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<blockquote data-quote="Nephis" data-source="post: 8969430" data-attributes="member: 20459"><p><em>The older students jokingly referred to The Test as the Total Perspective Vortex. A kind of maze of mind-forged manacles whereby a teacher displays to a student the frailties and limitations of their own perspective so that they can learn to navigate past such obstacles, use discipline and control to solve the puzzle.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>For <strong>CHANVATI</strong> it is a small, white sphere, the tiniest of places closing around him as he struggles and presses against its shrinking borders. And then the scene zooms out: the sphere is but a single atom within the linked network of matter that comprises his brain. Another zoom out: his brain but an infinitesimal segment of the vast network of beings and objects within Bantouk. Another zoom out: Bantouk a tiny pinprick in the vast, sprawling sphere of the planet. Another zoom out: the planet itself a minute point within a swirling array of stars. Yet another zoom out: the stars themselves a nanoscopic layer in the infinitely expanding explosion of planes. The scale of existence to his own being overwhelms, threatens to implode him with his irrelevance. He gives a psychic cry as the sphere closes back in.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>And then he understands: this place was made for him; he resides at the center of it all, and by extension everything, all existence, is but secondary to him. With this hubristic insight, the maze shatters and Chanvati’s relationship with the external is forever changed.</em></p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p><em>In the Now: he reaches out and plucks an insignificant dust mote between his fingers, a memory within Pa’avu’s mind. <<Hear me, sahtree. Recall your ferocity, how you have driven foes from you in fear. Recall your child self repelling the shifter in the yurt on a winter’s night.>></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Through smoky blue mist of memory comes the bitter tastes of grief and fear. The smells of acrid burning hide, of dank, wet fur, of blood’s iron tang, of urine released by a frightened smaller one also linger at the edge of the mist. But foremost is the memory that this seminal moment of <strong>PA’AVU’s</strong> young life closely follows another: the test of the Stonefang spider and its bite. Her wounded palm aches in the freezing cold, reminding the young goliath of the venom lingering there and transforming the lithoderm of that palm to a shape vaguely resembling the cause of the pain. It also reminds her of the power she holds within her own blood.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Suddenly, a great thundering howl comes up out of her depths, out of her l’pahb’gin, and into the world, shoving the predatory shifter off his feet and through the tanned hide of the burning yurt. As he scrambles aright, his eyes shifting to meet hers, Pa’avu sees a satisfying fear of <strong>her</strong>: prey that refused to be preyed upon. And she leads the remaining younglings out of the yurt to the safety of the cold, winter’s night.[HR][/HR]</em></p><p></p><p>* Chanvati makes Second Skill Insight check to navigate the maze of his mind, recognizing his own power and importance, +12 vs 12 Easy DC = autosuccess for +2; uses 1 Power Point to Augment Adept's Insight in transmitting this telepathically to Pa'avu to inspire confidence in her, drawing evidence from her own memories, r(4) + 1 = +5 bonus; +7 total bonus to Pa'avu's subsequent check.</p><p></p><p>* Pa'avu makes Primary Skill Intimidate check to drive off the shifter, utilizing Thundering Howl (Encounter Power), +2 Circumstance bonus: r(13) + 6 + 2 + 5 + 2 = 28 vs 16 Moderate DC. Success.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nephis, post: 8969430, member: 20459"] [I]The older students jokingly referred to The Test as the Total Perspective Vortex. A kind of maze of mind-forged manacles whereby a teacher displays to a student the frailties and limitations of their own perspective so that they can learn to navigate past such obstacles, use discipline and control to solve the puzzle. For [B]CHANVATI[/B] it is a small, white sphere, the tiniest of places closing around him as he struggles and presses against its shrinking borders. And then the scene zooms out: the sphere is but a single atom within the linked network of matter that comprises his brain. Another zoom out: his brain but an infinitesimal segment of the vast network of beings and objects within Bantouk. Another zoom out: Bantouk a tiny pinprick in the vast, sprawling sphere of the planet. Another zoom out: the planet itself a minute point within a swirling array of stars. Yet another zoom out: the stars themselves a nanoscopic layer in the infinitely expanding explosion of planes. The scale of existence to his own being overwhelms, threatens to implode him with his irrelevance. He gives a psychic cry as the sphere closes back in. And then he understands: this place was made for him; he resides at the center of it all, and by extension everything, all existence, is but secondary to him. With this hubristic insight, the maze shatters and Chanvati’s relationship with the external is forever changed.[/I] * * * [I]In the Now: he reaches out and plucks an insignificant dust mote between his fingers, a memory within Pa’avu’s mind. <<Hear me, sahtree. Recall your ferocity, how you have driven foes from you in fear. Recall your child self repelling the shifter in the yurt on a winter’s night.>> Through smoky blue mist of memory comes the bitter tastes of grief and fear. The smells of acrid burning hide, of dank, wet fur, of blood’s iron tang, of urine released by a frightened smaller one also linger at the edge of the mist. But foremost is the memory that this seminal moment of [B]PA’AVU’s[/B] young life closely follows another: the test of the Stonefang spider and its bite. Her wounded palm aches in the freezing cold, reminding the young goliath of the venom lingering there and transforming the lithoderm of that palm to a shape vaguely resembling the cause of the pain. It also reminds her of the power she holds within her own blood. Suddenly, a great thundering howl comes up out of her depths, out of her l’pahb’gin, and into the world, shoving the predatory shifter off his feet and through the tanned hide of the burning yurt. As he scrambles aright, his eyes shifting to meet hers, Pa’avu sees a satisfying fear of [B]her[/B]: prey that refused to be preyed upon. And she leads the remaining younglings out of the yurt to the safety of the cold, winter’s night.[HR][/HR][/I] * Chanvati makes Second Skill Insight check to navigate the maze of his mind, recognizing his own power and importance, +12 vs 12 Easy DC = autosuccess for +2; uses 1 Power Point to Augment Adept's Insight in transmitting this telepathically to Pa'avu to inspire confidence in her, drawing evidence from her own memories, r(4) + 1 = +5 bonus; +7 total bonus to Pa'avu's subsequent check. * Pa'avu makes Primary Skill Intimidate check to drive off the shifter, utilizing Thundering Howl (Encounter Power), +2 Circumstance bonus: r(13) + 6 + 2 + 5 + 2 = 28 vs 16 Moderate DC. Success. [/QUOTE]
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