Archived GM Notes: This page is unsealed GM-notes pertaining to PRPG2. It is not canonical to PRPG2. It may contain contradictions (even with itself), and preliminary ideas that were merely written down as I thought of them, for later consideration. The absence of something mentioned here from the canon does not necessarily mean that the party "missed" it, it could have been mooted for other reasons or simply discarded by me.
EST's friend, Shining Censer, is chief priest at the Temple of the Undying Sun, the Mother Temple of the Old Religion. He has the ear of the archimandrite, and can get the archimandrite to declare a triumph. This will entail a parade, with the recipient of the triumph traveling from the Temple to the palace to be honored by the monarch and his or her grandees before all the people. By ancient custom, the name of the recipient is not revealed by the archimandrite until the recipient emerges from the Temple at dawn, so the identity will be secret from even the highest levels of government until there are too many ponies watching for the changlings to act against them clandestinely.
There is one, small complication... you see, there's a reason for that custom... we don't want to jinx the outcome of the Solar Trial, wherein the presumptive triumphatrix spend the night (from sunset to dawn) in the catacombs of the solar temple. No one is sure what this entails, but about half of triumph recipients have been unable to complete their stay. (Did anyone ever die? "Only once, when he wandered into the reliquary by mistake and attempted to use the Astrolabe of Ephemeris. The acolytes were cleaning up the mess for two days and nights. If you see a horrible serrated disk marked with astronomical signs and brimming with dangerous magic, just back away slowly and close the door.")
A changeling will visit to attempt to negotiate with the party, to get them to just leave, and advise them to destroy the element of harmony, which is "corrupt." "It's corruption is that of the Great Abomination." "The nemesis of the ancient world, that which brought about the Catastrophe. The Shadhavar call it En-Netsusep, and they worship it as the high priest of their own gods."
"If you will not listen to me, then listen to the words of one of your own prophetesses."
Under the light of the sun at noon,
Under the face of the elder moon,
(some part missing)
and locked away by this ancient tune,
to save the world from an end too soon.
Heedless meddling with those... things... will be the end of us all! Your ancestors were too cowardly to do what needed to be done, to destroy them after their corruption... do not repeat that mistake. Our species can survive and grow strong together, without reliance on ancient artifacts.