Gwydion's interview with Marcuse was most interesting. It didn't turn out quite like I was expecting, but I learned a few things of interest. There was much furniture piled in the hall outside of the room. I'm uncertain as to why Gwydion removed it. Perhaps he intended to make Marcuse uncomfortable by requiring him to stand? Peter, Marcuse and Amanda were waiting in the hall when I arrived. Gwydion tried to persuade Marcuse to see him alone. Naturally, Peter refused to allow the interview to take place without his presence. Marcuse, being no fool, refused also. He tried to bring Amanda in with him as well, but Gwydion drew the line there. Marcuse and Gwydion proceeded to make a few veiled threats, and I half expected Marcuse to leap for Gwydion's throat then and there. If Peter hadn't offered Marcuse his personal protection, I think he would have. Instead, they went inside. The interview drew another spectator at this point: Ryan. He and Amanda joined together and seemed to be using the Pattern to watch things inside. Nice trick. I just listened at the door. Just as effective, and not nearly so obvious. Gwydion was a fool if he though this interview would have any privacy here. Lightbringer and I placed bets on how long things would go on before the first blow. It thought within 30 minutes. I figured within 15. I always was a better judge of Easterner behavior then it. Not more than a minute had passed before Gwydion almost set Marcuse off again. Told Peter that he'd be doing some things that might look like they were hurting Marcuse. Marcuse found this threatening. I would if I were in his shoes. Lightbringer switched its bet to five minutes. I may be a better judge of behavior, but it cheats more than a Yendi. I'll admit, I'm impressed that Peter was able to convince Marcuse not to rip Gwydion's throat out. Marcuse must need to stay in Amber pretty badly to take such a risk. They talked for a while. Most of it was pretty boring. Marcuse claimed he knew who Gwydion's father was. Gwydion said he possessed that knowledge as well, but the conversation indicates that Gwydion did not at one point. And may not still. Then Gwydion did... something. It had some sort of visual manifestation, because Amanda warned Ryan not to look into it. And Peter later called it a vortex. Some kind of portal, perhaps? Gwydion had Marcuse look into it and say what he saw there. I'm surprised Marcuse did so. Whatever Gwydion created, it seems that when you look into it, you see something nasty. Marcuse saw his death. And you become more suggestible. Something to remember. Gwydion's questioning brought several interesting facts out. Marcuse should be the Head of his House, Chanicut, according to the Chaos rules of succession. Before the death of the previous Head, Marcuse was a House assassin. When the Head of House died, a man named Azel had Marcuse committed in a mental institution and assumed the position. As a result, Marcuse has made it his goal in life to kill Azel. He claims to fear nothing, except oblivion. Specifically being thrown into something called "The Pit." Azel was a fool to leave Marcuse alive. He should have killed him. Only a stupid man betrays an assassin and lets them live. Peter must have looked into Gwydion's creation as well. I heard a gasp, and shortly afterwards Gwydion ordered Peter not to look into the storm. Amanda brought out Peter's Trump, but one of her cats bit her before she could use it. It seemed to think Trumping Peter would be dangerous, and mentioned someone called Dante. Amanda's lover, perhaps? Peter began sobbing and continued doing so for several minutes. No sound from Gwydion or Marcuse in this time. They may have been talking psionically. Then Peter got control over himself, and shortly afterwards I heard him ordering Gwydion to leave. Marcuse objected. It seems he and Gwydion had reached some sort of understanding. Peter said they were welcome to leave together, but he was adamant about Gwydion's departure. He also swore at Gwydion. I began to hope there might be some violence after all. Marcuse said something about other options, and I think he may have been talking to Gwydion. Then there was the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh, and Peter entered the hall dragging Gwydion behind him. Lightbringer was most unhappy about losing the bet. Naturally, I followed Peter. This was too interesting to miss. Peter didn't want company and ordered Ryan to stop me. And like a faithful stooge, Ryan obeyed. He said he wanted to talk about the threats Lightbringer's been making. Irrelevant. I wield Lightbringer, and I choose whether to act on those threats. Besides, I wasn't the one acting violently on this occasion. Although if Ryan hadn't gotten out of my way, I would have gone through him. As we continued following Peter, we were joined by two men. One of them introduced himself as Altir. Another Amberite. His mother is Flora, the woman Random "asked" to leave. Of all the Amberites I've met so far, I like him the best. He's certainly the most Dragon of any of them so far. At least I understand how he thinks, to some extent. He handles "negotiations" for Amber, and it sounds like he's rather fond of dueling. Especially with a sword, so he can drag out fights when the opponent is inferior. I've done this myself, and found it to be a wonderfully humiliating tactic. One twist he's trying is carving his initials on his opponent. I like that idea. Perhaps the next time one of Morrolan's guests challenges me, I'll use it. The next stage of the tableau took place in the Great Hall. Peter dropped Gwydion and began yelling at him. Then he tried to drag him off again, but Gwydion somehow managed to stick his feet to the floor. Peter does the most foolish things. If he wanted to argue with Gwydion, he should have done it before striking him. Peter threatened to cut off Gwydion's feet if that's what it took to move him. Much better. Pity it didn't happen. Gwydion tried to get Marcuse to leave with him, but Marcuse thought this was a singularly bad idea. He fled to Amber for asylum, after all, and it would be stupid for him to leave. He didn't think Gwydion should leave, either. Not that Peter was giving Gwydion much choice. Interestingly enough, Marcuse chose then to announce that he's Gwydion's uncle. If he was hoping to change Peter's mind with that piece of news, he failed miserably. Then Gwydion asked what should have been his first question: did Peter have the authority to throw him out of Amber? I'd been wondering that myself. Ryan seemed to think he did, since Random gave Peter his title. No one seemed to know if the title itself had that kind of authority. Gwydion asked the rest of us for our opinion on the matter. Like I'm qualified to comment on Amber law. It sounds like whatever Gwydion did offended Peter personally, not Amber. Which means he should have challenged Gwydion to a duel. Or opted to kill him later. But who knows how they do things in Amber? I spotted Bill Roth and dragged him into the mess. He pointed out that Gwydion is a Chaos diplomat, which apparently gives him some protection. Altir wanted Peter to calm down and then talk to Random about the whole thing. Peter refused, and threw another punch at Gwydion. Altir blocked it and dragged him off. Actually, it looked like Peter was cooperating, although he was being subtle about it. Peter and Altir's men almost engaged each other at this point, until Peter signaled his men to back off. Now that would have been an interesting fight. I followed Altir and Peter around a corner, where, sure enough, Peter quit struggling and thanked Altir. It seems he thought that was the best way to end things without losing face. So, he's smart enough to realize he was in a bad situation, but not smart enough to avoid getting into it in the first place. He let his emotions override his better judgment. A dangerous habit. It sounds like he still intends to force Gwydion to leave. Altir and I both told him to just duel Gwydion. He was actually foolish enough to ask to borrow Lightbringer for the occasion. I told him Lightbringer doesn't like him. He wanted to know Lightbringer's lore, but I refused. Verra, I know little of it myself, beyond what I've experienced with it, but I'm hardly going to tell him that. We were interrupted by Tybalt, who Trumped both Altir and Peter to invite them to his engagement party. I was surprised when Peter told me I was invited as well. Then again, I'm still surprised that I'm even allowed to remain here, since my status is so uncertain. The party is in Chaos, which means I finally have a chance to see the other power in this new world. The party was fascinating. Altir and I wandered around for a while, I watched him fight a friendly duel. At one point we were sure one of Peter's men was going to provoke a fight with one of the Chaosites, but unfortunately Peter forced him to back off. A pity. Lightbringer is much more comfortable in Chaos than in Amber. Amanda was right about it's makeup. She introduced me to a Loren of House Jesby. He was willing to examine me and Lightbringer to determine if we truly have a connection to Chaos. Lightbringer, of course, asked for Loren's soul. Loren told it psionically that it couldn't have it. I was a little surprised by that, but I suppose I shouldn't have been. If other people can hear it, they can probably speak to it to. It's just that most people don't want to talk to Morganti weapons. At least Lightbringer shut up after that. Loren examined us and said we both have Chaos in us. He also said he doesn't think Lightbringer can eat souls here. Does that mean Dragaera is the only place it can feed? That's not going to make it happy. At least it's not drained in Chaos like it is in Amber. He couldn't tell me much more about Lightbringer, other than to say that he's seen swords like it. He said soul-sucking swords are not unusual in legend. I assume he meant they could therefore be found in shadow. But how many of those have Chaos in them? Not many, I'd wager. Loren thinks part of my heritage comes from the Courts. I asked if there was any way to be sure. He said I could take the Logrus, which seems to be the Chaos equivalent of the Pattern, in power if not in style. I find that idea about as appealing as I do walking the Pattern to learn if I'm an Amberite. He told me I'd need to learn shapeshifting to do it. That got my attention. I've been wondering if that was a learnable skill. It would be incredibly useful in my line of work. I asked if he could recommend a teacher. He doesn't have time to teach me, but suggested I ask his daughter, Helena, who is in Amber. I intend to. Loren also suggested I leave Lightbringer behind if I ever attempt to walk the Pattern again. I'd come to the same conclusion myself. Interestingly, I could probably damage the Pattern with Lightbringer, but I'd die in the process. Something to remember, should circumstances ever necessitate such. Loren gave me his Trump and asked for mine. Pity I don't have one. We decided he could reach me through Amanda or Helena. We also appraised Amanda of our findings. Not my normal inclination, but I have a feeling that Loren would have told her even if I did not. I inquired as to the likelihood of tracing my Chaos House. Since we can trace bloodlines to houses in Dragaera, I was hoping the same would be true here. I wasn't disappointed. Loren suggested I talk to a woman named Faye, who is the genealogist of House Hendrake. I've asked Jaina to introduce us. Altir is leaving. We both agreed that the lack of bloodshed today was most disappointing. He'd make an excellent Dragonlord. I asked him let me know if he comes across a good fight. If I must remain in Amber, I wouldn't mind getting involved in the sort of thing he's doing. Naturally, I don't expect an immediate response, since he doesn't really know me and has no reason to trust me. But I've indicated that I'm interested, which is the first step. Now I have to wait for him to evaluate me. He did give me his Trump, which is promising. It would help if I could more definitely prove I'm an Amberite. One thing at a time. As for now, I'm going to remain in Chaos for a few days. Amanda introduced me to a set of twins named Rik And Kir, the sons of the Head of House Helgram. They've made it quite obvious that they'd like to get to know me better, and I plan to take them up on it. It should be interesting. I'm hoping I can learn more about Chaos from them. And, I'll admit, I'm curious. I've never had anyone interested in me in that way, other than out of curiosity. Or brutality. To be honest, I still can't get used to walking into a room and not hearing the sneers and mumbled insults. My mixed heritage doesn't matter here. And I'm finding that a pleasant change.