TheThirdPolice
Posts: 609
8/1/2015
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A wonderful story. An impressive blend of humorous and grim, which is exactly what I want from Fallen London. I look forward to eventually finding out how my decision affects the world, and maybe to meet again the Enthusiast and the Bright Eyed S——. I liked the quirk changes throughout: players will spend more time over Exceptional Stories, so you know you'll be adjusting quirks based on weightier decisions. Quirk-hoarders should note that you can lose Heartless, Steadfast, and probably others... but jump in, it's worth it.
But no one's talking about the hip new game Hollow King! It would be awfully fun to see that as a Terror reduction option in Sunless Sea. A bit sillier than that game usually gets, but maybe as a random event at a relatively low terror level. (And a cryptic hint about the name's origins? I haven't figured it out.)
Incidentally, if anyone needs a terribly important reason to avoid one decision:
[spoiler]
The Bright Eyed S—— bans Hollow King if she takes control! Why I 'ave 'arf a mind—— but my experiences at Bethlehem are neither here nor there.
[/spoiler]
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Excessive Corpse & Tender to Irreal Ravens
Lover of Flawed Souls
And with especial pride, Worst Screwup of the Decade!
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MidnightVoyager
Posts: 858
8/1/2015
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Decisions are hard.
[spoiler]I found out that the boxes were rigged and now they're doing a thing with bells. I can let it go through or sabotage it.
The New Sequencers are such bad shit, but... I get the feeling the other guy is a dick, too. If I let it play out, it could go a way I don't want, but.... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa[/spoiler]
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Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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+1
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TheThirdPolice
Posts: 609
8/1/2015
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From the inklings that have been spilled in this thread (but no firsthand knowledge), I suspect the third option leads to a twist ending.
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Excessive Corpse & Tender to Irreal Ravens
Lover of Flawed Souls
And with especial pride, Worst Screwup of the Decade!
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BlakeTheDrake
Posts: 237
8/2/2015
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Well, after having complained up a storm over the last two stories, I must say I really liked this one. The way it made use of the Seasoned Sailor and Crew of the Galatea qualities made it feel very much a part of the overall narrative rather than some picked-up and soon-forgotten side-story. The ambiance was excellent, new information was learned, interesting characters appeared... and in the final tally, you get some decent goods to take home for a souvenir.
Hmm. Well, you can pick up some decent stuff along the way, anyway, and the final choice *I* picked had a nifty reward, but I dunno what the two other options provides. Presumably, supporting either candidate will win you their gratitude - and a suitable repayment for services rendered - but I wonder about that third ending for the very patient...
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One of these days, I will remember to record interesting things in my journal...
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/BlakeTheDrake
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Juno
Posts: 63
8/2/2015
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Well done, FB.
The writing is, vivid. Haunting, even.
I was holding on towards the end, grimly determined not to make a choice, when by chance my music player started playing this song
That seriously creeped me out.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Etheridge
An author by trade, available for talks both public and private.
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+7
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Rackenhammer
Posts: 354
8/2/2015
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I'd rate this one a solid 4/5. It didn't blow me out of the water (no pun intended), but as a follow-up to July's excellent story, it was not a disappointment.
I've noticed now, actually, that each of the exceptional stories so far has centered around a person or faction with whom one can accumulate connections. Society for May's; The Duchess for June's; The Revolutionaries for July's; and now the Docks for August. Is this coincidental, or intentional?
I'm satisfied, anyhow, with my choices and how they ended up panning out. I am wondering, though; will it be possible for the Last Dog Society to open up as a potential Club in the future?
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"DO NOT TRUST HAPPY ENDINGS. DO NOT FEAR SAD ENDINGS... NEITHER ARE ENDINGS."
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Mathieu Psmith: The Bard of Lost Children, loving husband, and a fixture of the artistic set. Can never resist making a show of things...
Irene Psmith: Adopted Daughter of Mathieu. Specializes in Information, Acquisitions, and the Acquisition of Information.
Vaughan Montblanc: Once a frontiersman of Western Canada, he now practices medicine in London. His discretion may be absolutely trusted.
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+5
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Emain Ablach
Posts: 348
8/2/2015
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Very good story ! Not as emotionally moving as Lost in Reflection, not as intense, but good nonetheless. The writing was very nice, the inner working of the Last Dog Dociety is interesting. The characters were not deep enough forme me to feel anything towards them, so it's mainly the story itself, its consequences, which were interesting in my eyes.
Thank you for these monthly stories, it's reaaaaaally cool to play them !
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Went NORTH. Got salted. Never came back. We won't remember him.
https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Emain%20Ablach
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RandomWalker
Posts: 948
8/2/2015
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I like Rackenhammer's theory about the connections with the different factions. The first story doesn't seem to closely match a faction, but you could make an argument for it to be a Society story.
So that leaves University colleges (possibly both at the same time for interesting conflicts), Great Game (possibly already had a link to that with the Revolutionaries' story, but a separate one could be good), Urchins (mmm, I can taste the lore from here), Church and Hell could be combined, maybe, Tomb Colonists, Constables, Rubbery, Bohemian, Criminals, and Widow. There are a lot of factions when you get right down to it, and they could all be seeds for great stories.
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Danko
Posts: 142
8/2/2015
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I rather liked the story.
Made me sad a few times that I "sided" with the princess during The Gift. Hope it pays off in later stories!
The lore is great. Last decision made my agonize as usual. Some thoughts under spoiler.
[spoiler]New Sequence lady is a madhat radical with a clear destructive agenda, while the other guy is a power-hungry murderer. Siding with the admiral is interesting and is overall what a nice good person would have done, but it kind of severs the ties for further stories since The Last Dogs are pretty much disbanded after.
In the end I've sided with the Shamble-man, since he gives a slightly more interesting reward and provides further tie-ins
Also I have no idea yet whether I should support Dawn Machine people or not, since I don't have much of an idea what it is about, besides an obvious guess and the feeling of dread mixed with hatred everyone has towards it. I don't want to spoil it yet, so I guess I'll wait to be seared with enigma someday. Is the Dawn Machine and Liberation of the Night even discussed in detail anywhere in London? Just like Judgments, I've barely seen them mentioned at all.[/spoiler]
Overall I'll give the story 4/5 - great writing, but a little short and a bit too straightforward.
On a side note I think I've noticed that all Exceptional stories in a very subtle way follow a straight storyline about the future of Fallen London - the Orts, the Masters, the Revolutionaries - they all scheme behind the scenes, they all set things in motions, and we can see some glimpses of it. It really makes me feel that something is coming. That something will change. Most dreadful!
edited by Danko on 8/2/2015
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Danko
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Lemexis
Posts: 155
8/2/2015
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[spoiler]I know the Dawn Machine from Sunless Sea, but it's the first time I think it's even mentionned in Fallen London.(and I've spent quite some time on the game)
If you want to know more about the Liberation of Night and the Machine, you should play Sunless Sea I guess. [/spoiler]
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lemexis
Feed me your most terrible secrets
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
8/2/2015
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RandomWalker wrote:
I like Rackenhammer's theory about the connections with the different factions. The first story doesn't seem to closely match a faction, but you could make an argument for it to be a Society story.
Well, the Prim Baronet is certainly a central character in the Haunting of the Marsh-House, and he also features in more than one Society story on the Park and Palace card -- it's his dynasty you rehabilitate to become Closest To Society, and another fate-locked story potentially involves a... replacement for him on that same card.
So that leaves University colleges (possibly both at the same time for interesting conflicts), Great Game (possibly already had a link to that with the Revolutionaries' story, but a separate one could be good), Urchins (mmm, I can taste the lore from here), Church and Hell could be combined, maybe, Tomb Colonists, Constables, Rubbery, Bohemian, Criminals, and Widow. There are a lot of factions when you get right down to it, and they could all be seeds for great stories.
Many of the fate-locked stories that rolled out before Exceptional Stories also centered around a particular faction, such as:
Flute Street: Rubbery
Diocesan Intrigue: Church (Hell)
Velocipede Squad - Spinning the Wheels: Constables
Foreign Office: Great Game, more or less
Blemmigan Affair: I thought of this as a fairly Bohemian story
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Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
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+2
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
8/3/2015
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Definitely a nice story this month! I went through it on an alt, and now I'm struggling to figure out how I should proceed with my main. I'll figure it out, I'm sure.
[spoiler]I'm mostly intrigued by the Enthusiast. Qualities don't get added to the game lightly. It has to be something. I'm personally considering the possibility of a Living Story trigger, since those don't show up in your quality lists and it'd probably be too soon to discover by this point. [/spoiler]
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Sara%20Hysaro
Please do not send SMEN, cat boxes, or Affluent Reporter requests. All other social actions are welcome.
Are you a Scarlet Saint? Send a message my way to be added to the list.
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xKiv
Posts: 846
8/3/2015
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I would give the story 4/5 (good, but not mindblowing), gameplaywise 2/5 (not much there to actually *play*, as opposed to mostly linear interaction with the fiction; I also didn't like how it funneled me through what seems like mandatory quirk loss - and I was especially baffled how the quirks of the quirks system made me choose based on "I like having quirk X the most, but it's the easiest one for me to raise, so I will instead choose the opposite option, which reduces X, but raises a much harder-to-raise quirk Y).
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https://www.fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/xKiv - a witchful, percussive, dangermous and shadowry scholar of coexplodence, hopsidirean, and walker of fallen kitties.
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Lady Oida
Posts: 11
8/4/2015
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Anyway we can replay these exceptional stories? I breezed through this months without even noticing and i missed the first one. Thanks
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Lady~Oida
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Seurat
Posts: 23
8/4/2015
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That was truly excellent. The fiction was fantastic and it felt...big. Sweeping. Connected.
I loved the experience.
I love something else more. Someone else.
edited by Seurat on 6/10/2016
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Find me in London here.
I have no stipulations for contact. Find me -- I see you already.
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Ian Hart
Posts: 437
8/4/2015
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Well, just based on efficiency of art and of qualities, I feel like we'll be seeing some of these characters again.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Antifinity
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Mark
Posts: 63
8/4/2015
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I just want to say that I thought that
[spoiler] the Equitable Enthusiast was hilarious, and I really hope we see more of her.  [/spoiler]
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Zinaida Gorenko, the Scarlet Saint - Accepting any social action except loitering, cats, and photographer
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Rook Crofton
Posts: 83
8/5/2015
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I enjoyed this story quite a bit, especially the difficult choices at the end. This story made me regret my choice, which I take as a sign of a good narrative, and I love the mixture of comedy and horror.
[spoiler]As others have said, I really wish I could have kept the Enthusiast as an acquaintance! She made me laugh out loud, and she'd make an interesting contact for future stories.[/spoiler]
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Rook Crofton: dreamer, antiquarian, mystic
Now a Scarlet Saint. Happy to send anyone an invite to the Temple Club.
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Gerald Edgerton
Posts: 127
8/7/2015
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I thought hard between assisting the faction I supported or withholding my support in order to resolve the matter I came for. It came down to which choice I felt was more important, and unsurprisingly the ramifications of my choice were mixed and not entirely known. I understood more because of also playing Sunless Sea, and am even expecting a handsome reward for my heir. I would happily buy Fate to play it again in the future.
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Fhoenix
Posts: 602
8/7/2015
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Steadfast has not changed because it's higher than 9...
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My Character
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