Caution
"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"
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"Caution, the City of Beasts, the City of a Hundred Tongues. Its spires rise through the forest canopy; a hundred, one for every tongue – scarlet, dusky green, royal blue. This close, the spires are less like coloured glass, more like glossy crabshell."[1]
"Turn back, turn back. You have not lived enough. Learn Caution."[1]
Caution, the City of Beasts, is a city in the Presbyterate, home to a hundred different tongues.[2]
Learn Caution
As a part of the Presbyterate, Caution is inaccessible to outside visitors, unless one can procure a special invitation or pass.[3] Reaching Caution is quite the challenge, but a mysterious, powerful passphrase known as the Word of Caution can be used to gain entry into the city itself.[4]
Wombwell and Stark's Travelling Menagerie is a traveling troupe of animals and exhibits that frequently visits Caution, showcasing wildlife from throughout the Elder Continent. The two proprietors of the Menagerie are Mr Wombwell[5] and Professor Stark, the latter of whom is... er, deathly poisonous. Best not to shake her hand.[6]
Within Caution lie spires for each of the hundred tongues. They look less like glass and more like crabshell, and each is its own color: scarlet, green, blue, and so on.[7] In order to enter through the Pilgrim Gate of Caution, one must first deal with the Pilgrim-Wakers, bird-like beings who demand to know if a visitor has lived long enough to enter.[8] To get past them, one must either share their deepest regrets,[9] or utilize the aforementioned Word of Caution.
In the center of Caution lies the Temple of Meetings, where one can interact with Caution's various factions and citizens. This location is also where Beasts are born from Men, in a process that remains unseen.[10]
Once, when there were Kings in Caution, a King would stand vigil in the Temple of Meetings, with a mirror, a crown, and a dagger of flint.[11]
A Hundred Beasts, A Hundred Tongues
The Beasts of Caution make up the vast majority of its population, and can take on many animalistic forms. However, they all have human eyes, betraying their former nature.[12]
The Beasts of Caution include:
- Lions, which boast of their skills and deeds in the aptly-named Boasting Ring. The strongest Lion in the Ring wins the weakest Lion's Name.[13]
- Parakeets, the journalists and gossipers.[14]
- Apes, the scouts, watchmen, and poets.[15]
- Wolves, who provide guidance and comfort.[16]
- Panthers, who are not permitted to enter water.[17]
- Striped Horses, who build the spires (and tongues) of Caution.[18]
- Tortoises, who claim to be from none other than London![19]
- Salamanders, Caution's soldiers.[20]
- Boars, who write the histories of Caution in blood.[21]
- Leopards, who drink blood.[22]
- Serpents, not expanded upon.[23]
- Mice. No one really knows what they do, but they like scary stories.[24]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Flint, Fallen London
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "...'hundred-tongued city of Caution'..."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Caution? It's [...] Forbidden territory, my dear [...] manage to wangle a pass."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "It won't be easy to reach Caution. [...] And once you reach Caution, I have a potent pass-phrase you can use [...] Word of Caution..."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Mr Wombwell himself is here [...] some are travelling home to Caution;"
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Its spires [...] a hundred, one for every tongue – scarlet, dusky green, royal blue. This close, the spires are less like coloured glass, more like glossy crabshell."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "This [...] is the Pilgrim Gate. [...] The Pilgrim-Wakers rear to greet you. "Have you lived enough?" they cry."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Share your regrets, and enter."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Attend a Ceremony at the Temple of Meetings: [...] A dark space waits at its roots. Here Men come, and Beasts are born. There is a pause; and a scream. [...] The newborn Foal emerges tottering from the tree-cave."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Now in those days, when there were Kings in Caution, a new King would sit vigil in the Temple of Meetings, with his appointed regalia: a mirror, a crown, and a dagger of flint."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "There are the Beasts – everywhere the Beasts, watching you with human eyes."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Lions have entered their Boasting Ring. The strongest will take the weakest's name."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Parakeets serve Caution as journalists, gossips, urchins and salonnières serve London."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Apes are the scouts, the watchmen, and the poets of Caution."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Wolves of Caution give guidance and comfort."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "Panthers are not permitted by the laws of Caution to swim."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "For when we build the next Tongue, and its spire."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Tortoises, in their pit, all claim they were men and women of London before they came here."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Salamanders are Caution's soldiers."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "The Boars write the histories of Caution on the roots of Caution’s glossy spires. They always use blood, to ensure the spires are healthily nourished."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London ""We won't drink it," the Matriarch chuckles. "We're Boars, not Leopards! But we will always need ink.""
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "...or the Serpents from the Wolves."
- ↑ Flint, Fallen London "It's not clear what the Mice are for [...] And they love scary stories."
