Lower Hamlet
Description
"Under the cliff there is a cave; here, the whales are dragged to the promenade above to be bled in The Chapel. All of its surfaces were covered in that sticky oil, blackened by an age of floating dust, hanging from the ceilings in a dour temper. Statues, sculpted from the chrism, stand over holes dug into the side of the road." [1]
"This village is an old settlement, older than most of its inhabitants know. Formed from a constant process of cannibalistic construction, each building is built on top of another, often in a confusing way. Roads are found to go nowhere and bridges, wide enough for a truck, lead to thin staircases or small alleys." [2]
The Lower Hamlet is the oldest part of the hamlet, which grew from these roots. At its centre is the Chapel, which follows the Procession Road. The roads, homes and statues are soaked in spermaceti, which hangs from the ceilings in dour temper. The wax drips onto the street to form mounds covered in detailed aniconic patterns.
Old House
Located up a small set of stairs (in the square just before the Chapel) is an old house, where Harriet and David live, and where Harriet's younger sister, Frances used to live. It is a large house, with portuding beams holding up its two gables. Like much of the rest of the Lower Hamlet, the building is stained with wax.
Harriet
Harriet is a child found in the middle room of the Old House.
Dialogue
Before visiting the chapel:
Good morning, are you looking for someone?
I'm looking for my younger sister, she thinks she's lost her father.
If you do see her, will you tell her to come back to me before she finds him?
When she still lived here, she used to love to visit the body beneath the city.
Have you seen that great corpse that lies in the chapel?
After recieving Frances Incense:
You carry with you such a strange, bitter scent!
Still, I'd take it any day over the salty headiness
which drifts up from the holes on the road outside.
After visiting the chapel:
I'm looking for my daughter.
Old House Beach
On the landing is an open window and a sheer drop. On the sand below there is another whale, whose skin is wet and bumpy. The tide here is further out, so the whale will never float back into the water. [3]
Garden
At the back of the house there is a large garden, with a river running down it's western flank. The shrubbery is in full bloom, with a flowering smoke tree at its centre. By the river on a bench, a man called David sits.
David
David will give you a tour of the garden if you ask for one. First, he will lead you to the vegetable patches, then the secret garden, and finally he will show you the pond before going back into the house to be with Harriet. It is unknown what his relation to Harriet and Frances is, as neither acknowledge him.
Procession Road
The Procession Road leads from the entrance to the Lower Hamlet to the Chapel at its centre. It is lined with statues depicting a woman in libation, tipping a bowl over large holes in the ground. The statues are made from the same yellowish wax as much of the architecture around them. It is not said what the liquid being poured might be, but it is assumed it is spermaceti, which is being poured in the lake of spermaceti in the caves under the village. Occasionally, a cortege of animals would march along this road, throwing carcasses wrapped in cloth into the holes flanking the road. [4]
The Chapel
The Chapel is a building reached from the Procession Road in the Lower Hamlet. It is one of the many religious structures in the village, but is thought to be one of the oldest due to it's location in the lowest stratum of the settlement. It's main feature is the carcass of a whale found on its altar, presumed to be a sperm whale. There is a white waxy substance pouring from the head of the corpse, which hardens on the floor.
Altar
The altar is made up of a group of statues which depict the scene of the pieta, with the whale at its centre. The woman in mourning appears to be the same woman seen in the statues on the Procession Road and lining the walls of the chapel.
As apposed to looking down at the reason for her grief, it is interesting to note that each of the characters in the scene look upwards, as though towards some off-screen intruder, interrupting the procession. Furthermore, this is the only other place in the Hamlet where the smelling statues can be found other than by the sea. The statues smell something above them.
Chapel Beach
The Chapel Beach can be reached through a door in the back of the Chapel. Mapped to the position of the beach, the Chapel Beach it is positioned directly below, although there is grey sky in each. Here, it looks the same as the other beach, except there are no whale carcass, and there seems to be more silver in the water.
