Bound-Sharks

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"He went to Spite? While I'm sure it was edifying for him. Whatever he saw there will be forgotten as soon as he lays eyes on a Bound-shark. No one who has seen one up close – witnessed the way they thrash and strain – could fail to be moved by their suffering. The first time I saw one, it changed everything for me."[1]

Bound-Sharks are enormous sharks[2] that were confined in metal contraptions at a young age, stunting their growth and deforming their organs as they grew to adulthood.[3] The poor creatures are in a state of constant torment,[4] and attack passing ships in their frenzied rage.[5] Bound-Sharks are not a product of any natural or supernatural phenomenon. Rather, members of the New Sequence[6] breed sharks in a nursery at the Grand Geode and capture wild individuals in order to bind them.[7][8]

It is not stated why the New Sequence creates Bound-Sharks. According to one Sequencer, her faction "seeks to free London from its old shackles,"[9] so her statement that they shackle sharks to "give them purpose" may be pertinent to this goal.[10] She additionally claims that when she saw a Bound-Shark for the first time, her fascination with its suffering "changed everything" for her;[11] as such, the binding of sharks may serve as both a ritual and a recruitment tool for the New Sequence.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London
  2. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London "The Bound-sharks writhe, [...] The smallest are still larger than the fishing vessel [...]"
  3. ↑ Examine its cage-armature, Sunless Sea "Someone has bound it [...] with black iron - sunk bands and joined mechanisms deep into its flesh. [...] The cage has begun to distort its shape- [...] Rods of iron inserted deep into its flesh have done impossible things. There are organs in there that none of you recognize."
  4. ↑ A Sightseer’s Guide to Sunless Sea, part five, Failbetter Games "The most tormented of zee-beasts."
  5. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Failbetter Games "The screams of the crew echo through the cavern as they are torn apart by the frenzied sharks."
  6. ↑ Rest, recover, dream, Sunless Sea "Bright-eyed soldiers bind sharks in iron."
  7. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London "Before I became a recruiter, [...] I used to catch and bind the sharks. Drive the iron into their flesh [...]"
  8. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London "[...] there's a shark nursery at the Geode."
  9. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London "I belong to a group that seeks to free London from its old shackles."
  10. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London "[...] I used to catch and bind the sharks. Drive the iron into their flesh, reshape them. Give them purpose." She smiles at the memory [...]"
  11. ↑ The Stag and the Shark, Fallen London "He went to Spite? [...] Whatever he saw there will be forgotten as soon as he lays eyes on a Bound-shark. No one who has seen one up close – witnessed the way they thrash and strain – could fail to be moved by their suffering. The first time I saw one, it changed everything for me."
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