Seemingly closest to who we are IRL.
I am still unconvinced they are not secretly Liberation agents, and they at the very least are very much active agents of the Great Game.
I do very much like the Khanate, we haven’t seen a lot of them being more evil than anyone in London. Less than that, actually. They are just properly paranoid about a lot of things.
I don’t care who wins. But since tigers clearly don’t want to win, it makes some sense to force them to. At least for me. So I converted to tigers. Hopefully we could turn the tides with material donations.
Or in my view, we are clearly supposed to want to make the tigers win with the latest revelations, right? Do we so easily jump to FB’s narrative tuning?! I for one shall resist; let’s make them work for it!
Hear, hear! Shaerys has the right idea!
If the Rubbery folks win, most likely we will receive an amber as reward. All the rewards are affiliated with their respective factions.
Indeed! I would definitely like some stories (ES or not) focused on the Khanate. To discover more about their society, culture, etc…
Maybe we could be an assistant to the ambassador in the Khanate, or some kind of special envoy? Or assist the Precocious Engineer in one of his invention / intrigue with his relative? Or a story involving the machinist we met in evolution? So many possibilities! 
Also, I wonder how common the other nations mentionned in the games are supposed to be to the average Londoner (such as codex, wither, visage…). Pretty mysterious I assume. Only the most adventurous Zee captains ever go there (and back…).
Yeah, I had the joy of playing Sunless Sea as a ‘Well I’m from London [ficiontally], so I want that city to prosper’ and then going back having learnt about Orientalism… Yeah. I do wish we had a bit more focus on the Khanate as a location in general, it might help shift them out of their typical role as villains and give us som fun new locations (plus, Khan’s Shadow is right there!)
[Edit: I should really read to the end of the comments @Mr_J this stuff is excellent].
My paranoia screams AI - I mean, Fingerkings - with all the seemingly correct facts without the functional context. Like someone seeing a lot of human, without the proper understanding. Just like someone else said:
The Fingerkings wanting in on a cats-led thing seems very much on point, good catch.
I would do anything and accept any price to get rid of the Struggling Artist for good. Putting him in the lab is not worth the action cost of constantly replacing him whenever I need someone competent.
Better that than Elder items!
I’m all for making the tigers win something, but I was really hoping the Principles would win Intellect and then the tigers would win Body. (Plus, I doubt they’re actually going to have mass slaughters of established characters or wipe whole locations off the map just 'cause they happened to win a chess match or a boat race.)
My take, the Tigers think they’re so smart with whatever their plan is that they deserve to win the Intellect tourney. Especially since its taking place in Spite.
Does not look like plan. More like some ancient contract, which tigers obliged to perform in certain dates. They don’t like their role in it, and even less they want to “win”.
Devils and masters are suspiciously silent.
My bet is more or less forceful conscription of “winners” by some (parabolan?) power. And tournament is just filtering process, to “recruit” most capable servants.
Pretty much this. To me, there is a DELIGHTFUL irony to the tigers attempting to play a game of deception with Londoners, only to fail at the Tournament of Intelect in a place called Spite.
This was my thought as well - I’m glad the tigers will have to send a representative to whatever happens next, but I just wanted my friends from the Principles to be involved in the story of what’s to come. (And I sincerely believe we player characters will still be able to affect the outcome in the almost-a-week of Estival left after the last tournament concludes.) Plus, it looks like the tigers are most likely going to win the Body tournament anyway (which makes sense, given that they are, well, tigers).
Welp, I’m convinced. I’m throwing in the towel with my Rubbery friends and giving those d_nmed cats the support they “deserve”!
Here’s a thought. What if, instead of being permanently removed from the game, whoever wins the four contests would join us in putting an end to whatever dangers lie in the Sixth Coil once and for all - but the more tigers are among the winners, the more they’ll be able to prevent that from happening?
wouldn’t it be opposite? the tigers either don’t think or haven’t been able to beat down the sixth coil by themselves. The games might just be made in the hopes that a group greater than them can be made, with the purposeful failures being a potential sign of desperation. An act done in the hope of confirming that they aren’t really the best in everything, because if they are -a belief they seem to act in accord with-, there truly is no hope left to stop whatever is in the so the coil.
