The Salt Lions

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"Two basalt beasts, cathedral-sized. They frown eternally at each other across the black waves. The north one carries an encampment: creeping human figures eat away at its features like rot, pick-pick-picking. There's a supply dock below."[1]

The Salt Lions are two giant basalt lions that face each other across the Zee.

Station IV[edit | edit source]

“We get funding from the Bazaar, it's true, but... Station IV? I wouldn't call us Station IV. It's a little grandiose. The stones are stuffed with secrets, but most of them are used as garden statuary, or occult ballast. Most of them. Some go down to the places under the Bazaar... More teacakes?”[2]

The Salt Lions are being steadily disassembled by the Unmakers,[3] a crew of tireless laborers under the direction of the Unctuous Overseer.[4] Sponsored by the Bazaar and its Masters, they dismantle the great statues block by block, shipping the sphinxstone back to London[5] for purposes known only to their patrons.[6][7]

The Lions are located a short zee-voyage east of London.[8] The southern statue has been weathered and eroded by time, but remains largely intact.[9] The northern statue is the Unmakers' primary focus; they started by dismantling its face,[10] and at this point in time, its head has been entirely disassembled.[9]

Origins[edit | edit source]

"[...] You remember a ship, her belly burdened with blocks of quarried stone. A shape rose from the darkness: a lion of towering basalt. Scaffolding bandaged its head. Craftsmen crawled across its unfinished face. The falcon-masked oarsmen faltered in their stroke."[11]

After the Second City fell into the Neath, the Masters of the Bazaar styled themselves as its new Pharaohs.[12] The daughters of the old Pharaoh plotted to trap the Masters, using the construction of a new temple, the House of the Feather, as the centerpiece of their plan. The Salt Lions, constructed from blocks of basalt ferried across the Unterzee,[13] stood as the temple's enormous stone sentinels.[14] Once the House of the Feather was completed, the Pharaoh's daughters lured the Masters inside, and imprisoned them for over two thousand years.[15][16]

With its emissaries trapped, the Echo Bazaar could no longer pursue its cosmic mission; eventually, the god Storm intervened by striking the temple with lightning, shattering the structure and freeing all within.[17] The Masters' long imprisonment - in a place of total darkness[18] which was likely intended to be their tomb - left its mark. They deeply resent every remnant of the Second City, and their disassembly of the Salt Lions serves as a kind of revenge. Watching their prison's sentinels undone, stone by stone, brings them great satisfaction.[19]

Stone of the Sphinx[edit | edit source]

"The stone body of the Salt Lions accumulates time like a mortal body accumulates heavy metals. It is a toxicological phenomenon."[20]

The material the Salt Lions are made of is called sphinxstone, and it possesses several unique properties; most prominently, it induces nostalgia and longing for home in those nearby,[21] and the effect is magnified by consuming the substance.[22][23] This influence can be dampened by wrapping it in thirsty bombazine.[24]

Sphinxstone's influence increases with a person's age: the young are more resistant,[25] while older individuals are deeply affected.[26] As such, its effect on extremely long-lived beings - for instance, the Masters themselves[27] - is impossible to fathom. At least one of the Masters is shown to be irresistibly drawn to sphinxstone,[28] so it is possible (but unconfirmed) that the sphinxstone itself evoked such intense nostalgia as to render them indefinitely helpless.

According to F.F. Gebrandt, sphinxstone absorbs some essence of passing time itself.[29] It also sometimes "weeps," exuding a saline fluid that can flood a ship’s hold,[30] corroding metal and dragging the vessel down into the depths.[31] Captains often order the stones to be thrown overboard when the flooding becomes too severe.[32]

The Bazaar uses sphinxstone as a sort of narcotic, consuming it to relive memories of brighter days.[33][34] Mr Spices, however, has been quietly bribing zee-captains to divert shipments away from the Bazaar;[35][36] it seeks to study the stone's effects, hoping to use that knowledge to manipulate the Bazaar, and perhaps even win its freedom and return to the High Wilderness.[37][38] Sphinxstone is coveted by an assortment of other factions as well; Midnighters,[39] the New Sequence[40] and the servants of all three gods of the Unterzee[41][42][43][44] are known to use the substance in their plans and rituals.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Salt Lions, Sunless Sea
  2. ↑ Visit the Unmakers, Fallen London
  3. ↑ Carry Sphinxstone to London, Sunless Sea “The Unmakers are here to reduce the Salt-Lions to rubble, one block at a time. Help them in their work by carrying the rubble back to London.”
  4. ↑ Visit the Unmakers, Sunless Sea “Muscular pick-wielders rest on camp-stools, watching you approach, passing hip-flasks around. An Unctuous Overseer beckons you to sit.”
  5. ↑ The Work of the Unmakers, Fallen London "Crews of men with picks and wooden cranes work tirelessly to dismantle the basalt sphinxes and turn them into neat piles on wooden skids, ready to be loaded for transport back to London."
  6. ↑ Visit the Unmakers, Sunless Sea “We get funding from the Bazaar, it's true, but... Station IV? I wouldn't call us Station IV. It's a little grandiose. The stones are stuffed with secrets, but most of them are used as garden statuary, or occult ballast. Most of them. Some go down to the places under the Bazaar... More teacakes?”
  7. ↑ The Prelapsarian Exhibition: the Salt Lions, Fallen London "Great basalt sphinxes jutting out from the glassy unterzee. The Masters control their gradual dismantlement, and the conveyance of 'sphinxstone' to London."
  8. ↑ Set a course, Fallen London "The Salt Lions lie not far east of London, on the very edge of what might be called "home waters""
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Dock at the Salt Lions, Fallen London "The southern statue is a sphinx, weathered and marred by time and erosion. The northern statue was presumably a sphinx, too – but its head is entirely gone."
  10. ↑ Salt's Rites, Sunless Sea “The face of the northern sphinx is all but gone. Lost faces are sacred to Salt, they say. You are drawn there. To what end? Salt's voice is distant, but clear...”
  11. ↑ Take the air, Fallen London
  12. ↑ Apply unwise chemical substances with wild abandon, Fallen London "The Second City was renowned for its poisoned practices. Many came from the forms of diverse long extinct creatures – many the province of their Pharaohs, the name the Masters stole for themselves. It is curious to compare the extrusions Mr Heart's made of its Second City animals compared to its current Fifth City batch."
  13. ↑ Take the air, Fallen London "[...] You remember a ship, her belly burdened with blocks of quarried stone. A shape rose from the darkness: a lion of towering basalt. Scaffolding bandaged its head. Craftsmen crawled across its unfinished face. The falcon-masked oarsmen faltered in their stroke."
  14. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "As you pull the bedsheets over your head, you melt away, as if disappearing from existence altogether. Some time later you awake, lying on your front with your head raised and your immense basalt paws half buried in the sand before you. Your twin is at your side. Together you watch as a funerary procession makes its way towards a temple. A group of hooded creatures with clawed feet are led inside, and do not emerge for centuries."
  15. ↑ This really can't be good for you, Fallen London "caught incarcerated caged two dozen centuries no space no space to spread my wings !unbearable! !release me! Spit venom at my judas gaolers may their kohl eyes gender worms may their bones burn in their flesh !unbearable! !release me!"
  16. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "You can't imagine it. Tricked by creatures as low as you. Led into a trap. Imprisoned for aeons. The furthest I have ever been from home. Forced to sacrifice—"
  17. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea "The Bone Man carries a maul. No: he bears a maul. "WATCH," he growls. He brings the head of the maul down on the largest stone. It puffs into dust: instantly pulverised. "YOU MUST STRIKE THEM IN ONLY THE CORRECT PLACE." Another dissolves, with a sound like a sigh. "THUS." Perhaps it's just that you've inhaled too much dust, but as you watch the Bone Man, the scene becomes distant. You are watching it from a great height. The roof? The maul swings: the stones shatter. This is the nature of strength. This is good. "THIS IS THE WORK OF STORM," intones the Bone Man. You blink. "FREEDOM IS HIS GIFT TO THE BAZAAR. [...]"
  18. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "As you step through the door, the orange light dissipates, leaving you in total darkness. When you look behind you, the doorway has vanished, and you can no longer see the lobby. You reach out to touch the walls, but feel only cold air. It is as if you are in a tomb."
  19. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "The Salt Lions are monuments to that treachery. That torture. Knowing they are being torn apart is one of the few things that brings me joy. Using their bodies to aid my escape feels like revenge."
  20. ↑ Watch as Gebrandt explains her machine, Fallen London
  21. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "In the soundless dark, you consider your feelings. They are not your own in this place. It is as if the Nostos is saturated with nostalgia, and in being within its walls, you have absorbed the sensation, growing heavy with longing for a time you will never see again."
  22. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "Before you can offer the stone to Mr Spices upon your open palm, it grabs your hand, jerks your arm towards its mouth, and – not caring that your fingers are still wrapped around it – clamps its jaws shut upon the Sphinxstone."
  23. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "You awake to find yourself sprawled upon the belfry carpet, a garland of puncture wounds on your hand. Mr Spices is curled up on its chaise, chewing mindlessly on the Sphinxstone. You will not be able to retrieve it."
  24. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "[...] He holds a crumpled ball of Thirsty Bombazine out towards you. "I stole it from one of my own shipments," says the Salt-Addled Zailor as you take the bundle. "Keep it in that pouch. It's too strong otherwise." You glance inside. The black Sphinxstone has a patina, as if it has been handled frequently."
  25. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "On the contrary, [...] there is little I could learn in school that would be as useful to me as mastering this trade. Besides, children are uniquely qualified to work at the Nostos Hotel. We are less susceptible to its effects."
  26. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "[...] The older I get, the more certain I am that we start our lives where we are meant to be, then journey further and further from it until—[...] Perhaps I should leave. Resist the urge to dwell upon such feelings. But why pretend things are otherwise?"
  27. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "A Sphinxstone building can enthral its inhabitants. The Bazaar feasts upon the stuff. What effect could it have on a Master?"
  28. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "Mr Spices is incapacitated, so you draw the pouch closed, but it scrabbles across the floor and wraps a claw around your ankle. "Wait!" it coughs. "Let me hold it!""
  29. ↑ Watch as Gebrandt explains her machine, Fallen London "The stone body of the Salt Lions accumulates time like a mortal body accumulates heavy metals. It is a toxicological phenomenon."
  30. ↑ Deliver a load of sphinxstone, Fallen London "Before it starts weeping in your hold and your ship turns to rust."
  31. ↑ Deliver a load of sphinxstone, Fallen London "Wet strips of Thirsty Bombazine fall to the floor as you rip them away, water splashing onto your face and lips. You cannot help but taste it – salt! It is as if the black basalt stones are crying. There is a frantic knock at your door. It is the Salt-Addled Zailor. He ignores the water that gushes over his shoes when you let him in. "Throw the Sphinxstone overboard," he barks, "or it'll flood the hold and sink us!""
  32. ↑ Carry Sphinxstone to London, Sunless Sea “If the stones weep, [...] ignore them. Unless they flood your hold, of course. Then you should probably drop them overboard. Don't tell anyone I said that.”
  33. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "The Sphinxstone I shipped to London was for the Bazaar. My contact said it was feasting on the memories."
  34. ↑ Penstock's Plea, Sunless Sea "The Bazaar has been feasting on old memories from the Salt Lions. It only makes her more melancholy, and that's worse for all of us... but especially those who love her."
  35. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "Years ago, I was paid to let some stone go 'unaccounted for'. I planned to retire on the money, but, well, that's another story. [...] The important thing is that I followed the trail, and it led to the Hotelier. It's going behind the Bazaar's back – a dangerous game. You need to find out why, and expose it. I don't know to whom. I don't know who might have the power to stop it."
  36. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "Mr Spices holds the belfry door open for you to make your exit. There is only one thing you can do that might convince it to explain why it has stolen Sphinxstone from the Bazaar."
  37. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "What the Bazaar remembers. How Sphinxstone affects it. Where it would rather be than where it is. I don't know those things, but I must learn if I am to understand the Bazaar. Testing the stone on creatures like you is the first step. First of many, but I will succeed. I control the honey trade. I understand the weaknesses that drive creatures to seek out oblivion."
  38. ↑ Homecoming, Fallen London "The Bazaar keeps me down here. [...] I want to go home. If I understood the Bazaar's reveries, I'd be able to manipulate it. Get out. Up. Leave the other Masters behind."
  39. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea “The Salt Lions, [...] Oh yes, oh yes. That must be forgotten. Don't worry: we'll purge the stone of what remains. We're grateful to you, although you won't remember why - ”
  40. ↑ Deliver the Sphinxstone, Sunless Sea "The Bazaar is the enemy of our Light. It's the enemy of anyone with eyes, too. Nasty greedy tentacled thing. Well, our Light will sort it out, you'll see. (Because you have eyes. And wonderful eyes they are too, if I might say so.) This stone of yours will help. And we reward those who help us. Here. (A bundle of banknotes.) Here. (A monograph on perception.) And here - "
  41. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone to the boy Slivvy, Sunless Sea "The urchin Slivvy has arranged cradles for the rocks. “We are going to drop them on people Storm doesn't like,” he tells you. “Squash them f-f-flat. It's alright if a g-g-god tells you to do it.” Is he joking? It's difficult to tell, with Slivvy. He leans forward and whispers the directions to the Backmost Stairs, the secret Flit-route that you've never travelled."
  42. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea "Your sphinxstone fragments match the breach in the dock exactly. "Something was stolen," a Riddlefisher will inform you. "Now something else has been unstolen. There is a gap in your understanding. I will help you fill it.""
  43. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea "The Bone Man carries a maul. No: he bears a maul. "WATCH," he growls. He brings the head of the maul down on the largest stone. It puffs into dust: instantly pulverised. "YOU MUST STRIKE THEM IN ONLY THE CORRECT PLACE." Another dissolves, with a sound like a sigh. "THUS.""
  44. ↑ Deliver Sphinxstone for Penstock, Sunless Sea "The priestess wears Bazaar-black. Her eyes are lost in the snaking coils of her hair. "The altar is here," she intones. She holds out a bag of coins to you, and points to the floor. "Yes. That block. Place it here. Put the others in the sea. Only one is worthy.”"
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