Chapter 19
Doctor On Call
Terrapin-Maiden from Chris's FreakWarrior mags is a close
relative of Rosa Caiman's Jaguar Maiden in Loups-Garoux.
Chris is realising how little he really knows about his
friend, the Doctor. It's as if the Doctor that we see, or are
allowed to see, is just the tip of the most monumental iceberg
ever. What lurks in the murky depths below the surface is
anyone's guess. Even the Doctor isn't sure.
The living Houses of Gallifrey are as much a part of the
Families as the Cousins who inhabit them. Satthralope's task
as Lungbarrow's Housekeeper is not unlike a lone sea captain,
trying to steer a grumpy ocean liner that gets in a strop if
it's woken up too quickly. The House has been drowsing
uneasily on automatic pilot for centuries, but now a very
large iceberg has just changed course and is heading in the
its direction.
The catafalque, the funeral carriage that guards Quences's
glass coffin, is another of Lungbarrow's fairy tale references
- the dragon that guards the treasure hoard. Anyway, it was
time for a big rampaging monster. Like all the furniture in
the House, the catafalque has basic instincts and reflexes of
its own. It protects its master. I imagined it as an elaborate
bier in a vaguely oriental style, its black lacquered flanks
adorned by the writhing statues of legendary beasts.
Gallifreyan Chinoiserie/Japanesery. It's also really an excuse
for Badger to make a dramatic entrance.
