DRAFT Run log for 971216

Major Events:

• Boiling Undead in Cobalt

Norton. Dead, and Unconscious.

Ilk chats with Princess Chandra. Ilk mentions that Norton is probably possessed by the enemy, and tells her about the recent problems with the Morganti sword.

Osric asks Merlin how hard it would be to coatrack Norton. "But he's dead!" Merlin apparently doesn't have any spells to effect non-living creatures. They discuss Norton's status. "As far as I know, Norton is often dead. He gets better." Osric asks Merlin if he knows of any ways to preserve Norton's body. Merlin suggests formaldehyde.

[Damn. Woke up in the morgue again.]

A discussion of the demons ensues.

Ilk, Osric, and Malachai head to Suhuy's lab on a fishing expedition, leaving Corwin in charge of Norton's body. Corwin folds Norton in half and sits on him.

They enter the lab. Dworkin, Ferro, and Celeste are there. Dworkin and Ferro are sampling coffee, and Celeste is looking frazzled. Malachai asks Celeste how she is doing, and she complains about the boxes. Pattern is suggested as a remedy. There are some bright red flying piranha drifting around the room. Osric tries to encapsulate some of the fish in one of his shields, but they leisurely gnaw their way back out. Ilk grabs the remaining fish with Logrus tendrils.

[Ferro the marzipeed?]

Ilk realizes that he won't be able to search for the attack scent without a body, or from inside Suhuy's realm. He stashes the rescued fish in a nearby corridor. Osric stays behind to keep an eye on Norton's body.

Malachai, Corwin, and Ilk exit Suhuy's realm. The exit was only a short distance from the inside of the stables, but they are now are a good distance away from the outside of the stables. Malachai senses that he is in a dark place, the ground is tacky beneath his feet, and there is something that seems like Ilk nearby. Once Ilk has reformed his body, he drops the darkness, and Malachai can see around him. They're on what looks like a giant fucia tongue. On either side of the tongue are some big, rounded, spiked balls. They can see lots of demons throwing themselves onto the realm, and most of them die as soon as they contact it. The realm itself seems to be killing them. At one point they see a tower bend over and squish several demons, but few of the regions of the realm are being that unsubtle.

Ilk is pulling through vats of Brut; at one point he pulls through an entire display case filled with bottles filled with the vile substance.

The gurgling that Osric has been hearing from Norton is getting somewhat more distinct. It looks like there are bubbles boiling out of his body. Osric knocks on his head. "Norton!" It feels like he is knocking on dead flesh.

Ilk pushes several of the vats directly through into the stables. Corwin, noticing the vats disappear, announces that he will be leaving Chaos now. Ilk teleports Corwin and Malachai to the roof of House Cara, to get them closer to the Abyss.

Corwin and Malachai arrive in a relatively open area on the roof of House Cara. The roof is being inundated with demons, and there are walls moving around trying to push the demons away, screaming, and dying. Ilk walks over to chat with Corwin and Malachai. Malachai fills Ilk in on his perspective of what happened in Suhuy's realm. Corwin shows off Toram's head. Ilk waves at it. The three chat briefly. Ilk searches for Ilk to ask about acquiring some of the fish, but Ilk is unfindable. Ilk teleports Corwin and Malachai to Ygg.

There is a picture of a woman drawn in the sand around Ygg, such that Ygg is growing out of her forehead. Corwin recognizes the picture as being of one of the members of his castle staff. There is a tent nearby - it's Merlin's. Corwin experiments with Pattern, and finds a horse behind Merlin's tent. "Yup, this is shadow." The tree itself seems to be Real, but this is shadow. They chat about local problems. Malachai mentions that Gerard was a bundle of disembodied terror when he and Celeste tried to trump him, and Corwin replies that Oberon would have been unlikely to have done that - Oberon would have probably let Gerard die with dignity.

Corwin and Malachai start shadow-walking towards Cobalt.

Ilk tosses the fish into the stables, and then some more barrels of Brut. He tries to look into the stables, but there's no room. There are fish everywhere.

Ilk and Osric discuss Norton. They decide to leave Suhuy's realm to look for Snarsht. Demons are arriving. Osric is defending. Ilk is searching. There are many Snarshts, all over the place, and Imagio is not inside any of them.

Ilk spots Trialla and sends a note to Cassandra, asking her to ask Trialla to ask Snarsht what to do about Norton. Cassandra tries to figure out how to generate light to read the note, in vain. Sith just don't do that. Ilk notices that she is tugging on the note, and makes another one, saying that she can respond by writing on the note. Janus lights one of the notes on fire, is scolded, slaps it out, and then just lights a match. Cassandra reads the notes, then knocks on the inside of one of Trialla's teeth, asking to be let out, because she cannot make mental contact with Trialla from the inside.

Trialla leaps, and cracks her mouth. There are demons trying to crawl into her mouth, and there's one clawing at her eye socket and another shredding one of her ears. Cassandra and Janus leave Trialla's mouth and start hacking at demons. Trialla reaches the top of her arc, and shuts her mouth. As the mouth closes, Cassandra notices a large path opening before them. She tells Ilk, who assumes that Snarsht is creating the path, and transmits his message to where he thinks Snarsht is standing.

There is a conduit opened in the mind that would be Ilk's except that it is in front of where his mind actually is. It shows Ilk taking Merlin and Norton out. No specifics, just out.

Ilk and Osric return. Merlin is playing mumbledypeg with Norton's fingers. Ilk grabs Norton and Osric and Merlin and leaves again. Merlin splutters. As soon as they arrive on the tongue-shaped portion of roof, Norton and Merlin vanish.

Cassandra gets a trump call. It's Merlin. "Aargh!" The trump call cuts off. Malachai gets a trump call. "Aaargh! You're not in a cat's mouth! Pull me through!" Malachai is now holding Merlin and a dead, boiling Norton.

[My mouth was full a moment ago. Did I swallow? - Snarsht]

Merlin and Malachai chat about the changes around Ygg. Merlin suggests that Malachai trump Serena. Malachai tries, embarrassedly, and makes contact. He chats with Serena, and then they all go through. They're in the infirmary in Cobalt. They are given their privacy by Merlin and Corwin.

Ilk contacts Ilk. They chat about the status of the war efforts.

Boiling Undead In Cobalt

Damia is contacted by someone that tells her that there is someone dead and boiling in the infirmary. Damia puts her clothing back on and runs up the hill with Damien.

The two of them examine Norton.

Malachai and Serena head off to the baths. Corwin is given a royal order by Queen Paulette to call her Damia. He folds it up and writes, "Dear Oberon, she told me to."

Norton is in the middle of the small, locked away place in his brain, hiding from something that is busily taking him over. Norton is practically all alone; the Corwin, Ilk, and Mandor personalities are gone.

Someone knocks on the door. Norton peeks through. It's Damien. They chat. Damien warns Norton not to leave - it's naasty out there. Norton says that this is his mind - the other thing is just taking over.

Damien tells Damia that Norton might want to walk the Spiral. Damien and Norton miscommunicate. Norton thinks that he's in Amber, and is facing death by Pattern. They have a fascinating conversation about powers, the non-living, and the utility of bodies. "Meat can be malleable."

Damia sends someone after Carlton. He arrives, and is quite impressed at Norton's current shape. Damien warns Norton that they're about to inject something into him, and they try the cure to the shapeshifting disease on Norton.

Norton asks Damien if he knows Snarsht, a giant cat. Damien tells Norton that Bast is also a cat, but she's not around now. "No, she's busy screwing a horse at the moment."

Norton warns Damien that he's probably possessed by the enemy, and that Corwin should be told. Damien goes off to find Corwin. He doesn't make it to the baths - Corwin didn't make it there either. Corwin's occupied somewhat pleasantly, but Damien thinks that he got the message.

The boiling speeds up. Damia is frantic.

"We're about to walk that shape-thingy with you." "But I might die!" "You're already dead!"

Norton rediscovers and plays with a soul that he stole and nailed in the horror chambers in his mind about four hundred years ago.

Carlton goes off to carry Norton and walk the Spiral. Damien chats with Norton as they go.

"You can be my death-long friend!"

Norton warns Damien about the possessing being's potence, and Damien sends Damia off to find some of the mystics. Damia trumps Thessaly.

Damien: "... something about the head of the mages guild in chaos." Damia is frantic in Thessaly's direction.

Merlin stares at the Spiral, awed, until Thessaly taps him on the shoulder and shows him Alia. Merlin shudders.

--EORun--