From Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu Tue Dec  7 12:39:55 1993
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 93 13:53:36 EST
From: Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu
To: thari@umich.edu
Subject: Kris' Campaign Log

Chapter Twenty-three: "Don't tell Mandor the baby-sitter's dead"
 
        Ahab runs over to Corwin and asks what forces he has left. 
Ahab wants to pursue the Hellmaids.  Corwin doesn't want to, but 
eventually agrees, when Ahab points out that the Hellmaids wouldn't 
be retreating if they weren't in trouble.
 
        Ariana sends Shard to deliver the news about Dworkin to 
Random.
 
        Corwin leaves half of his men behind to guard Amber while he 
and Ahab pursue the Hellmaids.  Periodically, both sides stand and 
fight.  Ahab loses 10 of his men for every Hellmaid they manage to 
kill.  Corwin's men fare somewhat better.  Corwin's horse is shot out 
from under him during the third encounter and Ahab loses track of 
him.  Since they are now far enough from Amber to be in shadow, 
Ahab summons of bird of his desire, to take a letter he has written to 
Rygat.  The letter mainly consists of Ahab boasting of his superiority 
over Rygat.
 
        Heather and Mandor spend the might together in Finch manor. 
After he leaves in the morning, she Trumps into the main hall and 
goes looking Mebd.  Since she has no idea where Mebd is, she asks 
some pages.  The third one she asks knows and takes her to Mebd's 
new room.  Mebd invites her in.  As she enters, she catches Mebd 
hiding something.  Mebd raises an eyebrow when she sees that 
Heather has gone back to wearing Georgian dress.  Heather looks 
pointedly at the place where Mebd concealed the item, but Mebd 
ignores her.  They talk for a while.  Mebd is unhappy that Mary 
kicked Mebd out of Heather's room.  She asks why Mary gets to stay 
and she doesn't.  She wants Mary to leave.  Heather doesn't like to 
hear this.  Mebd feels unwanted and asks to be taken back to 
shadow.  Heather offers to switch rooms, but says she doesn't want to 
hear that tone again.  Mebd sulks.
 
        Shard reluctantly goes to Random's quarters.  As he 
approaches, he hears a woman scream.  As he starts running, he 
recognizes the voice as Vialle's and realizes that she's screaming 
Random's name.  He bursts through the door and finds Random lying 
on the floor.  Vialle says that he just collapsed and asks him to get 
Eric.  Shard Trumps Eric and tells him that Random has taken ill.  Eric 
comes through and examines him.  After determining that no bones 
are broken, he picks Random up and starts heading for the infirmary. 
While they are walking, he asks Vialle where the Jewel is.  She says 
that as far as she knows, Random is wearing it.  The news does not 
make Eric happy, since the Jewel is no longer around Random's neck.
 
        The Hellmaids dig in for a final stand.  Ahab orders his men to 
dig in as well, and the two sides trade fire whenever movement is 
seen.  Ahab loses about a third of his men in the process.  After an 
hour it becomes obvious that they are in a standoff.  Ahab notices 
that Corwin and his men have disappeared.  He Trumps Driscoll and 
asks if any of the expatriate Chaosites are around.  Driscoll says they 
aren't.  He asks what's going on.  Ahab tells him the situation and 
that he'd like reinforcements if there are any available.  Driscoll says 
he'll pass the word.  Ahab notices that Driscoll looks rather pale and 
asks him what's wrong.  Driscoll says he'll let Ahab know when he 
knows more.  Ahab Trumps Corwin, who seems to be 50 yards closer 
to the Hellmaids than he is.  Corwin says he's going to try getting 
behind the Hellmaids, so Ahab arranges a distraction.
 
        Ariana starts cleaning Dworkin's body up.  Ariadne wakes up 
and tries to get out of bed.  Ariana pushes her back down. 
Eventually Ariadne agrees to lie still.  Shortly afterwards, Ariana 
notices that Ariadne's growing spikes.  Ariadne tries to leave, but 
Ariana blocks the door.  Ariadne says she'll go through Ariana. 
Ariana keeps trying to persuade Ariadne to get some more rest, but 
she doesn't move.  Eventually, Ariadne decides to leave through a 
window instead.  Eric enters with Random at this point, making an 
effective distraction.  Ariana asks if Random was in Trump contact 
with anyone when he collapsed, but Vialle was in the other room and 
doesn't know.  As Ariana starts to ask if Driscoll has been notified, he 
walks in the room and asks how Random is doing.
 
        Ahab has 10 of his archers shoot flaming arrows at the 
Hellmaids, attempting to set the forest behind them on fire.  They 
manage to start a few small fires, distracting some of the Hellmaids. 
In the middle of this, Ahab is Trumped by Benedict, who appears to 
be pinned down in another battle.  He asks if Ahab would do him the 
favor of retrieving something for him.  There is a book he needs in 
shadow, but it's not his, so he can't get to it currently.  The book 
contains a secret compartment, and he needs what's inside.  He gives 
Ahab instructions on how to find the Castle in shadow where the 
book is located.  Ahab asks what's going on.  Benedict says he's 
encountered an group of Rygat's elite guards.  Ahab says he'll get it, 
as soon as he can get away from the fight with the Hellmaids.
 
        A commotion starts up off to one side, in the area where 
Corwin's people were.  Ahab can see brief flashes as Hellmaids are 
struck by Greyswandir and burst into flame.  The Hellmaids begin 
chanting.  After several minutes of this, it suddenly grows quiet and 
Ahab hears Corwin say "Son of a bitch".  He peeks out and doesn't see 
any of the Hellmaids.  Corwin tells him they've all disappeared. 
Ariadne Trumps Ahab and asks if she missed all the fun.  She is 
disappointed to learn that her escape from Ariana was for naught. 
She tells Ahab that Dworkin is dead and Random was brought in to 
the infirmary when she was leaving.  He asks her if she can disperse 
his armies for him, since he has an errand to run for Benedict.  She 
agrees and comes through.  He tells Deirdre's army where to set up to 
guard her and sets Ariadne to taking his troops back.  He tells Corwin 
the news about Random and that he will be running an errand for 
Benedict.  He mounts Zero and rides off.
 
        Ariana examines Random psychically and determines that 
someone has torn through his mind.  Fortunately, there is a good 
chance that he will recover, given time.  She tells Eric this, who 
compliments her on her work.  He asks Vialle where Random kept 
the Jewel, in case he had removed it before he was attacked, and 
leaves to see if it's there.  Alex and Ariana look significantly at 
Driscoll, who follows after Eric.
 
        Heather tells Mary that Mebd wants her room back.  Mary asks 
if Mebd's still in a snit.  Mary says moving won't be difficult, since 
she didn't bring much stuff with her, referring to the fact that 
Heather didn't give her much warning when she brought her to 
Amber.  Heather leaves to find Random.  She doesn't find him in his 
room, but she does find Eric there, poking around in the fireplace 
while Driscoll watches.  She asks where Random is and Driscoll tells 
her.  She looks at Eric and asks if there's something wrong with the 
fireplace.  Eric dusts himself off, says no, and leaves.  Heather goes 
down to the infirmary.  She sees the covered cot and asks who it is. 
Ariana tells her it's Dworkin.  Shard explains how Dworkin was 
killed.  Heather tells Alex that Mebd is feeling abandoned and that 
now is the time to capitalize on her emotional state.  She adds that 
Mebd will expect a ring.  Alex (and everyone else for that matter) is 
rather stunned that Heather is telling him this.
 
        Ariana realizes that Felix has been gone since he finished 
assisting her with Ariadne's injuries, and asks if anyone knows 
where he is.  Heather suggests asking his mother, so Ariana goes to 
Gerard's quarters.  Isabeux says that Felix left two hours ago with 
Brand.  She asks if she should be worried.  Ariana says not yet and 
leaves.
 
        Ahab arrives at Benedict's castle, turns Zero over to a 
stablehand, and enters.  He follows Benedict's directions to the 
specified room, and sees the book lying on a pedestal.  Suspicious, he 
stands in the doorway and looks for any signs of a trap.  Finding 
nothing, he enters.  When he gets halfway across the room, it fades 
out, and he finds himself surrounded by stone walls.  Chanting begins 
around him.  He wastes some time determining his current location, 
which turns out to be halfway between the Pattern and Ygg.  He tries 
to use Morglyph break through one of the walls, with no success.  A 
cloud begins to form in front of him.  He is pulling out a Trump when 
five words are spoken, and suddenly he finds himself spread-eagled 
in the air.  Rygat appears in front of him and says this is his destiny. 
With these words, the cloud begins to move towards him.  As it 
engulfs him, he realizes that the cloud is completely made up of 
flying razor blades.  Loud noises batter at his ears.  Just before he 
passes out from the pain, Rygat has Zero's head brought in for him to 
see.
 
        Alex goes to Heather's room looking for Mebd.  Mary directs 
him to Mebd's new room.  He offers to take Mebd on a walk through 
the gardens.  She complains to him for a while as they walk.  At one 
point, she asks him if he'd like to help her with her needlepoint.  In 
an effort to avoid this, he stretches his fingers out of shape and says 
that his hands are too deformed.  This causes her to scream.  He 
quickly shifts his hands back to normal and denies that they ever 
looked different.  He says maybe all the fighting with Heather is 
affecting Mebd's mind.  She blames it all on Mary.  Alex asks where 
Mary's from and learns that she's from Driscoll's shadow.
 
        Merlin arrives in Amber that evening, looking somewhat 
annoyed with Mandor.  Mandor turns him over to Heather to "baby-
sit" and quickly leaves.  Heather brings him to the dining hall to get 
something to eat.  Alex, Mary, Mebd, Driscoll, Ariana, Shard, Eric, 
Corwin, and Bleys are also there for dinner.  Noticing Ahab's absence, 
Ariana asks if he survived the day's battle.  Corwin says he did and 
then left on an errand.  Curious to find out what he's up to, Ariana 
Trumps Ahab.  She becomes concerned when the card turns black, 
leading her to suspect he is unconscious.  She continues trying to 
reach him, eventually bringing him back to a very painful 
consciousness.  Ariana gasps as he comes into view.  He is cut from 
head to toe and crucified on a stone wall.  Zero's head is stuck to the 
wall above him with Morglyph.  Ahab tells Ariana that Rygat is 
responsible for his current condition.  She asks if he is guarded, but 
he doesn't see anyone.  He says he will attempt to determine his 
location, and asks her to call him back in a minute.  He is able to tell 
that he hasn't been moved from the shadow where he was captured. 
Ariana tells the others at the table what was done to Ahab.  The 
elders take it as an insult.  Ariana says that Ahab will die if he is left 
there much longer, so they begin planning a rescue party.  Ariana 
insists on coming along.  She Trumps Ahab again and he tells her his 
location.  When she tells him that help is on the way, he points out 
that Rygat may have traps waiting for any rescue party.  She says 
they'll keep that in mind and breaks the contact.
 
        Brand walks into the dining hall and asks what he missed. 
Ariana tells him what's happened to Ahab and asks him where Felix 
is.  He says he hasn't seen Felix since he left in the morning.  Isabeux 
tells Brand that she saw Felix leave with him that afternoon.  Ariana 
suggests that someone Trump Felix.  Brand borrows Ariana's Trump 
of Felix and tries to reach him.  After a while, he says that Felix is 
where his father is.  He borrows Ariana's Trump of Ahab next, and 
uses it to psychically determine Ahab's location.
 
        Brand and Bleys arrive first, to check for traps.  Brand tells Eric 
to bring a ladder, since Ahab is hung several yards off of the ground. 
Eric and Ariana are pulled through soon after.  Ahab realizes that he 
is deaf when he notices he can't hear anything that Brand is saying to 
him.  Ariana gives Brand something to knock Ahab out, and Brand 
pries him off the wall.  Ariana asks Brand to get Morglyph as well. 
Brand, Eric and Ahab Trump out.  Bleys and Ariana follow shortly 
thereafter.  Arriving in the infirmary, Eric and Ariana start stitching 
Ahab's many wounds shut.
 
        Merlin says he is not happy about being deposited in Amber. 
Heather asks if he'd like to wind up like Ahab.  He says he has ways 
of protecting himself from that.  Heather asks if he counts being 
Dara's son as one of those ways.  She implies that certain people are 
planning to use him.  He asks what she means.  She points out that he 
is child of Amber and Chaos, and as such is very useful to some 
people.
 
        Ariadne walks in and asks who died, other than Dworkin. 
Eventually she extracts the story from Shard.  She asks if Ahab was 
cut all over with short cuts.  When she learns he was, she says she'll 
be back and leaves.
 
        Alex spends the evening helping Mebd move back to her old 
room.
 
        Ariana and Eric spend several hours stitching Ahab back 
together.
 
        Shard looks in on Julian.  He then goes to the library, finds a 
good book, and curls up with it.
 
        After several hours pass, Fiona wakes up.  She walks over to 
Ahab's bed, takes the needle away from Eric, and says he's doing it 
all wrong.  Eric leaves in a snit.  Ahab starts to wake up, so Fiona 
sends Ariana for some morphine.  Fiona talks with Ahab and asks if 
he's aware of all the damage that was done to him.  He says someone 
will have to take care of Rygat.  Fiona says she's planning on doing 
something about that, adding that Bleys should be doing something 
useful.  Fiona also mentions that she doesn't think that Dworkin's 
body is actually Dworkin's.  Ahab is dosed with morphine and falls 
unconscious again.  Heather and Ariana notice that Fiona looks rather 
fatigued.  Heather says she needs to talk to Fiona privately, to give 
her an excuse to stop.  Fiona asks if Ariana can handle things from 
here.  Ariana assures Fiona she can.  Fiona instructs her to make 
small stitches to minimize scarring, and leaves with Heather.