The Fierce Philanthropist

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"The Admiralty - and other powers - disapprove of such innovation. Therefore, we will need to be discreet. I have procured experts, labourers, and a workshop. They are well-paid, and loyal."

The Fierce Philanthropist, alias Evelyn Lytton,[1][2] is an entrepreneur living in Port Carnelian. Though she is often the target of gossip and rumor, it is probably true that she comes from a well-to-do industrialist family, and/or that she has become independently wealthy.[3] She financed the recreation and development of zubmarines in the late 1880s,[4] which violated the Agreement About Nothing of Consequence[5] - not that the Admiralty could do anything about it, with their lack of manpower. She enjoys sherry.[6]

Alongside her husband (referred to only as Lytton), who was a church administrator with a congregation at his disposal, the Philanthropist also raised funds for the campaign of the Seven Against Nidah.[7] In the event of Mr. Lytton's demise or unavailability, he designated the Philanthropist to replace him as financier of the campaign.[8] However, she is not privy to the Seven's plans, and views them as "an unfortunate crowd" of "rabble rousers, schemers, [and] renegades."[9]

A zubmarine

The New Street Line[edit | edit source]

"There is no line, only the idea of one. We have conductors operating throughout the Empire, reporting to me. I'll point you to one of them and they'll tell you where you need to go. Assuming, of course, you're ready to be responsible for another's freedom."[10]

As of 1905, the Philanthropist is a co-owner of the Steam & Sapphire Company, an engine yard in New London.[11] Secretly, however, she runs an underground railroad called the New Street Line.[12] The "railroad" smuggles prisoners from several Workworlds, such as the Brabazon Workworld,[13] and encourages unrest within them.[14] Her nephew, the Firebrand Conductor, is one of the "conductors" on this line.[15]

She still likes sherry.[16]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Deliver his wife's locket, Sunless Sea "You hold the open locket up before him. “Evelyn,” he says, involuntarily, and looks at you."
  2. ↑ Ambition: an Additional Sherry with the Fierce Philanthropist, Sunless Sea "When you raise the matter of your search for immortality, and the involvement of Lytton, the man who shares her name, she grows thoughtful."
  3. ↑ Zubmariner: The Fierce Philanthropist, Sunless Sea "Its mistress is the subject of intense colonial gossip: independently wealthy, an industrialist's daughter, a widow, unwelcome in London..."
  4. ↑ The Hidden Workshop, Sunless Sea "On the shore of a gloomy inlet stands a rickety factory. Once - and supposedly still - it was committed to the cutting and polishing of sapphires. Now it is the place where the Fierce Philanthropist houses her intrepid staff of engineers: the ingenious men and women who will convert your ship into a zubmarine."
  5. ↑ Sherry with the Fierce Philanthropist, Sunless Sea "I am prepared to finance - in a large part - improvements to your ship that will make it capable of zubmarine travel. The Admiralty - and other powers - disapprove of such innovation. Therefore, we will need to be discreet."
  6. ↑ Decline, Sunless Sea "Please consider the invitation to stand... delighted to rearrange for a more convenient time... really very good sherry indeed..." (You may have a chat over sherry with her twice, if you wish.)
  7. ↑ What was his role in the Seven?, Sunless Sea "“I came from modest means. However, my congregation consisted of industrialists, the gentry, bankers... People with an interest in immortality and the willingness to invest. My doctrine was unconventional - eternal life in this life, not the next.”"
  8. ↑ The Financier, Sunless Sea "You remind her that he wants no further part in the endeavour. "Yes. But he has told us who should replace him." She clicks open the locket. The face of the Fierce Philanthropist looks out. "
  9. ↑ Ambition: an Additional Sherry with the Fierce Philanthropist, Sunless Sea ""The thing I lost was my husband," she tells you. [...] "I know. Careless. He fell in with an unfortunate crowd. Rabble-rousers, schemers, renegades. They called themselves the Seven." She does not sound entirely disapproving. "My husband shielded me from the details of his endeavour, although I have made a number of suppositions. I know for certain, however, that it ended in disaster.""
  10. ↑ The New Street Line, Sunless Skies
  11. ↑ Trade Gratitude to win the Bookkeeper's trust, Sunless Skies "He gives you a yellowing train ticket and shows you an address. It belongs to a Fierce Philanthropist, co-owner of the Steam & Sapphire company."
  12. ↑ Inquire into the New Street Line's secretive work, Sunless Skies "We have conductors operating throughout the Empire, reporting to me. I'll point you to one of them and they'll tell you where you need to go. Assuming, of course, you're ready to be responsible for another's freedom."
  13. ↑ Enquire about the work, Sunless Skies "Everyone deserves the right to their own hours. To live them at the pace God intended! But on the workworlds a pauper spends a month of their life to ensure an hour of rich man's luxury. [...] Those who escape from the workworlds are hunted. My— Our patron arranges passage for as many as she can."
  14. ↑ Ship arms to a workworld, Sunless Skies "You'll never bring down a workworld, but an uprising here means fewer overseers here."
  15. ↑ Campaign for the Firebrand Conductor's release, Sunless Skies ""He's her Ladyship's nephew," the Stationmaster tells you. The Fierce Philanthropist never mentioned that."
  16. ↑ The New Street Line, Sunless Skies "She sits tall in her chair, a sherry bottle to one side, her papers to the other. She pours you a glass. "Please, have a seat.""
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