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The Darkest Day of the Year
Although not for any silly, pseudo-scientific reasons like the proximity of Northern Hemisphere to the sun... as if sunlight existed in the Neath. But still, on December 21st, the moonish light of the “stars” seems dimmer and further away, long, chilly shadows stretch out over the Bazaar, and even the walls Brass Embassy seem cooler and more remote than usual. The streets are quiet, save for a lone, hooded figure with a lamp-lighting pole...
It is Mr. Fires, moving solemnly from lamp to lamp, fitting each with a foxfire candle. You wonder, briefly, if he intends to personally light every lamp in Fallen London, but no-- out of the corner of your eye, you catch glimpses of swift, silent urchins flitting between the lamps on the other sides of the street, the lights flickering slowly to life. You feel a deep, unsettling, damp coldness settle into your soul, and utterly refuse to budge. Feeling suddenly exposed, you are about to turn back towards your lodgings, when you mark that Mr. Fires is slowly and inexorably approaching you.
“Your attendance is expected, of course,” It thrusts a cream envelope with gilt edging at you. The moment your fingers touch the waxy vellum, it has already moved on, towards the still dark end of the street. The chill and your initial impulse is still with you, and you hurry as fast as you may back to your lodgings.
You've gained An Invitation to a Farlight Celebration X 1.
Cream Colored Cardstock, Smelling of Wax and Mushrooms...
(Unlocked with An Invitation to a Farlight Celebration X 1)
“To drive away the chill of the Furthering of the Lights on this, the Furthest night of the year, You are cordially invited to the Farlight Grand Tryst, a festival of gathering warmth, at the personal request of Mr. Chimes...”
The house of Chimes, throwing open its doors to all of London, for something called the Farlight festival? One of those new Old Traditions, you expect. What can you do? You put on your finest attire, and head out into the glimmering dusk, towards the House of Chimes.
All the Luminaries of London
As you enter the house, you are handed an especially ornate mask by a Grinning Servant, who is kind enough to tie it on you. Attached to the mask is a long ribbon, in which is tied seven rings, made of red-gold. Passing into the grand salon, you feel the chill begin to lift from your shoulders. It seems as though everyone who is anyone is here... the dignitaries of Society, Church, Academia, the Constables, the Brass Embassy, and everywhere in between. The revelers walk with the right hand cocked out, provocatively, and the ribbon in their other hand... you see an irresistible, magnificent, midnight and sinister gentleman slide a red-gold ring on the finger of a terrifying, lethal, sagacious and inescapable person of mysterious and indistinct gender. They vanish together up a flight of stairs, to Mr. Chimes’s notorious private rooms. So that’s how things work around here, is it? Well! There are certainly a number of likely prospects, and you’ve already attracted attention befitting your prominence in Fallen London. You’ve seven opportunities. Best make them count.
You've gained Farlight Ring X 7
Farlight Festival Mask X 1 (-1 Wounds, -1 Nightmares, +1 Scandal, -1 Suspicious).
The Private Rooms await...
(Unlocked with Farlight Ring 1)
Whose hand will you grace with a Festival ring?
The Elegantly Feline Hand: (Unlocked with Connected: The Duchess 40).
Can she really approve of this sort of thing?
The Red Silk Hand: (Unlocked with Persuasive 70)
The one night of the year when Sinning Jenny’s charms come gratis...
The Smouldering Hand: (Unlocked with An Intimate of Devils 1)
The Quiet Deviless and her friend, the Affectionate Devil are both looking at you with particularly hungry expressions...
The Pious Hand: (Unlocked with Connected: The Church 20)
The Bishop of Southwark is looking especially fiery this evening. Perhaps he'd be interested in warming you with some rousing condemnation of sinners... or something?
The Indistinct Hand: (Unlocked with An Annoyance to Jack-of-Smiles 1)
You have led each other a merry chase... will it end tonight, one way or another?
The Hooded Hand: (unlocked with Connected: The Masters of the Bazaar 2).
Wait... One of the Masters!? Engaging in... impossible! Unbelievable! Irresistible! You have to know.
The Delicious Hand
Who is this charming and uncanny individual?
The Elegantly Feline Hand
(unlocked with Connected: The Duchess 40)
You bow deeply before the Duchess, and slip a ring onto her silk-gloved hand. She favors you with a nod, but her smile doesn't seem to reach her eyes. You do not notice many other rings on her fingers, curiously enough, as she slips her arm though yours. Although she seems to demur to you, it is she who leads you up the flights of stairs, though a red-curtained hallway, into one of Mr. Chimes's Private Rooms. As you glance over your shoulder, you notice that you've been followed by cats... lots, and lots, and lots of cats. After you pass through the door, she holds it open for them, black ones, grey ones, white ones, a Persian... and is that a Starveling Cat!? You are surrounded by green and yellow eyes, all wide-open, perched on every surface, and staring at you. You swallow, hard. The last swishing tail slips into the room, and the Duchess, smiling ever-so slightly, shuts the door.
A half-hour later, you emerge again, moving a little stiffly. You wonder, vaguely, how you're going to explain the long, red scratch marks all over your... well, never mind that. The next time you spot the Duchess across the floor, she seems to conjure a much more genuine smile, and you swear that you hear purring...
Connected: The Duchess is increasing...
You've lost 1 X Farlight Ring (new total 6).
You've gained 200 X Whispered Secrets.
You've gained 4 X Appalling Secrets.
The Red Silk Hand
(Unlocked with Persuasive 70)
Sinning Jenny is fetchingly attired as Salome, preparing to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils, though you count at least 20, diaphanous as they are. Not surprisingly, her hands are already covered in rings by the time you make it close enough to slip one of yours on her left pinky finger. She laughs bewitchingly and whisks you away through the curtain to the kitchens, where she pushes you into a remarkably comfortable broom-closet, all decked out with pillows, wine, and fruit. You're hardly surprised, of course... it is just like her, to be prepared for any eventuality!
You spend a delightful interlude eating cherries, playing dress-up in some of her many veils, and contorting yourself in all manner of interesting ways, as necessitated by the confines of the space. She teaches you a new trick or two next time you manage to get some pretty young thing you mean to Fascinate alone in your Respectable Landau... you leave feeling delightfully refreshed, and warmer too!
You've lost 1 X Farlight Ring (new total 5).
You've gained 1 Greyfields 1868: First Sporing.
You've gained Silk Scrap X 20.
You've Gained Dark-Dewed Cherries X 2.
The Smouldering Hand
(Unlocked with An Intimate of Devils 1)
The Grinning Servant has assured you that all attendant devils have been asked to check any contraband cutlery at the door. For tonight, anyway, you can make merry with the denizens of the Brass Embassy without fear... well, without too much fear. A little bit of polite terror is both polite and distinctly attractive. At least, the Affectionate Devil seems to think so, admiring the red-gold ring you've placed upon his finger. Before the Quiet Deviless can dissolve into tears, or bite her lip in that unbearably forlorn way that she has, you place another one of your rings on her middle finger. The way she lights up warms the surrounding area for several feet... other guests in the vicinity are starting to loosen their clothing, and cast rather sultry looks in your direction. The three of you decide to repair to the Private Rooms as swiftly as possible.
A brass and gold soaked eternity later, you are interrupted by a knock on the door. You untangle yourself from the tangle of diabolical limbs long enough to receive a message on behalf of Mr. Chimes. Apparently, the smoke pouring out from this room has driven away the guests in several neighboring suites, and small fires have begun to break out in a couple of the nearer salons. You make profuse apologies, and return to tell your recent paramours the unfortunate news. They take it well, but insist that you join them again, soon... early in the new year, perhaps?
After you have all gathered up your clothing to depart, you linger to scoop up some of the melted remains of the neighboring room.
Connected: Hell is Increasing!
Hedonist is Increasing!
An Intimate of Devils is Increasing!
You've gained 50 X Lamplighter Beeswax.You've gained 2 X Secluded Address.
You've lost Farlight Rings X 2 (new total 4).
The Pious Hand
(Unlocked with Connected: Church 20)
The Bishop of Southwark is particularly fiery this evening, blistering the ears of a few swooning novitiates over in a corner on the evils of Hell, Snakes, and people who ride their velocipedes too fast through the streets. When he sees you, he beckons you warmly into his circle of acolytes. You engage in a heated debate on the topic of Theosophical Husbandry and Diabolical Influence, which seems to get both of you a little steamed, but also intrigued. When he asks if you’d fancy a wrestling match, you respond by palming him a Farlight Ring.
He laughs, and thumps you on the back, escorting you not to one of the Private Rooms, but to a room usually reserved for gambling. It’s not exactly empty... you hear muffled sighs, groans, and other noises from behind chairs and tables and folding screens. This does not seem to trouble the Bishop, who strips off his cassock and flexes his muscular soldiers. Does he actually mean to wrestle?
Apparently so, though that isn’t all. Before you know it, you are slammed onto your back, and the Bishop has you pinned half-atop a Baccarat table.
“Submit, sinner!” He growls between his wide and clench-toothed grin, but you are not to be defeated so easily, You pull off a stunning flip, and you hope that Mr. Chimes isn’t too upset about the fact that the Baccarat table is all but splinters. As for the Bishop, he doesn’t seem put out by your reversal at all, but lunges for you again, and each time he gets a good hold, it seems that you’re short another piece of clothing...
Before you know it, you’re completely naked and hopelessly pinned beneath the iron grip of sweaty, fervent, ecclesiastical thunder... and there’s really nothing wrong with that. When it is over, you feel very nearly absolved... shriven, though you’re walking as though you’ve just been brutally mated with a Wings of Thunder bat. Speaking of which... wait, what is he doing with that jar?
Three months later, you receive a note and a bottle at your lodgings. Floating inside is a twisted little creature, with uncomfortably familiar features. The note expresses regret that this isn’t quite the Hound of Heaven, but assures you that the experiment itself is nothing but the highest of complements. Also, whenever you’d like a re-match, you can find him in the Fourth Coil of the Labyrinth of Tigers.
You shudder a little, but perhaps you’ll consider it. On closer examination, the bottle-creature is kind of cute, at least...
Connected: Church is increasing!
You've gained 1 X Curiously Familiar Bottled Homunculus (+2 Persuasive, +2 Dangerous, -3 Watchful)
You've lost 1 X Farlight Ring (New total 3)
The Indistinct Hand
(Unlocked with An Annoyance to Jack-of-Smiles 1)
Most people in the House of Chimes don’t recognize the cheerfully bland individual, blending in so inconspicuously with the rest of the masked revellers, but you do. You have pursued each other up and down through Watchmaker’s Hill, and although you have certainly moved on to more daring and dangerous encounters, neither of you have forgotten each other. You see his hard, twisted hands, already sporting a red-gold ring or two, clench and unclench around an invisible dagger. But it isn’t that kind of evening, is it? Your eyes flick over to a hooded figure-- Mr. Chimes himself, probably-- watching the both of you. Not that you can ever read any expressions underneath the Masters’ hoods, but tonight is probably the wrong night for that kind of revenge.
Smiles seems to have the same notion, and is about to turn away, but you find yourself moving towards him anyway. He pauses, bland and expressionless, fingering the brim of his Exceptional Hat. But he seems almost surprised when you slip the Farlight Ring on his finger, and lead him off upstairs. Should you be putting your back to him? Could he potentially use his shoelaces as a garrote? Do you care?
Some time later, a Grinning Servant hears your muffled cries from one of the back rooms. It isn’t that you’re unhappy about the situation, or that it wasn’t perfectly wonderful, really. It’s just, well naturally, someone like Jack-of-Smiles is bound to have some rough tastes and, well... would he be kind enough to cut you down? And ah, not mention this to anyone?
Once you’re down, you find that Smiles has left you a little token to remember him by. Apart from the scars, of course.
An Annoyance to Jack-of-Smiles is decreasing...
Wounds is increasing...
You’ve gained Leathery Human Heart X1
You’ve lost Inkling of Identity X 1
You’ve lost Farlight Ring X 1 (new total 2).
The Hooded Hand
(Unlocked with Connected: The Masters of the Bazaar 2)
Perhaps it is simply curiosity; perhaps you are simply that determined to make a lasting impression, not to mention satisfy your own ambitions within the Bazaar. You slip your ring onto the gloved hand, and wonder which of the Masters is leading you... not upstairs to the private rooms, but downstairs, into the submerged portion. You swallow hard, and wonder if you haven’t made a dreadful mistake.
It leads you into a small, elegant room done all in eggshell white, with faint scrollwork on the silk walls... wait, as you peer at the curling designs, you recognise the symbols of the Correspondence! For the one who submits tenderly and begets the tenderest cruelties of love..., The cost of extracting a beloved from the power of Hell... You realize suddenly that each coiled set of symbols corresponds to a value in echoes. What is this place!? You are so entranced by the lines, that you do not notice as the Master fastens a heavy, iron collar around your neck until it is yanking the chain by which it is leading you. Benumbed, you follow it to a mid-height table, covered in silk padding, with more of the elegant scroll work. You are made to climb up onto the silk, placed upon your hands and knees, and a high-pitched voice tells you, “Look to love... always, look to love.”
Your chain is threaded through a loop on the edge of the table, and a masked servant feeds you a spoon-ful of something that is either wine or honey, though you have never tasted anything quite like it. You are vaguely aware of a sudden draft as your lower garments are peeled away, and your face is pressed into Who is deceived by a crafty lover, and yet finds delight... The words sear your cheek, as you feel the whisper of robes against your most sensitive regions, robes, and a gloved hand, and oh my...
You have no idea how long it lasts, or how many different sets of robes come and go behind you. How many Masters of the Bazaar are there, anyway? You are fairly sure that at one point, you caught the scent of saffron, cardamom, and turmeric; you are certain you did not imagine that a certain gloved hand gripping your hair was accompanied by breath redolent of dry parchment and alcohol ink... or was that a particularly rarefied specie of mushroom?
When it is over, you are lead back to the main ballroom by your chain, and you are not even sure if the same Master is returning you as found you in the first place. Once at the entry, it removes the chain, but not the collar, and presses a small favor into your hand. Your mind reels with the honey and with the sheer unreality of it all. What just happened!?
Connected: The Masters of the Bazaar is increasing...
You've gained 1 X Corresponding Collar (+4 Watchful, +1 Nightmares)
You've gained 3 X Sapphires.
You've lost 1 X Farlight Ring (new total 1).
The Delicious Hand
You are suddenly and impossibly drawn to a mellow, laughing voice from somewhere behind you. You are sure you've heard it before... perhaps you passed this individual in your various intrigues at the Court, seen them lingering about the jewel shops and honey dens in Veilgarden and Spite, or seen them descending from the observatory in Watchmaker's hill? Have you read their poetry when it was raved about in Huffam's, sneered over their ridiculous attempts to distinguish themselves in fashion and dueling, served in the next cell in New Newgate, competed with them over the same lovers, or perhaps sketched them a spy's tattoo? Did you last hear that laugh returning from the Tomb Colonies, just as you, yourself were exiled there, or perhaps being checked into the Royal Bethlehem while you were head-down in the fountain? It doesn't matter. You turn, and your eyes meet. Their conversation-- you're unsure of their gender, and they don't seem particularly put off by yours-- with a certain Melancholy Curate, his shy "Sister" hiding demurely behind him, stops suddenly. As if by some implacable force, you are drawn together, like stars in orbit. As you place your last ring on the delicious individual's finger, the last of the chill melts away in the heat of your conjoined smiles.
You go together-- not to the private rooms, but out of the front door, into the dimmish, far-distant light of the Neathy Evening, to wait out the rest of what Surface-Dwellers call the Solstice before a crackling fire in your lodgings-- or theirs. They whisk you up onto their Obdurate Stallion and you ride away into the night.
You've gained Constant Companion: A Delicious Friend of Your Very Own! X 1
Your Farlight Ring quality is now 0.