The Human Domain prepared in silence. But in the emerald depths of Silvanus, preparation did not look like meditation or the sharpening of steel. It looked like the baring of teeth and the tightening of a tether that bound soul to beast.
Silvanus was not a territory that had been built; it was a kingdom that had been grown. Here, the architecture was biological. Towering ancient trees, known as World-Anchors, stretched so high their crowns pierced the cloud line, creating a second horizon of rustling leaves. Their trunks were wide enough to house entire chambers and libraries carved within living, self-healing wood. Roots thicker than the ramparts of any human castle coiled across the forest floor like sleeping serpents, pulsing with a low-frequency hum. Mana drifted through the air in visible threads of green and gold, acting as a nervous system for the entire realm.
