ok, picking from Graymere's post, let's see which plans I like...
[x] Plan Basic Int Test
-[x] A very vague treatise about the Mansus, and the Lores. (This will have no inherent "Lore level", but attempt to point your investigation towards the existence of the Lores)
-[x] (WRITE-IN) The details of the Forge's Redemption
acceptable, though I worry that introducing ALL lores together with the Forge's Redemption would also quickly reveal all (except tapestry) other rituals. I suppose it's not THAT big of a deal? I'd rather avoid Celestia learning of PtN yet though.
[x] Plan A Gentle Nudge
-[x] A very vague treatise about the Mansus, and the Lores. (This will have no inherent "Lore level", but attempt to point your investigation towards the existence of the Lores)
-[x] A detailed treatise about one of the Lores. One, or several of them. (KNOCK 1, MOTH 1)
it's fairly basic, but they're both pretty important lores for the Bureau. we do a lot of stealth work and breaking-and-entering...
[x] A Foundation To Build On
-[x] A detailed treatise about one of the Lores. One, or several of them. (You will leave a basic compendium of the essential Lores, a sort of primer seemingly intended to instruct new inductees to the cult and help them identify their personal affinities)
-[x] Another pamphlet, detailing basic Lore-related hazards such as Fascination, again seemingly directed towards a prospective cultist making the jump from level 0 to level 1 in a prospective Lore.
-[x] Evidence that perpetrators planned not only to kill Velvet but also replace her (detailed study of her behavior, evidence of training in hoofwriting similar to hers and so on).
I actually really like THIS idea to deal with Velvet's manuscripts.
After all,
she's above all suspicion, so if we find manuscripts with her hoofprints AFTER we already found evidence they planned to replace her and/or implicate her... well, then even if someone were to look at the Manuscripts it would be easy to dismiss any "no, look, they're really written by Velvet" with "it seems they made really good fakes then".
And warnings about Fascination and Dread make sense.
[x] Plan Other Velvet
-[x] You planted a cache of false information, meant to throw your investigations off any trails they might pick up. (Attempt to make the investigator's job more difficult, on all fronts)
-[x] (WRITE-IN) Evidence that perpetrators planned not only to kill Velvet but also replace her (detailed study of her behavior, evidence of training in hoofwriting similar to hers and so on).
this is basically a "no lores for them, only less suspicion on Velvet", which fair enough.
[x] Plan Historical Precedent
-[x] A basic treatise on the Lores (Lore Level 0)
-[x] (WRITE-IN) Reveal the Lores as the ancestral magic of ponykind
-[x] (WRITE-IN) Reveal the one- and two-circle ritual configurations
and, again, a foundation + historical background. And hey, there's probably SOME proof of "lore-related magic" in the royal archives, and the Bureau could cross-check. Things that previously didn't make sense, like spells and rituals that don't follow the modern "rules" of magic and were dismissed as fake or superstition could now gain context.
Who knows, maybe Celestia will remember things Starswhirl did that no other modern mage can do and connect the dots.
A reminder for everyone:
EVERY ITEM ADDED TO THE REVEAL MAKES IT MORE LIKELY WE DO SOMETHING WRONG, AND EACH MANUSCRIPT COUNTS AS AN ITEM.
so, for an example, this plan
[] Plan: Loring up the Night lights.
-[] A detailed treatise about one of the Lores. One, or several of them. (You will leave pre-prepared copies of Lore manuscripts
-[] A detailed treatise about one of the Lores. One, or several of them. (Everything, the entire library and the kitchen sink)
-[] (WRITE IN) General warnnings about the dangers of The Lores and The Mansus (Worms in your Dreams, Wolves at your heels, etc...)
-[] (WRITE IN) A journal filled with vauge rambelings about the disaperance of Luna after "The attack" (Reveal Copper's attack against/ the possession of Luna).
is adding... well, I'm not even counting them all, but definitely more than TEN different items, maybe even more than that depending on how you count the manuscripts.
we don't count
the lores, we count THE BOOKS. each book is an item.
HERE'S OUR LIST
KNOCK
-Level 1 – "A handbook that tells the tale of a thief"
-Level 2 – "An absolutely boring encyclopedia about how the tunnels, on the mountain in which Canterlot is perched, were dug. Reading this will be a challenge…"
-Level 3 - "An encyclopedia about poisonous snakes, with several artful illustrations"
GRAIL
-Level 2 – "It's a book. About food. It has food on the cover, so that's what it is. If your daughter ever finds it, that's what you'll tell her. If your husband finds it, however…"
-Level 3 - "A novel telling the forbidden romance between a foreign spy and a soldier. The writing is not as spicy as the theme would suggest, but the details is goes into to describe the conflict they feel is intriguing."
SECRET HISTORIES
-Level 3 – "A curious scroll, a copy from the original of course, detailing the appearance of King Sombra, centuries ago."
FORGE
-Level 2 - "A book about ingenious farming equipment, and how they function". (EFFECT DOUBLED)
-Level 3 - "A real guide to beginner's level blacksmithing. The bookstore owner almost seemed excited in having this reach your hoofs via your servants."
-Level 3 - "The book is simply titled 'Chemistry', and your servants reluctantly admitted that was the only word they understood in it. Of course you know they were being dramatic, but that also means that the contents of the book must be way, way beyond what they teach at schools."
MOTH
-Level 1 - "A poetry book. Amateur work, really, but one of them talks about masks…".
WINTER
-Level 2 - "A book on the benefits of Meditation, and why you should try it".
EDGE
-Level 3 - "A posthumous, and rather contentious, biography of the legendary pegasus called Flash Magnus".
HEART
-Level 2 - "A novel about a mare who fell in love with a drummer, the romantic parts all written in rhyming poetry".
-Level 3 - "A study about yak culture. The part about their history and folklore is of little use. The chapters about their songs, however…".
-Level 2 - "An essay on how even the unlikeliest rumor might become the truth, if it is repeated with sufficient insistency. Written in the form of a manual." (MANIFEST, not a book that was read)
LANTERN
-Level 6 - "An ancient, and enormous, hardcover tome written in an unknown language. You are not even sure what its title is, if it even has one, but the symbol laid on its front was enough for you to understand what it is about. On its cover you can clearly see the icon of a Sun, Divided. Its elusive text filled with allegories about the past and about mirrors."
THAT'S 16 BOOKS.
and as a note, plans to add forge 2 should keep in mind that "Forge 2" is actually THREE items, not 1.
@OurLadyOfWires can you confirm this? Is "Forge 2" treated as one item worth of complexity, or three? Better be sure about this.
[] How to build basic defenses.
-[] A detailed treatise about one of the Lores. One, or several of them. (FORGE: Level 2 )
[] Plan Let's waste their time
-[] You planted a cache of false information, meant to throw your investigations off any trails they might pick up. (Attempt to make the investigator's job more difficult, on all fronts)
-[] (WRITE-IN)You planted an encrypted treatise about Lores that are decodable but meant to delay/complicate their study (Grail: Level 1, Heart: Level 1 Moth: Level 1, Grail lvl 1 )
on a different note, Greymere, is this one single plan, or two plans and you forgot to add an empty line of separation?
ANOTHER NOTE: Ideally I think we want to keep to 2 or 3 pieces of evidence added. maybe 4, even if it makes me a bit uncomfortable, but beyond that it's likely too risky.
