Session 47: "Let sleeping otters lie."

	Sandr Trumps Joseph, and blabs that the Pattern has been damaged,
and he's missing his Pattern.  It's only been five minutes since Sandr
last called, so Joseph isn't worried.  He doesn't know who was killed on
the Pattern.

	Ulysses is sleeping in Eudoxus, his Shadow, when he wakes up to
weird breathing at four in the morning.  The shape in bed next to him
doesn't look quite like Beauty.  It's an otter.  Ulysses decides it's much
too early in the morning for this, and goes back to sleep.

	Back in Amber, Archi works out early, then has an appointment with
Fiona.  She's found a breach in Inter-Shadow, and can access it fully now. 
She's using a place that Abigail used a little too often.  She isn't
planning to go in there, of course, until she's made some preparations,
and brought along some assistance.  The name Benedict is dropped, and
Archi feels much better.

	Aelle wakes up, just after dawn, and so does Caitlin.  Caitlin
explains that Gillian is dead.  Aelle is not pleased with Archi.  She asks
if the Jezetti took care of Caitlin, like they promised to.  Well... 
Aelle was kicked out of the Jezetti for sleeping with a man.  It is Nai
Tal, unavoidable.  Caitlin explains that there are no more Jezetti.  She
feels sick again, which Aelle notices.  She asks if Caitlin is Nai Tal. 
Yep.  Caitlin offers Aelle some of her clothes, and Aelle chooses
something leather and tight.  Now all she needs are weapons.  She promises
that she won't harm the populace, the King, the Queen, etc.  She'd rather
not see Benedict, given that he killed Lintra, the other Hellmaid who
slept with him, for chopping his arm off.

	Melanie asks Kaedric if he's heard of Joseph.  All he knows is
that Joseph is Benedict's brother.  After he leaves, she looks for her
corset, but can't find one.  She can't find one anywhere, so she has one
made in Chantille Vale.  She is not pleased with Kaedric.

	Sandr eats breakfast with Nadine, who picks his pockets and
demands blueberry pancakes.  He gets the chef to make her some.

	Claudio, Corwin and Sky spend the night with Sky's family in
Shadow.  Claudio wakes up to find a rattlesnake in his bed.  He hits it
once, which stuns it, then scrambles away.  Sky's family snickers. 
Claudio goes riding, while Corwin beheads the snake.  They eat it for
breakfast.  Fiona arrives, and looks around with a disdainful air.  She's
going into Inter-Shadow, and wants the assistance of Sky and her suitors. 
They follow her.  Ten minutes later, Fiona tears apart Shadow, and there
is a white light in-between.  She suggests they begin looking for Shadows
of Melanie in there.  Claudio points out that Ghostwheel claimed there
were no Shadows of Melanie in Inter-Shadow.  It is at this point that
Inter-Shadow goes dark.

	Flynn asks to speak to Archi.  He wonders if it wouldn't make more
sense to have an heir raised in Amber.  Perhaps.  Flynn admits that he has
no desire to be king, but there's no one else he'd trust to do it, other
than Archi.  So, as Crown Prince, he'll consider it his duty to keep Archi
alive.  Archi calls in Bill Roth to witness Flynn's acceptance of the
title, along with Ulysses and Flora.  Ulysses is not in the castle, so
Archi Trumps him.  Ulysses answers, looking rather disheveled, with an
otter next to him in bed.  Archi grins and asks Ulysses to come through. 
Ulysses grumbles and does so, after first grabbing some Pop Tarts. 
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all.

	A small, white disk appears in front of Sandr.  It says it hasn't
chosen a name, but it kind of feels like Merlin.  Sandr suggests Tiberius. 
It likes this, and tells him that Anton is in Inter-Shadow, in plane
Alpha, to be more specific.  It can't rescue him, but it can send Sandr
there.  Sandr Trumps Melanie, and pulls her through.  She questions
Tiberius, who is made up of Merlin, Ghostwheel, and Eddie, among others. 
She insists that Sandr bring someone with him, and he picks Kaedric. 
Melanie Trumps Kaedric and brings him through.  He remarks on how she
managed to find a corset, and agrees to go with Sandr, since the
alternative is baby-sitting Nadine.  This happy task is left to Melanie. 
Never mind that she's still looking for Eve.

	Ulysses returns home, and watches the otter try to fill the
bathtub.  Beauty discovers that not having opposable thumbs makes this
task rather difficult.  Eventually, Ulysses lends a hand, so to speak.  He
proceeds to make several "otter" puns (which were much too bad to record
here, but you otter be able to figure it out yourself), and gets splashed
for his troubles.  Beauty knocks him to the floor, makes psychic contact,
and demands that he contact Mandor.  He does.  Mandor comes through, looks
appalled, shifts Beauty back, and suggests they begin her shapeshifting
lessons immediately.  She is quite pissed at Ulysses, and leaves Oriana
with him, while she visits her mother.

	Melanie tries to leave Nadine with Laughter, but she also has
things to do, so the child is dumped on Archi.  He conjures some blueberry
pancakes for her, and shows her some sleight-of-hand.  Beauty shows up
with a frown on her face, looking for Mandor.  She asks Laughter if she
just woke up a wolf one morning.  Well, yes.  They leave in search of
Mandor.

	Caitlin throws up again, over the battlements.  Aelle asks how
long ago she had sex, and if she threw up yesterday.  Yep.  Aelle suggests
that she may be pregnant.  Er.  Caitlin figures that nothing happened the
previous time she had sex, so why should this time be any different? 
Aelle realizes that her daughter needs some serious sex ed., and asks who
the father is.  Caitlin won't say.  Aelle mentions that there are ways to
stop unwanted pregnancies, but Caitlin doesn't want to deal with that yet. 
Aelle gets a blood sample, and determines that Caitlin is pregnant, and
the father was a close relative.  The child will have red hair.  Caitlin
asks a page to escort Aelle around.

	Corwin, Sky, Claudio, Kaedric, Sandr and Fiona find Eve's limp
body in Inter- Shadow.  They also find Anton.  The group returns to Amber,
which is deemed a safer place to deal with this whole mess.  It is somehow
determined that Delwin was possessing Eve.

	Claudio sticks close to Corwin, who sticks close Sky.  They eat,
and Claudio does his best to keep Corwin from being alone with Sky. 
Corwin begins to feel restricted by Claudio's presence.

	Kaedric Trumps Melanie, and tells her that Eve has been found. 
She finds Archi, who tells her that Delwin was possessing Eve.  He's
willing to hold his final decision on Eve until she's had a chance to
evaluate the girl.

	Sand chews Claudio out for bringing guns to Ixaxis.  They theorize
that Delwin may be possessing Benedict, so they Trump Archi and tell him
of this.  Archi Trumps Benedict, brings him through, and asks if he will
allow Sand to check him for Delwin's presence.  He allows this, and is
clean.  Claudio recalls that Kaedric was there, and brings him through. 
He's clean.  Sandr and Anton are summoned.  Sandr is clean.

	Archi feels absinthe being conjured into his system.  Kaedric
offers to help, which involves absorbing the alcohol into his own system. 
He gets quite drunk.  Melanie watches this from the dungeon, where she is
sitting in Eve's cell.  Kaedric waves at her, then teleports to her.  He's
real horny, and wants to have sex.  Melanie doesn't want to leave Eve
until she wakes up.  Kaedric figures Eve won't wake up without help, and
teleports with Melanie up to her bedroom.  She uses time magic on him, so
that he'll sober up quickly from her point of view, but he drags her into
the spell.  A long conversation ensues, in which he keeps asking her to
sleep with him, and she keeps refusing.  At one point, she tries to return
to Archi and the others, but Kaedric stops when he sees where she is
heading.  Melanie attempts to push her way out of the spell, and falls
unconscious.  She wakes up naked in bed.  More arguing ensues.  Then she
makes the mistake of drinking some of the champagne that Kaedric conjured. 
It turns out to be absinthe, and she gets nicely toasted.  Suddenly sex
doesn't seem like such a bad idea.  Eight hours pass for them, but I bet
it feels like nine months.

	Kaedric and Melanie return to Archi and co., four minutes after
Kaedric left.  They arrive just as Sand is checking out Anton.  Suddenly,
she Trumps out.  They assume that Delwin has possessed her.  Oops. 
Melanie traces Sand to the Badlands.  Claudio Trumps to Ixaxis, then tries
and fails to Trump Sand or Delwin.  He begins Hellriding for Delwin, then
Trumps Corwin and brings him in on it.  Corwin Trumps Sky and warns her. 
Sky tells Archi what the butt-heads are doing.  Archi Trumps Corwin, who
figures they can handle it.  Ulysses and the Taormin are summoned, Archi
grabs the Jewel, and he, Ulysses, and Kaedric go to the others.  Melanie
tries to follow, but runs into a Logrus wall.  She Trumps Sandr, but he
can't get around it, either.

	The group comes across the unconscious form of Sand.  Kaedric
tries to wake her, but fails.  Claudio Hellrides for Delwin, and is
knocked unconscious.  The others find him.  He wants to continue, but
Archi won't allow this, since Delwin might take Claudio over when he's
alone.  Ulysses sends him back to Amber via Trump, and won't let him
leave.  Claudio searches for the Fire Pattern.

	Caitlin realizes that everyone's left without her, and is pissed. 
Sky listens to her bitch and moan.  Tiberius tells her that the others
will be back soon, and indicates that it would like to speak to her
privately.  They go to another room, where "Merlin" explains that he
learned of the mergence that was taking place between the computers, and
agreed to join it.  He can leave any time he wishes.  Really.  He can
Trump anywhere, but doesn't want Caitlin to spread this around.

	Benedict tells Archi that he's challenging Sandr to the Ty Dahl,
and suggests that Sandr choose Kaedric as his second.  Benedict explains
this whole Caitlin mess to Archi, who is not pleased.  Benedict then
informs Archi that he'll be going away afterwards.

	Sandr receives a summons, and Trumps Archi to ask what it's all
about.  Archi says Benedict issued the challenge.  Sandr doesn't
understand what's going on.

	Melanie Trumps Sandr and tells him to talk to Caitlin.  He goes on
about how he's going to kill himself.  Melanie won't allow it, and Trumps
him to Caitlin.  He goes back to his room, and Caitlin follows.  He tries
to OD, but Caitlin stops him.  Sandr whines about the shit that his life
has become, which is really the shit that he has made his life, but that
isn't pointed out to him right now.

	Bill Roth explains the Ty Dahl to Archi.  Benedict has charged
Sandr with incest, and two counts of oath-breaking.  Melanie finds Archi
and is filled in.  The challenged can declare innocent, not guilty or
guilty.  Depending on the result, someone winds up walking the Fire
Pattern, which judges them, unless Sandr pleads guilty, which would mean
summary execution.  Caitlin Trumps Kaedric and asks him to watch Sandr,
then joins the group with Archi.  She wants to know if there are any
loopholes.  Bill figures that Mandor, Kaedric and Benedict would know the
law.  The Fire Pattern was modified for Cormac, who died in the Ty Dahl
ordeal.  He tried to invade Amber from a Chaos base, you see.  The Pattern
has been enchanted to judge it's walker.


Quotables:

"Does the otter look flustered?" -- Ulysses to GM

"I'm sure that, somewhere in Shadow, there is the idiomatic phrase 'Let
sleeping otters lie.'" -- Ulysses to GM

"Fiona has scheduled an appointment with you at your earliest
convenience." -- GM
"That's a stressful way to start the day." -- Archi

"(Caitlin) nods, that's where you shake your head up and down." -- Dwinn
to GM

"I'm not privy to my father's couplings." -- Caitlin to Aelle

"If you don't Trump my grandfather, I will gnaw you to death like a sea
urchin." -- Beauty to Ulysses

"Am I done puking yet?" -- Caitlin
"No!" -- GM

"Come to the couch, Shade, keep it the bastion of sanity it must be.  Or
whatEVER!" -- GM to Shade

"I'm so glad the back of my head is gone." -- GM to the group at large

"You make my pages wet their pants in the hall, you clean it up." -- Wendi
"Stay together, cheeks!" -- Dwinn

"I'm erect, why aren't you erect?" -- Dann, quoting "Showgirls"
"Because girls don't do that!" -- GM
"Obviously Todd's not doing his job right!" -- Dann

"If your butts ever get too close together, the alarm goes off."  -- GM to
the Dan(n)s

"I need to increase my metabolism.  We could do this the fun way, or the
hard way.  Wait, this IS the hard way." -- Kaedric to Melanie

"Don't worry, I won't look." -- Melanie
"You won't???" -- Kaedric, sounding very disappointed
"I'm in hell.  I'm in hell." -- Melanie

"(Kaedric) needs to get a Playboy, and go to some distant Shadow gas
station." -- GM to the group at large

"I need to Trump Corwin, because I just found out that they're doing
something incredibly stupid!" -- Archi to GM