"They built the Fifth City's prison in a stalactite the size of a fair-sized village. Food and prisoners come and go from the city far below in a dirigible. Any corpses reckoned beyond recovery are weighted with dripstone and allowed to plummet into the Unterzee, far below."[1]
New Newgate Prison is a foreboding fortress carved from a colossal stalactite, suspended far above the Unterzee. Built around 1875[2] to replace the old prison, it now serves as London’s primary correctional facility. Supplies and prisoners arrive via airship.[3] Among the many goods brought in, one item is curiously abundant: candles. Vast quantities of them. The prison burns through candles at an astonishing rate (obviously because it's dark... right... right?). It is whispered among inmates that those who can secure their own supply of candles might earn privileges or even an early release.[4]
All prisoners are required to wear satin masks. Unpleasantly, and on a slightly related note, prisoners have been known to be found with their masks missing, with swaths of the skin beneath torn away; rumours among the prison population are rife about this issue[5](fights can get brutal, mind you... right?). Gaolers are tight-lipped, hunched figures in sackcloth hoods.[6] They shuffle through the halls, rarely speaking.[7] The prison itself is quite shabby. Fights are a daily occurrence.[8] Bitter gruel is the standard meal[9] on days when food is provided at all.[10] The walls are scratched with the writings of inmates: crude ballads,[11] profane jokes, and secrets best left unspoken.[12] Priests occasionally visit, encouraging prisoners to confess their sins. These confessions rarely lead to redemption, only self-incrimination.[13]
The lower levels are worse. Filthy, disease-ridden, and crawling with strange creatures that nest in the dark.[14] Prisoners are given the duty of cleaning it.[15] The tip of the prison is used as a solitary confinement of sorts,[16] holding some eldritch individual or creature,[17] and it's said that if the prisoners ever riot, the prison will fall off the roof and hit the Unterzee (possibly creating a second Godfall?). And should a prisoner die permanently, a brief funeral is held. Their corpse weighted with dripstone, and cast into the Unterzee below.[3] Some clever inmates have faked death to escape this way.[18]
The Masks Come Off
"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.
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New Newgate's first prisoner
"It is said she was the first prisoner to be cast into New Newgate. That her crime is unspeakable. You know her only through her letters, which are neatly-written, filled with lurid detail about her fellow inmates, and stained with candle-wax."
As it turns out, the prison has trouble with a Snuffer[19] on the loose[20] (ah yes... that explains that). The creature is the cause of their need for candles, as it constantly consumes the much needed light source. The gaolers themselves are sometimes victims of this Snuffer.[21] The satin masks are designed to protect inmates from having their faces ripped off, and they're about as effective as one might expect, i.e. they aren't.[22] The Snuffer is very ellusive and knows the secret passages within the prison, so it hasn't been caught yet.[23] It lairs in the forgotten corners of the prison.[24] The prison's first inmate apparently did something so horrible it took a secret convention of judges to lay out her sentence; it's possible she too is a Snuffer.[25]
The prison’s upper levels, known as Upper New Newgate, are under Admiralty control.[26] New Newgate is being invaded by the Starved Men. They come through the windows of Upper New Newgate and perform the Shapeling Arts on inmates,[27] which is why the prisoners and guards use any wooden material they can find[28] to board up the windows and keep the Starved out.[29] They're slowly losing ground to the Starved Men[30] floor by floor, forcing them to retreat downward,[31] which has led to a minor overpopulation problem in the lower sections.[32] The fact that New Newgate is being invaded by Starved Men is kept quiet for fear of news reaching London.[33]
Historical Inspiration
Commissioned by King Henry II, Newgate Prison was initially integrated into the city's defensive walls. Over the centuries, it underwent numerous reconstructions, especially after being destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The prison was rebuilt in 1672 by architect Sir Christopher Wren and later expanded in the 18th century to accommodate a growing inmate population.
Newgate was notorious for its deplorable conditions. Overcrowding, disease, and violence were rampant. Prisoners often had to pay for basic necessities, and corruption among jailers was common. The prison housed a wide range of inmates, from debtors to murderers, and was a site for public executions until 1868, after which executions were conducted within the prison walls. The prison's grim reputation permeated literature and public consciousness. The term "Newgate novel" even emerged to describe a genre focusing on criminal lives and prison experiences. It featured in works by authors like Charles Dickens, used as a symbol for the harsh realities of the justice system.
↑ 3.03.1Sidebar Snippet: Where is New Newgate Prison?, Fallen London "They built the Fifth City's prison in a stalactite the size of a fair-sized village. Food and prisoners come and go from the city far below in a dirigible. Any corpses reckoned beyond recovery are weighted with dripstone and allowed to plummet into the Unterzee, far below."
↑Ask around, Fallen London"The Museum of Mistakes pays for faces," a padsman tells you. "Something out of the South," insists a kifer-maker. "It's the Masters' punishment," says another. […] The prison chaplain will say only that "the Adversary wears many faces."
↑Observe the gaolers, Fallen London"The sacks […] make telling them apart impossible. […] When not drinking, dicing or patrolling, one sits outside your cell and indulges in a discreet nap. If it weren't for the snoring, you wouldn't be able to tell. […]"
↑Starvation day, Fallen London"No food today. Perhaps they meant it that way. Perhaps the supply dirigible hasn't come. Perhaps you'll be fed tomorrow. Adversity draws the inmates together. There are rumblings of riot."
↑Scratch a ribald ballad of your own, Fallen London"Other miscreants take up your verse about the 'bat in a bate' and turn it into a work-song of sorts. Much later, you hear, its recitation becomes a flogging offence. The wheel turns."
↑Lament your sins, Fallen London"You confess your dark deeds and lament your life of crime and iniquity. The priest offers you comfort, but you suspect he may be reporting to the authorities."
↑Volunteer, Fallen London"There are things in here the Department of Menace Eradication never expected. Rat-worm as big as kittens. Kittens blind and savage as razor-moles. A sort of blue fungus that disguises itself as hair. And […] enough human filth to give you diseases […]."
↑Bilge duty, Fallen London"The depths of the prison get somewhat unhygienic. Volunteering to clean them out will gain favour with the authorities, even if it is disgusting. And your fellow inmates will be glad that they didn't have to do it."
↑Voice from the oubliette, Fallen London"The tip of the prison stalactite holds an oubliette. You are passing the entrance when you hear a voice from within. The voice whispers secrets of a kind which encourage you to leave the stalactite tip at once, and incline you against returning."
↑The even more daring escape!, Fallen London"You arrange to 'die' in a knife fight […] The Troubled Undertaker pronounces you dead. There is an insultingly cursory funeral service, and then the snuffling gaolers fling your corpse over the railings into the Unterzee far below. […] You are free!"
↑Tracking the tooth, Fallen London[...] The whisper is that the Snuffer – the thing loose in the dark places of the prison that eats candles and occasionally gaolers – has it.
↑Listen to his woes, Fallen London"You nod and smile. Although the monologue is generally awful, you do pick up a few things. Most notably, it seems that the gaolers are concerned about a creature loose in the prison that eats candles. […]"
↑The Snuffer, Fallen London"The warden has a problem. The gaolers are complaining of 'the Snuffer' - some kind of beast loose in the prison that eats their candles and occasionally them. The warden offers a little remission on your sentence if you deal with it."
↑The screaming prisoner, Fallen London"A prisoner is screaming. His mask has been torn off and a long swathe of the skin beneath has been stripped away like apple-peel. Other prisoners crouch and shiver. What happened to him? You have to get out of here."
↑The Snuffer, Fallen London"Whatever this thing is, it's scared of you. The Snuffer knows the prison's secret ways and it keeps one step ahead of you. You don't catch it."
↑"It is said she was the first prisoner to be cast into New Newgate. That her crime is unspeakable. You know her only through her letters, which are neatly-written, filled with lurid detail about her fellow inmates, and stained with candle-wax."
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"Welcome to Upper New Newgate. [...] You're under Admiralty jurisdiction in this section. It's not run like that bit below."
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"The spy told me that monsters come from the roof. The guards cannot drive them back, so they retreat. Floor by floor. The Banded Cousin thinks she has the power to pick and choose from what those roof monsters do to her. The spy would never take that risk."
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"[...] you pause to glance down a corridor swarming with prisoners carrying furniture – half-made bedframes, a chipped wash basin [...]"
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"Come on you lot! It's window day! [...] You've gotta board all the windows shut before we can make the move. [...]"
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"We're being moved because they are afraid. The guards fight a battle for this stalactite, and they are losing. [...] A slow defeat, retreating a floor at a time over months. And there are hundreds of floors here. It might take years."
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"But the gist of it is this: due to circumstances, we need to vacate a floor of the upper prison. There are fewer cells on the floor below. To make up for the lost cell capacity, we're compelled to release a prisoner. [...]"
↑A Stretch in the Sky, Fallen London"Look. We are strongly discouraged from asking certain questions. And I'd like to remain in the establishment's good books. I think their rationale is: 'if no one talks about them, then we can pretend they don't exist. And if they don't exist, there's no risk of the news getting back to London'."
