Location:House Ashenveil Estate — Lower Realm
Date/Time:Mid Voidmarch, 9939 AZI — three days later
Realm:Lower Realm
The estate sat at the end of a stone road that had been maintained with the particular stubbornness of a man who believed in straight lines and good foundations.
Modest. Not the sprawling grounds Jayde had expected from a Lower Realm noble house — no gilded gates, no ornamental gardens, no servants in livery lining the path. Stone walls. Clean angles. A compound built for function, not impression. A military man's home. Walls he could trust and sight lines he could read.
Jayde read the house the way the Commander read every environment. Three exits visible from the front approach. Watch positions on the upper floor — windows angled for observation, not light. The wall height was defensive, not decorative. And the ward stones set into the gateposts — old, well-maintained, the kind of formations that didn't just muffle sound but ate it.
