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Character sheet · Presence

The oil queen

E4

Alsothe white queen; the queen in the sash; the sacrificed queen; the singer of "The Only Casta Diva"

Morphy's white queen in the boy's imagination, painted stroke by stroke in the palette of the painting in his hallway, with a Crimson Coil alizarin sash; she gives herself on b8 and, captured, sings the music video.

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The sacrificed white queen sings Edge's 1859 words in her Crimson Coil alizarin sash Used
The sacrificed white queen sings Edge's 1859 words in her Crimson Coil alizarin sash {E4 23:40} edit
The oil queen alone (claude-paint) Used
The oil queen alone (claude-paint) {E4 S26} edit
She arrives on b3, painted stroke by stroke Used
She arrives on b3, painted stroke by stroke {E4 5:30} edit

At a glance

Kind
Presence
In
E4 dashed: not released yet
Lines
43
File
characters/oil-queen.md

Every queen in the boy's grammar is oil, because oil paint can make any line. Morphy's queen arrives on b3 as a painting the boy recognises from home ("the one I'm not allowed to touch"), looks at two pawns at once, drags a clay dog on a red leash through the pin, and then rides one white stroke into the black camp to be taken: "For one instant, it looks like loss." In the box she takes the prima donna's place and sings Frederick Edge's eyewitness words about the night Morphy played with his back to her, while the boxes argue and only a few listen.

Who6 lines

  • On screenWhite's queen in the Opera Game, in the boy's imagination: painted stroke by stroke in oil, with an alizarin-red sash, the one constant in every frame she is in. {E4 5:27-25:00} edit
  • On screenThe boy: "She looks like the painting in our hallway. The one I'm not allowed to touch." {E4 5:27.92} edit
  • RunningWhy oil: oil paint can make any line, as a queen can move any way. {E4 MASTER_TREATMENT §3} edit
  • RunningShe gives herself; her sacrifice is the night's sound one. {E4 QUOTABLES Q-E4-05} edit
  • IdeaFor our own reference: she knows exactly what she is doing at b8 and is the only piece in the film who is never afraid. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit
  • IdeaFor our own reference: she sings because a sacrificed queen is the one piece that has earned the stage. {lore crew 2026-10-22} edit

By episode18 lines

E4

Touch Move

not released yet
  • On screenArrives at 7.Qb3, painted on b3 stroke by stroke. {E4 5:27.37} edit
  • On screen"What's she looking at?" "...Him. And him.": two long strokes reach b7 and f7. {E4 5:34.37; 5:36.50} edit
  • On screenTwo doorbells ring in a crayon doll's house: "Two doorbells. He can only answer one door." {E4 5:40.15} edit
  • On screenHer paint beads and slides off the crayon pawn on b7 (wax resist). {E4 S07 8.Nc3} edit
  • On screenA clay dog-knight on a red thread is clipped to her ankle: the pin as a dog on a leash. {E4 8:32} edit
  • On screen16.Qb8+!!: one white oil stroke b3-b8; she rides alone into the black camp and is pulled down on b8. {E4 18:48-19:02} edit
  • On screen"For one instant, it looks like loss." / "Look at that." {E4 18:58.05; 19:02.86} edit
  • On screenb8 does not tear when she lands: a sound sacrifice. {E4 S19} edit
  • On screen"She gives herself. The knight has to take her." {E4 19:26.80} edit
  • On screenFalls into the box trailing wet paint and a streak of her sash. {E4 S22} edit
  • On screenHer seat among tonight's captured pieces is empty once the lights go down. {E4 22:58} edit
  • On screenSings Edge's 1859 paragraph on a toy-theatre stage with Penco's silver crescent in her hair, the boxes arguing with their backs to her. {E4 23:00-25:00} edit
  • On screenThe velvet lifts: the opera, muffled all film, is heard clearly for the first time. {E4 23:41.25-23:42.4} edit
  • On screenSung: "Then Madame Penco kept looking towards the box, wondering what was the cause of the excitement inside". {E4 24:24.3-24:34} edit
  • On screenSung: "little dreaming that Caïssa was the only Casta Diva, the only Casta Diva the inmates cared about." {E4 24:34-24:48.75} edit
  • On screenOnly Bf8, Rh8 and Mr. Hale's tactile pieces listen to her. {E4 23:41-24:42} edit
  • On screenThe set changes with each opera: Norma, the Barber, Cenerentola, Figaro, then all four jammed. {E4 23:00-25:00} edit
  • RunningIn the aria she is the 1858 prima donna the Duke was sure "keeps looking at us". {E4 7:48.40; 24:24.3} edit

Look4 lines

  • On screenOil sheen, an alizarin-red sash. {E4 5:27-25:00} edit
  • EggPainted in Crimson Coil's palette: alizarin, viridian, Coil Black. {E4 5:27; E4-EGG-01} edit
  • On screenIn the aria, Madame Penco's silver crescent in her hair. {E4 23:00-25:00} edit
  • RunningPainted with claude-paint (stroke logs); the singing queen's layers are a naive cut-out puppet style, fine for a toy theatre. {E4 DECISIONS D20} edit

Voice2 lines

  • On screenSung only: every word is Frederick Edge's, 159 of them. {E4 23:00-25:00} edit
  • RunningAn ElevenLabs music take (T5, conform B) in E major at 64 bpm; its final chord is struck on 25:00.000. {E4 DECISIONS D14} edit

Ties7 lines

Must stay true2 lines

  • RunningThe sash is Crimson Coil alizarin; she gives herself. {E4 QUOTABLES Q-E4-05} edit
  • RunningEdge's words only; sincere, never parody. {E4 QUOTABLES Q-E4-14} edit

Open4 lines

  • OpenWhether the family's hallway painting is Crimson Coil, the original or a print. {E4 5:27.92} edit
  • IdeaThe hallway holds the original; it came to the family from Teo's study. {series gather} edit
  • IdeaThe hallway holds the original because the family is Rosie's kin. {EGGS_SWEEP} edit
  • OpenWhich opera she is singing: all four; "Nobody knows." {E4 9:32.83; 23:00-25:00} edit

Every line on this page is drawn from the lore: 153 sheets and 8,338 lines of Markdown in Aaron's series repo, each with exactly one tier. Change a line there and run lore.py publish, and every page of this course follows (this copy: built 23 October 2026 from 3ab0458).

Sources are in braces: {E2 25:20} is Episode 2 at 25:20, {E4 S17} a scene, {Aaron 2026-10-22} a decision of Aaron's. “edit” opens the line in the series repo, which is private: it works for Aaron and the crews; the sources are everyone's. Everything that isn't steel is free to change.