SHADOWS OF THE PATTERN
Out in shadow, there are shadows of the Patterns, in the same way as there are shadows of Amberites, and indeed Amber itself. Each shadow Pattern is an aspect of the true ones. They vary from beach pebbles which happen to have a swirl of colour in the shape of the Pattern on them, and no other special properties, to aubergines which, when cut open, have grown a shape like the Pattern inside them, to naturally magical things, to hugely powerful magical artefacts.
The use of many of the realest and most powerful together, en masse, can be enough like the true ones to affect them, by way of some Real sympathetic magic-like power, as the Moonriders of Ghenesh did in the second campaign segment of the 'Now These Her Princes Are Come Home Again' game.
These are not Broken Patterns or any such thing, but a feature of the way shadow is a reflection of Amber itself.
- THE ARCH OF HEAVEN
- Concentric vertical semicircles of Pattern-type energy, rising from the ground. They glow with a silver-blue colour. No Trump or magic works by them. It exists inside a deep cave under an oriental shadow, in a location known only to the Brotherhood of Heaven, a samurai-type warrior brotherhood. Members of the Brotherhood are initiated by their walking through/under the arch; this is not easy; if they survive, they are accepted into the brotherhood, and gain great intrinsic toughness and speed.
- THE BASTION REEF
- A coral reef which surround the island nation of Jarrithai, in a medieval oriental-type shadow. The reef forms a negative of the shape of the Pattern, on a very large scale, in living coral (that is, the coral makes the spaces between the lines of the Pattern). Only by sailing between the lines of the reef and so effectively along the lines of Pattern can ships safely reach the island, so that sailing in to Jarrithai is an analogue of walking the Pattern. And of course, because of this, the reef forms the first line of defence of Jarrithai, which is why it is named as it is.
- THE EARTHSTAR
- The only 'natural' source of light in an underground cave kingdom. A golden glowing circular fractal type thing on a slight rise in the middle of the largest cave (where the local's capital is). It is death to touch, and quite hot if ones goes near.
- THE EYE OF THE WORLD
- A roughly one kilometre diameter circular lake in what looks like a crater. A Pattern-like design glows on its bed, visible from above the water. Strange fish and coral, found no-where else, live in the lake. It is a holy, taboo place to the local tribes.
- THE EYE OF TRUTH
- A glowing Pattern-like symbol on a cliff face in the capital of a desert kingdom. People swear oaths before it; if they lie or are insincere, they die before long, of 'natural causes'.
- THE GATE OF HEAVEN
- A gate in some ancient ruins of Derris, Caitlin Cy's home shadow, which gives access between it and Jihx's shadow, Ahnel. The ruins are in a clearing in the tropical jungles of Derris, and have been there as long as any Derrisian knows. In a flat area of the ruins is a single fairly large stone arch filled with a silvery mirrored plane, the gateway to Ahnel. The ruins are heavily overgrown but if the plants and suchlike growing over the flat area around the gate were removed, it would be found to be decorated with a Pattern-like swirling carved design, centred on the gate, with some kind of power flowing within it.
- THE GODSEYE
- A natural-looking rock formation on a cliff above wide moorland. A long, thin inclusion of pale gold stone (which can be seen randomly scattered over the rocks here and there) makes the shape of the pattern, full-size, on a vertical granite stone cliff below granite mountains. Used for ceremonies and divination by the local tribes (who are at a stone-age level); (a form of probability manipulation, though the locals don't known this - their divination changes the future so that it comes true). It was destroyed by Etienne in the second campaign segment of the "Now These Her Princes Are Come Home Again" game.
- THE GROVE OF THE GODS
- A Pattern formed from poplar trees which naturally grew in that arrangement, with a still reflecting pool in the centre, on a plateau in a high mountainous region. Terraced fields and villages are visible in the valley below. The grove is a powerful magical focus used in rituals by the local priests, who are the only ones allowed there most of the time.
- THE HEART OF THE GOD
- A (biological) heart-shaped rock, in a cave, engraved with a three-dimensional representation of the Pattern which glows blood-red. If fed with blood from sacrifices, it can be entreated by the local monarch to call down storms and plagues upon their enemies. The Heart hums faintly.
- THE HEART OF THE WORLD
- A stone 'circle' whose arrangement mirrors that of the Pattern, and which is the same size as it. It is highly magical and links directly to the life of the world, and the whole of nature there. Blood sacrifices are performed there by druids to keep the sun rising, the crops growing etc., and they are right to do so - the world really does depend on their doing so.
- THE HEART OF WINTER
- The most powerful magical item in the shadow of Ragasa (home of the Storm Mages who tried to invade Amber long ago). It is a fist-sized colourless transparent faceted gem with a white Pattern (or Jewel of Judgement) shaped flaw or imperfection inside it. It is a hugely powerful magic focus which was used by the Archmage of Ragasa. It was taken from Ragasa by the player characters in the "Now These Her Princes Are Come Home Again" game, and destroyed by them when it was used in the destruction of the shadow of Ghenesh.
- THE HIDDEN GARDEN
- A secret walled palace garden, where only a few are allowed to go. Inside is a hedge-maze formed in the design of the Pattern.
- JUNCTION 66
- A road junction with the shape of the Pattern made from roadways, curling over and around one another, on a heavily polluted violent industrial shadow. The junction had a high mortality rate, but is now closed for 'security reasons' by roadblocks. The ground beneath it is muddy and polluted, but still has various groups of homeless people living there. The shadow is always cloudy, with a lot of rain, some painfully acidic, and is black and polluted. Many crumbling tenements and tower blocks are dotted around the junction. The shadow is actively anti-magical, with a dictatorial government which crushes all dissent and imagination. It was destroyed by rocket fire.
- THE LACRIAL UNDERGROUND
- A 1920's style shadow with an underground/metro system, the arrangement of whose tunnels is in the shape of the Pattern. The maps of the system are non-geographic, and so resemble the Pattern considerably less than the real system does.
- THE PALACE OF NIGHT
- A royal palace, built of obsidian, whose halls and corridors are arranged along the design of the Pattern (a feng-shui type thing in that shadow). It is a place of intrigue and subtle magic.
- THE PEACEBRINGER
- Like a smaller version of the pattern, pulled upwards from its outer edge into a three-dimensional structure. It glows blue-green. It nullifies magic around it, and kills on touch. It sits in the council chamber of a highly magical shadow, with a ring-shaped table around it. It is responsible for peaceful negotiations and discussions in the chamber.
- THE SALLACHIM
- An occult symbol used as the insignia of a nasty 1930s style Nazi-like regime (similarly to the Nazi's swastika). The Trump of the place shows a big, ornate 30's-style office building with long red banners hanging down the front. At the bottom of the banner is a white circle, with a black sigil in the shape of the Pattern in it.
- THE THRONE OF THE KING
- A glowing gold Celtic knot-type maze, with a golden throne at its centre. Only the True King may approach the throne and live. When sitting on the throne, he is immune to magic (the shadow is rich in it), can see the future in a limited way, can tell if others lie in his presence, and sense enemies nearby. Some effect of it enables all nearby to hear the king, and the king to hear all nearby.
- THE TRICKSTERS HAND
- A conical pit in an ancient, painted cave (painted in prehistoric-type designs) lit by guttering torches. The pit has a Pattern-like design winding down the walls of the pit. Gypsy-type nomads in a roughly 17th century shadow are the only locals to know of it. By dripping blood down into it (where it trickles down the design) the initiate gains superior sleight of hand and stealth abilities. The cave is as big as a room where the pit is, but narrows to a tunnel which must be crawled through at one end. This is the only way in, via a labyrinth of caves and tunnels in which it is very easy to get lost.
- THE UNDYING STORM
- A highly magical off-shore hurricane which moves slowly about off the shore of a land named Mercial. The shoreline behind the beach is sand dunes grown with wiry grass. To one side a river winds through the dunes to the sea, with a village at its mouth. When viewed from above or below (from underwater), lightning arcs within it making the shape of the Pattern. The shadow is highly magical, with 'wild' uncontrolled magic raging through it. The storm warps magic around itself, so that it can easily go awry there. The locals worship the storm as a god.
- AN UNNAMED SHADOW
- An uninhabited, non-magical shadow, with continent-spanning rivers/waterways in the shape of the Pattern. The entire Pattern-analogue area was accidentally destroyed and subsumed into a shadow storm by Jihx and Caitlin when they destroyed only one of the Moonrider's obelisks, causing an imbalance of power that tore the Pattern-analogue apart and devastated the rest of the shadow.
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