Sally is an inhabitant of Wellington Wells and a playable character in We Happy Few.
History
Early life
Little is known about Sally’s past at first, except that she was a childhood friend of Arthur Hastings, a boy her age, and a neighbor of Ollie Starkey, a former soldier. As the game progresses more about her is uncovered, much of it unpleasant.
The oldest of three siblings, Sally had a strained relationship with her mother and would often clash with her. She went to live with the Hastings family after her mother poisoned her family with foxglove to prevent her children from being sent off to Germany. During this time she quickly became friends with Arthur Hastings and they would often sneak out together. It is implied that they were in love. She eventually ran away from Arthur's home because she was coerced into sex by Arthur's father (who would have thrown her out if she made a fuss about it or refused) when she was just sixteen years old, a decision she would later regret.
She later became the assistant and lover of Anton Verloc, the chemist who usurped Haworth in power and also contributed to the creation of Joy. During their relationship, Sally became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter she named Gwen. Fearing for Gwen’s safety, Sally kept her existence a secret and left Verloc despite his protests.
Sally went on to use her chemistry expertise to create her own establishment in Wellington Wells called “Sally's Interplanetary Travel Agency” with herself as the sole employee. Despite becoming Verloc’s main competition, Sally’s influential patron, General Byng, protected her from the authorities despite her non-conformist lifestyle. At one point, she gave Ollie a drug, Oblivion, to scramble his memory so he wouldn't remember what he had done to Margaret Worthing.
Events of We Happy Few
Act One
Sally is encountered by Arthur in an alleyway in Maidenholm. She recognizes him instantly and is visibly excited to see him. She also notes that Arthur is off his Joy, but promises not to turn him in. Arthur mentions that seeing Percy brought him off his Joy, to her distress. She offers to get him a Letter of Transit so he can exit the city, and mentions that she's close with General Byng. This opens up an old wound that causes Arthur to lash out at her, but she tells him where to find her.
Later, Arthur approaches Sally in her home, and apologizes for being rude. He and Sally work out a deal to get him a Letter of Transit in exchange for cod liver oil. She ultimately kisses Arthur, causing him to run in fear, but he goes back in briefly to receive directions for the oil.
Later, Arthur brings Sally the cod liver oil, and is furious with her, as he feels that she sent him to get her a souvenir. He also brings up how Sally had sex with his father. Sally is heartbroken, but Arthur apologizes, saying that none of what happened was ever really her fault, and offers to take her out of Wellington Wells. She agrees, but says that they need to leave at dawn, causing Arthur to abandon her, saying that it's nothing personal.
Act Two
At the start of the game, we see Sally preparing a pill mixture called "Blackberry," a form of joy enjoyed by most of Wellington Wells' Constabulary, as well as various patrons on the black market, for her business "Sally's Interplanetary Travel Agency." A desperate regular customer named Spud Murphy breaks into Sally's lab looking for a fix, attacks Sally and damages most of the house, even making it to the top floor where he discovers Gwen, Sally's infant daughter. Sally manages to knock him out and rescue Gwen. The chemical mixtures in her lab were left unattended for too long and explode, catching her lab on fire and damaging important equipment needed for her business of selling drugs. Sally puts out the fire and finds out that she also has to replace all of Gwen's bottles of baby milk, as they were all smashed by the customer who broke in earlier looking for a dose of Blackberry.
This causes several compounded problems for Sally which create the basis of events in her main story quests. Her daughter needs food to survive and Sally needs to find some fast. However, at the same time that this is happening, the Bobbies of Wellington Wells are wanting their batch of Blackberry, which was ruined in the chemical fire. They detain her in an almost interrogation while making thinly veiled threats, making it clear they want their fix. Sally has to find a way to repair her destroyed machines, find enough of the right chemicals to make more Blackberry, and find a way to get a hold of enough tinned milk that she can feed her infant daughter, all without being caught, and before the Bobbies make good on their threats. She also has a chance encounter with Arthur for the first time in many years, which goes badly.
Sally then turns to the Weird Sisters (who know of Gwen) for help with creating the new batch of Blackberry. Instead of immediately giving it to her, they send her on "character-building" errands and quests, among them stopping a suicide cult from poisoning themselves just so an old Wastrel, Father Mackenzie, won't have to die alone. At last, they give her the ingredients list to complete the Blackberry, which requires her to gather a species of butterfly, which happens to reside in Ollie's Cathedral. Going there, Sally discovers it to be in ruins and is full of violently killed Headboys and several live Plague Wastrels. At last, with all of the ingredients needed, Sally creates the batch of Joy, and doesn't have a moment to lose as a Bobby comes knocking and asks for the Joy, which Sally supplies him with, and takes her to the police station. There, Sally has a show put on for her in gratitude by several dancing Bobbies, but is warned again not to be late the next time.
As she is leaving the police stations, Sally has a sort of feeling that tells her that something is wrong with Gwen. Rushing back home, Sally discovers that Gwen has developed a rash on her face, and has a fever and runny nose, and Sally figures this out quickly to be measles. Needing cod liver oil to treat it, Sally first goes to Anton Verloc, communicating with him via a monitor, but Verloc angrily rejects Sally and orders her to be arrested by the Bobbies, though they don't comply. Sally then remembers Arthur, and goes to see him, seeking help.
Sally asks Arthur for cod liver oil to treat Gwen for measles and in exchange she'll give him a Letter of Transit to help him get out of the city, though instead of this going on at her house, it happens in the Garden District by a swing set. Though initially cold towards her, Arthur agrees to get her the oil, and she kisses him, causing him to run away. Sally goes to get the paper from General Byng, whom she is acquainted with on a first-name basis, and, after giving her the paper, reveals that he knows of her baby daughter. He offers to take Gwen out of the city, but won't let Sally go with her, as he needs her help, causing Sally to angrily reject him.
Upon returning to the swings, Arthur is angered because he feels as if Sally sent him on a quest to get a souvenir. As before in Act One, he brings up the fact that she slept with his father, and Sally sadly gives him the Letter of Transit in exchange for the oil. He sadly apologizes and begins to leave, but Sally offers to go with him. He is initially willing to at first, but decides to leave without her when she says that they'll have to leave at dawn. She calls out to him that she has a baby, causing him to stop briefly, but it seems to be the final straw for him, and he leaves, saying it's nothing personal.
Eventually, Sally breaks into General Byng's safe house to steal his boat key so she can escape from Wellington Wells, but is knocked out by a sleeping dart. When she comes to, she discovers that Byng has abducted her and locked her away in the safe house, planning to keep her there until things in Wellington Wells get back under control. Sally fights back against him and escapes, locking him in his bunker.
Sally heads back home to Gwen to discover that a Joy Doctor has broken in, and upon learning of Gwen's existence, Sally knocks him out. Due to the discovery of Gwen, Sally hastily packs up her things, hides Gwen in a bag, and makes her way to General Byng's hidden boat. From there, she tells Gwen that things are going to get better and that they'll be the "Two Musketeers."
Epilogue
Sally and Gwen are briefly seen again during Constable Peters' monologue.
Quests
Appearance
Sally Boyle is a short, slim woman with dark brown hair and gray eyes. She is most commonly seen wearing an unusually stylish latex horse jockey outfit including the helmet and gloves, making her mask appropriately fashionable. When she is wearing the ripped suit or handling Gwen, her gloves are gone.
Personality
Sally is a complex character. She is a smart, cunning and resourceful young woman who's not afraid of seducing men in order to obtain what she needs. According to Arthur, Sally “always had a knack for making useful new friends." General Byng complements Sally on her skill at deception, calling her “a good liar [...] who can lie with the truth." This trait causes quite a few people, especially women, to see Sally as nothing more than a selfish and deceitful “witch” who cares for nobody but herself.
However, Sally in truth deeply loves her baby daughter Gwen and goes to great lengths to protect her and keep her existence a secret from the rest of Wellington Wells. Her love for her daughter acts as the main motivation behind most of Sally’s actions throughout the game, from risking her life numerous times to her eventual escaping Wellington Wells with Gwen.
Additionally, when she discovers a suicide cult in the Garden District, she voices her horror and disgust numerous times and is more than willing to kill their leader, all the while referring to him as a “sick, dying bastard” and “just a swindler who convinced himself."
Relationships
Arthur Hastings (Childhood crush and friend)
Gwen Boyle (Daughter)
Abilities
Sally’s main trait is her expertise in chemistry and herbalism which she uses to create various drugs and chemicals. Her creation Blackberry Joy is a favorite of the constabulary and several citizens of Wellington Wells. She can also craft various psychedelic or knock-out drugs and other useful toxins. Because of her more stealth-centered gameplay, her Combat skill tree is replaced with a Survival skill tree.
Charmer: Greetings make people even less suspicious.
Petite: Slower carrying corpses: Cannot wield heavy weapons at all. (-30% speed whilst carrying corpses.)
All Thumbs: Rubbish at anything mechanical. Never learned to sew. (Must buy advanced crafted gadgets from shopkeepers. Must buy outfits from Mrs. Pankhurst.)
Chemist: Chemically brilliant. (Can craft drugs no one else can.)
In combat, Sally prefers to avoid direct confrontations due to her small frame. Instead, she can sneak around quietly and perform an instant takedown by injecting a syringe into an enemy with one of her special drugs.
Gallery
Trivia
- Cutscenes that Arthur and Sally experience together go about slightly differently. This is in line with the theme of perspective and memories that the creators intended for the game. The same thing happens between Arthur and Ollie.
- She cannot use a Mechanical Table.
- It was Sally's idea to make different flavored Joy. When German supplies began to run out, she came up with a new compound and the idea to call it Strawberry.
- Arthur's Constable happened to be the one to find Sally after she had run away from home, and tried to keep her from seeing the corpses of her poisoned family members, to no avail.
- It is implied by the Weird Sisters that she got her interest in chemistry from her mother's knowledge of herbalism.