Chapter 3: Secrets

21st Day of Toil, 997 V.R.

You have the evening to return to your homes and get some rest. Through the night the city seems tense and quiet. Given the history of infernal invasions, people are not sure what to expect after the earthquake. But, the night passes uneventfully. You awake on the 21st to a soaking wet morning as rain storm from the sea rolls over Iskandar.

In your adventures yesterday, you discovered you weren't the only people interested in Bartoz's warehouse. You interrupted a group of intruders lead by a half-elf that had already begun raiding the premises when you discovered them. Although they escaped you, seemingly vanishing into thin air through a doorway, you found the following message on one of their dead:

Meet under the bridge on Beacon Lane on the 21st Day of Toil at the cursed sun's zenith. Significant progress expected as our patience grows thin.

-- The Tribunal

Nobody was quite sure about the Tribunal, only Laurent had heard rumours of their existence. However, you have a meeting location and a jump on the time and it seemed like a potential lead to discover more about the Seal of Astaraoth. So, the trio agreed to meet in the morning to follow up on this lead.

In the morning, you make your way through the rain-slicked cobblestone streets to the Harborside district to rendezvous at Beacon Street. On the way, a soaking wet human child thrusts a soaking-wet broadsheet into your hands and demands a copper zlot for his trouble. Although the ink is starting to run, you can see the headline declares "LORD BARTOZ PLEDGES TO REBUILD ISKANDAR."

Shortly after you arrive at the bridge mentioned in the note. It is an old stone bridge with ornately carved dragons, the symbol of the old Vendian empire. It spans a square channel about 10 feet deep and across, filled with approximately 2 feet of rancid water and refuse that hasn't washed out to the Otyugh pits yet. There is no obvious door below, but the bridge is fifteen feet wide and it is hard to see directly underneath.

It is early in the morning, but there is light traffic on the bridge as dock workers dressed in rain slicks head off to work and experienced porters cart wagons of wares across the bridge as a shortcut to bypass busier lanes.

Berry pulls his hood tighter over his head, not liking to get his hair wet.

Looking at the bridge and the filth below, he flicks the water dripping off his nose, "Are you sure this is the place?" he mutters to the others.

Tilma presses a copper coin in the kid's palm, gives him a smile and reads the paper (what she can) out loud while they walk. She stops only when they reach the destination.

She shivers in the rain and looks at Berry who in this rain reminds her of a goblin. "I don't know. Laurent is the brains of this here operation." she looks at the mage and then turns back to her friend, "Hey, Berry. Have you ever seen a wet goblin?"

Berry is not sure he understands the question and is no mood for jokes. Letting out a little snort, he pulls the hood up tighter and carefully makes his way to investigate the underside of the bridge.

Berry climbs passed the bridge rail and dangles over to see the underside. A few passerbys give him an odd look, but nobody stops to question him. From this vantage point, he is able to see a rotting wooden door cut into the walls of the stone channel. Perched above the door and protruding from the foundations of the overhead bridge there is a stone gargoyle, still as a statue. Otherwise, the underside of the bridge is clear of dangers.

"I had pictured this differently," the young scholar stated — partially in response to Tilma's comment — as he observed the place under these rather inauspicious weather conditions.

"Let's try to be discrete while we look around." And Laurent proceeded to do just that, trying to take in the area and figure out possibilities.

Tilma sits down on the wet road, sets down her backpack and takes out a pair of good old boots for pacing the sewers. She takes off her current boots which she neatly stores away in her backpack and puts on the long work boots. "I'm ready" she says to the other two. Being used to the sewers this rancid water doesn't bother her at all. She walks down, into the water and heads for the door.
All the while she looks around for anything unusual and once the door is reached she investigates it and the gargoyle closer to see if they are locked or dangerous. Perhaps trapped?

Tilma splashes down into the channel. The door seems unlocked and there are no sign of traps. The gargoyle looms overhead and is in good shape, except it only has one eye. The other has been chipped off. It seems like a statue as far as you can tell.

"No danger here guys! Well, none, as far as I can see." she shouts out to her companions while still leisurely looking around.

Berry slips off and trots along with the traffic to the other end of the bridge and tries to ascertain a building that this door might back onto,

The door leads under the road itself. Sewers, maybe? But then an iron grate would make more sense than a door. It was definitely a peculiar door, but that seemed to match with the mysterious nature of The Tribunal who set this meeting up.

Watching his companions from atop the bridge, the young scholar seemed at a bit of a loss. He examined the neighboring buildings with intent, but found nothing that might set his nerves at ease. No easy vantage point. It made sense, if what he could recall about The Tribunal was accurate: these were professionals, expert agents and their machiavellian patrons. They wouldn't set up a meeting in a spot that would be easy to spy on, or interfere with. His original plan having crumbled into nothingness at first contact with the metaphorical battlefield, his mind rushed trying to design other stratagems, to no avail.

"We have some time yet," he stated somewhat timidly. "Should we risk the doorway?" he asked Berry, the one of his companions currently within earshot. "It might lead us straight into contact with those black cloaks, or worse. I'd prefer discretion and avoidance, but..." and he let the ellipsis bear the brunt of the reasoning.

Allowing his face to go beyond the bridge's edge, he called out to his elven companion, "Any thoughts, Tilma?"

"Wait a second!" she calls back. She searches quickly though her backpack. She takes out the sewers map. It is old and a bit outdated, but it's not like this place is new. Or at least it doesn't seem new. She puts the map against the wall and tries to find if this entrance leads to somewhere in the sewer tunnels.

The sewer maps have no indications of any branches or connections near this bridge. At best, it looks like it might be a maintenance locker for canal dredgers to store their tools for when they need to clear a blockage.

Moving to a position where he hoped he could be heard by both his companions without any eavesdroppers nearby.

"I see two ways forward. We go in now, explore the place, risking running into opposition. Or we find a vantage point and wait until the designated hour. If the black cloaks show up at the appointed time, we don't get involved, unless we want to risk a tussle. If they don't show up, then we can either go and meet the Tribunal or, if we're not feeling up to it, we wait and see if they come through the canal."

After a moment of silence, he scratched his head, slightly ashamed. "Yeah, well, that's more like four or five options really...", and delving deeper into his own confusion, he added "If no one is in there, right now, we might at least look around, locate any concealed passages. If we do find something, we might be able to leave a message to the Tribunal, without risking direct exposure. you know," ans his eyes glazed over as he considered what he'd write for a moment.

"Something like 'Found your note on the dead body of your agent. Killed by Bartoz's goons in their warehouse. Your other men left when we showed up. If you want to talk, send a man with a red hat with peacock feathers to the fish market at dawn'. We can then send messages from a distance, on our terms."

"Sounds fine to me. I don't think that thus door is dangerous and in any case it isn't sewers. I'll go in." with those words Tilma puts away the map, steadies her backpack, readies her crossbow and opens the door. She instantly back steps and raises her crossbow just in case.

"Laurent. Why don’t you stay out here and keep watch, I’ll head in with Tilma. If we’re not out in half an hour, come find us, or call the law, or …you’ll figure it out."

Tilma swings the door wide, revealing nothing more than an recessed tool shed.

After a moment, an image begins to coalesce in the doorframe. It depicts a ruined keep of some kind, strewn with rubble and lit by sunlight streaming through large holes in the ceiling. As it solidifies, you realize it is more than an image; you smell the fresh, salty seabreeze as it blows through the portal, and you watch as roosting crows peck at one another in the rafters, fighting for territory. There is no sign of habitation, and it does not look familiar any of you.

You are reminded of the way the half-elf disappeared from Bartoz's warehouse yesterday; him and his men disappeared through a seemingly random doorframe. You are certain this is a portal to some abandoned ruin.

Based on this assumption, you step through the doorway and end up on the dry stone floor of the ruin, the portal bridging to a door frame within the ruin. The portal seems stable and remains open even after you cross over.

Tilma sticks her head back out of the portal while the bulk of her body remains inside. "Hey guys! You have to check this out. It seems like some kind of portal to some kind of ruin. And judging by the smell its near the sea." she calls out to the other two. And then not waiting for the reply she's back inside, looking around for possible danger and also simply sightseeing. She stays near the entrance though and has her crossbow ready.