I’m looking to learn a bit more about the factions in Sunless Sea, specifically what stories in Sunless Sea/Fallen London contain information on the following groups.
What I know so far is that the Khanate was the Fourth City, and more information about their culture before the fall was revealed in The Silver Tree. I’ve heard whispers that the New Sequence (I’ve never seen this term used in game) is a sub-faction of the admiralty, but little else.
Feel free to share any questions or secrets you’ve found!
There’s probably someone with better knowledge than I typing up a WoT right now, so I’ll just respond to this. I think the lady that meets you in London to send your last load of Sphinxstone to the Geode mentions the New Sequence. At the very least she’s the "Bright-Eyed Sequencer". In Fallen London I’ve only really encountered them deep inside a particular fate-locked story.
The Admiralty is the head of London’s naval department, but without more than a few corvettes in Her Majesty’s service they have little military clout to bandy about. They will not be leading wars or invading foreign lands any time soon, but they maintain London’s port (where the Masters do not have control that is) and so are a prevailing factor in the lives of Zee Captains.
The Khanate comprise the descendents of the Fourth City, Karakorum. In the years following the death of Genghis Khan, some of his heirs sought to create a capital of their own from which they could reap the benefits of trade from the Silk Road and manage their empire, and thus Karakorum was born. The "city", really just a few large central buildings surrounded by bazaars and yurts, was famed for a fountain which had a silver tree in the center - apparently made by a foreign craftsmen. The story of the city, the fountain and it’s inhabitants notwithstanding (play the Silver Tree to find out) they basically ended up in the Neath just like London. Those first peoples eventually fled Karakorum and the Bazaar, later establishing the New Khanate. They are London’s principle rival in the Neath, although their navy looks far more capable than London’s. Thankfully outright war has not broken out yet.
Anarchists range from bomb-throwing terrorists to pamphlet dispersing intellectuals - a more diverse group would be hard to find. They are essentially the Revolutionaries of Fallen London under a different name, and as such operate at the behest of the Calendar Council, so-called because each council member takes their alias after a month. While the low level recruit might believe that they are fighting for reform and progressive ideals, the organization at the top level is operating on a far larger and more sinister level than many would even conceive them capable of. Their machinations are as much to be feared as those of the Masters or Finger-Kings, do not doubt that for a moment.
The active members of the New Sequence, those who work on the Dawn Machine, are an enigma. They appear to be harnessing the unusual nature of the Neath to further their own fiery goals. Unlike the Anarchists, however, they do not seek to overturn laws but rather force their brand of "order" on others. They are well supplied and have a large navy, complete with royal marines - meaning that someone in London has been keeping secrets and keeping them funded. The Admiralty can do little in the face of this emergence, so whoever is calling the shots is very high indeed…
[color=rgb(194, 194, 194)]—[/color] edited by Owen Wulf on 2/18/2015
Admiralty: London’s Navy, run by the Dark-Spectacled Admiral. They want information, be it port reports, strategic intelligence, or news from political activism on the surface.
Khanate - Mongols. Karakorum, the Mongol capital, was the fourth city dragged screaming into the 'Neath. They are led by the Leopard, the head of the Leopard Clan. You gain his favor by donating coffee.
Dawn Engine - The New Sequence are trying to use the Dawn Engine to “rewrite the rules,” as it were. If they control the sun, they can control the laws of the 'Neath and possibly bring order to it (maybe stop the alterations, too?). They are opposed by the Bazaar and the Masters (one can assume, from the end of the Sphinxstone story)
Anarchists - Revolutionaries, present both in London and Vienna. Your Haunted Doctor used to be one of them. Bombing and poisoning for the calendar council. May be related to Hell (Iron Republic is all about freedom from ALL laws and rules, and they share the same symbol).
From what I understand the New Sequence are attempting to bring London to supremacy by using the Dawn Machine to rewrite the natural laws of the Neath. They don’t seem to be opposed to the Admiralty so much as a faction within London’s government using a different approach to rebuilding the Empire. edited by EscapeZeppelin on 2/18/2015
Yeah, its not the Admiralty who fear the Dawn Machine, so much as those who serve the Echo Bazaar fear the Dawn Machine and its servants because they run the risk of overthrowing their power over the neath. Though at the same time, the Admiralty doesn’t advertise it, if you see official “Admiralty” maps, the Dawn Machine is censored out of it.
Personally though, I wonder about the Finger-Kings of Parabola and how they fit into things, and the Schism between Republican and Aristocratic Devils which we see between The Brimstone Convention at Mt. Palmerston, and The Iron Republic + The Brass Embassy.
Well, the devils of the Iron Republic appear to be all about disorder and no laws/rules. An aristocracy of demons would be a class of devils elevated by rules… so probably when the revolution kicked off in hell, aristocracy wasn’t much wanted.
I do know that the New Sequence is connected to the Admiralty in some way, as evidenced by the presence of Royal Marines and dreadnoughts at the Grand Geode.
It’s less the Admiralty being connected to the New Sequence and more it being thouroughly infiltrated by it. That’s the main reason the Admiralty is in such bad shape: The New Sequencer keep missappropriating new ships and personel, to the point that the Royal Family is starting to get suspicious where all the money they’re pumping into the recovery of the Admiralty is going.
So, you want to learn about fractions? Well, it happens I know this great game involving frogs, where… oh, wait, right, gotcha.
The New Sequence… how does one describe them? A proto-fascist techno-cult? A reactionary military conspiracy? The modern Prometheus, reimagined on a political scale? All of the above? In any case, they don’t have the universal support of the government or even within the Admiralty, but there are enough plotters with enough power to be a serious danger.
The Anarchists, well, there are plenty of anarchist groups around, trying to radically reshape society by various means. The Calendar Council is just about the most secretive, most militant and most uncompromising of them all, though. Such is their commitment to tearing down tyrants in the cause of liberty that they’d happily assassinate God and abolish the laws of physics. Considering all the Masters are up to, well, maybe they have a point. They’re very much the antithesis of the New Sequence, in any case, though no less dangerous.
The New Khanate have already been very well summed up - a splinter faction from the Fourth City who outlived their originators. They’re not so very different from London, though their secret police are even more ruthlessly efficient than the Ministry of Public Decency. But, they don’t answer to the Bazaar and they don’t truck with the Fingerkings, and they’re thoroughly adapted to life in the Neath.