JULY'S EXCEPTIONAL STORY: Lost in Reflections

Fallen London
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RandomWalker’s post above has links to echoed journal entries with three of the endings and rewards in the titles. There’s also the “premature ending” which I don’t think anyone’s echoed yet. The fourth ending (giving back the mirror, which was echoed further back in the thread) gives you an already-available pet of a kind that’s mentioned in that echoed text. It’s the least valuable option in terms of echoes, perhaps since it’s the “do the right thing” option?

I must say, on the other hand, that I’m not quite sure what the “right thing” or the motives of some of the figures are in this story, once again – these Exceptional Stories are pretty good for moral dilemmas so far! After all, what is a true revolutionary if not an imaginary street-violinist whose past gives way to prophecy? I like the spread of rewards – 185 echoes of stuff and that coveted Masters CP for the “power & greed” option (which I think involves a collection, not a cabinet?); about a third as many echoes plus a hard-to-make POSI item from the unfaithful opposition; a fifth of that value for the long-term gambler’s option that lets you keep one of eight possibly-relevant futures; and a little bit less still for the “do what she really wants you to” ending.

Also really enjoyed the amplified G.K.-Chesterton-in-the-Belle-Epoque feel of this story, all the way to the quality names (“The Professional!”) The Great Game’s more flashy up on the Surface. But I think my favorite aspect of this story is that…

…the various future dreams you can glimpse reference each other, and July’s future-dreams. Even if you choose to be a painter rather than a sniper, you watch someone carry out the assassination, and if you choose to be a thief rather than a painter, you’re offered the painting of the assassination, painted by someone-who’s-not-you, as a price for your loot. Quite nice for a multiplayer story game, and I like that players have the option to crawl through ALL the branches for the low, low price of “half the effect of a Bottle of Oblivion.”

Kudos, writers!

2 Likes
42

Are the different choices of dream token echoed anywhere? I’m going to take the Silver Key regardless, because it tickles my Lovecraft bone, but I’d love to see the other options.

EDIT: Oh nevermind, I can look at everything. That’s super cool, thanks Parabola!
edited by Sackville on 7/2/2015

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43

I enjoyed this a lot, especially since I’m a completist and the mechanics allowed me to really explore different possibilities. And the atmosphere and the choices were great–especially since I didn’t realize at first that I would be able to explore more, so one set of choices was the subject of much thought.

Let’s do some permalinks, here, for the final options with their immediate material rewards, just so people don’t have to scroll back and everything’s all in one place:

option 1

option 2

option 3

option 4

(late edit) give up early
edited by an_ocelot on 7/3/2015

44

Paris. Why is it always Paris?

Incredible story. Blood on my hands again and maybe I made the right choice. And maybe it matters. This is the best one since The Gift.

[quote=Nigel Overstreet][spoiler]

[quote=Calembredaine]There’s mention of a Third Empire, so I assumed Napoléon III still lost the war and the Third Republic did exist, however briefly. I like the Dreyfus Affair theory. &quotNapoléon IV&quot surviving and taking back the throne is certainly the most straightforward explanation as to the Emperor’s identity but I’d enjoy further speculations from people more knowledgeable about this stuff than myself.
It’s tragic, really. The Third Republic is, to this date, our longest and most stable form of government and now a bunch of Britons have taken that away in their alternate history! shakes fist Perfide Albion etc.[/quote]

It could also, theoretically, be either Victor Napoléon or his more popular brother Louis of Russia, though the former did not have any children until well after the 1908 date and the latter never married.
But if history has been turned topsy turvy, then it is possible it’s either one of them. But I’m guessing that it’s Napoléon IV.

This might mean that Napoléon IV attended study at The University, as his real life counterpart went to study in King’s College in London and was a minor character in the Royal Court. This would explain why he’s not dead. He would not have been sent off to the Anglo-Zulu War for the Surface Empire if he only gained his commision in London and Fallen London wasn’t fool enough to start a War on the Carnelian Coast.

This raises another wrinkle because Napoléon IV was supposed to be engaged to Princess Beatrice who, until recently, is not the most comely or technically human of paramours. Perhaps there was a flirtation with the Captivating Princess? Perhaps one’s actions in The Gift could cause them to reignite their affair?

But if Napoléon IV spent any time in the Neath, perhaps that is the reason that Fallen London/Bazaar interlopers changed the events of the Dreyfus Affair, set to begin next year, to allow Napoléon to take the throne?
That might explain why he is so ready to take the Master’s offer?
edited by Nigel Overstreet on 7/1/2015[/quote]
That is some interesting food for thought. The implications are, indeed, quite extraordinary…
edited by Pnakotic on 7/2/2015

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This Exceptional Story was truly a masterpiece, right up there with the Gift if I do say so myself. My only disappointment was that it seems my pet theory about the Sixth City has been brilliantly dashed to pieces! But there is still a Seventh to determine so back to my mad ramblings I go~!

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Just want to add my voice to the chorus of appreciation - this was truly excellent! :)

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This was probably the best Exceptional Story yet. Definitely my personal favorite thus far.

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I’m sure if I made the right choice. I could have gotten tons of rewards, including things I needed for my ambition. I could have helped her.

But I am already hunting one master, so my choice was clear.
edited by Milski on 7/2/2015

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ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wow this was amazing

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Ooops - sorry for the mistake in the prize descriptions: cabinet of curiosities should read collection of curiosities. I’m blaming the heat. Well, beer.

I think the unique reward is the option to keep a future.

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makes choking noises I was all set to go on here and complain that once again, an otherwise excellent story was marred by a mostly worthless end-reward, compared to the resources and actions put towards finishing the story. But reading this, it turns out that I just picked the wrong option! Sure, not all options are made equal, but GEEZ! With NO earthly way to tell what kind of rewards might lurk behind each door, other than spoiling the story by reading this forum before you’re done… THAT much difference? I was actually waffling on selling out to the Masters, but decided that I wanted to Do The Right Thing for once. So now I’ve got a stupid, useless, WORTHLESS bird to show for all the actions I put into this. Heck, I even had to buy it’s earlier version myself. Which means that the net ‘reward’ amounts to one (1) Antique Mystery with an echo-value of 12.5.

Frankly, after this AND the last story, I’m getting genuinely sick of it. Oh, sure, supposedly you get something good from the last one too, eventually, if you leave your nightmares high for a while and pull a rare card. Hasn’t happened yet for me, though. And I can ALREADY hear the replies… “Oh, it’s about the STORY!” Which is true, and nice, but these are DIGITAL GOODS. It costs the developers EXACTLY NOTHING to tag on a worthwhile reward at the end, and it would prevent me from leaving the whole thing with a sour taste in my mouth and a vague feeling that I’ve been wasting my time.

So yeah. Brilliant story. Very atmospheric. Interesting insights. And if I’d happened to pick the ‘Masters’ option, I probably wouldn’t have come away from it feeling like I’d just been scammed.

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Yeah, you usually make more money by selling information to the highest bidder. Schoking!

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Easy, now. I think the issue was less in the discrepancy and more in how wide the discrepancy is, which is a valid reason for criticism. It’s more negatively worded than I would have phrased it had I found the degree of discrepancy an issue, but apart from that I think it’s a fine bit of feedback.

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If you’ve played a reasonable amount of storylines in Fallen London – including non-fatelocked storylines – there’s a strong pattern that &quotselling someone out&quot gets you more rewards than following compassion, a higher sense of morality, or trying to help someone’s well-being, The Cheesemonger, the University, the Affair of the Box all come to mind. If you’re really worried about the ramifications on your EPA, you can read these threads in advance.

And as for what Failbetter and Fallen London would lose if there were decent-sized rewards handed out for all choices: the case has been made before this that you can’t have anything approaching a real &quotmoral dilemma&quot in gameplay unless there’s something at stake. If &quotdoing the right thing&quot and &quotacting purely out of self-interest&quot get you even close to similar rewards, it’s a much less weighty decision. Bioshock is the classic example of this kind of &quotnot actually a matter of right and wrong, just a matter of Path A and Path B, because you basically have nothing to lose.&quot

This story is an interesting case, because in FL what’s often &quotleft behind&quot by a low-reward moral choice is an intangible quality of mysterious value, and the most prominent intangible here is the futures. This time around, you’re sacrificing that as well of you want to &quotdo the right thing.&quot But you could have read spoilers to know what that entails, and this is a case where you can’t have it both ways: either value the echoes and read spoilers, or value the story, don’t spoil it, and take whatever your story-driven choices bring you. The story and the moral tension in gameplay would suffer otherwise.

I mostly just wanted a crack at that violin, which is clearly the real off-limits wonder-item in all this. cracks knuckles
edited by metasynthie on 7/2/2015

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I thoroughly enjoyed this content and with the ending I picked I figured that the future you pick could begin to manifest itself as content somewhere down the line. That was enough for me to be satisfied as it means that there will be some extremely exciting things to do in the future which might end up being more profitable than selling out and bringing a halt to the potential future you pick.

Me being happy might also be because I’m not entirely used to getting great items anyway lol
edited by Rudiger on 7/2/2015

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I think a reward would need to be something truly negative for it to detract from the story for me, kinda like what happened to RandomWalker. I get wanting to have more tangible benefits for the action investment, though, even if the text alone is enough for me to enjoy the story.

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[quote=BlakeTheDrake]REWARDS
[/quote]

I guess it boils down to different expectations. Because of the relatively fleeting nature and huge number of Exceptional Stories, I generally don’t go in with the expectation that these stories must or will have major impact or rewards of consequences. Since they are all-level stories I don’t really go in expecting to get rich either. On the other hand I do mess about all the time…

I can see why you’d think you deserve a souvenir though. Capped players with notability just flat out bleed a whole level of stat that is hard to earn back, and presumably the big payoff will only come in the future under very specific conditions in form of Paris Jujubes, which is only one choice out of four. Having the other three choices tell you explicitly &quotno consequences will come from this story now, here is some generic goods that might not cover your cost&quot can be a wee bit disappointing.

Here, something to hang on your Mantelpiece.

[spoiler]

910×960 345 KB

~Un ivrogne aux Marches de Miroir, 1893, Estelle Knoht~
[/spoiler]
edited by Estelle Knoht on 7/2/2015

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I absolutely adore the story. It has all the things I suggested early, and more.
Your qualities and stats can actually matter (I actually bothered to get revolutionaries to 50 after getting the card, just so I could try the option), it has many interesting meaningful choices, and the lore, oh the beautiful exciting lore.
Best piece of writing in quite some time. Best exceptional story, and frankly I’m very sad for non-exceptional people that wouldn’t get it.

I wonder how could anyone choose anything for the last choice except to preserve their future. The promise is priceless.

Soo. A Sequel to Fallen London - Fallen Paris, coming 2030? Just how great could it be!

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Oh and let me just say I am exceptionally thankful that the storyline lets you experience different dreams and outcomes. It was so easy to do otherwise, and I’m so glad you didn’t. Hugs.

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60

Nothing much to add, I just really love this - such intrigue! and with Neathy weirdness.

[quote=Nigel Overstreet][spoiler]

[quote=Calembredaine]There’s mention of a Third Empire, so I assumed Napoléon III still lost the war and the Third Republic did exist, however briefly. I like the Dreyfus Affair theory. &quotNapoléon IV&quot surviving and taking back the throne is certainly the most straightforward explanation as to the Emperor’s identity but I’d enjoy further speculations from people more knowledgeable about this stuff than myself.
It’s tragic, really. The Third Republic is, to this date, our longest and most stable form of government and now a bunch of Britons have taken that away in their alternate history! shakes fist Perfide Albion etc.[/quote]

It could also, theoretically, be either Victor Napoléon or his more popular brother Louis of Russia, though the former did not have any children until well after the 1908 date and the latter never married.
But if history has been turned topsy turvy, then it is possible it’s either one of them. But I’m guessing that it’s Napoléon IV.

This might mean that Napoléon IV attended study at The University, as his real life counterpart went to study in King’s College in London and was a minor character in the Royal Court. This would explain why he’s not dead. He would not have been sent off to the Anglo-Zulu War for the Surface Empire if he only gained his commision in London and Fallen London wasn’t fool enough to start a War on the Carnelian Coast.

This raises another wrinkle because Napoléon IV was supposed to be engaged to Princess Beatrice who, until recently, is not the most comely or technically human of paramours. Perhaps there was a flirtation with the Captivating Princess? Perhaps one’s actions in The Gift could cause them to reignite their affair?

But if Napoléon IV spent any time in the Neath, perhaps that is the reason that Fallen London/Bazaar interlopers changed the events of the Dreyfus Affair, set to begin next year, to allow Napoléon to take the throne?
That might explain why he is so ready to take the Master’s offer?
edited by Nigel Overstreet on 7/1/2015

One of the most interesting things about the Sixth Contract is that the Emperor comes closest to making an informed choice in the history of the Bazaar, even if he never visited the Neath. He must have witnessed the dismantling of the British Empire, heard rumours of the royal family’s demise, guessed at who’s really ruling the city, heard of subversive ideas spreading from the Neath - according to Sunless Sea, Vienna is covered in &quotREMEMBER LONDON&quot graffiti and full of starry-eyed anarchists contributing to the Great Work.
I wonder how the people of France and revolutionaries everywhere are taking this, especially given Paris’ place in the Season of Revolutions. I mean Mourvèdre is just going to the theater like it’s Karakorum and nobody could ever guess who/what he is and what kind of game he’s playing! I’d expect a Third Empire to be pretty damn unstable with or without Great Game shenanigans (but they’re so awful and fun, with is good), surely strengthening the Emperor’s resolve, though his daughter seems to be his primary concern. Perhaps (some of) the Masters are secretly happy at how restless Paris is to be, it’s sure to shorten their servitude.
[/spoiler][/quote]

(sorry about the weird formatting, the quotes and spoilers were a lot to handle)
edited by Calembredaine on 7/2/2015

1 Like