Journal of Chaos

by the hand of Geryon Swayvill


After much anticipation and preparation, the day of the wedding had arrived (the concept of "day" is disappointingly limiting in comparison to "turning", although, I must admit, the blue sky is quite pleasant). Trump Gates were opened, Primal Powers flared, and everyone who was anyone ended up in Amber.

Of course, as is oft the case in Amber (or so I'm told), the proceedings were not without their disturbances. We learned several things of note in the opening procession. First, The Dude do'Amber showed up wearing black and white. A tuxedo! The Dude!

I still can't believe that.

We also learned, when Bleys walked in (with two of the younger generation flanking him), who exactly this "Arzhen" fellow was. Bleys was actually announced as "The Prophet Arzhen", and Jamie and Janna (his two younger escorts) were announced as "High Templars" or somesuch religious thing. Random (the King of Amber, who had been trying to deal with the open revolt all over the place prompted by this Arzhen fellow) was displeased. (On a side note, it turns out that Janna was not so much affiliated with Arzhen as his prisoner, taken to the ceremony as a trophy rather than a lackey. It is amazing how this family bickers.)

Other people showed up in various different outfits. Janna and Gwyneth had the unfortunate luck of wearing dresses made of the same material. Other than that, the crowd was not unsual. Extremely well-dressed and attractive, but not terribly unusual.

Then the ceremony itself occurred. It was not as lengthy as one might expect, but nor was it brief. The ceremony, too, was capped by a wonderful announcement by Merlin that he was, in fact, removing himself and his entire future lineage from the Chaosian line of succession. This, perhaps, should not have come as a shock, but was, nevertheless, somewhat surprising. Rumors abounded as to what exactly the motivations for this were, including a persistent rumor that it involved a new line of Corwin's centered around that Pattern. Only time will tell.

The reception afterwards held, in keeping with the rest of that day, its own surprises. I made the rounds, chatting with various people from both ends of the multiverse. To my shock, I was the center of a good amount of attention, presumably due to my somewhat exotic nature. I have a new appreciation for how The Dude must feel in the Courts.

Regardless, I engaged several of the elder crowd in conversation (and even got to the point of giving advice to Julian, the Guardian of Arden. I also engaged a younger member of the family, Adria Sorens, on the topic of the possibility of there existing another Pattern (other than the Primal, its reflections, and Corwin's). She was convinced there was, I otherwise. We decided on a gentlemen's wager to settle the dispute.

Also of note is the fact that Random (the aforementioned King) brusquely took Bleys aside, reportedly to hammer out peace agreements. It's difficult to believe that they are siblings.

All of this paled in comparison to the unknown arrival of Corwin do'Amber, who appeared, briefly, in the guise of a Unicorn Church initiate, in order to give Merlin his wedding present ... Greyswandir. He disappeared after a very short time (understandable, since most of his relatives would undoubtably bombard him with questions about existance as a Primal Power).

The reception went on for some time, and culminated in the gift ceremony, where a small bit of competition happened for the best gift. Tom had already given his gift, which was a flute composition specifically written and performed for this wedding. Jamie gave a sapling, for them to plant and watch grow as did their love (or somesuch). Gwyneth had created a marvelous quilt which she presented to them. Adria and The Dude had honeymoon-aspected gifts. Adria had set aside a well-warded, well-designed, low-irritant, high-relaxation tropical shadow specifically for them, complete with a Trump for travel. The Dude had set up a sorcerous construct which would block direct Trump contacts with the lovers, and, instead, record the images for later playback.

Janna presented a pair of remarkably crafted scabbards. Gavin gave a pair of goblets carved from solid amethyst. Tristan contributed a belt buckle for Merlin and a brooch for Liira. Saklas had a chorus of demons. And I mean a chorus -- they sang. Also on the demon front, I had summoned a matching pair of attendant demons who were trained to assist in a number of ways in magical experiments and all that. Drath gave a fine sculpture. Fiona presented the couple with a portrait of them on their wedding day (I'm not entirely sure, but I'm impressed). Most of the other elders gave stunningly uninspired gifts, though Julian gave a pair of horses of Morgenstern's stock.

Martin, too, had a gift to give. He had arranged for a sport hunt for the younger crowd (don't trust anyone over 300...). Most of us borrowed mounts from the Royal Amber Stables, though Saklas preferred to shapechange into a large lizard. It was quite an exciting affair. Our prey crossed the borders of Shadow with ease, so we hellrode onwards into the fray. Hellriding is something I hadn't experienced before. Quite exciting. We got separated, rejoined, killed. At the end, I had grown horns and wings and was being attended by ravens, just because it seemed appropriate.

Then the real party began. I pulled in a wetbar and an orchestra. Tom provided their musical repertoire. I made sure that things got pulled in when people wanted them. Several folks engaged in some friendly (well, mostly) dueling. Tom and I had a long discussion concerning the various mystical arts and their relationships to eachother. Gavin and I struck up a business deal. He had been fascinated by the idea of binding demons to objects, and wanted one of his own.

Tristan (with my help) introduced the partygoers to a certain type of sensory-immersive game. Some discussion of politics went on, though people were not generally that gauche. At the end of it all, I was quite psychically exhausted, having contributed, frankly, far more than I should have to the party. Cwell ensured that I was quite physically exhausted as well.

Geryon Swayvill


Preparation for Battle || Thunder in the Deep

Some of you sillies were keeping track of what was going on in Amber...here you go...

Amber Session 6 || Amber Session 8