moth way. It's very funny how we're the only member of the Inner Circle who was truly into the Moth way. No wonder the Master was disappointed we didn't take a Moth Brand. Imagine the alternate timeline where we did and were able to take Master's invitation after The Brazen Step but before Trigger Event. Though we wouldn't have been able to Morning, An Afternoon, a History without the reroll that we wouldnt have had if we hadn't taken a SH brand, and that was a true core moment of the quest.

Of course if we had taken a Moth brand we wouldn't have lost Baldomare so the entire timeline would have gone completely off the rails.

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as mentioned before, in hindsight we should have taken Neighnia over Lantern 6.

and if we'd known about Baldomare Friendship quest, we should NOT have studied Lantern 6 either.

 

[ses]

...nice!

What should be the next lore then? I'm leaning Moth, Forge or Grail. We already have Edge.

actually...

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The only three candidates are Secret Histories, Lantern, or Moth. Moth because it's the best lore and we can always use more modifiers to Bluff checks when running a cult. Lantern because Changelings Delenda Est, or Secret Histories for an easy small boost to the detectives "Search for Expeditions" option if we take it next turn

Also Name bonuses don't currently help the Bureau, QM clarified that in the aftermath of us getting IK:Edge after the Windigo fight. It may change later but for know the IK is just replacing the Name bonus, so the library level is effectively unchanged for the Bureau.

 

[Sveta08]

... Ah, heh.
You know? I don't know why we would, but now, we could...
Have Velvet, pretending she's Luna, be replaced by Mareinette, pretending she's Velvet, pretending she's Luna.

Nesting dolls this.

 

[Shaper47]

@Shaper47 does this make up a bit for the "lost" bits? I mean it unironically, Bits are objectively super valuable right now, but if we can ACTUALLY sort of treat the Bureau as our ACTUAL cult, unlocking one more lore (or two if we use the commissioner action) each turn... it starts to become potentially worth it mechanically.

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Due to the time crunch it's still not worth it.

It's a long term investment while we're in the endgame.

Mechanically still not worth it.

Besides I would much rather spend the commissioner actions on Cadence.

Narratively I like it.

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Me too, it's nice narratively just not mechanically.

I have a bit of a head cannon that this was Copper's dream goal which makes this extra amusing.

 

[ses]

@OurLadyOfWires I feel like, thematically, the fact that we have a functioning laptop computer from a 21st century dimension should count as a Forge reagent for the Rite of Joyous Reforging. Like, come on. It fits too well for Tinkering to not be sacrificable as a decent Forge pseudo-artifact. You should consider allowing this.

 

[dcoconeo]

In fact, I was hoping something like this would happen.

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So this is basically the Hintchasers all over again in a different context?

 

[Greymere]

@OurLadyOfWires I feel like, thematically, the fact that we have a functioning laptop computer from a 21st century dimension should count as a Forge reagent for the Rite of Joyous Reforging. Like, come on. It fits too well for Tinkering to not be sacrificable as a decent Forge pseudo-artifact. You should consider allowing this.

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Noooo, don't sacrifice our only way of making more than a single manuscript at a time! We just (re)unlocked the ability for writing manuscripts to actually be relevant (again)!

 

[ses]

Noooo, don't sacrifice our only way of making more than a single manuscript at a time! We just (re)unlocked the ability for writing manuscripts to actually be relevant (again)!

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We never did it before and we're never going to do it now and you know that. If the Bureau wants manuscripts they can go do Expeditions on the taxpayer's dime and bring new level 5+ books to us.

But actually writing manuscripts is terrible action efficiency for leveling up the Library, and the laptop only increases its efficiency by 33%, which isn't anywhere near enough to make it good. (1 AP to make 2 reagents, 2 AP to make 4 manuscripts, for 3 per 4 manuscripts instead of 4 per 4 manuscripts. Compared to 1 AP per 3 manuscripts when reading books. All we need is expeditions on taxpayer funds to get the books with!)