Ambition: Nemesis (Guide)

Early MYN Content and Onwards

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

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You can find a spoiler minimal version of this guide here: Ambition: Nemesis (Broad Guide)

Someone you loved is dead. You swore you'd scour the world for the killer. Your search brought you under the world.

Ambition: Nemesis is a tale of revenge that begins in Ladybones Road and leads the player across Fallen London... and perhaps beyond. The main Attributes are Watchful and Dangerous.

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

Progress

This Ambition can be started in Ladybones Road with Watchful 6. You can check your progress at any time on the Myself tab under Ambition; the number after the Ambition 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.

Beginning (1-30)

First steps (0–9)

Ladybones Road: Getting started

• Nemesis 0: Your search for your loved one's killer has brought you to the Neath. — Watchful 6.
• Nemesis 1: You have two clues. Find information on these odd petals. — Watchful 10.

Watchmaker's Hill: Meet with the Mumbling Bee-Keeper.

• Nemesis 2: Convince the local monster-hunters to point you at the Mumbling Bee-Keeper. — Dangerous 10.
• Nemesis 3: Pay off the Mumbling Bee-Keeper's bar tab with 6 x Rat on a String.
• Nemesis 3a: Learn what the Mumbling Bee-Keeper knows about these petals. — Watchful 15.
• Nemesis 4: Use 50 x Foxfire Candle Stub to make a bee repellent.
• Nemesis 4a: Search the Mumbling Bee-Keeper's hive. — Dangerous 20.
• Nemesis 5: Find someone who can tell you about the Mumbling Bee-Keeper's Key.
  • Ask around Watchmaker's Hill — Watchful 30, OR
  • Beat it out of the Mumbling Bee-keeper — Dangerous 25.

Veilgarden: Talk to the locksmith

• Finding Mackay: Find the locksmith. — Watchful 30.
• Reaching Mackay: Bring 120 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey and sell 60 of it to gain access to the honey-den.
• Interrogating Mackay: Get Mackay to tell you about the key.
  • Kidnap Mackay from the honey-den — Dangerous 37, OR
  • Find Mackay in a honey dream — Watchful 33.

• Who was it?: Who was it who died, that night?

The Forgotten Quarter / Red Honey (9) (optional if you have an Uncanny Incunabulum to spend later)

The Forgotten Quarter: Ambition: Nemesis - Forgotten Quarter

• Forgotten Quarter: Get directions to the crypt where Mackay stored the red honey — Dangerous 42
• Forgotten Quarter 1: Follow the map to the crypt — Watchful 43
• Forgotten Quarter 2: Get past the deviless guarding the crypt
  • Bribe her — Spend 50 x Soul, OR
  • Charm her — Persuasive 45, OR
  • Kill her — Dangerous 48
• Forgotten Quarter 3: Search the crypt for Traces of Red Honey — Watchful 49
• Last traces: Get help making use of the Traces of Red Honey
  • Ask around academia — Watchful 60, OR
  • Talk to the underworld — Spend 1 x Favours: Criminals

The University: Make a Drop of Gaoler's Honey

• the Junior Fellow: Convince the Junior Fellow to speak with you
  • Impress him — Spend 2 x Mystery of the Elder Continent, OR
  • Beat him into submission — Dangerous 63
• Brewing up gaoler's honey: Use 350 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey, 10 x Bottled Oblivion, 5 x F.F. Gebrandt's Tincture of Vigour, and 100 x Jade Fragment to reactivate the Red Honey

The Chambers of the Heart: Experiment with the Drop of Gaoler's Honey

• Taste Gaoler's Honey: Use the Drop of Gaoler's Honey in your inventory to enter the The Chambers of the Heart

The Cage-Garden (9-10)

The Shuttered Palace: Ambition: Nemesis - Shuttered Palace

• the Shuttered Palace: Bring a Set of Workman's Clothes to blend in and observe the servantry — Watchful 52
• the Shuttered Palace 1: Find out where the Jingling Servant goes every day
  • Bribe someone — Spend 40 x F.F. Gebrandt's Superior Laudanum, OR
  • Follow her — Shadowy 40
• the Shuttered Palace 2: Get the keys to the Cage-Garden
  • Kill her — Dangerous 56, OR
  • Knock her unconscious — Spend 3 x Hard-Earned Lesson, Dangerous 64
• the Shuttered Palace 3: Unlock the door to the Cage-Garden — Watchful 59
• the Shuttered Palace 4: Give the password to the Cage-Garden
  • Answer from your experiences tasting the Drop of Gaoler's Honey — unlocked with One Who Has Indulged in Unknown Pleasures 1, OR
  • Answer from a book — Spend 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum
    • You can also acquire One Who Has Indulged in Unknown Pleasures from other storylets outside of this Ambition.
      • Share a little honey with the Captivating Princess during FEAST OF THE ROSE.
      • My Kingdom for a Pig FATE-locked story.
• the Shuttered Palace 5: Get a tour of the Cage-Garden
  • Take the tour, OR
  • Strike the Cage-keeper down! — Dangerous 63
• the Shuttered Palace 6: Get information about Scathewick
  • Question the Cage-keeper (Sets Ambition: Nemesis to 11) — Watchful 67, AND/OR
  • Strike the Cage-keeper down! — Dangerous 63

If you strike the Cage-keeper down before questioning him:

• the Shuttered Palace 7: Free the prisoners by successfully battling your way through the bees 4 times, spending 100 x Foxfire Candle Stub per attempt — Dangerous 70
• the Shuttered Palace 8: Ask the newly-ex-prisoners about Scathewick

Carrywell (11-23)

Wolfstack Docks: Catch a steamer to the tomb-colonies

• To Venderbight: Bring 120 x Silk Scrap, 40 x Maniac's Prayer, and Suspicion less than 5 to the Docks to get yourself on board
  • Go boldly, to try to avoid payment — Persuasive 70, OR
  • Go gently, paying your way to avoid the chance of Suspicion.

The tomb-colony of Venderbight: Hunt down Carrywell

• See Venderbight (Guide) for more info on this section.

Back in London (24-30)

Ladybones Road: Learning about the Iron Republic

• Ambition: Nemesis 24 - learning about the Iron Republic. Asked to give one of three:
  • 1 x Favours: Hell
  • 1 x Favours: Revolutionaries
  • 3 x Aeolian Scream

For both Ambition: Nemesis 27 - The Dreaming Spires and for 30, you need a lot of honey. The first stage costs 2000 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey, while the latter stage costs 1500 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey

The Iron Republic (31-36)

To zail to the Iron Republic, you will need the following:

Ship

A Ship, guide can be found here: Ship Guide.

Safe-Conduct

Iron Republic Safe-Conduct which can be gotten through the Counting the Days carousel at the end: Obtain an Iron Republic Safe-Conduct 2. You will need:

• Renown: Hell 10. Guide here: Raising Favours (Guide). One can grind Hell Favours by doing heists in The Flit. On a Heist (Guide)
• 1 x Brass Ring
• 3 x Mark of Credit Page
  • This will take some time, so grind Counting the Days as soon as you can. Using the guide will help you progress through this carousel optimally without relying on opportunity cards.
  • Once you have 3 x Mark of Credit Page, you do not need to spend another CtD carousel to get back to Obtain an Iron Republic Safe-Conduct, instead, use FIND NEW STORIES: Chat with the Local Gossip in your Lodgings.

Other prerequisites

Before you start your voyage, you will also want to have:

2 x Portfolio of Souls:

• See Infernal Grinding (Guide) for information on obtaining this

Stone Tentacle-Key. This is obtained at Hunter's Keep. Time Passing at Hunter's Keep (Guide) is a guide on how to get the key.

Now you are ready to enter the Iron Republic.

In the Iron Republic (31-36)

In the Iron Republic, some storylets appear on certain Iron Republic Days. Iron Republic Street Map may help.

• 31: Tracking down a murderer, Iron Republic Days 78-88.
• 32: The Prison, Iron Republic Days 34-38. Stone Tentacle-Key is needed here.
• 33: Yellow Blood Day, Iron Republic Days 78-88. 2 x Portfolio of Souls are needed here.
• 34: A Little Talk, Iron Republic Days 78-88.
• 35: Ambition: Nemesis – Scathewick No More
• 36: Ambition: Nemesis – A Knife and an Envelope - pick them both up for an additional weapon.
• Note: Don't forget to pick up an Iron Republic Journal before you leave!

Investigating in London (37-39)

Ambition: Nemesis – Scathewick's Accounts will task you with some investigations, where you will need to:

• Investigate 'Cumberbold'
• Investigate 'Gloriana''
• Decipher Scathewick's Correspondence sign

These tasks can be done in any order.

Investigations

When you begin Investigate 'Cumberbold' or Investigate 'Gloriana', you will be hindered by A Complication: Jasper and Frank. Should you wish, this quality can be removed by either:

• Drawing a card: A Complication: Jasper and Frank (Card)
• Or going directly to The Clay Quarters and cycling The Airs of London until You cross paths with Jasper and Frank.

If the complication isn't dealt with, you will have to pay an extra price.

Gloriana

• 3 Stages
• Stage 1 costs 10 x Detective's Progress, 5 x Journal of Infamy and 1 x An Identity Uncovered!.
• Stage 2 costs 10 x Detective's Progress, a Favours: The Great Game, 1 x Extraordinary Implication and 1 x An Identity Uncovered!.
• Resolving the complication costs either:
  • 1 x Strong-Backed Labour and 1000 x Piece of Rostygold OR
  • 1 x Favours: Hell, 2 x London Street Sign, 50 x Intriguing Snippet and 2 x Partial Map
• Stage 3 costs 10 x Detective's Progress, 3 x Night on the Town
• If you didn't resolve the complication, you have to spend a Night-Whisper, and favours with The Great Game and The Church
  • Unless you're a Midnighter, in which case it's 1 x Extraordinary Implication.

Cumberbold

• 3 stages
• Stage 1 costs 10 x Detective's Progress, a Favours: Criminals and 2 x An Identity Uncovered!.
• Stage 2 costs 10 x Detective's Progress, 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum and 20 x Appalling Secret.
• Resolving the complication costs either:
  • 1 x Strong-Backed Labour and 1000 x Piece of Rostygold OR
  • 1 x Favours: Hell, 2 x London Street Sign, 50 x Intriguing Snippet and 2 x Partial Map
• Stage 3 costs 10 x Detective's Progress, 1 x Puzzling Map, 1 x Book of Hidden Bodies and 250 x Cryptic Clue.
• If you didn't resolve the complication, you have to spend a Diary of the Dead

Scathewick's Correspondence Sign

• This step will require the following:
  • (110 - 5 × Scholar) x Correspondence Plaque
  • (110 - 5 × Scholar) x Compromising Document
  • (2 - ( Scholar / 15)) x Searing Enigma
  • (4 - ( Scholar / 10)) x Uncanny Incunabulum
• In order to decrease the amount of items required, you are encouraged to level up A Scholar of the Correspondence as high as you can easily grind it (see: A Scholar of the Correspondence (Guide)).
• If you want to go past level 7, you may want to avoid being Banished from the Court - before hitting your desired level, so you can write Somewhat challenging music to increase it profitably. Alternatively get readmitted to the court.
• Level 8 is recommended, since that is the breakpoint for saving one of the Searing Enigma. It's up to you if you want to go higher (perhaps 21 for Nemesis 135), because unfortunately even at 21 SOTC you do not save the final enigma instead of reducing the cost to 0.
  • SOTC 15 is likewise the breakpoint for reducing the cost to 2 x Uncanny Incunabulum.
  • SOTC 21 reduces the Compromising Document and Correspondence Plaque costs to 5 each respectively.

Unmasking your Nemesis (40-59)

In your Lodgings, you will be asked who your investigations point towards.

• This will cost 4 x Extraordinary Implication for each guess (3 options). Alternatively you can investigate more and spend 4 x Extraordinary Implication, 5 x Compromising Document and 1 x An Identity Uncovered! instead.

This group has to be further specified and this costs An Identity Uncovered! per guess, or 10 x Compromising Document, 2 x Volume of Collated Research, 2 x Extraordinary Implication if you want to investigate.

The Glistering Spires (60-99)

This stage begins in your Lodgings. For this stage in your ambition you'll want the following:

• Ruthless + Heartless at least 10. Alternatively, 200 x Tale of Terror!!
• 20 x Thirsty Bombazine Scrap + 20 x Whisper-Satin Scrap
• 2 x Bejewelled Lens
• 2 x Primordial Shriek

If you don't get this all done at once, you will have to spend an action per step retracing your steps (up to 3), so make sure you have everything you need for this section first.

Lilac (100-159)

To find the Lady in Lilac, you need 77 x Romantic Notion. Note that this will warp you to the Northern Unterzee, if you're going to eventually have business in the North (Evolution for instance), then now would be the time to arrange for it to happen.

Once you have returned to London, you will need 6500 Lumps of Lamplighter Beeswax, a Bat with Attitude, and either 21 Scholar or a Searing Enigma.

For this stage, you must follow your bat to relive your lost memories. Your bat reached these 4 places:

• The place of coffee and fur, aka Heartscross House at Port Carnelian
• The place of orange sunlight, aka The Mirror-Marches (A mahogany-framed mirror and Go mad allow for easy access)
• The place of red and gold, aka A state of some confusion (can be accessed easily from the Mirror-Marches via through A familiar scene?)
• The place of storms and skies, aka The Mind of a Long-Dead God (very difficult to reach, not recommended)

Once you have gone to at least 3 of the above locations, you may put your thoughts together with 100 Cryptic Clues.

The Book of Red Murder (160-190)

The next stage takes place in your Lodgings.

Ambition Nemesis – The Book of Red Murder (160-189)

To record your journey, you require 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum, 5 x Volumes of Collated Research, and 5 x Presbyterate Passphrases.

Finding your enemy's mirrors requires:

• 7 x Favours: Bohemians or Favours: Criminals
• 3 Forceful or 3 x Personal Recommendations

Search for the mirror-shard (190)

• Ambition Nemesis – Is this the Dagger?

This is the notorious "Knifegate". You'll have to buy 77 x Ravenglass Knife ( 7884.8) or 777 x Skyglass Knife ( 4972.8). Worse, either option involves a luck check and if you fail you still lose 1/7th of the knives.

You can also buy the knives from the The Rat Market, which may increase your effective EPA. Note that Silverers can sell the Uncanny Incanabula they get weekly for Rat-Shillings.

• Ambition: Nemesis The Mirror Crack'd

You now have to use some animal friends to scout out and repair the mirror in the Bazaar. This involves a quality called Ambition: A Crack in the Veneer (abbreviated as ACitV) which starts out at zero and each attempt is a check on the same quality. You gain a bit with every attempt using the bats or the spiders (more on success, less on fail), plus Suspicion. You probably don't want to burn your frost-moth or Rattus Faber until it's high enough to give a good chance of success. You complete this storylet when A Mirror Made Whole is set to 5.

Companion	Challenge Difficulty	Success	Failure
Sulky Bat	ACitV 100	5 x ACitV +1 CP Suspicion	3 x ACitV -1 x Sulky Bat +2CP Suspicion
Fairly Tame Sorrow-Spider	ACitV 75	10 x ACitV +1 CP Suspicion	5 x ACitV -1 x Fairly Tame Sorrow-Spider +2 CP Suspicion
Complaisant Frost-Moth	ACitV 250	A Mirror Made Whole to 5	15 x ACitV -1 x Complaisant Frost-Moth
Rattus Faber Bandit-Chief	ACitV 200	A Mirror Made Whole to 5	5 x ACitV -1 x Rattus Faber Bandit-Chief

Alternatively can finish without a check if you have The Minister of State Affairs, The Minister of War, The Minister of Culture, The Minister of Enigmas and 50 x Ambition: A Crack in the Veneer.

Ambition Nemesis: A Connoisseur of Cessation

Finding a weapon that can kill your foe requires:

• 5 x Favours: Society, 5 x Favours: Bohemians, or Licentiate
• 250 x Romantic Notions, 50 x Compromising Documents, or A Poet-Laureate
• 3 x Blackmail Material

Through the Glass Darkly (200-214)

• Ambition Nemesis – Through a Glass Darkly

Next up you'll need to move through Parabola, which requires one of the following:

• Find your own way regardless
  • x 50 Memory of Light
  • x 50 Memory of Distant Shores
  • Silverer

OR

• Contact the Glass
  • x 1 Searing Enigma
  • Embroiled in the Wars of Illusion 25

Beggar's Wake (215-240)

You must begin travel to Beggar's Wake. After that, you'll need to spend a Night-Whisper and 3 Antique Mysteries (or some levels in primary stats) to finish traveling to the Waste. Silverers can get there for free.

At the Wake, you must gain three qualities;

• A Word from the Pedlar King, via Attend the Peddlar King; requires a Persuasive 200 check, which may be bypassed by spending x 11 Antique Mystery and x 100 Ostentatious Diamond
• A Word from the Convocation, via Visit the Convocation of Runts; requires a Dangerous 200 check, which may be bypassed by spending x 2 Vital Intelligence
• and A Word from the Court of Honey and Spice, via Enter the Court of Honey and Spice; requires a Shadowy 200 check, which may be bypassed by spending a Judgements' Egg

Each failed check increases The Eye of the Wind; once you reach The Eye of the Wind 2, you must sacrifice a little more than 1 level (100 CP) in a primary stat to reset it. By this point in your ambition, you should have the stats to give yourself a good chance at succeeding the checks, and Second Chances as well, so just do the skill checks and save your items.

Then you Find the Grave of Mirrors, make a choice which affects which of two secondary rewards (a Dangerous Glasswork home comfort for the violent choice, and a Watchful Glasswork affiliation for the nonviolent choice) you later receive and proceed to your adversary's chambers.

The Chambers of Your Nemesis (260-340)

You proceed with your assassination. As your nemesis lays dying, you have the opportunity to ask it questions, and they will present you with a choice; if you spare them, they will bring back your loved one.

Whichever choice you make, a 24-hour Living Story begins.

24 Hours Later (conclusion)

If you spared your nemesis, you attend the resurrection of your loved one in the Forgotten Quarter. You recieve a Persuasive, Respectable and Kataleptic Toxicology Treasure which depends on which loved one died.

If you killed them, you make one last flavour choice in your Lodgings, and recieve your adversary's bloodstained cloak, a Shadowy, Dreaded and Kataleptic Toxicology Treasure.

Aftermath

You will draw a card which confers on you the secondary reward from the choice in Beggar's Wake.

You get to hire the Esurient Smith for your lab.

• Hire in the Esurient Smith: The Esurient Smith is good at any project involving metals. His greater value is his Parabolan-self, which grants the most amount of Parabolan Research from Parabolan-selves of research assistants at this time of writing.

There are also the rewards that come every four weeks.

• The Rewards of Ambition