Avian Overlord
Posts: 62
11/12/2014
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Okay fair warning: This is crazy spitballing, and mostly based on lore I haven't personally encountered, but heard about second hand. Unless otherwise noted this uses the Christian hierarchy of angels. And FULL OF SPOILERS. Okay, let's go.
It is a common observation that London has plenty of devils, but no angels. Looking at the entomology of the word "Angel" however suggests that angel exists in London, and further suggests why more have not appeared. The word "Angel" means "messenger of God". The Echo Bazaar was a messenger between the stars, and has fallen from grace. A celestial messenger focused on love? Whose species has never been named? I would even go so far as to suggest the bazaar is a fallen Ophanim. These are said to be massive wheels covered in eyes, and the Bazaar's appearance in Sunless Sea resembles this description. As the de facto ruler of a city, one could also say the bazaar is a throne (another name for Ophanim).
The position of Ophanim within the angelic hierarchy also fits: high enough to do the drastic things the bazaar does, but still outranked by higher beings. Higher beings includes the highest rank of angel: Seraph, which literarly translates to "Burning One". Could easily be a poetic description of a sun, and therefore a Judgement. Maintaining natural law seems a natural fit for angels, as does the association with cleansing light. Of course, this makes one wonder what a fallen Judgement would be. A black hole perhaps?
Given how souls can apparently turn into Judgements (another common piece of angel lore is that the saved can become them), this would also explain why Hell (presumably founded by a rebellion against the heavens) would want them. Incidentally, Lucifer translates to "Morning Star".
Any thoughts on this theory?
edited by Avian Overlord on 11/12/2014
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The Principled Dectective-http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Corvidae
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Rackenhammer
Posts: 354
11/12/2014
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Hm, I had actually been thinking along those same lines, as a matter of fact. We'd been thinking of Devils as other beings that assumed the forms of Christian devils for unknown purposes, but what if there's more behind the parallel than that? The early texts would be contemporary with, say, the First City at least (which was from the same part of the world...).
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"DO NOT TRUST HAPPY ENDINGS. DO NOT FEAR SAD ENDINGS... NEITHER ARE ENDINGS."
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Mathieu Psmith: The Bard of Lost Children, loving husband, and a fixture of the artistic set. Can never resist making a show of things...
Irene Psmith: Adopted Daughter of Mathieu. Specializes in Information, Acquisitions, and the Acquisition of Information.
Vaughan Montblanc: Once a frontiersman of Western Canada, he now practices medicine in London. His discretion may be absolutely trusted.
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Owen Wulf
Posts: 715
11/13/2014
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The Masters are rumored to serve some kind of celestial messenger, but even in the murky peeks into the future it is only vaguely hinted at. A fallen angel would certainly fit the bill - but, it is certainly not a being of virtue and blessings.
The Old Testament described them more as entities to be feared, the heralds of doom whenever the Creator was displeased (a very frequent occurrence). I get the feeling, if this theory is substantiated, that this is the angle Failbetter chose to approach. Lots of moral ambiguity here...
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edited by Owen Wulf on 11/13/2014
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Marianne Anders
Posts: 127
11/13/2014
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Although some ended with "tidings of great joy and good will to all men". Really, Biblical angels are more just...messengers? and they're frightening to humans because they're so incredibly different. not because they're malicious or harbingers of doom or anything. Like I can't think of any specific instances where angels bring bad news without any good news unless they're Satan.
There does sort of seem to be a pattern of using classical references to explain what's going on with the older cosmic horrors in this game. I dunno, it feels more like...translation, if that makes sense? into metaphors that Londoners would understand. A little more "which came first - the chicken or the egg?" The whole "Icarus returning longs for the deep places" wouldn't make sense before Greek myth, but it makes sense to us because of the Greek myth. when for all we know the Greek myth could have been based on tales of the Bazaar.
so, yes, I think the Bazaar and the Masters could be angels - or angels could be based on the Masters and the Bazaar in this mythology.
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Not all who wander are lost. Sometimes, they are very lost.
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Trodgmey
Posts: 164
1/15/2015
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I just wandered through Penstock's place and with almost no taste of lacre stumbled upon this very lucky result:
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Trodgmey?fromEchoId=4850742
This strongly suggests Ophanim to me (particularly the Ezekiel version). My hunch is that that the FBG folks are writing not to one authoritative religious tradition, but creating a root mythos which has echoes (no pun intended) in religious traditions from all five stolen cities. This would also give us some hint as to what the Eye Temple was all about...
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Trodgmey -- an otherwise pleasant chap with a peculiar obsession with the first four cities.
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Avian Overlord
Posts: 62
1/16/2015
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Wow, I did not see anything that... explicit showing up. I mean, that's practically confirmation right there.
Another interesting note is this echo from theological husbandry: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Corvidae?fromEchoId=4862111
Could "the gate" be referring to the massive gate at avid horizon? The one that opens to the kingdoms of the Jugdements?
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The Principled Dectective-http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Corvidae
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