Chaoseed
Posts: 13
12/31/2011
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What is the Eater-of-Chains?
- It's a creature that lurks in dreams.
- It appears canine in nature.
- It can hunt and track.
- It has an evocative name.
- It's possible to breed a "Dream Hound" which appears quite similar to the Eater-of-Chains.
- I just got a card where I met a puppy—and I saw something in its eyes very reminiscent of the Eater-of-Chains.
- (If I've missed something, feel free to enlighten me!)
All of this engendered certain wild ideas in my mind. Here's where I wander off into bizarre realms of speculation: [spoiler]Dogs have been domesticated by humanity; given "chains". The Eater-of-Chains is a dog-spirit that has broken its chains; thus, rebelled against humanity. Perhaps it's the spirit of a specific dog, or perhaps it's a conglomeration of dogs. Perhaps it is the manifested dream of all dogs who wish to free themselves from human bondage.[/spoiler]
Well, it COULD happen, anyway. :P
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@Chaoseed on Twitter and Echo Bazaar
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Rupho Schartenhauer
Posts: 787
12/31/2011
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I like your theory. 
I would only add one more fact: It's definitely not a creature of Hell.[spoiler] (The Hound of Heaven confirmed that. And who to believe, if not your very own Hound of Heaven?) [/spoiler]
edited by Rupho Schartenhauer on 3/24/2015
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Rupho Schartenhauer has killed a Master, well: most of it.
Cortez the Killer has killed a Master, definitely.
Deepdelver has become the progenitor of London's brightest star. It's... complicated.
Dr. Kvirkvelia, gone NORTH on 23/12/1894.
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G. Augustus Gourmandghast
Posts: 39
12/31/2011
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Mm. I doubt this is quite useful in the least, but I would avoid any cards involving the Empress' puppy -- just turn tail and head the direction opposite should you see it upon your next visit to Court - because whether or not you should decide to play with the beast, the results are both positive in the Nightmare-inducing department. Not completely blameless, on behalf of the Eater.
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Just 'Gus' will do, thank you.
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
12/31/2011
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What I want to know is, why does Mr Sacks say that a collection of antiquities from past cities will keep the E-o-C from the door?
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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travellersside
Posts: 288
12/31/2011
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The traditional idiom is "just enough to keep the wolf from the door". It means to barely make enough to scrape by. It sounds like it's being used in the same way here.
Mr. Sacks may be saying that your offering of antiquities was barely enough to have made it worth talking to you.
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Early
Posts: 196
12/31/2011
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I could have sworn that the Empress's dog was outright stated to be the Eater, somewhere. Unless there's more than one?
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Early
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Branden Linton
Posts: 391
12/31/2011
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Uh its just the empresses puppythat's what you learn at the end of the continued eater of chains story. >_>
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Brom Girvan: a man of shadows and secrets. http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/Brom~Girvan
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Patrick Reding
Posts: 440
1/1/2012
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Branden Linton wrote:
Uh its just the empresses puppythat's what you learn at the end of the continued eater of chains story. >_>
It becomes obvious long before that point, if you played with the puppy at Court. I'm a little miffed at how the reveal was sold as a grand revelation when Yana and I had already known for months.
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http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/Yana
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Early
Posts: 196
1/1/2012
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Of course, that kind of raises further questions... how exactly does an adorable puppy become a slavering dream-beast, anyway?
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Early
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Patrick Reding
Posts: 440
1/1/2012
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Early wrote:
Of course, that kind of raises further questions... how exactly does an adorable puppy become a slavering dream-beast, anyway?
Perhaps it was the second price paid for London? Well, probably not.
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http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/Yana
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G. Augustus Gourmandghast
Posts: 39
1/1/2012
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Aristocrats were always two-faced. I'm not surprised anything related to one would be any less different.
I think the only conclusive statement I can draw from this is that I simply detest dogs. I'll stick to felines from this point onwards, my most humblest of thank-yous. Much more worth the trouble. And full of delicious secrets, to boot.
That actually brings to a mind a question, however: Now that I've seem to have unwittingly caught the Eater's attention, how does one make the filthy mongrel go away? I am plagued by nightmares as it is, without his mangy bad breath panting down the back of my neck whilst I slumber.
edited by Gourmandghast on 1/1/2012
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Just 'Gus' will do, thank you.
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Indigena
Posts: 1
1/2/2012
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I've always thought that the Eater-of-Chains was Fenrir. Powerful canine-shaped creature whose name suggests that it can't be chained and who isn't unwilling to nibble a bit at hands? Fits rather well. Also, in one of the newer Eater-of-Chains cards, going to its lair causes it to try to bite your hand off, like Fenrir did to Tyr.
I think it's also associated with actual marsh wolves, since after playing with the Empress's puppy, you dream of "a giant marsh wolf". Also, Fenrir, according to Wikipedia, means "fen-dweller", which doesn't seem too far from "marsh wolf". I suspect that actual marsh wolves are descendants of the Eater-of-Chains, but with enough ordinary wolves in their ancestry for them not to manifest any qualities.
If the Eater-of-Chains really is Fenrir, then the Eater-of-Chains being the Empress's puppy could be part of its being chained. I wonder if it wears a collar while it is the puppy.According to the perhaps-not-trustworthy Wikipedia, Garmr, the watchdog that guarded Hel's gate, was associated with Fenrir; whether or not that's relevant I don't know.
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Rupho Schartenhauer
Posts: 787
1/2/2012
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I like your theory, Indigena. Fenrir (or any other mythological hell-hound, for that matter) is the Eater-of-Chains, forced to disguise as a puppy... and it's probably plaguing our dreams because it wants someone to free it -- but what would happen if someone actually did... ?
--
Rupho Schartenhauer has killed a Master, well: most of it.
Cortez the Killer has killed a Master, definitely.
Deepdelver has become the progenitor of London's brightest star. It's... complicated.
Dr. Kvirkvelia, gone NORTH on 23/12/1894.
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theodor_gylden
Posts: 117
1/2/2012
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Wieland Burandt wrote:
I like your theory, Indigena. Fenrir (or any other mythological hell-hound, for that matter) is the Eater-of-Chains, forced to disguise as a puppy... and it's probably plaguing our dreams because it wants someone to free it -- but what would happen if someone actually did... ?
Perhaps this is why those bitten by the Eater become vicious and hungry-eyed -- is something of the beast inhabiting and escaping through them, like the Inhabiter-of-Wolves? (Dare I speak the word 'werewolf'?)
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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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G. Augustus Gourmandghast
Posts: 39
1/4/2012
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There's a thought. I certainly hope such an inkling should never mature into fact, however, as I have no desire for (nor love of) lycanthropy.
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Just 'Gus' will do, thank you.
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Early
Posts: 196
1/4/2012
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G. Augustus Gourmandghast wrote:
There's a thought. I certainly hope such an inkling should never mature into fact, however, as I have no desire for (nor love of) lycanthropy.
Philistine.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Early
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Urthdigger
Posts: 939
1/4/2012
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G. Augustus Gourmandghast wrote:
There's a thought. I certainly hope such an inkling should never mature into fact, however, as I have no desire for (nor love of) lycanthropy.
Well, it's been my impression that being marked by the eater of chains is a bad thing in general, so I think it'd probably be portrayed in such a way that even folks who like werewolves would consider "Yeah, I wanna get rid of this. NOW."
Unless you mean having lycanthropy in the game offends you in some manner, in which case I'd wonder why that and none of the other sinful things the game offers like wanton hedonism, incestuous (Well, sorta) threesomes, corruption, stealing of souls, and casual murder. And that's just counting the things I've experienced in my short time here.
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
1/4/2012
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My impression was that there was more of dream than of dog in the Eater.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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G. Augustus Gourmandghast
Posts: 39
1/4/2012
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Early wrote:
Philistine.
In all likelihood, the probability of such a claim being correct is more than favourable. Don't be jealous, now, darling.
Urthdigger wrote:
Well, it's been my impression that being marked by the eater of chains is a bad thing in general, so I think it'd probably be portrayed in such a way that even folks who like werewolves would consider "Yeah, I wanna get rid of this. NOW."
Unless you mean having lycanthropy in the game offends you in some manner. . .
Ah, you misunderstand me. I only express my most incredible displeasure at the idea of becoming, and (or!) knowing any werewolves. I'd rather be a Clay ...Person... than a hairy, two-legged mongrel every second fortnight. Wolfmen destroy the bedroom, make a mess of your sheets, scare the cats, and leave an impenetrable, vile stench when wet, that unfortunately, simply takes decades of lye and scrubbing to get out. In addition, I, who sadly has indeed incurred the Mark, would simply die with all the shaving that lycanthropy would present unto me. And, to think of pulling the hair and brambles out of my petticoats and stockings...! Horrors, horrors that hopefully shall not come to pass.
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Just 'Gus' will do, thank you.
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Urthdigger
Posts: 939
1/5/2012
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G. Augustus Gourmandghast wrote:
Early wrote:
Philistine.
In all likelihood, the probability of such a claim being correct is more than favourable. Don't be jealous, now, darling.
Urthdigger wrote:
Well, it's been my impression that being marked by the eater of chains is a bad thing in general, so I think it'd probably be portrayed in such a way that even folks who like werewolves would consider "Yeah, I wanna get rid of this. NOW."
Unless you mean having lycanthropy in the game offends you in some manner. . .
Ah, you misunderstand me. I only express my most incredible displeasure at the idea of becoming, and (or!) knowing any werewolves. I'd rather be a Clay ...Person... than a hairy, two-legged mongrel every second fortnight. Wolfmen destroy the bedroom, make a mess of your sheets, scare the cats, and leave an impenetrable, vile stench when wet, that unfortunately, simply takes decades of lye and scrubbing to get out. In addition, I, who sadly has indeed incurred the Mark, would simply die with all the shaving that lycanthropy would present unto me. And, to think of pulling the hair and brambles out of my petticoats and stockings...! Horrors, horrors that hopefully shall not come to pass.
Well then, better fix it soon! Even as someone who likes werewolves, I do have to say I'd find the experience unpleasant. I understand the transformation can hurt like the dickens, and it would be so inconvenient when trying to woo one of my many conquests. I'd hate to have them ask me to meet them and have to say "Oh no darling, I cannot. It is that time of the month you see... wait, no, it's not what you think... yes I'm a man... no I'm not going to explain what I meant..."
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Looking for second chances to maximize your loot output from those troublesome storylets? Check out our handy gang of volunteers in this thread, or even volunteer yourself!
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