I greatly enjoyed this story. I was a little sad that after reconciliation I wasn’t able to further delve into his secret (especially after reading the result of killing him yourself).
Well, that was thoroughly intriguing. I’ve been going through aristocratic family trees, trying to determine if the characters have real-world analogues - mostly Habsburgs, but when we’re talking aristocratic family trees, that practically goes without saying.
So this Old Man sounds Chestertonian as hell. And there was something very like The Waste Land in the descriptions of Vienna. But perhaps I’m reading too much into things.
Does anyone have any theories on
why he blinded his wife? That seems to be the one great inexplicable act he committed.
Unless I missed something, it appears quite unnecesary.
Edit: spoiler tags
edited by Juno on 1/29/2016
[quote=Juno]Does anyone have any theories on
…questions…
Unless I missed something, it appears quite unnecesary.
edited by Juno on 1/29/2016[/quote]
Pretty sure it’s because she was dancing weirdly, and he thought she was the Thief, and tried to peel her face off?
edited by Residual Toast on 1/29/2016
Only one set of spoiler tags per post, Toast, or they won’t show up properly! And, yes, it appears to have been a case of mistaken identity and a sadly unnecessary attempt at self-defense.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Gemma~Hawley
Well, I found the ending nobody’s taken yet, but they haven’t said anything about the reward. For the lore-fiends out there.
Hmm this ending raises some interesting questions.
It’s not possible that the Player Character is [spoiler]the thief of faces right? He is said to live in the prison where you start, and you do pick your face. But everything we know about snuffers says they can only die once, right?
Also, do we know who the Presumption, and the Red Levy are? And why Mr Pages would take precautions with them against the Thief stealing one of their faces? And if it might be the case, which one it could be?
Also, Also, has anything been added to woods in winter? I tried checking my nadir, but the cards weren’t cooperating. [/spoiler]
edited by Residual Toast on 1/29/2016
[spoiler]I very much agree, Sir Frederick. The Old Man sounds quite a lot like Chesteron’s man in the dark room. Given his dual nature, I thought the Old Man might in fact be the Thief of Faces. Both of them certainly want the same information. The Waltzing Duke seems to think they’re separate entities though. Could the Thief have wandered the Surface and tricked the Duke?
In any case, Vienna seems a much darker place. Though Europe may simply be trading its own looming, nationalistic wars for a broader class/ideological struggle.[/spoiler]
What options? The only one I haven’t found an echo for is…
…the option to notify the Aesthete instead of going straight to the Carnival. Everyone seems to have opted for the latter option. Also, it took me a while to find out what happens if you decline the Duke’s request to touch your face; the great majority of players let him do it. Was that the ominous choice Robin Mask was talking about? Because for a moment I was a actually afraid the Duke would steal the… Duke’s face.
I did, a couple of times at the beginning to get into the mood. Great piece, and I really like Strauss in general. Later on, however, I wanted something more calmly dramatic, so I ended up looking into soundtracks and listening to that of The Imitation Game… Not the best fit, but nice.
edited by The Duke of Waltham on 1/29/2016
[quote=MidnightVoyager]http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Gemma~Hawley
Well, I found the ending nobody’s taken yet, but they haven’t said anything about the reward. For the lore-fiends out there.[/quote]
What’s the reward for that ending?
The reward for the option to let her have her revenge is something very silent. The kind of thing you get when even silence is removed.
So, not the most exciting thing. But as a nemesis I really had to choose that.
edited by Ruddertail on 1/29/2016
"Try this again" and "Onwards!" make no difference at all in storylets like this (which auto-fire on the fulfilment of a certain condition, such as a previous action that will give you a particular value for a quality), where the only way out is through the options you are given. Mind you, only the options that say "This will end the story" actually end the story; the others are not final.
[quote=Ginneon Thursday]…Vienna seems a much darker place. Though Europe may simply be trading its own looming, nationalistic wars for a broader class/ideological struggle.[/quote]
Have we been told before in such clear terms about the chaos that apparently engulfed Europe after the Fall?
I liked the subtle flavors of this one enough to wish it had a little more opportunity to get to know or understand the Aesthete – we hear an awful lot about the Duke’s activities, and she ends up seeming a flat revenge-seeker by comparison, especially when we wind up at an ending with such duality. I suppose that balances out against the greedy desire to kill the Duke for his secret, though. I also love how the Thief of Faces is present in this story only as a figure of rumour and seeds of paranoia… OR IS HE?! Now I’m awfully suspicious of His Amused Lordship’s fear of death-talk and loitering nonchalantly around Dilmun business.
In any case, I have two fragments of the tragedy procedures now, and they both say different things! I wonder how many fragments you’d need for a whole copy. I suspect… 49.
As for the Old Man, isn’t he…
…the same gentleman who appears in Sunless Sea’s Vienna?
I don’t think so.
From the parallels in certain Exalted memories, he seems to be some analogue spymaster-figure for the White.
Well, that’s exactly why I was making that supposition, really.
I may be a bit juvenile, but "his heart was never wholly in it, even when the rest of him was" (according to Sinning Jenny) was a pretty great pun.
I loved the little looks into the lives of sinning Jenny and the other characters at the start.
The end satasfied really solidly for me too…
Blood? cough on my hands… wipes nope… you didn’t SEE anything.
If this story becomes replayable, I’ll pay Fate to reset it and leave it unfinished halfways, just to keep Jenny as a perpetually accessible storylet.
[li]
I didn’t get the impression of similarity between the two; given a couple lines and His Amused Lordship’s bet, The Boatman came more to mind for me.
Can we combine the three blood items yet?