Family Feud - The Squid Gumi vs the McFinndos

	Katsura and Rose took a side jaunt. Ishmael wandered off 
to indulge in a bit of fast-time power mongering, augmenting 
his ring and weapons.

	Assembling back at Castle Amber, Rose, Ishmael, and 
Rianna used their combined psychic energies to dominate the 
mind inside the Logrus Jewel. They planned to use the Jewel's 
power to mold shadow in order to stop the Squid from 
destroying the Ember Pattern. They also trumped Fiona, picking 
up a Pattern-energy bomb and an assortment of not-quite-
patternblades.

	Ishmael conjured up a series of spy fish, which he 
instructed to swin down the gullet of the Squid while the three 
watched from afar. The fish did, and after some observation 
they steered one of them into a canal of the lympathic system.

	Trumping in, they began to use the Logrus Jewel to 
reprogram the Squid's neural network. It partially resisted, and 
during the process a white blood cell appeared. Ishmael shot it, 
and he and Rose shapeshifted into white blood cells 
themselves to avoid future trouble. Rianna was enveloped by 
Rose to ensure her safety.

	Reaching a stalemate with the mental struggle, Rianna 
and Rose used the Logrus to pull themselves next to the main 
ganglia. As they focused their efforts there, Ishmael kicked in 
the shadow-editing powers of his ring, opening a 'second front'. 
The combined attempt overwhelmed the squid, which was 
quickly dubbed Fido.

	The three rewrote Fido's imperitives to A) kill Finndo and 
B) defend the Ember Pattern. 

	At about this time, a group of Chaosians belonging to 
House Alar appeared via Logrus tendrils, and proceeded to try 
to reprogram Fido to attack Amber. Rose summoned up a gang 
of white blood cells, and Ishmael shot their leader with the 
Patterblaster and ordered the remaining ones to depart. They 
did, and Ishmael reported the incident to Tybalt. 

	Ishmael and Rianna built a bridge next to the main 
ganglia, hooking it up to Fido's nervous system. An interior eye 
was formed to enable Fido to utilize trumps, and various 
defense systems were set into place.

	At about this point, Ishmael attempted to use his link to 
the Fire Jewel to find it. He ran straight into the mind of 
Finndo, and only automatic mental shields allowed him to 
break contact in time.

	The three decided that it was time to take Finndo down.

	Trumping most of the younger generation, they had soon 
assembled Albert, Roderick, Otho, and Gilva. Fiona arrived as 
well to conduct defensive operations from the bridge.

	Ishmael created a shadow-seeking flea, which he then 
sent through shadow towards Finndo. The flea's visual 
perceptions were relayed back to the viewscreen on the bridge.

	Before long, a flaming giant started to attempt to 
intercept it. The flea had reached the guarded shadow used by 
Finndo as his base of operations.

	Quickly sketching a trump, Ishmael inserted it into the 
trump-warp slot and in trumped Fido, right on top of the giant. 
Splat. The flea darted down into the valley below, where an 
army of fire warriors was racing to attack the intruder squid.

	Fido's logrus tentacles easily destroyed the first wave of 
attackers. The flea raced into a building in the center of the 
camp, under a door - and was abruptly destroyed. Another 
sketch was made, and Fido appeared right in front of the 
building, immediately ripping it to shreds.

	Inside, next to a broken pattern, was Finndo and a 
collection of his offspring. A Julian-wannabe stood by a 
Gerard-wannabe, an older version of Findy stood by another 
woman, and a man with a Palantir and four gems orbiting his 
head seemed the most troubling of all.

	As Fido flailed away, Rose shapeshifted into a fire 
warrior and pulled herself to outside the squid with the 
Logrus. She began to angle around the mostly squahed army.

	Ishmael shapeshifted into Findy, and with Otho, Roderick, 
and Albert teleported via spell into the middle of the 
McFinndos. For a brief few moments they pretended to be 
reenforcements, and then they attacked wholesale.

	Ishmael blasted at Palantir Boy with his weapon. The 
gems shot out a blast to block it, and also blasted a thrown 
explosive from Roderick and Albert as he leaped to attack. 
Otho, gallant fellow that he is, threw a pair of daggers at the 
Findy-lookalike, hitting her in the forehead.

	Finndo vanished, only to suddenly reappear on the bridge. 
He swung at a very surprised Fiona, severing her upper arm 
before she could escape. Rianna, the only one left on the bridge, 
hit the big red button to flood the bridge with white blood 
cells and a Fighting Devil conjured up earlier.

	Albert was down for the count. Otho was tossing more 
daggers as the wounded Findy-lookalike trumped out. Palantir 
Boy was mixing an attempted mental takeover of the squid 
with fending off Ishmael, who coverted his weapon into a 
pattern lightsabre and was advancing, parrying the gem blasts. 
Roderick was being pinned down bu the other McFinndo woman. 

	Rose angled up next to the Gerard wannabe, grabbed him, 
and pulled them both through shadow via the logrus into a 
ocean three miles down. As he attempted to swin upwards, she 
stabbed him repeatedly with an enchanted dagger and used the 
logrus to bring sharks into the area. When he tried to grab her, 
she simply turned to water, reformed part of her elsewhere, 
and stabbed him again. Before long he was knocked out and near 
death, and she trumped both of them to Flora, who bound him 
and took him into custody. Rose used the logrus to return to 
fthe fight.

	Onthe bridge, Finndo was turning the white blood cells 
and the Fighting Devil into hamburger; however, enough time 
was bought for Rianna to trump Bleys and bing him through. A 
masterful sword duel commenced, and Rianna hurriedly 
trumped Gerard. Coming through, he tackled Finndo, who 
stabbed him through the chest. Bleys blasted him with a spell, 
and Rianna pulled Caine through. Caine, oddly enough, brought a 
crossbow and special arrows...

	Outside, Gilva swooped down, wounding Palantir Boy. He 
turned and blasted her away, allowing Ish to blow his left arm 
off with the patternblaster. Howling, he blasted at Ishmael 
with all four gems, just as Rianna exited the squid and Rose 
reappeared. As Ishmael was flung back by the force of the 
blast, Rose slashed down with her sword, nearly severing the 
arm holding the Palantir. It fell from his hand, he screamed, 
and exploded in a burst of energy. The Palantir began to roll 
towards the remaining McFinndo woman, but Rianna neural-
disrupted her and grabbed it, as Roderick engaged her in 
combat. Outmatched, she retreated via sorcery.

	The three trumped to the bridge. Bleys was feverishly 
trying to bandage the huge hole in Gerard; Ishmael slipped his 
ring on Gerard's finger and activated the regeneration 
properties in it. Caine, a smirk on his face, was posing over 
Finndo's unconsious body and carving a second notch into the 
grip of his crossbow.

	The day won, the three trumped Random to inform him of 
the victory over the McFinndos.



Quotes:
"We're the Amber version of HIV."
- Ishmael on the three's white blood cell disguise

John: Okay, you've got your little FleaCam in one corner of the 
screen.
Kelly: We should put this live on the web, too. www.fleacam.com

"Hi, I just wanted to... Ishmael? Is that you?"
"Um. It's a chaos thing."
"Oh. Anyway, you're all invited to my party on Saturday. Please 
don't come like that."
- Flora and Ishmael the White Blood Cell

"Oi, Gilva, yer gonna love this. We get to kill an Elder Amberite, 
and Random will actually thank us for doing it!"
- Ishmael

John: Rianna, you have about 3 seconds before you become this 
guy's psychic butt-toy.
Arthur: Doh, that's not good.

"Fingon - I am your father! Join me, and together we shall rule 
the galaxy as father and son!"
- Darth Ishmael, advancing on Palantir Boy

"Mommy, look what I brought home!"
- Rose, delivering the Gerard-wannabe McFinndo to Flora