The Echo Bazaar: Difference between revisions

From The Fifth City Wiki
KestrelGirl (talk | contribs)
mNo edit summary
Tag: visualeditor
No edit summary
Line 8: Line 8:
''"Welcome to the Bazaar. We are looking forward to meeting your money. Echoes are the currency of the Bazaar. One hundred pennies are one Echo. Get Echoes by selling the treasures you acquire."''<ref name = "player">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Echo_Bazaar!|The Echo Bazaar!|Fallen London|}}</ref>
''"Welcome to the Bazaar. We are looking forward to meeting your money. Echoes are the currency of the Bazaar. One hundred pennies are one Echo. Get Echoes by selling the treasures you acquire."''<ref name = "player">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Echo_Bazaar!|The Echo Bazaar!|Fallen London|}}</ref>
[[File:Banknotes.png|thumb|The Bazaar's legal tender.]]
[[File:Banknotes.png|thumb|The Bazaar's legal tender.]]
Almost all legal commerce takes place beneath the auspices of the Bazaar's spires. People from almost all walks of life are free to buy and sell their wares here (including people straight out of [[New Newgate]]). The Bazaar sells and buys many things, from more common items like clothing or pets to the more intangible such as secrets and souls. Stories of love seem to be of particular interest. The Bazaar trades in '''pennies''' and '''echoes''' (100 pennies = 1 echo),<ref name = "player"/> and echoes are reflections of the Bazaar's first-ever currency.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_lovely_place_for_a_lecture|A lovely place for a lecture|Fallen London|}}</ref>
Almost all legal commerce takes place beneath the auspices of the Bazaar's spires. People from almost all walks of life are free to buy and sell their wares here, including people straight out of [[New Newgate]]. The Bazaar sells and buys many things, from more common items like clothing or pets to the more intangible such as secrets and souls. Stories of love seem to be of particular interest. The Bazaar trades in '''pennies''' and '''echoes''' (100 pennies = 1 echo),<ref name = "player"/> and echoes are reflections of the Bazaar's first-ever currency.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_lovely_place_for_a_lecture|A lovely place for a lecture|Fallen London|}}</ref>
<font color="white"><span style="background-color: white">It is possible to visit the Masters inside the Bazaar; they each have their own unique and lavish apartments.</span></font><ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Incarnadine_Fur_Robe|Incarnadine Fur Robe|Fallen London|}}</ref> One may enter through their choice of seven doors, each of which is made of a different material: '''Ormolu''', '''Teeth''', '''Copper''', '''Glass''', '''Ivory''', '''Paper''', and '''Steel'''.<ref name = "snippets"/>
<font color="white"><span style="background-color: white">It is possible to visit the Masters inside the Bazaar; they each have their own unique and lavish apartments.</span></font><ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Incarnadine_Fur_Robe|Incarnadine Fur Robe|Fallen London|}}</ref> One may enter through their choice of seven doors, each of which is made of a different material: '''Ormolu''', '''Teeth''', '''Copper''', '''Glass''', '''Ivory''', '''Paper''', and '''Steel'''.<ref name = "snippets"/>


Line 18: Line 18:
''"What can you find in the Bazaar Sidestreets? Respectable firms crammed into ramshackle workshops and poky offices. The rent here is astronomical. But the quick and the hungry turn profits in the shadows of the spires. Just keep your eyes off the carvings up high. And whatever you do, don't fall in love."''<ref name = "sidestreets">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Bazaar_Side-streets|Category:Bazaar Side-streets|Fallen London|}}</ref>
''"What can you find in the Bazaar Sidestreets? Respectable firms crammed into ramshackle workshops and poky offices. The rent here is astronomical. But the quick and the hungry turn profits in the shadows of the spires. Just keep your eyes off the carvings up high. And whatever you do, don't fall in love."''<ref name = "sidestreets">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Bazaar_Side-streets|Category:Bazaar Side-streets|Fallen London|}}</ref>


'''The Bazaar Side-streets''' are only accessible to those of some importance, but these alleyways have quite lucrative business opportunities for these well-known figures. They can be accessed using a document called a '''Sharper's Pass'''.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_document_of_some_sort|A document of some sort|Fallen London|}}</ref>
'''The Bazaar Side-streets''' are only accessible to those of some Importance, but these alleyways have many lucrative business opportunities for these well-known figures. They can be accessed using a document called a '''Sharper's Pass'''.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_document_of_some_sort|A document of some sort|Fallen London|}}</ref>


By the way, why shouldn't you fall in love in the Bazaar? You see, [[The Masters of the Bazaar|the Masters]] like love stories...<ref name = "snippets"/>
==Notable Businesses and Locations==
==Notable Businesses and Locations==
===Main Shops===
===Main Shops===
Line 54: Line 53:
''"In the deepest matters of the Bazaar, always look to love. Always."''
''"In the deepest matters of the Bazaar, always look to love. Always."''


Before it came to the Neath, the Bazaar was a messenger of the stars.<ref name = "seventh">''The Seventh Letter''</ref> Its true form is that of a giant space-crab, covered in seven spires inscribed with the maddening [[Correspondence]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Visit_to_the_Bazaar|A Visit to the Bazaar|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> It's still very much alive, and it underwent a sort of lobotomy to remove its urges to deliver messages.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Cladery_Heir|Explore her Surgery|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Nowadays, it just chills in [[London]] while getting high on the sphinxstones from the [[the Salt Lions]], a drug that induces nostalgia for better days.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Bright-Eyed_Sequencer#Story_description|The Bright-Eyed Sequencer|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
Before it came to the Neath, the Bazaar was a messenger of the stars.<ref name = "seventh">''The Seventh Letter''</ref> Its true form is that of a giant space-crab, covered in seven spires inscribed with the maddening [[Correspondence]].<ref name = "bazaar visit">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Visit_to_the_Bazaar|A Visit to the Bazaar|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> It's still very much alive, and it underwent a sort of lobotomy to remove its urges to deliver messages.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Cladery_Heir|Explore her Surgery|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Nowadays, it stays in [[London]], often getting high on the sphinxstones from the [[the Salt Lions]], a drug that induces nostalgia for better days.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Bright-Eyed_Sequencer#Story_description|The Bright-Eyed Sequencer|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


===The Bazaar's Backstory===
===The Bazaar's Backstory===
Line 77: Line 76:
''"Neath-snow - or is it 'lacre'?"''
''"Neath-snow - or is it 'lacre'?"''
[[File:Tears.png|thumb|The Bazaar's tears.|100px]]
[[File:Tears.png|thumb|The Bazaar's tears.|100px]]
The Bazaar's tears are liquid sadness: touching the cork of the bottle will induce weeping, and if drunk, the liquid will consume the drinker with melancholy.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Vial_of_Tears_of_the_Bazaar|Vial of Tears of the Bazaar|Fallen London|}}</ref> Every Christmas the Bazaar floods London with its unique form of snow, called '''lacre'''.<ref name = "snippets"/> This odd substance has the air of ammonia about it, but there might be more to it than meets the eye.<ref name = "lacre">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Putting_the_Pieces_Together:_the_Taste_of_Lacre|Putting the Pieces Together: the Taste of Lacre|Fallen London|}}</ref> Lacre is not safe to consume (we are very serious about this),<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Eat_it|Eat it|Fallen London|}}</ref> and it can transform life forms into miniature copies of the Bazaar - spired crustaceans, basically.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Feed_it_to_a_Malevolent_Monkey|Feed it to a Malevolent Monkey|Fallen London|}}</ref> Lacre also acts as a form of liquid memory, and sampling its aroma can give an imbiber mysterious visions.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Mix_it_with_an_old_wine|Mix it with an old wine|Fallen London|}}</ref>
Every Christmas the Bazaar floods London with its unique form of snow, called '''lacre'''.<ref name = "snippets"/> This odd substance has the air of ammonia about it, but there might be more to it than meets the eye.<ref name = "lacre">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Putting_the_Pieces_Together:_the_Taste_of_Lacre|Putting the Pieces Together: the Taste of Lacre|Fallen London|}}</ref> Lacre is not safe to consume (we are very serious about this),<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Eat_it|Eat it|Fallen London|}}</ref> and it can transform life forms into miniature copies of the Bazaar - spired crustaceans, basically.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Feed_it_to_a_Malevolent_Monkey|Feed it to a Malevolent Monkey|Fallen London|}}</ref> Lacre also acts as a form of liquid memory, and sampling its aroma can give an imbiber mysterious visions.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Mix_it_with_an_old_wine|Mix it with an old wine|Fallen London|}}</ref>


Inspecting lacre under a powerful enough magnifying glass will reveal flakes reminiscent of [[the Correspondence]], as opposed to the hexagonal flakes of [[the Surface]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Examine_it_through_your_Semiotic_Monocle|Examine it through your Semiotic Monocle|Fallen London|}}</ref> Feeding lacre to pigs will cause them to fall asleep, which is more important than you'd think.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Feed_it_to_a_Wild_Boar|Feed it to a Wild Boar|Fallen London|}}</ref> A most enigmatic substance indeed! Quality lacre can be hard to come by, but the [[Urchins]] are known for peddling it,<ref name = "snippets"/> and lacre is a crucial ingredient in the creation of a [[Noman]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Noman|The Noman|Fallen London|}}</ref>
Inspecting lacre under a powerful enough magnifying glass will reveal flakes reminiscent of [[the Correspondence]], as opposed to the hexagonal flakes of [[the Surface]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Examine_it_through_your_Semiotic_Monocle|Examine it through your Semiotic Monocle|Fallen London|}}</ref> Feeding lacre to pigs will cause them to fall asleep, which is more important than you'd think.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Feed_it_to_a_Wild_Boar|Feed it to a Wild Boar|Fallen London|}}</ref> A most enigmatic substance indeed! Quality lacre can be hard to come by, but the [[Urchins]] are known for peddling it,<ref name = "snippets"/> and lacre is a crucial ingredient in the creation of a [[Noman]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Noman|The Noman|Fallen London|}}</ref>
<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Pass_the_Wicket_and_descend|Pass the Wicket and descend|Fallen London|}}</ref>
[[File:Sunderedsea.png|thumb|A Sundered Sea. ]]
The Bazaar's tears are a distilled form of lacre,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_potent_possibility|A potent possibility|Fallen London|}}</ref> and they are liquid sadness: touching the cork of the bottle will induce weeping, and if drunk, the liquid will consume the drinker with melancholy.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Vial_of_Tears_of_the_Bazaar|Vial of Tears of the Bazaar|Fallen London|}}</ref>


Under the Bazaar lies '''the Sundered Sea''', which serves as its lacre-vats. The Sea can be accessed by crossing '''Penstock's Wicket''', via an elevator of sorts.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Pass_the_Wicket_and_descend|Pass the Wicket and descend|Fallen London|}}</ref> Penstock himself is a peculiar individual; according to [[Maybe's Daughter]], he has "understanding" with the Bazaar, and he once let [[the Lady in Lilac]] pass through to make her own bargains.<ref name = "bazaar visit"/>
===The Stone Pigs===
===The Stone Pigs===
''"I found myself dreaming of the Stone Pigs. They're, oh, I don't entirely understand, still. But they're how the Bazaar travels between stars. (Did you know they did that?) And they sleep."''<ref name = "tireless">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Tireless_Mechanic#Speak_to_the_Tireless_Mechanic|Ask the Mechanic to explain exactly what the hell is going on|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
''"I found myself dreaming of the Stone Pigs. They're, oh, I don't entirely understand, still. But they're how the Bazaar travels between stars. (Did you know they did that?) And they sleep."''<ref name = "tireless">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Tireless_Mechanic#Speak_to_the_Tireless_Mechanic|Ask the Mechanic to explain exactly what the hell is going on|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


The Bazaar's thrusters, which it once used to travel through space, are known as the '''Stone Pigs'''.<ref name = "tireless"/> The Pigs are responsible for the creation of [[the Cumaean Canal]],<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Cumaean_Canal_Staging_Area|Travel to the Surface|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and they also churn and grind [[the Fallen Cities]] into nothing whenever a new one is about to fall.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"Some people call them Stone Pigs. When the Fifth City fell, they awoke. That's why the Fourth City doesn't exist anymore. They churned it into the ground."''</ref> Lacre is used to keep them sedated, as the Pigs will awaken without it.<ref name = "lacre"/>
The Bazaar's thrusters, which it once used to travel through space, are known as '''the Stone Pigs'''.<ref name = "tireless"/> The Pigs are responsible for the creation of [[the Cumaean Canal]],<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Cumaean_Canal_Staging_Area|Travel to the Surface|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and they also churn and grind [[the Fallen Cities]] into nothing whenever a new one is about to fall.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"Some people call them Stone Pigs. When the Fifth City fell, they awoke. That's why the Fourth City doesn't exist anymore. They churned it into the ground."''</ref> Lacre is used to keep them sedated, as the Pigs will awaken without it.<ref name = "lacre"/>


The Stone Pigs are some of the most bizarre and eldritch creatures in the Neath, and describing them is quite taxing. The Pigs are vast and hairy, but they are ''not'' pigs.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flute_Street|Flute Street|Fallen London|}} ''"The hairy stone wall goes for a hundred yards in each direction. The edges are fast against the stone [...] the hairy stone is pierced and crumbling. Is this a Stone Pig? If it is, what happens here?"''</ref> They do however, consume fungi like pigs.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"If something looks like a mushroom, call it a mushroom. If something wants to eat mushrooms, call it a pig."''</ref> The Pigs will never drown in lacre, only slumber in it,<ref name = "lacre"/> and they do not obey any master when they are hungry. If they are starved, they will seek out food on their own.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] their hungers must be satisfied again, or they will break away to feed themselves. They will obey no master without food."''</ref> If a creature is fed what the Stone Pigs eat, it may become one itself. Neathy taxonomy is weird.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"Her pupils are wider than pies, and her whites milky-blue. She isn't stone. Perhaps she's not a pig either. Taxonomy, in the Neath, slips like a snake in your hands: even if you get a grip, you might get bitten too."''</ref>
The Stone Pigs are some of the most bizarre and eldritch creatures in the Neath, and describing them is quite taxing. The Pigs are vast and hairy, but they are ''not'' pigs.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flute_Street|Flute Street|Fallen London|}} ''"The hairy stone wall goes for a hundred yards in each direction. The edges are fast against the stone [...] the hairy stone is pierced and crumbling. Is this a Stone Pig? If it is, what happens here?"''</ref> They do however, consume fungi like pigs (pigs love truffles after all).<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"If something looks like a mushroom, call it a mushroom. If something wants to eat mushrooms, call it a pig."''</ref> The Pigs will never drown in lacre, only slumber in it,<ref name = "lacre"/> and they obey no master when they are hungry (if they are starved, they will seek out food on their own).<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] their hungers must be satisfied again, or they will break away to feed themselves. They will obey no master without food."''</ref> If a creature is fed what the Stone Pigs eat, it may become one itself (Neathy taxonomy is weird).<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"Her pupils are wider than pies, and her whites milky-blue. She isn't stone. Perhaps she's not a pig either. Taxonomy, in the Neath, slips like a snake in your hands: even if you get a grip, you might get bitten too."''</ref>


The Stone Pigs do not have hearts of their own. Their shared heart was once a fungus that was once greater than a city. But this has been butchered and consumed over the course of eons,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"The Stone Pigs do not have a heart. The heart they do not have is here. It speaks to you. It is a fungus too. Once greater than a city, now butchered and shrunken and small. Only a quivering lump smeared on the altar and skewered."''</ref> and it is more like a fuel core than a fungus.<ref name = "make impeller">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Kingeater%27s_Castle#Interactions|Construct the Fulgent Impeller|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The Heart is a living thing, and the current Heart is bloated with the memories of the five Fallen Cities.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"What was lost still echoes here. Thoughts that rumble and congeal. Material for me to weave [...] Cataclysms when five cities fell [...] when they were crushed [...] here underground. My memories. They are mine now. Soaked into my mycelium."''</ref> The Heart is dead, but it will live on through its spores and poetry.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"They will not die. A memory, their poetry, survives."''</ref>
The Stone Pigs do not have hearts of their own. Their shared heart was once a fungus that was once greater than a city. But this has been butchered and consumed over the course of eons,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"The Stone Pigs do not have a heart. The heart they do not have is here. It speaks to you. It is a fungus too. Once greater than a city, now butchered and shrunken and small. Only a quivering lump smeared on the altar and skewered."''</ref> and it is more like a fuel core than a fungus.<ref name = "make impeller">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Kingeater%27s_Castle#Interactions|Construct the Fulgent Impeller|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The Heart is a living thing, and the current Heart is bloated with the memories of the five Fallen Cities.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"What was lost still echoes here. Thoughts that rumble and congeal. Material for me to weave [...] Cataclysms when five cities fell [...] when they were crushed [...] here underground. My memories. They are mine now. Soaked into my mycelium."''</ref> The Heart is dead, but it will live on through its poetry.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"They will not die. A memory, their poetry, survives."''</ref>


[[The Tireless Mechanic]] managed to cheat a secret of the Stone Pigs from [[the Fingerkings]], and he stored it within [[Frostfound]].<ref name = "tireless"/> Using black ivory, copper, acid, blood, a spark that will burn, sapphires, and a heart (destiny's engine), he created '''the Fulgent Impeller''', an ''extremely'' powerful engine that runs as hot as the forces that drive the Bazaar.<ref name = "make impeller"/>
[[The Tireless Mechanic]] managed to cheat a secret of the Stone Pigs from [[the Fingerkings]], and he stored it within [[Frostfound]].<ref name = "tireless"/> Using black ivory, copper, acid, blood, a spark that will burn, sapphires, and a heart (destiny's engine), he created '''the Fulgent Impeller''', an ''extremely'' powerful engine that runs as hot as the forces that drive the Bazaar.<ref name = "make impeller"/>

Revision as of 08:03, 3 September 2019

"The Bazaar is traditionally spoken of as if it's a single living thing. Women call it 'he'; men call it 'she'. The Masters of the Bazaar style themselves 'Mr', but no-one seems to think they're actually men."[1]

"The Bazaar is located at the heart of Fallen London, in the Neath, a cavern of impossible size, by the Unterzee, a tremendous saltwater lake. They say it's the skull of some defunct pagan god. That doesn't sound very likely. Although it would explain the dreams."[1]

The Echo Bazaar is the center of commerce in Fallen London.

We Look Forward to Meeting Your Money

"Welcome to the Bazaar. We are looking forward to meeting your money. Echoes are the currency of the Bazaar. One hundred pennies are one Echo. Get Echoes by selling the treasures you acquire."[2]

The Bazaar's legal tender.

Almost all legal commerce takes place beneath the auspices of the Bazaar's spires. People from almost all walks of life are free to buy and sell their wares here, including people straight out of New Newgate. The Bazaar sells and buys many things, from more common items like clothing or pets to the more intangible such as secrets and souls. Stories of love seem to be of particular interest. The Bazaar trades in pennies and echoes (100 pennies = 1 echo),[2] and echoes are reflections of the Bazaar's first-ever currency.[3] It is possible to visit the Masters inside the Bazaar; they each have their own unique and lavish apartments.[4] One may enter through their choice of seven doors, each of which is made of a different material: Ormolu, Teeth, Copper, Glass, Ivory, Paper, and Steel.[1]

The Bazaar deals in commerce on a far greater scale than these goods; for what it's worth, its vaults are far too extensive and secretive to contain only the mundane.[5] The Bazaar also closely monitors the people it deems Notable, and it may bestow rewards and specialized roles to those who gain its attention.[6] People of exceptional skill and fame may bargain for esoteric knowledge to push their training even further.[7]

It’s tempting to ask why all this is how it is, but good luck trying to find answers. There are powerful people who’d like to keep it secret.

The Side-streets

"What can you find in the Bazaar Sidestreets? Respectable firms crammed into ramshackle workshops and poky offices. The rent here is astronomical. But the quick and the hungry turn profits in the shadows of the spires. Just keep your eyes off the carvings up high. And whatever you do, don't fall in love."[8]

The Bazaar Side-streets are only accessible to those of some Importance, but these alleyways have many lucrative business opportunities for these well-known figures. They can be accessed using a document called a Sharper's Pass.[9]

Notable Businesses and Locations

Main Shops

A Spire-Emporium at the Bazaar.

These are main shops of the Bazaar, accessible to almost anyone.[2]

  • Carrow's Steel: "Self-defence for the discerning gentleperson."
  • Maywell's Hattery: "Your crowning glory."
  • Dark & Savage: "Grace your hands with the finest and most attentive gloves in London."
  • Gottery the Outfitter: "We are always sufficient."
  • Nassos Zoologicals: "Pets for all! Be brave."
  • MERCURY: "Boots out of legend!"
  • Nikolas Pawnbrokers: "Best wares. Best prices. No spiders."
  • Merrigans Exchange: "Wholesale Agents to the Bazaar. Celebrating Twenty Years Without An Apostrophe."
  • Redemptions: "A labour exchange. Of sorts."
  • Dauncey's: "For Gentlemen."
  • Fadgett & Daughters: "By Appointment to the Shuttered Palace."
  • Crawcase Cryptics: "Secrets, Papers, Truths, Mistruths, Rumours, Lies, Prayers. Books."
  • Penstock's Land Agency: "Exceptional Dwellings for Exceptional People!"
  • Harbour Provisioners: Business restricted to the Iron Republic - long story.

The Sidestreets

Premises at the Bazaar, a very expensive place to live.

These services are only available to those who have proven their Importance.[8]

  • Empire Adornments, a jewelry dealer.
  • Blackfinger Street, where publishers and writers do business.
  • The Horse-Steak Club, a tavern of some note.
  • Baseborn and Fowlingpiece, the Neath's best provider of legal documents and permits.
  • The Great Downward Engineering Company, hawking interesting contraptions and cheap labor.
  • The Bridge Without, another tavern of some note.

The Courier

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

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

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.


"In the deepest matters of the Bazaar, always look to love. Always."

Before it came to the Neath, the Bazaar was a messenger of the stars.[10] Its true form is that of a giant space-crab, covered in seven spires inscribed with the maddening Correspondence.[11] It's still very much alive, and it underwent a sort of lobotomy to remove its urges to deliver messages.[12] Nowadays, it stays in London, often getting high on the sphinxstones from the the Salt Lions, a drug that induces nostalgia for better days.[13]

The Bazaar's Backstory

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy that's most likely our own, the Bazaar and the Sun got together and had some really weird rock offspring (including Stone). The Sun then fell in love with a different star, and to add insult to injury, sent the Bazaar (who's the Sun's messenger by the way) to give the other star a love letter. This other star, unfortunately, rejected the Sun in her reply. The Bazaar begged for extra time to deliver the rejection notice. So it has seven cities' time - ordered by the space dragons (like Storm), who will execute both the Bazaar and the Sun if the letter isn't delivered in time - to find seven cities' worth of love stories to boil down into the Ultimate Love and prevent the Sun from drowning in its own tears.

We used to think that the Bazaar was collecting love stories to prove to the Judgements that love between links of the Great Chain (the Sun is above her on this Chain) is permissible, but upon careful inspection of a certain forbidden play, this is a misconception.[10]

A More Relatable Love Story

In case any of this is confusing, here's the high school version written by fellow lore nerd Manfred on the Delicious (Discord) Server.

A shy nerd (the Bazaar) is in love with a popular kid (the Sun) and they have a fling, but then the popular kid turns out to be a jerk and asks the nerd to give a love note to their new crush (another popular kid; the other star) for them. The nerd is devastated but does it anyway. EXCEPT the other popular kid has actual common sense and says "fuck no I'm not going out with that asshole", leading the nerd to become trapped with the dilemmas of both their own broken heart and the soon-to-be-broken heart of their crush. And PLOT TWIST! the nerd got pregnant and the baby's other parent is the jerk crush, but they don't want anything to do with the nerd or the baby so the nerd has to keep it a secret, and if anybody finds out they'll both get expelled or something. Then the nerd enlists the help of a group of shitty freshmen who everyone else hates (the Masters) by offering them money to find out how to tell the popular kid about the situation without them getting super pissed. But they only have until the end of the year, because the nerd and popular kids will graduate then and as we all know nobody talks to anybody they knew in high school after they graduate. The freshmen also have their own relationship drama and at some point one of them gets actually murdered for real.

The Taste of Lacre

"A tiny flask of utter sorrow. The touch of the corked flask provokes weeping. Consume it, and be fatally consumed by melancholy."

"Neath-snow - or is it 'lacre'?"

The Bazaar's tears.

Every Christmas the Bazaar floods London with its unique form of snow, called lacre.[1] This odd substance has the air of ammonia about it, but there might be more to it than meets the eye.[14] Lacre is not safe to consume (we are very serious about this),[15] and it can transform life forms into miniature copies of the Bazaar - spired crustaceans, basically.[16] Lacre also acts as a form of liquid memory, and sampling its aroma can give an imbiber mysterious visions.[17]

Inspecting lacre under a powerful enough magnifying glass will reveal flakes reminiscent of the Correspondence, as opposed to the hexagonal flakes of the Surface.[18] Feeding lacre to pigs will cause them to fall asleep, which is more important than you'd think.[19] A most enigmatic substance indeed! Quality lacre can be hard to come by, but the Urchins are known for peddling it,[1] and lacre is a crucial ingredient in the creation of a Noman.[20] [21]

A Sundered Sea.

The Bazaar's tears are a distilled form of lacre,[22] and they are liquid sadness: touching the cork of the bottle will induce weeping, and if drunk, the liquid will consume the drinker with melancholy.[23]

Under the Bazaar lies the Sundered Sea, which serves as its lacre-vats. The Sea can be accessed by crossing Penstock's Wicket, via an elevator of sorts.[24] Penstock himself is a peculiar individual; according to Maybe's Daughter, he has "understanding" with the Bazaar, and he once let the Lady in Lilac pass through to make her own bargains.[11]

The Stone Pigs

"I found myself dreaming of the Stone Pigs. They're, oh, I don't entirely understand, still. But they're how the Bazaar travels between stars. (Did you know they did that?) And they sleep."[25]

The Bazaar's thrusters, which it once used to travel through space, are known as the Stone Pigs.[25] The Pigs are responsible for the creation of the Cumaean Canal,[26] and they also churn and grind the Fallen Cities into nothing whenever a new one is about to fall.[27] Lacre is used to keep them sedated, as the Pigs will awaken without it.[14]

The Stone Pigs are some of the most bizarre and eldritch creatures in the Neath, and describing them is quite taxing. The Pigs are vast and hairy, but they are not pigs.[28] They do however, consume fungi like pigs (pigs love truffles after all).[29] The Pigs will never drown in lacre, only slumber in it,[14] and they obey no master when they are hungry (if they are starved, they will seek out food on their own).[30] If a creature is fed what the Stone Pigs eat, it may become one itself (Neathy taxonomy is weird).[31]

The Stone Pigs do not have hearts of their own. Their shared heart was once a fungus that was once greater than a city. But this has been butchered and consumed over the course of eons,[32] and it is more like a fuel core than a fungus.[33] The Heart is a living thing, and the current Heart is bloated with the memories of the five Fallen Cities.[34] The Heart is dead, but it will live on through its poetry.[35]

The Tireless Mechanic managed to cheat a secret of the Stone Pigs from the Fingerkings, and he stored it within Frostfound.[25] Using black ivory, copper, acid, blood, a spark that will burn, sapphires, and a heart (destiny's engine), he created the Fulgent Impeller, an extremely powerful engine that runs as hot as the forces that drive the Bazaar.[33]

Special thanks to Midnight Voyager for researching this section.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Sidebar Snippets, Fallen London
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Echo Bazaar!, Fallen London
  3. A lovely place for a lecture, Fallen London
  4. Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London
  5. A lovely place for a lecture, Fallen London "The actual coins are no more than thirty years old. But they represent something ancient. Fragments of a primal power, locked away in the Masters' vaults since the deal that bought the First City."
  6. "And why would I care how Notable I am?", Fallen London
  7. "Will you restore yourself to greatness", Fallen London
  8. 8.0 8.1 Category:Bazaar Side-streets, Fallen London
  9. A document of some sort, Fallen London
  10. 10.0 10.1 The Seventh Letter
  11. 11.0 11.1 A Visit to the Bazaar, Sunless Sea
  12. Explore her Surgery, Sunless Sea
  13. The Bright-Eyed Sequencer, Sunless Sea
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Putting the Pieces Together: the Taste of Lacre, Fallen London
  15. Eat it, Fallen London
  16. Feed it to a Malevolent Monkey, Fallen London
  17. Mix it with an old wine, Fallen London
  18. Examine it through your Semiotic Monocle, Fallen London
  19. Feed it to a Wild Boar, Fallen London
  20. The Noman, Fallen London
  21. Pass the Wicket and descend, Fallen London
  22. A potent possibility, Fallen London
  23. Vial of Tears of the Bazaar, Fallen London
  24. Pass the Wicket and descend, Fallen London
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Ask the Mechanic to explain exactly what the hell is going on, Sunless Sea
  26. Travel to the Surface, Sunless Sea
  27. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "Some people call them Stone Pigs. When the Fifth City fell, they awoke. That's why the Fourth City doesn't exist anymore. They churned it into the ground."
  28. Flute Street, Fallen London "The hairy stone wall goes for a hundred yards in each direction. The edges are fast against the stone [...] the hairy stone is pierced and crumbling. Is this a Stone Pig? If it is, what happens here?"
  29. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "If something looks like a mushroom, call it a mushroom. If something wants to eat mushrooms, call it a pig."
  30. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "[...] their hungers must be satisfied again, or they will break away to feed themselves. They will obey no master without food."
  31. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "Her pupils are wider than pies, and her whites milky-blue. She isn't stone. Perhaps she's not a pig either. Taxonomy, in the Neath, slips like a snake in your hands: even if you get a grip, you might get bitten too."
  32. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "The Stone Pigs do not have a heart. The heart they do not have is here. It speaks to you. It is a fungus too. Once greater than a city, now butchered and shrunken and small. Only a quivering lump smeared on the altar and skewered."
  33. 33.0 33.1 Construct the Fulgent Impeller, Sunless Sea
  34. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "What was lost still echoes here. Thoughts that rumble and congeal. Material for me to weave [...] Cataclysms when five cities fell [...] when they were crushed [...] here underground. My memories. They are mine now. Soaked into my mycelium."
  35. My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "They will not die. A memory, their poetry, survives."