The Central Square of the capital of Southeast Province seemed as though it had been dragged into a melting Alchemy Furnace.
The sky was no longer blue; thick smoke from burning wood and grease had turned the dome a sickly wax yellow, making even the sunlight appear murky and hesitant.
The air was filled with a nauseating odor, a mix of the burnt smell of roasted meat, the acrid scent of charred fabric, and the overpowering fragrance of Golden Feather Flower.
This fragrance, originally meant to mask the stench of corpses, had now become the prelude to death, causing one's stomach to convulse upon the first sniff.
In the center of the square, three black iron gallows stood tall.
Beneath the gallows, piles of wood processed through alchemy lay scattered, with their grain painted a uniform dark brown, clearly reused for such occasions.
Bound to the gallows were three elderly men.
