Vignette Stonemoss

Vignette Stonemoss
Aliases	Vini
Slang	Pix
Relatives	Rycroft Philostrate (soulmate)
Affiliation	Anti-Pact Black Raven
Occupation	Library steward (formerly) Sparrowhawk (formerly) Lady's maid (formerly) Member of the Black Raven
Species	Fae
Gender	Female
Age	35
Played By	Cara Delevingne

Vignette Stonemoss (also known as "Vini") is a female fae and one of the main protagonists of Carnival Row.

She is portrayed by English actress Cara Delevingne.

History

Pre-Series

Vignette had as good of a childhood as one could ask for as a faerie. Growing up on a farm with her family, she had a mostly idyllic life. When she finished secondary school, she headed off to University in Tirnanoc, where she met her now lifelong friend Tourmaline. They bonded through Tourmaline’s poetry with Vignette encouraging Tourmaline to pursue greater heights with her gift.

Mid-schooling, Vignette found out that The Pact was invading her homeland and went home to help her family only to find her home burned to the ground and her family dead. Seeing no option but to help those that she could, she became a smuggler, risking her own life to save as many faeries as she could by securing them safe passage out of war-torn Tirnanoc.

Season One

The last Sparrowhawk

A large group of faeries rush through the Pact occupied woods of Anoun, though many are shot down as the Pact are on their tales with Marroks at their command. The group of Fae are lead by Vignette Stonemoss, the last of the sparrowhawks. many lie dead in the woods, Vignette alone makes it off the coast and fly to a nearby ship for passage. Initially reluctant, the Captain allows Vignette to board, but he places her in the hold.

That night, Vignette sits in the hold with the other fae refugees. Ryma thanks Vignette for arranging passage for them even though it meant paying for passing or working as an indentured servant in the Burgue. In her hand, Vignette holds a photo of Rycroft Philostrate. A Burguish soldier she was involved with during the war. However, he died in the last Pact advance, at least that what she was lead to believe. The ship starts to flood and water comes rushing into the hold, drowning all those inside. With the exception of Vignette.

Indentured to the Spurnroses

Vignette is the sole survivor. She was rescued off the shore and taken to the constabulary, where she is questioned by Sergeant Dombey and Constable Cuppins. She boarded the Deliverance near Anoun. Off the coast. She doesn’t know who she is contracted to, but she knows it was two years’ work for the passage.

The Deliverance, the ship that crashed, is own by Ezra Spurnrose. He is brought down to the constabulary. where he admits to having tied up a considerable amount of his family’s fortune in this enterprise. He was approached to fund the purchase and refurbishment of the Deliverance as a passenger vessel in return for a share of the profits earned in bringing over fae folks. As for Vignette, she is indentured to Ezra for the price of passage. 50 guilders. It is up to Ezra to either sell that contract to someone else or keep her as a domestic.

Ezra decides to keep Vignette and brings her home as a lady’s maid. His sister Imogen is thrilled at the news of gaining a new servant, which she’d not had since her father’s passing. Afissa, the Spurnrose’s housekeeping faun, offers to clean Vignette up and get her into uniform.

Imogen informs Vignette that she’ll have Swansday off and that she’s to use that time to attend to any personal matters. Imogen need not worry as Vignette has no kin to speak of as they’re all dead. Imogen offers her condolences. She doesn’t agree with the Burgue abandoning Tirnanoc to the ravages of the Pact. She sees her taking Vignette in as a good deed. She attempts to touch Vignette’s braid, but Vignette pleads with her not to. While she doesn’t have much, her braids tell who she is. It reminds her of someone she lost.

The following morning, Afissa laces up Vignette’s corset, strapping down her wings to keep her from flying away. While Vignette can go where she’d like on her own time, Afissa reminds her that she’s always representing the Spurnrose house. To that end, Vignette asks for directions to the Tetterby Hotel. A friend of hers had come to the Burgue a while ago and Vignette heard she might be staying there. However, according to Afissa, it’s a house of ill repute on Carnival Row. A whore house.

While Vignette cleans the bathroom, she notices Imogen’s perfume on the counter and pours it down the drain. Not long after, Imogen sends her on an errand. To go to the Row and have her perfume refilled. It’s Tamphus Oil. Along with Calder root and many other ingredients. A drop behind each ear and men take notice to what they otherwise overlook.

Vignette heads down to the Tetterby Hotel, where she finds her friend Tourmaline standing on the balcony. Tourmaline is not proud of her job as a prostitute, but she looks to Vignette sparrowhawking as something to be celebrated. Those who she provided passage for may be in indentured servitude, but at least they’re free of the Pact. Vignette never intended to leave Tirnanoc, but after hearing a group of girls and women were looking for passage, she had no choice but to help. However, there were so many soldiers there that she’d never make it back, so she was forced to leave on the ship. Tourmaline notices Vignette’s widow’s braid, realizing that Vignette is under the impression that Philo is dead, when in actuality, he’s alive. Vignette is distraught to learn that Philo is alive. Tourmaline tries to convince her to move on, but Vignette wants Philo to answer for what he’s done.

Vignette brushes Imogen’s hair as she expresses her disbelief in the fact that a puck moved into the finest house on Finistere Crossing. Vignette leaves Imogen and grabs a knife on her way to her room. She removes her corset, gets dressed, cuts off her widow’s braid, and takes flight in search of Philo.

Vignette tracks down Philo. She sneaks into his room, jumps on top of him, and holds a knife to his throat. Mima Roosan came to her with blood on her hands, claiming that Philo died in her arms. Philo reveals that he told Roosan to lie on his behalf, however, he never meant to hurt her. Vignette waited for him, but he left her in the ashes of her homeland with nothing but grief for seven years. She presses the blade closer to Philo’s neck, but ultimately decides to spare his life.

Vignette flies back home after her confrontation with Philo. She is spotted by Constable Cuppins, though she manages to escape his view. The following morning, Afissa is aware that Vignette crept out the house last night and questions of this is something she’ll have to share with Ezra and Imogen. Vignette pleads with her to keep this to herself. Vignette reveals that she found out that someone she knew from Tirnanoc was in the Burgue and that she went to go see him.

Vignette and Imogen take a stroll through the park, where Runyan Millworthy hosts a street theater performance acted by his Kobolds. As it starts to rain, Imogen sends Vignette back to get her parasol. Unfortunately for her, the rain comes down fast and hard, with Agreus Astrayon being the only person kind enough to offer to share his umbrella.

Ezra watches Vignette as she washes dishes. She's contracted to work there until next Austery. Only then would her debt be paid. Ezra offers her a quicker way to pay off her debt, in reference to sex. She refuses, pushing Ezra off her and warning him to stop. When he tries to force himself on her, she takes him down and escapes out the door. Imogen and Afissa come downstairs after hearing the commotion. Ezra lies and tells them that he caught Vignette stealing. Believing her brother, Imogen insists that they report Vignette to the constabulary first thing in morning.

Joining the Black Raven

Vignette stays with Tourmaline at the Tetterby. Vignette reveals to her that she tracked Philo down. While she wanted to hurt him, she decided against it. She wants a fresh start, starting with new employment. Vignette is hoping Tourmaline could talk to her boss about getting her a job, however, Tourmaline thinks better of Vignette, even though she herself is a poet laureate. With few choices, Tourmaline offers to introduce Vignette to an organization known as the Black Raven. A group comprised mainly of fae ex-blockade runners from the Wing Brigade. Proud faerish-homeland types just fighting to get by any way they can, running lots, gaming, contraband, potshine, lixer. It’ll put Vignette squarely on the other side of the law more often than not. They’re meeting tonight and Tourmaline will arrange an introduction.

Vignette meets with the Black Ravens. She comes in as their leader Dahlia is interrogating Wren, a fellow member who was taken into custody. They strap her wings down with a corset to keep her from flying away and begin questioning her. They had her coated and cuffed. So Dahlia wonders how she managed to give them the slip. Before proceeding, Hamlyn introduces Vignette to Dahlia, who knows all about Vignette’s past; getting their countrymen out of Anoun. Dahlia remarks that much like Vignette, being a lady’s maid wasn’t for her. In fact, it’s one of her old wing corsets that she has tied tight around the supposed informant. Dahlia claims that they’re forced to wear these corsets because the "leggers" are envious. They can’t fly and so they wish to cripple those who can.

Back on Wren, Dahlia asks again what happened when she was taken in. When Wren refuses to answer, Dahlia flips her over the balcony, sending her plummeting to her doom. The way she sees it is a faerishyn who picks the groundlings over them belongs to the ground. Vignette assures them that she’ll only work for her own kind, however, she’ll have to prove herself. Dahlia orders her to take the flag hanging in the rotunda of the constabulary and bring it back to her.

Vignette enlists in Tourmaline’s help to steal the flag from the center of the constabulary. Tourmaline provides a distraction, claiming she was robbed, though Cuppins doesn't seem to care. She proceeds to attacks him with her purse to gain everyone’s attention while Vignette flies up and grabs the flag. She’s spotted, forcing Vignette to flee upstairs with the flag in search of an escape. Vignette makes her way through the constabulary as they shoot at her. Philo calls out to her as she makes her getaway. When he grabs the flag, she threatens to reveal his secret. He releases it in fear that she'll follow through. Vignette takes the flag and flies out the window.

The Great War of Tirnanoc

Seven years ago. Tirnanese Highlands - Kingdom of Anoun. A fleet of Burguish soldiers led by Philo, Darius Prowell, and Winshaw approach a faerie kingdom. Per the terms of the Tain Treaty, they’ve come to commandeer the kingdom for use in defense of their lands. After getting settled in, Philo tresspapsses into the kingdom's library. Vignette attacks him almost immediately after he enters. She holds a blade to his throat and explains that he’s trespassing. She worries that he’ll report the library to his commander, but Philo insists that’s not his intention. So, she reluctantly lets him go.

Upon discovery that the telegraph line that connects them to High Bresail is down, Philo wants to put together a repair detachment. However, the ravine was too wide. While they didn’t have any equipment capable of such lengths, a fae could run the line and Philo asks Vignette if she would be willing.

Vignette flies the line across the ravine from Darius to Philo. After successfully relaying the line, Vignette decides to stay to watch them finish the job. In that time, Philo gives her a book he’d been reading, Kingdoms of the Moon. It’s about a rogue inventor who journeys to the moon and falls in love with the princess of a lunar tribe. Vignette mocks the book for its insane premise, though Philo would beg to differ and insists that she take the book to read for herself.

Unbeknownst to the group, three Pact soldiers who’ve infected themselves with the wolf’s curse watch them from afar. They get undressed and inject themselves with some kind of catalyst to induce the change into wolf-like beasts known as Marroks. An echoing howl alerts Philo and his men of their presence. He warns Vignette to stay put as he heads over to the other side. By the time he reaches the other end, several of his men are dead. They’ve been ripped apart. A Marrock charges at Philo. He kills one before being attacked by another. Fortunately, Vignette comes to his rescue and kills the beast. They are joined by Darius soon thereafter. He ran the last remaining Marrock down and killed it.

Vignette joins Philo as he sits on a cliff. She finished the book he gave her. It was extraordinary. By the end, she was sobbing. Philo tells her to keep it. In exchange for his kindness, she offers to show him around the library.

It’s the largest library in the Kingdom of Anoun. There are possibly thousands of books within it, though no one has ever counted. Holy texts, maps, scientific research. Histories going all the way back to the Queen of the Crows. She shows him one book in particular. A 700-year-old manuscript. It tells the tale of the first human in Tirnanoc. He was an explorer called Isen who’d washed ashore after a storm, and was taken to Queen Aradis, who became utterly fascinated by him. He stayed as a guest of her court for quite a while, and they fell desperately in love. Sadly Isen yearned for home. So, he built a ship and left. No one knows if he returned, but he did leave something of himself behind. They had a child. A half-blood son. He spent his life searching for his father. Philo remarks how it sounds rather like his book that he gave Vignette. She agrees, and speculates that maybe Isen did find his way home and brought the story with him. Philo thinks that maybe the writer of his book heard the tale as a child from his faerish nanny. Vignette likes the idea that a story like that might cross the world and somehow finds its way back centuries later, changed by constant retelling, but familiar, as if to tell them that they’re not so different in the end.

Vignette hides in a cave as the rain comes pouring down. He is joined by Philo not long after. They come upon one another and proceed to have sex. Vignette’s wings glow a bright luminescent blue.

Quite a bit of time has passed, and Vignette and Philo remain together. She explains to him the meaning behind each braid in her hair. One represents her surname, Stonemoss. Another for the year she was born. And another is the one in which a woman gives away when she gives her heart. Vignette notices the scars Philo's back. He explains that they’re from a childhood injury. However, he was too young to remember how. All he knows is that the headmaster said it was how he turned up at the Foundling Home.

A group of fae refugees arrive at the kingdom. Tourmaline is among them. She explains they were attacked. Kish has fallen. As Tourmaline takes a bath, she shares with Vignette just how troubled she’s been. When they tried to get away, the Pact started picking them right out of the air. The Pact are awful, but Tourmaline thinks no better of the Burguish. Tourmaline saw her whole life in flames and all she could think is that she had to get to Vignette, who explains that she’s met someone. Tourmaline regrets how things ended between them. But for Vignette, it never ended. Only changed. Tourmaline is still her closest friend. Tourmaline asks who it is. She was surprised to learn it was a Burguish soldier. She warns Vignette that it won’t end well. Once the war is over, he’ll leave and start a family of his own. Vignette insists that Tourmaline is wrong.

Vignette and Philo have sex, though her wings don't brighten, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Philo. She responds that it’s not supposed to happen with faan-troigh anyways. What Tourmaline said has resonated with Vignette, so she asks Philo what will happen to them once the war is over. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, but he insists that she’s not just an exotic fuck. She’s like coming home. Philo lost a part of himself a long time ago. He tried to forget and ignore it, but it was always there. The scars on Philo’s back are from when his wings were sheared. He’s a half-blood. He’s felt his wings his entire life despite not having them.

Philo never knew his parents, so he always wondered what their story was. Philo does however at least understand their reason for shearing him. Life in the Burgue is hard enough for fae. Half-bloods don’t belong anywhere. They thought if they could pass Philo for human then he’d have a better life. The headmaster knew what he was. He kept Philo’s secret. He told him to hide it and stay clear of doctors to prevent them from discovering he has fae blood. Being with Vignette at the kingdom is the closest he’s ever felt to home.

Tourmaline and the other refugees plan to leave the kingdom. They’re headed down the coast to Mag Mor. It’s the biggest shithole in Tirnanoc, but there’s nothing much to fight over, so she’ll be safe there. She invites Vignette to come along, but she declines, though not without giving Tourmaline one last hug.

The Pact have taken the capital. The whole front had collapsed, forcing them to evacuate. The Republic of the Burgue are going home, much to Philo’s dismay.

As they evacuate, Mima Roosan instructs Vignette to seal the library. Philo follows Vignette and tell her to leave with the others. He’ll meet her at Port Moradoon, but she worries they won’t and doesn’t want to leave Philo behind. She’s determined that they leave together. Before heading off to seal the library, she gives Philo her braid for when a women gives her heart away. They’re to meet in the Garden of Stones. They express their love for one another before parting ways. Vignette does her job by sealing the library. She puts a key inside a lock and turns it, which in turn buries the library within the cave.

On her way back from the library, Vignette is approached by Nefrie and Mima Roosan, who tell her that Philo was killed in the attack. Vignette collapse to the ground at word of Philo’s demise. She’s distraught. Vignette attempts to return to her fallen kingdom in search of him, but Nefrie and Mima Roosan fly her away to safety.

Finding the cricket

Hamlyn is impressed with Vignette after she managed to steal the flag. As an official member of the Black Raven, she’ll start out on deliveries and work her way up. She’ll be shadowing Oona, who warns Vignette that Hamlyn is trying to fuck her.

Vignette runs into Philo on the Row. Philo admits that she was right about him being lost. He’s trapped between two worlds. For a while, he thought he could choose a third. A life with Vignette, but that was selfish. Loving Vignette meant letting her go. Unbeknownst to Philo and Vignette, they are being watched by Bolero.

Oona shows Vignette her route. Couriers leave packages around town in places marked with chalk. Chalk tells them where to take the package, which contains all types of contraband. Vignette will be started on the day route. She’s to swap it out as quick as possible. Nights go faster because they can fly. Daylighters have to leg it. If they’re caught flying, they’ll have their wings clipped. They are interrupted by Bolero, who takes Vignette to Dahlia. Bolero holds Vignette by her wings off a cliff. They saw her talking to Philo. Vignette insists that they used to be involved during the war, and he wasn’t a cop back then. However, to Dahlia that makes Vignette a liability. Vignette insists that she’s an asset and that she can find out who the cricket is.

After learning that Vignette’s life is in danger, Tourmaline regrets ever sending her to the Ravens. She wants Vignette to leave town, but Vignette wants to find the informant. Tourmaline reminds her that she’s not invincible and to not do anything stupid.

Vignette reports back to Dahlia and Bolero with Hamlyn’s name. Only thing left to do is kill Hamlyn, which Dahlia wants Vignette to do. And bring back his wing as proof.

Vignette meets with Hamlyn on the balcony. She heard that he’s been telling people that he wants to fuck her and she means to confront him, or that’s at least what she tell him to get him to lower his guard. She takes out her knife and charges at him. The two go flying off the balcony. A fight in the sky occurs. Vignette stabs him in his wing and drops him to the ground. By the time she gets to the ground, he has gotten back to his feet and grabbed a shovel, which he beats Vignette with. He grabs a pair of shears to cut off her head, but before he does, Philo shoots and kills him. Together, he and Vignette toss the body in the sewer. Philo then apologizes for leaving Vignette. He kept telling himself he did the right thing, but he now realizes that lying to her wasn’t the right way to go about it. He then gives Vignette back her braid.

Vignette returns to Dahlia and Bolero with Hamlyn’s wings. Dahlia promotes Vignette. It’s now her job to run the lots with Hamlyn gone. She’s been given the Finistere route.

Afissa is surprised to discover that Vignette is now running the lots. She's upset that the life Vignette found for herself was with the Black Raven. Vignette insists she’ll watch her back. They then wish each other luck before parting ways.

Madame Moira enters Tourmaline’s room and to her surprise, Vignette has still not left. Tourmaline explains she’s only staying until she gets back on her feet. Madame Moira allows Vignette to stay so long as she doesn’t get in the way of business. While leaving, Vignette passes by Philo doesn’t she express much joy in seeing him.

Under Arrest

Vignette wakes to find Tourmaline drawing the man she slept with last night. She draws all of her customers as soon as the sun rises. Some of them are grateful because she made them feel young again for the night. That they don’t have to hate their own bodies. Others are just pigs, but she sketches them all the same. She jokes that maybe one day after she’s given up the life that she’ll have a show. She’d call it "A Whore’s Revenge." The girls laugh and realize just how much they missed each other, before sharing a kiss. They’re interrupted by Fleury, who reveals that there’s been another killing.

While running the lots, Vignette notices a museum with a grand exhibition of treasures from Tirnanoc. She enters the museum to find the books from the Tirnanoc library she had sworn to protect. Vignette is left without words, only tears, for the very thing she had feared most came to fruition.

Vignette hides in the darkness as the museum docent reveals to a crowd that the library was recovered in the summer of ‘41, when the Republic of the Burgue took Anoun back from the Pact and held it until that Austery. It was brought across the sea timber by timber. Vignette walks out of the darkness and chases the group of ladies out the room.

Vignette is taken out the museum and into custody. She tries to fight them off, but she’s of no match for three constables.

Much to Vignette's surprise, Philo is brought down in handcuffs and placed in a cell for humans after it was revealed that he's a half-blood. She warns him as the men attempt to attack him, and Philo manages to subdue his attackers.

Sergeant Dombey returns to find Philo in perfect condition, whilst the men he was put in a cell with are groaning in pain. He removes Philo from the human cell and places him with the fae folk. Now, the only thing separating him and Vignette are a set of bars. He thanks her for warning him. They both question what the other is doing in jail.

Vignette and Philo exchange stories, each leading them to their current predicament in a cell. Vignette learns from Philo that Aisling was his mother and she tells him how the Republic of the Burgue seized control of the library artifacts.

Vignette tells Philo that he did his mother proud by standing firm against Magistrate Flute. Philo’s been wondering who his father is. He suspects his father is controlling the Darkasher. Philo realizes that the killer doesn’t know who he is, which is why he needed their livers, so he could read their secrets and follow them to Philo. Constable Berwick approaches the cell to warn Philo that Dombey is plotting to kill him.

Vignette was feeling like she finally had a place in the city, and that’s when she saw the sign. Treasures of Tirnanoc. Everything she had spent her life to protect had been put into glass boxes for a bunch of humans to gawk at. She asks if Philo ever thinks about Tirnanoc. He replies "all the time." He wishes that he’d never left Vignette. Dombey then comes down with an alleged transfer order for Philo. Philo tells Vignette that he loves her as he’s being taken away.

Fae Internment

Vignette attempts to escape from jail by faking her death. Once the cell block guard and Sergeant Dombey open the cell door, she attacks. She kicks Dombey in the face and makes a break for the door, but she is captured by the guards and beaten before being thrown back in her cell.

Much later, Sergeant Dombey frees Vignette from her cell, informing her that someone has sent a coach to pick her up. Vignette is then taken into the sewers and strapped to a chair by Piety Breakspear, who asks that Vignette tell her where Philo is or else she’ll have to take out her liver to see for herself. In this moment, Vignette realizes that Piety created the Darkasher.

Philo tracks them down to the sewers beneath Balefire Hall. He decapitiates the Darkasher and finds Piety's lair, where the bodies of fae folk hang at every corner. Piety confronts Philo. She would’ve never even known he existed if not for his mother’s blackmail note. She has to kill Philo to ensure her son's prosperous future. Despite decapitating the creature, the Darkasher is very much still alive. It throws Philo across the room and reattaches its head. The Darkasher continues its attack on Philo until Vignette sneaks up behind Piety and stabs her in the back of the head, killing both the Darkasher and its master.

Vignette plans to leave town with Philo. She’s headed to Port Hoy and from there New Freehold. Somewhere a couple like them won’t be noticed. Vignette and Tourmaline give each other a hug and say that they love each other before parting ways. As Vignette and Philo attempt to leave, Vignette is turned away. No Critch is allowed in or out the city until further notice. Orders given following the assassination of the Chancellor by Puck cultists. All Critch are to be sequestered to the Row.

Vignette is taken to the internment camp. Philo is denied entry due to his ability to pass as human. From opposite sides of the barbed wire barricade, Vignette promises Philo she’ll find a way out. Just behind them, Fleury has packed her bags and attempts to fly away, Madame Moira tries to stop her, but she fails, and Fleury is shot out the sky. More concerned for Vignette now than ever before, Philo exposes himself to the guards, who after learning that he’s Critch, allows him into the camp. Once inside, Philo joins Vignette.

Season Two

Coming soon...

Physical appearance

Vini is slight, with short-braided brown hair and large dragonfly-like wings.

Skills, powers and abilities

• Flight: Vini possesses the power of flight.

Appearances

Season One

• Some Dark God Wakes
• Aisling
• Kingdoms of the Moon
• The Joining of Unlike Things
• Grieve No More
• Unaccompanied Fae
• The World to Come
• The Gloaming