Undertow II: Ebb Tide — Duncan's game log
Duncan - Ebb Tide Diary
© 2006 David Blackwell
Duncan arrived in Benedict's office to find Major Robert Black, Benedict's chief of staff, sitting at the desk. The Major infuriated Duncan, implying that he was a mere subordinate, and only grudgingly agreed that it might be necessary to notify Benedict.At this point Duncan pulled out a trump in order to speak to his father directly. Benedict was irate when he learned the rest of the family was supporting Gerard. Duncan offered to negotiate further, but Benedict insisted that Duncan should claim the Regency, and also admitted he was personally taking command of the forces Duncan and Philip had gathered in Arden.
Benedict was irrational and unwilling to listen when confronted with information that contradicted his beliefs. He accused Gerard of incompetence, and seemed to be confused. He attributed the wrong traits to his siblings, calling Brand a drunk, and Corwin a traitor, and he did not seem to remember a discussion we both had with Brand.
Upset, Duncan broke the connection, and went to find Gerard. As they spoke, Duncan found Gerard to be calm, and coherent, he was willing to listen. Duncan learned that several members of the family asked Gerard to be regent even though Gerard was not present at the meeting. While we were speaking Byron and Flora arrived and reported progress in arranging a treaty with the Court of Thorns. After the interruption, Gerard left to find his son.
A large, crystalline creature appeared in the castle, and was confronted by Flora and expeditionary force soldiers. When Duncan reached the scene, the creature attacked, calling him a traitor to the pattern. Unable to damage it, Duncan fled staying just ahead of the creature and out of reach. A task made more difficult by a nagging trump contact. Duncan was intent on keeping it away from the castle guards and leading it to Gerard, as he believed Gerard's sword might be the only thing in the castle that could breach the armor.
Gerard and his son then trumped to Flora s side, forcing Duncan to double back. The sword proved ineffective, but Gerard was able to wrestle the creature into an improvised cell created by Flora's magic.
Byron arrived and related some good news concerning a truce with the Fae, but also warned us that Benedict was still pursuing aggressive military action. Phillip contacted Duncan about Julian's men and asked that a trump contact be arranged with Gerard.
Duncan returned to give Gerard the message. The creature was revealed to be Duncan's cousin Andrew, apparently the thrall of the evil thing calling itself the Unicorn. Andrew opened the armor at his wrist to pull out a trump and Duncan immediately realized the vulnerability this represented. He resolved to procure darts capable of delivering either a sedative or a poison in case it became necessary to act against Andrew.
Duncan passed the message to Gerard and received an interesting offer in return. If Duncan would allow Gerard to retain the regency for twenty years, give the crisis time to pass, and take advantage of the faith members of the family were showing to try and rebuild Amber, then, at the end of that time, Gerard would abdicate and cede the throne to Duncan. Meanwhile, Duncan would take command of the army. Duncan asked for time to consider and took his leave.
At this point Duncan was worried, he began to pull out his father's trump, but before he could do so he received a trump call. It was Philip again, this time with a warning. Arden, the border realm between Faerie and Amber, was going to be destroyed. Finvarra intended to cut it loose to prevent an attack from Amber's troops.
After severing the connection, Duncan immediately trumped his father. This was the conversation Duncan had been dreading. Benedict shrugged off Duncan's warning as inconsequential, ignored Duncan's opinions of the Fae and the Unicorn as misunderstandings attributable to immaturity. Benedict then ordered Duncan to accompany Amber's Army to Arden and join in the attack on the First Realm. But Duncan was defiant.
This defiance proved costly as Benedict quickly relayed orders to the five generals commanding the Army of Amber, and they each mobilized their troops beginning the march to Arden. Despite Duncan's best efforts, and a call for aid from Philip, he could convince only General Anduris, one of the five generals, to remain garrisoned in Amber proper; a mere fifth of the troops truly necessary to defend the city properly.
In desperation, Duncan's mind turned toward the armies he had been commanding in shadow. Ten years earlier, Duncan was forced, by Random's orders, to abandon his plan to spend time in each of Amber's armed forces. This left only his father's shadow armies. Ten years as an officer in those armies allowed Duncan to rise to the rank of general, and command of their combined forces. And Duncan, not Benedict, knew where all of those forces were before the ill-fated events just weeks ago.
In order to bring them to Amber however, Duncan had to reach them and a shadow ride to their vicinity would take weeks. After giving Gerard a full report, he suggested attempting to collect these troops to replace the divisions marching on Arden. Guillaume offered to assist, and provided transport using the sword Gerard had given him to open portals, but that revealed new problems. Many of the shadow realms the troops should have been in were not present at all, and the ones that could be found held troops in significant distress, cut off from the shadow paths that should have been available.
Quickly assessing the situation and giving orders at each camp, Duncan asked Guillaume to leave him with the smallest, most distant group. While leading that group through shadow toward a closer more populous encampment, Duncan made another disturbing discovery. The distance between shadows was dramatically shorter, as if whole areas of shadow had simply collapsed or disappeared. The collapse was so significant that instead of two weeks it took barely two days to lead the collected force to the Vale of Garnath.
From a vantage point near the Vale of Garnath Duncan could see the last division of Amber's army beginning to enter the forest Arden. Arden itself was clouded and dark, beginning to shimmer and disconnect from reality. Ordering his men to remain in the Vale and send a messenger to Amber castle, Duncan rode toward the army and charged through their ranks disabling supply wagons and disrupting their marching order starting at the edge of the forest and working out. After charging through four times, a feat requiring all of Duncan's considerable skill, they were forced to halt their march to reorganize, and the forest dissolved into a dark cloud.
Duncan then spoke with the remaining company commanders and convinced them to return to Amber. After organizing both forces for the march back to the city he turned to look back at the forest for a long moment. Had he made a terrible mistake? If he had confronted his father face to face might Benedict have been convinced to abandon this pointless attack? Would his father have stopped short of attacking him, or had the madness progressed too far? Could Duncan have won everything by being just a bit bolder?
In the distance he could see Philip leading a force of Julian's rangers toward the city. They must have just cleared the forest before its disappearance. Philip looked pleased and confident. Indeed the rangers would complement the army nicely; a fighting force is seldom more effective than its scouts. But Duncan was worried not about his men, or his efforts, not even about his father. Duncan was worried about the one foe all men must face: tomorrow.
Epilogue: The ceremony of investiture for Regent Gerard was short but moving. Duncan would remember it clearly in coming years, all of it until Gerard in speaking to the people named Duncan, not just as General of the Army, but as Crown Prince of Amber. The rest of the ceremony was a blur. In forty years of life Duncan had learned to be a Warrior. Now, in merely twenty, he must learn to be a King.
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other writings: Background, Quiz, "Duncan and Rio", Undertow log, Ebb Tide diary