Ooh, always like hearing how people name their Companion collections! I’ve tried to come up with…interesting or thematic names and titles for my companions that emphasize the weirdness and disparity of the Neath and London, as well as give them a bit of character. My end goal is to eventually name all of them which has, uh, not happened yet. But some of my favorites… (spoiler for length and potentially lore)
[spoiler]Scuttering Squad: "Sturmratten Blackburn, Shock Rats"
Rattus Faber Bandit-Chief: "Maximilian, Dauntless Hauptratte" I’d always thought of the Scuttering Squad as more a small army rather than like…five rats at most, and I wanted something both visually funny and weird even beyond rats that talk. From that came the idea of rattus faber in Prussian uniforms and pickelhaubes with tiny rifles and machine-guns. I was torn between Sturmratten and Rattenkrieg, but eventually decided on the former; their captain, of course, needed to be a Hauptratte rather than a Hauptmann. Floating somewhere around my old writing snippets are also their rivals, a Napoleonic-France themed rattus faber company called La Grande Malice.
Disgraced Rattus Faber Bandit-Chief: "Menelaus, Traveller Returning" This part of the Plaster Face story is what convinced me that Fallen London was a setting and game worth sticking around for. I honored his sacrifice for over a year. When I finally clicked that Fate option, I figured his title needed to be as mythological as the nature of his fall, redemption, and return.
Ocular Toadbeast: "Argos, Oblivious Knot-Oracle" Don’t you tell me that it’s not a knot-oracle because I see the picture and I see the description of those things in Sunless Sea and it’s obviously meant to be a knot-oracle. Called Argos because too many eyes eh? And it does nothing but eat everything.
Mystic Raven Advisor: "Huginn, Esoteric Idealist"
Devious Raven Adivsor: "Muninn, Abstruse Empiricist" Once you’ve ground all the way to getting a pair of Mystic and Devious Raven Advisors, you need fitting thematic names to reflect the duality of birds or some nonsense. I settled on Huginn and Muninn even though I’m not a huge Nordic mythology fan because, well, they were one of the few pairs I could think of. Their titles are funnier, I think, referring instead to different philosophies that became prominent in the 19th century as well as the notion that the Mystic advisor is more poetical and high-minded while the Devious advisor is more focused on profit and the material.
Shimmering Songster: "Beelzebub, False Fly" Because it’s a dream fly and not a regular fly, eh? Terrible jokes are the best I tell you.
A Reactionary Tomb-Colonist: "Aj Tenamit Itzamatul, Third City Republican" Ever since I first went to the Nadir and found the card with the "Rebels That Will Not Rise" option on it, I have been fascinated by the idea that the Revolutionaries of the Third City were in fact classic republicans. And when I saw this Companion in the first Election - and when the text for obtaining them references plans for a Fourth City catapult they never got to use - I decided immediately the backstory for this companion had to be a survivor all the way from the Third City. Why this is a favorite though is because it made me have to look for translations of the Q’eqchi’ language and Mayan names. Aj Tenamit, as far as I can find, roughly translates to "citizen" - much like players may title themselves as Citizens for more egalitarian sentiment, Itzamatul takes on the title of Aj Tenamit to proclaim his status as a free citizen, not a subject.
A Restless Clay-Man: "Zipacna, Ancient Survivor" Clay Men may have been around for as long as the First City (depending on when they first developed from their creator), which means the other three cities before the Fifth may well have had knowledge and access to them. What would they make of these beings of Clay? Zipacna continues the theme of "really old Third-City era characters" because I feel that period needs more love and lore, and did not name himself: instead, he was given his name via the shouts and cries of Third City inhabitants, shortly after their Fall.
Rubbery Bell-Ringer: "-Struthsootharuth-, Molluscoid Penitent" We may never hear other Rubbery People speak, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have names dammit! -Struthsootharuth- was the first Rubbery name I came up with and that makes it a favorite for me, if only because I can still imagine that as an identifying sound that could reasonably come from an anthropomorphic squid-person without being what the anthropocentric denizens of the Neath would consider ‘language’. Also, it is darn hard to come up with synonyms for ‘Rubbery’ without repeating oneself.
Extravagantly-Titled Tigress: "Ujjvala-Begum Razyia of the Boiling Delta, Resurgent Court-Royal" When I got my first Bengal Tigress, I knew she had to have an appropriate Indian name from Bengali - and Kaalratri it was. When the Extravagantly-Titled Tigress was made available, I knew she also needed an amazing title in addition to another name. Much like Aj Tenamit Itzamatul, this made me research just what were some appropriate historic titles for nobility across India. Begum was a historic title for female royalty or nobility in different Southeast Asian states, and Ujjvala roughly corresponds to ‘bright, shining, clear’ - so Razyia’s title is more than historical, but can also fit as a Neathy strain of nobility within the Court of the Wakeful Eye. I’m pretty sure this is also the longest title of any Companion I’ve named.
Canny Costermonger: "Matilda, Riverside Entrepreneur" The first human Companion I ever named. I wanted my Companions to reflect a wide variety of nationalities, both for variety and to suit a still-cosmopolitan-if-dwindled-and-Fallen London, and names are a great way to do that. While Matilda could refer to a variety of backgrounds, in my head-canon she’s of Neathy-Romanichal ethnicity, born shortly after the Fall to parents trapped in London when it happened.
Ex-Privateer Charter Clerk: "Ghoa, Former Wrecker" Named after the Zubmariner expansion for Sunless Sea came out. The Ex-Privateer Charter Clerk: a fairly boring character initially, to my eyes. Reframing the character as a retired Khanagian pirate and Wrecker who still occasionally puts on her laquered chitin-plate diving suit and harpoon gun? Bam, now more flavorful.
Pentecost Ape: "Pompeia, Disgraced Majordomo" The Pentecost Predicament was not the best Exceptional Story, I will give you that. But it introduced a great naming scheme for my monkeys (though the artwork for that ES made them look more like chimps which ARE apes, so…Neath taxonomy is weird I tell you) in the form of Ancient Greco-Roman Leaders and Figures. No idea what to name the quiet adorable one that just straight up murdered somebody or the observant one that learned to blackmail and steal secrets to ruin people without laying a hand on them, but Pompeia seemed a suitably impressive name for the only monkey you can have that explicitly has at least one human soul.
Fairly Tame Sorrow-Spider: "Tree of Liberty, Blooming Spider-Council"
Luxuriantly Coiffed Sorrow-Spider: "Aspect of Liberty, Senior Council-Member" One sorrow-spider does not a Council make. But 1000 spiders, I should think, makes a start. Ever since I encountered the first council, I just…really wanted one as a Companion, because they sound really cool! Even though it’s American rather than English the name makes for a great Revolutionary pun on the whole "Tree of…" naming theme as well.
And although not a Companion per say…
Boneless Consort: "-Shhlorshorathoo-, Devoted Cephalopoid" Hotshot the character may fool around for entertainment, but at the end of the day there’s only one being with which he’s willing to share his doubts, fears, and regrets about the path he’s taken in life. And Cephalopoid was the last Rubbery synonym I could think of.
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