Falling Stars

The last Noman post, I promise! (Until next year, anyway.)

Just for the record, this is the mouseover text for the Noman icon (apparently a quote by the monk Bede):

The present life of man, O king, seems to me like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged.

When bestowing some of your Quirks to your Noman, having Ambition: Nemesis gives you a unique option:

"You authored me. But the Bazaar made me."

"Buy me a knife. Please."

The result:

Just a scratch

An annex of the Bazaar extends past the cathedral to the rusting shadows of Beazley's Gate. The shops that huddle in its arches are meaner and quieter than the bustle of the Bazaar proper, and you're a good way from any spires. Presumably that's why the noman has chosen this spot – but it remains close-mouthed.

It takes the knife in both hands, glances up and down the street, and leans its weight into carving a slash down the skin of the Bazaar. The knife barely penetrates – all the bombs of the anarchists have barely marked the Bazaar! – and the glossy demi-masonry closes up behind it. Nevertheless, the faintest seam remains. Panting with the effort, the noman works the knife-tip into the top and bottom, to mark serifs on a capital I. The knife-blade snaps in half as it completes the task. It turns and glances along the Bazaar-annex, towards the spires: then runs. You follow.

"I just want to be remembered," it says afterwards. It looks into your face – then at the knife – then back to your face. It grins. "Don't worry. I trust you to remember me the usual way."

As it happens, my player character obtained the Noman Tattoo, so they did get a permanent reminder stabbed onto their skin with a sharp object. So maybe that would please the Noman after all.