The dilemma. Your Silverport weavers have found that a whole bale of your silk was dyed with a bad mordant. It will fade within a year. Nobody can see it yet. Everyone in your house says sell it and keep quiet.
From the gameThe painting on this decision card in Valmora.
What would you do?
Play itDecision 1 of 1
Dilemma
A Bale of Silk with a Hidden Flaw
Your Silverport weavers have found that a whole bale of your silk was dyed with a bad mordant. It will fade within a year. Nobody can see it yet. Everyone in your house says sell it and keep quiet.
If the roll succeedsSilverport talks of nothing else. Buyers now pay extra for silk with your seal.If it failsThe smoke impresses fewer people than the loss impresses your treasurer.
What happenedThe silk sells. A year later, several brides in Aldheim are married in pale grey.
What happenedThe bale sits under a sheet, fading slowly, while you pay for the space.
No right answer.
In the game the roll is d20 plus your adviser’s skill. Here the bonus is a flat +2.
The options and what happens
Burn the bale in the square and tell buyers why.Bold · decided by a d20 roll against 12
Succeeds: Silverport talks of nothing else. Buyers now pay extra for silk with your seal.
Fails: The smoke impresses fewer people than the loss impresses your treasurer.
Sell it quietly at full price.Certain outcome
The silk sells. A year later, several brides in Aldheim are married in pale grey.
Keep it in the warehouse and decide later.Certain outcome
The bale sits under a sheet, fading slowly, while you pay for the space.
About this card
This is one of 8 hand-written dilemmas set in Valmora (Year 412 of the Lantern Calendar), one of three ages in Be a CEO, a business strategy game where you run a trading house. Each dilemma has one bold option, decided by dice, and safer options with certain outcomes. The text above is the card exactly as it appears in the game, with the amounts it showed on the first day of a new game.
Questions
What are the options in “A Bale of Silk with a Hidden Flaw”?
There are three: “Burn the bale in the square and tell buyers why”; “Sell it quietly at full price”; “Keep it in the warehouse and decide later”. The first is the bold option: the game rolls a d20 plus your adviser’s skill against 12. The other two have certain outcomes.
What happens if the bold choice fails?
The smoke impresses fewer people than the loss impresses your treasurer.
What happens if the bold choice succeeds?
Silverport talks of nothing else. Buyers now pay extra for silk with your seal.
More Valmora dilemmas
The Crown Asks for a War LoanThe Crown wants every great house to lend money for a border war against the Marrow Lords, at no interest and with no date of return.
The Warden of Weights CheatsYour clerks have proof that Warden Gaspar Lune, who blesses every scale in Aldheim, takes bribes to pass false weights.
A Caravan from the Fever CountryA steppe caravan has arrived at Aldheim's east gate from lands where the sweating fever is spreading.
Bandits Who Want to Be GuardsSix men who robbed the Stonebreak road for years have walked into your yard, laid down their knives and asked for work as caravan guards.
Written by the Mantar Tech team from the game’s own data and text. Be a CEO is in closed alpha, so numbers and cards can change. About the art: much of it was made with AI tools and then selected and edited by hand.
