The strange man at the far end of the town's main (and probably only?) street starts hurrying toward them as they leave, like he wants to talk to them, but Jack and Alec have had enough of strange men for the day-- they've got two in the truck already-- and they're ready to get home.

Soon, they pull up and park at Janessa's house again.

"Wow, this place'll be beautiful at night..." says Whitey, squinting...

"Yeah... But where are the manholes...? Are they under the dirt...?" wonders Petey, squinting...

"You boys will be on guard duty at night, otherwise you'll be free to lounge and occupy your time during your waking hours during the day. I'll be teaching you how to fight once we've collected some others, I'll also get some people to dig tunnels as part of the future base, so you can work a bit during the day as well," Jack mentions as he parks out in front of the ranch.

Sliding from the truck, he picks up his sword from the floorboard, and his submachine gun and looks around for Janessa or David.

They shouldn't have been gone more than a week or maybe a month, depending on time dilation. Though he doesn't see any sign of any advanced building so far, so maybe it hadn't even been that long.

"I might need to step in and get the fort built myself, if we're to have a defense against the assassins," he mentions with a shrug toward Alec.

The front door opens and a shotgun appears followed by Janessasa's redhead. "Jack? Alec? Is that you?" She says stepping further onto the wrap around porch, the shotgun not lowering. She doesn't look any different since they left, except for the shotgun, bedhead, and the PJs.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:41, Sun 05 Jan 2020.

"No, it's your other cousins with the big orange truck," Jack answers with a smile and gestures to the two in the backseat. "This is Whitey and Petey, they'll be night guards and scouts as our fort starts to come together, they're best suited to night work," he mentions.

GM, you might have Alec opt to stick around and build the fort and establish ties with the local government, start to build wealth, etc. It's not as entertaining, but for a group of super-human dimension hoppers, wealth and such should be easy to come by, if he and David are circumspect?

Janessa chuckles and lowers the shotgun. "Fair point smartypants.” She walks over to Jack. “Also, in case you were wondering, y'all have been gone about a day. If you're hungry, I've got food in the fridge. Good thing you didn't show up two hours from now, you would have missed me.” She looks at the two newcomers. "Friends, relatives, or employees?” Janessa asks Jack.

"They're to be employees, and potentially friends, as all good employees are, but that remains to be seen. For now, we've spared them from a rough life on their world," Jack explains calmly and quietly to Janessa. Looking around, he then looks at her shotgun, and then vaguely into the distance. "Where were you planning to go? I'm thinking I'll head back out, leave Alec to help get these guys trained and the fort established against the hook-assassin guys," he explains.

 Janessa shrugs. "I was to be heading to Frontier Days. I was going to show David and Ralph around the Air Force base since we didn't have time yesterday with me riding. I can probably get Mom to show them if necessary." She looks at the two very pale men. "Y'all can head to the barn loft. We got a makeshift living space started. It's just a couple of air beds to sleep on really." Janessa points to the barn before she turns back to Jack. "Hook-assassins?" She asks quietly with an arched eyebrow.

"It's what I've been calling the assassins that came after us. The ones with the extra digits on each hand and the bone spurs?" Jack answers as he looks towards the loft and the barn, and then towards his two new recruits and points it out to them. In case they hadn't ever seen a barn. "Well, if you want to skip out on whatever Frontier Days is.. I believe Alec intends to take up training and recruitment here, I could use someone else with me. Sticking in twos."

Heading back over to the truck, he stands by it, waiting to see if she intends to come with on the ongoing recruitment.

"We can also make sure to scavenge some," he pauses, "What is valuable here? Gems of some sort? Metals?" he asks. "In any case, we can fill the truck bed with whatever it is, and have enough to build whatever."

"Ah. I've just been callin 'em the men in grey." Janessa says with a shrug. She looks at Jack and then back to the house and then back to Jack. "Might as well come with you. Mom knows the base better and I didn't qualify to race today. Give me a few to get some proper clothin' on and I'll be right out." Janessa heads back towards the house and stops. "I've got more weapons inside if you want?" She says turning back to look at him.

"More weapons? Nah, all I really need is the sword, but I've got the gun for everything else, feel free to bring anything you might like to use to trade or defend yourself though. Weapons are pretty universally accepted for trade anywhere we'd go with warriors worthwhile," Jack answers and goes over to make sure that their new hires are finding a spot to get situated.

"Alec, we need housing and a barracks priority, I'll try to get you gold or whatever goes for money around here in surplus, but if I'm not back quick enough.. you guys should remember to travel in pairs," he suggests.

That done, he waits for Janessa to be ready to go.

Janessa nods and heads back inside. She sends a text to her mom, explaining the situation and who the three new men at the house were.


Janessa quickly dresses, repacks her backpack with the usual snacks. She grabs a second reusable water bottle and a couple of extra filters. While in the kitchen, Janessa writes a quick note to David and instructions on the various appliances and location of plates for the Alec and the two newcomers on the whiteboard on the fridge. She stops and looks at a painting of the Grand Tetons before pressing a concealed button on the frame. The painting frame swings away from the wall and revels her weapon safe. After inputting the passcode, she pulls out one of her 9MM GLOCKs, couple boxes of ammo, two Japanese steel boot knives, and their sheaths. Janessa packs the boxes of ammo into her backpack, slides the gun in its holster onto her belt, and one of the boot knives into her boot before stepping back outside. "Hey Jack, got something for you. Also, have a question before we head out." She says as she approaches, holding up the boot knife.

Michelle's cell phone dings as she wanders around the kitchen, drinking a glass of water. After reading the text from Janessa, she replies.
Michelle sighs as she hits send. She finishes her cup of water and goes back to her book.

Looking down at his sword and machine gun, Jack then looks at the boot knife and with a smirk asks, "Do I look underequipped?" but for some reason he takes the boot knife anyway and puts it into his boot. More weapons are always useful.

Looking her gear over for a moment, he nods his head and indicates for her to get into the truck.

"So, I'm thinking we'll go for some genetically engineered super soldiers. They seem to fit with the level of technology here, just advanced a few thousand years. I'm torn on whether to try to hire mercs or find a religion that we could slip in to," he proposes in thought.

Janessa chuckles. "Of course not. Just figured you'd like an extra." She comes around the truck and opens the door. "Not sure. Mercs need money, so we'd have to stop somewhere to get some." Janessa shakes her head as she climbs into the truck. "That still sounds weird that there are places where I could be a deity out there." After a moment, she responds with a question of her own. "Why not both? Start with one and then get the other."

"Sure," Jack agrees and gestures towards the orange truck with its weird composites and design. "I'll drive, you shift us where we need to go," he proposes and getting into the car's driver's side, he waits for her to get in. Once Janessa joins him, he throws the gear into reverse and uses the mirrors to back himself into the grass beside the driveway and then swings the truck around and starts back down the road.

Janessa suddenly has a thought. "How about a place where we're deities and have them sacrifice or donate money or gold? We can get some religious zealots and money in one stop." She then focuses on finding a shadow where they are deities and can get gold.

18:45, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 6 using 2d6+3 ((1,2)) +1 perception modifier, +1 for the vehicle, and +1 for not being in a hurry . Well dang... I guess the dice roller still doesn't like me.

(Janessa gets 1 new xp.)

The vehicle travels down dirt paths, then gravel paths... the moon comes out, the sun sets... then there are two moons, then none, then the sun rises again... Antlered jackrabbits run out of the road to escape the truck's tires... then the road is paved again, though the daytime sky is purple... A strong wind comes up, as if trying to push the truck off the road to the right... then it's gone, and they're headed downhill, into a wide sort of chaparral valley... then back to a paved road, running through a swamp, the road weaving between mangroves...

Then there are signs of civilization... a city street, like a small American town in the late 1950s... A billboard flashes past-- it looked like Janessa's face! There was writing on it, but it was gone too fast to read...

The citizens on the sidewalks don't look like standard humans, though... their skin colors range from light green to pale blue...

And then, in the middle of a block, there's a red light up ahead, and the truck has to stop. More cars come in behind the truck, while everyone is waiting for the light to change...

There's a noise to the right. Janessa looks-- a woman is pointing at her. The woman looks shocked.

Everyone's looking at Jack and Janessa now, pointing... the driver of the car in front of the truck has gotten out of his car, and is looking at Jack and Janessa, and shouting...

Deleted, given new info.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:43, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

This message was deleted by the player at 02:59, Fri 21 Feb 2020.

(This was meant to signify that there's not gonna be a gap in traffic. The truck is trapped. Its inhabitants, not necessarily, but they'll have to leave the truck.)

Janessa looks at Jack. "Make a run for it?" she asks before trying to understand what is being shouted at them.

Sorry about that guys! My computer died, and I've had a hard time keeping up with posts- and in the process, forgot that I'd needed to edit things.


Jack stares out the windows, and waits. Part of him is inclined to start smashing, shooting, and making a tactical retreat. But until he feels truly threatened, he waits to see what is going to come out of this. He also takes a moment to make sure he really listens to their language so that the Amberite in him can decipher their words.

"Just wait a second, you might have managed part of it, the fame we need," he mentions.

Having said that, he makes a visual show of locking the doors on the hardened dense alloyed doors, hitting the automatic door lock on his chair-arm.

"That said, gun at the ready, if I say run, we head for that alley there, I'll cover us while you shift. Just subtract the traffic and people from around the car, nothing else, we'll double back to it once they're gone," he advises. As always, Jack is as cool as a cucumber.

People increasingly gather around-- and for just a second it looks like one or two of them are thinking about trying to smash the windows of the truck-- then someone shouts something, and everyone draws back, in fear...

It might be a good time to make a run for it, before even more people gather...

The gathered people are comparatively thinner on the driver's side of the truck. One would only have to bust through a line of people one person thick to get past them, like a mad game of "Red Rover."

"You got it, Jack. Not exactly great for my second outing huh?" Janessa says, not expecting an actual answer. She notices the thinner group on his side. "Your side looks easier to escape from than mine." Janessa whispers, trying to not draw attention to the discovery. She scans the area for any clues as to why the crowd is reacting the way they are.

Jack hops out of the car and draws his sword while brandishing his gun, and starts toward the line of people. Moving swiftly. "Janessa, stay tight with me, as soon as we get a little separation, start to subtract people," he suggests and hopes that these people's willingness to stay alive is enough to get them to move. If not, he'll use that superb Amberite strength and muscle past them in a burst of speed.

Janessa follows Jack out his side, sticking close but not close enough to hinder him or herself. "No problem!"

(Jack, give me a Strength roll please...)

13:36, Today: Jack rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,1.

It's a 9.

The crowd closes in to block the escape, but Jack tosses them aside easily.

"The Dark Prince! It's really him!"
"He does have the strength of 10 demons!"
"At least stop The Witch Queen! Don't let 'er get away!"
"Cover 'er mouth, quick! Don't let 'er cast a spell!"
"But don't let 'er bite you-- she's poisonous!"
"You mean venomous!"
"Shut up! She's probably both!"

Unfortunately, although Jack easily removes all obstacles in his way, he doesn't do so quite enough that they aren't able to close in afterward and grab Janessa, successfully (for the moment) gripping her arms (and covering her mouth, although they're being a lot more careful about that)...

(Jack will either have to go back for Janessa, or else Janessa will have to try a Strength check of her own to break free (+1 bonus for just trying to free her mouth enough to cast a spell...))

22:23, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 8 using 2d6 ((4,4)). Free Mouth.

03:27, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 11 using 2d6+1 ((5,5)). Cast Spell.

Two bolts of magical energy zip out from Janessa and strike the people in front of her (not fatally, probably, but they're down for the count, and are not likely to do more mobbing today).

The effect this has on the crowd is electric-- they gasp-- they are silent (except for the shouts from the two people who are hit). And for two seconds, the hands holding her draw back as if she was white-hot to the touch.

Then the crowd howls, and they come for Janessa and Jack more fiercely than ever.

But Janessa, not being a fool, moved in those two seconds, and then she was right behind Jack (who had started running again when she was close enough, when it was clear the mob wasn't going to be able to grab her again immediately), running...

"The Witch Queen!"
"The Dark Prince!"
"Kill 'em!"
"Don't let 'em get away...!"

(Okay, so I take it we're either gonna

1. try running to some other Shadow almost immediately, or

2. try to run and lose the mob (dex checks) and then try to walk to some other Shadow?

Whichever it is, go ahead...)

(OOC: What do you think Jack? It would be a hellride if we start right away. Then again, trying to lose the crowd could be a pain in the you know what.

Jack starts to move away from the people. “Let’s put some distance on them before we start shifting shadow,” he suggests as he moves and starts to run along at a decently fast pace given his power as an Amberite. Not even breaking a sweat as he runs down alleys, though perhaps not losing them as effectively as he might have hoped.

20:21, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,2. Forrest Gump style.

Jack and Janessa run down the alley, out the other side of the block...

There's just one problem. This side of the block is (for the moment) less crowded than the far side was... but the Amberites still stick out like sore middle fingers.

"The Witch Queen!"
"The Dark Prince!"

There are two immediate options to get off the street. Run into the large building across the street (looks like it might be a post office or something?)... or run down into that subway entrance over there.

"I swear, someday in the future I'm going to come and kill whatever Shadow of me is here and is making traveling through here difficult," Jack mentions casually as they continue along. Seeing their two options, he decides to go for the building. He'd prefer the desolation of the tunnels, but the tunnels are also likely too dark to allow proper changing of shadows.

Janessa curses under her breath. "Agreed. We'll both come back and deal with them." She follows Jack to the building.

Jack and Janessa run into the building.

There is a post office, but there's also other government offices, boring bureaucratic stuff, like tax collection and so forth.

There are also stairs. They lead both up (maybe a long hallway that one could start to change?) or down (there's a sign that says something about a civil defense shelter?)...

There's not an immediate back way out of the building-- probably have to go into the back of the post office or one of the offices for that...

"Okay, try again, remove the people or change their mindset, either is fine. Only the people," Jack coaches and slides his sword away. Proceeding along in any particular direction, as long as they're moving, it's irrelevant how long they continue in any given direction.

23:31, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((1,6)). Not sure if I needed to take a negative on the modifier or not. If so, I'll reroll.

Janessa subtracts... no people, no people... She walks forward... Beyond this doorway, there will be a pink hallway with no people in it... And it is so... But there is a danger, as now the pink hallway stretches as far as the eye can see before and after, with no variation to catch the eye and provide a boundary...

Ah! Save one! The lights! There are still fluorescent lights above every dozen or so feet. Janessa keeps her eyes upward. After this light fixture, the walls will turn blue, with windows... but still no people... Close. The walls turn blue, but instead of windows, there are large, square paintings, landscapes... but they're different, at least... After this next painting frame, the hallway will widen out, and there will be an intersection...

It is so. The hallway is now 20 feet wide, and there is an intersection to the left... the way to the left looks the same as the way ahead... Janessa (and Jack) turn left.

After this next painting frame, there will be a lot of intersections ahead...

Janessa tricks her eyes into seeing what she imagined, and reality plays along... There is an intersection every 30 yards, now, in both directions...

Janessa skips a few, then turns right. Around this corner, the walls will turn bronze, and there will be shelves of books... still no people...

It is so. She and Jack come to a hexagonal space with bookshelves full of books. In the middle is nothing-- a railing, then an air shaft...

One can see the floors above and below-- more bookshelf galleries, one after another, endlessly. The arrangement of the galleries is always the same: Twenty bookshelves, five to each side, line four of the hexagon's six sides; the height of the bookshelves, floor to ceiling, is hardly greater than the height of a normal human. One of the hexagon's free sides opens onto a narrow sort of vestibule, which in turn opens onto another gallery, identical to the first-- identical in fact to all.

There is no sound.

The light is from pairs of these sort of glowing pear-looking things set here and there in the ceiling.

Well, this seems like a safe place to take stock... and browse the shelves, if one wanted...

"Okay, if you did it correctly, the truck should still be there," Jack says after he gets the impression the people have been subtracted and starts to walk back in the direction of the truck on the street. Rolling his shoulders, he makes sure everything is secure on his person and glances sideways at Janessa.

Janessa takes a moment to calm her thoughts. She looks at a bookcase, trying to recognize any of the books. "I hope you're right Jack. For my third attempt at Shadow travel, I'm hoping I had improved." She sighs. "With practice, maybe one day I'll be as competent as you, Alec, and David are at it. Heck, with enough maybe I can get as good as my dad." Janessa shrugs. "Then again, he has been doing it for many, many, many years." She tilts her head to read the titles better.

"You're as good as any of us younger generation," Jack mentions and pauses so that Janessa can continue her examination of the books. He has little interest in partaking of the literature of shadow at the moment, but he doesn't mind waiting an extra moment or two so that she can look. As he stands there, he idly checks the gun slung over his shoulder and the straight edged blade hanging at his hip.

"We all need the practice," he goes on.

None of the tomes have writing on their spines. She'll have to take one from the shelf and open it to browse.

Janessa purses her lips as she reaches for a dark green tome. She flips it around, looking at the cover for a title. Having not found one, she opens the book to the first page.

"Not that it'll break a mind that has walked the pattern, but engaging with foreign sorcery in the form of books is probably not always wise," Jack remarks, but doesn't move to stop Janessa from her reading. In fact, he just stands back a bit and lets her read, waiting for her to finish so that they can continue on.

The book does not have a title page, a table of contents, nor any publisher's information. It just starts right in with paragraphs...

Janessa reads...

     Janessa blinked at the book in her hands. As she quickly read, Jack began to wonder if indeed there might be some sort of enchantment on the book, for her eyes grew wide, and her breath caught in her throat at one point.
     "Are you all right? Janessa?" Jack asked.
     Janessa shut the book, then opened it again to the same page. "This book is about us," she said. Listen--"
     And she read a passage aloud:

     "Janessa and Jack hurried back to look for their truck, but something didn't seem right. When they emerged from the post office, the city wasn't just depopulated, it was different-- everything seemed older, more primitive, like electricity hadn't been discovered, maybe not the steam engine. Everything was stone or wood, and the alley they'd run to was gone. They had to go left or right... they chose left."
    "But the path around the large building in front of them kept changing, like they were walking through Shadow, but neither of them were making any effort to do so. Soon, they agreed that things were getting more Amber-like, as if something were drawing them back to that city to which all roads lead."
    "If they had known that Ballad was about to arrive at the castle, they might have suspected that someone or something was guiding their steps to meet her... but they knew nothing of Ballad, nor of her parentage, nor of what Flora was up to at that moment on Earth..."

    Janessa stopped reading. "You see?" she asked Jack. "It's unnerving. I mean, should I read what's on the next page? Or try another book? Or...?"
    "It almost gives me a headache to think about it," said Jack, but--"

The words stopped, because Janessa had reached the bottom of the page.

Janessa's reaction is the same as depicted in the book. She reads the part about the shadow out loud, just like the book says. She looks at Jack when she gets to the bottom. "So...shall I continue the next page, grab another book or shall we go meet this..." Janessa double checks the name. "Ballad in Amber?"

"Put it down and check some other books," Jack suggests when she finishes reading. He isn't about to suggest they abandon any such valuable intelligence as they might find that lets them know the movements of their aunts, uncles and any other number of persons of importance in Amber.

Janessa nods as she closes the book and places it back where she found it. She quickly scans the shelf and picks up a purple-colored tome and opens it.

The pages opened to are mostly dialogue.

    "All right," said Delwyn, "let's back up."
    "Yes," said Merlin. "Slowing it down would be appreciated, because so far I'm not--"
    "Your recent battle may well have left you in perhaps not the most contemplative frame of mind," said Delwyn. "So I will begin again. It is accepted that The Courts represent Chaos. Indeed, Chaos is literally in back of them."
    "Right," Merlin agreed.
    "And you might say, then, that Amber represents Order."
    "Yes. I mean, so one often thinks."
    "Although there is not a large area that is 'Order' in back of the primal Amber."
    "Well... no. I suppose not. Not like The Courts."
    "No. But, on the surface, the comparison seems to fit. The Courts are ever-changing. The ways of The Courts are often unpredictable. Amber has had two monarchs that we know of-- I'm not counting my grandfather, nor The Unicorn-- and the reign of that first monarch lasted a very, very long time. A lot of continuity there. A very stabilizing force, down on that end of reality."
    "I'm still following..."
    "Whereas, shall we say, the influence of The Courts upon a given Shadow is often-- and I assure you that no offense is meant-- de-stabilizing."
    Merlin raised an eyebrow, and gave a small smile. "I take no offense. I agree that it's a fact. Often."
    Delwyn nodded. "Good, good. But... terminology is extremely important. What if I changed the terminology, and suggested to you that perhaps a better term for what The Courts represent might be 'Mutable?' And that you consider that perhaps a more fitting term for what Amber represents might be 'Fixed?'"
    Very slightly, Merlin frowned. Where had he heard-- "As in astrology?"
    "It is a comparison that will break down eventually, but yes, if you're familiar with those terms from there, then yes, on the surface, like that."
    Merlin thought this over. "...I see why those terms might apply, and suddenly I am very interested in you circling back to what you were saying earlier about my--"
    "--Yes," nodded Delywn. "So. Consider. Fixed and Mutable. These need not be at war with one another, inherently, although when there are two branches of family members, each representing the two concepts, it's not surprising that there would be such conflicts, either. But now we come to the newer Pattern that your father drew."
    "Cardinal?"
    "No no, that's where the comparison starts to break down. I would use the term 'Catalyst.'"
    Merlin spoke more slowly. "...I see. Or at least, I have a small glimmer of seeing. So you suggest that if a given situation could be described as leaning toward Fixed or Mutable..."
    "Yes. That the element your father added represents change. Not changeability, in general, but one change, in one particular direction."
    "What direction?"
    "Ah, that depends on the given situation in question."
    "...This is all very philosophical. What does this have to do with the counterbalance you were speaking of?"

Janessa stopped reading, because she'd reached the end of the page.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:45, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

Once more Janessa reads the page out loud. When she finishes, she looks at Jack. "Do you know who Delwyn and Merlin are?" She returns her attention back to the book and turns the page.

((OOC: Unsure if her dad would have filled out the family tree for her or not.)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

"I believe I've heard mention of Merlin before, but I don't recall a Delwyn," Jack answers and looks around at all the of the books. "These are like the Tarot then. I believe you might have previously mentioned an interest in the tarot's magic? Here is an opportunity to study a correlative magic that works on the Children of Amber. A rare thing, I'd suppose. I don't know if it'll work on us when we're sitting in Amber itself, but," he shrugs a little.

Sword in hand, he starts to walk around, looking for any changes in the structure. Trying to make sense of it.

Is it connected to a greater world? Is this whole world a library bent to this purpose? He'd need a great many details to be able to find his way back perfectly, given how exacting the design of this place and its books must be.

(I'll leave it up to you what Janessa's father might or might not have told her. If you want my opinion, I feel he would have mentioned Merlin-- son of Corwin, and so friendly to Amber, but raised in the Courts of Chaos, and its ruler-- on paper, but actually he went off into Shadows, and no one seems to have heard for him for a while. Whether or not Delwyn would have been mentioned to Janessa could be another story, since no Amberites know a whole lot about him anyway.)

Jack looks around. He feels it should still be possible to walk out of this library into other Shadows-- one would simply say "and around this next corner, things will be a bit different," and repeat that until one is walking through Shadows as usual (as much as such an activity is ever "as usual").

As for if there is anything in this Shadow "outside" this library, it's impossible to say for sure. The air shafts, in particular, certainly seem to suggest an infinite space of repetitive levels up and down.

Could Jack find his way back here again from, say, Amber? ...It would be hard. But could he? ...He leans toward yes, but it might take rather longer than it would usually take to find one particular known Shadow from another.

"I think Dad said Merlin was a cousin." Janessa thinks a moment. "Corwin's son, raised in The Courts and I believe their King, though he's been away in shadows for a while." She shrugs and grabs a red book. "You are correct, I want to know more about the card's magic. I should probably tell Uncle Random and maybe Dad about this place." She says as she opens the book.

"Trade them something for it," Jack suggests from some distance away. "They probably know a good place, offer it in exchange for something." While he waits for her to finish her business, he calmly starts to practice his swordplay and waits patiently for her to finish.

Janessa reads:

    "You have to understand that the family is more complicated than myself, then Oberon, then you and your half-siblings," Dworkin said. "I didn't come from nowhere. I came from The Courts. I was simply very naughty and willful. Which raises moral questions which are, in and of themselves, amusing, since arguably a man who breaks the rules of an extended family of rulebreakers is both lawful and conformist to all outside the family."
     "What came before the Courts?" Coral asked.
     "Nothing, as far as I know," said Dworkin. "Forgive me, that is glib. Chaos came before. And from Chaos came... things. Possibilities. Reality. Life. Matter. Consciousness. Not just what we call demons, but other life, too. At some point, I suppose that the two mixed a bit, and we got The Courts. But let us not get bogged down in ancient history. My point is that I-- as a unicorn-- sired Oberon."
     "It's hard to think of Oberon as a baby."
     "It's partly hard because his mother was a unicorn."
     "...Are you saying Oberon was born a baby unicorn?"
     "I'm very specifically not saying it! But it's possible, isn't it? After all, Oberon could change his shape, just as I can, though not as easily. So he might or might not have been born with cloven hooves!" Dworkin chuckled, or perhaps it was more of a cackle. "Fascinating to think about, isn't it?"
     Actually, Coral found it a bit disturbing to think about, but she didn't say so. "So your point is--"
     "My point is that just as I am your grandfather, the Unicorn is your grandmother. And Merlin is your nephew-- I presume you'd thought of that?"
     "I try not to."
     "Yes, much as Corwin would prefer not to think of Merlin's mother as his, er, grand-niece? My point is that Amber itself is the prodigal, backward child-fiefdom of The Courts, though Amber has reasons to owe the main family no loyalty whatsoever. My point is that The Courts don't accept that lack of fealty. The elders in The Courts see Amber as their black sheep, which is to say, their renegade white sheep, since their thinking on such matters is the opposite of what you are used to. But that's not really my main point, either. My point is to get you used to thinking of all the most important problems and issues as family problems and issues. Maybe you already do think that, given your experiences so far, but I imagine you need to expand on it. You know that the Pattern and the Logrus have minds of their own-- just as does Merlin's creature Ghostwheel. Those two have a decidedly paternal relationship. But how much more for me, who originally drew the Pattern? When the Unicorn chose to give the Jewel of Judgement to Random, she chose from amongst her grandchildren. But the Pattern, with a will of its own, is as much my child as anything, from many points of view. And so the Pattern is Oberon's brother, it is your uncle. The cards, when drawn correctly and used, are its eyes and ears. And don't think that Oberon re-drawing the Pattern erased the Black Road. It still has pathways here and there-- hardly any remain near Amber, but the Black Road is still especially strong near The Courts-- though it curves away from Corwin's Pattern."
     Coral frowned. "...Are you telling me this because of my connection with Merlin?"

Janessa reached the bottom of the page.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:59, Sat 05 Dec 2020.

"Wow, you're reading about Dworkin out loud and he didn't somehow know, I always figured he'd know if you talked about him, he'd probably be able to tell us exactly what this place is," Jack mentions with a laugh and then in thought adds, "In fact, from all the stories, I half expect he made it."

Piling up a stack of books, he sits on them and waits for Janessa to finish her examination.

I'm not going to post until Janessa has had her fill and spent time studying, just assume Jack is watching.

Janessa chuckles. "Well, let's see what's on the next page. Who knows, maybe he will realize it and magically appear before us." She turns the page and continues reading.

Janessa turns from

    Coral frowned. "...Are you telling me this because of my connection with Merlin?"

to the next page, and started reading:

     "Mostly, the answer to that is no. But I admit that Merlin is very important to the future of Amber and The Courts. I'm sure it seems simple-minded to say such a thing when the person of whom I speak is the de facto ruler of The Courts, but there are other reasons it's true, as well-- reasons that you would find surprising." Dworkin sighed for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
    But the sigh seemed forced, somehow. The abstracted air of carefully choosing what he wanted to say next struck Coral as somehow forced. What was Dworkin up to, anyway, Coral wondered? And whatever the answer really was, did she have a chance in hell of actually figuring it out? His mind seemed 20 steps ahead of anyone else's. Was the story about siring Oberon as a unicorn, and Oberon's possible birth as a baby unicorn, just a fiction, there to distract? Was anything Dworkin said true? Wasn't he relishing his role as a mysterious mastermind a bit much? (Was the impression that his sigh, his manner, at that moment was forced, itself, actually done on purpose for her to notice, a calculation?) What did he really want? Was he really cured of his former madness, even? Was this all a game? Or was it all just a genius manipulator's way of making sure that his family of origin didn't catch up with him and punish him for finding the Unicorn and creating the Pattern, and Amber? After all, Dworkin was so old-- whom had he not outlived?
    That quick thought made her shudder. Perhaps somewhere in or near The Courts there was still some impossibly ancient Chaosite-- or some other sort of being-- whom Dworkin still feared. Merlin might know-- or he might very well not.
    But all these thoughts couldn't happen quickly enough to allow Coral to come to any sort of conclusion, for Dworkin was speaking again: "You bore the Jewel of Judgement as your eye, until I perceived that it made you too much of a target, and I made you that replacement eye. The Jewel is safely hidden away, now, where not even the Serpent nor the Logrus can find it. But it still attuned you to certain energies and vibrations-- and even before that, you had an instinctual knowledge of such things. As a child of Oberon, you are a natural sort of conduit for certain energies... and the time you spent in control of the Jewel meant that you were attuned to other things, as well. Someone, or something, was setting you up to be-- well, in chess, when one can change a pawn to a queen. The fact that you actually are queen of Kashfa is an irritating distraction from my otherwise-somewhat-appropriate metaphor. I, on the other hand, felt that your life was in too much danger from such a promotion, and I took steps to remove the Jewel once more... I felt that you would otherwise soon be removed from the board, and I didn't want that for you."
    Coral didn't like the whole game motif, really, whether Dworkin was willing to admit to being the player sitting behind the white side of the board or not. She tried to concentrate. "...Are you suggesting that a gambit that was once too soon is now reaching a time that seems appropriate to you? Where I'll have to be promoted to a more important role in the game after all...?"

Janessa had reached the end of the new pages, but something was happening. A noise... like a wind... rustling through loose papers, as if blowing hundreds or thousands of pages off a desk... Far away, but coming closer... But it was like a voice, too... a very dry, dead sort of voice...

She didn't like it. It was unnerving.

She couldn't tell if her hair felt like it wanted to stand on end because of that anxious-making feeling, or if it was a response to something more physical in her environment...

Jack heard it too, she could tell. Was it coming from the air shaft, or a side passage...? Or both...?

Maybe she shouldn't have turned the page...
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:37, Mon 20 Apr 2020.

Janessa closed the book and set it back on the shelf. She turned her back to the bookcase, pressing up against it. Whatever was causing this, Janessa would not allow it a chance to get her in the back. She pulls her 9MM out of her holster. Janessa stands there looking from Jack to the air shaft to the side passage.

It's both. One comes from the side passage, one floats out of the air shaft.

They're... paper-ghosts... Like ghosts-- like monks' robes with the hoods up, except the cowls are empty-- except they're not made of cloth, but of hundreds of sheets of paper folded together.

They howl a low roar... the effect is like if one listened to one end of a concrete storm drain pipe where, a few miles away, on the other end, a tornado was raging.

Origami hands formed into claws emerge from the sleeves of their paper robes. They slash at the air, like they want to rend, fold, mutilate and spindle Jack and Janessa's flesh.

You don't want them to touch you.

If Janessa vetos this, having seen my actual plan, that's fine, I won't Strength her off..

Having no clear path of retreat, and having a distinct instinct telling him not to let those things touch him. Jack runs over, grabs Janessa over his shoulder and leaps over the edge of the railing, plunging into that endless depth. "Endless sky first, open the world up!" he yells out, urging Janessa to shift them through shadow.

Before they can find out if this pit is really bottomless.

No veto from me! I thought for a second you were going to toss me over... I prefer the over the shoulder carry. Let's see... so would this be considered a hellride?

(This would absolutely be considered a Hellride.)

Ok. So normal would be a 2d6+1 but since it's a hellride it's just a normal 2d6.
22:52, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 6 using 2d6 ((3,3)) Well shit. Sorry for the language, but...warrented.

(Janessa gains 1 new xp, and the dice hate her.

Honestly, do you have enough xp to level up yet? Because golly.)

Janessa and Jack start falling, forever.

Janessa first works on not falling so fast-- a warm updraft starts blowing past Jack and herself. That's a bit scary, though, because she and Jack start being buffeted against the sides of the airshaft... OW! OW!

(Janessa and Jack each take 2 points of damage.)

She makes the shaft much wider, but keeps the warm updraft... now they're falling through a 100-foot-- now 200-foot-wide series of levels. People in dark clothing jerk their heads in surprise at the falling people plummeting by...

She glances down. Is that lava glowing, way down there? Not good!

She changes the world again, and the warm updraft is gone. The air turns slightly cool. But--

Oh! The shaft ends, and she and Jack fall out of the bottom of some sort of giant airship, staying aloft through who-knows-what magic or science, although the glowing purple jets of energy here and there along the bottom probably have something to do with it.

There's a sort of reddish desert down below now, about three-quarters of a mile...

She and Jack fall through a cloud bank... Great, now they're soaked, too. 

But it gives her an idea... When she and Jack come out of the cloud bank, there's another cloud bank below, this one pink...

SHHHHSHSHSHSHSHSSSHHHHSHSHSHHHHHHH... It's like cotton candy! There's harmless friction! Their falling stops, finally!

The very-smushy stuff beneath them has been compressed (by their fall) to the point that it will bear their weight... but it'll be hard to climb out...

(Possibilities: 

--Do a Strength check (with a -1 penalty) to try to climb out of this pink, slightly sticky hole you've made... or--

--Do a new Move Through Shadow check to try to claw your way just a few feet sideways through the stuff, thereby to reveal some new Shadow on the other side... or--

--Something else I haven't thought of...)

With a superlative strength found only in a select few, even in Amber, Jack pulls himself free of the morass of sticky pink cotton-candy. "Interesting," he says, but nothing further. She'd gotten them out of a dangerous area into a less dangerous predicament. This is salvageable. He doesn't say anything about nearly being dropped in lava, either.

Going over to Janessa, he'll give her a hand in freeing herself up enough to move unhindered.


12:59, Today: Jack rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,5.

(Hmm... you didn't say you were actually climbing out, yet... I'll say that you not only get up, you help Janessa up, too.)

Jack helps Janessa up.

(If you want to try to climb out and see what's on top of this stuff, that's a new STR roll for each of you, but I'll give you each a +1 bonus to get up there...)

Jack starts to move upward through the "stuff," mindful of his surroundings as he does so, and not to fall off into another bad descent. "You have an interesting mind, Janessa," he remarks to her as he climbs to a safe spot and tries to help her along as well. His inhuman strength on full display as he casually passes through dense fibrous zones like he's walking casually. Not quite on the level of Gerard, but he doesn't seem terribly far off either.



16:09, Today: Jack rolled 13 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 5,5.

Went back through to double-check. This gives me 5 XP. By the way, I forgot to update her HP before we left. Since she rested at the ranch she should have had full health when they left. Went back through and got the right HP for her now.

Janessa sighs and groans. "Eww. I hate cotton candy, but it was what jumped into my head." She smiles at Jack as he assists her. "Thanks." She knows he could remark about her shadow traveling abilities or lack thereof, and is pleased that he doesn't. She blushes at the remark about her mind. "Yeah. I guess I do." She moves to follow Jack.

21:00, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 6 using 2d6 ((4,2)). Strength. I guess that gives me 6 xp now....

And promptly falls on her face as her feet get stuck in the sticky mass. Muffled by the cotton candy, Janessa swears, but not really. "God Bless America!"

(Dang, 13? I'm raising Janessa's extra bonus to +2. (Which means that she rolled an 8 (with no xp gain). Janessa, what small thing did you lose during your climb...?))

Jack not only reaches the top side of the crater he and Janessa made, he blazes a trail for her...

At the top, it's a bizarre cotton-candy-looking wonderland, with mountains and tree-ish things and-- is that some sort of river or large stream, over there...?

Hm. About a third of a mile away is a local creature... like a sort of pale green daddy longlegs, roughly human height.

Intelligent, though. One can tell, because first, it does a downright comedic double-take when it spots Jack. Secondly, there's the way the spider-like-person is waving his, her, or its front arms, as if to say "Hey! There you are! Don't go away! Stay right there! I really want to talk to you!"

...Er, or so it is to be hoped that that's the gist of the intended meaning...

Her Japanese steel boot knife and sheath. Also, updated my character sheet to reflect her load.

Jack, always with his sword ready to come out and start murdering, waits patiently for the approach of the thing. "You loose enough to run now? In case we need to move," he questions, glancing over at Janessa.

"Dang it. I just wash it too." Janessa mutters as she pulls cotton candy out of her hair. Her head tilts and her eyes go wide as she looks at the approaching creature. "Yeah..." Janessa says. "Is that a green daddy longlegs spider? That color almost makes it looks like candy..." She trails off, pulling her gun back out. "Did I take us to Candy Land or something?" Janessa whispers, not expecting Jack to reply since she's reasonably convinced he doesn't know what Candy Land is.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:15, Fri 24 Apr 2020.

There is a mountain so pointing toward the sky that Janessa, in need of orientation, decides to think of it as north, based on where the sun seems to be (behind heavy clouds). Therefore, the crater she and Jack made, behind her, is west, and the spider-being is coming from the west. The nearby river-like thing is silvery, and runs from the east to the south.

The spider-being does in fact look like it's made of incredibly light and fragile rock candy, actually. Its limbs and body aren't really solid, they're a lattice-work of cylinders that's hollow inside. The thing probably weighs less than ten pounds, even though it's slightly taller than Janessa.

It makes sense, since the ground is so fragile. It feels like walking on layers of fiberglass-- and it was much softer behind her. Probably just as well she and Jack landed on a particularly soft part.

"Oi!" says the spider-being, scratching to a halt when it's about 15 yards away. "Oi! No need for the big knife! Just here to parlay...!"

Jack puts away his sword. Having seen how fragile the creature is, unless it's made out of some sort of super material, it wasn't much of a threat. Likely unable to even puncture his armor, given how light it would be to walk on the fiberglass like materials around.

"Right, parlay. I am Jack of Amber, this is my cousin Janessa," he introduces them both.

"Right, right," says the spider. "Abysterwych, I am. Saw yer fall from the sky, there. Was just curious about what, you know, that was all about, like."

"We were traveling and we fell," Jack answers. Not getting more in depth than he needs to. "Where is the nearest market or town with shops?" he asks, figuring that as long as they are in a friendly shadow they had might as well see if this one offers anything interesting.

"Wow, fell from what?"





"Ah... you have some strange terminology, matey. But there's a gathering over that way, Flatcircle." Abysterwych points vaguely northwest, or maybe north-by-northwestish. "I can take you there...? Maybe we can talk some more...?"

"The sky, of course," Jack answers, as if that were a complete answer.

Glancing in the direction indicated, he shrugs and says, "Sure, tell me about your land while we travel. What manner of barter or coin do they use hereabouts?" he asks and starts to walk the indicated direction.

"Sure, sure, I savvy... but how'd you get there...?"





"Oh, you know... barter. Teeth, bones, fruit, tears, runes, all sorts of things..."

"Good to know, I'm going to check my thundermaker, you might want to cover your ears, if it works it can be pretty loud," Jack tells Absterwych and drawing his sub machine gun from his side squeezes the trigger once. Curious if firearms will work in this shadow.

The results are not impressive to Jack. There's a sort of pop. When he puts the safety on and checks, it turns out the bullet hasn't even left the barrel.

It's probably not a squib. It's more like gunpowder ignites, but very unimpressively so.

"Not workin' right? There's a plantsmith in Flatcircle who could look at that for ya..."

"No, that's alright," Jack says and works to clear the potential jam from the gun, ejecting the brass into his hand and pocketing it. Possibly for trade. "So, what do you do, Absterwych?" he asks.

"Mm? Oh, this and that. Odd jobs. Messenger, crier, gofer. I wouldn't mind being a plantsmith when I'm older. What about you guys?"

"I'm a prince, traveler and one of the finest warriors in all of time and space," Jack answers modestly.

"Wow, prince of where? Who do you fight?"

Janessa puts her gun away and follows. She's still slightly awestruck by Abysterwych, so she lets Jack do the talking about where they fell from. After all the last time, she tried explaining something impossible as possible didn't work. "I'm a gardener, a ranch hand, a rodeo star, and technically a princess." Janessa replies and glances at Jack. "The greatest fighter of all time and space?" She whispers.

"Amber, and whoever annoys me the most," Jack answers and glancing over at Janessa, he shrugs at her and answers her without whispering, "I said one of, and it's not really a question, top fifty at worst, my father is the best, of course."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:55, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

"Ah...that would be..." Janessa thinks a moment. "Uncle Benedict." She looks at him. "Dad told me. I asked about you, David, and Alec before I headed off to find you three." Janessa continues following along with Abysterwych and Jack, taking in her surroundings. "I only took basic self-defense classes. Mike taught me the guns, bows, and knives. Though he taught me them for hunting, not fighting."

Of all this, it's Janessa's word "gardener" that Abysterwych latches on to. "Really? Like a plantsmith?"

"You'll find that you're quite puissant once you've spent some time practicing," Jack mentions as they walk along toward their destination. He doesn't bother to suggest a vehicle be drawn along, since he has no idea what the shape of such a thing might be in a world of cotton candy clouds.

"Really?" Janessa says to Jack. "Because of my heritage?" She looks up at Abysterwych. "Plantsmith? What exactly is a plantsmith?" She asks as she continues to walk along.

"Are you not one? Or maybe it's just a problem of different terminology... You make plants grow... grow faster, I mean, and you can shape them... no?"

Jack doesn't speak up, just continues to walk, keeping his eyes open for ambushes.

Janessa nods. "Different terminology. Kinda. I don't force them to grow, but I assist them by making sure they have everything they require. I trim bushes and trees. I also trim the grass. But there are other aspects of my job that are not plant related."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, I make sure that the playground equipment is in working order, that the tables and grills don't need repairs and that the park is clean. At one park, I assess the level of the lake water and assist at the fish hatchery." Janessa says smiling.

Abysterwych's mouth parts go slack in amazement. "Ohhhh you're allowed to assist in hatchery? That's a very sacred job! You must be very spiritually advanced..."

Abysterwych seems proud to just be walking alongside two such impressive beings. "Well! Anything else you want to ask me before we arrive?"

It'd take far too long to ask for rules of etiquette, so Jack decides that he will just rely on his foreign-ness to allow him some social trespass. "No, I think we'll be fine," he answers.

"Good, because it's up ahead..." says Abysterwych, and so it is.

The community of Flatcircle is a little village of Abysterwych's people, who live in dwellings made of sort of vaguely bamboo-like sticks with opaque silk sheets for walls.

The inhabitants are all like Abysterwych, except many are slightly larger, and darker in color...

Abysterwych excitedly leads you to a sort of market, where goods-- many alien in purpose, some not-- are laid out in front of their sellers on more silk sheets spread over the pink ground...

Walking along through the market, Jack takes the time to look at many things. Not going straight for the weapons, which are always the first thing that draw his eye. Instead, he takes the time to get a feel for things here. "What is it that your people do best, Absterwych?" he asks.

"It's Abysterwych, actually... But hmmm... That's a tough one... I guess... Um... working with... Mm. Come on, let me introduce you to..."

Abysterwych leads Jack and Janessa to a "building" of particularly light, powder-blue silk. He gestures that they should go inside...

For someone who only speaks their language because his language somehow reflects all languages, Jack is just glad he can somehow speak cloud-spider languages. He doesn't say that, of course. Instead, he walks into the building in question.

Janessa follows, glancing at the various wares for sale as they walk to the building.

Inside, it's much darker than it should be.

But it's not too dark to see that there's another cloud-spider in there. It's a little smaller than Abysterwych, but darker in color, perhaps signifying great age.

The voice seems old, too. "...Whom have you brought to see me, Abysterwych? I have never seen their like..."

Janessa turns to look at the shop keeper. "Hello." She says with a small smile and wave. She looks up at Abysterwych, waiting for him to do the introduction since she didn't know this shadow's protocol.

Jack is similarly quiet, allowing Abysterwych to answer for himself. Instead, he takes the time to let his eyes acclimate to the change in lighting, and to figure out the contents of the new tent.

Abysterwych seemed to have expected his two guests to speak up for himself, but since they didn't, fine, he'll do it himself. "These are visitors from far away, Plantsmith. A military man and a Hatchery worker. They fell from the sky...!"

"I am the Plantsmith of Flatcircle. How is it that you have come here, visitors from far away...?"

The old cloud-spider is surrounded by a lot of low shelves, on which-- and underwhich-- are many small pots with different plants and flowers.

"We were flying and fell," Jack answers, not really lying. "I'm told that you are one of your people's better craftsmen, is that true? Can you show me your work?" he asks.

"I have no finished products here... What do you need?"

"I don't need anything, but if your goods are exceptional, I can always arrange for payments from our homeland," Jack answers, settling his hands at his waist in thought, he looks around a little and then back to the elder. "Can you show me what you do, at least?" he asks.

"These are sacred matters. I cannot craft merely as a performance. Where is your homeland? How were you flying? Why did you fall? If these are holy secrets, I understand if you cannot answer, but you surely respect that the desire for information is a natural one."

"No? You can't show me what you do, or any examples?" Jack inquires and looks to Abysterwych. "I think you meant to bring us somewhere else?" he asks, not pleased with this waste of his time. "I am Jack, Prince of Amber. I cannot share anything about how we travel, learning it is impossible for outsiders. It would destroy your bodies and minds," he explains.

The old cloud-spider sort of nods (it involves his whole thorax). "I do not know of Amber, but these are clearly sacred matters. Tell me what it is that you do desire, and I will tell you where you should go or to whom you should speak to help you attain it."

Is there just a bit of an edge to his voice? Sort of seems that way... Jack may be entering shaky diplomatic and/or cultural areas of discussion...

"I hear that your plantsmithing is the pride of your people, and yet have never even seen the results of such smithing, I'd like to start with that. An exceptional example," Jack proposes.

(Roll Charisma, Jack.)

15:47, Today: Jack rolled 9 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 6,4.

The old cloud-spider seems to manage to keep his temper, although it's clear he's a bit tired of Jack's attitude.

"...I shall send you to one who can satisfy your curiosity. Abysterwych, take them to Llewgyff."

"Okay, Plantsmith, no problem!"

Abysterwych gestures you out of the plantsmith's hut. "Come on, we're not going far... I saw Llewgyff just a few minutes ago..."

"Thank you." Janessa says to the Plantsmith with a nod. She turns to follow Jack and Abysterwych.

"There he is-- Hey Llewgyff!"

Another cloud-spider, one of the larger ones, who's carrying something, comes toward Abysterwych, Jack, and Janessa. "Yes, Abysterwych?"

"These folks want to see some of the Plantsmith's work. The Plantsmith said to bring 'em to you, because, y'know."'

Llewgyff looks Jack and Janessa over, with caution. "I... see... Well... if the Plantsmith said to show them..."

Abysterwych points at Janessa. "Aw, come on, it's all right! She works in a hatchery! She must be all right!"

Llewgyff seems impressed. He hands what he's holding over to Janessa.

It's a wooden ax.

All right, Janessa has seen axes before... but not quite like this one. For one thing, it's all wood, no metal. For another thing, it's very, very sharp. Janessa pulls one red hair from her head to test the sharpness. The hair falls in twain immediately when she brings it to the axblade... She's not even completely sure the hair actually touched the axblade.

It's also-- perhaps unsurprisingly-- light as heck. The ax feels like it probably weighs barely a few ounces. Yet it feels as hard and solid as teak.

As a tool for chopping, it's quite a tool. As a weapon, it's quite a weapon.

"It is a sacred thing," Llewgyff intones seriously.

"Is it possible to have a sword made? I have rather specific length and width requirements, if it's to be perfectly suited to me, I mean," Jack inquires having seen the workmanship and qualities of the wooden axe, he is incredibly curious how well such a blade would hold up through shadow.

Abysterwych and Llewgyff are making barely-noticeable movements that they weren't before. Janessa decides that Llewgyff's show a not-quite-hidden eagerness to get the ax back, and that Abysterwych's little twitches are him trying to subtly signal to Janessa to give the ax back to Llewgyff now please.

(Presuming Janessa gives the ax back now,) Llewgyff sort of bow-nod-curtsies, and hurries off.

Abysterwych seems a little sheepish. "Ummmm, it's certainly possible... but I'm not sure the Plantsmith is as impressed with you as you, um, you know, doubtless deserve. I imagine he might want you to go do something for Flatcircle first, like go find a treasure or slay a Ddrai or something, you know how these things go..." Abysterwych pauses. "...Or do you?"

Janessa hands it back after looking at it and thanks Llewgyff before he/she departs. "Uh...what is a Ddrai?" She asks looking up at Abysterwych.

"Hm? Oh, you know, a big, er..." He makes sort of threatening gestures with his front arms. Whatever a ddrai is, it's apparently kind of big and probably kind of dangerous...?

"I see." Janessa looks at Jack and shrugs. She turns back to Abysterwych. "So, working in a hatchery is a highly regarded skill here in Flatcircle?"

"Of course. We are a pious people, and would never disrespect the old ways."

Jack listens quietly. After a few he asks quietly, "Where are these Ddrai, by the way? Nearby?"

"Hnn, I've heard about one several kliks away... about twice as far as the distance I brought you from where you landed to here... But of course, the Plantsmith might have something else in mind... I was just thinking of old storm-tales..."

"Well, I'd be interested in such a trade, if not that, I can get you metal items of a similar construction as this, this is one of our Sacred Skills. Metal smithing," Jack explains and holds up his sword, drawing it partially from the scabbard. "Though it might be too heavy for your people to carry."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:14, Thu 28 May 2020.

Abysterwych tries to take the sword, and he nearly topples over. "Yeah, that's too heavy for me. Wow, you two are like practically the Shaar, huh."

"We are of Amber," Jack confirms with a nod of the head, not really reiterating how amazing they are. "Do you think your people would have any interest in these sorts of items? Crafted metal," he inquires. "How about gems?" he asks, and fishes around in his pockets for any sort of gem he might have in the form of a piece of jewelry. From within a pocket, he pulls out a ring he'd gathered somewhere in one of his journeys through shadow.

"See the sparkly thing there? The metal is called gold. The gem, the sparkly thing? That's called an emerald."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:22, Thu 28 May 2020.

(Cross off an "Adventurer's Item," Jack.)

Abysterwych is fascinated-- kind of literally. "OOOOooooOOOooooooooooo," Abysterwych croons. He is desperate to hold the small emerald Jack holds up. "Loooooooooook," Abysterwych says, turning the gem in the light. His own eyes, faceted not unlike the gem, almost sparkle in the light themselves. "It's so preeeeeetty... Yes, this is very valuable..."

It's clear that gems are likely to be a salable commodity in Flatcircle, as long as they are shown to prospective buyers outside in direct light.

"Do you think if I brought you some more emeralds or other gems, your people might be interested in making me a sword in a similar style to mine?" Jack inquires of Abysterwych.

"I can't speak for the Plantsmith, but I know I would if I could. If the Plantsmith here didn't want to, I could take you out to Straightline, they have a Plantsmith of their own."

"If you can get me a sword or two for some gems, I would be willing to pay you some gems as well, Abysterwych. For being our guide, of course, and for your help in facilitating the deal, I would just need to travel for a while," Jack mentioned, his sword returning to his belt as he fastens it back into place. Checking that everything sits correctly for a perfectly smooth draw.

"If not, I suppose Janessa and I should be on our way, we have business still to conduct in shadow, many things to do."

Janessa nods. "We do have things that need to be done."

"So..." Abysterwych sort of scratches the back of his head, producing a high, loud, scratchy sound-- "...So you want me to ask around and see what sort of price I can get for you... Because... you're both going now...? But coming back soon...?"

"Yes, please," Jack replies and then with a nod he looks to his cousin. "We must be away now, but we should return soon, within a few days."

"Ur, ur, ur, but, but..." says Abysterwych. "Could you leave the shiny... thing...? It'll be hard to offer them more like it if I can't show it to them in the first place..."

Jack smirks and with a nod, he hands over the ring. He can easily replace it. It's not even Amber made. He's honestly not sure the plant sword will be the least bit comparable to Amber-steel, usable throughout shadow, but perhaps in certain shadows it might be quite an upgrade. It's a novelty he'd give to his father, if nothing else.

"Let's away, Janessa. Slow and steady, first--we need land under our feet, so lead us off this nonsense, and then a vehicle. If you make another mistake, I'll take a stab at it," he proposes.

I actually went back and thought about it, I think I was counting up the uses of my kit, by the way, it's now marked at 2/5. I don't think I've used it 4 times before.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:00, Mon 01 June 2020.

Abysterwych happily scuttles away with the gem...

Janessa nods. "Here we go again." She says with a sigh. "It gets easier right?" Janessa asks, glancing at Jack as they start to walk away from Flatcircle.

"If you practice enough, yes, I believe that with sufficient practice you would only suffer the problems we do during a proper hell ride," Jack answers with a shrug. "But I'm just going based on what I've heard from my father."

Janessa smiles. "Thanks, Jack." She glances at him and then back to the path in front of her. "You weren't raised in Amber?" She asks as she slowly, gently, and methodically starts changing things.

(OOC: 18:14, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 14 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,6.  Shadow Travel. +1 modifier and +1 not in a hurry. Still trying to get to the shadow where they are deities and can get gold.)

Jack walks with Janessa, his eyes drawn to her when she asks a personal question. "I come from a world like yours, if your world were to suffer a series of catastrophic events that killed 90% of the population and left a harsh wasteland. Guns are scarce, we rely mostly on melee weapons," he explains as they walk, his hands sliding behind him. His posture impeccably military.

"I killed my first raider when I was still a small child, six, maybe seven summers. I was already nearly as strong as a full grown man, being of Amber, so it was easy enough."

A pause.

"I brought my mother from there to a utopian shadow with longevity treatments and a post-scarcity society. Honestly, her new shadow would be just fine to find what we need, we can get piles of manufactured diamonds or whatever else they can manufacture there," he points out, but doesn't try to steer shadow. Just lets Janessa handle it.

"She won't live forever, like we will, but she'll live a lot longer. A few thousand years, perhaps."

As they walk, he considers the changes that she makes.

"Anyhow, in my home shadow, you learned to live with little. My father had spent many years studying worlds like my home shadow, worlds filled with all manner of warfare. He does that, you know. He studies war, every day, every aspect, every minutiae. How best to order a caravan train of eleven vs. twelve, in a mountain environment, with a predominant archery based squad? How about with cavalry and twelve carts? What if they're lead by him and he directs their elements precisely, how much better do they fare? That's why he's the greatest at what he does in all of all. I think, from what I've heard, he's also one of the most devout in his study," he points out, clearly fond and bragging about his father, because that's what a boy does.

"He'd chosen our world for the diversity of weapons. We're very unpredictable. No real formalized training, you learn to fight by fighting. Only a few small factions that train each other, but honestly, they train each other wrong. We still have cities, but they're hollowed out, precarious and treacherous terrain. Wandering mutants and machines gone astray."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:45, Wed 03 June 2020.

Janessa walks, Jack near to her side, talking...

The cotton-candy ground turns brown... then sandy... then browner, to dirt. Normal trees and saplings come up... then the path she's on becomes an actual dirt road... then a gravel road... then dirt again, but very hard-packed and solid.

Then brick... cobblestone... then metal, like lead or some alloy... then plastic... then back to lead.

Then gold.

Buildings spring up to the sides... First humble storefronts... then fancier... Then sort of military-looking garrisons...

Soon Janessa and Jack are walking through a marvelous, beautiful city of gold and silver and coppery-leaf trees, and their faces are everywhere (mostly in profile).

People are cheering, crying when they see them-- they fall to their knees-- some faint.

"They have returned! They have returned!"

Two large men and one large woman wearing chromed-looking plate mail run up, kneel. "Your majesties. We report. We offer our lives. Is there any way we can serve?"

Jack, who always acts like a prince, and perhaps a bit too much so at times, looks at his apparent subjects and nods in understanding. "Well done," he says to his cousin, seeing that she has produced a rather good approximation of what he'd had in mind. Pitch perfect, quite possibly.

"Let's start with the simplest of commands: we have been walking too long, We require a conveyance, the best in our demesne," he begins.

While things are certainly appearing to be going swimmingly, he is careful with these people.

It could be that their royalty is regularly sacrificed to some eldergod or some other strange custom. All the same, he proceeds on the notion that things are as they appear.

Orders ring out, and in less than two minutes, six horses come clopping up the gold bricks, pulling a gold and silver carriage that stops in front of Jack and Janessa. The driver, a muscular woman (wearing leather armor over a black and gray uniform) with a scar across her right cheek, gives Jack and Janessa a worshipful look. "To the palace, your majesties?" she asks.

Jack holds out a hand to help Janessa into the carriage, not that she needs it, but some good manners seem appropriate. Climbing up into the carriage after her, he takes a seat and then indicates the person who'd been helping them earlier and who had arranged for their carriage so quickly, "You have done well."

He leans back in the carriage then, and allows them to be swept away to the palace. His hands folding in his lap and his sword coming up and off his belt as he rides seated--the sword never really doing well with riding in a cart or car. Tending to collide with the bench seating.

"Yes, the palace, what is your name? You look capable."

A pause as he considers and then speaks to Janessa.

"I'm going to review the soldiers and see if there are any worth taking with us; you might take a personal visit to the treasury, collect some treasures for our ongoing trades and have them put into the carriage, after that, see if you can have the steward find you the best architects and fort-building sorts. We're going to take them with us," he explains.

A pause.

"Given your good nature, if you wish to inform them that they'll be leaving their families behind, that is your choice. Tell them that you are looking for single men and women first and foremost."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:11, Wed 03 June 2020.

A look comes over the woman's face.

"I am Jaranth, your majesty."

But the look tells Jack: He was supposed to know her name already. OOPS.

But she gets the horses (all-black, all of them) going, and the carriage takes off... going, perhaps, a little faster than "stately parade" speed? Hm.




The clattering of the horses' hooves on the gold bricks and the carriage wheels is too loud for Jaranth to hear Jack's words, so she doesn't comment.

Jack is of course mindful of the fact that he shouldn't have let slip he doesn't know her name, but at the same time, if he's going to try to recruit people he can't just keep not using their names.

Once she rides away he turns to Janessa.

"Not anything to worry about, but on second thought we'll stick together, I had assumed our mortal shadows were totally absent--based on the whole 'they've returned' exclamations, but perhaps we should move quickly to get what we need, and worry about the recruiting later," he proposes.

Advancing into the castle, he nods to guards as he walks. Looking for some sort of servant of advanced age. Age at least might indicate seniority. He approaches, saying nothing.

The palace is forty stories high if you count the towers, all gold and silver (on the outside, anyway), and fantastic (if such a word even has much meaning anymore in such a setting).

Everyone bows, but a sharp-eyed little old woman in a black dress just does a small curtsy and looks at Jack with anticipation, like He will, of course, speak to me now.

Janessa takes all the sights in. She nods at Jack's suggestion of her looking at the treasury. Janessa smiles when he comments on her nature. ~He's starting to get me.~ She thinks. Janessa notes the look and a small pit forms in her stomach. "Agreed. Don't split the party, got it." She whispers. Janessa also nods to those gathered with a gentle smile. "I hope my shadow here is friendly."

"Oh, we don't want to meet them, we want to be gone by the time they're back from wherever it is that it made the locals surprised to see us," Jack explains quietly aside to Janessa as they walk. "But next time, make sure that there is a narrative that we disappeared and would reappear in times of need or something."

When they get to the person who seems to be looking at them so expectantly, he explains, "We have been arranging some trade in precious goods, where are we keeping that sort of thing nowadays?"

The old woman frowns. "The Treasure Room, your majesty. ...If your majesty means gold or gems-- Furs suiting your needs might more likely be found in the Wardrobe Annex, or in Storehouse number four... But... arranging with whom, your majesty? With the Thamites...? We have heard nothing from you, nor news of the war, for so long..."

"Lead us to the treasure room then, I feel like I'll get turned around," Jack instructs and having heard the tale of where his doppelganger is, he nods his head slightly. "No, with mercenaries from another land entirely, they were willing to join us, but we require a good sum, too much to send anyone back for."

As he gets the woman moving, he attempts to keep her from asking questions by asking her a never ending set of questions about current local affairs.

The old woman doesn't get any happier. This, too, is apparently somewhat suspicious to her.





THIS seems to appease her-- a little. At least she acts like she thinks it's a reasonable explanation.




As you walk (with a number of armed guards), she answers readily, and at length, on each issue... but she's still clearly bothered by suspicions...

(Roll Charming, Jack)

11:54, Today: Jack rolled 3 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 1,3.

( https://media1.giphy.com/media...cdCuFEPHxe/giphy.gif

Jack gets 1 new xp...

Post saying something to the old woman, Jack...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:06, Sun 07 June 2020.

Jack, having picked up that the woman is feeling fishy about them, decides to throw a tactical gambit. Heading her off before she can start to say something, perhaps: "I've been on the road too long, my head hurts. Let us walk in silence for a time, and then we can arrange for a bath, and a proper escort back. But for now, silence."

Another frown, but a nod.

It's not long before Jack and Janessa and their entourage arrive at a very large and sturdy iron door, guarded by three large men and one dangerous-looking woman standing at attention.

The old woman bows. "Avert your eyes!" she orders all the guards, and they all look at the ceiling.

She leans in close to Jack. "And now, your majesty, by your own command-- the password."

What will Jack say/do?

"Are you confused, cannot you see my face? Hear my voice? Open the doors," Jack commands, looking displeased.

"...We will, of course, open the doors, your majesty. It's just that I feared that some Thamite sorcerer might have cast a spell on two thieves to trick us, to make them look like your majesties, so I thought I would make sure... What is my name, your majesty, and what did I say to you when we first met?" She's speaking a bit louder, now...

"Am I to answer to you now? I have been away a very long time in the defense of these lands, and now I am to play YOUR game?" Jack demands imperiously. "I'll have your obedience or I'll have heads. ENOUGH."

Turning in place, he points at the men near to the door.

"You and you. Open the doors."

To the guards who had escorted them.

"Take this old fool from my sight and confine her to her room until I have had a chance to settle down, or I'm going to do something I regret."

The guards don't move. "I think this man might be a Thamite, disguised with sorcery," says the old woman, who backs slowly away from Jack and Janessa. "Our lord has always greeted me by name after an absence. Worse, he hasn't used it once since he got here. I don't think he knows it. If I am wrong in this, I presume I shall die, if our lord wishes it. But I don't think this is our lord. Guards... escort him-- and her majesty-- each to their quarters..."

Suddenly, a blond man dressed in a white robe comes around the corner. "Your majesties!" he says loudly. "I was on the south wall when word reached me of your return!" He walks toward Jack and Janessa quickly. "About to enter the Treasure Room, are we? Excellent! Open the doors!"

The guards are torn. They obviously regard this new guy as a very big deal-- a deal more or less rivaling the old woman in black, apparently. "I suspect that these two are Thamite spies, disguised with sorcery--" she starts to say...

"--And so you are not opening the Treasure Room? This is madness, bordering on blasphemy! Open the door immediately!"

The old woman glares at the new guy. They obviously already didn't really like each other... Now, though, she super hates him. He's seriously on her list.

But then... she gets a cunning look. "Yes... I agree... open the door," she says.

The guards move to do so.

Obviously, she's decided to play his game. Either
--Fake Jack and Fake Janessa will give themselves away soon, she's decided, and she'll be proven right, or
--Fake Jack and Fake Janessa will steal stuff, and she'll be proven right and can blame White Robe Guy,
--Or else she's actually wrong, and this could be a face-saving way of not getting her head cut off, maybe.

The door opens (outward).

...Wow. That's a lot of gold (maybe half of it in coinage form, about half not) and silver (but lots of gold) and jewels and jewelry. It's at least 200 "all-you-could-carry"s... and you can each carry quite a lot...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:13, Sun 07 June 2020.

Jack nods at the man in approval.

Looking over the treasury, he gives it a long nod of the head. "Excellent. We will not require a great deal. No more than a single carriage can manage, and I'd like to review say ten or so of our most devoted, young and most importantly, unfortunately, single, soldiers or guards. We'll need an escort if we're to make it to our destination with such a fortune, and they'll be staying with us after that, and I'd prefer not to take anyone from their family," he decides.

This is spoken at large to everyone.

Including the guy in the white robes. "Three chests worth should be managable with a cart? Yes? That should suffice for our purposes."

"Certainly, your majesty," says the guy. "A selection of gold and jewels? Or simply gold coins? Or would you like to select the goods in question yourselves...?"

The old woman isn't sure what to make of this. Taking chests of treasure is just what she expected, but the idea that Jack wants to take guards, too, has surprised her a bit-- the idea that they should be unmarried throws her, a bit, too. "...Why don't I go and busy myself selecting the guards to accompany you, your majesties...?" she asks.

"Bulk gold, a few pouches of gems should suffice. No jewelry, I'm not going to debate the objective price of one crown over a necklace with a mercenary captain," he mentions blandly.

Jack makes a dismissive gesture, acting the part of a displeased royal. Clearly still unhappy with the way she'd acted. "See it done, and quickly- unattached volunteers, skilled, mixed skillsets, I don't want ten archers and no shields," he orders. His hands folding behind his back, he is still wondering whether he should chastise the guardsmen for failing to abide his orders. But perhaps being distracted by his task is the way to remain. No further boat rocking necessary.

He actually already suspects that she'll give them orders to watch to see if he's a thief under a sorcerer's spell, but he can get around that with enough time and someone charming like Janessa working their beliefs.

He mostly just wants the laborers who don't know Janessa's earth, but if they can be turned to serving him and Janessa as soldiers against the greymen, all the better.

Soon, three decent-sized wood-and-steel chests are filled with treasure, the majority of it gold coins.

The old woman has disappeared, for the moment, at least.

The big door to the Treasure Room is closed once more.

The guy in white signals that the chests be brought along, and he starts leading Jack and Janessa (and the guards bearing the chests)... elsewhere. To a door leading outside, where there'll be a carriage waiting, presumably?

"So," the guy says enthusiastically, walking alongside Jack and Janessa (but closer to Jack), "what of the war? We've heard nothing here...!" He is obviously eager for news...

"Well enough that I could get away, not so well that I will stay a moment longer than necessary. We must be away again st soon as we have the men arranged, and a horse and carriage pointed in the right direction," Jack replies and looks over toward Janessa, wondering if she'll interject at any point. She is the more social of the two of them, that is certain.

As he walks, he thinks about it and adds, "Can you send someone to arrange the horses and carriage for the chests? We should not tarry."

"Understood..." As they pass a guard, the man in white gestures him over, and sends him running off to arrange as Jack wishes.

"You won't have to wait long at all, your majesties." The man in white sighs. "There's so much I wish to know... How many Thamites dead so far? Many losses on our side? Which ship did you take to come back-- or did her majesty just use her magic to get you back here in a hurry? That's the rumor that's going around..."

"I'm thinking she wishes to remain mysterious, so I will simply say that means were arranged to bypass much of the journey. The numbers? I will arrange for something for you and others to understand our current predicament, once this business is concluded, suffice for now to know that I would not have come back if things were trending poorly," Jack explains patiently as they walk.

Happy to see that their travel arrangements are being put together, he nods slightly.

"Excellent, excellent!" enthuses the war-hawk. "That is highly sufficient for me for the moment, your majesty." Indeed, he's downright delighted. If he were a kid, he'd be skipping along right now.

Jack and Janessa and company emerge into a very large courtyard that they haven't been in previously, though it's clearly on the outer edge of the palace grounds. A very intense guard comes up and salutes and informs that the requested carriage will be arriving very soon. It sounds like it's going to be, seriously, less than five minutes. Must be just hitching up the horses now.

The old woman emerges from some other door, and with her are about forty guards.

They march up to Jack and Janessa. The old woman does her kinda-curtsy thing again... then gestures behind her.

Ten guards, well-armed, step forward.

One is Jaranth, the woman with the scar from earlier. Indeed, the guards assembled are pretty evenly split between male- and female-presenting. Good to know that Jack and Janessa's Shadow-doubles are equal-opportunity employers, whatever else their deal might or might not be.

Jaranth gives Jack a look. It's sort of a please remember me... look. Very intense.

"Your majesties," says the old woman, "these are the ten I have selected."

She gestures again. Ten more step forward. "These, on the other hand, have begged me to go, as well. I have not forgotten that you said ten, and I made that clear to them, but I promised them that they could be presented to you, and that their dedication and zeal be made known to you."

Then she shrugs. "The remaining twenty merely wanted the honor of looking upon your majesties again. I will say, though, that all of those presented here are unmarried, young, extremely capable, and will lay down their lives gladly for you and your cause-- although anyone wishing to take them up on such a thing will find their lives very hard-taken, I dare say."

There can be little doubt that the old woman will have the carriage, when it leaves, followed... But does that matter? The one thing that Jack and Janessa's Shadow-doubles will NOT be able to do will be to walk through Shadows... nor lead others through them... so... Seems good, for the moment...?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:49, Mon 08 June 2020.

Any indication of rank in any way? What sort of gear or uniforms are they sporting?

No, they all seem pretty equally qualified, to look at what they're wearing...

NOW, having said that, some have bows, and some don't. A few have these kind of three-shot crossbows, most don't. All have some sort of melee weapon, but while it's mostly swords, the kinds of sword differ, and a couple have maces, and there's a few axes or hatchets here and there...

Jack walks up and down the lines, looking at all of them. "Such devotion warms my heart," he declares. "But we go now to a land none of you will have visited before, and I cannot say if any of you will ever return. If you are not prepared, know that I will not hold fault with you, nor should any one else, for my judgment is final in these matters."

Looking over them, he spots none with defects or problems. Healthy, fitting of the service as he'd asked for them.

If none leave, he waits a moment and then says, "Good. Jaranth," he looks to her suddenly, "A word." Pulling her aside, he speaks clearly and to the point, "Pick those best suited, and have them ready to move out immediately."

Tactically, he needs to start moving her to be his second in command, and hopefully to enlist her to their cause. She in turn can help smooth the way with the others.

Absolutely none of them look for an instant like they have even the tiniest desire to leave.




"Yes, your majesty..." Jaranth is clearly still worried about Jack's identity. On the other hand, her reaction tells Jack that what he just said is very much how she would expect (and want?) her Jack to act/speak.

"But... with your permission..." she says at a volume that only Jack can hear, "...if it's up to me... I would take all of those present, if speed and stealth are not at issue. If 40 is too many for your needs as far as speed and stealth, I would take the first 20. If 20 is too many for the same reason, I should take the other nine besides myself that Lady Shamar has chosen." The vibe she's giving off at the moment is one of simple honesty (albeit multiplied by lots and lots of intensity. These are a very intense people, overall-- but what do you expect when they're in the presence of people they regard as gods? (Or, at least, people that might be the people they regard as gods?))...

"None of them left behind? You're certain? If we're to travel with so many, then I'll need you to find me a capable engineer or builder, and someone to manage a wagon with supplies, are any here capable of such a thing, and still fill my criteria?" Jack asks. "Or will we need to bloat our numbers further? Reduce them as appropriate. Forty is our limit."

"Cynfrith is an excellent combat engineer," says Jaranth, slightly louder. A woman with close-cropped brownish hair straightens up even straighter, apparently hearing her own name. "I've seen her get a wall, or fortifications-- or, one time, a bridge so strong you could pull a ballista across it-- built in half the time you'd expect. Anyone here can be trusted to serve as an excellent quartermaster."

Jaranth warms to her subject-- this is military shop talk, and she is definitely here for it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:21, Mon 08 June 2020.

"Excellent. If everything is in order, we're off, we will make additional acquisitions on our way, if anything is needed," Jack says and heads over to a horse. To Janessa, he suggests, "Ride in the carriage."

Leaping casually into the saddle with a superlative demonstration of his strength and agility, he starts the horse off at a trot. Heading out of the area with no particular destination in mind. As they get moving, he turns his head to look at Janessa, and moves his horse closer to the carriage.

"Small changes. Bring us back to your home, not too fast, nothing crazy, bring everyone riding with us along--just these," he suggests. Turning his head he indicates them, "Just them though. Not one extra."

Janessa has followed and listened. Keeping quiet for the sake of not wanting to put her foot in her mouth. She smiles at those assembled and follows Jack as he inspects them. She gives Jaranth a nod as they pass her. "Excellent idea." Janessa says as she climbs into the carriage. She looks around the group and nods to Jack. "No more, no less." She turns to the carriage driver and gives a nod and radiant smile. "Let's get moving." Once they're moving, she turns and motions to Jack to come closer. Once he's in range Janessa whispers. "Is there a way I could manipulate it so any of the crone's spies are left here?"

"Unfortunately not. You will need to win over their hearts and minds in time, and also introduce yourself to them, make it seem that you are their new friend; then take her aside and confide in Jaranth that I took a minor blow to the head and my memory is not what it was, she clearly expects me to act differently around her, perhaps my lesser was a lover or something. Regardless, do you think you can manage that? Once we have her, the rest will follow," Jack answers quietly, looking at her with a small smile.

"Anyway, whenever you're ready. Take it slow."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:34, Mon 08 June 2020.

The carriage and retinue leave the courtyard...

...Where more horses are waiting.

The 40 followers quickly start mounting up...

(If you want to not have 40 horses back at the ranch, better say something now... You've stated that you're in something of a hurry, and apparently the war requires a boat or ship to get to, so apparently these people think we're gonna ride hard to get to a dock somewhere or something...)

Nah, 40 horses is fine, especially given that it's on a ranch.

(Well then, go right ahead and head 'em up and move 'em out...)

The carriage and mounted guards head quickly through the streets of the city you're in... As you ride, the buildings slowly get less tall... At this rate, you should reach the edge of the city before long...

Janessa sighs and nods in response to Jack. "I'll do my best." She whispers back. Janessa looks around to see if she can spot where Jaranth is. She occasionally watches the woman in question, but mostly watches the city fade. Once far enough away she starts to change things. ~Small changes. Not too fast, nothing crazy, bring everyone riding along with us. No one extra.~ Janessa thinks to herself as slowly changes things.

15:10, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 12 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,6.  Shadow Travel.

Is Janessa getting better at this? It would seem so, based on the problem-free journey. Soon, the sky is brighter, the grass more Montana-where-it-hasn't-rained-lately and less emerald green, and the clouds more white than platinum.

There's no one in sight anywhere but the carriage, its horses, and the 40 riders.

Jaranth rides up near the side of the carriage-- she looks quite alarmed. Guess she and her people have noticed they aren't in wherever-they-were anymore...

(Also, I guess we've got a carriage-driver or two along with us, right?

Well, anyway, if you want to stop and reassure Jaranth and her people, I won't make you roll a second time... When you start up again, it'll just be a continuation of the same roll back to Earth...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:34, Thu 11 June 2020.

"Her majesty is using magic to move us to our destination. Rest assured that everything is under control," Jack informs Jaranth, seeing the look on her face. Turning in the saddle then, he sits backwards on his horse and calls back to those behind them, "Good soldiers and guardsmen, know that all is as planned."

(OOC: That works for me. Just give me a bit. Heading to a dr appt. Will address Jaranth as well when I get back.)

Just waiting on Janessa.

Janessa nods and smiles at the troops and Jaranth. "All is well. Surely you've known or suspected I travel by magic." She chuckles softly. "Do not fret. There is still more traveling to do and more changes to come. I'm making sure we get to our destination without running into any ambushes. Your safety is one of my highest priorities." Janessa looks to Jaranth and motions her to come closer. "Jaranth, a moment please." She nods to Jack so he knows to ride away so she can privately talk with the warrior woman.

Jaranth looks notably less alarmed. She rides in closer for a more private word with Janessa.

(You can go post in your old private thread, if you like, Janessa, but I suspect that's not your aim.)

Jack falls back to start to introduce himself to his new fighters. "I don't know if you all know each other, but it has been some while, why don't you all introduce yourselves and tell me slash each other, about your given talents," he proposes to them, and will make mental note and memorize each of their names. Shaking hands with them as they ride, he goes from person to person, getting to know all of them, learning some single unique fact about each of them.

That they have a kid sister who wants to learn magic, that their life's ambition is to open a tavern, that they are experts at dice-games, he learns each thing and tries to build some rapport.

Where he can't build rapport he at least tries to learn about who they are, so that he can better deal with them later.

(OOC: Very astute.)

Janessa smiles at the woman when she gets close. "It's splendid to see you. I'm delighted you came along." She moves closer and lowers her voice. "I need to reveal something. Something I'm certain you've noted by now. Jack." She looks back at him and then back to Jaranth. "He's altered than he was. I know." Janessa sighs. "During one of the last skirmishes with the Thamites, he suffered a ferocious blow to the head. I was almost afraid we'd lose him." She looks up at the woman. "Thankfully, he's too obstinate to allow his head to be separated from his body." She smirks slightly before returning to an earnest face. "However, the injury did something to his mind. His memories, to be exact. Things he should know he either doesn't, or it's not clear." Janessa sighs again and looks back at him. "I've been helping him, but he's just so stubborn. He keeps on insisting nothing is amiss." She sits a moment before looking at Jaranth. "Be patient with him. I hope in time his memories mend themselves. Meantime, you should inform him about yourself. Reintroduce him to you. Aid him when he slips. Maybe discreetly inform the troops, so they will comprehend the difference they have or will detect in him." Janessa looks at her pleadingly. "Please Jaranth. Do this for me and him?"

Jaranth is both very concerned and relieved at the same time. "I will do as you say, your majesty." She seems very earnest, not at all sly or hesitating.

Janessa sighs in relief. "Thank you Jaranth. Now back to the task at hand." She smiles at the woman and continues manipulating shadow.

Soon enough, the carriage and riders arrive at Janessa's ranch house.

The riders stare with great interest at the alien-to-them architecture...

"Petey, Whitey!" Jack calls out to get their night watchmen moving so that he can introduce everyone. Simultaneously, he also tells Jaranth, "We'll be setting up a full sized fort here in the long term, but in the short term, let's have a camp set up over there, you can pasture the horses, we aren't expecting any enemies anytime soon."

"Hey, boss!" say Petey and Whitey. They've gotten some sunglasses, somewhere, and are wearing them. Even with that, and even with their hoods up, they still look like they're squinting behind their shades, and are shading their faces with their hands. "How's it going?"

Jaranth and the riders stare at Petey and Whitey, but then shrug. This is clearly a foreign land-- why shouldn't there be foreign-looking people in it? "We shall make camp, your majesty..."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Mon 15 June 2020.

Janessa sighs in relief to be back without too much of a hitch. She'd take a moment, while Jack was getting things set up to text her mother that she was home and to inform her what was happening in Janessa's part of the ranch. She also texts that there be little to no visiting, she'd come to them.

Michelle gets the texts a few moments later. She lets her husband know and informs William to not bother Janessa. Mike sighs, it's been a lot to take in but he's trying. William says fine as he goes back to his chores. Michelle lets Janessa know that Janessa should be visitor free, but should try to come by the main house soon.

"Janessa, we need to arrange for things here. With the gold we can hire someone to build proper barracks and everything, yes?" Jack questions, looking over at her. "I believe your world also allows for firearms, so perhaps we could hire someone to teach our people to use them, and buy some," he proposes. "I will hold off on mercenaries in the short term."

Janessa puts her phone back in her pocket and turns to Jack. "Yes. That would be best. I could teach them since I know how to shoot." She steps closer and lowers her voice. "That would also give me time with them, to win them over."

"As can I," Jack points out and idly pats the machine gun slung to his side the whole while. "I simply meant that we might hire someone that could train them in our absence, but perhaps training them ourselves until we get someone hired is a wise move? If you're going to stay here, do you want to also look into paying off and getting the local constables and magistrates in your pocket?" he thinks out loud. "We should also look into hiring someone to build our fortifications to advanced standards, I might want to look for someone else-where in Shadow."

It's clear that Jack wants to be doing a dozen things but can only handle so much by himself, so he's trying to find a way to put some of the responsibilities on others.

Turning his attention to Whitey and Petey, he says, "Whitey, Petey, you'll be learning with and continuing as night watch with the new troops, I'll have you introduce yourselves to Jaranth and explain how you are best at night."

"Exactly. That way they're at least semi-trained when we find someone. I plan on keeping this my primary home, but I still want to travel. Since the ranch is far enough out of town, I don't really have to deal with the cops or politicians, just family. Especially since this is my adoptive dad's ranch..." Janessa trails off, lost in thought as Jack addresses Petey and Whitey. She then snaps back to attention and steps closer to Jack, smiling at the night watchmen. "Gentlemen." She says with a nod in a way of greeting before looking at Jack. "I might have an idea on who could train them in shootin'."

"Sure thing!" says Whitey.

"Rider approaching fast..." says Jaranth, pointing at dust on the road. She revises it: "Carriage... magic carriage approaching..." The riders gather arms...

...But the car stops, and a figure familiar to some gets out. "Ralph Spoilsport, formerly of Ralph Spoilsport Motors, now Ralph Spoilsport of Ralph Spoilsport Solutions. Easy there, amigos, I work around here. Your bosses there know me... You lovely kids haven't forgotten old Ralph, have you? I've been loading up on the ways and means and mores and lingo of this lovely little world we live in, here, and I see you've been busy too..."

When Jack and Janessa don't seem alarmed by Ralph's presence, they (mostly) stand down...

Jack walks over toward Ralph and gives him a nod of the head in greeting, "Ralph: I assumed David had you off with him. But since you're here, we need to purchase firearms for the new troops. I am not sure what the local laws are for that, you might want to talk with Janessa's people about that, and you'll also need to convert some gems and gold into the local currency," he says to the shrewd dealer of things.

Walking over to the carriage, he pulls open one of the chests, and then delivers a large gold bar to Ralph. "See how this spends. We'll also probably end up needing what makes for construction equipment."

A pause.

Looking toward Jaranth, he says, "Jaranth, are any of our people here good with numbers and accounting, by chance? To help Ralph here keep track of things."

"Sure, sure! Just hand it over! You want pistols, rifles, rapid-fire machine-guns, a mix?"




"I'll see how much firearms I can get for this... Probably gonna need to carve it up, but I think I know people who know people who can get that done..."





"Yes, let me talk to..." Jaranth heads over to a cluster of guards and starts talking to one of them...

"A mix, along with ammunition--we're also going to need transportation and land that isn't attached to Janessa's family, maybe there is a mountain somewhere within a day's travel we can buy? Jaranth will be the keeper of the purse unless I'm around," Jack confirms. Of course, leave it to Ralph to have already met and started building a rapport with the locals. He can't oversee all of this himself or he'll be stuck here for months.

He needs to propose a general direction of growth, and trust his people to figure it out.

He waits for Jaranth to finish up with her talk with her people. "Jaranth, Ralph here will act as quartermaster, when you need supplies, you let him know. As to the building of a fortification, I'm adding a full-fledged architect to my list of people to recruit so that we can get a proper fortification built. You may also be relocating when that all gets settled. I'm going to have Ralph find you the local 'magical carriages' which are called cars or truck, and I'd also like you all to learn to blend in with the locals. They dress differently and act differently," he explains scratching the back of his head.

He has almost covered everything.

"Lastly, I'll be leaving two of the chests with you, keep them guarded; have whoever is in charge of accounting is learning what things cost, also, to blend in, maybe learn to use a device called a 'computer,'" he gives a series of suggestions to point them in the right direction.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Thu 18 June 2020.

Janessa chuckles. "Hey, Ralph. A good show of initiative." Janessa nods along with Jack, approving of his suggestions without actually saying so.

"Oh, sure, sure..."



"Mmm, that's gonna take a lot more money. I can mmmmmmaybe get you one for... 35, 45 million...?" Ralph hefts the gold bar. "Ten of these are probably about half a million, if that gives you any idea..."




"Oh, sure, sure, way ahead of you. I'm already working on that. I can get a really good one with this swag, though."

Jaranth nods at everything Jack says. "Don't worry," says Ralph, "I'll teach this lady to drive, and she can start teaching the rest of her people..."

Ralph looks over the chests. "Very nice, very nice... ah, jewels! Those'll be faster and easier to sell, I think... and worth more per ounce... And probably it'll make the authorities less nervous..."

Ralph looks up at Jack from behind his shades. "Er, is there more coming where this came from? Otherwise I think I should save about a third to invest it, start building up interest... It's just that, well, you kids dream big-- which I like, I like, don't get me wrong... but big dreams need big financing..."

Jack indicates Jaranth. "Jaranth will arrange for a book-keeper from her number, arrange to have her taught how to use a computer; I assume the cost is not something you know already. Once you have it, and an arrangement to sell the gold, you can work with these guys as security. Hopefully they'll have learned to use guns by then, if not, they're highly proficient with more medieval weapons," he explains to Ralph.

"No investments yet, that's a good plan for the future, but for now we have immediate training and building needs," he answers.

Ralph shrugs. "Okay then. I'll start with liquidating some of this stuff, then getting firearms, then teaching the new recruits how to use 'em, then work on computer stuff..."

Janessa looks at Ralph. "Have you met my adoptive Dad, Mike, yet? He can probably help you get the guns and help with training them. He's the one who taught me."

"Mm? No, I haven't-- can you call 'im over here? Sounds like just the kind of expert we could use... Er, if he wouldn't mind training a very small army... Is he, ah, in on you kids' plans...?"

(If you want me to make Mike an NPC and turn him over to you like Mom, let me know...)

"I can call him." Janessa says as she pulls out her phone. "Mom's filled him in on things. He might bring some of his ranch hands to assist with trainin', but they're all good too. Oh! I'll ask him to bring Cody. He's ex-military, Marine Corp sniper. Best shooter on the ranch."


(Works for me. I can do Cody too.)

"Hi, Mom. I actually need to talk to Mike, if he's available. Gotta question to put to him." Janessa says as she steps towards her front porch and the chairs. She sits down, watching her cousin and the big group from her seat.

(OOC: Have this in both threads. Takes her out of the action here so Jack can interact with people if he wants.)

Janessa covers the phone and shouts. "Jack, do Petey and Whitey know how to use guns?" She resumes talking on the phone while awaiting the response.

It turns out that Whitey and Petey know how to use guns in theory-- point long end, pull trigger, bang, death-- but in practice... Yeah, they really need training. They'll be especially alarmed by the size of the BANG...

"They were pretty handy with hand cross bows. I imagine they will pick it up quickly," Jack answers.

Janessa nods and returns to her phone call.

Janessa hangs up and walks over to Jack. "Mike's going to help. He's going to be bringing Cody, as well as my half brothers Robert and William. Will's a good shot with pretty much any gun, his rifle could use some work. Robert is good with bows. Guess Mike thinks they might benefit from learning different kinds. Also, Robert is a tech-head so he might be able to suggest tech stuff for them." She looks around her part of the ranch with all the people and shakes her head. "Just a couple months ago I was standing on my back porch looking at the stars, wishing I wasn't doin' it alone. Now..." Janessa makes a sweeping gesture. "I've got more company than I ever wished of having."

"That works well enough. Now that we've put everyone on a track forward, I feel content to venture away back into other shadows, do you wish to join me, or are you going to remain?" Jack asks.

Janessa shrugs. "I'm good to travel some more. Though I think we, or at least I, should stick around to get them set up with Mike, Cody, and my brothers."

The two of you agree to rest up, and to leave in a couple of days.

But...

...When the time comes... Jack decides to stay. It feels like someone's going to lose a finger if the new recruits aren't carefully watched with firearms, and Ralph's too busy making more money, hand over fist, to teach them properly, and Whitey and Petey aren't much help, and the construction crew needs supervision...

Jack says he wants to stay.

Janessa can't help but feel that the real reason is Jaranth...

But just when Jack says he wants to stay behind...

...A dove comes and lands on Janessa's shoulder.

"There's a dove on your shoulder," says Ralph, who was waiting to talk to Jack about a new investment opportunity.

Ralph lifts up his shades and squints. "...And it looks like it's got a note tied to its leg."

"Yes, it is." Janessa says, obviously confused. She pulls the paper from the leg.

Janessa unfolds it and reads it.

---

---

"Not really interested right now," says Jack. "How about you? Want to go meet more cousins?"

Janessa nods. "Yep. You're good here, and the family will be by to help if necessary." She smiles. "I'd like to spend more time with Uncle Random. Maybe get him to play me something on the drums." She looks the note over again. "Hmm. It doesn't say how to respond."

The dove coos, flaps vigorously a few times, and then takes off.

Less than half a minute later, a slightly larger dove appears... with a velvet rectangle tied to its leg.

The velvet turns out to contain... Ah-ha! A card!

The back of the card bears a white unicorn, rampant, on a green background.

The front of the card bears the image of a wily-looking little man, with a sharp nose and a laughing mouth and a shock of straw-colored hair. He wears orange, red and brown-- long hose, and a tight-fitting embroidered doublet.

https://pre00.deviantart.net/1...ry_proxy-d5ry27k.png

https://www.deviantart.com/cou...ber-Random-611698916

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/...740_0d1932de2e_b.jpg

The card is a little cold to the touch.

It shouldn't be, but it is.

“Uncle Random.” Janessa says with a smile as she pulls the card out of the velvet. “Hmmm. Why is this cold?” She mutters. She sighs and steps into her house before attempting to make contact.

The contact is tenuous at first, but gets stronger the longer Janessa concentrates on it. "...Yes...?" she hears...

"Hello. This is Janessa. A Dove just dropped this off?" Janessa says to the voice.

"Ah. Yes. I wanted to see how you're getting along..."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:19, Mon 12 Apr 2021.

Janessa smiles. “I’m doing all right Uncle. No grey men attacking. Got things in motion to fortify my home.” As she talks she walks to her front porch and takes a seat. “So, aside from a check in, what do I owe the honor of a call from the King?” Janessa asks as she leans back in the rocking chair, a playful smirk on her face.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:19, Tue 13 Apr 2021.

"You have some new cousins here... and two (others) of them are from Earth, like you.

But they... often seem a little overwhelmed by Amber and the new perspective on themselves, their new extended family, and the universe that they've had to absorb. I thought that maybe meeting one more fellow Earth-raised cousin might help...?"

The corners of Janessa's mouth twitch as she fights to not smile, eventually loosing said battle. "More cousins and they're from here?" She smiles, brightly. "Of course I would love to meet them! Though, as I'm sure you remember, I didn't spend much time in Amber myself. Long enough to meet you and Aunt Vialle and wander around the castle a bit before walking the Pattern. Dad didn't want me out in the city, I think he was still trying to hide me from the other Aunts and Uncles." Janessa sighs, irritation about not seeing the city is clear in her voice. "But, now I can." She pushes a stray lock of copper hair out of her face. "So, if memory serves me correctly, I can just reach out and you can pull me through, right?"

"That's correct, if you're ready... if not, let me know, and you can contact me with the card when you are..."

Janessa stands. "I only need a few moments. Gotta text mom and let her know I'm goin off world." She steps inside. "I also need to make sure my backpack is packed. Is there anything in particular I should bring with me?" She asks as she moves around her house. She grabs her bag and takes it to the kitchen, tossing some snack food into it. She then walks back into the living room and opens the wall safe, removing a Japanese steel boot knife. She places it into the empty sheath in her boot. "Would you like any Earth snacks Uncle?" Janessa asks, refocusing on the card for a moment as she fishes her cellphone out of her pant pocket. Before he can answer, her focus shifts to her phone as she texts her mother.
 

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
"Heading to Amber. Not sure how long I'll be gone. Things are quite around here. Robert is using the barn loft and has permission to use my place."

---

She hits send and walks back to the kitchen. "Leaving a note for my brother and then I'm ready." Janessa writes on the white board: No Parties!!! I Will Know!!! She returns her focus. "Done."

"No, only what you want with you."



"Tempting, but no thank you."




Janessa focuses on the card, and Random becomes more clear, more three-dimensional, larger... He reaches out a hand... she takes it...

There is a shimmer, and then...

Janessa is still holding her uncle's hand, but they're outside a stable.

Janessa blinks a few times, willing her eyes to adjust to the new lighting before she pulls her Uncle in for a hug. "It's good to see you Uncle Random!" She takes a step back as she releases him and looks around. "How's Aunt Vialle?"

"Fine as always... And you-- any further signs of gray man trouble...?"

"Good, glad to hear!" She shakes her head. "No. Did meet some very large talking wolves when I was with the boys. They weren't very friendly. Shadow walking is still a work in progress, so that's lead to some interesting things." Janessa looks around the stables. "So, more cousins?"

Random arches an eyebrow. "Wolves, you say. ...Remind me-- have you met your uncle Julian yet...?"



"Yes... but now I'm torn about whether to have you talk to brother Julian about the wolves, or to go find him on my own while I have you meet a cousin or two..."

"I can't say I've met that one." Janessa says with a shrug. "I think meeting him and talking about the wolves would be important. One of them definitely has a vendetta against the family, she attacked me just for being related to the boys." She leans in and drops her voice to a whisper.  She steps back and gives her Uncle a moment to process.

"Mm. I see what you mean... Let me-- Ah, first, I forget, do you already have a guest room assigned to you, here...?"

Janessa nods. "Yep. You set on up for me the last time I was here. If my memory serves me correctly, it is near the Library."

"Ah, all right, good. Why don't you drop your stuff off there, and then meet me in the library in, ah, perhaps half an hour...?"

(Meet you in the library thread, UNLESS someone wants to run into you in the Halls of Amber thread first...?)

"Works for me! See you soon." Janessa says, giving him a quick hug before heading off to her room.

>>>>>>>>To her room and then the library