From Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu Mon Mar 14 13:26:24 1994 Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 10:54:16 EST From: Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu To: thari@umich.edu Subject: Kris' Campaign Log Chapter Thirty-six Alex has a vision of Random's quarters while he is eating in the dining room. He observes Brand remove the Jewel of Judgment from its hiding place behind a brick in the mantle and then disappear. The scene fades. Ariana enters the room and asks if he was able to determine if Mark is a shapeshifter. Alex assures her that Mark is fine. Felix looks all over the Castle for Foster but can't find him. He goes to his parents' room and asks Gerard for suggestions. Gerard suggests he check the fourth floor, which Felix had skipped because there isn't anything up there. Felix hears some noises as he walks up the stairs. He finds Foster working out his frustrations by playing a game of handball. Felix points out that he didn't know Eris would say would say what she did. Foster suspects Murine was behind it. Felix apologizes, saying he's not sure why Murine's been acting that way, but there's not much he can do. He offers to do something with Foster, just the two of them, no women allowed. Foster likes this idea. Ahab talks with Kimdyl. She hands Nicholas to Ahab for changing. Ahab asks if she can do it with the Logrus. She says she'd rather watch him do it. Ahab discovers just how disgusting baby shit can be. Once the messy task is completed, Ahab hands the baby to Kimdyl, who says she'll let him know when Nicholas needs to be changed again. Ahab asks for the baby, then sets him aside and tickles her. She turns into her Chaos form, which looks like a goat with fangs and spikes, and casts a spell on him which drains his strength. Then she starts tickling him. Ahab tries to bring the Pattern to mind. Kimdyl squeezes "something" just enough to break his concentration. She pins his arms and tells him not to try it again. He does so anyway. Ahab gets a Trump call from Fiona, who asks if he's in trouble. He tells her it's just a minor domestic duel. Fiona says she has something to ask him, if now's a good time. Ahab figures he's not going anywhere and tells her to go ahead. She asks what happened to the Trump trap that Rygat was imprisoned in. Ahab tells her he gave it to Random after they returned. Fiona remarks that it certainly gets around, but won't explain what she means and breaks the contact. Kimdyl says "Uncle." Ahab replies "Aunt." Kimdyl tells him to admit she's his lord and master. He says it's wife or nothing. She repeats her request. He attempts to bring up the Pattern. She casts a spell and disappears. Ahab tries to Trump her but she refuses the contact. Ariana knocks on the door to Ahab's quarters. Ahab asks who it is. Ariana explains that she's come to see Nicholas. Ahab tells her the baby is gone. While they are talking, Kimdyl Trumps Ahab and gloats. He still won't call her lord and master. She laughs and breaks the contact. Ahab tells Ariana about Fiona's Trump call. Neither of them are happy about the possibility that the Rygat's Trump prison may be missing. Ariana asks Ahab if Mandor knows about the half- breed plot. Ahab isn't sure. Ariana figures that Murine must remember a few faces from the plotters, and Mandor could probably pass this information along to Gramble, who is better situated to investigate the situation. Ahab suggests she follow upon that while he investigates the Rygat problem. Alex goes to Random's quarters and is told that he's not in. He asks to see Vialle and tells her that he has something important to tell Random. She Trumps Random, who reluctantly returns from his poker game. Alex tells Random that he suspects Mark of being a Chaosite or a pawn. Random sends some men to guard the study. Next Alex tells Random of his vision. Random frowns upon hearing this. Finally, Alex asks for a Trump deck. Random says he'll take it under consideration. Alex asks if there's anything else he can do. Random replies that he has Alex's Trump if he needs to talk to him. Ahab Trumps Random and asks if Fiona's talked to him recently. Random says she hasn't. Ahab gives the details of his conversation with Fiona and suggests Random make sure the Trump is safe. Felix asks if Gerard wants to do anything with him and Foster. Gerard suggests they go sailing. Felix thinks that's a good idea and looks for Foster, eventually finding him in the shower room. As he approaches, he sees a shadowy figure slip into the room. He investigates, but only finds Foster. He asks Foster how long he's been in the shower. Foster figures it's been ten minutes or so. Felix checks the other stall but finds nothing. Foster turns off the water and asks what's wrong. Felix tells him he saw someone slip into the room. Foster decides he's done with his shower. They go back to Felix's quarters, where repairs are underway. Foster grabs some clothes and they go to their temporary quarters so he can change. Ariana brings some breakfast food to the study, and finds many guards but no Mark. She asks the guards what they are doing. They say they are under orders, but won't say what those orders are, or who gave them. Ariana glares at them. They decide there's no point in staying there and leave. Mark walks into the room a minute later, saying the bathrooms are hard to find. Ariana gives him the food she brought and tells him she needs to stay a little while longer. Mark doesn't look happy about this. Alex searches for Mebd but can't find her. He decides to check out the spot over the ocean where the demon who was kidnapping Foster disappeared. As he makes his way down Kolvir, he has a vision of Brand tracing a new Pattern. When Brand is finished, the vision fades and Alex feels weak. He continues into Arden. Ahab Pattern transports to Kimdyl, who it turns out is holed up in the kitchen. She smacks him for scaring her. Ahab licks Kimdyl's feet. Literally. The kitchen staff are appropriately disgusted. Kimdyl tells him to wipe the slobber off. Ahab replies that there are limits to which a prince of Amber cannot sink. Kimdyl responds by wiping her foot off on his leg. Ahab wonders why he can't ever fall in love with nice women. Kimdyl grabs a knife and advances on him, observing that he's always bragging about his healing ability. Just when she's almost in range, she throws the knife behind her and scares the shit out of one of the staff. They decide to make up. Heather does something secret for two hours. When she is finished, she checks on Emer and then goes looking for Mebd. Felix tells Foster that he's arranged for them to do some sailing with Gerard. Foster is more than willing, after he makes sure that Murine won't be coming along. Felix says he'll join Foster and Gerard later, after he discusses a few things with Murine. Foster is disappointed that Felix is not getting rid of her. He says she doesn't take things seriously enough. They go to Gerard's quarters. Ariana goes looking for Felix. She finds his old quarters under repair but is directed to his new ones. She suggests to Felix that Murine must have had a contact with the plotters, and they might be able to trace the other conspirators through that. Felix says he'll be talking to Murine later, if she wants to sit in. Ariana explains that she's not sure she'll be around then. She suggests Felix inform Random of what he learns, and Mandor as well, since Chaos has better resources for tracking this down. She asks if Foster knows anyone who was involved in the plot, but he insists its no one important. Felix doesn't want to talk to Mandor. He explains how he accidentally told Alex about the plot and felt like a fool. He suggests telling Eric what he learns instead, since Eric is in Chaos as Amber's ambassador. Foster says Felix can't Trump all the way to Chaos. Ariana agrees, but adds that she, Ahab and Vetch were able to do it together. Foster recognizes Vetch's name but says he's only heard it mentioned in passing. Felix suggests Ariana have some Trumps made of her, to make it easier for people to contact her. Ariana agrees it's a good idea, but doesn't think Heather would be willing to do it. Ariana asks Foster if a shapeshifter could fool a psychic probe. He says one could, if their psyche was high enough. Felix invites Ariana to go sailing with them, but she declines. Ariana ask a page where Driscoll is, and is told he is in the garden with Eris. She finds him there and asks if he knows sorcery. He says he doesn't. She explains that she is trying to determine if someone is a Chaosite in disguise. Driscoll says that Benedict would know. Ariana explains that she talked to Benedict, who told her to find a sorcerer. Driscoll tells her that Benedict is a sorcerer. Ariana doesn't take the fact that she was blown off very well. Alex has a vision of the Pattern, the Rose, and Brand's Pattern completely destroying the Logrus. He is knocked off his horse by the force of it. He Trumps his mother and asks how the Logrus is doing. She says it's fine and wants to know why he's asking. He promises to tell her later. He finally reaches a spot overlooking the place where the demon fell into the ocean. He searches the area with the Logrus, but the only thing he finds is a cave at sea level leading back towards the Castle. He heads back there with haste. Ahab asks Kimdyl if she knows of a way to determine if Mark is a shapeshifter. She says she might have a way, but wants to rest first. He asks if he can have Deirdre keep an eye on her while he's gone. She figures it's OK. Ahab goes to Deirdre's room and asks if she'll keep an eye on Kimdyl and Nicholas. Deirdre asks if Kimdyl's agreed to marry him yet, and says he's losing his touch when she learns Kimdyl hasn't. Ahab says he has some errands to run. She tells him to let her know when he's back. Ahab goes to Flora's room, where he finds her going over fabric swatches. Ahab warns her not to hurt herself with those. They exchange some witty banter. Flora observes that Ahab doesn't have a package with a bow, so she figures he must want something. He says that he wants tell her something in confidence, in case anything ever happens to the parties who already know about it. He closes the door and tells her that Corwin is his father. Flora sits down and comments that there are some things that won't bear joking about any longer. He also tells her about Dworkin's enmity towards Deirdre and himself. Flora frowns. Ahab explains that he figures if he and Deirdre ever disappear, he'd like someone to know what really happened. Flora says she's flattered that he felt he could trust her and asks if there's anything she can do. Ahab figures there's not much to be done. Flora is surprised to learn that he's not engaged yet and tells him to hurry up or he'll lose Kimdyl. Heather doesn't find Mebd in her quarters, so she Trumps her. She finds Mebd in Arden, standing in a patch of ground that has been scraped bare, inscribing sigils in the ground with a stick. When she speaks to Mebd, it snaps Mebd out of her trance. Mebd notes that she's done it again and wonders what she was doing. Heather says they need to talk. Mebd asks if Heather can help her. Heather isn't sure but asks her to come through. When she does, Heather tells her to sit down. Mebd asks if what she has to say is bad. When Heather says she'd find it so, Mebd says she doesn't want to hear it. Heather insists that Mebd should be prepared. Mebd says to get back to her in a few months when she's prepared and leaves. Heather Trumps Alex. She tells him that Mebd needs someone to watch her. He says he's doing his best. Heather says Mebd's back in Amber and tells him about the sigils. Alex asks where they are, but she doesn't know. He says he'll look for them. Gerard suggests Felix take Murine to the summer house, which will give them time to talk. When they get there, Felix can Trump Gerard and join them. Felix is overjoyed by the idea. He borrows Murine's Trump (which he had given to Gerard) and tries to reach her. It doesn't animate. He tries again, concentrating really hard, and succeeds this time. Murine claims she was absorbed in something and didn't realize she was being Trumped the first time. Felix tells her what Foster is doing Murine is concerned about Foster being out on the ocean, because it's so open. The knowledge that Caine will be there as well doesn't help. Felix says they're doing it so he can talk to her. She figures she's done something wrong and has him pull her through. They find a nearby sitting room. He starts off by saying that he's sure she's as new to this parent business as he is. She expresses surprise that that's what he wanted to talk about. She says that Foster is too serious and they have to get him to loosen up. Felix says that Foster is afraid of her. She says he just finds her unnerving, but he'll get used to it. Felix stumbles around trying to get his point across. Murine asks if he'd feel better if she promised to be better. He asks her to ease into it, rather then hitting Foster full force with the sarcastic part of her personality. She says "As you wish." but doesn't look at him. She says she'll make herself scarce for a while until he recovers. Felix is dead set against this. He tells her she's still welcome to stay at the summer house and that Isabeux would be more than happy to talk with her. She agrees but still doesn't look happy. He tells her not to look like that. She says she's new to this whole thing and is doing her best to learn. She suggests they leave for the summer house. Alex gets a Trump call from Random, who is wearing his sword and looking very unhappy. He orders Alex to come through. Once Alex complies, Random asks him to go over the details of his vision. Alex notices that there are several guards present. He points out that they are dealing with shapeshifters, so Random dismisses them. Alex tells him first about the second vision, where Brand was drawing a Pattern. Random wants to know about the first one. Alex explains that he saw Brand remove the Jewel from its hiding place and vanish. Random thanks him and tells him he's free to go. Alex points out that he'd be much more useful with a Trump deck. Random ignores him. Brand Trumps into Heather's room. He hands her Rinaldo and says he'll be back as soon as he can. He vanishes. Rinaldo wants to know where Eris is. Heather doesn't know, so she Trumps Driscoll. Unable to get through to him, she Trumps Eris instead. When Eris answers, she explains that Rinaldo wants to play. Eris invites them to come through. Ariana and Heather exchange greetings that are civil if not overwhelmingly friendly. Heather Trumps Mandor and explains what just happened with Brand. Mandor asks if Jasra was anywhere around. Heather says she didn't see her, but she notes that Brand was in a hurry. Mandor asks if she's coming back up to the room soon, since he thinks this bears looking into. Heather says she'll be there soon and breaks the contact. Ariana asks if Mandor knows about the half-breed plot. Heather is confident that Mandor is taking care of it. From Flora's room, Ahab hears a shriek, followed by a baby crying and a string of curses. He realizes that it's coming from his quarters and runs in that direction. Before he enters his quarters, he notices a rather foul odor emanating from them. He finds about a truckload of manure in his bedroom, mostly centered on Kimdyl, who is describing in great detail how she will remove Murine's entrails. Ahab steps away from her. Kimdyl throws some of the shit at him, but misses. She tells Ahab to comfort the baby and make sure he's clean. Then she rifles through her Trump deck and concentrates on Murine's Trump. Felix and Murine have just reached the stables when Murine looks like she has a migraine. She tells Felix to take the reigns of her horse and ride. He grabs her arm and turns on his psychic barrier. Kimdyl shrieks with range when she is blocked. Ahab asks a page to get a wheelbarrow and some shovels. He notices a trail of shitty footprints going from his quarters into the library and out the window. He looks out the widow and spies Kimdyl, in demon form, winging her way towards two figures. He begins walking the Pattern in his mind. Murine looks up and asks how Felix feels about armed combat. Kimdyl swoops down and knocks her off her horse. Murine shifts to her Chaos form and the two sisters begin trying to rip each other to shreds. Felix orders them to stop, but they ignore him. Blood begins to fly. All those in the garden hear the commotion. Heather and Driscoll usher the children inside while Ariana goes to check out what's going on. Alex also hears the noise and investigates. Felix throws a rock at battling sisters. Ahab transports in at this point and notices that Kimdyl is getting the worst of it. He suggests to Felix that they try and pull the two fighters apart. Alex arrives and pulls the combatants apart with the Logrus. Ahab tells him to stay out of it, so Alex drops them and leaves in a huff. Ariana runs into him and asks what's going on. He's still in a snit, so he isn't very helpful. Ahab puts Nicholas down and instructs Felix to help him pull Kimdyl and Murine apart. Ariana arrives as they are doing so. She spots Nicholas lying on the ground and picks him up, lest he get trampled. Ahab isn't keen about this, but he has his hands full with Kimdyl. When the sisters have calmed down a bit and stopped struggling, Ahab tells Murine that if she ever does something like that again, he'll feed her to the fish. Murine argues that Kimdyl started it. Ahab doesn't care, since her revenge has made his quarters temporarily unlivable. Ariana and Ahab notice that although Murine has shapeshifted her wounds closed, Kimdyl has a large gash across her chest that she doesn't seem to be healing. To make matters worse, Kimdyl is still covered in shit, some of which is now in the wound. They bring Kimdyl to the infirmary. Alex finally gets around to checking out those sigils. He realizes that they are for a rather large gate spell, with the starting point being in Chaos. He casts a psychic barrier on the sigils to nullify the spell. Heather brings Driscoll, Eris and Rinaldo to her quarters. Driscoll Trumps Random and fills him in. Heather checks on Emer, who seems to be fine. Eris and Rinaldo follow Heather into the baby's room. Eris scratches Isbtan and says "Nice kitty." Rinaldo tells her he doesn't think it's a kitty. Heather goes looking for Mebd, who she finds in the kitchen. Mebd is talking to one of the kitchen staff, who relating the tale of Ahab and Kimdyl's earlier altercation. Heather insists they need to talk later. Mebd disagrees. Murine and Felix ride for the ocean to wash off. Murine decides not to wait and uses the first creek they find instead. Felix asks Murine not to do things like what she did to Kimdyl while she's around Foster. He asks if she and Kimdyl fight like that often. Murine says it depends on what their proximity to each other is. She tells him to let her know when she does something right, curls herself up into a ball and cries. Ahab washes Kimdyl off while Ariana carries Nicholas to the infirmary. Ariana sends a page to let Mark know that she'll be delayed. Ahab brings Kimdyl into the infirmary and puts her down. Ariana hands him Nicholas and goes to work on Kimdyl's wound. Murine tells Felix that she really thinks it's best for her to leave. Felix doesn't want her to go. She asks him not to criticize her if she stays. She gets some new clothes with the Logrus and they go on their way. Shortly after Ariana finishes patching Kimdyl up, Nicholas begins to fuss. Since Kimdyl is in no condition to feed him, they go down to the kitchen to look for a substitute. They find some milk but can't find any bottle nipples, nor can they get him to drink in using any other method. Ariana tells Ahab that his options are to find a wet nurse, a shapeshifter or take Nicholas to a shadow where they have bottles and formula. She offers to give him a psychic image of a grocery store in her shadow. At this point, Deirdre Trumps Ahab and asks what's going on. Ahab fills her in. She comes through and offers to bring him to a supermarket that she has a Trump of. He is more than happy to take her up on the offer. They Trump out, leaving Ariana alone in the kitchen. Alex finds Heather in her quarters with the children. He suggests she open a nursery, which Mebd thinks is a wonderful idea. Rinaldo mentions that Daddy is mad at Mommy for taking something of his. Alex uses the Logrus to fetch some cookies for the lad and asks what Jasra took. Rinaldo eagerly gobbles down the cookies, saying that Mommy took Daddy's pendant. Unfortunately, Rinaldo doesn't know where Jasra went. He asks for another cookie, which Alex gets. Alex says the damage is already done. Heather takes him into the other room to discuss what he means by that. He tells her about his visions. Felix gets a Trump call from Gerard, who tells him Caine hasn't arrived yet. Gerard isn't able to reach him through Trump either. Felix offers to try, but Gerard says that Caine isn't receiving. He adds that Foster is having a wonderful time. Felix and Murine continue on to the summer house. Ariana goes back to the study, but Mark is gone. A page is there, however, and he tells her that Random wishes to see her. She goes to Random's quarters. Random is not there, so she is taken to see Vialle. Vialle asks how she's doing. Ariana explains that she just got done stitching up Kimdyl and tells Vialle about the fight. She asks why Random wanted to see her. Vialle tells her that they have searched the Castle but can't find Mark anywhere. Ariana is distressed by this, but not too surprised. She asks if there's anything she can do. Vialle answers that she seems to have been helping already. Ariana asks what else is going on. Vialle tells her that some items are missing. Ariana is concerned that Mark may have been responsible, but Vialle assures her this was not the case. Ariana asks if anything new has been learned about the half-breed plot. Vialle says it's being looked into. Ariana asks to be told if they learn anything new, as she has a personal stake in this. Vialle nods and allows her to leave. She checks on Kimdyl, who seems to be recovering nicely. Then she goes to her room and cries. Deirdre and Ahab materialize in front of Meijers. They get the appropriate supplies, go into the parking lot, and feed the child. Ahab definitely likes his mother's new personality better than her old one.