"Plucked from the walls of Hell. How far you'll go to win your intended's favour. Or perhaps an indication of where they ought to go."
"The flower pressed to the paper, its petals flattened like ink. Velvet to the touch and wet with unstolen nectar, the Exile's Rose is redolent of dark promises made at midnight. London's veterans returned from the war on Hell wearing them on their breasts."[1]
"I have seen fairer roses. But few make so clear a statement. Hell tends its gardens well. Thank you."[2]
Exile's Rose is a mysterious black flower[3] grown in gardens near the walls of Hell.[4][5] It also appears on the Surface, such as in "sacred places from Pontus to Baetica."[6] This flower symbolizes grim promises made at the midnight hour, and veterans of the Campaign of '68 returned home wearing Exile's Roses on their uniforms.[7] It is also a key ingredient in Zzoup, a popular dish.[8] It is unclear if Exile's Rose originates from Hell proper, or if it originally appeared elsewhere.[9][10]
Honey-Brewing[]
"...THE ROSE, WHICH IS CALLED EXILE'S ROSE, has a property of passage. So shall I brew a honey from its dusts and pollens, and the honey shall be sweet, and it shall bring those who taste it, here to your dwelling. And sometimes they shall stay forever."[11]
Lamplighter Bees fed on the nectar of Exile's Rose produce Prisoner's Honey,[12] a drug that temporarily transports imbibers to Parabola.[13] Exile's Rose itself may also be consumed to enter Parabola, but those who do so never return.[6] According to the Order Serpentine, the Fingerkings felt lonely being trapped behind the mirror,[14] and asked the "grumpiest bee in both worlds" (who might represent the devils) for help. The bee retrieved Exile's Rose from a "far place,"[10] and used its "property of passage" to concoct Prisoner's Honey and transport dreamers to Parabola.[15] In exchange, the Fingerkings granted the bee one-fifth of all they gained thereafter.[10]
Red Variants[]
"When lamplighter bees suck the nectar of the crimson strain of exile's rose, they are driven to madness. They enter the brains of humans and harvest their memories. Those memories are instilled in red honey. Each sip is a burst of memory on the tongue."[16]
"I have, I fear, at last determined the cause of our poor Leopold's sad disappearance. You will recall that I sent by the Borneo a very considerable collection of [illegible] ... identified one variety as the sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus. Sophia had long admired their colour [illegible] ... gardens here about the Government-house [illegible] ... although here they call it 'lion's rose'."[17]
Exile's Rose may be crossbred with another flower from Hell to produce a red-petaled variant.[18][19] When Lamplighter Bees consume the pollen from these flowers, they go mad and extract memories from the minds of those nearby, producing Gaoler's Honey.[20] In 1821, Stamford Raffles imported a red strain of Exile's Rose to Singapore (which may or may not be the same variant used to make red honey), identifying them as the "sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus" and "lion's rose." Leopold, his son, encountered these flowers and vanished from the Surface.[21][22] He would later go on to become the Pirate-King of the Isle of Cats.[23]
Historical and Cultural Inspirations[]
Pontus is part of Anatolia in modern-day Turkey, whereas Baetica was a Roman province on the Iberian peninsula. The Bosphorus is a strait that divides Istanbul, Turkey. This specific regional indication implies that Exile's Rose was inspired by Rhododendron ponticum, whose honey infamously contains a group of neurotoxins that result in cardiac and consciousness-altering effects in humans.[24] Unlike Exile's Rose, this species of rhododendron blooms purple or pink.
↑ 6.06.1What is prisoner's honey?, Fallen London"from the Natural History of Pliny the Elder: "... there is another kind of honey; its effect is attributed to the flowers called exile's rose, which are found in sacred places from Pontus to Baetica. One who consumes these flowers departs and does not return."
↑Send an Unblemished Exile's Rose, Fallen London"[...] the Exile's Rose is redolent of dark promises made at midnight. London's veterans returned from the war on Hell wearing them on their breasts."
↑ 10.010.110.2Order Serpentine, Sorrowful, Fallen London"THE LITTLE SNAKE asked the grumpiest bee in both worlds for help. And the bee said, why should I help? And the snake said, I will give you one-fifth of all I gain thereby. So the bee [...] said, in a far place there grows a rose."
↑Sample prisoner's honey, Fallen London"Prisoner's Honey does not bring dreams to those who sample it. Instead, it physically transports them to dreams. Your body fades from the couch [...] As you vanish from its lair [...] When you mention your dream to the proprietor of the honey-den [...]"
↑Order Serpentine, Lachrymose, Fallen London"THE ROSE, WHICH IS CALLED EXILE'S ROSE, has a property of passage. So shall I brew a honey from its dusts and pollens, [...] and it shall bring those who taste it, here to your dwelling. And sometimes they shall stay forever. And the little snake was very pleased with all the new friends [...]"
↑The Honeyed Tongue, Sunless Sea"When lamplighter bees suck the nectar of the crimson strain of exile's rose, they are driven to madness. They enter the brains of humans and harvest their memories." [...] "Those memories are instilled in red honey. [...]"
↑Sidebar Snippets#Universal, Fallen London""I have, [...] at last determined the cause of our poor Leopold's [...] disappearance. You will recall that I sent by the Borneo a [...] collection of [illegible] ... identified one variety as the sinister exile's rose of the Bosphorus. Sophia had long admired their colour [illegible] ... gardens here about the Government-house [illegible] ... although here they call it 'lion's rose'. Singapura [...] many tigers. I would not mention this except that when I dream of Leopold, [...] it has always seemed to me that there is a great cat present, the colour of sunset, which is also the colour of the roses [...]"
↑Story description, Sunless Sea""The spice-scented docks of Malacca," Leopold breathes [...] He returns [...] eyes bright. "I am very partial to memories of the Far East. Very thoughtful of you.""
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"What might one expect from Leopold, Pirate-King of the Isle of Cats: [...] Behind him you see a wall of what you think are wine-racks. On closer inspection, the racks hold bottle upon carefully-labelled bottle of red honey."
↑Grayanotoxin Poisoning: ‘Mad Honey Disease’ and Beyond, National Library of Medicine"Grayanotoxin containing honey, called "mad honey," can cause dramatic effects when ingested [-] as has already been recorded by the Greek warrior-writer Xenophon in 401 BC in his Anabasis "… but the swarms of bees in the neighborhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went of their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men. So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging...""
