Editing The Correspondence

[[File:Skiescorrespondence.png|thumb|In the days before Sunless Skies was released, Failbetter released these Correspondence sigils. Thanks Lord_Norjam for the compilation!]]
''"A lead plaque incised, carefully, with Correspondence sigils. Not too many. Apparently even lead can burn."''<ref name = "plaque">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Correspondence_Plaque|Correspondence Plaque|Fallen London|}}</ref>

'''The Correspondence''' is a mysterious language of an unknown provenance that only the finest scholars of the Neath can comprehend.__forcetoc__

==Surface-Level Details==
The Correspondence is a alien form of writing that often consists of strange sigils. It can be found on the spires of [[the Bazaar]],<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Fallen_London|Look closely at the sprite|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> as well as around places like the [[Avid Horizon]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Avid_Horizon|Avid Horizon|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The Correspondence is notorious for producing extreme heat when written, so Scholars of the Correspondence tend to lose their eyebrows during their investigations, or worse.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Invite_guests_from_the_observatory_to_a_symposium|Invite guests from the observatory to a symposium|Fallen London|}}</ref> Correspondence sigils can also cause severe discomfort, even madness, to untrained viewers,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Introductory_lecturing|Introductory lecturing|Fallen London|}}</ref> and it's occasionally graffitied in the streets of [[London]], often causing public discontent;<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/City_Vices:_Orthographic_Infection|City Vices: Orthographic Infection|Fallen London|}}</ref> such acts of vandalism are often dealt with by [[the Constables]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_answer_to_Nightmares%3F|The answer to Nightmares?|Fallen London|}}</ref>

A good place to study the Correspondence is [[the Forgotten Quarter]], as it is littered with these searing artifacts.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Set_of_Correspondence_Stones|Set of Correspondence Stones|Fallen London|}}</ref> [[The University]] has a department dedicated to studying the Correspondence; it was once known as '''the Department of _______'''.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Interview_the_Department_of_staff|Interview the Department of staff|Fallen London|}}</ref> Professionals known as '''Correspondents''' reveal the secrets of the universe via the Correspondence; they often use [[violant]] ink for this task. Unfortunately, many of their publications are often considered too esoteric for the common populace.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Become_a_Correspondent|Become a Correspondent|Fallen London|}}</ref>

=="What is the Correspondence?"==
There's quite a bit of rumor and hearsay about the Correspondence, so that is listed below. Not all of it is true, but it's not all completely false either...<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets|Sidebar Snippets|Fallen London|}}</ref>

''They say it's the key that opens Mr Stones' vaults. They say it's concealed in Mr Pages' library. They say it's the only way down here you can ever see starlight.''

''They say it's a gate that opens in the stalactites behind [[Wolfstack Docks]]. They say you can see it in [[Mrs. Plenty's Carnival|Mrs Plenty's mirrors]]. They say it's the only sure way to tell the weight of your soul.''

''They say it's a series of confidential negotiations between [[The Masters of the Bazaar|the Masters]] and a devil of some note. They say it comprises the billets-doux written by [[Jack-of-Smiles]] to [[the Traitor Empress]]. They say it's the letter the Pope wrote, the one without which Rome would have been the Fourth City. They say if you read it your eyes boil and your hair turns the white of old ice. They say it's written on slate in the blood of poisoned bats.''

''They say it's the language the bats speak. They say the [[Snuffers|Snuffer]] wrote it on the outside walls of [[New Newgate]]. They say [[the Topsy King]] learnt it, and that's why you can never understand a bloody word he says.''

''They say it's the letters that Helen wrote to Menelaus in the years of her imprisonment. They say it's the letters Raffles wrote about [[The Starveling Cat|the Cat]] that never were published. They say it's the last accounts of the last days of the Third City, strung in beads on cord in a code no-one living understands...''

''They say it's the only map of all the Unterzee, scratched on the keystone of the Neath. They say it predicts every price change in the Bazaar for the next hundred years. They say it's a script that you cannot write and live. They say every piece of deep amber has a fragment of the Correspondence at its heart.''

''They say it's the map that connects every glimmer of moonish light to a star. They say it's the key that unlocks the secrets of bat-flights. They say it's a trap that someone found inscribed on a wall in the First City, and if you decode its complicated patterns you inevitably decide you're God, to the considerable detriment of your social life.''

''They say it's the mathematics of [[Devils and Hell|Hell]]. They say it's the geography of Time. They say it was invented wholesale by a honey-sipper sitting giggling in a cramped and filthy room on Hollow Street, and it's been driving gullible scholars insane ever since.''

''They say only [[the Brass Embassy]] knows.''

<gallery spacing="small">
Correspondenceplaque.png|Almost never remembered
Correspondence3.png|Meaning unknown
Correspondence4.png|Mysterious graffiti.
Correspondence2.png|Eight sigils! Surely you are asking for trouble!
Correspondencestone.png|A stone inscribed with the Correspondence.
Correspondence_paperweight.png|A paperweight inscribed with the Correspondence.
Seal.png|A seal inscribed with the Correspondence.
Mementomori.png|The Memento Mori. Be very afraid.
SS correspondence2.png|[[Salt|The Name-Which-Burns]]
SS correspondence3.png|[[The Dawn Machine|''SHINE WHERE THOU WILT AN THOU HARM NONE'']]
SS correspondence1.png|Hurtling forever towards the Earth
Correspondence5.png|Hurtling forever towards the earth. (Flipped; meaning changed?)
Rockcorrespondence.png|This pitted, faceted rock serves the Correspondence as: punctuation. Protection. A legal token. An illegal weapon. A punchline. It's an odd language.
monosigil.png|A Semiotic Monocle.
navigatorborderless.png|[[The Sigil-Ridden Navigator]]. More sigil than man? 
sigil20.png|The sensation of having carried out a painstaking task for no particular reason
Sigil11.png|The Final Moment of Acceleration
Sigil12.png|One Fateful Event that Depends on Countless Others
Sigil13.png|An Exchange of Burdens
Sigil19.png|Eternal dominion/Everything in its place/No drop-in meetings permitted
Correspondences.png|Truly mysterious...
seacorrespondence1.png|A colophon printed on living skin.
seacorrespondence2.png|The altar-stone of a forgotten temple.
seacorrespondence3.png|An unmappable direction.
seacorrespondence4.png|The last hour with a friend.
seacorrespondence5.png|A relative, afflicted with limerence.
SS_Locations_Avid_Horizon_Map.png|The [[Avid Horizon]].
</gallery>

==What is it Really?==
{{major spoiler small}}''"This is how the Correspondence sounds, when it's spoken between stars."''<ref name = "breath">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Breath_of_the_Void|Breath of the Void|Fallen London|}}</ref>

''"A glyph in the language of suns! The very soul of fire!"''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Adrift!|Inscribe a Searing Enigma upon your regulator valve|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

The Correspondence is the language of the [[Judgements]] - the stars, like our Sun.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_mysteries_of_the_heavens|The mysteries of the heavens|Fallen London|}}</ref> They often use Couriers like [[the Bazaar]] and [[the House of Rods and Chains]] to send messages to each other.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Aver_it|Aver it|Fallen London|}}</ref> Other beings can learn it too, such as [[the Masters of the Bazaar]], who occasionally speak it among themselves.<ref name = "opine">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_Conversation_on_the_Road|A Conversation on the Road|Fallen London|}} ''"(Or would opine, were he speaking in air, in a language less muscular and extravagant than the Correspondence.)"''</ref> Some beings, such as [[Lorn-Flukes]]<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Lorn-Fluke|Lorn-Fluke|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and [[Mt. Nomad]],<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Mt_Nomad|Mt Nomad|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> are also capable of weaponizing it to devastating effect. Eyes blessed by the Correspondence are often sought by [[sorrow-spiders|spider-councils]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Talk_your_way_out|Talk your way out|Fallen London|}}</ref> Apparently, a being who has mastered this arcane language can potentially warp reality however they please, but right now it seems that all humans can do is set themselves on fire.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Beyond_Death%27s_Door|Rage against the light of dying|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

Only a maximum of six sigils can be written safely on a single surface; seven sigils tend to burst into flame.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Lost_in_Reflections|Lost in Reflections|Fallen London|}} ''"But it bears six words of the Correspondence, and no document ever written can bear a seventh. You inscribe it with the word [...] and it vanishes in a rush of flame that crisps your eyebrows."''</ref> [[Salt|The Name-Which-Burns]] consists of the latter number of sigils.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Name-Which-Burns|The Name-Which-Burns|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Like many languages, writing the Correspondence is not the only way to express it. It can be conveyed through speech,<ref name = "opine"/> song,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/The_Bandstand|Listen to the first hymn|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> dance,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/The_Bandstand|Decipher some of the dance-alphabet of the devils|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> music,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Somewhat_challenging_music|Somewhat challenging music|Fallen London|}}</ref> and even through ''cricket'' (yes, seriously!).<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Cricket,_Anyone%3F|Cricket, Anyone?|Fallen London|}} ''"You see the ball: a point in space, a punctuation mark. All things are aligned. This is the dance's last step. This strike will enact the law whose language has been written through the game."''</ref> Correspondence can sometimes be indistinguishable from light;<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_Conversation_on_the_Road|A Conversation on the Road|Fallen London|}} ''"A chuckle in the Correspondence is the crackle of broken light."''</ref> this makes sense, as both are simply facets of the same, simple concept: Law.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Cricket,_Anyone%3F|Cricket, Anyone?|Fallen London|}} ''"Correspondence blazes in your brain. You perceive laws, not as words, but actions. When you shove the books aside: that is a law. When you grip your splitting skull: that is a law. When shadows dissolve in sunlight, when the guilty must confess: that is a law."''</ref>

Some Correspondence sigils are actually alive, in a sense, these are called [[Logoi]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Sigil_Ember|Sigil Ember|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

{| class="article-table mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide" width=100%
!colspan=3|
====[[File:Camera.png|40px]] A More Modern Take on the Subject (Huge Spoilers)====
|-
|
What if the FL-Verse was Turing-complete?
*The Correspondence = markup language
*[[Judgements]] = system admins
*Correspondents = CS students messing around with code bits they barely know what to do with
*[[The Dawn Machine]] = backseat admin
*[[The Clockwork Sun]] = that one incompetent admin that was abruptly promoted and is in over its head
*[[The University|The Department of _______]] = <s>StackOverflow</s> '''MARKED AS DUPLICATE'''
*The Red Science = exploiting bugs to bypass security protocols
*[[Flukes|The Shapeling Arts]] = exploiting bugs to make things as weird as possible
*Discordance = the language used to program computer viruses
*[[The Liberation of Night]] = destroying the mainframe by disabling all security protocols
*Light/sight/real colors = frontend
*[[The Neathbow]] = legacy code that no one should be seeing
*[[The Iron Republic|Law furnaces]] = homebrew development kits
*Lead plaques = IDE (integrated development environment)
*[[The High Wilderness]] = internet
*The Neath = dark web
*[[Avid Horizon]] = TOR (anonymity network)
*[[The Masters of the Bazaar]] = senior developers who work with the email server
*Dragons = FBI agents
*[[Parabola]] = Torrent/any other pirating service
*[[The Fingerkings]] = phishers
*[[The Bazaar]]/Messengers = email servers
**[[Lacre ]] = The Bazaar's cooling agents
**[[Stone Pigs]] = The Bazaar's power source
**[[The Cave of the Nadir |The Nadir ]] = The Bazaar's VPN
**The Skin of the Bazaar = The Bazaar's hard drive
''Compiled by 0bsidianFire from Discord.''
|}

==Discordance==
''"She dips her finger in the water, and traces something on the stage. "Some stars abandon the immutable light of their brethren for a more nuanced philosophy. The old language no longer suffices; heretical concepts exist for which it cannot provide signifiers." As the symbol takes shape, water turns to frost with a crackle.''

''"'These traitor-stars adopt another language. Or perhaps another dialect? The Discordance.'''

''She hisses and withdraws her finger from the completed symbol; the tip is blackened with frostbite."''<ref name = "lesson">{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Today%27s_Lecture|Listen to the old woman's lecture|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

The Correspondence has an icy counterpart, called '''the Discordance'''. It is used by the sable suns who have joined the [[Revolutionaries#The Liberation of Night|Liberation]] and abandoned their light. Discordance chills just as intensely as Correspondence burns.<ref name = "lesson"/>

Many of the creatures in [[Traitor's Wood]] know the Discordance, as they are implied to be Are-Not.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/A_Lengthy_Expedition_into_Traitor%27s_Wood|Search for another route|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />[[Category:Other Things of Significance]]
[[Category:Exceptional Story Spoilers]]
[[Category:Cited]]
[[Category:Formatted]]