Boots strike the narrow stairs above, followed by mailed voices and the scrape of spear hafts against stone. Heusbga sssi and his party remain beneath the archway.
A broad-shouldered middle-aged woman in dark, mud-streaked mail descends first, her cropped brown hair visible beneath an iron cap. A red cord marks her rank, and six armored patrolmen follow with lanterns raised.
sewer patrol sergeant
Hold there. Why are you below the city? We are searching for the bandits and beasts controlling these lower sewers.
sewer patrol sergeant
Do not mistake our questions for courtesy. Your party looks demonic, and these depths are already overrun by organized bandits. You may be part of the problem.
The patrol spreads across the stair mouth, lanternlight sliding over damp brick and old symbols. Behind the sergeant, one soldier watches the branching corridors instead of the party.
sewer patrol sergeant
Several levels below are held by gangs with their own bridges, tolls, and hidden doors. State your names, purpose, and allegiance before we decide whether to escort you out.
A faint second rhythm answers from a concealed passage: careful footsteps, separate from the patrol. They stop just beyond the wall, listening.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the patrol to accept the party as informants
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the sewer speaker
“The cities squire has employed me to handle the beholder bewitching you all from under the city, down here”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Heusbga sssi
The city squire employed me to deal with the beholder bewitching you all from beneath the city. I came down here for that purpose.
His words carry quietly beneath the archway. The patrol’s lanterns reveal no weapon drawn, while the hidden footsteps beyond the wall remain still and attentive.
sewer patrol sergeant
A beholder? Then the squire has finally admitted what is happening below us. Give me the squire’s name and the order’s seal.
sewer patrol sergeant
If this creature speaks truth, turning him away could doom the patrol. If he lies, the lower gangs may already be using him.
The sergeant lowers her spear a fraction and signals two patrolmen to watch the branching corridors. The lanternlight shifts toward the concealed passage.
sewer patrol sergeant
You are not under arrest. For now, you have authority to investigate the bewitching, and my patrol will not obstruct you. But we need to know what waits below.
From behind the wall comes one careful scrape, then silence. Someone listening has heard the patrol accept Heusbga sssi’s purpose, but does not reveal themselves.
Quest Complete
Get the patrol to accept the party as informants
“I thank them and ask for route details to the central larger chambers where it might be”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Heusbga sssi
Thank you. Which route leads toward the central chambers, the larger spaces where this beholder is most likely hidden?
sewer patrol sergeant
Take the broad channel east, past the cracked saint’s arch. At the drowned junction, follow the red drainage marks downward. That way reaches the central cistern chambers.
The sergeant points beyond the patrol, indicating a corridor where shallow water glimmers under the lanterns. Two patrolmen shift aside, leaving the route plainly open.
sewer patrol sergeant
Do not take the stair marked with white chalk. The gangs use it as a toll road, and their lookout posts overlook the central cistern.
As the patrol rearranges, one lantern slips from a soldier’s hook and strikes the stone. Its oil spills across the stair, filling the passage with a sharp, smoky stink.
sewer patrol sergeant
Now every ear below knows we are here. Your question earned a useful direction, but discretion has become harder.
Beyond the concealed wall, the listening footsteps retreat toward the lower tunnels. The marked eastern channel remains accessible, while the patrol watches Heusbga sssi for his next move.
“I follow their instructions”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +2)
Heusbga sssi follows the broad eastern channel, wading through ankle-deep water beneath the cracked saint’s arch. The patrol’s lanterns fade behind him.
Heusbga sssi
The red drainage marks are newer than the surrounding stone.
Red streaks guide him downward through narrowing brickwork, then open into the central cistern chambers. Vast pillars rise from black water, supporting a ceiling lost in shadow.
A circular platform occupies the chamber’s center, ringed by dry channels and old inspection stairs. Fresh footprints cross the silt toward a sealed iron door.
the hidden listener
So the patrol sent the demonic investigator after all. You seek the beholder, but do you know which voice in these tunnels belongs to it?
The voice comes through a grated aperture beneath the platform, altered by water and stone. No speaker is visible, yet the sound is close enough to answer.
the hidden listener
The central chambers are beneath you. The iron door opens inward, but the truth waits behind the voice that first welcomed you below.
“I ask lo the catman in my party if he can check for traps as we move along”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +2)
Heusbga sssi
Lo, can you check for traps as we move through these chambers?
Lo, the young giant catman, crouches at the platform’s edge. His dark fur and spotted coat absorb the lanternless gloom as he studies silt, channels, and ironwork.
Lo
I can. Keep your steps where mine have been, and do not touch the door until I finish.
He advances along the dry ring, testing each stone with a claw and tracing the red marks without disturbing them. Beneath the nearest stair, a fine thread catches the faintest sheen.
Lo
There. A bell-line runs from the stair to the door. It is set to warn whoever waits below, not to kill us.
Lo follows the thread beneath a loose coping stone and finds a second trigger hidden in the mortar. He marks both locations with damp silt, leaving the passage safe to cross.
the hidden listener
Good eyes, catman. The door is not trapped now, but the voice behind it still may be.
“I ask if he wants senkious to help disarm it”
Heusbga sssi
Do you want Senkious to help disarm it?
Lo
Yes. Have him hold the coping stone steady while I lift the trigger free.
Senkious steps onto the dry ring, his towering Tarkatan form filling the lanternless chamber. He braces one hand against the loose stone without disturbing the marked thread.
Lo
Good. Keep it exactly there. The line is tensioned through the mortar, but the bell will stay silent if we ease it loose.
Lo slides a claw beneath the hidden trigger and works it from the mortar with patient precision. Senkious holds the coping stone immobile as the fine cord slackens.
the hidden listener
You bring a veteran to a silent bell and still trust the catman’s hands. Sensible. The door may open for such caution.
The trigger comes free without a chime. Lo sets it beside the damp silt marks, then turns his attention to the sealed iron door and its unseen voice.