Editing Flukes

[[Drownies]]|notable_members = Lorn-Flukes<br>

Scorn Flukes}}

''"Crushing black silence. Thoughts like mud. Focus on light. Recall the surface. Recall [[the Surface]]! You are human. Three great presences. Deep as stone. ''

''"WHAT HAVE YOU BROUGHT US? Voice in bones. Words in water. Answer in haste. They are hungry."''<ref name = "gifts">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Gifts_for_the_Feast|Gifts for the Feast|Fallen London|}}</ref>

 

Flukes are otherworldly beings and masters in the arts of changing the flesh that often resemble giant sea urchins.

Flukes come from the land of '''Axile''', an otherworldly place somewhere between the stars (Coincidentally, they are also known as '''Axiles''').<ref name = "pulse">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Pulse_of_the_Principles|The Pulse of the Principles|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> They seem to be natural masters of the '''Shapeling Arts''', the practice of altering and changing the flesh of living creatures. In an ancient deal, the Flukes agreed to come to the Neath at the behest of [[the Bazaar]] and [[the Masters]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Who_-|Who -|Fallen London|}}</ref> Although the Flukes did this in order to gain greater control of the Shapeling Arts, it is currently unknown what the Bazaar's end of this deal is - unknown even to the Flukes themselves. The Flukes also promised never to love, which likely plays into the Bazaar's quest in some unknown way.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Why_-|Why -|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/What_-|What -|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref name = "pulse">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Pulse_of_the_Principles|The Pulse of the Principles|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Regardless, the Flukes in the Neath continue to practice their arts, and through the use of things like Amber have created the Rubbery Men, who they use as intermediaries between themselves and humans. Nowadays the Flukes can be found all across the Neath - many reside deep within Flute Street, others rove [[the Unterzee]], one crashed into a [[Aigul|particular ship]], and one Fluke even resides deep within [[the Cave of the Nadir]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Do_you_recall_how_they_came_to_that_place%3F|Do you recall how they came to that place?|Fallen London|}}</ref>

Flukes have a number of interesting interactions with the other creatures of the Neath. Their use of the Shapeling Arts was mimicked and practiced by the fearsome [[Starved Men]], who use the art to contort their bodies. [[Mutton Island]]'s genuine rubbery lumps seem to be made out of Flukes, which also seem to make their consumers more likely to become [[Drownies]], should they suffer death by water.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Yes|Yes|Fallen London|}}</ref> Speaking of Drownies, the Fathomking seems to be married to a Fluke, and some part of his domain seems to require him to eat Lorn-Flukes at his Drowning Feast. Familial trees in the Neath remain as odd as one would expect.<ref name = "pulse"/>

''"The deliquescing body is full of incomprehensible organs that collapse at your touch. You understand nothing, and very quickly, there is little left of it. But at its centre, you find a vast lump of resin or congealed gall, the size of a barrel, flawed with darkness."''<ref name = "lorn">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Lorn-Fluke|Lorn-Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

We know a surprising amount about the biology of the Flukes.

The most striking feature of the Flukes must undoubtedly be their spines. These gigantic spikes have strange memory-altering qualities; if one is pierced by a spine still attached to a Fluke, they enter something of a trance state, wherein some of their memories and the Flukes memories will meld and mix together. Severed needles seem to be capable of removing memories - specifically regrets - from the memories of those pierced with them. These needles can then be used again to give these memories to those being injected.

The Fluke itself also serves as a massive repository of the memories of those it has killed - when someone takes a memory from the Fluke, a spine containing that regret will grow upon the receiver.

''"Sentiments and histories coil, prisoned by irrigo as the irrigo is prisoned by amber. Mourn the mind that has passed."''<ref name = "core">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Fluke-Core|Fluke-Core|Fallen London|}}</ref>

The core of a Fluke seems to act like it's heart - when a Fluke dies, much of its body will simply dissolve away, but it's '''Fluke-Core''' seems to be one of the only parts of the beast that stays corporeal. These cores are always drenched in [[irrigo]], suggesting they may be responsible for the Fluke's ability to drain away memories.<ref name = "core">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Fluke-Core|Fluke-Core|Fallen London|}}</ref>

===Flute Street===

''"Flute Street, the home of the Rubbery Men. It's a cavern. Nothing like the size of the Neath, but still huge. There's light here. A hazy golden glow, like the bottom of a honey sea, of uncertain source. You brush past delicate floating motes, the seeds of coral dandelions."''<ref name = "flute street">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flute_Street|Flute Street|Fallen London|}}</ref>

[[File:Flutestreet.png|thumb|centre|400px|Flute Street. Art from FL]]

Underneath London, the Rubbery city of '''Flute Street''' exists. Here, the [[Rubbery Men]] are able to practice their Shapeling Arts in peace, amassing large quantities of amber, molding bodies into strange and esoteric figures, and communing with the Flukes. The Flukes here seem to control the Rubbery Men of London, sending them out into the city to gather '''Vital Essences''' and to attempt to better understand humanity. The Rubbery Men seem frustrated by this, due to the fact that many in London greet them with stones instead of words, but they continue to dutifully serve their mission. The Flukes also seem fascinated with human life, and see people as extremely lucky to be able to experience breathing, fire, and music.<ref name = "flute street"/>

 

Deeper below Flute Street, proto-Flukes and Rubbery Men alike are encased in amber, seemingly from a further time. Presumably, these are the original forms of the creatures as they were in Axile.<ref name = "flute street"/>

''"The oldest Lorn-Flukes. Too vast now. Swollen with hate. Swollen with wisdom. Tendrils glisten dully. Light contracts nodules. Watch them flex."''<ref name = "gifts"/>

[[File:Fluke_top.png|thumb|A Lorn-Fluke.]]

Furious and prone to confrontation, [[Lorn-Flukes]] are Flukes who are overcome by their anger and seek to destroy... well, anything that comes across their paths, really. Lorn-Flukes are feared by zailors, who know that these spiny monstrosities can skewer a ship with their spikes and scream words in [[the Correspondence]] to drive the ship's crew mad.<ref name = "lorn">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Lorn-Fluke|Lorn-Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Although Lorn Flukes are enemies of almost anything in their path, they are more specifically plotting the downfall of [[the Bazaar]] and [[the Masters]] due to the deal they made with them that trapped them in the Neath, far from their homes.<ref name = "gifts"/>

''"There is a mournful keening. The zubmarine reverberates with the weight of it. You remember home, where the sky is impossible and the stars -"''<ref name = "lornest">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Lornest-Fluke|Lornest-Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

[[File:Lornestfluke.png|thumb|A Lornest-Fluke.]]

'''Lornest Flukes''' are Lorn Flukes which have submersed themselves under the zee and changed in the darkness. Lornest Flukes are less formidable than their more traditional cousins (perhaps due to the large, exposed eye), but their ability to drive a ship promptly to madness still makes them exceptionally dangerous. These Flukes also seem to be infused with Violant light as well as the traditional Irrigo, which seems to make them capable of transmitting their memories to other beings without direct contact.<ref name = "lornest">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Lornest-Fluke|Lornest-Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

''"You send your crew out into the dark. From the observation dome, you watch them become silhouettes against the light of the Fluke. Its pale radiance grows in strength as the flesh sloughs away. It is like the last moments of a near-spent candle."''<ref name = "dawn">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Dawn_Fluke|Dawn Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

 

'''Dawn Flukes''' are Flukes that have been transformed and modified by the power of [[the Dawn Machine]]. Although they maintain the spinose structure of all Flukes, their central body seems to have been mechanically enhanced with metal plating and artificial spikes. Dawn Flukes seem to have been fundamentally changed by the influence of the artificial judgement, and their cores constantly emanate sickening and maddening false-sunlight. Upon dissection, it seems that the innards of such flukes may have become more dawn-light than Fluke, given their tendency to quickly dissolve into light and warmth upon death. One should take caution when dealing with Dawn Flukes, however - their light still seems capable of driving zailors mad with chants of THESUNTHESUNTH-<ref name = "dawn">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Dawn_Fluke|Dawn Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

''"This close, your sky-suit cannot entirely protect you: when you finish coughing, the dizziness is overwhelming. You can smell the Fluke's dying wishes, are ravaged by its regrets: the search it leaves incomplete; its fear that the search is impossible and will never end; the jagged, excruciating recollections of being outcast and the certainty that only the outcast have a chance of success"''<ref name = "scorn">{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Scorn_Fluke|Scorn Fluke|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

[[File:Scorn.png|thumb|A Scorn Fluke. Sprite from Sunless Skies. ]]  

Those familiar with Lorn-Flukes will be surprised/terrified/driven to insanity to learn that Flukes also rove the skies of [[the High Wilderness]]. Known as '''Scorn-Flukes''', these Flukes seem to have ritually scarred their exteriors, and they tear through the skies in search of information and guidance to their home, Axile. This might be sympathetic, but they plan on gathering this information by attacking ships, destroying them, and then harvesting the crew's souls to probe their memories for information. They seem to meld these stolen memories with their own, often increasing the total misery that the creature constantly secretes.<ref name = "scorn">{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Scorn_Fluke|Scorn Fluke|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

A Scorn-Fluke is responsible for the extremely outlandish setting of [[Worlebury-juxta-Mare]]. A cult, known as '''The Church of They Who Must Grieve''', has formed around the Fluke and seems to want to appease the great beast. They seem to do whatever they can to share in the Fluke's grief, while the Fluke performs various seemingly random actions, including giving visitors bodily growths and augmentations, creating monstrous egg-laying goat creatures, and generating mysterious mists around the port.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Lowered_into_the_Mists|Lowered into the Mists|Sunless Skies|}}</ref><ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Into_the_Mists|Into the Mists|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

<references/>

[[Category:Unfinished]]