Editing The Skin of the Sun

{{major spoiler}}
<blockquote>{{Neath_Location|caption1=The Skin of the Sun, a reminder of sunset.|location=[[Parabola]]|alias=The Sun-in-the-Sky<br>
The Daughter's Dream|allegiance=[[Fingerkings]]|notable_inhabitants=[[Fingerkings|The Boil of Calamities]]|image1=BazaarsunEdited.png}}''"The light is blinding, blazing, familiar. As your eyes adjust, you realise that you are walking upon a great globe of shining glass. Far above you, there is no familiar stone ceiling... Nor even a sky. Just a dizzying verdant expanse of upside-down jungle."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Light_Fingers:_The_Skin_of_the_Sun|Light Fingers: The Skin of the Sun|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>The '''Skin of the Sun''' is an impression of the [[Sun]] that provides daylight to the skies of [[Parabola]].__FORCETOC__

== Incandescent ==
<blockquote>''"Beneath the skin of dreams, behind the faces of mirrors, an orange sun sails in a fervid sky."''<ref name="irem mirror marches">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Irem#The_Mirror-Marches|The Mirror-Marches|Sunless Sea}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Parabola medium.png|alt=An orange jungle filled with mirrors.|thumb|100px|The Mirror-Marches]]
The Skin of the Sun is a enormous, [[cosmogone]] bulb that sails across the glasslike skies of [[Parabola]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Cosmogone-filled_Mirrorcatch_Box|Cosmogone-filled Mirrorcatch Box|Fallen London}}</ref><ref name = "climb dome itself cats">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Climb_the_dome_itself_(Cats)|Climb the dome itself (Cats)|Fallen London}}</ref> It is forged of iron and glass,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London}} ''"Another sun rises inside your head. Iron and glass, [...]"''</ref> and it apparently bulges from the Parabolan skyscape itself,<ref name = "climb dome itself cats"/> sometimes resembling a massive lens.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Affair_of_the_Impatient_Apprentice|The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice|Fallen London}} ''"[...] up to the glassy, effulgent lens that passes for the sun."''</ref> As cosmogone is the color of remembered<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/A_Page_from_'The_Neathbow':_Cosmogone#Items_description|Items description|Sunless Sea}}</ref> rather than true sunlight,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Fill_your_Mirrorcatch_Box_with_the_light_of_the_cosmogone_sun|Fill your Mirrorcatch Box with the light of the cosmogone sun|Fallen London}}</ref> the Skin of the Sun has an queasy, orange appearance,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dream_of_Arbor_in_the_company_of_the_Injurious_Princess|Dream of Arbor in the company of the Injurious Princess|Fallen London}} ''"[...] a queasy orange glow in the sky, [...]"''</ref> but it is still capable of lighting and heating almost all of the Parabolan landscape. Only certain locations like the [[Moonlit Chessboard]] are not touched by its light in any capacity.<ref name = "irem mirror marches"/><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Visit_the_Moonlit_Chessboard|Visit the Moonlit Chessboard|Fallen London}}</ref> 

Despite being in the realm of dream, the Skin of the Sun appears to follow a typical daylight cycle. As it sets, stars may appear in the Parabolan night sky, and a moon may rise to take its place. At first, the Parabolan moon might resemble a man, but at a second glance, it might resemble a sleeping, curled-up cat.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Night_is_falling|Night is falling|Fallen London}} ''"Pinpricks of light [...] in the darkening sky. Stars! [...] a crescent moon rises. [...] don't resemble a man, or anything else so much as a cat, curled up asleep."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_at_the_moon|Look at the moon|Fallen London}}</ref>

== The Coiling Spire ==
<blockquote>''"The 'sky' around the sun appears to be glass, too. A giant glass dome from whose upper reaches the sun has bubbled forth. And above you - well, below you - an enormous, twisting stone spire stretches toward the ground, like an umbilical cord connecting the jungle and the sun."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Contemplate_your_predicament|Contemplate your predicament|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Cosmogone.png|alt=A yellow-orange letter C.|thumb|[[Cosmogone]]]]
The '''Coiling Spire''' is a massive stone structure that spans all the way from the Skin of the Sun to the ground.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Descend_the_Coiling_Spire_(DO_NOT_TARRY)|Descend the Coiling Spire (DO NOT TARRY)|Fallen London}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Contemplate_your_predicament|Contemplate your predicament|Fallen London}} ''"[...] an enormous, twisting stone spire stretches toward the ground, "''</ref> It has a winding ramp, with a groove carved within it from years upon years of serpentine transit and use.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Light_Fingers:_Atop_the_Spire|Light Fingers: Atop the Spire|Fallen London}} ''"A groove that's been worn into the rock as though by [....] the passage of serpents)."''</ref> Cosmogone is a color that is irresistible to the denizens of Parabola,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Set_of_Cosmogone_Spectacles|Set of Cosmogone Spectacles|Fallen London}}</ref> but the Skin of the Sun remains outside the reach of living Fingerkings, as they can never touch sunlight.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sleep%27s_fortress_(Parabola-Linen_Suit)|Sleep's fortress (Parabola-Linen Suit)|Fallen London}}</ref> Thus, Fingerkings who feel they are nearing their end embark on a pilgrimage of sorts to reach the Skin of the Sun, a journey which apparently kills them permanently.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.miraheze.org/wiki/Irem#The_Mirror-Marches|Bargain for a Parabox|Sunless Sea}}</ref> 

=== The Boiling Sky ===
<blockquote>''"This is not your place. This is their domain. They may allow your kind to trespass across the rest of their kingdom, you slumbering oafs, you mortal morsels, but not here, not the hallowed spire. Insolence! Blasphemy!"''<ref name="boiling sky">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Light_Fingers:_The_Boiling_Sky|Light Fingers: The Boiling Sky|Fallen London}}</ref>

''"As suddenly as a stormcloud, a boiling stew of vast, interweaving coils has filled the sky from horizon to horizon. Somewhere in the boiling mass, fangs are drawn – long and sharp as winter."''<ref name="boiling sky"/></blockquote>[[File:Fingerking.png|alt=A green serpent.|thumb|A [[Fingerking]].]]
The Skin of the Sun and the Coiling Spire are locations of great importance to the [[Fingerkings]], who consider them sacred.<ref name = "boiling sky"/> As such, trespassing in these places without express permission from the Fingerkings can lead to serious trouble.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Be_introduced_to_the_enormous_snake|Be introduced to the enormous snake|Fallen London}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Recognise_an_Ophidian_Gentleman|Recognise an Ophidian Gentleman|Fallen London}} ''"[...] they will grant you safe passage here only if you please them."''</ref> Both locales are guarded by the aptly-named '''Boil of Calamities''',<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Study_the_Boil_of_Calamities|Study the Boil of Calamities|Fallen London}}</ref> an extremely powerful entity that appears as an enormous, spiraling serpent made of smaller, interwoven serpents, large enough to block out the sky.<ref name = "boiling sky"/><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Grab_the_bell_from_Poor_Edward%27s_hand|Grab the bell from Poor Edward's hand|Fallen London}} ''"[...] the Boil knots in anguish. [...] spiralling like an unravelling rope, it departs [...]"''</ref> This being protects its territory with ferocity and zeal,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Recognise_an_Ophidian_Gentleman|Recognise an Ophidian Gentleman|Fallen London}} ''"[...] be careful of the Boil of Calamities. It is fierce about its territory."''</ref> and anyone who even steps within its purview unauthorized risks being hunted down with extreme prejudice.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Make_a_convincing_case_to_the_Court_of_Cats|Make a convincing case to the Court of Cats|Fallen London}} ''"[...] your intrusion on the Skin of the Sun, and your subsequent pursuit by the Boil of Calamities, [...]"''</ref> 

The Boil's reasons for protecting the [[Parabolan]] sun so fiercely are many; after all, it laid the egg that would become the Skin of the Sun, though the egg itself was heavily modified before it became what it is now.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Make_a_convincing_case_to_the_Court_of_Cats|Make a convincing case to the Court of Cats|Fallen London}} ''""It also is the mother-father of the egg that is the Parabolan sun," [...] "Though others played a part in that, too.""''</ref>

== Sunrise ==
<blockquote>''"This is Parabola. We found it in dreams and brought light to it. The ushabti were built to construct a new home for the Second City, where we could live forever beneath the skin of the sun. The night was the bringer of dreams and thus sacred to us. But this Palace was never completed."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}}</ref>

''"We will not see another day, for every day will be a night. Let every night, then, be a day, in dreams that stream with bright sunlight. Pray to the gods that rule the day. Pray to the gods that rule the night. Blow the glass, blow until it glows, and raise it high into the sky."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>[[File:Ushabti.png|alt=An Egyptian figurine.|thumb|An Ushabti.]]
Before the Skin of the Sun was created, it is said that the lands of Parabola were quite dark.<ref name = "attendents found it in dreams">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"We found it in dreams and brought light to it."''</ref> During the time of the [[Second City]], the sisters of the [[Duchess]] sought refuge for themselves and the city's people in [[Parabola]], away from the influence of the [[Bazaar]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"The Palace of the Rising was to be a refuge from the Masters and the Bazaar."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Homecoming|Homecoming|Fallen London}} ''"The jungle below is bathed in orange light [...] you see people basking in your glow. They are seeking refuge from something [...]"''</ref> after trapping the [[Masters]] within a tomb flanked by the [[Salt Lions]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Homecoming|Homecoming|Fallen London}} ''"[...] your immense basalt paws [...] Your twin is at your side. [...] you watch as a funerary procession makes its way towards a temple. A group of hooded creatures [...] are led inside, and do not emerge for centuries."''</ref> The precise details of the Parabolan sun's construction are unclear, but it seems that the sisters modified the egg of the Boil of Calamities in its shell,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Climb_the_dome_itself_(Fingerkings)|Climb the dome itself (Fingerkings)|Fallen London}} ''""The sun was born," [...] "With certain modifications. Those women augmented it in the shell.""''</ref> resulting in the egg presumably hatching into an object made of glass.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Study_the_Boil_of_Calamities|Study the Boil of Calamities|Fallen London}} ''"[...] ("the Boil of Calamities, Lord of the Seething Sky, wept a drop of shining glass...") [...]"''</ref> The citizens of the Second City then proceeded to construct and raise the Parabolan sun using a ritual involving glassblowing and prayer,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London}} ''"Pray to the gods [...] Blow the glass, blow until it glows, and raise it high into the sky."''</ref> and the newly-born sun scorched the Parabolan landscape and melted the colors of the sky itself.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London}} ''"Another sun rises inside your head. Iron and glass, smouldering in a dream [...] Palm trees bow and shrivel in the heat. [...] withering grass. Colours run down the sky's face [...]"''</ref>

Following the construction of the Skin of the Sun, the sisters then attempted to build a large palace for the citizens of the Second City in Parabola, so that they may live in sunlight once more.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"This is Parabola. We [...] brought light to it. The ushabti were built to construct a new home for the Second City, where we could live forever beneath the skin of the sun."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"A new sun was raised in the sky so the citizens might walk in light again."''</ref> Unfortunately, their plans fell through and the sisters were forced to flee, leaving the whole project unfinished.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"But the House of the Feather was opened before the Palace was completed. We four survivors fled."''</ref> Over time, the Parabolan sun began to break down with age,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"But time conquers all. The sun here is failing, [...]"''</ref> growing cracks that leak [[cosmogone]] vapor.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Flint|Flint|Fallen London}} ''"A vast globe of cracked glass, embedded in the roof, leaks cosmogone vapour."''</ref> Eventually, it may fail entirely, plunging Parabola into twilight once more.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"We found it in dreams and brought light to it. [...] The sisters found it in twilight and in dreams. [...] This was a twilight place that the Second City made brighter."''</ref>

== References ==
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[[Category:Parabola]]
[[Category:Places]]