The Fernweh Saga: Book One (Discussion) [💚 Game Update, Post 1214]

[Snowflower]

I think M and the Genius Loci are one and the same. I also theorize that Grandfather and Marjorie were fighting on the same side of the good fight, but where Grandfather suffered an agonizing death for his hubris, Marjorie lost her mind and the Genius Loci turned her into the person MC meets. I hope that Team MC and Marjorie can join forces at some point. She’s my second favorite secondary connection.

[E_RedMark]

hey, maybe Grand Pa isn’t gone for good. I mean there is a freaking LOOP here…you think I’m not gonna Poke it and try to use it to bring Grand Pa?! Fast chances…

[lo6otia]

@JBento

I think the Waitress is an actual manifestation of the genius loci.

I thought that too, before second beta when I played with Evie. In chapter 8 W said something that made me think they are 2 different things.

@JBento

Did you try convincing your RO (except possibly B, I guess?) to leave at the end? I did. It makes me want to burn the genius loci to the ground extra hard.

Yes, I did and apparently they are all brainwashed

@markamadeo

This was answered in the game. The mother has similar super powers to you and also “resisted” the demon possessing you. With your grandfather’s encouragement. So she was disposed off since the demon thought you would be an easier person to control. That is why the grandfather felt responsible for her death. Which is why the grandfather did something with the player determinant friend to help you “escape” the town which in turn would keep you out of the domain of the demon’s control.

Actually, I think all of your family had superpowers. The three supernatural skills you have to choose from - your mom, dad and grandpa - each one had one of them. So you inherited it from one of them. Same with the angry/sad/afraid emotions - all connected to one of your family.

[EvilChani]

@Snowflower

I think M and the Genius Loci are one and the same.

After playing again, I agree with this. Which makes flirting with M… interesting.

I also agree about Marjorie. It’s too obvious to make her evil. Crazy and helpful is better than no help at all.

@E_RedMark

hey, maybe Grand Pa isn’t gone for good.

I’ve had that thought as well. I also had the sick thought that M is, somehow, grandpa (when I was trying to find a way that M may not be evil). Which… that’d be too fucked up. My MC kissed him the second round. Eww…

@lo6otia You were right about the R solo route. Played better than the poly. And R was much better with a bold flirting type. Unlike Dezh, this one isn’t quite as hostile and is just a snarkmonster. Though she actually tones it down to support Reese a few times.

She did have the anger thing going on, which apparently is like her mom. Really pissed off the… entity thing, too. Got full resistance on everything. I love stubborn, pain in the ass characters.

I also love that the MC can be reckless as hell, but James and Beckett keep her from getting her ass killed by blocking her path when she’s about to go full moron.

I’m actually tempted to make more MCs and try the S route, J solo route, and, possibly the B route (despite getting a brother vibe), given what @Snowflower said about it not being so painfully slow burn. Yes, I know it’s been six days, but haven’t you ever see Speed? There’s a reason there was a quote about relationships and intense experiences… for a lot of people, intense experiences decreases the amount of time for feelings and attraction to increase (exponentially, many times). And you don’t get a lot more intense than a six-day battle of weird monsters and psycho vines.

Also need to get Naia more solid. And make her not stab the pod and kill Bambi. That was awful.

[Snowflower]

@EvilChani

Also need to get Naia more solid. And make her not stab the pod and kill Bambi. That was awful.

Is Naia toxic like Laurel or merely reckless?

@EvilChani

Just reckless. She’s actually caring, just snarky about it. And sometimes annoyed. Started out pissed off at her grandfather (abandonment issues, to the extreme), but grew more understanding.

Her reckless score was 73% by the end. Or close to the end. I checked it when she tried to go running in to fight the tree by herself.

That’s definitely fun to play with (and a good starting point for MC-dev).

[EvilChani]

Just reckless. She’s actually caring, just snarky about it. And sometimes annoyed. Started out pissed off at her grandfather (abandonment issues, to the extreme), but grew more understanding.

Her reckless score was 73% by the end. Or close to the end. I checked it when she tried to go running in to fight the tree by herself.

[JBento]

@lo6otia

In chapter 8 W said something that made me think they are 2 different things.

Come on, don’t leave us hanging like that.

@EvilChani

I also had the sick thought that M is, somehow, grandpa

Note that M can be a woman.

@E_RedMark

I mean there is a freaking LOOP here

The Loop is physical, not chronological. It doesn’t let you timetravel. It just connects two physical spaces that aren’t otherwise connected.

[EvilChani]

@JBento

Note that M can be a woman.

Ah, good point. Well, that makes kissing M less eww. Just nuts, lol. Naia probably won’t do that in latter playthroughs, because she already only has eyes for Reese (even if he can be a huge douchebag sometimes), but I wanted to see what happened.

@JBento

The Loop is physical, not chronological. It doesn’t let you timetravel. It just connects two physical spaces that aren’t otherwise connected.

Yeah, exactly.

I’m thinking the family “powers” might be fairly rare (though it seems S has something akin to ESP or the empathic one) and that’s what helped gramps figure out what was going on, eventually. Maybe even how to temporarily stop the loop to get the MC out of town.

I didn’t really notice Reese or James having any abilities, but might have missed it. I think B’s ability may be to keep the MC from falling into the town’s brainwashing.

@JBento

Note that physical mail has been going in and out of Fernweh all these years. I’m still convinced the Loop is new. CITYSIGN new.

So it was just brainwashing or mind control that kept all the residents there?

Also, what was the deal with J’s letters not getting mailed to the MC? Was that the grandpa’s doing? If so, why?

[JBento]

@EvilChani

that’s what helped gramps figure out what was going on, eventually. Maybe even how to temporarily stop the loop to get the MC out of town.

Note that physical mail has been going in and out of Fernweh all these years. I’m still convinced the Loop is new. CITYSIGN new.

@EvilChani

So it was just brainwashing or mind control that kept all the residents there?

Possibly. Note that we only learn of BOTH these things right at the end of B1, so there’s a good chance that they’ll be the focus of a good part of B2.

@EvilChani

Also, what was the deal with J’s letters not getting mailed to the MC? Was that the grandpa’s doing? If so, why?

I agree with @furyleika on this. The genius loci wants you back, so the only one interested in the MC cutting connections with Fernweh would be Grandpa.

[furyleika]

@EvilChani

Also, what was the deal with J’s letters not getting mailed to the MC? Was that the grandpa’s doing? If so, why?

I reckon he didn’t want you to have any reason to want to come back.

[lo6otia]

@EvilChani

@lo6otia You were right about the R solo route. Played better than the poly. And R was much better with a bold flirting type. Unlike Dezh, this one isn’t quite as hostile and is just a snarkmonster. Though she actually tones it down to support Reese a few times.

She did have the anger thing going on, which apparently is like her mom. Really pissed off the… entity thing, too. Got full resistance on everything. I love stubborn, pain in the ass characters.

Oh, I was pretty sure you will like it better than the poly And this MC sounds exactly like mine, so I know what you’re talking about.

@EvilChani

Yes, I know it’s been six days, but haven’t you ever see Speed? There’s a reason there was a quote about relationships and intense experiences

Well, personally I didn’t get the slow burn longing looks even when I was younger. I always go for it when I like/want something/someone. I kissed my husband less then 5 hours after we met for the first time and it was more than 20 years ago. So six days are a lot for me for building tension. I just don’t have the patience.

@JBento

Come on, don’t leave us hanging like that.

I had to search through my notes from the beta, but here it is:

“No, I didn’t come all the way here for a floral arrangement,” he admits in a faintly quizzical tone, no longer smiling since you seem more tense than before. Your spine should be starting to ache from how awkwardly you sit away from the back of the chair, not relaxing or reclining into it. “I’m not like-” the waiter cuts off his own sentence, anchoring his teeth in his bottom lip so a broken exhale leaves him that is closer to a hissed sigh.

“…Was it that unpleasant?” he questions. “Whatever happened before I came here?”

Like whom? Who was there impersonating R/J/S/B if not MAL? Another question for later books I guess…

The thing I’m also very curious is the marks on the pantry door. I don’t have an explanation of them. Any thoughts?

[JBento]

@lo6otia

The thing I’m also very curious is the marks on the pantry door. I don’t have an explanation of them. Any thoughts?

I remember thinking they were height marks of a growing kid. I’ll see what I think once I hit that scene in the full game.

[Snowflower]

@EvilChani

I also agree about Marjorie. It’s too obvious to make her evil. Crazy and helpful is better than no help at all.

If, as I suspect, her current mental state is the result of the Genius Loci’s wrath, I wonder if in the later books we will be able to help her.

@JBento

The genius loci wants you back, so the only one interested in the MC cutting connections with Fernweh would be Grandpa.

I can honestly see him trying to cut connections between MC and Fernweh (including J’s letters)—however he’s never been a postal worker to my knowledge, nor did he seem to have the sort of “pull” (as a board member or something) that would allow him to look at the outgoing mail before it was sent even though he’s not supposed to. Unless he was the only one that knew MC’s new mailing address and J knew that (was he? I doubt it).

[lo6otia]

No, pretty sure they are not. Some of the ROs mentioned it, but the were too many and strangely placed to be that.

[EvilChani]

@lo6otia

Well, personally I didn’t get the slow burn longing looks even when I was younger. I always go for it when I like/want something/someone. I kissed my husband less then 5 hours after we met for the first time and it was more than 20 years ago. So six days are a lot for me for building tension. I just don’t have the patience.

Yeah, I’m the same way. I never got slow burn anything. You and your husband sound like me and mine. We were practically living together three days after our first date (which was actually a work project that ended with us getting drunk and me kicking his ass at video games), and engaged a few months later. When you know, you know, at least for me, so I can totally relate.

One thing about that scene you included… the waiter seems to reflect (and feed off of) the MC’s emotions. I noticed that before. MC flirts, waiter responds in kind. Get crabby, waiter gets crabby. I mean, yeah, it could be just normal responses, but it seems too… directly correlated.

I have no idea bout the marks on the pantry door. I had wondered about those, too.

@Snowflower

I wonder if in the later books we will be able to help her.

I hope so. I like her. That cop being a dick to her irritated me. She seems to be one of the few without blinders on.

[JBento]

@Snowflower

Unless he was the only one that knew MC’s new mailing address and J knew that (was he? I doubt it).

I haven’t reached that point in the full game yet, but I vaguely recall that the person that took the MC away was a friend of Grandpa’s, and there’s no mention of the MC trying to contact anyone else but him. I do think he was the only one who knew where the MC wound up.

[RenataC]

@markamadeo

I gave the puppy a custom name after a character in one of my favorite games: Barkspawn

A Speaker fan?

@JBento

I think the Ouroboros is a reference to the way Fernweh’s limits loop in on themselves, as you can see at the end of the Book.

I thought that too, specially because of Ouroboros I kind of expected that we couldn’t leave.

@E_RedMark

@JBento No! the sign is NEW! if anything it limit the Loop. The Loop is old, ya get it from ya grand Pa journal…he was re-remembering stuff! That mean he was stuck in a Loop…

The sign is new but when we learn about the town symbol in library is already an Ouroboros.

My theory is that people who born in Fernwah can’t leave the town, and somehow MC’s grandfather “broken” this loop to take MC out of Fernweh. That’s why he wasn’t the one who took her, that’s why he leave a letter saying “if you are reading this, I failed you”. If you go with B to the sign, you have a headache, but B don’t. I think the sign is to keep B in Fernweh, not MC.

[markamadeo]

I’m not entirely sure what you mean by Speaker (maybe the thing I referenced was an allusion to something else I didn’t get). I was talking about Dragon Age.

[JBento]

@RenataC

My theory is that people who born in Fernwah can’t leave the town, and somehow MC’s grandfather “broken” this loop to take MC out of Fernweh. That’s why he wasn’t the one who took her, that’s why he leave a letter saying “if you are reading this, I failed you”. If you go with B to the sign, you have and headache, but B don’t. I think the sign is to keep B in Fernweh, not MC.

This is possible, but it raises some problems. If a natural and a non-natural were driving away from Fernweh, what then? Does one of them keep going and the other disappears from the car?

[RenataC]

Speaker is an IF on twine that one of the possible names for MC’s shadow dog is Barkspawn! But I didn’t know it was a reference to Dragon Age LOL