February Exceptional Story: The Fair Unknown

Fallen London
21

So I’m slightly confused. I played honorably but rejected the White King’s offer to rig the outcome because I wanted to see how it would play out. I later won the tournament and took the boon for myself and told the Red Queen that the White King cheated (because he hit me in the head with a freaking ball and then threw himself off the horse) which she seemed pretty happy about.

But then when we finished our tea and it was time to go, She said &quotyou disappointed me&quot pushed me through a mirror and set my Nightmares to 7.

Is there something I did that caused that? Or is that just how she rolls?

22

My guess would be: You fought honorably. Which is kind of the White Kings whole thing.

She was pretty pissed when I told her that the White King didn’t cheat. And one detail I just noticed: Picking the stags is pretty much called cheating in the beginning and when you arrive, you are told ‘We don’t want to admit another latecomer, but the Queen is gonna love those stags, so ok’.

So, yeah, I think she kinda wants people to cheat. At least if they’re clever.
edited by Belinda Cole on 1/29/2021

23

[quote=Hattington]

[quote=Lord Chillingsworth]I’ve gotten to Round Three of the Tournament, and now my Story will not load! I just have a blank bar when I click on &quotstory&quot and logging out and coming back in has not cleared it!
I must continue with the joust! Help![/quote]

support@failbettergames.com

Try contacting this email? They fix bugs[/quote]

Thank you, friend. I have!

24

[quote=babelfishwars][quote=Lord Chillingsworth]I’ve gotten to Round Three of the Tournament, and now my Story will not load! I just have a blank bar when I click on &quotstory&quot and logging out and coming back in has not cleared it!

I must continue with the joust! Help![/quote]

[color=#e53e00]Please send a support ticket. support@failbettergames.com[/color][/quote]

Thank you! I have done so.

25

[quote=Belinda Cole]My guess would be: You fought honorably. Which is kind of the White Kings whole thing.

She was pretty pissed when I told her that the White King didn’t cheat. And one detail I just noticed: Picking the stags is pretty much called cheating in the beginning and when you arrive, you are told ‘We don’t want to admit another latecomer, but the Queen is gonna love those stags, so ok’.

So, yeah, I think she kinda wants people to cheat. At least if they’re clever.
edited by Belinda Cole on 1/29/2021[/quote]

Hmm, I mostly just wanted to show off, and all the &quotcheating&quot options just described not even bothering to try. I just wish they would have communicated that displeasure earlier. It seemed like we were getting on swimmingly and she was completely pleased with my performance until she suddenly turned on a dime in the last scene.

My other question is, what boon did I actually get? I didn’t really get to ask for anything. I mean, she gave me Judgement’s Egg later, but that seemed like it was just a bonus on the side because she liked me. I was expecting some kind of nebulous quality gain. Do I just have an unspecified boon in my back pocket to be called in at a later date to go with the unspecified price to also be called in later? Or did I just sign away my service for 62.5 echoes?

26

Don’t all the end options set nightmares to 7? It’s very hard to please the queen.

27

[quote=Scienceandponies][quote=Belinda Cole]My guess would be: You fought honorably. Which is kind of the White Kings whole thing.

She was pretty pissed when I told her that the White King didn’t cheat. And one detail I just noticed: Picking the stags is pretty much called cheating in the beginning and when you arrive, you are told ‘We don’t want to admit another latecomer, but the Queen is gonna love those stags, so ok’.

So, yeah, I think she kinda wants people to cheat. At least if they’re clever.
edited by Belinda Cole on 1/29/2021[/quote]

Hmm, I mostly just wanted to show off, and all the &quotcheating&quot options just described not even bothering to try. I just wish they would have communicated that displeasure earlier. It seemed like we were getting on swimmingly and she was completely pleased with my performance until she suddenly turned on a dime in the last scene.

My other question is, what boon did I actually get? I didn’t really get to ask for anything. I mean, she gave me Judgement’s Egg later, but that seemed like it was just a bonus on the side because she liked me. I was expecting some kind of nebulous quality gain. Do I just have an unspecified boon in my back pocket to be called in at a later date to go with the unspecified price to also be called in later? Or did I just sign away my service for 62.5 echoes?[/quote]

I would imagine that she considers the privlege to serve her sufficient boon, because I got the judgement’s egg as well giving the boon to Reynard and Thomas.

28

This was a fantastic ES! Made me sympathize with the characters and agonize over the choices. Not to mention all the incredible interaction with the Queen and King, who I’ve been SO CURIOUS about ever since I had my first dream about a game of chess. Really really enjoyed this one.

29

This story was great. The tension, the pacing, the mechanics, the fascinating setting were all well done, and I agonized over my decisions a fair bit before figuring out the &quotright&quot way to handle it. It was more fun to play than last month’s, though it maybe didn’t give out as much deep FL lore. I liked that it recognised and used my affiliation with the Red Queen and my profession as Silverer.

Now, I just want to share my experience of this story:

[spoiler]I chose the silver stag and fought honourably every time. I didn’t lose a single bout, and the stag’s actions won me two or three tilts for sure. He was brave and bold.

I also don’t see how using the Aureate Stags could be cheating, considering all the weird things competitors used for mounts: a snake, a dragon (wyrm), a stone golem, a column of smoke? Maybe one was riding a horse, but I’m not even sure.

I did as the White King asked. But then I played to beat Reynard, so I could ask the boon myself. So I didn’t get a boon from the King, but I didn’t expect one.

Winning the tourney was my way of ensuring the safety of the two men. In faerie tale logic, it’s bad luck to ask a boon for yourself alone, so this way none of us would be doing that. I asked the Queen’s boon for the two of them, and as a result I didn’t get a curse, er, that is, boon for myself.

I did not expect her to take both of them as her champions. Doubtless the King was unhappy about that, but the couple will be together, whatever they do, and short of Reynard’s wound getting healed, that’s what I hoped for.

I told the Queen that the White King didn’t cheat, because I think he easily fit what he did into the rules. She hated that. Probably neither of them liked my tergiversant way of handling things, but once again, I did win and that is how the faerie tale logic goes. I still got the Judgments Egg from the queen, +7 to Nightmares, a rude shove through a mirror and &quotthe wounds of many scepters&quot before getting home. She’s a fickle b____, so I wasn’t too surprised.[/spoiler]

This one’s a winner! :trophy:

P.S. Can anyone share what happens if Reynard or Thomas win the tourney?
edited by Azora Perlino on 2/8/2021

30

I quite enjoyed this one, and REALLY like Reynard and Thomas, but I think it would have benefited from a little more clarity about what exactly we were choosing; I agree with the others saying the Red Queen’s displeasure seemed a bit out of left field. Such is the way of Parabola I guess, but that was the one dark spot on an otherwise really good ES.

31

It wasn’t clear that the boon and champion were separate items. I’m unhappy that I can’t reset these. Otherwise it was a good story, but I hate being forced to make the exact opposite of the choice I want by a confusing bit of text.

32

I think the Nightmares are not really to be understood as an action by the Queen against you, but rather a direct consequence of her passion. She’s “talking” straight into your mind, so if she loses control of her tone of voice, even a little, it has unfortunate consequences for whoever she is talking to. My head-canon, anyways. I’m just glad she’s not the “Off with his head” kind, must be a Diamonds.

33

Excellent story so far. Only just won my first bout, but quite enjoy it so far.

Also, don’t think I didn’t see the references to Reynard the Fox and his enemy the wolf in there. Sneaky.

34

Can I help a man and a woman with their relationship next time? Why do they all have to be same-sex couples?

35

I enjoyed most of the story until the end. My character is dumb lawful good, though he (and I) have been learning that it doesn’t always work out for the best. I decided to win the tournament for myself and offer the boon to Reynard and Thomas. Lo and behold, they get mindslaved and I get set to Nightmares 7 twice for the privilege. Shoulda just taken the glory for myself, especially as a member of Those Who Will Not Be Caught etc.

I was a big fan of the fantasy aspect, and while the story didn’t feel particularly FL I did like the use of Parabola as a &quotwhatever we want it to be&quot device. Quite creative and definitely a more complete story than The Price of Loss, which is the last time I went there in an ES that I can recall.

If I’m honest, I did notice the same trend as the last post where there don’t seem to be a lot of heterosexual couples in these stories, but I’m not as bothered because the characters themselves are well written and not just tokens, for the most part. From the outside looking in (I’m heteroromantic) it seems that the hetero stories I see in the Neath tend to be more chaotic (Firebrand/Missionary) or disrupted/perverted by society (Dilettante’s Debut), whereas the same-sex couples have almost purer associations - both this story and Say It With Flowers (which was magnificent, btw) had couples whose problems seemed to revolve around themselves and the relationship rather than their circumstances. Might be unconscious bias. It’s good to see a mix of situations and people though, and I did like how subtly, but yet clearly, the Dirigible Pilot is shown as non-binary in their brief story in FotER.

tl;dr Story 8/10, good mechanics/characters, felt ending was a bit meh but probably my fault.
edited by Arcengal on 2/13/2021

36

Similarly, I greatly enjoyed this one overall but was disappointed by the result of the last choice. Dagforth being primarily Steadfast and Magnanimous asked for the boon on behalf of the unhappy couple expecting to pay the terrible price himself. The usual logic of
cursed wishes has the wisher being punished rather than the beneficiary.

Some somewhat spoilerific lore questions: [spoiler]

  • How do we know the Beleaguered King is &quotThe White&quot? Clues in other ES? Sunless Skies? Merely the name matching one of the White/Red/Black factions? I think I’ve read all the Dream Chess content and nothing there was clear. :-)[/li][li]Does the Red Handed Queen also correspond to some Celestial entity?[/li][li]How about Black? I’m not sure if that faction has an anthropomorphic personification. [/li][li]How does the One-Eyed Bishop fit in?

I suppose those questions are more about Dreams of Chess / Parabola than this ES in particular…

37

I really enjoyed this one: Reynard and Thomas were great and well fleshed-out characters, the Queen was mysterious and capricious, the King even more mysterious. Loved the snippets of lore and the connection to dreams I’ve been having for years.

The only thing I’d ask for is a chance to say goodbye to my stag! I’m happy he got oats and a bath but much of the credit for my jousts goes to that little silver runty champ. I’d have liked to pet him a final time.

38

I have a question. Unfortunately I did the first few storylets of this one just before the Feast of the Rose came along, and so I temporarily abandoned it for the festival. Coming back I find I have forgotten something that seems key. Reynard (I think I’ve got that right) is suffering from some kind of injury that the other fella is trying to cure. But I can’t for the life of me remember what befell him. Can anybody refresh my memory for me, please?

39

What happened to him i a nutshell:

he got wounded by a &quotSaint of Hell&quot in the Prickfinger Wastes.

I can send you the echo in PM if you want.

On that topic, I have never heard of this creature before. Anybody did?
edited by Mr J on 2/28/2021

40

Thanks very much for the offer, but no need. I found once I got into the meat of the story that this one was somewhat lacklustre for me. Maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind, but I just felt it was another one that was overly linear (though not as bad as a couple we’ve had in recent months in that regard), and I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters, or about what was going on. Oh well, can’t win 'em all, I guess. Thanks, again.