DRAFT Run log for 040120

Major Events:

• Jean and Ilk Study the Pyramids
• Cagliostro Under Attack in Garnath

Jean and Ilk Study the Pyramids

Ilk asks Jean to look around for Toram-style pyramids, since one of them was discovered generating anti-dragons. Jean doesn't see any, and doesn't remember seeing any, but the Dancers' Guild remembers him telling them about him. Jean does some looking around while double-checking with the Dancers' Guild. He flowers all of the pyramids, and doesn't find any anti-dragon style trails. A few are generating locusts. One seems to be generating priests, who emerge and sacrifice local women at the top of the pyramid.

Jean - "Excuse me, miss. Are you being oppressed?"

The first several women don't have a language in common with Jean. The next seems to be willing, but the vast mob

Jean rants on at great length, all across reality, about the horrific chain of oppression. The two priests holding the woman's arms fall over dead.

Jean tries to follow the locusts. Only one stream of locusts can leave their local shadow, and that one runs into the Sea of Chance. Jean pokes Ilk. Ilk checks them out. They seem to be Bleys-eating locusts. It doesn't look like Celeste or Mikail built the pyramid. This pyramid is on a promontory several shadows big. No current inhabitants. Signs of former inhabitants, and destruction all over with Toram's signature on it. Very old. The locusts don't seem to be surviving their trip into the Sea. There is one locust clinging to the interface and trying to climb out. Ilk drags it out, names it, and binds it as a demon. It seems much happier once it reaches solid ground.

Ilk checks out the place. In the rubble there is a caricature of Bleys with a weak chin, inscribed into the sun. There are rules elsewhere stating that breeding is highly desirable, and that all children should be bought to the creche.

The pyramid is crude in comparison to the others. It seems much older, and there are mild signs of Pattern tampering -- possibly Mikail? This might be how Mikail learned how to make pyramids... and Ilk realizes that he could probably make one as well. The defenses are targeted against Amberites, and are mostly Logrus magic. Ilk takes the reality seed at the core of the pyramid, and dismantles the defenses.

Ilk has Jean show him the other pyramids. He dismantles a few, and realizes that all of them are on pedestals. Pharaban is requested to examine the situation, and determines that this pedestal is inactive, and not all pedestals have pyramids.

Ilk notices that there seems to be a resonance between the reality seeds stored in Shiryu's ways. He tells Shiryu, who shows up, examines them, determines that the seeds are related, and tells Ilk to consult a mathematician. Ilk brings the seeds to Dworkin by the Spiral. Dworkin tells him that the seeds are all derived from a single kraken, who was tortured to produce the seeds. Serpents filter the Sea as they swim, accumulating the Reality on their backs, but kraken grow seeds.

Dworkin lines up the seeds in order based on the age of the leaves, but Ilk can't tell what he is inspecting. One of the seeds is determined to be unstable -- it has a hint of Pattern in it. Dworkin is decontaminated again and returned after Ilk removes the seeds.

Ilk tells Shiryu of Dworkin's report, and Shiryu tells Ilk to toss the unstable seed into the Sea, preferably near a kraken. Ilk finds a kraken without a promontory and tosses it the seed. The kraken catches the seed by growing a new bud around it.

Ilk tries to look around for the kraken that generated those seeds, but has no valid search criteria.

Ilk shuts down the rest of the pyramids that Jean spotted. Many of the pyramids that weren't doing anything, including the one with the priests, were just ordinary pyramids.

Ilk goes off to yell at Cailin for abandoning New Cataan.

Cagliostro Under Attack in Garnath

Cagliostro examines the Logrus viewscreen, but can't tell very much about it, because of the distinct lack of magic involved.

Cagliostro's demons are checking in on his home -- no attacks since they left. Some aliens have noted the power surges around his planets and launched an investigation.

Ilk asks Cagliostro about the subtlety of their opponent. Roland replies that he isn't very subtle.

One of the magical splashes manages to get through. It had a hard edge, and hit a weak point. Ilk displays it on the viewscreen.

Just before the magical attack arrives, Roland and Absolom adjust their posture. Cagliostro doesn't.

The attack hits the outside of the tent, seems to light the outside of the tent on fire. There is a howling as if a banshee, and a shaking. Roland has his sword half-drawn.

Absolom steps out of the pavillion and cries, "Is that the best that you can do?" Cagliostro gives him a golf clap and prepares to boost defenses if necessary. Roland stands as if he wishes that he could be on all sides of Mordred.

A strong wind comes up and shakes the tent. Ilk notices that the vortex is from shadow through a gate. He places it on the viewscreen and explains the graphic to Cagliostro as a magical gate a few shadows over.

Cailin is receiving a trump call. He tries to trump his House second to block the call, and gets a headache. The call fades.

Cagliostro asks his advisors what a shadow is; they point him at the demons. The demons claim that they are adjacent magical realms.

Absolom draws his sword. Ilk can see his sword beginning to suck at whatever is attacking and pull it into itself. It's just sucking power.

Absolom laughs an evil laugh, stabs his sword at the center of the vortex, and walks there. He's using Pattern.

Ilk keeps an eye on Absolom. When Absolom reaches the gate, he looks over his shoulder at the largest concentration of Logrus and asks, "Is there any reason why I shouldn't destroy this gate?" Ilk is mostly indifferent, and Asolom sticks his sword into the gate. The gate is consumed by the sword and fails.

Cailin is getting another trump call again.

Roland pulls his blade, slashes at something invisible, and pulls Mordred beneath him. The blade hits something that Ilk's tendrils were avoiding. The blade catches on fire; the thing that was hit leaks a black inky fluid that floats up towards the top of the tent.

Roland has entered into a duel with it. Ilk doesn't appreciate the black icky stuff very much. The sword is flaming, but the thing and the fluid are not. It almost seems like a kind of distortion field.

Roland executes something with a flourish, and ends with his sword point-down through something into the ground.

Roland grabs two of the men-at-arms and suggests that they haul the thing out of the tent. The three of them start towing.

As soon as the thing gets outside, Roland looks startled and pushes the other two out of the way. Those two hit the ground in a defensive position with their weapons between them and Roland advances. The thing explodes. Cagliostro puts up a blast shield; Roland takes the blast on his uniform.

Ilk asks Jean if he still has those nightmares that he had a while back. Jean doesn't have them any more, and hasn't checked on them for at least a turning.

Mordred asks Roland if he would be willing to teach him to defend himself better. Roland defers to the Count; Cagliostro is approving.

Cailin is receiving yet another trump call. "All clear but the special effects." Cailin asks if there are attacks centering on anything other than the pavillion.

[Ed: Was this actually Cailin? Cailin is in the center of the Primal Pattern at the moment. Do we have two Cailins at this point in time?]

"Hey, Great and All-Powerful Wizard! Ilk?"

"Yeah?"

"Are there attacks happening anyplace else?"

"Nope."

Roland has returned to a guard stance, and Absolom is walking back in.

Absolom says, "I think that I have solved this attack; there should be nothing else coming through. You know, the pavillion is on fire."

Absolom goes outside and waves his sword around, which eats the fire.

Roland is checking every square inch of the pavillion with his bare hands. After an exchange of significant looks, Absolom starts following in Roland's footsteps. Cagliostro starts examining places that they haven't checked yet with his lens.

Ilk warns the tent to hold their breath and fills the tent with talc. Absolom and Roland cover their mouths with their uniform sleeves; everyone else covers their mouths with their hands. Ilk doesn't spot anything invisible, and removes the talc again.

People fret about the lack of anything being discovered. Cagliostro asks if someone is scrying them, and Ilk replies that he isn't checking.

Cagliostro has finished fixing the two guards that were wounded fighting against the invisible thing.

Beldan trumps Cailin again and determines that he is permitted to check for scrying.

Nothing happens for a while.

At the Primal Pattern

Savior of Chaos shows up at the edge of the primal Pattern. It's a lot more powerful than he remembers... possibly the other Patterns were providing interference or a power drain of a sort.

"Hey Cailin!"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in New Cataan?"

Wixer notices a a shimmering near the Pattern.

Ilk and Cailin continue to chat for a bit.

Ilk says hello to Wixer on his way out, and notices that Wixer is staring at something. He notices a faint shimmering.

Ilk enters his Wixer module and looks through the walls. He notices a device, invisible, powered by the primal Pattern. Ilk sends Neville a note warning of the situation.

Playing with Attackers in Garnath

Absolom leaves to check on the situation in Cagliostro's shadow.

Another magical attack makes it through the magical barrier. A gate is opened, and troops march through into the Golden Circle. They hit the edge of the shadow and hit it. They're about half of a mile away from a shadow path to Amber.

Roland looks alert and half-unsheaths his sword.

Eventually, someone comes through the gate and starts herding them towards the shadow gate. He looks like a wizard of some kind. No real powers, but an explosive organ. Ilk pulls him to the tent, and leaves the explosive organ behind. The guy sees the group, clenches his organ, fails to explode, raises his arms, and recites name, rank, and serial number.

Cagliostro copies and reads his memory. He was a great and powerful mage who became pathetic when the magic went away. He lived a pathetic life, until someone approached him and made him a lieutenant. When around that guy -- who looks like the Calif -- he had magical power as well. No useful information, just minor esoterica.

Ilk notices that the army is about to advance through Arden, and moves the army en-masse to one of his hell-shadows. None of them have anti-Logrus amulets... why bother, this close to Amber?

Through the magical gate comes four bird-back mounted individuals. Ilk recognizes birds as Damia's family's tarns. They are being controlled by heavy harnesses instead of a touch and a word. They are being controlled by heavily armored individuals on their backs; the people are less real than the birds. Ilk removes the birds from the harnesses, then catches the people a fraction of an inch off the ground.

Ilk greets the birds, and they attack his image. They don't seem to be in their right minds... possibly tortured or something.

Ilk sends a note to Cyndia telling her of the birds. She scribbles back, "Who are you, and why should I trust you?"

The four scouts are deprived of explosive organs, armor, and weapons, and imported for interrogation.

Elsewhere

Geryon wakes up to find a beast gnawing on the outside of a Logrus ward. There is a note on the ward -- "I knew that you could handle this, but thought that you needed your sleep."

--EORun--