These Opportunity Cards will not appear unless your Shadowy quality reaches a certain level. They generally challenge the Shadowy quality but some have options which test other Qualities. The links below will jump to the section of the page describing Cards which unlock at that level of Shadowy Quality.
Cards which unlock between 0 and 9
Have you a handkerchief?
That urchin gang is small, but is doing a roaring trade stealing handkerchiefs. Where do they hide them?
Outwitting a ten-year-old
It surely can’t be difficult to follow an urchin back to their stash house?
(Shadowy challenge; straightfoward at 20)
Well, they need a good wash, but…
You deftly follow the little thief through crooked alleys and across a rooftop. The stash is hidden in a filthy back yard occupied by a sorrow-spider, but it is no match for your stealth and cunning.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 12 x Silk Scrap
Feasting on the remains
She should never have stolen from devils. She’s very dead indeed now, but what happens to her things?
A thief’s legacy
Fast Hetty was good, but not good enough to steal from Hell. Her ruined corpse has been left in a public park, and if you’re quick there might be something good left on it.
(Shadowy challenge; straightfoward at 20)
First among equals
The devils have taken their due, but there’s a little left for you.
Shadowy increase
Varying rewards ~11pp
A lucky find!
These gloves weren't lucky for Hetty, of course. Perhaps they'll do you more good.
Shadowy increase
1 x Cutpurse's Mittens
Picking pockets: an easy mark
The rat-catcher is hardly a choice mark, but he’s distracted and those pockets do bulge intriguingly.
Quietly does it
A swift grab and you’ll be away into the street.
(Shadowy challenge; low-risk at 17)
How profoundly unimaginative of him
Your mark’s pockets were full. Full of rats. Still, it was good practice, and there’s probably enough fresh meat here for a decent stew or to turn in for a few Echoes' reward.
Shadowy increase
12 x Rat on a String
An opportunity for dragsman's work
A hansom-cab is stuck in traffic, the driver yelling angrily at the cab in front.
Sneak up and cut the straps on the baggage
The baggage on the back of the cab is bulging temptingly over the street. You could grab whatever's there and be away in moments!
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 15)
Success!
You slice through the straps in one blow and are off down the street with your spoils! What do they have in their bags?
Shadowy increase
Gain: 2 x Silk Scrap
Sneak up and push the cab-driver off the seat! Steal the cab!
That horse doesn't look very biddable, though.
(Shadowy challenge)
A consideration for services rendered
Hell likes to recognise those who've done it service. Would you like to be recognised?
Attend the ceremony
You'll use up a substantial amount of your Connected: Hell quality. You will also be required to provide a single soul. No, it doesn't have to be yours, silly. Although if you're offering…
Unlocked with Connected: Hell, 1 x Soul
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 20)
Midnight in the gardens of the Brass Embassy
Beneath the dry and ash-white trees of the Embassy arboretum, a devil gives you all a brief but bewildering speech about the duties of free will and pain, and then pins medals on your chest. The medals are crude, heavy things. That's all right. It's a scheme to avoid the Masters' import duties: you're expected to sell them for scrap.
Afterwards, you hang back a little and catch some teasing details of the devils' conversation. Interesting…
Gain: 30 x Nevercold Brass Sliver
Gain: 2 x Appalling Secret
Lose: 1 x Soul
Connected: Hell decrease
A raid on the Observatory
One of your associates has set up a nice little job for you. A raid on the Watchmaker's Hill Observatory! The staff will be at a ceremony, or a rite. Something like that.
Wait until the procession leaves. Scale the walls.
Let's see what they've forgotten to lock away.
(unlocked with Shadowy 4; A challenge for your Shadowy quality. [low risk at 11]])
Infiltrate the Observatory as the procession is getting ready
People going in and out, doors open, valuables left lying about. Too tempting to resist.
(unlocked with Shadowy 6; A challenge for your Shadowy quality. [modest at 11])
A stray consignment of souls
You've heard that a spirifer - a smuggler of souls - will be down on the river tonight, selling his wares to the men with the horns. You might be able to snaffle a box or two.
Unlocked with Shadowy 9
Listen to their conversation
Secrets are almost as good as souls.
(Shadowy challenge, Straightforward at 23)
All ears
You slip into the water as quietly as you can and float towards the stern of the spirifer's boat, barely moving. You hear him joking with the devil. They're talking about a verger who caught someone: the soul of that someone is in the boat. They go on to discuss further meetings - someone will pay for that information.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 9 x Whispered Secret
Sneak in and make away with something while they haggle
Stealing from Hell? You're a brave one.
(Shadowy challenge, Straightforward at 29)
Carefully now…
You slip into the water as quietly as you can and float towards the stern of the spirifer's boat, barely moving. As you drift past, you snag a box of souls with a length of cable and a hook. Back on shore, you heave at the cable until the box falls into the water. The devil and the spirifer hear the splash and turn to stare into the darkness, but even devil's eyes can't pierce the darkness of the river. You haul in your spoils and steal away.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 12 x Souls
Daring increase
No luck
The moonish light's too bright tonight for you to get close enough.
Shadowy increase
Losing the evidence
Evidence for the trial of a blackmailer is being transported across town. He wants you to ensure it does not arrive.
Unlocked with Shadowy 9
Grab a briefcase as the carriage passes
It might have some of the notes in, which will at least help your client's defence in court.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 23)
It will help
The contents of the briefcase mainly concern some complex affair of embezzlement. There are a few pieces that mention your client, however. You have helped, if only a little. You are paid, if only a little.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 9 x Jade Fragment
Connected: Criminals increase
The vehicle of law
The carriage is well guarded, and the chest with the incriminating notes will not be easy to obtain.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 29)
Cards which unlock between 10 and 19
The Tower of Knives
The smoke hides the worst of the flophouse's sins. Which is a mercy. Squalor and crime at bargain prices.
Unlocked with Shadowy 10
London takes a toll
The honey-mazed maniac screams around your room, chanting 'So young, so pale, so young, so pale…' You've been down here too long. Perhaps you're going a little peculiar yourself. Perhaps you need a friend to remind you of lost Surface days.
Rough camaraderie
A Coughing Footpad informs you that there is a detective about. The mugger is too unwell to help much, but thinks you should find the detective so they can be dealt with.
Requires 1 x Key to a Smoky Flophouse
(Shadowy challenge)
from 16th November 2011
Upon boots and papers
The detective's boots give her away. They never remember to get new (well, old) boots. The detective senses something is awry and leaves the flophouse in haste. But what's this she was looking at, poking out from an old scuttle?
Shadowy increase
1 x Certifiable Scrap
Upon boots and papers
The detective's boots give her away. They never remember to get new (well, old) boots. The detective senses something is awry and leaves the flophouse in haste. She leaves some paperwork behind, much of which details your activities. Who is it that pursues you?
Shadowy increase
Gain: 4 x Stolen Correspondence
Suspicion decrease (2 change points)
The next victim?
You have struck up a rough and casual friendship with a Coughing Footpad. Well enough, but Jack-of-Smiles is operating in the area and you're sure your friend is the next victim. Can you sneak him to safety elsewhere?
Requires an Annoyance to Jack-of-Smiles 1, 1 x Key to a Smoky Flophouse
(Shadowy challenge)
A clean escape
The Footpad's hacking cough is not an aid to stealth, but you manage to guide him out of the flophouse. He knows a few places in the Flit that might take him in and he promises to put in a good word for you up there. Jack loses, this time.
Shadowy increase
Connected: Criminals increase
Connected: Revolutionaries increase
Something for you
The Footpad’s hacking cough is not an aid to stealth, but you manage to guide him safely out of the flophouse. He presses a tiny glass vial into your hand. His last treasure from the time when he was a respectable gentleman.
Shadowy increase
1 x Aeolian Scream
Buy a key to a smoky flophouse
Let's see: fleas, noise, smoke, Rubbery Men squealing as they're dragged out back and murdered. But you meet the most fascinating people. Allows 3 cards in your hand and provides a Minor defence bonus in Knife-and-Candle. The lease will cost 400 x Whispered Secret.
Requires 400 x Whispered Secret
Congratulations.
You have the key to a Smoky Flophouse : fleas, noise, smoke, Rubbery Men squealing as they're dragged out back and murdered. But you meet the most fascinating people. Use the key in your inventory to move here.
You've changed lodgings. Your new lodgings are a Smoky Flophouse. The opportunities this address provides mean you can keep 3 Opportunity cards in your hand.
Lose: 400 x Whispered Secret
An occurrence! Your 'Key to a Smoky Flophouse' Quality is now 1!
Cards which unlock between 20 and 29
Help a spy distract an inconvenient tail
An acquaintance whom you're sure dabbles in the Great Game needs to do some business without being watched.
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
Lead her tail a merry chase
With a precise air of professional nonchalance you take her folded copy of The Magazine Formerly Known as The London Magazine, and head into the street.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 26)
Well, well. She certainly wasn't being paranoid.
At least three nondescript gentlemen drift after you into the busy street. Deciding it would be a sad thing if they got bored, you set off at a brisk pace. You sit on a lot of park benches and feed a great many ducks; you strike up earnest conversations with total strangers. At one point, you deposit your magazine in a passing hansom-cab, and watch one of the tails hurry after it as hastily as his spycraft allows. By the end of the day you've had a delightful stroll around the city, and earned every gleaming ounce of the payment your friend leaves in the previously-agreed location.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 21 x Jade Fragment
Connected: Criminals increase
Offer to go instead of her
Deliver a package to a man eating candied mushrooms by the pond in Tyrant's Gardens. And don't get followed.
(Shadowy challenge)
Perhaps there is a career in this
You slip the slim package inside your coat and wait. Your acquaintance leaves just before you and when you emerge into the street it is clear of intriguers and spies. You make your way directly to Tyrant's Gardens and deliver the package. Your contact hands over a small pouch of jade as agreed.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 36 x Jade Fragment
Stark villainy
There are whispers that an assassin is needed. Stealth and poison are called for. Are you willing to be a murderer?
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
Murder as warning
The assignment is simple enough. A journalist has said too much, and someone wealthy would like him to be murdered. He’ll get better, obviously, but it will serve as a warning.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 41)
Putting down the pen
The fellow takes his dinner at a fairly shabby club. It is a matter of little moment to bump into the waiter and lace his chop sauce with something very disagreeable. You exit the club swiftly, and later hear that his death was lengthy and dramatic, with much throat-clutching and pain. When he recovers, the man takes his political rants down a notch in intensity. You are paid as agreed.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 36 x Rostygold
Murder for love
In a manner of speaking. A society lady wishes her rival in romance to be indisposed for a crucial salon. Poison is called for.
(Shadowy challenge; high-risk at 34)
Inconveniently suspicious
It seems that this lady has been poisoned before. Her maid does duty as a taster, and she has two cooks who watch each other assiduously. At no point is her food left unguarded. You stop trying when her cooks start to recognise you.
Shadowy increase
Fate of urchins.
You happen across an alley where street children have been rounded up and are being attacked by a gang of hired thugs.
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
Leap in.
You've done some unsavoury things, but this is too much. The thugs are distracted, so an ambush is in order.
(Shadowy challenge; modest at 38)
None of my concern
This is the work of honest criminals. On the other hand, there might be some hush money in it.
The ever-present and invisible servantry
A wealthy family lives near you, and you have struck up an acquantanceship with a maidservant who is somehow involved with political intrigue. She asks a favour.
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
Skullduggery above stairs
The maid needs a sealed document from the master’s private study, but only the butler is allowed there. Could you impersonate him?
(Shadowy challenge; modest at 23)
The rake's honey-pot
The young master has something of a taste for prisoner's honey. His family doesn't know, but the servants do. It is supposedly well hidden, but for a thief of your water…
(Shadowy challenge; modest at 38)
Well hidden, my eye!
You imagine that the young master's honey-dreams must be very dull. Anyone who would hide their honey-pot behind the chutneys in the pantry cannot have a poet's imagination. Still, the jar is yours and there is a decent amount left after the maidservant takes her share.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 18 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey.
Next time keep your mouth closed
You encounter no difficulties in acquiring the jar hidden behind the chutneys in the pantry. However, your maidservant friend has been somewhat indiscreet and you are confronted with a gang of servants who want to sample the honey. There isn't enough to go around, and by the time the jar returns to you it is empty.
Shadowy increase
Romance and practicality
An acquaintance of yours is smitten. Again. The fellow changes the object of his endless affections weekly. There's a problem, though.
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
Read his journal
Not the most comradely thing to do, but secrets are secrets. There are no doubt many in that little book.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 32)
A racy read
Your friend is distracted by gazing upon this week's 'one and only true love'. She happens to glance at him and you pocket the journal while he blushes and gasps. There are some fine racy secrets in here. You consider selling some of them to the Unexpurgated London Gazette.
Shadowy increase
21 x Whispered Secret
'I am undone!'
Your friend's last-but-two paramour still has one of his love letters and is threatening to make it public. The thought mortifies him and he begs you to get it back.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 41)
Theft in a moderately good cause
You manage to an acquire an invitation to the soiree where the letter is to be read out to a selection of the fashionable set. The envelope with the damning words of romance gets passed around as a trophy before the great opening and you deftly palm it and substitute a grocery list. You make your exit quickly, but can't resist reading the letter. You can certainly see why your friend didn't want it becoming public
Shadowy increase
36 x Whispered Secret
Well that was hardly sporting
Your friend's previous paramour is of a suspicious and watchful disposition. You can't imagine what your friend saw in her. In any case, the letter isn't difficult to acquire for a thief of your skills. The trouble is that what's in the scented envelope isn't a letter at all, but a grocery list. You curse the woman's caution, and are forced to report failure. Your friend is so distraught he swears off romance for nearly a fortnight.
Shadowy increase
The simple joys of villainy
That warehouse near the river doesn't seem to be well watched at night. A gentleman of fortune might help himself to whatever is inside.
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
Soft soles and a mask
On inspection, the place seems worth turning over. You’re not sure what's in the crates, but you are sure you can sell it.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 41)
A profitable night
There is a bronchial watchman, a narcoleptic dog and a rusty padlock between you and the wares inside. They are no barrier to a thief of your skills, and you are in. Lamplighter beeswax bound for the tomb-colonies, eh? That will do nicely.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 21 x Lamplighter Beeswax
Hire some help and strip the place bare
You know a few likely fellows who would assist with such a venture. This could be your entry to the bigger jobs.
Unlocked with Shadowy 21
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 41)
Is crime always this easy?
A cudgelled watchman, a picked lock and a guard dog who was happily asleep until thrown in the river. The job could not have proceeded more smoothly. The take is several crates of lamplighter beeswax. After sharing it out you promise your minions more work when you have bigger jobs planned.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 36 x Lamplighter Beeswax
A valuable lesson
That was a lesson in picking one's underworld minions carefully. Your rogues were more concerned with loot than their reputations, and have robbed you every inch as much as the warehouse. Can nobody be trusted? What are they going to do with that beeswax? What a depressing business.
Shadowy increase
Cards which unlock between 30 and 39
2000 Foxfire Candles wanted! Will pay handsomely!
A deacon at the Cathedral of St Fiacre needs 2000 Foxfire Candles to replace those eaten by rats, and is prepared to offer 2000 donated Red Gold, and future favours, in exchange. [Making this exchange will increase your Connected: The Church.]
Unlocked with Shadowy 30; you must be in Spite to play this card
Make the exchange
Exchange 2000 Foxfire Candles for 2000 Rostygold.
Unlocked with 2000 x Foxfire Candle Stub
Why do they really need all those candles?
Make the exchange…and then follow the deacon with his burden.
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 105)
A walled garden
You follow the deacon to a locked door in a courtyard behind St Fiacre's Cathedral. While he fumbles with the keys, you easily slip over the wall. The courtyard was once a garden: dead trees are festooned with extraordinary luminous fungi. You crouch behind the bole of an enormous mushroom as the deacon goes from tree to tree, lighting candles and placing them in the crooks of branches, on stone benches, on fumble-cap rims. He turns and leaves. You wait.
An unlikely breeze rises in the garden: the tree branches shiver and sway. The candle-flames grow tall and narrow and wink out one by one. A shape slides over the wall opposite you, barely visible in the moonish light and the glow of the fungi. Is it shaped like a man? It's hard to be certain. It moves on all fours, with a crouching restless grace. It reaches up to grasp the candles one by one - consuming them? Hiding them in its clothing? It's hard to be certain. As it draws closer, you realise it's humming, a tune that sounds faintly familiar.
Suddenly it rears up, shockingly tall. It's heard something! In a sinuous shiver of motion it slides back over the wall. You wait, but nothing else happens, and eventually you leave the way you came.
As you walk home, you find yourself softly humming the tune you heard: 'Oh gather round my bully boys, and I'll zing you a zong…'
Connected: The Church increase
Lose: 2000 x Foxfire Candle Stub
Gain: 2000 x Rostygold
Shadowy increase
Gain: 1 x Mysteries of the Elder Country
The High Castle
Above the city but below the Flit, the rooftops are home to urchins, bats and the occasional citizen who values a view and privacy over warmth and comfort.
Unlocked with Shadowy 30
A stroll with a sack
Thieves stash their purloined treasures in hidden corners of the rooftops. Sometimes they don't hide them particularly well.
Unlocked with Key to a Rooftop Shack 1
(Shadowy challenge)
Talk to a friend of a friend
You come across a gentleman who knows the Repentant Forger. You should get to know this fellow, perhaps share a few prison anecdotes.
Unlocked with Acquaintance: a Repentant Forger 1, Key to a Rooftop Shack 1
(Acquaintance: a Repentant Forger challenge)
A pleasant chat
You spend an idle evening on the rooftops discussing your mutual friend and his works. The gentleman is very fond of the forger: you think you may have seen him in some paintings. He gives you wine and asks you to remember him to your friend.
25 x Greyfields 1882
Acquaintance: a Repentant Forger increases (1 change point)
Buy the key to a rooftop shack
Let's see - draughty and unstable. Good thing there's not much wind in the Neath. But the views are magnificent! Allows 3 cards in your hand and provides a Significant defence bonus in Knife-and-Candle. The lease will cost 500 x Rat on a String.
Unlocked with 500 x Rat on a String
Eavesdrop on a meeting of cats
Cats are gathering on a rooftop. What are they up to?
Unlocked with Shadowy 33
Silent like a, well, you know…
Sneaking up on cats is hardly easy, and the rooftop is precarious.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 53)
Crouching on the guttering
It's cramped and uncomfortable hanging precariously under the guttering, but you do manage to get a good long listen to the feline meeting. What did you expect? They preen, they boast, they hiss and they gossip. No single detail is especially valuable, but there's a lot of interesting snippets before your arms get too tired to hang on further.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 33 x Whispered Secret
Let us not speak of this again
That didn't happen. You didn't slip and end up dangling from a cornice. Cats didn't mock you for your efforts. A large ginger certainly didn't sit on your head as your feet flailed. Nothing happened at all.
Shadowy increase
Sit with them and share secrets
An exchange could be profitable, but cats are particularly fussy about their human company.
Unlocked with Cryptic Clue 20
(Shadowy challenge; modest at 49)
Speaking with cats
A hundred yellow eyes regard you impassively. You crouch down by a stone lion and recite secrets. A few of the cats slink over to listen. An hour passes. The cats share their secrets with each other, and you hear this and that. You get the impression that you are tolerated rather than liked. But you do learn some useful things.
Shadowy increase
Gain: Cryptic Clue x 24
Not the correct sort of human
A hundred yellow eyes regard you with feline contempt. As one, the cats stand and slink off. You are alone on the rooftop.
Shadowy increase
Drown an informant
She has gone to the Constables, so she must be silenced.
Unlocked with Shadowy 33
Offer a less lethal solution
Perhaps she doesn't have to die. You could tell her to run and perhaps earn some money in the process.
(Shadowy challenge, chancy at 33, straightforward at 44)
Too late to save her
You are approaching the meeting place on a bridge when you see two zailors lunge and push her over the railings and into the river. From the grey waters rises a chorus of tuneless, triumphant song.
Shadowy increase
Drown her beneath oily grey waters
She has to go near the river at some point. The Drownies can have her.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 53)
Smuggle glim across town
Mr Stones demands his due of the glim trade. There are those that would deny him.
Unlocked with Shadowy 33
A lack of entanglements
The Gracious Widow expects a glim shipment and no official interference. Can you oblige her?
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 53)
Where do they get these detectives?
You know that the Constables are watching the glim claims near the Unterzee, and you arrange for a shabby hansom with muffled wheels to distract most of them when you receive the small chest of glim. You spend a fraught few hours in the back streets dodging the remainder and working your way toward the river. You lose most of them quickly, but one dogged fellow trails you endlessly. It seems he knows the back streets of Spite as well as you, and you are forced to take a very long diversion to lose him. The boat you were to meet has long since gone when you arrive at the quayside, and your employer is not pleased.
Shadowy increase
Cheat the Widow
How is she to know that it was you rather than the Constables that made off with her glim?
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 53)
Cards which unlock between 40 and 49
The Ways of the Flit
Swaying ropes above the streets. A home to beggars, revolutionaries and the forgotten people of London.
Unlocked with Shadowy 40
A trip to the Flit
A Raggedy Man, one of the Flit's beggars, will show you around if you bring something for the stew.
Unlocked with 20 x Rat on a String
An old street sign
When London was kneaded into its new form, the Masters declared the old street signs contraband. They say you can still find them in the Flit if you're quick and lucky. Fancy a climb?
Unlocked with Route: The Flit 1
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 69)
A secret road
That ladder leads to a rooftop with a dangling, knotted rope. Higher up, a few bricks have been removed in that chimney, for hand-holds. Is that a secret way into the Flit? [This will open up permanent access to the Flit.]
Requires 3 Fate
Fate-locked content must not be placed on the wiki, per the developers.
A night on the tiles
A Disgraced Epicurean has scrawled invitations on several of the chimney stacks: 'Drinks. Eight o'clock, above Charley Square. Bring a bottle of the finest.'
Unlocked with Shadowy 45
A bottle of the '82
Why waste a better vintage on this ne'er-do-well?
Unlocked with 1 x Greyfields 1882
A bottle of the '68
When it comes to wine, there's nothing finer.
Unlocked with 1 x Greyfields 1868 First Sporing
Two bruisers bar your way, but grunt appreciatively as you show the label on your bottle. You pass through to the party proper. Few of the partygoers are what they seem. Flashes of fine silk or velvet under the rags; a scent of Eau de Champignon. Isn't that really Lady ——? And the Magistrate? Wine flows, words flow, and you learn many interesting things.
Gain: 5 x Intriguing Gossip
Lose: 1 x Greyfields 1868 First Sporing
Bluff your way in
There's no need for a bottle when you can rely on others to provide.
Sneak in
Who'd pass up the chance of a free drink?
(Shadowy challenge)
In rags and in tags
A motley collection of vagabonds gather on the rooftops. You join them from the shadows and mingle, a pilfered glass of excellent wine in your hand. Few of the partygoers are what they seem. Flashes of fine silk or velvet under the rags; a scent of Eau de Champignon. Isn't that really Lady ——? And the Magistrate? Wine flows, words flow, and you learn many interesting things.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 3 x Intriguing Gossip
Rob a Brass Embassy courier
There has to be something good in that briefcase.
Unlocked with Shadowy 45
Subtlety at the grill
This Hungry Courier likes to stop at Dante's Grill for lunch. It will take stealth and daring to swap briefcases there.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 65)
A smooth switch
You hope this is worth it: it costs a distressing amount to simply enter Dante's Grill. The Hungry Courier is enthusiastically attacking a plate of steaming kidneys when you sidle by and switch the briefcases. Yours has a single prayer book taken from a church. The Hungry Courier's briefcase is heavy, and turns out to be packed with some very distressing literature. You hope you can offload them before you are caught by either devils or the Ministry for Public Decency. You're not entirely sure which would be worse.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 15 x Proscribed Text
Rob a library at the University
A Shadowy Revolutionary wants a book from the university. Where's the harm in that?
Unlocked with Shadowy 45
Into the library with sack and jemmy
How hard can robbing a library be?
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 65)
Something has rattled them
So, the Shadowy Revolutionary wants The Fulminator's Desk Reference and Almanac from the library of the Department of Infernal Rarefactions. Nothing could be simpler. You climb an ivied wall so well-traversed that it almost has steps, and you are in to the department. The library window is jemmied open, and you take your candle and examine the shelves of books. Something is wrong, though. There are porters walking the halls of the department, and you overhear a conversation between them about a recent visit from a consulting detective. You hear the excited bark of a dog, and soon there's a pack of porters after you. You give them the slip with no great effort, but you have no book for your client.
Shadowy increase
Work the carnival
Mrs. Plenty's Most Distracting Carnival is a joy to behold, especially if you're a pickpocket.
Unlocked with Shadowy 45
Candied mushrooms and dipping
It is time to flex your fingers and see what you can get from the most distracted crowds.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 65)
Little horse heads
It seems that the carnival folk are doing a good trade in selling relics of the fourth city as good luck charms. Bizarrely, a few of these are the real thing and after a few false starts you get the hang of picking out the good ones. You spend a pleasant evening liberating them from their owners with deft fingerwork, and there's even a little time to spare for some candied fungus.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 12 x Relic of the Fourth City
They look so real!
It seems that the carnival folk are doing a good trade in selling relics of the fourth city as good luck charms. You purloin a good satchel full of these before you realise that they are almost all fakes. You are so distressed by your discovery that you spend the rest of the evening consoling yourself with hot wine and candied fungus.
Shadowy increase
As silent as the grave?
Heartscross Cemetery is a strange place. There's not many graveyards whose population shifts so rapidly in both directions, after all. You often take pleasure in wandering its lonely, winding paths. With one eye open for possible hiding places. Death can make people a little careless of their possessions.
Unlocked with Shadowy 45
Fresh fungi for her grave
It's morbid, but these lavish wreaths have a tidy resale value. Can you reach that particularly gorgeous one up there? Careful. That obelisk looks a bit slippery in this fog.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 55)
Got it!
You rearrange the mushrooms into a less funereal bouquet and sell it to an errant husband. He is pathetically grateful.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 45 x Foxfire candle
Go for a little wander
This particular evening, you come upon a crumbling little mausoleum that you are sure you have never seen before. The door seems to be ajar. Do you dare to look inside?
Unlocked with Shadowy 55
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 65)
Bravery wins out
The door gives a satisfyingly sinister creak. Shivers run down your spine, but the sight of a sarcophagus with its lid askew is far too tempting to ignore. And your foolhardiness is rewarded. A tidy little cache lies within. Let us not think too carefully about whom it may have belonged to.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 13 x Relic of the Fourth City
There's a reason the door is ajar.
Well, the spiders need to be able to get in and out somehow, don't they? You get a nasty scare when one drops into your hair, and nothing can tempt you back into that eery little tomb.
Shadowy increase
A ring of stone angels
Armour-clad and stormy faced, they stand half-visible behind a thicket of black, somehow thorny looking fungus. What are they guarding? Go on. Have a look.
Unlocked with Shadowy 60
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 75)
Become one with the shadows
You drift past a raised stone sword under the cover of a wisp of fog. And find treasure! These grave-goods look old. Old and valuable.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 5 x Relic of the Second City
Cards which unlock between 50 and 59
The Windward Tower
The steamer once braved the Unterzee, to the tomb-colonies and even as far as the Darker Continent. These days she is stuck on the shore, held fast by mud and black coral. Her engine is long gone.
Unlocked with Shadowy 50
The cautious contact
The ruined steamer is a haunt of spies. One of your contacts wants a message delivered to someone hiding out there. Nobody must see you. Nobody.
Unlocked with Connected: The Great Game 3, 1 x Deeds to a Decommissioned Steamer
(Shadowy challenge)
from 16th November 2011
Success!
They are out in force tonight. Inconspicuous figures who just happen to be beach-combing, skimming for glim, fishing, smashing back the black coral… You are forced to take to the water. Swimming in the oily Unterzee is disconcerting, not to mention cold. You describe a long arc and approach the steamer from the seaward side, out of sight of those on the shore.
Your quarry is a Rubbery Man. His tentacles twitch irritably as he reads the encrypted (and damp) note. He makes a noise like crashing boulders and shoves his way past you and out. A wet pile of shells and rusted metal lies on a nearby table. You shrug and take it. Who is this peculiar Rubbery Man? Do they have spies or even revolutionaries? Is he an outcast from rubbery society?
2 x Certifiable Scrap
Connected: The Great Game increase (1 change point)
Success!
They are out in force tonight. Inconspicuous figures who just happen to be beach-combing, skimming for glim, fishing, smashing back the black coral… You are forced to take to the water. Swimming in the oily Unterzee is disconcerting, not to mention cold. You describe a long arc and approach the steamer from the seaward side, out of sight of those on the shore.
Your quarry is a Rubbery Man. His tentacles twitch irritably as he reads the encrypted (and damp) note. He makes a noise like crashing boulders and shoves his way past you and out. A sticky pile of deep amber lies on a nearby table. You shrug and take it. Who is this peculiar Rubbery Man? Do they have spies or even revolutionaries? Is he an outcast from rubbery society?
Gain: 60 x Deep Amber
Connected: The Great Game increase
Connected: Rubbery Men decrease
A chest of letters
A Retiring Blackmailer plans on depositing her stock of intimate letters into the Unterzee. A skilled thief might take them before they are ruined by the black waters.
Unlocked with Master Thief 1, 1 x Deeds to a Decommissioned Steamer
(Shadowy challenge)
A creditable haul
It took you days of preparation and bribery to find out where she planned to dump the document chest. Preparing the net to catch it was not easy. Waiting under that coral-choked jetty is something you do not wish to ever repeat.
But, you have the chest of letters now. A few were waterlogged and many are out of date, but there is enough here for a modest profit. And one does have to keep one's skills sharp.
16 x Stolen Correspondence
Buy the deeds to a decommissioned steamer
Let's see - not a safe place, down by the Unterzee shore. Nor warm. But it's quiet, and offers good opportunities for beachcombing. Allows 3 cards in your hand. The deeds will cost 100 Tales of Terror!! [You can acquire Tales of Terror!! by using Mysteries items in your inventory.]
Unlocked with 100 x Tales of Terror
Congratulations
You have the deeds to a Decommissioned Steamer : not a safe place, down by the Unterzee shore. Nor warm. But it's quiet, and offers good opportunities for beachcombing. Use the deeds in your inventory to move here.
You've changed lodgings. Your new lodgings are a Decommissioned Steamer. The opportunities this address provides mean you can keep 3 Opportunity cards in your hand.
Gain 1 x Deeds to a Decommissioned Steamer
Lose: 100 x Tales of Terror
A knight of the underworld
An Elegant Villain goes to the gallows today, and for the last time. You should pay your respects.
Unlocked with Shadowy 57
Not entirely out of respect
There is the matter of the gemstones he is supposed to have hidden somewhere. Perhaps you can get close enough to find out where.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 77)
The last drink
You arrange matters so that it is you who presents the condemned man with his final drink. As he drains the tankard you see a tattoo on his wrist. You know that one: it's a map! He gives you a wink and tells you that he'll be seeing you. You hope not. The gemstones are in Tyrant's Gardens as his map indicated. There's a note in the hoard asking you to share them with his mistress.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 7 x Diamond
Connected: Criminals increase
A press of respectful villains
The Constables know that many of the underworld's finest are here, and you don't get within twenty paces of the condemned man. You even see the Constables writing down names and recording descriptions of the crowd.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
The Topsy King buttonholes you in the Flit
'Goden! My capering raggedy fardo - diflas now! Cloying goden nicked viddlo!' He makes violin-playing motions, sadly. Even his bat looks depressed.
Unlocked with Shadowy 57, Route: The Flit 1
Someone stole his fiddle?
No - the fiddle of his favourite Raggedy Man player? Getting it back would probably be less trouble than making sure that's what he wants.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 77)
'Viddlo! Goden most capering!'
It is not a matter of great effort to track down the fiddle. It seems that it was taken as part of initiation to some order of thieves. As you expect, it has been abandoned somewhere out of the way and you return it to the Topsy King. You know what happens now: here comes a sack of rats.
Shadowy increase
72 x Rat on a String
Too late
The fiddle has been seized by the Constables in lieu of a debt owed by the Raggedy Man. You make some enquiries and you're sure it is in the bowels of the huge, impregnable evidence warehouse. You are not going to risk that on behalf of a half-mad beggar-king.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
A simple job from a devil
Why does a devil want the tools of an archaeologist in the Forgotten Quarter smashed or stolen?
Unlocked with Shadowy 57, Route: The Forgotten Quarter 1
Not that it matters
His brass is as good as anyone's. Better, even, if you're cold. This job should be easy.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 77)
A job smartly done
When you make your way to the empty, echoing avenues of the Forgotten Quarter you see that the archaeologist's camp has better security than some banks. It seems you are not the first of your kind to come here. Still, the jumpy watchmen and expensive locks don't keep you out of the equipment shed. You quietly break most of the smaller tools and carry off the theodolite to throw in the river. Why does a devil care about archaeology? It matters little if you get paid, and you do.
Shadowy increase
72 x Nevercold Brass
Who is lighting torches?
When you make your way to the empty, echoing avenues of the Forgotten Quarter you see that the archaeologist's camp has better security than some banks. You wait for the watchmen to grow sleepy… and they don't. Something here has scared them, and you are concerned with the eery torchlight visible in the far reaches of the Quarter. Another night, perhaps.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Cards which unlock between 60 and 69
The Ways of Mahogany Hall
Wonderment and peeling gilt. The magic of the theatre.
Unlocked with Shadowy 60
Buy a ticket to Mahogany Hall
The ticket will allow entrance *one time only*.
Unlocked with 100 x Glim
And off you go
The pretty young thing in the box office takes your glim and hands you the precious ticket. Wonderment awaits.
[You're on a day trip to Mahogany Hall! When you leave, you won't be able to return until you open up the route at your Lodgings or buy another ticket like this one. Mahogany Hall is most interesting for those who have Shadowy or Persuasive 95+.]
You've moved to a new area: Mahogany Hall
Lose: 100 x Glim
Who is off to the theatre?
The less respectable society columns are always interested in little indiscretions. You could see who is attending the theatre with whom.
Unlocked with Route: Mahogany Hall 1
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 97)
A night at the theatre
A well-respected academic is taking in the Tuesday show with an anarchist. A baronet is discussing opera with a gentleman in scarlet stockings. A devil is smoking a companionable cigar with a clergyman. A palace functionary is drunk and proposing some rather republican political theory. Warm up those presses!
Shadowy increase
Gain: 40 x Cryptic Clue
Obtain a Backstage Pass
It doesn't matter how you got hold of it. With this, you'll be able to travel freely about Mahogany Hall.
[Mahogany Hall is most interesting for those who have Shadowy or Persuasive 95+.]
Requires 5 Fate
Fate-locked content must not be placed on the wiki, per the developers.
Memoirs of a butler
A butler who has worked for many notable families is breaking the tradition of his profession. He intends to publish his memoirs.
Unlocked with Shadowy 69
What the butler saw
The memoirs are rumoured to be full of tempting secrets. Affairs. Sedition. Furtling. Someone will be interested in the manuscript. You should steal it from the publisher's office.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 74)
A pacy page-turner
The publisher's office offers only a token resistance to your larcenous skills. The manuscript hasn't even been locked in the safe. What a collection of delightful secrets. If you ever employ a butler you think you might choose a blind one.
Rewards :
Gain: 34 x Cryptic Clue
Blackmail
Just stealing the maniscript would be a waste of time. Stealing the manuscript and using it for the purposes of blackmail, however…
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 89)
'Unless you pay me…'
The publisher's office offers only a token resistance to your larcenous skills. The manuscript hasn't even been placed in the safe. Within the week you are being paid off by a governess, an opera singer and a junior minister. Most gratifying.
Rewards :
84 x Glim
The Kidsman recruits
The Notorious Kidsman tempts youngsters to his flock. The more urchins that lift purses for him, the better his profits.
Unlocked with Shadowy 69
Warn the urchins
The Flit is no place for organised crime. If anything, it thrives on the opposite.
(Shadowy challenge; low-risk at 85)
A well-timed warning
With a jaunty song and a handful of baubles, he's mesmerising a small gang of ragamuffins. But in the nick of time their gang-mates arrive, hot on the heels of your warning. The urchins' quick work with a cudgel drives the old faker off with bruises to show for it. And even better, he’s dropped his purse!
Shadowy increase
Connected: Urchins increase
random reward ~50 pence
Direct the urchins to the Kidsman
He'll take good care of them under his wing.
(Shadowy challenge; low-risk at 89)
[[collapsible show="Reward spoiler" hide="hide spoiler"]]
Part of the family
random reward ~80 pence
A squire of the Flit
Unlocked with Shadowy 69, Connected: Urchins 1, must be in the flit to get or use card
An urchin is plotting a heist to win fame and favour among the Fisher Kings. Perhaps you can help?
Give her a hand
You know a garret window she might squeeze through. Help her out and you'll have another friend in the Flit.
Give with one hand, take with the other
Help her break in. And when she crawls back out, she'll have goods for the taking.
The old one-two
Your planned route is perfect. In she goes with empty hands, and out she comes straining to lift the loot, with not a soul in the house any the wiser. At your rendezvous she thanks you effusively and even offers you a small cut. You gratefully accept, and then rob her blind while her back is turned.
Shadowy increase
Connected: Urchins decrease
4 x Sober Dress
Give the nod to the Constables
Take the opportunity to divert attention from your own schemes.
The concerned citizen
A heist? By a criminal who’s carried out all manner of other crimes? Crimes that you yourself were nowhere near at the time? The constables leap to the chase! And, since they insist, of course you’ll accept a small reward. Doing the right thing is to be encouraged, after all.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion decrease (substantial)
Connected: The Constables increase
Connected: Urchins decrease
40 x Rostygold
13 x Relic of the Fourth City
Robbing the Ambassador's ball
The Ambassador is wealthy as he is charming. Disguise will serve you better than stealth when the cream of society gathers.
Unlocked with Shadowy 69
Pose as a guest
Stick to the public areas of the ball and take what you can.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 89)
Let us be flexible
Charming company and good wine. Elegant music. Very little in the way of valuables lying about. You get the impression that the Ambassador expects this sort of thing. Perhaps greedy socialites spend their last pennies on clothing and jewellery for his balls, and are tempted to a larceny once hear. You turn to eavesdropping, and pick up a fine number of useful secrets.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 34 x Cryptic Clue
Pose as a servant
The Ambassador's private areas are off-limits to guests. Well, most guests. A servant might gain access for long enough to take something.
(Shadowy challenge)
Making the best of things
What awful luck! The Ambassador is indisposed and shut in his private rooms with his favoured servants only. You resolve to press on regardless. An hour into the ball and a scuffle breaks out. Two young rakes disgrace themselves with fisticuffs. You outdo yourself and manage to lift a ring from one of them while he is distracted: a bulky deep amber affair that quite makes the evening worthwhile.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 84 x Deep Amber
Cards which unlock between 70 and 79
N/A
Cards which unlock between 80 and 89
A fine day in the Flit
The Flit teems with opportunities for the crafty and the quick.
Unlocked with Shadowy 81
Go hunting for caches
People hide things in the Flit, often on ropes under bridges and gantries. The Raggedy Men call the business of stealing them 'fly-fishing'.
(Shadowy challenge; straightforward at 86)
Beggars and books
You uncover a promising crate under some foul-smelling sacking near a chimney. A few Raggedy Men have followed you, but they don't try anything. It looks like this is a revolutionary's stash - the crate is full of forbidden books. You toss a few to the Raggedy Men to keep the peace, and set to the drudgery of dragging the crate down to street level.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 20 x Proscribed Text
Rare Success!
You uncover a promising crate under some foul-smelling sacking near a chimney. A few Raggedy Men have followed you, but they don't try anything. Well, this is a find. Beneath an unpromising stack of revolutionary pamphlets is something extraordinary! You toss a few to the Raggedy Men to keep the peace, and set to the drudgery of dragging the crate down to street level.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 1 x Book of Hidden Bodies
Gain: 10 x Proscribed Material
Spy on the Raggedy Men
The beggars of the Topsy King's court are a strange lot. But they rival cats for their knowledge of secrets.
The King
The beggars are discussing the Topsy King, their inglorious leader. Most of them don't seem to particularly like the men, but they are scared of the things he knows. Apparently he was once a scholar of some sort. Whatever drove him to his current state, they say, it happened in the Museum of Mistakes.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 48 x Cryptic Clue
Rare Success!
The beggars are discussing the Topsy King, their inglorious leader. Most of them don't seem to particularly like the man, but they are scared of the things he knows. Apparently he was once a scholar of some sort. Whatever drove him to his current state, they say, it happened in the Museum of Mistakes. They mention, very casually, some of the great and the good he once knew: some of the things he knew about them. A hundred silken damnations! This will win you a favour or two. You hurry off before they hear you.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 1 x Favours in High Places
Spy on the Raggedy Men
The beggars of the Topsy King's court are a strange lot. But they rival cats for their knowledge of secrets.
Unlocked with Ambition: Heart's Desire - the Tospy King 3
Spy on the Black Ribbon
Certain parties are interested in what the Black Ribbon duelling society is up to.
Unlocked with Shadowy 81
Spy on Colonel Pommery
The colonel is a noted duellist and occasional danger to public health. He is noted for enthusiasm rather than marksmanship.
Nothing sinister, for a change
The colonel spends his time hunting in Bugsby's Marshes, shouting at his servants and writing incensed letters to the editor of the Unexpurgated London Gazette. He does nothing more sinister than harangue a butcher over the price of sausages. Still, it's paying work.
Shadowy increase
93 x Deep Amber
An abandoned weapon
The colonel spends his time hunting in Bugsby's Marshes, shouting at his servants and writing incensed letters to the editor of the Unexpurgated London Gazette. He does nothing more sinister than harangue a butcher over the price of sausages. Still, it's paying work. You also manage to snaffle one of the guns a careless manservant sets aside.
Shadowy increase
1 x Ancient Hunting Rifle
90 x Deep Amber
Spy on Feducci
The leader of the Black Ribbon must be up to something worth spying on.
Dead men and zailors
You are sure that Feducci's pained gait and hoarse whisper are affectations. When he thinks nobody is looking, he pulls up his hood and jogs smartly along. You watch him visit Black Ribbon members and ring fighters, and then head down to the docks, to a ship from the far shores of the Unterzee. The dark-skinned zailors have business with Feducci. He hands over several notebooks, and they present him with a sack of what might be rostygold. Intriguing, although not very useful to your employer.
Shadowy increase
Gain: 56 x Rostygold
Gain: 1 x Mysteries of the Elder Country
Below the Neath
You keep hearing rumours of a stash of jade hidden somewhere below the 'Beneath the Neath' ride.
Unlocked with Shadowy 81
Go and look for the stash
An intrepid and agile individual of mysterious and indistinct gender like you should be able to retrieve it with little difficulty.
Unlocked with 2 x Carnival Ticket
(Shadowy Challenge)
Games in the Dark
Down you go in the ride's gondola. Down, down, down through the carnival's faux-hells and into the oppressive blackness. You jump out. Your candle seems very small and frail down here.
Not far from where the gondolas pass, you snag a heavy burlap sack. But what's this? Not jade at all. Something far more valuable. What's Hell playing at?
Shadowy increase
Gain: 1 x Portfolio of Souls
Lose: 2 x Carnival Ticket
Go and see what else you can find
After all, you are more than used to sneaking around dark places.
Unlocked with 2 x Carnival Ticket
(Shadowy Challenge)
The infernal depths
Down you go on the ride, down through the carnival's faux-hells and into the heavy blackness. You jump out. Your candle casts a very small circle of light.
You hear conversation ahead. Two 'devils' have discarded their red silks and are discussing business. Apparently a noted spirifer has been killed. When they return to 'hell', you investigate the crates they were sitting on. One contains a large number of bottled souls.
Shadowy increase
Lose: 2 x Carnival Ticket
Gain: 50 x Souls
The Little People
No knight of the streets is without a constellation of informers, messengers and sundry other menials. But what happens when the Constables pick up one of yours?
Unlocked with Shadowy 81 No longer available at Shadowy 119
Do your best for him
Send your lawyer after the chap. Provide sureties and whatnot. You owe these people, even though you wouldn't admit it to them.
(Shadowy Challenge)
Leave him hanging
Let fate bring what it may. He knows better than to talk.
(Shadowy Challenge)
Cards which unlock after 90
Don't you know her?
Yes, you know that one. She's up to her neck in the Great Game.
Unlocked with Shadowy 110, a fine piece in the Game 1
Where's she going?
She's watching out for a tail. That won't stop you, of course.
Unlocked with Connected: The Great Game 10
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125)
Into Wilmot's End
Your blonde quarry heads out towards Tyrant's Gardens. Hardly surprising; the place is full of spies and informers.
But what's this? She parts some bushes and heads into an abandoned section of the gardens. It's less abandoned than you thought. This is Wilmot's End! Whispered about in the stories of the Great Game. It's where the serious business of London's spycraft happens, if the stories are to be believed.
Wilmot's End is a fascinating place. It's studded with monuments and statuary from outside London. Gifts from foreign powers, for the most part. Here is a bulb-tipped brass minaret from the Iron Republic. There is a rainbow glass statue of a horseman from the Presbyterate.
Shadowy Increase
You've moved to a new area:
Wilmot's End
An occurrence! Your 'Route: Wilmot's End' Quality is now 1!
Revisit the Theosophisticals
Madame Petrovsky has written a new pamphlet, Practical Pantheism. This presents several opportunities to make money.
Unlocked with Shadowy 105
Work the crowd
Madame Petrovsky is giving a talk based on her new book. Plenty of rich people who won't be paying attention to their purses.
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 115)
Discovered
Oh dear. You've grown complacent, it appears. You're busy lifting a lady's purse when Madame Petrovsky welcomes you to the talk by name. You drop the purse, all eyes on you.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Steal a consignment
People will buy the pamphlets from you if they are a few pence cheaper.
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125)
Wrongly marked
You steal several packing-crates full of copies of what you think is Practical Pantheism. It's only after you've sold them on and the Constables are at your door that you find out you've been selling copies of Practical Corsetry.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Make your own
Why risk stealing actual pamphlets when stealing names and ideas is so much easier?
(Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 135)
An inky disaster
You sit down to type up an account of the religious beliefs of Polythreme - stolen piecemeal from articles and monographs and the like, of course. But inspiration eludes you, and no one is interested in the final thin leaflet. Perhaps it is time you took to the zee, instead of just pretending?
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
The Phantom of the Antimacassar
You hear a lot of things from your contacts in the theatrical world, but this is a new one…A ghost is said to be haunting the Antimacassar Theatre. A thieving ghost.
Unlocked with Shadowy 105
Option 1: Take advantage
Use the rumour to cover up a little theft of your own.
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 115
Too clever for you
You encourage the spread of these rumours of a Phantom. All you have to do then is sneak into the theatre and rattle a chain,and they should go running. But it seems not everyone is as afraid of ghosts as you hope. You're looking for jewels in an abandoned dressing room when an angry, hulking urchin walks in, swinging a cricket bat.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Option 2: Spread the rumour
Theatre people love to believe this stuff. Why not use this to rob somewhere a little grander? Like the Imperial Opera House?
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125
Unmasked
You're telling stories about the Phantom to a couple of the more excitable Opera House ushers. You describe his ink-black mask and his eerie wail. 'Hold on,' says one of the ladies. 'We got rid of him years ago. Blocked up that gap in the cellar wall, we did.' She narrows her eyes. 'What's your game?'
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Option 3: Become the Phantom!
Hide in plain sight to pull off a brilliant theft!!
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 135
Screaming panic
The Zailor's Wife is playing tonight to a full house. You don a black silk mask, left over from last year's Feast of the Exceptional Rose. Then you climb to the top of the proscenium arch, grab a curtain rope, and swing right into the audience! People scatter, dropping their belongings. Easy pickings. A sound begins to float from the flies. A low, blood-chilling moan, which rises and grows and crescendoes. It'll be with you long after you've left the theatre, especially as no person could have climbed up there so fast…
Shadowy increase
aeolian scream x1
Chaos in the theatre
You sneak into the wings during the first act of The Zailor's Wife, and slip on a velvet mask. You stalk onto the stage, wailing eerily. But no one bats an eyelid. It seems you just look - and sound - like a member of the chorus. Now you'll have to keep up the pretence.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Reeducating Lyme
Jasper and Frank would 'appreciate' it if you gave their nephew Lyme a little more 'schooling'.
Unlocked with Shadowy 105
Option 1: Something simple
Practise some easy sleight of hand.
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 115
Unsatisfactory progress
You set Lyme to practising some basic pocket picking - and within moments, he's been caught by a sharp-eyed Constable. How embarrassing.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Option 2: Nothing too complicated
How about some light espionage?
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 125
Clumsy
You take Lyme to Wilmot's End and ask him to perform a fairly simple intercept. He only has to steal an envelope. But the timing is a little tricky, and he misses his cue. You have to hurry to get out of there.
Shadowy increase
Suspicion increase
Option 3: A real challenge
Teach him to steal secrets from a cat.
Shadowy challenge, straightforward at 135
Cards that appear during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose
Seasonal mischief
The Feast of the Exceptional Rose brings lovers together. It also brings opportunities for scheming and larceny… and for reviewing one's own romantic arrangements.
Unlocks: Shadowy 5
Disrupt an inconvenient romance
You have been offered a little reward, should you be able to hasten the demise of a certain ill-advised liaison…
(Persuasive Challenge)
That had to hurt.
Luckily, you are acquainted with the feminine half of the couple in question, and you know where they will be dining this Feast. You wander over to their table and feign amazement. 'Why, it's you, Ermintrude!' Before long, you are regaling the poor man with all manner of shocking tales about his beloved's shocking past. The best of it is, you know much of it to be true. She will never talk her way out of this one.
Persuasive increase
Gain: 30 x Whispered Secret
Rid yourself of that irritating suitor
Someone won't leave you alone. Any charm they once had for you is quite, quite gone.
(A matter of luck: it could go either way.)
You let them down gently
Congratulations. You managed that very well. You blamed yourself; you assured them that they had done nothing, it is simply that you are such a troubled soul. Essentially, you succeeded in ridding yourself of any obligations whatsover towards them, whilst retaining their eternal devotion. You are clever.
Persuasive increase
Admired increase
Take advantage of others' distraction
They're busy gazing into each other's eyes. Serve them right if their pockets got picked.
(Shadowy challenge)
Easy as pie
These idiot lovebirds don't know what day of the week it is, let alone where their purses are. While they bill and coo in a quite revolting fashion, you relieve them of the latter burden.
That's a lot of deep amber they're carrying. Odd.
Shadowy challenge
Gain: 40 x Deep Amber
Wounds increase (2 change points?)
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Heartless increase
Ruthless increase
Subtle increase
Connected: The Orient increase
You've moved to a new area: 
Gain: 1 x London Street Sign
You've moved to a new area: Watchmaker's Hill
An occurrence! Your 
Gain: 1 x Presbyterate Passphrase
Steadfast increase (No higher than 3))
Gain: 80 x Moon-pearls
70 x Nevercold Brass Sliver
Gain: 2 x Compromising Document
