The S Key
| Type | Key |
|---|---|
| Owner | Remidigon Otsby |
| Current location | Morgaedion |
| First appearance | Sacred: Eslura's Calling |
The S Key is the key to the ground block at Morgaedion, the deepest cell block on the prison island and the one that holds Eslura's most vile criminals. It is a length of metal twisted into the shape of the letter S, and heavy enough that a grown guard has to hoist it overhead with both hands and struggle to hold it steady.[1] It is known simply as the S. Remidigon Otsby, Captain of the Sacred Guard at Morgaedion, kept it in a vault in his cabin and called it the only thing standing between Eslura and her demons.[2]
The door
The ground block is sealed by a cast iron door with a cutout in it in the shape of an S, about as tall as a man's forearm. The S is set into the empty shape, several clicks sound from somewhere inside the door, and it swings open.[1] The block lies at the bottom of hundreds of spiralling steps, past torture chambers and a corridor of a hundred or so cells whose occupants beg through the bars for food, water and light.[1]
The vault
Remidigon kept the S in a vault built into the bedroom wall of his two-storey log cabin on the prison field, painted a brownish-red to blend into the wall around it. He was proud enough of it to show his sister Lumikki Otsby once, kneeling to haul the thing out with his whole body strength until it came free and hit the floor with a clap like thunder. The vault's own key is a small silver one.[2]
Obellius's escape
On the day Demise walked into Morgaedion carrying the Heart of the Book of Fire, his men had already taken the prison and the Guards who met him at the gates were hostages. Remidigon, waiting at the bottom landing with his officers, gave the nod. Officer Kazke, a Guard in a red cloak, worked the S into the cutout and let the Shadow Reaper through to Obellius Kalaar's cell.[1]
When Lumikki came looking for her brother she found the cabin flooded and abandoned, the silver key lying under his desk and the vault empty. The absence of the S told her what had happened before she ever reached the prison: the ground block had been opened.[2] Below, the stairwells were strewn with charred bodies reaching in the direction they had been running, and the ground block door lay steaming on the floor where it had been blown off its hinges.[2] What became of the S itself is not recorded.