The Surface

Beyond this point lie **spoilers** for *Fallen London*, *Sunless Sea*, or *Sunless Skies*. This may include **midgame** content. **Proceed with caution**.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy **here**.

## The Surface

The sun beats down like rain. Occasionally, the rain beats down like rain. Background from Sunless Sea.

### Music

The Surface

> *"The Sun is dangerous to Neath-dwellers like your crew, but the Surface has its temptations."*
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**The Surface** is the blanket term for the lands above the Neath, bathed in the life-giving and life-taking light of the Sun.

## Nostalgic

> *"The trees are the dusty green of old jade: the hills, tawny as a lion. You are pale as milk, all of you. The crew splash in the canal, whenever they can, to cool themselves after the heat of the sun. "It's not right up here," your bo'sun confides. "I keep thinking I'm going to fall off up, like. But it calms the heart to look at, don't it?""*
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The two primary connections between the Surface and the Neath are **the Travertine Spiral** and **the Cumaean Canal**. Traveling to the Surface can be profitable, but it is also extremely dangerous, as exposure to sunlight can be a death sentence for denizens of the Neath.

Zailors who travel to the Surface often engage in the highly illegal sunlight trade, where they fill mysterious **Mirrorcatch Boxes** with captured sunlight, and sell them to those who can afford such a luxury. Quite a few citizens of the Neath miss sunlight, even if they won't openly admit it, and peddlers of sunlight can turn in huge profits, but they also have a bad habit of succumbing to their own product.

Neathy citizens struck by nostalgia for the Surface may also indulge in Surface-inspired dinners, or may import food from the Surface for an extremely high price. They may also import Surface-grown flowers, but these wither quickly, unless they're properly embalmed beforehand.

## The Cumaean Canal

The Cumaean Canal Staging Area. Art from Sunless Sea.

### Affiliation

PublicLondon

> *"Here, the dark waters run down from the surface, from a brighter sea..."*
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**The Cumaean Canal Staging Area** is a true marvel of engineering that allows for easy passage between the Neath and the Surface. The route to the Surface is constructed from giant arches supporting a series of locks. While it is a hotbed for the Great Game, it's also surprisingly well-maintained and efficient; the governments of the Surface ensure it remains so. Apparently, the Cumaean Canal proper was dug by the mysterious Stone Pigs.

The Canal leads to **Lake Avernus**, a lake in southern Italy that the Romans believed to be the entrance to Hades.

## Lamentation Lock

Beyond this point lie **major spoilers** for *Fallen London*, *Sunless Sea*, or *Sunless Skies*. This may include **endgame** or **Fate-locked** content. **Proceed at your own risk**.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy **here**.

**Lamentation Lock** is a stone building set into one of the giant gates which punctuate the Canal, placed about halfway between the Surface and the Neath. The Lock and its Warden are the subject of many tales and mysteries; different accounts state that Lamentation Lock is a bank, a hospital, a prison, or a summit.

The truth is, the Lock is a little bit of each. It is a place filled with thieves, murderers, and spies, and some of their ill-begotten loot. It attracts those running away from trouble - which is often of a personal, psychological character, but at times includes prosecution or intrigue. While everyone is free to enter, the Warden doesn't permit his inmates to escape easily. Most who enter have no reason to leave anyway, as they might be trying to forget their past and the memories of what led them to Lamentation Lock.

The place itself is divided into three Wards (**Violent Ward**, **Thieves' Ward**, and **Traitors' Ward**), and most visitors-turned-inmates find their home in one of these. They spend their time scheming, planning, and brawling with other inmates, but they never quite find the right time or opportunity to leave and put their plans in motion.

## Naples

Beyond this point lie **spoilers** for *Fallen London*, *Sunless Sea*, or *Sunless Skies*. This may include **midgame** content. **Proceed with caution**.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy **here**.

> *"Even by night, the Port of Naples is alive with shouts and laughter and work-songs, the roar of engines. Brick warehouses loom over the moon-dazzled bay. By day, you try to stay below decks. The sun hits like a hammer, and the wind always seems to come straight from the struggling sewers of the slums."*
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Down the Tyrrhenian coast lies the city of **Naples**, Italy, a loud, busy, and very foreign port that's positively alive with activity and opportunities. While a grizzled zailor may feel out of place, the port is brimming with different ways to satisfy the urges of the flesh. The food of the Neath is completely outclassed by the delicacies of Naples, but fuel can be much harder to come by, this far from Hell.

Naples and the Neath have a tenuous relationship with each other, admittedly. Due to the power of sunlight, almost all of the Neath's fantastic delights crumble into nothing when they reach the Surface, causing tales of the Neath to be simply unbelievable. Furthermore, even the most grizzled zailor only has minimal knowledge of the seas sailed by Surface sailors, so they're often ill-prepared for Surface weather and the ocean's waves. On the bright side, however, Darkdrop coffee is beloved on the Surface.

## Vienna

UNITY OR DEATH / REMEMBER LONDON / THE LIBERATION OF NIGHT. Art from Sunless Sea.

### Affiliation

The Government of Austria
Revolutionaries

### Notable Figures

The Old Man
The Fidgety Agitator

### Music

Storm, Stone, Salt

Beyond this point lie **major spoilers** for *Fallen London*, *Sunless Sea*, or *Sunless Skies*. This may include **endgame** or **Fate-locked** content. **Proceed at your own risk**.
You can find out more about our spoiler policy **here**.

> *"The capital of the Dual Monarchy has seen better days. The palaces still glitter, but the mood is uneasy."*
> *"Recall that place of white and black, so cold after its season of heat."*
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**Vienna**, the capital of Austria, is on the verge of revolution. While it is a dangerous and hostile environment, brimming with political instability, Vienna is also a great place to unload caches of coffee.

Vienna is also home to an ongoing conflict between the Revolutionaries (yes, this same bunch) and counterrevolutionaries. **The Fidgety Agitator** is an individual who conducts business with the Calendar Council, often delivering supplies to progress the Liberation of Night. He's opposed by an individual known as **the Gentleman of the Bureau**, also called **the Old Man**, who fiercely works against the anarchists at all costs. The Old Man is also a powerful chessmaster, though he too operates in fear of the Great Powers.

There are hints that Vienna may be the location of the mysterious **woods in winter,** the proving ground for spies of the Great Game.

## The Garden Embassy

> *"You are invited to the grand opening of the Garden Embassy. The embassy will represent the interests of a number of Her Enduring Majesty's colonies. A ball is to be held to celebrate the occasion. The invitation is signed by the Decorated Ambassador herself."*
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Despite Fallen London being, well, fallen, the capital of Britain still has some sway over its Empire. In order to easily facilitate relations, several colonies of the commonwealth came together and set up the magnificent **Garden Embassy** in Veilgarden. The Embassy is lavishly decorated with Surface flowers that attract plenty of local wildlife.

## References

2. ↑ To Naples, *Sunless Sea*
3. ↑ No-one! Who cares?, *Fallen London*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cumaean Canal Staging Area, *Sunless Sea*
5. ↑ Rise and be lost , *Sunless Sea*
6. ↑ Fill your Mirrorcatch Box, *Sunless Sea*
7. ↑ The light's delights, *Sunless Sea*
8. ↑ Host a feast inspired by the Surface, *Fallen London*
9. ↑ Sidebar Snippets, *Fallen London*
10. ↑ Myrrh-Scented Rose, *Fallen London*
11. ↑ Gather information for a Port Report, *Sunless Sea*
12. ↑ Travel to the Surface, *Sunless Sea*
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lamentation Lock, *Fallen London*
14. ↑ Port description, *Sunless Sea*
15. ↑ Spend time ashore, *Sunless Sea*
16. ↑ Purchase Supplies, *Sunless Sea*
17. ↑ Purchase Fuel, *Sunless Sea*
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Buy a train ticket to Vienna, *Sunless Sea*
19. ↑ Share news from below, *Sunless Sea*
20. ↑ Carry cargoes around the Mediterranean, *Sunless Sea*
21. ↑ Vienna, *Sunless Sea*
22. ↑ The Name-Which-Burns, *Sunless Sea*
23. ↑ Establish a business relationship, *Sunless Sea*
24. ↑ "Psst! Friend! Strike a blow for freedom, will you?", *Sunless Sea*
25. ↑ Report the Fidgeting Agitator to the authorities, *Sunless Sea*
26. ↑ Ask the Bureau friend whether you had met before, long ago..., *Sunless Sea*
27. ↑ The Waltz That Moved the World, *Fallen London* *""But he's a man, just as I am. I last saw him in the woods one winter – surrounded by black bark and white snow. It was Vienna, long ago. I proved myself there, and..." He furrows his brow, and his head droops forward. "The woods in winter. It happened before me. It happened after. I passed my trial, and came to London.""*
28. ↑ The Garden Embassy, *Fallen London*
29. ↑ The Garden Embassy, *Fallen London* *"The bird clucks happily as you scatter crumbs. [...] "From that new Embassy they're setting up in Veilgarden. They've got flowers and everything! It ain't natural."*
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