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Notes Taken by Samantha and Alastair Beadle.
From the notes from Godofos' visit fifteen Amber years ago, shadow Telaram is a wild-west type shadow, with dinosaurs of various kinds rather than bison. It is a land of flat prairie broken by scattered mesas, with rivers and streams on the flat land, and scattered woodland too. There are small towns here and there, built of wood and catering to the dinosaur herders. There are railroads, which run from town to town and apparently to far-away cities (though Godofos never went to these cities). Magic existed. The religious trouble there was an upsurge of the local religion - fire and brimstone preaching and so on. The local religious loonies chased Godofos out of town.
Arun is still off in shadow Cilanar with Uncle Tegrit.
Etienne contacts Arun via the Trump, and when she gets through tells him that we have found Gerard and Lillian, but that they are dead. Arun asks how. Etienne (and others of us who join the Trump link) describes the damage they had suffered and the circumstances under which they were found.
Arun comes through the Trump link and appears with us in the Library. He tells that he was trying to meet up with the false God in Cilanar.
Etienne suggests that there are three shadows we need to investigate:
Arun wanders off through the Library stacks to see what the precedents are following the death of the Regent of Amber.
We all know that there is a crypt under the Castle for family members (as that is where Finndo's body was laid to rest - we attended Finndo's burial).
Arun returns with a book on burials and so forth for family members - whether they are dead or not (as in the case of Corwin). Arun suggests that the Master of Ceremonies for Amber be given the book.
Etienne also suggests we might like to visit the afterlife. Her afterlife, that is.
We discuss who is now the Regent of Amber.
Jihx then Trumps to Rebma to see when his children were last seen.
At the same time, Etienne Trumps off to the enchanted Earth.
Jihx arrives in Rebman Arrival Courtyard, and goes to see Connor's valet and Nemain's chief lady in waiting. They bow to him; they are both wearing the standard Rebman scaled trunks and little else. He asks when his kiddies were last seen. They say they last saw them some three months ago, when they left for shadow (the twins have been spending a lot of time exploring shadow since they walked the Pattern three years ago). The servants have no idea where they had gone, but they were together (as they normally are). Jihx then asks what they were wearing when they left, and is told that they left wearing the traditional Rebman scaled swimsuits.
Etienne arrives in one of her Enchanted Earths, quickly shifts shadow to another, then drops to her knees and starts to pray.
Jihx tries to Trump Caitlin, but she resists so he gives up and Trumps Etienne instead, interrupting her prayers.
She takes the call but she isn't in the Library, having left Amber just after Jihx. Jihx cuts that Trump link and then contacts Arun. Arun is in the Library, so Jihx comes through the link to him.
Skyrie has a flash of inspiration and figures out how to draw Trumps much more quickly and effectively than he has been able to do up to now.
He uses this new understanding to quickly draw a Trump sketch of the Library, then Trumps off to the Fourteen Empires, leaving the Library.
Jihx's interruption over, Etienne returns to her prayers. She quickly makes contact with God - His presence is far more obvious here than it was in shadow Belanoth. She asks God about His moving to other shadows. He says He was in the other shadows and did speak to her there. He repeats what He said when Etienne spoke to God previously - 'Have Faith', and so on.
Etienne asks why God has changed His tactics. God says He has not. Etienne explains that she thought that God was going to build a 'wall' around 'His' shadows to protect 'Himself' from the Amberites. God says that Etienne was mistaken. He has reconsidered and decided that He prefers His plan to take over all of shadow and 'bring all shadows into the light of GOD.'
He asks whether Etienne doubts Him. She says that she is confused, and that previously (in the Enchanted Earth) people were converted peacefully.
God explains that many still are. It is only those that resist that He has to smash into the ground and destroy utterly. Again He asks if Etienne doubts Him.
She says that she has just got to get her head around God's new 'Mission Statement' before she fully understands.
Etienne then shifts shadow back to the Enchanted Earth she originally arrived in. She contacts its God ('God Version II'), which as far as she is aware is separate from the God she was speaking to just now. This God answers her prayer also, and Etienne asks Him how long it has been since she last spoke to Him. He says six hours (which is the last time she was here, rather than just now, when she talked to the 'other' God). Etienne explains to God-2 about God-1 and His new policy. She warns Him about the fire and brimstone groups and says she will hopefully come back soon when everything is sorted out.
She Trumps back to Amber.
Meanwhile, Skyrie arrives in the Fourteen Empires. He uses the Pattern to quickly locate a group of the new highly religious insurgents. He asks them who is the most devoted. They nominate one of their number, so Skyrie kills the others, then subdues the devoted one. He draws a quick Trump sketch of him, forces a Trump contact with him, and then kills him.
Skyrie tries to maintain the Trump contact as the mind of the dying man drifts away. As soon as the man dies, it becomes much harder to maintain the Trump contact, but Skyrie just about manages it. He feels the mind drifting away, getting harder to maintain contact with as if it was physically moving further away. Then the difficulty of maintaining contact increases in a step - it appears as if the dead man's spirit has just gone through a shadow veil. Skyrie is able to keep the contact up for couple more shadow veils, then he cannot hold on to it, and it is gone. He then Trumps back to the Library.
Etienne arrives back in the Library at the same time. Skyrie explains to everyone what he has found out. Etienne borrows Skyrie's Trump sketch and tries to contact the dead man's spirit, but cannot. Etienne then explains her findings.
We discuss what is happening.
Jihx has been looking through the reports of religion-based wars and disturbances in shadow, particularly the ones near to where he knows Connor and Nemain have been. He then looks through the other reports and finds one from a shadow he thinks they would have visited - one that Lillian had sent a report on. Shadow Jalku - a vaguely Tibetan-style shadow of mountain-locked valleys and mountainside temples.
We decide to go to shadow Telaram, or at least try to go there - Godofos' report is not terribly detailed when it comes to the route there.
However, Jihx decides that finding Connor and Nemain is easier as Etienne could try to follow their path - even if it is from three months past. Etienne agrees to try, so Jihx Trumps to the Rebma arrival courtyard. Arun and Etienne go through with him. Upon arriving on the other side, Arun turns into his dolphin-like avatar form.
Jihx leads Etienne and Arun to Connor and Nemain's chambers in Castle Rebma, and summons their servants again.
The servants arrive and bow to the three of us. Jihx asks them about Connor and Nemain's departure, and is told that they departed through the southern gate of Rebma (the gate furthest from Amber) on their horse/eel steeds.
Jihx, Arun and Etienne go to the south gate to try and trace their path. They go out of the gates and along the road across the seabed beyond. About a hundred yards from the city walls the road is marked with a pair of the flame-tipped pillars which light Rebma. This is where the effect that allows people to survive Rebma's underwater environment ends, to be replaced by normal deep-sea conditions. They stop at this point, but Etienne cannot detect any path through shadow at this point - she suspects she is still too close to Rebma for this.
Jihx and Etienne cannot survive beyond the protection of Rebma. Arun offers to shapeshift them until they can survive. They accept his offer...
Back in the Library, Skyrie departs for Mamaxia again to try another experiment.
Upon arrival, he wanders the streets looking for a subject with assistance from the Pattern. He looks for a non-Christian this time, a believer in the reincarnation theology of Mamaxia, who is already on the verge of dying. He finds an old woman with a bad cough, thin and dirty, begging on the streets.
She peers at him as he quickly Trump sketches her, forces a Trump contact on her and then kills her. As before, he watches what happens to her she dies. Her soul gets fainter as the life drains from her (as it did before) and then it moves away, stops and changes. It seems to get smaller and simpler, as if it is shedding elements of itself until the soul has changed so much that it is no longer the soul of the old woman and thus the Trump link breaks.
Skyrie then tries to draw a Trump of the thing that the old woman's soul was turning into. This is difficult as he never really saw it, but he could sense what it was becoming, so there is just about enough to work with. He manages to end up with a Trump of a baby. He Trumps the baby, forces the contact upon its undeveloped mind, and pulls himself through the Trump link...
He appears in a low-ceilinged, dirty, smoky peasant's hut which is currently occupied by a bedraggled-looking mother, in a bed with a clearly very new-born baby in her arms, and another woman - presumably the midwife. The baby is screaming anyway, and the women scream too when Skyrie appears in a purple Trump rainbow. Skyrie casts a 'Lifeforce of the Divine Shadow' spell on them all from his armour. The woman on the bed suddenly looks less tired and stops screaming. So do the baby and the midwife.
Skyrie reaches under the bed and, using the Pattern, pulls out a heavy plain wooden box and gives it to the mother. There is an item of great value inside. "This is for the baby. It has served its lord well in a previous life," he tells her.
The women, who have now recognised Skyrie, their emperor, accept the gift very, very politely. They curtsy deeply (as deeply as is possible from the bed in the mothers case) as he leaves the hut (by the door).
Two men are standing outside the hut, looking particularly worried because of all the screaming, look surprised when Skyrie emerges from the hut. They quickly recognise him, and bow deeply.
Looking around, Skyrie discovers that he is still somewhere in Xanussia. He commands the villagers to take great care of the baby for all its life, and then Trumps back to the Amber Library.
Caitlin, the only one of us left in the Library, is bored.
Skyrie returns and explains to Caitlin what happened in his experiment. Caitlin proposes two courses of action for them:
At this point Barquentine, Amber's Master of Ceremonies, finally arrives at the Library. He is an old-looking, somewhat doddery man in a long robe of the same green as the background of Amber's unicorn banner. He leans on a walking stick and has a long bushy white beard.
"Is the ceremony which will be used for Gerard and Lillian the same as that used for Finndo?" asks Caitlin.
"Yes, your Highness," replies Barquentine.
"When will it take place?"
"Whenever Lady Vialle wants it to."
"Who is in charge now?"
"The Lady Vialle."
"Why?"
"Prince Gerard left orders that this was to be the case. A defined order of succession."
"Is this OK?"
"Yes - as long as a real Amberite does not object too strongly." Barquentine seems to be aware of the somewhat murky waters that make up politics in Amber.
He is then sent away. He dodders off.
Back at the borders of Rebma, Jihx and Etienne each take one of Arun's fins in their hands. Their hands stick to him and the flesh ripples, then they feel their innards start to move around inside them. Very unpleasant, but not actually painful, things happen to their bodies as Arun adapts them to the underwater environment; this will be a permanent adaptation, so Jihx and Etienne will, in future, be amphibious. Arun also leaves his signature inside their bodies, on some internal organ or other. And afterwards they have gills, and are adapted to life at the bottom of the ocean! They then step over the border out of Rebma's zone of protection. They feel the pressure squeezing them, but seem to be all right.
They head onwards down the road across the ocean floor, but unfortunately after some searching there is no sign of a trail leading off through shadow. Well, it was three months ago...
Back in Amber, Skyrie and Caitlin have decided (thankfully!) on not taking the throne of Amber but instead on heading out for shadow Telaram.
They choose a Trump that looks most similar to the description of shadow Telaram - one of the Trumps that were taken from the Moonriders, of the Godseye (the place with a natural-looking rock formation on a cliff above wide moorland where a long, thin inclusion of pale gold stone makes the shape of the pattern, full-size, on a vertical granite stone cliff below granite mountains) - and Trump to it. The deeply burned out Pattern-shape is still visible on the cliff, where Etienne used her magic to remove it. Caitlin then starts to walk through shadow towards Telaram. The first thing she does is make it warmer.
With no trail of Connor and Nemain to follow, Etienne Trumps Caitlin (assuming that she and Skyrie are still in the Library). Caitlin resists the call (as usual) until it is apparent that Etienne could force the link if she wanted to, at which point Caitlin accepts the link. News is exchanged, and Arun, Jihx and Etienne come through and join Skyrie and Caitlin; they are thoroughly wet.
They are now in a warm shadow.
As they come through the Trump link Etienne and Jihx feel a strange and not entirely pleasant sensation as their bodies compensate for the lowered pressure and gaseous atmosphere. They shed water from their gills too.
Etienne proposes a plan of 'establishing God's attitude' in the Fourteen Empires. Skyrie agrees with this and establishes a Trump link to the shadow of Asiyta to allow us to accomplish this. He, Etienne and Arun depart through it.
The three of them appear in the city of Asiyta, which is built on a tall obsidian mesa rising high out of a sea of forest. All the buildings are of the same glistening black obsidian. The skies are full of flying things, ranging from giant flying squirrels, flying horses, and birds to the flying ships which supply the city. They are in a circular plaza in the centre of the city in the centre of which is a large obsidian obelisk with metre-wide slots cut into the obsidian paving radiating out from it in all directions.
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Etienne suggests that they walk around the city while she tries to use the Pattern to manipulate the reality of the shadow. Etienne does this thing, walking round and round the obelisk.
With her permission Skyrie 'looks over her shoulder' via a Trump link. Etienne attempts to alter the reality so that the God here is more like the one she originally left behind in the Enchanted Earth.
Elsewhere, Caitlin and Jihx find his horse and then ride off through shadow at high speed, blue sparks flying from the horse's hooves. Caitlin shifts the landscape around them as they go - the sky goes blue, the sun shrinks and goes yellow. They ride into a fog (this is a way to change many things at once as they go through shadow) which then lifts to reveal a flat landscape populated with mesas, mainly grassland with a few stands of trees dotted about.
As they approach the mesas they see herds of creatures roaming about. The first creatures seen are buffalo, the next scaled buffalo, the next large dinosaur-like buffalo and so, increasingly more dinosaur-like. By the time the buffalo have been shifted into fully formed dinosaurs, a village has come into view off to one side of their path.
They head for the village. It does not look very much like a wild west-style settlement, but more like a very neat and ordered medieval village, centred around a stone-built church, the largest building in the place. Each peasant hut has a neat garden behind it, and the huts seem to be laid out in a regular grid of streets.
Caitlin and Jihx ride through the small, neat fields and into town. Farmers in the fields - all dressed in dull grey medieval-style clothing rather than a wild west-type style - look at them curiously as they pass. As they ride in they notice that off to one side of the town is a long raised bank of earth going off into the distance, as if for a railway line, but with no track on it.
Back in Asiyta, Etienne continues to do her stuff, watched by Skyrie. She thinks it should have worked by now. Etienne goes down on her knees and starts to pray. She again asks for guidance to fulfil God's will as to what to do if people are not instantly willing to convert. There is a noticeable pause (unlike all the other times when Etienne has prayed for guidance), then God tells her that they must be forced to convert, regardless of the cost. Etienne thanks God and tells Him that she understands. Skyrie has overheard all this via the Trump link.
Etienne having completed her prayers, Skyrie drops the Trump link. He can sense the Spirit of God, so he quickly draws a Trump sketch of it. It appears to be a Trump of a bright white light.
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Elsewhere in shadow, Caitlin and Jihx continue on through the town and out the other side.
There are various people at work in the fields on this side of town too, dressed in the same dull grey medieval-style clothing as before. Jihx asks a local about the place. The farmer tells him that this place is called Telamar (not Telaram), and that the religion they follow has existed here for some two thousand years.
They carry on out away from the town.
Etienne Trumps Caitlin, and when Caitlin (finally) takes the Trump call Etienne, Skyrie and Arun come through to shadow Telamar. They explain what happened in Asiyta. Etienne believes that her experiment worked briefly on God in that shadow, but that the overall cross-shadow God was too powerful and was able to override what she had done.
Etienne, Caitlin and Jihx can all sense a Presence all around us, and Caitlin and Jihx have been able to sense such a presence for a while now, in fact. At this point we see some glowing specks moving fast, up in the sky. Etienne can sense that they are angels, not unlike the ones she summons; they do not seem to be following us or anything.
At Etienne's suggestion she moves us off into a shadow specifically without a God.
Skyrie does a Trump divination with the 'God Trump' in the deck, asking 'What has happened to Gerard?' in the same manner as before. As he lays out the cards Skyrie gets the same sort of reading as the last time but with the in the centre of the cards indicating 'a great power' is the God Trump. As before Etienne appears in a position indicative of the problem behind the power and the Trumps of the rest of us appear in positions indicating that perhaps we are the solution.
Skyrie decides he needs to go to do new experiments on his people.
Jihx decides to go shadow Jalku to see if he can find his children. He rides off.
Etienne decides she would like to go to shadow Telaram. Arun and Etienne discuss what to do about God and about how to fight him.
Jihx charges off through shadow. As he goes fog descends again, and as it lifts he seems to have gone a fair way across shadow. He travels on and on, eventually he finds a mountainous place with mountainside temples that match the descriptions given in the report on shadow Jalku he read earlier. However, they seem to be burnt-out shells and churches seem to have been put up in their place.
Caitlin is getting extremely bored. She protests that she is getting fed up and if she doesn't get to destroy something soon then she will destroy something.
Skyrie Trumps back to the Fourteen Empires and repeats the experiment he did on the old beggar-woman with another non-Christian believer in reincarnation. He can just about sense the presence God in that world, but he gets the same results as before - the spirit is reincarnated as a new baby. Having established this, he Trumps Jihx.
Arun and Etienne discuss things in detail - angels, converting God's followers into God's enemies, and so on. Etienne decides that God (or a God) is mad and is infecting things, including the God of her Enchanted Earth. Etienne has a spell that entraps a spirit in a bottle - perhaps that could be useful in this.
Caitlin decides she cannot take Etienne and Arun any more so wanders off into shadow.
Elsewhere, Jihx gets a Trump call from Skyrie. Jihx takes the call, and tells Skyrie about the world he is in. Skyrie goes through the link to assist him.
Caitlin decides to go and find one of the groups she has previously lead against religious crusades, invasions and uprisings to assist them again.
Arun and Etienne discuss how to corrupt an angel - what to offer them to raise up against God. They want to create another Lucifer...
Jihx and Skyrie come over a mountain pass and in the valley below them is a town which looks like it is being rebuilt. On the mountainside above the town is a huge whitewashed temple structure [think of the Potala, in Lhasa in Tibet]. On the temple is painted a huge red Celtic-style cross - it appears to have been converted into a Christian church. The town below appears to be being rebuilt because significant parts of it are damaged.
They stop by a flat rock and Skyrie does a quick Trump divination on the best direction to go in to locate Connor and Nemain.
Caitlin obtains a horse from a passing highwayman, who is quickly dealt with. Leaving his body behind she carries on, passing into a hot and humid Sri Lankan-type jungle landscape with many palm trees and paddy fields. She deals quickly with anyone who tries to stop her and approaches the encampment of a group she lead here before - a local band of militant atheists, rather low-tech (swords, shields and spears) who she helped to fight off an overseas invasion of much more technologically advanced (World War I level) crusading Christian imperialists.
Skyrie lays out the Trump cards. As the layout grows, it appears that the best way to find Connor and Nemain is the Tower, or death. This does not sound good. Skyrie decides that the best thing to do is to go to hell to get the followers there to turn against God. Jihx is unsure of this. They decide to go the town before they do anything else, and ride down into the valley.
They approach the first person they meet and Jihx asks them if they have seen Connor and Nemain. He shows the local his Trumps of the twins. The local says that yes, they were here and when they were the priests told the local people to capture them to stop them spreading their evil ways. However, when they tried to arrest them the pair escaped. Hmmm.
Jihx and Skyrie head onwards, out of the town. The passer-by heads off towards the church, presumably to tell the priests what has happened.
Etienne and Arun discuss angels some more, but this conversation is becoming somewhat repetitive and does not seem to get them anywhere.
Arun suggests discovering where the 'God uprising' started and work out from that where he would be visiting next.
Caitlin goes up to the camp of the militant atheists. She is stopped by one of the guard patrols. They recognise her and she greets them and asks how it goes. They tell her it goes well as they admit her to the camp.
She makes her way through the camp to its centre to meet up with Terrar, the leader of the group. There she finds a large command tent, flying the plain white flag which militant atheism uses in this shadow. The guards on the tent admit her.
Terrar, a tall, dark skinned and muscular female, gets up from the map table to greet Caitlin. She tells Caitlin that the war has been won, with the enemy vanquished from the land. However, further attacks are expected in the future which is why they have not disbanded. They keep intercepting Christian infiltrators from over the sea and have to be vigilant.
Caitlin examines and criticises their latest battle plans - improving on them significantly.
Etienne and Arun continue to discuss invading heaven and/or subverting an angel.
In shadow Jalku, Skyrie perhaps he does not want the passer-by talking to the priests. He reaches for a rock and throws it at the villager he and Jihx spoke to, who is now heading for the temple. The rock smacks into his head and he falls to the ground, dead. The rest of the villagers stare in shock and back away as the two ride out of town.
After a mile or so the mountainous valley narrows down to a prime ambush site that has recently (within the last month or so, Skyrie and Jihx estimate) been used for just that purpose...
Jihx summons his hawk (a new acquisition which can bring him things of his desire, and through whose eyes he can see) and sends it off ahead to scout along and beyond the narrow valley. The hawk flies off with Jihx watching through its eyes (which turn blue when this is happening).
A bit further along the narrow part of the valley, back up the slope from the road, the hawk finds a number of relatively fresh graves with wooden Celtic-type crosses marking them. It flies on, and the valley widens out to much the same width as before. A mile or two beyond this the hawk finds another village, with a burned out temple and a new church, as in previous settlements. In the centre of the village, in an open space in front of the church, are two piles of ash. This does not look good.
Each pile has bones sticking out of it and scraps of armour are also visible. Jihx sends the hawk in for a closer look. And it seems that they are pieces of Connor and Nemain's suits of armour!
Jihx tells Skyrie this, and he sends an assistant off to investigate too.
Then Jihx spurs his horse and charges off towards the village, through the valley and out. Skyrie spurs his horse and follows. They passes the month-old corpses of two horses which look suspiciously like they were Cirrus and Strymon, Conner and Nemain's steeds, which seem to have been killed and their bodies dragged off the road. Skyrie zaps them with a spell from his armour as he goes past ('Lifeforce of the Divine Shadow'), and they rise again as skeletons which follow along.
Jihx arrives at the village in full armour and a very bad mood. He goes directly over to the piles of ash. This, and Skyrie and the skeleton horses, cause some alarm amongst the inhabitants. Jihx doesn't care.
Jihx turns to Skyrie and asks what can be done. Skyrie has a plan, which he explains - find a non-believer, kill them to find out where their spirit goes and then follow them there (or allow Jihx to follow them there, at least)...
Session 3.3 Index Session 3.5
Skyrie's Diary for This Session
