The Last Banquet I

The afternoon sun bled into the horizon, its golden light stretching across the lands of Pagadianara, casting a last embrace before nightfall.

Beyond the boundaries of the Tala Noble Territory, the world remained untouched by the day's disturbance—trade routes bustled with merchants, scholars debated in lantern-lit halls, and the distant melodies of street performers wove through the city air. But within the domain of the Celestial Seal, the winds still whispered of unrest.

The noble grounds bore an unnatural stillness, as though the land itself recoiled from the echoes of the unseen turmoil. The scent of smoldering incense lingered in the corridors, meant to soothe, yet failing to cleanse the tension that clung to the very walls.