Before you came down here, you heard through a contact here that she had a line on a diamond 'the size of a cow'. She did tend to exaggerate. But even if it's only the size of, say, a pig, or even a kitten, it's worth your time.
Unlocked: Shadowy 6
Necessary qualities: Shadowy and Persuasive.
Starts in Spite.
Find out what happened to your contact, the Fading Music-Hall Singer.
Ambition: Light Fingers! - Begin!
[Location: Spite]
Before you came down here, you heard through a contact here that she had a line on a diamond 'the size of a cow'. She did tend to exaggerate. But even if it's only the size of, say, a pig, or even a kitten, it's worth your time.
Unlocks: Shadowy 6
Find out what happened to your contact, the Fading Music-Hall Singer.
This is an Ambition: a major storyline with enormous rewards if you reach the end. Once you've picked an Ambition, it is very hard to change it. Choose carefully!
Your Shadowy and Persuasive qualities are most important for this Ambition.
Ambition: Light Fingers! [1]
[Location: Spite]
She used to sing at Mahogany Hall. That'll be the best place to start.
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 1
Find your way backstage to look around.
You're going to need to do some fast talking. Callers generally aren't allowed, and they don't know your face.
Modest: Persuasive ?
Straightforward: Persuasive ?
Ambition: Light Fingers! [2]
[Location: Spite]
There may be a clue at the Fading Music-Hall Singer's lodgings. But when you find your way there, the house is being watched by the Constables. Interesting. But inconvenient.
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 2, Daguerreotype With Fading Music-Hall Singer's Address 1
Slip in through a window
You'll need to creep into an alley, up an overhanging wall and across the roof. And there's a lot of constables about. This won't be easy.
Modest: Shadowy ?
Straightforward: Shadowy ?
Light Fingers! [3]
[Location: Veilgarden]
You'll need to be careful about this. If the Constables are that interested, flashing the painting fragment around would be unwise.
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 3, Painting Fragment 1
Drop hints until you find someone useful
Don't tip your hand before you're ready.
Modest: Persuasive ?
Straightforward: Persuasive ?
Light Fingers! [4]
[Location: Veilgarden]
Your contact, the one who knew about the gigantic jewel, is missing. You have a clue: a fragment of a painting, something a Ginger-haired Painter in the Elderwick paints over and over.
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 4, Ginger-Haired Fellow's Address 1
Break into the Ginger Painter's studio and search it
You might talk to him later. But let's see what we can find out first, hm?
Unlocks: Shadowy 20
Modest: Shadowy ?
Straightforward: Shadowy ?
Light Fingers! [5]
[Location: Veilgarden]
The Ginger-Haired Painter had a business card from a representative of Mr Fires. It's a lead, but you don't want to tangle with the Masters just yet.
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 5
Armed with knowledge, talk to the Ginger-Haired Painter.
The man opens the door to you a little grumpily, bleary-eyed and dressing-gowned. He apologises. 'Didn't sleep well last night. Rats in my studio, I think. Keep an eye out. What did you want?'
Unlocks: Persuasive 20
Modest: Persuasive ?
Straightforward: Persuasive ?
The following storylets take place at Wolfstack Docks:
Light Fingers! [6]
Your contact had a scrap of a painting, one of a series. The Ginger-Haired Painter did the painting for Mr Fires, or his representative. You have the representative's address.
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 6
Follow Mr Fires' representative
The address is in an annex of Mr Fires' offices: an imposing dripstone building with barred windows. Security will be tight. If you can catch him coming out, perhaps you can follow him home.
**Unlocks: Shadowy 25 **
Modest: Shadowy ?
Straightforward: Shadowy ?
Light Fingers! [7]
The Representative of Mr Fires that you were tracking has an interest in a patch of churchyard. An unmarked grave, perhaps?
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 7
Option 1: Bring a spade and shuttered lantern to the graveyard
This will be difficult. The churchyard is well lit and it's just off a busy street. And not all the occupants of all the graves may be entirely dead.
Unlocks: Shadowy 25
Modest: Shadowy ?
Straightforward: Shadowy ?
Option 2: Speak to the sexton
The sexton may know something. When you ask, he grins and rubs his fingers together.
**Unlocks: Persuasive 25, Moon-pearl x 100 **
Modest: Persuasive ?
Straightforward: Persuasive ?
Ambition: Light Fingers!
Who was the mother of the child that the unmarked grave belonged to? The vicar made enquiries, they say. He must know.
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 8]Speak to the vicar
You plan to pose as a solicitor, looking for a beneficiary of a difficult will. It's been a useful trick for you in the past.
[Unlocked with Persuasive 30]
Ambition: Light Fingers!
You have the address of Mr Fires' Representative, who you've seen weeping over the grave of the child of your missing contact, the Fading Music-Hall Singer.
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 9]Find a way into his house
You'll want to be sure your conversation is not disturbed. You'll need a safe way to enter and leave again without attracting attention.
[Unlocked with Shadowy 35]
Light Fingers!
You've found a way into the house of the Representative of Mr Fires. Via the coal cellar. This mysterious jewel had better be properly big.
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 10]Creep into the Representative's bedroom and question him
You won't take no for an answer!
[Unlocked with Persuasive 35]
Light Fingers! [10]
[Location: Wolfstack Docks]
[Autofire Card]
"The hooded men! The light of the world! The Masters' Jewel! Who mapped the Unterzee? You see? The dead follow! The strong woman! Heifer star! Heifer star!"
When you cautiously pass by the following evening, the Representative's house is locked and dark and empty. The gossip is that he's lost his mind and been taken off to a sanitarium, but no one seems certain.
'Heifer star'. That meant something to him. Heifer? Cow? Jewel? Star? It's a clue of sorts. But where to start looking?
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 11
Ambition: Light Fingers!
"The hooded men! The light of the world! The Masters' Jewel! Who mapped the Unterzee? You see? The dead follow! The strong woman! Heifer star! Heifer star!"
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 12]Find someone who can tell you what these ravings mean
You'll need to be cautious and cunning. You don't want to attract attention.
[Unlocked with Persuasive 40]
In Veilgarden:
Ambition: Light Fingers!
You are meeting Hephaesta at the Singing Mandrake. She can help you track down the Fading Music-Hall Singer.
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 14]Hephaesta is alone
The surly strong-woman sits at a scarred table, drinking cheap wine. Can you convince her to trust you?
[Unlocked with Persuasive 45]
Ambition: Light Fingers - Searching the Forgotten Quarter
Hephaesta says that the Fading Music-Hall Singer was hiding in the Forgotten Quarter, but has failed to return.
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 15]Searching the ruins
Only devils and scholars of antiquities haunt these ruins in any numbers. Perhaps they have seen something. A series of bribes is in order. You can acquire Amanita Sherry by using Infernal items in your inventory.
[Unlocked with 8 x Amanita Sherry]
[Unlocked with 20 x Relic of the Fourth City]
[Unlocked with 150 x Greyfields 1879]
[Unlocked with 25 x Soul]
Ambition: Light Fingers!
You've come across a violent scene at the Fading Music-Hall Singer's hide-out. There's no body, though. What has happened to her?
[Unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 16]Preparing for the worst
Your friend may have been carried off or killed. If the worst has happened, you know popular ways to dispose of bodies.
[Unlocked with Shadowy 45]
Ambition continues in A State of Some Confusion (remember to bring a dose of vigor tincture, then requires spending 500 Glim in the Wolfstack docks:
Ambition: Light Fingers! [21]
The songs of the Drownies are mixed up with the affair of the huge jewel and the Fading Music-Hall singer.
Song under the water
The Drownies sing under the river near the docks. You could listen in if you climbed the great dockside crane that extends far out over the waters.
To unlock, you need Shadowy 55
Ambition: Light Fingers! [22]
The Fading Music-Hall Singer has recovered! She has escaped the lot of a tomb-colonist by inches. For the moment, she lodges with Hephaesta the strong-woman.
Tears and guilt
She is thankful for her rescue, but seems ashamed of the way she treated you. She is reluctant to speak, and weeps a great deal.
unlocked with Persuasive 55
Ambition: Light Fingers! [23]
There's one thing the Fading Music-Hall Singer hasn't told you: the name of the man who knows where the huge jewel is.
A travelling purse
She didn't quite die when the two Clay Man thugs beat her with hammers. She wants to go back to the surface and find a new life for her and her sister. She'll tell you his name if you help fund her escape.
unlocked with 200 x Surface Currency
Ambition: Light Fingers! [24]
Poor Edward has caused misery to the Fading Music-Hall Singer and her sister…
(unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 24)
He is also your only lead on the 'jewel the size of a cow'.
A mysterious gentleman
Nobody knows Poor Edward. Or at the least, nobody admits to knowing him. What are they hiding?
unlocked with Persuasive 60, straightforward < 84
Continued at Mrs Plenty's Carnival
Ambition: Light Fingers! [25]
The Star-gazing Roustabout can be found at Mrs. Plenty's Most Distracting Carnival. It seems that he used to work for Poor Edward.
Option 1: Bribe the carnies
Money talks. Money shouts, screams and sings at the carnival.
unlocked with Moon-pearl 400
Option 2: Get friendly with the carnies
Someone here must know the Star-gazing Roustabout. A few quips, a bawdy anecdote and a chat by the weasel pit will get it out of them.
unlocked with Persuasive 60, straightforward < 84
Option 3: Sneak around after the Roustabout
The carnival is a complex place and there are many places to hide for someone who does not wish to be found. The Star-gazing Roustabout is wary: stealth and subtlety are called for.
unlocked with Shadowy 60, straightforward at 72
Continues at Spite
Ambition: Light Fingers! [26]
You are to meet the Star-gazing Roustabout at his lodgings near the Spite markets…
(unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 26)
A shabby sort of place
You can't help feeling a little nervous carrying this much red gold near the Spite markets, which are crawling with pickpockets. You find the address easily enough.
unlocked with Rostygold 200, Shadowy challenge, an almost impossible challenge at 77, straightforward at 96
continues at Mrs Plenty's Carnival
Ambition: Light Fingers! [27]
Free! -
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 27
Now you can locate and chastise the treacherous Star-gazing Roustabout.
Tents and lumps no more
The Star-gazing Roustabout must have learned of your escape. He has bolted from the carnival. Someone knows where he has gone.
unlocked with Persuasive 65
Persuasive challenge, straightforward < 86
continues at Lodgings
Ambition: Light Fingers! [28]
The time has come to head out to the very edges of the city, and find the Star-gazing Roustabout, or at least some trace of him…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 28
Into the wilds with knife and jade
The people at the edges of the city are often poor. Best take some bribery money with you.
unlocked with 3 x Vision of the Surface
Ambition: Light Fingers! [29]
You have an address near Winewound Heath for the Star-gazing Roustabout, the man who betrayed you to Poor Edward…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 29
A set of directions, at least. One of the directions is 'leap the fungus pit'.
The cottage
When you get to the fog-shrouded cottage, the place is empty. You get the feeling that the Star-gazing Roustabout won't be coming back. That said, perhaps a gentleman of your talents knows where to look for hidden and secret things.
unlocked with Shadowy 65
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 77
continues at Wolfstack Docks
Ambition: Light Fingers! [30]
All you have are a few half-remembered numbers and the suspicion that a dirigible has been landing secrety on Winewound Heath…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 30
Ask around
Someone around the dirigible stations and hydrogen tanks must know about this.
unlocked with Persuasive 70
Persuasive challenge, straightforward < 86
Ambition: Light Fingers! [31]
You are looking for the dirigible that Poor Edward uses…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 31
The Avuncular Engineer wants a bribe to tell you about the Market Beast.
Option 1: Pay the man
Avuncular or not, the engineer has some strange tastes. Why does he want that much brass to tell you about Poor Edward's dirigible?
unlocked with Nevercold Brass Sliver 400
Option 2: Look into his peccadillos
A man asking for that much hell-brass must have a few sins, even if he seems harmless enough.
unlocked with Shadowy 70
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 82
Ambition: Light Fingers! [32]
The Market Beast, the dirigible used by Poor Edward, is housed at berth 14…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 32
Sneak aboard
There are Constables, dogs and neddy men everywhere. Complex locks and fiercely bright carbide-lamps. Getting to the dirigible will not be easy, even for you.
unlocked with Shadowy 75
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 87
continued in Spite
Ambition: Light Fingers! [33]
Poor Edward used a dirigible to visit a place called the Orphanage…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 33
The orphans of Spite
The narrow alleys and rambling rookeries of Spite are full of orphans. Perhaps they know something about this place. Are you enough of an underworld figure to impress them?
unlocked with Shadowy 75
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 87
continued in Veilgarden.
Ambition: Light Fingers! [34]
Hephaesta the strong-woman has sent a message that she needs to speak with you urgently…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 34
The locket
When you get there, Hephaesta is holding a familiar locket and looking… angry. An angry Hephaesta is not a good person to be around.
unlocked with Persuasive 75
Persuasive challenge, straightforward at 87
continued in Spite
Ambition: Light Fingers!
Call in some contacts and find out how to break in to the Orphanage…
unlocked with Ambition: Light Fingers! 35
Finding the Orphanage
The orphanage is infamously difficult to find. You will need friends to help you here. And something to trade.
unlocked with 5 x Hastily Scrawled Warning Note, 250 x Cryptic Clue
Ambition: Light Fingers! Lunching with the Enemy
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 36
A handwritten note arrives with your morning correspondence. 'Time we had a proper chat. Yes? let me buy you lunch at Dante's. No harm will come to you. Yrs Edward.'Neutral ground
Dante's Grill is always packed at lunch-time. Edward wouldn't try anything in such a public spot. And the devilled kidneys are excellent.
Clicking on Lethean Tea-Leaves from Inventory
Brewing a Nice Cup of Lethean Tea
The fire is lit. The kettle is on. The cup is warm. The leaves are ready. Everything is prepared. Are you absolutely certain you want to forget your Ambition?
Drink Lethean Tea
WARNING: IF YOU DO THIS YOUR CURRENT AMBITION WILL BE WIPED. YOU WILL LOSE ANY SPECIAL ITEMS YOU GAINED FROM IT. THERE IS NO GOING BACK. DO NOT DRINK THE TEA UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU WANT TO DRINK THE TEA.
Ambition: Light Fingers! The Labyrinth in Spite
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 37
So, your plan is to navigate an impossible labyrinth, break into a terrifying Orphanage, and rescue the Fading Music Hall Singer and her sister. Oh, and avoid being buried alive by Poor Edward. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer a a nice cup of Lethean tea?Into the labyrinth
Unlocks: 800 x Foxfire Candle Stub
The entrance to the labyrinth lies at the darkest end of a forgotten alleyway in Flowerdene. A narrow brick archway, grimy and easy to miss. A breath of sour wind from within the maze blows little eddies in the fog. You wonder whether Edward's agents are watching, even now. [You'll need at least eight hundred candle stubs to get through the Labyrinth. You may want to take more, just in case.]
Shadows Of The Orphanage
The Silent Corridors of the Orphanage
Ambition: Light Fingers! Taking Care of Clarabelle
Unlocks: Ambition: Light Fingers! 49
Clarabelle lies in your lodgings, enormously gravid and still bewildered from the Lethean tea leaves. The thing inside her isn't even vaguely human.A burden
Whatever happened to the Sardonic Music-Hall Singer and Poor Edward will have to wait. Clarabelle's belly is big enough that you're certain giving birth would kill her. You need to find someone who can help. But first, you need someone who can care for her while you're looking.
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