"What was once a house of correction is now a home to chaos. Old Newgate, sealed away in 1875, has been left to its own devices. Its usage as a prison in the Neath was brief. Bees haunt the ruined tunnels now, a relic of some practice that took place in the prison; it is said Hell will pay handsomely for their recovery."[1]
"Two images: a dagger, and a fire-lighting flint. Beneath them, someone has scratched 'CHOOSE'."[1]
Flinty.
Old Newgate used to be an active prison complex, but it was left fragmented after the Fall of London. One section, a maze of underground tunnels near the University, was sealed in 1875 and later rediscovered during the Grand Clearing-Out.[2][3] The interior of the prison is pitch-black and the walls drip with old honey.[4][5] Enormous swarms of bees menace the air,[6] and their droning can be heard throughout.[4] The prison's former inmates were left behind and now run the place,[7] and they have a bandaged, withered appearance.[8] Some of these inmates are former members of the Order Vespertine.[9]
The prisoners of Old Newgate play an ancient variant of Knife-and-Candle called Dagger, Or Flint?, ignoring Mr Iron's prohibition.[10] Players capture and collect bees, which they store in cages they carry with them,[11] and ambush others to steal their spoils.[12] No tactic is off the table,[13] and many players seem addicted to consuming the bees' honey.[14][15] The game is self-justifying: any ending simply begins another round.[16] Players are divided into two factions; visitors are free to join any faction upon entering,[17] but changing teams afterwards is more involved.
Factions
"Join the inmates who stalk the corridors with knife in fist and a heart full of fury."[18]
"Walk the halls of Old Newgate with a light to lead you and not a shadow of fear in your heart."[19]
Cutting edge.
The fighters of the Dagger stalk the halls shrouded in darkness and shadow.[20][21] To defect to the Dagger, an initiate is locked in a cage and must escape before they are cut seven times.[22] Those who wish to lead the Dagger are surrounded and hunted by its members, and must defeat each and every one of their pursuers.[23]
The Flint fight with knives like their Dagger counterparts,[24] but they operate in the light,[25] carrying lit candles as they roam and hosting bonfires.[26][27] Players who wish to defect to the Flint are tied to an altar and surrounded by seven candles, and may only rise after seven Daggers have been warded off by the light.[28] To lead the Flint, a player must journey from the top of Old Newgate, the governor's office, to its lowest point, an interrogation room, all while keeping a torch lit the entire time and avoiding the Dagger's harassment.[29]
Mead
"The honey is golden and syrupy, though it suffers a slight crimson discolouration. When taken, languishing upon your couch, you dream of cages, buried deep below the earth. There is a low hum all around, and your tears – when they fall – are red.""When you dream, you are in Old Newgate once more. You are a friend of a prince; your family has been for many decades. When they bring you to the cage and shackle you to the stone, it is an honour. When they hold open your ears and your eyelids so that the bees may get a better purchase, your screams are proud."[30]
The bees of Old Newgate once lived amongst devils during their time in Parabola before the migration to Hell,[31][32] and are considered Hellish in origin.[33] They were later brought to Old Newgate and abandoned when the prison was closed,[34] allowing them to grow monstrous.[35] They have a red color, vary in size (but not shape), gather in swarms,[36] and form "phalanxes" around their queens.[37] They scour the prison for nectar; failing that, they will consume the blood and tears of hapless inmates.[38][39] Their bodies are marked by the Correspondence, and they can "sing" the language by droning in unison.[40]
Honey-Stained Shackles
Old Newgate's bees were originally used to farm Gaoler's Honey.[41] The prison was overseen by the Masters,[42] and jailers would lock unfortunates in cages and chains so the bees could extract their memories.[30] There is apparently a network of tunnels leading from Old Newgate to the Shuttered Palace;[43] this is because the Royal Family regularly consumed the red honey harvested here.[42] Some of their victims were high-ranking members of society who considered their torture the highest form of honor.[44]
Hell seeks to recover Old Newgate's bees and pays well for them,[45] but their containment procedures are extreme out of necessity.[46] These include requiring an entire train car on the Moloch Street Express to transport just one box of six bees.[47] Unbeknownst to Hell, some Old Newgate bees are pilfered by their transporters, and are offered as tribute to a Grand Devil known only as the Methier.[48]
Historical and Cultural Inspirations
Old Newgate's inspiration, Newgate Prison, was a prison in the City of London built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904.
↑Find out what's below (The University), Fallen London"Fragments of London's old prison complex have been found before, [...] this section seems to have detached and sank during the Fall, becoming an underground maze of tunnels lying somewhere west of the University [...]"
↑Flint or Dagger, Fallen London"In Old Newgate, the inmates rule the prison, [...] Once, orderlies came to take the now-decrepit murderers to the Tomb-Colonies. They never emerged."
↑Sow carnage, Fallen London"[...] figures in bandages and rags emerge from dark hallways, [...] Honey dribbles from their withered lips. [...] They mumble outmoded obscenities [...]"
↑Set an ambush, Fallen London"If you risk a few bees, you can draw the attentions of the old order Vespertine. [...] The Order is fast, [...] But these inmates are also old [...]"
↑Hunt Bees in Old Newgate, Fallen London"In Old Newgate, the inmates [...] compete in an ancient game: Dagger, or Flint? Mr Iron's prohibition was not heard here. [...]"
↑Sow carnage, Fallen London"Bees are currency in Old Newgate. A few risked will attract prisoners carrying more [...] figures in bandages and rags emerge [...] holding cages. [...] you grab what bees you can as you step over the groaning bodies."
↑Keep to the shadows, Fallen London"[...] one, two – fast. Candle and a cage full of bees tumble down. You race after them, swooping to catch the cage while the first is busy [...]"
↑Spring an ambush, Fallen London"The flint was a feint, a dagger lies under their rotten cloak. They laugh as they stab, again and again."
↑Become leader of the Dagger, Fallen London"They circle you, knives drawn. Through kitchen and refectory, cell and corridor they shadow you. [...] When the last leathery ancient crumples [...] you stand triumphant."
↑Defect to the Flint, Fallen London"The Flint bind you to an altar [...] They balance lit candles just above your eyes and around your body. You must remain still until seven of the Dagger have come looking for you, and walked away, the light from your candles too bright to bear."
↑Become leader of the Flint, Fallen London"To win the acclaim of the Flint one must walk from the highest point of Old Newgate (a crack in the governor's old chambers [...] to the lowest ([...] interrogation room). You must carry a torch and it must remain lit each step of the way. You set forth. The Dagger follows you, [...] The candle remains lit, [...] you are coronated in light."
↑ 30.030.1Taste honey from a moderate amount of bees, Fallen London"When you dream, you are in Old Newgate once more. You are a friend of a prince; [...] they bring you to the cage and shackle you to the stone, [...] they hold open your ears and your eyelids so that the bees may get a better purchase, [...]"
↑Hunt a swarm of drones, Fallen London"They dive for drops of nectar, or when that can't be found, the wailing tears of an unfortunate Flint or Dagger [...]"
↑Commune with the bees, Fallen London"It is only when you notice that some are marked with tiny sigils, [...] Is not the Correspondence a language? [...] When they hum together, the air crackles. You scorch yourself [...]"
↑Taste a small amount of honey, Fallen London"The honey is golden and syrupy, though it suffers a slight crimson discolouration. When taken, [...] you dream of cages, buried deep below the earth."
↑ 42.042.1Taste honey from an inordinate amount of bees, Fallen London"You see Old Newgate as it was. [...] the cages and the prisoners, the princes and the princesses watching and partaking, the jailers and the Masters who sweep through the chambers to inspect their prison."
↑Taste honey from a moderate amount of bees, Fallen London"You are a friend of a prince; your family has been for many decades. When they bring you to the cage [...] it is an honour. When they hold open your ears [...] your screams are proud."
↑Send a small amount of Bees to Hell, Fallen London"[...] Hell has made it known that payment will be forthcoming for Old Newgate bees. [...] The box has many tiny windows, into which she places each individual bee, so that it has a cell alone. [...] "Safer this way," [...]"
↑Send a moderate amount of Bees to Hell, Fallen London"The bees are transported six to a box. Each box is given its own hansom carriage. The seventeen carriages [...] the courier insists this is how they must travel. [...] it has taken two entire journeys of the Moloch Street train to get the bees to hell, as each box has been booked its own individual carriage."
↑Send an inordinate amount of Bees to Hell, Fallen London"The last underling opens his cylinder when the Emissary's gaze is elsewhere [...] The freed bee disappears into his coat. "A harmless votary for the Methier," he says, by way of explanation."
