We all know that Fallen London is full of interesting, bizarre, figures and culture. I already figured out by myself a lot of it, but one question still remains - what are the Drownies? I don’t want a description with spoilers of course - just a general description so I know who I fight.
edited by Voodoo Master on 4/23/2012
I think a sidebar or something tells that they are people who have drowned but failed to die.
To quote the sidebars, and thus give you no spoiler that you couldn’t casually spot yourself while reading the sidebars:
[i]Drownies are Fallen Londoners who think they’re drowned. That is, they were drowned, but death being what it is there, they recovered. Try telling them that, though.
[/i]Drownies are, for practical purposes, walking drowned men. They shiver, they complain, they try to drag you under the Stolen River’s surface and make you one of them. They are not neighbourly.
Thank you very much :)
It’s clear now.
We’re not entirely clear on the issue, but as far as I can tell: we can recover from Death in the Neath, but that doesn’t mean we will necessarily be as good as new. Mortal wounds may never disappear, leaving us bleeding and oozing - a social impediment which sees people shipped off to the Tomb-Colonies. Presumably, the Drownies suffer the same problem - bloated, sodden and fish-nibbled, they’re too unpleasant for London and too damp for the Colonies. Why, then, do they lurk in the river, singing otherworldly songs and dragging others to their deaths? What have they seen down there? Who leads them? If someone is drowned in a water butt by a Cabbage-eared Enforcer, then dumped in a dry cellar, are they a Drownie or just a regular corpse?
Drowning is a particularly horrific way to die: Unlike extreme pain, which your brain mercifully prevents you from feeling after a certain point, the urge to breathe never goes away. You’re cold. You can’t see anyone. You can move, but nothing you do can help you. You can’t even scream with that water in your lungs. Along with the physiological changes, it seems likely the behavioural changes assosciated with being drowned are simply a psychological reaction to extreme trauma and the community of other Drownies.
Notably, there is one Drownie who managed to overcome her condition and return to a mostly normal life. But we can’t really discuss her beyond that, as she’s part of the Fate-locked Flute Street storyline.
edited by Patrick Reding on 4/23/2012
there’s also a drownie in the labyrinth of tigers if I recall. a bit part in finding your way further in.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Drownie Keeper. I don’t think her own personality is ever made quite as clear, but the fact that she’s not in the water anymore certainly says something.
Well, it’s a reare occurrence, but definitely not a unique one: I think SPOILER[color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]the maids at the Royal Bethlehem Hotel are Drownies too. It can possibly have something to do with the Manager of the Royal Beth being a scholar of dreams and mental affections (and possibly a survivor of the First City)? Maybe he managed to cure their antisocial tendencies somehow?[color=rgb(0, 0, 0)]/[/color][/color]SPOILER
edited by streetfelineblue on 4/27/2012