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in: Other Things of Significance, The High Wilderness

The Fire that Follows

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Appallingsecret

"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"

Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, or Sunless Skies. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.


"It comes for those who know a thing they should not know. A secret, sworn between suns. The knowledge itself is the scent it follows. And when it has you, the Courtesy will come."[1]

The Fire that Follows is a phenomenon that hunts anyone who learns of the Courtesy - a secret sworn between suns.[2] It manifests as an electric-blue flame[3][4] that relentlessly pursues and harasses the intended target[5] and anyone around them, branding their crimes and darkest secrets on their skin if given the opportunity.[6][7] If necessary, a Logos of the Courtesy will manifest physically to claim and punish a target.[5][8]

St Jude's, a New Sequence church in New London,[9] has taken in victims of the Fire that Follows. They are kept hidden beneath the building,[10] most isolated by choice[11] since their secrets are branded on their skin,[12][13][7] and are taken care of by the vicar for the rest of their lives.[14]

Beings higher on the Great Chain may have other ways to escape the Fire; Mr Menagerie, for instance, burnt away its own knowledge of the Courtesy.[15] But for humans, nowhere in the High Wilderness is safe, and darkness can only provide so much protection.[16] To escape for good, one must either leave the skies, or leave themselves.[17] The only other option is to join the Courtesy, and make a bargain:[18] a soul for a star. And for lesser beings, that is easier said than done.[19]

References[]

  1. ↑ Ambition: Ask Mr Menagerie about the Fire that Follows, Sunless Skies
  2. ↑ Ambition: Ask Mr Menagerie about the Fire that Follows, Sunless Skies "The Fire that Follows. Dangerous knowledge for us; more so for you. The Fire is a hunting-flame. It comes for those who know a thing they should not know. [...] A secret, sworn between suns. The knowledge itself is the scent it follows. And when it has you, the Courtesy will come."
  3. ↑ And the Lamps Burned Blue, Sunless Skies "The lamps on the interior of your engine dim, then flare again. But now they burn a stark electric blue, flinging hard-etched shadows against the walls."
  4. ↑ The Fire and the Fury, Sunless Skies "The fire-box thunders. Inside it, an inferno rages, its flames a stark, strobing blue. The boiler creaks and rattles, it is beginning to overheat. "The fires won't go out, Captain!" "
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ask how the Courtesy keeps its existence a secret, Sunless Skies "They use the Fire that Follows to find those who would betray it, and punish them. If necessary, a Logos of the Courtesy will physically substantiate, to finalise matters."
  6. ↑ Shoot him dead, Sunless Skies "Fire, blue as lightning, pours from his mouth [...] You fire again, and again, leaping back as the flame rears and snaps like a serpent. Eventually, it dies out. The man's clothes have burned away, and his skin is covered in writing, branded into him: a comprehensive litany of his every crime and guilt and embarrassment."
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Open the third door, Sunless Skies "His skin is scribbled with a horrendous catalogue of crimes, one half of which would see him imprisoned, the other half hanged. He doesn't try to hide them. "When you have no secrets left," he says [...] "The Courtesy will come." He grins, and you see the sins engraved on his teeth."
  8. ↑ Sacrifice your Old Friend to the Courtesy, Sunless Skies "The Fire that Follows has burned a sigil on the city, and from the sigil arises a Logos of the Courtesy – a servant of the Judgements; a word of living flame."
  9. ↑ Ambition: The House of Jude, Sunless Skies "St Jude's is a New Sequence church in the lower, poorer levels of London. The New Sequence preach glories of the Clockwork Sun [...]"
  10. ↑ The Confessional, Sunless Skies "Beneath the church is a small corridor with rooms on each side. Their doors are barred on the outside."
  11. ↑ Speak to the priest, Sunless Skies "We keep our guests as comfortably as possible, but all of them have a strong preference for isolation. Unsurprising, I suppose."
  12. ↑ Open the first door, Sunless Skies "His arm is outflung against the light, every inch of his skin covered in script. [...] "I never loved Mary. I never loved any of them. I told the constables that John was the knife-man. Robertson didn't die in an accident. [...]" "They are scarred with their own secrets," the priest says, as he closes and bars the door."
  13. ↑ Open the second door, Sunless Skies "A wide-eyed, frantic face shrieks at you, scrawled with its own secrets. It is impossible not to read them. [...] The woman climbs to her feet. "Look, then," she spits, spreading her arms to show you her guilt. "The Fire doesn't burn flesh; it reveals the soul! I hope it finds you. I hope it finds you and brands you with everything you hoped to hide!""
  14. ↑ Leave St. Jude's, Sunless Skies "But I must warn you: these are broken souls. Their exposed secrets make them pariahs from the lives they led, and make founding new lives impossible. Their days are easier hidden in the dark, tended by a stranger."
  15. ↑ Ambition: Ask Mr Menagerie about the Fire that Follows, Sunless Skies ""Once, I did." Menagerie pulls its hood to one side, revealing a bat-like muzzle, mottled fur, and a livid burn mark across one side of its skull. "Burned it out. Better my fire than theirs.""
  16. ↑ Snuff out the lanterns and fly in the dark, Sunless Skies "You order your locomotive plunged into darkness. Every lamp is quenched and emptied of oil. [...] After a day, you light an experimental lamp. It burns yellow. You relight the others."
  17. ↑ Lay your plans, Sunless Skies "There is no refuge for you in the sky. Therefore you have two choices: flee the heavens, or flee your selves."
  18. ↑ Ask what it means, Sunless Skies "You cannot flee the Courtesy, or defy it. You can only join in. You could appeal for the right to slay a star."
  19. ↑ Ask what it means, Sunless Skies "[...] the Courtesy is unspecific on that point. Perhaps, since only suns are capable of defeating other suns, they did not think it worth forbidding others from trying. [...] Regardless, the requirements are the gift of a soul, and an exact supplication. You are not capable of the latter, but I am. And while customarily a rare and elaborate soul is given [...] hers will do."
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