Neathy Academics

Fallen London
1

A pleasant evening, dear friends.

I found myself thinking tonight: the Neath, with all its wonders and hitherto absolutely unthinkable facts, has led us to pick our brains at such things as the Correspondence, the significance of wild words, the life cycles of Rubbery Men, the metaphysics of Hell, and many other scientific pursuits which on the Surface would without a doubt be considered aberrant to frivolous.

But we are not on the Surface! And all of these make perfect sense to us here. But how many such disciplines exist, and what is the proper name for these academic subjects?

I therefore wish to compile here the names of those disciplines that we have heard of already in the academical community of the Fifth City, and incite you of scholarly minds to aid me in cataloguing those I have not come across as well as to find names for those pursuits for which academic names have not yet been found.

Established in Neathy Academia (canon):

  • Pre-Lapsarian Archaeology: the study of the identities and remannts of the Fallen Cities.
  • Theosophistry: the study of esoteric truths behind mysteries of the spiritual and the divine.
  • Cryptopalaeontology: the study of mythical, paranormal or otherwise non-standard extinct flora and fauna.
  • Metacoustics: the study of the significance, origin and properties of &quotwild words&quot, metaphysical acoustics.
  • Infernal Rarefaction: the study of, through deductive methods, assessing properties of Hell and devils.
  • Additive Surgery: the study of medical practice not through replacement of dysfunctional tissue, but through addition of functional?
  • Chiropterochronometry: the study of…something with bats, and timekeeping?
  • Esoteric Cryptozoology: the study of mythical or paranormal fauna with certain esoteric qualities
  • Antiquarian Esquivalence: the study of avoiding age-old responsibilities.
  • Venomous Rarefaction: the study of, through deductive methods, assessing properties in poisonous substances.
  • Semi-Semiotics: the study of certain systems that almost qualify as symbol systems?
  • Palaeomycology: the study of extinct fungal lifeforms.
  • Contemporary Cryptotheology: the study of esoterical aspects of modern theology?
  • Cryptospelunking & Transportable Antiquities: the study of hidden cave exploration and, well, transportable antiquites (found therein?).

Not yet established (fanon):

  • Astrotheonomy: the study of Judgements and related celestial objects.
  • Speleoptics: the study of Light and the colour set of the Neath.
  • Speculutology: the study of Parabola and mirrors.
  • Urbimaieutic Photomancy: the practice of divination by citylight patterns.
  • please feel free to suggest your own!

[li]
edited by Nathanael S. Wells on 12/15/2013

2

Not sure how its spelled but whouldn’t the study of Parabola and mirrors be “Speculutology”? It’s not canon but there’s a bit of fanon Speculutology.

3

Added!

4

There’s a Dean of Cryptospelunking & Transportable Antiquities who always sears my enigmas. Sounds a bit academic, if you ask me. :)

5

There is a card about an heremit which tries to divine future using light city pattern. So… Urbimaieutic Photomancy?

6

Updated.

7

I’ve heard ‘cryptophilology’ for scholars of the Correspondence and the alphabets of Hell, and ‘neoluminology’ from the Radical Factotum for advances involving memories of light and mourning candles – I would imagine it’s the study and science of the Neathy light. Some time ago I tried to coin ‘argillanthropology’ for the study of Clay Men, and ‘cephalanthropology’ for the study of Rubbery Men, though I admit the sound is somewhat strained, and ‘cryptonomastics’ for the study of a certain hidden name.[li]

8

In Fallen London:
Tonsorial Alchemy: the Regius Professor from this Department have invited you for formal dinners.
Epigraphical Mathematics: also appeared in An Invitation to High Table.
Subterranean Divinity: appeared in a sidebar snippet related to academic rivalry between Benthic and Summerset. This might be antagonistic to Contemporary Cryptotheology, I guess.
Criminal Rehabilitation & Eradication: in Address the University, sounds quite Criminal Psychology.
Phrenology & Applied Cranial Exploration: in Academic Discipline, the text for failure is a little creepy and more informative. Well, our scholars in London are always that… vigorous? …enthusiastic?

In Sunless Sea:
Paradoxic Optics: the Alarming Scholar mentioned this department’s interest in blue scintillack when you surrendered a lump of it.