Intro Story - Open the Door

The door is locked. You rattle it a bit, but then the creature clears its throat to get your attention. It points to the bar. An iron key lays next to the bottles.

You pick it up, and it fits smoothly into the door. The latch unlocks with the soft rasp of well-oiled metal. The door is heavy and fits tightly into its jamb, but you manage to wrench it open.

The room is small, and you believe it is a niche into the city walls. The light is dim at first, but as you peer around several stones in the wall begin to glow the same blue-white as the crystals in the main room, though not as brilliantly.

You can make out a case with a glass door and a bookshelf. The bookshelf has a collection of books, and there is just enough light for reading.

You sense the magical barrier around the case as a slippery, greasy feeling in the air. You push toward the door handle, and your hand simply slides to the right as if someone had gently nudged it aside. A few more tries prove that it will be impossible to get into this case without magical assistance.

Inside the case are exotic artifacts with labels printed in Sylvan. It appears to be some sort of collection or trophy case. The items on display are: There’s a set of stairs that go down to a tight natural cavern with a small stream trickling through it. The stream has carved a channel in the stone, and following it for a few minutes you find it emerges on the rocky banks of the Flyssa River just downstream of Soros’ walls. It would be impossible to find the cave from the outside if you didn’t know exactly where it was.
 * A stick of dark wood wrapped in gold wire, labelled: “Bao Zhi Bao”
 * A round metal helmet, without a dent or scratch, with an etching across the crown of an owl. “Minque De Toqui”
 * A crystal goblet with facets like a jewel, labelled: “Wo Shi Shui”
 * A tightly rolled scroll, sealed with molten lead across the seam. Its label reads, “Konghuang.”