Apphea Bright
Posts: 4
1/28/2016
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Sadly, I just missed the cutoff for playing the previous Exceptional Story: The Art of Murder. I thought I'd got it to the House of Chimes point, but it looks as though I hadn't. Do we have any eta for when it'll pop into the Fate options, so I can try it? I'd like to play these three stories in order.
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Passionario
Posts: 777
1/28/2016
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OK, I'm freaking out a bit here.
See, Passionario is an avid player of the Great Game (and was one before he descended to the Neath), an enthusiastic fan of Sinning Jenny, a regular visitor at Clathermont's and an old acquaintance of his Amused Lordship. He also spent an entire year in the Cave of the Nadir once (because I took a break from the game and logged off there).
A few days ago, I created a character who is meant to represent his daughter, descending into the Neath to find him.
Then, just this morning, I changed his destiny to the one in which he ends up essentially sightless.
And now that I've met the Waltzing Duke, I know exactly what a Dread Surmise feels like.
...
It's me. It was me all along. And now it's too late.
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Passionario: Profile, Story, Ending
Passion: Profile, Appearance
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DT
Posts: 15
1/28/2016
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an_ocelot wrote:
A minor infelicity in the wording of the instructions text at the end:
[spoiler]If you choose to encourage a reconciliation by dancing with the Duke, the text says "You will need to dance with the Aesthete and seek an attempted reconciliation with her, if you have not done so already." But you are only given the option to let her dance with _him_, not you.
And then you can whisper to her, so it works out okay, but it was a little scary, because it didn't seem like it ought to work based on what was said.[/spoiler]
I thought this was lovely, very melancholy and emotionally engaging. Echoes start here.
Oh, thank you so much for recording it!
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Aliénor Derosiers, the Lightfooted Larcenist
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Catherine Raymond
Posts: 2518
1/28/2016
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Curious Foreigner wrote:
Thinking about it, I find the ending I got hilarious.
[spoiler]So the daughter comes all the way from Vienna to take revenge on her father, and what does she take from him? Eyes he can't use, a secret he went to great lengths to forget, and a life that won't stay gone for long. And all because my character found it funnier not to tell her how Death (not) works in the Neath...[/spoiler]
Catherine Raymond wrote:
No, indeed, I still have my cup of Griswine. I am wondering how one gets to use it.
While you can't use it in the game right now, it would be very handy if you ever need to poison someone in a non-lethal and easily reversible, but potentially permanent manner.
edited by Curious Foreigner on 1/28/2016
A good idea; I wonder if FBG will make that option available at some point.
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Cathy Raymond
http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/cathyr19355
Catherine Raymond aka Mrs. Rykar Malkus http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond (Gone NORTH)
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Faey
Posts: 61
1/28/2016
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I greatly enjoyed this story. I was a little sad that after reconciliation I wasn't able to further delve into his secret (especially after reading the result of killing him yourself).
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Faey
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Alice%20Tonnerre
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
1/28/2016
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Well, that was thoroughly intriguing. I've been going through aristocratic family trees, trying to determine if the characters have real-world analogues - mostly Habsburgs, but when we're talking aristocratic family trees, that practically goes without saying.
[spoiler]So this Old Man sounds Chestertonian as hell. And there was something very like The Waste Land in the descriptions of Vienna. But perhaps I'm reading too much into things.[/spoiler]
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Juno
Posts: 63
1/29/2016
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Does anyone have any theories on
[spoiler]why he blinded his wife? That seems to be the one great inexplicable act he committed.[/spoiler]
Unless I missed something, it appears quite unnecesary.
Edit: spoiler tags
edited by Juno on 1/29/2016
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Etheridge
An author by trade, available for talks both public and private.
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Residual Toast
Posts: 11
1/29/2016
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Juno wrote:
Does anyone have any theories on
...questions...
Unless I missed something, it appears quite unnecesary.
edited by Juno on 1/29/2016
[spoiler]Pretty sure it's because she was dancing weirdly, and he thought she was the Thief, and tried to peel her face off?[/spoiler]
edited by Residual Toast on 1/29/2016
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Residual_Toast
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
1/29/2016
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Only one set of spoiler tags per post, Toast, or they won't show up properly! And, yes, it appears to have been a case of mistaken identity and a sadly unnecessary attempt at self-defense.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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MidnightVoyager
Posts: 858
1/29/2016
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Gemma~Hawley
Well, I found the ending nobody's taken yet, but they haven't said anything about the reward. For the lore-fiends out there.
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Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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Residual Toast
Posts: 11
1/29/2016
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Hmm this ending raises some interesting questions.
It's not possible that the Player Character is [spoiler]the thief of faces right? He is said to live in the prison where you start, and you do pick your face. But everything we know about snuffers says they can only die once, right?
Also, do we know who the Presumption, and the Red Levy are? And why Mr Pages would take precautions with them against the Thief stealing one of their faces? And if it might be the case, which one it could be?
Also, Also, has anything been added to woods in winter? I tried checking my nadir, but the cards weren't cooperating. [/spoiler]
edited by Residual Toast on 1/29/2016
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Residual_Toast
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Ginneon Thursday
Posts: 265
1/29/2016
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Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
But perhaps I'm reading too much into things.
[spoiler]I very much agree, Sir Frederick. The Old Man sounds quite a lot like Chesteron's man in the dark room. Given his dual nature, I thought the Old Man might in fact be the Thief of Faces. Both of them certainly want the same information. The Waltzing Duke seems to think they're separate entities though. Could the Thief have wandered the Surface and tricked the Duke?
In any case, Vienna seems a much darker place. Though Europe may simply be trading its own looming, nationalistic wars for a broader class/ideological struggle.[/spoiler]
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Ginneon Thursday: Revelrous Professor of Benthic
Departments of Mycoenology, Lepidoptery
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The Duke of Waltham
Posts: 150
1/29/2016
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Rackenhammer wrote:
I'm a little curious, though, as to why there seem to be options about halfway through the story to end them early. Does anyone actually ever take those? They seem put in only as an option to not get your money's worth.
What options? The only one I haven't found an echo for is...
[spoiler]...the option to notify the Aesthete instead of going straight to the Carnival. Everyone seems to have opted for the latter option. Also, it took me a while to find out what happens if you decline the Duke's request to touch your face; the great majority of players let him do it. Was that the ominous choice Robin Mask was talking about? Because for a moment I was a actually afraid the Duke would steal the... Duke's face. [/spoiler]
Ian Hart wrote:
I strongly recommend "Tales from the Vienna Woods" as a soundtrack while playing through the content, and, of course, to not skip any possible avenue of discussion.
I did, a couple of times at the beginning to get into the mood. Great piece, and I really like Strauss in general. Later on, however, I wanted something more calmly dramatic, so I ended up looking into soundtracks and listening to that of The Imitation Game... Not the best fit, but nice.
edited by The Duke of Waltham on 1/29/2016
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The Duke of Waltham welcomes requests for assistance from those troubled by menaces, and His Grace's townhouse is always open to visitors who will not attempt to steal the silverware or extract support for yet another ill-advised scheme concerning photographers.
H. Cartwright, secretary.
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Optimatum
Posts: 3666
1/29/2016
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MidnightVoyager wrote:
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Gemma~Hawley
Well, I found the ending nobody's taken yet, but they haven't said anything about the reward. For the lore-fiends out there.
What's the reward for that ending?
--
Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome.
 Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi!
PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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Ruddertail
Posts: 36
1/29/2016
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The reward for the option to [spoiler] let her have her revenge [/spoiler] is something very silent. The kind of thing you get when even silence is removed.
So, not the most exciting thing. But as a nemesis I really had to choose that.
edited by Ruddertail on 1/29/2016
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Ruddertail
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The Duke of Waltham
Posts: 150
1/29/2016
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Kylestien wrote:
Okay so I have a bug now: [see page 1]
"Try this again" and "Onwards!" make no difference at all in storylets like this (which auto-fire on the fulfilment of a certain condition, such as a previous action that will give you a particular value for a quality), where the only way out is through the options you are given. Mind you, only the options that say "This will end the story" actually end the story; the others are not final.
Ginneon Thursday wrote:
In any case...
[spoiler]Ginneon Thursday wrote:
...Vienna seems a much darker place. Though Europe may simply be trading its own looming, nationalistic wars for a broader class/ideological struggle.
Have we been told before in such clear terms about the chaos that apparently engulfed Europe after the Fall?[/spoiler]
--
The Duke of Waltham welcomes requests for assistance from those troubled by menaces, and His Grace's townhouse is always open to visitors who will not attempt to steal the silverware or extract support for yet another ill-advised scheme concerning photographers.
H. Cartwright, secretary.
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
1/29/2016
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I liked the subtle flavors of this one enough to wish it had a little more opportunity to get to know or understand the Aesthete -- we hear an awful lot about the Duke's activities, and she ends up seeming a flat revenge-seeker by comparison, especially when we wind up at an ending with such duality. I suppose that balances out against the greedy desire to kill the Duke for his secret, though. I also love how the Thief of Faces is present in this story only as a figure of rumour and seeds of paranoia... OR IS HE?! Now I'm awfully suspicious of His Amused Lordship's fear of death-talk and loitering nonchalantly around Dilmun business.
In any case, I have two fragments of the tragedy procedures now, and they both say different things! I wonder how many fragments you'd need for a whole copy. I suspect... 49.
As for the Old Man, isn't he...
[spoiler]...the same gentleman who appears in Sunless Sea's Vienna?[/spoiler]
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Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
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Optimatum
Posts: 3666
1/29/2016
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metasynthie wrote:
As for the Old Man, isn't he... <spoiler here>
I don't think so.
[spoiler]From the parallels in certain Exalted memories, he seems to be some analogue spymaster-figure for the White.[/spoiler]
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Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome.
Want a sip of Cider? Just say hi!
PM me for information enigmatic or Fated. Though the forum please, not FL itself.
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metasynthie
Posts: 645
1/29/2016
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Well, that's exactly why I was making that supposition, really.
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Positively antique
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/metasynthie
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Guy Scrum
Posts: 197
1/29/2016
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I may be a bit juvenile, but [spoiler]"his heart was never wholly in it, even when the rest of him was" (according to Sinning Jenny)[/spoiler] was a pretty great pun.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Guy%20Scrum
Interactive fidgeting writer simulation
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