The following is the campaign log for the 23rd session of my current Amber Diceless RPG campaign, entitled A Horse Of Another Timbre.
You might want to Start from Session #1 or check out the index of my Amber articles.
Campaign log: 5 July 2021, turn by turn
Nearly a year behind in posting these. Details below the fold:
Scene 1: David and Maarit chat with Belle
Having
sat down with Belle, Maarit asks if they can close the door so they can
do the divining in private. Maarit looks at Belle expectantly. Belle
asks how she can help. Maarit sets up the ouija paper under the pendulum
and invites David to sit down with them. Maarit makes her divination
into a performance. She asks Belle if there's something that's been done
that needs investigating -- Belle says yes but she might get in
trouble.
Belle doesn't seem to believe in
divination. Maarit probes Belle's ability to find things. Belle says she
doesn't know why David and Maarit have come here. She suggests perhaps
she should be helping Maarit locate things, thinks David shouldn't be
there.
'We need to speak to the head of security but not called that' - ARMISTAUD DELACROIX ST AMBROSE (as in Armistaud delaCroix St.Ambrose)
Belle's
well-maintained exterior begins to crack. She mentions that it has
spelled out the co-worker. Belle tries to say Armistaud isn't on site,
and David mentions that her men had said he was at the stables. Belle is
more flustered. She tries to withdraw, and Maarit says "we need to
formally break," and Belle reluctantly brings her hand back.
Maarit
probes Bellantine's mind, and finds that Belle is terrified ... of
David. Belle tries to run for it, but Maarit, then David, invite
themselves along on the walk to the stable. David creeps around Belle
and opens the door "for her." When they emerge out of the room, Belle
sends one of her men "to the stable to let Armistaud know they're
looking for him."
Maarit asks David to fetch
her some water, and he darts off. She asks Belle to tell her about
Oberon's Loupe while they walk to the stables. Belle asks her men if
they've heard from Cadmus. Once David is gone, Belle pulls Maarit aside
and tells her David is dangerous, and that Maarit gives him too much
trust. Belle says she assumes David is there to kill her or Armistaud
Delacroix St. Ambrose. "He's an ancient evil and you should rid yourself
of him at the first opportunity."
Maarit asks
which side he's on or where he's from. Belle says he's a "prototype of
sorts." "Shortly after the first storm. He's dangerous." Maarit asks if
there's a faster way to the stables. Belle brings out a trump and calls
someone... and gets pulled through, and vanishes.
Meanwhile, David follows the man who has been dispatched by Maarit. He arrives with a group of soldiers gathered in the hallway.
Scene 2: Nix on the March
Nix
prepares his two dozen soldiers for the ride to Siccurath Ridge. As he
prepares, he summons a dozen guards from the guard duty of the
acquisition room and sends a dozen of his second-stringers to guard the
room. He hears from one of the guards that an acquisition specialist, Garfield Genoese St.Gygax, tried very hard to get into the room "to get his lunch," and was upset when he was turned away.
Along
with his usual orders to set the library running while he's away, Nix
sends an order to investigate if a similar event happens, and then heads
out with his two dozen troops. He uses his Tarot to move them through
to Muster Park in Amber, then they ride for Siccurath Ridge. He sends a
note to the castle explaining where he's going, and asks that it be
delivered to whichever family member is in charge at the moment.
Scene 1b: David and Maarit
David hears the man Garfield Genoese St.Gygax
he's following get in an argument with a group of soldiers about his
sandwich, and get turned away. The man continues along his way. David
passes the soldiers, who're guarding the Acquisitions room. More
soldiers arrive as David walks by. The man goes through a door and
closes it behind him. David hears muffled voices through the door, but
can't make out what people are saying.
He hears
"Well, she sent me... okay ... yes, sir. What do you want me to do
about him? Yes, I'd feel a lot better about that. Start handing stuff to
me." Something metallic is set down. David opens the door and sees the
man taking things through a card - a desktop computer.
David
steps up and bashes his head on the table, knocking him out. The card
contact gets broken, and drops face up on the floor. He puts the card in
a book and tucks the book into his waist. The high-tech, good computers
say "Institute of Practical Theology." These are very good computers.
David opens the computers up and removes the hard drives. David steals
the pistol from the knocked out St. Gygax.
He
finds his way out to the stables. Across the courtyard, someone on
horseback disappears by trump (Nix). David inquires with the stablehands
-- asks after St. Ambrose, gets a description of the person on the
Trump he picked up. He asks to wait in the stables until Maarit gets
there.
Maarit admits that Belle escaped, then
David shows the Tarot card he found to Maarit. He mentions that
Armistaad appears to be in a high-tech shadow. He asks if she knows
anything about the "Institute of Practical Theology." Maarit takes the
book, then pulls out the card that takes them to the muster field. When
Maarit and David arrive, the city guard gives the note from Nix to
Maarit. She reassures the city guard that King Random is still alive.
Scene 3: Adore Medore in Castle Amber!
Maarit
reaches out to Medore, and they agree to meet at Medore's chambers.
This was a conversation between Medore, Maarit, and David, that happened
in a side channel, so we don't really have a log of this. If anything
important happened, please share it with us folks.
At the end, David left. His stated goals are: 1) Avoid Benedict. 2) Maybe seek out Corwin.
Scene 4: Abn Haram on the road
Chatting
with Cadmus at breakfast. Abn Haram asks about whether Bellantine would
be joining them. Cadmus says no, but is puzzled by the idea. Abn Haram
mentions that Spinternix said she'd be joining them.
Haram
asks Cadmus what he thinks of Spinturnix as the administrator of the
library. Cadmus hedges a bit, but says Nix is pretty good. Toes the
party line when Haram nudges that Cadmus should feel under-appreciated.
Abn Haram advocates genocide of fools and open libraries. Cadmus shows
himself to be quite the anti-egalitarian; having drunk the kool-aid of
meritocracy.
Cadmus absent-mindedly mentions
that he could likely out-shoot Haram, if need be. Haram says he
couldn't, and proposes a wager of servants and vehicle against the
horse. He confuses Cadmus to invoke the wager, then has Cadmus choose a
target in the distance. Abn Haram hits the target easily, Cadmus misses
badly.
After the contest, someone rides out of
the woods: Sir Arnulf, an armored knight with a tonsure, shouting about
devilry. Abn Haram asks him to witness the bet. He mentions he doesn't
have bad intentions toward Haram, but that he has a task to perform. He
sees Haram split the tree in half.
Sir Arnulf
says he has a message for a librarian - Duke Spinturnix. Abn Haram
mentions that Cadmus needs a ride home. Sir Arnulf mentions that someone
had been talking about Abn Haram at "the camp." Abn Haram asks who Sir
Arnulf works for, and he doesn't answer. Cadmus gets on the horse with
Sir Arnulf and leaves Dictionary with Abn Haram.
Abn
Haram secures Dictionary's lead to the truck, and they head off at a
trot speed, leaving the cart behind. As worlds shift, they encounter a
green sign with places and distances on it, including golden circles and
infinities. The sign reads:
Abn
Haram pushes toward nasty places. Comes across another sign -
Wiermonken 7 (just the number, no infinity symbol). Alselok notes that
they're being followed by creatures in the forest with ill intent,
moving parallel to the road. Abn Haram tries to use magic to hide
himself and his companions but not the horse. He command Petty to leave
the car and explains that it's breaking down, using magic to walk along
the road, nudging things toward bad/dangerous places.
There's
a howl in the background and Dictionary tries to break away. Abn Haram
holds onto the reins and shouts "what's the matter?" Abn Haram lets go
of Dictionary's reins and he runs away, very fast, pursued by dark grey
hunting shapes. Abn Haram yells "Come back, Dictionary, we'll protect
you!" Then goes to Gehenna through his Tarot.
Scene 5: Dalziel swims down the Rebma streets
There are a lot of people out in Rebma,
tidying things up, trying to fix things. There are people all around.
There's a shimmer in the water and a spiralling current that whips the
people around, like a cyclone, that spins the people around. When it
finishes, the guy becomes a Triton, and the woman is changed to be more
buxom and slinky.
Dalziel uses his pattern
lens to spot a change from the pattern. It's a change that was made
using a very strong concentration of pattern energy. Dalziel arrives at
the castle and follows the escort he's offered, as protocol suggests he
should. The king has been notified that Dalziel is there and will be
with him shortly. Dalziel covertly examines his wounds, then studies the
plants in the garden. A medical person helps minister Dalziel's
wounds.
Prince Martin arrives; Dalziel uses
sign language to communicate his regret that he had to visit in a
different way. The prince has a woman on his arm and he's wearing a blue
jewel set in a silver setting. The Prince attaches an emblem to
Dalziel, and tells him it will keep in calm.
Dalziel
thanks Prince Martin for his hospitality, and the Prince thanks him for
his help saving people from the Chaos-tainted mockery of the unicorn.
The Prince mentions that "there's a good deal of change flowing with the
tide." Dalziel introduces himself to the lady. The Prince introduces
her as his Queen, Maureen.
They mention that
the world still exists, though Random is out of contact. When Dalziel
mentions Corwin, Martin rolls his eyes. Dalziel warns that people are
suspicious that Random is dead -- Dalziel suggests that his aunts and
uncles would judge prematurely. He offers Dalziel the Duchy of Rebma in
Welleswell, or offers to make a new Duchy for him.
Dalziel
suggests that the world is more unstable than things might appear right
now. Prince Martin thinks he's wrong. Dalziel suggests that things are
really dangerous, and mentions Dworkin's assistant to have been ripped
in half by the rewrite. Dalziel warns that things won't lock in the way
Martin thinks they will. They use a surgery metaphor to discuss how
things will or won't work out.
Martin declares
that he's won the game, and Dalziel's advice is not welcome. Dalziel
realizes he won't get anywhere with Martin, so he leaves, swimming
toward the Rebma pattern. Dalziel invokes his title of Duke of
Welleswell of Rebma, demands that the guards move. He challenges them to
"flay me if you must." Dalziel pushes his way past the guards.
It's
a swim race down the stairwell toward the pattern. The two fastest
swimming guards catch up with him and try to catch him, he does his best
to break their holds and push past. The guards pile on and shout to the
others, "He's a Duke, no weapons!" They eventually restrain Dalziel
enough to put manacles on him. As soon as they stop grappling him, he
uses his superhuman strength to break the chains, and swims away.
He
re-binds his wounds, then proceeds down the hall. He's captured again,
now holding onto a bar a ways down the hall. The eight of them do their
best to hold him down, but Dalziel is able to consistently break free of
them. As they get tired, one of them starts kidney punching Dalziel,
then he head-butts the man. It turns into a full-blown donnybrook, but
Dalziel is using all tactical advantages to move down the corridor.
Just
as the fight approaches the door, Dalziel feels himself freeze, unable
to move. Martin approaches, and unlocks Dalziel's head. Dalziel
threatens to report Martin's inhospitality to the other royals of Amber.
Martin is so unhappy he orders that Dalziel be locked up. He uses his
pattern vision to look into the jewel, and spots a flaw in the pattern
within the jewel.
Dalziel and Martin end up in a
duel of minds. Dalziel realizes that he's stronger than Martin, but
Martin knows more about the power. The men realize the king is focused
in a duel of minds with Dalziel. The men start chaining up Dalziel, then
King Martin backs off the fight. Dalziel slips the chains and then uses
his Tarot to call his father, who is mid-surgery, but pulls him
through.
Dalziel finds himself in the surgery
where his father is sewing up Margolo. He shares the story of what
happened in Rebma, but trails off to leave his father to surgery.
The
Hospital is fancy, high-tech, secure facility with armed guards.
Getting in would be difficult, but thankfully Dalziel was trying to
leave, and that's a bit easier. The lights on the place dimmed at one
point, and someone said something about that being because of a positron
beam being used in one of the surgeries.
Dalziel
calls Maarit, and shares news about Martin being a jerk. Then Dalziel
goes on a hellride. He finds the team he'd abandoned in shadow when the
storm blew up a few days back. He leads them home to the Institute of
Practical Theology, then collapses into the warm embrace of high-tech
equipment designed to help you heal and regenerate.
4b: Abn Haram to Amber
Abn
Haram conjures up some money and a laser pointer. He has Alsalakh and
Steward try to get a sense of whether any of Gehenna's many ancient
Gates will significantly shorten the time to find Brute. After a few
false starts, they decide it's probably fastest to go to Amber by way of
the card, and then head out into Forest Arden. He does so, with Steward
and Petty.
3b: Maarit and Medore and the Eye
Now
that David is gone, Maarit gets out her pendant and starts asking
questions about David. Is David an Ancient Evil? Yes. Is he inherently
dangerous to Maarit and Medore? Yes. A few more questions along those
lines, with the pendant not having anything nice to say about David.
Then the pendant spells out "K I L H I M". Is that "Kill Him" ? Or maybe just somebody's proper name?
Shortly
thereafter, the pendant starts acting extra weird. Whipping and
bouncing around, like break dancing or maybe caught in a fluctuating
electric field. Maarit holds it tight for a bit, and it's jerking about
with enough force to move her hands. She lets it dangle again, and it
starts glowing. A silvery ghostly eye appears within it, inside the
glow.
Now Medore leans in and unleashes her
significant psyche resources and knowledge of magic on the thing. There
are three energies about it. One is the background, the enchantment that
powers the pendant, which is pretty chill. The other two are intrusive
meddling energies, one of which is manifesting the eye. The one that's
not the eye does something, and the pendant shoots up like the cork from
a champaigne bottle. Thereafter, the "eye force" is gone, driven out.
The other intrusive force tries to fade back and hide, but Medore can
still spot it, and thinks she will be able to detect its intrusions in
the future. Once Medore lets on that he still knows the other force is
watching, it gives up and goes away.
With the
pendant now temporarily cleansed of outside influence, they re-ask the
previous questions. The answers are still a little concerning, but not
nearly so boldly "kill him". It says: Yes, David is an interface. Yes,
he can interface with the Pattern. Yes, David is capable of walking the
Pattern. Yes, that could be dangerous. Oh boy.
New
topic: How to reach Random. Yes, you can walk the Pattern and have it
send you to a person. Yes, this is the most efficient way to do so.
Yes, this is the fastest way they could reach Random, wherever he is.
In
these divining after the intruding forces were sent away, some of the
Yes'es were qualified. Like, it would say Yes, then swing over to Maybe.
Like not a "hard" yes, but a "softer" yes, perhaps a "most likely" or
"depends on the situation".
After chatting
about such things, Medore and Maarit decide they need a good night's
rest before walking the Pattern. Maarit's been out and about
adventuring, and Medore has spent all day trying to force a tarot call
with Random. They're tuckered out, so they arrange for a wake up call
and breakfast, and go their separate ways.
Maarit
goes to Sand's quarters in the castle, wondering if maybe she can find
that old diary of her mom's that Llewella had said she's found and read,
and used to find Maarit in shadow to bring her through to Amber in the
first place.
3c: Medore calls Deirdre
Medore calls mom, and fills her in on the recent events.
They
discuss David. Deirdre recounts what she knows of David's military
record. He started in the navy, got promoted after turning in a gang of
pirates or criminals within the navy who were robbing from the fleet.
After promotion, he was transferred to Caine's flagship. After serving
there for some time, he left the service. The records weren't clear, it
seemed like maybe he was AWOL, but then later Caine filed something
clearing David's name. It kind of implied that maybe David had been
Caine's spy all along. Record keeping wasn't great in Oberon's time, so
it could just be a mistake, but Caine going to the trouble of fixing a
black mark on a sailor's record seems uncharacteristically kind of him.
Later,
at the height of the war, David showed back up, but now enlisted in the
Army. Deirdre was his battlefield superior on the long march, but he
also interacted with Llewella who was in charge of logistics. Deirdre
figured he was Caine's catspaw, but since Caine was at this point
believed dead, she thought he might be looking for some new Patron or
Mentor, and worth keeping an eye on. His unit was mostly rear-guard on
the baggage train across the universe, but just short of making it to
Chaos they got ambushed by cat-demons. It was a massacre, hardly anyone
survived, and Deirdre didn't know if he was alive or dead as she went in
to the final battle in Chaos.
Tangent to
this, Deirdre realizes that David likely has a deck of cards. Or at
least, he had her card and Llewella's during the long march. A lot of
high-ranking officers did, as Oberon had shown up with an obscene number
of decks at the apex of the war. Deirdre suggests Llewella might know
if David had just their two cards, or an entire deck. It could be
either, but Llewella is good with obsessive details like that. If only
you could find out from her without letting on that Deirdre is alive.
They discuss is David an "interface" and what does that mean? Or is he just Caine's undeclared bastard son?
While
talking about interfaces, Deirdre discusses Oberon's many tricks that
straddle the line between magic and technology. "Dad" would definitely
have the ability to create something unique that seems human, and would
have the skills to hijack Maarit's bauble, too. But so would Brand, or
Fiona, and you have to assume that Bleys could as well since arcane
skills are common to both his full-blooded siblings. Eric had Dad's
diary or user's manual, so he also might be capable. Lots of dead people
are capable of such things. Benedict is older than all of us combined,
so while this seems unlike his style, it's not impossible he could have
such skills, too. To illustrate, she discusses Benedict's mechanical arm
that Dad basically created and planted in Tir-na Nog'th, engineered it
to get to Benedict so he'd have it at a critical moment to stop Brand in
a way you'd think would be unpredictable, then had a ghost steal it
away in a paradoxical time-loop to send it back up to the past moon. Dad
was crazy clever like that.
And also, she mentions Delwin.
Delwin wasn't in Amber long, and he's younger then all the siblings
except Random, but he was clever, and always playing around with
mechanical gadgets. You'd find him at a table somewhere, tinkering, and
he'd never look up from his work unless you said something outrageous or
did something threatening. When Dierdre first saw Benedict's mechanical
arm, she didn't think it looked like something Oberon would make, she
thought it looked like something Delwin would build. Huh. Sand and
Delwin left Amber after an argument with Gerard a few centuries back,
while Corwin was presumed dead, and Dad absent (but nobody really sure
if his absence was sinister yet, or just Dad playing hookie).
Deirdre
says that she went ahead with her plan to install a shadow of herself
in the world she thought maybe a family member had visited in the past
decade, then assassinate that shadow. So hopefully this is enough of a
smokescreen, that if anyone gets a report she showed up they'll assume
it was just a shadow cast by the long years she'd spent in Ozindell. Herding monkeys is exhausting, but she's now assembling a large army deep in shadow.
The Quotes Of Chaos
Session 7/5/21
Aww, I wanted to make sure he lost fairly! -Peter
So you pumped his head full of magic from the other end of the universe. -Rolfe
“According to a resident of Oberon’s Loupe, David is an ‘ancient evil’.” -Maarit
“To be fair, I’ve been called worse.” -Medore
Rolfe: You think Dictionary is giving you a side-eye, but then you remember he’s a horse and he can’t do anything else.
Andrew: Well, after they put manacles on me, I break out and keep heading toward the Pattern!
Dalziel: King Martin is an asshole.
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