Session Nine
	     "Why don't we Trump Brand and mentally dominate him?"

At the commencement:

	Farad is on the way to Chaos, trying to use the Black Road as a guide.
	Colin is at the gates of Amber.
	Alastair and Lilith on are the Black Road.
	Rasa is at the center of Brand's Primal Pattern.
	Sand is heading to Amber.
	Gabriel is chatting with Ganelon.

	Alastair and Lilith come off the Black Road onto a hill.  Below
them spreads the massing Chaos army.  Lilith tries and fails to Trump
Tristan.  Alastair watches the army and harasses Lilith, trying to get her
to tell him who the Trump is of.

	Rasa is disappointed to find that neither her blood nor Farad's
affects the Pattern, and disappears to Arden.  Then she Trumps to Colin. 
Sand, in turn, Trumps to Rasa.  They brainstorm plans, but nothing really
catches the eye.  Sand suggests everyone draw their own Pattern.

	Kayla drools on Dann.
	
	Farad makes it to Ygg, then to the Abyss, where he meets up with
Lilith and Alastair.  He says he can make a fake Jewel.  They chat and
make plans to draw Brand to Chaos and its army with a fake Jewel.  Farad
stays behind to do Jewel creation, and Lilith and Alastair start to Amber. 
They Trump Rasa to cover the last bit of distance more quickly.  Once
there, plans are discussed, as is Gabriel's rash loyalty to Brand (friend,
schmiend).  The plan is: Farad creates fake Jewel.  While Brand is
distracted, Rasa walks a Pattern and goes to the center of the Brand
Primal Pattern, and then takes Lilith there, who unwalks it.  They all
have dinner, while Alastair starts down the Black Road.

	Gabriel, his ears burning, Trumps Brand, who is out of range.  He
and Ganelon head for Bramber.  Brand iterates to Gabriel that Lilith is a
thief.  Gabriel, not one to fling about epithets, says Chaos is mad at
Brand.

	Farad has the fake Jewel.  It looks good, and so, when he hold it
up, the Chaosites mob him.  Alastair heads down the Black Road towards the
Jewel-like object, and catches up with Farad, who flees, with the Chaos
army behind him.  Fortunately, he has the Spikard, retrieved some time
when the log wasn't looking, and he can hold them off.  He and Alastair
head to Bramber.

	Sand gets Lilith and Rasa into Brand's castle and into the Pattern
Room.  Rasa begins walking, and, of course, bursts into flames.

	Farad and Alastair are in Bramber Castle.  Brand opens a Trump
contact onto Farad; Alastair joins in for the fun of it.  Alastair says
"Let's discuss terms."  Brand sends Gabriel through to subdue them and
take the Jewel, which is basically saying "fuck terms,"  I guess.  With
Brand dominating Farad mentally, Gabriel takes the Jewel.  Alastair breaks
contact with Farad, which leaves him completely open to Brand, who takes
him over and discovers the Jewel is a fake.

	Rasa gains the center of the Pattern and gets Colin and Lilith to
the Primal Pattern.  Brand shows up with Gabriel, both standing ON the
Pattern.  (I thought that was supposed to be bad, but Brand got the new
and improved version of the Pattern...  Pattern 1.1B?  Anyway...) Lilith
sends a lightning bolt at Brand, but he diverts it, and it knocks out
Colin and Gabriel.  Lilith and Brand struggle to dominate the Jewel.  Rasa
fires crossbow bolts at Brand, but they prove only to be minute
distractions.  Farad and Alastair show up.  Farad takes Alastair's Trump
of Gabriel, then directs Spikard energy at Brand.  Brand turns the Spikard
off.  Lilith rushes Brand, and Brand grabs the Jewel.  Lilith attempts to
cut off his hand, but weapons have no effect on Brand.  Rasa tries to wake
up Colin, and tries to Trump Brand, but these things fail.  She shoots
more bolts at Brand.  She hits Lilith with her fourth bolt, and Lilith
disappears.  Brand grabs Gabriel and leaves.  Farad walks the Pattern to
teleport out, but at the center finds he can't leave Bramber.  He
teleports to the Main Hall, where Brand shows up and kicks his ass.  Farad
is saved by his traveling spell.

	Rasa is too tired to walk Brand's Pattern, so she curls up next to
Colin and goes to sleep.  Colin wakes up.  Alastair is standing over him,
impatiently watching the two sleep.  Alastair sees the fake Jewel on the
Pattern and tries to get it, using Colin's belt, and the belt burns up.

	Farad flees to Chaos, which is where Sand is fleeing also.  Still
considerably distant from Chaos, she Trumps Rasa and brings her through,
and Rasa brings Alastair and Colin along.  Rasa tries to Trump Lilith and
fails; Rasa thinks she has killed Lilith.  Sand tries to walk Shadow with
Trump as a Geiger counter to tell her when she gets closer to Lilith, but
this fails. Alastair goes to his quarters in Bramber, seeking Trump. 
Colin Trumps Suhuy, who brings Colin, Rasa and Sand through.  Suhuy orders
someone to see Colin healed.  Rasa introduces herself and Suhuy mentions
shapeshifting lessons.  Suhuy only looks disdainfully at Sand when she
introduces herself.

	Lilith awakens in Flora's house, unable to move, with no Jewel. 
She goes back to sleep again.  Next time she comes to, Flora comes in and
tells her Eric has reclaimed the Jewel.

	Gabriel Trumps Lilith -- out of range.  Brand helps Gabriel Trump
Rasa.  Gabriel berates Rasa for shooting at people.  Rasa starts to cry a
little.  Gabriel breaks contact, then fails to Trump Corwin.

	Alastair leaves Bramber.  He Trumps Lilith.  He fails.  He fails. 
He fails.  He fails.  HE FAILS, all right!!

	Rasa practices shapeshifting, and learns how to grow feathers. 
Suhuy chats with Colin while he recuperates.  Colin fails to be impressed
when Rasa shows him her feathers.

	Gabriel Shadow-walks to Corwin on the battle field to help out. He
quizzes Corwin about protocol (Lilith is Corwin's heir), Pattern (blood
does indeed mess a Pattern up, and yeah, Brand probably knew that) and
etcs. (asking Benedict to help Amber once Corwin is dead).  From this
conversation, Gabriel decides to walk Brand's Pattern to gain access to
Brand's Primal Pattern, to pull Greyswandir and start to bleed on it.  He
does this, but his blood just falls through, just like Rasa's did.  He
fails to Trump out from the Primal Pattern.

	Alastair goes to Chaos, where he bides his time to hear about/find
Sebastian.  Alastair attempts to make psychic contact with Mara,
Sebastian's lover, who breaks the contact and casts a spell.  Alastair
runs away.

	Lilith feels much better, so she Trumps Eric.  They chat, and
Lilith does not notice the Jewel on him.  Lilith says she plans to go aid
Corwin before he gets himself killed.  Eric says he's just waiting for
Corwin to die before he goes to kick Chaos out of Amber.  Eric has
Werewindle.  Lilith asks for help in destroying Brand's Pattern.  Eric
gives her a Trump of a stone monument, which will give her access to Eric. 
Then she heads to Corwin, after his Trump fails to animate.  (Surprised? 
I'm not.)

	Alastair continues to try and gain access to Mara, and ends up
chained by Sebastian and Mara for his trouble.  They question him.

	Gabriel tries to locate some of Farad's blood, and Trumps Lilith,
so they can discuss the Brand/Pattern dynamic.  They head down the Black
Road separately.  Gabriel Trumps her again, and tells her Amber has three
days left before its armies fall, and that she is to find Benedict when
Corwin falls, and she is also the heir now.

	Colin tries to figure out Brand's weaknesses from Suhuy, who says
it would take someone with greater Trump skill and warfare than Brand to
take him out (duh).  Rasa gains an overview of the Courts of Chaos.

	Lilith reaches the big army and sneaks past, then Trumps Rasa. 
Lilith goes through, and Suhuy, Colin, Sand, Lilith and Rasa have a nice
chat.  Colin asks Suhuy to help him get to Fiona-land; Suhuy complies, and
takes him to the Shadow via Arden from Chaos.  Fiona is not there and
she's blocking her Trump calls.

	Gabriel finds Farad and asks him to bleed on Brand's Pattern for
him.  Farad thinks this sounds grand.

	Lilith and Rasa Trump Alastair (who is tied up -- *again*), and
Trump him through.

	Gabriel Trumps Lilith for help.  She learns Gabriel and Farad are
going to Bramber.  She says she will try to repair the Primal Pattern. 
Suhuy could help Lilith, Alastair and Rasa get to where they need to be. 
Lilith Trumps Colin to come through to talk to Suhuy.

	Colin persuades Suhuy to help them.  Lilith is to get the Jewel
from Eric.  He tells her he buried it under some stones by Brand's
Pattern.  Lilith Trumps Gabriel and asks him to get it for her.  Alastair
challenges Suhuy's presence.

	Ganelon is in Bramber with Gabriel, watching Farad walk the
Pattern.  Gabriel has the Jewel now, and gives it to Ganelon to give to
Lilith.  He also orders Ganelon to protect her as he would the heir to the
throne.  Ganelon does this thing.

	Lilith realizes she needs help with redrawing the Pattern, and
that she has to attune her helper to the Jewel.  She unjustly picks Colin,
as though Rasa were not good enough or something.  Harumph.  Rasa,
Alastair, Ganelon and Suhuy watch as Lilith and Colin start walking the
Pattern and Lilith attunes Colin to the Jewel.

	Farad is at the center of the Primal Pattern, Gabriel is at the
edge.  Brand shows up, screaming bloody murder.  Gabriel guards against
him from interfering as Farad slashes himself up and passes out.  Brand
attacks Gabriel, and Gabriel's sword has no effect on Brand.  Gabriel and
the bleeding and unconscious Farad are put in Brand's dungeons.

	Lilith and Colin begin repairing the Pattern when Brand shows up. 
He and Suhuy start grappling; Alastair's sword fails to damage Brand, but
Suhuy's arm full of poisoned darts seem to do a number on Brand. 
Ganelon's crossbow bolt actually hits Brand, which gives Rasa the
incentive to fill him full of arrows, but it is Alastair who deals the
death blow to Brand (and receives the death curse).  Alastair takes
Brand's Trump deck.

	Lilith and Colin have seen too much of each other's mind -- no
more secrets!  They start running out of energy, but plod on.

	Alastair notes that something is wrong with Brand's Pattern.

	Gabriel starts trying Trumps; he gets Sand to answer, who is near
Bramber.  He asks to be pulled through with Farad.

	Alastair notes Amber's armies falling on the Black Road; the Black
Road reverberates and the troops fall dead.

	Colin falls unconscious.  Lilith picks him up and finishes the
redrawing and falls unconscious herself.  The Pattern is completely
repaired (but not completely walked).  Alastair goes forward onto the
Pattern to try and rescue them.  Rasa helps, and Alastair and Rasa get
Colin and Lilith (respectively) to the safety at the center.

	At the end:

	Corwin, his body missing, his daughter Queen.
	Gabriel, with Farad and Sand, outside of Bramber.
	Alastair and Rasa, with no Jewel, unconscious at center of Primal
Pattern.
	Colin and Lilith, attuned, unconscious at center of Primal Pattern.
	Suhuy, healing, with Ganelon, at the edge of the Primal Pattern.
	Darmok, and Jalad, at Tanagra.
	Brand: dead.
	Black Road: gone but not forgotten.  And there's a new one leading
to Bramber, which would be a cool place to hang out, now that Brand's
dead, but we never thought of that before we just went and inked out his
Pattern, did we?  

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