[b]Bella![/b]

Lightning reigns in the sky. It comes not in flashes but in sheets, curtains of power that cover entire directions in woven grids. 

And then the storm comes down. 

Stone shatters and burns. The winds prise the roofs from buildings. The Engine in the centre of the crystal brain pulses and writhes like a mad rainbow heartbeat. Zeus and Poseidon, the terrible scions of Cronus, voice their fury together. Stones lift from the ground and trees are pulled up by their roots. Great waterspouts form in the distance. 

And of all this terrible destruction cast from the jaws of the natural world, one man has been chosen as the avatar.

Boom, boom, boom. Heavy Imperial boots are audible even above the pounding rain. Boom, boom, boom. A drumbeat in time with the thunder. He strings an arrow to his bow, halo of divine lightning crashing above his head, and Zeus herself guides her aim. She guides it so, just so - but just so askew.

Bella, the wall of the alley detonates. The building besides you explodes, slants, collapses. The entire structure slumps diagonally towards you, like a gladiator falling backwards after a blow to the gut. Thunderbolts are dire enough when used on living targets, but against mere stone and steel they are nightmarish. Normally it would be considered unthinkable to [i]speculatively fire[/i] Thunderbolts lest you displease the gods, but in a city marked for destruction everything is a valid target.

Those boots stomp again through the rain. Boom, boom, boom. It's when they stop that you need to fall and brace for everything around you is about to fall to the mighty talons of the Cloudgatherer.

"Come out, Princess," called Jas'o. "Nothing you possess is worth risking my wrath this day."

[b]Galnius![/b]

"What?" said Galnius. "No. She's into gold. Everyone knows that. Wants her partners to come wearing as many necklaces, earrings, bracelets and other pieces of jewelry as possible. Why -" his face fell into soldier-default as his mind came up with a couple of possible reasons why "- do you ask?"