A New Arrival to ChaosIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | PreGameLogs | A New Arrival to Chaos Participants: Amba, Helena It had been a long, hard journey. The theory of shadow shifting was nothing like the reality of it- Amba thought she had seen more in the past few... Days? Months? Years? ... Than she had in a lifetime. Infinite means something else until you're confronted with it. And to be confronted so rudely as she had been. Exhausted then, she stood on the crest of a hill, finally able to see that which she sought. It was much different than she had thought it would be- for some reason she had pictured something ancient- an edifice made of stone perhaps, or a castle such as those she had seen in Shadow. Perhaps with something to announce it's great presence at the end of the world- but never had she expected something so... stark, and bleak. She still had a way to go, but now saw the black mount that reached high enough that she would swear that she should have seen it long before. And upon it a unfathomable shape of black, only perceptible by the negative space around it edged with flashes of light. She stared in fascination, and as time passed, each flash of light seemed to reveal something different. She could swear that she could visualize something, but what it was she could not voice. But even as she stared, her comprehension seemed to take hold of another dimension of that which she saw. She knew that she did not move, but it seemed that she did, for the distance between her seeming and her being became as if nothing, and she noted that two figures awaited her as if they had known she would come even before she arrived. She walked towards them, barely noticing that the land she now traversed was flat, and that no trace of the hill that she stood upon remained, studying the pair that approached her even as she did. One was a man, the other a young woman who walked to his left and a step behind. They stopped about ten feet away and regarded her. The man wore black robes over a long red tunic and loose red pants which were stuffed into the tops of his black boots. He rested his left hand on his hip and pulled back the edge of his robe in the process to display a sword in scabbard. His cowl was down, revealing white hair and a grizzled beard. His eyes were tawny gold, and there was something feline in the way he gazed at Amba. The young woman wore close-fitting black shirt and trousers, reinforced with padding on the elbows and knees and across the chest. A large square adorned her left shoulder, half red and half dark grey, with two red stripes and one blue stripe underneath. Her very human blue eyes sized Amba up speculatively as stray wisps of blonde hair from her braid whipped around her face in the breeze. The man stepped forward. "Amba of House Heldt, we've been expecting you. I am Rayne and this is my senior apprentice, Helena Barimen-Ishtar. Welcome to House Hendrake." As for Amba herself, her attire had definitely seen better days. From scorch marks to rips and everything in between, the black bodysuit that she wore showed signs of heavy use, the fabric giving way to reveal parts of the intricate tattoo that wound its way up her arm and over her back. Only her heavy boots had come through whatever ordeal she had faced intact, though they were, like her clothing, marked with dried blood, human and other, less recognizeable stains. Her long black hair was loose, most likely recently bound in the plain black headgear she held loosely in one hand. In her other hand, she held the strap of a pair of goggles, and on her back, a small rucksack hung. Wary deep blue eyes measured the pair, even as she stepped forward to meet the man. "Hendrake I recognize," she said uncerimoniously, "but not Heldt. How did you know I would be here, when I was not even sure?" "We were told a prophesy, that a lost child of Chaos would return by unusual means," Rayne replied. "The timing was more problematic, but not impossible. Baroness Tatjana Heldt has adopted you into her House." "That is a rather nebulous prophesy," Amba rejoined. "I didn't even know what to expect when I arrived..." she began, then stopped. "So, what now? Why were you sent? I recognize Barimen also," she said considering. "But neither of you have actually said you were from House Heldt?" "Neither of us are," Rayne replied matter-of-factly. The young woman behind him shifted her weight. "Haaibre Hendrake sent me to retrieve you for reasons known only to him," Rayned continued. "Will you accompany us back? You are tired and Hendrake will provide food and rest." He extended a hand to her and his face held no guile. "That does sound very tempting," Amba said. Then after only a moment, she took the proffered hand. "I'm ready when you are." Rayne grasped Amba's hand firmly as the young woman behind him stepped up and laid a hand on his shoulder. He extended his other hand outward, his fingers splayed. Suddenly the world around them distorted, sucked away like liquid down a straw, and Amba felt the sensation of movement, a rush forward, and the presence of great power. Just as suddenly the distortion reversed with an almost tactile "pop" as solid ground re-established itself under her feet and Rayne let go of her hand. Amba's feel for the ground took a second to reassert itself- a second in which she would have fallen other than for Rayne's steady grip. She flushed as she struggled to regain her balance, not looking up until she did. They were no longer on the flat, featureless plain. An enormous fortress imposed itself in front of her, its walls reaching to the horizon on her left and her right, its massive gate like an open maw and guarded by men in black and red livery. People lived and worked outside these walls--there was an open market nearby selling fresh food by the smells wafting past Amba on the breeze, strange music and the chattering of people filled her ears, and the bright colors of exotic textiles assaulted her eyes. "Welcome to House Hendrake," Rayne announced. The young woman, who's name Rayne said was Helena, smiled. "This..." Amba started looking around in wonder, then behind herself. "This is not the structure that was on the mount, is it?" She asked tentatively. "What did you do?" "I used the power of the Logrus to move us through shadow," Rayne replied in that matter-of-fact tone again. "You will, no doubt, be destined to learn of this later, if all the attention bestowed upon you is any indication. "I am departing now for I am needed elsewhere," Rayne continued. "Helena will see to your needs, instruct you in Hendrake ways and Ways, and answer you questions. "Amba of House Heldt, be strong, be wise, and be quick." Rayne nodded to her, then lifted his hand as he had earlier, and disappeared as if sucked away. Helena took a breath and turned to Amba. She looked even younger this close, maybe sixteen, maybe eighteen years old. "My estimation is that you'd like a bath, clean clothes, food, and rest--in that order." Distracted now from the empty spot where Rayne had stood, Amba looked toward the younger woman. "Yes," she said, smiling at the thoughtfulness, "your estimation would be exactly right." Helena smiled back and it transformed her face from dark, serious apprentice to a bight young girl. "Bath first, then." She led Amba past the guards, who did little more than flick their eyes at them, and into the fortress. The way became hard to follow to Amba's tired mind at that point as Helena guided her through narrow hallways, along a forest path, past a brown plain containing an open training area surrounded by barracks., over a rainbow bridge surrounded by stars, and finally into a wide hallway lined with closed doors. In truth, Amba was, at this point, too tired to do anything but put one foot in front of the other. But still, confronted with the wonders of the changing scenery, she looked around with awe at the way the shadows seemed never to show any signs of changing, but of being one structure with so many different realities in it. She looked at her escort, and noticed that she seemed not to take note of the changes at all- it was all so casual to her. ~How will I ever be able to fit in here?~ she wondered. Helena stopped at the third door to her right and opened it for Amba. Inside was a small room, simple and functional in decor. Two doorways opened on either side, a bath on her left and a bedroom on her right. A window and small sitting area occupied the back wall, the window looking out onto formal gardens. The room was welcome, and at this point, simplicity mattered not at all. She took in the surroundings with relief at finally arriving, and the bedroom with more than a little anticipation. Her tiredness was finally overcoming her, and she didn't know if she'd even be able to make it to the bath, let alone the bed. "You'll find hot water and clean clothes in the bath," Helena told her, pointing to the left. "When you're done, ring the bell here..." Helena picked up a small brass bell resting on the table by the door and rang it. The resultant tinkling was high in pitch and unusually loud for such a little thing. "...and I'll return with food." "Thank you," Amba said, and there was true sincerity in her voice. After Helena left, Amba made her way to the the bathroom, stripping as she went. Running the water, she was barely able to wait for it to warm at all before climbing in, and promptly falling asleep. Some time later, as consciousness returned to her, she wondered how long she had slept. Finishing her bath quickly, she climbed from the tub and dried herself. Leaving the bathroom, she saw that at some point, someone had come to straighten the mess she had made, leaving clothes on the bed. It was a simple tunic and pants of some fabric she didn't recognize- both black with red highlights. She dressed quickly, and rang the bell that Helena had left, waiting on the bed for the woman to arrive. A few minutes later there was a perfunctory knock and Helena entered bearing a large tray of food which she deposited on the bed beside Amba: bread and butter and three different kinds of cheese and assorted fruit--some of which Amba didn't recognize--and pickles and some sort of roasted meat that might be chicken and boiled eggs and two different kinds of pie and a flagon of water. "Have at it," Helena smiled as she gestured to the food. She plopped down on the bed on the other side of the tray from Amba and regarded her with interested eyes. "So...where are you from?" At first Amba tried to restrain herself, and eat properly, taking a bite of the cheese. But once the actual flavor of the food hit her senses, the hunger pangs made her dine quite a bit less formally. At Helena's question, she cleared her mouth laboriously before answering, "Shadow. Here and there," she amended. "We didn't really stick around in one place that often." She continued to eat, slower now that she was aware of Helena's eyes upon her. "How about you? Are you from here?" "No--House Ishtar. It's a minor House bannered to Hendrake, as is Heldt. My adoptive father is Lord there. I'm here for training." Helena didn't bother to say military training--anyone who had heard of Hendrake knew it was already assumed. "I've been here two years already and will be for another three. Is that what you're here for, too?" "I... I don't really know what I'm here for, to tell the truth," Amba answered guilelessly. "My guardian left one day, and never came back." She looked down as she continued. "After a few years, I started to think that something had happened- there had been absences before, but this was the longest ever- and started to look around and try to figure out what I should do. I found out that my mother was of House Hendrake, so just came to the Courts." Letting out a deep breath, she looked back up at Helena. "Did your guardian travel often to the Courts?" Helena asked. "If so, we can probably set up a search for him or her... How did you come here yourself? You didn't recognize the Logrus when you saw it. Did you summon a Pathway?" Amba paused for a long moment before continuing. She was really glad to finally have someone to talk to that could understand. But would she? "I ... don't know if he came to the Courts often," she said finally. "Or at all. But I'm sure he's not here now." She sighed, continuing. "As far as getting here, I gleaned that the necklace he gave me was more than I ever knew. It brought me here." Helena's eyebrows furrowed. "May I see the necklace?" Amba reached within her tunic and pulled out the necklace. The chain was of platinum, with an adornment of some strange black-appearing non-reflective metal, with a red gem of unusual cut set into it. Slowly, she reached under her hair and undid the clasp, tentatively handing it to Helena. Helena took it gingerly. She felt the chain with her fingers and gazed at the red gem. After a moment she shook her head and handed it back to Amba. "It's tightly bound to Chaos, and it has considerable power. I wouldn't go flaunting that around, if I were you." "Considerable power?" Amba asked as she placed the necklace around her neck. "Could you... discern exactly what it does?" She shook her head again. "You said your guardian gave that to you? Can you tell me more about him?" Amba's eyes became shuttered as her guardian was mentioned. "What is there to tell? He was brilliant, and demanded that I be also... but I couldn't operate on his level, no matter how I tried." Her expression was bland, her emotions carefully contained, but Helena could see that the telling was difficult for her. "For the most part, he left me with other families, but he'd always come back- sometimes after months, other times after years- with a new problem, and sometimes a new seeming. As I became older, he took me to one particular shadow and left me there to study on my own. He came back a few times to see my progress- though it was never enough for him." She paused then, apparently gathering her thoughts. Crossing her arms, almost as if she were cold, she looked down as she continued. "Finally, a few years ago, he stopped coming. I supposed I'd been a disappointment to him and he'd abandoned me, so I determined to find out how to prove to him that I was everything that he ever wanted me to be, and to find him." She shrugged. "I ended up here." "I beg to differ with your guardian's opinion," Helena replied wryly, "but you've certainly garnered some interest in you and your accomplishments here at Hendrake and in Heldt. I'm not privy to their thinking, so I can't tell you any more than that--only that I've been charged with acclimating you to House Hendrake. "May I ask who you parents were and what happened to them?" Unaccustomed to the praise, Amba flushed, looking down again. "I... never knew my parents." She looked back up. "In fact, until my guardian disappeared, I didn't know anything of them. After I started to realize he wasn't returning, I found a notebook that he kept, and from that found out that my mother was from Hendrake, though it didn't say who she was- just that she was dead." "It might be possible to discover who she was, if you're interested in knowing," Helena mused, thinking. "So, left alone, you decided to come to Hendrake because that's where your mother was from and you had no other ties?" "Well, yes," Amba responded. "That, and the fact that this is where the jewel took me." After a moment's hesitation, she asked with trepidation, "How would you find out with the little information I was able to provide?" "House Ishtar, where I'm from, specializes in medicine and we have records on many of the members of House Hendrake. A signature can be taken from your blood and compared with signatures we have from our records and we can see if any matches turn up. "This is assuming we can get permission to do this, of course," Helena added. Amba's eyes opened wide with obvious hope and surprise. "When?! When can we do this? Or how do we get permission?" "Please," she pleaded. "It's very important. More than you know." Helena gazed with some sympathy at Amba's face. "I can contact my father now by trump, if you like, and ask him about it. He'll know what the legalities of the situation are." Almost unable to speak now, her heart in her throat, Amba nodded, adding, "Please." Helena reached into an inner pocket and withdrew a slim case that looked to be made of bone. She pressed a hidden catch to open it and withdrew the top card. After replacing the case in her pocket, Helena concentrated on the card, a trump of Lord Torren. The card came to life under her hands. "Helena, my dear," her step-father said. "What is it?" Helena smiled at him. "A woman came to us today from out in shadow, seeking information about her parents. All she knows is that her mother was Hendrake. "Can we compare her genetics against what we have on record for Hendrake and look for a match? I'm not sure what the legalities of the situation are. "Torren...it's very important to her." Helena's eyes flicked to Amba reassuringly and back to her stepfather. "Hendrake?" Torren sounded startled. "Helena ... you know ... " There was a silence - he was thinking. "Bring her to tea next half-moon," he said at last. "I'll see what we can do." "Thank you," Helena said, smiling brightly--not only at Torren's acceptance to help Amba, but also at the prospect of coming home for tea. "See you then. Give my love to Mother. Bye." Helena looked up from the trump, the bright smile still lighting her face. "Torren--my stepfather--said to bring you by for tea and he'd see what they could do for you." Amba bowed deeply- then rose, the smile on her face mirroring Helena's. "You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you." A tear welled in the corner of her eyes, as she said sincerely, "One day, hopefully I can do something as profound for you." Helena grinned. "It was nothing. Hopefully something will turn up." Forcing anxiousness out of her voice, Amba asked, "When did he wish us to come?" "Next half-moon, which is next week," Helena replied. "So, you don't know who your father was at all?" "Well... no," Amba said. "Not exactly, anyway. For the longest time, I thought my guardian was my father. Though he never told me he was, he never told me he wasn't either. But after he left, I found out from his own notes that he wasn't. Not that they told me who it was, either..." "How about you? You said your adoptive father was Lord of House Ishtar... did you know your biological father?" "No...never met him." Helena didn't look troubled by this at all. "I know who he is--Lord Mandor, of House Sawall--but I live with my mother." "Oh," Amba said, slightly embarrassed- but Helena's attitude made her feel a bit more at ease with the faux paus. "So he's alive... and you've never wanted to see him?" Even as she said it, Amba cursed the question. "I'm sorry... sometimes I say things without thinking- I shouldn't have asked." Helena shrugged. "He's never wanted to see me. And Lord Torren has been a good father to me. I'm content." "It's just," she sighed. "For the longest time, I thought one thing about my father, but found out that he was someone totally different. I mean, I hadn't been lied to outright, but it still felt like a lie. And I'd love to meet my real father, but unless my guardian was lying about that too, I suppose I never will." She looked down saddened by the thought. "One thing at a time. Perhaps we'll learn more about who your mother was when we go see my stepfather, and that in turn might lead us to your father's identity. Can you tell me more about your guardian? A name, a House affiliation, anything?" Amba merely shook her head, though her eyes said there was more that she was afraid to tell. "No," she said hesitantly. "No, nothing." Helena caught the look in her eyes but didn't push the issue. She nodded. "All right." "What kind of training am I supposed to have?" She asked, attempting to change the subject. "Aptitude testing first, then interviews," Helena replied crisply. "Are you up for starting that right now, or would you like to rest more?" "I'm more than ready to start- I feel like I rested too much already," Amba said, though in truth, she had not really been asleep that long, especially in light of her recent ordeals. But it seemed as if she thought the statement true. "Whenever you're ready," she said brightly.
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