{{Discordant spoiler}}<blockquote>{{Character|title1=The Black|image1=Hurlers star.png|caption1=The Black|location=Not Applicable|allegiance=Not Applicable|relationships=[[The Anchoress]]}}''"You're simply sitting on [[Watchmaker's Hill]]. There are false-stars overhead. You haven't been cast down, stripped, swallowed, blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be. And the scream that rises through the earth on a still, silent night, and chills the blood just as it chills the ground with crystal frost, is not your scream."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"You're simply sitting on Watchmaker's Hill. There are false-stars overhead. You haven't been cast down, stripped, swallowed, blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be. And the scream that rises through the earth on a still, silent night, and chills the blood just as it chills the ground with crystal frost, is not your scream."''</ref></blockquote>'''The Black''' is not a [[Judgements|star]] and it does not exist.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] Light twinkles through the holes. The holes are not stars, but you can pretend. Two holes, pricked close together, are a double star. No light twinkles through them. [...] "I saw the absence. Now you see it too.""''</ref> It is two [[Judgements]] joined together, described as a monarch with two mouths, two tongues, and two crowns.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void [...] listen to me [...] but no one can hear – heavy with shackles [...] tightening forever around a terror whose cries would cut this world apart [...]"''</ref> Once upon a time, the monarch rose high,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"Now you can see nothing, and nothing can see you. [...] You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down [...]"''</ref> and its courtiers entertained the court by playing games of Hurly-Burly<ref name=":1">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"Shadows [...] along the walls. [...] they might have horns. They might have hooves. [...] "Not every courtier suffered the same fate," [...] "Some are different now, yet still the same. They entertained the court. They played a game." Their shadows still play [...] passing a round silhouette [...]"''</ref> - and then it was "cast down."<ref name=":2">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"You haven't been cast down [...] blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be."''</ref> The other Judgements brought the monarch to trial for treason, and shackled it with the [[Great Chain of Being]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"You are not on trial. What could you say [...] Nothing, not even with your double-tongue. Kings are not deposed in this manner. [...] Myrmidons, more myrmidons than there are stars assembled, could not shackle a traitor with the Chain as you have been – because you have not been."''</ref> As punishment, all of its laws were voided,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death [...] forgotten"''</ref> and it was erased from reality and history.<ref name=":2" /> All records of the monarch's existence were censored and erased, effectively meaning that it never existed.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"This word isn't the first word in a story that's censored. You could not uncensor that story without [...] exposing an absence that shrieks with silent language to be understood."''</ref> The extinguished monarch, now called the Black, was left chained to suffer forever, always screaming but unable to be heard.<ref name=":0" /> Its courtrooms, now known as the Black Castle, were left deserted and defaced.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"The Black Castle [...] No court is in residence. All the chambers have been abandoned. Tattered black standards hang in the windless air."''</ref> It is implied that some of the Black's courtiers, who are now known as [[Goat-Demons|goat-demons]], were transformed into the Standing Stones of the [[Hurlers]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] Because these are the Hurlers. [...] there is no difference between the standing stones atop the hill, and these goat-demons."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] walking toward the standing stones and their screaming sigils. They tower in the courtyard, on the playing field, atop the hill."''</ref> though their "shadows" still play the game.<ref name=":1" />
{{Discordant spoiler}}
{{Character|title1=The Black|image1=Hurlers star.png|caption1=The Black|location=Not Applicable|allegiance=Not Applicable|relationships=[[The Anchoress]]}}<font color="b3e4ff"><blockquote>'''''no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death, knocked from the board, bound, banished, forgotten – listen to me – listen – but no one can hear –'''''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Before_the_Black_Throne|Before the Black Throne|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote></font>
In its nonexistent state, the Black learned to speak the [[Discordance]], the frozen language of the absence of stars.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down, but you have learnt to speak even without a voice. [...] called out by not calling, [...] beckoned with no sceptre, worn no crown, and written nothing in [...] ink-black pages [...]"''</ref> After what might have been aeons, someone did not hear its voice: an [[The Anchoress|Anchoress]], who saw a vision of the Hurlers, and read and understood the sigils written upon them.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"In the dark, the darkness comes to you. Stay at your little window [...] and read the night-steeped text that rises with the stones atop the hill outside. [...] "Anyone would've agreed to read the stones. But not everyone would have tried to understand them.""''</ref> This resulted in her meeting the Black;<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''""I prayed," says the Anchoress. "I met a king." [...] "Not truly a king. [...] But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."''</ref> it led her to the Hurlers themselves,<ref name=":3">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"The Discordant Law [...] and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer [...] the Anchoress does come closer, walking toward the standing stones [...]"''</ref> where she comforted the absence-of-stars.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"The Discordant Law [...] by our decree, you shall still be yourself [...] and be yourself [...] she becomes herself [...] until she herself is the castle, and the castle has become herself. [...] she cradles no frozen king whose body, shrieking soundlessly, still chained, shivers in her embrace."''</ref> As repayment for her kindness, the Black used the Discordance to decree that neither she nor it would ever be alone,<ref name=":3" /> and that the Anchoress would always be herself and never be afraid.<ref name=":4" /> And so it was that the Anchoress became herself: the nonexistent Adulterine Castle.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Adulterine_Castle|The Adulterine Castle|Fallen London|}} ''"The Adulterine Castle [...] Everything that isn't here would simply float away [...] were these nonexistent rooms, [...] unbound from the weightless weight that hasn't sunk like an anchor [...] like an Anchoress. Her absence is ever-present when you don't traverse the twisting corridors."''</ref> The Black's not-voice still permeates the Castle, but can only be heard in the deepest silence.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}} ''"Listen closely to a Night-Whisper [...] Silence has many meanings [...] The particular silence you hear under the ice, when nothing stirs in the castle, is what nothing might say if it could speak to you right now. [...] Another tongue is speaking. It isn't a ninth tongue. It doesn't exist. [...] you hear a silence that means: a chain has ceased to rattle."''</ref> And for good reason, as its cries may tear the world itself apart...<ref name=":0" />
The <font color="b3e4ff">'''Black'''</font> is not a [[Judgements|Judgement]], and it does not exist.__forcetoc__
== Erased ==
<blockquote>''"A light was quenched. Or the Hurlers wouldn't be out there now. I cannot tell yet whether it's an inspiration or a warning."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Build_the_station_at_The_Hurlers|Build the station at The Hurlers|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
Once upon a time (relatively speaking), two [[Judgements]] were a "double star," described as a monarch with two mouths, two tongues, and two crowns.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_the_upper_galleries|Walk the upper galleries|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] Light twinkles through the holes. The holes are not stars, but you can pretend. Two holes, pricked close together, are a double star. No light twinkles through them. [...] "I saw the absence. Now you see it too.""''</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Before_the_Black_Throne|Before the Black Throne|Fallen London|}} ''"no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void [...] listen to me [...] but no one can hear – heavy with shackles [...] tightening forever around a terror whose cries would cut this world apart until it were an open wound, bleeding eternal blackness"''</ref> The monarch managed to "rise high,"<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Meditate_upon_the_Upper_Principles_(The_Upper_Castle)|Meditate upon the Upper Principles (The Upper Castle)|Fallen London|}} ''"Now you can see nothing, and nothing can see you. [...] You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down [...]"''</ref> and its courtiers entertained the court with games of hurling.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_the_lower_galleries|Walk the lower galleries|Fallen London|}} ''"Shadows [...] along the walls. [...] they might have horns. They might have hooves. [...] "Not every courtier suffered the same fate," [...] "Some are different now, yet still the same. They entertained the court. They played a game." Their shadows still play [...] passing a round silhouette [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Don%27t_talk_about_the_game|Don't talk about the game|Fallen London|}} ''"Hurling [...] This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] these goat-demons. [...] which hurling team won't score higher in the next match."''</ref> Its reign would not last, however, as it was "cast down" by the other Judgements. They brought the monarch to trial for treason, and "shackled" it with the [[Great Chain of Being]].<ref name=":2">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Exhale_a_Breath_of_the_Void|Exhale a Breath of the Void|Fallen London|}} ''"You haven't been cast down [...] blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Exhale_a_Breath_of_the_Void|Exhale a Breath of the Void|Fallen London|}} ''"You are not on trial. What could you say [...] Nothing, not even with your double-tongue. Kings are not deposed in this manner. [...] Myrmidons, more myrmidons than there are stars assembled, could not shackle a traitor with the Chain as you have been – because you have not been."''</ref> Its laws were all voided, and it was erased from reality and history.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Before_the_Black_Throne|Before the Black Throne|Fallen London|}} ''"no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death [...] forgotten"''</ref><ref name=":2" /> All records of the monarch were erased, meaning it effectively never existed.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Open_your_eyes_1|Open your eyes 1|Fallen London|}} ''"This word isn't the first word in a story that's censored. You could not uncensor that story without [...] exposing an absence that shrieks with silent language to be understood."''</ref><ref name=":2" />
The Black was left chained to suffer forever, always screaming but unable to be heard.<ref name=":0" /> Its court was erased as well,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_the_upper_galleries|Walk the upper galleries|Fallen London|}} ''""This court is all departed," says the Anchoress. "It never was a court.""''</ref> and its remnants, now called the <font color="b3e4ff">'''Black Castle'''</font>, were left deserted and in disrepair.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Black_Castle|The Black Castle|Fallen London|}} ''"The Black Castle [...] No court is in residence. All the chambers have been abandoned. Tattered black standards [...] Black chessmen litter the floor, scattered amongst broken glass."''</ref> It is implied that some of the Black's courtiers, who are now known as [[Goat-Demons|goat-demons]], were transformed into the [[The Hurlers#The Standing Stones|Standing Stones]] of the [[Hurlers]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Don%27t_talk_about_the_game|Don't talk about the game|Fallen London|}} ''"This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] Because these are the Hurlers. [...] there is no difference between the standing stones atop the hill, and these goat-demons."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle)|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] walking toward the standing stones and their screaming sigils. They tower in the courtyard, on the playing field, atop the hill."''</ref> though their "shadows" still play their game.<ref name=":1" />
== Absent ==
<blockquote>''"I prayed. I met a king. Not truly a king. Nothing true has a name. But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Wander_the_castle|Wander the castle|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
<font color="b3e4ff"><blockquote>'''''and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer, closer – be not afraid – by our decree, you shall still be yourself – and be yourself – and be yourself –'''''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle)|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote></font>
In its nonexistent state, the Black was still able to speak the [[Discordance]], the frozen language of absence.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Meditate_upon_the_Upper_Principles_(The_Upper_Castle)|Meditate upon the Upper Principles (The Upper Castle)|Fallen London|}} ''"You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down, but you have learnt to speak even without a voice. [...] called out by not calling, [...] beckoned with no sceptre, worn no crown, and written nothing in [...] ink-black pages [...]"''</ref> The [[The Anchoress|Anchoress]] saw a vision of the [[Hurlers]], and read and understood the Discordant sigils written upon them.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Light_a_candle_(All_Dark_in_the_Chamber)|Light a candle (All Dark in the Chamber)|Fallen London|}} ''"In the dark, the darkness comes to you. Stay at your little window [...] and read the night-steeped text that rises with the stones atop the hill outside. [...] "Anyone would've agreed to read the stones. But not everyone would have tried to understand them.""''</ref> This brought her into contact with the Black,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Wander_the_castle|Wander the castle|Fallen London|}} ''""I prayed," says the Anchoress. "I met a king." [...] "Not truly a king. [...] But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."''</ref> who beckoned her closer. The Black used the Discordance to decree that neither she nor itself would ever be alone,<ref name=":3">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle)|Fallen London|}} ''"The Discordant Law [...] and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer [...] the Anchoress does come closer, walking toward the standing stones [...]"''</ref> and that the Anchoress would always be herself. And so, as she comforted the Black in its chained and shivering state, the Anchoress became herself: the nonexistent [[Adulterine Castle]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle)|Fallen London|}} ''"The Discordant Law [...] by our decree, you shall still be yourself [...] and be yourself [...] she becomes herself [...] until she herself is the castle, and the castle has become herself. [...] she cradles no frozen king whose body, shrieking soundlessly, still chained, shivers in her embrace."''</ref> The Black's not-voice still permeates Adulterine, but can only be "heard" in the deepest silence.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Listen_closely_to_a_Night-Whisper|Listen closely to a Night-Whisper|Fallen London|}} ''"Listen closely to a Night-Whisper [...] Silence has many meanings [...] The particular silence you hear under the ice, when nothing stirs in the castle, is what nothing might say if it could speak to you right now. [...] Another tongue is speaking. It isn't a ninth tongue. It doesn't exist. [...] you hear a silence that means: a chain has ceased to rattle."''</ref> And its cries may yet tear the world itself apart, opening a wound to bleed "eternal blackness."<ref name=":0" />
== References ==
== References ==
<references />
{{Scroll box|text = <references/>}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Nonhuman]]
Latest revision as of 23:02, 8 December 2023
"Whatever you think you remember, the first step is to remember that you don't."
WARNING: Beyond this point lie spoilers for the Discordant Studies storyline from Fallen London. Do not proceed forward.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.
no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death, knocked from the board, bound, banished, forgotten – listen to me – listen – but no one can hear –[1]
The Black is not a Judgement, and it does not exist.
Once upon a time (relatively speaking), two Judgements were a "double star," described as a monarch with two mouths, two tongues, and two crowns.[3][4] The monarch managed to "rise high,"[5] and its courtiers entertained the court with games of hurling.[6][7] Its reign would not last, however, as it was "cast down" by the other Judgements. They brought the monarch to trial for treason, and "shackled" it with the Great Chain of Being.[8][9] Its laws were all voided, and it was erased from reality and history.[10][8] All records of the monarch were erased, meaning it effectively never existed.[11][8]
The Black was left chained to suffer forever, always screaming but unable to be heard.[4] Its court was erased as well,[12] and its remnants, now called the Black Castle, were left deserted and in disrepair.[13] It is implied that some of the Black's courtiers, who are now known as goat-demons, were transformed into the Standing Stones of the Hurlers,[14][15] though their "shadows" still play their game.[6]
"I prayed. I met a king. Not truly a king. Nothing true has a name. But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."[16]
and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer, closer – be not afraid – by our decree, you shall still be yourself – and be yourself – and be yourself –[17]
In its nonexistent state, the Black was still able to speak the Discordance, the frozen language of absence.[18] The Anchoress saw a vision of the Hurlers, and read and understood the Discordant sigils written upon them.[19] This brought her into contact with the Black,[20] who beckoned her closer. The Black used the Discordance to decree that neither she nor itself would ever be alone,[21] and that the Anchoress would always be herself. And so, as she comforted the Black in its chained and shivering state, the Anchoress became herself: the nonexistent Adulterine Castle.[22] The Black's not-voice still permeates Adulterine, but can only be "heard" in the deepest silence.[23] And its cries may yet tear the world itself apart, opening a wound to bleed "eternal blackness."[4]
↑Walk the upper galleries, Fallen London"[...] Light twinkles through the holes. The holes are not stars, but you can pretend. Two holes, pricked close together, are a double star. No light twinkles through them. [...] "I saw the absence. Now you see it too.""
↑ 4.04.14.2Before the Black Throne, Fallen London"no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void [...] listen to me [...] but no one can hear – heavy with shackles [...] tightening forever around a terror whose cries would cut this world apart until it were an open wound, bleeding eternal blackness"
↑ 6.06.1Walk the lower galleries, Fallen London"Shadows [...] along the walls. [...] they might have horns. They might have hooves. [...] "Not every courtier suffered the same fate," [...] "Some are different now, yet still the same. They entertained the court. They played a game." Their shadows still play [...] passing a round silhouette [...]"
↑Don't talk about the game, Fallen London"Hurling [...] This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] these goat-demons. [...] which hurling team won't score higher in the next match."
↑Exhale a Breath of the Void, Fallen London"You are not on trial. What could you say [...] Nothing, not even with your double-tongue. Kings are not deposed in this manner. [...] Myrmidons, more myrmidons than there are stars assembled, could not shackle a traitor with the Chain as you have been – because you have not been."
↑Before the Black Throne, Fallen London"no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death [...] forgotten"
↑Open your eyes 1, Fallen London"This word isn't the first word in a story that's censored. You could not uncensor that story without [...] exposing an absence that shrieks with silent language to be understood."
↑The Black Castle, Fallen London"The Black Castle [...] No court is in residence. All the chambers have been abandoned. Tattered black standards [...] Black chessmen litter the floor, scattered amongst broken glass."
↑Don't talk about the game, Fallen London"This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] Because these are the Hurlers. [...] there is no difference between the standing stones atop the hill, and these goat-demons."
↑Meditate upon the Upper Principles (The Upper Castle), Fallen London"You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down, but you have learnt to speak even without a voice. [...] called out by not calling, [...] beckoned with no sceptre, worn no crown, and written nothing in [...] ink-black pages [...]"
↑Light a candle (All Dark in the Chamber), Fallen London"In the dark, the darkness comes to you. Stay at your little window [...] and read the night-steeped text that rises with the stones atop the hill outside. [...] "Anyone would've agreed to read the stones. But not everyone would have tried to understand them.""
↑Wander the castle, Fallen London""I prayed," says the Anchoress. "I met a king." [...] "Not truly a king. [...] But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."
↑Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle), Fallen London"The Discordant Law [...] and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer [...] the Anchoress does come closer, walking toward the standing stones [...]"
↑Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle), Fallen London"The Discordant Law [...] by our decree, you shall still be yourself [...] and be yourself [...] she becomes herself [...] until she herself is the castle, and the castle has become herself. [...] she cradles no frozen king whose body, shrieking soundlessly, still chained, shivers in her embrace."
↑Listen closely to a Night-Whisper, Fallen London"Listen closely to a Night-Whisper [...] Silence has many meanings [...] The particular silence you hear under the ice, when nothing stirs in the castle, is what nothing might say if it could speak to you right now. [...] Another tongue is speaking. It isn't a ninth tongue. It doesn't exist. [...] you hear a silence that means: a chain has ceased to rattle."
