AMeetingOfTheFaiellansA Meeting of the Faiellans(Continued from War Council of Atlantis II and Long Lost Sister of Mine) SB: Aura/Ederyn: A Meeting of the Faiellans As Ederyn, Daniel, Noys, and the three Weir look over the herb garden just outside of the entrance to the kitchens, the teleport flash from Lorius' spell sends Astron, Blaze, and their riders from Etrusca right into Amber. This puts them on a collision course, with about a hundred feet between the riders and Ederyn's group. At the sudden appearance of the racing mounts and their riders, Boaz, Cyrus and even Kezia instinctively shift, taking on mass and size and the war form of the Weir as they move to get between Ederyn and the horses and riders, baring teeth. Noys and Daniel stare at the approach with utter surprise. Ederyn draws his sword and half-turns, so his back is toward his companions but he can still look forward; this is so the low, hot blue flames running along the blade won't accidentally set fire to someone's hair or clothes. He gently rests the tip of the sword on his own left palm, with no ill effect at all, and watches the riders' actions calmly. "Unicorn's glass teat!" Lorius shouts, trying to pull up his horse. The same instant Aura gets a vague idea that This Is Not Good, she barks out an order to both horses in Atlantean instead of cursing out her cousin. The command is laced with Power, but even if the magic isn't as strong in Amber (and she hasn't played with it enough to be sure), the order is the same. She wrenches Blaze's reins back and to the side, the golden, red-maned stallion rears, bellowing, calling Lorius everything but a legitimate humanoid male (not that Lorius can understand Blaze). His hooves come down with a thud and a skitter that sends up ground debris around them as he dances to come to a stop before there's an accident. The horses are well trained, straight from the Guild. So is Aura under the Royal Horsemaster. It'll be through no fault of hers if there's an accident... (Lorius' horse will be doing his best to stop before crashing into Big Scary Weir while being aware of Blaze's location. But he's more focused on stopping and not so much on keeping Lorius in the saddle. This is all his fault, after all. ;) ) [Since this is starting to look like an accident, rather than an attack, Ederyn will just watch ... unless it seems like either horse is really going to crash into the group. In the circumstances, though, it seems better to remain still.] Aura's commands work as advertised on Blaze, and she does manage to stop, without dismounting herself or injuring her horse. Blaze and his riders are a few yards away from Ederyn, the Weir, Noys and Daniel. As far as Lorius and Astron, however, Lorius' frantic rein pulling and Aura's commands cause Astron to come to a stamping start at about the same point that Blaze and Aura are. Lorius is relatively unprepared for the sudden stop. He does fly out of the saddle, literally. Fortunately for Lorius, he manages to land on his feet, in front of Aura and Nick, and the two horses. He looks at the Weir warily. "Lorius?" Noys says, fearlessly getting between the growling Weir and Lorius. "Are we in Amber?" Lorius says, looking at Noys, Ederyn, Daniel and (especially) the Weir. "Who is King?" "Random, of course" Noys replies. "Who is your friend?" "Friends" the green lizard on Aura says aloud, emphasizing the plural. "I might ask the same thing." Lorius says. "Milord Jarl?" the shortest of the three Weir, the female, says, looking at the man with the sword. This man has been dividing his attention between the new arrivals and the area they first arrived in. His response to everything is to inquire of Lorius, in heavily accented Thari, "Is something chasing you, cousin?" He is a fairly tall man, with deep black hair and beard, both curly, and the hair a little more than shoulder length. He wears a long-sleeved red woolen tunic, decorated at all edges with wide bands of interlaced embroidery in primary colors. And he is holding a drawn sword, not aggressively but watchfully. The petite brunette with the exotic jade eyes dismounts smoothly in a flurry brightly colored silk that bares her legs up to her hips. She's draped in gold and pearls and very little else beyond the strips of silk that the term skirt applies to only if one is being generous. A golden diadem holds her hair back from her face. Now that she has dismounted and is moving around to stand between the horses to calm them down can one really appreciate the sensuality packed into her short stature. It isn't until she has the horses settled that she moves forward and smacks Lorius on the back of the head. "Ilíthios! You and your dramatic entrances. You would think I would have learned by now. Really, Lorius: this space was your intended 'at speed' entrance? We could have killed somebody! Or injured a horse! You would have gotten more than a slap upside the head if you had managed that. I've a mind to report you to the Horsemaster." "How did I know that people were going to wander out the Kitchen entrance?" Lorius replies petulantly. Ederyn, actually seeing her properly now, flushes and immediately looks away. From what she says, though, he gathers that there was no pursuit, and so sheathes his sword. To Kezia, he mutters in the Weirs' language, the equivalent of "At ease." The Weir relax their martial bearing, which, combined with the tension releasing amongst everyone else, causes Lorius to relax. [Aura] humphs and gives [Lorius] such a look. For all her fussing, she is obviously fond of the silly man. With a sniff, she waves a hand in front of her; her skirt smooths, her jewelry straightens and there isn't a hair out of place. Briefly she gives a curious look at the Weir before including them in her bright smile. "Hello. Nothing was chasing us. Lorius just wanted to be sure everyone knew he had arrived. I am Aura. Deirdre's daughter." The two male Weir grin widely. Kezia nods cautiously. "Deirdre's daughter?" Noys says, looking at Lorius. "Explain." Aura just arches an eyebrow and looks mildly amused. "Okay, so we trade." Lorius says, looking at Ederyn, the Weir and Daniel. "Deal" Noys says. "Noys, this is one of those secrets I've been keeping. This is Aura, daughter of Princess Deirdre, from a shadow called Atlantis. Mostly stays in the Atlantis Metropolitan Area. Nick is her familiar. Sometimes both of them are my students." "Aura, this is Noys, Eric's daughter. " Lorius adds. "Greetings, Aura" Noys says, smiling. "We share a grandmother as well as a grandfather." "Well met, Noys." Aura inclines her head and smiles again. "All these relatives are a bit overwhelming," she confesses wryly. "It is certainly the largest immediate family I have ever met." "Okay, your turn." Lorius says. "Right" Noys says. "Lorius, Aura, this is Ederyn Ericsen Smith of the shadow Norwend, near Weirmonken. He is my brother." "Brother?" Lorius says, surprised and stunned for a moment. "I guess that explains the Weir. One of *your* secrets, Noys?" Lorius says. "Not exactly." Noys says."And no, he is not a Viking, either. Norse like culture in his shadow, though." "Hello Ederyn." Lorius grins to Ederyn. "Any brother of Noys is a cousin of mine." Ederyn nods cordially to him - the best he can manage while trying not to see the woman next to him. "The Weir here are Kezia, Cyrus and Boaz." Noys continues after a moment. "Greetings" the female Weir says to Aura. "You did startle us, we do not usually take this form unless at need." "The redheaded Prince falling off his horse was amusing" Boaz laughs. Aura grins at them. "Stick around. I make a mission in life to get Lorius into moments that deflate his ego. Or taking advantage of the ones presented to me." If Lorius weren't so accepting of them, she likely would be slinging spells after her recent run in with shape shifters. Fortunately for all concerned and her nerves, she had been too focused on not charging into a wall to notice the shifting. It was still a bit unnerving. Lorius doesn't look at Aura, but his glower is brief, at best. Slowly, the three Weir start shifting back to looking more and more human. "And this gentleman here is Ambassador Daniel Poole, from Montenegro." Noys adds. "Montenegro." Lorius says. "Isn't that the shadow that's been closed for a century because Oberon..." Lorius stops in midsentence as Daniel stares at him. "A pleasure to have the opportunity to meet more of the Royal Family, Princess Aura." Daniel says. "I am not familiar with Atlantis. Is it distant from the Golden Circle?" While that conversation has been going on, the adrenalin had been going away and Aura suddenly remembers she is no longer in sunny Atlantis and began to shiver. Without a gesture or a word her clothes morph into a fitted, long sleeved, full skirted gown of fuchsia silk belted low on the hips by a wide belt of intricate gold set with black pearls and dark gems with colorful flickers of fire at their centers. Nick has scampered down to her hand to escape the slithering fabric as it covered her. And by this point, the Weir now look demonstrably human. She looks up at Daniel's question and adopts a thoughtful expression. "Yes... yes it is." She suddenly turns the full force of her smile on him. "I have only traveled the long way once, and that was with Lorius yesterday. He has made the journey often. It would normally take much longer for anyone else." She doesn't care if it's hidden right next door; she isn't about to tell anyone how to find it or where to look. Not after today. "Is your home far?" Deeply relieved by Aura's change of garments (however it was accomplished), Ederyn finally relaxes into simply observing these new kin of his father's family. "Montenegro is in the outer portion of the Golden Circle, and a sailing trip from there takes several months by the route we took, Princess." Daniel explains. "Ederyn and I made just made that trip, and it was in Weirmonken that we met the three Weir here." Daniel explains. "At a Court of the Fae." "I didn't catch that detail, brother." Noys says, turning to Ederyn. The smith shrugs and looks a bit annoyed by the reminder. "And perhaps we should deal with your horses, cousin, rather than just standing here." Noys adds to Aura. "Uncle Julian will be very interested in them, and probably other family members too." Aura looks over her shoulder at the horses and hums. "You are probably correct. They are used to a much warmer location and would probably like to get inside now that they have had an opportunity to catch their breath." The horse next to Lorius whinnies, as if in agreement. "Atlantis is positively tropical." Lorius says to Noys, Ederyn, Daniel and the Weir. "I bet that the five of you would melt." "Glacier Boy would, too, if he were here." Lorius adds brightly. Moving back between them, [Aura] runs fingers through Blaze's glittering mane. "These are actually rather sedate for Atlantean coloring. Starfire is a bit more showy. She's already here. She'll be glad for company," Aura adds while giving the pair fond pats on the muzzle. "Right. It was nice meeting you all. Which way are the stables from here?" "Sometimes Aura likes to pretend I'm not around." Lorius says. "It sounds like she understands you, cousin." Noys says. She looks at Aura. "I was showing Ederyn, the Weir and Daniel the grounds." Noys says to Aura. "If you like, we can head in the direction of the stables and continue to talk. We three are all Faiellans." Ederyn glances among the various speakers, understanding most of the words but not much of the background. After Noys' suggestion, his slightly uncertain gaze, like the others', rests on Aura. "Either way," Aura cheerfully replies. She tosses the horses reins over their saddle horns. They don't need to be led. She nudges Lorius with her shoulder. "Glacier Boy?" "Oh, that's Hadrian." Lorius chuckles. He starts walking, After a few moment, Ederyn might notice that Lorius' head rides higher, and that he is actually walking about six inches above the ground, on air. As Aura expected, the horses follow the group along. The herb garden gives way to a path through some formal gardens, but nothing is in bloom as yet. A wall of lilac bushes, for instance, is a nest of empty thin branches. Aura just rolls her eyes at Lorius' self elevation. "I'll bet, Noys, you've given Ederyn here a run down on all of the commonly known family members and probably mentioned him already." Lorius says. "I think Asteria did, actually." Noys says. She looks over at Aura. "Hadrian is the third of Gerard's sons. He's from a mountainous, cold, glacier dominated shadow. It's like the anti-Atlantis." "That sounds awful" the lizard on Aura's shoulder shivers. Aura herself wrinkles her nose. Here she thought she was currently walking through the anti-Atlantis. "You don't see me vacationing there, Nick. Oh, and he has a familiar, a sort of miniature female Wyvern. You two might get along." Lorius takes a breath and continues "Now, these four." Lorius gestures to the Weir, and Ederyn "Might actually like DuMarque." He weaves his head in Daniel's direction. "Your shadow might like to trade with DuMarque, if they want ice. And ice. And maybe some fish and wood." "I see" Daniel says doubtfully. Kezia whispers to Ederyn. "This one likes the sound of his own voice." The smith gives a snort of suppressed laughter, then says, "Norwend can supply those things, too." "Seriously, though." Lorius says. "If you are looking to get trump portraits of yourselves done." he sweeps his hand to encompass Aura and Ederyn. "and want someone without red hair to do it, he might be your guy. I'm surprised Random hasn't made any edicts about that yet." "And what redheads provide such a service?" asks Aura. "And why would I have a problem with their hair color?" "You haven't explained the family dynamics to Aura?" Noys says to Lorius. "The family dynamics really haven't come up. Have you done better?' Lorius says. "Please, be my guest." "This will be valuable for you, too, Ederyn" Noys says, as the lilac bushes give way to a planned garden. There is a horse path that avoids its center, and Noys steers the group along. This also allows for the better view of the mountain dropping away to the right, and the landscape, mostly forest, below. Ederyn slows down, involuntarily, to look at the view, then catches himself and stays with the group. "We should arrange for both you and Aura to go up or down the staircase at some point." Lorius puts in as he notes him stopping to admire the view. "Rite of passage." "Please, go ahead." Lorius says, turning his gaze to Noys. "Aunt Fiona can draw trumps. Brandeigh can draw trumps." Noys begins. "Shannon probably could, but she keeps things secret. As far as why hair color matters...Noys says, the descendants of Queen Clarissa all have, to one degree or another, red hair. The thing is, Aura." Noys says. "Given the volatile politics during the Patternfall War, many of those same descendants are not always trusted as fully as those of other branches of the tree. The thing is, if you want to know something, be it hidden members of the Family, or how to blockade a shadow, they are the best people to ask for knowledge. But that also makes them feared and mistrusted." "Brand" Lorius interrupts. "Prince Brand is the main reason why. Although Jayson was an ass, the best thing he ever did was get Deirdre free and away from that crazy would be world destroyer." "Speaking of hidden members." Lorius looks at Ederyn. "You're quite a puzzle. I wonder who knew about you, since Eric wasn't around to watch you himself. Eric is the type to make careful arrangements. Ever get visits from strangers claiming to be relatives when you were young?" "No," Ederyn says. At first it seems like that's all he's going to say, but then he adds, "I have no reason to believe that he knew I exist." "Hunh." Lorius says. "Doesn't discount the possibility that one of our uncles and aunts knew of you. But given the family, its certainly possible nobody knew of what you really were." He pauses. "You know, Ederyn, you might have already been told this, or Noys has shown you a picture, but you do look a lot like your father did when he was young." "This is true." Kezia puts in. "He matches descriptions of the old Jarl his father.". The other two Weir grunt agreement. Noys gives a nod. "I saw pictures, today," Ederyn confirms. "I thank you for speaking of it." "I knew I could count on Noys." Lorius says. Ederyn shakes his head. "It was the king that showed me. I met Noys after that." Aura walks along just listening for a time before speaking again. "Lorius was trusted enough by my mother to not only tell him about me, but have him teach me the ways of the Pattern. I have enough trust in him to have him in my home Shadow frequently. And that is not something I grant lightly. His mother has already been a great help to me in the little time I have been in Amber. This Jayson person saved my mother. I am not about to judge someone on the basis of their hair color or parentage. Everyone gets the same chance with me." "Of course," Aura adds. "Once they fail that first one, they do not get another." Ederyn listens, silently agreeing with and approving of her stance on this. "In that, you are a lot like your mother." Lorius says. "Getting on her wrong side is a really bad strategy. As far as why your mother picked me to tutor you, I don't think I precisely ever told you that story." Lorius says. "And then I felt weird about it, after we all thought she had fallen into the Abyss. But now that she is back..." Lorius hums thoughtfully to herself. "There are stories about all of the Royal Family of Amber, out of date." Daniel puts in. "The imperious King Oberon. The various Queens he married, and lost to whim, chance or other things. Queen Clarissa was reputed to have been a powerful sorceress, and all of her children following that tradition. Of your mother, Princess, there was much tragedy and sorrow associated with her, given the circumstances of her birth. Deirdre of the Sorrows, we called her." We were only vaguely aware, after our Shadow was cut off, that she had been lost in the War." Aura gives Lorius a sidelong look. "And I did not know she had been lost until after she had been found. Now that she is, and I am here, I would like to hear this story." Aura forgoes addressing the ridiculousness of her mother being saddled with such a heavy thing simply because her Faiella had died delivering her. It happens-even in Atlantis, though rarely. She concedes there may be more there that she doesn't know, but on the face of it, it's just overly dramatic. Lorius floats to the front and whispers to Noys. She nods and her course changes. Instead of continuing along the Castle wall, she changes the course the group is headed, veering in the direction of the mountainside. "This is a story that very people know." Lorius says. "Your mother wants it that way. Unicorn, Shannon knows this story, but I've never told Brandeigh or Mom directly. This story could take hours, but I will give a brief version." Lorius begins. "Anyway, this was, oh, decades ago. When you were a baby, Aura. Back when Oberon was doing his disappearing acts and the Elders were starting to scheme with each other and against each other, the Game of Thrones was in its early stages." He looks at Noys and Ederyn. "Back before the conflict between your father and Corwin got deadly." Ederyn returns his gaze steadily, with no hint of what he understands about that comment. "In some respects, the matrix of Shadow can be thought of as a rubber sheet. Shadows themselves can be thought of as weights that sit on, or depress the sheet. The more real a shadow is, the more that it puckers and depresses that sheet. Make it real enough, you can force people into it as they travel shadow. That's what happened to Corwin after he escaped from Eric and the dungeon. He ran into one of those depressions that was put in his way." The smith frowns a little as he tries to understand this explanation. "Anyway, the traveling of Amberites and Chaosians makes a brief wake in shadow that, if you are near and working with the Pattern at the time, can detect. I happened to be in shadow at the time doing some experiments and research. I was out on the fringes of the Golden Circle, sort of the region that Montenegro is located. Weirmonken, too." Daniel gives a nod. Kezia smiles wide teeth. Noys has brought the group at this point to the edge of the cliff Lorius looks down at the forest, still mostly brown except for some conifers on the slopes. "Anyway, I detected a wake, got curious and found Deirdre traveling. I got nosy, and started following her, wondering what she was up to. Turns out, fortunately from her perspective, but not so much from mine, I followed her a bit too closely, and so when she fell into a shadow oubliette trap, I fell right into it with her." Aura's familiar laughs. Lorius ignores the laughter and continues. "After we got things sorted out between us and Aunt Deirdre decided not to turn me into Hamburger Helper for spying on her, Deirdre and I joined forces to learn more about the trap, and get ourselves out of the mess. Time was certainly odd in there, we spent months in that blasted shadow. Finally broke out with some clever Pattern use." "After that sort of trial by fire bonding experience, Deirdre took me into her confidence. Told me about her daughter and how she was going to raise her differently than she did Percy. Deirdre's no fool, she could see what was happening in Amber. She didn't want you, Aura, to become a pawn if she brought you to Amber openly as she had done with your brother. A young daughter, brought to Amber right as her siblings were scheming to take the throne? Not on your life was she going to do that." "See, Ederyn" Lorius turns to look at Ederyn. "I thought Eric had done the same thing for you that Deirdre did for Aura, and your father did for Noys. Eric was very very clever about that, kept her a secret from nearly everyone. When I came back from the War, I was surprised. Mom, too." At being directly addressed, Ederyn turns away from the view. "Noys told me she also saw him sometimes." "Well, she was hiding in open sight, from what I gather." Lorius says. "A carriage ride away." "Father did not visit often." Noys says. "As I told my brother, he did visit." "Hunh." Lorius says. "Anyways, Deirdre named me your godfather, and tutor." Lorius says to Aura ."Asked me to keep an eye on you, teach you the Pattern and enough to protect you in case an unfriendly relative came knocking on Atlantis one day." Aura stills utterly. Several emotions flash across her face too face to register unless one knew her well: dumbfounded amazement, amused skepticism, disbelief, perhaps a fleeting outrage. She blinks and shares a look with her familiar as she recalls Lorius' various Atlantean escapades. Then she slowly turns her head to face Lorius. "I don't even know where to start. I can't decide if I should laugh or ....." she trails off and chuckles wryly. "You certainly don't act like anyone's godfather." "That's for certain." Kezia says. Noys smiles, slightly, as if in agreement. "I cannot imagine him being a foster father to anyone" Boaz comments to Ederyn. The smith only looks faintly quizzical at these remarks. "I have a reputation, Ederyn." Lorius turns to look at Noys' brother. "A reputation cultivated over two centuries, I might add. Larger than life, doing everything big, bold, and brash. Complete opposite of my subtle sister. I could blame it on my father's nature, but that's not fair. I'm me. It drives Mom crazy sometimes, too." "In the midst of being a force of nature whenever I visited her shadow." Lorius adds. "I also taught Aura Amberian sorcery, how to use the Pattern, and everything else she needed to know. To run in *this* family, you need to learn some things, even if you stay out of Amber most of the time. Perhaps especially. I don't think Deirdre will have any complaints." He glances at Aura. "Really, I was the best choice. Maybe one of the Twins, although they might have taken after their Dad and wound up getting seduced by one Atlantean after another." "As if that were a bad thing," says Aura mildly. Nick snickers. "Speaking of that, Aura should tell you all the story when Lorius was..." "So what about you, Ederyn?" Lorius interrupts. "What do you do? Besides collecting Weir and diplomats, that is?" Aura smirks knowingly but lets the diversion go. "I make things," Ederyn says. He glances down at Lorius' hovering feet and adds, "Like this." In a single economical movement, he unhooks his scabbard from his belt and lays its end across his left palm, the sword's hilt resting on his right. The scabbard is dark leather, only partly visible behind a gilded latticework in a design of repeating knotwork patterns. The grip is wrapped in leather, but the pommel features a decoration of gold that appears to be a serpent wrapped around itself, and the ends of the simple bar crossguard look like gilded stylized dragons. Maybe, on second glance, the pommel is the twisted body of a two-headed dragon. "How marvelous!" An intrigued Aura takes a step forward for a closer look. Lorius furrows his eyebrows, but tilts his head to look more intently. Only a second glance is possible, however, because Ederyn bares about half the two-edged blade, and low blue flames run along it. He stares at it thoughtfully, and a moment later, strings of yellow-white gleaming runes appear to swim to the surface of the metal, even to the eyes of those without any particular magical skill. Those with such skill can see, if they look, that the runes form a long chain or chains of terms located in what human perceptions try to interpret as three dimensions, twining around themselves and possibly containing meaning and effect not only in sequence but in proximity. They also appear to be moving, but that might, again, be a matter of perception; perhaps instead the world is moving around them. Aura tilts her head to one side and leans a bit closer. Not too close. She has a healthy respect for magical artifacts, having grown up around so many of them. She doesn't know the runes but she knows symbols of Power well enough to recognize that about them. Her fingers twitch, but she clamps down on the impulse to touch it or try to determine any more deeper meaning than her eyes can give her. She just met the man, after all and she has spent too much time today already delving into mystical mysteries and harnessing Primal forces. "Beautiful as well as practical," the Atlantean beauty nods approvingly. Swords are far from her level of expertise, but being the daughter of the Sword of Atlantis, she knows good when she sees it. Ederyn seems pleased by the remark. Lorius holds out his fingers, and his impulse to reach toward the blade is evident on his face. He holds his fingers out for a moment before withdrawing them. Noys gives a smile of satisfaction. "I thought you were just a mundane smith, however talented..." Lorius says to Ederyn. "But you aren't at all. And your sister knew this all along. Well played, cousin." he adds to Noys. "Elemental Runic conjuration" Lorius says, with a glance at Aura and then he looks at Ederyn. "You've been trained as a smith and have learned how to infuse forged items with elemental arcane runes. You definitely are following in your father's footsteps, even exceeded them." Aura nods at Lorius. This was not a Art she had experience with, and they had only touched on briefly in her studies. The smith looks very interested in this, but doesn't quite manage to get a word in. "What's her name?" Lorius asks Ederyn. "Or has she not told it to you yet?" "'She'? 'Told'?" he repeats, nonplussed. "It's a *sword.* I call it 'Hiti.' That just means 'flame.'" He sheathes the blade without looking at it, eying Lorius with a bit of doubt and even a little irritation. Aura smiles and speaks mildly. “In the region of Shadow I am from, many warriors name their true blades of power. In Amber, I believe Corwin and Brand have as well.” She gives Lorius a questioning glance for verification. Lorius nods his head rapidly. “T’s an honest question when seeing a blade of such exception.” Ederyn relaxes, satisfied with the explanation. "A work like this needs a name, it is true," he offers. "The Weir do not name their blades." Kezia says. "We know nothing of this art." "Well, a number of the Amberites have named blades." Lorius says. "So I thought such a fine weapon had to have a name too. In fact..." Lorius turns and looks at Noys. "You know, with the skills Ederyn has here, he might be able to reforge and repair Crepusculum." "I have not asked him to do so yet." Noys replies. "I have not told him of our father's sword." "Well, now you have to," Ederyn says, a faint smile - though it is mostly in his eyes - taking any possible sting out of the words. "I do." Noys says. She nods to Ederyn and looks at Lorius with a furrowed eyebrow. ”Is it also a Pattern blade?” Aura asks with interest, and beginning to doubt the use of ‘rare’ when applied to Pattern blades. “How many more of those are there?” Lorius beams at Aura. "First, if we are going to continue to swap stories, its time for my own Kung Fu. And it is strong." Ederyn has no idea what he's talking about, and it shows. Lorius starts gesturing with his hands. at the slope of the mountain. It looks to Ederyn and Aura as if Lorius had suddenly had his hands full of wool, the way his fingers shape and move it. After about thirty seconds of this, the ground rumbles as 8 chairs emerge out of the living rock, in a semicircle, facing the view of the gigantic forest and world below them. Lorius takes the center seat of the semicircle. "Sit right back and you'll hear a tale." Lorius grins. The Weir look at Ederyn questioningly. Daniel does take a seat on the far end of the semicircle, and Noys takes one to the right of Lorius. Ederyn regards the seats with a critical eye, but says nothing as he takes the seat beside Noys. Aura just sighs and approaches the seat beside Lorius. She gives it a critical look. That would be murder on her clothes. With a wave of her hand, a silvery white fur drapes across the seat. She gives her godfather a sniff before sitting down. Lorius waits for everyone to pick a seat, or not, before talking. He gives Aura and Ederyn a quick look and quietly says "pillows, next time.", to himself. "The question of Pattern Blades is as controversial as the question of Spikards, and just as contentious a topic we can leave for a moment. But the number and nature of the Pattern Blades is as equally unclear." "There's Grayswandir, that's Corwin's sword. He still has it. Werewindle was Brand's. Last I heard, his son has that one. Crepusculum, or Sundown, was Eric's sword. I will leave my fair cousin to tell you of it." He grins at Noys. "Besides that trio, things get murky." he continues. "I know of three for certain." Lorius says. "There's Vox, also called Pagono or the Orichalcum Blade, Tempest , and Balikesir. Where any of those last three are is anyone's guess." ”Not very rare, are they?” asks Aura curiously. “Uncommon, but not rare. Rare would be like Atlantis’ Arms of the Prostatis; of which there are two and will only ever be two.” "There may be more, and there are certainly Chaos blades." Lorius says. "It's a big universe out there. Heck, there are places where even a glass dagger is useful." Which reminds her; she needs to see if she can coax a Hexiary blade from Stoicheion. Not for her, goddess no. But her father as Warlord should have something more than the enchanted blade he carries. “How were the last three lost?” "Vox was lost in one of the early Spikard Wars." Lorius says. Balikesir disappeared at the same time its wielder, did. As far as Tempest, I am engaged in a secret long term project researching her story and finding her ." He puts up a finger to his lips with a grin. On her shoulder, Nick snickers. "Not much of a secret if we were just told." Cyrus comments. Lorius looks at the group. "So, is the story of Eric's sword next up. Or now that we are all seated, do we have any other topics on board?" He looks at Ederyn and Aura. "Questions about Amber, perhaps?" The smith is looking at the view again, but spares Lorius a glance. "I'd like to hear about the sword," he says. Aura just shrugs at Lorius. “Story time is fine.” She had dozens of questions, but this story is as good a place as any to her. Lorius gives a look to Noys and shrugs. "I guess you are up" he says apologetically. "Yes" Noys says. "Crepusculum" "I understand that all three of the blades, Crepusculum, Werewindle and Grayswandir were made on three consecutive full moon nights." Noys says. "Grayswandir was made first, Crepusculum last. I don't know why it was Brand and not Bleys who was given a sword..." she looks at Lorius, who puts a finger to his lips. "I do know about my Dad's sword." "Crepusculum was designed to be a heavy rapier, a fencing sword, not quite a cut and thrust sword." Noys says. "A sword inscribed with the power of the Pattern. My father wielded it for many years. My father was a hero with that blade." "It was broken when Corwin came back" the tremor and tension in Noys' voice is obvious. "When Corwin came back and a way for Chaos to come into Amber came with him. My father's sword was broken at the battle when Corwin arrived with his guns." Ederyn places a hand on her arm, trying to be comforting. The tension in Noys' body is distinctly obvious when Ederyn does so. "Pollux was there" Noys' voice wavers slightly. "He told me that the sword was broken, in a battle against a Chaosian House Lord that wielded a giant bone white hand and a half blade with black runes upon it. A puissant weapon of Chaos, or so I have learned. My father's blade broke upon it, but the pieces were gathered up by Cas and Pol and were given to me when I came to the castle during Uncle Gerard's regency." "I have them still." Ederyn makes a mental note to ask Pollux for more detail about this event. Of Noys he only asks, after a moment, "Who made these swords?" Aura just looks on sympathetically, not knowing any of the participants being discussed, but recognizing the emotions in Noys. "I don't know who made them..." Noys says. Her voice is still strained. "All three of the blades were originally something else before they were reforged, inscribed transformed. I have read the chronicle of who forged them into swords." she says. "Its a tale not easily found in the library. Maybe only Shannon and me have ever read it...but there once was a woman in Amber, a Chaosian by the name of Lorelai who had switched sides. She was a crafter and a warrior, and was the love of Uncle Finndo's life. She forged the three Pattern Blades, with his help out of older, powerful artifacts." Lorius nods. "Spikards. They were spikards," He looks at Ederyn and Aura. "Spikards might well be, short of the Jewel of Judgement, the most dangerous artifacts ever created in the entire universe." "It wouldn't surprise me if the Orichalcum Blade, Tempest , and Balikesir were all transformed spikards, too." Lorius muses. "Lorelai's handiwork, too, maybe. Or other leftover artifacts from the War of the Spikards. Waste not, want not. And its very dangerous and difficult, my cousins and friends, to completely unmake some of the more powerful artifacts. It's often easier to change a powerful artifact into something else than destroy it." "It is true" Kezia says. "We have legends amongst the Weir and the Fey of Weirmonken of a powerful magic ring, one that could control other magic rings and their wielders. The legend says that the Ring was eventually destroyed, with great difficulty and great cost." "Now, though, assuming that you are staying..." Lorius looks at Ederyn with a grin "there will be somebody in Amber with the capability to actually do some real work in the field. I suspect, Ederyn, once your secret is out, within a few years or decades, you're going to have a dance card more full than Asteria's at the Festival of the Unicorn. So to speak." The smith looks confused again. This softens Noys' sorrowful emotions somewhat. "So I suspect that both a as pattern sword and a spikard, Crepusculum is currently dormant in its shattered form." Lorius says. "That is not a state of affairs that will last forever, even if Noys never asks you to repair the sword, Ederyn. It will find a way to remake itself, even if it takes centuries to do it." "It seems I have to learn about Spikards before I could try," Ederyn says thoughtfully. "If Noys wants it repaired." Aura eyes Lorius a moment. “These things have the sentience to remake themselves?” In the background, one of the two Atlantean horses neighs with the lack of attention. "Maybe I should explain what the Spikards are in detail." Lorius says. "I said they are dangerous artifacts but I didn't tell you what precisely they were." "I noticed that" Daniel puts in. "A point for the diplomat" Lorius says. "Anyway, you all know what the Pattern is, and maybe Noys has told you, Ederyn about the Logrus..." Noys shakes her head. "No matter" Lorius says. "Ederyn, you know that the Pattern is a design that confers and is a source of great power, a Primal Power, right? The Logrus, that's the same thing in Chaos." "What the Spikards really are are the bound mobile powers that existed and dominated much of what we call the universe before the Pattern and the Logrus came to be. Dangerous enough that, even if physically broken..." he looks at Aura."they have the wherewithal to remake themselves, and to their purposes. Why do you think so many in our Family, and in Chaos, are tied in with the things?" "Then it's certain" Noys says, putting a hand on Ederyn's hand. "I want you to remake our father's sword." "Good," Ederyn says, and then unexpectedly produces a smile like the sun coming out. "It's a hard task, a challenge, and so a thing I'd be sorry to not try." "Bien" Noys says with satisfaction. She then turns her gaze and looks downslope, at Arden. A column of smoke has suddenly started to rise, tall and menacing. Ederyn catches her change of expression and turns to look also. Being familiar with thickly forested hillsides, he immediately stands and shades his eyes to peer downward, trying to get a better idea of how large an area is involved. This hillside doesn't look like such fires are common ... The three Weir raise their heads and sniff, as if they were in wolf form. Lost in the idea of Spikards, it takes Aura a moment to notice what has the other’s attention. She rises slowly from her seat as she looks out over the legendary forest. “That looks rather foreboding,” she remarks while sidling closer to Lorius. In all her life, she has never seen a forest fire. Atlantis’ mountainous woodlands were protected and monitored with an almost religious zeal. Now she focuses on it, bring up the spell that allows her to see magic to determine if it’s a natural fire or not. Too much had happened to her lately to take it for granted. "Aura" Lorius says, turning to look at the column of smoke. "You don't happen to have some sort of lenticular spell handy, do you?" It's difficult to get a view of the fire from here without aid, but Ederyn can see that although it looks like its a small area, its producing a lot of smoke, as if a large pyre were burning, or perhaps a substantially large wooden building. Aura's spell goes off with an audible pop to Ederyn. Aura can see that although there are no overlays of magic, or other arcane ways of accelerating a fire, she can sense that the fire is burning with the aid of something, even if it has nothing to do with magic. Its burning too hot and fast. "Maybe Not magical but definitely not natural" Nick says decisively. "Someone might have to go look" Lorius says glumly. "Julian and his brood are going to be pissed." "A moment," Ederyn says, and takes a half-step to put a little distance between himself and the others. And then he's holding a double-handful of fire, and staring into it absorbedly. Aura narrows her eyes and focuses on a spell to magnify the view. Because of the trees, she doesn’t know if anything she currently has in her arsenal can get them all the information, but more would be good. "A Mephit?" Lorius asks as he watches Ederyn's fire shoot away from his hands and in the direction of the smoke "What is a mephit?" Noys says. "Miniature creature of fire." Lorius says. "Mini-Fire elemental." "Fire and Earth are the elements which serve our Jarl." Boaz says proudly. "Yeah, I got that." Lorius says. Aura's spell, first and foremost, magnifies the speedy lmephit, since it is right in the field of view of the lens. It takes a few moments for the mephit to get out of the way of the lens so that Aura and the others can see the site of the fire. The angle and view are not perfect, but Aura's spell allows all to see that a large several story wooden building in a clearing is what is burning. "Oh Greffet" Lorius curses. "Julian's Steading." Noys says. Meanwhile, the mephit appears in view again, and something outside of the view of the lens sprays what looks like water or ice in its direction. It doesn't douse the mephit, but its clearly an attack of some kind on it. The elemental responds by turning back toward its creator. The elemental is, more slowly than its outbound passage, making its way back toward Kolvir. "I have a bad feeling what your creation saw." Lorius says to Ederyn. "We need to know." The smith grunts, presumably in agreement, for his next action is to flick the fingers of his left hand in the direction of the slope. A half-dozen sparks of pure energy streak away (so quickly they're hard to see) toward the mephit, to feed it and hurry it on its way back. His other hand dips into the purse attached to his belt and comes up with a rune-engraved copper disc. The energy reaches the Mephit, and, so energized, it resumes a much speedier pace on its way back. "That's not a Niven Disc, is it?" Lorius asks Ederyn. "A mana drainer?" "No," Ederyn says, studying the disc critically. Some of the parameters need adjusting, and he draws out his stylus to deal with that. In the meantime, in the lens, the beautiful wooden house continues to burn. Aura cups her hands in front of her face and blows into them. A pale light shimmers around them briefly. When she opens them, a miniature firebird in blues and whites peers up at her. Aura stares down at it intently. "Sound the alarm in the courtyard around front and try to get into the castle for the same. Fire in Arden. Emergency." It bobs its head before Aura tosses it into the air to speed off, calling the alert in Aura's voice. Ederyn glances at its departure, with a bemused expression again. "You two have more in common than I imagined." Noys says, watching the firebird set up its cry. "Firebirds are native to Atlantis," Aura explains absently. "The messenger birds are pretty common conjurations among a certain class of Mages." "Right" Lorius responds. Aura turns to Lorius. "I can teleport us down down there to the structure now that I have seen it through the spell." "It's 25 miles as the mephit flies." Lorius says. "Longer along the road." "Let's see what the elemental has to say before we jump in." Lorius adds to Aura. At that moment, the Mephit reaches Ederyn and begins speaking. Aura can understand it, its speaking a Flametongue. Noys, the Weir, Daniel show no sign of understanding. Lorius gets a puzzled look on his face and he squints as the Mephit dances in front of Ederyn and Aura. "Mages. Soldiers. Fighting, slaying, burning. Men, and walking things of metal..." Lorius' snaps his fingers. "all encamped around a freestanding door of bronze." "I caught that last." Lorius says, and looks at Noys. "Omphalos" Aura frowns. "I don't think that word means quite the same thing to you as it does to me. Unless Julian's house is the navel of Arden." She watches the fire burn impatiently, itching to do something. "If the mages are the ones attacking, we need to get down there, Lorius. Even the odds. Perhaps an area effect or three...." Aura trails off, considering her spell arsenal. "They have halfway competent mages. We need muscle, too, to drop in, Aura." Lorius glances at the Weir. Ederyn hears the mephit's report calmly. While Aura speaks, he places the copper disc on one of the new stone seats and calls the little elemental to himself, letting it twine around his fingers while he briefly enters a deeper communion with it. Then the mephit floats to a position just above the disc, and Ederyn uses his crystalline stylus to complete one last rune. As he steps back, the elemental flares brightly - and then, instead of the image of an elaborate cup or sword hilt, a mephit's-eye view of the clearing appears, complete with burning house, door, and assorted figures, available for inspection in a detailed still image about two feet in diameter. The smith gives a slight nod of satisfaction, taking a close second look at what he has already seen in the mephit's memory. The scene plays out again, with the figures emerging from the freestanding Door, firing the house and the trees. Mostly humans, but also what look like golems. This second look allows Ederyn to see that there are figures coming out of the house, fighting the others. The image shows that there are at least 75-80 people in the scene, 60 of those in and around the Door. Kezia, Boaz and Cyrus study the scene intently. "Which of these are on our side?" Ederyn asks. "The ones coming out of the burning building are our Rangers." Lorius says. "The others are the Oompa Loompas. You explain the Omphalos, Noys. You're the diplomat" Aura gives Lorius a very put upon look and a long suffering sigh. Surely they weren’t really called that. Noys breathes in and out before speaking. "The Omphalos are a recently discovered threat. They use portals such as that Door to transport themselves across shadows, and even further. A very distant relation of ours invaded our dreams to warn us about them, not long before they started appearing. They already tried an incursion into Arden. Brieanne and company stopped that one and undid the Door. Looks like they are back for another go." "What is it that they want?" Ederyn asks. "They're xenophobic imperialists who are threatened by other Great Powers in the multiverse." Noys pipes up. "They conquer and destroy realms with things like the Pattern. They did it to the realm of our distant relation already." Ederyn stares at her for a moment, then looks back at the image with renewed intensity. Noys then looks at Lorius. "One of us should go with Ederyn and Aura. One of us should tell the Family. This incursion looks far larger than the other one. And where's Julian, Brieanne and Carl anyway?" "Right" Lorius looks at the forest scene. "You bloodthirsty Faiellans can go tackle the Oompas. Take care of each other and do Amber proud *I'll* go warn the family. I can be annoying enough to get them to listen to me." "That I can believe" Nick comments. Ederyn looks startled, even offended, at being called "bloodthirsty." Aura, on the other hand, takes it all in stride. It was true under certain conditions after all. This week was shaping up nicely into one of them. "One last word of advice." Lorius floats out of his chair and looks at Ederyn and Aura "If you want to undo that Door, stay well clear if you try to dispel it. They react explosively to that treatment." "Poole!" Lorius says, pointing at Daniel. "Come with me if you want to live." Ederyn glances at the Montenegran and nods, making a slight shooing motion toward him. Lorius floats away, Daniel following him. The latter has to hurry to keep up with the sorcerer. The two Atlantean horses move off as well, as all four head toward the Castle entrance. “Oompa Loompas?” Aura mutters, askance. She had read that book; one of many Lorius had told her were amusing over the years. She turns her attention back to the image, plotting spell use. "A few of us who know the movie have adopted that name too." Noys says. “I won’t know until I can see it in person how to unravel the Door,” she says, sounding somewhat vexed at the trees between her vantage point and her target. Aura turns to Noys. “Shall I teleport us to the side of the house so we do not come into being right in the middle of the fighting, or would you rather we appear with more distance between us and the house?” "We want more distance." Noys says. "Give all of us room to maneuver, and so the Rangers won't attack the Weir by accident." Aura once more casts the spell to give her an enlarged view of the area. This time she moves her scouting away from the action until she finds a spot some distance from the fighting that she can see clearly through the breaks in the tree canopy. She nods once and collapses the spell. She then, out of nowhere, smoothly draws a sword with a silver and carnelian pommel and a golden looking blade that flares at the tip. "It's not father's blade." Noys says to Ederyn "but I find Wu Zetian useful." He nods once, his gaze sliding uneasily away from her toward the burning house in the distance. After a moment he draws his own sword, its flames damped, and looks silently at Aura, waiting. Aura eyes the armed people around her and moves herself to the center of them. “Circle around me, facing outwards,” she instructs them. “Put your free hand on the shoulder of the person beside you until you form a closed circle. I will only need to touch one of you, and you all will not be caught off guard if someone is close enough to cause trouble when we appear.” Noys nods. "Simple enough. I'm sure there is some grand theory of the spell type that Lorius could recite in his sleep." She nods to Ederyn. "I'll put a hand on your shoulder. Kezia, you put one on Aura's, and the two of you can fill out the circle." she indicates Boaz and Cyrus. Boaz stands next to Ederyn, Boaz takes the last spot and with hands in place, the chain is complete. When all is as she needs it, Aura takes a firm hold on one of Noys’ shoulders. Fortunately she has a lot of stored energy from earlier. Distance is nothing; she teleports from one end of Atlantis to another all the time. But this is a lot of people to be moving. “Hang on, Nick,” she murmurs, and wordless releases the Atlantean teleportation spell. The world runs like watercolors around them, colors and shapes shift and change and swirl. Unlike Lorius’ spell, there is no sensation of movement. The colors begin to solidify into shapes again once they arrive. The browns, greens, and reds of the fire, the Steading, and the trees take a moment to resolve in the eyes of Aura, Ederyn, Noys and the Weir. Aura's widening of the view and Noys suggestion has put them on the road that runs past the building, at the intersection of a short, maybe 100 feet long, path that runs to the large clearing that contains the burning building, the Door, the Omphalos and the Rangers. Without any encouragement from Ederyn, the three Weir change, just as Aura had seen before, into their war form. Cyrus looks ready to howl, but holds back from the war cry. "That's still impressive" Nick, whose claws dug deep into Aura's shoulder to make the trip, whistles. “If vaguely creepy,” Mutters Aura. None of the combatants have noticed the arrival of the Faiellans and the Weir yet. Ederyn blinks several times, regains his mental balance, and glances up and down the road, and toward the trees behind them. There is movement in the distance, from the direction of the Castle. Its hard to see in the forest, but a group of figures, soldiers perhaps, is moving toward the spot where Ederyn, Aura, and company stand. They will take some minutes to get here, however. Then he faces toward the battle, picking out the location of the Rangers, and prepares to start running toward the fight to support them - but hesitates long enough to be sure that Noys and Aura are intending to do the same. Aura taps a pearl in her headpiece and she and Nick begin to disappear from view. “As a fighter, I will just be in the way. I will focus on the mages and trying to unravel the magics in the door before I attempt to take it out.” Silently, Aura moves towards the action. She stays out of fighting range and focuses on neutralizing any magic users she spots. If they aren’t expecting her, it will be easy enough to get the drop on one or two before any others notice. She needs a better vantage point, and after looking up into the trees surrounding the clearing, she will teleport herself and familiar onto a good, sturdy branch. Aura's teleport takes her and Nick away from Ederyn, Noys and the Weir, leaving them to head up the road on foot. The road leads right into the clearing's thicket of battle, with Rangers, with sword and archery, fighting a retreating battle against the Omphalos, who are supporting their own troops with what appears to be directed sorcery, the occasional eldritch fire bolt continuing the torching of Arden as they scatter the defenders and push them back toward the burning building. The Omphalos tactics are sound, but are not prepared for a flanking attack. Ederyn, the Weir and Noys have a free shot to attack the soldiers from the side in surprise. Aura and Nick find a tree overlooking the battle and relatively safe from catching fire for the moment, and can see the tableau from a height. If the clearing is an oval, then the burning Steading is at one focal point, with the Rangers trying to defend it in a ragged, retreating line from the Omphalos soldiers. In the rear rank of the Omphalos, at the other focal point, are the Omphalos mages, a good half dozen. Only one or two of these are casting the fire bolts Ederyn and company are seeing at close range. The others appear to be maintaining the door, encouraging a slow stream of additional soldiers, including what appear to be golems to emerge and form a second rank of soldiers. "Oipho," Aura swears darkly as she takes it all in. Aura may the be the furthest thing from a fighter as one can get. "I don't even know where to start." "Plenty of targets" Nick says. "Too many of them in fact." But magic she can wield. She narrows her eyes at the scene and decides that the two invading mages slinging firebolts around have to go. Sitting down on the limb so any backlash doesn't blast her off, she draws magic to her fingertips for Wind Swords, a handy battle spell picked up from Persa's D'jinn. In the meantime, Ederyn, the Weir, and Noys have entered the fray, armed with swords. The Omphalos soldiers react quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid a couple of their fellows to be cut down by swords. One of the Rangers recognizes Noys and gives out a whoop. "Princess Noys!" he cheers. The call is soon taken up. "For the Princess!" At this point, two spells goes off, one from Aura, and one from an enemy mage. The fire bolt from the Omphalos mage arcs toward Noys and Ederyn even as Aura's air-based spell fires off. Ederyn is fast and aware enough (and has his sister running interference) enough to catch the bolt on the tip of his sword and absorb it. The surprise the mages show at this allows Aura's spell to strike them unexpectedly and brutally. Their heads remove themselves from their bodies with vicious force, the bodies crumpling. The remaining mages start shouting and casting spells. In the meantime, the Rangers start standing their ground, continuing their cheers for the honor of the Princess. Focused on immediate threats, Ederyn doesn't notice what happens to the mages. The individual Omphalos soldier is not as good as the ones in Norwend, Ederyn learns. There is definitely a gradient, as what must be higher ranked or stronger soldiers, start making their way to where Noys and Ederyn are clashing blades and weapons with the soldiers. The Rangers' battle line now includes the two of them. Ederyn sets himself to hold the line, at least for as long as the attackers don't move to surround it. His fighting style is precise and without flair, his expression cold and focused, and more than a little intimidating. There is still no visible trace of fire on his sword. He also keeps half an eye out for an opportunity to pick up a shield, if any of the fighters use them. These Rangers do not appear to favor shields. Some of them have unused bows on their backs. Most of them are using a long sword and a dagger in combination. Some of the Omphalos, however, not all, definitely use large rectangular shields in combination with their one handed weapons (which are generally swords, but there are some blunt weapons in their employ. There are fallen Omphalos within reach that Ederyn can grab a shield in short order. Noys grimly retrieves a dagger from a fallen Ranger. A small flight of firebirds streams away from the spot in the trees that Aura clearly is from. They start winging their way toward the mages around the gate. Pale blue light, however, seems to be trying to keep the birds at bay. These shields and protections are mostly tying up the mages from doing any more offensive spells at the moment, or supporting the soldiers. An honor guard of the soldiers are trying, without much success, to fight the birds. One of those mages does manage to fire a slow motion diffuse white ball, the size of a large grapefruit, in the general direction of where the birds emerged--from where Aura is perched. It's taking its sweet time in heading toward its target, like a slow pitched softball. It is at this point that the Weir emerge into the fray. The clash of blades and steel and getting into battle with the Omphalos soldiers may have had the effect of Ederyn briefly losing track of the Weir, especially once the cheers of the Rangers over the Princess and the reforming of battle lines does occupy Ederyn's efforts. The Weir do enter the fray, suddenly and explosively, having veered off through the trees, entering the clearing from a point closer to the Door and the metal men being discharged. Boaz, Cyrus and Kezia start combating the nearest of these metal men, one of the two males giving off a howling battle cry as they do so. The metal men, set to reinforce the Omphalos soldiers fighting Ederyn, Noys and the Rangers stop to deal with the unexpected threat of three Weir taking on their brethren with brute claws and strength. Ederyn will be able to note that the Weir are thus staying well away from the Rangers as well. Ederyn and Noys aren't paying attention at this point, but that slow globe of arcane energy veers its course slightly as it continues its trip toward a spot in the trees. Another mage is hit by a spell, presumably from Aura, and the mage crumples to the ground. "Aura!" Nick says. "That thing is tracking us by our spell craft.". It has not sped up in any way, its still leisurely taking a path toward the new spot Aura and Nick are launching spells from. Coming closer, though, everyone can now hear the slowly growing louder sound of a large number of hoofbeats and footsteps approaching from down the road. "The British are coming?" Nick comments to Aura. In the thick of the battle, Ederyn is alert to the enemy's reaction to the noise: any faltering or hesitation is to be exploited instantly, while a renewed assault is of course to be defended against. Aura snorts at Nick and looks in the direction of the road. “I’d rather it be the cavalry.” Looking back at the orb drifting in her direction, Aura hums under her breath. “Well, killing the one who cast it should make it go away, don’t you think?” “Keep an eye on it and let me know when it gets within 5 yards, or if starts acting differently,” instructs Aura. “I am going to fling things.” "Roger, Roger" Nick says. The Steading continues to burn but the mages are no longer adding to the fire. They are too busy, for the most part, ducking the pernicious firebirds. In the meantime, the distracted enemy, by the sound of approaching troops, and the input from the Weir, does provide Ederyn, his sister and the Rangers with an additional edge they need, and take advantage of. Slowly and surely the tenor of the battle has changed and the Omphalos soldiers, for the first time take a step backward. Despite their increasing numbers, they start retracting, trying to reform lines, trying to regroup. They are starting to give Ederyn and his sister a healthy amount of respect as combatants. Hoping to keep the enemy in disarray, Ederyn presses the new advantage. More than that, there is a shimmer of additional power around his sword that those with the right skills might perceive. One of his opponents learns of the change more directly: the top two-thirds of his sword is unexpectedly sheared off by a swipe of Ederyn's blade.
A streaking magic missile strikes the shield around one of the mages and shatters it. A second missile finishes the job and strikes the mage in the chest, toppling its target. “Ha!” Aura smirks triumphantly. “Don’t mess with me with today, mister invader.” The slow moving missile then fizzles away, as Aura changes positions once more to avoid being targeted again. From her perch, Aura sees them first, although everyone can hear them now. It's not exactly the cavalry that Aura wished for but there are a couple of mounted figures among the couple of hundred soldiers that have reached the dirt path. They are rolling up the short road that Aura, Ederyn and Noys so recently traveled up. They are marching up as a disciplined unit, with tight formation and the figures on the horses directing the unit forward. Aura will recognize one of the mounted figures from Lorius' trump deck. Julian's son, Carl. Aura debates what to do next; go give the cavalry a status report, put out a fire, or try and figure out that gate. She eyes the house a moment and makes up her mind. Julian’s son would surely be able to handle it without her input. As she drops to the ground still disillusioned, she hopes no one is in the house. Keeping an eye on the fighting to make sure she doesn’t get hit by a stray anything, Aura dashes quickly across the way to put herself nearer the house. Three of the firebirds break away from the henpecking of the Mages and they careen into the burning building, one near the top, one in the center, and one at ground level. In the meantime, Ederyn's mastery of steel and weaponry adds a shield and a couple of more swords to the pile of destroyed equipment, as few blades of the Omphalos seem to now be able to stand up to a strike from the blade. "Subtle but effective magic" Nick comments to Aura. "Still no sign of more counterstrikes" The troop of soldiers reaches the clearing as Aura's second spell goes off. One of the shields around a mage near the Door suddenly changes in its nature, forming a solid hemisphere around the sorceress. After a few futile moments spent beating at the sides of the prison, the sorceress looks balefully at the treeline. One of the mages is busily engaged in trying to undo this imprisonment spell. Aura just cackles quietly and shoots the final part of the spell at the hemisphere. It’s supposed to be a snow globe, after all. Small flakes of something white start swirling around the imprisonment spell. The Mage inside starts freaking out, and huddling with her arms together. The other mages have other problems. Even though the firebirds are less of a problem since there are fewer of them, the mages have a new problem--the Weir. While the metal men have apparently injured Boaz and he favors now one leg and one forearm, for the most part, the metal men have been dismantled by three very ferocious denizens of Weirmonken. All of them. The incoming soldiers are being retasked to try and act as a brake on their depredations, which only makes the soldiers' front line against the Rangers, Ederyn and Noys even weaker since its being reinforced less and less. The Rangers continue to rally under their dual leadership, and interspersed with calls for the honor of the Princess are now calls to support "The Swordbreaker" Hearing this, Ederyn can only hope it doesn't catch on. He'd prefer to be known as a *maker* of swords - but he also knows that nicknames can have a life of their own. He steals glances at the newly arrived troops, trying to work out whether they plan to charge (as Norwendians would do) or something else, so he can adjust his own actions. At the same time, he doesn't let up the pressure on the enemy. They can't let them regroup or otherwise prepare themselves for the coming assault. As the soldiers led by the man on Horseback prepare to reinforce Ederyn and company, the three firebirds streak out of the burning building again, singing a note that Aura recognizes. All Clear. Aura sends the firebirds to target the mage trying to free his trapped compatriot. There will be none of that on her watch, no sir. The scowling woman will make a lovely thank you gift to Fiona for her earlier assistance. Maybe the spell that worked on that failed kidnapper will work on this one. Focusing on her next goal, she draws a deep breath and throws raises her hands towards the burning building. There is a sudden gust of wind in the area around the burning building. An outward blowing wind, hot and charged with the dust and embers of the fire. A few of these do start small smouldering fires here and there. The effect on the burning building, however, is something completely different. The fire is extinguished with stunning rapidity, as if the house's fire was blown out like a lit candle. Streams of smoke stream upward from the House, and there is another rush of wind (this time toward the Steading), but the building's fire is effectively and completely negated. This gets a cheer from the Soldiers and Rangers alike. In the meantime, Ederyn, Noys and the Rangers find themselves swept up, as the arrived soldiers DO start a charge, slamming into the soldiers like a wave. Ederyn, Noys and a piece of the Rangers get carried down the line a bit to avoid being trampled by soldiers (or the two men on horseback). The charge soon devolves into a pitched battle, as the soldiers momentum stops as Amberian soldiers, Rangers, Ederyn and Noys fight the Omphalos and push them back. Ederyn even gets the scalp of one of the mages who was too slow to get out of the way of the lines of soldiers and suddenly finds himself facing Ederyn's blade. All he has is a dagger, but it is glowing with fire. Unfortunately for the mage, Ederyn's control of the elements, and of fighting with blades, is vastly superior. The chant of "Swordbreaker" only is reinforced by Ederyn's short-lived duel with the mage. It is at this point a loud sound emanates from the Door, a single note that sounds like it is coming from a brass instrument. The entry of soldiers into the clearing through the Door has stopped, and in fact, the soldiers already nearly the Door are passing back through it. For the moment, their retreat is orderly. Ederyn steps over the sprawled corpse of the mage, scanning the scene just ahead to choose his next action. These enemy fighters certainly have sufficient courage, he reflects, even though they go along with using magic in battle. There is plenty of battle, even so, the blades of soldiers to meet even as they retreat. Certainly the retreat has not cooled the ardor of the Rangers. His Weir, too, are enthusiastically catching and slaying Mages as they can. It doesn't seem that they are even considering the idea of prisoners. Aura gives a satisfied nod to the building then moves to where she can see the Door. She frowns at the escaping invader and conjures another flock of firebirds to harass them. It annoys her that they think they are going to get away so easily. Then she turns her attention to the door itself. If it looks time consuming and complicated to undo, she is happy to try trapping it in a large snow-globe too until Lorius shows up to help take it apart. The Door does appear to be a very complex spell, one that Aura (and probably even Fiona for that matter) would take time to properly take apart. There appears to be an exclusion principle at work, however, and Aura is forced to make the radius of the snowglobe relatively large to allow it to encapsulate the Door without the spells interfering. This does leave the soldiers and mages caught outside of the hemisphere in a rather precarious position, caught against the wall of the snowglobe, and the forces of the soldiers led by Carl, Ederyn, Noys, the Weir, and the Rangers. Surrender is not something the Omphalos seem inclined to do, even given their hopeless position, but the soldiers and Rangers do wind up crippling and disabling opponents. Once the successful conclusion of the battle is certain, Ederyn allows it to move a reasonably safe distance ahead of him. Finding an adequate clear spot on the ground, he turns his attention to the incipient forest fire around the Door and the clearing generally. With his sword raised above his head, blade parallel to the ground, he calls the leaping flames to himself. Some of the fire he can absorb into the sword; the rest spirals around him, swirling down as far as the ground, then leaps skyward (as fire always wants to do) and dissipates. Exhilarated as always by close contact with large quantities of this element, Ederyn lets out the breath he was holding, refills his lungs, and checks to be sure the fight is still well in hand. This does supply the remaining enemies with more than a bit of dread, but given how broken the Omphalos forces are at this point, Ederyn is unopposed in his ability to do this. Several mages, kept from escaping through the Door thanks to the firebirds, were taken prisoner as well. However, Aura's present is the only one still conscious. "Fiona is going to love her present." Nick says to Aura. "Should we get out of the treehouse now?" "May as well," says Aura. She drops her invisibility and floats herself to the ground. Once her feet are again on solid ground, she turns her attention back to the house. She needs to drop the spell on it, but she has to do it slowly. There is no telling what a sudden rush of air into a vacuum would do to it. She has never used it for putting out a house fire. Come to think of it, she hasn't ever actually seen a house fire until today. The man on the horse, Carl, gets off his horse and starts staring at a trump, a look of agitation on his face as he does so. His sub-commanders have started talking with the Rangers, but none have seen fit to come to Noys or Ederyn as yet. Distantly, a pair of what sounds like thunderclaps (on a clear day) to Ederyn are suddenly heard. "Two sonic booms." Noys says with a furrowed expression, sheathing her sword and checking herself over and then regarding her brother. "No serious injuries on either of us, looks like." She nods her head toward the Weir. Boaz is no longer favoring his leg and appears to be recovering the use of his arm as rapidly. "Their reputation is deserved." Ederyn is standing with his sword's point resting on the ground, and glances up distractedly. "I'm trying to find out if there are more," he tells her, and returns to what he was doing. "That's a good idea, brother." Noys says. Which is communicating with the Earth here, determining whether it can perceive the unusual magic that brought the Door into existence and still holds it here, and asking it to find out whether there are any other instances of it, right now, anywhere that this Earth can perceive. Aura meanwhile is slowly letting air into the vacuum and carefully unraveling the spell on the house. She's ready to put the whole thing into stasis if anything goes hinky and let Lorius sort it out. The House looks like it will still stand, although its going to require a lot of work to rebuild,after the devastating fire. An Atlantean hurricane would turn this into flinders, she is sure. Noys walks over to Carl, who is frustratingly and obsessively starting and working at the trump. It takes Eric's daughter some effort to get him to stop trying the trump and look at her. "I cannot reach my father." he finally growls. "He should be *here*. Or somewhere." Carl says. "Who is that, and who the greffet are they." Carl snarls, agitated and angry, pointing at Aura, Ederyn and the Weir in turn. The Weir in turn have joined Ederyn, quietly watchful. "First things first." She waves Aura in their direction. "This is Aura, Deirdre's daughter. And her familiar, Nick." Carl turns to look at Aura and then looks back at Noys. "She's Deirdre's daughter? What daughter? Did moping Percy have a sex change?" Carl says. Aura draws herself up and arches an eyebrow, regarding Carl coolly. Only an idiot would even contemplate the possibility that she had been male at any point in her life. "No" Noys says crisply. "She is one of Lorius' proteges" "That explains everything." Carl says, turning back to look at Aura. "I am almost positive that it does not," Aura mutters to Nick. "Aura" Noys says. "Meet Julian's son, Prince Carl. Sub-commander of the Rangers of Arden under his father." "Enchanté," says Aura with a slight incline of her head. "I did what I could for the house, but we did not get here in time to save it from damage. I do have a captured Mage as a consolation prize, however." "What I really want to know is where my father and my sister are." Carl says. His voice softens a tad. "Welcome to Arden, Aura. I know nothing of any children of Deirdre beyond Percival." "Alas, I did not see anyone matching the descriptions if your father or your sister," Aura offers with a furrow of her brow. "I did wonder when he would be appearing." "One of them should be here by now." Carl says, frowning. In the meantime, Ederyn's spellwork allows him to get a sense of the magic and power that powers the Door, even through Aura's snowglobe. Its distinctive, now that Ederyn knows what to sense. And he can search Amber for any other instances... Ederyn quickly learns that there IS another Door in Amber. A few dozen miles away, and he has a bearing as well as distance. He can't easily know exactly where, from here, but he knows that it is a place much more of of rock and earth, than forest. The bones of the Earth resonate in his search. Aura turns to Noys even as she draws a Trump card from nowhere. "Those booms earlier - should we be concerned or were they naturally occurring phenomena?" "No, those were unnatural. Decidedly." Noys says. "I wonder..." "More of these Doors?" Nick speculates. At the same time, unaware that he's interrupting, Ederyn looks around to tell Noys, "There's another door." He lifts his arm and points. "That way. About ... a day, or a day and half, of walking from here. In a place of less forest, more stone and earth." He speaks a little slowly, his thoughts still partly caught up by the earth, but at least that helps in deciphering his accent. Nick shakes his head and sticks his tongue out. "They're worse than the Chaosians." Carl turns and looks in the direction Ederyn points. "The Schafer hills, bordering the Kolvir mountain range , are 30 royal miles in that direction. Longer by path or road, there are few direct routes betwixt here and there." He scowls, and heads over to talk to a couple of the soldiers and rangers. Aura scowls darkly and points at the trapped mage. “Perhaps we can get the location out of her.” Boaz and the other two Weir come up to between Aura and Ederyn. "I would be happy to aid in efforts at persuasion, my Jarl." The smith shakes his head at Boaz, negating the idea of 'persuasion.' "As you say, milord." Boaz agrees. "We can't threaten to eat her, then." Cyrus says. "We could follow the Jarl's sorcery to where the door lies. Could we not?" Kezia says to Ederyn "If we have time - " Ederyn begins. "I only know of this part of the operation." the trapped mage protests sharply. "I know not where the other Doors were set to manifest." Noys gets a look on her face. "It's Lorius." Noys says. "He's at the Door in the hills, with Cas and Pol and some soldiers. They're mopping up, too. He wanted to know if you needed help with the Door, Aura?" "Not my father?" Carl asks, turning back with interest "I don't see him, cousin." Noys says."Not Brie, either." "Yes," Aura answers Noys over her shoulder. "Tell Lorius to float himself here. I have never seen anything quite like this, and I do not want to leave a smoldering crater in this clearing if I do anything incorrectly." "He's going to undo that one first, and then come through the trump." Noys says, the look of the trump contact gone. Then the Atlantean narrows her eyes and steps towards the snowy and powerless mage under glass. "Where I come from, we turn people like you into fully aware statuary and sink them into the sea for eons for the fishes to nibble on and coral reefs to grow over," Aura addresses her frostily. The mage swallows thickly as Aura continues. "They emerge either mad or reformed after everyone they have ever loved or even known has died. You though, I will happily turn you into a fully aware garden statue, give Prince Carl the sledge with which to shatter you into pieces, which I will then ground into gravel and use to decorate the wagon path to the docks." By the end of Aura's first sentence, Ederyn looks shocked. Upon hearing the second, he abruptly turns and walks well out of earshot. Aura smiles nastily and leans a little closer to the globe. "And you will feel it. Your consciousness scattered over miles of abused terrain. Forever powerless. Forever aware. Assuming I do not chose to scatter your stones instead inside the Fire That Never Dies. Which would be fitting as you would also never cease to feel the torment. It is one my people's most horrible bits of magic." "Of course," continues Aura in a deceptively light tone as she straightens, clasps her hands behind her back and adopting an innocent expression. "Even that would be a kindness compared to what my Aunt Fiona will do to you. Why, just this morning I witnessed her reduce a prisoner to nothing but their memories in one container and the rest of them in a goo filled second. Oh, the wails of a rendered soul! It was gloriously disgusting. Yet, very, very enlightening." "So, if you know anything about the whereabouts of Prince Julian or his daughter, I would think you might want to say so now. We will get it from you one way or another." Aura's smile is touched with madness as she adds: "It is quite a simple thing to pluck memories out of sentient rubble." "I do not wish to become broken pieces of rock." the woman says. She looks at Noys. "You've angered a Princess of Amber enough that my brother was upset by the mention of the magics she might use on you. And my brother is no gentle soul, as your soldiers might attest." "That should tell you something." Noys adds. The mage broods, looking at Aura and Noys, thoughtfully. Off to one side, closer to the house than to the Door, Ederyn occupies himself with a different problem. The woman said "other Doors," not "other Door." Are there other Doors in Amber that his first analysis missed? Now that he has done it once, doing it again is even easier. The answer to Ederyn's question is No and yes. He can get a weak bearing, its further away, several days ride this time and nearly in the opposite direction as the Door in the hills. But its not quite in Amber somehow, as if where the Door is belongs to someplace else. And it is someplace wet. VERY wet. The element of water, all around the Door, threatens to make the tracing of a path to it difficult.
The comparison of magic is relatively straightforward for Ederyn, given that he has a piece of magic captured from the mine. In short order, he can decide, with strong confidence, that the magic of the Omphalos and the sorcery in the Rebman mine have nothing in common at all. Well, it was a possibility, he reflects, and puts the ruby away again. Thoughtfully, he devotes a fragment of his attention to the magical signature of the three Doors, expecting to notice any changes in them (such as the intended destruction of the one in the hills by Lorius). [Ederyn] glances over his shoulder toward the conversation/interrogation in progress, uncertain about whether he wants to rejoin it yet. But something else occurs to him first. He catches the gazes of the three Weir and in their own language, solemnly, he says, "Well done." "Ja" Kezia says. "It is an honor to serve the Jarl in battle." Boaz adds. "You said you were not a warleader, my Jarl. However, your skill in battle is not small. You earned the loyalty of those you fought alongside." "Ja." Cyrus agrees. "The blood of your father runs true." And now there is no further excuse for not giving the news about Rebma to the others. He turns to start across to them, not hurrying. The Weir follow him toward Aura, Carl and Noys. "'What word can you give me that these would not slay me..." she nods to Carl, staring at a trump fruitlessly together with Noys "or these devour me.." she indicates the Weir " or you do any of these inventive transformations you speak of, if I tell you what I know?" the Mage asks Aura. "You are *my* prisoner," Aura replies tartly. "Only I can give them leave to slay you, eat you, bend, fold or mutilate. You tell us what you know - *fully and truthfully* - and I will not have cause to make you a part of a rather impressive lighthouse torch." "I cannot, of course, let you go," continues Aura. "But His Majesty does not strike me as unnecessarily cruel. Competent rulers have no need for cruelty." Which was why Atlantis' oceans didn't resemble an underwater statuary exhibit, even though it easily could have. What Random would do with her once she was taken to him was not Aura's responsibility or concern. It was the King's problem. It was just as well. Aura's dire threats were half baked fabrications anyway. Perhaps she had spent too much time with Lorius. As a show of good faith, Aura magnanimously stops the snow fall within the globe. The mage looks up at the top of the dome and the snow that has stopped. She looks at Aura. A thoughtful look comes across her face. "My name is Tersa, Arcane Support to the 9th Division of soldiers, based in a veil we call Versailles. As I have told you, I am only aware of this sub-operation out of Versailles. My superior..." she looks at the bodies of one of the mages slain by the Weir. "would have been able to tell you more than I know." She looks up at the dome of the snowglobe again, as if expecting it to snow again. She crunches a little of the snow as she walks, huddled, pacing in front of Aura. "The primary focus of this Door was to locate and abduct Prince Julian of Amber and his children, and then use this as a beachead for further assaults." She pauses a moment. "We only succeeded in locating, abducting and transporting Prince Julian." Over with Noys and the troops, it is clear that Carl is not paying enough attention to the conversation to hear this at first, but one of the soldiers checking prisoners hurries in his direction at these words from Tersa. Aura tsks disapproval. She glances in Carl's direction briefly before turning back to Tersa. She didn't exactly know what questions to ask, having only interrogated a prisoner all of twice and both times with Lorius at her elbow. "Why him specifically and where was Prince Julian taken?" Carl and Noys turn their heads at a word from the Rangers. The latter storms over with long strides, Noys hurrying to catch up. In the meantime, Ederyn and the Weir arrive. from their business to join the scene as well. "He is considered a primary target to be neutralized for a successful siege of the Kingdom of Amber of course." Tersa replies. "He does command the second largest land force Amber has on hand..." The mage stops speaking, as a ball of fury comes through a trump connection... (Continued in The Omphalos Arden War) |
