Nuncio

"DO NOT RETURN, SENDER."

Nuncio is where the Neath's mailmen go when they get frustrated, bored, or ashamed of their undelivered mail.

Ratmas for All!

"Taciturn functionaries walk the docks, in the uniforms of postmen. An enormous crowned statue casts a chilling shadow.The shadows gleam with rats' eyes. Their ceaseless chittering rolls like the tide."

The island of Nuncio, dating back to the times of the First City, is a place where all undelivered mail ends up eventually; it's shores constanly swarmed with letters and parcels that wash up there, attracted by a mysterious magnetic pull. The island is also a home to any postmen that have managed to acquire any dead letters during their careers; the letters's attraction to Nuncio eventually taking them there so that they can gather and catalogue the dead mail in hope of one day having it delivered. The magnetic pull is not the only one of the island's weird phenomenons; the mail that's present on Nuncio is almost undestructible, being able to reforge itself even after it has exploded.

Nuncio's giant statue can be interpreted as a representation of it's many postmen; it's appearance changing with the passage of time to best represent the people living on the island.

The island is also infested with a very large number of rats, to the point that Nuncio's inhabitants use their corpses as currency.

"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.

NO WORD LOST

Deep under the island lies a giant spiral cavern, it's walls lined with undelivered mail from all the prievious Fallen Cities. At it's very bottom is a needle of deep black rock, it's surface inscribed with sigils of The Discordance. This needle is a source of the island's supernatural happenings, as the words written upon it are a powerful commandment: no message may ever go undelivered.

Possible Origins

Nuncio isn't a real-world place, but it is a title.

Nuncio (officially known as an Apostolic nuncio and also known as a papal nuncio) is the title for an ecclesiastical diplomat, being an envoy or permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or international organization. A nuncio is appointed by and represents the Holy See, and is the head of the diplomatic mission, called an Apostolic Nunciature, which is the equivalent of an embassy.

This perhaps is referencing the giant statue in the center of the island. The ultimate messenger of The Unterzee, Nuncio is sanctuary for all those who must deliver packages and messengers. It is only natural the island is named after one of the most important messengers in the Christian world.

Fun fact: The basic idea for Nuncio was created by Spacemarine9, creator of the lore blogs Saint-Arthur and Saint-Beau, who spent some time working for Failbetter.