"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
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"The hooded proprietor keeps to itself at the back of the House. A particularly large hookah pipe delivers smoke into the darkness of its cloak. A gramophone beside it quietly plays a Bach concerto."
"A serving boy returns, bowing apologetically. Mr Pipes is relaxing and has no interest in either chitter or chatter. If you have business, you may present it to one of the staff. Otherwise, his master encourages you to avail yourself of the facilities."[2]
Mr Pipes is a Curator who once served the House of Rods and Chains. After the Halved slew the House for disobedience, Pipes left its duties behind to manage a hookah establishment in Achlys called the House of Silks.[3][4] These days, it spends nearly all its time smoking and dozing, letting its employees deal with customers and other parties.[5][6] It secretly uses Gaoler's Honey as an ingredient in its hookah, and red honey smugglers are among the few individuals whom Pipes will deal with in person.[7]
Mr Pipes was once an acquaintance of the Masters of the Bazaar, but chose not to follow them to the Neath.[8][9] Its current lifestyle may seem leisurely and perhaps enviable, but it is implied by Mr Barleycorn that it will face a "dark emptiness" upon its death as a result of its hedonism.[10]
↑Talk with Mr Barleycorn, Sunless Skies"There were seven of us, once. Outcasts, bound to this Messenger's service. But the Messenger defied the Halved's command, and the Halved slew it. We were free. My colleagues, fled."
↑The House of Silks, Sunless Skies"[...] the shadows of wealthy traders lie in the embrace of [...] cushions, gently sipping from bronze hookah pipes until their eyes and troubles are somewhere else entirely."
↑Request an audience with Mr Pipes, Sunless Skies"The hooded proprietor keeps to itself at the back of the House. A particularly large hookah pipe delivers smoke into the darkness of its cloak. [...] A serving boy returns, bowing apologetically. Mr Pipes is relaxing and has no interest in either chitter or chatter. If you have business, you may present it to one of the staff."
↑Present the Seal of Mr Barleycorn to Mr Pipes, Sunless Skies"A serving girl takes the wax seal to her snoozing master and whispers something into its cloak. A moment passes and she returns [...] My master trusts that this is what you require."
↑A New Flavour: Red Honey for Achlys, Sunless Skies"Mr Pipes, proprietor of the House of Silks, makes a rare personal appearance outside its establishment to acquire your entire delivery of red honey. "The precise nature of your product is not well known here," it tells you. "Let us not concern these fine people with the truth.""
↑Cloven Seal, Fallen London"One shard reads: 'Not to be forgot.' Another: 'What awaits. Why we must stay.' There are other words, hard to piece together: Pennies and Pipes; Barleycorn and Menagerie."
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"It is unquestionably a token from Mr Menagerie: a sometime acquaintance of ours who chose, disjudiciously, not to accompany us to the Neath."
↑Give Mr Barleycorn the Seal of Mr Pipes, Sunless Skies""Perhaps it is true that we live too long." Mr Barleycorn daubs the seal in ink and presses it to paper. "I suppose there are less pleasurable paths to follow, though the emptiness awaiting at the end of that one's will be dark indeed. [...]"
