Are you holding a physical meeting or a 'virtual' meeting? A physical 'in-person' meeting would need to be held in your room, as now where else in the house has a physical widescreen or actual white board, and you don't know anywhere else that does. A virtual meeting is easier, as everyone just goes online and you all meet up in a virtual conference room with as many whiteboards/tote boards as you want to create.

[OOC the it is a virtual meeting, some thing are better written down.]

"Yes start with the boarding of the Mini-buss. We drove off and we all felt the  power of the pattern. 2 hours later we were in Las Vegas. The distance between the Center and Las Vegas is far longer than this time span."

"Actually it was about an hour. She used the same trick at least twice later, once to get us from Las Vegas to Washington in a few hours, and then from where ever we picked the Caiman up from to Big Creek, then again to get us to the petrol station, as a confused Kenneth pointed out. Did she also use the same trick to get us to where ever we ended up in South America, that I can't answer."

"Once we got to Las Vegas, she did a couple of other things which I don't think are related in any way to the Pattern, first she took on Rhainnon's form, a neat trick if you ask me, means I'm going to have to think about putting some work in in that area. Never really had the need or inclination to explore what I might be capable of doing in that way, then she got the Vallet to look after her bag, probably in the same way she dealt with the supercilious clerk in the rental office, and the 2 drivers of the low-loader transporting the Caiman."
"Then in the Casio, by her own admission she used the Pattern to alter the odd of the slot machines paying out, although the effect wasn't immediate, is that relevant?"

"Maybe, maybe there is no other way she could have demonstrated it, maybe she could have found a less dangerous way to demonstrate it." Cathal replies. "She is a trill seeker and wanted to be such a situation."

"I didn't note any limitation, unless"
he stops, obviously thinking about something, then after a minute or so says..
"When did she drop the Pattern, things all happened so fast"

Cathal thinks a moment. "Like a shield."

"If it is a shield would it be possible to place it behind you?  Maybe once you decided where it goes you have to drop it to set ti to a new direction."

Cathal is curious and ask one of the official about the reason.

Cathal drives Fulgent down to the town. "Wondering if they have speed limits here. Have you every been to Germany to one of their Autobahns, free of any speed limit. I wonder how it feels to drive down the lane with over 200 kmh."

Cathal drives Fulgent down to the town. "Wondering if they have speed limits here. Have you every been to Germany to one of their Autobahns, free of any speed limit. I wonder how it feels to drive down the lane with over 200 kmh."

[OOC: Perhaps the older woman and her other daughter are in the back tailoring orders for other customers]

Rhiannon did another spin, stopping so Cathal could see the rear of the dress. With his approval, she agreed to take it. "Lovely.  And, yes, shoes and accessories."

Turning to the attendant, "Can I buy shoes and a clutch here, or will I have to go elsewhere?"

"Oh no, nothing extravagant. The clutch made from the same fabric would be perfect, and the shoes should simply match. The same shade of green or even black would do, though a stylish both would be wonderful. I suppose the shoes are less important. I have black heels I can wear in a pinch."

"Could you have these delivered to the mansion for me?"

"Certainly.. If you wouldn't mind.."
She retrieves a tablet from under the counter and points the camera in your direction, then touches a button on the screen.
"The dress will be delivered this evening, and the clutch as soon as it's done. If you still want shoes then Lianne owns the shop a little way along the parade."

In-character you know who the council are.. Cordelia sort of told you on day 1
Day 1 - 04 Jux 45.#msg119

"This way please sir"
He leads Cathal in the direction of the rear of the store.
"We only keep one brand of walking boots in stock, but can get another on priority order. To be honest though for most day to day purposes a pair of Saftey boots is just as good."
He stops by a shelf and takes 3 pairs of boots out. "We have three styles of the Grisport, depending on how much sir would like to spend and how much ankle and lower calf support sir would like, and for these", he pick out a pair of high calf boots, "how much wading in shallow water sir intends".

"I think for this dress, something in leather would be more appropriate. Soft leather is what comes to mind. Perhaps in black or the same shade of green? But That's just what's in my head right now. I'm open to options."

"And once we're done with that, I would also like some kind of rugged hiking boot, since I'm here."

"A lot depends on whether madam wants made-to-measure or off the shelf. For hand made we can do either black or a dark or deep green. For off the shelf you're limited to what the manufacture provides, but black is one of the more traditional colours. As to style, we can do either open toed with a strap, closed toe with a strap, or a full shoe, and with either a Cuban heal or a stub stiletto as opposed to a Latin stiletto."
"As to hiking boots then we carry the Grisport range by default in 3 styles, and in the commonest sizes, although to be honest for most purposes safety boots are as good."

Technically as the Household of Amber the bill would either go to the Quartermaster, Senschal, Steward, or Butler(in the absence of a Steward or Senschal). Technically though he would be more like to say they were from the Mansion and the bill should go to Mizzurian.

"I think I might end up in all kinds of territory so high levels of water are not our of question, high calf boots, please. Money is no a problem the bill goes to the treasury of the Royal House of Amber." Cathal answers.

He hesitates a moment. "I'm Prince Cathal and the Lady is Princess Rhiannon."

"Do you make made-to-measure?" Cathal asks.

"Yes sir, Mrs Corbyn was at the ball, but the Mizzurian System alerted us to who you were when you entered."
"May I ask your shoe size sir, and yes we do made-to-measure in both Western and Oriental styles. Apart from clogs of various varieties, in a Western style we do Oxfords, Spectators, Brogues, Derbys, Monks, Loafers, Deck, or Wedding shoes and Wingtips, Dress, Jodhpur, Cowboy, Engineer, or Riding boots."

[OOC Oh my god, overload, to many different types of boot, I all do not know.]

Cathal look at all the different types of boots "It will by some Engineer boots in brown natural."

"And I would like to try something new which kind of Oriental styled one can you recommend."

"For what purpose would you be wearing them? Jika-Taki are one of the most common in modern use. In the mean time, would you like to follow me, and we can get you feet scanned."
He will lead you through a gap in the counter at the back of the store, into a small open area. Against the wall on one side is an odd piece of machinery with a monitor.
"If you would remove your shoes and socks and stand on the plate please with you back against the upright to the back"
Aside for the plate being a little cold, it's a little uncomfortable as Parker makes sure you shoulders stay firmly against the back plate, whilst he brings down a semi-circular frame to knee level.
"If you could remain still, this will take a couple of minutes, whilst we get a 3D scan of your feet. I'm assuming you have an Avatar on the system, in which case it will update the profile. It's more accurate than using the gloves, and enables us to have an accurate last cut by a CNC wood mill."

"For what purpose would you be wearing them? Jika-Taki are one of the most common in modern use. In the mean time, would you like to follow me, and we can get you feet scanned."
He will lead you through a gap in the counter at the back of the store, into a small open area. Against the wall on one side is an odd piece of machinery with a monitor.
"If you would remove your shoes and socks and stand on the plate please with you back against the upright to the back"
Aside for the plate being a little cold, it's a little uncomfortable as Parker makes sure you shoulders stay firmly against the back plate, whilst he brings down a semi-circular frame to knee level.
"If you could remain still, this will take a couple of minutes, whilst we get a 3D scan of your feet. I'm assuming you have an Avatar on the system, in which case it will update the profile. It's more accurate than using the gloves, and enables us to have an accurate last cut by a CNC wood mill."

Once the scan has finished, Parker will raise the scanner and left you out.."Okay, all done sir. Do you want linen or soft leather tabi? Either way they should be with you in about a week, as we need to get the lasts made."
"I'll just get your boots sir. I think we have your size in stock, otherwise its going to be about 10 days, as we'll need to get supplies from Mizzurian."

In reply to GameMaster (msg # 80):

"I think we can go with a black closed toe and strap with a Cuban heel. I suppose a gladiator strap style would work too, but we'd have to go custom for that I think. I suppose I should have thought about that when I bought the dress. At any rate, who said I can only have one pair. And in that regard, I would also like a pair with a boot style, calf height, perhaps a bit steam punk. Pointed toe though. That engineer look is just dreadful."

"For the hiking boot, I don't want safety boots. They're ugly. I need some style, but show me what you have."

"So cuban heel closed toe and strap for the ballroom shoes, and a pair of boots as well. Calf height boots with a pointed toe in black with side toggles or buckles we can do. I have no idea what SteamPunk is or means."
"I think Parker has finished with your compatriot, so lets us go scan your feet, so that we can have the lasts made, and then we can look at the Grisports."
turning to Parker she says.
"Parker can you scan the lady's feet please."

Initially they will look at you skeptically, as if you can't be serious, or as if you're pulling their leg, which means you'll need to explain that you haven't been here long (as in about 15 days), and that you don't actually know what's going on.
At that point they'll be more forthcoming, so the latest batch of immigrants came in 10 days ago on the ships Wyatt and Angel bought in. It takes a couple of weeks or so to get everyone into the right temporary accommodation, but a couple of months for them to acclimatize and begin to be assimilated. Often this requires language courses and custom/culture courses, but there's often schooling to sort out for any children, and of course jobs/occupations for the parent(s) or individuals. Some of this my be 'long term', including future housing solutions, which is one of the biggest problems currently, they can't build houses fast enough, which puts pressure on the limited stock of apartments they have.

a young oriental by the name of Huang Ting  detaches herself from her desk and comes over "Can I be of assistance?"

Assuming Cathal asks for Calli Hguyen (pronounced Nwi-en) she says "If you would follow me please" and leads you to the far righthand corner (if you with the Town Hall from the front)/ left hand corner (as you come out of the central 'hall' stairs into the office).

Seated at a desk is another oriental woman, probably in her late 20's early 30's.
"Calli you have visitors."

She looks up from where she's typing on a keyboard "Thankyou Ting. I'll be with you in a minute or two, need to finish this email before I forget what I'm doing."
Having finished her email she stands up and extends her hand first to Rhiannon
"Nice to formally meet you Miss Kerrigan"
and then to Cathal
"likewise Mr O'Donoghue. What can I do for you?"

"I want to know what  I would need to do if I bring my father here and want him to have a small house to live in. That are just plans so far but I want to know in advance so I can discuss all with my father." Cathal starts.

"Do you have a list of available plots and where they are. Can I visit them?"

"We can track them on the system, but we don't have a printout, and generally don't do so. All the vacent plots, or should I say all those not yet built upon, should have a plot marker, in one corner closest to the road. If it's been reserved, then it will have a clear covering plate with an 'R' on it. Just wander about and bring in a list with your choices in preference order. If you find a plot without a marker on it then it would be useful to know. The kids sometimes find it amusing to move them. We go round and check a couple of times a year. Typically any plot which appears overgrown is vacent."
"Currently there are more vacent plots along the Western edge, Southern edge, and Northern edge of the town. Any major expansion is likely to be to the South West, as there are less complications in expanding in that direction."

"Thank you I will take a look and lock my interset in to the system." Cathal replies.

"Anything else I have to keep in mind."

"Then lets try to fine the palace can so be so hard." Wise words completely wrong.

There is no nav, there is no paper map to buy. So Cathal stops by a post office and asks. He already has the feeling that they might need to get horses.

He is actually quite shocked that there are no paper maps, something that troubles him more than no nav or a car that might stop working outside the city

So the note in the discussion thread was a hint, and the car doesn't stop working outside of the city grid, the Mansion is well outside the city grid, the Auto-Drive doesn't work outside of the city grid.

"Hey man, why'd you need a map? There just aren't any."
When you ask about the castle, then he's even more shocked..
"Did you miss your orientation class or something or just fall asleep in it? They did drone on a bit. Everyone knows where the castle is."
"Just head towards the Mansion on top of the hill, when you get to the roundabout, take the right hand turn, not the one which goes up the hill. When you get to the roundabout at the other end of the canyon, just turn right and go up the hill, can't miss it."

You get you Mizzurian ID from the Mizzurian Main Office in the center of town, not the Mansion

Rhiannon will recognise this from her excursion on Day 5 with Alana and Natsuki. She also knows that the track will lead to the river.

The soldier, having recognised the number plate, and not recognizing your name will say "Is this you first time here sir?"
Given that Cathal is likely to say "yes" then he will say.
"Can I ask you to drive through the tunnel sir, and then pull in on the right hand side, somewhere a little out of the way if you can, and then go into the Guard Office. The door which will likely be open, is the first one to right of the Gatehouse tower, between the tower and the gateway arch. Your companion should join you."

As you enter one of the two soldier sat at desks against the far wall will get up, and ask you, "What can I do for you sir/madam"
Assuming you repeat the same statement as you made at the gate, he will ask you
1) Is this you First Visit
2) Do you have an Appointment
3) Can he see your passes

At the point where he can clearly discern your lanyards then his attitude will change.
"I apologise your Hignesses. How can I be of assistance"

Cathal starts to answers the question.

"It is our first visits her. No appointment we just want to look around." He hands over his and Rhia's ID.

"It is possible to get a small tour we do no want to disturb anybody, just want to get to know the castle."

"I'll see what I can do sir"
He pickup the handset of a phone from beneath the counter, then dials a number, before putting the phone to his ear.
"Yes, this is the Main Gate Guardhouse. I have two of the new Royals here who would like a tour."
"No, their first visit."
He picks up the passes one at a time and looks at each of you for conformation that he's got your names correct as he pronounces them
"Prince O'Donoghue and Princess Kerrigan"
"No. The driver would have bought them in."
"I don' know."
"Hang on."
"May I ask how you got here your highness's?"

"Well I took a car from the mansions car pool and I drove here."

"The car is." He wave in direction of the gatehouse.

Continuing his phone conversation
"They came in one of the mansion pool cars."
"Does it matter, it's going to be the only one in front of the the Guardroom"
"No. I'll ask them to wait by the car."
"If it were me I'd prefer to wait by the car."
"Okay."
"15 to 20 minutes."
"All good."
"No nothing else."
"Gatehouse out."
He puts the phone down.
"If you'd like to wait by the car, then somebody will be with you in 15 to 20 minutes. I'd offer you some refreshments but we're not geared up for that and I don't have anyone spare to run over to the Transport office. Would there be anything else?"

"Please excuse me, but getting from the Command center to here in such a short space of time is not something that can be done with no effect. 24 flights of stairs, even if you're coming down them does take it's toll. I'll be alright in a minute or two, then we can continue."

"yes please, take your time, catch your breath." Cathal says. "You want me to ask if they have a glass of water for you at the Guardhouse." He offers.

"Thank-you both. And thank-you for the offer but I'm good."
As her breathing starts to ease she stands more upright and slides her sabre back into it's baldric.

"Right shall we get started?" She moves in the direction the troop of horse went.
"There's not a significant amount to see out here. Most of the buildings around the outer walls are barracks, from here around around to the third tower. All the stores and the outer bailey quartermasters office are back in the other direction, on the other side of the gatehouse along the front of the castle. It's the hardest part of the castle to shell or breach. "
Against the outer wall are a series of alternating 3 and 4 story buildings, each about 30ft wide and 70ft long. All have 60deg pitched roofs which slope down from the wall into the interior of the castle.
Once she gets level with the rear edge of the Keep she stops. Ahead of you and slightly to the right you can see the horse troop, unloading and unsaddling all of the horses.
"We send patrols out every 3 days. They're typically out for 6 days but that depends on whether they run into a refugee band or not. It's usually fairly quiet at this time of year, but can be a bit mad at first snow. We used send out 6 man patrols, but the last few years the refugee problem has got considerably worse and a 6 man team just can't cope"
"Pretty much all the buildings from here down to the corner", she indicates over to the far left "are stables, but only about half are occupied. We can't currently breed and train stock fast enough. Beyond the stables are the training grounds and gun ranges, although cannon and mortar training is down in an area to the rear of the castle. Avoids too many problems if something goes wrong."
Both Rhiannon and Cathal will note that Charlie is present apparently in conversation with one of the Garrison.
"Right that's the boring bit, now to what you've probably come to see, which unfortunately means climbing 24 flights of stairs. At least we get to use the elevator on the other side."
She backtracks around to the front of the Keep, then ascends the 12ft wide ramp to the platform at the top and then turns right and crosses the drawbridge that spans the 30ft gap between the platform and the gatehouse. You pass through an arched passage way about 80ft in length and 12ft wide into an entry hall, about 42ft square at floor level. 20ft above there appears to be a walkway surrounding the hall on 3 sides, with an overhanging set of merlons.
"This level is mostly stabling, and can has a capacity of about 50% of that of the stables."

She turns right through the open doorway in the right hand wall, the doors having been folded back against the walls. The doors on the far side of the hall from the entrance-way are similarly folded back.
Passing through another 20ft 12ft wide arch way she turns right and through another doorway, onto a 5ft wide spiral staircase. 23 sections of staircase and 360ft later you come out into a corridor which runs East to West across the tower.
She turns left and heads down the 12ft wide 11ft high arched corridor. You pass a number of steel bound oak doors until you pass through a pair of folded back doors into the narrower exit corridor (10ft wide and 9ft high and 30ft long). Exiting the corridor you come out onto an 8ft square platform and into a vast open dark space. Again there are a pair of steel reinforced doors folded back against the wall.
To the left a 3'6" wide staircase against the side of the keep descends about 15' to another platform before turning 180deg for the next leg of the descent. To the right is an 8ft square steel cage lattice structure supporting a 6ft square cargo elevator. This elevator ends at this floor, so there is winding gear above it. Outboard of this is a second elevator, which continues upward, but which can't be boarded from this floor.
Beyond the platform is a vast roofed space constructed in a similar manner to a modern sports stadium with steel trusses supporting the roof spans. There is no guard rail around either the platform or along the edge of the staircase.
390ft below glowing with a blue light, even in the artificial light that surrounds it, is the Pattern drawn or carved into the rock surface. As with the Pattern under the Mansion it is ovoid, about 260ft on it's major axis and about 180ft on its minor axis.
"As deadly as it is it's so beautiful from up here"

"The stairs go all the way to the ground but the elevator is faster. It also only has 3 stopping points, ground level, the 10th floor cross corridor, which is similar to this one, except there is no access to the outer bailey, and this one."
She pushes the call button and then pulls the scissor gate open. "After you."

"So the building to our left is the main Quartermasters stores, whilst the curved fronted building directly ahead is the command center. The Royal suites are on the Top floor, and the main command suite and officers mess is on the second floor. There are numerous other office scattered across various floors, with the majority of meeting rooms on the ground floor, along with the kitchens for the Officers mess."
"There is a separate Mess hall for the NCO ranks on the far side of the Pattern along the back wall of the inner bailey, which is where most of the barracks also are."
"Do you have any questions?"

Cathal is a bit overwhelmed. "Do all Royals have suites here?"

"Does Carnelia has it own Queen,  what I mean is his Majesty married?" Cathal asks.

"With such great example since she was born." Cathal return neutral

She looks at you completely blankly but doesn't say anything.
"Is there anything else you'd like to see? If you're happy to find your own way out then I can leave you here."

You didn't answer her following question(s)..

"The refugees come from Istria, why exactly we're not sure as we don't have an Embassy there, and as I understand things there don't appear to be any issues in relation to the running of the realm. We don't even know how they even knew Carnelian existed, as until about 18 months ago we didn't even realise the state was there. "
"There appear to be two routes they use, one along the coast, which seems to involve crossing a swamp and delta, whilst the other is inland and involves a couple of tricky mountain passes. In theory the inland route should be the easier, but that doesn't always appear to be the case. "
"Most of the time we pick them up what for them would be several days travel. Most have been traveling for between two and a half and 3 months, and nearly all are completely exhausted. If they're lucky they're also uninjured. Most are also dehydrated and near starvation."
"Of those that actually make it, most are resettled here, although some we do resettle in the Modern town. The lack of a common language is the most difficult thing to resolve, although their initial fear of mounted troops comes a close second."

"Shadow? Sorry I don't understand. As far as I known Istria is part of this realm, as opposed to that of the Modern town, or the places thay call Mizzurian or Earth."
"We have a couple of people who have a gift for learning languages, but Tiberius has interviewed several as has Wyatt. All say approximately the same thing that they are looking for a better life because they feel they are shutout and have no future in their homeland. The problem is we have no means of verifying or quantifying this currently. There must be more going on but we have no idea what. Making the journey is a huge step, we estimate that only about 10% of those that set out get here."
"The Queen and Tiberius very recently returned from [TBD] with an agreement to allow the establishment of an Embassy."

"So the modern Town is not part of this realm here and the Mansion?" Cathal asks.

Cathal nod. "Yes I think time to return to the mansion. Thank you again for the tour. How can we announce an intended visit beforehand. I do no want you having to run all those steps another time."

"You're actually free to come and go as you wish. The complication today was, as you'd never been here, and didn't know your way around, having to find somebody to provide a tour at such short notice."
"If you know that you want to visit at least 12 hours hence, then inform Zou-Yan of your intent to do so, and a notification will be delivered here as part of the shift change process. If you don't know specifically whom your seeking for advice or information on a specific subject or intention, then a meeting can be arranged with the requisite person will at least 24 hours notice."

"Good to know. Thank you."

"Are there other nearby realms that have roads connectiong them to Carnelia and the old town." Cathal asks

Cathal says his good by for know he some thing to discuss with Rhia on their way back to the Mansion.

"Nice to meet you both. Travel safely on your return." She walks off towards the command center.

Arriving at 7:15, Jade, accompanied by a female about 20 years of age, about 5ft tall with long black hair is surprised to find Rhiannon and Cathal present,
"Oh I was expecting Miss Chan to be here. Rhiannon, Cathal, meet Sarah. I guess Miss Chan will make the formal introductions when she gets here."

As Jade says this, Siobhan arrives, accompanied by her maid, who appears to whisper something to Siobhan.
Siobhan will take a seat in one of the arms chairs.
"Sarah why don't you come and sit next to me" indicating the chair next to her.
"If you want a drink Ling should be able to fix one for you."
"Jade, I'm assuming you were expecting Cordelia, if so I can manage from here, so thank-you for your assistance."

"Oh hi Sarah, when did you get here? Hope this isn't all too daunting for you."
"I have a bow for you. Not the best but it's the best I could get at short notice. I'll bring it with me on the morning."
"Now I have to wait for people before I can hand these out." She takes a bundle of $100 bills still in its US Treasury wrapper off the top of the crate.

"Sarah, apologies, I meant to get here earlier but got delayed by work. Have you managed to settle in okay?"
"I'll formally introduce everyone once they're all here to avoid having to continually repeat myself." She will then move to pour herself a Jack Daniels

Once Cormac has his drink, Cordelia will say "Can I have you attention please."
"So I would formally like to introduce Princess Sarah Williams-Barriman. She comes from a shadow akin to pre-industrial revolution America, so all this is very new and very challenging for her."
"Sarah can I formally introduce"
She will indicate the appropriate individual in turn
OOC: I'm using the same order as the library meeting as it means I can cut and paste and then edit easier
"Firstly, Prince Cormac Camerilli, a 3rd Yr Anthropology Major at Tampa State University, Florida. He hails from an alternate Earth Shadow where a Tsunammi devastated the Isle of Man, and the coasts of Ireland, Southwest England, and Wales."

"Secondly, Prince Kenneth Eday Elgrim. He's from True Earth, which was devastated by a number of events, including a full eruption of Yellowstone at the start of the Rodian War. He's spent a number of years surving in Big Creek, California, although life has improved somewhat in the last few weeks after I set up a recovery and restoration project for the town."

"The first of your female cousins, Princess Rhiannon Erica Kerrigan, 3rd year in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She hails from Mizzurian Earth, where a significant portion of my Corporation is based."

"The second of your female cousins, Princess Mei Li, or as she prefers her English name Winter. 1st year in Public Administration and Economics at University of Tsinghua, China. She hails from an interesting variant Shadow Earth."

"Princess Cassandra Troy who claims to be of no fixed abode, but hails from London,England and Fuengirola in Spain. Her specialty is Art. She's a native of yet another Shadow Earth."

"Prince Edward  Pinmillion, although Pinmillion is the surname of his adopted parents. He's playing at studying Business Management at NYU when he's not playing the playboy. He's also from Mizzurian Earth."

"Next we have Princess Alana Macfarlane and her Saker falcon Kasamir, who's likely lurking on the roof somewhere or one the Keep at the castle. She's a resident of Oban in Scotland on Mizzurian Earth where she lives with her game keeper father. She's currently in the final year of her A-Levels. Kasamir is a former resident of Amber, currently displaced due to the effects of the Rodian War."

"Prince Cathal O'Donoghue, currently at Cork University in Ireland also on Mizzurian Earth where he's studying Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science."

"Princess Hashimoto Natsuki and her Arden Hound Choki. They're from Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, although she's currently at Iwate University in Morika City studying Social and Environmental Systems and Majoring in Law. Again they hail from Mizzurian Earth."

"Prince Blake Hemsworth who'm my research indicates was born on the True Earth but since the end of the Rodian War has been a resident of the same Shadow Earth as Cassandra."
"And lastly my daughter Princess Charlotte Chan-Barriman"

"We've met already, in Elysium."
"Now my turn. For those of you who survived the little trip we made, I have the first part of your earnings. I need to know how you want the rest paid, either in coins, or in cash."
She turns to her mother
"I'm going to need the assistance of your friends in cashing the bonds."
From the crate she bought with her, which contains bundles of $100 bills still in their US Treasury wrappers ($10,000 per bundle), she takes out bundles and hands them out as follows, 3 bundles to each of Blake, Edward, Cathal, Alana, Rhiannon and 4 bundles to Cormac, Kenneth, Natalie, Natsuki, Cassandra.

Jade is one of the PA's..

"What is it?" she asked, glancing at Charlie first. It was, most likely, a stupid question to most of them, as everyone else present seemed to immediately grasp the importance of these things. Rhiannon's response drew Sarah's attention. "Cash?" A glimmer of recognition flickered across her face. "Oh -- like bills of credit!" From the way her expression soured, she did not have a very high opinion of such things.

When dinner was called, Sarah stood up, but did not move toward the dining room immediately; instead, she waited to walk in with Ling and Siobhan.

Been busy.. Monday's and Friday's I work from home so have more leeway.. Kenneth was going to ask Charlie something but it can wait..

The dinner starts after a while Cathal speaks up, since no of his cousins seem to be the one starting to asks the questions.

"During our trip Charlie used the pattern several times to show us possible usages. We would like to get some explanations?"

"Sorry Cathal, I wasn't party to your outing so you're going to have to be a little more specific."

"And once we got to Las Vegas, there were a couple times when Charlie seemed to compel someone to do what she wanted. We'd like an explanation of that." Looking at her cousins, she was hoping another of them would speak up and help. Ugh.

I'm going to assume somebody says "slots" at this point

"Well you gave them the Microsoft answer."
she then sort of waves her hand and says
"These are not the answers you're looking for.."

"So why didn't she say that.? Her question was ambiguous."
"Using the Pattern as a defense mechanism is on of the most taxing uses of it, and it has two distinct forms, one which defends against non-physical manifesting forms of magic, and the other which defends against physical attacks. Both require almost total concentration to maintain. The physical defense version works like a shield, which can nominally be any size you like, but the bigger it is the more effort it requires to maintain. Like a shield it can only face in one direction at once, but unlike a shield it's facing can't be changed once created. Whilst it protects against physical attacks, including magical fireballs or lightening bolts, it won't protect you against some things, or things that are large enough to wrap around the shield, like a nuclear explosion, and even then whilst it would shield from the blast wave and shock wave, it wouldn't stop the radiation."
"In respect of locating the Caiman or the drug dealer, that's just finding an item in shadow. You define what you want and the Pattern will lead you to it, much as in the answer I gave Sarah in reference to her herd of White Deer. If you don't care where the object is then you can be vague in your definition, whilst if you have very specific requirements then these need to be kept in mind when invoking the Pattern in this way."
"All of the different uses have subtle differences in the form of the Pattern image used."

"I'm sure our wise Charlie is best suited to explain that." Cathal says. "Since she gave us such an inspiring practical example."

"Are we getting seom traingin in these ussages of the pattern." Cathal asks. "Or will it be try and error."

" Will you tell us more about what the council want us to do once we can walk the shadows?" Cathal asks.

Seeing a break in the conversation, Kenneth asks something that's been bothering him since Charlie first asked the question"Charlie, you asked did we want cash or coins. What exactly did you mean, and especially in regard to coins, given you made the distinction."

"Well, cash is pretty much what you'd expect, although it may not turn up in the form of bank notes, I don't actually know, that depends on my mothers friends."
"Coins are what in modern parlance would be called bullion coins, although to a significant part of shadow they are just coins, commonly silver for most transactions, or gold for high value ones, although bar silver is sometimes used. To most of shadow bits of paper with pretty colours on them are completely useless and valueless, and that includes the Medieval town, although they'll generally only accept Carnelian coins, the ones with Tiberius's head on."
"And yes I do need answers, or technically my mother does from all of you as to which you'd prefer."

[OOC then let me rephrase the above.]


"You told us gophering before. But I honestly do not understand what is included in gophering package." Cathal says.

"Why is this called gophering, though?" she wondered out loud; as she said it, a perplexed look crossed her face. "Gopher. Go-pher. Like 'go fer this, go fer that'? Hah." She looked somewhat amused by the pun in the name -- even if it wasn't correct.

"I guess she simply mean what is next on the curriculum." Cathal says.

"I have another question. One in regard of the pattern."

"Rhiannon and I visited the castle to day and got a tour and were shown the pattern there. How do that pattern and the one here are related to each other."

"We where told about the refugees coming to the shadow of the castle from Istria. Is Istria in the same shadow as the Castle?" Cathal asks

"It i no strange that Istaria know about here but here knew not about Istria?" Cathal asks

"Which war are you referring". Cathal continues to ask. "I try to understand the context."

"Carnelian is very young this place as well the old part where the Castle is right? And Tiberius draw a pattern in 'unkown' territory so to speak?" Cathal tries to understand.

"Reflection of a primal one. Interesting." Cathal says.


" I also have another question, why could we not understand what Charlie said some days ago but Winter could. And I'm curious if Charlie has enough courage to repeat in a way that everybody can understand what she said. Can not be so hard or?

"Why? Do I have to ask the pattern to translate. Or should I go the the VR and have it translate." Cathal states.

"And maybe someone should answer what is more impolite to intentionally speak insults in a way the insulted persons do not understand or to say them directly." He looks at Charlie. "To me it seems Charlie has only the courage to talk bad about people when they can not understand her."

"Um... the Pattern is constrained to not translate -- um, Cantonese?" Sarah raised an eyebrow as she looked back and forth between Cordelia, Charlie, and Winter, clearly curious as to both how and why this was the case. "Is it a secret language or something?"

"Okay. Changing the subject."
"I have two questions, well two things related to things that were said earlier."

"Firstly, Sarah you asked earlier about the books, and then asked about the book of Selheim, what exactly is that?"
"And secondly, Cordelia you said that the next item on the curriculum is learning to Shadow Walk. When is that going to happen?"

"Well if you don't know you better find somebody who does." She looks at Natsuki then Alana.

Rhiannon pursed her lips, glancing at Cormac who just rudely cut her off. This was how it was going to go. Ignored again. It was becoming a disturbing pattern, and she was just fucking sick of it.

"Excuse me!" She shot up out of her seat. "This is no longer tolerable. I am sick of being routinely ignored. It has been this way since the beginning, perhaps of what I say or ask is met with scolding, derision or goes completely unanswered. I just asked a question, and you Cormac, do not get to simply change the subject. And Cordelia. I'm tired of this attitude. If I am such fucking inconvenience, then why am I even here?"

"I have no idea why you think you are being routinely ignored. If you chose to take the correction of factually incorrect statements on your part as derision or scolding there is little I can do about it. Did you treat your university lecturers in the same way when they corrected a statement you made?"
"Similarly if you choose to make statments in the form of rhetorical questions, directed at third parties, and they choose not to respond, what is anybody else to do about it? Perhaps their complete lack of verbal response was the correct one in that it didn't further inflame a tense situation."
"Every question anybody has asked me has been answered. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean the question hasn't been answered. "
"Now in answer to your question about the connections between the two versions of Carnelian, they're called shadow paths, they can form naturally or you can, with a great deal of effort create them. In this particular case they came about when the reflection of the Pattern was ccreated."

"So you make the one person who lacks respect for nearly all her new cousins responsible to show us how to shadow shift. Are you really considering that a wise choice, Cordelia? You are aware that  Carlie's standard answer is ' If you're not interested then you're welcome to return to the Mansion.' I do not question that she knows what she does but I deeply question that is is able to explain and she clear does not want. And a teacher who does not want to teach is a bad teacher." His voice is completely neutral.

"You have no clue what you should show us do you." Cathal looks at Charlie, not question but a statement, clearly having a very low expectation that anything useful will come from Charlie.

"I have no idea why you think you are being routinely ignored. If you chose to take the correction of factually incorrect statements on your part as derision or scolding there is little I can do about it. Did you treat your university lecturers in the same way when they corrected a statement you made?"
"Similarly if you choose to make statments in the form of rhetorical questions, directed at third parties, and they choose not to respond, what is anybody else to do about it? Perhaps their complete lack of verbal response was the correct one in that it didn't further inflame a tense situation."
"Every question anybody has asked me has been answered. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean the question hasn't been answered. "
"Now in answer to your question about the connections between the two versions of Carnelian, they're called shadow paths, they can form naturally or you can, with a great deal of effort create them. In this particular case they came about when the reflection of the Pattern was ccreated."

"You mentioned changing the first shadow parameter?" she asked, trying to keep herself calm despite the upset. "What does that mean, and how is it related to Shadow walking?"

"Hmm," Sarah said, thinking back over what Cordelia had described earlier. "You mean like the appearance of a road that you're traveling -- so that it looks like you're further along than you should be? Or whether or not there's a musket lying abandoned in the middle of the road?"

In reply to Charlotte Chan (msg # 256):

Sarah nodded to Charlie's response -- at least things seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"So it's more about focusing on the general appearance of the Shadow? And the musket thing would be more of the probability shifting Cordelia was describing before." She paused to consider this before continuing. "So... we focus on something specific that we want to change -- like maybe the kinds of trees, if we're in a forest -- and then just walk? Until the trees match what we're looking for?" Sarah didn't know if she was on the right track or not, but at this point she just wanted to continue having civil conversation.

Sarah boggled as she described everything one would have to keep in mind while Shadow-Walking.

"That sounds like quite a bit to keep track of," she said, clearly concerned at her ability to do so. "Do you have any suggestions on getting started -- given that I'm completely new to it?" Sarah deliberately spoke only for herself -- not just because she honestly didn't know if the others would want her speaking for them, but also just to avoid reminding Charlie that they would be along. At the moment, she seemed to be in a mood to answer questions, and Sarah did not want to jeopardize that..

"After another Q&A session at dinner." Cathal says. "Or does showing shadow shift include some explanations?"

Rhiannon shook her head at Charlie's response. The baby Chan just couldn't help herself being such a cunt. Cathal's question did have a bit of a cynical edge to it, but it was hardly an attack. Charlie's response, however, was clearly meant to be offensive.

"To be fair, Charlotte, the last time you were charged to tutor us, there was little in the way of explanation. It left us to have to decipher what was important and what wasn't. If the goal is to ensure we can assist in the important work ahead, then it's incumbent upon you to make sure we are all properly trained. If you fail that, then we all lose. We are willing students. Now, are you prepared to be a good teacher?"

"Right, that's enough from all of you."
"Charlotte is correct I asked her to show you what could be done with the Pattern. If she chose not discuss or elaborate on what she was doing, then given what she was asked to do there was no compulsion on her doing so. If you chose to interpret that instruction otherwise then that is not on her."
"That is in the past. She has now been tasked with teaching you all to Shadow walk, and she has spent the last 20 minutes or so explaining the ins and outs of doing so in response to Sarah's questions."

"I share your feelings and your concern her. And you have made up the good example."

"But I consider her a hopeless case, to Charlie her private agenda is more important than what her elder consider is on stake and what that they need us for. She overlooks that without us, she will have to do what her elders need us for, which will leave her with less private time and more chores to do."

"Siobhan, I apologize for upsetting you and using such language in front of you.."
Charlie then gets up and leaves.

In reply to Cordelia Chan (msg # 271):

"If I had a limited time, I'd make it as informative as I could for the people I was demonstrating it too. Don't you see? I would be there for them. They're not there for me. We spent hours in those vehicles, so I don't see how time was a factor. That was time she could have spent informing rather than disparaging. We certainly had enough time to cover everything you answered tonight. How much could we have learned if she would have told us what to look for or how to interpret what we were seeing. What did we simply miss because we had no idea it was happening? What did we get wrong because we focused on the wrong thing? How much time and energy could we have saved this evening and how much more open would I and Cathal be if Charlotte was just polite to us. Is that really so hard for a master of shadow?"

Rhiannon paused to watch the brief interaction between Siobhan and Charlie, noting how Charlie dodged the real apology

"Point taken. I make it short she followed you order to the letter, and nothing more. Fact stays she could have told before she did something or gave us a summarize what she wanted to show at the start of the day. It is fine for you it is not fine for some of us."

"I'm not sure what you wanted to achieve with her showing. Motivating us? It does no matter. It is the past. But tomorrow is the future and I have no desire to hear another 'If you're not interested then you're welcome to return to the Mansion' or a variation of it from her. You want us to train then tell your teacher to act as teacher."

Cathal stares at her for moment seemingly bewildered.

"Why do think I ignored what she said. I listened to Sarah's question and the answers. I doubt that if I had asked I would have gotten the answers Sarah got." Cathal replies.

"And exactly what you do now, that it what I mean with belittling.You're insinuating me of ignoring what she said."

After Rhiannon and Cathal leave, Cormac waits a minute for somebody to say something about what's on his mind but as nobody else does, says"So where does all this leave us for tomorrow and learning to Shadow Walk?"

Sarah was less bothered by the idea of riding a horse than the others, but something Cordelia said drew her interest.

"Who is Natalya?" she asked, finally breaking her silence.

Sarah nodded. "I've heard she plays pranks... of a sort." She didn't know much more than that, but given that Cordelia had been the target of the prank she'd heard about, she was curious if Cordelia would expand upon what she'd already said.

"But... None of the rest of the family was afflicted by-- well, whatever happened to her, right? Why her, when others weren't?" It was more of a wondering than an outright question, but Sarah still asked out loud.