Piranesi

"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.

"Piranesi. A prison without doors!"

"A stoker sings: 'Prideful, a prince was locked in the dark; while a poet was set free. I was the prince, alone and forgot; the poet, too, was me.'"

Piranesi is a labyrinthine and perhaps even unmappable prison in Eleutheria.

A Prison of Mazes

Indeed, only a portion of it can be reached by its own chaplains. Tours are, as would be expected, held very infrequently.

This prison was made by the Halved, to served three purposes:

• An experiment in the breaking of taboo.

• An insult to those who follow the fundamental laws.

• A question; "If I can change, why can't you?"

There are three rules of Piranesi, and those that break them are instantly imprisoned. Unfortunately, there's also an fourth unwritten rule that the chaplains cannot explain the rules to the visitors. In a rather Monty Pythonesque manner, the rules are:

• Don't look back.

• Don't give names to the nameless.

• Don't learn the Third Rule.

That being said, The Halved is still the highest authority in Eleutheria, hypocrisy aside, and it's capable of locking up anyone that angers it. For example, allying with the The Sapphir'd King can land you here for an entire century.

The Chaplains of Piranesi

The prison is staffed by four chaplains. All four of them are ex-prisoners, altered by the nature of the prison. Each of them encourages the prisoners to change in a different way.

• The Gallant Reformer persuades prisoners to confess their sins, to redeem themselves so that they can change for the better.

• The Glistening Deformer cajoles the prisoners to alter their physical forms like itself.

• The Grey Conformer encourages the prisoners to forget their old identities. She handles inmates in the flooded cellars, where "the most deeply condemned wallow".

• The Glib Performer forces prisoners to change through torment. You don't want them as your tour guide; they'll trick you into landing in a cell.

An Identity Uncovered!

"And the Reformer. Well." The Deformer frowns. A full-body frown. Several eyes vanish entirely among the folds. "The oldest. The one for whom this prison was built, the one who changed the most severely. And for all that he prattles about redemption, he never mentions that he once was the worst of monsters. Imprisoned here for depravities beyond my understanding. Theft of hope, perversion of worlds. Several extinctions."

"The Deformer was the rebellious servant of a lightless star. Its sentence was harsh. It changed itself to become human, then less than human. The Conformer was a legendary piratess, dashing, extraordinary, heroine of a dozen skies. Piranesi extinguished her. And the Performer... I know less, except that he fled from Old London, escaping the wrath of a false god. I remember what he was like when incarcerated - courteous, circumspect, and though he had the bluest eyes you ever saw, he hid them behind dark spectacles. The eyes changed first."