Revolutionaries
Some call them the dynamite faction, but they're very far from united. Socialists, anarchists, foreign agents: only their hatred of the Masters unites them.
Not everyone's happy with how Fallen London is now under the Bazaar's control. Led by a mysterious group called the Calendar Council, these rag-tag anarchists are determined to topple the Masters and put London back in the hands of the people, and are willing to do whatever they must to further their cause.The Calendar Council
Not much is known about the Calendar Council by the people of London, and the Masters and the Councillors themselves like it that way. A group of unknown size, influence, resources, and violently protective of its secrecy, the Council unites the otherwise bickering revolutionaries, though ironically its leaders aren't quite unified themselves. Those seeking more about the council are in danger, both from Special Constables and the agents of the twelve themselves.- Expy: Of the Council of Days from The Man Who Was Thursday.
- The Night That Never Ends: The ultimate plan of Revolutionaries who support the Liberation of Night, like February. All colours but the Neathbow would cease to be. Apparently would result in freedom from all law, too. Since the Judgements of the stars come from non-Neathbow light, and Judgements determine reality... 'all law' in this case is rather literal.
- Rage Against the Heavens: The Liberationists' ultimate goal is to destroy the Judgements.
- Reign of Terror: In the Exceptional Story Cut with Moonlight. There's an alternate version of London that never fell, where they overthrew the Traitor Empress instead... and they've set up their own offices and bureaus in the old order's place.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Generally, they staunchly oppose the Masters, the Traitor Empress and anything resembling a law; some also want to abolish said laws on sheer principle, even if the result causes major suffering for those who want nothing to do with any upheaval.
- Temporal Theme Naming: Its leaders are named for months of the year. 'Seasons' may correspond to positions on the Liberation of Night.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Council members agree the status quo cannot continue... but that's about it. Sometimes this infighting results in a murder of the permanent kind.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Council is united in this trope - the status quo, to them, is miserable, and anything that breaks it cannot possibly be worse. The Liberation of Night is a logical extension of this; the Judgements and their laws, born of light, is what continues the miserable status quo for everyone, and so by getting rid of light...
January
A masked woman known to be bankrolling some of the Revolutionaries' more visible schemes. Runs the Museum of Injustices, a hidden archive used by the Revolutionaries, and appears to be aware of allies in places high above. The current January was first mentioned during the Jovial Contrarian's first campaign, then served as his campaign manager during his second campaign.
- And Then What?: Cornelius accuses the Liberationists at large of not having any idea what their plan is. In a way, January admits it to a degree. Despite being an intelligent woman who articulate clear critiques of the Emancipationist and Prehistoricist movements, January says little about what the Liberationist seeks, aside from the obvious. She justifies this by saying she herself is a product of the oppressive system created by the Judgements and her mind cannot conceive of the values and way of life of a post-Liberation world.
- Legacy Character: The title of January has been passed down following the previous holder's death at least once.
- The Night That Never Ends: She is far from the only Revolutionary who advocates for the Liberation of Night, but she is currently the face of the Liberationist movement as far as the Railway storyline is concerned.
- Non-Idle Rich: She's shown working for the Revolution's benefit whenever she appears in person.
- Politically Motivated Teacher: She was once Dean of Benthic College, and her specialisation is radicalisation through education.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Deconstructed. She expresses solidarity with groups like Clay Men and Urchins, personally running a museum about oppression. She's also an intellectual associated with the Magnanimous Quirk. However, she plans to help marginalised people by tailoring rhetoric to recruit them, then initiating the Liberation of Night. It seems that her anger against the Judgements takes precedence over immediate injustice.
February
- The Chessmaster: She'll never have just one plan when she could have two or three or more.
- Combat Pragmatist: She seems to favour underhanded tactics to gain any possible advantage in a fight.
- Complexity Addiction: February can't resist an opportunity to demonstrate her intellect. This leaves her vulnerable to a counter-plot that's a lot simpler than it looks.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Her favoured method of revolution is the knife, the gun and the Phlebotinum Bomb. (Someone ignoring the gun, however, will make her sigh wearingly and try asking nicely instead.)
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Her demeanour lies somewhere between "motherly" and "flirtatious" — she'll sign a note ordering an assassination with "fond kisses."
- Terms of Endangerment: She refers to Mr Iron as "my sweet" and generally acts as though every success in her schemes is a wonderful gift she's reserving especially for him.
- Token Evil Teammate: Opinions are divided when it comes to the Calendar Council. However, most would agree that February is the least sympathetic of them all, being a little too keen on chaos and violence.
March
The original March in-game was a squat, rustic, amiable-looking fellow, who was a known enemy of Mr Wines. But then he stopped appearing. He's been replaced by a new March.
- Historical Domain Character: The 2018 Mysteries answers confirmed that the original March was John Cassell, the Working-Man's Friend.
- Legacy Character: The Red-Feathered Pin reveals that Cassell has been replaced.
- Unknown Rival: Cassell gave away Darkdrop Coffee and seemed pretty well convinced that he was undermining Wines terribly. Wines didn't appear to be aware that he existed.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The Council thought Cassell was too pious to fit with their vision of the revolution, and had him assassinated. If you manage to get a confession from the Haunted Doctor during Hallowmas, you find out that he was the one responsible for killing March. However, despite being ordered by the Council and admitting his religion conflicted with his politics, he does remember how he always gave him coffee and believes that he owed him better.
April
Mentioned rarely, but renowned specifically for intense brutality. She's also very skilled at designing and building explosives. Her real name is Emilia Hathersage, of Cotterell & Hathersage, who make some of the finest naval weaponry in London. She appears in the Bag a Legend! Ambition.
- And the Adventure Continues: At the end of Bag a Legend!, which requires her help, she leaves with a note that will let you hire her once more, back to her Revolutionary endeavors. Partly because the work of a Revolutionary is never over, partly to hit the ground running because Fires is next.
- Demolitions Expert: If you want high-tier explosives, she's your woman. Especially unnatural explosives, from mere Perfumed Gunpowder to the Chorister Bomb, which can rip apart a Master and scatter its component concepts far and wide.
- Faking the Dead: She's been presumed dead for more than a year, following a factory explosion.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite the trope above, she can join your board of the director and will be physically present during meetings, potentially in the same room as the Efficient Commissioner who works for the Bazaar.
- Mad Scientist: Not that mad, but she can get carried away. Having her help in Red Science matters can have her get quite enthusiastic, especially anything with the Betrayer of Measures. She'd gladly make a ribcage the size of the Neath if it was possible. She is also very keen on highly destructive weaponry. Her only objection against putting military-grade weapons on your train is that they aren't as powerful as they could be.
- Talking with Signs: Only communicate to others via writing. Possibly she's been deafened by her dabblings.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Has stirred up so many fire-bombing mobs that such riots are nicknamed "April Riots" by the Constables.
The Manager of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel / May
Also known as the Merry Gentleman, the Manager is as he sounds — the owner and proprietor of the Royal Bethlehem Hotel, an unbelievably luxurious institution-slash-insane asylum, mostly the latter due to the normal costs of getting a room being far, far too high for the majority of people. He waives the fee for those who are insane though, mostly because he finds them interesting and takes their nightmares instead. Thanks to this and to the quality of the hotel, a lot of guests end up actually regaining their sanity (by Neath standards) under his care. He is also May of the Calendar Council and the priest-king of the First City.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: During Heart's Desire, you deliver this to him. The Manager sends his own nightmares your way to wear you down and distract you from playing the Marvellous. Unfortunately for him, you come prepared, and defeat his nightmares with dreams of your own, and he ends up on the receiving end of his own tactics.
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: On his opportunity card, you can pay him Fate and a diamond(s) to get rid of your Nightmares and receive a bigger diamond from him.
- Byronic Hero: Through and through. Tragic, eccentric, charismatic, mysterious, world-weary, revolutionary, devious and Crazy Sane.
- Collector of the Strange: Dreams, diamonds and insane people.
- Creepy Good: Notably non-hostile, in contrast to many horrors of the Neath, and faithful to the ideal of eternal true love. Although it's of very little comfort when he starts to haunt you.The Royal Beth has a reputation that goes beyond the strange, strays into the menacing and loiters in the foyer of the chilling.
- Deal with the Devil: His lover was suffering from violent convulsive fits and obviously close to death. The Masters came and offered to make them both immortal in exchange for the First City. Unfortunately, the method used to "cure" his lover made him into the King With A Hundred Hearts.
- Dream Stealer: Harvests dreams from the Hotel’s guests for his Garden of Nightmares. It is also possible to give him your own ones as payment for his advice.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: As the priest-king of the First City he wore a lot of copper and brass jewellery. In the Fifth City he's downgraded to some really shiny brass buttons. He's also kind of obsessed with diamonds, because they remind him of his Gem Heart love.
- Fisher King: During the Season of Ruins all the guests of his Hotel were directly affected by his distressful state of mind.
- Friendly Rivalry: In pursuit of his desire to finish an opera, the Topsy King staked and lost his mind to the Manager in the Marvellous. Later the Manager is the one who prompts the player character to complete and stage that opera, fulfilling his opponent's initial wish, and attends the premiere in Veilgarden together with him.
- Genius Loci: His real heart's desire is to share his lover's fate by becoming a second living city.
- Glamour Failure: Appears closer to his real age in some circumstances.
- Homefield Advantage: Makes liberal use of this in the Marvellous. After the opening match, he faces all subsequent opponents in his Garden of Nightmares and make use of visions and dream creatures to distract and wear down his opponent in the middle of the game.
- Large Ham: He's a theatrical sort, given over to random soliloquies.
- Love Makes You Crazy: His love for the King With A Hundred Hearts led to the fall of the First City, and hasn't lessened in the intervening millennia.The grief of separation can be a sort of madness.
- Mark of the Supernatural: Has eight fingers.
- Mind Rape: Quite capable of inflicting madness and waking nightmares on purpose, as seen in the Heart’s Desire finale.
- Public Domain Character: His backstory has a bit in common with The Epic of Gilgamesh. Combined with the revelation that he was a Mesopotamian priest-king of the First City more than four thousand years ago implies that he may be Gilgamesh himself.
- Really 700 Years Old: He was a priest-king of the First City. His real age is probably between 3000-4000 years.
- Stalker without a Crush: When your Nightmares reach level 5 he starts following you around, presumably because he can see someone about to Go Mad from the Revelation and thus one of his future guests.
- Stepford Smiler: Beneath his persona of the Merry Gentleman he is far from merry, and his Quirk in The Calendar Code is Melancholy.
- The Dandy: Prefers this side of London's fashion when trying to blend in Victorian era with his eccentric stovepipe hat, gorgeously brass-buttoned frock coat and silver-capped cane.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night:Sleep is no refuge. You hear the squeak of a trolley, and the creak of your door – is that the Merry Gentleman, come to check on you in the night? No, no! You are at home.
- Unusual Pets for Unusual People:He is out walking his scarlet lizard, searching for new guests for the hotel. His smile is bright like fire in the dark.
- Villainous Breakdown: Depending on your view, possibly more antagonistic than villainous. Near the end of Heart's Desire, as he begins losing, he begins to lose himself, visibly shaking and mistaking you for his former lover. The stress of harnessing his very own worst nightmares and throwing them at you strains him to the breaking point, and seeing your dreams trounce that is even more disheartening. He eventually recovers though.
- The Wonka: He's affable and charming, but also cryptic, menacing and extremely strange.
July
- The Chessmaster: London, Paris... Hamburg? Whatever will happen in 1908 and beyond, she makes sure that she herself will appear as little more than an innocent entertainer.
- Deal with the Devil: The Devil in this case being the Orts — Parabolan snakes that assume the shape of birds. She trades her memories for dreams of a possible future.
- Feather Motif: Of white ravens and black ravens; one for memories of the past, one for echoes of the future.
- Living Memory: What survives of her in Parabola is little more than that.
- Mad Oracle: She seems confused about when she is, recognising passers-by from visions of the future.
- Unexplained Recovery: Regardless of which outcome you achieved at the end of Lost in Reflections, July can be acquired as a companion from Mr Chimes' Lost & Found. Downplayed, however, as conversations with her on the Railway Board makes it clear that "recovered" would be putting it rather generously. The July who accompanies the player character is not the same as the one trapped by the Fingerkings, and her lines indicate that she's not... all there.
The Jovial Contrarian / August
- "Balls" Gag: His 1896 mayoral campaign ran on two key law-and-order policies: to restructure London's constabulary under the Mayor's office, and to hold a Constables' Ball as a way of thanking them for their hard work. According to him, they've never had balls before.
- Benevolent Boss: As a candidate and a mayor, he pays his staff well and ensures they work reasonable hours.
- Commander Contrarian: As the name dictates, he will pounce on anything he finds controversial and argue on whichever side is not yours. He just really, really loves arguing, and has a jolly good time when you actually beat him, not that he'd admit defeat. Even seen in his brief appearance in Sunless Sea, purchasing a Soothe & Cooper Longbox. He'll argue about the price, the condition, and even the kind of wood of the coffin while probably aware the wood has nothing to do with the box's value. And then he'll go and happily pay your initial offered price, having haggled just for the argument. If invited to the Great Hellbound Railway board, the difficulty of persuading him depends exclusively on how many people disagree with the motion at the moment, with more making it easier.
- Disabled Snarker: He's a wheelchair user who acts exactly as his title describes, which often includes snark ranging from lighthearted to ominous. (Although details about his disability are very vague, Word of God has confirmed that he's really disabled, and not Obfuscating Disability.)
- The Gadfly: He's not above provoking people in the middle of a (possibly unwanted) debate, as it both amuses him and gets the other one to actually want to win. He can get so annoying he can literally kill a guy by giving him a conniption just from needling him. It's apparently a constant problem for him.
- Good is Not Nice: Zig-zagged. He actively cares about London. His argumentativeness doesn't stop him from being friendly, treating his staff well, and being an inclusive Mayor. But he plays devil's advocate for issues like Clay Men's rights, gleefully backstabs allies, and repeatedly kills people by annoying them. And what Quirk is associated with understanding him or getting his attention? Ruthless.
- Hidden Depths: The first time he ran for Mayor, his campaign appeared to be just a joke that not even he took very seriously like most of his other in-game contrarian actions. Deeper investigation of his campaign, however, revealed that it was actually a very serious attempt by him to try to Take a Third Option and find a way to free London from the Masters' control without resorting to the extremes of the Liberation of the Night.
September
A Scottish young man who advances Revolutionary causes in Balmoral. He is especially contemptuous of the English Empire.
- Badass Bookworm
- Brave Scot: Despises the Masters and the Crown and not afraid to openly preach it.
- Legacy Character: It's heavily implied that the previous September was the Curt Relicker.
October
A revolutionary whose battlefield is dreams and nightmares.
- He Who Fights Monsters: She is willing to go to any length in her fight against the Masters. One Engineer who once worked for her see her as just another oppressor not so unlike the Masters who he had hoped to escape from by fleeing to the Revolutionaries in the first place.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Inflicted this on the Masters. She used a card game orchestrated for the Masters' entertainment to acquire the mean to get rid of one of them. They have had second thoughts after "the Mirrors incident".
- The Unfettered: Utterly ruthless and feared by her own people. Once you find her in Heart's Desire, her advice to you as a previous winner is to cheat and to undermine the other players even when not actively playing.
November
A Purple-Clad Revolutionary, appearing at the Ministry's Parade in the Exceptional Story A Little Pandemonium.
- Big Eater: Constantly seen munching on fruit. Even while being arrested.
- Purple Is Powerful: She's a quiet, cool-headed figure dressed in purple.
December
The leader of the Calendar Council, the only member who knows the identity of all other Council members. A mysterious revolutionary, whose features are always concealed behind an elaborate mask.
- Ambiguously Human: We don't know what they are, but it is implied that December is something other than human. Something that would be intimately familiar with the Judgements and their world.
- Gender-Concealing Writing: Descriptions of December carefully avoid gendered pronouns. At least one other character thinks December is male, but they're not the most reliable source.
- Hidden Weapons: They keep a knife concealed inside the body of their mask.
The Affluent Photographer
One of the main correspondents and liaisons for the Council. She uses her position of authority and her connections with various parties to preach the Revolutionaries' goals and messages to any who would listen.
The Revolutionary Firebrand
A severe, reserved, and really exceptionally handsome anarchist, recently arrived in Fallen London. He's rarely seen outside of his spartan lodgings, but he does make visits to the modest eateries of Doubt Street and to the occasional political meeting.
- The Stoic: The only real show of emotion he gives you is at the end of a long, long questline spanning the entire early-to-mid-game, and even then it's very muted.
The Secular Missionary
An exceptionally charming lady, dedicated to a number of beneficial social causes, who has come to the Neath searching for her missing husband. Despite her apparent innocence and delicacy, she's seen a surprising amount of the world and made the acquaintance of some very unusual characters.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Is this, if you believe the Revolutionary Firebrand's claims. At the very least, she's not half as innocent as she initially acts around you and turns out to be willing to threaten her husband with a gun to get what she wants.
- The Ingenue: Outwardly appears to be this at first, but it soon becomes clear that she's more worldly than she lets on.
"Furnace" Ancona
The woman representing the interest of the Tracklayer's Union and its workers.
- Big Good: For Labour and the Tracklayer's Union. Her goal is to create a much more democratic society in the Hinterlands, hoping this would inspire others from achieving the same ideals.
- Cool Helmet: More of a case of the woman making it work, but her customized Tracklayer's Helmet (think of an old time diver's helmet turned into bulky armor) is pretty nice. And quite functional, apparently even better than the ones you can buy (which somehow reduces your wounds, meaning it will keep you through literally lethal injury).
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Her response to Mr. Fires getting up to his usual stuff and trying to stop union members from using protective gear was to sabotage the facility's machinery so that he ended up trapped and spent three days trying to escape. If she wasn't the leader of the union, that would have ended with her beaten to seven different deaths by Neddy Men at best. That, and the Master generally despises unions, so Furnace is a living middle finger in his face.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: She takes a very risky gambit against Mr. Fires in an attempt to finally get it off her Union's back after it corners her: sign with a Discordance sigil she remembers (without knowing what it was) and trick Fires into reading it; the ensuing blast freezes the entire room, nearly kills her (it blew her main face off, for starters) and knocks Fires right the hell out, leaving it shivering in the corner of the room, huddling under its cloak having no idea where it even was; neither of them even remember what happened afterwards.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": She does not like to be called "Beatrice".Cornelius: You all know, of course, that her name is Beatrice? She doesn't like it if you call her that. Gets all red-faced and prickly and says she'll thank you to call her by the name she earned in life and not the one that was stuck onto her by her parents at the moment of birth.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Inflicted this on herself and Mr Fires. He does not remember her, and she does not remember him. One can assume she has done this to prevent him from meddling with the business of the union.
- Loved by All: She is extremely popular among the tracklayers and even outside of that she appears to be a beloved living legend among Revolutionaries and the working class. Unlike Cornelius, whose election (if he is running against her) is a close run that requires underhanded means to secure a victory, her election is a landslide and appears squeaky clean. In fact, if you succeed the Persuasive check, she basically wins the moment the Tracklayers can be convinced to hold a vote in the first place.
- Married to the Job: If you express romantic interest in her, Ancona appears to turn you down for this reason. Her Liberationist face is more open to the idea though.
- A Mother to Her Men: Her Tracklayers are above all in her priority list. Her end goal is to hold the whole thing together, no matter what the Liberationists want or what Mr. Fires attempts, until she can get them a settlement of land for every one of them, so that they can retire to a town to themselves when the Railroad is done. A place where the Masters won't bother them again.
- Multiple Head Case: Under her helmet are three faces, each representing one faction within the Tracklayers' Union. They all have different personalities and priorities, with the face representing the Prehistoricists and the face representing the Liberationists often being in conflict.
- The Night That Never Ends: One third of the Tracklayer's Union seeks this, and it is implied that some part of "Furnace" herself is this too. However, the "dominant personality" of Ancona, the person who you usually speak to, is actually a subversion. She is actually a Revolutionary who isn't keen on living in a world without light.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Doesn't actively try to be, but officials that try to use her real name and everyone else that actively opposes it tend to squabble. Mostly because of the meaning of the nickname, earned when she trapped Mr. Fires in a factory for a while; only a Furnace can contain a Fire, after all.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Unlike the Calendar Council, she tries to avert this. Ancona represents the Liberationist faction of the Union as much as the rest, despite she herself not agreeing with their goal, or at least the personality of Ancona that the player primarily interacts with. This even translates into gameplay if you invite her onto your board. Regardless of the agenda you set, you can make use of her leadership to get the entire board to agree with you no matter what in one fell swoop.
- We Used to Be Friends: She used to be Cornelius's partner, but now says she is never partnering with him again.
Cornelius
- Anti-Hero: If you sympathize with the Revolutionaries and his ideology in any case. Cornelius is at least partially responsible for Furnace's current state, can be a jerk for no good reason at times and does not shy away from employing underhanded means to get his way, including ones against his former friend. Despite all this, he still believes in humanity's place as destined revolutionaries and seeks to create the world that serve the interest of all living creatures.
- Brown Note: His current condition is due to reading Discordance, a variant of the Correspondence that freezes rather than burns.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: He is responsible for Furnace's current predictment. Turns out, he did not like that Furnace chose to carry the Union on her shoulder, championing ideas and opinions she does not herself hold for the benefits of others. When they arrived at Hurlers, Cornelius invoked a Discordance law that caused them to not be able to speak truth they do not hold. Instead of preventing Furnace from speaking for everyone, it simply makes her grow two extra faces (and mouths) to speak for the major positions of the TLU. He holds himself responsible, and when given the opportunity, asks that Furnace's condition be fixed.
- Hypocrite: He accuses Ancona of running the Union like her personal plaything, despite the fact that as leader Cornelius only seems to push his own vision, whereas Ancona considers the interest of all three major factions of the Union, Cornelius's included.
- Take Me Instead: He offers to be chosen as the Creditor's spouse in place of Furnace, which would result in his physical transformation into a city. Neither of them seem to think this is a great deal, but it may be greatly beneficial to the Tracklayers, and Cornelius begs the player to use him as sacrifice instead of Furnace.
- Too Many Mouths: Under his bandages is a face filled with mouths the size of eyes.
- Tsundere: He is a jerk to Furnace, calling her Beatrice and enjoying telling her that she does not lead the Tracklayers Union anymore with just a bit too much satisfaction. Regardless, he is incredibly invested in her safety, outright telling the player character that he would murder them on the spot if he thinks it would produce Furnace's location (while she was imprisoned).
- At the end of the Railway story when Furnace Ancona is asked to marry the Creditor, which would result in the latter being physically transformed into a city, something she is not entirely happy with for obvious reasons, Cornelius begs the player to pick him instead. When asked for his reasons, he would not give a straight answer, but it is clear that despite everything, he still greatly admires her and does not want her to be sacrificed for the good of the Union.
