CorrinoConversationsIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | PreGameLogs | CorrinoConversations When Claudio arrived at the Corrino Ways, invitation in hand, Delluth met him in the wide, elaborately decorated atrium. "I'm glad you could come," he informed the younger man. "So am I," answered Claudio, grinning at him. "Do I have you to thank, Doctor, or...? Well, I suppose it's best not to be too sure." It was one of the few times since Claudio's childhood that Delluth had seen him without his artist's satchel, though of course he carried his decorated walking stick. He wore his House colors of dark green and bronze in a faintly bohemian style, which somehow suited him. "I think Lady Irulan likes to hear more than one recommendation," he answered Claudio's comment. "Come on, I'll tell you about some of the people who might be there." Delluth led the way through the usual array of rooms and places, issuing generous comments on the ladies and gentlemen who often attended Irulan's salons. "And here's where Lady Irulan's private Ways begins," he said at last, pausing to nod to the two uniformed guards standing on either side of a wide, wooden door carved in diamond-shaped panels, which opened for him without any visible reason for doing so. Within, the theme of carved wood continued in shoulder-high wainscoting in a long hallway, which was lighted by a row of skylights. Sounds of conversation and laughter issued from a door that stood open partway up the hallway. Claudio looked about him interestedly as they proceeded along the hallway. "Do you come here often?" he asked Delluth. "I know you spend most of your time in Amber now." "Now and then. With time passing more slowly in Amber, from my perspective the time I spend in each place is closer to equal than you'd think." He paused at the doorway and glanced down at Claudio. "Ready?" "Certainly," replied Claudio, drawing himself up a little. A smile played about his lips as he added, "I can hardly wait. Think what a picture it will make." "Hadn't thought of it that way," Delluth murmured, smiling, and led the way in. The room was high-ceilinged, as was common in House Corrino, and the walls were covered in green silk striped with gold. Several chandeliers glowed with sorcerous light, which fell equally on some fifteen members of both greater and lesser Houses, standing or seated in upholstered chairs around small tables. The carpet underfoot featured a sinuous pattern of black over squares of two shades of green. On the far side of the room, open double doors led onto another room, where more people could be seen moving about. A demon in Corrino livery approached them. "My lords, would you like something to drink?" "Brandy, please, Joso," Delluth said. "White wine, if you would be so good," Claudio requested. While he scanned the assembly for faces he recognized, he said to Delluth, "I take it we should greet our hostess before we proceed to lesser introductions." "Exactly," Delluth said. "But it looks like she's in the Fountain Hall, so we'll have to forge through all this." So saying, he started off toward the other doors. Most of the people they passed gave him a nod or a friendly greeting, and a curious glance at Claudio. There were a few whom Claudio recognized, from either social or professional connections, and with whom he exchanged nods and smiles of silent greeting; but now was not the time to linger. The doors led on to a much brighter and larger room, paved and partly walled in white/off-white marble, washed in a bluish color from the frosted-glass ceiling high overhead. As they entered, the blue light began to give way, at their left, to a yellowish-orange, which crept across the skylight toward their right. In the center of the hall was an oval basin, in which a white marble sculpture of a nude male and female stood arm-and-arm with their feet in the water, looking upward toward the skylight and the gentle rainfall that emerged from mid-air above their heads to spatter on them and into the pool. After that, Claudio noticed that a half-dozen works of art adorned the walls, each done in shades of white that picked up the colors streaming through the skylight, just as all the marble did. It was visually impressive, Claudio decided, but he wondered how well it would work for conversation. All those echoes, not to mention the background noise... Though if one wanted to converse without being overheard by anyone more than a few feet away, it was ideal. "There she is," Delluth said. Claudio dragged his attention away from the setting and followed him along a path between small bistro tables and chairs. There were about another twenty people in here, far less than the hall could hold, but it was a colder space and full of echoes. Irulan sat in one of the chairs, beautiful and resplendent in a layered ivory-colored gown, talking with a man and a woman wearing what seemed, in the difficult light, to be House Baccaran colors. They broke off their talk as Delluth and Claudio approached. "My lady," Delluth said, bowing slightly to her. "Here is Claudio Barimen." The other two seemed to recognize Delluth, and looked at Claudio with interest. Claudio made a deeper, more formal bow than Delluth, and mindful of the rules of etiquette his parents had instilled in him nearly since birth, waited for the lady to address him before he spoke himself. But as he straightened, his grey eyes met Irulan's without a trace of bashfulness. There was the trace of a smile in them, as well as frank curiosity. Irulan looked at Claudio for a moment, a cool gaze without judgement, but with consideration in her steady dark eyes. She looked young -- almost younger than Claudio himself, but grave to the point of sternness. But then, suddenly, her face relaxed into a smile, and it was as though the parti-coloured skies of Chaos had turned to reveal their sunniest face. "Claudio Barimen," she repeated. "Welcome to my Ways." "Thank you, my lady," he answered. The smile in his eyes responded to hers by spreading across the rest of his face. "I am honored to be here." "I have heard much of your talents," she said, with a glance and a slight smile for Delluth. "And from several sources too. I trust that at some time soon I might have an opportunity of seeing your work for myself." "I would be happy to give you a sample at any time you wish, my lady," Claudio responded. Delluth, who had relaxed just a fraction when Irulan smiled, grinned at this. "A sample?" echoed Irulan. "I was thinking more along the lines of an exhibition." "Ah. Well, that would be a =large= sample," said Claudio, with an irrepressible twinkle. Irulan smiled again. "Perhaps," she said, "you would like to meet Stempel de Croisette." One of the most famous miniaturists in Chaos -- and just as famously reclusive. "That would be fascinating," Claudio agreed, adding with the trace of a laugh in his voice, "I can think of a million questions I'd like to ask him, but I'd settle for fewer." "I saw him on our way in," Delluth volunteered. "Really? He's here?" Claudio exclaimed, surprised. "Isn't that funny-- I'd know one of his works in a moment, but I don't know the man himself by sight." "He'd call that a benefit of being a recluse, I'm sure," Delluth said dryly. "Perhaps, Delluth, you might introduce Claudio to him," suggested Irulan. "Tell him ... tell him that Irulan believes he would enjoy meeting with a young admirer -- who has promised faithfully not to overwhelm him with questions." There was a hint of a laugh in her voice as she glanced at Claudio, who was not her junior by very many years as the skies turned. Claudio caught both the laugh and the glance, and wondered with a certain answering amusement whether Irulan spoke from experience. "I'd be delighted to, my lady," Delluth said, with another slight bow; but before they left, he politely greeted the two Baccarans by name and introduced them to Claudio. Claudio acknowledged the introduction, wondering idly what the relationship might be between these Baccarans and the Lady Paloma who was Ingrey's superior. As he bowed his farewell to Irulan and went off with Delluth, the next arrivals were already greeting their hostess. Stempel de Croisette was more polite about the introduction than his reputation suggested, but then, if he was going to come to a social function he had to expect this. He seemed willing enough to chat with the young artist about Art. Delluth listened for a few minutes, then made a barely-noticed excuse and wandered off to find a less technical conversation, or at least one that was technical in a field he understood better. "Good Turning, Doctor." Dressed in a dark, wine purple shirt accented with white, and white pants trimmed in gold as well, the man was dressed formally in Wererathe's colors with the addition of the gold to the ensemble. He gave a bow of the head to Delluth. "Ingrey of House Wererathe." he said, giving an inclination of the head. He gave a motion of his head to where Claudio was engaged with Stempel. "I see we have a mutual acquaintance, Claudio, at the very least." A pair of crossed quills, one in yellow gold and one made out of glossy black hematite, formed a badge on the corner of his shirt, a formal indication of his status as a member of the Embassy corps in the Courts. "I've known Claudio since he was a child," Delluth agreed, with a don't-I-know-you? expression. "Wererathe ..." he added thoughtfully. "I'm almost sure I've seen you around Amber." He himself was wearing an outfit in dark red and dark blue, in a slightly out of date style, as if he had simply picked whatever appealed to him when he looked in his closet. Which he had."Of course." Ingrey gave a grazing nod of the head. "I serve her Excellency Paloma Baccaran in the Embassy. You are attached to the University, correct...?" Ingrey gave a discreet pause to allow him to supply his name and title, or a use name, as he choose. "Yes, I'm Professor there, Doctor here, and otherwise known as Delluth Telutci Corrino," he said cheerfully. "Delluth for short. And I'm glad to know my memory isn't playing tricks on me." Ingrey chuckled. "Yes, your specialties tend toward the apothecarial, with an emphasis on Poisons, yes? I seem to recall that a couple of years ago, you visited the Embassy on her Excellency's request for some matter for which I did not have the rank to inquire about." "I am not yet her primary servitor." Ingrey said with a half smile. "Still, you haven't been that frequent a visitor to the Embassy, have you?" "No, I haven't," he agreed, shrugging. "I've calculated the number of official functions I need to attend to make sure no one forgets I exist, while not giving the impression that I want to actually be involved in anything political. Seems to be working so far, I'm happy to say, and leaves me plenty of time for my own pursuits." He sipped from the brandy snifter he had been brought. "You, though, sound like you have ambitions." Ingrey looked around and motioned for one of the demons of Corrino to approach for a drink of his own. In the meantime, he shook his head lightly. "That depends entirely on your definition of the word ambition, Professor." he said with a smile. "I daresay that asking ten people here what the word means to them would provide at least a dozen answers." "True, true," Delluth agreed. "Put that way, I suppose one could say my ambition is to be left alone to do my research. Which I daresay will never be fully realized, but one can hope. How about you - Counselor, isn't it?" "Rising to the rank of Counselor might be considered an ambition of mine." Ingrey replied. "At least in the medium term. Currently, I am a First Secretary under Her Excellency." "I now have enough rank that my visits back to the Courts can be more than simple vacations." Ingrey added. "But not so much as to have a nice office." "Ah yes," Delluth smiled, "the small triumphs of a bureaucratic career." This was said without contempt - more as if he knew something about it. "Fortunately my University appointment was straight to full professor, and my regular sabbaticals keep me out of a lot of the infighting there. Though I'm not sure any of the offices qualifies as 'nice.'" "Every bureaucracy has its challenges." Ingrey agreed. "If I were so inclined as to write a monograph, its possible that a monograph by myself on the subject might garner me an honorary degree of some sort from the University." "Some shadows are even worse." Ingrey added with a smile. Smoothly, he reached for the glass of wine that the Corrino demon now at his elbow proffered to him on a tray. "If you can imagine that." "Oh, I can," the Professor said. "I haven't really pursued bureaucracy as a major skill, but the medical administrations have been rather troublesome, in a few of the shadows I've spent time in." Ingrey now smiled. "Indeed. Sometimes, though, my methods are not...bureaucratic. Tell me, Doctor, are you acquainted with Larissa Ericsdottir, known better as Larissa Rohl?" "Only in passing. I limit my contact with the Court, too. Though I have consulted for that company of hers a few times - suspected contamination of shipments, that sort of thing. They seem to take fair dealing very seriously." Ingrey nodded seriously. "She does at that, especially from what I understand of her origins. In any event, my point was that, early on in meeting Larissa, she remarked that I once engaged in what she called two-fisted diplomacy." "But, by the Serpent, it worked." Delluth laughed. "If it works, it works," he said. "I've encountered people who needed a few blows to the head before they could see reason." "And here I thought, given your profession, talent and proclivities, that you would appreciate more subtle methods." Ingrey replied. "Oh, I wasn't talking about *peers,*" he said. "Subtlety must be reserved for them, of course." His pleasant expression didn't waver when he said this "Just how large is your portfolio when it comes to the Art of Poisoning, if I might ask?" Ingrey enquired. "I of course learned about them, and have immunity to the basic ones, as any well educated scion of Chaos does, but I understand the subject is far vaster than the modicum of knowledge that I have been given." "Large enough," he answered the question. "There's the whole range of poisons designed to overcome a shapeshifter's skills, for example; naturally they're each a closely-held secret." He paused to sip his brandy. "I studied with Skelton Corrino, of course, and what he doesn't know about poisons isn't worth knowing. Or hasn't been invented yet." Ingrey's eyebrows rose at the name of Skelton. "Now he *is* a legend. The Poison Mistress for Wererathe, Syanda, has wished to learn from him for years." He looked at Delluth speculatively. "You certainly know how to name-drop, Doctor." He shook his head, smiling. "It's hardly a secret. And it does answer your question rather succinctly - not that I've actually learned *everything* he knows, I'm sure. That's the work of a lifetime I haven't lived yet." Just then Claudio came over to them with his quick, uneven step, having finally relinquished Stempel de Croisette's attention to some more recent arrivals. As far as Delluth could tell, he was carrying the same glass of white wine he'd obtained early on in the party, and it was still almost half full. "There you are, Doctor. Good turning, Ingrey," he greeted the other man with a smile. "Claudio." Ingrey permitted a brief full smile when Claudio came over to the Doctor and the Diplomat. "Good Turning, indeed. The good Doctor and I were just getting acquainted but your company is quite welcome, with or without a Tarocchi deck in hand." "Ah, so that's how you know each other!" Delluth said. "Do you know, he played that 'Oh, do teach me how to play this game' trick on me, and I fell for it?" Claudio laughed. "But you did teach me!" he protested. "I'm just a quick study." Delluth just chuckled affectionately and shook his head. Ingrey gave a grazing nod of the head and his mouth quirked upward in a brief grin. "I would not impugn the honor of either of you and so will not offer an opinion on the validity of Claudio's words." "Since card playing does not seem to be one of the entertainments of the evening, it's a moot point," said Claudio, smiling. "Now that is a salient point and question since I am not yet of sufficient rank to be often invited into the personal Ways of our hostess to have a good notion of them." he regarded both men and smiled in a slightly deprecating manner. "What sort of entertainments, do you think, will be expected?" "Cards are perfectly possible, later on," Delluth said. "First, we can expect a little food, light things, and then there might be poetry or music or some sort of art exhibition. Or something more intellectual, you never know what. Lady Irulan will let us know when it's time for whatever she has planned. She never tells anyone in advance, so it's always a surprise." "The anticipation of surprise can be pleasant or unpleasant, depending on its nature." Ingrey said. "Although I have never heard anything untoward about the Lady's tastes." "I enjoy surprises," Claudio agreed, "as long as they're pleasant ones." He did not mention that he also liked to be the one doing the surprising; but Ingrey knew that perfectly well. Delluth considered Ingrey for a moment; the fellow talked like he was allergic to coming to the point, but he might have something to say worth hearing. "So tell me, First Secretary, what do you think of Amber?" "Now that is a broad question." Ingrey said with a bit of a smile. "Would you like to be more specific or were you looking for a general overview of my opinion of the soi-distant Eternal City?" Ingrey asked Delluth. "I was wondering what you'd say," the Professor admitted, grinning. "Please just extemporize on the subject, if you will." Claudio said nothing, but he looked at Ingrey with obvious interest. Ingrey nodded to Delluth and took a few seconds. The preparation and consideration was evident in his unchanging blue eyes. "Are you familiar with fractals, Doctor?" Ingrey enquired of Delluth. "I am sure that our mutual acquaintance, and daresay, friend artist here certainly is." Ingrey gave a nod to Claudio. Claudio nodded back, comprehendingly. "The Courts of Chaos follow a fractal pattern, limitless complexity no matter at what level of resolution that you care look at it. Houses, rituals, studies, politics, arts." Ingrey smiled briefly. "Even individuals, especially shapeshifters." "Amber is a broken piece off of the Courts of Chaos and like its sire, has many similarities along this pattern. It is different and unique, as it has grown along its own lines, but the fractal nature of Amber cannot be denied. It, too, has complexity at all levels, often with parallels to Chaos." "For example, a dissolute King now reigns in Amber, and a Prime Minister rules. Is this any different than Emperor Quillas, who was little more than a puppet for the Beddict brothers of House Ysarn five centuries ago?" "Amber has a Power at its heart, even if it is capped. Amber has a god, even if it is not Ours. While the land and sea, and terrain are unchanging, perhaps stifilingly so, I am a diplomat, and it is the people that interest me most, and they strongly remind me of the Courts. Amber has its people and its nobles, a set which, if you bodily placed them as a House of Chaos, would hardly be out of place." "And why should they be?" Claudio put in. "They are a House of Chaos." "They see it differently. Some might consider it an insult. As it is, they are not often amused when I slip and use Chaosian forms of address, even if it's out of respect." Ingrey replied. Claudio arched an eyebrow. "Somehow I think they might be even more insulted by your characterization of Amber as a 'broken piece' of Chaos. Derived from it, yes... but would you refer to a child as a piece broken from a parent, or a work of art from its creator?" Ingrey made a motion of his head to suggest that he might discuss the point later with Claudio, and then continued. Claudio nodded his acquiescence to this. "Still, it is they, those I deal with, who keep my job fresh," Ingrey added. "I was wary of accepting my original position, but I am coming to terms with my service to Chaos in Amber. And there are enough Chaosians now in Amber to keep me from being *truly* homesick." "Does that answer your question?" Ingrey enquired of Delluth. "Indeed it does," he answered. "You echo some of my own thoughts, in fact. Though I don't find the place's landscape as unchanging as all that; it seems more like many rather slow variations on a theme, to me. "Seasons." Ingrey nodded in agreement. "I've traveled quite widely among the Shadows," Delluth added. "Some seem to have many elements of Chaos in them, some fewer. It is interesting." "Does that vary in proportion to their distance from the Courts or from Amber, respectively?" Claudio asked him. "Now you are getting perilously close to my maximum level of arcane education," Ingrey said dryly to Claudio. "However, its clear we still live in a bipolar multiverse...and there are...stories that there is another Pattern out there. Certainly, their interactions and how they influence the shadows between would be a frightful sort of indefinite calculus to compute. Not my specialty." "Particularly so, if the location of one of the poles is no longer precisely known," Claudio said. "Though if one were able to calculate from the other end..." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I've heard those stories too, about another Pattern," Delluth said. "To my mind, the question is whether it affects this cosmos at all, or whether it's created another, separate reality. Or set of realities, if you like. Our cosmos is not an infinite set. I favor the second cosmos theory, myself. If the new Pattern affected this cosmos at all, I think we would have noticed. I can't believe its existence wouldn't change things noticeably, if it did." He sipped his brandy. "Of course, if it had rewritten our reality, would we even be able to tell?" "Come to that, how would we be able to tell if the reality flux we call 'Patternfall' involved such a realignment or not?" said Claudio. "Since it wasn't something that had happened before, we have nothing to compare it with." "Singular events are difficult to measure, without frames of reference and prior experiences to go upon" Ingrey agreed. "It's a problem for Diplomacy, too, when you are dealing with a realm that you don't have knowledge of previous customs to go upon. So, too, something like what the universe experienced at Patternfall. Perhaps only the Serpent, or a being near His Power, can truly know." "Indeed," Delluth observed. "I have plenty of opinions about these things, but I know better than to really believe myself." The crowd in the parlor shifted then, as a group of others came in from the Fountain Room. Irulan appeared in the doorway. "Ladies and gentlemen," she said when she had most people's attention. "If you'll be so kind as to go to the music room, we'll have a bite to eat and an entertainment." "Doesn't necessarily mean it's music," Delluth murmured. "But one can hope." "Let's find out, shall we gentlemen?" Ingrey said as he moved to head toward the music room with Claudio and Delluth. |
