Ambition: The Song of the Sky

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Ambition: The Song of the Sky
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	297362

Ambition: The Song of the Sky is a Sunless Skies Story Event.

Story description

"Ambition: The Song of the Sky(writing_description) "

Trigger conditions

Ambition: The Song of the Sky ≥ 1
Area: Limbo
Frequency: Always (100%)

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects	Notes
A fiction This allows you more scope, more flexibility, a more poetic attitude to the truth... And avoids any self-incrimination.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 15 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Perfection! You spend a few moments assembling a name, a face... The conceit of the text shall be that you are simply relaying the dizzying stories of a mysterious sky-captain of your recent acquaintance. Of course, even an unsophisticated reader will be able to spot the truth. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 16 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Song of the Sky: Fiction or Memoir = 1
A memoir You intend to be famous, after all. Why hide your light under a bushel?	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 15 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Perfection! You don't see the need to attach a different name and face to this story. Even the thinnest veneer of falsehood could detract from the whole. This is the Song of the Sky, and you will sing it in your own voice. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 16 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Song of the Sky: Fiction or Memoir = 2
Journalism Disaffected cynicism, peppered with a wit so dry it could be used to preserve meat.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 25 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Bleak Distance There will be times where the aloof tone falls apart under the weight of horror or melancholy. Those moments will be all the more surprising, like broken glass hidden in a blancmange. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 26 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Prose Words that bite even as they entice the reader to chase after the next.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 25 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Dizzying Tumult Your aim is simple: to devour the reader whole, and to only regurgitate them when you are sure you are done with them. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 26 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Poetry Verse with the thundering rhythm of a train.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 25 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Modern Odyssey How could you expect to communicate the nature of the High Wilderness, in all its hideous dizzying majesty, without resorting to poetry? Of course the Song of the Sky will be written in verse – nothing else will do. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 26 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Heroic Beauty is truth, after all, and truths that aren't beautiful can be safely dismissed as oxymorons.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 35 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	An Unblemished Fable What's the point of this exercise, if not to cast yourself in the most favourable of lights? Anything you may have done to make a reader blanch, well, you'll change the circumstances, or perhaps invent a villain, to make your actions look entirely reasonable. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 36 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Honest You'll not flinch from baring your own flaws and foibles and occasional felonies.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 35 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Blemished Reality It's not just honesty that compels you to tell the truth. This will make for a better story – a captain of many shades, a mirror reflecting both light and dark. Hopefully it won't cause you too many legal problems. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 36 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
The adventure The hard-won camaraderie, the blood that spills and roars, the thunderous clap of the cannons.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 45 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Adventure Again and again, you've intoxicated readers with that delirious cocktail of excitement and fear. The battles! The intrigues! The pursuits! And other things which warrant exclamation marks. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 46 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
The loneliness The merciless silence, the yearning, the cold blaze of the stars on a windswept night.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 45 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Melancholy An honest appraisal of the High Wilderness can only spare so much time for battles and adventure, or even horror. Far more apropos is the crushing emptiness. The absence that settles in the bones and gnaws from the inside. That's what the sky actually is, at the end of the day. It's a vast amount of nothing. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 46 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
The horror The sour dread, the unwelcome dreams, the things you've learned that rub uncomfortably in your mind like a stone in a shoe.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 45 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Dread What do retired explorers bring home from the sky? A measure of sorrow. A smattering of stories. Most of all, nightmares. Too long in the sky will unlock a door in your head, and you cannot choose which guests will come visit. You will write about your dread, and not because you have a choice. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 46 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Spill your secrets D__n the consequences.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 55 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Secrets Spilled You name names and reveal conspiracies. You hint at grander, darker mysteries that even you barely comprehend. The Omnivorous Publisher would be happy – revealing all these secrets may come back to bite you, but it's certainly going to generate attention. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 56 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] +1 x Song of the Sky: A Songful of Secrets
Avoid controversy Names can be changed. Major embarrassments can be conveniently forgotten.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 55 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Caution You hold yourself back from going into detail on the more outrageous secrets you've dug out. You scatter a few hints, here and there, for those who are in the know – and leave it at that. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 56 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Their stories deserve the limelight Your crew are as important a part of the tapestry as you.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 65 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Rich Cast It is decided – in addition to depicting your most recent exploits, the Sixth Canto will delve into the stories of your crew. You are careful to get their permission first, of course. At this point, a role of prominence in the Song of the Sky has the potential to bring unwelcome attention from readers, critics, journalists, and other reprobates. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 66 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Your crew are supporting characters But they're certainly a colourful backdrop to your exploits!	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 65 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Convenient Backdrop You have a paying audience now, some of whom are frighteningly obsessed, and they're not going to be happy if you start devoting valuable page-space to people who aren't you. Better to play it safe. And besides, you are your own best inspiration. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 66 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Encourage the reader to follow in your footsteps It's a greedy sky, greedy for young blood and young hopes, but it can give so much in return. If you're lucky.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 75 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Postscript A note of encouragement to would-be explorers: There are endless other stories out here, waiting for a storyteller. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 76 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Warn the reader to choose another path You've accomplished so much, and it's only cost you everything.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 75 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	A Postscript A warning to would-be explorers: The sky will swallow you whole, and not even your bones will remain. There is nothing for you here – nothing in abundance. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 76 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Find a publisher You've written only a fraction, but if you're lucky, it'll be enough to secure a book deal.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 16 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Rejection The reputable publishing-houses of New Winchester are crammed into Smoghorn Street, where the roaring presses give the impression of a nearby sea. Your first pitch begins swimmingly: "Remarkable," murmurs the editor, "effortlessly lyrical, mythological in ambition..." When you ask after a deal, however, he shakes his head. "No, no. It won't make a penny." You work your way down the street, your increasingly-bedraggled manuscript clutched close to your chest. Finally, you catch an editrix just as she leaves for the day. "I won't publish this," she says, flipping through the pages. "But I know someone who might." She jots an address on the back of your manuscript. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 18 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Triggers event:  An Unpromising Address
Publish the second canto The printing-press wheezes into life. Paper churns.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 26 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Newfound Success The next day, copies of the First and Second Cantos are being ruthlessly hawked by book-stalls and enterprising penny-vendors across the city. Exploit: Beloved by the Tacketies(exploit_description)Exploit: Beloved by the Windward Company(exploit_description)Exploit: Saviour of the Sun(exploit_description)Exploit: Knight of Clocks(exploit_description)Exploit: Dredger of Wells(exploit_description)Exploit: Delver of Wrecks(exploit_description)Exploit: Member of Parliament(exploit_description)Exploit: Revolutionary of Brabazon(exploit_description)Exploit: Perdurance(exploit_description)Exploit: Escape from Piranesi(exploit_description)Exploit: Scourge of Monsters(exploit_description)Exploit: Enemy of Gods(exploit_description)Exploit: Delver of the Boatman(exploit_description) The Second Canto is quickly the subject of fevered gossip and speculation. Could it all be true? The newspapers deign to review it, and throw around words like 'astonishing' to describe both your exploits and your prose. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 30 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky
Publish the third canto The Omnivorous Publisher's assistants flit around the printing-press like tiny fish around the jaws of a shark. He sits back and pours himself a whiskey.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 36 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	The Third Canto's Reception The excited speculation around the Second Canto had only just begun to die down, and now vendors selling the Third Canto find themselves mobbed by small, eager crowds whose zeal has been reawakened. Over the next few days you spot citizens of all stripes reading your pamphlet – from a vagrant under a bridge to a monocled aristocrat. A journalist interviews you, and any suspicion of his hostility evaporates when he starts stammering his admiration of your work. All the newspapers heap praise. For weeks, you're the toast of New Winchester's coffee-shops and bookstores and other bastions of culture. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 40 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky
Publish the fourth canto A fleet of assistants begin feeding paper into a dozen clanking printing-presses. Machinery roars, and the Fourth Canto is born.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 46 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	The Fourth Canto's Reception You don't have time to ascertain the reaction yourself – the Omnivorous Publisher has arranged matters on your behalf, and you find yourself whisked away on a whirlwind tour of book-signings and interviews. Your pen-hand cramps from signing. You collect a reliable stable of answers to the most awkward questions from journalists and readers alike, especially an answer to the most awkward of all: "When's the next one?" "Soon," you assure them, but by the time it's all over, you are beyond exhausted and in no fit state to write. The Fourth Canto remains top of the best-seller list for weeks. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 50 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky
Publish the fifth canto The printing-presses roar like unleashed dragons. The Publisher toasts you, then dismisses you with a wave of his cigar.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 56 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	The Fifth Canto's Reception The Fifth Canto's publication follows much the same pattern as the Fourth: an exhausting rush of book-signings, interviews and speeches. At some event or other – you can't remember which – the Omnivorous Publisher appears suddenly at your side, breathing smoke into your face and pressing a whisky into your hands. "You're too big for New Winchester now," he tells you, snatching up a passing canapé. "I've established a new office in London. Meet you there." He swallows the canapé whole and vanishes as quickly as he came, leaving nothing but an acrid smell and a trail of crumbs. Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 58 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]
Investigate the Publisher's office You haven't heard any word of the Canto's publication, and you haven't been abducted by the Publisher for another book-tour. Has something gone wrong?	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 66 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	The Sixth Canto's Reception As you approach the Publisher's London office, you spot a thin plume of smoke. It's a charred ruin. You ask one of the surrounding policemen what happened. "We came to close the place down by order of the Ministry of Public Decency. Publication of subversive materials, y'see." The constable waves something that you recognise as the Sixth Canto. "When we got 'ere, the Publisher fought back. Gunfire was exchanged. Said he'd burn the place to the ground before he paid taxes, which was funny, 'cause we weren't there for taxes." What happened to him? The constable shrugs. "On the run. We'll find 'im." Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 68 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era] Triggers event:  Ambition: the Song of the Sky	Game note: You must find a way to publish the Sixth Canto in defiance of the Ministry of Public Decency.
Publish the seventh canto The Omnivorous Publisher is still on the run, but you have a dozen others begging at your door.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 76 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Triggers event:  The Seventh Canto
Follow your Ambition It is time to write the second canto.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 20 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky
Follow your Ambition It is time to write the third canto.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 30 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky
Follow your Ambition It is time to write the fourth canto.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 40 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky
Follow your Ambition It is time to write the fifth canto.	Ambition: The Song of the Sky = 50 [Become the High Wilderness' most venerated explorer, and write the story that defines the era]	Triggers event:  Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky

Links

Links In

Explore London, Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky, Ambition: the Song of the Sky

Links Out

An Unpromising Address, Follow your Ambition: the Song of the Sky, Ambition: the Song of the Sky, The Seventh Canto

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