E18 — Concealed Entrance
Concealed Entrance
The log chute hides the surviving route below.
Behind the log chute's heavy framing, a section of plank wall sits several inches deeper than the rest. Grease-dark handprints mark one upright, and a narrow iron rail disappears through the base of the wall.
When the concealed panel is released, cold air rises from below carrying wet stone, lamp oil, old timber, and something faintly scorched.
Challenge: Find and Open the Lower Works
Success finds the disguised panel and counterweight release. Critical success also shows the mechanism was serviced within the last week. Failure costs 10 minutes before systematic searching finds it automatically.
The upper maintenance route has collapsed beyond the machinery. The only passable direction is down into E18-2.
Lower Works Shift Key
A heavy iron key hangs behind the concealed door on a tagged peg marked LOWER — SHIFT. It opens mundane padlocks in E18-5 and E18-8.
Value: negligible. Use: evidence of an organized underground workforce.