The Modiste-and-Mannequin

The Modiste-and-Mannequin
"We call upon the Modiste-and-Mannequin, who are roused to action; who tailor our skins; who will burst at their seams."
Origin	God-from-Flesh, God-from-Craft
Titles	The Seamstress, the Hatter
Names	The Velvet Vidame, The Chiffon Shade
Aspects
Date of arrival	Before the Collision, but made what she is today during it
Owner(s)	Viktor

Modiste is an artist that believes that she controls her art and the process of creating it, created by Viktor. She is a seamstress / tailor / hatter / costume designer / weaver.

Description

The Hatter aspect of the Modiste: wip - A hat covers our crown, the highest chakra and summit of our selves. It broadcasts who we are, or who we want to tell people we are. It can cloister one from the outside world. Hats give us agency in an otherwise volatile, ego-attacking world. When we wear our hat, the shield is up and sense of self intact. It creates anonymity as it hides the physical face; or on a deeper level, one’s individuality. In a hat, the ego self now represents a unit of many. Contrarily, a hat may point to personality. A cowboy’s stetson connotes his unyielding individualism and roaming spirit as he sets off on the hero’s journey. A woman in a wide brim has an air of worldly mystique and inaccessibility. A possessor of many hats may be a possessor of many personalities. A hat can signify ideas, which spring forth from just beneath it. An old hat is an old idea. To wear a lot of hats indicates many talents or skills. To keep something under your hat is to store a secret in the dark recesses of your mind. Not to be overlooked is the practical necessity of a hat - to shield from the elements or danger. Abstractly, they protect us from judgement, as we wear them to signal who we are before others can decide for themselves. With this in mind, it stands that hats at once protect us from the physical world and contain us to our own psychic condition of self-defined, ego-driven identity.

History

She was a former Long of The Demiurge, who ascended in the Late Middle Ages (14th to 15th centuries AD). By the 16th century, she saw through his falsehoods and fake inspiration, and set out to search for her real muse. That is how she entered the service of The Hearthkeeper, under whom she eventuality ascended to become their Name when she helped them modify the Webbed Door to serve as a spinning wheel. In the early 18th century, The Zabbaleen wanted to use the Webbed Door to craft a new Name for themselves, and the Hearthkeeper proposed that the Modiste did that for them. She spun the Door, felt the threads of Glory on her fingers, then tugged at them, weaved them, and pulled the Spindle out of the light; her true inspiration! One could not exist without the other; thus, they were known as The Modiste-with-Spindle, a new Hour loyal to both the Hearthkeeper and the Zabbaleen (who have received their weaved Name, the Lady of Lace, as promised).

The Collision, however, brought great destruction. The Spindle, always tied to her origin, the Glory, would have pulled the Modiste with her to their shared doom, so the Demarq-s severed them apart. The Modiste was saved, and watched the Spindle become Halted, while their Name, the Velveteen Valet, sacrificed much of his power to fuel the Modiste's own fading life. She could not live without a pair, though, especially not as an Hour. Thus, she found the Mannequin, from the King's House, which lost its pair in the Collision, too. From that day on, they are known as Modiste-and-Mannequin.

Appearance

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Principles

1. Forge, for art and craft, for vision and ambition, for creation, remaking, and weaving.
2. Moth, for skins and change, for the fickleness of the muses, for the single-minded devotion to love and art, for yearning for inspiration and companionship.
3. Grail, for seduction, temptation and perversion, for craving love and attention, for exaggerated ambition, for arrogance and snobbery.

Worship

They are worshiped by seamstresses, tailors, hatters and weavers.

Cults

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Mark

1. Temptation: wip: wip
2. Dedication: wip: wip
3. Ascension: wip: wip
4. Ascension: wip: wip
5. Ascension: wip: wip
6. Ascension: wip: wip
7. Ending: wip

Names and Long

The Velvet Vidame

Grail, for luxury, decadence, and self-indulgence.

The noble and stately Name, one of the members of the Couture, but still just a petty lordling that loves scandal and drama. Arrogant, narcissistic, scheming and manipulative. One of the most avid participants in the Silken Salon, and the reason why the Château is currently shuttered.

The Modiste is sometimes intimidated by him, but he seems content with his current position, for now, with no plans to overstep the boundaries. The Mannequin is fond of him as long as he serves it.

Some lesser Names serve him as his attendants - the Chiffon Shade, the Ciselé Sculptor, the Devoré Dame, and the Velveteen Valet, as well as some Long - the Lyons ???, and Knight Nacré.

The Chiffon Shade

Lantern, for transparency and incorporeity, light and knowledge.

Grail, for secrets, luxury and yearning.

A ghostly, diaphanous shade; a sheer, evanescent shawl; pale champagne smoke; a shivering shroud that lets through the shining light. This melancholic Name haunts the Shuttered Château, especially one of its highest spires that contains the library.

The delicate, gentle Shade, once known as the Chiffon Châtelaine, used to be the mistress of the Château, before she was overthrown and badly damaged by the Velvet Vidame. Thus, she is no longer the member of the Couture, but she has no ambitions to reclaim her position. The Collision greatly affected her, damaging the Shade even further, but the Modiste manage to save her by weaving some ascended Dead into her. Occasionally, the Shade descends into furious madness, especially if she is reminded of who she used to be and what was taken from her, and turns into a shrieking banshee that attacks everything in sight.

At her waist, she wears a châtelaine, a decorative belt clasp with a series of chains dangling and clanking from it; each chain is mounted with household appendages such as scissors, thimbles, watches, keys, smelling salts, and household seals. Those keys open desks, chests, drawers, pantries, storage containers, and many other locked cabinets within the Château and often within the Atelier as a whole. She was, thus, the one who would direct the servants and who would open or lock the access to the valuables of the house, possessing total authority over who had access to what. The latter purpose hasn't been entirely taken from her, though, as she still holds those keys.

The Velveteen Valet

Moth, for the velveteen being the imitation of velvet, for folly and unreason, for chaos and whimsy, for changing skins/forms.

Grail, for charisma and love, for birth and hunger/thirst.

The Valet, also known as the Velveteen Vagabond, is one of the major Names of the Modiste-and-Mannequin, but he isn't a member of the Couture.

He has three forms:

The Valet

His most common shape, the Valet, looks like a white anthropomorphic ragdoll rabbit in a jade-green velveteen servant's attire, with a winged silver pocket-watch that he constantly checks. He has a silver brooch that features three rabbits chasing each other in a circle, and each of the ears is shared by two rabbits, so that only three ears are shown. In this form, he a servant of the Velvet Vidame, but he is always trying to be a nuisance for him, however petty and insignificant it may be, undermining the Vidame's authority and ridiculing him when possible. The Valet is a messenger of the Atelier, perpetually in a hurry, used to relay the Modiste's and her Names' messages, and often a guide for the dreamers and other guests visiting the Atelier. He is known to plot his master's downfall as the member of the Autumn Salon, which he usually attends in this form.

The Merrymaker

In his Merrymaker form, he has a straw wreath on his head, his brooch is still present, and sometimes he is seen with a mortar and a pestle, grinding herbs and tea leaves to prepare them for consumption. He mockingly mimics the Velvet Vidame in mannerisms, behaviour, and appearance, and conducts his distracting feasts and tea parties in the Spring Salon, specifically to disrupt any discussion happening there by the merrymaking and ungovernable whimsy, with the ultimate goal of undermining the Vidame and eventually overthrowing him. The two used to be in love, but the Valet was betrayed by his unfaithful lover, and now he is heart-broken and bent on revenge. He is often accompanied by many rabbit-like Mansus spirits (or perhaps simple illusions - no one is sure) that he claims to be his children. He is in the Modiste's good graces, since he sacrificed himself to sustain her during her separation from the Spindle. She brought him back, but his power was severely diminished, and the feasts partially serve to help the Valet recover, while the Modiste is known to attend in her free time.

The Volpertinger

Also known as the Horned Hare, this is the beastly form that he can sustain himself; a feral werewolf-like hare with gnarly, branching antlers, claws and sharp fangs. The feasts often happen after his hunts, which isn't a coincidence. The hunting dogs of the Fleeced Foyer are the Valet's mortal enemies. They sometimes engage in fights when the Valet hunts, and it is not always clear who is the prey.

Additional Information

The Valet used to be friends with the Lady of Lace, before the Embrace was weaved into her. Her consciousness has been almost completely lost during the process, but the Mantle and the Valet still share some amity towards each other.

The Valet and the Vidame used to be in love, before the latter betrayed the former. Now they are rivals.

The Valet often visits the Caravansary, and developed friendships with the Cashmere Keeper residing there, as well as the Long, Camelot and Cameline.

While his Rabbit-barrows stretch under the entire Atelier (and sometimes beyond), his main lair is within the Shuttered Château, and the important exits lead there, to the Silken Salon in its autumnal form, to the Caravansary, and into the Avant-Garden.

The Cashmere Keeper

Grail?

A member of the Couture that resides within the Caravansary as its mistress and one of its regular merchants. The Cashmere Keeper is a horned woman wearing a loose sweater, baggy trousers, a hat, gloves, and a shawl artistically draped around her, often resting on blankets strewn across the floors, with many stylised goat figurines peppered around her.

Undeveloped notes:

- fawns and satyrs?

Camelot and Cameline

Two Long of the Modiste that reside in the Caravansary.

Camelot (or Camulus) wears a smooth, lustrous doublet made of camblet (woven fabric of camel's hair, with added silk, wool and cotton) with impressed images of flowers, foliage, battlefields, ships and waves - they depict his travels and accomplishments, and contain Shattered Histories lore. He is the one who upholds peace and civility in this area, and his wrath is a terrifying thing. Cameline's brother.

Cameline wears a warm, light, coarse, brown and white cloak, made from camel's hair (with added wool and cotton, less luxurious than camblet). She is a merchant that sells all kinds of things, ranging from regular to esoteric. Camelot's sister.

Locations (Mansus)

The Atelier is the residence of the Modiste-and-Mannequin, a sprawling art studio mostly dedicated to working with fabrics, but also including various other arts. Located close to the spinning-wheel aspect of the Webbed Door, and contains many rooms.

The Shuttered Château

Also known as the Shadowed Château, it is one of the largest buildings of the Atelier complex, located on the Eastern side. It used to be ruled by the Chiffon Shade, before she was overthrown by the Velvet Vidame. Once airy and bright, now its windows are barred and the interiors are darkened and heavy.

The inhabitants of the Château are the Velvet Vidame (in his private quarters), the Chiffon Shade (in her library-spire), the Velveteen Valet (in his main lair of the Rabbit-barrows), the Ciselé Sculptor, the Devoré Dame, the Knight Nacré, and the Lyons ???.

The Rabbit-barrows

While they stretch beneath the entire Atelier, the main lair is located withing the Château. Here, the Velveteen Valet resides.

The Silken Salon

An opulent circular hall in the heart of the Atelier, on the periphery of the Château. Here, Names and Long alike gather, with the Modiste-and-Mannequin as their inspiring hosts, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. The many entrances, which lead to other related locations, are lost beneath soft, silky drapes, and above each door, there is the motto: 'Aut delectare aut prodesse' ("Either to please or to educate"). The Salon freely changes its appearance, depending on the current purpose, and thanks to the dream logic of Mansus, all those forms can coexist at any given time.

1) The Salon des Beaux-Arts (the Salon of Fine Arts), also known as the Salon de Printemps (the Spring Salon), and often simply as the Silken Salon, is formed by the grand Names of the Modiste, known as the Couture, who plan and plot their attempts to establish themselves in their current position and win their mistress' favour. The discussions about the springtime fashion used to happen here, but less so now, after the Collision has shattered the world. The Velveteen Valet sometimes conducts his feasts here, to undermine the discussions and plotting. The Shuttered Château can be accessed from here.

2) The Salon d'Été (the Summer Salon). WIP. The discussions about the summertime fashion used to happen here, but less so now, after the Collision has shattered the world.

3) The Salon des Refusés ("The Exhibition of Rejects"), also known as the Salon d'Automne (the Autumn Salon), is formed by those Names and Long that aren't among the ranks of Couture (nor their servants), either because they have never been chosen, or because they have lost their position. It stands in the opposition to the Summer Salon, and their rivalry is the main source of drama in the Atelier. Here, most work on undermining the Couture and claiming their position. The discussions about the autumnal fashion used to happen here, but less so now, after the Collision has shattered the world. The Rabbit-warrens of the Velveteen Valet can be accessed from here.

4) The Salon d'Hiver (the Winter Salon). WIP. The discussions about the wintertime fashion used to happen here, but less so now, after the Collision has shattered the world. The Fleeced Foyer can be accessed from here.

The Fleeced Foyer

The Caravansary

The massive building appended to the Atelier (accessible from the Foyer), with a square walled exterior and a single portal wide enough to permit large or heavily laden beasts to enter. The courtyard is open to the Mansus-sky, and the inside walls of the enclosure are outfitted with a number of niches and chambers to accommodate merchants and their servants, animals, and merchandise. Great many tents, striped white and brown in colour, are either standing in the clearing, or are attached to the building, as extensions to the niches. This is a no-conflict zone, where fair trade is encouraged and fighting is frowned upon and punished severely.

The Cameleers move regularly between the Caravansary and other locations, notably the City of Dust, and the Stone Meridian. Dreamers from the Caravans that travel across the Wastes in the Wake often dream into the current position of the Cameleers in the Mansus, and that link works both ways - it is possible to access the Wake where the Caravans are by travelling with the Cameleers. They are transporting messages, valuables and materials, and for this reason, the Rag-picker (a Name of the Zabbaleen), the Grand Merchant (a Name of the Demiurge), and the Velveteen Valet can sometimes be seen here. Other than them, there are three residents - the Cashmere Keeper, a member of the Couture, and two Long, Cameline and Camelot.

Undeveloped notes:

- straw that broke the camel's back?

- a camel slaughtered for important guests?

- the Silk Road?

Additional Locations

There are some lesser locations that are not directly associated with a specific major location.

The Corsetry

This is an underground prison-like location where corsets and crinolines are used as cages for failed creations and the offending Long and Names. It can be accessible from almost any major location, but those passages are mostly unknown, and the main entrance is through the Gendarmerie.

The Gendarmerie

These are the quarters of the Gendarmes, or the Bluecoats, the "fashion police", the Modiste's armed forces and guards.

The Avant-Garden

The lush gardens that surround the Atelier. The perimetre is protected by a subset of the Gendarmes, called the Avant-Guards, who look like animated statues. They also keep the gardens neat and clean.

Locations (Histories)

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Items

Tools

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Ingredients

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Influences

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Books

• The Fourteenth Indictment
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Rites

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Relationships

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Secrets

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