26-Dec-92 After some time travelling through distant shadows, failing to find any trace of Farilla or my father, I decided to take Michel's advice and leave a trail to let my relatives know that I had left the shadow of the Game. I hope that my departure will turn their attentions from the game. Any that think this a good opportunity to investigate will find entry most difficult, and their presence and actions will be recorded by my wards and spies. Knowing who has intruded and what they do will be useful information. I have chosen Caleb as the unlucky recipient of my unsolicited visit since he has contacts at court and is important enough not to suffer by my presence. When I called he wasted no time in retiring to a room for a private discussion. Since he felt the need to enchant a spell against eavesdropping I decided that a spell of my own was in order. He told me of the events back in Amber, Gérard and Caine command the fleet, Julian has returned to Arden and probably holds little affection for Calvin after his brief tenure. Bleys has retired from the court life and is seldom seen, Even Fiona is often absent, word has it that she has found a new lover. Benedict has gone, as has Selina. He mentioned a few other items of gossip, most of which seemed unimportant beside his warning to stay away from the court. He did not elaborate or give any explanation of the danger, but continued on to tell of the strange things appearing out of shadow. It seems that all trouble in Amber is preceded by mysterious creatures wandering shadow. Michel is suspected of being connected with these incidents. I am probably also suspect. His next revelation was most disturbing, there is a new ambassador from the Courts of Chaos in residence and King Random is said to be taking much notice of him. This in itself would be of little interest except that we had met before, this ambassador and I, while I was studying in Chaos. On that occasion he had one of his attractive spies spare me an undue amount of attention. Why do I get the f eeling that I am about to become embroiled in yet another twisted plot. My introduction to Amber was the result of a plot by Julian and Abel. When I created my own refuge apart from Amber I made the mistake of involving my kin, then had to stand by and watch as Randall wrested my creation from me. There is bound to be a lot of ill will in the wake of those events, much of it my own. I have enough problems and no desire to add to them, my only desire is to find Farilla and my father and to keep my friends and family safe. The best course would seem to be staying far away from Amber. But Caleb hasn't finished yet. He reports that Michel has been sending his agents around peddling his art. This is definitely fishy, Michel has never needed to advertise before. On top of all this he left a package with Caleb to give to me should I happen by. It contained a most unusual trump with a spade on the back. I get the feeling that it is more than a little dangerous, and a trifle reminiscent of the painting that I sent Michel. I decide against investigating it immediately and instead thank Caleb and take my leave. It try contacting Michel for a week with no reply. In some cases he is in shielded shadows, but often he just refuses to answer. Curiouser and curiouser. One week is the limit of my patience, it is long enough for him to have contacted me by other means so I must assume he has something important afoot. A few moments with a trump linkage spell confirms my suspicions. He is in the Game. I resolve to go there at once and speak with him. I will also take the opportunity to check my wards to see if there has been any interference or any other unauthorised visitors.

30-Dec-92 Upon entering the Game I check the wards. Something really powerful came through at the same time as Michel. It has facets of Pattern, Logrus and possibly Trump about it. I call Michel, who does not answer but calls back immediately. He trumps through but is not very forthcoming about what he is up to, he seems preoccupied. When I ask he says that the spade card is a trump mailbox / bulletin board, with protection against attack, so that he can receive messages without answering his trump. We briefly discuss Randall and the whys and wherefores. He won't say anything about what came through with him, and departs after I give him a gate card of Randall. He (and the thing) leave the Game a few days later. I leave after checking up on some old friends, then go to a fast earth shadow to go through university studying sports medicine, philosophy and playing grid-iron. Four years later, in my last amateur season, it is just before a big game when I begin to get a strange headache. The cause seems to be waves of a strange trump like energy. I go to my store room to check my trump, the pressure increases sharply. There are no messages in Michel's mailbox. I find that a relatively light shield will stop the effect, but my analysis spells and sensings cannot pin down the nature of the force, and a trace finds 6 badly defined loci. A few more tests determine that the effect is continuous and does not react unusually with magic. I set a search going for local psychics then set a firm shield to keep me safe for the big game. Halfway through the game it stops and does not recur. The year ends and I graduate. I get a message from Michel not to use his trump. I reply asking about the emanations that I felt. When I check Michel's trump is radiating a large amount of energy, so I separate it from the others and place it in a secure area. The force burns out the first analysis spell that I try, not surprising since the radiation is notable from a distance. This effect could be related to the force I felt a while bac k as there is some similarity in the nature of the energies. I am just beginning to prepare a stronger analysis spell when I get a trump call. I step aside so that only a blank wall is visible then accept the call. It is from Calvin and Anna, Random is looking for me. My trump warmed up and radiated for a while, the time corresponds to when I notes the emanations. After a few pleasantries I agree to call Random and say good-bye. I collect up my gear and flit to another shadow to give Calvin time to collect his brownie points by telling Random that he found me, then give the King a call. He insists that I come through to Amber, where Fiona has set up some handy barriers to ensure that I stick around. They ask about Rinaldo, Gabrielle, Julian and Michel. I also tell them about the static and the results of my analysis and trace. Fi says that there is something big and nasty behind Michel's Trump, the radiation is probably just a strong warning not to go any further. After a brief discussion on the effect on my trump, which does not find anything new, I am escorted through to meet the rest of the family. Oh joy! Both Flora and Fiona want a private interview, Lokerai is in good humour and Gérard goes before I can speak with him so I go to take a shower before lunch. I am just straightening the last of my clothes when I get the feeling someone is watching, there he is, uncle Bleys standing behind me with a drawn sword. This is just a general warning, he doesn't have anything specific in mind, remarkably unsubtle for Bleys, perhaps he has other things on his mind. He also wants to know what I told Random. I am not sure whether they are double checking me or Bleys is just being nosy, but I tell him anyway. He is also interested in Michel, Norden and the thing Michel bought into the Game. I jest about him giving me fencing lessons the he leaves. I kick myself for telling him about the thing, as I am beginning to have suspicions of my own. I go to see Fi to tell her about the thing also, since I forgot to tell her and Ran dom earlier. I suggest my suspicions about the skymantra. She shows me some drawings of some shadow beasts, most of which are unfamiliar, except for the stone giants, which are the same as the ones that helped hold us captive out in the desert. I complement her on the wicked suppression spell before escorting her to lunch. After lunch Michel's art agent is questioned before the family by Random, but he doesn't know anything. They are probably just a diversion for the real agents. Then Random, Fiona, Bleys, Gérard, Calvin and I have a private conference. It must be important since Random serves us 600 year old cognac. They voice the suspicion that Randall is Brand and Gabrielle may be Dierdrie. Then comes the bad news. Bleys tells us that Dworkin is missing. I speculate that he must have been convinced or conned by someone he thought was a friend, since overpowering him, especially without anyone noticing, is unlikely. The others considers Michel's part in these events, but I refuse to condemn him or speculate about his guilt without some hard evidence. Random wants Calvin and I to hellride from Arden to the courts looking for Brand or anything out of the ordinary, on the ostensible mission of delivering a document. I ask about the new ambassador, and mention that we have met before. They have nothing to add. As the meeting breaks up I discuss the change in my trump and some facets of Randall's magic with Bleys and Fi, then have a few words with Gerard about Basil. Calvin, who had already told him, asks if there is any work from Norden or Karek. As usual I don't tell him anything. I then depart, leaving the castle to get outside the barriers Fi has raised, then gate back to arrange stuff for the team to cover during my absence. I also shift Michel's trump, as it make quite a beacon and I don't want people wandering around my store room to see what the glow is. Then I gate back to Arden and check out the new shield that Fi has put around the castle. It is a doozy and blocks just about anything, including people and things from shadow. When I reach the castle Gerard challenges me at the gate with some foolish mention of my brother, except he gets the name wrong and calls him Sim. When he grabs me I first think it has something to do with Basil, but when I ask about Samrel he puts me down. Just Gerard being straightforward about security. To save myself a proper beating I don't tell him how worthless his challenge was, as if any worthwhile impostor wouldn't know my brothers name.

3-Jan-93 As I continue to check out the interactions between magic and this barrier I get an visit from Bleys to see who is messing around. We trump up to Fiona. Lokerai is in his mother's rooms reading a book, after politely dismissing Bleys Fi and I move to another room to talk in private. First she tells me that Cal has killed Mitzi. I am astonished. My mission has just changed a trifle since Cal has fled the castle. Fi doesn't seem too surprised by his psychopathic urges. We begin to discuss magic and examine possible booby traps on several of the more powerful individual spells that Randall taught me. Ones that I have not used or tested yet because of the inherent dangers. I also ask about the shield, she says that it will send anything from outside the golden circle back to it's home shadow, but she is not sure about the effect on lords of chaos. I suggest that she warn Merlin and perhaps perform some tests. After a few hours I have dissolved the one dangerous spell that I had hung and made notes about the dangers inherent in some of the other magics. Fortunately the vast majority of my magic is based on my standard templates and frameworks, which I have been using and customising for the past 30 years. The principles involved in these are so straightforward and so well tested that they are beyond doubt. Next I visit Random, since Cal's departure is sure to alter my instructions. He wants me to find Calvin and find out if he has been ensorcelled. If I manage to find him he is to be returned to Amber before we restart the journey from Arden. Since the castle is shielded I am to leave any messages with Julian. Then I go to see Anna, to give my condolences and ask if there is anything that I can do to help. She looks very upset and doesn't want to talk so I leave her in peace. I can't believe that Calvin would be such a dick head, even for him this is excessive. Especially since they had been getting on so well. I pack my travelling gear and ride out through Arden before trying Cal's Trump. There are a lot of guards patrolling the perimeter of the shield, and more down in Arden. Cal doesn't answer the Trump or the psychic link, but I do get soft trace which locates him near the game. I port closer then search around for his shadow trail, which is easy to find since he has been backtracking and shunting a lot in the twisted shadows near the game. His trail has turned away from the game, moving fast and leaving dead horses in his wake. I am catching up with him, but before long my alarm goes off and I have to return to play a game. I am a bit pissed at playing only half a game, I would have preferred to give the backup QB a full game while I filled in at receiver, halfback and safety, but the coach was adamant about not risking any injury. If only he knew how much danger the average hellride puts me in. I stay for the after match function and then take up Calvin trail again. Before long the signs of tampering around Cal's trail become evident. How he missed them I don't know but he seems to have continued obliviously. I relay my findings to Julian then try Cal's trump. He is drugged or unconscious so I don't get a good contact, but I do get a trace and set up a scrying portal. He is in a bed in a guarded room, hooked up to all sorts of plumbing. I am just getting ready to remove him when I have to break off as a group of 6 soldiers are coming. I accompany them long enough to pick his brains and then stage a bloodless escape. Much to my surprise when I try to port back to the previous shadow something stops me back at the previous bush that I was hiding behind. This is very serious. At first I assumed this was just a dangerous shadow and Cal managed to get hurt, but now it looks like a serious trap, with some heavy power being bandied about. I call Julian and ask him to tell Fi immediately. then begin to run some tests of my own. This whole area of shadow is a one way system directing everything toward the centre, like an oversized black hole. No gating or teleport will allow movement outwards, this effect probabl y applies to shifting and Trump as well. I start to slowly head towards the same shadow that Cal is in, taking some time to study the local language and customs. I discard the idea of controlling some locals to get Cal transferred somewhere else as I will still have to extract him from the ambulance, instead I find a bunker to hide in and begin to prepare for his extraction by setting up shield and protection spells. Bleys trumps me, they cannot get us out without destroying the shadow, which would probably kill us, we are on our own. I retrieve Cal and begin to fix him up. he has suffered some pretty severe abuse so I perform the relevant first aid and hit him with a general healing spell before setting to work on a tailored diagnosis and regeneration magic. He starts to freak out a bit so I have to tranq him, but he is too far gone to swallow the pills so he gets the less than subtle jab in the neck. Oh well. In the ensuing peace and quiet I get a trump from Samrel, he has spoken to Bleys and wants to wish me luck. I am going to need it. The next 12 hours are spent readying some more spells and resting. Before Calvin wakes up I check him out for any residual ensorcelment, there isn't any but he has suffered some severe psychic and neural damage. His first question is who sent me. Dick head, he should just be glad that I'm here. At least he remembers to say thanks. I have learned not to expect too much from Calvin. He mentions the stuff he has lost (again) especially the spade trump from Michel. I don't tell him what it is, but do set a search spell running to find some of his gear. A while later we begin to notice a strange vibration coming from my spade trump, I figure that this would act as a good beacon. After a while Michel's face appears on the other side. We talk, I tell him about the dangers of this shadow and the disappearance of Dworkin. He warns us to keep away from the trump for the next 10 mins while he destroys Calvins missing card. I quickly dissolve the errant search spell and bury the trump unde r some stones. The concentration of energies is quite notable, but just after it ends the sky is split by lightning as a massive shadow storm erupts. I am not particularly surprised to find that it is heading right for us. Michel's spade trump flashes, Cal says that it is an old morse code. When I answer Michel says that the enemy was on the other end of the card, trying to get through. I cannot reach Fiona, but I get through to Julian. Despite much struggle we cannot trump out. We sit tight hoping to be able to ride out the storm, as they are rarely fatal if you are prepared, but we get a call from Fi, Randall/Brand is controlling the storm, making it selectively deadly. Guess who is on the main course. If I had had any brains I would have stayed back in shadow playing football and let someone else risk his ass tracking down Calvin. How do I get myself into these situations? Fi also gives me a wand with a crystal on the end, she says that it may be useful against Randall. I close the contact then run like hell in my hasted mole bubble, angling 45 degrees to the left of the storm at a safe 60mph in the hopes of finding the edge. A few hours later the jury rigged spell konks out as we cross into another shadow. One of the hazards of working with a modified spell. Unfortunately the storm is close behind us. I only have one flying spell prepared, so Cal gets to ride piggyback, or in this case dangling from a rope and swinging in the breeze. This gives us quite a bit more speed, at the risk of smacking Cal into a building as we fly low over the countryside. Even though the storm appears to be travelling at a steady 40mph and I am flying at over 100, it always seems to be close behind. Close behind is not good enough, they send the Red Baron (or a close cousin) and his wing man. After a few dog fighting manoeuvres, much hampered by my burden, Cal fractures the control stick of one plane with a power word and I control the other pilot so that Cal can take it over. Instead he kills the pilot and allows the plane to cra sh. Since both planes are down they open up with flak, forcing us to make some radical evasions as we fly out of range. Our luck is not improving as we shortly move into another shadow, where there is an army fleeing the storm. Them we can avoid, but the 5 Ubermen on patrol feel obliged to investigate. Not knowing their capabilities I think it safest to fly by straight and level, not doing anything threatening or suspicious. Three cover us while two intercept, they are not initially hostile, but the language is unfamiliar. Cal seems to understand it better than I so I let him do the talking. Bad move. He says something that upsets them, they peel off and the three behind open up with machine guns. The G-forces from a fat Calvin on a rope as I perform the necessary evasive manoeuvres just about cut me in half. Even so I take a bullet in the leg. For the second time I seriously entertain the idea of letting the stroppy sod drop. He has been acting very strangely since I rescued him. I will have to check him over very carefully when the opportunity arises. I have managed to escape the Ubermen, but my leg hurts and is still bleeding through Cal's clumsy bandage. Aerial first aid, what next? Then I get a trump call. I land before accepting, expecting Fiona for Bleys, or even Randall though I think that he is having far too much fun toying with us to do anything as direct as a simple psychic battle. Instead it is from a beautiful woman with dark hair and grey eyes, she is not holding a trump, but there is a stained glass window of me behind her. To one side is a similar window of dad. She offers to assist. It could be a trap but I doubt it. Either way at the moment I prefer a comfortable trap in the company of a pretty lady to bleeding at high speed across unfriendly countryside. The journey is trump like, we appear in this chapel-like alcove, a stained glass window of mum is on the other wall. Along the corridor are shrines to other members of the family, some of which have the curtains drawn. She leads Calvin and I t o room where we can rest while the physician attends to our wounds. Cal is still acting strangely and refuses to let anyone touch him. He draws the curtains and tends to himself. I disturb him momentarily to take through some salves and medicines. My watcher returns with another woman, yellow haired with green eyes, who is introduced as Calvin's watcher. We eat in the communal dining hall then I retire to my room to investigate the nature and location of this shadow, it is in the same area as the last one, just a bit closer to the middle. The next morning I visit the lord watcher, an old man who looks like an ancient version of Michel. Given the style of the stained glass I am not at all surprised. He is concerned that the watcher could not contact Calvin, he shows me Calvin's mirror, the chest and head are stained red indicating serious damage. Although I don't think it wise to stay here too long, especially with Randall and the storm hot on out tails I think that I will take the lord watcher's advice and check out the college and library while I'm here. I return to my room and then start looking at the various chapels. Several of the watchers draw the curtain and deny me entry, so I don't know which of my kin they watch, but most of the chapels are open. I have only been looking for a short while when my watcher conducts me to Calvins chapel. Calvin, his watcher and the lord watcher await me there. They are very concerned about the injuries he has sustained and suggest that he visit the local shrink. I agree but Cal is dubious and proceeds to ask a lot of silly questions. His mind is obviously even more feeble than usual. I return to the chapels, of the family that I know the chapels of Fiona, Caine and Gerard are closed. In addition I see the stained glass likeness of two new Amberites : Crasus and Icarus. They are twins and share the same chapel. No parents are depicted, but since they are very young, apparently only teenagers, I suspect that Michel knows the parents but does not want to depict them. They ma y even be his own. I read in the library for a while then spend a few hours setting up some new spells and an extra traveller for Calvin. Before I retire I get a message from Calvin's watcher, she asks if I will visit brother Bernard (the shrink) tomorrow morning. I finish fixing up my leg then sleep. At breakfast the next morning we are treated to the live comedy routine from Mary, one of the gardeners. Welcome light relief before the bad news from brother Bernard that Calvin has been gifted with a rather effective lobotomy. I take this at face value despite not having noted all that great a change in his behaviour. My diagnosis spell didn't pick up any damage that severe either. Maybe my first spell partially healed him. The damage of course had already been done. According to Bernard his sanity would continue to decline until he became totally psycho. I doubt that Anna would notice much difference though. The only reason I haven't spoken to him about that already is that he has obviously been to disturbed to answer in a reasonable manner. The lord watcher says that they have an ancient magic which might heal him, from his description this sounds like skymantra magic. While I have spells that would put his brain back together I do not relish the task of trying to reconstruct his twisted little psyche, so if the old dude thinks that this will work then I'm willing to give it a try. I cannot reach Fi or Julian to get advice on how to proceed so we move into the temple to begin the invocation. Calvin is laid out, his watcher supporting his head on her knees. He is given a potion which glows, then the magic and music start. This is too good an opportunity to miss so I open my senses and set up a true seeing and a recording analysis spell for later reference. The magic builds and concentrates at his shakra points, then starts flowing toward his head. Either the healing or the recollection of his ordeal sends him into a fit so I lay a binding upon him so that he doesn't injure himself or the assembled watchers. At th e culmination of the enchantment Calvin let out a fearsome shout and two thirds of the watchers collapse, including Calvin's and the lord watcher. That was almost insignificant compared with the massive burst of psyche that he generated, which coincided with a loud crack as his stained glass window is broken in the region of his forehead. I am sure that the burst was Calvin empowering a curse upon his enemy. He shows me a psychic image, it is Randall. No surprises there. The spell seems to have been effective, and unusually powerful. It combined a gate sourcing a form of Pattern energy with a link to Cal's window. Those still conscious help the watchers that have fainted. Later I am asked to attend a meeting of the watchers. The old lord watcher is dying, they unanimously choose Sand's watcher as his successor. I thank him for his assistance and ask what I can do in return. All he asks is that I ask Michel to return here some day. Next morning Calvin and I visit the new lord watcher. She tells us that as his last act the old lord watcher altered the time flow in this shadow, it is now faster and the storm will not arrive for 6 months. This is welcome news since I have many preparations tom make and I would like to have time to read the book of creation as well.

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