In the shadowed limestone hall beneath the High Terrace of Lathmere, three hours before dawn, Master Davin Sorell stood before the iron door of the Collegiate Relic Registry, his scarlet robes trailing across the damp flat stone slabs. Behind him stood twelve armed academy wardens in black leather helmets, their iron truncheons sheathed. Their faces were pale and grim in the flickering light of two sulfur torches.
Across the threshold stood Town Auditor Varo Nenn, his glasses perched on his nose. He held an open thick parchment ledger in one trembling hand. ‘Master Davin Sorell, Councilor Vesk and the Senate Executive Committee have placed the Courtesy Workshop under formal civic protection! You have no legal power to issue a relic seizure warrant. Meanwhile, the city is under an active flood emergency!’
Malcor stepped forward, his cold, high-born features twisting with haughty disdain. In his gloved right hand, he held an ancient calfskin scroll bearing the cracked wax seal of the First College Synod of 1342. ‘The Municipal Senate governs ditches and drays, Auditor Nenn. It doesn’t govern sovereign astral relics. Under Chapter Seven of the Antiquities Code, any unlicensed spiritual gateway running within the town borders is subject to immediate summary seizure by the College of Summoners during a declared country crisis.’
