Seeking Mr Eaten's Name (Guide)

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Why? In God's name, why? What can you possibly hope to gain? Stop now. Before it's too late.

Wiki note: The old version of this guide has been moved to Seeking Mr Eaten's Name (old).

For the purposes of this guide, various qualities are often abbreviated:

  • Seeking Mr Eaten's Name = SMEN
  • Unaccountably Peckish = UP
  • Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance = MMiDoS

Why, Indeed?[edit]

So, you've decided to buckle down and join the quest for the Name with like-minded lunatics such as ourselves! Good on you! The road ahead leads only to misery and damnation and woe and personal loss and financial ruin and loneliness and death and imprisonment and ultimately, most famously, your character becoming permanently unusable.

Why would a player pursue such folly? Because Seeking Mr Eaten's Name is a story like the rest of Fallen London, and what a tale it is; the madness and obsession your character descends into is mirrored by your own as the Search devours all the progress you've worked so hard to gain. Because you simply have to know what happens at the end of the road. Because at every turn the game itself screams for you to stop, turn back, abandon this insanity before it's too late. Because the imp of the perverse sits on your shoulder the whole way and whispers "but aren't you curious?" Because no other form of media makes you or even allows you to jump through so many hoops and fulfil so many requirements for what is explicitly and unequivocally A Bad End. Because you want the item granted by turning back at the last moment as a morbid trophy of your fool's errand. Because you bloody well want to and nothing will dissuade you.

You can't say you haven't been warned.

Overview[edit]

Seeking is a long and arduous path, to put it mildly. For the intrepid new Seeker's easy reference, this section provides a rough outline of the steps involved. More details can be found in the guide below, especially regarding the complex business of candle-gathering, where some may be prerequisites for others.

  • Beginning your search for the Name (SMEN 0 to 3): Obtaining the Seeking Mr Eaten's Name quality and proceeding through the confirmation gate.
  • A trip to the Winking Isle (SMEN 28 to 77): After maxing out the SMEN levels obtainable by UP, the primary remaining way to increase the quality is through a trip to the Winking Isle. You are generally advised to visit only once, and should endeavour to raise SMEN up to around 73 during your time there.
  • NORTH (SMEN 77): It is, somehow, still not too late to turn back.

Beginning the Search[edit]

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In order to start the process of Seeking, you must first find a proper entry point into the quest. There are several options for this, though in most cases they require a bit of legwork. (It only gets harder from here on out, of course.)

Requires: 81-100 The Airs of the Forgotten Quarter, 5 Nightmares, and A Scholar of the Correspondence
A point or two of Unaccountably Peckish can initially be gained by relaxing in your Voluminous Library, from eating fresh Rubbery Lumps at Zee, and via other methods listed here.
Afterwards, you will begin to draw black-bordered opportunity cards (described in more detail below). Playing any option unlocked WITHOUT Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance will give you one level of SMEN}}.
While you can begin your seach for the Name via these UP cards, MMiDoS prevents you from gaining further levels of SMEN until your next visit from Time, the Healer.
Requires: 7-9 Having Recurring Dreams: Death by Water and no SMEN
At a later point in SMEN, Seekers may send social actions to betray their friends. Accepting a betrayal will make a fellow Seeker very happy, and it is unlikely that you will need to wait very long to find someone willing to send one to you.
Requests for betrayals may be posted in this forum thread, or anywhere else that Fallen London players congregate.
This option requires the player's having Watchful 30, though this can be easily attained even by a brand-new character via leveling and Watchful gear like the Blemmigan Tourist.
This takes place only during the Christmas season, on Day 9 of Experiencing Strange Times: Twelve Days of Mr Sacks.


First Steps[edit]

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So, you're flirting with disaster, contemplating searching for the Name. Now what? A black-bordered card should show up...soon. The Northbound should turn their eye to their opportunity deck to wait for either of these cards: An Alphabet of Scars or A Banner with a Strange Device, where you have a choice to make. Either option sets you to SMEN 3, although the bolder choice offers more punishing consequences.

Upon reaching SMEN 2-3, you are given A WARNING, which prompts you to choose between A Bad End (by continuing your search for the Name) or to exit the story altogether. You do not want to exit! Your course is set! You seek the Name. Now is an excellent time to boost your UP to 1 and wait for the ACE OF HUNGERS card (see below). This will raise your weekly dose of SMEN to 4 and reduce UP back to 0.

Around London[edit]

Rarely, options around London can help in your search. If you're lucky. Most of these are functionally irrelevant, since starting your search properly will put you at SMEN 4, and in a week (at most) you'll be at SMEN 5.

  1. Look into the water in the Cave of the Nadir will raise SMEN by 1, up to 4. Requires SMEN 1.
  2. Ask for help with a certain... obsession during an Interview with the Interpreter: Death by Water. Increases SMEN by 1, if you're lucky. Requires 10 Having Recurring Dreams: Death by Water and SMEN 2-5.
  3. Mr Pages' Educational Picture Postcards and Assorted Souvenir Stationery in the The Labyrinth of Tigers raises SMEN on a (very) rare success. Requires SMEN 2-5.
  4. Accept the Name! from Mr Sacks on his ninth visit during Christmas. Requires SMEN 3 and raises it by 1, up to SMEN 28.

Unaccountably Peckish[edit]

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Seekers hunger for forbidden knowledge, but there are more literal hungers as well. Satisfy those cravings, and perhaps your scholarly cravings will be satisfied in turn.

Gain[edit]

  • Requires: 1 x Starveling Cat
  • Gain: 1 x UP
  • N.B. Good for trading back and forth with a dedicated alt, because it has no other prerequisites. Costs 2 actions per character (one to send, one to receive) when doing it as more than a one-off.

Loss[edit]

Opportunity cards[edit]

The cards listed below are unlocked by increasing levels of Unaccountably Peckish (or UP). They are all Non-discardable and occur with Ubiquitous Frequency, so they will rapidly fill your hand with little further intervention.

Each card has at least one option that gives one level of SMEN for varying costs, capped at 3 times the card's UP unlock requirement. Each of these options are locked with Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance and can thus be used only once per week.

The table below summarises the options available. Where there are mulitple options, the cheapest one is shown (click through to see the full set). All regular options reduce 1 x UP (except for the KNIGHT OF FEASTS), while all the Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance options give MMiDoS and increase SMEN. These effects are not shown in the table for lack of space.

UP Card Regular Cost MMiDoS Cost Max SMEN Gain
1 ACE OF HUNGERS -10 x Piece of Rostygold 4
2 TWO OF BATS Free 7
3 THREE OF ROSES 10
4 FOUR OF EYES 13
5 FIVE OF LIGHTS 16
6 SIX OF PEARLS 19
7 SEVEN OF WORDS +7 CP Wounds Free 22
8 KNAVE OF REGRETS 25
9 KNIGHT OF FEASTS Free 28

Detailed Strategy Notes[edit]

For ease of opportunity deck management, it is generally recommended to raise your UP only as much as is needed to obtain the lowest-tier card which will still raise your SMEN However, do take care to balance this tactic with the costs and Menace gains associated with each MMiDoS option taken.

For example, the SEVEN OF WORDS ( 7 UP), the KNAVE OF REGRETS ( 8 UP), and the KNIGHT OF FEASTS ( 9 UP) are worthwhile stretch goals even for players who have less than SMEN 22, as these cards have no cost, give no Menaces and have high SMEN-gain caps.

The SIX OF PEARLS, while having a high Wounds gain associated with its MMiDoS option, is not terribly objectionable either.

Because UP cards are Non-discardable and occur with Ubiquitous Frequency, they have a tendency to clog your hand. Larger Lodgings which offer 4 or 5 card hands will prove useful at this stage.

Undesirable cards can be avoided by reducing your UP below the threshold needed to unlock the particular card (upon which they will disappear from your hand). This can be done reliably by buying Rubbery Lumps in the Labyrinth of Tigers or sending Lyme to the market in Mahogany Hall. You can also clear some cards by simply playing the non- MMiDoS options on lower-tier cards; for example, buying roast chestnuts on the ACE OF HUNGERS or accepting the note on the TWO OF BATS will remove the card and lower UP for little cost.

On The Seeking Road[edit]

After gaining A Bad End from An Alphabet of Scars, you will have a number of options available in your Lodgings via the storylet The Seeking Road. More will appear as you progress with your search for the Name. These options can be divided into 6: options for raising SMEN; options to ask a question, which affects the ending you get; options for gathering stains, scars and memories; options to gain the first few candles; options related to Winking Island, and the final option to go North.

Raising SMEN[edit]

These options will let you increase SMEN independently of the UP cards. These options start out expensive and become even more so as you gain more levels of SMEN, rapidly becoming prohibitively expensive and eventually impossible. All options here with Watchful challenges require 0 Sudden Insights: it is far too late for second chances.

Drown your Secrets is the cheapest option, and is most likely to prove useful. It costs approximately E 11.5 in Appalling Secrets per level of SMEN you have. However, both its Watchful difficulty and its costs increase very quickly.

The alternatives of Set fires around the city and Char yourself with Enigmas are more expensive, though they have with easier Watchful challenges. Finally, Pervert your studies and Blacken your mind like paper are unlikely to ever be helpful, though since when has that stopped a truly devoted Seeker?

Asking A Question -[edit]

Asking a question is required in order to travel to Winking Island. In addition to these questions, a third may be unlocked by getting an item on Winking Island.

Gaining Scars, Memories, and Stains[edit]

This will become available to you after you gain your first Weeping Scar, which comes to you through A Dream of Dark Waters at SMEN 7.

  • SEVEN IS THE NUMBER: Gain a Stain on your Soul (SMEN 18): Mark your soul with the unspeakable. Only a monster can help you now, but soon you will be the monstrous one. Soon. Seven are the stains that mark your soul. If you don't own your soul, you must regain it first. And never, never, never sell a stained soul.

Warning: If you do sell your soul after staining it, DO NOT enter The Forgotten Quarter — lest you be set upon by devils attempting to forcibly re-insert it. Unless you escape into madness via a difficult Shadowy challenge, you will lose most of your Infernal items ( Soul, Brilliant Soul, Coruscating Soul, Silent Soul, Bright Brass Skull, Favours: Hell), some rare and valuable treasures ( Eyeless Skull, Ray-Drenched Cinder, Vial of Cantigaster Venom, all your E , and of course your life and sanity ( 15 Wounds and 15 Nightmares).

The first Candles[edit]

Winking Island[edit]

NORTH[edit]

Winking Isle[edit]

At Winking Isle, those who abandon worldly cares and possessions and have persistence and luck can fast and meditate to increase their SMEN to high levels without needing vast quantities of Enigmas and Secrets. This is undoubtedly a terrible idea, but you've come so far already, given so much up. Why stop now?

You will need Mr Eaten's Calling Card? to reach Winking Isle. The very fortunate might receive one from a former Seeker who no longer has use for theirs, so try asking on the forums or on Discord. Otherwise, you must reach SMEN 29 and ask God's Editors for help (as either a member or a potential member). This must be done with the correct amount of Proscribed Material in your inventory.

Only those who have asked A Question - may enter the island proper, but before you travel, it is suggested to take a look at the preparations required on Winking Island:

Preparations[edit]

In order to continue on Winking Island you need Watchful 200 (modified), and several items are prohibited. See Preparations for the full list. Generally speaking, you can keep no regular cartography items, no nostalgia items, no elder items, no wines, no rumour items, no diamonds or jewellery and no more than 7 E . For the optional part, you may have no rag-trade items, no mysteries or wild words or no rubbery items. This list is not comprehensive.

A detailed analysis of Winking Isle can be found here and here. The nearly-optimal strategy is:

  1. Prepare when <77
  2. Watch when 77-99
  3. Circle when 100-395 (this range only comes up if you fail some luck rolls)
  4. Watch when 396-1616
  5. Circle when >=1617, except:
    1. Watch if within 550 of target
    2. Wait if within 50 of target
  6. Cash out at 60000 (best) or 10000

Gaining 7 SMEN at a time takes ~220.27 actions, while stopping at 10k to gain 1 SMEN} takes ~49.05.

Once you've reached SMEN 69, it's safe to leave Winking Isle as the SMEN levels gained from obtaining the Candles will take you to SMEN 77.

Winking Isle has no lighthouse. Enter anyways, if you so desire. It will cost you no candle.

Ambitious Seekers can complete an optional round of Preparations, even more punishing than the mandatory cycle, in order to unlock the quality The Sun beneath the Sea?. This quality allows setting your A Question - to "Who is Salt?", which will affect the ultimate ending you reach.

Because the process of preparing for Preparations is so onerous, it is generally recommended that players get all their Fasting and Meditating done in one go. This will save some time, compared to leaving and returning as various candles' unlock requirements are met.

Make sure you get rid of all the stuff you need to for Preparations before departing; there is no way to sell or discard them on the island. Players who wish to preserve some portion of their Echoes despite the requirements of Preparations may invest in Bright Brass Skulls, which can be used to build skeletons or resold to the Bazaar for 95% of their purchase price, or in Winsome Dispossessed Orphans, which can be traded to the Tigers of Port Carnelian for a profit once your Winking Isle stay has finished.

Candles[edit]

St Arthur's Candle[edit]

Candleblack.png

At SMEN 7, you will have A Dream of Dark Waters. This grants you your first Weeping Scar. After acquiring the first Scar, you must mark yourself further: at SMEN 14 you can acquire further Weeping Scars, at SMEN 16 you can acquire Memories of Chains, and at SMEN 18 you can acquire Stains on your Soul. At SMEN 21, with body, mind, and soul each marked seven times, you can finally begin the search for St Arthur's Candle. You must commit seven betrayals and use seven Searing Enigmas to perform seven rituals.

The easiest option for obtaining The Stench of Betrayal is to betray other players through social actions. If willing participants may not be found it is also possible to marry and betray several NPCs, or perhaps your Midnight Matriarch. The seventh Stench of Betrayal (but only the seventh) may be obtained at Mahogany Hall for free.

Once you have seven Footsteps of the False Saints, you can acquire St Arthur's Candle, along with a free level of SMEN.

St Beau's Candle[edit]

Demetergreen.png

You must have St Arthur's Candle and reach SMEN 24 to search for St Beau's Candle at a nightmare version of Mrs Plenty's Carnival. Be sure to bring 3330 Moon-Pearls and 150 Memories of Light first, and note that you will lose all your Carnival Tickets when you start. The only way to gain them, and thus St Beau's Candle, is to buy 10 tickets with your moon-pearls. You'll find the candle in the House of Mirrors, but to obtain it, you must give up something of great value. There are three options:

It is not terribly difficult to raise Renown to 5 via Mrs Plenty's (non-nightmare) carnival, and if your account was created specifically to Seek you may not consider the loss of Renown a lasting downside. However, in other circumstances, "Surrender your health" is probably the best course of action, as it only gives Menaces.

Dealing with Menaces[edit]

After playing Surrender your health, you're going to be in the Menace areas for quite a while, one after another, although you can use Menace-affecting items to skip all except the Tomb-colonies. If you don't, the order is A boat trip, then A state of some confusion/ The Mirror-Marches, then New Newgate Prison, then finally Tomb-Colonies), so be sure to prepare for this before going to the Carnival.

You may want, for example, to ensure high enough Making Waves to tide over your Notability for a week or two, as well as Memories of Light (if you want to go to The Mirror-Marches), a Tincture of Vigour to get a Tomb-Lion, Skyglass Knives for prison, weasels and bats to appease Death, and Rostygold, Jade, Moon-Pearls, Surface Currency, Foxfire Candles, and to use as bribes or postage in prison and exile. Good Watchful-boosting items are useful for playing chess with the Boatman, and menace-reducing items will help you get out faster. (Also, keep in mind that Menace areas tend to impact Quirks, especially the Tomb-colonies with Hedonist and Austere.)

You can also use social actions just when you are sent to your lodgings without using the forward button to avoid all consequences.

St Cerise's Candle[edit]

Candlecherryred.png

Unlocks at SMEN 27, with St Beau's Candle. You must sacrifice something precious to the well to obtain this candle. The options for this are:

If timed well, the Noman may be the easiest and cheapest tribute for this step. Otherwise, an Overgoat costs 11,700 Echoes and is purchasable from the Bazaar; Fluke-Cores may be obtained (very slowly) from the Cave of the Nadir, and Classic Short Stories may be written with the help of at least two Trade Secrets (which accumulate at the rate of one per month from Time, the Healer).

St Destin's Candle[edit]

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Unlocks at SMEN 35. Does not require St Cerise's Candle. With 12 Notability and no Profession:, you can gain St Destin's Candle when Slowcake's Amanuensis visits.

Alternatively, if you haven't acquired a Destiny yet, you can visit an abyssal future and give the Lorn-Flukes The Name, although doing so means you will be destined for TORMENT.

Alternatively alternatively, you and another Seeker can obtain St Destin's Candle together during Hallowmas. The sender needs St Cerise's Candle, SMEN 35, at least 77 in each stat, and all six confessions; the recipient needs only SMEN 3. This will give both players the candle, while halving the sender's stats and lowering the recipient's by quite a few levels.

St Erzulie's Candle[edit]

Candlebloodred.png

Found in the Cave of the Nadir with SMEN 42 and St Destin's Candle. To obtain the candle, you must become Obscure, permanently giving up the ability to have Tattoos, Professions, Notability, Ambitions, and a Destiny. See Obscurity (Guide) for detailed information on what you might lose.

Although you don't actually have to do any of that. You can simply acquire the candle with no penalties whatsoever. If you prefer. Nobody will ever know. Except you.

St Fortigan's Candle[edit]

Candlewhite.png

Unlocks at SMEN 49. You must have the previous five candles and your own Ship. Acquire a Book of Crimson Prayer, then you can travel to the The Chapel of Lights. Attend six services to acquire the sixth candle.

St Gawain's Candle[edit]

Candleeye.png

Unlocks at SMEN 63. This quest comes in two parts -- the first requires St Cerise's Candle, the second requires St Fortigan's Candle. In order to go North, you must first go South. Then you will visit the Chapel once more.

If you got curious and went South before getting St Fortigan's Candle, you will have the Well quality which locks the option to go South. In this case, you need only return to the Chapel of Lights.

NORTH[edit]

With SMEN 77 and all the candles, you can make your Final Preparations from The Seeking Road. Once Embarked on an Expedition to the North. you can never return; you will never be freed from the Name or the ills you suffered Seeking it. Your final destination is the Avid Horizon, the way NORTH. Incidentally, your ship will be destroyed as you arrive. One more precious thing gone forever. What does it matter, any more?

Or so it might seem, for you have one final chance to turn back. Those who do will find themselves home, with a unique item, but The Seeking Road and its end are closed forever. You will have only stains and scars and trophies of a voyage that can never be completed.

Those who reach journey's end, and knock--well, you knew what you were getting into.

The Avid Horizon content features a message from Failbetter Games explicitly requesting that nothing beyond that point be publicly shared. That includes this wiki.

Was it worth it? Only you can decide that. Goodbye, delicious friend.

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