... The next card portrayed a young man, not even out of his
teens, clad in travelling clothes suitable for a young warrior in
training from Lipun. He stood within a clearing at the edge of a
forest of bamboo, his gaze directed towards the right, his expression
a mix of concern and wistfulness. His hands rested on a folded bamboo
umbrella, which would seem odd to some, but I knew that he could weild
it as efficently as the large sword that hung from his back, its
pommel capped with a spherical ruby and a braided tassel. His hair
was red and spiky, his build was slight, but I had a suspicion that
when the flush of manhood finally overtook him that the ladies would
flock to him, even moreso due to his quiet and humble demeanor. His
name was Shizumaru, and he was a newcomer to Amber.
I liked him. I hoped that his time here with our family would do
nothing to erode his innocence, but it was a faint hope. ...
... The next card after Juri's was darker than the rest. A tall,
thin woman, dark smudges under her eyes and long straight back hair,
stood in front of a great stone fireplace clad in an elegant purple
gown with black lace edging. The fire within burned, twisting about
the logs and looking to be almost alive within the Trump. Her
expression was serious, so much like Juri's that it almost hurt to
look upon it, as she regarded the trio of small portraits on the
fireplace's mantle with purple eyes -- one of Juri, and two of an
asian couple wearing the symbols of royalty. I had not known her for
very long, but I still felt kinship towards her, and affection, and
protectiveness...
For she was Hiko. Juri's daughter. ...
... I changed cards. This one was more recent, more stylistic
than the others, but it still captured a true moment. A strawberry
blonde, wavy-haired girl stood in the middle of a room, her hands
gesturing outwards towards the viewer, her amber eyes alight with an
impish, joyful smile, matched by that on her lips. A pair of Trumps
floated above her palms, wreathed in flames. Around her rose an
inverted cone of Trumps, half of them backed with a White Unicorn
rampant, facing towards the dexter on a green field. The other half
had backs with a golden background, a black winged Unicorn that
appeared to be aflame upon them. She stood within a circle of flame,
unharmed, spinning around her feet, lighting up a ruby floor tracery
that looked suspiciously like the Pattern in Kolvir. The rest of the
card was dark.
I felt immesurable pride and hope towards the girl, and knew that no
matter the circumstances that I would love her. She was Gabrielle,
Princess of Ember.
She was my daughter. ...
... The following Trump was a new one of mine, and with good reason,
given that the young man portrayed within was a newcomer to Amber.
His hair was blue, bordering on silver, and his clear ruby eyes looked
out thoughtfully towards the horizon over the nearby seashore as the
waves broke against the sand. His pale skin was similar in tone to
Queen Rei's, though it looked healthier in the warm sunlight of the
beach scene in which he sat. The young man wore grey leather pants, a
pale blue poet's shirt, and a two-toned blue cloak hung around his
neck, secured with a brooch in the shape of a golden cup. He was
polite, and a good musician, which made it all the more surprising
that according to rumor, he was Kozue's son.
He was Nagisa, and regardless of parentage, he had a place among us.
It was his birthright. ...
... A slim, almost elfin face looked out at me from the next card,
regarding the viewer with a calcuating expression in his red eyes.
His pink hair was cut short, framing and shadowing his face. Clad in
a long blue jacket with red trim, cuffs of white at the wrists and
secured at the waist with a white belt and gold buckle, he stood in
the center of the Rose Duelling Arena above Castle Amber amidst the
nearly-clear sky. His right hand held a basket-hilt rapier, and his
left hand was raised. The sunlight glinted off a signet ring, a Black
Rose, that was on his left ring finger.
Mikage Souji, the "Genius Student of the Nemuro Seminar", was another
newcomer to Amber, though apparently some of the younger generation
had heard of him during their time at Ohtori Academy out in Shadow.
Rumor upon his arrival had placed him as the son of Gil-Galad, our
lost sibling, but further events had revealed him as another of
Utena's sons. However, I did not know how much of this information to
believe; I had only met the man once, and while he had been polite
enough to warrant me giving him one of my spare Trump decks, there was
still much I did not know about him. This lack of solid information
about this new prince put me at unease. ...
... I replaced the Trump, and drew another. A man regarded me
from behind red wraparound sunglasses, standing in the middle of a
medival street. Broad shoulders framed a strong body, barely
contained within his black leather trenchcoat, thin pink and grey
doublet, and black pants trimmed with red. His hair was as pink as
Utena's, and his skin nearly the color of Anthy's, but several shades
lighter. He clenched a lit cigar in his teeth, and his right hand
supported a massive crossbow vertically. He could be trying at times,
foulmouthed and gruff, but his bluntness and down-to-earth way of
looking at things was a breath of fresh air in our homeland, and I
liked him very much for that.
It was hard to believe that Ota "Shaft" Tenjou was Utena's son, but
such it was. ...
... Another man sat in profile atop some boulders in the next Trump Card
I turned over. He was a tall scarecrow of a man, clad in a spiffy red coat, his
arms and legs sheathed within red leather and metal bits protected his
extremities. A donut was held in his left hand, and a large, slab-sided
pistol glinted in the sunlight in his right hand, matching the shine from the
odd contraption in the distance of the desert landscape in which he sat.
It looked like somebody had taken a pair of lightbulbs and suspended them
from a large gantry -- I couldn't figure out their purpose. Nor did I know
why the small black cat had decided at that moment to poke its head out
from behind the boulders to look at me while I had painted this trump.
The man was Vash, the last of father's sons (as far as anybody knew),
who had come out of Shadow one day to take his place among us. We had no
idea of his history, or who his mother was, and if he knew he wasn't
inclined to tell us -- but he was loyal to Amber and had walked the
Pattern, which made him a trusted member of our family. Even with his
occasional gooberness. ...
... A busy medival city street, its buildings made of timber, wattle, and daub, the streets unpaved. People moved about on their daily business, clad in dresses, jerkins, pants, boots, cloaks, and hoods. Street vendors sold their wares from storefronts. The sky was clear, a cerulian blue, with only the faintest of clouds to mar the view. Several trees stood in the distance, in front of a crenalated city wall, marking the border between sections of the City of Amber. It was not a place to be found at night, but Prince Shaft now patrolled its streets, bringing peace and protection to those who attempted to make an honest living. It was known as The Ward of the Dead Unicorn. ...
... The next card was more recent, depicting a rough-hewn,
deeply-tanned man, clad as a knight of old, one gauntleted hand
resting on the helmet that rested in front of the saddle he rode on.
The other hand held the reins of his dappled brown warhorse, and a
double-bladed forestry axe rested at his side. His green armor caught
and reflected the sunlight that filtered through the branches of the
trees behind him. The silver trim of his armor accented the green
nicely, and if one looked closely enough, one could see the subtle
impression of vines and leaves within their workings. His face was
not particularly handsome, angular and weathered by the elements, but
his shaggy mane of black hair flowed down his back, and his deep green
eyes drew you in, as if daring you to uncover the secrets that he
held.
He was the Green Knight of Arden, protector of the forest, enforcer of
the compact between Amber and Arden... and a living avatar of the Wood
Pattern that was hidden somewhere within its depths. I had long heard
of the legends of the Green Knight; one would have to be deaf, dumb,
and blind to live and work in Arden and not have heard of him. But it
had only been recently that we had met face to face, and my awareness
of his role in the grand scheme of things had grown considerably.
He was also the true love of my niece, Hiko, and for the two of them I
had only the best of hopes for their life together. ...
... She stood atop the bluffs of Mt. Kolvir overlooking the Plains
of Harad, a proud smile on her face as her silvery armored trenchcoat
blew in the wind that stirred the golden vertical curls of her hair. In
her right hand was a solid oaken staff with a spiral of pink flowers
twined around the wood, in her left she wielded a blade with a segment
of the Pattern etched upon the flat. Her uniform beneath the trenchcoat
was similar to my sister's -- in fact, it was identical, and she filled
it out just as well. Incongruously, a wooden spoon jutted out from her
jacket pocket.
She was Juri of Avalon, the Crusader in our little play during the
Annadil Crisis, skilled with blade and driven to absolve herself of the
sins of her past. Despite her occasional angstful temperment, I had
come to regard her highly during our time together -- so similar to my
blood-sister, yet so different -- was it any mystery as to why I had
begun to regard her as a true sister as well? Not to me, at least. I
wondered what had happened to her during our time apart, and hoped that
wherever she was now, that her life was a fulfilling one with her
husband, Roderick. ...
... The next trump was of a tall scarecrow of a man, paleskinned
with a narrow face, surmounted with stiff blonde hair. A spiffy red
coat was draped over him, hiding most of his body, though one black-gloved
hand held a thick slab-sided pistol, while his left arm was wrapped
in dark leather and his blue fingers held up a trump card -- the very
trump card that he was portrayed in. His expression was smug, and behind
his pale orange sunglasses and twinkling eyes danced all the secrets of
the powers he had explored.
This was Gideon, Prince of Avalon, the Creator of wonders in our cross-
universe jaunt during the Annadil crisis, and he stood within the
boundaries of the Keep of the Five Worlds, beneath the shadows of the
Golden Tree which had tamed the shadow and made it a force for good.
I had not known him for very long, but I knew that he was a worthwhile
and true companion. I hoped that one day he would be reunited with his
families, on both sides of the universal divides, but such a hope seemed
unlikely to even one such as me. ...
... The next man depicted among my trumps was the third participant
in my travels across the universes during the Annadil Crisis. He was clad
in a shirt and slacks of purple and scarlet, alternating in an interesting
pattern across his trim body. His face was slim, but filled with amusement,
framed by close-cropped red hair and a thin red moustache above his smiling
lips. Between his hands, four roses floated, each one a different color --
red, orange, purple, and silver.
He was Roderick, Prince of another Amber quite different from our own,
a Conjourer of much renown and a skilled shapeshifter, preferring to use
subtlety and finesse instead of brute force in dispatching his enemies.
He had been a welcome addition to our accidental adventures across the
universes -- and a good friend, and then lover, and then husband to
Juri of Avalon. I hoped they were happy, wherever they were now. ...
... The scene portrayed in the next card was one of a pentagonal courtyard, filled with trees and a five-floored, five-walled Keep, its fortifications and towers strong and secure. Within the center rose a gigantic Golden Oak Tree, spreading its branches nearly to the outer walls. The Keep of the Five Worlds had long been a place of conflict, as warring factions struggled to control the five Elemental shadows that surrounded it, and the Trump Font that had once stood in the center, but now it was a place for peace under the command of my nephew Shizumaru. I hoped that it would stay that way for a long time. ...
Trump Cards : [Pre-Campaign]
[Through A Mirror Darkly]
[Unicorn no Seishi]
[Forth The Nine Riders]
[Related Campaigns]
Illustrations : [Pre-Campaign]
[Through A Mirror Darkly]
[Unicorn no Seishi]
[Forth The Nine Riders]
[Related Campaigns]
[Library]