Thornwatch Detention Cells
Thornwatch Detention Cells are a cold stone chamber containing two barred cells, a row of ceiling-mounted shackles, and a narrow corridor leading back toward the abandoned portions of the facility. Garrick once kept subjects here before moving them to his hidden workrooms. The prisoners are gone, but the room does not feel abandoned. A cup lies overturned, one shackle is still warm to the touch, and a faint draft rises from somewhere beneath the floor.
Thornwatch Detention Cells
Oppressively cold and unnaturally still. The air smells of wet stone, old iron, and faint medicinal herbs. Every sound carries through the chamber, yet the silence seems to return too quickly. The shackles occasionally creak without an obvious cause.
Thornwatch Detention Cells are a cold stone chamber containing two barred cells, a row of ceiling-mounted shackles, and a narrow corridor leading back toward the abandoned portions of the facility. Garrick once kept subjects here before moving them to his hidden workrooms. The prisoners are gone, but the room does not feel abandoned. A cup lies overturned, one shackle is still warm to the touch, and a faint draft rises from somewhere beneath the floor.
Secretive, methodical, and convinced that cruelty is justified when it serves discovery. Even in his absence, his habits are visible in the numbered tags, precise restraints, and carefully arranged tools left behind.
History
Security Measures
The cells are secured by heavy iron doors set into the stone, each with a narrow viewing hatch and a rusted lock. The locks were designed to be opened from the corridor, while the shackles are fixed to ceiling beams and positioned so a prisoner could be restrained without reaching the bars. The chamber has no obvious window, and the only entrance is a thick wooden door reinforced with iron bands. Old scrape marks near the threshold suggest that something heavy was recently dragged through the room.
Former Prisoners
Neither cell contains a living prisoner, but both show signs of recent use. One has a dark stain beneath the shackles, while the other contains a broken leather strap, a chipped clay cup, and several shallow grooves scratched into the wall. The identity of the former prisoners is unknown. Local records may reveal that they were taken from different villages and brought to Thornwatch under false charges.
Hidden Evidence
A loose stone behind the left cell's water trough conceals a narrow cavity. Inside are three stained bandages, a brass tag bearing the number 7, and a folded scrap of paper covered in hurried marks. The writing is incomplete, but the repeated phrase 'not dead, below' can still be read. The cavity was likely used by a frightened prisoner or a sympathetic guard.
Recent Disturbance
The chamber is disturbed by a faint current of cold air that moves against the natural draft of the corridor. At irregular intervals, the shackles sway slightly, even when the surrounding air is still. These signs are not immediately dangerous, but they suggest that the former prisoners may have escaped through a hidden route or that something beneath the cells is still active.
Denizens
Secretive, methodical, and convinced that cruelty is justified when it serves discovery. Even in his absence, his habits are visible in the numbered tags, precise restraints, and carefully arranged tools left behind.
A former Thornwatch guard who was assigned to watch the cells during Garrick's experiments. He claims he never saw the prisoners clearly, but his refusal to discuss the brass prisoner tags suggests otherwise. He may know where the missing subjects were taken.
A missing subject once held in the second cell. Mira was a practical village herbalist accused of stealing from Garrick's stores. She may have survived and escaped through the hidden route beneath the cells, leaving behind the bandages and notes.
Garrick's former assistant, who helped prepare the cells and record the condition of the prisoners. He vanished after the experiments ended and may be responsible for the recent disturbance if he has returned to recover evidence.
Rumors & Plot Hooks
- 1.The prisoners were not killed in the cells. They were taken through a passage beneath the floor to a deeper chamber.
- 2.One of the missing subjects returned to Thornwatch recently, searching for the names of everyone who helped Garrick.
- 3.The shackles move because the dead prisoners still remember being restrained.
- 4.A former guard hid a key that opens both cells and a locked cabinet somewhere below the fortress.
- 5.Garrick kept one prisoner alive for months because that subject could sense hidden doors.
Classified Entry
The drain beneath the cells conceals a narrow escape route leading to a sealed service tunnel below Thornwatch. The passage was used to move experimental subjects without alerting the guards. Recently, someone opened the inner seal from the far side. The person may be a surviving prisoner, Garrick's assistant, or something that was released during the experiments. Small drops of fresh blood lead into the tunnel, but they are not enough to determine whether the injured person was entering or leaving.
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