The Ironbeard archive records arrived at Yohan packed in two sealed crates, each bearing the dwarven clan seal and a letter of provenance from Thane Borin Ironbeard confirming authenticity. The letter noted, in the dry commercial language that Ironbeard correspondence preferred for formal transactions, that the records were provided as a courtesy gesture in support of the preliminary trade agreement and therefore carried no warranty of completeness, as some records from the earliest survey periods had been lost in a warehouse fire approximately a century prior.
Khao'khen was still at the Arch. Sakh'arran received the crates in the intelligence building's front room, confirmed the seals were intact, and carried them to the records room rather than the council chamber, because the records room was where things went when they needed careful examination rather than presentation. The distinction mattered to him. The records room was for thinking. The council chamber was for conclusions.
