Blackleaf
Posts: 552
11/10/2013
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Parabola seems to me like the only mystery of the neath that isnt studied a whole lot.
Sure Doctor Scholomo and the Glass seem to know something about it but they are quite cryptic.
Is there any inlore groups dedicated to studying the Parabola and mirrors?
And are there any player run groups dedicated to it? Ive seen seekers bind togheter aswell as scholars of the correspondence.
Seeking the answers of dreams is difficult by yourself. It will often cost you your sanity.
edited by Blackleaf on 11/10/2013
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No cats or investigations of photographers please.
Same goes for Sparring,Loitering,Suppers and Games of chess! Sure I'll accept them occasionaly but I wont help you grind them most of the time.
But calling cards are highly welcome! (Got too much influence for cards at the moment. Sorry!)
Character profile can be found here: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Blackleaf
Ware serpents and know spires.
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
11/12/2013
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To put this one to bed: the Destinies could happen. They fit snugly with existing lore. They're as canonical as anything else in-game. If you're worrying about how many people might actually have signed up to conquer the Mountain, worry first about how many spare rooms the Soft-Hearted Widow has. 
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
11/12/2013
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Blackleaf wrote:
(( Hallowmas destinies were confirmed to be entirely non canon. To avoid paradoxes in the story. ))
This is news to me. Can you point me to the original source of the misunderstanding so I can fix or clarify it?
edited by Alexis on 11/12/2013
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
12/17/2013
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My interpretation: the message if from the protagonist of The Silver Tree, and delivered much too late.
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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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streetfelineblue
Posts: 1459
12/17/2013
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Sara Hysaro wrote:
Edit: I don't really get why Christianity is mentioned either, assuming there's a concrete reason for it. There's probably a good reason why, but I couldn't begin to guess.
edited by Sara Hysaro on 12/17/2013
edited by Sara Hysaro on 12/17/2013
Well, I'd say the first reason is added creepyness, in the moment you realize this has already happened. The instant shocker is deconstructed in the very next sentence XD (There's another neat exmple of this narrating technique in the Transformers "More than meets the eye" IDW comic series).
Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
My interpretation: the message if from the protagonist of The Silver Tree, and delivered much too late.
Agreed.
Alexander Feld wrote:
Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
My interpretation: the message if from the protagonist of The Silver Tree, and delivered much too late.
That was my interpretation, too. The character's mission was, after all, partly to make the Masters look away from Rome as the Fourth City.
Still not sure about whether the serpent in the fountain matters. It was part of the real-world silver fountain, so it could just be that. The Hound of Heaven, though... that could be more significant.
The Hound of Heaven does seem like a silver serpent. I would have said it was a reference to the fountain, if the Theological Husbandry storyline didn't predate the Silver Tree. So, unless Failbetter Games planned the Silver Tree very in advance, it does look like a reference, Or maybe it's just a coincidence or a red herring. (Furthermore, [spoiler]serpents seem to be a leitmotiv of the Bishop of Southwark, considering that both his plans so far - creating an artificial creature and finding allies - involve snakes. That could be just a joke, considering that he didn't seem too keen on the snakes matter at first XD[/spoiler]).
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Link to Ocelot's Enigma Ambition hint page; PM for clarification. No direct solutions provided.
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
11/12/2013
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Blackleaf wrote:
True. Thanks for the help Mr.Tiger! Now im intrigued by how the Parabola destiny ties into the story... Expecially the fatelocked option.
Also a random idea, The destinies dont seem like anything that applies to a certain person, More of a oppertunity. Not everyone will become the general conquering the mountain for example but everyone can dream of becoming one. (( This seems like the most logical solution to the paradox problem. ))
There's an even easier fix to the paradox problem - the players don't all exist in the same Fallen London. Social Actions are just meant to be fun ways to play with other people, and allow for these sorts of events, but there's only one player per instance of Fallen London. At least that was always my interpretation of things.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Sara%20Hysaro
Please do not send SMEN, cat boxes, or Affluent Reporter requests. All other social actions are welcome.
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Ragabrash
Posts: 29
11/5/2014
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dragonridingsorceress wrote:
This may be slightly off-topic, but a thought just occurred to me.
Sorrow-spiders can travel through mirrors, ie. through Parabola. Do they have a different form in Parabola?
<Nightmare Increase> I hadn't considered this. I'm not sure... I really want to know.
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The Ragged Sinecure
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
11/12/2013
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"A rash of visions troubles London. A chosen few have truly glimpsed their future, but everyone claims they have." So, while we players have had prophetic dreams, a great many Londoners NPCs who didn't have mysterious Hallowmas visitors and didn't receive powerful Destinies are claiming they did too.
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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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Sackville
Posts: 295
11/12/2013
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[spoiler]Given the name of the place, it personally wouldn't surprise me if pretty much everywhere borders Parabola. But if the regular world is our directrix and Parabola is our.. parabola, then what's the focal point?[/spoiler]
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streetfelineblue
Posts: 1459
11/12/2013
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[spoiler]There is a connection between the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword - according to the Scripture such a weapon was given to the... I can't remember if it was a Cherubim or a Seraphim... guarding it after Adam and Eve were banished. Can't recall a sword of ice though.
The theory of Parabola bordering everything, a bit like the Astral Plane in the Dungeons and Dragons cosmology, starts to seem sound - either that, or Parabola is a sort of "hub" around which all other corners of reality are ordered. Or maybe the answer is just simpler - the form of a parable represented on a cartesian plane is a sort of curved line - looking a bit like a reversed mountain, does it? Now, "the" Mountain is said to be daughter of the Bazaar, and moving.. That should mean that it is by no means just an ordinary mountain. So I wonder whether the Mountain could be related to Parabola, or possibly be just the same thing - though I read the Mountain moves in the Unterzee, while Parabola, apparently, does not. But if Parabola was, say, a mirror image of the Mountain, AND the Mountain was somehow related to the Garden of Eden, that would explain both the Serpents presence and the lush vegetation in Parabola.[/spoiler]
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Twitter: @streetfelineblu
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Link to Ocelot's Enigma Ambition hint page; PM for clarification. No direct solutions provided.
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Blackleaf
Posts: 552
11/12/2013
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I feel like there should be some sort of group dedicated to studying Parabola now. Like a Parabola club.
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No cats or investigations of photographers please.
Same goes for Sparring,Loitering,Suppers and Games of chess! Sure I'll accept them occasionaly but I wont help you grind them most of the time.
But calling cards are highly welcome! (Got too much influence for cards at the moment. Sorry!)
Character profile can be found here: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Blackleaf
Ware serpents and know spires.
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Jenson Shepherd
Posts: 44
11/12/2013
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Sackville wrote:
*snip spoiler stuff*
[spoiler]If anywhere was going to be the focal point it would be the Bazaar, surely?[/spoiler]
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Proud member of Club Hesperidean
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streetfelineblue
Posts: 1459
11/12/2013
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Blackleaf wrote:
To clarify Failbetter games twitter said that "Trading destinies" or something between characters or destinies being releated with eachother was impossible due to paradoxes. It was my incomptence that added the other stuff.
Still didn't the hallowmas storylet say that like only 0.5% of everyone in London who has a vision of a destiny has a true one?
Edit: " One's destiny is personal (and the causal paradoxes involved hurt our hearts and head). So sadly not. " -Failbetter games twitter. The tweet wich confused me. Really sorry for misleading anyone.
edited by Blackleaf on 11/12/2013
I think that 0.5% of "everyone" is meant to reference the player characters, as opposed to NPCs. Then again, possibly some of the main NPCs could have had true dreams of the future in canon too - people like the Gracious Widow or the Duchess.
Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook wrote:
With the recent hints in the Forgotten Quarter and Hallowmas content, I admit I have been rather curious about Parabola.
*FOLLOWS SPOILER ABOUT PARABOLA*
Another couple of points:
[spoiler]Parabola borders Hell as well as dreams, meaning that either dreams and Parabola are a much more "real" place than I thought, or that Hell is much less a physical place as it's a kind of metaphysical reality, itself akin to dreams.
About the creatures that oppose the Fingerkings: for sure we know that the Devils have no known allegiance to them, and could actually become their enemies in the future, UNLESS they played a gambit of huge proportions. Also I don't think the Masters have a good opinions of creatures basically plotting to invade our reality, starting with Fallen London. Another hint might be the fact that when embroiled in the Wars of Illusion, the faction using the Fingerkings' powers to their own advantage were the magicians of the Glass, and they were helped by bats, opposed by the spiritists of the Shroud and their cats helpers. Should this mean that bats are allied to the Fingerkings and cats oppose them? I would have guessed the opposite. Then again, magicians themselves seem to be growing weary of their allegiance to the Fingerkngs - the ending storylet for the Glass side of the Wars of Illusions seems to depict a lot of suspect, bordering of fear, towards the creatures that allow such magnificent illusions, like the magicians were starting to think they were just tools in the hands of ther "allies" Fingerkings.
On a different topic about Parabola: the Serpentine medals seem to tell a short fairytale about a little serpent that seems to be an allegory for the Fingerkings. According to this mythos, the Fingerkings would hac+ve enlisted the help of the "grumpiest bee of all" to create the Exile's Rose so to produce Red Honey, with the ultimate end to bring people into Parabola - possibly to take their skin to wear, and then replace them in the "real" world. The exact identity of this "grumpiest bee" is currently unknown as I know of. I wonder if Nemesis Ambition will deal with it sooner or later, having already thrown references to Red Honey and such? [/spoiler]
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Twitter: @streetfelineblu
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Link to Ocelot's Enigma Ambition hint page; PM for clarification. No direct solutions provided.
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Rackenhammer
Posts: 354
11/6/2014
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"This is all the Red King's Dream. If he were to wake up, we'd all vanish, even you!"
~Lewis Carrol, Through the Looking Glass
I don't think that it's any surprise that Parabola being behind the Mirrors is a reference to this seminal work of Victorian Literature, but thinking about it lately brought about another thought.
Dreams thrive in the Neath, but who is the Dreamer? Who is it that all the powers of the Bazaar are bent towards you not finding? Who are we actively discouraged to Seek?
[spoiler]
Of course, if "Mr. Eaten" is the dreamer, that brings up the question of which side of the Mirrors are actually the Dream. We know the things peculiar to the Neath (Glim, Prisoner's Honey, Mushroom Wine) are destroyed in the sunlight/starlight, just like that which is attributed to Parabola in the text from the Deep Blue heaven expedition.
Also, think about what happens to those who cross over unprotected. They become possessed... by the Fingerkings. Controlled by beings on the other side...
But are not Player Characters controlled as such? And by what part of our bodies?
[/spoiler]
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"DO NOT TRUST HAPPY ENDINGS. DO NOT FEAR SAD ENDINGS... NEITHER ARE ENDINGS."
~
Mathieu Psmith: The Bard of Lost Children, loving husband, and a fixture of the artistic set. Can never resist making a show of things...
Irene Psmith: Adopted Daughter of Mathieu. Specializes in Information, Acquisitions, and the Acquisition of Information.
Vaughan Montblanc: Once a frontiersman of Western Canada, he now practices medicine in London. His discretion may be absolutely trusted.
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streetfelineblue
Posts: 1459
11/12/2013
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Blackleaf wrote:
The storylet specificly states you have been chosen as a huntsman. Basicly you are a servant of the fingerkings that is given the abillity to leave parabola but only to bring back new prisoners. The fatelocked option RELEASES you from their command and makes you free to do whatever you please with the powers that were given to you. (( Not a spoiler or fatelocked dialogue. It says so on the option not the results. )) The red handed queen seems to imply that the player is still a servant of the fingerkings but now allied with the queen and able to command part of the neath togheter with her when the fingerkings allow it. One of the storylets even mention how the fingerkings are incredebly dependant on the player bringing back prisoners so they whould probably allow you a vacation now and then. So basicly, They are really powerful and enigmatic but they arnt dicks or poweer addicts. They do seem to have some strange plans for the neath though.
That's what I had thought, but [spoiler]the Red-Handed Queen's spoiler explicitly says you're planning to come back as the King of Underneath, that would seem to imply your ultimate freedom from the Huntsman's duties. The Genial Magician's ending is much less clear, but it does seem to imply that you have a plan requiring his assistance, though the exact nature of this plan is left in the dark. And without going into details as they're dependant on Fate-Locked prerequisites, the Bishop and the Devilish Diplomat endings also seem to imply your ultimate return to London, not just on vacation. So I may be mistaken, but my impression is that most of the Castle of Forests destinies suggest your ultimate freedom from Parabola; the main difference with the Fate-Locked ending being the moment this happens, and the powers that you are able to retain.[/spoiler]
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Twitter: @streetfelineblu
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Link to Ocelot's Enigma Ambition hint page; PM for clarification. No direct solutions provided.
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Blackleaf
Posts: 552
11/12/2013
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Yep. The fingerkings are a strange bunch. And Parabola is a strange place! Lets hope for more story involving it! A quick thanks to you people here in the thread, this has been a great discussion so far but i dont really know what else to talk about now :P
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No cats or investigations of photographers please.
Same goes for Sparring,Loitering,Suppers and Games of chess! Sure I'll accept them occasionaly but I wont help you grind them most of the time.
But calling cards are highly welcome! (Got too much influence for cards at the moment. Sorry!)
Character profile can be found here: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Blackleaf
Ware serpents and know spires.
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Trodgmey
Posts: 164
12/18/2013
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So, a few notes. First, on the identity of the Garden. Given that the Neath seems to be a sort of consolidation of the collective myths of the underworld, except of course different, the Garden probably has connotations of Eden and other myths. For instance, this name probably rings a bell...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperides
Second,
[spoiler]
content from one of the Shrine of the Deep Blue Heaven gives us this bit of dangerous wisdom from the Fourth City:
"Parabola is the enemy-kingdom. The Judgements determine what is. Parabola’s citizens are Is-Not. Sunlight destroys them, starlight corrodes them. Dreams come at night. Dreams thrive in the Neath. The Judgements cannot see - "
after which the Dean burns the vellum rather than translate the rest.
[/spoiler]
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Trodgmey -- an otherwise pleasant chap with a peculiar obsession with the first four cities.
http://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/Trodgmey
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