This month's devlog comes from our Creative Director, Emily Short There are a handful of characters in Mask of the Rose that weve not introduced, and who dont appear in the demo. Today, let me introduce Ivy. Most of our characters were defined before we ran the Kickstarter, but we left ourselves room to develop a few more, to address any requirements as we wrote the game. By the time we came to developing Ivy, we had a few pieces of critical information about the role she plays in the story, which I wont spoil here. Aside from those, we knew we needed to add a character who was: A Wardrobe Source. We wanted to let the player purchase outfit items from multiple characters, both for variety and for narrative plausibility. Ferret might peddle questionable and used outfits, but its less likely that theyd be in a position to sell new or upscale garments. Connected with Hallowmas. Mask touches on several nascent London festivals. Hallowmas is the first in the calendar, though we dont see much about it in the truncated scope of the demo. Hallowmas is a feast of confessions and personal change and while it hasnt reached anything like its final form by the time of Mask of the Rose, there are plenty of people newly arrived in the Neath who have things they need to get off their consciences. We also wanted to introduce a character to our roster who was female, and working class. The Kickstarter left some of our character list open to backer choice, and as it turned out, the selections were male or masculine-presenting so we wanted to add some more femme to the mix. Griz, Rachel, and Horatia have different histories and relationships to wealth, but none of them grew up in true poverty, and Horatia inherited the house where she now keeps lodgers. And while Phoebe is a servant, shes still living in a comfortable household. That combination of features suggested the idea of a bohemian seamstress someone talented and crafty, but who had really had to scrabble up from the bottom, and who might not have done it in the most respectable way. We also saw her as someone inspired by the Neaths strangeness and terror, rather than overwhelmed. As I told Paul, our art director: of all the characters in the game, shes the most likely other than the player to be wearing a mushroom in her hat. Thats still a lot less information than we can usually offer in an art brief. When briefing characters who are already written into the story, the writers can often provide reference photos for people we think look similar; sample dialogue; suggestions about the characters posture and physicality; and guidance about their most common moods. For this character, we didnt even have a name but thats where art stepped in. Heres what Paul brought back:
I immediately fell for this character. Her saucy smirk suggests someone who knows more than she says and someone at home in the place London has become. Not everyone enjoys the Neath. Ivy sees its possibilities, and they give her life.

[ 2022-06-13 13:10:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to Fallen London: a darkly hilarious gothic underworld where death is a temporary inconvenience, the rats talk, and Hell is only a stone's throw away.

Thanks to an unknown bargain, London now resides in a vast cavern under the earth. Down here, the sun doesn't shine, and Parliament has sunk into the Thames. Queen Victoria never emerges from her palace. Cats spy on their owners and whisper their secrets abroad. The fabric of strait-laced Victorian society has begun to fray.

New Masters are in charge. Why are they so… tall? And always cloaked? And why are they so interested in love stories?



The possibilities for personal connection in London are different now. Thrown together in crisis, you might befriend or romance many of the characters you meet, from Griz, your assertive housemate for whom the Fall was a chance to break free of Victorian societal norms, to the infernally well-dressed gentleman at the Brass Consulate with the amber eyes.

Even death itself has a twist here: the first murder victim since the Fall is feeling much better, and keen to see justice done. Unfortunately, as the doctor who treated him immediately before he expired, your housemate Archie is the prime suspect...

• (Re)invent yourself: who were you before the Fall? Who will you be now?
  
• Create outfits from a selection of clothing and unusual accessories to unlock different story options
  
• Fall in love with a cast of diverse Londoners, each with their own secrets
  
• Matchmake among your friends, or seek love for yourself (by any definition you like)
  
• Write love stories in a delightful minigame, and use them to impress the new Masters
  
• Pick up odd jobs to earn money and gather resources. How are you at rat catching?
  
• Solve the first murder since the Fall, with the assistance of the victim
  
• Discover cosy, mysterious and magnificent locations in a dark and delicious version of Victorian London
  
• Seek deeper and deeper secrets over multiple playthroughs

Will you be a brilliant matchmaker, connecting friends and rivals while remaining unattached? Or are you looking for lasting love? Perhaps you're open to whatever comes your way? Every major storyline is accessible regardless of whether your approach to love is romantic or platonic.

Use an elaborate, dynamic story-crafting system to create love stories – and murder theories. Are the twists in the tale not to your taste? Then change the motive, the location, even the victim, and see how the stories adapt!





Your past will open different doors for you in London. What was your life on the Surface like? Were your family landed gentry? Or did they own a tailor’s shop, or dabble in the occult?

Your clothing will also make people think differently of you. Your outfits open new possibilities in conversation: be bolder, more commanding, more flirtatious. Ingratiate yourself with London's inhabitants by changing your style of dress – they won't be able to resist you in that hat!



You'll also work odd jobs and collect resources which will open new avenues in social situations. Your housemate Griz has found you work as census-taker for those curious new Masters. Fill your census-taker's notebook with intimate details about your fellow citizens and you'll find you can pursue deeper relationships with them, romantic or otherwise.







Griz

For your fellow lodger Griz, the Fall of London has been a liberation – the chance to throw off her corsets, dump the dresses and be taken seriously in a position that would have been forbidden to her when she was 'Miss Griselda'.

Archie

For your other housemate Archie, the change is terrifying. What is a medical student supposed to believe in when even the laws of death no longer apply?

Harjit

When the Fall struck, Harjit stepped up to help anyone who needed it. Now he’s settling into his role as a man in uniform, but the territory is unfamiliar – and, secretly, he has a missing person of his own to find.

Milton

Milton is the amber-eyed host of a literary parlour with a scalding handshake and a prior address in Hell. He’s an excellent listener, but does he only want you for your soul?

Rachel

Rachel was halfway through her serialised novel when London fell and everything she was writing about was turned upside-down. Her publisher grows impatient. Fortunately (?) meeting Milton has rekindled her passion – for more than just writing.

David

Rachel’s brother, and no fan of Milton, David is also destined to be Fallen London’s first murder victim. When he returns from the dead, you can ask him all about it.

Horatia

For a decade, Horatia has taken in lodgers and turned them into family. Since London fell, people need the security she offers more than ever. So when a man made entirely of clay knocks at the door, offering to pay handsomely for lodgings, she can hardly refuse.

Mr Pages

One of London's new, mysterious “Masters”, Mr Pages has embarked on the titanic endeavour of conducting London’s first post-Fall census! But why are its questions so concerned with the love-lives of London’s citizens? How do people declare their affection, in this fair city? How lasting are their attachments? Might a Londoner take an interest in a very tall, broad-shouldered, cloaked personage that leans towards the chiropterous, hypothetically speaking?





Explore this unique city in glorious, richly rendered 2D. Experience London through three seasons: the season of Confessions, the season of Yule, and the season of Love. Help establish the first Feast of the Rose, a festival of romance that will be celebrated in London for decades to come!

For players of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, Mask of the Rose offers a chance to immerse yourselves in the city that founded this deep, dark, and marvellous universe. And for veteran players of the Fallen London browser game, it marks your first opportunity to visit the city just after it fell. But fear not: Mask of the Rose is an excellent introduction to the universe we’ve been building for more than a decade, and you don’t need to have played our other games first. Come on in. Most things won’t bite, unless you want them to.

Explore the locales, lives, and loves of an impossible city. Exchange bon-mots with devils. Investigate the first murder where the victim can testify at the murderer’s trial. Dive into the sunken ruins of poor drowned Parliament. And if you’re truly reckless, fall in love.