ELEVEN


AMETHYST: OREENWAYS
Amethyst put Brannon to bed, alone. House Oreen was on maximum security
alert after the multiple intrusions. Mirolla and company determined that
Vaerrek and Corinthian, the non-corporeals, had used a different method
than this Lady Portia and Azriel. Lady Lana Oreen questioned Amethyst
and got honest answers. Next she questioned Brannon. Brannon told them
that Vaerrek and Corinthian hadn't really intruded, they were already
there.

'Where were you before?'

'On the Primal Pattern,' Brannon answered, 'Talking to Dworkin.'

'We thought Dworkin was dead!'

'No. Just very busy.'

'Was Vaerrek there? Is there something about this place that lent them
the power? And what do you know of the other lady?'

'Portia? Not much?'

'What of Swayvill's whore?'

'Azriel? She is quite the lusty one.'

'Is there any way you could get hold of Azriel to find out what she
knows?'

'About what?'

'Anything? Vaerrek, Corinthian, how they blasted into the Ways --'

'They blasted in? There was damage?'

'No, but --'

'Vaerrek and Corinthian are everywhere and everywhen. They didn't have
to get through. They're part of the wards.'

'That's disturbing.'

Amy spoke up, 'My room's safe then.'

Lana turned to Amethyst, 'Do you have any ideas how to gain this
information?'

'We probably can't get Corinthian or Vaerrek. There's Portia. At least
the Pattern is gone too.'

'It is? Good. Then we are not at a disadvantage.'

'Brannon --- why did you go looking for Dworkin anyway?' Amy asked.

'It's always been part of my master plan.'

Lana gave him a piercing look, 'You had an idea where he was?'

'I thought he might be at the Primal Pattern.'

'What did you learn?'

'I was interrupted before I gained any real information.'

'Could you go back and talk to him?'

'I don't know.'

'If you two find some way to influence Corinthian and Vaerrek before the
other Houses do... '

Brannon smirked, 'For Corinthian, I suggest titty shows.'

Lora said, 'Really? Why did the Unicorn choose him?'

'Easy to manipulate is my guess.'

'Hm. Some of our former kings were chosen that way.' She thought for a
moment. 'You are free to go about your business.'

'You could meet the rest of my family,' Amethyst suggested.

'Sure.'

Amethyst linked arms with Brannon and walked off. 'Hm. Brannon, how much
do you know about Vaerrek?'


TIBERIUS: AMBER PALACE
Tiberius explained to any number of people that there was no real
problem. The Pattern was not missing, merely elsewhen. Strangely, no one
was cheered up by this. Tibby went away to a fast (10x) shadow for some
extensive conjuring. Next he visited Shadow Lurc to hunt for serial
killers, armed with a man-sized net with a built in shock electrical
shock, wearing thick rubber gloves. He stalked about in the night and
eventually located a likely subject. After a while he realized that
someone else was stalking the same prey. The target was a hulking, grey
haired man. The other stalker was monstrous, bigger than a man,
constantly shifting form as if it were a sort of stew of human parts
trying to maintain a vaguely human form. The net wouldn't likely work on
it, so Tiberius slipped off his psychic defense ring and used a psychic
contact spell. He was a little stronger than the monster. He managed a
mild Compulsion, convincing it that Tiberius was its friend who would
help it find prey. It -- 'Gloog' -- was happy with this arrangement.
They followed the man together and watched him attempt to pick up (very
badly), then successfully hire a streetwalker. They followed the couple
to an alley where Gloog enveloped the woman and Tiberius beheaded the
man with his famous cleaver. He slapped a quick preservation spell on
the head. Gloog was happy to take the body and the new buddies parted on
excellent terms. Dullel -- the head -- bitched and moaned from his sack.
Tiberius installed him into his organic computer as the How To Pick Up
Girls wetware.


VAERREK: EVERYWHERE
Vaerrek recovered his Trumps, noting in the process that his Logrus
tendrils felt more vital now. He Trumped his grandmother Thjarand and
explained the situation to her as completely as he could. As soon as he
mentioned being one with Sligspholl, in a limited sense, she cut him
off. Vaerrek was not surprised. He Logrused her a note with the
remainder of the information and a request that the House look into ways
to reverse the change and break his contact with Sliggy.

Vaerrek spent some time trying to manifest a body and came up with
something that looked just like Corinthian. He made up some new curses
for the moronic Hendrakes who'd thrown Corinthian on the Logrus. His
attempts to Summon Corinthian out of himself led him to believe that it
might work in some extremely un-real place.


KRISTA: HELGRAMWAYS
Krista's kinsman Feddrin and Thjarand Larcan gave her the sad news that
Vaerrek Larcan had sided with the Ultimate Evil.

'Hendrake?'

'Much worse --- Sligspholl.' They had to explain Sligspholl, the Really
Old Days, the war with Sliggy, the binding of the Serpent and Sliggy's
long (hundreds of thousands of years) imprisonment. And Vaerrek's and
Corinthian's current condition.

'You want me to bring him home and beat his bottom?' asked Krista the
optimist and spanking enthusiast.

'We don't think that is necessarily possible. Contact with Vaerrek would
involve contact with Sligspholl.' They suggested she try Portia, who was
some sort of Amber witch, or that slut-puppy Azriel. Quietly. Plus, she
should pass the information to Swayvill via Krista's acquaintance
Cyngra. And maybe contact Drusus Barimen. Amethyst Oreen might know
something -- she'd been sicced on Vaerrek, unsuccessfully. Krista set
off.

Drusus wouldn't see her. At Oreenways she met with extreme paranoia but
managed to get a message through to Amethyst that she wanted to meet
with her. Amethyst and her associates couldn't decide if this was a
clever ruse or insanity. A meeting was arranged on neutral ground, the
dueling place near the Abyss.

Amethyst showed up in her pretty purple lacquered armor, Brannon with
her in straightforward armor from Avignon and Krista in silver spandex.
They introduced themselves. Krista asked about Vaerrek. Amethyst
complained about his cowardice. For his latest outrage he had declined
to turn material and be butchered. Amy said that she didn't know where
Vaerrek was but he would not be near any beautiful women. Amy asked
Krista about the spikard node or nexus. Krista agreed to pass on
information should it come to her.


TIBERIUS: IN HIS CONJURY SHADOW
Tiberius worked with his heads. When he was finished he took his new
guard of man-sized blue (wingless) apes through Shadow towards Amber. He
was delayed in Rogma long enough to convince King Maximilian's
representative that Amber was in deep, deep trouble. Possibly something
to do with lead pipe plumbing. Once in Amber he had to leave all but two
of his guards in the City due to the limits on private troops in the
Palace. He found that nobody had fed the Owls. Titus in particular was
not happy with the prospect. Tiberius told him it was too bad, he
himself was out of the Owl feeding business. He suggested they send
somebody out to buck up morale in the Golden Circle. They decided to
send Balthazar. Tiberius told Titus that he'd determined that Corinthian
was responsible for the Pattern's disappearance. Probably by using the
Trump of the White Place rather than feed the Owls. Tibby said he'd
tried the Trump himself but got loose by his mighty powers. And Avril
breaking the contact. Next, Titus agreed to get Tiberius a seat in
Parliament if he'd publicly denounce Corinthian. They discussed the
possibility of having a former Corinthian ally-puppetmaster do the
denouncing. Tiberius mentioned that the Unicorn looked pissy.


BRANNON: NEXT TO THE ABYSS
Brannon concentrated on contacting Vaerrek as if he were holding his
Trump. If Vaerrek really was Everywhere, it should work. It did. Vaerrek
was glad that somebody was still willing to talk to him. Brannon was
mainly interested in the Jewel, the Eye and the Master spikard. Vaerrek
told him that he seemed to have the Eye and partially manifested it.
Brannon sensed an overlay of other hands holding the Jewel and the
Master Spikard in the same space. Vaerrek told him that he thought that
the three items either always had been the same thing or had become
joined in the recent changes. Amethyst and Krista had noticed Brannon's
distracted, silent Trump call expression and Brannon cut the contact. He
denied any contact and took swift leave of them, Trumping to Avignon.

Brannon Trumped his mother Piper and discovered in the process that the
Wall no longer impeded Trump contacts. Or perhaps it was gone entirely.
He went through to her to tell her his idea for getting the JoJ back.
Since Vaerrek manifested psychically they might be able to muscle the
Jewel and the Eye out if they had sufficient massed willpower. He had to
explain who Sligspholl was. Piper seemed amenable.


VAERREK: EVERYWHERE
Vaerrek centered himself in a crummy, unpeopled shadow near the border,
on the Amber side. He attempted to draw primal chaos energies into that
shadow via the Eye. Primal chaos roared through him blasting parts of
the shadow into nothingness. It got way out of hand. Little parts of
himself started going away. He attempted to cut off the rush and managed
to do so, using Pattern. He fell through the hole in the world into
'catland'.


KRISTA: NEXT TO THE ABYSS
Krista and Amethyst worked up a list of Amberites up for sale by
Hendrake. Krista made mental notes of the ones Helgram might be
interested in. She, and Amethyst, noted Brannon's distracted air and was
not satisfied with his answers. After the meeting she consulted Feddrin
and decided that Brannon's armor had sported Avignonan designs. Avignon
was supposed to be a reasonably nice place; she went there. Krista
shifted her appearance and adopted the guise of Brannon's Biggest Fan.
Armed with Brannon posters she asked for an audience at his castle gate.


Brannon was informed that the president of his fan club wanted to see
him. He acquiesced. He quickly determined that she was, in fact, Krista
Helgram. He ordered lunch, feeling a bit of deja-vu as another Chaosian
chick set up to vamp him.20


AMETHYST: OREENWAYS
Amethyst consulted Mirolla. 'We have problems. The good news is that
Houses Larcan and Helgram are willing to sell Vaerrek out.'

'That is good news.'

'They don't know where he is. His grandmother is particularly irritated.
The bad news is that Brannon seemed to be talking to himself.'

'Trump contact?'

'I don't think so.'

'Perhaps it was a ruse. He's going home to tell about the Amberites for
sale.'

Amy shook her head, no.

'Maybe they're getting people to fetch the essences.'

'I didn't tell them about that.'

'Good. Maybe they think they're getting whole people.'

Mirolla told her about the spikard node. She made plans to go there.
Mirolla had her take some demons along. He talked her out of taking
explosives since it was guarded by fanatical spikard users. Gathering
information should be worthwhile.

Amethyst Trumped Brannon. He answered. She invited him along. He
declined to go on a fatal-to-him journey to the bottom of the Abyss,
carefully saying nothing to let Krista -- who slithered into his lap --
know the subject of the conversation or Amy know of Krista's presence.
He told Amy she could Trump him for escape should she need to.20

Krista slid off Brannon's lap and straightened her skirt. 'If that's all
the attention I get!'

'You don't have to leave. You were the one who tried to interrupt a
private conversation.'

Further angered by this line of reasoning, Krista stormed off. She went
home and decided on the way that the Trump call had likely been that
bitch of Oreen.

Amethyst and her escort went deeper and deeper into the Abyss.
Eventually they were met by a large demonic person who introduced
himself as D'Olby. He wanted to know why she, not a spikard client, was
in the area. She said she was looking for a 'big gray rock' -- the node.
D'Olby offered her a spikard, nobody else in Oreen had a spikard, free
and clear. Spikards were wonderful, they did everything! Though tempted,
Amy insisted on seeing the gray rock first. No. Join the ranks of their
satisfied clients. Like who? Azriel of Elsenore. Laugh. Brannon of
Avignon. Gildevere of Chandra. Tmer of Jesby. Bella of Minobee. HoSei
Arron. Melita of Udrek. Belizay of Zinthan. All very satisfied. She said
she'd check and Trumped Brannon. Mentally: Hello sweetheart. Ever meet
someone named D'Olby? Alright, how much of a lying bastard is he?
Brannon: I don't know that he did lie to me. If Croup or Vandemar show
up, they are lying bastards. Amy: He wants to give me a spikard. You
wouldn't believe who has them. He says they'll make an awesome weapon
system. Brannon: I wouldn't bet on it. He told her about the drawbacks,
the strings and addiction. The handouts were new, though. Perhaps other
owners had met with unfortunate demises. They cut the contact.20

'One of your customers thinks you do substandard work on your weapons
system.' She looked D'Olby over and decided that she couldn't take him
out before he summoned help. Probably lots of help.


TIBERIUS: AMBER PALACE
Tiberius searched the castle for good monkey-hiding places. Along the
way he discovered that someone had tampered with the monkey-poop on the
walls. Far too experienced to attribute this to the castle cleaning
staff, he investigated. After a time he realized that he had passed
beyond the boundaries of the palace wards. He left a guard-ape there and
Trumped to the gates, then bought provisions (including crossbows and
bolts) in town and passed them through to his ape when it Trumped him.
He had his excess apes join that one and set up some silent sorcerous
wards around the area. It occurred to him that some poison that would
inhibit shapeshifting would be useful. The Elsenoreans seemed to be the
likeliest source. He went to call on Piper, scaring the hell out of her
poor guards when he had to wait for her to finish up meeting with
someone else. When let in he complained about the desecration of the
holy monkey-poop and told her about the oddities of the palace deeps,
then asked about the poison. Piper had some on hand. They made sure it
worked in Amber by calling Kamron in and trying it out on her. Tiberius
waited outside. Kamron came out of Piper's rooms looking dazed.

'What happened?' asked Tiberius solicitously.

'She told me to shift and I couldn't.'

'That bitch!'

Tiberius had his guard-apes' bolts coated. He ordered them to leave
Catarina's cats alone.


BRANNON: SHADOW AVIGNON
Brannon contacted Vaerrek and learned that Vaerrek's unexplained
experiment had been a bit too successful. They discussed the odd rages
of some Chaos girls and laughed about House Oreen bolstering their
defenses with santa scarecrows.


KRISTA: IN SHADOW
Krista made her way towards Amber. Past Elsenore she found a strange
shadow, high in natural magic, with a huge hole in it. The locals,
beardless dwarfs with lots of magic, had taken to worshipping the hole.
Krista Trumped Teyr, the Helgram Master at Arms, to tell him about it.
Some of the locals noticed her and approached.20

'Ah, Mistress Foreigner. You've come to worship the Great Void.'

'I've come to see it.' She got closer to it and could tell that the
locals intended to push her in. She avoided that fate while Teyr,
watching through her eyes, cursed about the obvious release of Primal
Chaos. A huge amount of it, more than anyone ever needed to use, and yet
it had stopped, which was totally unnatural. Krista cut the Trump
contact and raised the Logrus to leave. Many of the dwarfs followed her
very closely, ignoring her threats. She assumed her combat form, or
tried to, seeking to awe them. She immediately lost control,
shape-shifting wildly. The dwarfs approved, she was even more powerful
than they had thought. Krista could not stop the shifting. She threw out
a tendril and pulled herself out of the shadow with ten dwarfs clinging
to her and each other. The wild shifting ceased as soon as she moved to
a different shadow. The dwarfs swore to serve her.


AMETHYST: THE BOTTOM OF THE ABYSS
D'Olby offered to configure Amethyst's free spikard any way she wanted.
She wanted a way to get Vaerrek of Larcan back in a physical form.

D'Olby was apologetic. 'He's passed his spikard on to another user who's
now using it in interesting ways. Still I'm sure we can manage it if
it's at all possible.'

'We don't know where he is.'

'Just down the hall.'

'Impossible.'

'I think he is. Follow me.' D'Olby led Amethyst to a blacker-than-black
passage.

'What's on the other side when Vaerrek isn't?'

'My master Azadore.'

'A moment.' Amethyst talked quietly with her demon escort. 'You have the
list of spikard users?'

'Yes, my lady.'

'Get that information to Mirolla, no matter what you have to do, who you
have to kill. Go.' They went.

The black passage felt a lot like a Trump contact. She found herself in
a smallish basilica, lit by thousands of candles. No scents. Clean. A
small pool of water. A friendly, happy looking gentleman looked up at
her from stacks of books scattered all around him. 'D'Olby sent me.'

'How nice of him. Why?'

'I'm looking for Vaerrek of House Larcan.'

'Amusing. Why?'

'Not just me. Everyone in the Courts wants to find him.'

'He's having quite the meaningful conversation with Brannon of Amber.'

'Really.'

'He's quite the charming gentleman. I see by your reaction that you have
knowledge of him. Why did D'Olby let you in?'

'To find Vaerrek. He took something near and dear to the devout of
Chaos.'

'If it's Vaerrek you want to speak to, just go to the pool and reach
your hand in.'

Amethyst thought about it. 'OK.' She reached in. Vaerrek's reptilian
hand grasped hers and cooperated.


TIBERIUS: AMBER
Tiberius went to visit cousin Monserrat in her new Golden Circle bearing
a copy of his History as a housewarming gift. He gave her his pitch that
the family needed to pull together against foreign foes.

'The last time someone said that several people died and the Wall went
up.' She wanted to meet Titus before lending him her support.

Tiberius left in a cloud of ass-kissing. Minot next. She was more
concerned for poor Corinthian but not adverse to backing Titus. Demelza
was more direct. She wanted more prestige for her sons Ross and
Valentine. Sub-assistant Masters of Ritual? Piper was willing to support
Titus. Verity clung to neutrality. Agrippa would prefer his son
Tiberius. Sort of. Several suggested Ving as a fine candidate for king.

Tiberius spread rumors that the Wall would collapse, and that Corinthian
was lost because he refused to heed Tiberius' warnings.


BRANNON: AVIGNON
Brannon Trumped Piper. She mentioned Tiberius' request for
anti-shapeshifter poison. Brannon went through to her and briefed her on
what Vaerrek had said. Vaerrek didn't know much of Sligspholl's plans
and dared not open himself any more to the ancient menace. She had him
hide when Tiberius came to see her.

After she told Brannon that, sadly, the two who could do what Brannon
wanted were Tiberius and Ving. They planned to maneuver Tiberius into
doing it. Brannon asked why she'd given Tibby the poison. To guard
against attack from below. Brannon told her about conditions Below and
ended up explaining about finding Dworkin on the Jewel's Pattern and so
on. Piper worried that so many people knew, including a bunch of
Chaosians. Piper wanted to get Avril involved. Brannon objected that
Avril would tell Azriel and Azriel would tell Sligspholl. Beryl was not
an option.


VAERREK: SLIGSPHOLL'S PRISON
Vaerrek felt himself being made whole as he left the water. Even
Amethyst couldn't spoil the moment. He denied feeling the Logrus inside
him any more than normal. Azadore suggested Amethyst touch Vaerrek to
find out for herself. Vaerrek agreed. Amethyst did so, very tentatively.
As she did, she felt that Vaerrek was made of the Logrus and Vaerrek
could feel it in him/around him. Vaerrek cursed. Amethyst felt Pattern
mixed in with the Logrus and flinched away from it -- into the Node. She
was caught and had no choice but to attune to it. As she stood shaking
in relief (for survival) and rage (at being tricked) she saw that the
spikards in the room had no lines of power. Brannon had been lying or
mistaken.

Azadore-Sligspholl looked at her quizzically. 'What, you didn't wish to
attune to the Pattern? It's quite useful.'

'I'm a Chaosian, not a stinking Amberite!'

'No, you and Vaerrek are descendants of Miron.'

Amethyst puked on Vaerrek. Vaerrek froze, then smiled falsely, 'Cousin!'
and spread his arms wide to hug her. She ran he chased.


KRISTA: IN SHADOW
Krista took her new retainers with her as she set off towards Amber. She
found a ring of power-null shadows just past Ygg. There was no Wall.
Lord Droom's demons, on-site, told her that he had been informed of the
changes. There was one un-null shadow in the ring. She entered. It
seemed to be all buildings, long hallways with old shit on the walls.
The shadow seemed to be shaking apart and all the populace -- normal
Amberoids -- were running around in panic. Krista pressed on through the
shattering world. At one point a voice from the walls talked to her.

'Who are you?'

'Krista.'

'What do you want?'

'To visit Amber.'

The world started screaming at the mention of 'Amber'' Krista scanned
around and found one point that felt worse than the others, more
Pattern. She went that way. One dwarf picked up a book on the way. They
made it out and Krista paused to examine the book. The History of the
World by Tiberius Claudius, Nero Barimen. 'Where'd you get this?'

'A blue monkey gave it to me, Lady. It must be holy.'

Not too much closer to Amber she was intercepted by Lord Balthazar of
Amber and his troops. Krista denied being from the Great Satan.
Balthazar offered to escort them to Titus, the true king of Amber. She
accepted. Shortly thereafter they were joined by Princes Tristan, Valery
and Agrippa. They were very interested in how she'd got through
Castravalva.

'I kept to the path and used my imagination.'

'Why come here?'

'To see it.'

'We're a tourist spot?' They sent her on her way with directions to take
the History to Tiberius. Her trip was easy from that point. She reached
Amber and sent a message to Tiberius. After cooling her heels for a
while Tiberius arrived, a short-haired fellow in clerical robes, flanked
by two blue apes. They introduced themselves.

'I see you have found my holy tome. Have you come to learn the truth of
the Unicorn?'

'Passing through Castravalva, I found this and heard you'd like it
returned.'

Tiberius pressed a reward upon her and listened to the story of her pass
through Castravalva. He interpreted it as meaning that Beryl's double
had been probing the place for weaknesses and wrecking it. 'Good. The
Wall should weaken.'

'Yes, it's down in sections.'

'Did you come from Elsenore?'

'Farther.'

'The edge of Hell. Always wanted to visit and piss into the Abyss.'
There followed some Tibby-Logic concerning the Pattern. Taking a shine
to her for some reason (spandex?) Tiberius took Krista on a tour of the
city.

Krista saw that it was not at all like her old guide book had described.
The Palace alone was huge, wandering over several hills. 'Who's the
Regent now?'

'We're pushing for Titus.'

'Who's in charge?'

'I am, for all practical purposes.'

Krista said she'd like to stay for a few days. Tiberius recommended a
hotel. Krista, after he left, selected a different one. The dwarfs were
stunned, amazed and impressed.

Tiberius set a monkey to watching her.

TWELVE


KRISTA: AMBER
Krista spent some time bending Shadow Birhlahon to her will. Balthazar
checked in on her from time to time. Back to Amber then, wandering
around and watching the activities grow more and more frantic. Losing
the Pattern had hit them hard, plus some long dead relatives, Ravi and
Sarin, had returned, alive, to the family. Krista Trumped Teyr Helgram
to report and check up on current events. Amethyst Oreen had reportedly
tried to assassinate the king of Amber and Swayvill was concerned about
that and other Hendrake-Oreen activities. Krista described the joys of
traveling through Castravalva.


TIBERIUS: AMBER
Tiberius wandered all over the palace, observing events and
eavesdropping. He learned that Avril in particular was very busy,
drumming up support for Queen Prue and King Corinthian, welcoming Ravi
and Sarin and politicking in general. He obtained an audience with her.
Avril treated Tiberius with wary amusement while expounding upon Prue's
limited virtues. Tiberius ended up volunteering, more or less, to
provide a chariot race for Avril's party. Tiberius passed the job down
to Balthazar.


AMETHYST, VAERREK: SLIGSPHOLL'S LAIR
Amethyst avoided Vaerrek's lunges easily by staying near the pool. He
was too wary of falling in as he wasn't sure he could get out again on
his own. Servants cleaned them up. Sligspholl talked to Amethyst,
offering to guarantee House Oreen access to the Logrus in return for
eliminating Houses Helgram, Sawall, Swayvill and Berumen. Non-exclusive,
since he felt that Vaerrek would insist on access for House Larcan. Amy
suggested Vaerrek was superfluous. Sliggy said he'd grown used to his
and Corinthian's company. Amethyst agreed to take the offer home. Sliggy
warned her that there had been another intrusion into Oreenways by
Corinthian. D'Olby escorted her out.

Vaerrek dove into the pool to the stone sphere, then made sure he could
get out again. He percolated out into the universe and searched for the
most unreal place he could find. This turned out to be catland. He
contacted Corinthian and had an unexpectedly hard time convincing him to
experiment at separating themselves from each other.


BRANNON: AMBER
Brannon checked up on current events in Amber. He heard that a Chaosian
woman had moved into the City. Virtually everyone had a spy or two
watching her. Meanwhile, Queen Prue really was acting like a ruler. No
good could come of that. Brannon Trumped to Avignon, noted changes to
the basic feel of the universe and investigated. The null zone had moved
past Ygg and was turning Chaotic. The feel of chaos, the stink, was not
nearly what it had been. Unfortunate but not unexpected. Avignon and his
own Shadow Skye were slowly turning Chaotic as well. Brannon set about
moving Skye closer to Amber.


AZRIEL: LONDON BELOW
Azriel, Corinthian, Portia, Door and Miette were together when Vaerrek
Trumped Corinthian. Azriel listened in and determined to observe
Vaerrek's Cunning Plan in operation.
SECRET STUFF
Azriel visited with Sligspholl and learned of his desire to eliminate a
few Chaosian Houses. He asked after Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar but Azriel
didn't know where they'd got to. Sliggy also wanted a couple of the
catmen eliminated, Old Deuteronomy and McCavity. Azriel said all the
cats could perish for all she cared. Following the beast track, she
asked it he were concerned about the blue monkeys in Amber. The shit
slinging ones. Nope, Corinthian's problem. Nor the Owls, which he
dismissed as minor artifacts that the stupid Amberites had forgotten how
to attune to. Except for one crazed individual. Azriel confirmed that he meant Tiberius. She asked about Sligspholl's timetable. He was waiting
to see how well Amethyst did selling the idea of eliminating those
Chaosian Houses. They parted on good terms. Azriel left a mental note in
Vaerrek's head that Amethyst was working with Sliggy to destroy the
Courts. She made her way to the non-static portion of the White Place,
Trumped Brannon and convinced him to join her. Corinthian, Portia, Door
and Miette were already there.


KRISTA, TIBERIUS: AMBER
Krista got an audience with Tiberius and met with him at the Circus
Maximus. Tiberius was easy to find with his four eight-foot tall blue
ape guards and the wide empty space around them. They exchanged
pleasantries, a little off in Tiberius' case. Krista hit Tibby up for an
invite to the ball that evening. Tiberius said he'd find her a date --
not himself, he was remaining true to the Unicorn. He had an uncle in
mind. Tiberius invited her to help him select horses for his chariot
team. She selected some fine ones and started to give him pointers for
driving them. Tibby informed her that she would be driving them. She
agreed.

Tiberius met Ving and heard all about the poor halfwit's meeting with
Dworkin and how Ving had worried about being inside Tiberius' head
(Dworkin was one of Tibby's Voices) --- Tiberius told him he had a date
for him. Ving was apprehensive. He hadn't had a date since the night he
was injured. Tibby told him that if she did anything bad, he could break
her neck. Doing it without an excuse would be rude. Tiberius lent him a
psychic barrier ring. Ving was grateful. He hated it when people went
into his head. That was news to Tibby. Ving explained that some people
were mean and did bad things. Like Livea? Yeah.

Tiberius sought out Titus in Shadow. He passed through Shadow Rogma and
chatted with the king there. Krista and Balthazar (an odd but persuasive
fellow) had been through. Tiberius obliquely explained how things stood
in Amber. Corinthian and Prue were king and queen but it was best to
deal through himself or through Titus.

Titus was in Shadow Orovia, an uncomfortable place populated by
psychotic, shapeshifting Vikings. Agrippa, Fabius, Valery and Hector
were there as well. They were aware that Prue was acting as a ruler, not
an abandoned consort but had expected the move of Avril. Tiberius
suggested they change the bill of regency to make Titus Lord Protector
of Amber, commander in chief. They liked it. Tibby would sneak it in
when he got his seat in parliament. They settled in for some poker.


AMETHYST: OREENWAYS
As Sligspholl had predicted, Oreen was in even greater uproar than
before. Someone had swept in through the wards, Vaerrek style, and
absconded with two of the Amberite bodies-in-stasis. She met with Lana
and Mirolla Oreen, plus Cyril, Borel Hendrake and told all she knew. The
list of spikard owners. The route into the Abyss, D'Olby, the black passage to Azadore (none of them knew that name and Amy didn't mention
'Sligspholl' yet), his basilica, Vaerrek and his lack of physicality
anywhere else. The Logrus was indeed in Vaerrek. They wanted to know how
it got there. Amethyst said it was worse, the Logrus, Pattern and the
spikard power were all wound together. Spikards no longer needed
powerlines. That made their users much less vulnerable. Azadore's
proposal, the elimination of Sawall, Swayvill and Berumen, because they
knew things that Azadore wanted expunged. Larcan to have access -- at
least until Vaerrek learned that his grandmother wanted to torture him.
They thought about it. Amethyst said she'd rather ally with Helgram --
blasphemy -- despite [insert a bunch of insults to Helgram] everything.
She admitted that she might be subject to Azadore's monitoring and
should be treated as a security risk. They agreed. As Borel hustled her
out she told them that Corinthian had done the latest invasion. The
demon Ryle would be her contact in the future and she might want to seek
asylum in Amber. Borel did let her pack.

Amethyst Trumped Brannon. 'Are you busy?'

'I am busy.'

Sigh. 'This will have to be much shorter. Goodbye.'

'Bye. Where are you going?'

'Probably going to die.'

Azriel broke in and spoke to Amethyst, 'I need access to your
information.'

'What information do you want, Elsenorean?'

'Your boss told me to get it.'

'When have you been in contact with any member of my House?'

'Azadore, also known as Sligspholl.'

'He's not my boss.'

'He says he owns you.'

'What?!'

'And what do you know about the Jewelry?'

Amethyst actually told Azriel about Sliggy's desire to eliminate three
Houses of Chaos and gave her a list of spikard users. Azriel wanted to
plug Sligspholl into Castravalva. Amethyst eventually got back to Brannon and said that she'd wanted to
make their farewells last several hours. Final farewells since she
intended to take explosives down into the Abyss to blow up the Spikard
Node. Brannon said the odds were very much against any particular kind
of bombs working there. Seeking asylum in Amber did not appeal to her.


AZRIEL: THE WHITE PLACE
Azriel informed Portia and Door of Sligspholl's desire to silence Old
Deuteronomy and McCavity. She thought Croup and Vandemar would be
hunting them. They went to do something about that. Next she took
Brannon with her to visit Avril in Amber. She finked out everything she
knew of Sliggy's plans and the man himself. Brannon derided the idea
that Sliggy could be trapped in Castravalva's machine, since he was
everywhere and nowhere. Avril had Brannon explain that.

While Azriel and Brannon talked on, Avril concentrated on Vaerrek.
Vaerrek, I hear you can be manipulated at will now.

Technically. But if I have to I'll strengthen my strongest link and put
you in touch with Sligspholl. Or summon Primal Chaos to your location.

You're a Master of the Logrus now?

I AM the Logrus. By the way, since we've generally been friendly, if the
spikards used to drain energy from the users, what can they do with the
Master of the spikards free and One with the Universe?

pause-- I won't be contacting you again.

I get that a lot.

SECRET STUFF
Azriel declined some suggestion of Avril's. 'No, Mom. Try Prue. If I
wanted to be Queen I could do it but I won't do that.


VAERREK: CATLAND
Vaerrek and Corinthian finally got together to try to move apart. Trying
to Summon Corinthian out via the Logrus only made them closer. Next,
Vaerrek tried pushing with Logrus while Corinthian pushed with Pattern.
TREMENDOUS PAIN. MORE PAIN. PAINPAIN PAIN. They passed out. Brannon and
Azriel woke them up, still connected.


KRISTA: AMBER
The ball was not too bad but Ving was hardly Krista's idea of a dream
date. He babbled on about everything. She learned that Azriel smelled
good and that Ving and Tiberius' club was involved in such exciting
activities as feeding the Owls, sorting Owl poop and spying on people
who blew up on the Pattern. She watched Avril smoothly work the crowd.
Ravi and Sarin praised their miraculous cousin Corinthian for rescuing
them from the Oreens. Some people, including Noel and Liam, asked
questions about the Courts with what appeared to be genuine interest.
Bored bored bored. She told Ving she was tired and got him to escort her
to her hotel.

Krista Trumped Teyr to report. Teyr was surprised that Ving's brain
damage hadn't healed long before. He wanted to know what had happened to
King Corinthian, and what Azriel and Brannon were up to. Brannon,
unfortunately, seemed to be fixated on Amethyst Oreen. Teyr told Krista
that the Hendrakes were admitting their weakness and seeking alliance.
He was interested in Tiberius. Was he really a lunatic and did he really
have a lot of power or was he merely a tool?


TIBERIUS: AMBER
Tiberius' ignored Avril's attempts to Trump him and finished the night
playing poker. Valery was amazingly good. He visited Avril the next day.
She wanted to use a Trump of the White Place. He whipped it out. She
opened a contact and tossed a blue stone through it, shuddering.20

'Why did you do that? It really is important you tell me.'

'Information has come to me that spikards, which used t be useful, have
become a major drain on your powers. A liability.'

'It took you that long to figure it out?'

'They were useful for centuries. Now there's a mind behind them.'

'Where's the spikard Node?'

'Deep in the Abyss.'

'Damn. I can't go there.'

'Azriel, Kamron, Portia or Opal could take you there.'

'Defenses?'

'Lots of demons.'

'But surely they wouldn't attack a lone traveler.'

'No --- I'm sure they would greet you warmly.'

Tiberius speculated about some sort of anti-spikard power they could
poison the Node with. Avril bemoaned her ditzy daughter who plotted
against the Spikard Master while wearing a spikard. Tiberius questioned
Avril about how one loaded a power into a spikard, an unusual power. Not
Livilla's power, another one. Tibby mentioned having fixed Ving up with
the Chaosian spy. Avril said she'd talk to Ving about her.

Tiberius had one of the apes carry the White Place Trump on the off
chance that Avril had altered it. He consulted with Mother Petra. He had
a seat in parliament, a rotating one bit it would do. They discussed the
legitimacy of a ruling queen in Amber. Many had doubts but with no Jewel
of Judgement it seemed less a problem than before.

He read through the Book of Rituals to see just how badly he had
screwed things up by missing rituals, changing them or using the wrong
people. It was worrisome enough that he determined to set things right.


AMETHYST: SHADOW
Amethyst found the biggest bar brawl in Shadow and enjoyed breaking
heads. She requested an audience with King Swayvill and met with Cyngra
instead. Amethyst told her that Sligspholl wanted House Swayvill, Sawall
and Berumen destroyed for their knowledge. She wanted to see the
pertinent records. Cyngra thought not. She did write Amy a note that
gave her some hope. They parted on very good terms.


BRANNON & AZRIEL, VAERREK: CATLAND, SWAYVILLWAYS, ETC
Vaerrek left (moved his focus of consciousness) as soon as Azriel woke
him up. Azriel Trumped Cyngra Swayvill and they both went through to
her. Cyngra did not seem to be over concerned that Azriel still had a
spikard. They discussed Sligspholl's plans. Cyngra told them that the
information of how Sliggy had passed down to three Houses, the ones he
wanted gone. Azriel borrowed a Trump and contacted Mandor Sawall,
catching his attention with a blatant proposition. He agreed to meet
with them, with the books. Drusus was next. He came and brought Miron
Udrek with him. Why Miron? He was the last surviving son of Dworkin.
They read through the six books and decided upon a partial plan of
action. They would need to manipulate Corinthian and Vaerrek. Azriel and
Brannon explained the pair's unusual mode of existence. They would need
to be calmed so that they did not contact Sligspholl -- Vaerrek had
threatened to do just that if sufficiently threatened.20

Azriel Trumped Portia -- she and her sister had hidden the endangered
catmen, no sign of the hunters yet -- and asked her to take her to
Dworkin. They went. Dworkin was concentrating hard. He said he was
'walking himself'. Azriel explained their need for the book. Dworkin had
memorized it and burned it. He agreed to go with her if they found
someone to 'walk' him. Ving? No. Tiberius? No. Prue? Had to feed the
Owls. Kamron. Brannon Trumped her. He had to get past her resentment
that he had a new girlfriend. Brannon explained that, as cousins, they
couldn't be lovers. Kamron told him that Prue disagreed. He got her to
help anyway, and Dworkin managed to explain the concept to her. They
left.

Azriel distracted Corinthian with a sexual come-on and revved up his
pleasure centers. Their contact was too close: she started to ghost out
herself. Brannon stopped her.

Vaerrek ghosted away, blocking Brannon's efforts to contact him with the
An Briongloideach power. He had felt the Spikard power strand suddenly
weaken. Had Avril -- sensible woman -- done something? He percolated
through Amber Palace's defenses, rather enjoying all the alarms, and
sent lots of Logrus tendrils out at random while contacting Avril with
another -- forming script with it before her. She told him that she'd
Trumped her spikard into the Jewel of Judgement. He told her that it had
weakened Sligspholl's power; could she do it again? She'd try to get the
Trump again. He left.

Vaerrek checked on Azriel's activities (she was never far from his
suspicion) and found that she was with Dworkin, Mandor Sawall, Drusus
Berumen, Miron Udrek, Portia and Brannon. Alarming. He contacted
Dworkin, who told him that too many spikards in the Jewel of Judgement
would further destabilize things. Vaerrek pled with him to not kill him,
a descendant.


TIBERIUS, KRISTA: AMBER
Avril asked to borrow the Trump and Tiberius agreed. Dumping spikards
into it was fine with him. He had a plan for getting rid of the Node,
too.

Krista met with him and asked to borrow a copy of his History. Tiberius
gave her one. She asked about Titus, she wanted to meet him. Tiberius
said he needed permission. Krista wrote a note.

Titus replied with directions. Krista followed them with out incident
and was granted an audience. She said she was merely curious, having
heard Titus' name. Titus was curious: Tiberius hadn't had anything bad
to say about her. She asked after Vaerrek. He had no information to
share but found it odd that so many people wanted to find a junior
member of a minor house of Chaos. He let her stay in Amber.

Tiberius checked the Palace deeps. The apes reported two probing attacks
and fifty per cent casualties. The poison had worked fine. He promoted
the lead ape to sergeant and moved in some 'simian-bomb' bushi apes to
reinforce them. He took the heads of the dead demons with him and
plugged them into the Device. He conjured up some more apes.

He blamed the Logrus intrusion on attackers from below. He set up
explosive wards, keyed to lack of Pattern, at important points, and
lightning wards to protect the monkey dung.


AMETHYST: BERUMENWAYS
Amethyst gained audience with some SECRET Lady [Saleri, Lady Berumen?]
and told her she had been sent by Princess Cyngra. The Lady was
sympathetic. She told Amethyst about the group effort, including the
half-mythical Dworkin, to work out how to destroy Sligspholl. Amethyst
gave her the list of spikard users. The Lady extended the protection of
her House. Amethyst accepted.

Amethyst petitioned the Serpent in Thellbane. After a time, IT came.
Watched.

Amy struggled past her religious awe, 'You know what's going on. Do You
have any advice before I go cast myself against Sligspholl's demons?'

--THUNDER IN HER HEAD--
FUTILE
SEEK ALLIES
Not that anyone will trust you.


BRANNON, VAERREK: THE WHITE PLACE
Brannon attempted to lure Vaerrek into conversation, but Vaerrek wasn't
having any.

Vaerrek's flight was stopped dead by Pattern, all around him. Focusing
on the Logrus did nothing. He expanded his 'self' and found that he was
the target of a bevy of lovely women: Azriel, Avril, Monserrat, Portia,
Minot, Helena and Demetra. Making him happy, trusting, tired....

We want to help you.

Vaerrek had his doubts. He tried to become a fine, passive conduit
between all those minds. Let them at least pay a price in secrets. This
actually worked to a point.

Fusia Trumped Brannon and he relayed the word that it was time to start.
Dworkin, Miron, Drusus and Mandor made magick and the Spikard Node
manifested in that place. Sligspholl followed. He looked drained. He
tried to call power from his sphere. Drusus and Mandor detached
themselves from the working and attacked Sliggy with spells. Sliggy
manifested spikard-forms to attack Dworkin and Miron. Brannon Trumped
Piper and Gordon for more help. They came, and brought more allies.
Drusus was losing badly. Brannon protected him as best he could with
Pattern tendrils. Sliggy became partially corporeal and Piper attacked
with a sword. Mandor was still losing the sorcerous fight but the
physical attacks took some heat off. Azriel and Avril set themselves to
join in against Sligspholl -- and energy roiled to Vaerrek along his
link to Sliggy.

'Block it!' she told him.

'But I'm so happy. Shouldn't I drain him?'

'No! We're trying to overwhelm him.'

'OK.' Vaerrek sent the power back.

Azriel felt Sligspholl get stronger and the sphere shrank slightly. 'No!
Reverse it!'

'Make up your mind.' Vaerrek drew energy from Sligspholl with all his
might -- and the seven women helped as much as they could.20

The Node grew, became more solid. Sliggy faltered. He was dismembered,
zapped several ways and stomped. Vaerrek and Corinthian achieved full
physicality and dropped, twitching. Azriel grabbed the Master Spikard
off the smoking corpse's hand and disappeared. Brannon took the Jewel of
Judgement from Corinthian. Mandor Sawall took the Eye of the Serpent
from Vaerrek and was gone. Dworkin rolled the Node towards the Primal
Pattern.

Avril approached Brannon and asked his intentions.

'We have some Pattern repair to do.' They Trumped to Amber and went to
the Pattern room, which contained a Pattern once again. They cut a deal.
Avril told him how to integrate the elements of Old and New Pattern as
he wished. Prue would attune to the Jewel, then Avril. Brannon didn't
wish to attune but got a promise of access to it later. Avril Trumped
her daughter in and handed the Jewel to her. Prue walked the Pattern
successfully. Avril followed. Azriel joined them to discuss something in
whispers with Avril. She walked. Then Brannon. They ended up attuning to
the Master Spikard at the Final Veil due to Dworkin's remodeling.
Brannon and Prue had short cases of the DTs as a result, but those who'd
really attuned to their spikards did not. Brannon and Azriel kissed some
old compulsions by Beryl goodbye.


VAERREK: THE WHITE PLACE
Vaerrek finally managed to rise. The Pattern and spikard power had left
him. He felt only a vague attachment to the Eye. He saw Portia and
Miette take Corinthian away. He considered his options. Sligspholl had
probably compelled him up the wazoo, and then there were the Seven
Beauties. He Trumped Brannon.

'Any objection to me walking the Pattern?

'No.' Brannon pulled him through.

Vaerrek slept in quarters Brannon arranged, exhausted. Word got around
and most of the family looked forward to watching the Chaosian pop on
the Pattern.


AMETHYST: THE ABYSS
Halfway down, D'Olby's forces lost heart suddenly and completely, for no
reason Amethyst could see. She defeated D'Olby in single combat.20

'One chance to live. Tell me how to destroy the Node.'

'It's GONE!' the arch-demon wailed.

It was true. No Node. No Sligspholl. She gave the wine cellar over to
her demon troops and examined the enemy's library. Her troops dropped
like flies -- Sliggy's wine was amazingly strong.20

Azriel entered the library.

'What are you doing here Elsenorean?'

They did not come to blows but instead compared notes and negotiated.
Amy's position was weakened by the fact that all her troops had passed
out. She wanted to burn the library, on general principles. Azriel
wanted to keep it. They Trumped Brannon to mediate. Brannon came through
and demanded a cut for himself. While Brannon and Amethyst argued,
Azriel Trumped Portia and started tossing books through to her. Amethyst
and Brannon put a stop to that. They agreed to send 10 per cent of the
books to Portia and 90 per cent to Skye, where all would have access to
them.

THIRTEEN

He went to Catland and worked on using his Pattern and Logrus and An Bee powers there, and in London Below. Demeter told him that demons had been spotted in London Below. D'Olby by the description. Vaerrek found their trail and followed it.