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The Fifth City: The Neath's Lore Wiki
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in: Places, The High Wilderness, Albion

The Well of the Wolf

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"A hole in the sky! Torrents of celestial mist pour into it. Shelves of black ice poke from its throat. One of the shelves extends over the well-mouth in a narrow spur. At its end stands a pitted, cast-iron bandstand."[1]

The Well of the Wolf is a sky-well located in the region of Albion.

The Choir in the Sky[]

"Is that brimstone? Or my imagination?"[2]

The Well of the Wolf is a vortex of wind surrounded by platforms of black ice.[3] A congregation of devils live near the well's rim in a system of hexagonal caves.[4] Unlike most devils, they are disheveled and poorly dressed, and are incapable of speaking.[5] This is because the well is a place where devils "retire;"[6] they may also come here out of disillusionment for their kind's habits,[7] or due to being outcast.[8][9]

Each of the devils here has a Chorister Bee burrowed in their chest cavity,[10] which replaces their speaking voice with plainsong produced by the bee.[11][12] Atop a platform above the well is a bandstand built right after London crossed the Avid Horizon.[13][14] When the well's winds whip wildly, the devils convene at the bandstand and calm the storm by performing hymns about the well's inhabitant,[15][16] using song and dance to spell sigils of the Correspondence.[17]

Above the well is a stone idol engraved with many whistling mouths.[18] A ritual can be performed here called the Rite of the Rack, where initiates must "hang and give voice" by dangling themselves from the idol and screaming for hours, until their voice gives out completely and their throat has been run ragged. This sacrifice will alter their identity and ensure they are "no longer only themself."[19] This rite can be reversed by whipping oneself with a scourge while the well consumes their cries, nullifying the bargain.[20]

The King of Carols[]

Crypticsecret

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."

Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, or Sunless Skies. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution.

You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.


"The hymn is an ending-hymn. The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'. His followers – 'the horned and brazen' – grieved, then raged, then rebelled. The Chain was broken."[21]

A bee.

A Chorister Bee

The prisoner within the Well of the Wolf is the King of Carols. This leader of the devils bellows from within the well's depths,[22] and his cries of agony agitate the well's winds.[23] The devils here sing and dance in his honor, and recount his deeds and tragic fate through their hymns.[24]

The King stood in defiance against the Judgements by refusing to sing for them,[25] and was hung above the well as a warning to others.[26] After he persisted, giving his many voices to his creations, the Chorister Bees,[27][28] he was imprisoned in the well forever.[29] His martyrdom fueled the ill-fated revolt of the devils against the Judgements.[30]

References[]

  1. ↑ Approaching the Well of the Wolf, Sunless Skies
  2. ↑ Log Entries, Sunless Skies
  3. ↑ Approaching the Well of the Wolf, Sunless Skies "A hole in the sky! Torrents of celestial mist pour into it. Shelves of black ice poke from its throat."
  4. ↑ The Well of the Wolf, Sunless Skies "Away from the edge, a cluster of hexagonal cave-mouths perforate an icy cliff-face. The yellow eyes of devils gleam inside them."
  5. ↑ Speak to the congregation of devils, Sunless Skies "They emerge, curious, from the caves. Once, they were dapper in pinstripe or delicate in brocade. Now, they wear rags. [...] You ask about their lives here. Silence. When you persist, one steps forward and opens his mouth as wide as he can. Plainsong emerges: [...] sonorous drone. The devil's lips and tongue aren't moving – the song is coming from deeper in his throat."
  6. ↑ Deposit the Infernal Philatelist, Sunless Skies ""Now I'm retired," he says to himself. His tone is not happy, but it is satisfied."
  7. ↑ Visit the isolated office of an Abstemious Devil, Sunless Skies ""I have forsaken the interests of my kind, and the activities here are a continual temptation. I hope to book passage to the Well of the Wolf, to spend the rest of my time in austere service.""
  8. ↑ Enquire about her relationship with other devils, Sunless Skies ""Devils are judgemental creatures, [...] I have had enough of being looked on with disgust by devils and with reverence by lunatics. It is tiring. I wish to go somewhere where I won't be looked on at all.""
  9. ↑ Enquire about her offer, Sunless Skies ""I would like to book passage to the Well of the Wolf [...]"
  10. ↑ Speak to the congregation of devils, Sunless Skies "When you persist, one steps forward and opens his mouth as wide as he can. Plainsong emerges: [...] the song is coming from deeper in his throat. [...] see a large compound eye – insectoid, [...] peering back at you from his chest cavity."
  11. ↑ Deposit the Infernal Philatelist, Sunless Skies "He takes the bee from the cage and you watch as his jaw [...] opening wider and wider and wider. The curious bee crawls inside, [...] the Philatelist sings with the bee's sweet, wordless voice."
  12. ↑ Give the Patchwork Devil her bee, Sunless Skies "You open the bee's cage. "Thank you," the Devil breathes. They are the last words she ever speaks. Her mouth opens [...] The bee crawls [...] down her throat, and nestles in her chest cavity. The Devil's mouth returns to its usual size, then emits a single seraphic note."
  13. ↑ Approach the bandstand, Sunless Skies "A spur of ice juts precipitously over the well. At the end of it sits a bandstand, [...]"
  14. ↑ Investigate the bandstand, Sunless Skies "The bandstand [...] You find the manufacturer's mark and date: the components were wrought in the Promised Days, just after London arrived in the heavens."
  15. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies "Today, the well's howl is frenzied. [...] The hymn is an ending-hymn. The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. [...] By the time the well is soothed, the devils are drained. They lean on each other as they stagger away."
  16. ↑ Listen to the second hymn, Sunless Skies "The wind shrieks. The devils dance. [...] The well stills. The hymn stops. The dance ends."
  17. ↑ Decipher some of the dance-alphabet of the devils, Sunless Skies "You are sure the patterns of the devils' dance are a crude form of the Correspondence. The hymn itself, you think, is only inflection."
  18. ↑ Approach a stone idol, Sunless Skies "A large fragment of sky-rock [...] perforated by holes of different sizes. [...] It whistles."
  19. ↑ Enact the Rite of the Rack, Sunless Skies "[...] someone has cut the words 'HANG AND GIVE VOICE' into the ice. [...] The strap knots around your wrists. You put your back to the idol, [...] and leap. [...] you hang there, [...] you scream and scream and scream. Your voice grows hoarse, then ragged. When it is gone, and your screams are marked only by the blood they spray from your ravaged throat, the devils emerge [...] They lift you off the idol, [...] The rite is complete. You have sacrificed, and are no longer only yourself."
  20. ↑ Forsake your current rite, Sunless Skies "[...] you apply the knout. [...] Your blood flows. Your cries are snatched away by the wind. The hooks dig deeper than skin, [...] They catch on an old bargain, dragging it out from your core. When you drop the knout, your well-rite is gone. You are only yourself again."
  21. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies
  22. ↑ Story description, Sunless Skies "She leans over the well further. "I will be your queen," she screams. "Will you be my king?" A distant and incomprehensible bellow bursts from below."
  23. ↑ Bandstand, Sunless Skies "The thing in the well begins to howl, and the winds scurry in search of kinder spaces. It is a hollow, keening sound, the distress of something that can't believe it still has more to lose. The ice groans, miserably."
  24. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies "The choir has grown enough to attempt its most sacred hymn. [...] The Hymn of the Martyr [...] The hymn is an ending-hymn. The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'. [...] The fate of the uprising is unstated, but the sigils are melancholy. [...]"
  25. ↑ Listen to the second hymn, Sunless Skies "[...] the hymn's plainsong denotes a time long ago: [...] a tale of the Many-Mouthed. He... [...] campaigned, perhaps, or protested – against [...] 'the Golden Rule'? [...] The King of Carols 'objected through the withdrawal of his voice'. Because of this, 'the eyes were angry'."
  26. ↑ Listen to the third hymn, Sunless Skies "This hymn is a hymn of suffering. [...] The Choir-in-One [...] was – elaborated? Stretched? Hung? – above the well [...] The stars 'made a message of him,' [...]"
  27. ↑ Listen to the third hymn, Sunless Skies "In defiance, he gave away his voices, bestowing 'all but one of them upon his—' The next part might be 'creations' or 'aberrations' or 'amalgamies'. Apparently, this was not well received by 'those who judged'."
  28. ↑ Deposit the Abstemious Devil, Sunless Skies "Long ago, the Many-Mouthed gave all but one of his voices to his creations. I require a single live chorister-bee."
  29. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies "The Many-Mouthed was judged by the Regents in Gold, and cast into the well. His voices, all but the one he kept, 'were scattered to the hives'."
  30. ↑ Listen to the fourth and final hymn, Sunless Skies "His followers – 'the horned and brazen' – grieved, then raged, then rebelled. The Chain was broken. The fate of the uprising is unstated, but the sigils are melancholy. There is reference to an exodus, to 'a time of serpents'."
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