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| {{Discordant spoiler}} | | {{Discordant spoiler}}<blockquote>''"You're simply sitting on [[Watchmaker's Hill]]. There are false-stars overhead. You haven't been cast down, stripped, swallowed, blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be. And the scream that rises through the earth on a still, silent night, and chills the blood just as it chills the ground with crystal frost, is not your scream."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"You're simply sitting on Watchmaker's Hill. There are false-stars overhead. You haven't been cast down, stripped, swallowed, blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be. And the scream that rises through the earth on a still, silent night, and chills the blood just as it chills the ground with crystal frost, is not your scream."''</ref></blockquote> |
| {{Character|title1=The Black|image1=Hurlers star.png|caption1=The Black|location=Not Applicable|allegiance=Not Applicable|relationships=[[The Anchoress]]}}<font color="b3e4ff"><blockquote>''''' 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 –'''''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/ Before_the_Black_Throne| Before the Black Throne|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote ></font> | |
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| The <font color="b3e4ff">'''Black'''</font> is not a [[Judgements|Judgement]], and it does not exist.__forcetoc__ | | {{Character|title1=The Black|image1=Hurlers star.png|caption1=The Black|location=Not Applicable|allegiance=Not Applicable|relationships=[[The Anchoress]]}}'''The Black''' is not a [[Judgements|star]] and it does not exist. |
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| == Erased == | | == Shall-Not == |
| <blockquote>''"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."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Build_the_station_at_The_Hurlers|Build the station at The Hurlers|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote> | | Long ago, a two-mouthed, binary monarch stood trial before a court of stars.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"This isn't a court. You are not on trial. What could you say in your defence? Nothing, not even with your double-tongue.(...) 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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"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. Come, Steward, and walk with me."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"Overhead, the sky is pricked with holes. 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."''</ref> The trial's conclusion did not result in the King being wrapped in chains and banished from the past, present and future.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"You haven't been cast down, stripped, swallowed, blotted from all things that are, and were, and that will be."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"[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-"''</ref> Even though it does not exist, the monarch manages to communicate with the real world through its Discordant Laws.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"You have risen to such heights that they have cast you down, but you have learnt to speak even without a voice. You have called out by not calling, you have beckoned with no sceptre, worn no crown, and written nothing in a ledger whose ink-black pages are not drenched with unreadable night."''</ref> Some of the Black King's court survived this judgement, presumably by using the principles of [[the Discordance]] to become the [[Goat-Demons|goat-demons]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"You will understand,(...) how two beasts can grow into one. How disparate components can agree. But you won't discover, amongst the fossils catalogued here at the University, any bones that resemble the first beast. The second, of course, is a goat."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"Shadows trail you down the corridors, along the walls. You can't distinguish individuals in their dark throng, although they might have horns. They might have hooves. "Not every courtier suffered the same fate," the Anchoress explains. "Some are different now, yet still the same. They entertained the court. They played a game."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Find_the_Caprine_Vagabond_in_the_herd|Find the Caprine Vagabond in the herd|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Find_the_Caprine_Vagabond_in_the_herd_2|Find the Caprine Vagabond in the herd 2|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Find_the_Caprine_Vagabond_in_the_herd_3|Find the Caprine Vagabond in the herd 3|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Find_the_Caprine_Vagabond_in_the_herd_4|Find the Caprine Vagabond in the herd 4|Fallen London|}}</ref> |
| [[File:Hurlers.png|alt=A snowflake.|thumb|[[The Hurlers]]]]
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| Once upon a time (relatively speaking), two [[Judgements]] were a "double star," described as a monarch with two mouths, two tongues, and two crowns.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_the_upper_galleries|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.""''</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Before_the_Black_Throne|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"''</ref> The monarch managed to "rise high,"<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Meditate_upon_the_Upper_Principles_(The_Upper_Castle)|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 [...]"''</ref> and its courtiers entertained the court with games of hurling.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_the_lower_galleries|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 [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Don%27t_talk_about_the_game|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."''</ref> 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]].<ref name=":2">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Exhale_a_Breath_of_the_Void|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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Exhale_a_Breath_of_the_Void|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."''</ref> Its laws were all voided, and it was erased from reality and history.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Before_the_Black_Throne|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"''</ref><ref name=":2" /> All records of the monarch were erased, meaning it effectively never existed.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Open_your_eyes_1|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."''</ref><ref name=":2" />
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| The Black was left chained to suffer forever, always screaming but unable to be heard.<ref name=":0" /> Its court was erased as well,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_the_upper_galleries|Walk the upper galleries|Fallen London|}} ''""This court is all departed," says the Anchoress. "It never was a court.""''</ref> and its remnants, now called the <font color="b3e4ff">'''Black Castle'''</font>, were left deserted and in disrepair.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Black_Castle|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."''</ref> It is implied that some of the Black's courtiers, who are now known as [[Goat-Demons|goat-demons]], were transformed into the [[The Hurlers#The Standing Stones|Standing Stones]] of the [[Hurlers]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Don%27t_talk_about_the_game|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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|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."''</ref> though their "shadows" still play their game.<ref name=":1" />
| | One day, the Black didn't come into contact with a woman known as '''[[the Anchoress]]''', who did not take pity on it and did not decide to comfort it. The King in return didn't decree a law stating that she would always be herself, causing her to not only be herself, but also be herself, until being herself meant being the [[Adulterine Castle]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"Whatever the heavens do not love, that thing needs love even more."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discordant_Studies_(Storylet)|Discordant Studies (Storylet)|Fallen London|}}''"[be not afraid – by our decree, you shall still be yourself]'' [and be yourself – and be yourself—] —and she is unafraid, and she is unafraid, and she is still unafraid when she becomes herself, herself, herself – when she fills the castle with herself – until she herself is the castle, and the castle has become herself. And kneeling amongst the stones, she cradles no frozen king whose body, shrieking soundlessly, still chained, shivers in her embrace."</ref> |
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| == Absent ==
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| <blockquote>''"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."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Wander_the_castle|Wander the castle|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
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| <font color="b3e4ff"><blockquote>'''''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 –'''''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|Enter the courtyard (The Black Castle)|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote></font>
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| [[File:Anchoress greyscale.png|alt=A nun.|thumb|[[The Anchoress]]]]
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| In its nonexistent state, the Black was still able to speak the [[Discordance]], the frozen language of absence.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Meditate_upon_the_Upper_Principles_(The_Upper_Castle)|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 [...]"''</ref> The [[The Anchoress|Anchoress]] saw a vision of the [[Hurlers]], and read and understood the Discordant sigils written upon them.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Light_a_candle_(All_Dark_in_the_Chamber)|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.""''</ref> This brought her into contact with the Black,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Wander_the_castle|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."''</ref> who beckoned her closer. The Black used the Discordance to decree that neither she nor itself would ever be alone,<ref name=":3">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|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 [...]"''</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_courtyard_(The_Black_Castle)|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."''</ref> The Black's not-voice still permeates Adulterine, but can only be "heard" in the deepest silence.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Listen_closely_to_a_Night-Whisper|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."''</ref> And its cries may yet tear the world itself apart, opening a wound to bleed "eternal blackness."<ref name=":0" />
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| == References == | | == References == |
| {{Scroll box|text = <references/>}}
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| [[Category:Characters]]
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| [[Category:Nonhuman]]
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