or
Recorded for Posterity by Iain Walker.
Notes typed in by Jane Winter.
Session 2.2 Index Session 2.4
A Game-Related Poem from the Session
Tamarind and Beltaine are in Shadow Haven, asleep. As they sleep they realise they are both having the same dream, and can each sense this fact and the reality of the other.
They are atop Kolvir, with the steps to Tir-Na Nog'th stretching up before them. Two large ravens sit on nearby rocks, watching them. They find themselves going up the steps, and repeating Tamarind's rescue of Beltaine - although Beltaine is right there with him. They appear to be observers and unable to influence events - more as if they were in someone else's dream than anything else. The ravens (which have faint psychic presences) seem to follow them as they go.
"What's happening?" asks Tamarind. They don't know. He and Beltaine establish a (non-verbal) psychic link, and cling onto it. The ravens were definitely not present last time.
The two of them (plus ravens) reach the Tir-Na Nog'th version of Beltaine's quarters, with the 'bubble' appearing, as before, as an opaque silvery sphere. Beltaine realises this feels vaguely like the time she took Tamarind to see a vision she was in.
Tamarind doesn't have the Trump Frame and Statue with him - but then he looks down and finds that he does. The real Beltaine watches with interest as he repeats the steps to free the 'dream' Beltaine from the bubble. As he concentrates, the bubble shatters into fragments, and both wake up back in Haven.
Beltaine is in her full-moon state of transparent and silvery, and freaked. "Are we awake now?" she demands.
"Yes," Tamarind tells her.
"Promise?"
"Yes."
Tamarind says the bubble didn't shatter last time, just faded away. He found the ravens 'odd'. He says he doesn't understand what happened, but the rescue has been on his mind a lot recently, and with Beltaine here with him, "maybe it was a subconscious thing".
Beltaine says she has never been unable to affect things in Tir-Na Nog'th like that before. It was like someone else's dream. She mentions to Tamarind that while she can affect things in Tir-Na Nog'th, they can also affect her, so getting damaged in a dream is possibly not good news for her.
Back in Amber, Ibrahim gets up and heads for breakfast. On the way he sends orders to have the rest of the pirate hoard brought in. He also bumps into Tristan, who tells him he intends to walk the Pattern after breakfast, to see if his mind is still his own.
In his rooms, Damien wakes, swallows a hangover remedy provided by Childers (his butler), combs his hair back down and goes to breakfast.
Tir-Na Nog'th is still in the sky, looking slightly more solid than usual.
"Looks a bit odd, doesn't it?" comments Tristan.
"I have to admit, I have as little as possible to do with it," replies Ibrahim.
"It doesn't seem to be fading very fast..." notes Damien.
Dawn is approaching, and Tir-Na Nog'th still looks pretty solid. More so than usual. However, the sun eventually rises, and the sky city fades away.
Back in shadow Haven, "Ravens are supposed to be guides, aren't they?" asks Tamarind.
"Or symbols of death," replies Beltaine, who then asks if anyone is known to have pet ravens, or to use that symbol.
Tamarind thinks Margot has a crow, then asks if Tir-Na Nog'th is 'aware' in the same way that Arden is more than just any forest?
It has a Pattern, muses Beltaine, so it's Real.
Tamarind wonders if bringing Beltaine back has strengthened the connection between the two worlds, and thus dreaming has become more vivid.
Beltaine objects that this doesn't explain the ravens, or why she couldn't affect things.
Tamarind, on the other hand, thinks the dream was not sinister, merely strange.
Beltaine points out that in the dream, the bubble disintegrated with her inside it, which seems pretty sinister to her.
Tamarind admits that during the 'real' rescue, the bubble just shimmered away without any fireworks.
They discuss whether Beltaine in her bubble was really in Amber where she seemed to be, or had been in Tir-Na Nog'th all along. Tamarind reaches awe-inspiring levels of metaphysical speculation. Again, he wonders if the ambiguous nature of her location pre-rescue means that now she's out, the link between the two realms is stronger than ever. Maybe they should go back to Amber and have a look...?
"Are you sure we're awake?" pleads Beltaine.
They breakfast in Haven - Beltaine is starving hungry again - then they check the others.
Owen and Lucien are in a deep but normal sleep. Esmée is also sleeping normally.
Beltaine worries that the 'drained' state of Owen, Lucien and the dead servants may be her fault - she notes that she herself came out of the bubble bursting with health, and recalls that her mother, too, faded away when they were both still in Brand's prison. Tamarind assures her she is not a dream-vampire, but that the others' condition is likely due to them not being attuned to Tir-Na Nog'th.
The conversation rambles.
Beltaine wonders if ghosts from Tir-Na Nog'th could be summoned to re-animate Isabel and the other Beloved Zombies. She is quite enthusiastic about this idea. Tamarind is more cautious - it would only be a nice surprise if it worked. He mentions that Brand's experiments haven't got very far. Beltaine's eyes narrow. "He's been experimenting on them?" she asks.
Tamarind explains that Tristan asked Brand to look into the problem.
"Tristan's weird these days," comments Beltaine. She's uncomfortable with the way various people are keeping dead bodies in stasis in the hope of their future regeneration. She also wonders where the life-force from the Land of the Dead goes to. Perhaps some of it goes to make ghosts.
Tamarind notes it seems to recycle into the land of the living, but says he doesn't know much about such matters.
Beltaine says they could always go to Tir-Na Nog'th and see if there are visions where ghosts can be put into bodies. Suddenly, she breaks off and points to the soulstone around Tamarind's neck. Maybe both of them wearing soulstones explains (or caused) their shared dream? Maybe...
They Trump to Amber and appear in the Arrival Courtyard.
"It's different without the stars," comments Beltaine. "Maybe the moon is lonely now."
When asked, the guards tell them all is under control so they head for the dining room where Tristan, Damien and Ibrahim are finishing breakfast. Beltaine downs more coffee.
Tristan asks a favour - he wants someone to watch over him while he walks the Pattern. We all volunteer to do so.
Beltaine and Tamarind ask if the others have seen ravens "or anything odd"?
Tristan mentions Tir-Na Nog'th seemed a bit more solid than usual and faded more slowly, but that was all.
"You see?" says Tamarind to Beltaine. Beltaine then asks after Gerard.
Damien tells her that at last report he is on the road to recovery.
We all go down to the Pattern room.
On the way down, Beltaine asks Tristan why he wants to walk the Pattern. He says he wants to check something.
"Who you are?" suggests Damien.
Tristan says he isn't worried about that, "Just a little suspicious..."
"Just a little vague..." says Tamarind.
Tristan says he doesn't want to introduce someone's name without proof.
"Ah," murmurs Damien.
We reach the Pattern room and the guards let us in. Tristan goes over and begins to walk the Pattern. Again it seems easier than the first time he did so. As he passes through the First Veil he beings to remember things - including the time Brand blanked out. It seems that Brand took his body to a high-tech hospital laboratory in Shadow, where he took sperm samples and performed experiments. As he carries on Tristan realises that there are other gaps of which he was previously unaware, in which Brand returned to that Shadow in his body, and observed a pregnant blonde woman. Later, he observed a red-haired baby boy. The last visit would have been around a year ago...
Eventually Tristan reaches the centre of the Pattern. "Thank you for watching," he shouts over to the rest of us. "There's something I need to do now."
Ibrahim asks if it's anything he would need the King's permission to do? Tamarind asks if we can do anything to help.
"Trump me," says Tristan, and vanishes. Out in shadow, Tristan appears in the hospital he saw. The staff recognise him from 'his' previous visits. He asks to see Doctor Hanif, the chief doctor (a bald fellow in his thirties) and is duly conducted to him. "I've come to see my son," he says.
"Of course," says Dr Hanif, and leads him off to the secure wing of what is an already-secure hospital. As he goes, Tristan notices this is a fast (five times faster than Amber) Shadow where magic works.
In the secure area Tristan is shown, through a one-way mirror, a young boy aged around five, doing PE under the supervision of a drill sergeant type PE instructor. The child resembles both Brand and Tristan and has bright blue eyes. His mother is not in evidence.
In Amber, the rest of us wait a few minutes, then leave the Pattern room and Trump Tristan.
In shadow, Tristan asks to speak to the child and asks after the boy's mother. Dr Hanif says she's in the capital, where she lives. Tristan makes it probable that it's time for her yearly check-up and asks if she can be sent to see him when she arrives. Dr Hanif says it shall be done but mentions that 'he' had apparently said he didn't want to see her again after 'the transaction'.
The boy is led in by the PE teacher. "Hello, boy" says Tristan, realising as he does so that Brand never gave the boy a name.
"Hello, sir" he says.
"I'm your father."
"Yes, sir."
When asked, the boy says he's well. Tristan asks if the boy would like to come and live with him. The boy does not seem to object to this, and says, when asked, that he hasn't much to pack. Tristan leaves him in Dr Hanif's office while he talks to Carmine, the boy's mother. On his way to do this he locates a chequebook in the name of B. Barimen.
Just as Tristan is led in to meet Carmine, Tamarind's Trump call starts some get through. He tells Carmine he's being paged and tries to hold it off while he steps into a different room. Ibrahim, Damien and Beltaine join in trying to make the contact and get through, though not before Tristan leaves the room Carmine is in. Tristan asks us to go 'somewhere nice' and contact him again. The others agree to do so then drop the Trump link. Tristan returns to Carmine.
Tristan asks Carmine if she cares at all about the boy, or would have an interest in his upbringing.
"God, no" she says. "It was just another contract." Tristan writes her a cheque for an enormous amount of money and sends her away. Then he goes and collects the boy from Dr Hanif's office, giving him a huge cheque too.
Tamarind Trumps Tristan again. Tristan takes the call, and the boy's hand. "What's that?" exclaims the boy, on seeing Tamarind. Or perhaps he was referring to the Trump contact. Tamarind brings them both through. Tristan looks both pleased and in deep need of cutting someone's head off. "This is my son," he says.
Everyone tries to make the boy feel at home. He insists on calling everyone 'sir' or 'ma'am'. Tristan asks what he would like most in the world - the boy just looks confused.
When asked the boy says his name is 'Twenty'. Tristan suggests 'Duncan' as an acceptable alternative.
"If you like, sir," he says.
"Just call me Tristan, or Dad," insists Tristan.
"Yes, sir," says Duncan.
Beltaine gets him to say her name, then those of everyone else. Tamarind surreptitiously makes a Trump sketch of Duncan. Beltaine leads the boy off to the kitchen to help her make food, and give Tristan a chance to talk to the rest of us. She introduces him to Esmée as 'Tristan's son'. She tells him the names of various foods - he's clearly not very familiar with nearly everything there.
In the other room, Tristan says he was right to suspect Brand, who used Tristan's body to create a new body of his own. Damien notes a slightly less likely possibility, namely that this was only an experiment in observing things grow, including children. But he agrees it's unlikely. Tristan says that Brand was not visiting the boy often, and that he'd have been grown and ready for mind-transfer in a couple of years Amber-time. Tristan asks Tamarind if he may bring Corvallin here.
"My home is your home," sighs Tamarind resignedly.
Corvallin duly appears.
Esmée, Beltaine and Duncan emerge, bearing bacon sandwiches. Tamarind decides that a silvery-purple koala-thing will appear and take a liking to Duncan. This occurs. Duncan decides to call his new friend 'Thing'.
"Does you like music?" Tamarind asks Duncan.
"What's music?" Tamarind plays the lute for him, then lets him have a go. Hideous plinking noises ensue.
Meanwhile, Tristan goes off to one side and fills Esmée and Beltaine in on what Brand has done, and what he was likely planning to do. He then has to explain to Beltaine just what Brand was doing in his body at all.
"That was very ... brave ... of you," she allows.
Esmée notes that Brand has openly proclaimed his intention of creating a new body for himself.
Tristan says he will raise the child as his own, and when he's recovered from his Pattern walk he will go and 'talk' to Brand.
"Can I come?" asks Beltaine.
"Anyone can come," says Tristan, through gritted teeth.
Beltaine warns Tristan that Brand may already have established some kind of mental link with, or control over, the child. Tristan, though, is fairly sure from his regained memories that this is not the case. He wants to raise Duncan with the other children; he needs to be with other children of his own age.
Beltaine vaguely regrets not having any children of her own. She hopes that now Tristan realises that Brand cannot be trusted?
"Er, I hoped he'd changed," says Tristan.
Damien, Ibrahim and Tamarind entertain Duncan. He's impressed by the way the lute strings move by themselves. He's told it's like magic, but he doesn't know what magic is. Damien obligingly performs conjuring tricks for him. People play with Duncan while Tristan recovers his strength. There is a game of Chase Each Other Round the Garden. The koala clings to Duncan like a furry rucksack.
Tamarind checks if there's anything Trump-like about Duncan. There isn't.
Beltaine's mood is getting worse and worse the more Duncan reveals about his life (or lack of a real one). "Bastard," she mutters, presumably referring to Brand.
Both Esmée and Damien offer her hip flasks, and she drinks deeply from both. She suggests Brand should be killed, or at least lobotomised, 'but probably neither would last'. She also wonders if Brand does have a Pattern imprint already and is hiding it somehow, noting that forcing him onto the Pattern would provide an answer. A little drunkenly, she asks Damien if he will teach her to fight. He agrees. Ibrahim mentions that he owes Brand his life. Beltaine is not impressed.
Tristan takes Duncan up into Castle Corvallin and heads off to a Trump-barred Shadow. En route he sends a pigeon of his desire to tell the rest of the group what he's done. We wonder who will look after Duncan while Tristan is off having his 'talk' with Brand, but it's a bit late to worry about that now.
Ibrahim suspects that Duncan might not be the only one - where are the other nineteen? He also notes that Brand seems to have made no provision for Deirdre in his scheme.
There is a debate about whether Random should be informed now or later.
Meanwhile, Corvallin has reached a secure, Trump-proof, anti-magical Shadow that is one-to-one with regard to time flow in Amber. Duncan is being entertained by the castle servants and their children in the castle nursery. Tristan bids his son farewell, leaves, and shifts Shadow back towards Haven.
In Haven, Owen and Lucien have wandered out to enjoy the sunshine. Tamarind explains to Owen what has been happening.
"If. You. Need. My. Help..." he says.
While Tamarind continues to explain things, Tristan arrives back. Damien asks him if Brand can work magic in Amber. Tristan says yes.
Tristan says Duncan is now as well protected as it's possible to be in Shadow. Beltaine suggests the best way to protect him is make sure people know about him.
Tristan is planning to go to Brand and lay down the law. Not to kill him. He will insist that Brand has no further contact with Duncan, and if he does anything to the boy, will keep killing him until there's nothing of him left to recycle. The agreement between them, he notes, is over.
Ibrahim says that killing Brand is the King's prerogative.
Damien notes that in any case, killing Brand would have to be done swiftly, before he has the chance to notice. "I speak from personal experience," he says.
Beltaine looks at him. "Not with Brand, " he adds, hastily.
We all Trump back to Amber, leaving Owen and Lucien behind to get more rest. Upon arrival, Damien sends a message to Altair asking after Gerard.
We head for Brand's lab, which is on a middle floor of the main keep (Brand having reclaimed his old, disused, rooms in the castle upon his return). Giles, an old servant, answers the door. His eyes widen when he sees Beltaine, but he says nothing.
"I'd like to see Brand," announces Tristan in a 'this is a not a request' kind of voice. Various people notice the presence of magicks in Brand's quarters. Ibrahim thinks some of them are defences, at least they give the impression of being the magical equivalent of laser tracking devices.
Damien reminds Beltaine that she has five of them to hide behind. She does this thing.
Giles opens one of the doors out of the foyer of Brand's rooms, revealing part of what looks like a laboratory beyond, and announces everyone. Brand drops something with a crash when he hears Beltaine's name mentioned and appears with a beaming smile on his face, eyes searching for his daughter.
While he's thus distracted, Tristan punches him in the stomach. Tristan begins to bring the Pattern to mind, at the same time grabbing Brand by the shoulders.
"What the hell was that for?" gasps Brand. He's not smiling anymore.
"Because I'm disappointed in you."
"Please elucidate, brother."
"The son I never knew I had..." hints Tristan.
Brand just raises an eyebrow: "And?"
"AND? You raise a son of mine, whom you intended to effectively kill so you could steal his body!!??!!"
"Yes," says Brand, still apparently puzzled as to why Tristan should be upset. Tristan knees him in the groin, not very effectively - Brand seems to be both faster and stronger than he is.
Brand says this was always the plan. He doesn't accept that there's any difference between this and using a clone - it would still be killing a Prince of Amber.
Tamarind asks why, if Brand's plan was so reasonable, did he hide it?
"Because he knew I wouldn't agree to it," fumes Tristan.
"I needed your body to get the body I desired," says Brand, simply.
Tristan takes a deep breath. "I will tell you what is going to happen in future. You will have no contact with Duncan at all..."
"You gave him a name..." interrupts Brand.
"It seemed appropriate," replies Tristan.
Brand is disinclined to accept this.
Damien tells him he has little choice in the matter.
"In what way?" he asks.
Random might object, says Damien. He doesn't like it when people threaten those under his protection.
Brand remains obtuse, and will make no promises.
"Wasn't a second chance at life enough?" demands Tamarind.
"Not really," says Brand. He says he's tired of being blind and helpless in this body.
Tristan is unimpressed - he says Brand has a great deal now - does he want to risk it all?
Beltaine, who has been looking on in horror, whispers to Tamarind, "Why are they even trying to talk to him? He doesn't understand why anyone would be upset about this...."
Ibrahim tells Brand that once everyone knows about this, there will be no point him continuing with it.
So, says Damien, a promise to stay away from Duncan would be nice. The words 'cross my heart and hope to die', he adds, spring to mind.
Beltaine insists Brand is a sociopath, who can't understand why they think what he's doing is wrong. He can't see anyone else's needs as important or relevant. People had been telling her he had changed, she sighs, and it would have been nice if it had been true.
The others continue to berate Brand, but she seems to be right. An impasse is reached.
Tristan sums things up: "So, shall I get a sword and cut your head off, or are you going to change your plans?"
Brand insists he has not reneged on their agreement. Oh, apart from wiping Tristan's memories of the stuff he shouldn't have been doing, mention various people.
Damien gets out his Trumps and concentrates on Random's.
"Ask him about numbers one to nineteen," suggests Beltaine.
"And numbers twenty-one and upwards," suggests Ibrahim.
Tristan is not sure Brand had the opportunity to do more than he knows about. "He may have made a similar deal with other Family members, though," says Beltaine.
"No," says Brand. "No one else was... "
"Dumb enough," Tristan finishes for him.
Brand asks Beltaine how she is.
"Don't you even speak to me," she spits, retreating behind Tamarind.
Tristan radiates Pattern.
Damien gets through to Random and asks for an audience. Random spots Brand behind him, and comes through looking resigned. Tristan explains the situation.
Brand does nothing to deny it: "In some lights it might appear so."
"I thought you'd put this behind you," sighs Random, wearily.
"Oh, not you too," mutters Beltaine.
Tristan recounts the demands we have made of Brand. They seem reasonable to Random. He also allows that Duncan, as a Family member and minor, is under his protection. Tristan wants permission to execute Brand if he interferes with his son. Random is not sure we need to go that far - and besides, he'd just come back again.
It is reiterated that Brand could have stuck to the mindless body agreement.
Perhaps he thought it would take too long, hazards Tristan.
But we have all the time in Shadow, protests Beltaine.
"Perhaps Prince Brand does not," remarks Ibrahim, "but who cares?"
At Beltaine's suggestion, Random declares that for Brand to walk the Pattern in any body the King hasn't agreed to, would be treason.
Brand says it seems he has no choice but to renounce his claim on Duncan.
"You never had a claim," objects Tristan.
Random comes up with an official oath - 'Not to steal a Family member's body for any purpose, unless it has been created solely for that purpose with the King's consent.'
Brand says it sounds as if the research project is off.
Damien tells him he can hand over his notes and equipment and let us get on with it.
Brand doubts we would get very far, then asks if Random is willing to sanction the creation of a mindless body of the Blood of Amber?
"That was the original plan," says Random. "But now I'm not so sure..."
Beltaine thinks that being stuck in a body without a Pattern imprint is the next best thing to execution. Other people comment that killing someone and destroying their body leaves them no way to come back, unless people co-operate in their return.
Everyone leaves. Brand looks a bit disappointedly after Beltaine.
The sound of things breaking in Brand's quarters follow the party down the corridor. "There are times when I think Brand is completely irredeemable," sighs Random.
Random Trumps with us to Haven to meet Duncan.
We worry that Brand has now been pushed into a corner and made more dangerous. Can't be helped.
Ibrahim intends to ostracise Brand. At least, we think that's the word he used.
Tristan goes off to fetch Duncan. On the way he sends pigeons of his desire with messages to inform the rest of the Family of what has happened.
After a bit he arrives at Corvallin and goes up to the nursery. Duncan is there, off to one side away from the other children. He appears a little confused by some of the games the other children have been (and are) playing. Tristan says he's taking him to meet Random, the King.
"What's a King?" Duncan wants to know.
"Er, your uncle."
"What's an uncle?"
A childminder takes Tristan aside and tells him Duncan can't read. Hmmm.
They depart for Haven. On the way back, Tristan finds Duncan a pony and shows him how to ride.
In Haven, Beltaine reminds Damien that he promised to take her exploring. They agree to wait until after the Museum is ready to open.
Tristan and Duncan arrive on horseback. Duncan is hanging on tight and seems uncertain about the way reality has been changing around them; Tristan reassures him that everything is all right.
Random Trumps Vialle and brings her through so she can meet Duncan too.
Tamarind has found some toys in the villa, and has finished his Trump of Duncan.
When she appears Beltaine hugs Vialle. "We should have a party to celebrate your safe return," says Vialle.
"Yes," says Beltaine brightly, "Damien's going to wear pastels." Damien smiles his secret smile.
Tristan introduces Duncan to the royal couple. Vialle is also introduced to Thing. A picnic is held on the purple lawn outside, and Tamarind gives Duncan the toys; he seems a bit unsure about what to do with them, Vialle asks Duncan about his life. He says he had a room with a bed, did lots of PE, had lots of tests and has seen the outside world about three times, through a window, it turns out. And that's it.
Tamarind shows Duncan how to play with the toys. He gravitates towards ones involving reflexes, and seems to regard them more as chores than fun. Tristan, Vialle and Beltaine try to interest him in other games.
Tamarind wonders if Llewella might not now be Brand's most likely ally. It is explained to Beltaine why Llewella is a dodgy character.
Tamarind Trumps Deirdre. She takes the call and appears to be in the Castle, heading for Brand's quarters. She says she has just received a pigeon... "I'm not intending to kill Brand," she says. Tamarind comes through and joins her.
They reach Brand's rooms and Deirdre kicks in the door. Broken bits of lab equipment and furniture lie scattered about. Brand is in the living room, unwisely sitting on a window seat, staring morosely out. "Deirdre, wait..." he manages, before Deirdre punches him viciously on the jaw. He flies out through the window.
"You little shit!" she shouts after him.
Brand hits the cobbles, three storeys down. Glass rains down on him. He groans.
"A little more extreme than I intended," murmurs Deirdre, looking un-remorsefully down at him.
Servants below rush up to Brand. Deirdre orders them to leave him and they rush away again. He lies there.
Tamarind and Deirdre leave. "We've just made him even more dangerous, haven't we?" asks Tamarind. Deirdre shrugs. Tamarind Trumps Haven.
Back in shadow Haven, Beltaine asks if anyone knows who Tamarind's father was?
"I had always assumed it was someone in Shadow," says Damien.
Beltaine tells him of a vision she once saw where Brand and Deirdre were both ruling together. She and Tamarind were both in it, and so was her mother, Persephone. But not Tamarind's father.
At this point Tamarind and Deirdre arrive by Trump. Deirdre is introduced to Beltaine, who seems a little reticent. Tamarind explains that Brand has had 'a slight accident'. Oh dear.
Tristan heads out into Shadow again, back towards the hospital. Upon reaching it he finds Dr Hanif clearing out his desk - Tristan having given him a big cheque, he's retiring. Tristan asks if there are any other 'samples' here. Dr Hanif says there are. They go down to the vaults to retrieve them. Tristan leaves with them, finds a large volcano, then throws them in.
Meanwhile, Damien is checking that everyone is still on for the reopening of the Museum in two weeks time. Beltaine wants to know if there'll be a party? On being told there will, she suggests Damien could wear pastels to that.
"I was hoping we'd have your welcome home party first," hedges Damien.
Beltaine says she's thinking of finding a Shadow to live in rather than live in Amber now Brand's back, "but we could have a Shadow-warming party."
Tristan Trumps back to Tamarind.
Random takes a Trump call. His expression becomes serious. "The six children have been kidnapped," he says. "But Brand is in the infirmary..."
Tamarind slaps Octavius' Trump into the Trump Frame and everyone concentrates on it. Beltaine's psychic contribution seems to be greatest, then Esmée's, then Deirdre's. But despite the concentration of psychic power, no contact is made.
We all Trump back to Amber apart from Tristan, who takes Duncan off, saying he will rejoin us later.
Once we arrive, Random says that according to Flora, the children were taken by ninjas. Nurse Ratchett is dead. The kidnappers got in through a (formerly) bricked-up secret passage. Random Trumps Flora, who's in the nursery, from the Arrival Courtyard and everyone goes through to her. Broken toys, including Eleanor's favourite (a little wooden donkey on wheels), lie scattered around the room.
Rachsiel (Elenor's horse) is dead; decapitated. There are an unconscious dragon, griffin, cat and falcon on the floor, and a dead hound (Carl's Tagaria). Nurse Ratchett also lies dead on the floor together with a dead ninja; it looks as though she stabbed him and was stabbed in return. Tamarind notes that there are no Trump residues. Random orders Brand's immediate arrest.
Damien steps into the formerly-secret passageway, suggesting as he does so that someone stay and look for clues. Ibrahim says he will stay and investigate.
In the passageway Damien finds another dead nurse, Nurse Winstanley, who has been slashed across the torso. He heads on down the tunnel.
Tamarind and Beltaine use the Trump Frame to try to Trump Benedict. Esmée consults with Flora.
Tamarind and Beltaine actually get through to Benedict, who seems to be in Avalon, and he comes through. Smelling of brandy. "Bloody hell," mutters Random.
Tamarind explains the situation to Benedict, and says his help is needed.
"Is he going to be any help?" whispers Beltaine to Tamarind doubtfully.
Ibrahim discovers that the children's (and guardian creature's) fruit juices have been drugged.
Beltaine begins working her way through each of the children's Trumps in turn, but gets no response from any of them.
Altair arrives, in a fury. "Where the hell did they go?" Ibrahim points to the passage, and she storms off down it.
Damien continues to follow the trail. It gets dark. He sticks a strip of his cravat into a hip flask and lights it. Lo, a lantern. Sort of.
Tristan meanwhile leaves Duncan with his new friends in Castle Corvallin. He explains to the childminders what happened to him. Then he rides off to a different Shadow and Trumps Tamarind.
Damien hears the pounding of feet behind him. "Down here!" he calls.
"Where are they?" yells Altair's voice.
"Down here."
"I'll bloody kill them!"
"Get in line."
They follow the tracks in the dust. Some effort seems to have been made to disguise the trail, but even these attempts leave traces of their own.
Ibrahim tries to bring the unconscious guardian creatures round.
Tristan gets through to Tamarind. He's asked to check on the stasis Shadow where the other children and zombies are. Random helpfully continues to swear under his breath.
Ibrahim asks if there are any restrictions on what we can do to recover the children?
"I'd prefer you didn't start any wars, but..." says Random. "Oh, go on then."
Beltaine offers to read the cards if that would be any help. Ibrahim suggests the questions:
(1) How can we ensure the safe return of the children? (2) Who did this, and why?
Brand is wheeled in on a gurney. Random demands explanations.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?" asks Brand. No one bothers to reply. He denies any involvement.
Beltaine suggests to Tamarind that he deal the cards, since they are his Trumps, and he knows the children while she doesn't. He does so. They add the soulstones to the reading. Tamarind then tries to Trump Julian while Beltaine interprets the cards.
Octavius' guardian creature, the griffin, Belissaria, comes round first, and howls distraughtly. Ibrahim uses a Tamarind-provided Trump sketch of it to make mental contact with the creature and asks it what happened.
Over the Trump link, Belissaria says that it was afternoon fruit juice time, then they got sleepy. They (the guardian creatures) didn't detect the drug. Nurse Ratchett tried to keep them awake, then ninjas came in. Nurse Ratchett got killed protecting the children. There were twelve ninjas, who seemed familiar with the room's layout.
Ibrahim asks if any of the ninjas were notably stronger or faster than the others.
Belissaria can't remember. They were all male humans, though. Nurse Simmons just stood back and did nothing. He doesn't know what happened to Nurse Winstanley (the corpse in the corridor).
Tamarind gets through to Julian, who comes through. He says he had nothing to do with it, and doesn't say he won't help find the children.
Out away from Amber, Tristan reaches Shadow Stasis, where all is fine in the fortress there. He increases security even more, just in case, leaves, and Trumps Tamarind.
Damien and Altair follow the trail through the passageways. They are down below ground level now. Deeper and deeper they go until they eventually reach catacombs, with human bones stacked up all along the walls. The passageways branch out more now, but the tracks are still clear enough to be followed. They see signs of between ten and fifteen people, but there are no signs of the children walking. One track shows a woman's low-heeled shoe.
Ibrahim asks Belissaria if anyone around the nursery was acting oddly.
No.
Who brought the fruit juice?
Nurse Simmons.
Ah. Ibrahim recalls she was an Amber-recruited nurse, who always seemed reliable. She has a middle-class background, and seemed a good nurse. Ibrahim fills the others in on what he has learned.
Luther's guardian creature, Salcilia, also wakes up. Ibrahim uses its Trump sketch to ask the same questions he asked Belissaria, who meanwhile sniffs around and enters the passageway too.
Tristan gets through to Tamarind and comes through and is brought through to Amber. He is brought up to date on events.
Ibrahim suggests that someone Trump Damien or Altair and tell them what's been discovered. Tristan agrees and Trumps Altair.
Via Trump, Salcilia tells Ibrahim the same story as Belisaria, but it seems to have seen even less. It follows Belisaria into the passage.
In the tunnels, Altair receives a Trump call, takes it, and Tristan comes through it to her. He tells her and Damien about Nurse Simmons, the fruit juice, and so on.
Damien tells him what they've learned from tracking. He thinks they are an hour or so behind the kidnappers.
Upstairs, Beltaine finishes her tarot readings.
The answer to 'How can we ensure the safe return of the children?' reflects speed, and also a danger to the Pattern. One card has somehow flipped over to show the Unicorn. Reversed. She tells the others. Tamarind sketches the Pattern room door and places the sketch in the Frame. He concentrates upon it.
As for 'who took them, and why?', Beltaine had included cards to represent the Pattern and Tamarind's looted Trumps of the Council for Victory. No actual names leap out of the reading; no one of the Blood seems directly responsible, but there is Amber influence in the background. Relevantly placed soulstones are the amethyst (self alteration) and green (physical alteration). The 'why' encompasses a reversed Unicorn and Tristan (whose card was used to represent Amber's Pattern).
Julian Trumps out.
Tamarind makes Trump contact with outside the Pattern Room door. "Benedict, with me" he says.
Benedict gives him a withering look, but goes through the link with him. The guards there open the Pattern Room door. Inside, the Pattern seems undamaged.
"I suppose we ought to guard this," says Tamarind to Benedict.
"That's our job," mutter the guards.
Tamarind concentrates upon Ibrahim's Trump.
Upstairs, Ibrahim orders Nurse Simmons' employment file. While it is being brought he receives a Trump call from Tamarind, who tells him that the Pattern is safe.
Ibrahim asks him to find out what Caine is doing.
Tamarind cuts the Trump link, tells Benedict he's about to Trump Caine, and does so.
In the catacombs, Damien and Altair hear a faint movement behind them - it's Belisaria and Salcilia. Damien asks if they're all right.
They nod.
Damien lets them take over the tracking, while he studies the tracks for any new occurrences.
Upstairs, Random has a Trump call. Then it goes away.
Downstairs, in the catacombs, Tristan gets a Trump call. He accepts it. It's Julian, who offers Hellhounds to help with the tracking.
"Bring them on," he says, and hellhounds pour through the Trump link, followed by Julian, who has also brought a sword for Tristan.
When asked, he says he knows of no new developments.
"Tamarind," says Caine as the contact clears. He's relaxed. And in an underwater passageway. He says he knows what's been happening, but does not have much to add. This having been established, Tamarind breaks the link.
Once the contact is over, Tamarind tells Benedict that Caine is looking into the Rebman connection.
Back in the catacombs, the trail ends at a solid black iron door, which has magic on it. Damien tosses a femur at it. No sparks or explosions occur.
Tristan radiates Pattern at the door to suppress the magic while Damien picks the lock. It is the most complex lock he's ever encountered in Amber, but eventually he manages to open it. Click.
They push the door open and see steps leading down beyond. Tristan notes that they are not moving through Shadow.
We go through on and down. Glancing back we can see a large skull and crossbones embossed on the back of the door.
Griffin and dragon in the lead, they press on down the stairs.
Tamarind Trumps Bleys who takes the call. He's sitting at a desk somewhere. Tamarind tells him a situation is developing. Bleys knows - he has contacts in Amber, apparently. And Caine told him.
Tamarind tells him that the Pattern is in danger and hints that he could perhaps check on the Primal Pattern.
Bleys continues to deny knowing how to get there. However, he picks up his Pattern blade, and comes through to Tamarind instead.
Upstairs, Beltaine tells Ibrahim and Random the results of the second tarot reading.
Ibrahim tends to see the self- and physical-alteration indications as a reference to shapeshifting.
Beltaine Trumps Tamarind, who is still outside the Pattern room, goes through, and gives him back his Trumps. She tells him about the readings, and suggests someone should walk the Pattern and remain in the centre, just in case...
Bleys volunteers. He says he's glad to see Beltaine; he hasn't seen her since she came out of her bubble.
Beltaine is puzzled - she doesn't recall that she and Bleys have ever met.
"Oh, my memory may be at fault," he says.
Tamarind asks him if Fiona could find the Primal Pattern.
Bleys says no, both she and he have tried. He steps onto the Pattern and sets off round it.
Tamarind then Trumps Fiona, while Beltaine Trumps Damien.
Beltaine does not get through, so Tamarind lends her his Trump frame. She tries again.
Meanwhile, the search party have found another large black iron door, much the same as the first. A tired Tristan sighs, and radiates Pattern at it.
Damien picks the lock, and just as he finishes he gets a Trump call from Beltaine. She comes through the link holding Tamarind's Trump Frame - Tristan's Pattern emanations having interfered with her first attempts to make contact. She brings the others up to date on events elsewhere in the castle.
Upstairs, Ibrahim receives Nurse Simmons' file. It says that her apartments are down the hall, and her family lives in the city.
Tamarind gets through to Fiona. She seems to be inside a huge, blue-lit obsidian pyramid. He tells her the children have been kidnapped.
"How terrible," she says.
And that the Pattern is in danger.
"How terrible," she repeats.
He leaves it to her how best to deploy her resources.
"I shall," she says, and the Trump link goes down.
Bleys is now about halfway around the Pattern.
In the tunnels, Damien and company see a light ahead - a constant glow, not a flicker. Daylight?
Beltaine senses some magic ahead. Some kind of alarm spell.
"Does it feel recent?" asks Damien.
Yes, it does. She doesn't think the magic is particularly professional, though.
Damien suggests she try to get them through without setting it off, but it appears that she is already working on this as she begins to sing softly. A moment or two later she has insinuated her way into the magic and opened a way through it without setting it off. The group goes through this hole and she closes the magical ward behind them.
The sound of the sea can be heard from up ahead. Also, there are people on guard up ahead of us.
"Company," mutters Damien, and the group runs forward.
Ibrahim goes to Nurse Simmons' quarters. Before going in, he Trumps Margot. She comes through to him and asks what is going on. She doesn't seem to know what has happened, so he brings her up to date; she looks very grim. She says she wants to join the tracking party. She concentrates and one of her rings turns into a suit of red and black plate armour. Another ring turns into a sword. She then Trumps Tristan.
Underground, the Storm Hounds race ahead at vast speed, having given up on stealth. Arrows and crossbow bolts fly towards us. A couple bounce off Julian's armour. Damien slices a couple out of the air. Tristan is grazed. Altair is hit in the arm. Beltaine takes a bolt in the shoulder. One last arrow bounces off Damien's clothing.
"Beltaine, get down," yells Altair, as Beltaine stands there looking rather confused.
Tristan is being Trumped but he holds it off.
Beltaine tries to pull the bolt out of her shoulder, but quickly discovers that it is barbed and gives up on that idea for now. She mutters something and briefly merges with the shadows against the wall instead.
A smaller hail of arrows arrives, but Damien and Julian cut most of them out of the air.
"Come out, you cowards!" shouts Altair.
Upstairs, Margot tells Ibrahim that she isn't getting through to Tristan. She runs off down the secret passageway instead.
Ibrahim searches Nurse Simmons' room for clues. It's a large bed-sitting room, normally furnished. He finds a drug hidden in a perfume bottle - the same one used in the fruit juice, utterly scentless, but it makes Ibrahim woozy when he smells it. Under the bed is a box full of cut gems - a bribe, or a pay-off? At the bottom of the box is a strip of paper, typed, not written. 'Today, 1pm." Ibrahim remembers that typewriters don't work in Amber, even though printing presses and other simpler mechanisms that use levers do.
He searches further and finds a few unmarked torn-open envelopes in a bin, and ashes in the grate where papers appear to have been burned.
He goes back to the nursery and presents Random with the evidence.
"When was she subverted, and by whom?" Ibrahim wonders. He wants to talk to her family and fiancé. "Do it subtly if possible," Random cautions.
Ibrahim puts people onto this, then Trumps Margot and when she takes the call goes through to her in the passageway.
In the Pattern room, Bleys has reached the centre of the Pattern, armed with a truncheon and knuckle-dusters.
Tamarind monitors the Trumps. Caine's, Beltaine's, Fiona's and Flora's Trumps are currently active.
In the shadows of the tunnel below Amber Beltaine Trumps Ibrahim. He takes the call and she brings him and Margot through. Then she Trumps Tamarind.
Ibrahim quickly checks her shoulder wound, and realises that it is not life-threatening.
Further on, Damien jumps over hellhounds as they fight and snarl. The six visible ninja types are holding the hounds off. The dogs move aside to let Julian through.
Damien dives past the ninjas, with Julian behind him.
Ibrahim and Margot run up as Tristan goes for the nearest ninja and slashes him across the chest. The others attack ninjas of their own. Ibrahim cuts one in half with Eric's Pattern blade.
Beltaine gets through to Tamarind, who is waiting outside the Pattern room. "Trouble," she says, letting him see the fracas behind her. He comes through the link to her.
Tristan's ninja is briefly (and fatally) distracted for a second by this.
Tamarind looks at Beltaine's wound - he thinks the bolt probably wasn't poisoned, but it is definitely unpleasantly barbed. She gives him back his Trump Frame.
Damien skewers his last ninja in the belly and drags him away from the eager hellhounds. Julian cuts another in half. Tamarind makes a lightning sketch of the corridor beyond the melee, opens the link, and he and Beltaine go through to there. They see four more ninjas ahead.
The griffin and dragon go past, Belisaria running and Salcilia flying.
Tamarind goes for the nearest ninja. Beltaine tries a Dreamweb spell, which works just well enough to distract the ninja, whom Tamarind then kills. The griffin and dragon attack two more ninjas.
Tristan is trying to keep his ninja alive, but the storm hounds have other ideas. "Who do you work for?" demands Tristan, but gets no answer.
Damien notices that there are more ninjas ahead, so drops the one he has (who is promptly devoured by hellhounds).
Tamarind decides it would be faster to run to the furthest point he can see ahead of him than make another sketch. He and Beltaine do this thing.
The griffin and dragon have killed their opponents and run on. The hellhounds catch up and run ahead, usefully setting off all the traps.
Around the last corner is a spiky barricade that has swung down from the roof, impaling a couple of hounds. Beyond that is a wall of boulders with an opening to the sea to one side beyond. And two more ninjas.
Beltaine senses some kind of magic ahead. Tristan can sense magic and something else as he runs up still carrying his ninja. Beltaine thinks the magic is a device of some kind.
The hellhounds are baying and piling up against the barricade. "Oh, shut up!" Beltaine yells at them. They quiet a bit, and shut up completely when Julian tells them to. This makes it possible for the group to hear the sound of sobbing from up ahead.
Tamarind makes a lightning sketch of beyond the stone barricade, and Damien goes through the Trump link first. He stabs the two ninjas. One is trying to raise a crossbow pistol. "Thank you," says Damien, taking it from his hand.
Ahead, the tunnel opens to one side to reveal an open cavern area, a beach and the sea. The cavern stretches back into darkness away from the sea.
Margot, Damien and Tristan charge round the corner, towards the magic and sobbing sounds.
They round the corner and see a huge white-painted wooden Unicorn sculpture hanging upside down from chains attached to the cavern roof. Six small children are hanging by their ankles from chains beneath it; all except Octavius and Eleanor seem to be unconscious. They all have tubes leading from their necks into a device on a pedestal in the centre of them, which is the source of magic. More tubes come out of the device and into the neck of a tall, bearded, shaven-headed black man who also stands in the centre of the ring of hanging children holding a crossbow. The man is glowing red, and smouldering. Tristan recognises him as Abraxas Nangonya, one of his escapees, a notorious serial killer whom Caine, apparently, had a hard time catching.
Beltaine thinks she can interfere with the machine's function, and begins to hum quietly.
Damien shoots the man with the crossbow pistol he is holding, as he, Tristan and Margot leap forward.
"You bastard!" shouts Margot.
Tamarind begins one of his patent lightning Trump sketches.
Damien's crossbow bolt grazes Abraxas, whose ability to dodge is limited by the tubes. Margot skewers him in the torso and Tristan hacks at his sword arm. Abraxas shoots Tristan in the arm with the crossbow he's holding in his other hand.
Ibrahim moves to pinch off some of the bleeding tubes. Beltaine starts work on the device, trying to slow down the pumping of blood. The pulsing of the machine begins to slow. Damien runs Abraxas through the shoulder and twists his blade, but the man's sword arm is still working. Tristan hits his hand to disarm him. Tamarind finishes his sketch of Abraxas and concentrates on it. Ibrahim ties off the tubes leading from the children, then severs them.
Tamarind senses that Abraxas is worried - he hadn't planned on burning up like this. He feels only that pain, but none from his various injuries. Tamarind demands he tell him who he was doing this for. Abraxas laughs nastily and says they'll never know.
"Get him away from the children," yells Tamarind, as Abraxas glows, smokes and burns brighter.
Margot grabs him and throws him out onto the beach. It seems the magic in Abraxas is holding a Real power inside of him.
Tamarind shouts that he should be thrown through a Trump link into another Shadow.
Ibrahim has now disconnected all the children from the device.
Margot kicks Abraxas around the beach as Tristan concentrates on a Trump of the Shadow where the 'Ball and Conifer' inn was.
When the link opens, they grab Abraxas and throw him through. Immediately there is an explosion on the other side of the link and it goes down.
The link is quickly re-established, and when it opens up Damien passes the device through. On the other side, Abraxas can be seen smeared over the landscape on the other side of the link in the form of a bloody puddle. The machine stops glowing as it goes through the link.
Ibrahim, Beltaine and Margot Trump the children to shadow Haven for emergency blood transfusions.
Julian stays in the cave to clear up, and Tamarind asks him to tear down the suspended Unicorn. He does so, and it breaks. It appears to be solid, perhaps made of driftwood.
Tristan and Damien follow the device through the Trump link to shadow 'Ball & Conifer'.
Tamarind scans the Trumps. Currently active are Bleys', Random's, Caine's and Fiona's. He checks that Bleys isn't trying to take over Random's mind. It appears that he is not.
Tristan and Damien wade through Abraxas' remains. They pick up bits and pieces of belongings - two large keys (probably for the big doors in the tunnels), two other keys, some coins, a couple of daggers, a cut-throat razor, couple of rings and an ear stud.
The device is still faintly magical. It is a crystal and blue and silver metal item the size of a football, which appears to be a transforming device akin to but not the same as the Council for Victory's foetus-feeding devices. It has a very real enchantment on it.
Having ascertained all this, Tristan digs the crossbow out of his arm. Ouch.
As we arrive in shadow Haven, Angelique wakes up. "Daddy Ibrahim!" she cries, throwing her arms around him.
He tells her they made the bad man go away.
The children are taken inside the villa.
"That was really horrible," says Beatrice, also waking up.
Daddy Ibrahim tells them they need to sleep for a bit, then they'll be better.
Carl, Luther and Beatrice start to cry again. Beltaine sings them to sleep.
Margot and Ibrahim are both medically trained, but Beltaine points out that Margot can't give blood and perform the operation. She doesn't want the give blood herself, though, in case the kids turn transparent.
Ibrahim sets up drips in preparation, while Beltaine Trumps Esmée and brings her through. Esmée agrees to give blood.
Ibrahim takes samples of the children's current blood to check for any impurities or additions.
Margot digs the bolt out of Beltaine's shoulder and bandages it up.
Ibrahim checks the children for magical interference. He finds none.
Tamarind, still in the cave by the sea with Altair and Julian, eavesdrops on Random's Trump conversation, which turns out to be Caine reporting on Rebma where all seems clear. Realising who is on the other end of the link he backs out of it quickly. He then uses the Frame to Trump Benedict, and gets through. Bleys is still in the centre of the Pattern, Benedict reports. Tamarind tells Benedict that the immediate threat has been neutralised, but someone capable of high levels of enchantment is involved.
He cuts the Trump link and is about to Trump back to Amber when there's a scream from the back of the cave. Nurse Simmons is there, surrounded by hellhounds.
Tamarind tells her to surrender if she wants to live.
"I surrender, I surrender," she squeals.
Tamarind asks Julian and Altair not to kill her then tells her to explain all. If he's satisfied with her explanation, he'll hand her over to the King. If not ... he glances at his bloodthirsty companions meaningfully.
She says 'they' had kidnapped Boris, her fiancé, and said they'd kill him if she didn't drug the children and co-operate with the ninjas to bring them here. They sent her his severed finger in a box. She says they said they'd know if she told anyone, and communicated by slipping notes under her door. Boris was taken a week ago.
Tamarind asks if she'll come with them willingly.
"Yes," she says, still terrified.
Tamarind Trumps Random and brings Nurse Simmons, the four surviving guardian creatures and Altair through.
Random is now in his office. Tamarind tells him what has happened, emphasising the lack of security in the castle postal system, via which drugs and body parts seem to have been sent (though from what Nurse Simmons has said there is no evidence that the postal system itself was being used to deliver the notes and so on). Tamarind says he doesn't believe Abraxas was working alone. Also, Boris might just be alive and we should rescue him if we can. At least, we need to track down the others involved. He mentions the upside-down unicorn, which looked as though it had been there for a considerable length of time.
This rings no bells with Random, "But I'll talk to Caine". He orders Nurse Simmons placed in a Trump-proof cell.
Tamarind recommends Brand be placed in similar accommodation, especially before Gerard wakes up in the infirmary. He then comes up with the interesting suggestion of sculpting the floor of the Pattern room so that it slopes away from the Pattern, in case anyone bleeds nearby. Random says he'll consider this.
He Trumps off to shadow Haven.
In shadow 'Ball and Conifer', Tristan notes the radius of the explosion as Damien burns up the remaining blood with a 'Hellfire' spell. From the edge of the Pattern, it looks like it would have wiped out half the Pattern in one go. Abraxas had clearly been told that if he pumped himself full of Amberite blood, he could walk the Pattern...
They agree that Tristan will take the device and personal effects to Amber, so he Trumps Random.
Damien Trumps through to Beltaine and finds that Tamarind has also just arrived in Haven. Beltaine says the children are sleeping. Damien comes through to her.
Tamarind fills people in on Nurse Simmons and her kidnapped fiancé.
Beltaine is unsympathetic towards the woman's apparent willingness to trade the children's lives for her fiancé's.
Tamarind's suspect list (based on the device) is Llewella, Brand, Bleys and Fiona. He thinks Bleys and Fiona were conversing after the fight - their Trumps were active, anyway.
Damien notes that Abraxas had some bits and pieces on him, but he couldn't tell if any of them had ever been magical - the explosion of Pattern energy would have wiped them clean. Consequently, they don't know if it was really him doing the magic or not.
Damien and Ibrahim give blood for the nippers. Esmée has given a lot by now, and is asleep in a chair. Margot has given some too.
The children are dreaming. Beltaine worries that this is not good at this particular time, and tries to stop it, singing to them. Although she cannot stop them dreaming, she succeeds in singing them into having pleasant dreams. She and Ibrahim discuss magic and dreams for a while.
Tristan gets through to Random and passes through the device and Abraxas' personal effects before coming through himself. He tells Random about the doors, and his suspicions that the other keys lead to the Pattern room.
Random says he will talk to Caine about the device, and to Caine and Benedict about the secret passages and forgotten doors.
Tristan then Trumps off to shadow Haven.
In Haven, Tamarind Trumps Bleys, who, when he takes the call, says that nothing is happening in the centre of the Pattern.
Damien suggests Tamarind tell him the crisis is not over, and he should stay there.
"Damien recommends you remain there for the time being," says the treacherous Tamarind.
"Because there's still trouble, or so that I can starve to death?" enquires Bleys.
Tamarind passes him a sandwich, then asks innocently if Bleys has been in touch with anyone recently?
"Not since I got here, " says Bleys. Then remembers who he's talking to and adds quickly "Except my sister."
Some people sleep, while other people discuss recent events.
Random Trumps Tamarind and delivers through the four remaining guardian creatures (Udriel, Sensenya, Salcilia and Belisaria), who want to be with their children. We wonder how to replace Eleanor and Carl's creatures.
Beltaine gathers up two purple-and-silver koala creatures from outside as temporary substitutes for the creature-less children to cuddle. They snuggle up to them in their sleep.
Tristan checks the remaining creatures to ensure that they haven't been tampered with. As far as he can tell they have not been.
Tamarind, Tristan and Beltaine go to sleep.
Margot, Damien and Ibrahim stay up to watch over the children...
Session 2.2 Index Session 2.4
A Game-Related Poem from the Session