John Smith reaches the landing as the stairwell opens into a narrow upper gallery, all cold stone, damp mortar, and a thin slice of chapel light. Below, footsteps ring closer. Ahead, the corridor bends into shadow, and the assassin backs away, still watching John’s hands.
John keeps the folded slip tight in his grip and advances one step. The assassin’s shoulder bumps the wall. He checks the stairs below, then John, weighing which danger is worse.
The Assassin
You are loud, John Smith. Loud men die sooner.
At the far end of the gallery, a side door stands ajar. Warm lamplight spills through it from a higher chamber, and the scent of wax and old paper drifts out, sharp against the stairwell’s chill.
Healer Gaston
This way, before the guards clog the stairs!
John crosses into the side chamber, leaving the stairwell behind. The assassin lingers at the threshold for a heartbeat, then melts back toward the steps as the rising footsteps below split into shouts.
The paper is addressed in a careful hand.
+ Scene Quest Added
Escape the guards
“Follow the healer”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -1)
John Smith ducks through the side door as Healer Gaston slams the heavy oak panel shut. The lock clicks into place with a definitive, reassuring thud just as the heavy boots of the guards thunder onto the gallery floor outside.
Healer Gaston
He moves like a thunderbolt, yet he keeps the paper as if it were a fragile bird.
John Smith
The wood is thick enough to stop a musket ball, if they even try to force it.
Healer Gaston
Quiet now. They are angry, and they do not know these secret passages as well as I do.
Gaston reaches behind a heavy tapestry, his fingers tracing the outline of a hidden lever carved into the stone lintel.
Healer Gaston
You have the proof you need. Keep it close. We emerge near the river, far from their reach.
+ Story Quest Added
Escape the city via the river
“Tuck the proof ib my pocket and follow the healee”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +1)