Session 42: "Kidnapping the King's wife is not the way to get a favor."

	Lots of stuff is done over e-mail which the game log isn't
bothering to record.

	Claudio goes to Avalon looking for Corwin.  They chat about Orcs
and the Badlands, then Claudio returns to Amber.

	Sandr Trumps Laughter and asks for her help in dealing with a
"friend," who's got the hots real bad on another friend.  Apparently
Caitlin came to him all sad and depressed, and he wants a female to take
Caitlin out into Shadow to cheer up.  The only other female he knows is
Melanie, and well...  Laughter will take care of it.  Does anyone else
think this is a good idea?

	Melanie Trumps Sylvie and joins her on a boat.  Kaedric is there. 
Doh!  She asks Sylvie privately why she showed Kaedric her true form. 
Can't say.  Ask Kaedric.  She does.  He says it came up in conversation. 
Sure.  Melanie wonders what Sylvie is up to.  Kaedric says he is along for
curiosity.  Sylvie is seeing 24 Golden Circle countries in two days.

	Archi gets an intelligence report on an army marching from the
Badlands, consisting of a variety of motley creatures.  The are proceeding
slowly across Shadow.  Archi Trumps Benedict and fills him in.  Benedict
says Corwin's already fought off one such army.  Benedict plans to take a
small group out, including Mok and Laughter, the latter since they might
need a sorcerer.  Benedict asks Caitlin along, and has her tell Laughter. 
Benedict leads the Hellride, and they come across Claudio.  The situation
is explained, and he joins them.  They reach a cave, it splits off, the
group splits up.  Caitlin and Laughter remain behind with five guards.

	Laughter looks kind of nervous.  Caitlin asks what's wrong. 
Laughter asks if she wants to talk about, you know, girl things.  They
talk about her crush on Ulysses.  Laughter thinks it's impressive that
Ulysses hasn't taken any new lovers lately.  Benedict Trumps Caitlin and
tells her to come forward with Laughter, but leave the men behind. 
Caitlin relays this to Laughter.  Laughter points out that there are many
other men in Amber.  They move into the cave, down the corridor, and fall
down a Trump hole.

	Beauty falls asleep "afterwards" and snuggles into Ulysses arms. 
He gets dressed, sneaks out, and Trumps Sylvie for an update.  Twelve
Shadows down, no luck.  But she has company.  Kaedric, to be specific.  Of
course, they're not at that point.  Yet.  As for the cultists, no one's
ever heard of them.  Ulysses goes looking for everybody.  The King's in
his quarters, Benedict, Caitlin and Laughter are in Shadow, Claudio hasn't
been seen for days.  He knocks on Archi's door, and falls down a Trump
hole.  I'm sensing a trend here.

	Claudio and Mok return to find no Laughter.  Claudio Trumps Archi
and asks where she is.  He thought she was with Benedict.  His ring can't
find her.  He grabs Song and the Jewel and comes through.  There is a
tremor.  Claudio is Trumped by Benedict, who asks if he's on the other
side of the cave in.  What cave in?  The one that blocked them off.  Are
his daughter and the Queen there?  Nope.  Mok is set to bringing
Benedict's men through, while Archi and Claudio investigate the cave in. 
Archi begins using Song to get through the eight or ten feet of rock. 
There's no bodies on the other side.  Archi Trumps Ulysses, who doesn't
answer.  Benedict joins him and explains that the cavern can only be
surveyed so far without running into the army.

	Claudio Trumps Sand and asks for her help in locating the Queen. 
She comes through and is updated.  She determines that a Trump hole opened
up, but she can't trace it, since it goes through the Badlands.  Archi
asks if there's any way to block Trump holes.  A device like Claudio's
might help, but maybe not, since they tend to rely on gravity.  Who can do
it?  Anyone who can determine where the victim is going to be and open a
Trump gate.  Time magic is helpful, but if the location is well planned
out in advance...  It's hard to say who did it, since any number of
shapeshifters are capable of disguising their Trump signature.  They go
back to Amber.

	Caitlin lands on her feet, Laughter is nowhere to be found.  She
is in a castle, surrounded by men and women, one of whom is holding a
Trump.  They are dressed in white robes.  Caitlin draws her swords.  A
woman says there's no need for that.  They are the Jezetti.  Laughter is
safe, they've brought her there to educate her.  They believe her mother
was one of them.  She was the woman's sister, to be precise.  Caitlin
wants to see Laughter.  She's indisposed at the moment, but Caitlin may
see her.  They want to educate Caitlin, but Laughter is just there for a
visit.  Who are they?  Well, in the common language of Amber, they are
called Hellmaids, the Jezetti being of the Hendrake branch.  Hellmaids are
the fighting arm of Chaos.  Caitlin points out that Amber is not
affiliated with Chaos.  Neither are the Jezetti, any longer.  Caitlin is
brought to a room where Laughter is sleeping.  The Trump field that took
her was of a different nature, since they wanted to speak to Caitlin
first.  Caitlin will listen, but wants to stay with Laughter.  The woman
advises her not to disturb Laughter's rest, since it's the best rest she's
likely to get until Archi finds her.  Caitlin tries to Trump Archi and
fails.  They go into the antechamber to talk.  The Jezetti are among the
few remaining Hendrakes in this universe, after their Pattern was
destroyed by Caitlin's father.  They have no intention of harming her, or
the Queen.  They want Caitlin to stay with them for a few days.  Time
flows quickly here, so hardly any time will pass in Amber.

	Archi receives a message from a page that was delivered via Trump. 
Apparently the children are gone as well.  They will be returned in
exchange for the Jewel.  Ulysses and Laughter will be returned when they
are finished with it, and Caitlin will be returned to Benedict.  Archi
heads to the Pattern room.

	The Jezetti want the loan of Caitlin's blood and swords to help
them draw a Pattern.  Caitlin wants to discuss this with people from
Amber.  Like, the King, Fiona, etc.  Fiona is not acceptable, since she
might take it into her head to rescue them.  Sandr is acceptable, though. 
Caitlin agrees with this, and is told that Sandr's Trump will now work.

	Sandr takes the call, noticing that it is coming from somewhere
outside of the influence of Pattern.  Caitlin explains that she's with the
Queen, and they want to draw another Pattern.  Sandr foolishly agrees to
come through, providing he can leave.  The woman introduces herself as
Gillian.  Oh yeah, they'd like the Jewel of Judgment, too, but they're
taking steps to obtain that.  They only need what is safe to donate over
the span of three or four days.  They don't need a whole Pattern, after
all.  Caitlin wants the Queen released.  Gillian says that's one of the
conditions for getting the Jewel.  Caitlin tells Sandr to tell Benedict
and Archi what's going on.  Sorry, but Sandr can't leave until it's over. 
He asks to Trump Melanie to have her watch his kid.  This is allowed. 
Sandr Trumps Melanie and tells her to watch Nadine.  He also psychically
indicates that he's being held in the Badlands as a technical consultant
by the Hendrakes, and that Caitlin and Laughter are there.

	Ulysses wakes up, finds Laughter, wakes her up, and they levitate
out of the window.  Trump doesn't work, and bringing Pattern to mind
hurts.  Ulysses notices the Trump call going out from Sandr.  Laughter
things the talking bones might work, but not across Shadow.  She can't
find Archi via her ring, either.  Ulysses leads her away from the castle. 
Eventually they reach the edge and find lots of Logrus.  They walk around
for an hour and come back to where they started.  Laughter begins using
the talking bones.  She determines that there are lots of women wearing
white robes over serious kick-ass armor, along with Caitlin, Sandr, and
her children.  They turn invisible, she teleports them in, they grab the
kids, and teleport out.  Night begins to fall.

	Gillian suggests that Caitlin go and retrieve his Queen, so she
doesn't sleep outdoors.  She explains that Laughter woke up.  Sandr
creates a mirror portal between Caitlin and Ulysses.  Caitlin explains
that the Hellmaids want them to come inside.  This alone makes Ulysses
inclined to stay outside, however they eventually wind up joining the
indoor crowd.  During the conversation, Ulysses asks Caitlin if he can
have one of her Pattern blades, which Caitlin agrees to, if he promises
not to kill her aunt.  Yeah, right.  Ulysses takes the sword and tries to
attack Gillian.  She reads his intent and draws, suggesting that he really
doesn't want their swords to meet.  Ulysses gives the sword to Laughter,
who attacks.  Not only is Laughter a better fighter, she never promised
not to kill anyone.  Caitlin tries to stop this and is parried.  She asks
Laughter not to kill her aunt.  Laughter begins muttering a spell and
tells Ulysses to take Caitlin out.  Ulysses decks Caitlin, and knocks her
out.  This bodes ill for their future relationship.  Ulysses kicks some
serious ass for a while, until he is taken down by a horde of demons
piling on him.  Sandr entertains the babies while Laughter and Gillian
square off.  Laughter wimps out and surrenders, since there's no way out. 
The unconscious ones are dragged off.  Gillian welcomes Laughter as the
Head of House Halybard.

	Archi runs into Claudio on his way down to the Pattern room, and
shows him the note.  He tells Claudio to follow him and walks the Pattern
with the Jewel, absorbing as much energy as possible there.  Then he
teleports to the Primal Pattern, sucks up energy from there as well.

	Melanie Trumps Benedict and says she has some idea where his
daughter is.  He tells her to wait a moment, then pulls her through to
Amber.  She asks if Archi won't be upset.  Benedict figures Archi's rather
busy walking the Pattern at the moment.  Melanie tells him what she
learned from Sandr.  He says he'll remember this, and she leaves.

	Ulysses wakes up in the same room as he did before, and finds
Laughter sleeping in the same room as before.  Deja-vu.  He reaches for
the ring, which wakes her up.  She updates him.  Ulysses wanders around
exploring.  Caitlin wakes up and wakes Sandr up.  Then she explains to
Laughter why she tried to stop her, and what Gillian wants.  Laughter
thinks this will give the Hendrakes a base of operations to move against
Amber.  She decides to talk to Gillian.  They all basically hang out for
ten days, while Caitlin is bled and they wait for the Jewel.  After day
three, Ulysses sticks his foot out over the edge, into the Logrus.  It
hurts like a bitch, and he gets a mild case of Logrus madness.

	Archi pictures his children in his mind, makes Pattern work there,
and goes there.  Meanwhile, Claudio is walking the Kolvir Pattern.  The
Pattern dims around him, and he falls to his knees in agony as all the
energy is drained out of him.  He passes out.  Eddie freaks for a minute,
and tells Melanie of the power drain it detected.  In the Hellmaid place,
there is a flash, the floor drops ten feet, and Pattern turns on.  Archi
appears next to Sandr, and goes to town.  Ulysses alters the place so that
Pattern-based Trump works, and shuts everything else down.  Sandr opens
pits of hell.  Ulysses opens Trump holes and deposits Sandr (with one
baby) and Laughter (with the other) back in Amber.  Melanie monitors
things with Eddie.  Ulysses edits Pattern such that Hendrakes are
paralyzed, and Archi beheads them all.  Benedict suffocates Gillian and
asks if there's any reason to keep her alive.  Nope, Archi declares her
live as forfeit.  Caitlin's protestations are ignored, as Archi breaks her
neck and then beheads her.  They return to Amber.

	Benedict talks quietly with Caitlin.  He's done worse.  He had to
kill his brothers at the King's command.  The only person Benedict won't
kill is his daughter, but don't make him tell Archi that.  Caitlin Trumps
Ulysses and asks him not to tell Archi that she stepped in between
Laughter and Gillian.  Ulysses figures he owes her that much after
screwing her over on the promise not to kill her aunt, and then decking
her.

	Laughter updates Archi, Ulysses updates Beauty.  Laughter doesn't
mention the fight, and thinks it's interesting that Gillian recognized her
as the Head of House Halybard and not the Queen of Amber.

	Caitlin Trumps Sandr and repeats the same request.  She's afraid
of being branded a traitor.  And we all knows what happens to traitors.

	Ulysses verifies that these white robes aren't the same as the
cultists.

	Melanie shows Sandr that the Primal Pattern is not back to its
normal levels.  They go to the Primal Pattern, and Melanie is knocked out. 
Sandr observes that the Pattern was drained to provide the energy to
stabilize that portion of the Badlands.  It should recover in a few days. 
He brings Melanie back to Intellex.

	Archi Trumps Ulysses to ask him to track down Claudio.  Ulysses
can't reach him.  The guards say he disappeared ten minutes after he fell
unconscious.  Basically, the Pattern went dark, when it came back, he was
gone.

	Claudio wakes up in a bed, with his ring, but not much else.  The
room is dark.  He tries the door, and finds Abigail sitting in a chair. 
He leaps for her, but hits a force wall.  Abigail is unamused.  He begins
pounding on it.  This accomplishes nothing, so he rips the door off.  She
points out that she rescued him from certain death, so he could be a
little more grateful.  She has his stuff, but he can't get it back until
she leaves.  Why was he lying unconscious on his Pattern?  He says it
seemed like a good idea at the time.  She complains that she tries to do
one good deed...  He argues that she tricked him into fighting the
rightful king.  She tells him that Archi is not the rightful king, he's a
murderer and rapist.  He calls her a Shadow and is knocked out for his
troubles.

	Melanie and Sandr analyze Eddie's data.  The small part of the
Badlands is now stables, as is a part of the Atherton Pattern.  Melanie
Trumps Sand, but can't get through.  Same with Fiona.  Sandr reaches
Fiona, and eventually relays Melanie's plan, which involves using the Eye
and the Jewel to repel each other, and therefore the universes they are
in.  Fiona says Melanie will die if she's wrong.  Whatever.  They discuss
how to implement this.

	Claudio wakes up, and Abigail sends him back to the remains of the
Hellmaid place.  He Trumps Ulysses and goes through.  Ulysses Trumps
Sylvie, who's found nothing more on the Cult of the King, so she comes
through with Kaedric.

	Ulysses looks for the Eye, but House Wickling no longer has it. 
It's not in this universe, or the Atherton one, either.

	Caitlin is told of a royal family member at the front gate.  Her
name is Sarah, and she looks much like Ulysses.  Caitlin Trumps Laughter,
who chuckles and decides it's a matter for Archi, so she brings Caitlin
through.  Archi dumps the matter in Ulysses' hands.  Caitlin Trumps
Ulysses, and says there's someone she wants him to meet.  She hands the
Trump to Sarah, and the contact breaks.  Caitlin grabs her hand and
reopens the contact.  Ulysses can tell that she's an Amberite.

	Claudio Trumps Melanie and tells her of his Abigail encounter.  He
wants to go after her.  Melanie is all for that.  Claudio speaks with
Kaedric next.  He wants to learn how to penetrate Abigail's force wall,
even if it means learning sorcery.  Kaedric is more than willing to teach
him.  Claudio tells him about the Friday night gatherings that he goes to
with Mok, Sky, Merlin and Caitlin, and also mentions that Melanie is
willing to help find Abigail.  Kaedric thinks Melanie would sell her soul
to kill Abigail.

	Sarah chats with her dad.  She's from a Golden Circle kingdom,
called Assysla.  He leaves her to Caitlin while he finishes up his Eye
Hunt (TM).  Caitlin dumps her in Ulysses' room, where she is joined five
minutes later by Dad and family.

	Laughter missed Archi a lot, but he's prepared for rain, if you
know what I mean.

	Eddie picks up a fluctuation.  One of the universes is gone. 
Maron's.  No sign of him, Eve, or the Eye.  Melanie and Sandr teleport to
Ygg, but still can't find them.  Archi notices that the Jewel feels
righter.  It is also noticed that the Primal Pattern's energy level has
risen to much nearer normal, most likely because of the Halybard
universe's destruction.


Quotables:

"This is a Laughter type of problem." -- Sandr
"It's certainly phrased in Laughter-type language." -- Kris

"(Caitlin) is going to need to go out into Shadow and..." -- Sandr
"Kill some stuff?" -- Laughter

"I understand that (Ulysses) has children, and that he's involved with
other people." -- Caitlin
*snicker* -- Laughter

"So, where is everybody?" -- Ulysses
"Who are you looking for?" -- GM
"Everybody." -- Ulysses

"It's helpful if they have time maggots.  Magic.  It's helpful if they
have time maggots." -- GM to Archi, after too little sleep and too much
caffeine

"All of the people that you've been trying to slice up can't move now." -- GM
"OK, I'll do some merciful beheading." -- Archi

"When is the world going to realize that kidnapping the King's wife is not
the way to get a favor?" -- Dann to the group at large

"The way I understand it, the entrance to (Ulysses') room was like a
rotating door." -- Dwinn to Dann

"This game is just not PG-13." -- Dwinn to the group at large

"I recall you grabbing me and sticking your tongue half-way down my
throat." -- Caitlin to Sandr

"I'm homosexual and in a happy relationship." -- Sandr to Caitlin
"Yeah, that's why you stuck your tongue down her throat." -- Kris