"A sunken church with docking ports. Sediment has built up against the lower walls, and long ago choked neglected crypts and crooked tombstones. The interior is sealed; yet the deep peals of the tower's bell can be felt even through a zubmarine hull."[1]
Low Barnet is a sunken church in the Unterzee near London.
"The competition? The best story wins. Cap'n says it's all in the delivery, but you need a fine yarn to spin, too."[2]
Low Barnet is a church with a wrecked organ, no altar or pulpit, no priests, and no god; rather, it is a house of stories.[3] Zailors from all over the Unterzee join the congregation here to share accounts of their adventures, regardless of their politics or other animosities.[4] The church hosts competitions to determine who can recite the best story; embellishments and lies face little scrutiny here.[5] Winners are awarded the chance to enter Low Barnet's bell tower:[6] the bell's peals are so loud they are audible even to nearby zubmarines,[7] and those who ring the bell do not return.[8]
Lytton of the Seven Against Nidah has taken refuge here in a corner of the church, and his body is encased in solid coral.[9]
The Bell
"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
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"You close your hands around the glistening rope and pull. BONG. The noise reverberates around the narrow confines of the tower. As the bell swings, the rope tugs at your grasp. You cannot let go! Your feet lift off the ground and the walls flash past as you are yanked inside the bell -"
"You are light, all of you. The sun that turns; the touch that burns. The voice of fires and falling spires. The wheel within the wheel within the wheel, contemplating, constructing, consuming. Each click of the cog, the circles colliding and guiding -"[10]
Low Barnet's bell is a mysterious and seemingly animate object that was constructed and installed by members of the Admiralty loyal to the New Sequence.[11] It can be rung by pulling its rope, like any other bell - but those who do so are yanked up into the bell's maw, where they are rapidly ground into gore[12] amidst a cacophony of spinning lights and gears.[13] It is possible to escape the bell's grasp, but those who do so return without their souls.[13] The bell's ropes actively flinch from the hands of the soulless;[14] considering all its known properties, it is likely that its true purpose is to harvest souls for the Dawn Machine.
Historical Inspirations
The name "Low Barnet" pokes fun at High Barnet, another name for the town of Chipping Barnet in the greater London area. The church itself might have been St John the Baptist Church, aka Barnet Church; it is explicitly stated that the domed bell tower is a unique addition in this timeline. The Barnet joke recurs in Sunless Skies, with Sky Barnet.
↑Explore the church, Sunless Sea"There is no pulpit. The organ has bent, broken pipes. But Low Barnet is still a house of worship, of a sort. Groups of zailors gather in the aisles. The choir benches are clean, and face a makeshift stage. Lantern-eyed fish pass behind colourful windows of stained glass."
↑Story description, Sunless Sea"At Low Barnet, everyday animosities are set aside in the pursuit of a fine tale. Khaganian traders mingle with Royal Navy deserters, rum-addled pirates and Rubbery Men. There is an air of anticipation, and a tolerance for embellishment."
↑A Contest of Stories, Sunless Sea"A competition is in progress. A Voluble Visitor tells of the Sideways Regiment: a plunderous legion of trained crabs. [...] The unlikely story wins the acclaim of the congregation."
↑Follow her into the bell tower, Sunless Sea"Two surly vergers block your approach to the door. One points back at the congregation. "Only winners allowed," he grunts. "Next one's soon.""
↑Port Description, Sunless Sea"The interior is sealed; yet the deep peals of the tower's bell can be felt even through a zubmarine hull."
↑Go about your business, Sunless Sea"[...] you hear the sonorous BONG of the bell within. Its peals repeat every few seconds, before becoming abruptly muffled, then finally silent. An excited murmur runs through the congregation. Although you keep an eye on the bell tower door, the winner does not emerge."
↑A Verger in Coral, Sunless Sea"Lytton stands in a secluded corner. He is inhumanly tall - his lower body is encased in a block of coral that raises him up. Beneath his shirt, his body is lumpen. A tracery of it - lurid and pink - has begun to sprout on his cheek, following the course of his veins."
↑Ask about the bell, Sunless Sea"Bell was here before we were. But it's not from the surface. Royal Navy brought it, they say. But not regulars. Deserters or something. Strange crew."
↑Smuggle in the Wandering Parson, Sunless Sea"You step back inside just in time to see him seize the bell rope with both hands and give an almighty pull. BONG! [...] the rope hauls him at breathtaking speed up the tower and inside the bell. There is a brief scream; a damp crunch. Coins shower you, along with a bracing drizzle of gore."
↑ 13.013.1Ring the bell, Sunless Sea"You close your hands around the glistening rope and pull. BONG. [...] As the bell swings, the rope tugs at your grasp. You cannot let go! Your feet lift off the ground and the walls flash past as you are yanked inside the bell- You are light, all of you. The sun that turns; the touch that burns. The voice of fires and falling spires. The wheel within the wheel within the wheel, contemplating, constructing, consuming. Each click of the cog, the circles colliding and guiding- You struggle free, and fall. [...] A verger [...] seems surprised to see you. [...] “Trespasser,” [...] Menaces: Soulless = 1"
↑Ring the bell, Sunless Sea"The ropes have withdrawn, out of your reach. [...] You scramble up a few rungs of the ladder and stretch for the dangling rope. It swings away from your palm, slithering up into the bell's mouth."
