[spoiler] Yeah, if there’s any place to kill a Master, it’d be Parabola. The idea that Mr Mirrors has been dead the entire time is pretty eerie, and I think it’s possible (and interesting! I desperately want a follow-up on everything we just learned), but something about it doesn’t sit completely right with me. I think… if Mirrors were truly, irreversibly gone, they wouldn’t have made it the one behind Nemesis, especially since we found out it was "destroyed" outside of the ambition itself. It would be interesting if Nemesis’ resolution involved a Light Fingers-style expedition to the deeper edges of what’s behind the Mirrors (a Parabola base-camp, if you will), for the player to rescue/kill Mr Mirrors once and for all.
Also, maybe there’s a reason Cups in particular picked up its role, besides just trying to help. If its crime really is "glass whispering. And worse: charity", perhaps Cups has some way to communicate with Mr Mirrors. It would make more sense to me why Cups apparently hasn’t told the other Masters if it’s formulating an escape plan of some sort?
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.[/quote]
But didn’t that just happen with last season’s epilogue? One of the items was useful, as I recall, and I’d rather have kept it, except the Toymaker epilogue story was so adorable.[/quote]
To be perfectly honest, I don’t even remember what the items were. One of the items may have been usable, but it wasn’t notably useful. I’ve already heard people planning on doing this story twice just so they can get both items. IIRC one of them is even best in slot, though tied with another fate-locked thing. It would be a dick move for them to make you need to turn it in.[/quote]
Sure, but the special items are always turned in at the epilogue, is my point, e.g. the moth coat from one of the past ESs – I didn’t want to keep it particularly but it was an outfit – there have been a couple of weapons IIRC? (my memory is so bad, I can’t swear to what they were). OTOH if you do the story twice, what happens? or if you repeat it again after the epilogue?[/quote]
But they aren’t always turned in. Some ES give you items that you do not turn in. Two of them have companions. edited by MidnightVoyager on 8/1/2019[/quote]
You’re right, how could I completely forget my darling little wings-of-thunder batling! :-) Well, let’s hope the hat and lantern in this ES fall under the same rules.[/quote]
There would have been hell to pay if they tried to take my lovely giant bat son! He is my favorite :)
Has anyone else gotten the message from the woman in their dreams?
"As you draw the mask away, her eyes come with it. And her nose and mouth. The blank oval behind is pinky-raw, like flesh beneath a scab. In your hand, her face begins to talk.
Doctor. I see you.
Cease all investigation into my activities. Or cease to sleep altogether. The choice is entirely yours."
[quote=Cadwyn Knivlove]Has anyone else gotten the message from the woman in their dreams?
"As you draw the mask away, her eyes come with it. And her nose and mouth. The blank oval behind is pinky-raw, like flesh beneath a scab. In your hand, her face begins to talk.
Doctor. I see you.
Cease all investigation into my activities. Or cease to sleep altogether. The choice is entirely yours."[/quote]
Yes, I received that message, and I see elsewhere that others have, as well. edited by Balefire on 8/1/2019
Oh boy, ambiguous choices! Both terrifying and exciting! I could use some help, if you don’t mind.
Would anyone mind telling me the outcome or effect between the choices of taking your passengers back vs leaving them on the Far Shore? I’d like to ruminate on my options a bit, both in how things will turn out for me and these poor souls.
[quote=Sir Joseph Marlen]Oh boy, ambiguous choices! Both terrifying and exciting! I could use some help, if you don’t mind.
Would anyone mind telling me the outcome or effect between the choices of taking your passengers back vs leaving them on the Far Shore? I’d like to ruminate on my options a bit, both in how things will turn out for me and these poor souls.
It didn’t have any story consequences for me, but doing something the boatman wouldn’t imposes a very minor and easily removed disadvantage on something you’ll need to do, later. It just determines the fates of your passengers, so I’d say pick whatever your character would!
While Mr Mirrors seems to be "lost" rather than outright dead, I think the implication for Nemesis is that the player will use Parabola to get revenge on Cups. Since October’s banishment of Mirrors seems to have happened a while ago, my guess is that Cups was the real orchestrator of Nemesis, just in its other guise.
Caroline has gotten one weapon (Word of Caution) three Companions (Woman in Yellow, Dashing Debunker, Wings of Thunder Batling) one affiliation (Held in Esteem by the Crew of the Galatea) and one Home Comfort (Entirely Not Cult Related Tea Set) from Exceptional Stories, so it happens.
If you haven’t got the gold framed storylet "The Shallows" – two people playing chess? And there is no option on the Season of Bargains card to trigger the story, you should drop a line to support and ask them to fix it. They won’t be around until Monday, but they are always very quick to respond and unfailingly helpful.
I must admit, my favourite moment from this ES was when I decided to die by leaping from one of the Bazaar’s spires… and got an Aeolian Scream out of it!
I could imagine it very vividly!
Absolutely spectacular. I adored My Kingdom for a Pig, though I wasn’t really around enough to mention it at the time, but this is just spectacular.
And if October really is Dr. Carrywell, and this is hinting at more Carrywell content to come, then I am EXTREMELY EXCITED. The best character! Back at last! And you know Gul will be working with her, other affiliations be damned. >:3
Agree that the fall from the spire of Bazaar gives a rather breathtaking beginning and I can’t believe I didn’t take a note… It seems that I only started taking notes after I met the Boatman. Sigh. The design of climbing up to something significantly high just to seek a dramatic death is fascinating. Even the death is not permanent. It reminds me the movie City of Angels in which the angels have to fall to become human. Although my character would be more likely to describe herself as a devil, I guess.
A fall in the fallen-city? Sarcastic.
(By the way, I wonder if it’s possible to make it a repeatable challenge at Bazaar Side Streets or somewhere else to ensure a convenient death, just like what we have now in the House of Mirrors. God that place HURTS.)
I don’t know much about FL background knowledge so I mainly enjoyed it as a story. And it is a good one. The building of the three characters are common but touching. I kept telling myself "the next one is definitely going to the far shore" but still let all of them go. The first two, at least. Particularly I like the lore of the Explorer in Waswood. Can she literally stay there if I always remember her? Or do I really?
Also, this is the first time I know that the items I gained from ES might be taken back… I’ve only played five ES and it never happened, though maybe it’s because they didn’t gave any equipable items. I really hope I can keep my lovable lantern, even without the Dreaded or Bizarre thing. Please, I’ve beat the Boatman to make the fellow get back to his work, at least something to put on the mantelpiece for a memorial.
Anyway, good story. Can’t wait to play the next ES.
I was a bit late coming to this story, but I have to say that I am a big fan. Aside from the one BIG LORE DROP, there is a lot to appreciate. The three (four? five?) primary characters have limited screen time, but each make themselves characters that are more than just game obstacles. It was interesting to see the different personalities, and how the player-character had to take very different approaches to convince each. Even with the help of mystic/cosmic/whatever powers, the characters will still people.
I also appreciate that the mechanics were different for each character. This was a subtle thing, but it reinforced the story aspect that you were taking different approaches to convincing them. It also helped the pacing of the story–several ES’s use the same mechanic for two or three segments. While perfectly fine on its own (and the mirrored repetition can be used for great effect, e.g. The Century Exhibition), I felt it helped greatly ensure that the gameplay was not monotonous. Each character has a mechanical period where you have to say "ok, what am I trying to do this time," which is great symmetry for what the player-character is doing.
So.
Lore question, that have not seem anyone else bring up in this thread.
Like Mr Mirror’s room (Fallen London), the Dept. of Restful Sleep also remove pieces from mirrors to remove some of their power.
July also mentions this in “Lost in Reflections” that making the mirror whole restores its full power (Fallen London). Given that the Dept. manages crimes within dreams, it makes sense for them to collect a hallway of broken mirrors.