Stanza III · Bellmouth
The bells of Bellmouth rang every night for three hundred years. Then they stopped.
Focus Wick: Sister Ivo · Levels 25–35 · 36 nodes
3-1 · Evensong (Story)
The Taper - Approaching Bellmouth
Spires rise out of the fog. Hundreds of them. Every one has a bell. Not one of them rings.
Margery Ledge: Bellmouth. The cathedral district. Its bells were said to keep the dark asleep. Three years ago they went quiet. No one has paid for light there since.
Sister Ivo: Nobody paid for light in Bellmouth before, either. We had the bells. We had the choir. That was enough.
Cassius Fenn: Sister, I've never heard you say 'we' before.
Sister Ivo: I was a chorister of the Bellmouth Choir. Twelve years. I was... dismissed.
Nell Ashgrove: ...Why?
Sister Ivo: (She hums the first line of a hymn, very softly, and doesn't finish it.)
Wren Halloway: Leave her be, sleepyhead. Some cards you don't flip until they're ready.
3-2 · The Unfinished Hymn (Story)
The Taper - Galley, Night
Ivo sits alone with a cup of tea she hasn't touched. Hob sits down across from her without asking.
Hob Tallow: You always stop at the same note. Every time you hum. Same place.
Sister Ivo: Do I?
Hob Tallow: Mum used to do that with a song about the sea. Stopped at the bit where the sailor doesn't come home.
Sister Ivo: ...The next note is the one I sang the night I rang the bell. I haven't been able to reach it since.
Hob Tallow: Can't, or won't?
Sister Ivo: I don't know, Hob. That's the trouble with silence. After long enough, you can't tell which it is.
3-3 · Silent Streets (Battle)
District 9 - Bellmouth, Lower Parish
⚔ Toll Moth Lv25, Snuffer Chorister Lv25, Toll Moth Lv25, Toll Moth Lv26
Before the battle
Pale shapes drift between the spires. Moths, as big as dogs, with bells for bodies that make no sound.
Dr. Pell: Silent bells. Remarkable. They've had their clappers removed. Surgically.
Rook Marchetti: Doc, can you be impressed AFTER we're not being eaten?
Sister Ivo: That chorister's robe. Grey with a black sash. That's our choir's robe.
After the battle
Edda Quill: The moths flew toward the light. Toward us. Like they've been starving for it.
3-4 · Fog Procession (Battle)
⚔ Snuffer Chorister Lv26, Snuffer Chorister Lv26, Toll Moth Lv26
Before the battle
A procession of singers in grey. Blindfolded. Their mouths are sewn shut with black thread. They are still trying to sing.
Sister Ivo: Sister Agathe. Sister Mirren. Brother Coll... What has he DONE to you?
Edda Quill: Who is 'he'?
Sister Ivo: The Precentor. Halde. He taught me to sing.
After the battle
"Brass" Coyle: Aw, kid. Aw, that's rough. They didn't even yell when they went down.
Sister Ivo: They couldn't.
3-5 · Thread (Story)
District 9 - Chorister's Row
Pell kneels by one of the fallen choristers and cuts the black thread with a scalpel, very gently.
Dr. Pell: Waxed linen. Surgical knots. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. And was very, very careful not to hurt them.
Sister Ivo: Halde was always careful. He tuned the bells by hand. He'd stop the whole choir for one flat note.
Dr. Pell: Careful people are the most frightening ones, Sister. They're always so sure they're helping.
Sister Ivo: ...He was helping. That's the worst part. I think he still believes it.
3-6 · Bell Moths (Battle)
⚔ Toll Moth Lv26, Toll Moth Lv27, Toll Moth Lv26, Toll Moth Lv27
Before the battle
The moths swarm the Warden's lantern, beating it with dusty wings.
Nell Ashgrove: They're going for the light! Cover the boss!
Lucan Strand: Back to back.
After the battle
Margery Ledge: Warden, you're dimming. Stay close to Ivo. She seems to steady you.
3-7 · Little Bea (Story)
District 9 - Chapel of Saint Vesper
Under a collapsed pew, a small girl in an oversized choir robe. Her mouth is not stitched. She is holding a candle she hasn't dared to light.
Little Bea: ...Sister Ivo? Is that you? You came back!
Sister Ivo: Bea. Little Bea. You were only six. Look at you.
Little Bea: The Precentor said we mustn't make a sound, ever, or It will wake up again. The ones who forgot... he helped them remember.
Mirela Vost: 'Again.' What happened the first time?
Sister Ivo: (She doesn't answer. Bea looks at her and doesn't ask.)
3-8 · Bea's Candle (Story)
District 9 - Chapel of Saint Vesper
Little Bea: I've had this candle for three years. Sister Ivo gave it to me. Before.
Sister Ivo: I remember. You were afraid of the dark.
Little Bea: I still am. But if I light it, someone might see. So I just hold it.
Hob Tallow: Here. Lantern's got plenty. Warden won't mind.
(The flame leans toward the candle.)
The wick catches. Bea stares at it as if it's the first light in the world.
Little Bea: ...It's so small.
Sister Ivo: Small is enough, Bea. Small was always enough.
3-9 · Chapel Doors (Battle)
⚔ Snuffer Chorister Lv27, Snuffer Acolyte Lv27, Snuffer Chorister Lv27, Snuffer Acolyte Lv28
Before the battle
???: A light! In the chapel! Douse it before It hears!
Little Bea: They're coming for the candle!
Sister Ivo: Then they can come through me.
After the battle
Little Bea: You fought for my candle.
Sister Ivo: I'd fight for less.
3-10 · What Happened (Story)
District 9 - Chapel of Saint Vesper, Night
Sister Ivo: Three years ago, the lights went out over the parish. People were lost in the fog. Hundreds. Calling for help.
Sister Ivo: The Great Bell was only for funerals. I rang it anyway. So they could find their way to the cathedral. And they came. They all came.
Sister Ivo: And so did the thing that lives under Bellmouth, and listens. It ate everyone who heard the bell. Everyone I called.
Sister Ivo: Halde said silence was penance. He cast me out. I agreed with him.
Hob Tallow: You were trying to bring them home, Ivo. Same as my mum.
Sister Ivo: Your mother saved them into herself, Hob. I called them into a mouth. It isn't the same.
Mirela Vost: It's exactly the same. You both made a choice in the dark with no good options. The only difference is which of you lived to feel guilty about it.
3-11 · Hollow Ringers (Battle)
District 9 - Ringer's Close
⚔ Hollow Bellringer Lv28, Snuffer Chorister Lv28, Hollow Bellringer Lv28
Before the battle
Tall men with bells where their heads should be. When they swing their clappers, there is no sound at all - only a pressure in your teeth.
Rook Marchetti: I hate that. I hate that SO much.
Sister Ivo: The bell-ringers. They pulled the ropes for the Great Bell. Halde gave them... silence.
After the battle
Edda Quill: Their bells are hollow inside. No clapper. Just... empty.
3-12 · Wren's Card (Story)
District 9 - Ringer's Close
Wren Halloway: Sweetie. Pick a card.
Sister Ivo: I don't believe in your cards, Wren.
Wren Halloway: Neither do I. Pick one anyway.
Ivo draws. The Hanged Man.
Wren Halloway: Suspension. Sacrifice. Someone who's hung themselves up in the air between two choices and decided not to come down.
Sister Ivo: That's not a fortune. That's a diagnosis.
Wren Halloway: Same thing, mostly. The good news is it's the only card that gets better upside down.
3-13 · Ringer's Close (Battle)
⚔ Hollow Bellringer Lv29, Toll Moth Lv28, Hollow Bellringer Lv29, Toll Moth Lv28
Before the battle
After the battle
Little Bea: The tower's that way. Seven hundred steps. I counted them every day.
3-14 · Edda's Record (Story)
The Taper - Archive Corner
Edda Quill: Ledge. I've been keeping records. Every time the Warden lights a district, the flame comes back... smaller.
Margery Ledge: Go on.
Edda Quill: Seven percent, roughly. Each time. And the Warden forgets things. Small things. I've been testing. It doesn't remember the first night anymore.
Ansel Brigg: You've been TESTING the Warden?
Edda Quill: I've been WATCHING the Warden. Someone has to write it down before it's gone.
Margery Ledge: ...I'm aware, Miss Quill. Let's finish Bellmouth first.
3-15 · Loft Stairs (Battle)
District 9 - The Choir Loft
⚔ Snuffer Chorister Lv29, Snuffer Chorister Lv29, Snuffer Chorister Lv30
Before the battle
The choir loft. Rows of stitched singers stand in perfect formation, mouths moving silently along to a hymn only they can hear.
Sister Ivo: They're singing the Evensong. The whole thing. In silence. For three years.
After the battle
Sister Ivo: Brother Coll used to sing bass. You could feel it in the floor.
3-16 · Young Ivo (Story)
Memory - Bellmouth Cathedral, fifteen years ago
The cathedral is full of light and noise. A small girl with short black hair is singing too loud, off-key, with total joy.
Precentor Halde: Ivo. Ivo. Child. You are a quarter-tone sharp and twice as loud as the entire choir.
Sister Ivo: Sorry, Precentor!
Precentor Halde: Don't be sorry. Be in tune. ...Again. From the top. Softer.
She sings it again. Softer. In tune. The old man closes his blind eyes and smiles.
Precentor Halde: There. That is the note that keeps the dark asleep. Never lose it.
The memory fades on the last note of the hymn - the one Ivo can no longer reach.
3-17 · Silent Choir (Battle)
⚔ Snuffer Chorister Lv30, Hollow Bellringer Lv30, Snuffer Chorister Lv30, Hollow Bellringer Lv30
Before the battle
After the battle
Cassius Fenn: Sister, darling. You fought that one with your eyes closed.
Sister Ivo: I was listening. You can hear a lot in a silence, if you've lived in one long enough.
3-18 · The Note (Story)
District 9 - Choir Loft, Rest
Little Bea: Sister Ivo? Can you sing the end of the Evensong? The Precentor never let us. He said it was dangerous.
Sister Ivo: ...I can't, Bea.
Little Bea: Why?
Sister Ivo: Because the last time I sang it, I was ringing the bell. And everyone who heard it died.
Little Bea: But I heard you sing it. I was in the chapel that night. I'm still here.
Ivo looks at her for a very long time.
Sister Ivo: ...You were there?
Little Bea: You sang so loud. I wasn't scared of the dark at all. Not for the whole song.
3-19 · Rope Gallery (Battle)
District 9 - The Rope Gallery
⚔ Hollow Bellringer Lv31, Toll Moth Lv30, Toll Moth Lv30, Hollow Bellringer Lv31
Before the battle
Seven hundred steps. Every one hung with ropes. The ropes are moving.
Lucan Strand: Keep climbing. Don't touch the ropes.
"Brass" Coyle: What happens if ya touch the ropes?
Lucan Strand: Don't.
After the battle
Nell Ashgrove: ...Almost at the top. I'm carrying no one. Just so we're clear.
3-20 · Lucan Talks (Story)
District 9 - Rope Gallery, Landing
Lucan Strand: Sister.
Sister Ivo: Strand?
Lucan Strand: The man upstairs. He sewed their mouths shut to keep them alive.
Sister Ivo: Yes.
Lucan Strand: I did worse to keep people quiet. For money. Not for love.
Lucan Strand: He thinks he's right. That makes him dangerous. Don't hesitate because you loved him.
Sister Ivo: ...That's the most you've ever said to me.
Lucan Strand: Don't get used to it.
3-21 · Tower Landing (Battle)
⚔ Snuffer Chorister Lv31, Snuffer Chorister Lv31, Hollow Bellringer Lv32, Snuffer Chorister Lv31
Before the battle
After the battle
Above, an old voice begins to conduct. Not singing. Counting. One, two, three, one, two, three.
3-22 · Halde (Story)
District 9 - The Belfry
An old man stands under the Great Bell, conducting a choir that makes no sound.
Precentor Halde: Ivo. You've brought friends. And a light. You always did like to be heard.
Sister Ivo: You sewed their mouths shut.
Precentor Halde: I kept them alive. Silence keeps It sleeping. The Hush Office understood. They pay for our silence, and the parish stays dark, and quiet, and SAFE.
Precentor Halde: You rang it once, child. Hundreds died. Do not ring it again.
3-23 · The Precentor's Grief (Story)
District 9 - The Belfry
Precentor Halde: Do you know what I heard that night, Ivo? I can't see, but I can hear everything. I heard every one of them. I heard their names in its throat.
Precentor Halde: I have heard them every night for three years. It never stops listening, and neither do I.
Precentor Halde: So I made the parish quiet. So that I would never hear another one.
Sister Ivo: You didn't silence them for their sake, Precentor. You silenced them so you could sleep.
Precentor Halde: ...Careful, child.
Sister Ivo: You taught me to be in tune. I'm being in tune.
3-24 · The Precentor (Battle)
⚔ Snuffer Chorister Lv32, Precentor Halde Lv33, Snuffer Chorister Lv32 · Boss
Before the battle
Precentor Halde: Then sing, foolish girl. And see what answers.
Sister Ivo: Not yet, Precentor. First, I'm going to take your baton.
After the battle
Precentor Halde: ...You were always the loudest one in the choir.
Sister Ivo: I know. You never once told me to stop. Only to be in tune.
3-25 · Unstitched (Story)
District 9 - The Belfry
One by one, Pell cuts the threads. The choristers do not speak. Some of them cry, silently, out of habit.
Dr. Pell: They'll need time. Their voices will come back. Slowly.
Little Bea: Sister Mirren? Sister Mirren, it's Bea. Can you hear me?
Sister Mirren opens her mouth, and makes a very small sound. It might be a laugh.
Sister Ivo: Halde. Look what you kept from them.
Precentor Halde: I can't look at anything, child. But I heard it. ...I heard it.
3-26 · Stirring Below (Battle)
⚔ Toll Moth Lv32, Toll Moth Lv32, Hollow Bellringer Lv33, Toll Moth Lv33
Before the battle
The tower trembles. Every silenced bell in the parish begins to shiver on its rope.
Precentor Halde: It hears us. It hears the choir breathing again. It's waking.
After the battle
Margery Ledge: Wicks, the readings under the cathedral are climbing. Whatever's down there is coming up.
3-27 · Before the Bell (Story)
District 9 - Under the Great Bell
Precentor Halde: Ivo. If you ring it, It will come. If you sing, It will come. There is no version of this where It does not come.
Sister Ivo: I know.
Precentor Halde: Then why?
Sister Ivo: Because it's full of them, Precentor. Everyone I called. I can't bring them home. But I can give them back their names.
Sister Ivo: Warden. When it comes - sing with me. All of you.
Rook Marchetti: I can't sing!
Sister Ivo: Then shout. Loudly. Into its eye.
3-28 · The Great Bell Turns (Battle)
⚔ Hollow Bellringer Lv33, Hollow Bellringer Lv33, Toll Moth Lv34, Toll Moth Lv34
Before the battle
Below the belfry, something vast shifts. The Great Bell begins, very slowly, to turn. Inside its mouth, an eye opens.
After the battle
"Brass" Coyle: That's a BIG bell. That's a REAL big bell.
3-29 · Eye in the Bell (Story)
District 9 - The Belfry, Storm
???: (A sound with no edges. It is the bell, and the bell is listening.)
Sister Ivo: It ate every voice that called for help. It's full of them. Can you hear them? They're still calling.
Little Bea: Sister Ivo, I'm scared.
Sister Ivo: Then hold your candle up, Bea. High as you can. So they can see where to go.
3-30 · The Tolling (Battle)
⚔ The Tolling Lv34 · Boss · Sister Ivo's E.G.O awakens
Before the battle
Sister Ivo: Warden. I rang the bell to call them home. I couldn't. But I can give them back their names. Sing with me.
After the battle
The bell staggers on its ropes. A crack runs from its crown to its lip. Through the crack, very faintly, voices.
3-31 · The Last Note (Story)
District 9 - The Belfry, Storm
Ivo opens her mouth. The note she has not been able to reach for three years is right there.
She sings it.
Bea sings with her - off-key, too loud, with total joy. Then Halde, cracked and old. Then Sister Mirren. Then Rook, shouting. Then all of them.
Precentor Halde: ...There. That is the note. You never lost it, child. You only stopped.
3-32 · Vespers (Battle)
⚔ The Tolling Lv33 · Boss · Sister Ivo's E.G.O awakens
Before the battle
Sister Ivo: Agathe Lowe. Mirren Hale. Coll Brannick. Every name you swallowed - GIVE THEM BACK.
After the battle
The Great Bell cracks from crown to lip. What pours out is not a sound but hundreds of quiet voices, saying their own names, and then nothing.
Sister Ivo: ...Vespers are over. Go on, all of you. Go home.
3-33 · Night Bell (Story)
District 9 - Bellmouth
Your flame takes the cathedral's Great Lamp. All across the parish, small bells begin to ring, one after another, unsteady and out of tune.
You can't remember the colour of something. You're not sure what. It's gone.
Little Bea: Sister Ivo! They're ringing! They're all ringing!
Sister Ivo: Yes, Bea. Let them. Let them be loud.
3-34 · The Precentor's Choice (Story)
District 9 - Cathedral Steps
Precentor Halde: I'm going to step down, Ivo. The choir needs a Precentor who can bear to hear it.
Sister Ivo: Who?
Precentor Halde: You know who.
Sister Ivo: ...I have a contract. A barge. A very small, very stubborn lantern.
Precentor Halde: Then the choir will wait. We are good at waiting. We are not, it turns out, very good at silence.
Little Bea: I'll keep the choir in tune till you're back! Not too loud! ...Maybe a bit loud.
3-35 · Seven Percent (Story)
The Taper - Dispatch Cabin
Edda Quill: Seven percent. Again. I've checked three times.
Ansel Brigg: What happens when it runs out, Ledge?
Margery Ledge: That's a question for the Director. Who, as it happens, has just invited the Warden to a meeting. At the Hush Office. Personally.
Rook Marchetti: ...Oh, that's not good.
(The flame burns low. Then, stubbornly, a little higher.)
3-36 · Hymn for the Road (Story)
The Taper - Deck, Night
The Taper pulls away from Bellmouth. Behind it, the bells are still ringing, badly, joyfully.
Ivo sits at the rail, humming. She doesn't stop at the old note. She goes all the way to the end.
Hob Tallow: You finished it.
Sister Ivo: I finished it.
Hob Tallow: Sounds better than the sailor song.
Sister Ivo: (She laughs - a real laugh, loud and slightly off-key.) Bless you, Hob. Bless all of you.
STANZA III - BELLMOUTH - COMPLETE. To be continued in Stanza IV: The Last Commute.