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+
All text on this page is © 1997-1998 by Kris Fazzari, with the exception of
the attributed quotes.
Last modified on May 20, 1998 by Kris Fazzari.