Kanna's Diary: March 22, 570 CY (1332 AY) [Game day #1] 3 days out of Cathay. Two days until we hit Westb'ryport. Still tracking le Fox. ALMOST had a breakthrough. Happened to meet Bey on the Arden, where he was trading some vases to a tigerguy with BP. Got jumped by some Nile Valley loons and some thugs prolly from Westb'ryport, but who had cards from City of Brass. Weird 'nuff, they were planning to meet le Fox, but in the middle of everything some Rebmaquois clowns decided to blow up the AAF Arden. While we were on it. Well, we managed to get out most of the people; sadly, in the hustle we didn't get the Egyptians Bey and I'd taken out earlier. No sign of the Tigerguy, he must have bailed with BP or magic. The four card players I had gaby send back to Ember. Le Fox had raided the blimp's safe, stealing whatever art had been in it. Magical Rebman Knife and Egyptian Obelisk with an unknown Power in it were left onboard. Got gaby to take those over as well. Rebmaquois hangglided off and bailed under the sea. Arden crashed, was eaten by a whale. Going to spend the next few days relaxing and finding out what Bey's been up to... curious what was up with those vases. Once we make port, gonna head back to Amber with the goods and have Aunt Nanami and Aunt Kozue look 'em over, see what they think. Then head down to Amber City to get more info on the Rebmaquois and any new leads on le Fox. -- K. ====================================================================== March 23 [Game day #2] Talked with Beowulf a bit as we made the approach to the Cape. Turns out he found the vases in a Shadow called Filick... made of silver, very good condition, and covered with -Sidar- runes. That makes 'em pre-Logrus stuff, on the level of the Spoon. Unfortunately, Bey doesn't know sidar; I suggested that he talk with Queen Anthy or Great-Grandpa about the possibility of translating the writing on them. After all, doubt we could bop down to Chaos and ask Anno to translate. ^_^ Bey thinks they're old burial urns, but other than that, he doesn't have more information on 'em... well, aside that crazed Egyptian cultists are after'em. But we found that out together. We've changed plans a bit; we're gonna check out Westb'ryport a bit to see if we can track the guy who teleported out with the third vase. Also gives sis a chance to map more of the Cape for later trumping, since neither of us have been there before. Bey also plans to find out more about Lord Kahn, the guy who bought the other two vases, given the reactions of the rest in the lounge when he showed up -- but that's a lower priority, I think. Get to the Cape, poke around a little bit, and then head back to Amber with the goods to get our aunts to look at 'em. As for Bey himself? He's been running around Shadow on various expeditions, not much to talk about -- he's found a place called Loompaland, though. Apparently they make quality candy and chocolate; DAMN good stuff, if this 'Wonka Bar' he gave me is any indication. I wonder if I could interest Ember in a trade connection? Could be profitable... though the chocolates would prolly melt in Ember's heat. Eh, ahwell. We land at the Cape tomorrow. -- K. ====================================================================== March 24 [Game day #3] Busy day today, so far. I'm writing this while waiting in line at Aunt Kozue's office; I should've figured that our luck for avoiding lines and waits wouldn't last. But as far as it goes, things still look promising. We managed to get some decent stuff from Cape Westb'ryport for presents for folks... a little turtle statuette for Mutsumi, some spice for Aunt Nanami, and a model of the Fireshark for Aunt Kozue. Never hurts to sweeten the pot with gifts, especially if you come calling to ask questions and favors. Doesn't look like le Fox's been heard of in Westb'rport, so I think the trail's gone cold on that end. On the flip side, got to know some of the locals a little, and they have an artist population, so I may've established some good contacts. We'll just have to see. When we got back to Amber, Bey got shangheid by Mutsumi, and we went up to her rooms next to Uncle Miki's and Aunt Madoka's. Mutsumi was working on another painting, based on a book that both she and I'd been pointed to by Thoric. Weird, huh? Must be trying to boost his confidence through horror stories, or something. Also had to defuse a little fracas involving Tama-Chan, Snickers, Mitsune, and some of Cousin Shinobu's foxhounds. Good Pyricorn, that girl's gotta learn to let up on things! At least Mustumi wasn't too stressed out over that. Oh, and remind me to double-check with Mia about that spice I had her analyze. Musn't forget. And the thugs we captured still need further interrogation as to WHY they wanted those daggers and where they got those cards. After that, we went down to Aunt Nanami's at Amber's City Hall. She looked over the dagger, the ring, and the Obelisk -- as sis reported, the knife was particularly nasty, and had an ice shard spell imbedded as well. The ring was a spell-rack, for use by other folks, which means the Egyptians have some soceror in their employ. And as for the obelisk, she locked it away for further analysis later. In exchange for helping us out, we've agreed to take out a smuggling ship coming in tonight -- shouldn't be that hard. She was surprised that the Bloc-heads had hit that far out near the Cape... it could be that they read the passenger lists and found that Bey and I were on the Arden, and therefore targeted it. And given they've been quiet for the past month, they might be saving up for something big. I'm gonna warn Aunt Kozue about this, and see what other info I can get from her... Whups, looks like it's my turn. More later. ~~~ Good Pyricorn. Good ever-loving Pyricorn. I don't think I can even -begin- to describe this evening, and given how tired I am, I don't think I'll bother. So many things happened after I saw Aunt Kozue... The storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. Even as the clouds over the Rebma Vortex dissipate, I can sense more ominous clouds ahead. That fortune Percy received from that 'Madame ZaZa'... it resonates too damn strongly to part of what I got from Yig. And given the brainstorming session I had with Beowulf and Lian earlier in the afternoon, and then the appearance of Uncle Derith's SON... The time is here. The time is now. I only hope that I'll be strong and wise enough to do what needs to be done to protect my family in the weeks ahead, and to finally, FINALLY return Aunt Juri to her home. Preferrably in one piece. Part of me is frightfully scared of what we may eventually face, but I need to take heart in my father's words, trust in my close family, and have faith in my own abilities. By the four heraldric beasts of the Pattern PLEASE let me not fuck up. Things I need to do tomorrow (rearrange as needed): Check on what Lian may have learned from her mom if she was able to meet. Get Lian up to speed on Bey's vases. Reassure Lian and Bey about sis's blips. Report to Aunt Nanami about the entire thing with the boat. Find out about that obelisk at the same time. See if Lucien's still around before his patternwalk. Go see Sumire and fill her in. Check out this 'Madame ZaZa' in the Ward of the Iron Pot. Meet with Arimi at 11 about Le Fox's thefts of the daggers. See if she has a trump of Miwa so I can get to Atlantis easily. Inform mom about what happened at the Whirlpool, and Lucien's appearance. Damned if I know what else. Sleep good. Sleep now. -- K. ====================================================================== March 25 [Game Day #4] I write this quickly, in the interstices between moments and duties, in order to obtain as much information as I can remember as possible before even beginning to attempt to interpret. For images and words run deep, and emotion and sensation extracted can lead to bias.-- K. [Needless to say, this takes up several pages in Kanna's diary.] [Image: Kanna and Sumire running through a field of flowers, holding hands and laughing.] [Image: Beowulf stuffing himself with pizzas.] "I see you will meet a short, brown haired not-stranger. She will give you a potato. The fate of the WORLD rests on that potato." [Image: Mitsune dressed as the Pope, leading mass at Saint Peter's.] [Image: Chef Bork riding on the back of a flying chicken, leading an attack squad of them.] "You will go on a long, long journey. At the end of the journey, you will reach the place you have long dreamed of. But it will be out of order, and all the repair lines will be busy." "To achieve your dreams, you must learn to 'do the butt'" [Image: A line of breakdancing Swayvills flits across the crystal ball.] "For everyone is 'doing the butt'. Also, 'the safetydance' is a very crucial skill." [Image: A line of faceless minions all in a circle backstabbing each other appears and begins to rotate.] [Image: Tylor, dressed as Space Elvis, now comes into sight and starts watering a huge tree. It's the size of Yig, but it looks more like a giant apple tree.] "Action figures will show you the way to glory, to power, to ride the S-train to the stars. You must mount the giant eagle which is not an eagle, if you wish to fly." [Images of the entire royal family, including the dead and missing members, all squaredancing, now fill the crystal ball.] [Images: There's also a dozen or so people you don't recognize.] [ Recognized by Corrine -- The Dread Abyss Pirate Demetrius Ishmael of the Squid Gumi Former male art student from Paris Former Ember castle guard (died when Kanna was 3) Nadia from Shadow (centuries ago) Jean from Shadow (centuries ago) Woman who she remembers but can't place. Remaining 5-6 unrecognized -- NEED IMAGE DETAILS FROM JOHN FOR KANNA TO SKETCH.] "There is great wisdom in shadows. They will show you the way of dreams. But don't drink the water." [Image: Motoko and Moriya tapdancing on top of a railing over a pit in unison.] "And finally, if you find a small velvet bag laced shut with gold thread, don't open it. Ever." ~~~~~~~~~~~ [On a fresh page...] "I see you will meet a short, brown haired not-stranger. She will give you a potato. The fate of the WORLD rests on that potato. You will go on a long, long journey. At the end of the journey, you will reach the place you have long dreamed of. But it will be out of order, and all the repair lines will be busy. To achieve your dreams, you must learn to 'do the butt'. For everyone is 'doing the butt'. Also, 'the safetydance' is a very crucial skill. Action figures will show you the way to glory, to power, to ride the S-train to the stars. You must mount the giant eagle which is not an eagle, if you wish to fly. There is great wisdom in shadows. They will show you the way of dreams. But don't drink the water. And finally, if you find a small velvet bag laced shut with gold thread, don't open it. Ever." ~~~~~~~~~~~ [On another fresh page...] Transcribed from Kuonji Ukyou of Lipun... In the year of crisis When the lost ocean returns When evil stalks the land When the Serpent's claws reach out Then must the Second Key be used. Take it to the Place Where Only The Keeper May Go Use it, with firm resolve To lock out those which are outside To protect order and chaos To foil the plans of the Yellow Sign But be warned The Serpent knows not what it's claws do They may grasp away the Second Key They may seek to use it for power They may bear it from the Keeper Then must the Keeper travel to the True City In peril, find the heir of the sun Two must go to find the Key Two only, else all is lost Two only, on pain of death and failure Keeper and Heir together may recover the Key Seek it in Chaos, then must the Keeper Use it to lock that which is Outside Outside Then deliver it up unto the Heir of the Sun For, it's purpose done, a new one waits. {this was apparently originally written in Sidar.} ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ... and here I thought my life couldn't get MORE complex or confusing. I've got a price on my head from both Siam and Sind to the tune of one Comet apiece, the KTC and Siamese ambassadors after my throat, AND more prophesies and fortunes than I know what to deal with. They all come together in a mismatched whole, and give me more questions than answers. The final realizations seem to be on the tip of my tounge, but I can't voice them either due to secrecy or incomplete information. I just have to wonder what gods I offended to have this happen all at once. Good Pyricorn I need a break and the week isn't even OVER yet. Talking with Aunt Nanami was informative -- at least she didn't tear our head off, just warned us to get out of the country for a while. I also found out some more stuff that Le Fox had stolen... from the LEADER of the KTC ... that had possibly turned up in Begma (House Winfri). I also learned interesting facts about the Lion Spikards, such as there's believed to be 3 of each element (Fire, Air, Water) and that Gaerthos was possibly a Lion Spikard... and info about the existance of Dragon Spikards, a Chaosian equivelent. After that, I saw Arimi, and talked with her about the Rebman Dagger theft. She suggested that the reason why the Bloc hit the zeppelin was because of the daggers, not us, so I'll be trying to check with Miwa and Yurika if they've lost any daggers, though it's not very likely. I probably won't be able to PURSUE this anytime soon, either, given everything... but at least I contacted Uncle Miki to borrow some trumps and find out where I could get more Bloc information. I wish I'd had a chance to talk with Lucien before he walked the Pattern, but ahwell. Mebby I'll give him some Begman Roses on his return... if I ever MANAGE to get over to Begma before the month is out, I need to remember to pick some up for Uncle Miki. And Rebma's back. And in the hands (or should that be fins?) of the Rebmaquois. I have to wonder who has Gaerthos now. I really hope it's NOT the Rebmaquois. But given Yig, it certainly implies it... And WHY the hell is it that Fox keeps hitting people I don't really care for? Is it an example of Robin Hood tendencies, or is it just the perversity of fate? I trumpcalled Lian to let her know about the stuff I'd found out (about the appearance of Lucien, the price on our heads, etc...) As it turns out, she'd heard some stuff from Great-Grandpa as well. Things about Melkor and the Lion Spikards, the dangers of researching too much into Outsider lore, and about being nailed to a big metal cross. That's... disturbing, to say the least. Lian's headed to the Infinite Library to do more research, but hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch. Lunch at King's was probably THE sole sane and decent thing that happened today for me. Yeesh. And Madame ZaZa -- oh, don't even get me STARTED on Madame ZaZa... ... oop. Knock at the door. That must be mom. Time to face the music for the third time this day... more later. ~~~ Okay. So, I've just done a trump fortune, since I need guideance. After the day I've had, I NEED an up-to-date semi-relevant personal fortune read. Fortunately, Mom's taught me enough of the lore of the Trumps that I can cast my own fortune. The question is -- "Can I Trust Kuonji Ukyou, whom I've just met, and is he telling the truth?" Here's what I got. 1) Distant Past. The Pattern Chamber of Ember 2) Recent Past. Beowulf. 3) Purpose. Lord Falme, reversed. 4) Inner Secrets. Gil-Galad. 5) Near Future. Shadow Theatre 6) Far Future. Yig, Reversed. 7) Destiny. Van. 8) Hopes and Fears. Drake, Reversed. 9) Other's Views. Nanami, reversed. 10) Self-Image. Shinobu Minor. 11) Heart of the Matter. Anno. 12) Present Conflicts. Annadil, Reversed. There are two ways I could interpret this spread. Either Kanna-centric (as the caster/querent), or Ukyou-centric (as the subject/query). Kanna-centric: 1) the start of it all -- the recreation of Ember, father, my birth 2) Recent association with Beowulf. Research and investigation. 3) A subserviant Chaosian, reversed -- either the reaffirmation of -Order-, or journeys into Chaos to deal with major Chaosians. 4) Two Worlds, Mixed Heritage (for me). Or possibly, the hands of Annadil, who wore Gil-Galad's face and identity like a mask. Unknown people disguised as familiar ones. Secrets of Wood. Quests for one's roots/heritage (Aunt Juri). 5) More Prophesy Goodness in the future! Wheeeee. 6) .... A loss of balance? The Fall of Yig? Or the failure of my Yig Prophesy to come to fruition? That would NOT be good, either way. 7) Quests, Bravery, Strength, courage, overcoming odds via physical means... but also self-scarifice and heroic death. Eeep. Possibly referring to my quest to return Aunt Juri. Ultimate culmination of my goals to rescue her. 8) Drake, the missing prince. Overlooking present tasks in favor of the future; overly fast change, difficulty of contact, isolating oneself in dreams instead of working on MAKING those dreams Reality. Fears of getting too caught up in the destiny crap that I get blinded to real-world immediate concerns? Hidden manipulation? The dogs of war are nigh? On the flip side -- dereliction of duty... or FULFILLMENT of Duty, even when things are going to heck? 9) Political concerns? Arrogence and intrigue impacting on my current situation? Or people viewing me as a nice person, as opposed to Aunt Nanami's snippishness? Attempts to use magic to control me? 10)Meek view of myself. I'm just this girl, y'know? Doin' my job, runnin' around, tryin' to get by. ^_^ 11)Anno. Keeper of the Logrus. If not the King of Chaos, then the center of Logrus/Chaos Power. He controls its access, knows its mysteries. A showdown versus factions of Chaos is likely. On the flip side, could represent him as a contributing, supportive factor. 12)Annadil, the First King of Chaos. Somehow, him or his legacy is opposed to us. Or, Ishmael, the second king. Or the Lion's Cub or the Lion's Heir. OR, somebody on the amberite side? More likely chaos-related for this card, tho. Ukyou-centric: 1) The Patterns. Erected to help keep out the Outsiders. The last of the five elemental Patterns. 2) research into lore --- spikard lore, Outsider lore, sidar lore, etc. 3) Pattern-related people, Order over Chaos. Finding a major Amberite, namely me? 4) Is Ukyou a pawn or mask, assimilated like Annadil did Gil-Galad? 5) Shadows and Prophesies, multiple interpretations. Acting on that prophesy to find me. 6) Fall of Yig? Loss of Wisdom? Destruction of Balance if this all doesn't succeed? 7) The heroic quest. Is Ukyou descended from Van? He certatinly seems to have the Blood... AND an Air Pattern imprint. 8) Distractions, overwhelming duties, possible betrayal. Warfare and mouth moving faster than brain. 9) Good-natured and decent, OR being manipulated somehow. 10)Meek, but more than he seems? 11)The Courts of Chaos and the Logrus. 12)The Lion's children -- the Cub, the Heir, and the Spikards. Well. THIS is certainly an optimistic fortune. On the one hand, anticillary evidence from other prophesies suggest that going along with Ukyou's request would be a good idea -- 'a short brown-haired not-stranger', his story of his family line being derived from a prince of a foreign land fleeing an invisible dragon (aka Van), the existance of the other Gates in Air Patterns like the Gate of Night in Embra which was used as a beachhead for the Outsider influence. On the other hand, for somebody who's a backwoods Lipuner, he's more than aware of the political situation, -Outsider- lore, -Sidar-, AND has an Air Pattern Imprint. Yet, his dialouge seems to imply that he doesn't know how to shadowshift! The timing of this, and the appearance of the Gil-Galad and Annadil cards in the fortune extremely worry me -- after all, we know that one doesn't need to be born of the Blood to gain the power over Shadow via the Pattern. The 'Total Secrecy Not Telling Anybody' bit doesn't fill me with glee, either. But, what can I do? If this threat is real, and if the Gate of Referendum opens automatically, if it can't be closed Lipun will become another hell-on-earth. If this threat is a setup to get me to help him retrive a Key to OPEN the Gate, then better to play along and intercept him when he tries to make the final play. Dammit, I hate not trusting people like this, but I don't see any other alternatives that don't put SOMEBODY at risk. And I dislike even -more- having to keep stuff like this secret from my family. But I've done it for what I've received at Yig (within reason), and I can do it again now if need be. And if I'm going to be screwed over, I'm at LEAST going to be able to make the screwee pay DAMN dearly before it's all through. Hell, after this, everything else almost seems anticlimatic. Madame ZaZa's visit had various trends that jibed well with my Prophesy from Yig. She was probably using claravoyance magic or whatnot to get in tune with things. I may need to visit the Shadow Theatre in my near future, especially with its appearance in the cards. The images provided were... odd, but I should be able to make copies of the faces I don't know and get folks to look at 'em. Wish Percy had reported whatever HE saw, but... oh well. Sumire's at least been notified. Wish I'd mentioned that I'd told Bey and Lian, though. Damn. But I suppose this keeps things celled further. I at least got good info out of the thugs we caught on the zeppelin... the number of daggers they planned to buy (12), how they heard about Renard planning to sell (a Westb'ryport fence by the name of Vinnie), and who they planned to sell to (rich shmoes). Had sis send 'em back, and this'll make some nice leads whenever I can pick this up again. And now, Kuonji Ukyou. He's both sincere but also makes me wary. The timing of his appearance, the telling of his story... it's all slightly 'off' and I can't safely put my fingers on it. Why ME? Discounting the prophesy thing, if this Key is so importaint why was it stolen from Lipun and taken back to Chaos and why can only he and I retrieve it? What the hell could it be? I'll have to lead the Hellride for certain to make SURE we get to the right item, though it'll prolly take us to Chaos, anyway. At least I've got plenty of trumps to get us back in a timely fasion -- even having sis dump us half a day outside the City of Brass will still give us a while to get to the Courts. I don't -think- sis would count as an 'assistant' (making two three), but you never can tell with prophesies. On the other side, prophesies don't usually take into consideration constructs. At least when we're in Chaos, sis will hopefully have the sense to NOT manifest, that close to the Logrus. May have to have her shut down my manifestation, though, just to be sure. Of course, heading INTO Chaos with barely any info is stupid. I have glimmers of info from Gran-Aunt Anthy's stories and Falme's, but it still doesn't help. The thought of trying to penetrate House Tremere, Chaos's premere artifacers and sorcerors, doesn't entirely fill me with much joy. A shapeshift headband should help (I was able to rationalize it to Mia as something to help with investigating le Fox), but it still won't be enought. And again, he's got an Air Pattern imprint. He could very well be descended from Van; though there's also Aunt Kozue's story that she -recovered- his remains. But then again, he was bones at the time, she could have been mistaken. Damned if I know. At least mom didn't ream me over the KTC debacle, and I was able to tell her about my worries about Bloc Rebmaquois and them getting their hands on Gaerthos. I may not be able to tell her things -now-, but at least I can write her a letter to hide behind my wall safe's painting covering, so if things do become fatal, people will know what I did and why. With luck, we'll be able to get back and take care of things without a modicum of worry -- I'll be taking my minidiary with me, not this one, so it'll be a while before I can write another entry in this one. Less chance of info getting out as well if captured. So, tomorrow we go on a grand adventure. At least it'll be an eye opener, as I've never been to Chaos. In its way, it should be fun. Provided this ISN'T a total trap... -- K. ====================================================================== [Minidiary Entries -- lost thanks to vapage!] ====================================================================== 'Brief' Diary Entry, late Day 14 [April 4, 1332 AY], at Corrine's Beach House at Beach 2. My life is SO fucked up right now. An Elvis-Templated mage. A missing Prince of Amber who could technically be a princess who's rather monofocused. Everybody and their pet wombat after the keys to a Spikard. One of those keys obtained that's effectively a piece of the Logrus. The Keeper of the Logrus somehow behind it all. More ominous prophesy 'goodness' than one can shake a stick at. And Shaft is dead. Good Pyricorn, what HAPPENED?! I don't know where even TO begin on this, and I don't even know I can try; my mind's still in partial shock over all the information sis told me and what I've learned. My thoughts and notes made in the mini diary along the route to the Third Key were toasted; but that's why I have such items, so that the real diaries don't get lost. I'll reconstruct some of the things we saw in sketch form later, but sis is the only one with the map of the Labyrinth now. Hopefully we won't have to go back, but if we do, we should be able to reconstruct. If my theory is correct, Ukyou's Second Key for the Gate is also the Second Key to the spikard, and the group who stole it (Tremere? Nergal? Mad cow-worshipping heathens?) will be searching for the third and have it on them. It occurs to me I'm avoiding the true issues here, though. Prophesy. Death. Sexuality. Taylor, supposed son of Annadil. Running around in Shadow, causing trouble and posessing parts of my Yig Prophesy, if not the entire thing.... good Pyricorn, as if the Forestals weren't pissed off enough at me. We're going to need to warn them sometime, and soon... but I don't know how well they'll take my presence again. But these things the prophesy relates -- somebody seeking to become the avatar of power for the Outsiders... this could make Annadil look like a second-rater if whoever it is (Taylor?) succeeds. I don't like his name; it makes it sound like he's a shadow of Uncle Tylor, but I know too well not to draw conclusions just based on names off the bat. I'm worried about that missing couplet for the section with the Keeper of the Keys, though. I'll need to ask sis what the circumstances were when she GOT this part, and how much WAS recited, and where and how. Not now, though, as we've got more immediate things to worry about. Like getting the Second Key for the Gate of Referendum and closing it shut before it can make Lipun a hell-in- Shadow. And trying to deal with the death of my older cousin. My mind still shudders to think of it; a Shattered Pattern, destroying both its drawer and knight in one blow. What an exceedingly nasty and VICIOUS way to kill a person. We're fortunate that somehow, Kasumi and Jacqueline survived. Their loss as well would have been too much to take. But part of me, selfish as it is, fears what could happen if somebody tried that back home, and it fills me with terror to even think of the concept. Thank the four heraldric beasts that Mom's been warned; she's sure to take precautions. I respected Shaft. I LIKED Shaft. He was a good cousin, a good man, a good father, even with his blunt and licentious ways. A partial model for the career path I took. Even now, I can see him in my mind's eye exorting me to stop screwin' around with the angst and kick behind like Ramon taught me to. And I will. Good pyricorn, I WILL, somehow help with resolving this. I worry about our family, and somebody who could conceive of doing something like... that to him is somebody to fear, and rightly so. Ukyou's right that he's dangerous, but I fear that even he might have bitten off more than he can chew, and that if he tries to go on a solo attempt to take Taylor out that he'll die. And if that happened... ... I don't know how I'd react. 'cause I'm not sure how I FEEL about him -- her -- whatever, but I have a feeling that it'll come into play soon enough. Even with his reticent manner about things that would've helped telling me about a LOT earlier, well... I don't know, but I think she may like me. Pyricorn knows we were flirting enough as it was on the way to the Third Key; and as he appeared he was damn cute, and we did help each other out along the way (though Ukyou's solo- tendencies need work, pyricorn help me). I don't know. I'm pretty damn sure I'm not disposed to be Lesbian, and up until this point I was thinking of Ukyou as a guy -anyway- and a pretty fine catch if he didn't get spacked, even WITH the possible amberite descent that I suspected at the time -- the distance in generations for the Kuonji line would preclude any chances of inbreeding or being an 'incestuous' relationship, really. So that wasn't an issue. The issue is, well, that Ukyou's actually a girl. And I'm not sure if that -matters- anymore. Or if I care about what other might think if they knew. My experiences at Yig taught me that much. Too many things to think about. For the moment, there's nothing to it but to forge ahead; recover and recuperate, try to convince Spellvis to accompany us on this next leg (if Ukyou's ameinable to it -- I can think of reasons both pro and con for him to come along), get sis to give me a new Manifestation to replace the first, try calling Mia for a replacement shapechange headband (no biggie if she can't whip it up in an hour or two Ember-time -- I'm just concerned if we have to go into Chaos again I don't want to be identified), and then plan our next shadow-seeking move. We don't have much time left before the Gate of Referendum opens. And good Pyricorn I'm tired. So I'm going to go to sleep now. -- K. ====================================================================== [Sketches made of the 7-Dragon Fountain and the Key Chamber from Kanna's memories.] [Sketches made of the Three Dragon Mural Room from Kanna's memory.] [Sketch made of the obverse side of the Anno coin. Sidar runes not repeated, since Kanna, while able to recognize 'em, can't make head/ tails of the entemology] [Some impression-sketches of things encountered along the way to the Third Key in Shadow.] [Sketch and notes about the Third Key] [Sketches of frescoes showing spatula-carrying figures locking away _things_ behind a massive Gate.] ====================================================================== April 15 [Game Day #25] I'm writing this up in the Omatoze mountains of Lipun, where the air is thin and cold and I'm freezing my butt off. Sis's started a fire while we wait for Ukyou to finish whatever it is he needs to beyond the Inner Barrier, and I managed to bag some wildlife for me to cook for my meal. It's been a long, strange trip. It's still not technically done; I have no idea exactly when the Gate of Referendum is supposed to open. Fortunately, it hasn't yet, which is why Lipun is still here. But now it's all up to Ukyou... Ukyou. I'm still not sure what to think about him... really, -her-, but he acts male so much that you really forget his gender when you refer to him. He must have been raised like this since an early age, it's so engrained in his behaviors. It certainly fooled -me-. And really, despite her gender, I still think of Ukyou as a guy. And a damn talented and cute one at that. Rather monofocused when it comes to dealing with his chosen profession, but hey, everybody's got their quirks. Upon reflection, I'm glad I took the chance and trusted him when I decided to come along on the quest for the Second Key. I really, really hope he survives the closing of the gate, and hunting down Taylor -- at least he's got a Trump Deck now, and I've got one of him... we can at least keep in touch. And I do hope that we can keep in touch... because I do like Ukyou, even with everything. Will anything happen? Damned if I know... Well, it's time to get some rest; sis has got overwatch. At least my pack has a decent blanket with it. Thank the Pyricorn. -- K. ====================================================================== April 16 [Game Day #26] Home. Good Pyricorn, it's good to be home. After hellriding from CAFAM to Dinosaur World, trumping to Lipun, trumping to DOOM, hellriding to Chaos (and the psychic attack ice dice), then hellriding back to the Labyrinth, doing a dungeon crawl, rescuing people, forming alliances, finding Keys, nearly getting blown up, escaping from being blown up, hellriding again, fighting four folks we'd earlier encountered in the Labyrinth, then trumping to Lipun once more and heading out to the back woods to prevent the Outsiders from gaining entrance -- we're HOME. And by the Pyricorn the sensation of being home has never felt sweeter. I fully admit that at the beginning I didn't trust Ukyou with his plea for assistance. The timing of things, coming fresh on the heels of my troubles with the KTC ship and the prophesy interpretation with Beowulf and Lian made his appearance extremely suspect. But I'm glad that in the end that I decided to go along with him on his quest; originally out of suspicion, but later out of committment and support for Ukyou's goals as it was demonstrated that he really had been on the up and up. The final leg of our journey in Lipun only reinforced that. Where does this leave us? Well, the Outsiders have been denied another beach-head in our Reality. Spellvis has the Third Key to the Spikard, the Hoarde of the Dragon; and I have my suspicions I'll be seeing him again, and soon -- given that I've currently got in my possession the Second Key. The same one that Ukyou used to close the Gate of Referendum, by means that I don't entirely know and not sure if I should ask. And a good helping of loot to help make things feel a little more worthwhile. Probably will give some of it to Ukyou, and the rest to Bey and Lian. I'm keeping the sword, though. Where do we go from here? My most immediate plan is to have breakfast with mom tomorrow and to bring Ukyou along. I still feel guilty about having dropped the Le Fox investigation, but more importaint matters took precedence, and having Ukyou there to vouch for my involvement should be a major help. Not to mention this way, mom gets to -meet- Ukyou. *^_^* We'll probably part ways after this, given his current hunt, but I at least want to get some things off my chest before he leaves. After that, I'm not sure -- sis mentioned a need for a family meeting, so we'll probably have that in the middle of the morning, and I should trump Sumire to see how things are going in Amber. I've been gone for a month; certainly the price on my head has gone down a little? And I DEFINITELY need to call Beowulf and Lian... the addendums to my prophesy need to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb. And I need to ask sis what the circumstances were OF her hearing this. Well. All that will be answered on the 'morrow. For now, I am going to take some well earned rest, and have a real BATH. -- K. [Sketches and notes about the Second Key] ====================================================================== April 17 [Game Day #27] From sis, on Melkor/Morgoth: "He was jailed... by those who dwell... in the Blessed Realm... beyond the Gates of Night... in the Halls of the Dead... chained until the Last... by the hand of Aule... and Thangorodrim lies broken... and his Lieutenant was scattered... by the Scion of Order... who... who..." From sis: Seek ye the child who dwells in the Blessed Realm Beyond the sea Child of the Weeping Woman and her Champion. Trained by the Forger steeped by the Deathlord nurtured by the Mother in his hair, Stars and in his mind, the Sun. He knows the arts his Father would not learn and his Sister misuses but he knows not from whence he comes. If the child comes to the realm of order realm of her Greatdam who will teach what must be taught what must be learned... ... to be Menelcamar. ====================================================================== April 18 [Game Day #28] What a day, yesterday. I really should learn to pay more attention to fortunes I draw and those issued by my immediate family than those offered on a silver platter by those I do not know. I feel like a fool. I do not LIKE feeling like a fool. No, not at all. My concerns and worries about Kuonji Ukyou appear to have been justified after all. Given the conspicious absence of Ukyou from breakfast, my father's opinion that this was a scam, and the odd connections developing between Beowulf, Spellvis, and Kuonji -Inji-, I am starting to believe that I was taken advantage of. But I remain convinced that there's more to this than just myself being scammed, despite what dad said. I don't know WHAT, but bigger things are happening; especially with that Dark Heart prophesy Lian uncovered. The Outsiders are moving again, and practically blatantly -- and I know what I saw up at the mountaintop wasn't just a simulation. It still worries me -- what is Kuonji really up to? The thought of him with Outsider powers is very, very troubling. At least for the moment I have something of a direction for my current efforts. Thanks to sis and the information we got from grandfather, it looks like it'd be a very good idea to seek out the future Menelcamar and bring him to Amber... whoever he truly is. We continue to keep mom informed about Beowulf and Lian's findings -- the existance of an Outsider construct is something that's an aberration on reality, and NEEDS to be wiped out for certain. WHEN is another question, given our more immediate tasks. Infogather first, THEN plan tactics. And now Shizumaru and Rimururu are missing, and Kafuin is damaged. I don't like this, not at all. ESPECIALLY after hearing about Shaft's death and Morgenstern's madness. It feels like those who particularly fought against the Outsiders 40 years ago are being specifically targeted now, and I fear for my family. My family, which continues to grow. Good Pyricorn, who'dve thought that sis could have been a -mother-? But in hindsight, it makes sense, and Shinobu Minor is a worthy addition to the family and the House of Harad. She's very skilled; I just wish she and her mother hadn't been seperated for so long, even with fast time. I'm looking forward to adventuring with her, to find Menelcamar in the Blessed Realm beyond Beleriand. And now, we go to truly investigate this 'gate', and the circumstances of Shizumaru's dissapearance. And we will see if I was truly fooled or not. And if so... ... 'Kuonji Ukyou' had better have a DAMN good explination for his actions. For otherwise, he will not survive this year. -- K. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello? Can the rollercoaster STOP NOW? First, we find out that Shizumaru just up and vanished in the middle of a Trump Call. Then we investigate the area of the Gate of Referendum in Lipun, meet a spirit-guy who's apparently Kuonji's ancestor who explains some of what's going on and fight off an Outsider who took advantage of Lian's scry. Then we split up, -I- find out that Shaft had an illegitimate -son- by Nienna of the Valar who could end up becoming the Menelcamar, and Lian finds out that the old Herald of the Outer Gods is dying in her father's trump-trap... so of course the Outsiders are holding an effing COMPETITION for who can become the new one. And I'm STILL not fucking clear on what's up with Ukyou. Is he on our side, or not? Is he pawn, or player? Are the words of the old man to be believed as true, or was his appearance and that of the Machin Shin just a carefully crafted ploy to make us believe Kuonji all the more? At this rate, I may just have to take dad and great- grandfather up to the 'Gate of Referendum' to see if it really IS real or not... ... darrrgh. It's times like these when I wish that our problems could be reduced down to a simple matter of punches and kicks. I may not be a wonder-brain in the family, but I -am- good at what I know. It's amazing I haven't been scammed this badly BEFORE, if I'm being tied into knots about this. Ahwell. Time to take a step back, regroup and rethink and catch a breather. Hopefully our trip to Beleriand and the Blessed Realms will allow us to do that, provided nothing untoward happens along the way. Shyeahright. Best to phrase my request to the Fire Pattern tomorrow as -specific- as I can; no need to take foolish chances. Something along the lines of : "Pattern, send me to the shoreline of a safe and protected cove, free of other people or sapients and large enough for a ship and crew to be transported to, on the western shores of Beleriand, the ancestral home of the Arden Elves, where I can there trump my friends and allies through, and still have access to my sister's manifestation as well." That should cover pretty much all the bases in terms of transportation and making sure the site is safe. Then all I'll need to do is to trump Lian and Shinobu Minor through, have sis pull a ship from Ember through (and if that isn't doable, have Lian build one), and then we'll set sail for the Blessed Realms. And if I get ambushed once I get there, and unable to trump, I'm gonna leave instructions with Shinobu Minor that if I don't reach them within 5 minutes realtime (due to the gradient) that she should walk the Fire Pattern as well, trump Lian to the center, and then have the Pattern send them to me. That way, all our bases should be covered. Since they'll be carrying the rest of the gear, that should take care of things. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that mom -did- know of my trip to Yig and my hanging from the Tree... ... but can you fault me for wanting to surprise her with bringing Aunt Juri back? Ohwell... And now, I go to sleep. -- K. ====================================================================== April 19 [Game Day #29] I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it wasn't going to be so easy. Our plans to teleport directly to Beleriand, to put it bluntly, tanked royally. Something, or some -one-, must either be blocking the receiving end -- or even worse, Beleriand may not exist anymore. Or it could be quite possible that there is noplace safe -in- Beleriand, or any other number of things. I don't know. We'll likely find out, however, as we've been Hellriding down the Fire Highway for the past day. Eventually we'll diverge from the ribbon of asphalt that defines the major Pyricorn Thread to Ember, seeking a Shadow that has the same time differential as the one that has Shaft's kid, but that'll be a little while. Even with the power of the Pattern and the speed of the Hellride, these things take time. Time we may not have. I'm still not -quite- sure why I'm doing this, given all the other lurking crisises that are circling around us; it's more of a gut feeling than anything else. Perhaps it's stemming from a desire to do something clear and -right- for a change instead of being led by the nose. With Shaft dead, I'm finding I'm valuing my family all the more. More later; my watch is almost up, and now it's Shinobu Minor's turn. -- K. ====================================================================== April 20 [Game Day #30] The sea. I've always liked the sea. It may seem an odd habit to have, having grown up in Ember during my formative years; after all, I still have a lot of the social/environmental memes that the majority of the common populace of the Kingdom in the Sun posess, albeit strongly toned-down. A fear of the dark, a fondness for exotic foods, a disbelief in the reality of trees, water conservation habits, an intolerance towards cold temperatures, and odder-than- normal wake/sleep cyles. That's to be expected; the habits of my homeland are hard to erase, even with over a half-century of Shadow travel under my belt. I can sleep under a starry sky without worrying that the world is going to end, but there's still the little gnawing fear in the back of my head that's hard to get rid of. However, overall, I have adapted, and this acclimitization has served me well. Part of my reason for liking the sea is that it's always had something of a dynamic property to it, not always easily found in Ember. Fluid, changing, refreshing, one of the major elements of life. Another is due to fond memories of vacations at my mother's beach-house, and boat-rides accompanied by my mother or family friends (since my sister and father cannot even dare to -touch- water most of the time, lest they get harmed to some degree) or playing in the surf, which added more positive connotations. It took me a while to get the hang of swimming, but even with the loss of Rebma, there were still Shadows with water in them, and it would not do to be unprepared. There's also the simple fact that if I ever hope to recover Aunt Juri, I'm going to have to take a boat ride -eventually-. ^_- I've done a fair amount of sailing, but don't expect me to -run- a ship like that. That sort of thing is better left to my other family members, like Uncle Miki or Aunt Kozue, or Cousin Nagisa and Shinobu Minor... Shinobu Minor... now -there's- an unexpected turn of events, but not a wholly unwelcome one. She's a joy to be around, and I'm proud to call her my niece. Skilled in the arts of war, yet still polite and kind, able to use sorcery, knows how to shapeshift, and STILL a damn fine chef. Her presence here on our journey has made it almost like a vacation; we spar for a while each day, taking each other's measure and gaining from it. Sis has every right to be proud of what Shinobu's accomplished so far in life, even with the odd turns of fortune that got slung her way. Thanks to her presence, and Lian's, this trip's turned into a vacation that I've sorely needed, given the events of the past few months. And Lian... how long has it been since I've done something long-term with Lian? Too long for me to easily recall, that's for sure. I missed her when she vanished down beneath Kolvir and only recently returned; she was one of my closest family members -- and yes, I do think of her as family -- growing up. She and Sumire are different, near diametric opposite personalities, but if either of them got hurt or worse, I doubt my reaction would be at all positive. I'm glad she's back and helping me with things, both in dealing with trying to find Aunt Juri, figuring out just what's up with Kuonji, and now searching for Shaft's kid. Together, we're gonna pull through with this. Fuck the Outsiders and the folks who're trying to become their Herald, their 'Soul of the Outer Gods'. We're gonna get Aunt Juri back, and then we're going to kick them in the ass so fucking hard that they won't -know- what hit 'em. Just you watch. -- K. ====================================================================== [Sketches of Ulmo the Lord of Water (and hunk.)] [Sketches of the scenery around Tol Erresea.] [Sketch of the Kolvir Pattern.] ====================================================================== April 23 [Game Day #33] Gonna keep this short, as it's been a long day, and tomorrow's likely to be longer... Well, we found Shaft's kid. Okay, so he was a She, but overall Moonshade's a decent person to be around so long as you don't mention Shaft's multiple affairs. If she's trained under Tulkas, she's got half of the Menelcamar qualifications down right there; Gran-Aunt Anthy should help with the magic end, as well as the rest of the family. Sparred with her, and -damn- she's good, though I'm stronger. She could take me with normal weapons, however, no question. Lian managed to hang around in Tol Eressea after we left, and learned lots of neat stuff from Aule, though I don't know the half of what she HAS learned... but given she's looking for the remaining Silmaril now (the Valar got their hands on the other two, finally, and used it to help block the Shadow from casual access), it's gotta be big. And yet another Taylor sighting. But if he was using Logrus and stuff to try and get to Valinor (or to Moonshade), and then dissolved into blood... how did he later appear elsewhere? Unless it was just a blood-cloned creature or something... I'm not sure. I'd need to ask Gran-Aunt Anthy or Falme or Davros about the practicality of that. And then, on top of all this, the Jewel of Judgement went on walkabout today, and then came BACK. Given that as far as I know, only sis, Jacqui, Tylor, Fuyutsuki are the only ones attuned to it, this doesn't spell good things for Jacqui (since the other three I doubt would call it). Add to that the report of Jacqui, Utena, and Wakaba being captured, and Jacqui having been searching for a spikard before this... ... well, I've got a Bad Feeling about this. We need to get a posse together, and soon... but there's only so long we can wait until things get too entrenched. At least I have ideas. Tomorrow, I'll need to do some recruitment and some investigation around the Shadow Theatre. -- K. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Definite team members: Me -- Kickass Strength and Martial arts Physically endurant, not as much mental (w/o sis) Decent weapon skills, okay planning My weapons have built-in spellbreak Concerns: Try not to get brainmunched or Magicked. Try to use barrier rings if they won't block calling on sis's capabilities. Shinobu Minor -- I'm stronger and better hand to hand. She's better with weapons, dunno her planning Probably better in the brain department, but hasn't been practicing it lately Knows sorcery and shapeshifting, can take other people's skills if she assumes their form. Concerns: Close family, don't want her spacked. Moonshade -- I'm much better hand-to-hand, she's much better with weapons and probably planning, having trained under the Valar war leader. Probably natually strong-brained, but NOT trained in resisting intrusion, and therefore a risk. Concerns: Unknown how much she'll want to vest into rescuing her immediate family, given her feelings for Shaft. Gabrielle -- Pattern construct, good against Outsiders. Hyper-high psyche. Mad Trump Skillz, Sorcery, Mad Pattern Skillz. More for support on the mental reinforcement end. Jewel of Judgement attunement, and is borrowing the Metal Demi-Jewel for some reason. Concerns: Overconfident that it'll be an easy op. May over-overkill. Doesn't like Jacqui anymore. Rescue location may shut down manifestation access. Aunt Kozue -- Stronger mind than me, pretty good fighter, skilled better in tactics and naval warfare. Knows Pattern sorcery, especially mind-magics. Physically weaker. Concerns: Hates Jacqui's guts, wouldn't mind seeing her dead. Doesn't care much for Aunt Utena, either. Will have to likely keep her with me to prevent her from taking out Jacqui and Utena. Mia -- VERY strong mind, okay tactics (but not weapons or hand to hand, not physically endurant) Powerful Broken Pattern sorcery and conjuration. Both Ice and Fire schools of spellwork, and others in general Concerns: Physical stamina may make her a liability. Keep more as support/extraction? However, her spells are top notch, especially in area-effect, and may not be expected by the opposition. Misaki -- Better at the arts of war, but trained me well. If I get compromised, she could probably take me down. We work well together. Concerns: Possibly mentally vulnerable, but she has her special getup to protect her mind and body. Don't want her to get spacked. Worried that if she's not back home that mom might get targeted. Hopeful team members: Misato -- Damn good combatant, overall okay. Unsure of mental strength. Might be able to bring along some castle guards as fodder. Concerns: Drunkeness -- will we be able to put a cap on that during the trip? Will bringing her along leave Amber vulnerable? Vash -- Crack shot, good combatant, unknown mental strength, Pyricorn's own luck in getting into and out of danger. Well-travelled. On good terms with Jacqui and Shinobu, likely willing to help out. Concerns: He's no Gideon. Sumire doesn't like him. Will taking him on the mission risk Amber and those he bodyguards? No-tech zones might hamper a little, but perhaps we can counteract? Uncle Touga -- Strong mind, high tactics and planning and weapon skills, but endurance and physical strength is shitty. Hidden talents, but don't know what they are. Sorcery is known, some trump skills, and much sneakiness. Concerns: Will have his own agenda. Then again, he always does. Ego. Mikage -- Strongest mind of our generation. Ruthless. Wielder of the Bag of Winds. Sorcery and Conjuration known. Okay in toughness, and the arts of war, but can't soak up damage. Concerns: May be a target as one of the Children of the Elements. May still be in Daiga doing negotiations up to the last moment. Lord Falme -- Okay overall in abilities. Knows Logrus and Shapeshifting, helping us to cover all bases. Concerns: Pretty much goes where Mikage goes. Nagisa -- Strong mind. Wielder of the Cup of Life. Skilled sorceror, especially in counter-Outsider magics and water magics. Okay endurance, but not strong on the war skills. Concerns: Gabrielle's husband, she might shift focus to help protect him. However, this may work in our advantage, to temper her nuke levels. May or may not be available, depending on his work on Kafuin. Also, again, may be target due to being one of the Children of the Elements. Lian -- Decently strong mind, okay warfare skills. Lotsa funky Broken Pattern sorcery and conjuration abilities. Willingness to think outside the box. Knows a good deal about anti-Outsider lore, and high technical background. Has a mecha, capabilities unknown. Concerns: May not be able to arrive in time. Would her mecha work where we end up? Not very likely, but would be nice: Sumire -- Equivelent warfare skills to my own, stronger brain, but weaker body. Skilled in sorcery and power words. Wields her naginata, "Butterfly's Wing", which is deadly. Concerns: Not likely to be able to come. Wish she could come, though. Kafuin -- Elemental Energy construct. Knows Trump and Sorcery as well. Knowledgeable about Outsiders, knows Elder Sign stuff. Concerns : May not be online in time, may not be be willing or able to help out, might not be able to access the target area. Could be at risk to reverse intrusion if opposing an Outsider Construct. Morgenstern -- Broken/Flawed Fire Pattern Construct. Knows Trump and Pattern abilities, some magic. A wackmobile, but means well, and still powerful. Can be counted on to get his immediate family OUT of the area. Concerns : May not be online in time, 'help' might do more damage than the enemy. Might not be able to access target area. Does NOT get along well with sis. Pirotas -- Decent mind and combat skills. Okay endurance. Sorcery skills, but not particularly cross-shadow. Good huntress, and can command her hellhounds remotely. Concerns: Sorcery may not work where we end up. Don't know if we can get her. If we NEED to split up into groups: Me, Gabrielle, Kozue, Shinobu Minor, Sumire, Mia, Moonshade, Misaki Touga, Lian, Pirotas, Mikage, Falme, Nagisa, Misato, Vash General Concerns: Opposition -- What type, what powers? Normal folks, or Outsider-backed? HIGH Warfare and Mind skills likely, given Utena being captured. Destination - What current reality laws are in effect? How much local control does the enemy have? Will we be able to get out? Construct --- What powers? How 'aware' is it? Outsider built? Escape Vectors - Trump. Fire Pattern Teleport Gate. Sorcery Teleport. Shadow shifting on foot. Others? Things that might help us -- Sis with Metal AND Fire Jewel Powers, allowing us to rework the environment a bit -- high technology? Volcanoes? Earthquakes? Lian's Mecha. Emberite support. Shadow Firestorms as an Option Zero to cover an escape. High Tech if sis can work things correctly. ====================================================================== April 24 [Game Day #34] Current Roster: Me, Shinobu M., Moonshade, Sumire, Kozue, Touga, Mia, Vash, Misaki Reserve/Call Later: Misato, Lian, {Drake}, {Nanami}, {Beowulf.} Hopeful Additions: Mikage, Falme, Nagisa, Morgenstern, Kafuin ~~~ [Sketches of the totaled Shadow Theatre] [Sketches of lizardmen fighting Cyberpapists] [Sketch of the Lion Spikard] [Sketches of the 4 Pevensy children] [Sketches of the Medival Rabbits.] ====================================================================== April 25 [Game Day #35] Well, we're on our way. For better or worse, we're off to pull Jacqui's ass out of the fryer. The Shadow Theatre's been torn up -- looks like our theories it was powered by a spikard rung true. Sadly, it was a Lion Spikard, so it's now in the hands of the enemy -- the Dinoguys from Dinosaur World. Joy and effing rapture. Now WHY the hell Jacqui and Utena and Wakaba would have gone WILLINGLY with these yahoos is up for grabs... but the route to Dinosaur World and to the place where Jacqui summoned the Jewel of Judgement is the same, as far as I can tell. We're not the only ones who've been busy, either. Beowulf's report on the attack on Ebenscrux -- good Pyricorn, -that's- what the "Keeper of the Keys" controlled? The perversion of the Outsiders knows no bounds, -strapping- people into their machines to grant others their power. I've got mom looking out for this Pharoah Mobius, even if it doesn't pan out. We've GOT to start taking a more proactive stance against these damn things. And now, we've got Uncle Drake back. He's... a lot more subdued than the family's stories made him out to be. But then again, 40 years strapped to a metal crucifix would do that to anybody. -- K. ====================================================================== April 26 [Game Day #36] [Sketch of the Gaunt Man.] ~~~~~~~~~~~ The plots thicken. I'm glad Beowulf's joined us... his insight has helped during the investigation of what -used- to be Dinosaur World. And it looks like my little trip with Kuonji has had some unexpected side-benefits, given the stuff we encountered along the way was just precursors of what we encountered there. An Outsider Construct -- that explains so much as to why the place was so reticent to allow normal powers to be used there. But whatever it was that ruled here, it's dead now, and good riddence to it. Let the old burn away to be replaced by the new; let the corpses and ash of those the Outsiders perverted allow the growth of new life and a more normal reality to flourish. And we've learned of a new player in the game... this thin man, the guy I drew on the preceding page. He's the one who captured Jacqui, Wakaba, and Utena... which given everything that's been going on, likely means he has an Outsider Construct of his own to plug them into. Add to that him possibly having grabbed the Lion Spikard of dreams from the dead lizardmen, and whatever might've been stuffed in the big tree, AND that staff of his, which could be linked to the Dragon Spikard the Claw of the Dragon ... and as Uncle Drake said, this is gonna be messy. Uncle Drake. Having ridden along with him for over a day now, hearing some of his stories -- I'd have to say his reputation is deserved, though perhaps not as drastically as some folks may have made him out. But then again, things always get exxagerated with distance and time. He's still very insightful and skilled, and his analysis of the battle site at the tree helped us figure out what'd happened there. Talking with him, I get the impression of a thoughtful man -- he probably isn't about to fly off the handle anymore and jump to conclusions like some of the stories said. Of course, I've only KNOWN him for one day. So, we shall see. And the Ninja Attack. -That- was decidedly oddball. But if they're running around with construct manifestations too... well, after this and the Pharoah, it'll be time for me to help protect Sumire's lil' behind and take down who sent them too. -- K. ====================================================================== April 27 [Game Day #37] Not much today... nothing but relatively peaceful rainforest and us shifting shadow through it. Endured yet another lengthy speil from Sumire about what the weather's doing to her hair. Not much else to report. At least we're on the trail, but I hope things continue to be smooth. Fat chance of that happening. -- K. ====================================================================== April 28 [Game Day #38] Werewolves, Cthonians, and random weirdoes, oh my! Once again, I'm finding myself on an airship, and almost a month exactly since the last time I've been on one. Good pyricorn, has it been so long? So much has happened, jarring me out of my normal routines, that it's almost frightening in its suddenness. Quests and dire prophesies, threats from beyond and suspicion from within... it makes my head swim to think of it. So, I'll try not to. Lian's recent adventures go to show that you can't be too careful, but sometimes you've just got to bull ahead and try to do the right thing. We'll just have to see how things go. -- K. ====================================================================== April 29 [Game Day #39] [Sketch of Bumpy] [Sketch of 'The Crimson Pimp'.] [Sketch of Taylor d'Arden] [Sketch of 'Dread Recreational Pirate Roberts'.] ~~~ Well, Uncle Drake SAID it was going to be messy... In hindsight, I should've seen the signs earlier, and realized that the zeppelin was a big-ass target, and that a construct, on its home ground, is nigh-omnipotent. Given it worked things so that even PARACHUTES didn't work, trying to take out any other places on the same paragdim is gonna be nasty. We're just fortunate that it appears that so many things were happening at the same time that the Gaunt Man was distracted trying to deal with repelling us AND fighting Jacqui that Kuonji was able to sweep in and hose the construct. Sis doing that Pattern-slave didn't hurt either. But hey. Even with all that, we were part of the rescue, found out interesting information, and got out alive. All objectives fulfilled: * Rescue Jacqui, Wakaba, and Utena * Kill the Gaunt Man * Destroy the Gaunt Man's construct And nobody -DIED-, thank the Pyricorn. Okay, seriously beat up, and Mia's gonna need Gran-Aunt Anthy or Aunt Kozue to clean out her brain, but we're not dead. That has to count for something. Gonna need to give the King and mom the rundown on everything that happened, but that can wait a little bit. Need to walk the Pattern to double-check that I'm brainscrubbed as well, but shouldn't take -that- long. And what's next on the menu for Princess Kanna, you might ask? Well, best to strike while the iron is hot, as it were, and take out the Heart of Ice with Lian and whoever else I can scrounge while it's still recovering (again). Then, if we have the time, I am going to take a bloody BREAK, and actually have some fun at Marches. ... the question being, who the hoek would I take to the ball? ^_-; I'd almost say Kuonji, save that one, he's running around and likely not to take any calls, and two, I'm still of mixed feelings about him. Well, I've still got a little over a week, and Aunt Kozue mentioned that -Captain Ruka- was thinking of asking me out!. .. so we'll see how things turn out. And there's this 'Dread Recreational Pirate Roberts' guy, who I doubt is really a Pirate, but I'm not sure. Sis's getting a bad vibe offa him, but I'm not sure if that's just sisterly wariness on her part. Well, I'll make my decision once we come back from the Heart of Ice thing. Got some interesting info on Kuonji from the Patternghost of Cousin Shaft, but that now begs the question if the Kuonji he knew is the same one that I ran around with. I'm still not sure. And there seems to still be interest in Bumpy from hostile quarters, given the presence of a trump-bearing Logrus User serving as one of his prostitute-bodyguards. But that's more a comment for Jacqui to worry about. She was able to pick up something of a link to a 'pattern-pimp' (not the Crimson Pimp), so this isn't over for Shamber. Then after that... I'm not sure. Probably have to take out this Pharoah Mobius who I believe sent the egyptians after Bey, and then whoever sent the Ninjas after Sumire, as THEY had construct manifestations as well. And I need to apologize and explain to the Forestals my reasons for telling Beowulf and Lian about my Yig Prophesy. In what order I'll do these things, I don't know... but I have a feeling they're going to need doing soon. For things are getting more serious, and if we're to survive them, we'll need all the family members we can get. Including Aunt Juri. -- K. ====================================================================== April 30 [Game Day #40] This is an unexpected turn of events. No, not the planned strike on the Tharkholdu, which we've been preparing for the past few days while here in Mechanus in fast-time. I mean Cousin Hiko's recent report of Morgan having MET Aunt Juri in -Cathuria-, of all places! It hardly seems believable... ... or does it? After all, Morgan, among us all, has been the most monofocused in trying to find Aunt Juri and bring her home. I've had that desire myself; hence my wanderings in Shadow, my hanging from Yig... but something more immediate always came up, requiring me to put my own dreams and goals on hold. So somebody who doesn't have to do as much (like Morgan) may very well succeed where I have failed and procrastinated. I have no issue on that, I even laud Morgan and pray for his success, even as a part of me admits a twinge of jealousy at ME not being the one to bring Aunt Juri home. Selfish? Probably. Heck, most definitely. This is unbecoming of a Princess of Ember, supposedly, but then again I'm 'only human', as the saying goes. But there's a flip side to all this -- the worry and concern that Morgan may have been fooled, and disasterously so. A worry that Cousin Hiko and myself both share. I'm too recently burned, both by the KTC, by Kuonji, the 'Gate', and other things, to readily take such importaint matters (such as Aunt Juri's easy recovery) at face value and open arms. SHADOWSHIFTING to Cathuria? If Uncle Tylor, the oldest of my aunts and uncles, couldn't reach it, having the Pattern fail when he reached the end of the world, how in the Pyricorn did -MORGAN- manage it? It's quite plausable that Morgan, in his desires to reach Aunt Juri, ended up finding a 'reachable' 'Aunt Juri', especially with Jacqui's recent encounter with the same. Matters, of course, are complicated by the fact that -this- 'Aunt Juri' has -requested- Merehallow to fight against the leader of the Undead... and of course this reminds me of the following section: Its captain awaits A final battle Against the dead To save the living So it might be plausible that Morgan's actually met Aunt Juri. Oh, if only I had accompanied her! One burst of opportune Patternsight and I'd have the issue -settled-... ... and if Morgan's seeking Merehallow, does that mean she's found the 'Ever Burning Brand'? If he even has an OUNCE of sense, he's certain to have researched how to find the sword, the same as I have. But will he be able to find the person who's destined to wield the Sword of Air? I fear bad things happening if he tries to snatch it without that person, if he isn't it. One way or another, I am going to have to corner Morgan about this. Ask him EXACTLY what he's done and gone through. Otherwise, we may have a disaster on our hands -- and I don't mean the Outsiders and their Herald contest... After Marches, I'm definitely going to be busy. -- K. ====================================================================== May 2 [Game Day #42] Fucking 'a, we actually did it. Sure, there were some rough spots along the way... and I lost an eye and nearly got my brain turned into goo for my troubles... but the Heart of Ice, and Tharkold, are now nothing more than space dust, as well as Kranod and Jadis. It occurs to me that when our family -can- get our act together, we can do some serious shit and kick major butt. This is probably the smoothest Outsider Construct/Herald strike we've HAD in the family so far. The Tharkold assault was a thing of beauty. We hit them fast, hard, and gave Lian's ground forces and Ember's space forces a damn good workout. And we also kicked the butt of two -Outsiders-, too! That's the kind of entertainment you just can't get for free. Getting an eye punched out and a debilitating brain disease while taking down Jadis was something I could easily overlook in light of those facts. Seeing Uncle Drake in action... good Pyricorn, the man is good. His tactical knowhow is supurb, and the way he chainsawed through all those technodemons and took out Warlord Kranod... he knows what he's doing, there's no question about that. And I'm not sure, but I have a feeling mine and Lian's actions during the assault impressed him as well. Which is never a bad thing. Short entry tonight... after getting my brain debugged and cleaned by Lian, Sis, Dr. Tofu, Jessica, AND walking the Fire Pattern, my body and mind could use a good night's sleep or three. So, I shall. -- K. ====================================================================== May 5 [Game Day #45] Good Pyricorn, and here I hoped Morgan -wouldn't- screw up. I've managed to distract myself from my troubled thoughts about the news that Beowulf brought me and Lian by spending the past few days running around and getting caught up with various things, and taking care of tasks that I've put off for far too long, what with everything that's gone on. With Marches upcoming, prices have fluxuated, making it easier for me to buy particular items. But even with the new things I've learned... about the fact that my grandmother, and Queen Sakura, had BOTH hung from Yig... the existance of the Royal Heraldry College in Chaos... the current ownership of the Dread Pirate's ship... is not enough to assauge me completely. I still don't have all the details about how Morgan's quest went... I need to collar Uncle Saionji or Thoric or Mutsumi about it, if I can. SOMETHING must have happened to Morgan during it to cause things to malf so badly, but what? The repercussions of Morgan's actions are going to hit home and hit HARD, both politically and emotionally. It doesn't take a genius to see how things will go, even from here. And they'll make dealing with Chaos even MORE difficult, especially with the Elemental Priestess and Lord Lowen situations. I don't like politics, but I may have to start playing them like a pro, should I be called to negotiate the retreival of Merehallow. Marches is going to be tense. Even though this information is not likely to be released immediately, the current situation between Amber and Chaos is dire as it is, what with the Death of Shaft, and the actions of Taylor and his Blood Clones and Lord Lowen and Lord Alars. Perhaps the ONLY bright point in this haze of darkness is that Captain Ruka asked me out! ^_^ Hopefully he'll be able to get me to relax, or at least make the evening more tolerable. And please, oh PLEASE oh Pyricorn let Morgan NOT show up at Marches? -- K. ====================================================================== May 8 [Game Day #48] Notes from Uncle Miki: Major Chaos Houses and Alliances/Rivalries: Tremere (no major Allies/Enemies) Darios xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Jesby || || || || || || Helgram xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hendrake || || || || || || Alars xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Nurgal Formorian xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Danaani Aesir ================= Vanir ------ Tremere -- Magical Artifacers, like to act like vampires. Darios, Jesby -- sailors, naval warfare Alars -- Jack of all trades, feuded with Nurgal over some shadows long-destroyed. Fomorian -- Shapeshifting specialists, they like oddball forms to screw up their enemies. Helgram -- deep into Serpent worship. Ivy -- plants! The King-Formerly-Known-As-Dios had 13 legit children. Each of those founded a Great House. Dios/Annadil created 13 Logrusfoils for his 13 children -- would they be associated by House, now? Is Alars missing theirs? Could we trade it if found for Merehallow? Need to research more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oi, whatta day. Marches was not a complete disaster. It was a tense debacle, but given that Lucien and Nagisa were -barely- stopped from coming to blows, and that Morgan didn't show up, we were at least able to salvage SOMETHING good from the entire evening. The meal was good, the dancing was excellent, and various catching-up and pooling of information was done. The new 'grimmer, grittier' Jacqui worries me, but then again, given all she's been through, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at her change. There, but for the grace of the Pyricorn, go we. Unfortunately, Lucien's behaviour at Marches seems to have set a LOT of people against him in one way or another. Sis, Uncle Drake, Lian... not the kind of people you want to dislike you if you're trying to accomplish some major goal. At least I was able to give mom the heads-up about these possible diplomatic crisises coming up -- mom's right in that it doesn't technically matter WHO repairs the Water Pattern, as long as it's truly and purely -done-, and Nagisa's got that part squared away. Lucien doesn't -have- to do it. He's still got the strongest claim for the throne of Rebma, so he should be satisfied with that. But, I get the sneaking suspicion that his dad Derith's managed to impress upon him that ONLY Lucien has the right to try to repair the Water Pattern, and that can only lead to trouble. Setting up destinies for other people can backfire, because destiny often has its own ideas for people's place in things. And speaking of destiny backfires -- *Morgan*. Morgan, you *Idiot*. It shouldn't have been that hard to go through the proscribed steps as recorded that Gendo went through to get Justice. Go through forest, fight dragon, avoid goblins, confront shadow of the Serpent, get sword. Save that Morgan tried to do a fucking END-RUN around the Serpent and STEAL the sword, and got effing BLOOD-CURSED for his trouble. No WONDER he's so screwed now. It took all my willpower to hide my thoughts and mask my reactions to what Thoric and Misato told me about Morgan's quest and return. And I've told mom about this too, so hopefully she'll be able to ram the clue into his brain. I'd go and ram my fist into his stomach, but I don't want to KILL him, just pummel some sense into him. Of course, he's not the only one to have made bad judgement calls in the past. As Motoko said to me, "we all play the fool sometime," and I'm not exception. The depth of the Blood-Taylor infiltration is becoming more evident, what with Librarian Anna and Madame ZaZa revealed as such. Which makes my own plans to confront any Taylors who plan to chop down Yig even more importaint. I'll have to remember to do so ASAP once I finish my training. Mom also has some missions for me, but I don't know what they are and I'll have to remember to ask when I get back, given my own plans to clear my name with the Forestals and to hunt down the remaining Constructs and Herald Candidates (oh, and to save Aunt Juri, too). Despite all this, I have hope. And good things still happen... Mom's hinting that -something- good happened for Sumire, enough to keep her from being snippy at the ball. I'm gonna have to ask her when I get back what's up. And Beowulf's with Lily, and Moriya's with Mitsune... looks like good pairings are starting to develop across the board. As for me... I'm glad that I went to the ball with Ruka. His presence made the entire ordeal more tolerable, he's a damn good dancer, and afterwards he was able to get my mind off everything that happened. Oh, did he -ever-. *^_^* Will anything come of this? I don't know, given our respective places of operation -- but we're both mature, responsible, -respectful- adults, and given I may have a need to sail in the future... who knows? I'm looking forward to High Summer. Oh, you better -believe- it. ^_- -- K. ====================================================================== [See "Slices of Jade" for relevant GD-Jade diary entries in fast-time] ====================================================================== May 9 [Game Day #49] We leave for a day... ONE DAY! in Amber-time... And things go to hell on us. Good Pyricorn, and I thought that Morgan's screwups couldn't get WORSE. But the damage to Arden, even though we've managed to cure it, even though it was probably all a strikeback by House Alars, and rightly so, for what Morgan and Hiko ended up doing to their family, but... GOOD PYRICORN, MORGAN!! When you FIND a mysterious gem tied to your precious sword, you DON'T bring it back to your mom to examine in the heart of your stronghold! ESPECIALLY if you're under some sort of blood-curse! *IDIOT!* .. of course, I'm one to talk. Things like Tyreein, Werewindle, Greyswandir, Koucho-no-Tsubasa... people get attached to them, and don't give them up easily. And I'm sure as hell not going to give up Beryllina up without a fight. Not after all I had to go through to get it. And sis was able to talk me down from my frustration and anger, thank the Pyricorn. Haven't talked like that with sis for a long time -- too damn long. Thank mom and dad that she was born/made... as much as she might get on my nerves, like Sumire does at times, she's family, and I love her. It's just a big damn mess. The situation with Alars and Merehallow, the worries about Taylor and his ties to Jacqueline... they're things I have to deal with that are messy and really out of my scope of how to cope. But I'm gonna have to. SOMEBODY has to. What with everyone else running around -- Nausicaa, Lucien, and his crew going off to search for Greyswandir; Moriya, Motoko, Thoric, Mutsumi, Rimururu, Davros on Endor looking for Withywindle; and a whole horde of people -- Jacqui, Utena, Wakaba, Shinobu Minor, Moonshade, Keitaro, Beowulf, Mitsune, Lily, Naru, Haruka, Seta all gone to Mystara, after Pharoah Mobius. Busy days. Which don't leave many around for doing everything else that needs to be handled. But somebody's gotta. Probably figure out more tomorrow, when we have breakfast with Uncle Tylor and mom. -- K. ====================================================================== May 10 [Game Day #50] This is strange... and worrisome. We trumped here to CAFAM on a whim, to get some distance from Amber to start our search for the Blood-Taylor who may try chopping down Yig... ... and my shadow-shifting led us back to the store. And we're currently working our way through it right now. What can he hope to buy here? A weapon? A chemical? CAFAM has nigh everything for sale, but it's a territory I'm unfamiliar with. I've shopped here before, but the place changes so often, and I don't know the full rules. Perhaps I'm worrying overmuch. We'll just have to see. As for other things, the breakfast with Mom and Uncle Tylor and Aunt Yuriko allowed us to all be on the same page with the situation on Cousin Hiko and Morgan. In a few days, we should know what happened to them, and for the moment, Arden at least has something of a command structure again. I relayed some of my plans to Uncle Tylor and mom, and they seemed cool with it. And at least Uncle Tylor seems good for me getting Merehallow and getting it to Aunt Juri in time for this Undead thing. Now all I NEED is the damn sword, and Nausicaa's help, and we should be good. And Sumire... good Pyricorn... in hindsight it makes a sort of a twisted sense, if one is to believe that one gets parts of one's personality through genetics and not enivronment. Her financial skills and those of combat could have easily made her a child of Uncle Drake and Nabiki of Amber. But who would have thought it? *I* certaintly didn't, and I grew -up- with her! I wonder if mom always knew and just kept it quiet... hell, I wonder if -Sumire- knew, but never told until Uncle Drake returned. She's my Cousin. She's family in truth, just as I always treated her. Which makes the thought of she and I being lesbian lovers even MORE laughable, but hey, like it was ever an issue between us, anyway. Let others think what they will... we know the truth. I really need to trump Ruka, and see how he's doing... I miss talking to him. -- K. ====================================================================== May 11 [Game Day #51] [Sketches of El Ravager, Teflon Billy, Knuckles, Thorina.] ~~~ And I call myself a law-enforcement official. My abilities to talk myself out of a situation and to act competeantly despite must have taken a critical hit somewhere along the way -- perhaps my decades on Jade ended up making me forget the problems I'd had with the KTC and Siam. But for the wanted posters for mine, Bey's, and Lian's little venture having made its way to CAFAM, and THEN one of the Blood Taylors taking advantage of it? This was so much a screwup in SO many ways that I can't exactly wrap my head around it. Thank the pyricorn we were able to stall long enough to make them doubt a bit as to who we were and to make them call Aunt Nanami -- I owe her bigtime for bailing us out with that 'QEmber' story. Yes, we're technically guilty, and yes, we need to resolve this situation with the KTC -somehow-... Mr. Wapole seems to be trying to make it hard for us to go about -our- business, even if he's not taking direct pot-shots at us. But it's still frustrating. Suffice it to say, CAFAM's lost my business until it gets taken care of. Which may be a damn long time, given everything we need to take care of. But, enough of that. We're going to get back Mr. Fancypants but good. Lian's built us a nice little Peebochu army (cute and destructive, yay!) and we're about to ride off into Shadow for the perfect Ambush site. Wether or not Taylor brings those mercenaries (who I could've sworn I KILLED) along, he's still going to need a sizeable group for a caravan he did actually manage to buy that Weedkiller for Yig. Weedkiller. For Yig. Is it me, or does that plan sound especially ludicruous? -- K. ====================================================================== May 12 [Game Day #52] Thoughts transposed while laying down in a medical suite after getting my kidney regrown and reinstalled... ... well, we did it. Thank Pyricorn, we did it. The damn Blood Taylor and his associates are -dead-, even though the one's spoilsport spell took out the surviving Emberite troopers we had brought in. Their deaths were not in vain, and now a threat to Yig has been eliminated. I will need to go and wander shadow a bit to make sure there's no others -- but I -think- my obligation to the Forestals has been resolved. There won't be any way to make sure until I try to trump to Yig, however, which may be a while. But that is for later. Sis, Lian, Pirotess and I survived -- while both Blood-Taylors are dead (the ringleader after Aunt Nanami and Lian mutually ate his excuse for a brain), as well as their oddly duplicated associates. To have them able to provide reinforcements like THAT -- something's up. I KNOW I killed them before, with Kuonji and Spellvis... and another group of them died in the Air Pattern Chamber on the Second Day of Darkness. So SOMEBODY out there is cranking out replacements, somehow. Perhaps there'd be some clue in the City of Brass? The group of them that Beowulf had met had ties to Hathor... but at the same time, they also seem to have some ties to Chaos, what with their Chaos Blood and occasional Logrus powers. Something's going on, but I don't know what. When I trump mom to fill her in, I'll be sure to mention it -and- provide sketches of the four. Perhaps Ember's agents in the City of Brass will be able to suss something out. Given my worries of one of the Lion Spikards being in there... perhaps I'm trying to connect too many things together, but it feels to me that they -are-. I just don't know how yet. At least we have names for their faces now, courtesy of Meeester Taylor. We would've gotten more information if we'd managed to take them alive, like I tried to do... but Ahwell. I have a feeling we'll encounter them again soon enough. Now if I could stop getting major bodyparts needing to be clone-grown and reinstalled, we'd be getting somewhere. I swear, at this rate I'll need to get a 'Made in Mechanus' logo tatooed on my butt. (And be quiet, sis -- yes, I know only Ruka'd get to see it... but that's only if I gave up wearing swimsuits.) And speaking of Ruka... 'The True Tale of Pirate Queen Kanna' .. good pyricorn, how could anyone -believe- this? The only accurate thing in there is our raid on the KTC ship. I do admit it's amusing, tho... I think I'll give it to Ruka as a gag-gift. Hell, maybe I'll -go- as a Pirate Queen come Summer Festival, and Noble Captain Ruka'll have to bring me in.. ^_- ER... anyway. That's enough for now. I'm gonna go sleep, and let Beryllina finish learning another weapon form. -- K. ~~~ To Do, immediate: * Deal with Sumire's Ninja Problem (Outsider Construct/Herald Tie-In? Check with what Uncle Drake's learned!) * Deal with City of Brass and Gang of Four (Possible Lion Spikard Connection? Will need good disguises and heat protection.) * GET BACK MEREHALLOW... *PEACEFULLY* (but this requires getting Memory, the House Alars Logrusfoil from **Lowen** --- yeeegh!) * Logrusfoil Research in the Courts (would need to ask Anthy/Anno for support.) * Investigate BORG cube appearance over Arrakis (possible Black Runestaff Outsider Construct Tie-In?) * Head to Kadath with Lian? (get the Knife! Cross-Universe Anti-Outsider travel!) Long Term (after the universe is saved): * Clear my name with the KTC/Siam bit. * Spank Dread Recreational Pirate Roberts. ====================================================================== May 13 [Game Day #53] Prioritizing has never been the easiest thing for me to do. With all the tasks that face me, it takes a little bit to shift things around so that I can feel that I'm actually -accomplishing- something instead of spinning my wheels; give me a clear-cut mission, and I'm generally much, much happier. But with all these Outsider Constructs and Herald Candidates still lurking about, we need something to help combat them, to even the odds, to 're-enchant the world made grey' -- hopefully Lian and I will be worthy enough for the residents of Kadath to let us have the Knife. Though one wonders WHY the Elder Gods would be hanging out in Kadath; if they're so hot, why haven't they spanked the Outsiders who keep trying to bust their way in? Eh, I'll need to ask Lian about that. There's probably some big metaphysical explination that'll just end up going over my head in the process. We just need the edge that -going- to Kadath and learning from the Elder Gods would give us. The prior Construct takedowns weren't cakewalks, and I doubt they're going to get any easier. At least we have some good starting points for the next round of takedowns. Uncle Drake's suggestions to investigate Kanawa, Ursan, and Aslak industries in shadows close to the remnants of his Marketplace; the information provided by Ryoko about the origins of the Borg cubes that'd attacked Arrakis -- both of these should help. And then there's the City of Brass, which by now I'm certain is hiding a Lion Spikard. All potentially nasty, but also not as bad as it -could- be, given that we're starting to get a handle on how to deal with these things. Take backup and complimentary skillsets, but don't over-prepare. Be ready for ANYTHING to try and counter what you -do- bring, and watch out for those boosting their skills with others. But then again, every situation is different. We'll just have to see. I've seen a lot of stuff in my past 100-plus years of life, and I have a feeling I'm gonna see a lot more before these next few months complete. It's weird, y'know? I've walked the Fire Pattern so many times since my twenty-first birthday, and every one of them has been different, yet the same... but this time, I felt that -this- walk was importaint, moreso that any of my prior ones, save for my first one where my birthright as a Princess of Ember was confirmed, opening the ways of Shadow and Reality to me. Maybe it was the fact that Beryllina was by my side on my hip... I dunno. I'm not one to hyper-gush about weapons or get obsessive about them, but at the same time... Beryllina is -mine-. A part of me, in a sense, I suppose. I'm grinning ruefully as I write this; maybe it's just the hour of the day, but despite everything that's happened and what I've learned, both good and ill -- I can at least say with certainty that it hasn't been a total wash. -- K. ====================================================================== May 14 [Game Day #54] So, the adventure begins! We're on the road to Kadath, after a breif check to try and head straight for the Knife (which as I expected, didn't work). Myself, Lian, Uncle Touga, and Thoric; this should work out, all things considered. Encountered a Leng fleet along the way, and after we captured its captain and Lian ate his mind, we nuked it to flinders. Probably won't have much impact on the big scheme of things -- but any little kick in the pants we can give to the Outsiders is a good thing. The Outsiders... our little encounter with that fleet reminds me about something that old man's Ghost said... wether or not he was telling the whole truth, he does have a point. It does seem that Outsider activity has gone up over the past forty years -- Uncle Touga noted the same thing, a long while back, I think. And I reflect upon what mom once said, that the Patterns and Logrus TOGETHER work to hold the Outsiders Out, and I've just realized WHY this increase of Outsider activity over the past four decades happened, as we camp near the sea. The loss of Rebma. Without the Water Pattern around to help with the other four elemental Patterns, and the Primal, there was just as big a chink in the armor between the universes as there was when Ember was down for the count. But even then, Ember wasn't REMOVED, and the remains of the Fire Pattern were still around, as was its Demi Jewel. But now, the Water Pattern is destroyed, and the Outsiders are making their move. Good Pyricorn, I hope that thing gets redrawn soon. I don't care WHO does it, as long as it's for good reasons and with a clean heart. We NEED it back, and fast, so that the five Elemental Patterns can help us hold off the Outsiders some more. But until then, we NEED the Knife, to help us with the damn Outsider Constructs and other things that might be around. And perhaps Lian can pick up some Elder Sign lore in the process, which wouldn't hurt. We're all learning new things and expanding our capabilities. Things are coming out that were hidden before -- like Beryllina. I've had my blade for ten years now, but it still impresses me (and scares me) at how much damage it can do -- especially against shadowdwellers. And I'll have to face it -- the more I use Beryllina around my family, the more they're likely to realize the this sword is no normal sword. Not with the sheer destructive potential it has, its ability to learn new forms, and its spellbreaking and unlimited ammo capabilities. I probably should have sis find some fakes out in shadow... or, I suppose, I could try making some replicas on Jade and have Lian enchant them. Ahwell, we'll see what happens. -- K. ====================================================================== May 15 [Game Day #55] o/~ We travel in the dark of the new moon / A starry highway traced on the map of the sky / Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagle's cry / We're only at home when we're on the fly / on the fly... o/~ Not much to report about today... most of it was spent in hellriding, though the fact that the shadows beyond leading to the Cold Waste have been shadow-locked for some reason, which worries Lian. It worries me as well, as SOMEBODY went to all this trouble for something, and even if it's an easily reproduceable key, the fact that an outsider minion had one is disquieting. Something's going on, and I don't know what, but it's probably not going to be good. Thoric's suggested that Kadath might be under seige, which could make sense, as the Elder Gods and the Outsiders have always been in opposition. Anyway, we'll see, I guess. We're not the only ones dealing with odd stuff... Jacqui's gotten back from Mystara (and there's been another Kuonji sighting -- whatever happened there didn't impress Jacqui, clearly) and now has a mission to stop two Blood Taylors from waking -Mageddon-. I've offered to give what help I can, gave advice on dealing with Taylors, but I don't know if we'll finish with Kadath in time enough to help. But perhaps I'll be able to grab some of the Nomad Artifacer equipment to aid Jacqui and co, and that'll be good. It'll be nice to talk with Julia-Sensei again, even if for a little bit. And then after that, I'll probably have to go back on the Construct Destruction trail before getting on to doing the things I need to get to Aunt Juri to help her. I wish sis wasn't so suspicious of Jacqui, but the fact that she's appeared with an unworn black rose signet doesn't help matters... Ahwell. Did have a nice long chat with Lian tonight about all this stuff. And this's the first time in a long while I've thought about Larry, or even told somebody about him... I certainly didn't tell Ruka after our night on the bay... but then again, I didn't get a chance to, and it's kinda improper to talk about past lovers when you're with your current one. Wasn't like I was thinking of Laurence at the time. *^_^* Ohwell... o/~ We are young / wandering the face of the earth / wondering what our dreams might be worth / learning that we're only immortal / for a limited time ... o/~ -- K. ====================================================================== May 16 [Game Day #56] [Sketches of Kadath] [Sketches of the Golden Humaniods fighting Outsiders, teaching humans, etc.] [Sketch of the 12 Tall Golden Humanoids in the Reception hall -- 6 male, 6 female.] [Sketches of the awakened folks and restored Kadath.] ~~~ Good Pyricorn. This is what the Outsiders wish to turn the world into. By the four heraldric beasts, the things I've seen while on this trip... and to hear some tell it, in other places it's WORSE! Random attacks by bizzare monstrosities, giant glowing magical filaments, mad cultists trying to bring back the Outer Gods. This entire trip has been an eye-opener, and has only further strengthened my resolve to fight against the horrors that the Outsiders represent. But that doesn't stop my fear and worry about the forces arrayed against us. We survived, we actually did pretty good, especially for such a small team, but there's only so many places one can be at one time. Even with our entire family working against them, it's still a struggle. How many times are we going to need to fight these things? What does it take to finally and fully seal the Outsiders OUT?! Well. At least we managed to do good on this trip. We stopped those four-armed monstrosities from attacking that village, stopped the ritual to summon the wooden Great Mother and rescuing the remaining innocent sacrificees, and then ... finally... broke the Siege of Kadath. I and Lian still wonder and worry who really kept those frog-things in place to block off the remaining Elder Gods; while the Gaunt Man may have been originally controlling them, or been an accessory, he's been dead for -weeks- now. And according to the Elder Gods, the siege's been in place for TEN YEARS. That's a rather determined effort, especially with all the shadows locked around it. But that can be confirmed with a bit of shadow-walking to 'the coordinator of the Siege of Kadath' later. We came, we saw, we kicked butt, and we got what we came for -- Lian's now studying Elder Sign lore (I'm sure she'll have some way to do things fast-time), and I have the Knife. At least part of my learnings on Yig have been fulfilled, thank the Pyricorn; perhaps now I'll be able to put this to good use against any summoned nasties and those damn constructs, even though I'm more a blade and staff woman and have Beryllina. And perhaps, one day, we'll be able to cut a path to Avalon, the Rose of all the Worlds ... Well, it's been a long couple days, and eventful ones; hell, I never thought I'd meet sis's old Girlfriend by the end of this! I can see why the two did get together for a bit, and why sis would be embarrased afterwards, but it's not my place to judge such things. I'm just glad she was able to help out with us breaking through the barrier. And meeting the Elder Gods in person... that's a once in a lifetime event, for sure. The twelve that are left... talking with them, being in their presence, it was like being in Ulmo's presence... they're a level beyond what we normally understand. Hopefully, one day, their lands will be fully restored, and perhaps then they'll be able to join in the fight that we've picked up. So, what's next for Kanna and crew? Well, we're all going to go our seperate ways, walk the Patterns to be sure we cleaned off all the Outsider ickiness, and then I get to get in touch with Jacqui to find out how things are going with their trip to Akasha. Hopefully by the time we explore and investigate, Lian'll be done with learning about more uses for the Elder Sign... and then we'll be able to kick righteous butt. And hey, if I can bring Thropan along for Lian to engage in mad smoochies with, so much the better. ^_- -- K. ====================================================================== May 17 [Game Day #57] What a day. What a fscking long day. This has not been the best of days, though the ending of it was a decent high-point which made the rest bearable. Most of the day was spent running around and getting caught up with what the rest of my family, getting prepared to help Jacqueline with Mageddon. So, of course, things just didn't go smoothly. First, there was that entire nanobot infestation caused by SOMEBODY at Panopticon. We were able to get that cleaned out, at least. THEN, once I got onboard, some chaosian freak by the name of 'Davros' tried to 'gem' Jacqui, though we don't know why. And the friction between Jacqui, Keitaro, Shinobu Minor, and Kuonji... good Pyricorn. If I'd known at the time that Kuonji Inji had been responsible for Keitaro's -death-, I'd -never- have made the recommendation to accept his offer to join us. It wouldn't have been worth the trouble, even with his skills. Sue me for wanting to 'keep friends close and enemies closer', but given everything that's transpired, I have no doubt we'll see more of Mr. Kuonji before this affair is through, and I felt keeping an -eye- on him would be better than letting him roam free. Whatever the hell is wrong with Kuonji Ukyou, it's gotten too big for us to just let him waltz around anymore. When it was just him and Beowulf, or me and him, I could let things slide -- but the events in Mystara, and his behaviour here, leave me little inclined to trust him anymore. He has one last chance to prove he's worthwhile and worth our working with him... otherwise he'll go into the 'threat' classification, long-distant member of the family or not. Dammit. And Keitaro and Jacqui being at each other's throats... this was no way to introduce Gina to my family. I don't blame her for not being impressed. I just hope the rest of this goes better than the earlier part of today, because I -do- want Gina and the rest of her family to be a part of my family's life... after spending a good two decades living on Jade, they're a part of it already, and I can see nothing but benefits for them and us if it works out. At least we cleared customs and made contact with the Monitors without difficulty, and have a possible ally in Katar Hol. And our researches on ThinkNet have borne fruit. Now, wether we'll be able to PURSUE them is another question, but that attack on the former Prime Minister is something to be concerned with. But I don't know if we can pursuade the Monitors that we would be the best ones to help with that. After all, in a low magic reality like the League, who believes in Outsiders? And the constant warfare with the Lorbaat -- that feels suspicious to me, but again it's not something we can casually waltz in and check to see if it's Mageddon pulling the strings. I'll need to trump Beowulf to let him know what we've found, after we hear what the response is from the Monitors about us looking for Mageddon. If nothing else, if we can find that before the Taylors do, then we can fully deactivate it and put it out of its misery before they can do other things. I just don't like the thought of Jay and Silent Bob hanging around Akasha right in the heart of the government and within easy access to the World Tree which powers their ships. So sue me, I still feel my debt to Yig is unpaid, and I'd like to continue to do my part to protect it and its shadows. And as for other things... I still shudder when my mind drifts to what my mother told me, about the invasion planned by Hel, Abyss-Spawned 'Queen of the Dead'. If all that is true, and I'm inclined to believe it, thanks to Yig... this will make the Second Day of Darkness look like a minor squabble between schoolyard folks. I do not relish the thought of having to go up against 'undead' members of my family... especially of my mother and aunts. But if this is what's needed to be done, then we shall fight them and drive them back, and SOMEHOW free them from Hel's slavery. I just don't know how, yet. All I know is that our current suite of crisises need to be resolved, and fast, so that the Outsiders have the least amount of agents and footholds in our reality when the Day of the Dead comes. Otherwise this fight will be almost hopeless. The Herald Candidates and the Outsider Constructs -MUST- die, the remaining Lion Spikards deactivated, and Rebma's Pattern redrawn, if we are to be successful in this. I don't think I'll be able to get to sleep easily, tonight. -- K. ~~~ Things have taken an unexpected turn. We ditched Kuonji... well, okay, we pretty much voted him off... and our researches started to show some unfortunate trends. Like the fact that with the time gradient, the Taylors here have effectively taken over the government of Akasha. Dammit, are they going to keep getting us where we least expect it? We tried to be sneaky in CAFAM, and they used the law against us. We tried to be up front HERE, and they used the law against us again! A girl just can't win for losing. Of course, that's not the only problem. It's not just infiltration, we now know why the Taylors came here in the first place: The Akashan Holy Tree -- which has Silya, the Ring of Wood inside it. I'm writing this right now in its shade, while we wait for folks to make some moves... Mutsumi actually -trumped- the tree, and learned that not only the Taylors were a problem, but two groups of -Chaosians-, too. Which is why we're here on Akasha Prime, protecting the cornerstone of their society. It's still almost unbelievable that grandma Haruka's spikard ended up here; we still don't know how it did, and I haven't asked the tree yet. But the tree even SOUNDS like Marshal Haruka, and mom says she sounds a lot like Grandma did, so there's definite weight to the hypothesis that the spikard managed to slip out of Cimbri hands and into the Leauge. The timing's right for it, at least. But those sorts of questions can wait until later. We have a tree to protect, and by extension, an entire shadow's culture. I swear that we won't let it fall. -- K. ~~~ There are certain moments in one's life when things suddenly crystallize; when one realizes things for sure that were only suspected unconciously beforehand. Such moments are both beautiful and terrifying, for one can never see the universe in the same way again, and they affect you in ways you can't predict. I've just had one of those moments. Sis is currently scanning for Chaosians while we recover. Recover from what, you might ask? From a primal chaos bomb dropped at the base of the Akashan Holy Tree. From the Akashan sun going NOVA. If it were not for the heroic efforts of Gabrielle, Morgenstern, and Aeris, the Akashan homeworld and the Holy Tree would no longer -exist- anymore, and nor we, provided we didn't trump out at the last second. Fortunately, this did not happen. Sis, Morgy, and Aeris sheilded the inhabited planets of Akasha Prime. Sis built Akasha a new SUN. And Morgy and Aeris contained the primal chaos bomb and shunted it before it could spread. Never before have I ever felt so -helpless-. All my skills and knowledge were for nothing as we waited by the base of the Holy Tree for the constructs to do their thing. The ruthlessness of our opposition from House Tremere paled before the sheer severity of the situation. And in that moment, when I didn't know wether we were going to live or die, I found myself thinking of only two people. People who I regretted that I would not be able to see again, to tell them how I felt, to live my lives with them. Ruka... and Lian. I have come to the realization that I'm in Love with both Ruka Tschuiya and Lian of Avalon. Out of all the people in the universe, including my parents, who I could have thought of when it looked like things were going to end, I thought of them. I regretted that I wouldn't be able to spend more time with Ruka, to truly get to know him, to hopefully build a life together because I really -do- like him, Love him, and hope that'll he'll return it to me. I regretted that I wouldn't be able to tell Lian how I really felt about her, that somewhere along the way between Marches and today -- perhaps while on Jade, perhaps even before! -- I fell in Love with her. And then the immediate crisis passed, and now I wait and sit and try to deal with my suddenly revised feelings. This, as they say, presents a Problem. How will I resolve this? I don't want to hurt either of them, but I don't want to let things fester within me, either. I will need to be honest with myself, with Ruka, and with Lian. Even if nothing at all happens between me and Lian (after all, I have Ruka, and she has Thropan), I need to SAY what's in my heart to her, and to him. Otherwise I will travel the same path that Juri of Avalon once walked before she met Uncle Roderick. How will I do this? I don't know. But I have to try. My heart won't allow me otherwise. -- K. ====================================================================== May 18 [Game Day #58] [Sketch of Silya, Ring of Wood] [Sketches of the Akashans who planted the holy tree and the 'Sidar' who helped them.] ~~~ All's well that ends well, so they say. The wrapup of the fallout from our Akashan adventures has gone surprisingly smoothly. Once Gaav and his flunkies had been cleared out, it was only a matter of time for the rest of us to clear out the spawn of Taylor d'Arden, removing his group's chokehold on the Akashan Government. It didn't hurt that the Emperor and the Holy Tree had called for new elections; the more I watch the Akashans in action, the more impressed I get at the checks and balanaces in the government to keep it from becoming -totally- overwhelemed by an outside power. One of the things that eventually worked to our advantage, come to think of it. Of course, GETTING to this point was no walk in the park. I don't know about the rest of House Tremere, but Lord Gaav was one tough, ruthless customer; and the fact that he was using Outsider Sorcery in our final confrontation gives me worries about how far their taint has spread in Chaos. If it weren't for Jacqui and sis using the Jewel of Judgement during the battle to alternatively shut off Logrus and Outsider power, it would have likely gone much worse than it did. Sadly, as it was, hoardes of dead Byhakee, attacking badgers, and I -think- an appearance of Yog-Sothoth can hardly be considered 'easy' to take down. But Gaav is dead now. The Holy Tree has been protected. Mageddon has been destroyed. The Akashan government has been returned to the people that it protects. And I find myself wondering, "What Now?" It's been over a month for us since we got here, and I've seen depths to my family and friends that I hadn't thought possible before; Shinobu Minor and Keitaro are pretty much an item now; and wonders of wonders, when push comes to shove, sis and Morgenstern CAN work together. Of course, both will deny it when pressed. ^_- What will be the repercussions of all this? I don't know, and at the moment, I'm not sure I -want- to ponder them, as it would dim the warm glow I've gotten for having kicked ass righteously. But it's pretty clear that House Tremere isn't likely to be happy with us, even if most of them don't know about the Outsider powers that some of their members are using. We shall have to see when we get back home to Amber and Ember. I also don't want to be anywhere in the area when Naru hears about Shinobu Minor and Keitaro shacking up. -.-; Pyricorn knows -Mutsumi- hasn't been taking it well, and she's a lot more centered and capable of coping than she lets on... Anyway, to home we go, and to more missions and other things that are critically vital to the safety of the universe as a whole. I'll miss the Holy Tree of Akasha, it's practically family; but I miss my family and loved ones more. -- K. ====================================================================== May 19 [Game Day #59] [Sketch of Davros of Serpent's Horn] [Island listing from Nagisa.] [Sketch of Nagisa rough map of Rebman geography.] [Sketch of Nagisa map of Castle Rebma, with blank spots.] * Remember the big dome! * Check for escape tunnels! ====================================================================== May 20 [Game Day #60] It's odd, writing in my diary while waiting underwater for Lucien to finish up with his underwater Wargames. I keep expecting the water to cause the pencil and ink marks to bleed off the page, but they don't. It's very strange, but hey, if we can have people living on the inside of Amber's -sun- without burning up, being able to survive underwater without drowning is practically trivial in comparison. At least I have some time to adjust before we go on our scouting mission to Rebma; it's been a long time since I've had to be underwater like this, and even with my travels in Shadow, it feels somewhat... unnatural. But the time to reflect and gather my thoughts are welcome... especially my thoughts about Ruka Tschuyia. (After all, I didn't get a -chance- to transcribe them last night, what with everything... *^_^* ) When did my relationship between Ruka and myself transmute from general aquaintance to friendship and interest and Love? I know the answer to the last bit -- when the Akashan Sun went nova, forcing me to acknowledge my true feelings for Ruka and Lian. But the buildup beforehand has been a long, drawn-out thing. We met over a joint naval operation between Amber and Ember, protecting our interests on the high seas. I was just fresh out of having walked the Pattern and exploring Shadow a little before returning home, still somewhat flushed with the potentials of having the Fire Pattern imprint within me. I still remember being impressed and attracted to the blue- haired naval commander who managed the Shalomar Naval Base, impressed with his skills in both management and (once I worked up the guts to ask) with the blade. But I was still young, and not quite ready for anything close to a full-time committment, especially given my wanderings in Shadow. I still tried to visit the Shalomar Naval Base when I could get an excuse, however -- being mom's agent in Shadow helped for that. Things shifted a bit after I hung from Yig. Given the appearance of Juri of Avalon's 'Ruka' in the visions, I resolved to try and find out more about -our- Captain Ruka; it came to quite some surprise that he was much more than I had originally thought, and nowhere like his counterpart from Avalon. He's a gentleman, not intimidated by my size and strength, and willing to talk with me about all sorts of subjects as they flit across my mind. We practice-sparred several times since then, and I've never failed to learn -something- from our sessions. Witty, good-humored, dedicated to his job -- I very much have to say that I've gained newfound respect for the naval profession in the past ten years in Amber. His asking me out for Marches was an unexpected but pleasant surprise; and his presence there made everything ELSE that happened that night much more bearable. Plus what came -after-, well... *^_^* I also think his forelock is cute. Well, it is!! More to the point, I -like- Ruka, and have for quite some time. I fully admit that our meetings are far too infrequent for my own liking, but what can I do about that? I'm not exactly a stay-at-home type, and Ruka has his job at the base, and will be there for quite some time to come, unless something drastic occurs... like a war. I didn't quite have the heart to tell him that there -is- likely to be one soon, but I probably will, eventually. *sigh* It occurs to me that there's a lot that I still don't know about my dear Captain, even after all this time... but hey, isn't that what part of a relationship is all about? Learning the differences and facets of a person you thought you knew, and learning to appreciate them? I can but hope that he'll be accepting of what's developed between me and Lian as well. Given how many times we've seen each other over the years, I would think that he would recognize that I don't reach -this- level of emotional committment to another person that easily, nor do I go in for the 'casual' one night stands. What will happen? I don't know. I don't know even if I can go That Far with Lian. But if Ruka is uncomfortable with the concept, I will not go through with it; I respect him too much for that. He's my Safe Harbor, and I hope he stays that way for a long, long time. The rest of the day before this has been somewhat of a whirlwind; updating mom with my exploits and future plans, getting information from Cousin Nagisa and Aunt Kozue on what we can expect in Rebma. It doesn't sound like things are going good down there, but until we scout, we won't know for SURE. We've got several ideas of how to get into and out of the city; mostly involving trying to use one of the secret tunnels into or out of the Palace, or sneaking in on a ship. We'll be talking with Aunt Yuriko in a few to get more advice as well. But, I'm worried. Something's happened to Lucien since last I saw him at Marches. He's become more cautious, more 'hard-edged', more paranoid, for lack of a better word. He's clearly got Greyswandir and the Water Jewel now, both parts of his inheritance; so what happened to him to make him this way? Dammit, I feel -responsible- for him, having been one of the first of our family to meet him, to have helped introduce him to the king of Amber, and the words of Yig still ring in my mind, making me fear that I could have given a warning when there was still time... I know I can't do everything, but damnit I still have to try... -- K. ~~~ [Sketch of Derith's Mansion, from mom's paintings.] [Sketches of Ruka, posing and walking, etc] ====================================================================== May 21 [Game Day #61] And so we trudge ever onward. The lengths that Bloc Rebmaquois and Ynell (if she is Dolphin) are willing to go through to accomplish their aims continue to surpise and concern me. I don't know what disturbs me more; that the Red Death has returned, spreading along the coastline between Arden and Rebma... ... or the fact that Ynell had reprogrammed Lucien's mind into being a willing servant of the Bloc, seceding his claim to the throne until Gabrielle and Nagisa were able to free him from their grip. DAMMIT! I *KNEW* that something like this was going to happen, but I did NOTHING! "Shark will find him / Shark will use him / Shark will throw him away / and her will is not her own." Why the hell didn't I warn him about this when I had the chance?! Why? Simple. Because in my interactions with Lucien, I assumed that with his words against the Bloc, he would have no interest in getting within their circle in the first place. But he got ambushed, like Ruka and I almost did, and so it went. His mind has been healed, but I don't know about his heart. This mission will be key to seeing what changes have occured within Lucien during the past few months. I don't want him to become the second coming of Derith, and in order to do that, we MUST nurture an appreciation and acceptance of cooperation between the kingdoms. This has always been a keystone of my mother's foreign policy between Ember and Amber... hence my practical fosterage down in Amber proper, training with Cousin Ramon and Aunt Utena; my days as an Arden Ranger, my missions for both crowns. Isolation only breeds wariness and suspicion; only through cooperation can we hope to create the kind of structure that can stand up against the assaults of the Outsiders and Hel. Things of such a nature that affect one kingdom affets ALL of the kingdoms; no amount of running away can prevent that. Hopefully, Lucien will learn this. -- K. ====================================================================== May 22 [Game Day #62] [Some sketches of Nedra's coral forests] ~~~ I am getting bloody fucking tired of things blowing up when I try to examine them. I am REALLY getting Bloody Fucking Tired of things blowing up, my friends getting fried, and other bad things happening why we try to do stuff to PREVENT it. *sigh* Some times, being an Action Heroine sucks. Everything before this was actually pretty decent (if you discount the Black Road we crossed); just a couple of ambushes that we fought off handily. But the horde of Feral Stanley Tweedles, and the chaosians laying in wait to try and snatch Kitiara and Pirotase after we got hit by the Logrus Lightning and explosions... those were not pleasant. But, one has to admit, this is a bonding experience. Lucien's crew is competant... perhaps a little out of their depth, but still competant and an experienced adventuring team, covering their strengths and weaknesses. And Lucien, despite his overwhelming concerns, is a capable military commander. I have a feeling if they manage to learn from this, Rebma will be in good hands. I just hope that there'll be a Rebma worth -saving-, though... the presence of that Black Road is worrisome; since, if Morrigan is correct, it directly connects the Courts of Chaos to Rebma. This is more than just politics; I fear that some portion of one of the seafaring houses has been corrupted by the Outsiders. Why else such support, and the appearance of the Red Death? Hopefully, we'll get our answers inside. For now, however, we rest. And shoot more feral Stanley Tweedles. -- K. ~~~ Well. It looks like Uncle Derith was quite the collector of things. This place makes King Solomon's Mines and the storeroom at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark look like my closets up in Ember. Good Pyricorn, the types of things that have been stashed away here for the past forty years! And the sheer amount! Sis is busy trumping away Derith's inventory into the expanded vaults up in Ember, and it -still- looks like she won't completely finish until some time tomorrow. Of course, the items that have been stashed here give insight to the prince behind the public mask. And it's somewhat unsettling, given some of the things he stockpiled. Secret maps of Rebma, Nedra, and locations out in Shadow. Books of esoterica that various of my magically and Patterny inclined family members would give their eyeteeth to read. Various magical and combat related artifacts that will need to be examined in full before we even dare use them. Diaries of the elder Royal Family, up to 40 years ago. Rifles. Bullets. And Amber Gunpowder. Good -Pyricorn-, how in the five heraldric beasts did he get a HOLD of such goods? If he'd had a mind of it, Uncle Derith could have -severely- tilted the Balance of Power in Rebma's favor; with working Amber firearms and insight into the older family's ways, he'd have had a severe tactical and strategic advantage against anything Amber did to try and prevent him from taking power. Yet, he didn't. Nor did he cause Rebma directly to 'scede' from Amber, which he certainly had the power and ear of Queen Moire to do so. Was it just a bit of 'insurance' in case us 'upper-dwellers' ever got uppity? A way for him to stroke his own superiority in the ways he gained his information? Or a way for him to play hero, should things have ever gotten so dire that he could have Rebma sweep in and rescue the hapless Amberites and not let us forget it for generations to come? We probably will never know. -- K. ====================================================================== May 24 [Game Day #64] It's a very strange feeling having slept overnight in the hollowed caverns of Derith's Secret Vaults. Secure, yet sad. Safe, yet somber. We weren't interrupted through the night, even with us taking watches to keep an eye out for any other intruders (and given the presence of the Chaosians yesterday, lying in wait, I'm surprised we -haven't- been attacked since then). So now we make our plans to sneak into Rebma proper. These plans have been made easier by the existance of Derith's secret maps of Rebma and Nedra. After some thought, we've decided to enter through the sewers -- there's no WAY they can possibly guard -all- of them; then find a place to observe the city and take its measure. If we're not detected, we'll retreat back out through the Sewers again; if we are detected or our original route is blocked off, we'll make a go with the secret passage leading out of the Chapel of the Narwhal. Provided it hasn't been converted over to Outsider worship... ... we shall have to see. -- K. ~~~ We made it. Good Pyricorn, we made it. It still seems too damn easy that we managed to get in and out of Rebma so smoothly, which makes me suspicious -- but on the flip side, I'm not about to complain TOO much. Not when one considers what we learned from observing Rebma. The Bloc is engaged in reconstruction efforts -- reconstruction efforts including a force of Chaosians 20,000 strong. Add to that 40,000 combat ready Rebmans, and the overall apparent population of 200,000, and things do NOT look good for Lucien's forces. Even Amber Firearms (even if they'll WORK underwater in Rebma) won't be enough to change the balance of power in a future conflict. They have chaosians, which means shapeshifting and Logrus capability. The presence of the Red Death and the hints in the Black Heart prophesy also lean heavily towards having to factor in Outsider powers as well. This is not going to be an easily-won battle for Lucien. And with little over 4 weeks until High Summer, we don't have much time to get this resolved. I've compiled a report which I've given to my mother and Captain Ruka to further give to King Tylor and Aunt Kozue; hopefully they'll be able to drum up more support and resources for the conflict ahead. When I get down to Chaos, I'll need to inform Uncle Miki and Dutchess Yumi as well, given the presence of the Black Road and what it implies between the Bloc and Chaos. Until then, I'll be going over the reworked inventory of Derith's Vaults -- Beowulf should be calling me soon, and it should help to have an itemized inventory of what's been found. -- K. ~~~ [Sketch of Beowulf whirl-hugging Lian.] ~~~ Once again, I ride the whirlwind of emotion and feeling, only now getting a chance to write down my impressions and ideas and concerns. First off... I said it. I finally told Lian what I've felt inside my heart for so long. That I Love her, and that I want her as much a part of my life as I hope Ruka will be. That Lian FEELS THE SAME WAY about me was overwhelming, but my heart is uplifted by this revelation, this realization, and this acceptance of the feelings that have developed between us. Pyricorn willing, we'll be able to go on together, and our boyfriends will hopefully be accepting of our new relationship, and not see this as us trying to abandon them or use them for sex, which neither of us have done. The trick is, of course, how to -phrase- said statements so as to do the minimum amount of hurt -- and I'm not quite sure how to DO that. All my experiences on Yig haven't -quite- prepared me for something such as this; sure, I had to speak on my feet and deal with relationship matters that, at the time, I could barely comprehend... but what about here and now? Lady Yumi says that it's impossible NOT to fully hurt people, but I still hold out hope that things will be smoothed over. Perhaps it would have been better if Lian -hadn't- returned my feelings; then I could have just shrugged, gone "Oh Well, Such Is Life", and gone on with our close friendship still intact and my relationship with Ruka a certainty. But I had to make -certain-, for myself, wether what I felt for Lian was returned in the same way. And now I know. And nothing can be the same anymore; this will have repercussions all up and down the line. Do I see us being a Group Marraige (tm)? ... No, not really. My heart and wandering soul is moored to the harbors and home base that Ruka represents. I wish to marry him, to have children with him, to teach them the wonders of both the sun and the sea together. And Lian wishes to be with Thropan, for him to be the father of her children, for a good long time to come. This can hopefully work out. I should hope so, anyway. Provided, of course, the universe doesn't end due to sis and the Sign of the Logrus having a Steel Cage Grudge Match near Yig. -.-;;;; I love my sister, but sometimes I DESPERATELY want to THROTTLE her for some of the seriously BONEHEADED ideas she contemplates... -- K. ====================================================================== May 25 [Game Day #65] [Opposition] Kenshin -- Extremely nasty death machine, wielding Merehallow Eowyn -- Swordswoman. Possible Amberite? Need answers. Davros -- mage/artifacer, possibly with Breath of the Dragon? Soujiro -- Extremely nasty death machine, traitor to Helgram Unknown other members of Serpent's Horn... has to be more than what we've seen, given the other attacks. Numbers so far seem to be in the hundreds in prior raids on the Great Houses. [Opposition Equipment] Merehallow -- Patternblade (bad for those w/ Chaos Blood), shadow manipulation capability Breath of the Dragon -- Energy Spikard (sis is Natural Counter!) Helgram Magical Batteries -- Mega-Booms! Likely other purloined items. Plus usual military gear, enchanted items, golems, etc. [Captives] Saionji Michelle Davros/Narya Atsuko(?) [Daffyl] Child of the Serpent, oriented on Defense/Protection. Has rallied together the splinter factions of Serpent's Horn to form an effective force. [Our Group] Scouting: Myself -- Warrior, Beryllina, Fscking strong, Gaby Manif. Beowulf -- Warrior, the Bag, investigation, Aeris Manif. Moriya -- Warrior, some sorcery, Knife, Kaifun Manif. Miki -- Trump, some swordwork and stealth, Aeris Manif. Yumi -- Logrus(?!), Shapeshifting, magic Jacqueline -- Pattern, Shapeshifting, JoJ attunement, magic, Morgy manif. Remainder: Lily -- Logrus(?!), Shapeshifting, magic Naru -- Warrior/Tactician, strong, good investigative skills. Thoric -- Tactician/Sorceror, but may not be mentally fit for this mission. Motoko -- Warrior/Sorceress, able to summon THE Serpent. Attuned to Daffyl's Eye (was this smart, though?). Mitsune -- Shapeshifter and sorceress. Decent combatant. Moonshade -- Warrior. Generally wielding Justice if Jacqui doesn't. Rally -- Combatant and crack shot. Mutsumi -- Trump, high mental skills. Aeris Manif. Madoka -- General combatatant. Troops from Nurgal Troops from Helgram Amber Trained Bands and a portion of the Amber army also ready to go. [Our gear] Daffyl's Eye -- Flawed Jewel, good at opening/closing barriers Gabrielle -- Fire Pattern Energy Control, Sorcery, Trump, JoJ Attunement Aeris -- Trump Powers Out The Wazoo Morgenstern -- More fire and trump and magic powers Knife -- Mega Damage, good for dealing with Outsiders. Beryllina -- Mega Damage, Good against spells, unlimited ammo Lesser Ilvig -- Shapeshifting Weapon Frostrazor -- Potent damage. Justice -- Patternblade (bad for those w/chaos blood). Bait for SH. ~~~ [SKETCHES: Exterior observation sketches of Daffyl's city and fortress. Interior maps extracted from the ambushed patrol, possible location of captives, etc.] ~~~ Looks like Daffyl's been a busy little snakey. I'm getting a serious sense of Deja Vu here... the situation feels similar to that we faced in Rebma -- an occupying force that's got a LOT more manpower and resources that we first anticipated. And the route getting there was difficult enough that we'll likely -have- to sneak in first before making any attempt to lay siege to the place. We're going to have to go about this carefully -- approximately 2,000 garrisoned troops is nothing to sneeze at. Hopefully our tactical planners will have a better idea of how to go about this; of course, I'm likely to end up in the 'extraction' end, which means I'll get to sneak INTO a heavily fortified place, somehow free the hostages, and then get OUT again without blowing the place sky high. Of course, knowing us, in order to get out, it WILL go sky-high, so I'd best be prepared. As far as I see it, our mission priorities are these: 1) Rescue the hostages (Saionji, Michelle, Davros/Narya, Atsuko) 2) Restore Daffyl's Eye 3) Retrieve stolen items (Merehallow, Breath of the Dragon) 4) Smackdown Serpent's Horn. 5) Capture False Eowyn (to answer for actions in the Annadil Crisis), and Soujiro (to answer for betraying House Helgram). Needless to say, the last two may not even be possible. But we won't know until we try. And I hope that before we meet for more planning tomorrow, I'll be able to get with mom to discuss sis's little... Indiscretion. I'd do it tonight, but mom's probably asleep by now, and Bey's gone and dissapeared on me, since I was thinking of using his Bag to carry the conversation in fast-time... -- K. ====================================================================== May 26 [Game Day #66] Once more unto the breach... The next several days are going to be interesting, in several ways (especially the Cathayan sense). Beowulf and I talked to mom about sis's little challenge to the Logrus; both he and I are surprised that she's actually letting sis go THROUGH with it. It still boggles me, but if mom's feeling okay with it (and believe me, if she -wasn't- okay with it, she would let all and sundry know in very vocal terms), that helps to reassure me that things won't get -too- out of hand. I hope. Be that as it may, though, I still don't get WHY, fully, that sis feels like she's got something to prove against the Sign of the Logrus. Is it a sense of inferiority on her part? After all, she's only been online for the past 70 years, and the Fire Pattern redrawn for the past 500 in Ember time; while the Logrus has been around for Pyricorn only knows how long, and works in every universe defined like our own. Or perhaps she and the Sign of the Logrus are just in denial over any possible reciprocal feelings between the two; after all, sis -is- the only other fully-sentient full-Pattern-based construction in our reality, connected to a Primal Power as potent as the Logrus is down in Chaos. Or, it could just be an instinctual dislike of the other power that may never be purged. I (and sis) may never know for sure. And I don't know if could be fixed, or SHOULD, even if we tried. It'd be like rewriting the minds of one of our family member's (like Lucien), just because of them behaving in a way that we didn't approve of. Take that step, and it's a slippery slope to behaving like Grandpa Gendo, treating the entire world as pawns for one's games. Thank you, but if I wanted a Jerkoff experience like -that-, I'd go and find a kingdom in Shadow to use as a personal playpen, and I'm not particularly inclined to do THAT. Ahwell. Hopefully dad (as referee) and Great-Grandpa Fuyutsuki (as Steel Cage designer) will be able to keep things from getting out of hand near Yig... argh! Like I've had enough problems getting into trouble with the Forestals this year as it was! Now we've got to go and keep a Pattern and the Logrus from getting too out of control and possibly hosing the Worldtree?! Nevermind the other risks to Reality and the Patterns that might occur... Even with all that in mind, I'll still be attending. But my mind won't be on the Steel Cage Match. It'll be on the highest level of guard that I can acheive, to prevent any threats from striking Ember or Yig or the family that watches before they can actually carry through. Of course, if our infiltration and assault on the Serpent's Horn doesn't go well, it may all be moot, anyway. I'm still somewhat amazed at the group that's been assembled for this -- and that -Lord Loewen- will be LEADING the extraction mission! But he's definitely been on the ball with regards to the possible outcomes so far, and answered my concerns about construct use and prisoners (okay, so his attitude might need some work, but realistically, in a combat situation, it's not always possible to -take- prisoners). So we shall have to see. I'm nervous about having to leave my high-powered gear, both offensive and defensive, behind; but stealth is a priority for this mission, and both Beryllina and Gabrielle are too 'visible' from a mystical standpoint to carry around on a sneak attempt. Please, oh Pyricorn, let us not fuck this up. -- K. ~~~ [Sketches after Serpent's Horn assault, during recovery:] [Sketch of Davros of SH being immolated by the summoned Serpent of Fire.] [Sketch of Kenshin's last moments at Thoric's and Jacqui-tendril's hands.] [Sketch of the Serpent of Fire flying up to confront Daffyl, held by Giant Gabrielle and Morgenstern.] [Sketch of Motoko in Phoenix Form in front of Daffyl, carrying Daffyl's Eye of the Guardian.] [Sketch of Daffyl's transformation/redemption.] [Sketch of restored landscape and battlefeild thanks to Daffyl's tears/rain.] [Sketch of The Serpent of Fire kissing Gabrielle on the forehead.] [Sketch of Motoko cradling/holding Loewen.] [Sketch of departing Soujiro.] [Sketch of Moriya-Chan cradling Chibi-Mitsune, both asleep.] [Sketch of Mutsumi cradling exhausted Jacqueline in House Gainax] ====================================================================== May 27 [Game Day #67] [Sketches of flying 790 heads.] [Sketch of Davros meditating on rocky outcropping overlooking the Shadow of Water at the Keep of the Five Worlds.] [Sketch of House Hammerhead troops.] [Sketch of Dread Pirate Demetrius] ~~~ We pulled it off. The war against the Serpent's Horn is over, their leaders dead or incapacitated, the damage that they caused on its way to being healed. Once again, one of those watershed moments that changes the way I look at things has occured... to see THE Serpent, burning bright... well, it gives one hope. Hope that perhaps we'll have learned from this. Hope that even the deepest, darkest hurts can be healed. Hope that someday, Amber and Chaos will be able to work together towards a common goal of protecting our universe against the Outsiders or other threats, instead of engaging in petty rivalries. Now, if we could only convince sis of this, we could make some -progress-... her behaviour so far has NOT impressed Beowulf, Motoko, and Moriya, and they've generally been her better supporters. I wish I knew what the hell has gotten into her! I know she can be monofocused at times, and -has- had this long-term grudge against the Logrus, but trying to settle it -this- way, with a steel cage grudge match, is just very, VERY odd. I tried talking her out of this, but it didn't do much good. Dammit. Things are starting to go downhill, and I don't know how to stop them... what is happening to us? What's happened to the relations between the people I care about? For Pyricorn's sake, I've just talked to Aunt Nanami, who was DEPRESSED! I've NEVER seen her like THAT before! I don't know. I admit to a selfish desire to find a deep, dark, safe hole in shadow, and to pull Ruka and Lian in with me to keep me safe and protected while I cry my eyes out. At this rate, I'm going to be a wreck if things continue to degrade any further... The next 790 head that appears gets a Beryllina bolt through the brainpan, just see if it doesn't. -- K. ====================================================================== May 28 [Game Day #68] Pyricorn and Serpent... what a fucking mess. I'm not about to go into my feelings over what sis did last night. My thoughts are still too confused and jumbled, a mixture of rage and sorrow and confusion and frustration that has yet to be resolved to my satisfaction. Unfortuantely, the repercussions of this will likely be felt for months, if not YEARS... and now was one-hundred-percent NOT the time to do something like sis pulled. NOT when we're trying to get people to work TOGETHER to fight off the invasions of Hel... Dammit. I am so effing glad Ruka did NOT attend this debacle. I need SOMEBODY who'll be able to have some sort of level head about this that I'm close to... and thank the Pyricorn Jacqui wasn't at the game, either. Though no doubt by now she will have heard. DAMNIT! Right. That's it. This imbroglio is going to make the entire Marches mess look like a minor squabble. I need to talk with Ruka to make arrangements (and check on Navy status), talk with Uncle Miki to get the Phoenix Egg and tell him about Eowyn, and ... and then, talk with Anno-sama, tell him about my concerns about that Black Road up to Rebma, get the Knife back, and SOMEHOW make things up with him about how sis treated the Logrus. How? I don't know. Maybe I should swing by Jade, fast-time, and make him some bookends or something. I'm at my wit's end, but as much as I'd like to see more things in Chaos, I'd best keep myself AWAY from the Courts for the immediate future. And then I'll come back home, collect Ruka and Lian and Thropan, leave messages with Bey and Lily to trump us... then walk the Fire Pattern to take me to a vacation shadow for the six of us, because I have a feeling we fucking NEED IT. *sigh* Damnit. Well, at least not EVERYTHING yesterday was bad... though given everything, people's reactions will likely be lost in the shuffle. The 'Giant Space Whale' information I got from Radical Edward -- hopefully it'll help Lucien and Beowulf in trying to figure out what Annadil had designed, and wether or not House Darios has seized the 'Leviathan'. Either they have and they were severely holding back when they attacked the Bebop, or what they encountered was a knockoff. Either way, it's bad -- but I can't know more until somebody more technically inclined goes over the data and compares it with Beowulf's plans. And as for the 'False' Eowyn... Well, it's complex. She's a blood- creature, but she's BEEN one for so long, since from the time Aunt Eowyn DIED, that she's effectively become her own person. She's even walked the Air Pattern multiple times! She's got her own memories, she hasn't been mentally tampered with, instead likely having been raised in a false Amber... ... sadly, her childhood memories make her believe that Uncle Drake is the sole source of Evil in the universe. -.-; According to -her- the attempts on mom's sisters and herself and grandmom were to get them out of the way so that Drake could be re-legitimized. Which is patently -not- true, but convincing her will be difficult in the extreme. But at least we have that chance. She's lived long enough to transcend the boundaries of a created being, whoever made her (our best guess at the moment would be, of course, Sakura); she has been judged by the Serpent as a person, and by my mother as a living being, and so she deserves a chance, as a person, to redeem herself. Just like Gabrielle. -- K. ~~~ It's been a week since Lian and I brought Beowulf and Lily here to Jade, and so far, things haven't majorly blown up. Fortunately. Part of this is due to a concerted effort on all of us to try and NOT think about the events a week past; another is due to the fact that we have some concrete goals to accomplish while on Jade, which also helps. The fact that I'm being very concientious about not mentioning sis, or having her manifest, likely also plays a part. At the moment, I'm more than inclined to just try to put the entire bitter business behind me, but I seriously doubt that others (like Beowulf) are going to be willing to do the same. So I need to spend some reflection on it in order to make sense of what's happened. I'm willing to accept Sis's feelings that she felt the need to confront the Logrus like that, with a Cage Match, never mind how flawed the rationale might be to some. As she pointed out, and as mom pointed out, it was a far sight better idea than going direct Power versus Power, which would have had grave consequences for Reality as a whole. And as a being tied to a Primal Power, Gabrielle's own personality is such that she can't exactly -help- being opposed to the Logrus or Chaos, despite what her higher thought processes may be able to countermand on the necessity of both Chaos and Order to help our universe run. I've seen the same phenomenon with sis and the other Elemental Patterns, especially regarding Wood and the missing Water, but in those cases it's a lot more subdued, and despite her posturing, she can accept the need for all five. Besides, she -married- the man who wants more than all to REDRAW the Water Pattern, and if that doesn't demonstrate she's more than transcended her original 'defintion' as 'Just A Fire Pattern Machine', I don't know what does. It could be worse, I suppose. She -could- be stridently rabble- rousing for all-out war to exterminate Chaosians and to wipe out the Logrus. But she doesn't. Lots of verbal sniping, yes, but not out-and-out Conflict. Well, most of the time. This will take a long time to work out. Hopefully, eventually, other people will be able to forgive sis for what she did at the match. But that might be a long time coming. Especially since Jacqui's relationships were brought into question because of it (Jacqui dating the Logrus? Jacqui BREAKING UP with the Logrus?! When the hell did THAT happen?), and the low blow of Gaby using Jacqui's form to catch the Logrus off-guard. And I don't even WANT to know where this Juri Porn Channel thing came from, or how the hell the KTC got involved in sponsoring it -- I'd be inclined to think Kuonji had a hand in that part. Perhaps dad will have some insight. I'll have to ask him. But, enough of that. I promised myself that I wasn't going to angst about what happened overmuch, and that includes here in my diary. At least Jacqui has an open support group; it didn't take a rocket scientist to see how she and Thoric and Mutsumi were interacting, both before and after our assault on the Serpent's Horn. If their mutual relationship can be accepted by others (and by my calcuations, there's nothing technically incestuous about it by Amberite Law), then perhaps Myself, Ruka, Lian, and Thropan have a chance as well. If nothing else, mom knows what's going on, and reacted better to my declarations of Love for Ruka and Lian than I thought she would. Though, all things considered, I doubt there's a "perfect" way to take such news in the first place. ^_- Hopefully, the next few months of preparations here in Jade will help distract Beowulf and help him gain some perspective on things; Pyricorn and Serpent know -I- need some of that as well. But Jade's always been good for that kind of thing, and in showing Beowulf and Lily around, perhaps I'll be able to destress as well. After the past several weeks in Amber-time, we certainly NEED it. -- K. ~~~ [Various and Sundry sketches and images of Lian, Thropan, Beowulf, and Lily while on Jade.] ~~~ Spring and summer proceed apace on Jade, and for once it's not just myself and Lian enjoying the changing seasons here. Beowulf and Lily have taken to Jade and Earth-Realm like a dragon to a treasure horde, fully within their various elements. In the process of raising capital and recruiting crews, we've traveled across the West and East continents of Jade, delved the depths of ancient temples dating from the time of the Shadow invasion and before, visited our friends in the Werecheetah community on the Fourth Continent, and even gated to Earth-Realm courtesy of the mages of Seer's Hamlet so we could visit the Diggers family in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. (And whoever came up with the great idea to have Lily and Britanny have a "Shop 'til you Drop" competition needs to be clocked one. Hard. All I know is that -I- didn't come up with the idea, and -I'm- not about to pay all the credit card bills...) Beowulf was quite eager to see the various archeological sites that Gina had discovered over the years (and to help with the uncovering of some new ones); while I may never fully get the mindset, personally I feel that he needed the distraction, a return to the original career that he had learned and perfected over the years. He hasn't mentioned much about sis, but in light of things, I view that as a good thing -- though he sighed, and shook his head regretfully when I unveiled my paintings surrounding the events of the Serpents Horn and reached the one of the Serpent of Fire (Pindin, as Lily informed me) kissing Gabrielle on the forehead before he flew off. But then again, that was part of the point of this vacation. To allow us to get things to a point where we won't be liable to bite Gabrielle's head off when we next meet her. Though given the cold shoulder treatment Beowulf gave her on our first day here, I'm not sure if just blowing up would've been the BETTER course. At least I know things would have been vented, allowing healing to take place. Ahwell. At least I got the chance to complete all the paintings that've been lurking within me for the past several months; of my adventures in the Leauge, in Nedra and Rebma, in Chaos and versus the Serpent's Horn. Lily was extremely impressed, and of course Lian was pleased with what I'd made, which always makes me happy. ^_^ I've had sis trump them back up to my rooms in Ember, so that I can show mom them later, once we get back and settled after our next round of adventures. Well, that's enough of that for now. We're due to get the first wave of ships boomed into Trinc in two days, ready for crewing and final outfitting. Ruka would be proud of the men (and elves, and dwarves) we've assembled, if he was here; but I suppose we'll get to see his reaction soon enough, once we finish all the drills and exercises Beowulf's got lined up for them. Let the pirates of Jade beware; the Jade Fleet is about to set sail! Sea ho! -- K. ~~~ [Sketches of the Jade Fleet and various crewmembers.] ~~~ The past week has been somewhat bittersweet for me, as the leaves on the trees slowly change colors as fall comes to Jade, and as we prepare to go back home to Amber. I am filled with a sense of pride and accomplisment at all we've done here -- assembling a fleet and training it, continuing to explore both Jade and Earth-Realm, relaxing and creating in various ways; but also a sense of trepidation -- at having to leave a place that has become a second or third home for me once again, at having to face the tasks that we still need to accomplish, at the fact that there are only 25 days left until High Summer and the Day of the Dead. At the fact that it has fallen to me to deliver Merehallow up to Aunt Juri so she can use it to kill Hel. But will I be able to do it? The Prophesy of Yig gave strong indications that I would still need Morgan to help bear the blade into battle, and he's stuck with House Alars. It also hinted I would need Naussica and her spikard, and she hasn't been heard from for weeks. I hope that I won't have to address these issues to get to Cathuria, but if the Phoenix's Egg refuses to hatch, the point may be moot anyway. There's also the little matter that I have no idea how Aunt Juri's going to ATTUNE to Merehallow what with her being not exactly able to get to Tir'na'nog easily... Ahwell. These issues will resolve themselves, one way or another. They're still things that need to be addressed, anyway, so I will deal with them when I come to them. That's really the best way to cope with these things without getting totally stressed about them. They allow me to take action as needed, and to have patience when needed as well -- and the determination to do what's needed and what's right. At least we've managed to help Amber a bit with our efforts here, in building and training a fleet for her defense, and in destressing enough so that we won't be so frazzled when carrying out our next tasks. All in all I'd have to say our vacation here on Jade has been a success. I'm looking forward to the look on Ruka's face when we trump in that fleet before scattering for our individual missions... ...and to also finally explaining to Ruka everything that's happened lately in my life. Oh Pyricorn and Serpent, let me not mess that up... -- K. ====================================================================== May 29 [Game Day #69] [Sketches of the Black Unicorn War Train.] ~~~ Oh Pyricorn and Serpent, I am a Fool. It's been several weeks on Mechanus in fast time while we prepare to retrieve Merehallow from the Black Unicorn forces and Horatio's War Train, but I still cannot shake the feeling that I could have prevented this. If I hadn't dallied around after the battle against the Serpent's Horn. If I hadn't spent several -days- hopping about Shadow to make sure everything was all right (and that -I- was ready) before I would depart for Cathuria and Aunt Juri. If I and Ruka and Aunt Kozue hadn't boarded That Damn Train, if I had done something other than just HANDING MEREHALLOW OVER ... But dwelling on the past has never been truly fruitful for me. It's an indulgence, but doesn't serve any real purpose save for digging oneself deeper into self-pity -- and I do not have the luxury of that right now. Not when there's preparations to make; war trains to build and faux-cultists to grow. I've pretty much served in an advisory capacity for those tasks, bringing up questions and concerns that may not be considered by the others, so that all possible angles can be covered to the best of our abilities. I've noticed Lian trying to stop me from obsessing over this, which is awfully sweet of her. I know she's as concerned about everything that's happened -- the temporary misplacement of Merehallow aside, the reappearance of the Black Unicorn is something we can't let lie, what with Hel's armies on the way -- but she's able to focus on her work yet also on distracting me and spending time with me as we go about our duties. This is a good thing, since if I started thinking about everything that happened that morning, I would probably only get more depressed. Ruka. I miss Ruka. I don't want to think of Lian as a replacement for my Dear Captain, but this recent series of events has only further clarified the differences in our various relationships -- and how much I've grown to depend on both Ruka and Lian's presence in my life -- and increased my desire to finally get how I feel about both of them out into the open. We're all mature, rational adults, fully capable of realizing that there are circumstances beyond our control that can get in the way, but that still doesn't stop me from wishing he was here right now, and I worry that something may have happened to him while he's out in Shadow. People are looking for him, but I do not know if he'll even be recovered before this entire damned business is over. This needs to be resolved. Both the issue with Merehallow and the Black Unicorn, and my feelings for Ruka and Lian, before I veritably explode from within from trying to keep quiet about it. Hopefully, these resolutions will be soon. -- K. ====================================================================== May 30 [Game Day #70] The storms have cleared, and our 'bait'... Motoko ... is now here. She isn't too thrilled to be here (who would be?) but she's agreed to stick around and lure Horatio here so we can FINALLY take down the damn train and remove the threat of the Black Unicorn once and for all. We also managed to get caught up a little in what we've been doing, and some of her suggestions (using the Metal Jewel, and a trump of Merehallow to find it) have merit, which will need to be considered in our revised plans in rescuing Aunt Kozue and getting the sword back. I just wish I knew why Motoko was -so- twitchy all the time these days... -- K. ~~~ Well. We finally did it, Lian and I. We told Thropan about how we felt about each other -- and, as far as things go, his reaction was what we figured would be (or at least that I figured). He's not about to break up with Lian anytime soon... but he's not comfortable with the idea of herself and myself being 'involved' in an active relationship, either, at the moment. Which, of course, satisfies our condition for -not- going further with what was starting to develop between myself and Lian. I still want to talk things over with Ruka, but the entire tone of that conversation will be different, due to the fact that it's not likely for -either- of us (me and Lian) to get what we want anytime soon. I do hope he'll be understanding of this, however. I may be being overly hopeful and wishful over the entire deal, but neither Ruka or I are novices at trying to figure out this 'Love' thing... and we've both had lovers before in the past, and neither of us have particularly done the 'two at once' deal, either. Well, I know -I- haven't until now; I don't know about Ruka, but that's quite frankly his business on his past affairs, and I'm not about to pry if he doesn't want to tell. Hopefully, he'll understand that I still love him, even with this set of developments. A person is capable of Love without expressing it sexually; Love out of friendship, Love out of declared siblinghood -- one does NOT have to engage in intercourse to show how much one cares. I love my family, I love my friends, and would die (and more importaintly -live-) to protect them, and that will NEVER change. If my relationship with Lian is destined to go back to what it was before -- a close bond of family and sisterhood -- then so it shall be. Can I help being selfish in wishing it could be otherwise? -- K. ====================================================================== May 31 [Game Day #71] This has been a whirlwind of a day, and one that has left me troubled. From Mechanus to the road to Cathuria, I have been rapidly running from one crisis to another, as the forces set against us continue to mount and up the stakes for success or failure. And the prices we end up paying... the near total destruction of Mechanus... the temporary -merging- of Jacqueline with one of the Blood-Taylor abominations... they continue to sicken and worry me, and I fear what we may need to go through before the Day of the Dead arrives in full. If it were not for the massed powers and skills of our family, we would certainly have been lost long before this month. But even now, will they be enough? The past encounters, with the Black Unicorn and their Construct War-Train, Yog-Y'bootymac and Vice and Mature, were too damn close, nearly leading to the deaths of several people. Yes, we pulled our butts out of the fire, but only with outside help -- Kuonji in the case of the Black Unicorn, Loewen and his men against Yog and his false Helgramites. I still don't get Kuonji. She scams me, so that she gets the third key to Hoard so that Beowulf can't get it (and I have a suspicion the setup in the Omataze Mts. in Lipun is an even bigger scam... but with the Outsider Power there, I dare not investigate without some Elder Sign Backup). She turns up on the steps of the Gaunt Man's fortress, and rescues Aunt Utena and Wakaba when the shadow goes to hell and Yog-Sothoth nearly eats them (and I still don't know how that temporal black hole got formed). She leads a large group of my family on a wild spikard chase in Mystara (to make sure Bewoulf gets put through a near-fatal wringer), which ends up in the temporary death of Keitaro. She gets brought aboard during our trip to Akasha, and we try being civil with her, but her total flippancy and disregard towards Keitaro and his death shoots that to hell. She shows up believing Aunt Kozue and Motoko were being captured by "Evil Chaosians" and tries to rescue them, leaving us temporarily in the lurch until they explain what's going on, at which point she helps us destroy the Black Unicorn War Train and recover Merehallow. She GIVES Motoko the Third Key to Hoard, with the injunction that she does NOT give the Key or Spikard to Beowulf, to which she agrees. Her actions continue to be contradictory and frustrating. I tried holding out the hand of friendship at several times, of being welcomed into the family, of being a decent person, and effectively got stomped on for it. Her goals are questionable, and I STILL can't fathom her final intentions, save for Beowulf mentioning that Anno's said that Kuonji, his granddaughter, has some desperate, foolhardy plan to deal with the Master Spikard. Given everything so far, I shudder to think what that might be... and to what part Beowulf may end up unwittingly play in it, since it's quite clear that Kuonji hates Beowulf with a passion beyond casual encounters, and I still can't figure out WHY this is so. I will clearly need to think on this further. I do not want her help, given the variability of her actions in the past, but at the rate things are going, we may have no choice. Not when Outsider-allied blood creatures set up massive scams with shadow Phoenix Fleets to fool well-meaning questors with patternblades. At least we weren't TOTALLY off-guard and we collectively suspicious of "Aunt Juri"'s actions to go after Yog once he had Merehallow in his hands. I hope this entire damnible business gets resolved soon. I may not advocate the elimination of House Tremere... but some selective slash-and-burn may be called for before it's all over. -- K. ====================================================================== June 3 [Game Day #74] [Various sketches of Juri and Cathuria made before going to sleep.] ~~~~ We did it. WE FINALLY DID IT. After all the years of searching... after all the months of chasing down Merehallow... after everything I've done in the pursuit of my goals... we've DONE it. I write this in Cathuria, City of Dreams, Aerie of the Phoenix, Guardian of the Ramparts of the World. And I have finally met my Aunt Juri, and delivered Merehallow to her. To see her, to -speak- with her, face to face, is overwhelming. My natural caution, especially given the events of the past day, was high (and I -still- feel embarrased and frustrated for giving -Yog- the full intro I had always dreamed of giving Aunt Juri -- made today's intro somewhat anticlimatic) -- but after being around her, listening to her, watching her, talking with her... I have no doubt in my mind now. THIS is my Aunt Juri, the woman who led the armies of Amber to victory time and time again, who endured hardships above and beyond any person could rightfully be expected to survive, who saved my mother during her darkest days, who has seen things in the service to Cathuria that defy description, akin to what I experienced on Yig. One of the few people in the universe... no, the multiverse... whom my mother trusts without reservation -- and loves. Oh Pyricorn and Serpent, would that I could stay here forever to learn from her... -- K. ====================================================================== June 4 [Game Day #75] [Sketches made in the morning before breakfast.] ~~~~ [Sketches and painting notes for Cathuria] ~~~~ There's something just RIGHT about the world today, and I don't mean the current weather conditions on Jade (a nicely temperate fall this year, the leaves not having yet fallen). For the past week I've been working on paintings in fast time, taking care of various subjects and events that I've witnessed over the past several weeks, especially the big one... ... Cathuria. Oh Pyricorn and Serpent, what a place! I could spend years there and not have learned even a fraction of what that place holds; my short tour there was an eye-opener as it was, and a prime example of the variability of time in the City of Dreams. I can easily see why Naru wished to stay behind -- perhaps once she gets back after the Day of the Dead, she'll deign to tell me something of what she experienced and learned there; hopefully Aunt Juri will tell me too, though I understand her reticence... Aunt Juri. She is everything my mother told me about her, and more. Quietly poised, emotionally controlled, but with hints of her true feelings showing when she thinks nobody would be paying attention. Intelligent and wise, she's fully focussed on the task at hand yet also planning for the future. And by the Heraldric Beasts and the incarnations of the Serpent, can she ever FIGHT!! I had hoped for a bit that my great strength and physical skill would have given me something of an edge against her, but even there she outmatched me. I haven't been that badly whupped since the last time Aunt Utena and I sparred -- I really need to get back into the habit. Even the skilled fighters of my generation and the next -- Beowulf, Moonshade, Moriya, Naru -- don't even come close to the acrobatics and skill that Aunt Juri showed there on the sparring floor. I'd LOVE to see her and Julia-Sensei go at it on the Duel Arena floor; it'd be a Rose Duel to remember, no doubt about it. I love her. Oh, not in the way that Mom might, or Uncle Miki -- but she is my oldest living Aunt, and I can but hope that we are victorious on the Day of the Dead, so that I can travel Shadow with her afterwards and learn more of what she's experienced over the centuries. And with her leading the armies of Cathuria and Merehallow on her hip, Hel doesn't stand a chance. Oh, I can't wait to tell mom and the rest of the family of what we've done! -- K. ====================================================================== June 5 [Game Day #76] [Sketches and painting notes for paintings of Moriya and Lian to give to family members in memory of them.] ~~~ I never thought I would be writing things like this in my diary. Not now, not this early in my life. But the events of the past few days, from the point of my return home from Cathuria, requires me to put pen to paper once more, taking a break from my hurried work on Jade, from healing the combined realms and from my painting sessions. Lian, and Moriya... are dead. I cannot believe that I just wrote that. Save that I did, save that the evidence has stared myself and Ruka and Beowulf in the face. Now, more than ever, the transitoriness of life has been hammered home to me, more than any campaign or military operation I have been in, more than any tale told to me by my family or friends. Only now I have been able to put aside the grief for the moment to try and get my thoughts in order. Everything else has been reaction and hurried response, confusion, frustration, and despair mixed with longing, regret, and 'what might have been'. There are still nights when I wake up in the middle from a dream or nightmare, crying and needing Ruka's strong embraces and soothing caresses to urge me to sleep once more. Thank the Pyricorn and Serpent that I have Ruka with me! Any doubts in my mind about the feelings we have for each other have been swept away -- I only wish the circumstances of the realization of our Love were not so tragic. Fortunately, here on Jade, in fast-time, we have been given a breif chance to recenter, to prepare for the tasks ahead of us before High Summer. They are a distressing and disturbingly high number of difficult ones... ~~~ [Scribbled notes on what still needs to be done, from Kanna's POV:] Developing plans -- what still needs to be done: * Retreiving the White Knight * Demetrius for this, since Lian failed on first attempt, and only known 'sane' Abyss person I know. * Also use this to confirm aftermath of Lian's Death in the Abyss. * Hunt down Tharkold-linked Outsider Construct (we only got Kranod) * Might no longer have Mechanus Space Fleet support. Who else can we call? * Uncle Drake have any ships? * Hire the crew of the Bebop? * Get Ace and upgrade the Visigoth? * Ember fleets, or are they prepping for the Day of the Dead now? * Akashans? * Demetrius? * Funk Fleet? * Hunt any remaining Outsider Herald/ Construct/Spikard groups. * Bloc Rebmaquois is one of these. * Hunt down any Hel-Agents in our universe * Get Demetrius assistance on this? * Fortify Hel invasion points. * Investigate Ancient Ember Tech from Earth-Realm ~~~ Have you ever had one's soul ripped apart? A vital portion of your being, removed and violently cast away? Done with the terrible, horrible knowledge that you will never, ever get it back? To whoever may ever end up reading this once I'm gone... that is how I felt when Lian died. I did not even know it was her death at the time -- I just knew something dire had happened, and feared the worst. It was something I had never, ever experienced before, and I am not eager to repeat the experience anytime soon. I can only wonder what Thropan went through, as he was even closer to Lian than I was -- close enough to have a SON by her, though I didn't known about him at the time. I have not asked him about it -- nor do I intend to. Some things are private, though I hope to provide what support I can when the time is right. We Loved Lian, in our individual ways, and I hope in the years ahead I will be able to do what's right for Orien. Lian. Pyricorn and Serpent, I miss Lian. All the things we did together over the past years, all the adventures and exploration -- the realization that we Loved each other, moreso than our declared 'sisterhood' could ever account for. To try and sum up everything about her in these pages, good and bad and indifferent, would take up more diaries than I have time to write. And Moriya... I regret that I did not get to know him better than I did. I had my worries that his quests for the items of Wood would take him further and cause him to pay more severe prices than he was willing to pay. But even with that concern, I knew he would succeed -- he was driven, determined, and one of the best among us in any of the generations. His love of Wood resonated with me, and I know he enjoyed Arden as much as I did in my breif times there. Elder Gods, I wish Beowulf wasn't taking this so badly. [TBC] [Need to carry out Lian's last Will -- concerns on what'll happen to Vector, heard rumors from Lian about him becoming his own construct after this.] [Worries about Wasyuu] [Ancient Ember tech? (practically minor investigation at this time)] [NOT LONG UNTIL HIGH SUMMER!! ^_^;;; 2+ weeks. Consult with Bey, Ruka, etc, on prioritizing tasks.] ====================================================================== June 6 [Game Day #77] [Post-funeral reactions -- on the way to try and stop Wasyuu] ====================================================================== June 7 [Game Day #78] [Appearance of the odd White Rose] [talking with Demetrius] ====================================================================== June 8 [Game Day #79] [Events with wasyuu and vector.] [Summary on-the-flight] ====================================================================== June 9 [Game Day #80] [More 'White Rose'? What's up with THAT?] ====================================================================== June 10 [Game Day #81] [Arrival at the Construct] [Notes on the station sneaking.] ====================================================================== June 11 [Game Day #82] [Planning thoughts.] ====================================================================== June 12 [Game Day #83] [White knight retrieved!] [Reccruit sumire, shinobu-m, and Keitaro; get calling Jacqui and co] [Jacqui zapping!] ~~~~ [More Breifing!] [Finalized plan] ~~~~ [Thoughts during preparations] ====================================================================== June 14 [Game Day #85] ====================================================================== June 16 [Game Day #87] [End of mission] [Concerns over Bey/Jacqui/Sis.] [.... kuonji... brainraped... my sister.] ~~~ [Post-Jacqui/Bey recovery] [5 days until Hel -- 6 in total.] ====================================================================== [Page ripped out, no explination.] ====================================================================== June 17 [Game Day #88] [Post Funk and Drake Orders] [Written BEFORE going to see Ruka] ====================================================================== June 20 [Game Day #91] I look back at my diary over the past mon*scribble* week*scribble* -- years? I don't know anymore. Does time have any meaning for what we've gone through, and what we have yet to face? Especially when one is in a Shadow where one can control time, like Jade and its realms, which is where I write this now. I look at the scribbled entries ever since our disasterous visit to Chaos to try and find out what caused Lian's death, and I am disquieted by the disjointed, almost haphazard writings scribed among those days and weeks. A portrait of a woman on the edge -- of desperation, despair, or insanity, I do not know. I doubt, even now, that I could summarize them to my satisfaction; or even if I should try. How can one describe all that has happened? Confidence, Confusion, Grief, Triumph... all those and more describe what happened to I and my friends and family. The true horror of what can possibly happen to our universe is just now beginning to dawn on me. Hel is playing for keeps, and this is going to be a close battle, closer than those we have fought before, closer even than those mother and sister fought against Annadil. The darkness moves against us. We must prepare to be the light to drive it back -- and hopefully not go out in the process. I love my family too much to let that happen. -- K. ====================================================================== June 21 [Game Day #92] Tomorrow is the day. High Summer. The Day of the Dead. The armies mass on the Elemental shadows of the Keep of the Five Worlds. The three Kingdoms of Order stand as ready as they can be made. Chaos's legions prepare, and the strike teams are in place. This is it. For anybody who may survive to read this this if we fall ... For any scholars who may study my writings should I perish ... Let it be known that on June the Twenty-Second, 570 CY, 1332 AY, that I, Kanna Darako Kusanagi, Crown Princess and Blood Daughter of the Queen of Ember, Corrine the First, did hereby sally forth from the Keep of the Five Worlds with my teammembers -- Duchess Yumi of Amber and Chaos, Spellvis of Graceland, Julia Diggers of Jade and Earth-Realm -- to defend our homelands from the predations of Hel, Abyss Sayianjin, the "Queen of the Dead" and her hordes. Let no being still alive say that our fight was in vain. Let the triumphs and trials of what came before stand as a testament to our dedication, drive, desire, and Love for our family and friends. May the Pyricorn Light Our Path. May the Unicorn Guide Us Through The Danger. May the Narhwhal Escort Us Back To Safe Harbors. May the Alicorn Protect Our Dreams. May the Serpent In His Many Aspects Shield Us From Harm. And may the spirits of those who have fallen on the path before us smile upon us. Ruka, I love you. Mom, Dad, I love you. Sis, I love you. Now let's go kick some Wu-ass. -- K. ====================================================================== ====================================================================== [["Gaby?]] [["Yeah, sis?"]] [["Was... was that a bit trite, there at the end?"]] [["... mmmm... nah. It's you to a t'.]] [["Heh... thanks. I love you, Gabrielle."]] [["I know, Kanna. I love you, too. You want me to... ?"]] [["Yeah... here. Take it upstairs, full lockdown, the whole nine yards. All backups and duplicates sealed in the vaults. Maximum preservation and security locks."]] [["You've got it, sis. Back in a flash."]] [["... thanks."]] ====================================================================== ======================================================================