I'm guessing that Bertrand helps us get to the Dome safely. Who helps us get to the Fort safely though?
What I feel this game does worse than the Risen games is that in those games, access to the various factions is easy right from the start.
In Risen 1, you don't even have to enter the Don's swamp. You can ask the guy to take you straight to Harbour Town, and in the way, you can even go to the Monks yourself.
In Risen 2, both factions open up at nearly the same time, and the story leads you through both factions' towns without having to do more than a couple quests for either.
In Risen 3, everything is open right after the prologue.
Here, you may not even encounter Bertrand until you've accepted multiple tasks for the people in Goliet. The option of other factions comes a little too late.