Editing The Mountain of Light

[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:The Elder Continent]]
{{Character|title1 = Stone|image1 = mountainoflight.png|caption1 = A faraway jewel in the darkness. |location = [[The Elder Continent]]|allegiance = [[The Sun]]<br>
[[The Bazaar]]|alias = The Mountain of Light|relationships = [[The Sun]] (parent)<br>
[[The Bazaar]] (parent)<br>
[[Mt Nomad]] (offspring)|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/hope-is-an-anchor Hope is an Anchor]}}<blockquote>''"Turn your eyes south. Wait nine heart-beats. In the heart of the Elder Continent, a tiny fugitive gleam of warmth. It's gone."''<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_View_from_Above|Something bright |Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>'''The Mountain of Light''' is a massive, glowing peak located deep within the [[Elder Continent]]. For her radiance and its life-giving effects, she is worshipped as '''Stone''', one of the three [[gods of the Unterzee]].

==The Life-Giver==
Stone is a living mountain far to the south of the [[Presbyterate]]. She is the daughter of the [[Bazaar]] and the [[Sun]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Watch_the_play_for_a_little_while_4|Watch the play for a little while 4|Fallen London}} ''"They drag the Messenger screaming, [...] where the Chained Sun and the Messenger's Daughter wait."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Adam's_Way#Adam.27s_Way|Go ashore with the Adventuress|Sunless Sea}}''"The Bazaar is the Mountain's mother, they say. Or her father. I don't understand how these things work. I wonder if she ever complains about her parents."''</ref> and the mother of [[Mt Nomad]]<ref name="flint">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}}</ref> and [[The Shames|a host of other creatures]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}} ''""Shames!" [...] "Mountain's get!""''</ref>

Stone is as old as the Earth itself,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dump_it_on_the_fire|Dump it on the fire|Fallen London|}} ''"Yes... this is how the Mountain is remembered. When the Garden first was young, when the Neath was not the Neath, when the Earth had not yet set like candle-wax, when the jewels remained uncovered to casual sight."''</ref> and influences the lives of nearly all who inhabit the Neath. The unnatural, unexplainable vitality she emits is what makes [[death]] in this realm mostly impermanent.<ref name="flint" /><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Leisurely_enquiries|Leisurely enquiries|Fallen London}}</ref> A piece of the mountain at the center of [[Polythreme]]<ref name="fallenlondon.wiki">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Meeting_the_King|Meeting the King|Fallen London}}</ref> makes the normally inanimate denizens so alive that they scream,<ref name="fallenlondon.wiki"/> and the citizens of the [[Elder Continent]] are particularly long-lived.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Presbyterate_Adventuress|"None shall live a thousand years." |Sunless Sea}}</ref> She is also the source of the [[Wax-Wind]]''',''' said to be her weeping,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}} ''""Two things which are not Mysteries, precisely. [...] I have heard that the Wax-Wind is her weeping.""''</ref> which blows across the zee and poses a frequent hazard to zailors.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Accept_the_Wax-Wind|Accept the Wax-Wind|Fallen London}}''"The Wax-Wind blows from the Elder Continent, from the Mountain-of-Light."''</ref> And of course she glows, enough to blind anyone who gets too close without proper protection<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Seven_Years_Later|Seven Years Later|Sunless Sea}}''"Then you reach up and pluck his sapphire lenses away. He screams as his eyes boil."''</ref> - though she is courteous enough to dim her light at night.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}} ''The Rubbery Man has more human language than most of its kind, but the conversation is challenging, nonetheless. As far as you can tell, a ship chartered by the Vespertine – by the "Patronesh" – is landing tonight, when the Mountain's glow dims. It wishes you to "shabotage shuppliesh".''</ref>

=== The Garden ===
At the heart of the Mountain is '''[[the Garden]]''', the source of all its vitality;<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_word_with_His_Amused_Lordship|A word with His Amused Lordship|Fallen London}}</ref> said to grant immortality and eternal youth, this place has been the target of many an expedition.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_word_with_the_Detective|A word with the Detective|Fallen London}}</ref> It is the birthplace of the [[Snuffers]], who were cast out after the first of their kind wounded the Mountain. Now the only things that may enter are birds and other flying creatures, so hunting these is strictly forbidden in the Presbyterate. According to the [[Presbyterate Adventuress]], only these creatures are allowed in because the Mountain dreams of [[The High Wilderness|flight]].<ref name="homeland">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Presbyterate_Adventuress|The Last Night: Record her memoirs about her homeland|Sunless Sea}}''"But we will kill nothing that flies. The story is that they carry the airs of the Garden, that permit us to live forever. But I think it's sentiment. I think the Mountain dreams of flight..."''</ref>

===The Mountain Wounded===

[[File:Riverofblood.png|thumb|The Nameless River flows with Stone's blood. Art from FL.]]Stone bears multiple wounds that bleed over the Elder Continent and down the Nameless River.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}}''"The blood of the nameless river flows from the Mountain's wound."''</ref> No one may truly know who inflicted them, and it may have been multiple parties<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}} ''"I have heard the Thief-of-Faces did her the harm. I have heard it was a dragon out of the deep sky. I have heard the wound remains from when she birthed Mt Nomad. I have heard she wounded herself, to protest the orders of Heaven. I have heard she did it so we all would share in her immortality. I have heard the Bazaar smote her flank, when it entered the Neath.""''</ref> - one being the [[Thief-of-Faces]], who is known to have raped her long ago.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London|}} ''"The Mountain cast us all out of the Garden, when it found that our progenitor had taken jewels from its wombs, to make a weapon to serve its hatred. I will tell you of the weapon it made."''</ref> These wounds leak life; for instance, '''the Lesser Wound''' is located on one of her limbs, near the [[The Prison of Flint|Prison of Flint]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}}''"The Vignerons will not approach the central knoll. A spring flows from its side into a deep pool – red like the waters of the Nameless River, but a deeper red."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}}''"You see how a far-flung Mountain-limb underlies the Vineyard, and you understand that the Lesser Wound leaks life."''</ref> Stone bore [[Mt Nomad]] after her assault by the Thief-of-Faces.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Just_one|Just one|Fallen London|}} ''"We don't choose our memories, though we might wish we could. Here is recorded the name of Mount Nomad, grand-daughter of the Bazaar. She will not rest in peace. May she roam the Zee in silence."''</ref>

The Mountain dreams of visiting her daughter.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Scent_your_pillow_with_it|Scent your pillow with it|Fallen London|}} ''"In your dream, you pass above the waters of the Unterzee like a stately shooting-star, grappling the air as a monkey climbs a hedge. There – a pinnacle of black glass, growing among the waves. Call out to it! Draw the letters! It's been too long since you spoke –"''</ref>
[[File:Diamondblue.png|thumb|A Mountain-Sherd.]]

===Worship===

People from around the [[Elder Continent]] regularly make pilgrimages to Stone, and sometimes they clip relics called '''Mountain-Sherds''' from her slopes.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Pilgrimage_to_Amaradri|The Pilgrimage to Amaradri|Sunless Sea}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/Mountain-sherd|Mountain-sherd|Sunless Sea}}</ref> These retain their life-giving properties on a small scale,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Kitten-Sized_Diamond,_Liberated_from_the_Mountain|A Kitten-Sized Diamond, Liberated from the Mountain|Fallen London}}</ref> and may grant a living being immortality if used to replace their heart - though this is accomplished by turning it into a building<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Conclude_your_study_of_diamond_implantation|Conclude your study of diamond implantation|Fallen London}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Seek_her_research_opinion|Seek her research opinion|Fallen London}} ''"Hephaesta's greatest contribution is being able to hold a creature down while you attempt to substitute its heart. And once, a lizard transforms halfway into a minor ziggurat before it dies. Hephaesta's assistance makes light work of cleaning away the remains."''</ref> or even an entire city,<ref name="fallenlondon.wiki"/><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/An_Unusual_Request,_Continued|An Unusual Request, Continued|Fallen London}} ''""'To grow into a city, Furnace will need a shard of the Mountain of Light. This, the Creditor can arrange. Our gift is a down payment.'"''</ref> possibly depending on its place on the Great Chain.

===Stone's Attention===
Stone's blessing grants health and agility.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/The_View_from_Above|Prayer to the god called Stone|Sunless Sea}}</ref> Her curse doesn't seem to do anything, but perhaps we merely have yet to witness its effects.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/The_Gods_of_the_Zee:_Stone%27s_Curse|The Gods of the Zee: Stone's Curse|Sunless Sea}}</ref> Be wary of surprise bits of stone and even diamonds showing up unaccounted for on the ship; these may mean Stone is watching you from her glowing, ever-living mountain home.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/A_Tooth-Cracking_Treasure|A Tooth-Cracking Treasure|Sunless Sea}}</ref>

== Real-Life Parallels==
The Mountain is likely named after the diamond known as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor Koh-i-Noor] (Mountain of Light in Persian). This diamond was once the largest in the world, and passed through the hands of the Kakatiya dynasty in India, the Persian Empire, and the British Empire. It is now a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. It may also reference [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debre_Berhan Debre Berhan], a former capital of Ethiopia whose name is Amharic for "Mountain of Light".

==References==

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[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Nonhuman]]
[[Category:Zee-Gods]]
[[Category:The Elder Continent]]