Garret caught the sharp stench of distilled void-oil before nine shadows reached the command manor scaffolding.
High along the unfinished eastern wing, nine gray-cloaked shadows ascended the exterior scaffolding with supernatural fluidity.
The specialized void-oil coating their gloves and soles completely dissolved the perimeter ward runes painted upon the cedar sills.
Inside the drafty upper corridor, veteran miner Garret stood watch beside the emergency breach bell.
He was the very first worker who received back-pay from the sovereign treasury, and he guarded the headquarters with fierce pride.
Beside him, two young dispatch clerks, Tallis and Nera, were sorting through the morning ration manifests by candlelight.
"The wind smells like burnt tallow and rancid grease," Garret muttered, his calloused fingers tightening around a crowbar.
"That is not mountain wind... that is alchemy oil used by high-tier infiltrators!"
