Treacheries
"The Seven Treacheries guard the Neath, but there is one place more closely guarded still: a place the Masters can't touch, a place the Bazaar can't see, a place beneath St Cerise's well. This is [a] wound of which Cerise's redness is only a shadow. The place where hearts go. The Nadir."
A Treachery is a difference from regular physics, created by something that prevents the Laws of the Judgements from applying. This can be caused "naturally" by unreal colors interfering with their ability to see, or can be created "artificially" by the Red Science or the will of a local Judgement.
The Neathy Treacheries
"Clocks, Maps, Breath, Glass – and the three beyond. This is what protects the Courier and its toadies."[1]
Maps
The Treachery of Maps allows things to be in more than one place, or immobile things to change place.[2] One zee-captain may find Demeaux Island to the north-east of London, while another will find it due East, but in both cases it will be near home waters. It is also possible to step through a strange shimmering patch of air, and end up in a different and possibly worse place[3].
Clocks
Time is strange in the Neath. It is possible to briefly excuse yourself from a conversation, zail off, serve a term governing Port Carnelian, and return to find your tea still warm and your guest still waiting patiently. Causes will usually precede effects, and things that happened will usually remain happened (though there are exceptions[4]), but different observers will perceive a different amount of time between the two events.
Breath
The Treachery of Breath is likely related to why Fallen Londoners often return from death.[citation needed]
Glass
The Treachery of Glass is likely related to Parabola, and the reason why it can be reached through mirrors and dreams.[5]
Shapes
The Treachery of Shapes is apparently of interest to some non-Revolutionary elements within the Tracklayer's Union.[6] Not much else is known about it.
Measures
Things in Parabola can be resized, with large becoming small and small becoming large[7]. Certain devices can bring this possibility into the Neath[8], allowing for (possibly among other things) the expansion of skeletons to enormous size[9].
However, the Treachery of Measures is an "artificial" Treachery brought out of Parabola, and may not be one of the Seven "natural" Treacheries.[citation needed]
Treacheries of the High Wilderness
Even in the domain of the Judgements, their Laws are not uniform. Certain stars, particularly The Halved, allow things that may not be possible in other domains.
Distance
Main Article: Langley Hall
Langley Hall is a respectable size on the outside, but possibly infinite on the inside. The Treachery of Distance is said to be the reason, allowing a small amount of space to become much larger or smaller[10].
References
- ↑ Look up, Fallen London
- ↑ "No, But then we aren't even here anyway, are we?", Fallen London
- ↑ Fallen London, The Wandering Mirage (sidebar)
- ↑ Perhaps she was happiest before, Fallen London
- ↑ Fallen London, Share confessions with the Widow
- ↑ Demand a frank explanation of the risks, Fallen London
- ↑ Imagine the Betrayal of Measurement, Fallen London
- ↑ Betrayer of Measures, Fallen London
- ↑ Finish your work resizing a human ribcage using the Red Science, Fallen London
- ↑ The Study, Sunless Skies