Ariana's log, Chapter 118

"I wish I knew (Whimsy) was in her room studying, because I'd torch it."

Wednesday, August 23, 2994

Ariana wears Morglyph down to lunch. None of the elders are there. Hmmm... Wonder where they could be? Alex glares at Ishmael occasionally.

Ishmael shows up for the kids' art lessons. He brings so much stuff that six people have to carry it in. Ariana tries to take a nap. Ishmael deliberately makes a lot of noise in his lesson. Enough noise to make it impossible for her to rest. She goes to her house in town instead and falls into a deep sleep. She wakes up two hours later and goes back to the house. Ishmael is gone, and the children are playing quietly. Vincent is sketching.

Ariana checks on the progress so far in finding tutors for the kids, then takes her first look at the site where her beach house used to be. You can still see the foundation, but that's all that's left. Ariana gets some architectural books out of the library and begins studying them.

Ariana is notified that dinner will be formal, as there will be announcements that are pertinent to the family and the nobles. She dresses her children appropriately. He own dress is unusual for her, in that it is long and unrevealing.

During the mingling stage before dinner, Ariana chats with Tamaryn about her wedding plans. Tamaryn says the wedding will be in Amber. They spot Leto as she approaches Eric, Vixen and Rénard. Leto and Eric chat briefly, and then Eric escorts Leto away. She keeps making comments to him, and his countenance continues to darken. Vixen moves on to chat with Ilarion Orsola, who takes great interest in her cleavage.

Ishmael joins Ariana, who introduces him to Tamaryn. Ishmael is suave. Felix glowers. Vixen joins them and asks if Ariana's heard from Vetch. Nope. Ariana acts nonchalant. Tamaryn looks concerned. The group thinks Ariana is not OK. Ishmael departs. Ariana discusses the wedding with Felix. He would have liked to have had the wedding at Gérard's summer house, but... Ariana mentions that she checked her place on the beach, and it's a total loss. Felix figures Gérard's summer house is totaled as well. He'll miss it, even though they can rebuild. Ariana asks him when the wedding will be. Spring.

Irene approaches and says hello to Felix. She asks Felix to introduce him to the others there. Felix hesitates long enough that Ariana and Irene introduce themselves before he manages to. Then Felix introduces his betrothed, Tamaryn. Ariana senses something snap in Irene. Irene focuses on Tamaryn and begins asking questions about the wedding. She barely glances at Vixen when Felix introduces her. Irene eventually flits back to Tierney. Ariana warns Felix what she sensed in Irene, and suggests that they not discuss the wedding in front of her. She also suggests that Felix explain to Tamaryn how he knows Irene. Felix looks sheepishly at Tamaryn and says that Murine knew, but she's not Murine, is she? Tamaryn looks confused. Foster never told her? No. Dinner is announced. Felix tells Tamaryn quietly about the situation. Tamaryn isn't too concerned.

Seating at the dinner tables is arranged by rank. Irene continues staring at Felix and Tamaryn. Ariana points this out to Tamaryn and asks her to be on guard, if only to make Ariana feel better. Tamaryn agrees, but says she thinks that's not going to make Ariana feel much better. Eric is noticeably tense throughout the meal.

After dessert, Eric stands and gives a brief history of Nicholas' return. He then announces that Nicholas' coronation will be on September 6. On August 29, there will be a grand ball where Ronan, Alex, Ishmael and Whimsy will have their titles conferred, and three engagements will be celebrated. Ronan will be engaged to Meyrem Karm, Felix will be engaged to Tamaryn Vetch, and Alex will be engaged to Cordelia Feldane. Eric then reads a flowery little speech.

There is dancing after the meal. Morgan dances with Jalana. Ishmael dances with Ariana, despite her lack of enthusiasm for the idea. He asks why she's so depressed. She eventually explains about her missing body, her rape and her stolen child. He asks how long she's going to martyr herself. Until she feels differently. He points out that she still has six children. She asks why everyone seems to think that makes it all right. It doesn't, but they still need her. She knows. This is why she isn't in Chaos right now. Ishmael points out that she could always ask Whimsy to contact the faerie court about getting her kid back. Whimsy has contacts in the faerie court? Who did Ariana think she learned magic from? Ishmael brings up Ariana's Takaran lessons, and arranges to instruct her at two the following day.

Felix dances with Ariana and asks if there's anything he missed at dinner. Ariana tells him that Irene kept staring at them, then points out that Irene is talking to Tamaryn now. Neither of them like this, and they join Tamaryn as soon as the dance is over. Irene keeps trying unsuccessfully to steer the conversation to the wedding. She also hints that Felix should ask her to dance, but Felix doesn't respond. Tierney eventually wanders over and Irene introduces him. He bows stiffly to Felix and tells Irene that it's time to leave. Tamaryn comments after he's gone that age hasn't worn on him well. Ariana leaves soon after Irene does.

Ariana puts her kids to bed. She can't sleep, so she begins working on plans for the new beach house. At about 11:00 at night, she hears someone shouting for help on the elders' level. She grabs her swords and drops through the floor. Leto is shouting for guards. Ariana asks what's wrong. Lucretia's been poisoned. Ariana examines Lucretia and removes the poison with a spell. In so doing, she discovers that the poison was an abortifacient, which causes her to frown. Leto asks what's wrong. Ariana explains her findings. Leto thinks the poison was in the wine Lucretia drank. It was there when they moved back into Delwin's quarters. Guards are sent to warn Ronan and Vixen, in case this is an attack on Eric's heirs. Benedict arrives, and the situation is explained to him. Ariana stays until she's sure Lucretia will be all right, then goes back to her quarters and continues working on her architectural plans.

Thursday, August 24, 2994

At about 5:30 in the morning, Ariana senses Jack moving through the castle. He's heading for the basement. She Trumps Nicholas and tells him of this, then follows Jack. He pauses in the Great Hall. No one seems to notice him standing there. He looks like Brand. Ariana draws Morglyph and lunges at him. He hits her with a gale force wind which slams her backwards. She uses her earth passage spell to pass through the pillar behind her, along with the wall, managing to stop just before she goes over Kolvir. When she returns to the Great Hall, Jack is gone. She tries to trace him, but he's actively blocking her now. She drops down to the Pattern room and gets a knife thrown at her by Vixen, before Vixen realizes who she is. The knife passes through her, but distracts her enough to blow her spell, and she falls ten feet to the ground. Oops. Ariana explains what happened, and asks why Jack looked like Brand. Eric explains that he was posing as Brand. Ariana isn't pleased to learn that Brand has escaped. She notices Eric and Vixen giving her odd looks, and realizes that she's sinking into the ground. She fights this, to no avail. She has time to ask Eric and Vixen to make sure someone takes care of her children before she drops through the floor. She falls for a while, and then everything goes black.

Ariana wakes up in the faerie catacombs. Her hair is long again. She realizes that she's back in her human body and the block in her mind is gone. Someone squeezes her hand. She jumps and turns. It's Lucien. He observes that the spell worked. So, this is where he's been? Yes. She did say she wanted her body back. She says she wants her son back. She checks to confirm that the baby gone. He is, and her body feels violated. She observes that now she can't go to Chaos. Lucien says she can, with his help. He's found out something about her son. His name is Grayson. He was in his late 30's at the time of the information, but he's obviously older now. The house who bought him was House Eireg. His surrogate mother was Eleanor Eireg, originally of House Helgram. Eireg is rumored to be disappointed in their investment. Ariana wants to go after him. Lucien says they can go as soon as she gets used to her body. She mentions that Brand is loose again, and that Jack was posing as him. Lucien figures that's why Jack suddenly became cooperative. He was holding her body hostage, before. It was actually still in Faerie. Lucien observes that someone must have invited Jack to Amber, and he'll now have full power there. Ariana thinks Brand would have invited him, if Jack had offered Brand his freedom in exchange.

Lucien asks if Ariana can sit up. She manages to do so. It doesn't feel like her body's moved in a while. She asks how much time has passed in Faerie. Well, he's been arguing with Jack for five years. Ariana is stunned, and notices that Lucien looks a bit tired. He says he would like to go home and see his children. Ariana tries to stand, and falls. Lucien catches her. Ariana flinches a bit at being touched. She says she doesn't want to go back to Amber until she's used to her body, but he can go and see the children, if he likes. Given the situation in Faerie, he doesn't want to leave her alone. The Unseelie Court has never had this much power before, after all. Ariana says it may not last. She tells him about the Ygg project, not knowing that it's been destroyed. She still seems to be in shock at how long he was in Faerie, and insists it was a sacrifice she never would have asked him to make. He knows, but he had to make up for what he did to her somehow. Ariana hugs him and begins to cry. He holds her until it's out of her system. She thanks him for getting her body back, saying she's sorry it cost him so much. He assures her that five years isn't so long for him.

Ariana and Lucien discuss Jack. Lucien points out that only an Avatar can kill another Avatar, and the Logrus is currently without one. He doesn't want Ariana trying to kill Jack, since she can't succeed, and if she tries, Jack may kill her instead. Her time would be better spent talking to Nimue.

Ariana asks for more information about her son, and learns that he takes after her in looks and, apparently, attitude. She finds this both comforting and saddening, since she figures he must be miserable in Chaos. Lucien is sure he won't be there much longer, knowing her. And if he doesn't want to come back? Lucien thinks he will.

Ariana tries to walk again, and does a little bit better this time. She asks if there's something wrong with her. Not that he's been able to determine. Ariana asks him to at least leave her a note the next time he does something like this, and admits that she missed him, and was beginning to think he'd left her. He apologizes for that and says he missed her too. He also gives her his word of honor that he will communicate with her before trying to do anything to her mind like that again. He won't promise not to do it if it will save her life, though. Ariana accepts this, since she figures she'd do the same if his life was in danger. Although she reminds him again that her life wasn't in danger when he placed the block in her mind. He admits that he's capable of making mistakes. Ariana says he's only human. Actually, he's Chaosian. Ariana thinks Chaosites are still human. Lucien disagrees, revealing that when he shapeshifts to human form, he notices a big difference. People from Chaos and Amber may be able to interbreed with humans, but they are not the same race. Ariana asks what that makes them. Well, he's a Chaosian, and she's both Chaosian and Amberite. Ariana says she can't be sure her father was a Chaosite, since she has no real proof. Lucien tells her that she feels like a half-breed. He noticed this shortly after he met her. Naturally, he neglected to mention this to her, of course. He claims her stunning beauty provided too much distraction.

Ariana says she hopes Lucien hasn't been spending all five years in the catacombs. No, although he did come and visit her, from time to time. Jack left the body there, knowing it wouldn't survive if Lucien took it out of Faerie. Jack was the one who cast the spell that brought her back into her body, after showing up rather unexpectedly. Ariana thinks that may have had something to do with her going after him with a Pattern sword, seeing as how it happened right after she did so, and leaves her in a body that can't sense Jack's passing.

Ariana passes nearly two months in Faerie, getting used to her body again and getting reacquainted with Lucien. He doesn't want to talk much about his five years in Faerie, it having been a rather frustrating experience. Lucien helps her get back into fighting form by shapeshifting into opponents for her. Ariana fills him in on everything that happened in Amber while he was gone. She isn't happy about the fact that the boys don't seem to respect women, an attitude they've picked up from their father. Lucien isn't happy about this either, and says he'll talk to them. It's not something he was conscious of doing. Ariana's hurt because she thinks it indicates that he doesn't respect her. He assures her that it's more a product of how he was raised, and the environment he grew up in, than his opinion of her. He doesn't have any objections to the lessons Ishmael is giving the boys, or her, for that matter. He does warn her to be prepared for Ishmael not to follow through on her instruction, however. New members are not inducted readily into the art of making Takaran metal. Personally, he thinks they're all nuts. Ariana also mentions Irene's strange behavior. Lucien doesn't think there's much a non-royal Amberite can do to harm Tamaryn, but agrees to keep an eye on Irene, just in case. Ariana is relieved by this. She tells Lucien about Lucretia's poisoning, but it's not a subject he wants to discuss.

Lucien notices that Ariana doesn't mention herself in any of her stories, and eventually gets her to admit the eating and drinking problems that she had while he was gone. She refuses to tell him about removing her wedding ring, though. He can tell that she's still hiding something, of course, but doesn't pursue the matter.

Ariana visits with Auberon several times during her stay in Faerie. He doesn't seem to bear her any ill will for what happened to Avalon, or her being used as a hostage by the Unseelie Court. They spend a lot of time talking, as Ariana tries to figure out what their relationship should be. Auberon doesn't see her as his sister, but he's willing to have her as a friend. Ariana is happy with this.

Once Ariana feels comfortable with her body again, she asks Lucien to teach her shapeshifting. He's delighted to, and begins instructing her. She doesn't find the process too difficult, further evidence of her father's likely Chaosite nature.

When Ariana is ready to leave Faerie, Lucien brings her back to their quarters in the castle. It's 9:00 in the morning. The children aren't there. Ariana Trumps Jalana, who is frantically happy to see her. Jalana pulls Ariana and Lucien through to the garden. Anne, Ishmael, Vixen, Alexandra and Morgan are there with the kids. Ariana thanks them for watching the children. Jalana's sticking really close to Ariana. Ariana introduces Ishmael to Lucien. Ishmael comments that she's looking much better. Lucien raises an eyebrow. Ariana doesn't comment. Ishmael says her new hair looks much better, and that the old one makes her look fat. Ariana doesn't want to discuss this in front of the children. Ishmael takes the boys to their lesson. Vixen can smell that Ariana has her body back, and comments that she seems to have found a few missing items. She wants to talk to Vetch about something, when he has time. She tells Ariana that there have been no new developments since she departed. Brand is still being looked for. Nicholas has ordered him dead. Ariana asks how they discovered that Jack was impersonating him. Vixen looks uncomfortable, and suggests they talk away from the children. Ariana sends Jalana to play with her sisters. Vixen gives Rénard to Jalana as well. Once the children are out of hearing distance, Vixen explains that when Laughter and Foster failed to check in, they were tracked down and found wandering the Shadow, without any memories at all. The sapling of Ygg was destroyed. Laughter and Foster were brought back to Amber, but no one knows if their memories can be restored, or if anything of their original personalities has survived. Since Brand was one of those strong enough to have done such a complete erasure, Ona was brought in to question him. At which point Brand dropped through the floor, thus clueing those present to the fact that he was a faerie. Ariana's Trump call moments later allowed them to determine that it was Jack. Ariana is obviously shocked by this news, and Lucien frowns. Vixen adds that Brand's escape makes him the obvious suspect in what was done to Laughter and Foster, so they are no longer obliged to wait for unattainable evidence against him. Vixen figures he'll soon be dead, since no one will stay their hand now. The way this is said disturbs Ariana a bit, and she mentions that if Brand didn't do this, and is blamed for it, then whoever was responsible will go unpunished. The Unseelie Court had far more reason to prevent the chasm from being closed than Brand, after all, and Jack could easily have performed the mindwipe. Vixen admits this could be true, but whether Brand is responsible or not, she wants him dead too much to raise any doubts in Nicholas's mind. Ariana wants him dead, too, she was merely thinking of having Fiona or Ona scan Brand before he's killed. Vixen doesn't want to risk Nicholas changing his mind and letting Brand live. She suggests bringing up the possibility of Brand's innocence only after he is dead. Vixen arranges a meeting with Lucien for later in the day, then takes Rénard and returns to the brothel, along with Alexandra and Morgan. Morgan seems reluctant to leave the children.

Ariana and Lucien discuss the situation. Obviously, they need to determine if Brand is the one who invited Jack into Amber. If so, then he's the only one who can ask Jack to leave. On the other hand, Brand's imprisonment makes it unlikely that he could have contacted Jack to issue the invitation. Who could have? Driscoll, Laughter (pre-mindwipe), Foster (pre-mindwipe), Teresa, Whimsy, Caitt and themselves. Possibly Alex. Foster and Laughter are eliminated for obvious reasons. Ariana has a page deliver the list of suspect to Nicholas, to be passed on to whoever he has looking into determining who invited Jack to Amber.

Quotables:

"I wish I knew (Whimsy) was in her room studying, because I'd torch it." -- Alex to GM

"I will have Rénard with me, because I would have Rénard with me, wouldn't I?" -- Jen to GM

"Tamaryn is a tall, half-faerie woman with large, brown eyes." -- GM to Ishmael
"With a *very* large man standing next to her." -- Felix

"I'm Ariana." -- Ariana
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Irene." -- Irene
"Irene, this is Ariana." -- Felix
"We've met." -- Irene

"Murine knew, but you're not Murine, are you?" -- Felix to Tamaryn

"(Laughter and Foster's) minds have been wiped." -- Nicholas to Felix
"How can you tell?" -- Kris

"Excuse me, I work in there." -- Elaine to Ishmael, after being shoved out of Whimsy's quarters

"Outrageous Fortune"
Game Logs for Sessions 1-115 | Character Logs for Sessions 116+

Last modified on May 20, 1998 by Kris Fazzari.