Editing The Second City

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<blockquote>''"Never mention the Second City to the Masters of the Bazaar. [[Mr Wines]] will look at you narrowly and give you its worst vintage. [[Mr Cups]] will fly into a rage. [[Mr Veils]] will harangue you for your discourtesy. [[Mr Iron]] will say nothing, only write down your name with its left hand."''<ref name=":4">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#The_other_cities|Sidebar Snippet: What's the problem with the Second City?|Fallen London}}</ref>

''"Certain of the Masters of the Bazaar - [[Mr Stones]], [[Mr Apples]] and Mr Wines, and possibly others - seem to have a particular contempt for Egypt and the Egyptological. Perhaps they're simply reacting to the fashion for the Pharaonic that overcame London before the Descent. But it's unusual that they should care."''<ref name=":7">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Sidebar_Snippets#The_other_cities|Sidebar Snippet: A peculiar antipathy|Fallen London}}</ref>

''"...and the second betrayed..."''<ref name=":8">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Bask_in_the_light_1|Bask in the light|Fallen London}}</ref></blockquote>The '''Second City''' was originally located in ancient Egypt. Its remnants live on in [[Visage]] and [[Arbor]], and have more recently resurfaced throughout [[London]]. The [[Salt Lions]] are also a relic of this city.

<blockquote>''"He will open his mouth to the stars. He will scream until his voice is gone, until his lungs are filled with blood, until the void between the stars opens between his teeth. And his daughters will bow, and his priests and attendants will pray, and the horizon will part like a sleeper's eyelids at sunrise."''<ref name=":7" /></blockquote>As the First City neared the end of its unnatural lifespan, the Masters of the Bazaar turned their gaze elsewhere. The Pharaoh of a great desert civilization knew of the Bazaar<ref name=":5">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Hand_over_a_multitude_of_scraps_for_a_Breath_of_the_Void Hand over a multitude of scraps for a Breath of the Void, ''Fallen London''] ''"The Shivering Relicker hasn't shown up in person: she's just given Pinnock a note for you. It reads "This is the sound of an invocation made by the Pharaoh to the Bazaar. Don't let it out.""''</ref><ref name=":9">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Breath_of_the_Void My Kingdom for a Pig, ''Fallen London''] ''"He will open his mouth to the stars. He will scream until his voice is gone, until his lungs are filled with blood, until the void between the stars opens between his teeth. And his daughters will bow, and his priests and attendants will pray, and the horizon will part like a sleeper's eyelids at sunrise."''</ref> and made overtures to it,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Follow_your_feet_(Second_City)|Follow your feet (Second City)|Fallen London|}}''"This mud-brick structure is littered with tablets. Clay tablets, covered in scratchy needlepoint marks. [...] These sigils adorn the flank of the Bazaar. They scorch eyebrows and strain the melting point of lead. The Correspondence, that language of fire and light, imperfectly captured in stone. [...] At the foot of each tablet is a careful cartouche. A reed, a tiny sun, an ibis in profile."''</ref> possibly to sell his city to the Messenger<ref>[https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Dreams_of_a_City Listen, ''Sunless Sea''] ''"There is an air of celebration. As with many languages spoken in dreams, you understand the meaning without understanding the words: a great disaster has been averted, the King's folly is ended by the Princess' cunning, the heralds of night are bound. [...]"''</ref> in exchange for a way to ascend the Great Chain of Being.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/An_Exceptional_Story:_The_Attendants|An Exceptional Story: The Attendants|Fallen London|}}''"It's about the Second City. A romance. Fiction, but you tell the Ministry that. About a king who leaves everything behind to get what he wants. Selfish, if you ask me. Wonderful characterisation. [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Follow_your_feet_(Second_City)|Follow your feet (Second City)|Fallen London|}}''"They are flawed and shattered, but you reconstruct the sigils in your mind. Your thoughts flower like burning paper. A shared and mutual orbit. Recognition of a peer. A relative, afflicted with limerence. A plea to somebody – family? To become fire rather than be burned. A zealous desperation. At the foot of each tablet is a careful cartouche. A reed, a tiny sun, an ibis in profile."''</ref> But whatever the Pharaoh had planned was undone by his own daughter.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Agree_with_the_bookseller|Agree with the bookseller|Fallen London|}}''"The Furtive Bookseller nods. "Too right. Doesn't do this king a lick of good, I can tell you. Gets sick and dies, all his dreams turned to ash. His own flesh and blood – well, I shan't ruin the ending." He tips his hat, and trundles his cart away. […]"''</ref>

The [[The Duchess|Duchess]], one of the younger [[The Sisters|daughters of the Pharaoh]], was betrothed to him according to royal custom, but her heart belonged to a humble scribe. To escape her fate and join her lover, she dispatched a cobra to poison her father.<ref name=":03">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Calendar_Code The Calendar Code, ''Fallen London''] ''"She kills her betrothed. She kills him with a snake. To be with her lover, the scribe." The translator shakes his head. "The scribe knows it can never be. He knows they will find out, and they will come for him. He writes that he is already dead. And the betrothed doesn't even die. He becomes—"''</ref> Almost immediately after the deed was done, remorse overtook her,<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Breath_of_the_Void My Kingdom for a Pig, ''Fallen London''] ''"Dart, little snake, dart. Bite, little snake, bite. Sink your fangs until your venom wells from welts as red as treachery. Come, little snake, come. I'll stroke your head. Now my betrothed is dead. What, little snake, have I done? What, little snake, have I done?"''</ref><ref>''[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Calendar_Code The Calendar Code, Fallen London] "'Love is intoxicating, overwhelming. Age, status, rank – they offer no immunity. In the grip of love I did something I will always regret. I will never be free from the consequences, and suffer deeply for my actions then. Yet I still cherish the moments that led me there. I can never forget, and I do not want to."''</ref> and she sought to undo her crime by bargaining with the [[Echo Bazaar]]: she would surrender her entire city in exchange for her father’s life.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/%27...look_forward_so_very_much_to_your_next_visit...%27 '...look forward so very much to your next visit...', ''Fallen London''] ''"A long time ago... three cities ago in fact... when I was more than a Duchess, but still a friend to cats... I was betrothed. I loved him a great deal, and when a serpent stung him, I was distraught. I would have done anything to save him. The Bazaar knew as much. [...]"''</ref><ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Breath_of_the_Void My Kingdom for a Pig, ''Fallen London''] ''"You had to do it, didn't you? But now you have a choice. High on the palace balcony, above the purple riverbank, they wait until the glyphs have dried – a disc; a tool embedded in a block – to collect the contract. Remember, above all, the sun will always rise somewhere."''</ref> The [[Masters]]' methods kept him alive, but transformed him into the venom-oozing monster known as the [[The Cantigaster|Cantigaster]].<ref name=":3">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Set_forth_into_the_cellars Set forth into the cellars, Fallen ''London''] ''"You can see immediately that the Cantigaster was once a man. Now he is a living, shuddering sac of poison. His flesh swells green and soft like rotting fruit. Foul venoms ooze beneath his skin."''</ref> He was reportedly coherent enough early on to speak to his subjects, but it may be that his daughters were impersonating their father to hide his condition.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Press_on_2|Press on|Fallen London}}''"—our dreams are a haze of half-remembered heat. The Pharaoh speaks of sunlight, but the boundary stelae have not known the Aten's touch for months. The daughters promise—"''</ref>

Once the freshly sold Second City was drawn down into the [[Neath]], the Masters declared themselves Pharaohs and ruled in the erstwhile Pharaoh’s place.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Apply_unwise_chemical_substances_with_wild_abandon|Apply unwise chemical substances with wild abandon|Fallen London}}''"The Second City was renowned for its poisoned practices. Many came from the forms of diverse long extinct creatures – many the province of their Pharaohs, the name the Masters stole for themselves. It is curious to compare the extrusions Mr Heart's made of its Second City animals compared to its current Fifth City batch."''</ref> Not to be outfoxed, however, the princesses hatched a plan to deceive the Masters and remove them from the equation. They invited the Masters to a funeral procession,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Homecoming|Homecoming|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] your immense basalt paws [...] Your twin is at your side. [...] you watch as a funerary procession makes its way towards a temple. A group of hooded creatures [...] are led inside, and do not emerge for centuries.""''</ref> which led to a temple called the House of the Feather.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}}''"But the House of the Feather was opened before the Palace was completed. We four survivors fled. One remained with the City, while I retreated here."''</ref> The Masters were led inside by the eldest sister - or perhaps the funeral was hers, and her being dead was part of the plan.<ref name="dark temple">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] hieroglyphs show a woman at the head of six, walking alone into a dark temple, [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London|}} ''"The youngest of us perished [...] the eldest in the House of the Feather."''</ref> Regardless, the [[Poisoned Priestess]] sacrificed herself to trap the Masters inside the House of the Feather for over two thousand years, making the Second City the longest-lived of the [[Fallen Cities]].<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/This_really_can%27t_be_good_for_you This really can't be good for you, ''Fallen London''] ''"caught incarcerated caged two dozen centuries no space no space to spread my wings !unbearable! !release me! Spit venom at my judas gaolers may their kohl eyes gender worms may their bones burn in their flesh !unbearable! !release me!"''</ref>  

Left to their own devices, the sisters sought a way to protect their people from the Bazaar’s lingering influence, and allow them to flee in the event that the Masters broke free.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"The Palace of the Rising was to be a refuge from the Masters and the Bazaar."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Homecoming|Homecoming|Fallen London}} ''"The jungle below is bathed in orange light [...] you see people basking in your glow. They are seeking refuge from something [...]"''</ref> They turned to [[Parabola]], the land behind mirrors. Parabola had previously been dimly lit,<ref name=":0">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"We found it in dreams and brought light to it. [...] The sisters found it in twilight and in dreams. [...] This was a twilight place that the Second City made brighter."''</ref> but the princesses commissioned an artisan of the [[The Neathbow|Neathbow]], later known as the '''Mistress of the Skies''',<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Mistress_of_the_Skies|Mistress of the Skies|Fallen London}}''"I do not remember the name I had before, [...] and I did not choose this one. In my city, royalty declared themselves gods, for if they were not gods, they were just people who lived in splendour whilst others did their bidding. I am far from royalty, but I did conceive a sun. The name was given to me. I resisted. Not well enough."''</ref> to craft an artificial sun called the [[Skin of the Sun]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Mistress_of_the_Skies|Mistress of the Skies|Fallen London}}''"I come from a city of sun and sand and edifices, [...] I was a person of no consequence until I discovered an aptitude for a certain kind of engineering. The spectrum in the Neath has peculiar properties, and I became adept at putting them to use. It made me useful to people of great consequence. They used me, and used my creations to take power they believed was theirs."''</ref> The precise details of the Parabolan sun's construction are unclear, but there were ushabtiu involved in the undertaking,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Mistress_of_the_Skies|Mistress of the Skies|Fallen London}}''"I have heard of it, [...] Built by ushabti, yes? Like my sun. [...] Do you know what ushabti are? They are servants, buried with royalty, created to serve their masters for eternity. And when the royals force these servants to build edifices in their names, they are credited with great vision."''</ref> and it appears that the project involved modifying the egg of a great [[Fingerking]] in its shell,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Climb_the_dome_itself_(Fingerkings)|Climb the dome itself (Fingerkings)|Fallen London}} ''""The sun was born," [...] "With certain modifications. Those women augmented it in the shell.""''</ref> resulting in it hatching into an object made of glass.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Study_the_Boil_of_Calamities|Study the Boil of Calamities|Fallen London}} ''"[...] ("the Boil of Calamities, Lord of the Seething Sky, wept a drop of shining glass...") [...]"''</ref> The object was then molded and raised by the people of the Second City.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London}} ''"Pray to the gods [...] Blow the glass, blow until it glows, and raise it high into the sky."''</ref> The newly-born sun scorched the Parabolan landscape and melted the colors of the sky itself.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London}} ''"Another sun rises inside your head. Iron and glass, smouldering in a dream [...] Palm trees bow and shrivel in the heat. [...] withering grass. Colours run down the sky's face [...]"''</ref> providing warmth and light for agriculture,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dig_a_little_distance_from_the_river_2|Dig a little distance from the river|Fallen London}}''"The remains of crockery and glass and silvered implements; tiny spoons, for measuring substances that come by the grain; mesh strainers. This might have been half of a destroyed pestle."''</ref> pottery, and the growing of wheat in the Neath’s lightless depths.<ref name=":6">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Trace_the_boundary_of_the_Is-Not|Trace the boundary of the Is-Not|Fallen London}}''"[...] Put their terracotta potsherds under a microscope. It's subtle, but the crystalline structure undeniably shows signs of sun-drying before they were kiln-fired. Examine their texture and you will see the telltale abrasions found in vessels used to store millet seeds. Even in pottery made decades, centuries after their City fell. And depictions of the sun continue in Second City iconography throughout. If those images were carved from memory, they must have been very strong memories indeed – strong enough to dry clay, or grow wheat."''</ref>  

Encouraged, the sisters proceeded to begin work on the [[Palace of the Rising]], a place where the citizens of the Second could dwell in sunlight once more<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"This is Parabola. We [...] brought light to it. The ushabti were built to construct a new home for the Second City, where we could live forever beneath the skin of the sun."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}} ''"A new sun was raised in the sky so the citizens might walk in light again."''</ref> - but eventually the House of the Feather "was opened," and the Masters escaped.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|The Attendants|Fallen London}}''"But the House of the Feather was opened before the Palace was completed. We four survivors fled. One remained with the City, while I retreated here."''</ref><ref name=":04">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Buying_secrets Buying secrets, ''Fallen London''] ''"[...] It was all for nothing, as it turned out. Those d__ned feather-wearing heathen P... no. That's a story for a different day.  [...]"''</ref> The sisters were forced to flee, leaving the project unfinished.<ref name=":2" /> The Masters quickly made a deal with the ravenous<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig|My Kingdom for a Pig|Fallen London|}} ''"Beasts slaughtered, feasts spread on the floor. [...] We chew. [...] we devour the dead until our hungers have been fed. Feed us. Feed us more than the dead."''</ref> priest-kings of their next Fallen City<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Capture_Third_City_Veils|Capture Third City Veils|Fallen London|}} ''"THE OLD PRIEST-KINGS KNEW OUR KIND. WE WERE ALL GODS TO THEM. WE ALL ENTERED INTO THEIR BARGAIN."''</ref> and betrayed [[Mr Eaten|one of their own]], allowing him to be devoured by the power-hungry mortals.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Homecoming|Homecoming|Fallen London|}}''"How dare you", rasps Mr Spices, though it lacks the will to punish the transgression. "You can't imagine it. Tricked by creatures as low as you. Led into a trap. Imprisoned for aeons. The furthest I have ever been from home. Forced to sacrifice—" Its words catch in its throat.''</ref> In an additional blow to the princesses' plans, the bodies of the Second City's people had been preserved inside ushabtiu to allow their minds to wander indefinitely in Parabola, but the surge of [[lacre]] when the city neared its end annihilated most of the citizens' physical bodies alongside the rest of the Second City; the few who survived were changed irrevocably.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Palace_of_the_Rising,_Conquered The Palace of the Rising, Conquered, ''Fallen London''] ''"I did not mean for them to die. Our bodies were meant to endure in the Second, while our minds ranged, free. But we did not predict the lacre. The greying of the bodies that survived. The effect it had on my attendants."''</ref> The ushabtiu that remain are able to retain their memories while sealed,<ref name=":12">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Palace_of_the_Rising,_Conquered The Palace of the Rising, Conquered, ''Fallen London''] ''"In dreams they wander, and are lost. But in clay, even here, they remain themselves. The ones I have known for centuries."''</ref> but when opened, their memories vanish,<ref name=":12" /> and they become confused and filled with resentment.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Palace_of_the_Rising,_Conquered The Palace of the Rising, Conquered, ''Fallen London''] ''"[...] They come back, though. Vengeful amnesiacs, forgetting my love in place of their hate."''</ref>

 

 

Four of the Duchess's five sisters still live yet. The eldest sister sacrificed her life to ensure the success of the family's plan, but still remains as the undead [[Poisoned Priestess]]. The second is the [[Obstinate Adoratrice]], who is intent on finishing her older sister's work in building the Palace of the Rising in [[Parabola]]. The third sister is the [[Mother Superior]] of [[Abbey Rock]]. While some sources have the Duchess as the youngest sister,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Calendar_Code|The Calendar Code|Fallen London|}}''"There is no signature. Just two simple symbols, scribed in careful strokes: a disk, above a tool embedded in a wood block."''</ref><ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/My_Kingdom_for_a_Pig My Kingdom for a Pig, ''Fallen London''] ''"You had to do it, didn't you? But now you have a choice. High on the palace balcony, above the purple riverbank, they wait until the glyphs have dried – a disc; a tool embedded in a block – to collect the contract. Remember, above all, the sun will always rise somewhere."''</ref> there are accounts (including that of the Obstinate Adoratrice herself) where the youngest perished on the [[Surface]],<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants The Attendants, ''Fallen London''] ''"I am the only one left now. The youngest of us perished on the Surface, the eldest in the House of the Feather. The rest are lost to me. I keep this place in their memory."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dig_a_little_distance_from_the_river_2|Dig a little distance from the river|Fallen London}}''"You pull out six tiny clay women, faience-glazed. One carries a mirror, one an ankh, one a cat, one a rose. One is snapped in half, her head and hands missing. The last holds a flask, of perfume or of poison."''</ref> making the Duchess the fourth of the six. The fifth became the first [[The Roseate Queen|Roseate Queen]] of [[Arbor]].

<blockquote>''"You remember dim streets lit by nooked lamps. Drifts of sand fringed the square houses. Even all these years after the Fall, there was still sand. ... Statues stood on every corner, crested with head-dresses. A black river murmured past the Beloved's Palace. At the heart of the city, between the Bureau of Correspondence and the Temple of Judgement, the Bazaar's spires climbed into the gloom."''<ref name=":9" /></blockquote>The Second City was renowned for its mastery of toxicology, a field in which it excelled thanks to its access to exotic and now-extinct creatures.<ref name=":1" /> Among these, none were more sacred than the crocodile.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Hunt_a_feral_crocodile|Hunt a feral crocodile|Fallen London}}''"Feral: A domesticated animal that has reverted to its wild nature. The sacred crocodiles of the Second City were oversized and overfed; abandoned by their masters, they have developed a ravenous appetite and a cantankerous disposition."''</ref> These creatures were bred by the priesthood to be albino, adorned with elaborate jewelry, and venerated as divine symbols.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Finish_off_the_crocodile|Finish off the crocodile|Fallen London}}''"Like others of its kind, it is entirely white – perhaps bred to be this way by the Second City's priests. Its huge, scarred body is covered in armoured skin that bulges and sags out under the creature's mass. The pelt will be a fine prize, but the true wealth is in what it's wearing: Second-city era jewellery and adornment, including delicate glim inlays meant to imitate lapis..."''</ref> One such creature, the '''[[The Yolk-in-Yearning|Yolk-in-Yearning]]''', a crocodile possessed by a Fingerking while still in its egg,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Crocodile_Who_Would_Be_King|The Crocodile Who Would Be King|Fallen London}}''"Early Second City. Commissioned by the High Priest of (defaced). Notice the hieroglyphs, in which the egg is placed into the golden pool, and the spirit enters the egg. [...]"''</ref> served as the City's key to opening a path into Parabola.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Crocodile_Who_Would_Be_King|The Crocodile Who Would Be King|Fallen London}}''"[...] I'm very familiar with Egyptian rites to open the glass. They needed to create a hybrid, you see, with one foot in this world, and one foot decidedly not. [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Crocodile_Who_Would_Be_King|The Crocodile Who Would Be King|Fallen London}}''"I remember this place, [...] Before I crept into the egg, I was here. This is home. But the other kings don't understand. How could they? And the pharaoh's daughters didn't always care for me. After I opened the glass, I was lucky to get scraps under the table. I have lived under the table ever since. [...]"''</ref>

As with all the [[Fallen Cities]], the Second engaged in diplomacy with the other powers of the [[Neath]]. Though the extent of its success remains uncertain, it is clear that the [[Presbyterate]] harbored a lasting contempt for it.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Study_the_diplomatic_overtures_of_cities_past|Study the diplomatic overtures of cities past|Fallen London}}''"It is a catalogue of failure. The College of Mortality had no opinion on the First, a deep distaste for the Second, a strong desire not to be anywhere involved in the Third, and a singular hatred for the Fourth. Their opinions on the Fifth are not yet recorded anywhere, and must therefore be concluded to be unspeakable."''</ref> Spiritually, the Second retained deep ties to its surface heritage: before the Fall, its people worshipped a solar deity<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Follow_your_feet_(Second_City)|Follow your feet (Second City)|Fallen London|}}''"The bottom third is occupied with a cityscape, low and modest against the expanse of sky above – the Second City. Above, a vast disc gleams, painstakingly graven with a cartouche of delicate hieroglyphs. A reed; a fluid zig-zag; a half circle above a tiny sun. From the disc erupts a halo of grasping rays, reaching down to the city below. At the terminus of each finger-thin ray of sunlight is a hand. Open-palmed. Beckoning."''</ref> known as the Aten,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Required_Repairs|Required Repairs|Fallen London}}''"What you see here is nothing. Out there, the spiders have seized a star. Did you ever see Second City etchings? The Aten sun-disk? It is no fantasy. Once we complete the symbol in these tunnels, the golden ray will descend to bathe us all. Think of it! The cavern roof incinerated, and the starlight streaming in."''</ref> and this continued despite the lack of sunlight in the Neath.<ref name=":6" />

Linguistically and culturally, the Second City evolved in strange directions. Its hieroglyphic writing began to diverge from [[Surface]] conventions, increasingly shaped by the influences of the [[Correspondence]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Supply_Relics_of_the_Second_City|Supply Relics of the Second City|Fallen London|}}''"On the Surface, the hieroglyphic script became more stylised and easier to write as time went on. In the Second City, we observe the opposite trend – note the emergence of ideograms influenced by the Correspondence."''</ref> While barley and beer remained staples of their agriculture, the Second also experimented with fungal fermentation, developing alcoholic brews from mushrooms, uniquely adapted to their new subterranean home.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Walk_around_Veilgarden|Walk around Veilgarden|Fallen London|}}''"[...] Bohemians use crowbars to crack open wax-sealed clay urns, exposing the mushroom beer inside."''</ref> The City had a developed irrigation system,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London}}''"''Irrigation Through The Ages ''proves more interesting than the title would suggest. It seems some palaces in the Second City under royal control were altered to permit a profusion of water features. Some, but not all."''</ref> and rumor has it that they created this by diverting the waters of [[Hell]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London}}''"A gossipy text from the Fourth City on the foibles of past cities and the follies of their rulers suggests that the rulers of the Second sought to divert the waters of Hell to their own purpose."''</ref>

While some neocartographers in London speculate in favor of Alexandria,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Speak_to_the_Dean_of_Neocartography|Speak to the Dean of Neocartography|Fallen London|}}''"...I still hear speculation about Alexandria, but I'm sure that isn't true. The Second City didn't have nearly enough temples to be Alexandria."''</ref> there is abundant proof that the Second City was instead the Eighteenth Dynasty city of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna Amarna], briefly the capital of ancient Egypt under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenaten Akhenaten]. Amarna was constructed around 1346 BCE, in a previously uninhabited area on the banks of the Nile. Its creation was inseparable from the religious vision of Akhenaten, who broke with the powerful cult of Amun and elevated the Aten, the sun disk, as the supreme deity. This monotheistic or henotheistic shift (scholars debate the degree) was radical, and the move away from the old capital of Thebes to the new city of Amarna constituted both a physical and symbolic break from tradition.  

The city’s layout centered around open-air temples designed for solar worship, with a direct axis aligned to the sun. It was built rapidly, reflecting the urgency of the king’s religious mission. Key structures included the Great Aten Temple, the royal palace, and a series of elite residences and administrative buildings. Hundreds of clay tablets in Akkadian (the diplomatic lingua franca), called the Amarna letters, were discovered at a “Bureau of Correspondence” in the city. Interestingly, the Amarna Period also had its own art style, much more realistic and grounded (even when portraying royalty) than the rigid formality of Egyptian artwork before it.

Amarna, however, was not built on strong political foundations. Akhenaten's religious reforms were highly divisive and lost him many powerful allies within Egyptian society; Egypt's foreign influence also waned during his reign. Akhenaten's beloved capital was quickly abandoned and dismantled after his death (ca. 1336 BCE), as his successors, including the famous young pharaoh Tutankhamun, quickly restored the old religion and moved the capital back to Thebes. Akhenaten's name was later erased from monuments, and his reign was condemned as heresy.