Just some personal musings on our Sacrament options, now that we have the threadmark...
MOTH
Actions of your own: "You have never really liked yourself. That is an ugly truth you have always denied, and that you attempted to bury underneath the love that others feel for you. But perhaps, and only perhaps, it is time to embrace that, and learn to be somepony else."
-Pick a single character with whom you have a "Confidant-level" relationship or higher. That character will be permanently locked as an "acquaintance". For somepony must realize that you have donned a mask, for it to truly exist.
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Moth before taking this action.
One scrap away and very easy to do, all things considered. 1 social or Mareinette action + Leash if we want to cheese. 2+ if we don't. Main obstacle here is thread opinion. I'm personally fine with doing this Sacrament.
LANTERN
Actions of your own: "Books, much like any physical object, are immutable. Or rather, they cannot change themselves, and must be changed by an outside force such as a pony. And their immutability is what makes them so easy for your hoofs to understand. But can you apply your talents to mutable things? Do these flashes and sensations you feel every time you... touch a pony, can they possibly mean something?"
-Pick a Prisoner, or a character you have a "Minion-level" relationship with, and perform an action dedicated to "The Conversation".
-In order to succeed, "The Conversation" will require a Lantern Knowledge test of CD 100 (does not apply any other status, other than Lantern 4 (+40) and any Lantern Influence you have).
-Regardless of success or failure, "The Conversation" will destroy your prisoner of Minion without leaving a body. (But you only need to succeed once)
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Lantern before taking this action.
Baldomare's Invitation: "Fine! I will teach you that language. I will teach you all the languages! Well, except for Vak. But nopony can speak that anymore. Still, don't expect me to do it for free. And I don't see any Sprintia on you, so you will have to pay with something else!"
-"Lend" FOUR followers to Baldomare. They will all embark on a SHORT expedition with her to an unknown location.
-The expedition will not cost you funds, nor will they cost actions from the followers. But it will cost one action from Baldomare herself.
-The expedition is DANGEROUS. And although Baldomare is not at risk of being wounded, your followers risk being wounded/destroyed.
-Mares-in-the-Light count as TWO followers, for the sake of calculation. The Daughter-of-Axes counts as THREE.
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Lantern before taking this action, as she will insist of settling her debt (and teaching you) the moment she returns.
Four scraps away. Two can be easily obtained by having Baldomare channel a Lantern Influence, but that still leaves two Level 4 scraps left to find, which aren't exactly abundant. This one is probably a decent amount of time off, just due to the number of scraps we need. Fine w/ Baldomare's, obviously, just give her DoA and a Risen for a turn; DoA's hardy enough that she shouldn't be desummoned from it and the Risen is basically disposable anyway. Also regarding our personal Sacrament: I know I had previously mentioned using Copper for it, but since we'll probably end up dealing with her one way or another before we reach 4/4 scraps, we'd need a different target. Having Mareinette or Biedde find and kidnap a serial killer or
human pony trafficker or someone similarly amoral and unrepentant that Velvet and the thread wouldn't miss is an option, if we want our personal Sacrament. We'd need someone to dig out that prison under Jade's house, but I'm sure one of our many Names with their +30 general bonus can handle that. Or if we find and summon the Forge Name before hitting 4/4 Lantern, they can do it.
FORGE
Actions of your own: Lore level insufficient
Invitation: You do not know any creature that may help you
No information yet. Currently at 0/4 scraps since we just hit Forge 4, but I imagine that we'll probably pick up a Forge scrap when we go to explore the Malleary. A Forge Influence from the unknown Forge Name would boost it up to 3/4 without any further bit sources. Putting this with the Lantern Sacrament in "far enough away to not think about it for now".
EDGE
Actions of your own: "There is only one way a pony, anypony, may proceed further without an invitation from above. He must reach higher by slaying a worthy foe. That is the truth of Edge, which applies to all ponies. Since Issus they have striven so."
-You must reach at least 3/4 scraps of Edge before taking this action.
-You must kill a "worthy opponent" in battle.
-Velvet Covers will recognize a worthy opponent when she sees one, provided she is Level 4 in Edge.
-Known "worthy opponents": Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance, Mareinette, Comet Feet.
-WARNING: By definition, Velvet Covers is now also a "worthy opponent".
Biedde's Invidation: "The price has always been blood. In this case, my blood. Draw a single drop of it, and I will permit you passage."
-"Challenge" Biedde to a duel. This costs one Velvet Covers action, and is a free action for Biedde.
-Velvet Covers and Biedde will engage in a duel. Biedde will fight until either he decreases Velvet Covers' health to 1, or until Velvet Covers deals one wound to Biedde.
-It is permissible for Velvet Covers to use an Edge Influence. It is not permissible for Velvet Covers to attempt to "Ambush" Biedde.
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Edge before taking this action, as he wishes to test your martial prowess.
Currently at 2/4, max Edge Influence will bring it up to 4/4. Which if we're getting into a fight to the death (or a duel against Biedde), we'd definitely want that +40 anyway. Biedde's is much more likely to happen imo, considering our current list of Worthy Opponents is rather short and 3/4 are Name-level entities. This one is actually pretty close to happening I think; we could feasibly attempt it as soon as our scar is healed and we're up to 3/3 Health. It'd need a max Edge Influence and multiple AotL (Edge), but it's feasible. I would personally like to acquire some kind of equipment beforehand just to squeeze out some extra combat bonus (preferably an Edge artifact, but mundane weaponry is always an option), but we
could try it after the scar is healed. We should wait until after we have Frangiclave though, just so we don't accidentally fuck up all our DoA-related plans. Well. Plan.
Wolf is an unacceptable option for obvious reasons.
WINTER
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.
Currently at 1/4. Unlike most of the other Lores, we have no easy source of scraps or max Influence presently or anticipated in the near future, as that would require acquiring Neighnia. Which may happen if we go to kill Copper, if we demand Neighnia's bindings from her beforehand. If we do manage to coerce Neighnia's bindings out of Copper, a Winter Influence from her would put us at 3/4. Could take a lesson to get that last scrap or just try and find it in the Mansus somewhere. Sacrament itself is easy, if somewhat pricy (90 total bits); main obstacle is thread willingness, as with the Moth Sacrament. I'm personally willing to vote for it. Also in the "far enough away to not think about it right now" category, for me.
Also, again, I'm not willing to even consider Wolf Sacrament to be a feasible option, considering the price.
GRAIL
Actions of your own: "You have always been terrified that they would leave you. But now? Now you can make sure that they never will."
-At any point in time, have three ponies in your contact list with whom you have a Minion (or Minion-equivalent) social bond.
-With those three ponies in tow, perform "The Act".
-Velvet Covers may refuse to use certain ponies for this action (they will be listed here)
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Grail before taking this action.
Mareinette's Invitation: "[Grail]!" (There are bounties and resources available in the bodies of every pony. But first, one must develop the appropriate organs to harvest them. She will teach you.)
-Pick a Prisoner, or a character you have a "Minion-level" relationship with, and perform an action dedicated to "An invitation to dinner".
-"An invitation to dinner" cannot fail, but it will destroy your selected contact/prisoner without leaving a corpse.
I don't like either of these and will not be voting to take either of them. We should see if Baldomare can scry an alternative Grail Sacrament source, but my confidence in that producing results is not high. Moving on.
KNOCK
Actions of your own: "Jade Whistle already did it before, with only a noose and a chair, so you are sure that you can learn how to do it properly. To spare her from having to ever do that again, if nothing else."
-Fully research the "To cut the skin of the world" project.
-You do NOT yet know how many actions this will take, or what will be its costs or demands.
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.
Currently at 3/4 and have already spent the +2 scraps from max Knock Influence. That being said, we're about to go get the Frangiclave (Knock 6 artifact) in the next two turns, and studying that would put us at 4/4. We techically have a personal Sacrament, but Bird has mentioned before that he mostly just really,
really wants to write DoA's Sacrament. Which, fine w/ me tbh, DoA's sounds more interesting just on vibes alone. We'll probably want to be running +40 Knock Influence when we go to do this, though, which means DoA won't be free for expeditioning.
SECRET HISTORIES
Actions of your own: "You are afraid of doing this, but there might be a History where you are not. Regardless, it is time you learn more about how this works, these recent memories that at the same time are and are not your own."
-Perform, three times, an action dedicated to studying the memories and glimpses you have of other Histories. [Costs one action each]
-This is a dangerous action.
Baldomare's Invitation: "I suppose it's better for me to show you than not... Especially given the Brand you chose. Or could it be that your Brand chose you instead? It has been known to happen... Regardless. I'll do it for free, with how I can see this is what you really want. Come back to me when you are ready, then pack for a long hike."
-Complete the
Beyond the Map's Edge expedition, taking Baldomare as a companion.
-You must reach 4/4 scraps of Secret Histories before taking this action.
Not much to say here, we're already working on this one via personal Sacrament. Though as much as I would like to have Baldomare channel a SH Influence and do double Sacrament next turn, between doing Forge's Redemption and I suspect at least one or two Fleeting Opportunities relating to bringing Cadance and Shining Armor fully into the fold, and Frangiclave expedition needing to be scouted, that may not end up happening.
In order of Sacrament acquisition, the progression might look something like:
SH -> Knock -> Edge -> Moth -> Lantern -> Winter -> Forge -> Heart?.
SH, as I said, is something we're actively working on now, and I imagine people will probably like to finish it before starting on other Sacraments. Edge and Knock are within striking distance considering our access to max Edge Influence (+2 scraps) and near-future expedition to go get Frangiclave, though I put Edge lower than Knock due to the possible prep work needed vs. Knock, whose prep work is basically just "Knock Influence". Moth is next due to both simplicity of the Sacrament as well as only needing to find a single scrap
somewhere, anywhere at all to be within Sacramenting distance. Lantern, Winter, and Forge are in descending order of "how many scaps do we currently have". Heart is all the way at the end for obvious reasons, and Grail is absent because I don't like either and would rather just not get it.
Provided it's actually harmless. But
.
