Some Burning Questions

Sunless Sea
1

To preface, I have not played Fallen London yet. I have, however done a bit of research on a few topics, so I’m not entirely ignorant either.

There are, as my topic title denotes, a few burning questions which I cannot get out of my head. My Google searches have also availed me little (which is why I made an account here actually!). I present to you then a list of my current quarrelsome quandaries and vicious vagaries:

-The Red Science: The icon looks like a Correspondence sigil, yet it’s not connected with the Bazaar. The meteorite is otherworldly, obviously, but what is the origin? The fact that it is red too, sparks my interest. I’ve noticed that the color red is quite symbolic e.g. Red Honey, A Dream of Red. In regards to the latter, is there a connection? Love and the Red Science? Memories also?

-Eating: Here is another symbol that I’m seeing everywhere. Though I’ve seen no direct mention of Mr. Eaten by name, how central is he to the plot of the Unterzee? Or rather what are the implications of eating, metaphorically? There is the Eater of Names, the ritual consuming of flesh in the Chapel of Lights, sigils that eat, Kingeater Castle, and numerous other examples. I know it must all fit together; I see the pieces of the puzzle, but I don’t know where to start making connections and drawing conclusions.

-Irem: Is there any connection between the Pillared City and the Bazaar? There was a historical city by the same name and title, so I can’t help but think it was stolen by the Bazaar, yet I feel like there would be existing lore on the subject, and my search into proved nothing. If anything, it seems more influenced by Parabola than the Bazaar, but that still begs the question as to how it got down here into the Neath. It’s timeless quality also confuses me. Does Parabola exist outside linear time so that a city within its midst could be timeless like Irem?

-The High Wilderness: This is another topic which I could find little on in respects to Fallen London. Passing beyond Avid Horizon rewarded me with a brick wall of unfamiliar terms which I promptly smashed into. Heaven? The Aether? Some other kind of parallel universe? Judgements live there, and there is also something called the Soul Forge. Since I haven’t played FL, the idea of Judgements also confuses me, but it’s unimportant for this discussion. I’ll assume they’re something heavenly for now. I think I saw a reference as well to the High Wilderness and Flukes/Axiles. Cue the next bullet point.

-Flukes/Axiles: Are they the same thing? Or is an Axile merely a category that Flukes fall into. I also remember Axile described as a location as well. Then of course there’s the connection to shapelings which I also don’t understand. It’s an artform that Flukes have a mastery over, yet people who lived in the Roof stole it, if I remember correctly.

2

Good questions all! And I don’t know the answers to many of them. What I do know, or have guessed… well, spoilers ahead!

[spoiler]As you say, Axiles seems to be a category that includes Flukes. &quotRed Science&quot -seems- to refer to their power of creating shapelings, but I don’t know why it’s red or why it has a seal. Personally, I think being able to reshape yourself is pretty cool, but the Judgements seem to think it’s against the natural order of things… and the roof-dwellers’ mistakes show how dangerous it can be if used inexpertly.

The Judgements are something like gods, or perhaps very senior angels - they’re at the top of the Great Chain, the hierarchy of being, and they create light and law. They appear to us as the stars in the sky, but they are in fact ancient, powerful celestial beings. The High Wilderness… it’s outer space, or the celestial realm, or… both??? Earth is in space and the Neath is in the Earth and the Avid Horizon is in the Neath and space is behind the Avid Horizon???

Mr Eaten indeed shows up here and there, as the Drowned Man - the Mutton Islanders are up to their usual tricks, making sacrifices to him, and the Chapel of Lights joins in the fun. But, if there’s one thing Sunless Sea is showing us, it’s that there are weird forces out there that rival even Mr Eaten. It’s hard to say which ancient, terrible, maddening influences are his, and which belong to some other critter.

Irem: Who. Even. Knows. There’s other cities that seem to be fallen Surface-cities but aren’t related to the Bazaar - Varchas is a dead ringer for Angkor Wat, for a start. Irem might be the legendary city of the same name, come to the Neath by some means, and I agree that Parabola is the most likely culprit. Parabola exists outside of physical reality - in fact, in some ways, it’s the active enemy of physical reality - so it’s not the least bit surprising that time there doesn’t run smoothly and continuously in one direction, from cause to effect[/spoiler]

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That might be just a lack of an exclusive icon from the art team (I know there’s lots of repetead ones, and not all completely excusable without bringing in time issues, which is fine. Looking at you, albino rat not having yet a texture filter).

4

I thought maybe the impression that maybe the Red Science is just some sort of usage, or perhaps dialect of Correspondence the Judgments didn’t approve of.

5

Spoilers ahead for the curious. >.>

[spoiler] Most of this information is stuff I’ve gleaned and guessed via playing S.S., F.L. and various bits of research and discussion with friends on the subject. Some of it might be right, some might be wrong.

-On the Axile/Fluke Question. Axile is a place. Another planet found beyond Earth. The Flukes, Lorn Flukes and Rubbery Men are sophont’s that came to Earth from the planet Axile as part of a deal with the Bazaar that didn’t exactly pan out for whatever reason. Making them Aliens. The Moon-Misers ALSO came from Axile, their the critters that hang out on the Roof and happen to be the false stars you see from below and also what drops Glim.

-When it comes to Irem you have to remember that the Cardinal Directions of the Neath things seem to get a little weird. East seems to be associated with Parabola and time gets really wonky and broken the further you go North. Irem is situated at the extreme North-East End of the Map…Right where the North and East would meet. Giving it qualities of both. It doesn’t seem to have all that many connections to the Bazaar beyond the Basic.

-The High Wilderness is basically Outer Space. Terms like ‘Aether’ were greek concepts of what lay beyond Earth, Heaven’s more obvious. I haven’t tripped over much information on the Forge of Souls…But I’d assume it’s a place where Souls are maybe created? Maybe Refined? I do know that the Judgements are the Stars and our local Judgement is the Sun. Judgements judge. They are basically the one’s that determine what is and what isn’t and what should be. If you don’t meet their standards they kill you Dead. Which is why people tend to die when exposed to sunlight or why some Neathy products seem to lose their weird effects.[/quote]