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Post by Eivor on Apr 17, 2024 17:45:48 GMT
Eivor checks around what is left, then takes a short walk to gather followers. The new pilgrims who will clean up this place and remove the taint of what was. Once the work has begin, she looks over the damage and considers what Oberon's original vision might have been, and what future purpose it might serve. She looks to the sky, wondering if the old man in the observatory was watching.
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Post by Admin on Apr 22, 2024 5:20:34 GMT
The pilgrims are initially confused, seeing themselves put on cleaning detail instead of being sacrificed to the gods. Again, some of them strongly resemble people on the Amber side of her family.
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Post by Eivor on Apr 22, 2024 7:41:00 GMT
Eivor returns to her pilgrim robes and staff to give instructions to the newcomers. She moves amongst them, telling them they are doing gods' work and taking inventory of the faces. Any she does not know she will greet personally and ask their names. After all, there may be many of the family that are lost or forgotten. And what of old Stephano? Was he here?
Who was it that was conjuring these wraiths? Was it the very nature of this place that all who walked the Pattern were reflected here? She wondered if Xu would appear here if he walked it. Had he? She didn't recall.
Another of their tasks is the reconstruction of the statues. Perhaps the very act of rebuilding would change the nature of this place she still little understood. Finding a large smooth rock face she will also start creating frescoes of all the faces that pass this way, so that they would not be forgotten.
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Post by Admin on Apr 23, 2024 4:48:17 GMT
She collects many names and sees many who are almost but not quite identical to her Amber brethren. A few resemble the portraits of Stephano she has seen. They are his match in size, but the faces are not quite identical. Others are near-perfect copies; the Edmund one still has that punchable face, the Calvera, than obnoxious superiority. There are a few Xus, too. Some Benedicts with both arms, others with one, a few with none.
The construction and carving are long and hard work. Pilgrims searching the remains find a large number of the holy tracts and resume their ceremonies. From illustrations in the book, Eivor deduces the astronomy of this place and predicts the next conjunction/dancing moons will happen in two months.
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Post by Eivor on Apr 23, 2024 18:11:27 GMT
Eivor still doesn't know what to make of it all, and gives instructions to prepare for the next coming of the dark angels. She makes paintings of them so the pilgrims would know what to expect, and sets them to digging bunkers and caves where they might shelter from them, and spears to defend themselves with. No doubt 'Calvera' would have plenty to say about the temple's defences. There is hymn singing to keep up morale and solemn ceremony to focus minds. She keeps a vigilant eye for any 'tablets of stone' or significant verses that might give meaning to this odd gathering of family and its usual grisly end.
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Post by Admin on Apr 26, 2024 3:27:20 GMT
Eivor knows the power of this place from the 'echoes' of the pilgrims she travelled with. Seeing them now and their varied normal clothes under the robes, she can tell that shadow paths reach from this place into many shadows, and the religious tracts draw in believers. That such a large number of them resemble her family is an oddity. Oberons and Erics fit with the temple's decoration but all of the others are here too. From what Brand was doing and saying, most of these people are just shadow reflections with a rare one having the blood of Amber. It's the family blood and the motion of the celestial bodies which is necessary for his eldrich sorcery. To prevent the harpies from crossing into this place is a fine and noble goal, so not Brand's style at all. So what is the Shadow Bore that Jacob mentioned, and what were Brand's plans for it?
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Post by Eivor on Apr 26, 2024 9:03:16 GMT
Again, Eivor feels her lack of expertise keenly, but she does what she can with her knowledge of the Pattern, trying to feel how the energy flows about this place. It would make sense for the altar to be the focus, but she recalls Brand ferreting around deeper in the cave so doesn't restrict herself to a single location. It could be the flows are more pronounced as it gets neared to the lunar conjunction, but she does what she can with the time available.
She looks over the pilgrims wondering if some are more "real" than others. Here was the history of her family, for good or ill. She encourages them to share their experiences, in the hope of piecing together a useful narrative.
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Post by Admin on May 6, 2024 2:21:47 GMT
She doesn't learn anything else from the cave. The people's stories vary from person to person and from place to place. Most she dismisses as not possible to be family members but there are still a few dozen who could be 'real'.
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Post by Eivor on May 7, 2024 20:16:04 GMT
Her options exhausted, she shuffles out her trumps. With a sigh, she focuses on her mother's card.
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Post by Admin on May 10, 2024 4:45:54 GMT
There is a delay in reaching such a long distance, but in a few moments, she sees her mother playing canasta with some other Lady friends and frenemies.
"Eivor, you look worse for wear. What trouble has Florimel got you into?"
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Post by Eivor on May 10, 2024 9:16:20 GMT
Eivor forces a smile. "Hello mother, it's good to see you too. Sorry it's been so long. You look well."
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