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<UNSPEAKABLE ELDRITCH CHANTING> A Beginner's Guide to Lore in the Book of Hours

By Cardsharp

A small (yet sufficiently snarky) guide to the basics of the universe and backstory of the Hush House.

Spoiler-free, and (hopefully) useful for figuring out what the flip they're talking about as you start your game.

This is NOT a step-by-step guide to playing or starting the game, though. That's already been put together by at least a couple dozen people more patient than I, though I don't mind helping out if you have any questions.

Award

Created by

Cardsharp
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Category: Gameplay Basics, Story or Lore

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

23 Aug, 2023 @ 1:29am

28 Aug, 2023 @ 2:43pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Before we get into it...

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR (eldritch warlock librarian) ENGINES

Wait, who is that guy and why is he telling me to worship a clock?

A PETITE TIMELINE OF THE HUSH HOUSE

DAWN PHASE (1000 AD and earlier)

SOLAR GOTHIC PHASE (1000 - 1534 AD)

BARONIAL PHASE (1537-1700s AD)

CURIA PHASE (1785 - 1896 AD)

NOCTURNAL PERIOD (1896 - 1932 AD)

The Present (1936 onward)

Comments

Before we get into it...

Please note that there are a couple things (ok probably a lot of things) that you should probably know before you go crazy trying to piece together a big picture that's actually coherent.

When the game says "Read everything", you REALLY REALLY NEED TO READ EVERYTHING. The names. The descriptions. The tooltips. The names of descriptions on the tooltips. EVERYTHING. Weather Factory wrote several novels' worth of info into this game, all for you to discover. Not sure what is going on with some doodad you just found in a room? Try examining it with "Consider." There's a more than even chance you'll get SOME kind of info from the game. If you've ever played games like Dark Souls, you know that there's lore and there's gameplay mechanics, but neither of these are going to be spoon-fed to you. Happily, you don't have to worry about dying every 30 seconds, but you do gotta get to readin', my new friend.
There are "secret" files you can find right on the title screen of Book of Hours . They're not spoilers but they have some TASTY lore and info. I'll let you find that on your own, you lil' treasure hunter you. <3
A lot of info is carried over from Cultist Simulator. A LOT. Expect possible mockery from me if you haven't played it first. :)
There are some small references to Weather Factory's other games They are miniscule, so I wouldn't worry about it. But I have noticed that not everyone knows the magnificent madmen in Weather Factory also created a great tabletop RPG called the Lady Afterwards, which is set in the Alexandria, Egypt, of the CS/BoH universe. One of the co-founders for Weather Factory was also the one of the founders/chief narrative officers of Failbetter Games for many years, and helped make Fallen London (a fantastic and ongoing free browser-based game), Sunless Seas, and other stuff. All of it is good stuff.
You can still piece most of this together yourself in Book of Hours if you really want to. I absolutely loathe saying this, mostly because Cultist Simulator is a masterpiece, despite its goofy name. But you can. I promise you now it won't be nearly as comprehensive compared to if you'd also played Cultist Simulator and its DLCs. It'll also take a heck of a lot longer to figure out and you'll miss some otherwise hilarious references (looking at you, Douglas), but it's doable.

Presumably by reading this far you already are an adept worthy of passing the Stag Door. Or just want to be left alone with your pipe and don't care about all that conjuring of abominations from Cultist Sim.

But this is a guide so... * throws desk out the balcony window and whips out summoning circle *

Now let's get into it.

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR (eldritch warlock librarian) ENGINES

Pretend I'm wearing a trenchcoat right now.

"Psst, hey kid, wanna buy some cool eldritch powers????"

Good news for you then, because you get all the same magic cult powers Principles from Cultist Simulator and then some! They call them principles but we all know it's really secret unknowable magic librarian voodoo.

Like the Dewey Decimal System.

Anyway, you get to develop and use these powers to ultimately rewrite history (or other nifty things):

Knock = powers and influences related to keys and unlocking things in general, whether it's doors or dimensions. Sometimes these guys ARE the door itself, which is why they're really into wounds as well.
Lantern = related to light, knowledge and seeing the truth of all things. Mirrors and glass are a big thing.
Moth = related to whimsy and impulsive self-destructive actions (think moth to a flame). Lots of imagery of forests, change, and barbers. If Moth is related, expect high-octane crazy.
Heart = preservation at all costs, lots of dance and drums and heart imagery is involved. This ain't your Captain Planet heart. They really mean at all costs. Heart powers demand a person dance until their feet are bloody and then tell them to keep dancing or else the world implodes. Literally. It's a big metaphor of a heartbeat keeping a body alive.
Grail = related to birth and blood and a lot of sexytime things. These guys will eat you and then uh... eat you. Lots of feast and birth imagery.
Edge = ha! Edgelords. Just kidding these guys are great. Their whole thing is about adversity, fighting, us vs them, new vs. old, that kind of thing. You get the idea. That said though they're not technically in charge of death itself, just getting you there.
Winter = now these guys ARE in charge of death. Lots of winter metaphors (duh), lots of association with memories or memory-like things such as paintings.
Forge = power to create new things through the destruction of old things (for example, creating metal by smelting down stone). Lots of machine and blacksmith imagery.
Secret Histories = this isn't really a Principle per se, but it might as well be. In CS it was knowledge of secret occult events and alternate timelines/dimensions. It's the same here, but folded into a new Principle named Rose.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Sky = NEW to the Cultist Simulator/BoH universe, it's... literally all about the sky, but also related to laws, structures, physics, balance, that kind of thing. At least two guys got their faces completely pecked off by birds after pissing off someone quite versed in the Principle of Sky, so that's a thing. Alfred Hitchcock would be envious.
Moon = NEW to the CS/BoH universe, power related to the ocean, and all things secret
or forgotten. A lot of ocean and night-related imagery. Somewhat connected to Knock in the idea of secret shortcuts and byways.
Nectar = NEW to the CS/BoH universe, powers related to life, growth, the turning of the seasons. Similar to Heart, but less protecting/repairing and more growing/cycling. Includes a lot of metaphors to plants, sap, liquids, etc. Likes to associate with blood but Grail's probably got a better claim on that overall.
Rose = NEW to the CS/BoH universe, a symbol for the compass rose, possibilities, exploration, and the 9 parts of the soul overall. If you've got a keen eye, you'll probably see a certain group tried to redact the heck out of it in Book of Hours...
Scale = NEW to the CS/BoH universe, powers related to the earth. If you see the game talking about animal scales, or insects, or earthquakes (ie tectonic "scales" shifting), it's probably making a reference to Scale somehow.

Something to note too is that Scale is also likely to be used in conjunction with a sort of proto-race of sentient insects called the Carapace Cross. A largely unexplored area in CS, it's expanded upon a lot more in BoH.

Wait, who is that guy and why is he telling me to worship a clock?

So, now you know about your nifty new magical cult powers Principles, you can use them to grow into an ALL-POWERFUL LIBRARIAN GOD (or... not. Cultist Simulator definitely had some very interesting, let's say "alternate" endings).

That said, if you want to stick it to the man, you gotta know who those chumps are first. In CS and BoH, there is an established eldritch pantheon and Cthulhu definitely wasn't invited. In descending order of importance, the game will at some point make at least one reference about:

Hours = gods, or close enough to. Some are alive (24 in fact are still alive, what a coincidence woooow), at least one Hour pulled a Houdini act, and the rest are dead...ish. All of them are extremely strong sources of at least one or two of those Principles we just got done describing. The living Hours have a seat of power in the dream dimension called the Mansus. Any remaining Hours have been banished from the Mansus entirely, live in its surrounding "Woods", or died (inasmuch as they can die), falling into a shadow dimension "beneath" the Mansus called the Nowhere.
- Hours-from-Stone = primeval gods of stone and ocean and so on. Most are dead/banished to a void dimension (aka the Nowhere), but a couple are either on permanent guard duty (Horned God) or pulled a fast one to escape and possibly become a "new" Hour (the Egg). Think of them as the Titans after losing their fight with the Olympian gods and you have the general picture.
- Hours-from-Light = gods that were born from the death of the former (and complete) Sun, the Sun-in-Splendour. There's a prophecy that they will someday reunite back into the complete Sun, but an Hour-from-Blood will probably rip everyone to shreds in the process so who knows how that'll pan out.
- Hours-from-Blood = gods born from a sacrifice of some sort. The sacrifice itself, mind, not any parties involved in creating the sacrifice. The biggest, baddest one is the Wolf Divided (the problem child I just referenced with the Hours-from-Light reuniting). He is big angy.
- Hours-from-Flesh = gods that were former mortals. They either helped kill another Hour somehow or did/were forced to do something so absolutely batsh*t they ascended straight into godhood.
- Hours-from-Nowhere = the godly equivalent of being dead or banished. None of the Hours are what you'd call nice but a lot of these guys specifically are particularly unhealthy for... everyone. Or existence in general, take your pick. The ones we know the most about are former Hours-from-Stone, but a few were (probably) born there. In particular, Worms (which aren't technically an hour but might as well be) come from the Nowhere and are the equivalent of an all-consuming entropic death of the universe(s). They literally ate the original Sun's corpse right after he split into the Hours-from-Light, and they have been recorded as cropping up repeatedly in the material world. Anything from the Nowhere is usually really nasty.
Names = the Hours' top lieutenants/demigods. Still able to kick a lot of ass (or save yours, in at least one CS DLC). Not actually trusted by the Hours, since Names are usually closest to being able murder/replace Hours.
Long = mortals that obtained immortality from one of several methods (cough goplaycultistsimulator cough), but aren't necessarily Names. Sometimes they "retire" to Port Noon, because there is a magic spring there that makes the Hours forget them and eff those Hour guys amirite?
Know aka Adepts = mortals that have achieved enough power/skill to at least get far enough into the The Mansus to pass a gate called the Stag Door, which requires both power and knowledge to get to and get past. These guys do not quite enough power to be immortal Long though, or at least haven't gone through through the process of immortalizing themselves yet.
Scholars = same as adepts, but for the purposes of BoH they don't use their powers (as much) to affect the material world so the Suppression Bureau can't be bothered to hunt them down constantly THAT'S RIGHT I'M LOOKING AT YOU WEARY DETECTIVE IMMA REAL SCHOLAR NOW >8U

A PETITE TIMELINE OF THE HUSH HOUSE

Now that some of the terminology has been clarified, let's move on to the backstory of how you, some random hobo fresh from the beach, get to have a shot at literally altering all of history to your every whim. * rubs hands menacingly * >:)

Keep in mind this is a basic outline of the phases and major events/figures of the Hush House as we know them in early parts of the game. I'm fully aware many events are kept secret by the game until you get well into it. This timeline is meant to be both spoiler-free and (sorta) succinct.

A lot of info came straight from the "secret" files from the main title screen, but an equally large amount came from piecing together completely random chunks of (early) info attached to everything from entire zone descriptions (like the Cucurbit Bridge) to particularly comfy-looking chairs. I tried to reference where I found some of these facts, like room names or specific statues, but usually only if they did not come from the "secret" files.

DAWN PHASE (1000 AD and earlier)

The Church of Our Lady Beneath predates all successive structures in the 3rd century
Abbey of the Black Dove/White Crow is established 599 AD
"Nuns of the Knot" inhabit the Abbey for a large portion of the Dawn Phase, though there are references to both nuns and monks living there (Physic Garden, symbol of the Sisterhood of Triple Knot is on "Sister" bust's pedestal)
Abbot Thomas - a former raider becomes an abbot in the 9th century, but apparently cannot shake his old lifestyle completely and dies violently (bust)

SOLAR GOTHIC PHASE (1000 - 1534 AD)

The Abbey becomes St. Brandans in the 11th century.
Some time after, the Earl of Cornwall donates a special Tree brought from Normandy, which blooms white, black, and red flowers.
Eva de Braose, a widow after her husband is hung, endows funds for expansion and a healing center in 13th century. Oddly, she never visits the island.
Winter Tower (later renamed Long Tower) is built in 1322.
Abbot Geffrey builds the Barber's Tower (later renamed Motley Tower) in 1450 for Natan of Regensburg, a Jewish physician and refugee from the church (bust).

BARONIAL PHASE (1537-1700s AD)

1534 - John Tregonwell dissolves St Brandans at the behest of Henry VIII (likely due to breaking off England from BoH's in-game eldritch equivalent of the Catholic Church, though the details are not given beyond John supposedly discovering corrupt behavior)
Soon after, ownership of the land is handed to Hendrik Dewulf, a captain of Tregonwell's, who is given near autonomy over it in an unusual show of generosity for King Henry VIII. Shortly after Hendrik puts down a rebellion in the area, a local is said to have cursed him to only sire a total of 7 generations.
1st Baron - Hendrik Dewulf (granted the title of Baron 1536)
2nd Baron - Thomas Dewulf ("Baron Silence", restores Watchman Tower)
3rd Baron - Walter Dewulf (builds Grand Ascent staircase)
4th Baron - Musgrave Dewulf ("Lamb Dewulf", restores Winter Tower)
5th Baron - Gideon Dewulf ("Motley Baron", renames Barber's Tower to Motley Tower)
6th Baron - Valentine Dewulf (builds Gullscry Tower for an aviary, falls to his death from it)
7th Baronness - Eva Dewulf ("the Pale Lady", "not to be crossed/not to be found", possibly went to Port Noon with her friend, Franklin Bancroft, after a wedding scandal wherein she was abandoned at the altar)("secret" files, "The Crossing to Noon" book)
SIDENOTE Henry VIII = "Old Coppernose" and fka the Bronze King. Additionally, the Lancasters = the Sovereigns of the Leashed Flame. They are associated with the Sunset Road alchemies and fought against the Dawn Road alchemies in the War of Roads (multiple book/object descriptions, Solar Gothic Period description, "secret" files)

CURIA PHASE (1785 - 1896 AD)

Note: It is nigh-impossible to entirely uncover some of the Librarian names, info, or their associated busts in the early game. THAT SAID, it's easy to see if a bust belongs in a certain section by examining it with "Consider." Thanks to Setanta for the info on the 5th/6th Librarians.

Successor to Eva Dewulf, Sebastian Dewulf, drowns in 1759, Eva Dewulf "comes to a tragic end" (or possibly sets sail for Port Noon), and the caves beneath the Hush House become a smuggler base shortly thereafter (Baronial Phase description, "The Crossing to Noon" book)
A group of scholars buy the deed to the land and establish the Curia in 1785.
1st Curia Librarian - 1785 Ambrose Westcott (red chair, "often purified but not pure")
2nd Librarian - 1797 Kitty Mazarine (blue chair, piano, "born of 3 nations and none")
3rd Librarian - 1818 Solomon Husher (Solomon's Study)
4th Librarian - Fraser Strathcoyne ("died not but passed within", bust)
5th Librarian - Natalia Brulleau ("denied victory/never defeated")
6th Librarian - Willam Harries ("brought a key long lost")
7th Librarian - circa 1896 Thirza Blake ("who dwells still in the 3-flowered tree", loading screen, donkey painting)
SIDENOTE - The Curia Phase technically ends here, in 1896. Thirza Blake bankrupts the Curia on her projects before disappearing altogether, allowing the Nocturnal Branch to take charge. However, the Curia Library and its Librarians are allowed to continue on in the form of the "Office of the Curia" most likely due to the possibility of its Hour patrons intervening otherwise (Curia Period description, loading screen, "secret" files)

8th Librarian - Sir David Greene ("served 2 masters best he could", Roscraggan Whiskey)
9th Librarian - Brian Levinsen ("saw his fate/did not shirk it", Patients Lounge)
10th Librarian - Serena Blackwood ("departed but did not forget", bust, referenced as Curia Librarian sometime around 1906 to 1924)
11th Librarian - 1928 Gervinus Van Lauren ("returned to complete what he began", multiple rooms reference him prior to unlock, Reading Room desk)
12th Librarian - 1936 You :)

NOCTURNAL PERIOD (1896 - 1932 AD)

1896 Nocturnal Branch of the Metropolitan Police attains access to and at least partial control of the Hush House after the Curia is driven to bankruptcy by Thirza Blake, the 7th Librarian. They establish the Office of the Curia, convert a large portion of the House into a gaol, and build the Cucurbit Bridge ("secret" files, Cucurbit Bridge description, Curia Phase description)
The fallout from the "Ortuccio Incident" in Italy causes the Nocturnal Branch to be dismantled and absorbed into the Suppression Bureau around 1902 ("secret" files)
Governor Collers oversees the gaol up to 1920s (projector room)
Christopher Illopoly, an adept, stays in Hush House infirmary to recover from wounds received during the Great War (aka the "Second Worm War", a term which is actively suppressed by the Bureau) along with several other semi-famous adepts of the time, and is later invited back by Serena Blackwood as an ally against Governor Collers ("Governor of Cucurbit") after the Great War around 1924 (Patients' Lounge, Illopoly's Nook)
Serena Blackwood is forced to leave the Curia, but becomes a Librarian in Alexandria (reference to TTRPG The Lady Afterwards)
Nocturnal Branch Secretary Abney-Hastings rewards Gervinus Van Lauren for closing the Winding Stair in 1928 (reading room desk)
Christopher Illopoly writes to try obtaining encaustum terminale ink from someone calling themselves "E" in 1929, likely in order to change history and reunite with Teresa Galmier, a Long.
A fire (supposedly) occurs in 1929, closing down the Crucible Tower. The fire is publicly attributed as the ultimate cause for the abandonment of Hush House.
1929 Your predecessor, the 11th Librarian, leaves the Hush House. (opening descriptions of game)
Teresa Galmier writes from Port Noon to Christopher Illopoly in 1932 about a proposition they have for a mysterious woman living just outside of Port Noon...
SIDENOTE: Both Christopher and Teresa are prominent characters from Cultist Simulator, though the players only ever directly meet Teresa in that game. Their romance was well established, but last we heard of it in CS they were unable to stay together. Teresa was more or less living full-time in the dream-dimension of the Hours (the Mansus), where she was out of Christopher's ability to reach her. In addition, they were presumably staying apart in order to avoid breaking the "Law of the Sky," which forcibly turns immortals into a very creepy cannibalistic monster immediately after they or their partner give birth to a child (ie the mother OR the father can become one depending on... who eats first, let's say). If you aren't creeped out by casual cannibalism for some reason, think for a second about who the first and closest living human would likely be immediately after childbirth.

The Present (1936 onward)

And here we are, at the start of The Book of Hours. A new Librarian (that's you!), runs afoul of a mysterious storm while traveling and the resulting shipwreck tosses you into the ocean.

In a convenient twist of events (WINK), you wash ashore near where you are meant to be, the Hush House, and become the 12th Curia Librarian at the start of the game in 1936.

Interestingly, there is an alcove already set aside on the Grand Ascent for both you and a 13th Librarian...

7 Comments

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Evad Armadillo 23 May @ 2:39pm

A few terminology things to note:

- Hours are generally referred to as being (or being among) Gods-From-[origin], or, especially for the Gods-From-Stone, the Gods-Who-Were-[origin], not as 'Hours-From-[origin]'.

- For that matter, the dead Hours, which is to say the Gods-Who-Were-Stone and the Sun-In-Splendour, are generally not counted among the Gods-From-Nowhere (though you are correct in saying that banished Hours are, at least from what we know of the Snow).

- Some locations, which is to say Nowhere and Hush House, are prefaced with 'the', despite never being referred to as such in-game.

Content-wise, however, this is a quite good lore primer, and I commend you for its making.

Kiwina 7 Dec, 2023 @ 8:51am

I read everything in-game, but don't understand yet still get the feeling like I do... it all makes sense. Thank you for translating

JMizzlin 26 Oct, 2023 @ 1:12am

This is amazing, thanks for your hard work :)

Mulerino 26 Aug, 2023 @ 2:41pm

Nice and comprehensive!

- I can confirm @Setanta017, After Brulleau came Willem Harries. You can read about it in the "Hidden Stairs" under the Wine Cellar.

- I can add to the Solar Gothic Period, that in 1249 there was a trial of two nuns, who supposedly killes Abbess Nonna. However Nonna actually led the two nuns into a Thunderskin-cult, even though the worship was forbidden by then. During a ritual Nonna died and the two were scape goated. Women were no longer allowed after that.
At least that is the version found in "The Most Sorrowful End of the Lady Nonna", which is written by Eusebia, one of the two nuns who might be murderers or just cultists.

Cheers

Setanta017 25 Aug, 2023 @ 1:56pm

I can also confirm your order of Librarians, you almost had it correct. Willem Harries (The Priest-looking bust you find up in the Solar section of the House, specifically the Solarium itself I think) was the 6th Librarian, while Natalia Brulleau was the 5th. Brulleau's position quote is likely a reference to the Duelling Hall, and Brulleau's fascination with Edge.

Setanta017 25 Aug, 2023 @ 1:56pm

I just noticed something between reading your timeline and some other stuff I found looking around in the game.

Over in the Nocturnal section of the House, the Gaol, there is a genealogical chart, which gives a bit more detail about the state of affairs of the royal family in this History, which is of relevance since the "New King" and his men are referenced several times before you find this.

Turns out King George V was murdered by his heir, Edward VII in 1930 over an argument involving Edward's womanizing.

Further: "the kingdom was saved from constitutional collapse by one Henry Huddleston Abney-Hastings, 13th Count of Loudoun who claimed descent through the Plantagenet line." . . . I noticed the same last name as that of the Branch Secretary from 1928 who rewarded Van Lauren.

Now, its not the exact same person, as the desk plaque is signed "E. Abney-Hastings", not an 'H.', but evidently the New King has relatives in the Suppression Bureau, among other things.

katabatic 24 Aug, 2023 @ 5:04pm

Nice guide, but AK wasn't involved in the making of Sunless Skies or Mask of the Rose, only Fallen London and Sunless Sea.

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