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− | Diners of Amber Addendum | + | Diners of Amber Addendum |
Here is the Addendums to the Diners of Amber Article. As I got to add more, and found that I might enjoy telling a few tales about places represented on the cards, I decided to go all out and make an additional book. | Here is the Addendums to the Diners of Amber Article. As I got to add more, and found that I might enjoy telling a few tales about places represented on the cards, I decided to go all out and make an additional book. | ||
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Included with the addendums about the various locations is a Content Addendum. Such as it is. | Included with the addendums about the various locations is a Content Addendum. Such as it is. | ||
− | When | + | When Jeweled Amber had a Geocities page this article was well linked to the Diners of Amber page |
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− | + | [Diners of Amber] | |
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Compilation of Locations | Compilation of Locations | ||
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− | + | 1 The Lighthouse of Cabra | |
− | + | 2 Castle Amber | |
− | + | 3 Neal's Diner | |
− | + | 4 Aglevar's Kitchen | |
− | + | 5 Sea View Garden, Amber | |
− | + | 6 Oracle of Mandalay | |
− | + | 7 Gutsedvem | |
− | + | 8 Racsir Isle | |
− | + | 9 Tombs of Amber | |
− | + | 10 Brolic's Tower | |
− | + | 11 Lou's Market | |
− | + | 12 Braldig's Tinkery | |
− | + | 13 Vine River | |
− | + | 14 Wala Heights, Taxorami | |
− | + | 15 Mandalay | |
− | + | 16 Castle Arden | |
− | + | 17 Adrian's Dramaturgy | |
− | + | 18 Vale of Rocks | |
− | + | 19 Phil's Diner | |
− | + | 20 Church of the Unicorn | |
− | + | 21 Jeweled Road, Diega | |
− | + | 22 Halzir, Taxorami | |
− | + | 23 Berlin Train Station | |
− | + | 24 Vale of Flowers | |
− | + | 25 Big Tree | |
− | + | 26 Braldu's Retreat | |
− | + | 27 Oracle of Drisna | |
− | + | 28 Calrabon, Eurth | |
− | + | 29 Salisgir, Unari | |
− | + | 30 Fantalin, Thelusia | |
− | + | 31 Ang Ri | |
− | + | 32 Beleriand | |
− | + | 33 Falri, Mandalay | |
− | + | 34 Fane of Zila | |
− | + | 35 Ganras Galleries, Vies | |
− | + | 36 King's Retreat | |
− | + | 37 Gerard's Hunting Lodge | |
− | + | 38 Oracle of Night | |
− | + | 39 Tower of Grief | |
− | + | 40 Tir Mar Gala | |
− | + | 41 Moondance Cafe | |
− | + | 42 Rebma | |
− | + | 43 Sardis, Ny, NY | |
− | + | 44 Gugenhiem, NY, NY | |
− | + | 45 Footman's Garage. Ny.Ny | |
− | + | 46 Alrus, Begma | |
− | + | 47 Church of the Serpent | |
− | + | 48 Lighthouse of Hiemnal | |
− | + | 49 The Garden | |
− | + | 50 Vulsar Base | |
− | + | 51 Jack Rabbit Slim's | |
− | + | 52 Domain of the King Bar & Grill | |
− | + | 53 Milliways | |
− | + | 54 St. Masvir of Arkens Links | |
− | + | 55. The Stone of Skulls | |
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− | ''' | + | '''Salisgir, Unari ''' |
This idyllic place has fallen out of favor of late. The association with Doria has soured its romantic appeal. There are a number of small private shrines here. Most to the unicorn of course. It was at one of these shrines Doria committed suicide. Luckily while she died, her death was not a final one. | This idyllic place has fallen out of favor of late. The association with Doria has soured its romantic appeal. There are a number of small private shrines here. Most to the unicorn of course. It was at one of these shrines Doria committed suicide. Luckily while she died, her death was not a final one. | ||
− | Trust Dory to ruin a perfectly good paradise. | + | Trust Dory to ruin a perfectly good paradise. |
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'''Oracle of Night''' | '''Oracle of Night''' | ||
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'''Tir Mar Gala''' | '''Tir Mar Gala''' | ||
− | + | Don not come here if you are evading escape and want a place to plan. You fall directly into a dreamless slumber once the stair fades away. | |
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− | + | 56 Willie's Tavern | |
Why this card is in the deck I do not understand. Personally I think it is a threat. | Why this card is in the deck I do not understand. Personally I think it is a threat. | ||
− | + | 57. Camelot | |
+ | Camelot? Angel's and Ministers of grace defend us. | ||
+ | There was a time when Corwin once sought out a place of nobility and honor. He ran right into a vein of tales, legends, people, places, and monsters the like of which boggle the mind. Uncountable numbers of these veins exist but this is one similar to what he found. In the centuries that followed many of his brothers heard the tales of Arthur, Lancelot, Gwain, Lot, Tristan, Guennivire, Isuelt, and all the rest. Having heard them, we sought them out, to live amongst them or to fight against them. Sometimes both. | ||
+ | So now this card arrives and what does it do? | ||
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+ | 58. Field of Gold | ||
+ | Ah, france | ||
− | + | 59. Twilight | |
+ | If this place is supposed to be a secret why is it in the deck? | ||
+ | 60 Nu Yark, Nu Yark | ||
− | + | This realm is a twist of this and a twist of that. It is a high tech age where man and machine blend easily and well. Nu Yark is a place i have spent time in to unwind and enjoy the simple easy of plenty yet have the rough trade of greed near at hand. This realm is dominated by this vast city that spawns out to the horizons. It is a city of towering pinnacles of glass and steel. Many of them Arcologies that sustain their own populations in comfort and ease, at a price. | |
+ | Beneath the towering spires live the grim lives of the broken the elite have forgotten who must live out desperate lives by desperate means. | ||
− | ' | + | This is one of my places. I come here to enjoy to crossshadow influences of music, drama, and art as well as the luxuries afforded the super-rich. Of course when I'm feeling peckish the food here is sublime. |
− | This is | + | I said there are crossshadow influences and they abound. This realm is nearer to chaos then to Amber yet it has internal checks and balances that keep a level of reasonable cause and effect in play. Of course what one considers reasonable is widely varied, depending when your last meal was, or when your child last ate. |
+ | Sometimes i dress up, and travel the dark ways and settle affairs for people unable to do so themselves. I feel silly afterwards but while i am there its vastly entertaining. | ||
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+ | 61. Moins | ||
− | + | This is the second city of Rebma. The Kid Sister of Rebma. | |
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− | + | 62 Forever Gate | |
+ | This card is to a dry and barren ruin of a landscape in which remains the Forever Gate. This is a transportation portal to any time and place in this shadow. | ||
− | + | If you were to jump ship immediately on arriving you would find that there is no living thing in this galaxy. Not a bush, a tree, nor a prickly skinned porcupine. Nothing. It is a completely dead shadow. Millions and millions of galaxies with uncountable stars and planets and no living thing exists in any of them. | |
− | + | And there is no one to tell you why except the Forever Gate. But if you ask it, it will merely tell you that there are no living things because they died. Great. Thanks for clarifying. | |
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+ | What I have picked up is that this realm is 1 to 1 Amber. Making research time consuming. Also the longe an anberite stays there, the more unfavorable to Amber it gets, 1 to 1, 1 to 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2, 2.5, 4, 7, 9, etc. | ||
− | + | Once there were vasty empires, ancient races, technological space-faring nations, unified planets, and uncountable people. There were wars, peace talks, parades, carnivals, vast trade routes and intergalactic exchanges. Sometime in their history, someone somewhere caused a chain reaction to occur that eradicated any creature that can be scientifically called life. | |
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− | + | 63. Paris | |
+ | This is Corwin's doing, much to my surprise, since this is in Avalon. Not that you can shadowshift in Avlaon yet, that is still somehow forbidden. But you can get here. | ||
− | ' | + | Here is Paris. Late 1800's. Napoleon is dead. Napoleon III is Emperor. Corwin is Overlord. But the rest is the important part. It is a living place, exciting, vivacious. You can find music, art, dance, whatever your heart might desire of such a time and place. |
− | + | But the Corwin seems to have decided to keep the Diners of Amber theme alive by locating the trump here. Here is Angeleous Lambert's Bakery. | |
− | + | I am not a bread person. I know people who can go on and on about this bread and this grain and that yeast. I had never really understood it. Even using the Bakery trump of the Avalon Useful Trumps Deck did little more than give me bread. But my first trip here Corwin and Mama Agalvar and Dame Margot came with me. 3 Bread people against one.. | |
− | + | Hold on to your heart when you enter Lambert's. It smells like a very happy heaven in there and you might just expire from joy. Sourdoughs, wheat. Rye. The place is marvelous. Every shape and size you can imagine they probably have or can make. | |
+ | There is an amazingly good cheese shop across the street. Lienne Lisile's place. Cheddar, not originally a French cheese, is here in abundance. Monterey Jack, Gouda, Edam, Camembert, Muenster, Swiss, Limburger, Blue, Gorgonzola, Provolone, Parmesan, Mozzarella, Soamorze, and hundreds of other cheeses I had never heard of. | ||
+ | Guido Regili is a butcher on the road with a massive selection of meats. Raw, cured and cooked. | ||
+ | Corwin joked that he added this card to his deck so he could always get a sandwhich. | ||
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− | + | 64 Vagalorat | |
− | This | + | This chaos realm is typical of the kind of wild weather worlds found in the Black Zone. Dark Skies, Lightning of a wide variety of styles. Cats and dogs falling from the sky. Don't get me started on the rain of frogs, or the rain of Frog Legs. Growing up in chaos may be hard on the people but i assure you, its hard on the frogs. |
− | + | 65. Temple of Resolve This place seems to be some sort of meditation space. I have gone in for a wide variety of styles of meditation. Any Fantalin trained Sorcerer is skilled at the kinds of discipline needed to be a competent worker of the crafts. | |
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− | + | 66. Tomb of the Ancestor's of Darkness | |
− | This is | + | This is going a step too far. |
− | + | This is not a place we should ever find ourselves. Ever achieve. Ever be trapped in. Ever go. Never use this card. It is a tease, a dare, a form of suicide. If you use this card do not call me for help out. Just kiss your ass good-bye and say hello to the Abyssal Gods that will be making your stay a really drag. | |
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− | + | 67. Rebmaras | |
− | + | Rebmaras? Really? A technological shadow of Rebma above the water as well as below it? | |
− | + | We sometimes forget that Rebma is an Empire too, and the capital of an empire at that. Many are the watery shadows where dwell kings and presidents loyal to the line of Mior. This one is a place with humanoids of the Rebma form, able to breath air and water, that is ruled by an elected council. | |
− | + | Each province provides a Elector and the Council of Electors appoints a Consul for a 6 year term as chief executive. Each 2 years they elect a vice-consul who serves for 6 years. The 3 vice-consulships ships overlap obviously and in theory provide continuity of leadership. The ruling Consul may be chosen from any person having served as vice-consul in 22 years. Campaigning is actively discouraged and frequently the victor of the election has no desire to serve. If they refuse they must enter exile for 6 years. Makes for some rough politics and only the ample presence of water keeps their hands clean. | |
− | + | Pictured on the trump is the Arcol of Remien. An Arcol being short for Arcology. The trump delivers one in the Square of Lan, a fish shaped god no longer worshipped in this cosmopolitan city. | |
− | + | One gastronomical peculiarity of this world is the size of their shrimp. They call them Pol Bulls but the only difference between them and what we think of as shrimp is that Pol Bulls weigh over a ton. Dumb as stumps, herdsman swim up to them, neatly pith them, then attach balloon-like floats to them for harvesting. They breed quickly I hear. | |
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− | + | Consequently Pol is the staple meat of this realm. Pol steaks, Pol burgers, salads.. everything. I like shrimp. Seeing an 800 pound shrimp roasting on a rotisserie is awe inspiring. Recently Pol has become a import to Calrabon. It can be had at Oberon's fire, at a price. | |
− | + | One comment on the people here. They are, like most aquatic peoples, a soggy lot, and frequently naked. Unbashful about nudity, they are prudish in the extreme about sex. Scoring with a Marrian is a point of pride. Though the ride is rarely worth it. Shadow is too full of willing playmates to grope a soggy trout. | |
− | + | But there is one thing in this place that is worth noting, for the militarily inclined. They have perhaps the most amazing array of underwater weaponry available. Clockwork crossbows that fire as fast as machine guns. a wide array of propellants to fire bullets. Rapid fire net guns. | |
− | + | Electricity works funny in this shadow, not shocking people, so you can sit in a cafe, underwater, eating Pol Bull burgers while watching Kilf Soccer on a television. Freaky really. | |
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− | + | 68. Calmir | |
− | + | This card is in the deck, but it does not work. | |
− | + | This is a primal realm created eons before Amber and destroyed eons before Amber. A realm of limited shadows, called Eigenstates, or time paths. The Kangular powers the realm as the Pattern powers Amber. But when you assay the Kangular you gain the power to travel in Time in Calmir, rather than in shadow. | |
− | + | I itch just thinking about it. | |
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− | + | 69. Callahan's Crosstime Saloon | |
− | + | The morning I saw this card in the deck I knew that 'ulterior motives' does not quiet cover things. But I also saw connections. I began to view the deck differantly. | |
− | + | Callahan's is certainly a fine place to drop by and get a quick drink for several days. This card has been in my personal deck for years. I drop by to have the odd single malt whiskey and Irish beer. There are few places in the multiverse where you can find a 300 year old Aboulour single malt scotch and match it to a draft Double Guinness Stout and drink it in a place worthy of the pair. And pay a dollar for both. | |
− | + | As such it is a fine place, one of the finest, that is accepting of people with ---dynamic personalities. I have been a regular for decades. | |
− | + | Situated off route 25, 20 miles along the northern edge of Long Island, New York. It is staffed by Mike Callahan, aided by a former minister/former stick-up man named Tom Hauptman who bartends when Mike Callahan is gone. Also present is an odd assortment of regulars; Jake Stonebender; a folk guitarist and philosopher, a virteouso performer with a scared heart. A Brooklyn ragtime/punk pianist named Fast Eddie Costigan. Pytor, an alcoholic vampire and staff designated driver who drinks alcohol while transfusing victims that he drives home. Doc Webster; a nearly divine surgeon and a dangerous punster, Long Drink McGonnigle; a ex-moonshinner and jack of all trades. And lets not forget Ralph Van Wau Wau; a genetically engineered talking dog. | |
− | + | Throw in Noah Gonzalaes; a sergeant on the Suffolk county bomb squad, Dink Fogerty; a psychic fisherman, Mary Finn, Callahan's daughter, Lady Sally Callahan, Callahan's Wife and a notorious madam, Tommy Jensen; an empathic heroin addict on the mend, Don Domingo Montoya; an unfettered guitarist I had make my personal guitar. Also you will find the cheerful Charlies, the Mac Donald Brothers, a hobbit looking all too much like Bilbo Baggins for my taste, and a leprechaun named Fishy and now you have a glimpse at the cross section of people you might meet at Callahans. | |
− | + | So why come here? Well, the food is edible and cheep. 50c for a tuna fish sandwich. 50c for a shot or a beer, 1 dollar if you smash the glass in the fire place. I drop a grand in the free lunch box every time I drop by, to help those down on their luck. | |
− | + | Just to spice the batch of attendees lets include five more occasional vistors. A despondent ex-Lord of Chaos, defrocked of his powers, named Falowin Hendrake. A once dead pope named Joan. A man named Abe who does an amazing impersonation of Abe Lincoln that is only marred by the fact that he is Abe Lincoln, rescued just after his death in an earth Shadow. A primal beast named Spunky, who won't admit what his animal form is. And lastly, a Prince of Amber with a death wish, sublimated into alcoholism. | |
− | + | I mentioned connections. So here it is. These people solve problems. Emotional ones, tricky ones, unorthodox ones. So like the collection of people at Gallras Galleries, you can come here and layout a problem and get a wide range of solutions, some even useful. Then there is Erasamus Braldig, who while skilled in tinkery, has a startling clear and precise mind; organized and analytical; good for solving problems. Willie's Tavern is a fine place to pick up homespun wisdom. Mama Agelvar knows more recipes than anyone I ever heard of but she also knows more cliché's and proverbs than any sane person should. Then of course there are churches... | |
− | + | So- Connections. Draw your own conclusions. | |
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− | + | 70. Gilley's Club Now we are talking Diners of Amber! Dworkin, i can not imagine that you are a fan of this place, but i am now. In many worlds you will find vast regions dedicated to the production of horses, cattle, oil, and testosterone. Gilleys is in one of these places. Located on an earth world is this honky tonk supreme. Pasadena, Texas sports this huge establishment where you can get a beer, a dance, and a fist fight in the space of 5 minutes. Rest assured its worth the trip. The food is pedestrian but tasty. Burgers and fries, Reubens, subs, chicken dinners, and ribs, ribs, ribs. Steaks to make an amberite weep. Their steaks are not quite a Buff Cut 3 but they are large, well cooked, and cheap. I'll take three every time. The beer is cold, the whiskey hot, the tequila is fresh over the border. Don't order Vodka, that means you are a commie. This is a dancehall as well. That means hot, eager, drunk women. Adds a whole new flavor to the Diners of Amber Addendum | |
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− | + | 71. The Newsstand. If anyplace needs, thrives, or dies on accurate news, its Amber. This card is part of a 3 card set that arrived the same day. The first is Big Jim's Newsstand. This is on the corner of 5th and Bandolier in the city of Nenton, Antheris. This near Amber shadow has a great deal of casual travel among the Golden Circle kingdoms. Nenton is a trade route hub and distribution center. Most tech works here as does most magics. The standard of living is early space travel despite the availability of better due to the orbiting Amber Star Fleet bases. So why put a Newsstand in a world moderately addicted to computers? Because this trade hub of Amber is a hub of information as well. Information from Chaos to Amber. And Big Jim Torrio collects it all. Big Jim is hilarious. He is fat, and athletic. Cynical and idealistic. Wise and foolish. He seems to know everything about everything, and since he is rarely wrong it isn't boasting. He carries copies of the same magazines from dozens of different shadow. He collects everything he sells. He collects. He has a rabid passion for baseball cards and he personally has been responsible for the development of the game in numerous shadows. He collects Comic books, which are sort of like fireside tales in colorful pictures and cheesy language. He owns millions. He collects fiction novels and has one of the best collections i have seen. Remember what i called Fiction novels? Travel Guides, thats right. | |
− | + | If you need info, he might know something. SO who is he? Well obviously he is a wizard. He holds a Shade Pattern imprint and a Broken Pattern imprint. This makes him an Amberite of one of the lesser realms that somehow broke out of the locked systems that such shades rule. I have shared many a burger at Franks with Jim and he refuses to talk about it. I am sure something bad happened. Something he either escaped or started. Since i know he will read this he knows I am looking into it. Casually, of course. | |
− | + | 72. Frank's Burgers This corner holds possibly the best burger joint in shadow. Plain. Simple. A dozen items on the menu and a hundred condiments on the sideboards. Burger, Cheeseburger, double burgers with and without cheese, polish dogs, hot dogs, Grilled cheese sandwiches, sliders, French fries, onion rings, and other fried, grilled and cold foods. Quick and easy. | |
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− | + | 73. La Bisalta This cafe is the third of a pack of three cards representing 3 corners of 5th and Bandolier in the city of Nenton, Antheris. This is a wonderful place to have coffee with someone you would like to have become a loved one. Polite waiters can find nearly everything and anything you might want to sample. Drinks, pastries, snacks, and cru-de-te. | |
− | + | 74. Mc Hood's Roadhouse Shadow seems to adore places where heat, cold, gunpowder and bloodshed mix . In many worlds you will find a place where the urge to expand and the development of gunpowder and steam locomotion meet. This is one such place. Mc Hood is a retired gunfighter, not that he shows himself often. He has issues. But his family runs Mc Hood's Roadhouse. Here cattle hands and stevedors, gunfighters, gamblers, ranchers, sheepherders, farmers and travelers of every kind might gather. This roadhouse is in the city of Bowdie, California. Yet it seems to also be on the cross-shadow paths of many of these similar shadows. So while it might be odd to come into the common room and see gunfighters conversing with each other despite the fact one is Caucasian and the other is reptilian. It is a nexus. Through this place run a many shadow pathways. Most in the same general epoch. The natives of this world have long since learned to not ask questions of the oddities that occasionally arrive here. Similar to Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Mc Hood's Roadhouse is a gathering place for the eclectic and the lone wolves. | |
− | + | Addendum | |
− | The | + | 75. The Blighted Land This is just an invitation to commit violence. On some worlds people are just bound and determined to make their lives dangerous and short. They take huge risks and if they are lucky enough to survive them, may get no reward at all. This is an Earth/Aerth/Urth world that has seriously lost control. It is a testament though to how people can survive almost anything. To go over the political dimensions of this world would be pointless. They change. Sometime around the late 1900s all law and order slipped away. Wars, nuclear disasters, militarization, easy availability of weaponry, advancing technology despite worldwide carnage, an extremely vibrant commercial climate and little regard for human life are all big elements of this freak show of a world. Many of the people on this world have begun calling it the Blighted Land. Nuclear disasters destroyed vast swaths of it. Industrial waste and human refuse have spoiled another chunk but some of that is being recycled. City-States and small Regional governments rule this planet. Many people cluster around huge corporate compounds that still do most of the producing. Transportation of goods has become a death sport. The roads of this world are dangerous. There is an active sport called Autodueling that pits drivers against each other in both organized and chaotic conflict. The sporting angle of it gives a modicum of legitimization to the production of equipment that is then used, often as not, to further the insane degrees of regular violence on this world. Shadow does not judge good and evil, but it does punish the stupid. Addendum |
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− | + | 76. Hasik Station Not everyplace in shadow is clean. Hasik Station is a dirty place where the paths of trade crash into each other and leave a big mess. And everyone gets a taste and everyone gets rich. Soldiers, fleet marines, ground troops, merchants, spies, and lunatics of a thousand flavors. And they are all armed to the teeth and trying to make a gold fullwing as easily as possible. Now, as for Hasik Station. On the planet Shatiro, a moon really, around a huge blue gas giant of planet called Halot, circling a sun called, the Sun, is a metropolis called Gadat. It has a population of over 12 million people and is only one of 9 metropolitan areas spaced out across a vast desert. They grew up around oil refineries and oil production facilities. The continent is dirt, over grown and clogged with traffic from the subterraining rail systems to the ground level roadways systems to the many levels of air transport corridors. They have given up on having outdoor trees. In Gadat is a gigantic hub of industry called Hasik Station. It has the technical facilities to qualify for an interplanetary spacestation, the storage areas to satisfy the needs of hundereds of traders, the charm of a trucker’s diner, and the cleanliness of a gas station bathroom. It’s a rough place but you can find what you are looking for in the vast cubbyholes of shops in this place. There are several long lanes where merchant ships make port and customers come on board through allyside shops to look over wares. Hand carts, wandering robot salesman, and guys selling watches and music boxes out of their trenchcoats. For all the muck of this place, it has some big upsides. I don’t know about calling this place a Diner of Amber but it does have some foods to recommend it. There are dozens of noodle shops throughout the place. Addendum | |
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− | + | 77.Lisel’s Teahouse Lisel’s Teashouse is a tiny place on wheels. It can be found in the megatroplois of Unkantar. This highly technoligical world has a lot of people of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. It has techonoligal wonders and gigantic corporations. It has urban centers with populations of over a million in a single arcology. Most urban centers have several archologies besides having spread out metropolitan regions. This planet also has vast agribusiness empires that feed the multitude not lucky enough to live in the tightly controlled Arcologies. Stress between the arcologies and the urban centers they stand above is high. Yet strolling among the shadows of the highrises and the travel centers of the arcologies is a gypsy Vardo wagon pulled but 6 very tough looking mules. A large modern cargo trailer is attached to the rear. Gently urging them onward from the front reclinging seat of the wagon is a shoirt and well stuffed woman with long greay hair turned up under a straw hat. This is Lisel. When she parks for the evening, usually near some cultural event or activity, a whole little village appears. A small village. A fire pit is set up and a fire lit. Chairs are set out. Samovars are set up on a table next to the wagon. Silver, gold, mithril, and glass start brewing a variety of fragrant teas. Homemade cheeses, jams, and handmade crackers and scones appear. Lisel is a wonderful talker, a historian, and a bit of a fortune teller. People come and gawk at this rustic woman in her homespun garb with her painted mules, colorful wagons and strange collection of attendants. People look her over but for some reason few come to take seats at the fire in one of her available folding chairs. But some do. They soon have tea in their hands and Lisel is happy to read their tea leafs once they are done. She does not charge for the readings. But a donation jar clearly encourages generosity. She has three companions beyond the collection of animals that are plainly visible when she settles in to camp for an evening. One is a short elvish looking hobbit with a very discerning palate for teas. His name is Antil Gardener and he can talk tea fo weeks. One is a fat hobbit who tends the fire and the dinner fair, named Largo Baggins. One is a Leprechaun named Vonny who seems very quiet and withdrawn for a leprechaun. That the presence of hobbits and leprechauns does not shock the populace is a sign that these creatures, if extremely rare, are not unheard of on this world. Addendum | |
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− | + | 78. Talosaril This desolate place is a vast desert landscape is in a region under a very crowded sky. | |
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− | + | 79.Adzikis in Winter Ac tanu Mat ren Adzikis e Anoa Adzikis in Winter. Snow in drifts, in sweeps, in sheets, in the deep dark chill of mountains clear of fire. Adzikis is a world in recovery in many ways. In other ways, it has become something it had no hope of becoming. It is peaceful. This world was once a vibrant and thriving world just nudging into a technological age. They had discovered a type of magnetic reaction between three different type of stones that they had developed into a rail transport system and a wide variety of other technological devices. Oceangoing ships filled with well-dressed travellers. Even the manned flight was starting. There were nation states with a variety of conflicts in a gun age that relied on archery as well as rifleman. Then catastrophe struck. My investigations suggest two things occurred at the same time and they are why this place is cold. First a series of earthquakes, then dramatic cooling and a global winter. This occurred over 200 years ago in their time. They adapted. They embraced the cold. They reordered their priorities. They became poets. Embracing their pain, they began to cherish life, and love, and art, and creativity. They began to prize ingenuity and invention. They developed poetic forms and languages for specialization in certain areas. One language, Aurol, was chosen as the language of business. Another, Untalis, became the language of anger. Feloso became the language of friendship and community. Ac Tanu became the language of love. Each language had its forms and its poetry. Once each language had served different races and nation-states, but the effort of recovery made them decide to use language differently. Now there was one universal language with subsets selected to be used for specific needs. One language, Tufoli, became the language of food and drink. Here is where their genius really blooms. Since they were embracing life and suffering extreme deprivation at the same time, they learned how to use what they had well. Spices were used to cover bland and uncertain meats. Sugars were used to fill caloric intake so baking became almost a religion. They eat all kinds of things sweet. They discovered that they could make a respectable alcohol out of almost any vegetable refuse and by filtering it through specially scented charcoals got a nearly tasteless base alcohol with a variety of slight scents to cover the harsh base taste. Mixing sugar with it helped too. More about sugar in the addendum. Addendum | |
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− | + | 80. Café Americana Well, now Dworkin’s just messing with my head. This one may be my fault. IN the deserts of Africa, on the coast of the Atlantic is a sweaty little mudhole called Casablanca. Im not a desert person but I seem to have a lot of these haunts in my collection of personal trumps. This is a fine restaurant in this war-torn shadow of Aerth. To tweak Dworkin’s beard a bit I’ll call this a Diner of Amber. This is a bar for the most part and a good one. Its technically French territory, Vichy France, during a time of war. So you see a lot of champagne cocktails, Pernod, a wide variety of wines. A lot of whiskeys and brandies are available and a lot of gins. Almost no vodka, and tequilas. Some rums. There is also a brisk trade in local home distilled drinks that will peal paint of steel and skin off your throat. There is a rival café nearby called the Blue Parrot that serves a grain alcohol based cocktail that has had cinnamon and licorice infused into it and missed with vichi water. I know, sounds revolting, but it really grows on ya. There are many entertainments in this Café besides food. Music, women, gambling, and the occasional gunfight or police raid. I can also engage in my personal little hobby of killing Nazis too. | |
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− | + | 81. Kizabat, Ancona This desert oasis is deep in a surrounding land of sand, heat, camels, sweaty barbarians and a wide swath of people coming from all points on this world. Ancona is on the world of Ulgala. This world is lodged in a sword age for the most part but has a great deal more trade then most such worlds. It has vibrant trade because thousands of years before the Rumoraki Empire built wide thoroughfares using skilled stone workers and powerful magic. These roads are over 100’ wide and are impervious to most native magics. They were built to withstand erosion and heavy traffic. They also glow slightly, providing a dull illumination for travel at night. I’m told this has to do with the type of rock ground to make the mortar for the paving stones. WayWrens placed at various intervals provide wells, and resting places throughout the system. Cities grew up at places where these roads crossed major water sources. Rivers, seas, oceans and the like. The Kizabat is one of these cities. It grew around a massive water source in the middle of a vast desert. The system of roads had to be forged through this anvil of fire or else make unacceptably long expeditions around it. So five nearly straight roads cross at this location. There is considerable evidence that Rumoraki sorcerors drew up the water here and created the system below the ground that feeds the great pools and springs that now exist. Water is sent off to irrigate huge areas for farming, orchards and livestock. Oh, and for people as well. This city has almost a million people and they all live off the cross-desert traffic somehow. Either provisioning the caravans, feeding the merchants, or tending to their own needs. Addendums | |
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+ | 82. The Mall at Caladoon This place is a unbelievably huge shopping center in the realm Of Unara An Satar. It’s a advanced world with all the tricky tech you can imagine. Its also near a realm that the Jeweled Road passes through and has a lot of similar cosmological conditions. So if you buy a high tech toy here it will work as far in as Thelusia and Diaga. Of course one man’s technology is another man’s magic. I’d rather stick to magic. This world is a clean world. One with a great many of the inconveniences of life taken care of automatically. Clean air, clean technology, lots of greenways, well maintained parklands. Healthy food and means to recover from unhealthy foods. Its amazing these people ever leave their homes. They can live, work, eat, be born and die in their homes all over the computer systems that so integrate their lives. Of course, the price is privacy, but what’s that compared to security and plenty? Should you come to this world by a route other then the Jeweled Road it is amusing to travel a few shadows in other directions to see what this place would look like if the technology failed. Those are some very frolicsome worlds depending on which manner of failure you worked into your shadow-walking. Addendum | ||
'''Content Addendum''' | '''Content Addendum''' | ||
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So, go get them. Fail me not" | So, go get them. Fail me not" | ||
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