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Post by Admin on Mar 7, 2023 5:43:39 GMT
"Good luck," her aunt says as Lor leaves.
Crossing back through the great entrance hall, she sees Dante speaking with Simone. The woman is obviously keeping Lorelei from his sight. She even starts kissing him as a distraction!
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 7, 2023 8:08:08 GMT
[OOC: posted in both threads...]
"Dante. Hello again... Lady Simone...," Lorelei says at a normal volume as she approaches. She stops within hugging distance of the others and in a very soft voice says, "Simone, a few words of advice and education. Be mindful when speaking in the presence of Rebmans - their hearing is nearly an order of magnitude more acute than that possessed by surface dwellers. And while I find the attention of an exceptional man most satisfying, I often prefer the tender touch of an attentive woman..." As she says this, Lorelei touches the small of Simon's back and slowly runs her fingertips up Simon's spine... .
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Post by Admin on Mar 9, 2023 4:47:33 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/c1cnrbB/simone~png Simone pushes Lorelei's hand away with surprising strength. "Sorry, sister, I'm strictly butter-side up."
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 10, 2023 21:13:55 GMT
Lorelei smiles at "Simone" and shaking her head says, "I'm a bit surprised by that sentiment. Anyone can smell the alcohol. Everyone can see that you have drown your inhibitions, and yet you cling to this idea, denying yourself pleasure free of expectations."
Looking to Dante she adds, "The others we entered Amber with are meeting in the south wing. With the time spent ensuring King Brian will survive his current wounds, I am uncertain that they will still be there. I believe you were invited to join the gathering and are welcome to accompany me there if you wish." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 13, 2023 8:44:57 GMT
"You were preoccupied when the invite was offered on the trip in. Perfectly understandable with the current circumstances," Lorelei says to Dante. She doesn't elaborate in front of Simone that Dio and her potential trouble with the regent was the source of his distraction. If she saw the servant delivering Ovid's message she does not comment on it.
She asks, "Shall we?" as she holds out her hand.
When they are definitely out of Simone's hearing range Lorelei comments, "You will forgive my tactics. Sometimes the only way to deal with the inebriated is through the use of the proverbial cold shower." Smiling to herself she adds, "Still, despite being a step too far, it's sometimes tempting to use a little magic for the real thing..." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 14, 2023 5:37:11 GMT
Lorelei's hand is warm and not scaly. While the touch is gentle, Dante can tell her hands contain great strength and have spent a fair amount of time handling the implements of conflict, be it fencing or something more practical.
"I would have been rather disappointed if you lacked that imagination. Being the only living daughter of a queen, I lack the time to proceed in any way but with confidence. Even song and reading must often take a backseat to study and other duties."
"There is a poem I am rather fond of," she says. "It begins 'They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent', and ends with, 'And Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin. She is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea. She is the female tunny-fish, round and happy among the males and dense with happy blood, dark rainbow bliss in the sea'." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 15, 2023 6:27:57 GMT
"You are very perceptive," Lorelei says. "For me, there are many I know well, but few to whom I am close. I suppose that is why family is so important to me. The ego of some on the Bariman side, however, really puts that to the test."
Lorelei nods when asked about the author of the poem. She simply smiles in response to Dante's speculations.
"There is much that can be said about my home and its people. The most profound of the sayings is that Rebma is everything that Amber is not." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 15, 2023 16:22:43 GMT
"The short answer is yes, Bariman is the surname of the royal family of Amber. The longer answer would involve a history lesson stretching back more than a literal millennium, predating the existence of Amber and Shadow as we know it, originating in the Courts of Chaos, and covering only four generations of which mine is the youngest," Lorelei says. She holds up a finger indicating there is an important side note to what she has just said.
"The noble houses of Rebma, in the time before Amber, were each founded by a powerful Triton, with each bearing the name of its founder. The royal house of Rebma was founded by my grandfather, Lir, King of the Tritons. Queen Moire, his daughter and my mother, currently sits the throne. My father is Prince Corwin of Amber. Mother provided him something he needed, its value beyond price, and she demanded he spend the night with her in exchange. She is a powerful woman in her own right. What she wants, she gets... I am the result of that night. I bear Bariman blood, but not the name." She gives Dante another smile, momentarily forestalling his reaction. "In Rebma, regardless of social standing, there is no stigma to having a child outside of marriage, no denial of inheritance for the child... morality and practicality are almost synonymous." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 15, 2023 18:08:09 GMT
"I am not offended," Lorelei says. "There have been two other instances, neither planned. When Oberon's second wife, Faiella, died birthing Princess Dierdre, he turned in his grief to Rebma. It is said that Lir's wife, Queen Moins, was Faiella's virtual twin. Oberon being Oberon resulted in Princess Llewella, mother's half-sister. That in turn lead to the war between Amber and Rebma. With it being a war of pride, Lir failed to gain the backing of the other Tritons, and with his defeat most of the Tritons left Rebma." Here she pauses for a moment. When she resumes, her words are positively icy. "The other involved a young Prince Random. He came into Rebma and with his wild ways swept Morganthe, my elder sister, now deceased, off her feet and convinced her to run away with him into Shadow. When she returned she was heavy with child and waning with a broken heart. She took her own life shortly after the birth of their son, Martin..."
"Aside from Llewella and myself, Martin has been understandably skittish around his Bariman kin. His first introduction to them involved Prince Brand trying to kill him in an act that helped create the Black Road and signaled the beginning of Amber's war with the Courts... The attempt on his life sent Martin into hiding until the end of the war. Then, at the end of the war, the Unicorn anointed Random as the next King of Amber... until Random's death in the second explosion in the castle... Now we have Princess Florimel, Flora, Oberon's youngest recognized daughter, as the Regent..." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 15, 2023 19:32:30 GMT
The gesture mostly thaws her.
"When a Primal Being makes such an announcement what can one do but accept it?" Lorelei says. "Not that there will ever be forgiveness, but circumstances had shifted by then. Oberon had disappeared as he was want to do from time to time. This time he was gone for much longer than usual. Prince Eric had seized the throne in his absence. Father was returning to Amber for the first time in centuries to oppose Eric, but he needed what only mother could provide. He was brought to her by Dierdre and Random. Mother could have had Random slain on the spot, and even said so, so I'm told. Instead forced him to marry a blind woman from her court and remain with her in Rebma for a year, reasoning that such a union would raise the woman's status within her court. To everyone's surprise it changed him and they were happy together. Then the War with the Courts. When Random was made king of Amber, Vialle remained at his side as queen... She died with him in the second explosion." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 16, 2023 13:51:12 GMT
"Oberon ruled for millennia with only occasional small wars. The usurpation, damage to the Pattern, war with the Courts, and repair of the Pattern which resulted in Oberon's death was the culmination of an unprecedented sequence of events, and only half the story at that. My conception occurred as part of these events, an early part, so I was too young to remember much of it," Lorelei explains, trying to establish a loose framework for the order of events.
"The first explosion, I am told, occurred when a manifestation of Pattern and Logrus came together within this castle. Fortunately most of the destructive force was directed upward. The castle in Rebma was struck and damaged by some of the debris. You may remember that the stairway down to Rebma is just off the beach at the base of the cliffs near the Vale of Garnath that we rode through earlier today."
"The second explosion, short version, was the result of cousin Leonil trying to contain the power of the Pattern within a spell-scroll, supposedly as a way to control this weather. The scroll broke down and detonated within the royal apartments killing Random and Vialle. Everyone thought Leonil also died in the explosion, but very recent events have shown him to be alive, disfigured, and quite insane." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 16, 2023 19:59:50 GMT
Lorelei: "The difference between a Power and magic is analogous to a field of grain stretching to the horizon in all directions versus a loaf of bread. Leonil's mistake was trying to stuff a hundred sacks of grain into a single loaf of bread... most of us have sense enough to not try doing that." .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 24, 2023 6:16:04 GMT
Lorelei tells Dante, "With all the recent destruction there might not be a place to learn about them that one could visit anytime soon. As far as I know, knowledge about the powers is not restricted, but if you fail to meet certain criteria, different depending upon which power, the knowledge would prove to be effectively useless. While we look for the others, I would be willing to talk about them in a broad strokes kind of way... Where would you like to start?" .
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Post by Lorelei on Mar 26, 2023 19:03:50 GMT
"Ah...," Lorelei says, having expected this choice. "It is the 'Icon of Order', and the polar opposite of the Logrus, holding this end of reality together in a mostly congruent structure. Walking its spiral length awakens its powers within us. Before this, as an exercise of Will, we could slips between worlds where the veils separating them are thin, and afterward we become true world-walkers, able to go anywhere we can imagine by making small consecutive changes as we move through Shadow... after we achieve sufficient distance from the True Patterns. A subtler use allows us to manipulate probability, making what is possible become probable and what is probable a certainty. By manifesting its image, we can use it as a lens to study all manner of energies. With intense concentration, we can internalize its power to act as a shield against other powers. The most extreme uses of the power allows us to alter, or even destroy, the foundations of a given Shadow on one hand, and achieve quantum teleportation across Shadows on the other, provided we have sufficient personal energy... Walking the Pattern again will strip away outside influences and in a non-physical way restores the walker. In a metaphysical sense, it is a part of us as we, those descended of Oberon, are a part of it. All of this is balanced against two other factors. First, if you are not descended of Oberon the attempt to imprint this power is certain death. Second, should you succeed and remain here you ~will~ be drawn into the politics of Amber at the highest level - it would be far safer to crawl into a pit of agitated vipers blindfolded..."
"The second factor is why I chose to take upon myself one of the broken reflections of Pattern that can be found in Shadow - there is no manipulation of probability, no extreme power tricks, and there is the risk of annihilation in the Dark Well, the manifestation of its flaws, but being a lesser power, anyone in good health can attempt it... although only about one-in-ten Shadow-folk survive the attempt... and it is looked down upon for one who could have the real thing..."
"Aunt Florimel, the current Regent of Amber... one could imagine that she is all smiles and social grace personified. Anyone who believes that is a damned fool, no matter how well she wears the mask. Simply remember that she hates to be contradicted, no matter how much or how compelling the evidence, and she would grind an entire Shadow and all its people into nothingness before conceding that she ~might~ be wrong... about anything... Still, if you act as if you believe, meetings with her can go smoothly..."
"If you like, we could have a servant relay your petition to meet her to the appropriate people and have them notify you when such a meeting will occur..." .
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