Heavy footsteps echoed across the damp cobblestones of Ministry Lane as a squad of armored men marched purposefully toward the red pillars of The Gilded Lily. Passersby scattered into dark doorways and muddy gutters, recognizing the polished steel plates and crimson cloaks of the Silk Road Chamber of Commerce. The elite merchant guild ruled the western trade routes through intimidation and ruthless monopoly, answering only to the high ranking officials who filled their coffers with illegal coin. Tonight their destination was the modest tea house run by the vulgar merchant known across the underworld as the Golden Toad.
Inside the main hall, low ranking scribes and couriers froze over their clay mugs as the heavy oak doors swung open with a resounding bang. Four enforcers stepped across th
