The Elder Continent
"Why do they call it the Elder Continent? That vast continent to the South with a glowing mountain at its heart - where the Presbyter has ruled for a thousand years - is older by far than any of London's civilisations. Which is embarrassing."
A vast, sprawling continent to the south of Fallen London and the location of the Garden and the Mountain of Light, called Stone by zailors. The Garden’s presence in the Neath seems to predate the Bazaar’s; only flying things may enter, and to harm one is considered a crime. Snuffers once walked freely in the Garden, but were cast out. Adam’s Way is the gateway to the Elder Continent, a waterway stained incarnadine with the Mountain’s blood, through which only living ships can pass. The Wax Wind also blows from the South, and it’s not exactly good for your health.
The Garden provides a strange source of vitality to the entire continent; fruit can grow from rocks, bones can sprout from the soil. Dark-dewed cherries and St. John’s Lilies both come from the Elder Continent, and Hesperidean Cider is made from apples which grow in the Garden.
The College of Mortality governs citizens of the Presbyterate (apparently the various nations of the Elder Continent); they elect a Presbyter through a ceremony that seems permanently fatal to anyone who isn’t from the Continent. After the Presbyter’s time in office is up, he lives nameless among the College of Mortality. The Mithridate Office is an arm of the Presbyterate; namely, its aim is to confuse foreigners by spreading false stories of the Elder Continent.
Fallen London allows access to the Carnelian Coast, which is nominally part of the Elder Continent but not treated as such here. Sunless Sea allows access to certain cities and rivers on the Continent, but only for a day at a time.
Original by NiteBrite/Mrs. Brite
