The Cantigaster

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"You can see immediately that the Cantigaster was once a man. Now he is a living, shuddering sac of poison. His flesh swells green and soft like rotting fruit. Foul venoms ooze beneath his skin."[3]

The Cantigaster is a bloated and horrifying creature that oozes the deadliest venom known to man.

A Permanent Form of Death[edit | edit source]

"Only poison I know that's strong enough to kill for sure. And I've personal 'istory to back that up. Should be undetectable. Keeps things fair."[4]

In large enough doses, Cantigaster venom can cause permanent death, a relative rarity in the Neath.[5] It works best when applied to a blade (implying that it is most effective when it enters the bloodstream), but can also be dissolved into another liquid and remain both undetectable[5] and effective.[6] The smallest doses can cause extensive nerve damage and paralysis; the Cheery Man was poisoned with half a drop and cannot walk without assistance,[7] as well as losing... certain other faculties below the waist.[8] Even inhalation of Cantigaster venom is dangerous, and can damage or destroy a person's voice.[9] This venom has a short shelf life in open air,[10] but can be dried to retain its deadly effects.[11]

The Masters of the Bazaar are immune to Cantigaster venom,[12] as is the Duchess (presumably).[13]

What He Was[edit | edit source]

This section contains spoilers for the following Exceptional Stories: The Calendar Code, My Kingdom for a Pig, and The Attendants. Proceed at your own risk.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"The Duchess kisses him fondly and they embrace. You watch as the Duchess... as she milks the poison from his skin. The Cantigaster sighs with relief as his venoms trickle into a stone bucket. The Duchess looks up. Has she seen you? You flee the cellar."[3]

The Duchess

The Cantigaster is locked away in the Palace cellars, where it — or rather, he — is occasionally attended to by the Duchess.[14] Beneath the swollen flesh of this monster is the Duchess's father,[15] the Pharaoh of what would become the Second City.[16] In accordance with royal tradition, the Egyptian princess we now know as the Duchess was betrothed to her father.[17] But her heart belonged to another, so she sent a cobra[18] to kill the Pharaoh and escape her fate.[19] The princess regretted this action immediately,[20][21] and bargained with the Bazaar to save the Pharaoh's life in exchange for her city.[22][23] The Masters' methods succeeded, but also transformed him into the tormented, venom-bloated creature he is today.[24]

Back in the days of the Second City, the Duchess attended to her father with a contingent of servants.[25] Three Fallen Cities later, she still visits him alone at midnight each Sunday, in a wine cellar under the Shuttered Palace,[14] to milk the poison out of his skin and bring him relief. What she takes away, presumably, is Cantigaster venom.[26] Rumor has it that the Duchess sends her father to Parabola sometimes, perhaps to give him a moment of relief in dream.[27]

Open are the Double Doors of the Horizon; Unlocked are its Bolts[edit | edit source]

ASCEND NOW TO YOUR PLACE IN THE SUN

"He will open his mouth to the stars. He will scream until his voice is gone, until his lungs are filled with blood, until the void between the stars opens between his teeth. And his daughters will bow, and his priests and attendants will pray, and the horizon will part like a sleeper's eyelids at sunrise."[28]

While the Duchess was the one to sign the contract,[23] the Pharaoh was most likely the one responsible[29][30] for summoning the Bazaar to the Second City in the first place.[31] His purpose may have been to sell the city to the Messenger[32] in exchange for a way to ascend the Great Chain of Being.[33] The Pharaoh had already banned the worship of Egypt’s traditional gods, permitting devotion only to the Aten, and to himself as its prophet.[34] It stands to reason that he might dream of becoming a sun in truth.[35] The Duchess's actions simply changed the terms of a bargain that was already being written.

Historical Inspiration[edit | edit source]

It can be safely deduced that the Cantigaster is the Pharaoh Akhenaten,[17][2] originally called Amenhotep IV. After he ascended the throne, he implemented his own state religion, casting aside the traditional pantheon in favor of the sun disk Aten. Although the better-known sun god Ra (of whom Aten was considered merely one aspect) had long been revered within the Egyptian pantheon, Akhenaten elevated the Aten above all other deities, ultimately proclaiming a monotheistic religion. Akhenaten considered himself a living prophet of the Aten, and to centralize his power and beliefs, he abandoned the capital of Thebes and established a new capital city (which was called Akhetaten in his time, but is now known as Amarna). Though relatively brief, his reign marked perhaps the most dramatic religious shift in Egyptian history.

Akhenaten’s family life has long been a subject of fascination and debate. His Great Royal Wife, Nefertiti, was renowned for her beauty, influence, and possible co-regency. Together they had six daughters: Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten (later Ankhesenamun), Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. Akhenaten also had a less-well-documented wife, Kiya, whose exact role in his court remains unknown. More famously, Akhenaten's son later became the pharaoh Tutankhamun, who restored Egypt's previous religion (changing his name from Tutankhaten in the process) and moved the capital from Amarna to Memphis.

Genetic evidence indicates that Tutankhamun was the child of two full siblings, ostensibly Akhenaten and his sister (not Nefertiti). That said, it is not known for certain whether Akhenaten married one or more of his daughters, and the subject is still debated among Egyptologists. The latter practice was known among Egyptian royalty, including Akhenaten's father, and Akhenaten's eldest daughter Meritaten is recorded in different sources as a Great Royal Wife (to both her known husband and Akhenaten) and as "mistress of the house." As for Tutankhamun himself, while some fans have suggested that he is the Cantigaster, he instead appears to be entirely absent: the Pharaoh's daughters never mention having a brother, and no princes or sons of the Pharaoh are brought up at all. In the Fallen London timeline, he may have died even younger, or never existed.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Take the air, Fallen London "You remember your mistress hurrying through the panic of the Beloved's Palace. A fleeing stream of courtiers and weeping doctors pressed against her. She came to a bedchamber, its ceiling lifted by columns. Writhing attendants were dying, loudly, on the tiles."
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Love is light, Fallen London "I like romantics. No, don't look like that. I admire your optimism. I think it's even possible you're right. I wonder if the Traitor Empress would agree, or the Hand of Aten, or the King with a Hundred Hearts. Perhaps they would." [Editor's Note: "Hand of Aten" could be a loose translation for Akhenaten, which means "Effective for the Aten/Servant of the Aten/Spirit of the Aten."
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Set forth into the cellars, Fallen London
  4. ↑ Procuring Cantigaster Venom, Fallen London
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Procuring Cantigaster Venom, Fallen London "Only poison I know that's strong enough to kill for sure. And I've personal 'istory to back that up. Should be undetectable. Keeps things fair."
  6. ↑ A careful sort, Fallen London "Cantigaster's venom works best on a blade, but it does the job handily in coffee. You slip away as the screaming and thrashing begins."
  7. ↑ Blind Bruiser, Sunless Sea "My employer is a gentleman of considerable vitality and also humour. However, and as much as it pains me to say, he is not the man he was. Years ago, an ingrate of no current importance poisoned him with Cantigaster venom, and he hasn't been right since. Can't walk, most days. I have made what may yet transpire to be a rash promise to restore him, and I am hereby solicitin' your assistance."
  8. ↑ Hint that you might want to stay the night, Fallen London "You're out of luck, my friend," he slurs. "Time was... but it's Cantigaster venom, y'see. Not even a drop. Half a drop. But I can't hardly stir from this chair. And I can't hardly stir, if you take my meaning. So off home with you. Sleep well."
  9. ↑ Join her in her rooms 2, Fallen London "It was just a sniff! It's not like she drunk it. I didn't mean to take her voice completely."
  10. ↑ Catching a mystery, Fallen London "Your Cantigaster venom probably won't even last until morning."
  11. ↑ Arrange a major betrayal, Fallen London "[…] you remembered to wear gloves, but one must also not absentmindedly handle one's lunch right after touching dried cantigaster venom. Finding the right antidotes keeps you from the game for an afternoon. And you've lost your taste for tinned ham […]"
  12. ↑ Conduct your own researches, Fallen London "[...] Cantigaster's venom has been proven to be ineffective against the Masters (Cf the case of the Emerald Harlequin). [...]"
  13. ↑ Set forth into the cellars, Fallen London "[...] Foul venoms ooze beneath his skin. The Duchess kisses him fondly and they embrace. [...]"
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Making Your Name: The Duchess and the Cantigaster, Fallen London "It's Sunday, approaching midnight. The servant said that you'd learn what you needed to in the third wine cellar."
  15. ↑ The Calendar Code, Fallen London "She kills her betrothed. She kills him with a snake. To be with her lover, the scribe." The translator shakes his head. "The scribe knows it can never be. He knows they will find out, and they will come for him. He writes that he is already dead. And the betrothed doesn't even die. He becomes—"
  16. ↑ Hand over a multitude of scraps for a Breath of the Void, Fallen London "The Shivering Relicker hasn't shown up in person: she's just given Pinnock a note for you. It reads "This is the sound of an invocation made by the Pharaoh to the Bazaar. Don't let it out.""
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Speak to the Postlapsarian Synod on the Eucharist, Fallen London "…oh, no, no. She’s far older than that. Before Anthony’s time, certainly. And I think she’s his daughter, not his sister-wife. And we don’t talk about him in mixed company."
  18. ↑ Breed the Plated Seal 2, Fallen London "A cobra! It must be twenty feet long. The venom dripping from its fangs leaves smoking holes in the stone roof the size of grapes. Its hood bears the Correspondence symbol for ‘A gift to remind a woman of something best forgotten.'"
  19. ↑ The Calendar Code, Fallen London "She kills her betrothed. She kills him with a snake. To be with her lover, the scribe." The translator shakes his head. "The scribe knows it can never be. He knows they will find out, and they will come for him. He writes that he is already dead. And the betrothed doesn't even die. He becomes—"
  20. ↑ My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "Dart, little snake, dart. Bite, little snake, bite. Sink your fangs until your venom wells from welts as red as treachery. Come, little snake, come. I'll stroke your head. Now my betrothed is dead. What, little snake, have I done? What, little snake, have I done?"
  21. ↑ The Calendar Code, Fallen London "Love is intoxicating, overwhelming. Age, status, rank – they offer no immunity. In the grip of love I did something I will always regret. I will never be free from the consequences, and suffer deeply for my actions then. Yet I still cherish the moments that led me there. I can never forget, and I do not want to."
  22. ↑ '...look forward so very much to your next visit...', Fallen London "A long time ago... three cities ago in fact... when I was more than a Duchess, but still a friend to cats... I was betrothed. I loved him a great deal, and when a serpent stung him, I was distraught. I would have done anything to save him. The Bazaar knew as much. [...]"
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "You had to do it, didn't you? But now you have a choice. High on the palace balcony, above the purple riverbank, they wait until the glyphs have dried – a disc; a tool embedded in a block – to collect the contract. Remember, above all, the sun will always rise somewhere."
  24. ↑ Set forth into the cellars, Fallen London "You can see immediately that the Cantigaster was once a man. Now he is a living, shuddering sac of poison. His flesh swells green and soft like rotting fruit. Foul venoms ooze beneath his skin."
  25. ↑ Take the air, Fallen London "[...] A fleeing stream of courtiers and weeping doctors pressed against her. She came to a bedchamber [...]. Writhing attendants were dying, loudly, on the tiles. On the bed, a horror thrashed. [...] Your mistress approached it, speaking nonsense in the tones you would use to calm a child or a cat. The thing's thrashing eased. [...] Your mistress turned to you. "Fetch a bucket," she said, in a language that died long ago."
  26. ↑ Set forth into the cellars, Fallen London "[...] You watch as the Duchess... as she milks the poison from his skin. The Cantigaster sighs with relief as his venoms trickle into a stone bucket. [...]"
  27. ↑ Untapped wealth, Fallen London "[...] But a deep pond comes up with something startling. It claims to remember when the Cantigaster was 'his real self, before the asp bit and the pact was sealed. That's why they won't abide talk of that place, you know. She's still there, though, isn't she? Sending him to Parabola when she wants, no doubt." [Editor's note: Historically the Greek name "aspis" (which means "viper") was used for a variety of venomous snakes found around the Nile. It is believed that the most likely or common species referenced by the modernized name "asp" was the Egyptian cobra, as reflected in other text.]
  28. ↑ My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London
  29. ↑ Hand over a multitude of scraps for a Breath of the Void, Fallen London "The Shivering Relicker hasn't shown up in person: she's just given Pinnock a note for you. It reads "This is the sound of an invocation made by the Pharaoh to the Bazaar. Don't let it out.""
  30. ↑ My Kingdom for a Pig, Fallen London "He will open his mouth to the stars. He will scream until his voice is gone, until his lungs are filled with blood, until the void between the stars opens between his teeth. And his daughters will bow, and his priests and attendants will pray, and the horizon will part like a sleeper's eyelids at sunrise."
  31. ↑ Follow your feet (Second City), Fallen London "This mud-brick structure is littered with tablets. Clay tablets, covered in scratchy needlepoint marks. [...] These sigils adorn the flank of the Bazaar. They scorch eyebrows and strain the melting point of lead. The Correspondence, that language of fire and light, imperfectly captured in stone. [...] At the foot of each tablet is a careful cartouche. A reed, a tiny sun, an ibis in profile." [Editor's Note: The cartouche contains the hieroglyphics for Akhenaten]
  32. ↑ Listen, Sunless Sea "There is an air of celebration. As with many languages spoken in dreams, you understand the meaning without understanding the words: a great disaster has been averted, the King's folly is ended by the Princess' cunning, the heralds of night are bound. [...]"
  33. ↑ An Exceptional Story: The Attendants, Fallen London "It's about the Second City. A romance. Fiction, but you tell the Ministry that. About a king who leaves everything behind to get what he wants. Selfish, if you ask me. Wonderful characterisation. [...]"
  34. ↑ Speculate on the identity of certain parties at a salon, Fallen London "...They say her father was mad, you know. Tore down all the old Gods and raised himself up. Still, she's done splendidly well for herself. I've heard someone saw her true face, though. Perhaps she favours them still."
  35. ↑ Follow your feet (Second City), Fallen London "They are flawed and shattered, but you reconstruct the sigils in your mind. Your thoughts flower like burning paper. A shared and mutual orbit. Recognition of a peer. A relative, afflicted with limerence. A plea to somebody – family? To become fire rather than be burned. A zealous desperation. At the foot of each tablet is a careful cartouche. A reed, a tiny sun, an ibis in profile."
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