I’ve only just unlocked this story, but I’m a little baffled by the introduction: it features the Fisher Kings mugging a cartographer, including one of them tripping her up, but I’m sure I remember the Fisher Kings having a serious superstition about never going down to ground level.
So whats the rewards for each ending this time round?
also, does making our swamp man happy have any long term, not_simply_story_related benefits for us?
It’s obvious that favoring one of the two candidates would give access to some new option on the church card, but who would our swamp friend associate with?
[quote=Trilby ]So whats the rewards for each ending this time round?
also, does making our swamp man happy have any long term, not_simply_story_related benefits for us?
It’s obvious that favoring one of the two candidates would give access to some new option on the church card, but who would our swamp friend associate with?[/quote]
Each ending gives church renown, but the only special thing thing is if you declare yourself bishop, in which case you can change your pronouns to bishop or something similar.
[quote=suinicide][quote=Trilby ]So whats the rewards for each ending this time round?
also, does making our swamp man happy have any long term, not_simply_story_related benefits for us?
It’s obvious that favoring one of the two candidates would give access to some new option on the church card, but who would our swamp friend associate with?[/quote]
Each ending gives church renown, but the only special thing thing is if you declare yourself bishop, in which case you can change your pronouns to bishop or something similar.[/quote]
Welp.
–Now that I’m finally done with Hallowmas, I’ve gotten started on this story. I haven’t gotten far, but one of the Ecclesiastical AffAIRS values for the debate is "Enterprising urchins have constructed a raft and are running ferry service to the site." This satisfies me.
(Later, the same ES…)
I’m curious what’s up with the marsh dweller. Is he a denizen of the Iron Republic? The phrase "laws and tyrants" is a little to close for there to be no relation.
(Slightly later, the same ES…)
Nominated the Militant Matron for bishop of the new diocese. I do not need another Diary of the Dead, but eh, I won’t complain. Now that I’m finally done, I’ll look into echoes for the other options, I suppose.
(Edit: Smiley faces parsed in those "later the same ES"-es. How… off-mood.)
edited by ReusedNPC on 11/7/2017
I am very glad that there isn’t some sort of silly climax along the lines of "tents sink, everyone drown" despite how the passage of time was measured. Or glowy cultists with no social manners.
So I’ll admit: after seeing that the subject was the Church, I didn’t really think I’d enjoy this month’s ES. Despite finding him amusing, I’ve never really been fond of the Bishop of Southwark. And while the Bishop of St. Fiacre’s is one of my favorite characters, I find his other connections to be more interesting. But I’ve just finished playing through, and I was completely wrong. This has turned out to be my favorite ES of this season. I adored the Matron, and loved that Fiacre’s camp was trying to reach out to the less traditionally-shapen denizens of London. By the end I was torn on whether to support the hospital or help Swamp Thing protect his home. In the end, though, I had to side with the man who just wanted to be left alone in his corner of the Neath. Also, building a hospital in the middle of a marsh rife with dangerous beasts seems like a spectacularly bad idea.
Kudos to Gavin Inglis and the wonderful Failbetter team for this spectacular story, and for sparking my interest in a faction of London that I’d previously cast off.
Finally got around to playing this one.
Overall, I liked it very much. It’s always fun to spend some time with the two Bishops. They have both grown as characters over of the years, and it’s interesting to get a glimpse as to how they feel towards each other.
The concept was well chosen - as others have mentioned, the game has rarely explored the Church’s position in Fallen London, not to mention inter-Church intrigue. I also really liked that this was kicked off by a clerical mistake at the Mayor’s office and everyone just going along with it to avoid looking ridiculous. It also fits how the player character gets dragged into this - as a randomly chosen Civic Observer sent by the Mayor’s Office (as long as they never have to hear about the whole affair again).
The new characters (Matron, Archdeacon, Marsh Man) were mildly interesting, though I would have much preferred for them to be more developed. There was so much room to expand on their characters (either in backstory, motivation, hidden agendas, etc.)
I liked the mechanics. It gave a sense of lots of things happening at once as options locked and unlocked in the two camps, though in really the number of choices wasn’t that great. It was fun seeing how different options swayed the crowd towards each of the two candidates. I also liked that the final choice was dependent on a combination of our own Influence quality and which candidate had the crowd’s favour.
Two things I didn’t like:
-
Such a missed opportunity to not have something in the story depend on the player’s Renown: The Church level. It didn’t have to influence the final outcome - perhaps just have some option to gain Influence only for those with very high Renown, or have an option depend on a Renown challenge.
-
The text for choosing yourself as Bishop was a bit… anticlimactic. It was very little beyond (paraphrasing of course): "You propose yourself. They are exhausted so they agree. Done.". It really felt like a few more lines are needed here - e.g. perhaps there’s an argument, and eventually the two candidates jointly endorse you (each for their own reasons) to calm the crowds… (I can’t comment on whether the other two ends also feel anticlimactic.)
To conclude: A very good story. I felt engaged throughout, liked the characters, the setting, and the mechanics.
Subjective ranked list of all Exceptional Stories:
[spoiler]
Excellent:
- Lost in Reflections[/li][li]Cut with Moonlight[/li][li]Hojotoho![/li][li]The Frequently Deceased[/li][li]The Waltz that Moved the World[/li][li]Flint[/li][li]All Things Must End[/li][li]The Century Exhibition[/li][li]The Twelve-Fifteen From Moloch Street[/li][li]The Persona Engine[/li][li]Where You and I Must Go[/li][li]The Sinking Synod[/li][li]The Attendants
Good:
- The Web of the Motherlings[/li][li]The Pentecost Predicament[/li][li]The Calendar Code[/li][li]The Art of Murder[/li][li]The Chimney Pot Wars[/li][li]The Final Curtain[/li][li]The Heart, the Devil and the Zee[/li][li]Our Lady of Pyres[/li][li]The Clay Man’s Arm[/li][li]Five Minutes to Midday[/li][li]Discernment[/li][li]The Haunting at the Marsh House
Meh:
- Trial and Error[/li][li]The Last Dog Society[/li][li]The Seven-Day Reign[/li][li]The Court of Cats
Bad:
- The Stone Guest
edited by dov on 11/12/2017
A reminder for those didn’t unlock the story yet: do remember to do so by tomorrow!
Whups, played the wrong storylet. I’ll need to buy this later I suppose.
I finally got around to play this story, and I liked it a lot. I have never felt biased towards either of the Bishops, but as soon as I heard the proposition to set up a hospital for the ‘peculiar’, I was sold. Caring for soulless is nice, but Hospital for Rubberies was a no brainer.
However, I do wish we could interact with the proposed candidates more directly and see more of their character, and see if they’re just as devout to their cause in private.
Oh and the Marsh entity. I do wish I could explore that sub plot a bit more.
But alas, it was a very good story, thank you :)
Another late player of this story here.
I found it unexpectedly hilarious and extremely detailed and wide-ranging. It took me three and a half EF sessions to explore all the discussion options, tag-lines, influence and tendency threads, including extending sessions twice. Such a labour of love with the asides, with people clandestinely fishing, urchins setting up a raft service, quiet scuttlings in the background and tents sinking. I loved the frequent twists in the subtext at the very end of a passage, which often undermined the surface statement. Ditto the not-so-subtle hints that this was a very bad idea on a wholly unsuitable site and nobody really wanted it anyway. Nice insights into the work of God’s Editors – maybe one should quit?
From the point of arrival at the tent site, there is a hint at the eponymous "owner" (?) of the place, and I was delighted to find three chances to pursue that option, interact with the marsh dweller, discover his origins and motivation. I suspect it was possible to lock oneself out of this whole branch if the other choice was made during the first break.
Great story. I left the marsh to the marsh denizens.
edited by Jermaine Vendredi on 1/31/2018
Let me necro this one too even if it’s 4 years old.
I was skeptical about the whole deal, but this ES was great! Learnt quite a deal about London’s new ecclesiastical matters including the good, the new, the odd and the not-so-good aspects.
One thing bothered me and I realized only afterwards: to make the Church leave and do as the figure asked you, the first option, to delay everything, is the one you want to pick. And while we’re on the subject, can he, the lurker, be Bugsby?
As I understand it, yes.
Not clear whether that was his own name, or a name foisted on him by people who have grown accustomed to a fringe-lurking presence, but had no name for it.
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