Rowena is an alukite and a member of the Ligeia Club. The only Ligeian not present in Cultist Simulator, she appears in Book of Hours as a possible visitor during Numa.[1]
She is stated to hold the Mare’s Key that opens the Door to Nowhere, and to have lent it unwisely now and then. Her sacrificial animal is unknown, but her associated animal is the mare.[2] Given that her associated animal is the same as Morgen’s sacrificial animal, it is possible that the reverse holds true as well, thus making her sacrificial animal a bull.
Rowena is also the protector of Hush House, and is likely part of St. Rhonwen's Trust. She is the Secretary Persistent of the Curia. Only Ligeians could take that position since Secretary Persistent must have one foot outside the laws of Hours. However, it is said that she has grown exhausted and compromised, making it unclear how much longer she can retain the position.
Other Notes[]
- Her name is likely a reference to Rowena of the Matter of Britain, who won her people the Kingdom of Kent through her seduction of Vortigern.[3]
- In Phase X of Enigma, this text appears: "In memory of Rowena, for whom Fortigan lost its crown".[2] Given that Fortigan is another name for Vortigern, this further supports the connection to the Rowena described in the Matter of Britain.
- Rowena is also a character in the Edgar Allan Poe short story “Ligeia”, for which the Ligeia Club is believed to be named.[4] In the story, Ligeia is the narrator’s first wife, a beautiful, intellectual woman with some measure of forbidden wisdom, who eventually dies. The narrator then enters a loveless marriage with Rowena. Rowena sickens and dies as well. During the narrator’s vigil, he sees her seemingly return to life, but Rowena has transformed into Ligeia. There is some ambiguity over how much of the story is an opium-induced vision.[5]
- Rowena’s connection to the titular character of “Ligeia” may indicate that the Ligeia Club in-game is named for her, or for another unrevealed character Rowena has a relation to.
- Her epithet "treason-dam" comes from the Mr Eaten twitter bot (@Mr_Eaten), which responded to the names of each Ligeian with an epithet. Five were new epithets, while two (Echidna -> Monster-mother, and Morgen -> Sea-born) matched existing epithets and can be taken as confirmation that these epithets are canon to Cultist Simulator (since the bot is dubiously canon for Fallen London and had few ties to Cultist Simulator previously).[6]
- Rowena has some sort of connection to Ys, as do her descendants (including the Dewulf family starting from Walter Dewulf, as well as their distant descendant Dr. Yvette Southey.)[7]