Hannah Flynn
Administrator
Posts: 545
2/28/2019
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Delicious friends, the Exceptional Story for March is here!
Accompany a jaded supernatural investigator on his final case. Journey to a remote peninsula and explore a clifftop haunted house. Is this another unscrupulous fake? Or do you need to see things from a different perspective?
Noises from Upstairs is the first story in the Season of Explorations, and was written by Gavin Inglis. In this season you will experience three stories of adventure, mystery and a not inconsiderable amount of peril.
Begin with the Season of Explorations card, available throughout London.
Editing and QA: James Chew
Art by: Tobias Cook
Exceptional Friendship
In addition to a new, substantial, stand-alone story every month, Exceptional Friends enjoy:
- Access to the House of Chimes: an exclusive private members’ club on the Stolen River, packed with content
- An expanded opportunity deck: of ten cards instead of six!
- A second candle: Twice the actions! 40 at once!
Finishing all three stories in the Season of Explorations will make you eligible for an additional opportunity, to follow.
If you want to keep an Exceptional Story beyond its release month, you must complete the related storylet in the current Season’s card. This will save it for you to return to another time.
edited by h4nchan on 2/28/2019
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Wields the news canon, aboard the hype train.
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Kukapetal
Posts: 1454
2/28/2019
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Lol I love his li’l bow tie :P
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Captain Blood Storm
Posts: 612
2/28/2019
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I can't tell if it's shoddy connection on my end or the server acting up, but this one's freezing so much I have to refresh and miss like...a third of the story thus far. Also did the toymake disappear for anyone else? I thought that storylet was meant to hang around until there was a storylet to resolve it
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Captain Blood Storm, the Discordant, Twice-Dawnburnt, Worm-Hugging Vake Rider https://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/Hattington
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Azothi
Posts: 591
2/28/2019
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The text in one part changes if you've played "Cut with Moonlight." It's nothing meaningful, but it's a nice piece of intertextuality that makes me very happy.
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Azoth I, the Icarian Traveller
Away to where the Chain cannot bind us.
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Jolanda Swan
Posts: 1823
2/28/2019
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Yes, I loved that too!
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Lover of all things beautiful, secret admirer of ugly truths, fond of the Parabola Sun... and always delighted to role play.
http://fallenlondon.com/profile/Jolanda%20Swan
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Jolanda Swan
Posts: 1823
2/28/2019
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I am finished with the story, which was well-written but seemed really short. Probably because the last one was really, weally long though!
The story goes to some really unexpected places, and I am very curious to see where speculation on certain calendar months will take us.
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Lover of all things beautiful, secret admirer of ugly truths, fond of the Parabola Sun... and always delighted to role play.
http://fallenlondon.com/profile/Jolanda%20Swan
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lolahighwind
Posts: 28
2/28/2019
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Does anyone have the stats for the [spoiler]companion you can acquire at the end?[/spoiler] (I'll gush about how good this story was in a minute, lol)
edited by lolahighwind on 2/28/2019
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Aquila Highwind, the Adamant Monster-Hunter
Dionysus Highwind, the Lost Wastrel (Gone NORTH)
Ruby Valdez, the Opulent Operative
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Azothi
Posts: 591
2/28/2019
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Finished the story. This may be a difficult story to find all four ending texts, for reasons that will become apparent upon reaching the final choice, but we'll see. I thought it was an engaging and well-written story. My thoughts on the story will be below the spoiler.
"Noises from Upstairs" is one of the more effective uses of Qualities as integrated into the story that I've seen in a while. Hidden qualities during conversations improve the flow by making these actions feel more natural, but displayed quality locks still communicate that progress is occurring. For those with certain knowledge of the lore, one of these qualities helps create subtextual narrative through the Storynexus mechanics - the last time I remember this occurring was in "The Stone Guest", which was one of my favorite stories.
[spoiler]The title is a pun. I appreciate that. There's an excellent moment where the Debunker describes his past experience with sunlight cut with moonlight before entering the house. What makes it excellent is seeing the quality of "Silver Sight" with the moonlit London art in the house - your characters don't know it yet, but that's when you realize the true meaning of "Noises from Upstairs" and that the Upstairs is about to enter the story.
The Calendar Council was well-integrated into the story, which is to say that they were almost a non-presence. While I appreciate lore about the Revolutionaries, their mystery is receding. We know the identities of all but four (March, June, September, and October), and even then we know about June's creation and have a reasonable guess for October now that we know the identity of May. March and September are the most unknown, and fittingly, it's the Marchists and the Septemberists that matter most in moonlit London. I'm glad that all we've learned are snippets of information - Marchists are potentially corrupt, while Septemberists "posture". Because Gavin Inglis also wrote "The Calendar Code", and because the last known March (John Cassell) died in 1865 in real life (on the Surface), Cassell is almost certainly not this March. We may draw a connection between the purple the Debunker's mother liked with September, since it's very likely she was still a Septemberist in the Neath.[/spoiler]
Lastly, Brinehouse is described as a peninsula, historically "a major dock ... Not so much trade. Shipbuilding and supply ... several warehouses." We know the Isle of Dogs became Wolfstack Docks, and Greenwich became Watchmaker's Hill and remained Bugsby's Marshes, which would seem to imply that Brinehouse is the displaced remains of Rotherhithe. In Victorian times, Rotherhithe also had shipyards, docks, and warehouses (for timber, notably, which may be referenced in the Pip and Pickle - "Its bar is inlaid with rosewoods, relics of long-forgotten sea trade"). I'm not so sure about historical parallels for the Pip and Pickle or for the mansion, but there does appear to a preponderance of evidence pointing towards Rotherhithe.
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Azoth I, the Icarian Traveller
Away to where the Chain cannot bind us.
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MidnightVoyager
Posts: 921
2/28/2019
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lolahighwind wrote:
Does anyone have the stats for the [spoiler]companion you can acquire at the end?[/spoiler] (I'll gush about how good this story was in a minute, lol)
edited by lolahighwind on 2/28/2019
Extremely important question: Is there anything I need to do/not do to get this?
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Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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Azothi
Posts: 591
2/28/2019
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MidnightVoyager wrote:
Extremely important question: Is there anything I need to do/not do to get this?
Not as far as I know. The story will be very clear when the choice presents itself. You will sacrifice some monetary reward.
The stats are
[spoiler]+7 Watchful, +4 Persuasive, +1 Respectable[/spoiler]
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Azoth I, the Icarian Traveller
Away to where the Chain cannot bind us.
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Cadwyn Knivlove
Posts: 37
2/28/2019
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lolahighwind wrote:
Does anyone have the stats for the [spoiler]companion you can acquire at the end?[/spoiler] (I'll gush about how good this story was in a minute, lol)
edited by lolahighwind on 2/28/2019
The Dashing Debunker has Watchful +7, Persuasive +4, and Respectful +1. Quite good! And he's so dashing.
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lolahighwind
Posts: 28
2/28/2019
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Thank you!
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Aquila Highwind, the Adamant Monster-Hunter
Dionysus Highwind, the Lost Wastrel (Gone NORTH)
Ruby Valdez, the Opulent Operative
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TeaFiend5
Posts: 24
2/28/2019
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Is it worth it to play Cut with Moonlight before this/in general? It's 20 out of 61 in the survey from reddit, and about 50% of people say it's worth it for the rewards alone, but I've never actually heard anyone talk about it.
edited by TeaFiend5 on 2/28/2019
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MidnightVoyager
Posts: 921
2/28/2019
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Azothi wrote:
MidnightVoyager wrote:
Extremely important question: Is there anything I need to do/not do to get this?
Not as far as I know. The story will be very clear when the choice presents itself. You will sacrifice some monetary reward.
The stats are
[spoiler]+7 Watchful, +4 Persuasive, +1 Respectable[/spoiler]
Thank you! Option to get a lesser reward in exchange for a companion, slammin that button every time.
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Midnight Voyager - A blood-cousin to predators. Collector of beasts. Affably mad.
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Lady Karnstein
Posts: 388
3/1/2019
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Re: Cut With Moonlight: To me, I think it is worth playing first, but you won't be missing out on anything but some knowledge about sunlight cut with moonlight and what that does. It will be more meaningful, and may color your characters choices at the end, but it is not essential for understanding this story. This is in no way a sequel, any more than Steeped in Honey is a part of he Nemesis Ambition.
My report: I absolutely loved it. I have a soft spot for this sort of ghost story, and the fallen london twists just made it better. Caroline intervened to save a man, and one she just met; I think she is growing as a person.
[spoiler]
She is rethinking her...oh addiction is such an ugly word...indulgence of moonlight. But she is rather a hedonist, and reluctant to give up an indulgence.[/spoiler]
But this is absolutely a good story and I sorta was sad when it was over.
edited by Lady Karnstein on 3/1/2019
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Lady Caroline Karnstein, The Moral Hedonist (Description)
Infamous writer, artist, and courtesan. Unrepentant Invert. Hesperidean.
Paramount Presence, Correspondent, Nocturnal. Poet Laureate of the Neath, Ambassador to Arbor
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Ragnar Degenhand
Posts: 326
3/1/2019
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re: Pip and Pickle,
If it's Deptford rather than Rotherhithe, Pip may well be a reference to Philip (Pip) Marlow, who got into a famous pickle in a tavern there and ended up with a dagger to the eye.
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https://www.fallenlondon.com/profile/Ragnar%20Degenhand
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Skinnyman
Posts: 2316
3/1/2019
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Azothi wrote:
The text in one part changes if you've played "Cut with Moonlight." It's nothing meaningful, but it's a nice piece of intertextuality that makes me very happy. Yay, thanks for the insight, mate!  I'll just do another thread to gather all this info; at least I'll be able to edit the original post every time.
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ESs items and quality requirements sheet. Please check if there are errors or if something is missing
Achievement list if you're feeling bored!
I am accepting Plant battles, Neath's Mysteries card, Starveling Cats and boxed cats.
No suppers, no second chances gain and no need to cure my menaces!
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JaggedMallard
Posts: 17
3/1/2019
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That was really good! I'm always glad to see an Exceptional Story that experiments with structure instead of the usual go to three locations and then finish up. My only problem was that it felt like there were two places where it was just padding for actions, I'd rather have the story come to its natural conclusion than have to do the same action a few more times as in the ending of this even if it does make it a little bit shorter.
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Rubbered Ginny
Posts: 6
3/1/2019
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I really liked this story up to the very end. The ghost story framing with the little dash of a Fallen London twist where, I'll remind you, you can often find the Dead hanging out at the harbour, was a very engaging framing device, and I enjoyed the build-up and the little clues you could gather in the pub and throughout the house. I have to admit that I found the Debunker's constant referral to particular family affairs of his to be a bit heavy-handed; less foreshadowing, more forebludgeoning. Nevertheless, I found him an engaging character, and I enjoyed the whole investigation and the twist at the end.
However, the ending felt very hollow to me. I opted to (insert SPOILER tag here because I can't for the life of me remember how you put the spoiler box in) help the Debunker devour all the moonlight, and it concluded pretty anticlimactically with him getting affected by the overdose, though in ways that weren't particularly clear, I gained a single enigma, and then the story was over. I'm not so much hung up about the material reward, it's just that it felt really rushed and anticlimactic near the end. Maybe I inadvertently picked the worst ending option possible and the other paths would've been more satisfying, but as things are, the story ended on a bit of a flat note.
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doge
Posts: 3
3/1/2019
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MeingroessterFan wrote:
However, the ending felt very hollow to me. I opted to (insert SPOILER tag here because I can't for the life of me remember how you put the spoiler box in) help the Debunker devour all the moonlight, and it concluded pretty anticlimactically with him getting affected by the overdose, though in ways that weren't particularly clear, I gained a single enigma, and then the story was over. I'm not so much hung up about the material reward, it's just that it felt really rushed and anticlimactic near the end. Maybe I inadvertently picked the worst ending option possible and the other paths would've been more satisfying, but as things are, the story ended on a bit of a flat note.
I agree with this it really fell off. When i saw the house change i was hoping it would be more like this video
https://youtu.be/x7ZrKehQ_xc?t=1124
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