#acquaintance: the honey-addled detective

[world-of-advice]

[bizarrebazaar13]

ok so due to the sleepy I might not be able to elaborate on this as much as I wanted. but.

given that the honey addled detective is a Sherlock Holmes reference, isn’t it weird that we don’t see a Watson counterpart? especially given that “Holmes and Watson but supernatural” is an established adaptation genre (the particular crossover of the Holmes stories and Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos is more common and more popular than you might expect).

however. Holmes and Watson meet essentially by chance; Watson returns from war in Afghanistan and is looking for a place to live, and runs into an old acquaintance, who introduces him to another man looking for someone to share rent payments. that man is, of course, Sherlock Holmes, and from there both of their lives change drastically.

in mask of the rose, Harjit comments that with London (and crucially, its rulers) now underground and cut off from the surface, England’s colonial influence is much weaker. Watson was wounded in the battle of Maiwand, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. the war was fought as part of the real life “Great Game”: a power struggle between the Russian and British empires in Central Asia.

so, in the Fallen London universe, would the battle of Maiwand ever have happened? maybe not. is it possible that Watson and Holmes might have met some other way? of course. but specifically in the context of Fallen London, it seems unlikely. Watson says that he “had neither kith nor kin in England” upon his arrival in London in A Study in Scarlet, and he specifically made his way to London in order to recover from his wounds. a spooky underground cavern is probably not conducive to rest and recovery.

assuming Holmes was born in 1854, he would have been only eight years old in 1862, when the fall happened, which (to me) rules out any possibility of him and Watson meeting before the fall. for context, A Study in Scarlet takes place in 1881, well after London has fallen. so we are left with a Holmes without a Watson.

Jeremy Brett, who played Holmes on screen for a decade, once compared Holmes’s relationship to Watson to “a drowning man clinging to a raft”. if the honey addled detective is indeed a direct reference to Sherlock Holmes, he makes for a very tragic one indeed, and that makes him extremely compelling to me.

[gmalaart]

The Spectacled Beholder

Name: Doctor Emon Cavendish

Gender: Left it on the surface (he/they))

Height: 6'2" (188cm)

Occupation: Enquirer, working under the Honey-Addled Detective’s wing.

Prominent skills: Watchful, Shadowy, Persuasive

Prominent quirks: Subtle, Heartless, Hedonist, Steadfast

Reputation:

Dr. Cavendish hasn’t been in London long but they’ve surely been busy. It isn’t uncommon to see them skittering through alleyways and avenues alike, keen eyes flitting this and that way in search of opportunity. Not much is known for sure about them, just that he came from the surface and took to the city like it was his to begin with. However, there are rumours about a brother they apparently have on the surface, about their previous life being an overly sheltered one, or even about their academic pursuits being a front for activities tied to The Great Game. For now, the doctor hasn’t sworn allegiance to any faction yet, and their intentions remain a bit of a mystery to any prying eyes.

Personality:

SUBTLE; despite their eccentric appearance, Cavendish is nothing if not discreet. They’ve apparently spent a lot of their life avoiding people’s scrutiny and they prefer to be a fly on the wall rather than the centre of attention.

HEARTLESS; simply put, Cavendish doesn’t much care for the wellbeing of others. They’ve seen what it does to people, caring too much, and they’d rather avoid the hassle. Close relationships are quite alien to them due to this fact, but he’s amused when people try to form one (and someday, someone might sneak through one of his cracks)

HEDONIST; on the surface, the good doctor was said to be a bit of a shut-in, rarely leaving his family’s abode unless strictly necessary. Those restrictions are far behind them now, as they set out to sample all that London has to offer (especially the honey that their Detective friend is so fond of).

STEADFAST; despite their many faults, Cavendish is known to be a person of their word. That word may be bought with coin, secrets or favours, but outside of exceptional circumstances it is a matter of first come, first served.

+bonus: ALLERGIC TO BOREDOM; Cavendish has curiosity in spades as well as an overactive mind that can’t go very long without entertainment. A discerning mind will realise that this is the prime reason why they struggled in high society and why they decided to delve into Fallen London instead. Their smile is brightest when discovering something new and slightly scandalous (perhaps a bit too bright). Due to this they are also quite attracted to all manner of non-human beings found in the Neath.

Example Dialogue:

"Miss Bean,

If we are to cooperate in our investigation I must INSIST on getting rid of those wounds all over your person. I am acquainted with matters of the flesh and its rending (as I am sure you garnered from the scar across my own face, hah!) and I know that leaving a wound untreated is sure to cause unnecessary bleeding at the most inopportune time. If you were to leave a dripping trail of blood behind us right as our investigation is coming to its climax, why I fear I would have to abandon you there and then! And I would so miss your charm. Meet me in my lodgings within the next three days, I have some medical supplies left over from my latest errand for the Department of Menace Eradication.

Ever your servant,

Dr. E. Cavendish”

[carterhaughs]

So I met the Honey-Addled Detective and that's it, I found my trash son.

He’s fun, isn’t he? Bless his heart. He’s doing his best. So many great acquaintances to make in this game. So far I’ve met him, the Repentant Forger (you meet him in jail), and the Regretful Soldier. Glad you’re having fun! :D

[feigher]

Fallen London Journal Day 12: Sources of Visions of the Surface

The Loquacious Vicar has told Feigher that she can use Tales of Terror to gain a Sense of Deja Vu - and that can be combined with a Vision of the Surface to create a Glimpse of Something Larger. The bottleneck is, Visions of the Surface are hard to come by. At my point in the game, what are the best ways to gain Visions of the Surface?

Deepening you acquaintance with Prisoner’s Honey with Air 20-45 at Veilgarden will get you 1 Vision of Surface, for 2 actions.

Setting your Watchful Major Lateral to the Anchoress in Ladybones Road will increase 1 Vision of the Surface to 5, for 3 actions.

Helping the Affluent Photographer can get you 1 Vision of the Surface.

The Last Constable and The Cheery Man opportunity cards have options to gain 1 Vision of the Surface.

Dining with an acquaintance can net 8 Visions of the Surface each.

As I expected, there’s not that many ways. It looks like it’s time for Wrondo to invite Feigher to dinner. Also, editing the book on meditations to the Anchoress is apparently one of the most profitable moves in the game, around this stage. I guess Feigher will look to her for guidance now and then spurn her later...

Anyway - I managed to acquire a glimpse of something bigger, which when combined with correspondence plaques gave way to an invitation from a devil. Apparently he wants me to stop looking into this matter, but I can bribe him with two brilliant souls. Sadly, I only have one - so my inquiry ends here for now.

In other news - Feigher started working on a new case with the Honey-Addled Detective. A starving artist is suspected to be plotting against the Masters of the Bazaar. And he’s caught up with the revolutionaries...? I built my renown to 5 using the carnival method, and talked to the revolutionaries...to discover that they think he’s kind of a joke. Anyway I tipped off the poor guy before reporting him to the Constables.

Wrondo managed to get 20 packages while pickpocketing, which netted them a bunch of rubies and sapphires - yay! (This was the third try, I had nearly 30 packages in the first try but I got greedy and got caught by the Constables, ending me up with 15.) Now they can get a bejewelled walking-cane once they pay off the Keen-Eyed Lapidary.

Feigher came across a dog being cornered by a bunch of cats, and despite her natural affinity for cats, chased them off. They were bully cats. The dog followed her home, so now she is her pet, let’s call her Hannah.

Shortly afterwards, Wrondo came across a bunch of Rubbery Men playing some music...and was gifted with a Rubbery Euphonium. Apparently it is a pet, so they named them Duck.

Anyway, this is my second day of writing about Fallen London and...it’s weighing on me more than I expected lol. This might not be as consistent a thing as I thought it would be.

[bizarrebazaar13]

trick or treat!!

having this item causes you to draw a card where the detective tracks you down to get it back. your level of acquaintance: the honey-addled defective increases, allowing you to periodically unlock new cases to solve with him, most of which are based on the Sherlock Holmes short stories.

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