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Malachai and Cassandra are standing by the edge of Corwin's Pattern. The sky is a nice shade of blue. Before leaving them, Lazy tossed the hunter-seeker he had caught earlier onto the Pattern. It burst into flames.
They try to recall Lazy, and fail. Malachai tries to trump Corwin, and fails.
Colin gives Cassandra a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers. She puts them on. They trade a few barbs, then she throws the slippers back at him. He puts them back into his rucksack.
Cassandra reaches out to Trialla mentally. Trialla is sitting on the ridge where they normally pass through to and from Pearl, and offers her some food. Trialla has been waiting there for Cassandra to return to Pearl. Cassandra forgot to tell Trialla that she re-entered Pearl. Oops. Cassandra asks Trialla if she knows where Darhyse is. Trialla responds in the negative.
Cassandra calls Atalanta, who comes zipping up. Cassandra tells Atalanta to stand still. Atalanta freezes. Cassandra asks her to transport the four of them to Trialla, and explains where Trialla is. Then she tells Atalanta that she can move again.
Atalanta takes a leap, grabs Colin by the scruff of his neck, and is gone. There is a small implosion of sound, and Janus disappears. Cassandra hears a doppler-shifted "grab on". She grabs Malachai, says "hang on", and grabs a tail as it passes by.
Cassandra notices that the route Atalanta is taking is not direct. They're detouring through a few flower fields. Cassandra asks Atalanta why. "Scenic". Malachai grabs a clump of flowers as they blur through the fields. They arrive at Trialla.
Colin has set up a campfire and is cooking a haunch of Trialla's dinner. Janus is looking green from the trip, and trying to ignore the presence of food. Colin offers Malachai and Cassandra food; they accept, but find it bland.
Malachai gives the flowers to Cassandra, and she strengthens the petals and then weaves them together. They chat about her search for Darhyse, and then spar with Janus. He's still better than either of them. Cassandra thinks that she could take Malachai, but his style looks more polished than hers. They trade fighting tips.
Trialla finishes eating, cleans herself, and takes them into her mouth. Cassandra pries a bit of hoof out from between two teeth. After a while, Malachai notices the return of Pattern as they cross the barrier. They wait for Trialla to stop. Cassandra asks, "Where are we going?" "Julian's grave. I need to prove it to you." "Is it far?" "Fairly far." "Can we go some other time? Malachai needs to get back to something." "Where is he going? I can drop him off there on the way."
Cassandra and Malachai chat, and decide to go to Corwin. Trialla sighs, and reminds Cassandra that they need to see the grave. "Remember, kitty. IMPORTANT."
[Trialla thinks of Cassandra as her pet's kitten]
There is a moment of disturbance, and Snarsht's hackles are raised. He looks at Corwin, who looks back, confused. Snarsht walks out of the room. A moment later, he returns, with a big Sha'um in tow. It's Trialla.
Snarsht is still about five stories stories high. Trialla is hill-sized and forest-colored. Trialla looks around at the folk present, seemingly interested in what is going on, nods to Snarsht, then walks over to the side and opens her mouth, facing a wall.
Malachai and Cassandra see a strange-looking wall in front of them. It definitely isn't fixed. The first thing Colin says is, "Oh, no. Not again." Cassandra and Malachai demand an explanation, but Colin is frantic. He ignores their questions, tosses Cassandra a trump, and trumps out. The trump he tossed Cassandra is of him, and has a picture of a tower with a cat curled on top of it on the back.
Norton, Osric, and Merlin head towards the Sha'um.
Malachai pokes his head around the corner. He sees a large crowd of people. They look dignified. They're mostly humaniform, but some are demonish, and he can see a bit of a horse's tail. Malachai cannot see anyone he recognizes from his vantage point.
Malachai trumps Corwin, and connects. They converse. Malachai tells Corwin that Chaos assassins are in Pearl. Corwin replies that people from Pearl are now in Chaos, too. "That's where we are. The realm of the Logrus Master." Corwin mentions that the person who brought him here is the head of the Assassins Guild, so maybe they could negotiate something with her.
Cassandra tosses the hoof out of the mouth. Norton reaches out a physical tendril and grabs the hoof. Cassandra throws a dagger at the tendril. It hits, but fails to pin the tendril to the floor. "Oh, good. More raw material." Norton tries to take the dagger, too. Cassandra tries to retrieve it using the Force. Norton resists. They play tug-of-war for a while. The tentacle exudes an eyeball, and Cassandra sticks her tongue out at it. Norton releases the dagger as Cassandra pulls hard, sending it rocketing back at her. She stops the dagger and resheathes it.
Malachai continues to chat with Corwin over the trump contact. Merlin comes into view, followed by Osric. Merlin reaches up and scritches Trialla, then says, "Cassandra! Malachai! Janus!" Merlin teases Cassandra. A couple more people are also coming into view, including Norton/Chanicut. Norton greets Trialla. Merlin tries to convince Cassandra to talk with the head of the Assassins Guild about the contract on her.
Norton, Osric, Malachai, Merlin, and Cassandra chat. Norton makes a little Merlin puppet from the hoof. Ilk shows up and joins the conversation. General amusement happens. Ilk Logrus-wipes the cat drool off the clothing of Trialla's passengers.
Ilk heads off to request an audience of Princess Chandra for Cassandra. Malachai steps out of Trialla's mouth first. Janus steps out second, and gives Cassandra a hand out. Cassandra leaves last. Trialla closes her mouth and goes over to talk with Snarsht.
Cassandra looks around. There are lots of formidable-looking people around here. Norton points out people to her. Pharaban gives her the willies, too.
Ilk encounters Princess Chandra. She spots Ilk, and steps aside to greet him. He bows, and mentions that a young lady would be interested in meeting her to discuss the circumstances regarding a contract. Chandra states that one doesn't conduct business at affairs such as these, and asks why the lady doesn't look her up during business hours. Ilk replies that she is from a good way off, and doesn't come here very often. Princess Chandra states that she is willing to meet the lady socially. Ilk bows, and returns to the group.
Ilk gives a short briefing to Cassandra and the others regarding the power level of most of the people here, in an attempt to prevent any conflicts that might get someone killed. Osric chips in with a story from his time of Princess Chandra giving a dressing-down to Clarissa, and Clarissa just standing there and silently taking it.
Ilk leads the group over to Princess Chandra, and introduces her to Cassandra. Princess Chandra seems to know or recognize the others present. She looks at Janus and says, "Interesting bloodline." Cassandra mutters, "Smile and nod". Janus replies, "Thank you, my lady. You have a discerning taste."
Cassandra starts asking Princess Chandra about the contract on her, and is interrupted with a remark that she should come and visit her during business hours, when she has her case files handy. Princess Chandra then comments on Cassandra's uniform, mentioning that it looks like one that was used by a former apprentice of hers, and naming the mythical founder of the Sith. Cassandra replies that she has recently has had the honor of being inducted into that order. "Really! Then we might be in the same business!" Princess Chandra says that since the others in this group have some rank of their own, Cassandra can claim the protection of her guild. Cassandra thanks her, and withdraws.
Princess Chandra detains Ilkandacian for a moment. She comments that Cassandra doesn't seem to have a means of movement, and asks him to make sure that she shows up during her business hours. She says that Ilk will be informed when she is holding hours. Ilk bows, and retreats.
Norton and Osric wander over towards Snarsht. They see that he is besieged by scads of little fuzzies, and is flicking them off with physical tendrils, seemingly without thought.
Cassandra catches up with Merlin, who tells her of his latest boners.
Ilk curls up in a corner to take a nap, and bugs REN and Norton to wake him if Imagio returns, the ceremony begins, or anything interesting happens.
Malachai goes over to talk with Corwin. Malachai mentions that Cassandra seems to be under the Princess's protection. They chat. Malachai talks about Cassandra's youth problem and how it affects her decision to walk the Pattern. They discuss the state of the war.
Norton asks Snarsht if her should continue this facade, since it seems that most of the people here can probably see through his shifting. Snarsht looks at Norton, and shifts Norton's perception to be his perception, and he looks pretty close to Chanicut. Snarsht shows Norton which parts of the shifting were provided by Andron, which parts were provided by him, and which parts were provided by Norton himself.
Norton asks Snarsht if the fuzzies are bothering him, and Snarsht indicates through his lack of comprehension that they are beneath his notice. Osric mentions his recent problems with the Mellor, and raises the possibility that someone might be shifting them.
Osric and Norton mingle. Trialla follows them. Malachai joins Cassandra and Merlin. Norton and Osric join them as well.
The fuzzies pull a piece of bread out of Merlin's pouch and pass it around in a circle, each fuzzy taking a tiny bite out of it. They hand it to Cassandra. She takes a bite out of it, and hands it to Janus, who takes a bite out of it, and passes it to Osric, who takes a bite out of it and passes it to Norton, who takes a bite out of it and passes it to Malachai, who takes a bite out of it and passes it to Merlin, who stuffs it back in his pouch. Cassandra scolds Merlin, who sighs and hands the bread back to the fuzzies. The fuzzies cheer, and start passing the bread around again.
Merlin tells Malachai that he has trained three more chefs to make omelets. Cassandra asks if she can have one for Pearl, and Merlin grumbles that he'll have to train another one now. The fuzzies are playing stones. Malachai can tell that there are rules to the game, but has no idea what they are. The others, except for Cassandra, who has determined at least one of the rules in the past, cannot even tell whether or not there are rules.
Somewhere between the second and the third passing of the bread, Imagio, Clarissa, and Gem, the chamberlain, show up. At about the same time, Ferethyn and Marial, the Warlord, show up. Fereth looks run ragged. He is dressed well, but looks like he hasn't slept in weeks.
The chamberlain starts approaching Jenoir. Dworkin starts approaching Ferethyn, carrying what looks like a water balloon. Mystifer, the head of the Etiquette Guild, approaches the PC-laden group, turns to Merlin, and says, "I know you don't want to, but would you be willing to officiate, anyway?" "What would happen if I said no?" "We could have you killed." Mystifer mentions that afterwards they could put him back - apparently Snarsht's young apprentice has figured out how to do that.
Norton asks who would officiate if Merlin was reluctant. Mystifer says that it would be Branier, the second of the Ambassadors Guild. Cassandra claims that Merlin needs to stay by her side. "And what titles might you have, for the official report?" Cassandra looks at Ilk, who shrugs helplessly. "Under the protection of the Assassins Guild."
Mystifer decides that an obviously high-ranking member of the Assassins Guild couldn't be left unescorted, and asks Norton, "Since you came in with Andron, could you ask him to dig up Branier to officiate the ceremony?" Norton heads over to Andron, who replies, "Possibly." Andron looks at Snarsht. Norton feels himself shift, and he now looks like Branier.
Osric feels his form shift. He looks like Chanicut now. Andron reaches into his head and says, "Don't worry about it. Just go with the flow."
Norton feels a magical touch inside his head. It's Jenoir. She gives him the necessary information on the ceremony. Norton introduces her around to the others in his head. She is amused, and creates a simulacrum of herself in his head. Norton realizes that it's a lot weaker than the real Jenoir.
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