My fan theory - Nellie is Lucius in Disguise

[4thstringer]

This theory has been brewing in me since I played Nellie for the first time.  Started with Lucius in the beta for 2nd ed, he was the first set I ever bought.  I loved Lucius, but as we all know, pre errata, he had some significant play issues that made him hard to use.  I still had a pretty good W-L with him, but was shocked at how much easier life was with other masters.

So when I played Nellie for the first time, I thought "this feels like what Lucius should have been".  I was Delegating left and right.  I was bringing in Mercs from other factions on the cheap to do my bidding.  I was using propaganda to put my enemies in places they didn't want to be, where my crew could give them a good smacking.  As a master of manipulation, those all felt like exactly what Lucius should be doing.  And since I had no hth attack or charge, I wasn't even getting my hands dirty, which felt so right.

So then I had to think about the fiction.  Here we have this new, androgynous, driven and capable person arriving out of nowhere right as Lucius is struggling to consolidate power with the new Governor favoring Hoffman?

We have never seen Lucius's face.   And that red hair on Nellie could definitely could be a wig.  I remember reading somewhere that the best disguises use a single memorable fake feature (like a mole, or a huge nose) to make the disguise more memorable than the face underneath it.  And sacrificing that fake mob to get Phiona's sympathies.   

So that is it.  Your thoughts?

 

[Gnomezilla]

I will not be surprised in the least if Nellie turns out to be touched by the Neverborn. Maybe she truly isn't now, but later. Malifaux warps good intentions and she's already happy to sacrifice for the greater good. (Others, mind you. Don't break her stuff.) But Lucius himself? No.

[Rob Lo]

As someone in the same gaming group as 4thstringer, please don't encourage him. I'll never hear the end of this crazy theory. 

 

Hey buddy! Look at those shiny Thralls over there! Aren't they nice, works really nicely with Lucius, too.

 

[Gnomezilla]

14 minutes ago, Rob Lo said:

As someone in the same gaming group as 4thstringer, please don't encourage him. I'll never hear the end of this crazy theory. 

 

Hey buddy! Look at those shiny Thralls over there! Aren't they nice, works really nicely with Lucius, too.

You're asking a Nellie player to stop rumor-mongering?! How'd you expect that to work out for you?
(at this point, 4thstringer's and Gnomezilla's respective metas shove them in a separate room to speculate on all things Guild where they won't bother the other factions)

[Boomstick]

I feel like I should make popcorn as this conversation goes on. Please continue!

[Gnomezilla]

Pfft. I haven't got that much left to speculate on. Do you know much Ripples of Fate flipped from headcanon to--

...

...

...

...y'know, I think now might be a really good time to plead the fifth and/or shut the hell up.

[4thstringer]

Don't listen to Rob Lo's propaganda.  He is a well known neverborn, resser, arcanist and gremlin sympathizer, and is probably in league with Titania.

[Cadaverousbirth]

Whichever Chronicles story about Lucius' portrait painter going insane after realizing he painted Lucy's true form really puts a hole into this theory. 

Even if Nellie's face leaves something to be desired, it wouldn't give someone a mental breakdown...probably >_>

[4thstringer]

Eh,  he is a mimic,  right? 

[Gnomezilla]

10 minutes ago, Cadaverousbirth said:

Whichever Chronicles story about Lucius' portrait painter going insane after realizing he painted Lucy's true form really puts a hole into this theory. 

Even if Nellie's face leaves something to be desired, it wouldn't give someone a mental breakdown...probably >_>

Chronicles? It was in Crossroads.

...You don't mean Breachside Broadcast...do you?

*checks*

...You do mean Breachside Broadcast.

*...*

 

[Tris]

5 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said:

Chronicles? It was in Crossroads.

...You don't mean Breachside Broadcast...do you?

*checks*

...You do mean Breachside Broadcast.

*...*

 

But it was also in a book, crossroads seems like a good bet

[Cadaverousbirth]

Chronicles, Crossroada, Christmas, Chinchillas. It's all the same in the end. 

[Ludvig]

12 hours ago, Cadaverousbirth said:

Whichever Chronicles story about Lucius' portrait painter going insane after realizing he painted Lucy's true form really puts a hole into this theory. 

Even if Nellie's face leaves something to be desired, it wouldn't give someone a mental breakdown...probably >_>

The painter wasn't painting the face but the "true form" or "aura" or whatever. Lucius true form never stayed in one shape, hence the crazy painter I think. Don't think it was the face. Although McMourning did remark something on having a lot of job in front of him when Lucius' showed him his face. Maybe Nellie is the result of that? (Sorry 4thstringers meta and everyone on these boards).  

[Strangely Brown]

2 hours ago, Ludvig said:

Although McMourning did remark something on having a lot of job in front of him when Lucius' showed him his face.

I appear to be missing a whole load of fluff.

Apart from the books, where should I be looking to get up to speed on canon?

 

Thanks in advance,

'Brown

[Ludvig]

4 hours ago, Strangely Brown said:

I appear to be missing a whole load of fluff.

Apart from the books, where should I be looking to get up to speed on canon?

 

Thanks in advance,

'Brown

I think that was one of the chronicles where McMourning builds his guild autopaies. No idea which issue.

[Gnomezilla]

4 hours ago, Strangely Brown said:

I appear to be missing a whole load of fluff.

Apart from the books, where should I be looking to get up to speed on canon?

 

Thanks in advance,

'Brown

Wyrd Chronicles #6 (available freely on drivethroughrpg.com) is the free e-zine and has the story "Formaldehyde Nights", in which McMourning is caught in the middle of an investigation by the Guild...yet again...with hilarious results.

Crossroads has the story "The Portrait" (available freely as audiobook recording at breachsidebroadcast.com a.k.a. Tales of Malifaux #55), in which a painter crosses paths with Lucius and is forcefully commissioned by the Governor's Secretary...

You don't much need Nellie's story from Ripples of Fate ("Extra! Extra!", not yet available freely) to make more sense out of this conversation--those two stories will do.

[Strangely Brown]

Many thanks!

[RodneyAnon]

Stepping in here as someone who is obsessed with Lucius, let me just say....
 

[RodneyAnon]

Just piling on with my fan theory, as someone who has spent a great deal of time thinking about Lucius (Lucius and I becoming friends; walks along the beach; Lucius winning me a stuffed animal at a some sketchy carnival). Here goes:

The Scribe is the former Lucius Gustavius FitzWilliam Mattheson. When the original Lucius came to Malifaux, he was quickly replaced by a mimic who, of course, was able to access his skills and memory. For the original Lucius' crimes in the Black Powder Wars, the mimic thought a fitting punishment would be for Lucius to serve out his days in a lackey role (remember; no one can ever actual remember meeting The Scribe).

For me, the fascinating thing about Lucius, unlike every other character in Malifaux is that we know practically nothing about his past or his goals. I can tell you Hoffman's locker combination (11 left, 12 right, 13 left - you might want to change that Charlie) and that  Zoraida is human, but became Neverborn. Also that she crossed the Breach before the other humans and that she shoppes at the Whole foods on 10th & South Streets, but what to we know about Lucius other than that he wears a mask, likes to dance, and appears as a bunch of squiggles if drawn.

It would appear that the good folks at Wyrd based their (our?) Lucius on Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (c. 519–430 BCE) who, after serving in the Roman Senate, retired to his farm, then was placed back into office - with dictatorial powers - during an invasion. After the invasion was repelled, Roman Lucius relinquished all power and went back to his farm. Make of that what you will. 

[Gnomezilla]

...What was in that #popcorn?!? 

*scoops up a double handful and starts munching*

*five minutes later*

teeheehee...thralls...shiny thralls, "shirts optional"...

*five minutes and a few more handfuls after that*

*singsong* ~Hannah had the hots for Ryle~

[ArcticPangolin]

I thought Ripples of Fate described Nellie as attractive in some way... Cute? Handsome? I forget now.

[StormLordXIII]

23 hours ago, RodneyAnon said:

It would appear that the good folks at Wyrd based their (our?) Lucius on Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (c. 519–430 BCE) who, after serving in the Roman Senate, retired to his farm, then was placed back into office - with dictatorial powers - during an invasion. After the invasion was repelled, Roman Lucius relinquished all power and went back to his farm. Make of that what you will. 

Beautiful minis

Not sure I agree with this theory, though I am a Classics geek and always get excited when people bring up ancient Rome! Lucius is in many ways the quintessential opposite of the domineering mastermind we have come to know as Secretary Matheson. But the butterfly analogy in "The Portrait" certainly lends credence to the Neverborn sleeper theory. 

[Jam Warrior]

From Lucius' encounter with Titania in RoF, it's pretty clear to me that though Lucius may be Neverborn by species, his loyalties begin and end with improving the lot of a certain Mr. Lucius Matheson and everyone else can go hang.  He personally does very well out of Malifaux being a swirling hotbed of conflicting factions and schemes and will do whatever it takes to maintain the status quo with him on top.

I don't think Nelie is Lucius but I firmly believe he is behind her recruitment.