You were lucky.
You think quickly.
You reach into your bag and pull out a handful of weeds.
Showing them to the
creature,
you explain that you are a herbalist
and have come to treat the Lord's librarian, who is critically ill."
The messenger never told you of any passwords.
Will he believe you ?
If you are lucky, he believes you and lets you in.
If you are unlucky, he doesn't care who you are,
you may not enter without the password,
and he advances towards you with his pike.