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"A collection is only worth its lowliest piece, and as any good collector knows, one discovers better and rarer finds as the years pass! Indeed, one grows to live for the acquisition thereof!"[1]
"There are clockmakers' shops in the Neath, but they are the preserve of Mr Cups, and it is difficult to find them."[3]
A watch.
Mr Cups controls trade in all manner of vessels[4] and tableware,[2] including cups,[5][6] plates, tea sets,[7] bowls, candle sticks, and cake stands.[8] It also trades in sculptures,[2] relics,[9][10] and manages kilns.[9]
Cups is in charge of all the clockmakers in London, and it strictly enforces this fact.[11] It was one of the Masters who harassed the Watchmaker's Daughter in an attempt to exploit her skills with clockwork,[12][13] leading to her tragic end.[14]
Mr Cups is an elusive Master who rarely appears in public.[15] It can be contacted indirectly through its Relickers, who work on its behalf.[16]
Certifiable[]
"Mr Cups collects wares from across the Neath, almost indiscriminately. Almost."[1]
Certifiable Scraps?
Mr Cups likes to collect trash and discarded goods in search of valuables in the scraps.[17] It is a skilled connoisseur[18] who can restore even the oldest antiques.[19] The Relickers are its employees who gather and appraise junk on its behalf,[20][16] and also act as its spies[21][22] in London.[23]
In the past, Cups refused to grant ownership of trash to the foxes, instead giving it to the rats. The terms of this agreement are why there are no foxes in London,[24] and likely the origin of the Relickers' rat companions.[23]
The reason for Cups' focus on trash is simple; in its own words: "Everything lost and rejected is mine, but there's no better keeper. A bin for rubbish, you realise, is also a cup."[25]
Other Names[]
"Mr Mirrors will like this pile. Mr Cups. I meant Mr Cups."[26]
A mirror.
Mr Cups also trades as Mr Mirrors as of the modern Fifth City,[27] and is in charge of the "frangible and the fine."[28] This fact is not known to the general public[29] and they are viewed as two separate Masters.[30] Cups took on this identity after another Master, the original Mr Mirrors, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.[31][32]
In the Fourth City, Mr Cups was known under multiple different names, including the Khan of Shards and the Khan of Clutter.[33] In the Sunless Skies timeline, Mr Cups is called the Saint of Chalices by the Cult of the Sanctified at Avid Horizon.[34]
Personality[]
"Dear Friend: this has preserved more than you know. The plans of the great and of the good can proceed unimpeded. Anarchy is quelled. Beauty upheld. You have done, quite inescapably, the right thing."[35]
"I would prefer to simply leave. Let the Bazaar be torn apart. What has she done for us lately?"[36]
Several cups.
Mr Cups presents itself as polite and affable,[37] and it can be rather verbose.[38][39] It typically communicates with others indirectly[40] or through letters.[38][41] It enjoys collecting for its own sake; rather than hoarding, it discards lesser valuables to make room for new ones, keeping the process going.[42] Cups is fascinated with empty vessels because, according to it, they can be filled with anything it wants.[43]
While Cups may have a pleasant demeanor, it nonetheless has many flaws. It is self-centered,[46] self-pitying,[47] ruthless,[48] and remorseless.[49] When reminded of the Second City, it is rumored to "fly into a rage,"[50] and after the Grand Clearing-Out, it did not aid in the Masters in their plans to prevent the Stone Pigs from destroying London.[51][52]
Businesses[]
"Mr Cups' stall is in one of the more remote courtyards, near the one where it keeps a kiln."[53]
Mr Cups has a shop in the Labyrinth of Tigers called Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics. It sells all kinds of crockery with designs based on the Labyrinth's attractions, such as a dish decorated with beetles or a bowl shaped like a fish. The shop is managed by a Clay Man and also stocks relics from the Second City.[54]
Dwellings[]
"The ceilings of Mr Cups' parlour soar high above you. The walls are lined with vast display cabinets, filled with crockery, pottery, and sculpture. Some are worth trading a spouse for. Others are tools of social suicide."[1]
The Khan's Tea Set
Mr Cups has a parlor in the Echo Bazaar that contains tall display cabinets filled with goods. The items stored here may be ancient, valuable, or rather eccentric.[55]
Cups has a personal sanctum deep within the Bazaar, filled with vessels and cups of any shape, size, or material. These include valuable goblets, cups the size of thimbles,[56] and a chalice made from sculpted bone that is large enough to fit a person.[57] The chamber also includes a tub, a desk for paperwork, and coat hooks.[58]
No Truce With The Furies[]
"Some things cannot be borne. You know this! The Bazaar's dream is a folly! Its message will be spurned, and when it is, its heart must not break, but ignite! For vengeance is hot as love! Let it suffer, and let the sun suffer – as I have suffered over the span of five cities!"[59]
Mr Cups, like the other Masters,[60] is a Curator,[61] a bat-like being who roamed the High Wilderness to accumulate treasures for its hoard.[62] Before its time in the Neath, Cups committed violations against the rules of its kind, which forced it into service under the Echo Bazaar to avoid "misfortune, failure, and fruitlessness."[60]
The blade of retribution.
During its time serving the Bazaar,[63] Mr Cups concocted a grand scheme in which it hired an assassin named Scathewick[64] to murder seven specific people on the Surface.[65] Their vengeful loved ones were lured to the Neath,[66] where they would get their revenge[67] or die trying.[68] Their tragic tales would then be written on the Bazaar by the Lady in Lilac, who was coerced into doing so by Cups.[69][70]
Ironically, Cups' motive for this scheme also involves revenge.[63] It has grown exhausted of serving the Bazaar and believes its mission to prevent the Sun's demise will fail.[71] By tampering with the Bazaar's message,[70] Cups hopes that when the message is rejected, the Bazaar's heart will "ignite" rather than break, leaving both it and the Sun to suffer as Cups did.[72] Six of these stories have already concluded, but one remains unfinished.[73]
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"Mr Cups hunches before one of its many cabinets, holding a plate [...] Mr Cups [...] shows you an ancient tea set."
↑Listen to her story, Fallen London"Then unwanted gifts began to arrive. Mr Wines sent invites to torrid revels. Mr Cups sent threatening crockery. The Watchmaker's Daughter confided [...] she believed these two Masters [...] meant to own her."
↑Go back to the Albino Rat, Fallen London"You know I was the Watchmaker's Daughter's [...] companion? [...] Did I tell you about Mr Cups and Mr Wines? [...] they tried to own her? That they drove her to drown herself?"
↑A moment longer, Fallen London"A bell sounds somewhere in the outer chamber. [...] Cups turns and stalks out [...] Cups returns, pushing a Relicker's cart laden with new crockery [...]"
↑Leave the Auctioneer, Fallen London"The Sanguine Auctioneer nods solemnly. "Should I be asked, I will give you up immediately. [...] There are several Relickers in the street now. They watch you leave."
↑Dreamer's End, Fallen London"I am only a splinter of myself, now. A dream, dreaming. A reflection, cast by nothing."
↑A Dream of a Thousand Tails, Fallen London"They sought amidst the refuse-heaps and ejecta items that they knew would displease the picky Khan of Shards [...] and then, when the Khan of Clutter's patience was thin as gossamer"
↑The crowning of the saints, Sunless Skies""To learn the names of our final three, you must indulge!" You gulp your way through the swirling scarlet depths of the chalice. [...] "There now. All shall be well. You have met the last of them: the Saint of the Silk Road and the Saint of Chalices, and the Crowned and Crimson: the King of Saints!""
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"Mr Sacks! Oh, my – I apologize. One moment!" [...] "There you are." [...] "The Khan's own; for fortune-telling. Take it!"
↑ 38.038.1Lost in Reflections, Fallen London"Dear Friend: this has preserved more than you know. The plans of the great and of the good can proceed unimpeded. Anarchy is quelled. Beauty upheld. You have done, quite inescapably, the right thing. [...] MIRRORS [...]"
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"A collection is only worth its lowliest piece, [...] one discovers better and rarer finds as the years pass! [...] one grows to live for the acquisition [...] So a winter cleaning!""
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"[...] they display the empty picture-frame [...] Receptacles are better this way, [...] Whether flesh or frame, we can fill them with whatever we want."
↑Conclude the rite, Fallen London"Poor Cups, a paragon of rectitude, only [...] working for a greater good that so few possess the wherewithal – or self-effacement! – to see."
↑Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics, Fallen London"Customers can choose from an eccentric range of souvenir crockery [...] all beautifully handpainted with scenes from the Labyrinth [...] a butter dish covered in gleaming [...] beetles. And that sugar bowl, [...] in the shape of a cave-fish [...] A Clay Man waits patiently to assist with your purchases [...] You [...] filch something [...] a handful of odd [...] carvings."
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"You set off for the Bazaar [...] The ceilings of Mr Cups' parlour soar high [...] walls are lined with vast display cabinets, filled with crockery, pottery, and sculpture. Some are worth trading a spouse for. Others are tools of social suicide. [...] Mr Cups [...] shows you an ancient tea set."
↑Pass through the opening, Fallen London"Open chests glimmer with goblets [...] Cups clutter every flat surface. [...] Some are adorned with gems of captive starlight and silver-flame, while others are [...] vessels of plain wood [...] Others are the size of thimbles [...] others are bowls, or basins, or troughs.
↑Ambition Nemesis – The Last Cup, Fallen London"This is Mr Cups' personal chamber. [...] Here is the noxious pool in which it bathes [...] Here is its desk: [...] Papers are laid out on it [...] Hanging from nodules on the wall are its robes [...]"
↑Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), Fallen London"You were one of seven. You were to take your vengeance on Scathewick and be satisfied. [...] I established a set of criteria, and by agents conducted matters accordingly."
↑Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), Fallen London"The Bazaar's dream is a folly! Its message will be spurned, [...] its heart must not break, but ignite! [...] Let it suffer, and let the sun suffer – as I have suffered over the span of five cities!"
