Editing Category:The Elder Continent

{{spoiler}}
{{Neath_Location|image1 = adamswayheader.png|caption1 = Adam's Way. Art from FL.|image2 = adamsway.png|caption2 = You shall not pass. Art from Sunless Sea.|location = SOUTH|alias = The Bright Continent|allegiance = [[The Mountain of Light]]
The Presbyterate|notable_inhabitants = The Presbyterate<br>
[[Stone]]<br>
[[Snuffers]]<br>
[[Tigers]]|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/sultry Sultry]}}
''"Why do they call it the Elder Continent?"''

''"That vast continent to the South with a glowing mountain at its heart - where the Presbyter has ruled for a thousand years - is older by far than any of London's civilisations. Which is embarrassing."''<ref name = "sidebar">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets|Sidebar Snippets|Fallen London|}}</ref>

'''The Elder Continent''' is a vast, warm, and humid landmass, bathed in the soft glow of [[the Mountain of Light]], that forms the southern edge of [[the Unterzee]]. More ancient than any of [[the Fallen Cities]], the Continent is home to wildlife, demographics, and kingdoms the likes of which [[London ]]has only just begun to dream of.

The coast of the Elder Continent is home to [[Port Carnelian]], London's sole imperial possession, and the mirrored city of [[Varchas]]. The hidden city of [[Arbor]] also has strong ties to this place.

==Adam's Way==
''"To the south: the Elder Continent, and the seventy-two cornucopian kingdoms of the Presbyterate. Are the stories true - rivers of honey; castles of ivory?''

''Who can say? Foreigners (that's you) are forbidden from the interior. The closest most get is Adam's Way: a shouting, feasting, thieving riot of a port."''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Adam%27s_Way|Adam's Way|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

'''Adam’s Way''', the estuary of the blood-tinged '''Nameless River''', is the gateway to the Elder Continent, flanked by two massive statues of stone 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.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Way_Upstream|Way Upstream|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

===Apis Meet===
''"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."''<ref name = "adam's way">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Adam%27s_Way|Near Adam's Way|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:Treeblue.png|thumb|A Tree of a Single Day.]]
The port of Adam's Way, '''Apis Meet''', is always well-populated and busy. In order to enter, a visitor must tell a story of intrigue to '''the Gracious''', the Continent's coastal guard. According to the Gracious, prolonged exposure to the soil of the Elder Continent may cause "hysteria, rapture, [and] [[animescence]]", so foreigners may only stay in Apis Meet for one day per visit, and cannot venture further South without permission. The duration of their 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 bends over and breaks.<ref name = "adam's way">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Adam%27s_Way|Near Adam's Way|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Apis Meet is home to numerous attractions enjoyed by visitors and locals of all stripes (some rather literal). It is a thriving business hub; Londoners with a fascination for the grotesque can observe the strange exhibits of '''the Sober Showman''', who showcases [[Snuffers]], [[Starved Men]], and more.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Sober_Showman%27s_Exhibition|The Sober Showman's Exhibition|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> It is also home to '''the Temple of the Mountain's Mother''', which is dedicated to [[the Echo Bazaar]] and accepts deliveries of the mysterious [[The Salt Lions|sphinxstones]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Adam%27s_Way|Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Soldiers of the Elder Continent known as '''the Replete''' occasionally host '''Funeral Feasts''' in Apis Meet; unfortunately, the central dishes of these feasts are the Replete's recently deceased.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Attend_a_Funeral_Feast|Attend a Funeral Feast|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

==The Presbyterate==
{{Major spoiler small}}''"The Presbyterate is not the Continent, but it dominates it. The Presbyterate's genius is its extraordinary heterogeneity. Seventy-seven kingdoms – men, [[Caution|Beasts]], stones, flowers – a hundred schools of war and a thousand schools of thought – but all united under the Presbyter's word. And behind the Presbyter, the College of Mortality."''<ref name = flint>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}</ref>

'''The Presbyterate''' is a major power in the Elder Continent, ruling over its territory of the same name. Seventy-seven kingdoms answer to its banners, and it has a strong connection to the Mountain of Light.<ref name = flint/> Notoriously secretive and oftentimes snobbish, there is far, far more to the Presbyterate than meets the eye.

===Culture===
[[File:Chapsmouldering.png|thumb|The Presbyterate Diplomat]]
The Presbyterate is known for its less-than-mortal populace; they're far beyond the normal Neathy immortality you'd see in, say, [[London]]. People from this place can be killed several times over,<ref name = "feducci">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_duel_to_the_death_with_Feducci_2|A duel to the death with Feducci 2|Fallen London|}}</ref> live to a hundred,<ref name = "hundred">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Presbyterate_Adventuress|Ask the Adventuress why you've been ambushed by assassins from her homeland|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> or be sliced into mincemeat,<ref name = "feducci"/> and still recover with barely a headache. That being said, even they have a limit before they succumb to death like everyone else.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Seven_Years_Later|Democratise death|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The Presbyterate's language is described as one that "jangles like bells of bronze",<ref name = flint/> and certain Presbyterate Passphrases are composed of bits of English, Latin, and [[the Correspondence]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Presbyterate_Passphrase|Presbyterate Passphrase|Fallen London|}}</ref> In spite of, or perhaps because of, the prevalence of immortality in the Presbyterate, belief in the afterlife is rare.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"I now believe in something beyond life – but that is a rare strange belief in the Bright Continent."''</ref>

'''The Order Vespertine''', a powerful group of [[Knife-and-Candle]] players, based their traditions and fighting techniques on the Presbyterate's traditions and rites.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"...they draw their traditions from the traditions of the Presbyterate. [...] Knife-and-Candle is more than a game [...] it is a rite. Their rites are [...] a twisted shadow of the Presbyter's laws.""''</ref>

'''The Mithridate Office''' is a branch of the Presbyterate, based in Apis Meet's '''Surcease Street''', that fabricates false stories of the Elder Continent to confound and mystify foreigners; hilariously, they often employ foreigners themselves for this very purpose. Their workers, '''Mithridites''', pay foreigners with '''Formulums''', which probably don't exist anyway.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Mithridate Office fabricates [...] stories about the Continent [...] to confuse foreigners. [...] they often employ foreigners. The Office maintains a proud building at the head of Surcease Street. [...] Mithridites [...] pay you with a Formulum..."''
</ref>

===Leadership===
''""...each Presbyter is different, but each takes the identity of the last. Presbyters never truly die, even after a thousand years. At their 'deaths' they give up their names to join the College, who live nameless. The [[Snuffers|rebels]] who serve [[the Thief-of-Faces]] - they live faceless. [[The Presbyterate Adventuress|I'm]] no friend to the College, you know that, but they have served our realm well - they are just...""''<ref name = "homeland">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Presbyterate_Adventuress|The Last Night: Record her memoirs about her homeland|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:Mountainglow.png|thumb|The Mountain of Light]]
The '''Presbyter''', or '''Prester''', is the leader of the Presbyterate, elected and dismissed through a ceremony that would be very fatal on [[the Surface]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Your_Salon:_invite_a_Presbyterate_Diplomat_as_a_guest_of_honour|Your Salon: invite a Presbyterate Diplomat as a guest of honour|Fallen London|}} ''"The College of Mortality, which elects and dismisses the Presbyter in a manner which on the Surface would be very final."''</ref> After a Presbyter's term expires, they are sent to live nameless within '''the College of Mortality''', the Presbyterate's backbone and authority on life and death, and their successor inherits their identity.<ref name = homeland/>

The College of Mortality is particularly infamous for a certain decree: '''''None shall live a thousand years'''''. Not even the Presters themselves are exempt from this rule, but, as stated above, they do not truly die when their time is up. [[The Presbyterate Adventuress]]'s father lived for twelve extra years, so the Presbyterate punished his transgression by forcing his children to live up to only a hundred. Anyone who lives longer than they should is ruthlessly hounded and arrested by the Presbyterate's powerful assassins,<ref name = "homeland"/> and in the words of [[The_Church#The_Bishop_of_St._Fiacre.27s|the Bishop of St. Fiacre's]]: ''"Death is the fist of the Presbyterate. One may not oppose death"''.<ref name = "flint"/>

===Nidah===
'''Nidah''' is the capital of the Presbyterate, located in the deepest regions within the Elder Continent. Apparently, this city is the source of the Presbyterate's immortality.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Choose_an_Ambition#Interactions|Immortality|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Nidah is surrounded by massive basalt walls, and only its '''Persimmon Gate''' can serve as a point of entry. While the city is described as a paradise, gorgeously paved with gemstone roads, it is also located dangerously close to the Mountain of Light, and eye protection is required to avoid certain doom.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Deal_with_Isery|Offer a preposterous price|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

To reach Nidah by land, one must brave the following challenges, according to [[The Isle of Cats|Isery]]:<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Engineering_the_Downfall_of_Nidah|Secure the route to Nidah: plot a course across three deserts|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
*'''The Desert of Eyes''', "''where eyes bloom in the sands. Their regard strips all pretence, reducing the traveller to a state of foetal self-loathing."''
*'''The Listening Desert''', ''"where earthquakes pursue the unwary."''
*'''The Desert of Delights''', whose sands lure its victims to their deaths.

Within Nidah lies the College of Mortality: grim and grey on the outside, and heaven itself on the inside. Within the College lies a door to the Garden, where true immortality can be found.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Seven_Years_Later|Democratise death|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

===THE PRESTER SAITH===
*''No Man Shall Live a Thousand Years''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Engineering_the_Downfall_of_Nidah|Defeat the Presbyter's armies: foster a popular uprising|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
*''She Who Commands The Principle Of Victory May Feast On Its Spoil'' ('''The Privilege of Victory''')<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}</ref>
*''She Who Hath Become A Tyrant May Be Toppled To Dine Upon The Ashes'' ('''The Edict of Policraticus''')<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}</ref>
*''She Who Rules in Deed, Rules in Law'' ('''The Doctrine of Eminence''')<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Engineering_the_Downfall_of_Nidah|Defeat the Presbyter's armies: foster a popular uprising|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
*''You shall harm no thing that flies, for they carry with them the airs of the Garden. No bee, no bird, no bat. Only to my servants is it given to hunt them, and that only for my table. Yet I am generous: all shall feast.''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Order_Vespertine,_Perilous|Order Vespertine, Perilous|Fallen London|}}</ref>
*''[[The Thief-of-Faces]] shall not be suffered to return to the Garden, nor its chattels, nor its [[Snuffers|children]]. It has taken from us that which is precious and returned only lies and empty fires. It shall be locked in a [[The Prison of Flint|prison of flint]], and it shall know no light.''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Order_Vespertine,_Merciless|Order Vespertine, Merciless|Fallen London|}}</ref>
*''When I die, yet shall I not die. The hour of my death shall be chosen, yet no man shall choose it. I am eternal, and yet my reign in circumscrib'd by law and Fate. I will feast at my funeral, and my child shall be my cup-bearer.''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Order_Vespertine,_Monstrous|Order Vespertine, Monstrous|Fallen London|}}</ref>
*''In the Garden is the Design; in the Garden occurred the Ascents; in the Garden were selected the Shames. Therefore none shall enter it without that they be blinded with thorns and bound with the '''Three Oaths'''. And should any seek to alter the Design or repeat the Ascent or uncover the Shames, they shall be given to the Wax-Wind.''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Order_Vespertine,_Irresistible|Order Vespertine, Irresistible|Fallen London|}}</ref>
*''None shall set foot in Nidah save he that was born there. He who violates this law shall be cast into the deepest deep, and always forsaken.''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Flinty_Latitudinarian|Welcome Batuk back to the Seven Against Nidah|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

===The Three Oaths===
''"...that my word shall bind me. My promise shall outlast my flesh, and the very flesh of the world. Even when I am dust it will bind me, with red gold and a wind of wounds. If I break it, let my crown burn. Let my flesh run like wax. Let me hunger, and let nothing sate my hunger except my own skin and the marrow of my bones..."''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/%27Swear_by_one_of_the_Three_Oaths!%27|'Swear by one of the Three Oaths!'|Fallen London|}}</ref>

==The Garden==
''"There are a thousand speculations on why Death is strange in the Neath. Perhaps one is true."''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Seekers_of_the_Garden|The Seekers of the Garden|Fallen London|}}</ref>

''"THIS COUNTRY - MOUTH-OF-THE-RIVER - THIS WAS THE PLACE OF HER OVERTHROW"''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_jewelled_future_1|A jewelled future 1|Fallen London|}}</ref>
[[File:Foliage.png|thumb|The taste still lingers. The smell of earth and grass when you sleep. What will it bring?]]
'''The Garden''', hidden deep within [[the Mountain of Light]], predates the Bazaar's presence in the Neath by a wide margin. Its precise location is unknown, and it may not even be a true garden, but it is ''heavily'' sought after by those who know of its power, as they see it as the ultimate source of Neathy immortality. Unfortunately for them, only the birds and the bees (hah) can enter it freely at the moment.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/A_word_with_His_Amused_Lordship|A word with His Amused Lordship|Fallen London|}}</ref>

The Mountain of Light, daughter of [[the Sun]] and [[the Echo Bazaar]], provides a strange vitality to the Elder Continent. Fruit can grow from rocks, bones can sprout from the soil, and in some cases, inanimate objects have minds of their own.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Way_Upstream|The Mountain's Blood|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> An area's "liveliness" depends on its proximity to Stone, so people who die in far away places across [[the Unterzee]] often die permanently, while those who live on the mainland (such as [[London]]ers) can often recover from death with nothing but a bad headache, and people who come from the Elder Continent itself can live up to a ''hundred'' and still look good.<ref name = "hundred">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Presbyterate_Adventuress|Ask the Adventuress why you've been ambushed by assassins from her homeland|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

The Garden is actually one of [[Stone]]'s many, many wombs, where she fosters life that would not be allowed on [[the Surface]]. The waxen beings now known as [[Snuffers]] once roamed the Garden freely;<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''""In her deep wombs, she fosters life that would not be permitted above. The Garden was one of those wombs. And we long to return to it, we Cousins. How we long for it.""''</ref> unfortunately, they were cast out of it when the [[Snuffers|Thief-of-Faces]] stole jewels from Stone's wombs.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''""The Mountain cast us all out of the Garden, when it found that our progenitor had taken jewels from its wombs, to make a weapon to serve its hatred. I will tell you of the weapon it made.""''</ref> To this day, the Snuffers still hope to return to the Garden, but their aspirations seem all but impossible.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''""And we long to return to it, we Cousins. How we long for it. I still hope to go there some day.""''</ref>
[[File:Cider.png|thumb|WHOSO THIRSTETH AND DRINKETH OF THIS, SO SHALL HE NEVER DIE.]]
One of the most coveted treasures in the Neath is '''Hesperidean Cider''', brewed from the golden, robust '''Hesperidean Apples''' of the Garden. When drunk, Hesperidean Cider immediately restores its imbiber to their physical prime,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Take_a_mouthful|Take a mouthful|Fallen London|}}</ref> grants them a free escape from [[Death|the slow boat]],<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Are_you_lost%3F|Are you lost?|Fallen London|}}</ref> and plagues them with mysterious visions of the Garden and the Mountain.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Drink,_and_luxuriate_in_your_bed|Drink, and luxuriate in your bed|Fallen London|}}</ref> Following these visions may grant an imbiber a more permanent form of immortality.<ref name = "capering">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Hand_over_a_multitude_of_scrap_for..._something_secret|Hand over a multitude of scrap for... something secret|Fallen London|}}</ref> [[The Masters of the Bazaar]] have stores of this precious drink,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlessskies.gamepedia.com/An_Ill-Designed_Shop|Ask about the Hesperidean cider|Sunless Skies|}}</ref> and [[the Capering Relicker]] managed to brew a batch before [[the First City]] fell.<ref name = "capering">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Hand_over_a_multitude_of_scrap_for..._something_secret|Hand over a multitude of scrap for... something secret|Fallen London|}}</ref>

In ages past, birds stole seeds from the Garden. One of these seeds, now a tree, resides deep within the Mirror-Marches of [[Parabola]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Irem#The_Mirror-Marches|Rarest fruit|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Birds, and other flying creatures, carry the airs of the Garden; hence, hunting them is strictly forbidden. Apparently, this is because the Mountain dreams of [[The High Wilderness|flight]].<ref name = "homeland">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Presbyterate_Adventuress|The Last Night: Record her memoirs about her homeland|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

==Strange Dangers==
''"On rare days, an impossible tempest sweeps out of the Elder Continent: a wild wind carrying the scent of boiling honey and a storm of molten wax. Ships that fall prey to the Wax-Wind float like filthy icebergs in the Unterzee, their crews confined in wax, mouths fixed in endless screams."''<ref name = "sidebar">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets|Sidebar Snippets|Fallen London|}}</ref>

The Elder Continent is not a very safe place, and that should go without saying. People who harvest the massive mushrooms that grow here often suffer from '''Lung-Bloom''', especially in places like [[Varchas]] where fungal blooms are common. A chronic condition, Lung-Bloom begins as a bad cough, but soon progresses into growths of fungus on one's extremities, before sprouting out of other orifices. Yikes.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Charitable_Hospital|The Fungal Infections Ward|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

The '''Wax-Wind''' is a flood of molten wax that engulfs ships zailing near the Elder Continent.<ref name = "sidebar">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets|Sidebar Snippets|Fallen London|}}</ref> Contact with the Wind is invariably fatal, as it can melt the very skin off one's bones.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Accept_the_Wax-Wind|Accept the Wax-Wind|Fallen London|}}</ref> The Presbyterate is capable of invoking the Wax-Wind against its enemies, whether as a form of warfare,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Verger_in_Coral|What became of their endeavour?|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> or as a means of execution.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Order_Vespertine,_Irresistible|Order Vespertine, Irresistible|Fallen London|}}</ref> Strangely, this wind may manifest in far-off places like [[Polythreme]]; this may have something to do with the unnatural vitality there.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Wax_Wind_Comes|The Wax Wind Comes|Fallen London|}}</ref> According to certain stories, the Wax-Wind is actually the weeping of [[Stone]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Two things which are not Mysteries [...] the Wax-Wind is her weeping."''</ref>

Falling asleep in the deeper regions of the Elder Continent can be dangerous, as one might encounter the '''Conjunction of Fancies''', where the dream-realm of [[Parabola]] presses against the skin of the world.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"This is the Conjunction of Fancies, when the dream-realm of Parabola presses against the membrane of the world."''</ref>

===Flora and Fauna===
''"What can you find on the Elder Continent?"''

''"Travellers tell of strange tribes and incomprehensible religions, carnivorous flora, pygmy elephants and giant mice. But no-one believes travellers' tales, do they?"''<ref name = "sidebar">{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets|Sidebar Snippets|Fallen London|}}</ref>
[[File:Bluefeather.png|thumb|100px|A Blue Prophet's royal blue feather. ]]
[[Tigers]] are a powerful and influential faction here; it is advised that one does not press their luck with them. Currently, they are vying for control against London and [[the Khanate]] for [[the Carnelian Coast]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Port_Carnelian|Visit Heartscross House|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> [[Heart-Takers]] are also endemic to the Elder Continent, being as dangerous as they usually are.<ref name = flint/>

A species of bird called the [[:Category:Creatures#Blue_Prophets_and_Milliner_Bats|Blue Prophet]] flocks near the Elder Continent; these birds are known for their sky-blue feathers and the superstition that they can prophesize the deaths of certain individuals by crying out their names.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Blue_Prophets|Blue Prophets|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

An intriguing fruit that grows in the Elder Continent is the '''chertapple''', known to be nourishing "to the bone." They taste like earth, induce dreams of the South,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''""Crunchy, but nourishing" [...] And now you'll dream of the south [...] They taste like stony earth..."''</ref> and can apparently be used for navigation.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Bloatfingers, so enraged by their own ugliness that they kill those who observe them. But these apples can show you the way..."''</ref> Chertapple trees are often plagued by creatures known as '''bloatfingers''', snakelike things so enraged by their own ugliness that they unleash their rage upon all who look at them.

===Animescence===
''"Animescence is a rare disease of the Elder Continent. A slow combustion of the soul, gradually baking the vital organs. Poets suffer worse than most; lovers worst of all. The blistered monks who run the hospital will accept any assistance."''<ref name = "assist">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Assist_at_an_Animescence_Hospital|Assist at an Animescence Hospital|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:Fire.png|thumb|Taking heartburn a bit too literally.]]
There is a disease endemic to the Continent that sets souls on fire, called '''animescence'''. Even for people raised in the Continent, this is can be permanently fatal. Symptoms generally include a cripplingly high fever,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Ambition:_an_Additional_Sherry_with_the_Fierce_Philanthropist|Recruit her to the Seven|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> injury to vital organs, severely dry skin, and wayward passions,<ref name = "assist"/> culminating in spontaneous metaphysical combustion. The disease can be highly contagious if another person is caught in the explosion; in fact, the Presbyterate occasionally uses ailing animescence patients as bioweapons during times of warfare.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Rosina%27s_Chambers,_in_Health#Interactions|Speak to her about her history|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Animescence itself can be highly dependent on one's emotional state; being emotionally vulnerable or overly optimistic can make one more susceptible to the disease.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Assist_at_an_Animescence_Hospital|Assist in the cloisters|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Passion, in any form, can speed up the disease's progress, so patients often have to make an effort to remain as apathetic as possible.<ref name = "meet">{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Rosina%27s_Chambers|Meet Rosina|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Of course, for poets and lovers, being passionless is easier said than done.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Assist_at_an_Animescence_Hospital|Root out a reckless poet|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Treating animescence is a daunting task. Traditional medicines such as ointments, posturing, and poems only slow down the disease; they do not cure it. Rosina of [[the Seven Against Nidah]] managed to sharpen her spleen in [[Anthe]] to repress her anger, but she is still vulnerable to other passions and was once forced to immobilize herself in an ice bath to prevent her demise.<ref name = "meet"/>

==Beyond the Way==
''"Your road runs beside the nameless river that flows from the Mountain to the zee. The waters are thick with blood – thicker still as you travel South. Scabs float on the water like foam. The coppery scent of it rises about you."''<ref name = "flint"/>
[[File:Carneliancoast.png|thumb|400px|center|What lies beyond the Way?]]
Those who venture beyond Adam's Way into the heart of the Continent will encounter wonders and dangers beyond anything they could ever imagine...

===Caution===
''"Caution, the City of Beasts, the City of a Hundred Tongues. Its spires rise through the forest canopy; a hundred, one for every tongue – scarlet, dusky green, royal blue. This close, the spires are less like coloured glass, more like glossy crabshell."''<ref name = "flint"/>

''"Turn back, turn back. You have not lived enough. Learn Caution."''<ref name = "flint"/>
[[File:Tablet.png|thumb|The Word of Caution]]
'''Caution''', the City of Beasts, is a city in the Presbyterate, home to a hundred different tongues.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"...'hundred-tongued city of Caution'..."''</ref> As a part of the Presbyterate, Caution is inaccessible to outside visitors, unless one can procure a special invitation or pass.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Caution? It's [...] Forbidden territory, my dear [...] manage to wangle a pass."''</ref> Reaching Caution is quite the challenge, but a mysterious, powerful passphrase known as the '''Word of Caution''' can be used to gain entry into the city itself.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"It won't be easy to reach Caution. [...] And once you reach Caution, I have a potent pass-phrase you can use [...] Word of Caution..."''</ref>

'''Wombwell and Stark's Travelling Menagerie''' is a traveling troupe of animals and exhibits that frequently visits Caution, showcasing wildlife from throughout the Elder Continent. The two proprietors of the Menagerie are '''Mr Wombwell'''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Mr Wombwell himself is here [...] some are travelling home to Caution;"''</ref> and '''Professor Stark''', the latter of whom is... er, deathly poisonous. Best not to shake her hand.<ref name = "sidebar"/>

Within Caution lie spires for each of the hundred tongues. They look less like glass and more like crabshell, and each is its own color: scarlet, green, blue, and so on.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Its spires [...] a hundred, one for every tongue – scarlet, dusky green, royal blue. This close, the spires are less like coloured glass, more like glossy crabshell."''</ref> In order to enter through '''the Pilgrim Gate''' of Caution, one must first deal with the '''Pilgrim-Wakers''', bird-like beings who demand to know if a visitor has lived long enough to enter.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"This [...] is the Pilgrim Gate. [...] The Pilgrim-Wakers rear to greet you. "Have you lived enough?" they cry."''</ref> To get past them, one must either share their deepest regrets,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Share your regrets, and enter."''</ref> or utilize the aforementioned Word of Caution.

The '''Beasts''' of Caution make up the vast majority of its population, and can take on many animalistic forms. However, they all have human eyes. There is a reason for this...<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"There are the Beasts – everywhere the Beasts, watching you with human eyes."''</ref>

The Beasts of Caution include:
*'''Lions''', which boast of their skills and deeds in the aptly-named '''Boasting Ring'''. The strongest Lion in the Ring wins the weakest Lion's Name.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Lions have entered their Boasting Ring. The strongest will take the weakest's name."''</ref>
*'''Parakeets''', the journalists and gossipers.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Parakeets serve Caution as journalists, gossips, urchins and salonnières serve London."''</ref>
*'''Apes''', the scouts, watchmen, and poets.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Apes are the scouts, the watchmen, and the poets of Caution."''</ref>
*'''Wolves''', who provide guidance and comfort.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Wolves of Caution give guidance and comfort."''</ref>
*'''Panthers''', who are not permitted to enter water.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Panthers are not permitted by the laws of Caution to swim."''</ref>
*'''Striped Horses''', who build the spires (and tongues) of Caution.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"For when we build the next Tongue, and its spire."''</ref>
*'''Tortoises''', who claim to from none other than [[Fallen London]]!<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Tortoises, in their pit, all claim they were men and women of London before they came here."''</ref>
*'''Salamanders''', Caution's soldiers.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Salamanders are Caution's soldiers."''</ref>
*'''Boars''', who write the histories of Caution in blood.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Boars write the histories of Caution on the roots of Caution’s glossy spires. They always use blood, to ensure the spires are healthily nourished."''</ref>
*'''Leopards''', who ''drink'' blood.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''""We won't drink it," the Matriarch chuckles. "We're Boars, not Leopards! But we will always need ink.""''</ref>
*'''Serpents''', not expanded upon.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"...or the Serpents from the Wolves."''</ref>
*'''Mice'''. No one really knows what they do, but they like scary stories.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"It's not clear what the Mice are for [...] And they love scary stories."''</ref>

In the center of Caution lies the '''Temple of Meetings''', where one can interact with Caution's various factions and citizens. This location is also where Beasts are born from Men, in a process that remains unseen.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Attend a Ceremony at the Temple of Meetings: [...] A dark space waits at its roots. Here Men come, and Beasts are born. There is a pause; and a scream. [...] The newborn Foal emerges tottering from the tree-cave."''</ref>

Once, when there were Kings in Caution, a King would stand vigil in the Temple of Meetings, with a mirror, a crown, and a dagger of flint.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Now in those days, when there were Kings in Caution, a new King would sit vigil in the Temple of Meetings, with his appointed regalia: a mirror, a crown, and a dagger of flint."''</ref>

===The Bleeding Forest===
''"The Wakers speak of the Bleeding Forest's temptations and dangers. They name the chert, the flinty principle which stifles the heart; the Huz whose stings bring weeping death; the Accidental Men; the Road-of-Seven. They name other things besides, but their words sink beneath your memory like stones into water. They cackle as they name them. 'You may end in the Forest,' one advises you, 'but now it will not be our fault.'"''<ref name = "flint"/>
[[File:Bleedingforest.png|thumb|400px|center|The Bleeding Forest]]
[[File:Monsterhand2.png|thumb|Watch for chertyness.]]
'''The Bleeding Forest''' is an extremely dangerous forest that lies beyond the safety of Caution, filled to the brim with flora made of organs, flesh, and gore.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Eyes swivel to watch you. Hand-fronds reach languorously to caress you."''</ref> Being far into the Elder Continent, the Bleeding Forest is often plagued by strange sights that blur the line between reality and imagination; for example, a well-furnished bedroom that wouldn't seem out of place in a [[London]] townhouse appearing in a clearing, but made out of plants and refuse.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Dresser with cloisonné knick-knacks; bookshelves; dining table and chairs; armchair and sofa; a neatly made-up double bed. Not unexpected for a London townhouse, but unusual for a forest clearing. Leaves, flowers, droppings, blood festoon everything."''</ref> Other dangers include the aforementioned Heart-Takers, the Conjunction of Fancies, and swarms of bloatfingers. Other oddities might remind one of [[Polythreme]], such as the cliff-faces... with faces.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"In a cliff to your left, faces writhe into view."''</ref> 

A notable landmark in the Bleeding Forest is the '''Road-of-Seven''', a mysterious road paved with seven-sided tiles, which do not tessellate in real life.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The seven-sided flagstones of the road, impossibly, fit together with nary a crack or gap, [...]"''</ref> Since it's made of impossible stones, the Road-of-Seven often warps and twists when one is not attentive. Sometimes, it may even disappear entirely.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"It runs straight, but its direction seems to change each time your attention wavers."''</ref> Underneath this geometric marvel lies its true purpose: it's where counsel-trees keep their stories, such as tales of the old Kings and Queens of the Elder Continent.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Road-of-Seven is the path the counsel-trees built to keep their stories."''</ref> 
[[File:Stonyface.png|thumb|In a cliff to your left, faces writhe into view.]]
Further along the road is a vale where the trees are made of flesh and stone, blurring the line between animate and inanimate. Like the cliffs, these trees also have faces, sometimes those of the travelers they see.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"There are fewer hybrids of plant and flesh, and more that seem hybrids of stone, [...] faces writhe into view. One calls your name."''</ref> As if it couldn't get stranger, someone's left painted markings on the trees; that someone appears to be a young and fantastically beautiful human, but might not be what they seem. They might ask you to weep into a chalice, in exchange for their protection.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The tree-trunks here bear complex patterns [...] all the patterns line up neatly, resolving into a clear scene. Men and women of luminous beauty beckon you down a dimly-lit space of columns and divans. [...] In her left hand is the chalice; in her right, a dulcimer. “Weep,” you distinctly hear her whisper."''</ref><ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"Your tears flow easily. [...] But you feel the strength of the sword."''</ref> Refusing them will cause them to age rapidly... assuming they're even real at all.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The youth and the maiden step back. Their faces look suddenly drawn and old. [...] the scene dissolves back into splotches of paint on the trunks of stony trees."''</ref>

And you thought it couldn't get worse: a traveler might be menaced by the '''the Horned Maze''', a labyrinthine plant which lures trespassers into its gaping maw.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Maze is a single plant of vast extent. Its leafy convolutions form an elaborate labyrinth, adorned with sights and scents to draw foolish travellers into a core like the heart of a thorned cabbage."''</ref> Or perhaps one might have a run-in with the '''Tigers of War''', enemies of the Salamanders. These feral cousins of the more civilized [[tigers]] live within a large flooding pool in the Bleeding Forest, and often engage in destructive battles with their amphibian foes.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The surface of a mirror-dark pool trembles. [...] Salamanders slink hissing from the grass. Tiger-heads break the pool's surface. "War," a voice cries. "War!""''</ref>

Civilization in the Bleeding Forest is rare, as one would expect considering all of the above. '''The Village-Fruit''' is an enormous fruit that, well, houses a village,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Village-Fruit: [...] Villagers in woven gall-fibre watch you warily from the fruit's hollows."''</ref> inhabited by the, you guessed it, '''Fruit-Dwellers'''.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"It tells you what you need to know, [...] to turn aside the spears of the Fruit-Dwellers."''</ref> These individuals notably do not speak Presbyterian; rather, they communicate in a mixture of English, Latin, and the Presbyterate languages.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"She speaks to you courteously, though, in a peculiar melange of English, Latin, and the Presbyterate languages."''</ref> They also use poisoned thorns as projectiles to ward off attackers and other dangers.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"Despite your caution, the moment you return their ambassador, they fling poisoned thorns by the bucket-load from their windows."''</ref> Another settlement is the '''House of the Map''', a run-down shack near a stream filled to the brim with paintings of the Elder Continent. The airs of this place provide a comfortable, homely feeling. Best not to stay too long, though, else one will end up like the painter of these maps: a shriveled coal of a man.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"You circle the room, considering the paintings, one by one. [...] You could stay here, you realise. [...] You find the painter slumped on a mattress in a corner. [...] He has become coal in the shape of a man... [...] "Time to go," says your Deputy, tugging at your arm. [...] 'light consumes'."''</ref>

===The Prison of Flint===
''"Here the colours are grey and green. A narrow portal pierces a high and flint-thorned hedge. A crowd of lumpen figures muffled in grey wool guard the portal with weapons of fanged wood."''

''"If the Surface sunset was the blood of the Sun; if it pumped out its heart's last dregs into the mild sea; if the waters stank of copper and the sky was a shroud; then this water would be the colour of a sunset. It is red, red, red."''
[[File:Flintvineyard.png|thumb|400px|center|A vineyard?]]
[[File:Griswine.png|thumb|If wine were falling rain.]]
Where the Bleeding Forest ends, where the colors are green and grey, where the Mountain's light shines once again: '''the Prison of Flint''' was built to hold a pretender-god, the [[Thief-of-Faces]].<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"You stumble out into the Mountain's light – on to a sward of grey-green grass, as short and well-kept as the lawns of the Shuttered Palace."''</ref> Said god is long gone, of course; the Prison is currently inhabited by a group of beings called '''Vignerons''' (winemakers), who wear masks evocative of grapes and are covered head to toe in wool.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"A crowd of lumpen figures muffled in grey wool [...] wears a wooden mask painted to resemble a bunch of grapes."''</ref> In order to enter the Prison of Flint, one must consume the drinks they offer; these drinks are capable of communicating messages and warnings that one must heed. For instance: don't touch the fruit.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"It seems that to enter, one must drink. [...] The flavours unfold on your tongue. The taste of cherries, like a welcome. [...] A forbidding slatiness [...] not to touch the fruits of the Prison. [...] The dissipating berry aftertaste tells you helpfully that this is a vigneron - a wine-maker."''</ref>

Mysterious statues holding cups to their lips pepper the Prison's vineyard. These were once people, who drank grey-colored '''griswine''' that turned their bodies into flint; they are sentenced to stay within the Prison until they are freed by a taste of any other wine. Any visitor can partake in this, if they choose of course, and can free whoever they'd like.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"One who tastes the griswine will instantly become a statue. The taste of any other wine will free a statue from their prison. Each prisoner is sentenced to stay until one comes to free them. [...] Anyone can taste the griswine, and stay until they're freed."''</ref> This process is especially dangerous for [[Snuffers]], as one would expect, as it leaves them even more faceless than they were before.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"It seems even more faceless than a Snuffer normally does [...] “So that’s what the Vineyard does to my Cousins."''</ref> 
[[File:Violantgate.png|thumb|Take the back door, this is a prison, after all.]]
Within the central knoll, where the Vignerons daren't approach, lies '''the Lesser Wound''', a red spring that flows a much deeper crimson than the Nameless River.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"The Vignerons will not approach the central knoll. A spring flows from its side into a deep pool – red like the waters of the Nameless River, but a deeper red."''</ref> Terrifying creatures known as '''Shames''', the children of the Mountain, inhabit these waters; they are powerful beings of stone that protect the Lesser Wound.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"“Shames!” she shouts. “Mountain’s get!” She leaps forward, slashing the connective gristle between two lumps of wet and shining rock."''</ref> Within the Lesser Wound are '''Essences''' that can change a being rather drastically; the red waters taste of blood and can warp a person's face,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"Here must flow the Essences [...] You bend your head and touch your lips to the water. It is warm. It tastes precisely like blood [...]  "Your face changed,""''</ref> as the Lesser Wound leaks life.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"You see how a far-flung Mountain-limb underlies the Vineyard, and you understand that the Lesser Wound leaks life."''</ref>

To leave the Prison of Flint, one must pass through '''the [[Violant]] Gate''', the color of troublesome but necessary connections. Heptagonal tiles, impossibly tessellated, make up the inside of the tunnel, and various mottoes and graffiti cover the walls within.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"A troublesome but necessary connection [...] Violant light swallows the before and the behind. The stones beneath your feet are heptagonal tiles, impossibly tesselated. The walls bear mottoes..."''</ref> Assuming, of course, you want to leave the Prison of Flint in the first place. It's peaceful here; stay a while.

===Vesture===
''"The tapestries are luxurious. Patterned backdrops enrich foregrounds in lustrous carmine, lush verdure and luminous cerulean. Unicorns vie with spiders for dominance of web-haunted forests, while weavers enter spider-shrouded palaces with torches to draw out new silk. A coat of arms of three spiders on a burning field appears on each tapestry."''

''"The same coat is emblazoned on the woman's mail. Seeing your interest, the Injurious Princess introduces herself. She is the exiled heir to the throne of Vesture, the kingdom represented in the tapestries. She's in London to raise the capital and information required for a successful invasion of her homeland."''<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}</ref>
[[File:Sailor2.png|thumb|The Injurious Princess]]
'''Vesture''' is a kingdom in the Elder Continent that provides silkweavers for the Presbyterate, as the name might imply. Its capital is called '''Vestment''', and its coat-of-arms is three spiders on a burning field.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"A coat of arms of three spiders on a burning field appears on each tapestry. [...] infiltrate the capital of Vestment..."''</ref>

Recently, Vesture fell victim to a coup, and the rightful heir to its throne, the '''Injurious Princess''', was deposed and exiled.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}} ''"She is the heir to the Kingdom of Vesture, the silkweavers of the Prester. Her throne was lost in an uprising and a usurper sits in it now."''</ref> A skilled player of chess and a force to be reckoned with,<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}} ''She produces a handsome chess set made from chert wood. [...] Her stratagems are sudden and without quarter. [...] "Please don't try to rob me. I'd hate to break a third arm before noon."''</ref> she now seeks to regain her lost seat, either by force or by sheer cunning.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"The Princess is in London hoping to raise enough capital to bring the unpleasantness to a swift conclusion."''</ref>

<nowiki> </nowiki>Before the coup in Vesture, the queen, the Injurious Princess's mother, loved indulging in royal luxuries, leading to a populist uprising known as the '''Bakery Riots'''.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"My mother was queen before me. [...] Her reign ended in the Bakery Riots in the capital. The city starved while the provincials dined on marzipan and sponge."''</ref> Meanwhile, the Princess's cousin, her former regent, was able to exploit a disagreement amongst the weavers to plunge the city into civil war and claim the throne for herself.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"My cousin who was once my regent holds the throne now. She exploited a division amongst the weavers. [...] Vesture was soon in civil war. "''</ref>

Each palace in Vesture specializes in a very specific form of weaving; duplicates are not allowed. If a palace's weavings are not up to code, that palace is torn down unless it can improve in time.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"Every palace specialises in one type of weaving or another. The royal house will not allow duplicates. Samples are brought to us to adjudicate. The losing palace must find a new methodology or else be torn down..."''</ref> As might be expected of a kingdom centered upon silkweaving, enormous spiders play a huge role in Vesture's textile industry. These spiders are brought to Vesture as larvae by the royal family, and each palace in Vesture has its own arachnid matriarch, with the exception of the royal palace.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"When a spider matriarch is ailing, it falls to the royal house to find a replacement. We hunt in the shrouded woods in the east, until we have found a larva of suitable size."''</ref><ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"The royal house of Vesture sits on the banks of a river as red as loathing. It is the only palace in Vesture with no matriarch to attend it."''</ref> That's not to say the spiders ''appreciate'' having their larvae stolen; venturing into the forests can be quite dangerous, as the spiders are distrustful of humans for obvious reasons.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"...where the spiders run wild. They do not trust us. [...] I had never stolen of their young so I was granted safe passage"''</ref>

'''The House of the Loom''' is the oldest building in Vesture; it serves both as a burial ground and the place where new weavers create their first looms.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"The oldest place in Vesture is the House of the Loom. There, new weavers go to fashion their first looms. It is where we bury those few of us unlucky enough to die."''</ref> Every year, the palaces gather together to offer their silks for the Presbyterate and royal house to judge and take as tribute. Notably, tapestries depicting flattery or human forms are forbidden.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Season_of_Sceptres|The Season of Sceptres|Fallen London|}}''"Once a year, each of the great palaces brings its finest silks [...] the royal house, the College and the Prester stand in judgement. Flattery is forbidden, as are representation of human figures. A tithe of only the very best is claimed..."''</ref>

'''Investiture''' was an ancient city that was devoured by spiders. Its relationship with the modern-day Vesture is currently unknown.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Convince_the_Manager_of_the_Royal_Bethlehem_to_train_you|Convince the Manager of the Royal Bethlehem to train you|Fallen London|}}''"Of Arbor stolen by roses, and Investiture devoured by spiders."''</ref>

===Huz===
''"You cross the clearing slowly, resisting the urge to swat away bees. "Excuse me," you say. "Pardon me." "May I—"''

''The bees swirl curiously around you. They crawl through your hair. They infiltrate your outer garments. "Huz," they say. "Huz." But they do not harm you."''<ref name = "flint"/>
[[File:Beeface.png|thumb|You recognise a diplomatic overture when you see it.]]
'''Huz''' is an infamously noisy city located deep in the Elder Continent.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"My father was from Huz. [...] It was awfully noisy."''</ref> Its soldiers - sapient bees - can be found in the Bleeding Forest. Upon drinking a traveler's tears, they gain the ability to speak, and offer their services against the Bleeding Forest's many dangers.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"As soon as they have tasted your tears, they begin to speak. [...] We can even be of service to you. Do not crush us. You will regret it.""''</ref> In order to do so, however, they must take up residence in the traveller's body... hence the beautiful strangers mentioned above. Being covered in beeswax and honeycombs after a Huz infestation is not uncommon.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"They do attempt, very desultorily, to build their hive in your hair. [...] Whenever you wake after resting, you find your eyes sealed with wax; you have to pick hive-fragments from your scalp."''</ref> Angering these bees can be dangerous, however, as their stings can cause intense melancholy and even death.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"...the Huz whose stings bring weeping death..."''</ref>

Huz bees can also be found in [[Arbor]], where they assist in extracting that city's currency, attar, from people's eyes.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"Large, Huz bees emerge. The Priest-in-Scarlet sets them to work, nuzzling into your tear ducts. As they guzzle away, they dislodge the Attar in your eyes,"''</ref> Human soldiers of Huz known as the '''Huzzite Guard''' also can be found in Arbor.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"Guests to the city are invited to get to know the Huzzite Guard. It is generally considered advisable to remain on their good side."''</ref>

===Skite===
''"No. I am Skite. We do not heal. We are not reborn. I won myself these years. Now it's over."''<ref name = "flint"/>
[[File:Skite.png|thumb|A statue-prisoner from Skite.]]
'''Skite''' is a mysterious city located deep in the Elder Continent. Not much is known of this place. People from Skite are often covered in deep scars, as those from Skite lack the ability to heal or rejuvenate themselves.<ref>{{FLCitation|https://fallenlondon.fandom.com/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}}''"We do not heal. We are not reborn. [...] their bleeding scars mark them as children of Skite..."''</ref>

In ages past, the Queen of Skite fell in love with the King of Statues. So she took a hammer and struck him seven times. From the first strike, she made an axe. The second, a sword. From the third, a knife-of-power known as '''the Knapt'''. The fourth strike, a stylus. The fifth strike produced an unforgeable seal. The sixth strike only produced a needle. And from the seventh, nothing.

''"I love you," she said to the wind.''<ref name = "flint"/>
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:Fate Spoilers]]
[[Category:Other Places]]
[[Category:Formatted]]
[[Category:Cited]]