After the Migas

"Where's Martin?" says Random. He turns his head around and looks for him.

"He's in the sitting room, I think" says Cambina.

Random pushes back from the table, scooping up a banana, walks to the sitting room.

Ossian soon follows, but not before picking up a cup of tea and a sandwich. He grins.

Cambina, being used to a more formal court, rises from the table moments after Random does, and is left standing before her breakfast.

Jerod rises a second after Random is out of his chair, also standing before the remains of his food. He looks briefly at Cambina with one of his private looks, something she'd recognize as "Oh, the nobles are going to love this one."

Conner also rises out of reflex then chuckles at himself. "I think we have permission to relax."

Brita actually does not think to rise when Random jumps up as she wasn't really paying much attention to the conversation but was instead staring at the Trump of her mother somewhat whistfully. She glances up, however, as everyone starts to get out of their chairs and, when Conner stands, finally pushes up from the table looking a little confused.

Solange, who had been listening with interest to the discussion of Ygg, did NOT automatically rise when Random got up. She started to get out of her chair the obvious half-beat-late when she noticed her cousins and brother doing so, but only made it about halfway up before she noticed that everyone was left standing staring at their food, and sat back down again instead.

"This is going to take some getting used to," she comments.

Vialle says, "Yes, I imagine it will." Some of you think she's slightly miffed, although she did not rise immediately when Random stood either.

Vere also rises, nodding respectfully at the back of the departing monarch. "You will excuse me," he says to his sister and cousins, and turning to Gerard he says, "Father?" with a slightly questioning inflection. "If there is no reason I should remain, I shall go and fetch the economic report for His Majesty."

Gerard, who didn't rise either, although for different reasons, says, "Ye might stay a little longer. Random's not one much for report-reading; he'd rather ask you what's important and have you tell him, I imagine. And what he's planning here may be useful to know later."

Vere nods and sits back down. He watches Random with a mildly interested expression on his face.

Jerod sits back down after a moment's wait. "Do you have any idea what he might be planning Uncle?"

"The what, I think, is obvious enough. But how he'll get them home, that's another question." Gerard looks around to see who is finished eating. Cambina seems to be by fiat; Vialle is because she was one of the first to be served.

Vere has pushed his plate aside after eating a very light breakfast.

Paige had come back out just for more coffee. She chews on her lip for a moment. "I think the logistics are easily enough decided, just by present resources. There aren't many of us with Trumps of each other, so only certain people could be set at a midpoint if one is found."

She sits in the chair just vacated by Ossian, curling her legs up beneath herself. "Where ever that point is, we put His Majesty, Martin, and Reid. Ossian holds one of the King's Trumps, I've one for Martin, and Brita contacts Reid. The rest of the family joins in the contacts here or there to help with pure force."

She sips at her coffee, savoring the taste. "Don't need to be an Artist to use Trumps, but then again I didn't have to tell you that." She smiles at Cambina.

Gerard says, "I've just got my brother back. I'm not so anxious to send him off again, and neither is his lady wife, I imagine. Besides, if we're using the Trumps for passage of an army, someone, or several someones, will need to be in Arden or Garnath."

"Yes, Uncle, those of us that I mentioned as being here would have to be someplace large enough to stage the armies." Paige smiles, "But I think we're not going to get past him contacting the others. As Jerod's been so thoughtful to remind us recently, some of the family will be a bit wary in accepting Trump calls."

[Gerard's lookabout reads to the higher Waters as 'about to excuse myself to the sitting room but don't want to be terribly rude' and maybe 'looking for someone to escort Vialle'.]

Paige will wander over behind Gerard and wheel him toward the sitting room, seeing that the others have Vialle in hand. "Perhaps we should go ask, Ran... His Majesty."

[GMs]
[Gerard wheels himself. Always.]

[Paige]
[Sorry, missed that. Please strike that, then.]

Vere stands and says, "Perhaps we could all move into the other room? At Her Majesty's pleasure, of course."

"Let's." Jerod says, rising a few moments after. "I'm curious to hear what our Uncle the King has in mind. With luck it will be quite...interesting."

Solange rises also.

Vere glances at the Queen, looks back at Jerod with a slightly questioning look, and waits for a moment to see if Jerod is planning on offering to escort her into the next room or not. If so, he offer his arm to his sister. If Jerod doesn't escort the Queen, Vere will approach her and ask, "Your Majesty, if I might have the honour of escorting you...?"

"Please," she says, and accepts his arm.

Jerod, having already scoffed the honour of sitting next to Vialle during breakfast, is willing to hand over the privilege (cause he knows that he can get breakfast with her almost anytime...at least, he used to be able...:)

Reid will follow whomever.

[Random]
"Hey, Kiddo!"

Folly, still sitting on the floor, looks up reflexively; then catches herself, blushes, and turns her attention for a moment to a minuscule stain on the rug.

"Ever hear of a tree called Ygg?"

Martin, whose expression is best described as "lost in space", takes a moment to refocus. 'Ygg? Yes, I know the place, I've been there."

Random nods. "Good. How fast could you get back there? If Ossian is on the right track and it's really a halfway point, then it would be a good place to try to recover our missing kinfolk."

"What did Ossian say?"

"He said that there was a place called Ygg that was halfway to chaos and that if we couldn't contact the army from here, maybe we could from Ygg. If we can do this in two hops, then the halfway point is the obvious choice. Any reason not to?"

"Let me think about that."

"Let me know." Random walks over to where Philippe is playing with a rattle. He reaches down and, holding the baby's hand, brings the rattle into a steady beat. He looks over at Lucas. "This is where I say something politely nice and you remember to introduce me to your family."

Solace, in whose lap Philippe is currently sitting, looks flustered.

Folly, fully recovered from her embarrassing attack of reflex, looks up in search of Hope, who is across the room playing with Folly's discarded slippers as though they're a toy horse and carriage. "Hope," she says in a stage whisper, "c'mere and meet Random. He's funny, too."

Hope obediently toddles over to be presented to the King.

[This space intentionally left blank so Lucas can introduce his family.]

[This space intentionally smoothed over so we don't wait until Jeremy comes back from Portland and, um, Michael comes back from Portland.]

Folly listens while Lucas presents his family, then adds, "And, uh, I'm Folly, if you hadn't already got that. I've no proof but your son's word that I'm actually a member of this family, and yet I show up to all the meetings anyway. Go figure."

"Hey, if you've got them all fooled, why not me too?" Random cracks a grin at Folly.

Folly grins, too. "Y'know, they may talk a good game, what with the mistrust and the threats of violence, but ultimately they're really quite accepting. I mean, check it out --" she glances toward the door, regarding the family members just starting to emerge from the dining room, "-- they're already following you around like you're King of the Universe or something."

Ossian, who just walks into the room hear the comment: "Or we are fleeing the discussion of Vere's umpteenth report, that will most certainly be the upcoming topic back in there, now when the King has left."

Random turns his head, sees the troupe following him into the sitting room, starts to open his mouth, closes it, cocks his head slightly like a puzzled bird, and says, "Martin?"

Brita moves into the other room and towards a window. She leans up against the window frame and, taking out a small sketchbook, begins to sketch. Her glances towards Conner indicate that she is probably sketching him.

[GMs]
OOC: Brita can, if she likes, sit on the window seat the way Martin is doing (probably not exactly, since she isn't cranky and staring into space). There are only two windows, so nobody else can have one.

No, Brita prefers to stand.

Conner adjusting himself so she gets his good side shows he notices.

Vere escorts Vialle into the sitting room, pausing briefly as they enter the room and she can hear Random's voice. He reads the unconscious tension of her arm in his to determine whether she wishes to be escorted directly to her husband, or would rather be led to a chair nearby.

Vialle wants to go to her husband, Vere is sure of it.

Random is already standing up from where he was kneeling next to Folly, Solace, and the children.

Folly rises, too, and moves off into a corner of the room, where she sits on the floor with her knees tucked under her chin, as if she's trying very hard to stay out of the way.

Vere leads Vialle to him, saying so softly that only she can hear it, "It appears His Majesty has been meeting Lucas and Solace's children." As they reach the King, Vere will bow slightly, passing the Queen's hand to him, and then step backwards, taking a position against a wall from whence he can observe everyone in the room.

Jerod stops a short way into the room and remains standing slightly off to one side of the doorway while people are sorting themselves out (probably because Random is standing people would guess).

As everyone else enters the room a moment later, Martin says: "Jerod, Solange: do either of you have experience travelling in the far reaches of shadow, where things run wild?"

He frowns for a moment before replying. "I'm not too sure how you'd define things running wild." Jerod says finally. "I know I've gone fairly deep." He glances at Random for a second before continuing. "Dad had me do some stuff...searches and the like, trying to find things or people. I had to go pretty deep a few times but it didn't seem to cause me too much trouble. Had a couple of encounters with the Black Road during that time. Wasn't fun, but it also wasn't quite as hard as it would have seemed."

Paige waits a moment before speaking up, as she wasn't really asked on this issues, but decides to offer her opinion anyway. "I walked Merlin a good ways home once. So it's not really more than on experience, but I've done it... again, once."

"Don't look at me," Solange says, holding up her hands, palms out. "Not that I'm not game to try it, but all the traveling I've done has been on the trade expeditions, and we were trying to stay closer there."

After Solange and Jerod have answered, Martin frowns. "We'll need someone to hold things stable while we do the initial contact, even before we get to questions of logistics and troop movements," he explains to his father. "I think Jerod's our best shot. I know I can do it, but you may want me to do the contact."

"This is something we should do outdoors, right?" Solange says, her tone suggesting that she's picturing the aftermath of hordes of men and horses tramping through the sitting room.

Jerod has an amused expression on his face when he listens to Solange's comments, as he makes mental preparations to be on the other side of town dealing with important court matters should such a trump effort be made.

"We're going to have to be at Ygg. Actually, on the far side, I think," Martin replies.

"What kind of conditions would we be looking at?" Jerod asks.

"The sort where we'll need someone with reasonable ability with the family gifts as an insurance policy to keep things stable. And someone with powerful gifts if we're going to pull an entire army through."

"I'm still not sure what you mean by 'stable'..." Reid offers.

[ooc, Reid still has the trump to his father's grave, and that was pretty deep into shadow. Is it far enough?]

"And I thought Jerod hated the trumps, what makes you think he could pull an army through? Shadow nav, sure, I'd go with Jerod any day, but trump use, no offense Jerod, but I just don't see it."

"I think Martin's asking Jerod to do stuff with Shadow, not with Trumps," Folly says from the corner.

"That's exactly what Martin is asking." Jerod says. "If shadow is that crazy that far out, we'll need a way to stabilize it so the natural environment doesn't turn hostile while we're trying a trump contact."

Folly thinks a moment, then asks, "Um, is there anything I can do to help?"

"You have to come along and play inspiring music for us," Solange says. "It's worked before. I hope there's something I can do to help," she adds.

"Bringing them back will be the easy part." Jerod says, looking at Solange. "I'm not discounting it will be hard to pull everyone through...but the real work comes when all those people come back to a world that is five years older than they are. For all those who might not be involved early on have no fear of your talents going to waste...there's work aplenty coming up."

Conner smiles. "Bringing people up to speed on new situations is my forte. Though I think I may be of help in the Trumping as well."

"We seem to have an abundance of Trump talent, while we have a shortage on the Pattern side. There is little I can do to help that. However, I might be able to pull the army through with a Trump." Ossian winks at Jerod, "We'd make a wonderful team, cousin."

"Indeed. But I know how terrible my concentration can be at times." Jerod replies, taking up the challenge. "I don't think the army would appreciate being stuck in limbo after I accidentally lose you on the way to the rendevous..." and he smiles.

"If it were just a matter of finding lots of useful objects, I'd be more help," Solange confesses. "I got really good at that trick while I was away at school. It's the traveling part where I know other people have the edge on me."

Random looks up and waits for the side conversations to die down.

"More than two of Robin's brother's dragons might find the Pattern Chamber too cozy for comfort, not that I think they'll be coming through a trump contact. Not just outdoors, but way outdoors. In the western reaches of Arden outdoors. Does Arden even have western reaches? I've never ridden far enough without ending up in shadow.

"Anyway, we're all going to be busy for a while. That reminds me, Vialle, darling, can you organize another throne room hoo-rah for the castle staff and the guards? Doubtless the grapevine has told them all that has transpired and much more, but they'll need a show. And then we'll need one for the Bobs, Nabobs, and Grandees of the city. Let's combine that with the diplomatic corps so that they all have someone to gossip with. And a public appearance tonight, Not that the public isn't already learning of this, if I guess correctly."

After Vialle departs, Random continues. "The sad part is that if I kidnapped a shadow of myself that was close enough to me to do the 'smile and wave' thing well enough, he'd be too like me to do it right..."

[Solace should have gone with her. Bad GMs, no biscuits!]

"So, about this plan. Martin hellrides halfway to Chaos and trumps in some help. From there, they contact The Grand Army of the Abyss via trump and yank 'em back to 'only slightly mad' shadows. Then we send a group out to a suitable distance and trump them back to the True Earth.

"Meanwhile, the rest of us are here dealing with life in the big city and putting off the coronation until my brothers and sisters are back."

He raises his voice slightly and says "OK, that's the plan. You all will have to pick who goes with Martin and who stays. Any questions? Any answers?"

Jerod says nothing, though he looks at Martin with a look that he'd recognize as "You're not even seriously contemplating leaving me behind..."

"I'll help organize things here." Conner offers. "My diplomatic skills will help the other diplomats with the transition of power, and my time in the navy taught me something of troop deployment. I can get a field camp ready for the influx of people and start working on supply lines for them."

Vere steps forward from the wall he has been standing at and says, "I fear I have no skills that will be useful in the transition of the Family and their troops. For whatever use they may have, I shall be happy to offer my services to Your Majesty here."

"I think you'll be very useful on this end Vere. We'll need to calculate how much increased food supply and such will be needed to upkeep the armies arriving. Put you on the long term planning side of things. I would suggest Robin as the local expert on Arden figure out just where we could plunk all these troops down with the least trouble. Brita as secondary Adren expert and Trumpster should maybe man this end of the Trump link." Conner offers.

Brita nods with a faint smile at the "Trumpster" title. "I agree," she says. "Robin will know where to put the troops that would best avoid Arden's shadow paths." Everyone probably hears 'traps' instead of 'paths.' "Robin and I can ride out today and get the Rangers organized to protect the troops from the perils of Arden." Everyone this time hears 'protect Arden from the troops.'

"I can join Martin. My guess is that's where I'm needed the most." Ossian says. "on the other hand we might need a lot of more Trumps if we want to keep the communications good. I can certainly halp with that.

"What time-frame are we working in? How soon so we need to have the army back?"

[Reid]
"I'm certain you'd be most helpful, Ossian. The only elder you probably have a trump of was just shot and killed in the pits of chaos. Your mentor, I might add, from what I've been told. Sure, let's send you there and put the fate of our parents, his executors, in your hands."

Reid seems bitter.

Random has been conferring with Gerard, but this gets his attention. He rises to his not-towering height and somehow suggests a presence that you have only seen glimpses of before. He focuses on Reid and even Gerard (who was working up a head of steam) defers to him.

"I stood on the edge of the abyss with the end of the world nigh upon us and begged my brother Brand to forsake his madness and rejoin the family. I did this despite Brand's attempt to take the life of my son. I, who had the most cause to wish him dead, would have let him return if his madness had let him.

"I think you will find that the family is by nature pragmatic. It comes of living forever with relatives who plan to do the same. No one, including you, is attainted by blood.

"We could put it to the test, and inquire with long-unused equipment in the castle basement if Ossian bore malice towards Random, King of Amber or his brothers, but where would it end? Shall we inquire if Vere has ill-will towards us, or Jerod, whose father ruled Amber? What should we make of you and your right?

"The war taught us that we have enemies, waiting in the darkness for us to let them in. I'd prefer to wait until at least the first cocktail hour of my hopefully-long-and-peacful reign before we start suggesting that any of us harbor new treasons in our hearts.

"How we act, nephews and nieces, is noticed. Not even with a trump could you precede the news of my return to the harbor and to the near reaches of Garnath. Surely it will reach our enemies with dispatch as well.

"How you react will be printed in broadsheets before Terce, even if they have to make it up. I'll not see a report that Lord Ossian has fought an honor duel with Lord Reid, thank you very much.

"So, enough. Martin, you take who you see fit."

He seems done and there is a quiet that settles into the void where he was speaking. That Random is Martin's father has never been more clear.

Jerod listens throughout Random's speech, having heard the bitterness in Reid's voice and part of him echoes that. But he nods once as Random finishes, his expression one of...satisfaction, as if seeing or hearing something he had been waiting for.

"Long live the King." Jerod says quietly. He is looking at Random when he does this, and while it is not loud or emphatic, there is no doubt it is real.

Reid merely shrugs and holds his tongue.

High waters will note that Reid was amused by the notion of an "honor" duel with Ossian. Amazingly high waters will suspect that the "long-unused equipment in the castle basement" has already been restored to working condition.

"If it'll make you feel better, Reid," Folly says, "you can loan me a Trump, give me five minutes to learn how to use the bloody thing, and let me make the call. After all, I'm probably as close as anyone in this family gets to being Certified Vendetta-Free. Or you can go yourself and help out." _And see for yourself that Ossian means no harm._

"At any rate, I'm guessing we'll probably want a couple of hard-core Trumpsters at each of -- what'd you call it, Ygg? -- and Arden, if that'll help us minimize the amount of time our Shadowboxers have to hold things steady at Ygg. Yes? Maybe Reid and Ossian at Ygg, and Brita and Paige in Arden?

"And if my music really will help, I'm guessing it'll make the most difference at Ygg, so that's where I intend to go unless someone has a better idea." She glances around the room, paying closest attention to the reactions of Random and Martin.

"Absolutely not!" says Martin, who has been holding his tongue with no small effort through the entire discussion of Brand and Ossian. "I'm not taking anyone who hasn't walked the Pattern. We'll have enough of those as things stand."

"I agree with Martin." Jerod says. "If things go snarky on us out there, if you don't have the ability to shift shadow, you'll be dead or worse. And we probably won't be able to spare anyone to watch someone else under those conditions. It's better if you stay here Folly."

"I also have to agree with Martin." Ossian says, turning towards Folly, "Even if it would have been nice with some music out there.

"And I'd like to thank you, and his majesty for their trust in me. However, Reid is right of course; will Fiona and the others trust me? We might need someone they trust to do some of the talking."

"As far as I know, none of my aunts and uncles even know who I am," Solange says. "So I'm not much use that way. But I can shift shadow. Do you want me along, Martin?"

"Most of them don't know any of us but Cambina and Jerod. Most of them don't even know me, except by reputation, so that's not an issue. My initial inclination is me for the hellride, then hand Jerod and Cambina through, and Reid: the latter two for helping me Trump people through and the former to hold us all steady until we get some of my uncles through.

"That still leaves us Ossian and Paige in Arden -- Paige, especially, in case Merlin gets to where he can Trump her himself. And Ossian, this has nothing to do with Fiona not trusting you. She's in no position to be pointing fingers either."

Random gives Martin a look, and the younger man shrugs, unapologetically. "None of us have clean hands. Better if we put it all behind us and don't go digging up anybody's skeletons."

It's clear to the more sensitively perceptive that Martin classes himself among the elders and not among the youngers in this matter.

"Sound reasoning, and well balanced distribution. I'm in." Reid fishes out a self portrait trump and hands it to Martin. "In case Cambina and I aren't in the same room when you arrive at your destination. Who knows what timeflow will be like when you get there, or how long in Amber time it will take for your journey."

Martin nods. "Do we have a Trump of Cambina? How many Trumps of the cousins do we have? I have Paige and Merlin, and one of myself, and Dad should have me and Merle, but I'm not sure what else we have. I don't think we have time to make a bunch either," and Martin pauses and looks at the Trump artists for confirmation, "so we're stuck with what we have. That may limit how we can do the distribution."

"I have one of myself. Of course I can paint more." Ossian says.

"I've only got the aunts and uncles," Solange says. "But if that's helpful, it's at your disposal."

"If I'm going to be there with you, I'm probably going to need to ride out with you." Jerod says. "Unless someone has done a trump of me without me knowing about it, there are none in existence that I know of."

Ossian giggles [ooc: there is nothing malicious in Ossians giggle. OTOH Jerod might or might not catch that, it's up to you, Blake.] "Come on Jerod, you don't think we will paint a Trump of every single soldier in the Army, do you? We can get you through. If Martin does not want you with him all the way, of course."

"When do we start?" Jerod asks.

"I could leave immediately," says Martin, "but I'd be out of touch the whole way out, and if we can get the plan more settled on the Arden end before I leave, I think we'll do better."

Brita comes forward with her Trumps. "I have one of Reid and one of myself which you or Jerod can take with you," she says as she offers the trump of herself to Martin. I also have one of my mother. I plan on making one of Conner, but I only have sketches at the moment so it won't do you any good." She pauses shuffling her deck slightly (assuming Martin took the profferred Trump). "I do have a couple of place Trumps for Arden." She fans a set of three out. "The one is of the main path into Arden from Garnath. The second is of the old hunting lodge that we have converted into Post #8. [OOC: this is the deep woods, North and West of Kolvir] The last one is our remote Post 7, up to the far North of Kolvir."

"I've Trumps of you and Merle and one of myself, too, of course," Paige answers.

Reid ponders, "If I can get out to the site before Martin brings me through to him, I might be able to paint something that I could take with me. It might not hurt to have a trump of our destination in Arden. Gateways are a bit more complicated than one on one communications, and while I'm sure we'll need someone on the receiving end to help keep it open, it may be better to connect with the location than an individual."

"Any thoughts?"

"How much time will it take?" Jerod asks.

"If it's one of the places Brita's already sketched, she'll be a good ways toward doing something herself like that," Paige comments.

"Actually," Brita says, "I was thinking that Post 7 would be the best location. It is located near the edge of Arden to the North of Kolvir. Trumping there would allow the army to spread out a little across the Northern foothills." She holds up a card showing a lone tower backed by a couple of trees. "I could probably turn this into a Trump in short order. Then you could take it with you, Master Reid."

"I will focus on producing Trumps until Martin is in place, so we have as many communication channels as possible at our disposal. I can make multiple copies of my own Trump in a day or so. Who else do we want. Vere, maybe?"

"How long do you thing your ride'll take, Martin?" Paige asks, a bit of concern noticable in her voice.

"A few days, maybe. Hard to tell; I never assessed the time from a fixed perspective, and besides, once you're on the other side, time gets strange anyway."

"Since I'm going to be staying here, should I be concentrating on helping Via... I mean, the Queen, with getting the arrangements sorted out for the coronation and the parties and the oath-takings and all of that?" Solange asks, her tone suggesting that while she might not prefer to muck out stables, it'd be a close second on her list.

"I expect we're going to need everyone who can use a Trump in Arden. We're going to need someone to take charge of the team at that end. Anybody game?" Martin asks.

"As long as Brita can find a suitable place to land the army, I can take charge of that end", Ossian says.

Martin says, "I think we want you for the Trumping itself, not for the boring administrative stuff about who we store where. Solange, maybe? Or Lucas?"

"If Brita thinks the Rangers will still pay me any attention, or maybe if we can get Uncle Julian brought through first, I'd be happy to," Solange says.

"I do not wish to seem to be demanding the most glorious task for myself," Vere comments dryly, "But perhaps I might prove to be more suited to that sort of administrative duty?"

Folly comments, equally drily, "If it makes you feel better, Vere, I'll help you maintain your humble facade by promising not laud the Glory of Accounting in song." But then she pauses, blinks, and wrinkles her brow with the air of one who suddenly finds herself, quite against her will, considering rhymes for "debit".

"I thought you were gonna be stuffing Dad with reports, or I'd have asked you," says Martin. "But sure, you're golden if you want the job. Pick your team and go to it."

With a very small smile Vere replies, "I have received the impression that His Majesty does not intend to begin his reign studiously. In any case, there is ample documentation of all the important issues that have occurred during the Regency, which I will make available to the King." He tilts his head slightly to one side. "I will need numbers, of course, or as close as we can estimate, and His Majesty's desires regarding how quickly they should be reintegrated into Amber, and how much of a buffer there should be between the various foreign troops that will be arriving. Should we have medical personnel on hand for any wounded, and will they require food immediately? As well, the question of the Fleet's return has not yet been addressed."

"Oh boy, the Fleet too," Solange says, in her best how-could-I-have- forgotten tone. "You're the one who's worked most with the Harbormaster, he seems the likely person to ask for advice. Leaving that aside for the moment, I can bet that even if the returning troops won't require food immediately, you won't find anyone who objects if they're offered some. Food's a good idea."

"I'd suggest that the fleet be ready to sail as soon as possible." Jerod says. "They're still provisioning so we should have a little bit of time. Once we get everyone trumped through, I can go out with the fleet to lead them back home and arrange the next shipment. In the meantime, our remaining uncles and aunts can be brought up to speed on the trade situation. Once they know what's up, they can arrange to take out more ships or start laying new paths.

"I had considered waiting until Bleys had returned to get him to lead the fleet back himself but that might be a bit of a sore point so I wouldn't recommend it at this time."

Solange rolls her eyes a little at this, but lets it pass.

"Ah," says Vere, "I fear I did not make myself clear. I am not so much concerned with the foreign fleet currently in harbour as I am with the returning Fleet of Amber, and what provisions need to be made for its presumed return. Although the reaction of the captains from the Lands of Peace when they find themselves suddenly bottled in by the entirety of Amber's naval forces should prove interesting."

"Bad news, kiddo. Unless there's one in Caine's pocket, you've got the fleet here. Now we have the sailors, granted. They fought pretty well on land, too, for a mob." Random looks at Gerard. "Do you know of any ships that we've got stashed elsewhere?"

Gerard shakes his head. "Both fleets were in harbor lad, preparing to defend the city, when Oberon ordered them t' stand down and join th' army." He turns to Random. "The merchanters that were a-sea when you left were all lost, of course."

Random nods, as if this was no more than he expected.

"I have some contacts in the Land of Peace that would be willing to provide ships." Jerod says to Random. "Particularly warships. I could make arrangements..."

"Amber's best defense has always been her inaccessibility to foreign fleets," Vere replies. "I assume this will remain the case, even if we cannot resolve the issue of Amber's new relation to the Pattern."

Vere frowns thoughtfully, then continues. "The sailors are most likely ready to be back near the sea after a tour of duty fighting on land. Many of the buildings nearest the docks have already been emptied as security precautions in case of a problem with the foreign sailors; they can be used for temporary housing. We can no doubt expect some interesting encounters between native and foreign sailors over dominance issues relating to first rights at various places of leisure. I should expect the first of these to occur within half an hour of the first native sailor setting foot in Amber. Shall we have a watch in place, or shall we allow native high spirits to settle themselves out? I favour the latter course for now."

"Think for a moment that the sailors returning have been away for a period of about a week by their perspective. Not five years. To them, things are going to be very different from what they used to be like. How many sailors will come home to family members dead or missing, grown older or worse, grown distant? That's certain to be stressful." Jerod says. "And they will be recently returned from what is certain to have been a bloody conflict. I think that letting high spirits settle themselves out might lead to some more bloody conflicts. A discrete watch is recommended. We can at least control situations that too over the top."

Martin, who has been listening as the discussion veers into an area that doesn't really concern his immediate effort, speaks up: "Listen, why don't I go ahead now while you all figure out what needs to be done here. I'll just Trump Jerod and the others in when I get close, which'll make the ride easier.

"I'll need to grab a few things." Martin looks around, finds the party in whom he's interested, and says: "Folly, can you be spared for a few minutes? I need to ask you a couple of questions before I go."

"Sure -- not being a sailor-wrangling expert, I'm hardly needed here," Folly responds with a sort of deliberate nonchalance. She rises, ready to follow Martin out.

Before Martin leaves the room, Ossian hands him a Trump card; Ossian by Ossian's own hand: "I guess you you should have it for the moment. Just in case you cannot get in touch with Reid."

"Thanks," says Martin, taking the Trump. "I also have ones of Dad and Gerard and Paige; I'll get hold of whoever is available when I get there and we'll play from there. Dad and Paige both have Trumps of me."

He pauses to collect Folly, turns back to his father and Gerard, gives sort of a little half-bow to the new King, and is on his way.

Folly doesn't bow to the King, exactly; but she inclines her head in a respectful, if informal, way before following Martin out of the room.

Paige sets a hand on his arm as he passes, "Take care, cousin. Ride fast and safe." _And come back to us._

Jerod will make arrangements with the pages to ensure that he is kept aware of the location of Random, Gerard and Paige over the next few days, and vice versa, so that when the trump comes he can be available on a moment's notice.

Gerard says, "Now where were we? Oh, yes, you two," he indicates Jerod and Vere, "were debating how to make sure the sailors from the Land of Peace don't end up burning the city down fighting with our lads over the dockside doxies. With His Majesty's permission, I think a watch is in order, but frankly I'm more concerned about the foreign troops that were recruited for the war. What will we do with them? My gut says we don't want them in the city, but we'll need to think of what to do with them."

"Who recruited the troops?" Jerod asks. "I'm wondering if there's a way to isolate them for a time until we can figure out how to send them home. Whoever did the recruitment might be able to take them home perhaps? I suppose if some want to stay that might be an option, but I'd be leary about handing it out too lavishly."

Random thinks about it for a moment, and says: "Different people brought in different troops. Those fuzzy guys that Corwin had, and Bleys has some cavalry from somewhere, and Julian pulled two or three dozen dragons from his back pocket. And before you ask, I don't know how many either. I didn't know how many to start, and I don't know how many casualties, either. I was kinda busy during the battle, and I'm not sure our perceptions were entirely reliable, either.

"Plus, ah, as of two weeks ago some of the ones who are from here were at each other's throats. I don't know how well that'll clear up, especially if there are other touchpoints. But we can't figure out what to do with anybody until we get them out of Chaos."

"So we keep them in Arden, that means provisions and supplies as fast as possible to the staging areas, and keeping up what we can in the way of patrols to contain them." Paige looks to Brita and Solange, "The Rangers?"

[OOC: Robin, too if present or if the GM's introducing her...]

Robin makes a little 'whatever' gesture with one hand from where she's sitting perched on the edge of her seat. The young Ranger looks just a bit... pole-axed at the thought of her father returning, Arden housing an army of unknown size, unknown types plus dragons etc. etc on top of the morning's other surprises.

But her spunky smile indicates her willingness to deal.

Solange, glancing over at Robin, looks relieved.

[Paige]
"To simplify the situation for His Majesty, we've the Rangers under Crown Badges, and Brita's done a fair job of dealing with them based on what Solange built right after the Sundering." Paige smiles at her cousins, "And of course Robin, but she had an unfair advantage in parentage. If they're going to fill the role, it might be wise to ask Uncle Julian through first, and have him back Robin or Brita's play until things get settled, Your Highness."

An 'awww, shucks' shrug ripples through Robin's shoulders, and she nods to Brita, indicating that if the King has any thanking to do, it should be done to Brita. Robin's green eyes begin to wander in some sort of calculation.

"At this point I don't know if the Rangers still think well of me or if they despise me for the whole Crown Badges thing," Solange says, not without some anxiety. "Robin, Brita, you'd know better than I would. Would I be a help or a hindrance?"

Robin shifts in her chair. "Depends." She clears her throat uncomfortably. "The Rangers are still a bit... divided on that issue, milady. They'll take your orders, no worry on that front. But maybe -- you know if you stayed to the shallow reaches, with the newer recruits, I don't think you'd have any trouble at all."

Random frowns. "Are they...steady? Will it make a difference that some of the troops we're asking them to watch are, in strictest formality, their superiors? And how good are they in the deep forest? I think we want our forces to be brought back at some distance into the forest, for ease of trump contact if nothing else."

A frown darts across Robin's face and she leans back in her chair. Green eyes dart over to Brita with a 'do want to tell him or should I?' question in them.

"OK, opinions. Do we bring them all in at once or do we come up with some way to dribble them in. If the latter, how do we sell it to the army?"

He looks around. "Lucas?"

Jerod watches curiously, interested in hearing the reply to this one. Given his limited experience with the Rangers, he will not make any recommendations at this time.

Lucas replies, "I say we concoct some malarky about the limits of Trump transport since the great metaphysical changes to the universe, and dribble them in."

Random snorts. "You may be more right than you think. Very well. Can you handle the malarkey end of the program?"

[Lucas]
"Certainly."

"Lucas is great at that," Solange comments sweetly.

Vere smiles quietly to himself.

Ossian has been sitting quite for a while, making sketches in his sketchbook (he seems to be portraying Vere) when he looks up, looking bored: "Really, is it wise to take the whole army through? If I understand things correctly large parts of the army was collected out in Shadow. What do we need them for? Why not just leave them somewhere out in Shadow?"

"I assumed that was the case, that Arden was just a staging ground, no?" Paige asks.

Random continues to look around. "Brita? Robin? What about the Rangers? Vere?" It's obvious to the more sensitive among you that he has names down and is beginning to get faces for the newcomers, but he's still in the early stages of an effort to connect them all. Giving up and retreating to the familiar: "Conner? Jerod?"

"My experience with the Rangers has been very limited, your maje..." Jerod replies before catching himself and adjusting for not being in Court. "...Uncle. As such my comments would be of little value as far as the perceptions of the Rangers. If we can do it, I would very much recommend to have Uncle Julian return in the first group and have him tell the Rangers what is up. There have been comments made apparently that the Rangers seem to pine for the good 'ole days when Prince Julian was in charge. If he comes back and says this is it, he might be able to squelch any possible resentment, at least in the short term until a better solution can be found."

Vere nods in agreement. "While I have no direct experience with the Rangers," he says, "All the reports that have come to the Regent's Council support Prince Jerod on this point."

"I agree that having Uncle Julian come through in the first batch would be best." Brita finally pipes up. [Sorry, I was off in another world called Boerne, TX] "I think the Rangers, while not overly thrilled, are getting used to the crown badge. They have been shown more respect from the council for their efforts and, well, being the main policing force left here has some prestige." Brita pauses for a second.

"There will be problems, however, due to the fact that the Rangers here have established a new heirarchy, not just with Robin, Solange and I, but amongst themselves. The Rangers that return will expect things the old way and they will no longer be that way. Heck, Uncle Julian will probably expect them to be the same, too." Brita flashes a look at Robin.

...whose expression has been carefully neutral the whole time.

"Robin will probably need to help explain to Uncle Julian the changes that I made. Hopefully, we can keep most of them - to smooth out the transition on this end. Also, we may need to maintain the new heirarchy of Rangers here and integrate them more as a unique unit back into the old set of Rangers. It will be something to further discuss with Uncle Julian." Brita looks like she would rather chew on live snakes.

Brita gets a sympathetic glance from Robin. Who then shifts in her chair, and chirps quietly to herself as she looks back to Random. The young Ranger's green eyes narrow as she decides on her approach. A deep breath and a stiffening to her shoulders reveals her decision to serve it up straight.

"It's not going to work if you go deep, Sire. The marked places and pathways of Arden are shifting. The moreso the farther in you get. Even the old guard are having difficulty walking the Deep Green. The new..." Robin changes her word in mid-stream, "The more recent additions to the Rangers are going to become lost within the shadows very quickly."

"Besides which... Arden isn't what she was. I'm not sure how well she can host a large army -- even for a short amount of time. Whiiiich means you'll have to ship supplies in. And risk more people getting... lost."

"I agree that bringing Prince Julian back as soon as possible is your best bet. And with him any of the Rangers that survived the war. You're going to need them to hold the paths steady before you bring any large forces into the Depths." Robin finishes with flat lips, and a shake of her head.

"We've already had even seasoned Rangers get lost." Brita adds. "My thought is to bring them out near Arden off the Northern foothills. I have a few sketches of the area and can create a trump. There was an oak tree archway that I considered a gateway to Arden that would do...."

"You're forgetting, Trumps are working now, we don't need paths, except to start with. I want the forest to fence them in and prevent every anxious wife and doxy from walking to the camp. Julian has a large cadre of Rangers who survived; they were held in reserve as our first light calvary. It'll also give them incentive not to find their own way home."

Gerard says "And there are plenty of reasons to keep an army out of the northern hills, lass. I hope ye have no' been sniffing around their too much. Tis not a healthy place, and your Rangers are stretched thin enow without borrowing trouble."

Robin's eyes flicker a bit at hearing that a 'large cadre' of Rangers have survived. A small smile pulls at her lips and she drops her eyes to her lap, keeping her happiness out of other people's faces. As for the rest of it, the young Ranger shrugs one shoulder -- he asked, she answered. What the King decides to do is up to him.

Brita bridles a little at the implication that she doesn't know what she is doing. "I _know_ the Trumps are working. That is how we are proposing to get the troops... wherever we get them. What Robin and I are saying is that the forest won't 'fence them in' as easily as you think. With the natural shadow paths shifting around so that they are not where the old Rangers have known them to be, we run the risk of having the troops get lost in Shadow. I can't easily follow them or get them back. I had to have Martin's help to find our lost patrol and Robin. Do we want all those that are Pattern-wise in the council forced to babysit the troops?" Brita pauses for a second.

"I also don't think having the troops in the forest will prevent wives from trying to find them, so we would have to have patrols running constantly along the forest border to prevent civilians from wandering into the forest and getting mauled by bears or lost in Shadow."

Brita cocks her head to one side. "Perhaps you are suggesting that we keep it a secret that the troops are back?"

Random barks out a short laugh, almost a grunt. It nearly covers a drawn-out sigh from the former regent. "Of course not," the King says. "If we kept it a secret, why would we need Lucas to cover the Malarkey portfolio?"

"But that's beside the point. Arden is the only place that meets the needs. It's close and yet it's not easily accessible. Besides, if I brought Robin's father and his troops in anywhere else, they'd split off pretty much immediately, which is not on my list of things I'd like. Between my brothers and sisters and your cousins and a big cadre of Rangers, they'll be plenty of people who are adept at both shadow and Arden."

He turns his head. "Robin? Any good places to put some people in Arden?"

"Weelll," Robin rubs the side of her nose as she thinks about it. "Heather Vale was still fairly stable the last time I walked it. It's Deep Green, like you wanted." Robin is obviously still concerned about that but hey, these guys marched that army down the Black Road. How much harder can Arden be?

The young Ranger leans forward and uses her hands to illustrate her points. "It's a valley, about ten miles long, maybe one wide, running east-west. The Neirdine runs through there on the north side. It's deep, swift and cold at that point. So the water should stay moderately clear no matter how many are using it."

"Across the river is one of the spurs of the Rock Ridges. I don't know if the dragons are going to like that or not, but it should keep your dox... errr, wives from approaching from the North. South side is rockier than I'd like to camp on, but it's better than boggy. Annnnd I think you mentioned cavalry a moment ago. So that's probably a good thing. The meadows border on dense pine leading up to some pretty rugged foothills. I don't think the wives are going to make it through that way, either."

"East is bottlenecked by the Falls of Never and West by Pass Crevasse. Neither of which is exactly an easy jaunt."

"But... it's a pretty sparse area, Sire. You're going to need to supply almost immediately." Robin sits back in her chair, unconsciously tapping her fingers on her chair's arm as she thinks.