Forum game: Ask the character!

Fallen London
321

Quoth, my black raven, has dined on men, women, devils, devilesses, drownies, and at one point, even found a scrap of a Master’s cloak once. He never shuts up about that one. Tasted of Gant. He tried a Rubbery Man once, but found them too chewy for his beak. Neither Quoth, nor Maggie, my white raven, let me eat. They say I don’t need to. I’m so hungry, I can barely speak. I can’t disobey them. Please, don’t tell them I’m speaking to you. Please…

What is your favourite colour of the Neathbow?
edited by Zhorgren on 5/15/2015

322

&quotNoire&quot LeSable – Violant.

I once managed to procure a small volume of violant ink at some cost. Such beauty trapped in a vial! It deserved to be in the Louvre, and I still feel terrible when I think of how I used it…

You see, I wished to use it on an invention of growing popularity a colleague in the Americas had sent to me (well, sent to someone that I knew, rather, but the journey across the Atlantic is quite a long one and things can get lost, you understand) called a type-writer. Have you heard of this marvelous device? Through a fine series of levers and wheels, it is a machine that writes! Imagine! Clear, crisp text as good as a printer’s press whenever you want it! Yes, it is large and unwieldy, makes a ghastly noise while it works, and it takes a sizable periodic bribe of cheeses and sweetmeats to keep my rats from all but taking it to pieces to see the mechanisms, but it is worth it. I doubt it will ever surpass the fine art of the fountain pen, but I am sure the fellows at Sholes & Gliddon would make quite a fortune if they ever sold these in the Tomb Colonies.

In any case, the ribbon that provides the contraption with ink had faded, so I thought to use the sample of violant to see how it would look.

It… ended poorly.

Question: Of your pets and companions, who do you hold most dear?
edited by Noire LeSable on 5/16/2015

323

Hrm. While my Rubbery valet Phillbth is certainly a great help and a fine, upstanding friend to me, I must admit I have grown surprisingly-partial to the vermin who nest in the walls of my lodgings, boorish and long-winded though they be. In particular, a rat called Flagrum has been the cheeriest of thorns in my side for many moons, G_d bless him.

Question: Just between us, mind… what things bless you with the hope needed to carry on those days when the bleaker aspects of Our Collective Predicament do seem the most pronounced?

324

(Note: Slight Labyrinth of Tigers spoilers)
(OOC Note: I’ve been meaning to write a ‘character development’ piece for Noire ever since I hit the third coil in the LoT – apologies if it’s rather sloppy, it’s still a first draft, cobbled together at an ungodly late hour after some cursory research)

&quotNoire&quot LeSable: &quotI am a biologist, with particular focus in the Ferae and Glires classes, having received my education from l’Université de Paris prior to my arrival here in the Neath. I have deeply studied the works of Malthus, Linnaeus, Lamarck, Schwann… but I might as well have studied Siamese table manners for all that it has helped me here. There is so much new here, so much that we do not understand, that sometimes it takes all of my willpower to keep myself from throwing my hands up, burning all of my notes, and drinking until my blood turns to alcohol.

&quotHowever, non. Each new scientific discovery I make or hear from others, as amazing and terrible as they can be, they do not… how you say… shake me to the core as something else I recently experienced had. You see, I had been spending quite some time lately in the first and second coils of the Labyrinth of Tigers, observing the exhibits and assisting the staff where I can. After quite some time, the rather charming Keeper of the Labyrinth of Tigers bade me to assist with several matters regarding the third coil. The human exhibits.

Noire shifts and glances away, appearing uncomfortable with the topic now. &quotSomething… happened during my first walk through the cages. It… it was a deeply harrowing feeling, one that did not go away even after a week or so of duties and observations. I was aghast. I still am aghast. But I… it… I tried to ignore it at first, but… I…&quot She pauses in thought, tugging nervously on the embroidered fringe of her left sleeve. &quotMy mind… it kept returning to… It was… The Exposition Universelle in Paris some years ago… they had a, how you say, ‘ethnological exposition’ – the largest one I had ever seen until l’Acclimatation Anthropologique opened in Bois de Boulonge. Savages and natural peoples from Sudan, Guiyana, Lapland, Imerina… Esquimauxs, Aztecs, Igorots, all in cages and displays, much like these men and women here. And I… I did not think much of it back then when I wandered the exhibits of that exposition in the past, fascinated… and yet in the Labyrinth of Tigers… Such a different response for so similar situations… But it is… different, yes? They are different. It is all different. It has to be, yes? But the question still runs in my mind, keeping me awake during the night hours long after the menagerie and its caretakers fall asleep: Is it truly different? Were they, behind those iron bars in Paris, truly different? And if they are not, then most of all…

&quot…what in God’s name have we been doing?&quot

Question: Er, in any case, let us return to lighter topics, oui? Of the various groups and factions in London, who do you say you, monsieur/madame/mumble associate yourself with?
edited by Noire LeSable on 5/18/2015

325

My dear Miss LeSable, although I have great sympathy for your reaction to the Third Coil of the Labyrinth, I am also heartened by it. Cages are horrid, horrid things. You are correct, I believe, to draw connections between the Labyrinth and the Exposition, there are just as many non-parallels. Although I shan’t discuss these publicly.

But as you say … on to lighter topics. I associate first and foremost with the Bohemians for words and creation are my life. And pleasure, too, is my life, and who embraces these deeper than my Bohemian friends? (and what place besides the Neath?).

Question: If you had to take a non-human as a spouse, which type of non-human would it be?

326

I too, am highly associated with the Bohemians.

However, on to your question. It’s quite a difficult one! I believe I would take a devil or devilless. Yes, a demon. Of course, It would be lovely if he/she was lovestruck and not after my soul, though…

Question: How do you want to die? (permanently.)

327

(Oh god now I feel a bit embarrassed about posting that – it needs editing. Ah well.)

&quotNoire&quot LeSable – &quotEr. Does ‘I would rather not’ count as an answer?

&quotI mean, if I had to choose, it would be doing something spectacular. It could be curious, ironic, humourous, or what have you, but it must be in a manner that people will be speaking about it for ages. A colleague in the States wrote to me some years ago of a Peacemongering Lawyer who died while representing a man in court accused of shooting someone during a fight. He had said he wanted to demonstrate the possibility that the victim had accidentally shot himself by placing what he believed was an unloaded gun in his pocket and recreating the man’s movements. The gun was, unfortunately, loaded, and did indeed prove his point all too well by firing into his stomach, killing him. If he were any other ordinary barrister, nobody in Europe would know him. And yet here I am, thousands of miles away and underground, relaying the story of his life – or death, rather – to you.

&quotAnd so that is how I would like to die. If I am not to be immortal, then at least let my name be (even if it is to be followed by raucous laughter and the shaking of heads).&quot

Question: What would you consider your biggest mistake?

328

That… is an odd question to me, because my biggest mistake would probably be the idiotic things that I did which drove a wedge between me and my family for years. Yet without that, I would not have come to London, and so would not have met my wife, and in general, live so good a life as I have now.

It just goes to show, I suppose, that mistakes develop us, positively if we can take advantage of them.

What do you think of growing old? Death being what it is in the neath, aging is something we’ll all have to face sometime.

329

It’s for some people, but not for me. Doubt my ability to defy death, and age? --Where there’s a will, there’s a way darling. And I assure you, I’ll find that way. Others appear to have already done so.

Would you ever wish to have children, or raise a child of your own?

330

Oh I love shroom-hopping! Haven’t been for ages, but I found it quite a lark. Even when I lost I had fun.

Having said that, the prizes were rather nice, too.

(Seeker of Names nods at DragonRidingSorceress’ enthusiasm, then speaks quietly.) I agree.

(DragonRidingSorceress beams at them.)

(And then waits)

…

…

(DragonRidingSorceress clears her throat uncomfortably.) Well then, there you have it.

Have you been collecting those odd Scraps you seem to find around the place?

331

[quote=dragonridingsorceress]

Have you been collecting those odd Scraps you seem to find around the place?[/quote]

Indeed I have, and once I stopped gambling with them willy-nilly is when my pile finally managed to grow into a hoard large enough to purchase a top-tier thing! Well, technically it is more useful as knowledge than as a thing but I hold great hope that should I put this information back into the hands of my infernal former friends, they might see fit to forgive me for accidentally… reallocating some of the Embassy’s treasures. Repeatedly. And for great profit. Maybe they’d even be kind enough upgrade my accommodations! Fingers crossed.

What is the most notable thing you’ve come across in the Cave of the Nadir? (To the best of your recollection, of course.)

332

The most notable thing from the Cave? It would have to be the delicious recipe I found for delicious Zoup! Mind, I have not actually -made- it, but it must be wonderful, right?

Question: Who is your most adored romantic partner in the Neath? And why?

333

[quote=Lady Sapho Byron]

Question: Who is your most adored romantic partner in the Neath? And why?[/quote]

Well, that is my husband, obviously. No, I realise that is not a particularly scandalous or unusual answer, but it is - for better or worse (ha!) - the truth. As to why? Well, I shall not go into details, in case any of you have recently eaten, but suffice to say I did not believe it was possible to be so happy.

So, my question would be - what decision do you regard as the best you have made?

334

Nope, I think I’m far too ruggedly handsome and well endowed to be missing something. If anything I daresay whatever made us might have given me too much. As a result I’ve decided to do my best to share myself with the less fortunate and those also cursed with being too physically gifted to stomach the company of the common riffraff of the Neath.

What’s your ideal partner?

335

[quote=Fred Mouse]Nope, I think I’m far too ruggedly handsome and well endowed to be missing something. If anything I daresay whatever made us might have given me too much. As a result I’ve decided to do my best to share myself with the less fortunate and those also cursed with being too physically gifted to stomach the company of the common riffraff of the Neath.

What’s your ideal partner?[/quote]

I think I would like to meet someone who is sweet, modest, and genuinely caring.

(DragonRidingSorceress smiles, just a little.)

Have you heard any juicy rumours lately?

336

Oh yes! Apparently, the newest Dreadful Surmise from the University is that PHRYNE AMARANTYNE, who call herself THE FUTURE QUEEN OF PARABOLA AND A DRAGON-RIDING ELF QUEEN, is also a DRAGON-RIDING SORCERESS!

You should sue her for social plagiarism!

What’s my ideal partner, by your recommendation?

337

Your ideal partner? Why, I have no idea. In fact, the thought that I might possibly be able to surmise such a thing is ludicrous! If I were to hazard a guess though…I would say someone kind, daring, respectable, but not too respectable. One who complements as well as compliments.

My question: If you have more than one residence, what do you do with the spares?
Rent them out?
Fill them with traps and invite bill collectors over?
[li]
edited by Mr. Zane on 6/3/2015

338

[quote=Mr. Zane]
My question: If you have more than one residence, what do you do with the spares?
Rent them out?
Fill them with traps and invite bill collectors over?[/quote]

Definitely not traps.
If they are not dangerous, then they are just as miserable as couriers, postmen, workers and many others and have a horrid, perilous job.
If they are dangerous because of my negligence in not paying the bills, I should probably remedy that by actually paying the bills - I don’t enjoy chasing down agents in Veilgarden either.

Spare lodgings are to be filled with urchins instead. Maybe a homeless vagrants or two, trained up to keep the place?

Who is allowed into your bedroom?

339

[quote=Estelle Knoht]
Who is allowed into your bedroom?[/quote]

What a capital idea! I shall make my way to the Flit and make inquiries.

In my bedroom?

Well, my ravens and kitten have free reign in my house, so they come and go, especially Khoshekh, the little scamp.

Other than them, I am quite particular about those I let in my bedroom, as I keep my typewriter in there, the better to jot down snippets when one wakes, and incautious fingers can jam up the works something awful. I thrashed some overly inquisitive fans of my work when they broke the ribbon. Oddly, while such behavior I would consider shameful and nigh unforgivable seems to have only enlivened the others and increased their number. Although they do now stay outside unless invited in.

What new experience in the Neath required the most mental adjustment?
edited by Mr. Zane on 6/4/2015

340

How to decide?
While on the whole, the entire thing has been most perplexing, and the nature of death down here has taken some getting used to, I think it’s the dreams.

I moved to a Zee-snail shell after my neighbours were distrupting my sleep by calling out - something about storms? While I myself have been having these most bizarre dreams about my reflection.

Definitely the recurring dreams…

–

Q: Who has been the most interesting person (or group of people) you’ve encountered since arriving in the Neath?