The Fifth City: Fallen London's Lore Wikia
The Fifth City: Fallen London's Lore Wikia
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Crypticsecret

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."

Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, or Sunless Skies. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.


"It is my business to keep secrets, your Grace. Mine and the Ministry’s. We desire only to preserve London from maleficitude."[1]

"'Literomantic purveyor of the written and the read!'"[2]

Known for its bountifacious proclivity towards verboserlous sayitudes, the excitable and personable Mr Pages is in charge of trade in anything and everything written, read, or both.[3]

A ...Man? Creature?... of Letters[]

As one of the more amiable Masters, Mr Pages can often be encountered via its campaigns to collect rare literature, either for destruction or for its own private library.[4]

Mr Pages employs the Ministry of Public Decency to collect cool books protect the public from "pestilent and obstacudent" literature.[5][4] The literature the Ministry is known to suppress can range from somewhat fungal trends in romantic poetry to various threats to public civility, such as rogue Correspondence on abandoned streets.[6][7]

Mr Pages also manages the coiling indices of London's Notability system, using a collection of adding machines to manage the cutthroat bureaucracy.[8] It may occasionally send Unsigned Letters to those deemed Persons of Some Importance, and it may even go as far as to send gifts to the truly extraordinary[9] or offer them inspirations of sorts for advancement in their respective Professions.[10]

Another of Pages' endeavors is the 'Dictionopedia', a mere draft of which apparently took decades to complete.[11]

Mr Pages was known as Mr Granite during the time of the First City,[12] and is called the Saint of Inks by the Cult of the Sanctified in the Sunless Skies timeline.[13] Mr Pages has also published several works under the pseudonym 'Mrs Frontispiece', and its works are notorious for provoking outpourings of tears.[14] These, however, are not too popular anymore in the Sunless Skies timeline.[15]

In its art from Mask of the Rose, Mr Pages is shown wearing an ornate brooch. This brooch dates back to the Fourth City, and is in the style of 13th-14th century Golden Horde jewelry, although it may have been made later.[16] It has not been confirmed whether Pages still wears this brooch in London.[17]

Revision and Editing[]

"'The book celebrates us. He gave it to me right before—' His voice catches. 'Before that monster...' Mr Pages? The Dandy nods. 'My love spoke a truth. And he stood by it.'"[18]

"These are the deeds and annals of your kind – records of accords and journeys, of victories and defeats in bloody primacy contests, the inventories of great troves accumulated by legendary Curators. They are the myths of your ilk, hoarded from firelit councils in the recesses of the sky.

"There are parts that may be factually correct, but nevertheless weaken the whole. Your claws twitch. There is a hard flint in your grasp – you itch to amend. To correct and improve. To edit. You set to work."[19]

Book

Something to burn? Or something else entirely?

As one of the busiest Masters, Mr Pages employs a group of individuals known as Reliables to perform certain tasks,[20] such as retrieving stolen books from its library or serving as pawns in its heated rivalry with Mr Iron.[21]

Mr Pages has a ruthless side, especially when it has a chance to procure works of truly extraordinary value. One of these works belonged to the Epigrammatic Irishman (possibly Oscar Wilde). The Irishman's book celebrated his love and intimacies with the Wilting Dandy, but according to the Dandy, the Irishman also spoke a truth and stood by it. This resulted in the Irishman being permanently killed, and the book sitting safe in Mr Pages' library.[22] The Dandy would later go on to steal the book back as a sort of remembrance for the Irishman, but Pages sent its most reliable Reliable to retrieve the book at any cost, even if meant another death.[23]

Mr Pages' sordid history as a revisionist goes back much further than one would expect. During its time in the High Wilderness, Mr Pages encountered a hallowed, sacred cave. Written in words that burned were the histories and achievements, the defeats and victories, and the details of the hoards of the Curators, the species the Masters belong to. But Mr Pages was incensed by this record; in its opinion, some parts left out the full context of events, were based on assumptions, or were... unflattering to the piece as a whole. So Mr Pages got to work revising and editing. Unfortunately for it, tampering with this record was a crime amongst its kind known as truth-strangling, and Pages was promptly captured for its transgression and forced into its current state of affairs.[24][25]

The Novel's End[]

Appallingsecret

"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"

Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, or Sunless Skies. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.


Mr Pages hopes to return to the skies again to continue its work,[26] and to accomplish this, it aims to win the Marvellous - its companion Mr Apples' own card game - for its Heart's Desire.[27] During its time as a player, it has developed a searing hatred for apes;[28] a past winner, Gregory Beechwood, wished to reject humanity and return to monkey (so to speak), but lost none of his skills in the transformation and is now playing the game again![29] Pages is quite annoyed by this development, and will do almost anything to defeat Beechwood and leave the Neath once and for all.[30]

Home At Last[]

"It would be grateful for a prompt settlement of its expenses and expected emolumations on account for the forthcoming month."[31]

By 1905 in the Sunless Skies timeline, Mr Pages has managed to return to the High Wilderness; it lives in Sky Barnet,[32] and is known as the Cowled Loquacitor.[33] It serves as a litigator for the dead and anyone else looking to navigate the Blue Kingdom.[33] It still has a library,[34] and is just as verbiacious as ever.[35][36]

The Chiropterous Hoarder (alias Mr Apples) indicates that Pages was stationed in Sky Barnet by the Empress, who noticed it as it was leaving London.[37]

References[]

  1. https://twitter.com/Mr_Pages/status/18017306932150272
  2. Mr Pages, Fallen London
  3. Mr Pages, Fallen London
  4. 4.0 4.1 A libraryette for Mr Pages, Fallen London
  5. The shadows of the ring, Fallen London
  6. The Blemmigan Affair (Story), Fallen London "We have censored. We have banned! [...] How does carnality flourish within this mycoloidal doggerel?"
  7. The answer to Nightmares?, Fallen London
  8. Insist on Favourable Circumstances, Fallen London
  9. A gift?, Fallen London
  10. An Unsigned Message, Fallen London
  11. Enlist the protection of another Master, Fallen London "The rough draft of its 'Dictionopedia', on which it has laboured for decades, has gone missing."
  12. Ask about her journeys, Fallen London
  13. Accept and be anointed in the Cult of the Sanctified, Sunless Skies "Parchment is stuffed into your mouth. The Jolly Anchorite beams. "Not too hard was it? You have learnt the first name and met our Saint of Inks.""
  14. Send a Tear-Drowned Collection of Incomprehensible Love-Poems (30 FATE), Fallen London
  15. A Selection of Fine Books, Sunless Skies
  16. Seamus (FBG), Failbetter Games Discord Server "I can tell you it's from the Fourth City; the setting of turquoise stones in gold filigree like this is typical of Golden Horde jewellery of the 13th–14th century (though this tells us nothing in particular about the piece in question — it might have been a reproduction, or the work of a particularly conservative artisan, for example)."
  17. Seamus (FBG), Failbetter Games Discord Server "(Q: Does Pages still wear it in modern FL times?) That's a good question, and another one I don't have an answer for, I'm afraid!"
  18. Make both parties happy (5 FATE), Fallen London
  19. Train with Mr Pages, Fallen London
  20. Mr Pages is a Master of the Bazaar, dealing with the printed word, Fallen London
  21. Confront them!, Fallen London
  22. Make both parties happy (5 FATE), Fallen London "The book celebrates us. He gave it to me right before—" His voice catches. "Before that monster..." Mr Pages? The Dandy nods. "My love spoke a truth. And he stood by it."
  23. Break down the door, Fallen London
  24. Train with Mr Pages, Fallen London "The writing on the cave wall flares [...] records of accords and journeys, of victories and defeats [...], the inventories of great troves accumulated by legendary Curators. [...] But the text is old. Wrong in cases. [...] There are baseless assumptions and gross omissions. There are parts that may be factually correct, but nevertheless weaken the whole. [...] You set to work. [...] they find you – their claws are upon you, their wings raised in threat..."
  25. A Dream of Truth-Strangling, Fallen London
  26. Train with Mr Pages, Fallen London "The amendments took a long time, even before I was interrupted. But one day I shall resume my work. Until then, I have the Marvellous."
  27. Inquire after Mr Pages' own heart's desire, Fallen London
  28. Attend a Sermon, Fallen London
  29. Inquire after a delicate subject, Fallen London
  30. Accompany the Monkey, Fallen London ""I offer a Chance of my own!" it screeches, in panic. The Monkey shakes its head, but Pages persists. "Name a price! A flask of Hesperidean Cider! A vial of my own blood! The very robe from my back!""
  31. The Cowled Loquacitor presents its invoice, Sunless Skies
  32. [Marketplace of Litigators Sunless Skies, '] {{{4}}} "Litigators and Resident Devils have set up their stalls among the crowd heading into the Blue Kingdom. “Don’t Go Alone – Hire a Psychopomp!” advises a banner in indigo lettering."
  33. 33.0 33.1 Hire a Cowled Loquacitor in exchange for a Volume of Notes, Sunless Skies "It offers you its assistance with notarisiacal concerns. "
  34. Pay in antique reading matter, Sunless Skies "It finds a place for the scrap among the rest of its library. Will it remember where? "
  35. The Cowled Loquacitor presents its invoice, Sunless Skies "It would be grateful for a prompt settlement of its expenses and expected emolumations on account for the forthcoming month."
  36. Litigator: the Cowled Loquacitor, Sunless Skies "The Loquacitor would very much like to see the treaties, edicts and testimonies which have established the current jurisdiction of the Forge. The Loquacitor is certain that the Scribe must have them, or at least be able to find them, he is after all, in a library. Perhaps he would like the Loquacitor to take a look? The Scribe grudgingly takes your bribe."
  37. Ask about the other Masters?, Sunless Skies ""So in secret, a few of us followed you to the sky. Most of us did so quietly. One of us made too much noise, and Her Renewed Majesty overheard. It has a job now." The Hoarder sniffs. "Tragic.""
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