Mr Cups
"A collection is only worth its lowliest piece, and as any good collector knows, one discovers better and rarer finds as the years pass! Indeed, one grows to live for the acquisition thereof!"[1]
Mr Cups is a distant and proper Curator who serves as a Master of the Bazaar.
The Value of Vessels[edit | edit source]
"Crockery, pottery, sculpture."[2]
"Mr Cups collects wares from across the Neath, almost indiscriminately. Almost."[1]
Mr Cups controls trade in all manner of miscellany: vessels,[3] tableware,[4] sculptures,[2] and relics.[5] It is also in charge of all the clockmakers in London;[6] in this capacity, it was one of the Masters who harassed the Watchmaker's Daughter in an attempt to exploit her skills with clockwork,[7][8] resulting in her suicide.[9]
Mr Cups rarely appears in public,[10] but can be contacted indirectly through its Relickers, who work on its behalf[11][12] and act as its spies in London.[13][14] It oversees a ceramics shop in the Labyrinth of Tigers, but does not staff it personally.[5] Cups likes to collect trash and discarded goods, in search of valuables in the scraps, and can restore even the most ancient of antiques.[15] The reason for its focus on trash is simple; in its own words: "Everything lost and rejected is mine, but there's no better keeper. A bin for rubbish, you realise, is also a cup."[16]
Once upon a time, Cups refused to grant ownership of trash to the foxes, instead giving it to the rats. The terms of this agreement are why there are no foxes in London,[17] and likely the origin of the Relickers' rat companions.[14]
Mr Cups also trades as Mr Mirrors as of the modern Fifth City,[18] and is in charge of the "frangible and the fine."[19] This fact is not known to the general public[20] and they are viewed as two separate Masters.[21] Cups took on this identity after another Master, the original Mr Mirrors, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.[22][23] In the Fourth City, Mr Cups was known by multiple different names, including the Khan of Shards and the Khan of Clutter.[24] In the Sunless Skies timeline, Mr Cups is called the Saint of Chalices by the Cult of the Sanctified at Avid Horizon.[25]
Personality[edit | edit source]
"Dear Friend: this has preserved more than you know. The plans of the great and of the good can proceed unimpeded. Anarchy is quelled. Beauty upheld. You have done, quite inescapably, the right thing."[26]
"I would prefer to simply leave. Let the Bazaar be torn apart. What has she done for us lately?"[27]
Mr Cups presents itself as polite and affable,[28] and it can be rather verbose.[29][30] It typically communicates with others indirectly or through letters.[31][29] While its demeanor may appear pleasant, Cups is ruthless,[32] remorseless,[33] and self-pitying.[34] When reminded of the Second City, it is rumored to "fly into a rage."[35] It has no fondness for the Bazaar or its mission,[36] and did not assist the other Masters in protecting London after the Grand Clearing-Out.[37]
Cups enjoys collecting for its own sake; rather than hoarding, it discards lesser valuables to make room for new ones, keeping the process going.[38] It is fascinated with empty vessels because, according to it, they can be filled with anything it wants.[39] According to its iteration of Mr Sacks,[40] Cups misses living under the Great Chain of Being, as it enjoys the feeling of knowing its place in the hierarchy of the Judgements.[41]
No Truce With The Furies[edit | edit source]
"Some things cannot be borne. You know this! The Bazaar's dream is a folly! Its message will be spurned, and when it is, its heart must not break, but ignite! For vengeance is hot as love! Let it suffer, and let the sun suffer – as I have suffered over the span of five cities!"[42]
Mr Cups, like the other Masters, is a Curator,[43] a bat-like being who roamed the High Wilderness to accumulate treasures for its hoard.[44] The transgressions against Curator law that led it into servitude under the Bazaar are unknown.[45]
At some point after the Fall of London,[46] Mr Cups concocted a grand scheme in which it hired an assassin named Scathewick[47] to murder seven specific people on the Surface.[48] Their vengeful loved ones were lured to the Neath,[49] where they would get their revenge[50] or die trying.[51] Their tragic tales would then be written on the Bazaar by the Lady in Lilac, who was coerced into doing so by Cups.[52][53]
Ironically, Cups' motive for this scheme also involves revenge.[46] It has grown exhausted of serving the Bazaar,[36] and by tampering with its message,[53] Cups hopes that when the message is rejected, the Bazaar's heart will "ignite" rather than break, leaving both it and the Sun to suffer as Cups did.[54] Six of these stories have already concluded, but one remains unfinished.[55]
References[edit | edit source]
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