Crowds of yowling alley mogs :(

Fallen London
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[quote]Sweeping up crowds of yowling alley mogs in a net is technically possible, but not the mark of a true knight of the streets.[/quote]If that is the case, then a true Knight of the streets I am not. The imagery this sidebar snippet calls to mind makes me feel very sad. I want the kitties to have loving homes! If I open an orphanage can I fill it with cats?

I also think it’s worth discussing the state of London’s cats in general. They can speak, and based on interactions with cats in the game they tend to be rather clever. But they’re treated worse even than Rubbery Men! The Labyrinth of Tigers isn’t a zoo, it’s a ghetto. The rattus faber are employed and paid for their talents and creations, but cats are shown no such respect. Instead, they’re forced to give up what few valuable things they know and are &quotrewarded&quot by getting to stay alive and free. It seems that only the Duchess is willing to acknowledge that down here in the Neath, cats are people too.

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edited by Anchovies on 6/15/2017

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The Labyrinth of Tigers isn’t called that because the tigers are the exhibits. They may occasionally allow other people to think that they’re the ones in the cages, but when you get to the third or fourth coil you’ll see who’s really in charge. And cats might not be quite so concerned about what’s on this side of the mirror as you might think…

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I’m pretty sure saying &quotcats are people&quot would be an easy way to gravely offend a cat. I don’t think they’d wish to be equated with the servant species, otherwise known as the Thumbed Ones or the Openers of the Food Cans.

If you feel like influencing feline affairs, Port Carnelian might be the place for you. It rather depends on who you ask, but an argument can be made for there being an actual oppression issue with the local cat population.

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I really don’t see how they’re treated worse than rubbery men; they’re still kept by people like they used to be, sure, theyre caught for secrets, but I don’t see anyone who hates them or tries to hurt them, especially with the duchess’ protection. If anything I think cats have become more endearing due to being able to speak now.

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Yeeeeah, I don’t see it. The cats seem better off than most Londoners, at this point. Certainly better off than the denizens of Spite, for instance. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a cat die on screen, certainly. Whereas it’s implied in the flop-house’s description that rubbery men are dragged off into alleys and murdered so regularly that their death shrieks are a large part of the noise that makes it an undesirable place to live.

It’s also sort of implied that the cats themselves view cat-chasing as a sort of game, and the secret as a reward for particularly competent or daring &quotknights of the streets.&quot Aside from the fact that, as with humans, the cats caught most frequently are unlikely to have many choice secrets to share, &quotsweeping up crowds [of them] in a net&quot would probably not be seen as very sporting.

(I suspect this post was made tongue in cheek, but nonetheless.)

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I suppose my concern with the Labyrinth isn’t necessarily the conditions inside - tigers run the place, after all - so much as it is the absence of tigers anywhere else in the city. Can they not move freely through London? The only tigers in London beyond the Labyrinth’s walls are Bengals from the surface, which are apparently unable to talk. I was surprised to find that the Bengal Tigress’s hover-text wasn’t something along the lines of &quotwhy yes, I am worth that much.&quot

I suppose the heavily concentrated population could be due to the Labyrinth’s purposes:

The Third Coil seems to be a sort of prison for Fingerkings who’ve moved into human bodies, hence the mirror-smugglers and the tiger in the Marches who asks if the player escaped from the Labyrinth. If the Labyrinth were more of an overseas black-site than a colony, it would make sense for the personnel to stay on-site.

[quote=John Moose]I’m pretty sure saying &quotcats are people&quot would be an easy way to gravely offend a cat. I don’t think they’d wish to be equated with the servant species, otherwise known as the Thumbed Ones or the Openers of the Food Cans.[/quote]This is a good point. The definition of &quotperson&quot is a bit broader in the Neath, though; squids and space-bats and devils and clay, oh my! All are thinking, feeling creatures.

&quotThere was something wrong with the animals:
their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads.
Then they started coming together,
little by little
fitting together to make a landscape,
developing birthmarks, grace, pep.
But the cat,
only the cat
turned out finished,
and proud:
born in a state of total completion,
it sticks to itself and knows exactly what it wants.

Men would like to be fish or fowl,
snakes would rather have wings,
and dogs are would-be-lions.
Engineers want to be poets,
flies emulate swallows,
and poets try hard to act like flies.
But the cat
wants nothing more than to be a cat,
and every cat is pure cat
from its whiskers to its tail,
from sixth sense to squirming rat,
from nighttime to its golden eyes.&quot

-Pablo Neruda, &quotOde to the Cat&quot (translated)

[quote=John Moose]If you feel like influencing feline affairs, Port Carnelian might be the place for you. It rather depends on who you ask, but an argument can be made for there being an actual oppression issue with the local cat population.[/quote]I definitely enjoyed working with the tigers of the Elder Continent in Sunless Sea, so it’s good to hear that Fallen London allows for more of the same. I’m not far from my governorship, either!
edited by Anchovies on 6/16/2017

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They certainly can talk. (Though how do we know they’re from the surface?)

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You of the people you gamble against for the majestic pleasure yatch is a tiger. Since another player is a master of the baazar this shows that some tigers can get to the tippy tip top of society.

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My character is also a batty friend to all cats, Anchovies. They are the cutest things! He loves them all to bits.