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Session 2.10 Index Session 3.2
Notes Taken by Samantha and Alastair Beadle.
Twenty years have passed in Amber since the defeat of the Moonriders out of Ghenesh, in which time:
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There seem to be more wars and unrest than normal out in shadow. Jihx thinks that Caitlin must be responsible, so sends a dove of his desire with a message tied to its leg to find her. When it arrives Caitlin eats the dove then Trump calls Jihx. She tells him that she participates in wars but never starts them.
Jihx is in shadow 'Cove'.
Caitlin is in her white tower.
Etienne is on the Enchanted Earth.
It is currently autumn in Amber.
Jihx gets a Trump call, which he answers. It is Vialle, holding a small painted bust of Jihx. She asks him to come through to Amber. He agrees to do this and goes through to her. She is in her office in the castle, a medium-sized room with a desk, a couple of armchairs and small windows high up on two walls.
Vialle tells Jihx that Gerard has disappeared. He went off with Lillian to investigate reports of wars and unrest at the edge of the Golden Circle. Apparently he used this as much as an excuse to get away from the mounds of paperwork his Regency involves as anything else. The day before she had received a dove carrying a message saying that he had some news and she was to gather the family. But he never showed up.
Jihx tries to Trump Gerard, but he cannot make contact. Jihx then attempts to contact Etienne so she can try instead (her brain being more powerful than his).
Off in the Enchanted Earth, Etienne feels a Trump contact coming on. Being an untrusting sort, sets up her arquebus on its tripod facing ahead, then answers the call. She is pleased to see Jihx, and lowers the arquebus. Jihx tells her about the problem and she says she will try to contact Gerard.
She cuts the Trump link and concentrates on Gerard's Trump. However, she cannot get through, so she calls Jihx back and tells him so before cutting the link again. Etienne then Trumps Caitlin and after Caitlin reluctantly takes the call she agrees to go to Amber. Etienne re-Trumps Jihx and joins him in Vialle's office.
Etienne and Jihx attempt to Trump the others. However they cannot contact Godofos, Arun, Lillian or Gilgamesh (though he has been out of contact for a long time). Jihx also finds that he cannot contact his children. He contacts Queen Moire in Rebma and tells her that he cannot contact the kiddies. She is alarmed by this, and insists Jihx find them as soon as possible.
Vialle suggests that they search Gerard's office.
Caitlin arrives in the Amber Castle courtyard, and is challenged by the guards there. Once they have identified her, she wanders on into the castle and goes to find the others. She meets them en route from Vialle's office to Gerard's office, and they tell her what they are doing.
Etienne Trumps off to shadow Vitesse to send a message-bearing dove to Gerard.
Caitlin and Jihx go to Gerard's office. Unfortunately it is locked. Gerard's secretary, whose desk is in the outer office, tells them Gerard has the key so Jihx breaks the lock. They start to search the desk and the papers on it.
In Vitesse, Etienne gets a dove, paper and pen from the innkeeper and writes a letter to Gerard. She ties it onto the dove and releases it. It flies off. She then Trumps Jihx, and when contact is made she goes through back to Amber where Jihx and Caitlin are searching Gerard's desk.
Etienne can feel there is something containing magic and Trump in a desk drawer. We concentrate on the Pattern to contain the magic (though really only Etienne is affecting whatever it is) and then open the drawer. Inside is a small wooden box and a sealed envelope, marked 'To whom it may concern'. Inside the box is a round purple gem, roughly golf-ball sized, with many facets (so many it looks almost spherical), with an ornately worked gold band around its centre which supports three ornate gold legs, upon which the gem is supported. It is this which contains the magic and Trump power.
Etienne uses her magic-detecting bell, but because we are suppressing the magic here nothing happens. Etienne starts to bring the magic-suppressing field of Pattern energy down and something starts to happen to the gem. It begins to glow red. The gem is put back in its box but it continues to throb with power. We decide that whatever it is doing, it is not immediately harmful, so do not continue to suppress it. Etienne opens the envelope. Inside is a letter in Gerard's handwriting:
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If you have discovered this envelope I am missing or dead, therefore request that you take over the responsibility I have been given for the child of my brother. His name is Skyrie. My brother requested he be kept secret from the other Amberites, but in the event of my being missing or dead he should be found and brought to Amber as he may be in danger. The device in the box with this letter may be used to find him - the colour of the gem shows how desperate his need for assistance is. Blue means he is fine; red means that urgent assistance is required.
Gerard |
Etienne concentrates on the ring as if it was a Trump card. And lo and behold what feels very much like a Trump link opens up. Through this link we can see a burned-out hut by a salt-marsh-type swamp. Etienne and Jihx decide to go through while Caitlin, with the assistance of the secretary, continues to search Gerard's desk.
Etienne and Jihx go through the Trump-gem thing and appear beside the hut. The - the hut has been burnt fairly recently, and, it turns out is just the closest to the swamp of a village of burned-out huts, all fairly alike. The swamp goes around the village on three sides, with dryer land leading off on the fourth side. There are four moons visible overhead. Etienne decides the shadow is called 'Dump', so the people are called 'dumpies', and so on. This place seems more Real than it should be because an Amberite is here. Etienne can tell that time runs at about half the speed of time in Amber (so one hour here is two hours in Amber), and there is a lot of magic here but technology is limited.
The lights of some kind of settlement can be seen off in the distance, along with some mountains so Jihx and Etienne use the Pattern to find their steeds just around the corner, mount and they gallop off towards the lights.
Back in Amber Caitlin finds a large number of reports from spies, naval patrols and merchant ships regarding recent events in shadows Garramoth, Geranath, Balnack and Neass. These are all on the outskirts of the Golden Circle at the end of one of the shadow paths out from Amber and all have recently suffered coups or insurrections which seem to have arisen out of the common people, or hordes have ridden in and thrown down the ruling civilisations. There have been show trials, burnings of people and so on.
There are also some reports from shadows Cilanar and Belanoth (which are a little closer to Amber on the same shadow path) of faint rumblings from the fen country, unrest in the cities, reports of invasion and what appears to be the start of what has happened in the other shadows. There are several reports in Lillian's handwriting that this is all highly suspicious, particularly its all occurring at the same time. None of these reports are terribly new; the most recent appears to be about a week old.
Caitlin puts the papers in a folder and takes them with her as she leaves. She then makes for the kitchens, gets large pile of meat and eats.
Back in shadow 'Dump' as Etienne and Jihx ride closer the lights ahead resolve into a large town (with a population of perhaps tens of thousands). It shows no sign of any technology to speak of. The town is encircled by large fairly new-looking defensive walls which show signs of previous battle damage, but many buildings are now outside them. Etienne can sense magic within the town, and also that the walls themselves are magical (probably made by magic). Inside the walls some form of solemn festival can be heard taking place. The gates, though, are locked (it is night though so this is not surprising). The people in the buildings outside the wall watch curiously as we pass. They have tanned skin and wear plain clothes - shirt and trousers.
Etienne dismounts and approaches one of the locals. He is quite deferential, although not fearful. He bows and asks how he can help. Etienne tells him that they are strangers in this land and are looking for an individual named Skyrie. He thinks for a while and then says, "You mean Skyrie Velutiun Dominus, Crimson Inquisitor, Champion of the Order of the Silver Flame, Rider of the Forty-Seven Winds, Divine Shadow of Asiyta, Guardian of the Severed Statue, Conqueror of Xanusia, Overlord of the Fourteen Empires?"
Etienne agrees that this is probably him. However the man explains that Skyrie lives in the capital, Mamaxia, a hundred leagues to the North. Using the Pattern Etienne pays him for his trouble in the local coinage (the coin has four moons on one side and a head in profile on the other, identified as Skyrie). The man describes Skyrie as a wise, just and strong overlord who threw down the old and corrupt Kingdom of Xanusia and took its place.
When asked he says that the festival we can hear is the celebration of the four moons, a celebration of great religious significance which is held whenever all four moons are full. Etienne then asks which supreme being looks after the worlds. The man says it is Skyrie Velutiun Dominus, Crimson Inquisitor, Champion of the Order of the Silver Flame, Rider of the Forty-Seven Winds, Divine Shadow of Asiyta, Guardian of the Severed Statue, Conqueror of Xanusia, Overlord of the Fourteen Empires.
"Is he a God?" asks Etienne. But the man does not appear to understand what a God is.
Etienne and Jihx wander off and discuss what to do. They agree that Etienne will fly to Mamaxia and then Trump Jihx when she gets there while Jihx heads back to Amber to see what Caitlin is up to.
In Amber, Caitlin has finished a large meat-based meal and retired to her secret garden (or her overgrown garden courtyard as others might describe it) to relax. She kills a few small singing birds that have taken up residence there.
Jihx arrives, Trumping into the arrival courtyard. After being OK'd by the guards he asks servants where Caitlin is. He is told that she is somewhere in one of the unused parts of the castle. He makes his way there and opens a door at random, luckily finding Caitlin in her garden at once - what luck!
He sees the two dead birds. "I am surprised you haven't cooked those yet," he comments.
"I've already eaten," replies Caitlin.
He asks what she found. She shows him the reports.
In Mamaxia, the capital of Xanusia, Skyrie receives reports of someone flying towards the city on Pegasus-back. This is not totally unheard-of but is unusual - he starts looking for them with magic.
Jihx looks through the reports and then goes to the library to research the six shadows mentioned in them. With the assistance of the librarians he finds the following information:
GARRAMOTH
The furthest from Amber of the six shadows mentioned. A desert world of shifting dunes of sand formed from multicoloured gems, with a hot blue sun overhead. In and under the sand are also found many kinds of larger gems, and it is the mining of these which provides this shadows main export to other worlds. The cities of this shadow are made up of tall stone spires decorated with swirls of jewel dust and are centred around deep wells which go down into the bedrock to where water may be found; fungus grown in these wells provides the main food source for the people of the shadow. The spires are linked by a network of ropes.
It is inhabited by two intelligent races, one of black-skinned humans, the other of eagle-men. These eagle-men have humanoid bodies but the heads of eagles and clawed bird-like hands and feet; they also have a very good sense of balance. The eagle-men sift the sand for gems and rule the shadow; they live high up in the spires, and travel from spire to spire via the ropes strung between them. The humans live low down in the spires and work down in the wells or run shops and markets in the lower floors of the spires or the open spaces between them; they are definitely lower in the social order than the eagle-men, but not oppressed as such.
One of the shadow paths out from Amber finally peters out here.
The reports indicate that the eagle-men have been overthrown by a coup, possibly religion-based, arising from the human population.
GERANATH
This shadow adjoins Garramoth on the shadow path. It is an entirely monochrome world with a bright white sun in a pale grey sky above infinite grassy plains dotted with roughly mile-wide clusters of forest each centred about an (apparently) bottomless hundred-metre wide vertical-walled shaft that goes down into the ground. The people of this shadow are monochrome (in a variety of greys) but otherwise human. They live in towns built in the trees around the shafts, which usually have a cleared area around the top of the shaft where communal and industrial buildings are sited.
They hunt the beasts which roam the plains, and also mine metals from deposits found in the shafts. This shadow's main exports are animal hides and metals.
From the reports, this shadow has been invaded and taken over by a horde of black minotaurs.
BALNACK
This shadow adjoins Geranath. It is a world of rolling hills covered with low red, orange and yellow ferns which seem to be this shadow's version of grass. There are occasional lakes in the valleys. The sun is purplish-red in a pale yellow sky.
Dotted over the landscape are vast (skyscraper-sized) termite nests, built and inhabited by reddish-brown termite-like insects the size of rats. Huge networks of termite tunnels surround these nests under the ground.
The people of this shadow are reddish-skinned humans who live parasitically on the termites. Because of this they have an easy life and so devote their time mostly to the creation of art, literature and philosophy, the development of the magics that enable them to live off the termites, or to warfare against the humans inhabiting other termite-cities. Their society is vaguely mediaeval-Italian, with each group of humans in a termite-city effectively an independent city-state.
They export their art and philosophy, skilled warriors, and termite-made papier-mâché-type goods, to other shadows, and import luxury goods of all kinds.
The reports state that this shadow has had a charismatic leader appear in one of the termite cities who is attacking and taking over other city-states, and forging them into a shadow-wide empire.
NEASS
This shadow is the next one towards Amber after Balnack. It is a world of snowy grasslands and pine forests roamed by herds of animals, mainly moose, woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros. Nomadic tribes of white-furred, white-haired humans follow these herds on horses and sleds, living off them and also hunting the fur-bearing animals (e.g. tigers) which live there too, and also hunt the herds and the people. The tribes occasionally war amongst themselves during times of famine and particularly harsh weather, but are usually quite peaceful and hospitable.
Occasional lakes dot the landscape; some are permanently covered with ice; others are warmed by geothermal heat and remain unfrozen, and in fact warm, all the time. The shadow does have a year, and seasons, but the seasons vary from just about freezing to far below freezing.
Some ruins of huge, ancient cities and the remains of wide, well-built roads dot the shadow. No-one knows who built them or what happened to them.
There is only one city in the shadow, which is a trading post on the shadow path. The natives export furs, carved bone and certain highly potent distilled alcoholic beverages, and import various 'high-tech' items.
The reports indicate that a new messiah has arisen from the hinterlands who is uniting the tribes and incorporating others by force.
CILANAR
The next shadow towards Amber after shadow Neass, Cilanar is a shadow of reed-beds and meandering channels of open water, with Venice-style canal-based cities of brick and stone on the occasional small rocky islands which project above or close to the surface of the water. The climate is European, with warm summers and cold winters.
The people of the shadow are considered to one of the most beautiful races in all the shadows of the Golden Circle. They are divided into two groups. The city-dwellers, cultured and sophisticated, who always go masked (with ornate Venetian-style masks) in public, and the 'fen-people' who live out in the marshes in reed huts constructed on floating reed platforms, moving about of reed boats. The city-dwellers provide manufactured goods, while the fen-people provide food for the city-dwellers, hunting the abundant fish and waterfowl (sometimes vast flocks fly over, almost obscuring the sun). The fen-people are definitely second-class citizens.
The shadow imports wood and metal, and exports dried fish, woven products, masks, medicinal mud and 'courtiers'/'courtesans' who work across the rest of the Golden Circle.
Reports indicate that there is unrest among the fen-people of this shadow, both out away from the cities and from those employed in the cities also, and signs that perhaps they are going to rise up against the city dwellers at some point soon.
BELANOTH
The closest to Amber of the six shadows, Belanoth is a shadow of infinite deep ocean, broken only by occasional randomly scattered cylindrical columns of grey rock which project up out of the sea and miles into the sky; the columns do have a large diameter but because of their height nonetheless appear to be thin. Lichens and other plants grow on the rock. The humans of this shadow live in settlements built on/into the sheer walls of the rocky columns. The only sea life is jellyfish and less advanced creatures; there are no vertebrates in the sea at all. The jellyfish vary in size from tiny to huge. There are birds, which came to this shadow with the human population.
They live from fishing and farming the plants which grow on the columns, and are seafarers and balloonists who originated in a different shadow but who came to live here long ago, fleeing war and persecution. This shadow has no appreciable imports or exports.
The reports say that there are signs that this shadow has been invaded by a raft-dwelling people who are taking the place over, column by column.
Caitlin gets a servant to pack her a bag of random things, then not tell her what is in it. For use with the Pattern.
In his capital of Mamaxia, Skyrie uses magic to watch the approach of Etienne. Etienne, flying on the back of Electra, senses the magic used to observe her, pulls out the Eye of St Claire (a crystal ball) and uses it to trace the magic back to its source. She sees the city of Mamaxia and Skyrie in a large hundred foot square vaulted chamber, with a plain black and white tiled floor, one end of which is open to the outside. A large circular bowl of water is set on a pedestal in the middle. A man is peering into the water, looking at an image of Etienne and obviously (to Etienne) doing something magical. Another man (Skyrie) is standing nearby, holding a pad of paper, sketching what is being shown in the water. He is wearing shiny red chain mail. Both figures emanate large amounts of magic. Around the chamber are other exits and a few guards. Shortly Skyrie also senses that he is being watched by magic (in addition to seeing Etienne looking into a crystal ball).
Etienne lands Electra prior to reaching some mountains which lie ahead of her path. She uses the Eye of St Claire to talk to Skyrie via magic. She sends him polite greetings and asks permission to speak further. When Skyrie grants this she introduces herself and mentions Amber and 'her cousins'. Skyrie says that this is interesting and invites her to the palace. She asks if she may bring one or two of her cousins and he agrees. The magical communication ends and Etienne Trumps Jihx.
In Amber, Caitlin asks for lunch in her room and retires to sleep.
Jihx, having spent a couple of productive hours researching the six shadows mentioned in the reports, feels a Trump call coming on, and accepts it.
It is Etienne. She tells Jihx all that has happened since he left her. She proposes that Caitlin joins her now and that they call Jihx when they reach the palace in Mamaxia. The Trump contact ends.
Jihx goes and wakes up Caitlin to pass on this news. Caitlin agrees with Etienne's plan, and Trumps her. When Etienne takes the Trump call Caitlin joins on her Electra's back by way of a flashy bit of mid-air acrobatics. Skyrie sees this happening through his scrying magic!
Etienne and Caitlin exchange news. Etienne ponders on the fact that the jewel indicated Skyrie is in danger but this is not evident from what she has seen here so far.
Jihx goes to have lunch.
Etienne and Caitlin arrive at the capital city of Mamaxia, at around midnight. A lot of buildings are lit up. Many are still under construction and work is progressing, even at this time of night. The city is in the fork of a three way valley at the convergence of two rivers. Above the city, on the sheer cliff face where the rivers join is a large castle, which seems to have no doors or roads leading to it. Etienne can see a landing pad on the castle which probably corresponds to the outside of the room where she saw Skyrie. It can be seen that the castle has construction work going on. Closer inspection shows the workers to be undead zombies, supervised by the living!
Caitlin ponders why Amberites like castles so much - she cannot see it really!
Skyrie has arranged a welcoming party for us. Electra lands and is greeted by an honour guard. There is lots of magic around. Etienne tells Electra to go off and find pasture; she flies away. Etienne Trumps Jihx and brings him into the chamber. This does not seem to surprise or upset the honour guard very much.
Etienne introduces us to the guard and requests an audience with the 'Crimson Inquisitor'.
"What sort of name is that?" asks Caitlin sarcastically. A guard takes umbrage at this and demands that she treats him with respect or she will be punished. Caitlin is unimpressed. "Try it!" she says.
He backs down, having been given orders to give the visitors safe passage. Another guard casts a spell to stop that one talking again and apologises. Etienne apologises on Caitlin's behalf in turn. The guard says that the audience will be in the morning.
Caitlin, slightly upset by this, Trumps back to Amber, asking to be summoned when it is time for the audience.
Arriving in the Amber Castle courtyard, Caitlin goes to see Vialle, who is in her office, working with the aid of a sighted secretary (a middle-aged woman). Caitlin tells Vialle what we are doing, and asks if Vialle knows anything about Skyrie.
Vialle says she does not, and offers Caitlin tea. Caitlin thinks this is a good idea and tea is ordered. It arrives, and Caitlin and Vialle chat. After this Caitlin goes to her room and sleeps some more.
In Mamaxia, Etienne and Jihx are shown to luxury rooms in the castle where they can rest for the night. Rather than use his room, Jihx goes back to Amber. Etienne summons a guardian angel to guard her room and sleeps in Skyrie's castle. Jihx sleeps in his rooms in Castle Amber.
Skyrie sends some of his servants to search for any references to a place called Amber.
The next morning, Etienne is awoken by a servant dressed in dark grey clothes knocking on the door.
Skyrie's servants have found no reference to anywhere called Amber anywhere in the Fourteen Empires.
Etienne Trumps Jihx to say that it is time for the audience.
Jihx, who has been up and about for a while, takes the calls and asks for a few minutes to get ready.
Etienne then Trumps Caitlin and asks if she wants to be present. Caitlin declines - she seems to have upset them and thinks that Skyrie sounds a bit of a pratt anyway! They agree to keep a Trump contact open anyway in case a rapid exit is needed. A little while later Jihx Trumps Etienne and joins her.
They (Etienne, Jihx and the Guardian Angel, with Caitlin watching by Trump link to Etienne) head off to the audience chamber.
This is the chamber where Etienne saw Skyrie scrying on her. It is full of people in crimson robes. The guardian angel causes some uneasiness among those present but the party is allowed to enter the room. Much magic is present and Caitlin can see by the posture of some of those present that magical weapons are being aimed at the three in the room. Etienne can also sense the assorted attack spells and determines the people that are aiming them. Even Jihx can sense that weapons are being aimed at him, but not what or from exactly whom.
Someone steps forward and announces Skyrie by his full title. "Skyrie Velutiun Dominus, Crimson Inquisitor, Champion of the Order of the Silver Flame, Rider of the Forty-Seven Winds, Divine Shadow of Asiyta, Guardian of the Severed Statue, Conqueror of Xanusia, Overlord of the Fourteen Empires" (Caitlin adds "and a right pratt" to the end, but only Etienne can hear). All of the locals in the room kneel. Some then throw themselves flat on the floor. Etienne also kneels, as does Jihx after a couple of seconds pause and a quick look around. Skyrie enters, looks slightly annoyed and signals for everyone to get up. He then nods to an aide who says "Ambassadors of Amber approach the throne!" Etienne and Jihx do so.
"Ambassadors of Amber, what is your petition?" demands the aide.
Skyrie can sense the Trumps on Etienne and Jihx and that Etienne is in a Trump link at the moment. Etienne can also sense that Skyrie has some Trumps on him.
Etienne tells a story to Skyrie - the story of Amber. She describes Amber itself (including that magic does not work well there), the innumerable shadows radiating out from it, and the Amberites themselves, including the way that they sometimes use foster parents to raise their children in safety out in shadow. She goes on to say that she believes him to be an Amberite, and offers him the possibility of being Prince of a million worlds, as opposed to Emperor of fourteen.
Skyrie acknowledges and accepts our greetings and asks us to join him in less formal surroundings. The party are escorted to a far less official-seeming and more scruffy room, with assorted bits and pieces scattered all over the place, with a strange air of being like a battlefield tent (perhaps it is the fabric-covered walls and the tented ceiling).
Skyrie asks if the third member of the group is going to join us. Etienne passes this along and Caitlin agrees to join us; she appears in a purple Trump rainbow. Skyrie asks about the Pattern. Etienne describes it as it sits in the chamber under Amber.
Skyrie describes the person who trained him - in Trumps among other things - a swarthy-skinned bearded man dressed in green and black. Jihx shows him a Trump of Gerard. This is not his trainer but Skyrie does remember having seen him around, in the background at various major events.
Skyrie asks for a demonstration of the power of the Pattern. Etienne uses her magic to conjure a set of golden double doors in the wall which open to reveal a corridor beyond with another set of golden doors at the fart end. Skyrie is not terribly impressed by this (as it is only magic) but Etienne beckons him to follow, telling him that anything magical should be left behind to avoid it losing its power.
Skyrie removes various articles from about his person, as does Etienne. Skyrie replaces them with conventional equipment. And we leave Skyrie's room through the new corridor, Etienne using the Pattern to shift us through shadow as we do so.
Through the door at the far end of the corridor we emerge from golden door floating in mid-air into a world with a bright red sky, floating purple mountains and a boiling orange sea; we are standing on a small rocky islet in this sea. Butterfly-winged people fly around, between cities like weaver-bird nests which hover in the air and forests of floating seaweed-like vegetation. Etienne, Jihx and Caitlin all exert the power of the Pattern and a procession of strange creatures which we have encountered in the past parades past; the strangest are those which Caitlin has seen (as she has spent the most time exploring shadow of her, Etienne and Jihx).
Etienne says there is another world she would like them to see. Caitlin suggests that they follow this path; we turn around to discover the islet has changed so that its far side has a path leading off; this exists in place of the golden door. We set off.
As we follow the path the path widens and the boiling orange ocean receded; it gets warmer and the rock of the path changes to sand as the landscape changes slowly into a desert. A single deep orange sun beats down from a pale yellow sky onto similarly orange sand. As we walk the members of the party with magical powers feel that power seeping away.
Etienne provides a further demonstration by reaching into the sand and fishing out a water bottle. Skyrie tastes it; it does indeed contain water. Jihx asks if he would prefer something else. Skyrie suggests the blood of his enemies. Caitlin says she cannot do that of his enemies but fishes a bottle of more generic blood from her bag. Skyrie tries that too. Caitlin then fishes out a smaller bag from her larger bag for him to carry the bottle in.
Just to ensure that he can, Skyrie uses one of his Trumps to open up a link back to his own worlds. This does work, although it takes longer than normal. However, he does not go through the Trump link, but once the link forms, allows it to drop again. He then asks to be taken to Amber.
Etienne goes back to Mamaxia to find her things, zooming through shadow at high speed. Skyrie Trumps back to his room. Thirty seconds after he arrives the door opens and Etienne enters. She removes the golden door she made (to keep his guards happy).
Skyrie goes off for a while to put things into order ready for his departure; part of these preparations is the mobilisation of Skyrie's army.
Etienne Trumps back to Amber.
While this is taking place, Caitlin and Jihx go back to Amber. Upon arrival they tell the guards in the Arrival Courtyard that a stranger will be coming through shortly. Then they go off to tell Vialle what has happened.
His preparations complete, Skyrie Trumps Etienne from the sketch he made while she flew in towards Mamaxia.
Etienne brings Skyrie through to the Amber Arrival Courtyard. Etienne introduces Skyrie to the guards.
Skyrie can feel the reality of Amber in the sky, castle walls, sunlight, in fact in everything around him. Many of his magical items have become inactive.
In the Castle keep, Jihx tells Vialle that Skyrie has arrived.
Skyrie is lead into the castle by Etienne, where they meet with Caitlin and Jihx. They take Skyrie to a set of guest rooms, which come with a servant to cater to his needs.
Skyrie wants to explore the castle, but Caitlin points out that time is pressing and they need to set out soon to find Gerard and the other missing people. Etienne agrees with this assessment, and she and Jihx Trump out to shadow Vitesse.
Once there they quickly find Electra and Jihx's horse and head off towards the shadows at the edge of the Golden Circle from which the reports of trouble had come...
Caitlin gives Skyrie a quick tour of the main areas of the castle. She then takes him to meet with Vialle.
Vialle (still working in her office) greets Skyrie and welcomes him to the family of Amber. Skyrie is given a bit detail on the current situation - the list of those missing, Gerard's role as Regent, and the situation with the other Amberites who left 42 years ago to fight down at the Courts of Chaos.
Skyrie asks to see the Pattern. Vialle suggests that he walks it. Sounds like a good idea!
Skyrie and Caitlin head down to the Pattern room; down the long spiral stair, and along the corridor to the turning which leads to the Pattern. Following Caitlin's advice, Skyrie removes his magical items (most of what he is wearing in fact!) and, after a few additional words of caution from Caitlin, starts to walk the Pattern.
The Pattern is as difficult as always. Skyrie remembers several things from his early childhood which he did not previously remember whilst walking the Pattern, in addition to going through all of his memories. Eventually he reaches the centre, and collapses to his knees before concentrating and reappearing next to Caitlin, exhausted.
Caitlin takes him to Vitesse to recover and explains to him about different rates of time flow in different shadows. She asks him how old he is. Skyrie says he is 29. He goes to bed...
Session 2.10 Index Session 3.2
Skyrie's Diary for This Session, Part 1
Skyrie's Diary for This Session, Part 2
The "Now These Her Princes Are Come Home Again" Top Page.
The original versions of the Trump images of Connor and Nemain (whose Trumps are based on photographs of Minnie Driver and Jude Law respectively) come from the Absolutepictures.com web site. As such they are used here without permission, for personal game use only and not for profit or commercial gain.
