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

[ses]

Look, if we can build a prison without paying bits, maybe we can get away with just building a really big room instead

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I'm half expecting our little Minecraft-Terminator pony to go into the Everfree Forest and construct a Factorio-style fortress-base and reclaim a barn sized area from the wilderness.

The Forge Names yearn to play Factorio.

But yeah with Forge 6 I'm sure he can figure out something despite the shoestring budget we plan on offering him. Or he could just sell meth from under our noses to pay for everything we're asking him to do. Unbefriended names are like that.

 

[Shaper47]

The foals yearn for the mines.

 

[Greymere]

In Which There Was a Different Beginning


Hello there, Velvet, I see you've brought home a new guest.

…

Have you ever wondered how this History began? Well, I won't tell you. But I'll give you something else instead. Something which didn't happen.

...

Let me tell you a story. Like all stories, it starts like this…

...

Once upon a time, in this History that never was, there was an old stallion. He lived alone, in a tiny corner of the big city above his lonely store, where he built clocks and watches and curious toys. It was his talent you see, that delicate dance of metal and crystal.

He was not an unsuccessful clockmaker, this stallion. But he wasn't happy, either. His mark was that of clockwork, and yet it wasn't enough. No matter how many timepieces he built, there was always that lingering feeling of purpose unfulfilled. Like looking up at a mountain's peak, knowing you could reach it if only given an opportunity that would never come. Like a heavy weight locked to his heart.

Sometimes, in the deep of night, when that heaviness grew unbearable, the stallion would descend into his workshop and simply… build. No mere machines built for crude purpose, but pieces of art that danced to the turning of gears and springs, and it would be enough, for a time. But to the rest of the world they were only curiosities; something that a noble or wealthy merchant would occasionally catch a glimpse of and purchase on a whim to parade in front of their family for a week or a month, before being forgotten in some dusty storage room. And that old stallion wished dearly that he had someone, anyone who he could share his love of these works with, who would see them for what they truly were.

So one day, he decided to make one.

An act of rare whimsy, perhaps. After all, the stallion knew that no matter how lifelike, a clockwork automaton would never truly be something alive. But like any idea, once it had taken root in his mind, it only grew deeper and more entrenched. Almost an obsession, working deep into the night, painstakingly linking together bronze and steel and silver until fatigue grew too great and he fell into slumber upon his workbench, his dreams tinted in blue.

No great work was ever completed in a single night, of course. There would be some times where the old stallion would go months without ever touching his masterwork, even. But, slowly, slowly, it came into shape: from brass bone to steel tendons to clockwork heart, in the shape of a foal. A colt. And with every step, that blue light in his dreams grew brighter, until his masterwork lay finished on his bench.

Though... even complete, it was only a machine. A beautiful one, perhaps, in perfect mimicry of a foal. But there was no spark of life to animate its limbs, only the pre-designed winding of springs and turning of cogs. And in another History, perhaps even in your History, that's all it would have remained as.

But not in this one, of course. It wouldn't be much of a story otherwise, would it?

No, here, in this History-that-wasn't, the old clockmaker once again fell into slumber within his workshop, as had become common. And he awoke on a crossroad, paved in azure and bathed in the cobalt light of Glory.

Before him, stood his creation. The clockwork foal. But not as a mindless automaton, oh no. As a living thing, which moved and marched to its own will, carrying an ancient knowledge which no mortal creation could bear.

I will give you a gift, it said to the clockmaker, and split its false skin from which blood, white and burning, spilled into the stallion's veins so that he may carry its fire into the Wake.

I will give you a secret, it said to the clockmaker, and whispered words which seared themselves into his mind like a brand, of the operations of She Who Ended All Nights.

I will give you a purpose, it said to the clockmaker, who awoke with fire in his veins and his mind, a certainty of what must be done.

It would hurt, of course. In the division of flesh from which the Sun's Blood may enter the Wake, in the fires of knowledge that must draw fuel from memory to allow a humble clockmaker to do what must be done, in that deadly blue which poisons the blood and consumes the marrow. But it would all be worth it, in the end, thought the clockmaker. To receive that purity of purpose, a fulfillment that he could never reach here, in this waking world.

The blue fire is placed into the clockwork's heart. The gears turn, its heart ticks, and the colt opens its eyes.

The world is crooked, says the Name to the clockmaker.

To create is to destroy. To transform is to unmake what is.

You will find others like you, the pieces which do not fit into this new machine.

I will give you purpose, in our Great Work. And together we will fix what has been broken.

 

[Zxzx24]

By the way, I mean this in the best way possible. I'm just in a rush, and can't use softer language. But this isn't an attack or anything. These things just take time. And the fact that I'm not letting you spend actions on it mean that it is happening, but that you need to let it happen at Velvet's pace.

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I absolutely return the sentiment. I mean no ill and am not upset or anything. I just wished to hear more about your reasoning. So thank you!

 

[Sveta08]

In Which There Was a Different Beginning

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Aww, what a sweet history.
Poisonous perhaps, but not the right kind of poison.

Very pretty that. Thank you for sharing!

That really is brilliant. Awful, and brilliant

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And thanks!
I... Like the idea for the Moth Grail combo for a reason. Maybe now it makes some sense.

 

[Pittauro]

Speaking of Tall Tale, if Velvet were to stumble upon a Worthy Opponent such as the head of the hive, would we go for it over Biedde's Sacrament?

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oh, definitely. it would be so EASY compared to Biedde, and we'd be able to use that action for something else!

Like more artifact study that can be converted into bits, or another ritual maybe, or searching for the 3-circle location, or the Steppes FO...

If QM lets us do so before attempting the duel god yes we'd take the refunded action point in a heartbeat and use it for like, literally any of the five different priorities we're being pulled in. I honestly really doubt it's a thing that will happen though. Like I'd bet at 5% odds or worse.

Personally I'm kind of back in favor of skipping edge sacrament this turn. We have no shortage of high impact things to do with the AP that don't have a 21% failure+wounds rate, and honestly like... just because a Sacrament is a Big Deal doesn't mean it's actually very impactful in terms of effort-in-to-All-In-power-out. An extra MITL brought to the expedition is BETTER than +1 Edge level on Velvet. Even just a study action for 100 bits of level 1 artifacts studied will help more because it helps us make sure Baldomare and Forge Name get befriended. That's easily a 2nd train ticket to the 2nd Great Book Hunt.

Heck, an extra level 1 artifact studied is half an AP for exactly the same amount of extra oomph in terms of total Lore levels that a Sacrament gives us for All-In. It doesn't help in the Malleary of course nor does it help as much in our preparations, but that's just to illustrate the point.

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Of course Sacraments are NOT just for All In.

Admittedly we still don't have the measure of how useful they are, because the Knock Sacrament has not triggered yet... but we can take the realizations as something of an example.

Lantern Realization adds 1 book OR 1 artifact to our study actions.
Knock realization gave us a free mansus exploration point per turn.
Winter gives us access to the Risen.
SH helped greatly on book searches
Forge gave us reagents.
Grail gave us the Leash
Heart literally saved our life, it's sort of an extra emergency HP.
Edge removed all chances of ambushes (well, maybe someone with higher moth still could, but that's the only way I can think of to get around it), and it narratively informed us of, say, the detective searching our estate.
Moth... ok, it let us see in the dark. it's a bit weird compared to the other ones, in that it's harder to judge it's usefulnes.


It's not quite the same, but many of those can be valued at something like a "focused" half AP worth of benefits. Or maybe a follower action.

as for the knock sacrament... the way it's described, it seems to imply to me it might be triggered on expeditions. Maybe by letting us skip some challenges? I really expect it to apply on All In somehow.

KNOCK: The Silver Key: There are certain mechanisms, locks or cogs or perhaps even laws, that are scattered in this world. You can now interact with them. (You will recognize them when you see them). (Level 5);

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In theory, each sacrament should be MORE useful than the Realization coming before. It would be weird otherwise.

A few guesses for sacrament powers:

Baldomare Lantern: probably skip the translation DCs on books, which potentially saves us multiple "study points". Particularly useful if we actually start getting more books from expeditions. Narratively we should "understand all languages", which could have other uses when dealing with non-ponies.

Forge: ours is probably potions giving bonuses to actions, the other one seems to be about making artifacts instead.

Edge: ...well, it would be weird for it to not be combat-related. Maybe that trait Biedde has that kinda forces 1v1s? It doesn't quite feel like enough.

Mareinette Grail: the mention of organs to extract nutrition makes me think of a way to "store" the sacrifice bonus usable for a ritual inside ourselves, either for later use in a ritual, to boost ourselves directly, or maybe to convert it to temporary health?

I'll stop here, but my point is that their value goes beyond the use in All In directly.

And of course we know that SH and Winter specifically are pre-reqs for mansus areas, and there might be more around.

But you're right that MitLs are pretty solid creatures and combatants.

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Just think, we go on All In and we could potentially bring like 5+ Mares (or more!), Selene, Axe, Rare Fabric (best name for a Name!), Baldomare, potentially Mareinette...

It unlikely any changeling qualifies as a worth opponent with the queen dead. The rest are just generic mooks, and nowhere near enough time as passed for a new leader to grow enough to be worth.

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from canon I could see Pharinx counting, he seemed a cut above the rest.

"Do you know what the Lunar Bureau is, Filthy? Not- Not that it is my responsibility. Not that it is where I work. But what it is. What it's purpose is, Filthy."

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isn't it public knowledge that Velvet is the head of the bureau?

I mean, the mayors know, the police heads know, and we have guards and a PRINCESS as guest at least once...

I thought it wasn't a secret.

"I invited... her... because I had to make sure. I had to know that it wasn't like that. That she wasn't one of them. That you didn't have..."



"Spoiled was a Changeling, Filthy. And she had been for a long time."

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...that is indeed a perfect excuse to make her disappear.

An excuse Filthy and DIamond would WANT to believe, to justify her bad behaviour.

The world is crooked, says the Name to the clockmaker.

To create is to destroy. To transform is to unmake what is.

You will find others like you, the pieces which do not fit into this new machine.

I will give you purpose, in our Great Work. And together we will fix what has been broken.

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oh, so a potential beginning to the Forge Cult History? Cool!

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

The Sweetest Lie

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Ah.

This was great.

No, really, this is peak "kind Velvet Covers", she good mare we have come to know and love over the quest. Trying to be good, even in bad situations, and offering closure to her friends whenever she can.

Let me be clear when I say that I honestly enjoyed this. It was very well-written, the idea itself is wonderful and inventive (framing it all as "the poor marriage was because she was a changeling", brilliant!"), and overall it was great.

In fact, it was so good I am sad this isn't what I have in mind for a similar situation.

Because you see, Velvet is good because she does good. I make a point of respecting her character as a kind mare because you guys consistently make her perform good deeds.

But this option, I am afraid, is not a good one.

If something else had happened to Spoiled Rich, then by all means I can see this omake being reality.

But once you add one and one, knowing what happened behind the scenes, and realize Velvet went to his house to console him after being the cause of the disappearance...

Well, a chill runs down my spine, and I can't help but think the kindness we see was her newest Moth-mask at work.

Because make no mistake, this is a path to power, but well...

"You have never really liked yourself."

Thank you for sharing this with us!

@OurLadyOfWires Would Velvet Hill be a valid target for Assault Opponent expedition? I mean beside Spoiled one of ideas was to scry for some random murderer, but with Hill we can skip that step as we would know where he is.

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Yes, absolutely. Velvet Hill was always meant to have the "Annoyance" trait like your supervisor in Glover & Glover in the canon game. But you never garnered too much suspicion for you (the players) to consider murdering him.

But sure. He is a viable target.

But, let me be clear, he is a viable target in the sense that "he is a pony who can become a prisoner". I leave all moral discussions, on how much he "deserves it" or how much Velvet "hates him" for this to be in-character, to you all.

Though that does give me an idea. @OurLadyOfWires can we ask the Forge Name to just dig out and build a large enough room for three-circle rituals underneath Jade's house instead of asking him to search for one? While that would probably be too much to ask from a normal pony I imagine, he is the Forge Name.

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It wouldn't be a one-action thing, but he can do something like that.

But seriously, a three-circle ritual needs a large space, and it took your cult several ponies working for a long period of time to create one such underground infrastructure for your cult.

The Name of Forge CAN do it alone. He's the Name of Forge after all.

But not in a single action, and both narratively because he is low on energy, and mechanically because one action point would not be enough.

Bring this up again during the Follower's phase? I'm thinking either three actions, or a large progress bar that applies Forge Level (for him to roll with +60 per attempt). We can figure an option out if there's interest.

This is still a bit of a sandbox after all, so absolutely!

In Which There Was a Different Beginning

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This was awesome! From the frustration you could almost feel, to the description of the Blue dream. I loved it!

Definitely something that feels like the Forge Master "Wasn't". And this certainly feels like a "Jade Gear" character who made first contact with him.

Thank you for sharing this!



And finally:

Adhoc vote count started by OurLadyOfWires on Apr 29, 2025 at 2:47 PM, finished with 226 posts and 30 votes.

• ---

  16 people have voted

  [X] (MAREINETTE) You introduced her to Cadance, yes, but you are still very interested in her endeavors.

  • Uruguayan spider
  • ses
  • MisRAR1
  • IronHydra
  • Earth-Destroyer
  • BritBiscuit
  • Flaregamer82253
  • Alan975
  • Shaper47
  • HellFire666
  • Pittauro
  • Demilich
  • Arrkhon
  • Sveta08
  • spiderhellian
  • Witherbrine2671

  14 people have voted

  [X] Rare Item

  • DelightedOne
  • Pororurin
  • Anjaxis
  • Bakkasama
  • ses
  • MisRAR1
  • IronHydra
  • Earth-Destroyer
  • BritBiscuit
  • Flaregamer82253
  • Nevermort
  • Maer
  • Alan975
  • HellFire666

  11 people have voted

  [X] (MAREINETTE) Mareinette is her own mare, and Cadance could use some company. Don't do anything, and see how things turn out.

  • DelightedOne
  • Pororurin
  • Anjaxis
  • Bakkasama
  • Random Anon
  • des-pair-2
  • Nevermort
  • Limabot
  • K4lepo
  • Greymere
  • Talon Tiger Dino

  8 people have voted

  [X] Cherenkolt

  • Greymere
  • Demilich
  • Sveta08
  • spiderhellian
  • Talon Tiger Dino
  • Solace2117
  • Witherbrine2671
  • dcoconeo

  5 people have voted

  [X] Rare Fabric

  • Bakkasama
  • Limabot
  • Alan975
  • HellFire666
  • Pittauro

  5 people have voted

  [X] Morning Star

  • Limabot
  • Shaper47
  • Sveta08
  • spiderhellian
  • Solace2117

  3 people have voted

  [X] Forged Name

  • Bakkasama
  • Arrkhon
  • Witherbrine2671

  3 people have voted

  [X] Rare Glow

  • Greymere
  • spiderhellian
  • Talon Tiger Dino

  2 people have voted

  [X] Rare Tone

  • Nevermort
  • Alan975

  1 people have voted

  [X] Rare Ties

  • Nevermort

  1 people have voted

  [X] Rare Fleece

  • K4lepo

  1 people have voted

  [X] Cherenkov

  • Greymere

  1 people have voted

  [X] Teresa

  • Shaper47

  1 people have voted

  [X] Ember

  • Shaper47

  1 people have voted

  [X] Cinder

  • Shaper47

  1 people have voted

  [X] Unkindled One

  • Shaper47

  1 people have voted

  [X] Lightbringer

  • Shaper47

  1 people have voted

  [X] Rare Silk

  • Pittauro

  1 people have voted

  [X] Rare Light

  • spiderhellian

A decision seems to be rearing its head. Still, voting is set for some two more days, so we have time.

I hope you are all doing well! See you all very soon.

 

[Greymere]

Yes, absolutely. Velvet Hill was always meant to have the "Annoyance" trait like your supervisor in Glover & Glover in the canon game. But you never garnered too much suspicion for you (the players) to consider murdering him.

But sure. He is a viable target.

But, let me be clear, he is a viable target in the sense that "he is a pony who can become a prisoner". I leave all moral discussions, on how much he "deserves it" or how much Velvet "hates him" for this to be in-character, to you all.

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Tempting. Tempting tempting tempting. If we are going to eat someone (which it looks like we will be), there's something like a vicious irony in it being Hills.

He tossed Velvet aside and all but disowned her. Now she stands over him in all the ways that matter to him. The balance of power has reversed completely, and it is now his life that she holds in her hooves.

Mareinette might even get a kick out of how I this case, it is the child consuming the parent.

Bring this up again during the Follower's phase? I'm thinking either three actions, or a large progress bar that applies Forge Level (for him to roll with +60 per attempt). We can figure an option out if there's interest.

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A project w/ a progress bar would be nice, if only so that we can also throw Followers who don't have anything better to do at it

 

[Sveta08]

But this option, I am afraid, is not a good one.

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I'm quite glad you liked it! But, yes. I am under no pretense this is Good.
This is kindly singing the words that would cover the tracks that people wouldn't even know they needed to find.
This is the option that could have a widower thank you, unknowingly, for eating his wife.

This was a story giving us everything we could ever want. Power, friendship, security, allies. With little to no risk.
Everything we could want. And none of it how we want it.
And makes it so tempting. So easy.


I'm quite glad people seem to like it!

 

[Nevermort]

Yes, absolutely. Velvet Hill was always meant to have the "Annoyance" trait like your supervisor in Glover & Glover in the canon game. But you never garnered too much suspicion for you (the players) to consider murdering him.

But sure. He is a viable target.

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Time to consider promotion then. Although it makes Uncle FO more tempting. Just so we have more clear picture of things before or immediately after I mean.

@OurLadyOfWires Could Uncle FO or Soft FO be done through Velvet free social action? Sorry if it was already asked.

 

[Pittauro]

But once you add one and one, knowing what happened behind the scenes, and realize Velvet went to his house to console him after being the cause of the disappearance...

Well, a chill runs down my spine, and I can't help but think the kindness we see was her newest Moth-mask at work.

Because make no mistake, this is a path to power, but well...

"You have never really liked yourself."

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as far as I'm concerned that's borderline sociopath behaviour. How can we call Filthy a friend and do THIS to him?

What came of all our efforts of having Velvet be, if not good, at least gray, and reluctant to do evil unless strictly necessary?

I mean, she felt bad about the changelings for the Master ritual. We had her kill them, and I don't regret it because there was literally no chance of them getting out of it alive. It was either WE used them, or THE CULT used them.

but damn... this is so cold.

and yeah, I still stand by my "sure, using a serial killer or foal peddler" is NOT a good action... but it IS less evil. And it's not Velvet doing such a betrayal to a friend and the family of our daughter's friend.

Tempting. Tempting tempting tempting. If we are going to eat someone (which it looks like we will be), there's something like a vicious irony in it being Hills.

He tossed Velvet aside and all but disowned her. Now she stands over him in all the ways that matter to him. The balance of power has reversed completely, and it is now his life that she holds in her hooves.

Mareinette might even get a kick out of how I this case, it is the child consuming the parent.

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...all things considered I like it more than Spoiled.

Our father IS a bad person. He explicitly ordered many evil actions, and the fact they were carried out by Steppes doesn't absolve him.

And, at least, Steppes showed some remorse. He didn't.

Indeed, Steppes has some redeeming qualities, like his love for his family for example. What redeeming qualities does our father have?

There's only maybe ONE pony who'll miss him, and that's Velvet Pride. Long Term he might even benefit from this, as he'll no longer have to worry about keeping his father satisfied.

Now, mind, this is still an evil course of action. He IS still Velvet's father... but I'd be more willing to do this than Spoiled. At least it would be cathartic for her.

And an uncomfortably large part of me really wants to see what Bird would write for the last spoken words between the daughter and the father.

A project w/ a progress bar would be nice, if only so that we can also throw Followers who don't have anything better to do at it

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It feels like a bit of a waste, because I still fully expect the Canterlot part 3 to end in a 3-circle location, and the Everfree is JUST there so if we unlocked an expedition for the Castle we could probably do it there too...

But it's an option.

 

[DelightedOne]

Now, mind, this is still an evil course of action. He IS still Velvet's father...

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Why would that make it worse? He literally kept her out of sight and forgotten after he lost interest in her, that sounds like a good reason to not consider him being Velvet's father a valid reason to be against eating him.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The Sweetest Lie

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Wow, you've made me detest the Moth+Grail combo even more, congratulations. I will definitely strive against it.

Mareinette might even get a kick out of how I this case, it is the child consuming the parent.

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The Crime of the Sky says nothing about the children eating the parents. This is big brain time.

Ah.

This was great.

No, really, this is peak "kind Velvet Covers", she good mare we have come to know and love over the quest. Trying to be good, even in bad situations, and offering closure to her friends whenever she can.

Let me be clear when I say that I honestly enjoyed this. It was very well-written, the idea itself is wonderful and inventive (framing it all as "the poor marriage was because she was a changeling", brilliant!"), and overall it was great.

In fact, it was so good I am sad this isn't what I have in mind for a similar situation.

Because you see, Velvet is good because she does good. I make a point of respecting her character as a kind mare because you guys consistently make her perform good deeds.

But this option, I am afraid, is not a good one.

If something else had happened to Spoiled Rich, then by all means I can see this omake being reality.

But once you add one and one, knowing what happened behind the scenes, and realize Velvet went to his house to console him after being the cause of the disappearance...

Well, a chill runs down my spine, and I can't help but think the kindness we see was her newest Moth-mask at work.

Because make no mistake, this is a path to power, but well...

"You have never really liked yourself."


But, let me be clear, he is a viable target in the sense that "he is a pony who can become a prisoner". I leave all moral discussions, on how much he "deserves it" or how much Velvet "hates him" for this to be in-character, to you all.

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Wow, you have made oppose Moth+Grail even more, congratulations. Curse you Daybreaker, for pushing people to want the Moth Sacrament and the self-hatred that it represents.

As for Hills, well
Velvet hates him so much she almost sent him a Wolf-word in a letter recommended by Steppes. Like, morally he's no foal trafficker, but IC Velvet absolutely hates him enough for murder. It took a roll to not try it!

 

[Pittauro]

Velvet hates him so much she almost sent him a Wolf-word in a letter recommended by Steppes. Like, morally he's no foal trafficker, but IC Velvet absolutely hates him enough for murder. It took a roll to not try it!

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I was indeed thinking of that.

Sure, he's her father, and conventionally that makes it worse.

Except he's also an UNREPENTANT criminal, a pony whose philosophy is LITERALLY, from what I remember, that Nobles can't have friends, AND he dropped our MC the MOMENT she was no longer useful, AND has made it a point to NEVER meet his grandaughter, probably because she's a pegasus born of a failure.

...so, yeah, from an outside perspective it's bad, but for everyone who really, REALLY knows Velvet? It's probably less horrifying than many other targets... and DEFINITELY better than killing the mother of one of our daughter's friends.


Also I had this thought... some time ago, we sent Mareinette to the Rich family, and she took a choice in our place.

I really, REALLY expected her to take the choice that would split the family, as to make Spoiled Rich a sacrifice nobody would miss.

And YET, according to her traits, with her picking the option SHE thought we'd take, she took the option that would lead to the family staying together instead.

...in other words, if we eat Spoiled Rich, we're actually betraying Mareinette's expectations of our moral character, because the optimal action if we planned to eat her was to have her separate from her family to make it hurt less.

I find it funny that we're performing under Mareinette's expectations of our morality, it's what I'm saying

 

[spiderhellian]

betraying Mareinette's expectations of our moral character

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I don't think Mareinette takes actions based on her expectations of us, let alone our moral character. She makes the choice based on her desires and values.

You told her that relationships are a commitment

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You told her that relationships are a pleasure… and an investment. And that she should not squander all the years she invested in her marriage over whatever growing problems they are currently going through.

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You told her that her relationships are holding her back. She can't expect to climb the social ladder with weights dragging her down, can she?

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And of these 3 choices… that middle one is certainly the one she agrees with.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Also, I once more urge people to consider letting Mareinette pursue friendship with Cadence. I greatly enjoy her Canterlot performances and wish to see more of them. And, should Spoiled not get eaten, see Mareinette introduce her new friend Spoiled to her recent friend Cadance, and watch Spoiled swoon at her greatest dreams being fulfilled... right up until Cadance, out of concern, asks where all of Spoiled's love went. It'd be hilarious. Mareinette could be her shoulder devil and Cadance her shoulder angel. While they are all friends.

And again, you can still have Velvet eat people regardless of whether we get more Mareinette on estate scenes vs Mareinette at the palace scenes.

 

[Limabot]

Why would that make it worse? He literally kept her out of sight and forgotten after he lost interest in her, that sounds like a good reason to not consider him being Velvet's father a valid reason to be against eating him.

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I would still prefer abducting a random trafficker or serial killer, but I do think doing it to Velvet's father would be a bit closer to a karmic punishment and/or less evil than doing it to Spoiled Rich.

Also, something just occurred to me; I may be forgetting something, but doesn't the phrasing of the Moth Sacrament imply that the victim has to be alive for the mask thing to work properly?

 

[DelightedOne]

I don't think Mareinette takes actions based on her expectations of us, let alone our moral character. She makes the choice based on her desires and values.

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She kinda does, at least when she is doing social actions alone.

[OLD INTELLIGENCE]: If Mareinette is alone while performing a social action, and a vote is offered, she will instead pick the vote based on what she thinks is best. (This will be based on her personal knowledge of you, as well as her loyalty. This trait can be either positive or negative, depending on interpretation)

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She bases it on what she knows about Velvet and how loyal she is.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The other boon of Velvet eating her dad is that suddenly the estate and all its resources will fall to Velvet's brother, who is enraptured by Axe and who Silky has eating out of her hoof. We have to ensure her faction is strong once Velvet moves on to less... terrestrial scales of struggle. Or dies in the attempt to do so.

 

[Nevermort]

I would still prefer abducting a random trafficker or serial killer, but I do think doing it to Velvet's father would be a bit closer to a karmic punishment and/or less evil than doing it to Spoiled Rich.

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But side objectives! I mean you can't rob serial killer while infiltrating his mansion. Or run into chief bodyguard who would count as worthy opponent, as unlikely as it may be.

The other boon of Velvet eating her dad is that suddenly the estate and all its resources will fall to Velvet's brother, who is enraptured by Axe and who Silky has eating out of her hoof. We have to ensure her faction is strong once Velvet moves on to less... terrestrial scales of struggle. Or dies in the attempt to do so.

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While useful long term if possible I'd rather put steal valuables as secondary objective for the expedition. With Luna it is more like Royal Confiscations regardless.

 

[ses]

As for Hills, well
Velvet hates him so much she almost sent him a Wolf-word in a letter recommended by Steppes. Like, morally he's no foal trafficker, but IC Velvet absolutely hates him enough for murder. It took a roll to not try it!

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I'd be more than willing for this.

It's also very funny. Seeing as it's not the crime of the sky.

 

[Flaregamer82253]

Also I had this thought... some time ago, we sent Mareinette to the Rich family, and she took a choice in our place.

I really, REALLY expected her to take the choice that would split the family, as to make Spoiled Rich a sacrifice nobody would miss.

And YET, according to her traits, with her picking the option SHE thought we'd take, she took the option that would lead to the family staying together instead.

...in other words, if we eat Spoiled Rich, we're actually betraying Mareinette's expectations of our moral character, because the optimal action if we planned to eat her was to have her separate from her family to make it hurt less.

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I personally look at Mareinette's actions as different. Remember that there were three choices she could have taken, after all:

What did you tell her?


[-] You told her that relationships are a commitment. And that even if she is going through a rough spot right now, that she should double down and make amends with he pony she swore to love.
-You will become Acquaintances with Spoiled Rich.
-You will encourage her to fix whatever problems she has with her husband. And she will listen to you, even if she needs a few nudges (or maybe some help) here and there.
-You would like her to become her best self. And perhaps, the two of you will grow closer as she reaches for that.
-This is, without a doubt, the healthiest option for everypony involved, in the long term.


[-] You told her that relationships are a pleasure… and an investment. And that she should not squander all the years she invested in her marriage over whatever growing problems they are currently going through.
-You will become Friends with Spoiled rich.
-You will encourage her to maintain her relationship with her husband. She might not love him anymore, but they need not hate each other. And besides, she has a daughter to raise.
-You will slowly, but surely, carve her into a sycophant. She will listen to your every word, eventually, but reaching that point will require a certain degree of care. (Spoiled Rich will more easily become a "Confidante", but will not provide any action points unless she becomes a Minion).
-This is, without a doubt, the most manipulative option.


[-] You told her that her relationships are holding her back. She can't expect to climb the social ladder with weights dragging her down, can she?
-You will become Close Friends with Spoiled Rich.
-You will encourage her to look after herself, first and foremost. And your words will be more than enough to turn whatever ideas she has in her mind into actions.
-Her relationship with her husband will deteriorate, very quickly, and you can predict you will be asked to pick a side when it inevitably falls apart. You will "play both sides" until that happens, but you should act on whatever plans you have for them before you are asked which pony you will stand with.
-This is, without a doubt, the worst option for everypony involved. Everypony, except yourself.


[Mareinette invokes "OLD INTELLIGENCE"]


Option picked:
[X] You told her that relationships are a pleasure… and an investment. And that she should not squander all the years she invested in her marriage over whatever growing problems they are currently going through.

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We don't care about Spoiled Rich, we just need an easy pony that we could use that was available and we wouldn't feel bad for.

When we think of it like that, didn't Mareinette understand exacly what we want? Didn't she understand our morality well? Would we have really chosen the "healthiest option" when we just wanted to use her? Could we have really chosen "the worst option" when Diamond Tiara is caught in the middle of this?

"The most manipulative option" indeed. Mareinette knows what we would have done.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

But side objectives! I mean you can't rob serial killer while infiltrating his mansion. Or run into chief bodyguard who would count as worthy opponent, as unlikely as it may be.

While useful long term if possible I'd rather put steal valuables as secondary objective for the expedition. With Luna it is more like Royal Confiscations regardless.

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I don't think we should put Luna on any expedition to kidnap a pony to eat them. Feels like it would put some unnecessary strain on familial relations.

 

[ses]

It's really ironic considering that "Murdering Velvet Hills" is actually something we just want to do for its own sake.

But yeah if we skip Edge Sacrament this turn we can have Axe do the kidnapping, and Forge Name build a prison, while Rarity and Fluttershy at least start progress on the 3circle site? Or wait, if we're not doing the Edge Sacrament we can just have Biedde do it and skip the Resolution. A pair of Edge AotLs between Comet and our free one should be plenty, though it means we can't just take a free win if a worthy opponent shows up. But that was always supremely unlikely.

If Hills gets Talon Tiger and Pittauro on board with befriending Mareinette I'm especially for it. I very much consider the distinction between "strongly encouraged" and "required" to be like the distinction of "choosing Offer Yourself Instead was a "valid" choice we could have made" even though QM had to make it clear to people who didn't understand what "it's allowed but strongly not reccomended" meant. I don't want Mareinette to be an enemy and I fully believe we will die if we attempt All In within the next 4 turns, especially without her.

 

[Xoden]

I feel that Rare Fabric or Rare Silk leans too strongly into the Rarity joke. Which is a fun joke, but not the only dimension to this character.

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[X] Rare Glare
To cover both "metal" and "radiation" aspects. Rolls off the tongue.

I mean I can't tell you why Pittauro is doing it, but in my plan it's to boost her career roll for this turn to try and make sure her career is safe so she can do a commission next turn.

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I don't think we'll actually do this but it's an interesting line. I don't think we're allowed to teach Rarity on a turn she does a commission and honestly I kinda really want to teach her this turn so that we can get MORE BITS. She can double commission after lmao.

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Teaching Rarity also fits narratively with what has just happened. And sending her away on a commission, not letting her spend time with the newborn firstborn feels just plain wrong.

A few guesses for sacrament powers:

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Personal Lantern could be applying Grail+Lantern instead of Grail to Diplomacy checks.

About expeditions. If being bad parent is to be declared eating deserving under Velvet's reign, how about someone we actually know about.
@OurLadyOfWires Would Velvet Hill be a valid target for Assault Opponent expedition?

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I leave all moral discussions, on how much he "deserves it" or how much Velvet "hates him" for this to be in-character, to you all.

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At least that certainly should be interesting for storytelling. A dramatic horrendous reckoning of backstory family drama, paying Evil unto evil, and "Who turned out to be the bigger monster here?" question.

 

[Nevermort]

I don't think we should put Luna on any expedition to kidnap a pony to eat them. Feels like it would put some unnecessary strain on familial relations.

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She was fine after dealing with Copper. Plus we are only putting him in prison. Telling his future fate is up to Velvet, no deferent than with Spoiled. Plus Luna is character with most Moth so she is automatically chosen for action unless you want Velvet to use her own AP.

 

[Sveta08]

Wow, you've made me detest the Moth+Grail combo even more, congratulations. I will definitely strive against it.

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Hehehe! I knew it would galvanized people one way or another. Makes me smile and laugh and giggle at how passionate people feel on it!

But, to better and brighter things!

Tempting. Tempting tempting tempting. If we are going to eat someone (which it looks like we will be), there's something like a vicious irony in it being Hills.

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Er, Grail rich things still but!
I quite like this idea too! It has the same sort of poetic visceral weight to it.

Besides! I think Velvet Hill would approve in his own disgusting way. He sees the value in people as what they are. As in, he sees people as valuable tools, pieces, items, powers. Fitting that he might end when someone views him the same way, powerful for the mere dint of his life and his blood and his bones.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Once more I shall advocate for Mareinette to explore friendship with Cadence. Let her have more scenes of tittering at ballroom dances with opera glasses upon her snout. She could play matchmaking games alongside Cadance!

I just can think of more fun scenes of Marinette+Cadance than Mareinette+Velvet...

 

[Maer]

I've been convinced effortlessly to Moth Spoiled and Grail our 'daddy dearest'. Thank you, SO much dear fellows, for giving me this alternative. At least we'd have a use for Beidde other than the Sacrament by capturing our father as a prisoner. I could far more easily enjoy this. Again, THANK you.

 

[ses]

It would be supremely ironic irony if the inciting incident for crossing this line was Steppes' confession to Velvet

Steppes: "I abandoned you while you were at your lowest, I deserve your hatred"
Velvet: "Huh? What is Steppes talking about? All I hear is the rushing sound of HOW MUCH I HATE HILLS EVEN MORE"