August Exceptional Story: The Shallows

Fallen London
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[quote=loredeluxe]Here’s the big revelation from this month’s Exceptional Story. Be warned it will likely change how you look at certain characters.

-snip-

Please discuss below.[/quote]

Given the mysterious figure is controlling a group of revolutionaries, and given information from The Calendar Code, it seems likely that she is October. This is the first time we’ve gotten a story about her, but her book in The Calendar Code was about using nightmares to control the population, so it seems to fit.

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It’s also worth noting that Gavin Inglis, the writer for this story, also wrote &quotThe Calendar Code&quot, furthering this connection.

[spoiler]I suspect that October is a new character who we haven’t met before, but if she were to be someone we’ve met in the past, I would suggest Carrywell, a Permanent Surgeon at Venderbight encountered in Nemesis, as a candidate. The Grand Sanatorium is described as being something &quotbetween an insane asylum and a crypt&quot, and for those with knowledge of the Red-Handed Queen via dreams, a Tomb-Colonist in Venderbight outright refers to Carrywell (who you are looking for) as the Red-Handed Queen.

We know that Carrywell is ruthless bordering on cruel, and she is extracting vital information from the Grand Sanatorium for something; her purpose is not revealed in Nemesis, but the Calendar Council is a possibility. With her status in the Tomb-Colonies, permanent death - the route taken by the revolutionaries here - would be one of the only escapes from her in the Neath.

Furthermore, considering her connections to the Red-Handed Queen (parallels that exist even if she herself is not an avatar), it would explain just how she was able to kill Mirrors: the Red-Handed Queen exists in dreams, and &quotShe can slay as easily as cholera&quot - that kind of foe just might be enough to bring down a Curator. Furthermore, this makes narrative sense, as I suspect October, whoever she is, will be appearing in the final chapter of Nemesis. Of all the Ambitions, Nemesis is the only one with a hook that doesn’t lead to Parabola: October killing Mirrors is precisely the hook that sets up how the PC can exact revenge on Cups/Mirrors and have the finale set in Parabola without treading on the feet of Bag a Legend.
[/spoiler]

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Considering all the evidence that’s compiled here, I would say it all adds up to October being the mystery woman from the Exceptional Story and that she is in fact the Red Handed Queen. Her being Carrywell is also a very likely outcome as well.

Stuff like this is a testament to how complicated the lore for the game can get. This conclusion was reached with information spanning dreams, multiple Exceptional Stories, and even an Ambition.

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The two possible items you get from chess will be surrendered at the season epilogue, correct?

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…and I just got a little surprise. The story keeps gtting better and better.

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oooooookay so I WASN’T creeped out by this ES, just delighted by the wonderful story telling

…until I started getting dream cards from the controller in places I SHOULD NOT BE GETTING THEM. Like in my &quotPolite Invitation&quot deck. What the crap guys that’s terrifying.

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Wait, that can happen? That’s brilliant. There’s nothing quite like the dissonance that comes from intentionally subverting game mechanics.

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Apparently it can now! I was extremely disturbed so A+ job devs

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Damn! Now I want them too! Come on, RNG, be nice.

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So spoiiing as little as possible, does the Transgression quality do anything super painful by the end?

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[quote=Jolanda Swan]…and I just got a little surprise. The story keeps gtting better and better.[/quote]Items, surprises? :)

[quote=Lorelai ]…until I started getting dream cards from the controller in places I SHOULD NOT BE GETTING THEM. Like in my &quotPolite Invitation&quot deck. What the crap guys that’s terrifying.[/quote]What do those do? :D
edited by Skinnyman on 7/26/2019

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I really don’t know why they’d do that? I mean, if they wanted nobody to do the season epilogue, sure, they’d have the useful items surrendered in the epilogue.

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I haven’t seen any of the “surprise aftereffects” so far. Could anybody else who got them say where that happened, under a spoiler tag of course? I am worried that I am missing something.

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There’s a card unlocked with Clues to a Controller and Mortal Exchange. However my Mortal Exchange quality has vanished overnight, so I’m guessing it was supposed to be cleared at some step but was not, meaning no more aftereffect.

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Interesting. Nothing has come up, not even in the place Lorelei suggests above. A pity, that sounded brilliant.

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Damn it, it requires for you to die in order to continue the story, but for sake of rp I can’t continue story, as my character avoids death (not a single death so far) in order to be able return to the surface. There kinda should be more clear cut warning, than paying a “price” because price could mean many things.

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I’m a little stuck on the story right now. Can someone tell me what am I suppose to do after dying and moving to the river? I don’t see any new storylet and I haven’t drawn any new card so far so I’m a little bit confused.

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Max, I had the same issue a year ago, and then I died accidentally in the Carnival. So I decided to grind a cider, which took a year and a half but ended up being lots of fun. I imagine with the new Heists, expeditions etc it must be quicker still. So perhaps, save the story and go for it after the Cider?

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Hmm, did you refresh the page? There is a storylet where you converse with Death, who knows you are here for a reason. No need to play any of the cards.

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To Jolanda Swan
Thanks for the info! I tried refreshing and logging in and out but no luck. I suppose I’ll just sent a bug report and wait for now.