Mr Cups

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### Affiliation

The Masters of the Bazaar
The Echo Bazaar

### Aliases

Mr Mirrors
Cups
Mirrors
The Saint of Chalices

### Related

Curators (species)

> *"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!"*
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**Mr Cups** is a distant and proper Curator who serves as a Master of the Bazaar.

## The Value of Vessels

> *"Crockery, pottery, sculpture."*
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> *"There are clockmakers' shops in the Neath, but they are the preserve of Mr Cups, and it is difficult to find them."*
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Mr Cups controls trade in all manner of vessels and tableware, including cups, plates, tea sets, bowls, candle sticks, and cake stands. It also trades in sculptures, relics, and manages kilns.

Cups is in charge of all the clockmakers in London, and it strictly enforces this fact. It was one of the Masters who harassed the Watchmaker's Daughter in an attempt to exploit her skills with clockwork, leading to her tragic end.

Mr Cups is an elusive Master who rarely appears in public. It can be contacted indirectly through its Relickers, who work on its behalf.

### Certifiable

> *"Mr Cups collects wares from across the Neath, almost indiscriminately. Almost."*
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Mr Cups likes to collect trash and discarded goods in search of valuables in the scraps. It is a skilled connoisseur who can restore even the oldest antiques. The Relickers are its employees who gather and appraise junk on its behalf,  and also act as its spies in London.

In the past, 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, and likely the origin of the Relickers' rat companions.

The reason for Cups' 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."*

### Other Names

> *"Mr Mirrors will like this pile. Mr Cups. I meant Mr Cups."*
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Mr Cups also trades as Mr Mirrors as of the modern Fifth City, and is in charge of the "frangible and the fine." This fact is not known to the general public and they are viewed as two separate Masters. Cups took on this identity after another Master, the original Mr Mirrors, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

In the Fourth City, Mr Cups was known under multiple different names, including the **Khan of Shards** and the **Khan of Clutter**.

In the *Sunless Skies* timeline, Mr Cups is called the **Saint of Chalices** by the Cult of the Sanctified at Avid Horizon.

## Personality

> *"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."*
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> *"I would prefer to simply leave. Let the Bazaar be torn apart. What has she done for us lately?"*
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Mr Cups presents itself as polite and affable, and it can be rather verbose. It typically communicates with others indirectly or through letters. It enjoys collecting for its own sake; rather than hoarding, it discards lesser valuables to make room for new ones, keeping the process going. Cups is fascinated with empty vessels because, according to it, they can be filled with anything it wants.

According to Mr Cups' iteration of Mr Sacks, it misses living under the Great Chain of Being, as it enjoys the feeling of knowing its place in the hierarchy of the Judgements.

While Cups may have a pleasant demeanor, it nonetheless has many flaws. It is self-centered, self-pitying, ruthless, and remorseless. When reminded of the Second City, it is rumored to "fly into a rage," and after the Grand Clearing-Out, it did not aid in the Masters in their plans to prevent the Stone Pigs from destroying London.

## Businesses

> *"Mr Cups' stall is in one of the more remote courtyards, near the one where it keeps a kiln."*
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Mr Cups has a shop in the Labyrinth of Tigers called **Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics**. It sells all kinds of crockery with designs based on the Labyrinth's attractions, such as a dish decorated with beetles or a bowl shaped like a fish. The shop is managed by a Clay Man and also stocks relics from the Second City.

## Dwellings

> *"The ceilings of Mr Cups' parlour soar high above you. The walls are lined with vast display cabinets, filled with crockery, pottery, and sculpture. Some are worth trading a spouse for. Others are tools of social suicide."*
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Mr Cups has a parlor in the Echo Bazaar that contains tall display cabinets filled with goods. The items stored here may be ancient, valuable, or rather eccentric.

Cups has a personal sanctum deep within the Echo Bazaar, filled with vessels and cups of any shape, size, or material. These include valuable goblets, cups the size of thimbles, and a chalice made from sculpted bone that is large enough to fit a person. The chamber also includes a tub, a desk for paperwork, and coat hooks.

## The Nemesis

> *"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!"*
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Mr Cups, like the other Masters, is a Curator, a bat-like being who roamed the High Wilderness to accumulate treasures for its hoard. Before its time in the Neath, Cups committed violations against the rules of its kind, which forced it into service under the Echo Bazaar to avoid "misfortune, failure, and fruitlessness."

During its time serving the Bazaar, Mr Cups concocted a grand scheme in which it hired an assassin named **Scathewick** to murder seven specific people on the Surface. Their vengeful loved ones were lured to the Neath, where they would get their revenge or die trying. Their tragic tales would then be written on the Bazaar by the Lady in Lilac, who was coerced into doing so by Cups.

Ironically, Cups' motive for this scheme also involves revenge. It has grown exhausted of serving the Bazaar and believes its mission to prevent the Sun's demise will fail. By tampering with the Bazaar's message, 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. Six of these stories have already concluded, but one remains unfinished.

## References

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mr Cups, *Fallen London*
3. ↑ The trade in clocks, *Fallen London*
4. ↑ Put up a statue honouring Mr Cups, *Fallen London*
5. ↑ Pass through the opening, *Fallen London* *"Cups clutter every flat surface."*
6. ↑ Ambition Nemesis %E2%80%93 The Last Cup, *Fallen London* *"This is Mr Cups' personal chamber. Here are its treasures [...]"*
7. ↑ 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."*
8. ↑ Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics, *Fallen London* *"Customers can choose [...] cakestands, candlesticks [...] sugar bowl [...]"*
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics, *Fallen London*
10. ↑ Incarnadine Fur Robe, *Fallen London* *"Mr Cups [...] shows you an ancient tea set."*
11. ↑ The trade in clocks, *Fallen London*
12. ↑ 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."*
13. ↑ Request a Clockwork Drownie, *Fallen London*
14. ↑ 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?"*
15. ↑ Distract yourself; read the newspaper, *Fallen London* *"The front page carries a [...] story about 'Mr Cups' sudden spate of public appearances."*
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Who are the Relickers?, *Fallen London*
17. ↑ Certifiable Scrap, *Fallen London*
18. ↑ The Master's Voice, *Fallen London*
19. ↑ The Khan's Tea Set, *Fallen London*
20. ↑ 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 [...]"*
21. ↑ 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."*
22. ↑ Approach the lone prisoner, *Fallen London* *"As you approach the prisoner [...] it is unmistakably the Sanguine Auctioneer. [...]"*
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Why do the Relickers keep rats?, *Fallen London*
24. ↑ 'Why are there no foxes in the city?', *Failbetter Games*
25. ↑ The Crocodile Who Would Be King, *Fallen London*
26. ↑ Hand over a multitude of scraps for a Rumourmonger's Network, *Fallen London*
27. ↑ 'How many Masters are there?', *Failbetter Games*
28. ↑ Mr Mirrors, *Fallen London*
29. ↑ Hand over a multitude of scraps for a Rumourmonger's Network, *Fallen London*
30. ↑ Something to burn?, *Fallen London*
31. ↑ Distract yourself; read the newspaper, *Fallen London* *"This is, you suppose, what they do when one of them falls. As Cups took over Mirrors' identity and bailiwick [...]"*
32. ↑ Dreamer's End, *Fallen London* *"I am only a splinter of myself, now. A dream, dreaming. A reflection, cast by nothing."*
33. ↑ 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"*
34. ↑ The crowning of the saints, *Sunless Skies*
35. ↑ Accept and be anointed in the Cult of the Sanctified, *Sunless Skies*
36. ↑ Lost in Reflections, *Fallen London*
37. ↑ Inquire about a solution, *Fallen London*
38. ↑ 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!"*
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lost 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 [...]"*
40. ↑ Incarnadine Fur Robe, *Fallen London* *"Mr Sacks! How seasonally apposite. How deliciously sentimental. How fortuitously timed!"*
41. ↑ The Master's Voice, *Fallen London*
42. ↑ The Master's Voice, *Fallen London*
43. ↑ 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!""*
44. ↑ 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."*
45. ↑ Mr Sacks! Take my ignorance from me. Are you..., *Fallen London*
46. ↑ Mr Sacks! Take this dream of skies untainted!, *Fallen London*
47. ↑ Inquire about a solution, *Fallen London* *"I would prefer to simply leave," [...] "Let the Bazaar be torn apart. What has she done for us lately?"*
48. ↑ 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."*
49. ↑ Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), *Fallen London* *"If it makes a difference, it was not personal. [...] I will not render you the disrespect of an apology."*
50. ↑ Does it feel remorse?, *Fallen London*
51. ↑ What's the problem with the Second City?, *Fallen London*
52. ↑ Inquire about the Stone Pigs, *Fallen London*
53. ↑ Inquire after the other Masters, *Fallen London*
54. ↑ Mr Cups' Splendid Commemorative Ceramics, *Fallen London*
55. ↑ Mr 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 butter dish covered in gleaming [...] beetles. And that sugar bowl, [...] in the shape of a cave-fish [...] A Clay Man waits patiently to assist with your purchases [...] You [...] filch something [...] a handful of odd [...] carvings."*
56. ↑ Incarnadine Fur Robe, *Fallen London* *"You set off for the Bazaar [...] The ceilings of Mr Cups' parlour soar high [...] walls are lined with vast display cabinets, filled with crockery, pottery, and sculpture. Some are worth trading a spouse for. Others are tools of social suicide. [...] Mr Cups [...] shows you an ancient tea set."*
57. ↑ Pass through the opening, *Fallen London* *"Open chests glimmer with goblets [...] Cups clutter every flat surface. [...] Some are adorned with gems of captive starlight and silver-flame, while others are [...] vessels of plain wood [...] Others are the size of thimbles [...] others are bowls, or basins, or troughs.*
58. ↑ Ambition Nemesis – To All Things, An End, *Fallen London* *"The chalice is wide as a well and deep as a grave. You clamber into its basin, [...] It is made from numberless bones, fused together [...]"*
59. ↑ Ambition Nemesis – The Last Cup, *Fallen London* *"This is Mr Cups' personal chamber. [...] Here is the noxious pool in which it bathes [...] Here is its desk: [...] Papers are laid out on it [...] Hanging from nodules on the wall are its robes [...]"*
60. ↑ Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), *Fallen London*
61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 A secret about the Masters, *Failbetter Games*
62. ↑ Traces of Veils the Curator, *Fallen London*
63. ↑ Curator, *Sunless Skies*
64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Demand an explanation (from Mr. Cups), *Fallen London* *"The Bazaar's dream is a folly! [...] Let it suffer, [...] as I have suffered over the span of five cities!"*
65. ↑ Ambition: Nemesis 1, *Fallen London*
66. ↑ Ambition: Nemesis 0, *Fallen London*
67. ↑ There will be a reckoning, *Fallen London*
68. ↑ 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."*
69. ↑ Ambition Nemesis – The Revengers' Court (2), *Fallen London*
70. ↑ Ambition: Nemesis – One Last Matter, *Fallen London* *"The stories on the Bazaar's skin affect the [...] message it carries [...] on occasion [...] the contents of its heart [...]"*
71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 Ask Mr Cups about Lilac, *Fallen London* *"I commissioned her to ink seven stories upon the Bazaar. Of love; of vengeance. She resisted at first. I was forced to be persuasive."*
72. ↑ Listen to the Mountain tell its stories, *Fallen London*
73. ↑ 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!"*
74. ↑ Ask Mr Cups about Lilac, *Fallen London* *"The work is unfinished. [...] the seventh: it hasn't finished yet."*