Episode 1: Rain and Red EarthThe dust of Oakhaven always settled on Silas first.He lived where the town’s edge blurred into the gray brambles of the Whispering Woods, in a shack made of warped timber and glowing glow-stone fragments he’d scavenged from abandoned mines. Silas owned three things of note: a pair of calloused hands, a mended coat that had long forgotten its original color, and a mind that watched the world like a master weaver inspects a tapestry.In a town fueled by Aether-fueled machinery and wealthy merchant guilds, Silas was an invisible fixture. He swept the market stalls for a handful of copper or mended broken gears when the artificers were too proud to bother. They called him "Poor Silas," using his poverty as a shield to avoid looking him in the eye.But Silas did not mind the silence. Silence allowed him to listen to the island-mountain they all lived upon.He listened to the way the mountain streams ran too fast and muddy for early spring. He listened to the nervous chatter of the sky-crows migrating two weeks ahead of schedule. And he listened to the low, rhythmic thrumming deep within the earth when he pressed his ear to the cellar floors."The mountain is waking," Silas told Mayor Vance Tuesday morning, holding his battered cap in his hands as the Mayor stepped out of his steam-carriage. "The old fault line beneath the upper ridge is cracking. The Aether-drills have shifted the bedrock. We need to clear the eastern gorge to give the mud a path, or the next heavy rain will bury the lower district."Mayor Vance stopped, but only to brush an imaginary speck of soot off his velvet doublet. He looked at Silas, his eyes lingering on the patches on Silas’s elbows."Silas, my good man," Vance said, his voice dripping with condescension. "Leave the geology to the Guild Artificers. Master Boros has already assured the council that the mountain has stood for a thousand years. Go finish the sweeping. The High Overseer arrives on Friday.""A thousand years of standing only means it has a thousand years of weight, sir," Silas said quietly. "The stone doesn't care about the Overseer's schedule.""That will be all, Silas," the Mayor snapped, walking away.Silas didn't argue. He picked up his broom, but as he turned, he caught the eye of Kaelen, a young guard stationed at the plaza gates. Kaelen was playing with a small, unlit flame-stone, leaning bored against his spear. Unlike the others, Kaelen didn't look at Silas with disgust. He looked at him with a strange, quiet curiosity."You really think the ridge is going to blow?" Kaelen asked in a low voice as Silas swept near the gate."The earth speaks clearly if you know how to listen, son," Silas murmured without stopping his stroke. "Watch the well-water tonight. If it turns red with clay, don't sleep indoors."Kaelen scoffed lightly, but his eyes darted toward the mountainside.That night, the sky broke. It wasn't a gentle spring shower, but a furious, driving deluge infused with raw, crackling Aether storms that pounded the roofs of Oakhaven like war drums.Down in the guard barracks, Kaelen couldn't sleep. Silas's words echoed in his head. Grabbing a bucket, he walked out to the courtyard well and drew up a line of water. He held his lantern close.The water was thick, churning, and stained a deep, ominous red.Suddenly, a low, structural groan echoed from the peaks above. Kaelen’s blood ran cold. He looked up just as a massive shadow began to shift at the top of the mountain ridge.Silas had been right. And the town was completely unprotected.