While putting together the Broke Bastard’s Guide, it really struck me how difficult leveling Shapeling Arts was without an in with the Rubbery Men (or even the Bohemians, who are the faction most favorable to them).
And you know, that’s actually kind of brilliant, to have the gameplay and the storytelling complement each other like that. This isn’t a skill you can easily pick up on your own, unlike, say, Glasswork, or even A Player of Chess. The old Rubbery who helps you advance to 6 and 7 outright tells you that, as a human, you literally lack the anatomy and senses for it. You can only begin making up for the gap through close instruction from an experienced Rubbery teacher.
(I absolutely love Helicon, just in case you couldn’t tell. I’ll be happy if this event gets more people to go there.)
It makes me wonder how the Starved picked up the art in the first place, but maybe we’ll learn more about that come Firmament.