The Forge of Souls

"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.

"Crew press their noses to the windows, hoping for a glimpse of the fabled Forge of Souls."

"A colossal many-towered citadel contains the Lyceum, an ancient library and rumoured to hold the fabled Forge of Souls within its depths."

The Forge of Souls is a legendary library in the the Blue Kingdom.

The Forge Gone Dark

Once upon a time, the Blue Kingdom housed the fabled Forge of Souls. There, the Judgements gathered to create new life. Many wonders and horrors of the heavens came from this place. Amongst these creations are the Scrive-Spinsters , invented by the Garden-King and created by The Binary. Thus the Forge became the genesis of many species...

...until a mysterious incident happened. Whatever that incident was, The Sapphir'd King saw it fit to impose the Amaranthine Edict: Nothing new can ever be created at the Forge. Because of this, the state of the Forge declined. Eventually, the Forge itself became entirely broken, unused, and abandoned.

The Lyceum

"Fortresses of knowledge, held against the dying of the light."

The Lyceum is the library of the Sapphir'd King. It is headed by the Lamentation of Mists, a Scrive-Spinster as large as a cathedral. The Lamentation truly desires for a new Scrive-Spinster to be created from the Forge

Originally, it was located inside the Forge of Souls. It was created to record the Forge's many creations. However, once the Forge broke down, the servitors saw it fit to use the many empty chambers of the Forge for the Lyceum. Now the Forge itself is inside the Lyceum.

The destruction of Eleutheria's grand library caused most of the Scrive-Spinsters to turn the Lyceum into their new library. Unfortunately, all of the literature that they could gather so far was Ministry-Approved Literature, which the servitors of the Lyceum desperately try to clear from their shelf.

There are many subjects cataloged in the Lyceum, among them are:

• The Law of the stars
• The Fear of the stars
• Creation from the Forge of Souls
• Anything related to the number seven

Deep within the Lyceum lies another library, the Roll of Ash. It's a memorial containing the names of dead stars that were killed by "an exchange of courtesy". Each chamber contains at least a hundred epitaphs of dead stars, and there are at least 278 chambers.

The First Venturer

"I was the first through the horizon. Not the Parzifal – I was. We opened the Gate and zailed through. I wasn't alone, as I am now."

Main Article: The Merchant Venturer

The First Venturer is the custodian of the Forge. He and a zee-captain are the first human beings to pass through the Avid Horizon.

Circumstances caused him to become the custodian of the Forge, while the captain has became the Clerk of Sevens. The captain, unable to handle the massive amount of paperwork, passed his title to the third person who passed the Horizon and fled the Lyceum. The Venturer waits for his return, still saving a bottle of Neathian Greyfields for them.