Located in the heart of The Reconquest district, on The Terrace of the Punishment, the Coal Guardhouse stands proudly on the Ladder in the Sky.

The architecture of the post is austere, with gray stone walls and narrow windows, as if to withstand the chaotic atmosphere of the Châtiment. Inside, the space is functionally organized. The ground floor houses the reception room. Next to it, the Duty Room is used to collect taxes and, occasionally, to conduct interrogations. A kitchen allows the guards to prepare meals. In the tower, accessible only by the guards, is the guardroom. This is where the men rest, eat their meals, and pass the time between patrols. It is also the necessary passage to reach the other rooms of the structure.

The belief that le Poste is cursed has persisted among its troops for decades. Every winter, a guard dies, stabbed by a mysterious “Brick Man.” The old-timers at the post firmly believe in this superstition and avoid alleys with brick walls at that time of year. The young recruits of the Coal Guardhouse, however, pay little heed to this rumor and want to faithfully serve the ambition of the God-King Nin I to rehabilitate The Punishment. Will we find, next winter, one of these zealots, stabbed at the end of an alley, with brick debris in his wounds? Misunderstanding and resentment grow between the old-timers and the new recruits.

For now, patrols are limited to the periphery of the Terrace, but one must be convinced that the arrival of fresh troops for the grand project of Nin I reshuffles all the cards. The old animosity that once marred relations between the posts of the Encre and the Charbon is finally on pause, and, enduring all the mockery, the elders of the Terrace patiently await The Punishment to put the newcomers in their place.

!– Validated by La Moitié –