Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.
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"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 collects wares from across the Neath, almost indiscriminately. Almost."[1]
A watch.
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]
A mirror.
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]
"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]
Several cups.
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]
"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]
The blade of retribution.
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]
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"Mr Cups hunches before one of its many cabinets, holding a plate [...] Mr Cups [...] shows you an ancient tea set."
↑ 5.05.1Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics, Fallen London"Customers can choose from an eccentric range of souvenir crockery [...] all beautifully handpainted with scenes from the Labyrinth [...] A Clay Man waits patiently to assist with your purchases."
↑The trade in clocks, Fallen London"There are clockmakers' shops in the Neath, but they are the preserve of Mr Cups, and it is difficult to find them. Apparently, he guards his monopoly on clocks jealously, as if this puts him in control of time itself."
↑Listen to her story, Fallen London"Then unwanted gifts began to arrive. Mr Wines sent invites to torrid revels. Mr Cups sent threatening crockery. The Watchmaker's Daughter confided [...] she believed these two Masters [...] meant to own her."
↑Go back to the Albino Rat, Fallen London"You know I was the Watchmaker's Daughter's [...] companion? [...] Did I tell you about Mr Cups and Mr Wines? [...] they tried to own her? That they drove her to drown herself?"
↑Sidebar Snippets: Who are the Relickers?, Fallen London"Mr Cups has recruited a small army of rag-and-bone men to sort discarded treasures from simple refuse. These are the Relickers, and their rats. Bring them something strange, and perhaps they'll give you something wonderful."
↑A moment longer, Fallen London"A bell sounds somewhere in the outer chamber. [...] Cups turns and stalks out [...] Cups returns, pushing a Relicker's cart laden with new crockery [...]"
↑Leave the Auctioneer, Fallen London"The Sanguine Auctioneer nods solemnly. "Should I be asked, I will give you up immediately. [...] There are several Relickers in the street now. They watch you leave."
↑Dreamer's End, Fallen London"I am only a splinter of myself, now. A dream, dreaming. A reflection, cast by nothing."
↑A Dream of a Thousand Tails, Fallen London"They sought amidst the refuse-heaps and ejecta items that they knew would displease the picky Khan of Shards [...] and then, when the Khan of Clutter's patience was thin as gossamer"
↑The crowning of the saints, Sunless Skies""To learn the names of our final three, you must indulge!" You gulp your way through the swirling scarlet depths of the chalice. [...] "There now. All shall be well. You have met the last of them: the Saint of the Silk Road and the Saint of Chalices, and the Crowned and Crimson: the King of Saints!""
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"Mr Sacks! Oh, my – I apologize. One moment!" [...] "There you are." [...] "The Khan's own; for fortune-telling. Take it!"
↑ 29.029.1Lost in Reflections, Fallen London"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. [...] MIRRORS [...]"
↑The Master's Voice, Fallen London"You're not given an audience with Mr Mirrors itself, but a package is delivered [...] "Mr Mirrors wishes you good fortune," the messenger says. "He's certain you'll remember him.""
↑Conclude the rite, Fallen London"Poor Cups, a paragon of rectitude, only [...] working for a greater good that so few possess the wherewithal – or self-effacement! – to see."
↑Incarnadine Fur Robe, Fallen London"A collection is only worth its lowliest piece, [...] one discovers better and rarer finds as the years pass! [...] one grows to live for the acquisition [...] So a winter cleaning!""
↑The Crocodile Who Would Be King, Fallen London"[...] they display the empty picture-frame [...] Receptacles are better this way, [...] Whether flesh or frame, we can fill them with whatever we want."
↑A secret about the Masters, Failbetter Games"[...] the Masters' kind are denizens of the High Wilderness. Their hunting-grounds lie in the dark span between the stars. [...] Their chiefs are victorious, merciless pedlar-magnates."
↑Curator, Sunless Skies "Intelligent, locomotive-sized chiroptera [...] Curators accumulate hoards, which they guard violently. Each hoard collects artifacts or creatures themed to the Curator’s particular obsession."
↑A secret about the Masters, Failbetter Games"Secondly, that the Masters were not Masters in the High Wilderness. Indeed, they accepted the position as emissaries of the Bazaar in order to escape misfortune, failure, and fruitlessness."
↑Ambition: Nemesis 1, Fallen London"You have just two clues: a name and an envelope of dried flower petals. The name is 'Scathewick'. The petals were found by the body."
↑Ambition: Nemesis 0, Fallen London"Someone you loved is dead. You swore you'd scour the world for the killer. Your search brought you under the world."
↑There will be a reckoning, Fallen London"You have crossed oceans and spent your whole inheritance to find this man. You even had yourself sent to New Newgate, as the quickest route down here to the Neath. Surely the hardest parts are behind you?"
↑Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), Fallen London"You were one of seven. You were to take your vengeance on Scathewick and be satisfied. [...] I established a set of criteria, and by agents conducted matters accordingly."
↑Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), Fallen London"The Bazaar's dream is a folly! Its message will be spurned, [...] its heart must not break, but ignite! [...] Let it suffer, and let the sun suffer – as I have suffered over the span of five cities!"
