The guards hustled us into a greeting room, in which we met the girl Rhiannon. Her hair was violet (and naturally so) and she introduced herself as Llewella's daughter, ruling in her absence. Cecily was nominated to be our spokesperson (a position she has yet to fail in), but as she began to explain our presence, Rhiannon surprised us all by knowing who were were and why we had come. We were shown rooms and invited to a great fest that evening.
Looking back, I suppose the warning bells should have been going off in my head at that time.
*****
There is a definite trick in eating and drinking in an underwater environment -- I'm sure Rhiannon appreciated this, as we were given strangely-designed glasses which kept our drinks from bleeding away with the rest of the atmosphere. The meal was exquisite, and the wine amongst the best I'd ever tasted. Our host indicated that it had been imported in from the overland. After having a two glasses, I'd asked Rhiannon about the architecture of this land. Apparently Llewella had it crafted from the coral here in such a way as to appear totally natural. During this explanation, it seemed that a warm current flowed through the room.
As the dessert trays were brought out, I looked to my left to see Syrana face down on the table, slumped in her chair. I began to feel the lethargy myself -- I turned to Rhiannon with angry accusations of Poison! in my head, until I saw the servants sprawled on the floor as well. Before the darkness overcame me, I felt one of Fletcher's spells go awry, then nothing.
Someone was shaking me. My eyes stung at the light and the unfamiliar feel of water in my eyes; finally the blurred shape in front of me cleared enough to be recognizable as none other than Shen. I went to wake Syrana, and to size things up. Problem -- our host Rhiannon, Cecily, and Harrison were all missing. As Shen worked on reviving Fletcher and the others, I began humming a spellsong to bring a friend to me.
The water spirit was invisible save for a haze of turbulence in front of us. Again, I had to chuckle as Shen stood next to me, fascinated. I did confirm his question as to if this was the wind spirits -- not exactly, but close enough. I explained that the elements all have their own beings that exist within them. I commanded the elemental to seek out Rhiannon and my friends, and it was off again.
In deciding what to do next, Salome and Fletcher began their now-familiar arguments. I could only wonder at what had happened between them in the past -- from what I understood of the "gunslinger", she'd had to have done him a great wrong. My attention was suddenly brought to focus when Syrana spoke, reminding Fletcher that "Gerda had told her" and that "she knew." Knew what? What had Gerda whispered to her sister as she Trumped away? Fletcher look perturbed and Syrana frightened, a bit, and I wondered if it was a very dangerous game she was playing.
The elemental returned to report that it was able to find Rhiannon but not Cecily or Harrison, so we followed to the princess. On the way, Stark asked me about my methodology as to my magic, and I explained that my approach was unique -- much different from the mathematical stylings of Harrison, or the pagan/ritualistic bent of Fletcher's. She asked if there was anything I could teach her, and I said I would, when the chance came about. Shen also began asking about the water spirits, but we made it to Rhiannon (and her unlocked door) before it could go any further.
*****
To make a long story short, we found Rhiannon *and* her mother Llewella sleeping on a bed. Well, Rhiannon was on the floor, but in any case, we revived them both. Rhiannon did not reassure us with her initial explanation of letting the enemy get to our comrades, but Llewella's story backed her up -- Rhiannon's hands were tied. Llewella was more than willing (not necessarily happy) to help us track down Cecily and Harrison; after all, we'd been treated poorly as guests. She did promise that she would explain about Amber when and if we were successful, since she may only be able to explain one time, and one time only. Having been through this same experience with Greyson, we nodded assent.
We left Allemain and started traversing the Shadows only to run into our friends maybe an hour in to our journey. They'd escaped their captors. While I was interested in checking out the strange cabin with the chicken-leg supports, the others were not, and thus I sighed as we returned to Allemain.
*****
It was late into the evening before Llewella called her story to a halt, saying she'd pick things up in the morning. She pointed out the lead characters in the story -- Korbin, or "Corwin", Eric, Brand... and how there was a great war brought about with Chaos as Brand betrayed them all. Everyone's goal -- Chaos, those stricken with the curse -- is to return to Amber. The only one there may be their brother Gerard, who did not go to the Patternfall war.
There was much argument on that note. Fletcher argued that to go to Amber would reveal the way to our enemies as to how to get there. I figure it's going to happen eventually, so it may as well be us that gets there. Shen asked me if we should go to Amber and protect the Pattern there. My answer was simple -- some*thing* has brought us together; if it's not fated for us to go there, than our act of going there will bind us to protect it. It was not an issue with me -- I would continue to Amber, no matter what.
Back to Ill Communication
Ahead to The Heart of the Matter
Return to Diaries
Return to Griffin