The town packed itself along the gate before Hajin's party even reached the last turn of the road.
Workers hung across the palisade while families crowded the approach, trading stories the runners carried down ahead of the mules. Hajin slowed beside the gate and let the crowd settle, wanting them to hear terms that would outlast tonight's drinking.
He waited inside the gate while Loccy carried the sleeping child through behind him.
"The mountain's open, my lord?" a carpenter yelled, gripping the railing with both fists, "is that what the runners meant?"
"Eastern sector, agreed boundaries, and safe passage past the Watcher's beasts!" Hajin bellowed, tapping the signet whose seal rode uphill with the charter, "and honest work earns recorded wages, every damn shift written down!"
"Recorded wages, from a lord?"
"From this lord, and if the ledger cheats you, come bang on my damn door until somebody fixes it!"
