In the last session, the gang won a victory against the forces of … well, of Daron. The son of a Dalt has been captured and brought back to Helmwind, and most of his minions have been slain (except for the demon). The cost of this little jaunt? A fair number of Oleai redshirts (technically they're white shirts, but the concept is the same), and an entire Chaosian Way. Yes, you heard it right, compadres … every man, woman and child in the Way was slain. Galen's orders. Sound military practice, you know.

Meanwhile, the situation in Amber has turned … interesting. The Court and common men are beginning to question the legitimacy of the Kingship, and are thinking that Amber doesn't need a king on the throne … obviously the Unicorn has withdrawn Her favor from the Royal Family.

So … to begin:

Ronan is back at his Surf Shop, after having healed in a fast time shadow. Kira is in Amber keeping tabs on the political situation Elio is in Vitae is scouting. Erin is in Amber City. Dalena is in Helmwind, gimping around and reviewing options.

Elio's adherents are working on the Wave Dampener tech, and they have created a secured location that's about a half mile diameter circle. They keep working on it, as there's some disruptive turbulence through the connecting shadows: storms, weird weather, etc.

Dalena and Galin finish their "talk". It comes out that Brand contacted Galen right after the "attack" to help with the diplomatic issues. Dalena isn't very happy about Brand's insinuation into the situation. The discussion is over, and Galen shoots out the door, glad to be escaping.

Erin's going to Rebma to talk to Llewella. Grovelling … "Pathetic and in need. Tell me more," says Llewella. Erin wants her help with the Pontifex of the Church; infiltrating the Church, actually, to find out who is drugging the old soul. Llewella suggests either Maladin's style of going in and taking things, or she could try for subtlety.

Kira receives a beautifully engraved and gilt invitation from Boris Rand and Matilde Sabastian, both of Lesser Houses in Amber, to meet for a light supper at 6:00 PM today. Both have a good deal of economic power in Amber, though they don't have the status. They are known to be politically progressive.

Erin is coming up the stairs from Rebma when she is trumped by Ronan. He wants to know if Erin is still wanting to still check out the Church. "I'm working on it." "Help?" "Sure." Ronan pulls her through to the Surf Shop. They walk up to the castle.

Dalena tunes to Castle Amber, then heads up to the Seneschal's office to review the documentation between Amber and Chaos over the extradition of Daron. It has Benedict's tone all over it. At no point was Chaos informed of the location of Daron in Chaos … though probably Benedict hadn't known about it to pass on the information.

Matilde and Boris talk with Kira about the People's Alliance, a group that wants more power/responsibility given to the Lesser Houses. They would like Kira to join the party, and give them some legitimacy, as well as making the transitions smoother for the Royals. They would very much like her input and suggestions. They give her their tract to review.

The "advisory council" would be formed from a general election from the nobility, not the common rabble, obviously. It would be an oligarchy.

Erin and Ronan come upon Benedict eating dinner. He figures that it must be important, so lets them interrupt him. Erin asks about the Wave Barrier status, and the Oleai situation. She's willing to volunteer her time in getting the Wave Barriers functioning to highest operating parameters. Benedict is willing to have the help on it.

Afterward, Erin trumps Dalena to set up the "cracking of Daron" appointment. They agree to tomorrow morning. Then she contacts the Manager of the Churchs' scheduler, to talk about the esotericism of the Ancient Church. She was trying to cultivate knowledge, and try to find out who is next higher in the Church's food chain.

Kira heads home and gets dinner. She's trumped by Ronan because he's almost out of board wax and needs a trump to the shop.

Dalena lets Galen know that Erin is willing to start smooshing Daron's brain the next morning. She asks him if he knows any big Heads who can monitor the information Erin pulls out. He suggests one of the Shamen.

NEXT DAY.

Erin is in Amber City, walking up toward the castle and suddenly … BOOM!! Her chest explodes. She hangs on to the edges of the Pattern and stays barely alive. A Logrus tendril reaches out to her, and then she passes out.

Ronan is sent a note from Benedict asking him to come to the castle as soon as possible, as his father needs to talk to him about "current situations". He heads up to the castle, and is given direction as to where to find Benedict, who is with Fiona. As he enters the antechamber, his precognition flares up, showing fire and closing down of lines of probability.

Florimel trumps Kira with the toll: Benedict is dead.
Bleys is assumed dead.
Fiona is very badly wounded, there may be brain damage
No one can contact Erin
Julian was attacked by unharmed.
Flora, Gerard and Llewella weren't attacked.
Brand is in Chaos … lucky him.

Kira trumps Dalena and tells her the toll. Dalena says she'll get her healing bag and bring Galia along. Galen goes to find Misha. Before she heads off Dalena trumps Dworkin to find out the location of the Jewel. He says it wasn't destroyed, and no one has it. He also wasn't terribly cogent … so who knows?

Elio goes to see if Daron's still in his cell. The guards are fairly sure Daron is still in there. "Are you sure he's in there, as there was an incident in Amber. The guards are very sure Daron is in there with the Shaman, and they won't let Elio in without Dalena's okay. Elio tries a spell, was successful and goes back to the family house.

Dalena and Galia spend the day healing … Dalena works on Fiona and Ronan … then finds Gerard to talk about the situation, suggests Kira as the liaison for the Noble Houses, talks to Flora about the situation, then goes looking for the Jewel.

Ronan tries to get some psychometry reading on the note … malice, subterfuge, triumph. Nothing else.

Kira is walking around trying to find signs of where Erin is when she sees a glowing suit of full armor. It's waiting for her, pulls a sword and lays it across his arm, hilt first. Kira approaches carefully, and asks it what it wants. No answer. Who are you? No answer. She takes the sword from him, and he strokes the back of her hand sadly and fondly … then fades away.

NEXT DAY.

Erin wakes up. A demon-form nurse with the accent from Long Island checks in on her. She's in a tent … somewhere in Helmwind. Byron is off contacting "your Oleai friends." Erin's heart has been replaced by Bryon's hand … which means she has constant heartburn.

Byron visits the Keep, and Hellos the Castle. Elio is brought by the guards, and Bryon explains that Lady Erin is in his keeping, having been attacked. Elio goes with Bryon, and picks up Erin … they trump back to the Keep. Erin decides that the best use of her time is to go ream Daron's mind, and asks Elio to get in touch with Dalena. He also asks Elio to contact Kira and she links in. Kira and Erin talk about the situation, how Erin is, how the family is, etc. Erin also reminds Kira that Florimel had been spending a lot of time with Marcus in Paris, and Marcus is a Dark Pattern initiative. Elio says "What??" After Kira and Erin sign off, Erin fills Elio in on all the Marcus=Dark Brotherhood Initiate stuff. Galen is trumped by Elio and patches Erin in … asks about starting the Marcus reaming. Galen comes back with a force-field Misha in tow. Galen passes Misha over to Elio, and takes Erin over to the holding cell where she begins playing cat and mouse.

Ronan obtains the remains of Benedict and takes them back "home" to Ronan's mother.

Kira spends the entire day dealing with the Nobles. Later in they day she finds Dalena and tells her about the armor. Dalena suggests Tir Na'Nogth, and perhaps going there if the moon is still full. Dalena also tells her that she is thinking about going to the Grove of the Unicorn. They agree to go to Tir first, as the moon is still full, and then they will go to the Grove together.

Dalena spends the entire day looking for the Jewel. No luck. She asks Gerard if he has it … no. "Oh, I forgot about the Jewel!" She asks him to just tell the rest of the family, if they ask, that he doesn't know where it is. He eats more lunch and goes back to work. She then contacts Ronan and asks him to be Trump back up for the trip to Tir.

Elio deals with hysterical Misha, until he can put her to sleep … and hands her off to the staff. He goes to see how the interrogation of Daron is going, and sees Erin sitting there, and Daron sitting there. It's very boring.

The women take the trip to Tir. Up the stairs, in the city, up to the castle. Eric and Corwin are in the practice yard sparing. They can see the women when Kira draws Grayswandir. Corwin recognizes Kira, Eric doesn't. Corwin says he recognizes the armor from a dream … and it's nice that one of his dreams comes true. They fade away, and the women head up into the castle. Dalena is focused on Benedict and the Jewel, and they come upon him walking next to them. Dalena asks him how he is, and he's fine. Do you know where the Jewel is? Oh that. He tells her that she doesn't really want the Jewel, it's only out of a sense of duty … which is all right, but she has her own things to do, and other friends to know better. Amber should take care of Amber. Dalena accepts that message, and Benedict fades. They go to look for Brand then, and find three of them and go away quickly. On the way out of the castle, they come across the figure in armor and follow him all the way down to the Pattern Room. Inside is a Pattern, but it's a completely different one from any of the others they've ever seen. It's not broken, it's not warped … it's just different. Kira sketches the shape of it, and Ronan tells them that the sun is coming up. Dalena grabs Kira and has Ronan pull them through. Thank you, Ronan. He looks at the piece of armor with psychometry and it has Dalena's house all over it, presumable from being stored there. He looks at Greyswandir and sees PATTERN SWORD!!!! It has Corwin's signature over it, but it's not as strong as PATTERN SWORD!!!! Pattern apparently being rather loud in the psychic world.

The session ends with:

Erin is in the Land of the Milkfed Boys.

Ronan is in his Surf Shop.

Kira and Dalena are getting horses and prepping for their ride to the Grove.

Elio is heading to his construction site in Vitae.

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