Monkey Business

The personal diary of Margrath, son of Sand, pt 13

I awoke this ‘day’ from a dreamless sleep and after my morning exercises I went to take breakfast, where I met with Mokoto.

I find that I have received an invitation from Julian, Prince of Amber to witness the gentle passage of arms between Price Julian and Lady Constance, in the Garden of Delights.

Within the titles listed under my name, I find the additional title of Prophet in Extraordinary of the Great Spider. Strange things happen in the Courts, but waking up and finding you are a Prophet, and that others know of this already, is strange indeed. I shall have to keep alert for any prophetic happenings that may occur because of this.

This was not my only invitation. A further one has been sent by Mandor to attend Vanguard, the official home of House Sawall, for the formal unveiling of a candidate for the throne.

Another message from Despil asked me to arrive early at the unveiling, as he and Bela want to talk about the forthcoming duel. On the subject of the duel, Mokoto has also offered his services as second, which I have gladly accepted.

I mentioned to Mokoto about my additional title of Prophet, though he did not seem to be too worried by this. It is after all just a title and those in the Courts take much interest in titles. He did however inform me that Ibemo has been grounded by House Sumi. I would think with the outlook of House Sumi, this is a matter of honour, and that Ibemo is expected to abide by any rules that Mokoto has set for this grounding.

Yet another message informed me that Lord Mage Argoleb thinks it is about time for more training, which seems to me to be very auspicious timing as I have little doubt that he will also help me to prepare for the upcoming duel. When I see him I must ask about Havelock’s thoughts on contacting Finndo and Osric, and see if his insight into necromancy throws any light on the success of this notion.

I head off to the Garden of Delights, to observe this meeting between Prince Julian and Lady Constance.

The Garden has changed, as does everything in the Courts, but this change was the addition of a new statue. The statue is of two eyeballs, which at first glance appear to be floating approximately five feet off the ground. Closer inspection shows that there is a distortion along with the eyeballs, in the form of Melvyn in a fight or flight stance.

Looking around I could see that Melvyn was also present as one of the guests. He had empty eye sockets but was not acting as someone who cannot see. No doubt some aspect of his new station compensates for the loss of his physical eyes. I wonder if my sorcerous sight would still work if I were to lose my eyes?

Sorashi joined Melvyn and that appeared to have given him more confidence.

Havelock also went over to Melvyn and talked to him, though I do not know what that conversation was about. Darig took a seat next to Melvyn and I stopped by and thanked Melvyn for his advice about the duel. He said that he had seen a duel and if it was fought with Sorcery, I won, but if it was not fought with Sorcery, I lost.

Various other people arrive followed by Prince Julian and then Lady Constance, both with their seconds. Prince Julian has Caine and Sheba of Ophir, while Lady Constance has William and Ariel of Pheon.

The proceedings start with Ariel asking for an apology from Julian. Caine replies that there is no chance of that happening.

William then stated the terms of no armour, no magic and a fight to first blood.

Julian set the weapons to be single handed, conventional, bladed weapon.

Julian was then divested of his armour in preparation.

Cymnea was chosen to bestow her favour on one of the combatants. She stepped forward, holding out a handkerchief between the two and then she dropped it on Prince Julian.

Sheba passed Caine’s scimitar to Prince Julian. This looked like a very fine blade, although bladed weapons are not really my forte.

Prince Julian and Lady Constance started their part of the proceedings by formally saluting each other and then slowly moving towards each other. Lady Constance moved into a fighting stance and from what I can see her style is more like dancing that the other forms of martial combat I have witnessed. As things continued, Lady Constance seemed to be doing most, if not all, of the work while Prince Julian was just defending himself.

The combat continued for about twenty minutes until a point where Prince Julian had gained an advantage and was holding his sword against Lady Constance’s throat. Someone, probably one of the seconds, asked Prince Julian if he was satisfied and he flicked his wrist and said, ‘Now I am’.

Prince Julian walked away then, leaving Lady Constance with blood running down her cheek. There were general congratulations from the audience and Lady Fiona came forward to tend to Lady Constance’s wound.

The parents of myself and my cousins introduced us to Princess Fiona, all except Lady Constance, as Prince Julian was not there to do so as he had moved away from the centre of the combat area. In talking to Lady Fiona she commented that sorcerous duels are more complex, but just as pointless as the non-sorcerous kind.

Lady Constance was then given a goblet by Cymnea who turned her towards the gallery where I could see that Sheba had also given a goblet to Prince Julian. Lady Constance curtsied to the Prince Julian and both raised their goblets to each other and drank.

This seemed to end this duel although there was some further altercation between Melvyn and William, which ended with William punching Melvyn in the stomach. I have no real idea of what that was about, and it is probably best not to inquire too closely.

I found Sand with the family women, and I could tell that she was not entirely comfortable in their company. I caught her eye and had a quiet word with her about my elevation, at least in terms of titles accepted in the Courts, to Prophet. She was amused and after all it is just a title, so far, and is just as much to promote Spider as Great Spider as it is to name me Prophet.

She asked about my upcoming duel and I told her of my seconds and that I would be discussing aspects of the duel with them a little later. I also talked about Lord Mage Argoleb, and she wondered if he had known my father. She told me then that my father, Aban Tira, was originally from Atlantis, which I had not known. Maybe there is more to my meeting Argoleb than mere coincidence?

I also told her about the background to the duel, with Ibemo being manoeuvred into the situation which sparked the process. I bade her farewell and set out for Nomon to talk to Lord Mage Argoleb.

We got straight into training and Lord Mage Argoleb Taudght me power word Flash. This is a form of illusion which is powered by my energy. It produces a bright flash from my hand which can be useful as a distraction.

He Taudght me that basic illusions are manipulations of light, for instance creating light for illumination, and other purposes. He went on to teach me a sorcerous light spell, which produces light and has lynchpins of location, brightness and colour. He also reminded me that the more lynchpins a spell has, the longer it takes to cast.

We talked about the duel and he warned me to beware sorcerous duels in the Courts. The Power here, the Logrus, is predisposed to sorcerous spells and using the Logrus as a power source means there is ready power for spells in the Courts. However, the Logrus also adapts to Shadow and the Logrus sorcerers is likely to be faster and more powerful anywhere in Shadow, and this can even work in Amber.

In general he thinks that I need some general spells that are not linked to Corillaine. We talked about creating spells with no specified power source, such that they would draw power from the nearest source. In the Courts everything is a spell and power can be leached out of things here and they would be destroyed. Or such a spell could use someone else or even me as a power source. Such a spell could kill the power source were it allowed to drain the source.

Lord Mage Argoleb has also Taudght me two further spells…

Static image – this creates a basic illusion of a non-moving image. The image must be defined and the easiest source for the image is from the imagination.

Gathering Shadows – this is dependant on the power and density of shadows required, and it increases the density of the shadows around the caster.

He said that next time we may look at moving illusions and illusions that use other senses than sight. He also pointed out that a major advantage of an illusionist is that they are better able to discern truth from fiction and tend to be able to notice illusions.

As the training had finished I moved the conversation on to Havelock’s interest in contacting Finndo and Osric using Trumps as a connection, like the use of hair or blood.

He brought up some interesting points. Will the length of time they have been dead changed them? Or will just being dead have changed them? Also how dead are they? A lot of how they are is dependant on the afterlife of the Unicorn and Amber. The dead of Amber could be powerful and may not be friendly and so anyone summoning them should have some protection, such as a pentacle. It would also be a good idea to have Cleanse ready to clear away and vestiges of spirits that are summoned or dismissed.

The drawback with this is that it is bordering on Necromancy, which is a path I have already decided I do not want to take. Necromancy stains the caster and needs cleansing or it can taint the caster’s other spells.

I thanked him for his teaching and advice and informed him that I had recently found out that my father was from Atlantis, and I wondered if he had known him. He said that the name rang a bell but that the best thing would be to ask again once he was back in Atlantis, where he has access to extensive records.

I set off for Vanguard and arrived early, and was shown in by a house demon and offered refreshments.

Shortly after arriving Bela and Despil came to see me. Despil and Bela shook my hand, but Bela shook hands more guardedly. Despil explained that he is not really into sorcerous duels but that he recognised the set up and wanted to show whose side they were on.

They explained that House Taud specialises in summoning venomous creatures and that they will first use any offensive magics to give them time to summon.

Their advice on the best strategy is a major offensive spell to hit my opponent quickly.

We decide that the best spells to hang would be – Expel Spirit x2, Crushing webs, Cocoon and Veil of Closure. Hitting him first with Expel Spirit seems like the best option, though once a spirit is expelled form it’s body, there is a chance that something else may occupy the body, and then there may be a fight with the expelled spirit to return to the body. So it would also be good to hang Bind Ty’iga and Summon Spider.

I can tell that Bela likes the sound of Expel Spirit.

We will probably talk again before the duel, but the time for the unveiling had arrived so we separated. Mandor had invited all of the Amberites present in the Courts, plus some others, and people have split into groups.

I joined the group with Corwin, Deirdre, Julian, Dirk and Darig. Corwin was recounting the story of where he has been, attuning the Jewel of Judgement and trumping to Amber with the Jewel where Gerard pulled him through.

Julian then explained why he has not enjoyed the hospitality here.

Deirdre introduced Darig and myself to the group, introducing me as her saviour. She said I am Sand’s son, pointing her out to Corwin, but Corwin says that he doesn’t know her and Deirdre responds, ‘Oh, of Course!’ But I feel that this was not a mistake on Deirdre’s part.

Corwin asks who Darig’s mother is and Darig told us that he had recently found out that his real mother is called Lorraine and not who he thought. Corwin disputes Darig as being his son and they talk about Darig’s past.

I moved on to the group with Mandor, which is composed of sorcerers. The talk is about binding demons and the difference, if any, between binding spirits and demons.

All also agree that Aelfric has bitten off more than he can chew and was probably manipulated into it.

At this point a person is led in and Gauri started to speak, saying ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present...’ At which point the main doors crashed open and four things entered. These appear to be metal men from some technical shadow.

I retreat with the other Magi, but feared I will be of little use. Why did it have to be metal men? And why do I not learn from my time in the Courts that it is always good to have offensive spells hung, not the purely spirit based spells that I am used to having ready in Corillaine?

Sorashi chose to fight in tiger form and a group of Fishy/Froggy men joined the fight.

The last group to come in were surrounding an Amblerash priest.

The fight was quickly over when three fishy men and Pandit of Amblerash surrendered. Although there appeared to be something in one doorway for a moment but there was no sign of it after the fight.

Mandor was rightly shocked at this invasion of House Sawall home ground and Despil asked, ‘How did they get in?’

Mandor believed that they would have needed help from within the House to gain entry. Jurt shouted out a confession but Mandor did not believe him, saying ‘It was someone quieter!’

Mandor was now back in command and gestured to the open doors where there was food and drink. At this point Mandor noticed blood on the door leading to the room where personal demons were waiting, and he asked them in. He noted that Delambre had blood on its hands and, after studying Delambre, he let the demons return to their waiting room.

There was a feast where Merlin, the candidate who was ushered in before, confessed that he does not want to be High King. Approximately ten minutes later Mandor entered the room, although I must say that I had not realised that he had left the proceedings, and Melvyn was now suggested as a candidate for High King.