"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
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"V marks VIOLANT when blood is shed in a spired place. Violant ink is employed for the most desperate treaties..."[1]
Violant is a color of the Neathbow; the principal counterpart of irrigo,[2] it is the color of "troublesome but necessary connections"[3] and of "blood shed in a spired place,"[4] implying that it is the color of the Bazaar's blood. The name "violant" could stem from "violent," from "violet," or both.
Violant indelibly lingers in one's memory;[5] it is very difficult to forget anything written in violant ink.[6] If an Eyeless Skull from irrigo exposure is soaked in violant, it will sprout many new eye sockets all over itself.[7]
Violant is usually depicted as burgundy,[8] but sometimes it is described as a shade of purple[9] or blue.[10] It can range from electric blue to the red of slightly dried blood.[11]
Uses[]
Correspondents use violant ink extensively in their esoteric, paradigm-altering publications.[12] Violant light is captured within a Khanate communication device called a Corresponding Sounder.[5] It can also be seen within a Ray-drenched Cinder alongside other colors of the Neathbow.[13] Photographs done on violant film emphasize movement and connections within societies.[14][15]
Scientific Inspirations[]
The Bazaar is more or less a giant space crab, so it is pertinent to note that horseshoe crab blood is a bright blue, similar to the color of the illustration of violant ink. True crab species (horseshoe crabs are not technically crabs!) also have bluish-grey blood. This is because their respiratory pigment is a copper-based compound called hemocyanin; the counterpart of this compound in vertebrates is hemoglobin, which makes vertebrates' blood red because it contains iron. More curious is blood protein of some mollusks and marine worms known as hemerythrin that has violet-pink color.
↑Enter the Cave of the Nadir, Fallen London"Yes. The light is irrigo: the colour of forgetfulness. [...] The Cinder carries elements of irrigo, but also violant, and other opposing colours."
↑Olivia Wood, formerly of Failbetter: "The closest approximation of violant is a sort of stark burgundy. For the most in-universe explanation - it is difficult to represent colours that do not exist on the Surface, on the Surface. So, follow the descriptions rather than the colours you see. "Violant: the colour of necessary, but troublesome connections. According to other traditions, the colour of blood shed in a spired place." And... if the descriptions don't seem to match – well, there's always the fall back that in real life, people can see colours differently too. It's definitely the same in the Neath. :) "
↑Bruno (FBG), Failbetter Games Discord Server"In some contexts it's an electric blue, in some contexts it's the red of slightly dried blood, in some contexts it's either or both or neither."
↑Ray-Drenched Cinder, Fallen London"Sizzling with violant and irrigo light. It has absorbed radiations not of this earth. Some of its colours can only be seen in sleep."
↑Develop the reel you exposed in Hallow's Throat, Fallen London"The camera's eye turns to look at, and linger on, brief moments of connection. You see an oddly warm greeting between a smuggler and a Starved Man. You see two airfarers sharing swigs from a hip flask. You see little copper coins [...] changing hands."
