The merchant arrived through the Crag Mountain stables carrying a stone tablet in a padded grain box.
She gave her name as Lessa Vorn, paid the stable fee, and followed the painted signs toward the public portal. The gnome at the registration desk barely looked at the two wagons of cloth samples behind her. His attention settled on the box held between Lessa and one of her guards.
"Something fragile?" He asked, seeing how they moved the item with great care.
"Extremely."
"Magical?"
"It used to be."
The gnome produced a red tag and attached it to the box. "Do not open it inside a stable, tavern, hospital, race vessel, or within ten feet of an unattended child."
Lessa looked at the warning. "Why a race vessel?"
"Someone always believes the rules do not apply to their specific object."
