The Neathbow

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"A book for children. One page is devoted to each of the colours of the Neath, which are not found on the Surface."[1]

The Neathbow, arranged based on additive color mixing. Art by Midnight Voyager.

The Neathbow is the collective term for seven colors which cannot be seen on the Surface. They are most commonly observed in the Neath (hence the name), but they also turn up in places like Parabola[2] and the High Wilderness.[3] The seven colors of the Neathbow are irrigo, violant, cosmogone, peligin, apocyan, viric, and gant.

Irrigo

"I is for IRRIGO. No one remembers why. Irrigo colours the forgotten corners of home."[4]

The most prominent color of the Neathbow, irrigo is the unremembered color, the light of absence.[5] Exposure to it causes severe memory-loss, overexposure to it can result in total ego death, and it can cause thick, bony plates to grow over one's eyes, creating disgusting eyeless skulls.[6] The Cave of the Nadir is filled with dangerous irrigo radiation,[7] so explorers use tea brewed from Ray-Drenched Cinders to protect themselves.[8]

Irrigo can be infused into objects,[9] and Midnighters use shrines and robes that are draped in this color to perform their rites.[10] The Irrepressible notably uses powerful irrigo weaponry.[11] Irrigo seems to internally retain the memories it steals, so Fluke-Cores often have years worth of histories and experiences stored within them.[12]

Irrigo's name comes from the Latin irrigo, meaning to flood or overwhelm.

  • A Shrine to St. Joshua.
    A Shrine to St. Joshua.
  • An eyeless skull.
    An eyeless skull.
  • The Gate of the Nadir
    The Gate of the Nadir
  • Irrigo fog. Beware.
    Irrigo fog. Beware.
  • A Nodule of Violet Amber.
    A Nodule of Violet Amber.
  • A Pair of Irrigo Goggles.
    A Pair of Irrigo Goggles.
  • A Strange-Shore Parabola Suit.
    A Strange-Shore Parabola Suit.
  • A Strange-Shore Parabola Frock.
    A Strange-Shore Parabola Frock.
  • A cobweb in the Nadir. Charming.
    A cobweb in the Nadir. Charming.
  • A stone altar in the Nadir.
    A stone altar in the Nadir.
  • A Fluke-Core. Mourn the mind that has passed.
    A Fluke-Core. Mourn the mind that has passed.
  • The Lady in Lilac
    The Lady in Lilac

Violant

"V marks VIOLANT when blood is shed in a spired place. Violant ink is employed for the most desperate treaties..."[13]

Violant is irrigo's counterpart; it indelibly lingers in one's memory. It's very hard to forget anything written in violant ink.[14] Correspondents use this ink extensively in their esoteric publications, which often shake up the status quo quite well.[15]

The name "violant" could stem from "violent," or "violet," or both.

Violant is usually a shade of burgundy,[16] but sometimes it is depicted as a shade of light blue.[17]

Cosmogone

"C lights COSMOGONE, the colour of remembered suns. The fecund, the foetid, the fungal: these flourish in the glow of cosmogone."[18]

File:Cosmogoneletter.png

A shade heavily associated with Parabola, cosmogone is the color of remembered sunlight. Under its light, fungus and other flora flourishes. It's the most prominent color in a Ray-Drenched Cinder,[19] and it's the tint of a Glassman's spectacles. Cosmogone is irresistible to the denizens of the mirrors.[20]

The name "cosmogone" probably comes from the word "cosmogony", the study of the origin of the solar system, or of the universe.

  • A Glassman's Spectacles.
    A Glassman's Spectacles.
  • The Mirror-Marches, bathed in cosmogone light.
    The Mirror-Marches, bathed in cosmogone light.
  • A Ray-drenched Cinder.
    A Ray-drenched Cinder.

Peligin

"P drowns in PELIGIN, the colour of the deepest zee."[21]

Peligin is the hue of the waters of the Unterzee and those of the land of the dead.[22] It's the color of the eyes of Monster-Hunters,[23] as they have consumed the peligin flesh of zee-monsters.[24] Peligin is a dark, dark, black, beyond the reach of any light.[25]

The term "peligin" likely comes from the Latin pelagus, meaning the sea.

Apocyan

"A wakes APOCYAN, the blue of memory and brightest coral."[26]

Apocyan is the color of coral, of memory,[27] and of the Zee's waves.[28] Chess pieces of this color can be harvested from Port Cecil.[29] Crooked-Crosses often lacquer their crosses in this color.[30] Blue Scintillack is extremely valuable and blazes with apocyanic radiance.[31] And an apocyanic piece of amber may be what brings down the Bazaar...[32]

The name "apocyan" almost certainly derives from the color cyan, which has a similar hue, and "apocalypse".

  • An Apocyan Chess-Piece.
    An Apocyan Chess-Piece.
  • A Crooked-Cross.
    A Crooked-Cross.
  • Blue Scintillack.
    Blue Scintillack.

Viric

"Behind your mirror, V names VIRIC, the colour of shallow sleep."[33]

Viric is the green of shallow sleep. It's heavily associated with the Fingerkings[34] — Fingerking-possessed Clay Men's[35] (and the Somnolent Hyena's)[36] eyes burn with viric fire, and a box of dream-snakes will also glow viric.[37] The priests of Varchas use viric Mirror-Charms to ward off Fingerkings from their dreams.[38]

When viric light comes into contact with vegetation, it causes it to flourish and grow at an exponential rate.[1]

The word "viric" probably comes from the Latin vivo, "alive".

  • A Phantasmal Encounter, 189-, Captain ------
    A Phantasmal Encounter, 189-, Captain ------
  • A Mirrorcatch Box Full of Very Angry Dream-Snakes.
    A Mirrorcatch Box Full of Very Angry Dream-Snakes.
  • The Somnolent Hyaena.
    The Somnolent Hyaena.

Gant

"G is lost in GANT, which remains when all other colours are eaten. Gant can be found where shadows are myriad."[39]

The color one sees in the dark, gant is more beige than one might expect.[40] It is the color of the Eater of Names' boat,[41] and zee-beasts go to a place called the Gant Pole to die.[42] Perhaps most notoriously, it is also the color of the Avid Horizon's gate.[43] Gant ink is used to remove false tattoos;[44] it also can be used as an invisible ink, meant for writing Licentiates' aliases.[45]

  • A Licentiate's aliases, written in gant ink.
    A Licentiate's aliases, written in gant ink.
  • The Eater of Names's gant bow.
    The Eater of Names's gant bow.
  • The Gant Pole
    The Gant Pole
  • A shell from the core of Frostfound.
    A shell from the core of Frostfound.
  • The Avid Horizon's High Gate.
    The Avid Horizon's High Gate.

Fireworks

"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"

Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.


Fireworks featuring the Neathbow are occasionally lit during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose to celebrate the occasion.[46]

  • Irrigo fireworks can help dull memories of hard times.
  • Violant fireworks are hard to forget.
  • Viric fireworks induce lassitude.
  • Gant fireworks show depth of feeling - grandiose but a bit arrogant.

References

  1. ↑ THE NEATHBOW, Sunless Sea
  2. ↑ Parabola tattoo, Fallen London
  3. ↑ The Stair to the Sea, Sunless Skies
  4. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Irrigo, Sunless Sea
  5. ↑ Irrigo, Fallen London
  6. ↑ Struggle for the exit, Fallen London
  7. ↑ The Catafalquerie, Fallen London
  8. ↑ Enter the Cave of the Nadir, Fallen London
  9. ↑ Pair of Irrigo Goggles, Fallen London
  10. ↑ Shrine to Saint Joshua, Fallen London
  11. ↑ Attempt to detach the Irrigo-cannon, Sunless Sea
  12. ↑ Fluke-Core, Fallen London
  13. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Violant, Sunless Sea
  14. ↑ A Pot of Violant Ink, Sunless Sea
  15. ↑ Become a Correspondent, Fallen London
  16. ↑ "The closest approximation of violant is a sort of stark burgundy. For the most in-universe explanation - it is difficult to represent colours that do not exist on the Surface, on the Surface. So, follow the descriptions rather than the colours you see. "Violant: the colour of necessary, but troublesome connections. According to other traditions, the colour of blood shed in a spired place." And... if the descriptions don't seem to match – well, there's always the fall back that in real life, people can see colours differently too. It's definitely the same in the Neath. :) " - Olivia Wood, Failbetter Games
  17. ↑ Look into the skull's eye socket, Sunless Sea
  18. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Cosmogone, Sunless Sea
  19. ↑ Ray-Drenched Cinder, Sunless Sea
  20. ↑ Set of Cosmogone Spectacles, Fallen London
  21. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Peligin, Sunless Sea
  22. ↑ A Chess-Piece tattoo, Fallen London
  23. ↑ Give it your Hunter's Eye, Sunless Sea
  24. ↑ Hunter's Eye, Sunless Sea
  25. ↑ Commission a set of fine clothes, Sunless Sea
  26. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Apocyan, Sunless Sea
  27. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Apocyan, Sunless Sea
  28. ↑ Sunless tattoo, Fallen London
  29. ↑ Apocyan Chess-Piece, Sunless Sea
  30. ↑ A Crooked Cross, Fallen London
  31. ↑ A Lump of Blue Scintillack, Sunless Sea
  32. ↑ "I bring the Bazaar.", Fallen London "You paid dearly to get this apocyanic lump into the spire, and more dearly still to get it out, once it had absorbed the imprint you needed. "
  33. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Viric, Sunless Sea
  34. ↑ Give it your enigmatic painting, Sunless Sea
  35. ↑ Allow the Mechanic to enjoy his sleep, Sunless Sea
  36. ↑ Gawp, Fallen London
  37. ↑ A Mirrorcatch Box Full of Very Angry Dream-Snakes, Sunless Sea
  38. ↑ Dreams of Smoke, Sunless Sea
  39. ↑ A Page from 'The Neathbow': Gant, Sunless Sea
  40. ↑ A List of Aliases, Writ in Gant, Fallen London
  41. ↑ Show it a sketch of the Figurehead of the Eater of Names, Sunless Sea
  42. ↑ Gant Pole, Sunless Sea
  43. ↑ Avid Horizon, Sunless Sea
  44. ↑ Offer to sponsor the ganting of the tattoo (5 FATE), Fallen London
  45. ↑ A List of Aliases, Writ in Gant, Fallen London
  46. ↑ Arrange a Explosion of Neath-Colours on the Stroke of Midnight (40 FATE), Fallen London
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