Mr Barleycorn

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"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."

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"There were seven of us, once. Outcasts, bound to this Messenger's service. But the Messenger defied the Halved's command, and the Halved slew it. We were free. My colleagues, fled. But I remained to serve the Halved."[2]

"My Lord. The Halved. Once-Judgement of Measures and Distance. He knew of London. He beheld it through a wound in the world. We reached out and set his mark on those who trespassed on the wound. They became our Messages, and when they found their way to the skies their marks led them here: to the land of do-as-you-please."[3]

Mr Barleycorn is a Curator of the House of Rods and Chains.[4] Long ago, seven Curators served the House, but after it was slain by the Halved for disobedience, six of them scattered for greener pastures. Barleycorn stayed behind, however, and remains loyal to the Halved.[5][6] Barleycorn resides in the House's only intact spire called the Spire of Inches.[7][8] It is clothed in wrappings of gauze,[9] and its study contains malformed furniture and a window to view its liege.[10][11] It acts as an intermediary for the Halved,[12] and can grant visitors an audience with its master, if they can bear growing an extra mouth for the Halved to speak through.[13][14]

An eye surrounding by dark clouds.
The Halved

Barleycorn's study contains a portal to the Neath, which manifests as a giant eye deep below the Unterzee.[15][16] This portal can be entered from either side,[17][16] and zailors who passed through were marked by Barleycorn with animate[18] eye-tattoos as a message from the Halved[19] to herald the advancement of the Liberation of Night.[20][21] Once these Eye-Marked left the Neath for the High Wilderness, they were drawn to reside in Eleutheria,[21] and some were bound to Barleycorn's service.[18] It is also said that Eye-Marked skyfarers develop a sort of anxiety, and freeze to death trying to open the Avid Horizon's sealed gate.[22] It seems Barleycorn halted this practice as of the Sunless Skies timeline, as it only has a few marks left.[23]

Mr Barleycorn does not think highly of the Rubbery Men that now reside in the carcass of the House, but it appreciates the amber they provide as tribute.[24][25] It denies being lonely, but it seems suspiciously eager to reconnect with its former colleagues.[26] Before the Bazaar traveled to the Neath, Barleycorn was an acquaintance of the Masters of the Bazaar, and chose not to join them.[27][28] According to the Chiropterous Hoarder, Barleycorn suffers from an incompleteness and a sense that its desires are unattainable.[29] Additionally, Barleycorn seems to consider its long lifespan a curse, one with no cure that it could abide.[30]

References

Infobox fanart by Feivelyn.

  1. ↑ The Last Seneschal, Sunless Skies "You are working with Mr Barleycorn in the Spire of Inches."
  2. ↑ Talk with Mr Barleycorn, Sunless Skies
  3. ↑ Consider Eleutheria's black sun, Sunless Skies
  4. ↑ Show it the seal of Mr Barleycorn, Sunless Skies "You recall the curator's desolate request. No reason to leave it unfulfilled. [...] But I am not the one he wants, not from its flock."
  5. ↑ Talk with Mr Barleycorn, Sunless Skies ""There were seven of us, once. Outcasts, bound to this Messenger's service. But the Messenger defied the Halved's command, and the Halved slew it. We were free. My colleagues, fled. But I remained to serve the Halved.""
  6. ↑ Consider Eleutheria's black sun, Sunless Skies ""My Lord. The Halved. [...] Mr Barleycorn bows to it."
  7. ↑ The Spire of Inches, Sunless Skies "Seven obsidian spires once stretched into this sky. Only this one remains."
  8. ↑ Present tribute to the Spire: Golden Amber, Sunless Skies "You may call me Mr Barleycorn."
  9. ↑ Attend the Lament of the Old Sun, Sunless Skies "This is Mr Barleycorn, or so it is called by lesser beings. Its form is indistinct beneath layers of gauze that wrap it, if not from head to toe, then at least from top to bottom."
  10. ↑ Mr Barleycorn's Belfry, Sunless Skies "You are in a room, of sorts. [...] The furnishings (if that is what they are) look like the work of a surrealist. This straight-backed, many-legged edifice is perhaps a chair. That oily surface – a table? An altar? Behind it, the hunched gauze figure stands looking out at something far away; a black sun."
  11. ↑ Consider Eleutheria's black sun, Sunless Skies "The window of Mr Barleycorn's study frames it perfectly. The sun writhes. A flicker of fire escapes its coils, only to be dragged back and quenched."
  12. ↑ Agree to help the Servitor, Sunless Skies ""The lesser being will travel to the House of Rods and Chains," [...] "It will petition the Aberrant Twin through its intermediary in the Belfry. [...]"
  13. ↑ Ambition: Consult the midnight sun about the Courtesy, Sunless Skies "The black sun revolves until its spasming eye fills the spire's window. [...] Mr Barleycorn hurries forward, [...] "Drink. And listen." You do so. [...] Your face writhes, and you hear a gasp as your new second mouth takes its first breath. "Ask," instructs Mr Barleycorn."
  14. ↑ Ask how the Courtesy keeps its existence a secret, Sunless Skies "You feel the heat of its voice wash across your face as your new mouth responds."
  15. ↑ What's that?, Sunless Sea "Welcome, Trespasser, to the House of Rods and Chains. Your daring is notable, and rare."
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Dive into the pupil, Sunless Sea "You descend. The blackness of the pupil expands. There is no cornea to bar your way, no lens. The pupil is a tunnel, and your vessel plunges into it."
  17. ↑ Examine the altar, Sunless Skies "You touch the surface. The world twists and there is only darkness and water and cold and drowning. [...] The sky with its false-stars. [...] This is the Neath: the vast subterranean cavern in which London lay before climbing to the heavens! And the cold, black waters you are thrashing in are its Unterzee!"
  18. ↑ What's that?, Sunless Sea "My employer -" here, the thing extends what is hopefully an arm towards the window, and the sable, seething sun, "- would like you to deliver a message to the Neath. You will be compensated.""
  19. ↑ Agree to carry the message, Sunless Sea ""The Liberation of Night began long ago," the veiled creature pipes. "Tell whoever you choose, or do not. You are the message. Those who must know, will know." [...] An Additional Eye on an Unobtrusive Part of your Person"
  20. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Consider Eleutheria's black sun, Sunless Skies ""My Lord. The Halved. [...] "He knew of London. He beheld it through a wound in the world. We reached out and set his mark on those who trespassed on the wound. They became our Messages, and when they found their way to the skies their marks led them here: to the land of do-as-you-please." [...] "Would you care for one? A mark? I have one or two left." [...] Mr Barleycorn clamps its arm around your shoulder. [...] The creature releases its grip, and the pain eases. You twist to see it: an eye embedded in your flesh."
  21. ↑ Consider Eleutheria's black sun, Sunless Skies "It is said that the Eye-Marked end up freezing at Avid Horizon, banging on its impenetrable door."
  22. ↑ Consider Eleutheria's black sun, Sunless Skies ""Would you care for one? A mark? I have one or two left.""
  23. ↑ Ask about the Rubbery Men, Sunless Skies "I tolerate them. They cannot disturb the Messenger – its purpose is long served. And their amber is ever so pretty."
  24. ↑ Attend the Lament of the Old Sun, Sunless Skies "This is Mr Barleycorn, [...] One Rubbery dares approach, extending tribute: golden amber. The figure takes it between clawed appendages. Tastes it. Appears to approve."
  25. ↑ Talk with Mr Barleycorn, Sunless Skies "Don't mistake this for more than it is. I am not lonely," it spits the word, [...] It has been a long time since I spoke to any of my kind. If you find one, show them this." It hands you a wax seal, imprinted with a sigil. "Collect their stories. Perhaps advise them I would not resent a conversation, should the wings of fate allow.""
  26. ↑ Cloven Seal, Fallen London "One shard reads: 'Not to be forgot.' Another: 'What awaits. Why we must stay.' There are other words, hard to piece together: Pennies and Pipes; Barleycorn and Menagerie."
  27. ↑ Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London "It is unquestionably a token from Mr Menagerie: a sometime acquaintance of ours who chose, disjudiciously, not to accompany us to the Neath."
  28. ↑ Show it the seal of Mr Barleycorn, Sunless Skies "If you meet it again, tell it that I understand what it is like to be incomplete, to have what you want out of reach."
  29. ↑ Pass on the Hoarder's message, Sunless Skies "You spoke to the Chiropterous Hoarder of Mr Barleycorn. Now, it is time to relay the response. [...] "Forever is a septic injury, one that cannot be cured. The only panacea is something none of us can abide. Our animal hearts will not allow us the solution." It falls silent for an ageless moment. "Give them my gratitude. It was good to know, at least, that someone understood.""
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