Pachamama, Incan goddess of earth

"Señor Karras? My name is Grisel Colque," answered a beautiful female voice, her English laced with a delightful accent that Zeus couldn't quite place. "We have never met in person, but we were scheduled to before the attempt on your life in Bolivia."

That immediately got Zeus' attention. "Are you on a secure line?"

"I am, though I would like to think no one would dare bug the home of the most powerful goddess in South America," she said casually, demonstrating her full faith in her security.

Grisel Colque was the reincarnation of the Incan goddess, Pachamama, goddess of earth, earthquakes, time, fertility, and mountains. Even before the rise of neo-cults to the old gods, Pachamama had a thriving cult mixed with Christianity, as a result when she was reborn she was born stronger than many others. Having already had a following beforehand, it built up until it was one of the most popular theologies in South America. She had made no overt attempts at power-plays against any of South America's nations, though she did make it clear that her followers were under her protection and would tolerate their oppression. As a result several would-be authoritarian leaders wisely chose to exercise restraint in their policies. Her only official position was that of the head of a prominent eco-conservation firm that made it a point to hinder the efforts of various business concerns to damage the local ecosystems. She had even made it a point to set up her personal dwelling, a marvel of coexisting a modern home with nature, in the Amazonian rain forest, where she lived with sizable native tribes of her most fervent and longstanding followers. Contrary to how she was often portrayed by powerful business concerns, Pachamama was not a luddite goddess, she fully supported modern civilization so long as it didn't encroach on nature's natural balance. Local woodcutters and such who depended on timber for their livelihoods were left alone. However, large, particular foreign, concerns who came in were in much more likely to be strongly warned to know their limits and practice sustainable forestry. Slash and burn tactics were not tolerated, and many cattle ranchers in the depths of what was supposed to be the Amazon had been 'encouraged' to change profession; such as becoming 'carbon farmers', planting acre upon acre of trees, selling the "carbon offsets" to major companies and using that money to buy themselves annuities to live on until the trees were ready to harvest for timber and be replaced by fresh saplings. The situation was simple, you could ask permission from a national leader to chainsaw or bulldoze some trees, but if you didn't get Pachamama's permission, well: let's just say 'accidents' tended to happen.

Permission for setting up a logging concern, on the surface, was why Zeus had gone to Bolivia, where Pachamama had agreed to meet him. In truth in was meant to be the beginnings of diplomatic talks between the Greeks and the divine powers of South America. There were few active Incas as far as he knew, those few among the reborn that he knew of had several cultural origins. However, Pachamama was the most powerful among them, completely undisputed, and such the de-facto leader of their number in South America. Her influence ended there however as Central America was very much the domain of reborn Aztec and Mayan powers.

"Well then, to what do I owe this call," Zeus asked cautiously.

"First off I want you to know that I had nothing to do with what happened to you. I have no desire to make enemies of your pantheon," she informed.

Zeus chuckled wryly. "I already figured that. You would gain nothing from such a stunt if it had succeeded. Plus you never struck me as the type to kill someone unless they actually did something worth retaliating against."

She chuckled back in response. Zeus found he liked the sound. "I appreciate your estimation of my character. While I'm sure you've been trying to found out who did, I've been following leads of my own. Have you heard of Supay?"

Zeus frowned on the other end. "The Incan god of ****, the underworld, and evil. In a lot of ways your version of Satan."

Pachamama groaned on the other end. "He enjoys that nickname far too much. While not worshiped per se, there were a lot of superstitious beliefs regarding him before he reemerged, giving him a boost of power even before his cult formed. Next to myself, he is arguably the most powerful god in South America. His cult grows daily among the criminal and corrupt elements of society here. In fact, it's that growing influence that had prompted me to seek out an alliance with your pantheon to begin with."

Zeus thought for a moment. "You think Supay put the hit on me?"

"I do. I encountered him once, but it was in his demonic state. I do not know what his human identity is or else I would have moved against him already."

"So your power base is being threatened. How do I know you didn't set up the hit to fail so I would feel obliged to help you against Supay?" Zeus asked. Maybe Hera's mindset had rubbed off on him a bit.

"I would find such duplicity beneath me, but you do not know that about me so I understand your caution. You showed good faith last time, so how about I do the same. Name a place and I will meet you in your land."