Corrine of Amber OOCly says, "Need lines?  I've got 'em...."

Corrine of Amber OOCly says, "In any case, let's contine a-riding
a-through a-rain..."

====================================
====================================

You ride onwards towards Castle Amber through drizzly rain, finally
emerging from the forest into the Vale of Garnath just as the sun sets.
You can see Amber far off across the valley, and Kolvir rising high off to
the north.

Juri of Avalon looks around with interest, as this is all new to her,
though somewhat reminescent of Avalon.

Corrine of Amber smiles slightly at the sight, and looks ruefully up at
the rain.  "Ah, be it ever so drizzly, there's nowhere quite like a near
parallel of home..."

Rose says, "Unless it's full of cannibal versions of your relatives."

Corrine of Amber glances over at Rose and Ishmael.  "A quick question...
how long's it been raining 'round here?  It's only let up once since we
got here a few days ago."

Corrine of Amber says, "... I'll pass on that, thanks."

Ishamel says, "Oh, Julian turned the rain on to keep the Chihuahua of
Chaos from burning down Arden."

Corrine of Amber says, "... ah."

Corrine of Amber says, "That makes sense."

Juri of Avalon asks, "He seemed to hold you responsible for that thing.
Justified?"

Corrine of Amber . o O (That thing... makes the Great Boar of Chaos look
like a lightweight.  Yee.)

Ishmael says, "The real one wasn't supposed to show up."

Corrine of Amber asks, "So, instead, you were trying for something...
smaller, I suppose?  Or less, well, Firey?"

Ishmael shakes his head, "I suppose it decided it was being made fun of
and got angry."

Rose says, "Oh, our Chihuahua of Chaos was a real Chihuahua.  It talked,
but it wasn't huge and on fire.  And Julian killed it by throwing it off
the battlements into the Gulf of Amber.  Poor thing."

Juri of Avalon says, "The Chihuaha gazes also," Juri says, deadpan.

Rose sighs.  "You should have given it armor or something, Ish."

Corrine of Amber says, "Oops.  Ohwell."

Corrine of Amber has gotten to that point where she would be smiling and
nodding at all this in seeming understanding if she wasn't, well, still
wet.  She judges the time to Amber/Palace given their current rate of
travel.

Ishmael says, "I suppose I shouldn't have mentioned it to the Great Bore,
but I was trying to get him to shut up at  Gilva's party, and the word
must have gotten around."

If you ride through the night, you can be there in the morning, wet,
tired, and exhausted.

The rain stops sharply at the edge of the forest, which is nice.

Juri of Avalon rides on beneath the umbrella, looking thoughtful and not
making much conversation.

Corrine of Amber purses her lips.  "We've got two choices.  Camp out here
now, and get to the city tomorrow in somewhat decent shape, or ride
through the night and get there ready to sleep through the day."

Corrine of Amber looks at the sharp stop of the rain.

Ishmael says, "I tend to think resting would do me good."

You page, "-does- corrine know how to do that sort of thing with the rain
back in her own Arden?  Or is that more a JoJ thing?" to Akemi.
Akemi pages, "You don't have that level of control over Arden.  Now, EMBER
you could do that.  It would be plasma rain, though." to you.
You page, "Well, yeah. :)" to Akemi.
You page, "Which helps corrine Jack -here-, but hey. ;)" to Akemi.

Juri of Avalon nods.  "You can give us more details about the exact
situation."

Ishamael begins conjuring up a campsite.

Juri of Avalon purses her lips.  "And perhaps we'll figure out just how we
fit into it."

Corrine of Amber mumbles to herself, "I've -got- to learn how to do that
someday," still looking up at the bifurcation of rain and not-rain, and
then nods at Juri.  "Indeed.  I think I'm already seeing some possible
connections."

Corrine of Amber dismounts and tethers her horse in a professional fasion.
Hopefully they've moved out of the rain section with Ish's campfire, and
thereby will be able to dry out a bit.

Juri of Avalon tethers Arisugawa near Corrine's horse and sits down to
warm herself by the campfire.

Rose says, "Basically, I have this uncle named Finndo.  He had a bunch of
kids, and he decided to destroy Amber in retaliation for Grandpa dumping
Primal Chaos on him."

Rose says, "Of course, we all thought he was dead."

Corrine of Amber sits down to warm herself as well.  *pause* She seems to
sit closer to the fire than most people would, but... She nods to Rose.

Rose sits a fair ways from the fire.  In fact, she seems to now be
perfectly dry already.

Corrine of Amber asks, "Who was your grandpa?"

Rose says, "He and Uncle Osric both were thought to have died in some old
war no one remembered."

Rose says, "King Oberon.  "

Corrine of Amber ahs, and nods.

Rose says, "He's Mommy's dad."

Corrine of Amber says, "Okay."

Rose says, "Anyway, he and Uncle Osric both got kind of mad because
Grandpa sort of accidentally nearly annhilated them with Primal Chaos."

Rose says, "And Fido nearly ate them, I think.  He was involved in this,
you see."

Corrine of Amber says, "But, if he was king of Amber, how did he manage to
spack 'em with Primal Chaos?  Well, near-spack, anyway...  And yes, fido."

Ishmael . o O (Don't go into storytelling as your day job, Rose.)

Rose says, "He built Fido the Logrus Squid."

Rose says, "Turned an entire shadow into a Logrus using, Fire Pattern
eating giant squid."

Corrine of Amber says, "Yout grandfather... King Oberon... -created- the
Logrus Squid."

Corrine of Amber . o O (WTF?)

Rose says, "So technically, the Primal Chaos was Fido's fault.  But he's
really very sweet."

Corrine of Amber says, very plainly. "Ah."

Ishmael cuts in, "Oberon's father was the rebel lord of Chaos Dworkin of
House Barimen.  Oberon was born before Dworkin drew the Pattern, and thus
had walked the Logrus as well as the Pattern."

Juri of Avalon just listens in neutral silence.

Corrine of Amber says, "......."

Juri of Avalon says, "So.  It is possible."

Corrine of Amber . o O (Oh, grandfather... am I SO going to have questions
for you...)

Rose says, "Oh, yes, I've done it myself."

Corrine of Amber looks like she's trying to rearrange her worldview, stand
by for further updates....

Rose says, "The trick is to do the Logrus first."

Corrine of Amber murmurs "this is DEFINITELY not my Amber," still trying
to parse everything.  She tries grabbing onto the first conversational
thread, rubbing her eyes.  "What -IS- the Logrus, anyway?"

Rose says, "If you do the Pattern first, you'll probably freeze up while
walking it and die."

Corrine of Amber asks, "Other than big, bad, used by Chaosians, and
stuff?"

Rose says, "While walking the Logrus, that is."

Corrine of Amber says, "And capable of powering Shadows that eat whole
shadows and Fire Patterns."

Rose says, "Oh, it's this big tunnel network that constantly shifts
around.  You have to know shapeshifting so you can adapt to the changes or
you die."

Rose says, "Once you get to the middle, you can use it for stuff, although
you go mad for a while."

"Well, you can use it to hurl cows."  Juri giggles at this, for some
reason.

You page, "Poor poor corrine.  She's starting to get SO out of her depth
now. *pause* GOOOOD. :)" to Akemi.

Ishmael finishes conjuring up tents and food and comes and sits down.

Corrine of Amber says, ".... I think I'll pass, thank you, Rose."

Corrine of Amber manages a smile.

Corrine of Amber smiles a bit more at Juri's giggle, approving of it for
some reason.

Rose asks, "Or clothing.  Remember the cave men, Ishmael?"

Ishmael laughs.  "Yes."

Rose says, "Anyway, where was I...oh yes.  So Finndo and Osric went off
and laid their plans to come slaughter us all."

Rose says, "We had to fight all their kids, but we beat them with Fido's
help."

Rose says, "Finndo died, but we captured all his kids and imprisoned
them."

Corrine of Amber says, "Then they escaped, and you think they stole Fido
in retaliation."

Ishmael says, "Maybe Finndo died.  Looking back, I think I defeated him
too easily."

Corrine of Amber -can- start understanding all this, given enough time!

Juri of Avalon asks, "Did they have outside help in escaping?"

Rose nods.  "Exactly.  Which could be really bad, because Fido can do a
lot of damage in the wrong hands."

Ishmael says, "They must have.  The security on them was pretty tight down
in the dungeons.  What disturbs me is that it seems to have involved the
use of the Logrus, which that close to the Pattern is VERY hard to use."

Juri of Avalon asks, "Any obvious suspects?"

Corrine of Amber mmmms, quieting now, warming her hands by the fire.

Rose says, "There must be some Chaos lords involved; there's quite a few
who still resent the end of the Patternfall war.  Also, now that I think
about it...we never did meet Finndo's wife."

Ishmael says, "I instinctively suspect House Helgram, but have little
proof.  They would love to get their hands on Fido.  And I think Suhuy
knows something he's not telling."

Corrine of Amber asks, "The Patternfall War... we never had that in my
Amber, though both you and Juri apparently had it.  What was it?"

Juri of Avalon says, "I didn't have it.  The other other Amber that I know
about did."

Corrine of Amber dryly comments.  "Oh, I can just imagine.. the damage it
could cause would be staggering."

Corrine of Amber says, "Oh, right.  Sorry."

Corrine of Amber smiles a bit, sheepishly.

Rose shudders.  "Brand formed an alliance with Chaos and tried to destroy
the Pattern."

Juri of Avalon says, "From what I'm hearing, in most respects, the first
Amber I know about is nearly identical to this one."

Rose says, "He wanted to remake reality in his own image."

Juri's face darkens at the mention of Brand.

Rose says, "He stabbed Random's son Martin on the Pattern, creating a
break in it, which enabled the forces of Chaos to build a Black Road to
Amber."

Corrine of Amber's eyes widen. "....like Sakura the Traitor Queen..." ...
she shakes her head ... "Though I don't know what her intentions were to
be after she would have destroyed it..."

Rose says, "Meanwhile, our aunts and uncles were fighting for the throne
after King Oberon vanished."

Rose says, "But Uncle Corwin showed up at the last minute with an army and
turned back the tide of Chaos."

Corrine of Amber nods, listening.

Rose says, "But Brand stole the Jewel of Judgement and tried to finish off
the Pattern."

Rose says, "King Oberon died repairing it, but in the meantime, Uncle
Corwin drew another Pattern in the hopes it could take over if that one
failed."

Rose says, "Chaos was driven back and peace was made."

Rose says, "Mommy found me on the battlefield when the Chaos army
retreated and adopted me."

Rose says, "I was just a baby."

Corrine of Amber smiles a bit. "Yaaay."

Rose says, "And that was the Patternfall war."

Rose says, "Oh, and Brand got shot in the throat by Uncle Caine and fell
in the Abyss taking aunt Deirdre with him."

Juri of Avalon says, "All of this matches so far the story I know of 'my'
Amber."

Juri of Avalon glances at Rose.  "Except you.  You're not in the one I
know."

Rose says, "His mom tried to help him escape later, but Ishmael and
Rhianna and Fido and Katsura, we knocked him back in and killed his
mother."

Corrine of Amber ahs, and then winces.  "Ah.  Thank you."  She recovers
and smiles a bit.  "Well, I think I can safely say we didn't have that.
Different principles and different history.  But we did have, well,
somewhat similar events more scattered about. The attempt of Sakura the
Traitor Queen to destroy the Pattern in Kolvir using her infant daughter's
blood.  The Succession Crisis, where the Patterns in Kolvir and Rebma were
damaged, and opened the Black Roads to Chaos before they could be
repaired." 

Ishmael says, "Well, technically, I'm from Chaos, so I'm not surprised you
don't know of me."

Corrine of Amber says, "And the Devesation of Ember, where its Pattern was
damaged by the Ravager Beast, which was powered by a Logrus-using Shadow
in the shape of a Squid, and didn't get repaired until just recently."

Corrine of Amber says the last, rather dryly.

Rose blinks.

Corrine of Amber quirks an eybrow at Ishmael.

Juri of Avalon asks, "Ravager Beast?  Does it have any appelation beyond
that?"

Juri of Avalon says, "Any other names associated with it, I mean."

Rose says, "We call him Fido."

Rose says, "If you mean our squid."

Corrine of Amber says, "The Ravager Beast... it was told to me by Dowager
Queen Anthy that a Lord of Chaos, by the name of Gideon, tried to make
himself a god by merging himself with a Shadow... instead, it turned him
into a beast that was obsessed with eating Patterns."

Corrine of Amber says, "I would -extremely- perfer it if -didn't- eat
Ember again.  Call it a personal quirk."

Juri of Avalon frowns.

Juri of Avalon says, "My uncle, Gideon, was named the Ravager Beast by the
Courts of Chaos, for the devastation he caused them."

Corrine of Amber says, "......"

Juri of Avalon says, "These coincidences of names between universes is...
I don't know.  Like a big in-joke between the creators of various
universes.  I don't like it."

Corrine of Amber says, "... Queen Anthy... -did- mention it had even
destroyed one house down in the Courts.  But I don't really know the
political situation down there..."

Rose says, "Well, they say that the Logrus can be used to travel between
universes in some manner, though I don't know how.  Of course, Lord Doth
might have just been bragging while drunk."

Corrine of Amber mmms, and nods.  "They could be helpful, but they could
also confuse and lead you down incorrect conclusions... like meeting
Shadows of your family members in other Shadows."

Ishmael says, "Or meeting Dworkin's hat."  He shudders.

Corrine of Amber quirks a slight, rueful smile.  She then hrms at Rose.
"Or one can get brought here by a rather playful and irritating Questing
Beast..."

Rose asks, "The Questing Beast?  Doesn't it go around harrassing people
who've committed incest?"

Juri of Avalon sighs.  "Well, I suppose the immediate situation is the
only one we can do anything about; chasing down your Finndo's children and
your... squid."

"Not always, apparently," Juri says, a hint of ice in it.

Ishmael says, "Perhaps it's doing someone a favor in its time off.  Or
there could be more than one.  There usually is."

Corrine of Amber says, "Mmm."

Ishmael continues, "And generally, it stalks people who are into their
relatives too much, it doesn't just lead them places."

Corrine of Amber says, "I can safely say I'm not into my relatives.  Well,
in that fasion.  I love my family, just no desire to sleep with 'em."

Corrine of Amber pokes at the fire a bit with a stick, stirring it and
watching the sparks ascend for the sky.

Ishmael looks thoughtful.  "Of course, given the nature of Shadow, you
could always do something by accident.  Still, it isn't any of my business
one way or another.  And it could easily have been Dworkin in disguise
because he was bored, like the incident with the Zombie Eric."

Rose says, "I thought the Zombie Eric was one of yours."

Corrine of Amber glances at Ishmael and Rose.  "Ah."

Ishmael shakes his head fervently, "I never get that bored."

Juri of Avalon stares into the fire and doesn't say anything.

Corrine of Amber mms again, and watches the fire as well.

Rose asks, "So you're from a Pattern like Corwin's, Juri?"

Juri of Avalon nods.  "As I understand it, I'm from the Pattern drawn by
the Corwin of the Amber that's very similar to yours."

Juri of Avalon says, "We recently went through our own crisis, when a
civil war launched by my uncle Finndo coincided with that Amber's version
of Fiona manipulating the Courts of Chaos into laying siege to Avalon."

Rose blinks.  "Why would Auntie Fiona do something like that?"

Corrine of Amber offers, "Because that isn't your Fiona?"

Juri of Avalon says, "That combined with someone--me--foolishly allowing
themselves to be manipulated into releasing Brand from the Abyss."

Corrine of Amber manages a smile... and then mmms quiely.  She closes her
eyes.

Juri of Avalon says, "She thought the extra Pattern was disrupting the
universe somehow, and that it should be destroyed."

Juri of Avalon says, "She gave up when Brand was released from the Abyss,
and allied with us against him."

Rose says, "Oh.  I suppose ours mellowed out a bit after having a child."

Juri of Avalon stares into the fire, distant, remembering.  "Brand
attempted a ceremony at the Fount of Power.  I and some others battled him
and his allies there; Brand died on my blades, in the end."

Corrine of Amber moves over a little bit to be a comforting presence for
Juri, should she need it.  She's still quiet, though.

Rose asks, "The Fount of Power?"

Ishmael says, "How was he released?"

Juri of Avalon says, "The Duel Called Revolution."

Juri of Avalon doesn't say anything more than that.  "The Fount, at the
Keep of the Four Worlds.  I don't know much about it."

Juri of Avalon says, "Only that our version of it went ground zero."

You page, "I doubt Corrine's heard of the Keep in her continuity, so hey.
*wg*" to Akemi.
You page, "(unless she happened to overhear something Tylor mentioned
once... your call.)" to Akemi.
Akemi pages, "You've never heard of it yourself.  Hiko has, though :)  And
Tylor's been there." to you.
You page, "Righto. :)" to Akemi.

Juri of Avalon says, "Shortly after Brand was defeated, I set off into
Shadow for personal reasons.  That was where the Questing Beast found me,
how I met Corrine, and how I came to be in your universe."

Corrine of Amber says, "The Keep of the Four Worlds...." She shakes her
head.  "Can't say I've ever heard of it, though given the rampant
parallisim so far... who knows, it might exist."

Corrine of Amber shrugs.

================================
================================

Rose says, "OOC I'm feeling wiped out; we're gonna need to cut here."

Juri of Avalon says, "OK."

Mange falls asleep.

Corrine of Amber OOCly says, "Neg probs, sleep John."