28-Jan-93 We stand on the plain with Sword and Shield, at the head of the remnants of our army. Vultures feed on the stinking dead as We lead the march towards the gate. There is a feeling of dislocation as we are translated to a place of strange colours, all primaries without shade. The men collapse from the disruption so Cal and I clear them away until enough have recovered to tend to their fellows. Sword and Shield are not bothered by the effect and neither is another unknown soldier who slips away when Cal comes to tell me about him. Sword and Shield seem very defensive, it was probably Michel in disguise, or possibly Randall playing his games again. The gate has closed and the last of the troops has come through. A rumbling is heard from the north, accompanied by smoke coming from the ground. There is a bright flash and a robo-dinosaur emerges from the smoke and begins a ponderous charge towards us. There is a definite sense of power about it. I flank it on the eastern side while the troops flee and Cal maintains a rear guard. The eyes open and it speeds up, accelerating to attack velocity. Arrows and crossbow bolts bounce off it harmlessly. It's tail lashes forward and fires the spiked end at Calvin. Even a glancing blow is enough to knock him flying. From it's mouth comes a jet of fire which crisps several centaur archers who were brave enough to hang back and harry the beast. Sword and Shield help Cal as I advance and try to mind fry the critter, it has a barrier up, but it folds beneath my continued onslaught. Bad move. There are two minds within the shield, one of which is my old friend Randall. I only have enough time to say hi before his Logrus tendril smites me unconscious. When I awake I find that Michel has arrived, he came from the lines with a trump trapped crossbow bolt for Calvin to fire at the beast. As usual Randall retires from a fight he should have won easily. Why does he keep up with these silly assaults. if he wanted he could have killed or captured us all long ago. The troops reg roup at the Sidhe camp. We chat in Michel's tent, discussing the spiral shadow. I think that Oberon altered it to trap Randall, in which case why did he let the bastard escape. It makes no sense to go to all that trouble only to let the fuckard wander out while everybody slept. he gives us a brief run down on the chaos in Amber and the brief visitation of the Logrus (as per 4th Merlin book). We exchange a few hints and vague notions but no one is prepared to start trading secrets. Michel thinks that I should walk the pattern, but as before the notion holds no appeal for me. Michel ducks out, leaving me to Calvin's tender mercies, from which I also rapidly take my leave. I head to the camp perimeter to be by myself. I see Michel return to the tent with Sword and Shield, then Michel emerges alone half an hour later to come and see me. He has been introducing his sons to Cal, they are only 22 but still plenty weird. Something they have in common with their mother, what do you expect from an artefact hybrid. I tell him that I met Randall in chaos, my enemies are as strange as his travelling companions. He leaves me to sit in the rain, which is light and uncertain, not the raging storm or freezing downpour I need to wash the filth of battle from me. Who cares, I am getting quite used to frustration. Next morning I awake in deathly quiet. Calvin lies on his bunk with his throat slit. The camp is a charnel house of tents and corpses, an island of despair peeking above a sea of mist. This is obviously not natural, it has the eerie quality of a dream, yet my senses say it is real. I walk out of the camp into the mist, which some few hundred yards further clears to show the form of my father. He draws his sword and thrusts it into the ground. He brings me the message that I must choose the Pattern or the Logrus. I refuse, where is the nearest fence post where I can sit and watch their silly squabbles. He takes a ring and throws it to the ground then disappears in a whirlwind. The sword is an emblem of Pattern, the ring of Logrus. With my usual stubborn nihilism I go to pick up both. This is obviously against the rules I think, as both ring and sword zap me for my troubles. Strike one. I try kicking the ring against the sword, hoping they would destroy each other, but it only deflects away. Strike two. While I have been dallying the mist has formed a circle around me, the hills are no longer visible. A smell of decay and putrescence precedes the emergence of a horrid corpse, fully eight feet tall and carrying a greatsword. I move back and prepare to fight. But lo and behold all of my weapons are missing. It advances slowly then attacks with incredible speed. It seems not to want to kill me, obviously so I have the time to choose. Such subtlety. This was always the reason, as I had guessed. I try to flee but it is faster, the mist is a solid wall blocking any hope of escape. I charge and strike, my arm sinking up to the elbow, but it shows no hurt and casually throws me off, then continues to hold me at bay, forestalling another charge or grapple. I try a sacrifice disarm, taking a cut to get a grip on its weapon arm, but it is I who am disarmed, severed neatly at the wrist. The whisperings in my head that with a weapon I would prevail are all too obvious. If such a tactic would not even give me a hold the a sword would not save me. I know of course that the choice would miraculously turn the tide, but I insist on dying my own man. Thanks Cal, for all you foolishness you stubborn defiance has been a good lesson to me. I challenge it, "come on creature, do your worst, I'll see you in hell." Even though it is hopeless I fight to the death, I will not allow it the satisfaction of seeing me surrender. I back to the edge to keep well away from the sword and ring for my final stand. I lie on the ground, my vision fading in and out. Someone is fighting the creature, clothed in a silk body stocking and his face a mask he bellows "choose you fool" as he struggles to hold it at bay. By some contrived coincidence I am lying right between the two emblems. Silly boy I tell him as the darkness descends, I have already made my choice. I regain my senses in a clean hospital room, with my doctor, Fiona, looking over me. She is obviously interested in how I came by my injuries, perhaps I'll tell her in a week, or month, or year. That I lived, mainly thanks to Calvin's medical skill, is the good news, the bad is that I am infected with a similar chaos mutation to the one that nearly killed Cal. From bad to worse, I have also picked up some vestige of pattern. Where or how i do not know, but undoubtedly the powers are trying to make my choice for me. Later, when I am more rested I send a message to Cal to say I am awake, he comes to visit. We talk and joke. After he has left Lokerai comes by to wish me well and warn that Random will be by for the inevitable debriefing. The next morning brings bright sunshine, far too cheerful for my current mood. I am obviously in the middle of some treatment, several wounds freshly re stitched. nurse Fiona returns, the infection is worsening, and there is little that she can do. I don't know if I believe this, but can see no point in arguing. We discuss the alternatives, which boil down to walking the Pattern or seeking help in Chaos. Of the two a trip to Chaos is more likely to succeed, which suits me fine. I have no intention of walking the pattern, and when the conflict comes I shall fight for my friends and family, not one side or the other. Unfortunately things are never black and white. Since I am awake and lucid for the moment I suggest she call Random so we can have a little chat. As expected he has been talking to Cal and wants me to fill in the gaps. I am in no mood to piss about, I tell him that any omissions are intentional and I will nor elaborate further on the things I choose not to tell. none the less what I do say may be of use to him. I omit Sword and Shield, Oberon, Corwin and Eric from the story, as well as several details about the watchers. He insists that Cal and I continue our mission to Chaos, we are to depart with the returning ambassador. Random is cagey about why we must go. I am too tired to decide if he is being petty or cautious. It doesn't really matter since I won't be good for much in the foreseeable future. I am carried down to the courtyard where the ambassadorial party is preparing to trump out. The journey is split into several shorter trumps, but halfway there the ambassador himself disappears. Both Cal and the other diplomats call their respective superiors, there is much confusion and commotion. Then without preamble the ambassador re-appears looking quite beat up and asks for his tent to be erected so that he may rest. A most strange suggestion since we are only moments from the safety of the courts. I object that it is no safer here than in the courts and that I will probably not survive the delay. He sends the others out of the tent so that we may speak privately. Though his intention is not to talk. He proceeds to cure me of the chaos infection then departs with a wink as the real ambassador re-appears looking somewhat dazed. I suspect that it was Dad. If so he must have chosen this method mainly for the amusement value. I quickly fill the ambassador in on the switch. He arranges to look bruised then calls the in others. The tent is quickly packed away for departure.

31-Jan-93 The final trump takes us to the courts, to Castle Swayvill itself. The Ambassadors aides and stewards take us to our apartments. I unplug the worst of the plumbing and Cal gives me a check-up. The wounds are still pretty bad but they are starting to close. The court physician arrives with Mandor in tow. Their questions about my miraculous recovery are predictable, my reticence equally so. They prescribe 3 days of bed rest. Strangely he also warns about wandering around chaos unescorted since I don't have shape shifting, Logrus etc. I wonder at this since I have journeyed extensively in chaos before. I wonder what it is that they don't want me to see. Cal drops by again playing the solicitous cousin. Prying more likely. There is a strange psychic reverberation followed by the appearance of a woman clothed in astral fire, she floats toward the door and says "Children of Amber heed me well, your presence here has lead you into great danger, especially those who are unaligned. I wish to make a compact, what say ye?". I reply "I thank you for your kindness and would know more." I am most puzzled when she says "Your blood will run deeply child of Amber" and disappears. I hate enigmatic visitations. Cal feels the need for some cognac, he retires to find a bottle only to return a while later with a note which reads "Intelligence information : children of Amber held hostage in castle Swayvill, recover at all costs. " Oh shit. Random sure is a smart cookie, sending a fool and a cripple to perform a critical task like this. Especially since I haven't figured out which one is the fool and which the cripple. Cal doesn't know the content of the letter for Swayvill. I could handle it but before we have much chance to go over our options Mandor and some regal looking flunkey arrive to take Cal to see the king. When Cal returns from the meeting he doesn't have much to say other than that the king was lucid and gave him a ring. We start to think about our mission, quickly finding that several weapons and items of useful equipment are missing, including Cal's sword and my ring. A librarian arrives to ask after my taste in books, later returning with two, one of which is swiftly appropriated by Cal. After an unpleasant dinner of invalid food the servant drops off a book from Mandor - Lifestyles of the rich and famous, inside Amberite life. I want my ring back, but as usual Cal's memory is like a sieve, he doesn't remember seeing my ring on the severed hand, so I decide to give Fi a call. Cal hands me a note to Anna for her to pass on. It takes a long time to make contact, when I finally get through Fi says she placed the ring in my bag along with the rest of my gear. Perhaps there is a displacement field we came through, like the one Fi placed around Amber. Later Cal asks if I have Selina's or Martin's trumps. Yes, I have them, none of my trump are missing. Cal probably suspects that they are among the captives. That night I have strange and unpleasant dreams of the bloody face of Oberon. After breakfast doctors arrive to give me another check-up and leave a wheelchair. I think a tour is in order, Cal comes along to push. We do not get very far as the ways are particularly strange, much different from any I have seen before. Ostensibly this is because there have been chaotic instabilities recently and the ways have been strengthened. Bollocks. I think it is solely to keep us under wraps. Eventually one of the young stewards shows us the knack. On our tour through one of the galleries an elder steward who has difficulty remembering Cal's name and again warns us of the dangers of leaving our apartments. A few hours of corridors and galleries is enough. Back in our rooms Cal and I discuss when we should leave. As we talk a misty form appears behind Cal and stabs him in the back. He draws his sword but is clearly outmatched. My spells wash over her with no effect, dissipating on contact, even her blade is immune to my magic. She topples the bed with a foot, pinning me underneath. The room begins to shake and stewards and Chaos lords come pounding down the hallway. She salutes mockingly and fades from view. It takes the Logrus masters a few moments to stabilise the room from the disruptive influence of Pattern, though why the pattern would send a construct against Calvin eludes me. Mandor and the other lords are most concerned about our visitor, especially since they felt a twisted form of Pattern and their protective wards did not bar her entry. According to Mandor neither they nor their wards are responsible for our missing gear, but then what else could they say. We are invited to dinner with Mandor, but have to decline because of Calvins injuries, so the three of us meet later in Cal's room. He thinks that our uninvited guest was a very powerful Amberite, although Cal has suspicions about his enemies in Anna's family. Mandor warns him to be careful who he accuses. I have barely returned to my own room when a steward, looking rather dazed, wheels me back again. Our misty friend is back again, offering us a deal. At her request I subdue the steward temporarily so we can talk. She offers us her assistance in freeing the captives if we will provide her with a host to escape from chaos. This sounds pretty fishy, a rather uneven trade, but we are in too desperate a circumstance to consider refusing her offer. I am just about to volunteer when Calvin beats me to the punch. I just hope that he is up to it. Demons are pretty tricky things. I will have to make sure he is rid of it once we are clear of the courts. It takes him over, then asks me to release the steward. The demon thinks that Cal was attacked by the construct because of his supposed sympathies with chaos. As for the hostages, Mandor is not involved, but the king knows, though he is probably not in much of a position to do much about it. There are no allies in chaos who might help us so we had best move quickly. It casts a healing enchantment on Cal and I, which I resist, one of us under control by a demon is plenty. Who knows what hooks were set in the spell. The captives are su pposed to be a shield against the assaults of the pattern. The whole area is riddled with wards, so it is probably best to assault manually and then port or trump out once we are clear. After 20 minutes winding through disused pasages our semi-stealth is disrupted by a dark form which steps out of the shadows. It is Calvin's cousin in a duelling frame of mind. they set a date for the purple rising tomorrow morning. After he has left I do a quick healing on myself and ditch the wheelchair before moving down a spiral ramp towards the dungeons. We advance on the guards, I K.O. mine and lower him to the ground. Cal, obviously in no mood to piss around kills his. I take the left door, Cal the right. On my side is an armoury with two guards, the first is easily despatched but the second had time to shift and is giving me some trouble, Cal arrives and between us we finish it off. To the right was an empty washroom. Through a large set of double doors and past a profusion of arcane symbols we again take the leftmost door and advance into the darkness. The passage twists and turns for a long way. We continue to advance, I scouting in front, Cal hanging back with the light. Around the next turning is a vile chaos beast block ing the corridor. It refuses to let us past and is not predisposed to negotiation, so we exchange insults for a while before charging to the attack. It disappears, possibly an illusion, and a tiny little thing flees down the passage. Around the next corner is the same giant beast, but this time it is for real. After a brief struggle it lies dead at our feet. Three more guards in the next room fall before us. This passage does not look very hopeful, and we are preparing to turn back when we discover a hidden door. The passageway is trapped, an iron spike striking me bravely in the back. Again we seem to be heading nowhere, the passage leads to a study which opens onto a corridor. I fear that we are hopelessly off course, but we try the large double doors anyway. Behind them is an inverted mountain, and floating above it the writhing form of the Logrus. Three dudes over to the right are tormenting some hapless fool in a pit under a trap door. They rush to the attack, one surprises cal with a strike to the ball from a third arm which suddenly appears from within his cloak. He goes down, writhing. I immediately take his place against the scythe wielder.

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