[color=#0066ff]
[/color] [color=#0066ff]A wealthy heiress has disappeared! Her family suspect kidnap, and blame the Circumcellion Brotherhood: a nautical band of martyr-marauders. Join a naval task force to uncover the truth, and learn whether salvation can be found on the cold Unterzee.[/color]
[color=#0066ff]Written by Gavin Inglis[/color]
[color=#0066ff]Art by [/color][color=#0066ff]Monika Eidintaite[/color]
[color=#0066ff]Editing and QA: Bruno Dias and James Chew[/color]
[color=#0066ff]EXCEPTIONAL FRIENDSHIP[/color]
[color=#0066ff]In addition to a new, substantial, stand-alone story every month, Exceptional Friends enjoy:[/color]
[color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]Access to the House of Chimes: an exclusive private member’s club on the Stolen River, packed with content[/color][/li][/ul][ul][li][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]Access to Mr Chimes’ Lost & Found, a shop in the Bazaar where you can exchange currency earned through playing Exceptional Stories for exclusive companions and items[/color][/li][/ul][ul][li][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]An expanded opportunity deck: of ten cards instead of six![/color][/li][/ul][ul][li][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]A second candle: Twice the actions! 40 at once![/color]
You no longer need to log in to claim your Exceptional Stories! If you have an active subscription when one is available, you’ll receive it automatically.[/color][/font] edited by James StAnthony on 8/26/2021
[quote]It quickly becomes apparent that these contestants are not the blind drunk specimens common at the Wolfstack card tables. Worse, the ship has its own catalogue of zee-themed games and just when you think you’ve grasped one, the dealer shifts to another.
You hold your own at Loose Cannon, but the cards turn against you during Stem the Tide. When the dealer announces Slippery Stack, the alliterative card game of the lighthouse professional, you cut your losses. There’s always next shift.[/quote]
Oh come on, I won the Marvellous, and now I lose to some zailors 50% of the time?
Some of us have never participated in it. Descended after it came, made their name, left the Court, built a Zubmarine, returned to the Court, equipped a lab, built the Railway, won the Marvellous, waged war in Parabola. And never ever had a chance to see what K&C even is.
This one felt… short. I was expecting to be able to talk to her mom as a way to wrap everything up as an Epilogue. Instead you just make the choice and it ends within one storylet…
Not that the ending was bad mind you. I liked the outcome of her joining the Church a lot.
I agree with 0bsidian Fire, it was quite a short story. A sympathetic one to be sure, but I was expecting a bit more progress after the two boat trips or some degree of resolution between the daughter and her mother. And once again, what may have been a meaningful discussion about death and martyrdom has been utterly spoiled by my absolute certainty that everyone who dies in the Neath is going to the Far Shore and/or the Sapphir’d King’s larder per the Boatman stories/Sunless Skies.
I’d be more comfortable with sending her to join the Church if I didn’t know the Bishop of Southwark quite frankly doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing trying to connive with snakes to attack Hell, if I hadn’t seen countless souls stripped of name and face before they were devoured by a celestial maw and if I didn’t know that the closest thing to a loving divine being in the setting is the broken, deposed, lonely Black. But I do, so I decided being a menace eradicator was a more useful skillset than being a nun.
Some of us have never participated in it. Descended after it came, made their name, left the Court, built a Zubmarine, returned to the Court, equipped a lab, built the Railway, won the Marvellous, waged war in Parabola. And never ever had a chance to see what K&C even is.[/quote]
I just regret never participating while I had the chance. Or well, being too low-level to have a reasonable chance of consistently triumphing against the then-frequent participants. That wax-wind knife is quite something.
I liked this one, but agree that the ending was a bit abrupt. I would also have liked to have the option of encouraging her to try doing some charitable works with her inheritance. Maybe introduce her to Jenny or Furnace.
Incidentally, there’s an option for those of us who became a Bishop, for anyone who’s recording ES tie-ins.
Well, this one was a resounding “meh”. It was basically just a fully linear progression of action gates, culminating in my character just deciding for the Inheratrix. Like, not even encouraging her in a certain direction, literally just decided the rest of her life there on the spot after having had a single digit of conversations with her. Don’t get me wrong, I did like the Inheratrix, and I must admit that the fleshing-out of the Circumcellion Brotherhood was very well-done.
If nothing else, this story really excels at taking a single random opportunity card from The Broad Unterzee and developing it into a believable part of the world.
I doubt it is so, but I’m hoping for this story to add a branch to the Circumcellion Brotherhood card that acknowledges the fact that I have served in one of their ships.
Also, is there by any chance an option for Monster Hunters during the beast battle? I feel like there ought to be, but I didn’t see any locked options (Not a Monster Hunter, just curious.)
Well, this one was a resounding “meh”. It was basically just a fully linear progression of action gates, culminating in my character just deciding for the Inheratrix. Like, not even encouraging her in a certain direction, literally just decided the rest of her life there on the spot after having had a single digit of conversations with her. Don’t get me wrong, I did like the Inheratrix, and I must admit that the fleshing-out of the Circumcellion Brotherhood was very well-done.
If nothing else, this story really excels at taking a single random opportunity card from The Broad Unterzee and developing it into a believable part of the world.
I doubt it is so, but I’m hoping for this story to add a branch to the Circumcellion Brotherhood card that acknowledges the fact that I have served in one of their ships.
Also, is there by any chance an option for Monster Hunters during the beast battle? I feel like there ought to be, but I didn’t see any locked options (Not a Monster Hunter, just curious.)
I’m Mr Cards; I’m not even sure I can lose a card game. Or does that power only work against urchins?[/quote]
Have we checked if it works at the games of the House of Chimes? I initially wondered if the Fathomking might be petty enough to counter-rig all card games at sea, but on second thought it might very well be a power that exists only to cheat urchins, specifically, out of their meagre savings.
Another meh zee episode, imo. I feel like the nature of the zee makes things a bit railroady because inevitably leaving London reduces the PCs autonomy by quite a lot.
[quote=0bsidian Fire]This one felt… short. I was expecting to be able to talk to her mom as a way to wrap everything up as an Epilogue. Instead you just make the choice and it ends within one storylet…
Not that the ending was bad mind you. I liked the outcome of her joining the Church a lot.[/quote]
I also sent her to the Church, and I’m satisfied with that result, but I would have liked an epilogue with the mother.
To pitch in my two cents, I think the ending should have signposted
being able to have her work with the Bishop of Southwark, as I believed I was sending her to Abbey Wash where she wouldn’t be able to visit her mother as compared with the Department of Menace Eradication.
I was delighted to discover that there is, in fact, an option on the Circumcellion Brotherhood card at Zee for those who completed the story![/quote]
Really? I recently went to zee and didn’t see any options on the card. Either it’s new or ending-dependant. What did you choose for the Inheratrix?
Really? I recently went to zee and didn’t see any options on the card. Either it’s new or ending-dependant. What did you choose for the Inheratrix?[/quote]
I chose for the Inheratrix to join the church. I kept an echo of the card (linked), no screenshot, sorry, dated Sep 2nd.
