#the great hellbound railway

[asleepinawell]

the best type of supervision tbh

[the-masterless-press]

i cant belive the detective called virgina a whore because of her hat

[the-perspicacious-mercenary]

Brought April onto the board for one meeting so I could use her Moulin proposal.

Tetra: Here's a consultant I found. She's well-practised in handling explosives, which should make our route through the battlefields less dangerous.

Jenny: Oh, we're discussing weapons? Excellent, I am listening.

Furnace: *Mentally adds a tally in the Liberationist column of Tracklayer Intraunion Politics*

September: Ap-- I mean, A random explosives expert I have never met before in my life!

Xenotheology: If I had heard that, a great many rumours from around the University would start making sense. Fortunately, I didn't. Let's finish the meeting before I lose all plausible deniability, please.

The Tentacled Entrepreneur: *Completely ignoring the political implications in favour of balancing the budget. Revolutionaries have such terrible business sense.*

[fathomlesslyqueer]

Trying to build the railway is wild. Ms Bean has been drinking soup by the gallon and crunching copious quantities of biscuits just for enough romantic notions to solicit, like, 10 comprehensive bribes.

Imagine what the board members must be thinking as she claims this all as a business expense... Well, except for:

His Amused Lordship: "I understand absolutely, do carry on."

[incorrectfallenlondonquotes]

Another Meeting of the Great Hellbound Railway Company

The Efficient Commissioner: Alright, I--I take the complaint box very seriously and I seem to be the only one who does. The Director: A complaint about the complaint box....delicious. The Efficient Commissioner: Director, I'm serious, I'm not amused, alright? I happen to be the one who has to deal with all of these complaints, no matter how stupid they are. Furnace Acona: Well, how stupid could they be? The Efficient Commissioner: Well, let's have a look here. (Reading complaint cards) "You suck." "You suck." "The Clay Highwayman rules." "If you can read this you are a dork." "Coupon for one free kiss from the Bishop of Southwark if you are a guy." "Need more complaint cards." "Coupon for one free kiss from the Bishop of Southwark....if you are a girl." The Bishop of Southwark: Hey! The Efficient Commissioner: (Pulling out a fortune cookie) "You will go on a journey with great fortune." "September is a moron." "No I'm not." "Yes, you are." "No, I'm not infinity." (September smiles) "Yes you are infinity....plus one." (September's smile fades.) "The Tentacled Entrepreneur has been staring at me all day...and I love it." (The Entrepreneur looks disturbed) Uh, "Hands to amidships and man the spanker?" Everyone, in unison: But we hardly know her! Sinning Jenny: I thought we'd all enjoy that one. The Efficient Commissioner: Ooookay. And "Help, I'm being held prisoner in a complaint box." Which is....actually kind of funny.

[maybesdaughter]

A question of composition

You try posing with a few of your favourite sigils. The sculptor's hair keeps catching fire while he is drawing the reference sketches. In the end, you settle on a compromise: you are pictured reading, but the statue's viewer cannot see any Correspondence unless she climbs onto the plinth and peeks over your shoulder. A few schoolchildren do attempt this, with memorable consequences.

Children...are the future.

[cobaltsunflower]

as one of the main investors in the great hellbound railway, it is my duty to provide the company with steel for construction

and i shall achieve it by mean of Beating the Shit out of businessmen and dockworkers alike everyday and stealing their cargos

[adjective-noun-uhhhhh-3]

Just realised I never uploaded my Furnace drawing with the background

[the-insouciant-scientist]

Coins of the Neath! This is only about half of the project I have planned, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to show off what I have so far.

Descriptions and explanations under the cut!

Top left is a First City Coin. Described in game as having a cedar on one side, and a circle of script around either a face in profile, a pair of eyes, or an image of the Bazaar on the other side. The script is a mix of proto-cuneiform, archaic Sumerian ideograms/pictograms, and symbols of my own design, and is intended to translate more-or-less to "The Masters approach/bind the King to divide the earth, to guard his prince's heart. The Bazaar's oath to see the sun is the foundation and the destiny". It's roughly the story of the First City's fall, and the Bazaar's quest. The face is based on some representations of Gilgamesh, as a reference to May.

Top right is Hinterland Scrip. In game it appears to be more the paper money kind of scrip, but I'm from a coal and steel industry city and go nuts for scrip coinage, so this was a little self indulgent. It's a 50¢ coin since one scrip is about equal to 50p in game. The naming of the fake company is mostly just me wanting to both include hinterland in the name, and not have to cram in "the great hellbound railway company" on such a small coin lmao. 1899 is a personal reference to when I unlocked the railway. The punch design is a reference to FB's logo.

Center is a rat shilling! Not uh, technically coins, but I wanted to draw a rat. They're described in game as a flat piece of metal, sometimes a button, with a rat face scratched into one side and a knot of tails scratched into the other. One side reads "valid until no longer valid", which I find absolutely hysterical. I tried to invoke a kind of rostygold color to this one, since that's what it reverts to when the rat market closes.

Middle right is a Justificande coin. They aren't described very much in game, just that they're seven sided and say "one day you will forgive" on the back. So I took a lot of artistic liberties with this one! The seven headed serpent and roses are both very common Iremi symbols, so it made sense to me that they'd be featured on their currency.

Bottom left is a Fourth City Echo. Described in game as having a familiar profile of a spire on one side, and hudum writing on the other. Talking to the Numismatrix gives you further info that the writing is a promise for repayment, and a warning against using any other currency. I had to translate this through two different translators in order to get traditional hudum script (they use Mongolian Cyrillic nowadays more commonly) so it may not be perfectly accurate, but from left to right it should read "One Echo. The Only Currency."

And then bottom right is an Amber Ha'Penny. They're described as being tiny, sticky, and stamped with the image of a chain. It's supposed to be the same image of a chain on both sides, one being broken and one being forged, but I decided to have the sides slightly vary to reflect that better.

[failbettergames]

The Great Hellbound Railway

The Great Hellbound Railway is an expansive storyline that unlocks after your Persuasive reaches 175, and once you are a person of sufficient importance within London. These new additions expand upon activities and round out stations throughout the journey.

New Research Projects in the Jericho Library

"There are few pleasures greater than being in a library of one's own."

There are two new research projects available to everyone with a Library in Jericho! Return to the Oddlion Septagonal Reading Room to hit the stacks in pursuit of obscure knowledge and errant citations. Pursue forbidden histories of mutability and countervailing mysteries of the Elder Continent in the supreme comfort of your own library, and overturn popular scholarship in style.

These new projects are a permanent addition to the Library, and join the Hinterlands research project as always-available avenues of research.

Practising Law in the Courts of the Evenlode

"The traditions of the Evenlode are older than the courts in London, and the appointment of unconventional counsel is an expected part of proceedings. In fact, many here would be doomed to represent themselves unless you deign to offer your services."

You can now intervene in trials at the Courts of the Evenlode! You've been a spectator for long enough; it's time to wade into the fray and put your legal nous to good use. Defend rattus faber from the sticky fingers of local urchins. Prosecute the case of the Guild of Gondoliers against the Society Matron. Work out exactly what this Rubbery Man is being charged for, and how exactly he feels about it.

Pursuing justice in the Courts of the Evenlode is a permanent new activity, available to all players who have spent enough time in the Magistracy.

Story Additions to Burrow-Infra-Mump

"It is as though it grew in some other place where the colours are brighter and more vivid than our world can support. It is, unquestionably, a rose."

We've released a short new story in Burrow-Infra-Mump! London's ill-fated war against Hell casts a long shadow. Debts remain unpaid, relationships strain, and old obligations come due. A rose has appeared in Burrow-Infra-Mump; a curious plant of petal and bone that neither London nor Hell seems enthusiastic to claim. Cultivate it, or burn it to the ground, and learn of its relevance to the conflict of '68.

This short story is available to anybody who has completed the development of the church at Burrow, and starts via an Opportunity Card in Burrow-Infra-Mump.

It is also now possible to develop the old ruins at Burrow into a secular freehold. This is an alternate means of completing the station, and does not commit it to any faith or denomination.

New Artwork

Finally, something that you might just have gathered from this blog post already. Each station along the Great Hellbound Railway now has its own unique header art! New artwork joins the existing headers for Ealing and Station VIII, so keep an eye out for these new delights all up and down the journey to Hell.

[thedeafprophet]

I hope somewhere along the great hellbound railway, there's a place in the neath that has cows, that is visible enough for people to look out the train window to go "look, cows!!"

I think the people deserve at least that

[the-masterless-press]

Railway players, what would OCs be like in the board room? Whose interests would they be for and against? Would they be ripe for bribery, or would they be swayed with obfuscation or Respectability? Would they have any unique interactions with other members of the board?

Betty would be very disinterested in the board, but would feel obliged to come along because of the players' acquaintance with her. She would mostly be for Urchin, Labour and Revolutionary interests, voting in favour of a charity charter and basic necessities like benches and access in the train cart. Anything promoting Hell or Society would be an instantenous challenge for her.

Betty would be easily swayed with obfuscation, taking it at face value after a moment of uneasy consideration. No amount of respect would get her to agree with you; it might have the opposite effect.

If she is on the same board as Sinning Jenny, she might be seen whispering to her and engaging in an entirely unrelated conversation. With the Contrarian, she sends him a death stare if he comments after being unconvinced. With the Commissioner, the two might share a knowing glance if both of them agree on a matter brought forth.

[the-perspicacious-mercenary]

On the Railway Board, I think Tetra would have an automatic pass option with an Epaulette Mate. (Useful, because the three main techniques wouldn't be very effective).

Why Epaulette? As a demonstration. It might seem like we're giving ground to our enemies, but this actually sets up a situation we can exploit later... Convince Tetra your plans have a long term payoff, you get the vote.

[justdiptych]

Having been ruminating on the possible link between Archie Reid of Mask of the Rose and September of Fallen London, and having been informed what a fool I am for suggesting there might be one, I've been trying to formally lay out the evidence for and against them being one and the same, and to reckon with the unavoidable uncertainties. (Some serious spoilers for both games appear below the cut.)

FOR:

Both have red hair, green eyes, and very similar facial features.

Both are written with similar accents.

Both have established connections to the Calendar Council - September is a member, of course, while Archie is familiar with May.

Both write and publish revolutionary texts.

Both have hostile relationships with Mr Pages - Archie can expose Pages as being personally responsible for the Fall of London.

September's dialogue suggests that, like Archie, he was a student in London at the time of the Fall.

AGAINST:

September's stated background - on a baronial estate near Balmoral - does not align with Archie's stated origins in Glasgow. (See below for further examination of this point.)

Unlike other Mask of the Rose characters (Griz, Horatia, Moss, Pages, Ferret, May, Reginald, Barqujin and Batachikhan), September makes no appearance at Mrs Chapman's in Fallen London.

September doesn't mention having any history of medical practice.

UNCERTANTIES:

Our knowledge of Archie's background is complicated by the fact that 'Archie Reid' is not his original identity. He was, instead, Lucian, an officer and spy who had travelled much of the world. He had tried to warn the people of London of the impending Fall and was, for his troubles, almost erased from reality by the authorities. 'Archie Reid' is what remains of him, and even he doesn't know whether everyone's memories of Archie (including his own) are true or false.

September's age is unclear. On first meeting him, the narration describes him as a 'youth', and his portrait doesn't look like a man who would be in his late fifties at the youngest. This doesn't quite agree with his own suggestion of having been in London during the Fall. If he is Archie, perhaps his theriac staved off the effects of age?

I don't recall how much elaboration we get on Lucian's background in Mask of the Rose's Reunion ending, and whether it's compatible with September's backstory. I'm also not sure whether that matters. Did the person Lucian was, and the things he did, retroactively cease to exist when he became Archie? This is very confusing, I know.

I'm not sure whether September and the Efficient Commissioner have any relevant dialogue if they're on the board of the Great Hellbound Railway together.

Putting Watson aside and putting on our Doyle moustache for a moment, it is possible that September was not originally written to be Archie but later became him. When September first appeared in Fallen London, he used a different portrait - the same one used by the non-binary portrait artist at Helicon House. His current portrait came later. Perhaps this represented a revision of his character's backstory and identity? Eh, I'm speculating aloud here.

To sum up: I dunno. It might be him. They sure look alike. If it's not him, they'd have a lot to talk about if they ever met.

[dasstanzydraws]

I'm finally starting the Great Hellbound Railway! And Asher's already being a menace in the boardroom. To be fair...given that their mother is my PC in Mask of the Rose, The Efficient Commissioner really should have expected this going in. Asher is the second generation of Duponts in London causing problems for the Bazaar, and Mr. Pages specifically.

Yes, I know that's not how you hold a teacup. Asher holds teacups wrong the same way I do.