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Chorister Bees are used by the choir-[[devils]] of the [[Well of the Wolf]],<ref name = "step">{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Speak to the congregation of devils|Sunless Skies|}} ''"[...] one steps forward and opens his mouth as wide as he can. Plainsong emerges: sweet, with a sonorous drone. [...] The devil leans obligingly forward. You peer past his tongue, [...] see a large compound eye – insectoid, iridescent – peering back at you from his chest cavity."''</ref> who sing in remembrance of the well's captive.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand#Interactions|Listen to the fourth and final hymn|Sunless Skies|}} ''"The choir has grown enough to attempt its most sacred hymn. [...] The Hymn of the Martyr [...] The hymn is an ending-hymn. The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'. His followers [...] grieved, then raged, then rebelled. The Chain was broken."''</ref> To join the choir, a devil must first open their jaw wide like a snake, and allow a Chorister Bee into their body. The bee will then nestle deep within the devil's chest cavity,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Deposit the Infernal Philatelist|Sunless Skies|}} ''"He takes the bee from the cage and you watch as his jaw [...] opening wider and wider and wider. The curious bee crawls inside, pushing unidentifiable organs aside to make room. Then the devil's mouth returns [...] the Philatelist sings with the bee's sweet, wordless voice. [...] He is part of the choir, now."''</ref><ref name = "step"/> and the devil will trade its speaking voice for the bee's plainsong.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Give the Patchwork Devil her bee|Sunless Skies|}} ''"You open the bee's cage. "Thank you," [...] They are the last words she ever speaks. Her mouth opens extraordinarily wide. [...] The bee crawls frantically into the opening, down her throat, and nestles in her chest cavity. The Devil's mouth returns to its usual size, then emits a single seraphic note."''</ref>
Chorister Bees are used by the choir-[[devils]] of the [[Well of the Wolf]],<ref name = "step">{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Speak to the congregation of devils|Sunless Skies|}} ''"[...] one steps forward and opens his mouth as wide as he can. Plainsong emerges: sweet, with a sonorous drone. [...] The devil leans obligingly forward. You peer past his tongue, [...] see a large compound eye – insectoid, iridescent – peering back at you from his chest cavity."''</ref> who sing in remembrance of the well's captive.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand#Interactions|Listen to the fourth and final hymn|Sunless Skies|}} ''"The choir has grown enough to attempt its most sacred hymn. [...] The Hymn of the Martyr [...] The hymn is an ending-hymn. The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'. His followers [...] grieved, then raged, then rebelled. The Chain was broken."''</ref> To join the choir, a devil must first open their jaw wide like a snake, and allow a Chorister Bee into their body. The bee will then nestle deep within the devil's chest cavity,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Deposit the Infernal Philatelist|Sunless Skies|}} ''"He takes the bee from the cage and you watch as his jaw [...] opening wider and wider and wider. The curious bee crawls inside, pushing unidentifiable organs aside to make room. Then the devil's mouth returns [...] the Philatelist sings with the bee's sweet, wordless voice. [...] He is part of the choir, now."''</ref><ref name = "step"/> and the devil will trade its speaking voice for the bee's plainsong.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Give the Patchwork Devil her bee|Sunless Skies|}} ''"You open the bee's cage. "Thank you," [...] They are the last words she ever speaks. Her mouth opens extraordinarily wide. [...] The bee crawls frantically into the opening, down her throat, and nestles in her chest cavity. The Devil's mouth returns to its usual size, then emits a single seraphic note."''</ref>


Chorister Bees are the creation of the [[The King of Carols|King of Carols]],<ref name ="mouth">{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Deposit the Abstemious Devil|Sunless Skies|}} ''"Long ago, the Many-Mouthed gave all but one of his voices to his creations. I require a single live chorister-bee."''</ref> a powerful [[Grand Devils|Grand Devil]] and the prisoner within the Well of the Wolf. Long ago, he protested against the [[Judgements]] by refusing to sing for them, and as punishment, they strung him up against the well as a message against rebellion. In a final act of defiance, the King managed to bestow all but one of his many voices upon his Chorister Bees,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand#Interactions|Listen to the third hymn|Sunless Skies|}} ''"The Choir-in-One (who was, you are now certain, an ur-devil) was [...] Hung? – above the well, from the spur of ice on which the bandstand now rests. The stars 'made a message of him,' (this part is unusually clear). In defiance, he gave away his voices, bestowing 'all but one of them upon his—' The next part might be 'creations' or 'aberrations' or 'amalgamies'."''</ref><ref name ="mouth"/> who still sing of their progenitor's tragic fate to this day.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Discoveries#Chorister_Hives|Chorister Hives|Sunless Skies|}} ''"The Repentant Devil is listening to the bees. "They sing of a well, and the unpleasant fate of the one who gave them voices."''</ref> For this, he was imprisoned inside the well for eternity.<ref>{{citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand|Listen to the fourth and final hymn|Sunless Skies|}}''"The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'. His followers – 'the horned and brazen' – grieved, then raged, then rebelled. The Chain was broken. The fate of the uprising is unstated, but the sigils are melancholy. There is reference to an exodus, to 'a time of serpents'."''</ref>
Chorister Bees are the creation of the [[The King of Carols|King of Carols]],<ref name ="mouth">{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Well_of_the_Wolf#The_Well_of_the_Wolf|Deposit the Abstemious Devil|Sunless Skies|}} ''"Long ago, the Many-Mouthed gave all but one of his voices to his creations. I require a single live chorister-bee."''</ref> a powerful [[Grand Devils|Grand Devil]] and the prisoner within the Well of the Wolf. Long ago, he protested against the [[Judgements]] by refusing to sing for them, and as punishment, they strung him up above the well as a warning against rebellion. In a final act of defiance, the King managed to bestow all but one of his many voices upon his Chorister Bees;<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand#Interactions|Listen to the third hymn|Sunless Skies|}} ''"The Choir-in-One (who was, you are now certain, an ur-devil) was [...] Hung? – above the well, from the spur of ice on which the bandstand now rests. The stars 'made a message of him,' (this part is unusually clear). In defiance, he gave away his voices, bestowing 'all but one of them upon his—' The next part might be 'creations' or 'aberrations' or 'amalgamies'."''</ref><ref name ="mouth"/> for this, he was imprisoned within the well for eternity.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand#Interactions|Listen to the third hymn|Sunless Skies|}} ''"In defiance, he gave away his voices, bestowing 'all but one of them upon his—' [...] 'creations' [...] Apparently, this was not well received by 'those who judged'."''</ref><ref>{{citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bandstand|Listen to the fourth and final hymn|Sunless Skies|}}''"The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'."''</ref> The Choristers still sing of the King's tragic fate to this day, in remembrance of the one who gave them voice.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlessskies.fandom.com/wiki/Discoveries#Chorister_Hives|Chorister Hives|Sunless Skies|}} ''"The Repentant Devil is listening to the bees. "They sing of a well, and the unpleasant fate of the one who gave them voices."''</ref>


== Historical and Cultural Inspirations ==
== Historical and Cultural Inspirations ==

Revision as of 22:19, 6 June 2024

"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.


"Bees the size of dogs, each marked with a blazing sigil. They don't buzz, but sing in plainsong. They may be benign – as long as you don't carry any Chorister nectar."[2]

Chorister Bees are enormous bees that roam the Reach.

Laws of Aviation

"Your records will be simple. Cause of Death: Bee. It's not so uncommon in the Reach."[3]

A sigil in a strange language.
A Mistake, Forged into a Triumph

Chorister Bees are enormous, dog-sized bees found in the Reach.[4] They gather in swarms,[5] build massive hives,[6] and have hair made of chitin and stingers the size of firepokers.[7][8] They also possess souls.[9] Each bee's body is inscribed with a sigil of the Correspondence that reads: A Mistake, Forged into a Triumph.[4][10] Rather than buzzing, Choristers sing in plainsong,[4] which they generate using their uniquely articulated wings.[1] This drone is extremely loud,[11] and the song's tone depends on the bee's mood.[12] Upon their deaths, they emit a "death-hymn" which may contain secrets for those who can bear to listen.[13]

Chorister Nectar

"Inside, the box is unhappily sticky. The cause is a resinous block of nectar that sits in the box's centre like nougat at the heart of a piece of chocolate. Produced by the gargantuan flowers of the Reach, this nectar is zealously sought by the giant, hymnal Chorister Bees who haunt its skies."[14]

A settlement atop a flower.
Titania

Chorister Bees harvest nectar and pollinate the flowers of the Reach.[15] Notably, they are attracted to the massive orchid of Titania,[16] and often destroy the port's structures (and settlers) in massive feeding frenzies.[17][18] The nectar produced by the Reach's flowers is called Chorister Nectar[19] and is a popular commodity in the Sunless Skies timeline.[20] Choristers attack Locomotives transporting this substance,[4] as well as those trying to steal from their hives.[21] Locomotives that hunt Choristers for their nectar are called hive-harrowers, and are necessarily well-plated.[22]

Chorister Nectar is a good sweetener or inebriant, but its main purpose is as a lubricant for the vocal cords.[20] Singers use this nectar to expand their vocal range[20] or attempt unorthodox forms of song,[23] but it also works well for shouting or chanting.[24] The attendants at Magdalene's also use Chorister Nectar to help imitate voices that are not their own for their patrons' therapies.[25]

The Voices

"The well's own devils emerge from their ice-caves, their yellow eyes on the Infernal Philatelist. He takes the bee from the cage and you watch as his jaw does something complicated, opening wider and wider and wider. The curious bee crawls inside, pushing unidentifiable organs aside to make room. Then the devil's mouth returns to less distressing dimensions, and the Philatelist sings with the bee's sweet, wordless voice."[26]

A windy black hole.
The Well of the Wolf

Chorister Bees are used by the choir-devils of the Well of the Wolf,[27] who sing in remembrance of the well's captive.[28] To join the choir, a devil must first open their jaw wide like a snake, and allow a Chorister Bee into their body. The bee will then nestle deep within the devil's chest cavity,[29][27] and the devil will trade its speaking voice for the bee's plainsong.[30]

Chorister Bees are the creation of the King of Carols,[31] a powerful Grand Devil and the prisoner within the Well of the Wolf. Long ago, he protested against the Judgements by refusing to sing for them, and as punishment, they strung him up above the well as a warning against rebellion. In a final act of defiance, the King managed to bestow all but one of his many voices upon his Chorister Bees;[32][31] for this, he was imprisoned within the well for eternity.[33][34] The Choristers still sing of the King's tragic fate to this day, in remembrance of the one who gave them voice.[35]

Historical and Cultural Inspirations

Plainsong, also called plainchant, was the exclusive form of Western Christian liturgical music up until the ninth century CE. The term describes unaccompanied monophonic (single-line) chants with a free, non-metric rhythm. In modern times, Gregorian chant has become a relatively well-known variety of plainsong, due to renewed historical interest and promotion of the genre as study or meditation music.

Just imagine bees singing that.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hand in the wings of a Chorister Bee, Sunless Skies ""Hideous creatures, Choristers," [...] I cannot accept that it is only by chance their wings are so exquisitely articulated that they generate song.""
  2. ↑ Chorister Bees, Sunless Skies
  3. ↑ Lure a Chorister Bee, Sunless Skies
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Chorister Bees, Sunless Skies "Bees the size of dogs, each marked with a blazing sigil. They don’t buzz, but sing in plainsong. They may be benign – as long as you don’t carry any Chorister nectar."
  5. ↑ A Chorister-Corpse, Sunless Skies "The swarm is a ruin of twitching legs and broken wings."
  6. ↑ Chorister Hives, Sunless Skies "Plainsong fills the air; a hive of chorister-bees."
  7. ↑ Shave the bee, Sunless Skies "The hairs are stiff, sharp chitin [...]"
  8. ↑ Number of Bee Attacks, Sunless Skies "It's a 'mostly' that excludes a few poets with stingers the size of fire-pokers embedded in their torsos [...]"
  9. ↑ Collect the soul of a bee, Sunless Skies "Collecting the soul of a Chorister Bee swarm is traditionally an onerous endeavour [...] unwinding a soul from the bee's not-quite-corpse while avoiding the last futile twitches of its sting."
  10. ↑ Combine your sigil-pieces and reassemble the lost sigil, Sunless Skies "A Mistake, Forged into a Triumph"
  11. ↑ Cage and tend to the bee, Sunless Skies "The droning song is deafening in the close confines of your engine's corridors."
  12. ↑ Lure a Chorister Bee, Sunless Skies "Its hymns grow dirgeful as you haul the enormous thing back to your engine."
  13. ↑ Listen to its death-hymn, Sunless Skies "They say it contains secrets, if you can bear to listen all the way to the end."
  14. ↑ A slim clasped box, Sunless Skies
  15. ↑ Lure a Chorister Bee, Sunless Skies "[...] a bee, huge and singing, descends in a slow drone. It nuzzles its way into the flower, where its limbs are swiftly covered with pollen and slicked with nectar."
  16. ↑ Ask the Mayor about Titania, Sunless Skies "Then we found out that Titania's pollen attracted the Chorister Hive and that... well, that was less pleasant."
  17. ↑ DIES IRAE, DIES APIS!, Sunless Skies "Titania is under siege! Chorister bees flood its streets and petals. [...] people flee in panic from their mighty stingers. But there is no safe harbour and no respite. All is lost."
  18. ↑ Help defend Titania, Sunless Skies "[...] once the nectar is gathered, the Hive departs."
  19. ↑ A slim clasped box, Sunless Skies "Produced by the gargantuan flowers of the Reach, this nectar is zealously sought by the giant, hymnal Chorister Bees who haunt its skies."
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Description, Sunless Skies ""For tea-drinkers it's a sweetener; for poets an inebriant. For singers it's an enhancement, widening the vocal range by a valuable semi-tone or two.""
  21. ↑ Chorister Hives, Sunless Skies "An insistent buzzing fills the air. The hive is watched."
  22. ↑ An ambrosial acquisition: chorister-nectar, going cheap!, Sunless Skies "A hive-harrower — a well-plated locomotive that hunts chorister-bees for their nectar [...]"
  23. ↑ Attempt Clay singing, Sunless Skies "Your throat feels as though it has expanded: your vocal range has widened. You can project further. Your voice is richer and more resonant. [...] You sing of the rock and shale; the arias of quarrying, labour, and the living clay."
  24. ↑ Provide Chorister nectar for the cause, Sunless Skies "It is a balm to the throat, which is valuable when shouting orders and chanting slogans."
  25. ↑ Nectar for Magdalene's, Sunless Skies "A number of our staff need to speak in voices that are not their own, and chorister nectar works wonders upon the vocal chords."
  26. ↑ Deposit the Infernal Philatelist, Sunless Skies
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Speak to the congregation of devils, Sunless Skies "[...] one steps forward and opens his mouth as wide as he can. Plainsong emerges: sweet, with a sonorous drone. [...] The devil leans obligingly forward. You peer past his tongue, [...] see a large compound eye – insectoid, iridescent – peering back at you from his chest cavity."
  28. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies "The choir has grown enough to attempt its most sacred hymn. [...] The Hymn of the Martyr [...] The hymn is an ending-hymn. The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'. His followers [...] grieved, then raged, then rebelled. The Chain was broken."
  29. ↑ Deposit the Infernal Philatelist, Sunless Skies "He takes the bee from the cage and you watch as his jaw [...] opening wider and wider and wider. The curious bee crawls inside, pushing unidentifiable organs aside to make room. Then the devil's mouth returns [...] the Philatelist sings with the bee's sweet, wordless voice. [...] He is part of the choir, now."
  30. ↑ Give the Patchwork Devil her bee, Sunless Skies "You open the bee's cage. "Thank you," [...] They are the last words she ever speaks. Her mouth opens extraordinarily wide. [...] The bee crawls frantically into the opening, down her throat, and nestles in her chest cavity. The Devil's mouth returns to its usual size, then emits a single seraphic note."
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Deposit the Abstemious Devil, Sunless Skies "Long ago, the Many-Mouthed gave all but one of his voices to his creations. I require a single live chorister-bee."
  32. ↑ Listen to the third hymn, Sunless Skies "The Choir-in-One (who was, you are now certain, an ur-devil) was [...] Hung? – above the well, from the spur of ice on which the bandstand now rests. The stars 'made a message of him,' (this part is unusually clear). In defiance, he gave away his voices, bestowing 'all but one of them upon his—' The next part might be 'creations' or 'aberrations' or 'amalgamies'."
  33. ↑ Listen to the third hymn, Sunless Skies "In defiance, he gave away his voices, bestowing 'all but one of them upon his—' [...] 'creations' [...] Apparently, this was not well received by 'those who judged'."
  34. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies "The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'."
  35. ↑ Chorister Hives, Sunless Skies "The Repentant Devil is listening to the bees. "They sing of a well, and the unpleasant fate of the one who gave them voices."
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