How to reduce scandal?

I have looked all over the place and have yet to figure this one out, and what happens when scandal gets to level 8? I'm new to this game so I don't know a lot about it and I've done many stories already, but I only know how to increase it. If there's an item that I have to buy or a certain story that I have to play I'd really like to know.

Solution 1:

Scandal (and Wounds, and Suspicion, and Nightmares) are called Menaces – you'll pick them up as you go along, usually as a punishment for failing a storylet. Each one, when it hits 8, will teleport you to a Place of Menace, where you'll work off that particular Menace (1 or 2 change points at a time) until it's gone. You can do this repeatedly.

There are three main ways to reduce Scandal without going to its Place of Menace:

1. Purchase and use Nikolas & Sons Instant Ablution Absolution from the Bazaar tab, in the Nikolas Pawnbrokers shop. This will remove exactly one point of Scandal, plus 1-10 points of Suspicion. At 1.50 Echoes per bottle, it's hilariously expensive as a Scandal-reducer.
2. Ask another player for help: at your Lodgings, go to "Attend to matters of society of scandal", then pick the storylet "Ask someone for help in laying rumours to rest" or "Use someone as your dupe". This is a social option; you'll send an invitation to another player, and if they decide to help you, you'll lose some Scandal. (Using someone as your dupe is more effective, but since it simply gives some of your Scandal to someone else, don't expect that person to help you again. Ever.)
3. Go to a church service. This will be available at your Lodgings if you have at least 3 Scandal. Each 3 AP spent will (usually) reduce your Scandal by 2 change points. It's a bit time-consuming, but it's otherwise free, and you'll get a little Connected: Church out of it. It's a luck-based storylet, so sometimes you'll increase your Scandal a little instead of decreasing it, but over the long run you'll lose much more Scandal than you gain.

(You can also spend 2 Professional Perks to cut your Scandal in half, but since you accumulate Professional Perks at a rate of one per week once you're employed, this isn't even close to fast enough. Also, "Time, the Healer" will visit once a week and reduce each Menace by one change point or so automatically.)

Personally, I've always ended up going to the Place of Menace for Scandal. There's some interesting content to read, you might pick up an item or two, and the only thing you'll lose is time.