Editing Station III
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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. | <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.fandom.com/wiki/Station_III|Location description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>'''Station III''' is a top-secret facility located on an island in the [[Unterzee]].__forcetoc__ | ||
==Nothing to See Here== | ==Nothing to See Here== | ||
<blockquote>''"On the very edge of London's influence, curious matters are conducted."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea. | <blockquote>''"On the very edge of London's influence, curious matters are conducted."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/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.fandom.com/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. | 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.fandom.com/wiki/Station_III#Interactions|Search for signs of other visitors|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | ||
Most curiously, any reports of this location's activities are relentlessly censored by the [[Admiralty]] and the [[ | Most curiously, any reports of this location's activities are relentlessly censored by the [[Admiralty]] and the [[Ministry of Public Decency]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Admiralty_Survey_Office#Port_Reports|Station III|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | ||
== Heartmetal == | == Heartmetal == | ||
{{Spoiler}}<blockquote>''" | {{Spoiler}} | ||
<blockquote>''"What use is heartmetal to you? But then, what use is a Long-Box? (Perhaps you imagine the whisper at shoulder - 'What use, indeed, is a heart?'. When you turn, there's only the ragged flirting of the wind.)"''<ref name="exchange long box for heartmetal">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Inside_the_Little_Gate|Exchange a Long-Box for a Heartmetal Ingot|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Box.png|alt=A box filled with something shining.|thumb|What's in the box?]] | |||
Station III is the manufacturing hub of a strange, silvery substance called '''heartmetal'''.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Station_III:_Heartmetal_Ingot#Item_description|Item description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> This material is extremely strong, icy to the touch,<ref name = "break into warehouse">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/At_the_top_of_the_stairs|Break into the warehouse and leave the box there|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and is considered dubiously legal to trade or possess, assuming the law even acknowledges it exists at all.<ref name="exchange long box for heartmetal" /> Its durability means it has a variety of practical applications,<ref name="deliveries to the smith 0">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Errands_for_the_Acolyte|Deliveries to the smith (0)|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> but the means of producing heartmetal are kept strictly secret, for a ''very'' good reason.<ref name="ask how the metal balls are formed">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask how the metal balls are formed|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
The [[Echo Bazaar]] has a hand in the business of Station III,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea. | Heartmetal production is primarily managed by a company called '''Soothe and Cooper''',<ref name="long box item description">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Soothe_%26_Cooper_Long-Box|Item description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> named after its founders who have a workshop of their own at Station III.<ref name="visit to soothe and cooper">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Errands_for_the_Acolyte|A visit to Soothe & Cooper|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | ||
=== Heartmetal Extraction === | |||
<blockquote>''"On first sight, it looks like a tomb-colonist coffin. On closer examination, it carries stencilling reading SOOTHE & COOPER and a handwritten tag: 'DELIVERY TO DEPOT (A), STATION III'."''<ref name="long box item description" /> | |||
''"Excellent, I'm going to need a scalpel and pliers."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Soothe_%26_Cooper_Long-Box|Soothe & Cooper Long-Box|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Coffin2.png|alt=A marked coffin.|thumb|A Soothe & Cooper Long-Box.]] | |||
To produce heartmetal, Station III primarily relies on a steady supply of corpses stuffed inside '''Soothe & Cooper Long-Boxes''',<ref name="long box item description"/> which have been delivered to the Station for generations. These specialized coffins are brought in mainly from the [[Surface]],<ref name = "ask where corpses come from">{{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 at other locations across the [[Unterzee]], such as 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> [[Venderbight]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Venderbight#Interactions|Explore Venderbight|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> or certain shops in [[Khan's Heart]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_Candle-Lit_Shop#Interactions_2|Purchase a Soothe & Cooper Long-Box|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
The corpses inside Soothe and Cooper Long-Boxes are permanently dead,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Under_the_Steeple|Story description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and are processed by the workers of Station III, known as '''acolytes'''.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Inside_the_Little_Gate|Return later|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> These mysterious morticians use scalpels to carefully dissect the bodies they receive and extract the metallic deposits within. The metal spheres are layered like gobstoppers, so the acolytes crack them open to obtain their valuable, heavy cores which resemble black pellets. These pellets are then placed in jars marked with the [[Correspondence]],<ref name = "watch with medical interest">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Under_the_Steeple|Watch with medical interest|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> with the useful ones marked for export.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The wife|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
== Secrets and Tonic == | |||
<blockquote>''"SUFFERING HEART-ACHE? A SOOTHE & COOPER tonic for the dysphoric, despondent and depressed! Equally good for catarrh. CONVENIENT, SCIENTIFIC, INFALLIBLE!"''<ref name="suffering heart ache">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#Universal|SUFFERING HEART-ACHE?|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Vialyellow.png|alt=A yellow vial.|thumb|Soothe and Cooper's Heartease Tonic]] | |||
All of the deceased brought to Station III habitually took '''Soothe and Cooper's Heartsease Tonic''' during their lives. This medicine is advertised as a cure for sadness,<ref name = "suffering heart ache"/> and for keeping secrets unspoken.<ref name="ask how the metal balls are formed"/> It is a strange liquid with a silvery color, and when spilled, it hardens like ice into a cold,<ref name = "break into warehouse"/> brittle, and very sharp substance.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Ice_cold_silver|Story description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> This tonic is manufactured by Soothe in his workshop, where he melts leftover heartmetal shavings in a cauldron for later bottling.<ref name="visit to soothe and cooper"/> | |||
Soothe and Cooper's Heartease Tonic is usually consumed with wine or laudanum, but can be directly imbibed as well. Once in the body, it produces a chemical reaction with the drinker's [[soul]], covering the source of a person's woes and slowly hardening and accumulating over time. This process creates metallic spheres that may form anywhere within the body,<ref name="ask how the metal balls are formed"/><ref name = "the professor">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The Professor|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref name = "the sister">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The sister|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> though the most common place of the metal's accumulation is right over the heart, giving the substance its name.<ref name = "watch with medical interest"/> Unfortunately, consumers of Heartease Tonic often grow dependent on it, allowing the metal deposits to grow and grow until they risk damaging internal organs.<ref name="ask how the metal balls are formed"/><ref name = "watch with medical interest"/> [[Rubbery Men]] can fall under the effects of Heartease Tonic, though unlike humans, their secrets manifest in the form of black [[amber]] within their bodies.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The Rubbery Man|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
[[File:Heart.png|alt=A heart.|thumb|Useful?]] | |||
The specific location of heartmetal buildup can vary depending on the nature of a person's secret. For example, if a person listens to secrets regularly and does not speak them, the deposits may accumulate in their ears and tongue,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The Confessor|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> while if an academic keeps a discovery hidden, the deposit may develop within their brain.<ref name = "the professor"/> The black pellets found within the cores of heartmetal deposits contain the tonic-imbiber's deepest secrets, and this pellet may vary dramatically in size depending on the intensity of the secrets.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|The drinker|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Exposure to said pellet can make a person relive the memories and feelings associated with that secret, which can be extremely disorienting,<ref name = "the sister"/> so the acolytes of Station III consider it of utmost importance to sing while they perform their duties; not doing so can result in a free reservation at the [[Royal Bethlehem Hotel]].<ref name = "ask why she sings">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Questions_for_the_Acolyte|Ask why she sings|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
== Exports and Manufacture == | |||
<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="historian">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Observing_the_Latest_Autopsies|A historian|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Master2.png|alt=A hooded figure.|thumb|A [[Master]].]] | |||
The [[Masters of the Bazaar]] are very interested in heartmetal pellets related to love and romance,<ref name = "historian"/> and they're the ones responsible for the creation and arrangement of Station III.<ref name = "ask where corpses come from"/> Any heartmetal bits that aren't useful to them, however, are thrown to the Station's dump,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/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.fandom.com/wiki/Scavengers_of_Dark_Matter|Watch until you know what they're up to|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
The [[Echo Bazaar]] has a hand in the business of Station III,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/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 that's independent from the island; many Soothe and Cooper Long-Boxes can be found deep within the Bazaar's bowels, and can be sold legally to Crawcase Cryptics for a good sum.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Pilfer_a_large,_mysterious_box|Pilfer a large, mysterious box|Fallen London|}}</ref> | |||
=== The Heartmetal Smith === | === The Heartmetal Smith === | ||
<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 | <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 0" /></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.fandom.com/wiki/Errands_for_the_Acolyte|Deliveries to the smith (1)|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/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 0"/> | |||
By his own account, the Smith came to Station III by ''swimming'',<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/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.fandom.com/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Ask the smith about life on the island|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/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.fandom.com/wiki/Visit_to_the_Smith%27s_Emporium|Ask him about the heartmetal suit|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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