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July Exceptional Story: My Kingdom for a Pig

James StAnthony Administrator Posts: 28 6/27/2019	The Exceptional Story for July is here! A pox has spread across London! Join a crack team of conspirators to infiltrate a high-stakes auction and delve beneath a fungal vineyard in search of a cure. What will you find in the Fifth City's deepest cellars? My Kingdom for a Pig is the second story in the Season of Bargains, and was written by Chandler Groover. In this season you will experience three stories of desperate deals, precarious alliances and prices that must be paid. Begin with the Season of Bargains card, available throughout London. Editing and QA: James Chew and Olivia Wood Art by: Paul Arendt Exceptional Friendship In addition to a new, substantial, stand-alone story every month, Exceptional Friends enjoy: Access to the House of Chimes: an exclusive private members’ club on the Stolen River, packed with content An expanded opportunity deck: of ten cards instead of six! A second candle: Twice the actions! 40 at once! Finishing all three stories in the Season of Bargains will make you eligible for an additional opportunity, to follow. If you want to keep an Exceptional Story beyond its release month, you must complete the related storylet in the current Season’s card. This will save it for you to return to another time. edited by James StAnthony on 6/27/2019 edited by James StAnthony on 6/27/2019
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Diptych Administrator Posts: 3493 6/27/2019	PIGGY. -- Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron. Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Great Pigmeat Posts: 19 6/28/2019	Well The Great Pigmeat is an idiot, he forgot he could "Perhaps Not" out of "Navigating Memory's Road", and he sat peeling his skin until there was none left. Now he has to experience London's memories freshly flayed.
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Optimatum Posts: 3666 6/28/2019	Finally finished, and I have to say, this was utterly fantastic. My new favorite ES! My Kingdom For A Pig really showcases Chandler's skills not just as a writer, but specifically his understanding of interactive fiction. Cricket, Anyone? was already an excellent example of how interactivity takes an already well-written story to the next level, and this story improves upon it. Further polish to chaining storylets! A new and exciting assortment of rare items and qualities, worked seamlessly into the story! A cast of existing characters, woven together to plumb new and unsuspected depths! Existing deep lore with a twist! Another sort-of-dream sequence, with even more content and infectious prose! More experimentation with quality-dependent text and QLDs! Every Chandler story is a treat, and though we're being practically spoiled for good content, I hope we get another soon. -- Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome. Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi! PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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Gallmarch Posts: 111 6/28/2019	I'm really just posting here because I want to be able to prove in the future that I always thought that this was a masterpiece. Chandler, James, Olivia, and Paul have between them produced something truly exceptional. I can't imagine how you could tell this story through any medium other than Fallen London; it is as though the system, and its players, were waiting all this time for something like this to come along. I will remember it for a long time, when the world sleeps, and suddenly changes by remaining the same. -- My profile: https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Gallmarch
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phryne Posts: 1351 6/30/2019	Askebaske wrote: The only "criticism" (if you can call it that?) is that the author seems to use a LOT of callbacks to Alexis Kennedy's style of writing FL, and while it is an excellent and evocative way of writing when it comes to the stranger side of FL, some of the parallels and phrases in this story are directly ripped from other content in SS/Eaten that seem to have very little to do with what is happening. This always feels sort of dissonant to me, maybe especially because Kennedy's writing is so easily identifiable. Funny that you should bring this up! On the IRC, I did (only semi-seriously) raise the question whether Chandler Groover was "Alexis Kennedy in disguise because they write FL like AK used to write it." However, I don't see this as "dissonant" or "ripping off". I agree that it should be done carefully and not too often, but considering that all three of Chandler's stories were concerned with very deep FL lore, I think this particular style (if you want to, call it "throwbacks to old-school FL" ) fits quite well. -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Nepeta Posts: 31 7/9/2019	Thank you, Phryne. I’ve made it past the end. By the time the storylet ended, I’d enabled articles to reduce my apparent nightmares, but I wasn’t permitted to consume potions before my wounds caught up with me. Ah, well. The story was engaging enough that I haven’t rage-quit. Still, the mobile version could stand that check the opportunity deck to proceed notice. -- http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Nepeta
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Optimatum Posts: 3666 6/28/2019	Sanguinifex wrote: Anyway, unless there's some hidden consequence, the "do not do this" warning shouldn't have been there. Something like "this will hurt you and do nothing for the story" might have been more appropriate. I think the warning is entirely reasonable as-is. It conveys that the option will harm your character in some fashion for no gain, without giving any indication of the specifics. I actually think we should have more options like that one—having lots of Bad Idea options that all do temporary harm for a unique effect on our characters just reduces their impact. Making more options that harm us for nothing more than delicious prose means the options that do something extra feel more meaningful. -- Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome. Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi! PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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phryne Posts: 1351 6/27/2019	Chandler Groover again! -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Tom Davidson Posts: 107 6/28/2019	I'm pretty sure there are now enough distinct entities sharing my body to play bridge. If you counted the various sapients I wear as clothing, we'd probably have a cricket team. -- http://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/Black%20Tom
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phryne Posts: 1351 6/27/2019	This is absolutely great so far! I'm about to enter the Fête, but I just wanted to say how much I love ES which bring together already established characters, and reference other ES. Without spoilers, in this story you'll receive slightly different snippets of text if you have played The Gift played The Calendar Code Acquaintance: The Captivating Princess The Pirate Poet as a companion and that's only what I can confirm so far. Having some/several/all items from the Fidgeting Writer storyline probably leads to slightly differing snippets, too. I believe that some or many players might not have heard of Dr F______ before. Like Optimatum said, he is mentioned in several of the Quirk polishing options from the faction items for increasing Renown, and I'm delighted to finally meet him in person! Here are the snippets which reference him: https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Turn_over_all_the_resources_of_your_Endowment_to_Dr_F https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Come_to_the_assistance_of_Dr_F https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Run_the_rooftops_in_honour_of_"a_New_Wind" https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Bait_a_horrible_prank_with_your_Skull edited by phryne on 6/27/2019 -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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phryne Posts: 1351 6/27/2019	Like Chandler's previous stories, this one's quite long. And quite, quite exceptionally good, and full of deep, deep lore. Like The Rat-Catcher and Cricket, Anyone?, it begins as a rather frivolous story of comedy and intrigue... but eldritch horrors lurk behind that front, and in the end you'll have to confront them. I'm not there yet. I'm out of actions. But I will go where Dr. F_______ went. I hope I'll keep some of my skin. As for tie-in snippets, there's one more: In Search of a Stiff Drink. Yes, that one. -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Jolanda Swan Posts: 1789 6/28/2019	...Ouch. -- Lover of all things beautiful, secret admirer of ugly truths, fond of the Parabola Sun... and always delighted to role play. http://fallenlondon.com/profile/Jolanda%20Swan
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Optimatum Posts: 3666 6/29/2019	Greg M wrote: I'm loving this story (and the successful use of the card mechanisms) so far. Does anyone know if the text is different if you have all of the Fidgeting Writer items, as opposed to just 1 of them? Here's my echo with all the items, if anyone wants to compare. The unlocks seemed to indicate I needed one of each for the option, but I could be mistaken. TeaFiend5 wrote: Are there any stories/events people would recommend before finishing it? I know people have referenced changes in text, but I was curious if there was anything especially exciting/fun that people liked. Most of the changes are just acknowledgements of past interactions, though the Calendar Code does give more detail on the Mog. The significant ones are just Poet-Laureate and Blemmigan Hat. edited by Optimatum on 6/29/2019 -- Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome. Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi! PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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Diptych Administrator Posts: 3493 6/29/2019	Sanguinifex wrote: Anyway, unless there's some hidden consequence, the "do not do this" warning shouldn't have been there. Something like "this will hurt you and do nothing for the story" might have been more appropriate. Surely "do not do this" is the perfect warning for an option with nothing but negative consequences? It is exactly and literally true - one shouldn't do that! By the way, did anyone take the magnanimous and melancholy choice? -- Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron. Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Raccoonajr Posts: 105 6/29/2019	In the three years that I have been playing this game, the most in character role playing move I have made is to choose to take the Pirate-Poet with me to the end. I’ve been grinding for an Ubergoat and knew the Widow might have been more monetarily rewarding but Raccoona only had eyes for her tattooed poet girlfriend. Love this game! -- http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Raccoonajr
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Vavakx Nonexus Posts: 892 6/29/2019	As an aside, extremely happy we've had several ESs recently that rewarded new qualities - I've previously said that we have been lacking any new qualities for display on profiles, so the presence of unique qualities you get to keep after completing My Kingdom For A Pig and The Stag And The Shark do wonders to spice up the scrapbook, as well as commemorate major moments of transformation. Really appreciate those. -- Amets Estibariz, the Moulting Eidolon: Cradled by a sun all their own. Blabbing, the Hobo Everyone Knows: The One Who Pulls The Strings. A Clarity In The Darkness. Charlotte and the Caretaker: A family?
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Magpie Dandy Posts: 13 6/29/2019	Lady Magpie does not like the so called 'Captivating' princess nor the attitude of the widow, so I went to the end with The Pirate Poet. Was great that there was a poet laureate option! Above all else the writing was incredible, this and the cricket ES blew me away. -- http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/profile/Magpie_Dandy
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Calliope Posts: 99 6/30/2019	Yeah this was a lovely story, I had a dim opinion when I saw the title, but then again, same thing happened with Cricket Anyone and Ho Boy was I proved wrong in every way possible. I sadly knew absolutely nobody from previous stories aside from a bit of Fidgiting Writer, so I kinda just went with the Princess as the most valuable (and dangerous to cross) option...until the Widow showed up, who I actually did have interactions with before via Stiff Drink, and who my character relates to a lot better than the rest of them, so I took her instead. Also, it was so good to have a greater clarity on all the Terrible Deals that were done, buried in that deepest of places. I drank all those memories up, learnt a very interesting thing about the true descendents of an ancient city, and when it came to the final choice, I put that poor thing out of it's misery directly. It didn't feel like it wanted to live longer in this drained, butchered state. Nor did I want Priscilla to be transformed into some kind of eldritch bioweapon. And while eating it myself was tempting....not today. edited by Calliope Rannis on 6/30/2019 -- https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Calliope%20Rannis
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Askebaske Posts: 25 6/30/2019	It was an excellently designed story. Good use of previous qualities, even some of the rare ones. Well written, interesting lore, long, fun use of luck-checks. Easily the best Exceptional Story in my book, and it should be used as an example of everything right to do: Give us new lore, let us learn more about old characters instead of giving us a new roster every time, let us learn more about the deeper lore of FL, let us make several meaningful decisions and ruminate about whether they were the right ones. The only "criticism" (if you can call it that?) is that the author seems to use a LOT of callbacks to Alexis Kennedy's style of writing FL, and while it is an excellent and evocative way of writing when it comes to the stranger side of FL, some of the parallels and phrases in this story are directly ripped from other content in SS/Eaten that seem to have very little to do with what is happening. This always feels sort of dissonant to me, maybe especially because Kennedy's writing is so easily identifiable.
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Nepeta Posts: 31 7/9/2019	Did someone not check this on the mobile device??? It’s not intuitive that we should check the card deck if we’re not playing the desktop version. Because this is a exceptional story first, someone needs to add text to the mobile game to check the cards. Or have there been cards all along that I never thought to check?? Oh, my blood pressure. This is supposed to be a game, not work. -- http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Nepeta
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MidnightVoyager Posts: 858 6/29/2019	Optimatum wrote: Greg M wrote: I'm loving this story (and the successful use of the card mechanisms) so far. Does anyone know if the text is different if you have all of the Fidgeting Writer items, as opposed to just 1 of them? Here's my echo with all the items, if anyone wants to compare. The unlocks seemed to indicate I needed one of each for the option, but I could be mistaken. TeaFiend5 wrote: Are there any stories/events people would recommend before finishing it? I know people have referenced changes in text, but I was curious if there was anything especially exciting/fun that people liked. Most of the changes are just acknowledgements of past interactions, though the Calendar Code does give more detail on the Mog. The significant ones are just Paramount Presence and Blemmigan Hat. Crap, how far in is the PP one? I'm ALMOST to paramount. -- Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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Optimatum Posts: 3666 6/29/2019	Whoops, I misspoke! The option is for Poet Laureate, not Paramount Presence. -- Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome. Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi! PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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TeaFiend5 Posts: 21 6/28/2019	Are there any stories/events people would recommend before finishing it? I know people have referenced changes in text, but I was curious if there was anything especially exciting/fun that people liked.
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phryne Posts: 1351 7/13/2019	Jernik wrote: Anne Auclair wrote: Jernik wrote: Does anyone have the echo for allowing Priscilla to consume the thing at the end of the story? Sure. I looked through your journal and can't seem to find it, can you link me? The word 'sure' itself is the direct link you're looking for -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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phryne Posts: 1351 7/15/2019	Skinnyman wrote: Optimatum wrote: Mechanically it's just a unique quality. Narratively, though, who knows? A quality? Care to share? Have a look at my scrapbook -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Azothi Posts: 586 7/16/2019	Skinnyman wrote: Thank you! But what's the Surface Bouquet you have there? :o The Surface Bouquet is the Season item from the end of The Garden Embassy. -- Azoth I, the Emissary of Cardinals - A Paramount Presence (not currently accepting new Proteges) Away to where the Chain cannot bind us. Hesperidean.
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HarperMargrave Posts: 23 8/14/2019	Calliope wrote: ^I don't have an echo for you, but this is my reasoning for picking that option, and a little of what it felt like to see. Thanks! I went ahead and chose this option as well, and I'm perfectly happy with how it turned out. -- https://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/Harper%20Margrave Open to many social actions; please no Photographers, Loitering, or cats in boxes. An investigative sort with a flair for danger and a dark, vengeful streak. Courier's Footprint, Poet-Laureate of the Neath, seeking their Nemesis. https://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/Bram%20Serranian A skulker, cunning and guileful. Seeking...that which should not be Sought.
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Optimatum Posts: 3666 7/1/2019	It's very close to the end. If you have Poet Laureate, the option is required to progress. -- Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome. Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi! PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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TeaFiend5 Posts: 21 7/1/2019	Is it possible you need to have done the Captivating Princess Route for that option? I went with the Widow, and I never saw anything with Poet Laureate as a requirement. edited by TeaFiend5 on 7/1/2019
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Askebaske Posts: 25 7/1/2019	phryne wrote: However, I don't see this as "dissonant" or "ripping off". I agree that it should be done carefully and not too often, but considering that all three of Chandler's stories were concerned with very deep FL lore, I think this particular style (if you want to, call it "throwbacks to old-school FL" ) fits quite well. I should mention I write "ripped" as in "using the exact same phrase" and not as in "ripping off" in some derogatory sense - I don't think it is necessarily a malicious thing to do, but there are several lines lifted verbatim from things Alexis Kennedy has written in other contexts. It can feel a bit jarring to read those, even if there are lore reasons why. I would never write these things without beginning by heaping praise, though, because it genuinely is an amazing and well-written story. And maintaining that 'throwback' narrative style does fit the universe amazingly well!
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Arcengal Posts: 196 7/1/2019	I did. You can look through my journal for the process, epilogue gives you a favour in high places and a bottle of Broken Giant 1882. This story was magnificent by the way. To count the ways would take too long. Teared up a bit at the little poem on the Mog's farewell screen. -- https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Arcengal
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rush99999 Posts: 17 7/4/2019	I don't like that you have to dig through the opportunity deck to advance the story. I'm having difficulty finding the right cards.
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Pnakotic Posts: 266 7/7/2019	Well structured story, and well written, but it's going to need a reset because I got locked out of an option I wanted. Got kind of unclear midway through just how I was going to pick who to take with me (or if they all could come). -- J. Ward Dunn, Glassman Book of All Hours 9:99: Journey's end in lover's meeting. Progress is ascendancy.
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Jolanda Swan Posts: 1789 6/28/2019	Xorph wrote: Aww geeze I'm at A Trade In Conspirators and am completely stuck between chosing [spoiler] The Princess or The Widow [/spoiler] Anyone who's played either route have suggestions/hints/pros/cons/journal entries I can totes spoil myself with to influence my decision? edited by Xorph on 6/28/2019 I chose the less monstrous one. I have recorded everything in my journal, including the end, do take a look. -- Lover of all things beautiful, secret admirer of ugly truths, fond of the Parabola Sun... and always delighted to role play. http://fallenlondon.com/profile/Jolanda%20Swan
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phryne Posts: 1351 6/28/2019	Winthropx wrote: There is a quality! I have it on my scrapbook. Awesome! Thank you. I couldn't find it last night, but it was very late -- Accounts: Bag a Legend • Light Fingers • Heart's Desire • Nemesis • no ambition Exceptional Stories, sorted by Season and by writer ― Favours & Renown Guide
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Vryl Posts: 52 6/28/2019	Xorph wrote: Aww geeze I'm at A Trade In Conspirators and am completely stuck between chosing snip Anyone who's played either route have suggestions/hints/pros/cons/journal entries I can totes spoil myself with to influence my decision? edited by Xorph on 6/28/2019 I had a similar problem, although I had a different companion with me at the time. In the end I went with the companion I had brought with me, and I can tell you that there are no hideously painful penalties involved. -- https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Vryl
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Xorph Posts: 7 6/28/2019	Aww geeze I'm at A Trade In Conspirators and am completely stuck between chosing [spoiler] The Princess or The Widow [/spoiler] Anyone who's played either route have suggestions/hints/pros/cons/journal entries I can totes spoil myself with to influence my decision? edited by Xorph on 6/28/2019
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Winthropx Posts: 166 6/28/2019	phryne wrote: This story is awesome. I only want to voice one complaint: hidden qualities. I did something that explicitly told me "You will never be the same person again" but I have nothing to show for it - no item for my mantelpiece, no quality for my scrapbook. That's kind of sad. Will write no more now, it's late. But I'm looking forward to speculating about some of the deeper lore implications here... There is a quality! I have it on my scrapbook. edited by Winthropx on 6/28/2019 -- Bishop Winthrop, a kind-hearted soul A Paramount Presence I accept all social actions His Appearance http://community.failbettergames.com/topic9363-your-characters-appearances.aspx?messageid=229809&Page=10#post#post229809
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Jolanda Swan Posts: 1789 6/27/2019	Lovely beginning, but... where do I continue after I unlock the story in Season of Bargains? I got in the Salon, played one action, got thrown out... and now I find no way to continue in the entire map. -- Lover of all things beautiful, secret admirer of ugly truths, fond of the Parabola Sun... and always delighted to role play. http://fallenlondon.com/profile/Jolanda%20Swan
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Diptych Administrator Posts: 3493 6/27/2019	You'll want to draw some cards next! Also: [spoiler]PIRATE POET PIRATE POET PIRATE POET[/spoiler] edited by Diptych on 6/27/2019 -- Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron. Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Optimatum Posts: 3666 6/27/2019	I can't believe of all things this story is referencing the quirk polishers. -- Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome. Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi! PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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July Exceptional Story: My Kingdom for a Pig