The fate of fallen cities

As decadent as London has become since the fall, there is one concern of mine. There are cities that have fallen before ours, but outside of the Masters and old ruins, there is not much left of them. I have to wonder what fate lies in store for London, and what happened to the previous cities. Was it an entropic death of the people all simply selling their souls and departing for the embassy? Or do the masters play a part in the end of one city before bringing a new one? Perhaps they take something from us, something vital, leaving our city a dessicated husk before moving on. Or, perhaps, they eventually get bored, or get what they desire, and then destroy a city that no longer has use to them.

What are your thoughts?

[Spoilers for the Theosophistrical Society, Flute Street, and Seeking Mr Eaten’s Name in the link]

Madame Petrovsky’s Secret Dogma teaches that each fallen city heralds an age. ‘This is the Fifth Age. Four civilisations have gone before. There will be two more, and the seventh will attain perfect society.’ Madame Petrovsky, of course, may be a fraud. But beneath the Neath, where the stone pigs are said to sleep, there is a pockmarked wall with seven scratches, and five of seven clawed out.

I once attended a salon for those who seek a certain name, and we speculated on whether cities rise and fall in cycles, and whether the eaten one, too, rises and falls: http://fallen-london.livejournal.com/22682.html?thread=317082#t317082

[color=000000]I don’t really have a theory on what kinds of events exactly lead from one city to another. But regarding the inhabitants of former cities…

Not necessarily:

The Duchess has been living in the Masters’ Cities back since the Second one (where she is originally from). The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel also strikes me as a possible &quotsurvivor&quot. Newspaper publishers may remember the words from his interview: &quotLong ago I was renowned as a lover, you know? Damn the Bazaar and its ways. It takes everything and gives nothing. A terrible institution.&quot And the guests at his hotel… that is, the &quotpermanent&quot guests, those extremely weird ones, couldn’t they be inhabiters of former Cities? Maybe a certain number of individuals from every city find the secrets of Hesperidean Cider…

edited by Rupho Schartenhauer on 4/4/2015

I think that the widow and the orient are some of the remaining people from the forth city. Also when you are Embarking on a Voyage of Scientific Discovery on Corpsecage Island you can see writing about people of the forth city escaping from something, possibly the destruction of the stolen city. They could have then settled in the orient.

[quote=Wieland Burandt]I don’t really have a theory on what kinds of events exactly lead from one city to another. But regarding the inhabitants of former cities…

Not necessarily:

[color=#ffffff]The Duchess has been living in the Masters’ Cities back since the Second one (where she is originally from). The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel also strikes me as a possible “survivor”. Newspaper publishers may remember the words from his interview: “Long ago I was renowned as a lover, you know? Damn the Bazaar and its ways. It takes everything and gives nothing. A terrible institution.” And the guests at his hotel… that is, the “permanent” guests, those extremely weird ones, couldn’t they be inhabiters of former Cities? Maybe a certain number of individuals from every city find the secrets of Hesperidean Cider…[/color]

It just occurred to me that [color=#ffffff]the tomb-colonies may also have some inhabitants of former cities. Inmate 11774 of the Grand Sanatorium in Venderbight, at least, was a bodyguard to the Duchess a century ago (in the Fourth City). Death is strange here.[/color]
edited by theodor_gylden on 12/20/2011

I was aware of the other survivors Wieland Burandt mentioned, but I consider them the “not much else”, as they are rare exceptions. Though, perhaps I was wrong to discount them: They did live through what happened, after all, and while I do not believe they played a role in the destruction of the cities, they are possible leads.

Yana has just written a correspondence from the Colonies arguing to the contrary:
‘None of the dead women and men here predate the Fall of London. But their colony is built upon the ruins of an older one: there is stonework here of a kind I have never seen. I suppose the Fourth and earlier cities had their own difficulties with death, and in turn their own tomb-colonies…’
edited by Patrick Reding on 12/21/2011

It may be unrelated to the case but many of the dreams make reference to ships sailing away in a hurried manner. Also the fire sermon and what the thunder said dream sequences allude to
[font=Arial, Tahoma][spoiler[/font]]

[color=#ffffff]a volcanic eruption and an earthquake which ended both the cities and a majority of it’s inhabitants in a true death fashion.Is it possible then that those who survived departed for greener pastures beyond the zee. [/color]

[/spoiler]
edited by Andrey Shmarev Shmareva on 12/27/2011

[quote=theodor_gylden][Spoilers for the Theosophistrical Society, Flute Street, and Seeking Mr Eaten’s Name in the link]

Madame Petrovsky’s Secret Dogma teaches that each fallen city heralds an age. ‘This is the Fifth Age. Four civilisations have gone before. There will be two more, and the seventh will attain perfect society.’ Madame Petrovsky, of course, may be a fraud. But beneath the Neath, where the stone pigs are said to sleep, there is a pockmarked wall with seven scratches, and five of seven clawed out.

I once attended a salon for those who seek a certain name, and we speculated on whether cities rise and fall in cycles, and whether the eaten one, too, rises and falls: http://fallen-london.livejournal.com/22682.html?thread=317082#t317082[/quote]

One of the later Correspondence cards tells us something similar: [color=#ffffff]"…there is something there. It speaks of a long journey coming to a close. Five marks are passed. Two remain. (or, something to that effect-I’ll have to get a more accurate quote from the card-if it comes again.)[/color]

I recorded the specific quote in my journal: http://echobazaar.failbettergames.com/Profile/Chaoseed?fromEchoId=1613956

We all know what we get when we add [color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]five and two[/color], yes? My reaction upon reading this was…not printable, but it was basically “Uh-oh”.