Eglantine-Fox
Posts: 872
8/6/2016
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A pair of questions related to people dabbling in the Embassy's affairs.
There's mention of 'the Embassy's milk'... what even is it? Can it really just be moon-milk? That seems like an odd thing for people to want to drink, and the way the phrase is raised seemed to suggest something different, to me.
The other part... spirifers. What the hell, pun intended, happens to them? 'He is an unnerving sight; eyes like yellow diamonds, a mouth like a slash in a rubber sheet, and the most unnaturally enormous hat.' That description seems to imply that some spirifers barely even look human. Why?
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Eglantine Fox, the charming and androgynous Correspondent, teetering between hobbies of seduction and self-destruction.
Siobhan O'Malley, Irish patriot (or 'bl__dy Fenian' if you're impolite).
Isidore Day, an up-and-coming London gentleman. All allegations of wrongdoing are categorically denied.
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Lady Sapho Byron
Posts: 770
8/6/2016
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Eglantine-Fox wrote:
The other part... spirifers. What the hell, pun intended, happens to them? 'He is an unnerving sight; eyes like yellow diamonds, a mouth like a slash in a rubber sheet, and the most unnaturally enormous hat.' That description seems to imply that some spirifers barely even look human. Why?
Could this just be an echo of the Victorian (and post-Victorian, for that matter) notion that equates morality with physical appearance, that the visages of bad people seem to be not quite human?
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Fighting the Menace of Corsetry Since 1892.
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Appolonia
Posts: 248
8/6/2016
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Isn't the 'devil's milk' actually honey?
It is the liquid that bees produce, and there is like a river of it in the Embassy.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Appolonia%20VonRavenscroft
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Lamia Lawless
Posts: 604
8/6/2016
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I think that particular spirifer is a devil. He's doing unlicensed Abstractions by preying on the sick while they sleep, so he's a spirifer. I inferred that the phrase refers to both humans and devils who steal souls and deal in them without a license. But I've never heard of a human who had a license to Abstract.
Also, I have no idea what the 'Embassy's milk' refers to. I'm referencing a vague memory, so take this with a grain of salt- but the only two times I heard it referenced were when a conjurer performs for an orphanage (one of the orphans says 'I go now to drink the Embassy's milk') and when you encounter that weird looking imp-ish thing that's hovering around a passed out spirifer. If you tip off the spirifer, I think he taunts the creature for not having access to 'the Embassy's milk.' I may be misremembering this though. I'm more sure about the orphan's comment than the spirifer's conversation.
There are plenty of hints at Mt. Palmerston in Sunless Sea and in the Cave of Nadir that a devil who's been away from Hell long enough has their humanoid body slowly deteriorate, so I suspect the Embassy's "milk" might be a substance that helps them maintain their forms? But that doesn't really explain why they'd give it to human children. Maybe in the case of the orphans it's not literal. Maybe the conjurer tells the orphans the Embassy is full of milk and honey, and that's why they want to go there. :P
edited by Lamia Lawless on 8/6/2016
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The Harmonic Hellfarer
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Professor Strix
Posts: 616
8/13/2016
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This milk is almost certainly Fourth City Airag, which is made of fermented mare milk, not the "Embassy's milk" people said above.
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The Inescapable Professor, London's Most Academic Detective. Open to consultation from Mondays to Fridays, above the Silver Binding bookshop, Veilgarden. Half the payment in advance, half after closing the case. No refunds.
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Lamia Lawless
Posts: 604
8/6/2016
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Yeah. Maybe!
I just remembered something else. There's a line of text in a... I think it was a Hallowmas destiny? Spoilers for the dream you get from the Diabolical Diplomat under the cut.
[spoiler]The player character is musing about their ambitions, and they say something like, "They say Hell overthrew its monarchy. That means there's room at the top for you." And if being a Hellfarer does mean earning yourself real, meaningful status among devils, to the extent that when you go to Hell something will be waiting for you there besides slavery and torment...
...And if Hell is full of things like lead mists (quoth the Wistful Deviless) and, you know, lots of fire...
Then maybe people who ascend through Hell's ranks do change, enough so that they can become acclimated to Hell?[/spoiler]
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The Harmonic Hellfarer
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Barse
Posts: 706
8/6/2016
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Lady Sapho Byron wrote:
Could this just be an echo of the Victorian (and post-Victorian, for that matter) notion that equates morality with physical appearance, that the visages of bad people seem to be not quite human?
I quite like this explanation! Visage reflecting morality in a kind of Dorian Grey type way.
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 The Scorched Sailor, up for most social actions and RP. Not as scary as he looks.
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CALLNXW
Posts: 116
8/8/2016
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Satan lactates.
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https://www.fallenlondon.com/Profile/Call%20Now
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Lamia Lawless
Posts: 604
8/6/2016
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I don't know. Maybe you're extremely buff and he's a particularly weak devil. That seems more likely than the idea that humans who work for the Embassy slowly turn into something else. (Although, that would be really cool.)
I mean, devils are hard to catch unawares, and hard to kill, but considering this one sneaks around stealing souls from frail, sickly, unconscious people... he might be a wimp. And you definitely catch him unawares.
If the player character can wrestle goat demons into submission, it stands to reason they can knock a devil out. Consider, also, the option to go around clubbing devils for the Bishop's breeding project.
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The Harmonic Hellfarer
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Optimatum
Posts: 3666
8/6/2016
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I believe the river of honey was something from the Exceptional Story Five Minutes to Midday, along with references to brass honeycombs.
Lamia Lawless wrote:
Yeah. Maybe!
I just remembered something else. There's a line of text in a... I think it was a Hallowmas destiny? Spoilers for the dream you get from the Diabolical Diplomat under the cut.
[spoiler]The player character is musing about their ambitions, and they say something like, "They say Hell overthrew its monarchy. That means there's room at the top for you." And if being a Hellfarer does mean earning yourself real, meaningful status among devils, to the extent that when you go to Hell something will be waiting for you there besides slavery and torment...
...And if Hell is full of things like lead mists (quoth the Wistful Deviless) and, you know, lots of fire...
Then maybe people who ascend through Hell's ranks do change, enough so that they can become acclimated to Hell?[/spoiler]
In SS the Delightful Adventurer was guaranteed safe passage to and from Hell by devils, so presumably the environment isn't hostile to the point of needing to acclimatize.
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Optimatum, a ruthless and merciful gentleman. No plant battles, Affluent Photographer requests, or healing offers; all other social actions welcome.
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Lamia Lawless
Posts: 604
8/6/2016
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Optimatum wrote:
I believe the river of honey was something from the Exceptional Story Five Minutes to Midday, along with references to brass honeycombs.
Lamia Lawless wrote:
Yeah. Maybe!
I just remembered something else. There's a line of text in a... I think it was a Hallowmas destiny? Spoilers for the dream you get from the Diabolical Diplomat under the cut.
[spoiler]The player character is musing about their ambitions, and they say something like, "They say Hell overthrew its monarchy. That means there's room at the top for you." And if being a Hellfarer does mean earning yourself real, meaningful status among devils, to the extent that when you go to Hell something will be waiting for you there besides slavery and torment...
...And if Hell is full of things like lead mists (quoth the Wistful Deviless) and, you know, lots of fire...
Then maybe people who ascend through Hell's ranks do change, enough so that they can become acclimated to Hell?[/spoiler]
In SS the Delightful Adventurer was guaranteed safe passage to and from Hell by devils, so presumably the environment isn't hostile to the point of needing to acclimatize.
Hm. How did I miss that? I'll have to check my journal.
To be perfectly honest, I assumed they lied to her. If it were that easy then someone would have thought of it before, right? Some spirifers in London amass quite a few souls. "No one goes to Hell and returns to tell the tale."
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The Harmonic Hellfarer
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Lamia Lawless
Posts: 604
8/6/2016
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Where did you see a river of honey in the Embassy? Do you have an echo for it?
I mean, not all bees produce honey, and these ones are special fire bees.
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The Harmonic Hellfarer
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Eglantine-Fox
Posts: 872
8/6/2016
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There is that, but I've only ever heard 'spirifer' used to refer to the humans. So I found myself wondering if it might not be a hell-wrought change.
Maybe favoured spirifers do get some of the mentioned milk? Maybe overindulgence and/or withdrawal do really weird things to you? If red honey can monsterise, why not freaky hell milk?
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Eglantine Fox, the charming and androgynous Correspondent, teetering between hobbies of seduction and self-destruction.
Siobhan O'Malley, Irish patriot (or 'bl__dy Fenian' if you're impolite).
Isidore Day, an up-and-coming London gentleman. All allegations of wrongdoing are categorically denied.
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Wicked Wonderland
Posts: 13
8/12/2016
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Curiously enough, my character just drank a bit of milk... while on the Carnelian Coast. Here's the snippet, from Murgatroyd's Tea House:
[spoiler]
Murgatroyd's is particularly busy on the day of your visit. Granted, many of the extra patrons are plain-clothes protection agents from the Foreign Office, but your presence nevertheless generates a palpable excitement.
A group of Khaganians approach your table with a horse-headed bottle. They each take a hearty swig, before offering it to you with derisive smiles. In the interest of diplomacy, you take a sip. It's a bit sour, but - oh dear God. Is your stomach curdling?
As you gag, they howl with laughter. You couldn't understand a word of what they said after, but their meaning was plain: "Here's another foreigner who can't handle their milk!"
So it's possible that the "milk" is a reference to Kumis, and the "Embassy" isn't the Brass Embassy, but has something to do with the Carnelian Colony and the Fourth City?
edited by Wicked Wonderland on 8/13/2016
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Wicked~Wonderland
Looking for new friends, but not invitations for second chances at the moment. Terribly sorry. I can help with menace reduction if you will return the favor.
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xKiv
Posts: 846
8/6/2016
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Optimatum wrote:
I believe the river of honey was something from the Exceptional Story Five Minutes to Midday, along with references to brass honeycombs.
In my notes I see honeycomb of pipes, and wall of honey. No river.
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https://www.fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/xKiv - a witchful, percussive, dangermous and shadowry scholar of coexplodence, hopsidirean, and walker of fallen kitties.
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Morkan Kassington
Posts: 261
8/14/2016
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These three varieties of milk are most certainly not interchangeable.
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Ladies of the Neath, here comes Morkan Kassington, the gem among gentlemen
(He is actually a self-centered and foolish braggart, but he means no harm. Hit him up for social actions or dangerous lessons! Or just flirt.)
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