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<blockquote>{{Neath_Location|image1 = Station III Gaz.png|caption1 = Station III. Where's I and II?|location = [[The Unterzee|Shepherd's Wash]]|allegiance = [[The Masters of the Bazaar]]|notable_inhabitants=[[The Austere Acolyte]]<br>[[Station III#The Heartmetal Smith|The Heartmetal Smith]]}}''"Machinery hums behind high steel walls. Up the hill, there are visible outlines of warehouses and a building with a spire. But the lamps are low where they burn at all, and your ship the only one in harbour."''<ref name="location description">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Station_III|Location description|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>'''Station III''' is a top-secret facility located on an island in the [[Unterzee]].__FORCETOC__
{{Neath_Location|image1 = Station III Gaz.png|caption1 = Station III. Where's I and II?|location = [[The Unterzee|Shepherd's Wash]]|allegiance = [[The Masters of the Bazaar]]|notable_inhabitants=The Austere Acolyte<br>The Heartmetal Smith}}''"Machinery hums behind high steel walls. Up the hill, there are visible outlines of warehouses and a building with a spire. But the lamps are low where they burn at all, and your ship the only one in harbour."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Station_III|Station III|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


==Nothing to See Here==
'''Station III''' is a top-secret facility on an island in the [[Unterzee]].__forcetoc__
<blockquote>''"On the very edge of London's influence, curious matters are conducted."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Port_Report:_Station_III|Item description|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>Station III is a mysterious location occupied by whirring machinery, sprawling warehouses, and a tall, spired building, all surrounded by a high metallic fence.<ref name="location description" /> The station's gate is notably cold to the touch and is nigh-indestructible, repelling even the finest of chisels and mightiest of crowbars.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Station_III#Interactions|Try the gate|Sunless Sea}}</ref>


The only evidence of outside visitation at the port's dock is a strange burner for incense, a log book detailing an enthralling song, worn ironmonger's tools, and broken medicine bottles covered in clumps of silvery metal, with a torn label reading "SOOTHE & COO...".<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Station_III#Interactions|Search for signs of other visitors|Sunless Sea}}</ref>
==Clearance==
''"Heavy cannon. Harpoons of a metal wicked enough to pierce the most rubbery hide. Sheets of flat heartmetal suitable for hammering onto the hull of a vessel. Grapeshot of heartmetal fragments. Some of the inventory is already packed for export."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Search the place on your own|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


Most curiously, any reports of this location's activities are relentlessly censored by the [[Admiralty]] and the [[The Ministry of Public Decency|Ministry of Public Decency]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Admiralty_Survey_Office#Port_Reports|Station III|Sunless Sea}}</ref>
The Station accepts a steady supply of corpses stuffed inside of '''Soothe & Cooper Long-Boxes''' - brought mainly from [[the Surface]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask where the corpses come from|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> though they can also be found in other surprising places like [[The Shepherd Isles]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Shepherd_Isles|A Retired Monster-Hunter wants something to remember his glory days|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> All of the deceased brought here habitually took '''Soothe and Cooper's Heartsease Tonic''', a medicine advertised as a cure for sadness and keeping secrets. When imbibed, the tonic produces a chemical reaction with a person's [[Souls|soul]]. It covers the source of a person's woes and slowly hardens and accumulates over time,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask how the metal balls are formed|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> creating layers of an extremely durable and cold metal called '''heartmetal''', which can be useful in creating a variety of things, from weaponry to diving suits.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Visit to the Smith's Emporium|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


== Heartmetal ==
==Valuable Secrets==
{{Spoiler}}<blockquote>''"They were in love with a writer who was dead before they were born, and kept it a secret from embarrassment. The Masters will like that."''<ref name="historian2">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|A historian|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>Station III is the manufacturing hub of a strange, silvery substance called '''[[heartmetal]]'''.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Station_III:_Heartmetal_Ingot#Item_description|Item description|Sunless Sea}}</ref> Heartmetal builds up inside human bodies and is primarily extracted here.<ref name="ask how the metal balls are formed2">{{Citation|1=https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|2=Ask how the metal balls are formed|3=Sunless Sea|4=}}</ref> The [[Masters of the Bazaar]] are very interested in heartmetal pellets related to love and romance,<ref name="historian2" /> and as such, they were responsible for the creation and arrangement of Station III.<ref name="ask where corpses come from2">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask where the corpses come from|Sunless Sea}}</ref> Any heartmetal bits that aren't useful to them are thrown to the Station's dump,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask what becomes of the contents of the balls|Sunless Sea}}</ref> which is sometimes visited by marauders and thieves.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Scavengers_of_Dark_Matter|Watch until you know what they're up to|Sunless Sea}}</ref>
''"The woman's metal ball is not round or oval. It has grown to fit exactly in the spaces between her organs, and from the outside of the corpse you would not guess it was there at all. It takes a long time to carve it out."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|A foreigner|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


The [[Echo Bazaar]] has a hand in the business of Station III,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Inside_the_Little_Gate|Surrender a Long-Box for payment|Sunless Sea}}</ref> but it also seems to have a heartmetal operation of its own, independent from the island. Many Soothe and Cooper Long-Boxes can be found deep within the Bazaar's bowels.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Pilfer_a_large,_mysterious_box|Pilfer a large, mysterious box|Fallen London}}</ref>
Within these metallic shells lies a person's deepest secret, crystallized in the form of a black stone.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Under_the_Steeple|Watch with medical interest|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Touching said stone can make someone relive the memories and feelings associated with that secret.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The sister|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> [[The Masters of the Bazaar]] seem to be very interested in secrets related to love and romance, resulting in promotion of the tonic's usage among the general public.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask where the corpses come from|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask what becomes of the contents of the balls|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|A historian|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>


=== The Heartmetal Smith ===
The way heartmetal develops within the body is greatly affected by the type and intensity of a person's secret.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|Observing the Latest Autopsies|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> The formation's location can range from the person's brain down to the palms of their hands,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The Professor|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The sister|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> although the most common place of the metal's accumulation is right over the heart, resulting in the substance's name.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Under_the_Steeple|Watch with medical interest|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
<blockquote>''"Nothing like it for weaponry. Does more damage than any ordinary steel, and a little bit of the shrapnel will give you trouble to the end of your days."''<ref name="deliveries to the smith 02">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Errands_for_the_Acolyte|Deliveries to the smith (0)|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Cannon.png|alt=Several cannons.|thumb|Fire at will.]]The '''Heartmetal Smith''' is a mysterious individual who is capable of working with discarded heartmetal to forge products for export.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Errands_for_the_Acolyte|Deliveries to the smith (1)|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Search the place on your own|Sunless Sea}}</ref> He often creates products suitable for maritime combat, such as ammunition, hull plates, and harpoons, as according to him, heartmetal weapons are more powerful than their steel counterparts, and their shrapnel can cause chronic ailments that last for a lifetime. Unfortunately, the hardness of heartmetal tends to wear out his tools quickly.<ref name="deliveries to the smith 02" />
 
[[Rubbery Men]] can also fall under the effects of the tonic, although their own secrets manifest in the form of amber instead of black stones.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The Rubbery Man|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
==Dealing with Grief==
''"There was another apprentice who worked with me," she says. "He had a steady hand with the scalpel, but he thought the singing was foolish. Only lasted a few days before we had to pack him off to the Royal Bethlehem."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask why she sings|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
 
'''The Austere Acolyte''' is one of the Station's most accomplished workers, with a wealth of experience when it comes to extracting the secrets out of corpses. She can almost always be found singing or whistling a nonsensical tune; this is not just a way to pass the time, but a measure of protection from being overwhelmed by the secrets stored within the heartmetal.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask why she sings|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
 
The Acolyte herself doesn't remember how she came to work at the Station. She does remember her life as a doctor in [[London]], along with her [[Bohemians|Bohemian]] twin sister, who she believes to have unintentionally killed in a failed resuscitation attempt.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask how she came to be here|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Time_Before|The Time Before|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> That, however, is not actually the truth. The Acolyte has never had a sister, and the entity living with her was a mysterious creature drawn to her potential, that wore a mirror reflection of her own face.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Shades_of_Black|Shades of Black|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:austereacolytegaz.png|thumb|The Austere Acolyte in her protective equipment.|alt=|left]]
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By his own account, the Smith came to Station III by ''swimming'',<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Ask the smith about how he got here|Sunless Sea}}</ref> and now he toils without complaint in the solitude of his workshop, with a heartmetal locket and chain always fastened around his neck.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Ask the smith about life on the island|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Story description|Sunless Sea}}</ref> His ultimate goal is to eventually forge a suit made of heartmetal, so that he may walk where he came from without experiencing the grief of others.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Ask him about the heartmetal suit|Sunless Sea}}</ref>
==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:The Unterzee]]
[[Category:The Unterzee]]
[[Category:Formatted]]
[[Category:The Neath]]


 
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[[Category:The Neath]]
[[Category:Stations]]
[[Category:Stations]]
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