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The guard lowers his eyes to avoid your burning stare. He mumbles something which sounds like an apology and shuffles away from the door to let you enter. With exaggerated bravado, you thrust open the heavy iron portal and stride into the corridor beyond. The door slams shut behind you with a dull boom.
The corridor ends at a landing where a gallery overlooks the cavernous lower level. Nearby there is a staircase, leading down, and a black oak door set flush to the wall.
Slowly you approach the gallery’s railed parapet and look down at an unnerving sight.
