Undertow — 2004 Game Log
(c) Simone Cooper and all players and GMs
Andrew son of Fiona (Val)
Blade son of Bleys (Chris)
Brent son of Corwin (Ben)
Byron son of Flora (Darrell)
Dartmouth son of Brand (John)
Duncan son of Benedict (David)
Laertes son of Gerard (Mark)
Meridian daughter of Flora (Anne)
Philip son of Julian (Jack)
Rio daughter of Bleys (Leslie)Benedict (Jesse)
Bleys (Paul)
Brand (Ian)
Caine (Joe)
Corwin (Dave)
Flora (Simone)
Gerard (Cal)
Julian (Arref)Pre-Game:
Rio was found in shadow early on after Patternfall and brought into Amber by Caine, much to her father's irritation. For a while, Bleys would hide her again and Caine would find her. Finally Bleys introduced Rio to her brother Blade on his shadow, Torveth. They had several adventures together and became quite close.Philip spent his time in shadow, perfecting his bluffing skills in cards and scams and developing his strategic intellect.
Meridian and her older brother Byron lived a sheltered, if somewhat strange, life on Flora's estate on Shadow Earth. Eventually they discovered a strange grove in the back acres of the estate, which Byron made several attempts to explore at the cost of some serious injuries. Meridian herself was content to study music and had received a scholarship for a famous conservatory. She had also earned spots on the Olympic team in archery and as a triathlete.
Laertes grew up on a rural shadow and became a young version of his father, physically, but with much more optimism and joie de vivre.
Duncan spent his time working in his father's armies in low level positions. Rarely did he meet with his father, the general.
Dartmouth was a somewhat jaded youth who had already mastered the basics of the art of Trump before the game began. With Fiona only taking limited responsibility for him after his father's disappearance in the Abyss, he did not get nearly the level of instruction in Pattern ability that he desired. That and his relegation to shadow did irritate him, but he tried not to show that he cared.
Brent spent his adolescence recovering from a crippling injury sustained in one of the black road incidents in Shadow.
Blade had come to Torveth after growing up with Gerard while the other elders were away in Chaos at Patternfall. Gerard was an abusive, impossible-to-please guardian, and being taken to shadow by Bleys upon his return was the best thing that ever happened to the boy. He has cultivated an infamous playboy lifestyle.
Andrew spent his early life in shadow, using his enhanced abilities to become something of a hero. Finally his mother intervened when it became clear he was putting himself at actual risk for these mere shadows folk. She put him in the care of his uncle Bleys, who allowed him to play with a few units of the Amber Expeditionary. Just recently, Bleys arranged an incident where Andrew's unit came into conflict with one of Caine's naval units; several deaths had occurred before the mistaken identities were sorted out. Caine, Gerard and Bleys began an escalating series of skirmishes at this point.
Pre-Game 20th anniversary of Random's reign:
Just before the party, Brand was delivered to Amber by House Hendrake. During the party, he was languishing in the castle dungeon, waiting for his fate to be decided.
During the week-long celebration, all the kids had Trumps drawn of them by Fiona, at Random's insistence. Over the next several months, Fiona copied these "decks" and distributed them among the family.
Rio met Andrew and realized she had met him in shadow before; the two started what turned out to be a long-running, on-and-off affair.
Philip spoke with Julian for the first time in many years; he ignored Bleys's invitation to join the AEA. He was inspired to improve his own military prowess and his personal defenses, and thus devoted the next several years to learning in that arena, though he didn't enjoy it.
Meridian was very young and shy, and was overwhelmed by meeting her larger-than life family. After returning to Shadow Earth, she continued with her musical studies, and began noticing that when she played, people found her more attractive and more persuasive than when she hadn't been playing. At first she put it down to her talent alone, but she began to realize that this seemed to be some kind of magic-like effect.
Laertes enjoyed himself a great deal and was thrilled to have been brought to Amber, his birthright. Little did he know his father would dump him back in shadow again.
Duncan accepted invitations to join several of Amber's forces, including the AEA and the City Guard; he also went with Benedict to see Brand. He developed a friendship with Laertes and began working with him on swordsmanship appropriate to his great size and strength.
Dartmouth sought permission to speak with his father, and this was granted as long as Benedict was with him. He spent much of the time of the party there.
Byron met most everyone. He and his sister spoke with Flora more about their father. They went through the family gallery and discovered that the portrait of old King Oberon resembled him superficially.
Brent revealed to Rio and Blade in conversation that his father was purposely keeping him from the Pattern. This was overheard by Caine, who immediately took the boy downstairs to claim his legacy, which he successfully did. This later caused a loud argument between Caine and Corwin. Blade and Rio witnessed the Pattern-walk but even with Caine's urging Rio was unwilling to risk her father's wrath to try it herself. Blade revealed he had walked the Pattern very young, forced by Gerard to do so to save him from the Unmaking at Patternfall.
After witnessing Brent's Patternwalk, Blade spoke to a few more people and strengthened his own resolve to stay away from Amber for now.
Andrew met everyone including Rio (see above). He seemed somewhat wide-eyed and innocent, and loved all things Amber. He was convinced to avoid Caine, since the skirmish incident.
Undertow:
All the kids were aware of the upcoming 30th anniversary celebration.
Rio and Andrew were hunting bandersnatch in shadow.
Philip had retired to shadow and was playing riverboat poker.
Meridian and Byron were on shadow Earth.
Laertes had fallen into a dark depression. Having driven most of his cousins away, even Duncan, he was alone at his cabin in shadow.
Duncan, Brent and Blade were visiting one another, shopping and otherwise preparing on Torveth for the next big Amber party.
The Patternstain Incident - the Elders:
In Amber, the beast of the elders' rivalries and petty animosities came home to roost. Random and Fiona were killed trying to quell it with the Jewel. Bleys and Llewella were both in shadow at this time, having refused Random's plea for help.
Julian at first took advantage of the situation to release his own bargain with the fae into Amber and take control. The castle took further structural damage as trees and wyld magic were loosed in its stonework. Corwin and Flora fought each other all the way to the Pattern room. Flora's own fae magic only strengthened the intrusions released by Julian. They found that Gerard had used a great Trump-powered sword to arrive there ahead of them, and he was engaged in some kind of almost animal-level raging at the beast on the Pattern. Caine arrived shortly thereafter, and Brand Trumped in. Benedict pulled himself there using his ancient Logrus skills; he thought to use the Logrus to fight the Pattern beast. Julian remained above to secretly coordinate his forces, when he was confronted by the Unicorn.
Humbled, Julian stripped himself of the armor that had kept his scarred and crippled body hidden from his relatives, and walked with the Unicorn down to the Pattern room. Just as they arrived, Gerard had been overcome by his own rage, and had started charging across the Pattern to fight the beast. As the Pattern geared up to destroy him, Julian ran forward also and tackled Gerard, turning himself under his brother so that Gerard would have time to be Trumped away, which Caine did. Julian was destroyed.
Meanwhile the Unicorn's influence was felt by everyone in the room. Corwin, on seeing his own complicity particularly in the death of his nobler brother, Random, fell into despair. He saw no way to improve himself or offer anything but his own death as penance. He put one of his own pistols under his chin.
Flora, too, realized the depths of her depravity and her complicity in the creation of the foul beast that was now destroying them. As she prayed for forgiveness, she saw Corwin fall against the wall and bring up his gun. She ran and slammed herself into him, hoping to knock his weapon aside, knowing it was too late to stop him from pulling the trigger. This she did, but the bullet grazed through her right cheek and eye, scarring and partly blinding her.
Caine and Gerard had their own silent epiphanies. Gerard swore to return the sword he had to Osric, face the son he had traded for it, and face also whatever punishment Osric had for him. Caine realized the true protection of Amber was worth working with others - even his brothers and sisters - to achieve, and knowing that this damage to the Pattern would weaken Amber and signal her enemies, he resolved immediately to get to the fleet and begin serious patrolling.
The Unicorn spoke silently to Brand and then with Benedict for a long time. Both of them departed by arcane means afterwards.
Surprising no one more than himself, Julian awoke later that day in the bloodied and ichor-stained center of the Pattern. He found himself weaker even than before.
By the next day, everyone was aware that Shadow Storms were progressing outwards from Amber almost like they had done when Oberon changed the Pattern during the war with Chaos. Trumps were not working at all, and their children were Out There. With the exception of Benedict, who was in Arden making war upon the Fae, they agreed to make a concerted effort to continue trying Trumps almost constantly, to bring their children to safety and tell them what had happened.
The Patternstain Incident - the PC's:
Andrew was overcome by a strong vision of the doom of Amber. When he tried to investigate it further, it was almost as though he was attacked, mentally. He and Rio discovered that all of their Trumps were not working, and so they fled through shadow using those few shadow paths that Andrew could navigate on his own. They tried many directions, but didn't seem to be making progress, and the occasional "attacks" on Andrew continued to worsen. Finally and abruptly, Julian contacted Andrew by Trump and pulled the two of them through.
Philip, too, felt the horrible vision. He tried to walk along some familiar shadow paths in the direction of Amber, but his way was changed and blocked, frustrating him and giving him a greater and greater feeling of impending doom. Finally he was found by Caine and Gerard along a shoreline where their ship was patrolling.
Meridian and Byron: I don't have any log or record of what happened to them before they were brought to Amber.
Laertes found some of his shadow experiments with the local wolf population going awry. He, too, was suddenly hit with the icky feeling of doom™. Though it was awful, it also stimulated him to feel more alive than he had since the 20th anniversary, and he resolved to go to Amber's aid, though for a while, with his Trumps dead and his ability to walk Shadow limited, he was frustrated in this. He was finally Trumped through to Amber as the storms' interference waned.
Duncan, Brent, and Blade were all struck by the vision simultaneously. Duncan was able to use a Power Word to limit the effect of the attack on himself and Brent, but the attack on Blade was either too strong or Blade's connection to the Pattern too good, and Duncan was unable to help him. Suddenly, Benedict pulled himself through a nearby mirror (with Logrus, though no one there recognized it). He was disoriented and almost in a panic. He finally calmed down and helped release Blade from the attack, and then the four travelled through Shadow a while. Blade and Brent were called by Bleys to gather some of the AEA, and they parted company with Duncan and Benedict, who also collected men from Amber's Army, some of whom had been scattered in shadow by the storms, and others whom had been stashed away in hidden places by Duncan himself. Finally Duncan was called through to Amber to see for himself what had transpired.
Dartmouth experienced similar disruptions (I have no logs for this) and was Trumped by Brand to Brand's home in Kashfa, where he found out that Luke had collapsed and was in a coma in Kashfa's palace. The two of them went to Amber in response to a call from Flora.
The Undertow:
Leaving out somewhat the intentions of other family members besides themselves, Corwin and Flora tried to describe what they knew of that had happened at the Pattern, and what its causes were. Gerard sat quietly just long enough to hear, and then left without explanation. Bleys slipped out of the room about halfway through; Rio noticed and followed him. Julian, still very weak, was also quiet throughout the explanation. Brand eventually added his voice and gave his side of the Unicorn's appearance. Everyone expressed concern that they were unsure if Benedict had accepted the Unicorn's message, and that he was out in Arden with a huge army, and no one knew his intentions. Benedict had sent a small party of soldiers through to the castle near the end of the conversation. It appeared these men had only been ordered to search and clear the castle of any lingering fae attackers, but it was noted that they were pursuing their orders very aggressively, and they would not stand down for nor cooperate with the Castle Guard.Rio went with Bleys down into the depths of the castle dungeons. She was next seen somewhat disshevelled, scantily clad, and carrying the injured and unconscious body of her father.
Phillip and Duncan agreed to ride the land borders of Amber to improve security and re-organize the forces from Amber's Army that had fallen into disarray between Benedict's absence and the ongoing attacks upon them from the Fae quarter. Brent agreed to stay in the castle both as a point of contact and as a way of transmitting information back and forth between the two groups. The two riders went forth, collecting up any groups of soldiers they could find. They began by instituting troop rotations, drew the men back from the areas of greatest confrontations, and set up some improved communications. The three worked together well, and by cooperating (adding their effective warfares) they had a great impact over only a few days.
Andrew continued to argue with Corwin and Flora over what should be done. He felt that if Amber had been weakened by the damage to the Pattern, the Pattern should be cleansed or repaired somehow, as had been done at Patternfall. Corwin believed that was not possible; Brand also argued that, given the inherent corruption in the original Pattern, that fixing this one may not be the wisest course. Finally it was agreed that Andrew should go to the Pattern room and see for himself how corrupted it had become. He was accompanied by Brand and Dartmouth.
On their way down, they met Rio carrying Bleys on her way up. They spoke, and Rio told them some of what had happened to Bleys. Finally they let her go on her way to help Bleys to someplace to rest. When they actually went into the Pattern room, however, the Unicorn was waiting there. She showed a vision to Dartmouth and Andrew, and asked them to bring all the children here to be "initiated."
Andrew did try to reach everyone by Trump, but most of the cousins were refusing contacts. They were able to contact Rio first, who, having gotten Bleys as comfortable as she could in his rooms in the castle, and she reluctantly agreed to come. On arriving, Rio seemed suspicious of the Unicorn, but agreed to listen again; the Unicorn commanded her to clean the bloody messes off the walls and floor of the Pattern room, which she began to do. Andrew continued to try and contact all the others. In this he failed, though later Brent contacted Rio and was able to learn what was happening through her.
Byron somehow (again, no logs) made it to Faerie and spoke to the First Realm's King Finvarra, Oberon's half brother. The King told him that their liaison with Amber, The King in Green (Julian), had been taken from them, and that if the war between Amber's forces and the fae was to end, a new liaison acceptable to the First Realm would be required. It was not clear whether Benedict's removal would be sufficient, or whether he would have to be turned over or executed. The King did say that perhaps Byron would be an acceptable liaison, but he wondered what Byron would be able to do for them and what his power base in Amber might be.
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Philip and Duncan, who had been discovered in Arden by the Nine Mays and led to the Court of Thorns. Byron hid under a glamour (though as he found out, his disguise was apparent to Philip because of his "glasses" artifact, and to Duncan due to his extraordinary warfare) while the Leige interrogated his two cousins. Things were tense, with Duncan's father being the sworn enemy of the First Realm, but Duncan was able to convince Finvarra that he could control at least some of the activity of the forces now in Arden. They agreed to a temporary truce dependent on Duncan's near-future promise to pull Amber's forces back to a temporary borderline in Arden.
At this point, Andrew's Trump call came through to Philip; as Philip still had business with Finvarra, so he passed the call to Duncan, who agreed to go through to the Pattern Room, joining Andrew, Dartmouth, Brand and Rio there.
Meanwhile, Blade, Laertes and Meridian had accompanied Gerard to search for Osric's prison in shadow. Blade and Laertes bridled against one another, and Blade clearly hated Gerard but was holding himself back for some reason. Meridian took the opportunity to practice her music-based calming glamour. Whether due to the music or to Blade and Laertes's openness after seeing what had befallen their elders and Amber, the two of them actually came to a rapprochement, though Blade's hostility towards Gerard didn't wane.
Finally the group crossed into the shadows of Osric's realm. They were escorted to a castle where they found Osric on his deathbed. Unaware that it was the Pattern itself that was poisoning the man, Meridian took up her instrument and tried to shape the music into a healing song. Laertes joined in as well, and this worked initially, but the Pattern within it worked inside the old man against the healing she was trying to create. A man stood forward from the crowd of onlookers and made to attack Meridian to stop her from what she was doing. Gerard wouldn't intervene, except to prevent the others from killing the man. It turned out he was Guillaume, Gerard's son raised as Osric's. The conflict among Gerard, Blade, and Guillaume kept them busy until Meridian and Laertes were able to break off their chorus. Osric had become nothing but light by that point, and from within the light the outline of a gryphon could be seen.
Gerard used Osric's sword to breach the prison and create a way back to Amber. They all evacuated, and by their efforts were able to save some 50 of Osric's men - Bedouin or Fremen-like desert warrior types, who were immediately ordered by Guillaume to take up defensible positions around parts of the castle.
The Amberites tried to draw together a council to determine what sort of temporary governance they could put together. There was something of a vote, in which Gerard was made regent, though Andrew, Dartmouth, Brand, Bleys and Rio were unaccounted for, and Blade and Guillaume abstained.
Meanwhile, down in the Pattern room…
...between Rio's explanations and those of the Unicorn herself, Andrew and Dartmouth and Brent finally came to understand the Unicorn's vision, each in their own way. Thinking that his father might be the Unicorn's enemy, and feeling that her vision meant the end of things, Dartmouth stood poised to reject her service. Rio had decided similarly for similar reasons. Andrew felt that the Unicorn was the voice of the old Amber, a dream he still held; he didn't interpret her plan as one of ultimate stagnation but as one of preservation, so he accepted. Instantly the Unicorn infused him with power. He became encased in an almost crystalline-looking shield or armor. The Unicorn turned him towards the others and told him to destroy them as enemies of Amber. Andrew could believe that of Brand… he went to strike him and connected solidly as Brand trumped himself and Dartmouth out of the room. He hesitated over the others, though, and Rio took her chance to run in panic out of the room and up into the castle to her father. She collected his unconscious body and fled Kolvir, leaving Andrew in the Pattern room….THE END
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