Anthe

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"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."[2]

Anthe is a city of crystal located under the Unterzee.

Sharp

"I'm going sharp in the lungs next. They say you can smoke all day long and never develop a cough."[3]

A man of stone overlooking a strange city.
Polythreme

Anthe is perhaps best described as a city in a cave-garden, except the vines, leaves, fruits, and flowers here are all made of crystal.[4][5] The inhabitants here are partially crystal as well; the process of crystalizing oneself is known as "going sharp."[6][7] Going sharp is possible thanks to Anthe's environment, but also requires significant mental fortitude,[8] or doses of certain chemicals.[9] Sharpened body parts are usually more skillful and disciplined than their fleshy equivalents, but also suffer from dulled sensation and desire.[10] While Anthe's blessings are alluring to visitors,[11] going sharp is addictive, and many leave their old life behind forever in pursuit of further "development."[12][13] Sharpness can be cured by visiting the living city of Polythreme,[14] though it can also be surgically excised.[15] In seems in rare cases, sharpening can go wrong and have nasty side effects: one unlucky visitor to Anthe emerged with an unusually "delicate" sharpened hand, and a partially or improperly crystallized lung that left him coughing up shards.[16]

A middle-aged woman.
Rosina

Antheans typically congregate exclusively with those who share their brand of sharpness,[17][18] and many travel here to improve their skills and pursue their ambitions.[19] Anthe also has a population of sharp Drownies, who reside away from the other citizens.[20] The city is additionally visited by Clay Men, who reside in a chamber called the Travertine Vault; these Clay Men seek to use sharpness to appear more trustworthy and desirable to employers in London.[21] Rosina of the Seven Against Nidah has taken refuge here seeking treatment for her animescence,[22] as have other sufferers of the disease.[23]

According to a historical tale in the archives of Scrimshander, a flower bloomed on the floor of the Unterzee, described as one that "any true lover would pluck for their beloved." Many dove below to retrieve this flower for their significant other, but either they died, or they were transfixed by its beauty and never returned.[24] It is not confirmed whether or how this story relates to Anthe.

Types of Sharpness

"A woman gives advice to new Antheans: her eyes are cubes of salt. She speaks of going sharp as a numbness, and as an awakening; as the loss of sensation and the beginning of insight. Some Antheans use other metaphors. Clarity. Dryness. Regularity and structure."[25]

"Your spleen is a hexagonal crystal."[26]

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

A dark knife.
Barbed.
  • Sharpness of the spleen: Dulls a person's ability to feel anger.[27] Desired by diplomats and others who prefer a cool head.[28]
  • Sharpness of the liver: Provides an immunity to poisons. Desired by those who work with toxins, such as assassins.[29]
  • Sharpness of the lungs: Slows the need for breath and provides an immunity to poisonous gases. Desired by coal miners, smokers, singers, and divers.[30][31]
  • Sharpness of the groin: Enhances sexual performance at the cost of diminishing passion. Sought out by the celibate and those who provide sexual company.[32]
  • Sharpness of the tongue: Improves clarity and articulation of speech, at the cost of tact. Desired by poets and other wordsmiths, as well as liars and secret agents.[33][34]
  • Sharpness of the skeleton: Improves bone durability, but may lead to injuries in scenarios where one's bones do anything other than break.[35] Desired by laborers and those seeking endurance.[36]
  • Sharpness of the skin: Improves the resistance of skin, at the cost of turning it transparent.[37][38] Desired by fighters and those who live dangerous lives.[39] Those with sharp skin often wear disguises to conceal their strange appearances, and do not typically leave Anthe.[40][41]
  • Other body parts may be sharpened, including one's ears,[42] teeth,[43] hands,[44] or bowels.[45] It is mentioned that sharp hands and fingers are a boon to the dexterous (like nurses and watchmakers)[44][12] and sharp bowels reduce or remove the need for food,[45] but the full effects of these are unknown.

Anthe's caves hold numerous chambers in which the sharp gather to test their abilities.[46] These include, but are not limited to:

A knife.
Faceted.
  • The Venous Salon, where the sharp-spleened show off by reading offensive literature while remaining stoic.[47]
  • The Salon of Silver Salts, where those with crystal livers consume dangerous poisons and substances.[48]
  • The Salon of Incense, where the barb-lunged languish in a cloud of thick incense.[49]
  • The Chamber of Pillow-Cut Rock, a room of soft-looking stone where the bristle-groined gather.[50]
  • Tongue-Point Pinnacle, where the hard-tongued converse in crystal-clear language.[51]
  • The Bone-Barrow, where those with crystal spines show off their strength by holding up a slowly collapsing ceiling.[52]
  • The Blistering Abyss, where those with transparent skin expose themselves to danger for amusement.[53]
  • The Shell, a concert hall made out of a giant oyster used by the sharp-lunged and sharp-tongued singers of Anthe.[54]
  • The Granite Corridor, reserved for intriguers and assassins with crystal tongues and other sharpnesses.[55]
  • The Smokehouse, where those with sharp livers and lungs indulge in substances without limit.[56]
  • The Dauntless Palate, a club for those immune to every single manner of poison thanks to their sharp skins, livers, and tongues.[57]

The Sharpest

"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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"As for the inhabitants who are sharp throughout their full bodies, they don't circulate much. There is said to be a cavern, broad and shallow-floored, where the perfectly sharp grow old together. They aren't capable of anyone else's company any more — at least, that's what you're told, and you can hardly go and ask. At any rate they are more like growing crystals than like people, slowly expanding and bonding with the rock."[58]

"It is a cavern of giants. They were all at one time men or women or other creatures you might meet familiarly on a London street. But they are larger now, grown like oaks into the cavern floor. Their bodies are clear as lens-glass. Their faces are past the necessity of expression. They are your superiors, but you have come far enough that they are willing to help you if you wish."[59]

A diamond.
Crystal clear.

The Sharpest are Antheans whose bodies have fully crystallized. They live in a cavern away from the other citizens,[60] and can no longer be called human: they have grown to a gigantic size, their faces are rigid and inexpressive, and they are fused to the floor like crystallized trees.[61] However, they are still capable of interacting with others. If approached by a sufficiently advanced student,[62] they will provide instruction on turning the most difficult parts of the body sharp, at the expense of all other sharpnesses.[63]

  • Sharpness of the eyes: Requires the drying of the eyes and turns them into cubes. Improves perception.[64][65]
  • Sharpness of the brain: Improves wit, intellect, and comprehension of both truths and untruths.[66] Grants a crystal-clad will against mental manipulation.[67]
  • Sharpness of the muscles: Improves strength and durability.[68]
  • Sharpness of the heart: Bolsters emotional intelligence and resilience from heartbreak. Enables a perfect balance between care and wisdom.[69]

References

  1. ↑ Interaction description, Sunless Sea "Seek Lytton in Anthe, the City of Flowers."
  2. ↑ Port Description, Sunless Sea
  3. ↑ Listen in on the nearest group of people, Sunless Sea
  4. ↑ Visit the garden of the Sharpest, Sunless Sea "The vines that hang along the tunnel walls are all nurtured crystal. Their fruit glitters. Their fallen leaves wobble without breaking underfoot."
  5. ↑ Port Description, Sunless Sea "They call it the city of flowers, but the flowers are crystals, spiral matrices grown on the walls of Anthean caves."
  6. ↑ Port Description, Sunless Sea "The inhabitants of Anthe are at least partly crystal too: they call it "going sharp.""
  7. ↑ Study the chambers of Anthe, Sunless Sea "The inhabitants of Anthe go sharp. Not all at once, but piece by piece, they turn to crystal. [...]"
  8. ↑ Cultivate the capacity for sharpness, Sunless Sea "It isn't easy to go sharp as the Antheans do. [...] The environment is a help, but you must also prepare your mind and your will."
  9. ↑ Cultivate the capacity for sharpness through chemical means, Sunless Sea "In Anthe there are teachers of sharpness who emphasise self-knowledge, patience, [...] In your case, a day of distillations and preparations is enough. You drink the dose [...] within two hours you are ready to go sharp in a new way."
  10. ↑ Cure the sharpness you gained in Anthe, Sunless Sea "The blood flows. The flesh bends. Your discipline and skill decrease, your desire and feeling return."
  11. ↑ Cultivate the capacity for sharpness, Sunless Sea "It isn't easy to go sharp as the Antheans do. But most who come here find themselves desiring the condition, sooner or later."
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Listen in on the nearest group of people, Sunless Sea ""Once you've gone sharp, you might not have a use for corsairs any more. I was going to be a horologist, but..." She waves a translucent hand. "I'd rather stay here and continue my... development.""
  13. ↑ Mingle with Hurriers, Getters and Thrusters, Sunless Sea "Are you planning to leave Anthe? Are you sure? Most people don't... but you may have the fuel if you need it. The only thing is, if you do go fully sharp, they'll take it back to offer to someone else that can use it."
  14. ↑ Cure the sharpness you gained in Anthe, Sunless Sea "Enough time in Polythreme, and your sharpness will dissolve back to flesh."
  15. ↑ Offer to help a Sharp Hunter, Fallen London "He tells the tale of how he acquired a cold sharpness in a place of flowers beneath the waves. You have the skill to excise it."
  16. ↑ Offer to help a Sharp Hunter, Fallen London "Anthe, it is called [...] The Sharp Hunter was dragged into it by a zee-current while diving for pearls, a foolish mistake [...] His left hand is now delicate and crystalline, white as bone and sharp as a knife. But what frightens away lesser surgeons are the quartz flowers blooming on his chest; every so often, he lets out a soft cough, hacking shards of rock from his slowly crystallizing lung."
  17. ↑ Gather a port report on Anthe, Sunless Sea "Access to Anthe is restricted by type of sharpness: those who are sharp in the ears do not necessarily mingle with the sharp-tongued."
  18. ↑ Study the chambers of Anthe, Sunless Sea "They sort themselves by sharpness, too: the sharp-handed cluster with others of their kind, ignoring the keen-footed and the brittle-waisted."
  19. ↑ Listen in on the nearest group of people, Sunless Sea ""I'm going sharp in the lungs next," says a woman in a deep red gown. "They say you can smoke all day long and never develop a cough." [...] A young man is speaking: a boy, except for the scar on his face. "I'm going sharp in the skin as fast as I can. And then I'll be back at Zee, and the corsairs will warn each other about me. [...] "Once you've gone sharp, you might not have a use for corsairs any more. I was going to be a horologist, but..." She waves a translucent hand. "I'd rather stay here and continue my... development.""
  20. ↑ Offer your Drownie Love-song to the Drownies in the Cave-Pool, Sunless Sea "They keep apart from other Antheans, but they have gone sharp in their own way."
  21. ↑ Set down Clay Men in the Travertine Vault, Sunless Sea "A Clay Man who's gone sharp is a Clay Man you can trust. Respectable, solid boned, patient. Incapable of rage or bad manners. That is why they come here: to be certified trustworthy, to show that they're suitable for better jobs and better treatment. The Travertine Vault is full of such men [...]"
  22. ↑ Meet Rosina, Sunless Sea "Rosina is dying of animescence, the disease of the Elder Continent. Any passion speeds the disease. She must, [...] lie very still in an ice bath and think of things that do not interest her. Going sharp in the spleen protects her against the passion of anger, but other passions are still a danger."
  23. ↑ Offer to help a Sharp Hunter, Fallen London "Anthe, it is called [...] where crystalline flowers grow and sufferers of Animescence seek a cold respite."
  24. ↑ Unearth a portrait of a time, Sunless Sea "It was said that a flower in the zee grew within the zee, one that any true lover would pluck for their beloved. If nothing else, it was a proof of bravery, devotion, and diving talent - all conventionally attractive qualities. Many dived, most died: but a few found the flower, and found that it was not what they expected. It was beautiful beyond their imagining. And though a pretty poetic conceit had send them below, it was not enough to bring them back up. They abandoned their old lovers, in death or for beauty."
  25. ↑ Story description, Sunless Sea
  26. ↑ Interaction description, Sunless Sea
  27. ↑ Meet Rosina, Sunless Sea "Going sharp in the spleen protects her against the passion of anger, but other passions are still a danger."
  28. ↑ Go sharp in the spleen, Sunless Sea "Surrender your capacity for anger. Join the society of diplomats, saints, and cold-blooded tyrants."
  29. ↑ Go sharp in the liver, Sunless Sea "Take on a proud indifference to toxins. Fraternise with spies, assassins, professional poisoners, and those who need to survive on strange diets."
  30. ↑ Listen in on the nearest group of people, Sunless Sea ""I'm going sharp in the lungs next," [...] "They say you can smoke all day long and never develop a cough." "
  31. ↑ Let your lungs become a chamber of crystal, Sunless Sea "Breathe less often and more purely. Take on the companionship of divers, opera singers, coal miners and producers of poisonous gas."
  32. ↑ Flourish in the groin, Sunless Sea "Diminish passion, promote hygiene, perfect performance, and dazzle any onlookers. Pursue the company of Anthe's nuns, celibates, dancers, and brothel habitués."
  33. ↑ Gather flourishing intelligence among the sharp-livered, Sunless Sea "[...] and that has taken him to the chambers of the Tongue." The man next to her makes a face. "Those people are all terribly rude," he says. "Stay here with us.""
  34. ↑ Undergo acumination of the tongue, Sunless Sea "Give up soft speech and slow words. Come to know poets, court jesters, liars, and artists in cipher. [...] The sharp-tongues gather on a point of rock. There is little room for newcomers. The wit is crisp and dry. The diction is precise. Nothing is slurred, and nothing said in error."
  35. ↑ Mineralise your skeleton, Sunless Sea ""True, you won't break your bones. Now they'll break you. Tear right through your muscle and skin, and stick out! [...]"
  36. ↑ Mineralise your skeleton, Sunless Sea "Strength that cannot be seen is often the most praiseworthy. Walk among the labourers, the circus strongwomen, the persons of iron will and unshakeable integrity."
  37. ↑ Let your skin be clear as water and hard as armour, Sunless Sea "The sharp-skinned of Anthe have no reason to fear heat, or edged implements, or bruising rocks."
  38. ↑ Qualities description, Sunless Sea "Are you transparent? Do you display your ligatures to the world?"
  39. ↑ Let your skin be clear as water and hard as armour, Sunless Sea "This is where the fighters are, and those who got tired of their scars, and the people too proud to hide anything about themselves."
  40. ↑ Let your skin be clear as water and hard as armour, Sunless Sea "These people have the most to do if they wish to conceal their condition from those above the Unterzee. They almost never leave Anthe, but if they do, they wraps themselves in bandages and pass as Tomb Colonists, or mask themselves like a native of Visage. "
  41. ↑ Offer passage to the Tomb Colonies, Sunless Sea "She went clear in the skin to prevent bruising in the embrace of a mineralised wife. [...] She wishes to reach Venderbight without undue attention from strangers. She has a pile of bandages and a coffin [...]"
  42. ↑ Gather a port report on Anthe, Sunless Sea "Access to Anthe is restricted by type of sharpness: those who are sharp in the ears do not necessarily mingle with the sharp-tongued."
  43. ↑ Visit the Dauntless Palate, Sunless Sea "He smiles. His teeth are also clear. "
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Story description, Sunless Sea "[...] a woman in an obvious state of illness. Several Antheans attend her, one with deft, clear fingers."
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Contribute to the celebration, Sunless Sea "The captain who brought it went sharp in the bowels. She doesn't eat now. Help yourself."
  46. ↑ Study the chambers of Anthe, Sunless Sea "To progress through Anthe is to take on more and more of these attributes, to enter the deeper chambers restricted by sharp-style."
  47. ↑ Go sharp in the spleen, Sunless Sea "The Venous Salon [...] It is a party game here to take turns reading aloud offensive letters to the London newspapers, and insulting missives from home, and to compete at not caring in the least."
  48. ↑ Go sharp in the liver, Sunless Sea "The Salon of Silver Salts is hung with small lights, and the inhabitants look ordinary. They are sipping arsenical teas and dining on poisonous toadstools."
  49. ↑ Let your lungs become a chamber of crystal, Sunless Sea "The Salon of Incense [...] The chamber is lined with black crystal. Braziers are lit and a low haze hangs in the air, troubling none of the inhabitants."
  50. ↑ Flourish in the groin, Sunless Sea "The Chamber of Pillow-cut Rock [...] The walls of the chamber are hard, but the facets and the deep red colour give them the shimmer of whorehouse velvet. [...] for the most part, the inhabitants wear cream-coloured robes and make no display of their altered state."
  51. ↑ Undergo acumination of the tongue, Sunless Sea "Tongue-point Pinnacle [...] The sharp-tongues gather on a point of rock. There is little room for newcomers. The wit is crisp and dry. The diction is precise. Nothing is slurred, and nothing said in error."
  52. ↑ Mineralise your skeleton, Sunless Sea "The Bone-Barrow [...] The room is oval in cross-section and about fifty feet long. [...] The inhabitants take turns to hold up the part of the ceiling that is in danger of caving in."
  53. ↑ Let your skin be clear as water and hard as armour, Sunless Sea "The Blistering Abyss [...] The sharp-skinned of Anthe have no reason to fear heat, or edged implements, or bruising rocks. Snakes and stinging insects are a game to them. The suicide of wasps on crystal Anthean skin is one of their primary sources of comedy."
  54. ↑ Sell your song of Broken Hulls to the Singers in the Shell, Sunless Sea "Lung and Tongue are both crystal, the better to sing. [...] The concert hall was once the shell of an impossible oyster. [...] the singers of Anthe perform."
  55. ↑ Seek your spy, Sunless Sea "Seek your spy [...] Granite Corridor, where the most linguistically skilled assassins may be found. [...] Has your spy gone sharp in the brain as well as the liver and tongue?"
  56. ↑ Stop by the Smokehouse, Sunless Sea "A hedonistic sanctuary for those who have gone sharp in both liver and lung. [...] Trays circulate with every possible indulgence. Brandy from the surface. Cigars from Rosegate. Coffee. A drink made with squeezed oranges, rum, and smoldering cinnamon."
  57. ↑ Visit the Dauntless Palate, Sunless Sea "[...] those sharp in the liver, skin, and tongue [...] Contact toxins do not trouble their skin. Serpents cannot pierce them. Venoms milked from the fang cannot make them ill. A mycological poison is merely a challenge to their knowledge of toadstool terroir."
  58. ↑ Gather a port report on Anthe, Sunless Sea
  59. ↑ Story description, Sunless Sea
  60. ↑ Gather a port report on Anthe, Sunless Sea "As for the inhabitants who are sharp throughout their full bodies, they don't circulate much. There is said to be a cavern, [...] where the perfectly sharp grow old together. They aren't capable of anyone else's company any more [...] At any rate they are more like growing crystals than like people, slowly expanding and bonding with the rock."
  61. ↑ The Garden of the Sharpest, Sunless Sea "It is a cavern of giants. They were all at one time men or women or other creatures [...] But they are larger now, grown like oaks into the cavern floor. Their bodies are clear as lens-glass. Their faces are past the necessity of expression."
  62. ↑ Visit the garden of the Sharpest, Sunless Sea "You are almost all sharp, after all."
  63. ↑ Train your eyes to sharpness, with their help, Sunless Sea "The sharpness of the eyes is more difficult than any sharpness you have yet studied. Indeed, you may lose the mastery of everything else, in pursuing this one."
  64. ↑ The Pursuit of Sharpness, Sunless Sea "A woman gives advice to new Antheans: her eyes are cubes of salt."
  65. ↑ Train your eyes to sharpness, with their help, Sunless Sea ""The sharpness of the eyes is more difficult than any sharpness you have yet studied. [...] You must begin not with the lens nor with the vitreous humour, but with the tear ducts. If your eyes are not dry, they will never go sharp." [...] +5 x Mirrors"
  66. ↑ Hone your wits to a point, Sunless Sea ""To come to this place, you had to silence the sensations. Now you can gain a philosopher's mind; then you will easily master your body a second time." For ten days you [...] debate with him. He tells you distasteful facts that you do not like to accept. He tells you fearful facts that are difficult to imagine. He tells you convoluted facts that you can barely comprehend. But in the end, your brain is a cultivated latticework, [...] through which you can diffract both truth and its opposite."
  67. ↑ Offer your Drownie Love-song to the Drownies in the Cave-Pool, Sunless Sea "But a traveller came to us who had gone sharp in the brain. She could not be seduced. The prison would not hold her."
  68. ↑ Turn your muscles to stone, Sunless Sea ""This will hurt," [...] "And it will take a long time. You must go sharp without becoming too inflexible. Keep all the proper links between bone and bone. Respect the ligaments." All day you lie still developing the sharpness of your muscles, and then at night your instructor hits you with a stick to break the bad connections. Each morning, you begin again."
  69. ↑ Harden your heart to a chunk of salt, Sunless Sea ""Here is the business of a well-trained heart," [...] "To pity, but not to make undeserved allowances. To protect, but not to treat the beloved as a child. To admire, but not to lose the capacity of discrimination. To serve without abasement. To govern without dominance. To care for each, without forgetting the demands of all." Then she teaches you to dissolve and to regrow your heart from a grain of sorrow."
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