Red is the New Grey

Elektra of Petrus sits for Havelock, son of Bleys

In the light of dawn a teenage girl dashes across a scree slope of slate shards against a background dominated by a solid dark grey rock face. The look on her face, framed with ash blond hair, seems intent on her run, whether in exercise or flight. Her emerald green eyes contrast noticeably with her pale complexion. Dressed for ease of motion, she wears only a simple, off white, Doric chiton and sandals. The chiton, secured around her waist by a red and white belt, leaves her arms exposed to the shoulder and long legs bare from mid-thigh down. Strapped in scabbard on her back is a Celtic style shortsword with an anthropomorphic copper hilt. Some distance behind her the statue of an armoured woman sticks up out of the scree. At its foot a panoply made of slate lies discarded. The figure would look towards the girl, and viewer, were her own weeping face not buried in her hands.

Havelock will probably discuss members of the family Elektra has seen and met.

The ones Elektra knows best are her father and brother, of course. She loves them both but finds it hard to bear that Rhodri is clearly her father's favourite and it doesn't help that Rhodri won't stop going on about Amber. She doesn't know why her father can't accept her – he told her to stay out of the fray in that fight with the robots of Zero in House Vanguard – Elektra doesn't believe he'd have said the same to Rhodri.

Most of the other members of the family she has only spoken to briefly at that same function – in no particular order:

Bleys – seems very dashing, she can see the resemblance;

Fiona – harder to read but from what Elektra's seen she seems very caring, not much of a warrior, though;

Cymnea – scary and legendary;

Mandor – Elektra's father has warned her regarding his ability to manipulate people;

Corwin – very hard to read but it's obvious he's a great soldier and his name is legend in the Courts;

Caine – also a warrior but Elektra thinks she could take him, probably – on a good day – she thinks Caine likes her father for some reason;

Dirk – she thinks he's a little scared of his father;

Deirdre – on first meeting, Elektra thought she'd get on well with her, as a woman and a warrior, but Elektra feels there are shutters behind her eyes;

Julian – another warrior, probably not as puissant as Corwin or her father and Elektra fancies her chances against him;

Constance – a little weird, and rather sad – Elektra sees similarities in the way Julian treats Constance to her own relationship with Darig;

Margrath – in no way a warrior – Elektra assumes he is some form of warlock but is dismissive of him;

Elektra also met Tajal and Ibemo during her father's masterclass but she had little time to evaluate them – both have some ability as warriors but are far beneath Elektra. She has little knowledge of others directly, though she has been schooled in their legends.

Issue a few gentle warnings that we can all appear very nice, but have our own calculations.

She nods, she seems to have heard the same from someone else – possible several others...

Turn the conversation to times he has been a <cough> rebel against the throne, which I think is all sorted now.

An eyebrow rises – she knows Bleys, Fiona and Brand sided with the Courts in the recent wars but the first two have since returned to the fold. Elektra has not heard anything of Havelock's part in the wars and very, very much would like to hear more – she loves tales of war and swashbuckling deeds of valour.

Mostly let her talk and answer her questions after all she has been around only a few weeks, and no young girl wants her uncle lecturing her. However, Havelock is a great raconteur so throw in a few stories of dashing cavalry actions, tales of bravery with a streak of ‘against orders’, swashbuckling duelling in Dumas and his love for horses.

As mentioned, Elektra can't get enough of this sort of thing – Havelock finds his audience flatters his ego.

Do run through the Trumps when talking about the family, mainly as show and tell, but might pick up other cards in use.

No one has yet taken her through the trumps – possibly because her father does not have a trump deck. But she has been schooled on her place in the genealogies of both sides. She does find the trumps fascinating.

What questions does she have for him?

OK, she has quite a few, which come out at different points in the sitting.

Firstly, she likes the way Havelock's portrayed her in the trump – would it be possible to wear clothes like that in Amber? She especially likes the splash of red – like blood...

Havelock explains what he knows of the Court of Amber through his artist’s eye. He himself has not been there often and would probably say such dress was fine on private occasions. The fashions of the King’s Court revolved around the King and mostly that was Oberon, with influence of whichever wife. Once a fashion is set it takes on a monolithic nature which requires effort of the royalty to change. Random or other effectors on Amber may have changed this while the army has been away.

If she is presented in court in that style then she may be perceived as rustic and unworldly, this might be useful a few times to cause some to underestimate you, but would soon make her socially side-lined. For fashion advice seek out one of the Princesses, despite such advice probably coming with a small political price.

Flora is probably the most openly fashion and etiquette conscious of them but, Havelock not having painted her, the one he really knows least about. Llewella maintains her own style from her Rebman home and probably has the best perspective on being 'other' and Havelock suggests Elektra might enjoy visiting Rebma.

Deirdre would have knowledge about trying to position oneself as a martial woman in a martial male-dominated setting. Finally Fiona, and despite her being his close aunt, Havelock is a loss as what to say; she has style and a way of manipulating brothers, most importantly she is a keen observer of people.

[I think we may be talking at cross-purposes here – Elektra's question was essentially whether she could wear those particular colours – ie cream and red – she was not talking about the cut or style of the clothes, just the colours – remember that House Petrus wear uniform slate grey. Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing – whatever the style of clothing, members of the Royal family always dress in their established colours and are expected to do so at all official occasions.

Regarding style – in Amber women are expected to wear full length dresses, whether arms and shoulders can be revealed depends upon the time of day and the particular social occasion. Necklines may plunge but not excessively. The precise style may change but at no time would a thigh-length dress have been acceptable in Amber, as far as Havelock knows. On the other hand, Petrus only wear thigh-length chitons for combat and other athletics – normal dress is ankle-length.]

Elektra isn't exactly wanting advice on fashion, she just likes the idea of wearing something colourful that makes you stand out in a crowd – certainly not the case in House Petrus.

Havelock will, again briefly, discuss how members of the Blood have their own colours. In this it he makes it implicit that he considers her one of that number.

There is nothing Havelock could say that could make her happier. She makes it clear that she is deeply unhappy with the idea of being left behind – that Rhodri is an 'Amberite' while she is destined to be mired in Chaos. She wants to escape but knows House Petrus will not countenance her leaving.

Havelock will use gentle words, talk about how long we Amberites live and that at times it is best to bide your time, 'keeping your powder dry', for the most opportune moment to get what we each want.

He will relate a story of being stuck as a junior intelligence gathering officer a long way behind enemy lines after a reversal of fortune for the shadow army he was with. How he hid out in the souks and bazaars, until he had gathered what he needed for his escape across an imposing desert to rejoin his unit. He will add colour and dash to this story.

Elektra hangs on his every word but Havelock can tell that she is a very impatient young woman. She doesn't seem to have any idea what 'keeping your powder dry' means – and Havelock can detect a fear at the back of her mind, that Logrus and Chaos might 'contaminate' her in some way.

She asks about the Pattern (she actually stumbles over the word and nearly calls it the Eidolon, in the manner of the Courts, before catching herself). She wants to know: what it looks like? How it works? How soon could... Rhodri be set upon it? Is it true that the Pattern and the Logrus are incompatible with each other?

Despite not being a Pattern scholar, Havelock is very sure on the last part, that those two powers are inimical. He will describe it in artistic words, sketch small parts (the whole is beyond his artistic talents and dangerous to draw, particularly here) and show her his Trump of Dworkin. He will tell her a little of how it works to aid movement through shadow, defend oneself and make one invariable.

This unchanging nature might have an impact on the psychology of Amberites, each initiate becomes sealed as an archetype when they walk the Pattern. This protects them, but by definition can make compromising and changing difficult. Corwin may somehow have achieved this, again Havelock is not sure how. This effect does make them much easier to paint Trumps of.

No Amberite has been put on it too young that he knows, but the Elders make damned sure you are ready. It is very taxing. He will talk through his own very hard walk, he surmises that at some earlier time less well prepared individuals may have tried the walk and failed catastrophically.

[As an aside – something in Havelock's intuition says 'yes indeedy' at this point – in fact this feeling almost makes him miss Elektra's reaction to his words – almost, but not quite.]

She seems very pleased indeed that the two are inimical and it doesn't take a genius to work out that she hopes the Pattern will let her slam the door on the Logrus and all things Chaos.

[I think we've already established that Havelock was 18 when he walked the Pattern. Bleys said at the time that he was the same age when he walked it but some of his brothers were held back until they were 21. Bleys' sisters usually had to wait longer, between 21 and 25. The timing was always down to Oberon giving his permission.

Of course with Elektra it's a little weird, since she was a baby only about 10 days ago as far as Havelock can judge. But she looks and acts like a mid-late teen and she talks of the experience of growing up as if she's had at least a decade of schooling, so it's very hard to say exactly how old she might be for real.]

[Yes, weird for sure. Also part Chaos blooded! It is an initiation that could definitely kill her, but then eventually so could the Logrus.]

[The Logrus seems to be more lethal than the Pattern – Havelock feels really strongly that the Pattern can kill, but can he name even one victim? The death rate can only be 1 or 2 out of the entire family. But the Logrus kills something like 1 in 3 or 4, and a good few of the survivors are seriously changed or even maimed – as with Melvyn's eyes and Zae's tongue.

Also don't forget the innate revulsion Corwin felt on meeting the twin Chaos cats while carrying Lance, or when he saw Dara's Chaos form for the first time – there's something about Chaos that hits Amberites viscerally – on the other hand, Oberon himself was a child of Chaos and he had no trouble with the Pattern.]

Elektra finds the trumps fascinating and asks how they work – will Havelock show her how to make a trump call? She doesn't say as much – she's far too canny and subtle for that – but it's clear she would dearly like Havelock's aid in getting away from Chaos.

It is easier to move Havelock from the taxing subject of Pattern onto the comfortable ground of Trump. He will try to make an easy explanation about communication, possibly with a practical demonstration if he can teach whilst she Trumps him. At the end of painting he will also Trump her with his new work, explain a little of blocking and hint at further knowledge. Importantly he will highlight there can be distance difficulties, timing differences and that people can listen in.

His talk of the subtleties goes over her head and it's clear she's focused on the communication and travel aspects of Trump.

Ho-hum! Well she cannot say she hasn't had some warning.

From Elektra's point of view it's a weighing of comparative evils – she is desperate to get away from the Courts – and her military training has taught her the necessity of seizing opportunity.

Whilst not openly showing her, and guarding himself with some deniability, he will make very sure in his tales and ‘helpful uncle’ demonstrations the following:

• She knows escape is possible and he does not like leaving people behind;

• That some people, like her father, may be perceived to have an over-developed sense of honour which she must guard against;

• How Trump can contact people and be used to travel. Also its limitations on eavesdropping and mental openness to more powerful Psyche;

• Timing is critical, too soon and close and they probably send her back, too late and too far away and she may not make the link;

• That she is getting some few Trumps he can spare as well as her Dad: Havelock, Bleys and Llewella;

• A possible castaway line that Rebma has its own Queen and although connected to Amber has its own diplomatic position.

Half of this she does not get – Rebma, mental openness, limitations on eavesdropping – but the important parts come through loud and clear, Havelock can see she is thinking of him as her partner in crime...

OK! Something does raise the hairs on his neck about her being a slight liability, but he feels committed. Just hope he doesn't have to fight her father over this...

She is dangerous because she is desperate, Havelock is right about that.

He will also demonstrate Trump reading if she wishes and has a question?

Elektra bites her lip and says no but Havelock's low-level linkage lets him know that she did think of a question – and it doesn't take a genius to work out that she would like to know if her escape plan might work – but something is holding her back.

Does she want him to clear a space and layout a few cards?

On the grounds of a demonstration Havelock lays out a spread, hoping in some way that the reading will forewarn her of some dangers of impetuosity. He verbally explains, “Suppose someone was planning an important journey...” looking meaningfully at her. The spread he wants is to answer the question ‘How will Elektra's escape from Chaos work out?’

Significator, where you are now The Empress (reversed): domestic upheaval, maternal tyranny or over-protectiveness; sterility or an unwanted pregnancy; a sense of the Universe as impersonal or malevolent; psychic alienation; emotional poverty; a domineering or controlling woman

Aspirator, where you are aiming 8 of Wands: hopeful change, movement and activity; the ending of delays and a quickening of events; suggests a suitable time for taking the initiative, acting with courage and confidence to grasp opportunities as they occur; important journeys are indicated

Instigator, what brought you here Darig: the man himself

Cryptic, hidden influences The Moon (reversed): a failure of nerve, fear of stepping beyond safe boundaries; deception, lies, illusion, terror of the deep and dark, nightmares and madness; blindness

Event 1 3 of Swords: necessary strife and conflict; destruction of that which is obsolete in order to clear the ground for what will come after; disruption, upheaval, separation and discord, but all with a positive end in view – the establishment of something better

Event 2 Havelock: yes, Havelock himself, very obviously

Event 3 6 of Swords: the solving of immediate problems; a moving away from imminent danger; does not suggest complete success which absolves the need for further struggle, but indicates a major obstacle has been overcome and progress can be resumed; may indicate travel away from trouble to more harmonious circumstances

Event 4 10 of Coins: inheritance, family wealth, blood ties; prosperity built up on successive generations; material security founded on the labour of one’s ancestors; good fortune regarding a will or dowry; family custom and tradition – Amber and the Pattern

Culminator, where this is heading Justice (reversed): injustice, lack of fair dealing, bias, prejudice; legal tangles that delay administration of the law; complex and expensive law suits; an inability to decide or failure to employ rational thought; false accusers and fence-sitters

Pivot, the focus The Chariot: success, triumph over the obstacles life throws in one’s path; secure progress; victory achieved through personal effort; the triumph of initiative; success not inherited or produced by fortune; command of material forces – a military commander; a clear sense of purpose; (reversed) one who rides rough-shod over others; overbearing forcefulness; inattention to the rights of others; egocentricity; ruthlessness; charging in recklessly; out of control; a dangerous driver

A balanced spread in terms of gender but the feminine cards are all reversed. The Significator eloquently expresses Elektra’s view of her situation while the Aspirator is the alternative she yearns for. Darig as the Instigator makes sense but Havelock feels it leaves a lot unsaid – but then he has no card for House Petrus.

The Moon as Cryptic is a conundrum – after careful consideration Havelock thinks it might reflect Elektra’s secret fears for her future in Chaos, also that she fears if she fails to take action soon she might be marooned in Chaos forever.

The events seem reasonably clear: there will be ‘necessary strife and conflict’ before Elektra trumps Havelock to escape ‘imminent danger’. She will then travel with the Amber Expeditionary Force back home until she can walk the Pattern in Amber – but don’t forget she has blood ties with Petrus as well as Amber.

The Culminator is disquieting but it cannot be doubted that House Petrus will want Elektra repatriated as she represents one side of a contract – perhaps they will seek redress in law?

The Chariot as Pivot is very tricky; it seems to suggest there’s a fine line between seizing the initiative and riding rough-shod over the opposition – Elektra is volatile and has a teenager’s lack of judgement, which is worrying – simply telling her to be careful is unlikely to be effective when it comes to the crunch.

Havelock’s explanation to Elektra:

“This indicates the journey starts with the position of the traveller dominated by an over-protective woman, who is both mother but yet lacks emotional warmth. This leads undoubtedly to domestic unpleasantness. To resolve this, our traveller hopefully seeks to undertake their journey, an important journey that will take them away from this situation. In this they must be brave and take the initiative when a good opportunity presents itself.

“Timing is critical, too soon and they will not escape the reach of this figure…” He taps the significator, “Too late and the journey may be too hard to achieve. Part of this series of events was set in motion by your father,” Havelock points at Darig's card, “but not alone. Finally this card,” gesturing at the Moon, “shows that caution drives our traveller. She has justifiable anxiety over journeying beyond the known into the unknown, yet there is also a strong concern that to fail to act will inevitably lead to nightmares and madness.”

He looks up from the cards, maintaining a comforting smile and relaxed attitude. He expects to read her response, to see how hard he can push buttons in describing the flow of events.

It's immediately clear to Havelock that the cards themselves mean nothing to Elektra – she can name none of the cards nor does she have even the faintest grasp of their meanings. But she's not stupid and when Havelock taps the Empress reversed she purses her lips and Havelock recognises the look when a subject finds resonance. The Empress suddenly has a meaning for her.

[OOC – I used to do card readings for members of my youth club so I know the look myself.]

Darig's presence is kind of obvious but the aspirator and the cryptic have no meaning until Havelock explains them – but he notices she shudders at the words 'nightmares and madness'. He also notices that Elektra's eyes are already moving to Havelock's own card...

He looks back down at the spread and continues speaking. “Don't worry about the faces and names of cards; it’s a kind of artistic cypher that involves both study and empathy for the mystical image.

“Refocusing on the journey, these next four cards are waypoints along the path. Although they are sequential events they are not necessarily evenly spread out in time. So this first step…” He taps the image of three swords piercing a heart. “…represents necessary strife, the destruction of something. This is not so much material upheaval, but can be as ephemeral as disruption of a relationship. Importantly this separation clears the ground onto which something better can be built. Anything from pulling down an old house to building on the same plot, leaving an old job for a new one, or even moving from one family to another, all the time a route to a superior outcome.”

In his mind flashes an image of the Sterlings: of Nathaniel Sterling lifting him onto his first pony, and then being with Bleys, racing coursers across some open plain. He bites his lip slightly, holding back the thought 'from one father figure to another'.

Havelock's finger and his natural tone of authority pulls Elektra's attention back to the first of the events. He can sense that she's reading this card as connected with the Aspirator – and that it's in some way confirming something in her own mind, doubtless a plan of action of some sort.

His hand slides towards his card as he thinks, then he glances up at Elektra. Her attention is wrapt. Now his direction is leaving the 3 of Swords she is already moving back to Havelock's card – her attention is so focused that he can sense the beginnings of contact...

Havelock touches his finger on his card, blocking the contact. “Yes, obviously this is me,” he continues. “Our traveller will meet me somewhere soon into her journey. He is ebullient and friendly with a strong sense of family and blood ties.” He holds the block for a moment, studying her again.

While the incipient contact was clear enough to Havelock, Elektra gives no sign of having been aware of it. But she flashes a smile at him and Havelock gets the impression she thinks there’s some sort of agreement between them – perhaps there is?

He’s getting the feeling that Elektra thinks of him as not so much a ‘father-figure’ as a ‘partner-in-crime’. Yes, Havelock got a lot more out of that almost subliminal contact than she did.

Then lifting his finger he gesticulates at the Six of Swords, “The next card I think follows close on as it represents a movement away from danger. It indicates a solution to immediate problems, but, and this is important, it does not suggest complete success, yet. There will likely be further hardship, although a significant step has been taken. For someone on a journey it can be read that they are travelling away from discord towards harmony.”

Elektra nods emphatically, “Toward Amber!” This is not a question.

“Ah, yes Amber.” Havelock continues to the final side card, the Ten of Coins. “This last step is inheritance, blood ties, prosperity built up by successive generations, built through the labours of our ancestors. This is the card of Amber and the Pattern. However, whilst considered by the family to be a card of good fortune, it is also a card of our customs and traditions.”

He looks hard at her and runs his hand back up and down the right side of the spread. “It is very important you understand that these are steps towards the traveller’s goal and may occur at different spacings in time. The gap between the separation of the Three of Swords and encountering me might be very short, whilst the journey away from danger and the traveller’s final destination,” his finger stops at the last card in the row, “may take many years. Do you understand?”

There’s a brief hesitation, then she nods, “Yes! It’s a long way to Amber.”

Rubbing his bronze beard Havelock adds “…and possibly a long wait before the Pattern, because of this, the Culminator.” He indicates the reversed image of Justice with her scales and sword. “This indicates where this journey is heading. It represents injustice or complex law suits that delay the administration of the law. Either something our traveller will feel is an injustice or formal legal matters intervening. It can easily refer to breaches of contract and undoubtedly our traveller will face being delayed in her final goal by legal tangles. This is also a card of failing to employ rational thought and I suggest it may be mitigated if our traveller thinks carefully before she acts.”

Elektra’s eyes glitter coldly. Havelock senses she does not much care for the word ‘delay’. “I do not wish to be delayed by the blind woman. So I will consider carefully before seizing the initiative.” She taps authoritatively on the aspirator.

Havelock shrugs slightly, suppressing a shudder – finding disturbing the concept that somewhere in infinite Shadow there may be individuals who epitomise a Major Arcana like Justice.

As quickly as it comes the disquiet passes and he looks back hard into Elektra’s eyes. Gently he adds, “Not all cards are people, and sometimes even cards of people are not themselves. However, that is learning for another time if you wish. Let us look at the last card, the Pivot.” He indicates the side aligned representation of the son of Riangabar at his reins.

“This is the focus, the consideration on which all things turn for good or ill. Here is the twist in the weave of the Norns that can change the course of one’s wyrd. Fate is mostly fate, but here it is mutable, it depends on the actions of the traveller. One path leads to success, triumph over the obstacles on the journey, safe progress and victory through personal effort, and initiative.

“However, the negative path away from this is signalled by riding rough-shod over others, inattentive to their rights. If the traveller is reckless, or self-centred, then this will bode badly. So they should struggle hard, for success comes through their personal action, but, importantly, they should not alienate those they travel with or encounter, and work with them to what may well be a common goal.”

He pauses, still holding her gaze, to let this sink in.

“Whose rights?” Elektra’s eyebrows nit in perplexity. “What if their supposed ‘rights’ clash with mine? What do I do then?”

Havelock closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, aware that any words of caution may well not be effective. “Where you can you will have to use your judgement.” He sighs a little. “Obviously at the start of the journey rights will conflict, but hopefully after that you will be with at least some allies. Seek advice if you can, watch what the more experienced do and say. Where you can try to compromise to mutual benefit, but all this is a fine balance and unfortunately our time is limited at the moment.” He looks up into her eyes and grins a little, tapping his card. “When we meet again maybe I can provide more help?”

Elektra’s expression goes from critical to puzzled and then slowly morphs into happy. At the last sentence she grins with pure delight.

“Yes, yes! Then it will be pure diamond!” She pauses just a moment to marshal her thoughts. “And compromise will be easy once I’m with you – we’ll all be going the same way.”