The Pale Coast was the first place in the kingdom where Ryn couldn't hear forges.
The silence hit him at the provincial border — the place where the Iron Road's southern branch descended from the highland plateau toward the sea. The air changed: dryer warmth replaced by salt moisture. The soil changed: iron-rich brown replaced by sandy grey. The vegetation changed: alpine scrub replaced by coastal grasses that bent under ocean wind like congregations at prayer.
And the sound. No hammering. No smelting. No industrial percussion. The Pale Coast's soundtrack was water — waves, rain, the drip and rush of the tidal system that defined every aspect of life in Seylith's domain.
