IL DIARIO DE NICCOLO DESTE, PRINCIPE DAMBRE sessione 16

God, what a horrible experience. Days of increasing insanity, hiding, starving, no sleep, capturing Octavian and Raiclee.

The sudden shock of coming to with one foot on the Pattern. I damned near died walking it that time. Better than madness.

My dear cousins woke me far too soon and dragged me off to put the Alien Agates together into the spiral they wanted. I mean dear cousins both ways. They saved me, and took some harm doing it, but they also were bullying me. I knew it was a truly bad idea and that Dworkin might make us suffer. But I owed them for my sanity and perhaps my life. A d’Este pays his debts, especially debts of honor. I cooperated, and Trumped us to near Cerberus.

But I didn’t have to like it.

We put it together with Cerberus watching us just on the Chaos side. I made sure my single stone was one of the early ones, sixth I believe. We stopped two stones short and Octavian probed into the partially formed portal. He thought the entities on the other side were friendly. Nice. Alien. Weaker than Octavian. After a while we, OK Octavian and Raiclee, decided to finish it, and did.

Big flash and shock knocked us all down. I recovered first and backed off to near the Dog. The stones were fused into a stone spiral, glowing softly. My Trump of the other side was fine. The others got up. Octavian put his foot on the end and shrank, spun and vanished into the center. I got out two more Trumps for a very fast exit to the Grove of the Unicorn.

Syric appeared via some Pattern trick with his mace glowing bright. Raiclee moved farther away. I told him that we were investigating the stone spiral phenomenon and that Octavian had vanished into it. Then I noted that I was between my cousins, who hated each other. I jumped out of the line of fire and took up a vantage point behind Cerberus’ ears on the central head.

Octavian spun out of the spiral and reported that all was well, the spirits were friendly, la de da. Octavian is an optimist. I am related to the Borgias by marriage. A formlessness spun out of the spiral and grew quickly into a female dog to match Cerberus’ bulk. I flipped off his neck while the two got friendly. Raiclee and Octavian went into the spiral. A pretty woman and a catman spun out. Both seemed to be disoriented. Syric greeted the woman, who jumped. New to sound? He grabbed her hand and looked confused himself. She started talking about how different everything was. Syric asked her questions. Octavian and Raiclee returned and said a double dozen of the creatures were following. Octavian greeted each of them as they started to come through.

I looked on with vast disapproval and suspicion. I began to calculate my chances of killing (if they could be killed) all of the creatures by myself, and if I could stun my cousins should they try to stop me. A double of Lord Kilrae spun out of the spiral. I willed myself to think of nothing harmful. It-he approached me and I felt Logrus-stench. I cut it-him into quarters with Windfall. Octavian and Raiclee looked shocked, Syric looked irritated. (The greedy crow probably thought I was fouling his recruitment efforts.) The newcomers looked… interested. My thought slipped and an Oriana – younger and prettier – appeared. Syric concentrated and a Jesse came through. A Syric. A Florimel. They stank of Logrus or radiated Pattern.

"Syric, why are you doing this?" I asked him, trying not to scream.

"Why not?"

Two Benedicts. A Corwin. An Eric. I moved towards Syric, intending to knock him out. He saw me coming, I charged and he hit me with a half-assed Pattern bolt. We both hurt. We argued a bit. Nearly enraged at their stupidity, I decided to leave before I killed him and broke several bones in Octavian and Raiclee. I Trumped away.

I stopped at the Castle and found a note from Draco, along with a sample of poison. He wanted to talk. I Trumped to Ygg and tried to reach him; no luck. Jesse Trumped me and had me pull her through, along with her bodyguards. I noted that one was a ‘fingerman’, one of the fencing golems. She said it was a gift from Oberon. Oberon wouldn’t have given it to her if she didn’t need it, poor dear.

Jesse Trumped to Random and I went along, not liking to have him alone with the erratic Jesse and all those demons. Jesse wanted her husband killed. Random thought I should help her. I was nothing adverse until I learned that Lord Ren was the new Chaosian Ambassador. No. I suggested she frame the Charybdites or their shapeshifters. We pointed her at Bleys, the chief Charybdite hunter and her father. She left.

Dad asked me to go to his full sister Mirelle and pay (finally) the money he owed her. So he wouldn’t have to listen to her complaints. I agreed and took a large sack of Ambran sovereigns from him.

I found Mirelle in Erbma. She was happy to finally get her money and counted it carefully. I can’t blame her. Who knows how drunk Dad was when he counted it? Miri and Llewella approached me about acting to remove the Chief of Security, as others had approached me before, but this was the straw that broke the donkey’s back. It seemed that nearly all my relatives were working on this, so it might actually succeed. We wanted to locate the Torc and hit the Pantryman when he didn’t have it. I decided to talk to Octavian.

I found him on the Flipside, with Benedict and Fiona. Both of whom had serious grudges against the Chief. After considerable discussion, we decided that I would try to find out what kind of shapeshifter the Pantryman was (mortal shapeshifters did it differently from family) and attempt to see Oberon’s rooms (which nobody did) by running a sweep in the Castle with shifterhounds. I was well known as a shifter and Charybdite hunter, so it should work. Benedict acquired two hounds.

Oberon approved my sweep, especially after I found two shapeshifters, a cook and a maid. One dog was killed. He let me into his rooms, watching every moment, but a huge commotion lured him away. I found the torc, nearly in the open, but didn’t dare steal it as I had information that its masters could use (and presumably sense) it at a distance. I traced the disturbance to the kitchens. Benedict lay dead of sword wounds just outside the pantry doors. Oberon went into the Chief’s lair and returned to pronounce him dead as well.

Oberon called a meeting of the whole family, even Connor. Brand was appointed interim Security chief; horrible threats were used to persuade him. Syric said some stupid things and was made to walk the Pattern to clear his mind. He disintegrated. Newcomer Syric.

I stashed the remaining hound in Tella. On the way back I stopped at the Grove and felt Benedict’s Trump. Cold.

sessione 17

Family meeting:

Everybody showed up but Draco, Sand, Delwin and Osric.

Oberon maintains that the Chief of Security is dead. He appointed Brand to the position. Rumor says this involved serious threats.

Oberon appointed me sheriff of Ambre the City. Joy. Perhaps I can do some good. God knows I can’t do much worse than Syric. Grandfather showed me a Trump of Osric and ordered me to inform him should the man be seen in the City. Since he did this in private I take it that he does not want me to post Osric’s picture with a reward.

Since I knew I’d be gone a lot, I considered trying to recruit relatives to help. I consulted Danesh. He told me that Kara and Consuela fight fairly well, that Ambrose might be of use, and that Dorothea was more of a Pattern maven. On the other hand Fiona is Dorothea’s mother; might she share her mother’s loathing of Charybdites?

I broke the news to the city guard. No more bribes. Some quit, one insulted me on the way out and had to be hurt. I arranged for doubling their pathetic pay and for new uniforms in the City’s colors. I patrolled and found that they were able to keep watchers on me effectively until I put some real effort into evading them. I want to turn the city urchins, of which there are a surplus, to work as spies. I searched for some that night and had a devil of a time getting close. Finally managed to sneak up on three rolling a drunk behind Bloody Bill’s and tossed a silver penny out between us. Two ran but a bold boy of twelve or so cautiously took the coin. I hunched back in an unthreatening position and told him I was the new sheriff and what I wanted -- information on shapeshifters’ and wizards’ movements, especially foreign ones. Rewards for good information.

Contact me.

Later that night I was Trumped by Raiclee from Ygg. She’d seen a war party of hundreds of Chaosians pass through into our territory. I relayed the message to Deirdre. She insisted I tell Oberon and tried to Trump Corwin without luck. Oberon failed as well. He ordered Eric to guard Arden, Dee to take out the troops on hand and Julian to follow with a large force. I volunteered to track the Chaosians. Octavian Trumped me while I was getting a horse. He told me that the Unicorn had told Oberon to kill Osric before Osric killed him. He wanted to talk to Raiclee but couldn’t reach her on my Trump of her. We Trumped to Ygg – Dee beat me there – and he got hold of Raiclee from there. She had been Compelled to forget about the Primal Pattern and Dworkin’s, Syric’s and Jesse’s activities. I tried to show no surprise at all this surprising information. They took off. I armed myself from my Trump closet and joined Deirdre. I Trumped Parsifal, and he agreed to come through and help.

I hellrode out, slowed to trace the Chaosians and noted a small (single person) trail branching off from the main. I followed it and caught up to Jesse. She said she didn’t know about the army. Unlikely. I went back to the main group and circled around to their front, approached stealthily. There were tens of thousands of them! Shit! I tried to Trump Deirdre –blocked. Julian –blocked. Oberon –blocked. Jammed, actually; Dad had demonstrated it for me so I knew what it was. All the older kin blocked, even Dad. I Trumped Parsifal and got through. He relayed my warning to Dee, then Trumped to Ambre to tell Oberon. Octavian –blocked. I stealthily left the Chaosian army, then cast about for a bead on Corwin, found it and hellrode to him. He was way the hell out in the outlands with a large force. I got close enough to break through the jamming. He was amazed at the news of the invasion. I gave him my impression of where it had been a couple of hours before, then Trumped Consuela (riding as one of Deirdre’s lieutenants) to relay Corwin’s orders to Dee. I guided Corwin and his army back to the invaders.

For unknown reasons, the invasion force fell apart just before we arrived. We smashed them utterly. Jesse was rumored to have somehow disrupted the enemy command. (I heard that she later appeared at Ygg cursing the family, then at Ambre where she tried to kill her husband Ren, the ambassador from Chaos. Gerard stopped, captured and de-Compelled her.) While we were mopping up Corwin was Trumped by someone. He went through, leaving Deirdre in charge.

Octavian Trumped me to get hold of Raiclee. I told him that I’d think of things they could do to pay for Trumps of each other. Octavian asked Rai if she’d walked the Pattern recently, saying it concerned something they had arranged previously. Raiclee invited me on an Osric hunt. Octavian, Laosh, she, Eric, Corwin, Bleys and Fiona were going. I declined. With that group I’d be as useful as tits on a boar.

We (largely I) managed to capture only one Chaos Lord, a woman of House Cockatel. She didn’t know what had shattered their army’s command structure. Dee and I took turns mindraping her on the way back to Ambre.

I went to Tella and spent a day altering it so that Shapeshifting would not work there at all. Screw the local lycanthropes.

I told Oriana about the new job, leaving out the part about the urchins. She told me she’d been offered the position of Mistress of Protocol by Oberon. She thought she could do a good job but worried that it was beneath her, the God-Empress of the Isles. I advised her to consider just how annoying much of the family, myself among them, were concerning protocol and etiquette. Would it be fun?

Later it occurred to me that if she did a good job Oberon might not let her quit when she tired of it.

Sessione 18

Oriana and Romance. In talking about her job offer I found out that she thinks Oberon is a pussycat. He does seem to be less an ogre since, as I understand it, Dworkin adjusted him. I don’t trust that it will last. I tried to put Ori on her guard but may have failed. All her life she has dealt with men who were either drooling over her or afraid of the God-Empress of Ortygia. I pointed out that Oberon might not let her quit the job when she tires of it. Oriana thinks it’s cute that I’m jealous of Grandpa. Women.

Back to the sheriff’s office in Amber City.

A guardsman was killed in the night with a very (preternaturally?) sharp blade.

There’s an arrest warrant out for Jesse. I gave orders to ask her to come in. These guys trying to force her would just be killed.

I explained the reward structure and got an immediate lead. One man said that his brother in law was a sorcerer and asking a lot of questions.

I scouted out the brother-in-law’s place and recruited Parsifal to take out the wards and to do the mind probe. Parsifal wanted to boot our way in and make a ruckus. I ruled that the quiet way was best. Good thing as the mage was one of Caine’s agents. I apologized for the intrusion and we left with no one hurt. Inside, that is. One of the four guardsmen covering our backs outside was killed – beheaded with a very sharp blade. Shit. Parsifal said he might be interested in wolf-pack forays in the future. He had enjoyed taking down Caine’s agent’s sophisticated wards.

After seeing to the guardsman’s body and on my way up to the Castle, I was Trumped by Syric. Ambrose was working with him and Jesse; he wanted details on the Other Jesse’s creation. I went through and told Ambrose, privately, that I had been fuming over my Syric’s, Octavian’s and Raiclee’s idiocy in making/shaping the creatures. Jesse brought Raiclee through and got her impressions. Ambrose cast about and said he felt OJ was deep in Chaos side. Ambrose declined to accompany them until Jesse Trumped Oberon and got permission so long as they didn’t get caught. I passed, having killed a lot of Chaosians just the day before; there could be resentment.

Back in Ambre, I found a couple of urchins and had them spread the word that I wanted information on who had killed my guardsmen. They had a lead. I waited. They brought a little girl who had seen the first murder. Her description fit a dueling construct or ‘Fingerman’. Shitshitshit. I paid them off and Trumped Brand. He agreed with Deep Doody assessment. Fiona’s constructs were supposed to have been eliminated. Brand suggested that the Charies might have acquired one and altered its programming. Joy. Back at the office I told the shift commander about the possible identity of the murderer, drew a few quick sketches of fingermen to distribute and gave him a Trump of me for use by the shift commanders. If I was not available they were to contact Security Chief Brand.

It was only an hour till dawn. I went up to the Castle and waited for Oberon to see me. Had a snack. Saw Oberon and Faiella at breakfast and explained the situation. He suggested I get Bleys, Eric, Corwin or Deirdre to back me up if a confrontation was at hand.

I was Trumped by the shift commander just as I was about to leave the Castle. The guardsmen had It cornered in a warehouse on the docks. I Trumped Bleys and brought him through, armored up and accompanied him to the docks. Half the guardsmen had the building surrounded – several had been killed already – and the water was patrolled by boats. Bleys and I went in together and came right back out. There were at least two of them inside. I Trumped Eric in. Caine and Laoch showed up on their own. Brand appeared and a bunch of city mages – Brand’s doing? Brand put Trump block around the building. Caine, took up position on one ship, Eric and Laoch on another. A firebolt out of the back of the warehouse hit one ship, Caine’s. Return fire set the warehouse ablaze. Three fingerman charged out the front and one out the back, into the water. Bleys engaged one. I hit another with a bolo (no effect) and started fencing with it. The third killed men right and left. Mine skewered my left arm (with a Broken Pattern sword, zip, right through my plate) then took on the guardsman trying to kill it from behind. I cut its sword off at the hilt. It took up a dead man’s blade as a guardsman cut its other arm off. I ran it through just an inch or two from the kill spot and started trying to saw my way over. It grabbed my helmet and whiplashed me back and forth. Brand blew its torso away with a wide lightning bolt. I didn’t fall, just pulled the arm off my helmet. Not easy. Judging my chances against the next one (and Brand’s of hitting a freely-moving one) to be poor, I Trumped Corwin in. He engaged it and tried to set up a sweet spot kill for me, which I ignored for cutting a leg off it so he could nail it easily. We looked over at Bleys just as he skewered his – and a jet of green fog blew out at him. I instinctively hit it with a Magic Negator and he dodged back untouched.

We learned what the green crap was right away as Laoch pulled Eric, unconscious, out of the sea and laid him on the dock. Green fuzz was eating its way up Eric’s right hand. Laoch did the right thing and took Eric’s arm off above the elbow. Laoch said the stuff, a fungus, was vulnerable to fire and heat. Brand and the city mages incinerated all traces of the stuff. I had Brand take charge of the severed fingerman arm for investigation. I claimed one of the three BP swords left over. The mage in the warehouse never came out. Probably teleported beyond the Trump block and escaped.

Laoch said he’d found some of the green fungus in a Charybdite shadow that Osric had been visiting. I thought that new model fingermen meant that Osric and the Charies had sealed a deal. Laoch disagreed.

Fifteen guardsmen were dead. I saw to the details on the dock, fire really out and all. Saw to the funeral arrangements and survivor benefits for the widows and orphans of the dead guardsmen. That took about a day. I heard that Oberon had shapeshifted Eric to heal him from the fungus in his blood but Eric was still unconscious. Corwin will be happy.

I went to Tella and sped up its time rate to heal and make Trumps: Shadow Bakkhanalya, Raiclee, Octavian. Chiropractor, masseuses. Oriana was sweet and solicitous. Random Trumped me to dragoon me into working Syric’s bachelor party with him. He said it was a ‘sacred family duty’. Fine. I told him I wanted to set up a gambling club/bordello in Ambre City. Could he help? He could find a suitable manager but said that Oberon had dismissed the idea when he put it to him. Told him about the New Fingermen and the dock battle. He was happy that Eric had lost a hand. Raiclee Trumped me to invite Oriana to the Syric-bride’s bachelorette party. I examined the gleam in her eye and thought over her vendetta with Syric. I told her that Oriana was busy with affairs of state.

I visited Oberon. He was pleased with my actions at the dock. I managed to sell him on the idea of a gambling club as a convenient place to gather gossip and information. It will have to be covert, officially illegal. He won’t have the Crown overtly involved.

I set up a monthly fencing competition among the guardsmen and assigned the Broken Pattern sword to the winner. Sent the first men – Fandral, who hacked the arm of that fingerman and a friend of his who was also in the battle, to very-fast Bakkhanalya and pulled them back (three days of carousing, to them) just before the party.

All things considered, I’ll pass on the orgy portion of the evening. There will be nothing discreet about it and Ori might take it as an insult. Oriana is more interesting than a legion of hookers.

sessione 19

Draco popped in for a while so I briefed him on current events.

Octavian swept the Castle for Charybdites his way.

In hopes of boosting morale I arranged a serious public ceremony honoring my dead city guardsmen. Bleys and Corwin agreed to attend.

Of Dad’s bachelor party for Syric, the less said the better. I didn’t win the contest, the bird-girl was a bit too avian for my taste. Parsifal really liked it; it expanded his erotic horizons. Still making up for time lost in a Hendrake dungeon. Reminder to self: talk Dad into letting Pars stay there for a week or so.

Osric made an attempt on Draco’s sword, trying to destroy it by some method that not even Fiona could fathom, nor could Dad block it in his own shadow. Draco had to hide out on the Flipside to get out of range. Apparently Osric wants to destroy the thing and make a shadow of it Real. Would that really work for something of that power? I replaced Falco after it was destroyed, but a Pattern sword? Syric didn’t say anything about an attempt on his mace.

I wasn’t invited to Syric’s wedding. I went to Castle Ambre and commotion – fast-firing lightning – from the roof sent me running up there. The defense globes on the roof were frying griffin riders, some of whom had BP shields. Three got through and dropped big bags onto the Castle. Suspecting more of that terrible fungus, I Trumped down to the gates, retreated into the town and raised a Pattern shield – unnecessarily, as the cloud did not reach me. Fiona, Oberon and Brand did not answer Trump calls. Everyone I could see within the Castle grounds was dead and green. And Oriana was in there somewhere interviewing for the Mistress of Protocol job, dammit. I summoned the city guards and drafted all the useful City mages for fungus disposal. They knew the danger and did not argue with me. I Trumped into Tella to gather some more mages and found that my palace, Oriana’s palace and my big research facility had all been hit. The palaces took about 70% losses but the research mages were nearly wiped out. I gave instructions for a hasty cleanup, recruiting Chrysophylax (the Great Dragon) to help sear the grounds.

I Trumped Corwin to tell him what had happened and found that Avalon had been hit hard, with everyone dead in his castle. Shit. Nudged Tella a bit, making the local gods even more pissed off about this; after all, if the fungus got loose they could lose most of their worshippers. Popped to Ygg and Trumped Draco to let him know so he could check on Bradenberg. Trumped Dad.

Brand Trumped me to tell me that an enemy fleet was two hours out from Ambre and that, due to sabotage of our fleet, it outnumbered ours two or three to one. Shit! Trumped Draco to request aquatic dragons. Popped to the Flipside to try to inform Benedict. He’d not find a better chance to be a hero and get off the extreme end of Oberon’s bad graces. No trace. Sent messenger birds to Seek him and tell him of the opportunity.

Back in Ambre I learned that the Castle’s third floor had been wiped out, and part of the second floor. No Family dead. Oberon, Fiona and Brand were dealing with Trump attacks. Oriana was unhurt, burning fungus and fuming about the attack on her palace.

We needed more troops. I made arrangements with Dee and Trumped to the City of the Way – yamabushi headquarters in Shadow Tella. I sent about three thousand fanatics through to her, the last of them about fifteen minutes before the enemy fleet was due. The yamabushi were designed for working with Family, all of whom were saints to the fanatics. I’m their own Patron Saint of course. Rested, ate and drank for an hour Tella time (little over five minutes in Ambre) and Trumped back to the City.

Moments later I remembered I was going to give Rai and Ock the Trumps I’d made for them. Octavian’s Trump was being jammed, Raiclee’s was not. Handed them through saying You owe me. Have to make them expensive enough that they won’t bother me all the time.

Arranged troops with Deirdre. Sent half my yamabushi into the City at key points to hide and be ready. The other half were ready as our reserve. Dee’s soldiery were on the docks.

Sent two good bushi to Oriana as bodyguards.

Took my own post on a stone roof from which I could see the port and back into the City. Opened my closets and got out war-bows, a lot of arrows and jug of curare and shifterbane. Dipped each arrow in both.

Reports came in that Chary wizards were Trumping troops in to warehouses in the City. Had the buildings surrounded and fired.

Three enemy transports neared the docks, spitting arrows and spells. Dad and Deirdre held different sections with good success. I bounced a couple of arrows off the wizard shields over the ships, then aimed at the wizards themselves and punched holes with Words of Power. Killed a strong one, then a couple more. Spells struck at me and Windfall ate them. They gave up on me and hid from arrows.

Gradually we won. Reports had ceased from the sewers; I had them searched by bushi and city guards. Word came from the Castle that Fiona was missing and that Osric had got in, taken the Torc and kidnapped baby Dalt. Why take an infant Oberon cared little for? I stationed twenty yamabushi near the Pattern room, armed with darts coated with the good shifterbane, obtained from the king. Cleanup of the city, fires doused, arrangements made for my city guards’ widows and orphans, searches and so on.

Octavian Trumped me and came through. He’d nearly been caught in a Shadow Trap -- Flora’s, he thought. He’d been on his way to investigate Shadow Karth. Most of the enemy troops had come from there. We tried to contact his father Prince Marshal Corwin and couldn’t. His Trump was still warm, being jammed or something. That concerned me. I handed command of my people off to Deirdre and Trumped Octavian and myself to Shadow Begma. Tried and failed to get a bearing on Corwin. Tried again from Ygg. From there Octavian was able – barely – to burn through and get a weak contact with Corwin. He was stuck in a Shadow Trap. We called around for some help, knowing that if Corwin was stuck, we would be too. Brand recommended Deirdre, who agreed to help and came through. We shifted closer to Corwin and hit the edge of a Trump-blocked zone (i.e., Dad’s Trump, in my hand, started to warm). Syric Trumped Octavian, looking for Corwin and Benedict on the king’s orders. Octavian blew him off. Then he burned through to Corwin again and was told to get someone capable of ‘editing’ shadow to help. Brand recommended Llewella, Llew came through. With Octavian’s help, she punched a hole through and Corwin led the remnant – maybe one in ten – of his army out. All metal (except Greyswandir) had been liquid in the Shadowtrap and they had been surrounded by thousands of man-eating monsters. We Trumped everyone back to Castle Ambre. Octavian and Llew were nearly as exhausted as Corwin. Corwin had rejected Osric’s offer of alliance and suffered the consequences.

Since Bleys was missing as well, Dee and I went to find him. We assumed that he too was trapped. Lacking more shadow editors, and knowing that Jesse liked her father, I Trumped her from Ygg. I suggested she try to recruit her mother, if the woman had any affection for Bleys. She went off to arrange that while Dee and I looked for Bleys and very soon hit the edge of a Trump block zone. Waited. Jesse Trumped me and came through with Raiclee. We explained. They decided to go in and I agreed to hold onto a Logrus tendril (ugh) and anchor Jesse, with Dee to help. They went in, following a trail of human corpses, and saw Bleys holed up in a small cave, beset with big, steely-looking beasts. Which started ripping Jes and Rai up until Jes pulled them out to me and Dee. We recruited Draco and a dozen unmagical ‘dragons’ for Try 2. Found out that Draco’s patternsword cleaves barriers, even those made by Osric with the torc. They lost all but two dragons and didn’t do much damage to the monsters but did get out intact with Bleys. Jesse, Bleys and Raiclee retreated to Castle Ambre, exhausted and hurt.

Draco had been looking for Fiona. I told him how I had found Corwin and Bleys.

Went to Tella and ordered the main body of the yamabushi to muster, just in case. Trumped the wounded in from Ambre and made the arrangements there.

While there, Octavian Trumped me for help finding Florimel. He was acting odd. Eventually he told me that he was now Osric’s friend, that we all should be. Pulled him through and knocked him out. Drugged him with a sedative. Trumped us to Brand. Brand found, and took, three ‘interesting’ Trumps (knowing a little of what Dad can do, I didn’t want them) and a ring that had the same sort of unknown-to-us power on it as Draco’s sword. I wanted it badly, but let Brand keep it. (Yeah, I know.) I didn’t want to suddenly be Osric’s friend too. Brand mentioned that Octavian was a shapeshifter, so I drugged him with the good shifterbane. I don’t take risks with Octavian; he’s far too dangerous. Took him to the Pattern room, administered the drug to cancel the sedative and put him on the Pattern, cutting his bonds in the next instant.

Octavian made it through. He thanked me. I said I was happy to return a favor. Osric had UnJesse working for him (Yes!!) and wanted Lora, Connor and Sean, as well as UnFlora.

Went off to look for Benedict in the Flipside Abyss. He wasn’t there, but I did pick up a faint trace and followed it back to the place where the Agate Portal had been. He seemed to be within the warped shadow there. I studied it from all sides, then went off to the very fast shadows closer to Castle Odious and slept in a cruddy inn. Went to the castle in the morning and walked its Pattern. Asked it (hating having to do this more than I can say) to take me to within the warp.

It worked. Benedict was there, and Dworkin. Shit! Dworkin was not happy that anyone had found a way to get at the Agates. I told him I was not interested in the thing. Told Benedict that if he could save Oberon’s ass that Most Would Be Forgiven. No. No. No! yelled Dworkin, You’re focusing on the unimportant things. I said I thought C and B nearly being killed and Osric kicking our butts was important. What was more important than that? You wouldn’t understand, Dworkin replied, Make yourself useful. Cook us some food. I did th