Sorry about the hiatus - I think I’ve softlocked this playthrough? Spent a while trying to see if I’d missed a way forward somehow? And then starting a game on another account and working it up to this point. But here, have some of the exploring-the-town content from the third (and final implemented) chapter from my account that’s sitting at end-game (I thought there were two more, but April and May are lumped together). So. This chapter is:
April & May - War in Bengal and Rumours of Conspiracy
Investigate the anxious town of Murshidabad
The streets are lit with lamps every evening, casting their oily shadows on groups of bearded men and young boys, hard-faced factory workers, housewives and merchants. Courtiers emerge from their fine homes and mix with commoners; a curious sight. The city feels on the edge of something terrible and momentous; the darkness outside its precincts seems to stretch and yowl.
The ancient seat of the Nawabs of Bengal feels papery-thin, its stone and mortar worn down by fear of British and French soldiers marching across Bengal, and of uncertainty within the court.
The Silk Quarter
Your own home is not far from the bustle of the Silk Quarter, where bolts of bright cloth are sold by men with brighter smiles. Perhaps you will find good news in the faces of the prosperous merchants?
The Supreme Court
As the capital city of Bengal, Murshidabad is also the seat of judicial power. Lawyers gossip notoriously; perhaps you could find some useful information if you paid a visit to the grand edifice.
The Hospital
Charity is an Islamic obligation: when the Nawab ascended to the throne, he gave a waqf, an charitable endowment, to a local hospital. Those too poor to hire physicians of their own throng its halls.
✓ The Jahan Kosha Cannon
Gain 2 x Threats of War and 2 x Imagination each time you play this branch.
Built during the time of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the seven-ton cannon is seventeen feet and six-inches long. It is placed on a great wheeled carriage amongst the roots of a shady peepul tree; tourists flock to it on warm days. You might find something of worth in their chatter.
[This branch is now free to play]
Tourists and rumours
Jahan Kosha means literally Destroyer of the World; you are struck anew with the size and weight and heft of the cannon, constructed over a hundred years before. A few courtiers’ sons drink wine and sketch the cannon’s shape while locals offer to tell the tourists of its history for a few coins. Most of the tourists are from the North or West, and have heard little of the Anglo-French war, but some talk of having seen Robert Clive’s army rolling across the countryside with hundreds of cannon and mounted men. A slight fellow with a pointed beard informs his companions that the French have all but abandoned the trading town of Cossimbazaar, only a little distance away from Murshidabad. All seem grimly certain that Bengal is already embroiled in the Anglo-French war, whether the Nawab admits so or not.
Onward
Prayer and Prophecy at the Temple
You find yourself drawn to return to the little temple in Murshidabad. The daily prayers and chants of the priests carry on despite the Anglo-French war and the mutters of conspiracy; their slow rituals are comforting and familiar.
The temple is a devotional space but also a social one. Many people talk in huddles and whispers, bringing sacrifices and gossiping with their neighbours. You could learn much, with a sharp ear.
Observe the homas
The homa, the ritual-fire, burns constantly. The priests are fat with offerings of milk-sweets and fruit; it would be useful to know what people are praying for.
Speak with the priests
They will know many of Murshidabad’s secrets – spiritual and otherwise. Will they recognise your low-caste features if you approach too closely? Perhaps they will be blinded by your wealth and reputation.
Pray at the shrine of Ganesha
The elephant-headed god is the lord of obstacles. There are many ahead of you; it would be wise to ask his favour in your mission.
✓ The Black-Tongued Prophetess
She had seized you upon the street in Chandernagore, and offered to tell you her terrible prophecies. Now she sits cross-legged in the temple courtyard. Her kohl-ringed eyes flash open, and regard you tauntingly. Do you dare approach her?
Blood like gold
She smiles and bares her black-stained lips and tongue, rolling her eyes back in laughter far too loud for this consecrated place – yet no-one else glances up from their business. Can she hide herself from their eyes with magic? Are they merely used to her unsettling presence?
“It does not matter what they see, oh honoured sa-ilu,” she tells you mockingly. “What matters, foolish one, is what you see. And, mmm, what is that?”
Her hands squeeze around your throat with unnatural strength, nails leaving a pattern of black thorns around your neck. As the breath leaves you gentle as a kiss you see armies of wooden soldiers arrayed over a hill, toppling to the earth and rising up again. The hill shudders and you realise it is not a hill at all, but a giant with your face. You are swarmed all over by soldiers who stick you with their small, sharp knives, and drink the gold liquid that bleeds from each cut. You struggle but your limbs are staked to the ground; the ropes are made of jasmine and rose-thorns and glistening saliva. You cannot break them.
You succeeded in a Serenity challenge! (Simple challenges mean you don’t learn so much.)
You’ve gained 9 x Visions (new total 110).
You’ve gained 1 x Slivers of Prophecy (new total 12). Onward
Huh. Did I not grab the full set of options here? There are two: “continue to resist” which steps up your Poisoned by the Begum, and “beg for forgiveness” which resets it to 1 so this event doesn’t show up again (which I didn’t realize, so I didn’t test the limits of being poisoned).
A wave of dizziness and pain
You defied the Begum by refusing her summons to you. A dangerous move. Since your show of wilfulness, you have recieved no vials of antidote for the slow poison that she tricked you into drinking.
Enough time passes that you are almost convinced that the Begum was bluffing and then - it strikes you like the lash of a whip: a wave of intense dizziness and pain.
✓ Continue to resist
You will experience dire consequences if your Poisoned quality increases too high.
You fall to your knees in the street, staining your silks with mud and manure. Your eyes burn and your fists clench - yet you refuse to give in.
A lingering ache
You struggle to your feet. This time all you will suffer is a pressing need to have your clothes laundered and a sharp, lingering ache in your stomach. But the pain will only get worse. Who knows if you will be so lucky next time?
It would, after all, be so easy to give in to the Begum’s demands. So simple to end your suffering. You wonder how long you will hold out.
You’ve gained 2 x Traumas (new total 57).
You’ve gained 1 x Poisoned by the Begum (new total 3).
An occurrence! Your ‘Ghaseti Begum’ Quality is now 5 - You are trying to escape the Begum’s yoke - how long can you resist her?! Onward
An opium-wreathed afternoon in the Nawab’s court
Of late, the Nawab’s weekly durbar is charged with anxiety, thick with heat and the closeness of bodies. It seems as though half of Murshidabad has decided to traipse to the Palace.
The grand hall is wreathed in opium smoke; half-clad dancing girls laugh and cavort to the tunes of wine-maddened musicians. Servants in gold chains and white langotis fan the courtiers with palm-fronds. The holy men have absented themselves, muttering darkly of ill-omens and wickedness.
Amongst the fearful revelry, refugees from Chandernagore come to trade the last of their wares or beg the lords for land, diplomatic Envoys exchange packets of documents, and the nobles talk endlessly of war and provisions and treachery.
Many of these courtiers can be visited in the dreaming as well.
The Mughal Envoy
Your Nawab owes his fealty to the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II of Delhi, a man who has spent forty of his fifty-five years of life imprisoned and is known to be in the thrall of his clever Vizier ul-Mulk. You wonder which one of them the Envoy reports to; it would be wise to choose your words carefully.
The French Representative
Jean Law looks like a man with a rakshasa, a demon, pursuing his dreams. As you yourself have not visited them much of late, you surmise that it is the stress of the Anglo-French war that is causing the haggardness in his face. To your surprise, he approaches you.
The Sikh Merchant
Omichand represents a large guild of silk-weavers and silversmiths; he is a devout Sikh, and known for his fearlessness in business deals. His wealth and connections make him powerful, and he is reportedly discontented with the Nawab. It would be prudent to keep an eye on him.
✓ The Factor’s Wife
It seems the Irish-French merchant escaped the fall of Chandernagore none the worse for wear. She chuckles at the sight of you, and waves away another supplicant, gesturing for you to sit at the chaupar board. It seems Madame has set up shop right here in the Nawab’s court. A chilling thought: she will probably be running the kingdom by next year.
You need 1 x Madame Molloy (you have 1)
A woman of means
As you lay out the pieces, you enquire after her business following the siege. “It was a damned hot time of it, I don’t mind telling you,” she says, as she pours the tea with that surprising grace. “War is no good for anyone but the quick and the dead, and I intended to be one of the quick ones. So I laid my hands on a store of powder and shot and got it out of the city under cover of a shipment of grain, and myself and my ledgers in a cartload of fever-dead. An experience I’ll not soon forget.”
She gives a dyspeptic chuckle and moves a piece. You can tell that she intends to dine out on this story for many years. And so she shall, if any of her listeners can keep their dinner down.
Then, is she selling powder to the Nawab? “Aye, but it’s a seller’s market,” she says with a wink. “I’d never sell coal dust for powder, but there’s nothing to say a merchant can’t label their powder-barrels as wine or indigo and let them sit a-while as the prices go up. The Nabob’s excise-men can’t tell the difference, or won’t for a friendly fee.” She laughs, and traps one of your pieces in a neat move. She is certainly enamoured with her own good sense.
And what of her husband? you ask, playing along. She gives you an empty look, and removes her pipe from her mouth. “Didn’t make it out, poor devil,” she says. You are not terribly surprised.
You’ve gained 1 x Threats of War (new total 12). You’ve gained 1 x Rumours of Madness and Dissent (new total 3). Onward
Investigate the anxious town of Murshidabad
✓ The Hospital
Charity is an Islamic obligation: when the Nawab ascended to the throne, he gave a waqf, an charitable endowment, to a local hospital. Those too poor to hire physicians of their own throng its halls.
Uneasy sleepers
The hospital is part of a larger complex of buildings that were erected around a mausoleum to a saint; the wide arches embossed with Persian script reflect that architectural heritage. You hold a light chiffon scarf over your face as you move through the crowd: there is no sense in inhaling the ill-humours of the coughing, shuffling patients. The head physician ushers you past the hollow-eyed men and women in the waiting rooms to the main ward where there are rows and rows of uneasy sleepers lying on beds.
“They cannot be woken,” the physician tells you, with some asperity. “I do not know why. This plague spreads amongst commoners and nobles alike. I confess myself baffled.”
You recognise a few courtiers lying insensate, and behind a discreet curtain even a few ladies from the harems of zamindars and nobles. You have never seen anything like it – perhaps it would be worth investigating this further in the svapnasthana, the dreaming.
An occurrence! Your ‘Uneasy Sleepers’ Quality is now 1! Onward
An opium-wreathed afternoon in the Nawab’s court
✓ The Sikh Merchant
Omichand represents a large guild of silk-weavers and silversmiths; he is a devout Sikh, and known for his fearlessness in business deals. His wealth and connections make him powerful, and he is reportedly discontented with the Nawab. It would be prudent to keep an eye on him.
Cautious politics
There is a small hush in the conversation as you walk towards the group of merchants around Omichand. That in itself is not ominous: you are justly feared in your own right. You smile and make some innocuous comments. Before long the group begins to talk more naturally, growing accustomed to your presence. You watch Omichand as he carefully diverts the conversation, siphoning it to particular conclusions. Much of their talk is mercantile: lamenting the interruptions in trade caused by the British siege, details of new trading agreements, rumours of wartime tax-levies.
But here and there you find a chime of discontent with the Nawab’s political choices, quickly silenced with a look from Omichand. The Sikh offers nothing but cautious praise for the Nawab – but he is also gently sweating under your gaze. You wonder what he is hiding.
You’ve gained 1 x Rumours of Madness and Dissent (new total 4). Onward
A wave of dizziness and pain
You defied the Begum by refusing her summons to you. A dangerous move. Since your show of wilfulness, you have recieved no vials of antidote for the slow poison that she tricked you into drinking.
Enough time passes that you are almost convinced that the Begum was bluffing and then - it strikes you like the lash of a whip: a wave of intense dizziness and pain.
✓ Beg for forgiveness
Your loyalties will suffer if you give in. You think of the hibiscus, its petals delicately rotting on your pillow. You imagine your skin bruised and pale, your intestines rotting in pale pink loops sweetly disintegrating.
A discarded pride
The Begum’s attendants take over your rooms quietly and efficiently after you tell them your secrets and give up your pride. By the time the Begum strides in, veiled and imperious, you are on your knees on the pale cream carpet. The Begum trails her hands along your cheeks, grazing her nails across your throat. “Oh yes, sa-ilu, the poison is upon you,” she says, her voice sorrowful. “I hoped that we could be true friends. That you saw my debauched nephew for the monster of greed and cruelty that he is. But you are a fool, for all your powers.”
She gestures, and her guard brings her a crystal bottle filled with rich green liquid, laid on a silver platter. She presses one hand against your jaw so your mouth opens, and pours the liquid onto your tongue - it tastes smoky and wonderful. You curl up on the ground, coughing.
The Begum stands up; you hear the clink of gold bracelets, the whisper of bells hung on anklets. “I could have let you die,” she says conversationally. “Think on that, till next we meet.”
An occurrence! Your ‘Poisoned by the Begum’ Quality is now 1!
An occurrence! Your ‘Ghaseti Begum’ Quality is now 3 - You tried to defy the Begum once, but no longer. You are in her power.!
The Nawab has raised you high. You are loyal to him.
Onward
Prayer and Prophecy at the Temple
✓ Pray at the shrine of Ganesha
The elephant-headed god is the lord of obstacles. There are many ahead of you; it would be wise to ask his favour in your mission.
A calming prayer
You ring the bell and push yourself to the front of the crowd. The idol of Ganesh is made of stone rather than silver or gold, with small glinting chips of jet for eyes. He is wreathed in marigolds and jasmine. His upper arms hold an axe and a noose; he holds a sweet in his lower left hand, and his own broken tusk in the lower-right. His trunk is smoothed from the touch of many hands. One of the priests lights the camphor and incense on a silver plate, and chants as he circles it around the idol in the inner sanctum.
You empty your mind of self, and let your eyes unfocus as the priest’s sanskrit shlokas pound rhythmically in your ears. It is curiously freeing, to let your mind wander like this – perhaps it is similar to the sensation of dreaming? You, sa-ilu, would not know. The prayer completes; you touch your head to the floor, and make your three clockwise turns around the shrine, feeling a sense of peace that lasts through the day.
You’ve gained 5 x Visions (new total 115). You’ve gained 1 x Imagination (new total 28).
Onward
Investigate the anxious town of Murshidabad
✓ The Supreme Court
As the capital city of Bengal, Murshidabad is also the seat of judicial power. Lawyers gossip notoriously; perhaps you could find some useful information if you paid a visit to the grand edifice.
Madness like a disease
You slip in to the viewing gallery of a trial in progress. A tall, quite handsome lawyer is petitioning the judge for the release of his client: a soldier of middle years bound and shackled. The prisoner writhes and mutters, his uniform stained and tattered. It transpires that the soldier was a platoon-leader in the Nawab’s army; three nights ago he abandoned his post and made his way from the army camp in Polashir back to Murshidabad. He was picked up on the streets by the guards, raving of ill-omens and women with hair made of twisting shadow and tearing at his own clothes. His wife weeps beside him, but he does not even acknowledge her.
You ask the lawyer about his case after the judge denies his plea; apparently he is not the first soldier to abandon his post in recent days. That in itself is unsurprising; what is strange is that many of them have been found days later, filthy and hysterical, mumbling incomprehensible warnings. “They catch madness like a disease,” the lawyer tells you darkly. “Were I a superstitious man, I would call it dark magic, or worse.”
You’ve gained 1 x Rumours of Madness and Dissent (new total 5).
Onward
An opium-wreathed afternoon in the Nawab’s court
✓ The French Representative
Jean Law looks like a man with a rakshasa, a demon, pursuing his dreams. As you yourself have not visited them much of late, you surmise that it is the stress of the Anglo-French war that is causing the haggardness in his face. To your surprise, he approaches you.
Armies and thrones
You smile diplomatically at Law’s approach; he has always treated you with a wary respect, unlike many of his compatriots. He also speaks quite excellent Bengali.
“Please, sa-ilu,” he sighs, running his hands through his hair. “I have begged and pleaded upon my knees, but the Nawab – blessed be his name – will not hear me. The British have seized Chandernagore, and now march north. They have raised an army in your sovereign lands. They are perfidious, and honourless. If Bengal does not join with us to defeat them, then it is only a matter of time before Robert Clive sits upon your Nawab’s throne.”
You imagine it almost involuntarily: Clive in the Nawab’s pristine silks, while you bow your head low to the ground at his feet. Does this vision shake you? Or do you dismiss it as mere fancy? You mutter some halfhearted promises to Law, and take your leave, unsettled.
You’ve gained 1 x Threats of War (new total 13). You’ve gained 3 x Visions (new total 118).
Onward
Prayer and Prophecy at the Temple
✓ Speak with the priests
They will know many of Murshidabad’s secrets – spiritual and otherwise. Will they recognise your low-caste features if you approach too closely? Perhaps they will be blinded by your wealth and reputation.
Politics and religion
You fiddle with your amulet conspicuously until one of the younger priests approaches you with his head bowed; his scalp is tonsured, and he wears the sacred thread across his body. There was a time where you were deemed unworthy to touch his shadow. No longer, it seems. You ask him about the people, their fears and gossip. He is friendly enough until you imply that you are here on a mission from the Nawab. His face closes up quickly; there is no finesse in his refusal to give you any information, but simple stubbornness is as effective.
Several wealthy Hindu merchants who are powerful at court watch you as you depart; do the priests know something of value, or are they merely displeased with the Nawab? You hope, for your own sake if nothing else, that any conspiracy against the court does not have a religious dimension. An attempted coup could quickly spiral into a damaging civil war.
You’ve gained 1 x Rumours of Madness and Dissent (new total 6). Your powers are political as well as sorcerous - it is wise to remind those around you of this.
Onward
Further memories of your past
Your rooms are luxurious and comfortable, as befits your status. There are plump hand-embroidered silk bolsters, a censer filled with sweet smells of jasmine and sandalwood, bright-glazed jugs filled with cool water with fresh mint and lemon-slices, shelves of books carefully dusted by quiet, respectful servants each morning.
Yet it was not always so: sometimes, as you cast your eye about the casual opulence, you are drawn to recall how you came to be here.
Gain Imagination and Memories if you succeed - but do not fear failure, it can often be rewarding.
✓ Recall training with Cani
The first time you stepped into her mind, she threw you back into the waking world with casual power. Your teacher, patience visibly ebbing away, had ordered you to get into Cani’s bed and hold hands with her.
Recall your first days at court
The court seemed a place full of wonder and terror to your eyes.
Recall your teacher’s funeral
There was no body: by tradition they burned a person-shaped sacking form filled with sweet spices, cardamom and ginger-root and oudh.
Recall a moment of passion
There was a moment where you nearly confessed all to Cani. You are sure she knows of your passion; after that, how could she not?
Recall your father
You will gain 15 x Memories and 4 x Imagination each time you play this branch.
You have cut yourself away from the rag-and-bone child that you once were. Was it a haphazard decision, or one long deliberated? You last saw him as you were being led away from your home, your hand held fast by your new teacher as she whispered of the grandeur of the Nawab’s court. Yet your father’s eyes look back at you when you look in the mirror. Some things cannot be so easily left behind.
[This branch is now free to play] Go
Perhaps not
Flowers and curtains
You remember Cani’s disinterested grasp; you were much younger, and she held you in justifiable contempt. “You must allow your partner into yourself,” the sa-ilu had told her. “Allah give me strength, girl. Imagine yourself a flower, opening up to your partner.”
Unthinkably, Cani had laughed in your teacher’s face, and then made a sly comment. You did not understand its significance, but – flush with the bravado of youth – had added that you heard the same thing from the laundry-woman, the most scandalous woman of your acquaintance. Cani had given you a look of genuine admiration before dissolving into hiccuping hysterics. Your teacher prescribed you both cold baths for a month, which had only pulled you closer together in solidarity. The next time you trained, Cani’s dream had parted for you like a tasseled curtain. Now, you wonder whether that had been your teacher’s plan all along.
You’ve gained 5 x Memories (new total 36). You’ve gained 1 x Imagination (new total 29).
Onward
An opium-wreathed afternoon in the Nawab’s court
✓ The Mughal Envoy
Your Nawab owes his fealty to the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II of Delhi, a man who has spent forty of his fifty-five years of life imprisoned and is known to be in the thrall of his clever Vizier ul-Mulk. You wonder which one of them the Envoy reports to; it would be wise to choose your words carefully.
The French Representative
Jean Law looks like a man with a rakshasa, a demon, pursuing his dreams. As you yourself have not visited them much of late, you surmise that it is the stress of the Anglo-French war that is causing the haggardness in his face. To your surprise, he approaches you.
The Sikh Merchant
Omichand represents a large guild of silk-weavers and silversmiths; he is a devout Sikh, and known for his fearlessness in business deals. His wealth and connections make him powerful, and he is reportedly discontented with the Nawab. It would be prudent to keep an eye on him.
The Factor’s Wife
It seems the Irish-French merchant escaped the fall of Chandernagore none the worse for wear. She chuckles at the sight of you, and waves away another supplicant, gesturing for you to sit at the chaupar board. It seems Madame has set up shop right here in the Nawab’s court. A chilling thought: she will probably be running the kingdom by next year.
You need 1 x Madame Molloy (you have 1)
Local threats
The Envoy is a portly man with a wheezing cough and hard manner. At your gentle questioning, he curses. “Durrani and his band of Afghan thugs are growing more bold with each day, the blaspheming dogs!” He spits. “They will ally with the Marathas and march come summer, you mark my words. We would do well to forestall such an alliance before it destroys us all.”
He changes tack then, regarding you with a sharp, rheumy eye. “But the Nawab is busy with his British troubles. Ah, but these foreigners – they come and go.” The Envoy leans close. “The Marathas are the greater threat to our Empire, don’t you agree?”
You nod graciously, troubled by the warning in his words: should Bengal find itself at war with the British, there is little hope of reinforcement from Delhi. Something to be kept in mind.
You’ve gained 1 x Threats of War (new total 14).
Onward
Moonlit Ghazals at the Mystic’s Tomb
This month the singers meet by moonlight at the tomb of a saint, littering the manicured grass with their polished instruments and porcelain opium-pipes. The Sufi poet who challenged you when you came here last welcomes you with a wine-soaked greeting, and offers to introduce you to the nervous young singers tuning their sarangi.
“Or,” he demurs, with a sly look. “Would you prefer to shame us all with another recitation?”
It is a warm night, smelling of almonds and spice; a night for singing ghosts to rest, or calling down the favour of the gods, if you were inclined to be so romantic.
Gain Imagination if you succeed - but do not fear failure, it can often be rewarding.
✓ Ask for an introduction
The Sufi Poet is pleased to demonstrate his knowledge and authority, pulling you through the crowd with light, cutting comments about the skills of the poets and musicians you leave in your wake. “But this singer,” he tells you, voice shot through with reverence. “Ah, I will not use words, sa-ilu, to grasp at such a mystery.”
Recite a Hindu poem
You have long favoured the great poet-saint Tulsidas, said to be a reincarnation of the First Poet Valmiki who penned the epic Ramayanas. Perhaps the Sufis and ghazal-singers would appreciate hearing a song of your heritage?
You are so tired
Perhaps you could recite an ironic poem by the great Khaqani; at this moment, it reflects some of your darkest presentiments.
Take a risk
There are whispers of dissension amongst the poets assembled; whispers of the Nawab’s weakness, his refusal to take counsel. They would certainly enjoy some veiled mockery, and you have just the verse, penned by the Persian poet of the people, Sa’di.
You need Loyal to the Nawab of Bengal 0 (you have 3)
Distraction
The Sufi Poet knows everyone - you are stopped on your way by well-wishers and gossips who draw you into their searching conversations. All of them desire something from you: you feel sticky and weighted down by their hopes and fears.
Perception 22 failed in a challenge! You’ve gained 2 x Desires (new total 14).
Onward
A high-risk challenge (Your Perception quality gives you a 20% chance of success). You need Perception 16 (you have 17). 
You need 6 x Desires (you have 32) Go
You need 6 x Traumas (you have 65) Go
You need 6 x Memories (you have 44) Go
You’ve gained 1 x Imagination (new total 21).
Your powers are political as well as sorcerous - it is wise to remind those around you of this.
You have made your choice of how to deal with Nandakumar - are you satisfied, or uneasy?
You’ve gained 5 x An Enemy of the British (new total 18).
A straightforward challenge (Your Curiosity quality gives you a 100% chance of success). You need Curiosity 6 (you have 18) Go
You now have 1 x Amina Begum.
An occurrence! Your ‘The Siege’ Quality is now 1! Onward
‘The Defences of Chandernagore’ has been reset: a conclusion, or a new beginning?
You need 1 x Pierre Renault (you have 3) Go
You need 1 x Madame Molloy (you have 0) Locked