Ivan returns back to Amber, and docks his boat. Then he heads out to the Cho Family country estates.

Dalena runs to a village in Shadow, talks to a few homesteaders, then runs back to a derelict farmstead.

Elio goes to visit his dad. He wants to know if Amber is causing the troubles, and has decided it's his Destiny to form a "true" homeland elsewhere. He advises Galen that he'll be actively recruiting, and his father acknowledges this.

Ivan arrives at the Cho residence. He asks for the Lady Miranda, who deigns (nervously) to see him. They chat. "I believe we parted under less than optimal circumstances," *ting*. Blah blah blah… polite small talk. No veiled references.

Elio and Maladin talk for a long while (who Trumped whom?)

Ronan arrives at the Castle and pays a call on the Seneschal (Lord Cho) to set up an appointment to see Random. 5 o'clock this evening.

Erin has been reading documentation about the investigation. There is circumstantial evidence of sabotage involved. She has her best lawyers put onto that detail as the original reports neglected to mention that little, significant fact.

She visits the Commissioner at the Mercantile Guild in Amber and drops off a copy of the new documentation.

Dalena wakes up from a nap, has a fruitless search of the farmstead and trumps back to Helmwind.

Ivan continues with his sweet talking of Miranda Cho and invites her to explore the Shadows. "You're not mad about the bubble?" she asks. "No! You're not in trouble?" "Everyone's quiet." They set a date for the day after tomorrow.

Ivan goes back to Amber to Lord Cho's town residence.

It's Early Evening.

5:00 PM, Ronan meets with Random. He checks in to see what the next plan is. Random suggests pulling Ivan, Kira and maybe Maladin in. Ronan asks if Dalena should be pulled back into the Daron thing, under the circumstances (demon). Random replies that that certainly has to be taken care of.

Kira catches up on the gossip. There's been a "to-do" up on the hinterlands - a slaughter of the nuns and "little people." She goes to talk to the Representative of the Church of the Unicorn at Court … who proves to be summarily unhelpful. She then goes to see the Seneschal to make her own appointment with Random. Day after tomorrow at 2:00 PM.

Dalena chats with Erin - Hats, Powers, Vitae and Pattern, Personal concerns, etc.

Ronan trumps Maladin and was pulled through to Helmwind. Long conversation.

Ivan went back to the dock and took his boat out into Amber Harbor. Dead fish. Dead sea (no waves, no wind). Walk on water, Lady … Dark hair. No Pattern or Logrus. "You can call me Sister." Everywhere she walks on the boat, the wood ages by several hundred years. "You're flamboyant, but I can see the attraction."

Elio meets Daral (Baral?? Boral?? Argh!) in Vitae - he's one of the Nomads from the Camp. They met while Elio was proselytizing for new adherents to his destiny. Elio created a model of a wave amplifier and set up a perimeter of such devices - opposing forces - the mandala - to create an enclosure of exponentially charged Vitae. In this way he doesn't need the Shaman to buy into his Destiny to create the sanctuary.

Erin is trumped by Maladin and she pulls him through to Amber.

Ronan talks to Galen, and gets his assessment of Daron's combat skills.

Erin trumps Merlin about the shipment he had been watching over. ALL the shipments were picked up, including the one made by the group. ARGH! She sets Merlin to find out where the shipment was deliver, and to pick up traces of where it went.

Maladin gathers his knights and, after contacting Elio, pulls him through. Briefing everyone on current circumstances re the situation with Daron. The knights are worried that the nomads will be recruited by Daron in the absence of other options.

Next Morning

Ivan spent the night at an Inn in Amber. In the morning he receives a call from Erin, and pulls her through the trump. She tells him that the gun shipment is missing. They move to talking of the investigation, then to talk of Calissera.

Ronan and Kira are heading to the hinterlands via horseback. There are no guards at the guard posts, or people … Ronan opens up his Psychometry: a sense of dread hangs over the whole area. As they move further north, bodies appear at the side of the road - one or two days dead, it's hard to say. Erin is Trumped by Kira, and she and Ivan come through. Ronan senses DARK EVIL (muahahahaaa). Erin tries to collect up the ambient Pattern energy, but it doesn't quite work. Stopping outside one of the houses, Erin disembarks and goes to knock on the door.

"Go away!"

Um, no.

"If you're with the guard, they'll get you; they'll kill you!"

Who?

It's a new priesthood who is "converting" the populace. A young girl, about 14 years old, walked through the troops. "I am Sister Desire," she said, "and I will bring you joy." She brought them joy enough to rapture them to death.

Ivan trumped to Amber to tell Random. He is made to cool his heels in a side chamber.

Erin uses her Pattern lens to scan the area, and locates a couple of houses which are decayed in the same way that Ivan's boat had been. Suddenly the group is attacked by birds …. HITCHCOCKIAN BIRDS! Birds, insects, rats. Ronan shields them and Kira gates everyone (horses, coach included) into the Trump Room in Castle Amber.

Ivan finally gets to see Random and gives the King a run-down. Random calls the Sisters "Desire", "Entropy", and "Destruction." He obviously had heard of them. Ivan's then told that Gerard had been leading the troops up there … the troops which are now all dead. Which means Gerard is … ??

And where is Dalena during all of this? Off in Shadow learning to tap into the eternal "possibility" of Vitae using a blueprint of Pattern and Will. She's got a great geyser going … now all she has to learn is how to contain it. Sometimes the next morning (everyone else's morning) Kira trumps her, and gets Dalena to agree to help with the situation. How, no one is sure. Afterward, Dalena trumps Elio, and asks for his help with the situation as well. He's willing … sort of. They talk about his Destiny, the plague that is Amber, and other mom-son issues.

Sometime later, back in the castle … Vialle's spirit is seen. She appears to Dalena (AUGH!!!) and Maladin and Erin (AAAAUUUGGGHHH!!). Vialle tells them not to hurt Random, and that she can't rest. Well, fuck us! To make matters worse, the rest of the groups sees Vialle's shade as well … and Ivan, who is Vialle's cousin, wants to know who the woman in the Royal apartment is, if the real Vialle is dead? What is going on?? Dalena, Maladin and Erin have a long confab about what to do.

Meanwhile up north … (who is up there? And how did they get there?? … Where did this info come from?) Sister Entropy explains a few things. All of Amber will fall under the Brother. The Dark Brother. She's dressed in expensive fabric which is in tatters (real, or artistically arranged?). The Dark Brother and the Sisters will take over "everything," as it's their time. The Light has had her era … now it's time for the Darkness to hold sway. Sister Entropy delivers this message and walks away.

Confession to Random. Well … that went about as well as could be expected, which is to say, not well at all. Guilt and feelings of Betrayal abound (except in Erin's case), and Random orders Maladin, Dalena and Erin out of the room. Maladin looks like he's about to do something very brave, very stupid and very absolute. Dalena, catching it, hops in the same wave as him. They talk for a while, then head to Helmwind to get drunk on Blue Fizzy with Galen, to whom they tell the whole story … and also talk about the nature of Destiny (all of which made perfect sense when seen through an alcoholic haze).

Ronan is goading the rest of the group to head up north and kick some ass! Capture a Sister! He trumps Maladin, and gets Maladin, Dalena AND Galen, who all hop through to Castle Amber. Much Vitae-based hilarity ensues (well, okay, it was hilarious for Galen, Dalena and Maladin … Erin thought it was VERY annoying as it was at her expense). Drunken wave-joy riding.

Kira makes trump contact with Erin who, quite thankfully, escapes the drunken carousers.

As the evening ends:

Maladin, Dalena and Galen are in the 4:1 Land of the Milk-Fed Boys, preparing to get over sizable hangovers in style.

Erin tells the rest of the group about what really happened with Vialle. Kira, Ronan, and Erin are in Castle Amber.

Ivan returns to Rebma.

Elio head to Helmwind to find his sister, Galia.

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