Let me tell you about the Family Album:
According to my Mom, my Father romantically swept her off of her feet in a whirlwind romance. They eloped and I was born soon after. My Father was Captain Theodore Edgar Matthews: A military diplomatic attaché of some sort who was called away on an assignment just after I was born. Called away to some foreign war when there was peace at home. He was never heard from again: Missing - Presumed Dead.
Any family on my Father’s side is unknown. My Mom said that he had a strange German/Dutch accent (In the nineties they called it Eurotrash) and it could only be assumed that any paternal family is in Europe: Estranged. But, perhaps that is why he engaged himself in foreign affairs.
My Mom said that they were so busy romancing, wining and dining that they never stopped to take pictures. Too caught up in the present to worry about their past, or their future. I have all of my Mom’s features. She and I don’t see anything of my Father in me when we look in the mirror.
It will be an exercise in futility to try and identify my Father from any picture that Ms. Chan shows us. Yet, I have a foolish hope that I have some deep buried infant’s memory stored away that will somehow have me recognize his photograph when I see it.
I get up to the rooftop terrace and see my new cousins are buzzing around a food trolley. I squeeze in and pour myself a mug of black coffee and then move away as Fatima pours herself one as well and adds milk to hers.
I notice that Edward has brought a mug with him from downstairs and I get a quick whiff of a potent potable as he moves past me to add coffee to his libation.
Akio is standing alone looking up at the night sky. I stand next to him for a moment and take in the strange constellations as well. I notice that he’s frowning a bit, "Hey Akio, you look a little seasick. What's up?" He shrugs and gives his head a solemn shake. Then we both quietly move back to the gathering.
Alarna is also hanging back from the group, over by the edge of the terrace. She's looking at the alien sky and the two moons that are low on the horizon.
Ms. Chan arrives in all her radiant glowing ‘Trump Power’ glory. It looks like she is carrying a small box that is just a little larger than a deck of cards which radiates the white light of ‘Trump Power’.
I feel a stab of pain in my eyes as I look at her packet and wonder if I should have declined attending this show and tell as my headache returns. A gulp of coffee and a few quick deep breaths and I’m able to think a little more clearly. I have to get used to this and build up my resistance.
She pours herself a mug of coffee, picks up the packet, then appears to concentrate on it. The glowing packet appears to expand. She takes the extended part of the packet and pulls it away from the main in her right hand. She then puts the main packet on the table before transferring the smaller portion of the glowing packet into her left hand.
She begins, "In whichever manner I do this it's possibly going to be difficult for some of you, so I'm just going to progress through them in order, with what I know." Going through her motions, I realize that she is handling a stack of what I assume are magical photographs as she begins to lay them out on the table one at a time.
We gather around the table and I think we all held our collective breaths while Ms. Chan laid them out.
The first one she lays out is, "Oberon - My Grandfather, might be your Grand, or Great-Grandfather in one form or another. Died at the end of the Patternfall War restoring the Amber Pattern. I didn't know about Amber until well after these events."
She continued at a steady pace, "Txomin - Believed to have died in a war centuries ago."
"Vladislav - Believed to have died in a war centuries ago."
"Raif - Instigator of both wars. Died at Rodians hand. "
"Natalya - Currently non compos mentis. My Father suspects the current state of the Amber Pattern has a direct significant bearing on her current mental state. "
"Logan - Died at Raif's hand trying to protect the Pattern. "
"Xavier - Alive the last time I saw him. I'm assuming he's still in Amber. "
"Octavian - Died during the Patternfall War "
"Tiberius - My father. Most definitely alive and well. He drew the Carnelian Pattern. The Castle above the Medieval town is his residence. "
"Svetlana - Alive the last time I saw her. I'm assuming she's either in Amber or Rebma. "
"Lillabeth - A very interesting soul. Murdered by Raif. "
"Agnetha - Thought to have died near the end of the Pattenfall war when Raif dragged her into the Abyss. Alive and well if that is the appropriate description, as she is now the ‘Living Logrus’. Effectively the counterpart to the Carnelian Pattern. Confined by virtue of her existence to her tower in Elysium. "
"Thorsten - The deceased ruler and Monarch of Amber. The title was conferred on him by a conclave of Tiberius, Natalya, Logan, Svetlana, and Xavier at the end of the Patternfall war. Siobhan's deceased husband."
"Orson - Died in the Rodian War, trying to defend Arden. "
"Balthazar - Assassinated by Wardro"
"Tyler - An interesting lad. I literally ran into him once in very embarrassing circumstances. Missing."
"Zander - My half brother. Was confirmed Ruler of the Courts of Chaos last time I saw him."
"Hamish - A lumbering hulk. Died when his fleet was burnt to ashes by Raif trying to protect Rebma. The fires lit the horizon and were visible from 20 miles away that night."
I did a bit of a spit take and laughed, "Lumbering Hulk? Is that the politically correct way of saying 'Clumsy Oaf'?"
“Hamish was neither Clumsy nor slow, you underestimated him at your peril.”
She continued to lay out the pictures, "Nilam - Other than her name I know nothing about her. I've never met her and have no idea where she lives."
"Tobias - Nilam's twin brother. Status unknown"
"Gabriela - Deceased "
"Siobahn - Thorsten's wife. She's somewhere with my father currently."
"Wardro - Deceased"
"Morganthe - Deceased - Former Queen of Rebma. Killed by Raif when he overran the realm. "
"Wyatt - Senschal of Carnelian. Currently out on business with Angel"
"Madison - Queen of Elysium. Agnetha's daughter."
"Isla - Balthazar's daughter. Currently Resident in Elysium"
"Archibald - Xavier's son. Last time I saw him he was in the Courts."
"Angelica - Prefers to be called Angel. Natalya's daughter. She's currently out on business."
"Gabriel - Logan's son. Currently resident in Elysium"
"Scott - Orson's son. Currently resident in Elysium"
She pauses obviously waiting for comments and takes another drink of coffee from her mug.
Ms. Chan had noticed that Edward had shown particular interest at the mention of the current ruler of the Courts of Chaos. "Edward...You have something to say about my half brother being ruler of the Courts?"
Edward replies simply, "Just that I have the impression, that someone with Amber background ruling in the Courts, has not always been the case."
"Edward, the fact that my half brother rules the Courts has nothing to do with Amber and everything to do with Dara Sawall, ex Helgram/Hendarake, Lord Mandor his half brother, and the Logrus. I would suggest any issues you have you take up with them.. Exceedingly carefully.”
As he walks away, Ms. Chan says to his back, "You can keep your secret for a little longer, but once all of you walk the Pattern it won't remain a secret for very long. If you choose to make comments indicating you know something and then try to backtrack and make out you don't, then I will call you out on it. Whilst you probably have no more idea about the current situation regarding Shadow than any of your cousins you obviously know more about the historical context or the relationship between Amber and the Courts than they do, as obviously does Cathal given the remarks he made earlier this morning."
Alarna heads toward the far side of the terrace and takes a seat next to Edward.
I ask, "Your Father Tiberius drew the Carnelian Pattern? Who drew the one in Amber? Oberon?"
"Dworkin drew the Amber Pattern. Exactly when is unknown.”
"So, our scattered line only goes back a few generations... ? And half of them went to war with the other half..."
“As to a few generations, Oberon's date of birth is not recorded as far as I know, and Xavier was born just over 3000 years ago as time is counted in Amber. Yes the family did go to war with one another, at least in the Patternfall war, but that was over who was going to succeed Oberon. And that war only happened after he vanished without naming a successor, and some would say that he did so deliberately, but there are too many other factors that I still haven't been able to determine the truth about to be able to make any form of definitive statement as to the validity of that argument.”
"From what you said last night and what you're saying now. There were the two poles: Amber and Chaos. Then two more new poles: Carnelian and Elysium?"
“As to ‘poles’ I've no idea, Amber, Carnelian, The Courts, and Elysium are merely places that are real in Shadow. There are others."
I quip, "My Dad has a joke, 'Insanity runs in the family; you get it from your children.’"
Akio scowls with concentration, "Cordelia. Perhaps you've said this before and I missed it. But, is Rodian still alive? And was he of Amber, or the Courts?"
“No, The Rodian War, and Rodian is a demon entity, more akin to the Serpent or Unicorn than anything else, and no he's not dead, just put back in his box. It was primarily Raif against the rest of the family. As I've said previously the double crossing bastard got his comeuppance when he tried to double cross Rodian.”
Jason moved in for a closer look at the images but didn’t have anything to say at that moment as it hit me that the pantheon before us was very long lived, "Ooooo Eeeee! THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD ?! Is Xavier the family Methuselah?"
“Whilst Xavier's recorded date of birth is more than Three-Thousand years ago Amber time, I have no idea as to his actual age.. He's the earliest born child of Oberon that I know to be alive. After that my father is the next oldest being born about Twenty-Seven-Hundred years ago."
All these names, but I couldn’t make out their faces as I wondered aloud, "And, who is Dworkin and what happened to him?"
“What happened to Dworkin? Now that is a very interesting question. Let's just say he no longer inhabits this plane, as in Shadow, of existence."
"Dare I ask how old you are?"
"I will say this in respect of my age, I was born on Earth in Chinatown, New York on May twenty-eighth, nineteen-seventy-three.”
So, forty-ish… But there’s something that tells me that she’s lived and experienced more years than she’s been ~alive~.
"So, uh, each of these portrait cards is a portal? And, uh, I guess you've got all of our portraits in there too... "
"Yes and No, and No. A picture Trump has the capability to work like an interdimensional phone, but unlike place trumps there are a lot more issues with them. But that is a lesson for a much later date."
Alarna asks, "So how are we supposed to feel for all these people? It's hard to establish familial relations with a bunch of dead blokes or people it seems to make a pastime out of killing."
"That's entirely up to you, and really depends on what you know, if anything, of the family. People asked to see what pictures I had of the family, I merely showed you the pictures and provided some context. In many respects the past is the past. Some of those that are no longer alive I knew, some quite well, and some of those I respected a great deal. Others, well lets just say I won't mourn their passing. Would meeting any of them alter your perspective?"
"I don't know if it would or wouldn't. Until just a few days ago, my biggest worries were about my upcoming exams," Alarna admits.
I interject, "I guess the bigger question is whether any of them want to meet us. Especially our Sires. Which leads us all back to the question of why you sought us out."
Alarna nods, "And that's a point too. If our progenitors are living, are they interested in meeting us? And if they are not either alive or interested, there will be a great deal more questions that are never to be answered. I'm attempting to get a foothold on a mountain of information to begin the climb. Just now, it seems a daunting task."
Politely, Akio echoes the question, "Thank you for showing us the cards, Cordelia. This sounds childish, but I'd like to know which of these people is my parent too. But I suppose you aren't free to say whom, even if you know.”
"At the risk of being rude let me reiterate, I do not know who any of your parents are. In one case I can make a very educated guess as to who one of their parents is. What I do know is that in all your cases one of your parents was an Amberite.”
“As to why I brought you here I thought I'd explained that as well. We run a family business, although that has changed considerably since the war. That business requires people with specific talents to operate, specifically people who can traverse shadow. Assuming we can find a mechanism to resolve all the current issues, then we're going to need to apply a fuck tonne of gaffer tape to fix everything. However, since we currently don't even have the resources to begin to research what is required to actually determine what is actually wrong with Shadow, we need some help. Even we can't be in 4 places at once. And despite what you all think; you can't just walk the Pattern and instantly become superheroes.. Even superheroes need to actually learn how to use their gifts, and learning to use the Pattern is not a trivial task."
Akio, “You said there are place cards also. Does that mean that the card can be used to travel to that place? If that's true, then can a card also be used to travel to the person?"
"The in's and out's of Trump and it's use is very much a lesson for another day."
I try to shift the conversation a bit, "Yes, sorry. I've been out of commission all day and my head is still aching. Where does the Expo and video game fit into all of this? "
"That's a very long story, but has a considerable amount to do with the future."
"Well, if we're all Methuselah's children, we've got a millennia to figure everything out, so long as we don't kill each other in the meantime." I half joke.
Jason moved forward, "I, Myself, take no offense. However, I would know why you are so sure that we have an Amberite parent. You say it so positively, with no room for error.... I never met my biological father, it could be any of them. If it was my mother, it wasn't enough to save her, or my adopted father, or my younger sister." Then he grins "Did someone say the Pattern would make us supermen? Did I miss something? Seems to me.. there are a lot of dead supermen in those pictures of our family. And you use the phrase 'The Pattern' like it should be known to me already! 'Drew the pattern', 'Walked the Pattern', 'Died defending The Pattern' these all assume I have seen, or know, what The Pattern ~IS~. Some kind of giant chessboard that has to be navigated?"
"I will reiterate what I said this morning.. You all have markers in your aura that indicate that one of your Parents was an Amberite. Your heritage already makes you all supermen or women, at least in comparison to the average human. The Pattern, and I make no assumption about what you know about it or not, just allows you to do more things than the average human can, like traverse shadow. The same is true in a manner of speaking for those Chaosites who are allowed to assay the Logrus. It allows them to do things that their brethren cannot, and like us Chaosites are supermen when compared to the average human. As to what the Pattern is, until you have walked it you won't really know or understand, at least in the broadest sense, what it is, and it is nothing like a chess board. The closest representative symbol would be the Celtic Maze, at least the double spiral labyrinthine form, often associated with sun symbolism, in Celtic mythology."
We’re all so anxious and full of questions that I feel that I could soften the conversation and give our hostess an opportunity to show a more human side. "So, you are only giving us tidbits with the implied promise that all will be revealed in time. That's okay… How about telling us more about yourself? Like, you were born in New York… Did you always know you were Amberillian or did you get scooped up like us?"
"When I was young I had no idea who my father really was, and neither did he. His relationship with my mother was difficult and they sort of split up when I was seven, although he continued to be around and visit on high days and holidays until I was fourteen then he just vanished. I didn't find out who he was until I was invited to an Independence Day Ball in 2003 by Florimel, only it wasn't at her Westchester Estate but in Amber. I didn't actually meet him for several months after that, although I ran into his ghost for the first time a couple of months before that, the first time I walked his Pattern. That was shortly after Wardro assassinated Balthazar. I didn't find out who I truly was until the Rodian War.. that changed a lot of things."
"Wait! What? Your Father had amnesia when you were a kid? Then later, you met your Father's GHOST!? But, you said he's alive now. And who's Florimel?” ***Manic Laughter*** "Best Soap Opera Ever!"
Akio gives me a chuckle.
"Yes. A result of an attack by one of his brothers and then exposure to bubonic plague in seventeenth century London. Yes I met his ghost, and yes he's very much alive. Florimel aka Evelyn Flaumel, a pseudonym and nickname used by Lillabeth for her holdings on Earth."
I’m confused, "So, he was temporarily Dead?"
"Not as far as I know.. Missing yes. Dead No. I encountered his Ghost on the Pattern. It was sent to kill me. In a round-about way it succeeded in its task. And don't ask for any further explanation as you just wouldn't comprehend the answer, and I don't understand all the facets of how it was possible let alone try to explain them."
"So, we can expect to meet a ghost or two on the Pattern too? Cool! Maybe I can meet my Father."
"Very unlikely on both counts.. unless the Serpent decides to put in an appearance or already has something planned for you. You just never know with him."
Akio enquiries, "Cousin Cordelia. Rodian is a live demon put back in a box. It duped Raif, who was an ambitious Amber royal duped schemer. And killed. Like Nobunaga and Caesar, on Earth. When such a thing happened in Earth history, the tyrant needed the help of many allies... conspirators... to get to that point of confidence. Mafiosos and yakuza lords as well. Confidence about power, and willing to gamble on it. Is that how it is with the family of Amber?"
"No dealing with Rodian was something else entirely. We were merely pawns moved about the field. It took the combined efforts of the Serpent, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Kraken to put him back in his box. All we did was to put the pieces where they needed to be and play out the prophecy as foretold."
Fatima asks our hostess, "Cordelia? Is there anyone or anything we should be aware of that may be a threat to us either before or after we are 'imprinted with the pattern'?"
"There are a vast array of things and entities out there" Cordelia gestures indicating the vast expanse of the world, "that are a threat to both us and the universe. Worrying about them doesn't make them any more or less real, it's just a distraction."
Fatima replies, "Reminding us of our impermanence is not what I asked, cousin. Any given astral body can fall from the sky and clean us from history. I asked if there were people we should be aware of who would threaten us if they knew of us before we are prepared to meet them. You were able to track us down. What has kept others from doing so? What will keep them from doing so? Is there no law against fratricide amongst 'Amberites'? Is it just a given if one of us 'gets in the way' we will be summarily removed from existence without thought?"
"I wasn't referring to any form of Astral body. There are a vast array of creatures, entities, and things that have the power to remove us from this plane of existence, and I dare say a number would without a second thought if we encountered them. Now history is not my specialism, but I can't think of any monastic dynasty where there were specific laws against fratricide, even those that had orders of inheritance. In fact I believe that such laws just made the situation worse as more junior members of the dynasty were shut out. I would cite what initially happened when my Grandfather vanished without naming a successor as a classic example of everyone for themselves when it came to inheriting the throne; and knowing what I do now I can't say it would have made any difference if he had named a successor. As to why anybody else hasn't bothered to track you down; three things spring to mind: Inclination, motivation, and the state of Shadow. We had, have, a specific motivation to track you down, as I've already explained. The area of Shadow which is available to us as an area to search in is quite limited, but it's also an area where the family already has established holdings, so is an area that is more likely to have unrecognized offspring in. The same would be true of areas of the Golden Circle but that is completely cut off. In fact I know of one other of your cousins, but currently I can't get to her for that reason."
With my emotions reeling, I Laughingly say, "Unrecognized offspring. Is this a Royal Family or a traveling carnival spreading their progeny across the multiverse?" Angrily: "Pretty shitty of my Father not to tell Mom what he is and just ghosting us when I was still and infant." I strides away from the table and takes a few steps. I stop suddenly and turn back. "When did all these wars and coups happen? I'm guessing the Rodian thing that fucked up Shadows and trashed my planet happened when I was eleven. When did that other war happen? And which one of these characters died in which conflict? That might narrow down who spawned us. Me." Then I crash and my tears begin welling, "I mean... If he really did die and not just abandon us..."
"Without knowing who your father is or was Jo there is little I can actually do, and there are certain members of the family I wish I had had nothing to do with. Some of them were not at all pleasant, but almost all were a product of the time and environment they were brought up in. Some of my father's generation are more amenable and adaptable than others, but crossing or irritating any of them is not a good idea. As to what happened when, and I'll use Earth dates. The Patternfall war started approximately in early nineteen-eighty-one and took almost fourteen years to resolve. Aside from Oberon who died in the last days of the war repairing the Pattern the only real casualty was Octavian, although Raif and Agnetha were believed to have died. There was then a period of respite before the succession war for the Throne of the Courts kicked off in May of two-thousand-and-two. It was during this war that Balthazar was assassinated; Wardro being one of the many claimants to the Throne of Chaos. The war accounted for the deaths of numerous influential Chaos Lords, and ended approximately on the eighteenth of December two-thousand-and-three, with my half-brother assuming the throne on the twenty-first of December. Neither I nor he knew the other existed at this point. And lastly, as you know the Rodian War started in early January two-thousand-and-four and ended in the middle of April the same year. It was this war that accounted for most of the deaths of family members, and most of them died in the early days of the war before anyone really knew what we were dealing with. If I hadn't been in Amber that night and Xavier hadn't told me to get the Queen to safety, despite all protestations to the contrary, neither of us would be here now either."
I’m trying to nail down my dates, "So, no one there died around ninety-two, ninety-three?… They just bailed. I don't suppose I could show these mugs to my Mom." The Trump Power emanating from the pictures makes it difficult for me to see the faces of the people depicted.
Ms. Chan considers my request, "I will have to see how many spare decks we have.. There might be one or two around. We're a little short and without Dworkin around, producing them is a fair effort, and we've not had the time or the need to do so."
Jason says, "They sound hard to get, if we will need such things for missions in the future, best to save at least one for participants. Assuming we survive, and are able to help with any missions, communication can be the difference between success and failure!" He takes a sip of his coffee and a deep breath
"The old decks are not much more than curios these days. They don't contain any of the generation that you and I are part of, and with so much Shadow disruption, the Amber place trumps are also of no use. What limited Trump production capability we currently have is primarily a function of what I can produce, or more precisely what I have time to and need of producing."
I speculate, "Well, at this point I don't really need the Trumps. I just need pictures. If I may, I can just take photographs of the Trumps on my cell and show them to my Mom. I'm also happy to help make more of them since that appears to be my, uh, talent."
"If you just need photo's then be my guest. As to helping to make more, I believe your talent lies in models and figures, not pictures. Also your models and pictures will currently only work within the shadow in which they were created. To produce Shadow traversing Trump, you need both Shadow traversing capability and the knowledge to weave that capability into the Trump threads used to create your models. Whilst learning to weave that capability into the Trump threads is relatively easy, you'll still be limited to producing a single trump at a time and will need a reference model to do so. The ability to duplicate any Trump is a far more complex procedure, one which I'm only just beginning to understand, and that is after a considerable number of years of practice."
Jason joins me in photographing the glowing images. The camera filters out the ‘Trump Power’ and allows me to see the images. They’re not photographs, but extremely detailed paintings of the people Ms. Chan named and described.
I say, "Thank you. I almost hope that none of these rogues are my Father. I understand that I'm not capable of cranking out any of these high powered mugs on my own, yet. But that's why we're all here. To be initiated, trained and put to work on this sort of stuff. And maybe I can't draw or paint exactly like this, I'm pretty sure I can do a bas relief of a person the way I do building facades to the same effect."
"Very possibly, but the same basic principle applies whether you're doing a quick and dirty pencil sketch or an intricate oil or Acrylic. To produce a trump that traverses shadow you need that ability yourself, which means it's all academic until you've walked the Pattern. On a side note, I'm assuming you are already familiar with the limitations of sketches?"
"Limitations? No, not specifically. Generally, the portals I've made have to be of subjects that I'm, uh, intimate with. And they're only good for a few trips before they burn out. But the more I make, the longer they last. I'm improving. So, I guess that at some point I'll be able to make them permanent or learn how to recharge them."
"In principle the more time you take over the drawing the more durable the Trump. The fastest type, little more than a sketch, really are only good for a couple of uses, fifty percent of the time you'll get three uses, and very occasionally more. The next step up have infinite uses but aren't very durable, fairly easy to destroy. Full Trumps like those in my deck are almost indestructible, at least with conventional weapons. And like everything the more practice and experience you have, the quicker you get."
"Yes, that jibes with my experience. Or they burn out quicker if you pull a few people through with you. It makes sense."
Akio pulls out his cellphone and begins to take photos of the trumps. To Ms. Chan he says, "You mentioned a Serpent, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Kraken. It seems from what you've said that there are two polarities, Amber and the Courts of Chaos. But here are four mythological-- well, the Serpent is a real creature, but also a psychological....” He pauses for a moment, “Image. Conception. Archetype? Four beings, not two. But only two poles anchoring a spectrum, at each end? Is there an explanation for that?"
"No. Amber is a place and the Courts are a place. If there is any form of Polarity then it is between Pattern and Logrus. As to where the Serpent, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Kraken fit into that model I wouldn't care to hazard a guess, and in so far as my experience goes I would say they don't. The Phoenix is ethereal and can't actually exist in the plane of shadow, and has to be summoned here. The Kraken, other than it exists I have no idea about, it's realm is the Abyss, which is completely unfathomable. The Serpent, well he's a much maligned fellow, and allegedly responsible for the creation of shadow, and if the legends are true, both the Pattern, indirectly, and the Logrus. However, the Unicorn is an evil, twisted, manipulative, sadistic bastard masquerading behind a façade and a mass marketing campaign that has everyone believing butter wouldn't melt in its mouth. I can assure you * IT * is nothing like the image * IT * projects."
Fatima, works her way over to see the cards spread as the others move about. "So. You'll lead us into the darkness and let us be killed by things or people of which we are ignorant. Do you think we should either believe or trust you? Would you continue your hostly duties by providing us with resources for such information?"
"I'm not leading you anywhere. You asked a question and I answered it. In America, as well as a significant number of other places around the world, you can be shot just because you're walking down a street, or sitting in your car at a junction, or watching TV in your kitchen. In almost every case by people completely unknown to you and for reasons for which you have no idea. So encountering something in Shadow that chooses to kill you for reasons you have no idea about is no different. I have no idea where this morbid paranoia you're exhibiting stems from. This is my house and you're safe here, unless of course something completely unforeseen happens. But then that's life, a series of unforeseen events that occur one after another. Others have asked questions and I have answered those. In fact I have answered every question I've been asked. Whether you believe me or not is down to you."
Joking again, I say, "I, for One, Welcome our Mythical Beast Overlords! When I accidentally made my first portal I knew that I couldn't just research on the internet or pull manuals out of the local library. I knew that some Government Goons would lock me up and dissect my brain if they found out what I could do. I can't remember if it was Joseph Campbell or Northrop Frye who said 'The writer writes more than they know.' I took this as a sign that I'd find more answers in the fiction aisle than I would from any textbook. So I read a shit tonne of Science Fiction and Fantasy; praying for the day when I'd go through the looking glass, get sucked up by a tornado, or find the passage to Narnia in the back of a wardrobe. I don't want to go to war with or against anyone, but I'm overjoyed to finally be in this magical place."
Looking around the group, Ms. Chan appears to be soliciting further questions. As none arise, she begins to collect all the cards up, place them so they are above the end of the deck from which they emerged, concentrate on the deck, and ~push~ - as in apply a little physical pressure to the ends of the card with her finger - them back into the deck. She then says, "If there's nothing else, then enjoy the rest of your evening and I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."
I smile at her and say, "Thank You Cordelia, Good Night. Oh, one last thing about these Trumps. You said that you didn't have Trumps of us in that deck. I felt a strange, uh, quality? In the Invitation I received. The Invitation: It wasn't a Trump, but... Was it some sort of Homing Device connected to some other Tracking Trump? Thus explaining why the Invitation explicitly stated that I have the Invitation on my person when you came to get me. Neat trick, that… Thankfully, I hadn't passed the Invitation on to a co-worker or dropped it in the recycling bin.... That would have been an awkward situation."
She cryptically answers "That's an answer for another day.. Night..." as she leaves.
“Hamish was neither Clumsy nor slow, you underestimated him at your peril.”
She continued to lay out the pictures, "Nilam - Other than her name I know nothing about her. I've never met her and have no idea where she lives."
"Tobias - Nilam's twin brother. Status unknown"
"Gabriela - Deceased "
"Siobahn - Thorsten's wife. She's somewhere with my father currently."
"Wardro - Deceased"
"Morganthe - Deceased - Former Queen of Rebma. Killed by Raif when he overran the realm. "
"Wyatt - Senschal of Carnelian. Currently out on business with Angel"
"Madison - Queen of Elysium. Agnetha's daughter."
"Isla - Balthazar's daughter. Currently Resident in Elysium"
"Archibald - Xavier's son. Last time I saw him he was in the Courts."
"Angelica - Prefers to be called Angel. Natalya's daughter. She's currently out on business."
"Gabriel - Logan's son. Currently resident in Elysium"
"Scott - Orson's son. Currently resident in Elysium"
She pauses obviously waiting for comments and takes another drink of coffee from her mug.
Ms. Chan had noticed that Edward had shown particular interest at the mention of the current ruler of the Courts of Chaos. "Edward...You have something to say about my half brother being ruler of the Courts?"
Edward replies simply, "Just that I have the impression, that someone with Amber background ruling in the Courts, has not always been the case."
"Edward, the fact that my half brother rules the Courts has nothing to do with Amber and everything to do with Dara Sawall, ex Helgram/Hendarake, Lord Mandor his half brother, and the Logrus. I would suggest any issues you have you take up with them.. Exceedingly carefully.”
Edward then asks, "Why did Wardro kill Balthazar?"
“As to why Wardro killed Balthazar, I have no real idea. According to my father he had issues with the family and my half brother amongst others in particular."
Looking solemn, "So much fighting... in this family....."
"With regard to in-fighting we are mere children compared to the denizens of the Courts..”
Appearing surprised Edward says, "I was merely reacting to something I know just the tiniest about. I assure you, I have no issues with anyone, present company included. Why would I ? Or any of us for that matter."
“Edward, you know perfectly well why you and at least one other may know considerably more than you're saying."
"I'm sorry..." Edward replies, with a touch of sarcasm, "I did not know that having secrets was not permitted. I'm sure everyone has some of their own.." Motioning to the rest of us and back to her, "Our host included... The idea however, that I have much of an idea of what is going on, is simply false...." Edward then moves away from the group and takes a seat in the back, near the railing.
Appearing surprised Edward says, "I was merely reacting to something I know just the tiniest about. I assure you, I have no issues with anyone, present company included. Why would I ? Or any of us for that matter."
“Edward, you know perfectly well why you and at least one other may know considerably more than you're saying."
"I'm sorry..." Edward replies, with a touch of sarcasm, "I did not know that having secrets was not permitted. I'm sure everyone has some of their own.." Motioning to the rest of us and back to her, "Our host included... The idea however, that I have much of an idea of what is going on, is simply false...." Edward then moves away from the group and takes a seat in the back, near the railing.
As he walks away, Ms. Chan says to his back, "You can keep your secret for a little longer, but once all of you walk the Pattern it won't remain a secret for very long. If you choose to make comments indicating you know something and then try to backtrack and make out you don't, then I will call you out on it. Whilst you probably have no more idea about the current situation regarding Shadow than any of your cousins you obviously know more about the historical context or the relationship between Amber and the Courts than they do, as obviously does Cathal given the remarks he made earlier this morning."
Alarna heads toward the far side of the terrace and takes a seat next to Edward.
I ask, "Your Father Tiberius drew the Carnelian Pattern? Who drew the one in Amber? Oberon?"
"Dworkin drew the Amber Pattern. Exactly when is unknown.”
"So, our scattered line only goes back a few generations... ? And half of them went to war with the other half..."
“As to a few generations, Oberon's date of birth is not recorded as far as I know, and Xavier was born just over 3000 years ago as time is counted in Amber. Yes the family did go to war with one another, at least in the Patternfall war, but that was over who was going to succeed Oberon. And that war only happened after he vanished without naming a successor, and some would say that he did so deliberately, but there are too many other factors that I still haven't been able to determine the truth about to be able to make any form of definitive statement as to the validity of that argument.”
"From what you said last night and what you're saying now. There were the two poles: Amber and Chaos. Then two more new poles: Carnelian and Elysium?"
“As to ‘poles’ I've no idea, Amber, Carnelian, The Courts, and Elysium are merely places that are real in Shadow. There are others."
I quip, "My Dad has a joke, 'Insanity runs in the family; you get it from your children.’"
Akio scowls with concentration, "Cordelia. Perhaps you've said this before and I missed it. But, is Rodian still alive? And was he of Amber, or the Courts?"
“No, The Rodian War, and Rodian is a demon entity, more akin to the Serpent or Unicorn than anything else, and no he's not dead, just put back in his box. It was primarily Raif against the rest of the family. As I've said previously the double crossing bastard got his comeuppance when he tried to double cross Rodian.”
Jason moved in for a closer look at the images but didn’t have anything to say at that moment as it hit me that the pantheon before us was very long lived, "Ooooo Eeeee! THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD ?! Is Xavier the family Methuselah?"
“Whilst Xavier's recorded date of birth is more than Three-Thousand years ago Amber time, I have no idea as to his actual age.. He's the earliest born child of Oberon that I know to be alive. After that my father is the next oldest being born about Twenty-Seven-Hundred years ago."
All these names, but I couldn’t make out their faces as I wondered aloud, "And, who is Dworkin and what happened to him?"
“What happened to Dworkin? Now that is a very interesting question. Let's just say he no longer inhabits this plane, as in Shadow, of existence."
"Dare I ask how old you are?"
"I will say this in respect of my age, I was born on Earth in Chinatown, New York on May twenty-eighth, nineteen-seventy-three.”
So, forty-ish… But there’s something that tells me that she’s lived and experienced more years than she’s been ~alive~.
"So, uh, each of these portrait cards is a portal? And, uh, I guess you've got all of our portraits in there too... "
"Yes and No, and No. A picture Trump has the capability to work like an interdimensional phone, but unlike place trumps there are a lot more issues with them. But that is a lesson for a much later date."
Alarna asks, "So how are we supposed to feel for all these people? It's hard to establish familial relations with a bunch of dead blokes or people it seems to make a pastime out of killing."
"That's entirely up to you, and really depends on what you know, if anything, of the family. People asked to see what pictures I had of the family, I merely showed you the pictures and provided some context. In many respects the past is the past. Some of those that are no longer alive I knew, some quite well, and some of those I respected a great deal. Others, well lets just say I won't mourn their passing. Would meeting any of them alter your perspective?"
"I don't know if it would or wouldn't. Until just a few days ago, my biggest worries were about my upcoming exams," Alarna admits.
I interject, "I guess the bigger question is whether any of them want to meet us. Especially our Sires. Which leads us all back to the question of why you sought us out."
Alarna nods, "And that's a point too. If our progenitors are living, are they interested in meeting us? And if they are not either alive or interested, there will be a great deal more questions that are never to be answered. I'm attempting to get a foothold on a mountain of information to begin the climb. Just now, it seems a daunting task."
Politely, Akio echoes the question, "Thank you for showing us the cards, Cordelia. This sounds childish, but I'd like to know which of these people is my parent too. But I suppose you aren't free to say whom, even if you know.”
"At the risk of being rude let me reiterate, I do not know who any of your parents are. In one case I can make a very educated guess as to who one of their parents is. What I do know is that in all your cases one of your parents was an Amberite.”
“As to why I brought you here I thought I'd explained that as well. We run a family business, although that has changed considerably since the war. That business requires people with specific talents to operate, specifically people who can traverse shadow. Assuming we can find a mechanism to resolve all the current issues, then we're going to need to apply a fuck tonne of gaffer tape to fix everything. However, since we currently don't even have the resources to begin to research what is required to actually determine what is actually wrong with Shadow, we need some help. Even we can't be in 4 places at once. And despite what you all think; you can't just walk the Pattern and instantly become superheroes.. Even superheroes need to actually learn how to use their gifts, and learning to use the Pattern is not a trivial task."
Akio, “You said there are place cards also. Does that mean that the card can be used to travel to that place? If that's true, then can a card also be used to travel to the person?"
"The in's and out's of Trump and it's use is very much a lesson for another day."
I try to shift the conversation a bit, "Yes, sorry. I've been out of commission all day and my head is still aching. Where does the Expo and video game fit into all of this? "
"That's a very long story, but has a considerable amount to do with the future."
"Well, if we're all Methuselah's children, we've got a millennia to figure everything out, so long as we don't kill each other in the meantime." I half joke.
Jason moved forward, "I, Myself, take no offense. However, I would know why you are so sure that we have an Amberite parent. You say it so positively, with no room for error.... I never met my biological father, it could be any of them. If it was my mother, it wasn't enough to save her, or my adopted father, or my younger sister." Then he grins "Did someone say the Pattern would make us supermen? Did I miss something? Seems to me.. there are a lot of dead supermen in those pictures of our family. And you use the phrase 'The Pattern' like it should be known to me already! 'Drew the pattern', 'Walked the Pattern', 'Died defending The Pattern' these all assume I have seen, or know, what The Pattern ~IS~. Some kind of giant chessboard that has to be navigated?"
"I will reiterate what I said this morning.. You all have markers in your aura that indicate that one of your Parents was an Amberite. Your heritage already makes you all supermen or women, at least in comparison to the average human. The Pattern, and I make no assumption about what you know about it or not, just allows you to do more things than the average human can, like traverse shadow. The same is true in a manner of speaking for those Chaosites who are allowed to assay the Logrus. It allows them to do things that their brethren cannot, and like us Chaosites are supermen when compared to the average human. As to what the Pattern is, until you have walked it you won't really know or understand, at least in the broadest sense, what it is, and it is nothing like a chess board. The closest representative symbol would be the Celtic Maze, at least the double spiral labyrinthine form, often associated with sun symbolism, in Celtic mythology."
We’re all so anxious and full of questions that I feel that I could soften the conversation and give our hostess an opportunity to show a more human side. "So, you are only giving us tidbits with the implied promise that all will be revealed in time. That's okay… How about telling us more about yourself? Like, you were born in New York… Did you always know you were Amberillian or did you get scooped up like us?"
"When I was young I had no idea who my father really was, and neither did he. His relationship with my mother was difficult and they sort of split up when I was seven, although he continued to be around and visit on high days and holidays until I was fourteen then he just vanished. I didn't find out who he was until I was invited to an Independence Day Ball in 2003 by Florimel, only it wasn't at her Westchester Estate but in Amber. I didn't actually meet him for several months after that, although I ran into his ghost for the first time a couple of months before that, the first time I walked his Pattern. That was shortly after Wardro assassinated Balthazar. I didn't find out who I truly was until the Rodian War.. that changed a lot of things."
"Wait! What? Your Father had amnesia when you were a kid? Then later, you met your Father's GHOST!? But, you said he's alive now. And who's Florimel?” ***Manic Laughter*** "Best Soap Opera Ever!"
Akio gives me a chuckle.
"Yes. A result of an attack by one of his brothers and then exposure to bubonic plague in seventeenth century London. Yes I met his ghost, and yes he's very much alive. Florimel aka Evelyn Flaumel, a pseudonym and nickname used by Lillabeth for her holdings on Earth."
I’m confused, "So, he was temporarily Dead?"
"Not as far as I know.. Missing yes. Dead No. I encountered his Ghost on the Pattern. It was sent to kill me. In a round-about way it succeeded in its task. And don't ask for any further explanation as you just wouldn't comprehend the answer, and I don't understand all the facets of how it was possible let alone try to explain them."
"So, we can expect to meet a ghost or two on the Pattern too? Cool! Maybe I can meet my Father."
"Very unlikely on both counts.. unless the Serpent decides to put in an appearance or already has something planned for you. You just never know with him."
Akio enquiries, "Cousin Cordelia. Rodian is a live demon put back in a box. It duped Raif, who was an ambitious Amber royal duped schemer. And killed. Like Nobunaga and Caesar, on Earth. When such a thing happened in Earth history, the tyrant needed the help of many allies... conspirators... to get to that point of confidence. Mafiosos and yakuza lords as well. Confidence about power, and willing to gamble on it. Is that how it is with the family of Amber?"
"No dealing with Rodian was something else entirely. We were merely pawns moved about the field. It took the combined efforts of the Serpent, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Kraken to put him back in his box. All we did was to put the pieces where they needed to be and play out the prophecy as foretold."
Fatima asks our hostess, "Cordelia? Is there anyone or anything we should be aware of that may be a threat to us either before or after we are 'imprinted with the pattern'?"
"There are a vast array of things and entities out there" Cordelia gestures indicating the vast expanse of the world, "that are a threat to both us and the universe. Worrying about them doesn't make them any more or less real, it's just a distraction."
Fatima replies, "Reminding us of our impermanence is not what I asked, cousin. Any given astral body can fall from the sky and clean us from history. I asked if there were people we should be aware of who would threaten us if they knew of us before we are prepared to meet them. You were able to track us down. What has kept others from doing so? What will keep them from doing so? Is there no law against fratricide amongst 'Amberites'? Is it just a given if one of us 'gets in the way' we will be summarily removed from existence without thought?"
"I wasn't referring to any form of Astral body. There are a vast array of creatures, entities, and things that have the power to remove us from this plane of existence, and I dare say a number would without a second thought if we encountered them. Now history is not my specialism, but I can't think of any monastic dynasty where there were specific laws against fratricide, even those that had orders of inheritance. In fact I believe that such laws just made the situation worse as more junior members of the dynasty were shut out. I would cite what initially happened when my Grandfather vanished without naming a successor as a classic example of everyone for themselves when it came to inheriting the throne; and knowing what I do now I can't say it would have made any difference if he had named a successor. As to why anybody else hasn't bothered to track you down; three things spring to mind: Inclination, motivation, and the state of Shadow. We had, have, a specific motivation to track you down, as I've already explained. The area of Shadow which is available to us as an area to search in is quite limited, but it's also an area where the family already has established holdings, so is an area that is more likely to have unrecognized offspring in. The same would be true of areas of the Golden Circle but that is completely cut off. In fact I know of one other of your cousins, but currently I can't get to her for that reason."
With my emotions reeling, I Laughingly say, "Unrecognized offspring. Is this a Royal Family or a traveling carnival spreading their progeny across the multiverse?" Angrily: "Pretty shitty of my Father not to tell Mom what he is and just ghosting us when I was still and infant." I strides away from the table and takes a few steps. I stop suddenly and turn back. "When did all these wars and coups happen? I'm guessing the Rodian thing that fucked up Shadows and trashed my planet happened when I was eleven. When did that other war happen? And which one of these characters died in which conflict? That might narrow down who spawned us. Me." Then I crash and my tears begin welling, "I mean... If he really did die and not just abandon us..."
"Without knowing who your father is or was Jo there is little I can actually do, and there are certain members of the family I wish I had had nothing to do with. Some of them were not at all pleasant, but almost all were a product of the time and environment they were brought up in. Some of my father's generation are more amenable and adaptable than others, but crossing or irritating any of them is not a good idea. As to what happened when, and I'll use Earth dates. The Patternfall war started approximately in early nineteen-eighty-one and took almost fourteen years to resolve. Aside from Oberon who died in the last days of the war repairing the Pattern the only real casualty was Octavian, although Raif and Agnetha were believed to have died. There was then a period of respite before the succession war for the Throne of the Courts kicked off in May of two-thousand-and-two. It was during this war that Balthazar was assassinated; Wardro being one of the many claimants to the Throne of Chaos. The war accounted for the deaths of numerous influential Chaos Lords, and ended approximately on the eighteenth of December two-thousand-and-three, with my half-brother assuming the throne on the twenty-first of December. Neither I nor he knew the other existed at this point. And lastly, as you know the Rodian War started in early January two-thousand-and-four and ended in the middle of April the same year. It was this war that accounted for most of the deaths of family members, and most of them died in the early days of the war before anyone really knew what we were dealing with. If I hadn't been in Amber that night and Xavier hadn't told me to get the Queen to safety, despite all protestations to the contrary, neither of us would be here now either."
I’m trying to nail down my dates, "So, no one there died around ninety-two, ninety-three?… They just bailed. I don't suppose I could show these mugs to my Mom." The Trump Power emanating from the pictures makes it difficult for me to see the faces of the people depicted.
Ms. Chan considers my request, "I will have to see how many spare decks we have.. There might be one or two around. We're a little short and without Dworkin around, producing them is a fair effort, and we've not had the time or the need to do so."
Jason says, "They sound hard to get, if we will need such things for missions in the future, best to save at least one for participants. Assuming we survive, and are able to help with any missions, communication can be the difference between success and failure!" He takes a sip of his coffee and a deep breath
"The old decks are not much more than curios these days. They don't contain any of the generation that you and I are part of, and with so much Shadow disruption, the Amber place trumps are also of no use. What limited Trump production capability we currently have is primarily a function of what I can produce, or more precisely what I have time to and need of producing."
I speculate, "Well, at this point I don't really need the Trumps. I just need pictures. If I may, I can just take photographs of the Trumps on my cell and show them to my Mom. I'm also happy to help make more of them since that appears to be my, uh, talent."
"If you just need photo's then be my guest. As to helping to make more, I believe your talent lies in models and figures, not pictures. Also your models and pictures will currently only work within the shadow in which they were created. To produce Shadow traversing Trump, you need both Shadow traversing capability and the knowledge to weave that capability into the Trump threads used to create your models. Whilst learning to weave that capability into the Trump threads is relatively easy, you'll still be limited to producing a single trump at a time and will need a reference model to do so. The ability to duplicate any Trump is a far more complex procedure, one which I'm only just beginning to understand, and that is after a considerable number of years of practice."
Jason joins me in photographing the glowing images. The camera filters out the ‘Trump Power’ and allows me to see the images. They’re not photographs, but extremely detailed paintings of the people Ms. Chan named and described.
I say, "Thank you. I almost hope that none of these rogues are my Father. I understand that I'm not capable of cranking out any of these high powered mugs on my own, yet. But that's why we're all here. To be initiated, trained and put to work on this sort of stuff. And maybe I can't draw or paint exactly like this, I'm pretty sure I can do a bas relief of a person the way I do building facades to the same effect."
"Very possibly, but the same basic principle applies whether you're doing a quick and dirty pencil sketch or an intricate oil or Acrylic. To produce a trump that traverses shadow you need that ability yourself, which means it's all academic until you've walked the Pattern. On a side note, I'm assuming you are already familiar with the limitations of sketches?"
"Limitations? No, not specifically. Generally, the portals I've made have to be of subjects that I'm, uh, intimate with. And they're only good for a few trips before they burn out. But the more I make, the longer they last. I'm improving. So, I guess that at some point I'll be able to make them permanent or learn how to recharge them."
"In principle the more time you take over the drawing the more durable the Trump. The fastest type, little more than a sketch, really are only good for a couple of uses, fifty percent of the time you'll get three uses, and very occasionally more. The next step up have infinite uses but aren't very durable, fairly easy to destroy. Full Trumps like those in my deck are almost indestructible, at least with conventional weapons. And like everything the more practice and experience you have, the quicker you get."
"Yes, that jibes with my experience. Or they burn out quicker if you pull a few people through with you. It makes sense."
Akio pulls out his cellphone and begins to take photos of the trumps. To Ms. Chan he says, "You mentioned a Serpent, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Kraken. It seems from what you've said that there are two polarities, Amber and the Courts of Chaos. But here are four mythological-- well, the Serpent is a real creature, but also a psychological....” He pauses for a moment, “Image. Conception. Archetype? Four beings, not two. But only two poles anchoring a spectrum, at each end? Is there an explanation for that?"
"No. Amber is a place and the Courts are a place. If there is any form of Polarity then it is between Pattern and Logrus. As to where the Serpent, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Kraken fit into that model I wouldn't care to hazard a guess, and in so far as my experience goes I would say they don't. The Phoenix is ethereal and can't actually exist in the plane of shadow, and has to be summoned here. The Kraken, other than it exists I have no idea about, it's realm is the Abyss, which is completely unfathomable. The Serpent, well he's a much maligned fellow, and allegedly responsible for the creation of shadow, and if the legends are true, both the Pattern, indirectly, and the Logrus. However, the Unicorn is an evil, twisted, manipulative, sadistic bastard masquerading behind a façade and a mass marketing campaign that has everyone believing butter wouldn't melt in its mouth. I can assure you * IT * is nothing like the image * IT * projects."
Fatima, works her way over to see the cards spread as the others move about. "So. You'll lead us into the darkness and let us be killed by things or people of which we are ignorant. Do you think we should either believe or trust you? Would you continue your hostly duties by providing us with resources for such information?"
"I'm not leading you anywhere. You asked a question and I answered it. In America, as well as a significant number of other places around the world, you can be shot just because you're walking down a street, or sitting in your car at a junction, or watching TV in your kitchen. In almost every case by people completely unknown to you and for reasons for which you have no idea. So encountering something in Shadow that chooses to kill you for reasons you have no idea about is no different. I have no idea where this morbid paranoia you're exhibiting stems from. This is my house and you're safe here, unless of course something completely unforeseen happens. But then that's life, a series of unforeseen events that occur one after another. Others have asked questions and I have answered those. In fact I have answered every question I've been asked. Whether you believe me or not is down to you."
Joking again, I say, "I, for One, Welcome our Mythical Beast Overlords! When I accidentally made my first portal I knew that I couldn't just research on the internet or pull manuals out of the local library. I knew that some Government Goons would lock me up and dissect my brain if they found out what I could do. I can't remember if it was Joseph Campbell or Northrop Frye who said 'The writer writes more than they know.' I took this as a sign that I'd find more answers in the fiction aisle than I would from any textbook. So I read a shit tonne of Science Fiction and Fantasy; praying for the day when I'd go through the looking glass, get sucked up by a tornado, or find the passage to Narnia in the back of a wardrobe. I don't want to go to war with or against anyone, but I'm overjoyed to finally be in this magical place."
Looking around the group, Ms. Chan appears to be soliciting further questions. As none arise, she begins to collect all the cards up, place them so they are above the end of the deck from which they emerged, concentrate on the deck, and ~push~ - as in apply a little physical pressure to the ends of the card with her finger - them back into the deck. She then says, "If there's nothing else, then enjoy the rest of your evening and I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."
I smile at her and say, "Thank You Cordelia, Good Night. Oh, one last thing about these Trumps. You said that you didn't have Trumps of us in that deck. I felt a strange, uh, quality? In the Invitation I received. The Invitation: It wasn't a Trump, but... Was it some sort of Homing Device connected to some other Tracking Trump? Thus explaining why the Invitation explicitly stated that I have the Invitation on my person when you came to get me. Neat trick, that… Thankfully, I hadn't passed the Invitation on to a co-worker or dropped it in the recycling bin.... That would have been an awkward situation."
She cryptically answers "That's an answer for another day.. Night..." as she leaves.
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