Gaider's Mourn

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously." Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"The Mourn is a stalagmite vast as a crag, and its foot has no safe harbours. The corsair's citadel nestles halfway up. An intricate system of winches takes the strain... and your ship rises slowly from the zee. Her hull creaks in protest. Grizzled zailors groan and cling to stanchions."

Gaider's Mourn is a pirate citadel, located at the center of the Snares and the Unterzee as a whole.

Pirate's Paradise

"The pirate haven of the Snares. Step carefully."

Build atop a gigantic stalagmite, Gaider's Mourn teems with all sorts of pirates, smugglers, and other individuals of dubious reputation. Reaching the Mourn is a challenge in of itself: the Snares are teeming with pirates and are deadly to navigate, and the Mourn's vantage points make it impossible for authorities like the Admiralty to stage a surprise attack. The Mourn's unique location also means it has no safe harbors for ships, so vessels are instead "docked" by raising them far above zee-level through a system of winches before securing them in cradles. The infrastructure here is functional and cleverly engineered, but visitors must nonetheless watch their step lest they plummet into the zee below.

Pieces of Plunder Weighing Down Your Hold.

The central establishment here is a raucous tavern called the Arrant Limpet, which serves a hard drink called Red Ruin. Shady figures from all around the Unterzee gather for drinks and revelry, whether they be from London, the Khanate, or even places as far as Whither or the Chelonate. However, spies are despised and often met with violence when discovered. The Mourn has other businesses besides taverns, such as fighting rings and fish-markets. Hijacked and stolen vessels are also sent here in exchange for payment. Regardless of all these amusements, the Mourn's real trade occurs in the Prophet's Call, a grotto hidden near the summit of the stalagmite. Here, corsairs trade their plunder for various treasures, and visitors are forbidden entry.

Gaider's Mourn was apparently named after the Pirate-King Gaider, a legendary figure whose plunder is said to have overflowed with diamonds. In the timeline of the Neon Future, Gaider's Mourn became a tourist attraction by the time of the Seventh City.

Culture

"The corsairs know the value of the unspoken rule. Even here, there are laws that the lawless silently consent to follow."

"These edicts have blossomed in the darkness of the Neath, and their knowledge grows like moss in the minds of the corsairs. You trade a little treasure for a fragment of this knowledge. The black codes of mercy and revenge between thieves. The hidden rules of a soul's voyage beneath the zee. The proper manner of obeisance before a Prophet."

A corsair of Gaider's Mourn.

Gaider's Mourn has those who come and go, but it is also home to a large population of locals who were born and raised on the Mourn's culture and values. They live in the Mourn's higher elevations where visitors usually do not tread, and unlike others who must watch their step, they traverse the stalagmite's infrastructure with ease and grace. The Mourn has a population of urchins, who like their London counterparts form communities and perform certain jobs.

Gaider's Mourn is by no means an entirely lawless place; its people follow unspoken rules and at least try to maintain a degree of "honor among thieves." Most are also willing to parlay with friendly corsairs, though the pass-signs are constantly changing and may not be reliable. Some rites are a result of the environment: as the Mourn has no room for graves, corsairs instead light Mourning Candles for the dead, including their own targets. In general, life and death are viewed as cyclical and necessary counterparts at Gaider's Mourn, as opposed to the view that death is a source of fear. Corsairs also have other practices and superstitions besides those centered around death, such as giving treasure to the Unterzee to calm troubled waters.

The inhabitants of Gaider's Mourn wear Mournclimber's Wraps to scale the stalagmite's steep cliffs, and make Mourning Lockets out of valuable materials to symbolize loss and grief. These lockets also conceal trinkets like miniature compasses, diamonds, gunpowder, and bullets.

• 
  Mournclimber's Wraps
• 
  A Mourning Locket.

The Blue Birds

"We's got 'undreds of pirate kings and captains. None of 'em are in charge – although some of 'em are less in charge than others, if you catch my drift. However. If yer a true Corsair of the Mourn then you holds the birds in high regard. Now, I ain't in charge of nuffink, but I does listen to the birds better'n anyone else. And the birds, they is in charge."

"We's at the centre of it all, y'see. The 'ole Neath converges 'ere, in the waters around the Mourn. So many lives, and so many deaths, all circlin' the spire. This ain't just a tall spike o' rock; it's the omphalos. Right 'ere in the middle – this is where the zee mourns."

Gaider's Mourn has an unusually high population of Blue Prophets, vicious blue birds who menace the Unterzee. Many zailors claim the birds speak the names of those about to die, and fear them greatly. However, the locals of the Mourn treat Blue Prophets with utmost respect, allowing them to roost and act however they please. The birds also play a role in the corsairs' funerals: a wrecked ship is raised high into the air and its captain's bones buried at zee, after which the Prophets swarm the wreck before flying off to conclude the ceremony.

Corsair's Colors

The reason for the corsairs' reverence for Blue Prophets is twofold: firstly, the birds' guano makes for powerful gunpowder and is harvested by the Mourn's urchins. Secondly, the corsairs and birds have a symbiotic pact: the Prophets speak the name of passing ships, and the corsairs hunt and plunder the ship to ensure its destruction. The corsairs view this tradition as the highest form of piracy, and identify these rarefied raiders with sky-blue ribbons. The corsairs' morbid work also incidentally benefits the Fathomking, as those who perish at zee, whether corsair or target, end up bound for his court.

A Blue Prophet.

At the very top of Gaider's Mourn, a huge flock of Blue Prophets circles the stalagmite. The Mourn rests at the very center of the Unterzee, and the birds fly counter to the zee's rotating currents. An urchin known as the Guano-Splattered Hierophant is the summit's sole resident. She has a unique ability to commune with the birds, and claims they are the true authority of Gaider's Mourn. She also claims all the superstitions about Blue Prophets are true, and views the corsairs' work as enforcing the cycle of life and death on the birds' behalf. Her explanation for why the Prophets' favor Gaider's Mourn is simple: the zee's lives and deaths circle the Mourn like a wheel, but here at the center is where the zee mourns.