I believe I may have gotten the third-to-worst amount of coins possible, except perhaps precisely 15 and 0. That number is 10.
Why do I think this is the third-worst possible amount of coins? Because, with 0, you of course can’t get anything, and with 15, you’re forced to choose between the cat and the scepter. At 10, I’m forced to choose between a Judgement’s Egg (I’ve already got some Tragedy Procedures) or a cat and some smaller stuff. (This is of course just my view on it, as someone who likes collecting things and prefers not to have to choose.)
But enough gripes like that… The implacable who now? Of all characters? The detective we’ve seen so relatively little of? Was there even a hint at this in her election run? Honestly, I’d be seriously impressed by anyone who did get this…
[quote=Reused NPC]I believe I may have gotten the third-to-worst amount of coins possible, except perhaps precisely 15 and 0. That number is 10.[/quote]I have to say, 14 is a strong contender, though it does earn its distinction through ravaging loss rather than torturous choices. Knowing you were just one right answer away from the most treasured stick is quite the painful sensation.
I don’t want to sulk, but I too am one coin short of the scepter and I’m quite sure I’ve got 16 of the answers right.
But I guess if FB were to review a set of answers for everyone who has doubts about the results they’d have to deal with this much longer still…
Oh well, a violin for a weapon it is, as always.
I’m in the thirteen coins club, so the cat, the egg (I already have a fragment) and another queer soul to round my collection out at seven of em
It would be nice if they’d left our answers visible for a day or two so we could check them against the official list (or if I’d thought to screenshot them) as I had a lot of fringe answers and I’m not actually sure which ones I got credit for
12 coins… I have enough salt to become a Zee god.
But I am wondering, will there be another source of Regnant Coins?
14? Hey, that’s my alt! 
Main got 12.
Oh, well. Which is quite a serious curse in FL, I reckon. On the upside, my excessively forensic investigation into the streets of Victorian London, leading me to suggest Wych Street as the ID of Elderwick, have apparently not lost anyone any points (after all, it’s true – ‘Aldwych’ as such existed in Medieval times, but not in Victorian times). I hope. Have not had much time to play FL for pretty much a full year, sadly.
(I guessed that the Pirate Poet hid the key in the well, on the somewhat wild basis that she is the only known person who could conceivably claim the be the youngest daughter of the King of Polythreme…and she still seems more likely to me than the Implacable Detective. Admittedly I have not played Exceptional Stories for a while, but:
[quote=FL Sidebar text]
A Stone Tentacle-Key
No one in London knows where this key is. Or at least, no one who knows is telling. And anyway, this doesn’t stop them talking. They say that the one man who knew where it was just vanished one night, along with his boat. They say he was probably eaten by a zee-monster. They say that pirates might have scuppered him out of spite. Some of them say he had already hidden the key before he died. One or two of them say that he sold it to a mad king in Polythreme who gave it to his youngest daughter for safekeeping before being eaten by a Stone Pig. It’s probably safe to discount those ones.[/quote]
I sincerely doubt that. Otherwise, FBG would have to deal with a horde of incoherently screaming players (myself being the loudest) who spent their coins on other stuff, thinking that the Sceptre was forever out of reach, only to realize it wasn’t out of reach after all.
Honestly, I’m getting palpitations just thinking about that. I’ll have to defenestrate my computer if it turns out I could have gotten the Sceptre and didn’t.
I still think that sidebar snippet is 90% a red herring, like the Correspondence ones. The only useful information is that it’s at zee and has some possible connection to the Hundreds.
Agreed, and thus it was a wild guess because I simply could come up with nothing else (apart from: ‘You did, you fourth-walling bastards’, which I am fairly sure gained nul points, even though the mouseover description of the Stone Tentacle Key is pretty much a metaphor for a narrative being re-used by player after player; I think it describes the Key as being passed through many, many hands. But I don’t have the Key to check).
But I am pondering why it could be the Detective. She’s from the Elder Continent, at least partly; considering she appears far from young, and that Elder Continentals live a very long time, she may well be old enough to actually be a legit native of the Elder Continent. She’s done a lot of things, no doubt. But why her?
I sincerely doubt that. Otherwise, FBG would have to deal with a horde of incoherently screaming players (myself being the loudest) who spent their coins on other stuff, thinking that the Sceptre was forever out of reach, only to realize it wasn’t out of reach after all.
Honestly, I’m getting palpitations just thinking about that. I’ll have to defenestrate my computer if it turns out I could have gotten the Sceptre and didn’t.[/quote]
Hannah said they will go poof at the end of the year. So if you want to hang on, just in case, you have a specific and finite timeframe. (Also, heed FBG’s previous warnings about brinkmanship.)
Somewhat confused how I ended up with 12 coins and not 13 if Steel Door really did count, but I have long ago learned that completionism in multiplayer browser-based games is more pain than it’s worth. Cheers for the fun challenge, Failbetter!
I got 11 coins. I wish I could have gotten the Sceptre, but I’ll be content with my new cat pal. I’m not sure what to spend the other 10 on though. I kinda wish I could just keep the coins as a memento of the mysteries.
Ah, well… I managed to snag exactly 15, so I couldn’t not take the scepter, but… if I’d only stuck to my guns on the Great Game question instead of going with the popular theory, I’d have that little cat, too!
(Pointless griping aside, I am absolutely ecstatic that I managed to get The Cool New Thing. Big thanks to everyone who posted their theories and stuff!)
Answers-wise, I’m very curious about the Detective’s involvement in the Key business, and "The Woods In Winter" makes absolutely perfect sense, based on my interpretations of Nadir stuff and The Waltz, and reminds me of when I temporarily went theory-mad after playing through it. Good times.
16 correct, 13 coins on one character and 14 on another.
I’m quite disappointed the exact phrasing used was that important in determining the score.
[quote=Vexpont][quote=FL Sidebar text]
A Stone Tentacle-Key
No one in London knows where this key is. Or at least, no one who knows is telling. And anyway, this doesn’t stop them talking. They say that the one man who knew where it was just vanished one night, along with his boat. They say he was probably eaten by a zee-monster. They say that pirates might have scuppered him out of spite. Some of them say he had already hidden the key before he died. One or two of them say that he sold it to a mad king in Polythreme who gave it to his youngest daughter for safekeeping before being eaten by a Stone Pig. It’s probably safe to discount those ones.[/quote][/quote]
Now THIS is interesting. Of course this could be a red herring, but now I want to run with this on the idea that it might really be the truth.
Would the Mad King be the King with a Hundred Hearts? In that case, how would he have had children? Perhaps from a love before the current one? I doubt that a little. Perhaps there is another Mad King… The one in charge of Jack’s workshop, perhaps? But isn’t that also just a clay man? What if it was perhaps referring to the Royal Beth manager? That’d pose the same issue with the King with a Hundred Hearts having children, though. So maybe this really is just a red herring.
Rare indeed is the nation that deploys politics and spy craft for aught but power and wealth.
Well, there we have it! My total is 15 coins, which I used to get the Sceptre, and I’m happy to see new lore come to light on our rewards. I also can’t wait to see what comes of the detailed explanations of the correct answers and how they’ll fit into our current understanding of the lore. Especially information concerning the Key in the Well, considering that seems to have thrown many for a loop. Some explanation on how the cats gained their status as guardians and what the Woods of Winter truly is will be nice as well.
Also, I’ll throw a penny into the Aldwych/Wych Street complaint. With Wych Street being the older of the two street names, many (myself included) presumed Wych to be the correct terminology. While I’ll reserve full judgement until Failbetter has explained itself, I feel that both should be considered proper answers to the question. It especially stings, considering that I was one coin off from getting all the unique items.
Still, that was quite fun. I look forward to whenever, if ever, Failbetter decides to do another Mysteries challenge to players. It may be a bit tedious, but I find it fun to pour over echoes to the game as the community comes together to test how well they know the game.
The Detective likely threw the key in the well because of her deal with the Fingerkings. They helped her with a case, and she was supposed to deliver a mirror. I don’t know if the key serves as a mirror, however it clearly has value. In Ambition: Nemesis, the key holds great value to the devils manning a prison; In Heart’s Desire, the Manager speaks of being tempted by the key, which has some use to him. In all cases, the interested parties have a connection to Parabola and Polythreme. And in this case, the Manager wants his beloved back. So, my theory is that the Stone Tentacle Key can restore the King with a Hundred Hearts, or free him from the influence of the Fingerkings. Thus, they had the Detective take it and throw it down the well. The Devils want it for further control over or rewards from the Fingerkings.
“The Stereoscopics just showed up one day,” he observes, apropos of nothing. ”They say they helped her once, when she was about to lose a case. She could never bear to lose. They want her help; a flawless mirror delivered somewhere.”
Detailed notes on her own allies: the Stereoscopists. Information on their personal histories, interest, vulnerabilities, and crucially, their dreams, has all been ruthlessly indexed… A single page is scrawled with notes on old cases involving mediums and mirrors. A heading reads: ‘Re-open. Look again.’
“[The devil] clearly bored, intoned a list of circumstances under which I could visit Scathewick. “holding a piece of his liver no less than two ounces in weight. Having proof of an aunt’s demise. Holding a soul V.S.A.H. or better in grade. That key in your pocket.”
'I slammed down the key on the counter, chipping off part of a tine. The clerk didn’t seem to mind.
“Yes. You’ve been away a long time, haven’t you? A hundred hands and a thousand eyes. And do I smell well water? No matter. I shall have to give you away again. I cannot be trusted with you. Not yet. That would be a weight greater than mountains.&quot The Manager solemnly places the key in his shirt pocket, next to his heart.
edited by Ixc on 9/24/2018
It may be a silly question, but is there a way to actually see your answers? I may have… forgotten some of them.
[quote=Ixc]The Detective likely threw the key in the well because of her deal with the Fingerkings. They helped her with a case, and she was supposed to deliver a mirror. I don’t know if the key serves as a mirror, however it clearly has value. In Ambition: Nemesis, the key holds great value to the devils manning a prison; In Heart’s Desire, the Manager speaks of being tempted by the key, which has some use to him. In all cases, the interested parties have a connection to Parabola and Polythreme. And in this case, the Manager wants his beloved back. So, my theory is that the Stone Tentacle Key can restore the King with a Hundred Hearts, or free him from the influence of the Fingerkings. Thus, they had the Detective take it and throw it down the well. The Devils want it for further control over or rewards from the Fingerkings.
“The Stereoscopics just showed up one day," he observes, apropos of nothing. "They say they helped her once, when she was about to lose a case. She could never bear to lose. They want her help; a flawless mirror delivered somewhere."
Detailed notes on her own allies: the Stereoscopists. Information on their personal histories, interest, vulnerabilities, and crucially, their dreams, has all been ruthlessly indexed… A single page is scrawled with notes on old cases involving mediums and mirrors. A heading reads: ‘Re-open. Look again.’
“[The devil] clearly bored, intoned a list of circumstances under which I could visit Scathewick. "holding a piece of his liver no less than two ounces in weight. Having proof of an aunt’s demise. Holding a soul V.S.A.H. or better in grade. That key in your pocket."’
'I slammed down the key on the counter, chipping off part of a tine. The clerk didn’t seem to mind.
“Yes. You’ve been away a long time, haven’t you? A hundred hands and a thousand eyes. And do I smell well water? No matter. I shall have to give you away again. I cannot be trusted with you. Not yet. That would be a weight greater than mountains." The Manager solemnly places the key in his shirt pocket, next to his heart.
[/quote]
That is incredibly obscure, and very interesting. Definitely never would have guessed it. Alas, I like collecting critters, but I am at exactly 15, so I’ll be have to be satisfied with shiny new toy.