Amber, year one, day 132 continued

Things have gotten rather strange around here. Heather managed to survive being attacked by the creature without getting a single scratch. I wish I knew how. Ahab continues to amaze me with the lengths he will go to get himself into trouble. He insisted on descending after the creature, even though the only one in danger was Heather, and Ahab has never exactly been fond of her. I suspect he was just showing off. He does that a lot. He did manage to destroy the thing, but he wound up with many open wounds from the creature's claws. He is lucky that he heals as fast as he does. Maybe he enjoys the pain. I can think of no other explanation for what he did later. Martin conjured a substance called hydrogen peroxide, which he says helps keep wounds from getting infected. Since both Ahab's and my own injuries were swelling slightly, I thought this might help if the wounds were poisoned. I should have known it would be painful. Not as bad as alcohol, but still. I grew rather dizzy from the pain, but managed to stay conscious. Since Ahab's wounds were so much worse than mine, I asked Felix to apply the peroxide. Ahab decided to do the job himself, and started off by pouring some into his largest, deepest wound. And knocked himself senseless in the process. Why is it that when there is a sensible logical option available, Ahab always chooses to do the opposite? At least he made it easier for Felix to tend to his remaining wounds.

I wish I knew what the purpose of that dining hall was. Some of the panels were hollow, and it seems as though each led to a different Shadow. One emitted a frightfully strong wind, and seemed a simple passage hewn out of rock. Another opened onto a peaceful-looking meadow. I wish we had determined what lay beyond the others, but after what happened to Felix, I think we mostly just wanted to get out of there. He was investigating the windy passage when he was cut off from the rest of us by a metal door. While we were trying to reach him, he says he received a Trump call from a giant serpent. Ahab tells me that Chaos has a Serpent as its equivalent of Amber's Unicorn. What remains unexplained is why it was contacting Felix in the first place. He used his device that allows him to cut off psychic contact to break the connection, which surprises me. If the Serpent is a powerful as the Unicorn is rumored to be, I would not think that even Felix's device could keep it out. He must have angered it, for the entire passage started dissolving around him. Fortunately, Ahab was able to Trump him out in time, but it was a near thing. For a moment, I thought Felix was going to pull Ahab off of his feet, and drag them both to their deaths.

None of this has brought us any closer to Coral. She no longer seems to be drugged, but she was imprisoned in a clear cube, surrounded by darkness. I could see her clearly through the Trump, but was unable to communicate with her, even with Heather's assistance.

When we left the dining hall, we found statues of the gods, my gods, but they were very old. It made me feel homesick for a moment. Unfortunately, the statues vanished after we had walked but a short distance down the hall, and the blackness began to close in. It felt similar to the darkness surrounding Coral's prison, so I tried to Trump her again, but had no more success than before. It occurred to me that even though I could not talk to her, perhaps I could touch her and bring her through, so I reached out my hand...and the others vanished! Actually, I learned from Felix that I was the one who vanished. He tried to Trump me but had the same problem that I had when Trumping Coral. He could see me, but could not talk to me. I felt no contact at all during this time. I hoped that I would be able to reach Coral from this new location, but nothing had changed. I was able to Trump Felix and talk with him, even though he could not get through to me. But when he tried to pull me through, he would up standing next to me instead! None of this makes any sense. I did not think Trumps could be blocked in such a way, nor have I heard of them sucking people through as happened to Felix and I. I thought perhaps we were trapped there, but when I Trumped Ahab, he had no difficulty pulling us through to him. Of course, he had managed to get back outside again. None of this makes any sense.

We wound up Trumping Martin, since Ahab had left the main group without making sure he had any of their Trumps. He really needs to stop and think through the consequences off his actions sometimes. Martin and the others had returned to Amber, figuring they were in way over their heads. We opted to join them. I tried reaching Coral again, but other than a little more resistance, nothing had changed. Ahab suggested firing a crossbow bolt through the Trump, aiming for her cubical prison. I was very careful to aim in such a way that the bolt would not strike Coral. It worked better than I could have imagined. The bolt struck the cube and shattered it. But, before I could do anything else, the contact was severed, and I have been unable to re-establish it.

I received another shock when I returned to my rooms in the Castle. They are covered with dust. It looks as though no one has been in here for many years. I asked a guard for the date, and it seems we have been gone for 50 years. But everything is exactly where I left it the day I departed. This makes no sense! I find it hard to believe that no one moved a single thing in this room since I left. Certainly I would have expected Kira to have moved things around while she was here. Of her, there is no sign at all, nor of any of my guards. I went to see Ahab, and his rooms were in a similar state. We both agreed this was suspicious, so I went looking for Felix. He was not in his room, but I eventually reached him by Trump. Judging by his response, something is very seriously wrong here. He looked scared to death, but he would not tell me what has happened. He just kept repeating that I should go down to the Dining Hall, and everything would be explained. Not very likely. It sounded like a trap to me, so of course Ahab decided to go. I think I may investigate myself, but I plan to be subtle about it, not just march in the way I am sure Ahab will.

Somewhere in Shadow

Something certainly was wrong. Brand is King. I suspect this bothers Ahab more than it bothers me. He is already talking of finding the remaining Amberites who oppose Brand and overthrowing him. Assuming they have not been murdered by Brand. The fact that their Trumps did not even grow cold when he attempted to contact them makes me suspect the worst. I came across Ahab as I made my way downstairs. He would not even tell me what he had learned. All he would say was that he was leaving Amber immediately, and suggested that I follow him. I saw no reason to stay. Something was obviously wrong, and I had nothing to hold me there. It was not until we had Hellrode some distance beyond Arden that he told we why we were fleeing.

After his Trump contacts failed, Ahab did something he called "Trump scrying." It seems to consist of shuffling his Trumps together, along with some other cards, and laying them out in a certain pattern. Where the cards fall is supposed to relay information. I suppose it is similar to asking an oracle for advice, although I trust the opinion of flesh and blood more than the positioning of cards. I asked Ahab to interpret the results for me, and this is what he told me. Somehow Corwin represents our current situation. Perhaps he has escaped Brand as well? The card representing Death was to be the probable result of our actions, but it was upside-down. Maybe this represents life? We are being chased by the Magician card, also upside-down. Brand is behind the problem, not really a surprise. Amber appeared as our inspiration, and Ariadne seems to be the key to it all. But is it referring to Ariadne herself, or Coral, since Ariadne is disguised as her? Why is life in Amber always so complicated? Ahab thinks he can find more answers in Tir-na Nog'th, so we will journey there after it is dark in Amber. I have decided to hunt for a sacrifice to Eral, in hopes that she will grant me wisdom. Assuming that she can even hear my prayers in this Shadow.

The "Primal Pattern"

It seems that we were not in Amber after all. At least, that is what Alex tells us. He claims that he is able to sense his proximity to the Logrus, and we are very close indeed. I wonder if I can do a similar thing with the Pattern? There has not been much time for experimentation. I find it hard to believe that it has been less than a week since the end of Patternfall. At least for me. I still do not completely trust Alex, but what he says fits in with the other things we have observed. He found us by grabbing Ahab with the Logrus somehow. Fortunately, I sensed it (it really does smell rather vile), and warned Ahab. Ahab brought the Pattern into his mind, and forced Alex to release him. I did the same, to keep the Logrus from touching me. The process is not an easy one. Perhaps it gets better with practice. Since he could not use us, Alex used Zero instead. I wonder if he could have done that if we were Hellriding? He claimed he was being pursued, so we Hellrode through Shadow in an attempt to elude them. I assume we did, for I never saw them. Or perhaps Alex was just making that up. His only corroborator is Heather, who is hardly the most trustworthy sort.

Much to my surprise, we came upon the Primal Pattern. I was suspicious at once, since I have been told that you cannot Hellride directly to it. Surely Ahab knew this as well, yet he still tried to walk it! I shudder to think what would have happened had I not intervened. Alex brought Shard and Battlestar to join us, using the Logrus somehow. I guess that once he grabs someone with it, he can either pull himself to them, or pull them to him. I still do not know how he finds the object to grab onto in the first place.

I decided to Trump Martin, since he had disappeared after we returned to the phony Amber. Oddly enough, he noticed nothing strange about his room in Amber. No dust, no rotting clothes. He apparently left soon afterwards for one of his Shadows, and had no idea what I was referring to. I wished have him bring us to his Shadow, but Alex pointed out that he might really be a shapeshifted Chaosite. So instead, I persuaded him to join us, and Alex immediately tested him with the Logrus. Of course this upset him, and I had tell him what we had discovered.

Alex foolishly tried to pull Felix to us in the same way he did Shard. It did not work, and Alex was pulled right off of his feet. He should have known better. Heather decided to be polite and ask Felix to join us rather than dragging him here against his will, so she Trumped him. After she explained the situation, he decided to join us. He told us that Gérard thinks we disappeared the night of the trouble at Bloody Jake's, and that Ariadne disappeared even earlier. Even Gérard is not that unobservant. Despite this evidence, Felix had a hard time believing that his mater and pater were not genuine. He even Trumped Gérard and invented a reason to talk to him, trying to catch him acting inappropriately. He came away no more certain than before. I found myself nervous standing around this Pattern which felt real, but could not possibly be, so I suggested we travel to Ygg. I hope that the Logrus (or whoever is responsible for our situation) is unable to duplicate Ygg in the same manner that it has duplicated Amber.

Somewhere in Shadow

I may have been right about Ygg. We are finding the shifting slow, as opposed to the ease with which we found the Primal Pattern. I think we are on the right track. We could go faster if we were mounted, but we were unable to find horses. Something definitely opposes our current path, which makes me all the more determined to get there.

"Outrageous Fortune"
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All text on this page is © 1993 by Kris Fazzari.

Last modified on September 28, 1993 by Kris Fazzari.