Considering Darkdrop Coffee

Fallen London
21

[quote=maricolous]As a person who drank four cups of very strong coffee in quick succession because of &quotit’s Art, dude&quot***, I can assure you it would be terribly unpleasant. Much grinding of teeth and moaning on the floor followed from that particular experience…

***maybe it was a dare. Just maybe :)[/quote]
For you, it was a dare. For me it was Tuesday (morning).

Although the stimulating effects of Darkdrop are instantly recognisable to any coffee-drinker, Anne’s quote about the Scrimshander historians is the only reference I know off that hints at caffeine dependence, which every coffee-drinker knows only too well.

For whatever reason, Londoners don’t seem to drink Darkdrop often enough to experience grouchiness in the morning before their first cup, or a headache after too much abstinence, or the soreness, trembling and heart palpitations after too many.
edited by Frederick Metzengerstein on 10/23/2016

22

[quote=Frederick Metzengerstein]
For you, it was a dare. For me it was Tuesday (morning).

Although the stimulating effects of Darkdrop are instantly recognisable to any coffee-drinker, Anne’s quote about the Scrimshander historians is the only reference I know off that hints at caffeine dependence, which every coffee-drinker knows only too well.

For whatever reason, Londoners don’t seem to drink Darkdrop often enough to experience grouchiness in the morning before their first cup, or a headache after too much abstinence, or the soreness and heart paloitations after too many.[/quote]
Or perhaps they drink it just enough to avoid the worst of those symptoms? Caligula’s Coffee House always seems pretty crowded, especially in the morning. I doubt it’s the only coffee house/shop/cafe in London - just the most famous and the writer’s go to place for all scenes coffee related. Londoners also drink plenty of tea and tea can have lots of caffeine as well.

One wonders though, what would happen if the city’s Darkdrop Coffee supply were ever cut off?

In Port Carnelian, giving the native tigers increased economic rights results in them out-competing the Khaganian merchants in the acquisition of local necessities like coffee. The result is angry protests outside the Governor’s mansion by cranky Khaganians waving empty coffee mugs:

[quote=]&quotYou’ll just have to pay more! You can compete perfectly well without price controls.&quot

You spend days whittling away opposition in the Foreign Office, meeting with merchants, citizens, and foreign agents, and drafting stacks of legislation. But the final results of your labours are minimal. The Port isn’t ready for a radical expansion of tiger rights. What ground you do gain is nevertheless precious to the tigers. Spices, silks, and certain enlivening beverages, which had been legally denied them before, are now freely available.

They take full advantage of their new-found economic freedoms, buying in such bulk that scarcities are created in the Port. This sparks outrage from the Khaganians, who protest your measures by rallying outside Heartscross House and waving empty mugs – but progress cannot be stopped.[/quote]
Presumably the same thing would happen in the Fifth City.
edited by Anne Auclair on 10/23/2016

23

[quote=Anne Auclair]
One wonders though, what would happen if the city’s Darkdrop Coffee supply were ever cut off? [/quote]

The complete collapse of civilization in London, most likely.

Nightmares are increasing … [+10 CP]

24

Life goes on if yer’ not posh enough to drink coffee. Or tell the difference between beans, bat droppings and rat droppings.

25

Barista should be a top tier profession, I say

26

[quote=maricolous][quote=Infinity Simulacrum]
Overdosing on coffee is one of the very nicest ways to die.[/quote]

As a person who drank four cups of very strong coffee in quick succession because of &quotit’s Art, dude&quot***, I can assure you it would be terribly unpleasant. Much grinding of teeth and moaning on the floor followed from that particular experience…

***maybe it was a dare. Just maybe :)[/quote]
In addition to what’s mentioned here: The Black Blood of the Earth - Funranium Labs caffeine can also cause blackouts in extreme doses. I’ve never seen it happen, but apparently my SO had one when she was a teen.
edited by MrBurnside on 10/27/2016

27

When you give a bag of Darkdrop Coffee beans to the Almost Dead Man in the Undercrow you get quite the reaction:

This is a very old man with an almost hatched moth in his chest, swinging between drugged up stupor and regret filled agony. Just the sight and smell of the coffee makes him feel young again, however briefly. He even gets up out of his sickbed to rummage around his things in order to produce an artifact to pay you with! He’s that energized and grateful!

His description of the coffee as &quotblood of the Elder Continent&quot has clear religious connotations. Stone, the Mountain of Light, is the god of the southern landmass. It is a wounded deity, bleeding constantly. In Sunless Sea you see Stone’s blood in the Red River. In Flint I think you even get to visit Stone’s wound.* This suggests that the vitality found in Darkdrop Coffee comes not only from Stone’s supernatural light, but also from the divine blood that has been seeping into the continents water and soil for thousands of years.

*Note: I haven’t played Flint - maybe someone who has can provide details?
edited by Anne Auclair on 10/28/2016

28

Any theories amongst the learned why Darkdrop coffee maintains some (which?) of its potent properties when brought to the surface?

29

Because caffeine is not supernatural enough to be rejected :cool:

30

Good question! My theory, building on Anne’s theory, is that Darkdrop Coffee are infused with Stone’s essence. Because Stone is the daughter of the Sun, things associated with her will not be rejected by sunlight.

31

My theory is really Spacemarine’s theory. He thinks it’s more a general loophole though, rather then something specific to the Mountain. Since there’s only one Mountain of Light in the entire universe, it probably doesn’t matter which is which.

Does anybody have an echo of drinking the Mountain’s blood in Flint? I’d like to compare it to the experience of drinking Darkdrop Coffee?

btw, if anyone wants to see Darkdrop Coffee make a reappearance in Sunless Sky, be sure to mention that in question 17 of the new Kickstarter survey ^_^
edited by Anne Auclair on 11/23/2016

32

VERY, VERY bad things happen to you if you drink the Mountain’s blood. It is nothing like drinking Darkdrop Coffee. Darkdrop Coffee is a caffeinated beverage, probably infused with a DILUTED amount of the Mountain’s vitality, which gives it such a kick. More than likely it’s normal coffee hyped up 3 levels on vitality, which in and of itself is not illegal, which is why it keeps its virtues when transferred to the surface, and also the reason Hesperidian Cider allows you to go back to the surface after dying, as well.

Drinking pure, 20000% concentrated vitality, however leads to very bad things. Even bathing in the river with it will cause uncontrollable and rather grotesque growth.

33

Well, I’d still like to see. Does anyone have an echo?
edited by Anne Auclair on 11/25/2016

34

The recent Exceptional Story has confirmed my theory that London’s many coffee shops all sell water-downed Darkdrop.

Our favorite beverage also appears to be one of the main staples of Neath diplomacy. I suspect this is due to the ancient coffee culture of the Elder Continent. A good example of this is the Avuncular Broker’s interview in Sunless Sea, conducted over a cup of Darkdrop flavored with a sprig of mint. When Fallen Cities arrive in the Neath they meet Elder Continent diplomats, like the Avuncular Broker, and ambassadors from places long influenced by Elder Continent examples, like the Khaganian Salt Steppes. Naturally the new Cities pick up Elder Continent habits, the first and foremost being the habit of discussing business over cups of Darkdrop.

Darkdrop’s ability to elevate the moods of depressed people is also highlighted by the player’s visit to the Defensive Engineer. Her bare scullery is made cheerier by the strong smell of coffee and when you start inquiring into the still raw forgery case the Engineer starts brewing herself a fresh cup and presumably sips it throughout the interview. The Engineer is notably the most optimistic of the three victims, despite having lost the most in terms of reputation, profession, and personal finances. Clearly the Muddled Ambassador should have hit the coffee shops rather than the wine sinks and honey dens.

Which leads me to the observation that Darkdrop is very much the anti-thesis of Prisoners Honey. They are both imported, addictive, supernatural substances that have harmful effects on the body if taken in too great a quantity. But Darkdrop warms, cheers and energizes, while Prisoners Honey only seems to lead one down a spiral of sloth, apathy and depression.
edited by Anne Auclair on 11/27/2016

35

[quote=Anne Auclair]When you give a bag of Darkdrop Coffee beans to the Almost Dead Man in the Undercrow you get quite the reaction:

This is a very old man with an almost hatched moth in his chest, swinging between drugged up stupor and regret filled agony. Just the sight and smell of the coffee makes him feel young again, however briefly. He even gets up out of his sickbed to rummage around his things in order to produce an artifact to pay you with! He’s that energized and grateful!

His description of the coffee as &quotblood of the Elder Continent&quot has clear religious connotations. Stone, the Mountain of Light, is the god of the southern landmass. It is a wounded deity, bleeding constantly. In Sunless Sea you see Stone’s blood in the Red River. In Flint I think you even get to visit Stone’s wound.* This suggests that the vitality found in Darkdrop Coffee comes not only from Stone’s supernatural light, but also from the divine blood that has been seeping into the continents water and soil for thousands of years.[/quote]

Another interesting connection to blood: nidah is the Hebrew word for the ritual state of menstruation. I am aware that Nidah means something else in the game lore, though I haven’t encountered it myself except for snippets like this one. But with the Mountain so closely linked to Judeo-Christian myth, it seems unlikely to be a coincidence.
edited by TheThirdPolice on 11/27/2016

36

[quote=TheThirdPolice]Another interesting connection to blood: nidah is the Hebrew word for the ritual state of menstruation. I am aware that Nidah means something else in the game lore, though I haven’t encountered it myself except for snippets like this one. But with the Mountain so closely linked to Judeo-Christian myth, it seems unlikely to be a coincidence.
edited by TheThirdPolice on 11/27/2016[/quote]
Nidah, I believe, is the capital or central kingdom of the Presbyterate. Or it might be some holy site or citadel of Presbyter power. All I know is that some people wanted to conquer it and were apparently fighting the Presbyter to do so.

Anyway, a reference to menstruation is not very surprising. Stone has been repeatedly referred to as a woman after all, the Sun and Bazaar’s daughter. Perhaps her wound isn’t really a wound in a break the skin sense, but rather a curse of unending menstruation, with the Elder Continent serving as the sanitary pad absorbing her flow.

Continuing this thought, I think we’ve all made a mistake of conflating the Mountain’s blood and light as equally &quotvital.&quot In Sunless Sea you can encounter a flower encased in glass, growing out of a solid rock. You ask how that can be and you’re informed that the flower was planted close to the Mountain and basked a Summer in its light. Consequently, &quot[w]hat need has it for water, now? Or air?&quot Clearly the Mountain’s light has stimulating yet preservative powers. Absorbing a considerable quantity of said light made that flower immortal and invulnerable.

Stone’s blood appears to have very different properties from her light. When they plant a tree in the blood soaked soil of Adam’s Way, the tree goes from sprouting seed to dead husk within the space of a single day. The tree’s life is not enhanced in any way, it is merely sped up. Similarly, bathing in the Mountain’s blood apparently causes undesirable growth and sailing a metal or wooden ship up the Red River will result in the hull corroding away. Stone’s blood accelerates everything that absorbs or comes into contact with it, but it doesn’t add any new life force and certainly does not preserve. The best it does is concentrate life, packing a lengthy period of life into a much shorter period of time.

Now, everything in the Elder Continent has absorbed a certain measure of light and blood. Clearly there’s some very intricate interplay between these two conflicting emanations. Darkdrop Coffee would be no exception, but from its effects drunk pure - it really speeds you up, it really hurts you, drink too much and you will obviously die - I think it has more blood than light. Further supporting this is the Almost Dead Man, who calls the coffee you give him &quotblood of the Elder Continent.&quot So the boost you get from Darkdrop Coffee comes at the expense of your future life. You’re essentially taking an hour or five hours or whatever from your future and giving it to yourself in the present. If you’re a light infused immortal this simply wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, given that everyone but the Presbyters family can only live one thousand years by holy edict, taking time from your limitless but unrealizable future and giving it to your finite present is incredibly smart, a good way of making those one thousand years really count. It’s no different from running up a bill in the knowledge that you’ll never, ever have to pay it, so you might as well get everything you can. But for ordinary mortals, well…the bill will eventually come due.
edited by Anne Auclair on 11/28/2016

37

:O

I have become addicted to your analysis. Exploring in-game lore is now a secondary goal that will allow me to provoke more.

I do feel a bit sorry for my future self in the meantime, since I’m sipping on my fourth espresso.

38

There has been a lot of new darkdrop coffee content in the Great Game update. First we have the two day stakeout with the Tireless Agent, who uses darkdrop coffee to keep awake. Second, when you are gifted a spare subscription with the Gazette from an admiring spy, his/her &quothands [are] twitching from excitement and three cups of [Caligula’s] coffee.&quot Lastly, if you send a sulky bat to the surface to retrieve a scrap of menu from a village cafe, upon the bat’s return you learn that &quotcoffee prices are down.&quot

Darkdrop Coffee apparently plays a pretty big role in the Great Game, to the point that the price of coffee in a village cafe is considered very valuable intelligence. This seems to suggest that on surface, Revolutionary and Great Game activity increases and decreases according to the general availability of darkdrop coffee. When coffee prices are high, coffee is in short supply and the spies/revolutionaries have correspondingly less energy. When coffee prices are low, darkdrop coffee is readily available, and this leads to spies and revolutionaries being much more active.

39

This seems to jive with Sunless Sea, where apparently Vienna is a primary importer of Darkdrop and it’s also a hotbed of revolution, Game-playing, and general intrigue all around.

40

[quote=Anne Auclair][quote=TheThirdPolice]Another interesting connection to blood: nidah is the Hebrew word for the ritual state of menstruation. I am aware that Nidah means something else in the game lore, though I haven’t encountered it myself except for snippets like this one. But with the Mountain so closely linked to Judeo-Christian myth, it seems unlikely to be a coincidence.
edited by TheThirdPolice on 11/27/2016[/quote]
Nidah, I believe, is the capital or central kingdom of the Presbyterate. Or it might be some holy site or citadel of Presbyter power. All I know is that some people wanted to conquer it and were apparently fighting the Presbyter to do so.

Anyway, a reference to menstruation is not very surprising. Stone has been repeatedly referred to as a woman after all, the Sun and Bazaar’s daughter. Perhaps her wound isn’t really a wound in a break the skin sense, but rather a curse of unending menstruation, with the Elder Continent serving as the sanitary pad absorbing her flow.

Continuing this thought, I think we’ve all made a mistake of conflating the Mountain’s blood and light as equally &quotvital.&quot In Sunless Sea you can encounter a flower encased in glass, growing out of a solid rock. You ask how that can be and you’re informed that the flower was planted close to the Mountain and basked a Summer in its light. Consequently, &quot[w]hat need has it for water, now? Or air?&quot Clearly the Mountain’s light has stimulating yet preservative powers. Absorbing a considerable quantity of said light made that flower immortal and invulnerable.

Stone’s blood appears to have very different properties from her light. When they plant a tree in the blood soaked soil of Adam’s Way, the tree goes from sprouting seed to dead husk within the space of a single day. The tree’s life is not enhanced in any way, it is merely sped up. Similarly, bathing in the Mountain’s blood apparently causes undesirable growth and sailing a metal or wooden ship up the Red River will result in the hull corroding away. Stone’s blood accelerates everything that absorbs or comes into contact with it, but it doesn’t add any new life force and certainly does not preserve. The best it does is concentrate life, packing a lengthy period of life into a much shorter period of time.

Now, everything in the Elder Continent has absorbed a certain measure of light and blood. Clearly there’s some very intricate interplay between these two conflicting emanations. Darkdrop Coffee would be no exception, but from its effects drunk pure - it really speeds you up, it really hurts you, drink too much and you will obviously die - I think it has more blood than light. Further supporting this is the Almost Dead Man, who calls the coffee you give him &quotblood of the Elder Continent.&quot So the boost you get from Darkdrop Coffee comes at the expense of your future life. You’re essentially taking an hour or five hours or whatever from your future and giving it to yourself in the present. If you’re a light infused immortal this simply wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, given that everyone but the Presbyters family can only live one thousand years by holy edict, taking time from your limitless but unrealizable future and giving it to your finite present is incredibly smart, a good way of making those one thousand years really count. It’s no different from running up a bill in the knowledge that you’ll never, ever have to pay it, so you might as well get everything you can. But for ordinary mortals, well…the bill will eventually come due.
edited by Anne Auclair on 11/28/2016[/quote]

Well… good thing I’m grinding for hespidarian cider, and only just after 171 days in Fallen London. I was fortunate to be given a huge boost by the Feast.