London is vast when it comes to readable content and story, but some of us are of course curious even further about the things they keep hidden from us. I’m not too sure if this had already been mentioned earlier, even though I find it highly likely that I’m certainly not the only one to question the plausibility of the question, yet I still remain curious and want to see if anyone can provide me with some insight, and to know whether this concern is even valid or not.
I’ve played through a nice little exceptional story where I’ve seen the ‘‘future’’ of a certain individual, that happening in Paris which was apparently to be sold to the Bazaar, if I’m correct. Now this question wasn’t plucked from the story itself; anything could have insipired it, but still this one idea had gotten me going to follow the path of curiousity.
The Bazaar has bought four cities before London, and apparently in the future we already ‘‘know’’ which one would be next. What leaves me thinking though is: What about the Masters? These cities are not all english speaking, thus meaning that unless the Masters learn the language, or perhaps already know it through interesting means, they can’t really let the people know of what they expect from them. Not to mention that hiring special constables and neddy men would also be hard to do if they do not speak the language of the city they bought.
So how exactly would that work? Do the masters know languages already ahead of time of the purchase, do they learn it so that they can be ready, or is the only language they speak English, so London has kind of been an exception where the Masters actually communicate with everyone? What is your idea on this subject? I really am not too sure what to make of it…but I certainly am curious in case this was already asked before and answered.
As seen in the long road destinies, the Masters’ native language is the Correspondence. They’ve clearly learned English, so presumably they learned the languages of the other cities too.
I’m fascinated by what will happen if Fallen London is still going strong eleven years from now when we hit in-game 1908. I imagine they’ll have something planned if it lasts another decade.
Two figures step into the chamber, hunched and garbed in many petalled black cloaks. Masters of the Bazaar. One carries a clay cup, the other an unlit candle. The one with the cup says, "I think we can be in service to each other. Allow me to propose an exchange." (To the Manager of the Royal Beth, for the first city, presumably in Babylonian.)*
“All shall be well.” says the Emissary, rapturously. “All manner of things shall be well.” (To a Franciscan friar working for the Pope, who most likely speaks Italian or English.) **
“ The Emissary tells us that he has traveled the Caliphate of Persia … (he) loved to retell the stories he had heard in Baghdad- stories of romance and tragedy.” (Wines mostly likely speaks Persian/Farsi as well.)
Wines also might have went to Cathay, or China, and secured their aid in attacking Karakorum, suggesting he spoke some Chinese languages. **
Season of Ruins Epilogue
** Silver Tree
So, it appears that the Masters appear to be quite the linguistic polymath. My theory is they use Parabola to learn languages. After all, Parabola intersects what was most likely the site of the First City, Polythreme, at Grunting Fen. They might use the dreams of the people of the certain places they are interested in, such as the Fourth City, where Parabola meets it on a Mountain nearby (not that Mountain). The Sixth City is also touched by Parabola, where it may be accessed by a woman lost in reflections. edited by Ixc on 7/22/2018
They were probably tutored by Mr Pages, whose illustrieminence in the field of syntaxonomy is well-known and respected by all. edited by a Nice Friend on 7/23/2018
I doubt they speak the actual languages so much as we hear them in whatever language we speak. Why do I think that? Because…
The name "Mr. Candles" never existed. Because that creature did not live to see the fifth city fall. And we know they traded under other names, like Khans, in earlier Cities. Names in the styling of "Mr.____" are a London development. Someone who did not live to see London would have no reason to speak English or have that name. Or if anything, would only be Mr. Eaten by then. Yet at one time it says "I was Mr. Candles." which has never been true, because there was no Mr. Candles by the time Mr. became a thing. So I suspect the Masters simply are heard in whatever language the listener speaks, or they assimilate (there being some vampiric implications regarding them) whatever language surrounds them.
Wasn’t there an anti-language to the Correspondence as well? Discordance? I can’t remember what it was used for…
Either way I think the Masters and the Bazaar speak native Correspondence and can pick up any language of the cities they desire or they speak some other language as well that’s essentially an all-enveloping language each can understand as it’s own native tongue.
[quote=Honeyaddict]Wasn’t there an anti-language to the Correspondence as well? Discordance? I can’t remember what it was used for…
[/quote]
It came up in the Persona Engine. It was definitely opposite to the Correspondence in many ways, like being cold instead of burning. I got the sense it was foreshadowing something from Sunless Skies, but it wasn’t specific as to what.
[quote=EscapistEscapade]I doubt they speak the actual languages so much as we hear them in whatever language we speak. Why do I think that? Because…
-snip-[/quote]
I’m iffy on that.
[spoiler]
Saying "I was Mr. Candles" doesn’t necessarily mean "They called me Mr. Candles". The way I interpret it, he’s saying "my domain was candles" in a way that the player can understand. Plus keep in mind that encounter happens in a dream, so we don’t have to stick to waking rules like communicating in sensible languages.
There’s also the encounter with Mr Pages (iirc) when failing to steal from the Bazaar. He speaks to the player in the Correspondence and you get sent directly to Nightmares 8.[/spoiler]
The Masters can’t be speaking Correspondence, or there would be a lot more flames and screaming in the many storylets in which they speak. So if it’s not English, it’s some other language with mysterious translation powers that the game has never touched upon. Occam’s Razor suggests that they’re just speaking English.
Also, Pages’ love of wordplay makes a lot more sense with the English interpretation. edited by TheThirdPolice on 7/30/2018