The Stone Meridian

The Stone Meridian
"MANSUS-FIRE INTENSITY NOMINAL"
Origin	God-from-Calamity
Titles	The Shelter Adamantine The Moving City The Sky-Pearl
Names	The Obelisk The Minister in Black The Diplomat in White The Twister of Tongues The Viceroy among others...
Aspects
Date of arrival	During the Collision
Owner(s)	worm architect

The Stone Meridian, also known as The Shelter Adamantine, The Moving City, and The Sky-Pearl, is an Hour born in the moment of greatest peril, at the apex of the Collision. It was molded into the shape most desired by the thousands upon thousands of wounded hearts. And as they begged, it shall remain, no matter what.

Description

History

A big FNORD

Fought with The Mire-Maiden and was victorious.

Appearance

The Sky-Pearl is a city of impossible geometry and dwarfing, awe-inspiring architecture. In its bounds, the horizon is fuzzy, and the countless waterways pierce the landscape like a web. Outside, one can’t look at it directly, but if it’s there, it will always be seen in the corner of one’s vision. It resides in the Mansus, but sometimes it bleeds into the Wake, and, occasionally, it can be seen drifting into Nowhere.

The Palace

FNORD

The Alabaster Spire

A towering building that protrudes from the City like a broken rib, etched with familiar motifs and bas-reliefs. It's the headquarters of the Minister in Black, as well as the seat of the Ministry of Ash, a law enforcement agency that oversees peace and order on the streets of the Sky-Pearl and does things that are not to be discussed in the open.

The Tourmaline Embassy

FNORD

The Chitinous Office

FNORD

The Parliament of Cogs

FNORD

The Ziggurat Reversed

FNORD

The Pearl Orchard

The Orchard is mostly a flat garden with sparse tiered "hills" with buildings on top of them. There is an ungodly amount of songbirds. The walkways are made out of beige stone and they all merge with each other in the same way the rivers do. The visitors to the Orchard will always end up in the center if they walk forward; they will always end up in the city proper if they walk in the opposite direction from where the pathways lead. There are small canals that feed bigger ponds. The place where the Obelisk herself resides is a geometrical body of water that is somewhere on the borders between being a large pond and a small lake. There is a singular bridge-like thing that extends all the way to the Obelisk but doesn't touch her. The size of the pond/lake, the bridge, and the Obelisk herself is inconsistent - she may be an absolutely dwarfing, two-kilometers tall tower, or the diametrical opposite of that. The Groundskeepers, the Obelisk's Long, can be seen landscaping, maintaining the gardens, or doing less coherent things.

The Splendid Collegium of Abyssal Findings and Archeologic Endeavours

Known to the overwhelming majority of the City as the Archeologic Society,

The FNORD

FNORD

Principles

The Stone Meridian embodies the very principles that brought it into being. It is hopeful, for nothing can remain for long without hope. It brings home, shelter, and comfort to those who are desperate for it, for home is essential if one is to persist. It brings purpose for those who were robbed of it, it gives second chances to those who were misled, and it reshapes those who are beyond the reach of mercy. And, at last, it remembers, for sacrifices fade, too.

Worship

Cult

This Hour is worshipped as much as you would expect someone to worship a street, a road, or a house. There are, perhaps, individuals who do, but the reasoning is vague at best. Maybe there is something to gain out of this after all?

The Shelter Adamantine itself, however, is home to many Names, Mansus-spirits, Nowhere-things, Long, Know, and just regular mortals. All of them are loyal to no-one but the City and its Name-emanations.

Mark

1. Temptation: Amelioration: It has occurred to me that I hold the key to betterment.
2. Dedication: Amelioration: I have dedicated myself to the betterment of all, to the best of my ability.
3. Ascension: Amelioration: F
4. Ascension: Amelioration: N
5. Ascension: Amelioration: O
6. Ascension: Amelioration: R
7. Ending: BADASS NAME: D

Servants

Names

The Stone Meridian is connected to its Names on a deeper level than most other Hours. Without them, its face is blank: they are its expressions.

The Obelisk

The Obelisk is the fuel that keeps the City going. She is also FNORD

The Obelisk's Shadow

The shadow speaks, but its words are hollow, like that of the dead in the Mansus-soil, and at the same time, they emanate an unparalleled heat. The Obelisk won't leave the Moving City under any other guise.

12

12

12

Summon a shadow of a powerful Name-emanation of the Stone Meridian

For the Obelisk to lend her power, the room must be smoldering with the radiance of Forge, but the fire must be merciful, lightly touched by Heart.

Her shadow stretches on the walls, flickering like it would behind a bonfire, but all the flames went away the moment she appeared.

5

10

2

The Minister in Black

The Minister in Black is the resilience of the City. He is also FNORD

The Minister in Black

'Let's make this quick, I have important matters to attend to.'

12

12

12

Summon a terse Name of the Shelter Adamantine

The Minister in Black will come when his way is paved with an act of great strife, but only if shown the hungers of the Grail he knows so well.

The Minister in Black rises slowly from the ground, enveloped in clouds of thick black smoke. His robes are soaked in blood.

5

10

2

The Diplomat in White

The Diplomat in White is the hope of the City. He is also FNORD

The Diplomat in White

'...After all, diplomacy is a web of lies, intrigue, and an occasional truth, when the former fail.'

12

12

Summon a jovial Name of the Sky-Pearl

The Diplomat can enter when the ground itself moves with Heart's power, and when shown a way with the Lantern-light.

At the first glance, the Diplomat in White looks like an ordinary mortal, but there is a rhythm that cannot be resisted when he speaks, when he moves, and his eyes are deep as the ocean...

5

10

2

The Twister of Tongues

The Tonguetwister is the memory of the City. They are also FNORD

The Twister of Tongues

'Sometimes they call me the Lord-Lady, sometimes they call me the Inkblood. I am, perhaps, both; I am, perhaps, neither. Now, shall we wager on a secret or shall we wager on a name?'

12

12

12

Summon the most deceptive Name of the Moving City

The Page-Trail will hear your call if presented with Moth's yearning, but they will answer it only when given a delightful secret as a show of respect.

Sometimes, the Cloaked Secret enters the room from worrying angles, but they are always abrupt or unexpected in their coming. The Dappled-Steps loops their tongue around their neck several times, like a scarf, and their robes are patched with names and words in languages long gone.

5

10

2

Spirits

Dead Long and mortals remain in the City after their death to become FNORD

FNORD

FNORD

Locations

The Mansus

FNORD

FNORD

The Wake

The Most Serene Republic of Venice

The Most Serene FN of ORD

The Histories

FNORD

Items

Tools

• FNORD
  • Aspects: FNORD

Ingredients

• Caged Reminiscence.
  • 6

Influences

• FNORD
  • Aspect: FNORD

Books

The Water That Burns

A fire-damaged journal of an Italian magus, and consequently, the last Venetian doge. The later entries are filled with a feeling of impending doom, with the most recent vividly describing an apocalyptic event and the final hours of Venice

• Gives Mid-level Heart or Forge lore and Dread.

Read 'The Water That Burns'

'...The canals that la Serenissima is so proud of are engulfed in flames as if the water itself was replaced with oil. I feel the smoke creeping towards the Ducal Palace, and I saw a cathedral collapse under its own weight in the distance. I have never seen so much fire before in my life. There are screams, screams everywhere... And, I'm afraid, at this very moment, I felt the death of an Hour...'

He goes on a soul-crushing rant about how unjust and cruel the end of the Republic is for a while, but before the feelings overwhelm him, he shares 'a secret passage of defiance that may protect the one who finds this journal.'

Rites

• The Rite of Desperate Deeds
  • Description: FNORD
  • Requires: FNORD
  • Gives: FNORD

Relationships

• They:
• Humming From Elsehere:
• The Briarsalt:
• The Transfinite Question:
• The Nizvestier Within:
• A Stock-Woven Watcher:
• The Fulminate:
• The King of Keys:
• The Wispy Tress:
• The Scoriantheme:
• The Modiste-and-Mannequin:
• The Zabbaleen: frend
• ---
• The Harrower:
• The Demiurge: enemy
• The Hearthkeeper:
• Her Scarred Serenity:
• Mother Songbird:
• The Old Wyrm:
• TINT:
• The Demarq-s:
• The Faustian Alchemist:
• The Glorious Child: an unlikely ally
• The Chimaera:
• The Jahwian:
• The Legion Lamentful:
• The Fireside:
• The Fool's Gold:
• The Stone Meridian:
• shade:
• The Listless King:
• The Crimson Temptress:
• Little Lady Liver-Licker:
• The Clepsydrae:
• The Navigator:
• The Perditarch: enemy
• The Confectionist:
• The Toymaker:
• The Mannequin-and-Modiste:
• Its Incarnadine Virulence:
• The Unfettered: wary of
• The Shattered Star:
• The Welkin:
• The Abstraction:
• The Deep:
• The Tatterdemalion:
• The Ash:
• The Chainbinder:
• They:

• The Fair Maiden:
• The Mire-Maiden:

Secrets

FNORD