"I saw it! Ask anyone! ...except her. Don't ask her."
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"The Bazaar's conveniently located for Hell, and Hell's envoys keep stalls and warehouses here. Which is great if you want to buy brass, obsidian, sulphur, hydrogen, devilbone or any of Hell's other well-known exports. Or if you want to sell souls. But you shouldn't do that."
Courteous, rapacious, merciless, beguiling: devils, the emissaries of Hell, have come west to London for one purpose: souls. And perhaps the company, the sights, and a little chamber-music. They run and patronize several establishments in the vicinity of Ladybones Road; for example, Dante's Grill, the Long Spoon, Abbadon and Bael Trading Co., and their London headquarters, the Brass Embassy.
Devils are generally humanlike, but with fangs and golden or brassy eyes to set them apart. They appear to have a rather strange relationship with time; Fallen London is set in the 1890s, but the devils seem to have become well-acquainted with 1920s fashion and technology, so their style of dress also distinguishes them easily.
“Your body has glimpsed what the rose giveth. It craves the knowledge of every step. You dream fitfully of brass tablets; ache for one upon which to carve your words. Inspiration – when it strikes – strikes red.”[1]
Devils speak many languages - around a hundred, all in all,[2] many of which may be lethal to learn or read.[3][4] They largely go unnamed and undifferentiated, but some alphabets are said to be invisible[5] while others glow bright enough to shine through several layers of cloth, making them useful for marking criminals.[6] These languages may also be spoken, which frequently brings strange memories or sensations,[7] and particularly grave words may even lead to sudden decay of objects around the speaker.[8]
The most frequently-mentioned language of devilkind is the Rose Giveth,[9] which is sometimes called the Rose Taketh[10] and said to be the best language of Hell.[11] It is unclear whether the two names designate some subtle distinction, or serve as synonyms. Regardless of its moniker, it is a dance-language: laboriously engraved into brass tablets,[12] and spoken through quick rhythmic motions that burn the floor and send sigil-sparks flying in their wake.[13] Ideally, it is performed with wings and six legs,[14] if not more - but even with four limbs, it is a difficult and demanding language.[15] Mistakes in the Rose Giveth lead to limbs bending in unnatural directions,[16] and novices may struggle to return to verbal speech as they instinctively attempt to dance what they want to say rather than voice it.[17] Even witnessing the Rose Giveth, either engraved or danced, leads to nightmares, aches across the body and even bleeding from the eyes.[18]
The Rose Taketh is, in truth, a variant of the Correspondence,[19] which explains another common complaint - singed eyebrows.[20] Other alphabets of Hell may share the same origins.[21]
Bees?[]
"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"
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Devils once lived in the High Wilderness,[22] where they were attendants to the stars. Then they rebelled against the Judgements and fled to Parabola, where they camped out in a giant beehive. Why yes, they're still bees (and, sometimes, other insects too). Just wrapped up in all sorts of disguises. This is why Prisoner's Honey is a thing - devils hold the key to Parabola, in a sense.
After leaving Parabola for Hell, the devils began to be ruled by princes, but these were all overthrown in one "season of revolutions." Most of the princes now live in exile in the crater of Mount Palmerston. The Brass Embassy will now pay a fortune for the whereabouts of just one of them.
↑Practise the Unspoken Languages, Fallen London “There are a hundred languages of the devils. Learning even one is an exhausting process. Luckily there is a comfortable chair in the Reading Room…”
↑A bold approach (The devil's parrot), Fallen London “Hmm. That did not go to plan. This parrot... is no longer alive. You don't feel well either. It seems that these infernal letters are not healthy to be around. You hastily put the brass tablet away and try not to think about it.”
↑Rob the Brass Embassy, Fallen London “As you are collected, a senior devil burns a painless letter from one of Hell's alphabets into your chest. The letter glows bright and ruddy, even through four layers of clothing. Stealth is going to be difficult for a while, although it will fade eventually.”
↑Request passage to the Sere Palace (with the Hell-Scarred Gondolier), Fallen London “The Gondolier plies the waters himself. He sings as he rows, in contravention of Jericho's law, which he no longer observes. The language is unfamiliar, its vowels pluck memory's strings. You remember roses and marigolds, entwined in a bed of violets.”
↑Correct a point of vocabulary, Fallen London And she says a word in one of the languages of Hell, which means A Procession of Violets.
When she says this word, all the remaining biscuits on the table crumble in their basket. She looks embarrassed; she hastily dumps out the biscuit crumbs into a napkin, and wads the napkin up in her lap, so that no one will see.”
↑Present the brass token, Fallen London “They are effusive with their gratitude, admiring your natural talent in following the subtle verses they danced through the Rose Giveth.”
↑Enter Hell once more, Fallen London “[...] and they were brought to the dancing place and there they spoke the best language of Hell until their shoes were shreds and their skin was as red as the petals that were thrown when all kings fell.”
↑Allow your devilish associates to take care of this, Fallen London “The heels of their boots strike against the pavement, throwing up sparks of – are those sigils? They are gone too fast to be certain. Your vision swims; your stomach roils. Only when the devils have worn away a circle in the lacre do they stop.”
↑Hear the message in the Baroness' own dance, Fallen London “Even among the devils, not every one would have the skill to perform as the deviless, the Creditor's Solicitor, now performs for you. She has six legs, now, and that makes the motions easier. There are phrases that can be expressed only in the tremble of the wings.”
↑Share the secrets of infernal dance, Fallen London “At first, there is the easy ache of exertion; later on, you can feel your limbs attempting to bend in ways they were not made for, stretching towards dance steps that outpace a mortal lifetime.”
↑Share the secrets of infernal dance, Fallen London “They thank you profusely through the smell of burnt hair - one of them by tapping a rhythm on the floor with his feet, which then promptly bend backwards with a sickening crack. Ah, well, it’s not for everyone.”
↑A work of burning dance, Fallen London “Rehearsals are a massacre. Most dancers can't even begin to approximate what you need. Eventually, you bend them into shape, though there are always complaints about singed eyebrows.”
↑Meet some churchmen of your acquaintance, Fallen London “The conversation ranges from the theological to the esoteric to the frankly occult. How many alphabets does Hell have? What is their relationship to the Correspondence? Which saints are barred from the Neath, and why? Fascinating stuff.”
