Amber - Prologues

[Voshkod]

Grettir

"As you command," she says. She motions for one of your men to drag a barrel over to use as a table. "We will keep this simple. Three cards from the major arcana, where you come from, where you are, where you go."

She flips out the first card. A warrior in a chariot being pulled by two beasts. "Ah, the Chariot. A card of conquest and victory. A card of ego, discipline, bravery. A proper card for a warrior king. Nothing of great surprise."

The second card lands. "Where you are now." A wheel turning in the clouds. "The Wheel of Fortune. A turning point. A nexus. A new door opens for you, if you choose to take it."

Finally the turns the third card. A valkerie, descending from the sky as the dead rise. "Judgement. You move into a new life, a new beginning."

She looks up at you. "The cards can answer many things, young one, if you have the courage to ask."

Lore

"And do you hate me, Lore," she asks, with the same clinical tone. After all, I did this to you." She nibbles another cookie.

[Hrolf]

"Ask your cards how I can obtain my desire. To venture to valhalla and meet my mother."

[Voshkod]

Grettir

"Sometimes, that which you wish is close at hand," she says, turning over another card. It's a woman, black hair, deep blue eyes, silver chain armor and an axe in hand. It is the seer. When you look back up at her, a raven has settled on her shoulder, and there are tears in her eyes. "Hello, Grettir Dierdre's-son," she says warmly. "Hello, my son."

[mutecebu]

Lore

He looks at her quizacly. "You know, I don't believe I'm qualified to answer that. I've only just met you in person. And, after all, I have you to thank for my existance, not to mention my genetic superiority over everyone else.

No, I don't really have reason to hate you. I recently disliked my lot in life, though I'm sure my subjects did likewise in my earlier years. Though you were the cause of that, you are also my savior from it. No, hate's not high on my list of emotions at the moment. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?

[Hrolf]

Grettir

Grettir stands and takes a step back. He seems to compose himself and then gestures to his shipmates to leave the ship.
"I would be alone with this woman. Make yourselves scarce."

Once the ship is empty save for Grettir and Dierdre, he seats himself again and says, "Why have you come here? Why now?"

[Voshkod]

Grettir

"Because it is time," she says. "Time for you to learn the truth. You're a man now, and I won't hold you from your destiny. You're trapped in this little world, and there is an entire universe you've never seen. You're more than a god's son, Grettir. You are a god yourself, or at least as like unto a god as these shadows will ever see."

Lore

"Good," she says with some satisfaction. "You appear to have learned some wisdom in your time as a god. Now, as to your other questions. You are a child of the Pattern, and when you have walked the Pattern and its fire is in your blood, you can mold, shape, and create shadows, like I did with your city. Everything becomes possible for you."

[Hrolf]

Grettir

"Trapped in this world? I don't understand. Do you mean to take me to Aesgard?"

[mutecebu]

"Good," she says with some satisfaction. "You appear to have learned some wisdom in your time as a god.

Lore smiled inwardly. Actually, he had made it up himself. Then again, manipulation certainly was a usefull skill, if not actual wisdom.

((Actually, it's Isaiah 29:16, NIV. I blame chaos. ;)))

He pondered her words, and tried to make sense of them. "So... then 'Shadows' are 'fake realities,' like this one. Would Amber then be your shadow of orgin?"

((Oooh. Not so diplomatic, that!))

[Voshkod]

Lore

"Amber," Fiona says, "is as close to real as you'll likely get. It casts shadows, some stronger, some weaker. You, being of the blood of Amber, are real. All those that you encountered since you've been here have been shadows."

Grettir

"No, not Asgard. Amber." Dierdre shakes her head, smiling. "It's a lot to take in. This place, Grettir, is not a real place. It is a shadow that I created where you could be raised. I can unmake it just as easily, if I like. Amber, where we are truly from, is a real place. It is the real place."

[Hrolf]

Grettir

"Then I would ask you not to destroy this world. It would be good to have somewhere to come back to."

Grettir looks at Thorgunna where she stands on the shore.

"When do we leave?"


OOC: Sorry about this guys, but it's the busy season for reenactment and I'll be away this weekend. we're doing the battle of Fulford Gate and I'm one of the Viking King's Hearthguard. I'll be back on Monday.

[mutecebu]

((I'm ready to move on whenever))

Lore

Lore thinks, then make sure he has his facts straight, says, "OK. Amber: real. The Keep: A shadow of Amber. Me: real. This hot chocolate: delicious, but non-existant."

He looks at his feet and kicks at the nothingness. "Could you show me Amber, then?"

[Voshkod]

Lore

"Amber soon," she says. "First, you need to know your family." She spreads the cards out on the table.

Grettir

"As soon as you're ready. You just can't disappear in the middle of a raid, right? And then we'll need to talk about your uncles and aunts for a moment."

[mutecebu]

((I'm assuming they're Amber family trumps))

Lore looks at all the faces, which in turn stare back at him. He can't shake the feeling they're learning more from him than he of them. Well, that's what today is all about, exchanging information, getting to know everyone.

Lore watches the face of Random, and comments, "They're all extremely diferent."

[Hrolf]

Grettir

Grettir gestures to one of his hearthguard to come over.
"Hroding, we need to finish this raid as quickly as possible. If there are warriors holding out, let me know. If not, get everyone aboard ship and set sail for a hiding cove."

Turning back to Dierdre, "Aunts and uncles? How large a family do I have?"

[Voshkod]

The first card falls on the table. A stern looking bear of a man, grey beard, a sword in one hand, a scepter in the other, standing before a throne.

Lore

"That is your grandfather, Oberon, thought to be the late King of Amber," Fiona says quietly. "Thought to be late, that is, but defintely King. My father . . . . my father didn't have a lot of time for me, Lore. He preferred his sons, to be honest. The daughters were, at best, inconviences or, at worst, trouble. But he's gone now, perhaps dead."

Soren

"Oberon. My father, your grandfather." Benedict's face is a blank. "A good King, at least in some ways. Kept things under control, understood that strength was necessary for leadership. A lousy father, though. Killed my two younger full-brothers, though they both deserved it. All of this could have been avoided if he had just named an heir."

Grettir

"This is your grandfather, Grettir. Oberon, King of Amber. He was a good king, a good father, a good man. He taught us the important lessons, even though many of us ignored him. He's been missing for a while now, he may be dead, I don't know. I miss him."

Drake

"We'll start with Dad," Flora says. "You've met him. A crusty bastard hiding his soft side behind a general anger at things. I could always get his guard down, though, make him smile. I think I'm the only daughter he really liked. Hell, I may be the only child he really liked."

Bellona

"That's Oberon, Bell. My dad, your granddad. Worst man in the universal, cruel, mean, cold. I watched him kill two of my brothers because he thought they might be thinking of overthrowing him. He hated all of us, saw us as nothing more than the useless detrius of his time with his whores."

Rachel

"Our father was Oberon," Gerard intones. "I always liked him, to be honest. You knew where you stood with him. Random, though, oh he and Random hated each other. Random thought he was a tyrant, and Oberon thought Random was just a little thug. In their own ways, they were both right, and both very wrong."

[SilverElf4]

Soren

Soren raises an eyebrow. "Killing your children makes you a bad father alright, but I would think not naming an heir would make you a bad king as well." Soren realizes briefly that he has yet to connect the face on the card with the reality of his relation to this man, but the insight fades quickly, replaced by more practical questions.

[mutecebu]

Lore looked at the face. "Late King, eh? How'd his domain get divided up?" Lore's reign was always secure, but he had studied history, before he came. It was chaotic. He was amazed at how much security one woman could bring. Then again, she had made the universe, so she could write the history books. Then again, it was possible history was chaotic because his mom hadn't bothered with a logical history. Ironic. Lore considered himself an amazing statesman, only to find he knew absolutely nothing about basic politics.

[Hrolf]

Grettir

Grettir nods, looking at the image.
"Family is all. Homes and weapons can be lost but one's family will always be there."

[The_Logic_Ninja]

Rachel

A little thug... I can believe it.
"Was?" Rachel asks, overcoming tentativeness. "What happened?"

[The Prince of Cats]

Drake

The youth looked at the card for a few moments, remembering the man he had met all those years ago and wondering what kind of man he truly was.

"I only met him once but I think I would have liked to know him a little better."

[Puma]

Bellona[br][br]Bella looks at the card over her father's shoulder. "Hmm. No wonder you hate his castle and your brothers. They're probably a lot like him."[br]She looks back to Julian. "But you're not."

[Voshkod]

Bellona

"Some of them are like him, too much so. Corwin, Eric, Caine. Some rebelled against him, like Benedict and Random. And some are actually nice, like Gerard. Like all families, Bell, some are good, some are bad."

Drake

"I wish you had had the chance, Drake," Flora says sadly. "I think grandchildren would have mellowed him, take out some of the iron. Let him smile. I'm not sure any of us ever lived up to his expectations."

Rachel

"He vanished. Went off into shadow, never returning. Even his card went dead. That usually means someone's beyond contact. Beyond life," Gerard intones solemnly.

Grettir

Dierdre laughs. "You think that now, Grettir, but wait until you meet them all. It's less a family than a pack of wolves, all trying to be the leader. Can't trust any of them, not even . . . ." She trails off for a moment, then finishes sadly. "Not any of them."

Lore

"That's the problem, Lore," Fiona says with a smile. "Father wasn't planning to die, or vanish. He didn't divide things. He left no clear heir. And that's why we're having a war. And why I needed some new weapons."

Soren

"I don't think he planned is that way, Soren, but it does show the need to think ahead. I think he finally pushed his luck, and something caught him. But yes, it is a sign of a bad king not to plan."

[The Prince of Cats]

Drake

Drake nodded, his grandfather would always be an enigma to him but at least he had the chance to meet him once before... before he disappeared. Drake reminded himself that disappeared was not the same as dead. There was always a chance they would meet again...

[Hrolf]

Grettir

Grettir frowns.
"But a wolf pack will band together to defend their home. However, the lesson is learned. Please continue."

[SilverElf4]

Soren

Soren suppresses a brief shudder. "I can't imagine what would be powerful enough to catch and hold him." He chews his lip thoughtfully "Hopefully we'll never have to meet whatever it was." Then a sigh and he refocuses on the cards. "Okay, who else?"

[The_Logic_Ninja]

Rachel

"Oh. I'm sorry, Uncle."
She knows what it's like to lose a parent, and to have one leave. She pulls the card closer; it's cool to the touch, and she stares at it, examining the figure on it: stern, and proud, and regal, a king indeed, like in her mother's stories...

[mutecebu]

((Ooh, I had almost stopped checking this thread! Don't let good games die young! :) ))

Lore

Lore replied, smiling, "Ah, so I'm a weapon, now? At least that's more flattering than 'specimen RTX-whateveritwas'.

This seems important, though. What are we going to be doing?"

[The_Logic_Ninja]

(Unfortunately, Voshkod's announced his absence for RL reasons, so no game for us. :( Woe.)

[mutecebu]

((You mean, the games finished? Nil? Kaput?))

[The_Logic_Ninja]

( See, unfortunately, this: http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb...num=1157128334 )