Nephis
Adventurer
Kosal does not look Chanvati in the eye. He considers the arm grasping his own and simply says:
"Do you remember the words of that night?
* The horde will wash over Bantouk. A bloodless coup. We must ally with them.
* The corrupt order of society will be undone...inverted. The low will be brought high...the laborers elevated...the slaves freed...society flattened."
PA'AVU remembers "that night," the night when dozens of hounds perished as collateral damage in the dispute between the Second Nation and their former guru, the now blind tiefling, sibling to her gos'btar's consort. She does not particularly remember the words, nor does she care. What she does care about is who will become "collateral damage" as those in power--financial and political--play their games of machination. Her stomach sours with the memory of saving the pampered few--leading them to safety--while being unable to rescue any hound beyond her own ... who actually rescued them. Do any survivors of the burning of Ruffly Gelded remember that? Or simply see it as their due? The latter, she imagines.
No, let the merchant prince and the revolutionary ponder the ways and lives of the citizens and denizens of Bantouk. The goliath has more earth-shattering business to attend to, quite literally so.
* A slow rumble...a shifting earth...a massive magma chamber in minor upheaval. The stone facade of The Black Stage features a huge overhang, protecting the actors and the audience from the rare rain that might intermittently douse Bantouk. If that were to fail, the death toll would be...dramatic.
The angry earth cracks the stone facade at its foundation...the fissure snakes up and spreads throughout...
Even before the fissure becomes visible, Pa'avu senses the shifting in the Stone and Earth. Vezzuvu is making a move! The goliath takes a deep breath to more fully access her l'pahb'gin and calm her inner turmoil. She knows she must prepare herself for her own countermove and the cost to herself in carrying it out.
She kneels upon the stone floor and--eyes closed in concentration--carefully places both palms against the surface. Stoneroot's Stoneblessed digs deep into her resolve and pours her energy, her power, and whatever healing power she possesses to encourage the stone and earth to receive her gift. She focuses on the granules of sand which make up the facade of the stone foundation, pulling them back into congress with each other, working to keep the overhang from breaking apart. The strain in doing so is intense. Her own lithoderms threaten to separate from her stony skin, and sweat pours down her brow in the struggle to pull them back in as well.
The goliath cares nothing about the cosseted audience, perhaps more for the working actors. No, she is concerned that this moment is where Vezzuvu is attempting to get yet another foothold here on the surface. This cannot happen, this further assault on Stoneroot's domain. This moment--largely unnoticed by all attending here--is far more important than the mere machinations of mortals.
- Pa'avu uses her Encounter Power Earthen Renewal to draw upon Stoneroot's Blessing to see her way through disaster (Effect: spend a Healing Surge but regain no HPs) for a +2 Power Bonus to
- her Primary Skill Heal check to keep the facade and overhand from falling: r10+12+2 Power Bonus =24 (leaving it up to GM whether this roll applies to this SC or an embedded one)