Winking Isle

"In the migrainous straits of deep sleep, there is a marsh where candle-flames buzz like wasps." WARNING: Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London's most infamous storyline: Seeking Mr Eaten's Name. Turn back now. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"The summit of Winking Isle is two dozen paces across, a flat lawn of springy grass -- black, or a deep green that seems black in this light. In the very centre stands a Well of black brick. As you cross the grass, scents arise: crushed flowers, camphor, ice. There may, or may not be, a lighthouse."

Winking Isle is a small island containing a single well and a lighthouse that gives no light.

Camphor and Ice

"You could spend your whole life here, until even the vitality of the Neath gutters in you, and you lie brittle beside the Well."

Winking Isle is an island apparently located to the East of the Unterzee, but it can also be accessed via dreams through a certain ritual. It is said to exist in the line dividing the High Wilderness and Parabola. When seen through dreams, the surroundings of Winking Isle are quite strange; the "ocean" below is in fact the starry night of the High Wilderness, and the "sky" above is the sea. Winking Isle's starlit beaches glow silver, and a gravel path leads to the Isle's center, lit only by candles. Herein lies Winking Isle's summit, a small lawn of dark green grass with a Well of stone at its center, and a distinct scent: "crushed flowers, camphor, ice". The Well is traditionally circled thrice at a time, but some circle seven.

The Lighthouse

"The lighthouse would warn ships, but no ships come here. It would give light, but there is only darkness in its core. It has no door, and no windows. It is not here. But still it flashes, flashes, flashes. Winking Isle."

No light.

The Lighthouse of Winking Isle gives off no light, as there are no ships to alert. The Lighthouse does not have a door, inscribed with a sigil of the Correspondence, and it does not have a dark, metallic handle. The Lighthouse's interior is marked by many Correspondence sigils, and it has seven thousand steps leading to its top. Therein lies the lens and Apparatus of the Lighthouse, as well as several journals written by Mr Candles in meteorites and burnt leather. In the ages past, Mr Candles held dominion over dreams, and the Lighthouse was likely how he lit the very edge of sleep.

"Here he once stood, on the border between Parabola and the Wilderness, to look out across his wounded realm. Or perhaps he only imagined it. Perhaps you only imagined it. This is a dream that wounds, but it is a dream."