Chapter 99 - Veranth

The equipment store, Veranth, was a space built for those who traded their life expectancy for coin. The air inside hung heavy with three distinct scents: the refined monster fat used to grease leather, the sharp bite of cold river-iron, and the faint, static-electric tang of ozone that always lingered around enchanted metals. There was no pretense of hospitality here—no decorative banners or welcoming hearths. It was a pragmatic warehouse of survival, cast in a dim orange glow where the light from tallow candles glinted off the tools of slaughter.