Are there any material rewards for this story? The ending I received has left me a tad confused. Hoping I didn’t take a wrong turn at some point.
I believe at some point near the end, maybe when I persuaded the Chemist to turn back, it gave out an Searing Enigma. I just checked my possessions and didn’t find any unique items for this ES now.
Anyway, the story appears a bit confusing to me, by which I mean not the story itself, but the way the writer is telling it. For example I cut the Chemist’s memory as soon as he mentioned the expedition, but then I still have options to ask about sacrifice and so on. But there were no answers so I had to guess what happened. It’s not very hard to guess, but it barely suits the plot later, in which my character seemed to know everything so clear…
Also, the end. When I go through the ending part I was feeling like that’s where it’s about to approach the climax, like confronting Carrywell or staging a big escape, but it ended so fast… I understand that the player’s character can’t always be the leading role, but this end would be a waste of the great design of the Sweepers and the Rodent. I really liked that Rodent.
Oh and, I’m a Glassman. Besides the difference of text when talking to the other Glassman, there’s also an additional option when looking into the mirror that says you recognised the Fingerkings. The art is that of Direful Reflection.
I believe at some point near the end, maybe when I persuaded the Chemist to turn back, it gave out an Searing Enigma. I just checked my possessions and didn’t find any unique items for this ES now.
Anyway, the story appears a bit confusing to me, by which I mean not the story itself, but the way the writer is telling it. For example I cut the Chemist’s memory as soon as he mentioned the expedition, but then I still have options to ask about sacrifice and so on. But there were no answers so I had to guess what happened. It’s not very hard to guess, but it barely suits the plot later, in which my character seemed to know everything so clear…
Also, the end. When I go through the ending part I was feeling like that’s where it’s about to approach the climax, like confronting Carrywell or staging a big escape, but it ended so fast… I understand that the player’s character can’t always be the leading role, but this end would be a waste of the great design of the Sweepers and the Rodent. I really liked that Rodent.
Oh and, I’m a Glassman. Besides the difference of text when talking to the other Glassman, there’s also an additional option when looking into the mirror that says you recognised the Fingerkings. The art is that of Direful Reflection.[/quote]
Would you happen to have a link to echoes for those alternate options?
If you acquired the Comb, it appears in your Story qualities, not your inventory.
"The Innocuous Comb 1
You are surprised to find this still in your possession. Didn’t you get rid of it a while ago?"
edited by cathyr19355 on 9/11/2019
I believe at some point near the end, maybe when I persuaded the Chemist to turn back, it gave out an Searing Enigma. I just checked my possessions and didn’t find any unique items for this ES now.
Anyway, the story appears a bit confusing to me, by which I mean not the story itself, but the way the writer is telling it. For example I cut the Chemist’s memory as soon as he mentioned the expedition, but then I still have options to ask about sacrifice and so on. But there were no answers so I had to guess what happened. It’s not very hard to guess, but it barely suits the plot later, in which my character seemed to know everything so clear…
Also, the end. When I go through the ending part I was feeling like that’s where it’s about to approach the climax, like confronting Carrywell or staging a big escape, but it ended so fast… I understand that the player’s character can’t always be the leading role, but this end would be a waste of the great design of the Sweepers and the Rodent. I really liked that Rodent.
Oh and, I’m a Glassman. Besides the difference of text when talking to the other Glassman, there’s also an additional option when looking into the mirror that says you recognised the Fingerkings. The art is that of Direful Reflection.[/quote]
Would you happen to have a link to echoes for those alternate options?[/quote]
I’ve got a screenshot here.
The icon next to the GO button says it’s unlocked by the profession Glassman. The option text says something like "you’re familiar with these snakes", but I didn’t screenshot that.
Just remembered that I haven’t unlocked this story yet.
Friendly reminders for those in the same situation: 14 hours left to get it before next month’s!
I unlocked this a while ago, but was busy, and so didn’t finish it until now. Overall, I loved it. It has what I think of as the quintessential FL quality: it starts out with a quirky and comedic tone, with a weird and interesting premise, that slowly peels back to reveal something horrifying. I seem to have made the same choices as many others here. Maybe we all just think alike, or maybe the story was subtly pushing us towards a certain path. While I’m not sure if I did the right thing, my regrets are mainly of the RP variety. From what others have posted, it seems that if I’d tried to make more ethical choices I might have a very different kind of regret, the feeling that I was missing out on the best parts of the story.
I’m a bit conflicted on how the hair/memory cutting sessions played out. Choosing what to cut, and in what order seems to significantly affect the way things play out, with some options becoming locked if you do something else first. This did help create the feeling of having to gently guide someone to the desired memories before cutting them. On the other hand, it did still suck when I missed out on asking the Surgeon what he did for the Royal Family, or what the Locksmith learned from the mirrors, because I did things in the wrong order.
Also, this is a pretty minor complaint, but it did seem kind of arbitrary at times which choices costed actions and which didn’t.
I found this story absolutely brilliant! Definitely goes down as one of my favourite ES ever. Might buy it again later on another account. Outside of Chandler Groover’s epics, I don’t think I enjoyed playing an ES this much ever since - oh, probably since The Stone Guest, which means ever since Cash De Cuir (who was my favourite writer on the team) was let go.
I thought the mechanics especially were absolutely flawless in this one. In fact, I’d put it up as a near-perfect example of how to set up an interactive story. At no point was I uncertain about anything and - even more importantly for a role-player like me - at no point was my character forced to do anything totally atypical. Why? Because there were always enough options to choose from. Even right at the beginning, where I’m supposed to apply for a barber’s position - a rather unusual step for my more academically-interested character - I was given a whole list of possible reasons, like needing to hide from Scandal or Suspicion, or - I especially liked and chose that one - having seen the Barber’s face in a dream. These little things matter! I still remember that moment in The Murgatroyd Formula where I was forced to watch my completely nonviolent, pacifist character all-of-a-sudden physically attacking someone - with no other option to be taken. That moment significantly marred a story I otherwise liked. I guess the fact I still remember it shows how much these things matter to me. Obviously, surprising things can and should happen to your character in an interactive story - but give me agency over how to react to the surprise event! In this story, I always felt I had agency over my character’s actions. Especially the way the memory-cutting sessions were executed, where you could decide step-by-step how far to go, where to stop etc.
The story itself was very enjoyable, too. The suspense never let up right until the end, and there were lots of funny little things on the side like the dozing sweepers or the Enterprising Urchin moving up the career ladder.
I’d like to read the echoes of someone who let the Barber’s Second Expedition happen - I stopped it in its tracks.
I’m so glad we finally get some hints about the Bloody-Handed Queen - one of the game’s oldest mysteries!
Something I’m still puzzling about is that Tiger who drops by to casually let you know they were the one who originally set the Barber on the quest in the FQ. Quite unintentionally, of course. I don’t really believe that since, as we all know, tigers lie. But they could not have known the Queen would get involved in the first place, meaning they were essentially serving the expedition to the Fingerkings on a silver platter. Why would they do that? Is there a more devious scheme behind all this? Or was that tiger really wagging its tongue a bit too much all those years ago, and now saw an opportunity for damage control?
Erm…did an alert for this story just pop up in the game for anyone else? Because I did complete it and it’s clearly not September anymore.
Yes. Also an alert for the One from August 2019. All had too much birthday punch.
I’ve been getting a different outdated pop-up each time I log in to Fallen London (most recent was from Christmas… not the one that just ended, the one before that). I assume it’s related to the server troubles they recently had.
I am catching up and I unlocked this story per my personal notes, which read:
Unlock The Heretic of Hollow Street
You have unlocked this Exceptional Friend story. It begins with ‘“Shave and a Haircut”’ – available anywhere in London.
But I can’t find that! Is it actually location-specific?
Yes! It’s in Veilgarden
thank you, but oh no, I don’t see it there! you don’t happen to have the quality that you get for playing it, do you? there’s so much stuff on the myself tab that I didn’t even bother checking
The relevant quality should be The Business of Cutting.
“The Business of Cutting 1 - You have unlocked The Heretic of Hollow Street
The Heretical Barber on Hollow Street is in the business of removing things from skulls.”
I guess I shall have to ask support! Thanks.
I may be a bit late, but just wanted to say I adore this.
The characters were so well-developed and it was easy to get attached to them, and the mechanics were interesting and intuitive (they didn’t feel too much like padding, but a relatively natural part of the story that paced it well). I also liked the overall mystery and story.
It’s also great for replay value; I can think of at least two other paths I’d like to take, and there seems to be a huge degree of variation, too, of what choices you can mix and match together. The ending was also satisfying, and the warnings for what would end a path or what would potentially affect a quirk were clear, but not too obtrusive. I also appreciated that it wasn’t too reliant on mechanics or quirks, but actual choices, as it felt like my play character was actually involved, making a difference, and able to make the choices they wanted, as opposed into being forced into a choice or going through the motions. It’s possibly one of my favourites to date.
Sorry for the necro, I’m still more than a year behind, but I’m currently playing three or four ES a week, so if I can keep that up I should clear my backlog by Christmas!
I tell you, FL looks damn weird with so many ES storylets clogging up all the pages! Looking forward to it assuming its old familiar appearance. Am really hoovering up those Memories of a Tale by the the bucketload, too. Going on a spending spree once I clear the backlog.
Anyway, this one: Enjoyed it while playing, working in the barber shop was fun, but I wandered out blinking at the end with no real idea what it was all about, or what had happened. Really don’t like ESs that do this, feel like my time has been wasted. Isn’t the first time, either. Being enigmatic and mysterious is fine, but when the player is left in the dark about so much of the story then I think maybe you have over-egged the mystery pudding. I feel as if someone has taken to me with that razor. Maybe that’s the effect they were going for. If so, well done.
Verdict: Very promising start and great premise, but the finale was confusing and very unsatisfying, as I emerged none the wiser.
[quote=Plynkes]Sorry for the necro, I’m still more than a year behind, but I’m currently playing three or four ES a week, so if I can keep that up I should clear my backlog by Christmas!
I tell you, FL looks damn weird with so many ES storylets clogging up all the pages! Looking forward to it assuming its old familiar appearance. Am really hoovering up those Memories of a Tale by the the bucketload, too. Going on a spending spree once I clear the backlog.
Anyway, this one: Enjoyed it while playing, working in the barber shop was fun, but I wandered out blinking at the end with no real idea what it was all about, or what had happened. Really don’t like ESs that do this, feel like my time has been wasted. Isn’t the first time, either. Being enigmatic and mysterious is fine, but when the player is left in the dark about so much of the story then I think maybe you have over-egged the mystery pudding. I feel as if someone has taken to me with that razor. Maybe that’s the effect they were going for. If so, well done.
Verdict: Very promising start and great premise, but the finale was confusing and very unsatisfying, as I emerged none the wiser.[/quote]
I’m afraid this was the sort of story with one Right path and if you didn’t do it exactly right, you missed most of the information.
Apologies for the necro from me, too. I wouldn’t normally post this long after an ES, but there are various elements nobody appears to have mentioned.
[spoiler] The purpose of the second expedition is detailed by the Barber: it’s punishment carried out by the queen for what was done to him. At the same time, he has had to spend this time as her servant, and the people he brings release him from that servitude by taking his place. Sadly, I had cut the Chemist’s memories in the wrong place, so he refused to return home and toddled along, but clearly out of his head. He is not mentioned again.
The Surgeon was eager to go along, but expected to return. He is the one who appears in a second epilogue, where you suffer a nightmare. The Surgeon has just dissected you and is having the time of his life doing the slice and dice – and promises to come for you again.[/spoiler]