The Sixth Coil (historical)

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!”

The Sixth Coil was a one-off festival in Fallen London, which began on the 1st of August 1899 (2024). As with previous Estivals, six new items were available to purchase for Estival Tokens alongside items from past Estivals and elections, and players were given 30 of these at the beginning of the festival. Furthermore, as a followup to the migration of the Strangling Willow Ring and Winking Gemstone Ring to the new Adornment slot, these rings could be traded for new Gloves with the same stats, the Censor's Touch and the Cautious Bracer. The new items were:

• Censor's Touch - Mithridacy gloves, 20 x Estival Token
• Varchaasi Holdall - Glasswork luggage, 20 x Estival Token
• Pilgrim's Sandals - Chthonosophy boots, 30 x Estival Token
• Huzzite Shroud - Artisan of the Red Science and Insubstantial hat, 30 x Estival Token
• Cautious Bracer - Shapeling Arts gloves, 50 x Estival Token
• Gilded Spinneret - Monstrous Anatomy adornment, 50 x Estival Token

In a variation on previous Estivals, the Sixth Coil brought back some of the competitive elements of the elections in the form of the Coilheart Games and ran on a developer-determined schedule rather than stages being triggered by World Qualities.

Prelude

"this is concerning."

– Sacchi

As a prelude to the events of the festival, on the 22nd a new event-specific recurring dream became available; Having Recurring Dreams: the Forests of the Night, with the card A Dream of Wanting in which you dreamt of heading through a black-and-orange jungle to your lover on the other side, hunted by an enemy that resembled you exactly.

1 August

"oh no the army of tiger orphans we sold have come back for a reckoning"

– Pyronar

The event began at 11:00 UTC, with an army of finely dressed orphans - implied to be the Winsome Dispossessed Orphans once offered to the Court of the Wakeful Eye for Tribute in vast quantities - spreading leaflets, and also gemstones. This was followed by the Tiger Keeper (referred to by his full, very long title) announcing the Coilheart Games and the opening of the Sixth Coil of The Labyrinth of Tigers - with some of its riches to be claimed by the Games' victors. After that, Mr Huffam approached the player asking for help investigating the Sixth Coil; this was the beginning of the festival's clue hunt.

Initially, only seven clues were available, with game instructions letting players know that more would become available as the games progressed.

• The first clue to be discovered was Lead: Immovable Doors, from Leaving the Fifth Coil in The Labyrinth of Tigers. It was reported to the Discord by Belphegora (IGN) at 11:06 UTC
• Two more clues were discovered at 11:11 UTC and 11:16 UTC. One, Lead: The Tiger Keeper from Bartering with the Tiger Keeper in the Labyrinth of Tigers, was reported to the Discord by ai Catz at 11:18 UTC; the other, Lead: The Bishop of Southwark from Tea with the Bishop in the Labyrinth, was reported at 11:20 UTC by Belphegora (IGN)
• At 11:19, the clue Lead: Mr Inch was reported by Q-45275, Roof-Papacy Expert
• At 11:35, the fifth clue, Lead: Baseborn and Fowlingpiece from Call at the Offices of Baseborn & Fowlingpiece, Solicitors at Law in the Bazaar Side-Streets, was reported by Sygnett (IGN: Gven)
• At 11:37, the sixth clue, Lead: The Honey-Addled Detective from Working with the Honey-Addled Detective in Moloch Street, was reported by Savato {IGN}
• At 11:41, Lead: The Clay Coalman from Speak to the Clay Coalman in Your Lodgings was reported by Fluffernutter (IGN) (ping pls)

At around 12:33 UTC, all seven clues had been reported the requisite number of times.

In addition to the clue hunt, the structure of the festival was revealed both on Discord and in the announcement page; four Tournaments, of the Sciences, Imagination, Intellect and the Body, running for three days each and starting at noon BST (11:00 UTC) on the 3rd. It was also revealed in-game that delegations from the tournament would be coming from the Khanate, the Tomb-Colonies, the Court of the Wakeful Eye and even the Surface; and it was revealed on Discord that more things would be happening before the first tournament started.

At 21:00 UTC, 10 hours after the event opened, the World Quality The Games Approach reached 10 and unlocked Burning Bright, in which the Court of the Wakeful Eye's delegation arrived. This unlocked a new option on the Entrepreneurs and Opportunism storylet, adding Rat on a String to the Bottle of Greyfields 1879, Primordial Shriek and Moon-Pearl already available within.

2 August

"the Khanate does not have robots; just a guard with a fancy sword"

– Graham, The Soul Proprietor

"The tomb-colonists have a spiked monowheel, they're automatically the best now."

– Roland Jones (IGN)

At 6:00 UTC, 19 hours after the event opened, the World Quality The Games Approach reached 19 and unlocked Eagle's Splendour, in which the Khanate's Eagle Clan delegation arrived. This unlocked a new option on the Entrepreneurs and Opportunism storylet, adding Whispered Hint to the available items.

At 16:00 UTC, 29 hours after the event opened, the World Quality The Games Approach reached 29 and unlocked Memento Mori, in which the Tomb-Colonies delegation arrived. This unlocked a new option on the Entrepreneurs and Opportunism storylet, adding Rostygold to the available items.

3 August

"As above, so below. Therefore something incredibly stupid is also happening in the High Wilderness version of the olympics"

– The Fluid Professor

"the historical writeup on the wiki is going to be insane. so many quotes about how much we lost our minds over koloma"

– Yinsie (IGN)

At 1:00 UTC, the Surface delegation arrived from the Koloman Republic, with a most unusual flag. The community immediately went feral over them.. Wild speculation about them ensued, with many initially believing them to be spies due to descriptions of them having wildly different languages and cultural norms. Some joked that the Republic was named for Coloman, King of Hungary but eventually the consensus on the etymology settled on Coloman of Stockerau, an Irish saint hanged near Vienna after being mistaken for a spy, based on symbols associated with him appearing on the flag.. The Kolomans also brought a new option to Entrepreneurs and Opportunism which paid in Cryptic Clues.

The Opening Ceremony

"i like that 'the summer curse' is implied to be a thing known to londonders at this point"

– mouseyMoment

At 11:00 UTC, the opening ceremony of the Coilheart Games began. After people packed themselves into the newly-constructed amphitheatre, the Tiger Keeper began to give a speech from the ostentatiously gold-lined mosaic floor. Alas, this was interrupted by the ground shaking, prompting panic and recollections of Estival disasters past. The Tiger Keeper called for calm, and claimed this was merely the Sixth Coil stirring in anticipation of the glories of the Games. Despite this still being a really concerning thing for someone to say about the building everyone was currently on top of, people calmed down for long enough for the speech to finish. After a brief tour of the celebrations, and encounters with Mr Huffam - although no new clues became available - and the Tiger Keeper (who seemed to be avoiding his own Court's delegation) it was time for the Tournament of Sciences.

At this point, the continuation of the new recurring dream, Having Recurring Dreams: the Forests of the Night also became available; A Dream of Armistice, in which you dreamt of making your way to your love across a burning battlefield, and ominously ended with the phrase "Only you can open the world to them."

A Tournament of the Sciences

"I'm gonna collect all 77 she/they Cackling Mechanics"

– Passion (she/her)

For the first tournament, the delegations were tasked with building a boat to zail from the poisonous waters by the Second City Sere Palace along Hellish canals to the Unterzee. For this tournament, the tigers bowed out (as they famously cannot operate a ship by themselves without thumbs) and the Khanate delegation split into teams representing the Eagle and Tortoise Clans. Players could choose to support any of the four teams, raising the Science: Aiding the (team name) World Qualities with options randomised by Airs of the Games, by spending Casing... to report on what other teams were doing, or by completing a new research in the Lab and reporting back to them about it. There was also an option to offer material assistance in the form of various high-value items, which promised multiplicative effects on the team's progress and could only be played three times; however, this was initially locked behind 2 Science: Schedule.

Each of the options to support the teams rewarded the player with varying amounts of Coilheart Renown, which could be exchanged for various rewards in The Bounties of the Coil in The Labyrinth of Tigers, most notably The Distinction of the Waking Fire, a Dangerous, Dreaded and Nightmares-reducing event-exclusive Adornment for 20000 x Coilheart Renown.

Action	Cost	Reward
Claim an insensible quantity of fighting-weasels	1500	30 x Araby Fighting-Weasel
Claim a grubby urchin	2440	1 x Grubby Urchin 20 x Mystery of the Elder Continent
Claim a bevy of shattered mirrors	2500	50 x Memory of Light
Claim a box marked 'exhibit enrichment'	4000	10 x Femur of a Surface Deer 4 x Femur of a Jurassic Beast 2 x Ivory Humerus 200 x Bone Fragments 4 x Tale of Terror!!
Claim an assortment of jewels	5150	200 x Sapphire 100 x Venom-Ruby 10 x Ostentatious Diamond 1 x Magnificent Diamond
Claim a glittering fragment	6250	1 x Mountain-sherd
Claim a sacred mystery	31250	1 x Elemental Secret

At 11:54 UTC, LukeFBG confirmed that there would not be any unique reward for backing the winning team.. The tomb-colonist delegation took an early lead, with the Kolomanians trailing a little behind them. Speculation was prompted when the Koloman Republic was described as landlocked and as having canals that reached the Adriatic Sea. By the end of the day, the Tomb-Colonists led the competition by about 7,000 points.

4 August

"sadly not everyone has millions of bejewelled lenses lying around"

– Phoenix🐢🦅, The Fourteenth Month

The Tomb-Colonists continued to grow their lead over the other factions throughout the day. At 23:00 UTC, the second stage of the Tournament of the Sciences began with a bang - literally. A previously concealed device in the Eagle area exploded, with the wreckage being promptly confiscated by the Constables. Of course, Mr Huffam was very interested in this, and so a second clue hunt began.

• The first clue, Lead: Forgotten Alliances was found at 23:04 UTC by Valerie Pine | 🐢TURT UP 🐢 in Eagles and Horseheads in The Forgotten Quarter. According to @ekp0133F on tumblr this was the third clue to be turned in to Huffam, and she was the first one to do so.
• The next clue, Lead: Extraordinary Illumination, was reported at 23:05 UTC by Valerie Pine | 🐢TURT UP 🐢 in the form of a new heist, The Vault of Impounded Contraband in Concord Square.
• At 23:10, Lead: The Precocious Engineer was reported by Clueless [IGN: Mew777], from the option Ask them about the machinations of the Eagle Clan in The Precocious Engineer in Khan's Heart.
• Only a minute later, at 23:11 UTC, Lead: The Old Celestial Embassy was reported as being in Spelunking in the Sunken Embassy by ted
• At 23:48, Lead: Tortoise Intelligence was reported by LordPaido in Begin an intrigue in Khan's Heart when aligned with the Tortoise in Khaganian intrigues.
• Also at 23:48, Lead: Xanthous Law was reported by Sara Rivers (IGN) in Reflection of your Laboratory after completing the clue heist.

In addition to the clue hunt, the second stage unlocked the options to render material assistance; the use of these briefly bought the Republic the lead before the Tomb-Colonists reclaimed it again.

5 August

"woah woah woah i just got on for the first time since yesterday evening what is this ominous humming 😰😰"

– tom (GOOSE GANG🪿🏆)

At 00:27 UTC, it was noticed that the final clue had already been found and turned in by a person or persons unknown. At 00:50, ted claimed that his friend had found the final clue. A few minutes later, The Revered Abolitionist confirmed the existence of the clue with a screenshot. The clue, Lead: Strands of the Motherlings, had been missed by others searching the Symposium because it required having completed the Exceptional Story The Web of the Motherlings. At around 6:05 UTC, all seven clues reached completion.

A Tournament of the Imagination

"Ofc she’s a dick in the jungle too" followed by a screenshot of Tend the Captivating Princess' Dream-Garden

– Fluffernutter

At 11:00 UTC, the second Tournament began, with the Court of the Wakeful Eye, the Koloman Republic, the Eagle Clan and a coterie of local Bohemians competing to produce the greatest creative work. In addition to Airs-based options and a locked material assistance option similar to the Tournament of the Sciences, there was an option to aid your team by shaping the dreams of the Captivating Princess with a new Oneiropomping option that was soon confirmed to be permanent. After a brief period of the Republic being in the lead, the Bohemians quickly outpaced them.

At 12:54, LukeFBG confirmed that there were further QLDs beyond that for turning in 7 clues, but no other reward.

6 August

"It's inefficient, but flavorful. And I wouldn't call her evil, not in earshot.

I'm sure you wouldn't want to be a flower."

– IGN: Qu1cKsAnD ( :goosewine: )

The Bohemians' lead in the Tournament of the Imagination continued to grow, as the new interactions with the Koloman Republic provided new contradictory information and prompted further questions about whether or not they actually existed.. The discussion quickly shifted focus when the Tournament of the Sciences concluded.

A Tournament Concluded

"true Vital Intelligence can only be manufactured in the Vitalia Valley region up in the Kolomanian Alps!"

– ribbenquall,committed Kolomaniac

"The whole thing is sus. I don't trust the Tigers as far I can throw them."

– Malitia from the Darkness 🦋

At 11:00 UTC, the Tournament of the Sciences reached its conclusion, with the Tomb-Colonists winning. After a rant from the Cackling Mechanic, medals were handed out. Then a firework rose from the vicinity of the Labyrinth, exploding into a Correspondence sigil meaning 'To Assemble a Heart from Dust', which prompted speculation. Players received rewards from the faction they had supported, with the Koloman reward - Vital Intelligence, a Great Game item - prompting further discussion as to whether they were spies or faking their country for another reason.

A Tournament of the Imagination: Self-Sabotage

"guys i'm starting to think this whole sixth coil business might not be entirely on the level"

– The Visceral Sybarite

At 23:00 UTC, the Tournament of the Imagination was interrupted by a row between the Striped Officiant and the Pantherine Impressionist as the former gave the latter a letter from the Banded Prince himself ordering her to cover up her existing painting and replace it with something worse. Of course, this was of interest to Mr Huffam, and so began the third clue hunt.

• At 23:02, Hythonia (IGN) 🐯 reported Lead: Feline Gossip in The Flit
• At 23:03, Fl: Lilliper, Temporary Thespian reported Lead: Under Orders in The Singing Mandrake.
• Also at 23:03, The Fluid Professor reported Lead: The Duchess' Disregard in The Shuttered Palace, available to those who had completed the Exceptional Story Go Tell the King of Cats
• With the third clue to be found at 23:03, Antonia R (IGN) reported Lead: A Reluctance to Compete in The Court of the Wakeful Eye
• At 23:05, Valashu (IGN) reported Lead: Recollections of a Tigress in Parabolan Base-Camp with Parabolan Defences 3.
• At 23:08, Finn'💡🐈 reported Lead: A Posting Little Sought After in Port Carnelian
• At 23:20 the seventh clue was found; at 23:27 it was reported to the Discord by Phosphor [FL: Lukas Ashveil] on behalf of his friend Frost-Moth King (who was presumably the person to find it)

In the midst of the hunt, it was noticed that the Sixth Coil's doors now had a glowing sigil on their upper-left., and there was a new option to Warn London of the dangers of the Games. At 23:57, a new QLD for An Investigative Journalist: was found with all 21 clues.

The revelation that the tigers had held opening games for the Sixth Coil in previous cities, deliberately lost them, and were trying to deliberately lose these too, prompted many to switch from trying to ensure they lost out of spite to trying to ensure they won out of spite..

In addition to the clue hunt, this unlocked the material assisstance option for the tournament.

7 August

"[stumbles in covered in blood] hey is there a new qvd for getting all the clues, y/n"

– party boat 2024 💀🍷🌙

At around 1:30 UTC, all seven clues were completed.

A Tournament of the Intellect

"Intellect has been Lamp Cats vs people who want Tigers Dead"

– JotaToxic (IGN)

At 11:00 UTC, the third tournament began. It took the form of a chess tournament in Spite, with issues caused by the many wildly incompatible chess rulesets of the Neath - not to mention the Koloman Republic's famous six-sided chess. Delegations came from the Court of the Wakeful Eye, the Koloman Republic, the Eagle Clan and the Principles of Coral. The Principles and the Court soon had a substantial lead over the other teams, with the Principles only a little ahead of the Court.

In addition to the usual Airs options and locked materials option, players could assist their chosen team by teaching them lessons learned playing chess against the Boatman, or regaling them with tales of victory from The Moonlit Chessboard in Parabola. This prompted complaints, as many had interpreted the announcement's talk of being able to "[o]ffer your allies chess tips from the Boatman" as implying an option requiring The Boatman's Opponent 40, whereas this was actually gained from playing chess against the Boatman during the event and thus made harder by higher The Boatman's Opponent. In response to these complaints, a new event-exclusive option was added at 12:35 UTC which was designed to avoid both the economy rewards and the menaces of the usual The Boatman's Opponent 40 option..

8 August

Over the course of the morning, the Principles' lead over the Court grew.

A Second Tournament Concluded

"forbidden Fingerking x Tiger star crossed lovers cmon lets goooo"

– Selm.wave [IGN: Alectos]

At 11:00 UTC, the Tournament of the Imagination reached its conclusion, with the Bohemians Planetary Society for the Advancement of the Arts Cosmic Unity for the Progression of Aesthetics winning with their play The Heart is the Heart is the Heart. The Bohemians' celebration was interrupted by another Correspondence firework, this one meaning 'The Moment Before Two Hearts Touch'. A few minutes later, the presence of a second sigil on the Sixth Coil's doors was reported.

After the Tournament of Imagination ended, the Court began to catch up to the Principles.

A Tournament of the Intellect: Cover Blown

"WHO COULD HAVE FORESEEN THEY WHERE SPIES THE WHOLE TIME"

– InfiniteJustine

At 23:00 UTC, the Koloman delegation's leading members - the Sun-Kissed Polymath and the Rogue Translator - found themselves on opposite sides of a chessboard. They immediately began arguing, before the Polymath revealed a Corresponding Sounder-like device that fed him orders from the Surface, accused the Translator of having one too, and stormed off. The entirely foreseeable revelation that the Koloman Republic delegation were all Surface spies prompted another clue hunt.

• At 23:02 UTC, Finn'🦅 reported Lead: Intriguer's Orders on the card Whispers from the Surface: The Great Game, which required Balmoral access to decode in a Cabinet Noir
• At 23:03, Antonia R (IGN) reported Lead: The Wrong Sort of Treasure in Balmoral - either at the dumbwaiter or in A Master Smuggler
• At 23:04, silverlogan reported Lead: A Sequestered Piece at the end of the Moonlit Chessboard carousel
• At 23:04, ribbenquall, Kolomapostate reported Lead: Periodical Puzzles on the Copper Cipher Ring
• At 23:07, ⚡🌈 (IGN: Adele Locke) reported Lead: Overtures from Above at the end of the Foreign Office carousel
• At 23:15, Begrudged Bengal Benefactor reported Lead: Shown On No Map in Vision of the Surface

The seventh clue would not be found until the next day, with a delay caused by someone reporting a fake clue, completed with forged screenshot.

With the unlocking of material contributions, the Court of the Wakeful Eye almost immediately claimed the lead from the Principles of Coral

9 August

"is this whole debacle a notable part of estival proceedings in lieu of anything else

"meanwhile, while things were otherwise quiet, the community found ways to keep busy" or something"

– catherine (nyanbinyary)

At 00:01 UTC, the seventh clue, Lead: A Visitor's Ignorance was reported by DisplacedLabRat in Sinning Jenny's Finishing School; at around 00:20 UTC, all seven clues were fully reported. At around 1:20 UTC, Intellect: Aiding the Tigers overtook Intellect: Aiding the Principles of Coral, cementing the Court's lead.

Meanwhile, while things were otherwise quiet, the community found ways to keep busy. (With discourse.)

A Tournament of the Body

"Y'know. What are the odds the middle of this event is going to be interrupted by a murder, or a real murder?"

– Lunarietta

At 11:00 UTC, the final tournament of the games began, with delegations from the Court of the Wakeful Eye, the tomb-colonists, the Eagle Clan, and the Elder Continent kingdom of Skite. The tomb-colonists briefly held the lead, before the power of spite brought the Court into the lead, with the Eagle languishing in fourth and the tomb-colonists and Skite battling for second place. Skite's popularity despite their only previous mentions being in Flint, The House of Silk and Flame and The Season of Sceptres cast doubt on the popular theory that familiar factions would outperform unfamiliar ones. Meanwhile, the presence of the tomb-colonists disproved the theory that they had been missing from the last two tournaments because FBG planned to prevent repeated faction wins by keeping winning factions out of future tournaments.

10 August

"i really like how my entire approach went from "i support the tigers because they deserve to win" to "i support the tigers because they deserve to win" but now the shape of my smile is different."

– Tolpen, The Soft-Eyed Mycologist

Anticipation grew as the end of the third tournament approached, with the tigers still in the lead but by a narrower margin than previous victors. Meanwhile, the gaps between the Court, Skite and the tomb-colonists in the Tournament of the Body continued to grow.

A Third Tournament Concluded

"Skite not spite!"

– SeerSword

At 11:00 UTC, the Tournament of the Intellect came to a close. The Court won, a fact that they seemed unhappy about. A third Correspondence firework was fired off, meaning 'A Negative Impulse, Poorly Resisted'; a third sigil was reported on the Sixth Coil's door, leaving room for only one more.

With only a single tournament remaining, focus turned to the Tournament of the Body, with some making a concerted effort to get Skite to win rather than a second win for the Court.

A Tournament of the Body: Murder Most Foul

"I am ride or die for the Whispering Duellist now. That woman knows how to murder someone with passion."

– Pyronar, Temporary Tomb Queen

At 23:00 UTC, a duel between the Whispering Duellist and the Eagle Clan's second culminated in more violence than expected from the violence tournament, with the Duellist nearly consigning their opponent to true death. She was heard to mention the Sixth Coil in the same breath as "torments beyond death" to Feducci, which unlocked several new clues around the city and surrounding environs.

• The first lead, Lead: Entrants From Ages Past, was reported by Antonia R (IGN) at 23:02 UTC, on the Diary of the Dead.
• At 23:04 the next lead, Lead: Lost Kings, was reported by Tragedian on a Slow Boat in the Waswood
• At 23:04, the third lead, Lead: The Furthest Shores was reported by Finn'🦅 in Tanah-Chook, a location unlocked by the Exceptional Story All Things Must End
• At 23:05, another lead, Lead: For Whom the Boat Rows, was reported by suinicide (Sunnytime) in a slow boat passing a dark beach on a silent river
• At 23:06, the fifth clue, Lead: The Weight of Earth, was reported by Valashu (IGN) in The Mind of the Creditor

Based on Huffam's dialogue, players assumed the final clue would be unavailable until after the Tournament of the Body, when the Whispering Duellist became available for interview. However, in a startling change of pace from previous clue hunts, the community was unable to find the remaining clue in the first half-hour. While cooler heads suggested waiting for the Duellist's clue, others suggested increasingly deranged locations: During Roof travel, in a rare and entirely random encounter! The sell message for Hesperidian Cider! A different game entirely!!

With the option to donate materials unlocked, Skite near-instantly overtook the Court.

11 August

"Bruno sleeping like a baby knowing he made the last couple clues absolutely stupid hard to find "

– Mr Red (IGN: redruum)

"Patch note: Fixed George's reading incomprehension"

– George FBG

At 00:45 UTC, all five of the discovered clues were fully reported. The final two clues remained elusive, with users eventually resorting to extreme lengths: checking the The Mind of a Long-Dead God, a Hearts' Game seven-win run, and even The Black Castle . Some believed both of the remaining clues were time-locked, while others facetiously suggested searching for the missing sixth clue in the notoriously-delayed Hollow Knight: Silksong.

At 6:16 UTC, after over seven hours of consternation, George FBG woke up and confirmed that one of the clues was currently unavailable, updating the metatext for Huffam's hint. The increasingly-manic clue hunters celebrated while redoubling their efforts on what they thought was the home stretch. However, 7 minutes later, George announced the metatext had been edited again: neither remaining clue was available yet. Whoops!

12 August

"i bet the sixth coil is actually legitimately fine and full of treasure. however it does also contain the seventh coil, which is a big snake that hunts you"

– The Visceral Sybarite

"wait what?!! Nemesis tie in?!!"

– tom (GOOSE GANG🪿🏆)

At 11:00 UTC, the Tournament of the Body concluded, with Skite victorious and the Tiger Keeper heading towards the Labyrinth at speed as a final Correspondence firework - 'To Assemble a Name from Scars' - went off. With the final tournament over and the next stage of the event scheduled for the next day, focus immediately turned to locating the last two clues. Meanwhile, talking to Huffam gave a new Weapon, Huffam's Personal Blend. Instructions describing one of the clues as being Ambition-locked and in a location of importance to the tomb-colonies prompted speculation that it would be Ambition: Nemesis exclusive - both as Nemesis was the only ambition not to have had an exclusive clue in prior Estivals, and as Nemesis involves visiting the Grand Sanatoria of the tomb-colonies.

The sixth clue, Lead: A Whispered Connection was reported by Savato {IGN} at 11:08 UTC in the fighting rings of Watchmaker's Hill, with the final clue, Lead: The Tombs of Old Loves, being reported by silurica🌿🌱 at 11:14 UTC in disgraced exile in the Tomb-Colonies, requiring both the sixth clue and Ambition: Nemesis 17. At 11:30, all seven clues were completely reported.

With all these clues, a picture was emerging. Lead: The Weight of Earth spoke of something kept at a remove from the Is, Lead: Lost Kings called it the Coiler of Hearts. Lead: Entrants From Ages Past implied that those who entered the Sixth Coil in prior cities had been some kind of sacrifice to keep it imprisoned, and Lead: The Furthest Shores, Lead: For Whom the Boat Rows, Lead: Strands of the Motherlings and Lead: The Tombs of Old Loves showing that they had neither returned nor died. Overall, this was a very concerning picture, and Mr Huffam began making plans to contact the winners about it.

13 August

"LET ME IN"

– Mr. Messages (Asarta)

Anticipation built throughout the day, and in accordance with Estival tradition at least one prophetic comment was made.

The Earthquake and the Exposé

"why couldnt they have told us there were clues *before* I fought a dozen tigers singlehandedly (I woulda done it anyways)"

– Eager Eagle Enthusiast

At 11:00 UTC, the end of the Games was interrupted by another earthquake, bringing the amphitheatres tumbling to the ground. The player, Huffam and various delegates hurried to the Sixth Coil - the obvious source of the disaster - to see the unexpectedly open doors guarded by dozens of tigers. After being turned away - with lethal force if necessary and told we did not know enough to help, a sixth clue hunt began so that we could learn what was needed to help.

• The first clue, Lead: Against Flesh, was reported at 11:05 by Phoenix🔥🦅, The Fourteenth Month in The Labyrinth of Tigers
• The second clue, Having Recurring Dreams: the Forests of the Night 3, was reported in the form of a new dream card A Dream of Thresholds by RiyaT at 11:06 UTC
• The next clue, Lead: Glass Impassable, was reported by Sans Cipher, Kolomaster 🦢🫡 at 11:08 UTC in Parabolan Base-Camp
• The fourth clue, Lead: Attar, and Analogues, was reported by The Eternal Authoress at 11:09 UTC
• The clue Lead: Parabolan Treachery was reported at 11:19 by Etienne Bondeur in the item Parabolan Parable
• The sixth clue, Lead: A King Long Ago was discovered at around 11:54 in The Court of the Wakeful Eye by matcha IGN golver5 and reported in an unofficial Fallen London Discord server.
• The final clue, Lead: A History in Banded Scales, was reported by Phosphor [FL: Lukas Ashveil] at 12:21 UTC in The Stacks

The Google Doc in which both clue locations and checked locations were recorded can be viewed here: [5].

At 12:39, all seven clues were fully reported, unlocking Attend a meeting of minds. With this, Huffam printed his special, and in short measure the victors arrived at the Labyrinth to ask the Striped Officiant some very pointed questions.

It was at this point that the reward for having handed in seven clues (out of 42) was given, In Mr Huffam's Good Graces.

Breaking a Gaol

"want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want want"

– Kaos Dragon (ign)

After a tense discussion, the victors and the Striped Officiant agreed to a two-part scheme: to rescue those trapped in the coil, and to keep the Seventh Coil trapped in the Sixth Coil.

Players could contribute in two ways; either by entering the Sixth Coil themselves to map it out and try and locate the rogue Tiger Keeper and the Seventh Coil, increasing A Route to the Centre, or by gathering special items and equipment with which to keep the Coil trapped, increasing Planning for the Coil's Heart:

• Viric Fixative, from The Viric Jungle
• Xanthous Array from University Laboratory
• Midnight Sounder from Wilmot's End
• Unguent of Persistence from Station VIII
• Sealing Insight from The Midnight Moon

Much discussion was had about the unusual description of Temptation's Presence, a quality that formed an important part of navigating the Sixth Coil; and there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth amongst wiki editors when it was discovered that there was an option with random variant text that was only available on Airs of the Labyrinth 100, reminiscent of the Grand Clearing Out's In Their Wake. Much like In Their Wake, this prompted the creation of a Google Doc to collate the snippets.

At around 19:49 UTC, Planning for the Coil's Heart reached its target of 1,000,000.. Meanwhile, A Route to the Centre was much slower to rise, only advancing 4% of the target in the first 12 hours.

It was also confirmed that Estival would remain open and available for people to catch up for "around a week after the endings are first unlocked".

14 August

"rubbing my little hands together like some sort of creature because the 6th coil Airs 100 locked door has 99 unique whispers. and they're all delicious and also a lot refer to deep lore […]"

– starryeyed-seer

At around 10:57, a small tweak was made to allow access to Huffam's Personal Blend even after progressing the story past the final clue hunt, and an upper bound on the distance needed to leave the Coil was introduced. At around 11, a timer ran its course and the Coilheart victors joined in the exploration of the coil, leading to a significant increase in the rate at which A Route to the Centre increased.

At around 12:29, the profitability of exploring the Coil was increased, with an additional reward for collecting all four of the Burdens therein and a bugfix for Temptation's Presence

15 August

"they thought of everything. i love you Emergency Interim Substitute Tiger Keeper"

– werefeathers

Exploration of the Sixth Coil continued apace, with A Route to the Centre rising from just over 2.6 million - 26% of the target - at the start of the day, up to the halfway mark of 5 million by 15:00 UTC and reaching 70.8% by the end of the day.

16 August

"In the end, it turns out that the most important element to resolve this situation was
...
Coilaboration"

– ribbenquall, Coilquappe

At 11:50 UTC, A Route to the Centre reached its target of 10,000,000 and unlocked the conclusion of the story. After a brief discussion, the player set off with the Coilheart victors to the heart of the Coil. At this point, players received the reward for contributing towards Planning for the Coil's Heart - Coilbreaker's Prints, Glasswork and Insubstantial Gloves.

Upon entering and setting up the Xanthous Arrays in preparation for evacuating the previous tributes, the player and the victors snuck between the Seventh Coil and the tributes while the Tiger Keeper tried to persuade his beloved to stop gathering his mind-controlled courtiers and just get out before the Sixth Coi's doors could be sealed again. Then the player character was spotted, activated the Arrays to momentarily hold back the Coil, and with the assistance of the victors corralled the tributes and got them moving, injured an attacking Tiger Keeper, evaded the vast and unending coils of the infuriated Coil and sealed the centre's door. The player caught a final glimpse of the Coil picking up the injured Keeper, and read into its facial expression what they would. After that, all that remained was a pell-mell dash out of the Labyrinth, and a series of touching scenes as a party began.

Once all that was said and done - and the player had had one last chance to cash out Coilheart Renown - the Banded Prince himself turned up, granting the player and the victors recognition and apology, as well as the Half-Devoured Heart, a Chthonosophy Home Comfort. Afterwards, as with previous Estivals the player could receive one of a handful of unique mementos - Coilheart Games 1899 Commemorative Archway, Parietal Kingscale or 'The Maze of Coiled Hearts', volumes 1-3 - and a Vestige of a Starlit Reverie.

At 12:59 UTC, George confirmed that the Sixth Coil would return as a permanent activity once Estival was over.

Conclusion

"Moral of the story: investigative journalism is expensive. Very, extremely expensive. […] Congratulations to Failbetter Games. It’s a brilliant piece."

– KenShi

It stopped being possible to start the event on the 22nd of August. The event as a whole was scheduled to close on the 2nd of September; after briefly closing on the 2nd, the event reopened and finally closed at 9:30 UTC on the 5th. This gave final values of the world qualities as follows:

• Planning for the Coil's Heart: 6565800, 656.58% of the target
• A Route to the Centre: 19835874, 198.35874% of the target

References