The Candlefinder Society (Guide)

This guide is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.

What needs work: Canvassing difficulty may depend on case difficulty.

Late MYN Content and Onwards

How to Unlock

Begin from the opportunity card An Impromptu Invitation, unlocked after meeting the following requirements:

• Base Watchful 90
• A Name in Seven Secret Alphabets 7
• A Name Whispered in Darkness 7

It's a High Urgency card and should be difficult to miss. Playing this card will give you Associating with the Candlefinder Society and redirect you to Meeting with the Candlefinder Society in Veilgarden, the main hub for starting and replaying Candlefinder cases.

Candlefinder separates itself from earlier cases in A Name in Seven Secret Alphabets by its use of not just its own set of mechanics, but also various other activities from across the game. Therefore, some cases may have additional requirements depending on the activities involved or (if any) narrative continuity.

Each case has one of the following difficulties:

• Simple: Recommended for players with main attributes of at least 90.
• Intermediate: Recommended for players with main attributes of at least 180.
• Difficult: Recommended for players with main attributes of at least 230.

Step-by-Step Guidance

You can only play one Candlefinder case at a time, as tracked by Candlefinder: Case, and there is no way to quit without finishing your current one. When you are in the middle of a case, Candlefinder: Progress in a Case level tracks your ongoing progress, and your Candlefinder Lead quality states where you need to go next. Unless stated otherwise, Candlefinder storylets can be found under Fifth City Stories.

FATE-locked cases won't be covered in this section per this wiki's content policy.

The Case of the Missing Comb

Someone has contacted the Honey-Addled Detective: a Palace servant.

This is a simple case with no additional requirements to begin.

10: Meet your client, the Taciturn Maidservant. 20: Canvass the servantry in the Shuttered Palace. 30-40: Speak to the Honey-Addled Detective about the suspect. 50: Plan a heist to gather evidence, with Target Security: Triple-Bolted. See also Casing (Guide) and On a Heist (Guide). 60: Report back to the Honey-Addled Detective. 70: Tail the suspect in Spite. 80: Speak to the Honey-Addled Detective once more. 90: Prepare for a Big Score in the Flit to gather evidence. This target requires Casing... 5 and is a Narrow Casing... 2 challenge. 100: Return to your client.

The Case of the Missing Moll

The Banded Sleuth has been hired to locate an old sweetheart. It sounds simple enough, but then, these cases always do.

This is a simple case with no additional requirements to begin.

10: Meet your client, the Spall-Skinned Romantic. 20-30: Investigate your lead in Veilgarden. 40: Sneak around to investigate your next lead in Wolfstack Docks. 50: Return to your client in Ladybones Road. 60: Return to the previous establishment in Veilgarden. 70: Write a short story to lubricate your investigation. This short story requires Potential 30 for completion. See also Short Stories (Guide). 80-100: Deliver your short story, and follow what comes after. 110: Return to your client in Ladybones Road once more. 120: Confront the culprit back in Veilgarden, once and for all.

The Case of the Wayward Will

"In my dream," the Honey-Addled Detective says distractedly, "a silver chain shattered while the Great Leveller wept." His unfocused gaze is directed vaguely towards you.

This is an intermediate case with no additional requirements to begin.

10: Meet your client, the Sentimental Niece. 20: Canvass the servantry in the Shuttered Palace. 30: Determine your next step in the case. 40: Interview a person of interest, and investigate the crime scene. 50-60: Prepare to hunt for a quarry in Wolfstack Docks. This quarry requires The Hunt Is On! 7 and is a Narrow The Hunt Is On! 5 challenge. See also The Hunt is On! (Guide). 70: Confront the suspect. 80: Tail the suspect in Spite. 90: Return to the Honey-Addled Detective. 100: Prepare for a Big Score in the Flit to gather evidence. This target requires Casing... 6 and is a Narrow Casing... 5 challenge. See also Casing (Guide). 110: Return the wayward will to its original place. 100: Return to your client.

The Case of the Pince-Nez Pirates

The Urchin Detective is frantic and helter-skelter. "Come quick! I 'as a case!"

This is an intermediate case, unlocked with An Explorer of the Unterzee - and Associating with a Youthful Naturalist 320.

10: Meet your client... the Implacable Detective? 20: Canvass the dockers in Wolfstack Docks. 30: Determine your next step in the case. 40: Set zail to Port Cecil. Once you arrive, do a preliminary search for the culprit. 50-60: Aid the miners in scintillack extraction and investigate their eyewitness account. See also Port Cecil (Guide). 70: Find the Urchin Detective before you set zail again. By the end of this section, you will arrive at your next destination, Godfall. 90: In Godfall, speak with the Urchin Detective. 100: Follow after the Urchin Detective into the Shattered Citadel. See also Pilgrimages in Godfall (Guide). 110: Set zail to your final destination, the Court of the Wakeful Eye, and follow the lead to the case's conclusion.

The Case of the Dead Puppet

The Implacable Detective is here with a curious crime: somebody has – allegedly – murdered a Mr Punch puppet.

This is a difficult case, unlocked with University Laboratory.

10: Meet your client, the Aggrieved Professor. 20: Begin a scientific investigation on the evidence in your laboratory. This project has Monstrous Focus and requires 550 x Laboratory Research for completion. See also University Laboratory (Guide). 30: Rendezvous with the Implacable Detective and the Aggrieved Professor. 40: Continue the investigation in Watchmaker's Hill. 50: Discuss the new findings with the Implacable Detective. 60: Canvass the dockers in Wolfstack Docks. 70: Rendezvous with the Implacable Detective again. 80-90: Seek the suspect among the ruins in the Forgotten Quarter. This expedition requires Archaeologist's Progress 20 for completion, with Orthos possibly hindering you along the way. See also Forgotten Quarter Expeditions (Guide). 100: Return to your client.

The Case of the Sealed Vault

"The client is a diplomat of sorts – an occasional visitor from the Surface, though he declined to elaborate about the nature of his business." The Honey-Addled Detective adjusts his necktie.

This is a difficult case, unlocked with University Laboratory and Watchful 200.

10-30: Meet your client, the Sojourning Envoy, and investigate the crime scene. 40: Canvass the dockers in Wolfstack Docks. 50: Speak to a witness. 60: Reconvene with the Honey-Addled Detective. 70: Begin a scientific investigation on the evidence in your laboratory. This project has Toxicological Focus, and requires 50 x Laboratory Research and 10 x Parabolan Research for completion. See also University Laboratory (Guide). 80: Return to your client, tail the culprit, and follow the case to its conclusion.

Unique Activities

Canvassing

This is a short activity you may occasionally encounter while pursuing Candlefinder cases. The goal is to reach Detecting... 8 in order to progress to the next step in the investigation. There is no benefit in raising your Detecting... beyond the required amount.

There are three variations of this activity:

• Candlefinder: Canvassing the Servants in the Shuttered Palace, unlocked with Candlefinder Lead: The Shuttered Palace Downstairs.

Option	Unlocked With	Challenge	Additional Points	Success	Failure
Watch the comings and goings	n/a		+10	+4 CP	+1 CP
Flirt with a footman	n/a		n/a	+4 CP	+1 CP
Approach a senior maid	Detecting... 4		+1	+6 CP	n/a
Steal some correspondence	Airs 70		n/a	+6 CP	+1 CP
A chambermaid is not what she seems	An Identity Uncovered! Airs 40-80	n/a	n/a	+8 CP	n/a
Casually stroll downstairs	Newly-Cast Crown of the City of London	n/a	n/a	+8? CP	n/a

• Candlefinder: Canvassing the Dockers in Wolfstack Docks, unlocked with Candlefinder Lead: The Workers of the Docks.

Option	Unlocked With	Challenge	Additional Points	Success	Failure
Pop in to the Blind Helmsman	An Explorer of the Unterzee - Base Zeefaring 5 no Detecting...	n/a	n/a	+8 CP	n/a
Probe in dark corners	n/a		+10	+4 CP	+1 CP
Observe arrivals and departures	n/a		n/a	+4 CP	+1 CP
Lean on the foreman	Detecting... 4		+1	+6 CP	n/a
Armwrestle a dockworker	Airs 70		n/a	+6 CP	+1 CP
Recognise a familiar face	Strong-Backed Labour Airs 40-80	n/a	n/a	+8 CP	n/a

• A third variation in the Flit. This lead currently only appears in FATE-locked cases.

Option	Unlocked With	Challenge	Additional Points	Success	Failure
	HOJOTOHO! 1,500	n/a	n/a	+6? CP	n/a
	n/a		+10	+4 CP	+1 CP
	n/a		n/a	+4 CP	+1 CP
	Detecting... 4		+1	+6 CP	n/a
	Airs 70		n/a	+6 CP	+1 CP
	Winsome Dispossessed Orphan Airs 40-80	n/a	n/a	+8 CP	n/a

Other recurring qualities

• Taking Notes...: Used to pace your progression in a scene, mainly during interviews with persons of interest and surveying crime scenes. It may challenge your attributes. Detecting... is used similarly when it shows up outside of Canvassing.
• Tailing...: Used in a series of 5-6 actions where you tail a person of interest in a case. Once you start it, you can't leave midway before finishing. It predominantly features Shadowy challenges, but not always. Every action will give progress regardless of success or failure, though failing these challenges will give menaces. Cat-Wrangling! uses a similar structure, but with Watchful + Monstrous Anatomy and Zeefaring challenges instead.
• Sneaking...: Similar to the above, but it's a Pyramidal quality. Used for, well, sneaking around while investigating.

An Exceptional Story: Stripes of Wrath

This Exceptional Story was the original introduction of the Banded Sleuth and the Urchin Detective, and set the background for how this gathering of Fallen London's greatest detectives began. Beside that, it offers no benefit while pursuing the cases.

Notably, purchasing this story from How do you know these people, exactly? (30 FATE) is a discount of 15 Fate from the standard ES price in the Fate page.