Mr Stones
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"You have proven useful. But I am a step ahead. Observe. Caught him trying to sell the diamonds you gave him. New to the city. Didn't know that the diamonds are mine. All mine. Now he knows."[1]
Mr Stones is a terse and avaricious Curator who serves as a Master of the Bazaar.
Mine.[edit]
"Jewels. Quarrystone. Salt. Blasting Powder. Enough."[2]
"Why are diamonds so hard to find down here? Does Mr Stones really keep them for itself?"[3]
Mr Stones controls trade in all kinds of stones and minerals, including jewels, quarrystone, salt, blasting powder, corrosive mineral compounds,[2][4] brick, metal,[5] moon-pearls,[6] and glim.[7] However, its actual domain is "value itself,"[8] which may be one of the reasons for its fixation on gems[9] and why its products carry high price tags.[10] Since it controls the sale of building materials, walls and boundaries are also within its sphere of influence.[11][12]
Stones is an elusive Master who prefers to have its employees do its bidding.[13][14] It operates quarries far from London[15] and staffs them with Clay Men.[16] It runs a gift shop at the Labyrinth of Tigers,[17] and when the Great Hellbound Railway reached the Hurlers, it established an outpost there to deal in what few commodities the frozen wastes had to offer.[18] In a curious manifestation of its domain over boundaries, it has a business deal with a security company that strives to create unbreakable locks,[19][20] through both physical and psychological means.[21]
Mr Stones was known as Mr Marble until a recent issue with the Tomb-Colonies.[22] This matter probably involved the massive marble palaces being constructed there for the dead.[23] In the Fourth City, Mr Stones was known as the Khan of Gifts and the Khan of Shackles, implying it was a slaver during that time period.[8] Curiously, it is the only one of the Masters that does not have an epithet given by the Cult of the Sanctified in the Sunless Skies timeline.
Appearance and Personality[edit]
"Anyone else strutting about with this many exposed jewels, as ready to be plucked as ripened fruit, would be plucked very barren indeed in London. But Mr Stones plucks back."[24]
"Stones is curt, impolite, wary, and very, very rich."[25]
Mr Stones is the most outlandishly dressed of the Masters. It is covered from head to toe in adornments,[26] including teeth made from gold and diamond,[27] fangs covered in jewels,[28] numerous bracelets under its robes,[29] and ornaments affixed to its hood.[30] Unlike its companions,[31][32] Stones does not wear gloves to conceal its claws; its talons are very sharp and are unsurprisingly decorated with gems.[33] Stones also has a darker-colored robe than the one depicted in its artwork, which is covered in minuscule and glittering diamonds.[34] While it may dress anonymously in generic robes, its fondness for adornments usually gives it away.[35] Mr Stones' ostentatious nature also extends to its lair[36] (which it redecorates with different gems to suit its mood)[37] and even its favorite hansom carriage.[38]
Menacing[39][40] and ill-tempered,[41][42] Mr Stones typically speaks tersely[43] and does not bother with formalities or politeness.[44] When it feels like using more than one word in a sentence, it may speak Shakespearean English.[45][46] As is typical for Curators (the Masters' species),[47] it is single-minded in the pursuit of its own domain;[48] its greed does not discern,[49] especially when gems are involved,[50][51] and it reacts poorly when denied.[52][53] It seems to put up more of a facade of charity than the other Masters when it stands to benefit from donations.[54][55]
Stones has a vested interest in procuring gemstones from the Surface,[56] and has imposed a high import tax to enable this.[57] After establishing its outpost at the Hurlers, it also began inquiring about stones that "unmake boundaries."[54] But above all, it is particularly fascinated with diamonds and their ability to capture sunlight.[58][59] To this end, it has laid claim to all the diamonds in London,[60] and doles out harsh punishment[61] to anyone who trades or hoards them without permission.[62][63] When Stones does grant permission to sell a diamond, it is typically to those of "good character."[64] In its jewel-encrusted workshop,[36] Stones experiments on sunlight-diamonds and compels them to "blaze" with their trapped radiance.[65][66]
Mr Stones has respect for the Great Chain of Being[67][68] and uses it as an excuse to look down on humans.[69] It seems to mistrust the Echo Bazaar[70] and considers arriving in the Neath a grave mistake.[71] It also resents others of its species.[72] According to its iteration of Mr Sacks, Stones prefers diamonds over drinking[73] and dislikes lacre.[74]
The Affair of the Box[edit]
"This thing has seven locks, each more difficult than the last. You haven't yet found a way to open it."[75]
"...And Mr Stones is furious that its box has gone missing again. The Clay twins are tearing the place up looking for it. No box means no moon-milk. And that means our exiled captain won't provide it with the troops it wants. It'll just have to wait for its blessed Sixth City."[76]
Despite sharing an employer,[47] the Masters all have their own schemes and plots,[77] which sometimes come into conflict with each other.[78][79] Mr Stones once captured a moon-miser in an iron box,[80] alongside love letters from the Fourth City[81] that it stole from Mr Fires.[79] The box was secured with a lock that could only be opened with a song from a Drownie,[82] as well as seven decoy locks with fake keys scattered across London.[83][84] Stones kept the box a guarded[85] secret from the other Masters,[86] continually moving it around London[87] and causing various parties to take an interest.[88][89] Stones planned to give the moon-miser's valuable milk[90] to an exiled captain of Hell, who would assemble an army and start a war in London;[76][91] the love letters in the box, meanwhile, would be delivered to the Echo Bazaar.[92] Mr Stones tires of London, and both of these actions would expedite the fall of the Sixth City.[76][93]
Adornment[edit]
"This is simple caprice. It is an obsessive. You are here to complete its collection. You flee. You do not get far, in this realm where the light is word is law. The weight of its gaze almost crushes you. It utters a single incandescent word.
"Adornment."[1]
Like the rest of the Masters, Mr Stones is a Curator,[47] one of the bat-like beings that roam the High Wilderness in search of treasures for their collections.[94] Before it arrived in the Neath, it repeatedly broke the laws of the Judgements.[95] Its home was eventually subjugated by a Judgement,[96] although this star did not know its captive was a criminal.[97] Rather, it was a collector of creatures, and Stones was merely its latest "adornment."[98] The unfortunate Curator was kept prisoner for an indeterminate amount of time; outraged at its own treatment and the Judgement's disregard for "conventions" and "laws"[99] (which is perhaps a bit rich given Stones' prior behavior),[95] Stones was consumed by inscrutable rage, bitterness, and shame.[100]
Eventually Mr Stones was freed from the Judgement's captivity, but it was held to account for its crimes,[95] and entered into service under the Echo Bazaar.[101]
References[edit]
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