Set in the Amberverse a few years after the first series. All of the PCs were involved in the Black Road invasions (which involved dozens of worlds as staging and recruitment grounds, like in Lorraine) in different fashions.

Sorcerers
The vast majority of sorcerers are practitioners of purely local power. Some learn to operate in a number of shadows or even a whole region. Initiates of a suitable power source -- like the PCs -- can learn to operate anywhere magic works.

Ordinary mages are also limited by the availability of power. Personal energies are insufficient for any but the weakest spells. Ambient magic is rarely much better. Mages who want to do much magic must find a local power point, like a ley line intersection or a holy place, and tap it, or resort to things like human sacrifice. Power Sources like a Broken Pattern, the Blue Star or a few sapient Powers may be tapped remotely and usually provide other benefits as well.

Casting and racking spells: The sorcerer taps his Source or power point and either casts the spell immediately or stores it and the power to execute it in a spell rack. Racks hold up to 12 spells. Spell Maintenence: roughly 10 minutes per spell per day -- 2 hours for a full rack. Sorcerers may have and fill multiple racks but maintenance will soon eat up a lot of their time.

The Thousand Worlds
Amber's trade network of reliable routes connects over a hundred trade ports and passes through several hundred more worlds in doing so. Natural shadow paths spread out sporadically from the Amber routes to a few hundred more. The whole array is commonly referred to as the Thousand Worlds.
The common folk of the Amber's most important trade partners (specific nations of worlds of the 'Golden Circle') are aware of other worlds. In less important ports that knowledge is less widespread. People with connections or merely money can travel the trade routes on Amber or GC ships or caravans.\\

Belken and the Gathering The quadriannnual, month-long Gathering at Mt. Belken is the largest assembly of world-walkers and sorcerers in the Thousand Worlds. Part Carnival, part convention and part neutral ground, it is hosted by the priests of Babrigore and the Chained God, who is one of those sentient Sources. Sorcerers can party, make deals, plot, gather information, spy, brag, sell, buy, trade, duel, etc. It isn't safe, though one can pay the priesthood for secure quarters and certain rules are rigorously enforced:

• Sorcerous combat is restricted to duelling grounds.
• Use of plague-spells is forbidden on pain of death.
• The local people are under the protection of the priesthood.
  The Gathering is famous among the higher circles of sorcery but unknown to the public, even to most of the crossworld traders.

The Chained God looks like a 30' long jet black statue of a winged jaguar with glowing emerald eyes. Until it moves. It can't move much as it is chained to the granite of Mt. Belken on a wide shelf on the mountain's west side. The Chained God was there before written records or even legend. He will not say who or what bound him there or why. He is the Source for many of he priests and priestesses of Babrigore plus a number of others. The CG has vast magical powers and is known for breaking unbreakable curses and curing uncurable diseases.

The priests and priestesses of Babrigore are named after the founder of their order, who lived 1200 years ago. They are rich from crossworld trade and magic. The local Great King is said to be their puppet. While moderately corrupt they are scrupulous when it comes to the Gathering, for the Gathering is one of the Chained God's hobbies. They oversee the affair with a light touch.

AROUND BELKEN Mt. Belken is in the province of Ruz in the kingdom of Gozashtand. The nearest large city is Ispar-by-the-Sea eighty miles to the south. The world is usually called 'Belken' by outsiders. The people are standard humans, the local cultures are reminiscant of ancient Earth Middle Eastern ones though technology is much like the Renaissance in Europe, minus gunpowder.
Animals are quite different. The world has both quadrupeds and hexapods. Notably: shomals (camel-llamas, quad, desert riding animals), ayas (horse-deer, hexes, riding animals), bishtars (elephantlike, split trunks, hexes, used to pull trains on a narrow-gauge railroad), dragonmounts (dog-smart dragonlike animals big enough to carry one or two adults in flight, some have been domesticated or bound by sorcerers).
Getting around in Belken

• In the Festival town itself: walk, rickshaws, sedan chairs. Large animals are not allowed in the town. Flying invites interference by prankish or malicious sorcerers.
• In the area: bought or rented ayas or shomals.
• To Ispar-by-the-Sea and beyond: bishtar railroad.
• By air: dragonmounts rented from the sorcerer Hauj's family.
• To distant cities of the world: teleport circles maintained by the priests of Babrigore. Expensive.
  

Lodging in Belken

• Rent a tent (illusioned up to look fancy and exotic) from the priests of Babrigore. These are pretty secure, magically. Moderately to very expensive.
• Guest with an established Festival attendee. Such people usually have elaborate tent-minipalaces.
• Camp outside the Festival bounds. Not secure at all.
  

Things to do

• Entrepreneurial sorcerers (and the priests of Babrigore) bring in musicians, dancers, whores, succubi (conjured whores), masseurs, etc. Gambling pops up all over, both organized and spontaneous. Sorcerers compete at showing off their effects. Still others sell goods from many worlds, including slaves. One may get food and drink from dozens of worlds, hundreds of countries. Every kind of recreational drug is available. Hundreds of sorcerers and other world walkers from all over Creation mingle looking for action or amusement.
  At the same time there are a dozen serious meetings going on every day. Locals initiate apprentices, apprentices graduate to journeymen, journeymen to masters. People find teachers.