DDC01 The Old City

Where children play safe in shapes and ancient stone.
Creatures watch.
Find the silent tongue below, the hour's cry.

Identify first district
Suzi roll Insight DC5 - success

Before rushing off, you read the note several times and realise that the reference to shapes may mean a "circle" or "square". A city square, but there are many across the League. Ancient stone? In ancient times, the city was much smaller, and just the one district, "The Old City". Fairly certain of your deduction so far, you head off.
Heading north toward the Old City, you slip in and out of alleyways, checking in front and behind for followers. No one seems to be tailing you.

Ask advice from basilisks
Suzi roll Perception DC5 - success

As you slip through the crooked lanes of the Old City, shadows peeling away from the rising sun, you keeps to the edges, instinctively avoiding the bustle of the main thoroughfare. From the corner of her eye, you spot a familiar cluster of street urchins—faces smeared with soot, eyes sharp as razors—members of the Basilisks, the gang you'd earned uneasy favour with on her arrival.
You halt, and with a half-smile, address them. “I’m looking for a quiet square,” you say lowly, “where children play.” A wiry boy with a mop of greasy hair scowls. “What you want to know that for?”
“Oi, don’t be thick, Luigi,” an older girl snaps, stepping forward. Her stance is protective, but respectful. “It’s Suzi. She’s alright. Fionn said so—said there’s a deal in place.” She narrows her eyes, curious now. “You’ll want the Marketplace of Relics. South of here, near the old wall. Kids like it. No guards, no trouble. Want us to take you?” You shakes your head, offering a small, crooked grin. “I’ll find it. But I owe you one. Next time, there’ll be coin in it.” The girl nods solemnly. No more words are needed.
With a glance over your shoulder, you dart across the street, melting into the shadowed alleys southward. The air shifts—quieter here, the drone of city life fading behind the crooked eaves and crumbling arches.
You arrive in a wide, cobbled square bathed in golden light. Children chase each other between broken columns and worn flagstones. On the fringes, elderly folk murmur in clusters, gossiping beneath fading murals. But it’s the east side of the square that holds your gaze.
There stands the statue. A hulking gargoyle crouched upon its plinth, just as in the sketch—but the drawing was wrong, or perhaps incomplete. This one has a grotesque tongue: long, cracked, and curling like a serpent, thrusting unnaturally from its jaws.
You edge closer, your eyes scanning the folds of shadow and stone, every instinct taut. You know something is hidden here. And you know it’s watching you back.

Search for prize
Suzi roll Investigation DC5 - success

You spot it—nestled deep within the gargoyle’s twisted maw, just behind that grotesque, curling tongue. A sliver of parchment or cloth, glinting faintly. But no matter how you angle your fingers, your blade, even your lockpicks, it's lodged too far in. The gap narrows cruelly just beyond reach. You curse under your breath. A smaller hand might succeed where yours cannot.
Your eyes drift to the children darting through the square, laughter ringing through the air like windchimes. You wait a beat, then gently intercept a girl as she skips past—a waif of no more than seven, wild-haired and wide-eyed.
“Sorry, little one,” you say, crouching to her height, voice soft. “My friend left something for me inside the gargoyle’s mouth—but it’s stuck too deep for me to reach. If I lift you up, could you try to fetch it?”
The girl freezes, eyes growing round with fear. She takes a step back. “No... no, miss,” she whispers, shaking her head. “That thing bites. Bites off fingers an’ hands. My cousin tried once. Lost two.” Her voice trembles. “It gets angry every hour. When the big bell rings... it wakes up. It remembers it’s hungry. That’s why no one goes near it.”
Before you can soothe her or ask more, she bolts, vanishing into the swirl of children, leaving you alone with the silent stone sentinel and the whispered dread it stirs.

Statue shaking on the hour
Suzi roll Insight DC15 - success

You realise it at once—this must be what the message spoke of. The bell. The hour. Whatever has sealed the gargoyle’s grip will only loosen when the chime tolls. You’ll have to wait.
But before you can settle your nerves, a flicker of movement draws your attention. Across the square, half-shrouded by a crumbling arcade, stands a figure—wrong clothes, wrong posture, wrong. They're watching you.
Without betraying your discovery, you feign disinterest and drift casually toward a side street. At the first corner, you slip down a narrow passage. A few paces in, you vanish into a darker alley, pressing yourself into the shadows.
You steady your breath. Count heartbeats. You can’t risk being dragged into a chase—not now. You have to be back by the time the bell tolls.

Hide in alley
Suzi roll Hide in Shadows DC10 - success

Moments stretch like wire. Then—footsteps. Quick. Agitated. Your pursuer hurries past, unaware they’ve lost you. You let them go.
Only when the street is clear do you slip from hiding and make your way back, one eye ever scanning. As your boots touch the cobbles of the square once more, the first bell tolls.
GONG.
The sound rolls like thunder through the city.
GONG.
The children scream and scatter, as if rehearsed. And at the heart of it all, the statue groans—stone straining like sinew.
GONG.
The gargoyle’s tongue trembles, then shudders loose. With barely a second to spare, you surge forward, thrusting your hand into the beast’s maw.
You feel it—a slick bundle of oiled cloth, warm from the stone. You wrench it free just as the final toll fades into silence.
The gargoyle freezes once more. Its tongue stills. Its mouth seals shut behind you.
And you're gone.

Complete dead drop 1
Challenge DC10

Parent Plot

337-125 Dead Drop Challenge

Related Locations

• The Old City