CalledToTea Index
Footsteps, brisk but not very loud, do only a little to announce Ederyn's arrival. He appears in the doorway and, for those looking, his expression shifts rapidly from bright-eyed interest, to disappointment, before settling on a slightly wary curiosity as he glances from Ostegos to Priya, then Kieran, then Fiona. He is holding some rolled-up papers in his left hand. Priya would notice that he's wearing the same clothes as yesterday; Kieran will see that he's wearing a red tunic with bright embroidery along its hems that looks almost, but not quite, Celtic in style. Ederyn is also wearing a sword, and tucked into his belt on the opposite side is a hammer made of some kind of gold-colored metal. "I have the copies of those runes that you wanted, Aunt Fiona," Ederyn says, a bit formally, making a slight gesture with the papers. His Thari is strongly accented but comprehensible enough. Fiona looks up from the pieces, regarding Ederyn in the reddish light. "Oh excellent, Ederyn," she says with approval. "You've already met Kieran and Priya, I think. We were undergoing an analysis of pieces of a Door that Priya found and imploded." She pauses. "Your input would not be unwelcome, given your suite of skills." For Ederyn's benefit, Kieran Elharn is a young, athletically built man standing about 5’ 10” tall and weighing around 175 lbs. His skin tone is naturally pale but has been tanned by exposure to the sun. His hair is auburn in color, slightly curly by nature and usually worn long and loosely braided. His eyes are a deep blue in color. He looks like he has a three or four day old beard. He wears a dark green shirt under a long, dark grey or faded black vest that covers his torso and upper thighs. Bracers made of a dark grey metal or of a composite material are worn on each forearm. Dark blue pants are tucked into black, knee high boots. A black belt with an electrum buckle is worn outside the vest with a dark green tartan sash underneath it. From the belt hang several pouches and a rod about a foot long made of a golden metal, with one end wrapped in black leather on Kieran’s left side. Hanging from the right side of the belt is a golden headed light hammer or mace with the shaft wrapped in black leather, though it appears that there is a means of securing it on his back over one shoulder. Kieran regards Edeyrn for a moment then nods his head. "Actually, I don't think we've met before now," he says. "Although I do recall seeing him on a ship heading toward Amber's harbor as Dagny and I came in that way as well. I am Kieran, son of Brandeigh, daughter of Fiona, and I'm also the son of Percival, son of Dierdre." Ederyn looks enlightened. "Yes, and I saw you," he says. "I am Ederyn Ericsen. I am glad to meet you." Priya nodded politely at Ederyn's arrival, stepping to the side to make more room near Fiona as they stood for the experiment. Ederyn turns his attention to the shards, moving into the space provided with a slight nod to Priya, but standing closer to Fiona than to her. "Pieces of a Door?" he repeats with interest. "Just let me look for a moment, please ..." "We had not yet subjected it to the battery of tests we planned," Fiona says. "If you would like to try first..." She steps to the side and allows Ederyn access to the center. She comments quietly to Kieran and Priya as he works. "Ederyn's psychometrical sorcerous skill in reading metal and stone is a rare gift," she says. "It has limitations, of course, but it's worth giving him the opportunity to handle the material before we analyze it." A flood of information comes to Ederyn, almost dazing him in the process. (Notes on Ederyn's Door Findings) "Too much?" Fiona asks after a moment, concern in her voice. Kieran watches with concern/interest, ready to lend aid if necessary. Ostegos takes a step toward Ederyn and the group, giving a quizzical look to Priya. Priya half lifted one hand, bidding him wait while she watched Ederyn. Ederyn shakes his head, only partly in negation. "It's only loud," he says, then pauses for a moment. "I think it's from the other universe," he continues. "Its pieces are a little too heavy ... though I've never been to Chaos," he adds. "I understand the rules can be different there." "Pieces are a little too heavy," Fiona says thoughtfully. "That sounds like the isotopes of the atoms of the metal of the Door are not commonly found here. Or perhaps not at all. Even in Chaos, much the same matter as here persists, even if the rules are different." "So they're potentially unstable isotopes here?" Kieran asks. "Meaning if we can cut off their power or feed too much in they could destabilize; probably in a rather violent manner?" "It's full of their primal power," Ederyn says next. "Now I know exactly what that feels like. I don't think they could make these Doors without it. But it also takes much sorcery. It has to be made in the high-mana part of Capital, I think, not the other part. And, this substance is linked to where it came from - a cold, wet place - and where it went - a hot, wet place." His brow furrows in concentration, and he makes a slight gesture with his free hand. Priya watched, with interest, but said nothing. Waiting for conclusions to be drawn. "This confirms prior suppositions about their nature," Fiona says. "A fusion of a primal power and sorcery. Using matter from their universe, and not ours. This may explain their general instability. This dovetails with a report I received from my son. We will have to be careful so as to contain matters as we analyze them further. While I am sure all of us might be able to defend ourselves, I would rather not cause damage to my laboratory. In addition," She smiles. "The King might be upset at Castle damage." "And that could happen," Ederyn says, having left off whatever he was doing partway through Fiona's speech. "As I think Kieran says, this foreign metal will try to become normal stuff for this universe, if the sorcery and primal power was not stopping that. It is only chance that these pieces stayed in balance." "Or they were stabilized from without," Fiona comments. Priya looks mildly amused, but refrains from commenting. "The mixture is strong enough that not all of it vanished at once," Ederyn persists to Fiona. "The doors need no constant flow of power. They could make any number of these things and put them anywhere, with or without high mana. Probably." Fiona looks at Priya. "Perhaps your story at this juncture about the details about your obtaining of the pieces of this Door might be welcome, before we continue." Priya blinked, confusion briefly coloring her expression. "I am not certain how that would be helpful, but it is not a complicated story." She shrugged slightly. "Father identified a way to locate the Doors effectively and one was entrenched on an island of a water nation allied with Rebma. I went in, sabotaged the Door, found the sleeping quarters for the slaves, and was working on getting them out when someone tripped the trap on the Door and blew it. I was able to extract the slaves with minimal combat, much easier with the building burning down, and then blew the whole thing to pieces behind me." "I left nothing that they might open another Door upon. These pieces were salvaged from the wreckage." She gestured to the shards. "The Door where they used vulcantry remains, inert, but whole, and if larger pieces are helpful from a more recent, still active Door, it would not take me long to locate and disassemble another one." She paused, waiting to see if the effort might be useful, and clearly willing to do so now. As if it were a fairly routine exercise. "Vulcantry?" Ederyn asks. "They used a combination of earth and fire magics to activate a dormant volcano and destroy a city." Priya's tone was grave, but still business like. "The event was timed with an additional strike to topple their center of power. A highly successful combination of brute force and precision. It would be most interesting to work with an elemental mage who could handle both earth and fire in an effort to reverse, and possibly block, such an attack elsewhere." "That would be me," Ederyn says, looking studiously neutral. "I know of only one other." Priya nodded. "I have something I would like to show you when we have finished with these." She tilted her head to indicate the shards. His attention visibly sharpens, and he nods. "Can someone separate or isolate a small section of a fragment for me?" Kieran asks while gazing at the fragments. "A very small section, no more than a gram at most; if that. I want to see what will happen when the material is subjected to intense psychokinesis." "I could blow it up again." Priya offered, with a dry tone, almost smiling. Kieran chuckles. "No big bangs in the castle remember? That's why I only want a small sample to begin with. Not sure what it will take to over excite the atoms in the fragment or what those atoms will do once they're amped up." "I will confess that I am not certain what you mean..." Priya looked thoughtful. "For the first Door, I used intense pressure and physically overwhelmed it. For the second I use a significantly timed power surge. They tend to react dramatically." She looked at the smaller shard with a narrow gaze, wondering just how much umph it still had to it. "Interesting. And atomic theories would take a while to explain;" Kieran replies. "And may not really apply here in Amber anyroad." He shakes his head. "Basically just like these fragments are but a small portion of the Door they came, there are smaller and smaller bits or pieces to these fragments; too small to be normally seen. If I can get those tiniest bits agitated, moving around next to each other, my hope is that they'll destabilize from their universal structure to a state our universe prefers and shed excess energy in a devastative kinetic reaction." He pauses, then shrugs his shoulders. "Or simply put, I want to see if I can blow up a Door with the power of mind magics. Only, here, on a small scale." Fiona looks skeptically at Kieran. "Before you try something like that, I would want to set up some protections around any sample you want to destabilize," Fiona says. "No big bangs, remember. We also need a Subtle Knife of some kind to cut off a tiny portion of one of these pieces." She looks at Ederyn "Your hammer isn't that fine of a tool, is it?" She looks pensive."Give me a couple of minutes. Figure something out. I am going to set up a Psychomagnetic klein bottle spell. for the purposes of Kieran's proposal." Fiona goes into a bit of a fugue trance but the aura around her is obvious to Ederyn, Priya and Kieran alike. Ederyn smiles slightly, looking at her, then turns his attention back to Kieran and Priya. "I don't need a hammer for that," he remarks, shrugging. "The question is whether these pieces will become unstable when I fully separate them, instead of pulling some loose, like a thread, to look at its ... 'a-tom-ic struc-ture.' It didn't seem to react, but I was careful." Kieran regards Ederyn thoughtfully for a moment, then Priya as well. "I suspect that ultimately we're talking about the same thing, just using different terms." He turns his attention to observing what his grandmother is doing. Ederyn pauses to consider this notion, while also looking to see how Fiona's task is going. Priya glanced at Fiona, the shard, and then Ostegos. "May I have your sword a moment." She asked, but she held out her hand as if she knew the answer, her gaze once again focused on the shards. "A hammer won't quite do the trick, but something with a very fine edge can." She was almost talking to herself. The smallest shard floated up to her hand and she examined it for the angle she wanted, holding it over the blade while she decided just how she wanted to chip it. Her movements were thoughtful, contemplative, rather than the hasty motions of someone who might act rashly. Ederyn observes these actions with surprise, making no immediate move to interfere. Fiona's task is obvious to Ederyn and to Kieran and Priya, should they look. While invisible to ordinary sight, the lines of the magical magnetic field that Fiona is drawing, building, constructing are obvious to mage sight. What she is doing is something more unclear, without focusing on it for a moment. It's a shape that shouldn't exist, with parts of it crossing each other without quite intersecting it. She looks to Priya, whose use of Ostegos' sword allows her to efficiently cut a tiny fraction of the Door. "Priya, carefully deposit it into the open mouth of the bottle. Be precise and exact, deliver it to the center of the mouth," Fiona says. "Then, once it is fully inside, I will seal the bottle. At that point, Kieran, you can attempt your manipulation. Ederyn ..." She turns to look at Eric's son. "You can be damage control for all of this. Shut down the reaction if it goes too intense." "Shall we begin?" Priya did as instructed, moving so that she had a clear view of the opening, and then floating the chip carefully to the center of the bottle. She stepped away again, to allow Kieran and Ederyn the more central position, set the remains of the shard with the others, and handed the sword back to Ostegos. Ederyn nods in response to Fiona's instruction, though most of his attention is still on the fragments. Kieran regards the fragment in the bottle. "Well, let us see what we shall see;" he says as he begins. The small piece properly placed by Priya, Kieran can set to work with his psychometric experiments. Fiona continues her concentration, watching matters with one eye open. The other is closed tightly. All can see her intense concentration on maintaining the bottle. After a couple of minutes of work, Ederyn can feel the energy rising in the bottle, a large amount of energy suddenly released. Sweat forms on Fiona's brow. it does NOT feel the energy is going to breach the bottle, but waste heat does escape the bottle, in large amounts. The room starts warming rapidly. Both of Fiona's eyes are closed in concentration. The small sample, however, is gone. Destroyed And Kieran's headache is truly massive. Priya stepped back, moving a chair so it was easier for Fiona to sit. She watched the magics at play, but did not interfere. Kieran looks up from bottle, wincing slightly, and raising a hand to massage his temples. "Okay .... That worked, obviously." He looks at Fiona. "Are you okay, grandmother?" he asks with concern. "That was rather more exothermic than I thought it would be." "Quite." Fiona says. "It was taxing to maintain the bottle's integrity." "The good news," he winces again, "is that I or another neuromancer, a mind mage, can affect the Doors directly. Bad news is that I'm pretty sure it would take any of us who did so out of the fight for a while; it takes a lot of energy to do that." He gestures at the bottle (or where it was). "But once I get it started, the reaction, the destruction process, should feed itself. Indeed, it should become a chain reaction and nigh unstoppable once it gets going." "I also believe I can construct a weapon that will do what I just did; just using a different power source. I need to confer with Martin on this, grandmother." He rubs his temples again in pain. "Any chance I can get a ... what you call an "Irish coffee"? I need something alcoholic and caffeinated. Preferably large, very large." While Kieran speaks, Ederyn gathers together the excess heat, which forms a point of incandescence hovering just above his free hand. He gives Kieran a sympathetic look. "Your method is not what I do, but I've had similar headaches," he says. "I also could get a similar effect on a Door, but I'd have to be close to it. Not being killed by the energy would be a problem." "I can do that from a pretty fair distance away," Kieran says. "The amount of energy I have to use to do it won't scale up appreciably with distance." Kieran looks at Ederyn. "The base metal is a little heavier than iron initially; what I did caused the metal to break down into iron and something else along with even smaller bits and lots of excess heat energy." Ederyn nods. "The change of substance is ... messy? Untidy? Something like that." Kieran nods his head. "I could see," Ederyn continues, "that the Omphalos primal power does affect the door's substance at the atomic level. That power is, I think, what keeps the metal stable unless an outside force acts on it. The next question that I think of is whether the Pattern's effect on probability can break the link between power and metal." Fiona walks back to the table. There is no evidence of her pouring anything, and the conjuration isn't quite seen, but she returns with a very large mug of what does smell like coffee, and whiskey. The mug has a matrix of letters, mostly C's and H's, connected by lines to form some sort of diagram. She offers the cup to Kieran. Kieran gratefully accepts the cup, first staring at the matrix/diagram, then nodding his head to Fiona. He savors the aroma for a long moment before taking a drink. It is indeed coffee with some sort of whiskey in it, and sugar. Sweet, fortifying. Potent. "Undoing the sorcerous bounds of the Door is the method my son has perfected," Fiona says. "The disadvantage to his method is that it takes time. Your method," she looks to Kieran, "takes less time but leads to more collateral damage. As does yours," she looks at Priya. "You did level their base in the process." "As far as using the Pattern, that's trickier," she says to Ederyn. "That was a good manipulation of the waste heat, by the way. It's cooler already here." She waves a hand. "You would be fighting a Primal Power with a Primal Power. Having something like the Jewel of Judgement would make that MUCH easier to pull off ..." "Studying the energies on the major remaining pieces that Priya has provided us," Fiona continues.,"is our key to finding out more about the makeup of these Doors. It would be ideal to be able to learn to disrupt Doors before their formation, if that is possible. The imminent arrival of a Door in a location may be preceded by the magical equivalent of Cerenkov radiation, for example. But I think taking snapshots of how this power operates, with the various skills at our disposal, is a further key to devising sorcerous means of undoing it." "We might select a piece each." she further adds. "I am conflicted on the idea of disrupting them before their formation," Priya mused, regarding the shards pensively. "I have no trouble sensing when they arrive near me, but the cataclysmic affect on the base was intentional on my part. The Rebman Door was also destructive, and I confined the blast to channel it back from whence the Door had come. Given that I meet the Doors in combat, I find the violence useful. If I pop them before they coalesce, I might lose that as a weapon." "I could sense the primal power in the fragment;" Kieran says. "It's not subtle. I'd love to be able set up a sensor grid around Amber. I could except for it being a higher technology than that which appears to be the norm here." He sighs and takes another drink of his coffee. "Priya and I are running a pilot sorcery based monitoring operation from the Castle." Fiona says. "Although its effectiveness attenuates severely with distance. I am still thinking on solutions." Kieran looks interested at this. "What kind of distances are you getting now?" "I wonder if we could somehow fashion a feedback loop on a Door," Kieran muses. "Let the power build up to a high level and then send it back down the pathway it forged to get here. That could overload the wielders or devices they use to send out Doors to here. Not unlike your successes so far, Priya." "That sounds like something I am thinking of," Ederyn says. "I think." He shakes his head and makes a frustrated gesture with the rolled-up papers he's still holding. "I have not got words to say so many things ..." "Just start talking;" Kieran says with a supportive nod. "We'll ask questions when we get to something we don't quite comprehend." But Ederyn still looks uncertain and frustrated, and after only a moment shakes his head and gestures for Kieran to go on with his own thoughts. "If I destroy a Door directly with my power or through the use of the weapon I need to talk to Martin about, we're going to have to worry about radioactive fallout." Kieran pauses and looks at Priya and Ederyn. "When the door metal breaks down, it splits into iron and a lighter element that could be harmful, poisonous, to animal and plant life as well as the ground around it. I know of some technologies than can mitigate and clean that up, but I don't know if they'll work in and around Amber. Yet." "It is poisonous?" Ederyn says. "That is good to know." "Sorcery might be able to come up with a spell to clean things up as well;" Kieran adds. Priya glanced at Kieran thoughtfully, but did not comment. "The Doors..." Kieran shakes his head at that phrase. "Well, that door, anyroad, started out made of copper and tin. What I did, changed... transmuted those metals into iron with some silicon and potassium thrown in as well. Along with extra, smaller bits that fed the reaction. And heat, apparently a great deal of it." He drinks more of his coffee. "The silicon and potassium are the nasty parts we'd have to worry about contaminating the area." "I wonder" Fiona muses. "what the decay products are like, on the other side, were a door destroyed by nuclear reactions there." Kieran nods thoughtfully at that. "Uhm, how solidly is the physical door rooted in our universe? Anyone know? 'Cause I'm wondering if it might be possible to psychokinetically shove the door back through its own portal while triggering the chain reaction at the same time." He pantomimes an explosion with his hands and arms, without spilling his coffee. "Big boom. We like big booms." He smiles and drinks more of his coffee. Kieran looks at his grandmother. "Can you bind Pattern energy into a crystalline matrix? Enough of it to make it of use for what you were talking about?" He takes a long pull on his doctored coffee. To anyone watching, Ederyn seems about to say something, then stops, apparently waiting for Fiona's response. "You can bind Pattern energy into many things, given the right sort of craftsmanship." Fiona says. "The manufacture of Pattern based items takes effort and time. The ordinary Pattern summoned by an imprint is generally not enough to make an effective tool this way. The most direct method of getting effective methods of Pattern energy for binding requires a Patternwalk, since the levels of Pattern energy in such a feat rise to levels that make its capture and use effective. Of course, the other way is to inscribe the Pattern onto an object." "Pattern blades, for instance." Ederyn glances between Kieran and Fiona. "How would, or could, such a crystal be used?" he asks. "And could such a crystal empower or boost the range on the sorcery you and Priya are experimenting with?" Kieran asks. Priya listened, her gaze flickering between the royals, but she did not interject. "A Pattern crystal would not empower detection but would aid in dissolution." Fiona says. "The Castle Wards are what we are using to do the detection, or an extension of them, anyway. Trying to extend them with Pattern would cause several layers of interference, primarily." She glances at Priya "with Rebma, and its revamped Pattern." "No, a source of Pattern energy would be useful in accelerating a sorcery-based undoing of a Door, for those who can bind the Pattern to their sorcery. For those merely with a Pattern imprint, the energies could provide a new way to destroy a Door, by a manipulation of probability." "In any event." she clears her throat. "I propose that we take time to experiment and gain some more practical data. The detection of a Door should be conveyed as quickly as possible, so methods of destroying, or suborning them, can be field-tested. Theory is all well and good." she gestures at the pieces. "but practice is better." Kieran nods his head and then drinks some more of his coffee. "Who's next?" he asks. "There is a standing Door that was undefended last we were there" Priya's gaze included Ostegos. "There are others, but I expect them to have bases of defense, as the one last night did. I am satisfied with my means of destroying them. The violence is a tool, and it does not leave enough material behind to be dangerous. I need to learn how to claim and open them. The one I know may be useful for such practice and I can take us there." "A still existing Door is a target for several possibilities." Fiona says. Ederyn considers this, then says, "I have another idea." He hands Fiona the rolled-up papers, takes one of the medium-sized pieces of Door, and takes himself off to one side, the bright spark of former heat drifting along over his head. There he stands still, staring in the direction of the shard he's holding, for several minutes. Fiona looks at Ederyn, and then back to Priya and Kieran. "Ederyn's paradigms are certainly non-standard. Come." she says. She looks at Kieran. "You probably need more coffee. I certainly need more tea, as does Priya, and Ostegos, I suspect." Fiona moves away from the center where Ederyn stands and works, obtaining more tea, and coffee. She takes a biscuit and eats it. "Eat" she urges the both of them. "Sorcery does not run properly for the malnourished. Pollux claims this extends to exercise and fitness as well, but I think that's perhaps a bridge too far." Kieran nods and drains the last of his first cup before going for another. And a biscuit. Or three. Meanwhile, Ederyn starts to pace back and forth. Then he produces two objects, presumably from his belt pouch: a copper disk, and a glasslike rod about six inches long. The spark of light swoops down to the tip of the rod, and (a little awkwardly, since he's also holding the shard) he touches the rod to the copper disk. Light flares, then resolves into rune-like characters that, with a flick of the rod, he sends drifting into the air. They grow larger and unspool from a circular form into rows as they move to a height convenient for him to read. He tucks the copper disk away again and then studies the runes for a while. Eventually he uses the rod to start rearranging the runes, adding new ones and moving some off to one side. After a particularly long pause, his motions become much more decisive, as he adds a few more runes, rearranges others, looks it all over, and then nods to himself and dismisses the extra rune images. The whole sweep of runes (there must be a hundred of them) follows him when he takes off his sword and sets it down, the rod and Door shard beside it, so that he can sit cross-legged on the floor. From his belt pouch he takes several pieces of gold and chips of colored crystal, or perhaps actual gemstones. The gold he rolls and presses between his hands until it forms a thin disk about six inches across. He embeds the small colored stones in the disk in a regular pattern, then places it on the floor in front of himself. He picks up the rod and gestures toward the runes, which shrink and arrange themselves in circles again; his concentration is intense as they hover over the disk, brightening, and then settle onto it and burn themselves into it. He looks it over again, nods, and places the Door shard in the center of the disk. After shifting himself back a couple of feet, he cups a ball of flame (there's no telling where it came from) in one palm; it becomes brighter and more intense and then suddenly moves to the disk and into it. Above the disk an image appears: mostly-regular yellow lines in the shape of a Door, interwoven with lines and areas of transparent color in shades of red and blue and yellow that seem much less inclined to stick to the Door shape. Some of the lines trail off into space on either side of the door. Ederyn looks pleased and climbs to his feet. "This is not being watched by the enemy," he says. "The red is the sorcery, the blue is the Primal Power, the yellow is, umm, how the Door exists in this space." He considers his creation. "It's more then just color," he adds, "the lines and areas have the feeling of the powers. I think you should be able to read it." Priya watched Ederyn closely, occasionally moving as he paced so she had a clear view but keeping a respectful distance. She only approached when he was finished, even then maintaining a polite gap between them, and then returned to the seat she had originally taken. Waiting for the others to view what Ederyn had wrought and have their say. Fiona puts down the remainder of the biscuit and moves back to where Ederyn stands, gesturing for Priya and Kieran to join her. "Yes" Fiona says. She twirls her index finger. "Very good work, Ederyn." Fiona says. "I see that Noys and my son have been thorough in your education, but not overwhelmed your own sensibilities. See here..." she says including the three of them. "The sorcery works to regulate, moderate and interpret the power of the Door, running through the entire construct. Think of this like a Trump Gate, except the sorcery freezes it in place, and the paradigm of the Door requires exotic matter." "Thusly, destroying the sorcerous controls." she gestures "causes the Door to explode, as you have done, Priya." Fiona says. "Too..." she looks at Kieran. "Attacking the Door at a molecular level causes enough output of energy, and causing it to be destroyed. Trump Gates have no there there to attack that way, but the Door *does*. You could manipulate probability to destabilize the Door itself as well." she says. "I suspect those are the two targets, the Door and its binding spells." Fiona says. "I can't see attacking." she indicates the yellow. "the primal power itself, unless we had the jewel of judgement. Even then, it would take even me attunement and time to try to make that line of attack effective. "I wonder if Coral..." and then Fiona waves her hand. "I doubt Random would want to risk his Jewel." She glances at Priya. "I similarly doubt Moire would, either." At the mention of trump gates, Kieran's expression grows thoughtful. "Uhm, grandmother, has anyone tried throwing a trump gate, or other portive power, into a Door? Because I'm wondering if that might be an order of badness not unlike the 'Don't cross the streams' line in that Ghostbusters movie Mom and Dad like." "The number of people in Amber both capable of casually making Trump Gates and callow enough to try that cavalierly are mercifully few." Fiona says. "That's an experiment not to try, except in extremis." "Noted," Kieran says, but quite possibly still thinking about it. "This," Ederyn says, pointing to a knot of yellow and blue with several trailing ends, "is one of the anchors the sorcery uses to hold the Door in our universe." He looks at Kieran, then back at the Door. "It is my thought to trick the sorcery into attaching all the anchors to something else, a small object. On this side, that might warp the Door out of shape and make it useless, and if that doesn't break it, then when something tries to come through fr0m three dimensions to a point, there should be another interesting explosion when the energy cannot come out the way it should. If the object is passed through the Door, though, it should cause the whole thing to bend back on itself and dump all its energy on the other side." He eyes the image thoughtfully. "I wonder if the bad effect would go on to the Primal Power itself." "The way that Valerian and your mother and father," Fiona looks at Kieran "described what they learned and knew is that portals are not directly connected to the Primal Power itself. Its an exertion of that power, like Trump, mediated by some sort of sorcerous targeting mechanism. The actual Doors are manifested anywhere, theoretically even point to point in this universe. Now, if there is infrastructure, say a military base or laboratory, blowback ..." she looks at Ederyn "would destroy their capabilities." "Current research on that knot has been to undo it and dissolve a Door. This would suborn a Door," Fiona muses aloud. "I wonder if you could control a Door for a significant length of time, if this technique worked." Ederyn's eyes widen at this idea, and he immediately turns and peers intently at the image. "A door opening suddenly shrunk to the size of a keyhole while they try to drive a battle tank ..." Kieran stops and considers his audience, "or a wagon full of gunpowder, for example, that would be unfortunate. For them. Anyroad. Possibilities." "Are there any reports where there's been direct observation of the enemy transiting one of the Doors?" he asks. "I'm wondering if there's a size limit on what they can bring through, or if some property of their magic or primal power makes physical size irrelevant. Meaning that if they wanted to sail a ship through a Door, the Door would either alter its size to allow passage or alter the size of the ship to fit through its physical dimensions and restore the ship to its proper size once through." "Yes, we have some eyewitness reports of Door transits." Fiona says. "There is ancedotal evidence they can change size but we have not directly seen anything other than a person walk through a Door. And we have evidence they *can* be suborned as well." He nods in agreement with his grandmother. "If we could override a Door and... send a force of our own operatives through to their side... then give them time to clear away fr0m the immediate area and blow the door... covering the team's tracks as it were. Then let that force begin a guerrilla style campaign in their rear areas... also has possibilities. I believe Mom said Pattern worked over there, just not as well as one might be used to, correct grandmother?" She gives a further nod to Kieran. "I do not wish to speak for my brother, but I believe that my brother's battle plan involves around forcing an open Door and using it as one of several beachheads. But." the green eyed woman smiles. "I am hardly privy to Benedict's war plans. But your mother's report suggests Pattern is sluggish, at best, there." Kieran nods his head. Ederyn has turned away fr0m the Door image, shaking his head, and listened to most of this. "Elemental sorcery is weak on the technological side," he offers, "but they expect magic to work there, perhaps because it can be brought fr0m the other side." "So you think they somehow channel or open a conduit to allow magic in?" Kieran asks. Ederyn considers this doubtfully. "No ... I think. I was told that the Omphalos city called Capital is ... 'on a fault line of Shadow metaphysics.' Though is it really a Shadow if it isn't in our universe?" After a slight distracted hesitation, he shakes his head and yanks his thoughts back on course. "On one side it has high mana, and on the other side it has low mana and high technology. So they seem to be used to the idea that technology and magic can sometimes be used on their opposite sides. The soldiers were armed with both guns and swords, as if they expected to need either one. They thought my use of fire was a spell they knew of - and did not guess how poorly it really worked for me." Kieran's eyes grow a bit larger at that. "That would be an interesting and unique place to visit. And find a way to use against the Omphalos." He turns to his grandmother. "Do we know how reliant they are on their magic? Have they devised a method of powering their tech with magic? Or vice versa?" Priya sipped her tea quietly. Her eyes followed the conversation, but she seemed content to listen, as if this might all be new to her. "One of you should have a long talk with Valerian," Fiona says. "I can't imagine why, but he's rather intimidated by the prospect of talking to *me*." She smiles slightly. "I can't imagine that Benedict hasn't hired him in some fashion, but it would be good to have some of these answers before launching any land wars. My understanding is that their magic and tech are not integrated all that well, but that may be a lack of knowledge on my part." "As far as the matter of Guns, Ederyn, fortunately, firearms are difficult to make work in Amber. Corwin learned the secret and the King keeps that secret under tight lock and key. I probably could figure it out if I spent a year or two on the task, but they are too dangerous for me to pursue that research. Too much of a leveller. I prefer edges only we, or I, can use. One of Caine's daughters, though, uses guns with her sorcery. *She* might be useful in this War, if she could be convinced to fight." Kieran gazes sidelong at his grandmother. "Would that be Cyllene?" he asks in a neutral tone. "Not sure I want to meet her anytime soon." "No," Fiona says. "There is another." Kieran does a slight double take and gives her a brief look as if saying 'Did I just hear that right?' but then moves on. Fiona pauses and then continues. "I suggest we adjourn for now. I know some of us have pressing business." Fiona gives a smile to Ederyn. "But I am certain we will all be in contact again, and soon. It is good." She looks smug. "To have a Sorcerer's Combine again. Pollux is not yet skilled enough to be invited. Like a cast iron skillet, my son needs to season him a little further. And Flora's son as well. But give them time. The three of you, however, show real breadth." "These two are by far the better sorcerers than I grandmother;" Kieran says and then finishes of his second cup of coffee. Setting the cup down, he reaches into a belt pouch and removes a deck of cards. Shuffling through them, he pulls out one and returns the rest to the pouch. He turns and hands it Ederyn. "When you learn something new or need a hand or someone to talk to, call me." When Ederyn looks at the card, it does depict Kieran. Ederyn looks surprised and pleased, and takes the card with a nod. Then he looks at it curiously. Seeing Ederyn's look, Kieran holds up his left arm, pointing to the gray bracer on his forearm. "I call it my HTD, holographic trump deck. I just scanned and added you to my collection." He glances down at the HTD. "Display Ederyn;" Kieran says. The HTD spits out some error codes at Kieran's request. The raw data file, when Kieran tries to display it, is a mishmash and tangle of light paths in and around Ederyn, making no usable image at all, and certainly no trump. Ederyn peers at the attempted image with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. "Now that's curious," Fiona says. She looks from the scrambled image perched on Kieran's HTD, and then at Ederyn. "Your elemental sorcery extends to photons of light as well, I take it. It wasn't an attack. A reflex on your part, or a long standing defensive spell you have hanging?" She continues. "What this was was merely a clever bit of technomagic on Kieran's part. Its much easier to create a trump when a fully realized image can be obtained quickly, which is what Kieran was doing. It DOES make representational or archetypal trumps harder to render, though." she says. "And you and Martin may enjoy your technology," Fiona says. "but I do find older forms useful. As I have taught you." she adds with a smirk. Kieran shrugs his shoulders. "Then I do it old school and upload it afterwards, No biggie. Got lots of time to kill on the flight from home to the empire when I get back. But I do need to get going;" he says while finishing his coffee. "So, can we go see the king grandmother? Or pull some strings and bump me to the head of the line? Time flies quickly back home and people are getting ready to move soon." Kieran turns back to Fiona. "I'll go talk to Valerian after I see the King. Can we go see him now?" "I did come here to see you, Aunt," Ederyn puts in apologetically. "I have some questions about the Pattern. Before I go to walk it, this morning," he adds in Kieran's direction. "Once you start, don't stop is the main thing;" Kieran replies. "Or so I've been told." Ederyn smiles, a surprisingly bright and open expression compared to his usual serious mien. "Go to Random's quarters," Fiona instructs Kieran. "By the time you get there, the King will be, ah, ready to receive you." She smiles and then looks at Ederyn. "Stay, to ask your questions." "If you still want to make a Trump of me now, I will let you," Ederyn continues. "I suppose someone should have one." His feelings on the matter still seem to be mixed, however. "Do you mean by my tech aid here?" Kieran indicates his HTD. "Or the more traditional route?" He nods at his grandmother. "To be honest, I can make one either way, given time. I will, if it is what you wish, not hand out copies of your trump without your approval. I normally don't anyroad. I can make the trump and some copies and then contact you when I'm done and give those copies to you." "Oh, the tech thing," Ederyn says. "It takes less time than drawing. And yes, please don't give them to anyone without asking. Someday I may be comfortable with, well, the idea of Trumps, but that is not now." He considers for a moment. "I would thank you for three copies, I think. That should be enough." Kieran nods his head. "Let me know when you're ready. Shouldn't take but a few moments to scan you. It takes while to compile and build the image and then print out copies. So I'll have to call you or route them through my grandmother if you prefer when they're ready." When Ederyn indicates he's ready, Kieran will use the HTD to scan him again and then check the preliminary image. "I only have to not flinch," Ederyn says. He waits while Kieran activates his device, and then looks at the image with undiminished curiosity. It appears that the first Trumps of him will be featuring a slightly quizzical expression. Without Ederyn's active elemental defense, the scanning works far more effectively this time, and he displays on the HTD properly for Kieran. "Are you going to join Benedict?" he asks. "We could also meet there, perhaps." "That's a very good question," Kieran replies. "I'm not even sure he's aware of my existence yet. But, aye, I am headed his way once I complete a few other things. I can definitely have the cards ready by then." "It would not be surprising if my brother knew of you already." Fiona says. "Your mother or father probably told him, for one thing." "Or Martin, if he gets to Benedict first," Kieran adds by way of agreement. Fiona turns to regard Priya. "Both you, and your man have been quiet." She smiles as if amused by this "Anything else you need ere you depart?" "Ederyn," Priya replies. The faint smile she had worn fades to a more business like expression and she turns to the man in question. "I can wait here, meet you at our rooms or yours." She offered options. "If you are walking the Pattern today, I will keep matters to a show and testing the theory can wait. I am interested in your walk and would not want to tax you before it." Ederyn regards her seriously. "It would help deciding if I knew what you need." "I am going to shut down a volcano," she replied. The words might be at odds with the dress and the jewelry, her daintily sandaled feet crossed at the ankles, but she appeared serious. Fiona raises an eyebrow. "Permanently or just temporarily as a means of building up pressure for a really big boom?" Kieran asks, curiously. "The effect may not be permanent, but it was woken with magic to use as a weapon. I wish to study the process to prevent such abuse elsewhere." Kieran nods his head. "Ah," Ederyn says, recovering fr0m his obvious surprise. "Then, this should be after I walk the Pattern. I am not sure how long that will take or how tired I will be after it, but I can send you a message when I return." Priya nodded. It's more or less what she had stated her expectation to be. "I will show you where I intend to take you, and why, before we leave. But that can wait until later as well." "May your walk be uneventful. I almost wish I could watch. After feeling its efforts to reply to you earlier, I have to wonder if your walk will be more challenging, or less. Assuming there is a benchmark for such a measure." She gave a slight shrug for the purely academic speculation. Ederyn's brows rise at her remark about feeling the Pattern, but he only says, "I, too, am curious about differences that are possible." She turned away with a faint smile and focused on Kieran. "You are on your way to the King?" Kieran nods his head again. "Aye, I thought it best to be officially recognized as a member of the family and all that entails before going off to fight a war for the kingdom. "Do you need to speak with the king as well? And if so, would you care to accompany me there?" he asks. "I would be happy to walk with you," Priya replies. She is ready to go, but pauses to see if there is anything more Fiona or Ederyn might wish before they do. "Going through the Queen to see his Majesty, which is what I expect Priya to do," Fiona says, "would make introductions much simpler. It was her I was going to contact, anyway to introduce you, Kieran," she says. "She is soft where Random is hard, and hard where he is soft. There have been worse King-Queen combinations in Amber's history. Far worse." Kieran nods his head, then turns to Priya. "Does that sound agreeable to you then?" he asks her. "It does," Priya answers with a smile and holds out her arm for him to take. "I will be happy to help with introductions." Kieran offers said arm, as he can be gallant when he wishes. Her gaze flickers to Ostegos briefly as she walks with Kieran to the door. "Thanks grandmother," he says to Fiona. "You're interesting;" he says to Ederyn with a slight bow of his head. "Until later then." "Thank you." Priya turns at the door, inclining her head politely to Fiona and then nods to Ederyn as well. "Until later." Then she leaves, Kieran on her arm, and the door closes quietly behind Ostegos as he follows. Ederyn gives a nod to both of them, then watches them go with his arms crossed over his chest. (Continued in Aunts and Angles.) |
