S2-E2 — The Portrait Hall
S2-E2 · Upper Level · Social infiltration
The Portrait Hall
A hundred painted nobles gather around a blank frame. The only unpainted figure is a space shaped exactly like the party’s leader.
The hall is a sentry gallery, not a dead end. The blank frame can be passed by deception, etiquette, or careful study. Loud violence alerts S2-E3 and S2-E5.
Success: The portraits turn aside and reveal a service door to S2-E3. The party learns the phrase “the house remembers the ember.”
Complication: A painted courtier steps out and demands a name. Characters can answer with a clue from S2-E1 or accept a moderate combat complication; progress continues.
Delay clock: Each failed round adds one audible bell. At three bells, the servants’ patrol in S2-E3 begins alert but can still be bypassed.