Leo01 - Fire on the Mountain

The stranger also is searching the shelves for a certain type of book when he and Leonil come to the same shelf.

"Howdy!" the man says, "Tryin' to find a little something to pass the time this afternoon too, eh?"

He hitches his thumbs behind his suspenders and rocks back on his heels.

"Yep, I'm in town as part of the delegation from Deiga. All the work was done so we were promised a day of exploring the fabled city of Amber! The weather stuck a pin in their plans. I was walkin' past and saw the staff here loadin' wood into the fireplace and stopped in to warm the old joints. But since I was here thought a little something to read you be a relaxin' way to spend the afternoon. But dang I can't make head nor tail of this place - seen any detective stories? You know, some sort of crime happens and a dude has to find out who did it?

"Ah hell, look at me ramblin' on here without introducing myself and in a library too!" he says extending his hand for a shake. "I'm Coy Grinasan, from Deiga, pleased to meet cha'"

He seems friendly enough.

. . . .gracefully introducing the Deiga envoy with Prince Gerard and allowing Gerard to diplomatically help him, I return to
searching the bookshelves with a Detection spell, looking for magic. . .pattern magic ? Trump Magic ? ANY magic ?
. . . I push the detection spell out wider . . . .

<sighing> Leonil has the bad feeling he's going to have to do this all by himself. Amber seems to follow the
innate workings of Sorcery rather than the formal traditions of Written Wizardry. The first spell I need to work on
is something about this dammed weather.
Leonil leaves the library and heads to the kitchen to grab some good sandwiches and a very large mug of good coffee.
it's going to be a very long night. then I need to find the artistic supply rooms and see if they've got
what I'm going to need. It'll be worse if I have to go all the way into town to buy things.
Shopping List : 1 good artist easel , 1 very large writing board to setup on the easel, and a poster sheet of Vellum,
27" x 41" standard movie poster size. I wonder where that description of it came from ? then my own apartments
to get my own magical inks and quills. hmmm hmmm I really hope this search for supplies will turn out better than
my search for magic books.

easel, large writing board, Vellum . . .what am I forgetting ? COFFEE !!! up to my apartment ; memorize from my old shadow-wizardry
"" control Weather "" --- blazes that storm is so bad, TRY a shadowcasting of control weather even tho I haven't learned
how to put the Pattern into it yet ; www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Control_Weather ; trying to make the storm be a more gentle rain.

then RE-memorize and lessee, where's the guards at? time to go deep downstairs.

I tell the guard to make sure my visit downstairs is logged ;
then I head down the cavern hallway to the well-known seventh door.

as I go inside and face the great Pattern,
I take one long good moment to take several deep breaths
and gather my strength. Am I really ready for this ordeal ?

? scared ? yah, you would be, too.
a great blue-white strange beast inlaid and barely
contained upon the ground, big, powerful, deadly.
even knowing I'd survived the first time,
the ordeal I was about to go thru had me thinking
far more than twice.
I checked my equipment load on my back one more time.

take a deep breath and take that 1st step.
sparks jumped up my leg as I stepped forward again.
start walking into the curve, and reach the slowness
of the First Veil. my entire body and hair and
all my clothing were nothing but sparks as
I struggled thru each terrible step of the Veil.
I remembered my childhood friends as we played
stick-ball and raced wheelbarrows down the street.
the veil and pressure ended and I took more steps
and more curves and twists. Electricity swirled
inside me and all around me and I could see nothing
but sparks and the blue-white fire of the Pattern.
finish a set of arcs and enter a straight line
to reach the next barrier of the Second Veil.
memories of my 1st girlfriend, barb, came back
as we sat in Mr Wolf's writing classes trying
to come up with a story more interesting than
last year's kids. then a right-angle turn,
and another, and another, and the world was
nothing but sparks and the blue-white line.
the struggle eased and I remembered home
Saint Nicolas celebrations at mid-winter and
snowball fights in the front yard and building
snowmen everywhere. a dozen more paces and
swirling fire confronted me. I dared not raise
my eyes from the floor as I carefully walked
an almost invisible blue-white line that
was my life - or my death if I left it.
I left the swiriing fire and entered the
Grand Curve and the Universe entered me.
My teacher, Mr. Kahn, spoke of the mysteries
of the world and the mysteries of the multi-
verse and the Astral Plane that we call
The Silver Void which was the same as these
silver sparks that were the entire world
that I walked thru upon that firey line.
a few more curves and straight lines and
a series of many arcs and then a stone wall.
The Final Veil. Pure torment to move.
each single step a painful eternity.
No thoughts left but the struggle to make
one foot step up and forward and down
against showers of sparks that did NOT
want to let me move and taking that next
step was like pushing thru a granite wall
except suddenly it was the last step
and I almost fell forward into the center.

Slowly drop to my knees and catch many
deep breaths as the blue-white lines slowly
spun around me. my ears were roaring.
I finally looked up and I could not see
anything but the blue-white glowing haze.
but I had done it again.

and " never again! " was my next thought.

(continued)

Walking the Pattern is not something to lightly assayed at the best of times and to combine that effort with sorcery draws an even greater drain upon the health of the person. Leonil appears before the doors to King Random's chambers then immediately falls to the floor in exhaustion. Fortunately, there is no one else around to see him in such a compromising position.