Cline: Difference between revisions

From The Fifth City Wiki
← Older editNewer edit →
KestrelGirl (talk | contribs)
Bureaucrats, emailconfirmed, Administrators
6,614 edits
Filling in citation quotes, added clarification and nerd info
Tag: visualeditor
mNo edit summary
Tag: visualeditor-wikitext
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Spoiler}}
{{Spoiler}}
{{Neath Location|image1=Clineheader.png|caption1=Art from FL.|location=[[The Elder Continent]]|allegiance=[[The Presbyterate]]|image2=Cline.png}}<blockquote>
{{Neath Location|image1=Clineheader.png|caption1=Cline|location=[[The Elder Continent]]|allegiance=[[The Presbyterate]]}}<blockquote>
''"A great many citizens are walking circuitous paths. You follow them at a distance, unobserved, as they go through identical motions like automatons around a clock. Their gestures are not only sluggish, but they follow similar patterns, as though they were actors performing rehearsed parts."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Covertly_follow_the_locals|Covertly follow the locals|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
''"A great many citizens are walking circuitous paths. You follow them at a distance, unobserved, as they go through identical motions like automatons around a clock. Their gestures are not only sluggish, but they follow similar patterns, as though they were actors performing rehearsed parts."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Covertly_follow_the_locals|Covertly follow the locals|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>


Revision as of 21:31, 22 September 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.


"A great many citizens are walking circuitous paths. You follow them at a distance, unobserved, as they go through identical motions like automatons around a clock. Their gestures are not only sluggish, but they follow similar patterns, as though they were actors performing rehearsed parts."[1]

Cline is a kingdom of snails: a citadel built of shells,[2] situated beside a massive crater.[3]

Slow and Steady

"By way of explanation, the Shrouded Man faces away from you and lets the sheet around his body drop below his shoulders.

"A spiral shell protrudes from the base of his neck, like a snail mounted in a museum. It twists counter-clockwise, flat against his back. Unlike the one on the table, this shell looks glossy, more vibrant, alive. Everyone in Cline must have one – some larger than others. That would explain their stiff movements and hunched postures."[4]

Cline's inhabitants, though otherwise human, all have snail shells upon their backs.[5] These shells, which hinder their owners' movements and appear to make their behavior more snail-like,[6] are a manifestation of one's regrets.[7][8] They cannot be fully removed safely, as they grow from within a person's spine, and will eventually regrow from whatever is left.[9][10]

Even those who wish to leave Cline, and would consequently like their shells removed to the extent possible, are unwilling or unable to elaborate further upon their nature or origin.[11] As such, it is not known which force is responsible for these shells, or what brought Cline's citizens to the island in the first place.

Scientific Inspirations

A cline is "a measurable gradient in a single characteristic (or biological trait) of a species across its geographical range." These variances within one species are usually due to noticeable environmental factors like temperature, rainfall, humidity, and the consequences of human settlement and industry. The term has definitions in a few other fields, and is also the name for a type of fish native to the Mediterranean, but these are probably unrelated. After all, since Fallen London players visit Cline as part of the Evolution storyline, it's only fair that the first island they visit is named after a scientific term related to evolution.

References

  1. ↑ Covertly follow the locals, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Set zail, Fallen London "When you first arrived, the city's walls looked like indifferent limestone, piled in chunks like an earthwork. But as you pass through them a second time, you recognise the building material: calcified shells. Millions are heaped in a ring-shaped pile around the citadel, with the uppermost inexorably crushing the shells at the bottom into dust."
  3. ↑ The Kingdom of Cline, Fallen London "Cline is built beside an enormous crater, perhaps carved out of the Elder Continent..."
  4. ↑ Enquire about the "fresher specimen", Fallen London
  5. ↑ Enquire about the 'fresher specimen', Fallen London "A spiral shell protrudes from the base of his neck, like a snail mounted in a museum. It twists counter-clockwise, flat against his back. Unlike the one on the table, this shell looks glossy, more vibrant, alive. Everyone in Cline must have one – some larger than others. That would explain their stiff movements and hunched postures."
  6. ↑ Covertly follow the locals, Fallen London "A great many citizens are walking circuitous paths. You follow them at a distance, unobserved, as they go through identical motions like automatons around a clock. Their gestures are not only sluggish, but they follow similar patterns, as though they were actors performing rehearsed parts."
  7. ↑ Look for the fresh shell's attachment point, Fallen London "It is an accumulation of regret. The burden of making choices, every day. It grows with one's mistakes. [...] The law of the Presbyterate is clear: None shall live a thousand years. But some lives are heavier than others."
  8. ↑ Living Shell of Regret, Fallen London "Each growth ring represents a mistake, down to the very last one."
  9. ↑ Look for the fresh shell's attachment point, Fallen London "Though the shell nestles tightly against the flesh on his back, it attaches only where the spiral starts: just above his ribcage, right below his neck. Surgical removal doesn't seem impossible, but it's hard to predict the long-term effects. Or the short-term effects, for that matter."
  10. ↑ Take the knife and cut, Fallen London "In truth, the shell extrudes from somewhere deep between the vertebrae – it would be impossible to remove at the root without decapitating the patient. But you can cut the shell itself, carefully slicing away near the bone. "It will grow again [...] Already, I feel new regret. But it will take time. By then, I should be gone.""
  11. ↑ Ask why he wants the shell removed, Fallen London ""The shell ties me to this city, marks me as her citizen. I would prefer to go elsewhere." He does not elaborate."
Retrieved from "https://thefifthcity.wiki/w/index.php?title=Cline&oldid=17278"