[color=blue]"Some of us can't even do that," Fédora points out. [color=blue]"But what I meant was that the mere measuring and testing of vis is so...beneath someone of your obvious talents that I'm surprised you didn't let someone whose time is less valuable than yours do it."
Vibria places both hands fully on the egg gingerly. [color=red]"It's getting warmer," she says. [color=red]"Is it supposed to be doing that?"
Vulc blinks in surprise. "...Oh," he replies lamely, his anger completely dissipated. "Yeah. Okay."
With both hands on the egg, it flares up hot enough that Vibria can actually feel it. A few wisps of smoke rise up.
Vulc stands up, alarmed. "I can smell that burning! Take it out of here-- somewhere it won't do any damage if you both blow up. The smithy? Yes. Use my sanctum, nothing there will catch on fire besides the forge."
Though even if Vibria takes his advice, the egg doesn't do much more than smoke, with the occasional sizzle and pop. But at least the smithy is made to withstand high temperatures and resist catching fire.
The egg will make a nice bedwarmer in the winter, if nothing else 
Management skills. Play to your people's strengths, find a way to compensate for their weaknesses.
Vibria grabs the egg securely and holds it tight as she flees the council chambers. She only hesitates for a moment before she veers off to her laboratory. She knows exactly where to put it where it will look the best. Plus, a phoenix egg is still an egg, right? And eggs should be kept somewhere warm, right? No place in the covenant warmer than her lab. Once there, she will find a pillow or someplace soft to put it on, and nestle it somewhere safe. Then she thinks about possible fire hazards of resting it on a cloth pillow, and finds a spot in front of or right next to one of her hearths, and casts a spontaneous ReTe on the spot to make an egg cup. Base seems to be Level 3 to "move dirt in a highly unnatural fashion, +1 for stone, R: Touch +1, D: Momentary, T: Part +1, for a Spell Level of 10. Her CT is Sta 2 + Re 5 + Te 4 + Aura 5 + die roll of 9 = 25, halved is 13.
Yep, which means the creature within it can still die.
That's not true. Vulc's studio is hotter when he has the forge going, and the Eternal Flame probably burns hotter than even the blacksmith forge.
The spell works fine, but once Vibria stops touching the egg, it must have cooled off, because it quickly stops radiating heat.
All the more reason to keep it warm. Don't want little Eggbert to die on us.
((Vibria's pov)) Well, yeah...but Vulcanus's forge is so...utilitarian. I mean, he does make some really nice stuff, but his forge doesn't have any real style. Definitely needs a woman's touch. And the Eternal Flame? Might as well lock it away in a vault. Nope. It belongs right here where it is, where it can be properly admired and cared for.
It's not warm anymore. That's not good, is it? It needs to be kept warm? She thinks back to when she was a kid growing up, but doesn't remember much, if anything, about the chicken eggs. Keeping them warm was always the hens' problem. [color=red]"Stay warm!" she says to the egg as she rests a hand on it as she ponders what to do next.
((She casts a spontaneous CrIg on the part of the floor the egg's sitting in to keep it warm. Base 3 to "heat an object to be hot to the touch", R: Touch +1, D: Sun +2, T: Part +1, for a Spell Level of 15. Her CT is Sta 2 + Creo 10 + Ignem 11 + Creo again (Minor Magical Focus) 10 + Aura 5 + die roll of 6 = 45, halved is 23.))
Vibria rests one hand on the egg as she casts her spell, breathing a gout of fire over the stone to heat it up.
The egg warms at her touch. It turns cold again at being placed on the magically-heated floor.
When she touches it and breathes fire on it simultaneously, the egg gets hot enough to scald her hand. Let me repeat that for emphasis: hot enough to scald VIBRIA'S hand. It doesn't do any damage, but it hurts!
A few moments later she realizes it didn't actually hurt, she was just caught off-guard because she's never felt anything like that before. When she looks down at her hand, the skin that was touching the egg is actually looking a little more pink than the rest of her arm...
Perhaps she needs to hold it, inside a bigger, hotter fire.
((How big is the egg again? I'm picturing something like an ostrich egg, but it may be something more reasonable, like three inches, maybe.))
Vibria pulls her hand back with a yelp and stares at it, shocked. She's felt pain before (she wouldn't be Flambeau if she hadn't), but this...this is something unlike she's ever felt before.
She continues to look at her hand, more than a little confused, then looks at the egg. What if...? she thinks, then removes her blouse, picks up the egg, and carefully places it in the roaring hearth, watching it closely.
A little bigger than an ostrich egg.
You're putting the egg in the fire and letting go of it?
The flames in the hearth leap higher, and the fire crackles and pops. It's hard to tell whether the egg is warm itself, because of the heat radiating from the hearth itself; you can't pinpoint whether it's the flames or the egg.
Hmmm....not much help, there, she realizes, although the hearth doesn't normally flare up like that. Maybe the egg is feeding it somehow? That's not good, is it?
She thinks for a minute, then silently and stilly casts Tremulous Vault of the Torch's Flame on the fire, directing into the nearest other hearth if it's within range, or at herself (from the torso up, so as to not torch her skirt) if not. ((CT 18 – No Words 10 – No Gestures 5 + die roll of 0 (but not a botch) = 3...so it goes off with a Fatigue loss. That sucks. Aiming roll, if necessary, is Per 0 + Finesse 0 + die roll of 3 =3.))
She then watches it for a minute to see if it does anything. If not, she will pull it out and hold it in both hands.
When the fire is moved to the other hearth, the egg definitely stops radiating heat as it sits there in the empty hearth. When Vibria takes out the egg and holds it, it warms back up again.
She holds it for a minute, and then gently breathes fire on it. ((Her base damage at point blank is +20, but she doesn't want to do that much...maybe +5?))
Same reaction as the last time she held it and breathed fire on it simultaneously. She's ready for the heat this time, though, and when it's not startling her, the sensation of the hot egg isn't painful.
((Slightly more controlled circumstances.)) So, she gets an owie. And, when she placed it in a mundane fire, it made the fire leap and crackle.
She picks up the egg, holds it close, and carries it (with some reluctance) to...wait. Was Vulcanus on his way to his laboratory/smithy, or will she have to deal with Ludwig?
When you ran off, you were all in the courtyard, so if the crowd's dissipated then Vulc is probably in his smithy.
Mkay. So, she heads over to Vulcanus's smithy and knocks on the door.
[color=red]"Good afternoon, sodalis," Vibria says, beaming him the brightest smile she can. [color=red]"Do you mind if I borrow your forge...oven...thingie for a couple of minutes? Oh, and perhaps one of your fireproof aprons?"
She's holding the egg close, absently petting it like a teddy bear.
"Uh. Sure," he replies, "But hang on a minute first." He slams the door in her face, and then Vibria hears things rattling around and clanging about. He reappears a few seconds later. "Come in."
The forge is currently roaring hot. There's some smithing tools nearby that are still glowing, but no sign of what he was working on. Vulc is currently looking studiously nonchalant, and a couple of the forge-companions are rolling their eyes.
(This is the season he's enchanting Vibria's chainmail. 
)
((Oh, yeah))
Vibria listens intently at the rattling to see if it sounds like he's trying to hide someone. When she's invited in, she smiles. [color=red]"I noticed something very interesting when I was making a little nest for the egg in my laboratory a few minutes ago. Watch this."
Vibria steels herself for the pain, holds the egg in both hands, and breathes fire on it again, drawing a sharp breath and wincing when she does.
[color=red]"And something else, when I put it in one of the fireplaces." She looks around for one of his smithing aprons. [color=red]"Mind if I put this on for a couple of minutes? I don't want my blouse to burn off."
Assuming he doesn't object, she goes and grabs it off the peg, then looks at Vulcanus and the forge-companions and makes a little "turn around" gesture with her free hand. Once she's sure no one's looking, she takes off her blouse, puts on the apron, and picks up the egg again.
[color=red]"I'm not sure I've seen anything quite like this," she says as she reaches into the forge with her hand and tucks the egg in amongst the fire.
Everyone turns around, Vulc included. He thinks about peeking. But then he doesn't.
When Vibria reaches in and touches the egg while it's in the molten forge, the egg bursts into flame, and the heat penetrates Vibria's hand-- much moreso than before. When she reaches back out, she sees that the hairs on the back of her hand have been singed off.
Such a gentleman, Vibria thinks as she sees him studiously not looking.
Vibria pulls her hand out quickly, and shrieks when she sees her hair burned off.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Vulc grabs Vibria and looks at her hands. "You... you look to be fine," he says, wondering where the outburst came from.