Update 8b: Coldhouse Flowers (yes, finally)
Anyway, after spending some time with our friends, it’s back to the grind (literally, I’d like to get my Finesse to 13). Right off the bat we draw a new card:
Pest control
A squad of Ocular Guards appears to be dealing with what looks like a temple of delicate gold-black rafters and chitinous tiles: an insectine colony, already damaged by curving spikes of ice.
You’ve heard uneasy stories of insectine poison-banquets and the dire prophecies they sting into their living prey. You’d better lend the Guards a hand.
(A modest challenge – Your Force quality gives you a 70% chance of success.) [You need 5 x Brittle Rumor (you have 6); You need Force 4 (you have 10); You need Gunslinger 1 (you have 2)]
The insectines’ unsavory reputation is largely the result of human prejudice against, well, insects. They don’t deserve to be exterminated like this.
(A low-risk challenge – Your Resolve quality gives you a 90% chance of success.) [You need Resolve 4 (you have 12); You need Gunslinger 1 (you have 2)]
Insectines are regarded as a curiosity in some parts of Iria, as they are relative newcomers. You know of people who like to collect the exotic, and who would pay well.
Playing this option will get you 10x Ice and 10x Labyrinth Crystal.
[This branch is now free to play]
One of the insectines zigzags toward your position beneath a crystal-black archway and hums urgently at you. What does it want?
The insectines’ unsavory reputation is largely the result of human prejudice against, well, insects. They don’t deserve to be exterminated like this.
Success!
You spot a balcony that offers some cover. It’s only a moment’s work to clamber up, although you have to avoid the grinning icicles. You begin shooting at the Guards. Although they fire ocular blasts at you, they only succeed in melting some of the shrouds of ice to either side of you.
With this distraction, the insectines are able to rally. With a choral buzzing, they attack with renewed ferocity. The Guards are forced to retreat.
The queen herself does not come out to thank you, but a squad of insectine high soldiers come out to dance their gratitude. You bow in return, cautioning them that they should consider relocating. One of the soldiers acknowledges your advice, in a voice like serrated flowers.
Resolve is increasing…
You succeeded in a Resolve challenge! (Simple challenges mean you don’t learn so much.)
You’ve lost 1 x Ice (new total 1).
You’ve lost 3 x Seen with the Ocular Guard (new total 0).
You’ve gained 1 x Oddment of Honor (new total 64).
EJ: Well, that destroyed our relationship with the Ocular Guard, but I’m never going to pick a “yeah let’s exterminate this sapient species” option unless my hand is forced somehow, so oh well.
Immediately after this we get A children’s game and I choose to give some candies to the children, losing the rest of the Ice I picked up earlier. That didn’t last long!
A repository of antiques
It used to be an armory for an order of warrior-poets. You’re not sure why it escaped being plundered this long, but now it’s cracked open. The statues of gun-saints are toppled, and a tapestry of ash-fibers and bristling wires lies shredded by fingers of ice.
The Architects are determined to preserve the artifacts in the armory, weapons or otherwise, so that the warrior-poets’ legacy won’t be lost at the hands of deathmongers. You could offer your assistance.
Success!
The duelists may have determination on their side, but the Architects are better at planning. Rapid questioning reveals that a couple of them are familiar with the armory’s layout, including a secret passage that may not have been blocked when the winterstrike hit. You lead a sortie against the duelists and are bemused by their surprise. A few well-placed shots from militant Architects scatters them, and soon you have the upper hand.
When you report back to the Architects’ leader, an elderly man with a cockerel tattooed on his face, he praises your courage. “They’ll be back later,” he says, “but for now, we excavate what we can.” You are given a few baffling artifacts, like Moebius sculptures, to study in your spare time.
Force is increasing…
You succeeded in a Force challenge!
You’ve gained 1 x Associated with the Architects of Ink (new total 16).
You’ve lost 3 x Caught in the Circle of Bullets (new total 12).
You’ve gained 3 x Enigmatic Gadget (new total 4).
*At last! And that got us some Enigmatic Gadgets, which is nice since it saves me a trip to that stupid elusive marketplace.
An importunate thief then shows up again a couple of times. This guy really never learns.*
Pest control
A squad of Ocular Guards appears to be dealing with what looks like a temple of delicate gold-black rafters and chitinous tiles: an insectine colony, already damaged by curving spikes of ice.
One of the insectines zigzags toward your position beneath a crystal-black archway and hums urgently at you. What does it want?
You are given to understand that it’s not just xenophobia that’s driving the Guards’ violence. The insectines discovered something that the Guards wanted. This one is determined that the Guards will not have it.
Before you can say no, it presses upon you a truncated cube that whispers and whistles like birdsong in a land of never-dreams. Through the cube’s translucent facets you can see clusters of tiny eyes wired to each other with non-Euclidean circuitry.
You’d give the thing back, but the insectine has already flown back to its fellows.
You’ve gained 1 x Enigmatic Gadget (new total 5).
EJ: We then get An invitation to duel again and pick the same option as last time, failing again. Then there’s some old stuff and then a card I’ve now failed to capture twice (once due to a lag issue, the second time in the lost update) and am excited to finally show you!
A Meticulous Ocicat
There’s a house with a garden less frost-chained than those around it. A Meticulous Ocicat lives in the house, and though you never catch her arranging the parlor’s books, or the starship figurines with their winking lights, or the trays of sugar cookies and tea, everything is always in perfect order.
As the Ocicat wanders around the parlor, tail curling and uncurling like a question mark, she glances your way and mews. You’ve heard that she likes to listen to visitors’ stories.
The sugar cookies are cut in the shapes of whimsical trees and flowers and crescent moons. They beg to be enjoyed.
One of the Ocicat’s books draws your eye. In fact, her shelves reveal that she is widely read, a lover of lore, although the occasional adventure novel peeks out in between weighty tomes of stellate scholarship. You could pass an hour or three here, sheltered from Iria’s tumult, reading.
The Ocicat inspects one of her bookcases, and her whiskers twitch in distress. One of her library crystals is sparking and fizzing: the text within won’t be good for much longer.
You need 1 x Labyrinth Crystal (you have 13)
EJ: I believe we’ve only seen the book-reading option, so let’s try telling her some stories:
Not only is the Ocicat an excellent audience for the tales you happen to have with you—tales of joyous dragon-robots and flower-strewn festivals and, perhaps, the occasional brave kitten—she has a habit of acting out the amusing bits. Her feline face is wonderfully expressive, and when it’s time for you to go, you do so with a light heart.
You’ve gained 1 x Fleeting Merriment (new total 35).
EJ: Some may find this Ocicat business a bit twee, but whatever, I think she’s charming.
After this we get Pest control again and take the option that gets us an Enigmatic Gadget. Then some old cards, and then our feline friend again, clearly in the mood for some attention today:
A Meticulous Ocicat
The sugar cookies are cut in the shapes of whimsical trees and flowers and crescent moons. They beg to be enjoyed.
Not only are the cookies as delicious as they smell, the pastel sugar sprinkles release flower-fragrances as you bite into them. The Ocicat urges you to take a few with you.
You’ve gained 1 x Evanescent Treat (new total 25).
EJ: More old stuff, including another encounter with The writings of an avian prophet, which is kind of funny because it feels like you should only be able to pull off a heist of an arcane chanting book once. But hey, more Ocicat! She’s everywhere all of a sudden:
A Meticulous Ocicat
The Ocicat inspects one of her bookcases, and her whiskers twitch in distress. One of her library crystals is sparking and fizzing: the text within won’t be good for much longer.
EJ: Well, we’ve got plenty of labyrinth crystals, and I do hate to lose data to corruption, so I’m happy to help out a friend here:
Fortunately, you have a spare labyrinth crystal and the knowledge of how to transfer data to it. The operation is fiddly, but you’re glad to make the effort on the Ocicat’s behalf. Sure enough, the labyrinth crystal chimes in your hand, casting momentary rainbows against the bookcases and the floor: the book has been salvaged. The Ocicat watches you with wise, grateful eyes.
You’ve lost 1 x Labyrinth Crystal (new total 12).
You’ve gained 1 x Oddment of Honor (new total 65).
The next interesting thing we get is this:
A dusty parlor
Some people prefer to ignore the evidence of winter’s crescendo and while away their hours in parlors like this one, exchanging banter and showing each other the oddling treasures they’ve scavenged.
It’s as good a time as any to page through the book. What strange ideas lie within?
A one-handed ravenfolk warrior is reading over your shoulder. Companionably, you move to her side, and the two of you are soon reading choice passages to each other and chuckling. Improbable star fortresses and humming laser swords, for a start. You wouldn’t mind such a sword yourself.
You’ve gained 1 x Fleeting Merriment (new total 37).
EJ: I’m not sure which book is “the” book; there’s no item prerequisite for this option and no book mentioned in the card description. Anyway, it seems to be a Star Wars novelization or perhaps an Expanded Universe tie-in novel rather than anything more portentous. This is a cute moment with the ravenfolk warrior, though; it makes me a bit sad that she’s not a proper character we can get to know.
We get another run of old cards after this, which is not helping with my attempt to grind Finesse, since by “old” I mean most of them are Winterlocked 1 and offer only the easiest of challenges. But finally Attack on a dream refinery comes through for us:
An attack on a dream refinery
The two sides don’t seem to be paying attention to anyone else. Which leaves an interesting opportunity for a resourceful individual like yourself. That side entrance, in particular, doesn’t look to be guarded.
Success!
While the fighting continues, you ease the entrance open. It once had sophisticated biometric locks, but all of them are pierced through with ice and are no longer any barrier.
The wavering-sweet smell of dreamstuff is very strong inside, and you know now why the Guards are so keen on securing the location. It’s a wonder that they didn’t send more than four people. The refinery isn’t just producing dream-anesthetic, it’s producing the kind of drug that people use at reveries and parties.
Sadly, the refinery’s functioning was affected by the winterstrike. Still you’re able to salvage a couple doses of the stuff before you have to slip out lest whoever’s outside traps you in here.
Finesse has increased to 13!
You succeeded in a Finesse challenge! (Simple challenges mean you don’t learn so much.)
You’ve gained 3 x Evanescent Treat (new total 35).
EJ: That means it’s time to try Coldhouse flowers again:
Coldhouse flowers
The Architects wish to make sure of your commitment. Their tattoos can’t be removed, after all.
The Pale Archivist requires coldhouse flowers for the next stage of your initiation. She even tells you where to find them, instead of leaving you to research that for yourself. (A modest challenge
Your Finesse quality gives you a 70% chance of success.
[You need Finesse 7 (you have 13); You need Tower Tattoo 1 and Tower Tattoo no more than 1 (you have 1)]
Why would anyone need a coldhouse in a winterlocked city? This can’t bode well, and it would be just like the Architects to take their obsession with preservation too far.
(A tough challenge – Your Force quality gives you a 40% chance of success.)
[You need Tower Tattoo 1 and Tower Tattoo no more than 1 (you have 1); You need Force 7 (you have 10)]
You’ve brought the Pale Archivist a sufficient supply of the flowers. For her part, she has prepared the ink for the next stage of the tattoo.
[LOCKED – You need 3 x Coldhouse Flower (you have 0); You need Tower Tattoo 1 and Tower Tattoo no more than 1 (you have 1)]
The Pale Archivist requires coldhouse flowers for the next stage of your initiation. She even tells you where to find them, instead of leaving you to research that for yourself.
Success!
The Archivist’s directions take you past some snappish laser cannons and to a coldhouse dome. You work quickly to gather the toothy blossom, on account of the cold, worse even than the surrounding winter. When you present the Pale Archivist with your find, there’s a pleased but rueful light in her eyes.
Finesse is increasing…
You succeeded in a Finesse challenge!
You now have 1 x Coldhouse Flower.
EJ: Woo, finally! Although somewhat anticlimactically, we now have to do it twice more to actually progress. I do fail a number of times, but I eventually get the three flowers, so I’ll see you next time when we will at last get our second tattoo!
In the meantime, here are our current stats:
And here’s our inventory:
In which the only actually new item is this:
Coldhouse Flower x 3: It’s unclear why the flowers need more cold than there already is.