the skaianet systems history documentation offers some insight into how things may have been on Alternia, by parallels
the easiest and safest assumption to make is that the vaudeville assassins / Fred Karno’s Army are meant to represent the laughsassins of Alternia, i.e. the footsoldiers of the subjugglators. by proxy this means the Condesce’s gang represents the sea dwellers, which makes sense because the subjugglators and the sea dwellers are personally at odds, but work toward the same goal (the betterment of the Empire).
this means 2 things in turn:
- skaianet vs Fred Karno’s Army represents the conflict between science and clownery, which is implied to have been present on Alternia with the scienstiffs, who the subjugglators deemed “unfunny without […] trial”
- skaianet represents the sea dwellers, which means Eridan’s interest in science may not have been so much of a personal quirk of his. i think it’s probably best this point be left be at the moment, though, considering it’s still unclear exactly what constitutes “magic” and “science” on Alternia
it also seems highly likely that Calamity represents Doc Scratch. both are essentially the “mothers” of Lord English, Calamity biologically and Doc Scratch by virtue of literally giving birth to English through his body. both are also green gunslingers who are high ranking members of clown gangs.
important to the above point, it’s specifically mentioned that Calamity’s gun damages the Condesce more than a standard gun would. Condesce, upon arriving on Earth for the first time, was imbued with some of English’s power, which is a kind of power that has very few weaknesses. one of these weaknesses is Doc Scratch’s cueball gun. it is extremely likely that Calamity was the original wielder of the white magnum, which would later be given to her daughter Calliope, who wielded it as a magic wand. Caliborn then came into possession of it when Calliope was killed, and wielded it as Lord English. probably the gun is a juju, but that was likely anyway.