Mysterious Benefactor: Watchful Path
Your Patron Appears
Your mysterious benefactor arrives at your door. He's a Ragged Mendicant. A hermit, perhaps, even in this day and age. His cassock is absurd and antique. You're fairly certain it's been nibbled by rats. The smell is something unholy, but the light of faith smoulders in his eyes.
Opportunity Card
Unlocked with Protégé … 3, Mirror-Polished Shoes, Watchful 10
Option 1: Politely eject the insanitary old troublemaker
You have quite enough problems of your own without sharing the burdens of some maundering cleric.
>
The meek shall inherit the street
Out he goes, perfectly politely, blinking with regret. He does ask for the shoes back. He is, you notice, barefoot.
Connected: The Church decrease
lose 1 x Mirror-polished Shoes
A twist in your tale! You are no longer
the Protégé of a Mysterious Benefactor
Option 2: Devils?
There is a certain amount of prefatory rambling about half-extinct religious orders and the nature of God. Then he explains he wants you to spy on a devil. Quite an ordinary devil, inasmuch as any devil is ordinary.
(Watchful challenge)
The book and the devil
The devil doesn't even do anything particularly interesting. He eats lunch at Dante's Grill, shops for roses at one of the Neath's expensive florists, and sits in a corner of a Veilgarden coffee shop, making notes.
The Ragged Mendicant is pleased with your observations. He asks endless questions. How many roses? What sort? How was the notebook bound?
The Mendicant lets you read a little of the book he carries. It is a catalogue of the behaviour of devils, meticulously detailed. Just who is this malodorous monk?
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Watchful increase
Gain: 10 x Proscribed Material
the Protégé… has increased to 4
Connected: Church increase (I went from 2.something to 4.something)
The Ragged Mendicant is back
The Ragged Mendicant is back, and he wants you to observe the Soul Trade. He is shaking with excitement at the thought of learning more.
Opportunity Card
Unlocked with Protégé… 4, Mirror-polished shoes, watchful 20
Option 1: Oh, I can tell you about the Soul Trade.
'You see, I used to have this friend, who once got involved…'
Unlocked with Spirifer's Fork
Souls and Questions
The Ragged Mendicant starts writing, his hand trembling. He asks you question after question. How do spirifer's forks work? Do devils need them? Are there groups in the city working against the Soul Trade? Where are the most common hunting grounds?
What is his interest? 'St Ulrich,' he says solemnly. 'The Order. God is defined by his absence. The Bishop knows.' Well that cleared that up.
Protégé… has increased to 5!
Connected: Church increase
Gain: 45 x Cryptic Clue
Option 2: Go and look
The Soul Trade? A dangerous business, but interesting. You could investigate.
(watchful challenge)
Looking for souls
Spirifers, the human dealers in souls, are by nature a tight-lipped and shadowy lot. But you talk to a few chatty devils and some of the
soulless. Over the course of a week, you learn a good deal about the Soul Trade. The Ragged Mendicant asks you question after question.
How do spirifer's forks work? Do devils need them? Are there groups in the city working against the Soul Trade? Where are the most common hunting grounds?
What is his interest? 'St Ulrich,' he says solemnly. 'The Order. God is defined by his absence. The Bishop knows.' Well that cleared that up.
Rewards:
Watchful is increasing…
You've gained 45 x Cryptic Clue
Connected: The Church has increased to 4! (from 2)
the Protégé of a Mysterious Benefactor has increased to 5 - Associated with a Benefactor!
Option 3: I know about the Trade
'I've seen the Trade. I've spat in its yellow eye. What do you want to know?'
Unlocked with Shepherd's Timepiece
Souls and Questions
The Ragged Mendicant starts writing, his hand shaking with excitement. He asks you question after question. How do spirifer's forks work? Do devils need them? Are there groups in the city working against the Soul Trade? Where are the most common hunting grounds?
What is his interest? 'St Ulrich,' he says solemnly. 'The Order. God is defined by his absence. The Bishop knows.' Well that cleared that up.
Protégé… has increased to 5 - Associated with a Benefactor!
Connected: Church increase
Gain 45 x Cryptic Clue
The Mendicant and the book
The Ragged Mendicant sits down next to you at a corner table in the Bishop's Eye. Like many churchmen, he has a fierce appetite for wine. He wants you to look for a book.
Opportunity Card
Unlocked with Protégé… 5, Mirror-polished shoes, Watchful 30
Option 1: At least he knows what he wants
Specifically, he wants you to examine a green-covered book in the possession of a certain deviless and write down the numbers on page two hundred and seven.
(Watchful challenge)
A pilgrimage
The deviless loitering near Hastings Place smiles prettily at your approach. 'I can smell him on you. What page does he want?'
Right, then. You tell her the page he asked for and the deviless opens the book and shows you the page: a series of numbers. You write them down and she departs, smiling.
The Ragged Mendicant shrugs when he hears your tale. 'We shall have to assume she was telling the truth. The book is the timetable for Moloch Street Underground Station. I am planning… a pilgrimage.
Protégé… has increased to 6!
Watchful increase
Connected: Church increase
A pilgrimage?
Your benefactor, the Ragged Mendicant, is off on the next train to Hell. There, he intends to learn the nature of God through his absence.
Opportunity Card
Unlocked with Protégé… 6, Mirror-polished shoes, Watchful 40
Option 1: Wave him off
He is a true pioneer of modern theology, and you respect that. Or perhaps you're just glad to be rid of the smell.
And he is gone
The Ragged Mendicant settles his rat-eaten cassock and hefts a knapsack full of notebooks. You bid a hearty farewell, and he leaves your door. You do not see him again.
You notice that he has left his tattered old book on your sideboard. A fine souvenir of your association. And, if one is concerned with baser matters, worth a fair bit too.
Watchful increase
Protégé… has increased to 7!
Melancholy increase
Connected: Church increase
You've gained 140 x Proscribed Material
Option 2: Talk him out of it
'You're going to Hell? And perhaps you think you'll be coming back? Have you entirely thought this through?'
Second thoughts
You are right. This is foolhardy. There is still a great deal to be learned from the infernal presence in the city. I shall seek the nature of God in the small things before the great.
The Ragged Mendicant leaves you, lost in thought. The next day, you receive a present from the Embassy. Could it be that they are… relieved?
Watchful increase
Protégé… has increased to 8!
Connected: Church decrease
Connected: Hell increase
You've gained 560 x Nevercold Brass
Magnanimous increase
Forgot to copy image
A past benefactor
Your benefactor! Things seemed so simple then. A friend, a gift, a mission. Perhaps one day you'll have a protege of your own.
Unlocked with Protégé … 7
(Watchful option): And what of the secrets of Hell?
Why did you advise him as you did?
A man with a mission
Perhaps you admired the man. Perhaps you regretted so much time spent around that impossible smell of his. Either way, you learnt a great deal.
Gain one sudden insight
there was also an option to start from the beginning for 8 Fate. I forgot to copy it down