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= Unconfirmed
information
Valentin, Nicolas. Innkeeper in one of the still inhabited sectors of The TOWER (LT).
Valentine. Girlfriend of Axel WAPPENDORF when he was fifteen years old. Following her accidental death by drowning in 706 AT, the young inventor lost all his hair out of grief (GC).
Valentini. See TEMPLE OF VALENTINI.
Vandebelle, Henri. An archive keeper in BRUSSELS, born in 1948 AD. Suspected of having stolen historical documents, he may have found his own PASSAGE to the Obscure World (GC). He left behind a large collection of DE LA BARQUE paintings (DB).
Vanderstichelen, Marie-Jeanne. Friend and tenant of Constant ABEELS. She left BRÜSEL in his company, along with Tina TONERO, Axel WAPPENDORF, Freddy De VROUW and Professor DERSENVAL. She became quite fond of the latter, and took care of him during the last years of his life (B, GC). See STREETS OF BRUSSELS.
| Vandervelden, Christian. An explorer of the underside of BRUSSELS, interviewed by Claire DEVILLERS for her story. Following exacting researches, he has uncovered 41 kilometers of tunnels, 74 entrances and 101 separate sites (DB). |
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Variety. A second rate cabaret in BLOSSFELDTSTAD, specializing in light strip tease shows. Lolla MINNA performed there before meeting Albert CHAMISSO (ODH).
| Vaughn-James, Martin. Artist born in 1943 AD in Bristol, England. After stays in London, Montreal, Toronto and Paris, he now lives in BRUSSELS. In the '70s, he collaborated with several writers and published numerous drawings in french and belgian magazines such as Minuit, Obliques, La Nouvelle Critique, Libération, Jungle, 25, etc. In Canada, in published four illustrated novels: Elephant (1970), then The Projector (1971), The Park (1972) and The Cage (1975). In the middle of the '80s, Martin Vaughn-James devoted himself mainly to painting, displaying in France, Belgium and Germany canvases where his narrative concerns are expressed in another way (INT). His striking ressemblance with Augustin DESOMBRES and the nature of several of his paintings do support the theory that he may have had more than a fleeting contact with the Obscure universe. |
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Védra. A world of the HOLLOW EARTHS system. Informations on this world are contradictory; it can be the sixth planet or an alternate spelling of the name of ZÉDRA (CG, TC). Two people share this planet peacefully, without ever meeting each other: the PEOPLE OF THE FORESTS and the PEOPLE OF THE MARSHES. The GRAVITY of Védra is unpleasantly strong for the other inhabitants of the system (N).
| Vegetalistic Style. A type of architecture originally based on the book URFORMEN DER KUNST, but it has since then greatly evolved. Characterised by plant-shaped buildings. The most outstanding examples, including the HEAD OFFICE of ASSURANCES GÉNÉRALES, are found in BLOSSFELDTSTAD (GC). |
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| Vélasquez (Diego Velázquez de Silva). Spanish painter, born in Sevila (1599-1660 AD). He is considered one of the greatest colourists of all times (PLI). Giovanni BATTISTA saw in a dream a vision apparently inspired by one of his paintings, Vénus au miroir (Venus with Mirror) (CC, LT). |
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Vera. A female character in La CITÉ DES OMBRES (INT).
Verhoest (Pr). He confused a picture of PÂHRY for a scene of BRÜSEL (GC).
Verne, Jules. French writer, born in Nantes (1828-1905 AD). He created the genre of the scientific anticipation novel (Five Weeks in a Balloon, 1863; From the Earth to the Moon, 1865; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, 1870; Around the World in Eighty Days; 1873; Michel Strogoff, 1876) (PLI). Able to cross over to the Obscure World by the power of his imagination alone, he ventured in its caverns, navigated on the SEA OF SILENCES and crossed the DESERT OF SOMONITES (EC, EP). He is much read in the World of the Cities, and his novels are appreciated for their GLOSS quality (GC). See also AMIENS, ARDAN, BENETT, BOOKS, ENFANT DE PHOEBUS, NADAR, NEMO, SAMAROBRIVE and WAPPENDORF.
Vessel of the Desert. A land vehicle designed by WAPPENDORF to cross the Desert of SOMONITES in comfort and luxury (RA, GC). Unfortunatly, it lost its way on its maiden voyage and the whole enterprise became the laughing stock of the CONTINENT, despite the very real qualities of the project. This SUPER-VEHICLE was probably somehow linked to the French liner NORMANDIE in our world.
Vichnous. A variety of pest that used to pillage the food reserves of the GAMMES of ZARA (TC, Z). It most likely has numerous legs.
Vié (Dr). Specialist of the left lung at the BRÜSEL CLINIC. See also ROSSE (B).
Vié, François. Former artistic director of the CNBDI (ADI).
Village of Mysts. A small town, somewhere on one of the HOLLOW EARTHS. Its inhabitants put great stock in ecology and energy conservation (C). See FOG CUTTERS, PIERRETTE, RUDOLPH, and URSULINE.
Ville-Marie. [The City of Mary]
Ancient name of MONTREAL, changed around the end of the
17th Century AD in rather nebulous circumstances. It may have been an attempt to sever the
link with the Obscure City of MARIEVILLE.
Villers. An Obscure City built around its public library. Every generation, it knows a series of murders, and the initials of the victims always spell out the French word "LIVRE" [book] (BV, GC). The crest of the city is a five-pointed star (EC), and we do not know exactly where it is located. There are several town of that name in France and Belgium on our side. See also PEETERS and STREETS OF BRUSSELS.
Vincent, Polydore (Dr). A surgeon, prominent, but with little concern for his patients. Author of TRENTE ANS DE BISTOURI (B). He was an échevin [deputy-mayor] of BRÜSEL, and involved in the great Real Estate scandal (EC); following which he moved his practice to BLOSSFELDTSTAD, where he attemped to cure Albert CHAMISSO (ODH).
Vinette. Woman living with Filinor VON KATSEFF, perhaps his wife. She showed great patience during his numerous flight experiments (PFVK).
Vinois. A vegetal of ZARA, with a somewhat phallic appearance (TC, Z).
von Amelunxen. Jointly with REINER-FEEST, he tested a revolutionary vehicle. See also VON AMELUNXEN CONVENTION and OMNIROUTE.
von Amelunxen Convention. An agreement between the cities, putting an end to the rampant falsification of history that was the norm until that then. The signing of this document eventually led to the creation of ALTA-PLANA (EC). See VON AMELUNXEN.
von Chamisso. See CHAMISSO DE BONCOURT.
von Hardenberg. A construction site of URBICANDE, where the CUBE was discovered (FU).
von Hugenberger, Wilhelm. A famous hunter and naturalist who discovered the ruins of LIBUSSA (GC). See also HUGENBERGIUS VII.
| von Katseff, Filinor.
A pioneer of human-powered flight. We are not quite certain where he lived, but
circumstantial evidence points to one of the HOLLOW EARTHS.
Working alone and isolated, he eventually succeeded; but only to discover that others had
found a solution on their own years before (PFVK). See KADJERCHOUN, KALAK, KARPOFF, OOSLORG, ORNITHOPLANE and VINETTE. von Offenstein, Elmar Obstig. The first editorialist of l'ÉCHO DES CITÉS. |
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von Rathen. An influential family of MYLOS, owner of several properties in the area. See CENTRE DES ARCHIVES DU MONDE DU TRAVAIL and KOELBER FOUNDATION.
von Rathen, Klaus. Born in MYLOS [690-757 AT]. Father of Kurt and Mary (see below), son-in-law of Walther SCHLIWINSKI, husband of Rosa. President of the UNIQUE INDUSTRIAL CONSORTIUM, he left his powers to his daughter (EP, GC). See ECOLE DES MINES and MYLOS POUR MILLE ANS.
von Rathen, Kurt. Elder son of Klaus VON RATHEN. He was more gifted for music than business. He father preferred his sister Mary as a successor (EP, GC). See La SUCCESSION DIFFICILE.
von Rathen, Mary. Daughter of Klaus VON RATHEN and Rosa SCHLIWINSKI, born in 736 AT. At the age of eleven, she mysteriously fell under the influence of another world and her gravity axis took a new. After three years performing in the ROBERTSON CIRCUS, she took off in 751 AT with WAPPENDORF for the planet ANTINEA. They landed in the antechamber of the SPHERES, where Mary met Augustin DESOMBRES, with whom she fell in love.
Once "straightened", she inherited the ruling powers after the death of her father, and endeavoured to bring social reforms to MYLOS, while trying to get Augustin to find a way to bring her to our world with the help of ROBICK and WAPPENDORF. She eventually managed to do so around 769 AT, thanks to Vigoleis KOELBER, and worked in a small dry cleaning shop in Metz during her stay. She later decided to return to the Obscure World through a PASSAGE found in Peru, and was kept in the hospital for a severe case of depression. WAPPENDORF then put together a machine that would allow her to stay in touch with Benoît PEETERS and François SCHUITEN during her trip on board the LAETITIA. See BRATSLAWSKY, DE MALEGARDE, GREEN LAKE, LÆTITIA LA DÉSAXÉE, MAHLER, MARY LA PENCHÉE and SLAWINSKI.
von Scholz (Dr). In charge of the Department of Incurable and Bedridden of the BRÜSEL CLINIC. He had POELAERT and ROBICK among other patients (B, MU).
von Wilamowitz-Moellendorf (Dr). Geomathematician who helped ARDAN to localise the SPHERES of the FOREST OF MÉGARA (EC). See also BRUGNATELLI.
Vor Frelsers Kirke. A temple in KØBENHAVN. Its bells ring on the hour (RA).
Voyage à Samaris [Journey to Samaris]. An OPERA famous in the Obscure World. There are at least five different versions (GC). See SAMARIS.
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OBSCURE DICTIONARY |
