Polythreme

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"Polythreme is a city where some principle in the water or earth - they say - makes everything live. This makes it a hellish place. Candles scream as they burn. Furniture is enslaved wood. Buildings are hollow shells of misery. The Clay Men are sold by Polythreme - or perhaps they escape."[1]
"Everything's alive there, or so the story goes. Coal burns with a long low moan, steel is forged under protest, new-minted coins still shriek with pain and horror. It sounds a horribly callous place. Not to mention remarkably noisy."[2]

Polythreme, the birthplace of the Clay Men, is a small island nation ruled by the King with A Hundred Hearts.

HERE IS SCREAMING[edit]

"IN POLYTHREME THE BED I SLEPT ON WAS A SLAVE. THE ROOM WHERE I SLEPT WAS HACKED FROM SCREAMING STONE. THE WATER I DRANK BEGGED ME TO STOP. THEY PAID ME IN COIN THAT PLOTTED MY DOWNFALL. THE MEMORIES ARE TROUBLING. THIS PLACE IS BETTER."[3]

A clothes-colony

Polythreme is a living city: its harbor is its maw, its winding streets branch out like intestines, and the palace at its heart is surrounded by a labyrinth of gardens,[4] like the wrinkles of a brain encased in the skull of the city.[5] In fact, Polythreme was once larger,[6] but has gradually shrunk over time, contracting as new Clay Men are born from its body.[7][8] Its architecture, built of marble, clay, and copper,[9] bears hallmarks of the First City.[10]

Everything in Polythreme is alive as well - and we mean everything.[11] The city is suffused with unnatural vitality: coins scream, houses moan, and a lingering traveler's clothes may awaken[12] and form relationships with other objects.[13] It is even far from uncommon to see roaming colonies of clothing,[14] banded together to wear a person instead of the other way around.[15] The living objects in Polythreme are aware of their surroundings despite lacking eyes or ears,[16] and perform other actions which would typically require organs.[17] Some can even speak, through unknown means.[18] Polythreme's buildings are typically sedentary,[19] but smaller objects can become quite mobile.[20] Despite such vitality, the city relies on imports for natural resources and commodities like silk.[21]

When the King with a Hundred Hearts dreams,[22] the city of Polythreme convulses, and a Clay Man is born.[23] In accordance with an arrangement between Polythreme and the Echo Bazaar,[24][25] most Clay Men are sold[26] and shipped off soon after birth,[27] and the majority of them now reside in London,[28] performing manual labor for humans.[29] As such, Polythreme's current population is largely made up of clothes-colonies and the rare humans who serve as their hosts.[30] The Clay Men still on the island speak their native language of Loamsprach amongst themselves, but they can also speak English with polite visitors.[31]

There is a temple in Polythreme marked with carved eyes, which stands apart from the city's other buildings. It houses a lone Unfinished priest[32] who tells stories of the Garden and the Mountain of Light to his Clay brethren.[33]

The Masters of the Bazaar, particularly Mr Fires,[34] use Polythreme as a prison ground for those who displeased them back in London.[35][36]

WE WERE ONCE ONE[edit]

The King with a Hundred Hearts, called "the Hundreds" by his subjects[37] and "the Diamond King" by pilgrims from the Elder Continent,[38] rules from his palace above the city. He is never seen, his approach to government is laissez-faire, and he makes no treaties with other lands, aside from the Bazaar. The King is Polythreme; he is aware of the happenings on his body, and his attention manifests as a feeling of being watched.[39][40]

A long time ago, before the Fall of the First City, a group of Chinese traders journeyed across Asia to far-off Mesopotamia; among them was the man who would become the King with a Hundred Hearts. His caravan met disaster, forcing him to seek refuge in "a mud brick town."[41] He received an audience with the settlement's priest-king,[42] who soon fell in love with him, and they began a relationship.[43] Some time later, the merchant fell gravely ill and was near death.[44] In desperation, the priest-king accepted the aid of Mr Cups and Mr Candles, two of the Masters of the Bazaar, who offered to save his lover's life in exchange for his city.[45] The Masters upheld their end of the bargain, but in the process, the merchant was transformed into Polythreme rather than remaining merely a man.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Sidebar Snippet: Is it true what they say about Polythreme?, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Sidebar Snippet: What happens in Polythreme?, Fallen London
  3. ↑ REMEMBER POLYTHREME, Fallen London
  4. ↑ The way to the King's gardens, Fallen London "A gate of iron leads into the gardens that surround the villa at the heart of the city. Its purpose is unclear – but it appears that you are welcome to enter."
  5. ↑ Climb up to a rooftop, Fallen London "From above, the city looks more like anatomy than urban planning. The harbour, where you are, is a great maw into which all things enter the body. Beyond it lie branching and twisting stomachs and bowels. The palace on a hill, surrounded by gardens, looks all the more like a wrinkled brain encased in its skull."
  6. ↑ Bid him a good morning, Fallen London "Polythreme used to be bigger. There was a whole other street down that way. Although, they do say that the whole place started off as just one statue. Just one! What d'yer make of that, then, eh?"
  7. ↑ The walls are rattling, Fallen London "The stones of one wall collapse into dust, leaving a naked Clay Man sprawled in a heap. The Clay Man looks at his hands, horrified. "I AM ONE," he rumbles, "I AM NOT WE NOW. I HAVE BUT ONE HEART.""
  8. ↑ What's going on in the bay?, Fallen London ""Dwindling to nothing?" "[...] The tithe is a terrible business, ain't it? Still, I've heard that without it, the Hundreds wouldn't bother splitting off new Clay Men. I've heard tell that he's been doing that since the First Fall." The figure gives the wall next to it an affectionate tap. "It's a wonder there's anything left of you at all, isn't it, your Majesty?""
  9. ↑ Polythreme, Fallen London "The harbour statues eye your ship as you dock. Low marble buildings. Copper railings. The shouts, calls and screams are like those of any big city. Is this place so different?"
  10. ↑ The Temple, Fallen London "The building halfway up the hill is low, heavy and of white stone, much like its peers. But the entrance arch carved with eyes marks it as a temple."
  11. ↑ Exploring Polythreme, Fallen London "Where the streets have eyes and the houses have teeth. Walk a minute away from your ship and Polythreme doesn't so much surround as swallow you – foreboding streets snaking away like the veins in some vast, unknown body."
  12. ↑ A Horrendous Cravat, Fallen London "The silk is unpleasantly slick on your skin; its movement is morose but threatening. And those colours, that pattern – truly it is destined for a life of independence in Polythreme; there is no outfit that would match."
  13. ↑ Observe the camaraderie of objects, Fallen London "Your carpet bag has made a firm friend of the hall table in the inn you're staying at. Your shoes are no longer on speaking terms. Many of the objects you see on the street are melancholy. But some few have found comfort in each other. Will poets ever speak of this?"
  14. ↑ Recruit a Bandage-Colony, Sunless Sea "Clothes-colonies - living assemblages of garments - walk Polythreme, upright as any citizen of London. [...]"
  15. ↑ A contact-colony, Sunless Sea "[...] It seems that the clothes - mostly gloves, you see - are more wearing than being worn. The pale and sweating fellow within is a prisoner of his wardrobe! [...]"
  16. ↑ Lurk in the eaves, Fallen London "Despite the stories, the walls and arches of Polythreme don't have eyes. But they know you're there. After days of hearing wails, moans and whispers, you have finally found silence."
  17. ↑ Fractious Furniture, Fallen London "The chair spits and kicks like a camel as you grab it for a good look. [...]"
  18. ↑ Recruit a Bandage-Colony, Sunless Sea "Yesss. Yesss, We can be one of your dead men. No. No, we require no food. A payment? For our trouble? How delightful. We'll sstay out of the way... [...] Tell uss. Where are we going? Will there be... people? We feel sso empty."
  19. ↑ Robes and Belts and Masks And Mantles, Fallen London "Polythreme isn't quite how the stories have it. The houses may have eyes and teeth, but they're stone and clay and rarely move. There are Clay Men here, of course, but they are outnumbered by hobbling man-shaped collections of clothes variously called clothes-legions and clothes-colonies."
  20. ↑ Make off with a box of silks, Fallen London "The little crate bumps and shuffles as you grab it, and stubbornly refuses to open its lid. The crate's hinges start to splinter before it relents and lets you grab an armful of silk. It waddles painfully back towards its ship as you make off with your prize."
  21. ↑ Speak to everyone you meet, Fallen London "[...] Some of the steamers come from lands far from London. Ships from the east import rice and silks and peaches, for the Clay Men have a special fondness for Surface-Silk. Others come from the south – the Elder Continent. They bring fruit and occasionally pilgrims that head up the hill and are turned away. [...]"
  22. ↑ Go looking, Fallen London "THE KING WITH A HUNDRED HEARTS IS OUR MAKER AND OUR SOUL. HE DREAMS US TO BEING. BUT NOT ALL HIS DREAMS ARE PLEASING."
  23. ↑ Gather intelligence, Sunless Sea "Roads roil, bricks quiver. The windows of all the buildings flash like eyes. The palace above the city swells and roars. This convulsion is how Clay Men are born. Even now, somewhere below, they open their blind-seeming grey eyes."
  24. ↑ So that's who he is, Fallen London "You! Another meddler from London, no doubt. You know nothing! The tithe of my lumpen brethren to the Masters of the Bazaar is a necessary and accepted practice! Of course the Masters require recompense for their protection and guidance. The Hundreds knows that this must be done."
  25. ↑ Find out who's here, Fallen London "Did you know that the Iron Republic's fleet of infernal corsairs landed here a few years ago to pillage the place? It went badly for them. Let's just say that the land rose up in its own defence. [...] There aren't any official treaties that I've seen, but Polythreme is less independent than it looks. The tithe of Clay Men keeps the Masters of the Bazaar happy, though [...]"
  26. ↑ So that's who he is, Fallen London "Everyone in Polythreme knows the Clay Broker. He organises the tithe of Clay Men to the Masters of the Bazaar. Collar him for a chat."
  27. ↑ Carry Clay Men to London, Sunless Sea "Each one lies down in its appointed position next to the other, nested snugly, head by foot. "WE ARE FOR LONDON," one explains you."
  28. ↑ Speak to everyone you meet, Fallen London ""The thing that strikes visitors first is how few Clay Men walk the streets. There must be many more Clay Men in London [...] Your guide [...] tells you that most of them troop dejectedly into a steamer for London [...] It's called the tithe, and it pays for the protection and favour of the Masters of the Bazaar.""
  29. ↑ Polythreme, Sunless Sea “The King with a Hundred Hearts. What a useful fellow. Without his exports, I'd be delivering my own coal.”
  30. ↑ Speak to a few natives, Fallen London "There's marble to be found on the island, and copper. But little else. Clay Men don't eat much, but the steamers come and go. They bring enough to keep the few humans on the island supplied with rice and coffee and dates. You scribble it all down in your journal.."
  31. ↑ Speak to the Clay Men, Fallen London "Among themselves, the Clay Men speak Loamsprach – a language of rumbling, overlapping syllables. But they will deign to turn their stony voices to English for the benefit of a polite visitor."
  32. ↑ Go looking, Fallen London "Now that you look closely, the priest is missing half of one foot."
  33. ↑ Speak of his spiritual work, Fallen London "MY BROTHERS ARE NOT LONELY. THEY HAVE EACH OTHER. AND THE LITTLE THINGS TOUCHED BY THE KING WITH A HUNDRED HEARTS. THEY KNOW WHEREOF THEY CAME. I TEACH THEM OF THE FUTURE. OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE GARDEN."
  34. ↑ Spend Fate to get Investigating... and Fascinating..., Fallen London "It's been near five years now, since Mr Fires sent me here. And all I did was... GAAAAAAAH! All right! All right! I'll not say! Bleedin' suit. D__n thing never sleeps. [...]"
  35. ↑ Speak to a matched pair, Fallen London "You can only speak to one of the pair at once. A pained woman's voice emerges from the masks. "Mr Fires... it's... kind. We... deserved this. Mr Fires was... right." Her pale eyes dart to the figure a few yards away. She whispers, "Tell him I still love him. Tell him I'll wait. I can do nothing else.""
  36. ↑ Get more details about the players, Fallen London "[...] Still, the Masters leave prisoners here sometimes. They're engulfed in clothes-legions and left to their own devices. A terrible business."
  37. ↑ Ask around, Fallen London "The King with a Hundred Hearts rules with a light touch. He isn't seen on Polythreme's streets, and few are called to audience at the villa overlooking the town. The locals call him the Hundreds when they speak of him, which is rarely. But then again, the Clay Men are a peaceful, docile people. How much governance can they need?"
  38. ↑ Speak to those who know, Fallen London "[...] Scared the wits from them Presbyterate pilgrims come to see 'The Diamond King' when they last showed up. Dunno why they call him that. He's more marble, really.""
  39. ↑ The walls are rattling, Fallen London "The stones shake and grind, sending puffs of white dust out into the still air. After minutes of heaving, the masonry is still. A great weight of attention falls upon you, although nothing visible changes. Something will happen here, but not while you're watching. Good manners force you to tip your hat and depart."
  40. ↑ Eyes Everywhere, Fallen London "In Polythreme, someone or something is always watching you. But you feel the attention more keenly of late."
  41. ↑ Looking in the garden, Fallen London "You see a group of travellers in the dress of ancient China, haggling for water at a desert spring. A few more steps and the same group are laughing and eating fruit in an orchard. A few steps more, and one of that group, wounded and desperate, looks down a road at a mud brick town next to a cedar grove. Hot, dusty plains stretch to the horizon."
  42. ↑ Looking in the garden, Fallen London "More steps down the path. A priest-king receives the traveller, in a temple painted with eyes. The priest-king's court are amazed at the traveller, and especially impressed by his silk clothes."
  43. ↑ Looking in the garden, Fallen London "More steps. The priest-king's court feasts in the open air, under cedar trees. The priest-king and the traveller are seated together, laughing and kissing."
  44. ↑ Looking in the garden, Fallen London "The traveller writhes and twitches on a stone slab, in some kind of fit. He looks wretchedly thin and haggard. A short step from death. The priest-king weeps over him."
  45. ↑ Looking in the garden, Fallen London "Two figures step into the chamber, hunched and garbed in many-petalled black cloaks. Masters of the Bazaar. One carries a clay cup, the other an unlit candle. The one with the cup says, "I think we can be of service to each other. Allow me to propose an exchange...""
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