Into the Abyss
Blessed are those who walk on the edge
World of the night, people of the dark, the Conspiracy... the supernatural world goes by many names, but to us deeply involved, it is the Abyss. A bottomless pit that swallows anyone who dares to gaze into it, without condescending to glare back. If you're ever willing to pass through the veil of ignorance that protects the unknowing, brace yourself, for sanity is but a vague concept down there.
A world on its own
Although it is more striking in our city than anywhere else, the Abyss is not restricted to London. We could see it, in a way, as a society evolving in parallel to the denizens of daylight. Anything that regular science cannot explain, from humongous creatures to occult practices and gods from outer realms, falls into the Abyss realm. They have actually little in relation to each other, but it makes for an easier classification, especially for newcomers. The deeper one dive into the Abyss, the less this analogy makes sense, and I long grew past this oversimplification. However, as this is meant to be an introductory article, I will devise my activity through these terms.
The Abyss is a many-layered maze of madness, in which I stand at one of the deepest point human understanding can go. Below lie insanity and monsters beyond comprehension. This is not to brag, far from it. Simply a necessity in my line of work. Treading with the boundaries of reality on a nightly basis is risking at any moment to cross it. Maybe I've already gone insane, it becomes hard to say after some time.
Bear in mind, the Abyss is no place. It is rather the sum of the people and things that pursue the same folly. Hence, it would not be possible to describe it without hoping on this vast topic. From old folklore to horrors beyond understanding, this metaphorical well is filled with all manners of insanity, and those are only the most visible of the bunch.
Night creatures
Or monsters, really. Most of them were never born and remain in the dark, unable to face the scorching Sun. The gaze of God would say the Church people. Whatever it is, the night is their domain and we need to venture there if we are to deal with them. Their diversity is almost endless, as they are the part of truth that lies in every myth and folklore. Some were too horrendous to be reported and lies away from the tales, unbeknownst but to some initiates. Below are a few noteworthy races that wander the street of London at night.
Vampires
The older the vampire, the stronger it gets. And the families of the vampire nobility predate the foundation of the city they rule. The unfathomably powerful elders sit at the parliament in plain sight, not worried the slightest by the antagonising queen. While they have nothing to fear, the same cannot be said for their lesser brethren. Vampires that belong to the petty aristocracy hide their teeth, preying on the citizens while fearing for the hunters to come and stake them.
Not everything the legends say about them is true, though. They do drink blood, albeit not to survive. For some reason, human blood is what fuels their supernatural abilities, but they can live just fine without it. Daylight does not turn them to ashes, it is merely a side effect of their extremely pale skin tint that reacts poorly to intense light. Their distaste for garlic in food is indeed more prominent than in human population, and all the thing about killing them with wooden stakes is... old tradition. Most die just the same to a sharp blade.
Ghouls
They are perhaps the greatest mystery of all and the most abundant creature in the night. Ghouls are undead, but not necessarily reanimated corpses. Some ill-minded mages turn dead people into their loyal servants or personal armies and they look the same, but the term thrall is favorited for this misuse of magic. Real ghouls are nonetheless many, roaming in the dead of night, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Cemeteries are carefully sealed, but that does not stop the dead from coming back to life. A lot of ghouls have the rotten face of the numerous people thrown into the Thames that end up in the sewers. I may have myself participated in this accumulation. As to why or how they get up, no one ever managed to highlight an answer.
They are most of the time alone, smelly and clumsy, with a voracious hunger for flesh. They are not a real danger to the wary man who can easily dispose of them by bashing their skull or destroying their body. However, it is easy to get careless while focused on a task and get ambushed from a dark corner. They are able to stand still for hours and be forgotten until they strike. Their strength is nothing out of the ordinary, but they carry foul diseases and their bite can kill painfully in a few days.
Shades
Spirits born of resentment and hatred, shades are beings of pure darkness preying upon the living. They appear as a cloud of black smoke and seem intangible until they shred flesh with sharp and definitely material claws. One would think that they are shadows incarnate that need light to exist. While it seems sensible to believe that shadows require light, the whole predicate is erroneous. Shades are nothing like shadows, and they are like a droplet of water in a river when immersed in darkness. Light is their greatest weakness, and no sensible hunter leaves without a lantern to discern the umbral foes.
They don't seem to have any goal besides pure malevolence, but are seen as more of a lethal hazard than a real threat. Fortunately, there aren't that many of them, otherwise, the streets would be very inhospitable. A shade cannot be hurt through material weapons, only enchanted blades and artifacts are able to wound them. Considering how expansive they are, only a handful of hunters possess such trinkets, while the others merely flee any encounters.
Human factions
Numerous people share the secret of the night, but few do so alone. It is not recommended for us weak mortals to venture into the darkest corners of the city without good company. While some monsters, like vampires, can be considered a faction of their own, most organisations are composed in the majority of humans.
Crown's hunters
Ordered by the Queen to cleanse the night of its dangers, they lead a desperate fight against the hordes of abominations. They're only humans, ordinary people that fell too deep into the Abyss for them to climb back up. They all carry their own tragic story: a loved one eaten up by a ghoul, an orphan raised by a vampire, an innocent victim of a dread curse... Those who escape despair and apathy swear vengeance and take on the coat of the hunter. Decades ago, the Queen gathered all the scattered hunters across London and gave them a new purpose. They would be paid, geared, and protected by the crown, should they agree to cooperate with each other and put their lives on the line.
Most agreed, and though lone wolves still roam the city, the gold insignia shines on almost every chest. Since their founding, they evolved into a real organisation with a complex hierarchy and endless supplies. The newcomers are thoroughly trained, they hunt in packs and eliminate without mercy any threat to the wellbeing of the Londoners. Unsung heroes, they preserve the sanity of common folk and prevent any information about the Abyss to pervade in broad daylight. Suffice it to say, they are among my best clients, but I personally know very few of them. They rarely die of old age in their line of work.
Cultists
Not all who fall into the Abyss do so unwillingly. Cultists are almost universally hated, but that's hardly enough to stop them. They worship eldritch deities and devils, hoping to gain favors and otherworldly powers. They kidnap people on a regular basis and are hunted down by the hunters trying to put an end to their savagery. In a perpetual game of catch, it came as no surprise that even here, the bloodiest battlefields are only populated by humans. Much remains to be said about cultists, but anyone in their right mind should at least know better than to approach their madness.
Occult practitioners
Rather than a faction, the practitioners of occult arts are more of a term to designate people who tap into the world's essence to pursue their own desires. They are gifted mages, hard-working magicians, devout sorcerers, or any of their derivatives. They differ from priests in that their powers don't come from divine entities, but directly from the heart of mother nature. Except for sorcerers, though that's debatable. They get their powers through their patrons, which can be gods, angels, demons, or even nature. We call the latter druids, and they've been around for longer than most. They tend to favor forests and the countryside over the boisterous city.
Solitary by nature, occultists rarely associate with each other, except to train an apprentice or in times of crisis. This lack of coordination makes them unable to have any real influence on the Abyss, though a few muster political power by joining another faction. Most of the time, they are secluded in their tower, carrying out suspicious or exotic experiments. I am myself part of this unordinary congregation, alchemy being a fringe domain of the occult. It requires as much study as magicians do, but yields much less flashy results and powers. As such, it's been neglected for so long people with my skillset are rare and in high demand all over the world.
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