"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
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"You only see a fraction of the creature before you; even its own glow can't reach the full extent of its body. You see teeth, needle-like and long. You see an appendage that glows with peligin light, menacing and inviting in equal measure. You see eyes wide as lakes. This is a warm thing in a cold place."[1]
The Light-in-Exile is a mysterious being of unknown origin[2] that haunts the depths below the Magistracy of the Evenlode.[3] It is a vast creature with enormous eyes and needle-like teeth, and a lure that emits peligin light to draw in divers.[4][5] It exhibits intelligence,[6] and is able to communicate[7][8] and recognize others.[9]
The Light-in-Exile does not hunt those it lures; rather, it seeks to befriend those who are outcasts. The Light's companions include lamp-men, lamp-cats, and Rubbery Men, all of which glow as well.[10] Divers who do not meet its desires are rejected and returned to dry land.[11]
The Constables of the Evenlode use the Light's behavior as a "test" of sorts: a new recruit is submerged to meet the Light,[12][13] and if they return safely, they are formally welcomed into the group.[14] It is also implied that the Light has a role in the legal traditions and sentences of the Evenlode judiciary.[15][16]
↑The Light-In-Exile, Fallen London"You [...] see a fraction of the creature [...] its own glow can't reach the full extent of its body. You see teeth, needle-like [...] an appendage that glows with peligin light, [...] eyes wide as lakes. [...]"
↑Reach for it, Fallen London"The Light-in-Exile makes friends of outcasts [...] You, it's not [...] sure about. [...] You feel its age and want. It does not reject you, [...] neither does it accept you."
↑Reach for it, Fallen London"Little lights swim in the darkness, orbiting the great one: Lamp-cats [...] lamp-men. [...] rubberies, with bioluminescent lights [...] The Light-in-Exile makes friends of outcasts that disappear beneath the water [...]"
↑Reach for it, Fallen London"The Light-in-Exile [...] it rejects Constables, and sends them back up to their fraternity above. [...] neither does it accept you. [...] You wash out on the banks of the Evenlode [...]"
↑The Rite, Fallen London"[...] at the bottom, a light gleams [...] the novice constable [...] He is fully submerged."
↑Reach for it, Fallen London"The Light-in-Exile [...] rejects Constables, and sends them back up to their fraternity above."
↑Keep watching 3, Fallen London"He emerges from the water [...] "Not outcast. I'm not outcast." [...] The gathered officers [...] reassure him that he has passed, [...] he is one of them, part of the law of the Evenlode."
↑Look closer at the daily practice of the court, Fallen London"Is the judiciary aware of what lurks beneath them? [...] on [...] complex cases, judges [...] leave to confer. [...] they reemerge [...] as if they've spent some time in the dark. [...] There is also the way guilty defendants exit court. [...] led out a door reserved only for them. [...] never spot any departing the Magistracy building [...] perhaps there are holding cells [...] But, occasionally, particularly obnoxious litigants from civil cases are shown out this way, too."
