--Night's inky veil still clung to the city as though determined to keep its secrets hidden from the new day. Yet, within the council hall—where the crystalline Heart of the Veil pulsed with soft, steady brilliance—a storm was gathering that would shake the very foundation of the covenant. In the days since their subterranean journey, the heirs had come to suspect that the relic's power, though a beacon of hope, carried an ominous weight. A forewarning of further trials echoed in every whispered legend and every uncertain glance exchanged among the leaders.