DRAFT Run Log for 970916 Present Lori - Celeste Rich - Ferro Andrew - Osric Tia - Cassandra, Damia Dave K - Ilk, logging Ken - Norton -------------------------------- Stuck in Celeste's Tower Celeste returns to the tower to find Damia and Brandt occupied, in style. She leaves the tower and goes downstairs. Damia noticed Celeste, but didn't tell Brandt. Damia is giving Brandt tips. There is only one other room in the tower, the kitchen. Celeste pokes around, and finds a pair of mandrake roots stocking the cupboard with spices from a backpack. The tins and bottles are full and unopened. The labels are not in a language that she knows. Celeste is irritated at the minute size of the tower. She exerts herself through her matrix crystal and expands the tower. She goes back to her tea. It's cold. She tries to reheat it, but the fire on the hearth is cold - the flames are frozen. She drinks her cold tea and opens a box and eats a few biscuits. The mandrakes take the box back, scold her, and clean up the crumbs. She goes to the stairs, "Are you done yet?" Celeste taps Brandt to start the fire. The fire slowly defrosts and starts up. She reheats her tea. Brandt rolls over and tells Damia that his mother is tapping him, despite her recent scolding when he did it. Damia and Brandt continue. Celeste recharges, continuing to tap the power source. Celeste starts getting some feedback along the link. Brandt and Damia invite Celeste to join them along the power drain. Brandt taunts Celeste some, and says that Damia is really good - he's going to have to show Faythe this. He's not sure if Charynma is old enough for some of these, though. Celeste uses the power to expand the tower. Damia wears out Brandt. Brandt goes to sleep. Damia goes to find some water. No bathroom. She ends up at the kitchen, and spots Celeste, and dozens of mandrakes running around and unpacking her backpacks into the shelves. Damia yells at the mandrake roots. She finds a bathroom off the kitchen, and sees some frozen flames near the hearth. She enters the bathroom area, fills a basin with water, and starts heating it. Damia notices that the tea that Celeste is drinking is an aphrodesiac and tells her so. Damia mixes some normal tea and starts gathering up her herbs. Damia asks Celeste to bring the water upstairs for Brandt. Celeste heads upstairs. On the floor above the kitchen is her room, Brandt's room, and Clarissa's room, each in a larval state. The next floor contains a sleeping Brandt. She leaves the basin of water there. Celeste looks down at the sleeping bug. Damia gets cleaned up and tries to put her things back in her backpack. Celeste goes into her room to sleep, and walks into Clarissa's room naturally. She lies down on a stone couch. ------------------------ Ferro Meets the Sea of Thought Ferro, Tor, and Jance are heading towards the renegade philosophers. They're taking him through ways that require quick shifting, apparently testing him. They eventually arrive at a bright orange lake. The base of the lake is made out of perfectly round pebbles that are all alike, and they squeak in a glass-like fashion as they walk over them. The sun sets, and the lake turns a dingy grey. They stand at the edge of it, and a small wave forms and spits a round sphere out onto the lake. "And the people we were going to meet are here?" "Yes, we've been talking with them" Ferro apparently can't talk in that philosophical language. They wait a bit, and then a head forms from the lake, and after some practice, starts speaking. "We are the Sea of Thought" Ferro asks the Sea about alternate realities. "Are they countable?" "Ask a mathematician." The Sea tempts Ferro to join them. He refuses. Flora - Ferro's Flora, not the local one - apparently turned down the Sea many, many years ago. Ferro mentions that he should return to Amber, as he sent the local Flora somewhere, and that the war was won - he exiled the Great Enemy. Tor and Jance run off to the bar, where a party ensues. "We won!" It seems like everyone knows Ferro, and they all think he singlehandedly freed Chaos from Benedict's tyranny. --------------------------- In Pearl Cassandra is in her tutor's tower. She just hung up on her father with Colin's assistance and is riding back to her tutor's tower. Janus congratulates her on the way she handled her father. A bit later, Janus pulls Cassandra and Colin off with him. He digs three unmarked graves in a field that he got to by breaking a coin. He places a single living rose in each grave, then fills them in. He puts up a single marker on each, reading, "They died as they lived, in service." After those three are dug, he digs another, and leaves it dug. Cassandra looks at Colin questioningly. Janus is looking morosely into the grave. "I don't know if it is necessary yet, but she was supposed to report back by now." "Who?" "Do you know if she would really have picked a fight with Corwin?" "Who?" "Gil." Janus asks Cassandra if she will bury him here when he dies. Being her bodyguard apparently doesn't have a very good retirement package, and her constant conflicts with Corwin tend to be fatal to her bodyguards. They trump back to the tower. Cassandra goes to look for Mirelle. She finds her, and takes her to a private room. Janus pickets outside the room. Cassandra cries on Mirelle. When she wakes up in the morning, Mirelle is still there, cradling Cassandra's head in her lap. Cassandra's hair has been braided. The curtains have been braided. There's a small bas-relief carving of a Corwinish-looking gargoyle in the windowsill, and there's a knife sticking out of the doorjamb. "I slept that long?" "You slept a good two days. You've been pushing yourself hard." Cassandra eats a pile of pastries. --------------------------- Corwin Dueling Chaosians Osric and company were searching for Malachai's girlfriend, Serena. At one point during a snowstorm, Malachai disappears. Along the way, a bunch of thugs come up to Corwin and challenge him by name and rank as guild-second of the Warriors Guild. Corwin tries to laugh it off, but they seem fairly insistent about it. Osric knows that according to custom, Corwin must now either kill them, surrender all honor, or commit suicide. "What do they know of honor? They're Chaosians." "That's a matter of opinion." Corwin pulls out Greyswandir in one hand, and Greyswandir in the other hand. The first Greyswandir being drawn causes two of them to wince, and the second Greyswandir causes the rest to wince. The first has a sword that is made out of bone. It's a very nice sword. He's really good. It takes Corwin eight or ten minutes to kill him. "Next!" The next moves in and begins to cast a spell. About halfway through the third lynch-pin a dagger grows out of his neck. Corwin walks over and removes the dagger. It hurts Osric to look at the dagger - it seems to drink magic. "Next" The third comes after him with ten or fifteen arms, all carrying blades. Corwin disarms him. "Next" The fourth and fifth charge Corwin at once. Osric tries to trip up the fifth magically. That one launches a fairly significant kill spell at Osric, who raises shields. Osric fires a binding spell back at the fifth, who lets it flare off his shields, then launches a kill spell at Corwin. Osric locks the fifth guy in one of his patented shields, and it shatters. Osric feels the shadow around him changing, and he's somewhere else. The local natives looks hostile, and they're charging. Osric recognizes the natives as beings that he has sold weapons and other supplies to in the past, and changes into a form that is familiar to them. Much confusion happens, and he solicits their help, takes them back with him, and commands them to kill his opponent. The opposition responds by turning into an effrit and throwing fire at Osric, who turns into a effrit as well. By now, Corwin has finished off the fourth, and throws Greyswandir at the fifth, whose head explodes. Osric sends the natives, who are now worshiping him, back to the place they came from. Merlin is gone. Osric and Corwin try to trump Merlin - it's blocked. Corwin suggests that they head Chaoswards - he has a sword to deliver. Corwin trumps himself and Osric to a spot near the Abyss. They reach Chaos. Osric shifts into something that swallows Corwin, crosses the Abyss, then spits him back out on the other side. They head towards a nearby House. --------------------------- Meanwhile In Chaos... "Is it safe to talk?" "To talk about what, Mandor?" Norton, Rainbow, Bella, REN, and Andron chat via Logrus-vibrations, amplified by Andron. Norton speculates that the white winged statue thing might be behind the problems in both ends of reality. Rainbow mentions that there is an individual that was challenging Clarissa that occasionally goes by the name of Gwen. Rainbow steps away from Norton's tendril, pulls out a trump, concentrates briefly, then steps back to the tendril. He seems to have split his mind into two pieces. He chats with Flora via a cryptic code, and translates for the others. Rainbow describes a gathering in a library where all of the Amberites attacked Gwen with the help of Oberon and Clarissa. The killing blow was struck by Cathryn wielding Suhuy's sword, which was borrowed from Suhuy by Rainbow for Cathryn. When Gwen fell, it segmented into three pieces, two of which disappeared, and the third was an eight-year old Fiona who turned out to be Dara masquerading as Fiona which later got turned into a coat rack, came back as a Flora, then walked the Pattern and disappeared. Ilk finishes making his hole and comes back through. Ilk takes REN through first. Rainbow drops the others from the link and gets mushy. Somehow Rainbow picks up a lipstick smear on his cheek. Ilk returns. Andron is taken through next. Norton and Bella chat about how Helgram is about to betray the enemy. Rainbow just listens. ------------------ Corwin Meets with the Rebel Alliance There are a couple of clouds of greasy smoke floating over Chaos. Corwin and Osric reach a minor House, Tirelle. Camped outside of it an army of dead folk apparently helping clean up and take the dead folks elsewhere. "Looks like Norton's work to me" - Corwin "Take me to your leader!" The zombie hands his burden to another and heads off through the Courts. They follow him. It's a long walk. They are approaching what looks like Rainbow, and two people wearing Head of House rings, sorta standing around in front of what looks like a normal space in Chaos. Norton/Mandor greets Corwin and Osric. The dead guy points at Norton and wanders off. "Aren't you Merlin's half-brother?" "At times" "Are you the guy that animated the dead guy?" "Possibly" Rainbow cuts his trump contract, and introduces Corwin to the head of House Jesby and the current head of House Sawall. Corwin, Rainbow, and Norton exchange cryptic comments. Norton sends tendrils over to Corwin and Osric. Osric is a bit paranoid. Norton starts doing the bone conduction thing for Osric. "They talk about a legendary Osric at your House..." "?" "We just saved it from being crushed." They chat. Norton mentions his theories, and Osric mentions that he saw a number of the winged statues being worshiped in shadow somewhere. Ilk returns to find a Greyswandir at his throat. Corwin resheathes it. They chat. Ilk mentions that they're trying to be subtle, and that two Greyswandirs are probably visible from the far side of the Abyss. Ilk fills Corwin in on the situation in the Courts, and suggests that he lead the Warriors Guild to an attack on Helgram. Norton hands a half-dozen Jewels of Judgment and Dworkin's trump deck to Corwin. Ilk looks at Norton, and tells him to get rid of the rest of the Pattern. Norton kicks the Eric out of his head, and the Pattern goes away. Ilk realizes that Osric might be useful in their little expedition, and invites him. Osric gives up his trump of Corwin to Corwin. Corwin leaves. Ilk goes through with Bella. Norton, Osric, and Rainbow chat. Rainbow fills in Osric about some major happenings in the Courts over the last few millinnea out loud. Rainbow fills them in on the story of the missing apprentice. Apparently they lost a bunch of Old Lords back then, and that's when Snarsht started being less than tolerant of others. ------------------------- Damia and Celeste Escape to Cobalt Damia and Celeste waffle over how to get back home. Damia is fighting with the mandrakes. Damia gives the mandrakes a message for Cyndia. Mandrake silliness ensues. She gets a note back, "You're where?" It's a dragon, folded out of paper. The mandrakes say that the paper got modified by the conditions of one of the places that they went through. It sounds like one of the fractal realms to Damia. Damia sends a more detailed explanation back. Damia gets a message back from Alia, saying, "You lost _everyone_ else?" She sends a message back, listing Cyndia, in the Courts of Chaos, Blaze, Theresa and Maria in Amber, and Carlton went back to Cobalt through the knapsack. Alia sends back, "Erica is just fine, thanks to Carlton. Derek is here. The others are where?" Damia explains briefly about Amber. "Why not come home?" "I have unfinished business where I came from." Damia and Brandt eventually go downstairs and wake up Celeste. Damia calls up the Spiral, walks in a fashion that is like the Pattern but not similar to it. The world around them seems to break into pieces, and pieces of pieces of pieces, and so on. They enter the Fractal Realms. Alia is waiting for them. She says that they need to go to the Castle - someone is there that claimed sanctuary, and mentioned that Amber place. She's Veil, or something like that... Vialle. They trump to Cobalt. Celeste is horrified at the crudity of the local trumps. There is a large turnout to welcome Damia home. Celeste notices that this is an extraordinarily good looking bunch. A number of the women are asking Damia if they can borrow Brandt when she is done with him. Beau is looking Celeste up and down, as is Finndo. Not sexually, but as if she might be a threat. Flavius, on the other hand, is trying to charm Celeste. Some of them take Damia up to meet Vialle. They chat. Damia confesses to being Random's mother. Vialle set Random up with someone in the Courts of Chaos to keep him busy when she got pregnant and ducked away into a slow shadow. Damia gets Vialle settled down in her suite. --EORun--