Speculations on the Great Chain

Fallen London
1

Let’s see how much of it we can map, at least tentatively.
Spoilers ahead!

  1. ???
  2. Judgements (are they a single link, or is there a further division? I’ve seen a mention of &quotprinces who would never be kings&quot.)
  3. Demijudgements (e.g. Arbiter, Unseen Queen)
  4. [color=rgb(0, 0, 204)]Aeginae (e.g. Storm),[/color] Emanations (e.g. Logoi, Pansekris)?
  5. Messangers (e.g. Bazaar, HoR&C), the Storm that Speaks, [color=#0000cc]Mt Nomad, Kw1kH[/color]?
  6. Ur-Flukes (e.g. TWMG), perhaps Infernal Saints, maybe the Servitor from the Sovereign’s Grave, possibly Midnight?
  7. Curators, Lorn/Scorn/Thorn/Shorn/Porn-Flukes, i guess?
  8. rank-&-file Devils, garden variety Flukes, Heartcatchers, Chaplains?
  9. Humans, Rubberies, Cats, Tigers, LB, maybe Councils and those giant frog things from Wisdom?
  10. Snuffers, PentApes, Starvoes, Unfinished, Cantankeries?
  11. Blemmigans, Zee-bats, ravens, Jaaack, Clothes colonies, Chorister bees, mandrakes, Emergent moths?
  12. &quotNormal&quot animals, most zee-monsters, Grievers, Prophets, sorrow spiders, Moon-Misers?
  13. &quotNormal&quot fungi & insects?
  14. &quotNormal&quot plantlife?

There are quite a few which i have trouble placing, even putatively (Spinsters, Undeparted, WasteWaif, Burrower Beneath). Mostly because i haven’t played the Truth ambition in Skies yet, i guess.
Thoughts?
edited by Masseurse on 3/21/2021

2

Topograhy is well above any curator and fluke.

Fingerkings and the rest of purely Parabolan creatures are not subject to the Chain: they Are Not, Chain governs what Is.

  1. Minerals and metals - it’s based on a real theological “Great Chain”, look it up.
3

The Principles of Coral are straight-up a fluke.

4

[quote=NotaWalrus]The Principles of Coral are straight-up a fluke.[/quote]But working on becoming less, no? Iirc, that was the whole point of thier character arc.

[quote=Aro Saren]Topograhy is well above any curator and fluke.
Fingerkings and the rest of purely Parabolan creatures are not subject to the Chain: they Are Not, Chain governs what Is.[/quote]

Corrections implemented! (except PoC, see above)

But do we have any canonic indication that inanimate substances have souls, in the Echoverse?
edited by Masseurse on 3/16/2021

5

They can contain a soul. Otherwise how could you keep them in bottles?

6

My thoughts:

  1. I think &quotprinces who would never be kings&quot refers to Judgements like the Arbiter who are children of Judgements and possibly Judgments themselves but cannot rule because another Judgement sits on the Throne of that region/domain.
  2. Also, Stone may not be a part of the Great Chain because she’s of an ilicit union, which means that the Snuffers and Mt Nomad are potentially off the list as well. It’s confusing.
  3. Storm and other ‘Dragons’ seem to be the Aeginae, a race of creatures that hunt for and eat hours. It’s possible they are Emanations like the Logoi, but that was old pre-Skies lore.
7

Yes, it wants to go all the way down to ordinary coral. Interestinly, it uses a Wakeful Idol as a counterweight, pushing it up the chain as it goes down.

8

[quote=DTravel]They can contain a soul. Otherwise how could you keep them in bottles?[/quote]Lol, i don’t think these bottles count as ensouled entities, for being used to store a soul, any more than my pile of laundry counts as a Clothes Colony because it moves, yowls and sometimes purrs.

[quote=Ixc][spoiler]

  1. I think &quotprinces who would never be kings&quot refers to Judgements like the Arbiter who are children of Judgements and possibly Judgments themselves but cannot rule because another Judgement sits on the Throne of that region/domain.

  2. Also, Stone may not be a part of the Great Chain because she’s of an ilicit union, which means that the Snuffers and Mt Nomad are potentially off the list as well. It’s confusing.

  3. Storm and other ‘Dragons’ seem to be the Aeginae, a race of creatures that hunt for and eat hours. It’s possible they are Emanations like the Logoi, but that was old pre-Skies lore.
    [/spoiler][/quote]

  4. Wait, the Arbiter is a Judgement? :=0 That raises so many questions…

  5. So, resulting from a violation of the Chain means you’re not even on it? Oooh, that’s interesting! Does that mean it would be impossible for you to do anything that moves you up or down the chain? Does it make your soul useless (or even poisonous?) to Judgements and law-foundries?

  6. Implemented, thanks!

NotAWalrus: Good point. Implemented!
edited by Masseurse on 3/17/2021

9

Aeginae weren’t Emanations - they’re a distinct class of beings, just below Judgements.

Well, the Chain is the Law and enforced by the starlight. The Stone was conceived to be not a subject of this Law, since whole her being is a direct violation of it. Same with at least some of her progeny, I guess.