You take three steps toward the east wall. The brazier flickers.
But the map lies. It always lies. Just not in the way you expect. The antechamber is real—granite walls, a floor tiled in black and white like a chessboard, and a single brazier that lights itself when you enter. No monsters. No obvious traps. The map indicates a straight corridor leading east, marked in steady brown ink. Safe route , the marginalia reads in a cramped hand—probably from the cartographer who died three revisions ago. labyrinthine map chapter 2
I call it the First False Stone because that’s what the map shows: a single, perfect antechamber. One door in. One door out. A clean square on parchment, as innocent as a child’s drawing. You take three steps toward the east wall