The vaulted stone corridors of the central administrative archives hummed with the steady, subdued cadence of working scholars and legislative scribes. Outside, the slate-grey mists of the Shadowfall Domain clung tightly to the iron-spiked perimeter fences, muting the harsh northern winds into a low, mournful sigh.
I stood before an expansive drafting table spread with the structural blueprints of the lower basin's transit expansion grid. In the demanding architecture of the Neutral Alliance, logistical efficiency was just as vital to our survival as military defense; a single bottleneck in the supply lines could paralyze a province within days.
My personal comm-crystal chimed—a sharp, single pulse of blue light that rippled softly against the cold stone wall.
I touched the activation r
