House Zarthus - The Militant Stronghold
Patriarch Veridia Zarthus crushed the summons in her clawed hand, the parchment disintegrating into ash that fell like snow across her war table.
"Three days," she said, her voice carrying the sculpted cruelty that had made her House feared for centuries. "The weapon demands our presence in three days."
Her second-in-command, General Kael'vor, stood at attention beside the war table.
His expression was carefully neutral—survival in House Zarthus required reading Veridia's moods and adjusting accordingly.
"Will you attend, Matriarch?"
"Of course I'll attend." Veridia's beauty was venomous as she turned from the table. "Refusing would be suicide. That creature doesn't make requests."
She paced, her movements predatory.
