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{{Character|title1 = The Fathomking|image1 = fathomking.png|caption1 = | {{Character|title1 = The Fathomking|image1 = <gallery> | ||
fathomking.png | Fathomking | |||
Fathomkingshold_portgaz.png | Fathomking's Hold</gallery>|caption1 = |image2 = |caption2 = |location = The Fathomking's Hold|allegiance = Independent|relationships = [[The Pentamerous Bride]] (spouse)<br> | |||
[[Drownies]] (servants)<br> | |||
[[Flukes]]<br> | [[Flukes]]<br> | ||
[[Stone]] (sister | [[Stone]] (sister-in-law)<br> | ||
[[Mt. Nomad]]<br>}} | [[Mt. Nomad]] (niece)<br>|alias=The King-In-Coral<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Greet_the_Fathomking|Greet the Fathomking|Fallen London}} ''"You know the King-in-Coral by another name. This is the Fathomking [...]"''</ref><br> | ||
''" | The Drowned Man (by [[Mutton Island|Mutton Islanders]], mistakenly)<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Confront_him_(King-in-Coral)|Confront him (King-in-Coral)|Fallen London|}} ''"He is a pretender at the mantle of the island's Drowned Man. He is not the source of this hunger, this anger, this all consuming grief [...] "No, I suppose I am not. Not in the way you mean. But I am a drowned man [...] Your Drowned Man cannot return the island's bounties. He can only ever take. [...] He will get his due, as I will get mine. [...] And after the hunger, the feast.""''</ref>}}<blockquote>''"The Fathomking himself has risen from the seclusion of his abyssal retreat to preside over the feast. His jacket is tightly buttoned, to keep everything in place. His face is stiff with wax. An attendant swims a silk fan slowly above him to discourage nibbling fish. The King gestures floridly to the table, and diligent Drownie servants paddle over to set your place."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Accept_an_invitation_from_the_Drownies|Accept an invitation from the Drownies|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>'''The Fathomking '''is the mysterious and notoriously unpredictable ruler of the [[Drownies]].__FORCETOC__ | ||
'''The | ==The Zee's Wild Card== | ||
<blockquote> | |||
''"This is the salt-blown heart of the Hold. The Fathomking floats in his throne: a gem-starred bowl of sea-stone, the size of a banqueting table. He's wearing a dressing gown of purple brocade, soaked dark with salt water. He leans his chin calmly on his hand. Beneath the surface of the water in his throne, his hidden regions pulse, constantly, insistently."''<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|The Fathomking|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
The Fathomking himself is quite the character; his favored term of address is "'''Your Complexity'''". Above all, he values a good story, and of course zailors have plenty of stories to tell. As such, the Fathomking has designated time for receiving visitors, during which His Complexity pays handsomely for information and stories.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking|Listen to a Khaganian Emissary|Sunless Sea}} ''"At last the King nods, and awards the Emissary a pouch of drowning-pearls. The hour of audience is past."''</ref> He allows all comers from across the Unterzee - from [[Visage]]'s crocodile-masked envoys<ref>{{Citation|1=https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|2=Watch a Crocodile-Masked Visitor make an offering|3=Sunless Sea|4=}}</ref> to [[Khaganian]] emissaries.<ref>{{Citation|1=https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|2=Listen to a Khaganian Emissary|3=Sunless Sea|4=}}</ref> Executions - which are held in front of all guests - appear to be commonplace in response to certain transgressions, such as buying silk from [[Sorrow-spiders|spiders]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|Witness an execution|Sunless Sea|}} ''"Two silent guards in thorned exoskeletons drag a babbling Drownie forwards. "No!" she shrieks. "I am no friend of spiders! I have never purchased silk! [...] The guards fling the Drownie into the pool. [...] "Next," the King says peaceably."''</ref> and His Complexity particularly dislikes when [[The Chelonate|Chelonite]] visitors get too entitled.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|Listen to a Chelonate Envoy|Sunless Sea|}} ''"The King watches in satisfaction as they swarm the hunter, snipping the flesh from his bones."''</ref> Conversely, he particularly appreciates "gifts from the Myceligaean Mother," like [[blemmigans]]<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking's_Hold|Put a blemmigan ashore|Sunless Sea}} ''""A gift from the Myceligaean Mother [...] The Fathomking will be pleased. Here. For your trouble.""''</ref> and other mementos from the [[Uttershroom]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking%27s_Answer|Give the Fathomking an Uttershroom Sporule|Sunless Sea}} ''"The Fathomking's chamberlain takes the Sporule from you [...] accepts the gift, and abruptly drops it into the throne-pool. It disappears into the churn of the King's under-regions. The King sits upright, blinking. "My," he says. "The saucy old creature. Perhaps I should not share this story with my Bride. A very satisfactory service, Captain! I will have you sent certain leaves from my library. And you have fulfilled my request..." "''</ref> | |||
The Fathomking is capable of reviving the deceased, albeit for a very steep price.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking#The_Throne-Cyst|"I have come to plead for a zailor's life."|Sunless Sea|}} ''"Perhaps it's someone you knew. Perhaps you're feeling philanthropic. Perhaps you're simply desperate for crew." (Costs valuable Scintillack. There are other, very expensive branches to resurrect specific crew members.)''</ref> He is also willing to send Londoners of enough importance, or people who would provoke too much controversy in his court, back to the [[Death|Slow Boat]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/In_the_Court_of_the_Fathomking|In the Court of the Fathomking|Fallen London|}} ''""This is an inconvenience," says the Fathomking. "You are a Londoner of some importance. Your absence would be felt." He has his chin propped up on a fist. His milky eyes stare into yours. "Moreover, you are a figure of some controversy. More trouble than you'd be worth to me.""''</ref> | |||
The King is an occasional visitor to [[Mutton Island]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Greet_the_Fathomking|Greet the Fathomking|Fallen London|}} ''"The Fathomking inclines his head, lowering the flimsy mask. "It was too much to suppose my attendance would go unnoticed. But be discreet, if you please. I would rather walk as an anonymous celebrant. [...] We are here now as honoured guests, and we have left our duties with the Throne-Cyst." The fickle king of the Drownies seems usually festive. [...] "So let us celebrate!""''</ref> which has mistakenly come to worship him as the [[Mr Eaten|Drowned Man]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Confront_him_(King-in-Coral)|Confront him (King-in-Coral)|Fallen London|}} ''"He is a pretender at the mantle of the island's Drowned Man. He is not the source of this hunger, this anger, this all consuming grief [...] "No, I suppose I am not. Not in the way you mean. But I am a drowned man [...] He will get his due, as I will get mine. [...] And after the hunger, the feast.""''</ref> He would, however, like to be a kindly patron of the island,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Confront_him_(King-in-Coral)|Confront him (King-in-Coral)|Fallen London|}} ''"'But I am a drowned man, and I can, perhaps, give this island what it needs. A kindly aspect. [...] Your Drowned Man cannot return the island's bounties. He can only ever take.'"''</ref> and displays some sympathy for his counterpart.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
==The | === The Fathomking's Hold === | ||
''" | [[File:SS fathomkingshold portgaz.png|thumb|150px|The Fathomking's Hold—A large cone-like coral structure.]] | ||
<blockquote>''"Like an iceberg, like a Bazaar-Master's scheme, like the Neath itself, most of the Hold is invisible."''<ref>{{Citation|1=https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking's_Hold|2=The Fathomking's Hold|3=Sunless Sea|4=}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
The '''Fathomking's Hold''' is an enormous coral structure that lies within the Promised Sea. Like the base of an iceberg, most of the Hold is hidden,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking's_Hold|The Fathomking's Hold|Sunless Sea}} ''"Like an iceberg, like a Bazaar-Master's scheme, like the Neath itself, most of the Hold is invisible. You see only a tiny portion of sculpted coral - the rest waits below the surface. The Fathomking's bone-rooms and aquaria. His pearl-snares and his dining-chambers..."''</ref> and its depths are lit a bioluminescent green.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking's_Hold|The Fathomking's Hold|Sunless Sea}} ''"Phosphor-cells burn green."''</ref> It is implied that while the King can travel as he pleases - albeit with some help to move about on land<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/An_Audience_with_the_King-in-Coral|An Audience with the King-in-Coral|Fallen London}} ''"[...] the kelp-draped litter of the King-in-Coral [...] From within the litter's scalloped shell rises a vast and lumpen bulk [...] His skin is green as kelp, and a damp mask has plastered itself to his face, but there is no denying it."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Greet_the_Fathomking_2|Greet the Fathomking 2|Fallen London}} ''"The Fathomking's litter is cumbersome and huge, and requires four Drownies to manoeuvre it around the revels. The Fathomking himself is buttoned into a straining dinner jacket that hides the majority of his more unusual appendages."''</ref> - a portion of his consciousness and/or power may lie within his '''Throne-Cyst''' or some other part of the Hold itself.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking's_Hold|Leave|Sunless Sea}} ''"The light is the familiar glow of false-stars, not the piercing green of the Hold's eyes."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Greet_the_Fathomking_2|Greet the Fathomking 2|Fallen London}} ''""We are here now as honoured guests, and we have left our duties with the Throne-Cyst.""''</ref> | |||
The Fathomking | == The Pentamerous Bride == | ||
<blockquote>''"'My bride.' The King-in-Coral's mood turns gentle. 'I thank you for visiting her this year. Her kind have ever been prone to change, and unalloyed they become eccentric. Paranoid, even.' He raises his palms in a slow, sad shrug."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Ask_about_the_mind_at_the_bottom_of_the_trench|Ask about the mind at the bottom of the trench|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
[[File:Lornestfluke.png|thumb|The Pentamerous Bride]] | |||
The Fathomking's partner, the [[Pentamerous Bride]]''',''' is an extremely powerful [[Flukes|Fluke]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Beg_audience_with_this_ancient_power|Beg audience with this ancient power|Fallen London}} ''"The fluke is a rolling landscape of star-travelled geography. You have – perhaps unwittingly – begged its indulgence. And now you are here."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking%27s_Answer|Bear witness to the Principles' End|Sunless Sea}} ''""My Bride's family," he tells you. "They have long grown eccentric, and the Principles was the most eccentric of all. Yes, that is sufficient. Come closer, and I will tell you something of other dissolutions..." "''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Ask_about_the_mind_at_the_bottom_of_the_trench|Ask about the mind at the bottom of the trench|Fallen London|}}''""My bride [...] I thank you for visiting her [...] Her kind have ever been prone to change, and unalloyed they become eccentric. Paranoid, even. [...] It is not her fault. She was taken advantage of, by a deal struck in desperation. Now she and her kin are permitted little else but grief and anger. Such sentiments have shaped them so very cruelly.""''</ref> He readily admits that she is the source of the majority of his power.<ref name=":12">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Accept_a_briny_gift|Accept a briny gift|Fallen London}} ''""Many kings would be too proud to admit such a thing." The King-in-Coral straightens. [...] "But not I. The truth is, my Bride is the source of much of our power. This," he spreads his arms wide to encompass Mutton Island, its revellers, the remnants of its devotions to the zee, "was all for her.""''</ref> Due to the [[Bazaar]]'s bargain with the beings of [[Axile]], she cannot feel love, but the Fathomking loves her deeply, and established the [[Fruits of the Zee Festival]] and all its strange traditions to bring her joy.<ref name=":13">{{Citation|1=https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Accept_a_briny_gift|2=Accept a briny gift|3=Fallen London|4=}} ''""Many kings would be too proud to admit such a thing." The King-in-Coral straightens. [...] "But not I. The truth is, my Bride is the source of much of our power. This," he spreads his arms wide to encompass Mutton Island, its revellers, the remnants of its devotions to the zee, "was all for her.""''</ref> | |||
It is implied that the Fathomking's partnership with his Bride is what reshaped him from an ordinary human into the intriguing creature he is today.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking%27s_Answer|Introduce the Fathomking to your Nacreous Survivor|Sunless Sea}} ''""You will be my cup-bearer," the King announces. "You will learn the shapeling arts from my Bride.""''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Listen_to_the_Drownies%27_songs_(Restored)|Listen to the Drownies' songs (Restored)|Fallen London}} ''"They sing of the Fathomking's intemperate, obdurate love for his bride. They praise her immeasurable age, her fivefold symmetry, her star-travelled wisdom. She gives of her flesh, and he of his heart."''</ref> As an incestuous side effect of this union, [[Mt Nomad]] is both the niece of the Fathomking and his Bride,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking%27s_Answer|Present Mt Nomad's Heart|Sunless Sea}} ''""Were you aware," he enquires, "that this is the heart of my niece? By marriage, not by blood; and I doubt you have truly ended her. She is robust. Nevertheless...""''</ref> via her mother [[Stone]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Fathomking's_Answer|Present the Fathomking with a Mountain-sherd|Sunless Sea}} ''""The God called Stone," he says. "My sister by marriage. Of all of us, she is the best. [...]""''</ref> ''and'' their grandniece via her father the [[Thief-of-Faces]] (who is in turn a child of the Flukes).<ref>{{Citation|1=https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|2=Flint|3=Fallen London|4=}} ''"The Thief-of-Faces. It is old almost as the Axiles, the things you call Flukes. It is their child."''</ref> It would thus be doubly unwise to harm Mt Nomad on the Fathomking's watch. | |||
== References == | |||
{{Scroll box|text=<references/>}} | |||
[[Category:Places]] | [[Category:Places]] | ||
[[Category:The Unterzee]] | [[Category:The Unterzee]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:The Neath]] | ||
[[Category:Characters]] | |||
Latest revision as of 01:07, 19 July 2025
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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 Fathomking himself has risen from the seclusion of his abyssal retreat to preside over the feast. His jacket is tightly buttoned, to keep everything in place. His face is stiff with wax. An attendant swims a silk fan slowly above him to discourage nibbling fish. The King gestures floridly to the table, and diligent Drownie servants paddle over to set your place."[3]
The Fathomking is the mysterious and notoriously unpredictable ruler of the Drownies.
The Zee's Wild Card[edit]
"This is the salt-blown heart of the Hold. The Fathomking floats in his throne: a gem-starred bowl of sea-stone, the size of a banqueting table. He's wearing a dressing gown of purple brocade, soaked dark with salt water. He leans his chin calmly on his hand. Beneath the surface of the water in his throne, his hidden regions pulse, constantly, insistently."[4]
The Fathomking himself is quite the character; his favored term of address is "Your Complexity". Above all, he values a good story, and of course zailors have plenty of stories to tell. As such, the Fathomking has designated time for receiving visitors, during which His Complexity pays handsomely for information and stories.[5] He allows all comers from across the Unterzee - from Visage's crocodile-masked envoys[6] to Khaganian emissaries.[7] Executions - which are held in front of all guests - appear to be commonplace in response to certain transgressions, such as buying silk from spiders,[8] and His Complexity particularly dislikes when Chelonite visitors get too entitled.[9] Conversely, he particularly appreciates "gifts from the Myceligaean Mother," like blemmigans[10] and other mementos from the Uttershroom.[11]
The Fathomking is capable of reviving the deceased, albeit for a very steep price.[12] He is also willing to send Londoners of enough importance, or people who would provoke too much controversy in his court, back to the Slow Boat.[13]
The King is an occasional visitor to Mutton Island,[14] which has mistakenly come to worship him as the Drowned Man.[15] He would, however, like to be a kindly patron of the island,[16] and displays some sympathy for his counterpart.[15]
The Fathomking's Hold[edit]
"Like an iceberg, like a Bazaar-Master's scheme, like the Neath itself, most of the Hold is invisible."[17]
The Fathomking's Hold is an enormous coral structure that lies within the Promised Sea. Like the base of an iceberg, most of the Hold is hidden,[18] and its depths are lit a bioluminescent green.[19] It is implied that while the King can travel as he pleases - albeit with some help to move about on land[20][21] - a portion of his consciousness and/or power may lie within his Throne-Cyst or some other part of the Hold itself.[22][23]
The Pentamerous Bride[edit]
"'My bride.' The King-in-Coral's mood turns gentle. 'I thank you for visiting her this year. Her kind have ever been prone to change, and unalloyed they become eccentric. Paranoid, even.' He raises his palms in a slow, sad shrug."[24]
The Fathomking's partner, the Pentamerous Bride, is an extremely powerful Fluke.[25][26][27] He readily admits that she is the source of the majority of his power.[28] Due to the Bazaar's bargain with the beings of Axile, she cannot feel love, but the Fathomking loves her deeply, and established the Fruits of the Zee Festival and all its strange traditions to bring her joy.[29]
It is implied that the Fathomking's partnership with his Bride is what reshaped him from an ordinary human into the intriguing creature he is today.[30][31] As an incestuous side effect of this union, Mt Nomad is both the niece of the Fathomking and his Bride,[32] via her mother Stone,[33] and their grandniece via her father the Thief-of-Faces (who is in turn a child of the Flukes).[34] It would thus be doubly unwise to harm Mt Nomad on the Fathomking's watch.
References[edit]
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