The Dawn Machine

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously." Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"-UN. THE SUN. THE SUN. THE SUN. THE S-"

The Dawn Machine is a huge light-creating machine that lies within the Barnsmore Gap.

Dawn's Fingers

"The Dawn Machine's roots extend here, into a luminous, impossible space. You breathe gold. You think light."

The Machine was manufactured by June and the Admiralty. It started out as a benevolent project to try to bring light and order to the Neath, but the Machine developed a will of its own. It began to control the minds of its followers - a splinter group of the Admiralty, called the New Sequence - and started imposing its own regime. 

Those who attempt to venture WEST beyond the Barnsmore Gap will gradually lose their sanity as they enter the Dawn Machine's mind-warping realm.

Those under the Machine's influence possess unique eyes, with striking amber irises and gold-speckled sclera; their perception is changed, allowing them to sense law and lawlessness. It is entirely possible to straight-up reject the New Sequence after being exposed to the Machine, like the Carnelian Exile, but it seems to have a similar addictive effect to being exposed to true sunlight.

For some reason, these "Bright-Eyed" cannot enter Frostfound.

The New Sequence

The New Sequencers seem to mainly rely on the Admiralty's own structure - the Commodore is the leading authority on the Grand Geode, the Sequence's base at Zee. To be entirely fair to them, the Machine's regime mostly resembles what the Sequence had in mind, before the false-star started thinking it had better ideas than its creators when it came to achieving infinite happiness and prosperity for London. Shame about their free will, though. After the colonisation of the High Wilderness, the New Sequence became an officially recognized belief, as the Clockwork Sun took control over New London.

There's a rogue group of New Sequencers in Our Lady of Pyres, who were banished from Grand Geode and who think that the Machine is lonely and requires contact with other stars. They plan to go to the High Wilderness as messengers.

It's possible that the Dawn Machine was borne of, or at least is related to, the Red Science, a pratice that allows the blockage of the laws of the stars. This is supported by the fact that the Dawn Machine can actually block out the lethal effects of the Sun's light in Aestival.