Ambition: Heart's Desire (Guide)

Early MYN Content and Onwards

Spoiler warning! This page may contain spoilers for Ambitions or other major storylines.

They say that once every nine years there's a card game where you can gamble your soul and win your heart's desire. That sounds like tremendous fun.

Ambition: Heart's Desire! is about investigating, staging, and playing an underground card game, The Marvellous, in the hope of winning what you want most in the world. The main Attributes are Persuasive and Watchful.

For more information on Ambitions and choosing between them, consult the Ambitions guide.

Progress

This Ambition can be started in Veilgarden with Persuasive 6. You can check your progress at any time on the Myself tab under Ambition; the number after the title is the part of the story you're currently on. This can be helpful when you're unsure where to go next; just find the corresponding part number below.

Heart's Desire (0–12)

Veilgarden

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 0: Follow up the rumour, if you're ready to choose this Ambition — unlocked with Persuasive 6.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 1: Ask around about the game — Persuasive 10.

Spite

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 2: Purchase the book for 30 x Whispered Hint.
  • Ambition: Heart's Desire! 2b: Find someone who knows where this mysterious address is — Persuasive 15.

Veilgarden

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 3: Spend 5 x Stolen Correspondence or 4 x Confident Smile to arrange a meeting and obtain Note: A Meeting in the Forgotten Quarter.

The next part of the story takes place in The Forgotten Quarter. If you haven't already learned this route as part of the Making Your Name (Watchful) storyline, you have three additional options to unlock it here.

• Open the route from the travel map for 1 x London Street Sign, which costs 5 at the Bazaar.
• At Your Lodgings, Find the Forgotten Quarter by raising Heart's Desire: Scrawled Notes on the Walls to 5. This requires 15 successful actions and increases Nightmares by 1 CP on success (and 2 CP on failure).
• If you've already unlocked The Empress' Court, you can choose to Exchange a considerable quantity of Favours for London Street Signs. This will cost you 3 x Favours: Society for 5 x London Street Sign. This will also increase your Suspicion by 1 CP.

The Forgotten Quarter

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 3b: Find the Fountain of Names — Watchful 15.

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 4: Pick up her trail — Watchful 15.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 5: Lure the monkey down and get the Hysterical Monkey — Persuasive 25.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 6: Attempt to get sense out of the Hysterical Monkey — Watchful 20.

Watchmaker's Hill

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 7: Follow the monkey to Watchmaker's Hill and Find... something — Persuasive 32.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 8: Pay the Blind Astronomer 200 x Moon-Pearl.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 9: Find the Monkey, who is now the Cardsharp Monkey — Watchful 27.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 10: Test the truth of the Blind Astronomer's story — Persuasive 37.
• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 11: Put up a stake of 40 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey — Watchful 30.

Spite

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! 12: Carry the monkey through the crowds in the streets — Watchful 35.

The Bishop of St Fiacre's

• The Bishop of St Fiacre's 1: Arrange an audience with the Bishop — Persuasive 42 OR 1 x Favours: The Church OR 16 x Phosphorescent Scarab.
• The Bishop of St Fiacre's 2: Start the conversation — Persuasive 52 OR Watchful 42 OR The Dilmun Club: Loyalties exactly 3
• The Bishop of St Fiacre's 3: Give the Bishop 500 x Foxfire Candle Stub.
• The Bishop of St Fiacre's 4: You now need to acquire 77 x First City Coin. This storylet provides several options for doing so.
  • By far, the best option is to have another player send you coins. If they already have some, they can click on the coins in their inventory to send you 30 of them; if not, Arrange for a theft from the Museum of Mistakes.

The Topsy King

The Flit

• Ambition: Heart's Desire! (The Flit): If you don't have Route: The Flit, you can unlock it here by paying 80 x Amanita Sherry or 3 x Confident Smile and a Persuasive 55 check. You can also unlock it in the Enter the Flit storylet on the map.
• Heart's Desire – the Topsy King: Secure A private audience with the King with 100 x Rat on a String and Luck 70%
• The Topsy King 1: Mediate between the monkey and the Topsy King — Persuasive 63
• The Topsy King 2: Attempt to understand the Topsy King — Watchful 49
• The Topsy King 3: You now need to get 4 CP of Ambition: Heart's Desire - the Topsy King:
  • Talk to the Raggedy Men for 40 x Rat on a String — Persuasive 63, +1 CP
  • Turn to your store of secrets with 10 x Cryptic Clue — Luck 20%, +1 CP
  • Spy on the Raggedy Men on the card A fine day in the Flit — Shadowy 96, +2 CP
• The Topsy King 4: Determine where to look next — Watchful 56

The Shuttered Palace

• The Topsy King 5: To find out about the Topsy King's past, either:
  • Quiz the curator, which requires minimum Watchful 63 — Watchful 70
  • That looks familiar..., requiring A Scholar of the Correspondence 1 with no check
• The Topsy King 6: Induce the curator to let you take a closer look, requiring a minimum of Persuasive 63 — Persuasive 70
• The Topsy King 7: Read over the manuscript for a Watchful 70 check. If you have A Scholar of the Correspondence 1, you can take a slightly harder Watchful 75 to gain +1 CP A Scholar of the Correspondence

The Topsy King 8: Examine the daguerreotype with a Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe!, or a Patent Scrutinizer and 3 x Sudden Insight. You'll keep the scrutinizer either way, but spend the insights. The latter also has a Watchful 77 check.

The Topsy King 9: There are several options here, but you'll either want:

• Search the book for hints, using the Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe! with a Watchful 84 check, or
• Go back to the Devious Bookseller and pay 3 x Extraordinary Implication for a Persuasive 87 check.
• If you lost it, you can also Purchase a replacement copy of 'on the Maladies of Goats' for 3 x Journal of Infamy

Wolfstack Docks

• The Topsy King 10: Eavesdrop on the Constables — Watchful 90
• The Topsy King 11: Watch and wait — Watchful 97
• The next branch has two options depending on whether you antagonised your monkey:
  • (Without Inciting a Simian Revenge?) Simian approbation:
    • Her! moves you straight to the next branch
    • Her? does the same but also gets you a Hard-Earned Lesson and a Confident Smile
    • Him. Her. Pff. These are matters for the monkey alone. gets you 3 x Sudden Insight on success or +1 CP Scandal on failure, but advances the conversation either way
  • (With Inciting a Simian Revenge?) A long-delayed conversation: Gives you no choices and instead moves you to:
    • The Topsy King 13: To placate your monkey, you can:
      • Sweeten it with honey, for a whopping 1400 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey
      • Manage it with menaces — Dangerous 95
• 15: The Topsy King's Sister: Now that the monkey is satisfied, you'll need to get Cora to open up:
  • Charm: for 10 x Confident Smile — Fascinating... 8; be careful, as you'll lose the Smiles regardless of whether you pass the check.
  • Impatience — Dangerous 90; gives 10 x Hard-Earned Lesson on success, or removes 10 x Hard-Earned Lesson on failure
  • Warmth — Persuasive 94; gives nothing beyond moving on for succeeding, but removes a Confident Smile on failure
• 16: Desperate Intentions: Pay 25 x Inkling of Identity or pass a Persuasive 101 check
• 17: Double or Nothing: What if... — Watchful 103

18: For the next step, you'll need to raise your Nightmares to 5 so you can draw A Merry Gentleman:

• Approach the Merry Gentleman: Arrange a meeting

Ladybones Road

• 19: The Man with the Brass Buttons: Find him with your Nightmares still at 5

Your Lodgings

• 20: The Price of Desire: The first of the expensive options in your Ambition!
  • If you have 5000 x Nevercold Brass Sliver, you can Give him brass for buttons, paying 500 x Nevercold Brass Sliver for a single Inkling of Identity and no progress
  • If you have at least five levels each of Having Recurring Dreams: Death by Water, Having Recurring Dreams: The Burial of the Dead, Having Recurring Dreams: The Fire Sermon, and Having Recurring Dreams: What the Thunder Said, plus one Memory of Light, you can pay ALL of those dreams to move to the next step
  • If you have a Stone Tentacle-Key, you can hand it over to move on

• Of the options that give you progress, dreams are very slow to accumulate, and you'll need them later anyway. Getting the Stone Tentacle-Key instead requires you to get a boat, which you'll also need soon, and to travel to Hunter's Keep. Getting a boat, in turn, requires being A Person of Some Importance -, so this is a good time to take a break and raise your stats if you haven't yet.

The Shuttered Palace

• 21: Back to the Bale: Requires 500 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey, which are consumed on passing or failing — Persuasive 110
• You have two options for the next step:
  • 22: Tapping the Baton: In The Singing Mandrake, pay 1 x Night on the Town, 1 x Bejewelled Lens, and 1 x Comprehensive Bribe.
    • 23: A Night at the Opera: Requires A Scholar of the Correspondence 1 — Persuasive 115, gives +10 CP Scandal on success or +5 CP Scandal and +5 CP Nightmares on failure
  • If you reach Carving out a Reputation at Court 6, you can instead choose to perform Tristram Bagley's unfinished masterpiece in The Shuttered Palace, requiring A Scholar of the Correspondence 1, which will advance your Ambition and get you Banished from the Court - all at once.

The Flit

• 25: The Morning After: Meet with the Topsy King again — Watchful 115

Back to the Manager: Find the Manager — Watchful 127

To Polythreme! (13–17)

To reach Polythreme, you'll need either:

• Your own ship, and the Screaming Map (see the Cat and Mouse guide); OR
• 150 x Map Scrap (which can be bought at the Rat Market) for A Ticket to Polythreme.

You'll also need a Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise. If you haven't been lucky enough to acquire one yet and don't have access to the Railway, your best strategy is probably:

• Acquire 150 x Bottle of Strangling Willow Absinthe. You can move items around the Cross Conversion carousel to get these, so anything you can upconvert to a 50p item is a potential source.
• Upconvert the Strangling Willow 3 times into 30 x Bottle of Broken Giant 1844.
• Upconvert 25 of the Broken Giant into 5 x Cellar of Wine.
• Trade the Cellars for Airag on the card A Presumptuous Little Opportunity. You can spend 1 x Favourable Circumstance to force-draw the card.
  • Alternatively; you can buy the 5 Cellars from the card The Calendrical Confusion of 1899 for 1250 Glim each for a total of 6250 Glim. Or at least, you can do this while Preparations for a Vast Revel is still present, as it is projected to be depleted sometime in late 2024 or 2025.

You may want to bring Surface-Silk Scraps to spend on Paying Your Way, as this will make it much easier to successfully complete the Polythreme carousel. They can also be acquired in Polythreme, though keep in mind that you won't be able to reduce Menaces while there—so if you can't 100% the checks (requiring Dangerous 134 or Persuasive 200), it'll be safer to stock up in London. 375 x Surface-Silk Scrap is enough to pay your way 3 times at the start of each carousel, gaining 30–60 CP of the progress qualities.

Another thing to consider is that some storylines and items are exclusively available in Polythreme, it would be wise to have the requisite progress and items so that you can get it all done in one go and not have to return later just for them. After this first visit to Polythreme, you will have to return a second time however, so don't fret if you can't get them all done on this first visit. The most relevant and worthwhile storylets and items are:

• The Jack-of-Smiles Case winds through Polythreme.
• Turn an Exceptional Hat into an Unfinished Hat by learning about Unfinished Men via An Unfinished Story.
• Turn a Battered Grey Overcoat into a Moderately Co-operative Clothes Colony at The Clothes-Colony.

See Polythremic Promenade (Guide)/Story Table for a breakdown of all the story-based conclusions to the promenade.

Polythreme Streets

The next five steps will require you to complete the Polythremic Promenade carousel five times, getting Unnatural Exuberance to 1 and either ALLURE or COGNISANCE to 12, depending on the step.

• 13: Seeking the Manager's Beloved: COGNISANCE 12
• 14: Gaining an Audience: ALLURE 12 and 1 x Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise
• 15: Meeting the King: COGNISANCE 12
• 16: Walking in the Garden: ALLURE 12
• 17: The End of Memory: ALLURE 12

Convincing the other players (18-210)

Now that you're done with Polythreme, you'll need to convince the other players to join, starting with the Manager.

18–110: The King's Heart:

• 18: Find the Clay Man who stole the shard: 1 x An Identity Uncovered!, 1 x Volume of Collated Research, 10 x Journal of Infamy
• 30: Embark on an expedition to find the Unfinished Man: You'll now need to do an expedition in The Forgotten Quarter, requiring 50 x Crate of Expedition Supplies and Archaeologist 2. See Forgotten Quarter Expeditions (Guide) for how expeditions work in general.
• 40: Find the home of the urchins that stole the shard: 1 x Antique Mystery and 100 x Appalling Secret

50–90: Old Downy:

Old Downy is possibly the most difficult section in the entire Ambition, requiring five successful checks in a row and costing a Rookery Password for each set of attempts. To minimise the pain here, you will probably want to get your Watchful fairly high if you haven't already - at least 150 with modifiers - and 4 x Sudden Insight to get a second try on each check. There is also a difficult Shadowy check that can be bypassed by spending 4 x Volume of Collated Research. If you've been saving a Mood card (A dusty bookshop or A little omen), now is an excellent time to use it.

• Enter Old Downy: 1 x Rookery Password — Persuasive 140
  • 50: Navigate the tunnels — Watchful 140
  • 55: Sneak across the mess hall — Shadowy 180 OR
  • 55: Apply a tincture of Carnelian mushrooms to the stew: 4 x Volume of Collated Research
  • 60: Traverse the curtained corridor: — Watchful 150
  • 65: Search the chamber of socks: — Watchful 160
  • 70: Climb the heaving stair: — Watchful 160
  • 75: Enter the last chamber: No check
  • The Height of the House: From here, you can finally take your prize, but first you must decide whether to promise to return it. This is only a promise; it's up to you whether to keep it.
    • Steal the sock: Simply take it, making no promises and losing all your Favours: Urchins
    • Borrow the shard: Promise to return it, getting +1 CP Having Recurring Dreams: What the Thunder Said

Polythreme Streets

• 100–105: Completing the King: Back to Polythreme!
  • 100: Return the shard: If you did not promise to return the shard, simply give it to the King
  • 105: If you did promise:
    • Convince him to let you return it to Old Downy, and return it to the Urchins
    • Betray the Urchins, losing all your Favours: Urchins plus -10 CP Stormy-Eyed and +10 CP Nightmares

• 110: Release the Manager from his promise: Tell the Manager of your success

120–160: Virginia:

• 120: Invite Virginia to dinner: Set the scene with 1 x Brass Ring, 1 x Muscaria Brandy, 1 x Night on the Town, and 1 x Free Evening
• Choose between:
  • 130: Delve into the Church's archives about Virginia: Ask the clergy with 5 x Favours: The Church, 2 x Blackmail Material, and 2 x Favour in High Places, OR
  • 130: Enquire with your devilish contacts: Poke around with devils for 5 x Favours: Hell, 2 x Blackmail Material, and 2 x Uncanny Incunabulum

• 140: Plan a journey to the Prince's Prison: Requires, unsurprisingly, 1 x Reported Location of a One-Time Prince of Hell
  • Lucky for you, a one-time discount is available: Uncover the location of a One-Time Prince of Hell, costing 3 x Bright Brass Skull, 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum, 100 x Journal of Infamy, and 1000 x Proscribed Material

• Travel to Corpsecage Isle: Get in your boat and head for the prison

Corpsecage Island

• 150: The Prince's Prison: Here, you can decide whether to free Virginia's former lover:
  • Free it: No check
  • Bargain with it: Persuasive 170. The check is harder with each level of Steadfast, Magnanimous, and Austere you have, and easier with each level of Heartless, Ruthless, and Subtle.

• 160: Meet with Virginia again back in London, which will convince her to play the Marvelous and lose you 1 x Favours: Hell if you have any

170–200: Mr Pages:

• 170: The last player to convince is a Master, so you have some creative options to convince it:
  • ...blow up the Bazaar: Reactivate a revolutionary cell with 5 x Favours: Revolutionaries, 1 x Diary of the Dead, and 3 x Bazaar Permit. You will gain 1 x Soothe & Cooper Long-Box and also 1 + Current Level of Suspicion CP. Definitely the most expensive and least rewarding of the three.
  • ...acquire a Sixth City: Threaten to bury London with 4 x Favour in High Places, 20 x Vision of the Surface, 2 x Blackmail Material, and 500 x Fistful of Surface Currency. You will also gain an Alluring Accomplice.
  • ...go North: SEEK for 4 x Puzzling Map, 10 x Mourning Candle, 10 x Tale of Terror!!, and 10 x Zee-Ztory, plus Nightmares 7. You will gain 1 x Night-Whisper. Only requires 7 SMEN, which is actually rather easy to get, but does take at a minimum 3 - 5 weeks to build up to without splurging resources on The Seeking Road.

• 180: A knock at the door 2: Be visited by Mr. Pages, who offers to let you join:
  • Agree, getting you 1 x Bottle of Morelways 1872, 1 x Tale of Terror!!, and 1 x Exceptional Hat.
  • Say no, leaving you with 1 x Tale of Terror!! and sending you back to the same storylet.

The Marvellous (200-245)

• 200-219: A Marvellous Conversation with Mr Pages: There are quite a few options and flavor texts here, with more opening up as you progress, but the only required one is to Ask about the next step.

A Marvellous Venue (1–100)

• 210: Discuss the venue: Ask Mr. Pages, who just tells you its requirements at no cost.

• 210 - 700: Meet with the Topsy King: Ask the Topsy King in The Flit:
  • Ask about his preferences regarding the venue: Help him write his opera with 5 x Searing Enigma.
  • Ask about his preferences regarding the venue (Correspondent): A Correspondent can offer their expertise, 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum, and 10 x Volume of Collated Research.

• 210 - 700: Meet Virginia at Dante’s Grill: Ask Virginia in Ladybones Road.
  • Inquire about Virginia's preferences regarding a venue: Buy her a drink with 1 x Portfolio of Souls.

• 210 - 700: Meet with the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem: Ask the Manager of the Hotel when you have 5 Nightmares.
  • Spend the evening with the Manager: Take him on a walk through London with 1 x Night on the Town, 4 Nightmares, 50 x Maniac's Prayer, and 10 x Extraordinary Implication.

• 210 - 700: Meet with the Monkey: Ask the Monkey in Wolfstack Docks.
  • Join a game: Gamble with the Monkey using 5 x Partial Map, 5 x Presbyterate Passphrase, and 10 x Vision of the Surface.

• 210 - 700: Meet the Bishop of St Fiacre's: Ask the Bishop of St. Fiacre's Church in Spite.
  • Ask about his preferences regarding a venue: Donate 20 x Mourning Candle.

• Choosing the Venue: You've enquired about everyone's preferences for the venue and can now choose the location.
  • Wrack your brains: With 1000 x Cryptic Clue, 20 x Romantic Notion, and 20 x Mystery of the Elder Continent, you find that only Arbor fulfills all the conditions.
  • Petition the Roseate Queen to host the Marvellous: Visit Arbor via the card A Dream of Roses and bring your offerings of 7 x Attar, 3 x Magnificent Diamond, and 1 x Primaeval Hint to the Palace (Keep walking south and you'll eventually reach it).

A Marvellous Deck (1–100)

• 10 - 14: Storridges Printing House: Travel to the Bazaar Side-Streets to acquire your Marvellous deck.

• 17 - 20: Enter Parabola: The newly minted Marvellous will have to be consecrated deep within Parabola, which means you must have Access to a Parabolan Base-Camp:
  • Find a Route to Parabola: A research project in the University Laboratory that'll require 50 x Memory of Light, 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum, and 1 x Antique Mystery
  • Contact a Silverer: Who has a fee of 500 x Memory of Light, 1 x Antique Mystery, and 1 x Direful Reflection.
  • Alternatively, if you're a Silverer, it's possible to open a path to Parabola in The Honey-Dens of Veilgarden, saving 300 x Memory of Light.

• 17 - 20: Prepare to Travel the Wanting Way: Navigating through Parabola can be quite treacherous, so thorough preparations are needed:
  • A Worthy Vessel for the Jouney:
    • Search dreams for a suitable vessel to traverse the Writhing River: Scour Parabola for the right dream-boat, which requires 1 x Diary of the Dead and 4 x Puzzling Map, OR
    • Build your own boat: With 1 x Parabola-Linen Scrap and 4 x Antique Mystery.
  • Venom Protection:
    • Proof yourself against the river’s venoms using ancient mysteries: 10 x Antique Mystery.
    • Proof yourself against the river’s venoms using the Monster Hunter's arts: A Monster-Hunter only needs 6 x Antique Mystery and 50 x Zee-Ztory.
• 30: The Writhing River: Go down the River, tossing venomous serpents off your boat in the meanwhile.
• 40: The Other Base-Camp: Here you can read the markings of your predecessors.
  • The Musings of the Heart: A glimpse of the possible Heart's Desires.
• 50: Down the Gullet: You descend the cavern and arrive at the final destination.
• 60: The Root of Need: The living quarters of the Yearning Custodian.
• 70–80: The Yearning Custodian: Have your deck consecrated, and afterwards, you can ask the Custodian some questions.
• 90: The River Runs Backwards: Return to the Parabolan Base-Camp.

Prior Winners (210–245)

• 210: Ambition: Preparing for the Honour: You will need to find more information about the winners of the Marvellous to learn how they did it.
• 220: Piece your clues together (to locate October):
  • Ask the Monkey about prior winners: Stake 5 x Bazaar Permit to acquire The Monkey's Clue.
  • Ask Virginia about prior winners: Give her 5 x Brass Ring to acquire Virginia's Clue.
  • 225: Ambition: Finding October: October resides in Parabola, but you will need help to find out where exactly:
    • Ask an old friend: The Curious Contrarian (acquired at the FEAST OF THE ROSE), OR
    • Consult the Revolutionaries: 5 x Favours: Revolutionaries.
• 226: Journey to Yesterday's Clerestory: Make your way to Yesterday's Clerestory using 1 x Night-Whisper, 50 x Zee-Ztory, and 10 x Cellar of Wine.
• 230: Piece your clues together (to locate Gregory Beechwood):
  • Ask Mr Pages about prior winners: Trade 5 x Antique Mystery to obtain Mr Pages' Clue.
  • Ask the Topsy King about prior winners: Sing 5 x Storm-Threnody to obtain The King's Clue.
  • 235: Ambition: A Visit to All Christs: Meet with Cora, who directs you to an archive in The University.
  • Ambition: The Beechwood Archive: You are given several options to obtain 'Moral Selection', but note that it won't arrive until after the Honour:
    • Rely on your connections with Summerset College to procure a copy: 5 x Comprehensive Bribe, 15 x Bottle of Muscaria Brandy, 15 x Volume of Collated Research, and 1000 x Bottle of Greyfields 1882. 157.50 in total, but do note that Comprehensive Bribes are annoying to come by and are effectively worth more than the listed sell price of 12.50.
    • Employ your connections with Benthic College to procure a copy: 100 x Correspondence Plaque, 3 x Antique Mystery, and 20 x Mourning Candle. 137.50 in total.
    • Request a copy of 'Moral Selection': 3 x Favours: Society, 100 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip, and 20 x Extraordinary Implication. Only 100 in total, not counting the value of the Society favours, but given their abundance and ease of acquiring their cost can generally be ignored, making this option the cheapest overall.
• 240: Piece your clues together (to locate His Amused Lordship):
  • Ask the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem about prior winners: Give him a Magnificent Diamond to acquire The Manager's Clue.
  • Ask the Bishop of St Fiacre's about prior winners: Threaten him with 5 x Blackmail Material to acquire The Bishop's Clue.
  • 245: Search for His Amused Lordship:
    • Draw the The Seekers of the Garden card and Speak to His Amused Lordship: 1 x Cellar of Wine, 5 x Bottles of Broken Giant 1844

The Honour (250-290)

Return to Arbor, of the Roses to begin the Honour. Make sure you still have your stake of 77 x First City Coins before entering Arbor, it would be very inconvenient otherwise. Additionally, you'll need at least 5 x Attar to enter and remain in Far Arbor.

• 250: Attend the Honour: Just walk north and you'll eventually reach Arbor's Temple district, where the storylet is located.
• 260: Ambition: Opening Hands: Play in earnest — Persuasive 170 check. Success will net you 1-3 x First City Coin and 1 x Renown: the Marvellous, while failure will lose 7 x First City Coin.
• 280: The Honour: the Late-Game: Here you get to choose who you'll face in the first round of the Marvellous.
  • Fold: Your opponent will be the Bishop (and you lose 7 x First City Coins).
  • Hang on in there — Watchful 200: Succeeding the check means you lose 14 x First City Coins, gain 1 x Renown: the Marvellous, and face the Topsy King in the next round. Failure deducts 21 x First City Coins and the Bishop is your opponent as above. Using a Mood card and a Second Chance will be helpful here.
• 290: Ambition: The Victors: Mr Pages is triumphant.

First Interlude (300-400)

• 300: Heart's Desire: Awaiting the Next Bout: Virginia is causing some trouble for the Monkey. You're unfortunately caught in the crossfire:
  • Argue the Monkey's case Dangerous — 180 check. Success means you will only lose 5 x Favours: Hell and 3 CP of Renown: Hell. Failure deducts 5 x Favours: Hell, 1 x Hastily Scrawled Warning Note, 1 x Confident Smile, 1 x Hard-Earned Lesson, 10000 x Pennies, 3 CP of Renown: Hell and you'll have to try again. Needless to say, a Mood Card is all but mandatory here.
  • Step aside: Be prepared for 10000 x Pennies worth of property damage, a loss of 3 Confident Smiles and Hard-Earned Lessons each, a gain of 1 x Favours: Hell and 3 CP of Renown: Hell.
• 310: Gregory Beechwood: You receive a note that Beechwood's monograph is finally available for reading.
  • Ambition: 'Moral Selection': You piece together that your Monkey is (or was) Gregory Beechwood.

Your Opponent

If Your Opponent is The Topsy King:

• 320: The Victim of a Burglary: You've been robbed of half your wealth in Pennies, but don't worry, you'll get it back later. What is concerning, however, are the stolen painting in your lodgings and the constables at your door:
  • Try to conceal the painting — Shadowy 180
  • Convince the officers this is a tragic coincidence: 5 x Favours: Constables.
• 330: Dealing with the Topsy King: Return the painting to avoid the consequences:
  • Smuggle the painting back into the Shuttered Palace: Access to a Parabolan Base-Camp, 1 x Parabola-Linen Scrap, 20 x Strong-Backed Labours, 5 x Favours: Society, 10 x Identities Uncovered!, and 1 x Alluring Accomplice.
  • Return the painting via a secret connection: A Crooked-Cross can pay their contact with 1 x Queer Soul, 1 x Bright Brass Skull, 10 x Identities Uncovered!, and 25 x Extraordinary Implications.
• 340–350: Treating with the Topsy King:
  • Propose a truce with the Topsy King: One worth 500 x Romantic Notion, 1 x Night-Whisper, and 500 x Maniac's Prayer.

If Your Opponent is The Bishop:

• 320: The Theft of your Secrets: The Bishop has dragged your name through the mud. You can choose to respond in multiple ways:
  • Rise Above: Simply ignore the gossip, which will raise Scandal and Suspicion by 15 CP (note: unconfirmed value, may be as high as 20 CP), and halve your current Whispered Hint, Blackmail Material, and Extraordinary Implications.
  • Publish a muscular defence in your own newspaper: Head to Doubt Street where you will find a new option available when you Start the Presses. You will require at least 60 Meritorious Copy to publish your defense.
  • Pen a vigorous defence to be circulated to those: Extraordinary Short Story
• 330–350: Dealing with the Bishop of St Fiacre's:
• 340: Investigate the Bishop's own secrets — Shadowy 160: 100 x Cryptic Clue.
  • Use your contacts in the Great Game to commission the services of the Face-Tailor: 100 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip, 5 x Favours: The Great Game, 5000 x Cryptic Clue, and 1 x Copper Cipher Ring
  • Use the arts of St Joshua to commission faces from the Face-Tailor: A Midnighter pays a discounted price of 50 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip, 1 x Copper Cipher Ring, and 4000 x Cryptic Clue
  • Contact the Face Tailor: This requires having done A Trade in Faces FATE with 26-29 The Face Trade, 50 x Extraordinary Implication, and 50 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip.

The First Round (400-475)

• 400: Escort your Monkey to Moloch Street Station:

• 410: The First Round: It is your duty as the newest player to host your first game.

You will need a 5-card Lodgings for this part, which is upgraded from a 4-card Lodgings. The specific requirements for each type can be found in the Lodgings guide. A word of advice:

• You can buy a 4-card Lodgings in Penstock's Land Agency at the Bazaar. However, getting them elsewhere is much cheaper. Reservation at the Royal Bethlehem is generally considered the easiest to grind for as you only need 50 x Antique Mystery to buy it from the merry gentleman and Trade Secrets can be converted into Antique Mystery at a 1:5 rate.
• Christmas offers a much cheaper alternative to upgrade your Lodgings. However, if Christmas is far away and you don't want to wait, the only remaining option is to fork over a Tier-8 item and 9-10 Notability.
• The Suite is (again) generally considered to be the easiest 5-card Lodgings to obtain out of the three, as the Tier-8 item required ( Impossible Theorem) is much less difficult to source than the items for the other. And if you upgrade Lodgings at Christmas, the Lacre cost for the Suite is the cheapest too.

If Your Opponent is The Topsy King:

• Host the Topsy King in your Sanctum ( An Infernally Diplomatic Privilege), or Spire ( A Novel Birth-Mark): 20 x Sworn Statements, 5 x Favours: Criminals, 500 x Maniac's Prayers, 400 x Appalling Secrets, and 250 x Tales of Terror!!.
  • The Suite ( A Wink from the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem) costs an additional 10 x Sworn Statements.
• 420: Against the Topsy King:
  • Play warily — Watchful 170
  • Play unpredictably — Persuasive 190

If Your Opponent is The Bishop:

• Host the Bishop of St Fiacre's in your Sanctum ( An Infernally Diplomatic Privilege), or Spire ( A Novel Birth-Mark): 200 x Amanita Sherries, 5 x Favours: The Church, 50 x Mourning Candles, and 50 x Bottles of Muscaria Brandy.
  • The Suite ( A Wink from the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem) option costs an additional 10 x Mourning Candles.
• 420: Against the Bishop:
  • Play warily — Watchful 190
  • Play unpredictably — Persuasive 170

Afterwards, you have to wait 24 real-time hours for the outcome of the match between the Manager and whoever he was matched with. Then, this message (Waiting for the Next Bout) appears in your inbox.

The First Round, concluded

• 475: Learn the Outcome of the Latest Match (Topsy King or Bishop):
  • Ambition: A Prodigious Thump (depending on your opponent):

The Second Round (500-630)

• 500: Wait upon Mr Pages' decision:
• 510: Consider the Manager:
• Further Winners:
  • Try and deduce the final sign: With 25 x Inklings of Identity and 5 x Extraordinary Implications, you conclude that the Boatman is yet another winner of the Marvellous.
• 520: Addressing Some Confusion:

The Garden of Nightmares

• 560: Preparing to Face the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem:
  • An Incursion of Red and Gold: A very unpleasant card that gives you Nightmares and lose a lot of Nevercold Brass; the solution to this is an action under the same card.
    • Fortify your mind: 1 x Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise, 2 x Vital Intelligences, 2 x Diaries of the Dead.
  • Arm Yourself Against the Garden of Nightmares: You only need to have 15 levels in one of these dreams in order to proceed:
    • Conjure fire: Having Recurring Dreams: The Fire Sermon.
    • Muster the dead: Having Recurring Dreams: The Burial of the Dead.
    • Summon the Storm: Having Recurring Dreams: What the Thunder Said.
    • Marshal an Army: Having Recurring Dreams: A Game of Chess.
  • Face the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem: It's time to speak to the Manager.
• 600: The Garden of Nightmares:
  • Play cautiously — Watchful 190
  • Play with cunning — Shadowy 190
• 620: The Manager's Chance: You must choose between two things:
  • Accept the Bright Brass-Button — Watchful 190: A Bright Brass Button of the Manager's own, a +1 Glasswork Weapon, keep in mind that you can get the A Bestiary of the Hearts' Desires; another Glasswork weapon; instead later on in the ambition. It has minor benefits in a variety of situations: Escaping the Beth early, Oneiropomping, Brawling with Dockers, and a niche one-time use in The Efficient Commissioner's Tale.
  • Insist on something else instead... — Watchful 190: The Topsy King's Mind, which you can return to him before the final match to gain The Thief-Oath of Tristram Bagley. It is a +1 Mithridacy Affiliation, and when equipped gives +1 Visiting Tristram Bagley - a quality that adds the card An Encounter with Tristram Bagley to your deck.
• 630: Leaving the Garden of Nightmares:

Second Interlude (631-680)

• 631: A Further Interruption: Some personnel from the Labyrinth of Tigers have come to collect the Monkey, courtesy of Mr Pages. You can call on favours to drive them off:
  • Call on the Regiment to see them off: 5 x Favours: Urchins
  • Invite a writhing of rubbery men to occupy your yard: 5 x Favours: Rubbery Men
  • Call on a street gang to clear them off: 5 x Favours: Criminals
• 632: A Master's Wrath: Mr Pages has employed the most terrible of measures - bureaucracy. You will need to do some legal strong-arming of your own:
  • Enlist the protection of another Master: 2 Connected: The Masters of the Bazaar.
  • Arrange your own protection: 10 x Favour in High Places, 20 x Strong-Backed Labour, and 10 x Bazaar Permit.
• 633: Your Monkey is ready to play Mr Pages:
• 638–639: Gather Your Thoughts:
• 640–660: An Esteemed Visitor: The Monkey has hired a translator to facilitate a proper conversation.

Preparing for the Final Match

• 670: Preparing for the Final Match:
  • Learn your opponent's style (Compendium): 1 x Intriguer's Compendium, 5 x Night on the Town, 5 x Cellar of Wine, 1 x Vital Intelligence, 3 x Book of Hidden Bodies, and 1000 x Cryptic Clue, OR
  • Learn your opponent's style (No Compendium): The same as above except it's 6 x Searing Enigma instead of an Intriguer's Compendium.
• 680: Train with other players: You'll need to train with at least 3 players.
  • Convince Virginia to help you train for the Marvellous: Requires 1000 x Whispered Hint, 1 x Silent Soul, and a Reported Location of a One-Time Prince of Hell (The Location will not be consumed).
  • Train with the Topsy King (If you hadn't returned his mind): 5 x Uncanny Incunabulum, 100 x Correspondence Plaque, and 30 x Volume of Collated Research.
  • Train with Tristram Bagley (If you had returned his mind): 5 x Favour in High Places, 5 x Comprehensive Bribe, and 5 x Legal Document.
  • Train with the Bishop of St Fiacre's: 1 x Primaeval Hint, 50 x Memory of Distant Shores and 50 x Memory of Light.
  • Train with Mr Pages: Consumes 1000 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey and 1 x Ray-Drenched Cinder in exchange for A Dream of Truth-Strangling, a unique Hat which gives Bizarre +2, Artisan of the Red Science +1, Watchful + 4.
  • Convince the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem to train you: 15 x Antique Mystery and 10 Walking the Falling Cities.

Here would be a good moment, just before the final game, to visit the Boatman, to collect the final advice and unique Weapon A Bestiary of the Hearts' Desires ( Persuasive +7, Respectable +1, A Player of Chess +1, Glasswork +1), if you want it.

• Get a Bengal Tigress.
• Gaze into Heart's Mirror is the most straightforward and does not consume Horsehead Amulet if you have any.
• Get your Wounds to 8. You can use Call in a favour from Virginia to help move you to a slow boat passing a dark beach on a silent river, which costs 5 x Favours: Hell, and requires 1 x Irresistible Drum, 1 x Set of Kifers, and 1 x Ancient Hunting Rifle. (Or you could just Gaze into Heart's Mirror.)
• While "dead", talk to the Boatman.
• With all advices in hand, Assemble a Compendium of the Heart's Desires: 5 x Uncanny Incunabula, 1 x Diary of the Dead.

The Final Match

• 700: In the Heart of the Bazaar:
• Opening Plays: Power:
  • Attempt to throw off the visions — Watchful 200
  • Draw strength from the visions of power — Watchful 180
• 720: Developing Play: Love:
  • Force the visions from your mind — Watchful 200
  • Draw strength from the visions of love — Watchful 180
• 730: The Game Matures: Time:
  • Drive the visions away — Watchful 200
  • Draw strength from the visions of time — Watchful 180
• 740: The Endgame: Escape:
  • Turn away from the visions — Watchful 200
  • Draw strength from the visions of escape — Watchful 180
• 750: Your Last Chance: You can stake your Profession, your Destiny, or even a single Penny to remain in the game for a decisive victory. Alternatively, you can just forsake your Chance and let Beechwood win.

Winning path

• 760: Beechwood's Chance: Your choice here decides which of two items you obtain:
  • Accept: Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Home Comfort, Kataleptic Toxicology +1, Mithridacy +1, Bizarre +2)
  • Refuse: Condemned Cardsharp Monkey (Companion, Watchful +7, A Player of Chess +1, Persuasive -1)
• 780: Mr Hearts' Congratulations: Afterwards, you have to wait 24 real-time hours for the next.
• 800–805: The Conjunction of Gifts: Your Heart's Desire (or its approximation) is finally granted. Consult the Long-term rewards section to better understand what they are.
• 1100–1400: Cora Bagley, Again:

Losing path

• 770: Your Defeat:
• 900: An Invitation From Mister Hearts:
• 1900–1903: Beechwood's Heart's Desire:
  • Hand over the Marvellous: For having forsaken your Heart's Desire, you are given The Marvellous (Treasure, Persuasive +13, Dangerous, Bizarre +4, A Player of Chess +2) and the Marvellous Monkey (Companion, Watchful +5, Persuasive +5, A Player of Chess +1, Dangerous -1).
• 3000: An Encounter with Cora Bagley:

Aftermath

• 21100–21400: You have finished seeking your heart's desire

Long-term rewards

• The Rewards of Ambition
  • Every four weeks, claim additional rewards in your Lodgings for your ending to the story.
• Ask Cora Bagley to work in your Laboratory
  • Recruit Cora Bagley to work in lab. She specialises in mathematical research, including production of Mirthless Compendiums of Statistical Observations and Impossible Theorems.

Aside from the choice of Treasure item awarded; of which there are many, described below; there are also a great many other items that you can get through the course of this ambition, indeed, Heart's Desire has the most available AND useful bonus items of the ambitions, with all of them being Shared BIS in their category, but some are exclusive with their other choice.

• When beating your second opponent, you get your choice of either:
  • The Thief-Oath of Tristram Bagley: A Mithridacy Affiliation. When equipped gives Visiting Tristram Bagley - a quality that adds the Infrequent card An Encounter with Tristram Bagley to your London Opportunity Card Deck. This is really good, the card not only gives you another source of Criminal Favours (which are menace-free as well), but if you need to thin your London deck for whatever reason, you can simply unequip this item to stop drawing its card.
  • A Bright Brass Button: A Glasswork Weapon with some niche uses, namely Escaping the Royal Beth early, Oneiropomping, Brawling with Dockers, and a one-time use in The Efficient Commissioner's Tale. This would be a good choice... if it wasn't redundant with another Glasswork Weapon; described below; and if the niche uses were actually better, as you have to actually try and land in the Royal Beth instead of the Mirror Marches (and also let your Nightmares get that bad to begin with), the Brawling option has many other choices for its option, and the one-time use in The Efficient Commissioner's Tale is contested by the other two options for that choice that are easily attainable by that point in the game. The Oneiropomping option is actually really good if you do in fact intend to do a very large amount of Oneiropomping, but it's not necessary.
• A Bestiary of the Hearts' Desires: A Glasswork AND A Player of Chess Weapon. A great two-for-one deal, a shame that it doesn't have any other uses.
• A Dream of Truth-Strangling: An Artisan of the Red Science Hat. It cannot be overstated just how valuable this Hat is. Red Science items are few and far between, and the only other Red Science Hats available are a FRUITS OF THE ZEE item and a FATE-locked Hallowmas item.
• On the Winning Path, you get your choice of either:
  • Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: A Kataleptic Toxicology AND Mithridacy Home Comfort, also Shared-BIS for BDR. Another great two-for-one deal, even better considering that only other KT and Mithridacy items for this slot are either no longer available or hard to get.
  • Condemned Cardsharp Monkey: A Player of Chess Companion. Redundant with the much superior Inculcating Kraken from WHITSUN. Obtaining this also means giving up on getting the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
• On the Losing Path, you will obtain a Marvellous Monkey: A Player of Chess Companion. Suffers from the same problem as the above Condemned Cardsharp Monkey, in that it is mutually exclusive with obtaining the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

If mechanical benefits are your only concern, know that while the Losing Path offers a +2 Player of Chess Treasure, it is also possible to obtain the +2 POC Treasure on the Winning Path while also obtaining the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Items needed

This is an attempt to list all possible items needed in Heart's Desire, for help with planning. The quantities listed are the fewest you can get away with (min), and the most you will need (max). This list only includes items that can be found outside of this Ambition; items that are acquired within the Ambition itself are listed elsewhere.

Item	Min	Max	Parts
A Novel Birth-Mark	0	1	410
A Wink from the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem	0	1	410
Alluring Accomplice	0	1	330
Amanita Sherry	80	280	12, 410
An Identity Uncovered!	1	11	18, 330
An Infernally Diplomatic Privilege	0	1	410
Ancient Hunting Rifle	0	1	510
Antique Mystery	12	39	40, 210, 210, 230, 235, 680
Appalling Secret	100	500	40, 410
Attar	7	7	210
Bazaar Permit	5	18	170, 220, 632
Bejewelled Lens	0	1	12
Bengal Tigress	0	1	510
Blackmail Material	7	9	130, 170, 240
Book of Hidden Bodies	3	3	670
Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise	2	2	14, 560
Bottle of Greyfields 1882	0	1000	235
Brass Ring	6	6	120, 220
Bright Brass Skull	0	4	140, 330
Cellar of Wine	5	15	225, 670
Comprehensive Bribe	0	11	22, 235, 680
Confident Smile	0	20	3, 12, 12, 300
Copper Cipher Ring	0	1	340
Correspondence Plaque	0	200	235, 680
Crate of Expedition Supplies	50	50	30
Cryptic Clue	2100	7140	12, 210, 340, 350, 670
Curious Contrarian	0	1	225
Diary of the Dead	0	3	170, 210, 510,
Direful Reflection	0	1	210
Drop of Prisoner's Honey	540	2940	11, 12, 21, 680
Extraordinary Implication	10	113	12, 210, 235, 330, 340, 510
Extraordinary Short Story	0	1	320
Favour in High Places	0	21	130, 170, 632, 680
Favours: Constables	0	5	320
Favours: Criminals	0	10	410, 631
Favours: Hell	0	15	130, 300, 510
Favours: Revolutionaries	0	10	170, 225
Favours: Rubbery Men	0	5	631
Favours: Society	0	8	235, 330
Favours: The Church	0	11	12, 130, 410
Favours: The Great Game	0	5	340
Favours: Urchins	0	5	631
First City Coin	77	77	12
Fistful of Surface Currency	0	500	170
Foxfire Candle Stub	500	500	12
Free Evening	1	1	120
Hard-Earned Lesson	0	3	305
Inkling of Identity	0	50	12, 510
Intriguer's Compendium	0	1	670
Irresistible Drum	0	1	510
Journal of Infamy	10	113	12, 18, 140
Legal Document	0	5	680
Magnificent Diamond	4	4	210, 240
Maniac's Prayer	550	1050	210, 340, 410
Memory of Distant Shores	0	50	680
Memory of Light	0	1051	210, 680
Meritorious Copy	0	60	320
Moon-Pearl	200	200	8
Mourning Candle	20	110	170, 210, 230, 410
Muscaria Brandy	1	66	120, 230, 410
Mystery of the Elder Continent	20	20	210
Nevercold Brass Sliver	0	5000	20
Night on the Town	7	8	22, 120, 210, 670
Night-Whisper	1	2	225, 340
Parabola-Linen Scrap	0	2	210, 330
Partial Map	5	5	210
Patent Scrutinizer	0	1	12
Patent Scrutinizer Deluxe!	0	1	12, 12
Penny	0	10000	300
Phosphorescent Scarab	0	16	12
Portfolio of Souls	1	1	210
Presbyterate Passphrase	5	5	210
Primaeval Hint	1	2	210, 680
Proscribed Material	0	1000	140
Puzzling Map	0	8	170, 210
Queer Soul	0	1	330
Rat on a String	100	260	12, 12
Ray-Drenched Cinder	0	1	680
Reported Location of a One-Time Prince of Hell	1	2	140, 680
Romantic Notion	520	520	210, 340
Rookery Password	1	1	50
Scrap of Incendiary Gossip	0	200	235, 340,
Searing Enigma	0	11	210, 670
Set of Kifers	0	1	510
Silent Soul	0	1	680
Stolen Correspondence	0	5	3
Stone Tentacle-Key	0	1	20
Storm-Threnody	5	5	230
Strong-Backed Labour	0	40	330, 632
Sudden Insight	0	3	12
Sworn Statement	0	30	410
Tale of Terror!!	0	260	170, 410
Uncanny Incunabulum	0	14	130, 140, 210, 510, 680
Vision of the Surface	10	30	170, 210
Vital Intelligence	3	3	560, 670
Volume of Collated Research	1	60	18, 55, 210, 235, 680
Whispered Hint	30	1030	2, 680
Zee-Ztory	0	110	170, 210, 225