The Calendar Council

From The Fifth City Wiki
(Redirected from Calendar Council)

Spoilers ahead: May include midgame or minor Fate-locked content.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"The Calendar Council: a shadowy organisation of revolutionaries, the enemies of the Masters."[1]

The Calendar Council is the primary revolutionary organization in London.

Structure[edit | edit source]

The Calendar Council leads the revolutionary underground against the Masters of the Bazaar and their rule over London. Operating in absolute secrecy,[2] their network of contacts is disguised as nothing more than lists of Christmas card recipients.[3] To most ordinary revolutionaries, the Council is little more than myth or rumor.[4] In truth, their ultimate aim is nothing less than the Liberation of Night. The philosophy behind it is spreading across the Unterzee and up to the Surface, and predates the Council itself.[5]

Months[edit | edit source]

The Council’s members consist of the twelve months of the Gregorian calendar. Each opposes one of the Masters of the Bazaar,[6] while also leading their own revolutionary cell. The Months are grouped by season, reflecting their stance toward the Liberation.

Winter[edit | edit source]

The most zealous proponents of the Liberation, symbolized by a snowflake.[7]

Spring[edit | edit source]

Supporters of the Liberation, but less fervent than Winter.

  • March is currently an unknown man who took on the position after his predecessor was removed from the Council.[16] He seems to only be an interim replacement as there are considerations of offering the position to Furnace Ancona instead.[17]
  • April is a deaf explosives expert, Emelia Hathersage, who is presumed dead by most of London after her factory exploded (which may have been deliberately orchestrated by Hathersage herself).[18] Her nemesis is Mr Fires.[19][20]
  • May is the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel.[21] He supports the Liberation, but does harbor some doubts about its effectiveness.[22]

Summer[edit | edit source]

The antithesis of Winter. These Months are ambivalent, or outright opposed, to the Liberation.

  • June was the original architect of the Dawn Machine.[23] Since the Machine emits light (and thus law) rather than working to extinguish it, she is distrusted by the rest of the Council.[24]
  • July was once a cultured society lady and violinist, but lost her mind to a powerful Fingerking. She trades her memories for dreams of the future.[25]
  • August is none other than the Jovial Contrarian. He opposes the Liberation of Night,[26] which is a source of friction between him and other Council members.[27][28] He prefers to subvert the systems of power from within[29][30] rather than violently overthrowing them.[31]

Autumn[edit | edit source]

Nominal supporters of the Liberation, except October, whose loyalty to it is absolute.

Former Months[edit | edit source]

Multiple individuals have previously held the titles of the Months. They are allowed to designate their successors,[38] but if they have not done so, or have been forcefully ousted, then the Council will decide on a successor in their stead.

The Making of a Calendar[edit | edit source]

The Calendar Council was founded by December[44] and May in the period between the First and Third City as a counterbalance against the Masters. They chose the structure of a calendar to keep the Council small and even numbered.[45] Unfortunately, since its very inception, the Council was plagued by infighting, focusing more on the minutia of revolution rather than the bigger picture.[46]

Cultural Inspirations[edit | edit source]

The idea of having leaders named after months may have come from G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, about a bunch of anarchists (or so we are supposed to think) with leaders named after days of the week.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ --Two action refreshes for the price of one!--, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Share a drink and ask about the envelope of papers in her lap, Fallen London "The Calendar Council operate in caliginous secrecy. Only their leader, the mysterious December, knows all their identities. [...]"
  3. ↑ "I've heard you are a [gender of your word...", Fallen London] "She is satisfied. Taking a slip of paper from her pocket, she unfolds it as carefully as a lepidopterist would pin back a moth's wings. At the top, exact capitals read THE CHRISTMAS CARD LIST. She conceals the contents with her fingers, parting them barely enough for you to make out one entry: April, it says, followed by a Wolfstack address and a name: Emilia Hathersage"
  4. ↑ Call in favours among the Revolutionaries, Fallen London "To the general citizenry of pamphlet-scribblers and bomb-lobbers, the Calendar Council are only a story. You'll need the grace of a more patient breed of anarchist if you're to attract her attention."
  5. ↑ Under Sunless Skies, Sunless Sea ""The Liberation of Night began long ago," the veiled creature pipes. "Tell whoever you choose, or do not. You are the message. Those who must know, will know.""
  6. ↑ Piece your clues together, Fallen London "[...] The Calendar Council is composed of twelve members: each opposes the purview of one of the Masters. [...]"
  7. ↑ Petition for support among revolutionaries, Fallen London "When a letter arrives on your doorstep, the envelope embossed with a single snowflake [...] The letter consists of only two sentences, which you read aloud [...]. 'We watch your efforts with interest. Proceed. – the Winter Months.'"
  8. ↑ Deed: The Final Month, Sunless Skies "You have earned the gratitude of December, founder of the revolutionary Calendar Council."
  9. ↑ Offer your investigative services (25 FATE), Fallen London "The Calendar Council are the supposed leaders of London's anarchists. December is their master. [...]"
  10. ↑ Speak with the Bishop of St Fiacre's (Aboard the Noble Garter), Fallen London "Death's sibling is a Chain-Breaker. Sometimes they conspire as the Twelfth Month. Whenever they visit London, we take tea."
  11. ↑ "...give it to the world.", Fallen London "December is pleased, of course, although you imagine that one might have been just as pleased had you chosen to dynamite the Mountain."
  12. ↑ "..end it, as I swore I would.", Fallen London ""We were meant to die. The brevity of our lives is what makes us human. [...] We will put an end to the Sun's experiment." [...] A sound: December has emerged behind you. The pale mask nods. "I knew I could trust you. It's hard. But we'll be free. Perhaps we'll be the only free beings in the cosmos.""
  13. ↑ Remind her of a meeting at the Museum of Injustices, Fallen London ""Many wrongs have been done to us," says January. "And even if others choose to forget, I do not.""
  14. ↑ Sell the location to Revolutionaries, Fallen London "The things we'll build there! Oh, Iron, my sweet. You have no idea what's coming. The very liberation of night..."
  15. ↑ February of the Calendar Council, Fallen London "February is a revolutionary, and the avowed opponent of Mr Iron: but the Cottage is a neutral place, and she is seen here sometimes."
  16. ↑ Bury the Council's Secrets, Fallen London "March needs assistance containing an escape of secrets (it is perhaps not entirely his fault; he inherited a compromised network)."
  17. ↑ Supervise a visit from the Castellan of Balmoral Fallen London, ' "Furnace wilnae look much outside the walls of this city. [...] But there's some would like tae see her play on a larger board [...] Talk o' offering her the name of March, aye? But it'll come tae nowt."
  18. ↑ Ambition: Bag a Legend!: April's Attention, Fallen London "Calamity visited Wolfstack Docks in the late hours when an explosion blasted the Cotterell & Hathersage factory. The accident incurred a mortality of fifteen [...] Included in the toll was Emilia Hathersage, co-founder of the company: a woman of fierce ingenuity and meticulous conscience."
  19. ↑ Persuade April, Fallen London "April's face puckers with rage and she begins to write her reply. And write. And write. You don't need to see it to guess the gist: she doesn't trust anyone who looks like they might be in the pocket of Mr Fires."
  20. ↑ Persuade April, Fallen London "Furnace cannot be replaced, April writes. She is an ally against Mr Fires, and without her we will lay no track."
  21. ↑ The Mysteries Revealed, Again, Failbetter Games "Who is May? The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem/the Merry Gentleman"
  22. ↑ Try your best to sleep, Fallen London "A man [sits] with you. […] You must last until the Liberation." […] "I am weary. I suspect that, even after the Liberation, I still will be. It may free everything, but not everyone." He plucks two brass buttons from his coat and lays them over your eyes."
  23. ↑ The Mysteries Revealed, Again, Failbetter Games "Who was the original architect of the Dawn Machine? June of the Calendar Council, or just 'June'"
  24. ↑ Bury the Council's Secrets, Fallen London March needs assistance containing an escape of secrets (it is perhaps not entirely his fault; he inherited a compromised network). June cannot be trusted. (After what she made? It's all the more difficult to make the lights go out, now.) August is being recalcitrant. Again. April's latest business ventures need burying, before it's discovered she still lives.
  25. ↑ Lost in Reflections, Fallen London
  26. ↑ The Jovial Contrarian's Campaign 1, Fallen London "There are, however, irregularities. A substantial amount from the same source – denoted with a black x. Despite being scattered throughout the records, all are dated simply 'January'. An uncashed cheque is book-marking the page with the most recent entry. The cheque has been scrawled over crossly, with words in an altogether more untidy penmanship, reading 'The light need not necessarily go out.'"
  27. ↑ Choose a Target: The Jovial Contrarian's Campaign Fallen London, ' "The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem is always at the Contrarian's side. They are both convivial when they think themselves observed. But once, you spot them in a dark corner, arguing. "Between this and the Bazaar, there is no third way," the Manager says. "You will be neither forgiven nor thanked.""
  28. ↑ Choose a Target: The Jovial Contrarian's Campaign Fallen London, ' "The Jovial Contrarian's campaign headquarters are in a state of chaos. More chaos. Key staff have been replaced, including the Contrarian's campaign manager. The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem is conspicuous in his absence. Those staff trusted by the Contrarian have taken over the upper floors. They are refusing access to a horde of fresh – and especially fervent – supporters. They arrived only today, along with the new campaign manager. And the identity of the new campaign manager? You bump into her on the stair to the Contrarian's offices. February flashes you a smile to stop a ghost's heart. "I'm not surprised to see you here. You should know – things will proceed very differently from now on. The Contrarian will come to see the error of his present folly.""
  29. ↑ Help plant an agent in the Ministry for Public Decency, Fallen London "As revolutionaries go, the Jovial Contrarian is perilously frank. "We've no shortage of troublemakers, speech-wrights, and bomb-throwers," he tells you. "What the movement needs today is someone of sound reputation.""
  30. ↑ Convince the Jovial Contrarian to share a confidence Fallen London, ' "The Jovial Contrarian takes you on a tour of his headquarters: a series of mouldering tenements near Hangman's Arch, knocked together to form one ramshackle warren. "I shall stay here, even if I win," he says. "You can never really pin this place down." He pauses, looking at a brace of Constables marching below. "The previous two Mayors have been so ineffectual, the worst thing that could happen to the Constables is direct governance by the Mayor's Office. Which is precisely why I advocate the policy. Dismantle the tools," he says softly, looking out to the spires of the Bazaar, "And we are a step closer.""
  31. ↑ Gift the Mayor a Confession of Violence Fallen London, ' The Mayor blanches. "There's always a better way."
  32. ↑ Speak to September, Fallen London "There he treats you to a private discourse on the evils of ignorance, monarchy and the English. [...] "[...] If th' old queen won't rule in London nor up here, we'd do a better job 'o it ourselves. Besides, London's nivver bin proper English.""
  33. ↑ Accept a gift from Balmoral's Castellan, Fallen London "[...] September tells you [...] his great work: the distilling of utopian principles from the dystopian utterings of the censorious Master."
  34. ↑ The Calendar Code, Fallen London "Each section begins with a sentence and a date. You recognise from the lexical quirks that somebody is quoting Mr Pages. What follows is an exhaustive deconstruction of each sentence, highlighting where it diverges from correct syntax and performing cryptographic analysis on each unnecessary superlative. The colour-coded annotations vary from the trivial to the cosmological. There may be wisdom buried here, but the key insight is into the mind of the author."
  35. ↑ Piece your clues together (1), Fallen London "The Calendar Council is composed of twelve members [...]. Of that twelve, one stands in opposition to Mr Mirrors and its bailiwick over dreams: October."
  36. ↑ Ask about her heart's desire, Fallen London "The Masters didn't know who I really was, of course. I spent years constructing a false identity [...] Afterwards, I used my reward to cast one of the Masters in a prison of its own failures."
  37. ↑ A Little Pandemonium, Fallen London
  38. ↑ Ask an old friend, Fallen London "October achieved her goal and vacated the Council. But she remains one of twelve – a successor has not been chosen. She must mean to, however, so we must assume she is somewhere that the Masters cannot reach but the Council can. Which suggests – ah. Yesterday's Clerestory."
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 The Mysteries Revealed, Again, Failbetter Games "What happened to the working man's friend? The Haunted Doctor/Calendar Council killed him."
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Drink with the Doctor, Fallen London "One day, they ordered me to treat a member of the Council. His religion conflicted with his politics [...] He offered me his shilling coffee every time I visited. Maybe his politics were unwise, but – I owed him better."
  41. ↑ --Two action refreshes for the price of one!--, Fallen London "[...] but here's March, the self-proclaimed adversary of Mr Wines, [...]"
  42. ↑ Offer your investigative services (25 FATE), Fallen London "He was on the Calendar Council. But he fell in love with December, didn't he? Silly s_d. And December told him to b____r off."
  43. ↑ The Seven Statues, Sunless Sea "She remembers Bourdain better than the others. "We were confidantes. He was a Frenchman and - in his day - a member of the revolutionaries' Calendar Council. He wrote pamphlets, and placed bombs. I could not say which were more incendiary." Her smile is fond."
  44. ↑ Deed: The Final Month, Sunless Skies "You have earned the gratitude of December, founder of the revolutionary Calendar Council."
  45. ↑ Moss: Purloined Books, Mask of the Rose "[...] It is a transcription of a wax tablet. It details the activities of a man from a prior city. It seems he made a bargain with the Masters, and later recanted it. It seems he became their enemy. In an older city, in another age, he helped found a body that opposed the Masters. In number, and in method. The device of the calendar was chosen as an alias, to keep this council small, and in equal number. [...]" [Editor's Note: The wax tablet dates back to the time of the Fourth City, which means that the Council was founded in the Third at the very lastest.]
  46. ↑ Moss: Purloined Books, Mask of the Rose "[...] But the Masters, taking instruction from the Surface, changed the calendar of the city. Again and again. So too did they, through dissimulation and less savoury methods, adjust the number of Masters. That enemy council then fell into quarrel, discord, and later division, as they argued over the small rather than the great. [...]"
Retrieved from "https://thefifthcity.wiki/w/index.php?title=The_Calendar_Council&oldid=22653"