#the sixth coil

[honeymongering]

[sorepharmacist]

I can't FORCE you to play Fallen London, but I CAN Force you to look at the beautiful flag of the Koloman Republic. (edit, forgot to link to source, my bad: https://www.reddit.com/r/fallenlondon/comments/1emosb4/as_a_flag_nerd_and_a_goose_enjoyer_i_liked_the/)

[aethergeologist]

Ancient prince, venerable fingerking, and the Tiger Keeper, together in the depths of the Labyrinth. Those final images haunt you.

Yes! They do haunt me! Thanks?

[boomballoonmachine]

Look, I don’t necessarily play Fallen London for the alt-history aspect. I’m generally content for the IRL historical and literary references to stay indirect so they can focus on developing new ideas and characters. (Like, Borges and Calvino are pretty aggressive influences, but short of chess, the Khanate and the library thing from Firmament they’re mostly thematic rather than literal, which is good.) But I do get a kick out of a well timed name drop. What I’m trying to say is that investigating the tiger-orphan industrial complex for Charles Dickens is both fun and funny and where else do you get to do that?

[failbettergames]

Estival: The Sixth Coil

The Tiger Keeper rises to his hind legs. "London!" He is bellowing now, gold eyes alight with zeal. "The Sixth Coil is opening at last!”

Summer of 1899 has come around again, and with it, Estival:  a time of celebration, intrigue, and, historically, disaster. This year, something stirs beneath the Labyrinth of Tigers, and London is awash with striped and toothy visitors. 

Closed to all visitors since the Fall, the Sixth Coil of the Labyrinth is opening at last – and the Court of the Wakeful Eye is holding a grand tournament to celebrate the occasion. The Coilheart Games will soon commence!

Delegations will soon arrive from all across the Neath: the tomb-colonies, the Khanate, the Wakeful Eye itself. Lend your support to your favoured competitors in events that span disciplines physical and mental. Throw your own hat into the ring, and compete for a share of the riches of the Sixth Coil. Investigate the visiting delegations, and the mysteries stirring deep in the Labyrinth. And when the Games are over, the Sixth Coil will open at long, long last.

What is Estival?

The Sixth Coil is Fallen London's summer Estival for 2024, beginning on the 1st of August. It's a free, limited-time mass-participation event, open to players of all levels.

Our annual summer festival is different to all others in Fallen London; it changes every year, both mechanically and in theme. In previous years we’ve excavated holes all over London (unlocking new activities), raised a Museum which became a permanent location in the city, and warred with Starved men from the Roof.

We expect Estival to last around two weeks, with new activities and mysteries opening up as time passes. It'll remain open for a few days after its conclusion for you to catch up and pick up any last rewards. 

In previous years, your participation has affected the pacing of the event. This year, however, your efforts will determine not when events progress, but how: the winners of each of the Games' four disciplines will be determined by your actions. Offer your allies chess tips from the Boatman. Test their scientific hypotheses in your lab. Defeat their nightmares, so they might fight unimpeded. And – perhaps most dangerously of all – influence the fickle attentions of the Captivating Princess. It is all to play for.

As with previous summer events, we will eventually bring the memory of this one to the Waswood, to allow you to revisit the story and obtain some (but not all) of the event's items, should you miss it.

New Items and Equipment

Items from previous summers will be available again, alongside six new items of equipment to collect. These can be purchased with Estival Tokens, the currency of our summer events. You'll receive 30 Estival Tokens for free this year, and more can be purchased for Fate. As always, you will be able to use any Estival Tokens left over from previous years.

In addition, owners of the Winking Gemstone Ring and the Strangling WIllow Ring – both items that were recently moved to the Adornment slot – will be able to swap them for new Gloves that offer the same bonuses, if they wish.

Finally, there'll be several unique qualities and items of equipment that can be earned by participating in this year's Estival storyline.

We hope you enjoy the Coilheart Games, and the opening of the Sixth Coil! As always, this is an experiment in finding new ways to surprise and delight you. We hope that among the action, events, intrigues and competition, there will be something for everybody to enjoy.

[scribonia-art]

You alone can see into the prison as it shuts.

[ sɪxᴛʜ ᴄᴏɪʟ | ʟᴀsᴛ ɢʟɪᴍᴘsᴇs ]

[geraldofallon]

Fallen London Travel Guide:

Koloman Republic

One thing they do keep in common, despite the medley of accents, languages, and, on closer inspection, dress. They all appear deathly afraid of death. Surfacers. They’ll learn.

Requested by @crow-caller

[ekp0133f]

I literally made Fallen London history today. I found the third Eagle lead in the Forgotten Quarter. I was the one who found it. The counter went from 2 to 3 when I reported it to Huffam. I literally made history. You all are advancing the story because of me. I'm literally a hero

[the-avaricious-meddler]

[fl-tooltips]

[wind-come-calling]

This was a really touching moment! The sort of thing that makes breaking into an ancient, inescapable prison worth it.

And I just loved the way the Tomb-Colonists were written through this Estival: many times the focus is placed on their reckless, daredevil attitudes or the macabre nature of their existence, but there's both a kind of tragedy and an injustice in becoming a Tomb-Colonist in the Neath, in being shunned and exiled for circumstances that were most likely outside of your control and then watching as the world moves on uncaring around you, and I am glad that was something the narrative touched on.

[honeymongering]

want

[highfructosefemur]

Fallen Londoners will commit microaggressions on damn near anything

[space-wizards]

The latest tournament's off to a great start

[adorablegorilla]

Okay, so here's what we know about the Sixth Coil so far.

Most Tigers do not know the purpose of the Tournament, only regarding it as a bland affair they are obligated to participate in whenever the time comes. They do seem to know that the rumors of treasure are exaggerated at least.

The Sixth Coil, like the rest of the Labyrinth, is a prison, and whatever is imprisoned in there needs offerings to preserve peace. However, the offerings don't die. For whatever reason, having the offerings prove their skills in the Tournament is a necessity.

The first "convolution" of a Labyrinth was a conquering king of the Fingerkings.

The Khanate have history with the Labyrinth, as the Embassy of the Fourth City used to be located where it is. This suggests the Sixth Coil predates the rest of Labyrinth in some way. The Eagle Clan have also been creating devices that can impose Law upon Parabola during the Tournament, suggesting that whatever is interred in the Sixth may be connected to the Is-Not. It may be possible that whatever is in there is responsible for the Khanate's paranoia and distrust of all things Parabolan.

The surface powers are under the impression there's "just" tigers in the Sixth Coil, and the Keeper cheakily joked about it holding "a seventh coil." It's implied there's some truth to both of these.

Here is my hypothesis:

The Sixth Coil is a holding zone for the offerings, and further in is also a prison constructed for an original prisoner (this is the "seventh coil"). The prisoner inside is an ancient and powerful Fingerking. This prisoner requires offerings to be appeased, but it doesn't kill them - I suspect it instead takes something insubstantial fr the offerings in the Sixth Coil while remaining in the Seventh, as suitable for a Parabolan entity. There are tigers who have already been interred in the Sixth Coil in the past as offerings. The offerings specifically need to prove themselves in the tournament, perhaps because this Fingerking will only be sated by the best meals, or perhaps because those who are strong in the aspects the Tournament tests are able to keep it at bay until offerings need to be given again. Perhaps a combination of the two. The Eagle Clan are intending to fight back against the Fingerking by imposing Law upon its domain/prison, although this might carry risks in and of itself, because if defeating it was as easy as shining some Surface light down there it probably would have been done already, so the device likely needs to be able to select and create very specific Law.

This is all just conjecture, and even if I'm on the right track there are clearly gaps in my hypothesis - like the reason why the Surface powers and The Great Game are interested - but I'd like to hear what the rest of you guys think is happening in the Sixth Coil yourself.

[failbettergames]

Estival has begun. Find out the schdule of events on the blog.