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| {{Major spoiler}}
| | '''UNDER CONSTRUCTION''' |
| {{Character|image1=Moon.png|caption1=The Moon, in the night sky.|location=[[The High Wilderness]]|allegiance=Independent|relationships=[[The Creditor]]}}<blockquote>''"Dead leaves crunch underfoot. Something rustles ahead. You are soon far from the path and deep in the undergrowth. You turn a corner and find the trees ahead coated in silver. Hanging in the sky above is the moon, fierce and bright."''<ref name="fallenlondon.wiki">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Explore_the_woods|Explore the woods|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>
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| The '''Moon''' is the sole natural satellite of the Earth. Its [[moonlight]] can show visions of an alternate version of [[London]] known as the [[Upstairs]].__FORCETOC__
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| == High in the Night Sky ==
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| <blockquote>''"Even by night, the Port of Naples is alive with shouts and laughter and work-songs, the roar of engines. Brick warehouses loom over the moon-dazzled bay."''<ref name = "naples">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Naples#Port_description_2|Port description 2|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>
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| [[File:Moonpearl.png|alt=A pair of pearls.|thumb|Moon-pearls.]]
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| The Moon is an enormous celestial body that orbits the Earth. It's well known for illuminating the night sky of the [[Surface]],<ref name = "naples"/> and it periodically cycles through various phases, which in some cultures are used to determine the passing of months. These phases are reflected in mysterious trinkets called '''moon-pearls''';<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Moon-Pearl|Moon-Pearl|Fallen London}}</ref> how exactly moon-pearls work is unknown, but they're precise enough to function as timekeeping devices in [[Fallen London]] and the [[Unterzee]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Request_an_Admiral-in-the-Box|Request an Admiral-in-the-Box|Fallen London}} ''"[...] she selects [...] moon-pearls for nautical time-keeping;"''</ref> [[Moonlight]] is reflected [[The Sun|sunlight]],<ref name="discover kinship">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Discover_its_age_and_its_kinship_to_stars|Discover its age and its kinship to stars|Fallen London}}</ref> and it can reveal strange visions of alternate timelines, most notably an alternate version of [[London]] that never fell to the [[Neath]], known as the [[Upstairs]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"[Moonlight] causes visions of a London that never fell."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"[...] that other, moonlit world," [...] "What do they call it, Upstairs?"''</ref>
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| The Moon is the "sister-self" of the [[Creditor]],<ref name = "search for letters of fire">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Search_it_for_letters_of_fire|Search it for letters of fire|Fallen London}} ''"The [...] surface of the stone is mottled and silver as the [...] moon."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Study_its_likely_chemical_effects_on_the_Bazaar|Study its likely chemical effects on the Bazaar|Fallen London}} ''"It was painful to lose your sister-self."''</ref> a being of earth that forms the ground of the [[Hinterlands]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Ask_it_about_the_Hillchanger_Tower_(Furnace_Abandoned)|Ask it about the Hillchanger Tower (Furnace Abandoned)|Fallen London}} ''"That Creditor is [...] an earth power, and [...] laying great, expensive tracks made of Justificandes across its face [...]"''</ref> In the past, the Creditor and the Moon were once a singular being that served a [[Judgement]], likely the [[Sun]]. However, they were separated violently in a "cleaving birth"<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Study_its_likely_chemical_effects_on_the_Bazaar|Study its likely chemical effects on the Bazaar|Fallen London}} ''"A cleaving birth [...] It was painful to lose your sister-self."''</ref> - an event now referred to as the '''Cataclysm of Silver.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Read_the_words_that_come_with_the_Shard_of_the_Mountain|Read the words that come with the Shard of the Mountain|Fallen London}} ''"[...] the Creditor, who has lived alone [...] since the Cataclysm of Silver."''</ref>''' The Creditor's inner "flesh" strongly resembles the Moon,<ref name = "search for letters of fire"/> and it too has a strange effect on sunlight as well as on moon-pearls.<ref name = "discover kinship"/>
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| == Moonlight ==
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| <blockquote>''"The floor is silvered with spilling moonlight. It makes a ghost of your flesh and your eyes a lens to elsewhere."''<ref name = "walk in moonlight">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_in_moonlight|Walk in moonlight|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>
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| [[File:Mirrorcatchboxclosed.png|alt=A box with a glowing interior.|thumb|A Mirrorcatch Box.]]
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| '''Moonlight''' in the [[Neath]] is not seen from the sky; rather, it is an illegal commodity smuggled in from the [[Surface]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Explore_the_woods|Explore the woods|Fallen London}} ''"A highly illegal commodity,"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Consider_the_Moonlight_(45_FATE)|Consider the Moonlight (45 FATE)|Fallen London}}</ref> Moonlight has a unique, silvery appearance,<ref name = "walk in moonlight"/> and it is transported in devices called '''Mirrorcatch Boxes''' that use an array of mirrors to capture moonlight within.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"He lunges for a few mirrorcatch boxes and throws the lids open. The silvered light discharges,"''</ref> The woods of [[Balmoral]] are bathed in perpetual moonlight,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Moon-Seared_Paths|The Moon-Seared Paths|Fallen London}}</ref> as per the [[The Empress|Empress']] demand.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Report_a_sighting_of_a_Fox|Report a sighting of a Fox|Fallen London}}</ref> Exposure to moonlight in the Neath is considered risky, however, as moonlight can have bizarre, sometimes maddening, effects on those exposed to it.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"But [moonlight] sends some people peculiar [...] They get confused [...]"''</ref>
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| Moonlight also has a tendency to grant visions, affecting multiple senses,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Darken_the_wood|Darken the wood|Fallen London}} ''"For a moment you hear the thunder of cannon,"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"[...] wrap your fingers around it, and sense the chill. [...] it winks out of existence."''</ref> of an alternate timeline where certain events either did not occur or occurred differently.<ref name="fallenlondon.wiki"/><ref name = "marigold keeper">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Present_the_Marigold_Menagerie-Keeper|Present the Marigold Menagerie-Keeper|Fallen London}} ''"[...] you see the amphitheatre as it was, filled with devils watching two of their princes settle their differences [...]"''</ref> These hallucinations are based on location; for instance, moonlight released in [[Ladybones Road]] would depict Marylebone (specifically near the Marble Arch) in a version of [[London]] on the [[Surface]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Moonlight burns on the marble of the arch. It limns the gallows in silver."''</ref> Moonlight visions are also possible outside of London, such as within the [[Marigold Station]] in the [[Hinterlands]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Present_the_Marigold_Menagerie-Keeper|Present the Marigold Menagerie-Keeper|Fallen London}}</ref>
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| The divergences of moonlight visions from reality are generally significant; it is not made clear whether or not they are a manifestation of any particular being's ideals or goals. The [[Upstairs]] is the collective term for the imagined version of London that never Fell and remained on the Surface; this version of London also underwent a political upheaval by [[revolutionaries]], as well as other divergences from the known timeline.<ref name="long live the queen">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Septemberist traitors! Long live the Queen! Her Exiled Majesty!" [...] "He's gone all the way Upstairs, this one."''</ref> The use of moonlight at Marigold Station, meanwhile, conjures a world where the [[Grand Devils]] were never defeated and deposed as rulers of [[Hell]].<ref name="marigold keeper" />
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| For reasons currently unknown, moonlight may have a reduced effect near the [[City in Silver]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_towards_(Chosen_Site)|Look towards Marigold Station|Fallen London}} ''"The white walls of Hell shimmer in the moonlight, looking much as they usually do. Hell has already had its revolution. What is left for moonlight to show? But perhaps this is the answer: Hell's revolution is perpetual."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_towards_(Chosen_Site)|Look towards the Hurlers|Fallen London}} ''"Goat demons! Goat demons by the hundreds, goat demons in herds, goat demons engaged in mock battles staged in memory of Napoleon and Hannibal. Are they taking this seriously? Has the moonlight even done anything at all?"''</ref> When this is the case, more distant locations like London will continue to show notable divergences in history.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_towards_(Chosen_Site)|Look towards Ealing Gardens|Fallen London}} ''"[...] the vista of London is changed as well. Gone are the chimneys and steeples; gone is the dome of Saint Fiacre's. In their place is the dream of a Rubbery metropolis [...] It takes another moment to recognise [...] From here, there is no Bazaar."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_towards_(Chosen_Site)|Look towards Balmoral|Fallen London}} ''"Balmoral itself you have seen often and often by moonlight: there is nothing there to surprise. But from here, if you turn towards the east, you can see London as well. Its churches are Catholic now; its palaces are Jacobite."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_towards_(Chosen_Site)|Look towards Marigold Station|Fallen London}} ''"[...] London is far beyond the reach of naked eye from here – or ought to be. But with the right optics and sufficient will, you can make out on the horizon a city of identical factories. Workers file in even though there are no overseers; and over everything hangs a pall of moonwhite smog."''</ref> Even under these circumstances, however, some things may remain the same.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_towards_(Chosen_Site)|Look towards Balmoral|Fallen London}} ''"[...] As to the Bazaar, that's just where it has always been."''</ref>
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| === The Moonlight Trade ===
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| <blockquote>''"London is home to an illicit, lucrative trade in Surface sunlight. Its quality varies, as can its effects. Be careful of sunshine laced with moonlight."''<ref name = "sun smuggling">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#Universal|What is sun-smuggling?|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>
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| [[File:Mirrorcatchbox.png|alt=A box emitting sunlight.|thumb|A Sun-Stamped Mirrorcatch Box.]] | |
| [[London]] is home to a expansive sunlight trade that is as lucrative as it is illegal.<ref name = "sun smuggling"/> However, sunlight often must be harvested directly from the [[Surface]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Avernus#Interactions|Fill your Mirrorcatch Box|Sunless Sea}}</ref> which can be both dangerous and expensive.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/THE_SUN!_THE_SUN!|The light's delights|Sunless Sea}}</ref> Thus, using a method pioneered by the [[Cheery Man]], sunlight traders may "cut" their sunlight with moonlight, which can have varying effects on the product.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/His_operations_on_the_Docks|His operations on the Docks|Fallen London}}</ref> Sunlight cut with moonlight is cheaper to import,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Once we've built up some funds, we can import pure sunlight [...]"''</ref> can last longer in the box, and is safer to transport as well.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Anyway, it's diluted with moonlight: easier to transport [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Moonlight's easier to smuggle, and safer besides. Add a little, and the sunlight goes further. [...]"''</ref> Relying on this method can be risky, however, as customers who purchase such sunlight may still feel the effects of moonlight, visions and all.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Why are so many clients suffering [...] – 'trips Upstairs' – after taking the House's sunlight?"''</ref> | |
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| Certain charlatans and false-spiritualists utilize raw moonlight in their trickery to deceive their marks, as the settings and people seen in moonlight visions can easily be mistaken for those of the realm of the deceased.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"We've been dosed with moonlight," [...] "Some spiritualists use it to convince their victims that they're seeing through the veil."''</ref>
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| == Lunacy ==
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| <blockquote>''"Your friend has a bad case of the Upstairs, lads. Harmless enough now, at least for you. But what happens when he starts thinking you're all Constables? Or murderers?"''<ref name = "cut with moonlight">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>
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| ''"He's gone all the way Upstairs, this one."''<ref name = "cut with moonlight"/>
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| [[File:Moonparliament.png|alt=London under moonlight.|thumb|[[The Upstairs]]]]
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| Besides causing visions, exposure to moonlight can cause other, sometimes dangerous, side effects. Objects in moonlight visions are palpable, but are not truly real or tangible;<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"[...] wrap your fingers around it, [...] it winks out of existence."''</ref> thus, one cannot drown in water seen only in moonlight visions,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"River water rises to your shins. [...] suffused with moonlight. Yet you can breathe through it."''</ref> and objects perceived by a hallucinating individual will not be seen by outsiders,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"Trying to blind me?" [...] "I haven't looked in a box lately. I can't see any moon."''</ref> and vice versa.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"[...] we can't trust our eyes. I can't even see what you're holding. It looks to me like you're playing with air above a solid floor. Perhaps I took a heavier dose."''</ref> Moonlight visions can also be difficult to "see through", and can cause extreme disorientation if the individual attempts to view or interact with the real world with any sort of clarity.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"[...] feeling for rungs with your feet. Sometimes they are there, clear and bright; sometimes they disappear inside your palm and you are buried alive. Your vision cannot be trusted."''</ref>
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| Furthermore, moonlight exposure can induce false memories,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Been sampling the stock, young master? [...] Mathilde – we promised to marry. Remember the arch; the moon—" [...] "You're addled! Leave me be!"''</ref> and sometimes, the individual may be unable to distinguish the two worlds at all.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cut_with_Moonlight|Cut with Moonlight|Fallen London}} ''"Sometimes I see moonlight, and another London. I am not sure which of them is correct; they both seem unlikely."''</ref> This can result in a similar effect to being [[Prisoner's Honey|honey-mazed]],<ref name = "long live the queen"/> and chronic exposure may make this ailment seem permanent.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Compel_the_Ghillie_to_extend_your_visit|Compel the Ghillie to extend your visit|Fallen London}}</ref> Finally, like [[The Sun|sunlight]], moonlight can be lethal in extremely large quantities. Those who overdose on moonlight may die with their eyes wide open, their gaze appearing burnt, but perhaps also revelatory.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Noises_from_Upstairs|Noises from Upstairs|Fallen London}} ''"Raw moonlight seems to be as lethal as sunlight. [...] After about twenty-five boxes he ceases to react. You lean close, examining those moonburnt orbs. There is something in his stare: [...] a revelation,"''</ref>
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| == Scientific Inspirations ==
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| While there may be other potential explanations, the Cataclysm of Silver fits into the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant-impact_hypothesis giant-impact hypothesis]. This hypothesis, which is currently the most thoroughly evidenced theory for the formation of the Moon, poses that an ancient planet called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theia_(planet) Theia] collided with Earth, and the debris accumulated to form the Moon. A more recent investigation indicates that the remains of Theia are present on both Earth and the Moon.<ref>{{Citation|https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/moon-was-produced-by-a-head-on-collision-between-earth-and-a-forming-planet|Moon was produced by a head-on collision between Earth and a forming planet |UCLA Newsroom}}</ref>
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| == References ==
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| {{Scroll box|text = <references/>}}
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| [[Category:The High Wilderness]] | | [[Category:The High Wilderness]] |
| [[Category:Characters]]
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| [[Category:Nonhuman]]
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