What will happen if you succesfully refuse the thought to spare Vake in that storylet? I have no promise forcing me to kill him.
How do you increase Chess qualities and Mithridacy? I’ve played chess there, but match ended with no gain in anything.
Also, can you have different kinds of mates at the same time?
If you do the Mithridacy option to refuse to spare the Vakes, it locks you out from any option to spare the Vake in the future. Failure increases your Mithridacy and lets you try again. I suggest that anyone picking this option think deeply before picking this option, even if there is no promise binding you to kill the Vake.
The Moonlit Chessboard has options that specifically state that they will increase Player of Chess on success, and any successful “Player of Chess” skill check increases the quality as well. If you fail by a large margin (your enemy has 7 points or more), you can pick an option that increases your “Player of Chess” cap by 1 level. For example, you can increase the maximum level possible for Player of Chess from 5 to 6, and so on. Winning a match also increases the skill.
You can raise Mithridacy at the Waswood by trying to create a Narrative: even upon failure, it increases the skill.
As for “mates”, I assume you are referring to the chess rewards. You should be able to have different kinds of mates, but for the purposes of this Ambition, you only need any “Victory” mate to kill Surface Veils or a “Stalemate” to make him your friend.
Any idea if killing all three parts of the Vake gives any bonus in itself? I killed all three, am currently sailing to Abby Rock, and the epilogue will arrive around this time tomorrow
Not finished it myself, but there was posted a screenshot of affiliation. Basically, you’re paid with a huge network of influences and obligations (apparently, there’s not enough cash in London for this bounty).
edited by Aro Saren on 3/19/2020
Sorry to say I already further defended my base-camp before seeing your post, and the option does not appear to be redoable. For what it’s worth, from what I remember it wasn’t too exciting. I do recall the bottom text says your camp is defended from aerial attacks as well as ground ones.
[quote=Chwomp]Expertise is created by recruiting Lettice, the Mercy to your lab (via the staffing option) and choosing her card when it comes up. (research in London, not Parabola). You’ll need 5 Tomb-Colonies favors to recruit her, though.
As for me, I killed Surface Veils and I’m in the middle of a hunt right now against Curator Veils. I plan to capture and make 3rd city Veils my pet. Anyone interested in the stats?
edited by Chwomp on 3/19/2020[/quote]
I am, and the recruitment post too if you have it
Who would put up a bounty no one can p—oh, right, Veils did it for a lark didn’t he? Even if someone succeeded, that’s practically the definition of Somebody Else’s Problem.
edited by The Elfin Cannibal on 3/20/2020
Who would put up a bounty no one can p—oh, right, Veils did it for a lark didn’t he? Even if someone succeeded, that’s practically the definition of Somebody Else’s Problem.
edited by The Elfin Cannibal on 3/20/2020[/quote]
[Edited for clarity, since the original was written in the middle of the night when I was half-asleep.]
We can argue that the schemes and plans of the Bazaar and the Masters are extremely short-sighted and petty (which they are) and that this is a definite oversight on their part, but after thousands of years of Vake shenanigans, they probably thought that no human could claim the bounty. Even if Veils is somehow "defeated" by a hunter, Masters are known for being notoriously difficult to permanently kill (like Veils, Cups, Mirrors, and Eaten have proven), so they expect at least some part of Veils to continue existing. If even a fraction of Veils exists, they can easily concoct an absurd excuse to deny giving you the bounty since you did not kill the Vake in its entirety.
However, they are downright terrified if you do manage to 100% destroy the Vake, not only because they have to pay a massive bounty, but because of the dangerous determinator that you have proven to be. The Bazaar and the Masters expect you to act like them, to manipulate and control an enemy (like Veils) rather than outright destroy it just for a bounty that cannot reasonably be paid. It means you will go to any lengths to get what you want, someone that cannot be reasoned with or bought out. It shows you are absolutely ruthless in killing every single aspect of Veils instead of taking the easy way out and sparing even one of them for your own gain. More than the possibility of being driven to bankruptcy, the Bazaar and the Masters are rightfully scared that giving you a trillion Neathly dollars would mean that you are coming for them next.
As such, my guess is that the Bazaar’s version of an "IOU" is to prevent you from getting too mad and uncontrollable with wealth to be a problem, while also enmeshing you in Bazaar politics to continue serving its own interests (to make the most of your bounty, you have to stay near the Bazaar and protect it from outside threats so that it can live long enough to pay you back). In a way, the Bazaar is grooming you to eventually fill the void caused by Veils’s absence (Wines gives the warning for a reason).
Lastly, they probably hope you die and stay dead or they quickly cycle through the necessary remaining cities long before the full debt is paid. Once the contract for 7 cities is completed and/or you die for real, they are no longer obligated to pay and can avoid paying the full amount. The Bazaar and the Masters often play the long game, sort of like how casinos still profit despite giving the occasional jackpot, and you are reasonably unlikely to live long enough for all of the bounty to come to you.
So in the end, according to the Bazaar and the Masters, this is merely a temporary setback. And this is not taking to account that Mr Wines pressures you to kill a friend in the future, a way of reminding you that they still have power over you. And if they are as smart as I think they are, they will want you to kill April, a credible threat that cannot be coerced in any way to work with them.
TLDR: The "Bounty" means that the Bazaar is in your debt, but you must continue serving its interests to make the most out of it. That way, the Bazaar still theoretically comes out on top in the end.
edited by The Curious Watcher on 3/20/2020
Apologies and a slight correction: I’d forgotten I had echoed the text for defending the camp on my journal.
"Impermanent guard"
"You need the Curator for other purposes some of the time, but when you are in Parabola yourself, it can watch the borders of your camp and terrify your enemies"
edited by Hattington on 3/20/2020
As a heads-up, you can either eat third city Veils or capture him. The person I know who got there has not yet made her decision.
Can you share their mantelpiece please? The more I hear about Third City Veils the more fascinating it sounds as a pet.
after a week working on getting a Tear of the Bazaar, I’m finally hunting the Vake(s).
and I went from 6000+ echoes, to 400. this better be worth it
well, in that case, my destiny of maybe, possibly, becoming one of the masters, has never made more sense!
Oh, and how do you get Incisive Observations? I got one from the lab, but cannot remember the way.
Rely on the Numismatrix card at the laboratory has “Ask her to help with ordinary research” option and it gives an Incisive Observation as a bonus on success.
[quote=ochrasy]after a week working on getting a Tear of the Bazaar, I’m finally hunting the Vake(s).
and I went from 6000+ echoes, to 400. this better be worth it[/quote]I, uh, have some bad news for you about the incoming costs.
[quote=Azothi][quote=ochrasy]after a week working on getting a Tear of the Bazaar, I’m finally hunting the Vake(s).
and I went from 6000+ echoes, to 400. this better be worth it[/quote]I, uh, have some bad news for you about the incoming costs.[/quote]
seriously??? I already bought the 60 copper rings, and the boots and all that. I know it requires night-whispers eventually, at least those I have.
d___n, I hope it won’t get much more expensive. I still have some stuff to sell, but this game will take my Reported Location of a One-Time Prince of Hell over my dead body
Thanks to Acra, we now have (one method of) sparing Third City Veils!
[quote=ochrasy][quote=Azothi][quote=ochrasy]after a week working on getting a Tear of the Bazaar, I’m finally hunting the Vake(s).
and I went from 6000+ echoes, to 400. this better be worth it[/quote]I, uh, have some bad news for you about the incoming costs.[/quote]
seriously??? I already bought the 60 copper rings, and the boots and all that. I know it requires night-whispers eventually, at least those I have.
d___n, I hope it won’t get much more expensive. I still have some stuff to sell, but this game will take my Reported Location of a One-Time Prince of Hell over my dead body[/quote]
If you already bought all those items, you’re set. There aren’t any other big costs outside the requirements for each Vake fragment.
That kinda depends on how ready they are for the reaserch bit…
For those who decided to make the promise to Wines to kill a friend (a real friend, not the BS that Veils is a friend), do you have to honor the promise immediately or does it hang over you forever? And if it is immediately, who does Wines expect for you to kill?
