Location: Oldstrand City - Slums to Wealthy District
Time: Day 523 | Telia: Day 14
Realm: Telia
The cart rolled deeper into the slums, wheels creaking over broken cobblestones. The poverty pressed in from all sides—not abstract anymore, but immediate. Personal. Individual faces in the mass of suffering.
A boy stepped into their path.
Maybe eight years old, though malnutrition made it hard to tell. His ribs showed through torn fabric that barely qualified as a shirt. Bare feet, bleeding from walking on stone streets. Eyes that had seen too much death too young.
He held out a trembling hand. "Please," he whispered. "Please, just a copper. My sisters are hungry."
Target: minor child. Age: approximately eight years. Condition: severe malnutrition, probable disease, clothing insufficient, visible wounds untreated.
(He's starving. Actually starving.)
"Stop the cart," Jayde said.
Elder Ryunzo pulled the reins. The Bildeson halted, patient and unconcerned with human misery.
