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"A scream is just an imperfectly tuned song. And we all have a song in our hearts."[1]
"Mr Veils deals with clothing and fabric, and takes a close interest in the silk-weavers of Spite. But not in any of the more dubious activities in the district of Spite! The mere suggestion is slander!"[2]
Mr Veils is a rather belligerent Master of the Bazaar.
Not the Kindest[]
Duplicitous and impatient, Mr Veils is best known for its enjoyment of hunts and songs, and is in charge of trade in clothing and fabrics.[2] Zailors sometimes misattribute Mr Veils as being in charge of Mr Wines' ladies of the evening in their zee-zongs. This Master may (or may not) be responsible for a certain betrayal of which we will not speak.
Veils was known as the Khan of Silks during the time of the Fourth City.[3][4] In the Sunless Skies timeline, it is called the Masquerader Saint by the Cult of the Sanctified at Avid Horizon.[5]
A Bat of Many Faces[]
Like a respectable lady's petticoats and skirts, there are still more layers to this Master. The Vake is but one of its alter egos,[6][7] the many different masks it has worn across cities[8][9] - and sometime after the fall of London, this one took over. Veils' identity as a Master... dissolved into the background, really.[10] This had almost no effect on its reputation in London; after all, it has always been cryptic, and no one will notice that anything has changed beneath its heavy cloak.[11] Mr Wines did notice, though, and has been forced to reconsider its relationship with Veils.
At its core, despite all these masks, Veils/the Vake has only three selves:
- Veils the Curator is the most primal and savage form of Mr Veils, desiring only to fly, hunt, and kill, showing itself most easily in the Vake as we know it.
- Veils of the Third City was a feathered god-priest of blood, who saw a special beauty in violent sacrifices and gory rituals.[12] It still lives, and it follows this crimson path to the end, to reckoning.
- Veils the Intriguer is no less vicious than the other two, but stands as an outlier: it has no claws or wings, nor a hunger for blood... at least not directly. The Intriguer is a grand manipulator, a mastermind behind the chessboard, who makes its pawns do all sorts of nasty things. The reason for its relative pacifism is that the Vake's hunt for those who would seek to slay it has changed both its prey and the Vake itself, to become more like each other. Thus, in a way, the Intriguer is more human. And that has baffling implications indeed.[13]
In the Sunless Skies timeline, Veils has completely reverted to the Curator version of itself.[14]
References[]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Mr_Veils/status/9698098222
- ↑ The Workshop of the Khan of Silks, Fallen London
- ↑ Throw April's Wrecker in the mechanism, Fallen London
- ↑ Give an Offering, Sunless Skies "The Jolly Anchorite rolls out the bombazine over a slab of pale stone. [...] "Captain, stay your hand, as I shall stay mine," he implores, not looking, as he raises the knife and brings it down in the cloth, just above your stoker's head. [...] "And there we have the Saint of Blades and the Masquerader Saint!""
- ↑ Untie the strings, Fallen London
- ↑ Uncle Archibald's Legacy, Fallen London
- ↑ Huge and monstrous body explodes into many beings, Fallen London
- ↑ It does not look like a Master, or like a human, Fallen London
- ↑ Most die gasping. So does the one that looks like Mr Veils, Fallen London
- ↑ Stop and look through a distracting mirror 1, Fallen London
- ↑ I ALONE SAW ITS BEAUTY, Fallen London
- ↑ It is a monster. So are you, Fallen London
- ↑ Stay rooted in reality, Sunless Skies "The hunched shape continues to climb the chain, wings sweeping behind it. It meets your gaze with a furious glare. There is nothing behind those eyes except an intense and sincere desire to murder you and everyone you know."