The Garden

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> *"There are a thousand speculations on why Death is strange in the Neath. Perhaps one is true."*
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> *"THIS COUNTRY - MOUTH-OF-THE-RIVER - THIS WAS THE PLACE OF HER OVERTHROW"*
> "*In the Garden is the Design; in the Garden occurred the Ascents; in the Garden were selected the Shames. Therefore none shall enter it without that they be blinded with thorns and bound with the Three Oaths. And should any seek to alter the Design or repeat the Ascent or uncover the Shames, they shall be given to the Wax-Wind*."
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   **The Garden**, hidden deep within **the Mountain of Light**, predates the Bazaar's presence in the Neath by a wide margin. Its precise location is unknown, and it may not even be a true garden, but it is *heavily* sought after by those who know of its power, as they see it as the ultimate source of Neathy immortality. Unfortunately for them, only the birds and the bees (hah) can enter it freely at the moment; the Presbyterate's College of Mortality guards the entrance.

## Eden?

The Mountain of Light, daughter of the Sun and the Echo Bazaar who is worshipped as Stone, provides a strange vitality to the Elder Continent. Fruit can grow from rocks, bones can sprout from the soil, and in some cases, inanimate objects have minds of their own. An area's "liveliness" depends on its proximity to Stone, so people who die in faraway places across the Unterzee often die permanently, while those who live on the mainland (such as Londoners) can often recover from death with nothing but a bad headache, and people of the Elder Continent itself can live a century and still look good.

The Garden is the source, or perhaps one source, of this vitality. It is in fact one of Stone's many, many wombs, where she fosters life that would not be allowed on the Surface. The waxen beings now known as Snuffers once roamed the Garden freely; unfortunately, they were cast out of it when the Thief-of-Faces stole jewels from Stone's wombs. To this day, the Snuffers still hope to return to the Garden, but their aspirations seem all but impossible.

Birds and other flying creatures carry the airs of the Garden; hence, hunting them is strictly forbidden in the Presbyterate. They say this is because the Mountain dreams of flight. In ages past, birds stole seeds from the Garden; one of these seeds, now a tree, resides deep within the Mirror-Marches of Parabola.

   One of the most coveted treasures in the Neath is **Hesperidean Cider**, brewed from the golden, robust **Hesperidean Apples** of the Garden. When drunk, Hesperidean Cider immediately restores its imbiber to their physical prime, grants them a free escape from the slow boat, and plagues them with mysterious visions of the Garden and the Mountain. Following these visions may grant an imbiber a more permanent form of immortality. The Masters of the Bazaar have stores of this precious drink, and the Capering Relicker managed to brew a batch.

## References

1. ↑ The Seekers of the Garden, *Fallen London*
2. ↑ A jewelled future 1, *Fallen London*
3. ↑ Order Vespertine, Irresistible, *Fallen London*
4. ↑ A word with His Amused Lordship, *Fallen London*
5. ↑ Liberty, equality, eternity,  *Sunless Sea*
6. ↑ The Mountain's Blood, *Sunless Sea*
7. ↑ Ask the Adventuress why you've been ambushed by assassins from her homeland, *Sunless Sea*
8. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *"In her deep wombs, she fosters life that would not be permitted above. The Garden was one of those wombs. And we long to return to it, we Cousins. How we long for it."*
9. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *""The Mountain cast us all out of the Garden, when it found that our progenitor had taken jewels from its wombs, to make a weapon to serve its hatred. I will tell you of the weapon it made.""*
10. ↑ Flint, *Fallen London* *""And we long to return to it, we Cousins. How we long for it. I still hope to go there some day.""*
11. ↑ The Last Night: Record her memoirs about her homeland, *Sunless Sea*
12. ↑ Rarest fruit, *Sunless Sea*
13. ↑ Take a mouthful, *Fallen London*
14. ↑ Are you lost?, *Fallen London*
15. ↑ Drink, and luxuriate in your bed, *Fallen London*
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Hand over a multitude of scrap for... something secret, *Fallen London*
17. ↑ Ask about the Hesperidean cider, *Sunless Skies*