Bourdain

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"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"

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"This statue depicts an unassuming, bespectacled man with thinning hair and a solemn face. "Bourdain," Mariam remembers."

"We were confidantes. He was a Frenchman and - in his day - a member of the revolutionaries' Calendar Council. He wrote pamphlets, and placed bombs. I could not say which were more incendiary."[2]

Bourdain is a member of the Seven Against Nidah who served as its Propagandist. He hails from France and was at one point a member of the Calendar Council; he specializes in propaganda and the placement of bombs.[3] He joined the Seven to recruit armies for their cause,[4] and was a close confidante to Mariam herself.[3] He sought to one day distribute immortality freely in the spirit of "liberty, equality, and eternity," and also destroy the Echo Bazaar.[5][6] Bourdain also sponsored Rosegate and the Crotchety Tobacconist's underwater cigar project, though recently he withdrew support in favor of his work for the Seven.[7][8]

After the Seven's defeat, Bourdain took refuge at Frostfound.[9] He "failed" in the Ruby Room there, and his visage was trapped behind a frozen wall.[10] Mariam sent an agent to rescue him, but they were intercepted by Wreckers,[9] who stole Bourdain's ice-slab and presented it to the Fair King as a mirror.[11] The Fair King considers this mirror one of his greatest treasures,[12] and sometimes peers into it to view Bourdain's hopes for the future.[13]

Bourdain's predicament did not impede his cause at all.[14] He can still see and hear the outside world,[15] and can communicate by writing on the ice's surface.[16] He has many agents under his command all over the Neath,[17] and contacts them by having them consume a ruby-like substance at Kingeater's Castle. One of these agents, the Gnomic Gallivant, was assigned a mission to assassinate a member of the Presbyterate.[18]

Historical Inspirations[edit | edit source]

The national motto of France has been "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (Liberty, equality, fraternity) since the days of the French Revolution, although there has been much dispute about its exact origins. For the cause of the Seven Against Nidah, Bourdain changed the controversial "fraternity" to "eternity."[19]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Try to see the Man in the Mirror, Sunless Sea "Try to see the Man in the Mirror"
  2. ↑ The Propagandist, Sunless Sea
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Propagandist, Sunless Sea "She remembers Bourdain better than the others. "We were confidantes. He was a Frenchman and - in his day - a member of the revolutionaries' Calendar Council. He wrote pamphlets, and placed bombs. I could not say which were more incendiary.""
  4. ↑ Ask him about the Seven, Sunless Sea "Bourdain recruited our legions."
  5. ↑ Try to see the Man in the Mirror, Sunless Sea "One passes him a letter; [...] The Man reads it and passes the young woman a flask. [...] Her skin glows with new vigour. And before they can set on him, he laughs, and - in the spirit of liberty, equality, and eternity - gives them each a flask of their own. [...] what it is we are seeing. The gentleman's hopes? His fears? He certainly seems to have an ambitious imagination.""
  6. ↑ Try to see yourself, Sunless Sea "You see yourself, [...] You look improbably healthy; restlessly vital. The lights of London [...] The city, too, is different. A triumphal arch of blazing Mountain-stone [...] words 'DEATH HATH NO MORE DOMINION' engraved across it. [...] the clawing outline of the Bazaar: a blasted ruin. [...] "I am never sure what it is we are seeing. The gentleman's hopes? His fears? He certainly seems to have an ambitious imagination.""
  7. ↑ The History of Rosegate, Sunless Sea "The advances we've made in the tobacconist's art are unrivalled. [...] the greatest credit must go to my patron. When he first heard of the underwater cigar, he didn't scorn me as London had. He saw the possibility of impossibility. He saw the beauty. And without his support, Rosegate would not rest in the zee; Rosegate wouldn't have been able to experiment with ten thousand flavours; Rosegate would not be the home of the underwater cigar..."
  8. ↑ Witness a reunion, Sunless Sea "Our patron has forsaken us. He's only interested in his project to the south. He left my Apprentice to starve, and he hasn't arranged a delivery of the materials I require. I've run out of rubies to try to convince him otherwise."
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Propagandist, Sunless Sea ""If the worst came to the worst, he meant to hide in Frostfound. But the ice-spires swallowed him. Years ago I sent an agent to retrieve him, but their vessel was lost. Prey to pirates, [...] Or wreckers.""
  10. ↑ Invite him to rejoin the Seven, Sunless Sea "After the Seven's defeat, he attempted to hide in Frostfound. He failed at 'the Ruby Room', and this vestige was trapped in the ice."
  11. ↑ Approach the mirror, Sunless Sea "[...] the Fair King keeps a mirror made of ice. It holds a reflection - neither yours nor his, but that of a narrow, bespectacled gentleman."
  12. ↑ Buy the King's mirror, Sunless Sea "It is one of the King's most treasured possessions. [...] "Calved from Frostfound," the King says. "Keep it cold.""
  13. ↑ Try to see yourself, Sunless Sea "The Fair King's voice interrupts the vision. "I am never sure what it is we are seeing. The gentleman's hopes? His fears? He certainly seems to have an ambitious imagination.""
  14. ↑ Invite him to rejoin the Seven, Sunless Sea "He writes backwards, which necessitates some deciphering. "I NEVER LEFT.""
  15. ↑ Story description, Sunless Sea ""He watches you through the chipped, frosty surface. When you ask if he can hear you, he nods, curtly.""
  16. ↑ Invite him to rejoin the Seven, Sunless Sea "[...] breathe on the ice, fogging it. [...] he raises a finger and begins to draw a message in the fog from the other side."
  17. ↑ Invite him to rejoin the Seven, Sunless Sea "He has a number of agents in the Neath, [...] they are able to communicate with him via... [...] 'esoteric means'."
  18. ↑ Stand at the altar with the Gnomic Gallivant, Sunless Sea "He has powdered one of his rubies, and is sprinkling it into a vial of wine. [...] He downs the vial [...] "Master Bourdain?" he croaks. "It is done. The College of Mortality is one less. [...] He pauses, listening. You hear nothing, but the Gallivant smiles. "Oh, that is very just. Is there anything -? Yes. [...]"
  19. ↑ Invite him to rejoin the Seven, Sunless Sea "Is he ready to resume the Seven's cause? He writes a final message in your breath. 'LIBERTY. EQUALITY. ETERNITY.' "
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