During afternoon at the Lower Portcullis Vestibule of the High Terraces, the light from dim grey daylight filtering through the iron drop-gate bars cut through air heavy with wet gravel, oiled iron chains, stale pipe tobacco, and damp wool cloaks as court guards at the bronze gate began. Academy court guards barred the exit drop-gate, demanding that Korr Var sign the standard academy clearance certificate before leaving the grounds. Every detail of gate checkpoint · drop-gate standoff demanded that the crew treat the Lower Portcullis Vestibule of the High Terraces as an active building site where no physical strange flaw could be brushed aside.
Eren Tal took position in the Lower Portcullis Vestibule of the High Terraces for court guards at the bronze gate, assessing the physical toll before lifting a single instrument. His jaw was clenched tight, his broad shoulders squared to protect Pella and Korr behind him. Ready in his grasp were his heavy wooden adze and an iron pry bar wrapped in burlap, practical trade gear selected specifically to meet the demands of gate checkpoint · drop-gate standoff without dramatic display.
Eren set his heavy timber adze handle across the narrow doorway, establishing a physical barrier against encroaching guards. By applying his spatial awareness of doorway chokepoints during court guards at the bronze gate, Eren Tal established a thirty-six-inch doorway opening, easily defended by a single broad-shouldered carpenter with an adze. Narrow stonework passages favored defensive positioning. Numbers meant nothing if only one guard could engage at…
