Avid Horizon

Avid Horizon
Avid Horizon (Sidebar)
Located in	Albion
Ports	The Home Office
Shops	The Hungry Traveller

Avid Horizon is a port in the outer circle of Albion, located in the same segment as The Most Serene Mausoleum.

Log Entries

Here, the sky remembers the sea. How dark it is. How damp.
You near the Avid Horizon, the door that let London into the heavens. It is closed fast, now.
"I can hear the zee!" a grizzled crewman cries. "Listen! Lapping like a cat at cream!"

Even the Rat Brigade shivers at the sudden cold. They steal extra bedding for their nest.
The Forged Companion peers at the Avid Horizon. "This is where you come from, isn't it?"
The Inconvenient Aunt shivers. "Wrap up warm, dear. You'll catch your death."
The Princess is intrigued. "Is this Avid Horizon? I was occupied when the royal locomotive came through."
The Repentant Devil stamps around the locomotive, draped in stolen coats. Hell is warmer.
When they see the Quiet Sea, below, the Eccentric's cats arch and hiss.
You near the Avid Horizon, where London entered the heavens. "No going back, now," the Signalman remarks.
"Cold, cold, cold," whispers the Incautious Driver, pressing as close as they can to the furnace.

The Home Office

The Avid Horizon consists of three parts. The Home Office: clinging to a pillar of ice. The Gate, through which Londoners entered the sky, flanked by its towering statues. And the Quiet Sea, whose waters are home to those left behind.

Approaching the Avid Horizon
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	278100

Approaching the Avid Horizon

The very edge of the High Wilderness. The border between now and then; here and there; the skies and Earth. The few lonely buildings of the port face the great Gate of the Avid Horizon. Bordered by two vast winged statues, the Gate towers over the shrouded sea that divides the port and the Gate. The other side of the gate opens far beneath the Earth, on the bleak shore of a subterranean sea. London rested there for a while, while her Majesty was indisposed with grief. A handful of years ago, though, she led an exodus of Londoners through the Avid Horizon and into the sky. You were among them. Do you remember how you came to this place?

Trigger conditions

New to the Horizon ≤ 0,

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects	Notes
A memory of flight A hurried escape in the night, fleeing with your precious contraband of uncensored poetry.	Origin: Academic = 30 [You studied Literature]	A desperate flight The newly invigorated Ministry of Public Decency hammering at your office door in the dead of night; gaslight streaming through your windows as you pocketed Baudelaire and Boccaccio and made for the college stair. A carriage to Wolfstack Docks, and from there a little steamer North. Your papers were fake but your money was good. The captain asked no questions. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. The statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and the gold of heaven. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of light You were always going North.	Origin: Academic = 20 [You studied the Correspondence]	A quest You had learnt all you could of the Correspondence in Fallen London. Your hair was singed. Your eyes were wild. It was only a matter of time before the Crown took notice in your expertise. But you would not be constrained by crown and country: yours would be knowledge for its sake alone. You booked passage on one of the ships bound from Wolfstack Docks to the Avid Horizon, far to the north of London. What better place to learn the language of heaven than from the suns themselves? Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. The statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and the gold of heaven. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A Memory of Service Your department was put to work, stabilising the bridge to the heavens.	Origin: Academic = 10 [You studied the practical sciences]	New horizons Her Majesty had need of scientists. Opening the Gate was the greatest scientific achievement of the age, and keeping it open was a daily miracle. You would work alongside the engineers of the Eagle Khan, whose knowledge of the natural sciences was a decade in advance of London's. And afterwards, the skies! New discoveries – whole new sciences! – might wait beyond the Avid Horizon. What scientist could resist? Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. The statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and the gold of heaven. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of patronage A poet must go where the power goes.	Origin: Poet = 30 [You belonged to the Sovereign school]	The Sovereign School Once the Gate opened, people poured from London. They were encouraged by a new poetry of escape, of avid horizons, of new dawns. Perhaps you wrote too well: one by one your patrons joined them. Well, no one was leaving you behind. You booked passage North as soon as funds and good taste allowed. The Empire was being born anew in the heavens, and it would need poets; to ennoble its victories and dignify its defeats. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light! New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of liberation Freedom flourishes when we are unseen. And while the suns are bright, the spaces between them are very wide, and very dark.	Origin: Poet = 20 [You belonged to the Nocturnal school]	The Nocturnal School It was a risk; to leave the deep, marvellous darkness under the earth. But the sky is home not only to the suns: it is home to the night. You had heard of places tucked between the stars; havens for free thinkers and radicals. You found a ship captain with revolutionary sympathies. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light! But you were undaunted: you would plant the seeds of revolution in the very fields of heaven. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of fulfillment In life, as in your art, you sought the sun and the stars.	Origin: Poet = 10 [You belonged to the Celestial school]	The Celestial School When London lay in a cavern far underground, the Celestials wrote nostalgically of the sun and the surface. But when the Gate opened, their muses were within reach. The movement flocked North, penning odes to the warm breezes of heaven, and the song of the stars. You chartered passage as soon as you could. Your work was suddenly in vogue, and you could travel in comfort. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light! Allelujah! New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of duty Her Renewed Majesty need soldiers to build her Empire.	Origin: Soldier ≥ 10 [You served in the Royal Horse Guards]	"Forwaaaaard... march!" Whatever your private feelings, you were Her Majesty's soldier. She commanded, and your regiment obeyed: "North." Some of you were veterans of the short-lived and hastily-forgotten war against Hell. Others were fresh-faced and untested. Some craved plunder, having heard of vaults brimming with the currencies of Heavens. Some wanted conquest, and new, verdant lands to make a home in. Some sought honour, or redemption, or release. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of marching The Regiment went North.	Origin: Urchin = 30 [You ran with the Regiment]	The last command Back in Old London, the Regiment had a Commander. He was part leader and part mascot, but he was old, and what happened to old people eventually happened to him. On his deathbed, he ordered you North. You'd been free on the rooftops. Perhaps, in higher places, you'd be freer still. So the Regiment made its way to the docks, split up, and stowed away aboard a score of steamers. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of thunder You were called North.	Origin: Urchin = 20 [You ran with the Fisher Kings]	The wind's bidding The Fisher-Kings spoke with the wind, and the wind told them to go North. Things can be simple when you're a Fisher-King. The wind of Old London lived in the cavern roof. It was sullen, but it was clever. The Fisher-Kings were, perhaps, its priests. It told them of other winds: winds that blew in the draughty gulfs between stars, that spoke in dead voices. Perhaps they needed priests, too. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. A wind blew through it. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of fear The Knotted Sock did not leave London lightly.	Origin: Urchin = 10 [You ran with the Knotted Sock]	Homeless The Knotted Sock were among the last to leave Old London. They lived in a rookery called Old Downy. It was draughty, and it creaked, but it was home. As the exodus gathered pace, though, panics swept the city. There were riots. There were fires. One of the fires claimed Old Downy, burning it down. Homeless, the Knotted Sock squeezed onto the last of the refugee ships. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. Perhaps a new home lay on the other side. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of welcome You fled London for a freer horizon.	Origin: Revolutionary ≥ 1	Escape into light When London was underground in the dark, your beliefs were permissible. But when Her Renewed Majesty turned her attentions to the stars, tyranny grew. It would only a matter of time before the newly invigorated Ministry of Public Decency caught you. But then, as they closed in, you received a Christmas card: an invitation to Winter's Reside in Eleutheria. where revolution has found a home. You stole onto a steamer making its way North. You survived on condensation until you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of labour The Ministry went North. You went with it.	Origin: Auditor ≥ 1	Her Majesty's service When Her Renewed Majesty turned her attention to the stars, the Ministry was to be the principal instrument of her will. No longer would it languish in London's cavern. You were not given a choice. Your ticket was booked, the hour of your departure appointed. You left on a steamship bound for the frozen north. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. Here, the real work began. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of vocation The Bishop took pity.	Origin: Priest = 30 [You were a parish priest]	Clemency The Bishop of St Fiacre's ordered you to join Her Renewed Majesty's great enterprise in the stars. He did so after he came to listen to one of your sermons, and regrettably found himself sitting beside Mrs Quigg. Perhaps your appointment to the stars was intended as mercy. You were given passage on a steamer heading north, to act as chaplain for its crew. Through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of perfidy The Bishop's crozier on your shoulder. An assignment.	Origin: Priest = 20 [You helped the Bishop of Southwark hunt devils]	Old battles The Church didn't have an especial interest in the opening of Heaven. There were still ministries in old London to tend to. The Bishop of Southwark had other ideas. "Devils," he told you, "Someone has to keep an eye on them. They have old history with the Heavens." He booked you passage on a splendid steam ship zailing North. Your berth was comfortable and the zailors appreciated a person of God being present. Through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of radiance The New Church went North.	Origin: Priest = 10 [You followed the creed of the New Sequence]	A mission The church, and its new, bright-eyed clergy, was given purpose by Her Majesty's enterprise in the stars. You were to leave old London to its lightless cavern and journey to a place where light might thrive. You were given passage on a ship of priests and deacons, admirals and zailors, joined in the golden fervour of the New Sequence. Your bright hymnals sounded through the dark beneath the world. Weeks later, through the Northern ice, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 +1 x Vision of the Heavens Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of escape Your smuggling career came to an abrupt end.	Origin: Zailor = 10 [You were a smuggler]	A thief in the night Were you the victim of a spy? An informer for the Ministry? You'll never know. What you do know is that your ship was raided, your crew impounded and your goods thrown into the zee. Or possibly the other way around. Regardless, you were alone and hunted. An old friend made contact. They knew of one way out – beyond the Avid Horizon. They were leaving their life behind, taking only their boat. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 +1 x Vision of the Heavens Triggers event:  The Home Office
A memory of desire The skies were full of opportunity.	Origin: Zailor ≥ 20 [You were an explorer]	New opportunities, new horizons Had you lived enough upon the zee? Your appetites fulfilled and your curiosities sated. Beyond the horizon was a horizonless place. There was a sky more sunless. You took what crew would follow you into weirder waters, and turned your engine North. Her Renewed Majesty had opened the door to the High Wilderness to establish an empire among the stars. You would find your place there. Weeks later, through the Northern ice and the dark beneath the world, you reached the Gate. Its statues loomed like giants. The door was open, and the space within was filled with suns and stars and light. New to the Horizon = 1 +1 x Vision of the Heavens Triggers event:  The Home Office

The Market of Truth
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	303700

The Market of Truth

Cults from the depths of the Quiet Sea beneath the Home Office have established a stall by the docks. Here they sell their philosophies and the curious catches from the glassy waters. It is hard to tell which more offends the Ministry's sensibilities.

Trigger conditions

Date ≥ An Opportunity at the Avid Horizon,
An Opportunity at the Avid Horizon ≥ 1

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects	Notes
Listen to the preacher Airs of Opportunity(CultistBlather)		Distant nonsense The detainees of the Home Office have no time for their prattle. The preacher shuffles off in a hail of cheery insults and the occasional thrown rock. -10 x Terror Airs of Opportunity = (1 to 100) An Opportunity at the Avid Horizon = Date+15
Purchase a Caged Catch from the preacher The contents are suspicious, but the prices are excellent.	Sovereign ≥ 150	What lies beneath The preacher reaches for a cage and mutters as whatever is inside it gives her a quick nip. "Straight from the Unterzee," she promises. Airs of Opportunity(CagedCatch) It is hard to tell. Some creature of the Neath, trapped when the Avid Horizon closed its doors after the exodus. -150 x Sovereign +1 x Caged Catch Airs of Opportunity = (1 to 100) An Opportunity at the Avid Horizon = Date+15

The Home Office
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	280901

The Home Office

The Home Office occupies a stately, albeit crumbling, manor house on the edge of an icy precipice high above the Quiet Sea. Once, thousands passed through its elegant halls on their way into Albion. The Gate is closed now, though, and has been for over a year. No one comes through, and no one leaves. Now, only a skeleton crew staffs it, and only a handful of incomers remain, stuck here waiting for pardons or permissions that never came. Her Renewed Majesty has a long memory.

Trigger conditions

New to the Horizon ≥ 1

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects			Notes
Compile a Port Report No one pays attention to the Horizon anymore. Perhaps they should.	Report: Avid Horizon ≤ 0	No way home The few bureaucrats stationed at the Avid Horizon for one departmental sin or another reside in desperate melancholy. Those detained within the faded confines of the Bureau are almost reconciled to their fate: listlessly hoping for a reprieve from London that will likely never come. Beyond the Bureau, the Sea in the Sky lingers like morning mist. Exiles dwell there on tethered ships strung together, dwarfed by the eternal and uncaring statues that mark the gate to a home that cannot be returned to. Report: Avid Horizon = 1 [Hand your port reports in to the Genial Auditor or the Stalwart Bookkeeper at London to earn rewards]
Meet a New Street Line Passenger in the backroom of Murgatroyd's Frontier Supplies Your contact said they'd be doing odd jobs in the storeroom. She also gave you a key to enter through the back.	New Street Line: Passenger For Pick-Up = 2 [Collect them from the Home Bureau, at the Avid Horizon] A Workworld Runaway ≤ 0 [Your workworld runaway has left the train.]	A relic Between shelves of tat, lined in neat rows, a woman with hair as white as cobwebs sits in a novelty rocking chair. She seems to be dead as the Stovie Sam dolls sat among the merchandise. She doesn't respond when you address her. But when you show her the ticket, her eyes widen. "Someone came looking for me before," she confides. "But I played dead, see?" She joins you on your locomotive. Next stop for her is New Street Line: Passenger For Delivery(Port). A Workworld Runaway = 1 [You have brought a workworld runaway on board.] New Street Line: Passenger For Pick-Up = 0 [There is nobody to collect at the moment]
Present yourself at the Home Office Protocol is everything when it comes to dealing with London's bureaucracy. Even at this outpost. Especially at this outpost.	Introduced at the Home Office ≤ 0	To all things, a place The Acting Senior Probiter is responsible for monitoring all those trapped at the Home Office: the detainees forbidden entry to Albion, with no way back through the Gate. He sits behind a little desk in the echoing hallway of the manor. He keeps three things on his desk: a wind-up clock and two battered mugs. He surveys you coolly. "You're welcome to take a look around, though we have precious little in the way of diversions. Have you been out to the Flotilla? I must ask you not to pay too much attention to the cultists. And if you have not, I'd recommend staying away. There are good reasons they were never allowed into Albion." Introduced at the Home Office = 1 (if ≤ 1) [You have made yourself known to the Home Bureau] Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100)
Take tea There's always time here. The Home Office supplements its meagre funds with a haphazard tea-room, open for the occasional visitor.	Introduced at the Home Office ≥ 1 [You have made yourself known to the Home Bureau] Sovereign ≥ 30	A good brew Steeped and stewed, the tea has lingered in the Home Office for a very long time. An elderly detainee leans in conspiratorially. "Much better than a few years back. It's improved with age. Matured." The detainee is quickly shuffled away, so that you can enjoy your tea in peace. Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100) -(1 to 10) x Terror -30 x Sovereign			Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
Inquire about the sea How can there be a sea in the sky?		Sunlit sea A satisfactory scientific answer has yet to be presented. Theories have sprouted like mushrooms in its place. Some say that when the Gate was opened, the Unterzee spilled through, filling the sky like a leaky tap fills a sink, until Her Majesty's Government was able to plug it. Others believe the sea to be variously: the effluvia of the murdered sun; amniotic fluid to support the generation of a new sun; the fault of the Royal Society; an industrial accident covered up by one of the workworlds; the tears of Her Renewed Majesty for her dead prince. To reach the sea now, one must travel to the Stair to the Sea, along the ice shelf from the Home Office.
Watch the Quiet Sea The great glass windows at the south of the Office look out on the misty waters. There's precious little else to do here.	Introduced at the Home Office ≥ 1 [You have made yourself known to the Home Bureau] Date ≥ Days on the Avid Horizon Hours of the Avid Horizon ≤ 33 [Nothing ever seems to happen here]	Fading light Peering into the wisps of white mists that dance across the shrouded sea, you can make out a few boats drifting towards the Gate; its statues are hidden, aside from a few pinpricks of light dancing near their crowns. Below the Office, the shoreline is clogged with rotten flowers and ruined offerings from the cultists that live on the Sea. Perhaps they were rejected. Perhaps they were never received. Game note: You have exhausted these opportunities for now. Return in 15 days to see more. Days on the Avid Horizon = Date+7 Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100) -5 x Terror +1 x Vision of the Heavens			Advanced query needs investigation
		Rare event (50%)
		A boat to take me away A pale emerald light washes the sea like spilt chartreuse. Offerings left by the cults to the Gate blanch in the eery light. Out in the water, someone is singing softly of home and hearth, and a child left in a cradle. There is a splashing of paddles in water and the shadow of a boat heading out towards the Gate, before all is lost to an oncoming wave of mist. Game note: You have exhausted these opportunities for now. Return in 15 days to see more. +5 x Terror Days on the Avid Horizon = Date+7 Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100) +1 x Savage Secret
Speak to the Prudent Observer Once a brilliant astronomer of the Royal Society, now consigned here in his dotage. He watches the Gate.	Introduced at the Home Office ≥ 1 [You have made yourself known to the Home Bureau] Date ≥ Days on the Avid Horizon Hours of the Avid Horizon ≥ 67 [Nothing ever seems to happen here]	Divination He smiles benignly and invites you to join him on the Observation Deck, on a veranda at the very top of the manor. It is reached via a makeshift elevator: a rickety wicker basket attached to a pulley. The ascent is slow, jerky, and uncomfortably intimate, but the Prudent Observer does share his humbugs. Out on the veranda, where the fog is thick, the Prudent Observer tells you of mysterious activity at the Gate. Of fires out burning on the Statues; of chanting, when the wind is still. "No one emerges from the gate anymore. And no one who enters the gate from this side ever returns. " Game note: You have exhausted these opportunities for now. Return in 15 days to see more. Days on the Avid Horizon = Date+7 Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100) +5 x Terror +1 x Savage Secret			Advanced query needs investigation
		Rare event (50%)
		Halted progress The Prudent Observer is out on the Observation Deck, telescope in hand. He waves at you through the fog. Coming closer, you notice his table of log-books. "Date back to 1898. Those tallies mark people coming in." He leafs through a few pages to 1902, where sheaf after sheaf is revealed to be blank bar the dates. "Wasted pages." Game note: You have exhausted these opportunities for now. Return in 15 days to see more. -5 x Terror Days on the Avid Horizon = Date+7 Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100) +1 x Vision of the Heavens
Entertain a Request from the Acting Senior Probiter He's watching you from behind his desk and biting his lower lip. Clearly, he has something on his mind. He does not look happy.	Introduced at the Home Office ≥ 1 [You have made yourself known to the Home Bureau] Date ≥ Days on the Avid Horizon The Pardoner's Tale ≤ 0	A regrettable duty "So good you're here, Captain." He clasps your hand. His skin is cold. "I've been issued an Imperial Pardon from London for one of our detainees here." He looks at the three nearest 'guests' of the Home Office, who are following the conversation intently. "Just the one, mind. Procedure demands that someone cannot be pardoned without an independent witness vouching for them. It would be highly inappropriate for me to do so." He gives you a beseeching look. "If you would help, do speak to them. Those three. Return to me when you've made your choice." The Pardoner's Tale = 1 [Interview the detainees and hear their stories] Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100)			Advanced query needs investigation
An Evening of Frivolity Occasionally, the Acting Senior Probiter has a night off. Then, the detainees are permitted to throw a small party.	Hours of the Avid Horizon ≥ 34 and ≤ 66 Introduced at the Home Office ≥ 1 [You have made yourself known to the Home Bureau] Date ≥ Days on the Avid Horizon	An unmemorable evening Biscuits (some of which are not stale), champagne (flat), and light ale (inexplicable), have been arranged on trestle tables. A few detainees wander around the drawing room, avoiding conversation. You are the life and soul of the party, in that you partake of the food and drink and manage to exchange at least pleasantries with the detainees. You listen to complaints of years wasted, of friends gone out to the cults on the Quiet Sea, of hours passed watching the Gate, waiting for people who never come. It is a dreary affair. The champagne is intolerable. Game note: You have exhausted these opportunities for now. Return in 15 days to see more. Days on the Avid Horizon = Date+7 Hours of the Avid Horizon = (1 to 100) +1 x Supplies			Advanced query needs investigation
Deal with the Probiter's Request You may interview the detainees and follow up on their stories before you come to a decision.	The Pardoner's Tale ≥ 1 and ≤ 9	Triggers event:  The Pardoner's Tale

The Pardoner's Tale
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	294561

The Pardoner's Tale

"The three detainees singled out by the Acting Senior Probiter have taken over one of the interview rooms. The aristocrat is contorted like a contented cat over a rumpled armchair. The courtier sits on the windowsill, a cup of tea rattling in her hands. The nun occupies a stiff-backed chair, and is reading something decidedly ungodly. "

Game note: You may interview the detainees and make your judgement at your leisure. You could, of course, make your decision without interviewing them, but that will render your choice somewhat arbitrary. Perhaps that's in keeping with the spirit of the place.

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects	Notes
Interview the former courtier Brilliant, magnetic, merciless, infuriating. Either her personality or her politics have kept her on Her Majesty's List of Undesirables.	The Courtier's Story ≤ 0	Friends in high places She shuts a small hand-mirror as you approach. "Greying. I had a lovely mane when I arrived here. Red as June, they used to say. Was hoping to see the suns, but I suppose the Palace hasn't forgotten. An MP I am acquainted with had promised it was all water under the bridge." The Courtier's Story = 1 [Go to the Floating Parliament to speak with the courtier's friend]
Interview the handsome aristocrat He is draped listlessly over a faded chair, occasionally playing with his hair.	The Aristocrat's Story ≤ 0	A question of birthright He summons a dazzling smile as you approach. "Oh, at last! My captain – may I call you my captain?" He does not wait for a response. "It's been a dreadful mix up. I have a twin brother in London you see. Terrible sort. Rather ruined my reputation with Her Majesty." The Aristocrat's Story = 1 [Go to London to seek out the aristocrat's brother]
Interview the nun Surely she shouldn't be here? She lights another cigarette as you watch her.	The Nun's Story ≤ 0	Waiting sisters She looks down her cigarette at you and sighs. "If I could have gone home by now, I would've. Nothing's worth this much b____y waiting, pardon my Empyreal. Was going to stay in a convent in the Mausoleum, but that's been b______d now." The Nun's Story = 1 [Go the Most Serene Mausoleum to find the convent the nun was travelling to]
Decide in favour of the courtier Her spirits might recover if she leaves this place.		A return to court Her eyes widen as you announce your decision. She bounces from her seat to embrace you. "For the second time in my life, captain, I'm willing to say s_d decorum!" The aristocrat pales and fixes you with a gaze as murderous as any dark and midnight hag. The nun merely lights up again. The Acting Senior Probiter thanks you profusely, before handing the former courtier her Imperial Pardon. +1 x Cryptic Benefactor +500 x Experience The Pardoner's Tale = 10 [[COMPLETE]You pardoned a former courtier] The Nun's Story = 0 The Courtier's Story = 0 The Aristocrat's Story = 0 +500 x Sovereign Triggers event:  The Home Office
Decide in favour of the aristocrat Perhaps he's telling the truth.		A reprieve He gives you a lazy smile, like a cat that's spotted something precious balanced precariously on a high shelf. "Thank you, captain. I shan't forget it was you that gave me this opportunity." The former courtier rolls her eyes in disbelief. The nun merely lights up again. The Acting Senior Probiter thanks you profusely, before handing the aristocrat his Imperial Pardon. +1 x Cryptic Benefactor +500 x Experience The Pardoner's Tale = 20 [[COMPLETE]You pardoned a listless aristocrat] The Aristocrat's Story = 0 The Nun's Story = 0 The Courtier's Story = 0 +500 x Sovereign Triggers event:  The Home Office
Decide in favour of the nun She has somewhere to be. And besides, she's a lady of the cloth.		Pilgrim's progress "Christ in Hell!" She gets to her feet shakily. "Never thought I'd be on the move again. Was planning my own funeral. Picked out the burial plot – right under his window." She glares balefully at the Acting Senior Probiter. The former courtier rolls her eyes in disbelief. "She's not even a proper nun." The aristocrat gives you a look of languorous contempt. The Acting Senior Probiter thanks you profusely for ridding him of her, before handing the nun her Imperial Pardon. +1 x Cryptic Benefactor +500 x Experience The Pardoner's Tale = 30 [[COMPLETE]You pardoned a nun] The Courtier's Story = 0 The Nun's Story = 0 The Aristocrat's Story = 0 +500 x Sovereign Triggers event:  The Home Office
Decide to pardon no one You won't choose one over the rest. This might be a principled stand, assuming you care at all.		Long time to go The nun lets out a sharp bark that might be a laugh. The aristocrat pales and fixes you with a gaze as murderous as any dark and midnight hag. The former courtier slumps into a seat and turns her head away. The Acting Senior Probiter thanks you curtly before drawing a pair of scissors from his desk. His expression is avid as he cuts up the pardon. The Pardoner's Tale = 40 [[COMPLETE]You decided no one was worthy of pardon. All remained on the Avid Horizon] +500 x Experience +1000 x Sovereign The Nun's Story = 0 The Courtier's Story = 0 The Aristocrat's Story = 0 Triggers event:  The Home Office	Game note: No one will receive a pardon. All will remain here.
Defer your decision for now You can come back to this. The detainees aren't going anywhere.		Triggers event:  The Home Office

The Devil at the Avid Horizon
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	312386

The Devil at the Avid Horizon

The Devil has intimated he has improvements in mind for the Home Bureau. He is not concerned about the objections of current staff, and has requested shore leave to put his plans into motion.

"This place," he tells you, sipping a cocktail of honey and wine, "is a testament to the folly of honest work. I intend to prove it."

Trigger conditions

Learning about the Repentant Devil ≥ 1
In Possession of a Devil ≥ 1
Location: Avid Horizon
Area: The Home Office
Frequency: Always (100%)

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects	Notes
Drop off the Devil Best let him get it – whatever 'it' might be – out of his system. Game note: The Devil will leave your engine. You may pick him up again at any time.	The Devil at the Horizon ≤ 0	The start of something memorable The Devil bows as he departs your engine. "I promise you that I will not regret this," he says. As he opens the doors to the Bureau, he hands the Acting Senior Probiter his hat. "Take this will you." He looks about him with a cool glare. "There are going to be some changes around here." The doors swing shut behind him. The Devil at the Horizon = 1 Repentant Devil x Secondment: Repentant Devil Repentant Devil = 0 [The Repentent Devil has left your engine.] Defiant Devil x Secondment: Defiant Devil Defiant Devil = 0	Advanced alteration value probably needs examination. Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
Pick up the Devil He's had his fun. Possibly too much of it. Game note: You will regain the Devil as a Signaller, but lose access to any Prospects and Bargains he unlocked. You will need to drop him off again to regain them.	The Devil at the Horizon ≥ 1	The Devil's dictionaries The Devil stubs out a cigar and goes to fetch his things. The Senior Acting Probiter looks up from his sedan, his expression glazed. "I'll tidy up," he mumbles, downing another glass of absinthe and falling asleep on a pile of pamphlets decrying the Protestant work ethic, the moral turpitude of government and the sin of self-denial. The Devil at the Horizon = 0 Secondment: Defiant Devil x Defiant Devil Secondment: Defiant Devil = 0 Secondment: Repentant Devil x Repentant Devil Secondment: Repentant Devil = 0	Advanced alteration value probably needs examination. Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
Talk to the Devil What is it he's doing here, exactly?	The Devil at the Horizon ≥ 1	The merry devil The air is heavy with smoke and absinthe fumes. The detainees and the Office workers are lost in a fug of booze and narcotics. The Devil reclines on a couch, smiling. "Just an experiment. I have a few requests – I've sent them to London. Things we could do with here to keep everything flowing nicely. In time, we might have a few things here that you could buy. Wouldn't that be nice?" Game note: While the Devil is at the Avid Horizon, several new Prospects and Bargains are unlocked.

Shops

The Hungry Traveller

This little canteen has not seen much fresh stock in years; some of the tea has practically fossilised.

Notes

The Avid Horizon is the gate in the Neath that leads to the High Wilderness, this marked the beginning of London's new life amongst the stars. Read more about its presence in the Neath here: [1].