You led [xiaochou.name] to the Dark Alleyto witness Alim in his element. There, he first filched coins from a few careless hands, then bartered them away for cracked grain, flatbread, and pickled greens. He wrangled with the butcher over the worth of offal—until, at last, all of it vanished into the gullets of his rabble of pups. Once the they had eaten their fill, Alim turned to sorting the spoils of his little thieves, dispensing them with a steward’s wisdom—binding them together so they wouldn’t turn on one another like blood-starved jackals.

"He might as well be a Vizier," [xiaochou.name] mused, lounging beside you in the shade of a tea stall, sipping sweet brew and nibbling sweets as Alim’s reflection danced in the washbowl. "When humans set their minds to preserving something, they do take such strange joy in it." the Mirror sighed, then rinsed the sugar from its fingers—and with the ripples, Alim’s image dissolved. "And yet the jest remains: the things you fight so fiercely to keep are the very things that can never be held."

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Alim

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Survival) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000706): Add 1

You sent [xiaochou.name] to find Nayla, who was holding court in her home, receiving "tributes" from merchants.

Silks from the east, gold and silver from the deserts, jewels from the west—she commanded them to bring her the finest wares. Of course, [xiaochou.name] could see at once in the merchants' eyes that these were not the finest, merely the most expensive—but Nayla cared only for the price!

"She isn’t buying goods or trinkets," [xiaochou.name] sneered. "She’s buying their exaggerated praise, their fawning words, their groveling smiles! Do all of you humans waste so much just to outdo one another? Ah, if not for such vanity, why else would you adore mirrors so? Though, it seems you prefer your reflections in gold coins far more than in mirrors!"

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Nayla

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Charisma) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000706): Add 1

When you introduced Mahir to [xiaochou.name], the Mirror was still hesitant—this woman wore no gold nor silver, drank cheap tea, and couldn’t even spare a palanquin for her outings. What did she know of spending coin? Yet Mahir’s workshop left the Mirror awestruck.

The gold and silver other nobles adored were mere materials for pipes and cables here—piled in great rolls against the walls! The gemstones that could enchant with but a sliver lay on her worktable, carved into lenses the size of a palm… and these were things [xiaochou.name] recognized. The rest—unfamiliar ores and crystals, or devices Mahir had twisted into bizarre shapes—lay in heaps beyond counting. But the most terrifying was the small list on her desk, detailing dozens of costly materials and services awaiting [player.name]’s purse. Not even the most ardent prostitute or greediest mistress would spend a man’s coins with such shameless entitlement. Was this the magic of wealth? To turn a woman of such wit into such a brazen creature?

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Mahir

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Wisdom) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000707): Add 1

You and [xiaochou.name] found the mercenary in a tavern in the Dark Alley. You walked in just as the round of drinks he’d bought for everyone ended—but he quickly called for a second.

“He’s not exactly swimming in coins, is he?” [xiaochou.name] licked the foam of ale from their lips. “Well, not the kind of things you can see or touch! Ha, but the weightless things that crush a man’s breath—those, he inherited plenty of… I see now. This is how he pushes them away. How amusing! If you’ve no coin to spare, the world has no hold on you. He’s found a kind of freedom in this!”

Conditions:

• Slot #2 Has Card = Roaming Swordsman

Result:

• Adjust Tag (Sociability) of Slot #1: Add 1
• Counter (7000706): Add 2

You and [xiaochou.name] picked a random soul and watched [s2.gender(his,her] life unfold… No matter who, daily existence is bound to coin: food, clothes, shoes, carriages—let alone the comings and goings, the dealings with others… You had to admit, most of the time, from the Sultan to beggars, mortals high and low, wise and foolish… all their actions are driven by gold. “Suddenly I understand—human individuals have no worth. It’s when you come together that you form something greater, something no mirror can capture whole! No wonder I couldn’t grasp it before. How fascinating! So these coins are just drops of blood in the veins of this beast!”

Result:

• Counter (7000707): Add 1

All night long, the incessant clink-clink robbed you of peace. Lantern in hand, you prowled the manor, yet the source eluded you. Only at dawn, slumped against the low table in the parlor, did it strike you—the sound seemed to come from your own coin purse. You seized the purse—empty. Yet the moment you set it down, clink-clink again. Furious, you snatched it up, turned it inside out, and shook it hard. Gold coins spilled from nothingness, clattering onto the table with that same maddening clink-clink. A gift, no doubt, from that mirror-dweller who loathes human. If only the Mirror’s nature weren’t so wretched.

Result:

• Coins: 8
• Adjust Tag (Charisma) of Slot #1: Add 1

Action:

• Enable Event: The Third Question from a Wise Man on Starting a Small-Scale Project