Editing Exile's Rose

{{Spoiler}}{{Object|image1=Roseblack.png|caption1=|location=[[Hell]]<br>
[[The Neath]]<br>
[[The Surface]]|related=[[Prisoner's Honey]]<br>
[[Gaoler's Honey]]}}<blockquote>''"Plucked from the walls of Hell. How far you'll go to win your intended's favour. Or perhaps an indication of where they ought to go."''</blockquote>

<blockquote>''"The flower pressed to the paper, its petals flattened like ink. Velvet to the touch and wet with unstolen nectar, the Exile's Rose is redolent of dark promises made at midnight. London's veterans returned from the war on Hell wearing them on their breasts."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Send_an_Unblemished_Exile%27s_Rose|Send an Unblemished Exile's Rose|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>

The '''Exile's Rose''' is an otherworldly flower used in the manufacture of [[Prisoner's Honey|prisoner's honey]] and [[Gaoler's Honey|gaoler's honey]].__FORCETOC__

== Sable-Petaled ==
<blockquote>''"I have seen fairer roses. But few make so clear a statement. Hell tends its gardens well. Thank you."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Surrender_an_Unblemished_Exile%27s_Rose|Surrender an Unblemished Exile's Rose|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>

The Exile's Rose is a mysterious black flower<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Start_with_the_petals|Start with the petals|Fallen London}} ''"Exile's rose is black."''</ref> grown in gardens near the walls of [[Hell]];<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Unblemished_Exile%27s_Rose|Unblemished Exile's Rose|Fallen London}} ''"Grown beneath the white walls of Hell, these are the flowers of the pit."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Surrender_an_Unblemished_Exile%27s_Rose|Surrender an Unblemished Exile's Rose|Fallen London}} ''""I have seen fairer roses," [...] "But few make so clear a statement. Hell tends its gardens well. Thank you.""''</ref> veterans of the [[The Campaign of '68|Campaign of '68]] returned home wearing its blossoms on their uniforms.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Send_an_Unblemished_Exile%27s_Rose|Send an Unblemished Exile's Rose|Fallen London}} ''"[...] the Exile's Rose is redolent of dark promises made at midnight. London's veterans returned from the war on Hell wearing them on their breasts."''</ref> The species also appears on the [[Surface]], purportedly in "sacred places from Pontus to Baetica."<ref name = "sacred">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#Honey|What is prisoner's honey?|Fallen London}} ''"from the Natural History of Pliny the Elder: "... there is another kind of honey; its effect is attributed to the flowers called exile's rose, which are found in sacred places from Pontus to Baetica. One who consumes these flowers departs and does not return."''</ref>  A symbol of "dark promises made at midnight,"<ref name=":0" /> Exile's Rose is also a key ingredient in Zzoup, a popular dish.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Recipe_for_Zzoup|A Recipe for Zzoup|Fallen London}} ''"Winewound chanterelles, exile's rose, paprika, pork stock, lament-onions, hanged men's tears, salt."''</ref> It is unclear whether this flower originates from Hell proper, or if it originally appeared elsewhere.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Tending_the_Rose_Garden|Wait... what?|Sunless Sea}} ''"The roses are innocent, even though they half-sprung from hell."''</ref><ref name="sorrow">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Order_Serpentine,_Sorrowful|Order Serpentine, Sorrowful|Fallen London}} ''"THE LITTLE SNAKE asked the grumpiest bee in both worlds for help. And the bee said, why should I help? And the snake said, I will give you one-fifth of all I gain thereby. So the bee [...] said, in a far place there grows a rose."''</ref>

''(Note: the name of this plant is not always capitalized in game text.)''

=== Honey-Brewing ===
<blockquote>''"...THE ROSE, WHICH IS CALLED EXILE'S ROSE, has a property of passage. So shall I brew a honey from its dusts and pollens, and the honey shall be sweet, and it shall bring those who taste it, here to your dwelling. And sometimes they shall stay forever."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Order_Serpentine,_Lachrymose|Order Serpentine, Lachrymose|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Honey.png|alt=A spoonful of honey.|thumb|[[Prisoner's Honey]]]]
[[Lamplighter Bees]] that have fed exclusively on the nectar of Exile's Roses produce [[Prisoner's Honey]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Drop_of_Prisoner%27s_Honey|Drop of Prisoner's Honey|Fallen London}} ''"The most delightful secret of the Neath: the honey of lamplighter bees fed exclusively on the Exile's Rose."''</ref> a drug that temporarily transports imbibers to [[Parabola]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sample_prisoner%27s_honey|Sample prisoner's honey|Fallen London}} ''"Prisoner's Honey does not bring dreams to those who sample it. Instead, it physically transports them to dreams. Your body fades from the couch [...] As you vanish from its lair [...] When you mention your dream to the proprietor of the honey-den [...]"''</ref> The flower itself may also be consumed to enter Parabola, but those who do so never return.<ref name="sacred" /> According to the [[The Order Serpentine|Order Serpentine]], the [[Fingerkings]] felt lonely being trapped behind the mirror,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Order_Serpentine,_Melancholy|Order Serpentine, Melancholy|Fallen London}} ''"The little snake was very lonely, and the only friends he could find behind the mirror [...]"''</ref> and asked the "grumpiest bee in both worlds" (who might represent the [[devils]]) for help. The bee retrieved the first Exile's Rose from a "far place,"<ref name="sorrow"/> and used its "property of passage" to concoct Prisoner's Honey and transport dreamers to Parabola.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Order_Serpentine,_Lachrymose|Order Serpentine, Lachrymose|Fallen London}} ''"THE ROSE, WHICH IS CALLED EXILE'S ROSE, has a property of passage. So shall I brew a honey from its dusts and pollens, [...] and it shall bring those who taste it, here to your dwelling. And sometimes they shall stay forever. And the little snake was very pleased with all the new friends [...]"''</ref> In exchange, the Fingerkings granted the bee one-fifth of all they gained thereafter.<ref name="sorrow" />

== Red, Red Roses ==
<blockquote>''"When lamplighter bees suck the nectar of the crimson strain of exile's rose, they are driven to madness. They enter the brains of humans and harvest their memories. Those memories are instilled in red honey. Each sip is a burst of memory on the tongue."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Honeyed_Tongue#Interactions|Ask what red honey is|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>''"I have, I fear, at last determined the cause of our poor Leopold's sad disappearance. You will recall that I sent by the Borneo a very considerable collection of [illegible] ... identified one variety as the sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus. Sophia had long admired their colour [illegible] ... gardens here about the Government-house [illegible] ... although here they call it 'lion's rose'."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#Universal|A letter fragment, dated Singapore, 1821|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Isleofcats port.png|alt=An island city with a field of red flowers.|thumb|[[The Isle of Cats]]]]
The Exile's Rose may be crossbred with another flower from Hell to produce a red-petaled variant.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Work_out_what_the_hell_he%27s_talking_about|Work out what the hell he's talking about|Fallen London}} ''"The petals you brought him are from a rare and deadly flower: something you get when you cross-breed exile's rose with a flower they brought out of Hell."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Start_with_the_petals|Start with the petals|Fallen London}} ''"The petals look to be from the flower called exile's rose: but they're red."''</ref> When Lamplighter Bees consume the pollen from these hybrids, they go mad and extract memories from the minds of those nearby, producing [[red honey]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Honeyed_Tongue|The Honeyed Tongue|Sunless Sea}} ''"When lamplighter bees suck the nectar of the crimson strain of exile's rose, they are driven to madness. They enter the brains of humans and harvest their memories." [...] "Those memories are instilled in red honey. [...]"''</ref> In 1821, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Raffles Stamford Raffles] imported a red strain of Exile's Rose to Singapore (possibly the aforementioned variant), identifying them as the "sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus" and "lion's rose." [[Leopold]], his son, encountered these flowers and vanished from the [[Surface]];<ref name="lion">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#Universal|Sidebar Snippets#Universal|Fallen London}} ''""I have, [...] at last determined the cause of our poor Leopold's [...] disappearance. You will recall that I sent by the Borneo a [...] collection of [illegible] ... identified one variety as the sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus. Sophia had long admired their colour [illegible] ... gardens here about the Government-house [illegible] ... although here they call it 'lion's rose'. Singapura [...] many tigers. I would not mention this except that when I dream of Leopold, [...] it has always seemed to me that there is a great cat present, the colour of sunset, which is also the colour of the roses [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Memories_Stewed_in_Honey|Story description|Sunless Sea}} ''""The spice-scented docks of Malacca," Leopold breathes [...] He returns [...] eyes bright. "I am very partial to memories of the Far East. Very thoughtful of you.""''</ref> he would later go on to become the Pirate-King of the [[Isle of Cats]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Meeting_with_the_Pirate_King|Story description|Sunless Sea}} ''"What might one expect from Leopold, Pirate-King of the Isle of Cats: [...] Behind him you see a wall of what you think are wine-racks. On closer inspection, the racks hold bottle upon carefully-labelled bottle of red honey."''</ref> The [[Empress]]' family and servants also regularly partook in red honey<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story)|The Gift (Story)|Fallen London|}} ''"The younger Hathhorn stirs from his wine-fog. "Father took me to the Palace, once. Just after the Fall. I dined with the royal children. The footmen served a bowl of honey with every course, red as fire.""''</ref> until a "bad strain" turned most of the [[The Royal Family|royal children]] into monsters.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story)|The Gift (Story)|Fallen London|}} ''"A Sprightly Septuagenarian drones about the revels of his youth to a patient ingénue. "...and the gaoler's honey flowed like a river! Or at least a tributary. There were tureens of it. Vats! We didn't know, then, of course. Terrible thing. Bad strain. Hence all this..." he waves a vague hand at the darkness."''</ref>

== Historical and Cultural Inspirations ==

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontus_(region) Pontus] is part of Anatolia in modern-day Turkey, whereas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispania_Baetica Baetica] was a Roman province on the Iberian peninsula. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporus Bosphorus] is a strait that divides Istanbul, Turkey. This specific regional indication implies that Exile's Rose was inspired by ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron_ponticum Rhododendron ponticum]'', whose honey infamously contains a group of neurotoxins that result in cardiac and consciousness-altering effects in humans.<ref>{{Citation|https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404272/|Grayanotoxin Poisoning: ‘Mad Honey Disease’ and Beyond|National Library of Medicine}} ''"Grayanotoxin containing honey, called "mad honey," can cause dramatic effects when ingested [-] as has already been recorded by the Greek warrior-writer Xenophon in 401 BC in his Anabasis "… but the swarms of bees in the neighborhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went of their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men. So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging...""''</ref> Unlike Exile's Rose, this species of rhododendron blooms purple or pink.

== References ==
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[[Category:Consumables]]
[[Category:Other Things of Significance]]
[[Category:Parabola]]