I think I know who, but I’m not too sure.
Going on the assumption he is who i think he is, then whatever happened to him could have somehow involved the foxfire candles and the current lack of foxes, like what turned him into eaten got rid of the foxes.
[li]
edited by Jules Asimov on 1/3/2014[/li]
edited by Jules Asimov on 1/3/2014
I assumed the “foxfire” of foxfire candles was simply related to the foxfire fungus, which is bio-luminescent and glows green (given the prevalence of mushrooms in the Neath) I hadn’t noticed the bit about the Mountain though, cool! (Why does the popular answer in “mysteries” seem to be “their tails are still afire” btw? what was that from?)
It seems foxes are associated with fire and light in many different cultures:
http://finland.fi/Nature_Environment/aurora/beliefs.html
"The origin of the northern lights has various explanations in folklore and mythology. The Finnish name for the northern lights "revontulet" is associated with the arctic fox. According to a folk tale, an arctic fox is running far in the north and touching the mountains with its fur, so that sparks fly off into the sky as the northern lights. Another version of the story says the fox throws the northern lights up into the sky by sweeping snow upwards with its tail. A more developed version then explains how moonlight is reflected from the snowflakes swept up into the sky by the fox’s tail."
Foxes running far in the North? Amidst mountains? Hrm.
Actually, having just had a brief further look into the folklore surrounding foxes (with thanks to the gentlegenderdescription who posted the ‘Der Fuchs in Kultur’ acticle earlier), they’re very often associated with ill-omen, and:
"… the power of transformation into a human being or terrifying demon, …"
"The fox, as a messenger of the underworld, hunts souls, …"
Now… I just had a glance at the colour of a foxes’ eyes, and the shape of their pupils. Is it possible that there are no foxes in the city…
… Because they’re the servants of the Brass Embassy, and walk among us as devils?
As a small slice of further evidence to this theory, the Devils hunt humans in the Forgotten Quarter with baying hounds and brass horns. A revenge for the fox hunts of England’s nobility?
[li]
edited by Armand D’Alterac on 1/4/2014
As a general rule, pay no attention to the popular answers to the Mysteries. For instance, the common Third City answer of South America likely stems from one of the earliest Third City clues you get about numbers and string which strongly implicates the Inca. Once you get a critical mass of people saying something, more people put it in as a guess, and then it’s all you get.
Well…drat. I’m going to need to go forum-hunting for the correct answers then. I thought it was South America?
I think this is further complicated by the wildly varying geopolitical opinion one has on whether there is only North and South America, and whether Mexico and Guatemala are in North or Central or South America.
With the fondness the Bazaar has for the number 7, I’m going to guess that we’re using the option with 7 continents to pick from :D
And similarly which continent includes the Middle East… Asia, I guess?
I’m thinking that the foxes in London are disguised as humans not unlike the kitsune of Japan. We do have some Asian flavor in FL courtesy of the Widow’s faction.
Anyways if I can get Appalling Secrets and Tales of Terror! from cats, I wonder what the fox will say if I can catch one.
[li]
Indeed. What DOES the fox say? Will we ever know?
How much of the land around London was translocated, and how suddenly? How large is the Neath? How long and wide are the connection or connections to the Surface, and at what point or points, and does that change when the Masters bring a city into the Neath? Were there dinosaurs in the Neath, in the Jurassic period? Were there humans in the Neath 50K years ago? 10K? 3K?
What is on the Surface, at the spot on the river Thames where London used to be?
[quote=Pyrodinium]I’m thinking that the foxes in London are disguised as humans not unlike the kitsune of Japan. We do have some Asian flavor in FL courtesy of the Widow’s faction.
Anyways if I can get Appalling Secrets and Tales of Terror! from cats, I wonder what the fox will say if I can catch one.[/quote]
If we go by Armands theory above, they’re not disguised as humans. They’re Devils. Which does seem to fit quite well.
So the answer for “why are there no foxes” might actually be “they’re still here” ? Oooh, I like that theory.
[li]
Well cats are the patron saints of Shadowy so they hide in plain sight. Foxes are the patron saints of Persuasive so it’s not unlikely that they hide within our social circles instead.
I’m fairly certain at this point that the foxes have gone to the Elder Continent, perhaps the Presbyterate. Here is my reasoning:[li]
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The Salty Fabulist, in a less than reliable narrative, tells us that the foxes went to the mountain of fire and ash at the furthest south. This is, presumably, the Mountain of Light, the echoes of which we see in dreams of the Fire Sermon. He says their location there is why they call them fox-fire candles.
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Mr. Eaten Sacks comes wearing a fox-fur cloak and bearing the Wax Wind. The wax wind blows from the Mountain in the Elder Continent. Also, "Wax" wind. Wax, candles, etc
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In the Doubt Street content, some judicious journalism unveils the fact that a notable church imports their candles from the Presbyterate.
None of this is concrete, but in general, I think there are a handful of hints that connect foxes and the elder continent. A better question is why they chose to go there if in fact they did?
There are foxes all over the city; you can spot them by their red stockings and the fans they use to hide their smiles. The Widow imports them from the orient, I hear
Hint; don’t lift their skirts.
edited by Ambrose Smith on 1/25/2014
Samson set fire to foxes’ tails to defeat the Philistines; it seems an incredible coincidence all this foxtails and fire business.
“And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.” (Judges 15:4)
Well, now we know the official answer from Word of Tiger.
Mr. Cups granted dominion over scraps and refuse to the rats instead of the foxes… although we wonder if the foxes subsequently left, were banished, or fell afoul of L.B. skullduggery.
I suspect that they left the city for other places… after all, it says why are there no foxes IN THE CITY, not why are all the foxes gone/dead.
Now I’m wondering what are the “oblique hints” to the foxes’ whereabouts; I think i’ve missed them all o_O
Likewise, and since every single player missed every single hint, I wonder if they exist at all?