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Session notes: 12-02-05
Future Dates 12/09, 12/23 Quick rundown of rankings:
Note! these are not official session notes. When last we met: Wu Fang and Ohanzee had met up with Val and Professor Tyler at a formal dinner at Florimel's estate. Read on... Megumi has returned for the the dinner. Val was feeling ill and has retired early. The setting is moderately informal, which is good because occasionally Val's hallucinatory comments can be heard from the room where he is recovering. Possibly the most disturbing is his comment that he "Has no monkey shoes." Tyler and Megumi talk quite a bit. She introduces herself as a priestess and is quite curious about what it is that Tyler does. She notices that his answers are quite vague on the specifics, although he does explain that he is, basically, a combination of military and civil engineer and was brought here by Martin. His knowledge of differing rules of technology and magic may provide interesting innovations in the defense of the realm. Ohanzee's education continues with a discussion of how manners change depending on the situation. Manners are described as mental clothing suitable for the environment. Flora disapproves of this tactic. She is more of a proponent of accepting that you are a lady and behaving appropriately rather than "camouflaging" one's true self. Megumi explains to Ohanzee that not only is she now an Alpha, but that the simple fact of being in this family is to be the alpha of all packs. Megumi also continues to express curiosity about what project it is that Tyler will be helping with. His answers are, again, kind of vague. He's mostly learning what can be done before he undertakes any projects. The difficulties of handling the defense of Rebma are mentioned as one possible puzzle. This leads to a more general discussion of hunting and traveling, and other aspects of the aquatic realm. Ohanzee is invited to visit Rebma at any time. Ohanzee provides some background on her life: she has qualified as a full-fledged seer, although it seems she is on a different path now. A seer speaks with the spirits. She has touched the "one spirit" and can call upon the other spirits to do her bidding. She draws a symbol of the one spirit, which Martin recognizes as a Logrus symbol. Tyler asks if she's tried calling on the spirits yet, which she hasn't. Martin gets a horrified look, which Megumi picks up on. She manages to discourage any dinner-time experimentation. After dinner Flora retires early, leaving the youngsters to amuse themselves. Ohanzee and Megumi step aside to see if her 'normal' form is suitable for mixed company. Megumi gives the run-down on what is generally covered and which parts would be most distracting to people used to the social mores. Back in the dining room, Martin is unsure what to make of Ohanze. Wu Fang's assessment is that she has a great deal of adaptation to do. She seems nice enough though. "So you think she can make the transition?" "I don't see why not." There's always a period of transition. Wu Fang is unsure if Florimel is the ideal person to supervise this, but Martin thinks she has the prestige to protect Ohanze. Martin explains that Ohanzee has a power called "Logrus" which is one of the great powers, and which is in many ways the opposite of the Pattern. Teaching her both is not impossible, but may be difficult. Also, since she's an unknown quantity, it may not be advisable to do so. Ohanzee doesn't understand why Princess Florimel's teachings are so important. Megumi explains that manners are a new form of fighting. In some ways, manners are the defensive moves of diplomacy. Once you know how people "ought" to be behaving, you'll recognize when they are behaving badly or aggressively toward you. Wu Fang wonders how Ohanzee got here from the Logrus so quickly. Martin knows it may not have been a quick trip, since she doesn't seem to be mad. Wu Fang recalls that Bleys had visited Amber briefly, which was unusual. The general consensus is that Bleys brought Ohanzee to Amber from the Courts of Chaos. Martin commends Tyler to Wu Fang for further education. His comment is, "You follow similar paths." Megumi and Ohanzee rejoin the group and we retire to a private shadow-garden for privacy. Ohanzee and Wu Fang play shapeshifter tag - his alternate form is a black Chinese dragon. He doesn't get to use it very often, mostly on his estate in Rebma, but sometimes in nearby shadows where the rules are less strict. In human form, Martin shows Ohanzee some of the basics of swordsmanship, and Tyler is tapped to provide further instruction with sticks. Eventually the group retires for the evening. Martin is contemplating how much to tell Ohanzee and when to tell her. A bottle of brandy is assisting with his contemplation. At about 3am, Wu Fang wakes up. There's someone in the room with him, and it's not Shen. He tries to slide unobtrusively away, but something goes thunk into the pillow where his head was. He shouts "Shen to me!" as he shoves the bed at the attacker. Tyler hears the ruckus and wakes up. He does a quick diving roll out the door with his gun in one hand, a sword in the other. Shen doesn't appear, but Wu Fang has the strength to shove/flip the bed. Martin emerges from his room, looking a bit drunk, but armed. Wu Fang's door is locked, and Tyler has to kick it twice to get it open. In there, it's dark. Shen is sprawled in the doorway, either unconscious or dead. Martin goes in high, actually running on the walls. Tyler rolls in low. The bed is up against the wall, with the pillow pinned to the headboard. A figure ducks into the shadows behind the upturned bed. Tyler fires a quick three shots, low, middle, high. His gun works fine. Ohanzee and Megumi are in a different guest wing, but they hear the shots, and start heading toward the ruckus. Wu Fang has been able to use Tyler's distraction to transform to dragon form. He fires off a gout of flame, which sets his attacker on fire. This provides light, as well as inconveniencing the attacker. The attacker is a warped, twisted sort of humanoid, possibly a chaos demon. Wu Fang goes for a flying tackle, as the warped form of the assailant leaps in shouting, "Death to Tyrants!" Martin shouts, "Wait! We need to question him!" but too late. The flaming assassin is disemboweled. Tyler grabs the bedside water pitcher and uses it to extinguish as much as he can, smothering the rest with the blankets from the upturned bed. Florimel arrives, impeccably dressed, and says, "I suppose you'll be needing another room." Shen is injured, but alive. Martin is more sober, and peeved. The weapon is an edged throwing spike. Florimel tells Wu Fang, "If you've got assassins after you, you should take care of it elsewhere. I can't have things like this disturbing my sleep." An examination of the attacker identifies it as a minor demon servant from somewhere in the courts of chaos, a rather generic minion who could be affiliated with practically any house. This attack took place in Florimel's house, in Amber. Even though it's a Rebman matter, there are political considerations even before it gets to the Courts. Attempts are made to determine how the creature got into the house. Megumi can track the creature through the room, but outside it seems to have been using some kind of cloaking magic. In Travel form, Ohanzee can find a scent trail. She pads off to follow it, with Megumi. Tyler joins them after checking to see that the three shots he fired did manage to inflict damage, on the wall at least. Megumi has never seen a handgun before, and is quite curious about it. Martin will also almost certainly want to know more about it. The scent trail leads to a servant's exit where trash is brought in and out. The attacker had picked up those scents on the way in, making it easy to track to this point. Unfortunately, these smells had masked whatever natural scent it had before it got inside, so the trail ends here. Wu Fang takes to the air to get a look around. Most of the things watching the place are Royal Agents or the guards of Princess Florimel. Nothing else is seen. There is still some question as to who the actual target of the assassin was. The trail led straight toward the guest area, and the general vicinity of the rooms where Tyler, Wu Fang and Martin were staying. Knowing who the target was would give some clues as to where the attacker came from, but nobody thinks of themselves as a "Tyrant" that the creature might have wanted to kill. -EOF- |
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