'Travelling at Night, Vol. 2'
Winter is one of the Principles of the invisible arts. It is the silence that comes and the cold that ends, the aspect which presides over all that has been lost, and what may yet return.
Themes and Imagery[]
'A Sexton's Secret'
Winter is most often associated with the dying and the dead, as well as silence, cold, and the season of winter itself. It can be used to summon the dead,[1] fill enemies with dread and despair,[2] and bring about destruction.[3] Less malicious applications include warding against dangerous spirits and curses or resisting the effects of extreme cold.[4][5] It is also one of the aspects often connected to Nowhere, the realm of the dead and the lost, and is one of the aspects closest to Worms.[6]
The number nine is frequently referenced as a recurring number for Winter. It is the number and hour of the Elegiast, though nine also has significance to the Principle in general:
- The being known as Chione plunged Abydos into a silent winter for nine years.[7]
- The Rite of Beast’s Division requires the sacrifice to be divided into nine parts.[8]
- Followers of the Colonel swear the Nine Patient Oaths.[9]
- When recruiting followers to a Winter cult in Cultist Simulator, nine words are spoken in the initiation ritual.[10]
- The Palest Painting requires nine memories for its completion.[11]
Ascension[]
'Inquisitions for the Demiurge'
Those who seek immortality through the powers of Winter usually follow the Sun-in-Rags.[12] While the exact process is unknown, it likely mirrors other “standard” ascensions which require the gathering of Marks and eventually culminating in a grand ritual of Winter. In Cultist Simulator, however, the Winter Ascension can be performed with the patronage of the Elegiast in the Ghoul Legacy, which involves collecting and consuming the memories of the dead to create the Palest Painting, a memorial to the Dead Hours.[13]
Winter-Long have a unique form of immortality compared to other Long.[14] As part of their Ascension, a specific date is set for their death which cannot be avoided. Until then, they cannot be killed or destroyed. This is apparently because they have been brought from death in Nowhere back into the House by their patron. Passing through the Tricuspid Gate, a requirement for most to achieve immortality, is largely ceremonial for Winter-Long.
Subversion[]
'All Things End'
In Cultist Simulator, Winter subverts Edge,[15] in a process reminiscent of the Colonel in his struggle with the Lionsmith, of patience overcoming strength[16] (or possibly the Horned-Axe's opposition to the Edge Principle in general). It also reflects the inevitable conclusion of conflict – death.
Winter itself is subverted by Heart, and the two principles are often interpreted as opposites.[17] Winter is the aspect of death, silence, and stasis, while Heart embodies life, music, and motion. Though Winter may fall upon the earth, Spring inevitably returns, as does life in the wake of death.
Hours[]
'The Wolf-Word'
- The Sun-in-Rags: Most Winter-Long ascend under the Sun-in-Rags, the mournful fragment of the now departed Sun-in-Splendour. He is the sunset thrust into the role of the noonday sun and represents Winter as a mournful power of conclusions and beautiful endings.
- The Elegiast: While he is not the kindest of Hours, the Elegiast is never cruel, and preserves the memory of those who are gone, even the Hours dead in Nowhere. He represents Winter as a power who commemorates and grieves, remembering what has been lost. It is through the Elegiast that the player may ascend in the Ghoul Legacy.
- The Madrugad: Another child of the Sun-in-Splendour, the Madrugad presides over death and passage into the House, as well as the Cindered Tally. She represents Winter as a power who quells and quiets, a psychopomp embodying a chilly winter dawn.
- The Colonel: One of the first gods-from-flesh, the scarred Colonel is an old and chilly power, charged with guarding the Worm Museum. He represents Winter as patience, experience, and cold practicality in causing death.
- The Horned-Axe: As the last of the gods-from-stone, the Horned Axe is the oldest living Hours in the Mansus and carries the memory of her lost siblings. She now represents Winter as an ancient power, one who separates and distinguishes, dividing the past from the future.
- The Wolf-Divided: Born from the agony of the Intercalate, the Wolf desires the end of all of existence, including itself. The Wolf represents Winter as a power of destruction, doom, and despair.
- Snow (?): While this Hour does not appear directly in Cultist Simulator, design documents and a mention in Book of Hours imply that it is also an Hour of Winter, a power of stasis, silence, and forgetfulness.
Other Entities and Followers[]
'The Nine-Year Vision'
- Miss Naenia: The gentlest of the Elegiast’s Names, who can be encountered both in the Dancer Legacy and, more prominently, in the Ghoul Legacy, where she inhabits a painting bearing her name and guides the player on their path of Remembrance. She is described as a “dark-skinned woman with snow-coloured eyes and close-cropped ivory-coloured hair.[18]
- Coelle: A flower-girl whose corpse washed up on the shores of Port Noon after she drowned herself. She is a Name of the Wolf, likely due to being consumed by despair and “unmaking” herself.[19]
- Chione: A mysterious spirit known for her nine years in Abydos, where she turned the city into “a place of slow death, frosty ecstasy and silent beauty”, before conspirators break the silence and let in a scarred man (almost certainly the Colonel) to drag Chione out and allow Summer to return.[20] It was speculated that Chione is an identity of the Madrugad or the Snow, or one of their Names. A somewhat tangential source reveals that she's indeed the Snow's Name. [21]
- Maids-in-the-Mirror: The Dead who pass the test of the Ascent of Knives enter the service of the Sun-in-Rags through the Peacock Door. They are said to favor orchids, and in the Apostle Entheate Legacy assist in gathering Witnesses. Although primarily associated with Winter, Maids-in-the-Mirror are said to possess a "keen cruelty", and their birthplace, the Ascent of Knives, is notoriously agonizing to traverse.[22][23][24]
- Voiceless Dead: Spirits of the dead who have entered the Mansus by the White Door and lost their voice forever. They can be summoned back to the Wake for a time as silent servants to the living.[25]
- Burgeoning Risen: A type of risen corpse who are renewed by the Ring-Yew and sustained by the growths of the Wood.[26]
- Shattered Risen: A type of undead animated for a time by a rending force, raised from a corpse by the Colonel.[27]
- Julian Coseley: A 17th century practitioner of the invisible sciences, a Winter-Long with no clear master, an Obliviate, and a Worm. He stands opposed to the creation of new Names, and like the rest of the Obliviates, seems to loathe the current power-politics of the Mansus. His writings and influence on the invisible world can be encountered in various parts of Cultist Simulator,[28][29] and he may make an appearance as an enemy Long in any of the Apostle Legacies.[30] Called a “Worm of Worms” by his former colleague Hersault.[31]
- Burzghash: An author of The Silver Book, who abandoned the service of the Elegiast to join the Ordo Limiae. Travelled from a “city of messenger eagles” (of unclear geographical origin).[32]
- Dominykas: A baker with a taste for poisons, and an associate in the Exile Legacy. He has several high-level contacts in the Association of the Iron Wolf's Kaunas branch, and can be recruited from there as an ally. Game files imply him to be some manner of ghoul—his card's ID is "ally.ghoul"—although it's not supported by any of his actions "on-screen".[33]
Other Notes[]
- Winter is counted among the Apollonian Principles, meaning that it is an aspect tied to reason and the upper levels of the House, alongside Lantern, Forge, and Edge.
- Winter was the last aspect to be added during the development of Cultist Simulator, and retroactively applied to existing Hours such as the Sun-in-Rags. Another name considered for it was Bone.
- Winter is the only aspect in Cultist Simulator which has two cults associated with it. The Children of Silence serves as the “standard” cult which the player can found in any game and follows the Winter Hours in general. The Towers of the Dove is a variant cult exclusive to the Ghoul Legacy, focused on the Elegiast and the path of Remembrance. Functionally, the two are identical.[34][35]
- It is not known to who or what principle of the Winter owes its name. Winter may be akin to Knock in that regard, lacking a single leading Hour. It's commonly speculated though that Winter may actually be named after Snow, but, given how little we know about that Hour, the only link here is the name.
Sources[]
- ↑ Summon one of the throng of the Dead?
- ↑ Share a terribly mystery of the Ragged Lore
- ↑ The End is Beautiful
- ↑ We call upon the Elegiast, from whom nothing more can be taken
- ↑ We call upon the Madrugad, who cannot be unbalanced
- ↑ Read 'the Tantra of Worms'
- ↑ Chione ay Abydos
- ↑ Rite of the Beast's Division
- ↑ A Consecration to the Colonel
- ↑ Recruit an Acquaintance, by invoking Winter
- ↑ Nine Colours Hinted
- ↑ AMA
- ↑ Temptation: Remembrance
- ↑ Inquisitions for the Demiurge
- ↑ All Things End
- ↑ Respects the Colonel
- ↑ The Life Beneath
- ↑ The Elegiast's Name, 'Miss Naenia'
- ↑ The Wolf's Name
- ↑ Chione ay Abydos
- ↑ WF196: Chione Rogano Bevan (2018)
- ↑ Summon a servant of the Sun-in-Rags, Maid-in-the-Mirror, Send a Maid-in-the-Mirror to lure a Witness
Read Poemander's 'On What is Contained by Silver' - ↑ Mantra of Ascent
- ↑ The Ascent of Knives (influenceedgee)
- ↑ Voiceless Dead
- ↑ Call on the Ring-Yew to raise a corpse to half-life, Burgeoning Risen
- ↑ Call on the Cartographer of Scars to raise a corpse to half-life, Shattered Risen
- ↑ The Six Letters on Necessity
- ↑ The White Library
- ↑ J.C., Our Enemy's Identity, #julian_unknown section
- ↑ Study Hersault's 'Introduction to Histories'
- ↑ The Silver Book
- ↑ Dominykas, the Baker, Kaunas (Little Paris)
- ↑ Children of Silence
- ↑ Towers of the Dove