"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.
"Plucked from the walls of Hell. How far you'll go to win your intended's favour. Or perhaps an indication of where they ought to go."
"The flower pressed to the paper, its petals flattened like ink. Velvet to the touch and wet with unstolen nectar, the Exile's Rose is redolent of dark promises made at midnight. London's veterans returned from the war on Hell wearing them on their breasts."[1]
The Exile's Rose is a thorny black flower[3][4] grown in gardens near the walls of Hell.[5][6]Lamplighter Bees that have fed exclusively on its nectar produce Prisoner's Honey,[7] a drug that temporarily transports imbibers to Parabola.[8] The flower itself may also be consumed to enter Parabola, but those who do so never return.[9]Hell exports Prisoner's Honey to London in large quantities,[10] and maintains enormous fields of Exile's Rose that swarm with bees to supply their honey industry. These are guarded by ruthless devils who present non-human forms,[11] as the destruction of Exile's Rose would risk cutting off Londoners from Parabola.[12][13] Devils seem very fond of Exile's Rose in general, as they describe it with nostalgic and beatific terms.[11]
Exile's Rose symbolizes dark promises made at the midnight hour. Veterans of the Campaign of '68 returned home wearing its blossoms on their uniforms, implying that they were forced into grim vows or pacts during their tours of duty.[14] Exile's Rose is also a key ingredient in Zzoup.[15] It is unclear whether this flower originates from Hell proper, or if it originally appeared elsewhere;[16][17] the species is said to only grow close to Hell,[18] but it also appears on the Surface in "sacred places from Pontus to Baetica" according to the writings of Pliny the Elder.[9]
According to the Order Serpentine, the Fingerkings felt lonely being trapped behind the mirror,[19] and asked the "grumpiest bee in both worlds" (who might represent the devils) for help. The bee retrieved the Exile's Rose from a "far place,"[17] and used its property of passage to concoct Prisoner's Honey and transport dreamers to Parabola.[20] In exchange, the Fingerkings granted the bee one-fifth of all they gained thereafter.[17]
Red, Red Roses
"When lamplighter bees suck the nectar of the crimson strain of exile's rose, they are driven to madness. They enter the brains of humans and harvest their memories. Those memories are instilled in red honey. Each sip is a burst of memory on the tongue."[21]
"I have, I fear, at last determined the cause of our poor Leopold's sad disappearance. You will recall that I sent by the Borneo a very considerable collection of [illegible] ... identified one variety as the sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus. Sophia had long admired their colour [illegible] ... gardens here about the Government-house [illegible] ... although here they call it 'lion's rose'."[22]
The Exile's Rose may be crossbred with another flower from Hell to produce a red-petaled variant.[23][24] When Lamplighter Bees consume pollen from these hybrids, they go mad and extract memories from the minds of those nearby, producing red honey.[25] In 1821, Stamford Raffles imported a red strain of Exile's Rose to Singapore (possibly the aforementioned variant), identifying them as the "sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus" and "lion's rose." Leopold, his son, encountered these flowers and vanished from the Surface,[26][27] and would later go on to become the Pirate-King of the Isle of Cats.[28]
Historical and Cultural Inspirations
Pontus is part of Anatolia in modern-day Turkey, whereas Baetica was a Roman province on the Iberian peninsula. The Bosphorus is a strait that divides Istanbul, Turkey. This specific regional indication implies that Exile's Rose was inspired by Rhododendron ponticum, whose honey infamously contains a group of neurotoxins that result in cardiac and consciousness-altering effects in humans.[29] Unlike Exile's Rose, this species of rhododendron blooms purple or pink.
↑Sample prisoner's honey, Fallen London"Prisoner's Honey does not bring dreams to those who sample it. Instead, it physically transports them to dreams. Your body fades from the couch [...] As you vanish from its lair [...] When you mention your dream to the proprietor of the honey-den [...]"
↑ 9.09.1What is prisoner's honey?, Fallen London"[...] from the Natural History of Pliny the Elder: "... there is another kind of honey; its effect is attributed to the flowers called exile's rose, which are found in sacred places from Pontus to Baetica. One who consumes these flowers departs and does not return."
↑Stripes of Wrath, Fallen London"Ask about the honey trade [...] Do the Devils export it? [...] "Of course." The Deviless broadens her smile. "Londoners demand vast supplies of honey, [...]"
↑ 11.011.1Stripes of Wrath, Fallen London"Ask about the Exile's Rose [...] They say it only grows beneath the white walls of Hell. [...] The Deviless looks away. Her smile softens, from predatory to nostalgic. [...] "Petals as black as a heart, as deep as the Surface sky. A scent of memory just out of reach. Thorns which grip and bite like the throes of ecstasy. Fields of ebony, thrumming with bees." She lapses into silent reverie for a few moments. [...] "I hope you have no intention of travelling there. The rose fields are well guarded by the most imaginative and effective of our number. They lack my... human touch.""
↑Stripes of Wrath, Fallen London"Consider consequences of losing the Exile's Rose [...] What would happen without Prisoner's Honey? [...] Honey is more than a vice," [...] "Dreamers require it to enter Parabola, the realm behind the mirror. The loss of Prisoner's Honey would be like— closing a border. [...] Can you imagine the effects? Because without Parabola, you would be unable to.""
↑Stripes of Wrath, Fallen London"The Glass use power from Parabola to perform their miracles. The connection to Parabola depends on the flow of honey. [...] The Apiarist targeted the roses to permanently break the connection to Parabola. He was trying to destroy the power of the Glass."
↑Send an Unblemished Exile's Rose, Fallen London"[...] the Exile's Rose is redolent of dark promises made at midnight. London's veterans returned from the war on Hell wearing them on their breasts."
↑ 17.017.117.2Order Serpentine, Sorrowful, Fallen London"THE LITTLE SNAKE asked the grumpiest bee in both worlds for help. And the bee said, why should I help? And the snake said, I will give you one-fifth of all I gain thereby. So the bee [...] said, in a far place there grows a rose."
↑Stripes of Wrath, Fallen London"The key ingredient in this process is a flower named the Exile's Rose. It only grows close to Hell."
↑Order Serpentine, Lachrymose, Fallen London"THE ROSE, WHICH IS CALLED EXILE'S ROSE, has a property of passage. So shall I brew a honey from its dusts and pollens, [...] and it shall bring those who taste it, here to your dwelling. And sometimes they shall stay forever. And the little snake was very pleased with all the new friends [...]"
↑The Honeyed Tongue, Sunless Sea"When lamplighter bees suck the nectar of the crimson strain of exile's rose, they are driven to madness. They enter the brains of humans and harvest their memories." [...] "Those memories are instilled in red honey. [...]"
↑Sidebar Snippets#Universal, Fallen London""I have, [...] at last determined the cause of our poor Leopold's [...] disappearance. You will recall that I sent by the Borneo a [...] collection of [illegible] ... identified one variety as the sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus. Sophia had long admired their colour [illegible] ... gardens here about the Government-house [illegible] ... although here they call it 'lion's rose'. Singapura [...] many tigers. I would not mention this except that when I dream of Leopold, [...] it has always seemed to me that there is a great cat present, the colour of sunset, which is also the colour of the roses [...]"
↑Story description, Sunless Sea""The spice-scented docks of Malacca," Leopold breathes [...] He returns [...] eyes bright. "I am very partial to memories of the Far East. Very thoughtful of you.""
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"What might one expect from Leopold, Pirate-King of the Isle of Cats: [...] Behind him you see a wall of what you think are wine-racks. On closer inspection, the racks hold bottle upon carefully-labelled bottle of red honey."
↑Grayanotoxin Poisoning: ‘Mad Honey Disease’ and Beyond, National Library of Medicine"Grayanotoxin containing honey, called "mad honey," can cause dramatic effects when ingested [-] as has already been recorded by the Greek warrior-writer Xenophon in 401 BC in his Anabasis "… but the swarms of bees in the neighborhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went of their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men. So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging...""
