Eiv07/Kat08 - Chain Lightning

[OOC: Not sure if you had any particular place in mind in Arden. I will make something up, but I will delete it if you don't like it, I will delete it.]

Eivor emerges onto the edge of a promontory overlooking a great expanse of Arden and, in the far distance, a bit of the sea and the peak of Kolvir. This cliff was gouged out of the mountainside from a rockslide many years ago, and the forest has been slow to regrow over the boulders. Behind her is the edge of the remaining woods.

This place sits at the end of one of her secret trails through Arden, found and blazed many years ago. A few of the trees still show her early attempts at carving, faces and scenes cut into the wood at various stages of completion. Some still contain hints of a power she can feel from yards away.

The hidden trail leads down the hillside to the main road through Arden. one way leads to Julian's great hunting lodge, the centre of his administration of the forest; the other direction leads to Amber.

One thing is new, a message carved into one of the tree trunks saying: Gone to check on Leonil's homeland. Keep an eye on your brother.

The rest of the daylight hours pass peacefully and as the sun begins to set Eivor is on the road to Amber. She manages to hide from patrols; most of which are dressed in her father's uniforms she remembers so well but others wear something new and are not as competent in the ways of woodcraft. New recruits brought in from somewhere she surmises.

In the darkness of night, with the moon covered by a thin layer of cloud, she comes to the city. It looks much the same as always, but with more guard patrols and a few areas show damage from a recent battle.

The mood and topics of discussion vary from place to place; sailors discuss weather and shoals, the loss of friends asea, farmers speak of the constant clouds and rains rotting their crops, merchants speak of lack of goods coming from sea or land, nobles pontificate on the state of Arden's defence and quality of Amber's navy. All seem pleased with Flora's rule so far as many restrictions have been lifted, and she has plans for a massive expansion of estates into the countryside around Kolvir. All agree on the need to chop down the forests to build villages and farms, mine the hills and dam the rivers. The lower classes look forward to ore work and pay, the nobles to vastly increased land holdings and incomes.

Corwin and Bleys did great damage to the noble families in their attack on the city, many of the younger generations died in the battles, and the elders have never forgiven them. Random was always seen as a henchman of Corwin's, so the great families remained cool to him and his rule. But now Flora has been making overtures of friendship to the families, mostly through gifts of land and increased roles in managing the city, and they, in turn, have been great supporters of her stewardship.

It appears that Lady Simone keeps to herself mostly and is rarely seen outside of the Rein estate except for the occasional visit to the opera or when a Deigan artist has their works on show at the gallery. The Lord Rein himself is also one of the ones the other nobles disapprove of due to his historical closeness to Corwin. But if Eivor would like to meet the man he often spends evenings at the Town and Country club listening to the music.

Bounty-wise there are the usual posters looking for those willing to chase down pirates or bandits in other Golden Circle lands. The few from Amber deal with people whose homes were damaged in the battle a few weeks earlier. Eivor's supposedly 'new' cousin Xu Liang introduced himself to the family by fighting off some mystic cult running around the city.

[[OCC: YAY!! I wonder what they are saying in the newspapers though...]]

The estate is small compared to most of the older, more established families of Amber, but does have a small wall about modest gardens. The only thing of interest is the gazebo and set up in the yard for entertaining a small group of guests. The guards are well trained, and on alert due to the recent fighting in the city but not so professional or alert to prevent Eivor from casing the joint. A few windows are lit in the house, most of the ground floor where servants are seen in the kitchen or cleaning various rooms. A few on the upper floor, which must be the master bedroom as those windows would give the best view of the city.