Time/Date: TC1853.01.23 – Midday
Location: Craftsman's Quarter → Wang Residence
The Craftsman's Quarter felt wrong.
Raven guided Grandma Wang through streets that should have been bustling with afternoon commerce, but instead carried the hollow quiet of a district holding its breath. Market stalls stood half-shuttered, their owners huddled in doorways speaking in hushed voices. Spiritual lanterns that normally burned steady flickered and dimmed, responding to the instability that had gripped the city since the guardian withdrawal.
The air itself felt different. Thinner somehow, as though cosmic forces that had always supported reality's fabric had pulled back, leaving everything slightly less solid than it should be.
