Location:Obsidian Academy — Qin's private study (warded)
Date/Time:Late Sparkfall, 9941 AZI
Realm:Lower Realm
The smell reached her before the sight did.
Copper and something sweet — cloying, medicinal, the scent of essence compounds processed at high temperature. It drifted from the open window of the Academy's guest quarters, where a Temple priest had set up a distribution table that morning. White-and-gold robes. Warm smile. A tray of small lacquered boxes, each containing six pills the color of pale amber. SoulBloom. The Temple's most holy gift. A sacred medicine, blessed by the Flame.
Free samples. For students.
Jayde had watched from the training ground wall while the priest worked the crowd. He was good — practiced warmth, memorized scripts, the kind of voice that made people lean forward. Three students had taken boxes before first bell. By third bell, the tray was half empty.
