Discussion go here.
Reserving for future content.
Do we have any information on release date? At least, should it be before or after the election?
From the Social Calendar post back in February:
Naturally that was a while ago, plans change, Treachery of Clocks, etc. Still, the release of everything else in that post has remained faithful to the original timeline up until now. So until we hear otherwise I would expect that Marigold will be the next event of significance, and the Election will happen after that.
Well, there’s your answer. Station unlock is still unknown but we can start laying track next week.
It probably won’t be much longer after laying the track. Personally, I’m more curious as to what sort of statue to yourself you could put at the Gates of Hell.
I’m just completely stumped on what precious/rare/coveted items I should bring to the actual gates of Hell. I’ve got a one-time location of a Prince of Hell, two Coruscating Souls, a Dreadful Surmise, 3 Edicts of the First City, 3 Elemental Secrets, 4 Fragments of the Tragedy Procedings, 4 Chimerical Archives, 4 Elements of Dawn, 4 Captivating Ballads, 5 Cave-Aged Codes of Honour, a handful of souvenirs from no particular excursion and most of the endgame grind items apart from Master’s Blood.
…I wonder if this is where I can finally find a use for A Sealed Copy of the Crimson Book, or if that Secret College I painstakingly ground out from way back will unlock something here?
Yeah, for myself I’m loaded up with one of each top-shelf item and between one and a handful of all the 312s… except a starstone demark. We still haven’t gotten a new source for that one. Wonder if it’ll be here at Marigold or somewhere over the zee.
I’ll try to pull together what’s already known about Marigold Station and the Gates of Hell.
Probably the most direct information is from Furnace’s speech when you make her leader of the TLU after reaching the Hurlers:
I can’t source it, but I believe another player stated that Marigolds are associated with the Royalist devils, those still loyal to the old deposed aristocracy. This is not the first that we’ve seen of such Devils on the railway, as they have presence in the Cedar-Woods near Jericho, and of course the Drummer at Burrow.
Next up, our resident unheeded prophet, the Hell-Scarred Gondolier! While it’s difficult to figure out what he means ahead of time, his words have been relevant and on-point for Moulin and the Hurlers. We’ll start with one statement directly about the Walls of Hell:
You know, I didn’t pay very much attention to this at first. But it occurred to me to wonder what these Towers are like, and in particular if they’re on speaking terms with Hillchanger. Perhaps one could arrange a family reunion. This would certainly be an opportunity to return to a narrative thread that I’m not 100% sure was entirely wrapped up.
Now, the Gondolier has nothing specific to say about Marigold Station, but he has lots to say about Marigolds. I’m going to assume all of these quotes are relevant. First and foremost, the quote when you first reunite with him, and ask him how Hell was. This text is the first indication that he’s Not Right.
[quote=Hell-Scarred Gondolier]He smiles and smiles. He speaks of the Clarity, and the Seven Virtues therein. He speaks of Enveration and Anathema and it is unclear if these are people or principles.
He tells you a long story of taking tea in a field of marigolds except someone was trimming the verge as he drank and beheaded all of the marigolds and some got into his tea but he wanted to be polite so he drank it. He drank it all down. All of the fresh-cut marigolds.
He begins to cry. Attempts at consolation are waved away. His smile is fixed back in place. Must get on, he says, places to go, places to not be.[/quote]
I’m not sure those Marigolds are flowers. Or rather, if they’re just flowers. I think they’re actually flowers. But something else going on.
…I’m starting to think those Marigolds are actually Royalist devils getting executed or something.
Other characters also mention that he has a fixation with Marigolds. Mostly when voting to kick him off the board, which is the only time they acknowledge him at all.
So… right. The Marigolds. Very tragic, much sad. Got it. I expect to see a lot of actual Marigolds at this station, and I’m not sure what’s going to come out of this. I’ll tell you what I’m doing to prepare, though: Melancholy 15.
One more reference, which is All The Saints Who For Their Labours Rest. You visit Marigold Station there. And the events relate to the Royalist devils. Also of note is the presence of several fields of flowers of different types. One of the roses, made of glass, is said to be "a failed Embassy." I never figured out what that meant. But perhaps it sheds some light on what the Marigolds are, and being more than just flowers.
Also, I believe Balmoral has references to "the fanged Marigold" as a sort of work stamp signifying that the woods and creatures within in were worked on by them.
I remembered two unresolved sub-plots: Furnace’s little town and Mr Spices being pregnant with Baroness’ offspring. It’s possible that delivering the latter will give us final Watchful Gains.
We’ve actually gotten a fair few teasers about there being Knights of the Marigold, as well as a glimpse of the Marigold Prince.
[quote=Work at the interloper’s destruction]The hinterlands are vast, its networks fragile. You cast a wide net and turn every screw at your disposal. You find a ragged gondolier who knows where the interloper drinks; a Knight of the Marigold whose cover risks exposure; and a disgruntled factory-worker who specialises in the disintegration of truth.[/quote][quote=The Fair Unknown]Affixed to the stadium gate is a list of the current competitors still in play. The roll begins with the Broken Knight of the Marigold, the Saint of the Lilymire, the Monk of St Trezigor, […][/quote](St Trezigor is also a common topic of the Gondolier’s rants, so put a pin in him(?) too.)
[quote=Season of Animals Conclusion]A figure half enters the room. It appears that no more than its front carapace will fit through the door. A voice, Stones’, growls from somewhere unseen. "Your Marigold Excellency. Welcome. I only wish my chambers were more accommodating."
His Marigold Excellency, whose horns are like the shadows of scythes, screams in one of the denounced and forbidden Hellish languages. The batling panics and circles away. Before it rises too high, you catch a final word from Stones. "Weakness."[/quote]Most interesting is the text from preaching in a Diocese of Hell, which gives allegorical stories of the flowers.
[quote=Engage in a little light preaching]The currency of Hell is half-truths. In your practised mouth, they become as a pentecostal flame. The parishioners are rapt as you expound upon the marriage of the lilies and the roses, the betrayals of the marigold and the seduction of the violets.[/quote]So, the Marigolds were likely originally an Order of Knights, led by His Marigold Excellency, which committed a grave betrayal at some point. There’s also references to a Marigold Palace (Heart’s Desire, playing in an Embassy Sanctum) and Marigold Arboretum (Burrow-Infra-Mump, appointing the Crimson Captain as Unbishop).
Marigolds and Violets also get regular but inconclusive references in Heart’s Desire, frequently framed as being enemies of some manner.
[quote=Play unpredictably][…]Later, he reveals a Marigold Doctrine against your Collusion of Violets, and it takes half a day of arguing over which of their prevailing Conspiracies holds sway in order to work out who won the hand (it goes to you).[/quote]Transitioning over to the Violets - we have less about them, but they clearly also possess a Parabola connection. (The roses PSGarak mentioned were actually violets, in particular.)
[quote=For All The Saints Who From Their Labours Rest]Old spies You step away from the Condottiere’s path and slide down a slope of loose shale to a patch of blooming violets. You pluck one. It shatters in your hands. Glass!
"They’re all like that," says the Deacon, picking another. "And if you look close – you can see something in it." Something coils behind the purple glass.
"A failed embassy. Leave them." The Condottiere’s command rings down from above.[/quote][quote=Persuade the Hell-Scarred Gondolier, Spur line into Parabola]The Hell-Scarred Gondolier weeps as he turns his thoughts to Parabola. "They showed me its treacheries," he whispers. His tears turn to violets upon the table, withering as they fall.[/quote]We also encounter a Violet Horticulturalist, an elderly deviless, in Parabola as part of the Fingerkings campaign.
Thank you for the extra references, and the correction. I registered, and then forgot, that the type of flowers changed from that scene to the next.
I think there’s large significance on the different types of flowers and what they represent. Especially since Devils are secretly bees wearing human-shaped costumes. Perhaps the caste of a Devil is related to the flower that it pollinates? And the Marigolds are the caste responsible for caring for the needs of the deposed aristocracy. So now the Marigold flowers are simply reaped rather than attended.
I’ve seen Roses associated with Devils in a variety of contexts, and had assumed that association was for all devils, but perhaps it’s just that the Rosers are the Devils who ascended in power after the Season of Revolutions. Or perhaps the Roses are potential bees, the way that the Violets are potential Embassies. Could even be the Marigolds are potential Aristocracy.
Also, that’s where must sit the Impostor Synod, since we’ve run out of stations to meet it.
[quote=PSGarak]I’ve seen Roses associated with Devils in a variety of contexts, and had assumed that association was for all devils, but perhaps it’s just that the Rosers are the Devils who ascended in power after the Season of Revolutions. Or perhaps the Roses are potential bees, the way that the Violets are potential Embassies. Could even be the Marigolds are potential Aristocracy.[/quote]Did you mean to bring the Rosers into this, or was that just a typo of Roses? Since the Rosers are a whole other kettle of fish.
[quote=PSGarak]Thank you for the extra references, and the correction. I registered, and then forgot, that the type of flowers changed from that scene to the next.
I think there’s large significance on the different types of flowers and what they represent. Especially since Devils are secretly bees wearing human-shaped costumes. Perhaps the caste of a Devil is related to the flower that it pollinates? And the Marigolds are the caste responsible for caring for the needs of the deposed aristocracy. So now the Marigold flowers are simply reaped rather than attended.
I’ve seen Roses associated with Devils in a variety of contexts, and had assumed that association was for all devils, but perhaps it’s just that the Rosers are the Devils who ascended in power after the Season of Revolutions. Or perhaps the Roses are potential bees, the way that the Violets are potential Embassies. Could even be the Marigolds are potential Aristocracy.[/quote]Violets and Marigolds were definitely important symbols both in the times of the aristocracy and in the modern post-revolutionary government (laws, treaties and accords are named after them; the Bureau of Violets (Burrow), the Marigold Menagerie Keeper (Balmoral) and Marigold Station serve as examples of their use in modern times) - I suspect their old associations were kept with the Season of Revolutions, though the royal meaning was obviously removed.
The rose is definitely the most common symbol of Hell as a faction - the devils’ history in Parabola includes periods such as ‘the Years of the Wandering Roses’ and ‘the Expulsion of Roses’, and their sheer prominence in infernal decor and aesthetic speaks for itself. Milton refers to devils as the children of Caduceus in the MotR interview, which suggests that republican Hell still holds what Station VIII describes as their Caducean period in high esteem.
I suspect that roses - especially Caducean roses - are used as a symbol for devilkind as a whole, and highlight their revolutionary beginnings (and are thus also the flower associated with the post-Season of Revolutions government of Hell), while the other flowers serve as references to the follies and failures of certain nobles and their followers (the betrayals of the Marigold, the Violets being seduced by Parabola), as well as being unironically used by those old devils still devoted to them.
Misc. notes:
It is relatively rarely mentioned (only in the 12:15 to Moloch Street and the Sunless Skies Brazen Brigade), but the Piper Saint is associated with jasmine. It’s unclear what if any particular meaning is associated with that one, but it’s a thing.
Lilies are the erstwhile fourth flower of Hell - I have no idea what’s going on with them. My prevailing guess is that they represent humanity, or some other non-infernal group: the Lily is a human agent on the 12:15, the lilies (???) and roses (devils) are said to be married (which would match Hell entering into peaceful relations with London and the Bazaar), and Saint Cecilia (meant to ‘invite communion between the Anglican and the infernal’) wears a crown of lilies and roses.
Do we have any idea when we might be able to start laying track? Last I checked there was no date marker up but it should be any day now, right?
[quote=Tsar Koschei]Do we have any idea when we might be able to start laying track? Last I checked there was no date marker up but it should be any day now, right?[/quote]It’ll most likely become available this Thursday - FBG generally don’t do releases on Friday, and it’s been stated to be coming this week (barring sudden complications leading to needing to delay it).
edited by Vavakx Nonexus on 6/2/2021
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
ARE. WE. THERE. YET?
We can now vote on the last stretch of the railway and the place for Furnace’s private town - either at Balmoral or Pimple-under-Molehill.
I guess, other leaders have different options.