Kingeater's Castle: Difference between revisions
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==Everything is Terrible== | ==Everything is Terrible== | ||
<blockquote>''"A dead wind which blew from the north. A hungry sun rode the wind. It made of memories a castle. There are mirrors in the ice. A thousand doors and none. The end of the chain is horizon's beginning. Horizon's beginning. Your throat is bleeding."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Lose your mind|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>''"A dead wind which blew from the north. A hungry sun rode the wind. It made of memories a castle. There are mirrors in the ice. A thousand doors and none. The end of the chain is horizon's beginning. Horizon's beginning. Your throat is bleeding."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Lose your mind|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>Kingeater's Castle is composed of dark parapets surrounding a brooding, sunken tower with few windows and thick walls.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"It frowns on the horizon, like a stilled thunderhead. Brown-black parapets glower over a sullen zee. A sunken tower broods at its summit, its walls too wide, its windows too few. The voices of the crew still as you bring your craft into its pull. Kingeater's devours many things: laughter is the first to go."''</ref> Exposed arcades spiral up the ruined tower, which leans upward while its hollow core descends into the castle’s depths. The tower houses a well or is itself a well.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"[...] Stairs lead further up in exposed arcades, circling the ruin of the tower which lurches roofward. Drawing closer, you see the hollow of its insides plunging deeper and deeper into the cavity of the castle. The tower houses a well; it is, perhaps, a well."''</ref> There is a basalt quay where ships can dock; the black ground of this place is littered with small, bleached bones.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"Rotten moorings clutch a basalt quay, where small, bleached bones litter the black ground. [...]"''</ref> This castle at the end of the world can best be described in a single word: terrible.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Compile a Port Report|Sunless Sea}}''"Everything is horrible."''</ref> | ||
The danger of this place has made it into a potent ritual site. Most of these rituals are known only through rumor and typically result in the deaths of all involved,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Your Father's Bones: at Kingeater's Castle|Sunless Sea}}</ref> though a few may be lucrative; after all, '''the heart is destiny's engine.'''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|An act of burning faith|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Construct the Fulgent Impeller|Sunless Sea}}</ref> | Life naturally withers here,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Put a blemmigan ashore|Sunless Sea}}''"The blemmigan creeps down the ramp, on to the stones of the Castle, past the litter of bones. It slows. It collapses, with a sigh like a deflating toy balloon. Even as you watch, its skin begins to shrivel and dry. No blemmigan will ever prosper here."''</ref> and its visitors find themselves saying and doing things they would not otherwise do, from brief bouts of violent thoughts,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Match the knife to its twin|Sunless Sea}}''"This is the knife that once lay in the heart of your father. When you take it up - gingerly - a dark and shouting joy rushes through you. Your bones tighten, your eyes sharpen, your blood pounds! Your zailors back away as you raise it, growling with feral energy."''</ref> to being driven insane enough to devour everyone around them.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Eat your crew|Sunless Sea}}''"Not all of them will go easily."''</ref> This phenomenon is most likely brought on by a feral and hungry force that resides here,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|An act of burning faith|Sunless Sea}}''"Which god holds sway here? Storm, Stone, Salt? Perhaps no god that is elsewhere named. But if you feed it, it will calm your mind."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Sacrifice three zailors|Sunless Sea}}''"The Castle is hungry, but it can heal your flesh."''</ref> called '''the Kingeater'''.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}''"[...] At the summits of the columns around you, one by one, the stone hearts of the Castle wake to thunderous life. The Kingeater has accepted your sacrifice."''</ref> | ||
The danger of this place has made it into a potent ritual site. Most of these rituals are known only through rumor and typically result in the deaths of all involved,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Your Father's Bones: at Kingeater's Castle|Sunless Sea}}''"All around the altar, bones lie in brown drifts, like naked fossils. If the Admiral is to believed, your father's bones are here among them. But which? Where?"''</ref> though a few may be lucrative; after all, '''the heart is destiny's engine.'''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|An act of burning faith|Sunless Sea}}''"At Kingeater's Castle, one finds unexpected words rising easily to the lips. You speak them, and so do your zailors, as they build the offering pyre. "The heart is destiny's engine," the bo'sun mumbles. He looks embarrassed. "We shall all return," you find yourself reply. You light the pyre and stand back. The flames warm you, warm your crew. The light plays on your faces and your outstretched hands. The darkness shrinks back. In crackling of the flames is the sound of home."'' </ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Construct the Fulgent Impeller|Sunless Sea}}''""Yes, I know," the Sage says, a little sadly. "The heart is destiny's engine." He climbs into the capsule at the Impeller's heart, and locks the framework into place behind him. The Mechanic strikes the tubes which contain the Element, and it spits forth a sizzle of rosy light. The ivory blazes instantly with energy! The capsule, instantly incandescent with heat, seals shut forever. With a ticking sound, it slowly begins to cool."''</ref> | |||
==Give up your Past and Future== | ==Give up your Past and Future== | ||
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<blockquote>''"The Dawn Machine's radiations crackle. The Mountain glows, across the Continent to the South. Flukes roil irrigo in the zee. The wind staggers you - you lean into it, and barely keep your feet -''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your past|Sunless Sea}}</ref> | <blockquote>''"The Dawn Machine's radiations crackle. The Mountain glows, across the Continent to the South. Flukes roil irrigo in the zee. The wind staggers you - you lean into it, and barely keep your feet -''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your past|Sunless Sea}}</ref> | ||
''Storm roars its approval. In the pulsing depths of his throne-pool, the Fathomking raises a wine-glass. At the summits of the columns around you, one by one, the stone hearts of the Castle wake to thunderous life. The Kingeater has accepted your sacrifice."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>Long ago, a Traveller called [[Salt]] came to the Castle in preparation for going further East than anyone before them. No one travels East without a hole in their heart, however,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|After the sacrifice|Sunless Sea}}</ref> and so the Traveller decided to sacrifice their past and future to the Kingeater.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your past|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}</ref> A haunted few speak of '''The Name-Which-Burns,'''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Speak your name|Sunless Sea}}</ref> and its connection to this place; the Traveller is always returning, after all.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Green_and_Gold|Once, you said...|Sunless Sea}}</ref> | ''Storm roars its approval. In the pulsing depths of his throne-pool, the Fathomking raises a wine-glass. At the summits of the columns around you, one by one, the stone hearts of the Castle wake to thunderous life. The Kingeater has accepted your sacrifice."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>There are no conveniences, no stairs, no ladders to descend into the depths of the tower-well. Only with climbing gear and great caution can one make the descent.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"Grooves in the stone; places for handholds, caltrops, rope. Marks scored on the walls: this far, safe. This farther, unsure. The present a cold grip in the dark, the beat of the heart, the sweat on the palm. The future, darkness and an uncertain depth."''</ref> In the darkness below dwells the Kingeater:<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"You slide further. The darkness grumbles its approval. The rope goes farther and farther and the darkness deepens, as though swallowing you. Does the well narrow? Does the gullet tighten? Does what remains here take stock of you, as it appraises you with whatever appendage it has – so warm, so moist, so lonesome – for measuring, weighing, finding?"''</ref> the Old Voracity,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"The Old Voracity's empty voice is raw with need. [...]"''</ref> His Avid Majesty,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"His Avid Majesty wakes. And when he wakes, he hungers."''</ref> the Old King.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"The Old King wants something else. [...]"''</ref> He is the hunger of a king made flesh, bound and baptized in violant, a gestalt of all he has devoured.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"Can hunger be a king? Can starvation wear a crown? Can shame forgive itself, if it gorges again? Shame hangs in violant, bound below a tower (a well). Nothing is here, dripping in light. Can hunger be a king? Can starvation wear a crown? Can shame forgive itself, if it gorges again and again? This is a self formed of all that it has eaten, purged in a colour of the Neathbow that will not let it forget what it does. What it is."''</ref> He wears no crown,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"The violant coalesces into the ruined shape of a king. There is a groove in his gnarled, bowed head where something once sat. He has no eyes: those have long since been eaten. The violant radiance glisters like gold, as though once this vast king was illumed. Now he is the after-image of light. This is what remains when hunger feasts."''</ref> for it was stolen,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"They stole his crown. [...]"''</ref> and he sees without eyes, for he is hunger itself.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"Hunger speaks with a human voice, raw with a thousand thousand sanguine feasts. "Do you bring what was taken? Have you come to return my majesty?" It is a question that demands an answer."''</ref> Stripped of his crown, his power has waned.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"[...] The king has two bodies, [...] The mirror and the prince, the symbol and the mortal. One can scarce survive without the other: here is proof of that."''</ref> His demesne no longer as strong as it once was, and his grip upon it uncertain.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Green_King|The Green King|Fallen London}}''"[...] Together you pull, and wrench yourselves away from the king, who without his crown is uncertain in his demesne. His territory is not as it was, and there is a gap there that can be exploited. You emerge, choking, in the dolorous surrounds of the castle, where below, the king who is not, remains bound."''</ref> | ||
Long ago, a Traveller called [[Salt]] came to the Castle in preparation for going further East than anyone before them. No one travels East without a hole in their heart, however,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|After the sacrifice|Sunless Sea}}''"So much emptiness - so much lost. That's good. No one travels East without a hole in the heart. [...]"''</ref> and so the Traveller decided to sacrifice their past and future to the Kingeater.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your past|Sunless Sea}}''"Now the wind is rising. The Exile raises her voice. "The Traveller comes! O my captain, give up the lessons of your life!""''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}''"Sacrifice what comes!" the Exile shouts. Her voice is almost lost in the wind. "Give up what you have cherished!"''</ref> A haunted few speak of '''The Name-Which-Burns,'''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Speak your name|Sunless Sea}}''"The Carnelian Exile waits to bear witness, lips parted. Wind tugs a strand of her hair free from beneath her cap. Thunder growls softly overhead. Light flickers red-gold in the West, pale in the South. Waves prowl the isle's edge. The powers of the zee will bear witness, too. And Salt? Salt is silent."''</ref> and its connection to this place; the Traveller is always returning, after all.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle|Give up your future|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Green_and_Gold|Once, you said...|Sunless Sea}}''"Look back one last time, at where the zee is dark, and the lights of London invisible. You cannot go back; and yet the traveller is always returning. One came below, long ago, seeking what the Sun had hid. One will rise, one day, to face the White in its hall of poisoned crystal."''</ref> | |||
The Kingeater's true identity is almost entirely unknown; it is even possible that they are Salt themselves, or at least a part of them. Salt used to be a rather hungry monarch, after all.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea}}</ref> | The Kingeater's true identity is almost entirely unknown; it is even possible that they are Salt themselves, or at least a part of them. Salt used to be a rather hungry monarch, after all.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea}}''"Long ago a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch saw a light in the south, in the palace of the south's queen. In those days, hungry as the monarch was, that light provoked nothing but appetite. But she was too far to devour. [...]"''</ref> | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
Revision as of 08:01, 30 April 2025
"An old voracity lives here, in the far reaches of the zee. The priests are long gone, but sacrifices are still made here. Perhaps you have come here to make a sacrifice. Perhaps the sacrifice is you."[1]
Kingeater's Castle is an abandoned, half-ruined citadel in the Sea of Statues.
Everything is Terrible
"A dead wind which blew from the north. A hungry sun rode the wind. It made of memories a castle. There are mirrors in the ice. A thousand doors and none. The end of the chain is horizon's beginning. Horizon's beginning. Your throat is bleeding."[2]
Kingeater's Castle is composed of dark parapets surrounding a brooding, sunken tower with few windows and thick walls.[3] Exposed arcades spiral up the ruined tower, which leans upward while its hollow core descends into the castle’s depths. The tower houses a well or is itself a well.[4] There is a basalt quay where ships can dock; the black ground of this place is littered with small, bleached bones.[5] This castle at the end of the world can best be described in a single word: terrible.[6]
Life naturally withers here,[7] and its visitors find themselves saying and doing things they would not otherwise do, from brief bouts of violent thoughts,[8] to being driven insane enough to devour everyone around them.[9] This phenomenon is most likely brought on by a feral and hungry force that resides here,[10][11] called the Kingeater.[12]
The danger of this place has made it into a potent ritual site. Most of these rituals are known only through rumor and typically result in the deaths of all involved,[13] though a few may be lucrative; after all, the heart is destiny's engine.[14][15]
Give up your Past and Future
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Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here. |
"The Dawn Machine's radiations crackle. The Mountain glows, across the Continent to the South. Flukes roil irrigo in the zee. The wind staggers you - you lean into it, and barely keep your feet -[16] Storm roars its approval. In the pulsing depths of his throne-pool, the Fathomking raises a wine-glass. At the summits of the columns around you, one by one, the stone hearts of the Castle wake to thunderous life. The Kingeater has accepted your sacrifice."[17]
There are no conveniences, no stairs, no ladders to descend into the depths of the tower-well. Only with climbing gear and great caution can one make the descent.[18] In the darkness below dwells the Kingeater:[19] the Old Voracity,[20] His Avid Majesty,[21] the Old King.[22] He is the hunger of a king made flesh, bound and baptized in violant, a gestalt of all he has devoured.[23] He wears no crown,[24] for it was stolen,[25] and he sees without eyes, for he is hunger itself.[26] Stripped of his crown, his power has waned.[27] His demesne no longer as strong as it once was, and his grip upon it uncertain.[28]
Long ago, a Traveller called Salt came to the Castle in preparation for going further East than anyone before them. No one travels East without a hole in their heart, however,[29] and so the Traveller decided to sacrifice their past and future to the Kingeater.[30][31] A haunted few speak of The Name-Which-Burns,[32] and its connection to this place; the Traveller is always returning, after all.[33][34]
The Kingeater's true identity is almost entirely unknown; it is even possible that they are Salt themselves, or at least a part of them. Salt used to be a rather hungry monarch, after all.[35]
References
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