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'We call upon the Watchman,
who navigates;
who illuminates;
who is not compassionate'
[1]


The Watchman is a merciless Hour of knowledge and Enlightenment. It is believed that he was once the “Unwise Mortal,” who learned the arts of Flint and ascended under the Egg Unhatching. While not a proper god-from-Light himself, he is heavily connected to the Glory, and is prophesied to one day guide seven souls to ascend further in a Pilgrimage which will bring back the Sun-in-Splendour in the Second Dawn.[2][3][4][5] His aspect is Lantern[3] and his hour is 1 a.m.

He is said to have a triple origin as a mortal who descended from the Glory, and was once in the service of the Egg Unhatching, thus being Amber.[6] However, this claim is somewhat disputed and, in some places, outright refuted.[3][7]

Events[]

  • The Pilgrimage: The Seven will someday walk in the shadow of the Watchman and bring the Second Dawn.[4][5]


Servants[]

  • The Baldomerian/Teresa Galmier (?): The author of the Locksmith’s Dream, who frequently spends time at the Lodge of the Sage-Knight (somewhat speculative, but her interest in the Pilgrimage, status as a Lantern-Long/Name, and lack of a shadow suggest she may be in the service of the Watchman, or perhaps the Vagabond).[8][9]
  • Sunset Celia: A former Name of the Sun. Sunset Celia was to be joined with the Swan King and serve as the proxy of the Sun. That way the Forge of Days and the Sun-in-Splendour could be joined without committing the Crime of the Sky. She became a Name of the Watchman after the Intercalate. Some adepts believe that the Watchman has no Names besides Sunset Celia, while others believe she is somehow connected to The Chandler.
  • The True Sisterhood: A heretical offshoot of the Sisterhood of the Knot who followed the Door in the Eye and the teachings of St. Respicius, who was executed by ritual strangulation before he could ascend.[10]
  • Everett Lapidot: An American member of the Company of Lights, Lantern-Long who ascended under the Watchman, and key character in The Lady Afterwards. He is the lover of fellow Long Audrey Leigh Howard, who became pregnant with twins that they believed died in childbirth. Upon discovering that one of the children survived, the two of them prepare to commit the Crime of the Sky.


Relationships[]

  • The Flint: The Unwise Mortal, who likely was the Watchman before he ascended, first learned from the Flint before entering the service of the Egg Unhatching.[2]
  • The Vagabond: It is said that the Vagabond will be the first of the Seven to follow the Watchman in the Pilgrimage.[4]
  • The Chandler: A mysterious “future” Hour who will perform her own secret pilgrimage and assemble those who were sacrificed for the rise of new Watchman's Name in the image of the Witness.[11]


Real-World References[]

  • The Watchman takes the place of the Magician in the Tarot of the Hours. The Magician traditionally represents intellect, skill, and bridging the gap between heaven and earth. He is the first card in the Tarot, and in the Fool’s Journey teaches the Fool to tap into his full potential.
  • The Watchman is one of several Hours that gets associated with Janus, the Roman god of doorways, endings and beginnings who had two faces which looked to the future and the past. Teresa Galmier specifically ties him to Janus as “the Gatekeeper”, and she eventually concludes that, if Janus is anyone, they are likely the Watchman or the Meniscate.[12]
  • The tradition of likening the Truth (as knowledge about the nature of things in contrast to mundane knowledge of the material world) to the Sun is prominent in the western philosophy, along with metaphorical "seeing" as the most direct and evident way of knowing things (see Plato's allegory of the cave or Aristotle "as blind as bats").[13]


Other Notes[]

  • The Watchman is the Hour which the player ascends under in the standard Lantern ascension, a path continued in the Apostle Entheate Legacy.[14]
  • The Rite of the Watchman’s Sorrow is performed in his honor, with a sacrifice of knowledge that will be taken from one’s mind.[15]
  • It is said that the First History was recorded by the Unwise Mortal using the encaustum terminale known as Uzult, which requires amber to mix. [16]


Theories and Questions[]

  • It is unclear how much of the Egg Unhatching survives through the Watchman. In the “Focus of Amber”, the author Omar claims that he is the Egg in some way, though the accuracy of such a statement is unproven.[6] More likely the Watchman simply holds some fragment of the Egg’s power.
  • The Watchman is said to be like “a shadow cast by two candles”, in comparison to Sunset Celia, who is currently his Name. [17] It’s possible that the two candles in reference are the Egg Unhatching, the Hour which came before the Watchman, and the Chandler, the Hour which may come after. Or it could refer to the Egg Unhatching and the Unwise Mortal, as both were involved in the rise of the Watchman. Little concrete can be said about this statement currently, however.


Sources[]

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