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"She bears a crown made of reeds and a staff made of weeds. Her skin is the colour of oxidising copper, and her eyes are black as obsidians. The poisoned fumes of the Lotus Pool hang from her like the smoke of the Delphic Oracle."[1]
The Poisoned Priestess is a mysterious figure who dwells within the Sere Palace in the Hinterlands.
The Poisoned Priestess lurks within the green waters of the Lotus Pool in the Sere Palace,[3] and is the source[4] of the toxins that suffuse the area.[5] She holds power over the canals of the Hinterlands, and can bestow this power upon others.[6] She is immortal, her life sustained by her poisons;[7][8] these have also granted her a wide range of powers, from corrosive saliva[9] to the ability to erase memories.[10]
The Priestess was the eldest of the Pharaoh's Daughters.[11][12] When the Second City fell, she and her sisters conspired to imprison the Masters of the Bazaar in a tomb near the Salt Lions.[13][14] Either as part of the trap or after the tomb was opened, she was forced to sacrifice herself so that her sisters could escape,[15] and was presumed dead.[16] The Priestess managed to survive in a transfigured form,[17] but the details of how this happened are unclear.
Appearance and Personality
"It is not an easy life. Indeed, it is no life at all. But no trick goes without a cost: the price of victory an eternity of regrets. But do not tell my sisters that."[18]
The Priestess is an ancient, dark-eyed woman, with regalia made from plants and skin seething with poisons.[19][20] In art of the Second City, she was depicted wearing one or more feathers in her crown.[21][22]
The Priestess is affable[23] and fond of righteous vengeance,[24] but she is also lonely,[25] and has mixed opinions of her sisters.[26] Her past has left her burdened with many regrets,[27] and it is implied that she deliberately erased portions of her own memory as time went on.[28]
River's Blood
"It was the bargain struck. That he cheat Hell. In his blood, poison runs: a poison drawn from you."[18]
"He spoke to the Lotus Pool, and the Pool answered. Blood for water. If the canals flow through you, how can you lose a race on the red waters? The price was too rich for his blood. But he could read men well, and though far older, to him I was an open book. In my loneliness, I allowed a substitution."[18]
About fifty years ago,[29] the Gonfaloniere of the Guild of Gondoliers[30] sought to secure his position for life. He risked being deposed and exiled to Hell if he lost a race through the Hinterlands' canals, so he beseeched the Poisoned Priestess for help.[31][32]
The Priestess replaced the blood of the Gonfaloniere's betrothed, the Swan Bride, with the poison waters of the canals, transforming the unwitting young woman the same way the Priestess herself had been transfigured so many millennia before.[33] The Gonfaloniere was then given an infusion of the Swan Bride's humors, granting him the waters' blessing and making it impossible for him to lose a race.[34][35] Sadly, the Swan Bride was condemned to wander Jericho Locks with no memory of the incident, despite the Priestess' fondness for her.[36][37]
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Poisoned Priestess [...] She begins to sink back into the Lotus Pool, until the searing green waters cover all [...]"
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The poison is produced from the Palace itself... [...] A text of the Second City indicates that some poisons are purgations [...] the Poisoned Priestess, the poison at the heart of the Sere Palace."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"[...] with my assistance, I could guarantee your victory. [...] You have the blood of the canals in your veins. The water [...] will not steer you wrong."
↑Dig a little distance from the river 2, Fallen London"You pull out six tiny clay women, [...] One carries a mirror, one an ankh, one a cat, one a rose. One is snapped in half, [...] The last holds [...] perfume or of poison."
↑Homecoming, Fallen London"[...] your immense basalt paws [...] Your twin is at your side. [...] you watch as a funerary procession makes its way towards a temple. A group of hooded creatures [...] are led inside, and do not emerge for centuries.""
↑Buying secrets, Fallen London"Since the Second City, [...] We were a royal house [...] We played those black-cloaked vultures for fools [...]"
↑The Attendants, Fallen London"A new sun was raised in the sky so the citizens might walk in light again. But the House of the Feather was opened before the Palace was completed. We four survivors fled."
↑The Attendants, Fallen London"[...] hieroglyphs show a woman at the head of six, walking alone into a dark temple, [...] The youngest of us perished [...] the eldest in the House of the Feather."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"[...] a crown made of reeds and a staff made of weeds. [...] her eyes are black as obsidians. The poisoned fumes [...] hang from her [...] She appears [...] ancient [...]"
↑Look deep into the pool, Fallen London"[...] a ring of mosaics in the wall circling the pool. [...] Alongside each body of water is a woman in a feathered crown."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Poisoned Priestess lets out a snort [...] "Old stiff-neck is still kicking about. [...] The Priestess chuckles to herself; [...]"
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Obstinate Adoratrice [...] Old stiff-neck is still kicking about. [...] The Mother Superior [...] I am glad to hear she persisted. [...] Her Roseate Splendour [...] That coward."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Bridegroom [...] The Gonfaloniere of the Guild of Gondoliers. [...] The Swan Bride steps [...] facing the man who had once sought to marry her."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"Challenge the Gonfaloniere [...] His position means he cannot refuse. Should he lose, his very person will be forfeit to Hell."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Poisoned Priestess speaks of a doubtful husband-to-be [...] The husband was the most skilled bargeman on the waters: [...] he knew the cost of the title and the price owed to Hell when it was lost. [...] So he searched, [...] he found the answer to his prayers. [...] "He spoke to the Lotus Pool, and the Pool answered."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"Blood for water. [...] "The price was too rich for his blood. [...] I allowed a substitution. [...] "He bound me to the canals," the Swan Bride says. "So I would be like you." The Poisoned Priestess nods. "Both of us were transfigured to trick another's bargain."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Swan Bride steps closer [...] In his blood, poison runs: a poison drawn from you. [...] The Swan Bride removes her mask [...] River's blood in me. He shall not have another drop."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"A woman [...] haunts the canals of Jericho. [...] a past she does not remember. [...] recurring nightmares of a wedding held in a ruined palace surrounded by poisoned waters, [...]"
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"There was no provision [...] to prevent my prodigy from returning [...] The Poisoned Priestess gazes lovingly at the Swan Bride. "But you could stay, instead.""
