Devils of Royalty and Divinity Game Logs

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Session One

12 April 08

(Please edit any inaccuracies or omissions. I missed a lot, especially from groups that were “Dimensionally Separated” from the group I was in at the Castle Amber.)

The first event… +20 points for character advancement/emergency fund!

As we begin, the Movers and Shakers of Amber start the epic chapter:

Simon is in prison, teaching rats to sing and dance…

Gizette finds herself Trumped by Durus...

Carmen, Queen of Amber, is playing her harp.

Solomon is pursuing treasure, only to find his father Caine had beat him to it, leaving a note for him to return home… and sure enough, he sees his father’s ships approaching on the horizon.

Eric, King of Amber, is brooding about the worsening shadow storms…

Mourn is doing paper work, dutifully keeping the machine of Amber running efficiently…

Thomas is pruning in the garden, or perhaps burying evidence (is there a difference?)…

Gizette is knocking on Bleys' door… when she gets the Trump call.

Gizette takes the call, and Durus asks to take refuge in House Candent to plot Grand Schemes.

At the same time, Thomas gets a Trump from Brand. The previously-missing Son of Amber informed him of secret prisoner beneath Castle Amber that must be killed for the safety of Amber. The killing was not posed as a request.

Solomon sees Caine’s fleet coming, has no treasure to show for his efforts, and ponders his escape plan.

Eric, finally distraught enough to demand solutions, begins to plan a meeting with the Sons and Daughters of Amber. He calls Carmen to attend to him in the negotiations to hold a meeting at House Candent about happenings in Chaos that may be causing the Shadow storms. Mourn and Thomas are also called in to assist in the planning for the defense of Amber against the mysterious threat. The question of the mysterious prisoner comes up, and while most know little of him Mourn mentions that she has “met” him, in a manner. There is some discussion about what to do about this prisoner, and the general consensus is to find Simon first and see if he is friend or foe.

Once they are dismissed, Mourn, Thomas and Carmen begin to discuss going down to find Simon. Carmen tries to use Logrus to find the cell, but the whole dungeon fights the attempt to search out Simon’s cell. The trio are forced to search the twisting dungeon on their own, and Thomas leaves roses behind to help find the way out again.

Meanwhile, Gizette greets Durus as he arrives at Candent.

Bleys, Solomon and Durus discuss the search to find a missing person of their own, and have heard some news that she might be held in the Dungeon of Amber, along with the mysterious prisoner Simon.

In Camden, Durus, Solomon, and Bleys Trump to Amber with the goal of finding the prisoner and searching for the missing Sakura. First they seek out Thomas. The guards tell them that Thomas is already in the dungeon, searching. The second trio heads below the castle, and start finding the roses Thomas is leaving behind. This is not viewed as a positive omen. Durus makes the effort to Trump Thomas.

About this time, Thomas gets a Trump call… first from Brand. Pointed questions are asked about why Simon is still living. Then Thomas gets the Trump call from Durus. Durus is trying to find Thomas and his searchers to help in their mission in finding Simon.

They all meet at the door to Simon's cell, which is barely hanging on its single remaining hinge.

They enter Simon's cell and are among the first visitors Simon has had in thousands of years. He tries to offer what refreshments he has, but the guests decide against trying the “tea”. Simon gets a change of clothes, and they begin to looking talking about another prisoner… Sakura. Simon says she is not in the dungeon to his knowledge, and he’s as close to an expert in who lives in the dungeon as one can get. After convincing Simon that it is alright to leave the cell, the search party splits up.

Lady Carmen is escorted from the dungeon by Simon, offering her as grand a tour as he can provide, and discussing with her the problem with a poorly designed Pattern, damaged to it’s foundation, needs to be repaired… and that he has a Plan.

Durus, Solomon, and Bleys head back to Candent.

Mourn and Thomas go up to report to Eric, and find Brand is already there “asking” for immediate audience.

Brand reveals that Simon can destroy the pattern, and wants to kill Simon post-haste. Eric tells Brand he will not allow the killing, merely on Brand’s accusation. Brand begins to press the issue with a Psyche like a thunderhead. Mourn immediately steps between and takes on the challenge against Eric. The pair are fairly closely matched, and there is some question as to who will win, and none are keen to having Brand succeed… which he begins to do.

Simon senses that this combat begins, and joins in the help Mourn as Brand (and the flicker of Psyche left of Fiona in Brand’s mind) beings to overwhelm her. Reality begins to tear at the tremendous conflict of mental will… and Thomas uses the opportunity to stab Brand ever so gently with his sword, causing more trouble with Brand’s ability to resist.

Taking Brand to the dungeon, Simon and Mourn decide that somehow Fiona must be removed from Brand, and a body will be needed to house her. Eric begins to prepare the Questioners for Brand’s inevitable confessions.

In Candent, Gizette, Solomon, Bleys, and Durus decide that they can try to find Sakura pushing hard as a group on the Trump contact. They lower the Candent defenses, raised against possible assault from Brand or other enemies unknown, enough to Trump.

The mass Trump for Sakura is begun. Focusing on her healing aspect, they get some sort of contact after a minute of tense focus. There is a barrier in the way. The group begins to press through the wall. They see her in a cage, where Sakura lies covered in moss. The presence imprisoning her notices the intrusion, and kicks them out. The walls at Candent go back up. The imprisoning force starts to seek out the source of the intrusion.

The plan for Brand's surgery goes on. Mourn makes up a spare body that is based on a picture of Fiona’s features. The brush strokes are treated with care that brings the body to perfect form. The body is brought to Brand’s cell and the surgery starts with Simon and Mourn carefully transferring Fiona’s damaged psyche to the new body.

Bleys, Solomon, Durus and Gizette go to the Courts of Chaos following the path they sensed to the imprisoned Sakura, and find the path leading through the King of Chaos, Lord Swayvill’s, court. They go gently as lord and lady, and wait to meet the King of Chaos. The path goes through the Court, and it would be rude to just travel through without visiting.

They try to Trump again, and get to Sakura much faster. They are pushed out of the contact by many Lords of Chaos. They hear the physical scream of the prisoner, and realize how close Sakura really is. Gizette immediately tears through to the sound, destroying Chaos with the force of her Pattern on the way there. Solomon sees a sacrifice ritual being sped up before the Trump contact is closed, with Sakura as the guest of “Honor”. Gizette arrives at the scene of the ritual just as the horn of the Unicorn pierces Sakura’s chest. Gizette grabs a hold of Sakura, horn impaled through her. The Master of the Ritual, King Swayvill, is still holding onto the horn sticking from his victim’s heart. He attacks Gizette immediately and with as much force as he can master, and a Logrus/Pattern explosion damages everything within a few paces of the conflict. King Swayvill keeps hold of the horn and escapes from Durus and Solomon with Logrus travel. They all take Sakura to Candent immediately and put her in a life support device.

Gizette is begins to do healing with Durus assisting.

Meanwhile, Mourn is killing Brand… as a threat to Eric that cannot be allowed to continue.

Solomon is helping defend the House Candent with Bleys against the massing forces of Chaos.

Simon spends time speeding Fiona’s recovery.

Carmen talks to Simon about what he might have seen in Brand's mind… and Simon finds that most of Brand’s memories are known to him, and he figures to Mourn as well.

Thomas revels in a day well spent.

Gizette and Durus try to repair Sakura. In the end, they cannot stop her from dying. They try a risky strategy instead. They kill her, repair the damage as quickly as they can, then bring back her spark of life.

The Machines of Chaos are bearing down on the House Candent, threatening to End that whole shadow. Solomon tries to save the house with a crafty gambit of his own. He put a location Trump on the doormat, knocked on the door, and dashed back to the central “mind” of the House. He uses his Amberite mind to puppet the House, and uses its sensor at the door, scanning the Trump on the doormat, and Trump travels to a safe place.

Mourn makes sure the body of Brand is dead, and finds his sword Werewindyl among other artifacts of power. She takes the effects of the dead Amberite to Thomas. Thomas is deservedly nervous about any traps, and prefers the items are put into safe keeping until there is time for careful inspection.

Simon answers any questions he can about what Brand knew. Simon can answer a number of the questions Queen Carmen.

Back in Amber, Simon begins to try and explain what his plan to rewrite the pattern to repair it and make it better able to withstand time without causing damage to that which lies beyond the Pattern of Amber… In the dimension of Possibility (the “place” beyond the Abyss).

While the ideas are heard, King Eric wants the thoughts of the rest of the Sons and Daughters of Amber before trusting what sounds like a very dangerous idea.

The group decides that to speed Fiona’s recovery, Simon and Mourn would need to find someone who had very close contact with Fiona before the merging with Brand. Gizette is selected as the most viable person for performing the “Psyche Graft”. A request is made to travel to House Candent, in it’s new location in the middle of a vast sea. They are accepted as visitors, and they present their plan to Bleys and Gizette.

They are understandably nervous, but agree with a few conditions. First, and effort would be made to abate the anger Fiona might have against Gizette, and that the group would only be allowed to wear clothing provided at the House to prevent the influence of those Wiley Roses.

And at this point, planning revenge for the sacrifice of Sakura and the rebuilding Fiona's mind... (Better. Stronger. Faster. Nicer then ever before...) ...the Amberites adjourned.

Session Two

10 May 08

(Again, much happened that I was not privy to. I am always susceptible to errors of perception in what happened. Please elaborate where you can!)

The game started with a re-cap of the last session.

+20 points to all characters… Spent or saved as need be.

The group starts at House Candent, floating in the middle of Solomon's home shadow, getting ready to perform a graft of what Gizette “remembered” of Fiona to Fiona’s recovering psyche… a task that always seems to be interrupted.

Questions rise up as to how dangerous the unicorn horn, with Sakura's blood, could be. Simon proposes that it could possibly destroy or damage the Pattern, as they are representative of two foundational forces in the Pattern. Gizette believes the Swayvill is doing this to stop the Shadow Storms. Others suspect that he is gathering materials to vastly increase his personal power.

Mourn gets a Trump call from Eric, who says Swayvill is very angry. He gives Mourn the order to tell everyone to stop provoking Swayvill. He does not want to cause friction, especially before a meeting where cooperation in the face of the Shadow Storms is a factor… there is to be a meeting with Swayvill the same day, at Ygg. Lord Swayvill made a direct request that Gizette is there.

At this time, a tremendous Pattern source begins to power up, somewhere in the bowels of House Candent… Sakura's pod is opening through a force from within.

Simon tries to take pattern to mind, but it causes a horrible disruption in the House, which is more Chaos than Pattern.

Gizette dashes on steps like the wind to the location of the life support pods, and helps Sakura open her pod.

Queen Carmen brings up Logrus to observe what is happening through a safer lens that is more amenable to House Candent.

Sakura reveals her new nature like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. She looks like a representative of the Pattern itself, and all those with the blood of Amber who have died… a combination of herself blended with Oberon, Benedict, Brand, among other, and something so much more.

With the House Candent shaking and losing stability at its very foundation, Solomon has an island raised from the ocean to support the stricken House… but the being that was Sakura decides that the house does not belong there. It puts the house back in its home Shadow with barely a shrug of its waxing power.

Those present at House Candent feel as if they are at the center of the Pattern. Durus says that the being should be in Amber… Where the center of Pattern should be. Everything in its place. She disappears and instantly arrives at the Pattern in Amber. Durus uses the fading influence of Sakura’s Pattern in House Candent to head back to Amber immediately. Mourn and Thomas also head back to Amber, but choose to travel by Trump.

Gizette decides, with a new God walking in the form of Sakura, that the horn must be found. Simon again tries to take Pattern to mind, much more gently, to start searching for the Horn. He determines that the Horn is in House Swayvill. He looks around the other Points of Shadow…Ygg, and the Abyss… to see the extent of the massive changes being felt across Shadow.

Soloman, stays ready at House Candent, remembering the Chaos army that was attacking this Shadow a short time before… He watches the ruins of the Chaos engines preparing with Bleys should more arrive.

Durus, at the Primal Pattern, falls to one knee in reverence… overwhelmed by what he sees and feels. The being that was Sakura begins to survey the Pattern there, and then starts to "melt" into the Pattern. As she becomes one with the Pattern, it seems to begin expanding and solidifying.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Mourn immediately head to Eric as they Trump to Amber. Mourn is far ahead of Thomas… and finds Eric in his "office", reading a book. He is surprised to see her there, before the meeting at Ygg and without his calling her back. She finds the fact that he is at leisure with his reading at a time like this a little disconcerting. She asks to see the Jewel of Judgment. Eric goes to his chambers to get the Jewel, Thomas joining them on the way there. Eric pulls the Jewel, another of the foundational symbols of the Pattern itself, from a box casually (yet artfully) placed on his fireplace mantle. (He was never one for wearing that much jewelry.)

Back in House Candent, Gizette is confirming that the Chaos Engines are out of Commission. She confirms that Bleys is ready to defend the House and shapeshifts into the House and fixes House Candent.

As the repairs are under way, Carmen slips out and ends up at the Courts of Chaos. She sees Lord Swayvill in back in his residence. He appears to be embedding the remaining Eye of the Serpent into his form. He is readying himself to do even more “self-improvement” with the Horn of the Unicorn. There is a brief exchange between the two as she brings her sword to hand. She cuts into Swayvill, cuts off the hand that holds the unicorn horn. As Swayvill begins to unleash his Mastery of Logrus on her, she grabs the Horn and threatens him with it. While the sword caused him a measure of concern, the Horn makes him recoil with extreme caution. She chooses to escape rather than continue the engagement.

Eiff, however, is the one coming out of the Court of Chaos. Simon observes Eiff leaving the castle in a hurry, with the Horn, and is a little more than amazed to see her alive. He uses his powerful mind to try and establish a link to the fleeing woman. The contact from Simon to Eiff is barely established, and he begins to use Pattern to ease her passage to House Candent.

In Amber, Durus begins to worry about the massively growing Pattern. He doesn't remember the pattern being small, as it redefines reality (and memory) as it expands, but he does feel a rapid changing and feels the shaking in the fabric of reality.

Mourn, meanwhile, begins to use her newfound mastery the Pattern. Her observations over the past days help her find that things make much more sense, and she has no trouble attuning the Jewel. She looks in the Jewel and sees the Primal Pattern. She sees Durus backing away from the expanding pattern. She knows that Sakura is in the Pattern itself and making powerful changes.

Solomon, at House Candent begins trying to contact the being that was once Sakura. Solomon confirms that Brand's Trump is no longer cold... he is not alive, at least not in a sense the Trumps could detect. Solomon tries to Trump contact Sakura. He does make contact and asks Sakura if they could talk. He then vanishes… and finds himself in the center of the changing Primal Pattern. Holding the Trump, his arm begins to be etched with the Pattern. He drops the Trump immediately, concerned about being consumed by the Pattern itself. His arm does not appear to be the same… and remains infused with some of the power of Pattern itself.

Mourn and Thomas, not wanting to miss the opportunity to influence the very re-writing of the Pattern, head to the location of the Primal Pattern.

Thomas, being Thomas, gets himself into the mix with surprisingly little time and effort. He has found his way to the very center of reality. To his dismay, he finds he is being overwhelmed by the rapidly expanding Pattern of reality. Like an unstoppable tide, the Pattern begins to grow up his legs. He uses his command of Roses to slow being overcome by the Pattern.

Feeling more than a little concerned, Thomas asks what was once Sakura when the change will stop. The being tells Thomas that the process will stop only when it is done.

Mourn and Solomon, having seen enough at the Primal Pattern, go the tree of Ygg. Mourn begins to study the tree of Ygg and its nature in the universe. Both Amber and Chaos are getting farther away from Ygg and each other. Both are growing in power as the pattern begins to re-assert its reality. The dwellers of Ygg are going a bit crazier the normal. The misfits are literally going crazy, and becoming more destructive. Guards of the tree are trying to prevent any crazies from doing damage to the tree. Mourn tries to stabilize the area to prevent further wildness.

At House Candent, Gizette and Simon try to decide what to do next. Simon asks that Gizette go back to Amber with him to meet with Carmen and survey what is happening to the Pattern at its source. Gizette, hearing that Aiff was seen alive, very much wants to meet with her again. Simon, somewhat caught in a strange web of secrecy at Aiff’s (or the Queen’s) request, can only answer vaguely that Aiff is unable to meet with them now.

The pair Trump to Amber, and meet up almost immediately with Carmen. More discomfort ensues, and Simon asks Gizette to go to the Pattern Room, see what is happening, and that he will be following shortly. As she begins to head to the Pattern Room, Queen Carmen and Simon try to decide what to do with the Horn of the Unicorn. The Queen, reluctantly, passes her prize to Simon.

Gizette starts back to the Pattern room, then trumps back to Bleys. She bristles as the way Simon and Queen Carmen seemed to shut her out of their conversation. She felt treated as if a mere tool or fetch-and-carry girl. She talks with Bleys, and they being planning to parley with Lord Swayvill.

Simon, with the Horn in hand, realizes that he now has the ability to re-write the Pattern to his own design. Never before had he the tools in his hand to accomplish the task easily. But he has seen enough over the past days to question his own designs. Simon determines that the horn must go back to the Primal Pattern, a symbol with far too much power over the foundation of reality to leave in the scheming hands of Amberites… his own hands included.

Simon and Carmen go to the Pattern. There is a tense moment as Sakura comes to Simon. Sakura senses that the Horn is near, and that Simon has it. Simon considers this moment, knowing that the Horn could very well be used to kill this creature here and now. He weighs what he has seen of these changes, and decides to side with Sakura. He gives her the Horn of the Unicorn.

Durus, also, is forced to make choices of his own. He sees the formation of a new reality, perhaps in line with everything he believes… perhaps a little different then he thought it would come out. He decides to side with Sakura, and hence becomes the High Priest of Amber… (All Hail Pope Durus the First!)

Gizette decides she really needs more opinions on what is happening to reality. She tries to contact a Logrus master, and picks her old friend Mandor. At the moment of the first Trump contact, Mandor's mind is overwhelmed by the force of the contact, his mental barriers collapsing like a house of straw. Sensing catastrophy, Gizette immediately cuts off the Trump contact. Mandor, puzzled at what seemed like a violation from Gizette, tries to get in contact back to Gizette. His Trump overwhelms Gizette with the power of the contact. She is forced to disconnect her mind with her shapeshifting ability in defense.

Solomon and Mourn try to make the contact with Mandor next, trying to drop the power of the contact to the best of their ability.

Mandor tells them, through the “shouting” of the vastly amplified Trump contact, that the Logrus is doing well. The Jewel of Wrath is embedded in Lord Swayvill, who is expanding the power of the Jewel and Logrus. Houses are being consumed by chaos. The Trump powers are horribly amplified. There may be a balancing of the forces of Chaos and Amber, but the balancing is being obtained almost violently, like the meeting of oceans trying to flow in the opposite directions.

House Candent is moved closer to an area of stability, away from the danger of the expanding Chaos.

In an attempt to find a way to decrease the violent expansion of both Pattern and Chaos, a massive meeting of the powers planned… but there are severe misgivings about the outcome of this meeting. The location of the meeting is chosen, appropriately, to be Ygg.

Carmen, Durus, Simon and Sakura start moving through shadow to Ygg, just as the empowered Lord Swayvill begin to move to Ygg from the Courts of Chaos.

The plans fly around the room, but no one knows what exactly to do. Kill these new Gods? Would killing them cause the Shadow Storms to return again? Allow them to meet and come to accord, or will they instead choose to attack each other and tear apart the fabric of reality in the process?

Change is in the air. Back at the Castle Amber, Thomas’ influence at the expansion of the Pattern has had a profound impact. The Castle is now all roses, and Thomas tries to perform some sort of damage control to keep the Castle running… ideally under his steady guiding hand. The effort is not without a little chaos of its own. Bleys approaches Thomas, furious about what he sees as an obvious subversion of the Castle by Thomas. In the heat of the argument, Bleys is stabbed by Julian after Bleys tried to attack Thomas… Julian shows his support of Thomas’ efforts and for Thomas’ perceived play for the Throne. Bleys, horribly injured, is pulled immediately back to Gizette. She drops all else to tend the stabbed Bleys.

As time grinds on and the meeting at Ygg comes, armies and followers gather at the sides of Sakura and Swayvill. In the end, three Pattern Masters, Mourn, Solomon, and Simon, attempt to enforce the Neutrality of Ygg and adjust probability itself to reduce hostility at the meeting.

Thomas is called and asked to be pulled from Amber to the meeting, making attendance at the event almost complete. Only Gizette and Eric are physically absent. Gizette tends to Bleys, but watches through Solomon.

The pair of primal forces, Sakura and Swayvill, meet with their forces… they ascend the tree of Ygg… they test each other's power… then they come into contact with lightning speed and force.

There is an explosion of light and shadow, and all are thrown back.

When the air clears, the creature stands… a creature of Order and Chaos.

"Now we will rebuild Shadow in Our image."

At the cusp of a new reality, the group adjourned.

Session Three

7 June 08

The group starts with the black winged, muscular Sakuwayvill hovering over Ygg, giving command over all of Pattern.

+20 Points awarded to all… They’ll need it!

"Yes. The process begins here."

The tree of Ygg begins to shake. The Being looks at Mourn, and tells her to release the Pattern reinforcement on Ygg. She does not, so the being attacks her with the forces of Chaos and Pattern. With Pattern already to mind, Mourn wills herself to another place.

Solomon is the next target. He uses his ability to create a Trump gate to House Candent before becoming a serious target.

The tree is being fundamentally altered by the Being… Thomas and the Queen stay behind to try and influence the developing situation.

Simon and Solomon leave to House Candent to discuss what to do next, wanting the changes to happen with less violent force. Gizette, having stabilized Bleys, also weighs in on the plans with her ideas and thoughts. They decide to try and convince the healing side of Sakura come to the fore and buffer the radical changes to reality that seem to be tearing through Shadow.

The three go to the Pillar of Doom, and are joined by Mourn… in the form of many Mourn replicas. They plan a little more, and decide to try a Trump contact to Sakura’s old Trump. The Trump contact fails, and it seems it cannot for a link into the area where the foundation of reality was being changed. They consider using the Pattern, but it would take too long for the same reasons the Trump failed. They decide to try Durus instead.

Durus meanwhile gets a Trump, and but from Fiona. He is stunned that she is conscious and somehow feeling a lot better. She asks Durus if she can share the Vision that the Being shared with her. Durus accepts, and he sees a great Vision of the future as modeled by the Being’s desires. It is a Vision of Utopia, where violence is not tolerated and those who would exercise violence have their will curbed... they would not be able to exercise this force.

Then Durus get the Trump from the group at the Pillar of Doom.

Not only do they see what is developing at Ygg, they see an epic battle has been joined between the combined force of Carmen and Thomas and the new Being. They also see Carmen and Thomas about to die at the hands of the new Deity.

Mourn and Simon see the doom of their family members, and pull Carmen and Thomas to the Pillar to save them from certain destruction.

The plan to contact Sakura goes forward. Using Durus as a channel of communication, the three at the Pillar of Doom ask Gizette to try and reason with the new Being.

They debate about the proposed new world with no war. The being that was Sakura points to the endless conflicts across reality that result in destruction and suffering. Gizette counters with the argument, “[The Wars were] always caused by you."

So the convincing goes on… trying to find if there is a calmer way to achieve the dream of stability without removing an individual’s choice.

Sakura does accept that there will be those that will have their will curtailed if they cannot give up conflict. Gizette does not want to have the universe set up where the wills of some are sacrificed to one Being’s ideal of peace.

Durus, Simon, and Solomon decide to relocate to Ygg in an attempt to apply their will and reason to the growing force of this new Power… this Power forming at the balancing point between Chaos and Order. Durus finds in his heart he wants to bring a sense of Justice to this balancing force, Simon desires Stability in balance between forces, and Solomon finds himself a champion of Redemption.

The new God steps into the tree, and the tree begins to glow… its influence expanding into a new kind of power all its own.

Back in House Candent, there is conflict brewing again. Thomas is about to be attacked by Bleys, who sees Thomas as a growing threat at Castle Amber in serious need of a pruning. There is talk about the rose-i-fied Castle, and what his exact intentions are in his pursuit of power and influence. Thomas does confirm that he will remove the influence of the roses, somehow. There is a big conflict over whether Thomas is helping or harming the problems in the Pattern, but he is allowed the opportunity to prove his intentions when the Castle is returned to its previous state.

Two camps seem to form, and while communication continues between the groups there is despair on both sides over what the other is planning.

At Candent, there is a plan to uproot Ygg.

At Ygg, the three minds of Solomon, Durus, and Simon focus on guiding the influence of Ygg to change through healing. They also define some of the new powers of Ygg. The key of which is a unique effect around violence… the idea of, as Mourn later dubbed it, “Instant Karma”. Others at Ygg began to call it the “Justice Field”. The basic premise is that violence, the physical or mental forcing of one thinking being’s will on another thinking being, would share the results of their actions with their victim. If you swing a sword at your foe, the wound will affect you just as it affects the victim. The perpetrator of the violence dies with the victim.

As the power of Ygg expands, armies are raised to destroy it while other forces rally to defend it. Thomas makes it much of the way to Ygg before disciples of Ygg warn him that violence will be returned on them. Thomas experiments with this effect, tries to find weaknesses in it, and then turns his army back and reinforces a position against the growing power of Ygg, with a good measure of success.

Additional effects of Ygg are discovered, each growing more powerful the closer one gets to the balancing point between Amber and the Courts of Chaos. Extremes of power on one side or the other find themselves buffered by the balancing effect. A means to communicate and even travel are explored, and all efforts are made by the forces of Ygg to firmly root it as a balancing hub between Order and Chaos.

With the future of Ygg still uncertain yet growing in power, the group adjourned.

Session Four

5 July 08

+20 points to each character.

Violence Dome – Thomas, Carmen, Mourn

Ygg – Durus, Simon, Solomon

House Candent – Gizette

In Candent, Gizette is trying to determine current relations between the Courts of Chaos and House Candent. Bleys is with Mandor, and they are drawing up battle plans against the God of Ygg. They hear of the Justice Field, and grimly begin to add it as a factor to overcome in their planning.

Council of Ygg. There seem to be no Shadow Storms where Ygg has spread. There are also no Storms around Amber.

There is a desire to find out what stabilized Amber, and Fiona is contacted to find more information. Solomon makes a Trump contact with Fiona. There is some friction between Solomon and Fiona, so Durus takes the Trump, hoping to negotiate for information more easily then Solomon could.

Fiona tells Durus that the stability is coming from the Ascension of a God. When Mourn became the new God of Pattern, the stability began to spread from Amber. Fiona stays in Amber, at the Pattern, to try and keep the Roses out of the Pattern Room.

At Violence Dome, yet another march is beginning toward Ygg, this time with Mourn at the head. The area of protection from the Justice Field is crafted into an enormous mobile battle engine, and it begins the inexorable roll towards Ygg.

Candent also draws up war plans of their own, finding their weapon in the form of Primal Chaos. Gizette takes the pulse of what the Courts of Chaos desire, and finds there are ideas about using force to attack the God of Ygg, plans to put up a new Chaos god (but little consensus on who that God will be), and some that do not like either plan. Through influence and suggestion, the Courts are focuses into a plot to destroy Ygg. The final preparations and decisions are made.

Shortly thereafter, there is a Trump to Gizette from Durus. The Council of Ygg wants to find out if there are problems in Chaos stemming from the lack of a Chaos God… Instead, they learn that some sort of surprise attack is on its way toward Ygg.

The defenders of Ygg try to reinforce their position, setting it so Pattern and Logrus travel cannot shift between shadows. Gizette, far too flexible to be stopped by a trick like this, shapeshifts and continues her mission. She makes it to her target with her two passengers. The two Chaosians she carries release their weapon of Primal Chaos, and it floods the area with streamers of twisting black death. Both Chaosians, expendable for the most part, end up dead, but Ygg and the Shadow it had existed in was destroyed.

The God of Ygg takes the Council to another place in Ygg controlled Shadow. It makes a clear objective… a new tree of Ygg must be found. The chance to find a new tree is taken up by the Council with all seriousness.

Gizette trumps Durus, and Simon reinforces his mind before the contact is accepted. There is some mutual relief that all the family survived. They discuss what Gizette can say to convince Durus not to retaliate. Gizette counters with her desire for a weapon that can destroy God of Ygg should it become corrupt. Durus wants guarantee that the weapon would not be used by Amberites that fear the God.

Meanwhile, there is an attack on Rebma under way. Thomas has to go back to Amber to stop that invasion, somewhat confused about how it started without him being invited. He learns that the Castle Amber is not only sentient, but has started the war on its own to wipe out Rebma, which it considers a mocking reflection of itself.

Time passes on for the Council of Ygg. Solomon seeks out a new tree to match his desire… a tree that can grow across Shadow. He is quite successful in his quest, and a new tree is planted. As accorded to its nature, it spreads to many Shadows in Ygg control and becomes a network of potential “homes” for the power of Ygg.

Finally, after all the time in motion, Thomas arrives with this Violence Ball and a number of armies. The God of Ygg relocates to another tree, as planned, and the army finds just a tree waiting for it.

Thomas, not to be undone, uses Roses to influence the very desire of the Universe to bring the God of Ygg back to face him. The God of Ygg does not resist, and goes to make the final confrontation.

As the battle starts, the God of Ygg begins to revert back to its first incarnation, sliding back from all the guiding effort that Durus, Solomon, and Simon had invested. The fight would not be given up passively.

Gizette and Bleys try a direct attack, and Solomon jumps to the defense. Even against a superior fighter, he makes to delay the attack. In the course of getting stabbed by Bleys, Bleys experiences the full effect of the Justice Field and feels the sting of his own blade.

The now-bestial God of Ygg prepares to spear Mourn and all that choose to get in the way. The other forces begin to fight, with forces of cyber-dogs, battle slugs, and countless beings from across Shadow. As the fight proceeds, the Justice Field begins to show adaptation to this new form of violence, and even the pawns begin to die through their own assault.

The next moments of the battle are wild and Chaotic, and even the quickest eye would have trouble seeing all as it occurred.

Carmen moves to stand in front of Mourn. Thomas rushes to battle as well, between the beast and Mourn, aiming to strike at the horn of the God of Ygg. Durus tries to get in the way of Thomas to prevent his attack, but the unicorn horn still impales Thomas. Thomas does not take the wound without answering back with a devastating blow to the creature’s head as well, and the horn falls away.

The creature picks up its horn in its own mouth and spears Mourn as well. Carmen steps aside at the last minute, turns, and chops at the Unicorn with shocking speed and grace. Even though only an instant seemed to have passed, the head of the beast laid on the ground with its horn severed. Thomas and Mourn were both skewered upon this horn, close to death and in excruciating pain. Simon had enough time to put Thomas to sleep, then Gizette executes her big escape. She pulls the wounded, horn and all, from the battlefield to Candent.

Solomon, in a rage, Trumps to Gizette with a scathing mental and verbal assault for her supporting the corrupting influence of Thomas to bring back the worst side of the God of Ygg. Gizette takes the abuse, wounded herself, then goes on with helping the wounded. She goes to helping Thomas, who is severely wounded. Through her collected experience, she stabilizes his injuries and saves his life. Mourn, damaged beyond saving, sends her collected mind to another place… where a new body waits for her to inhabit.

Back at the battle of Ygg, Durus and Simon transport to a safer location with the beast of Ygg. Durus uses his shapeshifting to meld with the dying creature that was the God of Ygg. He spreads some of the trauma and impact of the melding across all his Followers of Ygg, while Simon focuses on enhancing the Ygg ability of healing. Solomon Trumps to the new tree, where Simon and Durus are trying to mitigate the damage done to their plan.

Durus spends the time integrating with the Powers of Ygg, and a new God of Ygg is born.

In the aftermath, there is a decision that Ygg will no longer expand, and instead would mark boundaries between Chaos and Amber. Furthermore, if any Shadow were to request that Ygg’s influence and Justice Field extend to it, it would be allowed. Conversely, if a Shadow requested the departure of Ygg’s influence that desire would be observed.

Immediately, the negotiation was tested with the Earth Shadow. A request was made for Ygg to leave. It became immediately apparent that the decision was influenced by an Amberite. Simon countered the influence with his own, but in the end Earth Shadow was released from Ygg’s influence while ten other Shadows were recruited in its place. It became obvious that the agreement would require further adjustment to account for the influence of Amberites.

The conflict, instead of being against outside influence on the Pattern, has devolved into a conflict between the Heroes of Amber. But is any one surprised?

At this point of unrestful non-aggression, the game adjourned.

Session Five (Conclusion)

2 Aug 08

+50 points to each character!  (Does anyone else sense trouble?)

The Council of Ygg tries to decide on how to proceed with greater stability.  The best idea proposed was extending the Godhead across the Shadows, instead of concentrating it in a single mind.  The Power of Ygg would be better served by distributing it to a super-consciousness among all the followers.  The Seekers of the Path, now the Followers of Ygg, are the first to become vessels of the distributed Ygg.

Solomon begins to sort the denizens of Shadows on the boarder, get those who want Ygg to the Ygg Shadows and those that do not into non-Ygg Shadows.  He deftly observed the existing boards, did not seek to alter them (too much), and sought to give the denizens of Shadow a way to travel the direction their heart’s philosophy urged them.

In Candent, there is exploration in where the pervasive Rose influences are coming from, as suspicions rise that more than just Thomas is cultivating influence.  Thomas investigates the sources of Eric's influences, and finds that Eric is getting more and more paranoid and unstable by the influence of the Roses on his psyche from all directions.

Carmen goes to Castle Amber.  She sees that extent of the Roses influence has not abated.  She finds Roses as far away (and farther) from the Castle as Arden, the Castle and its soulless zombies are now prevalent down into the city. They have overcome Fiona and her attempt to keep them from the Pattern, and have fully overgrown the Pattern Room.  Carmen pulls Fiona free from the Roses, determined to save at least someone.  The Castles zombies that rise to meet her are no match for Carmen, and she takes the unconscious Fiona to House Candent and Gizette's capable ministrations.

As Durus expands his mind and diffuses the Power of Ygg throughout the Ygg Shadows, he finds another mind also expanding through Shadow…  He sees the growing influences of the Rose in Amber.  It is feeding off the Pattern and making steady inroads in altering reality all on its own.

Durus seeks out Mourn in a high-tech Shadow.    She appears to know about this spread, and consider it a symbiosis…  She is not concerned.

Durus, a little disgusted and quite concerned about Mourn’s state of mind, retorts "You once accused me of taking away free will.  Have you seen Amber recently?"

Simon, helping to distribute Ygg, and Solomon, shuffling denizens of Shadow, begin to sense that something is reaching into their surface thoughts and probing their minds, from within the Pattern itself.

The Council of Ygg tries to investigate this, suspecting the worst.  Using Solomon and Durus to shield, Simon tries to use a Pattern lens to look into the Pattern Room.  They find that Pattern Room is quickly becoming the Rose Room.  To add to the complication, the Rose Power is gaining its own consciousness.

Simon uses a new Ygg Trump to contact Gizette…

At this moment, however, she is busy.   Gizette gets a trump warning from Mandor, warning her to evacuate the Chaos side of Pattern quickly.

Right on the heels of this warning, Simon contacts Gizette.  They share their knowledge, from different sources, of the problem of Roses in Amber.  She also indicates that the House Candent will need to arrive in the lands of Ygg for its immediate safety, and that this is not an attack.

Carmen and Thomas leave to investigate the heart of this new source of grief, the Courts of Chaos.  They try to get into the Court, where they find another Grand Meeting in progress.  The last Grand Meeting did not end well, so they immediately jump into action.  This time, the Amberite attempt to break in (even with Pattern) is resisted.  The focuses attention of the Chaosians inside hold the doors secure against them.  Carmen begins to use her shapeshifting to pass through the wall, worming past the resistance.  When she is just about to break through, there is a huge scream reverberating through all the Courts and beyond.  This time, the source of the scream appears to be the very force of Logrus itself.

The big ritual appears to be all the Logrus users excising Logrus from themselves and cutting away an island of reality from the Pattern…  and into the unknown.  They had come to the conclusion that the Amberites and the Pattern just did not make suitable neighbors, and resolutely decide to move to a new paradigm of Reality.  (And who wouldn’t!?!)

Carmen, sensing that if she does not seize the opportunity now she will be forever denied resolution, confronts Bleys with the murder of her mother.  Bleys, confused and distracted by the exertion of his effort of severing the Courts of Chaos from the Pattern and helping them establish their own Reality, does not give any satisfactory answer. 

At the last possible moment, Thomas, Carmen and Bleys are pulled back to House Candent as the Courts sail to Realities Unknown.

After severing the Courts from the Reality, there is a huge adjustment across all of Pattern.

The Council of Ygg, knowing that the Logrus was essential to the foundation of Ygg and the Balance it strove to preserve, find they must take in the crippled Logrus and saving it from oblivion.  They find a distant Shadow that complements its existence, and begin to establish it in this new home. 

To further complicate the situation, the Power of Rose takes advantage of the Cosmic realignment to push for control over the Primal Pattern. 

The battle for both Chaos and Pattern is entered.  Durus, quick to grasp the problem, seeks to use Logrus to fight back the Roses at the very heart of the Primal Pattern as he forms a new home for Chaos.  The blow is enough to being turning the tide against the Roses.

The roses are in retreat.  As odd as it might seem to some, Thomas is there to help pull the Roses back from the Pattern.  Solomon sees this, and understands that the immediate need to defend the Pattern.  The battle with the Roses seems to won, but substantial damage from the battle requires quick attention.  There is Logrus in the center of the pattern, and fireworks ensue in that conflict.  Durus is unable to pull it back, and decides he must go to the center of Primal Pattern to stop it.

The Council goes to the Primal Pattern to pull the Logrus from the center.  Durus and Simon begin to walk the Pattern, while Solomon stays at the perimeter of the Pattern to defend his comrades and possibly assist (or keep a wary eye on) Thomas.

Meanwhile, Carmen confronts Bleys about killing her mother.  While she does not begin to attack physically, no one is sure how long she will restrain herself.  Bleys, in the end, confesses that he did kill Carmen’s mother, but did not do so lightly.  He only did what he felt had to be done to save Amber. 

In the Primal Pattern room, there is some odd, stilted conversation between Solomon and Thomas.  The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife.  Then, shedding all pretenses, Thomas tries to cut Solomon with a blade.  He begins to batter at Solomon’s defenses, and it becomes clear that Thomas is the superior swordsman.  The outcome looks grim.

Simon, seeing the situation deteriorating into an end for himself, his companions, Ygg, and the stability of the Pattern itself, unlocks the cell the contained the very essence of his mind, cultivate in his thousands of years of “imprisonment”.  Flooded with a level of psyche power… perhaps the greatest in the history of the Pattern…  Simon divides his mind into two cooperating consciousnesses.  With one, he maintains his pace on the difficult path of walking a damaged Pattern.  The other consciousness, however, focused its immense will on stopping Thomas.

First, it constricts Thomas from controlling his own body.  The body, trained reflexively for its whole life, still battles on with Solomon to a standstill.

Next, Simon ceases Thomas’ body from breathing.  This again only gives Solomon a slightly better edge as Thomas’ battle-ready body adapts on its own to living without air.

Thomas, refusing to be undone, flexes his supreme will with the Rose Power to bring all those under the banner of the Rose to come to his (and its) aid, under the very real context that the Pattern was in danger.  His reinforcements would be seconds away.

Simon refuses to kill Thomas off, even at this moment where he could command Thomas to simply drop dead.  In the end, even Thomas has a hard time deciding why he was not killed.

Solomon, seeing his opportunity at last, pops open a Trump gate to a Shadow where time crawled, and pushes Thomas through.  Simon releases Thomas’ mind, who found himself far from the battle at the Primal Pattern but still alive.

The confrontations are not over.  Thomas’ reinforcements, along with Gizette and Carmen, arrive to discover what was happening.  They see the severely damaged Pattern, the aftershocks of the Logrus at its center, and Simon and Durus moving to its center.

Immediately, those outside the Council of Ygg assume the worst.  As Simon and Durus reach the center of the Pattern, the others demand that Durus and Simon stop what they are doing.  They demand to know what was done to Thomas, and why they were “attacking” the Pattern.

Simon grimly began to focus his minds upon the task of fixing the extensive damage.  Durus took a stance to defy any attackers.  And the attackers came.

Corwin, already walking the Pattern at incredible speed (and no longer delayed by Simon), continued toward the center with a dark expression.  Carmen does not waste time with walking the Pattern, and instead begins her attack across the lines of the Pattern itself.

She tries to stop Simon, by extending her arm with her incredible shapeshifting and a deadly blade.  Durus intercedes, grabs her arm, and pulls her across the Pattern with his incredible strength.  Carmen in turn pulls Durus into the air and across the Pattern lines as well.  As the pair begins to disintegrate through the power of the Pattern, Gizette saves Carmen and disappears to Candent and her healing equipment.  Durus, gravely injured as well, uses Ygg to pull himself to a Ygg tree for healing… taking Carmen’s sword with him.

Simon eyes the approaching Corwin with concern, and continues to repair the Pattern to a point where he can hold it together, and turns a second mind to Corwin as the Prince reaches the center.

Corwin looking around and seeing far too much opportunity for pain and destruction here, takes the opportunity to shift from the center of the Primal Pattern to a far safer Shadow.

With the last drama down for now, Simon focuses on completing the repairs on the Pattern.  In the end, he makes no changes…  Far too much risk was involved with the very foundations of reality still shaking.  He finally puts to use the long years of study.

When the repairs are complete, he leaves Amber immediately to find the fate of the other Council members and study what was happening to the state of reality with what could only be described as a Pattern-Quake.

The end results were surprising.  There seemed to be four pivotal powers in the Pattern.

Greatly diminished but still existing, Chaos finds itself anchored by the Logrus.  House Candent moves from the Shadows of Ygg when the Pattern-Quake subsided to a place on the Chaos side of Pattern, closer to the Logrus.  Perhaps it would flourish under the guardianship of Gizette and Bleys.

In Amber, some semblance of normality would return.  The outlying areas would take a little time to recover as Amber and the Primal Pattern re-exerted its control over the domain.  Mourn and Eric retake positions in Amber, and Eric’s recovery from the ordeal has at least the potential to begin.

In the center, Ygg survives as a new Power in its own right, seeking to preserve stability and balance between Order and Chaos while providing a place free of unanswered violence.  Durus, Solomon, and Simon continue to guide the maturing new Power.

And, refusing to give up its designs, the Rose Power establishes a fourth seat of power, held resolutely by Thomas.  With his martial prowess and firm hand, he guards and nurtures the Power of the Rose as a new domain in reality.

And as for Carmen?  We will leave it up to her to share her plans for the future.  (Um…  Where did Carmen go next?  I didn’t write anything down.)

At this dramatic point of a newly defined reality, the group concluded its last activities…  but the next chapter of the Devils series is just around the corner… 

But then, “The Devil’s in the Details”, isn’t it?