The Courtesy

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"These are real stars. They burn above the roof of the Neath, beyond the earth, in the spaces of heaven."

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"Once, the stars went to war with themselves. The Courtesy was the agreement that ended it: thereafter, the stars were permitted to kill each other so long as they adhered to the formalities and procedures set out in the Courtesy."[1]

The Courtesy is the set of rules that governs warfare between the Judgements.

A Not-So-Cold War[edit | edit source]

"Even the suns indulge in spite and pettiness and murder. There is no state of grace."[2]

Once upon a time, there was a great war between the Judgements. The Courtesy was the agreement that ended this war, after only one star was killed by the warfare.[3] It allowed the stars to continue to kill each other, so long as they adhered to its list of regulations; in the words of the Piper, "they exchanged war for murder."[4]

Compared to the war that caused its implementation, the death toll of the Courtesy is staggering. A single annex of the Roll of Ash,[5] located in the Lyceum of the Forge of Souls, lists hundreds of murdered stars.[6] That is just one annex out of two hundred and seventy-eight.[7] And these are just the names of the stars; how many lesser beings have been obliterated by their whims?[8]

The Courtesy is not always followed, either; the Halved broke it when it slew the Garden-King.[9]

But why are the stars killing each other? Murders that occur under the Courtesy often are motivated by an ongoing war between three opposing Conjunctions, which are factions of Judgements united by a shared philosophy, which are at odds with each other. The Chrysanthemum Conjunction is concerned with new beginnings.[10] The Amaranthine Conjunction believes in endings and conclusions.[11] The Nepenthine Conjunction advocates separation and isolation.[12]

An Open Secret[edit | edit source]

"Some secrets – like the Courtesy – are dangerous for those of us lower on the chain even to speak of. You must learn them from something higher."[13]

It is dangerous for beings lower on the Great Chain of Being to speak of the Courtesy[14] — and even those who once served and counseled the stars can offer limited information.[15][16][17] After all, the suns don't want their inferiors to know that they are just as prone to lethal politics and petty infighting as mortals.[18] "As below, so above."

The Courtesy is technically the name of the order of Logoi that were designated as arbiters of the agreement between stars, and which are charged with keeping the rampant stellar murder a secret.[19] This order is responsible for a phenomenon called the Fire that Follows, which hunts anyone who learns of any aspect of the Courtesy.[20]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?", Sunless Skies
  2. ↑ Ask why the suns are determined to keep the Courtesy a secret, Sunless Skies
  3. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?" (Second Storyteller), Sunless Skies "Of a war that broke out between the stars and how, when the first star died, they paused. To end the war, they made the Courtesy: an agreement which set out the terms and rituals under which one star can kill another. And to ensure the Courtesy was kept, they— "
  4. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?" (The Piper), Sunless Skies "Once, the stars went to war with themselves. The Courtesy was the agreement that ended it: thereafter, the stars were permitted to kill each other so long as they adhered to the formalities and procedures set out in the Courtesy. They exchanged war for murder" [...]
  5. ↑ The Roll of Ash, Sunless Skies "The Roll of Ash is not a book, or a scroll. It is a library. The chamber is huge, its walls gridded with square alcoves reaching all the way to the ceiling. In each alcove is a marble tablet, engraved with sigils of the Correspondence."
  6. ↑ Allow the Didact to conduct his research, Sunless Skies ""Th-these are the names of a sun," he says [...] "And this— [...] Perhaps most mundanely t-translates as 'cause of death'. This place is a cenotaph. A memorial to dead stars. [...] See: the suns differ, but the cause of d-death is identical in every case: 'an exchange of c-courtesies'. [...] Hundreds.""
  7. ↑ Return to the Lamentation, Sunless Skies ""I think— [...] a great many stars have died under the veneer of this 'Courtesy'. Hundreds of them, in fact." [...] "That chamber? One annex of Roll of Ash. Annex thirty-four," she says, "of two hundred and seventy-eight.""
  8. ↑ Deposit the Didact, Sunless Skies "And for every one that falls, how many lesser b-beings suffer? The suns set themselves in p-positions of indispensability, and now they are disposing of one another."
  9. ↑ Strive to hear the death-cry of a fallen sun, Sunless Skies "A lawless killing! A shameful death, enacted without due ceremony! "
  10. ↑ Deliver your findings to the Bedevilled Didact, Sunless Skies "The Chrysanthemum Conjunction are concerned with inception: with beginnings and n-newness [...]"
  11. ↑ Deliver your findings to the Bedevilled Didact, Sunless Skies "[...] while their counterparts, the Amaranthine Conjunction, believe in culmination, and bringing things to c-completion."
  12. ↑ Deliver your findings to the Bedevilled Didact, Sunless Skies "The Nepenthine Conjunction advocate separation, distinction, isolation: the raising of b-barriers and the drawing of borders."
  13. ↑ Ambition: Consult the King about the Courtesy, Sunless Skies
  14. ↑ Ambition: Consult the King about the Courtesy, Sunless Skies ""There is a Chain of Being," the King whispers. "At the top: the suns. [Near] the bottom: humanity. Between those two links are countless others: Curators, devils, Heart-Catchers, flukes, Messengers. Some secrets – like the Courtesy – are dangerous for those of us lower on the chain even to speak of. You must learn them from something higher.""
  15. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?" (The Second Storyteller), Sunless Skies "The Storyteller stops. If it tells you the rest if this story, it fears what you will do with it. "I have learned my lesson," it says, and will speak no more. Its eyes close. "
  16. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?" (The Piper), Sunless Skies ""And that is half your answer. The other half, even I cannot say." She rebelled against the Judgements once before. She will not risk it again."
  17. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?" (December), Sunless Skies "There December stops. There is more, they say, but to speak it would hasten a battle December is not yet willing to fight."
  18. ↑ Ask why the suns are determined to keep the Courtesy a secret, Sunless Skies ""To keep up appearances [...] Because the greatest are subject to the same follies as the least. Even the suns indulge in spite and pettiness and murder. There is no state of grace." And [...] perhaps because for every law there is a loophole."
  19. ↑ Ask it what the Courtesy is, Sunless Skies "An order of Logoi that were made to be the agreement's impartial arbiters. They are also charged with keeping the existence of the Courtesy, and the strife in the heavens, a secret from lesser beings."
  20. ↑ Ambition: Ask Mr Menagerie about the Fire that Follows, Sunless Skies "The Fire that Follows. Dangerous knowledge for us; more so for you. The Fire is a hunting-flame. It comes for those who know a thing they should not know. [...] A secret, sworn between suns. The knowledge itself is the scent it follows. And when it has you, the Courtesy will come."
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