"It is the season for affection, is it not?" Mr Spices' voice is high and fluting. It waves a shawl-enshrouded hand airily in the direction of the Bazaar. "It is incumbent upon us to ensure that the city is a fertile bed for budding romance."

The Feast of the Rose is here! A festival bursting with affectionate activities, nuptial phantasies, burgeoning romance… and shot through with scorn. Tend to the business of your heart through 'Celebrate the Feast of the Exceptional Rose', available throughout London.

Join the Revels!

Take part in the festivities to gain Masquing, which can be later spent on rewards. Exchange gifts of love (or disdain, or enticing indifference) with other players. Keep your gifts – or trade them for Masquing!

As always, additional Masquing can be obtained with Fate, which unlocks further options.

Meet New Faces

Every year, the Feast brings new companions to Fallen London. Starting next week, on February 12th, you will be able to spend your Masquing to attract companions from Feasts past, as well as four new companions:

Engage in not-so-petty thievery with the Once-Dashing Smuggler
Plumb the depths of the human soul with Milton, the devil
Break your fast with a Ravenous Thespian
Face down the Department of Menace Eradication with Blackpelt, the Venge-Pirate

Those last two can be unlocked with Fate.

Matrimony and more!

This year we've added a trove of matrimonial goodness.

First of all: those of you married to another player can now upgrade your marriage! Look for 'The Possibilities of Marriage' in your Social Engagements to pursue the opportunity. Upgrading your marriage costs 20 Fate, and will add the Opportunity to both you and your spouse's deck to gain week-long Boons that increase either your Mithridacy, Glasswork, or Player of Chess.

This is a one-time purchase; if you buy it and (heaven forbid) divorce, you will be able to apply the same benefits to any future player spouse. If you're married to someone who has purchased the benefits, you will enjoy and retain these benefits for as long as you're married.

Secondly, we've also added two new NPC 'Spouses'. Engage in aromantic intimacy with the Attentive Reporter, and become deep, platonic friends with the Clay Courier. We've also added a couple of 'Spouse' items that don't represent people, for those who want to remain single: An Unwavering Commitment to Your own Good Self, if you’re complete just as you are, and The Call of the Unterzee, for those whose true love is the waves.

The Attentive Reporter and the Clay Courier can be encountered and their relationships formed for free, in your Lodgings and Spite respectively. The last two cost 20 Fate; the Unwavering Commitment may be made from your Base-Camp in Parabola, and the Call of the Unterzee may be felt from Wolfstack Docks.

A Task for Mr Spices

Mr Spices takes a direct interest in the rose-festivities, and believes that true love might need a little helping hand in order to take proper root. Many things might act as catalysts – a rousing play, a touching story, a thoughtful gift. Even violence, when deployed properly, has its uses.

For the duration of the Feast, select activities in and around London have exclusive options that pay out in Burgeoning Romance, in addition to their usual rewards. Trade your Burgeoning Romance with Mr Spices to receive additional payment, in the form of items that can be used to send gifts to friends during Feast-time.

These activities are:

A play at Court
A plant in Vertiginous Horticulture
A Theft of Particular Character in the Flit
A laboratory experiment
A duel when 'Getting into other fights' for the Black Ribbon'
An expedition in the Forgotten Quarter

The Lady in Lilac

"You are desired," she says. "Give me the proof of it, and I'll make arrangements."

Starting on February 12th, the mysterious 'Lady in Lilac' card will appear, allowing you to visit Millicent Clathermont’s parlour and exchange your Feast gifts for Masquing.

Skin-bound Memories and Nuptial Phantasies!

How better to prove your devotion than through permanent ink? High time for a visit to Clathermont’s Tattoo Parlour! Make your way to Ladybones Road to complete the story of the Clathermont family, as long as you have reached level 4 or higher in A Name in Seven Secret Alphabets. Tattoos will become available from the 12th of February.

Also available during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose: Nuptial phantasies! Obtain custom-tailored dreams of nuptial bliss (or marital discord) with some of your favourite Fallen London characters. Find these by visiting the Shopkeeper in Viric, in Veilgarden.

Meet your Destiny!

You can obtain a Destiny or alter your existing one during the Feast. Destinies offer unique insights into the deeper mysteries of the Neath, and once acquired, confer a mechanical bonus too.

Find the way to the Perfumer-Semiotician's shop through the card 'The Feast of the Rose', which can be drawn in London.

Those who know the way there could also zail to Irem, where destinies are grown, altered, and consumed.

A Continuing Mystery

Just what is the Exceptional Rose? Rumours abound. Some say that it's a vicious, fanged flower. Others that it's a cherub sent to watch over star-crossed lovers. Yet more tut, calling it an elaborate ruse cooked up by Mr Inch. Whatever it is, nobody has seen the real Exceptional Rose in years. But perhaps this Feast is different? But, the Exceptional Rose, like love, is a changeable thing...

Newcomers may start this story in 'The Exceptional Rose', available anywhere in London. If you were here last year, you already know the way; seek the Rose out once more when Millicent's Parlour opens on the 12th.

Key Dates for the Festival

The Feast of the Exceptional Rose starts today, February 5th.
February 12th: 'An Encounter at the Feast' and 'The Lady in Lilac' become available. Trade gifts for Masquing, and obtain new companions. Tattoos will also be available in the Forgotten Quarter.
February 19th: Gift exchanging and obtaining Masquing closes. You will still have a week to exchange Masquing for companions and to experience Feast seasonal stories.
February 26th: All remaining Feast storylets close.