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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. |
"I do not play games! I am a Master of the Bazaar! It is not a matter for games!"[1]
"'Purveyor of spices and sweet smokes. The only reliable source for dreams. Do not accept imitations.'"[2]
Mr Spices is an irritable and peevish Master of the Bazaar.
The Inimitable[]
Mr Spices is in charge of trade in spices, sweet smokes, and prisoner's honey.[3] It is a fairly reclusive Master, and much of its scheming occurs behind the scenes.
Mr Wines and Mr Spices were once close allies, but they now fight fiercely over the domain of dreams following the death of one of their colleagues during the fall of the Third City.[4] Wines covets the honeyed roads into Parabola that Spices currently presides over,[5] and their warring often manifests as a destructive dance of fire and ice known as the Fire Sermon.[6]
Mr Spices resides in a den filled to the brim with spices: turmeric, basil, lavender, cinnamon; enough to overwhelm even the most tasteless of palates.[7]
Mr Spices was known as the Honey-Lord during the time of the Third City.[8] In the Sunless Skies timeline, it is called the Saint of the Silk Road by the Cult of the Sanctified at Avid Horizon.[9]
The Ironmonger's Knives[]
"The Bazaar has... appetites. And it is one of our many duties, along with that sodden villain Wines, to fulfil those needs. You understand that Jack-of-Smiles was something of an experiment. Using the unnatural vitality of the first customer's lover, we created Jack. For what inspires love more than the threat of death?"[10]
Like many of its colleagues, Mr Spices wishes to return to the High Wilderness by fulfilling its contract; furthermore, it and Mr Wines are the primary Masters responsible for the collection of love stories for the Bazaar.[11]
To achieve its goals quickly, Mr Spices gave a honey-sipping man who lived in Polythreme a rather distressing dream, telling him that his wife was unfaithful. The man burnt down the town he lived in out of rage, but he was severely honey-mazed, and he destroyed said town in reality as well. This killed the town's vitality, leaving only a single building standing: the Ironmonger's Workshop.[12]
Within this workshop, Spices enlisted the help of several iron workers to produce many, many Polythremic knives.[13] Unbeknownst to them, each knife carried with it a sinister vitality, crueler than any other found in the Neath. These knives soon possessed their wielders in London, and these unfortunate souls became known as the various iterations of Jack-of-Smiles.[14] Much to Spices' chagrin, the love stories produced by the tension and drama of Jack's sprees were rejected by the Bazaar for being overly synthetic, so Spices shrugged its winged shoulders and left the mess for someone else to clean up; other matters required its attention.[15]
Mr Spices' Private Stash[]
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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. |
"A quantity of a drug you haven't encountered before. You have only the rumours of where it comes from and what it might be."[16]
A mysterious substance
Mr Spices is in possession of a mysterious substance, a Private Stash that it does not sell.[17] The drug has a soporific or calming effect on its consumers, and is known to be more effective on winged animals, including chiropterans, or bat-like creatures.[18][19] However, the precise effect may vary based on the subject species; the Storm-Bird in particular seems to experience a stimulating effect instead of sedation, possibly due to its Parabolan origin.[20] The drug contains several exotic ingredients, at least one of which is only known to be available across the Unterzee; furthermore, its composition bears distinctive hallmarks of F. F. Gebrandt. Perhaps she or one of her disciples contributed research to its creation? Is she permitted to speak on the matter? How very mysterious.
Perhaps the most intriguing note on this substance is its effect on pregnant creatures; pregnant animals who consume this drug find their offspring stronger and healthier, and the runts of their litter are more likely to survive. Furthermore, their offspring also become quieter, calmer, and closer to their parent, leading to longer and more robust dreams.
All of this raises the question of why Mr Spices itself is a habitual consumer...[21]
References[]
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