Furnace Ancona
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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. |
"I'm 'Furnace' Ancona, I run the Tracklayers' Union, and if you want to put down any rail out of London, it's me you need to be dealing with."[1]
Furnace Ancona is the well-respected leader of the Tracklayer's Union.[1]
An Advocate for the People
As the leader of the Tracklayer's Union, Furnace supervises her union's projects, meets with investors,[2] and ensures everyone is paid fairly.[3][4] Her work has made her a living legend among tracklayers,[5] labor advocates,[6] and revolutionaries alike;[7] she is even called Saint Furnace Ancona by some.[5] Despite her excellent political acumen,[8] she is not at all a bureaucrat. She instead prefers to lead from the front lines,[9] working alongside union members and making use of her extensive knowledge of the practicalities of tracklaying.[10] Furnace stands in opposition to any threat to workers' rights,[11] especially by the monopolistic Mr Fires and its lackeys.[12]
Furnace's ultimate goal is to build a city for the Neath's tracklayers, where they can live free from the Masters' influence and any other form of oppression.[13] This is also the founding principle of the Emancipationist ideology, one of the three schools of thought within the Tracklayer's Union.[14] She has very detailed plans for this city's infrastructure and governance,[15] in hopes that she may set an example for the future.[16] She claims this as an extension of her down-to-earth attitude, though her plans reveal her utopian leanings.[17]
History
"There are many people in London looking for many different Revolutions ... but we can't get distracted squabbling among ourselves."
Born in the Neath[18] as Beatrice Ancona,[19] Furnace is of Italian descent, as her surname would indicate.[20] She comes from a family of worker's rights activists; her grandfather belonged to a Friendly Society, and swore never to work for less than ten shillings a week even though his comrades were punished for it.[21]
Before founding the Tracklayer's Union, Ancona worked in one of Mr Fires' factories. One day, the Master demanded that workers no longer wear protective helmets, and she started to plan her revenge against such blatant worker cruelty. Mr Fires was warned that something would happen, but it did nothing,[22] and one day Beatrice trapped it in one of the back rooms, where it remained for three days.[23] As a consequence of this incident, all the workers in the factory lost their jobs; however, Ancona gained the nickname "Furnace" (because she could "contain fires") and became something of a legend among London's working population.[24] After this incident, Ancona was hired to work on the Moloch Line, the railway commissioned by Hell to join it and London. She used her position to offer jobs to all her past colleagues from the factory.[22]
Appearance
[To be added]
Personality
"Furnace isn't the kind that stays home stamping letters for the front. Where the work is, that's where she is. When she's in London, that'll be because that's where she's found the biggest threat to the workers. But she's been all the way out. Made the journey to Hell and back on foot, twice."[25]
Courageous, charismatic, and compassionate, Furnace is equally adept at delivering fiery speeches and listening to the voices of her union constituents.[26] As the leader of a broad coalition, she always ensures fairness and equality in her decisions, even when she does not agree with all parties involved.[27]
The Hurlers Incident
"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"
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.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.
"This is what Cornelius' experiment did ... He invoked a power against speaking 'more than one truth with the same mouth.' So when I needed to speak for one of my constituents that I don't personally agree with, this happened. Didn't silence me, though."[28]
It was around this time that Furnace became involved in the fledgling Tracklayer's Union; at the time, she shared leadership of the group with her colleague Cornelius. The construction of the line went well until the workers reached the Hurlers.[29] A deviless sought to sabotage Cornelius,[30] teasing him about not being able to read an inscription written in the Discordance, and smuggled him a dictionary. When Cornelius read the inscription, it wounded him grievously enough to send him to the Slow Boat,[31] and granted both Cornelius[32] and Furnace some startling physical consequences. Furnace now has two extra faces, which she hides beneath her helmet, and which become apparent when she argues for multiple points of view at the same time.[28]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Submit forms in triplicate, Fallen London
- ↑ Submit forms in triplicate, Fallen London "[...] if you want to put down any rail out of London, it's me you need to be dealing with."
- ↑ Lay track through plains and set aside housing for the workforce, Fallen London "Furnace takes the scrip [...] "Most of the Tracklayers couldn't afford a plot of land [...] "This is a very kind donation to their retirement. [...]"
- ↑ Proclaim your dedication to Revolutionary causes, Fallen London "[...] you want to do right [...] Pay us well and make sure we've got full bellies."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Make a study of the local smuggling rings, Fallen London "[...] there's the railway and the Union," [...] I won't be caught blaspheming against Saint Furnace Ancona, because I know how folk feel about her, [...]"
- ↑ Introduce her to your Minacious Union-Rat, Fallen London "Ever since he heard you knew Furnace Ancona, he's been begging to [...] meet her."
- ↑ Introduce her to your friend the Revolutionary Firebrand, Fallen London "The Revolutionary Firebrand veers between awkward excitement to meet Furnace and offering vehement advice [...]"
- ↑ Play Furnace Ancona against the rest, Fallen London "She knows where all the pressure points are. She knows what changes minds and alters courses."
- ↑ Ask whether Furnace Ancona ever comes out this way, Fallen London ""Furnace oversees the work when there's work going on," [...] "Furnace isn't the kind that stays home stamping letters for the front. Where the work is, that's where she is. [...]"
- ↑ Persuade Furnace/Tables, Fallen London ""Wetland," [...] "Bad for the health and bad for morale. [...] I warn you, [...] The Tracklayers are not going to enjoy working there.""
- ↑ Ask whether Furnace Ancona ever comes out this way, Fallen London "[...] When she's in London, that'll be because that's where she's found the biggest threat to the workers. [...]"
- ↑ Ask about her fears, Fallen London ""I think you got the railway steel from Mr Fires [...] it isn't pleased to have someone else building this railway," [...] I've seen his lackeys twice, [...] watching the Tracklayers? And once a dirigible passed overhead, [...]"
- ↑ Ask about her goals, Fallen London "[...] When the Railway is done, we can have our own town, somewhere out along the line, and the Masters can leave us alone.""
- ↑ Inspired Emancipationist Propaganda, Fallen London "You have inspired painters and sculptors with the dream of a town for workers."
- ↑ Feed Furnace a Hearty Parabolan Taper-nut Cake, Fallen London "[...] she is full of practical plans for her future village of union members: [...] management of sewage [...] a rotating supervisory council [...] no one will hold power for more than a couple of years."
- ↑ Feed Furnace a Hearty Parabolan Taper-nut Cake, Fallen London ""I see the Neath as a proving-ground," [...] we can devise a more just working mode of managing [...] replacement for ordinary governments – we can teach those above [...] we have to start here. Anything up there will be wiped out [...] Too many masters.""
- ↑ Ask him about the Emancipationists (Cornelius), Fallen London
- ↑ Acknowledge that you've heard of such arrangements, Fallen London "[...] Furnace would have an easier time than he did – being Neathborn, [...]"
- ↑ Ask where Furnace got her name, Fallen London ""She used to be called Beatrice," [...]"
- ↑ Inquire into the origins of her name, Fallen London ""What, Ancona?" [...] "My grandfather is Italian. He was in London when she fell. [...]""
- ↑ Ask about her goals , Fallen London ""My grandfather belonged to a Friendly Society – before the fall. They all swore [...] never to work for less than ten shillings a week." [...]"
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Ask how he came to be in this position, Fallen London
- ↑ Ask where Furnace got her name, Fallen London
- ↑ Introduce her to your friend the Revolutionary Firebrand, Fallen London
- ↑ Ask whether Furnace Ancona ever comes out this way, Fallen London
- ↑ Get her back to work, Fallen London
- ↑ Try for a further understanding of his intentions, Fallen London
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Claim curiosity, Fallen London
- ↑ Ask about those stones out in the frozen patch of Neath, Fallen London
- ↑ Ask questions about the history between Furnace and the Devils, Fallen London
- ↑ Ask how she first learned about stones like the one you just left, Fallen London
- ↑ Speaking with Cornelius, Fallen London
