The Season of Hobbies' End

Just to compile the evidence for what I’d consider the most likely hypothesis, that being [spoiler]The Toymaker is an artificial creation of the Watchmaker’s Daughter:

[1] He has waxlike hands and never drinks, which along with oily tears demonstrate that the Toymaker is not human.

[2] The art for the Unsettling Toymaker is reused from the &quotPlaying with Broken Toys&quot storyline associated with the Watchmaker’s Daughter. The puppets created by the Watchmaker’s Daughter are able to act somewhat independently like a prototype of the Toymaker.

[3] In the ghastly ending, the Toymaker’s creation is donated to the Relickers and they want him to take on &quotanother apprenticeship&quot. He says the telling line, &quotThey say my new master knew my old mistress. I have so much to learn!&quot The Relickers are servants of Mr Cups, who had taken a keen interest in the Watchmaker’s Daughter.

[4] The Toymaker has access to Vesture silk, while Cousins are outright hunted within and outside the kingdoms of the Presbyterate. With his apparent wax characteristics, his ability to obtain this silk if he were a Cousin would be severely diminished.

[/spoiler]

I like that hypothesis for many reasons, but one of them is that the idea of a clockwork toymaker reminds me of “The Circular Ruins,” a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. Borges, of course, was a large influence of Mr Kennedy.

This was delightfully creepy and cute.

Immediately went for the maximum odd ending once I found out I could get a Ray-Drenched Cider from it. Those things are so hard to get if you are anti-Revolutionary…

Is it possible…

…that the Toymaker is, in fact, a genius rattus-faber manovering a sort of robot?

[quote=Galvan Marinnar]Is it possible…

…that the Toymaker is, in fact, a genius rattus-faber manovering a sort of robot?

Or three Rattus faber in a Battered Grey Overcoat!