Gerard would like each of the members of the Council to write up a summary of important business since Jerod and Solange have been gone, to get them back up to date on local events.
Reid's done nothing terribly important. Investigated an arson case that will be going to trial eventually; taught some music and art, but perhaps less than last year; took Paige and Cambina on a brief shadow expedition, but didn't really learn much there. Have started advising local merchants on paper and ink making, and think that might be a minor economic boost -- probably enough to cover local demand, but maybe not in a quantity that makes it a fruitful export.
Solange is curious about the raw materials involved -- rag or pulp paper? and what sort of ink? Pen inks are relatively simple -- oak galls, or squid ink, or lampblack -- but printers' inks need to have a different texture. Has demand increased that much?
Different merchants are specializing in different things. A variety of pulp/rag mixes depending on the end purpose and how much the merchant is willing to sink into manufacturing. Likewise the inks. The stuff used for broadsheets isn't very colorfast and will fade. Book inks cost more. Personal quill inks (think designer fragrances in perfume) could be a rage among nobles.
[Jerod]
What was the arson case involving? And the shadow expedition?
The arson case appears to be based on rivalry between two of the printers. Stout stands accused of sponsoring the arson of Heap's printing shop, shortly after Heap broadened his line of goods to include the Ladies Guide series, which Stout was mighty jealous of.
Jerod asks if there might be anyone behind the two printers supporting them who might not have approved of the print content. It sounds fairly cut and dried though...he's just wondering.
Reid continues, "As to the shadow expedition, I must first ask two questions of yourself: When you first tried to return, how were you blocked? Being someone who's been blocked from returning to Amber myself, I wonder if it was of the same nature. Second, When you were able to begin your trip home, did you end up in a shadow that wasn't quite HERE and have to turn and realign your shadow shifting to get here?"
Jerod frowns. "When we returned, it was as if there was nothing to lock onto. I was busy laying the path, or trying to. It didn't matter what I tried, there was nothing there. I'm figuring it was maybe because of the breakdown of the existing Bellum path. Shadow probably got distorted when that happened and it was impossible to re-acquire it."
"As for coming back, it didn't seem like there were any problems." Jerod says.
Folly consults her scribbled notes from Council meetings and compiles the following list:
The economy is going wonky. There just seems to be less money in Amber. Royal funds are dwindling because we've had to pay out so much for rebuilding since the Sundering, but no one else seems to be getting rich, either.
[Jerod]
Interesting...hopefully with another big trade port we can start to stem
that tide a little.
Other news on the economic front:
- We're now charging fees for accompanying trade voyages. Merchants don't like this, of course.
- We've seen lots of petty theft in the docksides. One thief is already caught, but stuff still goes missing. Possibly people are looking for ways to keep themselves fed, but then again maybe stuff is just disappearing off into Shadow somehow.
- We've been researching possible new business initiatives to improve the economy, including tobacco-growing, papermaking, and syrup- making. With our technology, though, we're probably never going to be producing a lot of our own exports.
- There have been some accusations of corruption in the Garnath tax collector. Lucas is the person to talk to about it.
[Jerod]
Noted...Lucas?
- We modified the usury decree so the gentlemen's clubs can loan money to members for membership dues.
[Jerod]
Curious....how come?
[Folly]
According to the clubs, their members have been hit hard by recent
changes in economics, such that many of them could no longer afford
their membership dues. The clubs asked if they could loan money
just for membership dues, so people wouldn't have to drop out, and
we didn't see a problem with that.
[Jerod]
Interesting...Jerod's going to have to get down to the club in the next
couple of days and see what's up.
[Solange]
The clubs had enough of a cushion in their operating funds to do
this, rather than just allowing members to pay in installments?
They didn't require all their dues just to meet operating expenses?
Solange thinks that if we can come up with a pretext for getting the
clubs to open their books to us, we'd learn some very interesting
things about the clubs' role in Amber's social and economic fabric.
- The sheep have gotten sick with hoof-and-mouth disease. Paige and I went out looking for llamas, which are more disease-resistant, in general, but we didn't have any luck. [OOC: Next time, perhaps we should send Lucas to the Houston Livestock Show. They've got llamas, and he'd fit in so well there....]
- Paige found Heerat again; she and Martin have already been out on a trade trek.
[Jerod]
Excellent news.
On the subject of stuff going missing:
- New natural shadowpaths have appeared in Arden; a Ranger patrol was lost for quite a while when they inadvertantly wandered off into Shadow. That's how we finally caught up with Robin: Brita and Martin went looking for the patrol and found her, too.
[Jerod]
Can Robin show Jerod where this path is located? He's curious to see
if he can sense anything from its formation.
- We've got increased reports of missing persons in the docksides, and a growing number of abandoned buildings. Also, we seem to have a food surplus, making us think that Amber's population really is shrinking somehow. Maybe lots of other people are getting lost down shadowpaths we haven't found yet?
[Jerod]
See the comment above - he had the same thought as soon as it was
mentioned.
Miscellany:
- The printers are a neverending source of drama, not always in book form. Stout will eventually go to trial for arson against Heap's shop; Drudge, the broadsheet printer, got beat up pretty bad, but we don't know by whom.
- We've hired Baron Kaliq, himself a former diplomat, to help with the Golden Circle ambassadors.
[Jerod]
Ah, the good Baron is back...Jerod's going to enjoy having him
around...always did like him.
- We've got a charter school set up to improve literacy among the lower classes. So far it seems to be going well.
[Jerod]
Also good news.
[Conner]
As an addendum, Conner has also been working with the
ambassadors and has succeeded in allaying their fears and
grumbling for the moment.
[Jerod]
Ah good...then Conner and Jerod can sit down for a drink sometime soon and get
caught up.
Anyone else been doing Jerod's job? *curious*. Yo God? (ie: the GMs)...who's been Gerard's "dirty work" guy since Jerod's been gone?
[GMs]
He's been passing that job around. Fortunately, there hasn't been much in
the way of "dirty work" lately ...
[Jerod]
With luck that will change...:)...one doesn't like to be bored...
[Folly]
Y'know, it's been hypothesized on at least one occasion that the
changes taking place in Amber stem directly from the will of the
Royals.
All in favor of putting Jerod back on the boat? ;)
[Jerod]
Ha...he knew it...:)...two hours off the ship and it's starting already...he
figured it was going to be Ossian though who made the first suggestion.
Looks like Amber is becoming more sexually equitable...*chuckle*
One of the bets Lucas was running was how long Jerod would last in Amber before the Council put him back on the boat. =)
You know...that's rather a compliment to hear...that it would take the entire Council to get Jerod back on the boat...:) He should get a medal for being able to inspire that kind of solidarity...*chuckle*
Conner will gladly tell Jerod and Solange of his time in Rebma and his forced escaps from it. The outline version is, Someone breaks into Llewella's townhouse, Conner investiagtes, gets beaten up by two Triton's as a warning, discovers a plot to frame him for the death of the Gateway Ambassador to Rebma, Thalia, rescues her from the Triton's with the help of Hargarel, and escapes through a weird air filled tunnel to a shadow with a spooky castle on an enchanted island he can't get to. Then he found a ship and shadow shifted home.
Now that's interesting...Jerod will be looking to hear lots more about that...he'll trade stories of his escapades in The Land of Peace (or Pieces of Gold as the case may be). He's also interested in the status of a few individuals...he will speak to Conner privately on that matter.
Vere happily disappears into his room and reappears a few hours later with the following reports. He apologizes for the sketchiness of the information, but explains that he felt it was important to get the information to them quickly and allow them to ask questions to follow up on any items of interest, rather than inundate them with facts.
Vere covers the following topics in his reports:
New Family members:
We have had two new family members arrive: Robin, the daughter of Julian, and Conner, the son of Fiona. Both of these were known to Amber before this, but their parentage had been kept a secret.
Robin has been exploring the changing naturally-occurring shadow paths in Arden. Conner has an extremely interesting story to tell regarding current events in Rebma. However, rather than attempt to paraphrase their stories I think it will be more efficient to allow you to go to them directly. I do have certain opinions, which we may discuss later.
The amusing antics of the printers:
Drudge has continued to print books in the "Ladies' Guide" series, which
Vere will list with brief descriptions.
The author clearly has access to information about what goes on in Council meetings, and is most likely either a member of the family or the castle staff. A less likely possibility is that they are an outsider with preternatural abilities that allow them to spy upon us.
There are more important issues facing us, and we have not pursued this matter any further.
There have also been three books written in reaction to this series, describing a woman's proper place and how a man can keep her there.
Stout has been accused of arson in the burning of Heap's printing shop, his trial is still pending.
Drudge was badly beaten by persons unknown, for reasons equally unknown.
The Paresh:
There has been no further contact with the Paresh. Their predicted date for the destruction of Amber falls in Spring of the 6th year since the Sundering. The Naval ship Vere sent to follow them to their new home never returned, a mission sent afterwards found signs of a wreck that appeared to be too old to be associated with the Paresh or the ship sent to follow them. This remains an unsolved mystery.
Vere has confirmed with Cambina and Nestor that there are indeed old reports of monstrous creatures in the caves beneath Kolvir, and that Oberon had in the past passed death sentences on trespassers in those caves.
Economy and crime:
Violent crimes are down, but reports of petty theft are up. Evidence for an unusual decrease in population continues to mount, although there is still a lack of firm evidence. Several buildings that were damaged in the sundering were never repaired, and in many cases these can be linked to disappearances of individuals. Research is ongoing on ways that the Crown can legally lay claim to these buildings.
The fishing catch is down, although this may be within normal year-to-year variation. Taken with everything else, Vere considers it another worrying indication.
The sheep have developed a serious disease, which we are trying to combat by culling. The meat is believed to be safe, and is being sold in the City, but there is widespread public concern about it.
A variety of projects have been undertaken to attempt to revitalize the economy of Amber, which continues to deteriorate in an unnatural fashion.
Education:
A project to educate the children of the common folk has been undertaken, and there is widespread support for it. Heap donated paper and made a small run of a primer for use in the schools.
Finally, Folly has introduced a cat into the Castle, as a pet rather than as a working animal. The staff has a somewhat dubious attitude towards the animal.
[Lucas's report]
"Feminism's on the rise, Vere is concerned. The end of the world is
nigh. Trading's good."
[Ossian's report]
A few things that happened during Jerod and Solanges abscense:
Conner arrived from Rebma, and was properly questioned. He left Rebma theough a strange tunnel, so we investigated if there was a corresponding tunnel in Amber too. There wasn't.
There has been a lot of goings on with the printers. Ask Vere fo the details.
Since the food situation is not longer desperate, we have started to trade in luxury goods, to enhance Amber's economy.
We held a ceremony at the five-year aniiversary of the sundering. Quite a sucess actually.
There seems to be a decline in artistic interest in the city; I and Reid get less and less students.
We also seem to be losing people constantly. The disappearances seems not to be all random, most of the lost people seem to have economical problems.
Jerod wants to clarify the above comment, just so he's clear on it. (Actually, Jerod's players want to clarify it...there are far too many system status reports on my desk and they're cluttering up my brain).
Ossian is saying that those who are primarily affected are the poor or destitute?
[Since my shadow twin is at sea and probably can't look this stuff up in an eyeblink, I'll jump in here....
Here, in the words of the HiveMind(tm), is what Ossian learned when he researched the whereabouts of owners of abandoned buildings:
The owners who vanish tend to fall into one of several classes: economically marginal in some way, seriously affected by the Sundering, or seriously affected by post-Sundering changes such as the usury laws.
The missing owners are mostly from middle-class areas. Some families are missing, but in others the families were left behind. Some of the families left behind are convinced the missing relative killed himself. In one case, it looks like a married couple ran away together, abandoning their small child, who was taken in by a neighbor.
So, no, they're not poor so much as -- perhaps -- not as useful to the economy as they once were. (FWIW, this is in the "Transitions" log entry.)]
[Ossian]
More like this: Ossian investigated houses that were not rebuilt after
the Sundering, and found that some of the owners were missing. Many of
these owners seems to have run into economical problems at or after
the Sundering.
[Jerod]
Curious...given the comments made about newly occurring shadow
routes developing, was this investigated? And by whom? Is Amber still
considered "Shadow"?
[Ossian]
Amber is still considered Shadow, as far as I know. Ossian was the one
investigating missing house owners, but he did not connect the
vanishings with the shadows routes. You might want to know that the
vanishings seem to have been going on since the Sundering. We don't
know how old the routes are.
[Jerod]
Hmmm...okay, so based on the houses/structures that had not been rebuilt,
Ossian was unable to determine the whereabouts of the owners, who seem to have
run into financial troubles.
Based on the above, would it be safe for Jerod to assume that the individuals that Ossian investigated were in fact verified as being alive after the Sundering? That there were witnesses to their existence after the Sundering? (basically, that he wasn't investigating people who died in the calamity and someone made a mistake or made an assumption that they were alive but not seen).
Were the disappearances over the entire last four/five years? Were they concentrated during a specific time period, or an anniversary period of a year? Were the disappearances from a certain part of the city? Did any specific member of the royal family tend to deal with these individuals, or have general contact with the class of individuals who disappeared? Did any of the those who disappeared come from other Shadows (ie: were they new citizens)?
somewhat stiffly Ossian reports that: "Most of the vanishings I have investigated seem to have occurred during the last year or two. The vanished people are mostly middle-class; not so strange since I found they were missing when I looked for the owners of non-maintained buildings. Much more than that I don't know."
Jerod thanks Ossian for the information...he has a puzzled look on his face, as if something is itching at him, something he's not too sure about.
"Does something bother you, cousin?" Ossian asks.
"No." Jerod says. "Well, yes and no. The fact that people are disappearing doesn't fill me with any great sense of pleasure, that's for sure. I'm just trying to get a handle on why. Why more now? Why not more when the Sundering occurred?"
[Ossian]
"As you suggested it might have to do with the Shadow paths. I don't
know of any such paths in the city though."
"That those people struggled economically might suggest that they actually wanted to leave Amber, and therefore left."
[Jerod]
He takes a breath, then blows it out noisily. "I've always wondered
about what would happen in a shadow if you had a number of
uninitiated Amberites living there. Unfortunately there's no one to put
my questions to. Dad told me once that walking the Pattern initiates us
to the trumps and to walking in Shadow. But does the Pattern give the
power, or just give us conscious control over it?"
"There must have been similar periods in the past, when our aunts and uncles were young. With uninitiated Amberites, I mean." Ossians hands are busy, folding something out of a piece of paper.
"That was a long time ago." Jerod says. "Maybe Nestor has something on that. Or my sister. I'll have to check on that. I'm still wondering though...there might have been similar periods but they could have been offset by having strong individuals who were initiated already. So as new royal children were born into Amber, there were already stable elements around them."
[Ossian]
"But we have some stabilising elements now too; Gerard and Reid. Not
as potent as Oberon, of course. And there was a period when I, Lucas
and gerard were the only initiates in town."
[Jerod]
"Your comment about the people wanting to leave is an interesting one.
It would mean that some of those people had an unconscious control
over shadow travel. So where would they go? That's why I wondered if
any of them were citizens of other shadows and going back home.
Either that or they might be wishing for the good ole days."
[Ossian]
"Or someone could have showed them a path away from here."
"If not your and Solanges endeavors created paths form here?"
Ossian places an origamy chinese junk.
"The unfortunate part of all this is that anything is possible." Jerod says, looking over the origamy briefly, but without comment. "There's lots that I can speculate on...and no one to actually bang the ideas off of. Even if any of our theories are correct, how do we go about testing them?"
[Ossian]
"We don't. And I wonder if that is not good, as it inspires our creativity
finding new theories.
"How dull it would be if we knew everything. Practical, though."
"I prefer practical where people's lives are at risk." Jerod replies. "We have no clue where those people went. They may be alive, or they might not be. The inspiration of creativity is a poor second place to helping people in my book."
"I wonder if they want any help. And as we know, you and I have different views of many things."
"Yes, I know." Jerod says. "And until we find out what happened to those people, we won't know if they don't want our help. Assuming we find out what happened at all."
"In any event, your information is certainly of interest. I'll have to take a look around town and see what I can find."
[Ossian]
[OOC: I had to look trough a lot of old material here. And found
something strange:
Let's cite our GM (Jan 21)
"Cambina, in her position as minister of public works, reports that
several businesses that burned down in the previous winter have not
been rebuilt, either through the poverty of the former owners or
because the owners have vanished. She mentions to Ossian, who is still
assisting her part-time, that many other buildings are not being
maintained."
I cannot find any reference to those burnings down in any earlier
post. Right now I cannot see why I didn't notice this when I let
Ossian investigate the missing people. I think I thought I remembered
something about some fires. OTOH I might not have found the right
email in my archives....]
[GMs]
Here's my take: Buildings burned down with a normal frequency. You all
didn't notice until a remarkable pattern came to light. Before it was
remarkable, it wasn't remarked on.
Fire is a major concern, as it is in any city.
I had forgotten to mention that Heap has published _A Guide to Surviving the Current Financial Turmoil and Improving One's Circumstances for Ladies_, without the excised prologue, of course, after Vere returns the manuscript.
As mentioned before, Heap had a printing subsidy, so the cost is lower than before. Unsurprisingly, this means that the book also sells well.
Jerod has one of his staff pick up a copy for his reading, to see what's been going on in the "book war" environment while he's been away.
Last modified: 18 Mar 2002