SLICES OF JADE

A _Unicorn No Seishi_/_Gold Digger_ story


        *Blink*
        Kanna looked around herself, her hand on the hilt of her sword
as she sized up the place of her arrival.  A broad meadow, covered
with short, hardy grasses, spread out around the tall redheaded
princess in all directions.  Their stalks waved slightly in the
noonday breeze, lit by the sun that gleamed overhead in a clear,
barely-clouded sky.  Kanna glanced towards the horizon, and noticed a
row of low mountains that bordered the meadow to the south and east.
        <Hmm... A pretty decent place from first appearances,> Kanna
thought to herself.  However, first appearances were just that, and
there were often deeper depths to be found that could snag the unwary.
She continued to stand where she had arrived, and brought the Sign of
the Pattern to her mind, using the image of the sigil as she had been
trained to evaluate the nature of the reality around her.  A slight
sigh of relief escaped Kanna's lips as she determined that all the
normal powers -- Pattern, Trump, Logrus, Magic, Technology -- appeared
to work where she had arrived.
        Wherever it was.
        Kanna smiled slightly, and started walking across the meadow,
whistling softly to herself now that she was somewhat reassured that
she hadn't goofed up.  Pattern teleports were always risky -- it was
one of the reasons Kanna did not use them unless absolutely necessary
or knew the destination beforehand.  While powerful, a person was not
always garunteed of -liking- the place where the Pattern would send
them, or even capable of using all the powers and skills at one's
command once they got there.
        This was why Kanna tended to use Trumps or shadow-walking for
transporation instead.  Her sister, Gabrielle, could send her to any
place they had been before via Trump, shadow-walking allowed one to
see dangers ahead of time, and both Kanna and Gabrielle had been to
many places in their 40-odd years of existance so far.
        However, sometimes an Amberite just needed to take the risk of
the Pattern Teleport, especially if they were looking for a world of
their desire and could not afford to take the time to search for such
a place.  In this case, Kanna had decided that the benefits outweighed
the disadvantages, assayed the Pattern, and mentally asked the great
curving sigil to send her to an ideal place to train and explore.
        So far, it looked as if the Metal Pattern had delivered on her
wishes.
        "Now, to to see if I can find some -people- around here,"
Kanna murmured to herself as she picked up her pace, heading for the
low mountains in the distance.  Hopefully, there would be some form of
settlement at the base of the mountains, or perhaps a trail or road
leading to them...
        
        An hour later, Kanna began to have some doubts.  Her march
across the wide, green plain had not revealed any sign of habitation,
human or otherwise, and the mountains in the distance continued to be
in the far distance.  While Kanna was no stranger to hardship while
travelling, and could easily hike across empty Shadows for days and
set up a camp by herself, a part of her wished for a nice soft bed and
meal cooked by somebody else.
        Besides, Kanna had specifically asked the Pattern (admittedly,
mentally) for a place where she could train.  And to Kanna, training
implied the existance of a teacher to train -with-.
        The middle of an empty field didn't exactly fit the
specification.
        <Of course, there could be a settlement over the next rise, or
the rise after that,> Kanna mused as she continued to hike, holding
her staff in her free hand, reassured by its heft.  A slice of home, a
gift from her mother and father, a veteran of many battles like she
was.  <But you'd think the Pattern would at least have the decency to
send me a little -closer- to the place of my desire...>
        Kanna shook her head.  <Well, maybe calling on the Pattern
-myself- will have an effect,> she mentally commented as she walked.
<At least I'll be able to see if I'm in the right place; I don't want
to slip over a few Shadows by accident...>
        With those thoughts in mind, Kanna drew upon the power of the
Pattern, one of the great icons of Reality that defined her known
universe.  She walked across the grassy field, letting her desires --
for an ideal place for herself and her friend Lian to train in and
explore, and for her to forge a weapon to carry her through the days
to come -- define the paths through Shadow that she would take.
        Nothing happened.
        The breeze still stirred the grasses, and the clouds brushed
against the sky around the afternoon sun, but Kanna couldn't feel any
changes being wrought in the environment as she tried to shift Shadow.
        "Well, I guess I -am- in the right place, then," Kanna
muttered.  "Now, if I could only find some -people- here, we might be
getting somewhere!"
        Kanna sighed.  "And now I'm talking to myself.  Wonderful."
She shook her head, the twinned streamers of her hair ribbon twisting
in the air.  "No help for it... but at least the land isn't damnibly
-flat- anymore."  Kanna set her shoulders, and continued to walk along
the gentle rises and subtle hills that spread about her.  First one
foothill, then another, gave way beneath her marching stride.  She
reached the crest of another slope, pausing to look towards the
surrounding horizon.
        "Hills, hills, and more hills," Kanna commented to herself.
"Well, at least the mountains are getting closer," she continued, and
then paused as her eyes caught upon something that wasn't endless
waves of grain or distant mountain sides.  "... wait a second..."
        Kanna strained her eyes to focus, and then sucked in a quick
breath.  <-People!- Honest to Pyricorn PEOPLE here!  Hot damn!> She
grinned, and broke into a sprint towards the figures she'd observed in
the distance.  She hadn't been able to make out the size of the group,
but people implied some form of settlement nearby... or at least a
group she could join up with temporarily until they reached one.
        The ground blurred beneath Kanna as she ran, her long, strong
legs easily carrying her the distance towards the figures.  They
hadn't appeared to have noticed Kanna running towards them; in fact,
they were loitering around one particular spot.
        And then they vanished, much to Kanna's surprise.
        "... the -hell-?"  Kanna came to a brief halt, now only about a
hundred feet from where she had first seen the small group.  Their
sudden dissapearance was unexpected, but not unaccountable.  At least
five different possiblities flitted across Kanna's mind as she started
to run again, reaching the place where the group had stood within
moments.  She came to a stop, and studied the area.
        <Hmmm... the grasses are particularly bent and damaged around
this point,> Kanna observed as she kneeled to study the ground.  She
scratched her cheek, thoughfully.  <And much more than the people I
saw standing could have accounted for.  Wherever this is, people come
and go here rather regularly.>
        She stood again, and looked around at the rolling hills and
green fields.  "Which means there's -something- here... but what?"
Kanna asked the empty air as she scratched the back of her head.
"HELLO?  ANYBODY THERE?" she exclaimed, trying to provoke a response.
        The only answer was the sound of the wind rustling the grasses
around her.
        "Okay... something screwy's going on."  Kanna set her hands on
her hips.  "I wonder if there's an entrance here... if those folks
didn't simply just teleport, or something."  She prodded at the ground
with her staff, and hit nothing but dirt and the occasional small
stone.
        "... nothing underground," Kanna murmured thoughtfully, and
then reached out with her free hand at the open air.  "Perhaps
something in the air -- eh?"  She blinked as her hand found purchase
on something that she could have sworn hadn't been there a second
before -- especially since she was facing the direction she had run
from, and would have hit it if it was a simple invisible object.  But
now it was there, all the same, and still invisible.
        Curious, Kanna tugged on the unseen something.  There was a
moment's resistance, and then the air in front of Kanna parted,
revealing a rectangular opening... and beyond, a stone stairway
leading up into a heavily forested, aboreal city.
        "Holy -shit-," Kanna breathed.  She paused, and then leaned
around to look at the back of the rectangular opening.  The grassy
plain continued to spread off towards the horizon and the low
mountains, seemingly unconcerned that there was a thick forest in the
middle of it.  In fact, there was no sign of the rectangular opening
from that angle, either.
        She returned her attentions to the entrance she had
discovered.  "A shadow within a Shadow... what will those
shadowdwellers think of next?" Kanna murmured to herself with a rueful
smile on her lips.  "Well, no help for it, I suppose..."
        Kanna chuckled, and stepped inside.

        Kanna spent the next half hour wandering around the treetop
city, walking across the long wooden bridges and around the wide
platforms that encircled the trees and the buildings built around
them, trying her best to look like a native while supressing her
desire to gawk like a tourist.  Fortunately for the Emberite princess,
the place appeared to be a trading town, so the populace would have
been used to such things even if she had acted in such a fashion.
        And oh, was there a population!  A wide variety of
human-types, going about their daily businesses, along with a sizeable
number of fantasy-types.  Elves, dwarves, and minotaurs walked along
the paths connecting the trees, focussed on their own tasks.  Almost
everybody there was carrying a weapon of some type, even if it was
just a concealed dagger, which didn't surprise Kanna.  Such outfitting
was the norm for fantasy Shadows, which gave her a sense of
familiarity with the place, even though she had never been here in her
life.
        <However, it's the details that make or break a place,> Kanna
reminded herself as she continued her rambling trek, taking in the
sights.  For a medival city, it was remarkably clean and well-
designed, though she supposed that the fact that it was built within
the trees had something to do with it.  The fact that they spoke
English here was a pleasant bonus, as it made casual information
gathering so much easier, especially since Kanna couldn't make heads
or tails of the strange ribbon-symbols that apparently served as this
world's writing.
        <Once I finish training here, I'll have to bring Moriya along
to show this... "Seer's Hamlet" to him,> Kanna thoughtfully mused,
walking along one of the bridges.  She peered over the railing, and
could see more buildings below, built around tree trunks with wooden
paths connecting them in midair.  <This kinda place is right up his
alley.> She grinned briefly, and then sobered, reminded of the family
she had left behind.  Even though this world was in fast time, Kanna
had a long period of seperation from those she cared about ahead of
her, if she decided to stay.
        <Enough of that,> she chided herself.  <Let's just find a
tavern or inn or something, and get some food and call it a night, all
right?> She shook her head and squared her shoulders, heading off
towards the middle levels of the Hamlet.  <And I -have- to stop
mentally commenting to myself... I'm going through sis withdrawl.>

        It didn't take Kanna long to find a suitable rest stop in
Seer's Hamlet.  The place was called "The Dragon's Jaw Inn", courtesy
of the large carved dragon's mouth that formed its main entrance.
There was a decent-sized pub on the first floor, a small checkin
counter and reception area for the innkeeper, and a flight of stairs
leading up to the rooms.  She avoided the latter facilities for the
moment, instead heading over to the counter bar that stretched along
the inner wall of the pub.
        "So, what'll it be, miss?" the barkeeper asked Kanna as she
sat down on an empty barstool.
        Kanna grinned, lacing her fingers in front of herself as she
rested her elbows on the bar-top.  "Steak and potatoes, and a light
ale, if y' got it.  Drumsticks and greens if y' don't."
        The portly barkeeper gave a grunt of acknowledgement, and went
off to fill a large mug with the requested beverage.  He slid the mug
down the length of the bar; Kanna caught it easily.  "That'll be
fifteen coppers, miss," he stated, moving to serve another customer.
        Kanna nodded, and reached for her change purse.  She pulled out
several silver coins, and then looked thoughtfully at the star 
emblazoned on one side, and the rampant unicorn on the other.  <Well,
I doubt they'd take Amber coins directly, so...>  Kanna pinched the
coins with her fingertips, mashing them into a single, misshapen mass.
        "I'm afraid I've only got some silver nuggets... will this
do?"  She handed the silver nugget to the barkeeper expectantly.  He
considered the chunk of silver, bit it, tapped it with a small metal
mallet, and then pulled out a small scale to weigh the nugget.
        "This'll do," the barkeeper finally replied.  "I'll have your
meal in a few.  Here's your change."  He handed back a handful of
smaller silver and copper coins.
        Kanna nodded.  "Much obliged, sir."  With a smile, she lifted
her mug and drank her ale, settling back to observe the patrons of the
pub.  The standard mix of adventurers and common folk talked and ate
their meals, much like those whom she could encounter at any number of
bars back home.  Nodding with satisfaction, Kanna drank more of her
ale and waited for her meal to arrive.
        The buzz of conversation floated around Kanna like a religious
litany.  She couldn't make out most of the threads of discussion, but
one particular conversation caught her ears, and she turned slightly
on her barstool to get a better fix on it.
        "I'm sorry that the search didn't work out in the forest,
sensei," a male voice, young (but not totally inexperienced)
apologized to his companion.
        "Oh, it's all right..." an older female voice replied.  "I
wasn't expecting much from those ruins.  The local elves had already
picked it clean of anything worthwhile, but I had to make sure, all
the same."
        "Yeah... well, at least they were glad to have our assistance
with clearing out that orc tribe that had moved into the ruins."
        The woman laughed.  "The day I can't handle a horde of measly
orcs is the day I hang up my sword and take up knitting, Gar."  The
younger voice joined in with the laughter.
        Kanna's eyebrows went up, her curiosity piqued.  She continued
to listen in on the coversation, even as her meal was delivered and
she started eating.
        "So, what's next, sensei?" the male, "Gar", asked.
        "I'm thinking Dim Wood next... I've heard news of a temple
there, bordering the forest and the lower mountains of Dim Crag."
        "But isn't that dwarven territory, sensei?"
        "The mountains are, yes.  But the temple itself... it's
disputed.  Not that it matters much, as both the passes into and out
of it have been blocked off by rockslides.  The monks inside haven't
been heard from for -months-, but they're quite renowned at curse
removal."
        "You're planning to help them out?"  Gar chuckled.
        "Well, it doesn't -hurt-..."  The female voice laughed.  "Get
a few messages to them, at least from Dim Dale.  The roads along the
way to the pass can get rough.  Now, if you and I could clear out the
rockslides as well..." she mused, "but I doubt it."
        "And I'm no were-lion or were-wolf," Gar admitted. "I'm
strong, thanks to you, but not -that- strong."  There was another
round of laughter, and then the conversation subdued as its
participants settled down to eat.
        Kanna hrmed thoughtfully.  She polished off the remains of her
steak and potatoes meal, and drained her ale.  Kanna wiped off her
mouth with the back of her fingerless gloves, and got up from the
barstool to turn towards the original source of the overheard
conversation.
        Now that she could see the two people, Kanna was momentarily
taken aback.  For a moment, she thought she was looking at a long-lost
member of the Harad line -- the woman had the same impressive physique
that marked the women of Harad, the same self-assured poise and
reserve of an experienced fighter that was a hallmark of Kanna's
family.  Whoever this woman was, it was clear to Kanna that she could
probably very easily take the Emberite princess down with a minimum of
effort.  Her hair was red and mostly straight, cut shoulder-length and
curling at the edges, as well as the part that flipped over the right
side of her face without obstructing her vision.
        Her companion was even more surprising.  Apparently his
comments about werefolk were more relevant than Kanna had thought, for
while Gar was male and bipedal, clad in hunting leathers that nicely
covered his still-improving build, he was also furry from the tips of
his feline ears to the end of his tail.  Gar's fur was dusky brown and
circle-spotted along his shoulders and arms, the coloration fading to
creamy white along his lower arms and face.  A portion of Kanna's mind
politely informed her that this likely meant the young man was a Were-
Jaguar, of all things.
        Kanna quickly worked to cover her startled expression, and
approached their table.  The two looked up as she arrived, the male
were-jaguar looking surprised, while the woman looked more thoughtful.
        "Can we help you, miss?" she asked as Kanna came to a halt in
front of them on the opposite side of the table.
        "Actually, the question is, I was wondering if I could help
-you-," Kanna grinned.
        The redhead raised a curious eyebrow as Kanna pulled over an
empty chair and sat down in it.  "Oh?  How so?"
        "Well, I couldn't help overhearing your need for some heavy
muscle," Kanna explained.  "And something about rockslides that need
clearing."  She rested her palms on the wooden table, showing off her
muscular forearms in the process.  "Now, if you wanted, I could easily
be persuaded to come and help out... and I wouldn't be dead weight, if
you're worried about that.  I'm more than willing to earn my keep."
        The older redhead studied Kanna critically with a fighter's
eye.  Kanna waited for her decision.  "Hmmm... you look as though you
could handle yourself in a fight, so I have no problems there.  But
you're no were-creature, and we're talking very -large- boulders here.
Are you sure you could handle that much weight?"
        Kanna considered the woman's question.  "Would you be opposed
to a demonstration?"
        "No, not particularly... what did you have in mind?"
        Kanna grinned.  "Just wait here for a few moments, and you'll
see."  She slipped off her pack and let it fall to the floor, and then
climbed under the table.
        "(What do you think she's going to do, sensei?)" Gar whispered
to his companion.
        "(Probably try to lift the table we've been eating at.  I've
seen this stunt before, used to try and impress me before I met Theo.
It's nothing spec-- AAAH!?)"  Her whispered conversation was
interrupted as she felt the entire bench she and Gar were on suddenly
shift.  With surprising smoothness, the curved booth they had been
sitting on abruptly rose into the air while they were on it.
        "UWAAA?!" Gar blurted out, digging his fingers into the curved
wood.
        "What the --?!" the woman exclaimed, holding on tight and
looking over the edge of the curving bench seat.  Below her dangling
legs, she could see Kanna's smiling face looking up at them, her hands
gripped securely around the bench's inner support members.  Kanna
didn't even look winded, and her muscles barely strained at the weight
or bulk of the bench and its passengers.
        "So... what was that about wondering if I could be able to
handle the weight?"
        The redheaded woman blinked, and then laughed, slightly
embarrased.  "I take it back, I take it back," she replied, and looked
around the pub from her vantage point.  "And... could you put us back
down, now?  You're going to upset the barkeeper."
        "Oh!  Right."  Kanna smiled, sheepishly, and carefully put the
booth back down on the floor.  "Sorry 'bout that, folks!" she
exclaimed and waved an apologetic hand at the other patrons of the pub
before sitting down again.  "So... how was that?"
        The redhead grinned.  "I think you've convinced me."  She 
offered her gloved hand to Kanna.  "Welcome aboard, miss..."
        Kanna smiled, and clasped the redhead's hand in a warrior's
handshake, gripping her forearm below the elbow as she did the same.
"The name's Kanna.  Kanna Kusanagi, but you can call me Kanna."
        "A pleasure to meet you, Kanna.  I'm Julia Diggers," the
redhead replied, her grip firm and sure.  "And this is my pupil,
Garfield."
        "'Gar' for short," the were-jaguar added, somewhat sheepishly.
        "A pleasure to meet you both."  Kanna nodded to the two of
them.  "I'm sure that we'll get along fine."
        Kanna had no idea at the time how right that prediction would
be.

                            ** ** ** **

May 8, 570 CY --- Jade Calendar : August 26, 1991 --- Day 79

It's been three months now since I arrived on Jade, and my chance
meeting with Julia in the pub in Seer's Hamlet has turned out to be much
better than I could have expected.  Or was it chance, now that I think
about it?  The Pattern works in mysterious ways...  Anyway. Travelling
with her and her pupil, Gar, has been an eye-opener. Before now, I was
convinced that there was nobody in my family better at the arts of war
than my uncle Drake and my aunt Utena (forgive me, Aunt Juri, but until
I actually see you in action, I cannot judge your skills compared to
them), but I'm reasonably sure that Julia Diggers could give them a
serious challenge.  She's skilled both in fist and blade, as evidenced
by the time we fought off a horde of bugbears that had been lurking in
the caves between Temul and Dim Crag.  Gar's no slouch either -- his
training by Julia is obvious.  We've sparred from time to time along the
trail, and while I might be stronger, he's clearly got the edge in
out-thinking me in battle.

This is humbling, to be sure.  I've never been the best at the arts of
war like some of the others in my generation, or the younger ones - I'm
competant, but not stellar in combat.  But if I was to choose a teacher
outside of the family to train me in such things, Julia Diggers would be
at the head of the list.

It doesn't hurt that she's actually -offered- to train me like she has
Gar.  ^_^ I'm pretending to waffle, but I'm gonna accept it.  I have a
feeling I'm going to be in for the long haul for this anyway... her
curse is something that's hit close to home for me, and I want to see it
resolved.  It seperates her from her family in much the same way Aunt
Juri is seperated from her daughter and mom... forever out of reach even
though her location is known.  I'm no magical bigwig, but there's sure
to be -somebody- on this planet that can cure Julia.

There's -got- to be.  I've listened to Julia's tales about her family
back on Earth (yes, this shadow has an Earth associated with it -- Julia
grew up on Jade, but married an archmage who had been born on Earth and
trained here) -- her older daughter Gina and her younger daughter
Britanny, as well as her husband Theodore -- and her tone at times
becomes very much like that of my own mother's when she talks about my
missing Aunt Juri and Other Aunt Juri.  A mixture of hope, longing,
wistfulness, and loss.  Nobody deserves to go through that sort of
seperation.  NOBODY.  I want to help her out, any way I can.

Perhaps it'll soothe my own conscience regarding my own failed attempts
to get back Aunt Juri.  We shall see.  Perhaps eventually I'll meet
Julia's family... she's at least able to see her children and husband
and interact with them -once- a year, so if I'm around then... well,
according to Julia, Gina's quite the bookworm, and her younger sister
Britanny is a -Werecheetah-.  I'm not clear on the details, and I didn't
pry, but somehow Julia and Dr. Diggers adopted her -- which apparently
surprised the hell out of Gar.  The folks at the Retreat think they all
died out... I guess they were wrong.  ^_- Though I'm not sure if Gar's
infatuation with Britanny is a good thing -- it's never smart to develop
a crush on somebody you've never met. Then again, like I'm one to talk.

Well, that's it for this diary entry.  I'll write more after we get to
our next destination, at the south of the continent.

-- K.

                            ** ** ** **

        Morning on Jade, on the edges of the Worthless Mountains on
the western continent of that world, and Kanna was up early.  She
looked towards the south; if she strained her eyes, she could barely
see the large bay that cut into the continent, fed by the River of
Leaves to the north.  Not for the first time, Kanna reflected on how
beautiful and vibrant Jade was, in comparison to some shadows she had
visited.  It could almost, -almost- match Amber in its natural beauty.
        <So why the hell am I feeling so -uneasy- all of a sudden?>
Kanna mentally grumbled.  <It's not like Julia-sensei and I've haven't
explored mysterious ruins -before-.> She shook her head.
        <Must be nerves.  Gotta be.> Kanna sighed, and slipped into a
ready stance.  With practiced precision, she started an unarmed
fighting kata, her legs and arms snapping outwards at imaginary
opponents.  Kanna spun about, her movements almost like an intricate
dance, never holding still for a moment.  The air whistled with the
passage of her hands and feet.  She lost track of time, her body
moving in paths of ever-increasing complexity, until a voice
interrupted her graceful dance.
        "Well, -you're- up early, Kanna," Julia Diggers commented as 
she exited her tent, a slight smile on her lips.  "Care for a sparring 
partner?"
        Kanna grinned, not stopping her motions for a moment.  "Sure
thing, Sensei," she replied, stepping back so that the barbarian
adventurer could warm up.  Then, with a speed that still surprised
Kanna even now, Julia launched into a flurry of punches and kicks,
immediately forcing the larger woman on the defensive.  Kanna blocked
and dodged, still taking a few hits with all the movement, waiting for
an opportunity to present itself.  Finally, it looked as if Julia had
overextended herself on one dodged blow, and Kanna's hand launched
forward, ready to grab the shorter woman's wrist to throw her.
        Unfortunately for Kanna, Julia had planned this.  With a quick 
leaning roll, the shorter woman grabbed Kanna's wrist in turn, pulling
the taller woman off-balance with her sudden motions.
        "uuuuwAAAAHHH!" Kanna exclaimed as she was flipped end over
end, soaring through the air until she finally landed several feet
away.  She rolled with the landing, curling up to absorb the blow,
then coming to a stop.  She remained where she had stopped, still in a
crouch.  "Now -that- was dirty pool, Sensei."
        "Oh, was it?"  Julia wandered over, quietly chuckling.  She
looked down at Kanna, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips.
"Now, Kanna... I know you've learned lesson one well enough, 'How to
be patient without being hesitant'... but what was lesson three,
again?"
        "'If an opening looks too good, it probably is.  Watch out for
feints'," Kanna replied.  "But there's also lesson number five..."
        Julia raised an eyebrow.  "Oh?"
        Kanna smirked, a twinkle in her blue eyes.  "'Let the enemy
come to you, and catch them off-guard!'"  She abruply launched herself
at Julia, her long legs uncoiling like springs as she tackled her
teacher around the waist, throwing her off her feet.  Julia let out a
startled gasp, and then laughed as the two of them tussled for several
more minutes in a form of not-really-mock wrestling.
        Finally, they seperated, the two of them grinning.  "So, ready
for breakfast, Kanna?" Julia asked.
        Kanna nodded.  "You better believe it."  She got to her feet,
helped her sensei up, and they went back to the camp to eat.
        
        Julia and Kanna broke camp after breakfast.  The trail they 
were following led further up into the Worthless Mountains, and it 
would still take them several days for them to reach their destination.  
The path was rocky, but not untraversable for two experienced 
adventurers.
        Which made Kanna's 'uneasy feeling' all the more odd, and she
said as much to her teacher when they paused for lunch while in the
smaller mountains.
        "I don't get it, Sensei."  She shook her head, munching on a
small drumstick.  "We've been up here for a -week- now, heading for
that old ruin you heard was up here, and I can't shake this... uneasy
feeling that I'm still getting.
        "Hmm... I don't know, Kanna."  Julia looked thoughtfully
towards the horizon, and then back up the mountain path.  "Rumor has
it this particular place dates back from the days of the Shadow
invasion."
        Kanna blinked.  She had heard the capital letter used, and
looked at Julia with concern, for more than one reason.  "The 'Shadow'
invasion, Sensei?  That sounds ominous."  She pursed her lips.  "What
happened?"
        Julia noted her companion's worried look, and elaborated.  "A
long time ago, eons even, the Shadows... that's the only name anyone's
ever called them ... invaded Jade-Realm, and enslaved its populace.
Only the skills of the First Armsmaster, a warrior without equal,
Jade's -champion-, was able to rally the peoples of Jade to fight
against them.  The Shadows fled the realm and never returned."
        Kanna nodded slowly, lost in thought.  "And nobody knows where
they came from or where they went?"
        Julia shook her head.  "Not a one; the Barbarian Clan's
loremasters don't know, just the tales of how the First Armsmaster
defeated them, and how the Tournament of Arms commemorates his
achievement."
        "Huh," Kanna replied.  She scratched her cheek.  "Well, that
explains why the Tournament of Arms was such a big deal for you."  She
grinned at Mrs. Diggers.
        Julia laughed.  "The title's ceremonial, but very importaint,
yes.  The Barbarian Clans have prospered thanks to the fact that I
hold it.  None of the neighboring territories can challenge us for the
lands we already own."
        Kanna nodded.  "I suppose it makes sense, since folks know the
Clans produced -you-."  She winked.  "But this is a long way from Naga
and Tessa..."
        Julia chuckled, and then sobered.  "True, but challengers come
from all over the realm to compete.  So the tales do spread."

[3rd Person -- a mini 'Typical' Kanna/Julia adventure (after Gar's 
 gone on to the Edge Guard).  Include some info on the Shadows, but no
 real hyper-details, and no info related then about the tie-in
 (they're examining a long-abandoned ruin from the time of the 
 invasion).]

[Julia/Kanna encounter a Hydra in an old ruin -- mid spring, 1992]

        Laughing, the two of them headed for one of the mountain
rivers to clean off.

                            ** ** ** **
 

May 8, 570 CY ---  Jade Calendar : October 18, 1993  ---  Day 1228

Three years.

It just recently hit me that it's been a little over three years since
my arrival here on Jade; perhaps its the fact that the leaves are
turning color outside my forge's windows that have finally driven the
point home.

Three years of training, exploration, and adventure across the
continents of Jade, helping Julia-sensei try to find a cure to her curse
while improving my own skills in combat, both armed and unarmed. This
world has been ideal for such endeavours, for both my public goals and
secret plans; I have picked up more lore here about Jade's cultures,
societies, and hidden riches from sensei's stories than I had thought
possible.  This is the place in my dreams; the place where I can finally
realize one of my long-deferred goals, first started at Yig.  Here is
where I shall forge Beryllina, using the knowledge that I gained from
hanging from the Tree of Wisdom, using the artifacts that I've heard
tales of.  It will take some time, of course, but I'm patient.  My
training in sword-smithing continues to proceed apace, thanks to
Julia-sensei, and I've gained enough confidence in my abilities to build
this forge of mine up in the mountains north of Apex Rock.

It's a nice place, and I'm quite proud of it.  A low, wooden building,
with several rooms for myself and guests, adjoining the main forge.  A
home base for when Julia-sensei and I aren't on the move, conveniently
'close' (in terrestrial terms) to both Seer's Desert and the Barbarian
Territories.  It provides a decent overlook of a valley below, and
several streams and brooks run to the east, a ready source of sand- iron
for steel forging.  Add to that the abundant forest that continues to
climb up the mountains, and my little homestead could almost be
considered paradise.  This would be an ideal world, if but for only one
key thing:

I miss my family.

I miss Gabrielle's commentary and firey good humor.  I miss mom's
steadfastness and motherly advice.  I miss dad's reassurances and strong
hugs.  I miss my cousins and nieces and nephews, the whole fracticious
lot of them, and my Aunts and Uncles back in Amber and in Shadow. 
Oftentimes I'm able to distract myself with day-to-day needs, but times
like this I reflect back on my family and wonder what they're doing,
even though mere seconds must have passed back home. Has Moriya found
Withywindle yet?  Has Beowulf found the Black Pharoah and defeated  him?
 I do not know.

I miss Ruka, and I miss Lian, and I wish I could bring both here.

I can easily see the draw that Jade could have to my dear Captain; the
oceans of this world have yet to be fully tamed, and while various of
the kingdoms and cities have small navies, none have managed to rise to
prominence over the centuries, and pirates still prey on the weak.
Julia-sensei and I have had to fight off more than one attempt during
our travels to the second continent and back again; more than one group
of pirates won't bother anybody again.  The sheer amount of unspoiled
coastline is also attractive; if I don't choose Jade as a place to make
a vacation home someday, I have a feeling that whatever shadow I -do-
choose will have more water and beach than most people know what to do
with. But I'm sure Ruka and I will be able to figure something... ^_-

But while Jade is culturally diverse and environmentally unspoiled, what
would be the draw to Lian?  She's a technological girl, and while Jade
is connected to Earth-Realm, the social stigmata against higher
technologies here is staggering. Now, I don't blame the natives for
having emigrated here to allow them to keep living their lives when the
Age of Magic ended on Earth; but I have a feeling Lian would chafe at
being possibly ostracized for pulling out anything larger than a pocket
calculator.  Jade's pretty upbeat as far as fantasy shadows go, but not
exactly a haven for technological commerce.

I SPECIFICALLY remember asking the Metal Pattern to send me to a place
where Lian and I could BOTH train and explore and be interested in... so
what's on Jade that would interest her?

Perhaps one day, I'll find out.

-- K.

                            ** ** ** **
 
[3rd Person -- Kanna meeting Dr. Diggers, Gina, Britanny w/ Julia during one
of the days where Julia's 'curse' is lifted.] 

[Before Brianna creation, which means pre-1998-7 .. 1995/6, perhaps?]

                            ** ** ** **

May 8, 570 CY (1332 AY) --- Jade Calendar : April 5, 1997 --- Day 2128

Miracles do happen, but not without some pain in the process.

Julia-Sensei's finally able to go home with her family!  My heart still
leaps with joy and relief that her long exile from her husband and
daughters has been concluded; thanks to the technological genius of Gina
and Brianna (the latter being a 'hybrid-clone' of Gina and Britanny, but
no less one of their family), the curse was revealed to actually be a
-Phasing- issue, causing sensei to 'wink out' to her family's
perceptions whenever she got close to them, wether on Earth-Realm or
Jade.  Her yearly one-day reunions had been accomplished by Dr. Diggers
tapping the Ether of Jade to create a temporary stopgap, breifly forcing
Julia into synch with the rest of her family, but it was only a magical
jury-rig.  The problem had been -started- by magic, but the end result
had been purely without magic of any kind.  Oh, if only I had thought to
Patternsight her long ago... then perhaps I could have detected the non-
existance of magic causing it, and other solutions could have been
entertained.

But that is a might-have been; besides, before then Gina would not have
had the technological knowhow to pull it off, and Brianna had yet to
have been "born".  I have a feeling if Lian were here, she would have
been telling "Told You So" to me and Dr. Diggers, before working on a
solution.  She's always been good at that, doggedly pursuing a line of
inquiry before something is -solved- to her satisfaction.  But, while
Gina and Brianna are technical geniuses, I'm still not sure if they're
the reason the Pattern sent me here.  I'll have to give it more
thought...

... because the reunion of Julia-Sensei and her family was rendered
bittersweet due to the machinations of two of their oldest, closest
enemies... ones whose actions in the past shaped their family into what
it is today.  The Lich-King, an undead horror who was once Dr. Diggers'
FATHER, and the reason why Julia had been 'cursed' in the first place,
had begun a campaign of agression against the Diggers family, in order
to capture Gina to use her as a new vessel for his diseased soul.  In
the process, he rescued and recovered another noteable... Brendan the
Betrayer.  Brendan, the Werewolf leader responsible for the annahilation
of the Werecheetah clan, and if what Britanny says is true, also
responsible for nearly selling the Werewolf clan into slavery.

But Brendan is dead now, a victim of his own greed for power.  And the
Lich King has been rendered powerless in full, stuck in the Realm of the
Undead with no way out.  Despite all the pain endured by Gina, Britanny,
Julia-Sensei, Dr. Diggers, Brianna, and their compatriots, they have
managed to triumph and preserve both the realm of Jade and their souls.
I wish I could have helped them out (hey, I've always wondered what it'd
be like to spar with a werewolf), but I was on the second continent at
the time and was only able to hear what happened now, since I decided to
travel to Brod's Observatory in the off chance I could meet Julia-sensei
during her yearly visit there.

Imagine my surprise when I heard what all had happened... and it's now
that I must make a bittersweet "goodbye, hello" to Julia Diggers, as
she'll be moving back to Earth fulltime.  I wish her well; after all,
she's EARNED this, and my heart is full with joy that a family is whole
again!  But a little selfish part of me wishes she could stay around and
teach me more.  Fortunately, it is easily silenced by the rest of my
mind.  After all, Julia-sensei can always re-visit Jade; it -is- her
homeland, and she has family here.  And for the next few years I will be
busy anyway, for the time is right for me to throw my focus into a new
effort, a working I have delayed for far too long:

The forging of Beryllina.

-- K.

                            ** ** ** **
 
[3rd Person -- one of the 'quests' to get some of the components needed to
forge Beryllina -- mid-1998]

                            ** ** ** **
 
[Kanna Diary Entry/1st Person Montage -- the Forging of Beryllina at her
forge] 

[1999-2000 -- "a year and a day" to forge the weapon]

                            ** ** ** **

[3rd Person -- Kanna doing some rangering... prelude to the G'nolga stuff?
Gives an opportunity to demo Beryllina. -- several months before Tournament
of Arms, early 2001] 

<... -G'nolga-?  One of The Ten?  But why the hell would she be doing
something as petty as kidnapping?>


                            ** ** ** **

May 8, 570 CY (1332 AY) --- Jade Calendar : July 12, 2001 --- Day 3,687 

It's been a whirlwind month and a half, filled with surprises I'd only
heard from rumor and hearsay while I worked at my forge up in the
mountains or down in the forests with O'Malley's rangers.  At first, I
couldn't beleive what my ears heard: Julia Diggers, sacrificing her
Honor as Armsmaster for a thrown tournament with -G'nolga-, of all
people?  It just didn't make sense to me!  Julia-sensei highly values
her personal honor and moral code; she doesn't kill when she doesn't
have to, and she always respects her opponents, even if she doesn't like
them.  There was no -reason- for such an action, especially at the
beginning of the Tournament of Arms.  Something was up, especially with
G'nolga's involvement, but my jobs kept me away from investigating
things like I wanted to.

Fortunately, matters settled themselves without me having to bull my way
in and get myself involved.  I managed to get tickets for Julia-Sensei's
final battles, and I didn't have a chance to hook back up with the
family until Sensei's triumph over G'nolga.  Such a battle!  I've NEVER
seen combat, armed or non, as brutal as the fight between sensei and her
longtime rival.  Whatever their grudge was, it was something that had
started a long time ago, and only now they had the opportunity to settle
the matter once and for all.

Sensei won.  Even with G'nolga's sudden seventh-inning surge of power
(the cause of which I only learned later), Julia-sensei hung in, as
tough as mom, to finally win the day.

It was only during the victory celebration at the local pub, and talks
between Gina, Brianna, Julia, Dr. Diggers, and myself the next day, that
I finally began to learn what had happened.  About Tirant's bid for
power on Jade and his teamup with G'nolga, trying to exploit the ruins
and artifacts left over from the Shadow Invasion to take over the realm.
About how at least two of Jade's most mystical, mysterious items of
power were actually minituraized, tremendously powereful -devices-,
STARSHIPS, long hidden away on the planet.  About how they had
engineered Julia's fall from grace as Armsmaster, so that G'nolga could
take her place and gain access to the rest of the artifacts stored in
the zigurrauts.  But all that information pales before the most
stunning, and disturbing, revelation of them all:

Jade is ARTIFICAL.

It still blows my mind, but the evidence pans out, according to Gina.
This world was BUILT, the artifacts from the shadow invasion, the three
"keys", all by the same group of people.  Where did they come from?  I
don't know.  Why did they come here and build Jade?  I don't know
either.  Gina is determined to find out, and I'm more than willing to
help out.

But Gina won't be able to throw all her efforts into exploring these
implications fulltime.  She has other leads to pursue on Earth-Realm as
well.  But fortunately, I know of someone who can collaborate with her,
and provide angles of investigation that Gina may not consider.

Lian.

Now I know.  Now I know why the Metal Pattern sent me here, ten years
ago.  This place is PERFECT for Lian to have a 'working vacation'; this
sort of technological thing is right up her alley.  Together, I think we
can start figuring out just what's gone on between Jade and the Nomad
Artifacers.  It will be good to see her again, it's been too damn long;
I just wish I could think of a good reason to bring Ruka over as well. 
Well, other than me just wanting to be around him more often -- it never
hurts to have some form of justification to present to the higher-ups...

Tomorrow, I'll trump Lian, and bring her over.  And then we'll get down
to the bottom of this.

-- K.

                            ** ** ** **

[[Now we get into the Kanna AND Lian stuff... which is dependant on what
  John has in store for any possible tie-ins to the campaign from Jade...
  see below.  This will have impact on what else gets mentioned in the
  story.  We'll probably have more Lian diary entries from this point 
  on.  Plans subject to change, modify to taste.]]

[3rd Person -- Kanna, Lian, Dr. Diggers, Gina, Brianna, Julia (and Lynn
 and Subtracto? ) go to examine one of the scouted underground sites on
 the third continent.  Once excavated and they get inside, Lian realizes
 that the Nomad Artifacers also built Mechanus.]

                            ** ** ** **

Diary Entry 001 - Jade Day 31

I've decided to follow Kanna's example and keep a diary, at least during
my stay here on Jade. There is something comforting about putting down
thoughts to paper ...

It's been a very interesting first month, I must say. Our current 'base'
is this small village called 'Seer's Hamlet', which is hidden in what
the locals call a rift pocket. A rift pocket's basically the same thing
as the shadow pockets a high-level Pattern-user can create, just made
with normal shadow magic. They also use the same 'technology' for other
things, like bags of holding. Nifty.

This is where Kanna pulled me in, and where we met her friends, the
Diggers family. Dr. Diggers is an archmage from the Shadow Earth
connected to this realm, his wife Julia is a native weaponmaster.
They've got three daughters ... Gina, who is almost as great a genius as
I am, is the oldest. Then there's Britanny, called Cheetah because ...
well, she is one. A were-cheetah, to be precise. And then there is
Brianna, who's a crazy gun nut.

Also there when I arrived was the Retreat Northern Edge Guard, a band of
... hm, I don't really know what they're doing normally. I'll have to
ask next time. They're all were-cats, and their artificer, Thropan, is
just the cutest thing! Tall, dark, handsome, skilled, modest, great
sense of humor ... I could go on and on. Did I mention he's cute? And
best of all, he's single. I wonder if he purrs when scratched behind the
ears ... maybe I'll manage to find out some time soon. ^.^

True to tradition, things began with a bang. In this case a metaphorical
one, I didn't blow up anything this time. Turns out this whole nice
planet is artificial, created by people Gina calls the Nomad Artificers.
And then there's the little matter of an invasion by so-called 'Shadows'
a long, long time ago, who were driven off by the first armsmaster with
help of mysterious weapons sealed now in ziggurats that only the
armsmaster of Jade and those he or she has authorized to do so can
enter. Lucky for us, Julia Diggers is the current Armsmaster. ^.^

But first things first ... a mapping expedition has found strange
underground sites on the so far unexplored third continent, one of which
we went to explore in hopes of finding more clues to the nature of
Jade's builders. We got some clues, alright. The site we found could
have been in Mechanus ... same design, same control elements, same
technology. I'm still boggling. I -knew- that someone has built
Mechanus, but I didn't exactly expect to find another planet made by
those someones.

Unfortunately, the Diggers had to leave us at that point to tend to
business back on their Shadow Earth, so it was just me and Kanna for the
trip back. We stopped at another one of the sites, and found the same,
and more. We also found a data crystal. It's not compatible with my
systems, and it seems damaged, so it will take me a while to unlock and
decipher the data.

That's it for now. Back to work ...

- L.

                            ** ** ** **

[3rd Person -- More artifact analysis?  Possible beginning brushes with
 the Shadow-Elves, and musings on the Shadow/Shade threat.]

                            ** ** ** **

[Lian Diary Entry -- Lian's POV of events, some news of the GD clan back
 on Earth, Kanna training Lian in warfare/martial arts, Lian helping
 Kanna with her mental skills.]

                            ** ** ** **

[3rd Person -- Kanna and Lian hear of the Magic Sapper, and go to
 investigate w/ Gina and Britanny.  Determine that it's NOT an Outsider
 Artifact, much to their relief, but then causes Gina to pester until
 they actually EXPLAIN some of it.]

                            ** ** ** **

[Lian Diary Entry -- Commentary of their explinations of
 Amber/Chaos/Shadow to Gina et. al., and their reactions to the concept.]

                            ** ** ** **

[3rd Person -- Yet more Kanna/Lian/Thropan exploration, this time on the
 4th continent... and discovery of a small werecheetah clan near one of
 the sites!]

                            ** ** ** **

[Lian Diary Entry -- summary of reactions to this news from the Diggers
 and the other were-clans, and the story of how the werecheetahs got
 there.]

                            ** ** ** **

[3rd Person -- Lian/Thropan date!]

                            ** ** ** **

[Lian Diary Entry -- Lian's musings on relationship stuff, and
 Kanna's preparations for the upcoming Tournament of Arms.]

                            ** ** ** **

[3rd Person -- Kanna participating in the next Tournament of Arms... not
 making it to the finals, but placing out against one of the "Ten" in the
 semifinals, which is still not bad.]

                            ** ** ** **

[Lian Diary Entry -- Musings on her decade on Jade so far, and hers and
 Kanna's plans to head back soon, and for Kanna to adjust the time
 gradient for Jade/Earth/Retreat so they'll be able to return to
 Amber without worrying about a lot of time having passed in Jade, etc.]

[Fin]