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.
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"To the south: the Elder Continent, and the seventy-two [sic] cornucopian kingdoms of the Presbyterate. Are the stories true - rivers of honey; castles of ivory?Who can say?Foreigners...are forbidden from the interior. The closest most get is Adam's Way: a shouting, feasting, thieving riot of a port."[1]
Adam’s Way, the estuary of the blood-tinged Nameless River, is the gateway to the Elder Continent and the Presbyterate, flanked by two massive stone statues of bees. Only living ships may pass through it with some semblance of safety; the red blood of Stone corrodes and destroys any other ships that try to venture SOUTH.[2]
"A shouting, feasting, thieving, riot of a port, at the entrance to the red route into the heart of the South."[3]
A Tree of a Single Day.
The Gracious, the Presbyterate's coastal guard, governs the port of Apis Meet. Tradition holds that in order to enter, a visitor must tell them a story.[4] According to the Gracious, prolonged exposure to the soil of the Elder Continent may cause "hysteria, rapture, [and] animescence;"[5] consequently, foreigners may only stay in Apis Meet for one day per visit, and cannot venture further South without permission - although the Gracious may be bribed,[6] and prisoners are exempt from permission to travel South.[7] The duration of one's stay is measured using the aptly-named Tree of a Single Day, which grows, buds, and withers over the course of twenty-four hours. Visitors must leave before the tree falls.[8]
Apis Meet is a bustling port city and thriving business hub, home to numerous attractions enjoyed by visitors and locals of all stripes (including literal stripes).[9] It is also a proper tourist trap, filled with fraud and propaganda.[10] Visitors with an interest in the grotesque may observe the strange exhibits of the Sober Showman, who showcases Snuffers,[11]Starved Men (although he may market them otherwise),[12][13] and other marvels.[14][15] A group of high-ranking and eccentric Presybterate soldiers known as the Replete occasionally hosts funeral feasts in a public square,[16] but beware: they have a long-held tradition of eating their own deceased,[17][18] and no, that is not normal on the Elder Continent.[19]
There is a hospital for the animescent - perhaps better described as a quarantine facility[20] - in Apis Meet.[21] It was formerly run by Rosina, until she contracted the disease herself.[22] The city also houses a branch of the Presbyterate's Mithridate Office;[23] a book-burning pub called the Biblioclasm, run by a former governor of Port Carnelian;[24] and the Temple of the Mountain's Mother, which is dedicated to the Echo Bazaar and accepts deliveries of mysterious sphinxstone.[25]
There are ruins of older cities around Apis Meet,[26] though they provide few historical clues.[27] In the hills beyond, at the foot of the bee statues that mark the entrance to Adam's Way, safely hidden storytellers share tales of the Continent.[28]
Or rather, a historical note. The introduction to Adam's Way mentions that there are 72 kingdoms of the Presbyterate. There are actually 77, as confirmed elsewhere in Sunless Sea, but this apparent error is more intentional than one might expect. The Presbyterate is heavily inspired by the medieval legend of Prester John, a fabulously wealthy Christian king said to have ruled a vast swath of Asia. A purported letter from Prester John stated that he held sway over 72 kingdoms; it can be surmised that originally there was a more direct reference intended in Sunless Sea, but eventually the Failbetter team decided that it was better to amend the reference across the rest of the game and for all future content, because Seven is the Number.
↑Way Upstream, Sunless Sea"At four o'clock [...] the ship begins to speak to you. It apologises for what will happen next. Only you can hear it. At seven o'clock, the engine bursts like a heart. The hull shatters. You are lost in the tides of the Mountain's Blood [...] Your bones will grow in the muds of the river's shore."
↑Adam's Way, Sunless Sea"All ships that approach Adam's Way are intercepted by the Gracious - the Presbyterate's splendidly head-dressed coastguards. A quaint but inviolable tradition governs entry: you must tell them one of three stories. In return you will be permitted to spend a single day in the port."
↑Flint, Fallen London"A poster declares that no free foreigners may travel South. [...] "Did you ever hear that one? 'The Presbyter's Boot-Black'? There's a woman travels South, in disguise and in chains. If you're not free, the restriction doesn't apply...""
↑Near Adam's Way, Sunless Sea"The day has just begun. In the town's square, a yellow-robed priestess plants a seed in a bed of black soil. No sooner has she patted down the soil than a tiny shoot pokes forth. By mid-morning it will be a sapling; by lunchtime a budding tree. By the evening's end it will wither and fall. You must be back on your ship before then."
↑Grant your crew shore-leave, Sunless Sea"Some see the sights. Some experiment with the hot, honeyed wine of the Elder Continent. Still others pay furtive visits to a shadowed tent whose sign promises the 'perfumed, pantherine dances of the exotic South, performed to authentic and rousing music twice hourly!' "
↑Listen to a storyteller, Sunless Sea"Ignore the gaudy entertainments, intended to defraud visitors. Pass the street-hawkers (they will only tell you what you want to hear). Shun the tavern gossip, most of which is fabricated by the Mithridate Office, the Prester's propagandists."
↑The Sober Showman's Exhibition, Sunless Sea"'TODAY: Behold a MONSTROUS ABORIGINAL of the Elder Continent: A cyclopes, last of a dead tribe!' [...] If the creature could stand it would be - what? - eight feet tall? Ten? Exceptional; not monstrous. [...] Above its nose is a swirl of scarred tissue: a single eye, seared closed."
↑The Sober Showman's Exhibition, Sunless Sea"'TODAY: an example of the Changed: those intemperate souls who dared improve on the Almighty's design! Behold, a practitioner of the Shapeling Arts' [...] The body within is uneven. One shoulder is high, the other low. Its spine bends like a crook. Its face is a knot of bubbled flesh, dark eyes gleaming in the mass."
↑The Sober Showman's Exhibition, Sunless Sea"'Revealed for the first time: innumerable MYSTERIES OF THE INTERIOR! A profusion of Presbyterate secrets to perplex and petrify!' A case catches your eye. It is labelled 'The Covenant'. "
↑The Sober Showman's Exhibition, Sunless Sea" 'A shard of the Mountain itself!' claims the stencilled sign. How it blazes! The light is yellow as butter, but cold. You shield your eyes, examining the stone through the gauze of your sleeve. It is a fake. Only glass, set beneath an arrangement of lights and lenses."
↑Attend a Funeral Feast, Sunless Sea"The Replete occupy lofty positions in the Presbyterate's military. Despite their sanguinary past, they dine with the Prester and send their children to be educated at London's University. However, they maintain their tradition of eating their dead."
↑Merely observe, Sunless Sea""This isn't normal here, you know," she tells you, noticing your interest. "The other nations of the Presbyterate think they're crackers. Still, I bet the Prester finds them useful. The threat of imminent cannibalism must facilitate no end of diplomatic negotiations." "
↑Speak to her about her history, Sunless Sea"I ran the animescence hospital at Adam's Way. I was scrupulous. Was never present when a patient burst into flame. When I felt too much pity, I would reassign staff... but I was less cautious outside the hospital."
↑Flint, Fallen London"The Mithridate Office fabricates misleading stories about the Continent, in order to confuse foreigners. To this end, they often employ foreigners. [...] The Office maintains a proud building at the head of Surcease Street."
↑Flint, Fallen London"Shelves of tattered books decorate this quiet public house. Red leather spines glow bloody in the firelight. As you watch, a patron casually tosses one on to the fire. [...] The publican of the Biblioclasm is holding forth on his time as governor in Port Carnelian. [...] Everyone nods. The publican often gives free drinks to those who nod. The pub is warm; the company congenial; the books burn prettily."
↑Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea"The priestess wears Bazaar-black. [...] "The altar is here," she intones. [...] A trial of blocks. A sacrifice of stones. How quaint! Then the priestess leans over, to whisper the reason for it: the Birth, the Heart, the Chain."
↑Flint, Fallen London"Apis Meet is only the most recent city at the river's mouth. Ruins have accumulated like sand on the dunes. Explore the basalt tumbles at the columns' feet."
↑Flint, Fallen London"Who raised the first city here? Who built the bees of basalt? [...] In a broken court, someone has propped a wooden image before a stone – a knot of bird-snake things, decorated with parrot-feathers. A litter of objects lies before it. Offerings?"
↑Adam's Way, Sunless Sea"Climb the stairs cut into the hill. Sit at the foot of the bee-capped stone columns. They will shield you from the southern Mountain-heat. Be quiet. Listen. Old storytellers share the shadow."
