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| Felined Eccentric | |
|---|---|
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| Category | Officers |
| Position | Chief Engineer |
| Effects |
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| Promotions |  Gentle Eccentric |
| Data ID | 132940 |
| Interaction ID | 310147 |
Felined Eccentric is considered a Officer Chief Engineer in Sunless Skies.
Officers description[ | ]
"She is beset by cats, but manages to keep your locomotive working despite their constant interference."
Obtaining[ | ]
The Felined Eccentric[ | ]
She has a cabin, but usually sleeps on a spare mattress in the engine-room. There, she can hear the rhythm and rumble of the engine, and wake when it hiccups. Her cats have all found favourite places among the machinery and pipework.
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Break the ice with an offer of approved reading material
When she is not tinkering when the engine, she likes to read. Perhaps she'd like to pick through some of the material in the hold?
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Thwarted
She smiles. "Thanks, capt—" A cat hisses furiously at you from its perch on the overhead piping. "Stop it, Asmoday!" the Eccentric scolds. "Thanks, captain," she continues. "I brought some books with me, but I've alre—"
A prolonged, deafening clamour interrupts her. A second cat has knocked over a toolbox, covering the floor in spanners. The third climbs under the engine and becomes trapped in a gauntlet of pumping pistons and whirring wheels. It yowls, pitiably. You tell her that she can help herself to the books when she's less occupied. Three sets of yellow, baleful eyes watch you depart. They seem smug.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Break the ice with an offer of illicit reading material
The Ministry would not approve of these books, but perhaps the Eccentric will. You've seen her reading, when she can find time away from the engines, and when her cats allow her.
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Thwarted
She quirks an intrigued eyebrow. "Thanks, capt—" A cat hisses furiously at you from its perch on the overhead piping. "Stop it, Asmoday!" the Eccentric scolds. "Thanks, captain," she continues. "I brought some books with me, but nothing—"
A prolonged, deafening clamour interrupts her. A second cat has knocked over a toolbox, covering the floor in spanners. The third climbs under the engine and becomes trapped in a gauntlet of pumping pistons and whirring wheels. It yowls, pitiably. You tell her that she can help herself to the books when she's less occupied. Three sets of yellow, baleful eyes watch you depart. They seem smug.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Dissuade one of the Eccentric's cats from terrorising a stoker
The man is pressed against the wall, white-faced and sweating. The cat sits in front of him, its back to you. It stares at the stoker, though from here you can't see why this terrifies him.
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Cornered
"Get it away!" the stoker pleads. "It's weighing my soul! Judging it like I was one of the dead!" He tries to raise his hands – to shield his gaze? – but the life seems to have gone out of them. They flop, limply, back to his sides.
The cat is statue-still.
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Keep your distance
That cat is not right.
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You keep back, as the stoker screams then swoons.
The cat stalks away, sparing you an uninterested look. When it passes you, you feel a wash of heat, as if someone had opened a furnace door. The stoker is coming to. "I saw a court of statues, presided over by a sphinx," he mumbles. "I saw a parade of the dead brought before it, and I was among them. It's only a matter of time." You can get no more sense – or work – out of the man, and are forced to put him ashore at the next port.
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| Frighten the cat away
Clap your hands. Shout at it. Stamp your foot. That sort of thing.
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The cat's head whips round to face you. You stumble back – instead of eyes, two writhing sigils of savage fire blaze in its face.
It blinks. The sigils are gone, replaced by its usual supercilious yellow gaze. It hisses at you, and stalks away. The stoker thanks you, and hurries away.
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| Investigate an eery noise
Your dreams are plagued by a star-wind, moaning and mournful. In lieu of sleep, you walk the corridors for a time. A mysterious noise is coming from the engine-room.
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The midnight patriarchs
The Eccentric is asleep in her tangle of blankets at the foot of the engine. Three hunched shapes cluster about her. Her cats.
One of them gnaws at the fingers of the Eccentric's left hand. Another sits on her chest; its weight making her struggle for breath. The third chews insistently at her hair, tugging at it like yarn. The Eccentric is caught in a dream, her sleepy attempts to dislodge the cats watery and weak. "...spiders in the well..." she moans. "My eyes were fire; the dead grovelled..." One of the cats looks up, then the others. As one, they consider you, their eyes yellow as sovereigns. Then they melt into the crannies of the engine-room. Game note: Discuss this with the Felined Eccentric.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Talk to her about her cats
You discovered them chewing and smothering her while she slept. Why does she tolerate this?
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The Prison Without Walls
Her black cat, Beleth, climbs up her legs with its claws and sprawls about her shoulders.
"Because they're mine. Or I'm theirs; I'm not sure there's a difference. Look, I don't want to make a fuss. Best to just leave it alone." She removes the bandages on her fingers, to reveal the tracery of light scars. "See, it's not so bad." She tries to sound brisk. You are clearly unconvinced. The Eccentric sighs. "They've been with me since Piranesi," she says. "If you really must know, we'll need to go there. The Chaplains can explain." [Directions are given here].
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Try to talk to her cats
The cats of London can talk, when they deign to do so. They can be polite, but like to give the impression they know more than you do. And perhaps they do, for they are hoarders of secrets.
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Imposters
The cats do not respond to your greeting. When you ask about their relationship to the Eccentric, one of them yowls. Another washes its paw. The third yawns.
You comment, critically, on their lack of courtesy. They only stare. You see no comprehension in their eyes. You try the ultimate test: you share a secret, careful to get one detail wrong. They don't correct you. They don't patronise you. They don't even give you a disdainful look. These aren't cats. |
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| Offer to get rid of her cats by more direct means
What is there, for example, to prevent you simply throwing them into a well? Or abandoning them on a wreck? Oo! Or flinging them into a weft of unravelling time?
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The subtraction of cats
The Eccentric's eyes are shadowed and sunken. She is tired. "Try, if you like," she says. "I already have. It doesn't work."
Her grey cat, Paimon, gives you a smug glare from its nest in the pipework.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Consider secrets you've learned, and how to rid her of Asmoday
Asmoday is a saggy ginger cat, his face scarred from countless fights. When you approach him he hisses at you, his ears flat back.
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Asmoday, the Thunderer
The Eccentric shows you her ankle, livid with a lattice of claw-marks. "Asmoday is a ball of anger."
As if on cue, there is a hiss from under the galley table, and Asmoday attacks your knee. You fend him off. He climbs onto a shelf, his fur bristling. "There's somewhere he might feel at home," the Eccentric says, reluctantly. "But it's not anywhere I want to go. The White Well, in the Blue Kingdom. The things that were cast into it rage against their fate." Alternately, you could drive him away by damping his fury. The attendants at Magdalene's, it is said, can soothe the wildest soul.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Muse on tales of the sky, and discuss how to rid her of Paimon
Paimon, an aloof flat-faced grey, gives you a baleful look. He has climbed into a cranny under the ceiling, and won't let anyone near.
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Paimon, the Denier
"Paimon is very governed," the Eccentric observes. The grey cat watches you stiffly, out of reach. "He never plays. And he doesn't like it when I... well, watch this." She comes and sits next to you. Immediately, Paimon jumps up, pries you apart, and sits primly between you.
He is aloof and restrained. Perhaps he would enjoy Carillon, where penitents submit themselves to stern punishments and endure them without complaint. "Or, to drive him away, I've heard that at Achlys one can buy substances that make fools even of kings and bishops."
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Scour your charts and discuss how to rid her of Beleth
Beleth is a gaunt black cat, always pushing himself to the front at feeding-time; always sitting where people need to be.
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Beleth, the Demander
Beleth barges past you in the corridor. He has heard two stokers arguing. When he finds them he watches, rapt, with the air of an ancient philosopher-king. He is fascinated by their red faces, their bristling moustaches, their pointing fingers and clenched fists.
The Eccentric joins you. "Beleth admires force," she whispers. He would fit in at the Floating Parliament, where MPs push their beliefs into law using words as swords and procedure as nooses. "Yes," the Eccentric muses. "I think he'd like that. And I know what he'd find intolerable: dreams. Those dreams where the rules all change and your strength is useless. The roses of Caduceus could help."
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Talk to the Eccentric without her cats
Her eyes are bright. She's been sleeping. She has been able to mingle with the crew without her cats intervening or haunting her new friends with nightmares.
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A decision
As she works, she talks softly to the engine. Her voice is rhythmed, as if she was soothing an animal.
You hunch near her, and pass her a wrench when she gropes for it. "Trying to decide what to do with myself," she tells you, still working. "Apart from this, I mean." She sits back on her haunches. "On one hand, I could put it all behind me. Start fresh. On the other—" her eyebrows furrow "—I fancy causing some trouble." Game note: Help the Eccentric make her choice.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Share an intimate moment when you offer to help her repair the engine
Normally when she's like this she closes off, wanting to focus on the work. But you've grown close. She'd accept your help.
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Moving as one
Normally, she protects her corner of the engine room like a tigress; she has everything just how she wants it. But she puts a hand on your arm to say it's all right, and draws you in.
Everything has a place. Tools here, so she can find the one she wants without looking. Spare parts there, ordered according to how often she needs them. Her instructions are practical; her voice is soft. She places a handful of bolts in your palm, and you note that her skin, still fresh from Piranesi, is already calloused from work. The two of you set to it. It comes easily. When she needs to tighten a valve, you hand her the three-quarter inch spanner before she asks for it. When you struggle with a stiff bolt she steps close and lends her strength to yours. You replace a gasket. She tightens a belt. You cast a glance her way, and find her casting one back at the same moment. A warm smile rolls across her face, and she turns back to her work. You throw a lever. The engine rumbles, then settles into a contented purr. "It'll do until we make port," she grins, and nudges you teasingly with her shoulder. "Nice work, you."
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Advanced query needs investigation
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
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| Encourage her to misbehave
She's carried a burden for a long time. Now she should live a little.
Game note: She may become a Brilliant Eccentric, who grants +10 Mirrors, and +1 to the Affiliations of Villainy and Bohemia. |
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Failed event |
Advanced query needs investigation Special is calculated as follows: 50-(The Eccentric's Fire*10) * 1.67
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| The Gentle Eccentric
She is unconvinced. "I'm tired," she says. "I want a quiet life for a while. I've found a home, here, and I want to enjoy it."
Over the next weeks, the crew come to know the unfelined Eccentric. She is a calming, almost motherly presence; sensitive to the mood of the crew, and a sure, steady source of advice. She still sleeps in the engine-room, most times, and still talks to the engine when she's working on it. Everything is kept in impeccable order; your locomotive practically purrs. Game note: You have completed the Felined Eccentric's story. Future captains will be able to recruit the Gentle Eccentric at Lustrum.
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| Successful event | |||||
| The Brilliant Eccentric
She breaks into a crooked smile. "Why not?" she says. "The sky could do with a little more trouble in it."
Over the next few days, the crew come to meet the new unfelined Eccentric. She laughs more, and apologises less. She invents several modifications for your engine, which no one can understand but nevertheless work brilliantly. She forges a small number of close, fierce friendships. She still sleeps in the engine-room, most times, and still talks to your locomotive as if it were alive. She does not like cats. Game note: You have completed the Felined Eccentric's story. Future captains will be able to recruit the Brilliant Eccentric at the Royal Society.
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| Encourage her to leave the past behind
She has been locked in a struggle with those damn cats for years. She deserves some peace and quiet.
Game note: She may become a Gentle Eccentric, who grants +10 Hearts and +1 to the Affiliations of Villainy and Academe. |
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Failed event |
Advanced query needs investigation Special is calculated as follows: 50-(The Eccentric's Mercy*10) * 1.67
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| The Brilliant Eccentric
She thinks about it, but shakes her head. "No. No, I think I've done with being meek and reasonable for a while."
Over the next few days, the crew come to meet the new unfelined Eccentric. She laughs more, and apologises less. She invents several modifications for your engine, which no one can understand but nevertheless work perfectly. She forges a small number of close, fierce friendships. She still sleeps in the engine room, most times, and still talks to your locomotive as if it were alive. She does not like cats. Game note: You have completed the Felined Eccentric's story. Future captains will be able to recruit the Brilliant Eccentric at the Royal Society.
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| Successful event | |||||
| The Gentle Eccentric
She nods. "I've found a home, here. It'd be good to enjoy it for a bit.
Over the next weeks, the crew come to know the unfelined Eccentric. She is a calming, almost motherly presence; sensitive to the mood of the crew, and a sure, steady source of advice. She still sleeps in the engine-room, most times, and still talks to the engine when she's working on it. Everything is kept in impeccable order; your locomotive practically purrs. Game note: You have completed the Felined Eccentric's story. Future captains will be able to recruit the Gentle Eccentric at Lustrum.
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| Speak to the Felined Eccentric
You seek her out. She is repairing a leaking pipe with an expression of harried concentration.
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Otherwise occupied
"Sorry, Captain – busy," she says, half disappearing into a cavity filled with machinery. She swears, floridly, as another pipe springs a leak.
Game note: Your engine will need to be in better repair before the Eccentric has time to talk about personal matters. |
Advanced query needs investigation
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| Speak to the Felined Eccentric
Your locomotive has taken a pounding recently, and the Eccentric is having to strip and rebuild the injector. Parts are arrayed, neatly, on a tarpaulin.
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Spit-and-twine
She pulls herself out from under the engine and glares at you. For a moment she looks as if she's going to shout at you, but she bites her tongue.
"You need to take better care of her, Captain. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy keeping us in the sky." Game note: Your locomotive will need to be in better repair before the Eccentric has time to talk about personal matters. |
Advanced query needs investigation
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| Feed Paimon the Achlaean catnip
For a cat of prim aloofness and cast-iron dignity, succumbing to kittenish delight might be the most severe embarrassment.
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Disportment
The Eccentric places the catnip on the floor in front of Paimon. He ignores her, studiously.
Then, sniffing the air, he advances cautiously on it. His whiskers splay. His eyes grow wide. He pounces! Springing on the muslined ball, he sinks his teeth into it, raking at it in a frenzy with his rear claws. It escapes him! He leaps after it— He realises you are watching. He stops, knowing he has disgraced himself. A prim wash will not restore the dignity he has squandered. He must leave. The next time you are in a station, he slinks from your locomotive, never to be seen again. The Eccentric straightens, as if a burden had been lifted.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Check in on the Eccentric
She is busy tinkering with a nest of piping and valves.
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Patience
"Morning, Addressed As(SpeechFormal)," she says, as you approach. She has shadows around her eyes, as if she hasn't been sleeping well. One hand is bandaged. Her cats coil about her feet, glaring at you with naked malevolence.
You ask if she's alright, and she smiles breezily. "Oh yes. Mustn't grumble." Perhaps, in time, she will come to trust you more. Game note: The Eccentric's story will automatically continue as time passes. |
Advanced query needs investigation
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| Consider the Eccentric's situation
You are helping her rid herself of her troublesome cats.
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Beset by cats
The Eccentric was not always as she is now. Once she was something else; something vast and celestial, something masculine, something unknowable and inhuman. But she was cast into the tangles of Piranesi, and when she emerged she was the lean, diligent engineer before you.
Her cats followed her from Piranesi. They are vestiges of her old self that refused to detach from her. Angry, isolationist, forceful, they are making her life – and the efficient functioning of your engine – difficult. Game note: Rid the Eccentric of her cats. |
Advanced query needs investigation
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| A Secondment: Listen to the Eccentric's suggestion
She has been more pensive than usual today. She almost seems distracted. It has, of course, had no impact on her duties.
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A moment of inspiration
She shakes her head when you ask. "Sorry to trouble you; just an idea I can't shake. I like to be useful." Her smile is crooked. "I wondered about taking some leave at the Royal Society. I could help you out while I'm there. The engineers will have all sorts lying about."
She turns back to the engine. "Just a thought." Game note: The Eccentric will generate Experimental Modifications for you while on Secondment. You can drop her off at the workshops of Portsmouth House, at the Royal Society. |
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Quality status[ | ]
Felined Eccentric has different statuses according to your actions, defined by the comment in front of the quality.
Interaction description[ | ]
These desciptions appear specifically when the value changes.
- [0] The Felined Eccentric has changed.
- [1] The Felined Eccentric has boarded your locomotive.
Interactions[ | ]
Interactions in Brief[ | ]
Click Expand on the right for more.
| Interaction | Action | Result Type | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enter Carillon's Foyer | 'Take the Felined Eccentric and Paimon on a tour of the terraces' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| Magdalene's House of Small Comfort | 'Help the Felined Eccentric locate an attendant to quell Asmoday's anger' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| Palace of Highminster | 'Accompany the Felined Eccentric and Beleth to watch a session of the House' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| The Prison and the Cottage | 'Accompany the Felined Eccentric to the gardens' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| The Floating Market | 'Accompany the Felined Eccentric to the spice- and smoke-stalls' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| The Place of the Rose | 'Help the Felined Eccentric rid herself of Beleth' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| The Workshops | 'Drop off the Eccentric' | Default / Challenge Fail | = 0 |
| The Prison and the Cottage | 'Accompany the Felined Eccentric to the gardens' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| Recruit a Felined Eccentric | 'Recruit her' | Default / Challenge Fail | = 1 |
| Wellmouth | 'Take Asmoday, the Felined Eccentric's angry ginger tom, to the edge of the Well' | Requirement | ≥ 1 |
| The Felined Eccentric | 'Encourage her to misbehave' | Default / Challenge Fail | = 0 |
| The Felined Eccentric | 'Encourage her to misbehave' | Success | = 0 |
| The Felined Eccentric | 'Encourage her to leave the past behind' | Default / Challenge Fail | = 0 |
| The Felined Eccentric | 'Encourage her to leave the past behind' | Success | = 0 |
| Recruit a Felined Eccentric | 'Recruit her' | Default / Challenge Fail | = 1 |
| The Eccentric at the Royal Society | 'Collect the Eccentric' | Default / Challenge Fail | + [q:139827] |
| The Eccentric at the Royal Society | 'Collect the Eccentric' | Default / Challenge Fail | + [q:139827] |
Interactions in Detail[ | ]
Click Expand on the right for more.
| Story | Action | Required | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enter Carillon's Foyer | Take the Felined Eccentric and Paimon on a tour of the terraces |
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Default:
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| Magdalene's House of Small Comfort | Help the Felined Eccentric locate an attendant to quell Asmoday's anger |
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Default:
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| Palace of Highminster | Accompany the Felined Eccentric and Beleth to watch a session of the House |
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Default:
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| The Prison and the Cottage | Accompany the Felined Eccentric to the gardens |
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Default:
 Join the Grey Conformer for tea |
| Accompany the Felined Eccentric to the gardens |
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Default:
Join the Grey Conformer for tea
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| The Floating Market | Accompany the Felined Eccentric to the spice- and smoke-stalls |
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Default:
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| The Place of the Rose | Help the Felined Eccentric rid herself of Beleth |
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Default:
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| The Workshops | Drop off the Eccentric | Default:
The Eccentric at the Royal Society
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| Recruit a Felined Eccentric | Recruit her |
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Default:
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| Recruit her |
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Default:
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| Wellmouth | Take Asmoday, the Felined Eccentric's angry ginger tom, to the edge of the Well |
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Default:
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| The Felined Eccentric | Encourage her to misbehave |
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Default:
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| Encourage her to leave the past behind |
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Default:
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| The Eccentric at the Royal Society | Collect the Eccentric | Default:
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| Collect the Eccentric | Default:
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Triggered Events[ | ]
Click Expand on the right for more.
| Story | Requirements | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recruit a Felined Eccentric |
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Story Event (Always :100%) | The Lane of Lions and Unicorns |
| Something is Scratching at the Exterior Hatch |
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Story Event (Always :100%) | The Sky |
| Dreams of Stone |
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Story Event (Always :100%) | The Sky |
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