Your characters' appearances?

Fallen London
181

they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so lemme just post my sketch of gronostaj (pl. ermine), alongside with a cautionary &quotthis is your brain, this is your brain on drugs&quot tale. Don’t do SMEN kids. You WILL inevitably decide an old salty bat in a well is more important than personal hygiene.

the current election actually stopped them like five seconds before they fell asleep clutching a certain Calling Card. They were forced to shave and dress properly and all- you can’t really do a fixer’s job if you look like a homeless person (which they are. thanks nightmare carnival).

They started Seeking out of hedonistic boredom and got their ass properly kicked for it. Not kicked nearly enough to learn their lesson just yet, though.

182

I don’t know, &quotGronostaj on SMEN&quot looks like a B-Movie action hero.

183

--------------
The Six Handed Merchant

Gender: Mysterious and indistinct.
Race: Human?
Age: Young-ish?

Height: Tall and lanky: Six is rather leggy.
Build: Slim and generally handsome, although some parts of their figure seem slightly oddly shaped. Perhaps poor nutrition in childhood?
Skin color: Pale like the color of parchment. Six has excellent skin: very well preserved.
Eye color: A bright gleaming red.
Hair color: Depends on the fashion of the time, although Six’s usual hair color is green.
Hair style/quality: Relatively short, thick curls that are luxuriantly coiffed in the latest fashion trends.

Usual clothing style: Everything! Gowns, gloves, capes, top hats, suits, scarves, skirts, slacks, riding boots, bejeweled sword-canes, radium goggles, you name it! Usually all at once. Six looks like they were dressed by a warring committee addled on honey and addicted to scandal. Yet remarkably, several fashion trends have somehow erupted in their wake…

Usual demeanor: Unusually soft-spoken for someone who dresses so loudly. They are warm, affable and kindhearted, with a mind containing a vast mental repository of facts and rumors that habitually wanders off-topic. They are usually draped comfortably on a recliner or another person’s arm. Six’s eyes also take in an alarming amount of detail from their surroundings to the point that you’d swear they had eyes on the back of their head.

Voice: A silky and pleasant contralto that is quite mesmerizing! Six is a fantastic reader at salons.

Other remarkable details: Six is a private investigator, and also known as The Scandalous Detective for their wardrobe, frequent use of prisoner’s honey, and their long, long list of scandalous dalliances.

Six’s whole body appears to be double-jointed, as they have been known to wriggle their way out of ropes and handcuffs, and to wedge themselves through remarkably tight spaces.

The Six Handed Merchant is frequently accompanied by their devoted “bodyguard” Bishop Valentine Fogsreach and an imperious snow-white raven wryly named Mr. Feathers.

Despite the name, by all appearances the Six Handed Merchant has only two hands (and two feet, in case you were wondering).

184

Tystefy

Gender: Male
Race: Golden Retriever
Height: Puppy
Age: (Dog years are even trickier)
Ski- Fur Color: Golden Yellow
Eye Color: Rich Brown
Usual Appearance: Unusually heavy eyebrows. Groomed enough. Is carried on a cushion by and shares a top hat with his Gentleman Butler.
Demeanor: Sits up straight or simply leans back into his Genterman Butler. Calm. His Gentleman Butler helps emphasize his point by waving their front paws with surprising sync.
Voice: Deep. Surprisingly deep. More Morgan Freeman and not like a demon.
Remarkable Qualities: Is a dog.

Gentleman Butler (Actual Name “Dubious”)

Gender: Male
Race: Human
Human Height: 6’1
Age: Old…like a butler should be.
Hair Color: Stark White
Skin Color: White. Pale-ish-ly so.
Eye Color: Blue
Usual Appearance: Gloriously mustached, bald. Generic butler garb and white gloves. Shares a top hat with Tystefy.
Demeanor: … Butler. Silent. Stoic. Carries Tystefy with practiced care.
Voice: Will speak when required.
Remarkable Qualities: Do not ask about that one incident involving a certain stick.

edited by Tystefy on 5/12/2018

185

I love about Failbetter that not only do they make wild and crazy things, they also inspire others to do the same.

It’s great.
edited by Teaspoon on 7/9/2017

186

this very pleasantly reminds me the epic tale of Sir Bearington and I am 100% delighted.

187

The Uncanny Hierophant
[li]
&quotGul al-Ahlaam&quot is the pseudonym by which most Londoners know them. Much of their more controversial research is published under the pseudonym &quotDesiderius Erasmus,&quot and a penny-dreadful of middling popularity depicts them as the deranged &quotDoctor Dionysus,&quot whose mad experiments transform them into an enormous zee-monster. In private, their daughter refers to them as &quotFairuza,&quot and their staff as &quotDr. Darvishzadeh.&quot

The Hierophant is tall, slender, olive-skinned. Their black hair is short and tangled. Their eyes, once hazel, are now a scintillating cosmogone, marbled with streaks of grey. Their narrow torso is marred with countless scars from bites, knife-and-candle wounds, and experimental vivisections. The intricate ritual scars over their heart weep a thick Gant pus, and draw beads of blood from the surrounding skin, so they keep them thickly bandaged. Their face, carved near in half by Feducci’s saber, was &quothealed&quot by the Mountain of Light. When the Hierophant plunged their face into her lesser wound and drank of her blood, she reconstructed their face around the scar, creating a cleft in their lip all the way up to their hairline, studded with dozens of tiny, useless, interlocking teeth. Further experimentation with the blood shined and sharpened those teeth, along with the teeth in their mouth. This gives them an alarming and attractive smile, but presents difficulties when it comes to eating anything that can’t be ripped or torn. Their pair of long prehensile tongues, the result of a successful experiment down in Flute Street, only complicate things further. One of their arms was amputated at the shoulder by an unscrupulous scholar, and replaced with an oversized arm made from clay. The other was amputated at the elbow, after a failed experiment withered it, and was eventually replaced with the claw of a dwarf megalops.

Because of their lack of manual dexterity, their spouse is typically the one who dresses them, meaning that their clothes tend to be covered in a thin layer of slime. They have a fondness for narrow frocks, elegant shawls, and wide-brimmed hats. They tend to hide their face when out in public, usually behind a wax mask in the Presbyterate style. When such a thing will not do, they often opt for a simple silk veil.

Their voice has a lilting, melodic quality to it, when they’re both sober and lucid. Otherwise, they can have some difficulty marshaling their tongues, and it comes out slippery and gurgling.

188

[b]Isaac Zienfried, ‘the Vacillating Belligerent’

[/b]A man of imposing build and expressive body language, Mr. Zienfried’s appearance combines with his mercurial demeanor and mixed background to leave an interesting first impression. Short coppery hair, gray-green eyes, and a carefully trimmed goatee feature on a sharply angular face that’s as likely to wear a stupid grin as it is a scowl or snarl. Wide shoulders and a height of 6’3&quot mean he’s quite large compared to the average Londoner, though the rest of his body is somewhat slim when compared to the conspicuous shoulders, overall giving an athletic impression rather than a hulking one.

One of the first things noticed by many is the man’s accent. There’s something distinctly non-British about it, hints of American and Spanish both, which could lead some to (incorrectly) assume a Californian origin, but every so often a succession of words will come out in such a way that suggests a lifetime of travel and exposure to several dialects and languages. In addition, his years in London mean Isaac has already absorbed much of the local idioms and lingual patterns, further bastardizing his manner of speech.

On casual appraisal, Isaac carries himself in a restrained, almost military manner. His bearing is upright, his posture is iron-backed and rigid, and his style of speech is curt, efficient, and occasionally sarcastic. This can change, however, should he become excited or passionate, which happens more often than he’d like to admit. A stimulating conversation can lead to a loosening of his posture, wilder gestures with his hands and arms, exaggerated expressions, and a shift toward the kind of coarse language that befits a sailor or mercenary. He’s usually capable of controlling himself in venues where such expressiveness would be problematic, but has been known to slip from time to time. In addition to this excitability, Isaac possesses a fiery temper, and while he will strive to restrain himself if he thinks it necessary, he’s been known to decide the unleashing of his rage is worth the consequences. Other than that, he views some level of social face and restraint as important, not just for him but for everyone, and is annoyed by those who carelessly display uncouth or obnoxious behavior, having once berated a man for &quotlaughing too loudly, like some braying beast.&quot This man was not His Amused Lordship, though Isaac’s been known to covertly wince in that particular individual’s presence.

Mr. Zienfried’s wardrobe is varied and eclectic. If attending any Society events, he’ll likely be seen in fashionable attire, coat and top hat and everything. When truly putting on a show, either to awe or to intimidate, he is in possession of a pair of cosmogone spectacles that discourage staring. For more casual outings, he prefers trousers, a shirt, and a vest of thick and durable material, with a turquoise ascot to add some color to his usual grays and browns and dark greens. He often wears a felt bowler cap with a silken turquoise band around it. This look, in particular, can make him look something like a neddy man or other rough-and-tumble type: a fact he’s aware of and not bothered by. In fact, Isaac almost always carries a cane of some sort, either elegant and ornamented when dressing to impress, or more humble and durable when not… and these canes are his favored weapon if ever he needs to inflict harm, being shockingly skilled with using them as both bludgeon and lever in a downright brutal fighting style that mixes dirty tricks with aggressive strikes and joint-locks. He carries a small ratwork revolver under his coat or vest as well, but will only utilize it if his cane or his fists aren’t options.

While possessing sundry skills, the art Isaac truly excels in is the pursuit of violence and destruction. Proficient with a dazzling array of weapons and capable of changing fighting styles at a moment’s notice, he mates this to an in-depth knowledge of explosives, chemicals, poisons, traps, and strategy to present a challenge to even the most superhuman foes. It’s easy to simply assume a man so aggressive would resort to brute force in every situation, but Isaac’s plenty capable of indirect and unexpected approaches to a battle.

Having come to London upon hearing rumors of monsters and devils and thugs aplenty, Isaac once pursued the Vake across the Neath, but has since postponed the hunt after his quarry went to ground and he found himself with other pressing business. Rather than continue to hunt monsters out at Zee (though he does that as a hobby now and again), Isaac took to studying the dream-realm of Parabola, satisfying his more scholarly inclinations while also finding a use for his martial prowess and iron will when it comes time to exert his will upon the inhabitants.

Other assorted bits of personality are a strong sense of compassion that can seem at odds with his violent and angry nature, a love of poetry, a propensity for alcohol abuse that is genuinely dangerous to his health, and the tendency to hold grudges for years. Hobbies include zailing, writing poetry, and burgling devils or others he deems fair targets in order to practice his stealth and subtlety.
edited by Isaac Zienfried on 7/14/2017

189

Gentleman Butler carefully balances cushion on head so Isaac and I are roughly eye-level

… You? You chose me to be your nemesis? Me?!

wild paw gestures

190

Gideon Stormstrider is a fresh-faced young man with brown hair and hazel eyes in a crumpled black silk suit; surprisingly young for someone in his position, as people like to remark, although nobody is entirely sure what that position is. His gaze is unsettlingly intense; he seems to blink far less than the average person. Unidentifiable chemical stains cover his sleeves and he smells faintly of metal and gunpowder. He has the undeniable air of an accident waiting to happen.

191

Gentleman Butler carefully balances cushion on head so Isaac and I are roughly eye-level

… You? You chose me to be your nemesis? Me?!

wild paw gestures[/quote]
It was on a lark.

192

[quote=Tystefy]WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS POST WHUT

[/quote]
Could you delete this? You’re stretching the whole page out.

193

[li]Oh I love this.
[li][b]Heaven Dark

[/b]Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: Early 30s

Height: 5’5&quot
Build: Average with slight curve in the middle

Skin color: Olive
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Black
Hair style/quality: Long and straight so she always keeps it up in a bun, usually adorned with sticks and jewels and flowers and other pretty things.

Usual clothing style: Depends on where she needs to be. If she is going about her usual day and business, she will be in a long skirt, brown ankle length boots, a corset and a long sleeve top. Nothing too colorful unless they are to accent certain features or if the occasion calls for something cheery and colorful. If she has other, ahem, business to attend to then she will switch to neutral colored pants and dark tops that are neither form fitting or too loose and knee high black boots. Hev almost always detests short sleeves and likes a lot of jewelry that doesn’t make a lot of noise.

Usual demeanor: Hev is very quiet. She will speak when she must and get involved in things but she is a curious lady who needs to know what is going on around her. She is also highly suspicious but will never let that on. Also not afraid to bat her eyes and flirt, as long as she can get something out of it in the end.

Voice: Alto range with a fair share of monotones. Can fake her voice and lilt higher if the situation calls for it.

Other remarkable details: Loathes zailing but knows it is a necessary evil.[/li][li]
edited by heavensdark on 7/17/2017

194

Gender: Female (she, her, hers)
Ethnicity: Swiss
Age: late 20’s
Height: tall, scarcely shorter than the average man.
Build: Athletic
Eyes: green
Hair: medium brown, long. Often worn in a bun.

Clothing: Very practical, but often somewhat eccentric. Prefers dresses to suits. Tends to wear her favorite colors–green and blue.
Voice: speaks excellent English, but with a noticeable Swiss-German accent. Surprisingly, She has a lovely mezzo-soprano singing voice.

Demeanor: Remarkably honest, she does little to hide her personality unless it is necessary to solve a case or discover secrets. She typically comes across as eccentric, passionate, and either absent minded or laser-focused. She is surprisingly kind, for the neath.

195

[quote=Infinity Simulacrum][quote=Tystefy]WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS POST WHUT

[/quote]
Could you delete this? You’re stretching the whole page out.[/quote]

Could you delete this? You’re referencing something that’s been fixed.

We can both delete these posts together.

Don’t think too deeply on that. It’s not weird.

196

Ethel McLaniel

Gender: Bigender, assigned male at birth (usually feels female, occasionally feels male)
Race: Human
Age: 26
Height: 5’7
Build: Broad-shouldered, more thick than thin.

Skin color: Very pale, as are most people in the Neath.
Eye color: Originally brown, changed to a few different shades of green.
Hair color: Originally dark grey-brown, changed to light a very light auburn/chestnut.
Hair style/quality: Originally wavy and kept down, they took to putting it all up in a very purposefully &quotcute&quot messy bun after making it more curly.

Usual clothing style: On important occasions, they wear their layered ivory gown and dancing slippers, sometimes accompanied by a certain overcritical top hat. And, of course, their twelve carrot diamond (wedding?) ring. They don’t wear corsets. For more casual adventures they just put on a loose grey-green shirt and a flowing black skirt/pair of pants. And their lovely salivating lentals, of course!

Usual demeanor: Ethel likes to find out as much as they can before making decisions, and usually does this by either flirting with or just generally charming people.

Voice: On the higher side of the spectrum, but not shrill.

Other remarkable details: Ethel acquired a clay arm during an exceptional story, but tries to be discreet about it. Covering it with silk gloves and lace sleeves and all that. Their neck is pretty scarred up, but they removed all their facial blemishes when recreating their face. Aside from that, Ethel has a long, thin scar they got across their side in a fight at the Black Ribbon. They have a jagged scar up their forearm from spending nineteen days as Jack. They have a bite-wound from the Eater-Of-Chains.

197

Reinol von Lorica

Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age:20-24
Height: 5’10
Build: Average

Skin colour: Pale
Eye colour: Dark green
Hair colour: Dark auburn
Hair style: Slightly messy. His auburn hair fits the top and lower neck nicely

Usual clothing style: Reinol normally wears a lavish dark waistcoat and a plain dress shirt with a matching tie along with a black frock coat or long coat with the buttons being loose. He also wears a pair of glasses. Lower apparel consists of black trousers and boots. Note that the surface silk is used to make his clothing.

Usual demeanor: Calm and urbane. He carries himself with a weight of sentimentality and solemnity. At social events, this does not fade, though he can seem more confident and charming.

Voice: Has a noticeable accent. Most likely from his Austrian roots. Smooth and focused.

Other details-None to be noted
edited by Reinol von Lorica on 12/22/2017

198

Harriet Sorrows

Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 21

Height: 5’10&quot
Build: Lanky, with a decidedly straight and un-feminine figure. Proves to be quite the dressmaker’s nightmare, sometimes.

Skin color: Olive, with golden undertones. A few freckles scattered over her nose.
Eye color: A russet brown.
Hair color: Chestnut brown.
Hair style/quality: Curly. Kept very short and boyish-looking.

Usual clothing style: Harriet is severely far-sighted and never seen without a pair of round, tortoise shell glasses. She has an old fondness for a working man’s clothes paired with small pearl earrings; a new and growing one for headscarves, cardigans, kimonos. Comfort has always been – and remains – her chiefest concern.

Usual demeanor: Miss Sorrows is – perhaps ironically – often seen smiling. Whether relaxing, indulging in curiosities or speaking in playfully conspiratorial tones, she has an undeniable tendency towards cheerfulness and joie de vivre. Young and eager to learn, she otherwise takes her cues from the more experienced folk of London.

Voice: A lilting voice with an Edinburgh accent. Half the things she says sound like the beginning of a rhyme.
Other remarkable details: Harriet’s father is an experienced zailor with a tendency to skimp Neath’s details in his letters (he sends them, still, every week, as does she reply). She came to the Neath to surprise (and quite possibly infuriate) him the next time he makes port. If she’s exceptionally lucky, he might finally tell her what he does out there.

Remembrance Chandler

Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 27

Height: 5’7&quot
Build: That of an average young woman? Possibly. It’s hard to tell under all that clothing, honestly.

Skin color: Pale to the point of pallidness.
Eye color: Black enough to make iris and pupil indistinguishable. Sometimes there are dark circles underneath which show a little lack of sleep. Sometimes there are ones which show a lot of it.
Hair color: A very fair shade of blonde (she’ll go grey young).
Hair style/quality: Straight. Almost waist-length, when she lets it down (she never does). Save for a rare strand now and then, the lot of it remains perpetually trapped beneath her bonnet.

Usual clothing style: Heavy black gowns, long of skirt and sleeve, paired with lace collar and bonnet. There are at least a few knives hidden under all that. We may go so far as to infer a rifle.

Usual demeanor: Miss Chandler is quiet and unassuming. She fulfills her duties efficiently and to the letter, asking no unnecessary questions. She abstains from city vices and, when not directly engaged in church duties and good works, spends her time reading, working for The Department of Menace Eradication, and mending the items of clothing she’s had damaged while working for The Department of Menace Eradication.

Voice: Something subtle and low to the ground, usually little more than a whisper. Her accent is some upper-class strain of English; her sentences clipped, and to the point. Strangely, she often sounds a little hoarse.
Other remarkable details: She came to London to assist the Church and engage in missionary work. She grows slightly undisciplined around both desserts and cats. Her eyebrows vanished at some point in the eighties and haven’t been seen since. Recently, she’s begun to have discomforting dreams: of betrayal, of murder, of a desire for vengeance. Justice? Could it be so?

Light a candle.

edited by Pipedream on 8/1/2017
edited by Pipedream on 8/1/2017

199

Well Here is a Poster of my Characters next performance at Mahogany Hall!

482×640 107 KB

200

Sekar

Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 20

Height: 155 cm
Build: Matronly, the type that a child (or a lover) could snugly embrace, and robust, the type that can single-handedly eliminate a horde of angry Constables.

Skin color: Medium olive
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Black
Hair style/quality: Waist-length and wavy, worn undone/braided/swept in an updo, whatever the occasion calls for.

Usual clothing style: Comfortable dresses in deep jewel colors. Whenever she feels homesick, a simple kutubaru kebaya and a sarung of intricately patterned chintz. Doesn’t like wearing corsets, but for parties she would tightly wrap her waist in a lengthy scarf over her chemise.

Usual demeanor: Rambunctious, with a contagious optimism. Loud, brash and unashamedly flirtatious, even when her grammar fails to catch up. Gets very angry very easily whenever she sees injustice or suffering.

Voice: Sweet, deep and sticky, not unlike honey. Stopped pretending an English accent long ago, now unashamedly comfortable in her percussive Southeast Asian accent.

Other remarkable details: Persistent eyebags. People quietly assumed her as one of those honey-sippers. To tell the truth, she just doesn’t consider sleep important. Especially when one is an occasional lover of the Sardonic Music-Hall Singer and Feducci, and a full-time caretaker of her adopted Winsome Orphan, Severin, as well as Hector, the Nadir-shocked Firebrand.

THE QUARTERMAINES

Aristophanes Quartermaine

Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: Late 40s

Height: 187 cm
Build: Slender, with a minimum &quotdad bod&quot-ness thanks to years of eschewing the S-Bahn for cycling through the Berlin commute.

Skin color: Dark olive, with a smattering of diminishing freckles.
Eye color: Clear green, often glowing viric when he’s dream-walking.
Hair color: Brown. Just… brown. Not exactly dark, not really light either.
Hair style/quality: Chin-length curls.

Usual clothing style: When venturing outside the house; fitted midnight-blue frock coat, tasselled cane, stovepipe hat, and painstakingly-polished shoes. When inside the house; hoodies and boxers. In Parabola, he became as a Byzantine emperor. What a huge history nerd. He even brought his books with him to the Neath, much to his daughters’ chagrin. (&quotWe could have used that space for more clean underwear!&quot)

Usual demeanor: Spends a good portion of his days in Parabola. Has an air of easy elegance around him, easily weaving in and out of Society circles. Yet he does not possess the arrogance expected from his cultivation - in his waking nights, he would either walk to the Docks or to the Clay Quarters, listening to the downtrodden.

Voice: Deep yet soft, almost melodious. Never raises his voice. Impeccably British.

Other remarkable details: Once visited Dr. Schlomo early on to help him make sense of the Parabola, ended up refuting ALL his theories through Lacanian psychoanalysis and Baudrillard’s simulacrum theory. The Viennese alienist ran out crying. During Aristophanes’ Parabola stroll that night, a smiling old man in brass jewellery and once-white linen approached him by a drowned forest.

Prometheus Quartermaine

Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 18

Height: 172 cm
Build: Sturdy from regular sparring, chubby from always being the fastest to the dining table.

Skin color: Very pale, with a smattering of diminishing freckles.
Eye color: Clear green, mostly avoids eye contact.
Hair color: Strawberry blonde.
Hair style/quality: Silky straight, waist-long. Always worn long, sometimes tied to a ponytail.

Usual clothing style: Opera cloak worn over plaid flannels, sweaters, or plain black t-shirts. Docmarts. Hooked cane, in case of fights. Always black, sometimes green or blue.

Usual demeanor: Rowdy and intense, often found organizing in the docks or clashing with neddy men. Somehow, after her involvement in the unions a lot of those neddy men turned around and joined them. Rumormongers painted her as a mighty seductress, to which she replied &quotnot even the thiccest[sic] ass could stand a chance with good agitprop.&quot

Voice: Too high-pitched for her liking, tries to make it sound deeper during conversations. Chirpy laughter. Still remembers the British accent, but under pressure (or alcohol) she yields to the more familiar German.

Other remarkable details: The portal was her idea. Wanted to help with her sister’s history assignment. Due to a miscalculation they arrived at a different universe through the Nadir, to the spectacle of Sekar intervening the lovebirds’ quarrel. Found employment immediately under April, now scrambling to find a way to go home.

Grainne Quartermaine

Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 12

Height: 145 cm
Build: Slender from intensive theatre study, also from never being the fastest to the dining table.

Skin color: Medium olive, with a smattering of diminishing freckles.
Eye color: Hazel, with lush eyelashes.
Hair color: Brown. Dark brown.
Hair style/quality: Curly wilderness down to her back. Either left loose or worn in a braided bun.

Usual clothing style: An array of sleeveless tunics, flowing skirts and crop tops, covered with a trench coat or pashmina. Mostly barefoot for better energy sensitivity.

Usual demeanor: During the false-day, she’s usually painting, writing short stories, or studying the Neathbow alchemy at their cramped room, avoiding being scooped by the Constables for not being at school. During the false-night, she spins threads of cosmogone and viric radiated by her dream-walking father. Sometimes she comes to the roof, giving lessons to the urchins in exchange for Correspondence tutelage, scribbled in viric ink to pacify the flames.

Voice: Unassuming and light, but can be played to elicit various effects, ranging from mollifying coos to thunderous roars. Distinctly German, but can switch to a passable British accent.

Other remarkable details: An energy witch, she is profoundly attuned to the powers unique to the Neath. Although this proves most beneficial to her creative and scientific endeavors, the things that crept into her dreams are beyond horror. Even by Neath standards. Eschewing their father’s protests, she had to rely on laudanum brought daily by her sister to sleep well.

edited by sekar on 8/30/2017