He was a frogman. His family had kept this secret for generations, hiding their true nature behind careful ruses and clever illusions.
Before him stood a door unlike any other in the castle. It was made of black iron that seemed to drink in the light from his torch, and it was easily twice as tall as a man. Strange symbols were carved deep into its surface, and seemed to writhe and shift when observed from the corner of the eye.
At the center of the door was a perfect circle, smooth and unmarked by time or weather.
Earl Grimwald pressed his webbed hand against this circle, and immediately it began to glow with a soft blue light. The symbols on the door flared to life, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. There was a sound like thunder rolling across distant mountains, and then the massive door began to swing inward on hinges that hadn't moved in decades.
