Rourke POV:
The sanctions do not hurt at first. That, more than anything else, is the design of them.
Trade does not collapse overnight; instead it begins to thin in small, deliberate ways that could almost pass for coincidence if someone were not looking closely enough.
Deliveries that once arrived full begin coming lighter than promised, wagons rolling through the gates with apologetic drivers who already have their excuses prepared before anyone has even asked for them.
Council couriers begin lingering far longer than necessary when they pass through the territory, their questions framed in careful concern that is polite enough to sound helpful but sharp enough to measure weakness.
Wolves along the outer patrol lines start catching unfamiliar scents drifting across the wind, wol
