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{{Neath_Location|image1 = Locations The Chelonate.png|caption1 = The Chelonate, a settlement on a shell.|location = [[The Unterzee|The Carrion Sea]]|allegiance = [[The Fathomking]]|notable_inhabitants = The Chelonites|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/flukes-fathoms Fluke's Fathoms]|port=Schabelport}}''"Waves lap the slabby sides of a vast turtle-shell - bigger than any cathedral. Chelonites loaf on wooden docks around the shell-sides, staring sullenly. Lamps hang like decorations in a festive butcher's window. All around you, the sea is rank with scraps of ancient flesh."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|The Chelonate|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
{{Neath_Location|image1 = Locations The Chelonate.png|caption1 = |location = [[The Unterzee|The Carrion Sea]]<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Patriotic_Dispute#Interactions|Side with the Chelonians|Sunless Sea}} ''"Come to the Carrion Sea, some time."''</ref>|allegiance = [[The Fathomking]]|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/flukes-fathoms Fluke's Fathoms]|port=Schabelport}}<blockquote>''"Waves lap the slabby sides of a vast turtle-shell - bigger than any cathedral. Chelonites loaf on wooden docks around the shell-sides, staring sullenly. Lamps hang like decorations in a festive butcher's window. All around you, the sea is rank with scraps of ancient flesh."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|The Chelonate|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>


The '''Chelonate''' is an island-sized zee-turtle corpse inhabited by monster-hunters called '''Chelonites'''.__forcetoc__
The '''Chelonate''' is an enormous zee-turtle carcass inhabited by [[Monster-Hunters]].__FORCETOC__


==Live Bait==
==A City On a Shell==
''"A shell as big as a wild dream?"''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate|The Chelonate|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
<blockquote>''"The remains of a vast turtle shell. Voracious hunters. Rotting flesh."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Port_Report:_The_Chelonate|Item description|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Eaterofnames.png|alt=A boat made of bones drawn by worms.|thumb|[[The Eater of Names]]|130x130px]]
The Chelonate is a settlement built on a deceased zee-turtle in the eastern [[Unterzee]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Chelonite_Hunting_Ketch|A Chelonite Hunting Ketch|Fallen London}} ''"[...] the Chelonate, a tiny nation of monster-hunters who inhabit the skeleton of a giant turtle."''</ref> inhabited primarily by [[Monster-Hunters]] who have consumed the [[peligin]] flesh of [[Zee-Monsters|zee-monsters]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Obtain a Doomed Monster-Hunter|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Chelonate is stiff with Monster-Hunters, awash with the peligin juices that give them strength."''</ref> The smell of rot here is so overwhelming it addles the mind, and fights often break out where the stench is foulest.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Compile a Port Report|Sunless Sea}} ''"No matter what details you try to record, the stench creeps in around the edges of the sentences. "The Chelonites, watchful despite the reek." "Movement among the miasmic scraps of long-abandoned monster-carcass." "Frequent duels where the stink is thickest [...]"''</ref> The Chelonites firmly believe that their ancestors slew the turtle that they now call home,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Scrimshaw_Chronicler|Bring him a tale|Sunless Sea}} ''"[...] Glory's what we call this beast." He gestures around you, at the turtle's shell. "None still live from those days when we slew her."''</ref> and will respond to doubt or disrespect with whatever weapons happen to be nearby.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Shore leave at the Chelonate|Sunless Sea}} ''""We lost the new one, cap'n. She had one too many and started on the Turtle not being real. Chelonites were on 'er like ants. Not enough to send home.""''</ref> The waters near the Chelonate are patrolled by the [[The Eater of Names|Eater of Names]], a deadly barge crewed by Chelonite zealots.<ref name="worm">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Figurehead_of_the_Eater_of_Names#Item_description|Item description|Sunless Sea}} ''"This weird skull once adorned the worm-drawn priest-barge of the Chelonate."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Eater_of_Names#The_Eater_of_Names_is_destroyed|The Eater of Names is destroyed|Sunless Sea}} ''"The boat is shattered. Wild-eyed Chelonite zealots leap into the zee."''</ref>


The Chelonate is a settlement built on a zee-turtle corpse called the '''Shell''',<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Allow the Plausible Surgeon to go ashore here|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and the smell of rot can be so overpowering it may overwhelm the mind. As such, the Chelonites frequently duel and brawl where the stench happens to be the foulest.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Compile a Port Report|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Despite the fact that it's located near the [[Gant Pole]], where zee-monsters go to die, the Chelonites are very quick to point out that their ancestors valiantly slew the zee-monster they're living on, and they will point this out with whatever weapons happen to be nearby.<ref name = "shore leave">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Shore leave at the Chelonate|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>  
The Chelonate is a relatively small nation, and its citizens patrol the eastern regions of the Zee in search of beasts.<ref name="ketch">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Chelonite_Hunting_Ketch|A Chelonite Hunting Ketch|Fallen London}} ''"You are not far from the Chelonate, a tiny nation of monster-hunters who inhabit the skeleton of a giant turtle. Their hunting vessels prowl these waters for prey."''</ref> They also congregate at [[Scrimshander]], where they stage historical plays depicting great heroes.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Scrimshander#The_Stage_of_History|Watch a heroic play|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Chelonate's champions promise the tale of a lone hero who changed the course of history. Based on historical evidence."''</ref> Other zee-factions seem to have a strained relationship with the Chelonate, as the [[Khanate]] has protocols against Chelonate raids,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Khan's_Heart#Interactions|Gather a Port Report|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Concerns about Chelonate raids."''</ref> and the Chelonites react poorly to suspected spies from [[Polythreme]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Tomb-Colonists_in_the_Chelonate|A Bandage-Colony Reveal'd!|Sunless Sea}} ''"Polythreme is known to the Chelonate, it seems. Their Sniffers and Sounders have identified the bandage-colony as a 'hearts-licker spy'."''</ref> The Chelonate also has agreements with the [[Fathomking]], justified by their ancestors' killing of the great zee-turtle.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Punishment_for_Arrogance|Story description|Sunless Sea}} ''"He studies the inscriptions, about a starving hunter lost at zee, who washed up on the fresh corpse of a giant turtle, and founded a settlement. His Complexity purses his lips. "They told us they were champions. The terms of our agreements were founded on that claim."''</ref> However, neither party seems fond of one another,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Punishment_for_Arrogance#Interactions|Suggest he spreads the truth far and wide|Sunless Sea}} ''"I have never particularly liked the Chelonates."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|Listen to a Chelonate Envoy|Sunless Sea}} ''"[...] "...unpardonable intrusion! Our ancient rights have been impugned! King you may be, but not of the Shell-Slayers. We will pay no more tribute - " [...]"''</ref> and the Chelonites are required to pay tribute to him.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Punishment_for_Arrogance#Interactions|Suggest the Chelonates are beneath his dignity|Sunless Sea}} ''"And what of the tribute they pay me? Should that be forgotten, too?"''</ref>


The Chelonites' culture is naturally based almost entirely on monster-hunting, and they regularly engage in incredibly violent hunts that can span all across the zee.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Tomb-Colonists_in_the_Chelonate|Let them go hunting with Chelonites|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> According to rumor, Chelonites that "die cowards" are not permitted to rest at zee; instead they're buried on any spat of land that will accept the bodies.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Shepherd_Isles#Interactions|Tales of the Three Graves|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Being monster-hunters, the Chelonites' diet is almost entirely meat-based, and includes viscera from the [[Gant Pole]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Gant_Pole#Interactions|Cut some flesh for the Chelonate|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> This principle includes their beer as well, which is apparently made of eel-blood and zee-fungus, and other ingredients that are perhaps best left unspecified.<ref name = "shore leave"/>
==Culture ==
<blockquote>''"The hunters' tales are characteristically grim: lives cut short by ill-considered dives; ships torn apart by bound-sharks or squirming neithers; eerie lights rising up from the sea. But they're always tinged with defiance: the monster is always scarred in the fight; there's always one wily sailor who lives to tell the tale."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Hail_them_and_exchange_stories|Hail them and exchange stories|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>


Unfortunately, the Chelonites' violent tendencies tend to bring them into conflict with other factions of the [[Unterzee]], including the [[Khanate]],<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Patriotic_Dispute#Interactions|Side with the Chelonians|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and they may extend these tendencies to unfortunate visitors of the Shell.<ref name = "shore leave"/> They also seem to have an enmity with the inhabitants of [[Polythreme]], and the Chelonites use agents called '''Sniffers''' and '''Sounders''' to root out any potential spies.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Tomb-Colonists_in_the_Chelonate|A Bandage-Colony Reveal'd!|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The Chelonate has an interest in conquering [[Aestival]], but the sunlight there naturally makes such a campaign incredibly unfeasible.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Meet your contact|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
<blockquote>''"The Bone Man awaits you. His face and chest are streaked with white clay. His forehead bears a glyph, in the deep code of the void. Long ago, his mother ritually severed his littlest finger."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Hunterseye.png|alt=An eye with a dark navy color.|thumb|A [[Monster-Hunters|Monster-Hunter's]] eye.]]
The Chelonites' culture is based heavily around [[Monster-Hunters|monster-hunting]].<ref name="ketch"/> They regularly embark on hunts across the Zee,<ref name="ketch" /> and are skilled trackers and cartographers.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Exchange_sightings_of_elusive_beasts|Exchange sightings of elusive beasts|Fallen London}} ''"In return, they offer information. Habitats, migrations paths, preferred prey and adverse terrain – invaluable clues [...] filtered through the mind of the hunter."''</ref> They also partake in other activities and industries, such as bone carving and free-diving.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Acquire_a_bone_armoire_from_an_Unblemished_Canon|Acquire a bone armoire from an Unblemished Canon|Fallen London}} ''"The armoire is […]carved from the bones of some gigantic Zee-beast. "It was imported from the Chelonate," [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Hail_them_and_purchase_a_bag_of_assorted_bones|Hail them and purchase a bag of assorted bones|Fallen London}} ''"Remains of maritime creatures and curious fossils found free-diving, all jangling together in a sack."''</ref> Chelonites are formidable fighters, and one of their most infamous tactics is launching themselves out of cannons to assault enemies head on.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Open_fire!_(Hunting_Ketch)|Open fire! (Hunting Ketch)|Fallen London}} ''"The Monster Hunters [...] fire themselves out of their forward cannons to land on your deck, [...] These hunters have trained their entire lives to bring down bound-sharks and Flukes – from within the metal skin of your hull, your crew are like so much chaff under their harpoons."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Open_fire!_(Hunting_Ketch)|Open fire! (Hunting Ketch)|Fallen London}} ''"The more reckless kind of Chelonite Monster Hunter is notorious for firing themselves out of cannons, harpoon-first, to strike at zee-beasts with the velocity of a cannonball and the fury of a starveling cat."''</ref> They are also skilled swimmers, though they struggle against armored enemy vessels.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Open_fire!_(Hunting_Ketch)|Open fire! (Hunting Ketch)|Fallen London}} ''"They are unused to bringing down quarry with metal instead of flesh, and, when their harpoons fail to find purchase on your hull, they abandon ship to swim the considerable distance back to the Chelonate."''</ref>


=== The Eater of Names ===
Chelonites are seen as dour and morbid by others,<ref name="doomed">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Obtain a Doomed Monster-Hunter|Sunless Sea}} ''""That will suffice. When news of my death comes, they'll offer this treasure to the Bone Men. If they die, they will still be remembered." Cheery lot, the Chelonites."''</ref> but they possess a defiant spirit, celebrating even the smallest victories and pursuing great challenges.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Hail_them_and_exchange_stories|Hail them and exchange stories|Fallen London}} ''"The hunters' tales are [...] grim: [...] But they're always tinged with defiance: the monster is always scarred in the fight; there's always one wily sailor who lives to tell the tale. One day, they like to claim, they will turn their ships towards Saviour's Rocks and sink the Tree of Ages."''</ref> Their diet appears mostly meat-based, and includes viscera from the nearby [[Gant Pole]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Gant_Pole#Interactions|Cut some flesh for the Chelonate|Sunless Sea|}} ''"The carcass of the last beast to expire in this place still has plenty of meat hanging from its bones. [...] To the Chelonate, [...] it probably counts as haute cuisine."''</ref> This even extends to their beer, which is supposedly made of eel-blood, zee-fungus, and other ingredients.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Shore leave at the Chelonate|Sunless Sea}} ''""It's not actually beer, cap'n," a zailor confides. "It's eel-blood fermented with zee-fungus, or somefin'. I didn't hear the whole account. [...]"''</ref> According to rumor, Chelonites that "die cowards" are not permitted to rest at Zee; instead they are buried on any land that will accept their bodies.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Shepherd_Isles#Interactions|Tales of the Three Graves|Sunless Sea|}} ''"A ship from the Chelonate came by, hunting the Midnight Whale. Three of them had died cowards, so their bodies couldn't go into the zee. They paid us for the land, in whale-ivory."''</ref>
''"Zailors tell tales of the great zhip made of bones. Bones of those who are lost to the zee..."''<ref name = "eater of names">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Eater_of_Names|Eater of Names|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:Stalactite.png|alt=A stalactite.|thumb|[[Storm]]]]
[[File:Eaterofnames.png|thumb|100px|The Eater of Names]]
The Chelonites revere [[Storm]] and worship him with visceral rituals.<ref name="rites">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Tomb-Colonists_in_the_Chelonate|Send the tomb-colonists to visit Storm's Temple|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Chelonites worship the god called Storm with frightful, bloody rites."''</ref> The '''Bone Men''' are warrior-priests dedicated to Storm;<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Your_Father%27s_Bones:_the_Next_Step|Slivvy, the Urchin who Talks to the Wind|Sunless Sea}} ''""You ever been to the Chelonate? [...] The Bone Men there - the priests of Storm [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Bone Man carries a maul. No: he bears a maul."''</ref> they wear white clay on their faces and chests, have sigils of the [[Correspondence]] etched onto their bodies, and are missing their littlest fingers, which were removed at a young age.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Bone Man awaits you. His face and chest are streaked with white clay. His forehead bears a glyph, in the deep code of the void. Long ago, his mother ritually severed his littlest finger."''</ref><ref name="palms">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Find someone to teach secrets of butchery to the Bandaged Poissonnier|Sunless Sea|}} ''"A Bone Man shows you the glyphs cut into his white-dusted palms. "They mean 'Separation'," he tells you. He will instruct your chef, if you can prove your worth."''</ref> The Bone Men are extremely skilled butchers,<ref name="palms" /> and maintain the Chelonate's store of treasures, including the heirlooms of those declared doomed.<ref name="doomed" />
A dangerous priest-ship called the '''Eater of Names''' patrols the waters of the Carrion Sea near the Chelonate. Drawn by enormous worms and manned by seventy-seven Chelonite zealots,<ref name = "eater of names"/> it is apparently built from the bones of the creatures it has slain.<ref name = "eater of names">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Eater_of_Names|Eater of Names|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The Eater has plundered decades worth of zee-treasures, fighting endlessly in the name of the Shell and Death;<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Eater_of_Names_is_destroyed#Interactions|Seize its cargo|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> in fact, each time the Eater is destroyed, a new one will inevitably rise again.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_First_Curator#Interactions|Show it a sketch of the Figurehead of the Eater of Names|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


The Eater of Names' figurehead is made of [[gant]], the color that remains when all others are eaten, and its figureheads are apparently sourced from the nearby [[Gant Pole]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Eater_of_Names_is_destroyed#Interactions|Seize its figurehead|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> <font color="purple"><span style="background-color: purple">Interestingly, in Chelonite culture, close proximity to the Gant Pole forbids the usage of names, for reasons that remain unknown.</span></font><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Side_with_the_pretty_one..._(5_FATE)|Side with the pretty one... (5 FATE)|Fallen London|}} ''"We live too close to the Gant Pole for names,"''</ref>
==The Glory's Tale==
 
== Monster-Hunters ==
{{spoiler}}
{{spoiler}}
''"The Monster-Hunter winnows the lesser terrors from the true. She has slain That Which Makes Light In The Deeps, eaten of its flesh in remembrance of certain Feasts of the Zee, and fashioned her weapon from its remains. She was human, once."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Become_a_Monster-Hunter|Become a Monster-Hunter|Fallen London|}}</ref>
<blockquote>''"I've long sought the tale of the Glory's end - Glory's what we call this beast. None still live from those days when we slew her. But the saying is: the tale still lives on history's beach. Bring me that tale, zee-captain. Please."''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Scrimshaw_Chronicler|Bring him a tale|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Hunterseye.png|alt=An eye with a dark iris.|thumb|A Hunter's Eye.]]
'''Monster-Hunters''' are incredibly ferocious warriors that hunt the nightmarish terrors of the [[Unterzee]]. They are most commonly found near the Chelonate, but they can be found all across the zee,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Doomed_Monster-Hunter|Obtaining|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> their rites respected even in the familiar territories of [[Fallen London]]. What separates a true Monster-Hunter from a common zailor, aside from the skill and brutality, is their extremely unique choice of dietary supplement: the [[peligin]] flesh of slain zee-beasts, which stains their eyes the same color and elevates them to something beyond human.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Become_a_Monster-Hunter|Become a Monster-Hunter|Fallen London|}} ''"The thing's flesh is peligin, [...] when you are finished, so are your eyes."''</ref>


The rites of the Monster-Hunter are as esoteric as the dark zee itself, but they must be conducted in absolute silence.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Proof_yourself_against_the_river%E2%80%99s_venoms_using_the_Monster_Hunter%27s_arts|Proof yourself against the river’s venoms using the Monster Hunter's arts|Fallen London|}} ''"You hunt them in silence, for a single word – a single scream or grunt – would violate the rites."''</ref> Certain phases of the rites, such as the '''Movement''' and the '''Act''', must also be performed strictly below the zee's waves, outside the view of any living person. After securing a kill, a Monster-Hunter may also consume the blood of the creature they have slain, as it is their sacrament.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Engage_the_beast_in_single_combat|Engage the beast in single combat|Fallen London|}} ''"The Movement and the Act, which cannot be performed above the water or in the sight of living men"''</ref>
<blockquote>''"I broke my first shell. I roamed to the Unterzee. I feasted on monsters. I battened on whales. I grew city-vast. I sickened. The Gant Pole drew me, and there I died of age and weariness, turning on my back to rot until the hunters found me."''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Irem#The_Mirror-Marches|You heard the Glory's story|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Harpoon.png|alt=A vicious bone harpoon with a single strap.|thumb|A Notched Bone Harpoon.]]
Monster-Hunters are most famous for their unique and ''extremely hungry'' harpoons fashioned from the bones of their most significant kill,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Notched_Bone_Harpoon|A Notched Bone Harpoon|Fallen London|}}</ref> but they also make use of other practical weaponry like depth charges and razor wire.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Staff_your_Parabolan_Base-Camp_with_colleagues|Staff your Parabolan Base-Camp with colleagues|Fallen London|}} ''"...a net of silver wire, a depth charge..."''</ref> They also gather zee-maps and anatomical data to aid in their hunts, because the wise Monster-Hunter knows that preparation is key above (almost) all else.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Monster-Hunter%27s_Labours|The Monster-Hunter's Labours|Fallen London|}}</ref>
 
All warriors seek a glorious end, and the Monster-Hunters are no different. '''Doomed Monster-Hunters''' have decided that their lives have moved their course, and as such seek a glorious end at the zee. Maybe being launched out of a specially designed hunting-cannon is enough for them?<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Doomed_Monster-Hunter|Item description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
 
== The Bone Men ==
''"The Bone Man awaits you. His face and chest are streaked with white clay. His forehead bears a glyph, in the deep code of the void. Long ago, his mother ritually severed his littlest finger."''<ref name = "deliver sphinxstone">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
 
The '''Bone Men''' are well-respected Chelonites responsible for maintaining an important temple dedicated to [[Storm]]. These warrior-priests are covered in white clay, have sigils in the [[Correspondence]] etched into their skin, and had their littlest fingers severed by their mothers at a very young age.<ref name = "deliver sphinxstone"/> The Bone Men are infamous for their violent temperaments, and seem to have a direct connection with Storm himself,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Your_Father%27s_Bones:_the_Next_Step|Slivvy, the Urchin who Talks to the Wind|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> worshipping the god of the [[The roof of the Neath|roof]] with violent, bloody rituals.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Tomb-Colonists_in_the_Chelonate|Send the tomb-colonists to visit Storm's Temple|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> They are also extremely skilled butchers, and they can reduce almost any meat to cutlets with mind-boggling precision.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Find someone to teach secrets of butchery to the Bandaged Poissonnier|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
 
The Bone Men are responsible for hoarding the various treasures of the Chelonate within the Great Shell,<ref name = "your father's bones chelonate">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#Your_Father.27s_Bones:_the_Bone_Men|Your Father's Bones: the Bone Men|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref name = "hand over stolen bone">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#Your_Father.27s_Bones:_the_Bone_Men|Hand over the Stolen Bone|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> including the riches of Doomed Monster-Hunters.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Chelonate#The_Chelonate|Obtain a Doomed Monster-Hunter|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> They do not give up their treasures lightly, however, not even for riches or other hunting trophies, and they often strive to reacquire any artifacts that were stolen from them.<ref name = "hand over stolen bone"/>
 
== The Glory's Story ==
{{Major spoiler small}}
''"I've long sought the tale of the Glory's end - Glory's what we call this beast. None still live from those days when we slew her. But the saying is: the tale still lives on history's beach. Bring me that tale, zee-captain. Please."''<ref name = "bring him tale">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Scrimshaw_Chronicler|Bring him a tale|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
 
''"I broke my first shell. I roamed to the Unterzee. I feasted on monsters. I battened on whales. I grew city-vast. I sickened. The Gant Pole drew me, and there I died of age and weariness, turning on my back to rot until the hunters found me."''<ref name = "glory's story">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Irem#The_Mirror-Marches|You heard the Glory's story|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:Gantpole.png|alt=A grey, stony heart deep beneath the sea.|100px|thumb|[[The Gant Pole]]]]
[[File:Gantpole.png|alt=A grey, stony heart deep beneath the sea.|100px|thumb|[[The Gant Pole]]]]
The Chelonites are proud of their ancestors' achievement in killing the '''Glory''', the zee-turtle that would become the Chelonate.<ref name = "bring him tale"/> In fact, they're so proud of this achievement that they occasionally host historical plays in [[Scrimshander]] depicting the Glory's defeat at the hands of heroic hunters.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Scrimshander#Interactions_2|Watch a heroic play|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Furthermore, they developed a deal of unknown terms with the [[Fathomking]] on the basis of this incredible killing,<ref name = "punishment for arrogance">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Punishment_for_Arrogance|Story description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> though they occasionally suffer diplomatic tensions regarding the Chelonites' donation of tribute.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|Listen to a Chelonate Envoy|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
The Chelonites pride themselves on their ancestors' killing of the '''Glory''', the turtle whose body became their home,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Scrimshaw_Chronicler|Bring him a tale|Sunless Sea|}} ''"Bring me a tale worthy of the bone, and I'll shape something worthy of you. I've long sought the tale of the Glory's end - Glory's what we call this beast." He gestures around you, at the turtle's shell. "None still live from those days when we slew her. [...]"''</ref> and they are willing to bury evidence that may challenge this narrative.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Scrimshander#Scrimshander_Centre|Return to the Chelonate Chronologist|Sunless Sea}} ''"You have done as he asked. Evidence of the Chelonate's inglorious origins has been concealed. [...] He exhales with relief when he sees you return, alone. "We are only what our ancestors are held to have been. Thank you for not tarnishing our pride.""''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Burial_of_Shame|Story description|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Muscular Monk hauls the Cargo inside. "I shall make my vigil here. Wall me up once I'm within." [...] Inside, you can see other casks, similar to the Cargo. A skeleton sprawls before each, or a mouldering corpse. How many times have the Chelonates buried this secret?""''</ref> However, this story of strength and bloodshed is largely myth. In truth, the Glory was born in [[Parabola]], where it hatched from a violet, carriage-sized egg. It roamed the [[Unterzee]] and grew massive, but eventually fell ill and journeyed to the [[Gant Pole]] to die. It turned over on its shell to lay at rest, and a starving hunter later arrived at the scene, founding a new nation.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Irem#The_Mirror-Marches|You heard the Glory's story|Sunless Sea}} ''"[...] there was an egg, the size of a coach, the colour of a bruise. In the egg there was a voice. [...] "This is where I began," [...] "I broke my first shell. I roamed to the Unterzee. I feasted on monsters. I battened on whales. I grew city-vast. I sickened. The Gant Pole drew me, and there I died of age and weariness, turning on my back to rot until the hunters found me." The Chelonites have long boasted of how they slew the Glory, [...] you know the truth, that they never slew the Glory. They camped in its shell like a hermit crab seeking a new dwelling."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Punishment_for_Arrogance|Story description|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Fathomking examines the box. He runs a pruney finger over the engraved reliefs. He studies the inscriptions, about a starving hunter lost at zee, who washed up on the fresh corpse of a giant turtle, and founded a settlement."''</ref>
 
But this tale of strength and bloodshed is in fact a fabrication, concocted by historical revisionism magnified throughout generations. The Glory was actually born in [[Parabola]], where it hatched from a massive, violet egg and later roamed throughout the [[Unterzee]] growing more and more massive with each passing year. As it feasted on zee-beasts and hunted down entire whales, it eventually grew sick and weary, and soon wound up near the [[Gant Pole]], where the zee goes to die. It flipped over on its shell to finally lay at rest,<ref name = "glory's story"/> and a starving hunter later arrived at the morbid scene, founding a settlement there.<ref name = "punishment for arrogance"/> The Chelonate's false pride is in fact as vacuously empty as the Shell itself – the tribe is full of mere tomb-robbers, not champions.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Scrimshaw_Chronicler|Tell him the truth|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:The Unterzee]]
[[Category:The Unterzee]]
[[Category:Formatted]]
[[Category:Cited]]
[[Category:The Neath]]
[[Category:The Neath]]

Latest revision as of 20:52, 5 February 2025

"Waves lap the slabby sides of a vast turtle-shell - bigger than any cathedral. Chelonites loaf on wooden docks around the shell-sides, staring sullenly. Lamps hang like decorations in a festive butcher's window. All around you, the sea is rank with scraps of ancient flesh."[2]

The Chelonate is an enormous zee-turtle carcass inhabited by Monster-Hunters.

A City On a Shell[edit]

"The remains of a vast turtle shell. Voracious hunters. Rotting flesh."[3]

A boat made of bones drawn by worms.
The Eater of Names

The Chelonate is a settlement built on a deceased zee-turtle in the eastern Unterzee,[4] inhabited primarily by Monster-Hunters who have consumed the peligin flesh of zee-monsters.[5] The smell of rot here is so overwhelming it addles the mind, and fights often break out where the stench is foulest.[6] The Chelonites firmly believe that their ancestors slew the turtle that they now call home,[7] and will respond to doubt or disrespect with whatever weapons happen to be nearby.[8] The waters near the Chelonate are patrolled by the Eater of Names, a deadly barge crewed by Chelonite zealots.[9][10]

The Chelonate is a relatively small nation, and its citizens patrol the eastern regions of the Zee in search of beasts.[11] They also congregate at Scrimshander, where they stage historical plays depicting great heroes.[12] Other zee-factions seem to have a strained relationship with the Chelonate, as the Khanate has protocols against Chelonate raids,[13] and the Chelonites react poorly to suspected spies from Polythreme.[14] The Chelonate also has agreements with the Fathomking, justified by their ancestors' killing of the great zee-turtle.[15] However, neither party seems fond of one another,[16][17] and the Chelonites are required to pay tribute to him.[18]

Culture[edit]

"The hunters' tales are characteristically grim: lives cut short by ill-considered dives; ships torn apart by bound-sharks or squirming neithers; eerie lights rising up from the sea. But they're always tinged with defiance: the monster is always scarred in the fight; there's always one wily sailor who lives to tell the tale."[19]

"The Bone Man awaits you. His face and chest are streaked with white clay. His forehead bears a glyph, in the deep code of the void. Long ago, his mother ritually severed his littlest finger."[20]

An eye with a dark navy color.
A Monster-Hunter's eye.

The Chelonites' culture is based heavily around monster-hunting.[11] They regularly embark on hunts across the Zee,[11] and are skilled trackers and cartographers.[21] They also partake in other activities and industries, such as bone carving and free-diving.[22][23] Chelonites are formidable fighters, and one of their most infamous tactics is launching themselves out of cannons to assault enemies head on.[24][25] They are also skilled swimmers, though they struggle against armored enemy vessels.[26]

Chelonites are seen as dour and morbid by others,[27] but they possess a defiant spirit, celebrating even the smallest victories and pursuing great challenges.[28] Their diet appears mostly meat-based, and includes viscera from the nearby Gant Pole.[29] This even extends to their beer, which is supposedly made of eel-blood, zee-fungus, and other ingredients.[30] According to rumor, Chelonites that "die cowards" are not permitted to rest at Zee; instead they are buried on any land that will accept their bodies.[31]

A stalactite.
Storm

The Chelonites revere Storm and worship him with visceral rituals.[32] The Bone Men are warrior-priests dedicated to Storm;[33][34] they wear white clay on their faces and chests, have sigils of the Correspondence etched onto their bodies, and are missing their littlest fingers, which were removed at a young age.[35][36] The Bone Men are extremely skilled butchers,[36] and maintain the Chelonate's store of treasures, including the heirlooms of those declared doomed.[27]

The Glory's Tale[edit]

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."

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"I've long sought the tale of the Glory's end - Glory's what we call this beast. None still live from those days when we slew her. But the saying is: the tale still lives on history's beach. Bring me that tale, zee-captain. Please."[37]

"I broke my first shell. I roamed to the Unterzee. I feasted on monsters. I battened on whales. I grew city-vast. I sickened. The Gant Pole drew me, and there I died of age and weariness, turning on my back to rot until the hunters found me."[38]

A grey, stony heart deep beneath the sea.
The Gant Pole

The Chelonites pride themselves on their ancestors' killing of the Glory, the turtle whose body became their home,[39] and they are willing to bury evidence that may challenge this narrative.[40][41] However, this story of strength and bloodshed is largely myth. In truth, the Glory was born in Parabola, where it hatched from a violet, carriage-sized egg. It roamed the Unterzee and grew massive, but eventually fell ill and journeyed to the Gant Pole to die. It turned over on its shell to lay at rest, and a starving hunter later arrived at the scene, founding a new nation.[42][43]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Side with the Chelonians, Sunless Sea "Come to the Carrion Sea, some time."
  2. ↑ The Chelonate, Sunless Sea
  3. ↑ Item description, Sunless Sea
  4. ↑ A Chelonite Hunting Ketch, Fallen London "[...] the Chelonate, a tiny nation of monster-hunters who inhabit the skeleton of a giant turtle."
  5. ↑ Obtain a Doomed Monster-Hunter, Sunless Sea "The Chelonate is stiff with Monster-Hunters, awash with the peligin juices that give them strength."
  6. ↑ Compile a Port Report, Sunless Sea "No matter what details you try to record, the stench creeps in around the edges of the sentences. "The Chelonites, watchful despite the reek." "Movement among the miasmic scraps of long-abandoned monster-carcass." "Frequent duels where the stink is thickest [...]"
  7. ↑ Bring him a tale, Sunless Sea "[...] Glory's what we call this beast." He gestures around you, at the turtle's shell. "None still live from those days when we slew her."
  8. ↑ Shore leave at the Chelonate, Sunless Sea ""We lost the new one, cap'n. She had one too many and started on the Turtle not being real. Chelonites were on 'er like ants. Not enough to send home.""
  9. ↑ Item description, Sunless Sea "This weird skull once adorned the worm-drawn priest-barge of the Chelonate."
  10. ↑ The Eater of Names is destroyed, Sunless Sea "The boat is shattered. Wild-eyed Chelonite zealots leap into the zee."
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 A Chelonite Hunting Ketch, Fallen London "You are not far from the Chelonate, a tiny nation of monster-hunters who inhabit the skeleton of a giant turtle. Their hunting vessels prowl these waters for prey."
  12. ↑ Watch a heroic play, Sunless Sea "The Chelonate's champions promise the tale of a lone hero who changed the course of history. Based on historical evidence."
  13. ↑ Gather a Port Report, Sunless Sea "The Concerns about Chelonate raids."
  14. ↑ A Bandage-Colony Reveal'd!, Sunless Sea "Polythreme is known to the Chelonate, it seems. Their Sniffers and Sounders have identified the bandage-colony as a 'hearts-licker spy'."
  15. ↑ Story description, Sunless Sea "He studies the inscriptions, about a starving hunter lost at zee, who washed up on the fresh corpse of a giant turtle, and founded a settlement. His Complexity purses his lips. "They told us they were champions. The terms of our agreements were founded on that claim."
  16. ↑ Suggest he spreads the truth far and wide, Sunless Sea "I have never particularly liked the Chelonates."
  17. ↑ Listen to a Chelonate Envoy, Sunless Sea "[...] "...unpardonable intrusion! Our ancient rights have been impugned! King you may be, but not of the Shell-Slayers. We will pay no more tribute - " [...]"
  18. ↑ Suggest the Chelonates are beneath his dignity, Sunless Sea "And what of the tribute they pay me? Should that be forgotten, too?"
  19. ↑ Hail them and exchange stories, Fallen London
  20. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea
  21. ↑ Exchange sightings of elusive beasts, Fallen London "In return, they offer information. Habitats, migrations paths, preferred prey and adverse terrain – invaluable clues [...] filtered through the mind of the hunter."
  22. ↑ Acquire a bone armoire from an Unblemished Canon, Fallen London "The armoire is […]carved from the bones of some gigantic Zee-beast. "It was imported from the Chelonate," [...]"
  23. ↑ Hail them and purchase a bag of assorted bones, Fallen London "Remains of maritime creatures and curious fossils found free-diving, all jangling together in a sack."
  24. ↑ Open fire! (Hunting Ketch), Fallen London "The Monster Hunters [...] fire themselves out of their forward cannons to land on your deck, [...] These hunters have trained their entire lives to bring down bound-sharks and Flukes – from within the metal skin of your hull, your crew are like so much chaff under their harpoons."
  25. ↑ Open fire! (Hunting Ketch), Fallen London "The more reckless kind of Chelonite Monster Hunter is notorious for firing themselves out of cannons, harpoon-first, to strike at zee-beasts with the velocity of a cannonball and the fury of a starveling cat."
  26. ↑ Open fire! (Hunting Ketch), Fallen London "They are unused to bringing down quarry with metal instead of flesh, and, when their harpoons fail to find purchase on your hull, they abandon ship to swim the considerable distance back to the Chelonate."
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Obtain a Doomed Monster-Hunter, Sunless Sea ""That will suffice. When news of my death comes, they'll offer this treasure to the Bone Men. If they die, they will still be remembered." Cheery lot, the Chelonites."
  28. ↑ Hail them and exchange stories, Fallen London "The hunters' tales are [...] grim: [...] But they're always tinged with defiance: the monster is always scarred in the fight; there's always one wily sailor who lives to tell the tale. One day, they like to claim, they will turn their ships towards Saviour's Rocks and sink the Tree of Ages."
  29. ↑ Cut some flesh for the Chelonate, Sunless Sea "The carcass of the last beast to expire in this place still has plenty of meat hanging from its bones. [...] To the Chelonate, [...] it probably counts as haute cuisine."
  30. ↑ Shore leave at the Chelonate, Sunless Sea ""It's not actually beer, cap'n," a zailor confides. "It's eel-blood fermented with zee-fungus, or somefin'. I didn't hear the whole account. [...]"
  31. ↑ Tales of the Three Graves, Sunless Sea "A ship from the Chelonate came by, hunting the Midnight Whale. Three of them had died cowards, so their bodies couldn't go into the zee. They paid us for the land, in whale-ivory."
  32. ↑ Send the tomb-colonists to visit Storm's Temple, Sunless Sea "The Chelonites worship the god called Storm with frightful, bloody rites."
  33. ↑ Slivvy, the Urchin who Talks to the Wind, Sunless Sea ""You ever been to the Chelonate? [...] The Bone Men there - the priests of Storm [...]"
  34. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea "The Bone Man carries a maul. No: he bears a maul."
  35. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea "The Bone Man awaits you. His face and chest are streaked with white clay. His forehead bears a glyph, in the deep code of the void. Long ago, his mother ritually severed his littlest finger."
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Find someone to teach secrets of butchery to the Bandaged Poissonnier, Sunless Sea "A Bone Man shows you the glyphs cut into his white-dusted palms. "They mean 'Separation'," he tells you. He will instruct your chef, if you can prove your worth."
  37. ↑ Bring him a tale, Sunless Sea
  38. ↑ You heard the Glory's story, Sunless Sea
  39. ↑ Bring him a tale, Sunless Sea "Bring me a tale worthy of the bone, and I'll shape something worthy of you. I've long sought the tale of the Glory's end - Glory's what we call this beast." He gestures around you, at the turtle's shell. "None still live from those days when we slew her. [...]"
  40. ↑ Return to the Chelonate Chronologist, Sunless Sea "You have done as he asked. Evidence of the Chelonate's inglorious origins has been concealed. [...] He exhales with relief when he sees you return, alone. "We are only what our ancestors are held to have been. Thank you for not tarnishing our pride.""
  41. ↑ Story description, Sunless Sea "The Muscular Monk hauls the Cargo inside. "I shall make my vigil here. Wall me up once I'm within." [...] Inside, you can see other casks, similar to the Cargo. A skeleton sprawls before each, or a mouldering corpse. How many times have the Chelonates buried this secret?""
  42. ↑ You heard the Glory's story, Sunless Sea "[...] there was an egg, the size of a coach, the colour of a bruise. In the egg there was a voice. [...] "This is where I began," [...] "I broke my first shell. I roamed to the Unterzee. I feasted on monsters. I battened on whales. I grew city-vast. I sickened. The Gant Pole drew me, and there I died of age and weariness, turning on my back to rot until the hunters found me." The Chelonites have long boasted of how they slew the Glory, [...] you know the truth, that they never slew the Glory. They camped in its shell like a hermit crab seeking a new dwelling."
  43. ↑ Story description, Sunless Sea "The Fathomking examines the box. He runs a pruney finger over the engraved reliefs. He studies the inscriptions, about a starving hunter lost at zee, who washed up on the fresh corpse of a giant turtle, and founded a settlement."
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