Arbor

"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.

"That night you go to bed in your usual fashion. Sleep comes easy – the moment you pass into dream is the hesitation between one heartbeat and the next. There is a long road before you, paved with white stones. They bake beneath a dual sunlight: a queasy orange glow in the sky, and a brighter more insistent light from the south."

Arbor is a hidden city that lies within both Parabola and the Elder Continent.

Et in Arbor Ego

"You are standing in a grove tangled with roses, red and gold. The gentle rotten scent of flowers fills the air with drowsy sweetness. Before you, city walls rise; the colour of sunset. Bronze gates gleam in a somnolent amber light."

Arbor, the City of Roses! The city with two skies! Where the walls glow like sunset, and the bushes teem with serpents! Arbor is a city built on wonders, limited only by the dreamers' imaginations. Within each brick lies a new mystery, a new dream, or a new secret, and the city's history is as rich as its scented wines.

Since Arbor is partially located in Parabola, it is accessible through dreams of roses, and since the remainder lies in the Elder Continent, it's also accessible via a mysterious rose-ridden gate located deep within the South. A passage to Arbor also exists far beyond the Smoking Shore. Thus, the city's skies are lit by both the Skin of the Sun in Parabola, and by the light of Stone in the Elder Continent. Arbor is heavily fortified: it's protected by three massive walls, a northern, western, and an unmaintained eastern one, and those who wish to enter the city need special permission to do so. Visitors from London are allowed to enter via dreams, but are not currently permitted extended stays.

Newcomers to the city are greeted by the Herald of the Three Promises, a senior member of Arbor's court. Arbor itself consists of three territories: one for the lower classes, one for the upper class, and one different. The first two territories, Near Arbor and Far Arbor, overlap each other from the north to south sides of Arbor's borders; which territory one sees depends on their wealth in attar, Arbor's currency. Time in Arbor is determined by the hourly chiming of bells, which also signify the city's middays and midnights, and determine the openings and closings of certain facilities.

Arbor's populace is quite diverse: the many nationalities represented here take after the Second City, Fourth City, and the Elder Continent, though Arbor has also been known for accepting refugees from any of the Fallen Cities. The population is highly stratified, however, and individuals from different social classes very rarely see eye-to-eye. This is true in a surprisingly literal sense, actually, as those who inhabit the poorer territory of Arbor are completely blind to their more privileged neighbors' city, and vice versa, despite both walking the exact same soil.

Near Arbor

"Near Arbor. You'll enter there. It's quaint in its way. Labourers and merchants, mostly reside there. Those insufficiently attuned to wonder. And those who upset Her Roseate Majesty, I suppose. You'll see it first but, please, do not believe that it's all that we are."

The edge of dream.

Near Arbor is Arbor's older and poorer territory, resting on the closer side of dream. Much of Near Arbor's infrastructure is crumbling and forgotten, either from a lack of upkeep, a lack of funding, or simply from the passage of time. As it's less grand than its counterpart, the upper class of Arbor look upon this area and its inhabitants with a tinge of haughtiness, and many Near-Arbori strive to accumulate enough attar to enter Far Arbor, especially if they once resided there.

Near-Arbori can be identified by their drab attire, in contrast to the gaudy fashions of the Far-Arbori, and many of them work tiresomely as laborers and merchants for long, tedious hours, in contrast to the city's richer citizenry who spend most of their time idling. Due to the egregious inequality between the two social classes in Arbor, some Near-Arbori play loose with the rules, such as by secretly searching for their relatives in the destroyed third Arbor, or by spreading awareness of a certain tradition involving seventy-seven candles apparently only performed by seditionists.

Near Arbor can be accessed though a copper portcullis within the Gatehouse, and a marketplace of interesting trinkets, such as dice and cards, has been set up nearby. Despite the high prices, many Near-Arbori carefully browse the goods in the market for novelty and new experiences, but they often come up empty-handed, much to their disappointment. Meanwhile, the Far-Arbori who have been exiled to Near Arbor have set up a marketplace in the south called the Beggar's Bazaar, where they barter whatever riches they have left for precious attar.

A caged dreamer.

The north of Near Arbor is home to the Temple to the Unending Queen, which commemorates the city's ruler and the city's victories, and is presided over by the Priests-in-Scarlet. Laborers here are locked in cages and dream of improvements to the temple; however, they cannot see their own work, as it's reserved only for the Far Arbori. Less fortunate laborers are forced to perform menial tasks, such as covering the Queen's many statues with incense, and many go without meaningful payment at all.

London has an embassy in the northern district of Near Arbor, which is packed with diplomats and spies eager to make the most of the newly established connection between the two cities. Due to the secrecy of the information traded within, the embassy's windows are shuttered from the outside, and staff only enter and exit around midday for their lunch breaks.

Far Arbor

"Far Arbor is resplendent in vast, impossible architecture. Towers soar high above even the tallest buildings of Near Arbor; palaces stand three times as large as their Near-Arbori cousins. Hour on hour, the city grows as it is dreamed into being."

"I envy that you'll get to see it for the first time. I would give anything to do that again."

Deeper into dream.

Far Arbor is Arbor's richer territory, and is much more opulent than Near Arbor; with buildings that rise high into the two skies, and new dreams expanding the city every minute, Far Arbor is the very definition of a perfumed paradise. It is the newest frontier of Arbor: the city that peers deeper into dream as it claims new territory centimeter by centimeter. Because Far Arbor is rapidly expanding, its walls are regularly fortified; however, Far Arbor has not seen a single war since its inception.

Far Arbor can be accessed by accumulating large quantities of attar, upon which Near Arbor will fade from view and Far Arbor will become visible. Those who remain in Near Arbor are actually blind to Far Arbor's wonders; the Herald of the Three Promises says this is because they are "insufficiently attuned to wonder".

Far-Arbori can be identified by their luxurious, and perhaps gaudy, manner of dress compared to the Near-Arbori, as well as their attar-ringed eyes. Unlike their hard-working counterparts in Near Arbor, Far-Arbori largely spend their time indulging in amusements granted to them by their large stashes of attar, as they are completely forbidden from working. However, they too have a need to indulge in the novel, and boredom is notably illegal in Far Arbor as well. A popular places of relaxation for the Far-Arbori is the Queen's Conquered Gardens, which are maintained by a strikingly crimson-colored irrigation system. Certain Far-Arbori play loose with the city's laws as well: many of them trade information with agents from the Presbyterate and the Fingerkings, despite the diplomatic sensitivities the city has with the two powers.

Architecture from the Fourth City.

The northern district of Far Arbor has architecture reminiscent of the Fourth City, and it is home to the Edifice of the Unveiled Lie, which contains records of Arbori histories and artistry. The Edifice has recently become a home for fiction-consuming snakes, so many of the Edifice's scholars are trained in illumination, book-binding, and serpent-killing. Nearby the Edifice lies the Forbidden Embassy, which was closed as part of several recent reforms. The Embassy is completely locked from the outside, empty of decorations or furniture, and its floor is caked with snakeskins.

The Roseate Palace is a sprawling castle set atop the southernmost point of Far Arbor, the city's magnificent summit. Encrusted in a thousand rubies and engraved with a hundred depictions of the city's ruler, this castle is where the Roseate Queen has held court for a thousand years, and will for a thousand years more. The Queen's Peace acts as the Queen's minister and supervises the city's courts, assisted by the Chamberlain. Citizens and visitors often come here to donate attar to the Queen, which does not go unrewarded, or to witness the city's trials against those accused.

The Third Arbor

"That was an error. We do not speak of the third Arbor. It is lost. It never was."

"You are the only one brave enough to break my edict. To light the candles in mourning. For home. For the third Arbor. Audacity must be rewarded."

The other side?

The currently unnamed third Arbor is mysterious and inaccessible. The Herald refuses to speak of it, only calling it an "error", and a passage in the Edifice of the Unveiled Lie says that the third Arbor is currently held "captive".

The third Arbor may in fact be the "reflection" of Arbor seen in the city's many mirrors, located in reality in the Elder Continent and lit only by the Mountain of Light. This Arbor is almost completely empty and in disarray, except for the occasional huddled crowd sneaking through the city's ruins. Certain Near-Arbori peer into the mirrors of Arbor to search for their relatives in the third Arbor, but these activities are always done in secret.

There is a forbidden rite in Arbor, where seventy-seven foxfire candles are lit for the third Arbor. For mourning, for remembrance, for the original Arbor, once home of the city's Roseate Queen.

Attar

"This is Attar. It grows from dream. When you see wonders in our cities, you will accrue it. The more you have, the more you'll see. When you have enough— Ah, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice to say that Attar is prized above all else in Arbor."

The Countess of Thorns, with attar in her eyes.

Arbor's primary commodity and currency is Attar, a red, perfumed powder that accumulates on a dreamer's eyelids when they witness the wonders of Arbor. However, these wonders must be strictly "novel" in some way or another, such as a new sight, experience, or piece of information. Attar is often used as a currency or commodity in Arbor, but it can also be used to fuel and construct dreams, allowing a dreamer to bend and twist Arbor's features as they please. It can also be used as a luxurious spice in alcoholic drinks, and consuming attar this way causes it to accumulate in the imbiber's eyelids.

Accumulating a decent amount of attar can grant glimpses of Far Arbor, deep in dreams, and accumulating enough will allow a visitor or citizen to travel there for a good while. However, losing too much attar can make these visions of the paradisal city quickly fade away; for this reason, Far Arbori often have their eyes steeped in attar, resembling red-colored kohl or mascara.

Attar is usually extracted from a person's eyes using Huz bees from the Elder Continent, who drink the person's tears to allow the attar to gently fall out, though tweezers can also accomplish this goal. Criminals who violate Arbor's laws severely enough may have their attar and their eyes harshly extracted by the city's guards, and those who have been exiled from Far Arbor but kept their eyes may sell whatever possessions they have just to taste the far side of dream again.

Queenly Attar

"From the scarlet-ringed eyes of Her Roseate Splendour herself."

A Vial of Queenly Attar.

Queenly Attar is a variation of attar possessed only by Arbor's Roseate Queen. Pouring from her eyes like a crimson stream of wonders, this attar is the reddest attar imaginable, though its exact relationship with the "common" attar beyond its deeper color and higher quality is unknown.

In London, it usually takes on the form of a fine red powder, though it may turn violant or cosmogone when experimented on. In Parabola, Queenly Attar becomes a strange, multicolored drug, tempting others deeper and deeper into dreams, and it may have in fact been sculpted by a mysterious scarlet power that lurks beyond the mirrors...

Politics and Intrigue

"Are you quite sure you want to know this?" 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.

"They have no standing army. They commingle with serpents. They have a senate. They charged me money! A dream drink should not cost anything."

Arbor may be a sanctuary in dream, but even a city as idealized as this one has its fair share of politics and intrigue.

The Sequestration

"The only things you need to remember are that labour is prized and will be rewarded with Attar. The artists must be kept in their cages. The serpents must sleep and only in the appointed places. They are not to be woken. Oh, and do not speak to other foreigners here. There are diplomatic sensitivities."

As written in the books.

In recent years, the ruler of Arbor implemented a strict set of new laws and reforms called the Sequestration. The Sequestration requires that the serpents remain asleep only in certain areas, mandates that the artists of Arbor remain in cages, and restricts communication between different foreign parties. Other laws in Arbor forbid the breaching of Near-Arbor's boundaries and ban invading the dreams of serpents, Violating the Sequestration is one of Arbor's highest crimes, and is punishable by exile and the confiscation of attar.

The Sequestration has also mandated the permanent closure of the Forbidden Embassy in Far Arbor, supposedly for treason, lawlessness, or simple datedness, and following the Sequestration's implementation, the Edifice of the Unveiled Lie developed a serpent population.

Serpents that Sleep

"In the course of your labours, you unearth a knot of young snakes sleeping within a rosebush. Attar puddles around them, sticking their scales to the petals."

A dream-snake?

Serpents are a common sight in Arbor, but the populace does not think highly of them. Serpent-tenders and Serpent-Shepherds are individuals tasked with managing Arbor's snake population; the serpent-tenders work by pulling knotted snakes apart, while Serpent-Shepherds perform their duties with a bronze crook and grey cloaks.

The serpents in Arbor largely remain asleep at all times, as mandated by the Sequestration, and are considered an annoyance in modern Arbor. However, the presence of once-glorious statues of snakes dotted throughout Near Arbor, as well as the snakeskins that carpet the Forbidden Embassy's floor, implies that the Fingerkings once had a much larger role in Arbor's past, perhaps as rulers or treasured allies. The Fingerkings do retain some influence over Far Arbor's populace despite their situation, however; their agents wear striking green cloaks, and the city has its fair share of spies working on behalf of the Fingerkings as well.

The Company of the Exiled Rose

"A legion of exiled Arbori, who call its queen a usurper and traitor. They wear a white rose as their emblem though their hands are often red."

A white rose.

The Company of the Exiled Rose are a group of exiled Arbori who have accused the Roseate Queen of Arbor of usurpation and treason, and declared war on her forces as a result. They are led by an individual known as the White Rose, whose body is heavily armored and whose eyes run with uniquely-colored white attar.

The army of the Exiled Rose consists of golems, dreams, and a powerful artillery that scatters rose petals in the air when fired, Their emblem is a white rose, their standard is a representation of the three Arbors, and their battle cry is "Blood for the Roses!". As long as these warriors are employed, as long as the thunder of their marches and mortars ring in the Roseate Queen's ears, they will remain fulfilled.

The Roseate Queen

"The Roseate Queen sits on a white throne threaded with living flowers. She is a handsome woman of indeterminate age. Her skin is dark and her eyes are ringed with kohl. Her smile is tentative, but her voice is strong."

A crown of red roses.

The Roseate Queen, also called Her Roseate Majesty or Her Roseate Splendour, is the ancient, immortal ruler of Arbor, who has ruled for over a thousand years. Her Palace lies to the south of Far Arbor, her Temple to the north of Near Arbor, and her visage adorns the walls of many towering structures. Her gaze is represented by rubies, and no part of the city can completely escape her influence.

The Queen's traditional regalia are a mirror, cage, and three crowns, and the Priests-in-Scarlet in the Temple to the Unending Queen use donations of attar to create more crowns for the Queen, for the "betterment of her dreams". The Queen holds audience under a magnificent dome in her Palace decorated with mosaics of the Second City, gleaming in red and gold. She spends her spare time in her Palace supervising the expansion and improvements made to her residences, and certain criminal trials are conducted near the balcony of the Queen's throne-room, so she may preside over them herself if she so fancies, though this has not happened yet. The Roseate Queen's government is also known to have a Senate, as well as several ministers, who seem to play an advisory role to the Queen.

The Roseate Queen was once known as Neferneferure, the fifth of six sisters and the sister of the Duchess. She along with her sisters conspired to trap the Masters and the Bazaar in the Second City, but when their plans failed, Neferneferure fled to the Elder Continent, where she found the third Arbor and took refuge there. Sometime after the third Arbor's destruction, the Roseate Queen went on to rule the Arbor that remained in dream, upon which she abolished the previous succession laws, declaring that she alone would choose her successor, and implemented the Sequestration, shattering any power the Fingerkings once had over the city.

The Huzzite Guard

"Guests to the city are invited to get to know the Huzzite Guard. It is generally considered advisable to remain on their good side."

Bees from the city of Huz.

Arbor is regularly patrolled by the Huzzite Guard, who hail from the faraway city of Huz. The Guard monitors Arbor's borders and ejects visitors when their stays have expired, and they also arrest criminals and conduct internal affairs. They convene in the Copper Fortress in Far Arbor, where guests to the city can also get to know the Guard's members.

A notable higher-up of the Huzzite Guard is the Commander of the Walls, "a man of majestic bearing and temperament," whose wife was unfortunately exiled to Near Arbor. Another official of note is the Commander of Glass, who manages the city's recurring serpent problem and hires serpent-tenders to keep them in check.

History and Foreign Relations

"I am in two minds. This place is a clearly a refuge. It's walls are unscarred – it has never seen battle. It is a sanctuary for dreamers and visionaries. And it is an impossible idea – so it exists only in impossibility. But they owe fealty to the Prester and the College. They labour under a monarchy. Is this not a surrender, a defeat? They hide from the problems of our world in something that cannot be."

Adam's Way

For thousands of years, there were only two Arbors: one real, and one in dream. The real Arbor was permitted to remain sovereign, independent from the ruling of the Presbyterate, while the dream-Arbor was vassalized. This dream-Arbor was ruled by several heirs and ancient monarchs, chosen from a complex web of intrigue and familial connections, and was presumably built and maintained with the aid of the Fingerkings.

In modern times, Arbor's relationship with the Fingerkings was completely severed, which may have been a result of a deal gone sour. In turn, Arbor nominally pledged its fealty to the Presbyterate, but the two governments are still at odds with each other, and spies from the Presbyterate are punished if caught. Arbor also has an interest in Vesture, with some spymasters already developing strategies to burn it to the ground, and presumably has a strong alliance with the city of Huz.

Meanwhile, Arbor has begun to develop diplomatic ties with London, formalizing an alliance of sorts during the festival of Hallowmas in 1896. The Glass of Mahogany Hall has also developed an interest in Arbor, but Hell has no interest at all. At least, that's what they'll say as they indirectly offer rewards for information.

Hallowmas, 1896

"In the small, mean days before Hallowmas, London finds itself plagued with dreams of falling roses. Citizens wake in their beds gasping, remembering a petal-fall of floral suffocation."

"In the waking world, 'The Envoy' is sending out invitations to visit. She has recently arrived in London from the Elder Continent, and has a question that must be answered. When asked, where exactly, she's from, she answers that her city is 'Hidden.'"

A dream of roses.

In 1896 during the festival of Hallowmas, Londoners were plagued by mysterious dreams of roses and petals. Meanwhile, a woman known only as the Envoy arrived from the Elder Continent and sent out invitations to the citizenry to answer her mysterious question: Where did the Rosers go?

The Rosers were a sect of artists and Revolutionaries from the Fourth City who taught the rose-rites to the people of the Fourth, and played a role in its end. They sought asylum in the hidden city of Arbor, which historically took in many refugees of the Fallen Cities. The Roseate Queen actually sponsored the Rosers herself, providing them with the guidance and funding they needed, and helping them find refuge in Arbor when their situation turned dire. This was apparently done because the Queen believed their arrival would "renew" the population of Arbor.

The Envoy was sent by the Roseate Queen to ask a question that the Queen knew the answer to, and the Queen did this to see if the citizens of London would be able to solve her riddle, as a sort of test before Arbor's eventual opening. After her question was answered, she appointed two individuals to assist with Arbor's opening, her Ambassador and her Witness. They are permitted to travel freely between London and Arbor, and are charged with facilitating the relationship between the two cities, though their positions are considered mostly, but very splendidly, ceremonial.