The rider Khao'khen had dispatched to the Ferrath Arch returned on a morning when the cold had deepened and the forge district's smoke rose slow and straight in the windless air. His name was Takar, a Verakh scout with years of mountain operational experience and the specific quality of composure that mountain work developed in riders who understood that what they found was what they found and that composure served the situation better than reaction.
He arrived at the northern gate at the eighth hour and asked for Maghazz. The gate watch sent a runner while the rider dismounted and walked his horse to the stable without being told to. He had the habits of a professional who did not need to be managed through the standard procedures.
