Mr Eaten

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"These are real stars. They burn above the roof of the Neath, beyond the earth, in the spaces of heaven."

This page contains extensive spoilers for the following Fallen London endgame content: Seeking Mr Eaten's Name. Proceed at your own risk.

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"Who is Mr Eaten? A good question. Not a wise one." (If you find the answer to this, you'll wish you didn't know.) "I have so often been consumed."

Mr Eaten is an ancient, mysterious emptiness, a voice, a hunger. The circumstances surrounding his death, during the fall of the Third City, continue to cast a shadow over events in the Neath. Almost all of the who, what, and why surrounding this creature are waterlogged in mysteries so deep that they drown even the most resilient of enquirers. One thing is known, however: a reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely. Do you hear the well calling?

GRIEVE[edit | edit source]

"The light on the edge of sleep was mine. I was Mr Candles. I will not be again."[1]

St. Arthur's Candle.

Mr Candles[2] was one of the eleven Masters of the Bazaar. He oversaw trade in candles and held authority over dreams[3] from his lighthouse, situated between Parabola and reality.[4] Alongside Mr Cups (or Wines), he was likely responsible for the Fall of the First City.[5]

The Second City proved to be a major setback for the Bazaar and the Masters. The Pharaoh’s daughters tricked the Masters,[6] trapping them for two thousand years.[7] After their escape, the desperate Masters sought a scapegoat, and that scapegoat was Mr Candles.[8] Candles was considered a runt among Curators (the Masters' species) as an individual who lacked the "Dual Nature." Runts are considered no better than food for their siblings,[9] and the very notion of "runtery" is a crime in Curator society that served as the primary reason for Candles' exile from the High Wilderness.[10] Candles knew full well what his colleagues thought of him, and that they would betray him eventually, but he held out hope that they would not turn on him.[11] Foolish, foolish, foolish.

HATE[edit | edit source]

"Is it opening, now, does it open? Are there snares we can grasp, to place them tinily in our flesh, as we will take the flesh of Vake-the-betrayer, black as the knives? Dear deep void those knives. My flesh was not meant for them. And their teeth like the tenderness of insects. Ah, ah, ah, ah."[12]

A statue from the Third City.

Before it fell, the Third City was ruled by three priest-kings who relentlessly hunted any creature they could to sate their hunger.[13] The priest-kings were aware of the Masters’ nature, and contacted them to strike a dangerous bargain.[14]

At some point around 900-1000 CE, the Bazaar arranged for the purchase of the Third City, offering its priest-kings the flesh of a god as their price.[15] Candles, believing only a small part of himself would be required, consented to the deal — but Mr Veils knew better, and led Candles to his doom.[16] The priest-kings struck before dawn,[17] snaring Candles on a hook, pinning him in place, and carving out pieces of his flesh to eat using obsidian knives.[18] Devouring Curator flesh granted the priest-kings ascension along the Great Chain,[19] turning them into the immortal God-Eaters.[20] The knives. They glistened. They cut. And oh, how they ate.

Candles was alive through the whole process, and was still alive when they threw what remained of him to drown in lacre.[21] His remains were likely buried somewhere in the northernmost reaches of the Neath,[22] under a granite well.[23] Following his death, the Masters erased all records of his existence and knowledge of his name.[24] His domain over dreams was given to Mr Wines and Mr Spices, who still fight over it to this day.[3]

SEEK[edit | edit source]

"...the laws of the Judgements, whose mask is God, are present even here beneath the earth. Lightly present, but present. And a reckoning, as the saying has it, will not be indefinitely postponed."[25]

A light in the distance.

Mr Eaten still holds considerable power and influence over the Neath, despite his death. His voice echoes from deep waters and wells, for all water remembers the well from which it once came.[26] He is at his most powerful in Parabola, and as such he communicates mainly through dreams.[27][28] He holds a bitter grudge against the Bazaar and the Masters, and Veils in particular,[29] and is actively seeking revenge against them. So all-encompassing is his hatred that it even extends to the Bazaar's master, the Sun.[30] By the rage of the Flukes[31] or by the justice of the Judgements:[32][33] a reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely.

Mr Eaten is allied closely with the Lorn-Flukes[34] and other beings from Axile.[35] He also has his own servants, known as Seekers of the Name, who receive his commands through dreams. Seeker dreams involve themes of water, hunger,[36] candles,[37] and cannibalism, as well as an overarching command to travel North. In keeping with the latter command, Mr Eaten seems to have a strong influence in the northern area of Void's Approach, and has a congregation of worshippers in this area, at the Chapel of Lights.[38]

In the Sunless Skies timeline, Mr Eaten is called the Saint of Tapers by the Cult of the Sanctified, though they do not speak his name.[39]

A reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely.

Cultural Inspirations[edit | edit source]

Throughout the journey of Seeking Mr Eaten's Name, there are many allusions to Christian mysticism, and Mr Candles appears to be portrayed as a transgressive-horror iteration of a Christ figure. While the Masters' causes are not to the benefit of humanity, from their perspective, Mr Candles was a martyr that was sacrificed for a cause. Mr Candles was originally written as one of twelve,[40][19][41] the number of Christ's disciples (though it is now established that there were eleven Masters); Mr Veils plays the role of the betrayer, comparable to Judas. The Weeping Scars sustained during Seeking may be inspired by the concept of the Stigmata, and the all-consuming,[42] masochistic nature of Seeking may link to the Christian mystical concept of approaching the divine through emulation of a Christ figure's suffering. Mr Candles' flesh was consumed in a "Communion" between the human and divine, which is echoed by the murderous sacraments of the Chapel of Lights.[43] The God-Eaters believed their actions would grant them "divine grace" (a higher place on the Great Chain) - though it must be noted that the God-Eaters have consistently represented a troublesome interpretation of Mesoamerican culture, and their Communion could be viewed through a Christian missionary lens as a conversion of an "uncivilized" or "barbaric" people. Lastly, to reinforce the above parallels, God's Editors have a "secret sibling" organization that assists Seekers,[44] and there are further sacrilegious distortions of the New Testament sprinkled throughout the storyline.[45][46]

Candles is also likened to the Fisher King, a figure from Arthurian legend. Many versions of the Fisher King's tale are recorded, but they generally involve a king who has been wounded and rendered impotent. The king's wounds cannot heal without the intervention of a chosen hero, adding another layer to Weeping Scars. There are direct references to a wound in the thigh[41] and "the absence of fertility"[47] in Seeking; however, Failbetter appears to be decoupling the concept of runtery from gender or sexual presentation,[48][49] avoiding a variety of troublesome implications that may be derived from the suggested original definition.

The Fisher King is cured when the chosen Knight of the Round Table asks him a particular question. Just as there are multiple options available to the Seeker, this question varies between retellings. It might be spiritual, like "Whom does the Grail serve?" (either God or the Fisher King himself), or a simple question of "What ails you?" But in Richard Wagner's operatic adaptation of the story, Parsifal (Percival), the titular chosen knight is a naive boy who asks his elderly mentor Gurnemanz: "Who is the Grail?" - which might already recall the question about Salt. Gurnemanz explains that "That cannot be said," but that no earthly path leads to the Grail, and Parsifal will learn more about it if it calls him into his service. Parsifal makes an offhand comment about how far he has come in his journey already, and Gurnemanz replies: "You see, my son, time here becomes space."

It bears mention that the Fisher King is the king who owns the Holy Grail, not Arthur; the fact that St Arthur's candle is the candle of constant betrayal and self-flagellation is an entirely separate reference to the legendary king who was betrayed and brought down by his own kin. St Gawain's, the candle of decapitation, is a nod to Gawain's bloody victory over the Green Knight. St Forthigan appears to reference a Saxon warlord called Vortigern (or possibly Vortigan), a rival of Arthur's father Uther and uncle Ambrosius who was later driven back by Arthur; the unique spelling might have something to do with "back and forth again."

Erzulie is the name of a family of loa (spirits) in Vodou, associated with water, femininity, and love. Finally (and tangentially), "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes a chopper to chop off your head!" (the poem representing St Gawain's candle) comes from the English rhyme "Oranges and Lemons."

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Accept the Name!, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Accept the Name!, Fallen London "The light on the edge of sleep was mine. I was Mr Candles. I will not be again."
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ask him what he wants, Fallen London "Wine and Spices stole what was mine."
  4. ↑ Enter the lighthouse., Fallen London "Here he once stood, on the border between Parabola and the Wilderness, to look out across his wounded realm. Or perhaps he only imagined it. Perhaps you only imagined it. This is a dream that wounds, but it is a dream."
  5. ↑ Looking in the garden, Fallen London "Two figures step into the chamber, hunched and garbed in many-petalled black cloaks. Masters of the Bazaar. One carries a clay cup, the other an unlit candle. The one with the cup says, "I think we can be of service to each other. Allow me to propose an exchange...""
  6. ↑ Buying secrets, Fallen London "Since the Second City, [...] We were a royal house [...] We played those black-cloaked vultures for fools, so we did. Beat them at their own game and pulled the nose of the Bazaar [...]"
  7. ↑ This really can't be good for you, Fallen London "caught incarcerated caged two dozen centuries no space no space to spread my wings !unbearable! !release me! Spit venom at my judas gaolers may their kohl eyes gender worms may their bones burn in their flesh !unbearable! !release me!"
  8. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London ""How dare you," rasps Mr Spices, though it lacks the will to punish the transgression. "You can't imagine it. Tricked by creatures as low as you. Led into a trap. Imprisoned for aeons. The furthest I have ever been from home. Forced to sacrifice—" Its words catch in its throat."
  9. ↑ No map knows the place you go, Fallen London "A Tree which lacks the Dual Nature is less. A Beast which lacks the Dual Nature is no less. This kind are not Trees, nor are they Beasts. Each Clutch has sometimes its Runt, who lacketh part of the Nature. Even the Runt has uses. Consider the Owl." [Editor's note: The runt of a clutch of owl chicks may be killed and eaten by its siblings if resources are scarce. This phenomenon occurs in a variety of other birds as well as mammals.]
  10. ↑ A secret about the Masters, Failbetter Games "runtery, aberration,"
  11. ↑ Enter the lighthouse., Fallen London "But it is clear that he was aware of his deficiency, long before the betrayal.  He knew the others would turn on him.  He hoped they would not."
  12. ↑ The hook and the bait, Fallen London
  13. ↑ My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "Beasts slaughtered, feasts spread on the floor. [...] We chew. [...] we devour the dead until our hungers have been fed. Feed us. Feed us more than the dead."
  14. ↑ Capture Third City Veils, Fallen London "THE OLD PRIEST-KINGS KNEW OUR KIND. WE WERE ALL GODS TO THEM. WE ALL ENTERED INTO THEIR BARGAIN."
  15. ↑ My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "It isn't really much to pay. [...] someone else can take the fall to feed them, feed them something more. Just sign here."
  16. ↑ The price, the price, the price, the price, the price, the price, the price, the price, the price, the price, the price, Fallen London "They said – they called me by my name – I need only go up and the priests would take a little. The gratitude in their song! We embraced before I rose. You of cloth and shadow, you enemy, you proud-singer, you led the way. I will poison you with airs."
  17. ↑ SEVEN OF WORDS, Fallen London "In the hours before dawn, when he was drowned, you dream that you come to your door and knock on it."
  18. ↑ Pervert your studies, Fallen London "He came up [...] to offer a little. They hooked him [...] like a fish. Their knives [...] were dark and sharp as the Mountain's daughter. He screamed then [...] and they opened their mouths, red and white and rich with treasure."
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 You have rejected wine and song, Fallen London "[…] the flesh and blood of the Twelve is intoxicating and transcendent. If you consume something greater, then you may incorporate it: unless it incorporates you. […] This is the lesson of Couriers. This is the lesson of the knives and the pool."
  20. ↑ Look into the water 1, Fallen London "A celebration! The God-Eaters lick their fingers, not to waste a scrap. They will live forever now. Much good will it do them."
  21. ↑ Pervert your studies, Fallen London "[...] O but the feast was too short [...] all with that old redolence [...] of a certain ammonia. He breathed [...] until his vents were stifled with tears. [...]"
  22. ↑ Mr Pages' Educational Picture Postcards and Assorted Souvenir Stationery, Fallen London "It's only later, when you inspect your hoard of new secrets, that you find a scrap of rose-coloured paper with the tiniest of inscriptions. 'IT IS NORTH UNDER GRANITE' it says on one side. The single word 'EATEN' is on the other."
  23. ↑ Attend and speak of...terrible things., Fallen London "Things you've seen in your dreams. A black vault filled with black chains. A long flinty shaft back to the light. A granite well. A knife of obsidian. A membranous wing spread against the stars of the night sky. A distorted face seen through water. You hear yourself say "A reckoning is not to be postponed indefinitely.""
  24. ↑ Grieve, Fallen London "It is written here, on the candle's flank: dead, the voice from the well, dead as stone, dead as time, dead as between. They want him forgotten. He will not be forgotten. The wax is his flesh. The flame is his eye. The smoke is his voice. Remember him."
  25. ↑ Yes., Fallen London
  26. ↑ Confront him, Fallen London "He will get his due, as I will get mine. Just as all water carries the memory of the well, all water carries the memory of the zee."
  27. ↑ In your dreams, you hear a voice echoing hollowly each night, Fallen London "Yet you feel in your hungry bones whose name it was. Mr Eaten's name, you are certain, is a word in the Correspondence!"
  28. ↑ An Alphabet of Scars, Fallen London "Lately you've been doodling. What have you been doodling? Something you've seen in your dreams, you think. A Correspondence sigil [...] 'The Name!' one stout fellow shrieks."
  29. ↑ The hook and the bait, Fallen London "Is it opening, now, does it open? Are there snares we can grasp, to place them tinily in our flesh, as we will take the flesh of Vake-the-betrayer, black as the knives? Dear deep void those knives. My flesh was not meant for them... Ah, ah, ah, ah."
  30. ↑ ENDURE, Fallen London "If the Sun is Its master, let the Sun be drowned [...] My hate will not be contained until the Sun is cindered and damned, until Its heart is empty as theirs. [...] The Message: no more."
  31. ↑ The Name, Fallen London "In the water around you, the Flukes rear and roar. A mighty limb enwraps your zubmarine. [...] This is your end. You, this is the end of you. The last thing you see is the extinction of light, as they take your hard-won skin."
  32. ↑ 'What is due?', Fallen London "You will have your revenge. And in so doing you will bring light to the Neath. I am convinced, you know, that the White planned this from the beginning."
  33. ↑ Here Be Dragons, Fallen London "The Judgements [...] silently agree and express their Will. Their Will comes, at last, to Earth, to the Neath, as a storm crosses the sea."
  34. ↑ So hungry, Fallen London "The morning comes. You remember nothing. Almost nothing. There is the sound the Lorn-Flukes do not make, there beneath the black and crushing silence. There are three of them. They are allies. So let us feast."
  35. ↑ The ink and the ink, Fallen London "Do you recall how we came to that place? And they sang of their lightnings and shapeful disgrace? And we tilted our vanes and ennobled our spires. They welcomed us then and commingled all choirs. And not enough, not enough. Still It mourns, and still waits the Sun."
  36. ↑ But the view outside your window isn't right, Fallen London "The moon shines on a flooded desert. The waters lap around the wreck of a dirigible. The night breeze that flows through the open window is cold and salt and sad. Your stomach growls."
  37. ↑ Pluck something from the water, Fallen London "A soft sweet burst of savour, and a warmth in your eyes and your tongue and your heart. The shriek of monkeys and the chanting of the God-Eaters. And then you’re awake: and your mouth is full of cold wax. That is a candle in your fist. But something remains."
  38. ↑ Attend a service at the Chapel, Fallen London "Oh yes," the Priest says, smiling, "the Drowned Man hums tonight. His song like fish-roe clouds the water." He waits for the congregation's assent, his eyes shadowed. "We will feel him in the harps of us, and if his tune is caught it will be raised to the sky where the bright birds pass—"
  39. ↑ Recite the litany of the dead, Sunless Skies "It's true. They were lost before the rest. The Saint of Tapers and the Saint in the Glass. We never speak their names. One we have hope of seeking, the other is gone. That saint will not be with us again."
  40. ↑ You have set aside jewels and riches, Fallen London "The Twelve gave them up, when they took the Courier’s bargain."
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Insight, Fallen London "King Twelve, they say, was wounded in the thigh. He was robbed of what will be. You may bring him a candle or a heart. Or you may fly; you may fly." [Editor's note: Hammering home the Arthurian reference, the title of this storylet is Carbonek, the name of the castle where the Holy Grail is said to be kept.]
  42. ↑ [Editor's note: Word choice intentional.]
  43. ↑ Chapel of Lights, Sunless Sea "Now we have the wax (which is the streak beneath our skin) and the wick (which is the faith we have skeined) and the tinder (which is the harm we have done to those who loved us) and the flint (which is the name, the Name, the treasure of music stilled). Now. It will hurt, we must render ourselves a little, there will be scars, but one more scar, what is that?"
  44. ↑ The Deep Archives of the College of St Cyriac, Fallen London ""You wished to enquire," the Arbiter says silkily, "about a certain chapter and verse of the Gospel of Matthew. If that was even his name." Do you have what was promised, as the price for the cooperation of St Cyriac's College, and their secret sibling?"
  45. ↑ Yes., Fallen London Matthew 25:42 - "I was an hungred [...] and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink."
  46. ↑ Attend a service at the Chapel (no. 6), Fallen London "You who remain, you know that there is no betrayal. The Drowned Man was torn that he might feed us. The White comes to fulfil the frozen law. The seventh city will never fall, and all of us will live."
  47. ↑ Enter the lighthouse., Fallen London "This one, ‘the absence of fertility’.  This, ‘unmoved by gravity’.  This one, ‘alone’."
  48. ↑ Give Mr Barleycorn the Seal of Mr Menagerie, Sunless Skies "The Runt [...] "I confess, I am amazed it has survived. My master was not tolerant of its various weaknesses. Its single-mindedness; its cleaving to antiquated custom. How it chafed at its chains." Mr Barleycorn dips the seal in ink and presses it to paper. "Still. I am glad it has found new purpose. I'm pleased to hear it's doing well.""
  49. ↑ Mr Pages: Matchmaking, Mask of the Rose "I am not yet so decrepitated as to have only one. A litter of one has only the runt! [...] If there were time for such distractions, and if I were disposed, and if it were the day appointed for the forming of families, I am still polyfructant!"
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