"On the back of a gigantic beast live exiles from every corner of the Neath. Here gather the traitors, heretics, artists, fools, and the too-honest. Despite possessing a range of radically different ideologies, these outcasts live together peacefully."[1]
Hideaway is an underwater city built on the back of an enormous crustacean named Temtum.
"A city in constant repair, set upon the back of a great beast. The price of peace is profound."[2]
Hideaway is a city home to exiles of all stripes, ranging from the traitorous to the heretical to the foolish to the foolishly honest. Despite their disparate origins and viewpoints, the city is mostly peaceful.[3] The people here are silent and very rarely speak;[4] they communicate entirely through a system of hand-gestures,[5] or through writings and mouthed words.[6][7] Nearly everyone has a job to do: many work to brace the city against the pressure of the Unterzee, or help prepare for the city's various festivities.[5] The city's customs value unity and liveliness;[8][9] thus the people here often smile even when facing danger or embarrassment.[10][11]
Every night, the people of Hideaway hold three major festivals.[12] These festivals may be joined by outsiders, though they may be charged high prices for entry.[13] While some enjoy the activities wholeheartedly, others loathe the festivals but participate and show enthusiasm nonetheless.[14][15]
Festivals
"Though everyone in Hideaway has a night to celebrate a festival of their own making, most dedicate their efforts to one of three great events."[16]
Unspooling.
The Silent Reel is a festival of dance, though the crowd has no music nor style to dance to.[17] Instead, the Master of the Dance directs the crowd by holding a long ribbon in his teeth, inviting other dancers to bite segments of the ribbon themselves.[18] This continues until the ribbon is unspooled fully, upon which papers containing a secret from each resident rain from above for others to collect.[19]
The Hour of Our Reflection is a festival of creation. A wizened citizen known as the Suggester declares a theme, and the artists produce sculptures accordingly out of bits of meat.[20][21] Notably, they must provide some personal sacrifice for their art (usually some blood)[22] and name their piece, upon which their art is offered to Hideaway's host via a chute.[23]
The Rainbowing is a festival of color and feasting,[24] where citizens enjoy various meats dyed in various colors.[25] However, for newcomers the foods and traditions here may be seen as less than appetizing.[26][27]
Temtum's Truth
"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
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"Hideaway is doomed. It'll crack or be left on the zee-floor, and I'm the only one who knows. It's Temtum. The beast is growing. Should have already shed its shell, but I guess it's willing itself to hold on. It can't beat biology though, can it! It's going to outgrow Hideaway. Soon. Everyone here needs to know. They need to leave."[28]
"The Investigator threatens to destroy Hideaway and everything you and I have worked towards. He must be killed."[29]
The creature Hideaway is built on is a living crustacean named Temtum.[30][31] As the bearer of Hideaway, it is revered for its hospitality, especially during Hideaway's ceremonies.[32][33] However, Temtum has a dark secret: it is slowly molting, and if its shell is shed the city's destruction is certain.[34]
A notable inhabitant of Hideaway is Arik of the Seven Against Nidah.[35] He works tirelessly to maintain Hideaway's electrical infrastructure,[36] and appears to hold high status in the city.[37] His true intentions are to one day unleash Temtum upon the walls of Nidah to overthrow the Presbyterate,[38] and he prepared a system and console to control the beast directly for this mission.[37] However, his plan hinges on Hideaway remaining populous and busy,[39][40] and if Temtum's secret is leaked, he will do anything, including war and murder,[41][42] to suppress an evacuation and maintain the city's cohesion.[43]
↑Port Description, Sunless Sea"[...] exiles from every corner of the Neath. Here gather the traitors, heretics, artists, fools, and the too-honest. Despite [...] radically different ideologies, these outcasts live together peacefully."
↑Take your offering with you, Sunless Sea"The Near-Forgotten Betrayer, [...] speaks in over-enunciated English: "Do you not know? [...] Perhaps she thinks you did not understand the gestured instructions."
↑ 5.05.1Assemble a Port Report, Sunless Sea"Most Hideaway dwellers toil to strengthen their city against the zee's crushing weight. Those that don't instead prepare for that night's festival. [...] all without a word spoken aloud! If they need to communicate, the people of Hideaway rely on a strict system of [...] gestures."
↑Cut your hand, Sunless Sea"Others force a smile, chew at their nails, and spit the pieces into their offerings"
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"[...] everyone in Hideaway has a night to celebrate a festival of their own making, most dedicate their efforts to one of three great events."
↑Join a festival, Sunless Sea"Though you do not reside in Hideaway, the people of the city will allow you to participate in their festivals, [...] they don't like trespassers learning their customs - festivals will become increasingly costly to attend."
↑Leave the festival early, Sunless Sea"Most merely clear their throats and look away, feigning distraction. The few who do look directly at you scowl. But a few offer half-smiles - "I know," they seem to say. "We all know.""
↑Dance, Sunless Sea"The Master claps his hands at a shuffling dancer. The shuffler gives a smile, but his eyes fill with hate. He [...] joins the Master's dance."
↑The Silent Reel, Sunless Sea"Throughout the night, the people will dance. There will be no music, nor any obligations to conform to a particular style."
↑Dance, Sunless Sea"The Master of the Dance holds the ribbon in his teeth. He is dancing through the crowd. The Master claps his hands at a shuffling dancer. [...] He bites a section of ribbon, fixing it between his teeth, and joins the Master's dance."
↑Just keep dancing, Sunless Sea"[...] the Master claps at you, and you bite the ribbon and take your place. [...] the spool unwinds completely. There is a modest bang, and the air fills with fluttering papers. On each, a resident of Hideaway has written their secret. The dancers fall on them [...] You snatch as many as you can."
↑The Hour of Our Reflection, Sunless Sea"There is a dweller too ancient [...] the Suggester serves a ceremonial role: during the festival, they bark out a phrase, which everyone then represents through art."
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"The dwellers of Hideaway have collected [...] fish-flesh, [...] Once the theme is announced, the dwellers pick out the choicest material from which to build their offerings."
↑Cut your hand, Sunless Sea"The [...] Betrayer next to you bites his thumb until the droplets of blood ooze. It isn't an offering without something personal."
↑The Rainbowing, Sunless Sea"Revellers will indulge in a colourful feast, featuring the finest food Hideaway can manage to find in the abyssal depths."
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"Banquet tables are laid throughout the festival square. [...] all of the lurid dye in the world does not disguise how unappetising the meat is."
↑Miserable realisations, Sunless Sea""Hideaway is doomed." "It'll crack or be left on the zee-floor, [...] "It's Temtum. The beast is growing. Should have already shed its shell, but I guess it's willing itself to hold on. It can't beat biology though, can it! It's going to outgrow Hideaway. Soon.""
↑ 37.037.1Fixing a fault, Sunless Sea"In the centre of Hideaway is a small building [...] locked behind an iron gate nobody dares touch. Arik unlocks it, [...] the centre of the room is a raised brass panel and a chair. The panel is covered in switches and gauges. 'Central control of Hideaway. [...] Arik flips a switch; the ground shakes, and you're thrown left. He flips another; you're thrown right. Arik beams [...]"
↑Breaching Nidah's walls: deploy a leviathan from the depths of the zee, Sunless Sea"Arik has not been idle since the defeat of the Seven. He has tamed a monster of the deep zee, [...] Arik's plan involves steering Temtum from the zee, across the Elder Continent, and using the beast as a siege engine. 'Temtum will topple the walls like meringue,' [...]"
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"The Investigator threatens to destroy Hideaway and everything you and I have worked towards. He must be killed."
↑Silence the Investigator's intrusive band, Sunless Sea"The Visionary's maps of the city are pinned to the wall behind him. Instead of planning the city's electrical grid, they now present lines of battle. The Visionary, [...] details his plan of attack to you and your brigade."
↑Join the Sprightly Visionary, Sunless Sea"The dwellers of Hideaway have come together around the Visionary. [...] He performs the wide-armed, toe-twirl sign for Hideaway, followed by the clawed hands and sidesteps for Temtum. He describes togetherness - of Temtum and Hideaway, but also of Hideaway and its people. When the Visionary rallies the people to return to work, to maintain their home [...] they leave, subdued."
