Embroiled in the Wars of Illusion (Guide)
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Early PoSI Content |
Guide to progressing 
, both part of and a continuation of the 
storyline.
Level 0: The Heights of Chicanery[edit]
The Wars of Illusion story begins in 
at 6 in the storylet The Heights of Chicanery. There is a secret world beyond what you've already discovered about The Flit, and to uncover it, you start with what worked before: following couriers and finding out what they know.
Increasing to 2 requires successes on particular options from The Heights of Chicanery, some of which require certain levels of 
or/ and 
to access.
You can use the options in The Tricks of the Courier's Trade to build and Shadowing Couriers to build . (Alternatively, if you have other sources for these, you can use those storylets to build them up and then spend them here.)
Several of the following options give Embroiled on a rare success (+1 CP, except for Dropping the Eaves, which awards +2 CP).
| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Rare Success | Failure |
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| The Tricks of the Courier's Trade | Spy on the couriers | 
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| Spy on those who supply them |
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| Spy on the Topsy King's court |
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| Deploy your Suspicious Iguana | 
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| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Rare Success | Failure |
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| Shadowing Couriers | Follow at a distance |
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| Follow closely |
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| Disguise yourself as a courier |
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| Deploy your Unerring Elver | 
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| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Rare Success | Failure |
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| The Heights of Chicanery | Raid a Message-Drop |
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| More than just Messages |
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| Encounters in the Smoke |
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| Intercept a Message |
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| Dropping the Eaves |
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Level 2: Wars of Illusion[edit]
Once you've gotten Embroiled to level 2 (a total of 3 CP worth of rare successes), a new option appears under The Heights of Chicanery titled Making Your Name: Wars of Illusion. This redirects to the main Flit storylet Wars of Illusion.
Selecting the only option here (What is going on?) sets Embroiled to 6.
Level 6: Bats and Cats[edit]
| Making Use of Bats and Cats Summary | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Limited-Length Activity | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 0 A | 5+ A | 1 A | ||||||||||||||||
| Progress
Details |
Raise  or  to 5, possibly together with and
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| Raw EPA | 0.76 | Raw SPA | - | |||||||||||||||
You now realize that the bats and cats of The Flit know something about the Wars of Illusion. A new storylet appears in titled Bats and Cats.
To progress from here and unlock the Bats and Cats option What is going on with these people?, you need to raise all of these qualities to 5: , , , and
As before, you can also raise and elsewhere and apply it here. You can also spend your Bats and Cats qualities in the rewards storylets. Note, however, that all these actions reset those progress qualities on success, meaning you'll have to build them up again to satisfy the above requirements for unlocking What is going on with these people?
Making Use of Bats[edit]
| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Failure |
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| Bats... | Try intercepting some bats | 
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| Train some bats of your own |
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You can combine with for skill check successes.
| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Rare Success | Failure |
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| Making Use of Bats | Intercept a bat on its way to the Palace |
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| Track a bat heading towards Veilgarden |
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Making Use of Cats[edit]
| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Failure |
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| Cats... | Try to find out about their allegiances |
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| Make contacts among cat kind | 
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| See what your Starveling Cat knows | 
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You can combine with for skill check successes.
| Storylet | Option | Req. | Challenge | Success | Rare Success | Failure |
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| Making Use of Cats | Ask for help with a little sabotage |
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| Follow up a tip-off |
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Once you unlock What is Going on with These People? in the Bats and Cats storylet, you will be redirected to a storylet with the option Convoluted like a weasel. This is a 95 challenge; failure will subtract 5 CP of each of the tracking qualities, and success will set Embroiled to 9 and to 7.
Level 9: Make More Use of Bats and Cats[edit]
A storylet now appears in called Make More Use of Bats. Or Cats. Here you can choose whether to work with the bats or the cats — though, as the game informs you, the choice isn't permanent at this point. (Ultimately, siding with the bats will align you with The Glass later in the story, while choosing the cats will align you with 
The Shroud.)
Choosing bats sets to 1, and choosing cats sets to 1. Whichever you choose, Embroiled is set to 10.
Level 10: Choosing a Side[edit]
Your choice also unlocks a new Flit storylet, either Working with the Bats or Working with the Cats. (You can unlock the other as well by raising its Making Use quality to 1 on the Bats and Cats storylet.)
When your Bats or Cats quality reaches 6, a new Flit storylet appears, either Gain the full trust of the bats or Cement your place with the cats.
The following cards may also appear in your opportunity deck during this section of the story, and give 
s and/or on success. Additionally, the option Anything but that on A Theosophistical Enquiry gives 2 CP of 
.
When you're ready to progress, Gain the full trust of the bats or Cement your place with the cats. Both require 97 to be unlocked, and the challenge level is 101 (but thankfully, you don't lose Bats or Cats CP on a failure).
On success, Embroiled is set to 15, and (if you chose bats) or (if you chose cats) is set to 1.
Level 15: Mahogany Hall[edit]
To continue the storyline, you need to unlock the route to Mahogany Hall, which will now appear in the Spite area of your map. Note that unlocking access from the map is fairly pricey, as you'll need a bunch of bats, rats, hats and other bits and bobs -- see the list at Gain entrance to Mahogany Hall.
(
can also be unlocked temporarily, or permanently for 5 FATE, from the opportunity card The Ways of Mahogany Hall.)
When you reach , you will either be welcomed to the Glass if you gained the full trust of the bats and Connected: Glass is now 1, or be welcomed to the Shroud if you cemented your place with the cats and Connected: Shroud is 1 (but not both -- see below).
You'll once more get the chance to rethink your allegiance, and if you choose the "Play both sides" option on either of the "Welcome to the Shroud/Glass" storylets, your Embroiled will be reset to 9, and you can play through that part of the storyline again. Note that this option results in +3 CP 
(up to level 10) and is repeatable if you choose the same side again, so if you wish to grind Subtle this way, continue choosing a single side until you decide to move on by choosing the other side, and thus having both Connected: Shroud and Connected: Glass set to 1.
If you choose to remain loyal to your side on a "Welcome to the..." storylet, or if both Connected: Shroud and Connected: Glass are 1 (because you played both Gain the full trust of the bats and Cement your place with the cats) and you see Playing both sides in the Wars of Illusion instead of one of the "Welcome to the..." storylets, then Embroiled will be set to 20 and you can continue with the story.
(If you use Playing both sides in the Wars of Illusion to continue the story, then you do get the Pair of Magician's Gloves you spent to access Mahogany Hall back -- or at least a pair -- which is a nice bonus.)
See Tales of Mahogany Hall (Guide) for more information.
Level 20: An Illusion or a Séance[edit]
The following storylets are available in with Embroiled 20 and certain levels of Connected:
| Increasing
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Glass
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Shroud
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| Star in your own illusion? |
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| The magic of the theatre |
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| Before the grand illusion |
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| Become a double agent for the Glass |
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| Sabotaging a séance |
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| Final preparations for the grand illusion |
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If you have one Connected quality, simply progress through your chosen side's storylets. You'll use its Before the grand [performance] storylet to set Connected to 15 and progress to the final stages.
If you have both Connected qualities, you'll need to raise each of them to 6 before the twin Become a double agent for the [Glass/Shroud] storylets appear, and you'll need to choose one to permanently finalize an alliance with your chosen faction. There, you'll have the option of either sabotaging the opposite faction via an additional Sabotaging a [performance] storylet, or progressing straight to the final performance. After either skipping or progressing with the sabotage, the associated Connected for your faction will be set to 15.
Once Connected is 15, the Final preparations storylet will unlock for your chosen side. That storylet will raise your Connected to 16 and set Embroiled to 25, unlocking a new storylet for the final performance.
Level 25: The Performance[edit]
It's time to put on your big séance or illusion. In either case, it's a 113 challenge, and success raises your Connected to 20.
- The grand séance! (unlocked with 16)
- The Most Daring Feat of Illusion and Escapology! (unlocked with 16)
Note: Unlocking The Most Daring Feat of Illusion and Escapology! also requires 
to be set at 6 (Saturday) via The weekly variety bill!, which in turn requires to be at least 13. See Tales of Mahogany Hall (Guide) for details.
