Characters in Attendance:
Lord Aaron [Andy]
Dalen [Kath]
Ambassador Lentaro Dojangi (Len) [Jeremy Z.]
Maladin [Jeremy F.]




When last we saw our intrepid adventurers ...

Lord Aaron and Dalen had been escorted out of the Tellurian Embassy by Maladin. Lord Aaron offers to escort the Lady Ambassador Lentaro had remained inside, and Inquisitor Theron had left the building through other means than the front door.

The time is about 6:00 in the evening.

Lentaro has received a package from Telluria -- a care package from home replete with chemical "glow" sticks that give light for 24 hours, and pump-action needlers. Enclosed as well was a letter addressed to him personally; a blank letter which only revealed its character when he rubbed his hand (paw?) over the material.

Maladin returns to the Embassy, after escorting the others well away, and Lentaro and he catch up on "old times".

Aaron pays a visit to Fiona's lab to review the information she has collected on Fumaris' body. Afterwards he retires to his room for dinner and sleep.

Dalen returns to the White Rose and let's Desra know that an appointment with the Queen is scheduled for tomorrow. Desra spends most of the evening perfecting Dalen's ensemble for the event. After the fluffing is done, she talks with her foster-father, Merik, regarding who can be trusted at the Castle. He says that Gerard is the only one he'd trust. Dalen mentions that Vialle seems to be a good woman, in the best sense of the word; not caught up in the scheming. Merik replies, "Well, she's not from around here." Dalen sends a note to the Castle, requesting an interview with Gerard for sometime after her discussion with Vialle. After that she receives a note from Lord Aaron who requests a meeting. One is set up for sometime after all the others.

Lentaro goes to the Castle in the evening for a meeting with an unknown (to us) personage.

The night passes uneventfully. It's a beautiful morning! It's the NEXT DAY!!

Lord Aaron wakes up with the sun and, shunning the idea of more fruit for breakfast, heads out of the Castle to find sustenance in the city. Along the way, he is waylaid by the Lady Klissera (she is sure persistent!). She makes a cute little moue and says, "I heard you had left the Castle without breakfast! I brought you some!" She hoists a picnic basket. "I have sweet rolls," she titters. Succumbing to the idea of a pleasant breakfast outdoors with a lovely woman who is wearing gauzy, translucent summer clothing, he allows her to lead the way to a forested area away from the city.

Dalen practices her sword work, and heads down to the common room for breakfast. Listening to the gossip as she eats, she hears that something has happened in the Golden Circle city of Helmwind -- something serious enough that they sent an unannounced contingent to Amber. No one knows what the problem is though.

Maladin spends the morning hunting for a good place to work out, and keeps an eye out for Gerard.

Lentaro spends the morning setting up "business" for the Embassy. Later he receives a Trump contact. It is Caine. Caine is wondering if Lentaro is in Telluria, and just how the Tellurian Rebellion is going. The Ambassador has to admit that he's still in Amber, and he really hasn't heard much about the Rebellion recently. Caine asks him if the people he sent to assist Lentaro didn't make it, and again Lentaro has to reluctantly admit that they did, though he ran away from them. Caine looks less than pleased by Lentaro's admission, but he says that it can't be helped now. Caine gives Lentaro some information regarding the state of the Rebellion -- that the splinter groups are, for the most part, incompetent. Whomever is pulling the strings is very, very good. The Rebellion is also very well stocked; most hard to get items being magically replicated. After this update, Lentaro mentions Dalen's visions to Caine, and the Prince dismisses them as the ramblings of a drunken woman. After Caine breaks contact, Lentaro gets hold of one of his other "contacts" and they swap current information.

At 11:30 a visibly disturbed Lord Aaron has lunch with Fiona. He relates the story of his breakfast with the Lady Klissera. At the picnic site four of the zombies (a la Fumaris) surrounded and captured him. A man in a hooded cloak came forward and "analyzed" him. He was asked about which patterns he had been initiated into -- broken Patterns, the primal Pattern, elemental Patterns, etc. After the "search" was completed they disappeared, leaving Aaron to go his way. The Lady Klissera was brainwashed by them, and she was "blank" when Aaron left her. Fiona lets Aaron know that Bleys has returned to the Castle. Aaron relaxes enough to go to lunch with Fiona -- just no picnics, please.

Maladin has a meeting with Random -- Gerard attends. Random assigns Maladin the job of checking out the problem in Helmwind, as an Military Adjunct to the House of Amber. Maladin is to investigate what exactly happened, and is to take with him one of the Family to provide the appearance of concern, if nothing else. Lore or Aaron are suggested. Random fills him in on the history of the area.

Dalen meets with Vialle for "refreshments". In the room is a man whom Vialle introduces as Michael, a childhood friend of Dalen's who wished to renew acquaintance. He hopes that Dalen will have time to speak with him, as it would be pleasant to discuss old times. He makes his exit, and over juice and tea Dalen tells Vialle about her visions, and the white disc she carries. Vialle says that the disc isn't from this world and is very old. The Queen also says that Dalen's visions come because she has a sensitivity, a link, to whomever or whatever is sending them.

Lord Aaron very kindly asks his mother, Princess Florimel, if she would mind putting together a small reception for the returning of Bleys that evening? She accepts, and sends him a questionnaire of requirements he wishes the evening to have.

Lentaro decides to have lunch in the city -- showing to the world at large that he is still alive.

Later in the afternoon Lord Aaron receives a note from Dalen saying that she is now free, and can meet at his convenience in the Castle. He instructs the servant to show her to the library. They discuss certain ramifications of the theory of the "warped" Pattern, and the source of the visions. Dalen agrees to try to take Aaron to the place in her vision where she saw the Pattern-thing destroy the countryside via a Hellride. After that, she plans to track down the Hellrider she saw in her other vision. They'll leave immediately after she goes back to the White Rose to change ...

... make that, after the Reception for Bleys. Aaron sends a quick note to the Rose, so that Dalen will know that departure is delayed -- but she's invited to the Reception as his guest. To make his travel schedule even more complex, Lord Aaron has been given the dubious pleasure of being named to Maladin's entourage to Helmwind. Maladin drops by to let him know they're leaving first thing in the morning. Joy and rapture.

Bleys shines like a star. You were expecting anything else at a party in his honor? The reception itself is uneventful. Aaron introduces Dalen around, and then chats with Bleys about a member from the Great House of Cho. Maladin talks with Llewella for a bit, then sits with Random and Vialle. Ambassador Lentaro chats to another Ambassador who tells him all about the joys of typeset. Dalen spends the rest of her evening schmoozing with various and sundry, then pays her respect so Bleys and Florimel, and retires from the festivities early. Aaron leaves a little bit later.

Maladin notices that Aaron is leaving after Dalen, and he instructs a servant to find out where he's gone. They've got a journey first thing in the morning, and Maladin doesn't want Aaron bollixing it up.

Aaron and Dalen begin their journey. As they walk their horses out towards the edges of the city, Dalen gets that "spacey" look again ... then she screams. When she comes around to present location, she tells Aaron that she doesn't want to talk about it now. He shrugs with an air of "no sense in arguing," and they head off. As they're nearing the place of her first vision -- a countryside destroyed by a "Pattern-like" thing, she begins to feel waves of resistance, like trying to wade through mud. As she pushes forward, it becomes a palpable thrumming -- she can almost make her destination, but it's just out of reach. Always just out of reach. The thrumming seems to come from the east and west ... perhaps. Aaron can't feel what she's describing at all. To him there's just nothing different there. They give up and turn to ride toward the man of Dalen's other vision -- a fair-haired, determined man on a Hellride. The results are the same. No matter how hard she pushes in the ride, she can't reach him.

Meanwhile, it's now morning. Maladin and his entourage are in the courtyard ... waiting for Aaron to show up. Come an hour later ... they're all still waiting. Maladin is not in a good mood about this development for his mission.

Aaron realizes that he and Dalen are near Helmwind, and he decides that it would be best to ride towards where Maladin and the entourage are supposedly heading. Maladin is done with waiting on Aaron, and decides to join up with him wherever he's at. Maladin arrives at Aaron and Dalen's present location in the blink of an eye, dragging his now-freaked entourage behind him. Aaron and Dalen gawk at Maladin's instantaneous arrival, as no one has ever seen anything like that before in living memory. Maladin and Aaron give each other the "courtly snubbery", and they decide to head to the appointed locale in Helmwind.

Dalen disappears from sight, much the same way that Maladin arrived. He disappears immediately afterwards, leaving Aaron in charge of the contingent of nervous diplomats. Aaron is most put out now, and tells the entourage to head towards the capital ... assuming that someone will catch up with them eventually, and not really caring at this point if anyone ever does. It's Maladin's looksee after all. Aaron returns to Amber via a Trump connection with Bleys.

Meanwhile Dalen has entered the stream she felt earlier, and images flash past her quicker than the eye can register. She eventually tries to exit the stream, and tumbles onto solid ground -- luckily getting thrown from her horse as it rolls over itself. Maladin arrives in time to grab her before much damage is done. He puts down the horse, gives Dalen the evil eye and says, "You don't have the first idea of what you're doing, do you?" She admits that she doesn't and proceeds to rather snappishly ask for enlightenment. He says he'll explain it after his mission, and she says she'll tag along. The two of them rejoin the entourage and continue on at a walk.

Aaron, still back at the castle, tells Random of the developments so far -- especially pertaining to Maladin's ability to "ZIP*ZIP*ZING-ing". Random is most interested and suggests that Fiona be made aware of this power. For now though, he asks Aaron to return to Helmwind so the entourage has some sort of leadership. He returns instead to the location he asked the entourage to aim towards, and finds that his destination has been completely razed -- burned out, similar to what he's seen in war campaigns. He decides to spend the night in the ruins.

NEXT DAY!!

Aaron wakes, and notices that a nearby forest is on fire. He Pattern-walks to the location of Maladin, and they all continue towards the area of the forest fire. Aaron Pattern-shapes the forest, keeping the fire from spreading to where the party is, though the forest itself and the ones around it are pretty much completely toasted. They continue their journey to the nearest town -- it also has been decimated. As far as they can tell people were herded into buildings, then locked inside while the structures were torched. Stone walls were toppled by what appears to be something similar to mortar fire. Maladin and his people search the ruins, and Dalen just wanders the area. Aaron quickly falls asleep, as his earlier Pattern work has worn him out.

Later in the evening everyone is woken by a large fireball landing dead center in the camp. Another fireball scatters the horses (those that hadn't already been fried, that is), and sends the rest of the group in different directions. Aaron brings up a Pattern-shield to deflect and defend the fireballs. He volleys one right back to the source and can feel the impact when it arrives. Maladin ZIP*ZIP*ZINGS to the source of the attack, and captures the person writhing on the ground. Dalen has disappeared.

Maladin contacts Random through Trump, and brings him up to date on what is going on in Helmwind. He tries to send the captive to Random through the Trump, only to have the person burst into flame and turn immediately to ash on contact. He closes contact with the King, and then feels someone entering the "stream" smoothly, and someone entering the "stream" clumsily. He enters it himself and follows whomever it is he's following.

Dalen is trying to follow someone in the stream, only to realize that she can't locate them at all -- they could be anywhere. She's moving incredibly fast, and begins to sense that something really large is approaching (or she's approaching something really large). She doesn't stop in time, and SLAMS hard into something ... blacks out. When she comes-to she finds herself in some sort of demonic holding pen in the fringes of the Courts of Chaos at the edge of the Abyss. The person (Thing? Demon?) tending the area hauls Dalen up, comments on how ugly they're making them in Amber, and tosses her over his (its?) shoulder and starts taking her to the Courts. Maladin catches up, and claims Dalen as his property. The demon happily tosses her over, glad to be relieved of the bother. Maladin and she head back to Amber -- a trip of two days.

THE DAY AFTER THE NEXT ONE!

Aaron has been back since the night of the fireballs. He's reported everything to Random and Fiona. With a certain amount of malice aforethought he Trumps the newly returned Maladin, who ignores the call -- Aaron Trumps harder -- and again harder. Maladin is left lying on the corridor floor in the fetal position. Aaron smirks a little and puts away the Trump. He then sends a rather haughty, snotty note to Dalen at the Rose, despite the fact that she sent him a note immediately upon returning to Amber. He then spends the rest of the day luxuriating in doing nothing.

Random asks to speak with Maladin. The King grills Maladin on the occurrences of the last few days, especially the envoy's ability to ZIP*ZIP*ZING. Maladin demurs a bit, but in the end agrees to speak with Fiona in the near future regarding his ability.

Maladin sets up an appointment with Dalen for tomorrow in the afternoon.

Dalen sets up an appointment with Michael for tomorrow in the evening, for dinner, as he says he has information she would find interesting.

Dalen also asks Lore for a few hours of his time, and he comes calling at the Rose later that evening. She asks him to draw a picture of the Hellrider she saw in one of her visions. He says, rather archly, that he can do so, but it would make for a much clearer picture if he could take the likeness directly from her mind. That's a definite NO for Dalen. Lore expresses his inability to create a Trump from a mere recitation of likeness, but he agrees to draw a regular "portrait" of the person as she describes him. If Lore recognizes the person, he doesn't cop to it.

NEXT DAY!!

Aaron breakfasts with Fiona, and they discuss the different Pattern types -- specifically elemental Patterns, which Fiona debunks as a theory long dismissed. Afterwards he heads to one of the workshops in the castle to learn a specific Pattern-shield.

Lentaro is learning ballroom dancing and continues tending to Embassy "business".

Maladin meets with Fiona later in the morning and, at her insistence, takes her for a quick jaunt to Flora's shadow (and he thinks about dumping her there, but changes his mind). She thanks him for the tour, and he bows out politely.

Dalen and Maladin have a chat and disappear for a while (again!).

NEXT DAY!!

Towards the evening, Maladin receives a Trump call from Random. It seems that Aaron has gone missing, and his Highness wishes to know if Maladin has seen him. Dalen and he conclude their discussion and Maladin attempts to Trump Aaron, and makes a connection. Aaron looks beat, and has been recovering in Prince Benedict's shadow. It seems that Aaron, during the course of his investigations into certain of the Pattern variations, and was looking at the Pattern-signature from Fumaris' body. He summoned the Pattern as a shield, and tried to raise the altered Pattern as well. He could do one or the other, but not both, so Aaron released the primal Pattern and focused on the altered one. After a while he realized that he felt hot and a trifle weak. He releases the altered Pattern and brings up the primal Pattern, and begins to feel better. Thinking that he can control it, he once again concentrates on the altered Pattern. After a while, he feels warm and weak -- and lets go of the Pattern, or ties to. It's staying with him. He grows weaker and hotter, and realizes that he's close to collapsing. Fumbling for his Trumps, he finds one (Benedicts) and tries for a connection. Benedict replies and takes him in -- dismissing (somehow) the connection between Aaron and the altered Pattern.

Maladin brings Aaron through, and he and Dalen take the exhausted Lord back to Castle Amber. He mother descends upon him with much cooing, chastising and pampering. Dalen calls for the servants and supplies requested by Princess Florimel and heads out of the castle on her way back to the Rose. Maladin attends Aaron until he also is shooed out of the room by Florimel.

Lentaro has been snuggly situated in the Tellurian Embassy.

To be continued on September 26th, at 2:00 ...