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| Ambition: the Stars are Dying | |
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| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 308961 |
Ambition: the Stars are Dying is a Sunless Skies Story Event.
Story description[]
"The seasoned captains – the Plucky Baroness, the Bedevilled Didact, the Masked Citizen, and 'Spatchcocker' Meg – have been assisting the Friend(ID2) with her investigations into the fate of the stars. But your friend has disappeared, and a mysterious fire claimed her lodgings and research. Your attempt to find her has reached a dead end. By continuing her research, you might learn what happened."
Trigger conditions[]
Ambition: the Truth ≥ 60 ≤ 90,
Area: Wolvesey Station
Frequency: Always (100%)
Interactions[]
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes | |||||
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| Inform the captains that you will be taking your friend's place
It's time they put their cards on the table.
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The alliance
Their faces darken as you recount your experiences in London. "Intolerable," the Masked Citizen says, knuckles white around the stem of their glass.
"Of course we'll help." Meg grunts. The Didact leans forward, his narrow face grim. "Understand that each of us only has a p-piece of the puzzle. Our mutual friend insisted upon it. Only she would have the whole. She, and now y-you." "Indeed. We have each been pursuing a different strand of investigation," says the Baroness. "Now, we'll share them with you. Perhaps you can help us pursue them."
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| Further the Didact's research into the politics of suns
"As we know, the suns – or, more properly, Judgements – are the regents and legislature of heaven. They establish the natural laws that govern existence."
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The kingdoms of heaven
"With the assistance of our friend, and the Royal Society's admirable t-telescope, I have been able to formulate some initial ob-observations.
"Firstly, that the stars d-demonstrate social groupings. These have been classified into 'constellations' and 'conjunctions'. "C-constellations are small and local: comparable, perhaps, to kin-groups or c-clans. A sun's extended family, if you will. "Conjunctions are rather g-grander. There are only a handful of them – perhaps three or four? It's possible they are con-confederacies, or nations. To say more, I require more data. Observations on, and relics of, the heavens."
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Game note: Bring the Didact two Otherworldly Artefacts and two Visions of the Heavens.
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| Deliver your findings to the Bedevilled Didact
You visit his tiny corner office at the university, piled with books and grotesque curios.
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High politics
Pushing a stack of work off the desk, he turns immediately to your materials. You leave him to it.
A week later, he calls you back to discuss his findings. He serves you black, sweet tea, the cup and saucer rattling in his shaking hand. "All st-study of the suns is difficult. The Judgements are vast. Ancient. Beings of incomprehensible complexity. Any investigation is also an act of t-translation, rendering their concerns and structures into analogies we can comprehend. "Nevertheless, I b-believe I better understand the Conjunctions that divide them now. Imagine vast nations, but f-founded upon philosophy, not geography." "There are th-three primary C-C-C-C—"
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"Conjunctions?"
Offer a helping hand
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He shoots you an irritated look, and presses on. "The Chrysanthemum Conjunction are concerned with inception: with beginnings and n-newness, while their counterparts, the Amaranthine Conjunction, believe in culmination, and bringing things to c-completion. The Nepenthine Conjunction advocate separation, distinction, isolation: the raising of b-barriers and the drawing of borders."
He frowns. "They do not get on."
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| Be patient
Sip your tea.
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"—C-Conjunctions: the Chrysanthemum Conjunction are concerned with inception: with beginnings and n-newness. Their counterparts, the Amaranthine Conjunction, believe in culmination, and bringing things to c-completion. And the Nepenthine Conjunction advocate separation, distinction, isolation: the raising of barriers and the drawing of borders."
He frowns. "They do not get on."
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| Agree to transport the Didact on a research trip
"I must consult a primary source: the Roll of Ash. I believe it will shed light on the friction between the Conjunctions. There is a library in the Blue Kingdom, at the Forge of Souls."
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A new travelling companion
He begins to pack his things. Mostly books, and a jangling collection of amulets and talismans he retrieves from his shelves.
"I am unsure exactly what the Roll of Ash is, or contains. I know that it is the work of 'the Courtesy,' a topic which our masked friend is looking into. Some of our strands are beginning to t-tie together. Currently, the Roll is in the keeping of someone called the Lamentation-of-Mists." He boards your engine gingerly. "I have curtailed my t-travel, lately," he says, peering suspiciously at the stars. "Increasingly, I believe some things are best left undiscovered."
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| Deposit the Didact
He has been silent and distracted on the way back. When you called on him in his cabin, you found that he had borrowed a can of pitch from the engineers and painted his windows black.
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A parting
As he disembarks, the Didact hesitates. "I am afraid this is as f-far as I will follow this line of enquiry. There is war in the heavens, and a slaughter of suns.
"And for every one that falls, how many lesser b-beings suffer? The suns set themselves in p-positions of indispensability, and now they are disposing of one another. "I am sorry. But I learned some time ago when to let a thing lie. I will, of course, help you find our missing Friend(ID2). I will focus more directly on that. But my investigations into the affairs of suns is at an end."
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| Talk to Meg about the 'Fire that Follows'
The phrase was mentioned in the notes you retrieved from your friend's lodgings. "Pretty sure it's a monster," Meg says, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "A fire that's a monster."
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A living flame
"Did some askin' around: if you want to know about a monster, ask another monster. That's what I been doin'.
"I been told it's a livin' flame. And it burns blue. Sound familiar?" You remember the description of the mysterious fire that consumed your friend's lodgings. "Yeah. Our friend was afraid of the Fire. She was always a clever girl. "Anyway, next on my list for a chat is Mr Menagerie. He's 'armless enough, for a bat-faced aberration, but he don't talk for cheap. Four Caged Catches should help replenish 'is stock. Let me know when you're ready to go."
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| Search for Mr Menagerie with 'Spatchcocker' Meg
"You ready? We'd better take your engine; mine ain't presentable for entertainin'. Remember. we'll need four Caged Catches to convince the old devil to talk to us."
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The trail
Meg whistles as she walks onto your locomotive. "Very nice, very nice. Classy." She ensconces herself in a cabin.
"Mr Menagerie moves about a lot. Old 'abit, I s'pose. He leaves notes so you can find 'im," she pulls a dog-eared card from her inner pocket. It reads, Mr Menagerie's Last Voyage(Destination) "I don't think the Fire what Follows is the master. I think it's the servant. Or the hound. Maybe Menagerie can shed some light."
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| Part ways with Meg
She has been even surlier than usual during the return journey. Last night she knocked, tentatively, at your cabin door.
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A new cause
She sat on your desk, fiddling with her pouch of tobacco. "Look, I hunt monsters, but I can't hunt a living fire that crawls out of my thoughts. And I dunno about you, but I done stuff I can't afford to have written on the outside of me."
She fell silent, for a time. "Here's what I can do, though. I can find our girl before the Fire that Follows does. I'm going to track her down. If I catch a whiff, I'll get a message to you." She shook your hand. "Good flying with you."
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| Assist the Baroness in her examination into how suns die
She arranges to meet you at her family home, an elegant townhouse on the edge of New Winchester.
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Dead suns
Tea, port, and an array of biscuits await you in her drawing room. The baroness helps herself to all three. "Let me bring you up to speed. I've been looking into what it would take to kill a sun.
"We know two local suns have died: that of Albion, and that of the Reach. Our dear Friend(ID2) and I were preparing an autopsy. She'd acquired a sample of— What would be the term? Post-necrotic celestial tissue? Sun's blood? "Anyway: a sample of that from the remains of Albion's sun. That leaves the Reach." She offers you a plate. "More biscuits?"
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Why not?
They make a change from the awful fungal crackers you have to eat aboard your locomotive.
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"They're good, aren't they? As I was saying: I've ordered some specialised equipment from Portsmouth House. Unfortunately, they've run into complications during development.
"I've put together some material that should help unstick them," she indicates a trunk of papers and components, "but I imagine they'll need more if they're to complete it soon enough. Perhaps you could help?"
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| Could we perhaps focus on the dead suns?
You feel this is a matter of some gravitas.
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"You're right, of course. As I was saying: I've ordered some specialised equipment from Portsmouth House. Unfortunately, they've run into complications during development.
"I've put together some material that should help unstick them," she indicates a trunk of papers and components, "but I imagine they'll need more if they're to complete it soon enough. Perhaps you could help?"
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| But there is no sun's corpse in the Reach
"Yes, well spotted," she says, toasting you. "We'd been looking into that, and I think I know where it ended up. I'll continue to investigate."
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"But in anticipation of being right, I've commissioned some specialised equipment from Portsmouth House. Unfortunately, they've run into complications during development.
"I've put together some material that should help unstick them," she indicates a trunk of papers and components, "but I imagine they'll need more if they're to complete it soon enough. Perhaps you could help?"
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| Deliver the bathysphere to the Baroness
It has been constructed to her precise specifications.
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Well-diving
She examines it critically and minutely, checking every bolt, panel, and plate. "It's good work," she announces, eventually. "Just as well, I suppose." Is it your imagination, or has she paled?
Would she tell you what the bathysphere is for? "My investigations suggest that the remains of the Green Regent – that's the Reach's sun – are in Old Tom's Well. We're going to have to go down there." She brushes at her skirts. "It's quite a journey, of course. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here."
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| Convey the Baroness and her bathysphere to Old Tom's Well
"Ready when you are. My own engine's undergoing repairs, I'm afraid; I ran into a Curator near Lustrum and it made rather a mess of her."
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All aboard
She oversees your crew as they wrangle the equipment aboard. Her usual flippancy has frayed, and she hurries forward to check every bump or scrape of the bathysphere.
Old Tom's Well.
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| Assist the Baroness in performing a solar autopsy
You have material from the corpses of both the sun of Albion and the sun of the Reach. What can you learn from them?
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 The Autopsy
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| Aid the Citizen's investigation into 'the Courtesy'
The phrase 'the Courtesy' appeared several times on the scraps you recovered from your friend's lodgings. The Citizen is already immersed in an investigation.
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Passage to Pan
"Unfortunately, I haven't got very far," they confess. "Is it a person? An organisation? A process? My usual sources are ignorant or reticent, which is itself informative, of course. I suspect that the Courtesy is not merely little-known, but actively concealed. A conspiracy."
Then what is your next step? "We should try our luck at Pan. It is a place where many secrets come to roost, and people there are willing to discuss topics others fear to. Let me know when you're ready to depart."
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| Convey the Masked Citizen to Pan
"Perhaps we could take your engine? I am not universally admired in Pan, and may need to keep my head down."
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A new companion
The Citizen packs extensively before boarding your engine. No fewer than four trunks need to be carried aboard. "All vital, I assure you. One of them is coffee. If I have to drink tea for a month I'll go mad.
"Anyway, when we arrive at Pan we should speak to the Cyprus King (whoever it may be that week)." Before they board, the Citizen touches your arm. "Let me ask you a frank question: do you think our mutual friend is still alive? To my surprise I have become entirely fond of her."
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Say yes
You're sure she still lives.
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The Masked Citizen nods. "She is commendably resourceful. Good. It's always more satisfying to be fighting for something, yes?" They board your engine, calling "To Pan!" at the nearest engineer.
The engineer, who possesses a clear understanding of the chain of command, looks to you. You nod. To Pan. |
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| Say no
The odds look increasingly slim.
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"I see," the Citizen says, their habitual smile absent. "Well, if rescue's pointless, vengeance isn't." They board your engine, calling "To Pan!" at the nearest engineer.
The engineer, who possesses a clear understanding of the chain of command, looks to you. You nod. To Pan. | |||||||
| Say you don't know
But you hope your investigation will find out.
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"So be it," the Citizen says. "Then let's get to work." They board your engine, calling "To Pan!" at the nearest engineer.
The engineer, who possesses a clear understanding of the chain of command, looks to you. You nod. To Pan. | |||||||
| Part ways with the Masked Citizen
They kept to their cabin on the return journey. The crew reported seeing starlight seeping from under their door at all hours.
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Harrowed
The jars accumulating outside their cabin painted a melancholy picture. The Citizen had been steeping themselves in lamp after lamp of starshine.
Perhaps the familiar, captive starlight reminded them of times before you learned of the hypocrisy of suns. Before you both grew the second mouths, hidden beneath your clothes. The Citizen climbs, blinking, from your engine. "Our quest has led us down roads that are hostile to my disposition. Having learned of the forces at play, I have little hope of seeing our friend again. I don't know about you, but I intend to begin drinking heavily. Good luck in all your endeavours."
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| Put the pieces together
You have a picture, now, of what the Friend(ID2) was pursuing and how.
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The hypocrisy of suns
With the Baroness you learned that stars can only be killed by beings of comparable magnitude.
With the Didact, you found that thousands of stars have died in a secret civil war. With the Citizen you learned that 'the Courtesy', a pact between the stars, determines the procedures by which they may murder one another. With Meg, you discovered that the Courtesy conceals the existence of the bloodshed. If you learn the truth, you are hunted by the Fire that Follows. If your friend discovered all this, and more, the Fire must have been hunting her. But where would she have tried to hide from it?
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| Search for your friend
Fortunately, Meg's search for the Friend(ID2) has borne fruit. She and the Bedevilled Didact seek you out.
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Beyond the living sky
"The Azazel was seen passin' Lustrum and headin' over the edge towards the Wastes," says Meg.
The Didact looks grim. "The Wastes are st-starless spaces, cold and barren. Haunted by evil winds. She cannot survive there." You have a choice, now. Follow your friend in pursuit of the truth, or abandon your ambition and its perils. It is not too late, for you at least. You could still seek wealth or fame, instead of this quest into forbidden secrets which can have no good end.
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Game note: If you choose to continue this unwise pursuit, travel off the edge of the Reach and search for your friend. You will need a store of supplies and fuel. Game note: If you choose to abandon your ambition, you can do so here.
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| Persist with your quest
You will not turn back now. Is it loyalty? Curiosity? Or do you have more ambitious aims? After all, you have learned that suns can die...
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The Friend(ID2)'s engine, the Azazel, was seen heading towards the wastes. You must follow her, to where all maps fail.
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Game note: Travel beyond the edge of the map to search for your friend. Should you come to your senses before you find her, you may return here to abandon your quest.
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| Abandon your quest for the truth
The Friend(ID2) chose to pursue these cosmic secrets, and must pay their price. But you need not be consumed by her choices.You could turn back.
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 Abandon the Truth and Choose a New Ambition
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Game note: This will abandon this ambition for the Wealth or Fame ambitions.
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| Attend to other matters
Alas, this mystery is not the only demand upon your time.
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Other business
You return to the streets. A shrill whistle pipes overhead, and a locomotive steams over the rooftops and away into the tangles of celestial overgrowth that surround New Winchester.
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Links[]
Links In[]
The Promise of Days, The Autopsy
Links Out[]
The Autopsy, Abandon the Truth and Choose a New Ambition
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