May Exceptional Story: The Pentecost Predicament

Fallen London
21

Just finished the story! Short review: Another excellent story, fleshing out one of the many intriguing snippets of lore in the game. I’ve always kind of wanted to know what the deal was behind Pentecost Apes. Detailed thoughts below!

[spoiler]
Another use of the Flash Lay system! I may be wrong, but didn’t the last Exceptional Story to use this have a couple of unique cards in the deck? I think it might be a good idea to put in a unique obstacle, opportunity, or opening card for Exceptional Stories to differentiate them from the &quotregular&quot flash lays. As it was, that was the least interesting part of the story, though it made sense for it to be there.

The timed mechanic was actually one I enjoyed. It gave a higher sense of realism, but still allowed enough wiggle room to do everything I needed/wanted to in one go.

I appreciated the way I could use my Pentecostal Ape in the story; nice to see a Feast Companion actually find love!

I liked the range of choices in how one could end the story; in the end, I was able to pick one that suited my character very well. The conclusion and rewards satisfied me very much. Now, if only there could be a Favors and Renown for the apes…[/spoiler]

22

I am curious how everyone decided to end their story. I’m currently at the end and can’t decide what to do.

Leaving on my own isn’t an option for my character. While I’m sympathetic to their cause, I’m not about to go fully behind the apes’ actions either. I’d like to trick or wrestle him into defeat, but I still hate that all the monkeys have to suffer for the leadership of one bad one. I’m not entirely sure what the Captain’s trap is, but I assume it’s…fiery. And while I hate leaving him to be a prisoner, at least the monkeys and his family get to leave in peace.

edited by Sir Joseph Marlen on 4/28/2016

23

I chose the ending to

[spoiler]Poison the wine, which I got right by complete accident. As a reward I got ten souls and a Primeval Hint.

I think I missed the option to help the Captain form a trap, where was that? I didn’t see him at all.[/spoiler]
edited by Optimatum on 4/28/2016

24

Helping the captain was in the garden, sometime late morning. Thats the ending I got, if you want to see it.

25

I really hope that FBG becomes unenamoured with Flash Lays in Exceptional Stories soon, or at least gives an alternate route for those of us who detest them.

26

I chose to duel Vaspasian and I won which gave the same rewards as Optimatum.

I would have liked to interact with the apes diplomatically more frequently.

Despite both parties supposedly being exceedingly intelligent, we did most of our talking with our fists.

27

Suinicide, after my ending I had an epilogue storylet much like the epilogue cards for the past two Exceptional Stories. Did you have anything like that?

28

I chose to welcome the Pentecost Apes. The text is on my mantelpiece, for those interested in the matter. I doubt Vespanian is honest, and I guess he has another agenda for human Londoners, but I found the idea quite funny and my character has a habit of doing whetever is unexpected, just because he likes to see the astonished expression on his interlocutor’s face. It worked this time as well, hahaha !

Thank you deeply for this story, I liked it very much.

First of all, it reminded me of an old horror movie (which tile is “Link”), in which the butler is a very smart chimpazee wearing a suit, who decides to take control of the mansion. Very alike, so I felt nostalgic.

I also liked the characters (Livia and Vespasian especially, even though the Exploress is entertaining).

The story itself is cliché, but that’s exactly what I liked, it had this distinctive taste of stories built on old foundations. The taste of weird light, of uneasy discussions, of people whose lies are not so hidden, of weirdness.

The writing is good, as always, the atmosphere well depicted, the bits of lore are welcome and some characters are fleshed out in a way that makes them interesting.

I really appreciated the many choices we have to end the story in the way we want, thank you a lot for that !

What I didn’t really like so much was that the characters could have been a bit more deepened, and even the ones who I liked (Livia, Vespasian) felt a bit shallow or superficial.

I’d like to be able to deal with some obstacles in a more diplomatic way, instead of paving my path with violence or discretion. I mean… there is a subtle way, a forceful way, I’d like to see a “social” way.

Finally, I’d love to see more about the lore. What we have is only a teasing and felt really frustrating (but intriguing !).

Anyway, a big thank you for this story ! It was a very good one !

29

I don’t see one. (And for ending rewards, I didn’t get the ten souls you got)

30

How much am I missing out on by not having a Pentecost Ape? Any other rare/unusual items it would benefit me to own?

31

There are other ways to do the pentacost ape thing. Maybe some ragged clothes?

32

I have my own Pentecost Ape and I never actually ended up using it, although I saw the options. I don’t think you’ll miss much by not having one.

33

I don’t see one. (And for ending rewards, I didn’t get the ten souls you got)[/quote]

The epilogue involves talking to whoever you chose to be the Seven-Day Sovereign, so if you sacrificed them then they won’t show up, I suppose.

34

[li]I’m only partway through, but… another use of the Flash Lay? Really? That mechanic is tedious and uninteresting at best and mostly seems to serve as a way to burn off actions I’d rather be using for something (anything) that’s either challenging, interesting or profitable. I don’t find the process fun in and of itself, but the worst part is when you get to the requisite amount of Progress and end up sitting around waiting to draw the right card. Last time I did one, I got my Progress to 150+ and ended up losing out because my menaces got high before I drew the right card. I’m not there yet in this one, but I really hope FBG will keep Flash Lays out of Exceptional Stories going forward since they really feel more like filler than anything I want as part of my monthly &quotbonus&quot content.

35

You now can’t raise it above 100 I think. I got my progress up there and it took me straight there (which was a shame because I wanted to see what the accomplice card would do for once.)

Also for those interested, I chose to use my alt to just burn the whole place down because it was too tempting for me to resist! I’d stuck around until 6:30 to see what happened, so I’m pretty sure there aren’t any unlocks after the Merchant-Captain turns up.

[/li]
edited by Hark DeGaul on 4/29/2016

36

I don’t see one. (And for ending rewards, I didn’t get the ten souls you got)[/quote]

The epilogue involves talking to whoever you chose to be the Seven-Day Sovereign, so if you sacrificed them then they won’t show up, I suppose.[/quote]

Yes, but this is a different story.

37

I chose to make a deal with the apes, because Breckner legitimately didn’t care to take sides–just to gather information about what was going on. I thought I saw a reference that I had received something called &quotVespasian’s Prize,&quot along with a Primeval Hint, but I don’t see it in the inventory. Did I misread?
edited by Breckner on 4/29/2016

38

[quote=Breckner]I chose to make a deal with the apes, because Breckner legitimately didn’t care to take sides–just to gather information about what was going on. I thought I saw a reference that I had received something called &quotVespasian’s Prize,&quot along with a Primeval Hint, but I don’t see it in the inventory. Did I misread?
edited by Breckner on 4/29/2016[/quote]

Vespasian’s Prize, yes. It looks like a normal soul bottle. In the Curiosity items.

edited by Emain Ablach on 4/29/2016

39

There it is! Thanks.

40

A question for those who have completed the event:

I keep running out of time without ever encountering Domitian. Where do I find him?

[li]