Ultraviolet Amber: Meeting in Arden

//--GM
Well, I'm assuming you just saw Sean's character blurb. Should I run the possibility of Fiarel having been part of the party that captured Helena by him? THAT would make an interesting bit of history for this mission. *eg*

//--Simone
Yeah, yowch. That was my immediate thought. She was pretty stupid thinking she could walk in, but, hell, you know, the war was OVER, and she has people she thought she needed to see.

Of course she'd been coming in the path she knew, up the Garnath way from shadow, figuring worst case if she was intercepted by Arden forces rather than Amber regulars, she could talk to them to get taken to the king.

But of course they mobbed her and she wasn't able to communicate for the attacks. Fiarel's extraordinary hunting skills could certainly explain how they found her and snuck up on her. They'd pretty much have to tire her out or otherwise restrict her shapeshifting to kill her, but I'm guessing Julian has his ways. There she is trying not to kill anyone, getting desperate, mobbed, getting worn down. The irony of Benedict being her savior was not lost on her

//--GM
Any thoughts on her first reaction when slammed with a poison that forces human form and burns like hell?

//--Simone
Of course it is her body's instinctive reaction to shift when injured, so even though she was human to start, the real pain hits a split second after the arrow.

So, there is a moment of impact, and thinking what the hell? And then her brain identifies "an arrow," as her body tries to shift away, and the poison means instead of moving instantly she's forced to hit one knee and screams. She is enough of a soldier to try to bite back hard on the scream and get moving. She throws herself out of the line of the direction the arrow and turns to face it, while trying to take in the terrain and figure out who's shooting at her.

//--GM
When you spin, you see Julian at the forefront of a triangle of archers. As the bowmen behind him fire, he has already reloaded. It's all you can do to avoid the next pair of shafts.

//--Helena
I blink a little, trying to make sense of that: Julian just... firing on people? But it does fit with what I know of him, if I think of him as the monster from the children's tales instead of a man whose actions make sense to me.

I figure if I get back far enough that the firing stops, I can call out. I back up through brush as quickly as I can keeping my eye in the direction of the archers so I can make sure to keep out of their line of sight. The arrow is a problem, and I hold it steady with my good hand after the pain of the first two times it knocks into brush.

There is an awful lot of blood there, I think, clinically.

I try to master my wounded hand to fumble out my Trump deck.

How badly wounded does the arrow make her, given her human form?

//--GM
Helena is looking at an 'X' shaped wound, almost two inches across in each direction, all the way through the right side of her upper chest, very near the shoulder, with the arrowhead projecting maybe a handspan to her front. Being unable to shift, the arm is nearly useless, but she can still flex her fingers, so it missed the nerve channel. The arrow shaft is over 1 cm thick, composed of something that can take the kind of bow pull required to wound manticores, and both the head and the fletching are barbed to resist removal.

Summary:
- Helena is proceeding through the far side of Arden toward Amber.

- Julian, Fiarel and some rangers are on a sweep of Arden to collect and interrogate stragglers

- Fiarel notes the presence of a lone Chaosian, Julian sets the team, and an ambush is set.

- Helena is shot and poisoned.

- Julian and his archers drive her toward Fiarel.

- As Helena attempts to work her Trumps, Fiarel attacks.

- Helena narrowly avoids a unarmed jab toward her eyes, but is disadvantaged enough to be borne to the ground and effectively pinned.

- Benedict (seemingly from out of nowhere) taps Fiarel on the shoulder with his sword and asks for an opportunity to parlay.

- Bodies are disentangled while Julian bitches and Benedict barely suppresses a smirk.

//--Helena
Helena is a vicious fighter, but very severely injured. Julian's arrow punched through her shoulder blade and came a handspan out the front of her upper chest, above her heart. One arm is almost completely useless, and from the amount of blood she wouldn't have lasted long without treatment in any case.

Even so, when Fiarel is called off she stops her struggling immediately. Then upon seeing Benedict there, she goes even paler and wide-eyed. She keeps looking at him whenever he is in view, as though wanting to speak with him, but too shy or afraid to ask. She obviously notes the interaction between Benedict, Julian and his men.

//--Fiarel
Fiarel will stay close to Helena, watching her suspciously.

//--GM
- Helena is subjected to a brief description of the finer points of the post-Patternfall Treaty by one of Benedict's aides while her wounds are seen to and her poisoning treated.

A soldier expertly slices the fletching from the arrow, and then the surgeon pours the antidote over the shaft before drawing it through. If the poison was salt and lemon, this is battery acid, leaving Helena shaking even after the pain fades. She is then stripped to the waist, the wound packed, and that arm bandaged to her body. Once the surgeon has done all he can, Benedict offers her his cloak, prominently marked with his colors and his symbol. "Perhaps you should consider arranging an embassy for your house, to announce your comings and goings. I am not always so welcome in Arden." Again, that odd curl of his lips, as if beginning to smile and thinking better of it somehow.

//--Helena
"Such an announcement would forestall... difficulties? I find it hard to believe Prince Julian could have read my papers from the distance at which he began firing."

//--Benedict
Spoken from beneath an arched eyebrow, "Most diplomats are invited to use the roads, a habit which has been known to reduce Julian's irritation with their presence significantly."

//--Helena
I nod, realizing my own foolishness, embarrassed. "Ah. Yes. That would be significant."

What are the finer points of the post-Patternfall treaty, as related to this incident?

//--GM
"Any unannounced visitors from the Courts are subject to detention and interrogation, and face expedient trial if suspected of espionage, sabotage, or other treaty violations."

This, buried several hundred articles into the document, in small print.

Translation - we will kick your @$$, torture you for information, and have you strung up as a spy if you can't be bothered to announce yourself.

Chaos accepted these terms because they are mutual. Whether they got a raw deal - considering the damned ingenuity of the Unicorn Spawn - is questionable.

//--Helena
You might hear her saying at one point, "that's an... 'interrogation?'"

//--Benedict
To which Benedict politely replies, "No, interrogations are decidedly more unpleasant."

//--GM
Fiarel and Helena both remember Julian's last words before storming off, uttered in response to a ranger asking 'what now' under his breath. "Benedict's pardon tends to grant a long life to even the lowest forms of life."

//--Helena
Even over the pain of the treatment of her wound, Helena's eyes darken and narrow at that, and she watches him leave. As she's watching she finally sighs, and the expression fades to a kind of wry smile.

//--Fiarel
Fiarel still standing behind Helena says, "D'ya reckon that 'lowest forms' mean all you shape shifters or just Chaosians?"

//--Helena
Helena turns to him, stiff in the torso because of her wound. Her smile relaxes to neutral, and her eyes, glazed a little from recent pain, assess him. "You are... of the blood?" she finally says, not replying to his jibe.

//--Fiarel
"And just what blood would that be, darlin'?"

//--Helena
"Of Amber, of course. Of the line of Oberon."

//--Fiarel
"I guess so. What about you? What flavours your blood?" He grins wolfishly as he says this last.

//--Helena
"The Pattern tells me it is the same flavour as yours. I came to find out more about that, now that the ways between our worlds are at peace. Apparently the definition of the word 'peace' can vary greatly from one dictionary to another." She smiles without hint of irony.

//--Fiarel
"Well now if you are of the Blood, then I shouldn't have hit you like I did. If I'd known you were family, I'd've hit ya harder." Fiarel smiles when he says this, but you get the idea he is only half-joking. "Why would we have been told to capture you if you are one of us?" This time you think he half mistrusts you, and half mistrusts his orders.

//--Helena
"Mmm, 'capture,' was it? I can't say. Perhaps Prince Julian cannot sense such kinship. Or perhaps he did not care to. Or perhaps he had another purpose. If you are his man, then you might ask him. Or we could ask the Lord General, as he is still here." Helena glances over towards Benedict. She pulls her gaze back to fiarel with difficulty, and makes a small, one-sided shrug. "Given my position I can hardly ask myself."

//--Fiarel
"I am not Julian's man, or anyones. I just like a good tussle once in a while."

//--Helena
"I am sorry not to have been more obliging," she replies sincerely.

//--Fiarel
He pauses, to look over at Benedict. "Guess maybe I will talk to Bendict about ya, at least that way I won't have to stand here all day jawin' at ya."

Fiarel walks over to Benedict and grins at him.

//--Helena
Helena watches him go.

//--Fiarel
"Hey Benedict. What are we gonna do with her?"

//--Benedict
Benedict smirks at some additional comment of Fiarel's as he completes the scroll he'd been drawing up while you two were speaking. "I'm glad to hear that." Instead of handing the paperwork to Helena, he plants the document in Fiarel's hand and says, "There's an open property on Royal Way that should suit her needs. See to it that ownership is properly transferred, and that the ambassador from Jesby has an opportunity to recover before being left to her own devices in our fair city."

//--Fiarel
"Will do." Fiarel nods, already checking the paperwork.

//--Benedict
Benedict leaves with his men.

//--Fiarel
"C'mon lady, the roads this way. Don't want ya getting shot again." Fiarel starts walking as he talks, not looking back to see if Helena follows.

//--Helena
"I will follow in a moment. Or you could wait for me," she calls to you. Helena carefully gets down off the table. She ties her bag to the belt of her trousers awkwardly, one-handed. She flexes the fingers of her wounded arm tentatively, grimaces, and then stands up straight. She looks down, adjusting the cloak to cover herself better. Finally she looks up.

//--Fiarel
He will have waited, but just barely. He'll be waiting half impatient/half amused just barely in sight of you.

//--Helena
She takes a few steps forward, and says, "Sir, I apologize. I shall either need to borrow your shirt, or make a Trump call to obtain one."

//--Fiarel
Fiarel just grunts, yanks his shirt off, and hands it to Helena. "It ain't 'sir'. It's Fiarel."

He keeps his back to her while she puts the shirt on.

//--Helena
"My thanks, Fiarel." She takes the shirt, not at all put off that it is somewhat worn. "I am Lady Helena of Jesby. Also, apparently, of Amber."

//--Fiarel
"D'ya expect me to call you 'Yer Lady' or somethin'? 'Cause that ain't real likely."

//--Helena
She smiles at him. "Clearly. But no, I had no such expectation of you. Please, lead on."

//--GM
The walk is long enough that the poison in Helena's system has been fully counteracted by the time you reach Amber City. However, there are sufficient crowds on the street that Helena has to actively avoid collisions - closed wound or no, her arm is still a mess.

//--Fiarel
If Fiarel notices he'll walk slightly closer to her, and intimidate people out of their way. Mostly with glares and growls.

//--GM
You reach your destination on Royal Way, to find several clerks waiting. They give you both odd looks, given your fresh-from-violent-exercise attire, but are quick to forget the circumstances and push the appropriate paperwork into Helena and Fiarel's hands - some to sign and some to keep.

The building in question is a squat and sturdy three stories, in adequate repair, but clearly needing work to be fully of use. A storefront of sorts dominates the ground floor, while the level above is mostly dusty offices, and the uppermost has a fully-furnished residence lurking under sheets and tarps.

//--Fiarel
"Nice place." Fiarel says looking around. "Could use a woman's touch." He smiles wryly at his own joke.

After a few moments he turns to her and says. "So I'm supposed make sure you don't get ate by the locals. Least wise till you heal up a bit. What d'ya wanna do now?"

//--Helena
"I had come here to petition to meet your King Random, and to meet the Lord General -- more formally than I have done so far. Obviously I am in no state, now, to do so. If you don't mind, I would heal myself more thoroughly, make myself presentable, and obtain appropriate clothing. That should be just a few moment's work. Might I ask you to obtain coffee?"

//--Fiarel
"Humph." Fiarel replies before walking out the door.

//--Helena
After making sure the dusty room is private, I allow myself to change thoroughly and slowly, feeling any places that are still damaged and shaking them out. Then I return to my human form.

//--GM
You're able to break down the injured areas and reconstitute them in the proper condition with maybe five or ten minutes of concentration. It might be tomorrow before you're 100%, but you feel fully functional now.

//--Simone
I assume it is very odd for her to not heal immediately.

//--GM
Actually, deep wounds often take as much as an hour or two to shake off, and a serious dismemberment takes a day or so to regrow the nerve structures and make everything work again. Lesser shapeshifters would need ten times as long, minimum.

//--Helena
I remove Loren's Trump from my small deck and contact him.

//--Loren
As Loren's image animates, revealing the father of your heart in the comfort of his offices in the Jesby Ways, you see a great deal of concern creep across his face. Gently, quietly, "You look tired. I assume it has not been the smooth journey you'd hoped for." His nose flares as if he can smell the antidote working free of your pores, but he makes no further comment except a small shake of his head.

//--Helena
My face gives away a small portion of the pain I've been through, but it is not my intention to worry him, not now when everything is fine again. "They've..." I begin, but I realize I'm in danger of crying in front of him, and I stop a minute, looking away, mastering the emotions. I breathe in. And out. And smile a little. "Should you know anyone else travelling this way, I would suggest they be fully aware of some less-known elements of the treaty." I name the specific sections, though I don't elaborate on their contents.

//--Loren
"I see. I didn't think they'd be that... meticulous quite so soon. I'll warn anyone who asks." His expression softens. "Make sure you take time to be at your best before you face their king, Helena. In peace, we have nothing but time."

//--Helena
I nod. "Yes, of course. My impatience has already cost me.

//--Loren
"But it has taught you as well. You will be humbler in this endeavor now... and we have learned something of how Amber intends to deal with us. Not long ago, I would have shuddered to hear that the Lord General had taken an interest in you, but now, perhaps it will ease your passage. It certainly has given you a place to base your quest, if nothing else." His concentration on the Logrus wavers for a moment, and then solidifies once more. "Do you have some thank-you gift in mind for his intercessions?"

//--Helena
"I do not know what he would want, other than information. And I believe he would not wish any appearance that his favor had been curried somehow - though I don't know who that knew him would believe such. That leaves... something grand, from the House, or something very small and personal." I cock my head to the side, considering. "The white stone lantern, from my garden, the one old Kotokai created as my award when I was promoted, with the inscription, 'Light and Honor.' The Lord General will understand all the levels of that meaning, and it will say I give up something of my standing from wartime into this new relationship."

//--Loren
He smiles at your choice. "I will contact you once I retrieve it... perhaps an hour, Amber time, if that is all right. I'd rather not risk the Logrus choosing an impostor or simulacrum for such an important gift."

//--Helena
I nod a bow to him. "Thank you." That is both for his offer to retrieve it and for his statement of respect for her choice.

"There is good news, though. The Lord General has suggested Jesby create an embassy here. He has arranged a property; I... judge it good." I glance around at the dusty but sound interior. "I still have not seen the King, but intend to arrange an appointment right away. I called for a... change of clothes." I look down at myself. "Also a man's shirt, rough spun like so, to replace this one I have borrowed..." I hold out my arms.

//--Loren
"You've made a lot of progress for your pain, then. I'm glad your risk sees reward." The burden of the Trump contact passes more fully to you once more, and you feel him bring the Logrus to mind. Item by item, the things you asked for appear on the free corner of his desk. As he passes them through, his hand lingering over yours for a moment, both in comfort and in assessment. Then, "May I ask what the shirt might buy us?" said with a mixture of humor and paternal concern.

//--Helena
"There is one here whom the Lord General tasked with my conduct to this place. Fiarel, he is called, if you could look him up. He worked with Julian's men, but claims not to be one of them. The Pattern is in him. My... injury had ruined my own clothing, and my bag, and other things. I had been... I had no shirt of my own, and requested this one from the man wearing it.

"Returning the shirt seems appropriate, and perhaps buys future favor. He was not required to give it, except that I asked."

//--Loren
He smiles. "The smallest favors often have the best returns." Then his expression darkens as he reaches back into his memory. "This Fiorel, though... all I've heard are rumors, but the best - or worst - of them was that Hendrake had credited him with the deaths of over thirty of their best scouts and snipers."

//--Helena
"I cannot speak for his effectiveness at closing; I moved right into him while avoiding Prince Julian's rangers, however, so he is, at the very least, quiet. With the injury I'd already sustained, once in his grasp I was certainly outmatched. It seems, though, that he does not take kindly to being controlled, or even to appearing to be so. It may be he will be an ally, so long as he is given all the information he requires to make up his own mind."

//--Loren
"I leave your next move to your discretion, then."

//--GM
At the periphery of your perceptions, you hear the main door open downstairs.

//--Helena
Without hurrying, I conclude, "I will contact you again when I have a full understanding of this marque, and after I have spoken to the King.

"Thank you, Sir." I give him a sincere smile.

//--Loren
"Success, my daughter."

You see him rise from his desk on your errand even as you loose the contact.

//--Helena
If I still have a moment of privacy, I will change into the new formal clothing Loren provided. Otherwise I will just continue my survey of the interior space, and wait for Fiorel's return.

[//--Simone
Just to clarify, Helena does not have any body shyness. She understands that it is proper and expected to cover oneself. So sitting on the table, having her wound tended, she did not seem at all concerned about her exposed torso -- even outside the fact she was preoccupied with her nerves being set on fire.

Having to walk into Amber without a shirt? That would have caused discomfort to others, staring, and other social problems, hence her request for Fiarel's shirt. That she could encourage him to interact with her with some respect was also a benefit.

//--GM
Logical. I guess on some level I had wondered a bit. Thanks for the clarification.]

//--GM
Fiarel seems to have paused on the ground floor, and I presumed that your Trump call was made from a room in the uppermost story. Does that constitute a remaining moment of privacy, or will you remain as you are for the moment?

//--Helena
I will go ahead and change. If he rushes he might catch me pulling on my boots. If he really rushes, and doesn't knock... well, that tells me something interesting about him.

She is now changing into her dress uniform (much more like an evening suit: a tailored, close-fitting woman's short jacket and tapered trousers of a very fine, silk-like material with a waist sash and collar tabs in some complex of colors that indicate to the trained observer her position, rank, decorations, and current status: retired. Dress boots finish the outfit. She does not have any official standing with the Courts or her House in this matter as yet, and so does not add any diplomatic tabs to her uniform. She has brought them, should the situation require.

She also had a formal "court" dress (the lady-of-quality dress ;-) in the current Amber style in her bag. It is dark blue accented with black and gold, with night-black shoes. She has these laid out for later should it be required.

Before the attack she had been wearing basically "human" hiking gear.

//--Fiarel
Fiarel will step into the room, smile all friendly like at Helena and hand her a cup of coffee. "Nice duds," he'll say. "Step out to do a touch of laundry while I was out?"

//--Helena
Helena laughs a little as she stands and finishes tugging down her cuffs. "Not at all. I Trumped my father for them--" she gestures at the small deck on the corner of the table--"But I imagine I will have to learn where such services are here, or hire some staff, at some point."

//--Fiarel
Fiarel shrugs. "I can always show ya around a bit. Not like there's much else to do lately."

//--Helena
"I do need to see the king's secretary, to request an audience. And I would like to arrange to meet with the Lord General again, under less fraught circumstances."

//--Fiarel
The coffee is black and strong, like good camp coffee should be.

//--Helena
She tastes some and seems pleased. "Thank you very much." She closes her eyes a moment and breathes a bit over the cup. "Mm. So, thank you also for the shirt." She holds forward a folded one, very like the one you loaned her. "Father did his best to find one just the same. The one you loaned me, I think, is ruined." The old shirt is also folded on the table, but it is somewhat bloodstained.

//--Fiarel
He takes the new shirt with a nod of thanks, and then after a second's thought the old shirt as well. He shrugs again and says: "I've worn shirts with worse stains." He smiles 'charmingly'.

//--Helena
Helena raises an eyebrow. "Seriously, if it's shirts you need, we can get you more." Then her mouth quirks and you can see that she is joking, and she shrugs. "I had thought you might want yours back. It is why I saved it for you." She looks around. "This place is safe enough for my clothes, for the meantime. Perhaps you would conduct me to the Castle? Along the way, you might show me... 'around a bit,' as you say."

//--Fiarel
Fiarel nods. "Alright, lets start the tour down here then, and finish it up at the castle."

Fiarel shows Helena around the neighborhood, but it is a purely functional tour: Grocery store, clothiers, laundry, coffee, plus any specific requests she may make.

//--Helena
She takes note of the things you show her, asking only a few questions... usually on the order of "which shop do you choose for x or y."

//--GM
Helena would be receiving a Trump call toward the end of the tour, before the trip into the Castle... presumably from Loren.

//--Helena
As she senses she is getting a call, she will say to Fiarel, "Ah, a moment. I am receiving a Trump call." She looks around a moment for a spot to step out of the way, and allows the call.

//--Loren
It is indeed Loren, with the white stone lantern displayed prominently on his desk. "I have your gift, Helena. Have you a place for it there?"

//--Helena
Helena replies out loud, but fairly quietly, "We can get back to the offices quickly from here, let me ask a moment," Helena looks over to Fiarel and asks him, "Here in Amber, are the people used to things being brought through such contacts, or would it be best for me to go someplace private to receive things? My father wishes to pass through something, just a little too large to carry subtly."

//--Fiarel
Fiarel shrugs. "I guess it ain't a problem. As long as it's not dangerous."

//--GM
Yeah, as far as either of you know, Amber City is immune to such modest bits of oddness, what with manticore hide and such available at every odd shop. Your call if you want to take it through the street. Guess it would depend on how fragile you pictured it being.

//--Helena
Not particularly fragile, though I suppose it might shatter if I dropped it on the ground. Just heavy and a bit bulky, like the attached pic, but in very white stone, with the inscription "Light and Honor" in formal calligraphy on the base. [David, I don't know if the Thari of Chaos and the Thari of Amber share a script for Fiarel to recognize, or if he might be able to even if they don't...]

//--GM
I would assume that Thari is the language of both realms, albeit with some major linguistic drift in places over the years. At worst, it's like Mandarin and Cantonese - same alphabet / pictographs at least.

//--Helena
I bring it through, and show it to Fiarel.

//--Fiarel
Fiarel would look at it, maybe read the writing, and then grunt. "That's the big thing? Y'need help carrying back to your place?"

//--GM
Neither of you would struggle in the least to carry it, and having tested each other's strength recently - albeit not under ideal conditions - I'm assuming that Fiarel is asking to be 'polite' or something.

//--Helena
"If you could escort me back, that would be helpful. Yes, thank you." So there is a brief side trip back to the offices, and then Helena must go back there before her meeting with the Lord General.

//--Fiarel
Then up to the castle, where he will show her to the King's secretary and finally to Benedict's secretary.

//--GM
An appointment with King Random initially looks to take several days to arrange, but once the word "embassy" enters the dialog, things are expedited to the following afternoon. Benedict's diplomatic officer indicates that Benedict will be available after dinner this evening, before the midnight inspections, "if an hour will suffice for your business, ma'am."

//--Fiarel
If there is any waiting involved in either of these he'll wait with her and make 'small talk', that is to say he will ask her fairly blunt questions about herself and reveal little about himself in return.

//--Helena
I am sure there will be some waiting. What sort of questions?

//--Fiarel
"So. You're from Chaos. What's that like?"

//--Helena
"Very different from here, in some ways. In others, surprisingly similar. Things are... much closer together? It is like many cities and many types of landscape impinge upon one another. Some anyone can travel through; to enter others you need to know a key motion or phrase or even have a physical key. And the nearness of the Abyss is such a feature, it broods on every horizon.

"But mundanely there are shops, residences... mostly organized onto the estates of the great Houses." She waves vaguely in the direction of City Amber, as though indicating a certain similarity.

//--Fiarel
"What're you doin' here?"

//--Helena
Helena smiles, "I came to meet with the Lord General and with your King Random, the latter for the purpose of introducing myself and furthering the trade purposes of my House. As it happens I should have taken another road... but then again that road was not known to be open to us, and the way I knew, through Arden, was."

//--Fiarel
"What's a diplomat do exactly?"

//--Helena
Her eyes brighten, "I do intend to find out. For the most part, in the short term, I hope to open trade relations with Amber on behalf of Jesby."

//--Fiarel
"What d'ya look like fer real? I mean when yer not lookin' human?"

//--Helena
"This is what I look like 'fer real.' The forms of most shapeshifter have natural..." she searches for a description, "'stopping points' might be a good term. At home I am in this shape, mostly, or in a similar shape that is more suited to sudden changes in environment. There is also an animal-like shape, but we are trained not to fall into it often, and I have not used it in many years."

//--Fiarel
Hmm...I'd like to see it sometime. Curiousity and all that. Unless it's an uncomfortable thing for you? I'm not sure if that's rude. There ain't no 'Miss Manners' articles on talking to shape shifters.

//--Helena
"I would suppose it would be no more rude than for me to ask to see you in different clothes, though I had been given to believe that at least in public places, shapeshifting might make others uncomfortable."

//--Fiarel
"What's that other thing the Chaos people do? That squiggly thing? Can you do that?"

//--Helena
"You mean, access the power of the Logrus? No, that is not among my talents. I have never been accepted for training, perhaps because of the blood of Amber that I carry."

//--Fiarel
"Listen, if I were one o' my relations I'd probably hint at things, or just assume you were evil and kill ya outright. But I ain't one of them, so I'm just gonna explain what happened. When I came back to your house I felt something, I know that feelin'. So if you don't got that Logrus thing, what'd I feel?"

//--Helena
"You may well have sensed the Logrus, if you came while I was in Trump contact with my father. He was using it to retrieve the items I requested... though it is interesting that you could sense its emanations even through Trump. It could be awkward, if that level of sensitivity is general. I can see no way of conducting reasonable amounts of business without contacting people who will be either using the Logrus themselves or at least near areas where it is present." She frowns, another detail to contemplate.

//--Fiarel
After she is done with meetings/appointment settings he will escort her home.

//--GM
When Helena and Fiarel keep their meeting with Benedict that evening, you find him in his office, debriefing Mary on her rescue of Rose from agents unknown in the Cyberpunk Shadow Rose originally hailed from. Rose is still present, likely digesting information as fast as possible and making her final decision about walking the Pattern (to which I must assume the answer will be yes *eg*)

//--Rose
Rose appears impatient and ready for action. She spends her time pacing about the room gesturing unconciously with her hands. Clearly she is not a huge fan of planning.

"I don't see why we don't just go in and take out this weapon you guys are talking about. How hard could it
be? From what I've seen of your capabilities, we shouldn't have any trouble at all." *Very slight glance in Mary's direction*

"As for this whole pattern thing you are talking about. I could honestly take or leave it. But if it will make you all feel better about my commitment to the mission, I'd rather get it over with sooner than later."

//--Helena
In the doorway, Helena blinks a little and ducks back, looking to Fiarel. "There is some mistake. I should wait outside." She is dressed in what appears to be some kind of dress military uniform, and she is holding a large white stone lantern.

//--Mary
"Helena, please, come in, this concerns all of us." Mary says in a soft voice. "Father was just explaining how we are to go about approaching the problem, right, Father?" Mary looks hopefully at her father. As the ranking nobel, it is obvious she expects him to step in and take charge.

//--Benedict
Benedict, soberly, to the new arrivals (Helena & Fiarel), "This concerns us all, and as you are here...."

//--Helena
Helena looks a little stunned, and though she steps into the doorway she hardly comes closer.

//--Benedict
[Benedict very briefly outlines most of what I stated in my opening post, then...]

"I will instruct Rose in the particulars, and she will walk the Pattern in the morning if she sees fit to do so. Then we will finish the investigation I have started. If any of you have other responsibilities, see that they are set aside for the foreseeable future. This threat cannot wait, and to be distracted in this is to court death. Do you all understand?"

//--Helena
Helena blinks several times. She clearly doesn't know how to respond, and in the end just continues to stand there.

//--Mary
"Rose, I think you should do what you think best. Walking the pattern is a wonderful experience, though, and will prevent any from saying you do not belong". Mary is careful to never look any one in the eye as she talks.

//--Benedict
Benedict lets Mary finish before adding, "As most of you are relative strangers to Amber in general and my methods in particular, my daughter will be the centerpoint of the operation. All communications will pass through her." He hands each of you a Trump of Mary. "I will arrange the remainder of your equipment and supplies once we reach our initial destination."

//--Helena
Helena shifts the lantern under one arm to take the Trump card. She still looks a little stunned. If no one else jumps in, a few moments later she starts to say something so quietly that she has to clear her throat and start again so that she can be heard. "Lord General, I had hoped to meet with you."

//--Rose
"Lord General, huh? Thats rather impressive sounding. Certainly over my head. How about I let you military types do your thing and catch up with you in the morning? If we're going on some sort of mission tomorrow I'd rather spend tonight out." Rose hops up and starts for the door.

//--Fiarel
Fiarel says, "Think I'll join ya." Then he turns to Benedict. "You know I'm up for anything, so I'll see ya tomorrow."

//--Benedict
"Fiarel, see to it that she has something left for the Pattern in the morning," and then Benedict turns his attention to Mary and Helena, and you are apparently dismissed.

"Welcome, Ambassador. My seneschal informed me, and here we are. As my daughter, Mary, has had little exposure to the politics of the Courts, I hope you don't mind her sitting in for this meeting." He smiles toward you both in turn, gesturing you toward seats; Mary at a suitable distance from his right hand to play the role of secretary or advisor, and Helena across the desk, at an appropriate range and place to conduct her business. There is even a large enough empty space on the immaculately arranged desk for a stone lantern, comfortably within reach of Helena's place.

//--Mary
After gazing, for the briefest of moments, after Rose, Mary quickly arranges herself at her fathers side, and will even begin to take notes, making sure to record everything thing, big or small, of note. She does so automatically as if she were expecting a role such as this.

//--Helena
Helena blinks. She even looks a bit bereft as Fiarel and Rose leave the room. "I... It is not... It is not important, Lord General." She bows low, a little awkwardly because of the lantern, and backs towards the door.

//--Benedict
"You and your parcel have risked much and traveled a long way. Seems a shame to waste the opportunity."