The Barrister's Warning
This story begins with a bronze-bordered Opportunity Card.
An Invitation from the Ambitious Barrister
Would you care to join her for lunch at Dante's Grill? She wishes to discuss a matter of life and death. Yours, specifically.
Unlocks with A Person of Some Importance 1
Join her for a stack of chops 'broiled on the lake of fire'
The Barrister waves an elegantly gloved hand in your direction as you enter Dante's Grill.
Between mouthfuls of mustard
'Oh, these chops are rather robust, aren't they?' She dabs the corner of her eye with a napkin. 'Well, I'm glad to see you're getting on so splendidly. Did the Bishop find you? Good good.'
The Barrister takes a sip of soothing tea. 'I've heard that someone is trying to murder you. I don't know who that might be, but I do know that there's a whole company of assassins on your trail at this very moment.'
The Barrister stands up and clasps your hand. 'Congratulations! It's marvellous that you're now important enough to warrant a really vigorous attempt at your demise. You're pulling ahead of me - I've only had a couple of quite half-hearted poisonings.'
'But death can be so troublesome. So - what to do? Well, you could go to your lodgings and have a good think about who is trying to kill you. Or you could head to the Flit and hire assassins of your own. Or if you're feeling uncivilised, you could get your hands dirty with this business in the Forgotten Quarter.'
A twist in your tale! You are now
Enjoying Lethal Prominence.
Gain: 1 x Incendiary Gossip
Lodgings
A Plateful of Murderers
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
Someone wants to murder you. According to the Ambitious Barrister, that someone has expended a great deal of time and money on the project. But who are they?
[You can change your mind about your enemy later - but this will reset your Fighting a War of Assassins quality to zero.]
A Rival in Power
A Minister, perhaps. Or a baron of the press. Perhaps a Bishop or a courtier.
[One who is fortunate and successful here may gain a Bazaar Permit.]
Simple truths
This is about power. Someone thinks that their life would be that little bit less complicated if you were dead. You'll show them just how complicated life can be in the Flit and the Forgotten Quarter. [One who is fortunate and successful may gain a Bazaar Permit.]
An occurrence! Your 'Facing a Murderous Opponent' Quality is now 1 - A Rival in Power!
A Former Lover
What passions you inspire! What derangements!
[One who is fortunate and successful here may gain a Collection of Curiosities.]
It is better to have loved and lost, if one survives the experience
This time, it is very much personal. Your tale of romance and death will unfold in the Flit and the Forgotten Quarter. [One who is fortunate and successful may gain a Collection of Curiosities.]
An occurrence! Your 'Facing a Murderous Opponent' Quality is now 2 - A Former Lover!
A Rival of Letters
An academic rival? A poet whose work was eclipsed by your own? Someone you mocked in the press?
[One who is fortunate and successful here may gain a Comprehensive Bribe.]
The pen and the sword
A debate conducted on many levels! Set out your arguments in the Flit and the Forgotten Quarter. [One who is fortunate and successful may gain a Comprehensive Bribe.]
An occurrence! Your 'Facing a Murderous Opponent' Quality is now 3 - A Rival of Letters!
A Ghost Mantled in Shadow
Your puppeteer of assassins uses very long strings. Perhaps you suspect their identity. Perhaps you'll never know.
[One who is fortunate and successful here may gain the Use of Villains.]
A shadow of a ghost
Perhaps the identity of your opponent is not that important. Perhaps the game is everything. Should the first move be in the Flit or the Forgotten Quarter? [One who is fortunate and successful may gain the Use of Villains.]
An occurrence! Your 'Facing a Murderous Opponent' Quality is now 4 - A Ghost Mantled in Shadow!
The Treasures of War
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1, Dramatic Tension 1
Your opponent in the war of assassins bears many fresh scars. Perhaps you could extract some tribute in return for a brief truce.
Tribute from your Rival of Power
A truce for a while? And you'll deal with that little issue?
[This will gain you a Bazaar Permit.]
Unlock: Facing a Murderous Opponent 1, Dramatic Tension 2
The permit arrives
The permit arrives in short order. There's poison on it, but that's to be expected.
You now have 1 x Bazaar Permit
'Dramatic Tension' has been reset: a conclusion, or a new beginning?
A few of your old things
Your Former Lover wants to be left alone. They send you a box of things you'd left behind.
[This will gain you a Collection of Curiosities.]
Unlock: Facing a Murderous Opponent 2, Dramatic Tension 2
Your things, at last
Your things arrive in a ragged box. A tear-stained note of regret is notable only by its absence.
You now have 1 x Collection of Curiosities
'Dramatic Tension' has been reset: a conclusion, or a new beginning?
Settling out of court
Your Rival of Letters sends you a hefty bribe, in the hope that you won't publish.
[This will gain you a Comprehensive Bribe.]
Unlock: Facing a Murderous Opponent 3, Dramatic Tension 2
All for me? How lovely
The sack arrives with your hush money. Now, the issue is whether you meet with your publisher this afternoon…
You now have 1 x Comprehensive Bribe
'Dramatic Tension' has been reset: a conclusion, or a new beginning?
Deserting henchmen
Your opponent's henchmen are deserting in companies. You can scoop a few up. They won't be loyal for long, though.
[This will gain you the Use of Villains.]
Unlock: Facing a Murderous Opponent 4, Dramatic Tension 2
In you come
The rogues and scoundrels troop in sullenly. Best make good use of them before their loyalties shift again.
You now have 1 x Use of Villains
'Dramatic Tension' has been reset: a conclusion, or a new beginning?
The Flit
Gather urchin informants
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
Messages, news and payment drops. Vital when assassins are abroad. Only a fool would neglect logistics.
Negotiate with the urchin gangs
Up in the Flit, messages and payment go by urchin.
(Connected: Urchins challenge, high-risk at 17)
A bargain struck
'Right you are, yer worship. We'll carry yer stuff and whatnot. The usual rates - we'll strip the stuff off of anyone wot you mur… anyone who might take a fall off a narrer bridge. Pleasure doin' business, yer worship.'
Fighting a War of Assassins increase
[
Connected: Urchins decrease
A small setback
'Sorry 'bout this, yer worship. But Big Dennis has, err, signed up wiv the other side. A bit. Tell you wot, I'll 'ave a word an' we'll see if we can change sides. Sorry 'bout that.'
[ Connected: Urchins increase 5 change points
Recruit the Raggedy Men
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
The Flit is a place of bone-shattering drops and shadowy corners. Dangerous at the best of times. Deadly just now.
Get the Raggedy Men on your side
The beggars of the Flit have a thousand eyes. Can you make those eyes yours?
Persuasive Challenge
Unlock: Rat on a String 200
You even get to keep your rats
This beggar has black-stained fingers. Was she once a printer? No matter. She offers you a tin cup of gin. 'Right you are, guv. We'll keep watch from up near the Red Chimneys down to the Cathedral Ropes. And you can keep yer rats. I'm bleedin' sick of rat, me.'
Persuasive increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase
The Portly Assassin
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
The Portly Assassin seldom ascends to the Flit. But if you can find him, he would make a useful employee.
Look for the Portly Assassin
There aren't many twenty-stone bruisers in these parts.
Watchful Challenge, straightforward at 125
Meeting a certain gentleman
The Portly Assassin shelters from a bat-storm in the lee of a swaying shack. He puffs at a pipe made from a long bone. He says, 'That's close enough. I'm sure we can talk a bit, but there's no need to get friendly.'
You agree. He has the kind of hands that throttle horses. To business.
Watchful Increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase (1 change point)
Further into the War of Assassins, in the Flit…
The Boatman's Market
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 3
One does not buy boats here, nor hire boatmen. At the Boatman's Market, one bids on murder. Cloaks and masks are provided.
Bidding on a bargain
This is the perfect opportunity to solicit some inexpensive violence. It's all about timing
Watchful challenge, straightforward at 125
Cannily done
You sit out the first few lots: a gang of nautical cut-throats and some fool who claims to have Jack-of-Smiles trapped in a box. Bidding is brisk, and before long you have the sense your rivals have emptied their purses. You purchase the services of a pair of French Great Game veterans for a very reasonable price.
Watchful increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase
The Woman in Green
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 3
Her emerald dress and graceful gait mark her as an interloper in the Flit. But none here dare approach her.
Engage her services
She once did something unspeakable to the Duke of Kent with a pair of bricks. Speak carefully.
Persuasive challenge, straightforward at 125
How memorable would you like it?
The woman in the green dress lights a cigar and regards you through a haze of smoke. 'Your terms are appropriate,' she says, 'but just how memorable would you like the demise to be? The price increases for anything that Mr. Huffam puts on the front page.'
Persuasive increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase
Perhaps she just wanted a smoke
The woman in the green dress considers your offer. She takes out a cigar, and a cigar-cutter. Oh God! Run!
Nightmares increase
The Revolutionary Gathering
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 3
Anarchists gather in the Flit, out of the Constables' reach. One cell meets regularly in a high mushroom-garden.
Persuade them to work for you
The Cause owes you a few favours. And these fellows look handy with the knife and the bomb.
unlocked with Connected: Revolutionaries 10
Persuasive challenge, straightforward at 125
To the bomb shed!
The Ragged-Whiskered Dogmatist sucks his broken teeth a moment. 'Fair dues. Can't have some puppet of the establishment slicing up a champion of the Cause, can we? Lads, we're off to the bomb shed.'
Persuasive increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase
Further still into the War of Assassins, in the Flit…
A Pause for Reflection
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 4
High in the Flit, you watch the people of London scurry about their business. The cool, still air is calming.
Take a moment to think
Perhaps have a smoke, or a peppermint. Is all this bloodshed necessary? You could arrange a truce.
Watchful challenge, straightforward at 125
The end, for now
Is there really any point to a War of Assassins, down here in the Neath? Where death is an annoyance less debilitating than the influenza? Enough. Let this be the end, for now. You feel sure that your opponent will be willing to shake hands and act civilly. For a little while, at least. [You could consider matters further at your lodgings.]
Watchful increase
Your
Fighting a War of Assassins is gone!
Dramatic Tension gained!
A Long Drop
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 4
The Flit was made for ambushes. The business of killing is usually arranged rather than actually performed up here. But, still…
An old-fashioned hanging
There are ropes beyond number up here. Another one won't be noticed, even if it's knotted into a noose.
Dangerous challenge, straightforward at 125
Hanging about
Your opponent has placed a careless trust in the Flit's neutral reputation. They have a few short, gurgling moments to regret that decision today. An innocuous bridge-line flicks out from nowhere and tightens around your opponent's neck, dragging them from safety to dangle in the empty air. A gang of panicked henchmen scramble to assist. Oh well, the death is unlikely to be permanent, but what a stinging defeat! [You could consider matters further at your lodgings.]
Dangerous increase
Your
Fighting a War of Assassins is gone!
Dramatic Tension gained!
The Topsy King would like a Word
The beggar-king of the Flit descends a nearby rope. His bat glares at you suspiciously.
Unlocked with Fighting a War of Assassins 4
What is he talking about?
The Topsy King pokes a finger at your face. He growls, 'Larther goden, ire walkskies verio grie. Speld valish powb grie?'
Watchful challenge, straightforward at 125
A glimmer of recognition?
The King gives an odd little bob of the head. Does he remember you from elsewhere? Or is something wrong with his neck?
Unlocked with Ambition: Heart's Desire - the Topsy King 2
(Watchful challenge)
Is this actually right? It's the same reward as the other option.
Bong! Bong! Bong!
After a few repetitions and an interlude of of dead-rat pantomime, you've got the message. Your opponent has killed a Raggedy Man, and the Topsy King is willing to help your cause, as long as you keep things out of the Flit for a little while. He gives you a brief strange sad smile as you leave. 'Other stars, other days,' he says quite clearly.
Here you are now on a rope bridge above an empty avenue. Your opponent will be below shortly. A squad of Raggedy Men haul a bag of bricks to the bridge. Bricks for everyone! This should be fun. [You could consider matters further at your lodgings.]
Watchful increase
Your Fighting a War of Assassins Quality is gone!
Dramatic Tension increase
The Forgotten Quarter
The Infernal Hunt
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
Brass horns and terrified eyes. The devils are at their sport!
Keep out of their way
An infernal hunt is good news to nobody but devils.
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125
At the hunt
The quarry passes you, panting heavily and straining against his brass hand-cuffs. He's a doctor, perhaps, or an accountant. Well, he was once. The pack is behind him by only a minute. They jog along lazily, splendid in their scarlet coats and silver fang-caps. They are gone. Time to attend to business.
Shadowy increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase (1 change point)
A Noose
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
Someone's hired a Malodorous Pirate to kill you. You suspect he's lurking in a dusty ruined granary.
Who's there?
Was that a creak of rope? Can you smell salt water?
Dangerous Challenge, straightforward at 125
Shot his bolt
You duck and the noose flies wide. It wraps around the neck of a stone lion and you confront the Malodorous Pirate. He's only dangerous in an ambush. On equal terms you dispatch him in moments.
Dangerous increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase (1 change point)
The Tea Shop
Unlock: Enjoying Lethal Prominence 1
There is a cluster of shops at the edge of the Forgotten Quarter. You can fortify yourself with tea and pastries before buying a pickaxe and heading in.
Enjoy a cream tea
The quiet clink of knives on porcelain. The discreet crunch of mushroom muffins. A woman watches you from the corner. Could she be an assassin?
Dangerous Challenge, straightforward at 125
A killer in the tea shop
She knows you're on to her. All it takes is a fierce glance and she puts the toasting fork back down, next to the crumpets. You will live another day, if this disgusting jam doesn't do for you.
Dangerous increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase (1 change point)
Further into the War of Assassins, in the Forgotten Quarter…
A Ride to the Quarter
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 3
You took a hansom to the Forgotten Quarter today. The bustle outside the carriage windows slowly faded into silence and still air.
She's a killer!
That woman! Oh, she looks respectable. But she once killed the Home Secretary with a pickle fork. Tell the driver to make all haste! Lower the window and blaze away!
Unlocked with 1 x Ratwork Derringer
Dangerous challenge, straightforward at 125
Driving by
Your driver lashes and you lurch back into the seat. Your path is scant feet from the assassin, and as you pass, you fire off your derringer with scant regard for statuary or bystander. A shot spins the assassin around and she falls. You speed away. Hmm. It's possible that this could catch on.
Dangerous increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase (1 change point)
The Waker of Snakes
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 3
Another day, another empty statue-strewn street. Is that a flute you hear?
Snakes!
Serpents! Thousands of them! A tide of scale and fang roils down the avenue! Some villain has set them on your scent.
Dangerous challenge, straightforward at 125
Running away (screaming optional)
Only a fool would try to turn this ophidian tide. You scramble over stony fetlocks and leap between the cracked marble feet of princes. The music of the flute fades after half a mile, and the snakes disperse back to their hollows and trees.
Dangerous increase
Fighting a War of Assassins increase (1 change point)
The Picnic
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 3
The Forgotten Quarter is known for empty, dusty streets. But today, a few students and a deviless are having a little picnic on a stone plinth adorned with cracked marble feet.
Libate your dusty throat
The wine is a poor vintage, but it's a warm and dusty day.
(A matter of luck: it could go either way.)
Pork pies and business
For a trio of students and a deviless, these picnickers are well-informed about the comings and goings of hardened killers. You feign disinterested curiosity and sit through a useful catalogue of who is killing whom, with what, and why.
Fighting a War of Assassins increase
Zzzzz
You recognise the deviless as a creature of simple, if bloody, appetites. The student of archaeology seems curiously deft with his equipment. Is that trowel… sharpened? Perhaps this assassination business is beginning to get to you. Another drink will help. And perhaps a rest against that column. It's so warm here…
Fighting a War of Assassins decrease (
1 change point)
Further still into the War of Assassins, in the Forgotten Quarter…
An Avenue of Dusty Earth
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 4
Whispers in the fog suggest that your opponent will be travelling through here tomorrow.
Man-traps and spring guns
You have a few hours to set a welcome. A welcome of trip-wires, steel teeth and buckshot.
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125
Of mice and hansoms
You pick your ground carefully. Now, if the hansom stops here, then two steps and… now, what will the driver do? It's a complicated business.
Finally, as the lamps are snuffed for morning, you are satisfied with the preparations. You take to your hide-out across the wide plaza. Here comes the hansom. The coachmen are alert. One has a little brass telescope, with which he scans the dusty stones.
You put your back to a sandstone pillar and wait. Perhaps your thoughts turn to your pipe. A snap, a gunshot, a scream. The smart 'twang' of that splendidly concealed trip-wire. Your opponent's minons fire shots at nothing. The hansom clatters off, trailing pained shrieks. What a pleasant morning - perhaps it's time for a spot of tea. [You could consider matters further at your lodgings.]
Shadowy increase
Your Fighting a War of Assassins is gone!
Dramatic Tension gained!
A Moment of Respite
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 4
Despite the dangers, the Forgotten Quarter offers solitude and peace. Sometimes.
Who's that?
It's… the one who's been trying to kill you all this time! A gaggle of assassins and henchmen surrounds your enemy. You'll only get one shot
Unlocked with 1 x Ancient Hunting Rifle.
Dangerous challenge, straightforward at 125
A bullet in the street
Your shot rings out, loud in the empty street. Your opponent falls. The men and women nearby thunder into action. A few protect your opponent with their bodies; others return fire. You're not close enough to see whether your shot was lethal, but you've won this round. [You could consider matters further at your lodgings.]
Dangerous increase
Your
Fighting a War of Assassins is gone!
Dramatic Tension increase (1 change point)
The Courier for Killers
Unlock: Fighting a War of Assassins 4
Him! He's up to his neck in the killing business! Not a killer himself, but he delivers orders and payment. And more to the point, he doesn't work for you.
After him!
He made his name in shroom-hopping and Flit-running. Can you keep up?
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125
Up and away
You're after him like a hound. He slides under a marble horse, vaults a stone lion and flies into the fog. You follow, through a camp of startled archaeologists and across the path of an infernal hunt. The courier heaves himself up onto the roof of a lopsided pagoda and - there's a rope up there! You clamber up, into the Flit.
You corner the fellow against a red-brick chimney that gouts out black smoke. The conversation that follows is robust, but you confirm the identity of your opponent. Which of you will live through this? [You could consider matters further at your lodgings.]
Shadowy increase
Your Fighting a War of Assassins is gone!
Dramatic Tension gained!
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