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| | ''"This then is the Cave of the Nadir: aswim with auroral light, filled with a deep silence that makes the Forgotten Quarter seem like [[Spite]] on market-day."'' |
| <blockquote>{{Neath_Location|title1 = The Cave of the Nadir|image1 = <gallery>
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| Cave of the Nadir.png|Header
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| Nadirgate.png|Icon
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| </gallery>|caption1 = |location = [[The Forgotten Quarter]]|notable_inhabitants = [[The Lady in Lilac]]|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/irrigo-below Irrigo Below]}}
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| ''"This then is the Cave of the Nadir: aswim with auroral light, filled with a deep silence that makes the Forgotten Quarter seem like [[Spite]] on market-day."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/In_the_Nadir|In the Nadir|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>'''The Cave of the Nadir''', accessible via the [[Forgotten Quarter]], is one of the few truly hidden places in the vicinity of [[London]]. | |
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| ==Who... Where are You?==
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| <blockquote>
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| ''"All this irrigo... Whatever its source, the Nadir is the place where things are lost. No eye can penetrate from the wider Neath. Even once you pass its gate, it is a deep labyrinth of forgetfulness. It is the finest hiding-place imaginable, and the deadliest."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Try_to_make_sense_of_what_you%27re_seeing|Try to make sense of what you're seeing|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
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| The Nadir is bathed in [[irrigo]] light,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Catafalquerie|The Catafalquerie|Fallen London|}} ''"Here lie those who never reached their destination. The irrigo light is very strong here: it's too dangerous to stay long."''</ref> which causes memory loss and ego death in exposed humans.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Make_the_journey|Make the journey|Fallen London|}} ''"Through the gate [...] down where the air grows thick and syrupy with the irrigo taint. Hold on to your name: keep it fast in your fist like the yarn's end in the labyrinth. If you forget your name, you will be here always, and no one will ever come to find you."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Struggle_for_the_exit|Struggle for the exit|Fallen London|}} ''"Violet currents sleet around you, slow your thoughts. You can feel yourself eroding like ice in raw gin. Put your hand up to your face: is the skin at the edge of your eyes growing puffier? Get out. Get out now."''</ref> Long-term exposure can result in the growth of bony plates over a person's eyes, presumably because the human body reflexively tries to shield itself from irrigo. When people die lost in the Nadir, their '''Eyeless Skulls''',<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Eyeless_Skull|Eyeless Skull|Fallen London|}} ''"Thick plates of bone have developed over the orbits, as if to hide or protect them. They are smooth and cold to the touch."''</ref> still filled with irrigo and able to cause adverse effects in another's possession,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Something_is_missing_1|Something is missing 1|Fallen London|}} ''"But since you found that skull, your memory grows unreliable. No. Parts of you are crumbling. No. No!"''</ref> are left behind.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Make_the_journey|Make the journey|Fallen London|}} ''"And you dare not return if you have any trace of irrigo still about you. A year from now, some poor fool might be using your skull to open the way."''</ref> The only antidote to irrigo is to consume something infused with [[violant]] light, like a costly Ray-Drenched Cinder - and even this is temporary.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Enter_the_Cave_of_the_Nadir|Enter the Cave of the Nadir|Fallen London|}} ''"Yes. The light is irrigo: the colour of forgetfulness. We can sustain it for a little while, but only if we immunise ourselves. The Cinder carries elements of irrigo, but also violant, and other opposing colours. We'll need to, um, grind it in tea and drink it. And wait."''</ref> Interestingly, the irrigo does not reach all the way to the ceiling of the cave - as if it was pooling from somewhere, or behaving like carbon monoxide (which is heavier than air).<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Third_Choice:_Ascend|The Third Choice: Ascend|Fallen London|}} ''"The Cave of the Nadir is laid out below you. Only the intensity of the irrigo limits your view. You can see black roses, just beyond two wide-eyed urchins. There, a stone altar. Further off, card players trapped in an eternal game. And here, at the ceiling, a gap before the irrigo starts. Is it denser than air? Does it pool here? Or coalesce? And if so, from where?"''</ref> The Nadir appears to have been formed by a celestial impact, and a record from millennia ago suggests that its irrigo once spread outward into the [[Neath]].<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Something_ancient_2 Something ancient 2, ''Fallen London''] ''"[...] The language originates in one of the cities of the Presbyterate, but the dialect is archaic, and the script is casual and cramped [...]:'' ''<nowiki/>'...because repeated visits to the low place (?) are difficult to record. But it seems evident that the cavity (?) was formed by a celestial conflagration/impact/war (?). Conditions in the low place likely to have extended further in the distant past. Investigate more; examine the city of sap (?) beneath the city...'"''</ref>
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| Despite the effects of irrigo, the Cave of the Nadir is large enough to host a surprising number of residents.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/In_the_Nadir|In the Nadir|Fallen London|}} ''"The irrigo around you makes it difficult to judge distances, but it's big: a cathedral's extent at least before the distances are lost in violet fog. It must extend far under the Quarter. There are signs of habitation. And here and there, figures dart into the shadows as you look."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/An_Altarful_of_Strangers|An Altarful of Strangers|Fallen London|}} ''"The lost ones of the Nadir gather by a stone altar. A man snuffling behind a velvet mask, two urchins scuffling half-heartedly, a Rubbery scratching something into the rock. Their eye-sockets have half-healed, giving them an unborn look: except for the Rubbery, whose tentacles have withdrawn almost into his spongy skull. They turn to look at you, with the hesitation that affects everyone in this place."''</ref> Over the centuries, many people have fled here from past [[Fallen Cities]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Speak_to_the_woman_on_the_right|Speak to the woman on the right|Fallen London|}} ''"I long for far Irem. The Red Bird has taken all I knew. There was a chant that fell from the sky that will fill me with flame. I will cross the sea as a bird crosses the sky. My love awaits me. The Honey-Lord promised me."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Speak_to_the_man_on_the_left|Speak to the man on the left|Fallen London|}} ''"I ache for the floods to return. I am scarred and empty. Generations will remain unborn. Should I win, the zee will rise. The Khan of Dreams has promised me."''</ref> only to die and leave their memories swirling in the irrigo fog.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dice!|Dice!|Fallen London|}} ''"They shout nothing of the kind. Perhaps he would, if his jaw were not mired in dust: perhaps she would, had her ribs not collapsed in on her withered heart. Run, and only echoes will pursue you through the violet dark."''</ref> Some wandered away from [[London]] and found themselves here, with potentially dire consequences.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Speak_to_the_Urchins|Speak to the Urchins|Fallen London|}} ''""Don't look like Face," says one. "Don't look like Teeth," points out the other. They peer. "We're down here," one says, "cos we wasn't going to the choir. Not for nuffink. Don't care what the Ministry was paying. You see the Gamine, you tell her. You tell her..." His voice tails off. He looks at his companion as if for the first time. His eyes are fringed with webs of skin."''</ref> The luckiest ones, or perhaps the best-prepared, have already survived for decades or more.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Speak_to_the_masked_man|Speak to the masked man|Fallen London|}} ''"No Snuffers. No Masters. No Constables. No Copper. I'll stay down here. Survive the next Fall. Only two more. Then the Bazaar can go and we'll live forever. Might need to eat each other. Not much to eat down here. Fish. Fungus."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/An_Unlikely_Garden|An Unlikely Garden|Fallen London|}} ''"Black roses flourish here. Irrigo currents fill the air around them [...] A woman with a crooked leg tends them: she has the flat face, the features of the Fourth City remnants, but her eyes are long sealed-over. "In memory of the Rosers," she tells you."''</ref> The Nadir was also used as a burial ground for the enemies of the [[Third City]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Rebels_who_will_not_rise|Rebels who will not rise|Fallen London|}} ''"The revolutionaries of the Third City sleep here, fifty-five of them. They would have made their republics in the tomb-colonies. It was not permitted. Their enemies must have hated them, to lay them here to rest where they would never be remembered."''</ref> and remnants within may date back as far as the [[First City]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Examine_the_altar|Examine the altar|Fallen London|}} ''"The altar is polished diorite, lighter and smoother than the basalt of the cave floor. Long-dead hands have carved it with a frieze of staring eyes. Much older than the Fourth City. First City, perhaps? But the cave is older still."''</ref>
| | [[File:Nadirgate.png|thumb|Irrigo beyond... (art from Fallen London)]]The Cave of the Nadir, accessible via [[the Forgotten Quarter]], is bathed in [[The Neathbow|irrigo]]. Given this Neathy color's nature of making people forget, the cave has a surprising number of residents. It's a wonderful place to survive the fall of a city. However, irrigo has drawbacks: other than memory loss, it can make those exposed to it grow bony plates over their eyes. These people eventually die, and yield the infamous Eyeless Skulls. (It is assumed that this is because the human body reflexively tries to shield itself from irrigo.) |
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| The Nadir borders [[Parabola]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/But_you_were_their_enemies,_were_you_not%3F|But you were their enemies, were you not?|Fallen London|}} ''"This place is very close to Parabola. The Rosers showed us the way. I don't know if any of them still exist. Perhaps only in the space between day and dawn."''</ref> It is difficult to enter Parabola even so, but possible if one carries a Parabolan item with them. Such a mingling of eldritch power infuses the item with irrigo while also enhancing its Parabolan qualities.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sleep%27s_fortress|Sleep's fortress|Fallen London|}} ''"This is a weak place, but you are not permitted far into Parabola: no indeed. But as a courtesy, because you are here in the Nadir, have achieved it, the messengers come with their covered platters of delight. [...] When you wake, your garment is soaked through with irrigo, but more subtly, also, with the traces of those other places."''</ref>
| | I'd include more details about this location, but, well, I forgot. |
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| ==Forgotten Purpose== | | {| class="article-table mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide" width=100% |
| {{small peckish}}<blockquote>''"The Seven Treacheries guard the Neath, but there is one place more closely guarded still: a place the Masters can't touch, a place the Bazaar can't see, a place beneath St Cerise's well. This is the wound of which Cerise's redness is only a shadow. The place where hearts go. The Nadir."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/St_Erzulie%27s_Candle_(Action)|St Erzulie's Candle (Action)|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>The Cave of the Nadir is what protects the [[Neath]] from the wrath of the [[Judgements]], as they too are vulnerable to irrigo.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/St_Erzulie%27s_Candle_(Action)|St Erzulie's Candle (Action)|Fallen London|}} ''"The Seven Treacheries guard the Neath, but there is one place more closely guarded still: a place the Masters can't touch, a place the Bazaar can't see, a place beneath St Cerise's well. This is the wound of which Cerise's redness is only a shadow. The place where hearts go. The Nadir."''</ref> This also means the [[Masters]] and the [[Bazaar]] do not notice this place;<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Try_to_make_sense_of_what_you%27re_seeing|Try to make sense of what you're seeing|Fallen London|}} ''"All this irrigo... an unimaginable intensity. Whatever its source, the Nadir is the place where things are lost. No eye can penetrate from the wider Neath."''</ref> as such, among other parties, a cell of London's [[revolutionaries]] is searching for it in order to hasten the Bazaar's demise.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/%22What_exactly_is_it_you%27re_looking_for%3F%22|'What exactly is it you're looking for?'|Fallen London|}} ''""The Nadir, it is called. The secret-of-secrets," the Firebrand says, suddenly earnest. "Mynsicht described it as a shield against Night's Courier – he meant the Bazaar, you know. Winstanley's patroness had visions of the place. It's been here a very long time. If I hadn't found—"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sell_the_location_of_the_Cave_of_the_Nadir_(Revolutionaries)|Sell the location of the Cave of the Nadir (Revolutionaries)|Fallen London|}} ''"The things we'll build there! Oh, Iron, my sweet. You have no idea what's coming. The very liberation of night..."''</ref>
| | !colspan=3|[[File:appallingsecret.png|50px]] QUEEN OF INKS (Spoiler Warning for Seeking Mr Eaten's Name!) |
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| | ''"I could try to tell you the way, but it can't be told, only shown. I don't recommend it. It's not safe. I've only replaced one set of dangers with another."'' |
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| ==References==
| | ''"The Nadir?"'' |
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| | ''"That's what it's usually called. The Bazaar can't find it. There are powers the Bazaar fears - they can't find it either. This whole city is under its protection, I think - the whole Neath, perhaps - but to carry that protection with me, I had to go in deep." She sighs. "I lost a great deal."'' |
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| | Millicent [[Clathermont]], alias Lilac, descended into the Nadir and sacrificed much of herself in order to be infused with irrigo. This made her immune to the deadly effects of sunlight on ordinary Neath residents, and also immune to being found because anybody who sees her will forget her once she's gone. |
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| | The part of her that she sacrificed is still in the Nadir, and it guards St. Erzulie's Candle. If the player takes the candle, Lilac insists in coming with them, noting that the Nadir has reduced her to nothing but the candle's guardian, and without it she would be nothing at all. So for the rest of the torturous journey, she accompanies the player, making parenthetical comments. |
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| | (Thank you to Lapis on the FBG Discord!) |
| | |} |
| [[Category:Places]] | | [[Category:Places]] |
| [[Category:London]] | | [[Category:London]] |
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| [[Category:The Neath]]
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| [[Category:Parabola]]
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