Chapter 131: The Beckoning Glade
The Exploratory Guild's ethos of non-interference was its sacred text. Observe, do not disturb. Document, do not direct. This principle, born from the hard-won wisdom of not forcing simplicity onto complexity, guided their every step into the world's quiet margins. For five years, it served them flawlessly. They chronicled whispering sands and upside-down waterfalls, adding wonder to the network's tapestry without leaving a single scar.
Then they found the Beckoning Glade.
It was discovered by Fenna's team in a high, hidden valley of the Whispering Mountains, a place so thick with ancient, drowsy resonance it had been missed on earlier surveys. The report that arrived via hawk was uncharacteristically agitated, the usually precise Linua glyphs shaky.
