The Eleven Deadly Sins are a collection of clanks created by one of the Old Heterodynes in an attempt to outdo the the Muses of Van Rijn. This attempt was at least partially successful, since the Sins do outnumber the Muses. There are eleven instead of seven because the Heterodynes were overachievers when it came to being bad.[1]
The Sins[]
The names of the Sins are not given, except for Gomorrity ✣ , a sin "invented" by the Old Heterodynes. It seems almost certain that seven of the remaining Sin names are the same as the "classical" seven deadly sins in our world: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride.[2]
There is no clear evidence one way or another as to whether the appearance or operation of the Sins has any relationship to the sin after which they are named. The only Sin that has been shown clearly ✣ so far is the one assigned to the Greenclaw family, which has not been identified by name.
History[]
At some point after the Sins were created, they were awarded to the Blood Circle Families.[3] This proved to be a double-edged sword, and eventually an arrangement was reached whereby the winner of the yearly Harvest Festival snail-race, among other perks, controlled all of the Sins for the coming year, with the Golden Snail race-trophy being the control device.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the von Mekkan family, as Seneschals to the Heterodyne, are able to override and control the Sins even beyond this; the current holder of the office, Vanamonde, has his control device built into the metal trim of his uniform of office.
In the "future" following the Other War, as part of his scheme to seize greater power in Mechanicsburg, that young go-getter Hadrian Greenclaw uses his spiffy new TPU education to deactivate all of the Sins except the one belonging to his family.
On the Nature of Gomorrity[]
Exactly how you commit the deadly sin of "Gomorrity" is never made clear in the story. It seems certain[4] that it is a reference to the biblical city of Gomorrah, which along with its more famous neighbor Sodom (after which sodomy was named), was destroyed by God due to its inhabitants' wickedness.
However, Gomorrity itself seems surprisingly innocuous, at least based on the reaction of the Assistant when Vanamonde von Mekkhan explains it to her.[5]
Although Ivo says gomorrity was overshadowed by sodomy, note that sodomy is not one of the original seven.
References[]
All of the references below, unless otherwise noted, are from the short story "Ivo Sharktooth, P.J.".
- ↑ Ivo Sharktooth: "Ho! Ven it came to sinning, de Masters vos pros! Dey prided demselves on finding schtuff noboddy else vould effer tink ov!", page 023, panel 5. ✣
- ↑ "Yes, vell, hyu haz probably gots mad or eaten too much cake, too" is pretty clearly a reference to wrath and gluttony, page 023, panel 8. ✣
- ↑ Van: "Each of the Blood Circle families was granted one—as a gift from the Masters!", page 024, panel 1. ✣
- ↑ The Assistant: "…Never heard of it."
Ivo Sharktooth: "Yeah, vell de odder place gots all de press. The naughty schtuff sells.", page 023, panel 6. ✣ - ↑ "What? That's no big deal! Even I've done that!", page 023, panel 7. ✣