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"And Mr Mirrors?"
""Ah, well, you just missed Mirrors," says Wines."
""Indeed, Mirrors was here just before you arrived," adds Apples."[1]
Mr Mirrors is a curiously missing Master of the Bazaar. Its identity and duties have been assumed by another Master in its absence.
In modern London, Mr Mirrors trades in "the frangible and the fine,"[2] including all kinds of glasswork, such as mirrors and windows.[3] It also has an interest in dreams;[4] according to its version of Mr Sacks,[5] it wishes to reflect dreams, not rule them,[6] unlike Mr Wines and Mr Spices.[7][8]
Mr Mirrors never appears in public.[9] It can still be contacted and typically responds via letter.[10][11]
Mr Mirrors' Most Heartfelt Reflection
Presently, Mr Mirrors resides in a room filled with mirrors that cover the walls and hang from the ceiling.[12] These mirrors are sometimes covered by cloths,[13] but any mirror left uncovered lacks a single shard.[14]
The "Mr Mirrors" known to current Londoners is an alias taken on by Mr Cups.[15] Cups is also the true "Original"[16] of Mr Mirrors' version of Mr Sacks that appears in modern London.[6][5] This information is not known to the public[17] who typically assume[18] them to be separate.[1] Cups took on this role after its colleague, the original Mr Mirrors, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.[15]
Other Possessions and Businesses[]
"Hidden deep in the warehouse, beneath a tarpaulin that sticks to your hands like taffy, you discover a pile of boxes marked "PROPERTY OF MR MIRRORS" that don't appear on any manifest. Best not to open them. They growl."[19]
First City Coins
Mr Mirrors has other odd hoards to its name, such as a large quantity of First City coins[10] and crates with "growling" contents.[20] It occasionally opens the Marquee of Mystification, a shop that sold election-related goods during the voting season for the Lord Mayor of London,[21] before elections were discontinued.[22] The shop was opened again during the Grand Clearing-Out and sold items dug up during the excavation.[23] During this time, it was managed by the Shopkeeper in Viric, as the Masters themselves were busy.[24]
Through the Looking Glass[]
"For years she stalked one Master, Mr Mirrors. It's gone. It's been gone for years. She lured it into dreams. And dreams – nightmares – are her weapons."[25]
"The Masters didn't know who I really was, of course. I spent years constructing a false identity in order to join the Marvellous. Virginia saw through it, but did not expose me. Not that I'd have let her. Afterwards, I used my reward to cast one of the Masters in a prison of its own failures. I understand that most of them have had second thoughts about the game since then."[26]
The original Mr Mirrors did not depart by choice; rather, it was imprisoned in Parabola[27] some time after the Fall of London.[28][29] This deed was done by October of the Calendar Council,[30][31] a revolutionary with an affinity for nightmares.[32] October disguised herself and won the Marvellous, the Masters' game that awards winners their heart's desire.[33] She used her wish to gain great power in Parabola[34][35] and chain Mirrors in a "prison of its own failures",[36] destroying its presence in reality.[37]
Before its disappearance, Mr Mirrors resided in a chamber of the Bazaar filled with rare and valuable mirrors,[38][39] each with a chip removed.[40]Mr Cups[15] later inherited the sanctum,[41] but left it disused.[42]
In the Sunless Skies timeline, the original Mr Mirrors is called the Saint in the Glass by the Cult of the Sanctified at Avid Horizon.[43]
The Dreamer's Dreams[]
"I am only a splinter of myself, now. A dream, dreaming. A reflection, cast by nothing."[44]
"Take this secret, and go: every dream imprisons its dreamer."[45]
Every dream imprisons its dreamer.
Ultimately, Mr Mirrors became a "reflection, cast by nothing" imprisoned in Parabola.[46] It is chained to a post in the Beggar's Wake, a crossroads[47] that guards the Grave of Mirrors.[48] The Claiming Wind, a tempestuous entity that was once its pet, was set free[49] and now vengefully torments its former master.[50][51]
The Beggar's Wake is actually a manifestation of one of Mirrors' dreams.[52] Around the Wake, its other dreams have also manifested.[53] These include:
The Court of Honey and Spice,[54] representing its capture by other Curators.[55]
The Convocation of Runts,[56] representing it joining the Masters.[57]
The Pedlar King,[58] representing its desire to become a king.[59]
Within its dreams, the aspects of Mirrors have one trait in common: their eyes are mirrors.[60][61][62][63] The aspect in the Beggar's Wake has a unique trait: like the mirrors in its London quarters, its eye-mirrors each have a single chip missing.[60]
Personality[]
"To be reduced to this. Undone by a perfidious revolutionary, given to my own pet as a toy, and now at the mercy of some anonymous Parabolan vagrant. Miserable."[64]
"It is a kingly gift you ask of us. But then we are a king. And what better demonstration of our quality than charity?"[65]
In its current state, Mr Mirrors is miserable and self-pitying, bemoaning its incapacitation and wounded pride.[66] Furthermore, Mirrors does not consider the Bazaar a worthwhile recipient of the services it once provided.[67]
Before its imprisonment, Mirrors apparently aspired to become a high and mighty king,[68][69][65] and considered charity a show of "quality."[65]
Backstory[]
"A warren of tunnels worm through the stone. Sometimes they break into yawning, airy chasms, open to the heavens where – far above – the winged creatures circle and scream."[70]
"You follow a sound through the shadows: a thin whispering, its words unintelligible. There is something familiar about it. In a low and forgotten chamber, you find the source. A hunched batlike creature cradles a shard of mirror. Its eyes are closed, its snout whispering soft nonsense to the glass."[70]
Mr Mirrors, along with the other Masters,[71] is a Curator,[72] a bat-like being who scoured the High Wilderness for treasures to hoard.[73] Before it arrived in the Neath, Mirrors was hunted down[74] for secretly performing a ritual involving whispering to a mirror-shard.[75] Mirrors was a sinner according to the laws of Curator-kind, so it risked facing "misfortune, failure, and fruitlessness."[76]
Joining the Bazaar[]
"Monstrous, winged, batlike. There are eleven; ten together, one alone. One stands before the rest. Its monstrous face is scarred, its jaw hanging by a thread of gristle. Its wings are torn. It limps. An accumulation of mistreatment, over years and years. It clutches a heavy box, which bucks and rattles. From inside it, you can hear a howling, like the wind on the moor.[77]
To avoid further torment,[76] the now heavily-scarred[78] Mr Mirrors chose to join the other Masters at Avid Horizon,[79] bringing it under the employ of the Echo Bazaar.[80] Mirrors brought with it a box containing its pet: the dangerous Claiming Wind.[81][82]
"But what was Mr Mirrors doing? I haven't the foggiest clue, but I can pretend that I know. Isn't that just as good? After all, what can the Master of Mirrors desire, except what others desire? Balance, perhaps, between reality and reflection. If the balance is off, from which side does one add or subtract the weight? What is the weight? It's probably more than honey."[86]
"Nobody can imitate me. But who wouldn't make an attempt? And when the experiments failed, I had the most lovely suppers. They sank into my tank. They weren't balanced. Mr Mirrors taught me all about balance. Two sides that are equal, but not. One thing that is another, but remains the same."[86]
The Yolk-in-Yearning
During the era of the Second City, the Pharaoh's daughters[87] began exploring Parabola. For their glass-rituals, they needed a creature with an equal presence in both reality and dream,[88] so they created one called the Yolk-in-Yearning:[87] a crocodile possessed by a Fingerking.[89][90] Typically, host animals possessed by Fingerkings are considered their "retainers", but the Yolk was unique: the crocodile and Fingerking formed a singular self.[91]
The Yolk-in-Yearning later became a bodyguard for Mr Mirrors, even battling October when she strove to destroy the Master.[92] Mirrors wanted to achieve balance between reality and dream,[93][94] and the Yolk was "balanced" by its metrics.[95] To replicate the Yolk,[96] Mirrors fed Prisoner's Honey to animals[97][98] from the Bazaar,[99] allowing Fingerkings to possess them.[100] Mirrors would then check their weights before and after this process, hoping their weights wouldn't change.[101] Unfortunately, all of the possessed animals were deemed unbalanced, and many were fed to the Yolk-in-Yearning as failures.[102]
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"Mirrors, we thought, for that is our name, this is a most excellent example of glasswork! [...] "Not like Mr Wines, no, who only appreciates the contents of a cup never its vessel. But we love all manner of glassware, from Murano delicates to the grand stained windows that we hear reside in the cathedrals of France— " It continues [...] At last Wines tires of its act [...]"
↑Lost in Reflections, Fallen London"A word [...] will soon reach Mr Mirrors. [...] The Master doesn't [...] meet you in person, but it sends [...] Constables to retrieve the mirror, and a grateful note. 'Dear Friend: this has preserved more than you know. [...]"
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"Mr Mirrors [...] The room is covered with a tessellation of mirrors. [...] The walls filled, more are suspended from the ceiling on thick chains."
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"This room is shrouded in [...] cloth. A dozen frames stand hidden behind [...] tapestries and [...] vestments."
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"The room is covered with a tessellation of mirrors. [...] Each mirror [...] all have one thing in common - [...] a shard of glass has been removed. [...] Take this! [...] I could not bring myself to remove a single piece." It thrusts a bundle [...] towards you. The cloth unfolds to reveal a dull glass. [...] polished enough to suffice as a mirror [...]"
↑Dreamer's End, Fallen London"[...] the Beggar's Wake is the dream of the [...] creature chained at its heart, that the creature is the last remnant of Mr Mirrors [...]"
↑Ask about her heart's desire, Fallen London"I used my reward to cast one of the Masters in a prison of its own failures. [...] October sighs wistfully, "I understand that most of them have had second thoughts about the game since then.""
↑Search for mirrors, Fallen London"The framed mirrors [...] Black mirrors and red, gold and polished amethyst. A pale mirror made of diamond. [...] an entry on a mirror that was a gift from the Priest-Kings of the Third City [...]"
↑Recite the litany of the dead, Sunless Skies"It's true. They were lost before the rest. The Saint of Tapers and the Saint in the Glass. We never speak their names. One we have hope of seeking, the other is gone. That saint will not be with us again."
↑Dreamer's End, Fallen London"[...] the creature is the last remnant of Mr Mirrors [...] The chained thing spits [...] I am [...] A reflection, cast by nothing."
↑Speak its name, and unchain it, Fallen London"[...] you speak the words – "Mr. Mirrors," [...] The Claiming Wind is not pleased [...] you have freed its toy. [...] It is [...] full of vengeance."
↑Find the Grave of Mirrors, Fallen London"[...] given to my own pet as a toy—" [...] it shoots a wounded look [...] to where the Claiming Wind harries the heathers [...]"
↑Dreamer's End, Fallen London"[...] the Beggar's Wake is the dream of the pitiful creature chained at its heart [...]"
↑Offer a gift to the serpents, Fallen London"The shrill cries of the hunters above echo through the tunnels, and the bat-thing shivers. "No. Don't want to dream of this again," [...]"
↑Approach the Convocation, Fallen London"Monstrous, winged, batlike. There are eleven; ten together, one alone. [...] One stands before the rest. [...] "Take me with you," the creature whispers."
↑The Pedlar King, Fallen London""We would have been an excellent sovereign, were it permitted." [...] "But these things are only allowed to us in dreams. And I am only a king in the glass.""
↑Sneak past the serpents, Fallen London"The creature opens its eyes, and its eyes are mirrors, too.[...] "No. Don't want to dream of this again," it whispers. "Take this secret, and go: every dream imprisons its dreamer. Find the prisoner.""
↑Find the Grave of Mirrors, Fallen London""To be reduced to this," [...] "Undone by a perfidious revolutionary, given to my own pet as a toy—" [...] "—and now at the mercy of some anonymous Parabolan vagrant." [...] "Miserable.""
↑Call on the Shadow of Mr Mirrors, Fallen London""I remember this," [...] "A service I once did for the Bazaar. [...] Not the first such service and not the last. One of far too many." The thing's voice is gloating."
↑Enter the castle in the sky, Fallen London"[...] the winged creatures circle and scream. [...] You follow a sound through the shadows: a thin whispering, [...] you find the source. A hunched batlike creature cradles a shard of mirror. [...] its snout whispering soft nonsense to the glass."
↑Approach the Convocation, Fallen London"One stands before the rest. Its monstrous face is scarred, [...] Its wings are torn. [...] An accumulation of mistreatment, [...]"
↑A Conversation on the Road, Fallen London"[...] I have grown [...] fond even of our new associate here. Lowly origins notwithstanding." [...] he gestures at you, and at the wound-in-the-world far, far behind you."
↑Approach the Convocation, Fallen London"One stands before the rest. Its monstrous face is scarred, its jaw hanging by a thread of gristle. Its wings are torn. It limps. [...] "Take me with you," the creature whispers. Another answers, [...] "We have found a way: through a wound in the sky. [...] Behind them, something massive looms [...] Spires hang in the gloom. Sigils flare on its skin."
↑Approach the Convocation, Fallen London""Take me with you," the creature whispers. [...] "We have found a way: [...] You could even bring your pet," it inclines its head at the box."
↑ 83.083.1The Sleeper, Fallen London""The Debtor cannot be woken," [...] Parabola takes the shape of her story. A caravan on the road. A man who carried the clay seal that allowed him to pledge the faith of the Bazaar itself for an impossible ransom. [...] The city almost sold, and the loophole [...] that sent the Debtor to sleep instead. "His promise was sworn by the Cedar that stood in the square of the first of all cities. It hears him still.""
↑A Conclave of the Masters, Fallen London"The Merchant will not wake," [...] "Mr Mirrors did solid work there." [...] "Mr Mirrors may have sealed him into Parabola," [...]"
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"In order to open the glass, the Egyptians developed certain rites. During the Second City, those rites came to fruition. They needed [...] Something with one foot on this side, and one foot decidedly not."
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"[...] mirrored, the crocodile gazes back at you. Its reflection [...] and the reflected serpent coiled around its head, [...] There is no serpent, [...] outside the reflection."
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"How are the serpent and the crocodile truly related? [...] "You might as well ask how you're related to yourself. [...] Behind the glass, it's not unknown for kings to claim retainers on this side. [...] But our crocodile isn't a retainer."
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London""Mr Mirrors, [...] has been delinquent," [...] "When was it? Since October?" [...] "What a bite! What a battle!" [...] "I have been a guard-dog on a chain,""
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London""You're here to check the balance, right?" [...] I know the Masters are merciful, but please," [...] "don't tell Mr Mirrors I wasn't ready.""
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"[...] this is simply normal prisoner's honey. [...] the serving dishes in the cabinets. They're labelled with names like Rex and Sugarplum."
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"[...] the text is communicating exactly its opposite. [...] Multiple studies are [...] charting the comparative weight between animals. And multiple pages are angrily splattered with ink, typically beside entries where a weasel, [...] is reported to weigh as much as itself. These pages are all marked: 'success'."
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London""Nobody can imitate me," [...] "But who wouldn't make an attempt? And when the experiments failed, I had the most lovely suppers. They sank into my tank. They weren't balanced."
