The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel
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"He also chucks you under the chin, which is a little over-familar, but, well. His buttons are so very shiny. It's difficult to quarrel with a man of such shiny buttons. 'Thank you,' he says. 'I do hope you'll continue to enjoy your stay.'"[1]
"The priest-king wears white linen, and many layers of shining copper and brass jewellery. He is unmistakably the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel."[2]
The Manager of the Royal Beth, also known as the Merry Gentleman, is the Priest-King of the First City. His lover was the King with a Hundred Hearts. He is responsible for the First City's Fall, as he sacrificed it in return for the King with a Hundred Hearts' life when the latter was dying of "fits".[3] Despite the King's hatred for what he has become due to this deal, the Manager still loves him after thousands of years.[4]
As of now, he also acts as May of the Calendar Council, and gives his dark blessings to aspiring revolutionaries.[5] His book in the Agendums of Ascent records stories of forbidden and tragic passion.[6]
He is also certainly a player of the Marvellous, and his desire is to share his lover's fate by becoming a second living city. This may be a reason why he collects diamonds, since all he needs is a diamond from the Mountain of Light to replace his heart.[7] Besides these, he has quite an appetite for mysteries and ancient lore.[8][9]
"The Manager often perambulates London at night, searching for those afflicted, to collect for his hotel. You will need to be more than a little mad to find him." [10] When he does so, he sometimes walks his scarlet lizard,[11] which on one occasion he referred to as "pomegranate". Although, whether that is the lizard's name is not clear.[12]
In Parabola, he keeps the Garden of Nightmares.[13] It is surrounded by an iron gate (which is more organic in nature) and is furnished inside with a grey stone patio on which a trellis table stands. The whole garden is lit by bright moonlight. [14]
He is described as having eight fingers[15] (though unclear if in total or on each hand) and a penchant for the dandyish side of the Fifth City's fashion, trying to blend in with his eccentric stovepipe hat, his frock coat with two rows of very shiny brass buttons, his gloves and his silver-capped cane.[16][17] He is tall[17] and has dark hair[14]with an olive complexion.[18]
His uncle is the Capering Relicker, the man who brewed the first Hesperidean Cider.[19]
Historical and Cultural Inspirations
If the Crossroads Shaded by Cedars (the First City) is Uruk - though we don't know for sure, besides that it was from Ancient Mesopotamia - then the Manager would be Gilgamesh, the King with a Hundred Hearts would be Enkidu, and the Capering Relicker would be Utnapishtim. These three are key players in the Epic of Gilgamesh. That said, the King with a Hundred Hearts' origin is different (in the Fallen London universe, he is a traveler from China[20]), and most of the main events of the Epic aren't mentioned in the story of the First City.
