One of the themes that I've used in some of my one-shots, and only now becoming apparent in SB in the instance of the Moonriders is the consequences of Oberon re-drawing the Pattern at the end of the first five novels.
If Pattern provides as much direction and form to shadows that are already in existence as creating them, then what exactly happened from the time that the Primal Pattern was damaged, until Oberon's repair of the Pattern?
Certainly the Black Road was a consequence of weakening the Pattern, allowing such a strong instance of Chaos to penetrate where it had difficulty otherwise. But it is Oberon's re-drawing of the Pattern that is the real kicker, and what I've made good use of.
Why should the post-redrawn Amber side of the universe be precisely the same as it was pre-damaged Pattern?
--Dworkin drew the Original Pattern, Oberon redrew and repaired it. Its certain that the Pattern would be at least subtly different, in the Post-Patternfall world.
--Oberon died during the process. We're not told where on the Pattern he died
---Did Oberon really finish the process? Perhaps Dworkin finished his son's work, Oberon's repair of the Pattern was enough to provide enough sanity for Dworkin to finish the job. Or, Oberon did finish it, but since the effort killed him, his repair was not as careful as it might have been. Things can be missed.
Think of it this way, changing metaphors. When I got a new computer, after the failure of my hard drive, I lost a good many things that I could not find again on the Internet--fonts, programs, and so forth. In some cases I have gotten substitutes, in some cases I have lost them forever.
And its certain that I've forgotten things. Every so often I will remember a particular program, or document, and only then remember that it was on the old HD and not replaced, gone and forgotten.
So, too, for the Amber side of the Universe. Prisons, major changes to the universe post-Pattern creation, and the like can wind up being lost, or imperfectly placed back.
I've done it in a number of games, Ghosts of the Past, for example. A couple of the Regency games have touched on this theme as well.
And, although it may not be clear just yet, and I don't want to speak more about it for fear of spoilers, I've done it in SB as well. Things re-drawn and remade are not the same as the originals, the Pattern and its influence included, and the differences can lead to all sorts of complications.
in the Shadow of Greatness: IMC :: Vendetta
Arref talks about the role of Vendetta in an Amber roleplaying universe and the risks and rewards of having such strong fare in your campaign's fabric.
Vendetta has come up in SB, but mainly as an aspect of NPC versus NPC conflict that the player characters have witnessed, and influenced.
The timeline, for one thing, in SB has influenced this. Rather than the 50 years since Caine's death, it has only been about 10, and thus Caine's NPC daughter Cyllene is definitely at crossed swords with Rinaldo over her father's death.
She has not *acted* upon it, for reasons ranging from "Revenge is a dish best served cold" to the "entangling alliances" problem that Arref presents.
Consider. If Cyllene were to murder Rinaldo, it would lead to a domino effect. As Arref points out, Amberites don't generally kill Amberites. It's too dangerous, and a can of worms that, once opened, leads to a lot of problems. Despite her anger at Rinaldo, Cyllene realizes this.
Few of the PCs have that sort of visceral reaction to other characters as in SB, although such conflict has occurred. And the consequences of that reaction are part and parcel of the game. But taken too var, Vendetta leads to Throne Wars and other consequences (as Ginger points out in the comments to Arref's post)
I'm not much for Throne Wars or such consequences. They can be game-wreckers.
in the Shadow of Greatness: IMC :: unicorn motifs
Arref talks about Unicorn Motifs in his vision of Amber. And provides a springing board about mine.
Tangentially, its funny that the Church of the Unicorn is one of those things which in eight years of SB, no one has had the chance to visit, and no one has really asked about. Like many things in a game, they are like Schrodinger's Cat, not really alive until someone looks in the box.
IMC, Unicorn motifs can be found in a number of places besides the Church of the Unicorn. Amber Trumps are green on color, with a white unicorn, rampant. The banner in the Great Hall has the exact same flag, and this banner is found in all of the other Golden Circle centers of government as well.
The seal ring of the Chamberlain of the Castle has a rampant Unicorn as well. Depictions of the Unicorn in many different styles can be found in various unicorn shrines.
in the Shadow of Greatness: IMC :: the Pattern: failure or success?
The history and origins of the Pattern and the Logrus are one of the richest areas of Arref's Amber history. Mine is much poorer by comparison, but I do have a vision of how they came to be...
Like in Arref's universe, the Unicorn and the Serpent predate the Logrus and the Pattern themselves. However, our games take different tacks on why the Logrus was constructed, as well as the Pattern.
IMC, the Logrus was a bargain between the Serpent and the Thari-ians who had come to live at the edge of the Abyss. IMC, the Abyss is dangerous, but it is not malevolent. The Logrus was a bargain of power, giving the Serpent an environment in which it could comfortably live in our universe, and giving the newly minted Chaosians power over shadow, organizing the formless mass of shadows into a polar array around the Courts.
The Pattern was the Unicorn's attempt to get in the game. The Unicorn entered into the universe, and for lack of a better word seduced a briillant member of House Barimen. Furtively, Dworkin and his two children stole the Eye of the Serpent, for they were told it could be used to create something mightier than the Logrus, and the Unicorn wished hurt upon her old foe.
The creation of the Pattern was the result of this manipulation. And Chaos was angered, and has tried to destroy Amber, and regain the Lost Eye for its Sire, many times. Patternfall was the largest of these attempts and conflicts.
Even if Merlin and Random pledge peace with each other...the Serpent will never rest until it regains its Eye, and what was wrongly wrought with it sent back to the void.
House of Cards GM Log: IMC: The Library of Rebma
Ginger talks about library resources in Rebma, with an emphasis on oral traditions, rather than a written one.
SB does it a bit differently.
It's an influence from having done a Rebman Trump Artist, but I've bluffed and waved hands to allow Rebmans to have written materials in the City Under the Sea.
I don't know if I mentioned it here in my Blog or elsewhere, but the Rebmans often turn toward more durable materials than paper for things official. Passes of authority and writs, for example, are often magically engraved on rust proof metals (especially precious metals) and used in that fashion. There are a few texts in Rebma which are engraved on metal in this way, and some really old texts which are actually chiseled in stone, Hammurabi-tablet style.
As far as those paper scrolls, sorcerers in Rebma impregnate paper with waterproofing agents, and use inks that will work. In this way, one can manage to make a Trump in Rebma, if one has access to the right materials...
With all that said, though, people do tend to memorize things as much as possible. Memory palaces and the like are common in the City Under the Sea.
Both Arref and Ginger talk about where Men of Amber might find company for rent. (be it female or male).
A little bit of a digression, but its funny what winds up being emphasized, and what remains fallow in a game's background. When I created SB, I had a load of background on some things that players have never even thought of touching, especially in Amber city and its environs. On the other hand, I leaped at the chance to introduce a few PCs to a restaurant that I had designed called Gormens...since the PCs had asked a NPC (Noys) for a recommendation.
So things like the Ambassadorial residences, and the Merchant's Guild and the like have remained untouched, virginal in my game--so far, anyway. The trips to Amber City usually have been purposeful. The last character to just wander around was Antar, the Imbecile Chaosian.
And there are a couple of set-places that I wish someone would have thought or asked about, such as The Crimson House, my poor attempt at a play on words from the usual "Red light, etal".
The Crimson House is basically a House of Pleasure inside of Amber City. It's the only officially sanctioned one, actually, a holdover from the days of Oberon. He had sometimes contradictory notions of what was and was not proper, and having more than a single official place was anathema to him (although of course there are always the free-lancers). And during the Interregnum and Regency, other places did open, neither Eric nor Gerard really enforcing the law on this matter. And Random hasn't, either, but neither has he rescinded it officially.
So, the Crimson House, having the stamp of approval of the Royale Family, employs the best of the best.
It's ground floor has two major rooms, a large one for gentleman, and a smaller one for gentlewomen. There is an unspoken discretion here, the women's meeting room is considered a "meeting club". Men are not seen here at all. Assignations are done discreetly upstairs, be it with one of the men employed for that purpose, or if a woman should take a fancy to one of the hostesses.
The gentleman's side is a little more libertine, although there, too, there is a veneer and patina of respectability, as card games and other events are the "ostensible" reason for men to visit the establishment. And, indeed, there are many men who never go upstairs and have no overarching urge to do so.
Rebma, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish entirely. (pun intended)
The literary inspirations for the Crimson House are, by the by, the Aphrodesia House from Thieves World, and Lady Sally's from the Callahan books.
Arref has an interesting "IMC" post where talks about reconciling the very different Chaos' Zelazny shows us in the first and the second Amber series.
The comment thread is as enlightening as the post itself, and I want to branch off a comment Ginger made:
The other question is why, other than "Oops, I forgot to eliminate the annoying part of the canon!", anyone who didn't care for the second series would *want* to use it in a game at this late date.
Folks like Arref and Paul, who did "canon" games before SFSP was in their orbit of accepted Amber stances, are one thing. But most people who don't like second-series Chaos (or all-singing, all-dancing powers, or whatever) have moved on, and that's one of the worst sources of the problem--the remaining Chaos-oriented players and GMs have a worldview that's miles apart from most SFSPs
I want to talk about my use of the Second Series, in Strange Bedfellows.
It's gotten me into difficulties that I did not anticipate. And I think, although I could be wrong, that Second-series was mainly considered canonical and widely used back when I started SB. These days? Pure second-series canonical games seem an exception, not the rule.
And I admit that, even given the framework of Second Series Chaos, I've tried to make it work with additions, changes, and other modifications to the edifice.
Lessima. A system of Greater and Lesser Houses, complete with rules of succession. Reasons why the Logrus was not seen in the first series. The sociological makeup of various Houses.
And still, I think my Chaos comes off much more second-series than first. One of my regrets is the loss of the player of a PC who is half-SS and half-amberite, but is very much in the mold of a first series Chaosian in her "alien" viewpoint. And I'd love to have a real Lessiman in my game, too.
But, still, the next major game I run that involves Chaos...I am going to avoid the second series as much as possible. Take bits and pieces, but I am going to try and keep the Chaos in Chaos.
Arref has a Mystery of Amber/IMC about where the populace of Amber comes from. Or more specifically, the cagey and crafty Arref tells us where they did not come from. And so it is my turn...
I've talked about this a bit in my cosmology page. At least, I've addressed the origins of Amber and its Patterns.
But I've never really talked about the people, the hoi polloi, the populace of Amber and its environs. To do that, let me focus in on what the universe was like before the Pattern was created.
In those times (I call the Age of Chaos), The Courts were the single pole of the universe, the center of its array of shadows. To be precise, the Abyss itself was the actual geographical center, the ultimate milestone and reference point, even in its own bottomless. Shadow extended outward in all directions from the Courts. The Logrus and the Courts acted as the still center of it all, and also as the template all other shadow was based upon. As you can imagine, this made for a rather unstable set of shadows. And as one drew further from the Courts, the stability and integrity of the framework of shadow is less stable.
A little digression is in order. The framework of shadow can be thought of, in my mind anyway, as one of two metaphors. The biological metaphor is the actin filament-microtubule model. Undershadow acts as the frame on which shadows lie, arrange themselves, and relate to each other just as the components in a cell do. In this metaphor, the nucleus is the Courts of Chaos, and various cell organelles are primal and lesser shadows. However, with just Chaos as a center, the integrity of this framework becomes less effective as one goes further from the nucleus. Shadows become more random, there are gaps in reality, sudden islands in the sea of night.
The cosmological metaphor deals with dark matter. It seems, according to current theory, that there is a lot of matter in the universe that we just don't see. This dark matter does exert gravity, however, and it is this "weight" that allows things like spiral galaxies to form. Thus the Chaos universe has the Courts as the hot, bright center, with other shadows arrayed as one progresses outward from that center. And galaxies tend to lose some of their definition at their farthest edges.
Anyway, Dworkin and Oberon fled the Courts, be it nucleus of the cell or center of the galaxy, and found themselves a primal plane in the middle of nowhere, on the periphery of the universe.
It is there that they two created the Pattern.
Certainly there were shadows in the vicinity of the Pattern, shadows which predate even the Logrus. Primal shadows, primarily. When the Pattern was created, it not only created shadows and aligned them to itself as a pole, but it "edited" these pre-existing shadows.
The shadow around the Amber Pattern, what we call Amber today, was devoid of human inhabitants. Oh there were an Arden, its not the first forest for nothing. But there were no people. No retainers or followers.
Oberon and Dworkin used several methods to populate Amber. Immigration from the nearby shadows. Importing people from more distant shadows. Who would miss a small village, farming community or hamlet? Oberon and his father also experimented with other ideas, uplifting native animals and polymorphing them into a human form.
(The early scenes in Willey's A Sorcerer and a Gentleman capture this well, I think, the populating of new, virgin land by Prospero).
It wasn't until one of the attacks of Chaos upon Amber that Oberon was able to flip some of the Janissary troops of Chaos, and turn them to his side that he found a population to inhabit Rebma.
But, while I am not likely to do a game a la Bloody Grievance, the early history of Amber HAS played a part in its latter history, and has influenced SB. So I've definitely given it considered thought.
Arref talks about Dragons and Amber, a topic that I, too have touched upon in Strange Bedfellows...
I've mentioned Dragons in my game before, last year in fact. Thanks to the import of my old Blog entries, you can look it up here on this blog.
Anyway, I mentioned then that there are, in the SB version of the universe, shadow Dragons, and True Dragons. Shadow Dragons are the more mundane version of the same, limited to one shadow, although ferocious enough in their own sphere.
True Dragons are creatures of Power. In most cases they predate the formation of the Pattern, if not the Logrus as well. In fact, along with some colonies of Faerie, they are the oldest continually existing cultures in the Amber multiverse.
Dragons in a sense are expressions of primal power. In a few cases, the Dragons themselves could be considered full manifestations of these energies, archetypes, and concepts. The highest of the True Dragons, certainly, can be considered as such.
Although not gregarious, the True Dragons IMC are strongly aware of social boundaries and hierarchies. Most of the True Dragons are organized into affiliations called "Courts", headed by the most powerful Dragon of its type. Singletons, rogues and outcasts can be especially dangerous to the unwary, if they have no code of conduct of their peers from which to compare themselves. Such a Dragon in backstory, for instance, strongly affected the development of the shadow from which Sand and Delwin hail. However, at least as far as True Dragons are concerned, most are not so arbitrary, although dangerous enough.
As far as their role in the game, the aforementioned Dragon in Coriliaine played a significant backstory role in the development of Jayson. As far as in game time, well, there IS a Dragon, a True Dragon about. To reveal more would give away too many secrets.
The GM has to have some surprises. :grin:
As an additional note, it sounds like that in a couple of cases, some True Dragons might be represented by Nobilis than Amber statistics. And I've toyed with the idea, too, although I've not heard of anyone mixing Nobilis and Amber stated personages in the same game.
Arref has a IMC on Benedict's fight with Corwin. You know the one, where Benedict gets tangled with the Black Road grass and thus loses.
Benedict. The soi disant best warrior in Amber, if not Shadow.
While I am not liable to go quite as far as my friend and partner on Benedict's motivations, my own take is that Benedict was not fighting with his full capacities.
Why?
Well, Arref points out that Corwin has threatened, killed something under his protection. Even the rat-bastard Corwin from before the books is not stupid enough to try it. So why would Corwin do such a thing?
I think Benedict, in turn, became wary of his brother. And thus he did not fight with his full strength. It's not that he was trying to lose per se, more of a sense that he should not show his own hand. Judging the mettle of Corwin, possibly even concerned about Identity issues. Recall that Benedict has already dealt with minions of Chaos at this point.
So Benedict is cagey. Plus, to give due credit to Corwin, Corwin has learned a trick or two on Earth, and then there is that grass. Thus, Benedict loses the battle, but in the end, gains Intel on Corwin's return. And thus wins the war, even if the battle was lost in getting there.
I trust the very competent Benedict knows what is more important.
All the Marks of Humanity
Dara was the first of her line to bear all the marks of humanity. Given that her grandmother (or mother, depending on what theory you subscribe to) was the child of Benedict and Lintra, that starts the line at half Chaosian and half Amberite. In order to filter out the Chaosian blood and bring forth a shapeshifter capable of bearing a human form as a natural form, that implies not introducing more Chaosian blood to the mix. Given that it was a breeding project, I wouldn't expect them to dilute the power of her blood with shadow genes. Which makes one wonder... who the hell was Dara's father?
Arref, Deb and Ginger each have their views on this, so I suppose its time for mine own, too...
Dara's phrase is "first of her line to bear all the marks of humanity." It is parsing this sentence that helps to delve into the origins of Dara.
A digression first, however, is in order, since i need to mention the origin of the Chaosians. Quoting from my cosmology page:
One branch of the Sidhe in the Amber Multiverse, in the meantime, had broken from their kin. Embracing the art of changing form to a degree rarely seen, they decided to settle in the most dangerous place imaginable. Like a hole punched into the shadows lay a crack in the very nature of space...a gap to the Void between Multiverses.
This group of Sidhe that broke away from their kin decided to make the area around this gap to the void their home. Were they fleeing from their kin for some reason? Perhaps their experimentation with Shapeshifting cast them out, and so they decided to go to the one place where it was necessary, rather than an abomination. Or, perhaps, they were lured there, somehow, to settle and create what would later become the Courts. In any event, the name of these Sidhe who left their kind to settle in this most inhospitable land has a name familiar to some.
They were known as the Thari.
So, a human-like form is in the ancestry of every Chaosian, since the Chaosians themselves once had forms which are somewhat close to the human. They never lost this form, even if it is not always emphasized in the Courts.
Thus, Dara's comment about the first of her line to fully bear the marks of humanity is not so much a breeding project so much as it is genetic engineering and shapeshifting training, over two generations. Dara was the culmination of unlocking and enhancing a potential every Chaosian has and exercised anyway--but making it dominant, whereas only some Chaosians did so beforehand. (The no longer existing House Barimen did this, for example).
Before Dara, by and large, most Chaosians did not prefer their human form, or use it overmuch. In Dara, the fully human form is dominant, her primary form, and that achievement was what led to her being placed in Corwin's path, to produce a Chaosian who might sit on the Throne of Amber--Merlin.
Human forms in Chaos are more common nowadays but in a real sense Dara was a pioneer.
I've been thinking about these as late, as I did make peculiarities of their nature a plot point when it comes to Iolaus' Syracuse. in A Grand Affair.
What is a shadowpath?
A shadowpath is an inter-shadow conduit that connects two worlds.
How do shadowpaths originate?
There are several ways they originate. The most common, ironically, is that they are made. Paths require the use of a High Power, or High Sorcery¹ to form something permanent. The best known examples are the shadowpaths laid down by Oberon and his line around the Golden Circle.
Paths can also form naturally, following the topology of the metaverse. Shadows can be in the right alignment so that a pathway can form and be maintained between them. These are relatively rare and are usually short.
Paths can also form as a result of cataclysmic events. Conduits and paths can be created as a side effect of strong magical or technological events. The wave that spread through shadow after the rewriting of the Pattern, or in SB's timeline, the Shockwave are events which no doubt changed, altered, destroyed and created new paths in its wake.
How do they work? What do they look like and what is the experience of traversing one like?
Shadow Paths are subtle things. In the oceans of the Golden Circle, for example, a captain often has little more than a current and their own foreknowledge to judge where the path lies in the trackless sea. In some convenient cases, the path's route lies between two islands, through a strait, or some other coastal feature that makes it easier to locate.
On land, paths are usually right on a road or path itself. There is usually a marker that designates the border or the alignment of the path through which the travelers must travel.
The key thing to a shadow path, however, is intent. The traveller must usually *want* to use the path to go from one world to another. This is absolutely essential where there are no clear borders to the shadow. Shadows which only consist of a finite area and the shadow pathways are at those borders have routes which don't need such intent.
This is why ecologies are not usually devastated by the creation of a shadow path. Not a lot of the local fauna from either side is going to migrate through the path and onto the new world. Now, a more destructive power, like the Labyrinth in Strange Bedfellows is ecologically devastating since the "rips" in shadow it creates are readily useable without the concept of "intent".
In any case, the experience of travelling a path is rather anticlimating. In a short series of footsteps (or whatever vehicle she uses), the traveller goes from one world, to another. The law of similarity makes it likely that two shadows connected by shadow paths are going to be similar--or similar at the point of contact.
How can my character create a path between two worlds? How are they maintained?
Pattern, Logrus and High Sorcery¹ are the most well-known ways, as mentioned above, of creating a path. This is a time consuming and arduous process, however. It is not as simple as shadowwalking or casting a single spell to create the initial path. It takes effort, concentration and diligence to push the fabric of two shadows together so that a path runs between them.
Even a full Basic Pattern initiate can do this, although those with Advanced Pattern can do it far more readily and with much faster results. Since it is not as attuned to this sort of manipulation, a Logrus scion needs the advanced power Manipulate Shadow in order to achieve shadow path creation. The Black Road is another matter entirely, too. High Sorcery usually requires a long spell-casting, or even better, a metaconcert of several sorceresses casting in unison. This is the schemata I envision occured in Syrcause, in A Grand Affair, to allow Iolaus access to the outside world.
Now, once a path is made, the best way to maintain the path is to use it. The more use, or well-trod, a Shadow Path becomes, the more stable it will become. Thus, if the canny Syracusians continue to exploit their new path, it will become more and more stable and part of the Golden Circle network.
How can Shadow Paths be blocked or destroyed?
It's much easier to block a Path than to destroy it. Destroying a Path utterly takes time and effort equivalent to the creation of one. Much more practical is to block one end of a shadow Path. In that way, the Path does not go anywhere and is thus rendered unusable. Sand and Delwin in A Grand Affair did this...as did Sand and Delwin in Strange Bedfellows. As Sand and Delwin found out in A Grand Affair, this sort of blockage can be undone as well, by events natural and unnatural alike.
¹High Sorcery is defined as Sorcery beyond the standard 15 point power. Examples in my own canon include Eso-Elemental Sorcery, Runic Sorcery, Pattern(or Logrus) based Sorcery, or Unity Sorcery. See my ADRPG Sorcery page for more details.
Ginger offers up her own IMC this time around, talking about PC Romances in House of Cards
With the usual caveat of possible spoilers, and even though the temporal time frame of Strange Bedfellows is short, game wise, there are and have been such relationships in my own game...
Perhaps as consequence of not fleshing out NPCs as well as I might, most of the liaisons and potential matchings have been inter-family. Of course, a Chaos-Amber summit might help alleviate that sort of pressure...
PCs
Angel
Quite happy at present with Carl. A relationship centuries in the making, too...
Anya
She has apparently won the "Valerian" sweepstakes in the rather messy to-do with the other ladies interested in him. She's also now carrying his child.
Astin
Well, as part feline he certainly is a flirt, and he did win the first "fade to black scene" award for the game, but he has no main target at the moment. But the night is still young.
Beastie
Umm, are you kidding? :grin: Right now, anyway.
Bhangbadea
Nothing in "game time", too new to Amber to really find a bond with anyone.
Brandeigh
Had an established pre-game interest in Percy, and by gum, got him. The feelings turned out to be mutual. Possibly an early candidate for "Will Random allow cousins to marry?" plot.
Brieanne
Julian's daughter is not so much well-chaperoned as the fact that her father's reputation puts off a lot of possibilities.
Destiny
Part of the aforementioned "Valerian Sweepstakes", pressing her claim on knowing him since childhood and angry she didn't capture his heart. She just recently got angry at an NPC denigrating him, too. Love and Hate are awfully close.
Hideo
Nope, he's stayed clear of the ladies, although he'll eventually get to Amber.
Jayson
After spending much of the early game with a lot of female interests, ranging from one his Mother Sand set up years in advance with Dulcinea, to Cyllene with whom Jayson had a fling, to flirting with Asteria, Jayson is not currently seeing or pursuing anyone. Currently.
Krysta
No fish are willing to bite on this one. And she's not really apparently interested in anyone, except maybe Rylan.
Leigh
She's been flirted with by a fellow Helgram, but that's it so far.
Rhionde
Way too new to the game to garner any real male attention. Yet.
Toireasa
Part of the "Valerian Sweepstakes" although she apparently has drawn interest from another quarter entirely, even if she hasn't really met him yet. Long distance relationship, SB style...
Trista
In perhaps the best coup of the game, romantically, she has the ardent interest of the Emperor of Chaos.
William
Flora's son is back in town. Lock up your daughters now.
Arref gives us some goodness with some new revelations about the place of Shroudlings and the Mirrorverse in his (ever evolving) game. Time for me to reciprocate...
The scary thing is...I've done nothing in SB with either of them.
Weird, huh? With the Dream World, Omphalos, alternate universes, Lessimans, bestial chaosians, and even a helping of the Pit/Abyss, I've done nothing with the Mirrorverse or with the Shroudlings. The closest I've come to it was a suggestion from a player that a Shroudling might make an interesting devotee/ally. Said player's character, however, soon found other diversions.
But the Mirrorverse and Shroudlings? Um, nope.
I guess that I've had too many of my own ideas, or other ideas on my burners to really introduce any such elements into SB. Undershadow is similar in that respect--no PC has really had any reason to go poking at it, and so it hasn't developed like, say, in Arref's games. There are some hints of mirror-magic in my game, but it is rather limited at present.
This is not to say that I've avoided doing anything with the realm of Mirrors. In the second iteration of Wizard in the Attic, one of the PCs, Alice, was strongly allied to Mirrors. A lot of the action revolved around the mirror-realm, as presented in that game, and it was a lot of fun. No Shroudlings were encountered, however.
Now, if the two charter members of the Strange Bedfellows Waiting List (you two know who you are, I hope and think) perhaps wanted to think along these sorts of lines for PC strings, plots and ideas...I would certainly be open and receptive. No rush, of course. I don't intend to add new players until some unfinished business is taken care of and the ripples subside thereof.
In your campaigns, does walking the Pattern get easier? Do the Endurance mavens have an easy time of it? Or the Advanced Pattern types?"
In my campaign, the difficulty level is not a smooth curve.
The first walk is usually harder than several of (if any) subsequent walks.
Why? Two factors are at work.
First, there is the matter of learning what to expect. Even if there is extensive preparation, nothing really makes you ready for the various dangers and peculiarities of the Pattern. The veils, the Grand Curve...the final steps of agony. Someone walking the Pattern for the first time is experiencing this first hand for the first time...and that's a challenge. A second or third walk allows the Amberite the wisdom of their previous experiences as a guide.
The second factor is a matter of power attunement. I do, in many of my games, take much of Merlin's series as canonical. Thus, there is a sentience to the Pattern in SB (although other games I have done I've eschewed the idea). The Pattern, itself, is meeting the Amberite for the first time and thus makes the first walk a more comprehensive and harder experience than many of the subsequent ones, since it's taking the measure of the scion of Amber.
This is why many Pattern Ghosts date from the first walk of the Pattern, rather than subsequent ones. It is because the first walk usually produces a richer or deeper copy of the person to make a Pattern Ghost.
As far as what helps to survive the Pattern Walk? Advanced Pattern doesn't usually give too much of an advantage--Endurance is the main discriminant. But a Pattern Walk is not to be done lightly, doing a Pattern Walk for the sake of a teleport to a nearby place is, well, reckless, to many of my characters and NPCs. And there is a bit of an "patternstatic" charge built up after multiple walks...so the difficulty does increase after multiple walks--especially when those walks are close together in time. (weeks or months, rather than years)
Arref puts up a missive on villains in the Eternal City campaign.
I can't argue or belabor any of the points he makes about what makes a good villain, so I will detail the VO (Villainous opposition) elements of Strange Bedfellows, to show what's lurking in my biggest universe. I will admit that I usually have, in my convention and other one-shot games, that I usually use a VO of my own creation. And in Wizard in the Attic (2003), I used Chaos as a VO as an adjunct to the main story.
Canonical VO's in SB:
Courts of Chaos (or Amber): Depending on your point of view and filiation, of course. Neither side truly trusts the other, and both are complex enough that even if, say, Random and Merlin did so, it doesn't mean other elements would, either.
Amber Elders: Let's face it, not everyone gets along, even if outward appearances seem to indicate such. Also, I've made use of Elders like Sand in my game as VO. Not to mention (yes, cliche), Brand.
Chaos Elders: Not as apparent due to a lack of Chaosian players, but the Courts are rife with potential internal conflicts, Houses and major scions of such Houses willing to push for personal power. This sort of melds into Vendettas, when there are inter-House conflicts and feuds
SB VO Elements:
The Omphalos: My defining VO for the game, so to speak. They, to use Arref's formal symbolism, threaten values across the entire Amber Multiverse. Multi-talented, complex, dangerous.
Lessima: Taken from Meera's ideas originally, Lessima has been behind the scenes for most of SB and for nearly everyone's plotlines. But they are there. Scheming shapeshifters who managed to defy Chaos and survive should never be discounted. Especially when their true goals and motivations are not known.
Sterling/The Labyrinth/The Caliph: A few people have run into him, and although he properly belongs in another category, he is a sui generis creation. And the characters who have dealt with him have not combined forces to share knowledge of the threat
And there are villains of other levels,. but these are the major ones.
MaBarry asks:
"How young will you allow someone IYC to Walk the Pattern? Are there any exceptions? Why or why not?"
This depends on a lot of things, the rules have been severely bent in backstory, and thus the "game time" rules for walking are stricter than what characters have done in the past.
IMC, Random doesn't want anyone, realistically, under 20 to walk the Pattern. Random expects veto power over anyone going, and especially in times of danger, is not usually inclined to immediate granting of that. Thus, in SB, a couple of PCs and an NPC sidestepped the issue by going up to Tir to do it (on a night that Tir was not that stable, too. But with Bhangbadea there to help, it ended well for all participants).
In backstories, though, PCs have managed to walk the Pattern as young as their early to mid teens...but I probably wouldn't allow such a feat to happen again. After all, I did veto a PC who as a child walked the Pattern at ACUS.
It is indeed not a light thing to walk the Pattern. There is always the chance, no matter how well prepared, of peril and danger.
MB&LK's Amber Bits: The Spy Reports
A Character Exercise devised by Meera:
As a GM: Create a spy report about the PCs for amusement's value or as a hand-out / party favour. (Heck, doing one about your players might be just as much fun, assuming they share your sense of humour.) What would a reporter find out? (Or a bard who wants to hear about their adventures?) Does your group belong in the Times or the Tabloids?
I've decided to to do this for Strange Bedfellows, and to make it easier in an ever-changing sea of cast, set it sometime before the events of the campaign. The conceit is that it is found following the "Shockwave Storm" whose plotline is nearly at an end.
MB&LK's Amber Bits: The Spy Reports
A Character Exercise devised by Meera:
As a GM: Create a spy report about the PCs for amusement's value or as a hand-out / party favour. (Heck, doing one about your players might be just as much fun, assuming they share your sense of humour.) What would a reporter find out? (Or a bard who wants to hear about their adventures?) Does your group belong in the Times or the Tabloids?
I've decided to to do this for Strange Bedfellows, and to make it easier in an ever-changing sea of cast, set it sometime before the events of the campaign. The conceit is that it is found following the "Shockwave Storm" whose plotline is nearly at an end.
My Lord Jesby,
The following incomplete document was found in some of the ruins of one of the Ways following a clean-up of the damage wrought by the Shockwave. Why this was never brought to the attention of the House Head, no one is certain. Its authenticity is somewhat dubious; its provenance unknown, its usefulness potentially infinite.
--Ulrich, Permanent Secretary to the House Head.
Toward a understanding of the Royale Family of Amber, with an especial regard toward their vulnerabilities and weaknesses, by Sartek Jesby, year of the Serpent (blurred out, the style suggests that it predates the ascension of Merlin I and postdates the Patternfall War)
Amber.
Despite the contacts grown in the wake of the War, we know little enough about them. I believe this was a fatal mistake, we relied too heavily on arrogance and a lack of intelligence before committing our forces into a campaign which led to such a disastrous end.
I have focused on the personalities of Amber, the family proper, rather than more immediate concerns of the layout of the Castle and such. My counterpart, as you will recall, is attempting to infiltrate the Royal Family in a more direct manner, his report will likely be far more detailed on these matters. I believe he was passing himself off as a lost family relative.
(Editorial note, my Lord, we know of no such Agent, nor who he is in that capacity if such an agent exists. Given the number of the recent generation, it is possible Sartek might not be lying--Ulrich)
Oberon's descendants can be divided by the parentage of their Dam. It is clear that in many respects, the children, and yea, the grandchildren are far more cleaving to the Maternal genes, rather than the Paternal. I am not sure if this is an intentional breeding program such as we have in the Courts, or if Oberon's flings were more random in nature. Textual evidence suggests the latter, but it is possible he kept such ideas to himself.
Of the lady Cymnea, Oberon had three sons, two of which are still living. Osric's fate is unknown, the histories are not clear on it. Of the High Judge's fate, no more need be said, his presence here is well known. The Lord Benedict was and still is the General of Amber, and any thoughts of a military attack on Amber must revolve around him. He has no known offspring.
Of the Lady Faiella, Oberon once again had three children. King Eric, the second King of Amber's death is well known and documented--and yet there are still thoughts about the circumstances surrounding it. I have come across a strange thing, a play of some sort lamenting his passing. I find this unusual and odd, although there is no talk of the "good old days" under his reign. He has a daughter, her stance on these matters unknown. There are rumors of a second daughter, here in the Courts. (One of the Hendrake vassals, it is thought--Ulrich) The legitimacy of his rule is also still in question to this day. The Prince Corwin, the Opener, much is known from our encounters with him during the War. He has several children, including Merlin Sawall, and Triton of Rebma. There is also some evidence that he had a daughter and that there were circumstances surrounding one of the outlier Lords and some sort of rite of passage on her part. Where she is, none seem to know. As for the Princess Deirdre, she fell into the Abyss, with Brand. She has one child, a son. He seems to take much after his mother, and the General, as well.
Clarissa's lot breaks the pattern of the first, as there are four children of the union. The eldest, Van, has absented himself from Amber for reasons that seem to stem around the divorce of his mother by Oberon. As of Fiona, Bleys and Brand, much has been written, and much known from their contact with us. Fiona is known to have now at least two daughters and a son, the latter has been seen as a guest of Helgram. Bleys' progeny is far less clear, for all of his prolific nature in bedding women. As for Brand, that, too, is unclear. We know of his son by the Lady Marsbane, as well as that of Jasra, and there is the young man, Kyle, who appeared in Amber after the war. There are possibly others. (We are not sure why he says this. Some hidden facet of knowledge?--Ulrich)
LLewella was the daughter of a Rebman Lady, we suspect it was the Princess Moins. The political shape of Amber is not entirely clear, it seems Rebma is part of a Commonwealth, the Kingdom owing some fealty to Amber. What Oberon set to accomplish by having a scion of his blood in the city is not known. Perhaps he expected Moins and not her younger sister Moire to succeed to the throne, and thus was trying to control the succession and bring it into the family line. LLewella has a daughter who seems of little consequence.
Dybele gave him a daughter, Florimel. We suspect she is more competent than she lets on, few of Oberon's children are entirely what they appear. She herself has two children, one of which is a swordsman and sorcerer, but he is rarely present in Amber.
Rilga's children seem the most interested in the day-to-day workings of the Amber Kingdom. Gerard is the current Admiral of the fleet of Amber, and his twin sons also play roles in Amber's strength. His daughter is apparently a bone of contention, taking far more after the redheads. Possibly there is more than meets the eye, here. Julian's defense of their great forest is well known. Of his own children, his son takes much after him; his younger sister is rarely seen outside of the woods. There are rumors she is of unusual descent. Caine appears to act as an intelligence service for Amber, his daughter roams shadow and reported to be dangerous to cross.
Of the lady Harla, and her children Sand and Delwin, there are few records. Their parting from Amber is widely thought of as acrimonious, and their shadow is barred to entry. I could not learn more of them, or if they have any children of their own.
Oberon begat a child upon a lady of the shadow Felis, Abast, and she rules along with her mother in that place. I believe she has a son, and said son has some back channels with members of the Family. He might be approachable given his tendencies and habits toward the opposite gender.
Paulette gave Oberon two children, the current monarch Random, and his sister, Mirelle. The sister disappeared and is presumed to be dead, although there are rumors she is near to or within the Black Zone. The Monarch has a son, Martin, not widely considered to be the heir at this time. We are surprised that there aren't more of his get, Random takes much after his father.
Of the man called Dalt, we cannot say if he is truly of Amber Blood as he claims. The matter of Deela is a twisted and turgid one, and I am aware there are links back to the Empire in her origins, but the story of his birth appears fabulous, to say the least. He will not likely be dangerous unless he pairs or allies with one of the members of the family.
(Editorial note: We see a possibility of an alliance for Dalt with one of Brand's sons, it would make a natural partnership and useful to us--Ulrich.)
I recommend further study of the family and its scions. Its latest generation, especially, seem to have the potential to change or alter Amber irrecovcably. It cannot be stressed enough that molding them to our ends could prove decisive if conflict occurs with Amber again.
As for myself, I will continue to observe as plan, and contact our inflitrating agent as necessity dictates. If you should need to, he should be reachable...
(Editorial note: The rest of the letter is unreadable and unsalvagable. As for the fate of Sartek, we do not know. It is possible that he himself tried to be this mythical second agent or that his Logrus Madness consisted of this delusion of a partner--Ulrich)
Arref points us to the Shadows of Amber board, where the question of what precisely a regency entails, is being discussed. Not a member of that board, I decided to post my thoughts here...
Of course, the first step is to go to the videotape, or in this case, a dictionary. A regent is defined in there as:
1 : one who governs a kingdom in the minority, absence, or disability of the sovereign
2 : one who rules or reigns : GOVERNOR
3 : a member of a governing board (as of a state university)
But, then, how does this square with what we have seen in the Amber Novels? We see some promises of a Regency in the novels, but we don't really see them in action.
Clearly, there is The Regent, he or she who rules in the absence of the King. Such an office would be powerful, and much as Claire described in her excellent missive on the SOA board.
Yet, though, I don't think that is the whole story. If there is only one Regency, then Corwin is awfully loose and free in offering a single powerful position all around to multiple individuals. It doesn't square right, besides, Roger is a good writer, he is offering "a regency", not "The Regency". Thus, there must be more than one of them available to be handed out like political presents.
I generally don't see Amber as a political empire in most of the games that I have run (including SB). Amber is a mercantile, trading power, the head of the Golden Circle of trading partners, with a little bit of common defense thrown in for good measure. My model for this is more along the lines of Classical Greek era Athens and the Delian League.
Thus, there are no states in the Golden Circle for a regency to govern. No, a regency is more generally a significant and potent part of the King's government, in some capacity or another. Julian's Protectorship of Arden and Gerard's Admiralty are thus both regencies under this equation. I think it was this sort of offer that Corwin dangled as bait during the original chronicles.
Now, though, now that people have got me to think about it--just who is Regent in Random's absence? A jazz, fun loving King, I can't see Random remaining in the Castle 24/7/365.
Arref offers us a second in the IMC series (I am still looking for a good name for this meme, he's already suggested a couple, but any ideas would be appreciated. I've created this new category and retrofit the Tir entry into it.
Arref talks about the allure of Amber
Coveting Amber
If the royals, with their increased will, ego and experience have a love/covet relationship with Amber; how much might other folk be affected by visiting the Eternal Realm? Is that increased by drinking the water and eating the food? By experiencing the sunsets or the clarity of a winter morning?
Does Amber invade the senses? Or do royal senses run richer, see more clearly, feel more deeply? Or are both and all true?
Amber is the new kid on the block. Although Amber is reliably reckonable as several millenia old, the Courts are much older, and in my games, the Courts themselves are far from the oldest power in existence.
Thus, as these things reckon time, Amber, the Pattern are new, and there is an allure to new things, powers and places that are growing, active, expanding. Such activity draws attention. Persons of power and ability from neighboring shadow. Creatures realer than simple shadow--phoenixes, griffins, dragons. Powers already established take notice of the upstart, and seek to control it, deny it, or destroy it. It rankled Chaos much more than most because Dworking was one of them, the Eye of the Serpent one of their prizes.
And yet we hear of invasions by the Moonriders, and intimations that while Amber was a sudden island, it was far from the only one.
Do mundane visitors (outside of the Family) find it overly special? No. The average merchant from Antioch, or Asherah, or DuMarque is not glamoured when they spot the Eternal City. It is for those who have a greater attraction to reality, a sense of the fantastic, for them Amber is a source of magic, of power, of potential. This effect is multiplied a hundred-fold for those of the Unicorn's blood, be it Oberon or someone else.
And yet, even for the average, unawakened person, the thriving trade, the meeting of cultures, the potential make Amber alluring on its own, mundane merits. To walk down its streets and see a Arcanian mage and his pseudodragon doing tricks, to be able to buy jewelry and trinkets from a double dozen worlds, to take in the salt air of the city and watch the sun rise from the sea--these things are more than enough to draw people to Amber.
It was said that All Roads Lead to Rome, because Rome built those roads that way. All Roads Lead to Amber...not only because of the shadowpaths and roads built by its scions, but by those who came seeking the Eternal City.
I've been doing some thinking about Tir Na Nogth, the City in the Sky in the Amberverse. This is mainly due to the fact that for the first time in Strange Bedfellows, I have Player Characters actually there...
Meera makes a point on her blog about the variability and inconsistency of assumptions in Amber games. The nature and underlying assumptions of the City in the Sky are no exception to this. So why not explore some of these questions, and reveal some of my rulings as well. Here's hoping for a nice cross-blog conversation on the topic.
For instance, when can you visit Tir? Is it only at the Full Moon? Is it every night, but its simply too ephemeral unless the moon is full? What about a gibbous moon? Is the length of a possible stay in Tir dependent on the phase?
In Strange Bedfellows, journeys to Tir are generally only possible in and around the full moon. Its a function of the luminosity of the moon, and thus only nearly-full or full moons provide enough light to allow Tir to manifest. I so happened, for dramatic purposes, allowed the first night Tir was really available to be the "Festival of the Unicorn", the Amber name for the holiday that falls on the Vernal Equinox. (Although probably someone could have gotten away with going there the night before)
Who can go to Tir? Is it limited in anyway?
Tir is a special place, after all. Although it is a reflection of the Primal Pattern just as Amber and Rebma are, it is a reflection vastly different than the two others. Clearly you don't need to have already walked the Pattern in order to enter Tir (it is established in the Second Series that Luke and Dalt both did this). But do you need Blood of Amber, then? Can an ordinary person dare to tread the staircase?
In Strange Bedfellows, anyone with the temerity can attempt to visit Tir. It is not recommended with a human psyche, for the fact that the ephemeral, changeable nature of the place is difficult to comprehend even for the Royal Family, to say nothing of a mortal. Of course the restrictions on the Tir Pattern still hold as far as walking it. Dreamwalkers, in my game, too, have some advantages for their special abilities while in Tir (which dovetails to a subsequent question later on).
How big is Tir? What are its dimensions and how much of an area does it cover? Where can you go in Tir?
We see that in the novels, the focus of visits to Tir is the Castle. But is that all there is to Tir? Rebma is larger than the Pattern Room, the bubble that covers it clearly extends out to the city. But how far does Tir's bubble go? If you didn't want to go to the Castle, where else could you go?
In Strange Bedfellows, my Tir is fairly large. It covers the entirety of the mountain of Kolvir, from the city to its summit. I was inspired by a file on the old FTP amber site that had suggestions about Dream walking, and so I came up with the idea of a Tir of Tir. If Tir covers the entire mountain, what happens if you wanted to take the long climb to its summit? I decided there would be a staircase there, just like in the real-world mountain, and that would be an explicit link to the Dreamlands. In point of fact, the PCs now in Tir have reached Tir from *that* direction.
Thus, in my Tir, you could visit the ghosts of Amber City, or the more traditional trip to the Castle. Or, if you knew it and you wanted to dare it, you could walk bodily into the Dreamlands themselves. It's a long climb, and I daresay that trying to go to the "second staircase" is akin to trying to walk the Tir Pattern in terms of time and the danger level.
What is the true nature of Tir? Why is it so different than its counterparts? Why does it even exist?
A place of dreams, of potential, of what-might-have-beens and what-might-be's. Rebma has inhabitants, as does Amber, but Tir seems to be only populated by Ghosts (or is it?) Tir only appears as a phantom of the real city, with no life of its own (or does it?). It stands apart from the City of the Sea and the Eternal City. Symmetry is important--so why does Tir break the symmetry in being so basically different?
In Strange Bedfellows, as per my cosmology, the fact that Dworkin used three spikards meant that the power of the Eye was refracted and split, and thus the original Pattern (the primal) gained three reflections.
The usual division of the three Patterns is Earth (Amber), Water (Rebma) and Air (Tir). The problem is, this is not entirely correct in my view. If Tir truly were of Air, it should be always ephemeral, inaccessible. And if you argue that Rebma has a bubble of habitability around it, then why does Tir's only appear every so often, rather than permanently? And why the ghosts and portents?
The reason is that the three Patterns are not divided by elements at all. Instead they are divided by their relationship to the tripartite division of reality. Amber's Pattern is fully in the central reality, the world of matter from Amber to Chaos (and any of the universes).
Tir, however is "halfway" to the Dreamlands, part of the upper levels of reality, realms of thought. Thusly, it only manifests itself in the skies of Amber a few days a month, subtle and slippery like the dreamstuff from which it is made. That is why it is only inhabited by ghosts and illusions brought to Tir by the minds of its visitors. It does suggest, however, that something might be able to "infect" Tir from higher realities. Hmmm..
Of course, you might ask, what then of Rebma? Well, if Tir is halfway to the upper levels of reality, Rebma must be halfway to the lower levels, the Undershadow. Perhaps there are truly secrets of Rebma that Amberites have not guessed. After all, there are an awful large number of mirrors in Rebma, and fans of Through the Looking Glass or The Mirror of Her Dreams know that Mirrors might do much more than just reflect...