Then there were only hearts, pounding in his ears. Sampi slammed his fist into the earth, where it left a dent an inch deep, and stood.

[i]"Bring her back."[/i]

[color=9e0b0f]"...I do not deal in resurrections, Sampi."[/color]

"I don't [i]care[/i] what you think your role is!" Sampi was no longer glancing out for Jvanic eyes. He was staring at her- At the sky, at the distant depths, at the infinity that was itself Jvan. "You have the power, you know what she's worth! She's not even dead! [i]Her aura still echoes![/i]"

[color=9e0b0f]"I am not your patron,"[/color] said Jvan, louder now, speaking from all sides. [color=9e0b0f]"And I am not your playground. She played the fool, Sampi, and I'll miss her. But she is gone."[/color]

Sampi stood still, staring. "You think you can pretend to be neutral because of your shape. You think mortal morality does not apply to you because only your mind is mortal." Staring eyelessly into the face of God. "You [i]bitch.[/i]"

[color=9e0b0f]"I'll return to you her staff and 'fold,"[/color] said Jvan, [color=9e0b0f]"as the law dictates."[/color]

There was a faint rasp to Sampi's breath. It was the air, scraping through his gills. It had always been there, and yet never had he heard it so closely, though the wind was rising and the warrior's chest was calm.

"No," said Sampi. "No. Enough of this friendship. Enough of your games at honouring us as an alien. You are our enemy, Grey Mountain. You hide it behind your lust for us. Your need to have a people. Your god damned [i]loneliness.[/i] But you are. And you always were." He breathed deep, the straps of the mobility rig suddenly constrictive on his body. 

"So I'll [i]deal[/i] with you, Ya-ahn."

[color=9e0b0f]"Oh?"[/color]

Beneath his feet, a patient probe glowed under the rim of the pit, watching its fingers tap together unseen.

[color=9e0b0f]"And with what are you planning to deal with me, Sampi?"[/color]

He looked down at the still-burning light of the pit.

[color=9e0b0f]"How much are you willing to lose?"[/color]

[hider=Summary]
Lambda and the Pronobii general, Sampi, explore a Jvanic Heartland we saw earlier. Jvan is with them, watching. Lambda appears to be here for a sense of reckless adventure, much to Sampi's concerned (and quite possibly lovestruck) chagrin.

The two of them look into a pit, and are assaulted by a strange Heartland creature that springs from it. Lambda is dragged down to certain death. Jvan refuses to raise her, only promising to fulfill her obligation to the Pronobii by bringing back her relics.

Sampi calls out Jvan on her bullshit, but has no choice but to barter for Lambda's life. Unknown to him, a probe of Jvan has been watching the whole time. Whether she purposely orchestrated the death of Lambda or simply let it happen is unclear.

Lambda will return as a hero. [b]1 Might spent.[/b]

[b]Jvan
3 Might Ambient
0 Might in Ovaedis
0 Free Points
2C / 0D
Level Six[/b]
[/hider]

[hider=?]
[color=8882be]I feel strong, somehow.
Stronger than I've ever been.
I feel things being stripped away from me. Things being put back in.
I feel the blood scorpions pinch at my veins.
Recombinance is given back to me. Death's Sight between my lips.
I don't know if I've been gagged with it. Maybe it's just being returned.
But either way, I'll talk again.
With the tubes in my veins and my guts all exposed, I'll talk again.[/color]
[/hider]