Particular questions concerning the lore

Fallen London
1

If possible please answer without revealing TOO much of the games secrets. (My knowledge is already sullied by lore discovered outside the restraints of the game so don’t worry to much, just no great plot twists) I am also relatively new to the game ( a fare amount into being a person of some importance) and I may ask things which would make no sense to a veteran.

  1. What happens if one tries to seek the name of a master who is not Mr Eaten? what makes it so special?
  2. How big is the Underzee? the size of a large lake or an ocean?
  3. If all things are alive in Polythreme what separates the claymen from the rest of the objects there? Are they more refined? Are they the only things able to survive outside Polythreme?
  4. How is Mr Eaten as long as you do not mention its name? Can you interact with it outside the SMEN? From a quote I read of Egypt which suggests that it is better at human-ish talk than the other masters and that it may have a connection to the sisterhood and bag a legend (I have gotten far enough along Bag a legend to have a vague knowledge of the relationship between the sisterhood and the masters).
  5. Will all clothing worn have to be designed by Kasimir Malevich after the liberation of the night (assuming that he has been born by that point)

I know that the nature of the questions I have asked make my non-spoiler request almost impossible, sorry about that. These things are like an itch at the side of my mind and I am a bit to liberal at revealing story to myself that I am not yet ready to know (I recently discovered that in the context of my character I should be all but completely ignorant of the true purpose of the liberation of the night)
Thank you

2

I will try not to spoil answers to the best of my ability, but a spoiler is by nature learning of something outside of when you are supposed to, so it will be slightly inevitable. I will place them in a spoiler, so read at your own discretion.

  1. All true names of Masters are in the Correspondence, but the name of Mr Eaten is illegal, and so requires somewhat more effort.
  2. The Underzee is a lot more ocean sized (see Sunless Sea for more info on that)
  3. All things are alive in Polythreme, but Clay Men are made differently, and also have hands. Hands are useful.
  4. Mr Eaten is all of the not good. All of it. He was, once, but now? Just don’t.
  5. I have no idea who that is. Maybe?
3

Thanks

4

[quote=Omega8520]
5. I have no idea who that is. Maybe?[/quote]

Russian painter. Big on simple compositions of shapes and colours - particularly experiments along the lines of &quotwhat if we used just black?&quot. I like his stuff, and, yeah, I can see some of the Calendar Council wanting him to do their uniforms.

Oh! And he was born in 1878. FL’s current year is 1894, so Malevich’s living in Ukraine and about to begin his artistic training. In a few years, he’ll be in a good position to be swept up in the revolutionary fervour sweeping Europe.
edited by Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook on 10/13/2016

5

Clothing by Malevich just might be the one thing that would sway me in favor of Liberation of the Night. (I’m imagining this 80’s style large black off-shoulder sweater and a tiny red mini. Yes, it’s a complete anachronism, but wouldn’t it be cool?) And a knapsack of course. :)

6

The Unterzee if I had to guess is roughly the size of the Mediterranean ocean.It’s REALLY hard to guess because the Far North and the Far East are really weird.

7

I have some more questions:

  1. Is hell in the Neath, under it, or on a different plane like Parabola?
  2. The traitor empress is Queen Victoria, right?
  3. To my understanding this is a history of the future of the world is this:
    -The British empire moves north beyond the avid horizon to the outer wilderness to colonize were no man has colonized before.
    -Paris falls and lands on London
    -Some time in the future the seventh city lands on Paris completing the masters plan.
    Is this accurate?
  4. Is the outer wilderness synonymous with outer space? Or is is something different?
  5. Does Satan exist, if not is there a governing body of hell?
  6. (More open) what will happen to seekers in the sunless sky era?

Sorry for my lust for improperly obtained knowledge.
edited by Zarrg on 10/14/2016
edited by Zarrg on 10/14/2016

8
  1. The Brimstone Convention once used to rule Hell, filled with Princes and kings. It was, of course, overturned in the Season of Revolutions (not the ES season, that’s different) and sealed away on small islands strewn throughout the Zee. The new Hell is highly bureaucratic, and I would not be surprised to find out they have elected rulers (alas, there isn’t any info on the new rule as far as I know).

Those searching for a most exalted, wish-granting game, involved in the art of bombing before midday or zailors travelling near the hyperborean gate may learn about all of this in more detail (and in one case, even encounter a prince of hell in person).
edited by Vavakx Nonexus on 10/14/2016

9

[quote=Zarrg]I have some more questions:

  1. Is hell in the Neath, under it, or on a different plane like Parabola?
  2. The traitor empress is Queen Victoria, right?
  3. To my understanding this is a history of the future of the world is this:
    -The British empire moves north beyond the avid horizon to the outer wilderness to colonize were no man has colonized before.
    -Paris falls and lands on London
    -Some time in the future the seventh city lands on Paris completing the masters plan.
    Is this accurate?
  4. Is the outer wilderness synonymous with outer space? Or is is something different?
  5. Does Satan exist, if not is there a governing body of hell?
  6. (More open) what will happen to seekers in the sunless sky era?

Sorry for my lust for improperly obtained knowledge.

[/quote]
6. Hell seems to be in a different plane. But naturally none of us have been there.
7. Yes
8. Possibly. Paris may or may not occur, but it is likely the Bazaar will try to take it next.
9. I believe its &quotHigh Wilderness&quot but yes
10. See vavakx
11. Possibly the Laws will be strengthened, not allowing anything Mr. Eateny to happen. Possibly there will be a new dead master haunting things. Possibly the Judgements could bring him back to life. Possibly the stars are dying, so Mr. Eaten just comes back. Many possiblys.
edited by suinicide on 10/14/2016

10

6: Hell is probably…both. You can take a train there, but it’s also not quite on the same plane. Not too dissimilar from the East, I imagine. Iirc Hell is also closer to Parabola, however that works.

11: Will there even still be Seekers? Outside of the Neath, that is. Mr Eaten is in the Neath, haunts the Neath and the Zee, but the High Wilderness is a different beast. As Suinicide said, there may be a different dead Master, or something gone which refuses to stay that way. Worth mentioning is Alexis Kennedy, of whom Seeking was a pet project of, is no longer a writer for FBG, so it’s possible we won’t be seeing anything like Seeking in Sunless Skies. The other writers will have their own horrors crafted.

11

I am now imagining SMEN ending with the seeker being sucked through the gate into the high wilderness, then the end credits theme to Red Dwarf playing as their surprised copse floats though space.

12

[quote=Zarrg]I have some more questions:

  1. What happens if one tries to seek the name of a master who is not Mr Eaten? what makes it so special?
    As has been mentioned, its not so much the seeking of a Master’s name that is special, but that you seek the name of Mr Eaten. Once he went by another name, and that has been blotted out from history.
  2. How big is the Underzee? the size of a large lake or an ocean? Well, the thing is, you can’t exactly measure the Unterzee. Due to pecularities of the Neath, it is not a static space, and will change in size and content in events called Alterations.
  3. If all things are alive in Polythreme what separates the claymen from the rest of the objects there? Are they more refined? Are they the only things able to survive outside Polythreme? Nothing separates them, and other things can be taken to other places and remain alive. For instance, the map you use to find Polythreme, the Screaming Map, is itself alive. However, would you want a cup that is contantly moaning as you put boiling tea in it? Really, the main reason you don’t see anything other than Claymen is that most normally nonliving objects suffer pain when used for their normal purpose.
  4. How is Mr Eaten as long as you do not mention its name? Can you interact with it outside the SMEN? From a quote I read of Egypt which suggests that it is better at human-ish talk than the other masters and that it may have a connection to the sisterhood and bag a legend (I have gotten far enough along Bag a legend to have a vague knowledge of the relationship between the sisterhood and the masters). No, the entity we refer to as Mr Eaten cannot be interacted with beyond the events involved in SMEN. The Masters prefer things to remain this way.
  5. Will all clothing worn have to be designed by Kasimir Malevich after the liberation of the night (assuming that he has been born by that point). Depends on if we are still wearing clothes or not in a lightless world. Design would be somewhat irrelevant, at least to aesthetics.
  6. Is hell in the Neath, under it, or on a different plane like Parabola? It’s to the West of London. Same plane, and one can take a train from a station in Ladybones, though gamewise we cannot do this yet.
  7. The traitor empress is Queen Victoria, right? She lost her name when she sold London in return for the health of her Consort, but yes, she was known as such at one time.
  8. To my understanding this is a history of the future of the world is this:
    -The British empire moves north beyond the avid horizon to the outer wilderness to colonize were no man has colonized before.
    -Paris falls and lands on London
    -Some time in the future the seventh city lands on Paris completing the masters plan.
    Is this accurate?
    Mmmmm, somewhat. If the Master’s wishes come to fruition, the second will be true. By Sunless Skies, the first will be true. However, the third is not the Master’s wish. Really, that sounds their death knell should they be forced to take a Seventh.
  9. Is the outer wilderness synonymous with outer space? Or is is something different? You could call it that. However, it will not operate on the natural laws we are familar with.
  10. Does Satan exist, if not is there a governing body of hell? At a time, after they left Parabola, the devils were ruled by an aristocracy. However, recently, they overthrew this aristocracy, imprisoning many, and forcing the rest to flee to Mt Palmerston.
  11. (More open) what will happen to seekers in the sunless sky era? Without being able to go into much of the details, to seek is to end oneself. Given the background of Seeking, and what events I know of thus far (I am not quite done with SMEN), there will be no Seeking in Sunless Skies.

Sorry for my lust for improperly obtained knowledge.

[/quote]

13

A bit more on whether Satan exists or not:
The devils and hell aren’t the same as the biblical devils of hell, yes? Even though te Bishop of Southwark and his orderlies would like it to be so, devils don’t actually seem to be as much evil as just selfish and amoral, and Satan certainly does not exist.

14

They are called devils, are hot to the touch, live in a place called Hell, and want souls. We see no evidence of any other devils, and none of Satan. Make of that what you will.

15

I don’t know, It easy to imagine a judgement who was banished for some reason or another creating it’s own personal domain (hell). But seeing the history of the devils given by Kyron the wise is seems that he/she/it probably does not exist.

16

They seem to have a single hunger: the hunger for human souls(In the story-lines of the Affectionate Devil and the Quiet Deviless it seems likely that they are only in it for the protagonists soul). Since the soul themselves has no practical use for them it is possible that they think not much at all of human intelligence, and see it as a sport. But why are they so keen to acquire a thing that has no real use to them except for mere sport. Devil psychology is quite alien.

17

[quote=Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook]
Russian painter. [/quote]

Polish or Ukrainian, depending. Russian only in the sense of &quotRussian empire&quot. It’s like calling Australians British.

18

We don’t know what they use souls for. Perhaps they’re what help ‘pollinate’ exceptional souls into judgements. Or were, they’re certainly no friend of the Judgements atm

19

<3

Revolutionaries used to pin black squares onto their shirts before a march. Let us cut our own from violant cloth, and tear down light to build something new.

20

Now, my understanding of soul lore is somewhat lacking. If you’ve seen my thread, you can probably guess that my interests lie to the East.

However, here is what I do know on souls, as pertains to devils.

First, it is unlikely that devils are friends to Judgements. This can be attributed to how devils are sourced originally from Parabola. It is known that Judgements despise anything from there, and are in somewhat of a war-state with said dimension. This also makes it unlikely that the Devils are aiding in the Judgement life cycle.

Further, a fun fact. The ‘God’ that is being worhshipped by the Church in this universe is actually a front for Judgements. Given this, we can assume that the Judgements are especially not keen on devils. I seem to recall something about Judgements feeding on souls, but cannot recall where, or if it is in fact true. On point, the devils are techinically biblical devils, but not our biblical devils. They are not firey pitchfork wielding agents of evil. In Mrs. Plenties Carnival, on Beneath the Neath, they playact being such, and can barely keep from laughing. I would describe what they really are, but spoiler tags don’t work too well for me, and OP did desire for no revelation of too many secrets.

Devils are not into the soul thing simply for the sport of it. The fact that there are souls they will reject shows that there is some specificity to what they need. If you have stained your soul, like I have, or have been touched by the Uttershroom, they will be disgusted by your soul. Again, not sure, but devils may feed on souls. Regardless, given that they are seeking specific kinds of souls, or at the minimum not seeking certain ones, it is likely there is some use.

Yes, the Devil/Deviless are in it for Abstraction, taking your soul, but I recall the case of the Absconding Devil had one who attempt to, well, abscond with a woman, rather than take her soul.