Mr Chimes' Grand Clearing-Out (historical)

THE BENENIMOUS MASTER OF THE BAZAAR, Mr. CHIMES, graciously invites YOU to take part in a CELEBRATION of SUBTERRANEAN PURSUITS – the GRAND CLEARING-OUT!

The MASTERS call on ALL LONDONERS to EMPTY OUT YOUR ATTICS and RECLAIM BURIED TREASURES from beneath LONDON’S OWN STREETS. Participants will be rewarded handsomely with THE SPOILS OF EXCAVATION.

Mr Chimes’ Grand Clearing-Out was a new, one-off festival in Fallen London. It began on 20 July 1899 (2021). The festival was open-ended and consisted of player collaboration in excavating materials out of 5 dig sites opened around London. Included with the possibility of purchasing items from past years' elections, five new items were launched. These (and past election items) could be purchased through the use of Chthonic Scrip, a new in-game currency introduced for use during the festival alone.

• See Mr Chimes' Grand Clearing-Out (Guide) for an overview of the mechanics of this event

The event was reprised in The Sacroboscan Calendar on 13 October 2022.

Daily Progress

This is how much progress was made every day at each dig site, recorded at midnight BST. Dig sites also had to be funded by purchasing Chthonic Scrip, but this goal was completed for every site on the first day of the event.

Progress Graph

Table of Figures - Digging

Day	Moloch Street	The Blind Helmsman	The Singing Mandrake	The University	Spite
20 July	129090	79090	74230	119800	118920
21 July	334190	209900	201820	297175	306720
22 July	519840	319930	308100	440530	473040
23 July	692590	414900	399220	565130	618050
24 July	883285	494745	480375	672005	753195
25 July	1000005	577685	569715	791115	905110
26 July	1000005	686965	703930	946800	1000005
27 July	1000005	844600	862520	1000005	1000005
28 July	1000005	1000005	1000005	1000005	1000005

Table of Figures - Feeding

Day	Moloch Street	The Blind Helmsman	The Singing Mandrake	The University	Spite
20 July	102990	59620	41920	99450	57410
21 July	193400	104860	77900	180560	95120
22 July	289600	155580	108400	250600	129360
23 July	392800	209220	138340	314240	159540
24 July	515160	261740	164740	365280	182200
25 July	674300	309780	192060	414260	204020
26 July	1000020	415773	267118	550671	274089
27 July	1000020	1000070	825263	1000001	980056
28 July	1000020	1000070	1000038	1000001	1000018

Table of Percentages

Day	Progress Type	Moloch Street	The Blind Helmsman	The Singing Mandrake	The University	Spite	Total Progress
20 July	Digging	12.91%	7.91%	7.42%	11.98%	11.89%	10.42%
	Feeding	10.3%	5.96%	4.19%	9.95%	5.74%	7.23%
	% Overall	11.6%	6.94%	5.81%	10.96%	8.82%	8.83%
21 July	Digging	33.42%	20.99%	20.18%	29.72%	30.67%	27%
	Feeding	19.34%	10.49%	7.79%	18.06%	9.51%	13.04%
	% Overall	26.38%	15.73%	13.97%	23.89%	20.09%	20.02%
22 July	Digging	51.98%	31.99%	30.81%	44.05%	47.3%	41.23%
	Feeding	28.96%	15.56%	10.84%	25.06%	12.94%	18.67%
	% Overall	40.47%	23.78%	20.83%	34.56%	30.12%	29.95%
23 July	Digging	69.26%	41.49%	39.92%	56.51%	61.81%	53.80%
	Feeding	39.28%	20.92%	13.83%	31.42%	15.95%	24.28%
	% Overall	54.27%	31.21%	26.88%	43.97%	38.88%	39.04%
24 July	Digging	88.33%	49.47%	48.04%	67.2%	75.32%	65.67%
	Feeding	51.52%	26.17%	16.47%	36.53%	18.22%	29.78%
	% Overall	69.92%	37.82%	32.26%	51.86%	46.77%	47.73%
25 July	Digging	100%	57.77%	56.97%	79.11%	90.51%	76.87%
	Feeding	67.43%	30.98%	19.21%	41.43%	20.4%	35.89%
	% Overall	83.72%	44.37%	38.09%	60.27%	55.46%	56.38%
26 July	Digging	100%	68.7%	70.39%	94.68%	100%	86.75%
	Feeding	100%	41.58%	26.71%	55.07%	27.41%	50.15%
	% Overall	100%	55.14%	48.55%	74.87%	63.7%	68.45%
27 July	Digging	100%	84.46%	86.25%	100%	100%	94.14%
	Feeding	100%	100%	82.53%	100%	98.01%	96.11%
	% Overall	100%	92.23%	84.39%	100%	99%	95.13%
28 July	Digging	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
	Feeding	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
	% Overall	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

20 July

“MAN-EATING CHASM OPENS UNDER MOCKING HILL”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 20 July

The new items introduced at the beginning of the event were:

• Strangling Willow Ring
• Polythremean Peacoat
• Honey-Stained Shackles
• Elevating Silk Slippers
• Horseless, Driverless, Remorseless Carriage

These were made available to purchase with Chthonic Scrip only. Each player could obtain 30 Chthonic Scrip (one-time only) for 200 x Shard of Glim, and otherwise purchase Chthonic Scrip for FATE at a 1:1 conversion rate. If a player had an unused Free Gift from a past election, they could turn it in for another 30 Chthonic Scrip.

Alongside these new 'paid' items, players also obtained a Sturdy Pick at no cost, and contributing at various locations discovered two more items obtainable without Chthonic Scrip, made available by individual digging or feeding progress:

• M. D_____' A_____ for _______: F____ Edition
• F.F. Gebrandt's Patent Illuminating Cap

In addition, specific items from past elections (which could be obtained with A Free Gift or had cost FATE previously) were included in excavation spoils as well. These were:

• A Pre-Lapsarian Speaking Tube
• A Poisoned Pen
• Polythreme Drinking Vessel
• Wax-Hardened Boots

Digging and feeding could also notably give out Anticandles as a reward, an item that shares the same name as a retired Advantage, and at the time of the event had no other sources that were allowed to be recorded on the wiki.

Within two hours of the event opening, each of the five locations had been fully funded by Chthonic Scrip.

21 July

“Is this skin? It's warm, blood-warm, a living thing. […] No – there's nothing there. It's just a wall of stone and earth.”

– Reports from diggers, 21 July

Community efforts to compile and elucidate the revelations glimpsed through In Their Wake began.

At around 10:30 AM UTC, players had just about used up any sustenance items ( Crate of Incorruptible Biscuits, Basket of Rubbery Pies, Jasmine Leaves and Hand-picked Peppercaps) stockpiled between the time of the announcement of the event on 12 July and the time the event started. This meant that progressing the digs through Feeding the Workers would be slower from that point on, since more items had to stockpiled again, and more profitable options through the Bone Market could be locked by Bone Market Exhaustion for some players. In response, Failbetter made it possible to go Brawling with Dockers for Incorruptible Biscuits without having started a Railway, so that more mid-game players could contribute to feeding progress.

22 July

“AUDITOR REBUKES VEILGARDEN SPIDER ALARMISTS: NOISE IS ‘NATURAL PHENOMENON’ ”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 22 July

Cave-Aged Codes of Honour were made sellable at the Bazaar for 1 x Legal Document each, valuing them at 12.50. This was done because they have few uses, and since they were previously unsellable, the reward for finding them through Feeding the Workers had been relatively unprofitable compared to other Feeding rewards.

23 July

“CONSIGNMENT OF MINIATURE FIREARMS SEIZED IN WOLFSTACK – CONSTABLES URGE VIGILANCE”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 23 July

Among Fallen London communities, a new 'Brass Lollipop' strategy began to gain traction. As part of this strategy, players changed their profession to Licentiate en masse in order to receive free skeletons that only needed a skull by supplying a skeleton of their own. Players that were not Licentiates could use Headless Skeletons instead. They then capped these with Bright Brass Skulls and sold the completed skeletons to A Theologian of the Old School for 31 x Crates of Incorruptible Biscuits.

24 July

“AUDITORS SHUTTER BENTHIC SEMINAR ON EARLY POST-LAPSARIAN CRIMINOLOGY, SEIZE ARTEFACTS”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 24 July

At 02:10 UTC, there was a stirring below, the same stirring that had been giving Londoners strange new dreams. Following the excavation efforts across the city, Londoners felt tremors coming from underground, both within the tunnels and above the ground. According to Bruno in the FBG Discord, the rumbling was triggered by overall progress reaching a particular threshold, albeit with a bit of a delay due to behind-the-scenes implementation details; therefore, it appears to have been triggered by reaching 40% on digging and feeding combined, although this is not certain.

25 July

“MINISTRY WARNS AGAINST CONVERSATION WITH ITEMS UNEARTHED IN SPITE”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 25 July

At 05:56 UTC, 50% completion for combined Digging and Feeding progress across all dig sites was reached. Later in the day at 12:28 UTC, Moloch Street also became the first site to have its Digging progress completed.

26 July

“MOLOCH STREET: EXPERTS AUTHENTICATE FOURTH CITY BRASS ARTEFACTS”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 26 July

Spite became the second site to have its Digging progress completed at 11:21 UTC. Additionally, as the dig sites progressed and supplies for workers were being rushed all over the city, Londoners began to run into the occasional upturned cart with food and tools. They were generously able to point the carts’ drivers in the direction of one of the dig sites, so the supplies could be put to good use feeding the workers. This was triggered by reaching a total of 2000000 Combined Feeding.

At 21:16 UTC, Moloch Street was the first site to be fully excavated. This revealed a number of new fueling options, each of which was locked behind the completion of a particular dig - Moloch's option was Fuel the excavation with fervor. This, combined with the grind revealed by the excavation, rapidly led to the development of a new fueling method; collecting Apostate's Psalms from Marigold station and Verses of Counter-Creed from below Moloch Street, then spending them. This method was slightly better than non-Licentiate Brass Lollipops, and had the significant advantage of not requiring you sell most of the things you dug up.

27 July

“yours is not to reason why; yours is but to dig or die”

– Bruno Dias

At 6:59 UTC, the University became the third site to have its Digging progress completed; at 12:07 UTC, it became the second site to be completely excavated. At 18:32 UTC, the Blind Helmsman became the third site to have its Feeding progress completed, and the first to be fully fed before being fully excavated. Then at 23:37 UTC, Feeding progress at Spite was completed as well, making it the third site unveiled.

28 July

Completing the Dig Sites

“-ORSE THE HORSE THE HORSE THE HORSE THE HORSE THE HORSE THE HORSE THE HORSE THE H-”

– Fallen London players, 28 July

At 00:25 UTC, Feeding progress was completed at The Singing Mandrake, meaning all Feeding progress was done. This quickly sent Londoners into a panic, however, as more and more upturned carts began to pile up in the streets with no dig sites to be sent to. The community united in the face of this unexpected turn of events by making many memes and an unbridled neigh-mber of horse puns. Some embraced their new horse overlord, even calling for a horse mayor (perhaps London wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to having an animal in the mayor's office?). Others coped by begging the Masters (Bruno in the FBG Discord) to remove the carts, who only responded by telling them to get back to work unearthing the rest of the dig sites.

However, Bruno changed his mind - and the requirements on the card - at 8:38 UTC, which lead to a vast outcry from people who now regretted complaining about the horse. A great many Seeking and Discordance (Disc-horse-dance?) references were made, along with some poetry and even more horse puns.

At 11:05 UTC, the Singing Mandrake was the fourth site to be fully excavated. Then finally at 12:38 UTC, the Blind Helmsman was fully excavated, meaning all dig sites were unveiled. There was briefly an issue where people were getting stuck in the revealed carousel, resulting in the dig completion option being locked, but this was soon resolved.

London's Plight

“[switches from `work-playlist.m3u` to `jrpg-boss-music-10-hour-mix.m3u`]”

– Bruno Dias

Then the Stone Pigs woke up. Persons of Some Importance were invited to an emergency meeting by the Masters, where it was revealed they were building a device to put the Pigs back to sleep again; everyone else found this out second-hand. Players could contribute objects of great value to the device, increasing Assisting the Masters and conferring the status of A Preserver of London on them; they could also save the citizens of London from peril by searching amongst the rubble.

At 17:41 UTC, Bruno added an option to exchange other Tier 8 items for a Breath of the Void that could be used to contribute to building the machine. The Masters received the last of the materials they needed to make the device at about 17:59 UTC, but they continued accepting materials anyway.

At 20:47 UTC, Saving the Citizens of London reached its goal, beginning the process of incrementing A Reckoning Postponed. This counted up once per hour, essentially beginning a 21-hour countdown until Saving the Citizens became unavailable, and a 24-hour countdown until the Masters were no longer accepting item donations.

29 July

“@Alan (ebzfan) the cider stat is a work of genius
good job”

– Bruno Dias

At 17:00 UTC, A Reckoning Postponed reached 21, locking London's Plight. In the end, Saving the Citizens of London reached a total of about 6,135,095, or 613% of the original goal.

At 20:00 UTC, A Reckoning Postponed reached 24, locking Building a Device; all told, Assisting the Masters reached 2,415,693, or 241% of the original goal, representing about 4.86 million Echoes (~30.36 Ciders) worth of materials donated. Those who had donated to the Masters were able to be present for when the Masters activated their device; the others were able to watch from the streets of London. When the device was activated, it drew all of London into a shared reverie of London and its streets (save for a select few, who dreamed of something else), and put the Stone Pigs back to sleep. Players returned to their lodgings to rest, with those who had helped out finding that they had acquired some gloves.

3 August

“We are pleased that London has not collapsed into a pile of rubble”

– Mr Wines, at its celebratory revels

In the aftermath of the Great Sink, Londoners could contribute to The Recovery of London, which notably gave a new item, an Exigent Note. They could also even adopt a certain horse. The card with both of these options is intended to stick around until next year's July event, as indicated by the 48 Weeks After the Great Sink requirement, effectively as a replacement for the Lord Mayor of London opportunity card. The Recovery of London has a target of 1,000,000 like the Digging and Feeding qualities did, and is being tracked here.

Those who had helped the Masters with their device were additionally rewarded at a special meeting, depending on their Motivation: either at a revel thrown by Mr Wines, at Beatrice's Tea Parlour, or in their dreams. As a reward they received a Bottle of Morelways 1861 'Sporeburst' if they were motivated to save the Masters, an Unusually Loyal Map of London if they were motivated to save London, a 'Look Always to Love' Telescope if they were motivated to save the Bazaar, or a Decemberist Pocketwatch if they were motivated to safeguard the Revolution. Per Bruno in the FBG Discord, these items are only intended as mementos.

5 August

“URCHIN RESCUED FROM COLLAPSING BUILDING FOR THE SEVENTH TIME”

– The Unexpurgated London Gazette, 5 August

Mr Chimes' Grand Clearing-Out officially ended on 5 August, 1899 (aside from the collapsed buildings and streets that still needed to be repaired). Players with at least 10 remaining Chthonic Scrip could either exchange it for a Darkdrop Coffee and an Exigent Note, or get rid of 3 to keep 7 Chthonic Scrip as a memento. The Viscountess also finally returned to London, making her eligible for the Railway Board once more.