Diego's last? journal: Two Tasty Dinners, and Dear Old Dad

It feels grand to have dinner with my family, and only need to check the wine for poison once

Of course I would be referring to my mother's side of the family. for one of the rare times In the past few months, I do not have the sensation of being Prometheus strapped to the wheel of perpetual emasculation. I feel renewed walking in my ancestral homeland. I leave Amber, and the constant rain on my parade turns to nothing but a forecast of sunshine. coincidence? I think not. Viva Espana ! Viva Vulnavia !

Dearest Sister (Morwyn),
I can't thank you enough for attending the "family meeting", and the vast amount of comfort you have provided for me in my most difficult days. You and your family mean the world to me. Your Birthday presents have been completed, and are awaiting you in Dom-daniel . Please pick them up at your earliest convience.
I have so much more to tell you, but it must wait. Please know that I will do anything for you, and I will always be proud to call myself your brother NO MATTER WHAT !!
Love always-
D-

I have been busy. I have been largely in the mirror universe, working with associates, and not taking taking those damnable trumps, I so much prefer the gentle art of letter writing. I worked in Espana, began some new security measures, and called a symposium of great scientific minds in conjunction with Clark to address the current crisis.

Firstly back in Espana. I will offer you a chain of items and events, and let you make your own conclusion. Clark, the mirror power, a thousand year old sorcerer avenging the death of his only child, carnivorous wasps that had been burning a hole in my pocket, Africans with gas rifles designed for the occasion, more angry Africans, clackers, my father in-laws film production facilities, thousands of enraged Spaniards, clackers, new weapons, a fleet of trucks, cousins, clackers, the support of B.D.R., and Voodoo. I will offer comment as to the role of Garcia. I am simply in awe. Hell, Amber, or chaos have no fury to compare. I would have to see what happens if anyone tries to mess with the tiny island we call home. My grandfather and I walked into a new chapter in our relationship, and a newfound respect for each other. In a feat of pericelian oratory, I have arranged a date for him with Isabella. I will make an honest man of him yet. as a special thank you to Gramps, I gave him Franco, and exclusive use of a special cell I had prepared for him.
The following chain of events is easy enough to deduce. a deeply felt family reunion, the marzipan just like I remembered with Kylikki, the first tasty dinner in a long time, seeing the cousins who didn't abandon me, and an increasingly rapid return to order. I will leave out the precious details.

Then back to Vulnavia. Our first reports came back from exploration of the new shadow paths, and it looks as if dear old dad left me some presents to be received if I ever was able to find them after walking the pattern. There was even a message left for me. some jaws would drop if they read it, but it is my turn to keep secrets. other then that I will say that I brought some plans to fruition, and diversified my resources.

and about the symposium. The idea had been an ongoing discussion with Clark, and I for some time as to who to invite, and how to host it. It is getting eery how clark, and I have developed a gentle and constructive rivalry, finish each other's sentences, and he is far too good at the mirror power. We heard rumors that Professor Heinrich Omen, and his legendary sky city were floating over europe, so we used the mirror power to investigate. The end result is he has been granted asylum in vulnavian territorial water, and agreed to a mutual defense agreement as well as joining our brain trust. We had an august body, and very informative meeting for all involved. I have added Dr. Claudario Batore from Bexico, and Dr. Raymond Scott. There were many people from our partner shadows there as well we are working on mutual defense arrangements, and project ark. The Past months have revealed to me 2 new universes, and I know there are more. I know that the etheric power lines likely extend my home planets gas shell from professor Omen. It only stand to reason that with places as slimy as amber and chaos ruling here that somewhere out there there has to be decent people holding things together. I have top men working on it. The food tasted really good

I also tied some things up with Fineas, Lewella, and Sorak

I didn't realize how compulsively addicted to cleanliness I had become over the past few months, even beyond the demanding requirements of my profession. spells, industrial cleansing agents, shedding my own skin, and innumerable near scalding showers were common, if not daily. Kylikki pointed it out to me. After dealing with Amber I needed to feel clean. I will feel clean. Things are going much better with kylikki now that I can relax, and by relax I mean actually get some work done.

The nice things about Reese, to spite his yellow belly, were that I sensed an unspoken pact of non involvement in each others affairs between us, and that he had the good sense to avoid the brat. Both those were shattered at the "family meeting" with his unwarranted personal attack. Benedict knew what I was doing. To make himself look like a complete ass, Reese made his claims after it was revealed that the crown had held new powers secretly that would have been able to remove his objections to his perceived failure of my rescue mission. I will never be able to understand how a place with so little bureaucracy could be so hideously ineffective. A simple thank you would have been nice.

I doubt amber's arrogance will give them an ability to see how colossal a catalog of missed opportunities they have created. I could have conceivably provided armies of shape-shifters, tens of billions to the war treasury, and so much more if i had been supported, and treated with respect, or simply treated according to the rules that define family across most of creation. If risking my life didn't earn me a scrap of kindness, what I was working on for Benedict would have, but they will never know now. I could count myself lucky to of had such a research opportunity. I would have been the envy of every biologist I know, having been given the opportunity to study evolution directly from my own family line, but one can't examine a patient in constant psychotic denial. that is the problem with immortality, it stops evolution, and preserves it for observation. Immortality is just another spelling for greed. I am a paradox then, the immortal who is all about evolution. I perversely look forward to the day when I can give my body back to the earth after I have done all that I set out to do. That happy day is a long way away, but now it is moving closer again.
I cannot stay where my passions must always swell up inside me, and never flow to my hands or mouth.
Amber, and I do have one thing in common. we both like to associate with people we consider worthwhile. They define worthwhile as ego gratification, and personal utility, I define worth as virtue, and integrity. I apparently have no utility, as I am twice denied the chance to do what I do best, heal people. Even Benedict , whom I had invested so much in, thought it would be acceptable to give his only child second best, and I certainly have no intention of caressing egos of the wicked. I rescue Bleys, and am denied again. I am not safe there.
I had hoped the place could/ would have been more then a rouge house of chaos, I was wrong.

(Torriana) that bitch.
she routinely assumes the regency in her head, and gives orders like she is the regent. I make constructive suggestions privately, and get accused of plotting against the throne. I inadvertently slander a family member, and get chastised. she makes a habit of constantly overtly and covertly defaming me, and is still the golden child. She wanted a fight, and by not giving her one, I win. Even if I was to be sneaky, and take her out, there would be hell to pay for me in the aftermath. It is time amber learned that it's rude infant princess has a price. It would not be a worthy use of my time to engage in this conflict, because she is already stalked by two of histories greatest assassins, recklessness and arrogance, If and when they accomplish the inevitable, I will lift a glass to their health. I now know it was her in Dom-Daniel.

As to my time with Amber, I have to ask myself if was it worth biting the apple?
was it worth having a family portrait it of monsters burned into my head?
was it worth waking to forever remember the nightmare?
was it worth having moire driven away by the monsters?
the answer is HELL NO. I reserve the right to revise this opinion if I see my grand children.

I have spent little to no time directly talking to my associates in Vulnavia, but now I finally got a chance to have a long talk with Reverend Henry Jones, and ask what I should do...
" I have been deeply worried about you Diego. I hear stories about your family, and attend your semi regular briefings. I may only have a glimpse of your father's side of the family, but I have known you for well over a century. I have never seen you lie or cheat (well there were those times I was drunk...). I am not even able to count all the people you have helped at personal expense with no possibility of reward. I have seen you fight bravely for the freedom of people you never even knew. I have seen how important family is to you. If they can't make you happy, and feel safe, with war and a universe of pain/ suffering to rectify, I doubt there are too many people worth having they could make relationships work with at all. I look at what you can do, and I see the hand of god at work (he knows I will never believe in god until I get a slice of him on a petri dish, and run tests, but It doesn't stop him from trying.). I have thought about it a great deal, and I think the lord gave us you like he gave us Noah.

Noah hmmmm....
My ark may be a zeppelin, and my zoo may be fetal specimens stored in chemical vats, but the principle is really the same. I aim to be around to light my pipe on the smoldering ashes of civilization, and throw the first handful of seeds. I can see clearly the time in an empty and charred universe when the only words reverberating infinitely across the lifeless void, that is the legacy of Amber's failure, will be mine saying " I TOLD YOU SO !! "
but, I have learned to have contingency plans as well....
It is time I took my wives for a long overdue ride.
I must remember to send a postcard to my dear sister from time to time.

journal

I rushed to speak with Benedict. I tried communication, but he seemed to have been possessed by the spirit of his neanderthal brother. (g.m.s. - gerard menstrual syndrome: not only do you become moody, but your ability to reason drops to a level below grammar school as well). After risking my life, and coming back bloodied with valuable information I still get the holier then thou treatment. I presented plans, and instead of taking what is good, and having a real discussion and solving problems it immediately becomes about punching holes in the plan while acting as if I should be grateful for the noblesse oblige. After about he punched the third hole in my plan (holes that were created, by the fact that there is no information sharing down from the highest levels, so you would think he could spare some criticism) I start to loose focus like I do when torriana gets indignant that her world doesn't interact with objective reality. I start imagining a trombone playing in the background. I remember the time I saw the Louie Barmstrong Hot Eight with my wife, and they played the song "empty out my bucket"

...every time I start feeling high you gotta knock me down a few pegs
flatten my tires
pluck my plume with some pliers
take all of my good rooster eggs
do you have to empty out my bucket just to fill your pail?
pump all the suds out of my bath tub heart
so you can wash your hair
you've got your hand in my pocket,
pull the plug from the socket, and suck the wind right out of my sails.
... you'd give anything to see me fail.

I tell him I will have to revise the rest of my plan, in light of the new information. I doubt he could handle my discovery today.
I was looking forward to periodically sitting down for a drink with Benedict, and trying to work out problems, but.. then arrogance is the least troubling of the pathological behaviors in amber, but the most consistent.
why recruit someone with centuries of experience in running a kingdom roughly the size of amber, if they don't want an advisor?
they don't want to share information.
they don't want me interested
when things are broke, or not working to their maximum potential, I fix them. It is what I do. It doesn't matter if they are people or things. If i am not allowed to fix them, I have other valuable things to do with my time.
time to leave, time to stop trying to make this work...AGAIN.Time to stop leaving slots open on my dance card for this torturous infernal sodomy conga line that never goes anywhere, just runs around in a circle as everyone tries to best the person in front of them in line.

there is also this troubling other matter

the line has been crossed
the wrong battlefield redefined
and the old wounds are new

I have not even considered Heinrich, Sabine, or Ky-tung as cannon fodder in this masked war inside a war where only the enemy is worthy of ethical considerations. targeting affairs of the heart at all is unacceptable. Most families know to stop the mind games when the universe is about to collapse. I wish there was a way to draw up a coherent suspect list, but I know they changed the way moire feels.

whora is on the throne.
Torriana doesn't have to like me, but I fail to see how acting like an adult would be lethal to her.
I trumped her father, again attempting to communicate, and as usual
he sickened me. his smell sickens me.
nauseous shambling apelike imbecile.
unblinking unknowing and inert yet inherently wicked like a block of stone chipped from the Bindings that hold the great malefactor himself in the ninth ring of hell chipped from the black after absorbing his foul essence over millennia. The foulness of the devil king festering at it core like a cancer and leaking it's foul stench at the cracks causing near by plant life to rot. imagination-less and self satisfied surrounded by the feral strays he gathered. all hail the pinhead hero!! the purest concentration of evil and stupid existing outside of a centrifuge in chaos.
long ago we ran from chaos, now we cut deals with slimies, and make half hearted attempts to get back. looking like a weak pathetic sandpiper running against the waves

..and one more thing (some highlights from benedict's debriefing)

I would like to request request some manner of royal accommodation for the hospital, to insure it's prompt completion under currency restrictions. I have several suggestions for ways that I feel would be more effective to handle problems in the amber economy. I am in the process of contacting professionals, and am preparing a report in this matter

A thought I have is that galena might want to examine the corwin-verse to see if it has mirror-verse, and we should considered sending someone to inform them right away, and consider extending some manner of shroudling ambassador there as well. My guess is that it is unlikely that there would be a mirror-verse gateway to new avalon, but we would be better off if we ruled it out conclusively. another consideration would be third party use of the mirror-verse. to recruit tanitheel's people, and provide them an allied path to vindication against amber. once I have completed my next 3 objectives, I could undertake that mission with tanitheel, it would also give us a chance to enact the recruiting plan we spoke of earlier

one other way I could be of service is using an account of my time in chaos as a public morale booster, and a chance to begin some misdirection about our knowledge of chaos.

one thing that troubled me about the lack of attention to the rescue of your brother was the possibility of him being the second chaosite breeding experiment. I knew he would use the ability to create his own existence to pleasure himself, as we all would to some degree, but I did not consider it would be so completely geared towards validating his personal lusts for power, and lust in general. I have little doubt that a chaosite who fit his paradime could have made herself available for his pleasure. with an infinitude of women at his disposal, a periodic pregnancy might have served to only enhance his sense of virility. A prospective mother, either planted or imported could have been shuttled out, possibly through the mirror network. he has shown a penchant for indiscriminate procreation in the past. this would also explain why he was left to his own devices to spite being a potential danger. I will endeavor to retain his concubines in the second part of this endeavor. I believe it is critical that we obtain some manner of census from the man himself as promptly as possible after his return

remind me to speak of you regarding lirazel the next time we meet.

los Journal de Diego 31.1

Family- It's like square dancing with monsters at gun point, in this case somewhat literally. maybe the phrase "ball of the cannibal ghouls" works better. I wish life could be more about real family and less about the suspects your related to.

family
the ideal is to be perceived as helpful/benevolent with just the right amount of inconvenience and irritation to allow yourself enough freedom. In the case of myself and most of the family that comes from my good fortune of bearing what they might call "ethical baggage", and what I would call human decency. In the case of benedict I am attempting to be excessively helpful, cheerful, and candid. I think it is the cheerfulness that bothers him. I think anything unpragmatic grates on Benedict's nerves. I would think they would get over this sort of bogus fashionable decorum after a few millennia. somewhere out there in shadow is the non-sequtir the could shatter Benedict's mind. I would like to consider myself a fairly organized, dignified, and professional persona, but the level of faux superiority complex detachment I constantly encounter strikes me as frighteningly dispassionate and joyless. I don't care if bleys is a libidinal lunatic, I still pray he can raise the level of animated conversation around here. I am in "The Great Gatsby" as written by Lucifer (all the malaise, ennui and triple the intrigue)
I must say that I didn't regret my journey into Bley's fantasy world, but seeing it did offer insight into my own predicament. I have never been this lustful. I thought it was a delayed imprint of estrus from the time I have spent as a primate, and antelope. I thought it was about suppressed things reawakening. I now know what it is really about. It is nearly the only acceptable escape I have from the sense of powerlessness I have been experiencing.
speaking of powerlessness...
the most painful thing yet was seeing Moire again. I saw something different in her, something foreign. I think she has been fed lies by family. I expected something more formal, but our conversation was uncharacteristically devoid of all but the most obligatory pleasantries. I did my best to hold back intense feelings that ache every muscle in my soul, but maybe around someone with moire's talents that is like expecting to cork a volcano by simply sitting on it. All the boons amber could offer will never atone for this.
It is my turn to go drinking with Morwyn

Twenty Questions with Prince Diego

Twenty Questions with Prince Diego
Questions set by Kedric Kandive, Written by Valeri Valerinov Kasynovich, Renderings by Spud Noir.
As Approved by Prince Benedict.

**Note: Items in italics are Diego true feelings on the question, and not published. Just added for the flavor of it.

1. DT: For our Dear readers, Prince Diego, Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am 300 years old. I have been married once. my wife was murdered while abroad on a goodwill mission with our two sons. I specialize in engineering, as well as medicine, and I often combine the two in shape-shifting. I have worked as a combat medic, doctor, teacher, engineer, sailor, administrator, general, and soldier. I am staunchly opposed to slavery. I enjoy card games, playing my bariguiha, intelligent conversation in proper matters, experimentation, and research.

2. DT: Price Diego, about your Shadow Vulnavia.

Vulnavia is a tropical island that has among the highest standards of living in it's native shadow. It is a global center for research. It is a growing cultural capital as well. The people tend to be both directly honest and industrious while hailing from diverse backgrounds.

3. DT: Prince Diego, why were you not brought into the Family sooner?

I was kept secret. On a related note I think there does need to be a unified coherent policy towards the induction of new family members, particularly with several of us in committed relationships that might bear fruit once the war is over.

4. DT: Prince Diego, it is rumored that your Father is Prince Corwin, Do you wish to start a Relationship with him at this late date.

There is no need.
I am completely happy with the great man that provided my parenting in lieu of Corwin's adultery. A man who denies his own children is a fool and a coward who also does harm beyond words to himself.

5. DT: Prince Diego, when did you find out you were of the Royal blood?

when my aunt suddenly stopped intimating incest after 8+ hours
I had always know I was different, but I assumed it was the result of spells, being Castilian, and lucky genetics.

6. DT: Prince Diego, tell us about your feelings about the pace and extent of the war.

I obviously wish there were more dead chaosites, but in most cases I do not see how that is possible. outside of gerard actually listening, and doing something

7. DT: Prince Diego, which of the enemies of Amber are of most concern to you?

While I have not had a great deal of time to devote to the historical study of Amber, but it strikes me that Historically Amber's greatest troubles seem to have been internal. Since most of the previous tension seems to have been removed, I believe the obvious answer is those that remain hidden, and those that could hide amongst us.

8. DT: Prince Diego, You have been seen with several beautiful women on your arm…Do you have any plans to settle down in the Future?

laughs I don't know of too many women who could tolerate the demands on my schedule. I am interested and even looking when I have the chance.

9. DT: Prince Diego, after suffering several months of personal attacks in the Press, how do you respond to your detractors?

I find it extremely frustrating to have sacrificed more lives of troops and friends then I have given in defense of my homeland in 180 years to the cause, and receive little but bile in their memory. However upon reflection I feel the injustice done to Vulnavia is trivial in comparison to the damage done to Amber because only a limited spectrum of the people who have made brave sacrifices for the war are receiving a majority of the attention. In some cases editors have focused on meritless personal attacks against the royal family while their own children are on the front. Most of the work the family is doing cannot be reported upon pro-actively, because then the chaosite scum won't stick their heads out of the holes for expedient decapitation. There needs to be a greater focus on the bravery displayed, and sacrifices made through out our brave armed services, and not just crassly focusing on celebrity. Last month when I was healing a wounded soldier, and he said as much. I will now start providing such information to the press as it reaches my offices

10. DT: Prince Diego, How has the sudden revelations of you and Vulnavia's participation in the war helped your standing in the publics eye?

I get the sense that some wrongs in that regard have been corrected. I am close to approaching the level of sustainable economic interplay I would like to see between Vulnavia and amber.

11. DT: Prince Diego, It was reported in one of the Amber Rags that you and Princess Toriana had a bit of a falling out; is this true, and if so has Princess Toriana resolved it to your satisfaction?

We had a disagreement, I do not think it will prevent us from collaboration during extreme circumstances.

12. DT: Prince Diego, Do you feel that there should be punishment for those that overstep what is considered public decency in the Press?

I think premeditated lies and malicious slander against the royal family should be treated in the same manner as the revealing state secrets, because ultimately they serve the same purpose. IF the local press can focus on the local hero's of the war, and less on celebrity to boost circulation, most of my grievances would be silenced.

13. DT: Prince Diego, Tell us a little bit about your close Friends in Vulnavia?

I am regretting the degree to which I have brought my loyal friends into the spotlight, even though most of their duties are public knowledge. I am working to expand my network of intimate associates.

14. DT: Prince Diego, tell us about your new Properties in Lynxia and Dom-Daniel.

Dom-daniel is devoted to manufacturing, training, and housing activities geared towards conjuration. It will be the single largest school in the area, and capable of formidable feats in the near future.

15. DT: Prince Diego, Are you interested in pursuing ties to Tir Tarngir and Rebma as well as Amber.

Of course, and I think we all should. Rebma has been personally supportive when Amber wasn't, and has a share in most if not all of our victories. Every citizen of amber owes a debt to Rebma, and Queen Moire's gracious generosity. As for the Tir, we need to support them as well, because if we don't they might find themselves receiving aid from more unsavory sources. My initial impressions of Marcus are favorable.

16. DT: Prince Diego, Give us your opinion on the return of the First Generation Princes/Princess'.

Your Thoughts on:

Regent Gerard?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
the worst possible combination of wicked and stupid

Prince Benedict?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
decent man so far, most of his flaws seem to come from having spoken to Gerard

Princess Flora?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
selfish whore and oath breaker

Princess Llewella?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
I care for her a great deal, she can seem oddly cold at distant at times, especially to someone who knows what her colon looks like inside, and has seen her molars from in back

Mirelle?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
never met her, sounds like she is attractive…grrrrroow!

17. DT: Prince Diego Can you give us your candid thoughts and assessments on your Generation.

Prince 13?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
he seems bright, but his best attributes are covered by a considerable yellow streak, hopefully his mother can talk some sense into him.

Princess Dara?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
I really tried to be nice to her, but her dubious heritage came through in the end

Prince Fineas?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.

Princess Dierdre?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.

Prince Douglas?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.

Princess Galena?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
so far so good

Prince Jacob?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
my instincts have never been so wrong-criminally insane

Prince Martin?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.

HRH Morwyn?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
I love my sister

Prince Rinaldo?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.

Princess Toriana?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.
The most self absorbed and self righteous person in the history of space and time

Princess Vialle?

As a matter of policy I will not comment on family members in non-specific instances.

18. DT: Prince Diego, how has the founding of a Burning Crab School helped your standing in Dom-Daniel, Lynxia, Rebma and Amber ?

I think it has, but establishing the school is about winning the war, and then winning the peace, not accolades. I do think Dom-Daniel is under utilized. Am proud of the fact that it is a way Amber and Rebma can work together.

19. DT: Prince Diego, as the Teacher of new healing techniques in Amber, Rebma and Lynxia, do feel more can be done to provide health care to those in need?

I would like to see a more organized and extensive way to ensure benefits for troops of all stripes that fight for Amber, not just reactively, but also as a recruitment incentive. I would also like to see medical care for those who cannot afford more expensive treatment. in vulnavia it is guaranteed to all.

20. DT: Prince Diego: who feel should become Monarch of Amber?

I will concede with whatever is decided, but I honestly don't feel there should be another "monarch". I view Too many of the troubles Amber has experienced in the past as the result of an excessive consolidation of power, Oberon has gone. now a delegated distribution of power along the talents of family members seems to be the best way to insure victory and the continuing safety of Amber by facilitating cooperation.

Dr. Delacroix's monday reading excerpt (30.3)

I kept them in a comfortable medical isolation cell for 2 days
I had their husband/father prepare demanding questionnaires
I ran redundant psychological profiles, chemical tests, medical tests, and all kinds of magic

now I am confident that they are actually Valeri's family temporarily unmolested.
Fineas has taken out his vindictive streak on family before. I hope I can help them, but there is not much I can do for the patriarch who is hellbent on self annihilation, and I told him as much. I believe I had them spirited out in enough secrecy, that we should be able to stand at least a cursory investigation. I cannot abide hereditary vindication. I would have been a trivial matter to act out against Embeth's children.

I am saddened that the man seems a little bit looney,but courageous, tenacious, genuinely loyal, and some of his highly unlikely theories may even be correct (that's a unlikely maybe). At least they eerily line up with my experience of the people. When I think what I would give to have my family back, his courage quickly becomes madness. I told him as much. At least I am doing my part to keep him busy, out of the wrong people's hair, and keeping him from painting targets all over himself. I am not going to be able to keep the gadfly away from the horse forever, if at all. I should have thrown my weight around more, for his own good, in retrospect.

It is interesting how The pro Vulnavia faction has become the anti Fineas faction. Kashfa must be rife with class struggle. I haven't heard anything back from our trade ambassador yet. I will look forward to his report. the return of his mother has brought him as many headaches as boons in the short term.

With Benedict on board I feel I might somehow survive the family longer, and I am not prepared to keep such company alone. You would think the choice would be easy because I can alter the appearance of any one I desire. I even have body cast models of exemplary specimens. However I learned the hard way you can't die cast your dreams. Her name was Helga. She was a gymnast with sever third degree burns over most of her body.
I remember after the death of my wife swearing to break with tradition, and never take just one wife again. Some of my favorite Mapung have suggested that Kylikki would not make a good first wife, but a good second. I did keep an eye open we I was last in Mapungubwe for possible spousal candidates, but didn't have time to actively pursue a search. I think it would be a popular local choice to take a mapung wife, and there might even be some plans the africans have for me in that regard.

I often enjoy moments of clarity with a scalpel in my hand, I imagine it is something like what a conductor might feel when he conducts Bozart or Bonzetti. Today I am considering that my beautiful new universe is unlikely to remain uncontaminated. I have set up hammocks just inside mirrors in Vulnavia, and Dom-Daniel. I enjoy resting there and watching the harmonious yet unpredictable movement of the terrain in the strange lunar light. I think I will focus on small local networks to start.

I am most excited about My new research. taking what I have learned from the Drakke, and others. I have been able to make some interesting sub-species strains of the Giant Baskerville furry backed toad.

Benedict could have accomplished more with less if he actually organized and centralized banking under the royal banner. It would also help control nobles. I think there are definitely elements of an economic war, most likely by chaosites, in this inflation. we could also use a more coherent and unified method of commodities exchange. I believe this is something we should do to prevent crisis in the near term, and strengthen the royal hand in the long term.

coiling around some problems (journal 30.2)

the fiscal fiasco
I wonder who put benedict up to this coinage mistake, this is worse then his foolishly making disparaging remarks about zeppelins.
it is unlikely torrianna would enter the distasteful real world look enough to realize the problem. It is unlikely Jacob possesses the rudimentary mathematical ability. it is doubtful reese would stay in Amber long enough.
They limit my ability to research, and they limited my ability to build. it would give one pause to wonder why the brought me on board at all.

I typically like to enjoy an hour or so with Kylikki after a day in the lab. It starts in with cocktails, and continues in a conventional enough manner, Then closes with a using favorite shape of mine as we prepare for one final round before going to sleep. The form is a serpentine variation on my analytical form (i'll spare you the garden of eden analogy). I coil around the majority of her body, leaving a loop behind her neck to serve as a pillow before I curl around to rest what passes for my head in her ample bosom. On the other end I leave the tail end inside her body where it establishes a link with her autonomic nervous system that relaxes her, insures a good nights sleep, and synchronizes our metabolisms. to the outsider it might look uncomfortable, but it is far from it. the more we lay together this way the more intimate it becomes, I can work on all her back muscles, and contour myself to her frame. It is clear that she has developed a sweet tooth for shape-shifting.
I bring this up because I had a life like statue of Moire moved to my office for repairs after a finger was broken. I checked the wards in the section I was in, because I couldn't resist a little coil.

It is always good to see my sister. she seems to like her house so far, I hope she gets some use out of it, or at least doesn't act so embarrassingly in public like she did with the brat. I hope she knows a true gentleman would never court a lady of such easy virtue. she means the world to me, and I would like to be an uncle to a child that is not going to grow up to be typical amber stock some day. I worry that Rebma doesn't have the resources to deal with major trouble on multiple fronts. Lewella might start a family if things are quiet for a few years, and the spirit moves her. I really wish my solution could be implemented in the near future

Amber's disastrous fiscal policy (journal 30.1)

I was optimistic that I wouldn't experience my first benedict related disappointment so soon.
I can't believe he just didn't come to me, and tell me to hold off on spending money in certain areas, and instead passes a law that states all imported wealth must be converted into a limited amount of amber currency before exchanges take place. This could very well result in a deflationary spiral that is larger then they considered.

I currently have a fairly high expense profile in amber, with local charities, the hospital, trade expenses, the school, and the ever growing estate. I am going to have to place employees at the hospital on a contract or transitory basis to keep them paid in vulnavian currency. I have no choice but to dramatically cut back the great deal of speculative ventures I had planned with Amber's noble houses, reduce charitable giving, move transactions to just outside the golden circle, and cut overall advertising to less then 17 percent of it's current allotment. I had also planned to have more dealings with the shadow atlas people, now I will have to go through the Dom-Daniel offices.
This means a huge amount of book keeping headaches as I move expenses around. I had deliberately kept a fair amount of my banking in amber as a gesture of goodwill, and to insure transparent accounting practices, and now I am going to have to move wealth to Rebma, Bamerica, and Baskerville. It is a good thing I bought some advertising space In Die Tag, Herald, and Times as far as a year out as part of block purchasing, and to prove the sincerity of my cooperative offers .
I am going to start My massive guild Bank in Dom daniel earlier then I had planned to make up for another short-sighted amber policy. This also means I can afford to issue fewer contracts to Amber businesses. I am going to have to issue the next round of Burning Crab contracts exclusively to Rebman houses as well as slowing hospital construction. This Joke policy reminds me of something the Bamericans tried once.
The sad thing is I can already see the headlines detailing my attempts to buy influence when the fact is I could have spent the same amount of money in shadow, and gotten much more, but I chose to try to help the people of amber. I chose to act like a civically accountable noble.
This is what happens when you place people with a military bent in charge of civilian affairs.

It hardly seems fair, after months of pumping massive cash injections into amber, I only get to enjoy a week of ass-kissing instead of months of earned respect until the political tide turns back against me. I could have and should have used all that money to buy a shadow less jaded. I think it will now take more time for relations to stablize between our territories. I am being forced to join the rest of the princes in having a lesser material commitment to the well being of amber- not a strategy for success.

correspondences and domestic bliss

Dear Benedict,
I have no idea what you did to Amber's tragically under-regulated press corps, but I pray it didn't involve undue bloodshed on my behalf, not that I would be object to some carnage in the offices of the Royal Way. Thank you.
I left our last discussion with some reservations, but mostly enthusiasm for some new ideas i feel can now be implemented prior to your brother's return. I will look forward to talking to you soon, but my schedule has been delayed due to an internal security breach.

Dear Ms. Amor
( This is an draft copy that more clearly reflects the author, the version sent was vastly more innocuous )
I bear no desire to increase the circulation of the detestable Royal way, any more then I would like to expand the reach of the chaos propaganda ministry, If indeed the two are divorcable at all. However I am reasonable, and I will return the favor of answering my queries with a modest offering.
Q: what is my opinion of... Galina
A: I recently had the pleasure of providing Galina with a tour of my home, and providing her with an assortment of gifts and offers to ease her transition into her new life. I look forward to working with her on humanitarian projects in the future.
Q: what is your opinion of Mirelle?
A: I have yet to meet Mirelle, but I can only express the profoundest sympathy for what she had to endure. loosing a child is the worst sensation there is.

Dear Jasra
Congratulations on your rapid return to power. You have my support. I am eager to reach a conclusion in the matter in which I contacted your predecessor . (Amor details follow). I would like to make the same offer to you.

I hardly have time to attend to domestic situations, but an intriguing one occurred just recently. I placed my back-up male sweinhund among Kylikki's escort. a couple days later her guards were awakened by screaming. Kylikki was standing in her nightgown shrieking, and pointing to the point on the floor where the sweinhund was infragante with her chocolate lab. Normally I am one to find beauty all across nature, but even I am forced to admit this union is going to provide us with some wickedly ugly puppies. I didn't predict this, especially given the fact that sweinhunds cannot even interbreed with the source species I created them from. Several conventional measures have been attempted to separate the happy couple, and failed. Nor am I willing to commit supernatural resources to such a trivial project.
I tried having the sweinhund placed back on patrol near the nature preserve, but he would just go up the edge of the first fence, and make the loudest, sickest, and saddest howl you could never imagine. The guards I place in that area must have an extreme tolerance for the unusual, but even they started complaining.
After some effort the two animals have wound up becoming a strange family inside a stranger family. I am getting to see Kylikki's maternal instincts come to the fore in caring for her pet., however as it's pregnancy progresses it is my aid it will require.

Lumpy- the dictatorship of ignorance. The more I think about it, the more I feel free of it, the more I feel I need to support Benedict. I still have to wonder about the ethics of a person who would take all the resources we have be given, and find satisfaction in the life of a soldier.
I find out the gutter press has been informed that I have "no role" in the war, and then I think back to being compared to bleys, I just want to explode. did bleys give gerard the lives of 8 of his friends? If i had the power gerard would be a ward of the state, and not allowed to even have pets.
I did notice fineas got his first less then favorable press, now if every headline could declare him a necromantic child molester for the next several months, his coverage as a whole might be close to classifiable as balanced.

The Burning Crab School in Dom-Daniel

(much of the text is taken from an old brochure that was designed for tourists)
The Burning Crab School is designed to provide best in class services in education, manufacturing, warehousing, testing, and community providing everything that could be desired in a custom made conjuration paradise.

why bother with dangerous, ego-centric, expensive, and high maintenance sorcerers when you can have several comparatively sane individuals performing most of the simple supernatural tasks that would use a sorcerer for a fraction of the cost!?
Our academic course structure is designed to be modular, providing a rapid acquisition of a limited yet practical skill set, and get our students deployed as rapidly as possible providing highly useful services to their communities. This structure also serves to enable us to offer focused component training that is easily integrated with training from other area schools in several key areas. we specialize in medicine, warding, enchantments, communications, and manufacturing. several components can be put together with our advanced theory classes to produce all purpose conjurers as well.
Students may stay in our lavish residential facilities, as well as overnight rooms, or simply join us via secure trump gate from our extension campuses in Lynxia, Amber, and The elegant Casa Diego Hotel after enjoying it's nightly floor show.
One advantage of our unique structure is the integration of manufacturing facilities. Our students become part of the creation of the items they will be enchanting, learning both processes and materials.
Our manufacturing operations are going to be the largest In Dom-daniel. No expense has been spared in bringing the best in metal working, wood working, glass working, pottery, and other materials to the mountain. students have constant access to the majority of our work facilities. the mountain is well on it's way to containing three separate customizable mass manufacturing factories. To our knowledge the largest blast furnace to exist is right now under construction.
In order to store the vast amount of items being manufactured, we offer warehousing, and lab space for our members at well below standard rates with generous membership and alumni discounts. we also sell wares at a dedicated level of merchants and the lovely gift shop in the prestigious casa diego hotel, in addition to it's popular old tyme market days.
Our facilities are unique in their ability to test conjured items at any of our extension campuses via trump gate. Our students and members may also enjoy our elaborate recreational facilities In Amber and Lynxia.
In addition to the manufacturing, and academic life, we also offer one of the most attractive guild memberships In Dom-Daniel. Our members can enjoy substantial discounts on all the mountain's services as well as a members only bank, free seminars, and access to the fastest growing library in the region.

The school is starting to resemble gnosis mixed with willy wonka and rebman styles. It overall structure can be described as several fat wheels around a central vertical shaft that forms a water elemental powered elevator inside a hollow mountain.

Food, Shape-shifting, and my Intimate Life

I was felling better then I have felt in a long time
then it hit me.
This vacation might result in another ill-mannered lumpy progeny.
Even from holiday he continues to assault me with the looming specter of his impending neglect.
Then I envisioned how Torriana would respond, and I felt better

I took a moment to sit down by the pool, and write a note to Benedict. Kylikki was swimming. It is easy to see why she elicited spontaneous marriage proposals from the royal guard. Even Clark took notice of her, and I thought that he had surgically removed all his potentially distracting organs long ago.
The related situation grows really infuriating.
I am looking down a near endless automat line of possible erotic bliss, but the entree I crave is under lock and key. Sometimes I want to eat a triple helping of everything else just to spite cruel fate. Most of the time all my other options, no matter how otherwise appealing, look like stale melba toast compared to divine nectar.
At times I get a little bored of Kylikki. There is a kind of youthfulness about her. naive would be to strong a word to use, given her life experience, but there is something savory in someone who has made decisions they regret. She has had almost all her decisions made for her. I have a hard time verbalizing my reservations about the whole affair. Maybe I am just asking for something as absurd as asking for Aristotle to come up during pillow talk. I only know of one better pick from the automat line. I am very found of 'likki in a number of ways, maybe I should treat myself to a second course or dessert while I wait.

Eating
I am forever having dinner with people, and I do it because to be of amber seems to mean having little or no moral fiber, and a big appetite. Truth be told, so much of eating is meaningless to me. It is a really inefficient use of my time. I wonder how amber ever got the little they accomplished done with the constant stuffing of their gullets. I just place just one of my time release calabashes with my special protein batter in a freshly grown orifice, and I am full for up to a 4 days.
I don't really enjoy food, or have any of the huge host of problems eating holds for others. If the food tastes bad, I change my taste buds. if the food isn't filling, I shrink my stomach. the food doesn't digest well, I change my digestive tract or just eject the food entirely. there isn't a vast amount of compounds I couldn't "eat".
As for the whole complexity of table manners, how do they apply to straining food from the water, projecting dissolving chemicals on to your meal, absorbing food directly into the digestive track, catching supper with your tongue, or ingesting it like a jellyfish? about every six months I get a real strong urge to skim fresh Atlantic krill.
another strike against the traditional meal is my medical altruism. it is much easier to filter out rum and protein batter then it is an wide smattering of local dishes when my blood is distilled into concentrated healing agents. sometimes I feel like a human beer keg with people lined up around the block.

you are probably getting the idea that shape-shifting leads to some interesting bar bets during long ocean voyages. You would be right. The one that immediately comes to mind is something I have come to consider a very good barometer of shape-shifter competence... shape-shifter musical flatulence. Once I got half way through a robust aria from Berdi's "Ba Braviata" before we had to clear the deck.

Assorted filings of Dr. Delacroix session 29

contents
1- letter to marcus
2- general journal excerpts
3- brape ecology
4- doc's sidekicks

(letter sent via trump along with Vulnavian ambassador, and the first three trade representatives)
dear marcus
I hope wedded bliss is treating you well.
I have extended an ambassador to you, and provided 3 general trade advisors I believe you will find extremely useful.
I would also like to make one of the first purchases from your new trading empire. I would like 3 billion dollars in cultural artifacts, and the following list of technologies, all from Barsum. Sorak has agreed to look for new territory for her people, provided the return of as much cultural heritage, and population as possible goes acceptably. I have no further interest in the territory either, beyond these objectives.
Dawadire has agreed to stay in my service in exchange for travel, and training.
Kylikki is eager to be given wealth and status in her home village, but overall will be remaining in my service as well.

I have recently purchased a shadow atlas, an item I believe you would find very useful, I welcome your staff to enjoy the use of ours, or I would be happy to make the appropriate introductions. This brings to mind a very lucrative possibility for you. If you still have any information on shadow data from chaosite sources, it could be highly valuable to the makers of the atlas as well as myself, amber and rebma. I would also be interesting in purchasing unique volumes for my library in dom daniel.

I have also enclosed several samples of different types of treaties that you might find useful. I think we all have an interest in clearly establishing territorial usage parameters in relation to the mirror power. I have enclosed a draft treaty in that regard for your consideration. I have also enclosed several draft treaties I would like you to consider in relation to my homeland ranging from mutual defense, non aggression and trade agreements.

I have other matters to discuss, and I will look forward to talking to you soon
(D-)

bonus journal session 28.5

I thought I would try a novel approach in attempting to decipher the mixed messages fineas has been sending out. I thought I would send a missive to his mother. In personality, I am going to make the assumption that she is somewhat like a heavily maternal version of my grandfather. It is the only model I have that seems to make sense and would result in the personalities of her offspring. I would have preffered to have any queries answered directly, but I have learned that even being partially direct is only likely to result in failure in amber.

so with out the advice of my grandfather, I am attempting to read between the lines. I have little doubt that she consulted with one or both of her offspring in forming a reply, because it appears that under their consultation she agreed to become known to amber at large to begin with.
I am not thinking that her reply gives me the reassurances I needed. Even taking it more literally, It still reinforces my frustration with peoples constant under-estimation of my worth. I often feel more like a used car salesman then some one bred to be a prince with a copious litany of accomplishments. I miss lively conversation, I had naively hoped for a lively correspondence. I might not be making unfair assumptions on limited data, but circumstances dictate these unfortunate guessing games. If bleys were to take the throne, at least I could indulge in some repartee. In either case now it is like talking to one of two granite slabs, but they are granite for very different reasons. Without Moire I find myself lacking in high caliber conversation in this fearsome new existence. I miss it.

Castillian (heavily paraphrased from the 7 Seas rule book)
while it is easy to describe Castillians as "cold" or "distant", it is easy to see why they distrust foreigners of any sort. Castille has been invaded many times in her history and her occupations have been long and bloody.
Castillians value education, and even the tiniest hamlet has demanding schools, and a library as fully stocked as they can muster. generally speaking they are among the best educated people in Europe.
but they are also a passionate people. they love music and la familia. the family is centered around the mother. the Castillian veneration for the maternal figure is great.
they are passionate, but the influence of religion had engendered "a passion for precision" a sound perfectly encapsulated perfectly by the Castillian guitar.

excerpts from the medical journal of Dr.Delacroix session 28

press release (sent to all media outlets except the chaosian way)
It appears that there is some confusion as to the role of the hospital to be built on the grounds of my estate. It is a non-profit facility that will work in conjunction with my educational organizations towards research as well as servicing the continuing medical needs of veterans, and the less fortunate.
The native population has in no way been excluded, in fact they already comprise a majority of the construction and support staff. Any medical talent that wishes to apply may do so. please direct any further suggestions and questions to my office. (D-)

now back to my notes...
I had requested that the regent have Galina contact me at her earliest convience in excess of 10 days ago. I could read further justification for my paranoia into having to chase her down myself, but then expecting gerard to exhibit a simple courtesy grows more and more like expecting a common housefly to aid me in my trigonometry.
still he does leave too many questions answered for my taste, chiefly among them
1- can I trust you?
2- Why are we better then the chaosites, if we act this way?

on another note...
I simply fail to understand why anyone would consider me a megalomaniac. there is nothing in my history that bears witness to it, and even of there were, there is still a complete lack of motivation and attempting control. Why would I have the slightest desire to take over high maintenance, well defended territory in a low magic area with a tragically dated form of government? It must be that I have acquired an air of authority over the years, or more likely there subconscious longing for order on the part of my detractors. maybe there is yet another cabal in need of squashing.

I will have to talk to gerhard to get the jewel again. I will say as little as possible because talking to inert masses is a clear sign of madness, and I'm not there...yet.

I believe lunch with galina went well. I will ask to take charge of some of her pattern training.

As to the coronation matter...
I had planned to send just an ambassador, but I felt the former concubines needed more reassurance, and I was unsure If I could get a plant If I stayed home. I was able to return the native courtiers. The only job we have for courtiers in Vulnavia is called customer service. I am glad to have the rest remain aboard.

A few noteworthy events happened, perhaps the most so is the continuing infantile conduct of Torriana. I have tried to be patient and generous with her, but I really have no idea what she hopes to gain from such conduct other then removing support from her over indulgent father. she can put on a facade of gracefulness from time to time, but that fact that she is a foul mouthed little gremlin at the core is clear. I have no doubt that she has made my objectives in Rebma more difficult.

fineas was surprisingly polite, and supportive. Most resistance assassins I have worked with were alarmingly courteous as well. Jacob must have been between bouts of his severe mental illness, as he actually made sense. I would have enjoyed the company had I not seen so clearly the degree that they can ignore the golden rule.

I will learn the mirror trick. It will be very helpful in several of the shadows I am engaged in. I have some interesting plans for what I can do with it.

I am not entirely happy about events, but The wedding appeared to have the blessing of the unicorn, confirming my opinion that the primordial forces of the universe are somewhat misguided. I can turn the tides of oceans, but fate and the thick skulled spawn of oberon are another story. let's all pray for a tablu rasa in the Tir.

seeing a prelude to nuptial bliss reminded me of my predicament . there was an attractive woman at the wedding who peeked my interest. I will seek her out the next time I must visit.

I return with my research to discover benedict has temporarily taken the throne.
amen.
I have a reprieve from the gorilla who clipped the wings of science-!! ding dong the witch is dead-!! mazel-tov, I am dancing the I can breath again jig-!! I have blissful, if naive, images of gerard choking on a chicken wing in a bold print hawaiian shirt on an anonymus tropical beach somewhere.

Progress in Dom daniel is going well. I was able to release 100s of taster sea slugs to detect chaosites into the mountain, and I feel a little bit better about security there. The place will require some personal attention in the near future, but it is still running somewhere between numbers 3-10 on my ever growing list of things to do.

the letter to Jasra

Dear Jasra,
It is good to know of your existence.
As a reward for exposing yourself to the family, and assuming the risks that your generosity could have potentially entailed, please allow me to reciprocate your offer of hospitality. enclosed is an invitation to attend the open house at our facilities in Dom-Daniel, or you may arrange for a personal tour. I have enclosed some information about our facilities and objectives there. I am also pleased to extend an offer of Vulnavian hospitality you may avail yourself of at any time, as your doubtlessly busy schedule permits. also let me express my curiosity in your facilities. I know little about them , as I have refrained from sending any operatives in, as a courtesy I customarily extend to family members. only disaster would result If individuals were to disrespect the homelands of their own kindred.

Additionally in the spirit of this respect, let me assure you that you may call on my considerable aid in the security, and defense of your home.

warmest regards
D- (royal seal of vulnavia)

The Ecology of Clark

At an early age, Clark Babbage, Jr. was placed in the custody of a group of scientists by his father who had great plans for his son. Clark studied under great masters of all disciplines of science: medicine, chemistry, electricity, engineering, archaeology, and others. He also developed his body as well as his mind by studying the martial arts and other hand to hand combat skills. He became fluent in numerous languages, an expert at ventriloquism, and a marksman with all types of weapons.

When WWI broke out, Doc joined the Army, where he became a combat ace flying biplanes in missions against the Germans. He was shot down, captured, and sent to a POW camp where he met Bunk, Spam, Renny, Johnny, and Long Tom. Doc and his crew organized a prison escape, and made a pact that they would form a group to fight evil and crime when the war was over.

Doc saved a lost race of Mayan descendents from exploitation and slavery, and in return was given access to the tremendous hordes of gold owned by the tribe. Doc used this fabulous wealth in his fight against evil.

Despite Doc's choice of professions, he seldom took the life of a criminal if he could help it. Usually the gang of criminals would meet their doom as a result of their own greed and evil plot. The fate of the criminals Doc captured was quite different. They were taken to a secret hospital in up-state New York and given a delicate brain surgery by Doc that erased their memories. A staff of attendants would then re-train the criminal to be a contributing member of society.

Doc was a huge man. Six foot eight inches tall, he weighed 270 pounds, golden eyes, skin with a slight metallic bronze tone, a physique he maintains by performing a 2 hour routine of exercises each day. These exercises consisted of pitting one muscle against another. At the same time, he is exercising his mind by performing complex mathematical calculations in his head. He also develops his other senses with the use of apparatus of his own design.

The Babbage Code
Let me strive every moment of my life, to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it.
Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice.
Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.
Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do.
Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

Diego has been a colleague of Clark's for 15 years developing multiple medical patents together

taken heavily from..
http://users.aol.com/jsines233/private/Doc.htm

A letter to Marcus

Congratulations on your recent victory against the Gryphon abomination.
I hope we can work together within a set of common objectives.
I have been operating in the gryphon held lands that once belonged to the people of Dante's concubine known as Sorak. I have pledged to restore order there, please do not interfere, or optionally your aid would be welcome. Additionally please do not consider any non-economic action in the lands that belonged to any of his former concubines outside of the Tir, where I have similar agreements. I am however open to discussions as to the ultimate governance of these territories with the provisos that some semblance of pre-invasion life be restored, and some elements of self rule be introduced.
I would also ask that the concubines native to your new territory be allowed to return, and allowed to live free and prosperous lives.

As the prince of Amber with the largest independent economic interests, I find myself in a position to aid you in your stated objectives of economic independence.
I currently am experiencing a considerable agricultural surplus that I could easily arrange to provide you with during your transitional period. I also have up to a dozen operatives that could serve you well in an economic advisory compacity, and several dozen excellent tomes on macro-economics, and business operations you should find seminal, including one I authored myself on zeppelins their use in combined supply chain management . Please consider the enclosed current discounted price list for the products we export avialable as needed in future endeavors.

I would request the shape-shifting potion used by alexia, and any information you have in relation to house chandicut. I believe joining the agreement to destroy house chandicut you would greatly further the peace you desire with both Amber and Rebma.

you might also want to request copies of the trumps we had made between our first and second gryphon encounters at the Tir be made available for your use.

there are additional ideas and technologies I could share from my time as commander of our invasion forces that were scheduled to retake the Tir, including improved airship designs, provided we can reach a mutually productive conclusion in these prior matters.

sincerely-
D- (royal seal of Vulnavia)

(slightly different copy delivered to rebma)

Excerpts from the Scientific Dairy of Doctor Delacroix session 27

I know with the powers at the disposal of many people around, that inconceivable amounts of money are a trivial matter, but I still like the sound of an economy well greased, and being able to pamper the right people.

with all the wealth I have been importing i have created a 1.2 percent drop in the global precious gems market, and a 2.3 percent drop in the worldwide gold market but, now that The ships have started coming in, I can feel no guilt.
we have the parts to double our air force, commercial naval fleet and military land transport abilities. We can double our agricultural storage, We have most of the troop support materials needed to take sorak's shadow, and start on kylikki's. There are firearms for every vulnavian citizen that wants one. I ordered packards to be given to our elected officials to attract more talent. It would take pages to detail all the advantages Vulnavia is experiencing.

Dom daniel is doing well to spite reduced resources, it should be ready in time for the opening. sorak has redoubled her efforts after I returned some of her people to her, and increased her bonus program as well as the victory fund for her race.

Unless I make something happen, Vulnavia will have warehouses overflowing with untapped resources for months before my existing population base can even get around to using everything from just he first series of shipments. Having Clark's fabulous brain trust on site, or aiding is going to be vital.

I was surprised by the degree to which kylikki indulged herself during her week long new york shopping spree. When i pulled her and her escort through the trump she brought a luggage rack full of items, she had a steamer trunk full of records, an elephant gun, a machine gun, a souvenir steering wheel I didn't ask about, and a crate of champagne. additionally she has 2 cars, a truck filled with mostly clothes, as well as a truck full of furniture on an incoming boat. I was really taken aback when she wanted to go to the firing range, and learn all about the new weapons she bought. At the firing range It became a volatile mix of Kylikki, bing crosby, champagne, guns, custom printed flora targets, and stuffed animals I had painted some time back to look like choasites.
It wasn't long until my potent Castilian biological autopilot took the helm. It is good to see kylikki acting more confidently, treating her situation as less transitory, and enjoying herself.

I have given several people the gift of broken pattern
the 4 africans I have worked with for at least 19 years each, and they have served as my personal body guards for many of those years
the 2 Drakke have signed on to join their new settlement here , and started lives as what passes for solid family men in their culture.
The shaman have been working for me for years in stockpile shadow, and have intermarried into our country.
the priestess is a gift to mapungubwe, and to work on jointly defending our territory.
good solid people, and a huge boon for what I need to do.

I was almost feeling good again
Then I got a trump
given the timeless reasoning of our esteemed regent in making secret assassination of family members state policy, it is not surprising that he now has discovered vicariously justifying the rape of his own sister as the wisest course of action in our foreign relations. by enacting this madness, he in effect opens the collective bowels of amber on all that our ancestors fought for. The diabolical sale of a pattern down river was done wholly without my knowledge, for that I am grateful. The enemy doesn't need to send spies, we betray ourselves. At this point I see the war as a puzzle where we all come into the room, and rearrange the pieces without informing the others.
Amber logic is giving a pattern away on the basis of wishful thinking while gaining nothing else then a vague absurd possibility of being able to think optimistically about the loss of one of the three most powerful places in the universe- truly a new level of abomination even for gerard. I haven't seen such a monstrosity since I added too much electricity while crossbreeding a javelina and a wallaby. this is an elevation for whore spawn, and more frighteningly... possibly for a whore.
we would have been better off enacting my plan for the tir, that was glibly rejected in favor of this abhoration. God and Oberon are dead.

how do I deal with this catastrophe?
how do I cope with the diabolical new political reality created by a regent who can't draw lines regarding people's behavior or motivations?
wait...
I love it when a plan comes together...
aha! oh the humanity!

it is clear I am an outsider in amber - amen, but the price I will pay remains unclear.
gerhard is becoming a better liar, and better at keeping secrets, thusly he is of vastly less use to me as regent. I am seeing the correlations between the way amber is run, with the management of organized crime with all the secrecy and codes of silence. Amber could be a legitimate established government, even a monarchy is preferable to the Mafia, but in truth Amber would have to work it's way up to be the mob, because at least the mob makes considerations for family. An interesting side note is that from time to time I enjoy a lively correspondence with a mafia don I helped imprison. I agreed to look after his children, and protect them if he paid for his crimes. His son has a new identity, and is close to graduating our medical academy with honors. Now there is a father who could control his child.

It is clear gerard values the appearance of legitimacy more then actual legitimacy.
I am alarmingly comfortable with the fact that he doesn't trust me, I loose sleep over the fact that I can't trust him, because he is between me and them.
given these two variables I find it difficult to believe that he was spurred to his characteristic inaction with the information I relayed to him in relation to Jacob's criminality. new inquiries with new sources are required.

I need to see Moire or strangle some real chaosians. of the 3 dozen things I have done for the queen this last fiscal quarter, separation is the most difficult.

Another brief excerpt from the medical journal

It seems The Regent thinks the royal way is more valuable then I am to the war effort, I Hope he tries sending them into battle with their ink blotters, and typecases in leiu of my undervalued resources.

I think the chemicals I have been taking, and a general lack of sleep have tendered my dreams vastly more lucid. I dreamt the entire misbegotten clan was chasing the enemy across shadow when we stopped by a charming local stream.

Torriana was to spoiled and self absorbed to be stuck by it's simple beauty
Whora observed her reflection
Jacob though it was a good occasion to take a piss on the local flora, and fauna
Fineas pondered diverting it's natural course it a friendly village so he could be hailed as a hero while depriving the other villages of water
Gerhard tripped on a stone, and nearly drowned in 3 inches of water until someone (not I) pulled him out
Benedict didn't think it would impede troop movement
Reese was scared of his own reflection, and ran away
Dara stayed in the bushes
I determined the mineral bacteria ratios , and deemed it to be healthy. I thought of boating with my boys, I thought of a picnic, I thought of the local ecology, I thought of low scale hydro-electric power. I thought.

Dr. Delacroix's medical journal bonus excerpt

Gerhard -
our fearless moral compass without a magnetic north
How a such moron could have no shame, and still possess even an autonomic nervous system?

If he hadn't been the epitome of cosmic scale ineptitude and neglect
If he hadn't allowed his daughter to run all over creation with a chaosite to the degree that it apparently troubles even Jelerak.
If he hadn't began a constant series of chaosite loving reforms
If my vital research and the disposal of booty I earn in battle didn't have more strings attached then a marionette
If the regents ill-breed daughter could avoid treating her elders with disrespect
If he hadn't destroyed my ability to trust him by making the secret assassination of family members state policy.

things would have been difficult, but then...

I tried to pick up the pieces in good faith. I swallowed my pride and really tried to work things out. I brought up a host of concerns in a constructive manner.
I attempted to politely bring up the issue about prince Jacob's wholesale necromancy with the regent, Prince Jacob having refused to be reasonable in the matter, and accept my offer of compensation. apparently one prince's ineffective sadistic dabbling in the degenerate arts is equal to a single comparatively humane voyage of scientific discovery on a single enemy in defense of the realm, at least in they eyes of one spit gargling imbecile. He says he has dealt with the problem, and considers the case closed, but it is his typical solution of ignoring the problem, and leaving Amber at risk. You can read the text for your self.
" I suggest that Jacob's souls and troop remains be properly interred (laid to rest) in their home shadow because thousands of people know about it, and all it takes is one of the souls to escape and get captured by the wrong person to give the entire family a huge black eye, and damage even more recruitment possibilities.
Besides they have not been used in months. Even if their containment is 100 percent effective, the souls are still unusable because again they are not an effective weapon versus magic, and souls will escape during their use, and each one of those enraged souls has a story it is eager to tell that is damning to Amber.
It also might go a ways towards being able to access more africans for amber related assignments"

I have given him three easy chances to regain some trust, before a situation arouse where he needed my help, he has ignored all of them in favor of his chronic moral back peddling, buttressing of a crumbling status quo, and inertia, all while he shameless holds out a hand asking for my aid.

jackass

I just wish he would marry Lirazel, and get this vomitous chaosite loving out of his system in a manner that won't leave us shoveling his shit for millennia.

pig-headed ignoramus

Two Letters

Dear Ms. Wodehouse- editor, the royal way
We are delighted that you have decided to attempt to improve your greatly tarnished reputation for journalistic integrity by referencing a first hand source, or at least a non-fictive one.
We are happy to welcome you to the Vulnavian press corps. We currently have representatives from 2 shadows, and 13 countries stationed in our capital city.

The first stage is to familiarize yourself with the regional laws Your candidate and editor agreed to uphold according to page 4 sub paragraph 3 of your application, laws that are also subject to our full extradition treaty with Amber. We have enclosed the 57 page abbreviated guide to journalism practices in Vulnavia to prepare for your trip. Accommodations have been made for your representative in our spacious journalist quarters, and a customary interview with the state board of journalistic ethics and information accuracy has been scheduled. We believe you will find it both informative, and educational enough to inspire your entire organization to an entirely new plateau of professionalism.
enclosed is your reporters detailed itinerary, and contact list with the names of her mandatory security escort.

welcome aboard!
Marsha Sherwin, Executive Director of Foreign affairs

dear Jelerak
thank you for your prompt reply.
Firstly let me apologize for your contact with Torriana and Jacob. At times they can require an aggressive set of diplomatic skills for those of us on the inside as well.
I am contacting you on 3 matters.
1- confirming the nature of your relationship with Gweneth in order to clear her name.
2- Confirm your status of non-aggression in relation to My properties in Dom-daniel
3- a request for information in relation to agents of chaos.

Firstly, I have personally contacted the queen of Rebma, to begin to absolve Gweneth from a situation I believe is related more to a conflict of personalities then any genuine wrong doing, and a testimonial from your representatives could go a long way towards accomplishing that goal. I have already received multiple testimonials from parties affiliated with Dom- Daniel. I am sure Gweneth would value any aid you can provide in this matter. Also the possible continuation of any business arrangements you had with her in relation to the war effort might be possible.

Secondly the staff of my newly purchased property in Dom-Daniel has some concern in regards to your malevolence against our holding there, and I am merely seeking a clarification of your non-aggressive position to reassure them.

Thirdly I am also very interested in any information you have relating to activities in the courts of chaos, particularly those of house chandicot. I am not sure what compensation you would require, but I do have direct access to the leaders of Amber, Rebma, and a host of my own resources to draw on. Additionally I would be happy to convey any messages to the leadership you would wish in the future.

(what follows is instructions for a more anonymous method of contact)

many thanks, and I look forward to hearing form you soon
Prince Diego

Doctor Delacroix journal entries session 26

I have never experienced such a strong growth, and extreme loss in such a short period. I think the lack of sleep is starting to affect me.
I can finally enjoy acceptable conversation with some one clearly committed to the path of virtue. The advice my Grandfather offers is proving to be invaluable.
I am somewhat troubled by some of Clark's views, as I do not feel they are entirely ethically mandated, nor supported by biological evidence. We will discuss this later as our disagreements are trivial in comparision to what is becoming routine.

I have decided to open doors to Reese, because his inaction has been better then the misdeeds of the others. My veiw of his cowardice has been modifed by recent events.

I think I will open my secret deep drinking cavern for the first time in seven years soon.

(here is a draft of what I needed to say to gerhard- This unedited..as I presented it to my grandfather)
It is clear the most important thing to you is the war, and the most important things to me are safety, and respect. My whole coronation gala was basically a fine for not doing anything about Whora, to gain a boon for my people, establish enduring economic relations, and receive the respect that should have existed in the first place, not stroking my ego, as evidenced by the completely lack of displays relating to my numerous personal achievements.

I am troubled by the degree to which you defer to your fathers leadership as an example. It is clear he was able to accomplish some impressive feats, but in the final analysis He is also accountable for some terrible failures that resulted in the loss of far too much blood, and the very bad situation we have today. In the end if you will have the same situation, if you don't make some changes you will have the same result, although I doubt it will be by my hand. I think the main problem is greater then simply the stunningly lack of accountability when grossly unacceptable conduct occurs (i.e. mass necromancy), but there is also a lack of reward for valor (i.e. putting yourself at risk to kill slimies, or other aid to amber). It is my experience If people are not systemically rewarded, they will seek their own rewards, in your generation I believe this took the form of sibling rivalry. In mine I suspect something even more sinister, as we have even less commonality in upbringing. Monkeys in my laboratories are subject to more conditioning then amberites, and they don't have the power to reap the unspeakable. The others did not have the good fortune of my privileged upbringing, but I am not content to accept second best, and consistently watch you run what should be the greatest of kingdoms like a chaosite loving banana republic.

personally, I owe to much to too many people not to subject my actions to cost benefit analysis. one key area that you have greatly reduced value to me is in limiting my ability to research with this damnable new policy about prisoners. they are not people, would you object to me cutting open a swine in order to insure the health, and safety of our people? From one prisoner I was able to devise a chemical free method of containing shape-shifting, several new methods of detecting shape-shifters underwater, three new blood creatures, and exciting new imprisonment procedures. This could very well cost us the war over the long haul.
( a detail cost/benefit analysis ledger detailing my entire relationship with amber followed- needless to say I do have some continuing issues with the balance)

I feel oberons second greatest failure was the lack of a larger sustainable infrastructure held by royal hands, by focusing more exclusively on martial endeavors early on, our ability to retain coherent military force in the long term was diminished. Also there would be the additional benefit of personnel being able to be converted much more readily to peacetime use. If some of the Oberon's children had vested interests in fostering the well being of others, much trouble could have been avoided. Also I think we can learn from the example of Rebma, who in many ways, does more with less.

I feel that these 2 items need to be addressed as promptly as possible.

I don't think you understand what a gross error in judgment the secret assassination was. I can think of no valid reason why his family here was not notified. I would have to say that a chaosite spy would have accomplished a huge amount if they created a potential rift between Amber and the crown princess of Rebma, a prince, and a whole new universe. we don't need to do this sort of thing ourselves. I could have easily captured Van Eyck, held him, and eventually deferred to an orthodox legal judgment, in fact I would have been obligated to do so via our treaties.

Completely ignoring the fact that where I come from killing a man's brother, then, I suspect, improperly disposing of the body, without telling him, has as much ethical common sense as pissing on someone's plate while they are eating.
Ignoring the fact that I have given more lives in service to Amber in the span of a few short months then I have sacrificed for my own country in over 180 years, and I have earned more then the required respect.
Blissfully ignorant of the fact that I have done everything you asked, and fought fearlessly for you even while you have made some damaging decisions.
Not mentioning that, based on the data I have, complete rehabilitation of van eyck, in one of our facilities, with the aid of Torianna, would have been 97.463 percent likely within 24 months.
Ignoring all these very clear facts....
Is it really a good idea to completely infuriate some one with more then all the powers of lirazel, more contacts, and over 100 times the resources, who is otherwise a strident foe of your enemy? I am grateful I have good people around me, that talked me out of a chain of events that would have proved damning for both of us.
In this case you have completely lost the way, and are treating chaosites, who have committed more atrocities, in manner better then your own flesh and blood. This is a gross violation of all we should hold dear. You have needlessly sacrificed a great deal of the trust I placed in you with extreme difficulty. There is going to be a time when you will need that trust.

you have done nothing with the royal way, and yet you say they can do what they want as long as they obey, but yet you ignore them when they disobey the request of a prince. I may be the only shape-shifter, but it is clear I am not the only one who can talk out of both sides of my ass. You go a long way to constantly justify your own inertia.

A letter to Benedict

Dear Benedict
It was a genuine pleasure to finally meet you, and I look forward to continuing our discussions concerning the war, tactics, and the future of amber as soon as possible.

To show my respect for your concern expressed in relation the welfare of my people and I, We would like to offer you a modest sample of the boons that sentiment can endear. enclosed is a list of the items I am having delivered this afternoon with the always excellent aid of Kelamon, and the people of Mapungubwe, please feel free to use or distribute it as you will. If should you have any troop support needs in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me personally. A great deal more of supplies will be arriving this month as the ship filled with supplies I have ordered will begin reaching the island in mass starting in 9 days. we have had to expand our docking facilities exclusively to accommodate the additional volume.

warmest reguards - Lord Diego

item listing---
$ 5 million in gold/ other metals
$ 14 million in precious gems and jewelry
one half ton of refined silver
3 weaponized magic coin arrows in shielded case (with instructions)
vouchers for 12,000 field ration packets
detailed plans and schematics for turn of the century tanks, and water craft
19 barrels of rum
one ton universal medical supplies ( scrubs, iodine, crutches, wheelchairs, incredible amounts of gauze, assorted medical tools, casting supplies, books, e.t.c.)
dated vouchers for 2 tons of refined metals From Dom-Daniel mountain
50 industrial bolts of uniform grade fabric
21 rolls of barbwire (50 yards each)
6 canoes (also used as containers )
7500 calabashes (canteens)
100 cavalry sabers
1000 spears
2000 combat knives
10 bolts reinforced leather
100 individual vouchers for full medical treatment
6 vouchers for age extension treatments for remotely positioned staff
3000 pounds of produce
vouchers for 1100 hours of Drakke services
100 vouchers for Vulnavian first aid training
1000 bedrolls
126 pup tents
1000 mess kits
1200 units of canned fruit
2000 units canned meats
100 Amber usable rifles
other assorted millitary support supplies for 20,000
18 wagons
30 carts
assortment of luxury personal items

all is well organized, clearly labeled, and more then properly contained

(overall value in excess of 22 million)

Diego's journal session 25

Often when things get bad I look for the strength and ethical guidence of my father.
when things are beyond awful, and nothing less then opening pandora's box will suffice, I call for my grandfather.

he should be here in the morning.

I finally got a chance to talk to benedict, and he seemed agreeable. I have high hopes for him. It is likely the height of folly to assume ethics could exist in Amber, but the majority of ethical behavior involves discipline, and it is clear he has it in abundence. I want to wait to bring him the full desperation of our situation, until he gets settled. What I wanted to say was...
Benedict, I will share give you the welcoming gift I doubt you will find elsewhere in amber, candor. I do this in great confidence as It has proven to be a damning trait of mine here.
Gerhard is the most incompetent of the scores of commanders I have ever served under, (... and this includes major Fredrickson who lost over fifty men and horses to sioux sqaws with papooses, because he failed to properly secure the munitions ). He has created an environment in which I feel patently unsafe, not to mention disrespected and unsupported. I have had to focus my efforts on establishing independent resources instead of killing scum because amber is unreliable. My ability to fight the war would be greatly enhanced if there was some one on the throne I could look in the eye. I have a complete lack of faith in the ability of the present regent to simply insure my welfare versus the other cousins, and because of that I have been forced to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars that had been reserved for the war effort to insuring security for myself, and my people. please let me get you a cushion for that throne now, my king.
I don't traffic in moral ambiguity or mince my words. Any one worth their salt would want the portion of their life back that was on flowery words for far more valuable endeavors. It is a weak mind that needs to be buttressed by unearned praise. However I do wish several local factions would take a whiff of objective reality periodically.

I haven't had the time to deal with the royal way, but I did see that my letter was published unedited, violating the direct request from a prince of amber. if pathetic lump regent do-nothing can't handle the situation, I will, and I can't say my solution will be more popular then enduring. fineas managed to issue a letter in defense of me. I doubt it was because of remorse for the disrespect he has shown me, considering he managed to turn it into yet another publicity stunt for Amber's favorite assassin. Is that suprising-no, Paradox, and inconsistancy are the lingua franca here. They are not exclusive to the colorful fictive speculations of the local press. for example....
-Amber doesn't want me to handle captives, amber gets mad when I give them to someone who can so I can be free to further the war effort.
-Amber doesn't compensate me for my battle expenses, then Amber gets mad at how I dispose of the booty my troops earn.
-Amber is at war with chaos. Amber crawls into bed with every chaosite house it can.
-Fineas outright kills a prisoner with impunity, then prisoner dies after using logrus on one of my people, and I have extracted valuable data only to be greeted by calls of my treason.
-I attempt to acknowledge my obligations to my people, and recoup a tenth of what I have invested in the war effort while establishing a material basis for good relations between Amber, and Vulnavia only to be accused of naked profiteering.
- the person who impales thousands of bound people, sucks out their souls for his own amusement then runs away from a vital battle, with people who have since sent attacked us, is hailed as a fearless hero
To paraphrase a colorful comment from my mother in-law, "If Amber had as many asses as it has faces, it would shit itself to death"

I keep remembering something my father said to me shortly before he died. I was upset with the fact that he had given had given some one what I felt at the time was far too light sentence, and he explained to me that " sociopaths are sociopaths to everyone, you can't take it personally". I keep thinking how I should apply his wisdom to amber.

I am looking forward to my next radio address. I finally get to bring some of my recent gains directly to the people. On my way to mapungubwe I was able to see what 2.5 months of raises, overtime and giant bonuses has done for the island. the ship compacity has greatly expanded, the zeppelin production facilities are well under hand, the tunnel network is growing, the improved electro shield is ready for testing, the elemental conduit is being dug, the belcher cannons can now defend the ports, the massive babbage engines are humming merrily, the new buses arrived from New York, and so many other things have really given the island a vibrant sense of new life for me. I must make sure that it's life is long and prosperous. I need to focus on vulnavian security before our massive foundation day celebrations.

I haven't had the chance to enjoy the company of a woman in too long. If it wasn't for lynxia I would never even be able to sleep at all, and still I haven't gotten near enough with all the concerns being generated. I tried to take a break with kylikki when I was working on some projects, but a patients unexpected muscle spasms put the kaboosh on our endeavors. M'wassi still looks very attractive as well, but I think opening one pandora's box a week is my limit. I pray the other pandoras boxes in my contingency plans are not opened either, I would hate to have something happen to me, causing the information and tissue samples well hidden in shadow delivered to unsavory hands.

Diego bonus journal, s. 24

Most nights when I have research to attend to I sleep
in a cave by the labs to save time, and enjoy the
smell of the ocean. the decorations are sparse , some
family photos, an old iron cot, and a table. the lower
levels of the "walls" are covered with chalk drawings
my children made. I have had them preserved with a few
well placed wards, the higher up you go the more my
ideas, and calculations that I have sketched in
colored chalk over the years appear. I am forever
running out of paper. The main piece of decor is an
old Culpepper minutemen flag that has been preserved
for 165 years with musket holes, and bloodstains
intact. Today the image and words on the flag have an
extra meaning. They are a coiled rattle snake
surrounded by the text that says "Liberty or Death",
and "Don't Tread on Me". I have to smile as I smoke my
old clay pipe, and the brisk ocean breeze renews me. I
remember how those words helped us give the Hessians
hell. I remember fighting for an idea, feeling proud..
and feeling right. Tonight I need more then a memory,
and rum is hardly a worthy substitute. I can hear the
waves bringing up the sound of submerged fifes and
drums from sunken fleets I used to sail with. I hear
sound from players that went down with the ship
fearlessly playing into the depths, leaving their
sound to echo under the waves forever, renewing the
ocean itself. The brave sounds of virtuous men forever
traveling only to shatter when it hits the immortal
shores of wicked Amber.

I could never be warrior by trade, a lumbering gorilla
who could only offer his illegitimate children a
legacy of bomb craters to nest their cribs. I could
never fight for money. I could never fight for my own
glory. I could fight for an idea. I could fight to
avenge my family. I do not find "fight for amber
because we are marginally less revolting then your
other option" a potent battle cry. I build and heal. I
have saved well in excess of a million lives through
my hospitals and field work. I have liberated
thousands of slaves. these are the things that are
meaningful to me, not immortality or personal power. I
have to admit that personal power is meaningful now,
but only to protect myself from the lunatics I have
been introduced to.

If the amber breeding experiment had focused on
constructive types instead of martial primates
perpetually goose stepping and indulging in phallic
competition rituals, there would not be this war.the
will reflects into shadow. The eerie part is the only
time I have sensed a kindred spirit with these
monsters involves brass shells flying, and blood
sailing through the sky like mad clouds given divine
speed.

I didn't relish meeting Corwin's other progeny, their
shiny faces a bitter mirror for mine. I didn't relish
Gerhard's late surfacing ethics when he was upset that
I "snubbed" them. WHAT THE HELL!!! I deserve a medal
for my heroic generosity ! In less then a minute I
gave them more then their twisted progenitor has given
me in 352 years. It is good we finally meet after hell
has officially frozen over, and a hint of armageddon
fills the air. Perhaps I should make Gerhard happy.
Perhaps I should place a balm at the altar of the mad
ape king. The mad ape king who would not get his stone
ass off the throne, even if one of his precious
sociopaths were to dig up and molest the skulls of my
dead sons with necromantic lust. Perhaps I should
invite Lucifer's cherubs to a picnic. I could Make our
repast a fitting tribute to their father's legacy. I
could serve red wine, and finger sandwiches made from
the bodies of my brothers, the ones I suspect Eric
killed, while we look out over my parent's graves.
Perhaps we could have warm food, and cook it on a fire
over my their graves. I wouldn't need a match as all
the required heat would be generated by the velocity
at which once dear bodies would spin six feet below.

perhaps... I find it more then ironic that such a
gnarled twisted tree with bitter roots in foul soil
has borne more then rotten fruit. Rotten fruit..
hmmmm.. that brings back a memory.

When I was with a galleon off the Barbary coast, a
sailor hand purchased a monkey at a local market. This
monkey was the vilest animal I have ever dealt with
(excluding amber), and I have dealt with countless
animals. This infernal little spider monkey would
fondle itself, chew on the rigging, urinate on the
crew, shriek at all hours of the day, and nearly set
off all the powder. when it ate all the fruit we had
been saving, it sealed it's fate. It seemed both
absurd, yet profoundly therapeutic to drug that damn
monkey and make it walk the plank. The crew even made
a special little plank for the occasion, and cheered
when it was done. What brings this old story up is
that when Torriana began her ill-considered tirade
against me, after I had began to drift away from her
delusional ranting, after my ears had muted her
insanity, and my glassed over eyes blurred the vision
of her madness, I saw the gestures of that obscene
primate mimicked in her motions. then I remembered the
Monkey's name...Toro, and then I suspect a smirk
sealed my fate with the purple maned imp. The thing
about torriana is that she is so self absorbed that
the more passionate she becomes about something, the
harder it is to pay any attention at all. WOW- It is
amazing how well primate metaphors hold up in relation
to Amber. She has proven herself A real vindictive
little brat for the imagined slights I have inflicted
upon her, while I was hoping to mend our relationship
.

Continue to flirt with invoking my diabolical streak
little girl, it would make an interesting challenge
with depths you could never hope to fathom. vindictive
is a word for both of us, but only my motivation
actually exists in the real world. I hope you can hold
your fiction less dear in the future, or you may find
there is nothing more dangerous then a man once his
dreams have died.
vindictive...Eureka..that's it !!!!
Gweneth..it explains so much. I see it all now! Tori
uses treason as a defense mechanism versus people who
have the pride to avoid paying homage to these
imaginary tea parties she hosts in honor of herself.
Tori will be forever looking to fill the place setting
left empty by her father, sad, but delusional behavior
is delusional behavior, and cannot be humored in times
of war. All that is holding Gweneth, if I recall
correctly, is the word of tori, who, I have no doubt,
has given false testimony about my person to everyone
with in ear shot, ever since she merged with whora. I
must use all my powers to secure the release of that
poor woman. justice must triumph! Gwen can be a
difficult, but she can carry herself with dignity, she
has information I need, we now have a common problem,
and hopefully she will value my healing of her
wrist.This is all to perfect not to be true! If
Torriana can accuse me of treachery after learning one
of my best friends died at the hands of the enemy
because I tried to comply with this obscene new royal
decree, after having personally witnessing me put
myself in harms way on multiple occasions, my
contributions of millions to the war effort, my
sacrificing nearly 5000 troops, and my healing
hundreds of soldiers, she will have no trouble making
up any story she wants. I am awestruck at the child's
unmitigated gull! I have to come to understand that
slander is her stock and trade.Gweneth really was the
perfect victim, foul personality, mixed history, has
talents on Tori's turf, and wouldn't kow-tow to the
monsterous ego of a spoiled brat.

Even in addition to Tori, I find myself having to play
parent, and introduce consquences for unethical
behavior here in amber. In return for the uninformed
assassination of a sibling, torriana's tirade,
violations of my privacy, and prisoner treatment
policies I veiw as criminal to the fallen of amber.
I will have to redirect half of the money I have
secured for the war effort to my national and personal
security (approx. 300 million!), I am withholding all
data I cleaned from Dante, not sharing the new weapon
designs, nor the new shapeshifter detection methods,
vastly reducing maximum possible troop commitment, and
classifying the zeppelin plans. These measures may
seem extreme, but then informing someone before
shooting their sibling is about as much ethical common
sense as not pissing on some one's plate from across
the table while they are eating. I will get worse if
gerhard can't enact some parental discipline for the
first time in his life. I hope I have induced him to
finally pull out the lash on his daughter, even if it
is a decade or so to late. I can't help but get misty
eyed at the distant possibility of justice in amber

Diego's editorial session 24

Early thursday afternoon...
As I sit in anticipation of queen moire's arrival, I am observing some fish swim by. it strikes me that Rebman mating practices might be based on the observation of marine life, where as most other places are based upon the observation of land mammals. this would explain matriarchy, and perhaps even a desire for transitory relationships. I wish it was exclusively based on a simple biological model, because I doubt there is a Rebman male who could equal the pyrotechnics of my well studied bioluminescent mating display.

The battle with the gryphons was another easy victory, too easy. I think it was all arranged by the queen of gas and blindness to test us, and give us a false sense of kinship while furthering her own aims. given the report of our previous with her encounter I could also suspect subterfuge with Fineas so ready to cozy up to the bitch. Birds of a feather...

I have been neglecting my correspondence ... best to catch up.

dear king krullungou (Mapungubwe)
to use your turn of phrase...
Amber... "that foul coven of necromancers and assassins dredged up from gutters unfathomable", has yet again given me pause. You were wise to recall your ambassadors, and withhold further troop support. I do continue to increasingly regret my decision to join this clan, to the limited extent I had a choice. I hope our people can stand strong together if things get worse. I think you already know to be prepared for worse. Please forgive me if I rant a little, as I suspect you can temper my dire need for therapy with your knowledge of my general character, having known me since I was eight years old.

I have reason to suspect Gerhard has begun to act in the base and deceptive manner of his sister, and I hope to gain confirmation from the queen. I have been spending intermittent hours running back, and forth over the possibilities in my head. My restlessness was very frustrating to Kylikki, until I gave myself night vision, and began writing with a special ink. Given what little I know of Corwin it seems unlikely that shadow would fail to be victimized by legions of his unwitting offspring. What made gerhard hesitate, and be more patronizing then usual?

The fact that Fineas was involved is troubling, but then he has been neglectful in fulfilling his promises, he was also angry about my loaning rebma a library index. I pay for my troops, and gerhard hasn't contributed a dime, nor do I recall Amber offering to pay for the damage done by the foulness of it’s initial ambassador. I pay, when the others don't, and yet they still manage to find fault with the disposing of my booty. I know Fineas didn't refuse the aid the globe earned us in battle. They don’t like the way I treat chaosites, but yet they want me to negotiate with them!

After talking to Moire, and hearing the name of Whora, All I can think is that there is a erstwhile sibling out there of mine, and I doubt he has fouled creation as much as prince Jacob (is that possible?). Maybe he/she had to go, maybe she/he didn't. It is almost immaterial, what matters is what I see around me. I see the feelings people have towards my curse and lamentable sperm donor, Corwin. I have seen a gun pointed at my sister, and I have reason to suspect that a sibling was cut down without the honor of a duel. What matters is respect. What matters is being informed. What matters is me believing there is someone in charge who will be a little aggressive about pulling daggers out of my back. I have given up hope of gerhard being proactive about anything.

Also fueling this unsettling speculation is the fact that I have been observing my cousins, and as a result have had to up my estimates of the damage not having a respectable father figure can cause. This makes the likely hood of the missing sibling being a sociopath even greater. If Gerhard can't see his hypocrisy of liberally calling upon the bonds of kinship, while killing my limited family in cold blood, he should recognize that, like Moire says, it was my dog to put down. I don't know what to do, and how to pursue the right course of action, but this does change everything. EVERYTHING.

The family kept the magic coins secret until a 2 mile explosion blew the lid off, and those could have been a great help in my battles. I suspect the universe can't take all the 2 mile explosions I need in order to drive the required skeletons out of the family closets, nor for me to feel safe again. This whole situation is like being a feeble parent to a mighty and temperamental god . I keep feeling like I need to introduce consequences for behavior that is so clearly unacceptable, when the child constantly expects to be indulged at every turn, shooting lightning bolts out of it's finger tips while it cries for lollipops, and sweets.

I doubt Dworkin could have accomplished what he did with all the gutter sniping and intrigue I have to deal with. I find myself curious, and more then a little impressed by the scope, and inventiveness of the man's original vision. If I had to chose one of the progenitors to venerate, he would be it. I could never forgive Oberon for what he did to Moire.
I understand that given the breadth, as well as the scope of our powers, even a whole universe can become too small, and this one shrinks for me by the day. I don't doubt things have turned away from what he would have wanted them to be. Dworkin would have understood the value of my work,. he would not of allowed narcissism and cowardice to get in the way of science. it is because of these damn restrictions, I can't do what I need to do. my old friend and researcher, Filippe, would still be alive if I wasn't research emasculated. I would have more theories confirmed, and we would all be much further down the road to winning this war. I have lost eight friends to the conflict, while I have gained enemies by the score. I have visions of the chaosites being fed hand-marbled veal while gerhard sends them flowers, and has the village women lactate for their drink. Oh dear god, I sense the view of chaos is increasingly... let's all be friends, let's all use the same tactics, let's have a picnic before we sodomize the whole of creation together, then go interbreed so our offspring can have no sense of guilt at all !! Gerhard has spent more time addressing the treatment of prisoners then he has insuring communication amongst his team, or that anyone is treated with respect. It is a profound policy of failure, if I have ever seen one.
I will be visiting you soon to make sense of all this.
your friend always - D-

Dear Jessica
I met with reverend jones (yes, the same one who married us), and he had some photos from my 341st birthday party. he had taken on his old kodak one, and found them in an old box he had recently uncovered. that was my last celebration with you, Jacob, and Eli. Next week I turn 352. If you were to place a candle every half inch the cake would have to be 2.465 by 3.424 feet. the past few years I haven't done anything to mark the occasion, it didn't mean much without taking the boys on our traditional day out. This time th