AMBER UNDERSEA

The boy child is locked in the fisherman's yard
There's a bloodless moon where the oceans die
A shoal of nightstars hang fire in the nets
And the chaos of cages where the crayfish lie
Where is the fisherman, where is the goat?
Where is the keeper in his carrion coat?
Eclipse on the moon when the dark bird flies
Where is the child with his father's eyes?
These are the soul cages
These are the soul cages
He's the king of the ninth world
The twisted son of the fog bells toll
In each and every lobster cage
A tortured human soul
These are the souls of the broken factories
The subject slaves of the broken crown

The dead accounting of old guilty promises
These are the souls of the broken town...
'I have a wager' the brave child spoke
The fisherman laughed, though disturbed at the joke.
'You will drink what I drink but you must equal me
And if the drink leaves me standing, A soul shall go free'
'I have here a cask of most magical wine
A vintage that blessed every ship in the line
It's wrung from the blood of the sailors who died
Young white body adrift in the tide'
'And what's in it for me my pretty young thing?
Why should I whistle, when the caged bird sings?
If you lose a wager with the king of the sea
You'll spend the rest of forever in the cage with me'...

-Sting,
from the Soul Cages

Key 16. A murky palace of phosphorus and silver where the cages that hang from every lamp-post are nearly always filled with the souls of the lost, those who perished on their course to Rebma or those who were unfortunate enough to anger the Fisher King or the Queen Llewella, Amber Undersea, as it is more commonly called now, is a reflection of the city without windows, doors, mirrors or any other creation of glass. Instead, open arches and domes and gaping holes like eyes and mouths offer entry to the coral rooms which most times seem strangely empty. Very few still live in Rebma in these dangerous times, and those who do prefer to remain hidden from any who are brave enough and powerful enough to gain entrance to the shadowed city undersea. For one thing, there is no Faiella bionin, no well-lit stair, and those who seek Rebma now must swim down, down to the bottom of the sea. Most who manage arrive dead from the journey.
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