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Ilkandacian leaves the Courts of Chaos and heads to Drageara to conduct research on the numerous clones that Mikail conjured and scattered about to cover his return, and the amulets that Mikail conjured for them. While in the area, he drops the two teleport blocks he had raised during his last visit to that shadow. After the research has been completed, he returns to the vicinity of Chaos to research Swift Edges, Galleon, and some new spells.
Cathryn decides that it is time to begin preparing for her duel with Julian, and goes to find her dogs. After acquiring her dogs, she trumps Benedict, and asks him where the Mazelands are. He tells her to wait thirty minutes, and then he will escort her there.
Zack is in Arden with Julian, who is busy conjuring and upgrading hellhounds. He trumps Clarissa, reminds her that the duel is in half an Amber day's time, and then asks her if she will meet them at the Mazelands. Clarissa seems doubtful of Benedict's trustworthiness to bring them to the Mazelands, and asks Zack to pull her through the trump. He pulls her from Morrolan's library to Arden, where she shifts from her Dragaeran form to her Amber form, and then to the form of Fiona. "Fiona" then proceeds to twit Julian.
Zack trumps Malachai and fills him in on the details of the duel. Malachai expresses a desire to bring a number of spectators to the duel, and mentions that Corwin has Cassandra locked away safely, so she might not be able to attend. He also invites Rhiannon and Titania; Titania is going to bring her court to the duel with her.
Julian has gotten into an argument with "Fiona" and has transformed several of his hounds to look like her. "Fiona" is sulking.
Zack: "You're quite good at that." Clarissa: "It's a talent."
Ilkandacian's initial studies are indicating that penting Mikail and his demons is going to be much harder than he had anticipated. Ilk asks House Jesby for an invitation to accompany them to Cathryn's duel, receives one, and then continues his research.
Her mommy beckons, so she *bamf*s to her. Clarissa is standing on a beach covered with purple stones at the edge of the Sea of Chaos in Dragaera, a sea filled with not-quite-primal chaos. She is holding Bleys' charred body, and tells Rivka that she would like to go chat with Morrolan, so Rivka should deal with Bleys.
Rivka takes Bleys from Clarissa and *bamf*s to Clarissa's tower, where Bleys begins healing rapidly.
A while later, Clarissa calls Rivka through a multifaceted gem, looking like Clarissa through some of the facets and Fiona through some of the others. Rivka moves such that she can watch her mother through the Clarissa facets. Rivka and Clarissa converse. When Clarissa mentions that she is baiting Julian as Fiona. Rivka asks to be pulled through to watch the fun.
Clarissa leaves her tent, finds Zack, and asks him if he would object to her acquiring a servant - a particular Tekla girl. Zack, having met Rivka in her role as a Tekla before, agrees that a servant would be appropriate for "Fiona".
Clarissa calls Rivka back through the crystal, and pulls her through. Clarissa asks Rivka to tend to her tent, and Rivka proceeds to perform trivial chores while watching Julian and "Fiona" bait each other.
Aramek is hiding in Malachai's caravan as it is trumped through to Mt. Kolvir by Malachai. Serena is watching the rear of the caravan. Standing near Malachai on Kolvir are Corwin, Merlin, and Stormy. Aramek has a flash of memory about Castle Amber, and, like the rest of us, briefly considers conquering that under-defended and over-rated city. :-)
Cathryn is trumped by Benedict, who pulls her through to his location near the Mazelands. They talk about the characteristics of the Mazelands, Julian's fighting style, and other details about the duel while travelling to the Mazelands.
Ilkandacian heads to the duel with the House Jesby contingent
Zack warns Julian that he should take the duel seriously and start planning for it, but Julian continues to scoff at the possibility of defeat.
Rivka asks Zack for help with clothing and breakfast for "Fiona". He supplies garb and food, both Faerie and regular. Clarissa takes the clothing and the regular food, and Rivka eats the Faerie food. Zack now owns Rivka, but decides not to tell her.
Stormy's chaperone treats him to a fine dinner, and then excuses himself to his lady's estates after mentioning a duel the next day that Stormy will possibly be attending.
Cassandra is trumped by Corwin, who tells her that it is time to leave for the duel -- now. Cassandra asks for enough time for a bath, and they argue about whether or not there is enough time for a bath.
Rivka whines to Zack about Cara turning from a party house into a political house, complains that Cathryn is being too political, and considers leaving the Courts of Chaos until the House dies off.
Cassandra finally ends up bathing in a waterfall, and then is given a fresh dress by Corwin.
Everybody (almost) arrives at the Mazelands in the center of a bowl-shaped depression. There is a representation of the Mazelands around the rim. The Maze itself is three dimensional and constantly shifting, and has with birds flying through the corridors that are occasionally being snacked on by the walls. Highly artsy. Trump is blocked, Magic is almost completely blocked, the Logrus feels distant, and the last Pattern shift in was difficult.
The side of light -- Cathryn, Benedict, and Suhuy, surrounded by doglike things.
The side of dark -- Julian, Zack, and "Fiona", surrounded by hellhounds.
Stormy is sitting in the form of a white kitten on his escort's shoulder. After being glared at by the hounds on both sides, he adds a bit to his aura: "Hey canines -- back off!" He spots Darhyse, and they start making mewing noises at each other. A solid black kitty (Peekaboo) shows up and sits on Cassandra's lap. Darhyse asks Stormy, "What's your name?" "Not invited." Darhyse relays this to Cassandra, who invites Stormy. Darhyse then relays the invitation back.
Peekaboo wanders over to the hellhounds and plays with them - they snap at him, and he phases through them.
Rivka decides that it would be more interesting and less socially damning to not be with the Julian crowd, so she runs around the bowl exuberantly waving flags and cheering for Cathryn and is thoroughly ignored for the duration of the duel.
The seconds (Zack, "Fiona", Suhuy, and Benedict) go into a huddle, and confirm the terms of the duel. They decide that the number of hounds in each pack doesn't matter, since it's the skill behind the hounds that is being tested. Zack announces:"Attention all spectators: The duel you have been waiting for will now commence. The principals and their accessories will go through opposite sides of the bowl." Zack then reads the formal terms of the duel, and asks for retractions on the part of the primaries. Both principals decline.
Random is conspicuously absent.
Right before the duel begins, Titania and her court arrives through a Faerie gate. Titania nods to the group, then nods to Stormy who goes over to sit in her lap.
The primaries enter the Mazelands.
Ten minutes after the duel starts, Random arrives, leaves again, and then comes back a few minutes later with Martin in tow. Random is looking formal but ruffled, and Martin appears surprisingly formal and dignified.
Cathryn wins! Time elapsed: about 15 hours.
The first portion of the duel leans heavily towards Julian, whom sends his hellhounds radiating outwards in all directions and winning the initial encounters. However, Cathryn's forces learn from their losses and fight together as a pack more effectively than the hellhounds, which fight as individuals even when together and seem incapable of learning. In the end, only three of Cathryn's troops are dead and many are wounded, but most of Julian's hellhounds have been killed. Julian's dead hellhounds are scattered throughout the maze being eaten by the walls, but Cathryn's troops have been continuously removing their dead and severely wounded comrades back to the bowl. Julian's tactics were superb, and dragged the duel out for a long time, but he still ends up with a scar from above the left eye to the right side of the mouth. During the course of the duel, a wall tried to eat Julian, and birds kept flocking against Cathryn.
Those present at the duel include most of the Council from the Courts of Chaos, including the Warmaster, Benedict, Corwin, and Random, but noticably absent were both kings, Snarsht, Fereth, and Shiryu.
Julian is in shock from his defeat, and is led off the field of honor by Zack, who takes him to a nice, boring shadow.
Cathryn congratulates her troops.
Cathryn to Random: "You were late!" They chat. Random will make an announcement in a few months. Cathryn will hold a victory party, and is considering dis-inviting House Cara to keep Zack out. She thanks Benedict and Suhuy for being her seconds, and Suhuy says that he should return to the Locked Door Party before Dworkin notices that in his place at the party is a simalcrum.
Cathryn returns her pack to their shadow, and then helps them recover their homeland, fighting with them as a member of the pack.
Rivka goes to Dragaera to check out a report from one of her sisters about a new god in the Paths of the Dead.
Ilkandacian returns to his research.
Aramek is in the ports of Amber, stirring up trouble. The sailors and merchants are claiming that some undersea guys called the Manato are taking their trade, and it's all Fiona and Llewella's fault. They are not in a good mood.
Mikail is at DeathsGate Falls, heading down. He runs into a two second forward time loop and sidesteps it, but notices that his demons are still in the loop. He manages to pull Swift Edges through, but Galleon is stuck. He sends an Swift Edge back to tell Galleon to leave, and wait to be called upon his departure.
He finally reaches the bottom of the falls, and is very wet. Scattered along the shore at the base of the falls are biers, boats, skeletons, and big footprints.
Mikail homes in on the last Swift Edges piece, while yelling at Swift Edges for their abject stupidity in following a target into another shadow. A large bird tells Mikail that he's not supposed to be here because he's not dead. Again, "You don't belong here - you're not dead.", and "You don't belong here, you're an Easterner." He ignores them and continues following the road.
He climbs over the top of a big rock in the middle of the road, and spots a talisman in the center of the rock. After he has climbed over the rock, five warriors challenge him, and he kills them with the help of Swift Edges.
The path forks, and neither path heads towards Swift Edges. Mikail tries to force the path to change to point towards Swift Edges, but gives up after acquiring a nasty headache.
He climbs over the top of another boulder, and the talisman on this one has a circle on it. This time, he's challenged by five mages. Mikail asks the mages about the rocks and the challenges. They tell him that the talisman indicates the nature of the challenge -- sword for physical, eye for mental, and orb for magical, and it doesn't matter on which side of the rock one passes, the challenge is the same. "Why?" "They don't sponsor much curiosity here." "Who is they?" "The gods." Mikail sends Swift Edges at the mages. Two Swift Edges get singed, but after a few seconds there is one standing mage, with all nine Swift Edges in a circle around him, being blocked by a shield. The mage sends a bolt of energy at Mikail, which he ducks. The mage then sends lots of sharp things at Mikail, which he catches -- and then they explode. Mikail transforms Deshan and ignores the explosion. The mage starts shaking the ground, and Mikail uses High Compelling to force the mage to put a hole in his shields, which proves fatal.
At the next fork in the road, there are five paths, one of which goes straight. Mikail goes straight.
The next stone has a smiley face on the talisman, and when Mikail reaches the other side, Verra appears and greets him with, "Impressive". They chat. Introductions: "Verra, Demon Goddess" "Mikail, cross-shadow attitude" "You're a new god?"
Barlan, another god, apparently has the last Swift Edges piece - he took a new toy off a mage that recently arrived in a strange fashion but was now quite dead.
One of Rivka's sisters who is a goddess on the Paths of the Dead told her that there is a new god around, so Rivka pops in and sees Mikail arguing with Barlan. She shapeshifts into her goddess form, the chained fire goddess Sharra.
Barlan looks like a green, puffy, scaly thingy. He's eating something that looks like it was dragged out of the Sea of Chaos. Barlan offers Mikail some of his food; Mikail declines. Swift Edges claims that it got a good cut on Barlan's back, and Barlan is using him as a food knife out of spite. Mikail conjures Barlan a new knife - four points, only usable in this shadow, but it isn't as good as Swift Edges. Mikail takes the knife back and pumps it some more.
Rivka stretches her god channels and listens Barlan and Verra discuss whether or not they can destroy Mikail, and, if they can, should they?
Mikail makes the knife even better and hands it to Barlan, who tests it and then returns Swift Edges. Mikail asks Swift Edges - "Can you take him? Can we take him?" Swift Edges is unsure on whether or not Verra will help Barlan, and don't want to take on both of them, so they decide not to initiate trouble.
Rivka is still listening to Verra and Barlan - they think that they can take out Mikail, but decide not to unless he becomes annoying.
Verra takes Mikail on a tour of the Paths of the Dead, and shows him the very dead mage that Swift Edges followed in. There's a residue of Logrus power remaining, which Mikail erases. Verra then shows Mikail the short way out, past the Great Wheel. She asks him if that new god ( Sharra) is one of his? "Nope, I prefer demons." Verra is unfamiliar with Mikail's definition of demons.
On the way out, Mikail sidesteps another loop, this one in the opposite temporal direction from the one encountered on the way in. After exiting the Paths, he summons Galleon and prepares to leave.
Rivka gets bored now that everyone she knows has left the Paths of the Dead, and heads to Chaos to find Cathryn and tell her that she just spotted Mikail.
Mikail flies to Castle Black and requests an audience with Morrolan, and tells him that a mage that should have been on the list but wasn't was killed by Barlan. Morrolan asks about Mikail's clones.
"I just look like one of your easterners. I'm not from around here." "Actually, you're right. I just came back from Deathsgate Falls."
Morrolan mentions that Mikail is looking pale, and that if he came back from Deathsgate Falls, he must be undead.
New and improved title: Binder of the Souls of the Dead
Morrolan teleports Mikail to Dzur Mountain, so they can talk to Sethra, who knows quite a bit about this undead thing, being undead herself. Sethra and Mikail chat. "Looks like your god senses got activated." Sethra reaches in through a god channel, and frobs with Mikail - he ends up standing on his head in a corner of the room.
Sethra offers to train Mikail in the use of his new senses in exchange for the going, or the ability to go elsewhere. He agrees, and starts setting up a seed in his head, just in case Sethra attempts to rewrite him.
Sethra says that the red-headed Dragaeran is by the Sea of Chaos, so they change their departure point to avoid her and leave directly from Dzur Mountain.
Mikail takes Sethra through to Dalkantyr, nips her out of time, and checks out his head, only finding the order to stand on his head and a note reading: "This is all that I did -- Sethra". After checking more thoroughly, he doesn't find anything else.
Mikail introduces Sethra to Dalkantyr , and tells Dalk that they're going to travel through the Sea of Chance with her. He then brings Sethra back into time, introduces her to Dalk and visa-versa, and takes her on a tour of Dalkantyr. They head out into the Sea of Chance, where Mikail starts explaining the rudiments of the Sea of Chance to her, and they play with it.
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