Session Twenty-nine

	The session opened with the funeral of Alastair; all the players
were in attendance, save Paris, who was being held by Suhuy for treatment
of his mental illness.  Of the Elders, Eric was there with Flora -- Bleys,
Fiona, and Llewella also made an appearance.

	A new guest accompanied Bleys, a tall young man dressed in black,
with short dark hair, who introduced himself as Edward.  Bleys made no
secret that the newcomer was of the blood of Amber, and Edward then
introduced himself as Gabriel's brother and son of Julian.

	After a brief conversation with Gabriel, Farad went to join Flora
and Eric, who were seated near the back of the assembly.  He had some
difficulty finding a chair, as the two were not appreciative of his
company.

	Brief statements were made by Lilith and Gabriel, speaking of
Alastair's contributions to the defense of Amber.  Eric spoke next,
admitting that he was not the best father to his son, and while in some
ways his son had been a disappointment, he would still find and destroy
his killers.

	Last to speak was Sean, who claimed Alastair as his only friend in
an emotional speech, and vowing vengeance upon the 'true' enemy of the
deceased, as he gazed pointedly at Lilith.  Sean later tried to join the
pallbearers, asking that Rasadriel step aside to honor his claim.  Duncan,
sensing a disturbance in the making, clubbed Sean subtly in the back of
the head, knocking him out.

	The next day, the Regent called a meeting to discuss issues of
importance to the safety of Amber.  First, Edward was given permission to
walk the Pattern, but he declined, saying he had no real reason to walk it
again.  Bleys then spoke up, suggesting that with the recent surfacing of
the orb which Mara used, it would be a good idea to track the other items
down before they could be wielded against the throne.  Besides the Orb and
Gabriel's blade, there is known to be a blue gem the size of a fist (many
of those present checked to see just how big that was), which permitted
easy access to any mind its wielder chose.  Another was a ring which
allowed for easy manipulation of energy across the boundaries of Shadow. 
It was reported that there might be as many as seven or nine artifacts,
more than the five or six that other reports had suggested.

	The meeting was interrupted briefly when the psychically sensitive
among those present detected that someone was spying on them all.  Bleys
was startled and perhaps a bit disturbed to note that the psychic
signature of the observer seemed very similar to Alastair's.

	Sean, still in a bad mood a day after his loyal friend's death,
chose this time to challenge Fiona in a rude manner.  Fiona bandied with
him briefly before Sean, perhaps in frustration, decided to Trump away
from the gathering.  He bent himself on the journey to Chaos to destroy
Paris.

	Gabriel at this point suggested that since Oberon had taken pains
to conceal all these items, their discovery could wait or be forgone
completely; Oberon was probably wise to have concealed them even from his
relatives.  The location of Gerard clearly was more important in his mind. 
But Bleys rejected this suggestion, and the further suggestion that any
artifacts found go unused by Amber.  He suggested that the best person to
speak with concerning the location of these items might be Paris.  Gabriel
added that Suhuy seemed to have a good deal of knowledge about such arcane
subjects.

	A party consisting of Gabriel, Rasa, Farad, Edward, and Dmitri was
dispatched to meet with Suhuy and begin the search for the objets d'power. 
Trumping Suhuy, they went through to him in his school.

	To the group's surprise, Sean was waiting for them, and standing
next to him was Sean.  He refused to comment on the fact that he had a
double.  Gabriel asked that he take no action against the life of Paris
until the group had the opportunity to question him.  When Suhuy went off
to fetch Paris, who was exploring the landscape of his mind, Edward spent
some time getting to know everyone, and hearing much talk of the prowess
of dear departed Alastair.  Rasa and Gabriel went off to visit the school
where she had received much of her shapeshifting training.

	Upon the return of Suhuy and Paris, who had been given a living
black headband to suppress his powers and potential for violence, the
group put Suhuy to the question first.  The Chaos sorcerer had much
interest in Gabriel's sword, and tested it with several mystic
experiments, determining that the blade was the outward sign of power of
some source in Shadow; and that the blade could be remade if destroyed. 
He also had some knowledge of the Orb, which made a better vortex by far
than the most powerful in Chaos.  Finally, he told a tale of the surfacing
of the blue gem in the history of Chaos, and how it had granted a ruler an
unopposable grip over the land until his death by natural causes, at which
time the gem disappeared.

	Paris was able to offer little additional information, though he
had vague recollections of some sort of expedition into the Abyss which
reminded him of an archeological dig.  A discussion on shapeshifting
ensued, as it was not clear whether this memory was Paris' or his
mother's.

	When questioned about Alastair's death, Paris claimed to have no
memories from the moment he first attacked Alastair until after he was in
Chaos in Suhuy's care.  This left the mystery of who had removed
Alastair's body from the murder site.

	The Seans, who had been making no small show of sharpening their
blades as soon as Paris arrived, broke in to threaten Paris, who was
unable to either Trump or even move in a useful way, due to his handy
black headgear.  Due to his helplessness and unarmed state, others from
Amber suggested that Sean follow the conventions of Chaos, and challenge
his enemy to a duel, which they promptly did.  However, Suhuy interrupted,
pointing out that Paris had his protection.  Sean answered by challenging
Suhuy to a duel, which the Chaosite accepted, choosing the Logrus as
weapon of choice.  Sean set the date for the contest one year hence, which
observers suggested might be enough time for him to learn how to use
Logrus.

	Farad, objecting to the cruel nature of Paris' captivity, devised
a spell which would remove the bonds which were restricting his actions. 
Thinking he was unobserved, he cast the spell and the black band at Paris'
head shattered to the floor.  Paris prepared for a Trump, but Sean blocked
it, sending them both to a featureless gray plain.  As the two of them
have been there before several times, you'd think they'd put in a couch or
something.

	Suhuy was busy reprimanding Farad for the deed when an aide rushed
in to inform him and the assembled that rumors indicated that a Lord Targ
of House Harden had taken the throne of Chaos in what was considered very
much a surprise abdication by Merlin.  Rumors rampant in Merlin's house
were that his stepping down was a plot, and that he was under the control
of the Lord of House Harden.  But Merlin's supporters had quickly
withdrawn their objection.  Suhuy rushed off to look into the matter.

	Several attempts to contact Paris and the Seans failed until they
finally accepted a Trump from Farad, who agreed to retrieve them from the
Gray Place once he was safely back in Amber.

	Concluding that this Targ must have access to the fist-sized Gem
(everyone checked the size once more), the group decided to separate, with
some returning immediately to Amber to inform Lilith of events.  Farad and
Edward immediately volunteered to leave;  Rasa wanted to remain at
Gabriel's side, but was convinced to leave, taking the Bowling Ball of
Doom (uh, I mean the Orb, Andy) to safety.  Gabriel and Dmitri remained to
gather more information, hoping that Gabriel's sword and Dmitri's sorcery
would give them some measure of defense against the Blue Gem (fist-sized).

	Meanwhile, Suhuy returned, letting everyone know in the monotone
voice of a person clearly under sloppy mental domination that everything
was OK.  He then determined the current location of Paris and the Seans,
and attempted to Trump Paris away, but the Seans blocked it.

	Farad had earned some of Suhuy's ire for freeing Paris, and
Gabriel had made a rather rude comment to the master of the Logrus as
well, so the group decided to cut their losses and get away from Suhuy,
who might have been more annoyed if he'd been himself.  Dmitri and Gabriel
arranged a meeting with Lord Targ, while Edward, Rasa and Farad returned
to Amber with the Orb and the news, to update Lilith.  Gabriel and Dmitri
were invited to the Chaos palace in short order, and after a moment for
Dmitri to shield his mind, they were escorted to the King.

	Even before they reached the throne room, Dmitri felt the barriers
protecting his thoughts weaken, as a powerful force rifled through the
false psyche he'd constructed.  Gabriel felt a bit faint for a moment, but
his untrained mind detected little more.  Fearing his shields would soon
disappear, Dmitri made a hasty exit.  Gabriel walked on in, shaking hands
with the new ruler who held one hand suspiciously behind his back, and
greeted his command to "kill Lilith" with a good deal of enthusiasm.

	Filled with enthusiasm for his new task, Gabriel struck out
towards Amber, but soon found his Shadow walking hindered by a cloaked
figure in his path.  Throwing back the hood, Alastair revealed himself and
guided Gabriel back to a friendly Shadow.  After provoking Gabriel into
drawing his sword, which immediately broke Targ's mental domination, the
pair discussed the options of an attack on Targ.  Alastair learned through
spies that Merlin was being made to behave like a dog at the new King's
feet, and suggested Merlin might make a good ally if freed.  Alastair then
went off to reconnoiter, while Gabriel Trumped Suhuy to warn him that he'd
been mentally dominated.

	Gabriel Trumped Benedict, and went through to him.  While
verifying the former commander's identity though combat, Gabriel began to
solicit suggestions from him as to possible courses to bring Targ to
justice.

	Meanwhile, Farad, Edward and Rasadriel had returned to Amber and
conferred with Lilith, Colin and Bleys.  Farad left Amber for a nearby
Shadow, and brought Paris and the Seans from limbo.  They immediately
began plotting.

	Edward attempted to Trump his brother to learn what was happening
in Chaos, but Gabriel was too far away.  Colin then Trumped Dmitri who,
having used Gabriel's Trump of Ygg, was much closer.  Dmitri came through
to Amber and verified that Targ was in possession of the Blue Gem (by now,
everyone knew how big it was).

	It was decided that an immediate strike against Targ, before he
could recruit even more allies, would give the best chance to stop him and
take the Gem.  Dmitri contacted Paris et al., but Paris cleverly convinced
him that they might be already under Targ's control, so it was decided to
proceed without them.

	The rough plan was that Colin would locate Targ (he's putting out
nova-sized amounts of psychic energy with very little skill) and then
teleport the team right to him.  Edward, Dmitri, Gabriel (if he could be
found), and anyone else who wanted would have swords coated with Colin's
anti-shapeshifting poison, appear, and kill him.  Someone might use the
Orb to create havoc in Chaos and distract his forces.

	As we left, the group was gathering in preparation to move to Ygg
and stage the attack from there.