The Mountain of Light

A faraway jewel in the darkness.

> *"Turn your eyes south. Wait nine heart-beats. In the heart of the Elder Continent, a tiny fugitive gleam of warmth. It's gone."*
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**The Mountain of Light** is a massive, glowing peak located deep within the Elder Continent. For her radiance and its life-giving effects, she is worshipped as **Stone**, one of the three gods of the Unterzee.

## The Life-Giver

Stone is a living mountain far to the south of the Presbyterate. She is the daughter of the Bazaar and the Sun, and the mother of Mt Nomad and a host of other creatures.

Stone is as old as the Earth itself, and influences the lives of nearly all who inhabit the Neath. The unnatural, unexplainable vitality she emits is what makes death in this realm mostly impermanent. A piece of the mountain at the center of Polythreme makes the normally inanimate denizens so alive that they scream, and the citizens of the Elder Continent are particularly long-lived. She is also the source of **the Wax-Wind,** which blows across the zee and poses a frequent hazard to zailors. And of course she glows, enough to blind anyone who gets too close without proper protection, though she is courteous enough to dim her light at night.

### The Garden

At the heart of the Mountain is **the Garden**, the source of all its vitality; said to grant immortality and eternal youth, this place has been the target of many an expedition. It is the birthplace of the Snuffers, who were cast out after the first of their kind wounded the Mountain. Now the only things that may enter are birds and other flying creatures, so hunting these is strictly forbidden in the Presbyterate. According to the Presbyterate Adventuress, only these creatures are allowed in because the Mountain dreams of flight.

### The Mountain Wounded

   No one may truly know who inflicted them, but Stone bears multiple wounds that bleed over the Elder Continent and down the Nameless River. These wounds leak life; for instance, **the Lesser Wound** is located on one of her limbs, near the Prison of Flint.

### Worship

People from around the Elder Continent regularly make pilgrimages to Stone, and sometimes they clip relics called **Mountain-Sherds** from her slopes. These retain their life-giving properties on a small scale, and may grant a living being immortality if used to replace their heart - though this is accomplished by turning it into a building or even an entire city, possibly depending on its place on the Great Chain.

### Stone's Attention

Stone's blessing grants health and agility. Her curse doesn't seem to do anything, but perhaps we merely have yet to witness its effects. Be wary of surprise bits of stone and even diamonds showing up unaccounted for on the ship; these may mean Stone is watching you from her glowing, ever-living mountain home.

## Real-Life Parallels

The Mountain is likely named after the diamond known as the Koh-i-Noor (Mountain of Light in Persian). This diamond was once the largest in the world, and passed through the hands of the Kakatiya dynasty in India, the Persian Empire, and the British Empire. It is now a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. It may also reference Debre Berhan, a former capital of Ethiopia whose name is Amharic for "Mountain of Light".

## References

2. ↑ Go ashore with the Adventuress, *Sunless Sea*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Flint, *Fallen London*
4. ↑ Dump it on the fire, *Fallen London*
5. ↑ Leisurely enquiries, *Fallen London*
6. ↑ Meeting the King, *Fallen London*
7. ↑ Meeting the King, *Fallen London*
8. ↑ "None shall live a thousand years." , *Sunless Sea*
9. ↑ Accept the Wax-Wind, *Fallen London*
10. ↑ Seven Years Later, *Sunless Sea* *"Then you reach up and pluck his sapphire lenses away. He screams as his eyes boil."*
11. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *The Rubbery Man has more human language than most of its kind, but the conversation is challenging, nonetheless. As far as you can tell, a ship chartered by the Vespertine – by the "Patronesh" – is landing tonight, when the Mountain's glow dims. It wishes you to "shabotage shuppliesh".*
12. ↑ A word with His Amused Lordship, *Fallen London*
13. ↑ A word with the Detective, *Fallen London*
14. ↑ The Last Night: Record her memoirs about her homeland, *Sunless Sea*
15. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *"The blood of the nameless river flows from the Mountain's wound. I have heard the Thief-of-Faces did her the harm. I have heard it was a dragon out of the deep sky. I have heard the wound remains from when she birthed Mt Nomad. I have heard she wounded herself, to protest the orders of Heaven. I have heard she did it so we all would share in her immortality. I have heard the Bazaar smote her flank, when it entered the Neath."*
16. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *"The Vignerons will not approach the central knoll. A spring flows from its side into a deep pool – red like the waters of the Nameless River, but a deeper red."*
17. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *"You see how a far-flung Mountain-limb underlies the Vineyard, and you understand that the Lesser Wound leaks life."*
18. ↑ The Pilgrimage to Amaradri, *Sunless Sea*
19. ↑ Mountain-sherd, *Sunless Sea*
20. ↑ A Kitten-Sized Diamond, Liberated from the Mountain, *Fallen London*
21. ↑ Conclude your study of diamond implantation, *Fallen London*
22. ↑ Seek her research opinion, *Fallen London* *"Hephaesta's greatest contribution is being able to hold a creature down while you attempt to substitute its heart. And once, a lizard transforms halfway into a minor ziggurat before it dies. Hephaesta's assistance makes light work of cleaning away the remains."*
23. ↑ An Unusual Request, Continued, *Fallen London* *""'To grow into a city, Furnace will need a shard of the Mountain of Light. This, the Creditor can arrange. Our gift is a down payment.'"*
24. ↑ Meeting the King, *Fallen London*
25. ↑ Prayer to the god called Stone, *Sunless Sea*
26. ↑ The Gods of the Zee: Stone's Curse, *Sunless Sea*
27. ↑ A Tooth-Cracking Treasure, *Sunless Sea*