The Upstairs
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"You find the parson balanced atop a pile of furniture. He is daubing a message on the ceiling in a concoction of ash from the fireplace and wine from the cabinet. 'THE BATS NEVER CAME,' it reads."[1]
The Upstairs is a version of London that never came down to the Neath. Visions of this place can be seen through exposure to moonlight.
The Forbidden Rift
"Another one gone Upstairs. What is wrong with our d__n sunlight?"[1]
The Upstairs is a vision of a world where London never sank to the Neath.[2] It can be experienced through moonlight in any location in the Neath that was once part of London when it was still on the Surface.[3] Each vision of the Upstairs in the Neath corresponds with its former location on the Surface, so a vision experienced in Ladybones Road would show the Upstairs' version of Marylebone near the Marble Arch.[4]
Certain sunlight smugglers mix their product with moonlight to lower costs,[5][6] which may inadvertently cause their customers to "go Upstairs".[7] This can cause false memories,[8] or in severe cases, delusions and hallucinations akin to being honey-mazed.[9] Thus, experiencing the Upstairs can be incredibly taxing on a person's sanity,[10] to say nothing of the ruckus they might cause during their visions.[11]
Being on the Surface, the Upstairs is usually lit by the Moon, with stars twinkling in the night sky,[12] though it is possible to see daylight through the Upstairs as well.[13] Sailors - not zailors! - toil away at the docks of London, drinking and smoking as they normally would. From afar, the city seems exactly as it was, besides the extreme political tensions that simmer in the air, as if fighting could once again erupt any moment.[14]
The Revolutionary Council
"Smiling marchers reach out to shake your hand, to kiss your cheek. The Revolutionary Parliament is building a new society – one parade, one song, one speech at a time."[1]
The Upstairs is known as the world where London never fell, but this statement isn't completely accurate; rather than falling to the Neath, London instead "fell" to Revolutionaries. This version of London is now known as the State,[15] and is governed by the Revolutionary Council, a counterpart to the Calendar Council, who rose to power following months of brutal civil war. Their ascent brought peace to the city,[16][17] and Queen Victoria was forced into exile from London to Balmoral, now known as Her Exiled Majesty.[18]
After their victory, the Revolutionary Council took over old Parliament and restructured it as the Revolutionary Parliament,[19] and also reformed the Church of England into a new religion of the Everyman.[20] Public safety is still managed by the Constables, though they wear black hats as opposed to the familiar blue.[21] The distribution of goods such as food in the city's various markets, such as Spitalfields,[22] is closely monitored by the city's ration inspectors,[23] who may grant allowances to citizens in exchange for mandats.[24] Notably, the markets of the Upstairs stay open past midnight during Pluto's Day.[25]
The Revolutionary Council is composed of several bureaus and offices, each of which is named after a month of the calendar. While these divisions work efficiently and hold significant power, some of them also suffer from corruption and infighting.[26][27]
The March Bureau
"Black-capped Constables line the moonlit streets. Crowds gather behind them. The latest of the March Bureau's parades is underway – this one is to commemorate the York Martyrs, gunned down by her Exiled Majesty's soldiers. You hear the approaching stamp of feet."[1]
The March Bureau is the most prominent sector of the Revolutionary Council, and their symbol is a trumpet and flag.[28] The Bureau often holds various parades to commemorate the revolution; for example, one such parade through Covent Garden celebrates the seven York Martyrs, who were shot by the Queen's forces for speaking out against the old power structure.[29][30] The March Bureau is also responsible for keeping the district of Greenwich clear of dangerous canines known as the Pale Dogs, and they do so by offering mandats to anyone who brings in their pelts.[31] As for the Royal Observatory, it was destroyed after it was used a stronghold by loyalists during the civil war.[32]
An organization known as the Marchists are known to exist,[27] though their purpose and goals are unknown. As for March, their status in the Upstairs is unknown.
The September Bureau
"You push to the front, where Inspectors of the September Bureau keep the crowd at bay. A wrinkled flower-seller screams a curse on Her Exiled Majesty, who cowers at Balmoral. You join in."[1]
The September Bureau is known to have members known as Inspectors, who maintain a ledger of the enemies of the revolution, and maintain public order when these individuals are inevitably captured and hanged.[33][34]
September himself is unfortunately deceased in the Upstairs, and has thus became a martyr for various revolutionary groups.[35] It is unknown if his title was passed on to another person after his death.
The December Office
"Moonlight burns on the marble of the arch. It limns the gallows in silver. It highlights the muzzle of the executioner's dog mask, the sign of the December Office. The crowd bays for a hanging."[1]
The December Office is known to be responsible for the executions in London. Their executioners wear white canine masks,[36] not unlike the mask of December themself.[37] The Office converted the Marble Arch of Marylebone into a hangman's arch,[38] which they use to execute political prisoners, such as unpopular Lords of the old Parliament.[39]
December appears to still be active in the Upstairs, and as such is a frequent recipient of death threats from the city's counterrevolutionaries.[40]
Coldstream Opposition
"On the far side of the stampeding crowd, you see a man climb on a cart. He wears a red uniform, belted with white – the colours of the Coldstream counter-revolutionaries. "For her Majesty!" he cries. "For Balmoral! Death to December!""[1]
The civil war may be over, but many loyalists to Her Exiled Majesty still remain active in and around London. The main counterrevolutionary force in London are the Coldstream counter-revolutionaries, who wear uniforms of red with white accents,[41] and fly a flag consisting of a "red cross inside a blue circle, inside a white star".[42]
Many Coldstream operatives in the Upstairs reside in a headquarters within a village near the coast of London.[43] There, they store and maintain their uniforms and weaponry,[44][45] and formulate plans using careful reports of the known members and weaker links of the Revolutionary Council.[46] The soldiers then stage riots and explosive attacks near locations of strategic interest to disrupt the Council, but their actions often result in civilian causalities.[47][48]
The Septemberist Campaign
"The thunder of cannon, the forest rent asunder, its floor awash with blood and churned up mud. "For September," comes the cry from the east. The sun is choked with mists and the smoke of cannon-fire. The flags of the Celtic Republics hang from broken boughs..."[49]
September in the Upstairs was well-known for his impassioned speech in the Pall Mall about the end to the tyranny of the British Empire and the Union. However, he was arrested soon after and locked in the cells of Kensington Palace, where he died of starvation. After Queen Victoria was forced into exile, however, a group of revolutionaries known as the Septemberists began their march to Balmoral in September's name.[50][51] Thus, the Queen's remaining loyalists, including the Queen's Household Guard, mobilized to defend the castle, and a series of brutal skirmishes began.[52]
The Septemberists laid siege to Balmoral,[53] damaging the castle's outer walls and even constructing a guillotine nearby.[54] However, loyalists held them back from taking the castle itself,[51] and both sides clashed, turning the woods of Balmoral into a battleground that ran red with blood.[55] Other nearby locations, such as the River Forth, would also become theaters of the conflict.[56]
The Septemberists suffered high casualties due to loyalist ambushes,[55] though they would not be fighting alone forever; the cause of the followers of Lost September drew the attention of the Third Republic of France, the Union (or Unions), the March Bureau,[57][58] and the Celtic Republics to come to the Septemberists' aid.[59] The Septemberists' revolution may yet be on the horizon, and the last stronghold of the Queen may soon be broken for good,[60] but the Upstairs will always remain a timeline that will never come to pass.[61]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London
- ↑ Consider the Moonlight (45 FATE), Fallen London
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "You huddle under the stall to avoid the trampling feet. The screams fade. The moonlight wanes, replaced by gaslight yellow."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Moonlight burns on the marble of the arch."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Once we've built up some funds, we can import pure sunlight, and put this whole Upstairs business to rest."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Another one gone Upstairs. What is wrong with our d__n sunlight?"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London ""Been sampling the stock, young master? [...] "Mathilde – we promised to marry. Remember [...] "You're addled! Leave me be!""
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "I hope I didn't do anything too awful. For a time I was in another place."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Sometimes I see moonlight, and another London. I am not sure which of them is correct; they both seem unlikely."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Wrestling him to the ground [...] He shouts as they drag him away. "Septemberist traitors! [...]"''
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "The moon is outside. [...] stars hang in the sky – real stars [...]"
- ↑ Wander the glades, Fallen London "The sun is choked with mists and the smoke of cannon-fire."
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "Sailors cluster outside a wharfside pub, puffing on pipes. [...] the scene has an intangible tension, as if fighting could break out at any moment."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Not to the State's new cult [...]"
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "The newspaper [...] condemning the Revolutionary Council's ascent to power in London, [...] this ends months of bitter street fighting."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Earl Cardigan held the observatory through a fortnight of Revolutionary shelling."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] screams a curse on Her Exiled Majesty, who cowers at Balmoral."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "The Revolutionary Parliament is building a new society [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] lead them in prayer. Not to the [...] new cult of the Everyman [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Black-capped Constables line the moonlit streets."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "The moonlight wanes, replaced by gaslight yellow. A narrow face [...] the mushroom-seller [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Ration inspectors prowl the stalls. [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "The mandats will buy you [...] a blind eye from the [...] ration inspectors."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Each week on Pluto's Day, the markets stay open until midnight."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] the March Bureau's parades is underway [...]"
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "[...] reporting divisions within the Council [...] corruption inside the Marchists [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] stamped with the trumpet-and-flag of the March Bureau [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] latest of the March Bureau's parades [...] this one is to commemorate the York Martyrs, gunned down by her Exiled Majesty's soldiers."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "At Trafalgar Square [...] light seven candles. One for each of the Martyrs [...] executed for daring to speak against the old order."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "High on its hill jut [...] the observatory. [...] Pale Dogs are hunting. [...] The March Bureau offer a reward for their pelts: crisp mandats [...]"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] the rubble is scarred by war. [...] Earl Cardigan held the observatory through a fortnight of Revolutionary shelling."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Inspectors of the September Bureau observe from the sidelines."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "The condemned man thrashes [...] his legs finish kicking, the Inspectors cross a name off their list. [...] Inspectors of the September Bureau keep the crowd at bay."
- ↑ Balmoral As Before, Fallen London
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "[...] the executioner's dog mask, the sign of the December Office."
- ↑ Converse with a stranger, Fallen London
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "Moonlight burns on the marble of the arch. It limns the gallows in silver."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "The condemned [...] This is justice: he was one of the Lords who opposed the revolution. His vote sent troops into Cheapside."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "For Balmoral! Death to December!"
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "He wears a red uniform, belted with white – the colours of the Coldstream counter-revolutionaries."
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "On the wall, a tattered flag shows a red cross inside a blue circle, inside a white star."
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "Brinehouse is a coastal village and former docks."
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "Boxes of ordnance are piled in the corners."
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "[...] there are officers' jackets [...] shaving mirrors and boot polish"
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "[...] display boards. One features newspaper reports, covering divisions within the Revolutionary Council. Another is a [...] gallery of faces, with handwritten annotations. Some [...] have been crossed out."
- ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London "You push through the crowd. The attackers are Coldstream counter-revolutionaries. [...] one of them [...] throwing something into a post office. Fire blooms from its shattered windows."
- ↑ Noises from Upstairs, Fallen London "[...] it reserves its condemnation for Coldstream counter-revolutionaries, with horrifying stories of civilians maimed in explosions or trampled in riots."
- ↑ Wander the glades, Fallen London
- ↑ Accompany September, Fallen London "September listens [...] He hears his name [...] repetitions of the speech he gave on Pall Mall, of an end to Union and the Empire and thus to all tyrants. [...] the thundering wheels of the Empress' coach and the long slow starvation in some black cell below the Palace. [...] those who came out to the streets in his name and marched north."
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 Flatter the Ghillie into extending your visit, Fallen London
- ↑ Lay a trail, Fallen London "Septemberists or the Queen's Household Guard. Can one tell the difference in the dark?"
- ↑ Compel the Ghillie to extend your visit, Fallen London
- ↑ Leave the woods 3, Fallen London "Balmoral stands [...] its walls blackened [...] its windows broken. [...] Someone has erected a guillotine on the lawn [...]"
- ↑ 55.0 55.1 Wander the woods, Fallen London
- ↑ Leave the woods, Fallen London "When the balladeers held the Forth till the water ran crimson [...]"
- ↑ Balmoral As Before, Fallen London
- ↑ Accompany September, Fallen London "[...] individual components of the force [...] the Third Republic, [...] the Union, [...] the March Bureau."
- ↑ Wander the glades, Fallen London
- ↑ Unveil your Painting (Incendiary %2B Luminosity), Fallen London
- ↑ Explore the woods, Fallen London
