In the game: help abkal Also the abkal house abkal cortex durabzu
The Abkal: Suburba's divers, keepers of the Cortex, and the slums' way into Abzu.
The Cortex
The Abkal are Suburba's main custodians of Abzu, which the guilds call Nous.
A huge utility complex most people call the Cortex dominates the Suburban level the Abkal control. It was built as a central archive and information-processing centre, but its role changed as the guilds took hold. Symphony carried the most valuable parts of the city's information services down to Delos and left the unguilded to fend for themselves. Care of the Cortex fell to the most dedicated collective of divers: the Abkal.
Two Realms
The Abkal tend and maintain the Cortex, which they call Durabzu. To them it is a place bound to two realms at once: Deshret and Abzu. They open Abzu to nearly anyone who asks, including people no guild would take. They are also highly skilled and methodical, and they use their position as a reminder that the guilds are not the only ones who can control the flow of information.
Most people, especially in Suburba, enjoy the Abkal's work without a second thought. The Cortex is likely the first thing a new diver sees when they jack into a dive rig for the first time.
Read next: help diving and help districts.
For the game side of diving, see help abzu and help dive rigs.
On the Agora: https://agora.underspire.net/t/the-abkal/50