Enter Abyss

Chapter 3; Mind the gap.

As soon as the three of them arrived at the gates, Archer showed the guards the black crescent moon mark on his wrist-- a sign that he was from the Midnight District-- and was about ready to sprint off through the gates when one of the guards said, "Mind the gap."

"Why am I minding it?" Pip butted in, matter-of-factly.

The guard exchanged a look with Archer, "She always like this?"

"Pretty much." 

Either way, when a gate guard says to mind the gap, you do not argue, you simply MIND THE GAP. Which is exactly what they did, stepping gingerly over the large gap between the gate and the street. After that, they began to wander around Lamp post Row, looking at the different pieces of steam powered technology that vendors and shop owners had to offer. They saw machines that looked similar to humans; a metal skeleton with smooth bronze plates making up the chest and a bit of the legs. Gears and rods protruded out of everywhere else and the eyes were dark orbs set in a copper skull.

Archer looked at it, suddered, and kept moving. For while he was a machine enthusiast and inventor, he had mixed feelings about the newest discovery of making iron men; automata that were far more powerful and dangerous than any toy. They were still a work in progress and for now were used mostly by the rich to clean homes or garden or do equally unpleasant things. They were powered by steam-- the automata, not the rich people, that is-- though some famous scientists in Maufaria had already begun making some than ran on Quethra stone.

Putting the thought of the iron men out of his mind, Archer looked around the streets once more. He noted that there were more Keepers here, their shaved heads covered by the blood red hoods they wore, and while all citizens of the city were required to have a ranking mark on their wrists-- a black crescent moon for the Midnight District, a flame for Lamp post Row, and a rose for the Rose Discrict-- the Keepers had only a strange symbol painted on their foreheads. 

Passing by one of them, Archer saw Cogs shiver. "They scare me. They really do."

"I think that's the point." he replied. The Keepers were mysterious and strict in their laws. They made the people of the city pay tribute to the Abyss and if one refused, they themselves were thrown in. Needless to say, everyone paid tribute, whether it was in a gold coin or a trinket of some sort. The Keepers said it was to appease the Abyss and keep it from swallowing more of the city, yet Archer failed to see how it was working since a bit more of his homeland was taken each day. 

But the Keepers continued to rule the city with an iron grip and, once a year, they celebrated the Day of Shadows, the day that was said to be when Threndas opened the Abyss in the middle of the city out of anger and destroyed half the population. That had been over  several thousand years ago and now, as rememberance, one human would be selected and lowered into the Abyss as sacrifice. It was a terrifying day for many, both rich and poor, for any name could be chosen and anyone could become one of the Lost.

Archer's head suddenly snapped up, and he realized he had let his mind wander, to rather dark subjects as well. But the Day of Shadows WAS coming up soon, which meant seeing the whole city dress in black which meant feeling depressed.

He hated feeling depressed.

Spotting his friends, who had seemed content to let him stand there lost in his own head for the rest of the day, he nearly ran into a shrine before he caught up with them.

"Ah, there you are." Cogs said brightly, slapping Archer on the shoulder, "We were wondering when you would return to the land of the living."

Pip nodded in agreement, "It's just the sort of thing you have to wait out."