Moonlit Woods (Guide)
|
Late Railway Content |
- Wandering Moonlit Woods Summary
- Locked Semi-Fixed-Length Activity
- Setup
- 3 A
- Progress
- 3-14 A
- End
- 2 A
- Progress Details
- Raise
Moonlit and 
On the Scent to spot your target. Then report it to the groundskeeper. - Items Inputs/Outputs
- Start-up
- Raw EPA
- 5.28
General[edit]
The Moonlit Woods is unlocked once you've elected 
Balmoral's Castellan in 
Balmoral.
In order to enter the woods you will need to spend 
Vital Intelligence twice. If you have 
The Seal of St Joshua, you may alternatively use 
4 x Volume of Collated Research (a total of 8) as a substitute. This should get you 14
Time Remaining in the Woods, which should be more than enough for what you want to do.
The main two qualities for the Moonlit Woods are Moonlit and On the Scent. Moonlit allows you to access more of the woods as well as other actions elsewhere, while On the Scent can be used to gain various observations: 
Red Deer, Fox, 
Grouse. You can then give the observations to the Marigold Menagerie Keeper (or her replacement) for rewards. You always lose any remaining On the Scent and Time Remaining in the Woods when you make an observation. If Time Remaining hits 0 without an observation being made, you will be forced to leave, and you will lose all On the Scent. Moonlit carries over, but you do lose the 5 Moonlit when cashing in via Track your quarry. Observations stack, and you may spend them with the Keeper at any time.
When entering, you arrive at The Moon-Seared Paths, from where you can get to either The Wispish Fringe or Silvered Glades. With Moonlit 5 you can also enter Balmoral As Before. It's worth noting that some of these movements cost Time Remaining in the Woods, so plan accordingly.
| Option | Requirements | Ending Location | Time Remaining in the Woods
|
|---|---|---|---|
 Keep to the fringes
|
N/A | The Wispish Fringe
|
1 x Time Remaining in the Woods
|
| Keep to the glades
|
N/A | Silvered Glades
|
1 x Time Remaining in the Woods
|
| Walk in moonlight
|
5 x Moonlit
|
 Balmoral As Before
|
N/A |
| Return to the trail
|
N/A | The Moon-Seared Paths
|
N/A |
Gain progress[edit]
| Storylet | Location | Option | Challenge / Item Cost | Success | Failure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep to the fringes
|
The Wispish Fringe
|
Wander the woods
|
 A Player of Chess 3
|
On the Scent 2
|
|
 Lay a trail
|
 4 x Unprovenanced Artefact ( 10)
|
|
N/A | ||
| Keep to the glades
|
Silvered Glades
|
 Wander the glades
|
A Player of Chess 5
|
|
|
 Darken the wood
|
3 x Thirsty Bombazine Scrap ( 7.50)
|
|
N/A |
Cash-in Progress[edit]
| Location | Option | Requirements | Effect | Cash-in reward | Total Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balmoral As Before
|
Track your quarry
|
|
Observation: Fox
|
|
81 Echoes / 93 with Hinterland Prosperity |
| The Wispish Fringe
|
Track down the Capercaillie
|
On the Scent 12
|
Observation: Grouse
|
|
72 Echoes / 82.8 with Hinterland Prosperity |
| Silvered Glades
|
 Locate the source of the roaring
|
On the Scent 20
|
Observation: Red Deer
|
|
85 Echoes / 97.6 with Hinterland Prosperity |
Strategy[edit]
For guaranteeing success, you need A Player of Chess of at least 10.
The EPA here is the effective EPA in bones, which need to be used to make skeletons in order to profit from them.
- For the Fox, bear in mind that
Doubled Skulls are harder to extract value from than most bones. They are only usable in 
The Bone Market on bird week. They are, however, very useful for 
The Trifling Diplomat, for the crackling trade, 
Night-Whispers, and 
Corresponding Sounders on multiple weeks. - The EPA listed here does not allow for the value of Moonlit, which has other applications listed below.
Of note, while the 
Hinterland Prosperity increases the EPA of Balmoral, Balmoral itself is not an efficient source of Hinterland Prosperity. Sources of Hinterland Prosperity in the Tracklayers' City range from 220 Prosperity per action to 550 Prosperity per action with 
Hinterland Efficiency maxed out, which is much more efficient if you are just looking for a source of Hinterland Prosperity.
Fox (assuming no prior Moonlit)[edit]
Compel the Ghillie to extend your visit twice, costing 8 x Volume of Collated Research (worth 20)- Enter the woods
- Keep to the glades
- Darken the wood, costing 3 x Thirsty Bombazine Scrap (worth 7.5)
- Wander the glades four times
- Do not Locate the source of the roaring
- Return to the trail
- Walk in moonlight
- Track your quarry
- Report a sighting of a Fox to the keeper
Twelve actions, investing 27.5 worth of materials in exchange for 81 worth of bones and 12 worth of Hinterland Prosperity. A net zero change in Moonlit.
- 4.46 EPA without Hinterland Prosperity
- 5.04 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if your Tracklayers' City is in Balmoral
- 4.68 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if it's elsewhere
Fox (if you have 4 Moonlit to spare)[edit]
- Compel the Ghillie to extend your visit twice, costing 8 x Volume of Collated Research (worth 20)
- Enter the woods
- Keep to the fringes
- Lay a trail, costing 4 x Unprovenanced Artefact (worth 10)
- Wander the woods twice
- Do not Track down the Capercaillie
- Return to the trail
- Walk in moonlight
- Track your quarry
- Report a sighting of a Fox to the keeper
Ten actions, investing 30 worth of materials in exchange for 81 worth of bones and 12 worth of Hinterland Prosperity. Costs a net total of 4 x Moonlit.
- 5.10 EPA without Hinterland Prosperity
- 5.73 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if your Tracklayers' City is in Balmoral
- 5.25 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if it's elsewhere
Grouse[edit]
- Compel the Ghillie to extend your visit twice, costing 8 x Volume of Collated Research (worth 20)
- Enter the woods
- Keep to the fringes
- Lay a trail, costing 4 x Unprovenanced Artefact (worth 10)
- Wander the woods twice
- Track down the Capercaillie
- Report a sighting of Grouse to the keeper
Nine actions, investing 30 worth of materials in exchange for 72 worth of bones and 10.8 worth of Hinterland Prosperity. Also gains 1 x Moonlit.
- 4.67 EPA without Hinterland Prosperity
- 5.28 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if your Tracklayers' City is in Balmoral
- 4.80 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if it's elsewhere
Red Deer[edit]
- Compel the Ghillie to extend your visit twice, costing 8 x Volume of Collated Research (worth 20)
- Enter the woods
- Keep to the glades
- Darken the wood three times, costing 9 x Thirsty Bombazine Scrap (worth 22.5)
- Wander the glades
- Locate the source of the roaring
- Report a sighting of Red Deer to the keeper
Ten actions, investing 42.5 in exchange for 85 worth of bones and 12.6 worth of Hinterland Prosperity. Also gains 4 x Moonlit.
- 4.25 EPA without Hinterland Prosperity
- 5.01 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if your Tracklayers' City is in BalmoralOther uses for Moonlit
- 4.59 EPA including cashing out Hinterland Prosperity, if it's elsewhere
Meeting September[edit]
In order to raise A Friend of September, September gives you a meeting in the Moonlit Woods.
This meeting can only happen when you see Balmoral As Before, and not the other possible endings of your walk in the woods. Follow the same strategy as finding the Fox and you will have a one-time option to progress September's story.
Should you so desire, this will allow you to make him Balmoral's Castellan, make him a member of the railway Board, invite January to join the Board, make her the leader of the Tracklayer Union, eventually of their city.
Other uses for Moonlit[edit]
- (2 Moonlit) Paint with Moonlight
- (2 Moonlit) Share your moonlit vision with the other citizens
- (3 Moonlit) Freeze the Solacefruit Champagne Royale into a sorbet in the Kitchen in Station VIII
- (10 Moonlit) Present the Mandolinist with Moonlight, part of a non-repeatable storyline in Marigold Station
- (5 Moonlit) Attend in moonlight, part of a storyline in the Tracklayer's City
- (10 Moonlit) Clothe yourself in silver and the memories of shattering in the Risen Burgundy to raise the
Chthonosophy cap to 6
