Coming to Amber: AmbaThe Ways of House Heldt were very minimal- most of their efforts having gone towards fortifying their shadows in the Black Zone rather than towards ostentatious displays within the courts. But what they did maintain was exceptional in its stark, austere beauty. Most of it was accessible by any, as the relatively small real estate meant that they didn't have the resources to maintain much separate space for visitors. The snowy landscape mirrored their primary base in shadow in look, but was less harsh in its actual effect, the snow not radiating as much cold as one would expect. On the surface of the barren plain, a lesser version of the House's main hall was constructed- this one more for show than the one that existed in shadow, less spartan, more built for visiting dignitaries. The actual inhabitants lived in the barren landscape, upon spires of shadow stuff that rose majestically into the white sky creating patches of reality floating in the clouds. Upon one such spire, an area of exceeding beauty had been carved out, having beautify sculpted plants that seemed as if they would not be able to exist amongst such environs. It was possible- barely- to reach this oasis in the middle of the snowy realm using conventional methods; the sheer side was a very difficult, but not impossible climb, and the other side had a set of precarious steps cut into the rocky shadowstuff. But it definitely was not a place where one would want to visit casually, which was just the way that Amba wanted it. Seated in the middle of the carefully sculpted, manicured garden, Amba worked on a painting- a commission actually, as her work had become somewhat the rage in the Courts. The tranquility and solitude of her garden lent itself well to her state of mind for producing her best work. So it was that she was rather surprised as a series of lone snowflakes drifted in front of her, each melting into nothingness on the stone mosaic of the ground with a word. Messenger. Awaiting. Your. Pleasure. With. Important. Missive. Annoyed, Amba stubbornly continued with her painting for a few minutes before finally rising and covering the canvas. With one last look, she walked through the foliage on the edge of the precipice to the familiar wrenching as she travelled into her anteroom, connecting her way to the main ways of House Heldt. She'd had the room constructed in a way that just before exiting the twist of reality, she'd have a moment that she could see who awaited her- that moment of awareness had proved useful in the past- no less useful than now as she viewed the messenger just before appearing. She saw a swan, sitting on a still pale lake as the snow drifted gently down. An illusion, possibly or ... as she realised when she looked closer ... perhaps a means of transport, for the swan was truly very large, and the swan's wings were set in such a way that one could climb onto its back, and take a hold of the golden bridle that was tied around its neck. Continuing through the twist, Amba stepped out onto the snow at the edge of the lake, the powder crunching beneath her slippered feet. She glided across the ground to the shore, watching the swan with measuring eyes as she did so. She hated when people decided to be cute... She couldn't be sure if the bird spoke or not. But she'd certainly learned enough to know not to board a strange conjuration without knowing the conjuror. "Who sent you, and what is your message?" The swan did not reply directly. It merely curved its long neck in the incomparably graceful way way that swans have. But in the case it served a purpose - to peck at the small golden pouch fixed on a golden chain at the base of its neck. Gingerly taking the pouch from around the swan's neck, Amba inclined her head towards her in thanks before opening the pouch and examining the contents. It was an invitation, graciously penned, for Amba to dine with Lord Despil (and a few select guests) within his Ways. She had perhaps a scant half hour to prepare. Amba read, then re-read the invitation. "A half hour?" she complained. "But, that's too short a time!" She looked down at herself in despair. "But ... do I even know Lord Despil?" She asked. "I mean, sure I know *of* him..." Then she realised two things almost simultaneously. One, she was having a one-sided conversation with a swan that apparently didn't speak. The other was that she was wasting the little time that she did have. ~Perhaps I could cancel, or reschedule,~ she thought futilely, stepping again into the crack in reality, back to her retreat. She immediately dismissed that thought, walking towards a small villa through her garden. If this place had been subject to any natural laws, there would not have been enough space on the spire for a villa. But here, it just continued on into *somewhere*, and was conveniently enough *here*. She moved quickly as the shock began to wear off- she wasn't much one for 'functions' nor all of the protocol they usually entailed, and as she thought more about it, her stomach began to cramp, forcing her to stop and take deep breaths as she did. "There has to be a reason behind this," she said to herself. "It's just *dinner*..." She looked again at the invitation, snatching it up from the sink. She knew that others had much more efficient toilets within their facilities, but she just never could get used to it, having lived her whole life in a normal... well, relatively normal... shadow. Having assured herself, that Lord Despil hadn't made some terrible mistake, and sent the messenger to the wrong place (right. she wished it was so), she began to hurriedly make herself ready. As she began to pick out something to wear, she was again stymied, and looked once again at the offending invitation. ~It doesn't say what type of attire to wear.~ She thought calmly. ~So what does that usually mean?~ Her closet was frighteningly bare of attire- at least to face things such as this. She finally settled on a black dress that Tatjana had made for her. It was supposedly very elegant, and could be worn to most functions without being too dressed up or down- very important to Amba who didn't pay attention to these things normally. One arm- the one without the tattoo, was fully covered, while the other was not- and the bare flesh continued to her upper shoulder, showing more of the tattoo, but stopped short of showing anything other than the shoulder. Her hair, she left free, pulling it back from her face over her shoulders to show off the platinum earrings she chose. Other than that, she kept it simple. Also for the fact that she was having a hard time finding *anything* as she began to feel the pangs of nervousness come upon her again. Barely any time to spare, she looked at herself in the full length mirror to make sure that nothing was out of place and she didn't forget anything *too* embarrassing. Satisfied with what she saw, she took some deep breaths to calm her down a bit. "This will be fine. I will be fine. If I'm wrong then, it's his fault for not specifying better, right?" She looked in the mirror again. "No, it will be my fault- I have to find something better!" She began to retreat again to her closet, before remembering the time. "I don't have time!" Taking deep breaths again, she was finally able to calm herself enough to take her leave, meeting the swan again at the lake. "I am ready," she said as she seated herself. Riding a swan in the air, she discovered, was a little like riding a lean, fast horse. That flew. That soared ... It was exhilarating to rise so high above Chaos ... When Amba first came to Chaos, she had been overwhelmed by the changing environs of the Ways of Chaos. But over time, she had come to enjoy the dynamic nature of the world around her. Indeed, it had several times been the subject of her paintings. Now, again, she saw something totally new. The patchwork nature of the Ways was very obvious from this height, as they flew from the snowy lands where she stayed to a heavily forested area, where she saw small creatures scurry back and forth spinning some substance from their bodies into structures. The forest abruptly gave way to a savannah, where creatures that resembled tigers raced through the high purple grasses, seemingly playing with no purpose. Suddenly, she had to fight a wave of vertigo, trying to keep her balance as the swan had to make a sudden righting of itself as the very gravity changed directions. The ground seemed to skew crazily as structures of some unknowable substance jutted out from it at random angles, clawing at the sky, or what passed for it. After that bit of shadow, the gravity righted itself, and she began to once again see signs of movement in the distance as the shadows resolved themselves in her vision. She tried to focus on what she saw, but it was like the shadows in the edge of her vision- she could not force the ephemeral visions to solidify. Then suddenly they did, into a dizzying array of streamers stringing from the sky into the void below. As the swan flew further, she could see that what she took for streamers were actually walkways, and beings of all sorts walked upon them- humanoid and non as they moved along their business. Gossamer like strands connected the walkways into an unfathomable approximation of a city. It was at this point that she noticed the swan was actually heading towards one of the walkways, beginning it's descent... It was close to a rather unusual building, seen from the air. It seemed to be a series of cubes piled one on top of another in a crazy, hard to understand pattern .... And as she approached closer and closer it just seemed crazier ... http://googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=1160&c=&t=k&hl=en&ll=51.920341,4.490324&z=19 And then the swan was on ground level and preening, and Amba could see for herself Lord Despil's Ways ... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/nl/4/4e/Meet041127c. jpg The separate cubes seemed to be bowing down to her, each one painted in different colours, looking like a child's building bricks, arranged at a variety of crazy angles. Amba being safely deposited, the swan stretched its wings and flew off, leaving Amba to make her own way into the strange building ... Looking upward, Amba stared in awe for a few minutes, wandering around the base of the structure. She had never seen such a sight! Finally, she pulled her thoughts away from looking at the structure, to attempting to find an entry into it. Looking at the pillars holding the boxes in the air, she noted that some of them had doors in them, so she found the closest one that had a portal, and went to it, attempting to gain entry. There were various doors of different hues. The one she had chosen was a cherry red and, as she approached it, she realised that what had locked like solid wood was, in fact, a spatial problem that would need to be solved before the door could be opened. Behind her, she head the snortting a a hell horse bringing a carriage to a halt. Amba regarded the problem, concentrating on the puzzle until the carriage came to a complete stop and she heard the door open. Then she turned around to see whom it was that was arriving. END OF THREAD.
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