Echo Bazaar/WMG
Jossed
Dr Schlomo is Mr Apples.
This blog post mentions that Mr Apples is actually already in the game, it's just not apparent that it's him. Dr Schlomo is surprisingly knowledgeable about the deepest secrets of the Neath: the Correspondence and the recurring dreams. How could a mere human know so much? The answer: he isn't. He's a Master of the Bazaar who's taken up a human guise. For what purpose is uncertain, but he seems to be fairly benevolent.
- "Sigmund Freud (German pronunciation: [ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt]), born Sigismund Schlomo Freud" ... (from the Wikipedia article)
- Ohhhh. Didn't know that. So he's one of the first psychologists? That's...interesting, and it makes a lot of sense too.
Dr Schlomo is immortal.
Dr Schlomo has, somehow, bought and drunk Hesperidian Cider. He is now has eternal youth, and the reason he knows so much is simply because he's had multiple lifetimes to study the workings of the Bazaar. It's possible that he's even from the First City.
Mr Apples is Jesus.
According to the sidebars, he deals in "food, wood and immortality". Jesus was the son of a carpenter, and was known for producing food (specifically, loaves and fishes), and the immortality bit is self-explanatory. He's presumably responsible for the Hesperidean Cider in the Bazaar, the description of which ("WHOSO THIRSTETH AND DRINKETH OF THIS, SO SHALL HE NEVER DIE") reads a lot like John 3:16 ("whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life"). And he's a friend of Mr Veils, who governs prostitutes (Mary Magdalene).
- Alternatively, Mr Eaten is Jesus. There are 13 other Masters revealed so far -- enough for the 12 disciples and Mary Magdelene. Jesus is also regularly eaten at Mass. And, of course, something terrible happened to Mr Eaten...
The Starveling Cat knows things that catkind was not meant to know.
It has seen all the secrets of the Fallen Cities. It knows Mr Eaten's name and a good deal more about him besides. Its Unaccountably Peckish score is consequently mammothian.
- I have found evidence for this: one of the sidebars says "The Starveling Cat! The Starveling Cat! Jumped down the well for a good long chat!" If what's in the well isn't Mr Eaten (and it's strongly implied that it is), then it's something catkind certainly was not meant to know. I'd say this is practically canon. Oh, and if its Unaccountably Peckish score is mammothian, then that explains why it's constantly trying to eat things.
The Starveling Cat ate Neath-snow.
Possibly connected to the above. One of the sidebars talks about the story of a man who cooked a pan of Neath-snow, being told that he would get white glim for his trouble. Instead, he got strange white goo. His cats tasted it when he left it unattended. One of them died outright, and it does not say what happened to the other one -- only that something so terrible happened to it that the man locked it in his cellar and says he does not imagine he will let it out, ever. While saying that that cat is the Starveling Cat may be a bit of a stretch, perhaps it's a roundabout way of showing that a similar fate befell it? Perhaps the reason the cat had to be locked up was because it went mad from the revelation.
We will be able to return to the surface late in the game.
Since there is an inordinately expensive item which appears to have no purpose other than to allow players back to the surface if they die in Fallen London, this seems rather obvious. That, or we'll need to give someone else a Hesperidean Cider, possibly in a new quest.
What's in the well?
You know, the thing that's Nightmare Fuel incarnate. Post your theories here, tropers.
- There aren't many hints for it, but I personally believe it's Mr Eaten himself. Though if that's where he is, it begs the question of what's NORTH...something even worse, perhaps? The Death By Water storyline will not end well...
- Care for spoilers, then? During the Number portion of Seeking Mr Eaten's name, it's implied that Mr Eaten was repeatedly stabbed and then drowned in a well. On Mutton Island there's a well sacred to the natives and if you're Seeking Mr Eaten's Name, you'll hear the children sing around it. This well is not The Well, but perhaps… Perhaps there is something in all wells that even these innocents can grasp. So I don't think the well in Big King Square is the resting place of Mr Eaten -- perhaps that's NORTH -- but it contains some resonance with The Well that whispers terrible things and drives you mad if you look into it. An echo, if you will.
The Starveling Cat is Mr. Eaten
It's always hungry, and "ruled the roof of five stolen cities." Alternatively, it's Mr. Eaten's pet. "Who's on your collar Mr. Starveling Cat? // Come closer, my dear, if you want to read that..."
The price paid for London was the Consort's life.
He was suffering from Typhoid before the Fall, and miraculously recovered as soon as he came down. But the real clincher? When performing a choral requiem for the Empress in the Court, she stares at the Consort and a tear rolls down her cheek.
- Agreed. The Duchess also will tell you during a particular storyline that the Bazaar runs on love stories and that three cities ago, the Cantigaster was her husband. and she made a bargain similar to the one the Empress made.
There are multiple Neaths, linked by the sacrifices of those who seek Mr. Eaten's name.
Think about it. There are multiple plots that one would think could only be pursued by one person at a time, but they can be played by every player simultaneously. There are events that can have effects changing everything in a particular Neath, but somehow you never hear about it when another player triggers them. Perhaps each player exists in their own personal Neath, and massive sacrifices allow for social actions as the different Neaths are drawn into contact...
- Interesting, but then how do two residents who have never pursued Mr Eaten's name perform social actions?
Those who follow the Persuasive path are deeper in the Neath's grasp than any other
After all, the most Persuasive people are those capable of manipulating the hearts and passions of others and, as the Duchess will tell you the Bazaar is fueled by, and possibly feeds on, love stories. So there are two possibilities: one, that the very Persuasive are falling head-first into whatever trap the Bazaar sets for people; or two, that they are, with or without realizing it, using the Bazaar's influence to their own ends; and either way they can't be unraveling the secrets of the Neath because they're too embroiled in it all to analyze any of it.
Jack-of-Smiles' Body Surf is powered by the Correspondence.
This blog post mentions that the answer to the mystery of Jack is coming soon. What else is coming soon? New Watchful content that will continue the Scholar of the Correspondence storyline. There has already been an interesting opportunity card about Dr Schlomo that reveals the good doctor believes the Correspondence to be a Language of Magic that turns the speaker into a Reality Warper. These two things happening so closely together are unlikely to be a coincidence.
The Comtessa did want to be turned to stone.
Tragic Love Stories will be a high-level Nostalgia item.
Judas was a Marveller, and betrayed Jesus to get the coins he needed.
In Biblical mythology, Judas was paid in 30 silver coins to betray Jesus. There are also 30 First City coins in the Museum of Mistakes, almost certainly in reference to this. Furthermore, the description for First City coins in the inventory says that "traditionally, these coins are given thirty at a time..." Many suspected that Judas began the tradition of giving 30 coins at a time, but what if it was the other way around? What if the Marvellous existed before his time, and he was a player?
Going on the above WMG, Judas' heart's desire was to bring back his friend.
Let's say that after selling out Jesus, Judas experienced a My God, What Have I Done? moment and had a Heel Face Turn. He did succeed in playing the Marvellous, and he won, but his heart's desire became "I want my friend back." And so, Jesus rose from the dead, and the rest is history...
Mr. Eaten's name is what you get if you draw a map of the city.
From what we've seen, Correspondence sigils look like complicated messes of lines and curves. The city streets are such a complicated mess of lines and curves that you can literally go insane trying to find your way around. Assuming that the Correspondence actually is a Language of Magic, the Forgotten Quarter is in the center of a sigil for "something that has been forgotten", Wolfstack is near a sigil for "animal that never eats eyes", and other places have their own sigils ("a man who lives in dreams", "a place that cannot be found", "a dog that feeds on restraints", and such). The Name is a very complicated sigil, describing "a place powered by love where death has died and chains are consumed, where reckonings are postponed but not forever, where bodies are exchanged and souls are loose, where location is a matter of belief and mirrors, where
I just thought I'd post this, since I was walking by. Whoever wrote it seems to have disappeared; in front of the computer where it was written are several pages covered with some kind of scribbling (that were smouldering when I got here; water didn't seem to help but tearing them up did) and a set of neatly folded clothes.
The next Zee location to be unlocked will be the Carnelian Coast.
In the Associating with Radical Academics story, the Elder Continent is mentioned as the location of the Garden and the object of the Dilmun Club's goals. It's heavily implied that that's where the story will pick up next, so it would make sense.
Getting married will come back to bite us.
One of the Arc Words is "Whatever you do, don't fall in love." Getting a Constant Companion violates that, by definition. With the narrative apparently placing such a heavy emphasis on love themes, there's no way this won't have major ramifications down the line.