That same night, hours after the sun had set on distant Lothian City, a carriage from Lothian Manor clattered across the well-worn cobblestone roadways, splashing through puddles from an afternoon rainstorm as it carried two unique guests of the manor into the heart of the merchant quarter of the city.
Master Isabell of Blackwell County's Illustrious Guild of Engineers, and Master Tiernan of the Iron Monger's Guild occupied an awkward position in the social order of Lothian Manor. Neither of them were nobles of any sort, and as such, they should be bound by the rules that required commoners, even commoners who had been invited by Marquis Bors Lothian, to find accommodations in one of the city's many inns.
