Anthe

"They call it the city of flowers, but the flowers are crystals, spiral matrices grown on the walls of Anthean caves. The inhabitants of Anthe are at least partly crystal too: they call it "going sharp." Becoming more perfect, and clearer, and colder."

Anthe is a strange city of crystal located under the Zee.

Those who go sharp

"The inhabitants of Anthe go sharp. Not all at once, but piece by piece, they turn to crystal. They sort themselves by sharpness, too: the sharp-handed cluster with others of their kind, ignoring the keen-footed and the brittle-waisted."

The most notable part of Anthe is the capacity of it's inhabitants to turn parts of their bodies into crystal, with such a process being called "going sharp". The precise effects of sharpening vary depending on the body part, but most involve the specific part becoming much more functional and efficient at the cost of the loss of sensations. The inhabitants of Anthe tend to congregate with others of similar type of sharpness.

The many different types of sharpness include, but are not limited to:

• The sharpness of the spleen, which practically erases a person's ability to feel anger and is thus desired by diplomats and other professions that need to keep a calm head.

• The sharpness of the liver, which makes one immune to any drinkable poison, and is desired by people working with toxins, such as assasins.

• The sharpness of the lungs, which allows one to breathe much less frequently and makes them immune to poisonous gases. It is thus desired by coal miners and others that might want to hold their breath for long periods of time.

• The sharpness of the groin, which greatly enhances one's sexual performance, at the cost of diminshing their passion, and is wanted by people that desire either side of that coin, such as nuns and brothel habitués.

• The sharpness of the tongue, which makes one's speech very clear and precise, at the cost of losing their sensation of taste. Unsuprisingly desired by poets and people with interest in precise speech.

• The sharpness of the skeleton, which makes one's skeleton much more durable. Desired by labourers and anyone else that desires endurance.

• The sharpness of the skin, which makes one's skin very tough. Desired by fighters and other people that live dangerous lives.

Notable locations

• The Venous Salon, where the sharp-spleened entertain themselves by reading offensive literature and not reacting in the slightest.
• Rosina's Chambers, where a very special patient is being treated for her illness.
• The Salon of Silver Salts, where those with crystal livers like to eat and drink dangerous poisons.
• The Salon of Incense, where the barb-lunged spend their time deep in the poisonous incense.
• The Chamber of Pillow-cut Rock, where the bristle-groined socialise among each other.
• The Cave-Pool, where the Drownies of Anthe like to spend their time.
• Tongue-point Pinnacle, where the hard-tongued have their crystal-clear conversations.
• the Shell, a concert hall made out of a giant oyster.
• the Granite Corridor, a place for the most linguistically skilled assassins.
• The Bone-Barrow, where those with crystal spines show off their strength by holding up a slowly collapsing cealing.
• the Travertine Vault, where the Clay Men from Polythreme try their luck at going sharp.
• Femur and Lung, a drinking house for only the strongest workers.
• The Blistering Abyss, where those with transparent skins allow themselves to be attacked with all manner of dangers, and remain unharmed.

• Gallery of Axes, a home of The Hooded Anthean, Anthe's prime executioner.
• the Dauntless Palate, a club for those immune to every single manner of poison.

"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.

A Cavern of Giants

A fact not known by Anthe's outsiders is that going sharp is somewhat addictive- that is to say, the more sharpness someone has, the more they want to gain new ones, and the less likely it is for them to ever leave the city. The inhabitants whose bodies have grown entirely into crystal are called the Sharpest and they live in a giant cavern deep underneath Anthe. the Sharpest have long since ceased being human: their crystal bodies have grown to gigantic proportions and they have permanently fused with the floor of the cavern. They are still very wise however, and if approached by a person of sufficient sharpness they can teach them how to sharpen the most difficult parts of the body: eyes, brain, heart and muscles.