Criminals

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"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."

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.


"Wherever there's poverty, darkness, despair, there's folk to make a profit on it. And London has these a-plenty." [1]

Gang Leaders

"Once a year, three paragons of London's underworld gather to settle outstanding scores. They have asked you to mediate. The Cheery Man hunches over the table, his cane propped beside him. The Gracious Widow is veiled from head to foot. Green gloves hide her hands. The Topsy King perches in the rafters above, and hoots sadly."[2]

{{{Alt Text}}} The Cheery Man

"Grim. Vicious. Remorseless. But a man of his word."[3]

The Cheery Man is the owner of the Medusa's Head, a tavern in Watchmaker's Hill, and the leader of one of London's criminal syndicates. Though he is ruthless even by the Fifth City's standards, he commands great loyalty among his thieves and cutthroats.[4] The Cheery Man was once a married man, and co-ruled Spite and the bordering areas with his wife. However, one of the numerous enemies of the Cheery Man ambushed and killed his wife, greatly setting back the Cheery Man's criminal empire.[5]

{{{Alt Text}}} The Gracious Widow

"As cold as the River. As old as the Forgotten Quarter. Her heart is pickled in secrets."[6]

The Widow, as she is commonly called, is the leader of a vast smuggling ring that has been known to carry jewels and Clay Men into and out of London. She is also the founder and secret owner of the Greyfields winery.

{{{Alt Text}}} The Topsy King

"His court is high and threadbare, but his tastes are cultivated. He does not care for coin."[7]

The Topsy King is the ruler of the Flit. He is often accompanied by his gang of lunatic beggars and thieves, known as the Raggedy Men. He collects paintings and tends to speak in nearly incomprehensible gibberish.

Notable Criminals

{{{Alt Text}}} The Avaricious Glove

"Imported from Polythreme. Lightweight. Dexterous. Amoral."

A lockpicking expert from Polythreme, this glove can unlock a safe faster than you can say "we're in." It has been caught and locked up by the Special Constables, but should it ever be released, there is no doubt that it will once again return to a life of crime.[8]

{{{Alt Text}}} The Disgraced Rat-Catcher

"Banished from the Department of Menace Eradication for 'over-qualification'."

Years ago, the Disgraced Rat-Catcher drank cream from a porcelain dish and slept on feather pillows. But the lady of the house eventually realized why her other pets kept disappearing, and the Department of Menace Eradication was called. However, rather than facing the executioner's blade, the Disgraced Rat-Catcher was offered an opportunity to join the Department of Menace Eradication. And so an era of professional bloodletting began, soaking the streets of London in blood. However, just as quickly as this era began, so did this too come to an end, as the Menace Eradicators came to realize just why so many of its employees kept disappearing...[9]

{{{Alt Text}}} The Entrepreneurial Illusionist

"Mahogany Hall doesn't pay enough to cover all the bills."

The Entrepreneurial Illusionist has a day job entertaining the masses at Mahogany Hall. The Hall doesn't pay particularly well, however, and she has had to resort to other means of earning income. Fortunately for her, a career as a criminal scientist came easy to the Illusionist; she is skilled in lockpicking and escape artistry, with no one ever the wiser given her perfect alibi. After all, Thursday's audience can provide an alibi for the theft of Empire Adornments - she was clearly on stage, bound in chains and suspended upside-down above a piranha-filled tank as the robbery occured. [10]

{{{Alt Text}}} The Prince of Pearls

"This infamous rat is suspected of stealing upwards of five-million moon-pearls."

Infamous for the alleged theft of an enormous quantity of moon-pearls, the Prince of Pearls plans his next score deep within London's catacombs, alongside his gang of venge-rats with suspiciously pearlescent grins.[11]

{{{Alt Text}}} The Quiet Gentleman

"Speech is superfluous in his profession."

A man of few words, bloody contracts, and killer instincts. Sharp and quick-witted, he often uncovers his contracts hidden within the coded messages and ciphers of the advertisements and articles that fill the newspapers of London.[12]


References

  1. ↑ The Alleys of London: the Criminals, Fallen London "Wherever there's poverty, darkness, despair, there's folk to make a profit on it. And London has these a-plenty."
  2. ↑ A Council of Thieves, Fallen London "Once a year, three paragons of London's underworld gather to settle outstanding scores and they have asked you to mediate. The Cheery Man hunches over the table[…] The Gracious Widow is veiled from head to foot[…] The Topsy King perches in the rafters[…]"
  3. ↑ The Cheery Man, Fallen London "Grim. Vicious. Remorseless. But a man of his word.""
  4. ↑ "The Cheery Man.", Fallen London "The Cheery Man is the owner of the Medusa's Head, a tavern in Watchmaker's Hill, and the leader of one of London's criminal syndicates. Though he is ruthless even by the Fifth City's standards, he commands great loyalty among his thieves and cutthroats."
  5. ↑ Ask the Last Constable about her mother, Fallen London ""The Last Constable walks over to the tomb, her fingers idly stroking the stone. "Don't get me wrong. Mother was every bit as bad as my father. Worse, sometimes." She turns to face you, silhouetted in the light. "Spite and beyond used to be part of the family empire. They ruled it together, and you don't do that without making enemies. One day, father and I went to meet her at Beatrice's. Were almost right there. But when we saw what was going on inside - even though she'd taken down a number of them - no, he didn't want to stop." She pauses. "And then it was just us two."""
  6. ↑ "The Gracious Widow.", Fallen London " As cold as the River. As old as the Forgotten Quarter. Her heart is pickled in secrets."
  7. ↑ "The Topsy King.", Fallen London " His court is high and threadbare, but his tastes are cultivated. He does not care for coin."
  8. ↑ The Avaricious Glove, Fallen London "You have to pull some strings at Dark & Savage. Then you have to bribe a Special Constable. Finally, you're invited to open an evidence locker with a crowbar, shuffle through the straw, and unwind the razor-wire. The Avaricious Glove itself is stuffed with pebbles. Each fingertip is pinched by an iron clothespin. But you soon dispense with these final restraints. This isn't a glove you can wear. It's too wilful – and it bites. But your hand would only slow it down. Operating autonomously, it can spin the dial to unlock a safe faster than you can say: We're in."
  9. ↑ The Disgraced Rat-Catcher , Fallen London "Many years ago, the Disgraced Rat-Catcher drank cream from a porcelain dish and slept on feather pillows. But the lady of the house eventually realised why her other pets kept disappearing, and the Department of Menace Eradication was required to evict the perpetrator. Rather than doing what they do best, the Department saw an opportunity, and so dawned a halcyon era of professional bloodletting – until the Menace Eradicators realised why so many co-workers kept disappearing."
  10. ↑ The Entrepreneurial Illusionist, Fallen London "If anyone at Concord Square suspects the Entrepreneurial Illusionist (which they don't), then Thursday's audience can provide an alibi. She was clearly onstage, bound in chains and suspended upside-down above a piranha-filled tank, when Empire Adornments was robbed. You're in the audience, too, for her next performance. It's remarkable how she can pick a lock with just one toe. Not half as remarkable, though, as the costume jewellery in her dressing-room. You leave your compliments in an envelope stuck to the mirror, along with a date and a time, and the ball starts rolling quickly after that."
  11. ↑ The Prince of Pearls, Fallen London "Nobody contacts the Prince of Pearls; the Prince contacts you if you're worth the trouble. Beneath the streets, where the warrens crisscross and the tunnels twist, even the most knowledgeable rodents in your network can't point you in the right direction. But the stories you've dispersed achieve their intended effect. When you finally remove the blindfold you're compelled to wear, you find yourself flanked by venge-rats in a catacomb, surrounded by skulls with suspiciously pearlescent grins. The Prince, lounging atop the bones, is reading this morning's Gazette – and the Prince is intrigued."
  12. ↑ The Quiet Gentleman, Fallen London "He responds to the advertisement that you have printed in the Gazette. The text you submitted to Mr Huffam was written with a slippery cipher, which only a sharp reader would notice and only an experienced killer would answer. At the designated hour, you're sitting on the specified bench in Tyrant's Gardens when the Quiet Gentleman sits down next to you. He opens his briefcase. He pulls out the proof that the advertisement requested. He doesn't need to say anything: the bundle speaks for itself."
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