The bedrock beneath the hill fort groaned before the air carried the sound.
Noll Vey felt the shock wave travel through forty fathoms of deep limestone, a sickening subterranean jolt that struck the roots of the hill like an iron ram hitting an unbraced cellar door. In the Grand Hall, the water in Hobb’s soaking tub surged violently against the wooden staves, slopping in a grey wave across the flagstones. The hanging copper pots chimed against the chimney masonry in jagged unison. Out in the lower yard, Bristle gave a sharp, gravelly bark from its pen, its blunt head pointing down toward the valley floor.
Along the western wall of the hall, Prit’s grey audit chalk snapped clean in half between the bone imp’s fingers, sending the blunt stub clattering across the hearthstones into cold ash.
“Master!” Prit cried out, his jaw clicking as he clutched his leather archive roll against his coat. “The bedrock fault beneath sector three—the shear resistance has dropped to zero!”
BEDROCK SEISMIC EVENT DETECTED — LOWER ADIT SECTOR THREE COLLAR ANCHOR ONE — MINE CHORUS BELL — STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY TERMINATED ACTIVE COLLAR ANCHORS REDUCED: THREE TO TWO CASUALTY REGISTRATION: THREE CROWN COMBATANTS NULLIFIED CURRENT STORED BALANCE: TWENTY CLAIM CREDITS
