Editing Judgements

{{Character|image1 = Sunsetgaz.png|caption1 = The Earth's Judgement - the Sun. Art from Sunless Sea.|location = [[The High Wilderness]]|allegiance = The Conjunctions|alias = The Stars|notable_members = The Sun<br>

[[The Garden King]]|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/the-surface The Surface]}}<blockquote>''"Look ahead, to the light of the Judgement. All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Prevaricate_2|Prevaricate 2|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>'''Judgements''' are the so-called ultimate power in the universe.__forcetoc__

As powerful celestial entities, the Judgements oversee the lesser beings that exist beneath them. They are the ultimate lawmakers of the universe, and all under their eternal light adhere to their rules.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Ambition:_the_Stars_are_Dying|Further the Didact's research into the politics of suns|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> Every star in [[High Wilderness|the night sky]], even our own [[Sun]], is a god to their respective planets and subjects. Only a few exist outside their influence, such as those who reside in [[Parabola]], and those who do resent their complete dominance of the universe.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Dramatis_Personae#I._A_Prologue|''The revolutionaries made camp''|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> For those who live outside of a Judgement's gaze (as is the case for most Neath denizens) the laws may become... er, strong recommendations rather than mandatory rules.

[[File:Bottledsoulwhite.png|thumb|A Judgement's Egg.]] Like all beings, Judgements have souls, known as '''Judgements' Eggs'''; these apparently function as their spores.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Judgements%27_Egg|Judgements%27 Egg|Fallen London|}}</ref> If such souls manage to escape being used in dark rituals and other quests for power, they may hatch into stars of their own.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Alarming_Scholar|Judgement's Egg|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Intriguingly, Judgements are also multicellular, and their insides are composed of flesh and bone; in fact, they appear to be vertebrates, as they possess skulls/ribs.<ref>{{Citation |https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Baroness%27_Investigation|The Baroness' Investigation|Sunless Skies|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Autopsy|The Autopsy|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

Judgements communicate via [[the Correspondence]], a particularly incendiary form of language.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Breath_of_the_Void|Breath of the Void|Fallen London|}}</ref> They often use Couriers such as [[the Echo Bazaar]] and [[the House of Rods and Chains]] to send messages to each other.<ref name="seventh">''[[The Seventh Letter]]''</ref> Furthermore, Judgements adhere to an immensely strict hierarchy, called '''the Great Chain of Being''', which is similar to a caste system. All entities are set to a certain rank, and contact is strictly professional (in most cases).<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Mr_Sacks!_Take_this_dream_of_skies_untainted!|Mr Sacks! Take this dream of skies untainted!|Fallen London|}}</ref> The Judgements do not take kindly to the breaking of this rule,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/You_have_rejected_wine_and_song|You have rejected wine and song|Fallen London|}} ''"To ascend is not possible, save by the Science (and the Science does not exist). "''</ref> and it is part of the reason why the [[The Echo Bazaar|Bazaar]] is here in the first place (and to a lesser extent, us).<ref name="seventh" />

To those of a more... [[Revolutionaries|revolutionary]] bent, the Judgements are not unstoppable; quite the opposite in fact. Through arcane research and dedication bordering (and often well past) the bounds of insanity, the [[Revolutionaries: the Calendar Council|anarchists]] are slowly devising methods to make the lights go out, as part of their quest to achieve [[the Liberation of Night]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_lights_are_out|The lights are out|Fallen London|}}</ref>

By 1906 in the ''Sunless Skies'' timeline, it became apparent the Judgements were dying off, with someone or something killing them one by one. The British Empire has taken advantage of their deaths, abandoning London and colonizing the Judgements' empty domains.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Sunless_Skies|Overview|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> There are still a couple alive, like [[the Sapphir'd King]], who lives in the Blue Kingdom and rules it with impunity.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/The_Blue_Kingdom|The Blue Kingdom|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

* '''[[The Sun]]''' is the Judgement of the Earth and of Mankind, at least for those dwelling on [[the Surface]].

* '''[[The Sapphir'd King]]''' is the Sun of the [[Blue Kingdom]], where he rules as king of the [[Death|dead]].

* '''[[The White]]''' is the spymaster of the heavens.  

* '''The Red<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/You_have_given_up_your_intrigues|You have given up your intrigues|Fallen London|}}</ref>'''

* '''The Gold<ref name=":0" />'''

* '''[[The Garden-King]]''' was the Regent of [[the Reach]] until his death. The Reach has overgrown in his absence.

* '''[[The King of Hours]]''' was regent of what is now [[Albion]] until his death.  

* '''[[The Halved]]''' is the Sable-Sun of [[Eleutheria]], formerly known as '''the King who Wars.'''

* '''[[The King Who Speaks]]''' was the Halved's other half.

* '''[[The Dawn Machine]]''' is an ambitious and dangerous artificial Judgement built by the Admiralty.

* '''[[The Clockwork Sun]]''' is the second, more successful artificial star, which reigns over [[Albion]] in the King of Hours' absence.

* '''[[Salt]]''' is a former Judgement who left its past behind. Also called '''the Sun-Beneath-the-Sea''', it lurks to the East, where new scents arise.

<blockquote>''"All st-study of the suns is difficult. The Judgements are vast. Ancient. Beings of incomprehensible complexity. Any investigation is also an act of t-translation, rendering their concerns and structures into analogies we can comprehend."''<ref name="didact find">{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Ambition:_the_Stars_are_Dying#Trigger_conditions|Deliver your findings to the Bedevilled Didact|Sunless Skies|}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:HeirloomDyingStar.png|thumb|300px|They exchanged war for murder. Art from Sunless Skies]]

Thanks to [[the Royal Society]]'s magnificent telescope, the behavior of Judgements among themselves has finally come to light (ha!).

 

It turns out that Judgements can form groups. Minor ones, called '''constellations''', consist of three to four stars, and are often formed by neighboring stars, resembling clans. '''Conjunctions''', on the other hand, are much, much bigger,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Ambition:_the_Stars_are_Dying#Trigger_conditions|Further the Didact's research into the politics of suns|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> and are founded on the principles of an ideology or philosophy. So far, three conjunctions are known to exist:<ref name="didact find" />

*The '''Chrysanthemum Conjunction''' is concerned with new beginnings.

*The '''Amaranthine Conjunction''' believes in endings and conclusions.

*The '''Nepenthine Conjunction''' advocates separation and isolation.

===The Courtesy===

<blockquote>''"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."''<ref name="courtesy">{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/The_Brazen_Brigade#The_Adamant_Idol|Ambition: Ask "What is the Courtesy?"|Sunless Skies|}}</ref></blockquote>

What is killing the stars? Well, they're killing each other. Some massive insult has provoked a cosmic war among them, with '''the Courtesy''', the Judgemental "rules of war," being constantly invoked.<ref name="courtesy" /> That the suns are prone to just as much lethal politics as mortals is something they do not want ''anyone'' lower on the Great Chain to know, so they specifically assigned a [[Logoi|Logos]] to hunt down anyone who learns of it, called '''the Fire that Follows''',<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Speaking_to_your_Second_Mouth|Pursuit|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>, which manifests as an electric-blue flame that relentlessly pursues and punishes the intended target until they draw their very last breath.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/And_the_Lamps_Burned_Blue|Snuff out the lanterns and fly in the dark|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

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