Phineas Amalgam

****P******hineas Amalgam** is a folklorist, and the alleged writer of *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*. He is the neighbor of the Haypottens. While at the Blue Vein Tavern, he suggested that the guests tell stories.

## Biography

### *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*

Phineas had come to borrow matches and gotten stuck at the Blue Vein Tavern when the Skidwrack's flooding rose. He had recommended the inn to Gregory Sangwin previously, and Sangwin was there as well. Masseter gave him a cigar, and he went to ask Mrs. Haypotten if there was any ribbon, for Sangwin to make a gift for Sorcha.

Phineas Amalgam suggested that the guests tell stories. He volunteered to go first, and on Petra's request he told the one about Fellwool House. He told of how a boy called Pantin had taken a dare to go into an enchanted house where the doors never led where you thought they did. Pantin had gone in search of an adit-gate, and after surviving a number of dangerous rooms, found one and left. After the tale, Amalgam remembered that the tale wasn't in his books yet. Masseter complained about how peddlers were villains in folklore, though Amalgam could remember many stories where they weren't.

After Negret told a tale of how a girl beat the Devil, he asked Amalgam about stories of the Devil's bets. There were many, Amalgam said, and some were musical challenges called headcuttings. He asked Jessamy if she'd thought of a tale, but she said she hadn't. Mrs. Haypotten told a story of Queen Maisie in a happy land, growing increasingly frustrated as Phineas inquired about everything, including why the lady told the queen what to do and how agriculture worked if it never rained.

He answered Frost's question about seiche in folklore. Amalgam soon left for the bar, and sat there with Tesserian, Masseter, and Sangwin. Jessamy came to sit too, and soon broke down, Amalgam apologizing. He wished to know what had happened, but supposed he'd never get the tale. Sangwin commented on not having mentioned his tale to Petra. He later said how many tales of reckonings there were, and was very interested in Petra's manipulations of tale-telling, even more so than Sorcha's odd relationship with the fire (he'd already guessed she was a conflagrationeer).

After Maisie told a tale of how a girl had been sent away from home for taking things, Phineas Amalgam said that it could have happened in the story but not in real life. When Maisie insisted that it had happened, Amalgam gently suggested that perhaps she'd left too much out of the tale, and Masseter helped Maisie put back how the girl hadn't been a villain. He reassured Maisie that it was okay this had been left out, and talked with Masseter about how he'd known what Maisie had left out. Masseter confronted Petra for having controlled the stories, saying that she must have influenced Amalgam to suggest them. When Masseter tried to take something from Petra, Amalgam tried to stop him, but Madame Grisaille was first. Amalgam helped Jessamy with her tale of how Petra would beat the Devil.

## Physical appearance

Phineas Amalgam has freckles, and has red hair with some white.

## Trivia

* The name "Phineas" means "Nubian". The Nubians taught others their skills and were an inspiration for Egyptian teachings and books.
* The name "Amalgam" may refer to the word "amalgamation", which is a combination of things. This could be because Phineas Amalgam combines tales to make books.
* According to Kate Milford, City University's scholars disagree on whether Phineas Amalgam was actually there, or just wrote himself into the story. Some think that Amalgam is the writer of *The Tales of Troublewit and Pantin* (apparently a popular book in Nagspeake about the adventures of Pantin and Troublewit), but others say not.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.thebump.com/b/phineas-baby-name
2. ↑ Oxford Languages dictionary
3. ↑ *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*