I just wanted to say I agree with all of this–both the pros and the cons listed. This was a lovely story, one of the best I’ve played through so far, and the choice at the end is appropriately tough.
I actually didn’t take the Cat’s Chiefest Claw to the Mnemosyne Den, and I wish I’d been able to see what impact that had! I’m a sucker for anything tied to my Nemesis ambition, though, and it was still nice to see that get put to use here.
I too had problems re-entering a location - it was fixed for me as well!
I greatly enjoyed the story. I really felt for the Withered Vagabond, as did Caroline. It is beautifully written, and makes you empathize. The very different sorts of tests in the different areas was nice…the disguise in the house of charity, dealing with the den, it was engrossing, if action hungry. I found myself riveted beginning to end. Great work from the writers this is excellent stuff.
My issue is while Caroline is not, commonly, a violent person, she has killed, and given people over to the Drownies, for less then these people did, but she could take no action to harm them or even end what was going on at the Honey Den. That she could do nothing to stop what was being done from being done was very upsetting; I strongly hope a later point in the season at least gives the option to deal with the den, or I will be greatly disappointed.
I really want to burn the honey den down. Preferably with something heavy in front of the door.
I’m going to mirror a lot of the other sentiments mentioned here. An option in the future to go on a quest to rid London of these types of honey dens would be much appreciated.
Is the “there may still be evidence in the house of charity” accurate? I’ve been up and down that place and don’t see anything.
I haven’t sampled the red honey and don’t plan to, but other than that I’ve done everything in watchmaker’s hill (and don’t see the “there may be evidence…” hint about it.)
Something slightly odd about the entering the House of Charity options. "Acquire a disguise" says it is unlocked for me because I have Disguised as an Unfortunate, which I don’t think I do, but the second option, "Seek refuge in the House of Charity", says it is locked for me because I do not have Disguised as an Unfortunate?
I noticed both of these issues too. I am afraid that while the writing and the story were perfect, the “bugs” are numerous. These particular ones did not affect the story, though.
Another complaint is that I had my Magnanimous drop down from 15, because I chose to sample the honey - even though the text made it clear that doing so was helping the Vagabond. It made no sesne to have magnanimous reduced when you are on a quest to help someone, does it? Especially when the ending which the honey unlocked, was the one ending that should have been opened first. The thing you tell her in the third choice was pretty obvious from the beginning. Sure, the quirk loss does not hurt your gameplay, but it felt quite unfair and out of context.
I also have to agree that a follow up story where you get to do something about this den would be great - I know I would be rid of it, though I imagine many would choose to be patrons instead! Perhaps the DTC could be involved? This would be right up her alley.
Red honey? Red honey is bad news in any context. I can absolutely see why knowingly using red honey would drop (or, for that matter, trash) someone’s Magnanimous score. That said, such a thing ought to be made very clear to the player, even if it isn’t clear to the character.
I don’t like that the fight resulting from denouncing red honey automatically ends in such a one-sided beating for the player character. I’m a Shattering Force, one of the most terribly dangerous people in all London, and I (of course) succeeded on the challenge! The bouncers, even with the advantages of surprise and numbers, shouldn’t be able to do much more than keep me away from the proprietor and herd me towards the door. A fight can be unwinnable due to plot reasons, but it doesn’t also need to be downright humiliating.
[quote=Jolanda Swan]I also have to agree that a follow up story where you get to do something about this den would be great - I know I would be rid of it, though I imagine many would choose to be patrons instead! Perhaps the DTC could be involved? This would be right up her alley.[/quote]The Vagabond is one of the many, many, many victims of unregulated capitalism. There might be some catharsis in the thought of destroying Mnemosyne and fixing the problem, but that sort of revenge fantasy isn’t how the world works. There are other exploitative businesses, and other victims like the Vagabond. Vigilante arson leaves us still adrift on a sea of misery. There’s tragedy in the injustice, and that makes for a compelling story.
I love this story. I knew I would when I saw it focused on honey. I think the Vagabond might be one of the most engagingly sympathetically written characters in the game’ even Amsfield was concerned for her well being. (Although not sufficiently enough to miss the chance to sample her honey.) I told her to consider her achievements, not dwell on the betrayal and left her in her old home, assuming she would be safe there given the loyalty of those she helped.
Before I start this story, can anyone please confirm whether any action/path in it might drop any of the main stats?
(asking since I can no longer overcap stats until FBG update the Paramount Presence mechanics)
Nope
[quote=Amalgamate]Is the "there may still be evidence in the house of charity" accurate? I’ve been up and down that place and don’t see anything.
I haven’t sampled the red honey and don’t plan to, but other than that I’ve done everything in watchmaker’s hill (and don’t see the "there may be evidence…" hint about it.)[/quote]
I was hoping someone had an answer for that myself. I have 8 for both counters, which I think means I’m done, but I’m being taunted by the suggestion that there may still be evidence. I also have no idea what all the buttons and levers in there actually did. There were all these clicks and clanks, but what happened? I’m hoping that the order in which I checked the rooms somehow hid the effects from me.
It seems that when the title is already in quotes it won’t echo. I think it’s a data sanitization thing. Either it isn’t reading what is in quotes or it already has a quote ready to put in front of the title, so when it sees the first one in the title it thinks it’s the close quote and figures “I must be done”.
I think what FB needs to do is run a quick check for control characters in the string and remove them before running the rest of the journaling function, but I’m no JS expert.
More than that… sampling red honey causes excruciating agony to the donor, similar to the pain caused by the bee that tunnelled through their brains to collect the memories in the first place.
Even the Masters forbid the stuff. I wish we could have done more about the mnemosyne.
(This was a very good story, by the way.)
Just finished this truly Exceptional story, and enjoyed it immensely. As I’ve said before, I particularly like stories that give us locations to explore at our leisure; here, it was a lot of fun to infiltrate the House of Charity and skulk around looking for clues while trying not to blow my cover. I was sorely tempted to resign my current profession and sign up as a Watcher, just so I could wear a Revolting Disguise for that section. The characters in this story were also well-written. I really felt for the Vagabond and the Housekeeper and wanted to help them, and I truly loathed the wicked Gimlet-Eyed Proprietor and the Repentant Rogue.
I would have liked to see (or would like to see) some closure involving the red honey-den, other than the rather revolting option to hand the Vagabond over to the Proprietor. For example, to burn it down, destroy or steal the red honey, tip off the Constables or the Pirate-King, blackmail the Proprietor, etc. It feels like a major loose end to be able to do nothing about the den after spending so much effort to help the Vagabond. At least, with red honey being one of Fallen London’s more horrifying aspects (hello royal children!), I hope we’ll be seeing more red honey in the future. All in all though, this story was excellent.
Request: does anyone have an echo of what happens if you have the Cat’s Chiefest Claw help you at the honey-den?
Do any actions in this ES affect the dream qualities or any sign of a reward that will do so? :)
Your dreams are unaffected I believe.
[quote=BillyCosmos!]
It seems that when the title is already in quotes it won’t echo. I think it’s a data sanitization thing. [/quote]
It’s not sanitization. If you look at the HTML and know how it works, you will instantly recognize incompetence.