Category:Parabola

"Beneath the skin of dreams, behind the faces of mirrors, an orange sun sails in a fervid sky. Here are the borderlands of that place, close by Irem, and closest still to the House of the Amber Sky. And here you are, in another place. The sun is warm on your uncovered head."

Parabola is a dreamlike realm populated by strange creatures and featuring impossible geography. In Sunless Sea, it is very close to Irem, which lies in the northeastern Unterzee.

Parabola is more than a dream, however, as those who enter into it disappear from the physical world for the duration of their stay and can reappear in other locations. It is possible for one’s body to return before one's mind does, making one seemingly drunk (this is called being "honeymazed").

Places

The most commonly visited region of Parabola is the Mirror-Marches, a vast and dangerous jungle biome. The dreams of those living in the Neath have some influence over the geography of Parabola. Memories of Light, frequent nightmares, and prisoner’s honey are the primary means by which a person is transported to Parabola; however, it is not unheard of for people to pass into it directly by stepping through a mirror. (In fact, mirror possession, or mirror madness, is a somewhat common malady in Fallen London and throughout the Neath. Possessed individuals can pass for normal people, but must always carry a mirror on their person. Refusal to relinquish a mirror when asked is grounds for suspicion of potential mirror possession, and this suspicion is confirmed if one is inhumanly strong.)

Other parts of Parabola include:

• the Woods in Winter, sometimes accessible through Irem. The Woods were the hatching-place of the giant sea turtle known as Glory; Glory's shell is now the location of the hunting tribe called the Chelonate.

Inhabitants

The primary residents of Parabola are Cats and serpents, although they are not the only creatures who live there. The cats are domestic cats from London who take on the form of large jungle cats such as lions and panthers in their dreams. Unlike the cats, the serpents (aka the Fingerkings) have no physical animal form outside of Parabola; however, that is not to say they can’t leave Parabola under any circumstances. The cats and the serpents of Parabola are at war, and the effects of this war manifest themselves in Fallen London as the rivalry between magicians of the Glass and of the Shroud. This rivalry is known commonly as the War of Illusions. 

Devils once lived in Parabola, although all of them seem to have moved to various locations in the Neath now, mostly Hell.

Original by NiteBrite/Mrs. Brite