Moulin

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"This village has only ever wanted to be left alone, by both London and Hell. Now your railway has brought both to our doorstep. Ahead of your construction crews, the Ministry of Public Decency erected a barrier around our town. This 'cordon' threatens our livelihood. We've been here nearly forty years, digging up the remains of the Campaign of '68 and delivering mementos and remains to both sides. This trade has afforded us a measure of protection and some modest means to keep ourselves."[1]

Moulin is a town near a wasteland in the Hinterlands. It is the seventh station of the Great Hellbound Railway.

History for Sale[edit | edit source]

"On the window, a sign proclaims the sale of Souvenirs & Mementos of the Campaign of '68."[2]

The Exiled Antiquarian

Moulin is a hamlet surrounded by a muddy heath whose jurisdiction is disputed.[3][4] The town's attractions are a pub called the Forked Tongue,[5] and an antique shop selling relics from the Campaign of '68. The shop is owned by the Wayward Historian,[6][7] and his partner, a deviless called the Exiled Antiquarian.[8]

When the Great Hellbound Railway arrived, Moulin's wastes were barricaded by the Ministry of Public Decency,[9] which claimed that Moulin's citizens are Londoners and need protection.[10] The antique shop's owners rely on the waste's artifacts to make a living, and to protect themselves from London and Hell, so they would prefer that the barrier be removed as soon as possible.[11][12]

The Moulin Waste[edit | edit source]

"Piles of discarded military paraphernalia accumulate in a muddy trench in the Waste: tarnished buttons from uniforms, rusting cavalry sabres, outmoded rifles rotting away. Whatever magnetism collects these things here, it causes them to vibrate together, generating an unnerving buzz."[13]

"Water flows oddly in the Moulin Waste, sometimes bubbling up through the surface of the muddy soil and streaking across the landscape in streams. The water's surface glows Viric; it sounds like murmured voices and out-of-tune violins."[14]

A rifle.
An Infernal Sharpshooter's Rifle.

The Moulin Waste is a vast, damp, and muddy stretch of uninhabited no-man's land.[15] The terrain is dangerous and impossible to map,[16][17] but the area's abundance of artifacts makes it a haven for treasure hunters and historians.[18][19] The Waste is supposedly a battlefield of the Campaign of '68,[20] so it is littered with weapons,[21] uniforms,[22] and tools from London's veterans,[23] as well as devices of infernal manufacture.[24][25] It is also pockmarked with trenches and craters from Hell's ordinance;[26] some of these craters are snap-gaps that forcefully warp travelers from one edge to another instantaneously.[27] The Waste is also rife with other dangers, such as sorrow-spiders,[28] patches of living clay reminiscent of Polythreme,[29][30] and trenches containing Rubbery remains.[31]

Bizarrely, however, traces of history with no ties to the Campaign of '68 also show up in the Moulin Waste[32] - such as artifacts from past Fallen Cities,[33] or from across the Unterzee. Notably, relics that document the life of Nicator can be found here, but are of dubious authenticity.[34][35] The Moulin Waste is also said to be "curiously adjacent" to Parabola: trinkets of the Cats' war with the Fingerkings litter the area,[36] and it is possible to cross the terrain via dreams using Prisoner's Honey and glasswork.[37] Rivers of viric-tinged water also flow here, but are risky to cross.[38]

The Wellspring of Moulin[edit | edit source]

This section contains spoilers for the following Fallen London endgame content: The Great Hellbound Railway. Proceed at your own risk.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"Of course. But much of 'this place' was carried in from the Waswood. So yes, London fought Hell here. But 'here' has had additions. We think of place and time as fixed. And yet, every day, we look at a place deep beneath the Surface, thousands of miles from England, and call it 'London.'"[39]

"The facts are committed to your memory, anyway: a Historian short one soul. A Deviless cast out from her kind. Two creatures with their dreams knotted together into tangles, one needing raw material for his work, the other seeking protection for them both. A bargain struck with the kings of Dream, and a large mirror brought to a cave in a forgotten part of the hinterlands."[40]

The Moulin Waste's anomalies are caused by the Wellspring of Moulin,[41][42] an enormous mirror in a hidden grotto that is linked to a river in the Waswood.[43] The water flows from the Waswood out of Parabola via the mirror, and travels upstream out of the cave into the soil of Moulin.[44] The Waswood is a place of things past and forgotten,[45] and since part of its river flows into Moulin,[44] the area is no longer solely a battlefield from '68; rather, it is saturated with many other traces of history and relocated relics.[46][47] It is unclear if it originally was a battlefield before the mirror was installed.

A well-dressed man with glasses.
The Wayward Historian

The Wellspring was the design of the owners of Moulin's antique shop. The two are close,[48][49] and implied to be romantically involved;[50][51] in Parabola, their dreams manifest as two entwined trees,[50][52] one hollow, and the other buzzing and covered in snakeskin.[53] The Historian lacks his soul and needs material for his work, and the Antiquarian was exiled from Hell and needs protection for both herself and her partner. The couple struck a deal with the Fingerkings to install the Wellspring mirror, and all parties were enriched.[54][55]

Since what Was is in a sense a form of Is-Not, the Fingerkings believe that if the Was flooded the Is, it would aid in the Fingerkings' conquest of the Is. Confusing? Parabola is generally that way.[56][57]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ The Exiled Antiquarian, Fallen London
  2. ↑ A Hamlet, Fallen London
  3. ↑ A Hamlet, Fallen London "To get here, the tracks cut through a muddy and desolate heath, the landscape pitted with craters. This first stop is a small hamlet of looming ramshackle houses."
  4. ↑ What does he need, exactly?, Fallen London "It is unclear who has jurisdiction over the Moulin Waste."
  5. ↑ Set off to find the Wayward Historian, Fallen London "Behind the Forked Tongue, the town's only pub [...]"
  6. ↑ A Hamlet, Fallen London "You find no business of note, [...] other than a cramped shop selling antiques. On the window, a sign proclaims the sale of Souvenirs & Mementos of the Campaign of ‘68."
  7. ↑ Sit down for a Conversation, Fallen London "She sits a little too close to him. He pours cold milk into a cup of boiling tea. "Moulin was built on history. Its retrieval. Preservation. Sale." The parlour is cramped by shelves, and the shelves are burdened with [...] antiques; each one marked with a [...] paper tag."
  8. ↑ The Exiled Antiquarian, Fallen London "The Exiled Antiquarian [...] The proprietress is a Deviless."
  9. ↑ The Exiled Antiquarian, Fallen London "[...] Now your railway has brought both to our doorstep." [...] "Ahead of your construction crews, the Ministry of Public Decency erected a barrier around our town."
  10. ↑ What does he need, exactly?, Fallen London "Now, the Ministry claims it can shut off access to the Waste, asserting that the population of Moulin are Londoners and must be protected."
  11. ↑ The Exiled Antiquarian, Fallen London "This village has only ever wanted to be left alone, by both London and Hell. Now your railway has brought both to our doorstep." [...] "Ahead of your construction crews, the Ministry of Public Decency erected a barrier around our town. This 'cordon' threatens our livelihood. We've been here nearly forty years, digging up the remains of the Campaign of '68 and delivering mementos and remains to both sides." [...] "This trade has afforded us a measure of protection and some modest means to keep ourselves.” Protection from what? From Hell?"
  12. ↑ Sit down for a Conversation, Fallen London "[...] If the Ministry keeps us out of the Waste, we will be driven off. We need to regain access." [...]"
  13. ↑ A Clatterwaul, Fallen London
  14. ↑ A Viric River, Fallen London
  15. ↑ Carefully cross the fence, Fallen London "Beyond, the landscape is roiling mud. Dampness clings to your clothes, and you cling to glim-lamps and each other, lest you get lost in the dark."
  16. ↑ A Request from the Antiquarian, Fallen London "The Moulin Waste is a dangerous place [...]"
  17. ↑ Choose a route for an Expedition, Fallen London "In Moulin, the laws of semiotics are in disrepair. The map is the territory, and in the Neath maps are treacherous. Paths through the Waste are as much state of mind as direction of movement."
  18. ↑ But what's in it for me?, Fallen London "The Moulin Waste is full of treasure. Lousy with it. You’ve seen the danger. Consider what might convince people to brave that danger, and multiply that by ten. [...] There's power in history. And if that's not enough, there's also money to be made [...]"
  19. ↑ Choose a team for an Expedition, Fallen London "Moulin's only pub is a cramped room full of scavengers and outcasts who might be willing to join in the pursuit of loot."
  20. ↑ Ask about the nature of the Waste, Fallen London "Wine swirls around in his glass as he gestures, spinning a series of war stories. You get the sense that he was there for it, yet some details are utterly implausible. London's forces marched out here, where they clashed with Hell's armies."
  21. ↑ A Clatterwaul, Fallen London "Piles of discarded military paraphernalia accumulate in a muddy trench in the Waste: tarnished buttons from uniforms, rusting cavalry sabres, outmoded rifles rotting away."
  22. ↑ Account for what remains 100, Fallen London "Scraps of uniforms, discarded medals, and other items from the Campaign of '68."
  23. ↑ Scrounge what you can find, Fallen London "Some old engineer's tools from the Campaign of '68, rusted but usable."
  24. ↑ Account for what remains 100, Fallen London "And the crown jewel of your prize: a device of Infernal manufacture, still intact."
  25. ↑ Dig it up!, Fallen London "One of Hell's devices of war, left curiously inert."
  26. ↑ Who built it?, Fallen London "Beyond it lies the Moulin Waste: a desolate battlefield, blasted with Hellish weapons during London’s war against Hell forty years ago. The landscape is churned mud, craters, and deep trenches."
  27. ↑ A Snap-Gap, Fallen London "The detonation of Hellish ordnance has left a crater here, [...] Inside it, space is having a difficult time holding itself together. [...] It's not entirely unlike the Missing Block. Trying to move across will lurch your body to the other side without passing through the intervening space. [...] these 'snap-gaps' are liable to break a few bones along the way."
  28. ↑ Sorrow-Spiders, of course, Fallen London "You'll show the little eyeball-thieves what's what."
  29. ↑ Clay Soil, Fallen London "This section of the Waste is clay, rather than mud. Slippery, malleable. And in this case, shivering."
  30. ↑ Clay Soil, Fallen London "You try not to think about how much the ground shifts and moans under your steps."
  31. ↑ Quickly examine the trench, Fallen London "The tentacles jut out of the walls at implausible angles, inviting you to pluck them out like fruit. [...] Amber falls out of the walls like overripe fruit, begging to be collected."
  32. ↑ Ask about Artefacts from beyond the Zee, Fallen London ""Perhaps those powers have fought Hell; perhaps those battles also took place here." You press. Does he really believe this? [...] It's an explanation, isn't it?" It hardly accounts for the volume of items found in the Waste, or the mixed jumbles they show up in."
  33. ↑ Account for what remains 200, Fallen London "Artefacts from all four cities that preceded London, piled into a jumble."
  34. ↑ Account for what remains 400, Fallen London "Artefacts from beyond the sea: the Khanate, the Court of the Wakeful Eye. But also relics of disquietingly dubious provenance. At each glance, they seem authentic or inauthentic. [...] You've gained x Nicatorean Relic"
  35. ↑ Nicatorean Relic, Fallen London "Either this is evidence of an ancient king in the Presbyterate, or it is d__ing evidence of Mithridatic fabrication of an ancient king in the Presbyterate."
  36. ↑ Account for what remains 300, Fallen London "Trinkets tainted with Viric, drawn from dreams, now useful only as evidence of the War in Parabola. And the broken claws of cats, somehow turned to minuscule mirrored beads."
  37. ↑ The Silk-Clad Expert on your Expedition, Fallen London "The landscape of the Moulin Waste is curiously adjacent to dream. She would like to try a dream-jaunt as an alternative way to make progress. [...] You will need: mirrors, honey, a cavalier attitude [...] Surprisingly, it works. You march through a ravine in Dreams, [...] You emerge on the other side, closer to your goal in the Moulin Waste."
  38. ↑ A Viric River, Fallen London "Water flows oddly in the Moulin Waste, sometimes bubbling up through the surface of the muddy soil and streaking across the landscape in streams. The water's surface glows Viric; [...] The Renegade Claw pads up to the edge of the water. She gently hisses: "Don't try to step across that.""
  39. ↑ Catch up with the Wayward Historian, Fallen London
  40. ↑ Look for the fingerking, Fallen London
  41. ↑ The Wellspring of the Waste, Fallen London "All this has an origin point, and you have traced it. The Waste is not the site of history; it is where history ends up, like flotsam on a beach."
  42. ↑ Discovered: The Wellspring of Moulin, Fallen London
  43. ↑ What is the source of the water?, Fallen London "The source of the water flow is a mirror large enough for an elephant to step through, wedged against the cave walls. [...] The waters of this stream were diverted through this mirror. Across: the Waswood, the place in Parabola where present becomes past and past is forgotten."
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 The Waters of the Wellspring, Fallen London "The water is perfectly still and yet also flowing up the cave. Crawling up the walls. Spreading. The waters of the Moulin Waste, a diverted rivulet of the river through the Waswood, flow out of a mirror, into the cave, and up: Suffusing the soil with things that were nearly forgotten."
  45. ↑ What is the source of the water?, Fallen London "Across: the Waswood, the place in Parabola where present becomes past and past is forgotten."
  46. ↑ Catch up with the Wayward Historian, Fallen London "The artefacts are all legitimate, anyway. Just not in the way you might have thought." Was any of it true? Did London even fight Hell in this place? "Of course. But much of 'this place' was carried in from the Waswood. So yes, London fought Hell here. But 'here' has had additions.""
  47. ↑ The Wellspring of the Waste, Fallen London "The Waste is not the site of history; it is where history ends up, like flotsam on a beach."
  48. ↑ Sit down for a Conversation, Fallen London "She sits a little too close to him."
  49. ↑ A Request from the Antiquarian, Fallen London ""The Moulin Waste is a dangerous place, and he is dear to me. I want you to retrieve him.""
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Speak to a Fingerking, Fallen London "A Historian short one soul; a Deviless, cast out and bloated with Infernal life. What a match. Their dream-selves were already knotted together when we found them."
  51. ↑ Ask about the Waste's true causes, Fallen London "He deflects and dissembles, until you get him to the point of near incoherence. Not long after, the Exiled Antiquarian barges into your conversation to drag him off to bed."
  52. ↑ Look for the fingerking, Fallen London "[...] a Historian short one soul. A Deviless cast out from her kind. Two creatures with their dreams knotted together into tangles [...]"
  53. ↑ Two Willows, Fallen London "Just off the banks of the river through the Waswood, there are two willows. One: A hollow shell of a tree; [...] It is alive, you know, but emptied out. The other: [...] Buzzing from its interior, though you know this sound is the tree, and not anything living within it. And on its boughs, a matted mass of shed snakeskin. The two trees are entwined hopelessly together. Their roots are knotted; their branches are plaited."
  54. ↑ Look for the fingerking, Fallen London "The facts [...] a Historian short one soul. A Deviless cast out from her kind. Two creatures with their dreams knotted together into tangles, one needing raw material for his work, the other seeking protection for them both. A bargain struck with the kings of Dream, and a large mirror brought to a cave in a forgotten part of the hinterlands. [...] What is history, the Fingerkings think, if not a way for past to rule over present – for Is-Not to rule over Is?"
  55. ↑ Speak to a Fingerking, Fallen London "If a snake could smile, it would. "Do you presume that mirrors just naturally occur, in the bottom of caves? A Historian short one soul; a Deviless, cast out and bloated with Infernal life. What a match. Their dream-selves were already knotted together when we found them." [...] the Moulin Waste is a leak, a point where the Was drains out into the Is. An intentional creation. A source of raw material for the Historian. A bargain struck by the Antiquarian to protect them both. [...] the snake concludes: "What is history if not a regimented kind of dream? If the past rules the present, the Is-Not rules the Is.""
  56. ↑ Speak to a Fingerking, Fallen London "And as your raft drifts away, the snake concludes: "What is history if not a regimented kind of dream? If the past rules the present, the Is-Not rules the Is.""
  57. ↑ Look for the fingerking, Fallen London "What is history, the Fingerkings think, if not a way for past to rule over present – for Is-Not to rule over Is?"
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