# Thorngate — Northern Compact Hub

A regional administrative center four days' carriage ride north of Drenwick. Houses the Arcane Compact's northern trade oversight offices.

## Political Position

Thorngate is the seat city of the **Duchy of Thorngate**, ruled by **Duchess Pamira Varnesse** (House Varnesse). Her central estate is outside the city. The Compact's northern regional office operates within the duchy, which is the jurisdictional tension at the heart of Book 3 — Pamira's advisory authority on her territory is the mechanism she uses to deflect the Compact's delegations. See `characters/duchess-pamira.md` and `world/locations/kingdom-of-corvel.md`.

## Character

A functional posting, not a prestigious one. Thorngate handles trade regulation for the northern territories — important work that nobody glamorous wants to do. The kind of place careers go to cool down, or to disappear.

## Distance from Drenwick

- **By carriage:** 4 days
- **By horseback (direct):** ~3 days

## Significance (Book 1)

Cassius Rykhard was "reassigned" to Thorngate after the Floundry case — framed as an administrative transfer, functionally an exile to keep him away from Drenwick and the evidence trail. The posting carries enough authority to look like a lateral move on paper while removing him from everything that matters.

## Potential (Book 2+)

Cass operating from Thorngate with institutional distance from scrutiny. A base of operations far enough from Drenwick to feel safe, close enough to still pull strings.
