The Black

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"Whatever you think you remember, the first step is to remember that you don't."

Spoilers do not lie ahead for the Discordant Studies storyline from Fallen London.

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no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death, knocked from the board, bound, banished, forgotten – listen to me – listen – but no one can hear –[1]

The Black is not a Judgement, and it does not exist.

Erased[edit | edit source]

"A light was quenched. Or the Hurlers wouldn't be out there now. I cannot tell yet whether it's an inspiration or a warning."[2]

A snowflake.
The Hurlers

Once upon a time (relatively speaking), two Judgements were a "double star," described as a monarch with two mouths, two tongues, and two crowns.[3][4] The monarch managed to "rise high,"[5] and its courtiers entertained the court with games of hurling.[6][7] Its reign would not last, however, as it was "cast down" by the other Judgements. They brought the monarch to trial for treason, and "shackled" it with the Great Chain of Being.[8][9] Its laws were all voided, and it was erased from reality and history.[10][8] All records of the monarch were erased, meaning it effectively never existed.[11][8]

The Black was left chained to suffer forever, always screaming but unable to be heard.[4] Its court was erased as well,[12] and its remnants, now called the Black Castle, were left deserted and in disrepair.[13] It is implied that some of the Black's courtiers, who are now known as goat-demons, were transformed into the Standing Stones of the Hurlers,[14][15] though their "shadows" still play their game.[6]

Absent[edit | edit source]

"I prayed. I met a king. Not truly a king. Nothing true has a name. But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."[16]

and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer, closer – be not afraid – by our decree, you shall still be yourself – and be yourself – and be yourself –[17]

A nun.
The Anchoress

In its nonexistent state, the Black was still able to speak the Discordance, the frozen language of absence.[18] The Anchoress saw a vision of the Hurlers, and read and understood the Discordant sigils written upon them.[19] This brought her into contact with the Black,[20] who beckoned her closer. The Black used the Discordance to decree that neither she nor itself would ever be alone,[21] and that the Anchoress would always be herself. And so, as she comforted the Black in its chained and shivering state, the Anchoress became herself: the nonexistent Adulterine Castle.[22] The Black's not-voice still permeates Adulterine, but can only be "heard" in the deepest silence.[23] And its cries may yet tear the world itself apart, opening a wound to bleed "eternal blackness."[4]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Before the Black Throne, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Build the station at The Hurlers, Fallen London
  3. ↑ Walk the upper galleries, Fallen London "[...] Light twinkles through the holes. The holes are not stars, but you can pretend. Two holes, pricked close together, are a double star. No light twinkles through them. [...] "I saw the absence. Now you see it too.""
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Before the Black Throne, Fallen London "no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void [...] listen to me [...] but no one can hear – heavy with shackles [...] tightening forever around a terror whose cries would cut this world apart until it were an open wound, bleeding eternal blackness"
  5. ↑ Meditate upon the Upper Principles (The Upper Castle), Fallen London "Now you can see nothing, and nothing can see you. [...] You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down [...]"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Walk the lower galleries, Fallen London "Shadows [...] along the walls. [...] they might have horns. They might have hooves. [...] "Not every courtier suffered the same fate," [...] "Some are different now, yet still the same. They entertained the court. They played a game." Their shadows still play [...] passing a round silhouette [...]"
  7. ↑ Don't talk about the game, Fallen London "Hurling [...] This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] these goat-demons. [...] which hurling team won't score higher in the next match."
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Exhale a Breath of the Void, Fallen London "You haven't been cast down [...] blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be."
  9. ↑ Exhale a Breath of the Void, Fallen London "You are not on trial. What could you say [...] Nothing, not even with your double-tongue. Kings are not deposed in this manner. [...] Myrmidons, more myrmidons than there are stars assembled, could not shackle a traitor with the Chain as you have been – because you have not been."
  10. ↑ Before the Black Throne, Fallen London "no monarch screams – no monarch with two tongues, two mouths, two crowns whose laws are void, stricken from life, stricken from death [...] forgotten"
  11. ↑ Open your eyes 1, Fallen London "This word isn't the first word in a story that's censored. You could not uncensor that story without [...] exposing an absence that shrieks with silent language to be understood."
  12. ↑ Walk the upper galleries, Fallen London ""This court is all departed," says the Anchoress. "It never was a court.""
  13. ↑ The Black Castle, Fallen London "The Black Castle [...] No court is in residence. All the chambers have been abandoned. Tattered black standards [...] Black chessmen litter the floor, scattered amongst broken glass."
  14. ↑ Don't talk about the game, Fallen London "This is a game that never ends, just as it never began. [...] Because these are the Hurlers. [...] there is no difference between the standing stones atop the hill, and these goat-demons."
  15. ↑ Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle), Fallen London "[...] walking toward the standing stones and their screaming sigils. They tower in the courtyard, on the playing field, atop the hill."
  16. ↑ Wander the castle, Fallen London
  17. ↑ Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle), Fallen London
  18. ↑ Meditate upon the Upper Principles (The Upper Castle), Fallen London "You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down, but you have learnt to speak even without a voice. [...] called out by not calling, [...] beckoned with no sceptre, worn no crown, and written nothing in [...] ink-black pages [...]"
  19. ↑ Light a candle (All Dark in the Chamber), Fallen London "In the dark, the darkness comes to you. Stay at your little window [...] and read the night-steeped text that rises with the stones atop the hill outside. [...] "Anyone would've agreed to read the stones. But not everyone would have tried to understand them.""
  20. ↑ Wander the castle, Fallen London ""I prayed," says the Anchoress. "I met a king." [...] "Not truly a king. [...] But without light, there is darkness. If there is the White, then there is also the Black."
  21. ↑ Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle), Fallen London "The Discordant Law [...] and you will never be alone – and we will never be alone – come closer [...] the Anchoress does come closer, walking toward the standing stones [...]"
  22. ↑ Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle), Fallen London "The Discordant Law [...] by our decree, you shall still be yourself [...] and be yourself [...] she becomes herself [...] until she herself is the castle, and the castle has become herself. [...] she cradles no frozen king whose body, shrieking soundlessly, still chained, shivers in her embrace."
  23. ↑ Listen closely to a Night-Whisper, Fallen London "Listen closely to a Night-Whisper [...] Silence has many meanings [...] The particular silence you hear under the ice, when nothing stirs in the castle, is what nothing might say if it could speak to you right now. [...] Another tongue is speaking. It isn't a ninth tongue. It doesn't exist. [...] you hear a silence that means: a chain has ceased to rattle."
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