Editing The Great Chain of Being

'''The Great Chain''' (also known as the Great Chain of Being, Great Chain of Existence<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Penance:_Shift_of_Perspective| Penance: Shift of Perspective|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> or the Chain) is the natural hierarchy of all living things.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_dangerous_deal|A dangerous deal|Fallen London|}}</ref> It is a tool made by the [[Judgements]]<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/What_%E2%80%93|What –|Fallen London|}}</ref> to ensure that the universe behaves according to their design.

Every species occupies a place in the hierarchy of the Chain.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Cavity|Surrender to the traces of horror |Sunless Sea|}}</ref> To change one's place, is not only forbidden by the Judgments,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand|Listen to the third hymn |Sunless Skies|}}</ref> but made incredibly difficult where their laws apply. However, in places like [[the Neath]] where their laws cannot reach, one's nature is a bit more... mutable.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Pleasure|Pleasure|Fallen London|}}</ref> The art of breaking the Chain is called [[the Red Science]]. <ref name=":0" />

The Pre-Historicist believe that the chain not only dictate your place, but your purpose, which manifest itself in what a species naturally desire to do. If one believe this, and we add the fact that a desire can be caused by a part of the body,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Port_Carnelian|Refer a patient to the Cladery Heir |Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fathomking%27s_Answer|Why did the Fathomking give your father a knife? |Sunless Sea|}}</ref> it then follows that the place in the Chain can be dertermined by a part of the specy's body. They also believe that this chain contain gaps, since they are task that human find unpleasent, such as hard manual labour. So they think these gaps should be fixed by creating beings who can and desire to do such work.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Ask_her_about_the_Prehistoricists_(Furnace)|Ask her about the Prehistoricists (Furnace)|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Ask_about_his_goals|Ask about his goals|Fallen London|}}</ref> (At least, that's what the Pre-Historicist philosopher believe. Other members simply want to creat giant dinausores.) The Liberationsist however, believes that whatever purpose the Chain serves, it is a tool of oppression and was never intended to help humanity, therefor the Pre-Historicist are wasting their times.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Ask_her_about_the_Prehistoricists_(January)|Ask her about the Prehistoricists (January)|Fallen London|}}</ref> In fact, they think the body itself is a prison,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Season_Conclusions_(Guide)#The_Season_of_Revolutions|Season Conclusions (Guide)#The Season of Revolutions|Fallen London|}}’"A body is a prison. No one asked to be constrained in one."’</ref> and the order of the universe is fundamentally unjust.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/Opening_a_Christmas_Card|Opening a Christmas Card|Sunless Skies|}}</ref>

The Great Chain of Being is a Christian concept in which every being is ranked, with God at the top, followed by angels, humans, animals (stratified according to their role in nature), plants, and minerals.<ref>{{Citation|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being|Great chain of being|Wikipedia|}}</ref> Some claim that there are three principles behind this idea: the principles of Plenitude (the Chain is the expression of God's power), of Continuity (there are no gaps in the chain), and of Gradation (all beings are ordered from the highest to the lowest).<ref>{{Citation|https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/great-chain-being|Great Chain of Being|Encyclopedia.com|}}</ref>

<references />