July Exceptional Story: Paisley

Fallen London
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Exceptional Story for July: Paisley

[/font][color=#0066ff]An aesthete has been murdered, and only his paisley outfit can identify the killer. Unfortunately, that outfit is on the lam. Track down the missing ensemble, conspire with textiles, and try to avoid a wardrobe malfunction[/color][font=facitweb-1, facitweb-2, &quotLucida Sans Unicode&quot, &quotLucida Grande&quot, sans-serif][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]

Written by Chandler Groover
Art by Tobias Cook
Editing & QA: James Chew

EXCEPTIONAL FRIENDSHIP

In addition to a new, substantial, stand-alone story every month, Exceptional Friends enjoy:

[/color][/font][ul][li][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][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][li][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]An expanded opportunity deck: of ten cards instead of six![/color][/li][li][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]A second candle: Twice the actions! 40 at once![/color][/li][/ul][color=rgb(0, 102, 255)]
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]

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That… is some fantastic artwork.

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Looks like exceptional friends no longer have access to the promo storylet, or is it just me?

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Curiosity - and I think this can be answered, even though it refers to a fate-locked story - has anyone tried operating a machine? Is the warning true?

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There is no &quotpromo&quot storylet or unlock storylet. Exceptional Friends simply see the first storylet to begin the ES, as James said above.

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I have acquired three pieces, been to every location twice and I think I tried every option at every level of patterned in paisley but nothing progresses the story. Completely lost here.
edited by Mona on 6/25/2020

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There is no &quotpromo&quot storylet or unlock storylet. Exceptional Friends simply see the first storylet to begin the ES, as James said above.[/quote]
Oh but that’s not the case. There’s no unlock storylet, that’s true. But my unexceptional alts all saw the ‘promo’ storylet: https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/An_Exceptional_Story%3A_Paisley.
I just miss that little extra text, is all.
edited by SamNorrey on 6/25/2020

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It’s late where I’m at right now, but for those interested I have the option for shouting for a Master’s attention in the factory after having Bagged a Legend echoed on my mantelpiece. Mr. Stones is NOT a happy space bat.

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Oh, nothing too exciting, pretty much as stated: All I gained were some scraps of fabric and a bad bruise.

https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Nephemiah%20Hamilton%20of%20Shetland/18914207
edited by Nephemiah Hamilton on 6/25/2020

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There is no &quotpromo&quot storylet or unlock storylet. Exceptional Friends simply see the first storylet to begin the ES, as James said above.[/quote]
Oh but that’s not the case. There’s no unlock storylet, that’s true. But my unexceptional alts all saw the ‘promo’ storylet: https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/An_Exceptional_Story%3A_Paisley.
I just miss that little extra text, is all.
edited by SamNorrey on 6/25/2020[/quote]

I stand corrected. I have been in my lab so haven’t explored it at all yet.

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[quote=Mona]I have acquired three pieces, been to every location twice and I think I tried every option at every level of patterned in paisley but nothing progresses the story. Completely lost here.
edited by Mona on 6/25/2020[/quote]

Me too. I had a feeling being too fashion-forward would lead me to a bad end.

Or, in this case, apparently not to an end at all.

Heeellllpppp!
edited by Snort on 6/25/2020

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Brilliant. It sounds like Gogol’s ‘The Overcoat’ in Neathy form.

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Take everything paisley off and grab the evidence box at the station while it acts as a distraction.

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Ahhhh, thank you!

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I absolutely loved that the story took that into account, as well as checking for being on the Velocipede Squad and having Language of Laces. I hope to see more of that in the future, Failbetter. ;)

All in all one of my favourite ES so far. The story did not draw me in right away, but I liked the mechanic of raising your level of Paisley, checking in at different places and with the gradual discoveries I got more and more interested in the story. The scenes in the factory spring especially to mind. I got really invested in the ‘who’ and ‘why’ of the murder and did not expect any of the twists. Going to the different places and having Concord Square as a separate location on the map did increase immersion for me.

Currently at the last choice and as of yet undecided which way to go.

Only nitpick I would have is that the Clay Taylor would have fit in very well as a way to gather some information, but I guess that was not possible due to parallel writing.
edited by GluestickGenius on 6/25/2020
edited by GluestickGenius on 6/25/2020

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I’m at the very end. The story was confusing at first, but as I learned more, it made sense why it was so confusing. The birth of a new intelligence is bound to be confusing. I’m not sure what to do with my last choice now.

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But how? I can take off the glove after I get into the station, but that doesn’t give me an option to grab the box (or cause the glove to do something usefully distracting).

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But how? I can take off the glove after I get into the station, but that doesn’t give me an option to grab the box (or cause the glove to do something usefully distracting).[/quote]
You need more paisley for it to work. Like, two more pieces

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The Thirteenth decided to destroy the Paisley Clothes-Colony in its entirety and got a Parabolan Scrap and 1+ Master Connections as a reward.

Given that I’m allied with White at the Chessboard, that I usually side with the Masters and the law, and that I’ve betrayed / enslaved/ beat up others for my own convenience and need for order, it’s probably not a surprise. I have nothing against Polythremian clothing, but I absolutely abhor Revolutionaries and Liberation-based philosophies with a passion and will take any chance I can take to wipe them out. London is London, Polythreme is Polythreme, and I intend to keep it that way (though I may have changed my mind if I realized that I could keep the Paisley alive without killing it, but no use crying over spilled garments).

Anyways, more interactions with the Masters always gets an A+ from me.
Though, I do wonder…what happens if you destroy both the Paisely and the assassin/
edited by The Curious Watcher on 6/26/2020

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I’m at a loss for this choice.

On one hand, my character doesn’t like the revolutionaries. On the other, my character doesn’t like the Foreign Office. He’d still prefer to subdue both without killing them, but not at the cost of making the Foreign Office assialant the thrall of the Paisley. But I’d also rather not kill such an interesting creature as the Paisley. I may have to side with the Foreign Office in the end however, just this once. In other news have we heard of the Toe before?