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.
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"A scream is just an imperfectly tuned song. And we all have a song in our hearts."[1]
"Mr Veils deals with clothing and fabric, and takes a close interest in the silk-weavers of Spite. But not in any of the more dubious activities in the district of Spite! The mere suggestion is slander!"[2]
Duplicitous and impatient, Mr Veils is best known for its enjoyment of hunts and songs, and is in charge of trade in clothing and fabrics.[2] Zailors sometimes misattribute Mr Veils as being in charge of Mr Wines' ladies of the evening in their zee-zongs, likely due to the Parlour of Virtue's location in Veilgarden.[3] This Master was not the only one responsible for a certain betrayal of which we will not speak, but it did lead the way.[4][5]
Like a respectable lady's petticoats and skirts, there are still more layers to this Master. The Vake is but one of its alter egos,[9][10] an identity Veils adopts to indulge its thirst for violence and bloodshed, kept away from the public eye.[11] It hardly matters if the truth slips out;[12] few in London would believe it anyway.[13]
Across cities and ages, it has worn many masks.[14][15] But sometime after the fall of London, this one took over. Veils' identity as a Master... dissolved into the background, really.[16] This had almost no effect on its reputation in London; after all, it has always been cryptic, and no one will notice that anything has changed beneath its heavy cloak.[17]
The other Masters, however, did. Mr Fires arranged to lease one of Veils’ abandoned workshops, but since Veils has been increasingly indulging in its bloody hobby in lieu of doing its job, Fires had made an mechanical replica of Veils to mask its absence.[18] Mr Wines, once a friend, has been forced to reconsider its association with Veils, troubled by its deepening bloodlust.[19]
At its core, despite all these masks, Veils/the Vake has only three selves:
Veils the Curator is the most primal and savage form of Mr Veils, desiring only to fly, hunt, and kill, showing itself most easily in the Vake as we know it.
Veils of the Third City was a feathered god-priest of blood, who saw a special beauty in violent sacrifices and gory rituals.[20] It still lives, and it follows this crimson path to the end, to reckoning.
Veils the Intriguer is no less vicious than the other two, but stands as an outlier: it has no claws or wings, nor a hunger for blood... at least not directly. The Intriguer is a grand manipulator, a mastermind behind the chessboard, who makes its pawns do all sorts of nasty things. The reason for its relative pacifism is that the Vake's hunt for those who would seek to slay it has changed both its prey and the Vake itself, to become more like each other. Thus, in a way, the Intriguer is more human. And that has baffling implications indeed.[21]
In the Sunless Skies timeline, Veils has completely reverted to the Curator version of itself.[22]
↑ 2.02.1Sidebar Snippets: Who is Mr Veils?, Fallen London"Mr Veils deals with clothing and fabric, and takes a close interest in the silk-weavers of Spite. But not in any of the more dubious activities in the district of Spite! The mere suggestion is slander!"
↑Sidebar Snippet: What do the zailors zing?, Fallen London"Oh gather round me bully boys/And I'll zing you a zong/Of the windless waveless sunless Zee/Where the mouldy drownies throng/Here's to the girls of Mr Veils/Here's to their golden locks/Here's to a fight in the moonish light/Under the Wolfstack docks./Some dream of sun and rain and sky/And the true wind in their zails/Us Neathy tars won’t swap the stars/For the girls of Mr Veils!"
↑The hook and the bait, Fallen London"Is it opening, now, does it open? Are there snares we can grasp, to place them tinily in our flesh, as we will take the flesh of Vake-the-betrayer, black as the knives? Dear deep void those knives. My flesh was not meant for them... Ah, ah, ah, ah."
↑Ask her to help with ordinary research (April), Fallen London"She writes down a few simple remarks. The place used to belong to the Khan of Silks, but Veils now neglects it, just as he rarely visits his other workshops. She thinks someone else may have the lease of it, and she has heard rumours of a factory. "Hot as the face of a Judgment" is what she writes. In the wrong hands, such power could be a threat to the Revolutionaries."
↑Give an Offering, Sunless Skies"The Jolly Anchorite rolls out the bombazine over a slab of pale stone. [...] "Captain, stay your hand, as I shall stay mine," he implores, not looking, as he raises the knife and brings it down in the cloth, just above your stoker's head. [...] "And there we have the Saint of Blades and the Masquerader Saint!""
↑Untie the strings, Fallen London"Proof," says Mother Superior. "One of my nuns lost her life, tearing that off Mr Veils when he passed her in the street. She will be back, but it is awkward to do without her."
↑Uncle Archibald's Legacy, Fallen London"Mr Veils nods and says, 'Wisely done. Most wisely and prudently. Enjoy our gifts and forget our little pastime. Those in power must have their sport. And best it is kept from the lumpen eye of the public. It is our pleasure to do business with one so slathered in good sense.'"
↑Uncle Archibald's Legacy, Fallen London"You tell Mr Veils exactly what you think of the Masters and their vices. It does not respond – no threats, no laughter, no bribes. You stare into the swallowing nothingness of its hood, but see no reaction." "Mr Veils stands. 'A book, about us? How very delightful. Have Pages send us a first edition.' It sweeps out silently."
↑Uncle Archibald's Legacy, Fallen London"The problem with London is that everyone and their rat is an academic and a writer. Fifty-three books of conspiracy and secrets were published in the last fortnight. The fact that yours is the only one of them that is entirely true doesn't seem to matter. Oh, they have a little symposium up at the University. Someone suggests that your metaphors are most insightful." "You tell them your tale. The Vake is a Master of the Bazaar. It hunts them for its sport, and the bounty is bait. You tell them of your dreams, and your confrontation with Mr Veils. They laugh. A pair of rugged sisters clap your back hard enough to leave a bruise. Jollity reigns once more."
↑Stop and look through a distracting mirror 1, Fallen London"As you watch, however, a second master – Mr Fires – works at the back of the Decoy Mr Veils. There is the sound of a crank turning, and a thud that sounds like a clay heart beating sluggishly. Then the false Mr Veils takes a seat behind the counter of the shop. It is ready to sell velvet scraps; or at least, to be present while a shop clerk takes care of such services as counting and change-making and speech."
↑Demand an explanation for the replica Mr Veils, Fallen London"It is almost a tradition," says Mr Fires. "When we lose one of our number." Fires stands looking at you. It is not trying to see you. It is, rather, contemplating its reflection in the form of Mr Veils. "We have gone such different ways," it says. "I remember when we were more alike. But then... you were always the Vake, at least a little. Not able to keep to the allowable times. Killing whenever it suited you. Not so coarse in your thinking, but vicious, even then."
↑Ambition: Bag a Legend! – Sending the Vake a gift via Wines, Fallen London"So we have reached the end of the Vake's fall," Mr Wines says. "We wanted no part in this. But if the task falls to us, we will do it." It lifts its glass — wine, now, and none of your absinthe — and drinks it all. "We do this despite our old friendship. We do it because Veils has become an abomination. In exchange, we demand this: when such a choice stands before you, you will do the same. You will kill a friend, despite pity or fear or memory of what has been between you. Promise that, or else you are unworthy to put such a compulsion on us."
↑Stay rooted in reality, Sunless Skies"The hunched shape continues to climb the chain, wings sweeping behind it. It meets your gaze with a furious glare. There is nothing behind those eyes except an intense and sincere desire to murder you and everyone you know."
