The Red-Handed Queen

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"She is... many things, wrapped up together. A broken conduit for crimson instincts. An undercurrent, an idea that refuses to die, the desire to shatter yourself if it means the pieces will cut your enemies. A curse."[1]

The Red-Handed Queen is a powerful being residing in Parabola, associated with ambition and victory at any cost. She is thus the rival of the Beleaguered King.

Yet Here's a Spot[edit | edit source]

"You can do anything. Anything except scrub this gore from your hands."[2]

The Red-Handed Queen is associated with the red side of the Moonlit Chessboard.[3] She appreciates and surrounds herself with the ambitious,[4] and those willing to forsake the rules and trespass into the forbidden for their own gain.[5][6][7] To those who do not serve her, however, she is a fickle mistress, and she and her champions are widely feared.[8][9] The Queen watches competitors vie for her patronage at her Tournament of Rubies; the winner receives a boon, but is bound to her as her champion.[8][10]

The Queen is a pale woman with blood-soaked hands and a partially obscured face.[11] Though she dwells on the other side of the mirror, she can still influence the affairs of the Neath through her avatars[12][13] and her agents, who are often surgeons.[14] Her charges often appear to have bloody hands in their reflections[15][16] or in Parabola.[17][18] Her cohort of followers is called the Order of the Ones Who Will Not Be Caught Red-Handed;[4] they meet occasionally and in secret,[19] to act out games of "the red chess" through processions[20] and practice matches.[21][22]

The Queen fights on the Chessboard against her rival, the Beleaguered King.[23][24][25] She would like for him to betray his principles and break the rules,[26] but despite their differences, they have managed to communicate amicably at least once.[27] She has at least one daughter with him,[28] the Innocent Princess.[29][30]

The Queen has an odd relationship with the Fingerkings: she is sometimes their prisoner, sometimes their queen, and the Fingerkings claim to be her guards.[12][31]

Inspirations[edit | edit source]

The Queen's red hands may be a reference to Shakespeare's play Macbeth. In a famous scene from the play, one of its main characters, Lady Macbeth, has visions of her hands being permanently bloodstained after convincing her husband to commit a murder.

One of the Queen's sobriquets, used during Hallowmas by her followers in the Order, is "the Queen of Air and Darkness." This title is a reference to a poem by A E Housman, entitled "Her Strong Enchantments Failing." It is also sometimes given to powerful characters, who are often fairies, in other fantasy settings.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ The Queen of the Elephants, Fallen London
  2. ↑ A dream about the Red-Handed Queen, Fallen London
  3. ↑ The Fair Unknown, Fallen London Those in Red – the Queen's servants and courtiers – are ascendant.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Greet the Queen, Fallen London "She tells you of a secret society [...] for those who play the game of red chess. Poets and magicians and all those who have made a crimson promise in dream. She calls it the Order of the Ones Who Will Not Be Caught Red-Handed, and furnishes you with their address."
  5. ↑ The Fair Unknown, Fallen London "Her voice softens, your mind is almost your own. You could be red. Play by her rules (which are no rules at all) and you might be yet. Ware the King. He will make you dull. Let her take a champion worthy of her collection and you shall be rewarded. That champion might even be you."
  6. ↑ The Fair Unknown, Fallen London "In the highest room of the Queen's castle, there is a full length mirror made of polished ruby. The Queen stands beside you, facing it. "You did well, you know. You fought as we would have.""
  7. ↑ Play as red, Fallen London "Play second. Assert no allegiances. Remain a free agent. [...] You play for yourself. No one is on your side, and neither are you on theirs."
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Fair Unknown, Fallen London "You speak of the Red-Handed Queen. She hosts the Tournament of Rubies, where champions from across Parabola compete to win a boon." She tucks her gloved hands in her pockets to hide a tremor. "I would not wish for anything from that lady. Any favour she grants is conditional, its effects permanent."
  9. ↑ The Heretic of Hollow Street, Fallen London The Glassman lowers his spectacles. "The Barber opposes our fellowship. He is a rogue who has pledged himself to a monstrous power that is imprisoned beyond the glass, and he does not understand that with which he meddles. You must stop him."
  10. ↑ The Fair Unknown, Fallen London "I oppose the Queen; she wants the doctor for her champion. Ambition, competence and a surgeon's hands. He would do her work well."
  11. ↑ The Queen of the Elephants, Fallen London "Someone as pale as a winter sky, with a face cloaked in shadow. Except for a smile, starker than a bloody wound. Her scarlet-sodden hands are folded in her lap."
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Bloody-Handed Queen, Fallen London
  13. ↑ A Game of Chess - Venderbight, Fallen London
  14. ↑ The Heretic of Hollow Street, Fallen London "The Barber has pledged allegiance to a terrible master," says the bespectacled man, putting his sandwich to one side. "Her agents in our world are usually surgeons. A word of advice, by the by: never trust a surgeon. Don't let them put you to sleep. Her agents move in surgeons' circles, and they search with their scalpels."
  15. ↑ The Heretic of Hollow Street, Fallen London With a half-smile, the Barber removes his maimed hands from his waistcoat and holds them up in mock-surrender. In the real world, they are still fingerless. But in the reflection behind, you see his hands are whole; his fingers twitch; he is soaked to the elbows in blood.
  16. ↑ Crimson-Handed, Fallen London
  17. ↑ The Heretic of Hollow Street, Fallen London "She awaits my arrival," says the Barber. He turns to you, extending a hand. His fingers are whole, and wet with blood.
  18. ↑ Bear witness (Red Leaning), Fallen London Parabola changes. Where there was an empty field, is now a grand tournament ground. The Appalling Socialite stands in the centre of an arena, applauded by thousands and thousands of watching scarlet-hued pawns.
  19. ↑ A Shrouded Soiree with the Order of Those Who Will Not Be Caught Red-Handed, Fallen London "The Order meets on the occasional Wednesday and never in the same place twice. Despite the lateness of the hour, thick, velvet curtains are drawn. Only candlelight is permitted. A fog of incense hangs over the dim room."
  20. ↑ Dress up, Fallen London "Each of you has a part to play, and a pattern to follow. Only one of you may be queen. This is not the red chess; it is only an approximation."
  21. ↑ Witness a feat of illusion, Fallen London "A hand-mirror bears witness to an ongoing game of chess; a gloved hand moves a red pawn across the board. A guest prone to flights of fancy says she sees her reflection wearing a crown. Looking over her shoulder into the glass, you see only her face."
  22. ↑ Attend a Shrouded Soirée from the Wrong Side of the Mirror, Fallen London "It is your turn to do what is necessary: a simulacrum of the red chess, played by mirror against an opponent in Ladybones Road. You allow only your glove to be observed in the mirror, only your moves to be read. With a few keen moves, you dismiss the unworthy and nominate the next leader amongst them."
  23. ↑ A dream about a queen, Fallen London
  24. ↑ The Fair Unknown, Fallen London "Here I am," he says in a voice like the creaking of ice on a frozen lake. "The White King to the Red Queen."
  25. ↑ Be loyal to the Red-Handed Queen, Fallen London
  26. ↑ The Fair Unknown, Fallen London "Tell her that the King cheated: […] The Queen's joy: The laughter of the Red-Handed Queen is as red lightning. The firmament she has built over Parabola resounds with sickly thunder. The joy of the Queen is not to be withstood."
  27. ↑ Watch a chess match, Fallen London
  28. ↑ Philosophical discussions, Silver Tree "In my dream, the Innocent Princess was sacrificed to the North Wind in service of her father's ambitions. The priests pushed her from the cliff to be swallowed by the sea, so their god would grant their King victory."
  29. ↑ The Heretic of Hollow Street, Fallen London As you cut, you entreat the Barber to tell you of his time in Parabola. He tells you about a red queen. The games she plays; the masks she dons; the pageants played for stakes he doesn't understand. Her doubt and fury; her endless need for victory, beginning and ending again. Her child.
  30. ↑ A dream about a flight from danger, Fallen London
  31. ↑ The Heretic of Hollow Street, Fallen London "She rules in dreams and behind glass," says the Barber dreamily. "The snakes think they are her guards. Sometimes she is their prisoner, sometimes their queen."
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