I’ve been playing Fallen London for a few years now and know pretty much all the lore so far, but the exact meaning of The Place Where They Buried the Bodies eludes me. The connotations of the name and the item text make it sound like there are earth shattering implications to be garnered. At first glance, it makes me think that a constable under orders murders someone, commits suicide, and makes sure they do not return to London while he does. The constables are certainly well known for their brutality, but what the Boatman says makes me think there is some great revelation I’m missing out on.
Do you have an echo from acquiring them? I either forgot or wasn’t able to make one when I got mine.
It’s not fate locked content so I’ll just copy paste it into the message behind spoiler tags.
[spoiler]On the row before you stands a pair of boots. No passenger sits near them. No passenger appears to have bare feet. The Boatman makes no remark on the boots. Indeed, he seems to be scrupulously ignoring their presence.
"Was it guilt? Boredom?"
A Well-Travelled Charlatan smiles at you wryly. "The man who wore these always came with a companion. The gentleman did, however, always return to London alone. I reckon his job was to ensure they didn’t come back. And I suppose one day, he broke. He finished a game of chess with our skeletal host, took his boots off, and then he jumped."
The Boatman pushes the boots toward you with his oar. "They remember where the bodies are buried."[/spoiler]
I think you’ve got the interpretation right, and it’s eerie as hell! Thank you for sharing with us criminals and lowlifes wot would never see it otherwise.
Alright, so, what I’m getting from that is basically the same as what you said, this specific constable would probably kill himself to follow someone, specifically those sentenced to death, to make sure they wouldn’t come back, and then he just kinda allows himself to be resurrected like a player would. Eventually, the guy takes off his boots, since they’re apparently somehow significant, and jumps into the river to end himself.
The fact that the boots Remember "where the bodies are buried" seems like less of a "these boots are alive" or that they literally guide you down a path, and more metaphorical. Like, they know the way in the sense that they’ve been here and "walked the path"(not really 'cause they just sat in a boat) to the river and back so often that they’ve kinda become tainted, in a way.
tl;dr The Insurance Policy’s shoes have just been there so often it’s like they almost belong on the boat like a person who dies too much would. I don’t think they literally know anything, or that anyone was actually buried, just that they were always there when Herr Mord pushed people off the boat or otherwise made sure they couldn’t come back.
So like, no magic or crazy new information, just that the shoes might’ve become somewhat used to dying and coming back. Our Lovely Gendarme de Mort left them for someone like a Renown:40 player to take since he kinda knew they were a little bit… death-y. Or whatever, you know?
edited by hellaGumshoe on 6/23/2017
I just really enjoy trying to find bits of new earth shattering revelations from the Renown 40 items. Failbetter has always hid the most important lore in the game behind some very hard to reach storylets. This one seems to reveal that the Constables are far more brutal than we originally guessed. We knew they beat up and tortured criminals, but to see one of them willingly commit suicide to push someone into the dark river and into oblivion just to make sure that person doesn’t ever come back pushes the Constables into straight evil territory for me.
I was originally going to support the Implacable Detective in the election, but to see this makes me wonder if she knew about this and if her regime would bring a reign of unseen horror to London. I never expected an immortal spy from a rival nation who loves deadly combat could be the more moral of the two. I think I’m going to take this to the Implacable Detective’s election thread and see if this will push people away from supporting her.
On a separate topic, the Hell renown 40 item shows that the Devils have a time portal in the Iron Republic and normal people can go through it. I can link that one too if anyone’s interested. (For the record, I think linking to the journal is a bit clunky to be honest.)
I suppose that at Renown 40 you are pretty much buttering up people enough to gain the trust of the majority and the higher-ups. Enough that you get to know the dirtier things, and have a decision on whether you continue the tradition or not.
After all, the man did break and jump off. That means no one but you can continue it now if you really want, and that’s where the big Shadowy boost come from. (You may also do the same in Bag a Legend, pushing people off the boat.)
Although it is vague enough that you don’t know whether they are used by the Special Constables or the regular one, and so on. Most factions are big enough that you can have several groups of jerks in it. I mean, it’s even the Bohemians get a fad of pointless murders in Exceptional Stories and so on.
Since that is one I’m pretty sure I’ll never get, yes please! (Not proposing to engage with them again after what they did to my soul…!)
Here’s the one for Hell 40 renown.
[spoiler]There is a wrought-brass gate. You can see it; you can see through it, too. And yet you do not know what is on the far side. Or why the devils smile so widely when you ask.
"Quickening"
‘—the rest is a blur. When I emerged, it was as if I had passed through, yet back to where I’d entered. If there was anything between, it passed as swiftly as an eye-blink. Yet I acquired this suitcase containing an elaborate apparatus. But I do recall flashes of memory: a place not of tormenting, but fermenting? A place where experiments are made to appease the Law. Nothing more comes to me. But perhaps the instruments contained within may solve other riddles.’[/spoiler]
Why make this a two party race when there’s a third candidate: a nice, socially minded lady who brings you hot potato soup when you’re feeling unwell. As far as we know, the Dauntless Temperance Campaigner hasn’t killed anybody. The worst she’s done is harass people with protests and pamphlets :P
edited by Anne Auclair on 6/23/2017
Not as good as those +5 watchful boots, emiright?