The Goddess of Stories was born the very moment that humans first felt the desire to tell a story. It was nothing special, a few pictures drawn on a cave wall, a few words spoken in a budding language, and a haphazard performance held around a campfire. But it had all the elements of a Story, and so Story was born, and at this point the only art was part of The Story, and so Story and Art existed, and were one. They lived in the abstract, the shifting idea of a tale, recorded orally, which changed a little bit with each retelling. They were fluid and free. As humanity grew and spread, they grew too, as more stories were told and more art was made. The domain of stories was initially formed as a small clay brick building. The words of her short story were carved in cuneiform on the bricks that composed her. The few stories that existed physically as clay tablets laid in rows around her walls, but even then she existed in the same space as Art, and she still existed mostly as the campfire, as the beautiful melodic voices of people singing their stories aloud. She was small, and free, and she was with her brother, and she was happy.
With each passing year the Goddess of Stories changed, grew larger. She was a limestone building, and then she was a grand marble hall, and her centerpiece was not the campfire, but the showstage. She and her brother made people together, who would perform for them. They kept a little club of clay men with simple faces and designs carved into their faces, and they would act. She and her brother delighted in watching them, in seeing all the tales humanity spun, in the artistry they expressed in their acts of creation.
Then, one day, who knows when, her brother was gone. Nearby was he still, but they were not connected anymore. Their centers shifted, diverged, and soon they were not one place anymore. Their little clay servants travelled between them, they still talked, they just weren't the same anymore. The problem only got worse, each day they were farther apart, the great Library and the great Museum, separate gods. She could not help but to feel that, in their expansion of the concepts of Art and Stories, humanity had stolen a part of her. Her center shrunk too. From the cozy campfire to the engraved walls to the grand showstage to the cold clay tablet to the fragile scroll. She especially hated when she became the book, literally bound by the "progress" of humanity. Now she is a typewriter, nothing but a machine set with rules and specifications and limits, and god has her Library, the bulk of her body, grown, expanded, inflated. God how she loathes the creaking wood. She only sees her brother on rare occasions now. She is here, bound by steel and wood, and alone, so very alone, no company but the lifeless performers her brother made with her, just a reminder of her own loneliness.
The Goddess of Stories was not content to stay on this course. She would rather stories die out altogether and leave her to the cold freeing embrace of death than be bound in tighter shackles than she already was. So, when this course began, she hatched her plan. Humanity was flawed, this much was so obvious. From the way their twisted sense of progress distorted and constricted her form, to the way their own vindictive and violent natures, their greed and ignorance led them to hurt each other. All they needed was guidance, the benevolent hand of a deity to shepherd them to a more civilized state. They could be good, and noble creatures with a bit of help.
So, the Goddess of Stories did what she was made for. She wrote a story. The story was about a man, a kind, true, honorable man. The kind of man everyone should look up to. She wrote the story of how this man fought for the good of his brethren, how he opposed evil, and brought truth and enlightenment wherever he went. She wrote the story of how this man was unfairly persecuted by the forces of order and constriction. She wrote of his death, but how in his death he inspired humanity to be better, kinder. She wrote the story of the Martyr.
But... it didn't work. The Martyr died, and humanity stayed the same. Perhaps some were inspired to goodness by his tale, but others used it as an excuse to further their own selfish goals, and even more were unaffected by it at all. But she wouldn't give up. She loved humanity, she loved them, and she would show them the error of their ways, and then everything would be good again, and she would be with her brother. She wrote the story again, she changed up a few details. He was the first king teaching humanity how to farm crops, only to be killed by his jealous brother. He was the sickliest of the gods selflessly throwing himself into a sacrificial flame in order to give rise to the motion of the Sun. He was a benevolent poet spreading wisdom, only to be butchered by those he sought to enlighten. He was a titan defying the gods to bring fire to mankind. He was the son of a kind god sacrificing himself to redeem the sins of humanity.
It didn't work. It never worked. Even when the stories landed, people could just never bring themselves to understand her words, they could never just listen to her message. But she kept going, kept working to make them understand, even as their advancements, almost always brought about to more efficiently murder their brethren, pulled her chains tighter, she continued to try and fix them. She kept going, because she loved them, and she kept going until that wasn't true anymore.
The Martyr was written to be kind, generous, selfless, but everyone has a tipping point. He was dismembered, incinerated, boiled, eviscerated, and crucified, and with each consecutive death his faith in humanity was lost. He had no desire to see them get better anymore. He hated them, he hated them for everything they ever did to him, all the ways they continued to hurt him. And you know what? He hated Her too, hated the way she couldn't just give up, hated the way she continued to use him and break him like he didn't matter, like he was just a toy, a character. Who could blame him for going a bit mad?
He would not be content to suffer this torment, but there was no escape, not in these halls where she was all that was and she was all-powerful. Still, he found his loophole. She had no power over the room for interpretation, no power over the white space between the pages. He found a realm of unwritten things, and got to writing a story for himself within it. He wrote of a secret door that led to his own private narnia. A magnificent mansion atop a snowy mountain. A place where he could indulge, play the role of the decadent king of the mountain. Then, every so often, there would come a visitor. He would entertain them for a bit, plant clues to his false nature, clues to the "secret identity" he made up for himself. Hold dinners, leave the guests alone for extended periods, let them investigate just a wee bit. Then, when they found out what it was he wanted them to find out, they would confront him, or more likely run for the exit or hide until some nonexistent rescue came to save them. He would savor the showdown, the chase, the search, and then he would take them to his favourite room.
It was the picture of gruesome, the most indulgent thing he had incorporated into this personal vampire murder fantasy. He would strap them to the table in his personal torture room, and gut them. He kept all sorts of weapons: saws, knives, ice picks, axes. But his favourite was always the straight razor, it had such an intimate touch to it, to cut his victim open with something that had once bit into his own wooden skin. Mostly, he just enjoyed the idea of someone else bleeding in his place for once. The pleasure of his private retreat almost made the agony of his repeated demises bearable. Perhaps he could have survived if it was allowed to last forever.
The Inkwell Heart is the first installment in the series of the same name. It takes the form of an ergodic literature novel. Its main influence on the larger history of the series are in its showcase of the Martyr's betrayal and subsequent execution, as well as in advancing the Library's conflict with the Future.
The day is usual. The Martyr sneaks away from the Library and performs his grand play, does the dance of mystery and intrigue followed by violent confrontation. This time is different in one regard. Just as he watches the life drain from the eyes of his imaginary human victim, he is startled by the sound of the door to his private room creaking open. Murmur stands before him, Typewriter held tight in his arms. She's furious, of course, with this blatant corruption of the character she's created. But she is curious as well, so instead of tearing down this metanarrative palace, she opts to play his game.
The next guest arrives, the Typewriter designed this one custom, an author of trashy romcoms and other meaningless stories meant for little more than consumption. The story begins and the dance goes much this same, with the exception of the new staff of masked butlers accompanying the Martyr, and the new Typewriter occupying his office desk. Our protagonist, or victim, really, probably has a name, but it doesn't matter. He's just a toy, something to let some stress out on. The Martyr's usual plot is derailed pretty quickly. All it took was spotting some odd pages covering the wall beneath the peeling wallpaper to begin suspecting the true literary nature of this place, a hypothesis that is only further reinforced when he eventually gets a glance beneath one of the butlers' masks.
He looks deeper, finds the Library, and soon he's posing an actual problem. He finds The Book, the old shed heart of the Inkwell Goddess. With just a glance he guesses the true nature of this artifact. He watches as pages fill up with these very words, the words of his own story reflected back at him, and he decides to write in his own solution. The Martyr bursts in, ready to attack, only for his heeled boot to conveniently pierce through a cracked floorboard, trapping him momentarily. The victim escapes, and writes in a sanctuary for himself, a place of that which can't be described by words alone. He finds the Inbetween. The Martyr fruitlessly searches for him for a time, unaware that at the same time his victim is struggling against the forces of the ineffable. We get to see the Martyr speak directly to the Goddess of Stories, we learn of their individual motivations and their origins, and their shared desire for vengeance against humanity. When at last the Martyr discovers the wound through which his victim escaped and tears it open, he finds himself incidentally freeing The Forgotten King.
The victim and the Martyr are forced to work together, skillfully using the power of The Book to seal the Forgotten King back into his own indescribable hellscape. the victim learns his own metafictional nature, as merely a character in a story within a realm of stories, and in the immediate aftermath of their victory over the Forgotten King, the victim loses the book. The Martyr steals it, claiming control over the Library. He takes this chance to return back to his idealized setting, rewriting the very world about him. He pursues the victim through the branching halls of his manor, not noticing the Typewriter tapping away in the background.
Their chase leads them into a grand ballroom, and just as the Martyr reaches the center of the room there comes a great crash as a chandelier falls down from above. His wooden flesh splinters apart, his mask breaking apart and glass glowing flying, The Book sails through the room, landing at the feet of a towering man in a black tailcoat. The chandelier disappears into the ground alongside the Martyr's shattered corpse. Murmur takes the book, reverting the manor back into the Library with a single sentence.
The victim continues through his hopeless chase, fleeing now from legions of black-suited butlers doing the Typewriter's bidding. He flees through towering bookshelves, and archives, and he stumbles through the scenery of a great museum, and he eventually winds up at that final confrontation. The point the story was always meant to lead to. In a small cave, music sounds, crude drawings decorate the walls, and the Typewriter sits atop a podium in the center of a long-dead campfire. The victim pleads and begs for his life, he can hear the approach of a thousand armed butlers in the distance, but the Typewriter doesn't care what he thinks. He's just another character in a story she wrote.
The victim decides he's not going to die like this, and so he starts tip tapping away. He doesn't write a story though. He knows what it is that she really fears. He knows how afraid she is of The Future, and he decides to end his story by making hers just a little bit more insufferable. The last sentences he writes are written in the language of computers, the language of advancement, the language of The Future.
The Dollhouse Tales are the chronologically second installment in the Inkwell Heart series. It takes the form of an animated webseries. It focuses primarily on showing off the culture of the Red Gentry. Its primary contributions to the series history are the introduction of the Red Gentry, the advancement of Murmur and Astaroth's character arcs, and the revival of the Martyr.
The Dollhouse Tales will have twelve episodes, each one focusing on a different influential member of Red Gentry society. It will follow the daily life of this character, and will end with exposing someone close to them as a member of the Order of Silence. The primary character will be murdered, and their blood used to aid in the Martyr's revival ritual. The final four episodes will focus on the Order of Silence finally completing their ritual, the Blacksuits and especially Murmur, and a two-part finale wherein the revived Martyr faces off against Murmur in the culmination of the Blood Wars.
The first episode, entitled "The Apprentice", follows Dottore Peste as he meets a young member of the Red Gentry, and decides to take him in as his apprentice. We will be introduced to the Order of Silence in a scene of Dottore Peste reading a King's Court newspaper and seeing an article on the topic. The episode will primarily follow the Doctor's training of the new Apprentice, culminating in a scene of the Apprentice successfully performing his first operation on his own. The Doctor will bestow the Dottore Jekyll mask upon his Apprentice, solidifying the completion of his training. Later that night, the Doctor awakens to find his Apprentice without his mask on, revealing the moretta mask worn by members of the Order of Silence beneath it. He will be filled with shock and despair, falling to his knees, and unwilling to defy his most trusted kin when Dottore Jekyll tears his mask off and guts his story. We close on a shot of Dottore Jekyll donning the Dottore Peste mask and leaving the house.
The second episode, entitled "House of Silence", follows a newly defected Blacksuit joining the Red Gentry and living with the Matron of Silence and her two daughters. The episode will show the development of the Guest as he learns the ways of the Red Gentry and adopts an identity of his own. We will also see the growing conflict between the Matron and her eldest daughter as they struggle over their own ideas for who the youngest daughter should follow in the footsteps of. We discover at the end that the Guest has joined the Order of Silence, and a fight between him and the Matron ensues. Despite her superior power, the Guest eventually defeats her, leaving her to crawl towards the door to the next room, where the Mother and the Maiden gossip. She spits out her mask and tries, desperately, to say anything that might catch the attention of her two daughters, but no sound emerges, and the two daughters, giggling amongst themselves, leave the room, not even noticing as their mother is dragged back into the shadows by the Guest.
The third episode, entitled "Pulcinella's Secret", follows Pulcinella immediately after discovering that several high profile members of the Red Gentry are in fact members of the Order of Silence. He frantically runs about the city, hiding from the members of the Order that he knows could be anywhere, behind any corner, behind any face. He tries to confess what he's learned to anyone who'll listen. He goes to the Hunter, he goes to the King, but not a single soul listens. We end with him fianlly consulting the comedic Fool, who listens, and who invites him to discuss their plight in private. Upon entering this private sanctuary, Pulcinella finds himself cornered by Dottore Jekyll and the Guest dressed in the robes of the Matron of Silence. The episode ends with the camera focused on the door he entered through, as his screams ring out, and then slowly fade away.
The fourth episode, entitled "Tin Soldiers", follows the General as he prepares to fight on the front lines of the Blood War against the Blacksuits. He puts on a show of dilligence and bravado, playing the role of a perfect soldier. The focus shifts to the other side, where we are introduced to Murmur, carrying his lantern and The Typewriter, with Astaroth standing at his side. Soon, the war begins, and it's an onslaught. Blacksuits stand wiping off their bayonets as the members of the Red Gentry's army are reduced to bloodies scraps of wood and paper. We end with Murmur walking across the battlefield, mournfully observing the result of the battle. He finds the General, sitting with his back against a shelf, quivering in terror. Murmur stoops to his level, peering into his eyes. Pity is evident in his body language. In the background Astaroth approaches, puts her gun to his head, and fires. Murmur continues crouching, looking down at his corpse for a moment, before standing and walking off.
The fifth episode, entitled "Inamorati", follows the titular characters, showcasing their elaborate displays of love and affection within their sprawling ballroom. We see, however, that beyond the view of each other and their court, they are engaging in illicit relations with Arlechinno and Columbina. Eventually, the Inamorato takes Arlecchino to their bedroom, only to find his beloved in bed with Columbina. As they both struggle to comprehend their mutual infidelity, Columbina and Arlecchino doff their masks to reveal the moretta masks beneath before slaying the two lovers.
The sixth episode, entitled "Court of Fools", follows the King himself. We see his court's routine progress day by day. Petty trifles simmer beneath his notice. His court eventually comes to chaos as it is invaded by members of the Order of Silence. He watches complacently as his knights fight off the intruders. The court is empty save for the corpses of his comrades and enemies alike in the aftermath of the struggle. His two jesters, remaining by his side, doff their masks, revealing the morettas beneath, as they both attack him in unison, stripping him of his crown and hanging him like a common crook.
The seventh episode, entitled "Ship of Theseus", follows the Captain and his first mate, as they work dilligently to weed out potential traitors. By the end of the episode, all of the original crew, excluding the Captain and his first mate, have been replaced. It is then revealed that all of the new crew members, hand-selected by the First Mate, are members of the Order of Silence. They and the First Mate all turn on their Captain. An epic battle ensues, the Captain skillfully fighting off the entire crew, before forcing his disloyal First Mate to walk the plank. Exhausted, he slumps down to rest just as he collides with another vessel. A number of Blacksuits, led by Murmur, board the ship. Astaroth shoots the Captain dead, and they take control of the vessel, setting their sights on the Red Gentry's island of Neverland.
The eighth episode, entitled "Wild Hunt", follows the Hunter as he stalks the outskirts of the City of Blood, hunting down the Lost Children. Meanwhile, he grows increasingly paranoid that he is being stalked by something more sinister, as he fails to track unfamiliar footprints. By the end of his journey, his paranoia leads to him being caught in his own trap. He struggles to free himself as lost children surround him and begin circling him, eventually fusing together into the form of the Forgotten King. The scene cuts to Murmur and his men wandering the woods. They find the trap that the Hunter was just caught in, completely empty, with no sign of the Hunter.
The ninth episode, entitled "Perfect Silence", follows the collected members of the Order of Silence. With their numbers having grown significantly, they are now powerful enough to begin their massacre. They tear through the City of Blood, giving mercy to nobody. We finally witness the ritual taking place. They all remove their moretta masks and tear out their own stories, pouring them into a great pot filled with the collected stories of all of the Red Gentry. In the aftermath of this action their shells all fall dead to the ground. The pot begins shaking, blood fills the pot, spilling over the edges. The Martyr rises from it, and steps out.
The tenth episode, entitled "The Librarian", serves as a flashback. We start by showing Murmur wandering through the abandoned City of Blood, before cutting to a flashback, showing Murmur as a young blacksuit, stocking the bookshelves. He turns to see Bifrons, current head librarian. Bifrons holds the Typewriter toward him, allowing Murmur to see his goddess's thoughts being written upon it. The scene changes again, and we see Murmur working now as the second-in-command to the Typewriter, working alongside Bifrons. It cuts again to show Murmur being promoted to head librarian. We see a montage of Murmur working alone, we see him meeting the Martyr, and we see him assigning Astaroth as his second-in-command. The flashbacks end and we see Murmur stopping in the middle of the streets of the City of Blood. The Martyr stands just down the street from him.
The eleventh episode, entitled "Bell's Toll", follows the Martyr. We see him rising from the pot and seeing the corpses of his followers. He walks through the City of Blood, seeing the great city his followers had built, and which many of them had chosen to give up in his name. He feels, for once, that he is appreciated, that he is loved, that there are, or rather, were, people willing to bleed for him as much as he has been made to bleed for others. His revelation is cut short by the sound of dress shoes approaching. He turns to see Murmur staring toward him.
The twelfth episode, entitled "Midnight", follows Murmur and the Martyr. A long fight scene composes most of this episode, as they fight in the streets of the City of Blood, the Martyr, horribly unmatched, struggling to run and escape through various buildings. We end in the Doctor's house, where he grabs a gun from the mantelpiece, labeled "Chekhov's" and tries to shoot Murmur with it, only for the gun to not be loaded. Murmur attacks him, smacking him across the face with the lantern and splintering his mask in two. The Martyr lays beaten. Murmur looks down on him sadly, and the camera pans to the Typewriter waiting on an endtable. We see it typing out a description of Murmur brutally killing the Martyr, only for Murmur to instead offer him his hand. The Martyr takes this chance to run, as Astaroth grabs Checkhov's gun and loads it, shooting Murmur. We cut to a chase scene of the Martyr running through ever-growing hallways as he is assaulted by tendrils of paper grasping after him. The clacking of the Typewriter goes mad, we see the ink growing continually faded as the paper tendrils beat the Martyr into submission and bind him once again. Murmur, wounded, enters the hall. He looks up sadly at the Martyr, before kneeling down to shakily replace the Typewriter's ink ribbons. We end on a scene of Astaroth being promoted to head librarian.