Location:Zhū'kethara — Council Chamber / Corridor / Healer's Wing
Date/Time:Mid Voidmarch, 9941 AZI
Realm:Demon Realm
The council session had been routine for an hour. Awakening reports from Tharion: three more pairs in Layer 5 cleared for extraction, two requiring extended stabilization, one pod showing unusual crystal degradation that needed assessment before the sleeper could be safely woken. Construction updates from the civilian teams Verath had organized: the eastern residential quarter was ahead of schedule, the crystal resonance grid Zhuvara was rebuilding had reached its third node. Alliance correspondence from the border lords: three formal acceptances of the Zel'kethari integration protocols, two requests for clarification, one politely worded refusal that read like a man who wanted to say yes but whose council wouldn't let him.
