The next morning, as Shizumaru is eating breakfast in his room (if,
indeed, he would be eating breakfast in his room), an envelope is slid
underneath his door, into his room.

Shizumaru is actually meditating, but is indeed in his room. His eyes open
at the sound of paper brushing against the ground, and he looks over to
the door. Curious, he gets up, retrieves the envelope, and opens it,
looking at the contents.

The envelope is sealed with a little red Pyricorn sticker and a silver
maple leaf sticker -- the fasion that Corrine tends to use when she's
relaying information somewhere between personal and formal, when doing wax
sealings would be overkill.  Inside, it asks if Shizumaru would be
amenable to meeting with her at her rooms before they all get together
with Juri of Avalon et. al. for final planning of the Keep Assault, to
generally talk.

Shizumaru reads the letter quickly, then nods. He moves to step out of his
room, then realizes something, and pulls out his trump of Corrine, and
gazes.

There's a moment's pause, and then Shizu's vision blurs as the trump
effect kicks in, revealing Corrine, clad in her old hunting outfit.  She
smiles.  "Hey there, Shizumaru.  Got my letter?"

The background appears to reveal Corrine's living room suite in Castle
Amber proper, from what you can see of it.

Shizumaru smiles and nods. "Yes, Aunt Corrine. I am free to meet with you,
indeed." He reaches his hand out, to get himself pulled through.

Corrine reaches through, and grips Shizumaru's hand, and pulls him
through.

Shizumaru takes a quick glance around, a warrior's instinct, before he
bows to Corrine. "Good morning, Aunt. What did you want to speak with me
about?"

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

Mike pages, "Howsit?" to you.

You page, "Pretty okay!  Starting coloring and RPing abit." to Mike.

Mike pages, "Cool. :) Decent here as well; going about daily business and
tortur^H^H^H^H^H^Hrunning my players." to you.

You page, "*dryly* Of course. *wry look* Had lots of interesting
discussion at the 'con about Amber and various campaigns, fwiw." to Mike.

Mike pages, "Oh?" to you.

You page, "Well, discussing stuff about Corrine, Juri of Avalon, Darako,
Hummingbird, the MacFinndos, the vrious campaign histories, etc." to Mike.

Mike pages, "Ah, comparing notes. ;)" to you.

You page, "Well, yes. :)" to Mike.

Mike pages, "And has the conspiracy come to light yet?" to you.

You page, "Well, it's clear there's a LOT more depth to these campaings
that I first thought. *wry look*" to Mike.

Mike pages, "How so?" to you.

You page, "Well, the level of connection in this... the fact there's an
Evil Psycho Ashen Prince-Raised Darako Clone running around with
Hummingbird now... things like that...." to Mike.

Mike pages, "Not evil! Just misunderstood! ;)" to you.

You page, "Suuuuuuuure. :)" to Mike.

Mike pages, "Heh. I had to do some mighty intricate dance steps to get
Hummingbird back into position. ;)" to you.

You page, "Heh.  I heard that if things had gone a little different,
'Darako' would have been killed by JuriAv, and then thought Corrine was a
dupe and tried to take HER out. *wl* Corrine might've had a chance due to
the strength factor, but it'd still have sucked... but she might've gotten
a patternblade out of it.  Ahwell, odd worlds." to Mike.

Mike pages, "No Patternblade possible. After all, the real Juri was
already carrying it." to you.

You page, "Ah, okay. *nod*" to Mike.

Mike pages, "Corrine was given the real Hummingbird. :) Darako wasn't
using it at the time." to you.

You page, "Heh.  Almost a pity she threw it away, but, well, there WAS
that little curse attached to it and Kill-Juri compulsions..." to Mike.

You page, "I have a feeling if Corrine and Hummingbird ever cross paths
again (shyeahright), she's going to have a long, Demi-Jewel backed-up
conversation with it: "Behave, or you get fusion-smelted and your atoms
spread across creation."" to Mike.

Mike pages, "Heh. Well, it's not really bright enough to be affected by
threats. Not is it really cursed, as such." to you.

You page, "Ah, so ka.  So just perhaps reworking it a bit so that it
wasn't so bad-tempered? (I recall it being mentioned that Hummingbird had
some of Darako's blood in its creation, etc.)" to Mike.

Mike pages, "Reworking it isn't very likely either. It's actually fairly
well-behaved as long as Juri isn't near it." to you.

You page, "D'oh!" to Mike.

Mike pages, "As the basic problem is that it's owner and maker died
holding it with a lot of very strong 'Kill-Juri' emotions, and it left a
strong psychic residue on the weapon." to you.

You page, "Right, as Tess mentioned.  So the psychic impressions would
neex to be scrubbed out -- though, of course, the entire question is Moot
now, anyway. :)" to Mike.

Mike pages, "Basically. :)" to you.

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

The living room suite is much as Shizumaru last remembers it from his
prior meal here all so long ago, though some of the walls and shelves are
bare.  Funaho is waiting by the door to the suite, watching Shizumaru
appear with a slight smile.

Corrine says, "Same to you, Shizumaru... and a moment?" She directs
attentions to her Mistress of Revels.  "And before you go, Funaho, could
you check on how Misaki's doing and report back to me before we head out?"

Shizumaru OOCly says, "AIEE MY KNEE OW OW OWARGH!"
Shizumaru OOCly says, "OW. >.< Give me a moment."
Corrine OOCly winces.  Of course.
Shizumaru OOCly says, "Sheeeyut."
Corrine OOCly says, "How bad?"
Shizumaru OOCly says, "I was sitting slightly crosslegged on my chair, in
a position that slowly pulls my knee out of its socket. By the time I
realize this, the only thing that I can do is quickly straighten out my
leg, resulting it in popping back in with great force. Ow ow ow." Corrine
OOCly says, "OW. >.<;;;"

Funaho nods to Corrine.  "Of course, my Queen."  She then nods to
Shizumaru.  "By your leave?"

Corrine smiles.  "Of course."

Shizumaru blinks, and nods to Funaho in greeting, a bit slightly
apologetic. "Good morning, Funaho-sensei," he says, before turning back to
Corrine, looking inquisitive.

Funaho smiles, and slips out of the room, leaving the two alone.  Corrine
hehs a bit, and pats the seat next to her on the couch.  "Just wanted to
know how things had gone for you yesterday afternoon and night after
everybody started splitting up... and also had some questions for you. 
Things that -shouldn't- have some impact on the later planning session,
and therefore don't need to as much be discussed there, but had best be
asked all the same.

Shizumaru nods. "Things were all right, afterward, I suppose. I spoke with
Gideon-san, and he should hopefully have some more weapons for us to use
in the assault. I also consulted with Urd-sama, asking her for a little
advice on the same." He purses his lips, thinking. "I will have a few
things from her to share at the planning meeting, I suppose."

Corrine nods.  "Both are good... we'll need all the advantages we can get
when it comes to that place.  Any information and assitance will help..
sure, we'll have a good portion of my miltary there, but we'll also be
seen coming days away, likely, depending on our approach." She hehs a bit.
 "Myself, I touched base with Yuriko, Juri, and Anthy... reinforcements
for Amber proper are being gated as we speak, and should help things here
while we're gone."  She then hrms, and considers.  "But the main reason I
asked you here was this..."

Corrine looks up at Shizumaru.  "What do you think of Mikage?" She shakes
her head.  "More to the point, what do you -know- about Mikage?  How do
you -feel- about him, as a person, your opinions on him?"

Shizumaru blinks at Corrine. "Mikage-niisan?" He frowns slightly,
scratching his head. "He is not the friendliest of the Children,
certainly. Yet, he did save me from the compulsions after the Rose Duel
between Aunt Kozue and Madoka-dono...and he is willingly offering to help
with the assault on the Keep."

Shizumaru considers this a little further. "As of what I know of him...."
He shakes his head. "I know almost nothing. Between that Rose Duel and
just the past few days, I have not seen him in about two months. Ever
since leaving Amber to seek the Seed of Hope the first time."

Corrine nods.  "Things in his favor, yes." She hehs a bit.  "I've only
really -met- him yesterday, and already my feelings on him are complex. 
The rest of the Children are either for or against him, which would make
things problematic as it is... but at the same time, -He- was the one who
finally put things together for helping us regain Kozue and Miki.  I
believe, ultimately, his heart lies with Amber, though HOW he expresses it
may be questionable."  She then sighs.  "Right.  Which makes things more
difficult, with the time gap.  And Juri's not fully enclined to trust him,
given the actions and experiences of her own 'Mikage' in her home
universe."

Corrine folds her hands in front of her, breifly.  "But, on the other
hand, he's been as manipulated by Annadil as the rest of us, so I doubt
he'd be rather inclined to aid him willingly."

Shizumaru shakes his head. "At this point in our situation, we have no
choice but to give him some of our trust. He is required, as one of the
Children, to defeat Annadil and the Outsiders." He pauses, nodding. "Yes.
I do not believe he has any love for Annadil, either."

Corrine nods, quirking a wry smile.  "That's the funny thing about Trust,
isn't it, Shizumaru?  In order to earn Trust, you've got to take the risk
and -give- some in return.  Sometimes you get burned, and it hurts, but on
the other side, if it pays -off-...."

Corrine says, "Then the rewards are greater than any royal coffers."

Shizumaru smiles faintly, in turn. "That is true. Trust enables groups of
people to accomplish far more than what one could do by himself." He
sighs, softly. "I hope we have enough trust among all of us to be able to
do this. Mikage-niisan mentioned, at one point, that he had no reason to
trust any of us so far."

Corrine mmms, and sighs, mirroring Shizumaru's sigh-tone unconciously. 
"Yeah.  Perhaps this will help build it up... Two days to the Keep,
exposure to him and him to us..." She then barks a short laugh.  "He
commented, after Anthy's story, that he felt that I was more...
'congenial' than other 'me's he had met.  I have to wonder what he meant
by that... made it sound like all of my other Shadows were coming off as
piss-poor Darako clones, or something."  She shrugs.  "But yes.  We -have-
to work together for this.  The retreival of Miki is a prime example of
what we -can- accomplish, and what we need to do in retreiving the Seed...
Rebma... sis..."

Shizumaru nods quietly. "It will happen. We will fight for it, hard, and
it will happen. And Annadil will fall, and we will shut the Outsiders out
once more."

Corrine nods, intent.  "Indeed.  After all, it's the only logical outcome
that makes sense.  All the things he's done... it's past Vengeance. 
Justice is the only recourse left, truthfully."

Shizumaru falls silent, for a few moments. "Anyway. Mikage-niisan has
asked one thing of me in return, so far...just prevent him from getting
skewered, in the next few days." He smiles briefly. "I do owe him that
much, certainly."

Corrine chuckles, softly.  "That sounds like a reasonable goal and
request... hoping to do the same, really, across the board.  What kind of
Queen... what kind of -person- would I be if I left folks get skewered
like that to save my own skin? Not one who could live with herself, that's
for certain."

Shizumaru blinks, and his eyes look to the side, as if something had just
come to mind. "Mmmm. Indeed," he says, slowly, then coughs and shakes his
head. "Pardon me...my mind wandered for a moment there." He scratches his
head, and looks mildly discomfited. "But yes, I will do my best to protect
him...and you, and everyone else around me, in the battles to come."

Corrine hrms, and looks curiously at Shizumaru, and then reviews what she
said, and nods, looking slightly sad.  "Yes... and I don't disparage
running either... sometimes it's the only option you -have-, to retreat,
recover, and then return.  Some enemies are just too much to try to take
alone without trying to outthink them.  Just as long as you come back to
complete the objective -eventually-....  And that's the best anyone can
ask of any of us."

Shizumaru nods slowly, sadly. "Yes, that is true. I only hope that Aunt
Nanami can take that to heart. She is not happy with Hiko-neesan, because
of what happened to Tsuwabuki-dono." He pauses for a moment. "I hope that
Tsuwabuki-dono will be all right...not only for his own sake, but for
Hiko's as well."

Corrine nods, and reaches over, and squeezes Shizumaru's hand. 
"Nanami's... got a lot of Anger to work through.  She has, as long as I've
known her, but some of it's well-founded. But Tsuwabuki's back, and his
mind is being cleaned, and Miki's back, so the goals -were- met."

Tybalt wakes up.
Corrine OOCly says, "'lo, Merc."
Gabrielle says, "Yo."

Shizumaru chuckles softly and nods. "It would be just safe for Oneesan to
stay out of Aunt Nanami's way, until her temper cools down."

Corrine hehs.  "True.  Well, we're going to be busy the next few days any,
so perhaps we'll just be lucky to have them not cross paths."

Rod has connected.
>> "Kill them all, yeeees, they'll never know what..... oh.  Hi there."
Rod says, "nng"

"True enough." Shizumaru hmms, thinking. "Well...we should probably go
look for the others, now. The sooner we can start the meeting, the sooner
we can set out."

Corrine gets up out of her seat.  "Indeed.  I left a note with Mikage to
meet us at Juri's guest room for the session, so we should hopefully meet
him there.  Let's get going."

Shizumaru nods, and waits for Corrine to lead the way.

Corrine goes, gets the door, and leads the way for Shizumaru, flanked by
her bodyguards Azaka and Kamidake, at which point we take a break for
other folks to eventually join in at some other time.

Time passes.

Corrine leads Shizumaru and her two bodyguards (Azaka and Kamidake, the
two funky jyurian guys with funky staves and neat robes) for Juri of
Avalon's guest suites.

Shizumaru follows along, thoughtfully, running things over in his head.

Juri of Avalon lounges around in bed with Roderick, blissfully unaware of
most of the rest of reality.

Gumi-Roderick mumbles happily.

Shaft watches a giant statue of a pimp stomp off into shadow to chase
godzilla

Corrine knows the route pretty well by now, and doesn't get lost.  Soon,
they reach the door that leads to the suites that Juri of Avalon now
habitates.  She knocks on the door, politely, and hopefully loud enough to
be heard inside.

Gumi-Roderick asks, "Did you hear something, Juri?  Or is that my head
pounding?"

Juri of Avalon's eyes widen.  "Oh, SHIT!  The meeting."  She springs out
of bed and starts hastily pulling on her robe.  "Stay in here, Rod.  I'll,
umm, handle this."

Corrine patiently waits outside the door.  After about 30 seconds, she
knocks again, politely.

Juri of Avalon hurries to the door and opens it up a crack, taking in the
various people gathered outside.  Her robe is belted rather loosely, and
she's clearly not wearing much--if anything--under it.  She also, for some
reason, has a rather battered engineer's cap perched on her head.

Juri of Avalon says, "Err, hello."

Shizumaru continues to wait there, thoughtfully. Until the door opens. He
blinks. "Good morning, Juri-san," he says, looking at the cap.

Corrine regards Juri calmly.  One eyebrow slowly arches towards her
forehead.  "Morning, Juri.  *pause* Nice cap."

Juri of Avalon hastily snatches the cap off her head and puts it behind
her back.  "Err," she says intelligently.  "Is it time for the meeting
already?"

Gumi-Roderick quietly shapechanges into a cat and drops down off the bed
onto the floor, then curls up and looks cute.

Shizumaru nods slowly, which takes his gaze a little lower onto her body.
He blanches, and looks away. "Yes, it is about time for the meeting to
begin," he says, sounding ever so slightly flustered.

Corrine nods.  "Well, midmorning -was- pretty much the agreed time, since
we've already had breakfast... we can wait for you to get changed and
ready, though, as well."  Her face is -still- completely calm and
composed.

Gumi-Roderick . o O (Think cat thoughts...milk...fish...milk...fish...)

Juri of Avalon watches Shizumaru's gaze rove, and hastily draws her robe a
little tighter over her bosom.  Which causes it to hike up a little at the
legs, well past the knee.  "Err," she says again.  "Yes.  I seem to be
running a little late, this morning.  A ha.  A ha ha ha.  Where are we
meeting again?"

Shizumaru is now staring fixedly at a point about one foot up and left of
Juri's knee. "That is all right, Juri-san, but please do hurry."

Shizumaru OOCly says, "Juri's ear, rather. x.X"

Corrine hrms, thoughtfully.  "I -beleive- that the idea was to meet at
your room?  After all, you -were- the one who was makign the overall
tactical plan, as I recall.  And I left a note with Mikage to meet here as
well, eventually, and a note at Roderick's room to join us..."

Juri of Avalon says, "OOC:  The area up from the knee is probably much
more interesting.  :)" Corrine OOCly patpats Droo. Shizumaru OOCly n.n;

You page, "You should know, OOC, that Corrine is TREMENDOUSLY amused by
all this. :)  She's just letting Juri sweat a bit. ;)" to Kima.

Juri of Avalon blanches.  "Well, umm, yes.  That would probably be best. 
I'm terribly sorry.  I'm a mess this morning.  Can you give me... fifteen
minutes to get the room into shape?  Make it twenty.  Thank you, Corrine,
you're a dear, you really are, I'll see you all then."  She closes the
door.

Shaft says, "OOCly fetish."

Gumi-Roderick . o O (No one here but us cats, just in case any psychics
are listening in...nope, just me, an ordinary, innocent, furry little red
cat wearing a ring....just an ordinary cat.  Milk.  Lots and lots of
milk...)

Foxtrot has connected.
>> We have arrived, you may kiss my foot, now.
Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Back."
Shizumaru OOCly waves.

Corrine nods at the closed door.  "Of course, Juri."

Corrine waits for thirty seconds.

Gumi-Roderick reverts to human form.

Corrine slowly backs up to the wall opposite the door to Juri of Avalon's
rooms, her back against the wall.

Shizumaru lets out a breath slowly. "...all right, I suppose we have a few
minutes yet," he says, a bit distantly.

Shizumaru . o O ( Think pure thoughts! Kittens, puppies, Rimu-chan...not
Rimu-chan, no, not right now. )

Corrine then allows herself to give into the case of the giggles she's
been supressing for the entire conversation.  She does manage to muffle
the giggles, though.  Well, pretty much.

Gumi-Roderick mumbles..."Where is my clothing...I had clothing.  I know I
came here with clothing."  He wanders about, looking in various unlikely
places.

"You're a Conjurer," Juri points out from the bathroom, where the sound of
water running and splashing is quite audible.

Gumi-Roderick slaps his forehead.  "Right.  Conjured clothing coming right
up."

Corrine sinks down to the floor, still giggling, and looking
apologetically up at Shizumaru and her bodyguards.  "... sorry... sorry...
*giggle!* ... couldn't help m'self...*heehee!*"

He magicks himself up a set of clothing and gets dressed.

Kamidake says, "I'm afraid I don't get the joke."

Shizumaru is just trying to suppress a blush, staring at an interesting
stone in the wall. "Mmmm."

Juri of Avalon comes out of the bathroom looking impeccably groomed,
apparently wearing "I Did Not Spend The Entire Night Having Wild Sex With
Roderick" perfume.

Corrine finally, slowly calms, and pulls herself back up to a standing
position.  "It's all right, Kamidake.  Long, old story, and has something
to do with what we talked about last night.  Don't worry about it."

Gumi-Roderick goes into the bathroom and begins struggling to get his hair
into something more controlled.

Corrine straightens her clothes, making herself look more presentable and
-not- looking like she's spent the last five minutes having a giggle fit.

Shizumaru is still somewhat red in the face, but much less so now.

Juri of Avalon comes up behind him, clucks her tongue, and begins
straightening his skewed tie.  "Men," she murmurs, taking the comb away
and beginning to work at his hair.  "Honestly."

Juri of Avalon takes the opportunity to nibble on his ear a bit.

Corrine hehs a bit, and rests a reassuring hand on Shizumaru's shoulder. 
"I shouldn't have baited her like that, but the moment was -there-... I'll
apologize for it, though."

Gumi-Roderick smiles.  "Thank you."  He wiggles a bit as you nibble and
smiles naughtily.  

You page, "Oh dear.  They're acting like newlyweds.  They're GOOOOOONE.
:)" to Akemi and Kima.

Juri of Avalon pulls away.  "Okay.  Now, go out the window and come around
in a few minutes.  No one should suspect."  Pause.  "Not that I mind them
knowing, it's just... a little sudden.  Awkward to explain why you're in
my room.  Especially to someone like Shizumaru."

Gumi-Roderick nods, turns and kisses your cheek, then heads for the
window.  "See you again in a few."  He clambers out the window and starts
doing the spiderman thing along the wall.

Juri of Avalon does a last check of herself in the mirror, then tosses the
engineer's cap back into the bedroom and firmly closes the door on it. 
Then she opens the hallway door again.  "Please come in," she says
breathlessly.

Shizumaru bows to Juri, but waits for Corrine to enter first, before
himself.

Corrine smiles.  "Thank you, Juri.  I apologize for appearing so abruptly,
earlier." She sweeps a quick bow, and comes into the room, followed by
Shizu and Kamidake.

Akemi pages, "With other guy waiting in hallway?" to you.
You page, "Yup." to Akemi.
You page, "Azaka out in the hallway, Kamidake inside.  I figure their
staves have some funky psychic relay thing to them atop their other
abilities." to Akemi. Akemi pages, "Sounds good." to you.

Juri of Avalon ushers everyone towards the seats, then pales and hastily
snatches an extremely frilly piece of lingerie from the one Shizumaru was
heading for.  "I'm such a slob," she says.  "A ha.  A ha ha ha."

Corrine sits down, pretending not to notice the frilly lingerie, really. 
"Well, it's been a hurried past couple of days."

Shizumaru blinks cluelessly. "What was that? It looked like...like...." He
blinks. "A net to catch insects with, or something."

Shizumaru shakes his head, and sits down.

Juri of Avalon cracks the bedroom door and tosses it in.  Careful eyes
could catch sight of a desk that definitely wasn't there the last time. 
She turns back.  "Oh, it's a teddy."

Corrine . o O (Shizumaru?  Good Unicorn, is your wedding night with
Rimururu going to be an eye opener.)

The door opens and Roderick comes in.  "Am I late?" he asks.  He has the
look of someone struggling to maintain a sober demeanor.

Juri of Avalon . o O (I can't believe he's Touga's son.)

Corrine hrms.  "Nice style to that one." She looks up and over.  "Nope,
you're just in time, Roderick."

Juri of Avalon looks up and smiles broadly.  Then she decreases it a
little, as though worried she's smiling a little too much.  "Hello, Rod. 
Good morning to you."

Shizumaru looks over at the door, and smiles a bit wanly. "Good morning,
Roderick-san," he says.

Gumi-Roderick bows to you.  "Good morning to you, Shizumaru, Corrine,
Juri."  He sits down at the table next to Juri.

Gumi-Roderick grins like the cat that ate the canary, then suppresses his
grin as best he can.

Juri of Avalon looks around.  "So, where's Mikage?  Isn't he supposed to
be here."

Corrine considers.  "I left a note under his door... presumably, he would
have gotten it sometime this morning.  I did state for meeting after
breakfast, at this time..."

Gumi-Roderick says, "I suppose he's probably with the Dowager Queen
again."

Gumi-Roderick says, "I think he likes her."

Juri of Avalon says, "Mmm.  Well, keep an eye on him.  The Mikage I knew
was obsessed with killing Anthy."

Shizumaru blinks slowly at this. "There is something not quite right about
that," he mumbles.

Juri of Avalon takes out some maps, and then pulls a box out from under
her chair and begins placing little miniatures.  "Anyway, the preliminary
plans are as follows..."

Corrine chuckles a bit.  "Well, I talked with her last night.. but given
the events of yesterday..." She quirks an eyebrow at Juri.  "Hrm. 
Admittedly, this is not -your- Mikage...."

Gumi-Roderick conjures Juri up a scale model of the keep to use with the
miniatures.

Shizumaru again shakes his head to clear it of stray thoughts, and focuses
on the table.

Juri of Avalon gets sparkly eyes for a moment as she realizes Roderick's
potential for wargaming fun, then sobers up and begins placing things. 
"Anyway, until I get a better idea of the layout from Mikage... here's how
it goes."

Corrine nods, looking at the simulation thoughtfully.

Juri of Avalon says, "Our primary objective is the recovery of the Seed of
Hope, which is located in the Fount."

Juri of Avalon says, "Our secondary objective is to inflict as much damage
as possible to Annadil's forces and positions, and, if we can, to take the
Keep out of his hands."

Corrine nods.  "Agreed.  Which leaves the question of secondary objectives
and countermeasures... yes."

Corrine looks down at the 5-form layout of the keep again, thoughtful at
the arrangement of the colors.

Juri of Avalon asks, "The primary objective will be accomplished by an
aerial division, led by Shizumaru, accompanied by Mikage.  Is that
correct?"

Corrine nods. "I plan to bring Sparky along and have him develop a rapport
with Shizumaru... Arshes will have overall control over the rest of the
dragons."

Shizumaru assents with a nod. "And with Mikage-niisan wielding the Bag of
Winds, the skies should easily be ours."

Juri of Avalon nods.  "They will approach through the Air side of the
Keep, retrieve the Seed, and escape the same route."

Shizumaru says, "Though, of course, we should always be prepared for
surprises."

Juri of Avalon says, "At the same time, our main land forces will approach
through the other routes to besiege the Keep.  Their primary purpose is to
distract Annadil's forces and allow the Seed's retrieval.  I will be
leading them."

Juri of Avalon says, "Until I hear the specifics of the Keep from Mikage,
I cannot speak in anything other than generalities."

Corrine nods.  "And Haruka will be our secondary, since when the primary
pulls out, the main army will need someone to lead the army back through
Shadow... or to hold the Keep if we're successful in taking it."

Shizumaru says, "I would like to use my plant powers to help in the
distraction assault, but Urd-sama cautioned me not to try to extend the
Seed's influence outside of the courtyard until it was safely out of the
Fount. And even then, try to avoid exerting its power until I can return
to one of the Patterns, preferably Wood, and walk the Pattern with it once
more."

Gumi-Roderick looks thoughtful.

Juri of Avalon nods.  "Retrieval of the Seed is paramount, as all five
Talismans are the only thing that can close the gate again once it opens."

Corrine nods, and pulls a sheaf of papers from a side-pack.  "Here's the
current information on the military deposition for those to be sent from
Ember to the possible drop points, once we get the information from
Mikage... it's pretty much what we had agreed for earlier in the past
month of planning, but there's been some minor shuffling what with the
troop shuttling down to reinforce Amber."

Corrine hands the sheaf of papers to Juri.

Gumi-Roderick says, "Do you think a fake Seed would be of any use?  We
could try to swap it for the real one."

Juri of Avalon hrms.  "Couldn't hurt."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Keep them confused as to what the objective is."

Corrine considers.  "Hrm.  That would sound more in tune for a sneaking
mission, not a full assault... though yes, it couldn't hurt."

Juri of Avalon begins reading over the papers.

Shizumaru laughs faintly. "So long as we do not become confused as well. I
hope, though, that my link to the real Seed would prevent that."

Corrine says, "And I agree.  The Five Icons are the key to defeating
Annadil and sealing the Gate, should it be opened."

Gumi-Roderick says, "I could make a fake pretty easily, I think."

Juri of Avalon says, "OOC:  Wow, so men can fake it too?  :)"
Shaft says, "OOCly it helps to be a shapeshifter"

Corrine says, "One would -think- that Annadil wouldn't be susprised at
-somebody- coming to the keep to retrieve the Seed... I can't see him
expecting us -not- to make an attempt of some sort, given the time window
until the next possible opening of the Gate.  On the other hand, I don't
know if he'd be expecting a full military assault.  He may have control
over the local area and approaches, but something of this size..." she
points to the papers, "... in such a short time, wouldn't normally be
expected."

Juri of Avalon says, "He'll expect us.  But I'll compensate for that.  I'm
a good general.  Not quite a match for Angus or Trucido, but they're not
here right now."

Gumi-Roderick . o O (Don't try to play footsies with Juri...don't try to
play footsies with Juri)

Corrine nods.  "Move and countermove."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Hmm."

Shizumaru nods. Then he blinks, and pulls out a piece of paper. "This is a
device that Urd-sama designed. It is meant to hurl enormous wooden Elder
Signs long distances, like a catapult. There is probably no chance for us
to use it at the Keep, but it may be of some use elsewhere. I thought I
should bring it up now before I forgot."

Corrine says, "This is why I defer the higher-level military matters to
those who -know- them." She grins slightly.  "I know full well where my
shortcomings are... eh?"

Corrine says, "... Elder... Sign... -Catapult-?"

Corrine's eyebrows go up.

Gumi-Roderick looks over at it.  "Nifty.  Looks like that would have
pretty good range."

Shizumaru nods, and pushes the paper forward. "Again, this is peripheral
for our mission, but could be used for...the assault on Leviathan, of
example."

Juri of Avalon hrms.  "An Elder Sign crossbow would probably be more
useful.  I've seen shuriken slingers before.  Something similar could be
adapted to throw Elder Signs."

Juri of Avalon says, "Even a small group of well-trained troops armed with
those could do real damage, if these Elder Signs are as effective as
reputed."

Shizumaru scratches his head. "A crossbow would be more useful for our
purposes, yes...and we could probably make them and carry them along in
the time we have."

Corrine hrms.  "If you could get copies of these plans made, then we could
havbe them forwarded up to Ember and have my weaponsmiths get to work on
making some and then having Gabrielle trump them back down to Amber for
back-line defense."

Corrine says, "Constructing something on -that- scale on the move I don't
see happening, but smaller items while on the march would be possible. 
And we'll have mages among us."


Out in the hallway you hear someone saying, "Of course you can let me in! 
I'm a genius scientist!"

Corrine blinks at that.

Shizumaru turns toward the door, curiously.

Corrine gets up, and heads over to the door and Kamidake.  "Who's on the
other side?"

"Some strange red-haired child, your highness.  Says she's 'Wasyuu'

Shizumaru blinks. "Sensei? Oh! She must have returned with Gideon-san's
weapons."

"So, you won't let me in?  Hah!  You can't stop me with just a pointed
stick!"

Corrine blinks at that.  "Let her in, Azaka!"

Shaft exclaims, "OOCly use the boom-stick, wasyuuu!"

Corrine raises her voice so she can be -heard- through the door.

Wasyuu strides in, looking slightly annoyed.  "Right.  Okay, anyone else
want to claim they don't know me?"  She looks at all of you levelly.

Juri of Avalon raises her hand.  "I don't."

Corrine raises her hands in supplication to Wasyuu.  "Nope, not I,
Wasyuu." She smiles a bit.

Shizumaru stands up and bows to Washuu. "Good morning, Sensei."

Gumi-Roderick asks, "Who are you again?"

Corrine says, "Ah, yes.  Juri of Avalon, Roderick of your Amber, Wasyuu,
Royal Doctor of Amber."

Wasyuu hurls a stuffed squid at Roderick.  It clings to his face, and he
topples backwards as it shouts, "I swallow your soul!"  He begins trying
to pry it off his face.

Corrine says, "Wasyuu, these are my companions, Juri of Avalon, and
Roderic--- Hey!"

Shizumaru stares. "Ah. Was that necessary, Sensei?"

Corrine moves over and tries to help pry the squid off Roderick's face.

Wasyuu continues, "Anyway, Gideon-chan and I worked out several nifty
little toys you can take with you."  She takes off the backpack she's
carrying and empties it onto the table. Then she turns to Shizumaru. 
"Very necessary."

Juri of Avalon just makes an 'I'm getting a headache' gesture.

You quickly pull the stuffed squid off Roderick's face.

Juri of Avalon slowly blinks.  "Gideon-chan?"

Shizumaru nods slowly. And blinks. o O ( Gideon-chan? )

Corrine looks at the squid.

Corrine . o O (Gideon-chan??)

Corrine ponders flambe'ing the Squid, and thinks better of it.

Wasyuu says, "Gideon-chan is quite a genius for someone so young.  Anyway,
let's see..."

Corrine asks, "You okay, Roderick?"

"Ahh, let's start with these little toys."  She picks up a small metal
sphere with a button on it.  "This is a Trump Sink.  You turn it on and it
starts sucking up Trump energy until it's full."

Shizumaru sits down again, and begins to take mental notes, discarding all
the strangeness for another time.

Roderick says, "I'm fine."  He gets back up in his chair and watches
Wasyuu nervously. [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine blinks at this, and whistles.  "-Well-.  Hot damn.  He .. and you,
I'm assuming... got the idea to work?  Does the energy get shunted
elsewhere or just stored like a capacitor?  What sort of observable
effects?"

Corrine sets the stuffed squid aside, returning to her seat.  She makes
sure the squid is nice and far away from her and Roderick and Juri.

The squid begins to wiggle towards Roderick.

Wasyuu says, "Basically, it stores the energy inside itself.  You can then
later reclaim the energy for other uses."

Shizumaru absently snakes out an arm and grabs the plushie.

You grab it with no problem.

Shizumaru puts it on his lap and pats it idly, continuing to listen to
Washuu.

Wasyuu says, "It basically sucks up the closest energy first, then
gradually over a larger radius.  Area of effect depends on the amount of
trump energy in the area."

Corrine nods.  "-This-... will be eminently useful.  For dealing with both
the Living Trumps and Trump Elementals, I imagine.  We weren't planning to
use trumps at the Keep ourselves, given the dangers of outsider taint and
Annadil's control of the location..." She then hrms, and nods.  "The
duration and area will likely be small in the case of the Keep, then.  But
still damn useful."

She digs through the knicknacks.  "Weapon #2..."  The item she holds is a
red and white sphere segmented into two parts, with a small circle on one
side that makes it look a bit like a mini-death start. 
"Chibi-Cthulhu...GO!"  She hurls it into the air, and a Chibi-Cthulhu pops
out, flying at Roderick with gelatinous wings.  It latches onto his face
and he yells again as his chair goes down.

Juri of Avalon sighs gently.  "And will these do more than attack
Roderick?"

Shizumaru OOCly decides to fly out to Kansas and kill John.

"The Chibi-Cthulhus have a potent psychic attack, and they're not bad at
hand to hand as well."

Corrine says, "....."

Shizumaru simply sweatdrops some more. "Ah. Yes."

Corrine says, "Chibi.... Cthuluhu."

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "I wanna see one humping Juri's leg."
Autolyca OOC Chibi-Cthulhu begins chasing a serving maid with its
tentacles flying everywhere. Autolyca OOC Well, night all! Corrine OOCly
clearly will have to edit that pic when he goes to coloring stage.

Roderick pulls the thing off his face, then takes a psychic blast and
falls down again.  "That hurt, you know!" [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine says, "I dare say when Annadil sees these things, he's going to
laugh himself silly and be incapable of doing anything to counteract us."

Roderick tosses Chibi-Cthulhu at Wasyuu.  "Chibi-Cthulhu, GO!" [spoofed by
Akemi]

Now it latches onto Wasyuu, who falls down.  "Go back in your ball!"

Autolyca has disconnected.

It sighs and goes and crawls back into its ball, grumbling.

Corrine says, "Not to mention sowing utter chaos among his allies.  Which
is never a bad thing."

Corrine is staying remarkably deadpan during all this.

Wasyuu says, "We have about a hundred of these."

Rod has disconnected.
>> Hate will never abandon you.  Loathing will never let you down.  Viva
>> Evil.

Juri of Avalon is just watching everything and silently figuring out how
to work it into her plans.

Corrine nods.  "I take it they'll need to be hand-thrown, generally?  Same
as the Trump Sinks?"

Corrine asks, "How many of the Trump Sinks have been made?"

Wasyuu says, "You could also say, launch them from catapults.  We have
about a hundred trump sinks as well."

She says, "We believe the Chibi-Cthulhus should be able to fight against
Trump Elementals successfully."

Corrine nods.  "Well be bringing some standard catapults along, so some
could be lobbed over the walls, the rest carried by key personell."

You page, "I assume Corrine was able to work on a few trump-based blades
akin to Shizumaru's, and etched-trump crossbow bolts, since she learned
Etched Trump during her 20 years with hiko?  Nowhere NEAR enough for any
army, but to help keep some closer groups fortified?" to Akemi. You page,
"I defer to you in this matter,since I know they're not easy to work on,
and Corrine -is- a Queen and all. *wg* I just know she was doing -lots- of
stuff during that period." to Akemi. In a page-pose to you, Akemi yep.
Shizumaru OOCly pokes? Shizumaru OOCly says, "Actually, Phil, you ought to
get off to bed." Corrine OOCly says, "Right. *wl* Fork here, then? *wg*"

Corrine says, "These will be very helpful, yes, Wassyu.  I was able to
work on some trump-based blades and crossbow bolts in a limited number a
few decades back, but nowhere near enough to equip even a small army --
more like a handful of individuals."

Wasyuu continues, "We also have a lot of exploding pink liquid."

Corrine blinks at Wasyuu.  "Exploding pink liquid?"

Eudial wakes up.
Eudial wavies
Autolyca says, "Sean, bought the first DVD of SBtL"
Autolyca says, "At least I think it's the first. Hard to tell."
Shizumaru OOCly says, "Not in this room, Jeff, please. :) We're gaming."
Eudial says, "Cool.  No subtext in that one, sadly.  ^_^" Autolyca OOC
oops. Eudial says, "Whoops."

Shizumaru blinks cluelessly yet politely, waiting for Washuu to elaborate.

Wasyuu says, "It's pink, it blows up, it's fairly unstable.  And it tastes
like pink fruit juice."

Corrine says, "Ah... hah." She quirks an eyebrow at this.

Shizumaru nods slowly. "I shall have to take your word for it. The taste,
that is. I do not believe I wish to sample any myself."

And then Mikage arrives.

Corrine asks, "Anything else from the minds of Wasyuu and Gideon to
contribute?"

Mikage says, "Greetings."

Mikage gives a slight bow.

Corrine looks up and over, and smiles.  "Ah, good, you finally made it,
Mikage.  We were worried you wouldn't show, but given we're on a time
schedule, we had to start when we had a majority..."

Shizumaru blinks. "Oh...good morning, Mikage-niisan." He frowns slightly.
"You are a little late...."

Juri of Avalon watches Mikage over steepled fingers, perfectly neutral.

Corrine returns the bow.

Shizumaru stands and bows as well, then sits back down.

Wasyuu waves cheerfully to Mikage.  "Hi there!"

Corrine then sits back down.  "So, back to the business at hand..."

Mikage says, "This is a rather crude model, isn't it?" He points to the
parapet. There should be stairs here, on the inside. Also, there are
traps..." he points to several other locations, "...here, here, and here.

Corrine chuckles a bit.  "Well, it -was- drawn up from what we could
breifly recall from our own forays into the Keep."

Shizumaru nods. "Exactly. We were hoping that you would know these things,
and could fill them in for us. This will be very useful, Oniisan."

Mikage asks, "What is our attack force?"

Corrine says, "And what information you may have on the forces arrayed
against us, from what you were capable of gleaning from Tsuwabuki's mind. 
We've got a rough idea, but..." She shrugs.

Shizumaru looks to Corrine and Juri to explain this one to Mikage.

Corrine says, "Approximately one seventh to one sixth of the combined
Ember miltary forces.  Land, sea, and air, with variances considering the
opponents we're about to face."

Corrine says, "Dragonriders, cavalry, foot soldiers, seige engines, etc. 
I have a full write up over there." She nods towards Juri's notes.

Mikage says, "Hmmm..."

Mikage asks Juri. "May I...?"

Corrine says, "The general idea is to have Gabrielle drop us outside the
range of Annadil's jamming... which reminds me...."

Corrine raises her arm with the gold bracelet with ruby gem.  "Gabrielle? 
You got an up-to-date mapping of the possible safe drop points nearest to
the Keep in Shadow, like I asked from yesterday?"

Juri of Avalon nods and hands her notes to Mikage.

Gabrielle pings three times, and a sheaf of plans drops onto the table.

Mikage says, "All right. Here is what Tsuwabuki knew about the keep."

Corrine smiles.  "Thank you, dear." She hands the plans to Juri.  "Here's
the possible mapped approaches, Juri."

Juri of Avalon begins adjusting her plans to suit the new information.

Corrine then nods, and looks to Mikage.  "Yes?"

Mikage says, "The temple itself has 60 human guards per element, making
200 in all, each division of 60 headed by a high priestess."

Shizumaru OOCly says, "300, TR. :)"
Mikage says, "Ack. Sorry."

Corrine mmms.  "Likely high on the magic end?  Shizumaru and Hiko have
both encountered 'Preistess Rei'..." She looks thoughtful about that.

Mikage says, "OOC Mistype. It'll all be made clear shortly."
Shizumaru OOCly says, "Tsk. Such a huge psyche, and he can't even do
simple arithmetic. ;)"

Mikage says, "They are complemented by 200 trump elementals."

Mikage says, "OOC There, see? That's what I meant."
Shizumaru OOCly nods. Just ribbing you. ;)

Mikage says, "The underground caverns contain several thousand Deep Ones,
and around two dozen Star Spawn."

Corrine nods at that as well.  "The human numbers match up with what
Gideon was reporting, if not the division between elements." She frowns a
bit, and then blinks.  "Oh boy."

Corrine says, "What are the capabilities of these Deep Ones and Star
Spawn?"

Shizumaru's face looks grim. "This will not be very easy, it appears."

Mikage says, "The Star Spawn may be trouble. They can fly."

Corrine looks down at the catapult plans.  "We're -definitely- going to be
needing smaller versions of these Elder Sign Catapults."

Juri of Avalon shrugs.  "You have the Bag of Winds.  Make it hard for
them."

Corrine says, "On the flip side, we have 1) the bag of winds, and 2)
Arshes Nei's dragonriders."

Mikage says, "Not so easily done. The Star Spawn are very strong, not only
physically, but also psychically, and are potent spell casters."

Rod has disconnected.
>> A joke is the epigram on the death of a feeling - Nietzche

Juri of Avalon hrms, and begins reworking her plans to compensate for the
Mythos beasties as best she can.

Corrine sighs at the mention of strong psyched critters.  "At least we
have mages on our end as well... perhaps they can counteract at range." 
She purses her lips.

Mikage says, "The Deep Ones could pose a problem to our footsoldiers."

Corrine asks, "Attacks from underground?"

Mikage nods. "The cavern complex could lead to several entrances on the
surface, giving them an effective deployment area."

Juri of Avalon asks, "We should definitely be utilizing the Elder Sign for
small-scale arms.  Perhaps spears tipped with them, in addition to
crossbows?"

Corrine frowns at that, and nods.  "If they could be found ahead of time
and flooded or torched, perhaps..."

Mikage says, "Another thing. If I am deployed to deal with the airborne
threat, you will lack my knowledge of the Keep's floor plan."

Juri of Avalon hrms.  "How many ways into and out of the caverns are
there?"

Shizumaru looks at his sword, then his umbrella. "For as many hand weapons
as we possibly could get. Only, they would still need to be somehow
empowered."

Corrine says, "I was having Mia relay information about the sign to the
mages in the deployment groups last night.  Presumably, they're still
working on that."  She then hrms.

Corrine asks, "What form of empowement?  Straight magic, or something
stronger?"

Shizumaru nods at the notes for the elder sign catapults. "I believe
Urd-sama noted something about that in there."

Corrine nods, and raises her bracelet again.  "Gabrielle?  Could you relay
copies of this up to Ember, Mia, and the mage-commanders in the armies? 
They'll need to know this."

Shizumaru hrms. "As I recall...trump, Logrus, or Pattern would do it."

Gabrielle pings four times, and the documents shimmer a bit. "done, and
done!"

Shizumaru then blinks, a moment. "Washuu-sensei, the weapons that
Gideon-san and you constructed...do any of them utilize Logrus or
Pattern?"

Corrine smiles slightly.  "Thank you, dear."

Shizumaru says, "Particularly Logrus, given its reaction to Trump
energies."

Mikage says, "There are three tunnels into the caverns... All underwater,
so flooding and torching are out of the question."

Wasyuu says, "The Chibi-Cthulhus use Broken Pattern, but other than that,
no."

Shizumaru OOCly says, "Whatever happened to the Pattern-coffee/Logrus-tea
bombs, John? o.o" You page, "What about the Pattern/Logrus water-bombs?"
to Akemi. Gumi-Roderick says, "OOC Oh wait, there's the water-bombs...doh,
I forgot."

Juri of Avalon asks, "Then we need to collapse them or otherwise make them
unusable.  Shizumaru, your girlfriend's an ice magic expert, is she not?"

Shizumaru turns to Juri. "Hm? Oh, yes...Rimururu has powers over ice and
cold." He thinks. "I am not sure if she could be spared to come along on
this mission, given her kami's perilous state at this time."

Corrine thinks.  "We -could- possibly bring Mia along... though she's
better suited for home defense.  But she's an ice mage on top of being a
fire mage."

Wasyuu says, "We do have some pattern/logrus bombs."

You page, "How good is Mia in Combat Situations?" to Akemi.
Akemi pages, "Pretty good.  She has a strong psyche." to you.

Mikage asks, "Listen... We do have the Cup, right?"

Juri of Avalon says, "Some kind of ice bomb that would freeze a large
amount of the water in a tunnel could be very useful."

Mikage asks, "Don't we?"

Shizumaru nods. "Nagisa-niisan has it."

Corrine considers.  "Yes, for this, I think we'd best bring Mia along...
she can help with that --- Pattern/Logrus Bombs?" She -blinks- at Wassyu.

Juri of Avalon nods.  "The cup as well.  If we could block the tunnels
through whirlpools or currents, or collapse them using it... make them
unusable, at least for the duration of our assault."

Juri of Avalon says, "Keep the Deep Ones confined, or at least delayed."

Mikage says, "It's far more powerful than any spell you can think of, and
NAgisa has been studying its use for the fast few months."

Mikage says, "Now, for the trump elementals..."

Shizumaru pauses. "Pattern-Logrus bombs? Ah. They should be...rather
powerful, yes."

Juri of Avalon nods again.  "Than it would be the best tactic, although it
would be good to have a backup."

Corrine nods.

Mikage asks, "How do we deal with the trump elementals?"

Corrine says, "I beleive Wasyuu has devised a partial solution for that..
they might help with the Star-Spawn, too... the Chibi-Cthulhus."

Shizumaru nods to Washuu. "We have the trump energy sinks, and the
Chibi-Cthulhu creatures should be useful against them."

Mikage asks, "But the trump elementals are capable of invading minds. What
defense do we have against that?"

Wasyuu says, "The Chibi-Cthulhus are strong minded enough to resist
invasion.  The human soldiers will be another question, unfortunately."

Corrine says, "I've also been working on trump-based blades and crossbow
bolts, though they are limited in number, due to my 'copious free
time'..." She then hrms, pursing her lips.  "I suppose barrier pendants
can be conjured up... but again, there's a question of number."

You page, "How many "Psychic Barrier" style pendants would an average
military have?  For one such as Ember?" to Akemi. Akemi pages, "You have
enough for an elite commando squad, not enough for any army of any size."
to you. You page, "(I know some of the higher staff members have higher
psyches or equipment that already afford that, but I figure outfitting a
whole fricking ARMY...)" to Akemi.

Mikage nods.

Mikage says, "Then there are the priestesses."

Corrine sighs a bit.  "We have enough psychic-barrier pendants for an
elite commando squad, like for a portion of the Obsidian Leauge, but not
enough for a substantial army or any size."

Juri of Avalon asks, "How close do the elementals need to be to make
contact?"

Mikage says, "All five priestesses are Living Trumps."

Corrine says, "Oh joy."

Juri of Avalon shrugs.  "I've killed Living Trumps before.  They don't die
easy, but they die."

Shizumaru nods. "And the trump sinks should prove rather useful against
them."

Mikage says, "The elementals need line of sight, or a psychic imprint."

Corrine says, "And perhaps those trump sinks can help 'ground' them for a
time." She hrms.  "Cute."

Mikage says, "Then there's the minor matter of them actually having the
Seed."

Juri of Avalon says, "Then we disable as many as possible with protected
commando squads using the sinks.  Some attrition and casualties are simply
going to be unavoidable, however."

You page, "Ahhh, Information we Wish We Knew when we started the planning
for all this.  Yaay." to Kima and Shizumaru. In a page-pose to you and
Kima, Shizumaru grumbles. Oh well. Kima pages, "Juri has a Warfare
infinitely higher than mine, so she should adjust for these things.  :)"
to you and Shizumaru. In a page-pose to you and Kima, Shizumaru chuckles
and nods. You page-pose, "Aerianne hehs.  This is why corrine defers to
those with higher warfare. :)" to Kima and Shizumaru. Shizumaru pages,
"Shizu should, as well." to you and Kima.

Corrine rubs her brow, and sighs.  "Unfortunately.  But that's the nature
of war, sadly."

"Yes," Juri says calmly.  "The nature of war."

Gumi-Roderick says, "You just do the best we can."

Gumi-Roderick says, "We just..."

Mikage says, "And of course, all of this is assuming that Annadil does not
make a personal appearance."

Corrine nods.  "Yes.  We -must- retrieve the Seed.  Otherwise, we may as
well hand over the entrance to the Gate to Annadil on a silver platter."

Corrine glances over at Roderick.  "Hm?"

Juri of Avalon says, "Retrieving the Seed is the primary objective.  All
else is secondary."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Just babbling.  don't mind me."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Hmm.  I wonder if that Shadow of Uncle Corwin's
exists in this universe..."

Mikage asks, "Which brings me to the question -- who is heading the party
to retrieve the Seed?"

Shizumaru looks at Roderick. "What is his shadow like?"

Juri of Avalon says, "Shizumaru and the aerial forces.  We want you to go
along, utilizing the Bag of Winds to aid them."

Juri of Avalon says, "I will be in charge of the main assault."

Corrine hrms?  "Well, Shizumaru, in escaping the keep, apparently saw
folks who looked like members of your older family."  She then looks at
Mikage.  "... What Juri said."

Mikage nods. "Very well. I shall be bringing along my own retainer to aid
in the conflict."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Well, there was this shadow where he and Father
rounded up a huge army for an attack like this."

Corrine says, "With seed packets launched into the Courtyard to hopefully
discomfit the defenders who cannot use Living Trump by entangling them
with fast-growing vines and such."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Well, their attack was actually not a very smart
one...but I remember Father telling me the people worshipped Amberites and
were quite tough."

Gumi-Roderick says, "I suppose at this point it's too late to go looking
for them."

Corrine hrms.  "I imagine we could attempt to find one of our own, but the
question there comes to -time- and moving them, yes."

Mikage asks, "When is this attack occurring?"

Gumi-Roderick asks, "I think we leave in a few hours, right?"

Corrine says, "It will take us two days to march from the safe drop points
through Shadow to the Keep.  The first night of the full moon is four
days, I beleive.  Or five."  She nods to Roderick.

Mikage nods. "Very well. I ask your permissions to bring my retainer here,
so you may become acquainted."

Corrine nods.  "Of course.  It's best we know each other before this gets
started."

Wasyuu says, "Ret..oh, THAT kind of retainer."

Shizumaru nods.

Juri of Avalon asks, "Bring him here.  What can he do that will be of use
to us?"

Mikage nods. "All right then."

Mikage holds up his left hand, flashing the signet.

Akemi pages, "You sense trump energy" to you.

Corrine arches her eyebrows, but otherwise doesn't react.

And then a man dressed in purple with a flaming head appears.

Corrine whistles softly.

You page, "Pattern-sight the man?" to Akemi.

Mikage says, "This is Lord Falme, of Chaos. He will be assisting us in the
assault."

Shizumaru blinks, then rises to his feet. He hesitates at 'Chaos', but
then bows. "Hello, Lord Falme. I am Mikage's brother, Hisame Shizumaru."

Corrine considers, and nods.  "That would be appropriate, now that I think
about it.  Both sides have a stake in stopping Annadil."

Juri of Avalon looks at the signet as though at a really hideous wound. 
"He can use the Logrus?"

Mikage allows himself a small smile. "He has saved my life on numerous
occasions, and is a skilled swordsman and Logrus wielder."

Lord Falme says, "Shizumaru the Mad?  Who slew twelve knights of Hendrake
and freed a demon?  There's a ton of tre-stone bounty on your head, you
know."

Juri of Avalon nods.  "Good.  The Logrus is useful for placing things."

Shizumaru pales. "Surely you must be thinking of someone else," he says.

Lord Falme says, "Yes, Lady, I am adept in the use of the Logrus."  He
offers her an ice cream cone. "Would you like some ice cream?"

Corrine stands, and bows to Falme as well.  "Good Morning, Lord Falme.  I
am Corrine, Queen of Ember and Princess of Amber."  She glances at
Shizumaru, but says nothing about -that-.

Mikage says, "It... appears that versions of ourselves have been ravaging
Chaos as of late."

Gideon . o O ( OOC Welcome to the club, Shiz. :> )

Corrine hrms.  "A setup to incite tensions?  Joy."

Mikage says, "I've been accused of slaying a high-ranking Lord, myself...
which caused my disappearance that other time."

Mikage says, "As Chaos sent an airship armada to eliminate my personal
shadow."

Shizumaru nods slowly. "Ah. I see."

Juri of Avalon accepts the ice-cream cone a little dubiously, but does not
lick it.

Corrine mutters something about Chaos Hydrogen Zepplins.

Falme says, "I've simply seen the wanted posters."

Mikage says, "In fact, I have one soldier in custody... but that's not
important. Falme, we're preparing for an attack against the Keep of the
Five Worlds. I want you to assist."

Falme says, "What is the Keep of the Five worlds?"

Mikage points to the model. "Let's just say it's the enemy's stronghold.
We are to join the aerial assault. I trust you have an appropriate form
for that environment."

Corrine sits again, considering the model once more.

Mikage says, "I will keep you informed of the Keep's layout through our
signets. Meanwhile, Princess Juri here will head the ground assault."

Falme nods.  "I will take the form of a bird.  So our objective is to
capture this keep?"

Autolyca OOC I'm off to bed. Night!

Juri of Avalon says, "No.  To retrieve the Seed of Hope."

Corrine says, "Our primary objective is... yes." she nods to Juri.

Juri of Avalon says, "Capturing the Keep is secondary, and may not be
possible."

Shizumaru nods. "The Seed of Hope is within a fountain of trump energy."

Mikage chuckles slightly. "We're to retrieve an Icon not unlike my own
Bag."

He says, "What does the Seed look like?"

Corrine says, "Get there, get the Seed, get the hell out."

Shizumaru says, "It is a large acorn, about this large." He gestures with
his hands.

Falme nods, then gets a sort of glazed look on his face.

Mikage says, "Well. By the way, Falme, what sort of bird did you have in
mind? A combat worthy form, I should hope."

Falme says, "It's a falcon, and I was assuming I'd probably use Logrus
Tendrils to fight, since Trump creatures really don't like them."

Juri of Avalon glances at Falme.  "Won't it hurt to try and stick a Logrus
tendril into a fountain of trump energy?"

Juri of Avalon continues.  "Which, if he's trying to retrieve the seed, is
what he's about to do."

He says, "What, there's a fountain of Trump energy in this place?"

Corrine says, "In the Keep, yes.  A very large one."

Shizumaru nods. "That is what I mentioned. The Seed lies within."

Falme winces.  "Well, forget that clever plan."

Mikage chuckles. "Wait. Let me enlighten you about our plans, so far."

Shizumaru says, "I had been thinking of using my powers over plants to
pull it out...although I did something similar before, and may be
accounted for this time. Another possibility is having Mikage-niisan use
the Bag of Winds to suck it out of the Fount."

Juri of Avalon nods.  "A sort of vacuum."

Mikage looks at Falme. "Understand now?"

Gumi-Roderick looks thoughtful.  "Could the seed survive a Primal
Chaos/Trump explosion?"

Shizumaru twitches. "I would rather not find out."

Corrine blinks at that.  "I don't think -we- would, Roderick...."

Falme pales.  "I'm not skillful enough to risk using primal chaos."

Mikage says, "Don't."

Shizumaru shakes his head. "That sounds to be more risk than we should
take."

Mikage asks, "At any rate, is there anything else we need to discuss?"

Juri of Avalon says, "It would be nice to have one visit to a Keep that
doesn't end in it blowing up."

He says, "I can make some tendril servants.  They'll probably scare the
trump creatures, since contact with them would mean a nasty shock or
explosion.  And that won't backlash me.  They're dumb as hell, but they
can be programmed."

Mikage says, "Sure. Program them to pursure the trump elementals."

Corrine hrms.  "That would be useful, but should probably be done once
we're on the march, I think.  But that's an idea, yes."

Shizumaru shakes his head. "The Chibi-Cthulhus seem to be geared for that
end already."

Shizumaru says, "However, we could probably use more help in facing down
the elemental priestesses. The living trumps."

Corrine says, "Well, it never hurts to have backups.  With all the Trump
Energy being flung around the area... would ... yes, I was just about to
ask that."

Corrine OOCly says, "good lord, Corrine's going mental psynch with lots of
folks tonight, it seems...." Shizumaru OOCly chuckles.

Juri of Avalon says, "Trump disrupting power words have proven useful
against them in the past."

Mikage nods. "Who among us has that ability?"

Shizumaru raises his hand.

Corrine keeps her hand down, looking rueful.

Roderick raises his hand. [spoofed by Akemi]

Juri of Avalon raises his hand.

Shizumaru OOCly says, "..."

Juri of Avalon asks, "Rod, can you Conjure items with the ability to use
those sort of Power Words?"

Juri of Avalon says, "OOC:  Her hand."
Shizumaru OOCly says, "I hope, for Roderick's sake...yes. :)"

Mikage says, "All right. That's good, then."

Mikage asks, "OOC I'm not mistaken in believing that Shiz has the highest
Warfare, am I?" Shizumaru OOCly says, "I have high warfare, but AvJuri is
higher." Gabrielle says, "OOC: Well, Juri could probably chainsaw
everybody in the room." Mikage says, "OOC I mean, among the cousins."
Shizumaru OOCly says, "It's a tossup between me and Shaft. Dunno how much
he's advanced his." Mikage says, "OOC Anyway, it's good that we have the
high Warfare individuals leading the forces." Corrine OOCly nods. 
Yesssssssss. Shizumaru OOCly says, "Yur. o.o"

Gumi-Roderick nods.  "Yes, I could conjure some items containing Trump
Disrupt."

Corrine OOCly says, "calls 15, fyi."

Mikage asks, "Does gunpowder work at the Keep?"

Gumi-Roderick says, "OOC Well, we seem to be close to finishing our plans,
hopefully."

Shizumaru scratches his chin. "We were not able to determine that,
unfortunately. We never had the chance to find out."

Corrine frowns a bit at that.  "I have no idea, unfortuantely..." She
pauses, and blinks.  "Though, Tsuwabuki -did- have a -gun-..." she frowns
more.  "But then again, that was for attacking -here-."  She considers. 
"We could test on the way... Ember's got firearms for use in Shadows that
can support it."

Corrine says, "this means, though, -somebody's- got a gunpowder equivelent
that can work in Amber now.  Well, more to the point, -Annadil- does. 
Joy."  She sighs.

Mikage tsks. "We could really use Touga's Rochester Rain of Glass..."

Gumi-Roderick asks, "Rochester Rain of Glass?"

Corrine considers.  "Well, Mia knows some high-level spells in that
class."

Corrine says, "Flameria, for one.  Basically, a rain of flaming, explosive
swords."

Shizumaru shivers. "The Rochester Rain of Glass."

Mikage says, "The Rochester Rain of Glass is a hailstorm of glass shards,
capable of wiping out dozens of men."

Gumi-Roderick says, "Impressive."

Corrine nods.  "I saw it used on his beach house once... totally leveled
it."

Gumi-Roderick . o O (He leveled his own beach house?)

You page, "Okay, -definitely- Mia's coming along for this." to Akemi.

Mikage says, "If I had more time I would have studied on it... but
wouldn't you know it? Now that I need more time, I have none. Would that I
knew what I know now a millenium ago."

Corrine chuckles a bit.  "Ain't that the way?"

Mikage smiles at Corrine. "It always is."

Juri of Avalon says, softly, "Hindsight is always 100%."

Corrine purses her lips, and nods at Juri.

Mikage asks, "OOC Er, you mean 20/20?"
Juri of Avalon says, "OOC If I meant 20/20, I would have said 20/20."

Mikage says, "Well. I think we should prepare for the siege, then."

Mikage says, "OOC ^^; Er, okay."

Shizumaru nods. "I suppose I can give Rimururu a call...see if we can get
any ice powers on our side to help with the underwater caverns. I can make
no promises, though."

Juri of Avalon says, "Every little bit will help."

Corrine nods, and glances at Juri and Roderick and others.  "Any other
things that we should bring up and discuss?  If not, I recommend
rendevousing at the Castle Stables in one hour to select horses and to
bring through Sparky for you, Shizumaru and Mikage."

Mikage asks, "Sparky?"

Gumi-Roderick says, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Shizumaru nods, and reaches for his trump deck.

Gumi-Roderick says, "I'll see about preparing several items with power
words for disrupting trumps stored in them."

Corrine nods. "My dragon.  Quite intelligent, capable of flying through
Shadow, and has a fire/lightning breath attack.  If necessary, he'll be
able to get you out immediately once you and Shizumaru have the Seed, back
out of the jamming to the point where trumps will be safe and gabrielle
can be reached."

Juri of Avalon nods.  "Give those to leaders."

Corrine hehs, and nods.  "Indeed."

Corrine says, "He's the model on which the Ember air force is based."

Mikage says, "If only there was a way for me to oversee the psychic
welfare of the key figures. Well, I suppose I'll have to content myself
with keeping tabs on you Shizumaru."

Corrine OOCly says, "Dammit, I'm gonna get SOME use outa the great golden
beastie before the campaign ends...."

Mikage looks at Shizumaru. "By the way, you called me brother...?"

Shizumaru nods at Mikage slowly. "I am, apparently, Utena's son, in
reality, as are you."

Mikage smiles. "Then that makes three of us."

Wasyuu says, "My genetic tests indicated that Utena's been quite the busy
little woman."

Corrine just looks thoughtful.

Mikage says, "I wonder about your tests, sometimes, Wasyuu."

Wasyuu says, "My blood testing is completely reliable."  She sounds rather
offended.

Mikage says, "My apologies. I didn't intend any slight on your abilities
as a scientist."

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

You page, "This is why Corrine's shifted her doctor plan to Tofu Medical."
to Shizumaru. In a page-pose to you, Shizumaru snerks. You page, "and we
SO need to get one of the other kids to walk Gaby. ^_-;" to Shizumaru.
Shizumaru pages, "Shizu will walk Ember's pattern as soon as he can." to
you. You page, "*nod* The Wood one before, of course.  Almost tempted to
bring up the subject with Mikage, but She doesn't want to overplay her
hand." to Shizumaru.