The passage opens beside a black underground stream. Cold river air moves over smooth stones, and the bronze chimes fade behind you. A flat ledge offers dry ground beneath a shelf of pale rock.
Pell
We can stop here. The water runs toward the old mill foundations. No one watches this far below.
Pell lowers himself onto the ledge, keeping his distance. He unwraps a clean strip of linen and holds it out toward Emi's bruised shoulder.
Pell
I found the drains three nights ago, when I was taking rubbish beneath the brewery. There was a loose stone, then a crawlspace, then all this.
Pell
The Inquisitor knew I had seen something. They kept asking about doors that were not supposed to exist.
Pell
I feared they would follow because they had the ring's scent on them, somehow. Or perhaps they simply never stop searching. Either way, I thought the tunnel was our only chance.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what Pell knows about the hidden doors
““What is your name?” I ask”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Willpower, rolled +0)
Emi
What is your name?
The question settles between the water's hush and the last fading chime.
Pell
Pell. Just Pell. I worked the brewery's lower stores before the inquisitor noticed me.
Therefore, answering costs him the guarded distance he has kept. He shifts closer on the ledge, and the linen slips from his fingers into the stream.
Pell
The hidden doors are old floodgates beneath the mill foundations. Three deliberate knocks from below the grate open the first one. The others need a brass key, but not the ring.
Pell
I should have said that before. If Emi means to help me, she deserves the whole truth.
The current catches the clean linen and carries it into darkness. Pell watches it go, then looks back toward Emi, no longer hiding the knowledge in his face.
Quest Complete
Learn what Pell knows about the hidden doors
“I catch the linen cloth with the tip of my tail and hand it to him “My name is Emilia. You may call me Emi””
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +1)
Emi
My name is Emilia. You may call me Emi.
Emi's tail slips over the ledge, its tip catching the linen before the current can pull it beyond reach.
She draws the cloth back through the dark water and places it into Pell's waiting hands.
Pell
Emi, then. Thank you.
He folds the dripping linen carefully, as though the small kindness deserves care in return.
Pell
No one in the brewery asked my name. They only asked what I had seen.
Pell
I had forgotten what it was like to be treated as a person.
Pell
What should I know about you, Emi?
““Anyone with right eyes knows what I am. But I suppose you can know I’m a traveler trying to find her sister””
SUCCESS (Mediocre Willpower, rolled +1)
Emi
Anyone with right eyes knows what I am. But you can know this: I am a traveler seeking my sister.
The words settle between the black stream and the pale stone, plain enough to leave no room for guessing.
Pell
Then I will remember you as Emi, the traveler who pulled me out of the inquisitor's reach.
Pell
She could have asked about the ring. She asked nothing for herself.
Pell presses the damp linen against his knee. Above, the drain passage remains quiet, while somewhere beneath the rock, three deliberate knocks echo faintly from the old floodgates.
Pell
If your sister has passed through these foundations, I may know which doors would have carried her onward. Tell me what you remember of her.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn where Emi's sister went
““She’s my twin. She looks like me but with black hair. She has a tattoo of a bird over her right eye””
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -1)
Emi
She is my twin. She looks like me, but her hair is black. A bird is tattooed over her right eye.
Pell studies the shape of Emi's face, then the dark water sliding past the ledge. The three knocks sound again beneath the stone.
Pell
A bird over the right eye. I have seen that mark, or one very like it, scratched beside a floodgate.
Pell
Not a brewer's tally. Not a warning meant for the inquisitor. Someone wanted the next traveler to recognize her path.
He unfolds the damp linen and points to a faint blue thread woven through its edge, his finger trembling with the effort of remembering.
Pell
The mark was beneath the mill foundations, near the gate that opens with the brass key. I never saw where the passage beyond it led.
Pell
If it is your sister's sign, tell me anything else you remember. A song, perhaps, or a word she would leave for you.
“I’m quiet, thinking “I’m sorry, I don’t know””
Pell
Pell lets the silence rest between them. “That is enough. I know what it is to search with only pieces.” He folds the linen carefully and sets it beside him. “When you are ready, I will show you the floodgate.”
Emi
I’m sorry, I don’t know.
““Can I trust you, Pell?” I ask him, yellow eyes narrowed.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Willpower, rolled -1)
Emi
Can I trust you, Pell?
Her narrowed yellow eyes hold him still. The question lands harder than the distant knocks beneath the stone.
Pell
Not because I am brave. Not because I know the way. I have lied before, when frightened.
Pell
But I will not spend your trust cheaply.
He touches the folded linen, then withdraws his hand. The blue thread caught in its weave glints against the pale stone.
Pell
The mark I saw was not painted on the floodgate. It was stitched into a traveler’s cloak. Your sister may have passed through, but I cannot swear she opened that gate.
Pell
You can test me. Ask what I remember, or take the key and watch my hands. Either way, I will show you the gate.
The knocks fade to a patient pulse below them. Pell waits without reaching for the brass key.
““I only want to find my sister. If you die or get in my way I won’t care. But if you promise to help, I can protect you””
SUCCESS (Good Intimidation, rolled -1)
Emi
I only want to find my sister. If you die or get in my way, I will not care. But if you promise to help me, I can protect you.
The words are quiet, but the ledge seems to narrow around them. Emi's bruised shoulder pulses beneath the strain, and a sharp breath escapes her before she can steady it.
Pell
That is not kindness offered freely. It is a bargain, and I understand bargains.
Pell
She means it. Even her mercy has a blade inside it.
Pell
Then I promise. I will take you to the floodgate, show you the mark, and tell you everything I remember. I will not leave you to face it alone.
Pell picks up the brass key and closes his fingers around it. The patient knocks below answer once, muffled through the stone, while he waits for Emi to decide whether his promise is enough.
““Truce then””
SUCCESS (Mediocre Willpower, rolled +0)
Emi
Truce then.
The bargain settles into something steadier. Emi lowers her hand from her sword, but the motion pulls hard across her bruised shoulder.
Pell
Truce. I will not mistake your protection for softness, and you need not mistake my fear for betrayal.
Pell
She gave me terms instead of chains. That is more mercy than I expected.
Therefore, Pell leads along the ledge. Three turns later, the passage ends at a stone floodgate beneath the mill foundations, its worn face marked by old waterlines.
Pell
This is the first gate. I found the blue thread caught here, not on the stone. Your sister may have passed through, but I never saw her face.
He kneels before the gate and places the brass key on the dry stone between them, keeping both hands visible. The knocks below fade into the thick silence.
Pell
You can decide whether I touch it. What do you want me to remember before we go farther?
“Takes the key from the stone and puts in a pouch on my belt. “Do as you’re told. If I tell you to run, run. If I tell you to stay quiet, stay quiet. Don’t do anything stupid””
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -1)
Emi
Do as you're told. If I tell you to run, run. If I tell you to stay quiet, stay quiet. Don't do anything stupid.
Emi's hand darts down. Her talons close around the brass key, and she slips it into the pouch at her belt before the stone can claim it.
Pell
Understood. I will run when you say run, and hold my tongue when you say quiet.
The key leaves a dark, clean outline on the dust. Beneath the floodgate, three deliberate knocks answer once, then stop.
Pell
There is something I failed to tell you. The first gate does not merely open. Once crossed, it seals behind whoever enters. I was afraid you would leave me here.
Stone grinds deep within the foundations. The passage behind them drops shut, cutting off the ledge and every route back toward the drain.
Pell
That was the dangerous part. I am sorry. The gate is closed now, and the key is yours. Will you still have me lead?
+ New Item Acquired
Brass key
“Sigh, looking back “No turning back now. Lead the way, Pell””
SUCCESS (Mediocre Willpower, rolled +2)
Emi
Emi sighs and looks back at the sealed passage. "No turning back now. Lead the way, Pell."
Pell straightens fully, the dust settling across his shoulders. He bows his head once, accepting the command without argument.
Pell
Then stay close. The key opens the lock, but the old stones decide what waits beyond.
He crosses to the floodgate and traces a line of worn symbols beside its seam. The faint dark gleam gathers there, answering the brass key in Emi's pouch.
Pell
Your sister's mark was on a cloak like this, near the gate opened by the key. I cannot name her destination, but this is the door she may have chosen.
Pell steps aside and points to the keyhole beneath the symbols. From far below, three deliberate knocks answer through the foundations, waiting for the next choice.
✓ Quest Accepted
Open the floodgate
− Scene Quest Removed
Learn where Emi's sister went