The Poisoned Priestess

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### Related

The Pharaoh's Daughters
The Swan Bride

> *"She bears a crown made of reeds and a staff made of weeds. Her skin is the colour of oxidising copper, and her eyes are black as obsidians. The poisoned fumes of the Lotus Pool hang from her like the smoke of the Delphic Oracle."*
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The **Poisoned Priestess** is a mysterious being who dwells within the Sere Palace in the Hinterlands.

## Toxic

> *"Painted hieroglyphs show a woman at the head of six, walking alone into a dark temple, adorned with a feather."*
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The Poisoned Priestess resides within the green waters of the Lotus Pool in the Sere Palace, and is the source of the toxins that suffuse the area. The Lotus Pool is the center of her fiefdom, though she is its only subject. She holds power over the canals of the Hinterlands, and can bestow this gift to others. She is immortal and her poisons sustain her life; they also gave her many powers and quirks, such as corrosive saliva or the ability to erase memories.

The Priestess was once the eldest of the Sisters. When the Second City fell, she and her sisters conspired to imprison the Masters of the Bazaar in a tomb near the Salt Lions. To execute this trap, however, she was forced to sacrifice herself and was presumed dead. The Priestess managed to survive in a transfigured form, but the details of how this happened are unclear, besides a possible connection to Parabola and perhaps the Fingerkings.

## Appearance and Personality

> *"It is not an easy life. Indeed, it is no life at all. But no trick goes without a cost: the price of victory an eternity of regrets. But do not tell my sisters that."*
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The Priestess is an ancient, dark-eyed woman, with regalia made from plants and skin seething with poisons. In art of the Second City, she was depicted wearing one or more feathers in her crown.

The Priestess is affable and fond of righteous vengeance, but she is also lonely, and has mixed opinions of her sisters. Her past has left her burdened with many regrets, and it is implied that she deliberately erased portions of her own memory as time went on.

## River's Blood

> *"It was the bargain struck. That he cheat Hell. In his blood, poison runs: a poison drawn from you."*
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> *"He spoke to the Lotus Pool, and the Pool answered. Blood for water. If the canals flow through you, how can you lose a race on the red waters? The price was too rich for his blood. But he could read men well, and though far older, to him I was an open book. In my loneliness, I allowed a substitution."*
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About fifty years ago, the Gonfaloniere of the Guild of Gondoliers sought to secure his position for life. He risked being exiled to Hell if he lost a race through the Hinterlands' canals, so he beseeched the Poisoned Priestess for help.

The Priestess wed the Gonfaloniere and his betrothed, the Swan Bride. She then replaced the Bride's blood with the waters of the canals, transforming her the same way the Priestess had been changed so long before. The Gonfaloniere was then given an infusion of the Bride's ichor, granting him the waters' blessing so he would be unbeatable as a racer. Sadly, the Swan Bride was condemned to wander Jericho Locks with no memory of the incident, despite the Priestess' fondness for her.

## References

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London*
3. ↑ The Attendants, *Fallen London*
4. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess [...] She begins to sink back into the Lotus Pool, until the [...] green waters cover all [...]"*
5. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The poison is produced from the Palace itself [...]"*
6. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] the Poisoned Priestess, the poison at the heart of the Sere Palace."*
7. ↑ Request passage to the Sere Palace 2, *Fallen London* *"He navigates the poisoned confluence around the Sere Palace [...]"*
8. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess [...] gestures to the Lotus Pool [...] within which she makes her queendom."*
9. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] he could read men well, [...] In my loneliness, I allowed a substitution."*
10. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] with my assistance, I could guarantee your victory. [...]"*
11. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"You have the blood of the canals in your veins. The water [...] will not steer you wrong."*
12. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"Nor can I die. [...] The Poisoned Priestess gazes [...]"*
13. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The poisons in which she is immersed must strip and refashion her flesh over and over again."*
14. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess [...] spits, corroding the basin [...]"*
15. ↑ Request passage to the Sere Palace 2, *Fallen London* *"You catch up with him at the Lotus Pool [...] I've forgotten where I've been," [...] "She taught me how. [...]"*
16. ↑ Dig a little distance from the river 2, *Fallen London* *"You pull out six tiny clay women, [...] One carries a mirror, one an ankh, one a cat, one a rose. One is snapped in half, [...] The last holds [...] perfume or of poison."*
17. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Duchess [...] The woman in the Lotus Pool bears a family resemblance to one you know."*
18. ↑ This really can't be good for you, *Fallen London* *"[...] caught incarcerated caged two dozen centuries [...] no space to spread my wings [...] Spit venom at my judas gaolers may their kohl eyes gender worms [...] !release me!"*
19. ↑ 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.""*
20. ↑ Buying secrets, *Fallen London* *"Since the Second City, [...] We were a royal house [...] We played those black-cloaked vultures for fools [...]"*
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess nods. "Both of us were transfigured to trick another's bargain. [...]"*
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 The Attendants, *Fallen London* *"[...] hieroglyphs show a woman at the head of six, walking alone into a dark temple, [...]"*
23. ↑ The Attendants, *Fallen London* *"The youngest of us perished [...] the eldest in the House of the Feather."*
24. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"Partial Alterity: A Toxicological Analysis refers to the fusion of the Parabolan and the real, [...] Water is reflective. Perhaps [...] a connection [...]"*
25. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] honey [...] black and red and gold, [...] like the [...] serpents of Parabola. Could there be multiple origins for the Sere Palaces' poisons?"*
26. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"You die. [...] the waters of that slow river run [...] far, [...] at a certain bend turn [...] emerald [...] the Priestess finds you [...] a headdress of serpents for a crown."*
27. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] a crown made of reeds and a staff made of weeds. [...] her eyes are black as obsidians. The poisoned fumes [...] hang from her [...] She appears [...] ancient [...]"*
28. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Priestess chuckles [...] poison emerging from her pores to hiss along her skin."*
29. ↑ Look deep into the pool, *Fallen London* *"[...] a ring of mosaics in the wall circling the pool. [...] Alongside each body of water is a woman in a feathered crown."*
30. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess lets out a snort [...] "Old stiff-neck is still kicking about. [...] The Priestess chuckles to herself; [...]"*
31. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"It cannot be undone. Your vengeance [...] the means are within your grasp."*
32. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] he could read men well, [...] In my loneliness, I allowed a substitution."*
33. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"Her Roseate Splendour [...] That coward."*
34. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Mother Superior [...] I am glad to hear she persisted. [...]"*
35. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] no trick goes without a cost: the price of victory an eternity of regrets."*
36. ↑ Request passage to the Sere Palace 2, *Fallen London* *"I've forgotten where I've been," [...] "She taught me how. She's spent a long time forgetting; I am only a novice in comparison.""*
37. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Gonfaloniere [...] captained these waterways for fifty years [...]"*
38. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"Challenge the Gonfaloniere [...] His position means he cannot refuse. Should he lose, his very person will be forfeit to Hell."*
39. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess speaks of a doubtful husband-to-be [...] The husband was the most skilled bargeman on the waters: [...] he knew the cost of the title and the price owed to Hell when it was lost. [...] So he searched, [...] he found the answer to his prayers. [...] "He spoke to the Lotus Pool, and the Pool answered."*
40. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Bridegroom [...] The Gonfaloniere of the Guild of Gondoliers. [...] The Swan Bride steps [...] facing the man who had once sought to marry her."*
41. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Swan Bride steps [...] "You married me to him," she says, [...] The Priestess nods [...]"*
42. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"Blood for water. [...] "The price was too rich for his blood. [...] I allowed a substitution. [...]"*
43. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *""He bound me to the canals," the Swan Bride says. "So I would be like you." The Poisoned Priestess nods. "Both of us were transfigured [...]"*
44. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Swan Bride steps closer [...] In his blood, poison runs: a poison drawn from you."*
45. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"If the canals flow through you, how can you lose a race on the red waters?" [...] I allowed a substitution."*
46. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"A woman [...] haunts the canals of Jericho. [...] a past she does not remember. [...] recurring nightmares of a wedding held in a ruined palace surrounded by poisoned waters, [...]"*
47. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"There was no provision [...] to prevent my prodigy from returning [...] The Poisoned Priestess gazes lovingly at the Swan Bride. "But you could stay, instead.""*