“Euphidia has a lot to say on the subject of orniscopy, of course, but much of it is contradictory. Petrine is largely useless on the matter, but she does reference a flight of sparrows forming the pattern of a sunburst during the second Exalted March upon the Imperium, which makes me wonder if...” ―The Kindly Knight
Their dawn councils croak you awake. Their waste stains the tower walls. What do the damn things want?
For three days they have circled the south tower, croaking at dawn and dusk. The cook's boy swears one of them carries a serpent in its claws, but he has always struggled with an excess of imagination.
Available actions[]
1.
Call for soothsayers to read the signs Can they show you the future?
Difficulty: Scholarship*2
Success: Forewarned. Forearmed. Finding a decent soothsayer takes time and effort. You reject charlatans, lunatics, spies. The few augurs who have some genuine skill are made welcome and set to work. Eventually, they provide you with a list of portents to avoid. Some are clear but inconvenient: a yellow moon, the fourth day of every month, a fork in the path when the wind is westerly. Others are bizarre: fire with a heart of ice, the broken sun, a man with green fingernails.
+10 Twilight, -10 Prosperity, +10 Clues, -10 Peril
Failure: Hustlers and hoaxes The soothsayers offer plenty of opinions, but little sense. According to some, everything from pans to ponies should be avoided. According to others, those same things are signs of your high destiny. Not one of them has the true sight. What you can gather, though, is that the forest is a-stir, and troubled times are coming.
+10 Twilight, +10 Peril
2.
Ignore the portents You'll not live your life at the behest of stars and chicken entrails.
Difficulty: Scholarship*2
Success: Disbelief The cook forecasts disaster. The stablemaster predicts a death. You ignore them. Despite their doomsaying, the next week is prosperous and warm. Let fools have their omens. You make your own luck.
-10 Twilight, +20 Prosperity
Failure: Gloomy days The crows don't care if you believe them or not. Misery is abroad, and slouches towards Serault. It will be here soon.
-10 Twilight, +20 Peril
3.
Decipher their meaning yourself You have a way with such things.
Difficulty: Woods-wise*2
Success: Pieces of the world In the sullen croaking of the crows, you hear much that is hidden. Truths that have been buried. Secret alliances. Hatreds, whispered alone and in the dark.
+10 Twilight, +10 Clues
Failure: Dark times ahead However you read them, the signs say the same thing: dark days are ahead. No-one is safe. Your sleep is disturbed by oppressive dreams. You wake each morning to the crows croaking at your window.
+6 Peril, -4 Prosperity, +5 Clues
Notes[]
Ignore the portents is an easy challenge and one of the best ways to boost Prosperity, with no downsides if you succeed and are also trying to minimize Twilight.
No Prosperity is lost if Call for soothsayers to read the signs is failed.