Ambition: the Truth

 is considered a Journal Quality Ambition: the Truth in Sunless Skies.

Guide
Warning: Guide contains all kinds of spoilers.

Part 1: The Easy Half.
Your old friend, whose name depends on your origin, left you a letter at New Winchester. It costs 2 Savage Secrets to decode. The letter requests that you meet them in London. They fail to meet you. Upon investigating their abode, you learn that it was burned to the ground in blue flames. Upon return to New Winchester, let the seasoned captains know that you are now in charge. Each captain is investigating their own piece of the truth, and each requires your help. Speak to each in turn, and invite Meg onto your locomotive.


 * ‘Spatchcocker’ Meg is investigating the Fire that Follows and wants to go visit Mr. Menagerie.
 * The Plucky Baroness is investigating how stars die and wants you to go pick up equipment for them at the Royal Society in Albion.
 * The Bedevilled Didact is investigating the politics of heaven.
 * The Masked Citizen is investigating ‘The Courtesy’.

Part 1.1: 'Spatchcocker' Meg.
‘Spatchcocker’ Meg is investigating the Fire that Follows and wants to go visit Mr. Menagerie and bribe them with 4 Caged Catches. Travel to wherever it is and give it the catches. Mr Menagerie will tell you that the Fire that Follows is supernatural blue flame that hunts down people who know the secret sworn between suns, and that people affected by it sometimes go to the House of Jude at London. There you find survivors of the Fire that Follows with their sins and secrets burned into their flesh. However, your old friend isn’t here. You have learned something you should not, and will now begin to experience Fire that Follows events which range from mildly annoying to catastrophic. Before returning to New Winchster, go collect the Baroness’ Bathysphere from The Royal Society. It costs 3 Experimental Modifications.

Part 1.2: The Plucky Baroness.
The Plucky Baroness is investigating how stars die and wants you to go pick up equipment for them at the Royal Society in Albion. Upon delivering their bathysphere, transport them to Old Tom’s Well. A well, a bathysphere, and a theory as to where the Reach’s sun went. You can tell where this is going. It takes more than a day to descend to the bottom of well, where you find the gold bones of the Reach’s sun. Optionally, Hearing the death-cry gets you a crimson promise and a nightmare. Collect the samples you need and return to New Winchester. The autopsy results are in: Albion’s sun (The King of Hours) was killed using a Correspondence powered poison. The Reach’s sun (The Garden-King) was killed using a black hole. The Baroness hypothesizes that the suns are being murdered, and that they are doing it to one another.

Part 1.3: The Masked Citizen.
The Masked Citizen is investigating ‘The Courtesy’ and wants to go to Pan. The Cypress King tells you that to learn about the courtesy you must ask the Second Storyteller, the Piper or December. To do this you must join one of the three Pan factions and progress through their ranks far enough to gain access to one of these characters. The Second Storyteller is part of The Heart-Catchers, whom are tree people that can catch death in a jar. The Piper is a devil of The Brazen Brigade. The devils worship the giant statue in Pan and expect it to start walking around some day. December is THAT December. You know the one. They now lead the Winter’s Reside revolution. Choose one of these factions and progress until you can ask someone about the Courtesy. Be sure to acquire at least 1 Ancient Knowledge from a floating library before all this is done. We’ll need it later.

Part 1.4.1: The Heart-Catchers.
If you choose to work with the Second Storyteller,

Part 1.4.2: The Brazen Brigade.
If you choose to work with the Piper,

Part 1.4.3: Winter's Reside.
If you choose to work with December, first they will have you deliver Christmas cards to The Circus and to London. After that, you yourself will get an invitation, and should return to Pan. The next step is getting your grievances extracted through your mouth, which costs 5 Eleutherian Mysteries and 5 points in a stat. You can get a mystery for each black hole you fly through, each port report delivered to the Cypress King, and each Empyrean Nameplate delivered to Winter’s Reside. Which character facits you have limit your choice in which stat you lose. At dinner, December tells you that the suns once went to war and that the Courtesy was an agreement between them to end that war, but also set up a ceremonial process by which they can kill one another anyway. You can now completely ignore the Winter’s Reside and continue on with discovering THE TRUTH.

Part 1.3.Contiuned
Go talk to the Masked Citizen that you left behind in Pan. Pick them up and be on your way to The House of Rods and Chains. Entering the Spire of Inches costs 1 Searing Enigma or 1 Golden Amber. Talk to the mouth now growing out of your forehead and you will learn that the Courtesy are an order of Logoi, those terrible elemental monsters found in the Blue Kingdom. It is also insinuated that there may be a loophole in the rules concerning the murdering of suns. Make doubly sure that you have at least 1 Ancient Knowledge, then return to New Winchester.

Part 1.4: The Bedevilled Didact.
The Bedevilled Didact is investigating the politics of heaven and wants 2 Otherworldly Artefacts and 2 Visions of the Heavens. Once delivered, they will want to go to The Forge of Souls. Throw 10 supplies into your bank and be on your way! It is highly recommended to be driving at least an Altani at this point. A Wrath of Heaven wouldn’t go amiss, and be sure to have a Tisiphone and some mining gear. BK is not a very nice place, and we’ll be roaming all over in there.

Hit up Sky Barnet, hire a litigator, and fill your hold with the following:  1 Immaculate Souls, 3 Sky-Stories, 1 Uncanny Specimen, 1 Testament of Salt. 1 Ancient Knowledge.

Access to BK ports is restricted by your Status, which is changed in a variety of ways. We’re on our way to the Forge of Souls, which requires Yoked or Ephemera status. We can become Yoked at Wellsmouth, but to do that we have to be Antedeceased, and to do THAT, we gotta go get declared dead at The Stone-Faced Court. So go there. (its almost always NW of Sky Barnet.) Your litigator should get you in no problem, and 100 sovereigns, 3 sky-stories and a little crew brow-beating should get you an ostentatious funeral and Antedeceased status. While Antideceased, only blue Logoi will attack you. Travel to nearby Wellmouth.

At Wellsmouth, talk to the Matronly Relict, give it 1 Immaculate Souls, and then become the Spider-Sweeper, spending 1 Uncanny Specimen and 1 Testament of Salt. From there, a moderate Iron check makes you Yoked. Good job. While Yoked, only red Logoi will attack you. Go to the Forge of Souls. Speaking to the Lamentation of Mists costs 1 Ancient Knowledge so long as you have a litigator. The Lamentation will let you see the Roll of Ash, which is actually just an obituary for dead suns. Many hundreds are recorded here, and all have the same cause of death; “an exchange of courtesies”. Run away home to New Winchester.

Part 2: The Hard Half.
Regroup with the seasoned captains in New Winchester, and spend a bit of time recovering from the Blue Kingdom blues. Someone saw your friend’s locomotive going into The Wastes. When you are once again sane and supplied, dock up at Lustrum for final preparations, then point your bow at the edge of the map and drive right off it. You heard me. You. Off the map. Now. Each attempt to find the Azazel costs 2 supplies and 3 fuel. (Lustrum sells both if you need more). It can’t possibly take more than 4 attempts. You find your friend stranded with a dead locomotive on a rock in the wastes. Bring them home to New Winchester. The Fire That Follows quickly shows up to ruin your day. At this point you can choose to flee with your friend and achieve a lesser victory, but is that what we’re here to do? No I didn’t think so. Sacrifice your friend instead in order to enact the Courtesy. The Fire That Follows accepts your payment, and so long as you manage to actually kill a sun before you die, nothing bad will happen. No problem right? The first step is talking to the seasoned captains. You decide to forge an alliance with that terrible something that lives in White Well. what could possibly go wrong? Head on back to The Blue Kingdom.

Part 2.1: The Terrible Something That Lives in White Well.
At Wellmouth, go hop down into the big scary hole in reality and talk to the thing that's in there. You remember Sorrow Spiders? Well it turns out that the thing in the well is just a billion sorrow spiders all mashed together. Allying yourself with this cute little ball of nightmares costs 1 Crimson Promise. That buys you a spider in your eye, and a plan to spread spider-councils all over the place. Go to Port Prosper and set up a spider council there. Hop on through to Albion and set up another at Brabazon. From here, hop on over to Eleutheria (you DID build your A-E relay, RIGHT?!) and put down your last council at the Empyrean. Once all 3 spider councils are in place, the big spider will begin making its venom, and that should be ready in a few hundred years. Head back once more to Sky Barnet.

Part 2.2: Quick Trip to see the Sun's Daughter.
The next step is to make a soul to use as sun bait. Its gonna costs 10 Immaculate Souls and 1 Indulgence. Get the Nameless Spirit, grab 1 gemstones, and head up to Death’s Door, and near there is The Shadow of the Sun. Use your litigator and replace your eyes with gemstones so that you can visit the Sun’s Daughter. Use the Nameless Spirit to pass the hard Hearts test to get an Indulgence. Head next door to Death’s Door. You can’t do much here because you have to be Ephemeral, but you can still buy immaculate souls from the store. Buy enough to have the 10 you need and head back to Sky Barnet. Hire the devils to make you a nice soul. It should be done in a few hundred years.

Part 2.3: The Gallery of Aeons.
So now we wait. Renting a room at Sky Barnet costs 1 Crimson Promise per millennium, so do that, and construct a gallery to live in for 300 years. This costs 3 Otherworldly Artefacts, 1000 sovereigns, 1 Condemned Experiment and 300 years of accumulated hours. It's not as much as you think. The Searing Enigma recipe will get you more than half way there. You can't possibly need more than 30 Barrels of Unseasoned Hours.

Part 2.4: Point of No Return.
When all is prepared, enter the Gallery of Aeons. There’s no coming back from this by the way. Read and drink tea for 70 years until your spider-thought-venom is ready. Idly read the newspaper it came wrapped in to learn of the malfunction of the Clockwork Sun, independence of the Reach and visitors from a distant white star. Consider learning to play the oboe for 30 years until your devil-distilled-soul is ready. It is a many eye-lidded thing of beauty. The devil also tells you happenings over the past 30 years, including transit relays to distant stars, webs strung far across the wastes, and learning that the French are somehow out here as well. Break your oboe, learn to repair oboes, and master oboe solos for 100 years. A letter arrives. “The shade has passed beyond Death’s Door.” 100 more years pass before you dare step outside, but the results have been worth the wait. In the 23rd century, The Blue Kingdom is in ruin. Webs fill the sky, capturing stars in their grasp. The Westernmost King is dead, their corpse a molten, hollowed-out shell that houses the Spider-Senate, the largest hive-mind in the universe, your friend and equal - for now. You sit on its silken throne, its authority yours to wield. The spiders have one question: what is the title of the one who uplifted them? Your name is…

Quest description
"Even the stars keep secrets."

Quality status
 has different statuses according to your actions, defined by the comment in front of the quality.

Journal description

 * [ 10 ] You hope to meet an old friend in New Winchester
 * [ 15 ] Your old friend associates with a group of seasoned captains that meet at the Promise of Days in New Winchester. Seek her there
 * [ 20 ] Your friend left you a letter, which included a coded message. Decipher it in New Winchester
 * [ 30 ] Meet your old friend at the Jubilation Day celebrations in London
 * [ 40 ] Your friend missed your appointed meeting. Track down where they have been living in London
 * [ 50 ] Visit the burned building where your friend lodged in London
 * [ 60 ] Seek the assistance of the seasoned captains at New Winchester
 * [ 70 ] Help the seasoned captains continue your friend's research
 * [ 80 ] 'Spatchcocker' Meg has a lead on where your mutual friend is hiding. Learn more at New Winchester
 * [ 90 ] Gather a store of fuel and supplies and search for your friend beyond the edge of the Reach. Or, more wisely, abandon this unhappy quest at New Winchester
 * [ 91 ] You left your friend to die in the wastes, at her request. Return to New Winchester to abandon your current ambition and choose another
 * [ 95 ] Carry your friend back to New Winchester, so she can recover from her ordeal in the wastes
 * [ 100 ] You intend to kill a sun and seize its throne. Lay the beginnings of your plans at New Winchester
 * [ 110 ] Form an alliance with the Thing in the White Well. You will need a Crimson Promise as proof of your value
 * [ 115 ] Establish spider-councils in the Reach, Albion, and Eleutheria
 * [ 120 ] Travel to the Low Barnet and deal with devils to advance the next stage of your plan
 * [ 130 ] You are scheming with a spider-senate to unseat a star. Trade a Crimson Promise to the devils at Sky Barnet to secure a long-term lease there
 * [ 140 ] Construct a Gallery of Aeons at Sky Barnet. You will need three Otherworldly Artefacts, 2000 sovereigns, a Condemned Experiment, and an extraordinary amount of hours
 * [ 200 ] Talk to your old friend aboard your locomotive, and make an escape plan
 * [ 210 ] Visit the Empyrean and acquire the knowledge you need to flee the heavens via the Avid Horizon, or change yourselves beyond recognition at Piranesi
 * [ 220 ] Take the necessary steps to open the door to the Neath at your base at the Avid Horizon
 * [ 225 ] Bring a Royal Dispensation to your friend, or bring seven Barrels of Hours and earn the attention of the Burrower Below instead
 * [ 230 ] You are ready to open the Avid Horizon

Interaction description
These desciptions appear specifically when the value changes.
 * [ 10 ] You hope to meet an old friend in New Winchester.
 * [ 15 ] Your old friend associates with a group of seasoned captains that meet at the Promise of Days in New Winchester. Seek her there.
 * [ 20 ] Your friend left you a letter, which included a coded message. Can you decipher it?
 * [ 30 ] Seek your friend at London.
 * [ 33 ] You are exploring the Jubilation Day festivities.
 * [ 40 ] Your friend missed your appointed meeting. Track down where they have been living in London.
 * [ 50 ] Visit the burned building where your friend lodged in London.
 * [ 60 ] Seek the assistance of the seasoned captains at New Winchester.
 * [ 70 ] Aid the seasoned captains in their investigations.
 * [ 80 ] 'Spatchcocker' Meg has found a lead.
 * [ 91 ] There is nothing here for you, now.
 * [ 95 ] Carry your friend back to New Winchester, so she can recover from her ordeal in the wastes.
 * [ 100 ] Lay the beginnings of your plans at New Winchester.
 * [ 110 ] Form an alliance with the Thing in the White Well.
 * [ 115 ] You must establish spider-councils across the sky.
 * [ 120 ] Travel to the Toll-Tower at Low Barnet.
 * [ 200 ] Talk to your old friend about your locomotive. They will serve as a First Officer.
 * [ 210 ] Decide whether to flee the heavens or change yourselves beyond recognition.
 * [ 220 ] Take the necessary steps to open the Avid Horizon
 * [ 230 ] Open the Avid Horizon.

Variable Interaction description
These desciptions appear when a specific group is called for text.

Gallery

 * [ 150 ] Time passes oddly in your Gallery of Hours. The loom thrums in the next room. The hours are taut and thin, like a bubble straining to pop. You read, you pace, you think. Outside, the decades pour by. \n\nSeventy years pass. There is a knock at the door.
 * [ 160 ] You return to your waiting. You have read all your books, now. You have listened to your handful of phonograph cylinders. You consider learning the oboe, which you bought in a fit of optimism when furnishing the Gallery.\n\nOutside, thirty more years hurry by. There is a second knock at the door.
 * [ 170 ] More of the pulled-tight time of the Gallery passes, in which you take up the oboe, break the oboe over your knee in frustration, learn to repair oboes, and master the oboe. A calamitous century thunders by beyond.\n\nThen a note is pushed under your door.
 * [ 180 ] Time is all you have left. There is no way to distract yourself now; you can only wait, and fret, and hope. This is the worst part of scheming: when you are reliant on other parties, invisible to you, doing their work.\n\nBut eventually the time loom clatters its last. Your hours are spent. Another century or more has haunted the world outside, and it is time to claim your prize.

Interactions in Brief
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Interactions in Detail
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Triggered Events
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