Session Nine "You don't recall me trying to kill you, right?" Ryan senses someone walking the Pattern. He pulls up a lens and spots Peter walking it. Then Vincent pulls Kara and Faye through and does the same. He vanishes. Shortly afterwards everyone but Faye goes through a Trump. Faye walks the Pattern and vanishes. Mead checks into the possibility of gating Eric back into Amber. The plan is to gate in enough troops to distract Eric while he does so. Then he has someone Trump Eric. When Eric answers, Mead opens the gate. Tybalt tells Jaina that one of the bears exploded while he was Trumping out and left him surrounded by people trying to take Greyswandir. Then he wound up in Chanicut and was subjected to psychological torture. He shows her his finger and explains what happened. They notice that his hand is turning black. Tybalt thinks this needs to be dealt with. Jaina agrees and pours herself a drink. Tybalt senses danger, drops and rolls. Jaina's sword grazes his back. He draws Greyswandir but her sword cuts his arm in the process. Blood starts to well out, followed by black corruption. Tybalt asks Jaina why she's doing this. She comments that he wasn't going to go through with the wedding anyway. His arm peels back like a sausage and he notices that Jaina seems to be shifting into someone else. He goes fully offensive and she skewers his thigh. He realizes that she fights better than Jaina. She finishes her shift and now looks like Deirdre. His arm is starting to smell and hangs uselessly at his side. He asks her why again. She says that he rejects her. He says he's only upset that Corwin didn't tell him. She says he's lying and that he's repelled by the very thought of her. He notices that her arm is turning black where his blood spattered it. He points this out to her, but she doesn't stop. He's barely able to hold her off. He decides that he's going to die anyway, and he won't take her with him. He grounds his point and she runs him through. Gwydion Trumps to the Great Hall. He hears a loud noise from above him and tries to get out of the way, but is flattened by all of these people in weird metal armor. Ryan and Kara hear the noise and Kara decides to investigate. Peter is Trumped by Michael, who tells him that there is an emergency in the Great Hall that defies description. Dozens of men in power armor and Prince Eric, who's waving Greyswandir around. Peter Trumps first Random, then Benedict, but neither of them answer. He Trumps Benedict's second- in-command and tells him someone has gotten past them and he'd like assistance in getting them out. The man thinks it might be a diversion. Peter tells him to let Benedict know that Eric has his army in Amber. Eric asks who Gwydion is. He identifies himself as an ambassador from Chaos and is immediately grabbed by two of Eric's men. Ryan Trumps to the Great Hall and is grabbed by two more men. Gwydion claims he's there to look into Helgram's hostage, since Helgram is attacking his house. Eric figures he might be telling the truth. On her way to the Great Hall, Kara runs into Peter, who orders her back to her room. She refuses to listen to him, so he orders some guards to take her back to her room and walks away. Kara tells the guards to move or die. It occurs to Peter that leaving her alone with them was not a good idea, so he returns and orders her back to her room again. Amanda arrives on the scene at this point. Peter tells her to watch Kara and takes off. Kara tells Amanda she's investigating towards the commotion. Amanda was doing the same thing, so they make their way towards the Great Hall together. Peter asks Eric to remove his troops from the Great Hall. Eric says he was brought here against his will. Kara and Amanda arrive on the scene, but Peter's guards block them from entering the Great Hall. Kara is tall enough to see over the heads of the guards, and tells Amanda (who is not so fortunate) that Eric is there with Tybalt's sword. Eric begins moving his men out and asks Peter who Gwydion is. Peter asks Gwydion where his escort is. Gwydion says he had just arrived. Eric notes that Peter is assuming he will release Gwydion. Peter responds that he is assuming no such thing. He tells Eric that Gwydion should be turned over to Julian. Gwydion says Peter is digging himself a deeper grave. Peter leaves with his men. Amanda and Kara enter the Great Hall. Ryan talks to Eric and asks for Gwydion to be turned over to him. He fears Julian will kill Gwydion. Eric doesn't think that's such a bad idea. Gwydion claims there is strange Pattern energy around Chanicut. Amanda says Helgram feels attacked by Chanicut. Eric eventually agrees to turn Gwydion over to Ryan since he's Ryan's friend, but warns that Ryan's line has made poor alliances in the past. Amanda and Kara introduce themselves to Eric. Eric kisses Kara's hand. Amanda comments that she last saw Greyswandir in someone else's hands. Eric wonders if that means they're dead. He says he has a war to fight and starts to leave. Then he returns and goes upstairs. Amanda tries to Trump Tybalt but gets no answer. Amanda leaves. Gwydion Trumps Caine and asks him to block Dice's Trump. Caine wants to know why. Gwydion explains that he wants Eric to think Dice is a hostage of Helgram. Caine isn't interested in starting another Patternfall war. Gwydion pleads with him. Caine tells him to fuck off and breaks the contact. Ryan cautions Gwydion that he was supposed to talk to him before coming to Amber. Gwydion ignores him and pretends he's getting a Trump call. He Trumps Mead and gives him the object he asked for. He asks that Mead block Dice's Trump so that Eric will attack Helgram. Mead asks if he can guarantee this. Ryan joins the contact and asks why Mead dropped Eric in the Great Hall. Mead says he hoped Amber would take care of him. Ryan says Eric is on his way back. Mead wants to know why Eric is getting away with this. Ryan points out that he's dead. Mead wants someone to ask Eric why he's attacking Zantium. Ryan offers to bring him through. Mead says he'll consider it. Gwydion asks Mead to handle his request. Dice is Trumped by Eric who notes he's looking better. Dice looks confused. Eric says Dice was pretty trashed when he gave him the sword. He asks Dice to join him. Dice does so and finds himself in the library. He asks what Eric is doing there. Eric explains what happened. Eric and Dice come down the stairs to the Great Hall. Mead introduces himself and asks why Eric is attacking his Shadow. Eric explains. Mead says neither he nor Zantium had anything to do with how Dice wound up in Zantium. Dice says Mead is lying. Eric believes Dice. Dice also claims that Bill Roth helped him escape. Kara suggests that Amanda could shed some light on the situation. Peter explains about Dice's extradition to Zantium. Dice says Mead dropped rocks on him. Eric is upset with Random for granting the extradition. Kara Trumps Amanda and asks her to come through. She does so and explains the whole situation to Eric. Including the fact that Amber wants Dice for suspicion of murdering Corwin. Eric says he won't fight Dice's battles. He suggests Dice and Mead settle this like men. They arrange a duel in an hour. Kara asks if Amanda has reached Tybalt. She hasn't. Eric is questioned as to how he got Greyswandir. He won't say, but he says it wasn't from Tybalt. Tybalt wakes up in a gutter covered in refuse. His arm and sword are gone. He Trumps Jaina and asks for her protection. He adds that he needs to walk the Pattern. She says he has it. He Trumps Amanda and asks her to go to the Pattern room and pull him through. She says she can't do that. He's been declared a traitor and the Pattern room is being guarded. He Trumps Llewella next. She reveals that he's been accused of plotting with Chaos against Amber. He denies this. She asks for his word of honor that he won't act against Rebma or Amber. He gives it and she pulls him through. He tries to walk the Rebman Pattern but it repels him with a giant spark. He tries again, with the same results. A black tendril oozes out of his shoulder. He thanks Llewella and Trumps Jaina. He notes signs of a battle and asks her why her guards didn't tell her. She says the battle was hers and draws her blade. She asks where he wants it. He asks why. She says it's because he won't marry her. He denies this. She attacks. He tries to talk about it. She tells him he's boring. He fights back. He manages to get out the main door, Trump Rodrigo, and ask for help. Rodrigo pulls him through to his room in Amber. Tybalt wants to talk to him. Rodrigo doesn't have much time and he's been asked to stay in Amber. He says that there's not a lot of people around, so if Tybalt slips out he won't be noticed. Tybalt sneaks down to the steps, rounds the corner, and finds Gwydion standing on the stairs. Gwydion says nothing and starts to walk away. Tybalt asks if he's still in Graadle. Gwydion asks what he's doing and says he's not supposed to be talking to Tybalt. Tybalt passes him and steals a horse from the stables. He rides into Arden and tries shifting Shadow. He can't do it very well. He hears Julian's horn and tries to lose him. No such luck, so he reigns in and waits for Julian to catch up to him. He asks if Julian's trying to kill him. Julian notes that Tybalt is an exile. Tybalt asks what he's done. Julian says that Hendrake is raising an army in his name, that he engineered the disappearance of Corwin, Fiona and Mandor, that he was behind the attacks on the castle, and that it was all to put him on the throne. Tybalt denies this. Julian doesn't believe him. He offers him a running start. Tybalt refuses. Julian brings Jaina forward and offers to release her if he provides some sport. Tybalt asks Jaina if an army is being raised by Hendrake. She admits this. He refuses to run and asks Jaina if the army was for his benefit. She says it always was. He tells Julian to go ahead. Julian throws his lance at Tybalt. The next thing Tybalt sees is Rodrigo's beaming face. Rodrigo comments that Tybalt sure pissed someone off. He's holding Julian's lance. Tybalt notices that his arm is back. He begins to suspect that he's still in Graadle. Peter and Caine each wager on 100 gold on the duel, Peter for Mead, Caine for Dice. A Marshall is needed. Ryan and Amanda are watching for interference and Caine and Peter are biased because of their bet. Amanda nominates Kara for the job. Caine asks Kara if she's sure she's unbiased. Kara says she is. Lightbringer makes its usual request for their souls, which Kara ignores. Caine gives her an odd look but chooses not to comment. Kara makes sure that the rules have agreed upon by both parties. Dice suggests no Trump or magic but Mead doesn't go for it. They decide to fight until one of them is unconscious. Kara verifies that they're 50 yards apart and starts the match. Dice opens fire on Mead. Mead teleports out as he's hit by the beam, so at first it looks like he's been disintegrated. Dice staggers slightly as he comes under psychic attack. He turns invisible and uses Psychic Disrupt to break the contact. Mead attacks again with the same results, but this time he is kicked out less forcefully. Dice strafes the area at arm level, setting a hay wagon on fire, hitting a stable boy, etc. Mead psychically attacks again and Dice barely breaks the contact this time. Dice looks up and spots Mead floating 1,000 feet up. Mead turns invisible. Dice starts setting off area effect attacks and flies up there. Mead is hit a few times but shrugs it off and keeps attacking. The Psychic Disrupt doesn't quite kick him out of Dice's mind this time, but Neural Disrupt does. He attacks again. Dice uses Magic Negation to turn Mead visible. Once he can see Mead he dives at him, but Mead takes over his mind first and moves out of the way. He psychically blasts Dice into unconsciousness. There is some debate as to how they can determine Dice's condition when he's inside his armor. Kara has Ryan and Amanda confirm that Dice is no longer conscious and declares Mead the winner. Peter notices that Dworkin has appeared with a bird on his shoulder and talks to him during the duel. Caine tosses Peter a bag of gold when the duel is finished. Peter offers to buy him a drink and they head into town. Eric also disappears. Gwydion makes Trump contact with Dworkin's bird and Dworkin enters his mind. He starts rummaging around in there and Gwydion slumps to the ground. Dworkin says "Uh oh, he's dead." Kara and Peter are delighted. Mead asks if Dworkin can put him back the way he was. Dworkin asks why, since Gwydion was malfunctioning. He says he can put something in there, though. Ryan Trumps another Gwydion and hands the body through. The other Gwydion is very upset. Kara introduces herself to Dworkin. He kisses her hand, then her arm, then her elbow... The parrot squawks. He asks whose kid she is. She says she doesn't know and asks if he does. He notes that she has pointed ears and tries to meet her eyes. She avoids this. He asks to see her sword, but Lightbringer objects to this. Kara asks if Dworkin has seen a sword like it before. He claims he hasn't. Dworkin looks at Mead and says he knows who he is. He's Mead of Zantium, but he knows more than that. Then he mumbles something about it working. The other Gwydion comes through and looks around. Kara asks if this one is malfunctioning too. Dworkin says he is. Mead asks Dworkin to continue, but he claims to have nothing further to say. Mead asks the bird if it has anything to say. Its eyes get really wide, its mouth opens, and it sticks out a forked tongue with another beak. Mead asks what its name is. Dworkin wants to name it Rodrigo. Gwydion asks if Peter is there. He spots Dworkin and asks who "Grandpa" is. Dworkin finds that funny. He introduces himself as Dworkin Barimen. Gwydion bows. Dworkin shakes hands. Dworkin notes that part of Gwydion is from Amber and says he's Gwydion's great-grandpa. Gwydion asks who his father is. Dworkin asks if he doesn't already know. Gwydion wants to confirm it psychically. Dworkin says he already had his handshake. He tells Ryan to stop doing "that", it's destabilizing. Then he says to tell "her" to cut it out and goes back into the castle. Kara and Mead follow but he disappears once he leaves their line of site. Eric asks Dice what he wants to do now. Dice figures it's over. Eric asks if he wishes to pursue the Helgram thing. Dice says they need to talk about it. Gwydion urges them to go after Helgram and offers to fight at their side. Dice figures if Gwydion wants them to do it, they shouldn't. They walk off and Dice tells Eric privately that he doesn't know what the Helgram thing refers to. Eric asks if this means he wasn't tortured by Helgram. Dice says there's a double of himself running around. Eric asks if this means Dice wasn't the one who gave him Greyswandir. Dice wishes he had been. Eric calls Mead over and says he no longer intends to attack Zantium. Peter asks Caine to try and reach Tybalt, but he can't. He asks Caine for advice on how to kill Gwydion. Caine stays for a few drinks and leaves. Peter Trumps Julian. Gwydion asks Ryan who he gets along with. Ryan claims to be the only one. Mead says that he got along with Gwydion. Gwydion even did him a favor recently. Kara says that Gwydion owes her a favor for his acquisition of a Trump deck. Gwydion asks what she wants. She'd like a Trump of Chaos, but he claims he has no spares. Kara goes back to her room and puts the final touches on her genealogy spell. She Trumps Amanda to tell her she's ready to cast it, but can't get through. She casts the spell using herself as the subject and sees an image of Oberon. She Trumps Rik/Kir but gets no answer. Tybalt Trumps Gwydion. He repeats again that he's not allowed to talk to him. And he damns him. Tybalt asks why. Gwydion accuses him of killing his Head of House. Tybalt tells Gwydion that he went into Graadle. Gwydion says this is bad. Tybalt asks what happens. Gwydion says he shouldn't have done that. He adds that those who do often come out mad. He asks if Tybalt has noticed anything strange and suggests that Tybalt may have carried something out with him. Tybalt shows Gwydion his finger. Gwydion asks how he can help. Tybalt asks what it is. Gwydion says the place often marks those who go in, but he has never been affected himself. Tybalt asks if Gwydion has ever contacted the intelligence there. Gwydion says he has and felt enveloped by it, destroyed by it, and found it a strange catharsis. Tybalt asks Gwydion to examine his finger. Gwydion touches the finger and finds that it's infected by Graadle. He's not sure what he can do about it. Tybalt asks what Graadle is closest to. Gwydion figures the Abyss. Tybalt asks if Suhuy would know how to cure him. Gwydion knows of Suhuy but can't put Tybalt in contact with him. He suggests talking to Hendrake. Tybalt points out that Hendrake wants him dead. Gwydion reveals that he's the heir to the throne, since his father is Random. Tybalt asks Gwydion to pass along to Random the information about his problems with Graadle. He also observes that Gwydion is acting in a more normal manner. Gwydion says he's been through a lot of changes. Tybalt talks to Rodrigo, who has no idea that Tybalt's arm was missing or that he was exiled. He finds the idea of Gwydion as heir to the throne rather sick. Tybalt Trumps Peter who says he's worried about him. Tybalt asks if anyone's mad at him. Peter says "No more than the usual." and invites him to come through. Tybalt asks about Gwydion. Peter last saw him at the duel between Mead and Dice and says he's still being annoying. Peter mentions he's trying to get Gwydion to go to Arden. Tybalt says he doesn't want to come through. He asks if Peter ever got his room cleaned up. Peter doesn't know what he's talking about. Tybalt asks when was the last time Peter saw him and learns it was when he left with the bears. He asks Peter to come get him if they don't hear from him in a couple of days. Tybalt Trumps Random but gets no answer. He has better luck with Corwin, who says he's been trying to reach Tybalt. The last thing he remembers was being inside of a computer. Tybalt says people are fucking with him. Corwin asks him to come through. Tybalt is unsure about this. Corwin asks for his sword back. Tybalt says he's misplaced it and thinks Eric was responsible. He explains about Eric's hand and his trip to Graadle. He also tells Corwin that Rodrigo's back and that he was a parrot. He thanks Rodrigo for his help and asks Rodrigo to find him if he doesn't hear from him in a couple of days. Then Corwin brings him through to his universe. Tybalt walks Corwin's Pattern and the black stuff goes away. He teleports back to Corwin and asks if Corwin recalls him trying to kill him. Corwin doesn't and asks why. Tybalt explains what he's heard, has a drink and goes to bed. When he wakes up, everything is the way it was before. He finds Corwin at breakfast and tells him he thinks Eric has Greyswandir and the armor breaker, because of the knights, who fought like Eric, and the deal with Zantium. He thinks someone is making a claim on the throne in either Eric's or Dice's behalf. Corwin finds this hard to believe, since Dice comes from a Shadow where they settle political disputes by playing golf. Tybalt thinks the bears are an attempt to keep him preoccupied so he can't help Corwin. He's inclined to leave Random alone. Corwin agrees, since Random is the least troublesome brother. Tybalt also mentions the Amber cultists and his suspicion that the Eric ones may be involved. Corwin wants to know what Tybalt meant by psychological torture. Tybalt explains about Graadle and how he got there. He also says that if Deirdre is his mother it doesn't bother him. Corwin wonders if Gwydion has been fucking Tybalt around. Tybalt thinks it's likely, but there's too many of them for him to kill them all. He could try to convince Chanicut that Gwydion is a loose canon. He tells Corwin that he thinks Mendelbrot is behind the bears, since Mendelbrot is someone he pissed off, but not to the death. Amanda Trumps Clarissa and notes that they've never met before. Clarissa asks what took her so long. Amanda says she's been busy. She asks if she should call Clarissa "Grandma." Clarissa says she could, or she could call her by her real name. Quotables: "In what form would you like it?" -- Gwydion "In whatever form you think appropriate." -- Mead "I take it this is not normal." -- Tybalt, after the Pattern zaps him in the foot. "I am not on good terms with my Head of House. Well, actually, he's dead." -- Gwydion. "You don't recall me trying to kill you, right?" -- Tybalt to Corwin