Raven and Jerod go out through the door and up the stairs to the graveyard. There are signs that someone has been here, recently, and there are a few outbuildings nearby. In the middle distance, Jerod and Raven can see the monastery in the moonlight. It looks peaceful.
It's a good ways back, across land that seems to be good for nothing. There's no sign of anyone here now.
[OOC: Raven's going to be inclined to see what can be found here before hiking back to the monastery, but if there's an argument for doing it the other way around based on how Jerod plans to bring the house down, by all means consider it made and we'll go bug the monk.]
Jerod is inclined to do the search of their current location quickly if something is available that merits immediate collection. Otherwise, he'd go get the monk and use him as a "native guide" to point out what's available, then drag him along to complete the search of the various spots before deciding how to obliterate the place.
The buildings include a stonemason's hut, someone's living quarters (empty), and a stable. The stalls are empty, but it's clear from the freshness of the dung that someone was here recently, possibly today. There's a door out the back and there are tracks in the dust. A number of people rode away from here.
Raven eyes the tracks. "You think that lad we got left is going to know where they went, or are we going to have to try following that mess?"
"He might know if there is anything in the immediate vicinity that would warrant travel." Jerod replies. "I do hope it's far away and they're riding full tilt, because there won't be much left of this place when I get done with it. Let's go get him."
The walk back is uneventful. The monk is breathing, and awake, and attempts and fails to rise when he spots Jerod and Raven coming. He's breathing heavily from the exertion. He either needs a lot of rest, or medical attention.
Jerod looks him over, efficiently, if not necessarily very delicately to determine his condition, and how likely he is to survive, both with and without medical attention.
Modern medical attention would be important. He's got broken ribs. It's somewhat surprising that he's made it this far.
"There are two ways out of there." Jerod motions to the interior of the monastery as he checks out the monk. "One is further up to the tombs, the other away into the broom closet and out into the universe."
"Which way did Chew take?"
The look Jerod has on his face when he asks the question is one that doesn't invite confidence for someone who might decide to be heroic, or lie, or lie heroically.
Raven stands a few steps back - well within hearing range, but in the sort of position that suggests that should the monk be faking it, he won't be getting far.
The man breathes, struggling with the wetness of it. "Father Chew? He had his own way. Came. Came and went by magic. I saw it, once." The man coughs, and it's flecked with blood.
Jerod is silent for a moment, thoughts working. This monk before him is a Klybesian, one that works in ways the appear to pose a threat to what he holds dear. So why does he feel pity for him.
"That's what you were trained for." Eric says.
"To be a good king? To know what your people feel and know how to respond to it?" Jerod replies silently to the ghost. "He's not one of us."
"No, but he is a person, who lives or dies by your choice...either deliberately or by inaction. You have to feel that for everyone you meet, not just the ones you claim to like. I made sure you learned that lesson." says the ghost before fading.
"Yes, you made sure of that." Jerod says to himself, before speaking aloud to monk. "You will tell me about you saw, while my friend obtains some supplies."
He looks at Raven, motioning to an outcropping a few hundred meters away. "Go look there, under some loose rocks. You're going to find a medical kit that I'm absolutely sure they would have left here in case of emergencies."
And Jerod is absolutely sure it will be there because he makes sure of it.
Raven replies, "Aye," and heads off to look for the kit.
Raven finds the bag where Jerod described it being, in the ruins of what used to be some sort of gardening shed. The air smells of ozone from the lightning strikes.
The Klybesian shuts his eyes and concentrates on breathing.
Jerod completes his examination of the monk before Raven returns, verifying the symptoms and determining what initial treatment to undertake to treat him. Too many fights, too many wounds, too many deaths and lots of tips from uncles have given Jerod enough experience on what to deal with as serious and what to ignore as trivial when dealing with injuries.
Once the pack arrives, he digs through it, collecting the necessary medications and gear before working to prevent more injury to him as well as stabilizing his condition.
Broken ribs, probably a punctured lung. Modern medicine will have him back on his feet in 2 weeks. Local medicine will bury him in the same timeframe.
"Tell me of how Chew travelled." Jerod says as he works on the monk.
The man winces, and nods. "Magic. He opened his copy of The Rule of Klybus, and disappeared in a flash, like a rainbow."
Raven assists in the first aid as needed, and otherwise just keeps out of the way and ready to hand things over. She eyes the monk sharply at that statement and asks, "Is it normal for you lot to have something in your holy book what does that?"
Jerod nods once, applying a brace sufficient to stabilize the man's spine but not to actually constrict his breathing. He pulls an ampoule from the bag, verifying the painkiller additives before injecting him with it.
The monk looks at Raven, about to answer her, but seems to have trouble getting his breath.
"Cough. It will help." Jerod says, verifying the level of inflammation. "Hold your breath periodically...10 seconds at least. Do several times."
He continues to work, letting the medication take effect, talking as he work.
"I am a Prince of Amber." he says, the title a thing of itself, a constant that resonates wherever it is spoken, and Jerod knows this for real. "I go where I will and do what others can only dream of. And I am not an enemy of the Order."
He looks at the monk. "Not yet." letting the words sink in.
Silence descends as Jerod speaks, letting nothing interfere with his words for this man. "Chew has chosen a path that makes that prospect much more likely. The Order appears engaged in a quest that will make a conflict much more probable. I would prefer that not happen.
"If it does, then there is nowhere that the Order can hide from us. No mountain or forest hidden, no desert extreme, nor cave of the hinterlands. No station or asteroid or planet that is beyond us. And in the end, when we are done, the Order will vanish and we will remain.
"If the Order's path can be altered, that would be good. If it cannot, then the ground will swallow them and their names will vanish upon the mists of the morning...forever.
"I would prefer that not happen..." he says, looking directly at the monk. "...but I will do what I must to protect my Family.
"The Rule of Klybus. Tell me about it. What it looks like, where it comes from."
The monk is struggling to breathe. The drugs are helping, but there's only a short window left where he'll be conscious. "It is the way for our order. Book. We all have them. Came from St. Klybus."
Jerod takes the monk's face in his hands, forcing his awareness onto the monk's. "Where is it?"
Raven doesn't interfere with the question.
The monk's eyes are starting to get a bit glassy. "Mine's in my cell. Copies in Library. You goin' to join th' Order?" He giggles, as if he's said something funny.
Jerod smiles just a little. "I will be sure to give it all the consideration that it is due." he says. "Rest now."
Once the monk drops off, Jerod looks at Raven. "Time for a book reading."
"Books," Raven says. "All the ones in the library were wrote out by hand, but I only looked at a few. Don't know about you, but I ain't exactly sure that they're all going to be the same, and besides, I can't say as how I was looking for cards between the pages." She snorts. "Or pressed posies or anything else."
"If someone's got a trump, and if they're inherent in the books, I'd want to see that." Jerod says. "They're hard to produce, so mass production would be quite a trick. I'm leaning towards magic."
He looks at the monk again. "He'll be out for a bit. I'll decide what to do with him when we're done. Let's go get some books."
Raven nods. "Looked like they kept the ones that weren't in use all together in the library," she comments. "Ought to make it faster to go through them."
And it's off to search books...
The library has quite a few copies of the Rule of St. Klybus. Almost all are hand-copied, some have additional sections ("The Life of St. Klybus", "Stories of the Martyrs", "The Life of The Blessed One"), but not all. Some look to be copied by children learning their letters, others are illuminated manuscripts and quite beautiful. Each has a name on the first page, and some of the names seem to belong to the same person, but at different times.
There are probably hundreds. None seem to have a trump in them, although several are illustrated. There are some other books, but in some ways, the library seems to be a companion-place to the graveyard.
"Hold a moment." Jerod says to Raven, before summoning the Pattern to his vision. He will be checking to see if there is anything in the area that would qualify as being "real", or having a layer of reality greater than one would find given the relative strength of this Shadow.
Raven's ideas on what to do when someone tells her to hold on and they seem to be getting ready to do something are much the same as her ideas on what to do when someone tells her, "Here, hold this," and "Watch this."
She stops what she's doing and moves out of the way.
Jerod doesn't detect anything unusual. It's unlikely that any of these books has a trump in it. Jerod may be able to detect the slight difference that indicates the start of the shadow-path Ossian took, but only because he knows it's there.
He shakes his head after a moment. "Nothing. If Chew's got one, he takes it with him."
"All right," Raven agrees. "Not sure how you know that, but the ones that I was looking at earlier, they had death dates in them, so I was figuring most of these go to the folks in graves over on the hill. In these monks' place, I'd've taken the interesting stuff with me if the place was coming down around my ears, anyway."
"That would be my thought also." Jerod says. "I'm thinking also that if there's anything valuable still left, it will take quite awhile to sift through in order to find it. So either Chew disappeared by means of his book, in which case we don't know where he is. Or else he went down the Shadow path and Ossian is in pursuit, in which case I'll leave that to him."
"So are we headed back, bothering the dead some more, or setting up camp?" Raven asks. "Since I ain't exactly going anywhere without you."
"One more sweep, for luck." Jerod says. "Then I'll decide about our friend. If I take him along for medical care, or leave him here when the meteors impact."
Raven nods. "All right. We ought to burn all these books that we ain't taking, while we're making a point. Probably ain't more than being childish, but this lot seem to be slippery enough that if there is something here and we missed it, it won't hurt to be sure they can't get it back even if they dig the place out."
Jerod starts to scan, checking the library, the office, and the other stable parts of the building on the precipice. The main thing he finds is that this complex probably couldn’t sustain itself here without some kind of regular external contact. Other than that, he finds some minor documentation that makes him think that Chew was not the Abbot here and also that the Abbot was only moderately important to the greater Klybesian structure.
He does not discover more trumps, shadow-paths, or people.
The sifting proves what Jerod had originally considered...an outpost only, used either for a specific goal of the Order or to extend their influence in the area for some unidentified reason. The isolated nature of the area had originally led him to the former idea.
Once this is completed, Jerod will see about collecting Raven and the monk. Assuming Raven has nothing else to take care of, Jerod will see to arranging some transport for them to depart (assuming the monk is still out cold).
Raven is ready to go when Jerod is.
The monk remains happily (for him) out cold.
Jerod will be arranging for horse transport first to get himself, Raven and the monk out of the area. He needs to arrange for sufficient events to occur such that he'll know probability will be certain to nuke the monastery out of existence beyond any chance of recovery.
Jerod sifts his trumps as he sits astride his horse, having checked the monk is strapped, still out cold, to the travois behind the second animal. He decides for the moment that drugs are good when dealing with injured people being transported in ways that might not be quite as comfortable for them when they are conscious, even as he sifts the cards looking for a suitable family member whose location would be capable of healing the monk. Part of him knows the monk doesn't know much and probably won't be a valued asset so letting him die would be the easier course of action.
That however doesn't sit right with him, for reasons he does not understand as yet.
He puts that thought aside as he pulls out the card for Random but does not activate it yet. Having travelled a sufficient distance to have the monastery just on the horizon, Jerod focuses for a moment, pushing and pulling the strands of probability, letting the alignments fit into place until everything is set. An earthquake, a direct meteor impact, all in place, and barring another initiate to prevent it, Jerod is certain once they depart, the resultant cataclysm will leave literally nothing to remain. All it needs is the trigger of Jerod's departure to set everything into motion.
"Uncle...it's Jerod."
Raven hangs back just a little, keeping a weather eye on the monk. Not that she thinks he's going anywhere, but just in case someone needs to get to him in a hurry.
Random’s countenance appears almost instantly. He looks bemused. “Jerod! Your timing is impeccable. Do you need a hand back to Xanadu?” He turns away, without letting the connection close, and talks to someone else. “Lute lessons are cancelled, due to affairs of state. Work on your scales."
"That would be quite acceptable, your Majesty." Jerod replies. "We have a guest that requires medical attention and then a guard. One of the monks of the Order."
Random doesn’t seem to be speaking to Jerod at the moment. "Barker, carry my lute, please. Daisy, please go tell the first captain you find that we have two prisoners that we’ll need cells for. Ossian, we’re about to have more company."
“Now, Jerod, that is quite a coincidence. Come through.” He extends his hand.
If Random is outside, then Jerod will arrange to pass everyone through, animals included. Otherwise he'll indicate to Raven to bring the monk.
Ossian leaves his cousins to climb out of the tomb of bones and heads down through the lab and into the slightly-less macabre corridor where the plaster is made of crushed bones.
[OOC: Does Ossian make any stops before going down the passage? Does he make any preparations? Is he armed? Is the last question too obvious?]
[If Ossian doesn't stop...]
The passageway is as before, leading ... somewhere.
Ossian goes quite slow, noting changes in structure and construction. He is carrying a sword, but not drawn, although prepared to draw it in an instant. He is carefully looking for trade, alarms and sorcery.
In the early part, there are no traps, alarms or other interruptions. The passageway continues along for some distance, the walls still being made of the plaster made from monks' bones. The floor is smooth, as it was in the tunnel and the mortuary behind him.
Ossian reaches a place where the light changes, the temperature of the incandescent bulbs is bluer, and the walls are smoother. Ahead, Ossian sees what's obviously (to him) a concealed camera watching the passageway. He's not in the arc of vision of it, but he will be if he continues on in.
If it is possible, this is what Ossian wants to do, with Pattern manipulation, unless it is out of his league. Ossian figures this is a place where camera burn-in is common, and that this camera suffers from it(like the old screen burn-in). He will then run past the camera, so it won't register him.
Ossian thinks he has succeeded, and runs past the camera. There's a room ahead, which sounds like someone or something may be in it. It may be some sort of mechanical room. There's either someone talking non-stop or there's a radio in the room. Beyond that is a set of stairs going up.
Given the lack of windows and the stairs going up, this is probably attached to some sort of basement.
Ossian sneaks closer, hand on the sword hilt. He wants to hear what the voice is saying before revealing himself.
Ossian comes closer and hears the voices more clearly. It seems to be some sort of political rally or other gathering, and since it's not in the building, it must be some sort of audio or video feed.
Ossian looks through the discolored plastic window in the flimsy door. There's a man inside with his feet on a desk, watching a large monitor showing the speech. A man with a big chin says something jingoistic and every few moments, everyone applauds. It sounds like they're preparing for a war.
The room is, as Ossian guessed, a mechanical room. There are heating and cooling units and an elevator area in the room, as well as bunch of controls. There's only the one occupant. He is wearing a uniform, not a monk's robe.
Ossian quickly steps into the room, sword in one hand, the other hand with a finger to his mouth, signalling "quiet" . He wants to place the swordspoint at the guard's throat.
Ossian slips in almost silently. The man is completely surprised, and stays completely still. He may never have seen live steel, much less had it at his throat.
The room smells of oil and cleaning supplies. Underneath the voices from the monitor, the hum of a working building permeates the room-- the mechanical sounds of the elevator, the sounds of water in various pipes, the air-conditioning system. There are controls on a panel near Ossian's prisoner, and a clipboard on the desk.
Ossian smiles. "From your perspective, I am not entirely sane. Your survival depends on that you answer my questions truthfully." Then he grins playfully.
"Who came through that tunnel before me?"
The man grins back. "Easy, friend. If you want, I'll call for a nurse to help you back to your room. There's only been the archaeology students from the dig down that tunnel since they sealed it off 3 months ago. Did you find that sword down there? I like the engraving on it, can you show it to me?"
Ossian lets his eyes widen, but keeps the sword at the man's throat. "Nurses never quite did it for me, you know. A doctor maybe. Remind me, which hospital is this?"
"Greenwood," the man replies. He reaches very slowly for the sword, not making any sudden moves. "I'll call your doctor, if you like. What's your name, friend?"
"Vengeance." Ossian says and tries to stab the guard through the throat. He will want the blood to flow in a nice spiral pattern around the body.
The man dies artistically, although he smears some of the blood as his falls to the ground. Ossian is alone with the corpse and the television.
Ossian seats himself so that he will see someone coming through the door before that person is able to see him. He then starts sketching the room. (Unless interupted he will spend one hour on this.)
Ossian works quickly and the detail of the controls and knobs and the boiler equipment give him much to work with. The sketch is basically done before Ossian is interrupted. [OOC: Do you mean this to be a trump sketch so you can get back here? Or is it just a visual reference?]
As Ossian is finishing up, he hears a voice from outside the door. "Hey, Swanny, you comin'? Time to clock out, man."
From the outside, someone pushes on the door.
[OOC: you get first reaction. Also, did you just leave Swanny on the floor? Did you draw him in the sketch?]
Ossian jumps close to the door, dagger drawn. He will let the man take one step into the room before Ossian shuts the door behind him, and presses his dagger to the man's throat. "Quiet."
[OOC: Yep, Swanny is on the floor, but Ossian has not drawn him in the sketch yet. The idea was to get preliminary drawings for a Trump sketch, so that he can complete it later in another place.]
The man freezes. He doesn’t talk, although he whimpers once.
In the grainy video screen Ossian can see that he’s staring, bug-eyed, at Swanny.
"Don’t kill me," he whispers. "Please don’t...."
Ossian says: "Cooperate and I will let you live. Stand very still."
The Ossian pulls out Random's Trump with his free hand. It's Ossian. Have a prisoner. Let us through.
Random’s hand comes through the contact and pulls hard at Ossian’s yanking him off his feet and onto a feather bed. The bed is occupied by a lady in waiting, who seems shocked to see Ossian and his prisoner arrive in her bed. Random has his shirt off, and a lute in his free hand.
“I assume you were in a hurry. If not, I apologize for the awkwardness.”
The girl pulls the covers up over her neck and stares wide-eyed at the new people.
Ossian bows to the king and the girl. "Greenwood Hospital. Is the name familiar? I can report as soon as you want me to. Although I suggest we let this chap rest in a cell until we want to ask him questions."
Random grabs his shirt and doublet. “Yes, but let’s have this conversation elsewhere. Bring your prisoner.” He reaches for the door, and then stops.
The king holds up his hand. “Jerod! Your timing is impeccable. Do you need a hand back to Xanadu?” He turns back towards the bed and the girl. “Lute lessons are cancelled, due to affairs of state. Work on your scales.” The girl nods, eyes wide.
Random opens the door and turns to the guards, thrusting his lute at one. “Barker, carry my lute, please. Daisy, please go tell the first captain you find that we have two prisoners that we’ll need cells for. Ossian, we’re about to have more company."
Ossian smiles.
“Now, Jerod, that is quite a coincidence. Come through.” He extends his hand into the hallway.
Ossian waits for his cousin to arrive.
Since his majesty said for them to come through, and since Jerod has no information as to the location they're going to, he brings everyone through.
He's sure that should a trio of horses and their riders appear in the King's linen closet, it will no doubt be quite amusing...though why the King would be taking calls in the linen closet is a matter best left for another day.
Once she's through, Raven will take care of getting beings and beasts out of the way on the receiving end to make sure there's room enough for everyone.
Random stands in the middle of the chaos, letting it work itself out.
When things are quiet enough that people are able to listen to him for instructions, Random stands on a chair. “Before we discuss matters, it seems we have tasks to take care of. Raven, take the horses to the stables. Horses, go with Raven. Jerod, take your prisoner to Gerard. Barker, take my lute to the instrument room. Ossian, take your new friend to a cell.
“It’s been two days since you all left, in case you’re wondering. OK, after, everyone meet me in the dining room. Lute lessons leave me hungry."
Ossian gets a nod as well as a "look-see" over his prisoner to see what he collected.
Ossian shrugs. The prisoner looks like some ordinary blue-collar guy (technician?).
Since Random didn't provide a time limit for "when to meet", Jerod will undertake to get his monk to Gerard, with suitable explanations to Gerard as to how he came into possession of an unconscious, drugged, and injured monk. While he'd love to talk to Gerard on a couple of topics, duty requires him to be elsewhere though he will make sure to ask after how things are going with Gerard and if there is anything that he might require.
Gerard wants to know if the important thing is to get him well, or to get him talking. Other than that, he’s set.
As he has insufficient time to check up on everyone, he only takes enough time to sure that Carina is okay. After that, it's off to see the wizard, as it were.
Carina is fine. The Queen is more demanding than the Queens of Rebma ever were, and it’s very strange to be in this castle. She’s not used to being treated as a man.
Ossian will send a note to Jasmine and her mother to check that everything is ok. Then he'll go to dinner.
A page takes the note and asks if he should deliver it in the morning or tonight.
Raven takes care of getting the horses back to the stable and getting whatever gear they had squared away, and then heads for the dining room.
A stableman and several grooms rush out to help get the horses out of the castle. While this seems an uncommon occurrence, it’s not, apparently, unheard of.
The King greets each of his nephews as the arrive back from their errands. He is still shirtless, and it seems a wise choice on his part, because the castle is quite warm. The windows are open onto the terrace, but there’s not much of a breeze.
"Buffet style and en famille rules. Help yourselves, the staff was dismissed."
On the terrace, it’s clear that it is late at night, although someone in the distance is playing a tune on a fiddle.
Random looks out at the sea below. He sits at the head of the table, but perches forward on the chair, probably so he doesn’t stick to it. "So, here we are. I got a corpse yesterday evening and two prisoners tonight. I look forward with bated breath to the story that goes with this. Who’s going to start?
"Chew got away." Jerod says, glass in hand as he slouches slight in a chair, a plate in front of him loaded with a significant amount of food. "He's got a means of transport that makes me think of trumps, an illustrated book. I'd turned off the magic for the Shadow so that should have disabled any escape options. The monk I brought had seen him use the book before, so that's why he's here, along with a few samples from their collection of books." and he waves to a small satchel on the ground.
Jerod goes into more details on what they found during their inspection, the nature of the monastery, how it was isolated, likely to be in need of support due to its location, the findings of the books, research facilities, the vaults of the dead, and the many books that were found.
"Combine what we found with what Martin told me of his connection to Chew and I'm thinking the Order is now in serious need of being dismantled." Jerod finishes up. "And I'm getting a bad feeling about who they might be connected with.
"I'm curious as to where that Shadow path went."
Ossian smiles: "It went to a hospital called Greenwood. Is that the place where Folly and Martin ran in with Chew?
"Its on a fairly advanced technology level, although I did not investigate too much, as I deemed it too dangerous. I will be able to make a trump sketch of the place if you want me to. Of course they could fill the place with traps for us. Had to kill a man there.
"My prisoner is only an ordinary guy. Probably harmless, but I did not want to kill him also.
"What do we know about Greenwood?"
Raven pauses in her attempt to clear her plate and shakes her head. "Don't know the name myself. I ain't got much to add to what Jerod said. Figured he had a card between the pages of his book instead of a magic book, though. Didn't know you could make those part of a book."
Random looks over at Raven. “Given that the details of them were state secrets of the great Sorcerer-Kings of Amber and Xanadu and Parts West, nobody should know a lot about them who isn’t us. Ossian pained one on a cave wall. Reid tattooed one on the chest of a traitor, which, by the way, is the single creepiest thing I’ve ever heard of, AND I’m Brand’s brother.
“But yeah, an order of Monks has an illuminated manuscript they’re using to hide trumps. Hmm. Gotta see what we can do about that.
“Now Greenwood. Greenwood is really interesting. So, every story has a lot of beginnings, depending on who tells it. For me, the war started with a card game. For Corwin it starts at a place called ‘Greenwood’ which is outside of New York City. Ossian, do you happen to have your prisoner’s wallet? I want to see what he’s carrying with him. If he has some kind of Greenwood ID, that might help, too.
[OOC: If not, Random will send a guard for it...]
“When we question the prisoner, we can ask about this Crew fellow. What was their reaction to my totally calm and reasonable requests, as passed along by you?"
Jerod waits to hear Ossian's response, eating and drinking throughout. His expression indicates he's heard the name Greenwood before, apparently in the vein of Corwin.
Ossian shrugs. "The guards have a bag with stuff they took from him. We can send for it. I'm pretty sure there was a wallet."
Random gets up, opens the door, and sends a page to get the wallet.
He pulls out his sketchbook and starts leafing through it, while speaking: "I got the feeling they tried to stall us, when we started to make demands. And Jerod had information on that Chew guy. We decided that it was wisest not to wait for him to 'talk with his superiors'. Ah, here...."
Ossian points to one of his sketches. A jacket hanging on the wall of the room, showing text that says:
Greenwood Rehabilitation and Long Term Recovery Center: A Member of the Memorial Healthcare Family of Hospitals
Raven nods her agreement to the idea that the monks were stalling.
Random nods. “Yeah, that’s probably what they’d call it now. This guy’s been all over us for a while, then. I wonder if he’s the one who brother Corwin held at gunpoint before he went to Flora’s?” That’d bring him into this a long time back...”
Random drums on the table. “I bet he’s from New York. This just smells like that. We’re going to need to talk to Flora and Corwin.
“Alright. What else? What are your joint and several recommendations on how we proceed?” He swings his finger around. “Raven. You first."
Raven blinks and then straightens in her seat - not unlike a sailor giving a report, in fact, although she does skip any formalities that might have gone with it. "I wasn't so sure when we left that these monks were a threat. But I changed my mind, because ain't anything I heard from these two," and she nods to Ossian and Jerod, "that made me happy with what those folks are up to. Can't say as how I saw anything there that made me happier. So I'm thinking we need to find this Chew, ask him any questions we've got, take his things, and drop him down a deep, dark hole - and Your Majesty's pleasure on whether he's breathing at the bottom. Same for anybody else like him, if there's any more. Probably ought to round up the ones like that lad we brought in, that don't seem to be up to real mischief, and maroon them somewhere they can't get out, but I can't say as how I know enough to know how easy that would be to do."
Ossian nods in agreement. "Who else have dealt with the monks? Marius, I know. A main question is whether Chew is just one of many, or a major player. I bet on the later, even if he seems to have superiors. We should talk with Marius at least."
Jerod remains silent, nibbling and drinking and waiting for the King's response.
Random sit back. “Who has? Who hasn’t? I know Reid, Solange, Vere, Lucas, Folly, and Martin have. I think others may have met them as well. They’re related but not the same as the group that Gerard told me about during the Regency, the Parish. Somebody ought to go to Caine and get his super secret dossier on them.” Random pauses, as if something about that troubles him.
“OK, anyway, Jerod you’re up next. Anything to add? What’s your take on this Chew guy? Any ideas on how we find a Beadle in a Haystack?"
Jerod finishes his drink, rolling the tumbler in his hand for a moment. "Chew smells of someone connected to Power." he says after a moment.
"He knew to run as soon as we showed up, which means he's familiar with how we operate and what kind of damage we can do on short notice. They had a Shadow path from this outpost to another place far away for ease of escape, to a place connected to technology no less. He's also got a means of departure that while still unknown is very reminiscent of trumps. That means they were ready for contingencies because their activities might attract unwanted attention. If you have an escape route, it's usually because what you're doing can be considered to be really bad by someone else. Which means Chew and company are up to something very bad.
"This place was an outpost. Isolated, not meant to be found without someone deliberately looking for it, and disposable. Despite the number of people who are supposed to have lived and died there it could not support itself - it needed re-supply. But it also means that as an outpost it can be dumped from the main body. That makes me nervous, because it means finding them is going to be hard. They know to disperse their resources to hide them from us. I'm not sure if that means though the entire Order is involved, or they're an isolated faction, a splinter."
He puts the glass down. "He's a needle in shadow. If he could travel through Shadow, I'd say create a downward path to force him to arrive at a preset point of our choosing, then have a little discussion with him to see what's up. We'd need more information on how he operates though to get him to arrive at a point we choose. We could also try to sift Shadow for him, look for his traces, but that has the same requirement of knowing more about him. I've done it before but it takes a lot of time, peeling the onion to find what you're looking for. We've got our two prisoners - they might be able to shed some light though how I'm guessing not very much."
"What is it about Uncle Caine's super secret dossier that bothers you, Majesty?"
Raven listens quietly, a thoughtful look on her face.
Ossian is also silent.
Random bites his lip. “I need to stop hanging around with sensitive people. The problem with Caine is I don’t know. I bet you all don’t either. Dad banished these folks, and banned religion in Amber. And Caine was involved. And now I’m worrying that Caine was involved with the people who caused Dad to do that, and that they’re the same as these monk dudes.
“I don’t want to put him in a situation where that all comes up. And I don’t even know what it was all about.
"The only thing I can think of, by the way, is to send Vere to go talk to ghosts, friendly and unfriendly, in that graveyard you talked about. But that hasn’t been historically as effective as I’d like.”
Random looks around. “Anything else? Anyone? Let’s not see the same hands every time... This may be more of a term project than a pop quiz. If you want to talk it through and think about as you go off on mission numero uno, that’s good for me...”
"Going to the graveyard might be a little tougher than expected." Jerod says, going to collect another drink. "You know the old phrase 'nuke them until they're glass'?
"Well, that outpost should be so lucky."
He looks over at Ossian. "Greenwood might be worth chasing down. That ties back to Corwin, and the not so good-ole days. But I need to get go figure out what's up in Gateway."
"Besides locking up anyone that says they're from Amber?" Raven says dryly. "Aye, I still got a a word or two to say to certain folks in Gateway."
Ossian nods. "Have fun. I'd like to go back to Greenwood, but I think that if I go alone Chew will get another body to take samples from."
Random nods. “I think you may have some other cousins who would go with you to Greenwood. And we really do need to let Jerod and Raven go sic werewolves onto semi-aquatic mages in the name of lessons in humility. “ He sighs. “I don’t even know when we’ll have time for a funeral, and I’m stinking tired of having them.
“You two are free to go. Your ship arrived here two days ago, just around the time you all sent Reid to me. It’s provisioned and waiting for you. Feel free to get one last night’s sleep ashore if you want.”
Jerod finishes his last drink, offers up a polite bow and is off without further adieu.
Raven likewise departs with the appropriate respectful gesture.
“And Ossian, what else do you have in mind, if it’s not Greenfield?"
"I would like to talk with my father, regering my mother. That might tie in with the monks too, I guess.“
Random nods. "Do you have a trump of him? Martin tells me he’s off doing something for Benedict. There’s a trump in the booth, but Paige wasn’t confident that it would last."
Random picks up a cigarette and lights it. It has a a spicy odor, as if it’s not pure tobacco.
“We need to tell him about Reid, so it’s a good time to call him. And if he’s free, he’d be a good person for you to chase down This Doctor Chew fellow with, or he’ll know who might be."
Ossian nods "I have a sketch of my own. Can make a new one if I need to.
"Hm. Brita was very close to Reid. Do you know where she is? Who will bring her the bad news?"
“Oh, yeah. Um, probably Edan. I sent him to Rebma a day or two ago, right after Reid got handed through. Do you want to call her and try to break it to her gently?
“Crap, I gotta call everyone. I’ve aready sent Paige and some of her cousins to find Solange. If someone’s out there killing us, she shouldn’t be out there unaware, poking her nose into things that might bite.”
Random nods, as if he’s made a decision. “Go ahead and call your Dad. He needs to know."
Ossian nods. "I can try to call Brita also."
Ossian leaves Random and goes to his room. He washes himself, and packs a bag with painting equipment and weapons. Then he picks out the Trump sketch he made of Brennan and tries to Trump his father.
Last modified: 12 October 2014