Journal of Chaos

by the hand of Geryon Swayvill


The past few turnings have been, as seems to be the trend, uncharacteristically exciting for me.

Things seemed mundane enough. Tristan's shapeshifting practice was coming along well. I had spent a fair amount of time and energy summoning demons (including the first that could theoretically be dubbed an Asmodeus - Tjesthe, who is shaped such that I can wear him like an armor coat). Cwell and I were getting along well (although I do feel bad about hiding Tristan's existence from her - it can't be helped, but it is unpleasant, at the least). I had consulted with Drath about the possibility of creating a device that might be able to deafen the sonar-using creatures. We journeyed to the underwater Shadow that was the source of the tainted energy so that he could get an idea of the physical laws of the place. On the way, we ran into The Dude do'Amber, who accompanied us.

While Drath was analyzing the Shadow, I recieved a Trump call from Saklas Hendrake. It turns out that he had been hiding out near the Tree of Ygg after some violent intrigue. He asked to be pulled through, so that he could return to the Courts. Upon his appearance, both The Dude and I noticed that he had some taint to him. This, we thought, was a bad thing, and The Dude began casting a spell.

Sadly, though not unexpectedly, the Hendrake assumed that the spell was less than friendly, and cut the tubes on The Dude's breathing gear. Then, he fled. I ran after him, trying to convince him that stopping would be a good idea. We ended up flying through the air, him a wyvern, me a somewhat blasphemous flying serpent. Saklas and The Dude were involved in a bit of a scuffle. I was not only ineffectual, but actively tried, through intervention of my demons, to make sure that the combatants were ineffectual as well. Finally, Drath interceded with a logrus-powered sidearm of some sort. Saklas was badly wounded (and Drath, at a guess, was disappointed he survived - Drath is only a couple of spaces behind Saklas in the line of succession, and has seemed willing to take the position if available).

Tjesthe picked up Saklas and we retired to a nearby Shadow for some coffee and corn nuts. During the confusion, The Dude had managed to cast his Pattern-wielding spell and cleanse Saklas of his taint. We had a nice chat once Drath left and Saklas was again willing to admit consciousness. It turns out that Saklas had discovered a similar tainted logrus, and had experimented with it to some extent. His site was land-based, which was novel. He also seemed to have, at some point, been accosted by a tainted logrus vampire of some sort, hence his residual taint. Throughout this conversation, Zhisst bathed himself in coffee. Sometimes I think I understand demons, but then...

We returned to my guest Shadow, and I noticed that Saklas had a somewhat out-of-focus logrus imprint. Nothing I had seen before. He had been experiencing the sensation of being watched, and I suggested acquiring the consultation of one of the people I trust and respect as superior to me in their mastery of the logrus, Bishop Sarentaileph Tern. Saklas trumped through to the Church, and she suggested that he had inadvertently created a blood creature, the likes of which are usually only created by powerful shapeshifters, during his experimentation with the other taint source. She also exhorted me to continue my investigation of the taint, and to investigate the newfound taint source as well. Saklas complained that I had no Battle Room (Hendrakes!), and went out hunting. He returned, and we managed to dispose of his blood parasite (not before it took a gouge out of Zhisst). Tired, Saklas chose to accept my hospitality and stay in my guest house.


With that, relative mundanity returned. Granted, my guest Shadow was currently housing two extremely high-ranking contenders for the Throne of Chaos, but few, if any, people knew that, and I was certainly not currently involved in combat (which tends to put many things in perspective). In addition, Cwell and I met up in the Imperial city to enjoy an afternoon of snake-charming entertainment. Then Bad Stuff™ started to go down.

It all started when my uncle Taran Trumped me. Actually, I should say that it had all started earlier that day, when it was discovered that two Swayvills high in the line of succession had been assassinated, apparently by Vissult's. This was explained to me after I was pulled through, bidding a hasty farewell to Cwell. It was also explained to me that this was tantamount to a declaration of war. I unfortunately let it slip that I was kind of, well, romantically involved with a Vissult. After the initial shock passed that I was actually romantically involved with anyone, my uncle informed me that I was lucky to still be alive, and that dating a Vissult was, at this point, a patently bad thing to be doing. I thanked him for the advice and ran off to try and find Cwell. Sadly, she had disappeared, and was not answering Trump calls. I sulked in the park with the snakes. You see, it's not terribly often that I can validly claim to be seeing someone and enjoying it, so it seemed at that point, to me, a bit unfair that we could end up being ordered to kill eachother in very short order.


Meanwhile, The Dude do'Amber had ended up in his namesake nation, apparently asking for advice and orders concerning how to proceed in the taint investigation. Fairly mundane, if you ask me.


Back on this side of Ygg, Tristan was somewhat surprised to see a coppery-haired young lady led into my guest house by my attendant demons. He made pleasantries with her, then excused himself and Trumped me. From his description, Cwell was...well...let's just say that you can be dressed to kill, or you can be dressed to kill, and Cwell was not wearing a split skirt.

Needless to say, I was somewhat concerned, less about her wanting to kill me (although the thought did cross my mind) than about her potentially assassinating one of my guests. I was even more worried when I found that she had disappeared from the sitting room. I ordered Tristan be brought back to my private (restricted access) Shadow, and started slowly towards Saklas' bedchamber, no longer convinced that the two demons I left to stand guard would be sufficient in his safekeeping.

Suddenly, someone was behind me. I turned and saw Cwell (the Serpent only knows where she was hiding). We greeted eachother, and I discovered that her current mode of dress was out of concern for her own safety, not the vulnerability of others. When I expressed relief at this, she appeared hurt, which wasn't a good thing (soon I hope to let her in on the Tristan thing and why I've been acting so strangely lately...more strangely than usual, that is). I told her the situation at Swayvill, and she was visibly distressed. She agreed that the dual assassination seemed quite out of character for the Vissults, and then confided that her family was on the verge of "panic".

"Panic", it seems, is a Vissult code word for Bad Stuff™. It involves killing off the top ten or so members of an enemy family and then disappearing before being slaughtered, then sending a sacrificial family member to renew the family comission at the Imperial Court every hundred turnings or so until things blew over (I was to later find out that Cwell would likely be the first Vissult to be so sacrificed, assuming she survived the initial conflict).

Unfortunately, being generally inept at political machinations, I was unable to offer much help, merely some moral support. Finally I tried to Trump my uncle Taran, and attempted to explain how bad it would be for both families if a war happened. As could probably have been expected, he was confused as to where I had obtained such information. I mentioned Cwell, and shortly thereafter felt another presence on the Trump call. I made up a lame excuse involving my snakes and forcibly broke contact.

Cwell and I ran to one of my snake pit Shadows, on the theory that we would be less likely looked for there (and that they were slightly more difficult to enter than my guest Shadow). She muttered something about needing to get into her Ways without actually going through an entrance. I Trumped The Dude (who was across the multiverse), and asked if he had any Trumps of the Vissult Ways. He said he'd get back to me.

Then, Bishop Tern Trumped me (apparently operating under the assumption that my day was significantly less exciting than it was), asking after my progress with the taint investigations. I explained that I was somewhat indisposed at the moment, being involved in trying to avert a destructive House war. She expressed some sympathy and offered to look after Tristan for me until things blew over (or I died, whichever came first). I sent my Trump of her to Tristan and awaited The Dude's return call.

Here is where the story becomes convoluted. Saklas, you see, had left my guest house and headed out into the Imperial City looking for information on his assassination attempts, only to find out about the two Swayvill killings. He went back to the Hendrake Ways to find a Fire Angel waiting in his bedchamber. A lengthy combat ensued, and Saklas emerged victorious as Jala (Saklas' de facto nemesis) arrived with a cavalry of sorts. He left the Ways to seel out more information, and to get away from Jala.

Meanwhile, Tristan had been let loose upon the Imperial City. Accompanied by two of the Bishop's attendant demons, the young Marné attempted to buy a sword. Unable to accomodate the Chaosian barter system, knowing that those who have walked the logrus can summon objects to them, and being quite fixated on the notion of owning a sword, young Tristan moved ominously in the direction of the Logrus Building.

The Dude had responded at this point, and I had (with some effort) pulled him through. After assuring him that he did not, in fact, see Cwell, we briefed him on the situation. He suggested that a talk, moderated by an impartial third party (say, a tackily dressed Amberite), might be a potential solution to the problem. Cwell and I disappeared through a Trump sketch into the Vissult Ways, and The Dude headed towards the Church to discuss a neutral meeting-place.

After some meandering through stereotypically Vissult corridors, Cwell and I met up with Gyre Vissult, another of the few who would rather avoid this war. We discussed the fact that neither side would be particularly willing to sit down to talks unless they were convinced that the other was willing to bargain. Gyre agreed to try and forge a letter to Lord Swayvill from Vissult up and up, and I pledged my best effort in getting something similar from the Swayvill side to Lady Vissult. I Trumped The Dude and got dragged through to the Church.

Here, we ran into Saklas, who had been looking for us, apparently. The Dude had run into some friction in trying to get the Church to agree to house the talks, but met with more success once he was able to speak with Her Grace, Bishop Tern. I updated The Dude about the forged letter plan, trying not to let Saklas hear it, and then tried to Trump Merlin, only getting through via Liira Hendrake.

The Dude, meanwhile, had been trying to let the two families know that there were actually being talks set up, and meeting with a distinct lack of success. He finally managed to get through to a Swayvill (a non-Geryon Swayvill, to be more precise), and resigned himself to the need to actually hand deliver the announcement to the Vissult Ways. Saklas accompanied him on this particular mission.

And let's not forget about Tristan, who, at this point had made it into the Logrus Building, and was scanning the Logrus for a large, slow moving tendril...

...While I was talking with Merlin and a Marné friend of his about impersonating Lord Swayvill in a one-way Trump message directly to Lady Vissult that would involve me (little old, inoffensive me) infiltrating the Vissult Ways in order to weaken the Trump Shield and funnel the message through. I Trumped Cwell, who pulled me through and led me to a (hopefully) safe place as I began to worm my way through the Trump defenses...

...As The Dude and Saklas are pounding on the door to the Vissult Ways...

...As Tristan, who is apparently less interested in self-preservation than I thought, steps off a balcony onto a tendril...

...As I break through the defenses and funnel the message directly to Lady Swayvill...

...As The Dude and Saklas bust down the door and run in, announcing the peace talks at the top of their lungs...

...As Tristan moves into automatic shapeshifting mode, and then goes Primal...

...As Cwell and I hear unnervingly large numbers of footsteps rapidly approaching...

Geryon Swayvill


Tainted Waters || Crime and Punishment