"Since you're going 'a Duskwardens, guv," Gav focuses on The Scribe since he paid, "We're gonna forgo the Gap. Instead, I'll bring you in at the southernmost portion of the overall, well, gap ... but not Gap with a capital 'G,' which includes that big long thoroughfare headin' southeast."

He takes you due south, paralleling a wide field of built-on rubble, and then enters the city through a narrow point between where the vast main wall picks up again heading south and other built-upon sections of the Warrens. Meanwhile, he is chattering away about his city, some of which you witness, and the rest that Gav tells you ...

The fabled Balconies of Bis are far and away one of the most recognizable landmarks in Kaer Maga, and no traveler who ventures among them ever forgets the sight. In the southwesternmost district of the city, called Bis, the multi-floored structure found in other Ring districts long ago fell and gave way to a single cavernous space, so vast that huddled but freestanding buildings rise several stories into the gloomy, foggy air. Yet it is not the crowded streets or the shocking amount of airspace within the chamber that makes newcomers stop short, but rather the fact that the people of Kaer Maga have literally climbed the walls to create more room for themselves, building fresh or repairing outcropping ledges of old masonry to line the chamber with eight stories of towering cliff dwellings.

In need of continual repair due to the strain placed upon them, the buttressed platforms of the Balconies rise up the eastern and western walls of the chamber like shelving or tree fungus, sometimes protruding hundreds of feet from the walls. While they tend to be small and separated from each other, with each balcony holding a few structures at most, there are generally at least three ledges on any vertical patch of wall, and sometimes as many as five, with the topmost structures brushing the ceiling. The means of accessing these structures vary, from narrow spiral staircases to ladders carved into the chamber wall itself, and the hassle involved in hoisting up any significant amount of material means that, in Bis, the height of one’s balcony frequently reflects one’s wealth and social standing. Though members of the powerful Ardoc family are above such petty games and live wherever they please (often near the Kiln for the sake of convenience), the rest of Bis has an unofficial system of social rank based on who lives higher than (and thus “shades”) whom, leading to the constant and sometimes ill-advised repair of aging balconies, and construction of new ones wherever possible.

In reality, of course, the idea of shading is somewhat ludicrous, as the entire cavern exists in a permanent twilight, with the lights of the businesses and homes on the Balconies creating a shimmering, twinkling waterfall. For the center of the district, where the light from the walls is merely decoration, the citizens have foregone streetlights in favor of enormous lanterns that hang from the ceiling 80 feet above at staggered intervals, like a swarm of motionless firef lies. These lamps are tended by the district-funded Lamplighters’ Union, who operate the complex system of ropes and pulleys necessary to keep the lamps suspended and frequently change their positions in artful ways, making the lighting of Bis a constantly shifting work of art.

One of the most orderly districts in the city, Bis is watched over by the Ardoc family, a cabal of golemcrafters bound by blood and marriage who rule with quiet but absolute power. Somewhere between magistrates and mafia dons, most of the Ardoc brothers are content to work in the massive factory workshop known as the Kiln, producing golems and constructs for sale and district use, but all are ready and capable of pronouncing judgment on any found breaking the district’s strict yet just laws.

While any citizen of Bis has the right to request the brothers’ official judgment, most know better than to bother them with trivial matters—even minor crimes—as the chisels that all Ardoc brothers wear on their belts to proclaim their status aren’t just for golem-crafting. Penalties for crimes are generally given in terms of “knuckles,” with the punishment carried out on the spot by the brother passing the sentence. Each knuckle represents the removal of a single f inger joint, with the punishment spread equally across both hands. For example, a criminal sentenced to 10 knuckles—such as a rapist or a major thief—would still have eight single-jointed fingers and two stubby thumbs with which to work and attempt to atone for his misdeeds. Given the nature of the average Kaer Maga resident and the amount of trade that flows through Bis, such mangled digits are common throughout the city.

More often, problems in Bis are solved by simpleminded golems programmed to keep the peace and report incidents to the nearest brother, or else by residents consulting the brothers in an unofficial capacity under the guise of asking advice. While not all brothers possess great wisdom—their status being based entirely on nepotism and magical ability—they are overwhelmingly a lawful and methodical sort and tend to be good at finding logical solutions to conflicts.

Along with the Balconies, Bis is distinguished from other districts primarily by the prevalence of magical constructs. In addition to those creations that act as the eyes and muscle of the Ardocs, close relationships with the Ardocs mean that the citizens of Bis have comparatively cheap and easy access to construct labor. As a result, many houses on the Balconies have simple arcane machines that exist solely to haul up dumbwaiters and elevator platforms, and it’s not uncommon in the marketplace to see twiggy, bird-like messenger golems running errands for their masters.

Finally, you make it to the Duskwarden Guildhouse, a squat building in the district of Bis marked with a placard of the Duskwardens' Twisted Door badge. Within are a few offices for ranking officials of the group, barracks for new recruits (or any member with no other place to sleep), workshops, and a modest store of equipment.Gav will respectfully stay outside and wait for you while you do what business you need to do.

The Scribe and Iluvar go inside to surrender their lesser halflight charms and to give a full accounting of the attack they survived ... and that Abra Lopati and their own friends and coworkers did not, nor the merchant family.

Iluvar, do you have anything to add here?