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Zack, Auricle, and Theraat contemplate going to a fast time shadow to just let Flora heal naturally. However, none of them are capable of determining the time flow of shadows, so finding an appropriate shadow could be difficult.
Auricle describes one of Rhiannon's information network terminals to Zack - it's a big, moss-covered rock. Zack has seen and heard of many of them over many shadows - they tend to be in high-tech shadows, and according to local legend, are good luck and have been around forever.
As they walk towards a particular rock, they find themselves in the basement of the hospital they were previously in, and, down in the bedrock, there is a rock. Auricle tries to inteface with the rock; no success. Gargoyle suggests a Rhiannon-shape, and Auricle shifs. Zack notices that a pool of power just made itself available through the rock. Auricle explains that the rock is an information collector, and that it can access information from all of the other rocks throughout shadow.
Zack taps the stone; it's lovely, high-level Pattern-laced power.
Auricle continues shifting into Rhiannon; the red ring on her finger seems to be heating up. Zack notices a tendril of power flowing from the rock to the ring.
Auricle takes the ring off and starts flipping it between her hands; Zack has never seen a shapeshifter disconnect part of itself before. Zack explains that the power is trying to connect to a sorcerous part of the ring that appears to be missing in her analogue.
They're both standing close to the rock, facing it. Auricle's gargoyle warns her, "We've got company". Zack hears leathery wings. Zack spins, and Auricle grows extra eyeballs pointing in the appropriate direction. Theraat spins and throws something.
There is a scary looking grey creature with bat-wings that looks like a gargoyle come to life looking down at Flora. The gargoyle is holding the sharp knife that Theraat just threw at it.
Zack starts talking.
Theraat is drawing another weapon; the gargoyle is reversing the knife.
Auricle chats with her gargoyle about weaknesses, etc. She slooshes out.
The gargoyle looks where Auricle was, then looks at the pile of medical supplies where she is now hiding.
Theraat has a Minbari fighting pike out and is in front of Flora.
The gargoyle is looking at Auricle.
When Auricle's gargoyle shifted with her, Auricle heard the a refrain from "The Sound of Music"
The gargoyle is advancing on Auricle. Auricle throws some acid/poison at it. It dodges two beakers, catches and drinks a third, and is slightly discomfited when another splashes on it.
Auricle sluices back towards the party, and tells Zack to produce more of the successful stuff. Zack produces a water-balloon of the stuff and throws it as the creature jumps towards Auricle. There is three-way contact, and Auricle, her gargoyle, and the creature disappear. One of the creature's legs is smoldering on the ground.
Auricle is pouring onto the ground in what appears to be a well-stocked magical lab. She pours herself back into an Auricle-shape. There are lots of gargoyles there looking around and poking at her. They grow tired of that and start ignoring her. Auricle sluices out Zack's trump.
Zack notices another gargoyle appear. It's looking for something, but it's ignoring Zack, Theraat, Flora, and the garygoyle leg. Zack tosses another balloon at it, it partially dodges it and is somewhat melted, but ignores it, looking for something.
Zack starts drawing power from the stone and rebuilding his magical shielding.
Auricle's trump fails to connect.
Auricle paces, trying the trump. The gargoyles get out of her path and ignore her. Auricle looks around, and spots something that looks like a high-tech communications terminal. It has a keypad with two buttons. She tries to to communicate vocally; a gargoyle brings up a holographic list of ordered words above its head. Auricle orders it to translate into Thari; it does so. It's a list of city or town names. Auricle asks for a list of help files; the list disappears and the gargoyle starts ignoring her.
Her gargoyle flows into the terminal, checks it out, then leaves again and tells Auricle that the terminal isn't made out of conventional electronics.
Auricle presses the button, and a gargoyle face appears, then disconnects. She tries it again, it disconnects again, faster.
Auricle shifts into Rhiannon, pushes the button, then chats with the face, who thinks she is an unusually absent-minded Rhiannon.
She convinces it to drop the trump block and then trumps Zack.
Zack receives a trump call on a carrier-wave from the rock. It's Auricle in a Rhiannon shape.
After some discussion, Auricle pulls the rest of the group through to where she is. Zack notices Rhiannon's magical fingerprint all over everything here.
Auricle "leads" Zack around on a tour; Zack finds lots of neat things. He finds a copying unit, and a bunch of recordings of a certain incident involving a drunk Julian and Rhiannon shifted to look like Fiona. Zack takes the 30-40 copies and the copier.
Theraat annoys the gargoyles who deliberately ignore her. Zack tries to loot the place, but finds little that he can understand. One of the gargoyle tells Zack that the current time rate here relative to Amber is one thousand to one.
The presence of wounded is mentioned, and one of the gargoyles leads them to the recovery room, a lovely chapel-like place with great Amberite vibes. They take Flora to a secluded nook off to the side; Theraat follows. They then lead Auricle and Zack off to a secluded bower.
[A lot of things seem rather benign until they eat you]
Zack notices that this bower bears definite undercurrents, and was carefully designed for female-female as well as female-male couplings. Auricle is completely oblivious.
They sleep. At one point, Zack has an odd half-dream of being turned inside out.
Time passes.
Zack pokes around, and finds a cabinet filled with toys - after the third one, he stops, disgusted, and marvels at Rhiannon's flexibility.
He finds many crystals in compartments labeled with names, mostly names that he doesn't recognize, along with one exception - Rivka. Zack makes a copy. Zack plays the crystal - nice note, a chatty letter, some definite implications, but no proof. Zack checks the original and the copy - identical.
Zack wanders over to check on Flora and Theraat - Zack asks if Theraat would like to spar, and she asks if he will keep guard while she sleeps first. He agrees, and she collapses to the ground, asleep.
Zack pulls out the jewel-thing that Dworkin gave him ages ago, and plays with it. He tries to figure out how it works, fails, tries to attune to it, fails, puts it on, and then plays with conjuration, working on incorporating Faerie magic into items.
Auricle wakes up and fools around inside the bower.
Zack has just finished imbuing a wafer with Faerie levitation magic as a blueprint when he notices a Rhiannon-shaped Auricle waving at him. They chat.
Auricle checks out her gargoyle's memory. First memory: Wipe Command Completed. All Memory Banks Empty. The second is a clod of dirt being thrown at her by an urchin.
They meditate.
Auricle asks Zack who might be able to inscribe the rest of the Pattern into her gargoyle. Zack thinks that only Fiona or Rhiannon could pull it off.
They try to wake up Theraat and fail amusingly.
Zack and Auricle go back upstairs to loot the place. Zack leaves behind a sign telling Theraat that he has placed a ward around her and Flora for their protection, but doesn't bother casting the ward.
Auricle takes a trump deck from Rhiannon's bedroom.
After hours of searching, they find a note, "Found nothing again, mother dear?"
They look at Fiona's rooms - it's filled with lots of magical traps with Fiona's fingerprints all over it. Zack recommends that they punt.
They search the gargoyles' rooms. They find little of interest, except for one room where the gargoyles are torturing a man. Auricle notices that they are attempting to incite terror, and not acquire information.
Several days later, they're done searching the place and head back downstairs.
Theraat is practicing a sword form without a sword. Flora's rate of healing seems to have tripled.
Zack opens a Faerie gate - it goes in a strange direction, and the far end doesn't seem to be in Faerie. He closes the gate.
Zack hands Theraat a bracelet he made that does Faerie-magic levitation. She takes it, examines it, puts it on, and takes three steps, the third in mid-air. She's moving as if she was in zero-gee. She refutes Zack's claims of Faerie magic with a mention of Vorlon anti-gravity technology.
Zack, Theraat, and Auricle spar.
Theraat's pretty good. She's got go-for-broke speed, good reflexes, and takes risks that would easily result in death if anything went wrong. Her style appears to be a combination of a back alley fighter and a well-trained soldier. It looks like a fighting style for a spy and an agent of change. Zack thinks her style seems like a pale echo of Cassandra's. Cassandra's style is completely ecclectic, and doesn't quite assume her death.
Auricle has a slight edge, as her gargoyle can give her a catalog of his mental and physical weaknesses, but she doesn't use or reveal them. Auricle can learn from Zack. Auricle sends her gargoyle off to catalog Theraat.
They see the gargoyles throw the person they were torturing into a boat and shove the boat off into the water.
Auricle's gargoyle comes back a few hours later and gives her a complete readout of Theraat, inside and out.
They waste time. Zack makes another shag flying carpet. Auricle gets used to becoming Rhiannon. After a week or so, the gargoyles are becoming very edgy about "Rhiannon"'s memory lapses. After three weeks, Flora is mostly together, and could probably be held together by a decent intensive care unit.
Auricle gets the gargoyles to drop the trump block.
Zack pulls out his Amber trump. It connects. They send Theraat through first, and then follow. The gate closes behind them.
There is a cocking of guns, then a call of "Zack!" and the guards ease off. They chat briefly with Zack and mention that the last person to trump in claimed to know a password, so they shot him, then he left again. The guards tell Zack that Malachai is regent, will be awake in a few hours, around sunrise.
The guards continually refer to Auricle as Rhiannon.
The three argue as they walk to Zack's rooms. Zack makes fresh clothes for Theraat, and Auricle shifts back into an Auricle-shape.
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