The Bazaarines

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"Money and secrets. The poetry of the Bazaar and its Masters, but also the hidden things that drive men to madness. A strong brew of the venal and the visionary."[1]

"But of course! The Bazaarine aesthetic is so mysterious. And the patrons are not wanting a few echoes, if I might be indelicate."[1]

The Bazaarines are an artistic movement in London. Their devotion to the Echo Bazaar[2][3] belies the movement's true hallmark: Bazaarine artwork, writing, and architecture is filled with allusions to all the Neath's secrets[4][5][6] and troves of hidden symbolism.[7][8][9] More enthusiastic Bazaarines may wish to mark the Messenger's Correspondence sigils as tattoos upon their skin, but this is not particularly safe and requires a professional to assist with modifications.[10]

Portraits in this style are often grandiose and exaggerated,[11] and there is a general sense of pride,[12] status,[13][14] and wealth[15][16] conveyed in Bazaarine art. Bazaarine painters also frequently take the opportunity to demonstrate their technical prowess in some detail of a portrait.[17] The color palette is typically dark, to match the black shell of the Bazaar.[16]

In the Sunless Skies timeline, the Bazaarine school has evolved into a movement of nostalgia for Old London, with at least some of its remnants taking refuge from Albion's repressive society in Titania.[18][19] While this is not explicitly stated, the Illuminated Archivist, leader of the Supralapsarians at Avid Horizon, may be a particularly enthusiastic Bazaarine considering his extensive tattoos.[20]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Bazaarines 2, Fallen London
  2. ↑ The Bazaarines 2, Fallen London "Money and secrets. The poetry of the Bazaar and its Masters, but also the hidden things that drive men to madness."
  3. ↑ Mr Sacks: take this work of mine..., Fallen London "Two parts poem, one part essay on subterranean economics, and all stridently enthusiastic about the Bazaar's influence. You may as well go the whole hog and write a dedication on the fly-leaf."
  4. ↑ Copy of your Bazaarine Tale, Fallen London "A painfully enigmatic text, delighting in secrets carefully concealed beneath a miasma of invented literary technique."
  5. ↑ The intrigues of the Bazaar, Fallen London "People wittingly drive themselves mad exploring the puzzles and secrets of the Neath. The Bazaar encourages dealings in enigmas and mysteries – a brutal trade."
  6. ↑ Rodentine Panegyrist, Fallen London "A Bazaarine poet, familiar with postlapsarian Ratty verses on the subject of saints and False-Stars, sewers and Sorrow-Spiders and all of the terrible wonders in the deep recesses of the Neath."
  7. ↑ Infuse the dream with external influences, Fallen London "Your verses ring out in the jungle, giving sinister significance to even the least symbolic of its flowers and insects. Everything is now infused with sharper purpose."
  8. ↑ Propose a station building proclaiming the Bazaar's great reach, Fallen London "And – here and there – a sigil or a boss that will arrest the more thoughtful onlooker, and make her wonder. Why is there a goat's eye over the south doorway?"
  9. ↑ Revisit the memory of one you lost, Fallen London "This is a city decorated in allusions and riddles. But every riddle has the same answer. Every inscrutable date enciphers the same birthday. Every rebus resolves to the same name."
  10. ↑ Design a skin-safe tattoo, Fallen London "A Bazaarine Gadabout wishes to be adorned like his muse's spires. Provide a sigil tame enough for bodily beautification."
  11. ↑ Commission a portrait, Fallen London "She uses drastic brush-strokes to compose a human figure posed before the jutting spires of the Bazaar. The perspective is tilted up, so that your painted self looks taller. She gives your face a geometric cast [...] but she exaggerates your clothes, pushing the fashion by years [...] You look unassailable, invincible, unstoppable."
  12. ↑ Propose a station building proclaiming the Bazaar's great reach, Fallen London "It is architecture in the Bazaarine mode. Twisted columns of black marble. Portraits of the directors of the GHR. An entire wall devoted to a mural of the GHR route, painted with spirit and pride."
  13. ↑ A Portrait in the Bazaarine Style, Fallen London "A grander and more opulent version of yourself stares back from the canvas, standing before the spires of the Bazaar like a giant astride London."
  14. ↑ Study the Portrait of the Tentacled Entrepreneur as a work of Bazaarine art, Fallen London "The Tentacled Entrepreneur's portrait is in the same style, but with a few notable differences. [...] He sits alone in a narrow spot of light, expensively garbed, his tentacles arranged like the beard of a pater familias. To be seen in this way is his achievement."
  15. ↑ Suggest a more Bazaarine appearance, Fallen London "This is a city of private meanings and inscrutable referents. Carvings over the doors denote allegiances [...] The city is not rich enough, yet, to be built in true Bazaarine luxury; but the materials are at least strange and rare. If the mosaics are not lapis and porphyry, they are at least of just such colours; and as for the lamps, they burn the scent of cinnamon."
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Propose a station building proclaiming the Bazaar's great reach, Fallen London "It is architecture in the Bazaarine mode. There are some dark colours, to be sure, but also some rather gaudy evocations of light, and a suggestion that if one merely spends enough, one will be able to dispel all the gloomier truths in life."
  17. ↑ Study the Portrait of the Tentacled Entrepreneur as a work of Bazaarine art, Fallen London "The artist typically uses the occasion to demonstrate her skill at painting the texture of paisley silk, the juice of a cut orange, the warmth of true sunlight in a box."
  18. ↑ Advocate for the Bazaarine School, Sunless Skies "A poetry laced with nostalgia for the old days, when the sky was rock, the snow burned with sorrow, and the night echoed with the beating of leather wings."
  19. ↑ Request a boon of Titania (Bazaarine), Sunless Skies "The poet speaks of the depths of Old London, and the ammonia tears it shed for the Fifth City."
  20. ↑ Accept, Sunless Skies "The tattoos on his collar are a jumble of words and pictures. You make out a crab and a cave, a candle and a roof. You recite the words you find there: "I am home." He embraces you, bony arms wrapped around your frame [...] "Yes, you are home. Follow me.""
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