If the following information is a spoiler to anyone, I sincerely apologize.
A friend of mine just finished a Great Game storylet in which you can sketch a lady’s tattoos. Once you do, you have several options of what to do, one of which is to sell her secrets to a "Barely-Disguised Diplomat from the Elder Continent". The art used for this option is a black man in a bowler hat, the same art used for the "Presbyterate Diplomat" Companion.
Why do you think these people from far off and mysterious shores are black? Do you think it’s just a quirk of the art, or do you think their race may offer some clue to when the Elder Continent was settled, and who the settlers are?
In that case, well, it sounds like it’s two instances of the very same chap. More broadly, the different settlements we see on the shores of the Elder Continent do seem to demonstrate cultural ties to a sweep of Surface societies from Turkey to Cambodia, with India as its crux. That said, the Presbyterate is actively involved in keeping outsiders confused as to its nature, so there’s a great deal we don’t even know that we don’t know!
Hmm. Actually, this line of thought may provide useful clues as to the identity of some of the past cities. It is known, after all, that the Far Khanates are colonies of the now-destroyed Fourth City. Perhaps the Presbyterates are colonists of an earlier city, left behind on the Elder Continent when their original settlement was… ‘replaced’.
The same way that London’s colonies on the Carnelian Coast will remain as part of the ever-shifting Neath aftter the Sixth City descend, eh?
It’s hinted - rather strongly - that the Presbyterate may actually predate the Bazaar’s stealing of cities. They seem so ancient and yet so tied up in more recent Surface myths and legends - I almost wonder if they have some role in Surface affairs, beyond even that played by the Bazaar’s agents. All I know for sure is that they’re mysterious - terribly mysterious.
It could be an allusion to Prester John who ruled over a lost Christian Kingdom.
This was long reputed to be in Ethiopia, which might explain the hue of the Presbyterate.
Now that is an intriguing answer. I hadn’t heard of Prester John before. There’s so much mythology and reference in this game that just goes completely over my head.
[spoiler][quote=Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook]It’s hinted - rather strongly - that the Presbyterate may actually predate the Bazaar’s stealing of cities. They seem so ancient and yet so tied up in more recent Surface myths and legends - I almost wonder if they have some role in Surface affairs, beyond even that played by the Bazaar’s agents. All I know for sure is that they’re mysterious - terribly mysterious.[/quote]
Wasn’t it stated outright at Aestival? And anyway that made sense to me - humanity’s origin, and all that.
We’ve seen that celestial bodies (or perhaps just Bazaars?) have servitor races, directly correlated to their age and experience. The Bazaar has its completely coherent, and eminently powerful, Masters while the Flukes have their Rubbery Men (who gather experiences just like the Masters do, although they’re much less picky; perhaps there is something in the growth process that requires tales other than love, perhaps the Bazaar is mad with its SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS, who knows).
Who is to say the Mountain is not a celestial body in its own right (perhaps, even, the Earth itself?) with its very own servitor race: humanity. This could create a link between the Mountain and the Abrahamic God, perhaps (and it’s not like their aren’t correlations between YHWH and mountains anyways), AND creates a direct link: the Presbyterate is the abode of literal Angels, the progenitors of the human race itself. edited by Bonchance on 5/26/2015
We’ve seen that celestial bodies (or perhaps just Bazaars?) have servitor races, directly correlated to their age and experience. The Bazaar has its completely coherent, and eminently powerful, Masters while the Flukes have their Rubbery Men (who gather experiences just like the Masters do, although they’re much less picky; perhaps there is something in the growth process that requires tales other than love, perhaps the Bazaar is mad with its SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS, who knows).
Who is to say the Mountain is not a celestial body in its own right (perhaps, even, the Earth itself?) with its very own servitor race: humanity. This could create a link between the Mountain and the Abrahamic God, perhaps (and it’s not like their aren’t correlations between YHWH and mountains anyways), AND creates a direct link: the Presbyterate is the abode of literal Angels, the progenitors of the human race itself. edited by Bonchance on 5/26/2015[/quote]
Well I think it’s been established exactly who the Mountain is, though I don’t recall if we know how much time between she was born and the Bazaar fled to the neath.
Well I think it’s been established exactly who the Mountain is, though I don’t recall if we know how much time between she was born and the Bazaar fled to the neath.[/quote]
Has it? When/where? I hadn’t noticed anything particularly explicit.
Also, if it has, does that necessary preclude humanity (or just the Presbyterate) being its servitor race? edited by Bonchance on 5/27/2015
The Mountain of Light is the daughter of the Bazaar and the Sun, and the Mountain has a daughter (Mt.Nomad) with the Thief-of-Faces (big snuffer thing).