The Fallen Cities
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Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here. |
London is not the only city to have been brought down to the Neath. Four other cities came before it, all traded to the Bazaar for their own various reasons. Very few wish to consider the possibility of any coming after.
Traces of these former cities can be found, usually through their relics. First City coins, Second City tablets, Third City statues, and those ever-popular Fourth City horsehead figurines. Eager (and persistent) archeologists can find out more about these lost civilizations. The Fourth City is the easiest to learn of by far, as a remnant stands just outside the city: the Forgotten Quarter, and the more adventurous zailors of the Sunless Sea may also choose to embark on a voyage to the Khanate, the floating city-state established by Fourth City refugees.
The process of Falling a city is as follows: the Masters of the Bazaar arrive at a powerful and well-populated city and broker a deal with its rulers. Said deal often involves love. After the deal is brokered, the new city literally falls on top of the old one, which, of course, kills nearly all of the previous city's inhabitants. The new city is then subjugated by the Bazaar, and business carries on as usual.
Extraordinary circumstances combined with the elusiveness of death allows certain people from the previous cities to survive long after their cities were crushed. The majority of these denizens have left for the Tomb Colonies, however, as these cities stretch far back into antiquity. Anybody who could survive that long and still remain a part of Fifth City life is either incredibly wily, powerful, or simply useful.
The First City, date unknown
"Only two things are known to remain of the First City: the name, the Crossroads Shaded By Cedars, and the saying: even the First City was young when Babylon fell."
The First City used to be considered to have been Uruk, in Mesopotamia. The remnants of the city live on in Polythreme. Some have debated, however, that it's the Hurrian city of Nagar, in modern-day Tell Brak, in which an eye temple mentioned in the game is located.
There are a few confirmed living survivors of the fall of the First City:
- The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel. He's either Gilgamesh (hinted at by a number of similarities in the game) or a Hurrian king. The Manager is responsible for the Fall of the First, as he exchanged his city for the life of his lover.
- Polythreme's King With a Hundred Hearts; if the Manager is Gilgamesh, then the King is an allusion to Enkidu (Gilgamesh's closest friend in the epic). However, there are also references to him being a merchant from China. The would-be King was dying of "fits", so the Manager brokered a deal with the Masters of the Bazaar to save his life. They did this by shoving a large jewel from the Mountain of Light into his chest, turning him into what he is now.
- The Capering Relicker, who was the first to brew Hesperidean Cider. There is a theory that he is actually Utnapishtim, as he is the Manager’s uncle.
- Additionally, the Cladery Heir's mother is from the First City, and she is spoken about as if she were still alive. She is the surgeon responsible for lobotomizing the Bazaar, removing its urge to deliver messages.
First City coins are rare and valuable, and are used in the Marvellous as a substitute for the more... important coins. They're traditionally exchanged in sets of thirty, the number of silver coins Judas was paid for betraying Jesus.
The Second City, circa 1335 BCE
"Never mention the Second City to the Masters of the Bazaar. Mr Wines will look at you narrowly and give you its worst vintage. Mr Cups will fly into a rage. Mr Veils will harangue you for your discourtesy. Mr Iron will say nothing, only write down your name with its left hand."
"Certain of the Masters of the Bazaar - Mr Stones, Mr Apples and Mr Wines, and possibly others - seem to have a particular contempt for Egypt and the Egyptological. Perhaps they're simply reacting to the fashion for the Pharaonic that overcame London before the Descent. But it's unusual that they should care."
The Second City was Amarna in ancient Egypt, judging by the snippets above and some interestingly intertwined facts about the Duchess and her family. The remnants of the city live on in Visage and Arbor.
A living survivor of the fall of the Second City is the Duchess (Pharaoh Tutankhamun's sister/wife, Ankhesenamun); she orchestrated the fall to save her husband's life. Well, maybe. After falling out of favor with the Masters, King Tut was transformed into the Cantigaster. (Maybe. Or did she do it?).
The Second City had an extremely antagonistic relationship with the Bazaar and the Masters, as many of its denizens ran schemes that jeopardized the Bazaar's mission. Due to this pressure, the Masters were forced to do something of which we will not speak of.
The Third City, 800s-900s CE
"No-one talks much about the cities that preceded London. The Third City seems to have been acquired a thousand years ago. It had five wells, they say. And the weather was better."
The Third City was Mayan. The three most likely candidates are Chichen Itza, Tikal, or Hopelchén (the latter doesn't fit the 'powerful' criteria of the first two, but its name does mean "five wells"). The majority of the Tomb-Colonies are primarily based upon Third City architecture and mythology.
There are a handful of living survivors of the fall of the Third City: the First Curator, and the God-Eaters, for example. To sink this city, the Masters offered the flesh of a god to the three leaders of this city, turning them into the monstrosities they are now. As for the god, let's just say it is very, very, perturbed.
The Fourth City, 1254 CE
"Who carves horse-head amulets out of bone? Whoever lived in the Fourth City. If all the Fourth City amulets on sale are real, they must really have liked horses."
The identity of the Fourth City has been conclusively proven in The Silver Tree to be Karakorum, once the capital of the Mongol Empire.
A living survivor of the fall of the Fourth City is the Gracious Widow (who is the daughter of Mongke Khan, and whose real name is Cheren). It was her forbidden love for William of Paris, a European artist, that brought Mr. Wines to the city. It's unclear whether Cheren herself or her father the Khan made the deal for the fall of the city as The Silver Tree has multiple contradictory endings.
The remnants of the Fourth City live on in London's Forgotten Quarter, in Port Carnelian, in Arbor, and in the Khanate in the Unterzee.
In Sunless Skies, after the gate to the High Wilderness at the Avid Horizon was opened, most Mongolian residents of the Neath passed through and established a new Khanate at Eagle's Empyrean.
The Fifth City, 1861 CE
"The city around the Bazaar is called the Fifth City because, they say, it's not the first the Bazaar chose as a home. You can still turn up bricks from the older cities, now and then. Look: here's one marked with an eye."
There are numerous living survivors of the fall of London. It is widely known that Queen Victoria arranged the Fall to save her Prince Consort, as poor Albert was dying of typhoid fever. The Consort seems rather wan, and something else has already befallen the rest of the royal family...
The Sixth City, and the Seventh?
"The Masters have always been fond of Paris."
It is hinted in several places that Paris will be the Sixth City. Makes sense. After all, Paris is the City of Love.
As for the Seventh City, nothing is really known for sure.
Some content from NiteBrite; most information from http://community.failbettergames.com/topic23-fallen-cities-a-great-many-spoilers.aspx.
