Khitan’s Account to the Caliph of Cordoba of his Intrigues at Lyon Abbey

In The Doom that Came to Amber

Khitan will use his control of aura and years of acting training to ensure that it appears that he is telling the truth.

Khitan will inform the Caliph that on arrival at Lion Abbey (14^th Unicorn 3657), where he met Bathsheba for the first time, there was a diplomatic and military crisis with several armed groups approaching the Abbey, supposedly to engage in peace talks. The only troops Bathsheba said she could rely on were werewolves, which were currently being held prisoner near the Sea of Sands.

As Khitan knows something of teleportation he offered to help her create a magical portal to bring the wolves through, believing that this would earn favour necessary to encourage her to take on the Sea of Sands problem. Lord Asmark also helped in the sorcery.

Surprisingly when the portal opened Bathsheba came back through the portal in wolf form. Clearly she was as surprised at this, as were Asmark and Khitan.

From that moment on Bathsheba has exhibited hostility to Khitan, probably blaming him for her infection with lycanthropy. Also Khitan outfitted his men with silver weapons on learning of this.

On one occasion Khitan contacted her for assistance in recovering one of the new laser guns that work in Amber, but she refused to help.

On the occasion (15^th Bull 3658) that has caused the uproar Khitan was in the process of trying to rescue Lord Alaric from the clutches of the hideously transformed ex-Abbot of Lion Abbey who had just cast a highly powerful transformation spell.

Khitan and Alaric tried to disrupt the spell but failed and Khitan was wounded and simultaneously caught in a shard of the Abbot's spell. Desperate for help, Khitan called Bathsheba who was the only person Khitan had a trump for. Just as Khitan made contact the Abbot's evil spell began to take its toll on Khitan and he could feel the dark forces assaulting him internally.

Bathsheba angrily hauled Khitan through and then sealed the portal, leaving the rest of the party to their fate. She immediately started to berate him for interrupting her sleep and then she saw the wound on his arm and the desperate expression on Khitan's face as he fought an internal duel against the evil spell. She assumed that he was poisoned and threatened to cut Khitan's arm off. This added to the stress and desperation of Khitan and he went into an altered state of mind.

Khitan can only suppose as to what happened to Bathsheba, but he believes that she was not used to seeing someone in such an unusual state of mind with such powerful psychic forces being unleashed and that her subconscious projected an image of her greatest fear into her mind rather than having to face the chaos of non-rational consciousness which was being displayed in front of her.

Also people faced with the unknown often invent a story that fits their prejudices.

Khitan was engaged internally for a long time in a ferocious magical internal duel in which he attempted to invoke the spirit of the Unicorn to protect him from the maleficient side-effect. At the crucial moment, Khitan felt the spirit of the Unicorn take up the fight against the evil enchantment and when he came to he was in the dungeons of Amber, naked, having been robbed of all his possessions.

Assuming the Caliph is his usual devout self (not in a fanatical state of mind) then Khitan will inform the Caliph that there are signs of a rift within the Church of the Unicorn hierarchy, between those that want to emphasize the bestial aspect of the Unicorn (who have been gaining influence recently) and those who oppose the changes away from the original meaning of the Book of the Unicorn.

The Caliph nods sagely, as does his Vizier, this obviously confirms prior suspicions.

Khitan will inform the Caliph that he believes that those close to Random, including Vialle, are probably behind the emphasising of the bestial aspect and may have induced the madness in Random. Their motives are unclear; perhaps they fear that Random was intending to abdicate thereby removing them from influence?

The Vizier whispers in the Caliph's ear, who nods agreement, "True!" Then the Caliph tells you that the King's mother, Paulette, is known to be a powerful sorceress and is suspected of wielding magics capable of driving men mad.

Khitan will further inform the Caliph that he believes that Oberon is amongst those opposing the changes away from the Book of the Unicorn and may indeed be supporting the forces of Zircon against Amber (which would explain their victory at sea). Khitan will go on to say that he believes that this struggle may be creating a religious power vacuum where both sides become exhausted by war and some third and vile force may rise up to seize power.

Both the Caliph and the Vizier look frankly doubtful. They both saw Oberon's body lying in state after his death during the Patternfall War. The Vizier asks you to state your evidence for your astonishing assumption.

Khitan will state that he had a vision of Oberon in the dungeons of Amber, but he will concede that this could have still been delirium from the struggle he had just faced, or possibly a magical projection created by another Amberite.

Khitan will warn the Sultan of the rise in incidents involving Cthulhoid monsters and tell him of the incidents at Lion Abbey. Khitan will advise the Caliph to not get involved in the intrigue and to keep his powder dry, ready to protect the Church of the Unicorn should this third force rise up.

Caliph and Vizier are again most concerned but not exactly surprised to hear of the Chthulhoid incidents but the Caliph tells you bluntly that he has not asked for your advice.

Khitan will apologise for being so forward.

Khitan will also advise the Caliph to encourage a more personal form of spiritual faith amongst the religious to avoid sectarianism in the face of changing religious dogma in Amber. After all, no matter what doctrine is espoused in Amber, the truth of the universal divine essence remains the same. [Don't forget that Khitan has many years of experience of religious legalese.]

The Vizier agrees that this might be a good thing but neither he nor the Caliph has the power to control any man's faith and the Mullahs would vehemently resist any overt attempt to change things. The Caliph comments that Cordoba is tied to Amber at a deeply spiritual level, as you well know, and any spiritual turmoil in Amber cannot but manifest in Cordoba and elsewhere on the Golden Circle.

Khitan will also inform the Caliph that the new overseer of the Golden Circle (Bathsheba) has an excellent military mind, but is stubborn and unreliable, and is suffering from the onset of lycanthropy.

The Caliph is aghast at this news – the new Overseer is a shapeshifter? Is she in control? Is this the real source of the 'demonry' accusations he's heard?

Khitan will say that sadly it is true for he has seen the transformation with his own eyes. He believes however that she is infected with lycanthropy rather than having the powers of a 'shapeshifter'. Perhaps she is in league with Vialle, after all she was appointed by the Queen, but it is unlikely that she is the mastermind because the controller would surely want to be at the centre of things.

Perhaps Bathsheba fears that she is turning into a demon and has projected her fear onto Khitan whilst being in the half-awake state that often affects those awakened in the middle of their slumber?