December

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"They wear a curious mask: not quite a fox, not entirely a wolf. All white."[1]

December is an elusive member of the Calendar Council.

The Chain-Breaker[edit | edit source]

"'December' is not their real name, of course, but that name was not made to be spoken with tongue and lips and a throat."[2]

December has been stated to be the leader of the Calendar Council, though given the anarchist leanings of this group, it is hard to say how much status they actually hold.[3] Their exact nature is unknown, but according to the Bishop of St Fiacre's, they attained their current form by breaking the Great Chain.[4] Their true name cannot be pronounced by humans, and their canine mask may be their actual face.[5]

December is considered "kin" or a "sibling" of the current Boatman,[4] as the two once "served the same table,"[6] and they have attempted to recruit the Boatman to the cause of the Liberation of Night to no avail.[7] It is possible that the "table" December and the Boatman both served is the Sun, since the Boatman still collects the souls of humans in the Neath.[8][9]

Whatever December might be, they know a great deal about the Judgements[10] and have detailed knowledge of the Courtesy.[11] A book they authored, kept in the Agendums of Ascent, is a very old text on astronomy, which also discusses the motivations of the stars as if December knows them personally.[12] Not only is December acquainted with the Judgements through their prior service,[6] but they hate them, providing a more personal motivation for their support of the Liberation.[13] They have the additional goal of either destroying the Mountain of Light,[14] either to free the Neath completely of stellar influence[14] or to share its vitality equally among all people;[15] to this end, they are acquainted with the Bishop of St Fiacre's and the Dilmun Club.[16]

In the Upstairs, the alternate version of the Neath shown under moonlight, there is a December Office that presides over public executions.[17] In the Sunless Skies timeline, as of 1905, December has left the Neath with January and February. The three revolutionaries reside at their base, Winter's Reside, in Pan.[18]

Something Incomprehensible[edit | edit source]

"Spending too long in December's company is taxing. The mind tries to hold more than it was made to. It begins to crack."[19]

December speaks to their followers warmly, and seems to genuinely care for the rest of the Council.[20] However, they can only get away with such genial conversation because any other parties involved will not remember the details afterward.[21][22] While December's effects on memory resemble those of an irrigo-infused being like the Lady in Lilac, they are instead a consequence of December themselves being literally incomprehensible, as if they and their knowledge are too much for the human mind to process.[23]

As friendly as December is, they are wary of romance, which may be in part due to their inhuman nature. The Curt Relicker, formerly a member of the Council, fell in love with December and was rejected harshly.[24]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Converse with a stranger, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Winter's Reside: Something More Than Revolutionary, Sunless Skies
  3. ↑ 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."
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 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."
  5. ↑ Winter's Reside: Something More Than Revolutionary (December), Sunless Skies "'December' is not their real name, of course, but that name was not made to be spoken with tongue and lips and a throat. Their face is long and serene, like a Borzoi hound, with the same soft nose, the anxious grin. Is that their mask, or their face? You do not recall them removing it to eat."
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Discuss the Bishop of St Fiacre's, Fallen London "Twin? No. But they are my kin, in a sense. We both served the same table once. [...] My kin craves my liberation. [...]"
  7. ↑ The Season of Family Ties, Fallen London "Not family as you understand it. But another came to the Neath – one I was close to, once. Recently, they tried to convince me to join their cause. But I will not abandon my duty. And some things should not be liberated. [...] Perhaps I should reject them more forcefully. But it is good to see them again."
  8. ↑ The Season of Family Ties, Fallen London ""I disappointed them. I failed in my service, and this is my exile." He surveys his boat and its passengers. "Now, I fulfil my duty as well as the Neath permits. But it will never be enough." He grins – but then he always grins."
  9. ↑ Your move..., Fallen London "He enumerates the souls that have passed down this river [...] into final dissolution. [...] "I am one tip of one finger. Everything is owed...""
  10. ↑ Converse with a stranger, Fallen London "They discuss things you know - the Chain, the Liberation of Night, London's place in it, your own role in preserving the city for that appointed hour. And they discuss things you don't: the Unrest of Hours, the vendettas of the Judgements, December's own origins."
  11. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?", Sunless Skies "December [...] speaks of a time when [...] when constellations and conjunctions went to war. The Courtesy was the agreement that ended it. The stars agreed a set of permissions and ceremonies that must precede any murder of a star. Now, the sky is littered with dead suns, but all agree that the murders were committed with a due sense of decorum. [...] There is more, they say, but to speak it would hasten a battle December is not yet willing to fight."
  12. ↑ The Calendar Code, Fallen London "Here is a chart of conjunctions, and here a timetable for the appearance of comets. The paper is dry, crumbling beneath your fingers. It would not survive being removed from the library. The concluding sections seem more philosophical, correlating the movements of celestial bodies to the affairs of London. [...] the final chapter explains the motivations of stars as if the author knows them personally."
  13. ↑ Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?", Sunless Skies "[...] you don't know what December is. But they are older and vaster than you, and they hate the stars."
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "..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.""
  15. ↑ "...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."
  16. ↑ Speak with the Bishop of St Fiacre's (Aboard the Noble Garter), Fallen London ""But I saw my chance for a stronger alliance [...] the Twelfth Month. [...] I would have them stand beside us at the Mountain's foot. With their aid, we could win the Garden."
  17. ↑ Cut with Moonlight, Fallen London
  18. ↑ Winter's Reside, Sunless Skies "Three of the revolutionaries' governing Calendar Council live here: February, January, and ineffable December."
  19. ↑ Return to Corncrake House, Sunless Skies
  20. ↑ Converse with a stranger, Fallen London "They greet you warmly, as a comrade, and discuss the matter of London. They ask how you have found the other months. Has February softened? Not much. Has September gotten into any trouble? Some. Is August too crestfallen that there will not be another Election? Hard to say."
  21. ↑ Converse with a stranger, Fallen London "In the dream, those ideas seem solid, almost self-evident. But when you awake, you are left with your mind searching for them like a tongue probing the gap where a tooth used to be."
  22. ↑ Dine with December, Sunless Skies "December spoke about the edifice of the universe [...] Of a great Chain that binds us all in our place. It all made sense at the time [...] Now, you would struggle to tell it to others. It is as if you were both speaking in another language, which has now fallen from your mind."
  23. ↑ Return to Corncrake House, Sunless Skies "Spending too long in December's company is taxing. The mind tries to hold more than it was made to. It begins to crack."
  24. ↑ Offer your investigative services (25 FATE), Fallen London "Once, the Curt Relicker did more than just collect conspiracies. [...] 'He was on the Calendar Council. But he fell in love with December, didn't he? [...] And December told him to b____r off.'"
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