Khan's Heart
"The canals of the Heart are lit by incandescent-filament lamps in bulbs of glass, in a multitude of colours. Ruby, sapphire, topaz, emerald by turns. There's nothing else like it in the Neath or on the surface."[1]
Khan's Heart is the most populous city of the Khanate.
Watch Your Steppe[edit | edit source]
"Khan's Heart: London's rival. An oasis of light in the salt black wastes. Canals thread the painted city. Street-lamps glow and water-taxis putter."[2]
Khan's Heart is a city built on a complex system of canals, and is one of the most successful settlements in the Neath besides Fallen London and those of the Elder Continent.[2] The city is filled to the brim with cultural expression, and boasts a lively populace consisting primarily of fisherpeople and merchants,[3][4] who use engine-powered watercraft to traverse the canals.[2] Unfortunately, much of the city is barred to visitors, who are only permitted to enter the Copper Quarter, a part of the city known for its high prices.[5]
Most trade in Khan's Heart takes is inaccessible to foreigners without a license.[6] Trading with unlicensed outsiders at all is technically illegal,[7] but the opportunities for outrageous price-gouging make it worthwhile for Khanate merchants anyway.[8]
Notable Locations[edit | edit source]
The city is divided into multiple districts, known as quarters.
- The Copper Quarter is the only part of the city foreigners may enter freely. It also includes the only harbor in the Khanate where foreign ships are allowed to dock. For this reason, it contains many businesses catering to visiting foreigners, such as restaurants and lodging-houses.[9] London's Embassy is also located here.[10] Those wishing to enter the rest of Khan's Heart can do so through the Bridge of Sighs, provided they have the correct paperwork.[11] The Quarter is also where the Gracious Widow's base of operations in the Khanate is located, under the guise of the Peacable & Godly Trading Company.[12]
- The Nephrite Quarter is the Khanate's largest port district, where a large variety of wares may be bought and sold.[13] Red Stallion Publishing, a major publishing house offering books in a variety of languages, is also likely located here.[14]
- The Porcelain Quarter is the city's cultural centre, home to many theatres.[15] It is also the location of the Khan's Gardens, a park that exhibits real plants from the Surface and Elder Continent, which survive due to the use of powerful electric lights.[16]
- The Realgar Quarter is a quiet part of the city where the richer citizens live in lavish townhouses.[17]
- The Iron Quarter is the home of the Khanate's heavy industry and the military harbor.[18]
- The Graphite Quarter is a newer part of the city, largely consisting of factories that manufacture advanced technologies along with other goods.[19]
- The Imperial Colleges, known colloquially as the "chalk quarter", are the Khanate's primary academic institution. Even compared to London's own university, it is incredibly disorganized, consisting of a number of colleges and academies built by the Khanate's various clans.[20]
- The poorer parts of Khan's heart are known as the Sinking Quarters due to their proximity to the Unterzee at the city's edge. They are poorly lit and generally in a state of disrepair, many building dangerously close to collapsing into the Zee.[21] The canals in this part of the city are also under threat from dangerous Zee-life.[22]
Other landmarks in Khan's Heart include the Garden Tower, where forbidden indulgences are satisfied;[23] and the Square of Cedars, where stories are told.[24]
Culture[edit | edit source]
"Above, the roof of the Neath is black, impassive, prickled with false-stars: but the Khaganians still remember the sky."[25]
Despite generations in the Neath, the people of Khan's Heart still remember the sky. They hold worship in shrines of the Deep Blue Heaven, where the Blue Priests hold rituals that perfectly replicate the colors and majesty of sunrise.[25] A few citizens also worship Storm, whom they refer to as the Great Wind.[26]
While Khan's Heart appears to lack a sizable population of horses, equine imagery and tokens are still held in high esteem among the Khaganians, serving as a reminder of their ancestors' fondness for riding.[27] Citizens may also sing, sometimes in English, of past eras, of stolen cities and wide grass fields, evoking feelings of strong melancholy and nostalgia.[1]
Unfortunately, the citizens of Khan's Heart tend to be very xenophobic towards foreigners,[4] though London is admittedly guilty of the same.[28] They tend to use rather unfortunate terms when referring to the zee-captains of London, such as 'Surfacer' or 'sunbitten Empress-gobbler,' due to London's comparatively short time in the Neath.[4] Furthermore, visitors often arouse suspicion in the Heart, especially when wandering the city beyond the Copper Quarter.[1]
Science and Intrigue[edit | edit source]
"The Khanate generally assumes that all foreigners are spies or worse. It would be a shame to disappoint them, but it might be dangerous to prove them right."[29] "Filament-bulbs. Give me honest gas-light any day."[25]
Unlike the gaslit streets of Fallen London, Khan's Heart is lit by electric filament-bulbs.[1] These bulbs are capable of cycling through various colors, and the Khaganians incorporate them into their rituals of the sunrise.[25]
As one of the most prosperous cities in the Neath, Khan's Heart is also a notable center for the intrigues of the Great Game.[30] Various spy networks that may even extend to the Surface run through the city,[31] but the Khanate does not approve of espionage or other intelligence work, and keeps a close eye on visitors.[29]
Security in the city is enforced by the White-and-Golds, who are quite notorious for their brutal arrests of suspected spies,[32] and can easily turn the city into an iron-barred stronghold when faced with an unwanted guest. Per a treaty with London, they have permission to arrest any visitor that steps foot on their soil, but they cannot arrest zailors who haven't left their ships.[33]
Besides London, Khan's Heart also has a strong enmity with the hunters of the Chelonate, who regularly stage raids on the city,[29] ongoing tensions with the exiles of Khan's Shadow,[27] and intrigues with diplomats of the Elder Continent.[5]
History[edit | edit source]
"The storytellers in the Square of Cedars wear brightly coloured caftan-like clothing with silk sashes, in contrast to the more sober and subterranean dress of the citizenry. For coin, even foreign coin, they'll sing epics of their nation's history..."[24]
Khan's Heart was founded by refugees from the Fourth City, who fled the city after the majority of its population attempted to escape the Neath with the help of the Fingerkings of Parabola, but fell under thrall to them instead. Thus, the last Great Khan of the Fourth City led his people to the faraway Salt Steppes, where he built his new city on the black rocks he found there.[24]
As a result of the debacle, even today, the sale of mirrors is strictly prohibited in Khan's Heart.[34]
