"It will be a splendid building once completed: more like a palace of marble than any sanatorium I have seen... My understanding is that the colonists whose decay is too advanced to permit speech or movement – but who still "live" – are to be relocated within (I had almost written "interred"). Some mysteries remain, however..."[1]
The Grand Sanatorium is a large facility south of the Tomb-Colony of Venderbight.[2] It is under constant construction, it seems, and requires an extraordinary amount of imported marble. The source of all the money to afford such extravagance is unknown, but the expense is justifiable, since this is where the most fragile of tomb-colonists spend their last days.[3][4]
Why the Sanatorium is so hard to find, then, or why the entrance is guarded by armed men and a Spider-Council, is anyone's guess.[5]
"You walk the endless marble corridors of the Grand Sanatorium. The inmates lie still for the most part, though some hum, weep or scream. Somewhere far off, an operatic warble collapses into gurgles."[6]
The Sanatorium is a massive construction of steel and marble,[7] windowless and featureless.[8] Its layout is sprawling and confusing, making it easy to get lost in.[9] It has several wings: the Immobiles Wings (of which there are at least seven);[9] a minimum of four formidable wings built for especially skilled former fighters;[10] the "screecher wards;"[11] seventeen or more holding halls,[12] et cetera. A single wing can hold dozens of patients.[13]
Tomb-Colonists all across Venderbight fear having to go to the Sanatorium, and not because it means the end of their life. In fact, they would (and will) rather end their own lives than be committed.[14][15] Even the First Curator is afraid of this place...[16]
The Sanatorium is "something between an insane asylum and a crypt."[17] Its corridors are filled with the cries of its patients, many of them confined to their beds by force.[17][18] Its "nurses" are equipped with mallets to pummel any resisting patient into submission.[19] Some of the inmates are indeed too far gone, their body slowly giving in to injuries even though they cannot die.[20] Others, however, appear to be in good physical condition and may have been sent here as a way to get rid of them permanently.[21][11]
"Carrywell is a Permanent Surgeon: a senior staff-member at the Grand Sanatorium, where they bring the tomb-colonists too far gone to walk or think or speak."[22]
Much of the Sanatorium's staff are sourced from the Tomb-Colony of Venderbight; this includes bandaged individuals, but also living humans whose reputations have been irreparably destroyed.[23] The tomb-colonists employed are skilled fighters, and are equipped with rifles to protect the Sanatorium, its staff, and its secrets.[24] The senior staff members who make rounds in the facility are referred to as Permanent Surgeons.[25]
One Permanent Surgeon, Doctor Carrywell, is the leader of an intelligence-gathering operation at the Sanatorium[26] in which she extracts sensitive information from her patients on their deathbeds. Some dying tomb-colonists volunteer this information to anyone who is willing to listen,[27] while others remain tight-lipped.[28] Carrywell previously researched Gaoler's Honey in the Cage-Gardens of the Shuttered Palace;[29][30] the Sanatorium is one of the honey-gardens' biggest customers, since consumption of foreign memories is another means of gathering intelligence.[31] Carrywell is also known to be an avatar of the Red-Handed Queen,[32] with a cold and uncaring personality to match.[33] She makes no attempt to pretend the Sanatorium is anything other than a torture chamber, and openly threatens "admittance" should her secret operation be made public.[34]
↑Ambition: Nemesis – the Second Interpretation, Fallen London""I require you to assist with three translations. This second is in the fourth formidable wing. Step lightly there, and keep a weapon handy." [...] You saw a formidable wing before. It had armed guards and steel doors that would be the envy of New Newgate."
↑Ambition: Nemesis – what is Carrywell up to?, Fallen London"Most of the Grand Sanatorium staff are shuffling, bandaged tomb-colonist types. There are a few of the living among them, however. For the most part, these are exiles from London whose reputations are beyond repair."
↑Ambition: Nemesis – confronting Carrywell, Fallen London"Endless marble halls, steel doors and bandages. Screaming. Twitching. Thrashing. When you finally find Carrywell, she has the guards from four of the most secure wards with her. Dozens of them. All dead. All pointing rifles at you. You are forced to negotiate."
↑Ambition: Nemesis – what is Carrywell up to?, Fallen London"It is my distinct opinion that Doctor Carrywell is concerned more with intelligence than the care of the afflicted. This place holds more secrets than ten of Mr Pages' libraries, and it is my firm belief that Carrywell's primary aim is to extract them as efficiently as possible."
↑Ambition: Nemesis – the First Interpretation, Fallen London"It takes days, but you start to make sense of what she says. She's from the Elder Continent, a place of strange vitality far across the Unterzee. She has died more than a hundred times in the service of the Presbyter. She was a... it's hard to say exactly. Spy? Diplomat? Assassin? Something like that."
↑Ambition: Nemesis – the Second Interpretation, Fallen London"11774 was once a bodyguard to the Duchess. Over a century ago, if he has his dates right. That can't be right, can it? [...] And where is she from? 11774 has nothing to say on the matter, although he gives a throaty chuckle when you ask if she's from the Fourth City."
↑Allow yourself to be shown the cages, Fallen London"'The appetites of our patrons at the Palace grow day by day [...] If Carrywell can provide – ha! – lilies from the tomb-lands... we can pay well, you know. Marvellously well.'"
↑Drop of Gaoler's Honey, Fallen London"This succulent drop will allow you to enter the memories and dreams of helpless innocents. Perhaps you have your reasons."
↑Go over when he beckons?, Fallen London""Yes, you," he hisses. "The pieces told me your name. They say you are looking for the Red-Handed Queen. The one with the knife. Play me.""
↑Ambition: Nemesis - Carrywell, Fallen London"Carrywell is [...] certainly not very friendly. "We don't get many visitors out here," she remarks. "That's not an accident. I should have you thrown to the Mutes. But I'm going to indulge my curiosity. What do you want?""
