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Winds That Will Be — Chronicler's Notes

As Chronicler, I took on the responsibility of capturing what happened to all of the PC's during the game. As with any Amber game, the PC's spent a significant amount of time in solo endeavors. I listened to many private conversations. To determine what I put in the Chronicle, I followed some simple rules.

The Chronicler's Rules

1.    If a PC and one NPC were alone somewhere, their conversation and action(s) were excluded. Often, however, I would include the fact that the two characters were together, especially if the PC trumped another PC to leave the situation. 

Example #1:    "Gabriel visited Brand in the Keep of the Four Worlds and much skeeviness occurred."
2.    A PC and one NPC in a public place would merit a brief description of what happened and/or what was discussed.

Example #2: "Giselle and Merlin had a pleasant lunch at the Ambassador Hotel's café  in the Courts of Chaos. They spoke about Mandor's odd grooming habits."

3.    If secrecy was called for, I left the event(s) out of the Chronicle completely. Occasionally, things happened that PC's didn't want the other PC's to know about. If everyone involved promised not to tell, I excluded that info. However, as often as not, one PC would later describe what happened, putting his or her own spin to the events.

Example #3: "Gabriel told us that Brand was working to strengthen the Good Guys by building up his own fortress in a place of ultimate power within striking range of Amber. Nobody believed him."
4.    Generally, if three or more PC's were involved, it became public knowledge.

Example #4:    "Raj, Magni, and Gregory  wrestled naked in the courtyard of the castle. True to form, Raj was thick all over, Magni was exceptionally skinny and long, and Gregory, um, sported wood."
5.    I tried to insert clues into the Chronicle to remind the people involved of some important detail without revealing it to the rest of the group.. 

       Example #5: A Big-Ass Serpent Head reared out of the void, warped reality, and gulped Merlin down like a jujube. It spit him out and he wasn't quite naked any more.

In this example, Merlin had suddenly acquired a brand-new Jewel of Judgment hanging around his neck. The player who observed this would, hopefully, be prompted by the hint to remember how exactly Merlin "...wasn't quite naked anymore.".
6.    I wrote to amuse the GM and players. Most of the Chronicles have a theme, be it Oscar Wilde quotes, song lyrics, or editorial comments. Also, many of the chronicles had "hidden" messages deriding Ameer's character. When I sent out the Chronicle, via MS Word attachment in e-mail, it became a point of honor for Ameer to find the hidden message as quickly as possible. Most of them were simple, rude remarks. However, a few of them were more complex and consumed far too much of Ameer's and my time. Among the ways I "hid" messages were:

A.    White writing on a white background;

B.    Impossibly small font disguised as a horizontal line, a punctuation mark, or a border;

C.    Message not in the body of the text, but in the "Comments" section of the document;

D.    Text of in-game documents, like letters, altered slightly to reflect poorly on Gabriel;

E.    Certain letters and words a different font color than the rest of the text. An example, exaggerated here for clarity: "Sunset looked at a Tarot card, said “Murp,” and fell into a snow drift." The hidden message is "look at Me." Yes, even the period is colored pink. In the original chronicle, the text was black and the "hidden" text was dark green. It was very difficult to spot.

For cruelty's sake, I have decided to continue this tradition on the website. To amuse/torture Ameer, I have hidden five secret messages in various places on this site. None of them interfere with the regular text, but they could be anywhere. You'll know them when you see them, as they all disparage reveal hidden truths about either Ameer or his character, Gabriel. Have fun finding them! 

 

Typos? Misspellings? Comments? Contact the Webmaster: Simone (at) wyrdrune (dot) com.

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