A few more thoughts on the Dashing Debunker, his mother, and the importance of Brinehouse (and an overarching hypothesis connecting certain story elements and inconsistencies) are below the spoiler tag. I’ve said this earlier, but what I’ve really enjoyed about the story is the way it leaves things unspoken. It doesn’t give catharsis for everything, but its story and mysteries are well thought-out, and I hope to give an example of what makes me love this story:
[spoiler]Lemonadeon’s notes on Harry Houdini as the Dashing Debunker are worth a read, and it remains nicely consistent with the developments in Houdini’s life. In our history, Houdini’s career in magic had begun by this time (March 1898) but hadn’t yet taken off, and it’s worth noting that his life in the Neath rather than the United States means he never met his wife and stage assistant Bess. Likewise, the accelerated death of his mother to an assassin’s bullet (as opposed to 1913 from a stroke) brought forward his debunking career.
Notably, the Debunker drops his flashy facade once the story proceeds to Brinehouse, revealing a more melancholy man. To an extent, this is because he no longer needs to appeal to high society and its expectations, but there are what may be a few story inconsistencies that are worth noting.
The first question is "Who asked the Debunker to investigate Brinehouse?" This individual or organization is never revealed to us in the story, not even if we save the Debunker, the only person who would know. The Constables appear to turn a blind eye to every debunking - they allow high society to take its own vigilante justice. There is no hint that the Debunker knew of the moonlight ring. And why would a resident of Brinehouse draw attention to themselves?
And at least a few locals are quite aware of the moonlight ring.
[quote=Loosened tongues][url=Fallen London]"We might be remote," says one drunk local. "But trade of a sort still comes through— ow!
His friend studiously avoids eye contact as the fellow rubs his ankle and changes the subject.[/url][/quote]
For those who are aware of the moonlight ring, they should be keeping people as far away from Brinehouse as possible. For those who aren’t, there’s still no reason to bring outsiders into an otherwise insular and self-sufficient community. It doesn’t make sense for a Brinehouse resident to ask for the investigation. This becomes additionally suspicious when we consider the odd behavior of the Debunker:
The Dashing Debunker appears to have an ulterior motive to the Brinehouse investigation apart from his distaste for frauds, and it’s worth remembering that for all his debunking, Houdini still held out belief in true spiritualism. Consider this response when you give the "rational" response to his question of motivation, saying "The search for truth. You share his hatred for fakes and charlatans."
And then his continual staring out into the darkness of Brinehouse. In nearly every interaction with him at the Pip and Pickle, he’s brooding or staring out into the blackness, a remarkable shift from his flashy demeanor in London or even his more conversational demeanor during the hansom ride. At the end of the night, though, we receive a very intriguing piece of information:
This is foreshadowing, but in fairness, it’s pretty forced foreshadowing. It doesn’t follow naturally from conversation in the Pip and Pickle - rather, it follows from one point of conversation from the hansom ride there. The Dashing Debunker is slightly drunk, but here, he remembers that party and the vision of his mother.
This brings us to the other unresolved mystery of the story, "What happened in the Brinehouse mansion?" After the Fall, it was abandoned, but we can try to find information from the visions of the Upstairs.
[quote=Out of time][url=Fallen London]The men and women on the wall have been captured with the spare strokes of a court artist, attention given to distinguishing or unattractive features. You can only assume the crossed-out people have been eliminated or captured, and the remainder are targets. They are divided between two headings: MARCH and SEPTEMBER.
The Debunker freezes in front of one drawing in the latter group. He looks directly at you and taps it. "This— this is my mother."[/url][/quote]We get the revelation that Cecile Weisz was, in moonlit London, a Septemberist. The artist was likely once a courtier, and the residents of the mansion appear to be killing revolutionaries as part of the reactionary movement. As a note, this is also behavior that the Coldstream rebels conducted in "Cut with Moonlight". Observe the newspapers, and we see more clues.
[quote=A city divided][url=Fallen London]it reserves its condemnation for Coldstream counter-revolutionaries, with horrifying stories of civilians maimed in explosions or trampled in riots.
Nearby, a map of London is peppered with green pins corresponding to older explosions. There are also several red pins which do not seem to match any reported incident.[/url][/quote]The lore of this Sunless universe almost always associates revolutionaries and anarchists with explosions, but moonlit London is a world turned upside down. While the veracity of those condemnations is called into question by the Council’s implied suppression of freedom of the press, it becomes clear through further investigation that this mansion was a base of operations of the Coldstream counter-revolutionaries.
So, what we’ve seen so far:
1. There is little credible cause for someone to have hired the Dashing Debunker to investigate the mansion at Brinehouse.
2. The Debunker has an ulterior motive travelling to Brinehouse, and his personality changes as he melancholically appears to be searching for something.
3. In moonlit London, the Debunker’s mother was a Septemberist revolutionary. In the Neath, the Debunker’s mother was permanently murdered by an assassin’s bullet.
4. The abandoned mansion was a stronghold of the Coldstream Guard in moonlit London, assassinating Marchists and Septemberists.
We are at the climax of the story, about to confront the moonlight smugglers. One problem with this climax is that the moonlight ring is beside the point - there’s no real emotional stake for your character. This, I think, is intentional. The smuggles don’t matter. The fight is meaningful insofar as it advances the Debunker’s character.
[quote=A world away]"Where is she?" The Debunker gives a blood-curdling yell. "What have done with her?"[/quote]This, I believe, encapsulates the whole point of the story.
Assassins in Fallen London tend to be for people of prominence, but we have no reason to believe Cecile Weicz was one such person. What we do know is that she is a Septemberist in moonlit London - such a political position is grounds for assassination in both worlds. We know that in the Upstairs, the mansion is a stronghold of the Coldstream Guards, indicating that its former owner was a dedicated royalist with connections in high places willing to get their hands dirty. The Fall separated Brinehouse from the rest of London, leaving little reason to stay, leading to the state of ruin seen today, but we don’t get a timeline for that. Taking into account some of the Debunker’s behavior in Brinehouse, I’d argue the following:
No one hired the Dashing Debunker to investigate Brinehouse. He was there to learn more about his mother’s assassination by investigating the abandoned home of its instigators, seeking personal catharsis and the chance that he might see his mother’s spirit again.
That’s what he’s looking for in the dark. It’s why he brings up his mother time and time again, even when unprompted: she is at the forefront of his investigative mind. It’s why even in the one ending that the Debunker returns to London, we hear nothing about payment or compensation. This story thread ties together every chapter of the story, from the hansom ride to Brinehouse to the Pip and Pickle to the mansion and the Upstairs to the fight with the smugglers. This is the story of investigating the paranormal and unmasking criminals, but the heart of the story is a man facing and coming to terms with his mother’s death.[/spoiler]