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Three Kings


Galahad's Diary

from

The Playtest of 'The Meanest of Shadows', 26 May 2001


As recorded by Tony Mitton.


PlayerCharacter (Parent / Amber friend); Description
Matt FitzgeraldRoland (Julian); Brain-damaged horny Paladin vassal of Julian
Genevieve CogmanBarbara (Eric / Caine); Serious Trump student and graffiti artist
Jane WinterFélice/Felicity/Flicka (Corwin / Random); Social organiser of Amber
Tony GrocockNikolai (Fiona / Shadow Illuria); Ancient tradesman Pattern Ph.D.
Tony MittonGalahad (Benedict / Gerard); Cool kinda guy

Prologue

It was a fine day for a stroll through the woods. The birds in the trees were singing and a few small animals rustled through the undergrowth.

And then Julian's rangers spoiled it by having a big fight with some bandits in my path.

Roland, Julian's kid, was pleasant enough. He told me about some dinner happening in Random's honour that night and was happy for me to continue my stroll.

Amber seemed much the same as ever. The guardsman recognised me (they have some kind of spotter's guide to the Family) and told me Princess Félice was in charge of the arrangements.

She was kind enough to show me where I could freshen up for this party and arrange for a suitable change of clothing.


Party time

So there we all were. The drinks were good.

Most of the family were there. Everybody except Benedict, Corwin, Caine and Random, in fact. And, eventually, Random turned up with Martin at his side.

The seating plan for dinner:

Flora Martin Random
(The King)
Félice Gerard
Roland Galahad
 
Barbara Bleys Nikolai Fiona Julian

The food was good. As dessert was ending, a giant ball of light raced across the sky outside. It had maybe come up from near the Pattern Room and then zoomed away somewhere.

Barbara went to the window to look at it and then rushed out of the room. Everyone else sat around, exhibiting varying degrees of surprise or nonchalance.

Nikolai came to join me at the window, saying he thought another one was coming. I didn't see anything myself for a couple of seconds but then another appeared from over the rooftop above us.

Barbara rejoined us as the second ball of light disappeared. She said there was nothing odd going on by our Pattern - must have Trumped there.

Nikolai though the balls had come from somewhere in Shadow and was full of Pattern energy.

So we went up to a tower with a better view all around. They were still coming, about two minutes or so apart. They rose up out of the ground, as if from out of the Pattern, and then flew off through Shadow.


"Deal with it"

We kids volunteered to go and follow the trajectory of the power balls and try to find out what was going on. After we'd done this, Random told us to "Deal with it".

Barbara trumped us down to the Pattern Room, using an apparently illegal trump. Random has forbidden Trumps of such sensitive places.

Everything seemed normal down here. The guards outside hadn't noticed anything going on. Nikolai decided whatever it was originated from the Primal Pattern and Fiona didn't want to go and look there herself, so that was apparently our next destination.

Since we were about to head into possible danger, a bit of kitting up seemed in order. Félice turned her frock into chainmail and I borrowed a sword and crossbow from the guards outside.

Then Nikolai trumped us through to his ship as, apparently, a good place from which to start. We borrowed more gear and then went down the gangplank.

From here, Nikolai led us through Shadow to the Primal Pattern. The power balls were appearing out of the centre of it. There was a small sphere of some kind in the middle, about a foot across or a little less.

At Nikolai's suggestion, I shot the ball out of the Pattern. It took a few goes, but eventually rolled free. This didn't seem to have any effect on the glowing spheres, which were still appearing. These were apparently a combination of Pattern and magic.

Meanwhile, Nikolai went off into what was apparently Dworkin's cave. The ball proved to be a (slightly chipped now) ball of crystal of some kind. Félice thought there was a trace of Trump in it.

Returning from Dworkin's cave, Nikolai reported signs of a fight and that all the old boy's books had been stolen.

It looks like the ball was a trigger of some kind. Félice said there was some sort of connection to Random. And he was certainly expecting trouble that evening.

In Dworkin's chambers there were signs of a fight between Dworkin and a mid-height skilled warrior. It looks like it happened two or three weeks ago. The family members fitting into the height range were Flora, Julian, Llewella, Martin, Random, Caine and Bleys.


Following the trail

While Félice trumped back to Random to tell everybody what was happening and ask Random about his ball, the rest of us set off to follow a lightning sphere to see where in Shadow it went.

The instructions from the Elders were to find out where the balls were going and find Dworkin. They'd get the rest of them in and keep an eye on each other.

We found a few more traces of blood leading out of the Pattern Bowl in a mostly hidden trail towards the sea. Félice and I followed the trail, while the rest rode after a glowing sphere.

The trail had been well hidden but eventually led to the water's edge. About fifteen metres under the water, next to a rocky promontory, were two bodies weighted down with stones. One was, apparently, Dworkin and the other the Unicorn.

Both were wounded, tied up and attached to stones then thrown into the water. But they didn't drown - so we're not sure what killed them. It was as if some kind of power was sucked out of them - their lifeforce.

We called the other three back. Their reaction was as shocked as expected.


A talk with the King

So, time to have a chat to Random about his sphere. We took the bodies to a medical Shadow of Félice's and then returned to Amber.

Back in the dining room, all the Elders were now present save Benedict. Martin shouted out that Chaos had been destroyed. One of the Pattern Balls had hit it and it fell into the Abyss. Benedict was inside.

We took Random off for a private chat.

He told us the sphere was a warning device to sense damage to the Primal Pattern. It was made by him with Dworkin's help and contained part of the lifeforce of each of them.

Random claimed the last assassination attempt was by six powerful assailants near Shadow Texorami. They seemed to be just out to kill him.

But then Random implied he'd found a way of using the Pattern to make things more real, a method which required the lifeforce of both Dworkin and the Unicorn. As he talked, it became clear he'd actually done this. The 'assassination attempt' was actually just the outcome of his fight with Dworkin.

The energy balls were generally intended to strengthen shadows and weaken Amber. But one was directed particularly to destroy Chaos.

Félice trumped away suddenly, Nikolai walked out in disgust and Barbara attempted to get Random to give her the Jewel of Judgement. He backed off, so we both advanced on him.

As Barbara reached out for him, he grabbed her and held her as a shield against me with his dagger at her throat. I drew my sword and stepped closer.

As Barbara twisted, I stabbed for Random's heart. She was in the way, but I really didn't care.

Random managed to mutter something as I pinned both of them to the wall with my sword. I'd missed Random's heart, but he was stuck where he was. Then I drew my dagger and went for his throat.

Nikolai burst back in with Félice shortly after. Several Elders crowded in behind them.

As I stabbed my knife up into his brain, Random quickly uttered an obviously practised phrase: "May Amber be No More than the Meanest of Shadows".


Epilogue

Nikolai recovered the Jewel of Judgement and hung onto it. I withdrew my sword and caught Barbara as she fell. Félice stopped Random collapsing in an undignified heap and laid out the body. Martin came over to his father's corpse, obviously grief-stricken.

I'd gone straight through one of Barbara's lungs and cleanly out between a couple of ribs. She'd been pretty lucky.

As the Elders swore their allegiance to Martin, I used the Trump kindly offered by Félice and took Barbara off to the Hospital Shadow where we'd put the bodies of Dworkin and the Unicorn.

The surgeons took good care of her, but I stayed at her side all the while. After a few hours, Barbara was able to walk so we returned to Amber. I used a different sword to swear loyalty to Martin.

It seems there were only two choices. First, live with the changes Random had made and watch Amber weaken slowly over time. Second, destroy and redraw the Primal Pattern. In the meantime we could investigate the Courts of Chaos and Corwin's Pattern. And see if we could find Benedict and Corwin themselves.

When we got there, Corwin's Pattern and its associated shadows had vanished without trace. Where they had been was a new Abyss. At Chaos, our outlying forts had survived but all of Chaos was gone. Our best efforts could not create a trump contact with either Benedict or Corwin.

Random's Blood Curse was a good one.


In time, Martin erased the Primal Pattern and created a new, rather different one. Julian, his appointed heir, took up the Jewel and we swore loyalty to him. Now let's just see how long things last.


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