The atmosphere within the governor’s grand office was thick with a tension that felt almost physical. Three days had passed since the silver and white mists of the system’s summoning had receded, and the reality of my new cabinet was beginning to set in. I sat behind the massive mahogany desk, my fingers steepled, watching the silent play of power across the room. Across from me sat the "Three Legends"—Lynch, Nel, and Holt—their faces etched with the fatigue of two years of relentless labor. Next to them stood the three scholars I had chosen to remain in the city: Elder 2, the stoic elven mistress of agriculture; Elder 4, the calculating human master of economics; and Elder 5, the dwarven architect whose eyes seemed to constantly measure the structural integrity of the walls.
The silence
