The recent reveals from Sunless Skies can be discussed at length even if we’ve only gotten only small bits to work with so far. What I want to start discussion and theorycrafting is one small location on the map from the Sunless Skies kickstarter: The Prince-Consort’s Mausoleum. First, this obviously indicates the Prince-Consort/Prince Abert, beloved of the Traitor Empress/Queen Victoria, died between the events of Fallen London and Sunless Skies. As we know, Victoria sold London to the Masters in exchange for the Consort’s health and his death has many implications. Here is my harebrained theory: the pact between Victoria and the Masters was powerful and absolute. When she decided to break off and found her own empire, the contract was broken as she no longer recognized the Masters as the lawful rulers of London. With the contract broken, the Consort’s health was taken back and he died from the illness that took the real life Prince Albert. The Traitor Empress once sold her empire for her love, thus taking her empire back cost required equivalent exchange.
I would love to hear everyone else’s insane theories. edited by loredeluxe on 2/3/2017
Of course it could be the other way round. The Consort, who lets face it, wasn’t in the best shape anyway, has finally died, which pushes the Empress into action, getting her to move London to the Wilderness before they all get squished by Paris. I just wonder if it’s the Consort’s death is what pushes the Empress out of her current apathy, or her sudden action that causes his death.
I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Albert was never ‘Crown Prince.’ He was Prince Consort, the two are entirely different. A Crown Prince is the heir apparent. He was Prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, but I don’t think they used the term Crown Prince being only a duchy, and Crown Prince is not a term generally used in the British Monarchy, the fellow in that position is called the Prince of Wales. So if the term was for some reason in use in Fallen London the Crown Prince would have been Bertie, the Prince of Wales, who in real life became King Edward VII upon his mother’s death in 1901.
It’s more likely that the Crown Prince in question is one of Victoria’s Prussian descendants (as Imperial Germany did use the title Kronprinz), unless Failbetter have got their royal terms muddled up. edited by Plynkes on 2/3/2017 edited by Plynkes on 2/3/2017
[quote=Plynkes]I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Albert was never ‘Crown Prince.’ He was Prince Consort, the two are entirely different. A Crown Prince is the heir apparent. He was Prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, but I don’t think they used the term Crown Prince being only a duchy, and Crown Prince is not a term generally used in the British Monarchy, the fellow in that position is called the Prince of Wales. So if the term was for some reason in use in Fallen London the Crown Prince would have been Bertie, the Prince of Wales, who in real life became King Edward VII upon his mother’s death in 1901.
It’s more likely that the Crown Prince in question is one of Victoria’s Prussian descendants (as Imperial Germany did use the title Kronprinz), unless Failbetter have got their royal terms muddled up. edited by Plynkes on 2/3/2017 edited by Plynkes on 2/3/2017[/quote]
No, I’m pretty sure the map on the Kickstarter says Prince Consort on it, unless I’m mistaken. This should make it Albert.
My initial thought was that Death in the Neath is odd, so one wonders how/why he died permanently.
Then I remembered, we’re not in the Neath anymore. One wonders about the nature of Death in the High Wilderness. One of the Wrecks on the Kickstarter page indicates that it may not be straightforward… although those are “merely” rumors.
Right now I’m imaging the Queen spending stores of Hours on the Prince-Consort’s body. He may be without life, but he may still appear to all as if he were alive but a moment ago.
I am still wondering why they didn’t give this poor prince consort something that would have really helped him.
At least, hesperidian cider can be bought, or finding a zee captain willing to sell for a good price an esperidian apple would not be difficult for the empress and would certainly help the poor guy.
I doubt if the Bazaar or the Masters ever truly fulfilled the contract. It seems more like that Prince Consort was not even ‘alive’ like the Cantigaster, but was just kept from further decay, or maybe a little bit better (better? I still doubt it), kept zombie-like.
We can see that Consort wears a death mask, under which the color is described as "rotten grey". Let alone he is not even capable of sipping the tea.
The requiem is played, with implications that Empress is mourning the Consort. That’s far beyond normal if the Consort was brought back to life as probably promised in the contract.
It’s still hard to say how much it contributes to the plan of New London. One alternative possibility is that, the Liberation of Night completed some years before Sunless Skies takes place, and the Empress was thus forced to build New London out of the Neath. edited by Delta67 on 2/7/2017 edited by Delta67 on 2/7/2017