The trainees arrive in the forest of Arden.

For the Earth-Shadow-raised, it's like being amongst the California giant redwoods, but... much more so.

You're out in front of a large two-story log fort (normal logs, not these twenty-and-thirty-foot-thick giants) with a large, squarish, spiky wall around it.

It's slightly warmer here than up on the mountain, but the deep shade everywhere makes it perfectly comfortable-- the morning's not too far advanced yet, after all.

Julian is present, of course, since you all came through on his card. "Good, good, you brought your weapons... Might as well train with what you're going to be using..."

(Each of you give me a reaction post, please...)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:44, Sat 12 Nov 2022.

Jade smiles and hugs uncle Julian, "Hello uncle thank you for helping us out. His majesty said we need help to survive and that of his brothers he said you would be best to help us to learn how to fight and survive."

She stepped back and after looking around she saw the fort looking at it with curiosity.
She glanced to Ariadne and then to her ax, as if to prompt her to ask about the ax.

Ariadne remembered that, as a teenager, her and her juvenile delinquent friends used to wander around the city of Boston, making fun of all the tourists who stared up like stunned rodents at the tall buildings and the flashy attractions like Fenway Park or the Boston Gardens.  She vowed, even when she moved to Los Angeles, that she'd never do anything like that herself.

And yet, here she was, gaping at the massive trees that made the California redwoods look like a cute grove of willow trees.  It was like everything else here in Amber, it seemed.  They looked like they had been growing and getting better since the Dawn of Time.   It took the old expression "Like this, but on steroids" to a bizarre degree.

Pulling her gaze away from the oppressive but impressive trees, she admired the log cabin, which she presumed was much more impressive than some goofy forest ranger house back home.
She nodded and smiled at Julian.

"Yes, I appreciate your time, Uncle Julian.  And I had a question for you, before we got started, if you don't mind"

"Yes...?"

Ariadne nodded to the imposing man, one of the more imposing she'd ever met, including movers and shakers in Hollywood
"I've brought my mother's axe with me today, hoping to practice with it and be able to use it in a fight.   Not that it makes a hige difference,  but did it have a name or anything like that?"

Jade looks all expectant.

"I'm sorry to say that I don't know. Have you asked your father about it?"

Ariadne blushed and shook her head
"No, I'll admit i never thought of  that.  I suppose some part of me still thinks of him as separate from all of this Amber stuff, despite everything "

Jade walks over resting her hand gently on Ariadne's shoulder. "If your father doesn't know then it means you can get to name it yourself, I am sure your mother would approve."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:01, Mon 14 Nov 2022.

Jon nods to his Uncle and smiles as Jade takes the lead.

He listens as Ari and Julian talk.

"I agree with Jade, though I think that you will get the name the ax."

Offers his hand to Julian "Thank you Uncle Julian for this opportunity. It came sooner than I thought."

Julian is slightly uncomfortable-- or is he just surprised at such warmth from a family member? But he shakes hands. "This training? Yes, well, it's high time. Difficult times have returned, and everyone must be ready, if they are to survive. We don't want to lose any more family members."

Jon nods "I agree, Uncle.  Or I guess for now, Master."

"Hmph. Let's go with Uncle, between those two options." He turns and addresses everyone. "Present your weapons, please..."

Ariadne got a little distracted thinking about Axe Names, but quickly presented her mother's battle axe.
"I've also got some knives and daggers,  as well as a couple of slim hand axes"

"No, this axe will do for now." One of Julian's men brings a small bucket and a brush. The bucket contains a sort of light purple liquid. At Julian's direction, the liquid is lightly brushed onto the points and edges (or, in the case of any bludgeoning weapons, just the bludgeoning part in general) of the weapons. They do the same with Julian's sword, too.

The helper then jogs back to the fort.

"Now, when I give the signal, I want you... to attack one another. Not to first blood, if you can help it-- just touching. Everyone try your best to dodge, too. When you have been tagged, call 'I'm out' and hurry over to the front gate of the fort." Julian very lightly runs his own sword edge along his left sleeve. Nothing happens-- but seconds later, a purple mark shows up. "With this, there can be no confusion about who too a hit where. Are you all ready...?"

Jade presents her parasol and Eric's rapier. As her weapons. She is a little worried her favorite uncle might mock her for her choice of weapon but it really is full of tricks and various weapons for her use and had been on the pattern. She was sure Eric's sword most likely had been on the pattern too.

Jade nods when she sees him display the purpose of the liquid.

She looks to the others and nods.

"And... GO!"

Ariadne looked skeptical,  but took back her axe and got ready.

At the signal, she tried to swat Jon.with her axe.

OOC:
18:45, Today: Ariadne rolled 13 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,5.  Dex

This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Tue 15 Nov 2022.

Jade tries to hit her fellow female and...yeah



17:54, Today: Jade rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,2.  Dex Bonk Ariadne.

Jon tries to attack Ari, but pulls back to attempt to block her attack.
It causes him to miss both hitting Ari and blocking her strike.

13:24, Today: Jon rolled 3 using 2d6+1 ((1,1)).

"I'm Out!"

(Ariadne, you totally get Jon. Where'd you get 'im? Arm? Chest? Stomach? Leg? Something scarier?

Wherever it is, your control is so perfect it will leave a purple line without harming him at all, but I wanna know where it is.

Jon: You're out, details to follow.

No one has targeted Jade, and she missed, so she's still in-- UNLESS you got both of them with one swing, maybe Ariadne? If so where'd you mark 'er?)

Ari would have aimed for an arm on Jon.  If possible,  she might have tried to knock Jade's parasol out of her hands, rather than aiming for her body

(With a Dex roll of 13 (and Jade's 6), I'm saying it's possible.)

"Halt!" says Julian. "Cease all movement, please...!"

He inspects Jon's sleeve, Jade's dropped parasol, glances at Ariadne for purple marks, spots none. "Mm. Well, this was instructive. Hm..." He looks Jade up and down. "My dear," he says to Jade, "this is not my specialty, but it occurs to me that I may be limiting you a bit... prematurely. If our royal cousin Merlin were here-- or your mother, for that matter, I think-- either of them might very well handle such an exercise rather differently than what I am asking for. Tell me a bit about your magical abilities, please... What might you be able to do in a combat situation? Er, tell, please, don't show-- for now."

Jade looked back and forth between Julian and her cousins. She inhaled and then let out a slow exhale.

"Well, like my mother I seem to have inherited certain gifts with the more magical arts like the cards and sorcery. I even picked up a Pattern trick that was taught to me by aunt Florimel. Yet, I really hoped to improve my fighting skills as I know they are not my strongest point. I even had my parasol loaded with trick fighting gear though I wanted to face this challenge without trickery. As for magic, I can sense it feel it around me, and tell when it is in items or people. I can charm an opponent for a time so as to gain an ally instead of be facing an enemy. I can also speak mentally and receive a response without talking aloud. When Jon spoke of the fey and their magics, I found that it opened up even more magic to me. I have always been able to change my looks, but now it goes beyond this I can walk around unseen, or control light and dark. So if I need to I could blind an opponent. My hopes though are to learn to become as competent as I can be with my parasol."

Julian thinks, then nods. He gestures. One of his men comes. "Jachim," Julian says to him, "this is the Princess Jade. You are going to attempt to grab her by the throat. If all goes well, she is going to magically restrict your vision, and then she's going to throw you over there. You've got that?"

"Yes sir." This is not Jachim's first Doing-Whatever-Julian-Orders rodeo.

"The darkness or brightness, blinding... it will be temporary, yes...?" Julian casually asks Jade.

"I understand and yes, temporary." She gave a curt nod.

She prepared herself and allowed the man to try and grab her while releasing a dazzling burst of light from her eyes towards the man. partially dazzled by her own light she tried to toss the man where Julian had directed her.


12:09, Today: Jade rolled 7 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,3.  Magic Glamoury.

12:11, Today: Jade rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,5.  Throw (Strength).

Looks at the die bot

Jade dazzles the man before he can get his hands touching her throat, and she picks him up and tosses him but she was kind of blinded too and she didn't get a good grip on him and he goes up in the air about a foot and then falls back down on her and knocks her down with him on top of her oh no


After a couple of seconds Jachim scrambles off of Princess Jade, crawls with difficulty over to the side, stands up, and holds a salute. Not bad for a guy whose vision is still at like 10% right now

"Ok that was less then stellar."

"Sorry, mom."

Gets up and brushes her armor off also saluting to Julian.

"All right then... We need more practice." Julian sighs, and points to the woods, vaguely to the southwest (based on the current location of the sun). "You three, nephew and nieces, go that way. I will be sending my men after you after two minutes, with non-lethal weapons treated with the purple dye marker. Anyone who marks one of my men and then returns here without a new purple mark of their own will be said to have succeeded. Please try not to kill nor permanently harm my men, although I dare say I have trained them well enough that that shouldn't be too much of a problem. It better not be, anyway, if they know what's good for them. Any questions before you set off...?"

Ariadne watched the fight,  honestly a bit dazzled herself at the sparks and lightshow.
Still,  she could see where Jade might have stumbled, metaphorically speaking. It reminded her of women she'd known who'd taken extensive Self Defense classes, mastering, at least in class, the various moves and counter moves, and all the tricks the instructor taught.   But then, one woman she'd dated for a few months was mugged in a supermarket parking lot, and admitted later that she mostly froze up and just flailed around until Ari, who'd been delayed buying a surprise for dinner, showed up to beat the man half to death.
Sadly, the class was very different from the real world, and the woman's embarrassment soon led to their breakup.

Although, to be fair, Jade was hardly as much a timid person that Cheryl had been, and it might have been the immense skill of Julian that made the difference here.

She listened to Julian, basically saying that his armed men were about to start hunting them with a 2 minute headstart, and her eyebrows went up to nearly her hairline.
Still, she realized, this was how they did things in Amber. Organized, but savage.

She shook her bewildered head.
"Um...no, i guess not."
She had many questions, but most of them sounded like she was trying to grt hints or otherwise trying to cheat.

Jade nodded, "I understand."

She set to sprint to the forest.
A plan formed in her mind as she retrieved her parasol.

She waited till they had entered the wood and focused on Ariadne.



16:51, Today: Jade rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,4.  Message 120' to Ariadne.



Speaking to Ariadne's mind telepathically.

~Hi cousin, it's Jade. I have an idea. I could turn invisible and mark our pursuers. My weapon is the most leaf like with a bit of give to it. As long as I don't whack them. If you and Jon could distract them I may be able to mark all of them while remaining hidden. You can reply to me~

Ari looked around, obviously distracted,  then realized it was Jade's magical telepathy that she'd heard.
She chuckled at herself,  then nodded
~ "I suppose that makes sense.  It sounds like cheating,  but perhaps Julian will consider this 'strategy' and 'teamwork'."~

~We are a team, and they are a team. I am going to fill in Jon on the plan.~

She focused her mental speech on Jon.

~Jon, it's Jade. If when you and Ariadne hide those men will find us. I will be invisible. I can mark them with my Umbrella. Distract them then when they are marked we can get back here.~

Jon smiles as he watches Jade work.  She needs practice, but she already got the gist.

Jon nods to Julian and heads off with his cousins.

~Understood, we will do our best.  But be warned, they are trained to hunt all matter of beasts.~ he responds to Jade.

he moves closer to Ari "Let's start with a layered formation.  You in front at first, I will use my bow to slow them down.  Once they get close, I'll switch to shield and sword and take point.  This should allow you to alternate attacking the left and right and protect our flank."

Jade nods to Jon and walks in Ariadne's footsteps to disguise herself from tracking.

Once they get a certain distance and a minute has passed she calls on her glamoury to vanish from sight. Her goal was to be in a place where the foliage would not give her away but where she could extend the parasol among branches and leaves so as to mark the rangers. Not to whack them simply to let them through their own motions to back into it. She will work with the others.



08:06, Today: Jade rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,2.  Glamoury Invisibility.
YAY

In reply to Jon (msg # 34):

Ari looked askance at Jon, obviously confused
"You're shooting a bow?? Wouldn't that kill.someone??"
She still moved to the formation that Jon suggested, though

Jon gives her a smile "Only if I aim for a kill shot or miss badly. The intent is to give them pause and sow confusion. Now let's hide..."

Jon moves to take a hidden position that gives him a sight line around them.


OOC: 11:29, Today: Jon rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((2,5)).

Ariadne, with a very "I'm for sure not in Kansas anymore" look on her face, tried to hide as well.  She was remembering the times her father would drag her, sometimes kicking and whining, to the woods in Western Massachusetts, and taught her some basic, and admittedly rudimentary, skills in moving quietly and stealthily.
Once again, she realized how little she'd really appreciated her father and everything he had to teach her, even though he was notoriously vague about why he was doing so


OOC: 17:24, Today: Ariadne rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,5.  Dex

Ariadne picks her hiding spot so well, she's the first-- and, for several seconds, the only-- one to see Janessa coming...

Ariadne assumed that Janessa was there to join them, and hoped that what she was about to do wasn't a stupid mistake.


She poked her hand out and waved to her.

Janessa makes her way, tracking her cousins as best she can in the unfamiliar surroundings. A wave of relief passes through her as she recognizes Ariadne‘a hand. Stealthily she approaches. “Thanks Ariadne. Was haven’ a heck of a time there for a minute.” Janessa whispers.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:41, Tue 29 Nov 2022.

Ari smiled
"Anytime, cuz.  Welcome to the party"

Two of Julian's men come along. They're very stealthy-- not making a sound. Ariadne sees them first, then Jade, then Janessa.

Jon is the last to spot them-- just as they spot him!

Fast as lightning, one draws back an already-notched arrow...

But there's time for Jade to do something about that-- she, invisible, is closest...

Jade slides the length of her closed parasol over his throat of the one who drew the arrow and whispers very softly in his ear. "Your out of the game." She then spirits herself away from the gathered men.

The man curses to himself and puts his arrow back in his quiver, and then he walks over to a tree (about 20 feet back the way he came) to wait and see if his comrade will fare any better.

The other man, sword already drawn, looks around, this way and that (and up in the branches above once or twice), confused at what might've made his colleague quit 'playing,' keeping a sharp eye on Jon...

Ariadne tried to quietly pick up a rock to throw

OOC:  14:12, Today: Ariadne rolled 7 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,2.  Dex

Jon spotting the two men just as one is "killed" he fires on the second one.

OOC: 20:36, Today: Jon rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((6,1)).

The man hears Ariadne, spots her, runs quickly toward her...

--But before he reaches her, Jon fires an arrow at him.

Jon misses, but the man didn't expect that-- it rattles him, and he runs off to the right (well, his right), and disappears behind a very wide tree branch.

Good news: no one has taken any new purple marks.

Bad news: a guy who knows where you are is loose and you don't have eyes on him right now...

Ari scowled and cursed under her breath that she outed herself, dropping her stone, then tried to move to another tree, her throwing axe in hand.

OOC:  12:51, Today: Ariadne rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,3.  Dex

As Ariadne runs, she manages to dodge not one, but two arrows.

She makes it behind the new tree.

Both arrows were from the same direction... She-- and anyone watching-- have an idea of where the archer is-- or was barely a second ago.

Speaking of watching, the "dead" ranger sits down, resting, fascinated to see what will happen next...

Janessa cursed slightly under her breath as the arrows flew after her cousin. She darts around another tree and sinks into a nearby bush. Crab walking through it to another tree, looking for a low branch that she can use to climb.

OOC: 10:12, Today: Jon rolled 4 using 2d6 ((1,3)).  That is actually a 5, forgot to add my Dex

Jon moves to fire at archer shooting at Ari, but looses his footing and drops the bow and tries to stop himself from falling.

OOC: 10:15, Today: Jon rolled 11 using 2d6+1 ((5,5)). Dex save to catch himself before he falls (if it is needed), if not, then it is his check to jump down from the Tree.

(Roll Perception for this, Janessa)



Jon completely messes up trying to hit the archer, but he gracefully grabs his bow as he falls and lands on his feet from the tree ready for anything...

...Nothing. The archer guy must be hiding behind cover right now too...

Jade keeps a lookout for the archer shooting at her cousins. Trying to find where they may be.



11:02, Today: Jade rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,2.  Perception.

Ariadne peeked around, straining her ears and eyes ro find a sign of the trooper

OOC:
16:26, Yesterday: Ariadne rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,5.  Perception
This message was last edited by the player at 00:36, Wed 21 Dec 2022.

13:53, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,5.  Perception .

Jon, peaks out from the behind the tree looking and more importantly listening for the archer as he readies to fire.


OOC: 14:10, Today: Jon rolled 9 using 2d6 ((6,3)). Perception

The archer spots Ariadne and fires at her!

And misses-- but it hits Jade! DANG! Poor, unlucky Jade!

The arrowhead just tears her sleeve-- it doesn't quite break the skin of her arm-- but she's hit, and she knows it!

She starts to flicker-- Jade manage to rush to cover behind a tree just before her invisibility drops entirely.

Janessa, meanwhile, looking for a good low branch, happens to not only spot the archer, but better, he doesn't see her-- she's already got the drop on him!

(Go, Janessa! Attack roll! Get 'im!)

Jade looks at her sleeve and her eyes widen as she books it behind a large tree.

Darn it. He wasn't even aiming for me.

She knows she could cover the slash with an illusion but that wouldn't be fair. She clenched her fists.

Lightning flashes down from the sky striking several tree tops and sending light spirals of smoke into the air.





10:04, Today: Jade rolled 8 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,3.  Glamory Lightning.



Jade then moved over and sat near the man who she had killed and slumped down.
Her eyes downcast cursing her luck.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:12, Wed 21 Dec 2022.

"Don't feel too bad," says the guard next to her. "He didn't even know you were there. It was just bad luck. You got me first..."

"Thanks, yeah I wanted to protect the others. You were really fast with your bow. You know who I am, but what is your name ?" She smiled trying to make the best of things.

"I'm Carlyle. Hey." (He blushes a little) "I mean, a pleasure to meet you, Princess."

"Very nice to meet you Carlyle. I love meeting new people. I didn't get much chance in Rebma." She shakes his hand and looks out at the action going on.

"You rangers are good ! Even without magic you just disappeared into the wilderness when things started to go down. I couldn't spot your companions. What is it like working for my uncle Julian ?"

"It's rough but... good. He's... a good leader. No disrespect to the King, of course. Nor anyone else. It's satisfying work. Never dull for long, either."

"I am glad to hear that. I like uncle Julian a lot. I am glad to hear that his men feel the same. I know I have to get a lot better like my cousin Ariadne, or Janessa, maybe even someday I might be like Jon or Lance or maybe even Ballad." She smiled hoping Ballad and Lance were ok wherever they might be.

"Hey, you got me... If you can turn invisible, that's pretty darn useful in a fight. And next time, you'll know to take cover in the meantime just in case."

Jade beamed with pride, "I have always had the gift of being a Siren from my mother though Prince Jon there. The one you almost got with your bow. He awakened in me a heritage that allowed me to do things like turn invisible. Thank you for that, it means a lot. I grew up hearing the stories of the surface and the warriors here and so I try to push myself to live up to it. It is a lot to live up to. One thing I am pretty good at is making friends, I hope we get to be friends Carlyle."

In reply to The GM (msg # 58):

Janessa smiles slightly and throws her dagger at the archer.

Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,2.  Dex.

"I wouldn't mind that at all... Princess..."

---

Meanwhile, Janessa misses-- because the archer throws himself backward to the ground dodging.

(The archer is now in a bad position-- anyone attempting to make a move on him next (but not Janessa, she just went) gets an extra +1 bonus on top of any stat bonus you might have.

In other words, she technically missed, but set the guy up for you...)

Jon sees Janessa throw at archer, who dodges, but is no longer in cover.  Jon tries to line up a shot, once he releases, he ducks back for cover.

OOC: 16:23, Today: Jon rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((4,1)).
Wow, the Dice Roller just doesn't want us to hit.  And I realize I've been forgetting to add my dex to my bow shots.

He searches behind him to see if anyone is moving in on our flank.

Seeing the archer exposed, Ariadne threw another rock at him, still feeling weird about throwing an actual axe at another human being, especially one who was theoretically a friend.


OOC:
16:03, Today: Ariadne rolled 11 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,5.  Rock throw

Rattled by trying to be too aware of the entire battlefield at once, Jon totally misses.

On the good side, there's zero sign of more of Julian's rangers showing up so far.



In a beautiful shot, Ariadne hits the ranger's right hand-- just as he was in the middle of bringing a new arrow from a quiver to string and fire.

The arrow never gets strung and pulled back, let alone fired. The man just mutters a curse and holds his hand painfully.

He doesn't just sit there, though-- he jumps up and runs for better cover...

He's not "out of the game" because Ariadne just throwing a rock she picked up doesn't mean the man has been tagged with a purple mark yet...

Ariadne frowned in annoyance that the ranger had apparently cheated, by ignoring his "wound", but then she remembered the rule about the blue paint.
She sighed in exasperation at her own stupidity and went to cover again, this time vowing to play this game by the rules, no matter how barbaric

OOC:
11:22, Today: Ariadne rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,4.  Hide

This message was last edited by the player at 20:23, Thu 05 Jan 2023.

Ariadne moves into some tall bushes and stuff a bit like bamboo, but softer.

She is well-hidden from view, from all directions.

After several seconds of careful listening, she-- yes. Sound. Over-- that way. Maybe 20 feet away. Someone moving carefully... someone who's not a blood relation of hers...

(I think I'll give you (just you, Ariadne) a +1 to follow up on these small noises you're hearing...)

Ariadne took a breath to force herself to calm down and concentrate
She remembered trips to the woods with her father, when they stalked deer and rabbits.
Not to kill them, but the surprisingly nimble and stealthy historian (well, perhaps not so surprising since arriving in Amber), would play games with his daughter to try to sneak up on wild animals, with the winner being able to touch a deer's flank 9r grab a rabbit by the ears.  Was he trying to prepare her for this kind of thing?

The tall woman shrugged the revelation away, and focused on the present, working to search with all.her senses where her "prey" might be


OOC:  13:55, Today: Ariadne rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,6.  Perception

There-- there's the archer, hoping he's completely hidden (well he is to the rest of the cousins, but not Ariadne), rubbing his right hand with his left... His bow's attached to his back right now and his sword isn't even drawn... you've got the drop on him.

(Extra +2 to follow up on THIS, Ariadne...)

In reply to The GM (msg # 76):

Her heart beating like a jackhammer, Ariadne saw one of the soldiers who worked for Uncle Julian.  She took out her blue painted throwing axe and....despite every instinct telling her this was a BAD idea...Threw it at him.   At his leg, hopefully,  so maybe it wouldn't hurt him too badly?
She remembered her father's lessons in axe throwing, among all the other weird th9ngs he taught her about his collection of ancient weapons.   And, once again, Ari had presumed that her time playing with throwing axes was just time spent goofing off with her eccentric father.
Once again, it seemed,  Daddy had a plan.

She threw the axe

OOC:  08:49, Today: Ariadne rolled 10 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 2,4.  Axe throw

The throw goes perfectly-- the axe slices open the guy's pants leg-- and the skin underneath, but while it's enough to bleed, the tibia under THAT means it's a fairly shallow cut. Slap a bandage on it, he'll be fine in no time.

Both leg and clothing, however, have a purple mark. The archer backs up, very startled, and throws both (unarmed) hands up. "OUT! I mean, ah, I'm out! Got me!"

Ariadne tried VERY hard not to give a "Whoo Hoo!!!!!" of victory,  while trying to stealthily peek from her cover to see of the man was okay (she's known men who would try to minimize a sucking chest wound)

OOC:
 17:34, Today: Ariadne rolled 8 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 6,3.  Willpower to keep from cheering
17:34, Today: Ariadne rolled 8 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,4.  Stealth to peek at the soldier, just for the sake of paranoia

Ariadne lets out a Whoo Hoo, but it isn't a shout-- just a little bit louder than the average indoor voice.

The soldier guy is fine, seriously. "Since your graces have got me and Carlyle, we'll both head back now. Unless you want to go on ahead first, and then we'll wait here. Prince Julian doesn't expect you to wait out here all day and all night until our side runs out of rangers-- enough time has passed now that he'll expect you to start heading back, and to see how many of you can make it back inside the fort without getting tagged first. Er, no one'll fire at you from the walls of the fort, nor inside it..."

"I will help you back, you have a bad leg after that and maybe even a crushed finger or two. I have already gotten tagged by the paint so I might as well head back. You did good Ariadne, I am proud of all my cousins."

Jade will move to offer to help the man with the injured leg.

"Sure, we'll escort you back, Princess Jade," says Carlyle. "With us, everyone'll know you're out of the ga-- er, training exercise, too, and they'll know not to snipe at you with arrows..."

In reply to The GM (msg # 80):

Though she still feeling just a bit guilty for hitting a fellow human being with an axe, Ariadne smiled broadly and nodded to the soldier.
"Sounds like a plan.    Okay, gang, shall we proceed to mosey on back to homebase?"
She grinned at her two remaining cousins, feeling weirdly giddy, like after the first time she did bungee jumping or hang gliding.  She'd been in fights before, and would punch someone in the nose without hesitation, but combat, REAL combat, was a bit of a rush.

Seeing Jade go with the soldiers, Ari nodded to her.
"Good job yourself, Jade.  Your magic was impressive when I first saw it, but I'm definitely seeing how valuable it is now.  See you back home."

"Yes, heading back sounds good.  But we need to be careful and stealthy.  It sounds like there are other rangers preparing an ambush for us." He moves towards Ari "Come join us Janessa."

"Carlyle and Princess Jade and I will wait here for just a few minutes... we'll give your graces a chance to go on ahead-- then the three of us will make our own way back... Er, in a straight line, I think, unless you'd like us to bear more to the left, or the right?"

Ariadne blinked in momentary confusion, not realizing for a second that the soldier was talking to them.  Was he asking their permission as to where to go?  Ari had been raised to be a fairly assertive, even bossy, person, by her father, but this was a level of authority that was weird and even a bit surreal.
She smiled sheepishly
"A straight line is fine with me.  Go ahead and enjoy a nice,  leisurely walk in the woods.  You've all earned it."

"Understood, Princess. You three go on ahead."

Jon moves up to Janessa and Ari whispering "Once we are out of site of those three, we should try and approach the fort from an unexpected angle."

Ariadne nodded, making a thoughtful face
"Works for me.  How about we head...um, left?"
She tries to be stealthy
OOC:  18:45, Today: Ariadne rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,5.  Stealth

This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Mon 09 Jan 2023.

(Ariadne's roll is completely successful to the point that I'm not gonna make Jon nor Janessa also roll for stealth.)

As you head left, Ariadne leading all of you as stealthily as possible, you see a new ranger off to your right, headed deeper into the forest... He's about 40 feet away (you all stop as soon as you see him).

What now? Let him go by? Try to take him out? Wait and see if there's anyone working with him...? Other...?

Ariadne looked to the others, to see if Jon or Janessa had a shot.

Jon whispers "Let's let him pass by.  See if there are others following."

The ranger moves forward (for him-- to your right), looks around (doesn't see you so far), studies the ground for a second--

--then looks to his left (farther from you than he is) and makes a hand sign. Dang, you don't even see anyone over there, but it seems like he does...

If you had to guess, the hand sign might've meant No sign here, let's keep going.

Keep waiting/observing?

---

Meanwhile, Carlyle turns to Jade. "So, the red-headed Princess-- Janessa, was it? Is she from, the, ah, magical side of the family too?"

"I would imagine this is so. I have to get to know her better to be sure though. We are new to one another. I know she is from Earth like a lot of my cousins seem to be."

Jade smiles, "Do you like her ? She is pretty."

Ariadne hesitated, wanting to get a look at who else was there

"I'm not asking 'cause I'm interested in her--" was there a tiny emphasis on the word her, there? "--in that way; I just wondered if we should expect, I don't know, fireballs to start exploding soon or something." Did his eyes flick upwards to the treetops where lightning had recently touched? Mmmmmaybe.

---

The cousins do nothing, and the ranger moves on.

Watching closely-- yeah, just for a second, another ranger, like maybe another 35 yards farther out that way. Both of them seem to be moving vaguely in the direction the cousins have just come from.

Ari bit her lip in indecision, then looked over at Jon and Janessa, nodding towards the soldiers, giving a sheepish but somewhat predatory smile.
It seemed she wanted to go after them

Jade's skin tinges a light blue for a moment around her cheeks, "Oh, uhm I really don't know. We shouldn't be the targets even if she can do that, and since the rules are only marking by the paint takes people out for this practice. I think your fellow rangers are safe."

Jade walked along only stopping very briefly for the moment before continuing to carry the injured ranger along with Clyde back to the place they were all headed. Her eyes were a bit wider perhaps Jon was right about her being pretty it was so different being on the other side of the maids shadow.

*nods* Points for Janessa to go Right, Jon indicates he'll go left and let Ari up the middle. "Stealthy" he whispers.

"Oh, right, well... I don't know much about magic, myself. But what you say makes sense. Just wondering..."

---

(Okay, folks, roll Agile for trying to sneak up on the rangers...)

In reply to The GM (msg # 100):
OOC: Well a fight it is *sigh* 14:16, Today: Jon rolled 6 using 2d6+1 ((3,2)).
Archery Shot: 14:17, Today: Jon rolled 7 using 2d6+1 ((2,4)). Unless my move "It's Nice When Families Do Things Together" counts, then that would be an 8. Still not 100% sure how and when to apply those.

Well let's hope the other two are stealthy, that way I can be the distraction. "I meant to do that!"

Ariadne tried to sneak after the soldiers, though she might have been a bit too rushed in her excitement
If she saw Jon shoot, she'd quickly hurl an axe


OOC:
17:44, Today: Ariadne rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,4.  Axe throw .
17:44, Today: Ariadne rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,6.  Stealth

The archer sees Jon, and with blinding speed, notches an arrow and fires just as Jon releases.

Both men hit.

Jon's out-- he's got an arrow slice next to one rib-- barely broke the skin-- not even any blood.

The archer's out as well-- an arm nick.

Ariadne's axe nicks his boot anyway, belatedly.

But where's his partner? Get back under cover, fast, Ariadne!

Ariadne smiled at her foot shot, and turned to look for the other soldier.
She didn't see him. Ari winced.
"Well.....crap....crap on a crap cracker...."
Ducking back for cover, she saw that Jon was eliminated.  Swearing softly, she looked around for Janessa and the other soldier

OOC:  19:40, Today: Ariadne rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,4.  Perception .
19:40, Today: Ariadne rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,6.  Stealth.

The ranger's partner is... THERE! A woman ranger-- WAIT! She moved! And now Ariadne's lost track of her! But she's... over there-ish... somewhere...

There's a clearing to the left, so if she goes there, she'll be an easy target... so she probably won't go there. You'll probably  see her if she moves to your right... IF you stay right where you are and keep a close watch.

Of course, the other ranger could just move away from you and back off... maybe come back from another direction.

No sign of Janessa right now...

(Will Ariadne...
--Stay put?
--Circle around to the left?
--Circle around to the right?
--Charge ahead unexpectedly?
--Something else?)

Jon smiles and walks over to the archer "Good shot." he offers him his hand to shake.

Ariadne got a glimpse of a female soldier before she ducked back behind the trees.  The woman looked fairly attractive,  but then Ari had always had a thing for a lady in uniform.
"No!  Pay attention!!" she chided herself.  "This is NO time to get distracted by a pretty face. Have to take this seriously and win!"

She'd lost sight of Janessa, as well as the other soldier, and bit her lip in frustration.   Moving quickly, she tried to keep an eye out for both women while moving to another clump of trees.

Ducking low, she was more stealthy than observant as she moved quickly around a tree trunk


OOC:  12:13, Today: Ariadne rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,5.  Stealth.
12:13, Today: Ariadne rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,4.  Perception

Ariadne feels like no one spotted nor heard her as she moved position... but she doesn't spot anyone, either (including Janessa).

But she doesn't KNOW that. She thinks it, but...

Well, it didn't feel to her that anyone saw her move...

The problem is, it feels like it's not safe to LEAVE this spot, either. Anxious-making...

(For that 6 result, Janessa gets a -1 penalty on her next roll.)

---

The archer smiles and shakes hands with Jon. "Thank you, your grace. The same to you."

Smiles "Thanks. Your whole team was top notch." he looks out trying to spot the other archer, Ari and Janessa "Would you like to watch this play out or head back?" he asks.

OOC: Perception: 10:43, Today: Jon rolled 4 using 2d6 ((2,2)). "Huh, I am in a forest."

(Hmm, I don't think I'm gonna give you XP for that, buddy, since you're not actually in the contest right now (and therefore there's hardly any stakes)...!)

"Let's be still and un-distracting to the ladies and see how this plays out, I think, since your grace's asked my opinion... I mean... aren't you curious...?"

OOC: NP, I wasn't expecting any XP. The comment was more of a Joke from my table top games, every time we effectively fail a perception check, someone always states the obvious.  And since I tried to build Jon a bit of a ranger / type, it was very funny to me.
So let's see if Jon can find something other than the forest :) 18:09, Today: Jon rolled 8 using 2d6 ((6,2)).

Jon nods to the Ranger and smiles "Oh absolutely, Ariadne has proven to be very capable. So seeing her in this setting is going to be fun.  And Janessa, I am still getting to know.  So seeing what she can do will be enlightening."

Oh, there's Janessa, hidden over there, waiting for a target, apparently...

Better not stare-- you don't want the enemy ranger (who's still in the contest) to follow your line-of-sight...

Aware that only she and Janessa were the only ones still "alive", Ariadne decided to push things forward a bit.  Trying to be careful, she crept forward, looking for the soldier she saw earlier


OOC:
18:49, Today: Ariadne rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,3.  Perception .
18:49, Today: Ariadne rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,6.  Stealth.

Ariadne moves position, farther away from Jon and the ranger that's out of the contest... but she still doesn't see or hear Janessa nor her target... ARGH!

(-1 toward your next roll again!)

Janessa takes a breath and closes her eyes to calm her mind, just like good ol’ dad taught her. She extends her consciousness out, searching for other minds, not just her current quarry but for any others lurking about.

Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,5.  Willpower (telepathy).

Janessa's hiding place in the foliage allows her to relax and concentrate well.

There's Ariadne, way over there...

There's Jon and the other ranger...

Ah-ha, there's the female ranger, moving from Janessa's right to her left... moving slowly... arrow already nocked... getting (slowly) closer...

(Janessa gets a +1 to her next roll involving trying to take the female ranger out of the contest...)

Janessa smiles softly and throws her dagger at where she senses the female ranger.

Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,3.  Dex.

Ari tried to covertly see what was happening


OOC:
19:19, Today: Ariadne rolled 13 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,6.  Perception

Jade looks sad, "Oh darn, I was really hoping Prince Jon would make it. He is a ranger as well in the lands he is from." Jade waves Jon and the other ranger he hit with the arrow over to them.

She introduces Jon to Clyde and the injured man she is helping.

"I'm sorry you are out of the battle practice Jon."

Jon smiles "Its fine." and shrugs "Uncle's rangers are good and at least I took one out with me." he gives the ranger a nod. "It also confirms that, like I expected, I still have a lot to learn and need to practice."

He grins "And your magic was really impressive.  It was just bad luck that you got tagged. Your invisibility and lightning were great.  And like I told you when we started our basic training, I knew it would be useful."

"I suppose you're right. That is why we are here to learn and get better. So we don't give those gray men a chance against us." She smiled slightly.

"I was just hoping to make a good impression on our uncle, Prince Julian. I am still hoping for Janessa and Ariadne to come back victorious!"

Jon nods "I don't think he will be disappointed per se. I believe that this was a test to get our baseline, so that he knows where we are each starting at." he looks out over the forest.

"I agree, I hope Ari and Janessa are victorious."

Jon is putting up a good front, but he is not happy that he was eliminated so quickly.

Janessa misses, because the woman jumps to the side and dodges--

--but she's out in the open, now-- Ariadne spots her, too--

(Janessa gets a +1 to her next roll regarding the female ranger-- but Ariadne gets +2! Who will be the next to make a move...?!?!?!)

Ariadne got a glimpse of the female soldier as she leaned out from her hiding place.  She was within "axe throwing range", which is a phrase Ariadne would NEVER have thought she'd be using so often, but she was also close enough to hit with her her battle axe. She'd gotten one soldier throwing an axe, perhaps it was time to try something new?
It was a risk, charging someone who had a ranged weapon, but she remembered something that Jeremy, the stunt coordinator of her movies Vectortpwn and Madame Mink, Ariadne's sort of successful superhero movies, once told her. It was called The Reactionary Gap.
When two combatants squared off, and one had a gun, or other ranged weapon, that one usually had a huge advantage. However, there was normally a certain distance between them.  If the distance was small, say 3 to 5 meters, an unarmed but athletic person could charge the armed person, closong the gap of distance and grab, punch ot tackle them, before the armed person could draw their gun.  Or, if they were fast enough, before the person could even properly aim a drawn gun.
How close was the soldier?  It was almost impossible to tell in the woods.  But, feeling a bit cocky, Ariadne decided to go for it.  Rushing from her hiding spot, she launched herself at the female soldier, swinging her mother's axe, hoping to smack the other woman's legs with the flat, and blue colored, part of the blade.


OOC:  21:51, Today: Ariadne rolled 7 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,1.  Axe tackle
(Str)

The ranger saw Ariadne coming, and panicked. She fired her arrow at Ariadne, and then ran away from the charging princess, dropping her bow and drawing a sword instead.

Both of them missed one another...

Seeing the other woman drop her bow, Ariadne, while annoyed that she'd clumsily alerted the soldier, gritted her teeth and kept going, working to catch her opponent

Ariadne did a dive tackle at the soldier

OOC:  16:12, Today: Ariadne rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,3.  Strength tackle

The woman hops out of the way, and slices Ariadne a very light cut on the back of her right shoulder.

Ariadne's out!!

(WILL Janessa be able to take the female ranger out?!?

Of, like, the contest, I mean?)

Ariadne yelped, a bit more from surprise than pain, and lay on the forest floor for a moment, cursing silently to herself.   She'd gotten greedy and overconfident, and had paid for it.  She looked over at the soldier and nodded in acknowledgement, smiling in amusement.

Janessa curses quietly as her dagger goes wide. She watches Ariadne and winces at her cousin’s yelp. She pulls out her belt knife, which she had coated in the marking material. She steps out and fires a round of magic missiles toward the ranger’s right arm and throws her belt knife toward the woman’s left arm.

22:01, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,3.  Willpower (magic missiles).
22:00, Today: Janessa McCoy rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,4.  Dex (knife throw).
Essentially she’s attempting to make the woman dodge the magic and get hit with the blade.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:05, Thu 26 Jan 2023.

Janessa's plan works perfectly--

--But the ranger gets an arrow off first, and it marks Janessa's sleeve. Janessa isn't hurt at all, but she's out.

(That's everyone out!

Let's see... 4 rangers out, and 4 cousins... am I right that everyone got one ranger each?)

(Sounds right)

Together, everyone heads back to the fort. The rangers quickly and quietly report to Julian. "I'm pleased, I think," says Julian. "Everyone got one of my rangers-- an impressive feat. And it proved that those with magical abilities just need practice in order to be as effective as those without them..."

"Janessa was really amazing, she has offensive magic. I bet that will be really helpful in our battle with these Graymen. I lost sight of her and the others many times, and your ranger Clyde, was really good to talk with as the others continued the exercise."

Jade smiles and then looks to Janessa with a nod.

"Ariadne and Jon were very good at hiding, I think all around people were hesitant to strike with their weapons and that caused some problems."

At the "good at hiding" remark, Ariadne smirked
"Who'd have thought that sneaking into my father's house after curfew would be good practice?"

--Suddenly, Ariadne's cell phone rings.

--Startling everyone but Janessa.

Janessa just kind of ignores it.

--FOR THE FIRST TWO SECONDS. Then Janessa realizes-- HERE?!?!? In Amber?! (Okay Arden but that's practically the same thing right?!)

(Ariadne: Someone you know on Earth is calling you (having no idea where you are). Who is it? (And do they have their own special ringtone? If so, what is it? If not, what's your "typical" ringtone?)

Jon and Jade (and the rangers) have no idea what this new series of sounds coming from Ariadne even is...

(Julian's been to Earth recently enough that he barely does know. (But even he will be quite surprised it's ringing...))

Jade jumps !!!


"What in the Narhwals name is that !"

Having gotten into the "medieval mindset" of Amber, Ariadne was momentarily c9 fused by the sound of her phone ringing at first as well.  She had it on her person because, like most people from Earth, being away from her phone for more than a few minutes gave her mild anxiety, but she'd otherwise totally forgotten she had it in her.

Then, the opening music of Pink's song "Let's Get The Party Started" came out of her leather satchel.  She actually flinched in surprise,  before getting the phone out of her bag.

Tentatively, and almost with incredulously, she answered it.

"Umm....Hello?"

Ariadne listened with a worried face, as if she was worried that someone from Earth uad managed to call Amber to talk to her about her college loans or her car's warranty.
She listened for a moment, then smiled in surprise.



"Oh!!! Hey, Jamie!! Sorry I sound a bit off.  I um...."
She looked around at everyone with a half smirk.
"..well, we're in the woods, and I was sure we had no cell service out here....
She paused to listen


Ariadne blushed a little a rolled her eyes, looking amused but a bit flustered
"No, no...this isn't work related.   I'm....um...visiting my Father.  I've got a bunch of new cousins i hadn't known about, so I'm getting to know them."

She smiled at her cousins, then paused to listen again.

OOC:  shall I finish the conversation?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:22, Thu 02 Feb 2023.

Whispers to Jon, "Her card can sing, kind of."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:34, Wed 01 Feb 2023.

Jon startles at the sound looking around as he hones in on Ari.  He cocks his head quizzically at Ari.  He relaxes a bit when she pulls out her earth card.

He watches Ari converse.

Smiling he whispers back to Jade "It seems so, those earth cards are wonderous. We should study them when we get to earth."

Jade nods, "I wonder if we could get earth cards too ?"
She watched Ari with interest as if the card might make another outburst.

"It is fascinating."

Jon nods "I hope so, they seem very interesting. It seems very different from how our cards work."

"I wonder if I could make my cards sing, when someone contacts you."
Jade starts to think how that might be done.  She then checks on Jon to see if he is ok and wasn't injured during the exercise.

Jon nods to her comment about the cards.
Smiles as she checks him over for injuries "I'm fine, nothing but my pride really.  And that is a small thing, compared to the valuable lesson I learned."

"Your initial plan worked well, they were so focused on you I was able to get one of them without them being aware of me. I think if we work on teamwork we could do really well." She gave a warm smile.

"Have you noticed she is holding her earth card much differently then we hold ours ?"

Jon nods "I agree, we need to work on our team work.  But I am proud of how well we did together, espeically only knowing each other for about a fortnight"

He looks closely at Ari "Hmm, your right, she is holding it to the side of her head.  Near her ear.  Interesting."

Ariadne,  noticing her curious cousins and perhaps feeling a bit self conscious, nodded and talked

"Yeah, we're definitely taking 'medieval times' to another level, but i need to go.  We're in the middle of a kind of family 'outing' and they're waiting for me.  Don't worry,  hun, I'll talk to you later when I can, okay?"

She listened

Ari grinned
"Toodles, young lady.  Have a mimosa for me.  Bye for now"
She looked at her phone and went to touch it, but stared in confusion

"My screensaver is....the Pattern.  At least I think so.  that's weird, right?"
That last part was spoken to her cousins as she looked up at them

Jon shrugs "No idea, I did not take any Cards with me on my walk to compare" he looks to Jade "Any ideas?"

"What is a screen saver ?"

Ariadne shrugged
"It's kind of hard for me to explain, I suppose.   Our phones can have customized pictures on them, it's meant to protect the screen, but also it's become kind of a vanity thing.  Mine has Xena on it, a popular character from fiction on Earth, but just now the background picture looked like the Pattern from the castle. Either way imagining things or it's something the Pattern did to my phone, maybe?"

"Well the pattern can when walking it have an effect on things as you traverse it. I believe that must have happened for your phone card device. Congratulations !" Jade smiled.

"I guess your phone card will work now even here."

Ariadne chuckled
"Which is awesome, except that no one i could call would believe that in here. "
She looked at the camera with eager curiosity
"I wonder if everything else works, like the camera?"

(Interesting question. Yes, I am going to say that the camera works even in Amber now.

If Ariadne tries to look up Amber on the phone using an internet browser, though, it won't help. It'll try, but in a Shadow that doesn't have internet nor Wi-Fi, the phone will only be able to connect to Earth's Wi-Fi.)

Janessa pulls her phone out and checks to see if hers is working. “I think your theory might be correct there coz.” She opens her camera app and takes a quick profile shot of Jade. “Here, look.” Janessa says as she steps towards Jade, holding her cellphone out to her. “You can flip through the pictures I have and see photos of my home, my folks, my half brothers, all sorts of things.”

This message was deleted by the player at 20:17, Sun 05 Feb 2023.

This message was deleted by the player at 15:53, Mon 06 Feb 2023.

Ariadne smiled at Janessa, and nodded
"That's fantastic!  Well, now, let me take a few pictures for posterity, then.  Everyone!  Smile and say 'Money!'"

If they were willing, Ari would take a picture of each of them, and even of the rangers (though she'd respect their privacy if they weren't amenable.)

"Money!" Big smile.

When she's finished, Ari will show them each their digital pictures.
"I'll admit that I'm not scientifically literate enough to explain exactly how it works, but it's not magic. It's not like the trump cards, so these pictures have no connection to you"

She pondered for a moment how fantastic it would be if her phone could make trump imagines, and chuckled to herself mentally at the absurdity of that

"Your phone card thing, could make artists obsolete." Jade blinked seeing herself and the others perfectly reproduced from only seconds before.

Ariadne chuckled
"Well, this is good for convenience,  but it won't replace artistic work. "

"I was thinking I would probably have to create wildly unrealistic art, with such small artists handling the realistic art so accurately and quickly." Shrugs slightly.

"It could sing too, sort of."

Jon says "Money!" as directed and then marvels at the images. "Sorcery! Truly.  I've never seen paintings this detailed and life like!"

"Money must be the magic word that gets the tiny artist to work."

She stands next to Jon, "Money !"

Ariadne laughed, covering her mouth slightly as her mirth got the best of her
"Well, you're not as far off as you might think.   These phones and their innovations are definitely driven by economic reasons, with better ones being more expensive and exclusive,  but the word itself isn't some kind of magic trigger.  It's just a trick a photographer taught me years ago.  Saying "Money" makes people's mouths seem to naturally form a smile better than most other words, and these images are usually preferred with smiling faces"

"Oh." Jade blushes her unusual coloring tinging her cheeks.

"I tend to think of things through a magic lens. So how does it know when to make paintings of us ? It is still amazingly fast and so accurate."

Ariadne shrugged
"I'm actually embarrassed to admit that much of the technology is beyond me.  I know that the earliest cameras operated on a principle similar to what the human eye does, allowing reflected light to cast an image on film.  The last few generations of scientific innovation, however, have definitely created something that's much more intricate and complex, and of better quality. "

"It has an eye ?" She looks at the device more closely.

"What can you explain about it to us? We notice you hold it to your ear."

Ariadne nodded, smiling ruefully
"Well, my explanation will be somewhat limited, as this is a bit outside my area of expertise, but.... hmmm...actually, give me a moment"

Using the smartphone's internet function, she tried to access Youtube or something equivalent

Wow, it's working-- the phone is able to pick up the Earthly internet-- here's YouTube...

"The paintings are moving, it's like a card contact. Hello !"

Jade spends a few seconds talking to the youtube video before realizing they are either rude or unable to hear her.

This message was deleted by the player at 22:46, Tue 07 Feb 2023.

Ariadne smiled but reassured Jade
"This isn't a live contact.  It's a recording.   Essentially a copy of a lecture or performance. "

"A recording? Oh wait! Yes like an illusion left for someone to find they see what you want even without you being there. I think I know the concept." She nodded slowly.

"Your card has many such recordings?"

Ariadne nodded at Jade's understanding, then chuckled
"Well....it's not on my phone per se, but I'm connected to a source back on Earth, so i have access to....I dunno, millions of them, potentially"

Jade just stood there stunned mute.

Ariadne chuckled and hit some buttons
"Oh hey....if you think that stuff is good, then this will blow you're mind"
She showed Jade and the others her phone.
"Remember,  this is all pretend, like a Play or something here..."

The English title said "Boudicca Jones fight scenes, Fast Cars 8"
https://youtu.be/horDm3drat8

Eyes go wide, "That's YOU !"

"That's a play? It looks like you are fighting Prince Martin."

Jade continues to watch in amazement.

Jon moves over to stand next to Jade and watches with her.  He is left speechless by the amazing sight and sound.

Ariadne chuckled and smiled
"We had this AMAZING stunt coordinator named Roscoe who helped set everything up.  It looks seamless, right? "

Jade nods.

"I bet no one bothers you back on Earth."

Ari laughed
"Ironically, there are still plenty of people, especially men, who like to think they can fight me and win.  Like they think if they 'take me in a fair fight' that I'll fall in love with them or something.  It gets awkward at times."

"I could take you in a fair fight." Makes a Grrrrr sound.

Smiles.

Ariadne grinned and nodded
"After your performance today, I definitely wouldn't underestimate you."

She shrugged
"It's funny, actually, I trained in different fighting styles, but I'm so used to not wanting to actually hirt anyone that it was hard to try to go for serious kill shots today.

"I noticed that, I thought that may have been the problem. Here when someone comes at you with a blade, you usually have to make a conscious decision not to try and strike back with lethal force. I fought for my life with everything I got against the Graymen who ambushed me. It was a bit easier for me since I could stealth slide the paint on to the ranger Clyde."

"I still think you did really well, and you did last longer then me. Your very good at non magical stealth, infact all of you were."

Ariadne chuckled
"Well, i spent my childhood hiding from my father and other authority figures.   And, again, what i used to think was a very lax parenting style might have been preparing me for all of this."
She nodded to Jade.
"Yeah, when i fought those two grey jerks at my father's house, i didn't necessarily hold back, but I also didn't really go for a kill shot, either.  Killing isn't unknown on Earth, but it's a bit more serious on my part of the world,  I guess "

"They won't let you kill Gray invaders from other worlds who come to kill you on Earth?" Jade blinks.

Ariadne chuckled
"well, remember that Earth doesn't even know about invaders.  Or any Shadows. So we only deal with other people "

"Ah, that is right you explained that. I am so used to the ship trade here bringing all kinds of people in. Infact."

"If the Graymen didn't come in through Arden, and with how well the rangers are trained I doubt that they did then the ships are the natural other choice barring magic or the cards. Someone needs to start checking into the ships coming in, to see if any sailors might have seen strange men of that description onboard."

Ariadne nodded
"Good idea.   That's certainly how most smuggling in Earth happens, through the shipping lanes"

Jon listens to the conversation, but for the most part nothing to add.

"Hmm, good point about smuggling. But I know from Uncle Julian that the Greymen can "Travel Shadows", so they might be able to slip into Amber by other avenues as well." *sighs*  "I don't understand the "shadow walk" travel, so I can't even imagine how to patrol that."

He smiles at Ari "And don't worry, killing should never come easy. But we must be prepared to do it when necessary to protect ourselves, those we care about and when there is no other option.  Hesitation at the wrong time, can have devastating consequences. Given the situation, I think you did the right thing at the time."

"When Oberon repaired the primal Pattern, it wiped out the Black Road from Amber and Arden... and many other places. Just not all of them. But we don't truly understand how the Chaosites use the Black Road, so we stand guard anyway. And yes, incoming ships are carefully checked for Gray Men now... And yet, nothing's foolproof, or attacks like the one that happened to Jade wouldn't happen. If someone has a card for Amber that they use to drop Gray Men off when they want to... there's not much we can do about that. Not yet, anyway..."

Jade looks to her uncle, "I did some early tests with the cards and non royals seemed to lack the focus to make full use of the cards. Though if a card of a non royal is pushed one can find themself near that person. I could work on perhaps some way to sense card energy."

Jade looks deep in thought, "A royal or someone of power, though I think has to be the one to originate such card development. If cards are the way they are getting in."

"Well it's not about their ability to concentrate. Only those of the blood of Oberon can use the cards, for they require walking the Pattern first."



"Ah. Well. Yes. There are certain persons. Er... the main person I was thinking of is Dara, the Chaosite-- great grand-daughter of Benedict, mother of Merlin."

Ariadne frowned in concern
"So you're thinking that this Grey Man nonsense might be an 'inside job'?  I'm thinking that this isn't the first time someone has said that.  The Royal family, rumor has it, is pretty extensive, though i don't know more than a handful of you"

”I haven’t even met Dad’s full blooded siblings.” Janessa says, looking up from replacing the knife in her boot. She stands back up and pulls her hair out of its ponytail. ” I get the feelin that Dad would be thrilled if I didn’t know any of his siblings sometimes.” She rolls her eyes. “Something about not trusting some of ‘em as far as he could throw Gerard.” She glances at her uncle and gives a small smile. “No offense Uncle Julian. Personally I’ve liked every one I’ve met so far. Which isn’t that many either.” Janessa shakes out her long hair. ”The Grey Men are definitely a pickle.” She leans in and whispers to Julian.

Jade looked to Janessa smiled and was about to talk to her but stilled herself when she saw her cousin speaking privately with their uncle.

Ariadne sighed and rolled her eyes.
"On Earth, there are lots of different royal families, and there are tons of stories about backstabbing and betrayal.  I was hoping that things was different here.""

"I am hoping among us, we can change that. We could form good memories with one another. Especially now that we are all threatened it is best if we do work together."

Ariadne nodded and smiled at her cousin.

"There's Merlin, who the crown feels is trustworthy. There's Rinaldo, whom the King and Merlin have... an understanding with, so he's trusted enough. There's Dalt, whom Merlin had in line... but I do worry about with Merlin missing for so long. But much more so am I concerned about Dara..."

Ariadne chuckled.
"So, should we try to check on some of our wayward aunts and uncles?"

Julian frowns. "We haven't been able to... so my advice is no." He waves a hand. "But do what you want." He pauses. "Of course, if my daughter were present, I'd say otherwise. I'd tell her 'Absolutely not, don't you go within 1000 Shadows of Dara, not ever.'" He makes an oh well gesture. "But you are not my children."

Ariadne raised an amused and skeptical eyebrow, wondering if Julian was trying to get them to do that, but getting some plausible deniability.

Jon smiles "Well, I think before we start trying to check up on our Aunts and Uncles, we should at least master the Shadow Walk."

"I agree, and we still need to complete our training here. I know we have a long way to go. I wish Lance had stayed to train with us, though perhaps he was a lot more prepared for dealing with the threat since he was sent out before us."

She then looked to Janessa, "Maybe we can work together on some magical things to sense card energy and other things to help out the kingdom?"

Janessa nods in acknowledgement to what Julian whispered and turns back towards her cousins. “Sounds like a good plan.” She says, smiling at Jade. Her eyes turn towards Jon, smile still in place. “And that is definitely on the top of the to do list. I don’t wanna speak for Ariadne, but I think we both want y’all to meet the non-Amber side of our families and see our parts of our hometown shadow.” Janessa looks at Ariadne for confirmation.

In reply to Janessa McCoy (msg # 208):

Ariadne nodded to Janessa, grinning wryly.
"My father is actually here in Amber. taking care of his family business, whatever that is, but I'd definitely be thrilled to take people on a tour of Boston or Los Angeles.  Though It's not something that should be taken lightly, since Earth is a lot less....cosmopolitan...than Amber and the surrounding shadows.  The people there love to pretend that there's magic, in shows and performances, but if they see something they think is real live magic, or worse, real live monsters from another dimension, they'll seriously freak out. "

She gave Janessa a smirk.
"And as much as I'd love to show off a motorcycle, a 3D movie, or even a deep dish pizza, I have to admit that it's not as urgent as being trained to handle ourselves out in Shadow.  Heck, that might be crucial in protecting Earth, for that matter."

“That’s true.” Janessa says with a smirk. “And people freaking out is not good.” She looks to Jon and Jade. “Our history is filled with people doing horrible things to other people over unexplained things.” At the mention of pizza Janessa sighs, wistfully. “Ahh, pizza. Though what I’ve been really missing is some Mexican. Tamales, enchiladas, menudo…” She trails off with a far off look in her eye for a moment before blinking and refocusing on Ariadne.  “Getting Shadow Walking down is number one on the list. It’s what Dad had me do shortly after walking the Pattern. I didn’t always end up where I intended, considering I was trying to get home, but I found some interesting shadows.” Janessa chuckles. “Found one where they worshipped a shadow of myself as some sorta goddess or somethin’. One where the ground was clouds made of cotton candy like stuff.” She shakes her head with a chuckle. “Still hoping to find one where the water is a nice merlot and you can pick dark chocolate off trees like apples.”

In reply to Janessa McCoy (msg # 210):

Ariadne looked at Janessa with surprise and amusement
"Wow....I'll admit that when they said that other worlds were different, I kind of underestimated what they meant.  A 'chocolate tree' world is a bit mind bending, for sure.  And meeting 'shadows' of myself is...a bit surreal.  I'll definitely want to get better at this stuff."

"I looks forward to riding on a motorcycle." Jade smiles.

"What are tamales ? or pizza?"

Jon smiles, getting a bit lost with the "earth" terms being bantered about.

He nods in agreement to Jade's question.

In reply to Jade (msg # 212):

Ariadne smiled at Jade, thinking about pizza.

"It's nothing too complicated, but it's good.  Essentially, it's a baked flatbread with toppings like zesty tomato sauce and melted cheese, as well as other toppings like spicy meat or vegetables.  It's one of those foods like a sandwich, that you can customize as you want. "

She thought for a moment.
"Tamales are a Mexican food, a cuisine famous for using corn tortillas and can be spicy, but I don't have them that often, so Janessa might be more familiar with them.  I'm more of a taco girl, myself.  "
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Sat 11 Feb 2023.

Janessa nods. “It’s ground corn turned into a dough. The dough is then smeared onto a dried corn husk before a spicy shredded meat mixture, usually beef, that’s already been cooked is added on top of the dough.” She pauses a moment, thinking, before continuing. “There’s an art to putting just the right amount of fill in’. Too much and it will leak, too little and it doesn’t taste right. They then fold up the husk into little parcels, place in a pot with a little water on the bottom and steam ‘em till the dough is cooked.” She smiles. “They’re usually smaller than a phone, width wise, but about that in length.” Janessa says, holding her phone up. “And I can usually eat about five or so, along with the side dishes that come with. My mom makes some good ones, and with enough warnin’ could make some for us. Heck, Mike might even have fresh beef for use too.” She looks around at her cousins. “Mike’s my adopted dad. He runs a cattle ranch.” Janessa explains.

"Oh do they have horses too at the ranch? I would like to get better at riding horses." Jade says thinking about how Earth must be and of course getting it all wrong in her head.

Janessa nods. “Absolutely. I have two at my place and my folks have probably half a dozen.” She smiles. “There’s quite a few animals there actually. It’s a cattle ranch with a small farm as well.”

In reply to Jade (msg # 216):

Ariadne nodded in agreement with Janessa's description
"My father had me take horseback riding lessons as well, though because we were in the city my lessons were from a snooty riding academy, rather than a regular ranch.  I learned competive jumping and racing and something goofy called 'dressage', which I'll admit I never really got the hang of.   Still, it was one of those weird things that my father knew would come in handy later, I'll admit. "

"I learned mostly from my times sneaking ashore from kind, people in the city who had horses and traded for tales of the sea. Often a song or two I found earned me enough coin to trade for things."

She smiles, "I would love to ride properly and not have it be some stolen joy."

In reply to Jade (msg # 219):

Ariadne chuckled and smirked at Jade.
"Don't worry, kiddo.  You're in the big leagues now, and we'll be sure to spoil you rotten. "

"Big Leagues ?  Thank you Ariadne and Janessa !" Jade said in her normally optimistic voice.

Jon smiles. "Just more reason to look forward to going to Earth. Both of your descriptions are fascinating and sometimes contradicting. It sounds much bigger than my home." he then catches Julian just looking at them.

"Sorry Uncle, this is still all new to us."

"I think it would be beneficial for you to stick together, when you can. It seems clear you're learning from one another. Part of Shadow-walking is being able to imagine other perspectives, after all... Now then-- does anyone have any questions for me? You may return here, singly or as a group, at any time to train... I think we'd better stick to daytime training for now, though..."

"What would you suggest next uncle ? We want to learn from you." Jade says with honesty and enthusiasm.

"...Well, since you asked... I think you should practice Shadow-walking... but not going very far. Let's see... You don't need a ship to get to Tanus... and at the castle, there's a painting of the city... you could use that to get there... Tanus was never touched by the Black Road in the first place, so it seems a safer destination than some others... and... I think Princess Jade might need to ease into new Shadows before we just toss her into the Earth Shadow..."

"What do you say everyone, shall we go to the castle now and find that painting to Tanus ?" She smiled brightly.

"I know how to to shadow walk and Janessa is much better at it, we can get you both trained in moving about a bit." She looked to Jon and Ariadne.

*nods* "Thank you, Uncle.  I believe we will be taking you up on that offer often." He listens to Jade and Julian's discussion and thinks on it.
"I agree with Jade and Uncle Julian, I think it is a good idea.  Especially since I don't know anything specific about shadow-walking"

Ariadne smiled at her cousins, happy that they had good reason to stick together.
"I should have plenty of questions, since real combat, particularly lethal combat, is something I'm also fairly new at.   Though, granted, I suppose we can all just assume that most of us just need to learn a lot of pretty much everything at this point.  Especially when there are hordes of shadow monsters out there wanting to kill us."
She smirked as she spoke about monsters, but anyone who had spent significant time around her or was particularly perceptive might see that the concept of being hunted by "monsters from shadow" was fairly troubling to her.




As they walked, she piped in about Earth again, answering Jon's comment a bit more (though perhaps it was more to distract herself than to talk for the sake of talking).
"I suppose we shouldn't presume that Earth is better or more exciting than any other of a bazillion shadow worlds out there, but I'd attest that it's definitely a place of contradictions.  It varies wildly from crowded to spacious, frantically busy to so slow it feels almost stuck in time, and with dozens of cultures, all human, both clashing and seamlessly intermingling."

"So uncle where in the castle is this painting of Tanus ?"

"Mm? Oh, a hallway on the fourth floor, somewhere... Ask around and you'll find it... Or if that sounds like too many stairs, I'm sure the librarian could show you pictures of Tanus... it's very... picturesque..."

Jon chuckles "Too many stairs, that is funny. It would be good stamina training. Especially if we race up them."

Ariadne raised an eyebrow in wry amusement.  The term "picturesque" was an inside joke amongst many of her friends, referring to many of the Hollywood crowd's hometowns,
 meaning either "pretty and boring" or "looking pristine but was creepy and weird under the surface".    Either way, it was not intended as a compliment.
Not knowing her oddly stoic uncle's meaning, however, she didn't say anything.

Jade looked to the others, "Want to go back now ?"

She started to take out her small card deck.

"I could contact his Majesty."

Janessa nods. “I’m good with going back.” she says with a smile. She stands next to Jade and looks at the cards as she shuffles through them. “Hey. Did you have a question for me or something? It looked like you wanted to say something to me when I was talking’ with Uncle Julian.” Janessa says softly.

"I just look forward to us using our mystic knowledge together. You seem to have more offensive magics something I am lacking."

She has cards for a tower (the Tower of Tirilane is she knows of it), One of herself, one of Odile her personal maid, one of Prince Julian and finally one of King Random which she focuses on.

Focusing on her card of King Random.



16:42, Today: Jade rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,6.  Use of Cards.

Ariadne looked at her female cousins.
"This might be a dumb question, but how hard is that to learn?  Do you have to be born with it, or is it like other skills?"

“My dad taught me, but I seem to recall him saying something about it being a natural ability I was born with. I just needed to learn to tap into it.” Janessa shrugs. “In other words, I’m not sure. As far as I am aware none of any of my aunts and uncles display any magic abilities like ours.” She says, gesturing between herself and Jade. “With the exception of Dad’s full blooded siblings, so Aunt Fiona could possibly have some magic powers too.”

"Focusing on the card, but in Rebma all the Sirens and Sea Witches seem to be born with it. Mother, yes she is a sorceress."

"...Yes, Jade...?"

"Hello Uncle, Majesty Random !  Prince Julian suggested we return to the castle and take on a mission involving a portrait there. I was hoping you could bring us all through, we are all together."

"Yes, all right..."

(IF you are all ready, Random brings you to where he is-- which is just outside the castle's library. But are you all ready?)

"He is ready to bring us through, link hands with me, I will pass you through to his Majesty." Will pass who wishes it through then head through.

Still feeling like she shouldn't be able to trust those things, Ariadne held out her hand

Passes Ariadne to his Majesty.

“I need some of these.” Janessa says with a chuckle as she holds out her hand.

"I will make you some, it just takes me time. I haven't had much free time."
Jade helps send Janessa through to King Random.

Ariadne raised an amused eyebrow as the king took her hand, bringing her into the castle.   She wondered if an Earth king would do this if they could, or if they'd have a valet do it.  It was a weird and surreal thought.  The king at the literal center of the universe (or so they claim) is more hands on than the English royal family would be.
She nodded to Random, smiling to him
"Thank you, um, Uncle Random"
She hesitated, wondering what she should call him.  He seemed so casual about his name and title, but it felt so weird to do otherwise