Editing Diners of Amber

''What follows is an Article called The Diners of Amber.''  ''It was part of the<big> [[Jeweled Amber]] </big>Campaign using the Amber Diceless RPG.'' 

''The original Diner article website included an addendum section.  But moving it to RPGnet has made using both difficult.  So i have added the addendum here. Also This writeup is specifically for the War of Balance game so it does not relate to the older game much. Not that any of those players are likely to ever find this''  

A brief comment on the [[Jeweled Amber]] Game- The campaign began in the 50th year of Random's Reign.  The Books of Corwin, as dictated to Merlin are canonical. The second series as written by Merlin includes available people and powers but is mainly a fictional representation of Merlin and his family as he becomes High Lord of Chaos.  In the Jeweled Amber game Swayvil is a title taken by the High Lord.  

At the beginning of his reign he required an Article of Submission from his siblings and other member of the royal family.  The article called Diners of Amber was what Bleys wrote originally. He had taken his failure to win Amber hard. He became a drunkard and a literati, produced plays, gave great parties and otherwise became something of an embarrassment to the royal family of Amber.

During Random's reign new members of the blood of Amber kept popping up and causing troubles.  The final straw for Random was a man named Adrien, a son of Oberon, who acquired the Jewel of Judgement, and used it to sanctify the realm of Ygg, creating Mandalay, a Primal Realm.  One of the effects of this creation was a jeweled puzzle-stone road from the Castle of Amber to the Abyss at the scene of the Battle of Patternfall.  This road, called the Jeweled Road, cut through shadow and allowed a great deal of travel among shadows.  

The game began there. ''

[[File:Greenwhitedrapedsword.gif]]

==<big>'''Credits'''</big>==

''' Publisher's Note: "The Commentary & Addendums" have been subjected to augmentation as additional cards were added. Bleys has come to feel that new information was useful to the holders of Trump Decks as well as the general public. Especially since owners of both magical and non-magical decks seemed to receive the benefit of new cards, it seemed only proper that the Commentary & Addendum also enlarged.  The enlargement of the original article, which served as Bleys's [[Article of Submission]] is a sore spot between Bleys and Dworkin.  King Random's Last Word follows the Article and was originally only included in the magical card sets.  But as the project grew in scope and usefulness, the Last Words became included.

Random is a funny kind of guy. No one disputes that. One need only ask Brother Ben how he feels about being Marshal of Amber to get a sense of what a swell guy Brother Random is. As is said in shadow, a picture is worth a thousand words. Good thing because Ben does not seem to say much when asked. A picture is far more expressive.

Let us take a look at the pictures in King Random's Deck!

=='''Place Cards of King Random's Deck'''==

===<div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">'''The Lighthouse of Cabra'''<div>===

<div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">[[File:Pcabra.jpg]]<div>

The first card is the Lighthouse of Cabra. This picturesque isle sits miles out to sea and lights the way for ships bound to Amber's shore, either down one of the many merchant-shipping lanes or randomly out of shadow. Many a ship has smashed itself against that sudden shore, hence the reason for the lighthouse. Oberon ordered it built in the early days of Amber once he discovered it was too big to move. Osric designed it and he, Finndo, and Benedict did much of the actual labor. The place is a dour edifice architecturally but consider the creators.

Admiral [[Jopin of Cabra]],(retired.) runs the tower and the whims of politics wash over him as unchanging as the sea. A solitary man by nature the Hero of Talgwin's Deep, the Battle of Diega Swan, the straights of Tortus, and the victor of [[Bunny Free]]'s Siege suffers visitors with marginal grace as long as they are will to work at maintaining the place some while they are there. It is a coincidence, I am sure, that so many little projects were on the venerable captain's to-do list when company arrives. Bring your overalls if you make the trip. A good pair of gloves and a couple of kegs of the best brew you can find will also be a wise piece of luggage for those who come a knocking at his door.

[[File:Greenwhitedrapedsword.gif]]

==='''Castle Amber'''===

[[File:Pcastleamber.jpg]]

Benedict takes nothing for granted in the defense of Amber. Invaders would be well advised to choose another route in. Don't try the stairway up Kolvir either, its been tried and the price was paid in blood; My own.

In Random's favor can be pointed out that the finest trauma team to be found in shadow also awaits the traveler who arrives having found shadow too frolicsome for their tastes.

''((GM_Notes:  I had thought PCs might do duty as guards in this place where others might trump in.))

The second reason is that the basement is an underground card-club that Random frequents, and may have a stake in, financially. Georgie Reno runs the card game. Random supplies the bouncers, who are frequently members of the Amber Guard, in double-breasted silk suits. Cheating is not tolerated and frankly is rarely attempted.

 

'''Addendum

''I was speaking to Sergeant Garry Gavno, a Calro member of the elite Amber Guard, and a frequent pattern guardian, about Neal's Diner. He gave me the scoop on what they did to Sveldt.

''The story is that Constance Kieln, a very tough Dreanan man of the House of Brolic, despite the name, who holds the rank of Captain in the Amber Guard, was one of the first Amber Guards man to do service under Random at the card club beneath Neal's. He was a sergeant then. He and several guys got the tattoo on their upper arm, and Sveldt thought it a very funny little device.

''At a later time, while getting some other tattoo work done, Sveldt made his little insult. Constance dragged Sveldt directly to Amber, to the compound that the Amber Guard calls home. 30 guys, led by Julian, took him deep into shadows where monsters dwell and beat the living hell out of him for a couple months. They put a band of healing on him and fed him to a passel of lions and tigers and bears, oh my, who could rip him to pieces but not fast enough to keep the healing band from repairing him. So they ripped him up as fast as he healed for about a month. They then unceremoniously dumped him back at home, short three days.

''That is as good an object lesson as I can imagine for those who desire to cross the Amber Elite Guard.

''Also, Dreanans do not take insults well. Dour bunch they are.''  

''((GM-Notes: Neal's Diner and this word i envisioned as a common spot for PCs to meet, perhaps neutral territory between feuding PCS and such.  Card games.  Maybe even if the PC is an Elite, serving guard duty here for Random. And of course, who is Neal anyway...))

[[File:Paglevarkitchen.jpg]]

Fourth is Aglevar's Kitchen. Mama Aglevar is a wonder. She must be what all, good cooking, mothers are shadows of. She is the mother hen of a brood of small ones that either never grow up or breed very true copies of each other because the same kids always seem underfoot when visitors arrive. The cat Buttons is as friendly as can be.

Overlooking the beach at Cabal's Neck, from the eastern edge of the 6th floor of the Castle Amber is a wide verandah balcony that is one of the most truly beautiful sights in all of shadow. Flora out did herself during Eric's reign when she converted a bare rooftop into one of the friendliest places in the city of Amber. 100 tables adorn this lush flower overgrown slice of heaven. Each table seems to have a great view and each seems to have ample privacy. Flora tells me that somehow the design of the place, with its rises and shallows seems to hinder the flow of sound from table to table, if not the flow of sea breezes and spring flower's scent.

This is the breakfast nook of Amber. Nearly all of the family, and most of the guests, try to get table space here to take their morning coffee. Waiters scurry unseen, the buffet is always fresh, and the coffee pot is always full. Tables seat between 2 and 20 people. It is not rare to find the Ambassador of Chaos and the King of Amber sitting together, taking croissants and cocoa at sunrise.

'''Addendum

''"The breakfast nook of Amber...."

''"Sea View Gardens casts shadows of elegance. It is Flora's crowning achievement."

''Each of us are archetypes and this is the expression of hers. It is easy to underestimate Flora. She cultivates the appearance of weakness and neediness and a shallow veneer that is so often attached to stunningly gorgeous women. It makes others defend them or provide for them.  Don't be fooled. She carries grenades in her purse. Her wolfhounds are never more then a whistle away. She is a crack-shot with bow or rifle, shuriken or butterknife.  She stood the line at the edge of the Abyss during the Battle of Patternfall, raining deadly arrows on the foethings. She is shockingly strong when she needs to be. I am told that during an argument Caine once slapped her.  Her response was to kick him in the yarbles.  Apparently medical attention was needed.  Caine denies it but i've noticed he never stand close to Flora when shes angry.

''Her allure is that of a flibbertigibbet.  Her resolve is steel.  Never let her batting eyelashes make you forget that she is a Princess of Amber.

''Men have come to fear me, or Benedict or Gerard or Julian, and even Dierdre.  Remember Lothario, Floremel is of the blood royal and her knives are sharp.  

''The floral displays are exquisitely balanced for height, thickness, color combinations and scent. The food is a complex menu spanning simple fair such as bagels, cream cheese and lox, cold cereal, and oatmeal to crescents, crepes, and mind-boggling other concoctions common across shadow.

''Some piece of minor sorcery and structural design does keep it fairly difficult to eavesdrop.

''There is a piece of etiquette that has developed in Sea View that bears mention. While one may see a vast number of people at Sea View one does not usually walk up and just talk to them. First one catches the eye of the person you would have conversation with then make a tiny gesture, a quarter twist of a hand, indicating you would like to approach and speak. The response in the affirmative is for the respondent to motion with of opening and closing an upturned palm. A negative response is back and forth sweeping motion with the hand. The only counter to a negative response is to rudely ignore the desires of the respondent.

''Flora is very unhappy about the fact that a number of conflicts have broken out here, harming the flowers.

''By the way, thinking that Sea View Gardens is a better shortcut into Castle Amber then arriving through the Castle Amber trump is a bad idea. This way is guarded too. While you may get away with it once or twice, because Flora does not stock violent toys in abundance, it should be noted that Flora is often here holding court, and she is not someone to piss off. There is also a fair chance that the diners on the verandah might be violently annoyed if their lunch is disturbed. Fair warning.  

''A further note-I recently learned that the Amber Elites do in fact schedule meals here for the purpose of guarding the entrance as well as eating their meals. They REALLY don't like having THEIR meals disturbed.

''((GM-Notes: This place is certainly a hotbed of activity.  I envision PCs who need to talk to Random, or any Elder, might meet them here for drinks or lunch. Lover's quarrels.  Random and the Ambassador of Chaos are said to meet for breakfast here. Handy information))

Many of the cards in King Random's deck are mere conveniences to the weary traveler who does not want to make an extensive Hellride just to get a slice of cheesecake or to play a few hands of poker; such being amongst the king's passions. The fifth card is not one of these.

Like any Oracle the Oracle of Mandalay is a solemn thing not to be approached lightly or disregarded casually. For thousands of years we of Amber speculated whether the shadow realms existed independently of our will, or if they came into being at our wish. Oberon and Dworkin have both come down firmly on the 'Always Existed' side of the argument and that pretty much settles it for me. The question about Oracles is does the destiny they see exist before they reveal it or are your actions locked into the fates they foresee by your submitting yourself to their observations. Six of one, Half dozen of another. You place your bets; you take your chances. You pay your losses with cash in the coin of blood.

''((GM_Notes:  There are 3 Oracles in the deck.  Each has powerful abilities to give PCs unsure what to do with themselves a powerful direction.  A GM can give them a good kick in the but with these))

''I ought to snicker. Really.

''Imagine putting this card in the deck? Its an instigation to get lost in shadow and never return. I only mentioned a few places i liked before but don't just look them up. This is a world. It has cities, realms, wildlife, forests, oceans, islands, and tens of millions of people that fled other realms to live here with the hundreds of millions of natives. It has an incredibly diverse ex-pat community with refugees from Amber to Chaos.  However, Amber and Chaos, as well as most Golden Circle and Black Zone worlds, have vibrant Embassies here and they are postings greatly sought after.

''Everyone here seems to have found their 'niche'. Unlike most worlds this place somehow subtly directs people onto the correct path to achieve whatever it is that is their heart's desire. It means that if you wanted to be an architect you become one, if you want to be in the circus you do it. If you love sex you end up a sex worker in one of thousands of establishments in this world where such work is respected. If you want to do nothing all day, you win one of the million lotteries, win big at poker, get a huge settlement, or otherwise get your hands on big money.

''This is a black zone world though. There is a fair turnover in roles here and death occurs. There are gladiatorial games, wizards duels, and drag races.

''There is an elaborate gladiatorial combat system that is an obsession on this world. It also spills out into Chaos. Topping this is a group of 150 Lords of the Games who gain their seats by a bloody death. A complex ranking system leads one from the lowest levels of Warriors fighting in clubs all over the world to Gladiators, fighting in regional arenas to Lord Gladiators fighting in the Main arena in Guro, Gutsedvem.

''I hold the rank of Lord Gladiator and they all know who i am. They also know that one day i will decide which of the 150 Lords of the Games i want to kill. After that, well, this is a BZTP world after all.

''For more on the Gladiatorial League see the tome the [[Harness of Blood]].

''Be careful.  

''((GM-Note: This place is full of lots of the things to distract PCS from their duties.  And that is what i meant it to do.  Distract PCs.  As such it was going to be a place on a PC's hellride toward Chaos.  Or a walk down the Jeweled Road.  Additionally, the Gladiatorial League was intended to help school PCs in combat.  Even non-warriors need to learn the ADRPG form of spoken combat and to get the hang of it in a way that does not necessarily include bloodshed.))

==='''Racsir Isle===

If questions are asked of them, they can become quiet as clams. Friendly, smiling, helpful, dumb as the fish they catch by the ton, taciturn and secretive as the ''Costra Nostra''.

''I recently had a chance to travel around this world.  It has some very odd things going on around it.  

''I took a sailing ship and found that in a southern sea, far from the location the card delivers its viewers, is a proper city called Hunkala, where the natives speak a Thelusian Thari with perfect clarity in the same way a Scotsman speaks english.  This moist seaport seems to be where many fisherman bring their catches and where vast amounts of salted, dried, frozen, and jerked fish seems to end up through a ratline of traders and merchantmen that mainly ply the southern waters.  Right next to the main wharf, near the center of an active market, is 300 feet of Jeweled Road.  I had no idea. Apparently there is brisk trade in fish to nearby worlds, not that i had ever heard about it.  Still, this makes me feel much better about this place despite my initial impression.

''Secondly, to my shock, the atmosphere ends at a 12000' above sea level.  Luckily few of the mountains on this rocky wet word come close to that. However, two do.  One reaches 15k and has a castle sitting in the vacuum of space.  What does the castle look like?  Castle Amber of course.  The other in a mountain on the southern polar pole.  It is a spindly thing reaching 30,000 feet in the air.  Its like a pin the top spins on and it can be seen at great distances Its pinnacle is a crystal large enough to glow from solar light and mariners us it as a beacon.  Weird.  

''Lastly, as i traveled the planet, fishing, diving, relaxing, i noticed the types of fish were an odd mix.  I dove in a number of places and i have come to conclude that in the waters of this world are numerous shadow paths that are well established and used almost exclusively by sea creatures.  Perhaps a shadow of a Rebman trade route has cast its self into the deeps.   

''((GM-Notes: I thought a quiet conversation over fishing might be nice.  Also a nice weird environment might be nice to explore))

'''Addendum

''Mirelle turns out to be plenty alive despite the wishes of the sons of Rilga.

''Deirdre turns out to have survived her plunge into the abyss but was so traumatized that her mind was damaged. She now holds the form of the wolf and is bonded with Fleece. I could make doggie-style jokes I suppose but let us just take them as read.  

''Brand is alive too, and in distress deep in the abyss. Gosh, what a pity. I no longer believe that Finndo and Osric are dead but I have no proof to the contrary.

''Eric is still dead. I checked.

''I recently purchased a little plot of land on the slope of Kolvir. Well, purchased is not the right word, but you know what I mean. I am currently building my own tomb. Corwin had the right of it. It is always best to be prepared.

''New News0. Yes, Osric and Finndo are both alive. Amberites are tough to keep dead. Even the dead ones have their plans.

''More Good News: Brand is footloose and fancy free. Can no on rid me of this troublesome brother?

''I am not sure calling these Tombs is appropriate. Call them abstract portraits in stone.  

'''Addendum

''I was not going to talk about the Brolics, also called the Dreanans, but since Dworkin has me going to all the trouble of creating a whole new volume I guess I can heap some shit on my least favorite Golden Circle Kingdom.

''Dreana, ruled by the House of Brolic, tends to breed true a depressingly hostile mindset. The world itself is heavily forested. Wood is one of their main exports.

''Dreana provides something like 1/20th of the military of Amber, enough to make them a common presence in Amber. They are a fair skinned, dark-haired race as a rule with a shocking blotch of blue hair every so often. They have a heavy distinctive brow and a tendency towards square jaws. Their eye colors tend to change on a monthly basis based on the individual's current food intake. Weird. The Blue, those with blue hair, have deep light blue eyes, a more elfin stature, dramatically better balance and eye-hand coordination. Someone mated with something different somewhere in the ancient past. Dreanans tend to encourage the Blue to travel offworld.

''They are fiercely pro-amber, and rumor has flown for a thousand years that the kings of Dreana, Lords of House Brolic, would jump like a cat if a Grand Ducal coronet were ever dangled before them. Trading in the royal crown of Dreana for an Amberian Grand Ducal coronet might make them citizens of Amber but it won't make them any more pleasant. Apparently the sticking point involves details of fealty and the acts of submission required to convert a sovereign realm into a part of the Kingdom of Amber. It figures that it would take a thousand years to get the Dreanans to bend q knee.

''A disproportionate number of Dreanans become sergeants in the Amber military because they want to pick fights so often they need muzzles and the officer corp can provide this. The run-of-the-mill Dreanan is boring, loudly depressing, loudly pessimistic, mean-spirited, combative, and miserly. They rarely go in for the arts because they tend to be stupid and uncreative too.

''If this seems a bit harsh then you go check them out yourself. Better yet, consider the following.

''They export a dazzling variety of raw gems because the people in this shadow never developed the craft of stone cutting or adornment. Thus gems have no value in Dreana except as export items. After 12,000 years they still have not got the idea that gems look cool, and make great additions to daggers, crowns, rings, and other pretty things. Not that they would notice; 'Pretty' is lost on them. They have no tradition of jewelry beyond crowns and circlets, signet rings and household badges, unit insignia and pilgrims tokens. They wear crowns and circlets but they are nearly all the same. There are 12 levels in the Dreanan aristocracy and each level has a distinctive style of coronet. All dull, all plain, all made from silver. In a shadow with massive amounts of Mithril, far beyond normal proportions, these people make their circlets out of common silver.

''I personally believe the reason the Dreanan's have not joined the Kingdom of Amber is that they can't figure out how to divest themselves of the 12th step of their coronets. I once had an argument about this with the King of Dreana. He refused to understand that he could simply start calling the King's Crown, the Grand Duke's Coronet. I pointed out to him that the Ducal Coronet and the King's Crown top the Dreanan scale of 12. He could swear fealty and then the ducal coronet and the Grand Ducal coronet would top the Dreanan scale. He argued that it was called the King's Coronet and asked how could he call it anything else. I asked if he wanted it to be a princely Coronet but he pointed out that the Dreanan scale does not recognize the rank of prince, except as a non-Dreanan rank. I wanted to shoot myself to end the argument but gunpowder does not work in Amber.

''The crack about not recognizing princely rank made me think he was insulting me but you can usually tell when a Dreanan is insulting you because their lips quiver and they start throwing punches. I think he was just being stupid. I give them this; they don't go in for long drawn-out shouting matches. If they generate the brainpower to insult you they are ready to fight and throw the first punch. I hate to admit that this is one of the virtues I admire in the dreary dreanans.

''The Dreanan social system allows advancement but is as rigid as any caste system in all shadow. As any historian will tell you, caste systems lead to social and technological stagnation and a lack of incentive to improve living conditions, develop medical advances, and expand mercantile activity. They also devalue historical study leading to 'unsound' historiography and a development of religious systems based on mythic characters. That’s the Dreanans to a tee!

''I think the House of Brolic eventually conquered this world because someone in Brolic said, "Hey, lets make our duke's coronet a little bigger than everyone else's!" Thus are nations created in the stupid shadows.

''They use the Amber currency system because despite vast gold, silver, and Mithril reserves, they never developed a metal-based currency or a currency of any form. Before Oberon and Finndo came to this shadow regional warlords stole whatever they wanted from each other and raided the subsistence farmers for their chow.

''Understandably they do not go in heavily for mercantile trades and have developed a practice of hiring {{color|blue|Calro}} merchants, Merchents from the very creative world of Calranon, to sell their wares. In 12,000 years they have not gained the talent of double entry bookkeeping.

''The {{color|blue|Calro}} who have served the Brolics over the millennia have made themselves unbelievably rich, husbanding resources with skill, and flooding Amber markets from time to time. One must admire the {{color|blue|Calro}} who have created this immense fortune at the same time that one can shake one's head about casting pearls before swine.

''A brief comment on money and the Dreanans. Since the usual Dreanan is confused at best about money and oblivious to it at worst, you can cheat a dreanan outrageously. You can charge nearly anything you want for worthless junk and most dreanans will pay it. You can convince them a one room apartment in the harbor district of the city is worth the same as a manor in the hills because its close to the water and the water is great. Despite having vast amounts of mithril in their world they frequently mistake mithril ingots for silver ingots and pay for a bottle of Bayle's with mithril. They don't even think of asking for change or saying something to the bartender like; "Start me a tab." I know this having seen it done. I told the bartended to start the Amber guardsman who made the mistake a tab. A couple of months later heard that the same guard was shocked to be asked for payment despite having drunk 'for free' for months. I laughed so hard i gave the establishment a very large amount of mithril and told them to never charge the man again.

'''However'''.''The Dreanans are not all stupid. Remember, shadow has vast diversities. If you are cheating one and they say something like, "Hey, i think you are cheating me." Flee immediately. If they figured it out that far, you have only a moment to escape before they lay hands on you and pummel you to pulp. Conmen beware, the Dreanans are willing to beat you senseless and take the punishment for lawbreaking if they think you needed killing. They don't kill lightly though. If you cheat them they may only break your arm bones. Each and every one. Each and every one every time they see you, for the next thousand years. Persistent and determined are our dour friends in brown and blue.

''There are no native musical styles. The people of this shadow never conceived of a need to record the legends of their ancestors in any format other than long, dreary, unbelievable recitations of facts, odd magical occurrences, and gossip. No bardic performers, musicians, or minstrels, theater or drama, Dreanan histories read like laundry lists and are heavy on genealogy, light on details. Off-shadow historians classify Dreanan histories as 'unsound'; a technical term for worthless.

''The history of Dreana is so crammed with vicious warfare that the architecture of the world developed a siege mentality that is unbelievably stout. The Tower of Brolic is but one example of thousands of incredibly stout fortresses, albeit the pinnacle of such edifices. This is what brought Oberon and Finndo to this shadow in the first place. They were looking for theories of castle construction and they sought in shadow for a place where local conditions created strong fortifications. Once Oberon and Finndo found a household they could manipulate they helped the vicious weasel in charge of it to conquer the world. This was the great Duke Agnot Brolic; a more miserable bastard 'sound' histories have rarely documented.

''A note to the Dreanans who read this. There are beginner classes in business theory and trade at most of shadows universities. Universities are those places people go to learn things. I mention this because the Dreanan have no universities themselves. Education is a family affair and many families never bother. Some ship their kids off-world to get an education, especially if they are Blue.

''To their credit, most dreanans sent offworld to attend universities never return home to live. They may visit home, or gain posting in the Dreanan embassies in the GCST worlds, but any Dreanan smart enough to survive college and avoid the military realizes how miserable their homeland is and spends much of the rest of their lives staying away from it. Dreanan ex-patriots have done well in many different endeavors including, art, business and science showing that despite their origins these people are intelligent, and capable after a little eye-opening experience. Even some that have not had such enlightenment have done well and raised to the command levels of the Amber Military.

''Dworkin told me once that the problem with this world has more to do with the parameters that Oberon and Finndo used to find the place. That they looked for a place that siege-mentality had dominated the growth of the people in the shadow. Sure, blame it on cosmology.

''Maybe the Dreanans can be forgiven for their dour ancestry but not for failing to adapt over the 12 thousand local years since the House of Brolic signed the GCST in 1202.

''I mean come on guys. Bang some sticks together and pick up the beat. Even military music would be an improvement.  

''Its been a few years since I wrote the above addendum.  In that time I have taken a ration of shit from a lot of Dreanans about it.  What amuses me about this is that it comes from different angles.  

''One group, lets call them the Conservatives, decried my insulting tone when talking about their beloved homeland.  They claim that I clearly did not understand the importance of tradition to them. I was incapable of grasping the true complexities of their kingdom and the importance of the Tier of Coronets.  I was obviously too dense to see the nuances in their histories.  And lastly, and my favorite, I did not grasp the vast importance of their inter-shadow mercantile industry.

''The second group, lets call them the Blues told me that I was letting their ruling classes and merchant classes off too easy.

''The conservatives would tell me of their vast contribution to the military of Amber and their deep involvement in the navies, and hence the commerce, of Amber.  I agreed.

''The Blues would howl drunkenly at how I didn’t go far enough about the THOUSANDS of years it took their royalty to grasp simple concepts of rulership and industry. I agreed.

''The conservatives would go on about the lordly nobility of their ancestors and their lives lost in the defense of their homeland and of the Kingdom of Amber.  I agreed.

''The blues would ask me to kill their King and put a blue on the throne.  I hemmed and hawed.

''Clearly though, I am in the Blue camp.

''What makes me write this is a shocking occurrence in the House of Brolic’s ruling line.  Regicide, fratricide, lese majesty and all other kinds of bloody messes are common in the politics of Dreana. So after a prolonged round of assassinations and bloody carnage the Line of Brolic has just raised a new King to Throne.  The new wearer of the 12th Coronet is King Dunran Brolic.  He is a sickly man who has never been able to benefit from Amber medicine.  He came to the throne after a convoluted political argument among the ruling family that took twenty years and killed off 59 members of the royal family.  For Dunran the Sickly to have survived the gross stupidity of his kin, once they decided to go to the mattresses, is amazing.

''But the really amazing thing is that as all this foolishness played out Dunran’s son was safe and sound at Fantalin, learning about double digit accounting and the value of diplomacy.  Dunran’s eldest son is Markosi Brolic, the first Blue the ruling line has ever produced.

''((GM-Notes:So many things.  I intended for several PC enemies to come from Dreana and the House of Brolic.  Bleys hates these guys and he was my voice to the PCs.  Also, i imagined the PCs being deeply involved in Brolic politics including acting as Bodyguards, friends, even rescuers of Markosi Brolic.  I intended the PC to be gravely and even murderously insulted in public by Dunran the Sickly.  Fun ensues. ))

''((GM-Notes:This place has two things i wanted to have the players interact with.  Louis Armstrong and baseball.  I had hoped to have a PC. or perhaps my PC-NPC bring both to Amber.

===''''Braldig's Tinkery'''===

So who owns this place? Erasamus Braldig. This is a cantankerous guy who is unequaled in simple tinkery. That is a polite way of putting the truth. Braldig is a hairy pain in the ass. I think he is the person that casts shadows of nasty old cusses. He makes his own gin, drinks it straight, eats his beef raw, and you can piss off if you don't like it. You got to love a guy so sure of himself that he doesn't give a tinker's damn about what anyone thinks of him. He is that tinkerer and he keeps his damns close to the vest. That's the kind of a guy he is.

'''Addendum

''Braldig is a great guy as long as you have a strong stomach and a steady nerve. It is rumored that Braldig is a shadow of Dworkin. Figures. Aries Colbresi, Dean of Treasures at Fantalin and holder of the Oberon Professorial, a powerful sorcerer and one of the most benevolent and capable minds in Amber's service, is also known to be a direct shadow of Dworkin. Makes ya wonder, eh kinsman?

''Erasmus has one of the greatest Constant action machines in existance. But not the only one by far. Just the greatest one built a piece at a time. Others i have found are bigger, but came in to being by the forces of chaos and creation.  

''((GM-Note: Braldig was an opportunity to curse like a drunk sailor.  Something that shocked my players since it was so out of character for me. Also it was a place to get advice on almost anything the PC might pick up in shadow or break in shadow.

Like many people in such places of royal importance Reane is retied from her original occupation. She served in the Amber military for 370 years eventually rising to serve for twenty years as chief of the Amber Guard. The tattoo on her forearm is well earned. She also served unofficially as Oberon's chief torturer.

'''Addendum

''Add this in the region of new data discovered by Sweet-as-Vinegar [[Maylon Hendrake]] and her bloody [[Heirs and spares]] genealogy of Dworkin. It turns out that Josef, born Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, or Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain, is a son of Oberon. Imagine that. And while his allegiance to Amber is in place his trump shows the green bar of those in the sway of Mandalay. Dworkin assures me this has more to do with Vine River's location in shadow than Josef's personal allegiance. Sure. He has a blood son as well, Red Cloud.  

''I like this place for a lot of reasons.  I grew up in Amber and places my mother knew, and schooled in Thelusia.  But i found Gerard and I often sought out the solitude of the mountains and Amberites have a song in our souls for them, the reason unknown.  Gerard and I and a man named Del Que spent a year together far from anyone.  Trapping, hunting, singing, brewing homemade hooch and living without a care in the world.  The natives here are not war-like but make a very rough game of Counting Coup.  We played.  If asked, and in a suitably drunk frame of mind, when i was happiest in my life, its hard to say this was not one of those times.  Gerard and I have a bond between us from those times.  Its a bond i trust, but not one i want to test to hard.  

''Among the peoples that seem to wander in are a variety of creatures of natural bents that are a bridges between man and beast.  They vary widely in physique. Titanthropes, Sasquatchs, Neanderthals, and some types creatures of these natures with lizard ancestry.  These creatures are elusive, even compared to the mountain men.  Yet they are creatures of great serenity and ingenuity even if their intelligence is not the equal of the more civilized peoples.  They are not typically social creatures, outside their own kind, but they do develop relationships with others if the circumstances allow.  The rope made of woven by the titanthorpes are extremely strong, of necessity, but is also among the highest quality for any number of uses.  Replicated copies of their rope is used on Vulsar for many purposes.  

''Another note about Vine River, and an important one, is that while one may hunt here to ones heart content it is a place of healing.  Dispatch your prey if you intend to eat them.  A wounded animal will bleed out if the would is great enough but given a moment or two to recover will heal from great wounds.  This makes the Counting Coup rough.  You can get grievously injured and heal, reasonably quickly.  If you bring someone wounded here they heal fast.  Not instantly but a broken arm heals in a weak, a gut shot in a month.  Be careful.   

''((GM-Note:The PCs might want to rescue indigenous people.  Never know.  Also, i have a huge interest in the mountain-man trapper period. Jeremiah Johnson, John Colter, Jim Bridger, Joseph Walker, etc. Real and fictional.  Jeremiah Johnson is one of my favorite movies.  I had hoped some of these heroes might come to amber as well.

==='''14. Wala Heights, Taxorami'''===

==='''15. Mandalay'''===

[[File:Pygg.jpg]]

''Mandalay.. hmmm. Its a dare. Adrien turns out to be a son of Oberon and a long time resident of Chaos. He has contacts deep in shadow and some kind of affinity with the natural forces of shadow, apart of the sentient ones that seem to take care of themselves. I hesitate to call him the Arch-druid of Amber but the term is not far from the mark. Adrien is part of some deep game from the beginnings of the creation of Amber and i can't get Oberon of Dworkin to tell me a damn thing about it.  

==='''16. Castle Arden'''===

This castle is Julian's headquarters in Arden. Until recently it was not open to his brothers. Not exactly off limits, just secretive and not spoken about outside the secret circles of the Arden Guard. Even Benedict was unaware of its existence. That takes doing. Look at the damn thing. Its a bloody cathedral in a open piece of parkland. And no one mentioned it? Really????

Perhaps Oberon knew about it and kept it's secret but Random is a very different kind of king. He put a trump of the place right there in the deck. So much for secrecy, eh, Jules?

It is a military establishment of the first order and one of Amber's last lines of defense. From there the defense of the land route and the shadow trails is administrated.

'''Addendum

''Julian and I have made some peace, as have many of my siblings, since Patternfall. So let me temper my comment on Castle Arden. I do understand the need for security.

''I do check my cup when he hands me a drink, though. I trust he won't poison me, but i don't think he is beyond putting a scorpion in it or a freeze-stone. Haha... Who knew he had a sense of humor? I think its a mark of the success of Random's reign that we elders are starting to be comfortable enough to play practical jokes on each other again.

A short walk from the Hub of Mandalay is this valley dedicated to leisure and the performance arts.

''This entry will be unusual and hopefully helpful.

''There are many forces in shadow that causes people to travel shadow to other shadows that draws them, uncontrollably.  Vine River draws both individuals and nature oriented groups.  Mountain men from thousands of shadows find themselves drawn to Vine River and may or may not notice the transition, depending on how often they seek the comforts of civilizations.  Times of trail and danger opened the way for native peoples fleeing oppression and death.  Adrian's Dramaturgy calls performers, some moments from death and despair to it.  Theaters devotees, stage crewman, promoters, and fans seem to dribble in for many unclear reasons.    So it goes as the Patterns and the Logrus tangle.  

''I ran into a group of Rahz Ferso fans in the Harbor district of Amber. Outside Thin Whip's actually. They had read my article and came after me to avenge Ferso's killing. Frankly i am surprised he has fans that can read, little lone find their way to Amber. 8 of these guys thought they could kill a Prince of Amber. SO i scattered them across shadow in veils with the most diverse natural laws i could imagine. If any of them find their way back I'll squire them..  

''The monetary system used in the Dramaturgy is sufficiently complex as to need study elsewhere.  [[Obs in the Dramaturge]]

''Turns out that under some exploration of this place, taken at something close to gunpoint, it does have animal life and it does have plant life, and it has some non-native sentient life hiding in the rocky hills far from the Jeweled Road.  The gunpoint was the hand of Benedict who tasked me to seek out bandits, perhaps Azcalan troops, that were preying on travelers on the Jeweled Road.  I found several things.  First, the plant and animal life probably didn't start here.   

''So it was as i traveled into the far reaches of the most desolate plot of land i ever saw. First off, about 30 miles from the road the forces of the universe prohibit air travel.  The shadow is also not a complete one so if you you are piloting a plane, or starship as it turns out, over the Jeweled Road you are fine.  Take a right or left and 30 miles in you stop.  Hard. Fast.  Or if you bounce off the wall if you hit it at an angle.  This wall goes down to 50' from a surface.  Thanks, so i tried low level crafts, hover-cycles and such. but they puttered out.. frigging universe.   

''So it came to ridding a Varactyl.  Nice beasts.  Good hot weather beasts.  Smell like rotting wet elephants and they like to cuddle.  I traveled deep into the hot lands of fiery air on a stinky cuddle lizard.

''So there Childe Bleys did find the Hollow. The Hollow is what the people there call it.  They are a collection of people from a wide variety of shadows and an unpleasant and stubborn lot they are.  The Hollow has a function similar to the Dramaturge where criminals of mostly solitary inclinations find there way here and find form a lose society of raiders and ravagers of a criminal nature.     

''They go off and raid the travelers on the road but its not their main goal. In the Hollow is a further collection of passage ways into shadow.

((GM-Notes: Many individuals are sources of information for the PCs.  Braldig, Mama Agalvar, and Phil.  Phil is a cook.  Never know when a good menu i needed.

==='''20. The Church of the Unicorn, Amber'''===

((GM_Notes-It was likely that at least one PC would be religious, a paladin type or a cleric type. There would be some type of healing spells.

''I recently spoke to Benedict about this card and he said something amusing. That he said something amusing about anything is worth mentioning.

''He said he thought the card to the Jeweled Road is in the deck so Random can find his way home when drunk.

''Another strange thing about the card is that its fast. Really fast. Most place trumps open a gate in a few moments that you have to walk through. This card pops open with a snap and almost draws the viewer in. If one is wounded, drunk, disoriented, or distracted you can glance at this card, almost casually, and it pops open a narrow path and sucks you in. I discovered this recently and was amazed at the deck having something so useful.

''It has recently been pointed out to me that in both the regular notation on this card and in the above Addendum entry i failed to actually comment on the road itself, thus making the reader curious about it. This has caused a great deal of research and paranoia. Usually reading while paranoid is amusing but i am assured that enough real conspiracies exits in Amber that creating the illusion of one concerning such a massive thing as the Jeweled Road is just mean.

''So hear me all yee searchers of woe.

''The Jeweled Road is a massive construct stretching from Amber to Chaos.

''Through out shadow exist an innumerable variety of shadow trails created by equally innumerable methods. Most of my siblings in our youth spent some time traveling to create a network of trade routes in to and out of Amber. Some of these travel to and from Golden Circle worlds, some to places where we find items of worth in Amber. A similar situation exists in the Black Zone worlds. Also, enclaves of multidimensional connected worlds have webs of roads that can be traveled in a dizzying number of ways.

''Basically, there were a lot of roads.

''Next was a massive project begun at the behest of a young monarch of Amber, our Good King Random, to bring Amber the Nation out of the dark ages into at least the renaissance. This included a massive re-pavement program and an upgrading of services project featuring the creation of an extensive sewer system, running water plumbing and resurfacing of the streets and highways of amber with puzzled stone. All the streets of Amber were covered by puzzled stone well out into shadow and as far as Diaga. Houses were retrofitted with flush toilets and running hot and cold water. Sea routes were dredged. Streets were lighted by glow globes that required no maintenance. Cities created after Patternfall, the most notable being Garn, bear little resemblance to Amber save in kitschy architectural allusions, and street names. Garn looks more like a well conceived and planned Los Angeles than the magically created quaint fairytale city like Amber. Puzzled roads were part of their building as were magically produced electricity and advance plumbing.

''Toll stations were established, as were frequent tiny villages just to help the weary traveler. Inns, taverns, repair stations as well as vehicle depots to help travelers from one tech level move his cargo along into another. I have enjoyed seeing computer parts being shipped by oxen teams...

''So then comes Ygg, Adrian, and the Mark of Mandalay.

''All acts of grand creation change things in unexpected ways. The Jeweled Road was one of these. The Mark of Mandalay was made using a number of different colored stones crushed to powder and used as a material component. Amber had just been repaved in highly puzzled stones. The powers of creation dragged these two things together and pulled on the road systems throughout shadow and created one long highway with Mandalay in the middle, and a massive Vales on either side of it.

''So now many of the shadow trails have tendrils to the Jeweled Road and hence to Mandalay, Amber and Chaos. Sorcerers and drovers, merchants and corporations that had limited access to a few neighbor worlds now can trade their wares in the big cities.

''The road itself is 100' wide in most places, with crossroads and connecting lines ranging from 30' to 70' wide.  There are some precarious and unsettling ng 10' wide walking trails that cross dynamic landscapes and precipices. These jeweled stone ways are impervious to most damage. It can't be pried up, blown up, or bitten off. The time ratio is fast too. The little villages and way stations are at the same time ratio. Its as if the travelers can take a leisurely trip and lose nearly no time getting to whatever off ramp they are trying to get to.

 

''The road can be walked from Amber to Mandalay in 10 days. From Mandalay to Chaos in 5 days. It takes 2 days to clear Mandalay. Call it 17 days from Amber to Chaos on foot if you avoid being distracted. 10 days by Horse. A good Hellride can make it in 5 days but the rider will be a wet mess by the time the ride is finished.  A casual trip might take a month. Now everyone can make the trip.  Lucky us.

Halzir is a strange section of a very strange world. I waxed rhapsodic earlier about this shadow so I won't repeat myself but Halzir is a different kettle of fish.

This is one of the Diners of Amber. Three ribbons of stone, a thousand feet long, 300 feet tall, and 200 feet wide rise out of a calm blue sea. The ribbons extend down 200 feet below the surface of the waters. Over the centuries these once solid ribbons of stone have been mined, carved, and populated. Bridges span the ribbons and nearly twenty thousand people live here. Vast glass windows adorn lower halls giving a wonderful view of the sea life below the waves.

People here live on fish. The ribbons span a major spawning route and thousands of fish swim north to south every day. They just toss out nets from their windows, lower them and drag up a couple of fat trout for supper; maybe a couple dozen for smoking or drying.

The card actually delivers the traveler to the doorway on the extreme lower left of the card, near a wharf for riverboats, and gondolas. This is Wet Wendell's Hothouse. Wet Wendell runs a really tight ship.  I consider him a close personal friend, which of course means i love him dearly and don't trust him a tiny little bit. Restaurant, card-club, distillery, boarding house, brothel, dance club, industrial hub, conference center and municipal offices all rolled into one. That's the Hothouse.

Wet Wendell passes for a Mayor in Halzir. In much the same way he might  also pass for a governor of Taxorami. Or an emperor, pirate, robber-baron, procurer, pimp, or Indian chief. He is a pretty funny guy and knows very well about Amberites. Knows most of us personally. While Taxorami is physically nowhere near a Golden Circle world, Wet Wendell's has held high level meetings of a dizzying variety. One of the preliminary Patternfall Treaty documents was signed here. Two Golden Circle Treaties were signed here. A private defense agreement between Caine and Wet Wendell was worked out here. Both Random and the last Swayvill have been known to the vacation here. Wet Wendell understands about reservations, emergencies and the need for added security measures.

((GM-Note:I imagined many a hellride passing through here with players taking a break at the Hothouse.

((GM-Note: This is a nice opening scenario, traveling shadow, hunting nazis. I also intended this scenario to be instructive of how to change history and shift shadow.  Kill Goring in 1937, shift to the effected shadows down the line and see how things turned out. If they get Hitler admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1907 and give him a big patronage to paint landscapes and move to Mexico in 1910, letting him skip trench warfare and you have a very different world by 1984.  Sometimes the little rocks leave big ripples in the ocean.

[[File:Pbigtree.jpg]]]

'''Addendum

''I just learned something about this place. The only way for magic to work in this realm is if you are wearing the Jewel of Judgment! Nice Trick, my liege. Of course discovering that was an uncomfortable surprise for me.  

'''Addendum

''I recently discovered that this shadow has a cosmological oddity worth noting.

''Braldu's is meant as a place of rest, and sleep is one of the most common activities. It is also a place of solitude. For some reason it is also a place immune to boredom. The nature of the realm is that what ever you choose to do with your time you really enjoy it and get plenty of relaxation out of it. Bodily functions move toward peak performance. If you are hugely fat and come here to exercise you really enjoy it, get maximum relaxation, and the time it takes to burn the fat is nearly cut to a 1/20th of the time.

''If you come to read you can devour tome after tome without rest. If you came to paint then your mind tosses up visions that simply must be transferred to canvas.

''After it all you feel like you have been asleep for months and had just woken up refreshed and ready to face the day, month, or year.

''Pretty clever. Nice place to do magical research.  

'''Addendum

''There is one thing about Drisna that the Travel Guides do not mention and they really should. You leave with an experience, your question examined, your knowledge expanded.  But there is a price.  If you assay the Oracle of Drisna it will give you a small pnch that will take some time to fade away.  You will sneeze for no reason.  Stutter.  Gain revolting body oder.  Lose your taste buds or your sense of smell.  You might gain the power to see invisible objects.  Be able to tell when you are lied to.  The effect could be almost anything, good or bad.  The effect might last an hour, a day, or a century. Be warned.  When i was young and assayed it i learned the information i needed on a small matter.  But i also vomited everytime i smelled gin.  Hence why Caine drinks gin.  He thought it was funny.  All he got was a facial tick that went away in a week.  Mine laster 10 years and i don't like gin to this day.  

((GM-Notes:  There are a couple oracles in the deck. An oracle is a strong way to push a PC onto a course of action.  I intended the oracles to have different levels of insistence. Drisna was forgiving.  Sitting here i could lightly suggest a wide range of options.  Sitting in the Tower of Night, one was perhaps committing oneself and the whole game to a sweeping nightmare.  Big EP!  Lots of Prizes!  But beware, you will get a funny side effect!

I would be doing a disservice to Oberon's Fire if i didn't speak about their Pepper Sauce. {I can hear the woeful sigh of ladies across the Golden Circle.  There are few things as hated by them as having people turn the topic of conversation at a soirée to a condiment}  

'''Addendum

''More and more I find myself thinking a lot went on before I was born that no one bothered to tell me about. The restaurant called Oberon's Fire is significantly named. It is not simply an homage to Oberon. It seems during his nasty-stomping days a huge bunch of nasties almost got the better of Old Oberon and the boys. They had to fight tooth and nail against a massive number of giant beasts and in the end Oberon was forced to use the Jewel of Judgment as a fire focus to destroy them. He was young though and the power of the jewel got away from him. Nice to know he was not always perfect.

''So he became a immolated burning torch as the jewel fought to consume him and he fought to extinguish the fire. To quench it he threw himself into a massive pool of water, which burst into steam. The fire of the Jewel of Judgment was scoured off Oberon and remained in the pit. It has remained there ever since, never wavering. So the meat cooked over the massive barbecue pit is prepared by master chefs who know how to cook meat over a primal fire drawing its fuel directly from the Jewel of Judgment across vast expanses of shadow-veils. Cool trick. Nice fire.

'''Addendum

''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.

''Just a tad on the geography of this realm because one of the cousins, Vance of course, made a trip there and did something unusual. He brought his companion, not unusual, and two jet speeders with their camping gear. It had never occurred to me, nor anyone else it seems, to explore more then a few days horse ride from the spot the card delivers you.

''The Great Gorge is certainly the most well known place. Within 500 miles of it on either side is a east/west ridge of vast waterfalls. Above it is a lush plain stretching further then we cared to explore when love was on our minds. It seems that a thousand miles north of the divide is a mighty lake, fed by an even greater snowy mountain range. This volcanic range dumps lava north, melting the snow that falls year round. A very dynamic water system, a friend of mine told me when i described it.

''This lake blooms a dozen rivers each miles across to flow down toward the Divide. They splinter into smaller streams that create the waterfalls.

''South of the divide is the verdant forests, woodlands, and meadows that we have all come to love and to love in. Six hundred miles to the south the rivers start reuniting as they bunch into a vast collections of lakes braced by a third ridge of low mountains and hills. These are more rock-piles then mountains and they trickle the water down to a beach unlike any i had seen before. They show an active water system having washed away light soil from hard stone.

''A new areas for fun have been found.

''The Beach is about 2000 miles long and at most 20 miles deep from the Third range to the crystal blue sea. The rives flow into the ocean creating fresh water trickles into a lightly salty sea. The beaches vary between white, gray, blue, pink, coral, golden, and black sands. Its very impressive.

''What Vance found was a region of numerous white water rapids of great complexity from the First ridge to the Second Ridge. He and i recently ran a few and i think i may start charting the good ones. I was amazed at Vance, really.  Ive long enjoyed white water rafting but it was sort of a private thing.  When Vance and ran these it was amongst the most fun I ever had with a relative while sober. The ones we ran were in the high 3, 4, and low 5 range.  We noted a few 6s and tried a few.. A rapid one runs while having a trump open as an escape route is a challenging one.   

''The rock climbing at the Third Ridge is challenging as well for freehand work. There are caves worth exploring in all three Ridges.

''And of course the beach.

''When Vance and I showed all this to Random his comment was "There goes the neighborhood"

''For centuries that we elders knew of it an informal rule has been build nothing permanent here. Tent, yurts, Tippies, Vardo wagons, and such were the norm if more then a blanket was needed. Random has codified this now. He has rulled no digging, not building, except for Unicorn shrines.

''I think he knows something we don't.

'''Addendum

''There is a tavern called Bent Copper's Drop, near the White River in Fantalin. It is a college tavern. I could tell you some stories about that place, believe you me.

''I would like to write those tales out, but i tear to think of them. Days of youth when you believed in impossible things like truth, justice, loyalty, honor, majesty, duty, and spoke deep pacts against anyone who soiled these things. But in time they were soiled. All of them. Truth is in the eye of the beholder, justice can be bought, betrayal has a market value, honor falters, kings are just men, duty is as much an anchor as a it is wings, and pacts can be negotiated if you know the right wizard.

''So we grow out of such belief in absolutes and accept that these things exist not as glowing points, but as points on a tape measure. Things with starts and conclusions. Hopefully, things that can be regained. Then in our elder days we come to believe in them again, but this time, with a touch of wisdom, and a sad smile for those in the first bloom of youth, clutching these ideals to their breasts.  

(GM-Notes:I was always bummed i didn't get any PCs interested in higher education.  I had a lot of silly frivolous scenarios set in Fantalin around the school. Young love, feuding rivals, demanding teachers.  Fantalin is not just where young Amberites would be sent to school for book-learning.  All the Golden Circle worlds probably did as well, for centuries. Getting a degree at Fantalin and returning to Alagulpa Riesa, a small but vital Golden Circle shadow on the trade routes out of Diaga, would be like getting a Harvard law degree and returning to practice law in Fiji.  After Patternfall i had planned for young lords of Black Zone worlds and even young Lords of Chaos to attend Fantalin.   

Then at some point i hoped to introduce a person i hoped to have rock the Amber universe by accepting a very public teaching position;Dowager Queen Cymnea.  This person would have the goods on the Elders and the PCs would do well befriending her.  Sadly, it never happened and she remains a recluse.

===='''Augmentation to the Original'''====

 

 

 

''I recently had to go here for purposes not necessarily pertinent to this article. Once there I went through a series of trials and tribulations which included an encounter with a weapon-master. This guy used a weapon he called a Deathwheeler. It was a pike on the back end, and on the front business end was three rows of curved knives. 4 curved up and forward, 4 curved down and backward, 4 in the center curved left and 4 in the center curved right. A pike point stuck straight forward. The knives spin somehow. The damn thing looked deadly as all heck. They have ones that don't magically spin. They have armies using it. Scary...

''Another thing i learned about Ang Ri is that it was originally four other worlds, each very different except for having similar lifeforms.  Not existing in a rational universe of stars and physics, but in the waves of variations that culminates in the [[Stuff of Chaos]], four separate worlds at various point came into contact and instead of erupting in shards of ruined worlds they melted together like flavored butters.  Now, centuries or millennia later, the cultures have grown together too.  It explains a lot about the way the people in this world interact.''

''On the topic of Travel Guides and fictional characters.

''Doria was the main person disadvantaged by the use of these books. Her friends and her foes so chronicled have followed her.  But others are there too. Some people are collecting the various versions of us and trying to figure out which ones were most accurate. Many of us have hunted down these books and devised defenses accordingly. Be forewarned.

==='''Fane of Zila'''===

''The Fane of Zila turns out to have some very tricky rules and the place is massive in the extreme. It is a disorganized mishmash of cathedrals, basilicas, and churches. It seems that the forces of chaos and shadow casts a powerful shadow of the finest examples of each religion's temple into the fane. This means that even if a prime temple is destroyed it's shade is here. That does not mean the mad priests of Zila can't go adding and changing things. Some forgotten temple, massive in size was taken by the priests of Zila and converted to the Cult of Amber. When Chaos legalized the Amber cults, they inadvertently added a massive basilica, originally a Temple of Benedict created in shadow, that now houses the great Amber Cults. This has had some strange effects on shadow and I am afraid to say it may be making gods of us all.  

''I think I will take some time to decide if this is a good thing.

This is a good place to get a painting done or have a glass of tea or wine with really pretentious art critics in the earth world of 19th century Vienna/Vies in the Great Kingdom of Austrasia. This nation spans the globe of a world where Napoleon and France conquered the world by 1840, leaving a strong imperial monarchy and several generations of able rulers. As has been commented on before, in shadow anything is possible.

A type of endless discussion group lives in this garret. It rests above a very fine café so it can be ranked amongst the Diners of Amber if you so choose. There is even a fair gambling club next to a brothel where fancy French women do naughty things to fancy Austrian women while fancy Nubian and confederate women wait and warm each other up.

He said something i have always liked, caught my atttention and made me seek him out when i found out he lived here.  "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."  I know the feeling.

Vincent Van Gogh is, well, Vincent Friggin Van Gogh.

Karl Lueger is a government employee in the Austrian Principality of Austrasia. A brilliant, anti-semetic, opportunistic, and driven man keen on the newest type of technology to improve the city. He is also a rabid anti-French Austrian patriot. This man is... interesting to argue with.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is the prototype of the eccentric artist.

There is a cacaphony of other renagades and roustabout artists and such.   

Quite often my brother Pierre can be found here.  Someday i should visit to meet him.

''Oh, the things that I could say about this place! Let us just say this is a very chatty place, filled with very chatty people, who have sources of information from Budapest, to Peking, to Los Angeles, to Johannesburg. They also have contacts from Amber to Avalon, Mandalay to Chaos.

''Since most Amberites are familiar with earth history, being frequent guests there, it happened like this.

''Napoleon demolished Europe by 1805. Ignoring Russia he sent armies to take Scandinavia just to get people used to the cold. After this every soldier in his army learned to deal with cold weather and eventually were able to invade Russia, from Finland, if you can believe it, and conquer Russia in 1812.

''This meant that by 1815 everything in Europe from the Orkneys and Ireland to Italy and the Low Countries, Russia to Spain and Portugal was now France. Not subject nations, they were provinces of France with new, or at least, renamed aristocracy. England, as a subject of the Empire, has never been comfortable.  London and York are hotbeds of rebellious activities in thie world and it almost seems like thats by design.  Every 4 or 5 years the opposition suffers a few deaths and a lot of setbacks.   

''Africa was never very organized anyway so all it took was some missionaries, some assassinations, and a judicious use of patronage and military might to take Africa from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope. An impressive act of barbarism paired with the acquisition of an impressive Grand Duke made short work of Africa. Napoleon met a young Shaka Zulu in 1807. Soon the young man was a colonel of the French Army, fighting in Algiers and Egypt. In 1816 when Shaka's father died he went to take control of the Zulu nation. He took along about 20,000 seasoned French/Algerian instructors and enough weaponry to destroy any stone age people that reared their ugly heads. Within 15 years the Zulu, loyal French citizens everyone, had conquered Africa and Shaka Zulu was not only a Marshal of France but a Prince of the Empire.

''With Europe, Africa, and Russia to draw troops, China, southeast Asia, and Australia had little hope.  The Edo shogunate in the early 1800s had been dealing with the intrusions into this waters by American and Russian whalers and when the French conquered Russia began discussions of alliances. Feudal Japan began trading directly with French merchant shipping and gained western military equipment and supplies. Japan had roundly trounced most of China, Southeast Asia, and had nearly exterminated the Australian aborigines by the time Russia/French/Zulu troops had conquered the Indian subcontinent.   

''By 1830 three distinct spheres of influence existed on this world.  French, American, and Japanese.  American influence in the southern hemisphere was unorganized and ineffective.

''By 1830 dissident movements had been squashed, transportation issues dealt with and the standard of living in Europe, Africa and Asia was uniform and high.

''From 1806 French spies had been fomenting disunion in the United States and with French support the Confederate Army rose in 1842. This death blow to the United States meant that Canada, Mexico, and the United States were divided into 8 separate regions and were completely subjugated by 1849.

''South America fell piecemeal throughout the 1830s. Moving troops around and visiting all the new provinces there took Napoleon 2 years between mid 1837-1839. It was in Panama, July 4, 1839, after laying out the plans and digging the first shovel full of dirt on a future canal, that he caught malaria and died.

''It didn't matter. He had a son ready, a grandson in uniform, and a great-grandson in diapers.

''It especially didn't matter that he died because he didn't. He merely rejoined Benedict's General Staff. The fix was in from the start.

''Polynesia is still a hold out but so little government lives there than it is not worth mentioning. Besides, they need some place to send troops for practical experience.

'''Addendum

'''Addendum

Rebma, the first Jewel. The first of the Golden Circle Kingdoms and the only other nation on the sphere that Amber inhabits. Oddly, they have never been very involved in the politics of Amber. Oberon never took a Rebman wife, though Llewella is the result of a brief affair, and Martin is the result of a dalliance of Random's. Rene is the result of a one-night stand between Moire and Corwin.

One quick thing. I got Benedict roaring drunk here once. I even paid for damages. A word of advice; Don't get Benedict drunk.  He has issues.

Want to guess what his response was? "Hey bro, nobody walks in LA"

He keeps a sweet group of rides there. A Jag, a mazaratti, and a cool custom Rolls Royce limousine and a collection of crotch rocket cycles. There are a couple Taurus', BMWs, several ford pickups, and a few Mercedes too. Many of the Amberites keep stuff here, all part of 'Randy's Fleet.' I keep two T-bird classics here, a '56 and a '67, as well as a 2000 Roadster. Flora keeps a red corvette. Benedict keeps a locked section where he keeps his own toys. Merlin dropped off a VW rag-top I borrow sometimes and Corwin keeps a jeep and a Harley. Caine keeps a '32 ford stretch limo that is low on amenities but very high on cool. A few miles away Julian keeps several racehorses, Gerard keeps a very nice luxury yacht, and both Random and Delwin keep a few airplanes.

''Recently i dropped by to do a little sightseeing

''As time has gone by a few addendum comments on Grand Vulsara seem reasonable.  There is a sense of everyone being from someplace else here which anyone who has served in a military can recognize.  Orders come, people move, families relocate, and life goes on.  But there is also an extremely large population that despite having ancestors who arrived on star-ships, considers its self Native of what they no longer call Vulsar, or Vulsar Base but Grand Vulsara.

''The trouble is the time ratio.  Its 60 to 1 in Amber.  As has been noted elsewhere the phrase means 60 days in Vulsar for every 1 in Amber. A year here is 12 months of 30 days.  So for every 6 days in Amber a year goes by here.  It builds up.  Children are born, grow, attend school, go to Star Fleet academy, and receive posting on star ships and its not been a year in Amber.  Regeneration technology and other forms of age treatments exist, but as an outsider you learn to deal with the Rank and the Office and the Specialist rather then dealing with the people.  Its tricky.  Because of the time relationships some long lived or immortal races have come here.  So if you run across an Elf in a officers uniform, speaking Noldorian, don't fret.  They just work here.

Well, not our Amber, but a [[Shade Realm]], Ambir. In his reality, he was Random, the last survivor of a violent throne war that swept Ambir at the beginning of Eric's reign. To hear him tell it most of the bloody parts were done when he and Corwen drove a VW bus into Amber. There they found Beniydict in the process of executing Fioyna. He and Corwen fought. They killed each other. Random took the throne. Cleaned the place up and set about securing the kingdom. Sadly he only had a few years to rule before Brandy, a female version of Brand, returned and destroyed herself on the Primal Pattern, wiping the shadows connected to Ambir away.

Frankly I didn't know Random liked golf but I asked him about it before I dropped in on this place. Turns out he is a fanatic about it. Who knew? Of the many things I thought I might do with my brothers over the years this was low on the list. Then after this card arrived and I asked him about golf and it all snowballed. Soon I found myself on the tee of the third hole at the Big Mount course at St. Masvir's with Random, Julian, Caine, Vance, and Flora. Turns out Flora played the pro circuits on Earth for about 90 years. She shoots 15 under par, my brothers. Don't bet a bent copper wing against her. She won that day, beating all her brothers.

St. Masvir of Arkens Links is an amazing place. Fully 23 complete 18-hole courses ranging in difficulty from bunny to masters. An awesome driving range. It has a Masvir Route of 300 holes. It also has a 1200 hole miniature golf course, a gigantic video arcade, a 12 mile miniature race track for go-carts, and an amazing amusement park with 200 thrill rides culled from the most maniacal places in shadow. Six Flags, a giant chain of amusement parks on many earth worlds. Only contributed 4 rides. The bar for inclusion here is high.

For those unfamiliar with St. Masvir, I shall enlighten you. He is an Earth Roman Catholic saint who settled world problems in an earth shadow of 1495 to 1655 by taking opponents in world crisis's and making them play a full Masvir Route of 300 holes. It is this route that is the center piece at St. Masvir's Links. A Masvir Route is a course of over 200 fairways that one picks and choose which they want to play. While most shadows have 9 or 18-hole courses as standard, Masvir courses are also popular in shadow.  

'''Addendum

((GM-Notes:I had a golf phase.  Not as a player, but as a spectator and a student of the game.  It has a rich history.  THe scoring in the obove bit is a bit off but give that a pass. I imagined this as a place PCs might bring those they intrigue with.

==='''The Stone of Skulls'''===

[[File:Pstone.jpg]]

The Stone of Skulls is a place where items can be given the chance to be empowered. It is a place where powers can be stolen. It is a crapshoot.

One of the things I have found in connection to the [[Travel Guides]] is that there is a wide swath of what are called 'Gamer Worlds'. These are worlds that are somehow connected in a symbiotic relationship, one shadow urban, high tech, the other of a wide range of descriptions, The connection being that certain individuals in the Gamer Worlds seem to be the objects of observation by people in the observer worlds. Call the Observers Players and the objects of observation Characters. There is a game 'Master' who has a wider connection to specific worlds and when a dizzying number of changes and actions occur the Game Master knows of it. Its questionable which way the power flows.   

There are an infinite number of shadows divisible. I have been assured by Dworkin that a full set of infinity can have boundaries, Like Chaos or the Abyss, or Amber. Arguing the illogical nature of that is pointless and hard on the furniture. In these urban worlds are groups of people who meet as regularly as clockwork to 'play' these role playing games. There they believe they haul us about on strings and make us dance to their music, whatever cacophonic forms it takes, and in fact do seem to view into the lives of the characters on the Gamer Worlds. A nearly limitless number of people on vast numbers of urban worlds viewing the actions of a eclectic variety of shadows.

These shadows have certain similarities that bear considering. Many have an 'unfinished' feel to them as if the Game Master didn't have the time to figure out a better way for people to get water than to carry it in buckets. They have a weird collection of technologies. Barbaric splendor worlds with flush toilets, public transportation, knights on horse back while the population ride bicycles, and magical entertainment devices like televisions, as if the GM-Game Master- can not conceive of a world with out such conveniences.. It tends to be confusing.

The Stone of Skulls resides in just such a world.

There are exceptions. The Stone of Skulls is such an exception.

One trumps in 500 miles or more away from where the image seems to indicate. Once there you must seek the stone on a directly northern route, travelling amongst the Gore-Tex clad peasants tilling the field with bicycle wheeled plows under the watchful eyes of the local lord or knight on his manly charger. You must fight a bizarre series of encounters as dangerous as swordmaster bandits, or seas of vicious rabid Hamsters. Rabid elephants are not unknown either. There seem to be a lot of giant things and a lot of rabid things and a lot of ensorcelled things. The GM of this world has a warped sense of humor.

Nonetheless one can certainly die here. Never doubt it. I was laughing so hard at the rabid elephant that charged willy-nilly about knocking over trees and scattering hordes of peasants, that I forgot it was really a rabid elephant and it stuck three feet of tusk through my belly and hurled me 30 feet in the air. Joke-time was over and I melted the beast into a puddle of char and grease before I hit the ground, bleeding and pissed off.

I mean really, Rabies? Rabid Elephants? That's just mean.

Why this card is in the deck I do not understand. Personally I think it is a threat.

''For reasons beyond me Dworkin ordered me to go spend time here.  Thanks grandpa, so glad you started attending family dinners.''

''Once there i found it to be a realm of Camelot in its earliest years. The Realm of Camelot here is a large one, and valiant, if a bit idealized. The kingdom is strong and knights come from realms far and wide to serve Arthur. YOung men in the bloom of youth recieve the accolade and serve the realm for many years before being offered a place at the round table.

''The Table itself is shockingly massive.  100 seats around a single table, a seat for the king, a seat for the queen, and dozen seats saved for specific reasons;Siege Perilous, Siege Perfectus, Siege Koa.  Surrounding the massive table are three tiers of seats for Orders of Knights.  The youngest untried knights take the 3rd Order and must travel to prove their mettle. There is not a dam bridge in this realm some steel-clad dolt isn't contesting passage on. ''

''The land of the fair maiden, evil sorceress, the knight Errant and the ruffian mercenary is a boggle to the mind.  There is something archetypal about this place and that should be born in  mind when traveling here. ''

'''Ah, France'''

This card functions in an unorthodox manner.  Its time relationship to Amber is about Ten:One-Amber. (See [[Time Relations In Amber]])

This gives one 10 days to one in Amber.  Upon drawing the card one has a sense of the place and what is to be expected.  One can gaze into it.  When one steps forward, one can choose how much time there will be before the gathering of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. A day, a month, a year, 30 years, its the dealer's choice.  Once there the dealer and his entourage can not open a trump themselves to leave. They may not used shadow-walking powers. Nor can one teleport, beam up or otherwise escape under your own steam.  You may answer a Trump, and thereby escape, but otherwise he is there till July 30, 1520.  After that date the block on trump use is lifted.  Also, high level Sorcery is not available though several lesser forms of magic are.   

I found this out when i first tried the card. On the time option i picked 30 years, not certain what would happen, not being well versed in the particular history of the region, and unable to Trump out.  However, i had spent time in the Crusades of this world and had a general idea of who was who on what side as things went.  Had spent some time in the Napoleonic Wars as well, so my knowledge of history was general.  I had not visited the War of the Roses at that time.  

Well, I was a Prince of Amber without Letters Patent in England or France.  So I went to Rhodes for a couple years, got Knighted into the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. I had respected them in Jerusalem in another shadow. That it took some finagling to get knighted, considering is no small tale.  Then i went to England as something of a high ranked Knight Errant.  I fought in the Italian wars mostly which i can tell you was a clusterboink of the first water but for a military prince of Amber they were jolly fun.  I knew little of the politics comeing in, and being blocked from seeking information in a normal way i was forced to tough it out like mortals.  By 1520 i was in the retinue of Henry the Eight with an English Patent, familiar with King Francis, and had a squires and servants as befit a man of rank.  

It was a time of jousting, and courtly love, and intrigue and bad water.  It was delightful  Longer then i expected since i was researching these cards at both Random & Dworkin's behest.  I spent 50 years in this world, nearly 4 years of time in Amber.  I lived her from 1490 to 1540.

When I determined the shadow my Trump was connected to was frozen, and i needed to return for a couple months to unfreeze the shadow, much to my surprise Benedict asked to join me.  When I prepared to return Benedict arrived dressed in the Horse and Kit of an Italian Condottieri, and took a single Amber silverwing to serve as my hired man.  At first this scared the ever-loving hell out of me, but in time i realized he was on vacation. We traveled together for 20 years, give or take a few separate excursions.  It was a strange and happy time, a carefree time, for we who had been taught not to get close to one's brothers. When we returned to felicity, we looked each other hard in eyes and shook hands.  I felt somehow forgiven.  I was sad to see our time there end, but there is no reprieve from duty.   

The pity is that once you leave, after July 30, it won't deliver you to the same shadow.  It wants you to start in a new one.  I had to use the pattern to get back to the one i spent so long on.  If one speaks to men in my employ, you will find many came from here.  Including several currently serving in the [[Elite]].

So i said to ask me about Random's encouraging good behavior in his kin?  With King Random's permission i inform the holders of these decks, able to make them chime and open, what happened when i spoke to Random after i returned from the Field of the Cloth of Gold.   

Of the many things i never expected in my long life, it was crying while being knighted by Random.

Lastly about the Southern Beach.  It is dotted with small but efficient fishing villages specializing in whatever water fare is available.  Yet something about this wolds southern hemisphere causes the water to cycle around the planet rather then causing waves to crash on the beach.  This means the beaches tend to be rocky, pebbles, and a small amount of sand.  Tales tell of once a century storms where the waters change direction and toss hundreds of feet worth of sand against the South face of the Mountain Ring.  When the storm comes the villages break down what they can and they flee into the interior.  Afterwards they, and large numbers of the interior populace come out to reestablish the fishing communities.  A strangely communal project for a people that are mostly isolated.   

==='''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 ease 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 the [[arcologies]] that sustain their own populations in comfort and ease, at a price. Many an [[Arcology]] anchors burroghs in this massive citystate.

Sometimes i dress up in black body tight armor and latex, 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.  If you are interested, i know where there is a good specialized tailor.

''Its been many years since i wrote this comment.  I visited the place just to look in on it for the comment on its card.  I failed to see what was important to see.  Ive recently gone back and spent a long few years there.  Its a wonderful place like New Orleans under water.  Playful, a place where the elite black-sheep of Rebma's noble families and lesser sons play.  Much to my surprise its a place of piracy! Of the many sea lanes into Amber which run past Moins are many of the freebooter persuasion.  They are a rough lot, making their way raiding the merchant lanes into Amber, dodging the Amber, Diagan,  and Rebman navies; not an easy task.  I made friends in this community for a time.  Till they realized who i was.  Then i had to leave.  I did not see to their destruction, but i could not have stayed and not sunk in a knife or two. I left a few bodies of people i know were up to no good.  I am after all, a Prince of the Realm.

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.

===<div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">'''Tomb of the Ancestor's of Darkness'''</div>===