Virginia's Hidden Plan: A Discussion

Fallen London
1

Among all of Fallen London’s myriad stories, there is one that stands out as an influence on this Election: the Affair of the Box. I believe this winding tale of a locked box is the key to understanding Virginia’s plan and why it is good for London, not just in public health and economic equality via public works and exercise, but in living up to what Failbetter themselves named Virginia: The Heroine of London.

Heroine? Really? It’s a strange choice of words for a deviless, but the writers have given us all the information we need to understand why Virginia is running for mayor, what her plan is, and how she plans on addressing the looming threats that face London.

(Spoilers ahead for new text from candidate cards available in the second week)

[quote=Virginia]&quotIs London in safe hands with me? Of course not. I am, after all, a devil. More relevantly, I’m me. But, look around! Can you say that London is in the best of health? London is filled with corruption, degeneracy, paucity of ambition.&quot She wipes her mouth delicately on a pressed napkin. &quotLondon’s reserves in the only currency that matters are almost spent. I mean to give the city a fighting chance. Call me a good sportswoman.&quot She pays the bill when it comes.[/quote]First, there is the question of the nature of this currency, and the most telling point is that it’s &quotthe only currency that matters&quot and &quotalmost spent&quot. Souls are not this currency - they are not in short supply, and they are in constant production rather than being kept in &quotreserves&quot. Remember that Victorian London had the highest population of any city on Earth, and couple that with the Neath’s unnatural vitality.

The answer is clear: the secret currencies in the Bazaar’s vaults. Those &quotFragments of a primal power, locked away in the Masters’ vaults since the deal that bought the First City.&quot Virginia is a player of the Marvellous, where the Masters gamble with this ancient currency. Now, lore surroundings these currencies is sparse, to say the least, but the fact that they’re &quotalmost spent&quot brings us to the basic point of supply and demand: those who want them will have a vested interest in obtaining and keeping them.

Wandering the Forgotten Quarter alongside Virginia gives us a very telling piece of information about her thoughts on the fate that befell the previous city.

There are those who want to see London destroyed, and they too are the natural enemies of Virginia. The enemy of my enemy is perhaps not my friend, but an ally nonetheless. What Virginia wants is to strengthen London: not just its health but its resolve and ambition. We’re now embarking into deeper lore territory and spoilers for the Affair of the Box, so those who prefer not to read those can depart with my final claim that Virginia does not seek power for power’s sake; she does not seek power for Hell’s sake; she seeks power for her own sake, and for London’s sake, because she intends to bring new life - a second wind - to a London that has forgotten what it means to make a stand and live.

[spoiler]We know what happened to the Fourth City. The Masters burned it to the ground. They destroyed it. Those Correspondence sigils didn’t save them. When the last Khan rose in rebellion, they obliterated the city and then left to find the Fifth. The lacre wasn’t low; the Stone Pigs weren’t stirring. They simply destroyed the city and moved on. This is the lesson they learned from the Fourth: the Fall of a new city can be accelerated, and there are those who scheme to do the same again, notably one revealed in the Affair of the Box, the owner of the box: Mr Stones.

Stones planned to pay an exiled devil captain and his army to destroy London and bring about the fall of the Sixth City; the loss of the box meant that Stones had lost one means of payment, but Stones is still around and scheming, and these devils never left the Forgotten Quarter. Virginia is a hero of the Season of Revolutions and instrumental in bringing down the old aristocracy: she is a natural enemy of the exiles who could destroy London. And by her reckoning, London doesn’t stand a chance. That’s what she wants to change. She wants to give London a fighting chance. London might not be strong enough. All her efforts might go to waste. But she’s made an effort. She’s studied the protective wards that failed, and she’s made her own adjustments. Her key public work is one that can be built on those very same protective wards, one that aims to invigorate the entire city. The pieces fit together: her platform is the defense and revitalization of London.

And, if we’re being more speculative, the threat may be more imminent than it seems. It’s like Pandora’s box: once it’s opened, what was within can’t be locked away again. The timeline of the Bazaar’s acquisition of cities is increasing: the Masters are already scheming for the fall of the Sixth City when the Fifth hasn’t even been around for half a decade. We see this when Wines is hearing offers from the Empress’ Shadow. We see this in a future lost in reflections, when Paris is on the verge of falling less than a decade into the 20th century. The destruction of the Fourth left little for the Stone Pigs; they hunger, and they stir. Why not repeat this for the Fifth? Virginia’s plan is to give London a fighting chance against this destruction: to not go like a lamb to slaughter but to fight back against those who would preordain its demise.
[/spoiler]
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Now, I will admit this is not the strongest of hypotheses. It leans too heavily on circumstantial evidence for my liking, and there are many ways to interpret the text; this is just one among them. That’s why I want this to be a discussion.

This isn’t random, though. We’re talking about Failbetter here: writers, editors, and directors with a knack for cryptic but coherent writing, a deep understanding of the lore, and frankly good storytelling. They won’t name Virginia the &quotHeroine of London&quot for nothing. They won’t let the text we spend real currency (via Fate) on simply be a wall of text unrelated to the Election at hand. For me, this interpretation of Virginia’s plans binds her entire campaign together in a story rooted in the foundational lore of Fallen London while staying true to her character, and it’s this that solidifies my support for Virginia: because this is a plan that might just actually work.

EDIT, 13 August 2019: With the release of Virginia’s &quotLord Mayor&quot card, quite a few interesting possibilities have opened up (particularly with regards to our Rubbery friends and factionalism within Hell), but the above line of reasoning regarding the Sixth City doesn’t really fit, unfortunately. Still, I rather enjoyed this particular interpretation of Virginia’s Election text, and so it’ll be preserved as it is.
edited by Azothi on 8/13/2019

2

Virginia did suggest that her interest is purely academic. And this from the 10-reputation option, which I usually take to be the candidates in their most sincere. I believe that if she meant to use it in any defensive way, she would drop a hint.
I admit that Fallen London is a dark game, and Failbetter loves its anti-heroes. So that would not be beyond them. But I don’t see any hints towards this direction.

3

[quote=Azothi]Among all of Fallen London’s myriad stories, there is one that stands out as an influence on this Election: the Affair of the Box. I believe this winding tale of a locked box is the key to understanding Virginia’s plan and why it is good for London, not just in public health and economic equality via public works and exercise, but in living up to what Failbetter themselves named Virginia: The Heroine of London.

Heroine? Really? It’s a strange choice of words for a deviless, but the writers have given us all the information we need to understand why Virginia is running for mayor, what her plan is, and how she plans on addressing the looming threats that face London.

(Spoilers ahead for new text from candidate cards available in the second week)

[quote=Virginia]&quotIs London in safe hands with me? Of course not. I am, after all, a devil. More relevantly, I’m me. But, look around! Can you say that London is in the best of health? London is filled with corruption, degeneracy, paucity of ambition.&quot She wipes her mouth delicately on a pressed napkin. &quotLondon’s reserves in the only currency that matters are almost spent. I mean to give the city a fighting chance. Call me a good sportswoman.&quot She pays the bill when it comes.[/quote]First, there is the question of the nature of this currency, and the most telling point is that it’s &quotthe only currency that matters&quot and &quotalmost spent&quot. Souls are not this currency - they are not in short supply, and they are in constant production rather than being kept in &quotreserves&quot. Remember that Victorian London had the highest population of any city on Earth, and couple that with the Neath’s unnatural vitality.

The answer is clear: the secret currencies in the Bazaar’s vaults. Those &quotFragments of a primal power, locked away in the Masters’ vaults since the deal that bought the First City.&quot Virginia is a player of the Marvellous, where the Masters gamble with this ancient currency. Now, lore surroundings these currencies is sparse, to say the least, but the fact that they’re &quotalmost spent&quot brings us to the basic point of supply and demand: those who want them will have a vested interest in obtaining and keeping them.

Wandering the Forgotten Quarter alongside Virginia gives us a very telling piece of information about her thoughts on the fate that befell the previous city.

There are those who want to see London destroyed, and they too are the natural enemies of Virginia. The enemy of my enemy is perhaps not my friend, but an ally nonetheless. What Virginia wants is to strengthen London: not just its health but its resolve and ambition. We’re now embarking into deeper lore territory and spoilers for the Affair of the Box, so those who prefer not to read those can depart with my final claim that Virginia does not seek power for power’s sake; she does not seek power for Hell’s sake; she seeks power for her own sake, and for London’s sake, because she intends to bring new life - a second wind - to a London that has forgotten what it means to make a stand and live.

[spoiler]We know what happened to the Fourth City. The Masters burned it to the ground. They destroyed it. Those Correspondence sigils didn’t save them. When the last Khan rose in rebellion, they obliterated the city and then left to find the Fifth. The lacre wasn’t low; the Stone Pigs weren’t stirring. They simply destroyed the city and moved on. This is the lesson they learned from the Fourth: the Fall of a new city can be accelerated, and there are those who scheme to do the same again, notably one revealed in the Affair of the Box, the owner of the box: Mr Stones.

Stones planned to pay an exiled devil captain and his army to destroy London and bring about the fall of the Sixth City; the loss of the box meant that Stones had lost one means of payment, but Stones is still around and scheming, and these devils never left the Forgotten Quarter. Virginia is a hero of the Season of Revolutions and instrumental in bringing down the old aristocracy: she is a natural enemy of the exiles who could destroy London. And by her reckoning, London doesn’t stand a chance. That’s what she wants to change. She wants to give London a fighting chance. London might not be strong enough. All her efforts might go to waste. But she’s made an effort. She’s studied the protective wards that failed, and she’s made her own adjustments. Her key public work is one that can be built on those very same protective wards, one that aims to invigorate the entire city. The pieces fit together: her platform is the defense and revitalization of London.

And, if we’re being more speculative, the threat may be more imminent than it seems. It’s like Pandora’s box: once it’s opened, what was within can’t be locked away again. The timeline of the Bazaar’s acquisition of cities is increasing: the Masters are already scheming for the fall of the Sixth City when the Fifth hasn’t even been around for half a decade. We see this when Wines is hearing offers from the Empress’ Shadow. We see this in a future lost in reflections, when Paris is on the verge of falling less than a decade into the 20th century. The destruction of the Fourth left little for the Stone Pigs; they hunger, and they stir. Why not repeat this for the Fifth? Virginia’s plan is to give London a fighting chance against this destruction: to not go like a lamb to slaughter but to fight back against those who would preordain its demise.
[/spoiler]
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Now, I will admit this is not the strongest of hypotheses. It leans too heavily on circumstantial evidence for my liking, and there are many ways to interpret the text; this is just one among them. That’s why I want this to be a discussion.

This isn’t random, though. We’re talking about Failbetter here: writers, editors, and directors with a knack for cryptic but coherent writing, a deep understanding of the lore, and frankly good storytelling. They won’t name Virginia the &quotHeroine of London&quot for nothing. They won’t let the text we spend real currency (via Fate) on simply be a wall of text unrelated to the Election at hand. For me, this interpretation of Virginia’s plans binds her entire campaign together in a story rooted in the foundational lore of Fallen London while staying true to her character, and it’s this that solidifies my support for Virginia: because this is a plan that might just actually work.[/quote]

…you know what, this is the best argument I’ve yet seen for any of the candidates, by which I mean to say that it’s the most entertainingly complicated, thought out, and appropriately deranged.

I’ve got a Career at 20 for Mrs Plenty, but this could convince me to switch…

4

[quote=Teaspoon]…you know what, this is the best argument I’ve yet seen for any of the candidates, by which I mean to say that it’s the most entertainingly complicated, thought out, and appropriately deranged.[/quote]Unfortunately, there is too much speculation and too little hard facts for my taste. I would love to see as well that this is her true agenda. This would be one hell (chuckles) of a twist. But the points of support are very sparse here.

I believe, the interpretations of Madame Shoshonas utterances are quite unanimous and the largest criticism is directed at her counter plan, which many find too much of a compromise (if it works at all).

But if this really is Virginias rescue strategy, then I would like to hear that in more or less straight talk directly from her. There are enough one-on-one opportunities for each candidate, so she doesn’t need to &quotspill her secret&quot to non-trusted parties.

Addendum: She speaks of a single currency, not &quotcurrencies&quot. She also doesn’t mention that it is necessarily secret. I figured that the single most important currency which London has, and pays to the Bazaar, is Love Stories.

–
edited by Jeremiah Oathes on 7/22/2019

5

It could just be because she’s a heroine (of Hell’s revolution) and she’s in London.

6

[quote=Jeremiah Oathes]Unfortunately, there is too much speculation and too little hard facts for my taste. I would love to see as well that this is her true agenda. This would be one hell (chuckles) of a twist. But the points of support are very sparse here.[/quote]I understand that. Hell, if I were the one listening to someone else describe it, I’d be skeptical too. My hope is that criticism and other thoughts can cut out the weaker points and lead us in the right direction, wherever that is.

[quote=Jeremiah Oathes]I believe, the interpretations of Madame Shoshonas utterances are quite unanimous and the largest criticism is directed at her counter plan, which many find too much of a compromise (if it works at all).

But if this really is Virginias rescue strategy, then I would like to hear that in more or less straight talk directly from her. There are enough one-on-one opportunities for each candidate, so she doesn’t need to &quotspill her secret&quot to non-trusted parties.[/quote]For this, I’d approach it from a Doylist perspective. The Affair of the Box is a long and well-written story that accompanies players from the early game onwards; it’s not one that I imagine the writers would want to spoil through the Election open to all players, especially considering how the relevant lore is the answer to the story’s persistent mystery.

Even with Shoshana, her long game is never outright stated - it can be deduced fairly easily, but the details and the implementation are still shrouded in vagueries. For Virginia, it’s the opposite: we have a good idea about what she plans to do on the surface, and we can try to build on that to determine her long game.

[quote=Jeremiah Oathes]Addendum: She speaks of a single currency, not &quotcurrencies&quot. She also doesn’t mention that it is necessarily secret. I figured that the single most important currency which London has, and pays to the Bazaar, is Love Stories.[/quote]This is a possibility, but I’m not convinced. The text gives us two pieces of information about the currency: (1) it’s &quotthe only currency that matters&quot and (2) &quotreserves are … almost spent&quot. On the first point, love stories only particularly matter to the Bazaar; on the contrary, the secret currencies are coveted by everybody - that’s the premise of the Numismatrix. Furthermore, there doesn’t appear to be a &quotreserve&quot of love stories that can be running short, and new love stories are always in production.

Furthermore, on the single currency versus &quotcurrencies&quot point, the way it’s commonly used implies a single currency of sorts: First City Coins - a singular currency - are representations of this primal power.

[quote=Diptych]It could just be because she’s a heroine (of Hell’s revolution) and she’s in London.[/quote]It could be; that’s a definite possibility. On the surface, though, it still seems relatively disconnected from her platform, unlike both Shoshana (Prophetess) and Plenty (Grand Dame) representing how they intend to govern.

Regardless, I think it’s just an interesting question to raise at the beginning to set the stage for the broader point, which is trying to connect the disparate elements of Virginia’s campaign into a coherent, lore-based narrative.

7

Well, adopting that same Doylist perspective - given the structure of the elections so far, would Failbetter use the supplemental text of a quality to tell us that one candidate is the correct choice who will bring the story to the desired conclusion, and the others are not?

8

[quote=Diptych]Well, adopting that same Doylist perspective - given the structure of the elections so far, would Failbetter use the supplemental text of a quality to tell us that one candidate is the correct choice who will bring the story to the desired conclusion, and the others are not?[/quote]Not at all. There’s no &quotcorrect choice&quot, in my opinion: all the candidates believe they’re doing the best for themselves and for London. What I do believe is that Virginia has been up to something this Election, and that the second week information and supplemental text of her quality can guide us towards unveiling that plan. This is one such interpretation of the text, one that I find of particular note.

Nevertheless, the information gathered in the Affair of the Box is relevant to this election: we see parallels in Shoshana’s campaign. By examining Virginia’s campaign from this perspective, we can find connections that aid in forming a coherent narrative throughout her candidacy; regardless of its veracity, it’s an observation worth discussing, hence this thread.

9

I think the most convincing argument against this speculation is that if Virginia and Shoshana were fighting for the same thing, from different angles, Failbetter would take care to let us know. It would make for an interesting dilemma, and a source of discussion.

10

[quote=Jolanda Swan]I think the most convincing argument against this speculation is that if Virginia and Shoshana were fighting for the same thing, from different angles, Failbetter would take care to let us know. It would make for an interesting dilemma, and a source of discussion.[/quote]This is what I think. This would be an opportunity too good to pass on.

11

[quote=Jolanda Swan]I think the most convincing argument against this speculation is that if Virginia and Shoshana were fighting for the same thing, from different angles, Failbetter would take care to let us know. It would make for an interesting dilemma, and a source of discussion.[/quote]That’s fair enough - it’s precisely that it’s an interesting dilemma to consider that prompts me to bring this up in discussion - but I agree that this is more subtle and inference-based than Election content has historically been.

I think Failbetter has taken care to let us know the broad strokes, though, if not the details. Virginia’s second-week information is a notable departure from her first week, and there are several hanging threads in her text that are worth pulling. [i]What does she mean to give London &quota fighting chance&quot against? Why has she made adjustments to the failed Correspondence wards of the Fourth City?

[/i]I’m trying to find solutions that weave all these threads into a story; I trust that Failbetter won’t just leave us hanging like that.

–

And for what it’s worth, I think all candidates, Miriam included, are fighting for roughly the same thing, just with different tools. Shoshana is trying to bring in both common Londoners and the powers that be (involving the Ministry, for instance). Plenty wants to stave off change through her sheer force of will (and money). Virginia wants the people of London to hone and improve themselves to address any threats. Their styles differ because of their histories: their experiences as a prophetess, a grand dame, and a heroine.

Honestly, if they all worked together instead of fighting, that’d be the best course forward for London. But the Election is designed to stop this; it’s built to encourage partisanship and tribalism because that’s how the Masters keep Londoners trapped fighting each other.

12

This last idea is great. It would make for a lovely second week reveal, actually (Pity that part of the elections got scraped this year).

But I am afraid that the actual threads given to us are too thin, and we are just weaving a story for ourselves. Nothing against that - I would gladly RP my arguments as Jolanda, but I am afraid we are reading too much into ANYTHING because we felt let down by the actual content.

13

If the Masters really are planning to [spoiler] accelerate the fall of London (read: Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies), then I think I’ll be fine considering I know where the Avid Horizon is as an ex-seeker.

I’ll just stowaway on one of the numerous locomotives.[/spoiler]

Alternatively, try getting to Connected: The Masters 30 and pray they’ll take you with them.

14

I am copying this from Virginia’s thread, since it goes here better: be warned, this is an rp post so the language is a bit sarcastic.

And then it dawned on me:
She wants to give London a fighting chance against her, since so often we play the quarry in her hunts.
She is a sporting lady. She appreciates a good fight - she has demonstrated it time and again.
So she wants us to have a fighting chance against her, and for some reason this was translated into a benevolent slogan out of nowhere. Right into her trap, I guess.

15

(Before beginning, I should note that I’ve also written a response to Jolanda in Virginia’s thread, one that’s in more of an RP style to live up to my character’s election career, but I think it’s worth reading in relation to this thread because it covers what I believe to be the thematic heart of Virginia’s campaign, that being self-improvement, and that this theme persists in the theory, as Virginia’s plan is not to singlehandedly save London herself, but rather to provide us the tools to save ourselves. With that out of the way…)

[quote=Jolanda Swan]I am copying this from Virginia’s thread, since it goes here better: be warned, this is an rp post so the language is a bit sarcastic.

And then it dawned on me:
She wants to give London a fighting chance against her, since so often we play the quarry in her hunts.
She is a sporting lady. She appreciates a good fight - she has demonstrated it time and again.
So she wants us to have a fighting chance against her, and for some reason this was translated into a benevolent slogan out of nowhere. Right into her trap, I guess.[/quote]Let’s assume that you’re right and Virginia wants Londoners to have a fighting chance against her, a hero of the Season of Revolutions, and her plan is to strengthen London out of sportsmanship. That sounds like a good deal for London to me. Think about the advantages she has: advanced technology from Hell, strong physiology, immense knowledge and experience - leveling the playing field would bring immense good to London.

I dispute this interpretation, though. For one, she states that she is giving the city a fighting chance. Virginia alone - one deviless - is not a threat to London itself. Furthermore, this interpretation is unable to account for several pieces of text, such as her statement that she intends to do her work and be gone after a year - returning to her archaeology. It also does not explain the relevance of her interest in the Correspondence sigils that the Fourth City misunderstood - the sigils that were meant to be a ward, to protect them. In the absence of more compelling evidence, I’m not convinced that this interpretation fits.

16

[quote=Azothi]First, there is the question of the nature of this currency, and the most telling point is that it’s &quotthe only currency that matters&quot and &quotalmost spent&quot.[/quote][quote=Azothi]The answer is clear: the secret currencies in the Bazaar’s vaults.[/quote]Is it entirely clear, though? I’m not so sure. It did occur to me, but I think there’s a second option: time. London is running out of time.

In any case, I quite agree with you that between this, mentions of a &quotfighting chance&quot and references to the fourth city’s misguided attempts to shield itself from its own doom, it’s rather obvious that much like Shoshana, Virginia seems to be aware of and making plans against an impending cataclysm.

Mrs Plenty stands apart as a candidate in this regard, since her agenda mostly seems to involve burying our heads in the sand while she makes a bunch of money off her term.
edited by Tsar Koschei on 7/24/2019

17

To be honest (player speaking, not character of course) I read this mostly as Virginia being a multi-layered individual. I insist that if her plans were in any way similar to Soshana’s, we would have a mention of the fact when we ask her what she thinks about Soshana. But we don’t. And surely, if this is the case, Virginia would propose something archaeology related in her platform and not a spa? What good will it be in that kind of challenge?

Good for the Soul/I want to give London a fighting chance because I am a sportswoman point very clearly elsewhere. In contrast, nothing in her campaign points towards saving the city from Paris’ Fall. I mean, why give no hint at all and rely on a player making a conjecture if this was indeed the writer’s aim?

Not that I don’t enjoy conjecturing. In fact, I consider it the main point of the elections. Lore, lore, lore, delicious lore.
edited by Jolanda Swan on 7/24/2019

18

[quote=Jolanda Swan]I insist that if her plans were in any way similar to Soshana’s, we would have a mention of the fact when we ask her what she thinks about Soshana. But we don’t.[/quote]I don’t see why we necessarily would. Why do you assume Virginia is aware of Shoshana’s precise concerns and intentions? Shoshana is in fact quite vague about them herself, unless you probe them more deeply. And in fact Virginia DOES make reference to this idea, but simply states that she has doubts both about Shoshana’s information and capacity to provide an adequate response. It seems quite clear that her plans are in fact very different from Shoshana’s, even if they may have been made to address the same problem.

[quote=Jolanda Swan]And surely, if this is the case, Virginia would propose something archaeology related in her platform and not a spa? What good will it be in that kind of challenge?[/quote]Presumably that’s for her to know and us to find out.

[quote=Jolanda Swan]Good for the Soul/I want to give London a fighting chance because I am a sportswoman point very clearly elsewhere. In contrast, nothing in her campaign points towards saving the city from Paris’ Fall. I mean, why give no hint at all and rely on a player making a conjecture if this was indeed the writer’s aim?[/quote]I really don’t think very much conjecture is needed. Okay, she doesn’t lay out all the particulars explicitly – perhaps she doesn’t want to share, or isn’t aware of the whole picture (are WE?) – but the clues are very clear. Why else would she need to give London a &quotfighting chance&quot, and make reference to the fourth city’s failed attempts to protect itself, unless she was expecting some sort of catastrophe?

19

Sigh. This is why we badly needed some second week revelations, on both sides.
On previous elections we had them, and they were less needed than they are now.

20

So we don’t have second week revelations? I’m not sure if I should be disappointed or relieved that I didn’t accidentally miss a week.