(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.