Cordelia will arrive promptly at 2 minutes to six.
She is dressed much as she was when she collected you in the first instance, knee high leather boots, jeans, tee-shirt, and a well worn leather jacket. At her left side hangs her Katana.

Also present will be Mikato and Choki. Kasmir will be perched on Alana's shoulder.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:22, Tue 14 Mar 2023.

Since it had been his request to go that had prompted the trip it was only fitting that Cormac be the first there to greet Cordelia as they gathered. He was dressed comfortably for travel though he doubted the trip was going to be particularly arduous. More likely than not he assumed she meant to get them all there via trump. No matter though, he was ready for whatever means of travel she thought proper.

He carried a small case with only a couple of changes of clothes and various personal items. Forty eight hours was not long enough a time to need much more than that. Plus he assumed anything else they might need should be available at their destination.

Cormac did take note of the katana as he gave Cordelia a polite nod in greeting. Was that really necessary or just something that she liked to have close? Not for the first time he began to wonder if he should also consider a weapon of his own. Not that he wanted to get up to any combat but he was beginning to think that violence followed their family just as surely as intrigue did. Whatever the case he put that thought aside and gave his cousins a cordial greeting as they arrived.

"Ready for a family road trip?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his tone.

The stated purpose of going to Elysium was to take advantage of the time difference. Those that had not achieved the Trump manifestation in less than 30 minutes wanted the extra time to get it down before the coming events. While Rhiannon had already achieved that goal, she could use that time to further hone what she had achieved, but also to get a head start on the Trump Manuals. But also, she wanted to see Elysium.

For a 48 hour working trip, she packed relatively light. Her hair care products, some light makeup, and assorted personal hygiene items. For clothes she had a swimsuit, some shorts, a couple t-shirts, socks, sneakers and a pair of jeans. She was already wearing hiking shorts, light boots, and a t-shirt. Hopefully there would be a way to get anything she might have forgotten in her rush to get ready.

"I'm ready to go." She announced, though that had to be already assumed by her presence carrying duffel bag. "Indeed, Cormac. A roadtrip should be fun."

Cassandra arrived to hear Rhiannon and Cormac's exchange. She had exchanged her dress for a pair of short dungarees, and a t-shirt, as always her combat boots remained. Cassandra smirked "I think most siblings would say family road trips are like hell on earth. Shall we play I, Spy."

Blake shows up with a duffel, containing toiletries, a few changes of clothes, and a book.

He smiles at everyone.  "I've never had a family before, much less been on a family road trip!  I think it'll be fun.  What's I, Spy?"

I had hoped that everyone would have posted something by now, but to avoid further hold-ups I'm moving thins forward




Cordelia will then extract a trump from her deck and concentrate on it forming a portal as before. As soon as the portal is fully open Mikato will head through with Choki on his heels.

Who is first through after the dogs?

Rhiannon looks only for a moment to see if anyone will crash into her. Noticing no indication of anyone moving first, she takes a step then bounds through the portal with an excited squeal.

Well, the lady had asked for them to hurry and Cormac was not about to begrudge her that request. He had some indication about how difficult a task this was from their lesson earlier so he hurried through after Rhiannon, a bemused grin on his fast as she squealed. While he too was excited he wasn't quite that excited. Perhaps this new extended family of his wasn't all that bad...

Stepping through through the trump portal you find yourselves in what appears to be the inner bailey of some sort of huge Medieval Castle.
Approximately a dozen guards, in lamellar over chainmail armour, about 20ft away, are standing at ease. Half have what look to be high power modern carbon fibre crossbows, and the other half have some form of stubby rifle slung over their shoulders. All have sabres hung from baldrics at their side.


About 90m(100yds) to your right is a large hall, approx 76m(250ft) in length, 24m(80ft) wide. The ridge of the the front section of the hall, probably the fist 50ft, is about 18m(60ft), whilst the ridge of the remainder tops out at about 40m (130ft). Abutting the Hall to the rear as you look at it, is a 36m(120ft) radius octagonal tower some 68m(225ft) in height. Directly behind you, 90m(100yds) away, is a gate house, a 150ft tall, and 150ft wide structure. If you're facing the gatehouse, then to it's right is a 3 storey building, about 30m(100ft) in length, the ground floor of which appears to serve as a huge set of stables.

To your left, as you face the tower, between you and the rock escarpent beyond on which sits a huge tower, about 90m(100yds) away  are a pair of 3 storey buildings each about 50ft wide and 150ft long, with their narrow ends facing you. There appears to be a 'road' between the 2 buildings.
The tower beyond, which sits on the 50ft(15m) high plateau of the escarpment, is some 145m(475ft) in diameter and 200m(656) high. On top of the tower appears to sits a huge blue prism. Each face on the prism is 77m(253ft) in length and 49m(160ft) high.
The two buildings appear to be some form of military command centre come barracks.There are doors in the centre of the "ends" of the buildings, accessed through the arch formed by the "staircase" towers leading to the upper floors.
There are also 2 sets of "double doors" equally spaced along the "road" side of the buildings, again accessed through archways formed by "staircase" towers.

The tower in turn is dominated by the absolute black iceberg that juts into the castle and stops just short of the tower sapping all light from the area at it's tip/leading edge.
The iceberg [GM Note: I describe it thus for want of a better description. It is somewhat akin to a wedge of cheese which sticks into the reality] aborbs all light and even looking at it fills you with disquiet and dread. It extends vertically as far as the eye can see. At the base of the walls which surround the bailey are numerous ancillary buildings, except along the edge adjacent to the "iceberg".

A narrow path appears to lead up the escarpment close to the left hand edge which brings it close to the black iceberg. The architecture style for all buildings is circa 15C Medieval Europe.

Mikato will bound up to a figure, standing with the guards, who wouldn't have looked out of place in the Royalist Army post the Cromwellian rebellion. He's 6'2" with flame red hair shoulder length hair.
After Cordelia steps through, closing the gate behind her, she'll cross the space to the figure and the two will embrace briefly.
"May I introduce Prince Gabriel Barwicke, former captain of the HMS Grenwich. Gabriel may I formally introduce your cousins"
She'll then go round and name each of you in turn.
Gabriel will then say
"Madison and Isla are in a council meeting and will join us for lunch, so I get to do the introductory tour. We've put you all in the guest quarters on the 3rd floor. You'll have to excuse a few things, the rooms are a little musty, as we've had no need to use any of them, so they were pretty much as they were the day they were brought into existence, we'll not quite as they all got retro-fitted with basic plumbing, at least running cold water, about 40 years ago."
"You'll find things here somewhat different to Cordelia's mansion, and probably nothing like what most of you are used to, but for myself I prefer the simplicity here."

He leads you in the direction of the Great Hall.
Approaching the Great hall you are confronted by a set of ornate but functionally sturdy double doors, which surprisingly open inwards.

Entering through the doors you find yourself in a galleried entrance hall some 30 feet long by 40 feet wide. Another set of double doors face you and two heavy doors spaced 8 feet apart are set into each of the left and right walls.
The iron bound and reinforced double doors at the end of the hall open towards you, into the entrance hall, whilst the other iron bound and reinforced doors with concealed hinges open away from you.

The main hall itself is huge, about 200ft in length and 70ft wide, architecturally reminiscent of a 17C vaulted hall with a hammer beam constructed carved crown post and supporting arch roof supporting the floor some 30ft above. The Galleried side aisles are 10ft wide narrowing to 7ft wide as they negotiate their way past the fire places and are supported on carved wooden main posts which form the main element supporting the hammer beams.
In the right hand wall (as defined by the way you enter the hall), spaced equidistant along the wall, are 2 12ft wide 7ft high carved granite fireplaces .

The far end of the hall is dominated by a dias, 40ft wide and 12" high at its base, with a 2 further raised sections one 30ft wide and 12" high, and the upper section 15ft wide and 12" high, upon which sits an ornately carved but otherwise unembellished throne. 6 smaller thrones are arranged 3 on each side on the centre tier of the dias.
An ornate carved screen, some 12ft high blocks the view behind the dias, but it's design conceals the stairs which allow entry from behind the dias. What appears to be a writing desk with 2 chairs sits along the right-hand edge of the dais.
The dias is set forward about 12ft from the rear wall, and the double doors which lead into the main tower beyond.

In a semi-circle around the furthest fire place are half a dozen comfy chairs and a low table. Forward of this, towards the entrance is a larger dining table about 5 ft wide and 20ft long, at an angle of about 30deg to the wall, angled away from you. A dozen chairs are set around the table.

The halls is lit by a mixture of 7 centrally hung iron cartwheel oil lantern chandeliers and wall hung oil lanterns. Aside from the carving of the gallery balustrade and all the woodwork, the decoration in the hall is sparse, with only 4 tapestries and 3 banners present.


Gabriel leads you down the length of the hall circumnavigating the dais, and exiting through the double doors beyond (they open into the hall!).
Traversing a short corridor, about 10ft wide and 20ft long, you pass through another set of double doors (again they open towards you), into a blue marble flaged 20ft by 40ft hallway beyond. In each wall are 3 doors, one in the far corner of the room, and the other 2 set 5ft from the entry and a further 8 feet beyond that. Again all doors are iron bound and reinforced, and open into the hallway. Numerous sideboards/kitchen dressers line the walls, fairly obviously for storing crockery, glasses, and other eating utensils.

Gabriel takes the 2nd door on the right, about 20ft down the hallway.
"The layout of the stair cases on this side of the keep are pretty much symmetrical, so it doesn't really matter which set you take."
You enter a stairwell, which ascends 30ft before you pass through a stout door on your left, which opens away from you, onto a landing.
There is a reinforced door in the wall off to your left, a set of double doors off to the right on the far side of the room from the entry door, and another door almost immediately on your right.

"The family dining room is through the double doors. There is also what you would call a sitting room, and the beginnings of a library."

Gabriel opens the door on the right, which opens towards you, and enters another staircase. The staircase ascends about 10 feet before ending in another door as previously. Opening it he steps out onto a landing almost identical to the previous one, opens the door immediately to the right and enters the staircase beyond.

This time when you reach the landing, Gabriel heads for the double doors on the far side. Passing through the doors you enter a corridor.

About 28ft down the corridor are double doors one each side. (Note: Distance from the entry doors of the corridor to the centre or the double doors.) 4 more sets of double doors on each side are spaced 39ft apart down the corridor. 2 2ft wide by 6ft high windows in the end wall admit light to the corridor.
Gabriel stops outside of these and opens the doors on the left.
"All the suites are the same, so just take your pick as to which one you want.
As I said previously things are very different here to what you're used to.
Whilst the rooms do have running cold water, you're going to need to use the guzzunder for everything else. The maids will empty them for you each morning.
If you want a bath then you'll need to say so in advance. There are hot water taps on each floor by the sluices, so the maids no longer have to carry hot water up from the kitchens, but they will still need to bring a bath from where they're stored. "

The double doors lead to an entry room, 18ft wide and 17ft deep, which is currently unfurnished.
A window 3ft wide and 6ft high is cut into the outer 5ft thick walls, in line with the doors. The window is set into the wall by 9" but has an 18" wide cill which sticks out beyond the edge of the wall.
A second set of double doors in the centre of the left/right wall (left on the LH side of the corridor, and right on the RH side), leads to the bedroom beyond. Slightly offset, such that it is closer to the corridor, is an 8ft x 8ft x 7ft high 4 poster bed. A single 4ft wide, x 2'6' deep x 2'6 high flat top chest sits against the bed in the centre.
A second window, similar to that in the entry chamber is set into the centre of the outer wall, and on the LH/RH side (the side of the entry room) in the corner, set at 45 deg is a 4ft wide fire place. A washstand with porcelain sink and single tap, occupies the space on the other side of the window.
An 8" square timber box section runs along the ceiling against the outer wall. The 13mm copper pipe that feeds the tap on the wash stand drops from the box section directly above the stand.

"Right I'll leave you to it. Lunch will be served in the Dining room at about one thirty, which is in about an hour."

Gabriel will then head back the way he came. Somewhere along the line you appear to have misplaced Cordelia, Mikato, and Choki.


This message was last edited by the GM at 20:04, Sun 19 Mar 2023.

"Thank you Gabriel." Rhiannon gave him an appreciative smile. "And very nice to meet you. The family grows." Once he was gone, she picked a random room

"Well since it doesn't matter, I choose this one." She headed through one of the doors on the right side of the corridor. "See you all for lunch... even though it was just dinner time."

Upon entering the room, Rhiannon drops her bag on the bed. After a quick look around at the ancient accommodations, she crinkled her nose. If she would have known, she would have brought a can of Febreeze. If there is a window, she opens whatever might be keeping it closed to air out the room and get some light. Propping the door open would hopefully get a breeze going through.

Expecting that there was no electricity, never mind a Zou Yan, Rhiannon went back into the hall, going by the rooms to see if any of her cousins wanted to explore a bit with her.


This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Sat 18 Mar 2023.

Cormac followed along with the tour, taking in all the details and committing them to memory. It was indeed a lot different to Cordelia's place but that didn't bother him any. After all, the rooms given to their use was a far cry better than what he had to deal with after the tidal wave that nearly destroyed his life. A little roughing it would be good for the soul.

When they were given leave to choose a room he did so quickly, picking one on the right hand side as they were all the same. Stowing the few things he had brought with him Cormac pondered what to do next. He would need more than an hour for another attempt at mentally walking the pattern. That would have to come after lunch. Instead he stepped back out into the hall and saw Rhiannon had likewise stepped back into the hallway.

"Would you fancy a bit of exploring then?" he asked. "I have not done so well on my practice to be able to summon the pattern before lunch. Might as well put the time to good use and take a look around."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:13, Sat 18 Mar 2023.

Your various peers will likewise disperse to various rooms down the corridor.

A little after Rhiannon and Cormac return to the corridor, Cathal, Kenneth, and Natsuki will also appear.
Speaking almost over the top of one another

Cassandra likewise appears in the corridor "Oh what's this about getting lost?" while she should probably practice, she could spare an hour to look around.

It was exciting. After so many days of everyone all holed up by themselves, the family was going to go out on an excursion together. Sure, it was just to explore the nearby vicinity of this castle, but it would still be fun doing it together.

"This is awesome, guys. I'm so excited. So what do you say we just go that way?" She pointed the way they came. "Maybe we can actually see some of the stiff that Gabriel just pointed out. ...and hope that we don't get lost."

Backtracking to the entry landing is of course trivial. Working you way back down to the blue marble flagged entry hall where all the dressers are, and then into the Great Hall, assuming you want to go that way is not particularly difficult.
There are various options along the way, including when you get back into the blue marble flagged entry hall.
So I'm going to need to know more about where you intend to go..

Cormac smiled a bit at Rhiannon's exuberance. Even more so as he noted the others joining them and then what Cassandra had said.

"I don't think we will get all that lost," he said with a chuckle. "Besides, even if we do the locals will point us in the right direction so that we don't get in their way."

For now he is content to follow along and let the others pick the path. It was all new to him after all so no matter where they go he will be seeing something new.

"I'm intrigued by the medieval flavor of the place. And the archaic weaponry. I wonder how hard it would be to find a sword of my own? It does seem to be a family tradition after all."

"I'm not sure they were that archaic. Those crossbows looked modern, and those rifles didn't look anything like muskets, not that they looked like much I'm that familiar with, certainly not an AR15 or M16 or even a pump action.
I would guess that since all the guards carried sabres they must make them locally, so maybe there's some sort of quartermasters."

"Well, this is a castle." Rhiannon walked along slowly, taking in the decor and the architecture.. "I think we would be remiss to not go see the great hall. Don't you agree?"

"Aww but getting lost is part of the fun," Cassandra said sarcastically, "But the architecture is wonderful and the Great Hall is probably the best place to start."

Cormac shook his head and smiled in a bemused way.

"But if we get too lost we might miss lunch and that isn't something I'm willing to chance."

It might be his imagination but he seemed to have a heartier appetite since walking the pattern. Maybe he would remember to mention that to Cordelia and some of his extended cousins to see if that was normal. Whatever the case he could probably stand to put on a few pounds, especially if it was muscle as opposed to fat.

"The great hall sounds like a great place to start. Lets go."

And with that he started in that direction assuming the others would follow.

You already have the description of the Great Hall.. it's in msg#9 above and in the 'Castle Elysium' thread.

Once Rhiannon realized they've seen everything there is to see in the Great Hall, she looks around for anything new. If there was someplace the group hasn't been, she would head in that direction. Otherwise it seemed the right course to retrace their steps yet again until they found something new.

Blake follows along as the group enters Elysium.  Taking in the sights and the architecture, it's like walking into a history book, fascinating, though he contemplates that when they eventually walk in Shadow they will probably see much stranger things.  The strange wedge of blackness holds his attention, he wonders what it could be, and tries to think of what natural phenomena would form into a non-spherical shape like that.

When it comes to the hall of rooms, he pokes his head into rooms on both sides of the hallway, and chooses whichever allows him to see the strange wedge of darkness.  But he stays in the room only long enough to toss his duffel bag onto the bed, before rejoining his cousins, enjoying the exploration they're sharing.

He says, "Let's explore. I don't think it's going to be as easy to get lost as it used to be before we walked the Pattern."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Tue 21 Mar 2023.

There are lots of places you haven't been.
Aside from the whole of the inner bailey of the castle, the only things you currently know are
1) The middle door in each wall of the Blue Marble Entrance Hall leads to the 1st floor landing
2) The door to the immediate right/left of the door that you exit onto the landing through, leads to another stairwell that goes up to the next floor
3) The double doors on the landing on the first floor leads the the dining room/family rooms
4) The double doors on the landing on the third floor leads to your assigned rooms.
5) The Octagon tower is 225ft in height, and the floors are approximately 10ft high.

That means
1) You have no idea where the other doors in the Blue Marble Entrance Hall lead
2) You have no idea where the other doors on the landings lead

If you want to go exploring then I need to know where you intend to go.

The other doors in the Blue Marble entrance look very inviting and something right at the beginning. Unless some guard intervenes, Rhiannon goes and peeks inside.

Rhiannon took the lead and he followed. Cormac had no destination in mind. This was just an excursion to see what there was to see. And perhaps bond a bit with his cousins. They were all in this together after all. There was little point to continue as strangers with them. Hell, there was no one else in creation it would seem who could appreciate what they were all going through besides each other.

He kept an eye out for the guards in case any of them seemed to think their little group was going somewhere they shouldn't. They didn't want to trespass upon first arrival he thought. But barring any indication from them he would assume they could go where they pleased.

"Don't keep us in suspense," he said with a hint of amusement to his voice. "Anything interesting in there or have we stumbled upon the royal latrine?"

While he doubted that was the case he didn't have any other notion as to what they might find.

The first of the doors in each wall, leads to another spiral staircase leading up.
The door in the far corner, leads to a corridor, heading right/left at 45degrees, according to which side of the hallway the door is on.

"Okay, so," Rhiannon turned to face her cousins. "The one door has a staircase going up, and the others are corridors. I think we should stick to this level, but I'm not the only princess here. What do you think, my cousins? Door number two?"



OOC Edit: Left
This message was last edited by the player at 19:49, Wed 22 Mar 2023.

"Door number two besides we can just move on to the next if it's boring," Cassandra responded shrugging.

Taking the door on the left (which opens towards you), you enter a corridor, also flagged in blue marble, about 4ft wide and 20ft long,, which proceeds 45 degrees left. It also ends in a reinforced iron bound oak door. The corridor is dimly lit by two wall mounted oil lanterns equidistant along the left hand wall.

Proceeding along the corridor and through the door you enter another similar corridor, of similar dimensions, which proceeds 45 degrees right. It also terminates in a reinforced iron bound oak door.

Proceeding through this door you find ourselves in a cross corridor of similar dimensions.
Directly opposite the door your exit into the corridor is another reinforced iron bound oak door. It looks like this one opens towards you (all the doors you've been through so far have opened towards you).

About 10ft to your right is another door, again made of oak, except this one has 2 diamond lattice leaded glass window, each about 6" wide and 2ft tall, inset into them.It looks as if this door opens away from you.

The corridor ends about 20ft to your left. There is another reinforced iron bound oak door in the left hand wall.

Cormac frowns a bit as the halls go on and they are confronted with a series of doors. This was after all someone's home and a working castle. While the idea of exploring is attractive the notion of opening doors randomly doesn't sit well. They could just be walking into someone's office or bedroom.

He takes note of any sounds he can hear, such as voices from behind doors or idle talk from any folks they pass. Hopefully he can get some sort of hint as to what part of the castle they are in. Maybe there was some sort of clue or sign as to what sort of function this part of the castle served.

"It occurs to me that large parts of the castle might be pretty boring by our reckoning. It's bound to have hall upon hall of doors leading to bed rooms, offices and latrines. Maybe we should ask directions to something more out of the ordinary like the library or a view on to that great giant black iceberg."


This message was last edited by the GM at 12:38, Thu 23 Mar 2023.

Cassandra simply shrugs "Nothing more fun than wandering, also I choose the cool doors", with that she turns to the right and pushes open the doors with inset lattice windows.

You find yourselves in an Octagonal courtyard some 34m(111ft) across flats.

On the opposite side of the courtyard is another identical door.
Whilst there are no windows on the ground or what would be the second floor, there are windows, or at least shuttered openings, on the floors above that.

The view to the sky is partially occluded by some sort of circular structure, at least 2/3 the diameter of the courtyard, mounted centrally above the courtyard, and supported by 8 'legs', one at each radial point.

There are what would appear to be 4 wells each about 6ft in diameter (exterior, 3ft internal) spaced about 6ft apart around the centre of the Courtyard. Against the 'diagonal' walls are what appear to be stone troughs, each about 7ft long, 3ft wide, and 3ft deep. They are all full of water. At one end of each trough is what appears to be some form of float operated filling mechanism, that fills the trough from a 2" pipe which runs around the wall, and which emanates from about 2/3 the way across the non-door flat, T'd such that it supports a pair of troughs.

3 of the wells appear to be capped off, whilst the winding structure of the 4th is missing, completely replaced by a circular steel lattice beam which supports 3 8" diameter pipes and 1 6" diameter pipe which ascend into the space above. About 50ft above you the pipes appear to enter some sort of machinery, before continuing their ascent. There appear to be 3 more blocks of machinery, before the pipes reach the structure above. At each machinery level 3 additional triangular lattice beams support the vertical steel circular beam.

"I wonder what it's used for?" She shrugged "Either way it's boring, next door." She says beginning to turn.

"This is interesting...." Rhiannon studied the mechanism. "I really can't imagine it's purpose. Does anyone have an idea of what this is? Cathal, you usually know these things."

You retrace your steps and enter the corridor once more, opening the door on the right (the one opposite the door you entered the cross corridor from).
Up until this point the corridors have been silent, other than the sounds of your own footfalls or chatter.
With the door open you can now here feint sounds in the distance, and indistinct hubub, which grows as you progress along the corridor, which runs 45degrees to the right, making it parallel to the outside wall of the octagon courtyard.

After about 20ft the corridor ends in another iron bound oak door. The sound of industrial hubub beyond is now quite loud.
Opening the door you are hit by both a wave of noise and a wave of heat and humidity.
Aside from the fact you appear to now be in what may be the kitchens, there are a number of people in here who are definitely not human, although they appear to be in the minority.
There is a momentary lull in activity and noise as they react to your presence before the previous levels of activity and noise resumes.
A couple of minutes go by before you're approached by a non-human looking, grey leathery skinned, probably female, given its wearing a dress and aprons, figure about 7'3" tall.

Cormac sighs in a bemused sort of way. Their impromptu explorations aren't working out quite how some of them had probably hoped. It was to be assumed though. This was a working castle with lots and lots of people going about their daily business to keep the place running. It was only logical that most of what they found would be the mundane workings of life in the keep. More to the point, anything unusual, and thus interesting by their definition, would probably be well hidden so as to keep curious sight seers like themselves from stumbling into it.

"I'm sorry," he says, offering an apologetic smile to the lady who approached them. "We were exploring and just wandered in by accident. We'll get out of your way."

Then, to his cousins he continues.

"Lunch is in about half an hour. Maybe we should head back to our rooms and perhaps take a closer look out the window at that strange glacier formation. By then it will be time to eat and maybe we can ask for a guided tour rather than just bumbling around on our own."

This was all said with a bemused smile as he did find it all rather amusing. There was a place of course for wandering off on one's own. This time though it just hadn't worked out for them.

"Hmm how's this we head to the dining room in a roundabout manner, that way we arrive for lunch in time while still looking around" Cassandra looks back at the cook "If it's no bother, could you tell us the best route for that?"

She heads across the kitchen, past the very modern looking cast iron range in what probably once was on open fireplace to your right, to the stairs just beyond it, which are the ones the Head cook originally appeared from.
At the top of the stairs, you're force to turn a sharp left, and enter an arched cross corridor.
Elowyn turns right and then right again through the first arch she comes to and then right again up another set of stairs.
At the top of these stairs, there is an archway immediately to the right, but Elowyn turns left and heads for the door, which is directly ahead of her across the room.
Opening the door you emerge into a corridor. The section of the corridor to the left is narrow only about 3ft wide, but the corridor to the right is about 6ft wide. She turns right.
After [nn] ft the corridor angles left at 45 degrees, continues for [nn] ft, and then turns left 45 degrees again. It continues straight for [nn] ft before turning left 45 degrees again. After [oo] ft it turns right 45 degrees, and continues for [nn]ft before ending in a reinforced iron bound oak door which opens away from you (hinged on the left).
Opening the door, you find yourselves in a room about 10ft square. There is another reinforced iron bound oak door in the wall across the room to the left, which again opens away from you. Opening this door you find yourselves on the 'landing' that Garbiel first lead you to.

"Alright, well" Rhiannon faced the doors on the right. "At least we know this part of the castle well enough. Perhaps someone at lunch can point us to places of interest. Not that we'll be able to spend a lot of time as we're supposed to be studying." She marched up to the double doors and opened them.

"And that is a...." NOT a dining room. "A wood paneled and decorated corridor. Looks like yet more doors."


This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Tue 28 Mar 2023.

It's not difficult to determine that the Dining Room is on the left, whilst what possibly is a Ballroom or some sort of function room is on the right.

About twenty past one, three of the kitchen staff will appear, accompanied by Natsuki, Choki, and Mikato, and begin to the lay the table, laying 16 places, 9 on the corridor side and 7 on the wall side.
About twenty five past Cordelia, accompanied by two other women, who look to be about the same age as her will appear. Both are dressed in what would be considered early 1800's style day dresses.
A few minutes later Gabriel accompanied by another gentleman will appear, followed by any of your missing peers.

Finally some clear direction. Rhiannon picked a chair in the center, and took a seat.

"Well, wonderful to meet you all. Forgive me, but are you more cousins? I've never had such a big family... and I've had several."


This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Tue 28 Mar 2023.

Unsure of how respectful his greeting should be, Blake wavers for an uncomfortably long moment between a bow and a nod and a simple word of hello.  Then he gives up, and sits, hoping he hasn't been too rude.  He looks at the new royalty curiously, trying not to stare, but wondering if they are reflections of the royalty he met yesterday.

He smiles at Rhiannon's comment, and looks expectantly at the others.  He wonders just how many cousins he really has, thoughts drifting to continental europe where the nobility are all cousins to each other of some degree.

Cormac offers a polite bow as the newcomers are introduced. He takes especial note of them, as if studying them and committing their appearance to memory. More cousins he supposes, or some even more exotic sort of relatives. He would marvel at how many new family members he seemed to have. Then again being born into a family of immortals was bound to make for some twisted family trees. For now he observes and listens to fill in the gaps of what little he knows of them.

"The short answer to your question is yes, but I believe you've been informed of that already. As to how large the family actually is that's a completely separate question entirely, and one which may never be truly determined."

Cassandra nods "It's nice to meet you, thank you for accommodating our sudden visit" her face was stoic but her tone polite, internally she deadpans ' it's like having the Greek Pantheon family tree on steroids, Zeus has nothing on this'

"Likewise, otherwise we probably wouldn't have met until the Ball. Accommodating you all isn't really that difficult we're not short on space her, population yes, space no, and my mother did most of the heavy lifting."
Gabriel will bust out laughing as she makes the last statement

Once everyone was settled at the table, Rhiannon was happy to listen. The hosts began to engage, but even with the first inside reference, she realized how little she knew. In fact, she knew nothing but names and a jumble of relationships that might just as well have been explained a million years ago for all she could remember. Still, it seemed rude to just dump a bunch of questions on her newly acquainted cousins... or aunts and uncles. She supposed she would never know their true relationship unless she solved the mystery of her parentage.

"I'm afraid I must apologize." Rhiannon broke in. "Cordelia was kind enough to give us some names, but we know little else. Or, speaking for myself, I know so little. Do you all live here in Elysium all the time? Please, tell us about yourselves."

"Yes, we've all lived here since the end of the war, although I was sort of confined here from fairly early on. Isla chose to move here at the end of the war, and Gabriel is planning on moving to Carnelian once the fleet is established there which may be a few years away yet. I don't think Scott has made any decisions yet, there are things he'd probably like to resolve, although that is also true of both Isla and myself."
"In my case I'd like to know what happened to Kingdom after my mother yanked me out of it and dropped me in Cordelia's lap. In Isla's case I suspect its more of a desire to ensure that the family she has there is okay. She was in Amber when the war started."
"In my case my titles reflect who I am and what I do. Isla acts as my right-hand and councillor, whilst Gabriel is both our and my mother's gopher. Scott is pursuing other avenues which hopefully will bear fruit, but which would be much easier if he had access to the Wizards Guild on his home world, although that brings with it some serious complications."

Rhiannon nodded politely. She understood at least half of what Madison just told her. Of the other half, it seemed like there was some reconstruction of the family's control structure by way of the seats of power. While she was now a member of this magnificent family, she had no emotional attachment to anything that was lost or was being built. Where she was from, a princess's only responsibility was to love a prince. But she didn't want to voice any of that. It was very likely that all of this would have some bearing on her future and her personal investment was truly unknown.

"And what of us? How do we figure into all these plans and motions?"

"Where would you like to figure? "
"When we first came here the city was completely empty, full of empty structures and properties, it still is for the most part. There were no farms in the canyon below us, and no foresters on the hills, but then there were no forests or fields either."
"We expand as we can, bringing in two trains of settlers every three months, but we're completely land locked here and the ability to establish any cross shadow trade routes are very limited currently."
"Cordelia and Tiberius are in similar boats with the 2 Carnelians but neither are landlocked so they have one advantage, even if they currently only have a couple of ships"
"All of this completely ignores Amber itself, assuming we ever manage to find a way to get there, and fix whatever ill has befallen the Pattern."

"I take that as if we have the skills or are willing to learn, if we ask we can theoretically assist the family in any role or capacity," Cassandra asked at Madison's response.

Cassandra did not feel any obligation to help these people however, if she was staying here until she had learned what she needed to, exploring possible options wouldn't hurt. Not that she was giving up on her goals on her Shadow.

"That sort of goes without saying. The most basic jobs require you to be able to Shadow walk at a minimum but beyond that we'd endeavour to assign you tasks that most suit your talents, where that's possible."

Blake watches and listens, then chimes in.

"I had nobody before I was brought here, so I'm happy to devote all my time to the cause, though I'm not quite sure what it is, yet.  But I'm curious, why did you pick this place to settle, if being land-locked is a problem?  Is it because of that... um... that black thing?"

"We didn't specifically, it sort of picked us, albeit indirectly, given that my mother resides in the tower, and the city proved useful early in the war."
"And the 'black thing' you speak of is the Abyss, or rather an intrusion of it into shadow. At the Courts it intrudes from below, here it sort of is like a split that occurs in a drying ball of clay if it's not prepared properly primarily being to wet. As to what the Abyss actually is you'll have to ask Charlie, she's probably better placed to comment than anyone else but as we" she indicates the rest of those sat on her side of the table "understand it, the Abyss is what exists outside of shadow.

Cormac finds this talk of the Abyss troubling. Interesting to be sure but extremely troubling. His eyes dart to Isla for a moment, remembering what Cordelia had told him regarding her and sorcery. Now probably wasn't the time to bring that up though. Maybe he could manage to speak with her after their meal.The rest of the conversation required some response in the immediate moment.

"It sounds as if the job can be what we make of it," he says thoughtfully. "I'm still a bit fuzzy on all the particulars but it sounds like a good way to learn and master our powers and do some good at the same time."

Good being a relative term of course. Cordelia was not exactly the sort to earn a lot of trust he thought. But that seemed to be a family trait so she came by it honestly. What role he would ultimately play was yet to be decided but for now Cormac was willing to go with the flow while he learned more about whatever was really going on.

"Once you understand the basics of Shadow Walking there will be plenty of opportunities for you to practice 'on-the-job'.
It's another on of those skills where the more you practice the better you get at it. You also need to have a reasonable degree of mastery in Shadow Walking before you can Hellride. "
This message was last edited by the player at 16:40, Mon 03 Apr 2023.

'love me some eternal void' Cassandra thought as Madison explained. She then blinked at Cordelia's next sentence.

"Who came up with the names for these things? and were they into Heavy-Metal music?" She ask amused 'Hellride, sounds cool but good lord even I'm not that emo'

"The name reflects the reality of the experience, although you either need a very well trained and experienced horse, or a ship to reliably execute the move.
On a ship its usual to cover the phenomomen with a severe storm, otherwise you send the crew completely mad. Of course if you've sailed through a force 10 or 11 storm you'd how applicable that label is."

Rhiannon listened quietly to the interesting turn the conversation took. She knew that she was conscripted to help piece back together Humpty Dumpty. For that she would be accepted into her true family as princess of Carnelian and Amber. They would - and have already - teach her the nature of her legacy and how to wield powers she could still scarcely imagine. Though she was getting better at that last bit. The use of Trump had already opened her eyes to the real risks of going into this unprepared, but it just kept getting darker, and stranger. Cordelia hadn't yet explained what a hellride actually was, but it didn't sound like something to be taken lightly.

"Cordelia - or anyone else," She found a moment to jump in. "Would you please explain in as much detail as you can what a hellride is?"

"An analogy will have to suffice for the moment, as it's difficult to explain without being able to perceive the structure of shadow."
"Imagine you're in a dense forest at night with only a hand held flash light. Shadow Walking is like proceeding through the forest on foot, the flash light provides enough illumination for you to see where you're going."
"Now imagine you're in the same forest with the same flash light, except you also have a motorcycle but that it has no lights. Imagine also that if your speed drops below 50mph the motorcycle will explode, and that you have to navigate through the forest without hitting a tree."
"If you envision the forest as shadow, and the flash light as the Pattern you should get the idea."

Blake looks quizzically at Cordelia.  "So I take it running isn't fast enough.  Can you use an actual motorcycle, instead of a horse?"

"You can in an emergency and you've a great deal of experience in using the Pattern. It's really difficult to maintain the Pattern image and run at the same time."
"You can Shadow Walk on a motor bike , but you can't hellride. Combustion Engines only work in may be 10% of Shadow, so you can suddenly find yourself without motive power.
"An example may suffice. You can get from London to Sacramento in a couple of hours by Shadow Walking on a motor bike; Helliding takes about 5 minutes on a horse, assuming of course that the horse has been trained or your a very good horseman."

He wasn't too proud to admit that the idea of a hellride sounded terrifying. While Cormac could see that it had it's uses he wasn't too keen on trying it anytime soon. Mentally adding that to the list of things he would need to be wary of the young prince heard something else that piqued his interest.

"You can shadow walk between cities on the same shadow world? Would it then be the same world or a new one altogether. Or is this one of those things we will just understand as we get more practice?"

He was assuming the later, at least for the moment.

"Yes if you're familiar enough with your destination, and you can chose to either walk to the destination you want or a shadow of it, which can sometimes be useful. Its true in both versions of the example I gave you. You need to know your destination well enough to be able to manipulate shadow from your starting point to get there from where you start, and that sort of trick does require a decent level of understanding of shadow, which is very much down to experience."

As lunch finishes Cordelia will stand.




Madison, Isla, Gabriel, and Scott will then depart.



This message was last edited by the GM at 14:20, Thu 06 Apr 2023.

With Lunch concluded and the hosts departing, Rhiannon stood as well.

"We will see each other at dinner then. I need to go get some rest. See you soon everyone." With her goodbyes she went back to her room to sleep for a few hours.

Cormac too excuses himself. His plan is to go back to his room and try to get through at least one session of summoning the patterns image before he would need to get ready for dinner. Before doing so though he writes a note to Isla, asking for a private meeting the next day to discuss his questions regarding sorcery and how he can learn to use it away from his home shadow. This note is given to a servant with the request that they deliver it to her when they can. With that concluded he will then take his time and try his best to improve the time of his mental pattern walks.

Four hours of sleep later, Rhiannon opened her eyes and rolled out of bed. She was in a new environment, but she felt good enough about mind walking the pattern that she settled into a meditative state and did it again. This one wasn't for the purpose of getting faster. She was already well under the thirty minutes Cordelia prescribed, and she dd achieve image even faster this time, but what she needed from this run was the end result. The image of the pattern floating in the air before her eyes. Only she could see it, but this time she also wanted to see through it. The center, previously a dark void, was also a lens. It was a viewport through which she could assess powers and attributes associated. To what extent, she didn't know.

With the glowing swirls and curves hovering in her view, Rhiannon used it like a looking glass, observing her surroundings through the pattern's center. She wasn't sure what she would see, or what it would look like, but the only way to find out was to go try. She would try to move, keeping the image before her like a portal as she moved around the castle

Blake decides to rest his mind but exercise his body, something he's been slacking on the last couple of days.  After lunch, he heads out on a long run, testing the limits of his physical endurance and exploring the new world; but making sure he's back in time to get cleaned up and be presentable at dinner.

As noted earlier, that having spent all day learning to use Trump you're all going to be mentally exhausted, so no Pattern runs until you've had a few hours sleep, and almost universally that means 3.5 to 4 hours.

There is a pull cord attached to a box in the ceiling in the entry rooms to your suites, that if pulled will causes a servant to appear in 10 to 15 minutes, so sending the note to Isla is reasonably easy to accomplish.

I think all the run numbers are correct. If they're not then send me a PM.

As the Pattern image flares into existence in front of Rhiannon she has no idea what she's going to see. Suddenly off in the distance two huge power signals flare and dominate the scene taking her completely by surprise. What they represent she has no idea. One is dark and menacing, the other completely unreadable.
Despite the shock she just about manages to hang onto the image as it momentarily wavers. Buoyed up by her success she attempts to stand, but dividing her attention to do so causes the Pattern image to waver and flicker out of existence.

Descending to the ground floor Blake exits via the Grand Hall into the bailey of the castle. A little over 120 yards away and slightly to the right the Gate House and it's open gates beckons.
The Gate House is huge some 180ft high and 250ft wide, the four 50ft diameter corner towers standing some 30ft above the main structure. The 20ft wide 30ft high arched tunnel, through the 100ft thick structure, has 2 sets of iron reinforced bound oak doors at each end backed by 2 sets of portcullis.
The four guards on duty make no attempt to either hinder or delay Blake's egress into the street beyond.
The first thing that Blake notices, other than the down slope, and the smaller gatehouse off to his right is the 80ft high wall, possibly some 330ft away.
The 'street' slopes down for about 150ft as it passes the buildings on the left, before possibly levelling out.
Descending the slope, Blake ways his options. To his right is the smaller gatehouse, whilst to his left the street appears to bend away from him to the left. He notes that maybe about 10% of the actual buildings in the vicinity of the gatehouse are in-use/occupied.
He takes the street to the left as it looks possibly provide the best option for the 'long run' he's seeking.
The street continues to curve left, circumscribing both the castle wall to his left and the plateau. After about 300 degrees the black wedge of the Abyss looms back into view, along with a pair of gatehouses, one directly ahead and one to  his right. Unlike most of the buildings along the street he's just traversed, there are a few buildings here that appear to be in-use/occupied as opposed to appearing completely deserted.
Traversing the gatehouse directly ahead he appears to be in some sort of short dead-end street which runs to his right. He backtracks and traverses the gatehouse on his left (which would have been on his right as he came down the street). As before the street slopes downwards about 30ft as it traverses the buildings to his right, the street turning right at the bottom of the slope.
As on the previous level the street traverses a 300 degree arc, before ending in a pair of gate houses, one to his left, and one straight ahead.
As previously the gatehouse straight ahead leads to a short dead-end street, where as the gatehouse to the left leads to another street which turns right. The buildings in this street are different to those on the previous 2 levels being much larger and more substantial. At least one of the buildings looks like it may be some kind of administrative centre, whilst several of the others look like they may be warehouses of storage facility.  The architecture of all the buildings appears to be 17C Medieval European in nature.
There are 7 levels to the city in total, before the final gatehouse leads to the switchback which descends to the canyon floor some 700ft below.
Blake estimates he's travelled about 4 miles although only a two thirds of a mile radially. It's taken him about an hour and a half to reach this point.
In the distance, perhaps a mile away a bridge is visible which spans the river which cuts the canyon in half radially, and a mile beyond that the far wall of the canyon. The road appears to snake up a switch back on the far side before disappearing from view into a forest.

Aside from the sparsity of population, and the most densely populated 'street' encountered is the outer ring, especially close to the main city gatehouse, is that not all of the population is human. Apart from the 'grey leathery skinned demons' (which look a little like Gargoyles), there are a variety of other reptilian like demonic like entities which unlike the 'Gargoyles' have a significantly greater diversity.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:12, Sat 08 Apr 2023.

In reply to GameMaster (msg # 74):

Annoyed by the sudden dissipation of the pattern, and with still more than enough time before dinner, Rhiannon went through another iteration. She knew it would be draining before dinner, but she was frustrated and felt like she was on the verge of something. Once the manifestation returned, she went through exactly the same steps, turning slowly to view the two distant power signatures. From there, she turned slightly, making sure she kept the pattern. With that slow progression, she looked around, being careful not to move anything besides her head as it followed instinctively behind her eyes.

Cormac awakened after his short nap, remembering the old adage about the best laid plans of mice and men. His intent had been to practice summoning the pattern image but he just didn't have the mental strength for it. The trump practice earlier had taken more out of him than he had supposed. More mental exertion was going to have to wait until after dinner at the very least.

After his rest he still had the time to prepare for dinner so he would be presentable. Freshening up a bit he reflected on the events of earlier in the day. Assuming that Isla had gotten his message he might get lucky enough to speak with her a little later in the evening. With that in mind he put his spell rack in a pocket with the hopes they could discuss it later. He would feel a lot better about everything that was going on if he had the full range of his powers available to him. While he wasn't a powerful sorcerer, at least by Amber standards, he wouldn't feel quite so defenseless if he could summon his magical powers if in need.

Checking his look in the mirror he deemed that he was as presentable as he was going to get. With that he left his room and headed in the direction of the dining room. He had the feeling that things were only going to get more interesting in the next day or so.

Cassandra knows that she won't be able to walk the pattern before dinner, with that in mind she takes a nap. Four hours later she wakes up, she still has an hour or so before dinner so she spends some time going over everything she learned today.

About 45 minutes later she got up and headed to dinner.

Knowing better what to expect Rhiannon isn't surprised this time as the Pattern flares into existence. The two distant power signatures remain unaltered as before.
With care she scans her room, managing to maintain the Pattern as she does so, but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.

After scanning around from where she was sitting, Rhiannon learned that the castle itself was quite ordinary. She knew that because the two giant power signatures loomed, showing her what she might see, but didn't anywhere else. It was possible that the strength of the power sources affected the range at which it was visible. It was likely that Madison, Gabriel, Isla and Scott all had trump decks. Those had to radiate some kind of energy, but perhaps they were too faint at this distance. Or maybe smaller sources would become visible as she got better.

Rhiannon was satisfied. She was able to advance her ability and use the Mindwalk to summon the pattern much faster, and then use Patten Sight to see something. One of those sources had to be the intrusion of the Abyss to this shadow. She would have to inquire about the other. Both actually. But dinner would be served in less than twenty minutes.

Sweeping away the summoned pattern, Rhiannon went to the mirror and made she looked presentable. She's looked better, but beautification could wait until later. For the moment, brushing and pinning her hair back would have to suffice. Looking as good as she would until after a bath later, she went out and knocked on doors. She could have just went on to dinner, but she felt like she should accompany her cousins.

Satisfied with his look at the city, Blake heads back.  Outwardly calm, he inwardly wonders about the demons and gargoyles he saw.  What exactly are those?  Humans from a shadow so far away they're alien?  Mythological monsters, exactly as they appear?  Or something else entirely?  What are they capable of, what is their culture like?

He heads back into the keep, to rest for a little while, then clean up for dinner, for which he tries to dress truly formally, asking for the help of a servant, viewing it as a 'test run' of fitting into this new society.  (He also checks with the servant whether others are 'dressing for dinner', and if they aren't, he won't.)

This message was last edited by the GM at 19:17, Tue 11 Apr 2023.

Rhiannon will collect a number of your NPC peers and possibly one or two others before you all make your way down to the dining room.

Madison, Isla, and Gabriel, will arrive at about the same time as you all do. Whilst Isla and Madison have changed their dresses into something less workaday, Gabriel is dressed much as he was previously.

The table is laid with 7 places on each side. Madison will take the centre place on the far side with Isla on her right. Gabriel will take the furthest place from the door on the near side.

Unlike at Cordelia's mansion, the choice for dinner is somewhat more limited. Pea and Ham soup or chicken pate for starter, roast chicken or roast venison with assorted vegetables for main, and roast stuffed apple with cream for desert. There is red or white wine, or mead for those that want it.

Joining his cousins on the way to dinner Cormac greets them with a smile. He can't help but feel that this is a bit of an adventure and, if anyone still needed it, a bit more proof of how different there situations were than only a few short weeks ago. Journey off for a few days on another world? Sure, no big deal. This was their lives now and they all would have to adapt to it...one way or another.

Upon entering the dining room he took quick stock of the situation. It didn't seem as though they stood on too much formality here. No grand entrances required or any sort of required progression. Good then, they wouldn't be required to brush off their courtly manners just yet.

Cormac chose one of the seats opposite Madison and Isla, tentatively giving the ladies a polite nod followed by Gabriel. For the moment he remains silent, waiting to see how his hosts set the scene. It was their home after all and he would try to fit in to whatever social cues this situation called for.

Dinner progresses.. as the starters are cleared away Madison says
"I had been expecting a torrent of questions which haven't materialized so that means one of a number of things"
"The Cat's got your tongues"
"You're all so overawed at the splendour of this place that it's rendered you all speechless"
"You already know everything there is to know about everything so don't need to ask any questions"
"or Cordelia has bludgeoned you all into submission, so you're all to afraid to ask questions "
Gabriel will burst out laughing at this point, causing Isla to stare daggers at him, whilst Madison appears mildly amused
"Just to satisfy my curiosity which one is it?"

Rhiannon erupted into giggles. "I think it's a combination of being overawed, and Cordelia shock syndrome." She did catch Isla's disapproval, but facts were facts. "It's really, for me anyway, I don't know what I don't know." She paused. "Well, that's not entirely true. I know I don;t know what those two giant power signatures are. I spied them when practicing my Pattern Sight. I don't know who my Amberian parent is. I don't know how you all get by with no electricity. Cordelia does give us information, but she says things once and berates us for not remembering or realizing how to put it all in context. Speaking for myself, I'm just trying to keep up. I've literally only been alive nineteen years and all that time I had no idea that New York wasn't the greatest city that ever existed." She took a breath to sip some wine.

"So, assuming we know nothing, or maybe only know things from Cordelia's point of view, what do you think we should know? Especially going into these to big galas."

At this point Isla will chip in

Ah, God bless Rhiannon. She managed to express what most of them were thinking rather succinctly he though. Cormac couldn't contain the chuckle that escaped him as she spoke. What a shame they were cousins. He could really fall for a lady like her.

"She has the right of it," he said upon regaining his composure. Regarding Madison and the others he continued. "But rather than blame Cordelia I will admit to a massive case of culture shock. It was only a matter of a days ago that I was a simple graduate student, admittedly one with some talent for sorcery, who was leading a relatively simple and studious life. Now I'm an immortal of questionable parentage who has far more questions than answers. Hell, I'm not even sure sometimes of the necessary questions to ask."

He sighs a bit, realizing it feels good to open up like this.

"While I am quite anxious to learn more and try to come to terms with this destiny I must admit that I'm at a loss. What do you think we need to know to put it all into perspective? And if that isn't putting you on the spot enough are we really among the last survivors of a war that has been waged across multiple worlds and still might wind up destroying everything?"

While he was as up for a challenge as any man might be it sounded like an awful lot was at stake here and he felt woefully unprepared for any of it.

"Time. Time puts everything into perspective. Your induction to the Family and your heritage was to a degree planned. You weren't plucked from imminent death to be told of a family you belonged to and then find out you were in the middle of a war amongst members of the family you knew nothing about, a war that if successful would eradicate both you and a large portion of shadow in the process"
"Now that war ended a number of years ago, the number of years being a function of which shadow you call home. It wasn't the war in and of itself which caused the current predicament we find ourselves in, but rather the failure to fix the damage to the Pattern, although that is currently an informed hypothesis."
"Shadow Storms are a Natural phenomena of Shadow, sort of like shadow weather, and they come and go and vary in intensity. The intensest storms have always had the capability to destroy shadow, but there are other ways to do so as well. It can be done with the Pattern if you have the right skills, but it is far easier to do with Primal Chaos, or apparently either of the Jewels."
"The problem is therefore not that shadows are being destroyed, which has always been the case, but that its no longer freely traversable, by which ever method we chose to employ."
"Now shadow as far as we currently know is vast, far larger than anything we can probably realistically envision. The family is also very long, with the eldest surviving members being a few thousand years as time is measured in Amber, old. It is therefore inconceivable that we are the last of the family line, given the promiscuity of some of its former members. It is more than likely therefore that there are as yet undiscovered members of the family lurking in obscure or maybe not so obscure corners of Shadow."

It was so much to follow. The Abyss, the Prism, Madison's mother... Rhiannon basically quit trying for the moment. There were other aspects to their new lives though, that she was curious about.

"As you say, time will make everything clearer. Shadow and broken patterns may be complex, but how about some other topics. Like, relationships. Surely you all must have had partners. You know, boyfriends and girlfriends. What's dating like as a princess of Amber? I mean, seriously, When we go to these balls, will all the dances be about agenda and politics? I, for one, wouldn't mind just dancing with some charming men. Hopefully I might meet someone who I won't grow bored with so quickly. Who are the most eligible bachelors I should look out for?"

""

"Did you say anyone of your own blood? Are relationships among the family something that happens? I definitely want to speak to Charlie. Where is she?"

The two of them look at one another then at Gabriel



Madison turns back to address you all

"Yes, Absolutely"

Cormac had observed the discussion between Rhiannon and their more established cousins with a hint of amusement. He had not even pondered upon the notion that they might be intended to fulfill some sort of marriage contracts or be guided towards suitable mates. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case but it was interesting to watch the give and take between them.

Soon though they hit upon something that did attract more of his attention. Madison asked if they were up for another excursion. His plan was to try the mental pattern walk after their meal. Perhaps though whatever she had in mind would prove more educational.

"An excursion you say? What do you have in mind?"

"Just a short trip to see my mother. She knows more about the Serpant than possibly anyone other than Cordelia or her father."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow as the dinner conversation took an unexpected turn. Not that she was particularly interested in a romantic relationship let alone marriage right now, but it was interesting to know.

Cassandra considered she did need to practice but learning about this new world was also important "I wouldn't mind"

Dinner will run to it's natural conclusion. As it does so Madison will say


Assuming you all make your way down to the bailey...
After you arrive roughly where you met Gabriel (neither Gabriel or Isla will accompany you), a minute or so will elapse before there is a shimmer in the air which forms into a rainbow, then a figure appears which comes closer resolving into that of Madison before she appears before you (note: this takes about 2 seconds).



Anyone looking at the prism on top of the tower, will notice a darkening in the face of the prism on the side facing you, it expands like a nimbostratus until it covers about 2/3 the face, at which point it appears there is a writhing black mass extruded through the face.

The mass then develops tendrils which reach down in your direction. As they approach you can actually see they're not totally black, but are flecked through in midnight blue, dark purple, and a rich burgundy red. They're about 5ft in diameter narrowing over the last 8ft to about 12" in diameter.

It takes 10 to 15 seconds for all this to happen...

They all gather up for this new excursion. Cormac takes a moment to agree to Isla's suggestion before walking off with the rest of the family. He can't help but be curious about the state of affairs here and the Mistress of this realm. His interest only rises as they see the prism and then the black tentacles.

He freezes for a second as they approach. Glancing out of the corner of his eye he doesn't see their guide in any sort of distress. This must be normal then. Something they have seen before. It might seem creepy as hell to him but apparently they were in no danger. At least he hoped they weren't.

Seeing the darkening face of the prism, Rhiannon was fascinated. But that fascination soon turned to horror as a tangle of massive black tentacles slithered out of the opening and reached for them.

"Oh my God," She took a few steps back, hiding behind Cormac. "Please tell me it's supposed to do that." Even if it was, it was freaky as hell. And she feared that entering the prism would come by being grabbed by those things and placed. "Is that how we get in?"

As the tentacles grab hold of you, Madison will say "It's one way, but not the only way."

The tendrils wrap themselves firmly around you, without causing any particular discomfort, other than you can't actually move, and lift you into the air, retreating back in the direction from which they originated.
Anyone paying any attention to the "crystal prism" will also notice that the mass also starts to retreat from the crystal face so that by the time you're about 50m from it, it's back to it's faintly glowing clear blue crystal structure.
You brace for impact but just pass straight through the apparently solid surface.

You find yourselves in a pentagonal room approximately 131m in diameter. In the centre of the floor is a set of circles the inner being 37m in diameter the middle 41m in diameter and the outer 51m in diameter. In the Inner circle is a 5 pointed star forming a pentagram at it's centre. Between the Inner and Middle circle is an inscription that takes up the entire circumference. Between the Middle and Outer circles distributed uniformly around the circumference are a set of symbols. Occupying the entire pentagram is an amorphous pulsating  mass from which the tentacles extend.

Beyond the mass on the far side of the room appears to be a building, a cross between a Californian style Condo and an Edwardian Town house, the front of which is curved. It appears to be 3 stories, although the outer 50ft at both ends appear to be a single story with a terrace. The circumference of the arc of the front of the building is about 250ft. In front of the building is another terrace upon which are a number of sofa's and tables.

The tendrils deposit you all in front of the terrace before retreating into the mass, which then begins to shrink and eventually reform itself into the figure of a woman with long black hair in an ornate a stylish, well 1920's style, green dress.

In the centre of each of the crystal walls appears to be some form of painting each 49m wide and 27m high. Three of the paintings have a structure reminiscent of a Black and White TV transmission during a heavy thunder storm, all grainy and distorted with very little picture. The other two depict a medieval castle atop a limestone escarpment with a town below and a huge plateau above a canyon ringed by a multi-walled white city [think Minas Tirath from Lord of the Rings] atop which sits a fortress with in which sits a huge tower dominated by a blue prism i.e. the localle :- Elysium!

"Oh God!" Rhiannon yelped as a massive tentacle wrapped around her. It didn't crush her, but that did nothing to eliminate the ick factor. As it pulled her up to the face of the Prism, se couldn't help think that she might end up being deposited in a giant tooth maw. The entire trip only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to last a lifetime. When the thing released her, she jumped away, brushing and rubbing her skin as if she were covered in slime. She was perfectly clean. It was just a reaction to get over the heebee jeebees. How she didn't scream the whole way, she didn't know bit at least she retained that small dignity.

"That! Was so weird." She was still breathing hard as she took in the surroundings, but her attention was really drawn to the tentacle thing in the center of the room. When it contracted to the shape of a woman, her curiosity finally cured her case of the shudders.

As Madison introduced her mother, Rhiannon couldn't find any words. All she could do is force a smile and nod. She had questions, yes. But she also needed her heart to stop trying to escape through her rib cage and her breathing to slow to Earth normal. Hopefully someone else would speak up to not leave a huge awkward silence.

Well, that was...interesting.

Cormac hadn't really panicked as he had taken his cue from watching Madison. If she wasn't alarmed then he figured he shouldn't be either. Still, the whole thing was rather unusual considering the sensibilities he still carried from the days he thought he was a normal mortal. It seemed this level of oddness was just something they would need to accept going forward.

"Thank you for your gracious hospitality," he said, offering a polite bow. While not certain of her exact title or how to address he opted for the simple greeting and show of respect. Didn't want to use the wrong titles after all. Best to let them tell him what titles, if any, were to be expected.

"On behalf of my cousins and myself we are honored by your presence."

As Madison explains Cassandra's eyebrow raised "I've always wanted to use a tentacle cyprid as an elevator." She deadpans.

Upon actually entering the tower she greets their host, ' although the appearing food definitely gives fae trap appearances'

"Given that I can't technically leave this tower, your comment is technically grammatically incorrect since for accuracy it would be in your presence, but given in the great scheme of things I may not be that significant, who knows?"
"As to hospitality, that's just a function of manners, one that, as far as I've been able to determine was in decline on Earth shadows even before the PatternFall War. It's something you're all likely to have to become used to, or at least the rules pertaining to."

He raised an eyebrow in slight surprise at the grammar lesson, not to mention the bit about manners. But it was her house as they say and he was trying to learn the proper manners anyway so no foul he supposed. Everything was a learning experience these days.

"As you say then," he bowed his head in respect for a moment before continuing. "I would say most of us weren't raised where there was still a functioning monarchy to learn such courtly manners. It will be refreshing to have the opportunity to learn."

Beyond that he would stay quiet for the moment and let the others speak. It seemed to Cormac that there was a lot here to learn. He would just need to get a good read on all these new people first. It was hard to learn from people that you had trouble understanding the motives of.

Agnetha's description of the Logrus - or her as the Logrus, or A Logrus - might have been rendered in cursive Greek for all the sense it made. Apparently the Logrus was more than the Pattern's corollary in the Courts of Chaos? She got that much, It was that, but Agnetha somehow was another manifestation of the same power. It was confusing, but since Rhiannon couldn't shapeshift - or at least didn't think she could - she wasn't planning on assaying it any time soon. She had enough homework.

"I hope you don't mind, Agnetha, but could we change the subject? At least, momentarily. I was hoping you would be able to explain about this creature, the Serpent."

"We can discuss any subject you like Rhiannon.."
She pauses for a couple of seconds

"The problem with the Serpent is exactly where to start, given that if you ask him, which is how he seems to appear, he doesn't actually know, just that he, like the Kraken and the Phoenix, have been around since as long as Shadow, The Abyss, and Under-Shadow have existed. I would guess that that makes them some form of metaphysical existential, representations of those places."

"I'll continue to use 'He' rather than 'It' as its more personal, and for all the fact that when he appears it means trouble, with a capital T, he is quite personable. How he appears is somewhat random, he generally appears in a different guise to different people, and more often than not you could meet him and never know, unless of course he has need of you to do something, or the situation requires his intervention in some manner, but then you might just think it odd or you just got lucky, rather than make the connection."

"Does that cover it or do have something more specific in mind?"

"No, I'm sorry. It's not quite clear. SO is he some living entity that embodies Shadow? You said, Shadow, the Abyss and the under-Shadow - and if you would please explain what under-shadow is. But I assume you gave those in the same order as the Serpent, The Kraken and the Phoenix for a reason. Correct me if any of that is wrong. But also, what's his motivation? What's any of those creatures' motivations?"

"Are any of the Entities alive, I very much doubt it in any conventional sense. Just take it that they exist, and at least in the case of the Serpent can manifest in any form it chooses. I suspect the Unicorn may also be able to do this, and the form that gives it it's name is nothing like either its' real form or its true nature."

"Whether any of the are the embodiment of the realm in which they live, that's a good question, one which I can answer. If you should ever run into one of them perhaps you should ask them, not that you're like to get any form of straight or comprehensible answer. In the case of the Serpent, Kraken, and Phoenix, their realms of responsibility, for want of any better way to describe it are quite clear, Shadow, Abyss, which is everything beyond or out-side of Shadow, and Under-Shadow, which is everything 'under' shadow, but again that's just a label we apply to it in attempting to assign it a place in an order. What Under-Shadow is I have no real idea, I've never been there. You might try asking those that have. Dworkin obviously understood it as that is where he now resides."

"Where this leaves us in term of motivations for any of them, your guess for the most part is as good as mine. What I can tell you is that the Serpent seems to try and keep the integrity of Shadow together, and attempts to negate the discord and disruption the Unicorn causes. It was the Unicorn who told Dworkin how to create the Pattern, and it was this action that caused Rodian to come into being, albeit indirectly."

Cormac listened carefully as the conversation progressed but that didn't make things any clearer. To be honest he wasn't even sure why Rhiannon had asked about the serpent. It seemed an obscure bit of lore to be looking for clarification on. Especially since they seemed to have more pressing concerns with even the basic bits of handling shadow and trumps. Perhaps it was a matter of personal interest for her?

Still, he listened in the hopes of learning something. He had learned a bit but wasn't sure what to make of it all. It seemed a bit like the impulse of primitive peoples to assign a name and personality to things they couldn't understand might not be so fanciful as scholars thought. Instead of conceiving of a being who embodied the storms for example reality itself had allowed an abstract sort of entity who embodied something so esoteric as the shadows themselves to come into being. Why this might be or what purpose it served, if any, was hard to fathom.

"I don't feel so badly for not fully understanding the things we are being taught thus far if there are still greater mysteries your own generation hasn't unlocked yet."

Listening intently, Rhiannon hung on every word but tried hard not to get hung up on any of them.  It wasn't Agnetha's words that were difficult. The answers were confusing in that the concepts were so alien. Thank goodness Cormac admitted to not fully understanding it. Rhiannon was reassured that she wasn't alone, but she felt like she got the basic concept. These realms had minds of their own and those entities were projections of that consciousness in a form that could interact. It was a bit scary, but also intriguing. They were like gods, but in a strange way, she and her kin were all related to them.

"I think I want to meet the Serpent one day. The Unicorn too. All of them really."

The finality of Madison's response took Rhiannon back a step. Whatever her cousin's concern, it was visceral, but still a mystery. It was interesting that it was Unicorn and not the Serpent which provoked the reaction. She didn't want to poke a wound, but she also needed to understand the reason behind that emotions.

"I'm sorry if I've touched a nerve, Madison. But so we all understand. Why would that be so horrible?"

"Because its a rapist and narcassistic sadistic sexual predator."

Oh. That was utterly unexpected. Something awful happened to her at the hands of this creature, but it was not the time to get after that story. Rhiannon looked away, lips pursed and letting the awkward silence to reign.

"You'll also have problems with meeting either the Kraken or the Phoenix, but for entirely different reasons."

"The Kraken's realm is the Abyss, and Abysmal energy is inimical to Shadow matter, at your current level your bodies would last about 10 seconds although you'd be dead in about 2. The Phoenix's realm is Under Shadow, and whilst it is possible to enter it without being dead, locating the Phoenix without a calling card is likely pretty much impossible."

"I suppose then, I shall just look forward to a date with the Serpent." She could just imagine the look of horror on Father Patrick's face.

"I would suppose that depends on how many years you want to vanish for.."

Rhiannon closed her eyes and shook her head. Everyone was so serious and literal. Yes, the topics were serious, but a little levity couldn't hurt. "I was kidding. Surely you could tell." Maybe it was a cultural thing. "No? Very well. Then just please explain how you become the living Logrus, and why are you locked away in here?"

"So was I.. sort of."

"How I became the Logrus, or a Logrus? Simply really. After Raif pulled me into the Abyss and let go of me, the Serpent appeared. He asked me whether I wanted to live or die. I chose to live and he bit me. Then he put me in here."

"I could probably leave, but it would require me to break the wards, and it would be a one way trip as the Logrus. No more me. Maybe one day it'll finally get to me, and that's what I'll do. At least during the war I had a reason to exist. Now, we'll things change don't they?"

Things had taken an odd turn for awhile there. Odd even by their currently low standards in which everything seemed odd, strange and totally new to them. Maybe one day he would be used to all this but that day wasn't today.

Cormac listened while the ladies talked about the primal beings and it's deviant sexual habits. He hadn't felt very comfortable commenting on any of that, especially since he was too under informed to say anything intelligent on the matter. Eventually though he had to speak up. There was so many interesting aspects of the discussion that eventually his curiosity got the better of him.

"So your saying this Serpent being changed you into a second Logrus? How would that even be possible? Was a second required to balance out the multiverse after another Pattern was inscribed?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I said. The Serpent bit me and I became a Logrus. Exceptionally simple, at least from my perspective. I didn't die, or maybe I did? It's all somewhat metaphysical and existential and probably not worth the effort to try and get your head around."
"As to the latter supposition in your question, and I can only answer this from the perspective of the fact that there are now 2 Patterns and 2 Logrus, the answer is probably. "
"Did Tiberius inscribe his Pattern after I became a Logrus or did I only become a Logrus after he inscribed his Pattern? That's another metaphysical and existential question that only the Serpent can answer, which also begs the questions did I die ot not die when I fell into the Abyss, and/or how long was I in the Serpents mouth before it actually bit me or did it bite me immediately but the effect took time to propogate, or did it actually bite me at all and my perception is only a mechanism that enables me to process and deal with what actually happened?"
"Its all a bit moot really, when you think about it."

With no apparent immediate follow-up to Cormac's question, and nothing further from Rhiannon Madison says,
"Just let me know when you're all done, and we can return to the bailey."

Rhiannon must have lost track of how much time the pause lingered. Agnetha had already explained so much, more than enough for one sitting, but also only scratched the surface. There was a chance that she couldn't explain much further. But though she said it wasn't worth the effort to try and understand, she went ahead to tease all the questions that would have been better asked with a fifth of tequila. She felt like it was enough, though. At least for the moment.

"I think I need to digest what I've already herd, Madison. Thank you, Agnetha."

His mind is officially blow after her answer. Somehow Cormac supposed Cordelia would have tried hard to convince them that it was all part of an orderly transition that brought Agnetha to her current state. That it was all easily explainable one way or another. He didn't think she would have so easily admitted that it was entirely too metaphysical and was beyond both their understanding and her own. It struck him as oddly endearing in the moment to realize that she could admit that sometimes there just wasn't an answer.

"I think Rhiannon has said it pretty well," he said after a moment's hesitation. "This is a lot to absorb. I'm not even sure of the right questions to ask anymore."

Assuming you all hurry through then you will find yourself in exactly the same place as when Cordelia first brought you here.


By the time you reach the bailey its about 21:30, so it will be about 21:45 by the time you get back to your rooms.

After returning to the bailey, Rhiannon thanked Madison for everything. She was glad that their egress was by trump and not by tentacle.After good nights, Rhiannon returned to her room. While it wasn't very necessary, she went through the exercise of summoning the pattern again. Under thirty minutes might have been Cordelia's challenge, but under 1 minute was Rhiannon's goal. Since it was still early, she spent the next couple hours studying the Trump lesson.



This message was last edited by the GM at 20:07, Sun 23 Apr 2023.

Cormac is quiet on the way back. He thanks Madison and bids his cousins a good evening. Returning to his room he has a lot on his mind but takes a moment to center himself and put it all on the back burner for now. It is his intent to practice summoning the pattern and hopefully lowering the time it takes to do so. After wards he will let himself sleep and prepare for another fun filled day to come.

Cassandra returned to her room happily, she had been able to learn some interesting things with this excursion, despite it eating into her practice time.

Settling down in her sleepwear, Cassandra prepared to attempt her second run, she knew that upon completing it she would fall asleep so made sure she was comfortable. Just over three hours later she succeeded, with a small smile she flopped backward onto the bed, and curling up she fell straight asleep.


Blinking her eyes open at 7 am she felt well-rested compared to how she felt last night which was comparably better than the first couple of runs she had done. Sitting up and stretching Cassandra heard her stomach complain. 'Okay time to geat ready for breakfast'
This message was last edited by the player at 13:46, Sat 29 Apr 2023.