Dr. Ilse Rowan

The stag stops at the open valley and strikes three rescue beats against the skybridge rail. A new tower rises beneath the castle; Ilse cuts the tracker from her wrist and opens the herd gate instead of calling it back. “Do not drive it. Keep the herders’ corridor open and answer its cadence on the ridge radio; I will follow it into the tower without a command signal. When it chooses a door, mark it for everyone outside, not for my research.”