theodor_gylden
Posts: 117
3/8/2012
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When I first came to Fallen London, I collected references to 'behind the mirror.' 'It's behind the mirror,' said the wind in the dream. 'This one's been in the mirror too long,' warned a cat. Then that mirror appeared at the carnival, and I crossed the first time into the Mirror Marches -- the borderlands, one might assume, of the Mirror Country. The light still in my eyes, I entered the House of Chimes and Mr Chimes spoke of rivers of roses, apples of glass, wonders that even the Marches did not hold.
So what is this place? Why does it exist? We know the Fingerkings work there, that its frame show glimpses of other places, and a lioness mentions a war fought between fire and water. And recently, very recently, I spied upon a Deranged Medium and glimpsed the light of the Marches again--
Green light flares in the mirror propped against the boathouse wall: a light you've seen before, perhaps? The Medium is singing, a breathy refrain that switches between English and Loamsprach, the language of the Clay Men. You can only catch phrases: 'We will exist! ' 'Clothed in jade and clothed in mud!' 'The king with a hundred hearts!' 'No flying thing, no thing that flies!' 'The garden gates, with faces locked...' Abruptly she spins once around and falls convulsing into a kind of fit. For a moment you see in her mirrored reflection a wriggling movement, as if serpents crawl in her hands and hair. Then she lies still.
What could it mean? How is the place behind the Mirror connected to the animation of the Clay People, or to the possessed men and women held in the Labyrinth of Tigers, or even to the visions of a certain Writer and the Gates of the Garden? How might its jungles be related to the jungles of the Third City, or it ruins suggest the fates of cities past? Theories, thoughts? Or does anyone have, like me, only a string of questions?
edited by theodor_gylden on 3/8/2012
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Journal: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/echo_theodor
Annotations & Epistles: http://theodor-gylden.dreamwidth.org/
Storylet: http://theodor-gylden.dreamwidth.org/11160.html
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Twoflower
Posts: 264
6/28/2012
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You know, you Glass fellows are lucky. You get to uncover the secrets of mirrors and the Fingerkings, and the Shroud gets to uncover the dark and hidden secrets of how to bang on a table to fool old widows.
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Martin Hopfield
Posts: 21
6/28/2012
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Byron Man wrote:
So many hints. Touched by Fingerwork. The Fingerkings. The true lords of London.
Putting my metagaming hat on, perhaps they are an analogy to something that lurks the other side of the glass to Fallen London, twitching fingers controlling the lives of Fallen Londoners - us the players.
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Zephyr15
Posts: 58
12/11/2013
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I'm not far enough to know anything about Parabola other than what I've read on the forums, but one thing I do know is parabolas are use to find the trajectory of objects that are in orbit, orbit being something referenced by the bazaar (written in correspondence on a spire) itself in the University storyline "The mounting excitement when one's beloved reaches the closest point of his orbit." as well as a piece of fatelocked content, if you choose to drive a certain acquaintance insane. So it seems as if Parabola may be more tied to watchful than we think. Especially with the Mirror Marches being a nightmare menace, nightmare being the menace for watchful challenges.
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Finvara
Posts: 430
6/27/2013
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Waffles54 wrote:
This might suggest a filled mirror catch box is a reliable weapon vs snuffers
edited by Waffles54 on 6/27/2013
I think you're confusing Parabola with The Elder Continent.
Parabola might well contain those curious souls you can spy through a black lens. The Elder Continent would appear to be home to Snuffers and Vakes. Possibly.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Professor~Varald
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Waffles54
Posts: 56
6/27/2013
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If you referring to the dream, the idol offers a wig and a mask but if one were already human that disguise would be obsolete unless humans in the elder continent are born without skin...
edited by Waffles54 on 6/27/2013
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I didn't chose the thuge lyfe, it choose me
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
3/12/2012
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Same goes for my story here:
http://www.pandemonium-fiction.com/smoke.html
but I'm going to plug it anyway. You might like it.
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Endy
Posts: 278
6/14/2012
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I'm of the opinion the Marshes are an outlying area of Parabola.
Presumably the Fingerkings wouldn't want strangers plopping down in the middle of whatever passes for their city.
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sonantem aeternum ad terram
Through the darker shadows.
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Estelle Knoht
Posts: 1751
6/20/2012
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A little more hint from the early-game living stories (Starving Poet Delayed Storylet):
Oh yes, now you remember. The poetry is awful - clumsy and overwrought. And it contains many barely-concealed digs at Mr Fires and Mr Cups. Best keep this book away from the Constables. But there's one poem, the last one. It's about jungles and green skies and the half-made serpentine horrors that watch us enviously from behind mirrors. It raises hairs on your neck. Perhaps he only had one good poem in him. Or perhaps, when he was weak and dizzy from hunger, The Starving Poet saw something.
Serpentine, definitely. Birds, not sure.
Also from the Labyrinth of Tigers. Coil 3:
The cage opens, and the exhibit steps to freedom. He turns to you and whispers. He is one of many. They wear many faces, and they stare back at you from behind the mirror. They are the true lords of London, and their time is coming. He lopes away before you change your mind.
And also from Coil 3:
You turn away from the exhibit, and he emits a low, hissing scream that should not come from a human throat. You catch a glimpse of suddenly slitted pupils as you step smartly away from the cage. You are confident that you have left a menace contained.
So many hints. Touched by Fingerwork. The Fingerkings. The true lords of London.
edited by Byron Man on 6/20/2012
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Estelle Knoht, a juvenile, unreliable and respectable lady.
I currently do not accept any catbox, cider, suppers, calling cards or proteges.
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Miss Eustacia
Posts: 14
6/20/2012
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Tezcatlipoca, perhaps? I'm afraid I've not yet gone to this place, but when you talk of mirrors and birds, and the possibility of a sort of quetzalcoatl, smoking mirrors leap to mind.
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The Honourable Miss Eustacia Witheringham-Thynn
@MissEustacia
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