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The Careful Masquerader
Veils
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 281633

The Careful Masquerader is a Sunless Skies Story Event.

Story description[ | ]

She roosts in an abandoned steamer at the edge of the flotilla. Her cabin is parodically spartan. A battered wooden mask lies forlornly on the floor. Her one concession to comfort is an open fire. She's lounging at a porthole. "You want to know more. All who come to the Horizon end in our ranks eventually. Only we have learned its true lessons."

Trigger conditions[ | ]

Area: Limbo
Frequency: Always (100%)

Interactions[ | ]

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Betray the Sanctified
"Learn their secrets. Let them see the smiling mask and not the serpent that hides beneath."
The Doctrine of Iscariot
You have spent hours drawing close to the acolytes of the Sanctified, hearing the whispered reverences for their saints, the hushed desires they harbour for each other, for members of the Supralapsarians, for the Displeased, for you. You have gathered their confessions like ruins to your shore. The Careful Masquerader looks at you expectantly. You reveal all. At last, she smiles. "Then you have performed our sacrament: as we were betrayed and abandoned, so we too shall betray and abandon."
Commit treason
"Let us test the severity of action you're willing to undertake. The Crown issues dispensations for exceptional service. Perhaps this will be easy for you. Perhaps not."
At the Empress' Displeasure
The Careful Masquerader takes the pages from you gingerly, as though handling a flame. "Ah. Ah." The tension eases from her as she rifles through the documents. She inquires how you found it. "When I was favoured by the Empress, before she left me to rot in this wasteland, I would have killed for such secrets as these." She looks straight into your eyes. "I can only imagine how much this cost you." She throws the sheaf of documents into the fire. "Does that hurt you? It certainly hurt me. Do you understand?"
Commit a treachery
"How much time are you willing to surrender?"
The Triumph of Time
"Of all London's abuses, this might just be the most unforgivable. To violate time itself," the Careful Masquerader says, examining the barrels, then shrugs. "I myself have no judgement on the matter anymore. Come."

She leads you away from the flotilla and into the mists. "London luxuriates in its abundance of time, while out here, time wastes us. Experience what it is to dwell here, captives of time's march."

She takes you to an derelict ship, far from the main flotilla. Inside, a stolen loom. She begins to open the barrels. "I will return in a year. It will not be so for you." She pauses. "We have an extensive network. If there is anything you would preserve, you need only ask."
Your crew
Keep them fed. Keep them safe.
She nods once, grimly, before departing. You sit alone, suffused with hours. Anxious, crawling, scratchy hours. You let your mind wander through the lambent mists. A year curls around you, snug as a fox stole, but your body wants for nothing though your mind feels the passage of every minute, every hour, every day. A year to the day, a lantern appears in the mist. The Careful Masquerader returns. "Your crew are safe," She turns to leave. "You failed, by the way. A year ago. Begone."

Game note: This will advance the current date by a year. Ensure you have no pressing business before proceeding.

Your valuables
You have gathered much. Must you lose all?
She nods once, grimly, before departing. You sit alone, suffused with hours. Anxious, crawling, scratchy hours. You let your mind wander through the lambent mists. A year curls around you, snug as a fox stole, but your body wants for nothing though your mind feels the passage of every minute, every hour, every day. A year to the day, a lantern appears in the mist. The Careful Masquerader returns. "Your possessions are unharmed," She turns to leave. "You failed, by the way. A year ago. Begone."
Nothing
You shall ask for nothing.
You sit alone, suffused with hours. Anxious, crawling, scratchy hours. You let your mind wander through the lambent mists. A year curls around you, snug as a fox stole, but your body wants for nothing though your mind feels the passage of every minute, every hour, every day. A year to the day, a lantern appears in the mist. The Careful Masquerader returns. "Well done. You passed." She turns away. "Oh! There was a sickness aboard your engine. And you were possibly robbed."
One last betrayal
"You will know what to do."
Peace
She is facing away from you, gazing out to the sea from her porthole. She has donned her mask. Her back, thin and bent as a monk's scourge, is just in front of you..
Plunge your knife in
She should have expected as much.
She gasps once as your blade goes in. A blossom of blood emerges from the mask's mouth. "Never clean enough. Never pure— You will never be—" She slumps to the ground. You peel the mask from her worn face. Perhaps you passed.
Stay your hand
Is this not the final lesson?
You have not gotten a word out before her knife is at your throat, cutting deep.

"I had hopes for you. My thanks for disappointing them. You have proved me entirely correct."

You wake alone on the flotilla, trussed. You will be wounded for the rest of your days.
Return to the Flotilla
You have been miserable enough.


Links[ | ]

Links In[ | ]

Avidhorizon ambience Aboard the Flotilla

Links Out[ | ]

Avidhorizon ambience Aboard the Flotilla


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