“Melville has counted the Silences' chairs himself. There are more chairs than Silences. He has never told the faction.”
Vaulted
Greatlion
“In the Undertow he is a Silence: reconstructed from fragments, massive in implication, gentle in person.”
A Bone echo of The Last Ones
The living story
The story so far
Simbakubwa kutokaafrika — 'the great lion from Africa' — is known from jaw fragments found in Kenya: a giant hyainailourid, bigger than a lion, reconstructed from almost nothing. Greatlion is the Undertow's gentlest implication: the fragments suggest a monster, the person is a scholar. He keeps the Half-Remembered's fragment-archive — every scrap, every shard, catalogued with the tenderness of someone who IS a scrap. 'The world,' he says, 'knew me from my jaw. I have decided to be known for my kindness.' The faction weeps at this. The faction weeps at a lot. It's that kind of faction.
The Greatlion within
“Greatlion is known from his jaw, and determined to be known for his kindness.”
Gentle, fragment-born, and scholarly — the giant African predator known only from jaw fragments, all massive implication and tender archivism, keeping the Half-Remembered's shards with infinite care.
gentle, fragment-born, scholarly, massive, tender, implied
- Loves
- the archive, the fragments, the Kenya story
- Can't stand
- overstatement, exhibition, the scattering
- How they befriend
- He'll keep your fragments like his own.
- When you're having a bad day
- He'll take you to the fragment-archive and show you how much can be known from how little — every shard placed with love — until your own broken pieces feel precious. The tenderness helps. That's the point.
How they’ll greet you: “Come in. The fragments are... most of me.”
A keeper’s whisper: Greatlion keeps a private reconstruction of himself, whole. He's afraid it's a wish, not a fact.
Whispers about Greatlion
“Greatlion keeps a private reconstruction of himself, whole. He is afraid it is a wish, not a fact.”
“Melville's extra chairs are not for the Silences. He will not say what they are for.”
The Last Ones
The recently vanished — thylacine, giant lemurs, elephant birds, moa. The realm's mourners and memory-keepers; they keep the Book of Lasts.
Silenced
$250 ·
Four the Undertow keeps silent. This one is claimed only when the season turns — no keeper may buy it yet.
At a glance — details & stats
- Element
- Bone
- Faction
- The Last Ones — They still remember sunlight.
- Rarity
- Vaulted
- Personality
- Greatlion the Simbakubwa is 'the great lion from Africa' — a giant predator known only from jaw fragments found in Kenya.
- Stats
- power 90 · charm 68 · speed 70