The Council Seat rose out of the hillside on the morning of the third day like something that had always been there and had simply been waiting for the land to grow up around it.
Ancient stone buildings, grey and spare, built to endure rather than impress. The approach road was long and open — a quarter mile of clear visibility, no cover, every visitor exposed from the moment they crested the final hill. Intentional, Mira had known that before she saw it, but knowing it and experiencing it were different things. She walked the exposed quarter mile with her spine straight and her breathing even and her senses reading the landscape around her with the full awareness of Stage Three Voidblood in an unfamiliar territory.
Six active gift signatures in the buildings ahead. Moderate level — guar
