OK, this might possibly be a silly question, as in “the answer is so clear that you must be dumb not to have got it yourself”, but I got myself wondering - what’s the exact meaning of Fallen London’s lodgings names? Some of them seem to be quite straightforward, other are still a bit obscure to me as of their actual meaning. Well, actually I’ve got hypotheses for most of them:
The Tower of Knives: it’s a dangerous Smoky Flophouse, no surprise some knife fights could ensue.
The High Castle: it’s a Rooftop Shack, so it’s higher than the building it’s build upon.
The Heron Tower: according to the atrwork, a heron dwells there.
The Sleepless Tower: its neighbors in the Observatory probably perform most of their activity at “night”.
The Windward Tower: it’s in a steamer on the sea, so it’s… Windy, maybe?
The Tower of Eyes: a Handsome Townhouse in a respectable address: it seems perfect to attract people’s eyes and divert them from more “covert” activities the owner could perform.
The Lofty Tower: it’s the “highest” place of London, both figuratively and literally - the Bazaar comprises tall spires - just like a loft is the higher place in a building (except above the very roof).
The Western Tower: it’s at the Brass Embassy, London’s link with Hell, that judging by the placement of Moloch St. Station and assuming London’s map’s upper side is north (theoretically London’s displacement in the Neath could have also rotated it a little, but there’s no hint of this) should be westbound from it.
I’m more puzzled about the Tower of Sleeping Giants, the Tower of Sparrows and the Tower of Sun and Moon. Also, why exactly are all the lodgings linked to cards described as “towers”, except the Rooftop Shack?
[quote=streetfelineblue]OK, this might possibly be a silly question, as in “the answer is so clear that you must be dumb not to have got it yourself”, but I got myself wondering - what’s the exact meaning of Fallen London’s lodgings names? Some of them seem to be quite straightforward, other are still a bit obscure to me as of their actual meaning. Well, actually I’ve got hypotheses for most of them:
The Tower of Knives: it’s a dangerous Smoky Flophouse, no surprise some knife fights could ensue.
The High Castle: it’s a Rooftop Shack, so it’s higher than the building it’s build upon.
The Heron Tower: according to the atrwork, a heron dwells there.
The Sleepless Tower: its neighbors in the Observatory probably perform most of their activity at “night”.
The Windward Tower: it’s in a steamer on the sea, so it’s… Windy, maybe?
The Tower of Eyes: a Handsome Townhouse in a respectable address: it seems perfect to attract people’s eyes and divert them from more “covert” activities the owner could perform.
The Lofty Tower: it’s the “highest” place of London, both figuratively and literally - the Bazaar comprises tall spires - just like a loft is the higher place in a building (except above the very roof).
The Western Tower: it’s at the Brass Embassy, London’s link with Hell, that judging by the placement of Moloch St. Station and assuming London’s map’s upper side is north (theoretically London’s displacement in the Neath could have also rotated it a little, but there’s no hint of this) should be westbound from it.
I’m more puzzled about the Tower of Sleeping Giants, the Tower of Sparrows and the Tower of Sun and Moon. Also, why exactly are all the lodgings linked to cards described as “towers”, except the Rooftop Shack?[/quote]
The Tower of Sleeping Giants is a bookstore; presumably the classic authors of some of the tomes it must sell are the “sleeping giants” of the title.
The Tower of Sparrows is a gambling den. Possibly “sparrow” is a cant term for gambler, or possibly it refers to co-conspirators “singing” and getting the Constables to raid the place.
I have, however, no idea why the Royal Bethlehem is the “Tower of the Sun and Moon.”
It’s probably unintentional, but the ‘Tower of the Sun and Moon’ reminds me of nothing so much as the European folk tale, East o’ the Sun & West o’ the Moon. There are a couple of (very) vague ties to be found to Fallen London/The Royal Bethlehem; it is the North wind that eventually takes the unnamed protagonist of the tale to her destination, and part of the text for Rooms at the Royal Bethlehem reads “Lock your door, or you don’t know who you might wake up in bed with.” - the protagonist is taken to be the wife of a great white bear, who at night arrives in her bed transformed into a man.
Edit: Well now, Endy’s theory seems much more likely :] edited by Corentin Os on 12/27/2012
[quote=Catherine Raymond][quote=streetfelineblue]OK, this might possibly be a silly question, as in “the answer is so clear that you must be dumb not to have got it yourself”, but I got myself wondering - what’s the exact meaning of Fallen London’s lodgings names? Some of them seem to be quite straightforward, other are still a bit obscure to me as of their actual meaning. Well, actually I’ve got hypotheses for most of them:
The Tower of Knives: it’s a dangerous Smoky Flophouse, no surprise some knife fights could ensue.
The High Castle: it’s a Rooftop Shack, so it’s higher than the building it’s build upon.
The Heron Tower: according to the atrwork, a heron dwells there.
The Sleepless Tower: its neighbors in the Observatory probably perform most of their activity at “night”.
The Windward Tower: it’s in a steamer on the sea, so it’s… Windy, maybe?
The Tower of Eyes: a Handsome Townhouse in a respectable address: it seems perfect to attract people’s eyes and divert them from more “covert” activities the owner could perform.
The Lofty Tower: it’s the “highest” place of London, both figuratively and literally - the Bazaar comprises tall spires - just like a loft is the higher place in a building (except above the very roof).
The Western Tower: it’s at the Brass Embassy, London’s link with Hell, that judging by the placement of Moloch St. Station and assuming London’s map’s upper side is north (theoretically London’s displacement in the Neath could have also rotated it a little, but there’s no hint of this) should be westbound from it.
I’m more puzzled about the Tower of Sleeping Giants, the Tower of Sparrows and the Tower of Sun and Moon. Also, why exactly are all the lodgings linked to cards described as “towers”, except the Rooftop Shack?[/quote]
The Tower of Sleeping Giants is a bookstore; presumably the classic authors of some of the tomes it must sell are the “sleeping giants” of the title.
The Tower of Sparrows is a gambling den. Possibly “sparrow” is a cant term for gambler, or possibly it refers to co-conspirators “singing” and getting the Constables to raid the place.
I have, however, no idea why the Royal Bethlehem is the “Tower of the Sun and Moon.”[/quote]