Earlier adaptation

The Ninth Gate as an institution

REFERENCE DOSSIER · 2 MIN READ

Preserved local adaptation or Roll20 reference. Its people, events, inventories, and geography belong to their stated source context; they are not merged into original Everterra canon.

On this page

This record summarizes the existing Roll20 handouts preserved in Journal transcriptions. The functional-role truths come from the journal folder GM Stufff > 9th lore; treat those motives as GM context. A visible Show to Players button does not establish that every player has read the handout.

Organization and purpose

The Gate is an organized institution of containment, assessment, labor, and coercion. Its public existence is established in World beyond the Gate. Its personnel describe and enact procedure rather than supplying prisoners with clear explanations. The handouts present uncertainty as part of the system's operation.

The source does not establish that every detained person is guilty of a crime. The Cell Block opening mentions soldiers formerly wearing King Canaan's insignia, people in fine clothing, and mercenaries. These are described groups, not a census or a complete prisoner roster.

Personnel and divided responsibility

Person	Stated responsibility	GM context from the role handout
Overseer Halbrecht	Appointed under King Canaan's authority; signs transfers, continued reviews, and releases.	Believes the Gate prevents instability; avoids direct presence during punishment and interrogation.
Examiner Vos	Interviews and reassesses prisoners; assigns labor, restrictions, and privileges.	Evaluates compliance under ambiguity rather than morality; does not confirm outcomes.
Master Tormentor Rell	Oversees coercive procedures and compares recorded responses.	Treats suffering as a means of obtaining clear responses. This describes his rationale, not a moral judgment that his acts are harmless.
Clerk Issen	Maintains records, rosters, and movement logs.	Knows where people have been but not why; the institution depends on this continuity despite Issen's lack of authority.

These roles do not establish a complete chain of command, faction membership count, staff alignment, or the Office of Gates' relationship with each official. Preserve the distinction between the visible Gate institution and the local campaign's covert First Gate program until a source connects them.

Detention and daily conditions

The Cell Block handout describes maintained stone cells, iron bars, a torch-lit corridor, straw in an empty cell, warm thin broth, interrupted rest, and procedural intake questioning. It offers a guard's invitation to ask for water. It is an opening scene and setting description; it does not record a new accepted action for Zed, Seraph, Hugo, or Garr.

The layered complex includes containment areas, work spaces, and restricted authority spaces. No measured floor plan, prisoner total, staff total, ration quantity, or schedule is provided.

Sources

9th Roles, Places Within the Gate, and The Cell Block, readable Roll20 handout transcriptions.
World Lore, explicitly labeled Player-Facing World Canon.
Local hidden truths, for the separate First Gate history.