Fair warning: this blog post contains spoilers for Irem, and certain things you can only see after fully completing Evolution.

Wait, what’s a Destiny?

A glimpse of a possible future. A powerful item you can obtain in Fallen London, though you are limited in when and how you can change which Destiny you have – similar to a spouse, ship, or club.

So I can change my Destiny in Irem?

There are some limits to when and how often you can do it, but yes.

And there are new Destinies you can only get in Irem?

Yes.

How does this work, then?

In short: You can get one of the original Destinies either from Irem, or from various festivals throughout the year.

As long as you have one of the original Destinies, you can change it to one of the new Destinies in Irem.

What if I don’t have a Destiny at all?

Ordinarily, you can get a new Destiny during various Festivals: Hallowmas, Fruits of the Zee, Christmas. The exact means to do it varies by festival, but is usually accessible from the hub storylet for that festival. We’re adding the Feast of the Rose to the list of festivals that let you gain a Destiny, too.

During all of those festivals, you can now also gain or change your destiny in Irem, for convenience’s sake. And exceptionally, you’ll be able to gain a Destiny in Irem for the first two weeks after it launches.

You can always change an original Destiny to a greater Destiny in Irem, at any time. This ‘upgrade’ is always available and always free as long as you’ve completed the Youthful Naturalist’s story.

You can change between different original Destinies, or between greater Destinies, during certain festivals: The Feast of the Rose, Fruits of the Zee, Hallowmas, or Christmas. Or, exceptionally, for the first two weeks after Irem launches. This is ‘meddling with your Destiny.’

Importantly, though, you can only meddle with your Destiny once per festival – there’s a month-long cooldown on it.

You can ignore both this cooldown, and the seasonal festival restriction, by spending Fate.

Wait, so is changing my Destiny now free?

During various festivals, yes. Or when changing from an original Destiny to one of the new ones, at any time of year. It no longer costs Fate to do so; but there’s now a new Fate option to do it year-round, or to ignore the cooldown on changing your destiny multiple times during one festival period.

It was weird that all the Destiny changing windows were in Q3 and Q4, so we added an extra one earlier in the year.

Can I get one of the new Destinies in London?

No, only in Irem.Think of them as one of the capstone rewards for completing Evolution. They’re quite powerful.

How many new Destinies are there?

Several.

Do any of the new Destinies cost Fate?

No, they’re all free to all players.

What about the old Destinies that cost Fate, or were tied to Fate stories?

They still cost the same amount of Fate as ever, but if you have one of those there’s a bonus item you can get in Irem, as you may want to change out of that Destiny for one of the new Irem ones.

That item is also available to just buy for ten Fate.

But I really like my current Destiny, I don’t want it to be obsolete!

If you’d like to commit to your current destiny, you can obtain the Mark of Acceptance, a very powerful Home Comfort that somewhat makes up for the lower power level of the original Destinies.

You can relinquish the Mark at any point to gain one of the new Irem destinies.

Why did you make these changes?

We knew from the start – literally from when Evolution and the new Zee islands were being planned, a year ago – that Irem was going to feature new Destinies. Once we figured out what shape the Destiny-changing in Irem would take, we wanted to adjust how you obtain Destinies elsewhere, and when you can change your Destiny, to match. Because the new ‘greater’ Destinies in Irem work mechanically like upgrades to the original Destinies, we were already taking the foil off the ability to change your Destiny. And while we don’t want the choice of your Destiny to feel totally inconsequential, we also don’t want being able to change your mind later to be completely locked behind Fate.

The Fate option to change your Destiny during festivals was also a little oddly placed, given how many things already compete for players’ actions and Fate during a festival.

Besides the new Destinies, what else is there to find in Irem?

Secrets. Riddles. Fraying threads. Possible futures. Lies.