Session 51: "There's a difference between undead and having no soul, isn't
there?"

	Claudio Trumps Melanie, and passes through Muad'Dib and his
diaries.  Melanie Trumps the horse down to the stables, since it really
doesn't belong on the battlements.  Claudio continues Shadow walking
towards Orrin, and keeps going in circles.  Eventually, he finds himself
in quicksand.  He shifts out, but it's slow going.  He resumes walking
towards Orrin, casting a spell in each Shadow to see if he's there.
Claudio doesn't find him, but begins sinking in quicksand again, and
realizes that he has to keep concentrating on the ground staying solid in
order for it to remain that way.  He does this thing, and is making
progress, when he walks into a horde of harpies.  He is able to kill a
couple of them before they gang up on him and begin ripping his arms
apart.  He shifts away, and begins sinking.  He tries again, focusing on
the ground staying solid and finding no harpies.  The wind begins to blow
strongly, and then it begins to hail.  He tries focusing on no hail and
solid ground, and runs into (you guessed it) harpies.  The Moor grows
frustrated, and begins looking for a bird of his desire.  No, not that
kind of frustrated.

	Caitlin Trumps Corwin.  No answer.  She Trumps Fiona, and gives
her a piece of Orrin's cauldron.  Fiona is ever so pleased.  Caitlin asks
after Merlin, but Fiona hasn't heard from him.  Caitlin explains how he
tried to free her, and was attacked by Orrin.  And oh, BTW, former
Amberites are part of Orrin's army of undead.  Having no more good news to
impart, Caitlin returns to readying her troops.

	Melanie checks her Trumps for who's dead, an comes up with
Benedict (well, he's mostly dead), Caine, Cameron, Corwin, Damion, Flora,
Kaedric, Martin, Merlin (maybe not dead, but strange), Mok, Perseus,
Tristan, Vain, Vialle.  She also checks on Rebma, which is toast.
Apparently the spell allowing people to breathe down there and withstand
the pressure was removed.  Squish.  Melanie opts not to share this cheery
news with Archi.  She also notices that someone is using force magic and
Trump out beyond Arden, and tells Archi this.  He uses the Jewel to shut
down magic in Amber.  Fiona looks rather pissed about this.

	Sky rides over to chat with Caitlin.  Caitlin fills Sky in on
what's been happening, and warns that the undead are hard to kill.

	Archi sends a no magic zone out to where Melanie tells him Orrin
is, then begins sweeping Shadow, setting up blocks to make traversing
Shadow difficult.

	Ulysses finally returns to about 45% of his total power level, so
he Trumps Laughter and the comatose ones (Benedict, Mandor and Beauty)
down to the infirmary.  He wants Laughter to tell him what to do, seeing
as how she's the Queen and all, but given that they have no enemy to fight
as yet, she has nothing for him.  He's not pleased.

	Ulysses returns to the battlements, just as Melanie Trumps to
Aelle, who's gone down to the armory.  She asks what happened to Sylvie.
Aelle relates that she vanished while scouting ahead.  Ulysses shows up at
this point, and wants to do something.  Melanie notices that Orrin has
vanished, like he's in Inter-Shadow.  She relays this to Ulysses, who
suggests that the three of them go there.  Melanie frees Aelle, since the
magical part of the bindings are no longer able to work.

	The ground ahead of Caitlin and Sky's forces splits, and undead
riders emerge.  Archi has his men set the grass alight.  The grass burns
quickly, and the enemy's horses are spooked and run, but the undead are
not affected by the flames.

	Claudio finds a pigeon, ties a note (probably saying "Cut it out,
I'm on your side.") to its foot, and sends it to Orrin.  Then he begins
shifting for Orrin again.

	Melanie, Ulysses and Aelle feel the castle shudder, so they return
to the battlements.  They spot the chasm and the advancing undead.
Melanie Trumps some to a volcano, but they crawl out.  She Trumps them to
the Abyss, where they float sadly.  She begins doing this a lot.  Caitlin
and Sky's troops are having difficulty, since nothing kills the undead,
although beheading them at least blinds them.  Caitlin Trumps Ulysses and
tells him that things are faring poorly.  Ulysses asks what she wants him
to do about it.  Archi rains lighting down on the undead, but this only
energizes them.  He begins sweeping them up with a tornado instead.
Melanie moves the Trump gate to the Abyss over the tornado, creating a
makeshift vacuum cleaner.  Ulysses opens another gate and begins sweeping
along the army.  Melanie also Trumps Aelle out to join Caitlin, where she
shifts to her demon form and joins in the fray.  Caitlin shifts to her
demon form as well.  Caitlin and Sky's forces begin retreating.

	There is another rumble, and pages arrive shortly afterwards,
bolting the doors behind them.  They inform Archi that the castle has been
invaded from within.  The Jewel pulses, and Archi and Melanie get
headaches.  Melanie realizes that the Eye is in the castle, but she is
unable to interfere with it.  Neither is Archi.  Then the Jewel explodes.
Ouch.  They head down into the castle.  Trump is suddenly turned off, much
to Melanie's dismay.  She shifts to her demon form, and senses that the
Eye is in the Throne Room, so they hurry there.  Sure enough, they find
Orrin there, with the Eye resting on his chest.  Archi shoots at him, and
hits him in the shoulder.  Jubal emerges from the shadows holding a dagger
to Laughter's throat.  Laughter doesn't seem to be aware of what's
happening to her.  Archi shoots out both of Jubal's eyes.  Orrin takes
Laughter from Jubal, and gets his hand shot off with Archi's laser pistol
for his troubles.  Ulysses leaves to get a mecha.  Melanie continues
wrestling with Orrin's guards.  Sylvie emerges from the shadows with
Kalyn.  They grab Orrin and Laughter, and Trump out.  Archi leaps for
them, and goes along for the ride.  They appear at the Primal Pattern,
where the Chaos army is waiting.  Archi continues his pursuit of Orrin,
but Corliss gets in the way.  That's OK, Archi wanted to kill him, anyway.

	Claudio comes across a large ravine, across which is the undead
army, and then the Amber army.  He jumps the ravine, and engages the
undead army from behind.  This works briefly, but then he begins to get
overwhelmed, so he jumps across the ravine again, and Trumps to the main
hall.  How did he do this, when Trumps were turned off?  Well, the GM kind
of forgot about that.  Claudio falls a few feet, since he appeared over
the gap through which Orrin and his accomplices entered the castle.  He
Trumps Sand, but gets no answer.  Same with Corwin.

	Caitlin puts Aelle in charge of her troops, and returns to the
castle.

	Claudio heads for the Pattern room, but is stopped by the mecha
guarding it.  They won't let him pass.  Ulysses is there with his mecha,
but doesn't say anything, since he's bringing up the Pattern.  Claudio
begins fighting one of the mecha, demanding to be given one.  Ulysses
Trumps with Claudio to the Primal Pattern.  Guess the Trump barrier
doesn't extend to the basement, either.  They engage the Chaos army.
Sylvie begins walking the Pattern.

	Melanie struggles to free herself from the remaining guards.
Suddenly, a spark emits from her bracelet, and she is free.  She runs into
Caitlin, and updates her.  Since Trump still doesn't work for them, they
fly out of Amber, and over the armies.  Once they are past the armies,
sorcery and Trump return, but they still can't reach anyone other than
Sky.

	Ulysses is overpowered in the mecha, so he gets out and begins
walking the Pattern.  Claudio throws his sword at Sylvie, who was already
walking the Pattern, and skewers her through the back.  Orrin drags
Laughter to the beginning of the Pattern, cuts her throat, and begins
dragging her towards the center, walking in the path created by her blood.
Sylvie falls down in a large pool of blood, and begins sparking.  Orrin is
bleeding also, and heads towards Sylvie.  Ulysses reaches the bloody swath
left by Laughter, and tries to step onto it, but the energy backwash makes
him sad.

	Melanie notices an enormous bubble of time magic moving out from
Amber at quite a clip.  She tells Caitlin of this, and suggests that they
go to Ixaxis, in search of Sand.  Aelle and Sky are brought along as well.
Unfortunately, there's no sign of Sand in Ixaxis when they arrive.

	The time bubble washes over those at the Primal Pattern.  Archi
finds himself floating in whiteness, and Dworkin appears to him.  He
mentions that more of them lived this time, but that's because he set the
spell off early this time.  He's going to send them back, just a little
bit.  He pulls a shard of the Jewel out of Archi's chest, and mentions
that this was new.  Don't do this again.  Archi will try to convey that to
Orrin.

	Delwin and Dworkin appear to Claudio.  Delwin says that Claudio
spent way too much time with Sand, and he might want to rethink that next
time.  Dworkin tells Claudio not to listen to him, Sand was good.  Claudio
was the good guy, this time.  This time?  Yep.  Time to rewind.

	Dworkin tells Ulysses that he's been good, so he can have three
questions answered.  1) How do they stop Orrin?  Become his friend.  2)
How can they protect the Primal Pattern from ever being damaged again?
Don't let people know where it is.  3) Why?  Why what?  So goes the third
question.  Ulysses is miffed, and threatens to eliminate all cookies
throughout Shadow.  Yeah, right.

	Melanie Trumps Daegan, but he's dead.  No one has any idea how to
top the bubble, so they all opt to face it together.  Aelle and Caitlin
bid each other goodbye.  Aelle wishes she'd known Caitlin sooner.  Melanie
admits that she loves Kaedric.  He loves her too.  She tells him that
Melanie isn't her real name.  He knows that it's Miranda.  How did he
know?  He learned it from Delwin.  She's rather annoyed that he never told
her that he knew, and they are still bickering about it when they are
enveloped.

	Dworkin congratulates Sky for surviving, and gives her the choice
to go wherever she wants.  Anyplace she's ever been.  After much hemming
and hawing, she opts for the land of her birth.  He comments that she
thinks about as quickly as her grandfather.

	Dworkin and Sand appear in front of Melanie.  Sand wants Melanie
to contact her next time, if she remembers.  What next time?  Dworkin says
that she's not dead, but not alive.  Doesn't Kaedric get a body?
Apparently not.  Kaedric likes this not at all.

	Dworkin and Benedict appear in front of Caitlin, who is rather
confused.  Dworkin mumbles some more about rewriting stuff.  Caitlin and
Benedict hug, and say they're sorry for everything they did to each other.

	Fey is visited in her homeworld by a little old man.  (Yes, I know
she doesn't really have a sex, but I ain't saying "it" in every log.)  She
can't understand a word the guy says.  He looks over all of her brothers
and sisters, and then touches her.  She bats him, he bats her and tells
her to stop.  He decides that she's feisty, and picks her out, by picking
her up.  She swats him, so he puts her to sleep.  She wakes up in a form
that is 7'7" tall, with gray skin, black hair and eyes, and a feline mouth
with nasty, sharp teeth.  She has a jewel on her forehead, and one on each
hand.  She sniffs around for something to hunt.  Not liking the doggie
tracks, she heads for the edge of the forest, and tries again.

	Archi wakes up with shards of the Jewel still stuck in his chest.
He's alone in a rather smoky teepee.  He is able to sit up, but it hurts a
lot.  Shards in your chest will do that.  He goes outside.  The place
looks a camp he stayed at, before he met Jubal.  He Trumps Laughter, who
tells him to bide.  She seems to be in the middle of a battle against na
siogai.  After 20 minutes, she's made it to a forest at the edge of the
battle, and asks how he got her Trump.  Does she remember who he is?  He's
the Crown Prince, and he hasn't been seen in a very long time.  Doh!
Archi decides that his life has just become complete and utter shit.

	Ulysses wakes up in bed, next to two or three women, and a couple
of men.  He's checks and finds that he's back to full power, and Trumps
Archi.  They update each other.  Archi looks like he wants to break
Dworkin's neck.  Ulysses says that if he sees any cookies, crush them.
Archi throws a cloak around his shoulders and begins Shadow-walking back
to Amber.  Ulysses says goodbye to his bed partners.

	Caitlin wakes up in Helene, and is rather relieved to see that
Graham is still alive.  He tells her that they're between jobs.  She
Trumps Benedict, and tells him that she's his daughter.  He finds this
interesting, and pulls her through to Avalon.  She asks if Tristan and
Damion are there.  He asks where she knows those names from.  She tells
him that they are her uncle and cousin.  He asks when Cymnea found her.
She explains that Aelle is her mother, and tries to tell him what led her
to this point.

	Melanie wakes up in the Shadow where Brand raised her.  Kaedric
asks what year it is.  She checks and works it out to be about seven years
previous in Amber.  He tells her to find his body, since he wants to take
it over.  Melanie is all for that.

	Sky wakes up to find herself home, at the point before her father
disappeared.

	Fey encounters Archi, who is getting ready to Trump out.  She
tries to eat him, but Archi knocks her back and draws Song.  They look at
each other warily, then Archi heads into Arden.  Fey bats at him, and
loses one of her claws to Song.  Archi conjures a raw steak for her, and
tosses it away.  Fey goes after it, and Archi Trumps into the main hall.

	Ulysses Trumps to the main hall, and learns that it's seven years
in the past.  He is also informed that his mother wants to see him.  Yeah,
right.  Archi Trumps in at this point, and asks a page to bring him to see
Random.  Ulysses tags along.  Archi greets Random with "Glad you're still
alive." and then proceeds to spill the whole, sorry tale.  Random sends
out for some food after the first half-hour.  At one point, he exclaims
"You married Laughter?"  He'd think his son was nuts, if Ulysses wasn't
there verifying things.  Ulysses slits his wrist as proof that he's a
living Trump, and Archi mentally strokes the Jewel to prove that he's
attuned to it.  Random decides to put the Jewel away.  He wishes he knew
where Corwin was.  Well, that's Archi's problem, now.  Ulysses Trumps
himself, to make sure he's really him, which he is.  Archi is depressed.
Ulysses goes through all the reasons he should be happy, including the
opportunity to get seven years worth of breakfasts.  Archi knocks his
chair over.

	Benedict Trumps Random to tell him Caitlin's sorry tale.  Random
begins to wish he'd never taken this damn job.

	Claudio wakes up and finds Sand.  She questions him about all that
he remembers, and finds it interesting that Abigail will betray her by
stealing the Taormin.  Claudio wants to kill Abigail first.  Sand thinks
maybe he should do less killing.  Of course, this means that Delwin is
still trapped in the Taormin.  Which is good.  And Brand is still alive.
Which is bad.

	Melanie uses Trump to determine that Kaedric (the past one) is in
Chaos.  This is when Kaedric (the bodiless one) remembers that he was
guarding the Logrus at this point in time, and he'll be there for another
year.  The good news is that he'll probably visit Sand, so they decide to
go to Ixaxis.  Melanie really doesn't want to hang around, anyway, since
she'd rather not run into her father.  Kaedric thinks that she can take
Brand, since she's a living Trump.  She reminds him that Brand already was
one at this point.  Oh yeah.  Melanie exults in knowing something that
Kaedric didn't.  She checks on Chantille Vale, which exists, but is no
longer warded.  Kaedric thinks it should be easy to fix.  They Trump to
Ixaxis.

	Fey goes to check out the castle in Amber, but her progress is
slow, since she eats everything in sight along the way.

	Ulysses and Archi bicker over how Archi can be killed, since he
lacks a soul.  Ulysses suggests that Random kill everyone who caused him
trouble in the future.  Random tells Ulysses that Flora wants to see him.
Archi decides he'll go to Rebma, by way of the infirmary.  Random looks
rather surprised, but doesn't say anything.  When he and Ulysses reach the
infirmary, Laughter is there, sewing up a gash in her leg.  She asks Archi
to stay and help, and tells Ulysses that his mom wants to see him.  I'm
sensing a pattern, here.  Archi leaves.  Laughter asks what's up with him.
Ulysses says that it's a lost love.  Is that what the wedding ring is for?
Uh, yep.  She mentions that she got a concussion, so she can't go to sleep
tonight.

	Archi realizes that he can't go to Rebma, being a convicted rapist
and all.  He swears, returns to the infirmary, and tells Ulysses not to
even think it.  Laughter stares at Archi, who has a lot of pain in his
eyes, and asks if she knows him.  He says they knew each other a lot
better in the future.  Ulysses and Archi argue back and forth about the
wisdom of telling others about it.  Archi draws Song.  Laughter draws
Sequence, and asks where Archi got that sword.  She gave it to him.  Yeah,
right.  Ulysses tells Archi that that was bright.  Archi retorts that
she's his wife.  Laughter decides it's time to go to dinner.  Or maybe a
shower.  Ulysses produces a waterproof bandage and applies it to her
wound.  She observes that he's picked up some new talents.  Archi
contemplates his pain.

	Claudio Trumps into the main hall and asks who's the king.
Random.  Claudio wants to see him.  This is arranged.  Random recognizes
him.  Claudio asks who remembers.  Archimedes.  Random gets Claudio's
story.  Can he find the Fire Pattern again?  Nope.  Benedict might be able
to, or Sand.  Sand doesn't answer her Trumps, though.  Claudio goes to see
Morgenstern, Julian and the fabled forest of Arden, all of which were dead
or destroyed when he first came to Amber.

	Melanie Trumps to Ixaxis, teleports to Sand's quarters, and
knocks.  Sand figures that she can't be Abigail, since Abigail always
calls her Mistress Sand.  Plus, Claudio has been there.  Sand thinks that
perhaps it's time to stick her nose into Amber affairs again.

	Benedict tells Caitlin that her story has been corroborated by
Random.  She can return to Amber, but he's not going to.  The curse and
all that.

	Laughter returns as Ulysses is removing the Jewel shards from
Archi's chest, and figures that must have hurt.  She wants to know how he
got Song, and asks to see it.  He hands it to her, and says that he
explained things to it, so it won't try to kill her.  She asks him to tell
her how she got it, since only Caitt knows.  Ulysses tells him to plead
the fifth.  Archi tells her the story of Calamus' betrayal.  She hands
Song back, and wonders how they know so much about her.  They claim it's
future sorcery.  She points out that the bit with Calamus only happened
two days ago.  Well, they cast the spell two weeks ago.  Yeah, that's the
ticket.  Laughter doesn't buy it.  Archi figures that maybe they should
have gone back to their old lives.  Well, that's what Ulysses wanted to
do, before Archi began telling everyone where they were from.  Archi
avoids meeting Laughter's gaze, so she takes Ulysses' arm to escort her
down to dinner.  Archi conjures a shirt on the way down and contemplates
his pain some more.

	Bleys, Caine, Cameron, Julian, Gerard, Random, Vialle, Claudio,
and Caitlin are at dinner when Archi, Ulysses and Laughter arrive.  Archi
pulls Claudio aside, and tells him not to tell anyone about the future.
Claudio Trumps Sky, and asks if she wants to join him.  She does, and
comes through.

	Fey's big compulsion kicks in.  She kills something big and drags
it along while she sets about obeying the compulsion, which will happen at
10:00 in Amber.

	Laughter looks over Claudio and Sky when they arrive.  Claudio
divides his attention between Julian (cool) and Sky (woman).  Laughter
puts her head briefly down on the table, because it hurts.  Then she looks
at Claudio again.  He asks why she's staring at him.  She says that he's
the King's bodyguard.  But not Random's bodyguard.  Claudio Trumps
Ulysses, but can't focus.  Then Laughter looks at Sky, and says that her
father is Flynn.  Sky confirms this.  Ulysses says he wants to talk to
her.  Now.  In private.  They find another room.

	Laughter tells Ulysses that she's figured out that she was married
to Claudio in their future.  Uh, no.  Ulysses explains things to her.  She
didn't really think she was married to Claudio, but he's the first one she
recognized...  She still has trouble believing that she was married to
King Archimedes.  Ulysses gets her some medication for her headache.  She
asks Ulysses to tell Archi that she'll be in Foil tonight.  Ulysses tells
her how she ended the na siogai war.  She's already considered that plan,
and comments that he does take the risk out of war.  Unfortunately, he
can't tell her if the na siogai will attack tonight, but he offers to set
up protection around her room, so she can rest easy.  She's for it.

	Archi checks the Jewel, which feels the same, then stares out of
his bedroom window and is depressed.  Melanie does the latter in Ixaxis as
well.

	Claudio and Sky seek out Caitlin, after dinner.  Claudio realizes
that Mok is alive, which makes him happy.  Caitlin mentions that she tried
to reach Sandr, but failed.  None of them really know much about Sandr's
past.  Claudio wants his sword back, so Caitlin explains how to find it.
They decide to keep their mouths shut about what they know.

	Fey bounces off the borders of Foil, then heads towards Amber,
looking for Archi.  She stops when she reaches his door, and rattles on
it.  Archi hears what sounds like babies crying, and opens the door.  A
guard is out there with his children.  Archi takes them, causing Fey to
make quite the noise.  Archi recognizes her, puts the kids down in his
quarters, and Trumps Ulysses, explaining that a Chaos creature just
delivered his kids.  Ulysses suggests bringing them to Eudoxus, so Archi
comes through.

	Ulysses is Trumped by Laughter, who motions for him to come
through, then grabs him and asks why her breasts have milk in them.
Ulysses tells her that his story about her being pregnant is true.  She
likes this not at all.  He checks her out psychically, and finds that her
memories are being repressed, probably because she nearly died.  He
removes the block, and she asks to be brought to Eudoxus.  When they
arrive, she tells Archi that she's afraid she lost her wedding ring.
Ulysses shows them to a guest room, and Archi hugs her close.

	Fey remains sitting in the hallway, chewing on a bone.


Quotables:

"Claudio's diary - moor or less." -- Dwinn to the group at large
*thwap* -- group at large to Dwinn

"You walk into a horde of harpies.  Drawing your sword seems like a good
idea." -- GM to Claudio

"I suspect that the King will be using the Jewel, for stuff." -- Caitlin
to Sky

"So, what do you want me to do?" -- Ulysses
"What do you want me to do?" -- Laughter
"Which one of us is the Queen?" -- Ulysses

"A laser bolt emits from the mecha." -- GM
"Can I dodge?" -- Claudio
"It's light, dude!" -- GM

"Let's go in alphabetical order." -- GM
"Oh, thanks!" -- Ulysses

"You're the one who had sex with the Unicorn." -- Claudio
"I didn't know everyone knew about that." -- Dworkin

"What's going on?" -- Claudio
"It's just the end of the world.  Don't worry, we'll rewind now." --
Dworkin

"What kind of bed is this?" -- Ulysses
"A very big bed." -- GM
"Must be my bed." -- Ulysses

"There's a difference between undead and having no soul, isn't there?" --
Ulysses to Archi

"Laughter looks very confused, all of a sudden." -- GM
"All of a sudden?" -- Sean
"More than usual!" -- GM

"I shuffle out Ulysses' card under the table, and say, 'Ulysses.'" --
Claudio
"So, you're looking at your crotch, and mumbling, 'Ulysses.'" -- Sean

"That would explain the pain that you see in (Archi's) eyes." -- Ulysses
to Laughter
"That pain will appear in the eyes of anyone who's married to Laughter."
-- Sean

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