Saviour's Rocks

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"The sound of their constant motion is like pebbles on a beach..."[1]

Saviour's Rocks is a chain of islands located to the East of the Unterzee, filled to the brim with sorrow-spiders.

The Nativity[edit | edit source]

"Those unlucky enough to run aground on the Rocks can consider themselves... but no. No. A sorrow-spider might hear something they would of course never say."[2]

Saviour's Rocks is the largest grouping of sorrow-spiders in the Neath, and as such the island's main export is silk.[3] The few humans living in the Nativity, the only human settlement here, refuse to speak of their arachnid companions, only referring to them as their "generous neighbors of whom they will speak no ill."[4] The sorrow-spiders see and hear everything,[5] and those who transgress are soundly punished.[6][7] But spider territory is not forbidden ground; on occasion, people may venture into the pitch-dark Scuttering Reaches to gather silk in preparation for their festivities.[8] Luckily for visitors, the spiders have instituted what they call the Accord of Grace, which usually allows outsiders to commune with the humans here unscathed. Usually.[9]

Silk traders are common here, but they are notoriously tight-lipped and inexpressive.[10] The people as a whole are forbidden from partaking in music and color, beyond the garments of their assigned roles.[11] They are only permitted to let loose once a year, at the Festival of Silk[12][13] - a celebration of gratitude to their arachnid overl- er, neighbors.[14]

The humans who work for the spiders within the Web of Stone have all been blinded as part of their initiation,[15] and are divided into two groups based on their duties:[16] the Weavers, who wear red clothing and tend the webs, and the Widows, who wear green clothing and care for and feed the spiders.[17] The Spider-Council they work for is known as the Tree of Seasons, which has established itself around a great statue,[18] and has trapped hundreds of unfortunate victims with the goal of collecting their secrets[19] (and their eyes).[20]

The Emissary of Spiders

The primary human contact in this wretched place is the rather passive-aggressive Emissary of Spiders. This eyeless but well-informed individual is willing to conduct business with zee-captains; he acts as the "mouth" of the spider-council here, and he also occasionally acts as a tour guide for visitors.[21]

Near the Rocks lies the Wreck of the Nocturne, a ship that the spiders emptied and covered in webs.[22]

Webbed Secrets[edit | edit source]

Spoilers ahead: May include midgame or minor Fate-locked content.

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"Branches of webs hang in their thousands from the colossal statue of some being as far from an angel as an angel from a man. The spider-council has made its home in the chipped out eyes, surrounded by its lessers and a precious collection of ensnared unfortunates. Hundreds of these captives dangle in silk cocoons, the sane and still-living tended to just enough to serve their full measure of both use and suffering."[23]

The Web of Stone

At least a century ago, the spiders who now comprise the Tree of Seasons made a pact with an Avaricious Lorn-Fluke.[24] The Fluke blinded a zee-beast that knew the Correspondence;[25] the spiders took one of the beast's eyes,[26] allowing them to use its power to form a spider-council.[27][28] In return, the spiders promised the Fluke troves of secrets - though they may intend to double-cross the Fluke.[29] The Tree of Seasons now searches for the power source[30] that will allow them to become the Tree of Epochs, which will "stretch through the Neath to become the perfect geometry of sorrow."[31][32]

Saviour's Rocks is guarded by the Tree of Ages, a living "octomaran" - a ship piloted by sorrow-spiders and covered in webs.[33] The Tree of Ages retrieved the eye of the aforementioned zee-beast, and is now on a mission to find the way to forge the Tree of Epochs.[34]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Port description, Sunless Sea
  2. ↑ Assist with festival preparations, Sunless Sea
  3. ↑ Haggle with a silk trader, Sunless Sea "The silk of Saviour's Rocks is beloved throughout the Neath. Most do, however, try not to give too much thought to where it originally comes from."
  4. ↑ Assist with festival preparations, Sunless Sea "...a hospitality granted visitors by the generous neighbours of whom they will speak no ill."
  5. ↑ Assist with festival preparations, Sunless Sea "Those unlucky enough to run aground on the Rocks can consider themselves... but no. No. A sorrow-spider might hear something they would of course never say."
  6. ↑ A prisoner bound by webs, Sunless Sea "He gasps for water as the town conducts its business around him. Not a man dares even meet his eyes. / Offend not the generous neighbours - The death of thirst is far from their strongest reprimand to those who would spurn their protection."
  7. ↑ A thief of silk, Sunless Sea "The sorrow-spiders see all that happens in their domain. Their justice is swift and final. It is not a thing to be discussed, merely witnessed, for the future education of all who might violate their rules."
  8. ↑ Bring light into the darkness, Sunless Sea "Though far from tolerant of outsiders, they [the sorrow-spiders] care little enough for their abandoned webs to turn a blind eye to at least a little scavenging. Up to a point."
  9. ↑ Assist with festival preparations, Sunless Sea "In particular, they not entirely accidentally let slip the secret of the 'Accord of Grace' - a hospitality granted visitors by the generous neighbours of whom they will speak no ill."
  10. ↑ Compile a Port Report, Sunless Sea "The silk traders don't talk much. In particular, they don't talk of the sorrow-spiders at their feet, over their heads or crawling over them as they sleep. Spiders? We'll not be having that kind of talk about the generous neighbours, they say with haste, in raised voices."
  11. ↑ The Port of the Nativity, Sunless Sea "With the Festival of Silk over, the Nativity returns to its usual grey gloom. The people work under the silent but omnipresent supervision of their 'generous neighbours', dreaming of the day a year hence when colour will again be permitted in their lives."
  12. ↑ Preparing for the Festival of Silk, Sunless Sea "The glumness of the Nativity is broken by the reds and golds of freshly hung banners."
  13. ↑ The Festival of Silk, Sunless Sea "Once a year, the Nativity explodes with forbidden music and colour. Silks the envy of any in the Neath stream from every ship in a rainbow of red, green and gold."
  14. ↑ Preparing for the Festival of Silk, Sunless Sea "...their celebration of gratitude to the 'generous neighbours' that silently watch over them from the shadows."
  15. ↑ A new initiate, Sunless Sea "A Widow gently kisses his new brother on the forehead, wrapping a silk blindfold around his hollow eyes."
  16. ↑ The Web of Stone, Sunless Sea "Eyeless Weavers and Widows busy themselves tending to the spiders and their Tree of Seasons, showing neither interest or concern at your presence."
  17. ↑ Spy on the Weavers and Widows, Sunless Sea "The cultists politely ignore you as you watch them at work; the Weavers in red, tending the webs, the Widows in green, caring for their masters by reducing grisly foodstuffs to paste and feeding the more senior members of the spider-council by hand."
  18. ↑ Behold the Tree of Seasons, Sunless Sea "Branches of webs hang in their thousands from the colossal statue of some being as far from an angel as an angel from a man. The spider-council has made its home in the chipped out eyes..."
  19. ↑ Behold the Tree of Seasons, Sunless Sea "The spider-council has made its home [...] surrounded by [...] a precious collection of ensnared unfortunates. Hundreds of these captives dangle in silk cocoons, the sane and still-living tended to just enough to serve their full measure of both use and suffering."
  20. ↑ Further investigate the Tree of Seasons, Sunless Sea "Their eyes long since harvested to birth the sorrow-spiders' progeny, they hang immobile in darkness, dreaming of oblivion."
  21. ↑ Meet with an Emissary of Spiders, Sunless Sea "The honour of serving the acrimonious masters does somewhat leave one at a disadvantage in matters of detail. [...] Blind to light is not, however, deaf to rumour."
  22. ↑ Board this empty mausoleum, Sunless Sea "The fate of the Nocturne is well known, and proven by the webs stretching across its battered hull. Aside from those and a few signs of struggle, the contents lie mostly undisturbed. [...] If the crew and passengers were lucky, they merely became lunch. If not... you've heard the stories..."
  23. ↑ Behold the Tree of Seasons, Sunless Sea
  24. ↑ Spying: On a deal with a...?, Sunless Sea "They speak of a century of stolen secrets, and an almost as long regretted promise made to a great zee-beast."
  25. ↑ Spying: On a deal with a...?, Sunless Sea "They speak of its greed for knowledge, for which it willingly blinded another creature with the light of the stars. They speak of secrets, eagerly grasped, reluctantly relinquished. They speak of the curse of curiosity. In hushed tones, they speak of a trap, yet to be baited."
  26. ↑ Spying: On the Tree of Ages, Sunless Sea "They speak of a ship sent forth from Saviour's Rocks to catch secrets in its webs. They speak of its triumph, stealing a star-blinded eye of the deep."
  27. ↑ Spying: On the grand spider-council, Sunless Sea "They speak of a chaos brought under control by a spider-council formed from the blinded eye of a great zee-beast. [...]"
  28. ↑ Spying: On the subject of eyes, Sunless Sea "They speak of the secret origins of councils; of apples blinded by Correspondence becoming cores."
  29. ↑ Spying: On a deal with a...?, Sunless Sea "They speak of its greed for knowledge, for which it willingly blinded another creature with the light of the stars. They speak of secrets, eagerly grasped, reluctantly relinquished. They speak of the curse of curiosity. In hushed tones, they speak of a trap, yet to be baited."
  30. ↑ Spying: On the Tree of Ages, Sunless Sea "They speak of a greater eye still; unseen, unseeing, finally attainable."
  31. ↑ Spying: On the grand spider-council, Sunless Sea "They speak of a Tree of Epochs, to be birthed in forbidden light, its branches stretching through the Neath to become the perfect geometry of sorrow. "
  32. ↑ Spying: On the subject of eyes, Sunless Sea "They speak of the grand council that is, and the greater council that is to come; the Tree of Epochs that will turn joy into sorrow and from that sorrow hatch eschaton."
  33. ↑ The Tree of Ages, Sunless Sea "No longer just a legend. The cursed octomaran has come for blood, its silk sails blazing the purest red and its webbed hull alive with crawling sorrow-spiders."
  34. ↑ Spying: On the Tree of Ages, Sunless Sea "They speak of a ship sent forth from Saviour's Rocks to catch secrets in its webs. They speak of its triumph, stealing a star-blinded eye of the deep. They speak of a greater eye still; unseen, unseeing, finally attainable."
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