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"October speaks to you in a dark grove, where the shadow of her monastic holdfast is dimly visible across a great expanse of water. Her words form as reflections in the dark water: to see is to gather intelligence. To acquire intelligence is to garner influence. To hold influence in dream is power. Show me what you see and I am yours."
"The deal made, a cadre of ravens flies from October's island to your Camp. They will follow you across Parabola – and report back your every move."[1]
"You assemble what evidence you can: singed fragments of maps and portraits, plus one partial document. An underlined passage reads: "—to shape their dreams advances the Liberation.""[2]
October is a member of the Calendar Council, but she vanished an unspecified time ago,[3] likely during the era of the Fifth City.[4] She studies and documents nightmares of both real and fantastical events,[5][6] and her entry in the Agendums of Ascent lists theories on how to use them to manipulate political thought.[7] She seeks to advance the Liberation of Night,[8] but her work is opposed by the Ministry of Public Decency's Department of Restful Sleep.[9][10]
THEY ARE COMING THEY ARE COMING THEY ARE COMING
October can enter the dreams of others,[11] induce nightmares,[12] and manipulate Parabola itself.[13] One such expression of her power is the Peace of October, a flock of ravens formed from the nightmares of her disciples[14] that see and act on her behalf.[15] October does not physically accompany these ravens herself,[16] but they can flock together to form a massive body with which she can fight.[17] October's ravens darken Parabola around them when hunting, representing her desire for the Liberation.[18]
October owns a room in the Royal Bethlehem Hotel,[19] which is decorated with mirrors shrouded by dense flocks of ravens, and whose windows show autumnal landscapes.[20] The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel, who also serves as May of the Council,[21] considers October an advisor[22] and fulfills her requests zealously and personally;[23] they seem to have a degree of respect for each other.[22]
Appearance and Personality
"You walk, slowly, up the stone stairs to her little loft amidst the vaults. She is sat at a heavy writing desk. On her face is a slim black mask – trimmed in russet and chestnut. She looks up, her eyes gold."[24]
"It's her you want to hear about, right? All right. I'll tell you something about her. She has a— a hobby, I suppose you'd call it. She builds halls of mirrors. Curates them. Different sizes, tints, angles; distorted glass that shows you things about yourself you didn't want to know. She always asks us to 'test' them. After the first time, nobody wants to."[2]
October has dark hair,[25] gold eyes,[26][27] and wears a black velvet eye mask trimmed with brown tones.[28][27] She can alter her appearance in dreams to intimidate others, such as by peeling off her face with her mask to reveal blank skin underneath.[29]
Preferable?
October is a particularly radical and militant revolutionary who views society's laws as oppressive, and advocates for defiance and pragmatism.[30][31] Although she remains cordial with acquaintances,[32][33] she is extremely unscrupulous, even by the standards of the Calendar Council.[34][35] She obsesses over her targets and aims to study everything about them,[36] and will question others about their dreams to use their confidence against them later.[37] Victims may end up stark raving mad or unable to sleep forever,[38][12] and her own subordinates would rather die permanently than face her wrath.[39] One of October's cruelest pursuits are her houses of mirrors, which reflect back a person's most unseemly and suppressed traits. She forces her subordinates to "test" these mirrors for experiments, which traumatizes them severely.[40]
Dreams Come True
"The Masters didn't know who I really was, of course. I spent years constructing a false identity in order to join the Marvellous. Virginia saw through it, but did not expose me. Not that I'd have let her. Afterwards, I used my reward to cast one of the Masters in a prison of its own failures. I understand that most of them have had second thoughts about the game since then."[41]
"It is very tempting to take it all with me. To be utterly irreplaceable. The Council searches for someone who can be a new October. But the cause is more than any of us."[42]
Each member of the Calendar Council opposes the purview of one of the Masters of the Bazaar, and October in particular opposes Mr Mirrors and its "bailiwick" over dreams.[43] She spent years stalking Mirrors,[44] and to defeat her foe for good, she took on a false identity and joined the Marvellous,[45] the Masters' game where one may win their heart's desire.[46]Virginia was one of her opponents and saw through her disguise, but did not reveal her identity, not that October would let her without a fight.[45][30]
After winning the Marvellous, October requested that her "dreams come true." The Masters made arrangements with the powers of the Is-Not, and granted October special powers in Parabola.[47][48] It is said that October lured Mr Mirrors into dreams,[44] then used her gift to trap it in a "prison of its own failures,"[49] reducing it to a reflection, cast by nothing, chained forever in Parabola.[50][51] This incident horrified the Masters,[52] and Mr Cups took on Mirrors' name and duties in its absence.[53] During her battle with Mirrors, October was bitten and scarred by Mirrors' pet, the crocodile-Fingerking hybrid known as the Yolk-in-Yearning.[54][55]
With her goal achieved, October retreated to Yesterday's Clerestory,[56] a dream in Parabola of a European monk who died when the Fourth City fell. The Masters cannot access this dream as they had no authority over the monk,[57] and October can use her remaining unspent powers to wipe any memories of her location.[58] October is now a solitary individual[59] who is aware the Council may replace her.[60] She still dresses as though she may leave, and she implies that she may return to make herself irreplaceable, but she acknowledges that the cause she fights for is greater than even herself.[60]
↑The Bloody Wallpaper, Fallen London"This is heavy reading material! The text isn't easy to follow either. [...] These are a monk's nightmares. [...] Most aren't fantasies, but real events: witnessed, lodged in nocturnal visions, and interpreted [...] People can do these things. [...] They still do."
↑The Calendar Code, Fallen London"Brave a book of nightmares [...] Uneasy dreams [...] A phantom horse which causes carriage accidents. Dying breaths in an empty bedroom. Crawling zee-beasts which make their way through [...] plumbing [...]"
↑The Calendar Code, Fallen London"These appear to be genuine nightmares, confessed to physicians and priests. Each is followed by a discussion about how it can be exploited to manipulate political thought."
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"You assemble what evidence you can: [...] An underlined passage reads: "—to shape their dreams advances the Liberation.""
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"The Department of Restful Sleep [...] It occupies a quiet wing of a Ministry building [...]"
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"The under-secretary sips his tea [...] "The raid you witnessed was to interrogate a cell of anarchists. We've been trying to identify their controller for some months. [...]"
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"A Dream about a Masked Woman [...] You dream about a figure approaching you in a shuttered room"
↑The Peace of October, Fallen London"The lost member of the Calendar Council commands influence in the domain of her exile. The nightmares of her acolytes carry out her commands still."
↑The Peace of October, Fallen London"To hold influence in dream is power. Show me what you see and I am yours. [...] The deal made, a cadre of ravens flies from October's island [...] They will follow you across Parabola – and report back your every move."
↑The Peace of October, Fallen London"October speaks to you in a dark grove, where the shadow of her monastic holdfast is dimly visible [...] a cadre of ravens flies from October's island to your Camp."
↑The Peace of October, Fallen London"A chorus of ravens gathers like a stormcloud [...] they come together to form a colossal figure. October, raven-bodied, marches on Parabola. The Smoking Shore trembles beneath her black-feathered passage. Your enemy's [...] widen as they comprehend the size of the force you've arrayed against them."
↑The Peace of October, Fallen London"Darkness seeps into the labyrinth as October goes on the hunt. Even Parabola is not free from the Liberation where she walks. Her ravens pin down the quarry [...]"
↑The Bloody Wallpaper, Fallen London"Room 10 [...] the booking is reserved for one specific guest. It can stand empty for years when she doesn't visit."
↑The Bloody Wallpaper, Fallen London"Check on the Absent Lady [...] Has she arrived yet? Her room is ready. [...] Inside this room, it's still autumn outside. Red and gold leaves cascade past the window. [...] there's movement in the mirrors. There always was movement: black feathers, frenzied. [...] The glass itself would be clear and silver if these birds weren't flocking in the reflections [...]"
↑ 22.022.1The Bloody Wallpaper, Fallen London"October in Red and Gold [...] I've worked with the Manager before. He claims to respect my advice. I told him not to renew the lease. So much for that. [...] I can't deny the Manager knows how to colour-coordinate. One of his deadliest talents. [...]"
↑The Bloody Wallpaper, Fallen London"[...] Management has no patience for guests with personal requests. [...] Room 10's guest is another matter. The Absent Lady could ask for the Moon, and the Manager would snap his fingers to make the Staff jump high enough to pull it down. He might even climb a stepladder himself."
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"Remove her mask [...] A warning [...] As you draw the mask away, her eyes come with it. And her nose and mouth. The blank oval [...] In your hand, her face begins to talk. [...] Cease all investigation into my activities."
↑Ask for her advice on winning, Fallen London"With the Masters, if you play by their rules, then you have already lost. Society's laws are not made in your interest; [...] My advice? Cheat. [...] Find ways to outmanoeuvre your players away from the game. Determine things so that you know your opponents [...]"
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"When she settles on a target, she pursues them to the exclusion of all else. Tries to get completely inside their head. [...] Her focus makes us all uncomfortable, but of course you can't say anything.""
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"[...] I'll tell you something about our controller. She is inordinately interested in your dreams. In everybody's dreams. You cannot have an extended conversation without her trying to extract some snippet from your previous night's repose. [...] I advise you to keep that information to yourself. I used to confide in her. [...] "What you tell her has a way of— of coming back.""
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"There was one poet [...] with some connection to society. She liked his work. He ended up in the Royal Beth, screaming in rhyme."
↑The Shallows, Fallen London""I dread what lies ahead now, but I still chose it over her wrath. [...] once enraged, she is savage, pitiless. [...] "The explosion wasn't an accident. When we knew we had failed, we detonated all the bombs." [...] "We chose permanent death over capture.""
↑The Shallows, Fallen London"[...] She has a— a hobby, [...] She builds halls of mirrors. [...] distorted glass that shows you things about yourself you didn't want to know. She always asks us to 'test' them. After the first time, nobody wants to." [...] "She'll get you in there one day. Her next little bit of research.""
↑Piece your clues together (1), Fallen London"The Calendar Council is composed of twelve members: each opposes the purview of one of the Masters. Of that twelve, one stands in opposition to Mr Mirrors and its bailiwick over dreams: October."
↑ 44.044.1The Shallows, Fallen London"For years she stalked one Master, Mr Mirrors. It's gone. It's been gone for years. She lured it into dreams. [...] The controller may have destroyed Mr Mirrors."
↑ 45.045.1Ask about her heart's desire, Fallen London""The Masters didn't know who I really was, [...] I spent years constructing a false identity in order to join the Marvellous. Virginia saw through it, but did not expose me. Not that I'd have let her.""
↑Ask about her heart's desire, Fallen London"Ask about her heart's desire [...] October won the Marvellous, once. [...] "I asked for my dreams to come true, and the Masters arranged certain accommodations with the powers of the Is-Not.""
↑Ask about her heart's desire, Fallen London"Ask about her heart's desire [...] October won the Marvellous, once. [...] A trap long in the making [...] "I asked for my dreams to come true, and the Masters arranged certain accommodations with the powers of the Is-Not." [...] I used my reward to cast one of the Masters in a prison of its own failures.""
↑Dreamer's End, Fallen London"[...] the Beggar's Wake is the dream of the pitiful creature chained at its heart, that the creature is the last remnant of Mr Mirrors, [...] "I am only a splinter of myself, now. A dream, dreaming. A reflection, cast by nothing.""
↑Find the Grave of Mirrors, Fallen London""To be reduced to this," it bemoans. "Undone by a perfidious revolutionary, [...] "—and now at the mercy of some anonymous Parabolan vagrant." [...] "Miserable.""
↑Ask for Gregory Beechwood's heart's desire, Fallen London""The Marvellous is a sacred—" Hearts begins, [...] "No, it isn't," says Stones. "It's an amusement. One that has already cost us dearly." There is a weighted pause as the other Masters consider this. "I said after the Mirrors incident that we should put an end to the d_mn thing.""
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London""Mr Mirrors, however, has been delinquent," the serpent hisses. "When was it? Since October?" "What a bite! What a battle!" "I have been a guard-dog on a chain," says the serpent. "Not anymore.""
↑Ask an old friend, Fallen London""October achieved her goal and vacated the Council. [...] she is somewhere that the Masters cannot reach but the Council can. Which suggests – ah. Yesterday's Clerestory.""
↑Introduce yourself (to October), Fallen London"The Clerestory, [...] is a Fourth City dream – a European monk who perished when that city fell. Somehow, his dream found itself in Parabola. Happily for me, the Masters had had no purchase over him, and thus they have no idea this sanctuary exists.""
↑Leave October, Fallen London"You remember October, [...] But where did you meet? That memory is gone, vanished like a dream plucked from your skull. Perhaps October's powers are not wholly spent."
↑ 60.060.1Ask for her advice on winning, Fallen London"Even here, she dresses as though she might need to leave at any moment. [...] "It is very tempting to take it all with me. To be utterly irreplaceable. The Council searches for someone who can be a new October." [...] "But the cause is more than any of us.""
