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Post by Admin on Mar 26, 2024 3:57:59 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/j5FLskF/Florimel~jpg Cody is marched into an office and pushed down into a chair. Flora sits behind a desk. A tall man stands against the wall on Coy's left, Prince Calvera, judging by what Cody has heard about Eric's son: the greatest warrior and strongest among his generation—dressed in his usual orange and black silk. He doesn't look friendly. "The Regent is too kind by not having you dragged here in chains," he says. To Cody's right sits a man he doesn't recognize. The room is painted in colours highlighting Flora's golden hair and deep blue eyes. The style and furnishings demonstrate her elegance - aside from an incongruous piece of Chinese sculpture near the wall. The desk is covered in a mess of papers, scrolls, maps, and folders. Her hands dance through the stuff, organizing and reorganizing, but she never gets the papers in order. Also on the desk nearest to Cody is a gleaming silver dagger of unknown design.
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 26, 2024 6:57:17 GMT
Well, Cody thinks, at least the long wait has allowed his rain drenched garments to dry to the point of being mostly just damp and no longer sodden. He's perturbed by the brutish man handling he receives and feels more than ever that he should never have taken this long long journey.
Cody pushes aside his consternation and with as much dignity and grace as he can muster he stands back up in order to give a proper bow, "Your Regent Highness, Princess Floramel. Greetings from the Abyss."
Nodding to the man on his left. "By reputation you are likely," Cody pauses a moment to consider how to address his cousin, as cousin, Lord or Prince? Son of a usurper? Forcing a smile, "Prince Calvera, right?" Cody's right hand twitches reflexively to reach out and shake the man's hand but the stern look stops him.
Cody nods then to the man on his right, "Lord; Prince? Lovely to make your acquaintance."
<OOC> Is the 'incongruous piece of Chinese sculpture near the wall.' supposed to be Kai the Fu Lion? If Cody senses that it is alive, he would also greet it. "and yours as well." </OOC>
Sitting back down, feeling like he's in the hot seat, Cody admires the dagger.
<OOC> 'unknown design'? Cody would have seen all sorts of weird things in Chaos. Including religious and ceremonial devices during his time with the Serpintine Church and Seminary. </OOC>
"So where shall I begin?" And to Calvera, "and of what crime am I suspect?"
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Post by XuLiang on Mar 26, 2024 15:03:57 GMT
(OOC - I’m pretty sure that’s Kai also. Kai is so still Cody is unsure at a glance if he is alive or not. And we are busy talking so he will just have to wonder for a bit.)
Xu is a slim short (for an Amberite) Asian man with long black hair tied back with a box and stick ponytail. He has a thin but long goatee that makes him look younger than he likely is. He is wearing cream trousers, emerald shoes and a fancy embroidered jade coloured coat with lace trimmed shirt underneath.
Xu gives a small smile and nods, “I am Lord Han.” He considers whether he should lead the conversation as Flora asked him to do yesterday with Nayda or let her handle it. He decided nothing ventured nothing gained. “While I am currently unaware of any crimes … yet, you are from a foreign Power that is hostile to the Realm of Amber and you are here without invitation. Your words in Remba have had repercussions here that are unwelcome at best and traitorous at worst.”
“You have claimed kinship to us, so a certain amount of courtesy has been granted. Perhaps the best way for you to proceed would be to explain why you believe you are our kin and why you have come to Amber.”
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 26, 2024 22:39:11 GMT
Cody gives a seated bow, "Thank you Lord Han. I had hoped that Princess Fiona would have opened my way so that I could skip forward to the pressing business of the day. As such is not the case I begin at my beginning."
"I am Cody D'Avalon born and raised to adolescence out in Shadow. My M-unit known to me as Brighid D'Avalon. Making our home on Station and educated and employed in the business of space transit through the Interstellar Flux."
"I had a happy life, blissfully unaware of anything beyond. Even, not knowing my Sire. It was never important in a Matriarchal society."
"M was frequently absent as was normal for all children of Station. We were reared collectively in creches..."
Cody has a far-away look remembering his happy childhood amongst his Creche-mates.
"But, I digress."
"M returned to Station one turning wearing some anachronistic garments and insisted we leave immediately. To Green-Side and through Shadows. To here..."
"Along the way, she confessed her identity as Princess Dierdre of Amber. Telling me our lineage and legacy. Explaining how she wished to spare me the harshness of her upbringing under Oberon and the influences of the Royal Court."
"Saying that I would have been eased into all of this at age of majority. But there was a danger that all Shadow may be erased and the only safe place for me was in Amber."
"In the fog of war with the Black Road on Amber's doorstep M, Princess Dierdre, didn't know who to fully trust of the different factions within the Royal House. She thought it best to continue to conceal my identity a little longer."
"I was cloistered in her suite here and passed off as a paige."
"That, I suppose, is chapter one."
Pausing introspection, Cody looks at his audience to gauge their reactions.
"Second chapter:"
"I was pulled out of M's chambers and inserted into Oberon's Funeral Procession and we were marched through Shadow to the cusp of the Abyss."
"Ahead of us we followed the path of the Black Road. Behind and around us raged Shadow Storms that washed the multiverse clean."
"Along the way I heard retellings of all Oberon's conquests and learned much of Amber's history. Of my Uncles' and Aunts' stories as well. Of our history and beginnings. Mythical sounding ascent from the Courts of Chaos to the realm of order, lead by Dworkin and his consort, the Unicorn..."
"Arriving in the Courts, I witnessed from a distance the Unicorn clambering out of the Abyss and saw her present the Jewel of Judgement to Prince Random."
Cody's eyes well up with tears that blur his vision, "I heard then of M's fate. That she had been pulled into the Abyss by Brand."
"It was in that moment that I cursed the Unicorn for rescuing a bauble and not saving my Mother."
"In despair I broke away from the Funeral Procession and leapt into the Abyss to find her."
Cody sobs his grief for a moment and then pulls himself back together in order to continue. "Demons of the Abyss, Pit-Divers, pulled me beaten and bloodied from the Abyss and deposited me on the doorstep of the Sheltering Coils Temple and Mission House where I recovered enough to make a second, third and fourth attempt. And so on."
"I have made a life for myself as a Pit-Diver and in gratitude for saving my life, I have dedicated myself to the Temple there in DaggerWays."
"This brings me to my third chapter:"
"There is great turmoil in the Abyss and most Pit-Divers have fallen on hard times. I was working myself up to approach Thelbane to petition for aid when I received what I thought would be a commission. Taken out of the Courts we were attacked and I stumbled into Princess Fiona's lair while under crossbow fire."
"Princess Fiona convinced me that I should come here to Amber and work with you to discover the cause and find remedy to the preternatural storms that are plaguing both Shadow and Flux."
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Post by Admin on Mar 27, 2024 6:15:03 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/j5FLskF/Florimel~jpg Cody may have been to many places and seen many things floating in the Abyss, but this dagger is something new to him. "Your stated surname is from Corwin's realm. What business did you have with him?" Flora asks.
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 27, 2024 8:30:48 GMT
Cody looks quizzically at the Regent, "I have never had any business with King Corwin or his realm. I take the surname as given to me by my M-unit. As already stated, she was known as Brighid D'Avalon. She chose that name for reasons that are her own. Perhaps an homage to her brother? Or a slight? Maybe Corwin knows."
Cody is unsure of what else he could say on the matter. A knot tighted in his stomach as a sickening thought passed through his mind which he quickly dismissed. Uncle father? Surely not!
"Maybe I should continue to chapter zero?" Cody thought aloud, "The circumstance of my birth. As she told me, M tore herself away from a battle force when she discovered that she was pregnant with me. Making herself out to be an ill used camp follower. She made her way to a refuge camp and from there she was able to gain passage from Green-Side to Station. Once there she exhibited aptitudes for space-faring and quickly rose through the ranks to become a Flux Ship Pilot and she rose in rank to Captain. This in a Matriarchal society."
Cody taps the cybernetic implants on his wrists on the bongo drums purched on his knees.
"Did you never see these on Princess Dierdre's wrists, ankles, nape of her neck and temples? The small of her back? She kept her hair cut short. Sometimes shaved bald as any Flux Ship Pilot and captain." Cody shows his own implants.
"Then you would see She and I are of that same Shadow."
"The circumstances of my being conceived in some rough manner made me to never question after my sire."
"Of course I can see now that much of her story told to me is fabrication."
"Priness Fiona indirectly insinuated that my sire may be of Chaosite stock. Flaunting Lorcas' Nightberry Wine. I could be reading too much into that to think I might be of House Lorcas." Cody shudders at the thought of that.
"One other thing of Princess Fiona. She asked me why, once I came of age, I never made the journey back to Amber."
"There's two reasons for that. First is my dedication to try and rescue M-unit from the Abyss. I have to believe that if I am able to transit that void and maelstrom that, She being of Strong Amber stock must also be able to prevail in some way. She thrived in the Interstellar Flux which is much like the Abyss environment. Second, I was convinced that no one here knew I existed or cared as much or else they would come searching for me as I was only an adolescent at the time."
"Well, I was somewhat shocked that Fiona knew of me and said as much that everyone else, implying you, also knew of me."
"This was reinforced by Queen Moire and Princess Llewella who both coldly stated that they assumed that I had committed suicide when I jumped into the Abyss. No loss to them as they have no love lost towards M."
"My overall reception in Rebma just days ago was chilled by their bitterness towards my M-unit for some long past transgressions and they hinted that part of the animosity pertains to a traitorous liason with the enemy. Another hint not expounded upon that my sire is Chaosian."
"I strongly suspect that Princess Llewella was the one conspiring againt Queen Moire and then implicated M-unit thus strengthening Llewella's subtle mastery over Moire."
Cody leans back in his seat.
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Post by XuLiang on Mar 27, 2024 14:32:53 GMT
He looks away when Cody sobs so as to not further embarrass him. But other than that he listens and watches with interest as Cody speaks.
He looks more closely with interest at the implants. He has implanted metal into his skin! Amazing!
This man is very emotional and seems to lack personal control. Though to be fair he was a teenager and we all have done some rash things in our teens.
“You said you set out to find the source of the disturbances. Have you made any progress in this? You seem to have experienced some of the lesser version of our version of the disturbances.” Xu looks at his damp clothes in sympathy.
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 27, 2024 20:49:56 GMT
Cody observes the two blank facades of the elders and Lord Han's apparent discomfort. "Don't be perturbed by my outpouring of emotion Lord Han. Where I come from it is considered unhealthy to keep things bottled up inside. Pressure builds up to the point where they become uncontrollable when they finally do burst forth. It's better to express them as they happen and allow them to pass... And, my cybernetic implants: It's a real honour for a man, a young man, to have a full set. Most every Spacer has at least wrist taps. I earned full Flux Pilot status. Physiologically, it is usually only women who can handle the High-G and the multi-tasking..." Cody boasts.
"So, to the business at hand. From my observations so far. The Courts appear to be untouched by the prevailing preternatural storms. These Shadow Storms appear to be more ferocious the closer you get to Amber."
"Inversely The Abyss is an ocean that touches every shore. Its ways are tumultuous and unpredictable at the best of times. Storms rage in the Abyss more severely near to the Courts and lessen as you get away."
"So as I said earlier, Princess Fiona set up a lair designed to intercept me. While there we discussed pretty much everything we are discussing now. I put forth some hypothesis to the effect that there is an imbalance of Powers in the multiverse and what might be done to rebalance them."
"First and foremost is locating the Jewel of Judgement and setting it to correct things. At last account, it is reputed to be in the possession of someone named Coral. Fiona said that Coral, a concubine of King Merlin, is being held in one of King Merlin's harums."
"Holding the Jewel so close to the precincts of Chaos alone could be cause."
"Another imbalance is the creation and continuing existence of the additional Pattern created by Corwin."
"All hypothetical."
"Along my journey I happened upon Ancient and Venerable Ygg with whom I communed. As sentinel and observer at the division point between realms I asked it what it perceived. 'Pattern is waxing' is the reply."
"I also came across King Merlin's construct Ghostwheel. It asserting that it be addressed as just 'Ghost'. It had nothing it was willing to impart on the subject. I asked if I may study it as I have a strong academic interest in such things. Merely wanting to travel a while in its company. It had the audacity to demand worship! So we parted ways."
Cody tries to remember anything else of significance.
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Post by Admin on Mar 28, 2024 5:58:06 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/j5FLskF/Florimel~jpg "Did you have any interactions with anyone in the family between the time of your cliff dive and the meeting with Fiona?" Flora asks.
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 28, 2024 7:54:46 GMT
Cody smiles, "Yes. As I mentioned, the Abyss touches everything all across Shadow."
"That said, I'll give you some information on Pit-Diving and some idea of what it is like as I answer."
"My early dives into the Abyss were uncontrolled. Temporary rifts into some random Shadows open on occasion and spit me out into Shadow."
"The spontaneous rifts are temporary and brief. Lasting only minutes to days."
"Thankfully I never got stranded. At first I clambered back into the Abyss immediately. Then later I learned to gauge the timing so that I might have a brief time to learn and explore a particular Shadow before bounding away."
"A time to rest and heal from the violent encounters one frequently endures with the denizens within the Abyss."
"On one such occasion I met up with King Brian. I'm sure he bears Barimen blood even though his lineage is unknown. Together we participated in ending a bloody holy war and he rescued a young Orphan boy in the process."
"Later, I learned to have some control and to open and close my own rifts in and out. I never got any closer to Amber than the outer edge of the Golden Circle except in a dream."
"I've met King Brian on several more occasions and consider us friends if not cousins."
"I am now afforded the respite to visit my childhood home on Station and reaquaint myself with my Creche-mates."
"Back to your specific question, there is a strange incident. Firstly to explain that the Abyss is itself strange. It can be like anything and everything and nothing. On this particular occasion it was a raging stormy sea. A giant Cephalopod pulled down a ship. As a Pit-Diver I scavenge. So I followed that wreck to the bottom of the sea. A sea as manifested by the Abyss. But also manifested by the dreamscape of a young girl who revealed her identity as Princess Lorelei. Asleep and dreaming of this deep sea grotto. Home of a Kraken. I had no reason to refute or deny this odd happenstance."
"We talked a while and we exchanged tokens before we both had to depart. Her, to wake from a dream and myself to collect the sunken treasures and return with them to DaggerWays in Chaos."
"Weirder still, I was exhausted from that adventure and I fell into a deep slumber. There I was once again with Lorelei. This time in Rebma where she gave me a tour of her home. She awake and me dreaming. Me appearing to her as an apparition."
"Lastly, outside of the Abyss in the Courts I attend Seminary. I was scouring the Library Stacks for ubscure scrolls and texts when I found a girl hoarding some of those documents I sought."
"She introduced herself as Maeve Hendrake."
"We discussed the forces that shape the multiverse and creation. She gave me some interesting insights which I worked into my own theories."
"At that time she didn't reveal and so I was unaware that she was also pumping Barimen blood through her veins."
"So, three people. We shared our autobiographies and went our separate ways."
"I suppose that none of them had had occasion to share my story. Which is reasonable as we spoke in confidence. Maintaining M's wish that I not be revealed until I was ready. And as I was primarily concerned with my search to recover my M-unit from the Abyss."
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Post by Admin on Mar 28, 2024 8:43:56 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/j5FLskF/Florimel~jpg "You didn't consider yourself ready to return to your home until Fiona spoke with you? What would you have done if she had told you to stay in the Courts of Chaos? Or if you hadn't met her at all?"
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Post by XuLiang on Mar 28, 2024 14:49:36 GMT
(OOC – Xu wouldn’t dream of interrupting the Regent’s questioning and Cody speaking so he quietly watches and thinks the following inner dialogue…. Just to be clear none of this is said out loud.)
There is a time and place for expressing feelings but saying that it would just distract the conversation. And what an interesting conversation it is! Cody is certainly free with the most valuable coin of the realm, information. Perhaps that will buy him enough good will to give him the chance to do… do what exactly? That is the real question. Resolve the problems with the Abyss? Perhaps but why come all the way here for that? What did Princess Fiona share with him that set him on the path here?
Flora’s question is a good one, but phrased badly perhaps. It sounds as if the Abyss is his home. Amber is the home of his mother. And that might be the key.
He is unlikely to view Amber as anything but a stepping stone to helping his home. Well, that is understandable and we can use that to get things we want while he gets what he wants. We just cannot trust him to do anything that is not going to get him closer to fixing his precious Abyss.
Perhaps after he answers her question there will be an opportunity to ask him what he is looking to do here in Amber.
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 28, 2024 20:39:45 GMT
<OOC> 'Pecious Abyss'?? The last known whereabouts of his M-unit for whom he still searches. </OOC>
"Bloody Unicorn!" Cody sighs under his breath, "You want to play the 'wuff-wuff' game? 'What if? What if?' As if I could slap a reset button."
"How far back do you want to go?"
"Princess Fiona told me several things that I took at face value."
"Firstly, there are two factions after me. One for and one against."
"If I were to go out on a limb, I would say that the mysterious henchman Baz and his coach driver were not collecting me for a Pit-Diving commission on behalf of an even more mysterious master. They were, perhaps working for the mysterious faction trying to protect me."
"That would, I assume, make the opposing faction responsible for the ambush which upset the coach and set me running for my life down a blind alley. And costing the lives of those two Henchmen."
"To go back further?"
"I could have refused Baz and either been assassinated in the street by the other faction or been kidnapped if I didn't go willingly."
"Back further?"
"I would have carried on, business as usual. Making my way to Thelbane to petition for Pit-Diver aid and ways and means towards a remedy."
"Under those circumstances, barring the actions of any faction, I would continue living my life as I have. Searching the Abyss for my Mother. Also venturing out deeper into Shadow for that same cause if the Abyss had spat her out on some terrestrial plain."
"Maybe meeting more of my kinship along the way."
"I would eventually find my way to this doorstep and introduce myself. Sooner or later. With no intention other than to say hello. Unless I had discovered M and could return here with her. My greatest hearts desire to be here with her."
Cody closes his eyes for a moment and raises his hand so as to not be interrupted.
"So, back to that blind alley and the choice made and unmade."
"I was boxed in and under fire. There were two doors, left and right. One black, the other white."
"I made a split second decision and threw myself through one of them and into Fiona's lair."
"She said, 'I knew you would choose my door. I made a bet with Merlin that you would.'"
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Post by XuLiang on Mar 29, 2024 6:27:31 GMT
Ah, the true motive is a son searching for his mother. A pity we really need someone to answer the question of these storms and disturbances. ”A word to the wise, that particular epithet will get you in real hot water in our realm. In the future you might want to choose one that is a bit more particular to your shadow instead, ‘the station’ I believe?”
“As to your mother, there have been rumours and supposed sightings, but nothing substantiated yet. Something you may not have experienced down Chaos way is that when members of the Royal family reside in Amber for a time, they start to generate Shadow versions of themselves. Why on the way here a few months ago I ran into someone who could have been a close cousin of the late King Random waiting outside the gate of the castle.”
“There are ways to locate people like us that are known to the Regent and the other elders. But to utilize them you will have to prove your legacy and walk the Pattern. Earn our trust while learning to walk the Pattern and pledge your loyalty to the Regent and Amber to walk the Pattern and gain the training to find your heart’s desire.”
“We will gain another ally in our work to maintain the realm of Amber and you will gain the knowledge and power to find your mother. That seems to be a win-win situation to me.”
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Post by Cody D'Avalon on Mar 29, 2024 20:53:50 GMT
Cody rolls his eyes, "You caution me to mind my p's and q's? None of us here are overly pious and the epithet isn't quite blasphemy if it's true."
"There is a child running the Cathedral and gleefully razing anyone she deems a heretic. This 'cream' has risen to the top of the Church after the initial schism that lead to slaughter brought about by a single so-called 'miracle' in the form of, literally, a BLOODY Unicorn!"
"I full well understand the politic of separation of Church and State. However this is a time to interceed as smoke and ash fill the air, while blood runs in the gutters."
"The Church unifies while the Crown leads. This Church no longer unifies."
"When I arrived on your shores I met my good friend King Brian on the steps of Faiella-Bionin. He told me of his newly acquired Sainthood. Achieved on a single so-called 'miracle' without the customary veneration, beautification or canonization, not to mention mortification generally required for such an asteemed declaration."
"He is bemused."
Cody pauses to wipe perspiration from his brow and adjust his garments. "I'm not used to being so dressed up."
"Yesterday your guards refused my companion entry to the castle. I didn't wish to abandon her on the doorstep in this miserable weather so we left."
"The day was still young, so instead of immediately seeking lodgings we, or should I say 'I', decided to do some sight-seeing. Our first stop was the Cathedral so that I might see King Brian's miracle for myself. Perhaps even to devine its meaning."
"As a Seminarian, I am schooled in comparative religion. Respectfully, my companion and I moved through the holy stations observing ourselves in accordance to the teachings."
"To our shock and dismay we were gathered in by the Cathedral Guards and roughly ushered into the new Bishop's chamber. Angrily accused of being heretics ourselves for not making the new holy observations. It was a harrowing experience."
"The new Bishop arrived fresh and giddy from razing a home that was alleged to have contained a shrine dedicated in the old ways before King Brian's so-called miracle."
"Inquisitionings in the streets of Amber."
"This new Bishop. An adolescent girl with blood lust in her eyes."
"She, insisting that we submit to days or weeks of indoctrination into her new ways."
"I, insisting that as a friend of King Brian, that he would disapprove of the schism with all the persecution and bloodshed. I even tried to appeal to her on the folly of the Inquisition leading to martyrdom that would ultimately undermine her appeal for change."
"To no avail."
"Rather than fight our way out of the Cathedral or submit to the indoctrination, I was forced to 'manipulate' the Bishop into escorting my companion and I back to the castle."
"On arrival we discovered that all access was barred so we were forced to turn away and seek another way to escape the clutches of this new Buffy Bishop."
"I had her escort us around to the 'heretics' home and forced her to symbolically declare an end to the Inquisition in the name of Saint King Brian on the steps of the smoldering ruins."
"I don't know what the outcome from that action is because we didn't stay to watch. Hopefully the Inquisition is ended. Or Buffy became a Martyr for the old Church. Bloody Unicorn indeed."
Cody shifts in his seat and pauses once again to digest Lord Han's words on the subject of his M-unit.
"So... Walk the Pattern in order to prove my claim and give fealty. To then be able to chase down rumours of sightings of what are likely to be doppelgangers."
"If only it were so easy. I am soaked through with the power of the Abyss. Warned by Lord Suhuy that essaying Logrus and/or Pattern could have adverse effects. Not just for myself but fir the construct as well."
"I'd need to confer with the grand architect."
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