View character profile for: Voah Sahnsuur
View character profile for: Gonyaul'vaux
22 Years Ago - Somewhere in the Mizaran Plains
Little Voah cowered in the arms of her mother. Her ears popped from the air pressure and the her very breath seemed to be sucked from her lungs as she cried in terror.
Loose wood creaked and groaned over the roar of the winds and debris which rocked the Sahnsuur caravan. A decorative hanging lantern sent candle light and shadow spilling out, bending and dancing across the interior of their shelter as it swayed in the tumult.
Jevali was yelling something as he entered the door to the wagon as lightning flashed and thunder boomed not far away. Rain and hail pelted him as he sought cover inside.
"Wuuu! Voah! Xhi'xha! Yuu alrait, mai darlings?! Thatz kuait a storm, nnn?!"
"Lam'iisiid!!" Xhi'xha cursed at her husband. "Kom iinsaid! Yuur skering huur."
He turned his attention to Voah and said in a calming tone, "Ai bouii, uuen bouii, yaii buujah. Don't wuurii mai chaild. Kambena wiil sbeir as from thiis puurj."
With that, the storm responded with a resounding crack and the awful split of a nearby tree and a great boom. They all flinched and braced themselves as the wind picked up and rattled the caravan even more. One of the windows flew open with a smash, cracking the frosted glass.
As Jevali moved over to pull the shutter closed and latch it, he saw the devastation of the camp in progress, but what he saw beyond that gave him chills. Not far off in the distance, a massive gloomy vortex of air reached down from the heavens and touched the ground, tearing up earth and uprooting trees, sending them careening great distances upward and sideways. He had seen his share of storms, but this was like the avatar of Cambena herself dancing across the plains in a destructive approaching.
He muttered a quite curse of awe and terror as he closed the window on the terrible scene.
Hearing the fear in her husbands voice, Xhi'xha began a string of litanies to Cambena in Mizaran, using a prayer necklace fashioned from tiny whorl spire shells from toritella mollusks.
"Cambena. Lady of sea and storm, we thank thee for the honor of seeing and experiencing your majesty, the power and reverence in your magnitude, the strength and urgency of your punishment."
Jevali flashed a conflicting look to his wife, for he was not thankful for what he had witnessed from the window, but it certainly couldn't argue that Cambena was a great and destructive power.
"We thank you for this abundance of water. Water is life. We respect all life.
Give us and our community the grace, patience and strength to weather this storm, with the steadfastness of the mountain. Guide the worthy weak so that they may ride the waves and pass the reefs unharmed.
Grant us serenity in the chaos. May we be spared and undeserving of your wrath. Let us find the beauty and the positive lesson as consequence of your measure."
Jevali steadied the lantern and blew out the candle, he sensed the impending danger and wasn't sure there was enough time to prepare the rest of them, so he came closer to them and put his arms around both of them as they all continued to recite the prayers. The sound of a great rolling crunch could be heard outside as something large tumbled outside and not long after, the world tilted back and the Sahnsuur family flailed for purchase of any kind.
Voah felt a seering pain as candle wax from the still hot lantern spilled up her side.
Recovering from her memory of the past, the grinding sandstorm swelled and abated in waves around Voah and Gonyaul. Storms had always brought her back to that moment though the fear had diminished over time. Once she freed Lilliark, she determined to face the storms head on. This storm felt different, it felt fresh and potent, a new type of storm was all she supposed. But she was having a hard time facing it as she had also done on the long journey across the sea. Gonyaul and her prayers were there to guide her through this just as her mother and father had done on that awful day where several of the members of the Grand Revelry had perished. The general consensus among the troupe was that those who met Zin that day had offended the Gods, though she wasn't privy to all of the rumors amongst the older folk.
She subconsciously touched her side, where those old string of scars from the wax burns used to be. They had healed years ago to the amazement of herself and her father and they remained healed to this day, but at this moment she could almost feel the pain again. Her mind moved on to the cut on her foot. It was unnerving to know that this was not healing in the manner to which she had grown accustomed.