The signal was a prayer.
Not the full Iron Devotion — that would have been noticed, reported, punished. The activation phrase was buried in the Rootist evening prayer itself, a single substituted word that Demeterra's priests would never catch because they hadn't said their own prayer with genuine attention in months.
"By root and rain, I am sustained. By grain and light, I am nourished. The Mother provides. The harvest endures."
The standard version. Spoken in every Rootist temple at sunset across Demeterra's territory.
The activation:
"By root and rain, I am sustained. By grain and light, I am forged. The Mother provides. The harvest endures."
One word. Forged instead of nourished. A word that sounded almost natural in the prayer's cadence. A word that any casual listener would dismiss as a regional variation or a mistake.
