The Topsy King

"The Topsy King: the notorious beggar-king of the Flit. Although he's far from royalty, you should probably present yourself. Oh yes: he's supposed to be incomprehensibly insane."

"Who is the Topsy King? In his own words: 'A goden most capering! Hines the walkskies, chanter the powb raggedy men. Dab with viddlo, too, goden!' So there we have it."

The Topsy King is the ruler of the Flit.

A Goden Most Capering!

A Raggedy Man.

He is often accompanied by his gang of lunatic beggars and thieves, known as the Raggedy Men. He collects paintings and tends to speak in nearly incomprehensible gibberish.

In the Flit, one may work for the Topsy King, conducting various criminal endeavors among his henchmen.

A little hint for you: he describes himself as "A most capering man! Rules the Flit, this king of the poor Raggedy Men. Good with a fiddle, too, he is!"

It's possible that he was based off of Joshua Abraham Norton I, Emperor of the United States, who was born in England during the 1800s but later moved to San Francisco where he declared himself Emperor. 

Who Was He?

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously." Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

The Topsy King, aka Tristram Bagley, used to be a court composer, scholar, and violinist for the Empress. He wrote part of an amazingly scandalous Correspondence-laden opera called "The Bell and the Candle." But before he could finish it, he bet his sanity in the card game called the Marvellous and lost, and that's why nobody can understand a thing he says.

After the opera is performed, he returns to sanity, for just a tear-jerking moment.