Hammond
Posts: 41
6/18/2014
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After putting in a bit of research, these are the conclusions I have obtained in regards to the potential nature of the Fifth-Tier Professions. So now I lay my mental regurgitation at the feet of you kind Sai, who has taken the time to put eyes on this feeble series of thoughts.
Campaigner – Mystic – Glassman
Oneironaut: A person who explores dream worlds (Parabola?), usually associated with lucid dreaming.
Enforcer – Murderer – Licentiate (the title of a person who holds an academic degree known as a licence or a licentiate)
Speaker: A person who speaks. A person who speaks formally before an audience; lecturer; orator. The presiding officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, the British House of Commons, or other legislative assemblies.
~Is there a political element to “true” death? Is murder simply a means of checks and balances?
Journalist - Author – Correspondent
Echoist: One who echos (Definition derived from the term Echoer).
~In London’s case, one who records stories. Or one that has the ability to collect stories that are echoed? I like to imagine it as being able to capture stories like one would capture butterflies... or moths.
Rat-Catcher – Stalker – Monster-Hunter
Strangler: To Kill by squeesing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. To cut off the oxygen supply of; smother. To inhibit the growth or action of; restrict.
~The growth and action of various beasts and monsters. The Constables and Monster Eradication Squads are only capable of handling so much. The Stone Pigs perhaps? Lorn-Flukes? I remember a story in the Cthulhu Mythos about how Shub-Niggurath/ “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young”, who had lain with Cthulhu and produced many of “his” spawn, had learned of the secret weakness of the supposedly indestructible Cthulhu as well as “his” equally indestructible offspring... Shub-Niggurath visited a select group of “her” most devoted followers (in this telling, traveling gypsies) telling them to wear, always, long scarves. The reason being that Cthulhu and his spawn are weak to only one thing that a mortal was capable of administering: Strangulation.
Trickster – Conjurer – Crooked-Cross
Unbishop
~ I want to say this wasn't obvious. I would like to be surprised in the future... but one rarely gets what one wants.
Watcher – Agent – Midnighter
Laocoonian: “Laocoön warned his fellow Trojans against the wooden horse presented to the city by the Greeks. In the Aeneid, Virgil gives Laocoön the famous line "Equō nē crēdite, Teucrī / Quidquid id est, timeō Danaōs et dōna ferentēs", or "Do not trust the Horse, Trojans / Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts." This line is the source of the saying: "Beware of Greeks* bearing gifts.
Laocoön was either punished for doing wrong, or for being right.” - Wikipedia
~ Saint Joshua, the patron saint of spies and Midnighters: "performs the unconfessed rites of St. Joshua; the secret ministrations of midnight, the holy transition of the owned to the unowned and the unseen to the seen. He has made the unknown known, and toppled an invisible throne."
(I won't go into great detail as to what they do, because even as a Midnighter myself I still have little idea, but if you have ever come across a “convenient” bit of evidence or a helpful clue, it was likely a Midnighter that "put it there").
* The Masters, Devils, Drownies. Anyone who's smile reveals sharp teeth... basically.
So, keeping with the theme of taking the name of a historical figure for this profession, I suppose Laocoön would likely represent those who take it upon themselves to cut through the lies to find the truth? Whistle-Blowers? Illuminati? The last line of defense against forces that would rather keep London wreathed in ignorance (Darkness)? Or those who will go to any length, any sacrifice, to see that the truth, ANY TRUTH, is known to all? Whether they like it or not... It seems to me that the Masters don't have a great appreciation for the likes of Midnighters, I wonder why...
And for the sake of consistency:
Tutor- Teacher Undermanager- Manager
Doctor- Surgeon (Somewhat pointless, but why not?)
Notary- … Ubernotary ...
Anyway, that's my interpretation. If there is anything I may have missed, or if this subject has already been covered in greater detail elsewhere, I would be grateful for any knowledge given.
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Hammond
All invitations are welcome.
{Warning: Messages sent within the forum might not be answered in a timely manner. Please forgive me, it is a bad habit I am trying to break.}
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Sara Hysaro
Moderator
Posts: 4514
6/18/2014
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Speaker is probably the next step after Correspondent since it's also one of the Scholar of the Correspondence titles. I do like your reasoning, however.
edited by Sara Hysaro on 6/18/2014
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Sara%20Hysaro
Please do not send SMEN, cat boxes, or Affluent Reporter requests. All other social actions are welcome.
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Hammond
Posts: 41
6/18/2014
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Sara Hysaro wrote:
Speaker is probably the next step after Correspondent since it's also one of the Scholar of the Correspondence titles. I do like your reasoning, however.
edited by Sara Hysaro on 6/18/2014
That is what I thought at first! Licentiate threw off my train of thought... Basically its someone who carries (a) license, or at least some degree of authority. My thinking was that, after a time, the business of bringing lasting death to London is more of a bureaucratic process. A Licentiate is, for the sake of metaphor, a pencil-pusher (or Knife-Pusher in this case), while a Speaker is the person who DICTATES who dies. Additionally, Licentiate: One who acts without restraint, or takes a liberty.
WAIT! If the Elder Scrolls has even a small bit of influence in London, then it would be in this occupation! There is only one other "person" (in those games) that is above a Speaker in authority and that is the Listener. The Listener gives the orders to the Speaker and the Speaker divides those amongst the "Main Force" assassins (Licentiates). Perhaps the Speaker would also act as the Listener in this case.
But I digress, I still have very little idea beyond the obvious what an Echoist is or could be. The only real connection I could make was that when someone "Echos" something it is "recorded" to the/a journal. Which raises another question: Might an Echoist be responsible for all, if not a large portion of, the Mystery item block? One frequently comes across bits and bobs of information with Oracle text of "Who would right this down?!" or "WHY would they write this down?!".
Wait... Echoist... Echos... What if... an Echoist has the ability to turn the intangible (secrets, rumors, all the parts of stories the Bazaar so desperately craves) into the TANGIBLE (Echos)! It seems a simple way to perpetuate stories. Your Echos go with you everywhere, they "absorb" the stories of those who carry them. Can you imagine what a single Echo might have seen? All the blood that's been shed for it, all that has been sacrificed for it, all the madness created by pursuing the ALMIGHTY Echo. Just imagine the hands a single Echo might of passed through: the Topsy King, the Duchess, the Red Handed Queen, maybe even the Boat Man (why not?). However, they are not indestructible so they must be replenished, and I'd like to think that the Masters would do something more grandiose to create an Echo than using something as plebeian as a printing press.
So... grasping at thoughts... Maybe an Echoist has the ability to coalesce words (secrets, rumors, what have you) into Echos. Collecting, recording, and perpetuating. Echos are often the "carrot-on-the-end-of-the-stick", it can be said that true currency of the Bazaar are stories, and if Echos (the journal recordings) are THOSE stories then it all makes a feeble kind of sense: You DO things for Echos (have adventures, make stories), the deeds are written or otherwise recorded, those are then "collected" by the Echoist who then distributes the freshly born Echos out into London
I can't help but feel a Laocoonian would have these answers...
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Hammond
All invitations are welcome.
{Warning: Messages sent within the forum might not be answered in a timely manner. Please forgive me, it is a bad habit I am trying to break.}
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