Arcane: Sovereign Of The Broken City

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Chapter 15: Blueprints for a New World

POV: Ashryn

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The base of the Clock Tower was no longer just her hideout. It had become something else—a beating heart, still fragile, but steady. Ashryn stood with her arms folded, scanning the room with calm precision. She didn't need fanfare. She had something better.

A crew.

Lynne leaned over her tablet, absentmindedly fiddling with a snapped-off cog. Cael lounged on a crate, legs kicked out, casual as always but watching with a sharpness that missed nothing. Viktor stood by the wall, chin slightly raised, eyes distant, always halfway between this world and the next blueprint.

It had taken her years to get them here. To test them. To trust them.

Now it was time to show them what she intended to do.

"I've said bits and pieces before," she began. "But here it is, all of it."

She stepped forward.

"I'm going to change Zaun."

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She let the statement settle in the air before moving on.

"I don't mean putting up a few walls, claiming turf, or calling ourselves something fancy. I mean change—real, structural, from the inside out."

Cael raised an eyebrow. "That's... ambitious."

Ash smirked. "Good. It should be."

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"Step one: secure our base."

"We've taken the Clock Tower and a good chunk of ground around it. But that's not enough. Before we do anything big, we need to take the whole Cauldron sector. Street by street. Block by block."

"And then?" Lynne asked.

"We lay low," Ashryn said. "For a while."

"No parades?" Cael teased.

"No fireworks," she replied. "The more we grow in silence, the more they underestimate us. Let the chem-barons think the Cauldron's fallen into yet another gang's hands. No one takes quiet threats seriously—until it's too late."

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"Step two: the economy."

"This city bleeds for Piltover. It works, scrapes, and dies for scraps from above. That ends here."

She looked toward Lynne and Cael. "You two are the key."

Cael blinked. "Me?"

"You know people. You know how to read a deal, smell a lie, and push the right buttons. Lynne knows everything else—names, ties, dirty little secrets people think are buried. With you two feeding off each other, we'll do more than survive."

Ash crossed her arms.

"We sell information to the decent. Blackmail the corrupt. Quietly. Precise. No fireworks, remember."

"And if someone doesn't take the hint?" Lynne asked.

Ashryn smiled coldly. "That's when I come in."

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"Step three: recruitment."

"Zaun has good people in the wrong places. Not everyone working for the chem-barons or street crews are rotten. Some are just trapped. If we spot someone worth saving, we give them a choice—walk away from rot, or rot with it."

"We're going to spread feelers throughout Zaun. Spies, messengers, informants. And I want a few eyes in Piltover too—especially in the Undercity-adjacent zones and port junctions. The Council may think they've buried us, but we'll be digging under their nails."

Viktor's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You want a network."

"I want a net that catches everything," Ash confirmed.

Lynne's brows furrowed. "We're making a faction."

Ash nodded. "Not just a faction. A foundation."

"We're not going to take over Zaun," she said softly. "We're going to remake it."

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"Step four: the real game changer."

She turned to Viktor.

"The Converter."

He didn't respond, but his eyes sharpened.

"You already know what it could do. Clean air. Purify water. Provide energy for weapons, lighting, machines. I know the blueprint was unfinished—but that's because I haven't figured it all out yet."

Ash paused, then added quietly, "I'm trusting you to."

The silence between them stretched, but Viktor gave a faint nod.

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"Step five —defense and structure."

"We're not building a utopia. We're building something real. That means law. That means force. We're going to create our own Enforcers."

"You mean another Topside?" Cael asked.

"No," Ash replied sharply. "Not to control Zaun—but to protect it. To answer to its people, not to some ivory tower committee."

She began pacing.

"Everything in Piltover exists because they kept us beneath them. They steal from our mines, our ports, our people, and feed their machine. I want to seize our harbors back. Not with a war—yet—but by making Zaun self-sustaining."

Cael leaned forward. "Import, export, underground trading rings... turn the tide from inside."

"Exactly. We'll fund ourselves. Feed ourselves. Protect ourselves."

"And when Piltover notices?" Cael asked.

"They will. But not yet. We build in silence. We strike only when we're ready."

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Ash paced slowly now, her voice quiet but heavy.

"Vander wants peace, but peace without power is surrender. Silco wants war, but war without reason is suicide. They're not heroes. They're not champions. Maybe they were... once. But not anymore."

She turned her back to them, gazing up at the old iron beams of the Clock Tower.

"I'm not them. I'm not building Zaun for a faction. I'm building it for everyone down here who was never given a chance."

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she had a purpose.

The system had gone quiet long ago. She hadn't heard a ping or prompt in years. It hadn't spoken since her first vow—to make something real.

Ashryn tightened her coat over her shoulders.

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She turned around.

"I know it's a lot. Digest it. Think about it. When I'm back, I want to hear what you think. What you want to add. This city's not mine alone. I want people who will rebuild it with me."

Lynne, Cael, Viktor—they said nothing, but the weight in their eyes was enough. They were listening.

Ashryn walked toward the exit.

"Now," she muttered, pushing the metal door open, "time to deal with something I've been putting off for too long."

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She stepped out into the haze.

The old steel doors creaked open and shut behind her, leaving the trio in thoughtful silence.

They didn't notice the small, bright-eyed bird perched just outside the arched window, nestled in the cracked stone frame. Blue feathers shimmered in the low light, reflecting faintly as the bird tilted its head and listened.

The wind stirred slightly—a light, clammy breeze wafting through the broken pane.

And the bird took flight, vanishing into the grey of Zaun's clouds.

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End of Chapter 15