Suhuy
Harick is stuck in a Shadow some distance from Amber. He looks for a pub in which to pass the time.
SG: The first one you see has a picture of a boar and a wolf wrestling. It seems a little run-down, but talk and laughter can be heard from inside. It smells of beer and smoke.
Harick: A wolf? That's the place for me. I'll go in.
SG: There are quite a few people inside, mostly gathered near the bar. The others stand around the tables, watching something. What are you doing?
Harick: Well, I'll check out the nearest table and see what is so interesting.
SG: Just as you push to the front of the crowd, a man gets up from the table and walks off, shoulders slumped. Someone behind you pushes back and you have to stop yourself from bumping into the table.
Harick: I stand up straight again. Who else is sitting at the table?
SG: Sitting to the left is a smiling young man, joking with someone near him standing in the crowd. He turns to look at you, and smiles a little crookedly. ''Well, well, look who we have here.'' What are you doing?
Harick: Do I know him?
SG: Nope. He says, seeming to smile with just the left side of his mouth, ''Are you just going to stand there, friend, or will you sit down?''
Harick: I guess that's a challenge. I'll sit down. I'll ask who I have the pleasure of sitting with.
SG: ''He does not know me! Such are the disappointments of life. You might as well call me Narrad, sir.'' He leans forward across the table, puts one elbow on it, and extends his hand towards you. What are you doing?
Harick: Excellent! An arm-wrestle! I'll match his movements, grasping his hand and putting my elbow on the table. I'll just smile at him.
SG: The crowd starts yelling around you. Apparently they are making bets on the outcome. Narrad starts to put some pressure on your hand.
Harick: I'll push back, but I want to do something different. Can I make Psychic contact like this?
SG: With grasped hands, no problem. After a few seconds of concentration, you make contact.
Harick: He's chooses the environment, right?
SG: Yep. You find yourself in a clearing in a forest of immense trees, probably in later afternoon as the shadows are long. Brightly coloured birds fly overhead, making weird, tinny-sounding tunes. You can smell leaves mulching on the ground, so maybe it is autumn or something.
Harick : A forest, hmm. I'm a hunter, not much different from my usual human form, but carrying a bow and dressed in browns and greens. What's Narrad up to?
SG: There's a deep, challenging growl from your left and large black bear appears from amongst the trees. It says ''I presume this is a challenge, from the unheralded manner of your beginning. So be it.''
Harick: Let's start by taking control of the forest. I want the trees first. They are straightening up and taking on a metal kind of bark. I'm not concentrating totally on that, though. I'll keep an eye out in case he attacks.
SG: The changes are not so easy. Narrad changes back everything you alter, as quick as you make them. At the same time the forest is starting to close in on you.
Harick: OK, I'll fight to keep the clearing a comfortable size, now I'll push a little harder to change the trees.
SG: You swap changes for while, but you aren't making any progress and it is proving difficult to keep the clearing the same size.
Harick: The devil!
SG: Now you see a chance, he appears to have left some of the trees alone which you have changed only a little.
Harick: Hmm. Is he deliberately pulling back, or is he just not good enough?
SG: You can't tell. It looks real.
Harick: I'll pretend to attack those trees, but I'm looking out for a trick here. If he tries to stop me then I'll change them.
SG: He doesn't seem to care about the trees. He launches an attack to learn your bloodline, and you only just redirect your concentration in time. He almost got through.
Harick: It was a trick! I'll get him yet! I'm going to launch a series of feints, directed at a physical assault. I want to see if I can get him to ignore them.
SG: OK, tell me when you want to go for the real thing. He parries the first of your feints. The second one. The third one. The fourth one...
Harick: This time it's an attack. Has he got the habit?
SG: He easily avoids your thrust, but he's not even parrying this time. He's attacking to leech your bloodline. You are too extended to stop him, and you can feel him smile that crooked smile. What are you doing?
Harick: Damn! But I guess he doesn't know me as well as all that. Interesting. Let's go back to changing the trees, see if he does anything different.
SG: The bear calls out to you, asking if you wish to withdraw.
Harick: Not a chance! I want his name and bloodline, and I want them now: I go all out to leech him.
SG: Narrad concentrates on defence quickly. You learn that Narrad is his real name. But he's quick enough to stop you learning more.
Harick: A strike! Not worth much to me, though. I'll switch the attack to a psychic assault.
SG: He's still fighting strongly. He doesn't seem a bit put out. You can't penetrate his defence.
Harick: Well, lets go back to the trees again, see if he does anything different.
SG: He's ignoring the trees, he's trying to change your form: your ears get a little longer and your nose is growing whiskers.
Harick: No way! I put everything into stopping him.
SG: Just in time, too. You've neutralised that attack.
Harick: Maybe he's extended too far. I'll pretend to go for a psychic assault, and go all out to leech that bloodline!
SG: He defends against the psychic assault, and you learn that Narrad is from Chaos, House Hendrake, and that he's really a she.
Harick: Oho! One to me, I think. I'll pull back to defence and see what happens now.
SG: The bear offers withdrawal again. ''Seeing as we have both learnt something'' she says.
Harick: I accept!
When you focus on the pub again, you find that Narrad has pushed your arm to the table. Someone behind you says ''You lost first up. Your shout!''
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Monday, August 25, 1997 Suhuy |
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