Dannan Plannin'

"Okay, my take." Robin makes a thinking popping sound with her lips. When she speaks again, her voice is calm. "I don't see the need for extreme measures. Especially ones that are dangerous for your men. There's a lot of assuming going on. We've only heard from Siege on this. And while I don't think he could lie to us... even he admits he's flying mostly on guesswork. We don't know that Avis is going to be executed tomorrow. We don't even know that Avis is a prisoner of Vianis! And you're willing to risk those wonderful men?" She gestures back toward L'tarn and M'hall.

"If you want to pull some stunt with time, why not wait a little to make sure it's needful? I mean a day or a week, is there some ferocious difference? And you're right, I'm... uncomfortable with the idea of being in two places at once. I'm having enough trouble being in just one." She mutters that last darkly under her breath.

"And I while didn't want to state this too strongly in front of the others, I'm telling you right now that that fleet is worth a LOT more to Amber than some non-Blood half-sister! And you're planning on burning it as a distraction!" She takes a deep breath. "Look, originally we were thinking of a few quick hits. My Trump, Avis. That's good. I can back that."

"But engaging in full-out warfare in a shadow that Vere and Gerard might be fond of. And that's going through a civil religious war..." Robin shakes her head. "How would you like it if Jerod and Cambina wandered in and did that to Calusa?" Robin reaches for two cousins that J'rim might actually have heard of.

Jovian takes a moment to digest his sister's points, closing his eyes slowly and opening them after a few seconds.

"First. We may be putting more faith in our assumptions than we should, optimally. I'll give you that one. But two points militate for timing it. One, it's a great way to confuse all hell out of clairvoyants, some of whom you said we're up against here. Two--" and here he looks back at L'tarn, "we're already doing it. At this point, if L'tarn at minimum and probably many others who aren't showing it don't go back...it's impossible, we have to because we already have. Paradox is simply not possible." He struggles momentarily for further explanation, shaking his head in consternation mainly at himself for being unable to discuss it in easily-digested terms.

"But that's also why we can't risk waiting. I don't have a trump of you, nor you of me, so we can't stake out the Temple - thirty dragons are hard to hide. We can't just watch and wait, we have to know exactly when to hit - if we let the execution proceed, we can't go back and change it. Without instantaneous communication, that's going to be damned difficult.

"Besides, the main risks of timing it are fouling up the temporal coordinates so you come out at the wrong time - or worse yet, nowhen - and coming physically too close to your normally-timed self. The former is flat out not going to happen - you know I've always had a thing about time. The latter we can scrupulously avoid."

He gathers himself with one more deep breath. "If Jerod and Cambina showed up and raised hell in Calusa, I'd want them to be pretty damn sure what side they're on, I'll give you that. Preferably the side protecting my mother, which is why stopping Vianis' movement before it progresses further is on the list as a potential objective. If we can capture the fleet with a minimum of fire damage? Sure, we'll do that, make the attack a feint only. If you have ideas on how we can get Vianis' followers to hand over the boats without a fight, I'd love to hear. I'd like to just walk in and tell them the war's over, but Siege seems to think that'll get us dead."

"Yeah." Robin sighs, "I wish that'd work too. But I can see Siege's point. This war may have started ten years ago 'cause Uncle Gerard wasn't available to sacrifice. But that's not what's kept it going all this time. By now it's into good ol' 'I want my neighbor's stuff' and 'the way you live your life is perverted.' You can't cure that with a quick speech." Robin ticks her tongue sadly.

The Ranger rubs her chin as she continues. "Okay. Right now all we know is that L'tarn is... 'timing it.' We don't know who-if anyone--else, why or what he's doing. We're assuming it's an attack on the fleet, but really... we don't know. He alone could be timing it right now because he's on a scouting mission, n'est pas?

"It's doubtful that he alone is. I don't sell any of these guys short, but I'd never let them time it outside their own home shadow without me." He snorts softly. "I can see where you're headed. 'OK, L'tarn, you go to the temple and make note of exactly when we arrive, then come back and tell us....'" He closes his eyes and chuckles softly to himself.

"And I still feel don't need to stake out the Temple, we need to scout out the Temple. If me and my birds (and possibly L'tarn) get there and it turns out there's an execution in the offing... what's the range on draconic telepathy anyway? And how quickly can you, uhhh, 'go between' to get there? Surprise might save us the need for a distraction. Though..." the girl rubs her chin, "I'll grant you that moving around in time is probably pretty confusing to a clairvoyant.

"Dragon telepathy is planetwide in Calusa. In Chaos...well, there doesn't seem to be a measuring system in Chaos, so I can't say, but it's pretty far. Didn't seem able to measure time, either." Jovian looks a little uncomfortable contemplating this. "As for passage between, it's nearly instantaneous - just eight seconds between any two points on Calusa. I'd want to test myself here before trying to lead anyone. The catch, though, is that a dragon can't go between to a place his rider has never seen. It's not like shadowshifting, where I can get approximately there and then tweak it - the visualization has got to be dead solid perfect the first time, or you don't come out of between at all."

Jovian considers for a moment, with an odd, thoughtful look in his eyes. "Dad always told me not to try going between shadows yet, as if it could be done when I was ready. But whether I feel ready or not," he concludes with a head shake as if to clear it, "I can't risk my people on that."

"The thing is," Robin raises her shoulders in a shrug, "Me and Vere-we're not exactly sympathique." A rueful chuckle goes through her frame. "If we've traded more than 'nice weather' or 'pass the salt', I don't remember it. So I don't know how he feels about his mother or his sister. And Siege obviously didn't feel that it was his place to tell me.

"That's why I'm walking on eggs, Jovian. Cause no matter what I do here, it's going to be wrong by Vere's lights. Normally I wouldn't give a damn, show me a good fight and I'm there. Bring on the dragons and torch them all, no problem. But Vere... could make my life miserable in ways I don't want to even think about. So I want to get this little action as least wrong as I can." She finishes with a weak smile.

"By which you mean...what?" Jovian asks when his sister winds down. "Take the minimum action possible to meet our minimum objectives, then go back and find out what he would have wanted? If leaving his mother facing a major threat turns out to be the wrong thing, what then? And what," he finishes, an edge creeping into his voice, "is this Vere holding over you?" Big brother plainly is not too happy with this Vere person intimidating his kid sister.

"Yes. Minimum action to meet minimum objectives is exactly what I'm suggesting, Jovian. And if we take the fleet with us, his mom won't be facing a major threat. Just the same one she's been fighting these last ten years. And Vere and Gerard can decide if, when and where they want to throw in their weight. Not us." A flat smile lines her lips. Robin isn't exactly happy about it, but... family courtesy.

As the edge in Jovian's voice creeps into her attention, her smile becomes actually happy, though a flicker of mischief twinkles in her emerald eyes. One bandaged hand reaches out to thump Jovian gratefully on the upper arm. "Jovian," the girl sings the name in a purr, "that's so sweet of you. And I admit that there's a part of me that would love to see you kick Vere's ass. But... that wouldn't be fair. To either of you." She shakes her head with a rueful chuckle.

"Vere isn't holding anything over me. See..." Her eyes wander as she reaches for an explanation. "Imagine a good and conscientious scion of Amber who is - in every other important and fundamental way - my exact opposite. Vere's the son of the Regent and a heavy on the Council, but mostly... give him a few more decades and he'll have Uncle Caine's boots filled nicely."

"I cross him and I will never eat warm eggs again. I'll be issued only left boots for the rest of my life. Annnnddd if he ever thinks I'm a threat to Amber, the chambermaid will discover a nicely written note that says I've gone hunting off in shadow and not to expect me back for a while..." The Ranger turns her palms up in a 'there you have it' gesture.

"'A fratricide will never take the throne,'" Jovian quotes, then adds with a reptilian toothy grin, "and a soricide will never approach it on his own feet. Besides, with most of the family returned, everyone will have to be a bit more mindful not to get too big for their own boots. I don't expect Dad will put up with much nonsense in your direction - he's counting on you, you know." He lets that hang in the air a moment, his smile growing more gentle.

"Really?" Robin knows that the hope that flickers in her eyes and in her heart is more pathetic than anything else. But still she can't help herself. It's been so long since she had anyone she could talk to, anyone she could trust. And the hope that her Father still might... a quiet smile spreads across her face.

Jovian snorts a brief laugh. "If you think Daeon's going to be useful keeping the Rangers organized, you haven't met Daeon. I, obviously, have my own major commitment." He smiles with all the warmth you can imagine of an Amberite at the great bronze hulk settling in somewhere behind him. "That leaves you, li'l birdie," he adds, sharing the warmth with his sister.

As J'rim glows, Robin casts a fond glance at the bronze herself. Anything that can do that to an Amberite is a good thing in her book. And if it's an anyone? So much the better.

"Oh, from your lips to the Unicorn's ears, Jovian. Pleeeaase..." she whispers fervently. And hugs her brother firmly.

"But the thousand-mark question now, me proud beauty, is how do we take the fleet with us? I don't know the Temple from Theran Weyr; that raid will have to be your bailiwick, though I'll consult. I still think the best opportunity will be to interrupt the sacrifice, but you'd know whether the layout of the place offers others... anyway, that objective can be handled by a small team. But sailing a significant number of ships the hell out of here is not a job two of us - or thirty - can handle, even if we can unburden them of their hostile crews."

"Hmmmm. That's a fair question...." Robin swings her arms as she thinks. "I'm not that worried about the fleet, Jovian. Siege went down on knee damn fast with just a little of the family oomph. I figure between the two of us we can oomph up the skeleton crews, no problem."

"The raid's more concerning. I'm wondering if we're not grabbing the wrong person. Look, if I gave you bad weather cover, do you think that you and a couple of the boys could do a quick flyover of Mothersport? Just to get a feel?"

"You with me, L'tarn carrying Siege...and why use a second storm when the first one will serve? It fits. We'll have to have Siege along, of course, to integrate our observations with a native's understanding of what's normal activity in the city."

Robin nods, the green beginning to glow in her eyes. "Good. This is getting good. Then Siege and me and a ground team head for a good observation point. I shake the ground a little..." Robin gets a bit pale at that thought, "and when the termites scamper, we call in a snatch on Vianis. Once we have her, we can get my Trump, Commander Avis and the Fleet in one fell swoop."

Jovian looks a little less than sanguine about this part. "You mean 'shake the ground' literally, Robin?"

The dragonrider squints at Siege over his sister's shoulder while he considers her answer. "For that matter, are we sure Vianis' movement will collapse without her, or has her force got its own momentum? If they do not want to abandon their fleet so quickly, and some subcommander or witch-princess gets too big for her boots...." He trails off with a shrug.

"I'm not expecting her movement to collapse without her, just stumble enough for us to get an upper hand. Of course, this is just stupid idea number one. Give me some time and I can come up with others." She grins to her brother.

"I suppose Plan B is where we don't do anything stupid." This, delivered with both eyebrow workout and a twist at the corner of his mouth. "Me, I'm getting visions of dragon flyovers dumping out sacks of itching powder, an inhalant soporific, maybe something poisonous, so that tells you what my ideas are worth."

"Oh, damn Jovian! That's even better!" Glee leaks into her voice and the girl claps her hands in delight. "Much safer for the infinks of Mothersport than a tremblor. But... you know, Thistledown would work really, really good. But it's a ways from here..." Robin looks around through the walls, "I think.

"Of course, then I'd be signed up to both 'time it' and go wandering in shadow far from my Trump." She taps her fists nervously against her thighs. "Gaaah. What kind of airborne irritant can we get closer?"

"I don't know," Jovian shrugs. "I haven't been to this shadow before tonight. Siege?" The dragonrider waves over Robin's shoulder to the Dannan warrior. "We could use your input here."

Robin turns around to look at Siege. Her eyes are sparkling like a child who's figuring out just how many firecrackers she can tie to the cat's tail.

Robin and Jovian look up and notice that the fires are mostly banked and most of the riders have bedded down. Jovian notes that Kourin has an empty blanket next to her and sees her eyes shining in the firelight. The riders, a disciplined lot, have settled quickly and more than half are already asleep.

Siege has not fallen asleep, but it is clear that he has gone without longer than he should. His wounds, old and new, may be slowing him down a bit. "Lady, Lord." He yawns. "What was the question?" Robin recalls that she also took something of a pounding and considers the advantages of Juliani heritage.

After Jovian explains, Siege says. "I can't think of anything they can't spell away easily, unless you can do something to the rain. It is not our side that is known for trickery and deceit. If it were, we might have won by now. But not in a way I could be proud of.

"Seems to me that you're in the same boat that we're usually in. You can beat anything they throw at you, except for a handful of very special, very dangerous opponents. Their numbers are greater, but you have strength and speed.

"I'd use calvary tactics. Up and down the field, disorganizing them. When they expose the witches, hit 'em hard. And don't get bogged down. Do they have ducks in Amber? You'd be sitting ducks."

Jovian gazes downward and his expression darkens with consternation. "That still leaves us no plan for driving back the defenders without destroying the ships," he complains half to himself, then looks up as if about to ask something more - then catches himself as he really looks at Siege for a moment. "Further discussion can wait for a full night's rest, though," he forces himself to admit.

Robin nods to herself, her green eyes turned inward. "Something with the rain, hunh?" She murmurs to herself.

Looking around at the retiring riders, she chuckles and fondly smacks her brother on the forearm. "Well, we at least know we're staying here till tomorrow night, right? To give you a feel for the land before we pull this time stunt? That gives me some time to see what I can cook up."

"It looks like your lady is waiting, mon frere." Robin's grin is quick in the darkening cave. "And you should get some down time too, Siege."

"I'll be just outside the main door." Robin hugs her brother good night. A quick wave is tossed to Siege as she heads for the opening.

"OK, but you get some rest too, understand?" her brother calls after.

Robin raises her hand in acknowledgment as she continues on her way.

Jovian turns then, spends a long moment looking at his people and their dragons...a moment of reflection upon this strange situation he's led them into, with a little luck the last of such an array. Surely he must be becoming a true scion of Amber, if he could think of himself as having the right to fly them into one predicament after another, where they were never meant to belong....

Then he meets Kourin's eyes, their calm strength, the quality they have always had for easing anxiety and doubt. And with that, as well, such a glowing belief in him.... He could reconcile himself to his fate, he reflects, if it were to include that sort of look now and again.

He goes to meet his fate, walking slowly and softly, stepping out of his boots as he reaches the blanket. As he settles in beside Kourin he studies her face, his look inviting her to voice her thoughts if she wishes.

"Sleep. If you say a word we'll be up all night."

A few moments later, she says. "I like your sister."

Jovian draws breath with intent to disobey a queen rider, then catches himself and just beams at her, nodding. He does not say aloud that Robin seems to approve of Kourin as well, thinking it obvious enough not to require stating openly. He punctuates the unspoken point with a kiss on the forehead, which will move down her face by inches if permitted.

Her eyes close and she lets him kiss her. After a few kisses she says, "That's...very nice. but if I relax any more, I'll fall asleep. Which we both need to do. Other stuff later."

A mock pout and a kiss on the chin later, Jovian nuzzles Kourin's hair against her neck and settles in to rest. If uninterrupted, he will probably drift off shortly.

At this rate, he's probably good for about seven hours' rack time.

As the Ranger's steps take her closer to the mouth of the cave, she looks around for one of the Dragonriders who is bedding down but not quite asleep yet. She wants to see if she can borrow one of those 'serious harness working' knives. :)

there is a group of three on guard at the entrance, and one or two more elsewhere. One is T'lon, who approaches when he sees she wants something. "Lady, they say that the floating woman looked at the cave the whole time, but I know we saw her looking towards us."

"Hmmm. J'rim said that too. But you're right, T'lon. I saw her looking towards us when we snuck around the side way." The ranger speaks loud enough so that the others in the doorway can hear her, but not loudly enough to be obviously projecting or waking up sleepers.

"Could I borrow your knife, T'lon? I promise I'll treat it nice." Robin grins innocuously.

[GMs]

[reminder (in case this wasn't clear): T'lon was the one with you...]

He nods and grins back. "Don't stick it in anything you can't get it out of...unless you have to." He hands you his knife.

She winks. "I'm planning on murdering some trees... maybe some grasses... we'll see what gets in my way.

"Uhhh, you guys didn't recognize her right? The floating lady? I mean, she wasn't one of your former opponents, was she?"

"Our most recent former opponents included living machines, wyvverns that turned into dragons and then into clouds, and the bad side of J'lin's family. Of the flying women we've seen, the ones without wings were on our side. And none of them looked much like tonight's version, although it could've been the light."

"Hmmmm." Robin takes in T'lon's words thoughtfully. "I haven't run into anyone particularly floaty lately. But... she didn't feel like a local... and you're right again," she grins and winks, "I think it was the light too."

"Oh well, I'm off to get myself dressed. Can I get you anything? Spear? Throwing darts?" The Ranger's perky smile seems to light up the darkening cavern.

He looks at you. "Thanks, I'm set." He says. "'Get yourself dressed,' Lady? M'hall's orders are that nobody go out alone. Do you need an escort? I can fetch Janel if you would prefer a women."

You have the feeling that he won't press the issue if you do not wish to follow the orders, but that he wants to be sure that he has told you what they were.

Robin's green eyes spark in anger, though it's obviously not directed at T'lon. She turns her face to the ceiling and takes a deep breath. Pushing bandaged hands through her short hair, the Ranger fights her temper.

'Come on, Robin. It's a sensible... request.' She mentally upbraids herself as her gaze drops back to the floor and the deep breath goes out. 'Besides, many tons of large flying fire-breathing telepathic backup. Not a bad idea.'

She grins up to T'lon. "Okay. This time I'll listen to M'hall's 'suggestion.' But... how long has it been since you rested, T'lon? Not that I don't enjoy your company."

"In one sense, we've never rested, Lady. We have been at war with our homeland's mindless, implacable enemy for centuries, no one here remembers before it started again. We've beaten everything the universe had to throw at us, including the things J'rim and J'lin had us fight. A few more days of duty and not enough sleep will hardly matter.

"In the sense you mean, Lady, I can tell you we were having a picnic and a swim this evening when a storm came up that J'rim said came from someone in his family. If half of us weren't nursing wounds, we'd be ready to fight tonight."

Robin listens to T'lon's words, a wry half-smile playing at the corners of her lips though her eyes are serious. Through her mind plays the memory of her own life, lived fighting and protecting Amber's borders from whatever shadow had to throw, from whatever traitorous princes decided to dredge up, and finally... the girl's mind shies away from the last. But still, she recognizes in T'lon what is in her Rangers and in herself.

"Fair enough, Dragonrider. And understood." Robin nods.

Then breaks into a grin, and whaps the man playfully on the upper arm. "But since I don't have a wonderfully large and capable companion, I want to make sure that the next time I decide to frolic late into the night I'm dressed in more than an iron poker."

"Soooo, you're welcome to come watch me tear up the local landscape if you want."

T'lon nods and waves broadly at 'outdoors'. "Then lead on." He says.

Robin smiles and heads out.

The Ranger strides off into the sodden night, mayhem on her mind. But first... T'lon's knife and the local trees meet. Soon Robin is armed with an atlatl and a brace of small throwing spears - including two 'screamers' primarily used as signals by the forces of Arden. Quick tanned fingers weave the tough shore grasses into a lariat. And with the addition of a few fist-sized stones, the Ranger adds a pair of bolas to her growing arsenal.

Despite the fact that her allies are huge and firebreathing, Robin is determined that if she ever meets a 'witch-queen' she's going to be able to do something more effective than glare menacingly.

The whole time, the girl keeps up a friendly conversation with T'lon if he so wishes. Companionable silence if he does not. Though she will make the point to ask what his bonded's name is, what color, etc.

T'lon is not too silent at first, but rapidly becomes, if not acceptable to Robin, at least 'not embarrassing'. Men who fly Dragons are not by nature quiet.

Neither is Robin, despite her recent past. She takes this opportunity to be happy, laugh, talk and play in the dark rain with a stranger.

He speaks of his Dragon, Brown Peneth, and their Weyr on a sea-cliff like this, but higher and warmer. He is very open about his bond between himself and Peneth. You have known men and women married over a hundred years who are not as close.

This brings quiet smiles from the ranger. If there's one thing she believes in, it's passion. And lately, Jovian's decision to live his life in such a way as to never be lonely... well, that is making more and more sense to her. So more power to the dragonriders and their companions.

Along the way, the girl collects several seagull feathers from the surrounding area. And once, she's satisfied with the size, variety and effectiveness of her weapons, she settles herself near the mouth of the cave.

Unconsciously she reaches for her ocarina. Her pale brows furrow momentarily and eyes flash green as she pats her empty pocket. But after a moment, she calms down and gazes out over the night sea.

Lips pursed, a mournful tune begins to emerge from the Ranger; a song of the sea, seeping damp and cold, lifting into the air like a fog, and falling like a heavy rain. Along her nerves the fire of the Pattern glows, bringing her mood into the night air.

And the clouds that had parted roll back up, although they seem erratic. You sing for a long time, T'lon tells you it was over an hour, and the rain comes and it is full and fat and heavy. T'lon just watches.

After that song has twined into the dark water, Robin's song begins to lighten. It becomes filled with the furl of wings, the call of seabirds, the float and hover, the dive and skirl. Through deft hands, the daughter of Julian runs the feathers she has collected, calling to herself the gulls of soul.

After a few hours of weapons making, a few hours of rain making, and a few hours of bird making, Robin starts actually feeling the day. Gathering up a few unfortunate fish that have been tossed onto the beach by the inclement weather, Robin strides back toward the cave. But not into it. Oh no.

With a grin at her own behavior and a wink to T'lon, Robin settles herself down under some overhanging trees. Shortly thereafter two large and vicious looking seagulls grumpily join her in the slightly less damp grotto.

Feeding the fish to the seagulls, Robin croons and caws to the birds, commiserating about the foul weather. Looking up to T'lon, she grins.

"I'm going to be camping out here, T'lon. And as you can see, I'm not alone. If you want to get back to a warm bed with Peneth... I wouldn't want you to get sick 'cause of my bad habits."

He shrugs. "Somewhere, that way, I guess, the sun's fixing to rise. I'll do better with some Klah than an hour's rack time. I'm not counting on J'rim and Kourin letting us laze over brunch when we've got a medium high muckety muck who we're tapped to rescue. " He pauses. "Peneth is awake. He'll be coming out in a moment. Big lug wants a morning swim before we do whatever it is you and J'rim have cooked up for us."

Robin shudders dramatically at the 'swim' line with a playful grimace. "Say good morning to the lug for me, will you?"

T'lon nods and his eyes unfocus for a moment. The dragon passes over your camp and the birds squak querulously. You're sure that if the rain weren't pounding down, you'd hear a tremendous splash as the giant dragon hit the water.

T'lon bids you good night and returns to the cave.

Robin settles herself further, aiming for a quick catnap as opposed to a cup of stimulant, no matter how good that sounds.

The night passes uneventfully, and Robin's 'catnap' and Jovian's 'seven hours rack time' end roughly simultaneously. T'lon and several early risers have cooked up a not entirely dissatisfactory substitute for Klah.

[GMs]
[OK, I want a bullet point list of the things you want to do up to the point where someone sights the enemy/town...] We'll try to get you into the thick of it shortly :)

[Robin]
Here's my best guess :)