A Close Reading of the Text

A Close Reading of the Text
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	281818

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A Close Reading of the Text is a Sunless Skies Story Event.

Story description[]

"The Illuminated Archivist is all smiles as you discourse on the readings he has given you. A Questioning of Belief(First)"

Trigger conditions[]

Area: Limbo
Frequency: Always (100%)

Interactions[]

Actions	Requirements	Effects
Offer your opinion You have listened and read and learned. What do you think?	A Questioning of Belief ≤ 0	Not quite a test The Illuminated Archivist nods encouragingly. "Before we go further, I'd know what you thought so far. So many acolytes fail at this hurdle," he says brightly. A Questioning of Belief = 10	You understand It is a text of London as was and will be.	The Illuminated Archivist smiles. "Yes! Exactly so." He extends a hand daubed black and green: the colours of Old London smog.
	A Questioning of Belief ≤ 0		You do not understand It refers to places that cannot be and things that never were.	The Illuminated Archivist frowns. He does not appreciate the insinuation. +1 x Casting Doubt
Nothing Nothing has changed. It is possible to be here and have lost nothing at all.	A Questioning of Belief = 10	The Illuminated Archivist grins and turns his ear to you. It is encircled with a tattoo of a vast spired creature, carapaced and tentacled. He winks. A Questioning of Belief = 20
So much You are not as you were. No one is.	A Questioning of Belief = 10	The Illuminated Archivist rolls his eyes, revealing little tattoos of velocipedes racing down a gaslit street. He was apparently less than thrilled by this response. +1 x Casting Doubt A Questioning of Belief = 20
The trials and travails of any Old Londoner The Masters, the Neddy Men, the things in the marshes and the things in the zee, scandal and prison and the light of the sun.	A Questioning of Belief = 20	The Illuminated Archivist nods solemnly. "Such is our lot, we who might live so long in the dark. All liberties come with a cost. But we have chosen our price." A Questioning of Belief = 30
The fears of any sky-captain Of cold in the night and fuel running low, of nightmares stalking the engine, of crew dying in droves and a final stop far from home.	Sky-Story ≥ 3 A Questioning of Belief = 20	Could his lips get any thinner? Apparently so. He lets out a long sigh, like the whistle of steam escaping a bust boiler. "You're rather missing the point," he hisses. +1 x Casting Doubt A Questioning of Belief = 30
Tea! Stewed and sanguine, a tonic for the nerves, a restorative for the soul.	1 x Caddy of Dried Tea A Questioning of Belief = 30	Refreshment The Illuminated Archivist pours you both a cup, in broken china saucers several decades out of fashion. "I found these down in the drift—" He pauses and shakes his head. "I found these in Flowerdene Market. I find them daringly modish." The tea he brews is strong and he does not wait for you to finish your cup before pouring you another. -1 x Caddy of Dried Tea A Questioning of Belief = 40
An oozing sky horror What finer gift! What better proof of life beyond Old London and the Gate?	1 x Caged Catch A Questioning of Belief = 30	Entirely unimpressed The Illuminated Archivist jumps to his feet and fetches a broom to bat at the creature. "You. Are. Spoiling. Everything." He hisses, through clenched teeth. Eventually the creature wanders away, though not before the Archivist has ruined his finest Murgatroyd's tea-towels cleaning up the ooze. -1 x Caged Catch +1 x Casting Doubt A Questioning of Belief = 40
"I am home."	A Questioning of Belief = 40	Nostalgia? You speak of Old London and its gaslit streets, of the false-stars above, and the zee waiting below. You speak of the Masters and their Bazaar, of Tomb-Colonists and Rubbery Men and the sprawling, teeming life of it all. At last, you realise the Illuminated Archivist is speaking with you, word for word, chasing them along the slim, severe lines of his body. He stops at a final tattoo of a gate in the nape of his neck. A Questioning of Belief = 50
"I am in the sky."	A Questioning of Belief = 40	A high viewpoint You state your position. Your time in the Wilderness, your life as a skyfarer. The whistle of your engine, the sound of the horn and the thunder of your wheels through the Horizon. You speak of New Winchester and new London, and the life you lead here. The Illuminated Archivist lets out a moan of anguish. +1 x Casting Doubt A Questioning of Belief = 50
Finish your education The Illuminated Archivist regards you with something approaching delight.	Casting Doubt ≤ 3 [You are probing his beliefs] A Questioning of Belief ≥ 50	Quiet pride "I have been entirely thrilled by your progress. You understand what it is to meditate on a better world, to contemplate a time when things were better." He smiles, displaying the new tattoo over his heart. "I've never had a better pupil. Take my lessons with you when you leave here. I know you will." Is that something in his eye? "Just ink. It runs sometimes. Be away with you, captain." An Initiate of the Supralapsarians = 0 +2 x Moment of Inspiration +500 x Experience +1 x Cryptic Benefactor Entirely Supralapsarian = 1 [You have understood the Word.] An Offering Made = 0 Casting Doubt = 0 Triggers event: Aboard the Flotilla
Finish your education The Illuminated Archivist regards you balefully.	Casting Doubt ≥ 3 [You are probing his beliefs] A Questioning of Belief ≥ 50	A sharp frown "I... I mean you've read all I have to show, so I suppose in that sense you've finished. But do you take me for an idiot?" He regards your expression and decides not to wait for a response. "Of course we know this is all so much make-believe! We've been trapped out here for years, no way back. We glean what we can from our scavenging and play out our lives as if we had never come here." He smiles sadly. "I'm sure you meant well. But this is the only real lesson I have to teach." An Initiate of the Supralapsarians = 0 +500 x Experience +1 x Condemned Experiment +500 x Sovereign Entirely Supralapsarian = 2 [You heard the Word and left it in silence] Casting Doubt = 0 Triggers event: Aboard the Flotilla
Return to the Flotilla Your education can wait.		Triggers event: Aboard the Flotilla

Links[]

Links In[]

The Illuminated Archivist

Links Out[]

Aboard the Flotilla

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