Mysteries Discussion

Fallen London
61

May=Lilac is certainly possible. My own theory is the Dauntless Temperance Campaigner. After all, while we don’t know much about her past, we do know she used to be involved with the revolutionaries. Maybe they’re keeping her place open hoping she’ll return to the fold…

I’ve re-read the Heart’s Desire part where you give the manager your Key, and it doesn’t sound like he himself hid it in the well on Hunter’s Keep. I have no sensible theory who else could’ve done it…

As for the architect of the Dawn Machine, I don’t have a theory, but something like a hunch: December.

I’ve also amended one of my answers in my previous post, since someone in another thread has made a very good point about the name Elderwick…
edited by Amélie Vaincœur on 7/18/2017

62

Yeah, the manager gets teary-eyed when he sees the key and then implies that he’s going to have to toss it out or hide it or something, but I have no idea as to how it got to Hunter’s Keep or who it was that put it there.

Honestly, Hunter’s Keep in general is completely baffling to me! I think I’ve explored every option in both the Fallen London and Sunless Sea versions of the island and I could not begin to guess at what’s actually going on there.

63

I followed that theory as well and dug a little deeper. I put something about it on the previous page under a spoiler tag. The other spoiler is about Lusitania Row.

64

Then Lilac as May is another Council member who’s against the Liberation since she’s so obsessed with the Bazaar?

[quote=Indigo Clardmond]This year’s. Definitely this year’s.[/quote] He’s John? Well, then. My thanks.

[quote=Amélie Vaincœur]As for the architect of the Dawn Machine, I don’t have a theory, but something like a hunch: December.[/quote]Oh, I thought the Council were trying to reverse-engineer the Dawn Machine in the Calendar Code (which I don’t have access to durhur)

65

That’s a very interesting idea.

And, yes, I’m pretty sure at least some at FBG are Pratchett fans. I seem to recall a post they made about him when he passed away.

66

Note the manager says &quota hundred hands and a thousand eyes&quot. This implies to me the key has been passed along through the possession of at least a hundred others since he last had it. Also note all three of the sisters seem to know exactly where the key is, purposefully guide you toward it, and their maid actually is IN the well, though whether that’s for putting the key there or just getting the glim is anyone’s guess.

I mostly answered that indirectly it was the manager that hid it, since that was his intent, but directly, it was one of the sisters or the maid.

As for my answer for who May is, I’ll spell it out, since there seems to be a few good referential or punny ones besides mine, and I feel like I’ll be proved wrong over the course of the year:

The Curt Relicker. He loved December.

Therefore if he was May, it would be a May-December Romance. 8D

67

Does the key in the well everyone here is talking about giving to the manager the same as the Stone-Tentacled Key one can find in said well?

68

In regards to the Mystery: “What do the Fingerkings want?”

I followed a Implacable Detective quest line and found this:

Green light flares in the mirror propped against the boathouse wall: a light you’ve seen before, perhaps? The Medium is singing, a breathy refrain that switches between English and Loamsprach, the language of the Clay Men. You can only catch phrases: 'We will exist! ’ ‘Clothed in jade and clothed in mud!’ ‘The king with a hundred hearts!’ ‘No flying thing, no thing that flies!’ ‘The garden gates, with faces locked…’

Curious as to what exactly this might mean. Very curious that they know loamsprach and mention the King with a Hundred Hearts.

Is this implying that they want to basically be able to make themselves bodies like the claymen do?

Does it mean they want to steal the King with a Hundred Hearts specifically? Perhaps possess him and thus all of his children?

Or, since we know he is basically just a small chunk of the mountain of light, does it mean they want Stone so they can create themselves bodies?

Or is all of this too complex and the answer is simply “We will exist”?

69

That’s correct. You only ever interact with him involving it if you are pursuing the Heart’s Desire Ambition. Otherwise I think the only other time it’s brought up is in the Nemesis Ambition in the Iron Republic, the Devils there wanting it as a bargaining chip.

70

[quote=dov]
But if we have to go only based on available clues, we basically only know that May’s book is about Love Stories.
Who is associated with Love Stories? Well, taking the Bazaar itself out of the equation, then who was the one who told us that &quotin the matters of the Bazaar, always look to love&quot?

<snip>[/quote]
Maybe, but I’m not convinced. From the same story: &quotI write with words from the heart: if such a choice arises for you, reject the torment. Walk away. But I expect you will not.&quot

[quote=Indigo Clardmond]As for my answer for who May is, I’ll spell it out, since there seems to be a few good referential or punny ones besides mine, and I feel like I’ll be proved wrong over the course of the year:

The Curt Relicker. He loved December.

Therefore if he was May, it would be a May-December Romance. 8D[/quote]
As fantastically terrible as that pun is, I doubt that solution too. The Curt Relicker was kicked off the council for loving December and the question asks &quotwho is May&quot rather than &quotwho was May&quot. I’m more inclined to say he was November as that book in the Agendums of Ascent is blank, meaning the position remains vacant.

[quote=WinterIV]In regards to the Mystery: &quotWhat do the Fingerkings want?&quot

[spoiler]

I followed a Implacable Detective quest line and found this:

Green light flares in the mirror propped against the boathouse wall: a light you’ve seen before, perhaps? The Medium is singing, a breathy refrain that switches between English and Loamsprach, the language of the Clay Men. You can only catch phrases: 'We will exist! ’ ‘Clothed in jade and clothed in mud!’ ‘The king with a hundred hearts!’ ‘No flying thing, no thing that flies!’ ‘The garden gates, with faces locked…’

Curious as to what exactly this might mean. Very curious that they know loamsprach and mention the King with a Hundred Hearts.

Is this implying that they want to basically be able to make themselves bodies like the claymen do?

Does it mean they want to steal the King with a Hundred Hearts specifically? Perhaps possess him and thus all of his children?

Or, since we know he is basically just a small chunk of the mountain of light, does it mean they want Stone so they can create themselves bodies?

Or is all of this too complex and the answer is simply &quotWe will exist&quot? [/spoiler][/quote]
The answer is probably just that they want to exist. The rest of it is very interesting, though. Maybe there’s some actual explanation why Touched with Fingerwork is used for both Parabola stuff and the Clay Men…

We know (from somewhere or other) that they’re interested in Stone; apparently she has a huge dream taking up part of Parabola that the Fingerkings are obsessed with, but they can’t touch it because she’s half Judgement and they’re Is-Not.

71

That is my guess as well. But only because…

December’s book in the Calendar Code story involves a lot of astrology and make it seem like he / she knows stars, aka Judgements, personally. And in one of the next rooms are a scale model of the Dawn Machine, which we know is a artificial Judgement.

Though that link is tenuous at best, and grasping at straws at worst.
.
edited by Akernis on 7/19/2017

72

I think that manager is May. For proof, here is the echo about May from Calendar Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Menaulon?fromEchoId=9197913

“old lovers separated by dark waters”, “hearts turned to stone” – these, to me, are pretty direct allusions to Manager and King with a Hundred Hearts.

73

[quote=menaulon]I think that manager is May. For proof, here is the echo about May from Calendar Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Menaulon?fromEchoId=9197913

&quotold lovers separated by dark waters&quot, &quothearts turned to stone&quot – these, to me, are pretty direct allusions to Manager and King with a Hundred Hearts.

I’d agree with that except I’m still trying to figure out how the &quothands touching for first time on carnival rides&quot and &quotintimacies stolen by doors that listen&quot apply to him. Granted, it could just be others that he collected.

But then, of course, that makes me suspect it’s someone else, who just knows of the Manager’s story amongst others.
edited by Indigo Clardmond on 7/19/2017

74

[quote=Indigo Clardmond]

I’d agree with that except I’m still trying to figure out how the &quothands touching for first time on carnival rides&quot and &quotintimacies stolen by doors that listen&quot apply to him. Granted, it could just be others that he collected.

But then, of course, that makes me suspect it’s someone else, who just knows of the Manager’s story amongst others.
edited by Indigo Clardmond on 7/19/2017[/quote]
It might be him reminding himslef of the early moments they shared, before everything fell apart? I am still pretty confident because in the last election Manager was urging the Contrarian to step up his game: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Menaulon?fromEchoId=9005324 . That means Manager is at least a sympathizer of &quotliberated London&quot and, with his pedigree, he definitely has enough ability to ascend to Calendar Council.[li]

75

[quote=menaulon][quote=Indigo Clardmond]

I’d agree with that except I’m still trying to figure out how the &quothands touching for first time on carnival rides&quot and &quotintimacies stolen by doors that listen&quot apply to him. Granted, it could just be others that he collected.

But then, of course, that makes me suspect it’s someone else, who just knows of the Manager’s story amongst others.
edited by Indigo Clardmond on 7/19/2017[/quote]
It might be him reminding himslef of the early moments they shared, before everything fell apart? I am still pretty confident because in the last election Manager was urging the Contrarian to step up his game: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Menaulon?fromEchoId=9005324 . That means Manager is at least a sympathizer of &quotliberated London&quot and, with his pedigree, he definitely has enough ability to ascend to Calendar Council.[li][/quote]

That’s certainly compelling evidence for a connection, but it’s unclear exactly what he’s arguing with the Contrarian about.

Also, did they have carnivals in Uruk? That touching for &quotthe first time&quot on a carnival ride is what’s throwing me if your theory is correct.

76

Could the Architect of the Dawn Machine be:

April, Emelia Hathersage, from the Bag a Legend Ambition. She’s certainly an expert with explosives and engineering and Cotterel and Hathersage makes naval equipment. I don’t remember if her book in Calendar Code is in the Dawn Machine room but if it is I think that would strengthen this case.

77

[quote=Indigo Clardmond][li]That’s certainly compelling evidence for a connection, but it’s unclear exactly what he’s arguing with the Contrarian about.

Also, did they have carnivals in Uruk? That touching for &quotthe first time&quot on a carnival ride is what’s throwing me if your theory is correct.[/quote]
Contrarian represents a more moderate approach to Revolution and has doubts about Liberation, even rejecting help from its supporters: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Menaulon?fromEchoId=9000068 . Manager disagrees and says that &quotbetween this and the Bazaar, there is no third way&quot. In conjunction to the previous point, &quotthis&quot has to be something in opposition to the Bazaar and more radical than, well, not Liberation, considering that’s one of the only things Contrarian really stands for. For me, that makes Liberation the most likely option.[/li][li]Hark DeGaul, [/li][li] April’s book is about her making a Correspondence cannon: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Menaulon?fromEchoId=9197899 . That is advanced, but far below creating the Dawn Machine. I am not saying it’s impossible for April to be the architect, but I am not sure we have enough information to confirm it. That said, I hope this is one of the questions we will get more information about next year. [/li][li]

78

Granted the evidence is highly debatable, but I also find the idea it’s December based on a book containing astronomy difficult to swallow. Now may be a good time for me to finally have a chat with my wry friend at the palace and see if I can pick up anything.

79

As for the What happened in the last February of sunlight? question, I think it can be interpreted in various ways.
At first, I thought it might’ve referred to the time when London was still on the surface, in which case the answer’d be &quotLondon Fell&quot, though I can’t remember exactly if London actually fell on a February. It also seems unlikely that the last question would have so simple an answer.
But then I started thinking, what if the &quotlast February of sunlight&quot refers to the actual end of sunlight? In this case, the answer would, terrifyingly, be &quotThe Liberation of Night&quot.

What irks me though, is that the Liberation of Night isn’t strictly canonical. And the word &quotSunlight&quot is specifically used, not &quotStarlight&quot, so possibly the sun dies. While the LoN isn’t canonical, Sunless Skies certainly is. So maybe the answer is, &quotThe Traitor Empress leads an exodus to the High Wilderness.&quot assuming that she does so in February, and also assuming that the Sun -if not all Judgments- is killed before the next February after the exodus.

A last possibility: the last February of sunlight is actually the last Calendar-Council February, not the last month February, in which case the answer would still be &quotThe Liberation of Night&quot, so I’m unsure.
edited by Infinity Simulacrum on 7/19/2017

80

It did. Week ending Valentine’s Day, 1862.