Campaign Report: Pundy's GMing Amber again [Actual Play]

[SunBoy]

Ok, so “tomorrow” wasn’t literal. Sue me.
Anyway, as I promised, here’s the transcription of the Amber character quiz. I’ll sort the answers by character for ease of reading.

Ladies first, so here’s Lady Diana:

Q: Would you prefer to be loved or feared within your family?
A: Loved.

Q: Is there some sort of food you hate?
A: Anything made out of reptiles.

Q: What sort of men inspired your teen crushes?
A: Wandering heroic knights.

Q: What was your personality like at 10 yo?
A: I was a very proper little girl, but sort of mischievous when out of sight.

Q: What could make you kill a Shadow dweller?
A: Self defence.

Q: What would you do if a Shadow guy attacks one of your friends?
A: If I don’t kill him, I’ll make him be very very sorry at least.

Q: What, if anything, could make you kill someone from your family?
A: Self defence.

Let’s go now with Lord Drake:

Q: If you had some sort of recurrent dream, would it be nice or bad?
A: Bad, the kind of nightmare that starts as a nice dream.

Q: Would you prefer to be loved or feared within your family?
A: Loved.

Q: What do you (that’s Alejo as a player) hate the most about Drake?
A: His being too much of an attention seeker.

Q: How did your relation with your first love ended?
A: Nicely, in a friendly way, with no hurt feelings.

Q: Were you popular at age 10?
A: Fairly.

Q: Who would be your ideal dad among the elder amberites? And your ideal mum?
A: Bleys and Deirdre.

Q: What’s your favourite book?
A: The three musketeers.

Q: After a long, hard battle, you finally arrive to your destination. There’s only one more foe to defeat, but he seems much more powerful than you had initially thought, and you are wounded and weary. You know your very life is at stake if you fight him. You receive a Trump call from Gerard, and he offers his assistance. You know he could take the guy easily. What do you say?
A: I convince myself that it is for the good of Amber, and being Gerard, I accept.

Q: You realise you’ve made a terrible mistake in a relationship. What was that mistake?
A: I got fooled by first impresions.

Q: What’s that thing you never leave behind?
A: A nice rapier to which I’m emotionally attached.

Q: The greatest philosophical debate among amberites is whether they create shadows by imagining them or they merely travel through something that was already there. What’s your opinion in the matter?
A: I think shadow is there, and we merely traverse it.

Q: You are exhausted after a long adventure. What kind of shadow would you choose to relax for a few weeks?
A: XVth century France.

Q: What your voice like?
A: Loud and clear, sort of Errol Flyntesque.

Q: Have you killed someone? If so, who was the first person you killed?
A: Yes, in saving some Golden Circle dignitary during an attempt on his life. I acted out of reflex, and before I knew it the would-be murderer was skewered in my rapier.

Q: Should Dworkin offer you to answer one and only one question, what would you ask?
A: Who’s my father?

Ok, let’s hear Lord Starton now:

Q: What’s your mean of transport of choice?
A: The most efficient one depending on the situation.

Q: Is there any group you’d like to be feared by?
A: It is irrelevant.

Q: What will other characters hate about Starton?
A: He’s cold, emotionally insensitive.

Q: Do you prefer to spend your time out by yourself, with a lover or with your mates?
A: By myself.

Q: If you’d got a pet, what sort would it be?
A: A dog. A german shepherd actually. I think it would help to keep me in touch with my human side.

Q: What are your sleeping quarters like, out in your shadow of choice?
A: I don’t sleep in my workplace. I’ve got a double bed, the room’s fairly untidy, and filled with my shadow of origin’s memorabilia. It is modern on the whole, somewhere around XXIInd century Earth.

Q: Which self-improvement course does your character need more: “Asertiveness training”, “Ten steps to a better love life”, “How to win friends and influence people” or “Organising your life”?
A: Asertiveness training.

Q: What sort of traits would you look for in a trusted servant, to be kind of your butler?
A: I’d look for someone NOT from Amber, with whom I could share intelligent conversation.

Q: You’re sharing an enjoyable dinner with some friend, when one of your cousins show up and challenges you to a duel. How would you react?
A: I’d try to defuse the situation diplomatically, trying to make him realise he’s not behaving properly.

Q: Define revenge: is it “an eye for an eye” or “ repayment with interests”?
A: An eye for an eye.

Q: Describe your voice.
A: It is normal in volume, and paused, and my conversation’s intelligent.

Q: Have you killed someone? If so, who was the first person you killed?
A: Yes. He was a religious fanatic.

Q: Should Dworkin offer you to answer one and only one question, what would you ask?
A: What’s the meaning of life?

It’s Lord Máximo’s turn now:

Q: What kind of steed would you choose?
A: Fast, agile, strong, either black or white, and I won’t use any sort of saddle.

Q: What’s your favourite meal?
A: Fish and rice.

Q: Has Máximo got any sort of annoying habits?
A: He always doubts his own intentions. Even when he’s sincerely trying to be a good person, he speculates about his own possible ulterior motives; and it may show and make people feel unconfortable.

Q: You arrive in your favourite inn, in your own shadow, and find out the family who owns it, always so kind to you, has just been threatened, lightly beaten up and robbed. You track down and find the bandits. What would you do to them?
A: I’d make them suffer, and have fun with them until it is perfectly clear for them that they must not come back, ever.

Q: You’ve got to hide in shadow Earth for a while. What historic period would you choose?
A: China, in the Three Kingdoms’ era.

Q: What are your quarters in Castle Amber like?
A: In accordance with the castle’s style, tidy, with only a few small details remembering my shadow of origin (IIIrd century China)

Q: Which self-improvement course is your character best suited to impart: “Asertiveness training”, “Ten steps to a better love life”, “How to win friends and influence people” or “Organising your life”?
A: “Organising your life”.

Q: Do you do your own laundry, or have you got a servant doing it?
A: I’ve a servant doing it if in Amber, or in any situation were doing my own laundry would imply debasing me in front of other people, but I do it myself whenever I can.

Q: What would you do if you’re the butt of a practical joke?
A: I’d give it back worse, trying to humiliate the joker.

Q: Do you prefer your vengeance served hot or cold?
A: I’m impulsive, but if I’m able to resist the urges to act in the heat of the moment, I prefer to wait fir the best possible moment.

Q: Describe your voice:
A: My voice is well-modulated and varied depending on the situation.

Q: Have you killed someone? If so, who was the first person you killed?
A: Yes. I killed him for revenge, and felt guilty about it.

Q: Should Dworkin offer you to answer one and only one question, what would you ask?
A: Who’ll be Amber’s next king?

Let us give a hand now for our very own JongWK’s character, Lord Morgan:

Q: Would you prefer to be loved or feared within your family?
A: Loved.

Q: What’s your favourite drink?
A: Avalon’s wine.

Q: Who was your first puppy love?
A: My nanny. She was the first person to show me a little love.

Q: How would your ideal death be like?
A: Sacrificing myself for the cause, an important cause. Taking one for the team.

Q: What do you think is worst, to kill a shadow dweller or to maim an amberite commoner?
A: To kill a shadow dweller.

Q: What’s your favourite book?
A: Some fairy tale my nanny gave me when I was a toddler.

Q: What would your perfect wife be?
A: Someone who would complement me, and whom my father (that’s Benedict) would approve of. Someone who would break my routine.

Q: If you were to spend a few years in shadow earth, early XXI century, what would be your career of choice?
A: I’d be a Green Beret, or some kind of elite military trainer.

Q: What would be your introduction to romance.com?
A: Well standing professional seeks long-term relationship. Monotonous please abstain.

Q: Is it difficult for you to show you emotions? Is it the same for positive and negative emotions?
A: Yes. Both are equally difficult.

Q: Describe your voice.
A: I’m a very quiet person, barely a little more expressive than Benedict (that’s Daddy).

Q: Have you killed someone? If so, who was the first person you killed?
A: Yes. A pict or something while in patrol in Avalon. It earned me a light pat in the shoulder and a quiet “Well done” from Daddy, which made me very proud.

Q: Should Dworkin offer you to answer one and only one question, what would you ask?
A: How can I be truly happy?

OK, it is the turn of yours truly now. With you all, Dietmar, my character. Please note I don’t call him “Lord”. If you wanna know why, see above. If the answers are a little more verbose, it is due both to my lack of modesty and my lousy memory.

Q: What’s your recurrent noghtmare?
A: I’m in Castle Amber’s throne room, and, before the whole royal family, Benedict says: “My son, I’m truly sorry for not giving you my love all these years. This was a hard test, but you have been succesful. I name thee Lord Dietmar of Amber, and I am very proud of you.” From the corner of my eye, then, I notice someone (probably Bleys) trying to stifle a chuckle. When he fails, everybody lose it and start laughing at me. Then I look at Benedict, and he’s laughing harder than anyone, and is barely able to say something like “You really fell for it... you pathetic bastard, you’re exiled forevermore from this land...”

Q: Is there a group you’d like to be loved by?
A: Women who squander sympathy.

Q: What do you, as a player, hate about Dietmar?
A: He’s one of those bloke that, after you kick his face to a pulp, says “Here, you’ve got blood on your boot, let me clean it...”

Q: Would you prefer to have romances with women of whom your father would approve or not?
A: It doesn’t matter to me.

Q: Had you got any pet as child?
A: Yes. A adly beaten up and mistreated cat, which I took in and cared for. I sort of empathised with it.

Q: What would your ideal date be like?
A: Dinner, live music, either played by me, others, or both, sex, and then sleeping in different beds (this answer actually earned me a round of applause).

Q: After a long, hard battle, you finally arrive to your destination. There’s only one more foe to defeat, but he seems much more powerful than you had initially thought, and you are wounded and weary. You know your very life is at stake if you fight him. You receive a Trump call from Fiona, and she offers her assistance. You know she could take the guy easily. What do you say?
A: “No, it’s OK, doesn’t really matters, please don’t trouble yourself”

Q: In what sort of servant would you trust?
A: One who was either too stupid or too afraid of me to betray me.

Q: A relative, one you respect but do not fear, has committed the same breach of etiquette three times. Each time, in front of others, this person has treated you as an inferior, giving you orders instead of making requests. And your performance has been criticized in front of others. You can arrange things so that you'll not be bothered again. Or you could confront the person. Or have a third party intervene. What would you do?
A: I would confront him or her, peacefully.

Q: What sort of monster would you choose to send after somebody?
A: A black dragon, or a dracolich.

Q: Do you sleep well?
A: Yes, if I’m very tired. It’s like: “Well, maybe another five hundred push-ups before bed...”

Q: Describe your voice.
A: Not too quiet, but not loud, either. Sort of apologising for daring to speak.

Q: Have you killed someone? If so, who was the first person you killed?
A: Yes. I was in a tavern drinking, when some wino insulted me. I told him “You speak to royalty”, and when he laughed I punched him to death. Not too fast.

Q: Should Dworkin offer you to answer one and only one question, what would you ask?
A: Who’s me mummy?

OK, that’s all for today, ladies and genitals. Look forward for the next entry, on today’s game, somewhen around next week. See you.

[JongWK]

Q: What was your personality like at 10 yo?
A: I was a very proper little girl, but sort of mischievous when out of sight.

It seems that old habits die hard... :jaw-dropping:

[Abrojo]

Very fun first session. My first time playing Amber and i am having tons of fun playing mad scientist wannabe. Had some terrific high tension moments where i honestly thought i was not going to get out of unscarred. I am starting to love my interaction with my father Caine, actually finding out we have a lot in common so plenty of room for character development. This is actually what i am more hyped about, character development, i am loving this guy and hope he lives long enough to get somewhere

[Abrojo]

Ladies first, so here’s Lady Diana:

Q: Would you prefer to be loved or feared within your family?
A: Loved.

I would like to challenge this

[RPGPundit]

I would like to challenge this

Yes, that one was clearly a boldfaced lie; unless Diana meant that she wants to be loved after she psychically dominates everyone into forcing them to love her.

RPGPundit

[Abrojo]

actually i think the question needs a 3rd option

"scared"

[Diana]

Hey friends... it seems you are being a little bit too cruel with your poor little cousin...

Try and change your mind, could you?

[RPGPundit]

Welcome aboard Diana! I hope you stick around and visit the other forums on here as well as this one.

RPGPundit

[JongWK]

Try and change your mind, could you?

Fiona's apprentice, indeed! :rotfl:

[SunBoy]

First game night!!! Woo-hoo!!! Late as always!!! Woo-hoo!!! Welcome Di!!! You're a witch!!! Woo-hoo!!! I'm an arsehole!!! Woo-Hoooooo!!!!!!!!!

Right, kick-off:

Morgan starts in Amber, where his father Benedict's having some sort of an argument with Florimel.

Drake, onboard a ship, is returning to Amber answering a summoning from Random.

Diana trumps in into Castle Amber's library, along with Fiona. They see the old librarian, who's asleep.

"Do you understand why are we here?", says Fi, "we need the king's approval for your walking the pattern. I think you're ready".
Fiona's acting in loco parentis to get random authorisation. She offers Di the tour, and Di asks to be shown secret books. Fi shows books on mythos, books written by Dworkin and Brand on Trumps, and a guide on magic and conjuration. "Good place to start", she says. Fi casts the Trumps. (Di and Fi. Isn't it brilliant?

When they get to to Random, he looks annoyed, surrounded by loads of dignitaries and nobles.

"You made it", says Random.
"I wouldn't miss it", answers Fi.
Fiona goes on then to spread generic shit about loads of people.
"Is someone else here yet?", asks the king after a while, and Fi gives everybody the creeps by detailing every single person's position within the Castle.

Fiona then tells the king that Diana is ready for the walk.
"Of course, if Bleys gives his leave". I should note that Random has passed a decree by which younglings will only be allowed to walk the Pattern if they're authorised by their Amberite parent. "Does he?"
"Yes."
"So if I Trump Bleys, he'll confirm your story?"
"Of course"
"Alright then. I'll call him. If he supports Diana, she'll be allowed to the Pattern."
The girls then go to Di's room. Fiona tells Di to begin her mental preparation for the walk, and that she'll block Bleys' trump access.

Máximo starts on Qin. He's a wandering wuxia there. He's on the south when he hears news that a new warlord has risen on Wuchan. By the sound of it, he could be a chaos lord or an amberite, so Máx decides to go check it out. He's Shadow-walking there when he gets a Trump call, which he does not answer. He arrives on wuchan, and the city looks weird and ominous. He infiltrates the castle when he gets Trumpcalled again. He answers this time. t is Caine, his father. Máximo says: "Chaos' invading this shadow".
"Ooh. Look at that. I don't care. Come here now". Caine Trumps him a ship, and he says: "Random's holding Court tomorrow. You can get to be general. Your brother, Starton, is in his shadow, and he can't be raised in his Trump. Go and get him."
They get on an argument, and at some point Caine reproaches Máx, saying that Starton has a Ministry in Amber. Ministry of Science and Development it is.
"Oh, come on, Dad, what good is science in Amber?"
"I haven't got the slightest idea, but Random seems to love it. Now stop fooling around and fetch Starton"

Starton's in Amber, actually, chatting with Random. He licks Random's boots for a while, asking for instructions. "I'm holding Court tomorrow, and nobody seem to get what's really your job here. You should defend it. Starton asks then to walk the Pattern, saying that "it would be good for his experiments" We all go :rolleyes: . Random tells him "Ooh yeah, of course, I trust you. Also, we should get a messenger to be able to communicate with you when you are in that Shadow of yours. You seem unreachable there".
"It is by design, because my experiments are often so complicated that the slightest distraction could disrupt them". Double :rolleyes: . We all know that actually it is because Starton's afraid of someone Trumping him and frying his brains. Anyway, they decide to select someone not from Amber for this job, whom Starton will have to guide the first time through Shadow.
Di's still in her room, and she goes to speak to her beloved auntie. Fiona says shes occupied trying to forge a Trump message.
Flora and Benedict are still fighting in the third floor, and Morgan's watching.
Diana goes then see martin. He's painting. She flatters him on his painting and ask to be taught. He's a total geek. She tells him that she knows that it may be hard for him to trust her, because she's a redhead, after everything her uncle Brand did to him, but that she wants to be his friend. He blushes and takes her hand, just when Starton arrives.
"One bump into a redhead should be enough for anyone. It looks like amberites do stumble twice on the same stone", Starton thinks. Jimena (who plays Diana, in case you've forgotten) states her wish to brain-fry Starton into not wanting to walk the Pattern anymore.

In the third floor, the fight goes on.

Cyric (new character, played by my namesake fede), starts in the Forgotten Realms. Yeah, THE Forgotten Realms. And yeah, he's THAT Cyric. He joins a jolly band of pirates in the Sword Coast (yeah, THAT Sword Coast) and piratises Waterdeep (yeah, tha... ok, you get the deal. I'll stop it now).

Now to the interesting part, that is, me. Dietmar (hey kids, that's me) is in Avalon. He gets wind that Benedict has gotten away, that he is not coming back, and that his half-brother Morgan will be the next Lord Protector. Not having any reason to remain there anymore, and hopeful that maybe Benedict will allow him to walk the Pattern to be able to get the hell away from his life, he starts towards Amber (there is a well-traversed Shadow path that goes there).

Drake is on a ship, sailing to Amber, when Bleys calls him to ask for his help. He takes Drake to Eregnor. He's got an army there, and he's going to crush the eregnorian revolt. There's a big battle, in which Drake takes a big guy while Bleys takes the queenie, Dila. The Scottsmen (with the Pundy, if it is a barbarian there is a good chance it speaks with an Scottish accent) run. Bleys tells drake he was testing him. "I like you and I wanna be your friend", he basically says.
"Will you go to the court?"
"No. Wanna come with me? Maybe we'll find who your daddy is"
Drake weighs this against his duty to Amber."No. But I would like to do it some other time."
"Yes, yes, of course, I would love it."

In the third floor Flora's throwing a tantrum:
"What's all this about that sword, then, eh?" Benedict turns to Morgan, who's trying very hard to turn invisible:
"You shall be the next Lord Protector of Avalon"
"I've been grooming him for court, not for some dirty shadow protectorate, you son of a whore!!!", Flora screams, and looks at Morgan. "So, what's it gonna be?"
"I'll be back"
"You son of a whore!!!", she cries and storms out of the room.

Morgan talk to Benedict:

"Why now, Father?"
"'Twas time"
"What about you?"
"I'll go out into Shadow. Maybe i'll grow roses..."
Morgan leaves him to his thoughts, and he bumps into Di and Starton. Diana is inviting Starton to go hunting.
"Uh... uh... ok. Morgan?"
"I'll catch up with you", he dodges, and goes to speak with Random.
"Let's go hunt for hares", says Diana, all giddy.
"Uh, look, why don't we do it some other time?"
"Ok, but you'll have to promise me we'll do it tomorrow". She's coming closer now.
"Uh, maybe..." Diana tries to touch him then, presumably to psyche him silly, but he dodges, and more or less runs for his life.

Meanwhile, Máximo's trying to reach Starton through Shadow, but he realises he's getting closer and closer to Amber. He then decides to Trump in, and finds Drake there, who has just Trumped in himself. Máx asks Drake if he's seen any signs of chaos through shadow.
"No, but I mostly move around in the Golden Circle."

Máximo goes looking for Starton then.

Drake and Morgan arrive in the throne room at the same time.
"What've you been up to?", asks Random to Drake.
"Killing scottsmen with Bleys"
"Uh. Will he be here?"
"Nope"

Then to Morgan: "What about Benedict?"
"Don't know. I'll be in Avalon"
"Alright, but can you stay for the court?"
"Ok"

"And you, Drake? What's your reason to be here?"
"I'm reporting". He goes on to tell Random about the revolt.
"Shit. Begma and Kashfa will be at war now. You will have to make it clear that Amber is totally neutral in respect to the Eregnor situation" If the reader cares to remember, Drake is Amber's envoy in the Golden Circle.

Dietmar's still trying to follow the shadowpath to Amber, when he finds, somewhere out in Shadow, devastation, red skies, lighting-bolts and a very chaotic-looking vortex-thingie-stuff, so he decides to Trump in to Amber instead of walking. When he finds Benedict there and tells him, he already knows. Morgan arrives.

"Tell him", Dad says.

So he does.

"We go out tomorrow?"  says Morgan.

"We?"

"You know where it is"

"Ok"

"There's family in the castle", Morgan warns Dietmar.

"I'll try not to bother them until you're ready tomorrow".

Máx's tries to see Random. He's with Benedict. Morgan tries to see Benedict. He's with Random.

Cyric's back on shore, and finds Bleys waiting for him. He bids the pirates farewell and blows their ships up. Bleys offers to find his daddy. Bleys shadow-walks him, he freaks out. Bleys talks to him about pattern, and takes him to Corwin's. Bleys drops some drops of cyric's blood on the thingie to find out whether or not cyric's corwin's son. he's not. we hear bley's side of a trump call with fi. they are plotting something about all the youngsters, and muling about which chaos clan marry Diana to. Then he starts shadow-walking Cyric back to the realms.

máx talks with the guard's cap, asks about Gerard, finds out he's at bloody bill's waiting for caine. max goes on to chat with every servant he knew as a youngster, making friends.

Di goes to Fi's, and asks her to
1-somehow prevent starton from walking the pattern,
2-find out what max's up to, and
3-making morgan captain of the castle's guard.

Fi goes on a rant about the family, how Flora's a bitch and probably killed Corwin, etc..

"So we have to"she says, "limit caine's sons possibilities for offices, and maybe make Morgan captain of the guard, to make those two groups clash (that is flora's and caine's). Shit, i'll have to make an alliance with Flora".

Cyric finds out about trumps and gets Bleys'.

Máx goes to town and finds Caine and Gerard. They're drinking at bloody bill's. Máximo tells Caine Starton was talking with Di. Caine freaks out and tries to Trump Starton, but Starton's paranoid so he doesn't take the call. Caine's proud.

Flora goes to see Starton, and ask for news. He's longing for the court to end at last so he can get back to work. She sweet-talks him and takes his hand.

"Uh, I hear you wanna walk the pattern"

"Yup"

"You shouldn't, you should tell your daddy you're not ready",

...and something (probably fiona) tries to fry his mind through the contact. Marcos goes privvy with the Pundy, and when they get back, the first thing we hear is "When you regain your conscioussness, you see flora taking a few steps back from you.
'I see your father prepared you well', she says. 'We'll speak later'".

Drake finds Random in the royal quarters, and asks him to walk the pattern. "Ok".

Dietmar gets into a bar fight. Thing is, some sailors start looking for trouble, knowing he's a princeling, so he invites them to go outside and turns back, towards the door. One of the drunks tries to crack a chair onto his back, but he notices it and urogieri-kicks him through the back wall.
"Clean up the mess, pay for the damages and then get the fuck away from here"

di asks fiona about the news, and fi tells her that starton was a hard nut to crack

bleys sends cyric to investigate about some chaos thing he senses while traversing some dark forest, and cyric ends up skewering a wakkawa. "ya fast", says bleys.

another privvy, between morgan and di. they ask for pundy, and he calls cyric, presumably because one of them calls bleys. the whole affair ends with fi telling di "don't be so obvious. you shouldn't go frying people's minds. At least try not getting caught. We'll have to teach you some magic".

Dietmar Trumps Benedict, to ask for permission to walk the pattern.

"No. You will never have my permission to walk the Pattern. Ever".

Dietmar vents his frustration beating some wino to death.

And now to something completely different: The court of King Random opens.

Except for Dietmar, Cyric and Merlin, all the princelings (that is, the PCs and Martin) are there.
First in order, the selection of the new Captain of the Castle Guard. The House of Bail proposes Máximo. Lord Randel (ex Flora's boytoy) proposes Drake. Duke Chantrys proposes Martin, prompted by Benedict who was prompted by Morgan, the Unicorn knows why. They all accept the proposals. Before voting, people ask for the naming of the heir. Random dodges, and Martin gets elected as captain of the guard.

The Counsel then discusses the issue of the wannabe pattern-walking princelings. Drake, Starton, Di and Morgan apply and are all accepted. Random does not name a heir.

After this, marcos, cristian and the pundy go for another privvy.

My privvy now. Damned if I tell what it was.

Back in the Realms, Cyric runs into some hot bitch called Azurelle, who tells him she's Fiona's daughter.

"Can you take me to Amber?", he asks.

"Ok. Give me your hand"

"Bleys told me not to"

"Either you trust him, or trust me"

"Ok".

He gets mindfried. We all laugh.

Kids go walk the pattern. fiona gives a speech, and Starton goes first. he makes it.

Note: the Pundy actually "walked the pattern", making strained faces and all. He really enjoyed it.

Morgan's turn, he makes it, but collapses at the center. Just weakened, mind you. Drake now, falls down too. Di's turn now. Before starting, she kisses Fi for luck. Makes it too, falls down too. Woo-hoo. They all made it. Woo-hoo. Bloody good-stuffeys. So high and mighty with their stupid Pattern imprint.

Random then sends Di and morgan to investigate about the black hole sun Dietmar found. Di calls Dietmar, and off they go.

Cyric wakes up. He's stark naked, but his stuff's all there. He trumps Bleys and asks about Azurelle. Bleys doesn't know her.

Máx asks Drake for help about the chaos demons in his shadow.

"Ok", he says. Drake receives then a Trump call from Bleys:

"Wanna come now?"

"I'm helping Máx about some demons"

"Uh ok. Describe the demons to me afterwards. Specially if it is a demoness"

"Ok".  
And so Máx and drake depart for Qin.

Morgan, Di and Dietmar Trump to avalon to start investigating, but the knights tell us there are some undeads lurking in the mountains. Morgan decides to check that out first.
We trash a bunch of zombies and find a nasty looking big black tower surrounded by an army of zombies. Dietmar gets a zombie, Di mindscans him and finds only a name: Koschei the Deathless. The zombie starts screaming, and so do his little zombie brothers. How many times can you write zombie in one paragraph? The tower's doors open, and Koschei himself (a big, white, bald, undeady bloke in dire need of a manicure) yells: Come to me, sons of the Unicorn!!!

In Qin, Máx and Drake infiltrate the castle in Wuchang. They see a bald chaos wuxia, called Lord Thunder, who after some comings and goings including Máx trying to set on fire some Logrus tendrils, challenges Máx to a duel over the control of Qin. He tells them that Swayvill's dying, and that some chaos guys are trying to break the treaties the courts have got with Amber. They fight. Logrus, pattern, kung-fu, etc.. At last, when the chaos bloke has got max in a logrusy psyche-y tendrily contact, Máx tries to Trump to Amber. The logrus tendrils retract before the Trump power, and it is right about then when Drake backstabs the sucker, killing him.

Drake trumps out to Caine's ship, and Máx tells Caine the story. Caine warns him the redheads.

As a note, Marcos (that's Starton), has had two more privvys with the pundy, and has gotten lots of restrain thingies to hold chaos demons, which he asked max to bring from his shadow.

Max takes the body back to Amber, and not finding Starton there dumps the corpse in his quarters with a note. He reports then with Random (taking extra care in not mentioning the corpse), and the King calls Fi. Fi tells them about Amber's creation mythos, and they talk about it for a while, bringing the gaming night to an end.

Hope you enjoyed it. I know it lacks in style, but style wasn't the aim. And it probably lacks in proper english, too, but what the hell. I know you get the gist. Be here again some time around the next two weeks, for the next entry. Oh, and I'll post something about Cyric when I find out. He's a mistery to me too, except for the fact that knowing he bloke who plays him, he's probably Chaotic Evil, pyromaniac and generally a bad guy. Read you later. Bye.

[RPGPundit]

For the record: the title Martin ended up getting elected to was General of Amber, not Commander of the Castle Guard; that latter title was and still is Lord Danesh's charge.

RPGPundit

[SunBoy]

Hey, sorry about that, but how about "the rest was cool", huh?

[JongWK]

Hell has no fury like two competing sorceresses.

[SunBoy]

Early as always, here's your bi-weekly Amber fix. Me, I'm getting mine tomorrow.

So Dietmar, Morgan and Diana were confronting Koschei the Deathless. Dietmar tries to reach him he old way, like... walking, but gets snatched by some Logrus tendrils, and carried through shadow to... Merlin!!!

When asked who he is and why is he here, the baldo says he's a Shroudling.

"Beyond the Black Zone, there are many races who, just like mine, have faithfully served the Houses of Chaos. Now, under the Patternfall treaties, those areas are no longer under the influence of the Courts, so the demons there are no longer forced to servitude... I've been wandering, searching a suitable shadow for me and my minions"

He's a refugee.

After some discussion, Morgan succeeds in getting a sort of "pledge of allegiance" out of Koschei, allowing him to remain in this valley, north of Avalon, until new word.

New character arriving: Loreley!!! She's a daughter of Llewella, and starts in Rebma, having and audience with Queen Moire. Apparently, Llewella didn't want to let Loreley travel to Amber, but Moire convinced her, and offers to allow Loreley to walk the pattern in Rebma. Moire warns Loreley about the  the court in Amber, but she says that she knows what she's getting herself into, and that most of all she wants to see Martin again. Following, first privvy chat, and so, next day, she walks Rebma's Pattern. Great success. Alone in her room, Loreley arranges her stuff, and the following morning, she walks toward the surface. There she is greeted by Lord Karm, who's her cousin, and is escorted to Castle Amber.

"Will you stay long in Amber?", asks Karm.

"I do not know yet"

"Random is a fair ruler, but our family has long been out of favor, and having someone who would support us in court would be very beneficial for us"

"That is my aim. To help my family"

"Know then that the House of Karm will be behind you for anything you need"

Starton, meanwhile, is shadow walking back to Amber from his shadow, togheter with his messenger, a Lord Bayle. They're following a shadowpath, but it is suddenly broken. Feeling this, Starton decides to investigate. He finds the shadow (some newyorky sort of town) torn apart, with lots of dead bodies, cobwebs and general nastiness. He looks around, and finds the statue of liberty slashed in half. There is, in the background, some bell ringing, and it suddenly stops. Enough, thinks Starton, and shadow walks the hell out of there. Finding some other newyorky shadow, he starts collecting "all kinds of weird stuff", meaning motion sensors and lots of sampling equipment. Then he tries to reach the dead zone again, but doesn't find it. Puzzled, he Trumps Caine.

"The Shadowpath to my shadow's cut. I passed through some dead shadow. When I equipped myself and went back, I didn't find it"

"Yes, Random told me someone is tearing apart whole shadows"

"It is preoccupating"

"Yeah, maybe in some levels. It's not like we're ever gonna need them. There are infinite shadows"

"Yes, but if they're cutting useful shadow paths it may be dangerous"

"Almost like guerrilla wars"

"Who should I speak to to repair the shadow path?"

"Redheads. But be really, really careful"

"I'll ask Random to ask them. It would be safer"

"You're probably right".

And so Starton Trumps in to Amber, preoccupied about having let his paranoia defeat his curiosity.

Cyric is in the Forgotten Realms, killing time in Waterdeep.

Back in Avalon, Morgan posts sentries to the valley. His knights are not too pleased with the prospect of having some undead wizard as a neighbour, but they abide. Morgan and Di start then looking for the black hole sunny shadow. They're not finding it, when Di gets Trump called by Fi.

"I've got news, come to me"

She does, leaving Morgan there, cursing his luck.

Arriving in Fiona's tower, horse and all, Di is introduced to a Lady Onnae, from Clan Jesby, a Chaos Lady. The demoness tells Di something about the Courts, including Oberon's lineage, and tells her also that this Koschei is no more than a second-rate servant. What's blowing up whole shadows, she goes on, is probably some of the forbidden sects that want a return to the Primal Chaos.

"My clan, the House of Jesby, is loyal to King Swayvill, and to the treaties. Should I tell her about the other thing, Lady Fiona? Ok. Among our House, there are visionaries, and we have seen something about Amber. A explosion, and death. The death of an amberite."

"We haven't got enough information to act upon this vision", says Fiona, "and we shouldn't trouble the others with the news. I recommend you to stay away from Amber for the time being, as your father and I will do. And being that Lady Onnae has seen fit to pay us a visit, we should repay her kindness and visit the Jesbyways some time"
The chaos lady then Logruses out, and Fiona tells Di of her intentions of marrying her to some of the Chaos Houses.

"WTF?!? The rest of the family will hate me forever!"

Fiona then goes on the explain her philosophy concerning family relations, which pretty much amounts to "Better be feared, not loved" and "If you've got someone by the balls, then the problem is theirs"

In Waterdeep, some provocatively dressed girl approaches Cyric, and asks whether he knows about Amber or the Courts of Chaos. She introduces herself as a Pootskin, and asks for his help to return to Chaos. Cyric denies all knowledge, but offers to contact "some old friend". He does not tell her, but he's obviously (for us) refering to Bleys. The Pootskin fears, and makes to leave, but Cyric tries to stop her using his divine powers.

"It very well may be that you are so fool as to not know your true blood, but I am not stupid. Lets see how much you know about Shadow magic". With that, she vanishes. Cyric Trumps Bleys, and he offers to take him to the Pattern.

"OK"

He takes him to the ruins of a castle, in a mountain surrounded by a forest, and through a dungeon, to a cave where some inlaid design shimmers with a dirty golden light on the floor, stained with black in some places.

"The Pattern!!" Bleys announces proudly.

Poor Cyric.

Loreley presents herself to Random, and Máximo and Starton arrive there, and are introduced to her. Starton reports to Random about the dead shadow, and asks for some redheaded help.

Loreley goes to her room and, sort of freaked out about the things she heard, Trumps Llewella.

"Yeah, that's sorta normal", Mum says.

Back in Caine's ship, Drake arrive to Deiga. He travels to Aeterna, a roman-ish shadow on the Golden Circle, and presents himself to the imperial palace.

"The Imperator asks for your name and title, milord",

"I am Drake, messenger from Amber"

"We haven't got any temples in your name"

"'Tis understandable, I am new at the Mount of the Gods"

"A demigod, perhaps?"

"A young god, rather"

"Begging your pardon, milord"

Drake signs a new Aeterna's pledge of allegiance to Amber, and remains there while the Senate approves the document.

I talk to Merlin.

Meanwhile, Morgan Trumps Random, who takes him to the throne room. Their chat is a privvy.

Cyric walks the Broken Pattern, and Bleys is very interested in the results. Walking through the black gaps, Cyric feels something dark and sticky. When he reaches the center, some of the dark stickiness has remained within him. Matches his soul, methinks. Whatever. He asks the Pattern to 'port him to Bleys, but he ends up at the entrance of the dungeon. "Yup, it happens, Pattern's not perfect"

Bleys Trumps out, and Cyric follows someone he saw moving through "Arden" forest. The other guy starts shadowshifting, and Cyric still follows for a while, until the guy disappears behind a tree.

Back in Castle Amber, Starton goes to his rooms to collect the corpse. He finds the clothes and a poodle of snot, presumably the remains of the late Lord Thunder. He takes samples and then orders the servants to cleans the mess.

In Aeterna, Drakes receives a Trump contact. It is Bleys, who reminds him of their arrangement and takes him to Corwin's Pattern.

"You know what happened at time of the war?"

"Barely"

"Ok. My brother, who had a very difficult childhood, beaten by Oberon, and had also troubles with his sexual identity", says Bleys, "tried in his megalomania to destroy the Pattern, to recreate the Universe at his image. Corwin, afraid he would succeed, drew a new Pattern. This is it. If you are a son of Corwin, a drop of your blood would stain it. If you are not, then the drop would dissolve" Long story short, Drake's not Corwin's son.

Dietmar Trump calls Morgan, who brings him to Amber. When asked where had he been, Dietmar says he got snatched away by a chaos demon, whom he managed to kill. Morgan is with Loreley, and he asks Dietmar, Starton and Máximo to join him in his campaign against Koschei. Caine's sons say "Yeah, well, maybe later" or something like that, so Morgan, Dietmar and Loreley Trump to Avalon. There, while a levy is conducted, Loreley is taken to a room at Morgan's manor, were she asks Sir Engel, Morgan's marshall, for weapons.

"Any weapon in particular, milady?"

"Surprise me"

"Usual weapons around here are bows, for the few warrior maidens, and swords for the men"

"A sword it is, then. And make it a really good one"

"If I may be so bold as to ask, which of the Lords of Amber is your father?"

"You don't know?"

"No, milady"

"Find out. Now go. Girls, close the door behind him."

Engel goes then and asks Morgan.

"Llewella"

"The Lady of the Lake!!!", he cries out, and storms out of the room.

Having got the treaty with Aeterna, Drake returns to Amber, where he reports to Random. Starton and Máximo are there. It is resolved that Máximo and Drake will explore Shadow earths, to look for Chaos signs, while Starton will go to Morgan to help with his undeadies.

Starton calls Morgan, and after a slightly venomous verbal exchange (all very civil, mind you), Morgan agrees to Trump him to Avalon and accept his help. Starton's aim, of course, is to obtain chaotic specimens, or at least samples, for those wacky experiments of his.
So next morning, Morgan leads Loreley, Starton, Dietmar and some four hundred men, including Engel, to Koschei's valley.

"I carried out your order, milady", Engel tells Loreley, "I did find out whose daughter are you. Milady, know that I am at your service"

"Good"

Morgan doesn't look very happy about this.

In reaching the valley, they find five zombie sentinels. Starton immediatly starts studying the zombies, and the zombies seem to be studying him back. At least they stare, drooling. The zombies. Morgan asks for Koschei, and one of them (the zombies) goes away, presumably to fetch him. Zombie, zombie. I love that word. Morgan advances, Loreley advances, and Engel follows.

"Wait", says Dietmar, "I think they will only allow safe passage to those of Amber blood"

Engel wants to follow anyway, so Dietmar crushes two zombies, and Engel kills one more. Again, Morgan is not too pleased. It follows a sound Morgan and Dietmar know well: The sound of two thousand zombies (can I write zombie two thousand times? Hmm... better not to) screaming.

"You break our agreement, son of the unicorn", comes the voice of Koschei. Without even pausing to tell him to shove it, Morgan, Engel and Dietmar charge forward. Starton and Loreley take it easy. Those of the men who didn't run away at the multi-zombie scream follow. Starton follows cautiously, but cheering bravely.  He is really enjoying this. For him, it is all like being in a movie. Loreley casually blast a few hundred zombies away with a fireball, and a few with a lighting bolt... she's a witch, and not only because of her temper, it seems. Morgan, Dietmar and Engel are hacking their way trough the zombies. Engel seems to be as good a fighter as Morgan. Or almost so, at least.  Morgan's first in warfare, you know? Benedict seems to know how to choose his officers. Whatever. Things is, Morgan and Dietmar gain on Engel (maybe because he's a little distracted trying to keep and eye or three on Loreley). Morgan pauses to shoot Koschei, who's looking through a window high in his tower, but the bolt bounces off his hide. Loreley sees the demon, too, and succeds in paralizing him, who knows by what means. Dietmar's horse gets killed by the zombies, and turns into a big evil chaos-lich-zombie-horse. No, just kidding. Anyway, Dietmar reaches the tower, kicks in the door, and races upwards.

"Do not kill him", shouts Morgan.

"Alright", answers Dietmar without pausing.

When he reaches the top floor, the thing is still paralized, so he just drops him and steps on his chest. Morgan arrives, and Starton, who had been following in the wake is behind him.

"Ita erat quando ite adveni", says Dietmar.

Morgan tries to mind rape the thing, and seems to be succeding. Suddenly, fast as a snake, Morgan stabs Starton through the heart. Believing him controled by Koschei, Dietmar kicks Morgan down, disarming him, and confronts him.

"He was trying to mind rape me", Morgan explains.

Starton bleeds. Profusely.

"Get out the tower", Loreley shouts from below. Having witnessed her earlier performance, Benedict's two sons look at each other, nod, pick an almost-corpse each and jump out the window. And not a second too soon, because the tower melts to lava in a moment.

Back in the Realms, Cyric finds the pootskin again, and takes her to his demiplane. The pootskin tells him he reeks of order, but of a strange sort... Cyric asks if he knows Azurelle, Drake, some Fifi or Fiona...

"Fiona!!! I know that name! She's a great witch, from Amber"

The pootskin tells him her race was created by the House of Jesby to serve them, and tries to convince Cyric to go with her to the Courts, but he doesn't want to. He gets her to describe Amber to him, promising that once he finds it he will come back and take her home.

Drake and Máximo are trying to find shadow paths tainted with chaos, guessing that whatever is blowing shadows up is aiming for those somehow related or connected with Amber by means of a path. They end up finding another fucked up earth. Drake Trumps to Amber to look for help, while Máximo remains in the vicinity of that shadow. Suddenly, Máximo feels something in the back of the neck. Without even pausing to look back, he Trumps to Amber, where he collapses, poisoned. Drake Trumps to Amber, where he finds Random, Gerard and Flora surrounding the corpse of Caine. He's got a huge hole through the chest, a firearm wound. Gerard, crying, says it happened in the the ship. He was looking the other way, when he heard a explosin, and then he saw Caine laying on the the deck, his chest open and bleeding. He Trumped him to Amber at once, but it was to late.
Drake reports to Random, and then calls Máximo, to let him know. He does not answer, of course, but then a servant enters and announces he's fallen in the hall. Drake Trumps Starton, and of course he doesn't answer either.

Cyric is trying to reach Amber, aiming for what the pootskin told him. Passing through a forest filled with carnivorous flowers, and a valley filled with carnivorous grass, he arrives at Amber. Or at least that's where the castle guards tell him he is.

"You are Prince Cyric"

"Yes. I want to see the king"

"At once"

He is kept waiting in a room, and suddenly he feels a psychic attack. While he's struggling against that, the doors open and a blue haired girl surrounded by animated plants enters. The plants attack Cyric, and he fights them physically, trying to resist the mind raping at the same time. The girl zaps him with a lighting bolt. It all turns black.

He wakes up in a cell, with no sword and no Bleys' Trump. He's force-caged, too. The pootskin's in a cell nearby, having followed and tried to rescue him... or so she says. Cyric tries to shadow walk out of his cell, but he can't. After a while, Blue comes to him.

"Hope I did not harm you"

"Not at all"

"Good. You're so much more useful alive"

"Why?"

"You really haven't got the slightest idea of who you are, have you?"

"Nope"

"I'm Nashya, from the House of Malebranch, but not acting in their name. I need you for our sacred war against the sons of the Unicorn. You make a valuable hostage. After all, the king of Amber will do anything for the life of his son"

Back in Avalon, Dietmar mends Starton. Loreley seems too friendly with Engel. Morgan fumes. He isn't getting anything useful out of the demon's mind, when he gets a Trump call. It is Flora, looking for Starton. She tells him of Caine's death, and of Máximo´s injury. When she learns about Starton, she urges Morgan to bring him to her quarters, and not to tell anyone about what happened. Dietmar does not want to leave Starton alone with Morgan, just in case, so he goes along. Loreley is coming too, and she asks to be allowed to bring her new pet, Engel. Morgan fumes badly.

"He is needed here"

"My duty is here in Avalon, milady, but wherever you go, my thoughts go with you", petboy drools.

"Remember what we talked about", she says.

"Of course, milady"

Loreley brainfries Koschei dead and they are out, leaving petboy in cleaning duty. Once in Flora's room, Loreley and Dietmar are instructed to say Starton was lightly injured in battle. Flora recommends Morgan to talk to Random, explain things, and then stay clear of everybody, specially Julian and Gerard, until things clear out.
"Go to your room", she says, "and do not go out nor heed any call except for Random's until I say so", so off he goes.

Loreley's off to Trump mummy, and Dietmar to the throne room. There, he repeats the tale to Random. On hearing Starton's hurt, Gerard, who was crying alternatively over his dead brother and his wounded nephew, storms out of the room, and finds Starton just awakening.

"What happened?"

"It seems that in the heat of the battle Morgan accidentally wounded Start..."

"What?!? That cur! I'll teach him...!"

"Gerard, it may not be the time... remember... shouldn't you tell Starton?"

"Yes... yes", he calms down, and sits by the bed. "I... I don't know how to tell you this, but... your brother... he is injured... and your father..."

"What?... is he alright?"

"He... he's dead... :cry: "

"Oh, no, my dad :cry: "

They cry hugging each other, in a very unmanly fashion, for a while.

Back in the the throne room, Random finds out what downed Máximo were tranqs, elephant dose. He's discussing this with Drake, when Loreley arrives. Then the doors swing open, and a very pissed off Julian storms in.

"I claim vengeance", he shouts. "I want the head of the one who killed my brother. Bloody redheads did it, that's for sure. I shall have their blood"

He finds out about Starton, and gets madder.

Flora gets Morgan, and they're on their way to the throne room, when they hear Julian.

"Shit! Be off, boy, and call Random later! Now!" He Trumps back to Avalon, and se turn to go back to her room, but Loreley spots her, and cries out. Now, that fish girl is one bad apple, I tell you. Flora takes the brunt of Julian verbal assault, and so another gaming night reaches an end.

Do not forget to turn your dial to Amber radio next week. Good-byes.

[Abrojo]

Engel wants to follow anyway, so Dietmar crushes two zombies, and Engel kills one more. Again, Morgan is not too pleased. It follows a sound Morgan and Dietmar know well: The sound of two thousand zombies (can I write zombie two thousand times? Hmm... better not to) screaming.

Just wanted to add that i had a very nice specimen restrained and in my horse ready to do some fun stuff. Of course its no problem that you omit this since i was stabbed in the chest and i lost my lab rat, which to be honest is what i (both Starton and Myself) regret the most from the whole incident.