|
|
Session 3.10 Index Session 3.12
Notes Taken by Samantha and Alastair Beadle.
Everyone (except Etienne, of course) is in Rebma. Skyrie has got a large plus-sign-shaped scab on his forehead from where he previously branded himself. He has also prepared a super-Trump of God. As with the one he made is Asiyta it appears to be a picture of a bright white light.
Having done this, Skyrie and Caitlin discuss 'their evil plan', the main gist of which is when and where to kill Etienne. They decide that it is likely to be a long hunt, but satisfying. We must get her to a shadow where God and Heaven do not exist (and also, for preference, to somewhere where she cannot use the Pattern), so that she isn't let back out into the community by Him, and we get the satisfaction of knowing she isn't having fun with God in Heaven after we kill her.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in shadow, Whippoorwill Grummond is in conference with a senator from the White faction. He is attempting to force the senator into supporting his side, the Red faction, by threatening him with the evidence he has on his using his position in charge of the grain trade to skim off money for himself. The senator (rather pathetically) caves in without any fight, and agrees to support Whippoorwill [there is no evidence that this is due to the annoying deeeeeep south accent of Whippoorwill!].
Having done what he came here to do, Whippoorwill leaves the senator's mansion and is cosseted by his bodyguards on his trip home through the capital city of The Tunnel. After a while he reaches his stately manor, high up on the wall of the tunnel and heaving with servants, wife, mistress, and so on...
As he comes in his butler tells him that a letter has arrived for him, and hands it over. He tells Whippoorwill that came in the post, but the envelope has no address, just his name, stamps, and a postmark from some twenty years previously. He turns the envelope over and discovers that the envelope is sealed with his mother's seal. Whippoorwill stares at the letter for some time, then opens it.
Inside, he finds two large-ish playing card-type things, one of a heavily-defended-looking courtyard whose walls are built of some dark-blue-green translucent glassy-looking substance (Rebma) and a back alley in the capital city of The Tunnel (the present shadow he is in). There is also a letter, which he reads:
|
My dear son, If this letter reaches you then it means that something has gone wrong and twenty years have passed in The Tunnel. That being the case, it is time for you to leave and join the wider universe. The cards that you will find included with this letter are known as Trumps. One of them will carry you to a place where I am known and where you can come into your birthright - the city of Rebma. The other will allow you to return to this world where, I hope, you have made your home. In order to use the cards you should concentrate on the image until the card goes cold and the image expands into your mind's eye. You can then step through the image to the place shown. The city of Rebma is underwater, but an enchantment protects those who go there from the effects of being underwater. In the city of Rebma is something called the Pattern which you, being of the bloodline of Amber, can walk to gain your birthright. I am sorry that things have not gone to plan.
Llewella |
Whippoorwill calls a servant and sends him to summon Olmec, the leader of his personal guards, and three others of his guard. They are to be in full combat gear. The squad includes one soldier with a cylinder of poisonous gas on his back, one that is skilled at sneaking about and two plain thugs. While this is done Whippoorwill gets tooled up also.
Olmec and Whippoorwill's three other minions arrive. "Sir!" they say, saluting.
"I have a strange mission for you, gentlemen," Whippoorwill tells them. "The tale I told about how I came to this world and why my hair is the colour it is" - yellowey pea-green colour, unlike the dark hair which all the other inhabitants of The Tunnel possess - "I hope to be able to prove to you in the near future. I have received a letter from my mother..." Whippoorwill proceeds to explain the Trump cards and what they should do. "... It looks like an ambush so we are all going there. There is a good chance that it will be an ambush and that we will all be killed. So apparently what I have to do to activate this card is..." He explains more details about the card and Rebma, then starts the process of activating the Trump of Rebma.
The card responds within a couple of minutes, growing cold in his hands, and the picture expands into a window in his mind. The scene is now clearly underwater.
Whippoorwill is concerned that his squad cannot see the image. Olmec is summoned to be pushed through the link. He is under orders not to initiate combat except in self-defence or to prevent anyone closing with him. Olmec is pushed towards the image, which he suddenly sees as Whippoorwill makes physical contact with him. Whippoorwill takes a moment to experiment with physical contact, which seems to allow others to see the Trump image too. Olmec is then pushed through the Trump link.
A shout of "HALT! WHO GOES THERE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" is heard through the link. No guards are visible, but high walls broken only by a great many arrow slits ring the enclosed courtyard.
The other three of the squad are then passed through the link, quickly followed by Whippoorwill himself, holding the other Trump card.
"I am Mr Whippoorwill Grummond, son of Llewella," he tells whoever is there. "We will not drop our weapons but will not use them at this time."
"What do you want? How can you prove that you are the son of Princess Llewella?" demands the voice.
"Princess Llewella? I can only say that I am here at her behest. I have this here letter. If Princess Llewella is persona non grata in this place I am willing to withdraw."
"Princess Llewella is persona grata in this place, but has not been here for some time. Please pass the letter to us for examination."
The letter is passed to one of Whippoorwill's squad who takes it and passes it through an arrow slit.
There is a pause, then the voice speaks again. "Your letter seems to be genuine. If you will pass through the gate opposite, we will escort you to meet with our Queen. There are some of your cousins here as well, you may meet them too."
The high metal gate out of the courtyard opens, and Whippoorwill and the squad pass through it and are escorted off. He and they gawp at Castle Rebma, with its magnificent paintings, mirrors, and scantily clad multi-hair coloured inhabitants (green, purple and black).
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Castle Rebma everyone else has agreed to take part in the 'Trump God and give him a good kicking' plan. We all go to a small conference room, gather around Skyrie's super-Trump of God and concentrate on it. We can all feel that Moire's mind (augmented by power from the Eye of Peace) is the most powerful, closely followed by Caitlin, then Jihx. Following some distance below them are Gerard, then Skyrie, Arun, Connor and Nemain, in that order. There is a LOT of psychic resistance, but after much psychic to-ing and fro-ing the barriers are gradually broken down and we force a Trump link onto God. There is a bright white light before us.
"WHO DARES CONTACT ME IN THIS WAY?" booms a mighty psychic voice over the link.
Skyrie attempts to expand the link into a proper Trump gate, but this does not seem to work (as Trump gates do not work in Amber). There is some debate as to who should go through to God first, which is pre-empted which Jihx steps through the link.
Arun follows. Skyrie and Gerard also move to go through the link, then everyone who is still in Rebma sees that the bodies of Jihx and Arun have collapsed to the floor. Skyrie and Gerard decide not to go through the link!
The two of us who have gone through the Trump link feel very big and diffuse, and seem to be in a white light. However, Jihx feels that he still has his sword. He can feel a psychic presence all around and through him, more powerful than him - the presence of God. He can also sense the presence of Arun all around and through him, as well as some sort of powerful things off to one side, the Patterns of Rebma and Amber, seemingly tiny.
Jihx swings his sword around what he feels is his head and starts pumping energy into the white light all around. However, the sword feels weak here (as it does in Amber).
As he does this Jihx realises he is no longer in Trump contact with the others (as the Trump was that of God Himself). He can sense also sense other beings that seem very close, but also tiny, perhaps the inhabitants of Amber and Rebma.
Jihx slashes at the presence of God with his sword, avoiding himself and Arun. He can feel psychic power running into the sword from God. The presence of Arun is also moving and transforming, so Jihx tells him to attack. Arun does something, but Jihx has no idea precisely what. Jihx and Arun cannot help but think that they would be in very serious trouble now if God were not being mind-locked by the others.
Jihx continues to swing his sword at the presence of God, each blow seeming to drain psychic power from God and into himself. As he moves he feels things - bits of Pattern and the spark of the Eye of Peace pass through him. Bits of the cities of Amber and Rebma, the moon of Amber, the land of Amber, the Forest of Arden, the sea bed, fishes, people in the cities, everything in the 'shadow' in which Amber lies.
The others, still exerting themselves massively to hold God mind-locked in the Trump link, can feel that God is trying to escape and is becoming more concerned. Then He becomes a bit worried, then very worried, then very, very worried, and then extremely worried. Everyone is feeling a bit shattered by now from the effort required to hold Him, but the Eye of Peace is assisting us to keep God in a mind-lock.
Jihx continues to slash at God while Arun does something, shifting god into himself.
And eventually God gives a scream of despair and we feel Him evaporate.
Those still in Rebma feel the Trump link fade away and break. Everyone there collapses onto the floor, unconscious.
After a short while we all wake up, smelling salts having been waved under our noses. Gerard seems to have woken up first, then Moire, Connor and Nemain, Caitlin and Skyrie. Caitlin asks Moire if she has tried Trumping Jihx. Moire asks Caitlin to try.
Elsewhere, or all around, Jihx tries to focus on the tiny spark of the Eye of Peace, but finds it more difficult to focus as he zooms in on it. Then he tries to focus in on Moire. This is still quite hard because of the proximity of the Eye.
In the conference room, Moire suddenly says she can sense the presence of Jihx. Jihx can sense his own body lying dead on the floor and tries to move into it.
Caitlin Trumps Jihx, who takes the call. He tells her that he can sense then all. Caitlin asks him if he needs the Trump link open. He starts to say he thinks not, so she shuts it before he finishes his sentence.
Jihx tells Arun what he is going to try and get back into his body. Arun says he is going to stay here for a while, to investigate.
Jihx concentrates on moving out of this diffuse form - he and Arun seems to be everywhere in Amber's 'shadow' at once - and back into his body. This takes some time, but eventually he does so.
The others in the conference room see Jihx's body re-animate and sit up. This is not a pleasant experience for Jihx - his body has been dead for a little while, and has gone off a bit. It is rather blue from cyanosis and feels extremely tired, achy and ill.
At this point a servant knocks on the door and comes in. He tells Moire that a Mr Whippoorwill Grummond has arrived, Trumping into the Arrival Courtyard, and is claiming to be the son of Princess Llewella. Moire tells the servant to escort him here.
Once the servant has gone Moire asks if the rest of us wish to stay and meet their new cousin.
Caitlin is suitably sarcastic. Skyrie does not answer and simply leaves, to rest. Caitlin also leaves.
The two of them wander off looking for somewhere to rest. Before they have gone very far they find a sitting room, go in, collapse on the sofas there, and sleep.
Back in the conference room, Moire explains to those who do not know that she is the younger sister of the former Queen Moins (now dead), and that Moins was Llewella's mother, so she is the great aunt of Whippoorwill.
Whippoorwill is escorted in. Moire welcomes him in.
Whippoorwill sees:
Whippoorwill takes off his gas mask and bows, then introduces himself as the son of Princess Llewella. The others can see that he has yellowish pea-green hair and a careworn face.
Moire introduces herself, Jihx, Gerard, Connor and Nemain.
Whippoorwill also cannot help noticing that there is also the dead body of a blonde man on the floor to one side (Arun) to which people are not paying much attention. He asks if he should come back later.
Moire says that there is unlikely to be a good time for him to arrive in the near future, so this is as good a time as any. Jihx explains that there is a war going on at present, and that with Whippoorwill being of the family he could join in.
When asked, Moire uses the Eye of Peace, which flashes with green light, to confirm that Whippoorwill is indeed of the family. Whippoorwill protests, saying (not unreasonably!) that he does not want to get involved in a war he knows nothing about. Moire tells him that any previous wars he has been involved in are insignificant compared to this one. Whippoorwill is offended.
Jihx asks whether Whippoorwill has walked the Pattern.
"No," says Whippoorwill.
Jihx explains that he should do so, and that it will adjust his view of reality.
Whippoorwill asks what he has to give or do to walk the Pattern.
Gerard explains that there is a Pattern in Amber, but also mentions Amber's being taken over by Etienne's forces. Moire says that there is also a Pattern in Rebma, though, which Whippoorwill can walk.
Whippoorwill asks if the cards he received are needed. At Moire's request Whippoorwill lends her his Trump of Rebma. She examines it and says it is a Trump, powerful, but different to the Pattern and its powers.
Whippoorwill then asks who he will be indebted to if he walks the Pattern. Moire would like him to assist in the current crisis and any future problems, but beyond that does not ask for anything else.
Whippoorwill then asks what equipment is needed for walking the Pattern.
"None," Moire tells him.
She asks Gerard to explain about the Pattern, as he has actually walked it and so knows more of it than she does. Gerard tells Whippoorwill that it is a path or maze that he needs to follow. He must not stop or fall off while doing so, or he will die. There are three veils that must be pushed through, and one will re-live one's life as one goes around it.
Jihx agrees to go with Whippoorwill to the Pattern room to provide support. Gerard also says he will do so. Connor and Nemain wish to stay here, as does Moire.
Whippoorwill asks whether his men can walk the Pattern too. Gerard tells him they cannot, and that they will die if they try. Only those of the Blood can assay the Pattern.
Whippoorwill is concerned by this, but Moire tells him that there are no problems there - he is of the Blood.
Whippoorwill asks if she uses spirits to know such things. Moire says that she does not, just powers. Whippoorwill wishes them farewell.
Jihx, Gerard and Whippoorwill leave the room, heading for the Rebman Pattern. They enter a large dining room, go through a door behind the main staircase down into it, along a narrow corridor and to the top of a glowing spiral staircase which leads down and down. The three of them swim down the spiral stair, and after about ten minutes come out in an enormous cavern, with tunnels going off from it in all directions. Whippoorwill is led down one of these passages. After a long while they begin to encounter side passages leading off from this tunnel, some of which are blocked by doors or grilles. The seventh side passage, which is sealed off by a four metre tall of a slate-like substance, bound in metal, is guarded.
The guards there salute them, then produce a key and unlock the huge door. We enter the Rebman Pattern room. Inside, the room is carved from black rock. The floor appears as smooth as glass. On the floor is embossed the Pattern, shimmering like cold fire and making everything else there seem insubstantial, roughly oval, perhaps a hundred and fifty metres long and a hundred metres wide. Whippoorwill sizes up the Pattern and says it will only take a few minutes for him to walk around.
Whippoorwill is pointed to the start, well away from the door near the back of the room, and told to transport himself back to by Jihx and Gerard when he reaches the centre. Gerard shakes his hand. Jihx cautions him that it will take him more than a few minutes to assay the Pattern.
And Whippoorwill starts walking the Pattern...
It is hard, and takes much longer than he thought. He passes through the First Veil of resistance with some effort and then starts to remember the first part of his life. From the point of view of Gerard and Jihx he is making remarkable progress through the Pattern until this point, but then they see Whippoorwill slow down significantly.
Whippoorwill dawdles through the pleasant memories of the first ten years of his life, until he reaches the point where he was dragged off to The Tunnel by Llewella. Then he picks his pace up again. When he reaches his memories of events at the age of fifteen he reaches the Second Veil.
He pushes his way through the Second Veil and continues. As he does so he starts to feel how he may be able to use the new powers that the Pattern is imprinting into him.
And after about twenty-five minutes (which feels much longer to Whippoorwill) the sparks from the Pattern are up to his neck and he is moving at a crawling pace. He approaches and then forces his way through the Third Veil, and collapses onto the centre of the Pattern.
The sparks die down as he kneels at the centre. He concentrates and appears back with Gerard and Jihx, by the door. They congratulate him and offer to take him to a room to recuperate.
They leave the Pattern room and Trump back up to the Arrival Courtyard to avoid the climb up the stairs.
Servants show Whippoorwill to a guest room where he can rest.
Jihx and Gerard also go off to rest.
Some time later, everyone wakes up at about the same time.
Caitlin and Skyrie are still on the sofas in the lounge where they went to sleep. Jihx is in his normal room (Moire's bedroom, that is). Whippoorwill is in his allocated guest room.
Everyone apart from Skyrie meets up at breakfast. Caitlin is intercepted on her way to the kitchens and directed to the dining room instead; she hates the food that they serve - it's always either vegetarian or cooked! She is promised some raw food (raw meat!) if she will join the discussion of plans at the breakfast table.
Whippoorwill and his four minions are led to the dinning hall by the guards. On the way he asks for an appointment with the Queen for later on.
There are several people who look alike (like Jihx, Connor, or Nemain) around the breakfast table. Whippoorwill is somewhat confused by this, but is promised an explanation during breakfast.
Jihx asks a servant for any news regarding Arun, whose body was taken to his room with a constant watch is placed on it to see if it comes back to life. He is told there has been no sign of movement. Jihx can, when he concentrates on it, sense Arun's presence. The others can also sense him once they think about it.
Caitlin makes an attempt to summarise recent events in a couple of sentences for Whippoorwill's benefit (or her own amusement!). Whippoorwill is made none the wiser by this.
Skyrie has not joined the others for breakfast.
Instead he goes down to the Pattern room and walks it again. The effort is as difficult as the last time, possibly even worse than before, in fact, because now he has to relive the Hell parts too.
However, when he reaches the centre he uses the Pattern to project him to the 'Well of Shadow'. This is on an island in the middle of a lake in the Fourteen Empires. There is a strong presence of God here, which Skyrie is not best pleased to be sensing.
|
|
He gets out a Trump of Jihx and concentrates on it - but it does not work! This is part of the Fourteen Empires and has thus had the 'treatment' from Etienne, i.e. has been made, among other things, so that Trumps do not work here. He also notices that the shadow has been devastated, presumably by God.
Darkening clouds start to gather overhead, and Skyrie also notices the glowing forms of angels high up in the sky and moving as if to intercept him. He decides that the time has come to leave, and so starts to walk off through shadow to escape.
Once he is in a safe shadow, where Trumps work and God does not, he Trumps Jihx.
At breakfast Jihx explains to Whippoorwill about Amber, Rebma and recent events, in a way that makes rather more sense to Whippoorwill than Caitlin's earlier attempt to do so.
During this explanation Jihx receives a Trump contact, which he accepts. It is Skyrie. Skyrie explains to him that God is still alive in other shadows, and then comes through to Rebma and joins them for breakfast.
Skyrie and Whippoorwill are introduced.
Over breakfast, Whippoorwill describes his hatred for his mother. He tells the others that he does not remember being introduced to the shadow of Idyll, but know that it was where he spent his first ten years in complete contentment with his (presumably adoptive) mother, father and siblings. Then one day his natural mother, Llewella, arrived and decided that this place was no good for him and, with some pious words, dragged him away by force, killing his father and several other family members when they objected. She abandoned him in "a sunless hell," which was constantly beset by strife and warfare. He goes on to describe his discovery of the letter and the two Trumps which led him here to Rebma.
Gerard jumps to the defence of Whippoorwill's mother, claiming that Oberon's poor parenting was to blame for his children wanting to keep their own offspring away from Amber and Rebma during their early years. If they had not been hidden as they were they would probably have been used as pawns in the elders plots against one another. He cites the example of Martin, the son of Prince Random, who was nearly murdered by Prince Brand in his attempt to erase the Primal Pattern.
Breakfast continues.
A plan to assassinate the new Amber leader, the Emperor Otto, is hatched. Someone will walk the Pattern and then jump to a suitable spot in Amber (for example, the throne room). They will then Trump and pull through the rest of us, and we will then rampage through the Castle and City.
Jihx volunteers to do the Pattern walking part of this plan.
Skyrie Trumps away into shadow to set up an attack on the city of Dis, in Hell.
Upon arrival in shadow he uses the Pattern and summons up several large flying castles of his desire and sends them off to do suicidal ramming attacks on the walls of Dis. Another flying castle is sent off to crash into Lucifer, too.
Having done this, Skyrie returns to Amber.
Skyrie begins to draw a Trump of the Castle Amber Library. It is pointed out that once this is done Jihx will no longer need to walk the Pattern, so he doesn't.
And we finally agree on a plan:
We go off and do this thing. Moire is happy to provide is with any equipment and personnel we need. Weapons are collected and troops are gathered.
As the army starts to march out of Rebma, Skyrie, Caitlin and Jihx Trump to Amber. The library turns out to be the burned out remains of the library we knew, gutted by fire and with fallen masonry and bookshelves everywhere.
They sneak to the door. There are two guards outside, who are quickly attacked and killed. Their uniforms are taken and put on by Skyrie and Caitlin so they can wear their weapons about the place without looking too suspicious. Jihx then poses as a prisoner to be escorted to Emperor Otto by these 'guards' (as his weapons, with their alternate forms, are much more concealable).
They leave the remains of the library and head for the throne room...
The force heading for Amber, two thousand Rebman guards and the remaining Amberites, pass through the alabaster arch out of the city onto the fifty-foot-wide staircase of Faiella-Bionin, which is made of white marble shot through with green and pink, lit by two-feet-high flames on pillars to each side. They climb the stairs out of Rebma and up towards the air.
They emerge by an eight-foot-tall cairn of head-sized stones onto a colourful beach of swirling pink and black sand scattered with bits of orange, pink and red coral, along with shells, driftwood, and small polished stones. They are in sight of Amber that can be seen on its plateau on the side of Kolvir, twenty miles off to the north.
They form up and march off towards Amber...
Session 3.10 Index Session 3.12
Skyrie's Diary for This Session
The "Now These Her Princes Are Come Home Again" Top Page.
Note: The 'Well of Shadows' is based on the WWI War Memorial at Vimy, in France.
