Asmark’s Diary part 19: The Doom!

In The Doom that Came to Amber

5^th Snake 3658 – evening

I received a summons to the lesser audience chamber. Fiona, Gerard, Llewella, Florimel, Bathsheba, Aylwin, Morwaith, Peter, Terisa and myself all waited on the King.

There was also a large man who I had not seen before, in the dress of the Moghul lands, who was talking with the King and Morwaith. It was clear that he is a welcome and highly respected guest. Random introduced this man as ‘Adam’, so Morwaith’s quest had evidently been successful.

Random produced two outwardly identical jewels, which I was sure were the Eye of Serpent and the Jewel of Judgement. I have never seen the two together before. However, I could determine without close inspection that one is more powerful than the other (so I assume, very considerably more powerful).

At this point I assumed that all negotiations with the Mirans would be at an end. It seemed that we had all the components for the ritual without their help. However Adam demurred. He believes that he lacks the will-power and stamina to perform the ritual. No-one of the necessary mental strength is attuned to the Jewel. The process of attuning (or more precisely recovering from attuning) would take too long. Accordingly we had to negotiate for the services of Wirminbone Dark, who was believed to be the only readily available candidate.

The meeting considered our wish-list for the negotiations. Whereas the issue was not really discussed, it was assumed that the Pattern must be erased and rewritten. Personally I am far from sure whether this was in fact necessary. Especially as I judge that rewriting the Pattern was the really onerous task and we probably had the wherewithal to perform the binding of the Unicorn alone. I think that we could have tried to merely bind the Unicorn. Even if not entirely successful, it might have allowed the few days necessary for one of the Elders to attune to the Eye, and for us to perform the full ritual without any help from the Mirans.

There was also the question as to whether the Unicorn should be killed or merely bound. Whereas it was not unanimous there is a clear consensus for binding, so this became a major demand for the negotiations.

The first and foremost demand was that we all be allowed to take part in the ritual. It was understood that only persons who did so would continue to exist, or to ever have existed. The Unicorn being bound, rather than killed, is the second demand.

There was considerable argument over Alaric’s role. The King’s opinion is that he should be ‘made an example of’ and that this is only possible if he was to be present, even if as sacrifice. Accordingly, Alaric being present is made the third demand.

The fourth demand, I think effectively a personal demand by Prince Julian, was that he should weald the knife. Although it was not stated as such, I understood that this was on the assumption that Alaric will be the sacrifice.

Finally there were more minor demands that Adam should lead the congregation and that Aylwin’s trump powers should be restored. These, especially the last, were points that we were prepared to concede.

The King was still very keen on retrieving the Tarot deck in Alaric’s possession. Peter and Terisa were instructed to take Alaric to fetch it. It wasn’t clear to me how Alaric’s co-operation was to be obtained, but that was not my problem.

As the meeting broke up I was asked by Aylwin about Falasia. Since her encounter with the frog-beasts it has been necessary to destroy her uniform and she is now wearing a rather fetching dress that Flora has very kindly lent her. Seeing her in this garb, Aylwin thinks she is one of the unidentified persons depicted in the missing Tarot deck. He thinks she is the Maid of Swords, which had previously been assumed to be Sand. Aylwin accordingly suspects that she may be of-the-Blood. I explained her background and that as she has a twin brother, if one is of-the-Blood then the other probably is too.

I received a trump call from Khitan asking if I could help in evacuating Danesh. Khitan was concerned that it was unwise to keep him in the castle. Khitan suggested taking him to Cordoba. I suggested sending him to the South Shore with the other evacuees that I was sending there, which he found quite acceptable. I agreed to arrange this as soon as I had the time, however initiating the negotiations had to be my top priority.

I called on Florimel and she allowed me to use her trump of Lord Rupert. Rupert seemed to have been expecting my call. Both sides were willing to negotiate. Rupert, ‘the negotiator’ and ‘one other’ would represent the Miran side with military escort. He proposed the bottom of Vine street as meeting place, which seemed eminently reasonable. We agreed that time was of the essence so agreed to meet in half an hour.

If he was to bring three people I really needed to match this. We were very short of suitable people. Bathsheba seemed the only suitable person from our generation. I preferred not to take an Elder as it would have undermined my authority to negotiate. Accordingly I decided I would take Jomes as my secretary. I trumped him immediately. He asked for time to don suitable attire; I gave him ten minutes. I then sent a runner to summon Khitan to the infirmary and went there myself. I trumped Raymond to tell him to expect Danesh and then, when Khitan arrived, I was able to swiftly trump Danesh and Khitan through to Garland House. I did not have the time to accompany them.

By then it was time to depart for the parley, I trumped Jomes again and brought him through. Bathsheba brought half a dozen of the palace guard and the nine of us set off. The fog had advanced considerably and it covered the bottom of Vine street. We halted just before this and waited.

The Miran party was a little late. I didn’t mention this and they didn’t mention that we had unilaterally moved the meeting place slightly. Rupert introduced the negotiator as Brian Merkindow. A number of points were agreed quite readily. Morwaith as farrier, Wirminbone Dark as Jewel-wielder (or hierophant), and Adam as leader of the congregation all seemed uncontentious.

The main problem was their wish to kill the Unicorn and to replace it with Mira. They suggest that even if the Unicorn is allowed to remain Mira could share the role. This seems an unnecessary and potentially dangerous variation and I was very reluctant to allow either.

The Mirans also had the non-negotiable demand that they would choose the sacrifice and that we may not know who it is. I asked if the rumour that their candidate was Nayda is true? The negotiator claimed not to know the name but refused even to deny that she was the sacrifice. In fact their providing the sacrifice is convenient and does not actually conflict with any of our demands. However it was an intransigent position and I manage to present accepting this as a major concession.

There was also some disagreement over who may be allowed to attend. Each side would have liked to exclude some persons. However, neither side was able to provide a complete guest list and, without knowing which objectionable persons might be invited, it was impractical to raise objections. The only name that was mentioned is Alaric. It seems that the Mirans (like ourselves) are divided on the subject. However the argument of including him that he may be made an example of, was persuasive. In the end we agreed on neither side having any veto, on the understanding that Alaric would wield the knife. Given that Alaric was not to be the sacrifice, I was sure Julian would not be concerned at losing the role. (There is a certain irony to this, given what in fact happened.)

I also pointed out that we actually have everything that is necessary to attempt the ritual, even if we face a real risk of failure. In fact I understood that the King had ruled this ou, so this was really a bluff to pretend a stronger negotiating position. I think it may have helped.

The Mirans also wanted to specify the role of the ‘cup bearer’ and ‘grail quester’. I had not heard of either of these roles and I do not believe that they are of any real significance. They allowed us the right to select the aspurgant (the eraser of the Pattern).

Finally we returned to main problem. I managed to win the Unicorn as the sole goddess on the grounds of their unreasonableness over the sacrifice and (I think) my threat to try without them. As compensation to Mira I had to grant a promise of freedom of worship for Mirans in Amber. I also received a qualified agreement to lift Aylwin’s trump excommunication. He merely has to agree to worship Mira and I think that can be considered a private matter.

The Mirans also demanded safe conduct for all their participants, which I readily agreed to, and a general amnesty, which I did not. After some discussion I agreed to an amnesty for all misdemeanours associated with the recent religious strife and relay to the King an appeal for a more general amnesty to allow the new world to begin without any outstanding grievances. Given that there are individuals that will not forgive and forget all, it was accepted that any amnesty will be, perforce, incomplete.

It being late at night and there being a considerable degree of urgency, it was decided that the ceremony would be performed at dawn tomorrow.

So the agreement is:-

The Unicorn shall be rebound into a new Pattern as sole goddess. Mirans will be allowed to worship in Amber. There will be no vetoed individuals. The ritual will be performed by:

Sacrifice: to be selected by the Mirans

Farrier: Lord Morwaith

Wielder of the Knife: Alaric

Hierophant: Wirminbone Dark

Cup Bearer: Lady Mira

Grail Quester: Lord Rupert

Aspurgant: To be selected by Amber

This completed the negotiations and we returned to the castle. On arrival, I tried to send a message to the King, requesting an audience, to be told by the page that I was summoned immediately. I explained the terms negotiated to the King. He winced at the ‘equal worship’ provision but was otherwise satisfied.

Peter was summoned to join the discussions and took nearly half an hour to arrive for which he had no good explanation. He was then sent to the dungeons to inform Alaric that he had volunteered. The King ordered all of the family to assemble in one hour. As soon as I had Peter’s confirmation that Alaric would accept his role, I trumped Rupert again to confirm that all conditions were accepted.

I was trumped again by Khitan who had safely installed Danesh in Garland House and wished to return to the castle. He expressed fears that Danesh might be a danger to the other inhabitants. As these were my friends and servants this was a matter of some concern. However I didn’t take it seriously. Danesh is a very capable soldier and may now be unreliable, but I did not think he was insane enough to engage in wanton and pointless violence against persons of no great importance.

Just at the moment I don’t have the time to make any alternative arrangements. Khitan also asked to be allowed to attend the impending family meeting; he told me he believes he is of-the-Blood. Given Khitan’s current standing with a King I did not think that I could invite him on my own authority but I agreed to ask the King. The King’s reply was terse and obscene. As I returned from informing Khitan of this the King ordered me to lock the door.

I was a little surprised to note the company included Alaric, manacled to Lord Peter. However I was enormously surprised to notice Falasia Askarda there. Aylwin showed the King the Maid of Swords from the recovered Tarot deck and suggested that it resembles Falasia so she may be of-the-Blood. He argued persuasively that there is sufficient doubt in the matter that she should not be allowed to perish in remaking of the world.

The discussion proceeded to who should be invited. The King was of the opinion that it should be persons of personal rather than political importance, and that there was no fixed upper limit but reasonable restraint had to be exercised. It seemed that the Askardas were invited, whether as Aylwin’s guests or through Falasia being granted the right to invite was not clear. I added Jomes, Algar and Raymond as three who have served the crown at my request. I regret that this cannot be said of either Chudder or Amed Na’tyr.

I was asked to trump Delwin and Sand to invite them. After some effort I manage to contact Delwin and explained the circumstances. He was non-committal, said he would talk to Sand and it was agreed I would trump him again in the morning. Then I got a few hours sleep.

I awoke with further portents of doom. Father Inigo, Caine’s intelligencer, reported that Jasper has been overrun. He explained that there was a means of instant communication. He did not know how it worked but it was clearly sorcerous or Trump-powered. It probably did not matter as Jasper would probably cease to exist in an hour or two.

I trumped Raymond and found that Raymond and Algar had been forced to flee from Garland House. The creatures from the sea are attacking, and Danesh had run off somewhere. I brought them through.

An hour before dawn the Miran party arrived, about fifty strong. The party included Clarissa, Dalt and Rinaldo. Dalt especially was unwelcome but there was nothing to be done about it now. It did not include Brian Merkindow. Adam accosted Wirminbone Dark who then transformed into Dworkin. That would explain Mira referring to him as grandfather and would fit with Mira being Katherine.

6^th Snake 3658 – dawn

The whole party was about two hundred. We proceeded up Kolvir. Near the top we took a turn onto a path that I was sure was not normally there.

We passed through a strange area with no colour and a most unhealthy aura. Indeed I understand a number of the weaker individuals in the procession did not survive it.

Finally we emerged on the plain of the Primal Pattern. Here I was asked to trump some more out-of-touch family members. I brought through Gilgamesh (who was with his troops but far too many to bring through), Alexander (who with Alaric’s help arrived with 120 soldiers) and Sybil, who believed she was safe and declined to join us. Jason [the official envoy of the High King of the Courts of Chaos – present at least since Beltane but evidently had kept his head down] arrived with Corwin, the latter inadvertently freed from a prison in a gem, apparently by proximity to the Pattern.

Along with Julian’s rangers, who had been guarding the route, there were now about four hundred present.

Dworkin called for the ceremony to start; Adam called for the sacrifice and Dworkin produced a woman from under a cloak. She was dressed in a complete covering so no identification was possible. There was an altar with grooves to collect blood. The mystery lady lay down on it. Alaric approached with the knife and removed the woman’s covering.

I did not recognise the woman but Alaric obviously did and was horrified. He pushed her off the altar, threw himself on it in her place and cut his own throat!

No-one made a serious attempt to intervene. I am left wondering whether someone had planned it that way? Morwaith grabbed Alaric but only to hold him in place on the altar so that the blood could be collected. Terisa went to the aid of the erstwhile sacrifice.

Mira collected the blood in a chalice, took a sip and handed it around for everyone to take a sip. Nearly everyone did. Raymond required some steadying by myself to do it.

Then there was a chant to summon the Unicorn, who came with evident reluctance. Morwaith shod the beast while the ritual banished some aspect of it. Dworkin used many names for both the summoned and the banished aspects but I do not remember recognising any of them. As it was shod, the chaotic aspects of the legs disappeared, and when complete the beast as a whole seemed free of any taint.

Then Peter took the chalice and a sprinkler; he walked the Pattern, scattering blood, and erasing the Pattern as he went.

Finally Dworkin started to redraw the Pattern. As he did so the space between the participants started to expand at an ever increasing rate, until I was alone.

That is the last I can remember of the Age Of Oberon that is no more.