No not the Khanate :P
Enemy Kingdom is a code name for Parabola. The name comes from the result text for the searing enigma reward from your basic expeditions (aka a flake of velum). Basically, parabola is described as the anti-judgement and a being in direct opposition to their rule. I was implying that Parabola and the fingerkings are the ones who have the most to gain from LoN which takes their greatest enemy out of the picture.
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edited by NiteBrite on 11/18/2015
The reluctance some show about the Liberation of Night seems a bit confusing to me. I mean…
The only reason you’re limited to being a fragile mortal is because the Judgments. Without them, everyone could be anything, effectively. Life certainly wouldn’t end, because you wouldn’t need light in order to have life without the stars saying you do. Sure, everything would be chaos, but on the other hand, it’s not like everyone would die, because without light you could also be whatever eldritch abomination you feel like being, since the only thing that keeps you from becoming something greater is, again, the judgments and their "great chain" garbage.
I feel like it’s a good thing. It’ll take some getting used to, but it’s good.
Well, most people are predisposed to think that extinguishing suns and leaving everything in the darkness means horror and death. Why?
DEMNED JUDGEMENT PROPOGANDA, that’s why! Off with their blazin’ cores!
My character has two big concerns about the Liberation of the Night, both stemming from his visit to the Iron Republic. First, the utter lack of stability on display there is a source of concern. Secondly, what stability there is is enforced by the Devils by virtue of force. If the Liberation of Night succeeds, there’s going to be a relative handful of people/beings who are ready for it, and they’re likely going to seize that advantage to set themselves up as the new ruling power in the absence of the Judgments.
OOC, some of the text for destinies related to the LoN suggest that it is not at all a pleasant existence for people taken unawares regardless of their prior position in society. The powerless are as likely to be victimized as the formerly powerful, because neither will be able to adapt with the rapidity of those in the know.
edited by Kaigen on 12/1/2015
Liberation of the Night is an ugly little steamer, yet there is never a shortage of passengers willing to board it. Some are desperate, some simply want to get away from London and its laws, and some are seduced by Captain Calendar’s promise of “a MOST EDUCATIONAL voyage that will set FREE your Mind, Body and SOUL”.
In a way, that promise is true. As soon as the ship leaves London’s lights behind, the crew falls upon the passengers and swiftly liberates them of their possessions and dignity, while the Captain’s own fork frees them of their souls. Their minds and bodies are then sold to the cage-gardens at the Isle of Cats, where their liberation reaches its unfortunate apotheosis.
[quote=Kaigen]My character has two big concerns about the Liberation of the Night, both stemming from his visit to the Iron Republic. First, the utter lack of stability on display there is a source of concern. Secondly, what stability there is is enforced by the Devils by virtue of force. If the Liberation of Night succeeds, there’s going to be a relative handful of people/beings who are ready for it, and they’re likely going to seize that advantage to set themselves up as the new ruling power in the absence of the Judgments.
OOC, some of the text for destinies related to the LoN suggest that it is not at all a pleasant existence for people taken unawares regardless of their prior position in society. The powerless are as likely to be victimized as the formerly powerful, because neither will be able to adapt with the rapidity of those in the know.
edited by Kaigen on 12/1/2015[/quote]
I agree with you. The Iron Republic seems to be the "beta" version of LoN. We do need an anti-Judgement to keep things in order. Without it, we will be having chaos… lots of chaos. As of the moment I can’t think of a Neathy being capable of rising up to the challenge. The closest candidates are busy plotting against the Bazaar beneath the waves…
Puts tinfoil fedora on As for adjustment, I think certain professions will be better off than the others. Glassmen practically work on a post-LoN society already, Monster Hunters are used to the dark abyss (they got natural peligin lenses) and will see the predators the LoN brings as free food. Finally, Correspondents may already figured out the laws of this new society.
[quote=the truthseeker]Is it okay if (like Supernatural) I think thy are all D***s? And the Judgments just more like Angel-level ones? (At least Angels don’t eat your you-know-what unlike the Shinies up there!)[li]
edited by the truthseeker on 12/2/2015[/quote]
Sure, so long as you achnowledge the Liberation as the well meaning- even if ultimately foolish- side in the matter, and the Judgements as the Sefl-centered and malicious side in the matter.
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Tyranny or Entropy take your pick. Personally I think I’d rather go hide in a mirror with some lovely kitties (and devious snake monsters).
My big concern with the LoN is that I’m going to be a Judgment some day, and I’d rather not be extinguished shortly afterwards.
Wouldn’t that be a classic tragedy, though?
[quote=Sackville]My big concern with the LoN is that I’m going to be a Judgment some day, and I’d rather not be extinguished shortly afterwards.
Wouldn’t that be a classic tragedy, though?[/quote]
Well, being a judgement is the best way to get extinguished, as they won’t like chain-climbers either… probably.
[quote=Sackville]My big concern with the LoN is that I’m going to be a Judgment some day, and I’d rather not be extinguished shortly afterwards.
Wouldn’t that be a classic tragedy, though?[/quote]
Unfortunately the other Judgements will know if you’re Making Waves in the cosmic world. However, instead of getting a point of Notability, you’ll end up as food or worse.
There are other means of achieving apotheosis in the Neathy world though that doesn’t necessarily need light.
The New Sequence began as a reactionary conspiracy within the Admiralty to usurp the power of the Bazaar by funnelling resources into the construction of an artificial Judgement. This, they imagined, would allow them to restore London to its former glory, with humanity once again in control and light restored. Things got out of hand - it turns out that, being a mechanical god who radiates pure power, the Dawn Machine was able to, shall we say, set the agenda for the proposed new government.
So is there no recourse for Londoner’s sympathetic with the patriotism of The New Sequence, yet lacking the desire to create a false Judgement or wage deicide?
There are still conservative factions unaffiliated with, and even opposed to, the New Sequence - in fact, the Exceptional Story about The Last Dog Society featured one of them. They may not have the Sequence’s resources - their offshore bases, their fancy uniforms, their radiant warships - but they’re there, working in the background to contain ambition’s excesses.
I have long decided to not aid the Liberation of Night, despite any favour I might show the Revolutionaries. And it seems the alternatives are just as bad. Good intentions don’t excuse horrible outcomes. And many intentions are rather evil too.
I do have several questions.
[spoiler]Why is Parabola considered the Enemy Kingdom? Is it because they are opposed to the Bazaar and the Masters? Or is it because of their opposition to the Judgements? And how would they benefit from Liberation of Night? Because without light how can a mirror function?
And who are the Fingerkings? The rulers of Parabola?
[/spoiler]
edited by Jacke on 12/17/2015
[spoiler]Yes, they’re the rulers of Parabola - those parts of it not ruled by the cats, at least. I think the title "Enemy Kingdom" is because of their opposition to the Judgements. It’s not just a question of political allegiances - the Fingerkings’ very existence is contrary to the Judgements’ law. I agree that it would seem that mirrors would be rendered inert by total darkness… but, I suppose, the Fingerkings do seem to have their own source of the Neathy colours that would apparently survive the Liberation.
(Privately, I wonder whether the devils aren’t also some force that exists in opposition to the Judgements - not being their mirror-opposite, like the Fingerkings, but being some sort of fracturing or distortion of Judgement law, halfway in between one force and the other.)[/spoiler]
edited by Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook on 12/17/2015
I think I recall reading, in one of the destinies, the character can equip Irrigo Goggles in order to see through the darkness - apparently Neath colours aren’t removed - but it’s possible I may be remembering that incorrectly.
edited by Kittenpox on 12/17/2015
[spoiler]Yes, they’re the rulers of Parabola - those parts of it not ruled by the cats, at least. I think the title "Enemy Kingdom" is because of their opposition to the Judgements. It’s not just a question of political allegiances - the Fingerkings’ very existence is contrary to the Judgements’ law. I agree that it would seem that mirrors would be rendered inert by total darkness… but, I suppose, the Fingerkings do seem to have their own source of the Neathy colours that would apparently survive the Liberation.
(Privately, I wonder whether the devils aren’t also some force that exists in opposition to the Judgements - not being their mirror-opposite, like the Fingerkings, but being some sort of fracturing or distortion of Judgement law, halfway in between one force and the other.)[/spoiler]
edited by Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook on 12/17/2015[/quote]
I suspect the devils simply don’t care about the Judgements–though I admit it’s hard to think why they would not have a position.
From Sunless Sea we know
[spoiler]Devils are bees that built their hives on the outskirts of parabola. Hell shares a border with Parabola after all. It is also where the Exile’s Rose, the active ingredient in prisoner’s honey, grows. (Aside: prisoner’s honey is a substance that transports users bodily into parabola). Time is not linear in parabola, if it exists at all there. Exposure to Parabola changed them, and made them capable of understanding the Correspondence much like the sorrow spiders before them. This is also why the devils have access to anachronistic fashions and weaponry.
There may be more to their origin story than what has been presented above, but based on the lore mentioned above I would conjecture that devils may be wholly a product of Parabola. This would in turn make them highly illegal in accordance with Judgement law. If this is so, then I don’t see how they could be in support of the Judgements. Finally, the Iron Republic is basically a Liberation of Night alpha version. Some of the sunless sea shops in the Iron Republic are described as displaying slain dragons and dead laws that never were and the like. It doesn’t get more blatantly anti-judgement than that. Literally dead dragons everywhere. (Aside: Dragons are basically the Judgement’s police force for the especially illegal things that don’t just melt in the light.)
As a final, probably irrelevant note: the order serpentine medals from K&C describe one of the masters as "the grumpiest bee", which is adorable.[/spoiler]
edited by NiteBrite on 12/17/2015
While posting in another thread, I had a thought of connections.
If the stars are Judgements. Which set the rules of our lives. And at times rain down Judgement, even to the point of sending dragons.
Are they not someone similar to another author’s Great Old Ones?
Just when you thought it couldn’t get stranger in London…