[Spoilers] A Brief Refresher on The New Candidates

Fallen London
1

The elections are coming! Before you vote, do you remember what history you share with the mayor you are electing? The platform matters, yes, but the past never really go away. Not when there is a wiki on it, at least.

In any case, I need to refresh my memory on them anyway and might as well share. Please point out any mistakes or any additions you want!

Spoilers within.

Heavy spoilers.

[spoiler]
Feducci:

[ul][li]He runs three Fighting Rings in the Watchmaker’s Hill. Players who obtain victory in all three will gain his attention, and eventually membership to the Black Ribbons.
[/li][li]He invites you to the society by letter. If you are of a very specific gender, said letter will be oddly written. This is only a concern if you place great emphasis on grammar.[/li][li]This is no longer possible, but he may flat out call you dear on paper if you make efforts to remain anonymous.
[/li][li]You can duel him as a member of the Black Ribbons Society. You may hack him into pieces, or he might penetrate you with his lance atop his pony.[/li][li]He also commission you to slay a ex-member that has joined the Drownies. You can merely retrieve the ribbon and fake a death, and he will not question it. Either way he treat you to dinner.[/li][li]You can steal Antique Mysteries from him, constantly, in high-profile thievery.[/li][li]He claims to be a Prince from Tomb-Colonies. Some calls him &quotthe Presbyter’s Dog&quot.[/li][li]An Exceptional Friend may see him aboard a Brass Trimere on a honey-dream.[/li][li]During Hallowmas, he confessed to losing a duel and embarking on a pilgrimage, surrounded by adoring companions. Only he survived the trip.
[/li][li]You may sell him Relics of the Third City in exchange for info on the Elder Continent.[/li][/ul]The Dauntless Temperance Campaigner:

[ul][li]When you rest in your lodgings from wounds, she may show up and give you potato soup. No explanation is given on why she comes, why you let her in, and so on. Aside from luck, it is entirely unconditional and you can be a wanted criminal, depraved hedonist, live in a Spire-Emporium, or a remote address, and the soup will be there.[/li][li]When playing Pass the Cat, you may send the box away with her home as the returning address to shift scandal away.[/li][li]During Hallowmas, she may ask you about confession of a certain Haunted Doctor. If told, she will become appalled at the Calendar Council’s deeds and proceeds to lead a campaign against them.[/li][li]For very new players, you may found her commissioning Sobriety Hymns in Veilgarden.
[/li][li](Ancient player bonus) A retired, common autofire card has you taking tea with her. You gain three Sudden Insights from this, and the card describes her as &quotwidely admired for her generosity and extraordinary loudness of her voice.&quot[/li][/ul]
The Implacable Detective:

[ul][li]Any sort of contact with her results in a business card. This leads to…
[/li][li]Playing chess with her
[/li][li]Having her passes some cases along your way[/li][li]She give lectures on detective skills for Constables and their friends. That means you, at least when you call in Favours to sit in the lecture.[/li][li]She hates missionaries, or at least the Secular Missionary. And of course, she passes on said missionary’s case to you - this is likely to be your first interaction with her, since she does this whether you know her or not.
[/li][li]You may be hired to fend her off in the Flit from snooping around.[/li][li]You may take honey with her (you supply the honey, about 10 echoes) in a fate-locked party organized by Mr Wines, and share in some investigation tips. It is not worth it.[/li][li]You may join the Dilmun Club, which she also participates in. She may even be your patron and referrer in said club. Among your possible patrons, she has her priorities on acquiring immortality.
[/li][li]You may watch her play chess with the Cheery Man. She wins and he flips out.[/li][li]You may be the target of her investigation when your Suspicion is too high. You may taunt her or take other actions. If you are very rich in real life, you may show her your potential Rubbery appendage.[/li][/ul][/spoiler]
edited by Estelle Knoht on 6/22/2017

2

[spoiler]Don’t forget that Feducci also runs the fighting rings in Watchmaker’s Hill. You need to work your way through these to advance A Name Scrawled in Blood.
If memory serves, this is the last step to unlocking the Docks.

In the Fate-locked story from April, the Dauntless Temperance Campaigner ranted against the dangers of gin. I forget the details, but I could probably find an echo if you’re interested.[/spoiler]
edited by PSGarak on 6/22/2017

3

I think it is a generic Temperance Campaigner? At least, the one you drive away in the paid portion is not the Dauntless one and has a different adjective and is easily repelled.

4

Feducci seems to be quite familiar with the devils. He met a devil (friend?) at Dante’s Grill when you spied on him for the Teeth. In Flint, Feducci said “Funniest thing. I was at a Brass Embassy party last week and there was…” when you asked him about the Knapt. Sounds a regular at the Brass Embassy? And of course, the “helmsman” in dream as you mentioned. (“Helmsman” is different from ordinary rowers, I suppose?)
The retired event about DTC is interesting. She is widely recognized for her generosity and loud voice, “but also for her intellect”, and up to 3 Sudden Insight. That is a little different from the usual kind and somewhat muddle-headed image of this lady.

5

Worth noting that 'Hacking into pieces&quot usually means ‘Certain death sentence’ to a Londoner. The fact that Feducci survived being hacked to pieces during the Black Ribbon Duel implies that he’s got some sort of immortality.

Actually, it’s very probably related to the elder continent.
edited by Infinity Simulacrum on 6/23/2017

6

&quotHelmsman&quot means that he’s steering the boat, not rowing it. He’s a member of the crew, and probably a high-ranking one at that.

7

‘He may flat out call you dear’

gasp

8

[quote=The Atumian Sputum]‘He may flat out call you dear’

gasp[/quote]

The absolute madman!

9

[quote=Infinity Simulacrum][quote=The Atumian Sputum]‘He may flat out call you dear’

gasp[/quote]

The absolute madman![/quote]

Hardly. He fights with horse and lance, and after you cut him into pieces, he asks you to lunch, and buys you lunch, a few days later. It seems to me that someone like that it entitled to call damn near anybody in the Neath &quotdear&quot.

Serves me right. If I’d read all of Infinity Simulacrum’s posts above, I wouldn’t have bothered putting the above text between spoiler tags. However, I did what I did and I’m not changing it.
edited by cathyr19355 on 6/23/2017
edited by cathyr19355 on 6/25/2017

10

Actually I have something to add to this! If you do the &quotHunt that which walks on two legs&quot thing from Mr. Inch (the option where you hunt a Snuffer), there is a reference to Fedduci. If you are successful your character is paid in Roastygold, not Primordial Shrieks (which you usually are), and your character notes the money looks familiar and suspects Feducci (by name) of sponsoring the hit.

That’s very obscure, but it’s there.
edited by Arthur Quietus on 6/25/2017
edited by Arthur Quietus on 6/25/2017

11

Y’know, I thought I was pretty well-verse in the Lore, but I still don’t have much of an idea what’s going on with Snuffers.

They eat candles. That’s cool; people have weird appetites in these parts. They also eat people’s faces and pretend to be them, which is…not cool. But Do we know anything else? Are they a faction, a political group, exiles from the Elder Continent, what? What do they want?

And does Feducci have a good reason for going after them? Or any reason?

12

Eat people’s faces? No. Wear them? Yes.

13

Well, the snuffers were cast out along with the thing that made them, The Thief-of-Faces, who had stolen something precious from the mountain. Presumably, if he is really acting as an agent of the Presbyterate then Feducci has official orders to snuff-out (if you’ll pardon the expression) snuffers. Maybe he is actually gunning for their big cheese, The Thief himself. I have gained the impression he is seeking a particular target.

That Presbyterate lot seem tied in with the Mountain of Light. My memory is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall them being very protective of it, not wanting outsiders to get near it. So perhaps they are the agents of its vengeance too.

14

[quote=Plynkes]Well, the snuffers were cast out along with the thing that made them, The Thief-of-Faces, who had stolen something precious from the mountain. Presumably, if he is really acting as an agent of the Presbyterate then Feducci has official orders to snuff-out (if you’ll pardon the expression) snuffers. Maybe he is actually gunning for their big cheese, The Thief himself. I have gained the impression he is seeking a particular target.

That Presbyterate lot seem tied in with the Mountain of Light. My memory is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall them being very protective of it, not wanting outsiders to get near it. So perhaps they are the agents of its vengeance too.[/quote]
That’s the impression I got, yes. The Presbyterate has a sort of reverence/worship for the Mountain and hunts the Snuffers due to the Thief-of-Faces’s theft, though their connection seems more complex than once thought. It was implied through Flint as though she (yes, Stone aka the Mountain of Light is a she) and the Thief had a relationship of sorts, which ended when he caused the Wound in her side so he could steal jewels from within her to create their &quotchild&quot Mt. Nomad. As retribution, the Presbyterate has held a religious war/genocide against any and all Snuffers.

Snuffers in general vary just about as much as humans, if memory serves correct. There are sure to be those who still follow the Thief-of-Faces’s will, while some commit the menace of murdering individuals for their identity. Though the Bishop of St. Fiacre, who is himself a Snuffer, gives the impression that many Snuffers are just average people who want normal lives but must live on the run due to the persecution they face from Snuffer hunters. Some even wish for redemption from being the creatures they are, while others have used their deceptive traits to their advantage by serving the Teeth of London’s Foreign Office as spies. Perhaps the Presbyterate should have thought about the repercussions of handing crafty face-stealers to their British enemies on a silver platter before committing mass genocide.

Oh, also I’m pretty sure they eat candles because they’re somehow wax-based. I dunno, guys, there are weirder things in London I guess.

15

I guess the reason why the folk of the Presbyterate (what do you call them, anyhow, Presbyters?) venerate the Mountain is because she is the source of their longevity.

16

Not just the Foreign Office. There are also quite a few Snuffers in the Ministry of Public Decency and among the Constables who guard New Newgate. In Sunless Sea, the Presbyters will tell you that &quotLondon’s bureaucracy is riddled with the children of the Thief-of-Faces.&quot This is one of the rare occasions when they aren’t exaggerating.

17

Even though the Snuffers are mostly set up as the victims in their underground war with the Presbyters, we must not forget that the Thief of Faces likely did something very serious to Stone. The fact that some Snuffers themselves seek redemption &quotfor what they are&quot implies that the Thief of Faces had stolen something so valuable that even his own children find it reprehensible.
Not to mention that each snuffer has to have stolen at least one person’s face to get any sort of safe position within London.

The Presbytersare are indeed very reverent of Stone, she’s somewhere between a godess and a shrine, and her light coupled with the nativity to the Neath seems to be what gives a Presbyter his incredibly long age (possibly, they live indefinitely, but they have laws forbidding living past 1.000 years).
edited by Infinity Simulacrum on 6/26/2017

18

Very early in-game, as you start to become acquainted with the effects of prisoner’s honey, there’s a rare success with a very interesting list of names…

19

A short refresher on this year’s investigation and flush-lays:

[spoiler]
Feducci:

[ul][li]Is running his government as a casino (and the house always win)
[/li][li]Helped the current Hell to overthrew their previous monarchy and apparently has a hard-on for stabbing people according to devils
[/li][li]Is profiting massively on trade between the Presbyterate and London
[/li][/ul]Implacable:

[ul][li]An efficient bureaucrat
[/li][li]Has ties to Stereoscopics - implied to be Parabolan-snakes aligned people - that once helped her to win a case, presumably by supernatural Parabolan spying. No idea if she actually likes her case-solving with a supernatural boost, though.
[/li][li]Is planning some sort of inquisition-like thing against law enforcement, called &quotthe Grand Prosecution&quot
[/li][/ul]Dauntless:

[ul][li]No expenses spared on removing honey from the general population
[/li][li]Is unintentionally constructing a honey-well (or drugging Mr Eaten with honey, if you prefer) because she is bad at drug disposal
[/li][li]Has old ties to anarchists (also shown in Hallowmas - her friend is the ineffectual March of the Calendar Council, and dead by the same council)[/li][/ul][/spoiler]
edited by Estelle Knoht on 6/26/2017

20

I’m surprised no one’s mentioned what I consider the most important thing about Snuffers: They stay dead.

I’m vaguely under the impression that Snuffers are lower on the Chain than humans, although that may just be an inference based on their mortality. I am more certain that their mortality has to do with their relationship with Stone, since that’s supposed to be the source of Death’s oddness in the Neath.

I’m not sure what exactly happened with the Thief-of-Faces, because the descriptions of the events always sound to me like they’re wrapped up behind layers of metaphor. I’m partial the interpretation that Anne Auclair posted a while back that Stone’s Wound is actually a reference to menstruation, which definitely changes how one would interpret the events with the Thief-of-Faces and Mt Nomad. I think I need to re-read my entire journal of Flint to figure all the implications, which I haven’t done yet.

In any case, I think Snuffers aren’t “supposed” to exist, in the sense that their creation may be a direct consequence of the Thief-of-Face’s crime.