A servant was found to show Alec to a guest room, and everyone went to bed.

In the morning, after an uneventful night, breakfast was served, again in the Great Hall...

(Who shows up for breakfast? Each of you? Any exceptions?)

David was up when the first light showed on the blue horizon. He was groggy beyond measure thanks to the last two days, so he was thankful for the bed.

He wanted to be ready for the day with a morning workout, It wasn't going to be his best, the warmup would be alright, but the exercises required a little improvising. He had to utilize tomes for weights and find a jogging place where he might not awaken everyone in the place.

But by the end of it, he felt the joy of a body well maintained and was ready for what it would bring. Including breakfast, and so was glad to hear the Great Hall filling with activity of servants getting it all laid out.

He went in and waited to the side for the meal to be laid out. While he waited, he asked one of the servants where the armory  was. It would help when he needed to get a sword and arming jacket, whatever one of those was.

Jack only drops into the hall for a moment to make himself a breakfast sandwich. Piling an assortment of meats and some eggs onto a biscuit, and a goblet which he fills up with fruit juice. He eats both as he walks, and makes his way from the room, giving David a nod in passing as he goes to finish making his preparations.

He already has armor and a weapon, so it's mostly an issue of getting some things for all-hazard travel.

Alec shows up for breakfast a little late and misses everyone. He eats a good deal of meats, stopping and slowly savoring the crispy bacon before lamenting the lack of coffee. The apple juice is fresh and tasty though, and he has two glasses.

A servant tells him that Jack and David went to the armory. The servant asks if Alec needs a weapon and he pats the handle of his blade and shakes his head. Grabbing a biscuit after finishing his eggs and bacon, he follows the servant to a room where he can get a backpack, a tent, an extra blanket and rations for the road.

At last, you're all ready to go. As pre-arranged, you all show up at the front gate of the castle.

...Maximillian isn't there.

No one's seen him since last night.

"All right, so Max and Lilith are not quite here. Um, has anyone got their cards?" He said, feeling a little off from going just yet. "I need to give him a moment more to be here for this instructing. Gives me more time to try and have the feel of this castle."

"When they find him, my father can just bring him through with a trump, I'm sure he just wandered off to Rebma or some fancy lady's bedroom. Let's get going," Jack declares as he heads towards the stables to get good horses. As he does so, he begins explaining to David.

"It's useful to use a horse when you're traversing shadow. Horses are found pretty much everywhere because they're native to Amber. When we get closer to Earth and the middle of shadow, we can swap for automobiles and thundertrucks and the like, but good horses are an essential tool. Uncle Julian has a famously badass horse."

"I've heard about that myself. I did meet him, he seemed sensibly pragmatic. Must have had quite the trip to find such a steed." David admitted while looking pondering on what horse he would get.

"Say, that does bring up something. How do we ensure we don't stick out like a sore thumb? Our stuff makes sense here, but in some places, it would actually be disadvantageous."

Jack spends a moment arranging his saddle and pulling his well worn sword to the side just so, so that he can draw quickly and cut just as fast. With a roll of his eyes at the lackadaisical approach, he says shortly, "Let the stable keeper help you find one, and mount up. As to questions about traveling, save them for the end of the trip or until it's a relevant topic of conversation. One of the two main points of our journey is for you to learn through experience," he explains and starts off through the gates at a trot.

Not waiting any longer.

(I hadn't thought about horses! You may each have a horse. Each horse can carry a load of 10... but if you lose your horse somehow, anything you had in the saddlebags is gone...

If you were told your horse had a name when you got him or her from the stables, let me know and I'll tell you the name.

If your horse did not have a name when you got him or her from the stables, name your horse now.)

The three of you leave the stables, and begin the downhill journey toward the Valley of Garnath.

As they ride, Jack offers his first piece of advice, "The closer we are to the pattern, the harder it is to change shadow. We'll need to be a good ways away before we start to change things."

He has named his horse, "my horse."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:00, Sat 19 Jan 2019.

"Sure sure." David found himself grumbling. It's not like looking before leaping was a thing. But forget that sensible nonsense.

David mainly had someone help him for the sake of speeding things up, it could take a while if he looked for everything.
David got a horse for himself, she didn't have a name, so David went with Acacia. She wasn't the first horse he rode with a spunky attitude, and she wouldn't be the last.

With the tent and rations packed into the saddle, David was sure to follow towards the valley. Thankfully David had worked on his awareness of the local geography, so he could have gotten there himself if he was inclined.

"So the Arden is the closest spot we can give this walk a go." He responded to Jack's first bit of advice.

"I'm sorry, how do you know that? If you've already had basic tutelage, I can skip explanations like why we're riding where we're riding, and simply ride," Jack says, looking exasperated. He'd been under the impression David hadn't been on a trip through shadow before, and he didn't appreciate being jerked around.

Tapping his heels a few times he lets his horse engage with a bit more speed.