"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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"A smile, a wink, a butterfly tattoo. An intense and detailed knowledge of weaponry and engines."[1]
Maybe's Daughter is a whimsical[2][3] and flirtatious[4] young lady with many tattoos;[5] despite appearances, she is a very serious and very knowledgeable engineer.[6] She is also something of a kleptomaniac - albeit one who will always share the spoils with her friends.[7][8][9]
A Complicated Ancestry
"She sighs. 'My family is very, very complicated. I don't like any of them.'"[10]
The Daughter's mother is Millicent Clathermont, otherwise known as the Lady in Lilac[11] and the estranged wife of the spy and tattoo parlor owner Mr. Clathermont. However, Lilac and her daughter are not close, and in fact have never met (at least in the Daughter's waking memory).[12] Maybe's Daughter was born in Parabola[13] and out of wedlock, from an affair her mother had with a Parabolan tiger-count.[14] This makes Maybe's Daughter a countess;[14] her aunt on her father's side is a Parabolan Panther.[15] The Daughter does know her father,[14] who is supportive of her from behind the mirror.[16]
Despite never having met Lilac, Maybe's Daughter seems to know much about her mother, including her fascination with love,[17] her dealings with the Bazaar, and her knowledge of the Great Signs.[18] She also understands how entrenched her family as a whole is in both the Great Game[19] and the art and symbolism of tattoos.[20] This is at least in part because she has met and studied with her half-sisters, the triplets Edie, Myrtle, and Lily.[21][22] She suspects that her mother "took" or "sold" some part of her.[23][24]
The Daughter does not share Lilac's fondness of the Surface,[25] and prefers Irem instead.[26]
↑Engage an Officer: Maybe's Daughter, Sunless Sea"[...] a woman perches on a suitcase. Both she and the suitcase are noticeably cleaner than everything else in view. “Hello! Where are you headed? On second thoughts, I don't mind. Can I come aboard?”"
↑About her mother..., Sunless Sea"We've never met. So we were never close. But I'm not close to many people. Honestly, I think that's her fault: I think she sold something of what I was. [...] My family is very, very complicated. I don't like any of them. But I think I like her the least."
↑Speak with the tiger, Sunless Sea"I understand you've become involved in my daughter's intrigues. (And my sister's. Is she really serving as a mascot?)"
↑Speak with the tiger, Sunless Sea"I understand you've become involved in my daughter's intrigues. Well, you look like the sort who can take care of yourself. But let me repay you as best I may - "
↑"I don't have a tattoo.", Sunless Sea"My mother forged an alliance with the Bazaar. That's how she came to learn the Great Signs, the tattoos no one wears."
↑The Splendour, Sunless Sea"The Sun! The Sun, from which the Great Signs came. My mother wouldn't tell me. But her other daughters knew her secrets."
↑The Gambit, Sunless Sea"The Game! It extends farther than we know. Up to the Surface... and up to the stars. My mother wouldn't tell me. But her other daughters knew her secrets."
↑About her mother..., Sunless Sea"But I'm not close to many people. Honestly, I think that's her fault: I think she sold something of what I was.""