The Clockwork Sun

It is the gold of toffee-wrappers, not of fire. Art from Sunless Skies.

> *"The light of the Clockwork Sun oozes into your cabin like rancid honey."*
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> *"Pistons pump, cogs turn, and suit-swaddled figures tend to the enginery, bellowing over the shrieking metal."*
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**The Clockwork Sun** is the artificial star that gives light to Albion.

## THE SUN! AGAIN!

> *"Sunlight seeps like syrup through cracks in the stained-glass ceiling. The floor shudders in time with the churning machinery far beneath your feet. The air has a tang of chemicals, bonfires and rain."*
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The Clockwork Sun is the the Dawn Machine 2.0: an actual, functional, artificial Sun! Its power allows Empress Victoria to preside over time itself, and her Throne of Hours is framed in its hollow glow. The Clockwork Sun is the symbol of Albion's dominion, for as long as it shines, the Sun will never set on the British Empire.

While the Clockwork Sun enjoys a reputation of reverence and awe among the people of New London, it is one of the most dangerous stations in Albion, as its sick, buttery light turns people into glass, slowly and excruciatingly, and drives them insane. As a result, the station is almost completely deserted. Its only residents are several overworked and exhausted engineers, and the **Dawn Rats**, a group of Rattus Faber engineers who eventually took to thieving.

The station is also home to a priest of the New Sequence (which is basically the state religion at this point), **the Dazzled Sequencer**, who conducts his rites in the shadowless sundial of **Azimuth**. Despite his eccentricity, he may be inclined toward charity. Azimuth also serves as an access route to **the Sun-Shattered Dome**, an extremely dangerous abandoned museum of sorts that's packed with relics and the glass statues of former tourists. Within one of the exhibition halls lies **the Glasshouse**, a prison of sorts that holds several insane and vitrified prisoners.

The Clockwork Sun also causes time to unravel, creating **Wefts of Unraveling Time**, which can cause time-warps and aging effects. The official position of the Horological Office is that, one, the Wefts do not exist, and two, if they *did* exist, then Her Majesty could fix them easily. If she did not do so, it would be because such an act was beneath her. Those who aren't bound to believe only things convenient to Her Majesty's government may find this less than convincing, but they'd be well served not to contradict it while in Albion or the more British parts of the Reach.

## The Sun is Still Sick

Beyond this point lie **major spoilers** for *Fallen London*, *Sunless Sea*, or *Sunless Skies*. This may include **endgame** or **Fate-locked** content. **Proceed at your own risk**.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy **here**.

> *"There is. The winds whisper to you of the usurper-sun. Of its hollow, mocking light. Of its ravening and monstrous pride. Teach it a lesson, the winds say. Bring it down a peg or two. Perhaps then the Storm that Speaks will forgive you."*
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> *"You notice the densely-packed scrawl on the walls behind her. Two words, repeated thousands of times, often misspelled, eventually running into a single garbled stream."*
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Like all Judgements, the Clockwork Sun is a sentient being, notorious for its unstable and vitriolic personality. It often aggressively brainwashes people into praising it endlessly, especially those that dare doubt its superiority, turning them into unwilling Sequencers called the **Dazzled**, assuming it just doesn't glass them outright.

The Clockwork Sun took over the King of Hours' domain after the King was murdered; this explains its precedence over time. Naturally, The King's spirit, the Storm that Speaks, is *furious* at the Usurper, and will support anyone who pledges themselves against the Clockwork Sun.
It's also implied that the Clockwork Sun is dying; it brainwashed all the engineers tasked with keeping it working into **Dazzled**, who failed to notice the false-sun's increasingly severe mechanical breakdowns. This decline in its... health, after a fashion, has not done its disposition any favors. It hates us - but you can't fix perfection. There's no such thing as dusk...

## The Broken Steward

She has a markedly stiff-limbed gait, and her arms creak as she removes her helmet. Art from Sunless Skies

### Related

The Clockwork Sun

> *"The Broken Steward has been working on the Sun since before it first shone. She has been here far, far longer than any of the engineers above."*
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**The Broken Steward** is the sole senior engineer who still maintains the Clockwork Sun. Despite her special protective outfit, her work has caused most of her teeth and bones to be vitrified.

It is vital that the Steward's mental well-being is paid attention to, as she's the only senior engineer who isn't brainwashed or entirely made of glass by now. Should anything bad happen to her, maintenance on the Clockwork Sun will probably cease, leaving it in disrepair.

## References

2. ↑ The Clockwork Sun, *Sunless Skies*
3. ↑ The Clockwork Sun, *Sunless Skies*
4. ↑ The Throne of Hours, *Sunless Skies*
5. ↑ The Clockwork Sun, *Sunless Skies*
6. ↑ Arrival at the Sun, *Sunless Skies*
7. ↑ Scavenging with the Dawn Rats, *Sunless Skies*
8. ↑ The Glasshouse, *Sunless Skies*
9. ↑ Azimuth, *Sunless Skies*
10. ↑ The Glasshouse, *Sunless Skies*
11. ↑ A Race against Unravelling Time, *Sunless Skies*
12. ↑ The Royal Horological Office, *Sunless Skies*
13. ↑ Swear a service to the Whisperwinds, *Sunless Skies*
14. ↑ Something is wrong, *Sunless Skies*
15. ↑ The Glasshouse, *Sunless Skies*
16. ↑ Releasing the Half-Glass, *Sunless Skies*
17. ↑ Something is wrong, *Sunless Skies*
18. ↑ Swear a service to the Whisperwinds, *Sunless Skies*
19. ↑ Something is wrong, *Sunless Skies*
20. ↑ Speak with the prisoners, *Sunless Skies*
21. ↑ Why now?, *Sunless Skies*
22. ↑ Descend to the vaults beneath the surface, *Sunless Skies*
23. ↑ Speak with the Broken Steward, *Sunless Skies*
24. ↑ Something is wrong, *Sunless Skies*