"Now These Her Princes Are Come Home Again"

SESSION 1.9 : A Conclusion


Session 1.8   Index   Session 2.1


Notes Taken by Samantha and Alastair Beadle.


Gil stays in Amber with Trumps of us all, while everyone else goes to his shadow of Vitesse to discuss what we should do now (kidnap Lillian, assist Gerard, go to 'Finndoland' etc.). Kidnapping Lillian is the most favoured option. Etienne and Arun take the time to re-rack their spells. Dolf rests after his injuries. Caitlin and Jihx return to Amber.

Gil has been experimenting with the Trump power sources in a small sitting room in the castle. He has opened the casing of one; inside are a lot of wires and connections, and in the centre a cylindrical arrangement of plates, running the length of the cylinder and arranged around its axis, glowing a bright purple. Gil thinks he understands how he can connect it to some sort of technical thing e.g. an airship, and have it replace the things normal power source. Gil also looks at Jihx's sword (which also seems to be powered by Trump, but in a different way) but doesn't know if the power it previously absorbed from the Trump power sources will last.

When she asks, Gil begins to teach Caitlin how to read the Trumps.


A servant tells us that a little after midday tomorrow Gerard and the army will be ready to leave. Apparently Finndo's army is moving much faster than Gerard had expected, so urgency is required.


A few hours later (Amber time) Etienne, Dolf and Arun arrive back in Amber. As we assemble Gerard arrives and demands to know what we are doing to aid the defeat of Finndo. Dolf remarks that he thinks we should go on holiday - Gerard is not amused. We tell him about our plan to kidnap Lillian and also to set up a couple of airships to fight on our side. Gerard agrees with this and leaves.

The servants are told to get a cage and set it up in the Pattern room for Lillian when we capture her.


We all go off into shadow in search of some airships, starting from the shadow containing Lillians base camp. Etienne knows a world were they exist and takes us there. Once there we think about a company that could sell us heavily armed airships and around the next bend we see a large fenced-in encampment with some hangers and warehouses, two well armed airships with a symbol of a blue spiral on a gold circle on the tail (ideal for our purposes, it seems), there are also a lot of tanks and suchlike. A sign over the gate reads "Honest Ivan's Weapons Brokerage".

As we approach the brokerage someone comes out of the gatehouse. Apparently it is Honest Ivan himself. He is dressed in a long Russian-style coat and fur hat - like Caitlin in fact. We talk to Ivan about the airships; he is very happy to sell us them, they're apparently going very cheap since the collapse of Capitalism. The airships are named the 'Cerberus' and the 'Dingo'. Ivan is also happy to find us a trained crew for the airships, after Etienne gives him a bag of diamonds. Ivan goes off and gets crews for us.

While he is away we wander around the brokerage. Caitlin and Dolf find a number of large assault weapons and SMG's with grenade launchers in a warehouse, and decide they would like them.

A short while later Ivan returns with the crews (who look shabby and not a very reputable bunch), and we buy the airships, guns and ammo. We then set off through shadow. As we go Gil installs the Trump boxes in the two ships. At the same time, Etienne uses a magical ritual to remove all the imperfections from the airships and their crews; this has a visible effect on both. Etienne then Trumps Gerard and tells him we have the airships; where should we go? He says to meet him and the army in the shadow of Thekis.

Arun Trumps back to Amber and gets a map of the route there from the library, and we set off. Etienne moves the airships through shadow very quickly. The crews, who were already a bit concerned about this moving through shadow, get very worried. They consume large amounts of vodka to steady their nerves.


After a few hours we arrive in Thekis. This is a land of white lizard men (according to the map). We see a milky blue-white sea and below us cliffs of white rock forming a large peninsular topped with a mixture of white grassland and white forest. Thekis has twelve small bright blue suns which visibly oscillate around one another in the sky.

Etienne Trumps Gerard and tells him we have arrived. Gerard says that the fleet is on the way and should be there in a few hours.


We decide to leave the crews in control of the airships and go ahead with the plan to capture Lillian. We discuss the best way of catching her after opening the Trump card. It is decided that Caitlin will throw a net over her and then Dolf will pull her through. Etienne and Gil set about opening the Trump contact. Jihx stands behind them with his sword. After some time and effort the contact opens up with little trouble and the net is thrown over Lillian, who is locked in place by Etienne. Jihx quickly deals with the soldiers by Lillian's side (using a large plasma bolt from his sword) and Dolf hauls her through the Trump contact. Behind Lillian we see the Captain of the airship concentrating on Trump contact. Just as our Trump link closes we see Finndo appear. He does not look happy.

Lillian starts to put up a fight (having snapped out of Etienne's control while being pulled through the Trump link) so Caitlin sits on her while Dolf smacks her into unconsciousness. We remove her belt (with its Trump deck, dagger, pistol and many pouches) and Caitlin and Etienne remove her clothes and dress her in new prison-type grey clothes (Dolf's suggestion of a bikini is ignored, as is his offer to assist in undressing her).

Lillian is then locked in the cage in the Pattern room. It is a solid metal cage which even Dolf would have problems with; the bars are about three inches thick steel.


In Lillian's Trump deck we find Trumps of: Finndo, an airship bridge, the parade ground in front of the mansion in the base we found, Benedict, Oberon, Dworkin, Gerard, Amber harbour, a castle courtyard (Similar to but not identical to that of Amber castle), six commanders from Finndos forces, a Plaza which looks to be outside the unicorn-topped building in 'Finndoland', a guardroom with machine gun slits down the side and a steel door, and several other places we do not recognise. There are also twelve cards of wolves, several cards with pictures of weapons (swords, guns etc), cards of several types of small animal (sparrow, spider, rat, mouse, bat), one of a steel dome, and several of other domes and steel barriers of various types. However, none of these cards are Trumps; they seem to be empowered instead. She also has several rings and a dagger in its sheath; the dagger is also magical.


We arrange for a guard to watch Lillian without the key to her cage to prevent her getting out. We then leave the Pattern room. Gil senses the Trump card of Lillian go cold - someone is trying to make contact with her; after a little while it stops. Then Dolf senses someone trying to contact him and we all sprint back to the Pattern room as it is essentially impossible to be Trumped there.

We discuss what to do now. We are initially undecided. Arun points out that we lose nothing by using the Trumps of the commanders to Trump ourselves to the airships and destroy the remaining four ships, so we decide to do that. Arun is to stay in Amber to allow any of us to get back to the Pattern room quickly if Finndo tries contacting us again.


Jihx opens the link to one of the commanders; he is unable to resist and we all pile on through the Trump link. In very short time we have killed everyone on the bridge. The commander has Trump cards of both Lillian and Finndo which we take. Jihx begins to use his sword to fire on the other airships we see around us (this one seems to be rearmost in a diamond formation). Caitlin kills off another batch of guards down the left hand corridor into the bridge in the airship, Etienne holds off the right hand side (just about) until Caitlin arrives to finish off, which she does very quickly. Gil chats smugly to the commander who is not too happy. Dolf uses the guns of this airship to fire on the other airships until Jihx can deal with them.

Suddenly Dolf feels another Trump call coming so goes back to Amber via the Trump card to Arun and sits in the Pattern room.

Jihx feels his sword is losing its extra power. He goes to the Trump box in the airship (most of the crew now having been dealt with) and fires on it to try to recharge it. Caitlin and Etienne go back to Amber to see how Dolf is doing, and avoid any fallout from Jihx blasting the Trump box.

Jihx fires on the box and Trump power surges into the sword. It becomes so bright he cannot look at it. Jihx sprints back to the control room and fires on the one remaining airship. Balls of purple energy flow from the sword and blast the airship, but then they will not stop; balls of destructive purple energy continue to fly from the sword, growing brighter and brighter all the time. Jihx cannot control the sword and is blinded by the light from it. He is forced to throw the sword out of the airship. Gil grabs Jihx and assists him back to Amber via Trump.


Everyone gathers in the Pattern room. Lillian has woken up (not looking very happy) and Dolf is chatting to her. She is trying to ignore him, but does tell him that 'Finndoland' is actually called De'Alund.

We all go outside the Pattern room and Etienne Trumps Gerard to tell him what we have done. He thinks we should try Trumping Finndo and capturing him. We don't agree as Finndo seems rather to powerful for us. Suddenly Jihx feels a Trump call which Gil quickly identifies as Finndo. Jihx goes back into the Pattern room until the call stops.

We discuss what we should now do. Jihx wants to recover his sword. He uses Gils Trump and goes to Vitesse. Shifting shadow he quickly finds it. It is no longer glowing with the extra Trump energy form the boxes. Jihx returns to the rest of us in Amber before Finndo tries Trumping him again.

We test the remaining Trump cards of the commanders and find that they no longer work. Probably because we just killed them. Etienne decides to talk to Finndo. She opens a Trump call to him (he is in armour and on horseback, in the middle of an intensely green forest) and asks him to stand down from war. Finndo refuses, and demands Lillian's return. He also threatens us all, if we do not do what he demands. Etienne refuses and Finndo cuts the link. Etienne feels that Finndo is somewhat more powerful than her, mentally, but not immeasurably so.


Outside the Pattern room we discuss joining the battle in Thekis when suddenly Etienne begins to feel something, as if something is moving through shadow towards us, pushing against some barrier around us, the pressure building and building. We all return to the Pattern room and one by one the rest of the us begin to get the same feelings.

Etienne Trumps Gerard and tells him what is happening. He says to keep the link open so that he can arrive if something happens, but doesn't come through immediately (as he's off in shadow leading Ambers forces towards Thekis). Lillian is looking somewhat confused, as she also feels the movement/pressure. Arun goes to stand by her cage.

The pressure builds and builds, then suddenly stops. Finndo steps out of the shadows in the Pattern room (even though there didn't seem to be many shadows before) behind Lillian's cage. He is wearing black plate armour and carrying a number of weapons; his sword is drawn; it has a Pattern-like tracery on the blade. He clubs Arun round the head from behind with the flat of the blade; Arun falls unconscious. Jihx draws his sword but it does not fire. Finndo cuts the lock off the cage, Lillian leaps out, and Finndo sheathes his sword, drawing a large black metal truncheon instead. He throws the crossbow to Lillian. Dolf charges at Finndo and Gerard arrives in the room, having been brought through the Trump link by Etienne.

Gerard booms "This is your last chance Finndo". Finndo looks unimpressed and fires a crossbow bolt with a spherical head at Gerard; it bounces off him and Gerard charges towards Finndo. Etienne calls the guards but Gerard tells them not to shoot. Lillian tries to get to the start of the Pattern but Gil is already there. As Etienne approaches she throws a selection of random things which she pulls out of a pouch at Lillian (she tries to use probability manipulation to make them into useful weapons, but of course we're in the Pattern room); they skitter and spark ineffectually across the Pattern. Lillian fires on Etienne with another rounded bolt, knocking her over. Dolf is knocked over by Finndo as he arrives there first.

Eventually Finndo is surrounded by Gerard, Dolf and Jihx. Dolf attacks Finndo and is thrown aside again. Then Gerard begins to grapple with Finndo. Jihx retreats a little.

Lillian is fighting Gil near the start of the Pattern, with Caitlin watching. He holds her off until Etienne arrives and catches her eye, causing her to slow. As she does so Gil smashes Lillian in the side of the head with the edge of his blade, obviously hurting her badly, though she doesn't fall over. She starts to bleed profusely, though luckily not on the Pattern. Gil goes to attack her again but she grabs him and goes to throw him onto the Pattern but Etienne makes eye contact with her, forcing her will onto Lillian. She tells Lillian to put him down. Lillian stops moving; Gil goes unconscious as Lillians vastly greater strength slowly throttles him. As Etienne continues to keep eye contact with Lillian, Jihx goes behind her and drags her away from the Pattern, out of the door and points his sword to her throat. Gil lies unconscious on the floor. Lillian soon falls unconscious from her head wound.

Gerard and Finndo fight. Finndo uses his truncheon on Gerard, who is barehanded, landing a number of powerful blows which slow Gerard, but do not stop him. Eventually Gerard gets close enough to grapple, though Finndo resists with all his might. Then it is only a matter of time until Gerard gets him into a neck hold and simply breaks his neck with a sickening crack, dropping his body to the floor.

Jihx puts Lillian back into the cage (after having her head wound bandaged) and a guard goes and gets a new lock for it.

As Gerard looks at the body of Finndo on the floor he pronounces "So die all the enemies of Amber".

A group of servants arrive to clean the room, and Lillians blood is wiped from the floor. The Pattern is undamaged (Gerard later explains that the Pattern can be damaged by family blood). Gerard looks at us "Well done, all of you. Now we must destroy his army".


Gil comes round, and Etienne heals the various wounds we have suffered.

Lillian is given medical treatment. She is devastated about her fathers death, but this doesn't mean she's going to be let out of her cage next to the Pattern.

We go and join Gerard and the assembled forces of Amber in Thekis. After a short fight the army of Finndo is defeated; over 10,000 troops are killed and Finndo's forces are routed - they seem to lose heart without him.

Once things quieten down, the food convoys restart and peace returns to Amber. The young Amberites are praised as heroes. Finndo in buried in the crypts under the castle, in a small but solemn ceremony, befitting his status as a Prince of Amber.

And so peace is returned to Amber. For now...


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