Straight up the most mysterious bit of Fallen London lore [to me] is.... unexpected and quite obscure, but here we go:
The Bazaar's deal with Axile. It is extremely weird.
The Bazaar came to Axile on its way to the Avid Horizon, to bust into the Neath, right? Nothing suggests it was more than a casual stop off. The Masters were already gathered at this point.
Axile is a planet with a rather lazy Judgement, who hasn't kept a close eye on it— deep clouds and deep seas have hid the Axiles from the star's gaze, allowing them to invent the Shapeling Arts and get freaky with the chain. The star one day observes this, and hates it, and resolves to yeet the planet far away.
The Bazaar stops off... somewhere around here. It's odd the star didn't act immediately, yet the Bazaar came offering Axiles escape, implying they knew death was coming— the atmosphere that hid them was lessening, so perhaps it was only a matter of time. The Bazaar also did this apparently without the star noticing, but it was old and weary.
Anyway, the Bazaar comes to Axile, and offers them freedom, escape, endless amalgamation... why did the Bazaar do this? Unclear, but it's not Biggest Mystery about the situation to me. Maybe the Bazaar could tell Axile was on its last legs and knew a bunch of aliens into Chain transgression might be useful for its deeply illegal agenda. I doubt it was charity. In fact...
Here's the thing. The Bazaar required a price from the Axiles, for taking them to the Neath. It is said the Bazaar "failed to find a price". It is said not knowing what proce to ask, the Bazaar forbid the Axiles from love.
This is the mystery. The Bazaar banning the Axiles from love has been CATASTROPHIC in many ways, including several future timeliness where Axiles (Flukes) cause its death. Over the years, many flukes have become beings of pure hate motivated primarily by the Bazaar banning love, as well as taking them away from their planet. Hateful Flukes made the Thief of Faces, who assaulted the Bazaar's daughter Stone in order to create a hateful iceberg that is actively trying to get the Neath destroyed.... as the TOF also seems to be.
And the question is.... WHY. The Bazaar's mission is all about love, so banning a group from it is counterproductive. Why did it seem obligated to name a price? It seems to have struggled to do so, but NOT naming a price was evidently impossible. The Bazaar is a criminal who was crewed by criminals off to go to a criminal place to do crimes. What law forced it to not just pick up a few Axiles and be on their merry way?
....
My thoughts are basically....
The High Wilderness is a very transactional place. The Bazaar is a shopping mall that operates by purchasing places and people. Judgements make deals with coins of incredible conceptual worth— the Avid Horizon exists within another Judgement's kingdom, but its said (?) i believe the star was like, paid off to not notice for a bit. To Curators, charity is a crime, and I'd say you can safety extend that attitude to most other places under the Chain. Things have worth by being measured against other things, nothing can simply exist freely without worth imposed.
The Bazaar might be into crime, but potentially during Axile, it was still new to the mindset. It could not think outside of transactions — to save those doomed by a star was an incredible boon, so the price had to be incredibly high. The scales had to balance somehow, in some weird way of Meaning and Worth... and love stories are what is valued most by the Bazaar, so love stories were the currency chosen.
This would be the Bazaar paying a price against itself, to save others, but.... look, that's already what canon seems to imply. Nothing suggests the Axiles valued love more than an average civilization, but the Bazaar definitely does.
Maybe the Bazaar spoke first to the star— that might explain its certainty the Axiles were soon to be abandoned, and perhaps the price was a bargain with the star, not the Axiles— the star is described as weary and tired of existing, so perhaps it truly wouldn't give a shit if a random crab asked to take a few souls away from a doomed planet— but it still might demand some payment.
Honestly, I don't know. There's not a lot of text on this. I can't find the exact text about the Bazaar's deal, but it isn't anymore specific than what I've laid out.
It was extremely contrary to the Bazaar's goals and the Axiles' wishes for love to be forbidden, yet the Bazaar made that its price, and the ramifications continue on and have already been quite bad.
