The Sleeping Merchant

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"The Debtor cannot be woken. When he wakes, his debt will be due, and all of the interest as well. His promise was sworn by the Cedar that stood in the square of the first of all cities. It hears him still."[3]

The Sleeping Merchant is a man from the First City who made a perilous deal with the Creditor.

Background[edit | edit source]

"He was happy, before the fall. A good friend to me, and a benefactor to the people who knew him. The Fall into the Neath took it all away."[4]

Arid terrain.
The Creditor

The Sleeping Merchant was once a wealthy and generous merchant from the First City.[5] After the city Fell, his wealth dried up, so he planned a caravan west to the Hinterlands with the Manager's blessing. While preparing, he made various promises and deals, and somehow procured the seal of the Echo Bazaar itself.[6] Once his journey began, however, his venture drew the eye of the Creditor.[7]

The Merchant was brought to the Magistracy of the Evenlode,[8][9] the Creditor's court.[10][11] The Creditor worried that the First City's inhabitants would damage the Hinterlands, so it demanded the Bazaar provide collateral against this.[12] For reasons unknown, the toll ended up being measured against every soul in the Neath.[13] The Merchant was desperate to escape[14] and ignorant of the Neath's true population,[15] so he used the Bazaar's seal to promise the payment.[16][17]

Sealed[edit | edit source]

"The Merchant will not wake. Mr Mirrors did solid work there."

"Mr Mirrors may have sealed him into Parabola. But there are many people now who might unseal him again."[18]

A greyed-out ruin.
The Octagonal Tomb

As it turned out, the Bazaar would not be able to pay what was promised without a potential catastrophe.[19][20] Thus, the Masters sealed the Merchant in a permanent slumber,[21] interring his physical body in the Octagonal Tomb.[22] This plan froze the debt temporarily, but it will be due should the Merchant wake.[23]

Now, the Merchant dreams of his caravan as if his journey had just begun,[24] but time did not wait for him: his body is now withered,[25] and his kith and kin have long passed away.[26]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ The Sleeper, Fallen London "The Debtor cannot be woken."
  2. ↑ Find the Sleeper in his Tomb, Fallen London
  3. ↑ The Sleeper, Fallen London
  4. ↑ Let the Efficient Commissioner ask questions while you walk, Fallen London
  5. ↑ The Nature of the Debt, Fallen London "[...] IT WANTED THE MONEY, [...] IT TRICKED A FIRST CITY MERCHANT [...]"
  6. ↑ Let the Efficient Commissioner ask questions while you walk, Fallen London "[...] before the fall. [...] a benefactor to the people who knew him. The Fall [...] took it all away." [...] "After [...] he tried to... compensate. To provide for everyone in his care. [...] no longer had trading partners, [...] So he begged my permission to begin a new caravan, to re-establish his wealth [...] He borrowed [...] begged [...] promised [...] negotiated, [...] to the point of receiving the Bazaar's own Seal."
  7. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, Fallen London "One defendant at a time [...] before this Judge – summoned here if they tried to pass through these lands without leave. [...] The Merchant [...] He could barely look [...] at the being that sat in Judgement."
  8. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, Fallen London "Sometimes it was a capacious and echoing chamber, [...] The Merchant, [...] had promised so much [...] he had to crawl on hands and knees [...]"
  9. ↑ Clear the gant away, Fallen London "[...] the Merchant-that-was, [...] his devastated caravan, in front of the Magistracy of the Evenlode."
  10. ↑ The Deeps of the Magistracy, Fallen London "The Creditor used to live above," [...] "The Magistracy belonged to him [...]"
  11. ↑ Ask how she learned about the Creditor, Fallen London "Once the Creditor presided over judgements at the Evenlode."
  12. ↑ Meaning what, precisely?, Fallen London ""A gage is a pledge of good faith," [...] it was meant to represent the promise that the Bazaar would prevent its people from causing too much damage."
  13. ↑ The Nature of the Debt, Fallen London "A price charged for crossing [...] calculated on the number of souls in the whole Neath – [...] Why would you [...] cost even for people [...] not going through the tollgate? [...] IT WANTED THE MONEY, [...] IT TRICKED A FIRST CITY MERCHANT [...] The [...] records call it a gage."
  14. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, Fallen London "To escape [...] he promised an even more impossible repayment [...]"
  15. ↑ The Debt, Fallen London "A payment for every soul in the Neath," [...] "The Merchant only knew his [...] city; [...] miscounted the cost.""
  16. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, Fallen London "The Merchant, [...] To escape [...] he promised [...] on behalf of himself, and on behalf of the Bazaar. He pressed his seal [...]"
  17. ↑ The Sleeper, Fallen London "[...] A caravan [...] A man who carried the [...] seal [...] to pledge the faith of the Bazaar [...] for an impossible ransom."
  18. ↑ A Conclave of the Masters, Fallen London
  19. ↑ Ask what might happen if the Creditor does contact the Bazaar, Fallen London ""The most likely outcome," [...] "is that the Bazaar would attempt to honour the debt [...] even if [...] damaging to London, or fatal to itself.""
  20. ↑ The Sleeper, Fallen London "The struggle to meet that pledge. The city almost sold [...]"
  21. ↑ Ask about the Bazaar's ignorance, Fallen London "When the debt was incurred [...] We ourselves found a [...] resolution," says Mr Spices [...] I was the one who thought of putting the Merchant to sleep."
  22. ↑ Leave the barge (The Octagonal Tomb), Fallen London "[...] the shattered remains of [...] where the Merchant once slept."
  23. ↑ The Sleeper, Fallen London "The Debtor cannot be woken [...] When he wakes, his debt will be due, [...] the loophole [...] that sent the Debtor to sleep instead."
  24. ↑ Concentrate very hard on the Sleeping Merchant, Fallen London "The Merchant is not dreamless. He dreams of his caravan [...] He dreams of coming home with his wealth [...]"
  25. ↑ Find the Sleeper in his Tomb, Fallen London "The woken man is older than most tomb colonists. His skin is thin [...] His muscles have dwindled to nothing [...]"
  26. ↑ Let the Efficient Commissioner ask questions while you walk, Fallen London "The Manager looks her way, [...] "Of everyone who knew him then, I alone still live.""
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