A few days later, those weapons reappeared on the black market. City watches found them in the hands of "protection militias", groups of civilians arming themselves against the "Imperial threat."
The sellers claimed to be acting for the people, telling the miners that the Empire had abandoned them to die in the shafts.
Soon, random conflicts erupted in the streets. Neighbor fought neighbor over scraps of steel, and the fragmentation of the province was complete.
But the most masterful stroke of Vetra's design was the imported chaos at the border. Kael, a leader of the northern border clans, had always maintained a fragile peace with the Empire.
That peace died quickly.
A troop of soldiers in full imperial regalia, banners of the Nivarre house flying high, rode into a peaceful border village.
