(Apologies if this thread is in the wrong place- I wasn’t entirely sure where to put it)
I’m currently on Name Signed With A Flourish 6, but I’ve heard that reaching 7 means being banished from the Empress’s court. However, I’ve also heard that the Court is useful for raising MW and Scholar of the Correspondence, among other things, so I’m pretty keen to stay for now. How do I avoid starting the storylet that will get me kicked out- is it obvious, or are there actions I should be avoiding?
It’s very obvious. The person responsible will tell you that you’ll get banished in no uncertain terms, and you’ll have an option to cancel and go back to previous goings-on at Court.
It’s pretty obvious. After making a few works you’ll be offered the opportunity to make a special work at the cost of exile, and can choose to accept or turn down the offer. Saying no lowers your Carving out a Reputation quality and writing a few more works will bring up the offer once more. For unique things in court there’s a bunch of novels to write, getting a Memento of Passion, and raising SotC to 10; the options for raising Connections and MW are good but not the best out there. For example stealing Tales of Terror!! in the Flit and upconverting is slower overall but produces MW much faster when actually converting.
The post-court content is the Foreign Office, its fate-locked extension, and the Carnelian Coast.
It’s quite obvious. At Carving a Reputation 4, you’ll walk into a storylet that will immediately bump you up to Carving a Reputation 5. At this point you’ll be asked by the person you always talk to whenever you start a new piece whether you want to accept a special commission and be banished, or to turn it down. If you do, you’ll be returned to Carving a Reputation 3 without any penalties. You can do this until you feel like you’ve spent enough time at court :)
Reminder: Writing a Rousing Hymn (Song) is currently the best source of Foxfire Candles in the whole game, far beyond the unreliable Unfinished Business in Veilgarden.
And they can be used pretty frequently. Stock up on Candles to be safe!