The Fall of London: Difference between revisions

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The Year of the Fall - collating readily available evidence
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Thank you for your contribution, anon! Since we know when the Fall happened, actually, sorting everything out has become much easier.
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'''UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''
'''UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''


Three decades ago, more or less<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#Places|What's so bad about Fallen London?|Fallen London|}}</ref>, the Masters bought or stole (opinions vary) the city of London from [[the Empress]]. A portion of the price was the life of her consort Prince Albert; according to others who dealt with the Bazaar in the past, there is always a price which is known and a price which is not; the Consort would be the known price. The unknown price remains unknown to the players as of yet.<!-- September 2022, aka Second Autumn 1899 -->
''"Forty years ago, London was stolen by bats."''


=== The Year of the Fall ===
Forty years ago - give or take - [[London]] found itself in a terrible predicament. The Prince Consort of Britain was gravely ill, and [[The Empress|his Queen]] was terribly distraught. So great was her love for her husband that she sought the assistance of a higher power - though what came to her aid was perhaps not what she had in mind.
The calendar year corresponding to the year of the Fall is approximately 1860, but the specifics are not clear. Many things are dated relative to the Fall, or said to have occurred in the year of the Fall. Prince-Consort Albert died in 1861, and fell ill in 1859<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert,_Prince_Consort#Illness_and_death</ref>; however, the sale of London could happen some time after his death, in theory.


For the earliest date, the best information derives from the children of the Empress. [[The Captivating Princess]] is the youngest child of the Empress, and was born in the year of the Fall; her youngest sibling is ''The Playful Prodigy'', whose historical birthdate is in April 1857, and the age gap is significant enough that in a group photograph of the children she was old enough to sit holding the Captivating Princess in her arms<ref>excerpt is included in [[The Shuttered Palace]], unmarked; sourced from an Exceptional Story<!-- I, the editor, don't remember the name. --></ref>. 1857 is therefore a hard limit for earliest date, and 1859 a softer one; children below three are rarely trusted to hold infants, especially for a long-exposure photograph.
So it was that in autumn 1862, the [[The Masters of the Bazaar|Masters of the Bazaar]] came to London. The Queen - who we now know as the Empress, of course - sold the city to the cadre of cloaked figures, and London was carried downward into an enormous cavern called [[the Neath]]. They say that when a city is sold, there is a price which is known, and a price which is not; the known price the Masters paid for the city was the restoration of the Consort's life, and the rest remains to be seen. Despite this, the Consort is not exactly in the best of spirits...


For the latest date, the hard limits are several years later than the plausible date of a post-death revival of the Prince-Consort. [[The Campaign of '68]] must necessarily have occurred after the Fall, and ''The Brooding Captain'' (second son of the Empress) brought his ship to the Unterzee in 1867<ref>[https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Adam%27s_Way Adam's Way] - ''Deliver the snuffer to the Avuncular Broker'' - "Inside is a chart, its folds stiff with zee-salt. The corner is stamped with the seal of the Empress herself. It is labelled 'First voyage of the ''Galatea'', 1867' and shows a tenuous, roving course across the Unterzee."</ref>; these set a latest possible date. The Cumaean Canal is strongly suspected to have been created during or shortly prior to the Descent of London.<ref>It is stated in Sunless Sea that it was created by the Stone Pigs, stated elsewhere that they lie dormant due to the effects of lacre, and yet elsewhere that a heavy lacre-rain precedes a Fall.</ref> So these set hard latest dates of 1868. However, a seven year gap between Albert's death and the deal with the Masters stretches credulity, so it is likely that the Fall was much earlier, prior to the soft limit of roughly 1862.
== What Happened Afterward ==
The Cumaean Canal may have been built shortly after the Fall.


==== Relative Dates ====
[[The Captivating Princess]] was born in 1862.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Share_a_little_honey_with_the_Captivating_Princess|Share a little honey with the Captivating Princess|Fallen London|}}</ref> The last of the Empress's issue, she possesses strange and eldritch powers as the product of a bargain with the [[Bazaar]].
The first time when the year was definitely stated was the first Mayoral Election, in 1894; the "three decades ago"<ref name=":0" /> number was already in circulation at that time and had been for several years of out-of-game time, and remains in circulation in the current year, which has (since 1894) advanced at one year per year, and which by imperial decree is not 1900, but the second year of 1899<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Calendrical_Confusion_of_1899|The Calendrical Confusion of 1899|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>As of autumn 2022</ref>. (How many years of 1899 are to be anticipated is also unclear, but it seems likely to be more than two.) Taking the three decades to be literal would imply a Fall before 1864, but neither a literal interpretation nor an assumption that time can be extrapolated backward smoothly is reliable. Any year from 1859-1868 would be an entirely reasonable interpretation of the "three decades", looking from 1894, and only from 1899 does even the earliest date look inconsistent.


Some of the Empress's children remained in the Neath, residing with their parents in the [[Shuttered Palace]], while others remained on the Surface. The Brooding Captain brought his ship, the ''Galatea,'' to the Neath in 1867.<ref>[https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Adam%27s_Way Adam's Way] - ''Deliver the snuffer to the Avuncular Broker'' - "Inside is a chart, its folds stiff with zee-salt. The corner is stamped with the seal of the Empress herself. It is labelled 'First voyage of the ''Galatea'', 1867' and shows a tenuous, roving course across the Unterzee."</ref>
In 1868, [[The Campaign of '68|London attempted, and failed miserably, to invade Hell]].
It is not known precisely when London colonized [[Port Carnelian]], but this may have occurred shortly before the invasion.
Sometime before ~1890, the Empress's children took a bad batch of [[Prisoner's Honey|red honey]] and were turned into monsters.
The first election for [[Mayor of London]] occurred in 1894. Mayoral elections were ceased in 1899, after the disappearance of the [[Viscountess of the Viric Jungle]].
At the end of 1899, the Empress decreed a second year of 1899 rather than the dawning of a new century.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Calendrical_Confusion_of_1899|The Calendrical Confusion of 1899|Fallen London|}}</ref> It remains to be seen how long this will continue.
== References ==
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Revision as of 22:44, 7 September 2022

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

"Forty years ago, London was stolen by bats."

Forty years ago - give or take - London found itself in a terrible predicament. The Prince Consort of Britain was gravely ill, and his Queen was terribly distraught. So great was her love for her husband that she sought the assistance of a higher power - though what came to her aid was perhaps not what she had in mind.

So it was that in autumn 1862, the Masters of the Bazaar came to London. The Queen - who we now know as the Empress, of course - sold the city to the cadre of cloaked figures, and London was carried downward into an enormous cavern called the Neath. They say that when a city is sold, there is a price which is known, and a price which is not; the known price the Masters paid for the city was the restoration of the Consort's life, and the rest remains to be seen. Despite this, the Consort is not exactly in the best of spirits...

What Happened Afterward

The Cumaean Canal may have been built shortly after the Fall.

The Captivating Princess was born in 1862.[1] The last of the Empress's issue, she possesses strange and eldritch powers as the product of a bargain with the Bazaar.

Some of the Empress's children remained in the Neath, residing with their parents in the Shuttered Palace, while others remained on the Surface. The Brooding Captain brought his ship, the Galatea, to the Neath in 1867.[2]

In 1868, London attempted, and failed miserably, to invade Hell.

It is not known precisely when London colonized Port Carnelian, but this may have occurred shortly before the invasion.

Sometime before ~1890, the Empress's children took a bad batch of red honey and were turned into monsters.

The first election for Mayor of London occurred in 1894. Mayoral elections were ceased in 1899, after the disappearance of the Viscountess of the Viric Jungle.

At the end of 1899, the Empress decreed a second year of 1899 rather than the dawning of a new century.[3] It remains to be seen how long this will continue.

References

  1. ↑ Share a little honey with the Captivating Princess, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Adam's Way - Deliver the snuffer to the Avuncular Broker - "Inside is a chart, its folds stiff with zee-salt. The corner is stamped with the seal of the Empress herself. It is labelled 'First voyage of the Galatea, 1867' and shows a tenuous, roving course across the Unterzee."
  3. ↑ The Calendrical Confusion of 1899, Fallen London
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