Arriving at the Banquet (Part One)

Without the ability to cut through the Inner City, the trip around the Outer City to reach the Golden Mist Ward took close to two hours, even by carriage. Populated by some of the most affluent and well-established cultivation families from the early days of the construction of what had become the Outer City, the Golden Mist Ward had been poetically named for the low fog that rolled off the Silver Sword Lake in the early morning certain times of the year. 

On the right day, the combination of low rolling fog and soft morning sunlight turned the mist into a rich golden hue and gave the towering buildings of the ward the appearance that they rose out of literal clouds of gold. In truth, the phenomenon occurred less than a dozen times a year and it had become less common as the city continued to expand and taller buildings blocked the misty wind rolling off the lake but the locals held to the name despite the changing times.