Storm

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"Now and then, rocky fragments fall from the roof of the Neath. The decks of older ships are pocked with scars. The sound is one no land-lubber knows, and no zailor will ever forget. This one has smashed the glass of a deck-binnacle. "Ill omen!" one sailor cries. "The god in the roof! Storm is angry!"[1]

Storm is one of the three gods of the Unterzee.

A Tempestuous Presence

The Neath is a cold, deep, and dark place, mostly devoid of any kind of weather,[2][3] but sometimes London finds itself battered by strange winds[4] and squalls.[5] Zailors claim that the source of these phenomena is a god called Storm;[6] he is a vengeful, spiteful deity[7] who dislikes change[8] and maintains an ancient sort of order.[9] Those who draw his ire meet the most unfortunate of ends,[1][10][11] and captains who have drawn his attention have found their crew members attacking each other with unprecedented bloodlust.[12] His curse is as relentless as the weather bearing his name, as he sends storms and fog into the path of an ill-fated ship.[13]

Storm is worshipped not only by zailors, but also by London's suspicious number of urchins.[4][14][10] The urchins' high priest of sorts is a boy called Slivvy, with a stutter and a port-wine birthmark on his cheek.[10]

Storm is known to possess individuals,[15] whose eyes turn gray[12][16] and who become convinced that they are Storm himself.[17]

What is Storm?

"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"

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.

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Storm's mind is a swirling cloud of angry thunder;[18] as a result, he has trouble with memories[19] and can not organize his thoughts well.[20] Storm is dead, a skull beneath the ground.[21] He has been dead for a long while,[22] and remembering that fact makes him quite enraged.[23][24] His anger sometimes gets the better of him, causing him to lash out[25] and scatter his thoughts.[26] He used to be an Aeginae[27][28] in the service of the Judgements,[29] specifically the Sun,[28] but he committed some kind of fault,[30][31] and now is in exile in the Neath.[32] Despite everything that has befallen him, he still loves the Judgements, like the other Aeginae.[33][34] One of his duties is probably to enforce the Bazaar's seven-city limit.[28] Storm can freely use mirrors to travel back and forth to Parabola.[35] He wants to help the Fingerkings,[33] possibly because the Aeginae are kin to the dream-serpents.[36]

In the times of the First City, Storm used to employ adults as his followers, but switched to children because they do not have regrets,[37] making them more useful to his means and allowing him some semblance of peace.[38] The abandoned children's anger are like static clouds, perfect for Storm to harness to his own ends.[39] Storm also granted his high priest eternal youth, allowing Slivvy to hold his position for quite a long time.[40] Storm worries that Slivvy will not be able to handle his duties alone any longer.[41] As a result, he has attempted to find other children to share Slivvy's burden, but so far, noen lasted long.[42]

Salt once tried to contact Storm, but he kept eating every messenger it sent. Then Salt learned Storm's Name, and Storm was forced to listen. It didn't work out too well for either of them.[27] To this day, they seem to remain in some sort of conflict.[43]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 A fallen stone, Sunless Sea "Now and then, rocky fragments fall from the roof of the Neath. The decks of older ships are pocked with scars. The sound is one no land-lubber knows, and no zailor will ever forget. This one has smashed the glass of a deck-binnacle. "Ill omen!" one sailor cries. "The god in the roof! Storm is angry!"
  2. ↑ Reminisce about Fallen London, Fallen London "It's lovely here, of course. All this red and gold. So plush! So pleasant! And the staff are so attentive. But perhaps one day you could walk along the […] Stolen River again and complain about how there's no bl__dy weather down here to complain about."
  3. ↑ Imagine there were weather, Fallen London "What if the city had real storms again?"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Run the rooftops in honour of "a New Wind", Fallen London "To Dr F______!" cries the stout urchin with the liver-coloured birthmark, lifting his cup high. "To the New Wind's liberator!"
  5. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London ’’Weather? In London? A ferocious storm has come in from the zee.’’
  6. ↑ An electric shiver to the air. Storm is watching, the zailors would say., Sunless Sea
  7. ↑ Make a sacrifice to avert misfortune, Sunless Sea "In the stories, Storm is the noisiest, angriest and least reasonable of the zee-gods. Better not take chances."
  8. ↑ Aestival it is, Sunless Sea "The zailors nod approvingly. "Storm don't like change," one points out. ("But Salt does," one murmurs uneasily...)"
  9. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London ’’Still, he upholds a kind of order. The alternative may be worse.’’
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Deliver Sphinxstone to the boy Slivvy, Sunless Sea "The urchin Slivvy has arranged cradles for the rocks. “We are going to drop them on people Storm doesn't like,” he tells you. “Squash them f-f-flat. It's alright if a g-g-god tells you to do it.” Is he joking? It's difficult to tell, with Slivvy. He leans forward and whispers the directions to the Backmost Stairs, the secret Flit-route that you've never travelled."
  11. ↑ Watch the lights, Fallen London "The wind […] whispers secrets […]. The thunder walks beside those who welcome it. The thunder will send Auster to those who placate it and Auster will carry ships to the North. The thunder tells stories to those who love it. But you are safe from harm."
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 That Old Fury, Sunless Sea "Your crew brings her down in a shrieking heap. You drag her off below decks. “I am that old fury!” she is howling. For a moment in the glim-light, her eyes seem to swirl the grey of storm-clouds..."
  13. ↑ The Gods of the Zee: Storm's Curse, Sunless Sea
  14. ↑ Meet with Urchins, Fallen London "You're expected. The wind said you was coming. Also, I recognised your 'at."
  15. ↑ The Thunder Takes Me Away, Fallen London "I see through eyes of rain. I am dressed in stormclouds now. I speak with the voices of the zephyr and the sirocco. The polar star sheds its light in my path."
  16. ↑ Stormy-Eyed, Fallen London "Were your eyes always such a dark grey? Did you hear what the Thunder said?"
  17. ↑ Who can argue with me?, Fallen London "I am the god of thunder, after all."
  18. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "[...] How long have you felt like this? You have suddenly always been this swirl of time and regret. Through the squall you catch glimpses of the moments that led to this torment."
  19. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "I chose the boy. I cannot remember why, but I must trust that I had reason. [...] For what reason did he betray me? Did he tell me? Perhaps his motive is lost amid these swirling clouds."
  20. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "He can't keep his thoughts in order. I've t-t-tried to help him, but I can't make sense of his mind any better than he can. He thinks you might be able to."
  21. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "The pieces come together. It makes sense at last! I see how I came to be here, a dead skull beneath the ground. [...]"
  22. ↑ I will send a message, Fallen London "[...] a force of nature that's been extinct for centuries. [...]"
  23. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "He's been 'specially cross lately. Remembering he's dead more and more often. Makes him upset."
  24. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "Shards of memory whittle me into an instrument of fury. With no respite from the agony of regret, I have no space in which to doubt myself. I have been destroyed, I will destroy in turn. There is but one course of action, and it is vengeance."
  25. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London ’’I must restrain myself from retribution."
  26. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "If I hold these fragments in my mind, I will know what to do. I must not falter as the charge builds and the thunderhead billows upwards—Lightning! It scatters the pieces to the winds. I curse what brought me here. I curse myself."
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Fumble in the darkness, Sunless Sea "Long ago a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch sent messengers to the thunder-dragon in the roof, but the dragon ate them all. The monarch sent more messengers - shapelings from Axile, malleable and eager - but the dragon ate those too. Then the hungry monarch found the dragon's name, and the dragon had to listen. It didn't do either of them much good."
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Order Ovate, Glory, Fallen London "MESSENGER: You, again./DRAGON: Yes. I remain the servant of your master. As do you. He awaits you./MESSENGER: Do not. I beg you, do not. He cannot yet hear what I have to say./DRAGON: (carelessly) You have a little longer. Should this place fail, two remain./(Exit)/MESSENGER: Not yet enough. Not yet enough!"
  29. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "I enforced the wills of those above. [...]"
  30. ↑ WaterWhiteAndBlack, Fallen London "You dream of a clifftop and a clouded sky. The wind weeps salt, while the thunder speaks of loss and sacrifice and something long ago that ended badly."
  31. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London ’’It should not be like this. Which error set about my ruin?
  32. ↑ Something above, Sunless Sea "[...] The Eye opens all the way, and in its glistening centre you see the reflection of the God that lives in the roof: a lost lorn angry thing of lightnings, a lone exile -"
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 I will smash them! All of them!, Fallen London "I see through these boundaries between worlds and I smash them! I breach the barriers so the snakes can peer through! And I gather up the twinkling shards remaining and I scatter them across the night sky for my stars! It is no longer dry and dead!"
  34. ↑ I will speak to the stars (3 FATE), Fallen London "I hear their messages. Aldebaran sings a song of passion. A passion long hidden and buried in language. Altair sings of possession. An old spirit, trapped and trapper in turn. But Arcturus sings to me only of pure love. Their cold starlight fills my clouded eyes."
  35. ↑ Glass Walls Everywhere!, Fallen London "They surround me. They reflect one realm inwards and keep me from the other. These barriers should be fluid!"
  36. ↑ The Hollow Rat, Fallen London "Puppet or scarecrow or automaton, he still speaks: "And what an egg it was, that hatch'd such asps. And 'pon its shell, within the green, they dwell and breed new dreams. A thousand thousand runts, their storm-toss'd kin in chains. They plot, and plan – so that one day these wyrms may lie with serpents.""
  37. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "I took adults from the First City and they did as I commanded, but their minds were rotten with regret. The pain of their self-recrimination sent cracks through my skull. Since then I have used only children."
  38. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "For years Storm has spoken to Slivvy. A few others. All children. It's because only the very young are spared full understanding of their mistakes. There is peace in that, and Storm longs to feel it."
  39. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "Fall after fall, cities discard their children. They know not what their rejection creates. A lightning cloud must discharge. The urchins' fury must go somewhere. They want guidance and I give it to them. Where to run. How to fight. Whom to kill. They will do my bidding, for I am a god."
  40. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "I've had S-s-storm in my head a long time [...] Means I don't grow old, but I get tired in other ways.
  41. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "I chose the boy. I cannot remember why, but I must trust that I had reason. I think he was like me once. Still, he is no god. My rage is his pain, and it could end him. I must restrain myself from retribution."
  42. ↑ The Tempest, Fallen London "Storm wants you to help me. I'm getting tired, and he's afraid of what will happen to his mind if he can't talk to me any more. [...] I've t-t-tried [to find someone else] sometimes without Storm knowing. And some of those other children helped a little. But none of them could do it for long. They grew up, instead."
  43. ↑ Who is the Third That Walks Always Beside you?, Fallen London "You dream you are watching a fleet of ships spread across a sparkling sea. The fleet was sailing due East, but its course is gradually turning North."
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