The Summer Schoolmistress: Difference between revisions
Created page with "{{Character|image1 = Schoolmistress.png|caption1 = The Summer Schoolmistress with a little rascal in her lap.|location = The Summer Nursery in Prickfinger Wastes|allegiance = Independent|relationships = Bazaar (parent)<br> Fallen London<br> Stone (sibling)}}<blockquote>''"The space, halfway between a salon and a classroom, is lit to painful brilliance. The walls are hung with images of the sun. A chalkboard lurks in a corner, surrounded by piles of books..." Tag: visualeditor |
KestrelGirl (talk | contribs) Proofread. Some citations needed, but this is a start. Tag: visualeditor |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Character|image1 = Schoolmistress.png|caption1 = The Summer Schoolmistress with a little rascal in her lap.|location = The Summer Nursery in [[Prickfinger Wastes]]|allegiance = Independent|relationships = [[Bazaar]] (parent)<br> | {{Character|image1 = Schoolmistress.png|caption1 = The Summer Schoolmistress with a little rascal in her lap.|location = The Summer Nursery in [[Prickfinger Wastes]]|allegiance = Independent|relationships = [[Bazaar]] (parent)<br> | ||
[[Fallen London]]<br> | [[Fallen London]]<br> | ||
[[Stone]] (sibling)}}<blockquote>''"The space, halfway between a salon and a classroom, is lit to painful brilliance. The walls are hung with images of the sun. A chalkboard lurks in a corner, surrounded by piles of books. Creatures scamper and frolic at your feet – Whitsun hatchlings of all species and stripes fill the room. The Summer Schoolmistress smooths her skirts, sitting straight in a high-backed chair. When she is seated, you no longer need to crane quite so high to meet her eye."<ref name=" | [[Stone]] (sibling)}}<blockquote>''"The space, halfway between a salon and a classroom, is lit to painful brilliance. The walls are hung with images of the sun. A chalkboard lurks in a corner, surrounded by piles of books. Creatures scamper and frolic at your feet – Whitsun hatchlings of all species and stripes fill the room. The Summer Schoolmistress smooths her skirts, sitting straight in a high-backed chair. When she is seated, you no longer need to crane quite so high to meet her eye."<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Summer_Nursery:_An_Invitation|The Summer Nursery|Fallen London|}}</ref>''</blockquote>The '''Summer Schoolmistress''' is a tall and mysterious woman who lives in a mansion in the [[Prickfinger Wastes]]. | ||
{{Major spoiler small}} | {{Major spoiler small}} | ||
== The Summer Nursery | ==Friend to All Creatures== | ||
'' | The Schoolmistress is a very tall woman with pitch-black eyes. She lives in the '''Summer Nursery,''' a sprawling mansion hidden deep within the Prickfinger Wastes, outside of [[London]]. She is known for adopting and raising the strange creatures born from the eggs of [[Whitsun]]. There have also been rumors of couriers delivering supplies and books of poetry to her manor. | ||
The Summer Nursery is | ==The Summer Nursery== | ||
<blockquote>''"A mansion sprawls here, abutting stalagmites at each extremity, as if the house has been crammed into a clearing too small to contain it. A fierce excess of light spills from its myriad windows, casting long-toothed shadows over the Wastes."<ref name=":0" />''</blockquote>The Summer Nursery is an enormous manor, with several wings and a great many rooms. Most of the Whitsun creatures gather to play and frolic in the '''Candlelit Conservatory'''. In the '''Botanical Laboratory''', amidst bubbling flasks, the Schoolmistress distills London's poetry in bowls of solvent for her experiments. And the '''Twisted Greenhouse''' is filled with [[Surface]] plants that miss the light of the [[Sun]]. The first room that most visitors encounter, however, is the '''Schoolmistress' Parlour,''' a brightly lit mixture of salon and classroom. Aside from teaching tools, the walls are decorated with paintings of the Sun, and Whitsun creatures mill about.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Summer_Nursery:_An_Invitation|The Summer Nursery|Fallen London|}} ''""The space, halfway between a salon and a classroom, is lit to painful brilliance. The walls are hung with images of the sun. A chalkboard lurks in a corner, surrounded by piles of books. Creatures scamper and frolic at your feet.""''</ref> | |||
==Daughter of the Tree== | |||
<blockquote>''"I was not born in the usual way. It was a subtractive process: all acts of consumption have their byproducts. Accidents. Waste. I am the remnant of one such consumption."''<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>The Summer Schoolmistress is a very complicated being. She came to be in what the [[The University|academics]] of [[London]] would call a "Low Birth:" her so-called father, the [[The Echo Bazaar|Bazaar]], pilfered the memories of the [[The Sun|Sun]] from her "mother," the oldest tree in London when it [[The Fall of London|Fell]]. This process turned the tree into what the Schoolmistress is now. Unsurprisingly given the context of her birth, she views her "father" with much disdain, calling it a parasite and blaming its pride for the downfall of the [[The Fallen Cities|four cities]] that preceded London.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Summer_Nursery:_An_Invitation|The Summer Nursery|Fallen London|}} ''""There are organisms that flourish in dark places, and human cities are not among them. But pride's blinkers are persistent. Four catastrophes in, and not a one has seen it yet – the Bazaar is a saprotroph, and drains his cities dry.""''</ref> | |||
Thanks to her unique nature, the Schoolmistress has a talent for botany; for a long time, she had a deal with London's Department of Parks and Game, in which she helped them grow trees in London's parks and alleys in exchange for supplies delivered to her mansion.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Summer_Nursery:_An_Invitation|The Summer Nursery|Fallen London|}}''""Are you aware of the Department of Parks and Game? I have an arrangement with them." She gestures to the back wall, in the direction of her shadowed greenhouse. "I have a certain facility for botany. In exchange for helping my cousins to grow in your city, they provide me with supplies, and discourage visitors from London.""''</ref> Recently, however, [[Gant|Licentiates]] have been sent to murder her couriers in great numbers, acting on orders from an unknown entity (which seems to have the Bazaar's assent). The Schoolmistress must now venture out of her mansion to retrieve supplies, and employs outsiders to take care of her Nursery while she is gone.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Business_of_a_Licentiate|The Business of a Licentiate|Fallen London|}} ''"A Licentiate has Bazaar permits for killing: that is the nature of the task. To put a name on the list must, presumably, require the Masters' authority, or at the very least permission from one of their affiliates. [...] Whatever transpires here, it has the assent of the Bazaar itself."''</ref> | |||
< | |||
The Schoolmistress spends her time educating and raising a host of [[Whitsun]] creatures. She sincerely believes that they are not being taken care of, and that they do not deserve to blamed or abandoned simply because of the failings of their creator (the Bazaar).<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Summer_Nursery:_An_Invitation|The Summer Nursery|Fallen London|}}''""They deserve care. And they were not receiving it. Not properly, in your city, beneath his spires." (...) "The Bazaar's failings are his own, and should not be foisted upon the young.""''</ref> | |||
Curiously, the Schoolmistress doesn't seem to feel many emotions herself. In her laboratory, she distills poetry books into colorful liquids, which she drinks (through her fingers, like how a tree drinks through its roots) to experience the emotions evoked by the poems.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Summer_Nursery:_An_Invitation|The Summer Nursery|Fallen London}}''Just as quickly as came, the tenderness drains from her face. She rolls her shoulders in discomfort. "Distillate of gratitude. Its effects are ever so brief. Forgive me – I shall be crabby for hours."''</ref> | |||
==Historical and Cultural Inspirations== | ==Historical and Cultural Inspirations== | ||
The Summer Schoolmistress exhibits some similarities to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryad dryads] of Greek myth. She was born from and is still connected to a tree, and has many tree-like characteristics. Although she is a notably resilient being, she also shares the dryads' tendency to suffer from misfortunes caused by other, often more powerful, beings. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
Revision as of 18:55, 13 May 2024
"The space, halfway between a salon and a classroom, is lit to painful brilliance. The walls are hung with images of the sun. A chalkboard lurks in a corner, surrounded by piles of books. Creatures scamper and frolic at your feet – Whitsun hatchlings of all species and stripes fill the room. The Summer Schoolmistress smooths her skirts, sitting straight in a high-backed chair. When she is seated, you no longer need to crane quite so high to meet her eye."[1]
The Summer Schoolmistress is a tall and mysterious woman who lives in a mansion in the Prickfinger Wastes.
|
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. |
Friend to All Creatures
The Schoolmistress is a very tall woman with pitch-black eyes. She lives in the Summer Nursery, a sprawling mansion hidden deep within the Prickfinger Wastes, outside of London. She is known for adopting and raising the strange creatures born from the eggs of Whitsun. There have also been rumors of couriers delivering supplies and books of poetry to her manor.
The Summer Nursery
"A mansion sprawls here, abutting stalagmites at each extremity, as if the house has been crammed into a clearing too small to contain it. A fierce excess of light spills from its myriad windows, casting long-toothed shadows over the Wastes."[1]
The Summer Nursery is an enormous manor, with several wings and a great many rooms. Most of the Whitsun creatures gather to play and frolic in the Candlelit Conservatory. In the Botanical Laboratory, amidst bubbling flasks, the Schoolmistress distills London's poetry in bowls of solvent for her experiments. And the Twisted Greenhouse is filled with Surface plants that miss the light of the Sun. The first room that most visitors encounter, however, is the Schoolmistress' Parlour, a brightly lit mixture of salon and classroom. Aside from teaching tools, the walls are decorated with paintings of the Sun, and Whitsun creatures mill about.[2]
Daughter of the Tree
"I was not born in the usual way. It was a subtractive process: all acts of consumption have their byproducts. Accidents. Waste. I am the remnant of one such consumption."[1]
The Summer Schoolmistress is a very complicated being. She came to be in what the academics of London would call a "Low Birth:" her so-called father, the Bazaar, pilfered the memories of the Sun from her "mother," the oldest tree in London when it Fell. This process turned the tree into what the Schoolmistress is now. Unsurprisingly given the context of her birth, she views her "father" with much disdain, calling it a parasite and blaming its pride for the downfall of the four cities that preceded London.[3]
Thanks to her unique nature, the Schoolmistress has a talent for botany; for a long time, she had a deal with London's Department of Parks and Game, in which she helped them grow trees in London's parks and alleys in exchange for supplies delivered to her mansion.[4] Recently, however, Licentiates have been sent to murder her couriers in great numbers, acting on orders from an unknown entity (which seems to have the Bazaar's assent). The Schoolmistress must now venture out of her mansion to retrieve supplies, and employs outsiders to take care of her Nursery while she is gone.[5]
The Schoolmistress spends her time educating and raising a host of Whitsun creatures. She sincerely believes that they are not being taken care of, and that they do not deserve to blamed or abandoned simply because of the failings of their creator (the Bazaar).[6]
Curiously, the Schoolmistress doesn't seem to feel many emotions herself. In her laboratory, she distills poetry books into colorful liquids, which she drinks (through her fingers, like how a tree drinks through its roots) to experience the emotions evoked by the poems.[7]
Historical and Cultural Inspirations
The Summer Schoolmistress exhibits some similarities to the dryads of Greek myth. She was born from and is still connected to a tree, and has many tree-like characteristics. Although she is a notably resilient being, she also shares the dryads' tendency to suffer from misfortunes caused by other, often more powerful, beings.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Summer Nursery, Fallen London
- ↑ The Summer Nursery, Fallen London ""The space, halfway between a salon and a classroom, is lit to painful brilliance. The walls are hung with images of the sun. A chalkboard lurks in a corner, surrounded by piles of books. Creatures scamper and frolic at your feet.""
- ↑ The Summer Nursery, Fallen London ""There are organisms that flourish in dark places, and human cities are not among them. But pride's blinkers are persistent. Four catastrophes in, and not a one has seen it yet – the Bazaar is a saprotroph, and drains his cities dry.""
- ↑ The Summer Nursery, Fallen London ""Are you aware of the Department of Parks and Game? I have an arrangement with them." She gestures to the back wall, in the direction of her shadowed greenhouse. "I have a certain facility for botany. In exchange for helping my cousins to grow in your city, they provide me with supplies, and discourage visitors from London.""
- ↑ The Business of a Licentiate, Fallen London "A Licentiate has Bazaar permits for killing: that is the nature of the task. To put a name on the list must, presumably, require the Masters' authority, or at the very least permission from one of their affiliates. [...] Whatever transpires here, it has the assent of the Bazaar itself."
- ↑ The Summer Nursery, Fallen London ""They deserve care. And they were not receiving it. Not properly, in your city, beneath his spires." (...) "The Bazaar's failings are his own, and should not be foisted upon the young.""
- ↑ The Summer Nursery, Fallen London Just as quickly as came, the tenderness drains from her face. She rolls her shoulders in discomfort. "Distillate of gratitude. Its effects are ever so brief. Forgive me – I shall be crabby for hours."
