Players and Characters:

Lydia ........ Cyrus
Shai ........ Sonnet
Scott ........ Benedict
Jarrod ....... Osric
Rob ........ Finndo
Deborah ...... Sybil
Fred ........ GM

Stat line up:

-2 Poor
-1 Mediocre
0 Average
1 Fair
2 Good
3 Great
4 Superb
5 Epic
6 Legendary
7 Legendary +1
etc.

Quotes: Session 15: Fire Beyond the Sky

This session occurs on Superbowl Sunday; we started early, with Christie-produced breakfast. Imagine eating your chocolate chip pancakes while your GM plays 'don't fear the reaper' in the background. No, we ate the pancakes anyway; they were very good pancakes.

Lydia and Fred used to live in the Washington, D.C. area. When Fred had just moved out there, Lydia invited him to lunch. They got onto the Washington-Baltimore Parkways, and... just note that this was five and a half years ago.

Jarrod: "How do you end up in Alexandria by accident?"
Fred: "Quoth Lydia: "I think we just entered Baltimore. *I* said, Lydia, we just entered Virginia."
Lydia shrugs, smiling.
Fred screams.

And starting the campaign; this didn't actually require memory:

GM: "Where we left off -"
Deborah: "Where - oh yes, screaming."

And the recap (and the pain):

GM: "Sybil collapsed, screaming, possibly fainted. There was a red light in the east; potentially from the castle, you have just been informed by a wind elemental that Sybil had summoned that he was flying out west, so he was not flying towards this, and he was crying out about fire in the sky. Benedict was trumping Finndo, Osric was getting a trump contact, and Sonnet and Cyrus were happily ensconced in liquor and books in Bran Brasil. So. Where should I pick up?"

At the castle, a red light gathered around the entire royal tower and arced across the sky. The difference between a Prince and a guard is that the guard's surprised that reality is exploding. I'll just have to do it mySELF:

GM: "Finndo."
Finndo: "Sprinting for the tower, yelling for guards to follow me."
GM: "You are dealing with quite a number of stupefied guards."
Finndo: "If they're in my way, I will bowl them over."

Someone explain to me why they know the answer to feeding-people-to-woodchippers-cinema trivia questions?

GM: "You get to the door that leads into the tower; it's locked."
Finndo: "Guards, get a ram, but meanwhile, I'm just going to literally shred the door with cards. Woodchipper effect."
Jarrod: "I suppose that's your associate in the woodchipper."
Shai: "It's a Fargo reference."
Lydia: "There's another movie with a woodchipper."
Rob: "Jackie Chan, Rumble in the Bronx."

In the valley of the River Veronelle, Osric is getting a trump call, Benedict is making one, and Sybil's collapsing. Hey, it was worth a shot:

GM: "Osric, you're getting a trump call."
Osric: "Aha. Who iiiiis it?"
GM: "I look at you."
Osric: "How can we hear whatever it is they say?"

Remember that Finndo found out that the creator of the Pattern, Dworkin, was coming back for revenge and his Pattern. We ended last session with red light arcing over Homewood and Sybil screaming (among other things). Sybil, your one woman 'And Faerie's Broken' alarm system:

GM: "It looks to be you. However you appear to be lit by an awful lot of red light, armored, and potentially in motion, somewhat disarrayed."
Deborah: "They took the Pattern in the Land; I told you this."

Osric's trump call turns out to be Osrat calling for help (while the Land appears to be have had its heart ripped out behind him). Hello, Darkness, my old friend:

Osrat: "So. There are two ways we can play this. One is war. Would you like war?"
Osric: "It's dreadfully messy."
Osrat: "Yes, this is my thought."

Osric seems to just keep saying this one:

Osric: "Watch that branch."

One man's work is another man's holiday:

Osrat: "The other way is getting me out of this situation but I fancy I'd need your protection for that."
Osric: "Really."
Osrat: "Yes."
Osric: "What's going on, then?"
Osrat: "It's rather complicated."
Rob: "I'm off on a jaunty vacation."

And the great dildo of fate points itself:

Osrat: "I could pull you through but I was rather fancying the other transaction."
Osric: "I imagine you were."
Jarrod: "Decisions, decisions. Oh boy oh boy oh boy."

The trouble with dealing with your evil clone:

Osrat: "Don't think of pulling me through without your word."
Osric hesitates.
Osrat: "Yes, I had that thought, too."

And in Bran Brasil, Cyrus and Sonnet are blissfully unaware. Baron Rast of Bran Brasil is a huge, huge, huge man. Cyrus does not argue with the human representation of a Clydesdale:

GM: "Sonnet, Cyrus. There's a commotion from the guards somewhere out on the perimeter of the fortress. Rast has gone up and is thundering locomotive-like towards the gates."
Rob: "Rast, the one man Cyrus will let go first."

Not so hard to track the passage of the menfolk in Bran Brasil:

GM to Sonnet: "Okay, that thumping sound that went past your door was probably Rast."
Lydia: "And Cyrus in tow."
Rob: "That or a horse is loose inside the building."
Sonnet: "Follow them down the hallway."

Insight is a party specialty:

GM: "Rast is mounting a fairly sturdy ladder that gets one up to the top of the exposed part of the walls; off to the left the sky seems to be glowing somewhat reddishly."
Cyrus: "So, that's not good."
Sonnet: "No."

Now there's a trump:

GM: "Rast is at the top of the walls; you get him in profile with the red light illuminating his fact."

Rast likes his women physically fit and, uhm, competent. (He had been wooing Wendra.) Hobson's choice:

Sonnet: "How high is the rampart?"
GM: "Quite a number of feet. Are you going to look competent in front of Rast?"
Sonnet: "Yeahhhhh. Cyrus, after you?"

The trouble with knowing what's really going in is that you know just how broken things really are (it's not a miracle /how/ the phones work in this country; it's a miracle that they work at all):

Cyrus: "I climb the ladder and I use the spyglass."
GM: "Oh, very good."
Lydia: "I've used it a couple times for seeing things I really don't want to see."

Special situations require special measures:

GM: "Cyrus, you're up there, Sonnet you're on his heels, Rast has gone quiet. He's simply just," and the GM braces himself and folds his arms, scowling at the wall, "arms folded, glaring out into the distance, like he's trying to - think. The slow ponderous turning of gears."

Hey now!

GM: "Cyrus, you pull out your spyglass and what you see, near as you can make it out because this is still quite a distance away, is a tiny little shape that's probably Castle Amber. You definitely recognize Kolvir, out to the east, and there's this arc of crimson light that has shot out of either all the castle or part of it - hard to say because the light is so strong - or has shot into the castle - hard to say - and has gone over the mountains and into Arden. It looks like a second arc has peeled off away from Arden out into the east."
Sonnet: "Where's Sybil?"

Sybil was knocked out when those red arcs appeared; she fell at Benedict's feet:

Scott, pointing down, "Thud."

On reputation:

Cyrus to Sonnet (of Sybil): "You let her out of your sight."
Sonnet: "She mentioned something about stepping out into the hallway." She pauses. "Oh. That was hours ago."
Cyrus: "I will be _here_."
GM to Cyrus: "That's when you notice that Benedict and Osric haven't joined you."

Oh, and just one more little thing:

GM to Cyrus: "You think that out to the west there is some kind of receding dark mass but you can only really make this out because the stars are occasionally obscured."

Cyrus is going up the mountain for a better vantage. Shai really hates that her character has developed a conscience:

GM: "Cyrus heads out of the fort."
Sonnet: "I follow Cyrus."
Cyrus: "Aren't you looking for Sybil?"
Sonnet: "Odds are she's in mortal danger and if I trump her, it will just complicate things."
Cyrus: "I see."
Sonnet: "Fuck. Stop, pull out a trump and trump Sybil."

Benedict trumps Finndo (since there's fire arcing across the sky). Some questions are just predictable:

Finndo: "Yes?"
Benedict: "What's go -"
Finndo, interrupting: "I have NO idea."
GM: "And you see the wood chips flying past behind him."

At least he comes by it honestly:

Benedict: "Do you need anything?"
Finndo: "No. I don't know. I will call if I do. It came from Dad's tower. That's all I know."
Deborah: "Like father, like son."

Knowing when you're not needed:

Guard: "Sir! Sir, there's a second one; it's splitting off."
Finndo: "Allright, track them, get me an astronomer, someone who can map these and figure out what's going on."
Benedict: "I cut the contact."

The GM gave Jarrod some time to consider Osrat's request for aid. One hour, one minute, same response:

GM: "Osric."
Jarrod is still laughing: "Okay?"

This is called presenting them with a Delphic Choice:

Osric: "Certain assurances will be required from you as well."
Osrat: "I'm somewhat pressed for time. What."

Ah, qualifiers:

Osric: "Mutual protection will do."
Osrat: "Certainly. In fact, that goes exactly in mind with what I'm thinking. Fancy that. Will you declare it to your brothers?"
Osric: "Oh yes. Possibly, in time, yes. "

Benedict nicknames:

Osrat: "The lethal one is near you, isn't he?"
Osric: "Yes."

Not so fond out cooking pot to fire transition:

Osrat: "Could you... step a little bit away? Just to guard against reactions?" He ducks, fast, looking over his shoulder. "Oh, that's not good. Quickly, please."
Osric: "... Allright."

The GM as Catbert:

GM, giggling: "I'll get back to you."
Lydia: "These are the moments when a tail wiggle is appropriate."

They don't teach Philosophy 101 quite this way:

Rob: "No, that's Hobson's choice. Apparent freedom of options when in fact all options are ass."

Sonnet is trying to trump Sybil. Friends help you move. Good friends help you move bodies. A real friend in Amber moves /your/ body:

GM: "Sonnet. You... get a contact. You have the impression that Sybil is in extreme pain, flailing, reaching - grab her hand?"
Sonnet: "Yes."

Benedict had just trumped Finndo; Sybil had collapsed at his feet. And a real friend in Amber may just qualify the help:

GM: "You come out of the contact to see two things. One, Sybil is starting to fade. What are you doing about that?"
Benedict: "Blink." Pause. "If I don't see something happening over there, grab for her hand."
GM: "Sonnet, you have pulled through both Sybil and Benedict."

The human chain-o-Sybil goes through the trump, leaving Osric (also in trump contact and completely unaware of Benedict and Sybil) behind. It's the extra little touches that make the experience special:

Osrat comes through his trump with Osric: "Oh look, no one else is around."
Osric: "All part of the service."

Sybil is conscious enough to be flailing, screaming and incoherent. Awkward, wacky cleavage moments:

Sonnet: "Sonnet wraps her arms around Sybil."
Deborah: "Thus you get a Benedict."
Lydia: "This has gotten rather crowded."
Shai: "Right."
Benedict: "Feuh - cleavage!"

Finndo has just realized what's going on:

Deborah: "What's Finndo thinking?"
Finndo: "He's sitting through woodchippers, thinking, FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK."

Decisions, decisions:

Sonnet: "Ow."
Deborah: "Do you let go of the armful of Benedict and Sybil?"
Sonnet: "Yeeeeaaaah. Well. Sybil still screaming?"

Providing a target:

GM to Sybil: "You're kind of aware of a somewhat reassuring presence."
Sybil: "I scream at the reassuring presence."

Understanding your role:

Sonnet: "Calm, calm, calm, calm, calm... low, soothing tones."
Sybil: "Sybil helpfully keeps screaming."

Twisting the knife:

Sonnet: "Benedict will disentangle himself as he pleas -"
Scott: "Benedict has already disentangled himself."
Shai: "Yes, she did the roses today."
Scott glowers at her.
GM: "Testy, isn't he?"

Benedict trumps Osric, since he left him behind. It's like wasting timeouts in the Superbowl:

Benedict: "Finndo doesn't know anything."
Osric: "You called me just for _that_?"
Finndo: "You wasted a trump call to discuss my shortcomings?"

Faerie for 'my head fucking hurts and they blew up the Land to get rid of the Pattern':

GM: "Sybil, you are kind of getting your bearings back. As you are coming out of it, what you are left with is that memory of the three questions that PoC asked you way back when: How far is the Land?"
Sybil, urgently: "Source of truth!"

Corrupt zone files:

Sybil: "Source of Truth!"
Benedict: "What?"
Sybil: "Source of Truth."
Sonnet: "Calm down."
Sybil: "Source of truth!"
Sonnet: "Shhhhh."
Sybil: "CLOGGED!"

Sybil, Sonnet and Benedict discuss Sybil's theory that the Pattern in the Land has been ripped away and that the Land itself has receded or been destroyed. (Sonnet translates panicked Faerie into comprehensible Thari for Benedict.) Osric and Osrat have their conversation, and Finndo... stops for sunglasses. Uses of the system for style points:

GM: "The door flies open and lands across the room at the feet of a silhouette -"
Finndo: "Okay, this is why I need a pair of sunglasses. A fudge point says I have one."
GM: "And so you do."

Sometimes, you just cope with what's on hand:

GM: "It's definitely Oberon, leaning back, arms out, firing out something with mystical recoil."
Finndo: "I will get behind him."
GM: "As you get behind him, you realize the source of the light is something he's wearing around his neck. You can make out that there seems to be something flowing into the left hand from Arden and something flowing out towards the ocean on the right."
Finndo: "I prop him up"
GM: "You get a grunt."

Still digging for that pony:

Sybil: "Sybil posited the theory that the Patterns - what she called the sources of truth - were being attacked."
GM: "True."
Shai: "But she's much calmer now. Which is important."

Requisite You Dumbass moment:

Sonnet: "I understand that Benedict and Osric were going to visit Piero; are we particularly concerned that he's flying out west?"
Sybil just _looks_ at her.

A little too much backup:

Sonnet: "What do you want us to do, Prince Benedict?"
Benedict: "Contact Osric; I'm going after Piero. "
Sybil: "I realize he's your teacher -"
Benedict: "This has nothing to do with loyalty."
Sonnet: "Then you shouldn't go alone."
Sybil: "Then you shouldn't go alone."

When sweet reason fails, the spots will out:

Benedict: "I'm going." He calls for a horse.
Sonnet: "FUCK! BENEDICT!"
Sybil: "MEN! DAMN!"

What would you say?

Shai: "They follow him."
GM to Benedict: "Are you allowing them to follow?"

How To Get In Trouble With Sonnet:

Benedict: "Sybil, get on the back of my horse. Sonnet, go find Osric."
Sybil to Sonnet, quietly: "I'll be accountable for him."
Shai: "Her face closes down. Ping, no response."

Benedict hellrides towards the west with Sybil clinging to the back of the saddle. Hellriding is essentially sprinting through shadow - the rough, dirty, unpleasant but extremely efficient way. Not a lot you can say to that:

GM: "You know how moving through the land looks like a blur of colors? This is that ten times over; nothing remains fixed; you can barely get your eyes on any particular detail before it melts or turns into something completely different. Fast paced, for a moment or two it seems like you've lost sense of time but it can't have been more than a few moments before you come out of this and the western mountain range looms large in the near distance."
Sybil: "/Goodness/."

And back at the castle, taking steps one thing at a time:

Finndo: "Once Oberon has been propped up, I direct the guards."

Fred's apparent this-game-only theory for how the Rebma Pattern came to be:

GM: "Cyrus, you're up to the top of the mountain; the light in the west has gone far enough that you're having trouble tracking it. Looking back to the east, somewhat to the north, you see several things. You now see the destination of these two arcs. One of them has shot into the western portion of Arden - "
Lydia: "The uninhabited portion."
GM: "And the other has shot out into the ocean."
Lydia: "Distant or slightly off shore?"
GM: "Not too far off shore."

Juggling sparrows, siblings and sinister twins:

Sonnet: "I'm trumping Osric."
GM: "So, Osric, you guys have exchanged a few other things by this point - and you are absolutely certain that someone has just hellridden past you."

Can you arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?

Osric: "Are you willing to help or do you just want to be protected?"
Osrat: "I imagine it's part of the contract of protection, isn't it? One would assume that if I'm willing to help, you're willing to help."
Lydia: "We're all so helpful here."
Jarrod: "Yes, we're all so big on the helping."
Shai: "Yes."

Osrat ate Sybil's clone, thereby gaining her particular abilities. The scary applications of Glamour:

Osrat: "It does appear to be something dire, doesn't it?"
Osric: "You being seen is going to be a problem."
Osrat: "Will it?"
GM: "He looks like the captain of your army."

F-16s go by very very very fast:

Osric: "Do I have a sense of the direction of the hellride?"
GM: "Shot past you from the east towards the west."
Deborah: "Pattern sound barrier breaking."

Deductive reasoning:

Osric: "We already know what's going on over there," and he points at the Land, "so we should investigate what's happening over there," and he points to the west.
Osrat: "Yes, let's."

Sonnet has trumped Osric per Benedict's request. Upset Sonnet, get a Karm:

Sonnet: "Prince Osric, I've been placed at your disposal by Prince Benedict; what would you like me to do?"
Shai: "You've seen that expression on her face on her father."
Jarrod: "Shit."

The upside of that Karm temper is that Karm efficiency:

Osric: "Where are you?"
Sonnet: "Bran Brasil, presently."
Osric: "Have a horse?"
Sonnet: "I will have one in two minutes."

On Sonnet, due to Sybil's comment to Sonnet (this is what we define in technical terms as 'so that's not good'):

Shai: "Wow, it's amazing how fast she can close up her face."

Trump switch board operator, standing by. Someone's Annoyed:

GM: "Sonnet, you're getting a trump call, right after that one. It's Finndo."
Finndo: "Brief me."
Sonnet: "Benedict and Sybil have ridden west; Osric is on his way here, Cyrus is here."
Finndo: "What's West?"
Sonnet: "Piero, apparently, flying west, and this is highly important for some reason. They're not too candid."

The Right Answer, TM:

Finndo: "Where's Cyrus?"
Sonnet: "Cyrus is doing a lookout from the top of the mountain."
Finndo: "What are you doing at the moment?"
Sonnet, smoothly: "Whatever you want me to."

Applications of Sticks and Carrots:

Finndo: "Excellent. Rendezvous with Cyrus and trump me when you have done so. And inform everyone that the red arcs are not to be worried about."
Sonnet: "I will so inform Osric."
Finndo smiles: "Only if he asks."

Rule One for Dealing with a Karm: Humor Their Delusions. They may not be your delusions, but you'll live longer:

Deborah: "Now I have to figure out how to get out of trouble with Sonnet. If I live."
Scott: "So Sonnet's not angry at Benedict."
Deborah: "No no. Sybil vocalized the situation with Benedict; she thought she was going to her certain death and she said she would lay her life on the line for Benedict's."
Scott: "She said she would protect him?"
Deborah: "She said she would be accountable for him. To Sonnet. She vocalized the reality: you never never never never do that."

For certain values of 'dumb':

Shai: "Sonnet went into Karm mode."
Deborah: "I'm in such trouble."
Scott: "But Benedict didn't hear that exchange."
Deborah: "No, he didn't. I'm suicidal but I'm not /dumb/."
Shai: "No, he didn't. Sybil said something to Sonnet and Sonnet's face closed."

Recap (making sure the reader has a sense of what the hell is going on): Finndo is at Castle Amber with Oberon, who is using some sort of red device on his neck to create the red arcs everyone can see over Arden and the ocean; the Land appears to be having its heart or its Pattern ripped out. Cyrus is at the top of Bran Brasil with his spyglass; Sonnet has trumped Finndo from Bran Brasil and been told to rendezvous with Cyrus. Benedict and Sybil are hellriding west, following Piero, who is flying through the sky shouting about fire. Osric and Osrat are nearby the River Veronelle, not far from Bran Brasil, and about to track Piero as well.

On sticking with the plan:

GM to Benedict: "You're here for a purpose; how are you fulfilling that purpose?"
Deborah: "Death fire what? Huh?"
GM: "How are you finding Piero?"
Benedict: "That's why I brought her along."

Adlibbing (but he accepted it):

Deborah: "I sent an elemental after him; I should be able to tell where it is."
GM: "Still traveling reasonably fast, just a bit north and east of your position."
Benedict: "Follow it."

Uhm, EW!

GM: "Sybil's Legendary +3 means you have a precise fix, and Benedict's great tracking follows that efficiently. You manage to pull the occasional shift in order to make it easier, I imagine; this puts you in sight of him. He is easily at least several hundred feet up. He is trailing any number of bony flying contraptions and is himself flying what looks like the remains of a giant bat and... they're flying pretty damn fast."
Shai: "He's so misunderstood. He just needs a nice dinner and good conversation."

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

GM: "He grabbed all of his flying and undead shit and said come along; it's a swarm. Visual is an undead kind of field of that stream of garbage that the Millennium Falcon hid in."
Shai: "Ever feel like you're working FOR Mordor instead of AGAINST it?"

It's the logistics that trip you up:

Sybil to Benedict: "Do you want to fly?"
Benedict blinks at her.
GM: "Take you guys off the horses' back? Or do you want the horses to come with? Hellriding one thing, flying AAAARGH..."

Names, power of:

Benedict: "Piero!"
Sybil: "Ariel!"
GM: "She speaks a name and almost immediately without mumbo jumbo there's a presence of powerful force. "

Sybil calls on her named elemental, Ariel, to take her and Benedict airborne in order to catch up to Piero. Hadn't thought of that one:

GM to Benedict: "The dust intensifies and you're flying. It's uneasy because you're not on anything; it's wind managing to keep you aloft."
Rob: "Go ahead; dispel it. Welcome to how to cancel Benedict's ass."

Sonnet, per Finndo's request, meets up with Cyrus and informs him that the arcs in the sky are not a problem. On the importance of a straight face:

Sonnet: "Cyrus."
Cyrus: "Yes."
Sonnet, deadpan: "Finndo asked me to find you and trump him; he said not to worry about the red things in the sky. Apparently they're not a problem."
Jarrod: "We're fine; we're all fine here!"

On the importance of understanding:

Cyrus: "Is he insane?"
Jarrod: "I'll buy that."
Sonnet: "He's a Prince of the realm."
Cyrus: "Oh. That answers that question."
Sonnet: "You're an admirable man, Sir Cyrus."

Sonnet trumps Finndo to let him know she has met up with Cyrus, who could see Osric (and company) riding up to Bran Brasil. Someone's feeling bitter:

Sonnet: "Osric is coming; he has someone with him."
Finndo: "I'm sure he has a cunning plan."
Sonnet: "Undoubtedly; he _is_ a Prince of the Realm."

The answer, it does not change:

Sonnet: "Shall I notify him [Osric]?"
Finndo: "No."
Sonnet: "You're playing tricks again, aren't you?"
Finndo: "No, I just don't care."

It's good to know that someone has a plan:

Cyrus: "So this [the red arc situation] is now normal and safe."
Finndo: "No, but it is part of the plan."
Sonnet: "The cunning plan."
Cyrus: "Amazingly cunning plan."

Every plan needs a firm foundation:

Finndo: "How armed and prepared are you for the kicking of ass?"
Sonnet: "You know where I shop for lingerie."
Finndo: "You [Sonnet] get tossed the stick."

Details:

Cyrus: "Who are we going to kill?"
Finndo: "That I don't know yet."

Finndo, some time ago, went on a tour of most the major military installations of Amber, from which he got Place Trumps of all of them. On being prepared:

Finndo: "First off, does anyone know anything about what's going on to the west."
Sonnet: "Benedict and Sybil are headed west to find out; apparently it was rather urgent. We have no other details and he said I could not follow; apparently they're going by a rather fast route."
Finndo: "Yes, well. We have a faster one."

She keeps asking:

Sonnet: "Should we notify Prince Osric?"
Finndo: "Not yet."

Finndo trumps into the heart of Erendel, taking Sonnet and Cyrus. Being handwaved:

Deborah: "Rob, OOC, why the fuck are we doing this? You realize the moment we leave, Amber's going up in flames?"
Rob: "Yes, but I can trump back."
Deborah: "But -"
GM: "He has a plan!"
Jarrod: "Working on it!"

Osric requisitions horses at Bran Brasil. Making do:

Stableman: "We're almost out, sir! Everyone's asking for horses tonight!"
Deborah: "You're going to get a pony and a mule."

Curb bit, bridle, and reins:

GM to Osric: You don't so much hellride as shortcut. And oh look, there he is in the sky. Benedict. And Sybil with him."
Osrat: "That's a neat trick."
Osric: "I thought you knew how to do that."
Osrat: "Oh, I can. But I don't think you want me to right now."
Deborah: "NO."
Osric: "Mmmm, /no/. No no."

Packing a lunch and bringing a picnic blanket:

Finndo: "Sonnet is acquiring horses; Cyrus is going on lookout; Finndo is casting the cards."

IC and OOC knowledge:

GM to Cyrus: "You see that dark mass from the other side and it's growing nearer; it looks sort of dusty; definitely somewhat white -"
Cyrus: "A gigantic flock of birds."
Rob: "Bones."
GM: "Bones, but you don't know that yet."

Sybil and Benedict are airborne and have been catching up to Piero (also airborne, trailing the wake of flying undead). Would you happen to have any Grey Poupon?

GM: "You guys have managed to make your way along the side of this thing without getting too close. You don't want to - _Ariel_ doesn't want to."
Benedict: "Piero!"
Rob, casual-like: "Hey."
Benedict: "What are you DOING?"
Piero: "You shouldn't be here, son of Oberon!"
Benedict: "WHY?"
Piero: "You likely wouldn't appreciate the politics you'll find yourself in afterwards."

Just an automatic feeling:

Benedict: "What are you doing?"
Piero: "Would you like to watch?"
Sybil to Benedict: "No, we probably wouldn't."

What a lovely phrase. It keeps taking on so many new implications. It should be our game motto:

Benedict hesitates.
Jarrod: "The dark powers would be happy to help you -"
Scott: "NO HELPING!"

On pattern recognition:

GM: "And you get a trump call, Ben."
Benedict: "What would it cost me?"
Sybil: "He's learning."
Piero: "Excellent answer. Well, your father put no particular prohibition on people seeing, so come along then!"
GM: "And he arcs towards Draconis."

Stating the obvious:

Benedict to Sybil: "Stay close to Piero."
Sybil: "Because I was going to leave him?!"

Osric trumps Benedict (mid flight - Ben, not Osric). Ever get the feeling you're being babysat?

Benedict: "What."
Osric: "What are you DOING?"
Benedict: "Is that all you called me for?"
Osric: "It was a good opener."
Benedict: "What does it look like I'm doing?"
Osric: "Flying."
Benedict: "Yes. Piero."

Sometimes, you just don't have the heart:

Osric: "Did you get anything useful out of him?"
Benedict: "I'm going to see something!"
Osric: "REALLY."

Heartening:

Osric: "Where is he going?"
Benedict: "Draconis."
Osric: "Allright then."
Benedict: "He says he's under father's orders."
Osric: "Of course."
Benedict: "If I suddenly start falling, I'll call you."

After a while, certain things just seem part of the flow:

GM: "Deborah, you look like you're about to say something."
Deborah: "Fuck fuck fuck."
GM nods, as if it were only natural: "Okay."

Cyrus sees the flying wall o' bones. And who said we'd never use geography?

Cyrus: "Do I have a guess at a logical destination?"
GM: "Well, all of Draconis is south of here."

Being Specific:

GM: "Rob, roll cartomancy."
Finndo: "Legendary."
GM: "Allright, You get Piero, Death, one of the major forts in Draconis, you get the Devil, and everything else is rods -fire."
Finndo yells to Sonnet: "Screw the horses, get Cyrus!"
Jarrod: "In order?"
Finndo: "And he will trump Benedict."

The art of communication:

GM to Benedict: "You get rid of Osric's call, and "Pie -" D'oh."
Benedict: "BUSY!"
Finndo: "Yes? 30 second briefing will suffice."
Benedict: "Next to Piero, about to do something, looks like he's under Father's orders."
Finndo: "Right. Don't interfere. See you there, then."

Hazards of a shadow education:

Cyrus: "Sonnet?"
Sonnet: "Yo! I mean - sorry -"
Cyrus: "/YO/?"
Sonnet: "It's a colloquialism!"

When you think Draconis, think the Vor of the Bujold books. This is a military society that's all about men being men in spiffy uniforms. Spiffy uniforms don't prepare you for the coming of the flying undead:

GM: "Okay. Finndo, you get there. You actually passed any number of forts because these mountains in Draconis are rife with them; they are shouting as you fly past because they're seeing you - and, right -"
Scott: "The horde of darkness."
GM: "Right. You guys have made it to one of the larger forts in the Draconian wall."

Cyrus has been on lookout with his spyglass. Nice visual:

Sonnet: "What did you see?"
Cyrus: "There seem to be a lot of birds headed this way."
GM: "Actually, where you guys are, if you look back to the north, it's almost this glittering thing. Little tiny bones reflecting the moonlight, growing closer and darker."

Vor, Klingons: see, there's a REASON for the warlike minions trained to take orders no matter what:

Finndo: "Inform the fort that something bad may be about to happen."
Guard: "Looks like the night for it, sir!"
Deborah: "It is a Good Day to Die."

Standing in the other man's shoes:

Osric: "So are you going to let me know what's going on?"
Finndo: "You've just heard what's going on. The arcs are Dad's work; I suspect this is a distraction."
Osric: "One hell of a one, then."
Finndo: "Considering the work, one hell of a one was called for."

Benedict and Sybil are loading themselves for bear. Benedict brought along a bow; he's going to imbue his arrows with his unraveling power. Small. Issue:

Benedict: "I charge one."
GM: "Just one?"
Benedict: "No, more than that -"
GM: "When you charge one, Ariel falters."

Like owner, like sylph:

Sybil: "Benedict! You hurt Ariel!"
Benedict: "I do just one then. Sorry! I didn't mean to -!"
Sybil: "Ariel, he says he's sorry."
GM: "And you're moved to the periphery, Benedict, away from the core of the winds."

But hey, on the bright side:

Finndo: "I ask the Captain which mountain that is."
GM: "He gives you a military designation for it."
Finndo: "Ask if there's anything distinctive about it."
Captain: "Not that we know of, sir. It's a tough one to cross; we don't put many men out there for that reason."
Finndo: "This is gonna get ugly."
Sonnet, purring: "Nice uniforms."

Piero stops his horde over a particular mountain fort and starts dumping force down into it. Getting a good long look at your allies:

GM: "Piero is pouring black energy at it; you can't see anything past this cone of darkness thats drilling down at it. He starts to cackle; he's pouring it down on this mountain. And - the top of the mountain explodes, raining rubble down."
Sybil: "Oh dear."
GM: "Something comes alive on the inside of the mountain, casting off other pieces of it, boulders rolling down; the neck of a bony and extremely large lizard pokes up."
Rob: "Sweet baby Jesus; he found the dead dragon. Draconis was founded by a hero who found a dragon and slew it and took his corpse."

You can see a lot of a man's character by what he has to say when an undead dragon is raised:

Benedict: "That. Can't. Be. Good."
Cyrus: "So he's controlling this, right?"
Sonnet: "So he's brought it back to life; do we have to kill it again?"
Finndo: "I think it's actually going to be used against something else - oh, no, wait - That's actually another long story and I'll get back to it when things are calm."
Cyrus: "/What/?"

We bring the pain to you:

Piero: "Pardon me, Benedict; I have THINGS to take care of." And he flies out over the desert.
Finndo: "Oh wow. That's so bad."
Benedict: "I trump Finndo."

My 3rd ed D&D character routinely makes the mid-40s on her Bluff roles. Oh, for overlapping character sheets:

GM: "Ariel [Sybil's named Sylph, who is carrying Benedict and Sybil] doesn't want to go after that [the undead dragon and Piero]."
Sybil: "That's allright; we don't have to yet. I think."
GM: "You're being lowered slowly, as if Ariel is thinking, 'If I'm low down it won't see me'."
Sybil: "Ariel. Ariel, it's allright. Everything's fine. Steady on."
Jarrod: "You don't have the 40 bluff on this character."

On Being Clear:

Benedict: "I'm trying to decide if we should follow."
Sybil: "I have two answers for you and one of them is purely selfish and starts with N."
Jarrod: "And the other one is to words and starts with F?"

Picky, picky:

Jarrod: I have a /sidekick/ now.
Deborah: "You have a sidekick of yourSELF."

Scary, scary, scary Amber Secret Service Detail:

Finndo: "Cyrus, if anything attempts to disrupt Oberon's work, kill them as efficiently as possible."
Cyrus: "I am apparently Oberon's new guard."
Finndo: "Oh, and take these." He gives him the shades.
Rob: "And Cyrus just looks badass."
Jarrod: "Got the whole Arnold thing going, yeah."

Speaking of price tags:

Osric: "What was that all about?"
Benedict: "The short or the long?
Osric: "The long."
Benedict: "And now it's your turn to ask for information. It's funny, isn't it?"
Osric: "Anything you'd like to know; you've but to ask."

We all finally meet up at the fort in Draconis. Bringing that feminine touch to the war:

Sonnet: "Shall we go upstairs?"
Sybil: "Tea?"

Getting to the point:

Finndo: "I have things to tell everybody but not until this is done one way or another."
Benedict: "The dragon."

Oh, Okay then:

Finndo: "Sybil."
Sybil: "Finndo."
Finndo: "If you would be so kind, send an earth elemental to investigate the mountain; see if there's anything interesting to be found there. It's a dragon's resting place."

When Piero raised the dragon, he decimated the fort on top of the mountain (when the mountain blew up). The men stationed there are assumed dead. You can't blame the guy:

Finndo: "Communicate with the guard here; make sure we have the names of any men lost when the dragon was raised."
Sonnet: "Names?"
Finndo: "Names; we are going to be supplementing the pensions to their families."
GM: "You do get the names; you also get the distinct impression that this guy is PISSED but he is restraining himself. You get curt answers; you get a list of names, and then he has things to do."
Sonnet comes back with the list: "And, oh yes, when are we going to war with Draconis?"

On responsibility:

Jarrod: "I've gotten us out of one war; I'm done."
GM: "Good point."
Finndo: "Get a pen and paper and take some dictation, please. And Finndo starts... drafting a letter of condolence."

The Draconis folks are more likely to appreciate a fort than a monument to the dead. On finding a use for the things that have gone wrong:

Benedict: "We find the Commander of the fort."
Commander: "Sir."
Benedict: "Need your help. Come with me, please."
Commander, looking pained: "Of course"
Benedict: "They go up to a vantage point where they can see." Benedict points to the hollowed-out mountain, "Feasibility of turning this into a fort."
Commander: "Be a large one."
Benedict: "Yes it would."
Commander: "Wonder if it would be unmanageably so. Doable. Haven't had much need to defend that mountain before."
Rob: "Yes, but now it's somewhat more passable."

Sybil has 3 named elementals; one of them is an earth elemental, Caliban, who Builds Things as his primary talent. On bribery:

Benedict: "You will now."
Commander: "It's doable. Over the course of many years."
Benedict: "We might be able to shorten that time."
Commander: "That would be good."

Osric received a ring from his mother, Cymnea the traitor, for Midwinter. On bearing gifts:

GM walks past Jarrod, fingering his ring pointedly.
Rob: "OH dear. Oh dear. That's no good."
Jarrod: "But I don't wanna do that!"

May you play in interesting games:

GM: "Hmmmm. Your ring is - interesting. Something seems to -"
Jarrod: "But I don't want to talk to it!"
GM: "It seems.... interesting."
Jarrod: "Chinese interesting."

The Benefits of an Evil Twin:

Osric: "Ask my captain to keep an eye on things."
Osrat: "Of course, sir."
Osric: "And meander off."

And the benefit of would be allies who possess people:

GM: "Where are you meandering?"
Osric: "Somewhere out of sight?"
Shai: "So, storage closet. "
GM: "Someone is following you."
Osric: "/Really/."
GM: "Yes."
Osric: "Oooh. That's going to be interesting. I won't let on, but I'm going to see if I can figure out who it is."
GM: "Looks like one of the soldiers."
Osric: "Okay, I'll duck around a corner and stop and wait."
GM: "Allright. He comes around the corner and says 'Ah there you are. I don't suppose you could tell us what's been going on here?'"
Osric: "Working on that."

We have some questions, Mr. Speaker:

Quinn: "Right. There's an undead dragon; that wasn't a trick of the light -"
Osric: "Oh, if only."
Quinn: "Hmmm. There's been something growing in the west; some kind of power. Originally I had suspected this event but, no, they're not related, They seem to be coming to a head."

It's always nice to know who's interrogating you:

Jarrod: "Do I know which one - ?"
GM: "This is Quinn. No question."
Lydia: "The one who can possess."

THIS is why we're all terrified of Osric:

Osric: "Any more details about this western thing?"
Quinn: "We're going to be going for a look."
Osric: "Are you?"
Quinn: "Yes."
Osric: "Mind if I join?"
Quinn: "Hmmm. Tricky."
Osric: "Can be arranged."
Quinn: "Could it. What did you have in mind?"
Osric: "Well, I don't think I'll be missed."
Quinn: "I see."
Rob flops backwards, hands over his eyes.
Scott facepalms.
Quinn: "Be outside the castle in fifteen minutes; we'll pick you up."
Rob: "Futhermucker."

Failing to mention:

Osrat: "Is there anything I don't know that I should? Wouldn't want the ruse to fail, afterall."
Scott: "Don't let Benedict find out who you really are."
Jarrod: "Yeah, that would be bad."
Osric: "You can always call me if you have problems."
Osrat: "That's true."

Not that we're bitter:

Rob: "Oh yes and don't go to Tir; they installed an iron strip across the top status."
Shai: "Oh yes and your official status in the castle is a small rat."
Rob: "That is true."
Lydia: "And then he gets to meet Arf."

Pain without the gain:

GM to Osric: "You get outside; the ring starts to thrum; and everything's black, and then you're somewhere else, and I'll get back to you."
Shai: "Well, then."
Jarrod: "/Neat/."
Deborah: "That's bad. I don't like that they have that."
Jarrod: "It's always good to know what they have."
Scott: "Well, we knew that they had that."

Finndo sends a card up to scry on what Piero is going to deal with. Lighting a fire, how to:

GM: "Things are closer now; it's some kind of land mass."
Finndo: "Oh shit, big floating island."
GM: "Still off in the distance, but you're pretty sure."
Finndo: "Oh god is the card going hell bent for leather towards it."
GM: "You get closer to this thing; you shoot past the head of the column, giving the dragon a nice, wide birth; it looks effectively like someone ripped the top of a mountain off. There are spires coming off the bottom, like ripped earth. There are non or semi forms still not close enough to make out the details that seem to occasionally scurrying; there are various torches all over it. It looks like a population of some sort. One of the torches stops for a moment. You think you make out something that might have arms - seems to have horns or something - and then snap. Effectively. And the cards just kind of go drifting down."
Finndo: "Where's the Commander?"
GM: "Upstairs with Benedict and Sonnet."
Finndo: "Thumpthumpthump up the stairs."

Coping, how to:

Finndo: "Commander. My apologies for the delay in briefing you on this situation; I imagine this has been rather disturbing for you. There is a force of some magnitude to the west of here."
Commander: "Barbarians?"
Finndo: "Magical."
Commander: "Grand."
Finndo: "Piero, I believe, took some initiative to deal with it."
Commander: "What can you tell me?"
Finndo: "That it is a mountain, floating, with indigenous population on it."
Commander: "Mountain."
Finndo: "Yes."
Commander: "Artillery."
Finndo: "Yes."

Rebuke:

Finndo: "This [the exploding fort] was not an anticipated outcome."
Commander: "That's a matter for politicians, sir."
Finndo: "For the moment it is a matter for generals as I do not know if the dragon will be enough to help Piero. For now, I will go deal with the politicians."

Getting your attention:

GM: "Back to Osric. You're on a disc of inky blackness thousands of feet up in the air."
Osric: "Oh good."
GM: "Your uncles are here; Wendra's here; Mommy's here."
Jarrod: "Oh good. The whole family's here."
GM: "Except for Dulcea."

Everything's always relative:

Quinn: "Osric. Good of you to join us."
Osric: "I wouldn't miss this."
Quinn: "Piero's undead formation should be off that way perhaps a few miles. Sister, dear, could you put on the juice please?"
GM: "Cymnea waves. She is giving Piero's column a lot of distance because she doesn't want to be noticed."
Kipwyn is just watching: "That dragon has a long and dangerous history; bringing it back was not a good move."
Osric: "Piero is nothing if not creative."
Kipwyn: "Yes, I imagine - What the HELL is THAT?"
GM: "And that's when you see the island in the sky."
Rob: "Perhaps it was not such a bad idea afterall."
Kipwyn: "Right. Re-thinking that last statement."

No surprises:

GM: "Wendra just looks back, looks back away. You do get the sense that she is eyeing you like she doesn't trust you."
Osric: "Like that's new."

Only _one_ thing you need assistance with?

Benedict: "Sybil."
Sybil: "Yes?"
Benedict: "Something I need your assistance with."
Sybil: "Oh, I'm tempted. I hate to break it to you, but I'm so tempted."
Benedict: "To what?"
Sybil: "Oh, if you have to ask I'm really tempted. What do you need?"

Benedict and the Commander have worked together (with Sonnet) to draw up plans for the fort to replace the one that got blown out of the mountain when the dragon was raised. Benedict intends to use Sybil to build the new fort; there's just one small problem. The Fae hasn't got a concept for architectural drawings - although she has a fine grasp of immediate reality:

Benedict: "Look at the mountain."
Sybil: "The ex mountain."
Benedict: "Now look at the lines again... "

Sybil, confused, finally sends Caliban directly to Benedict. Directions to the soul:

Sybil: "Then go find Benedict. Do you know which one is Benedict?"
Caliban: "Tall and long."
Sybil: "With the anger, yes."
Caliban: "Yeesss."
Sybil: "Yes, and the little touch of darkness. Go find him."
Caliban: "Yesss."

Not making it easier:

GM: "The island mountain thing doesn't really seem to be there."
Osric: "Tell Quinn that."
Quinn: "Wonder if Piero knows that?"
Osric: "I doubt it."
Quinn: "Not especially inclined to tell him that. Yes?"
Osric: "Well, I can't exactly be here, can I."
Quinn: "You're not. To anyone else, we're the night time sky."
Jarrod: "Damn these choices."

Physics of magic:

GM: "The dragon breaks off the from the column, swooping around the opposite side of the island. Piero appears to do some sort of gesture and a good portion of the rear of his column starts surging forward at the mountain; a lot of them don't get through some invisible thing they hit but some of them do. A great cacophony of dust and gouts of flame ensues. Then there are a number of flying things that come back from the island which are not Piero's. Piero brings his hand together and it's like a blacker than black circle, revolving around him ,appears and the things coming at him hit shrivel fall. He keeps moving forward with a staff in hand, this long bony thing, and you can't visibly see energy coming out of it but you've got a strong sense of that happening."
Shai: "Smells like ozone."

So _that_'s where he gets it:

GM: "On the opposite side, the dragon lets out like it's going to be breathing flame except what comes out is this black tentacular thing. It's pooling up against the barrier and it's somewhat licking into the mountain. And this is when you know you're in similar company, Osric, because all of them, except for Wendra, say: "Huh."

Knowing when you're outclassed:

Osric: "You know, I'm thinking this is not good for any of us."
Kipwyn looks back to you: "You got that, did you."
Cymnea: "You know, I'm not quite sure we can do anything about that island."
Lydia: "Wow."
Jarrod, in a high small voice: "Oh dear."
Scott: "And when Mom says that."
Jarrod: "Oh dear oh dear oh dear."

Watching the doom start:

GM: "The beefier portion of Piero's column comes into contact and the two things start fighting each other. The circle is warping but more of his things are flying through and the swarm is coming at him. This is when you're sure that the things he's fighting are insectoid - "
Jarrod: "Bugs -"
GM: "Bugs. And oh! Those spires that you thought were earth are tubes. There're many more flying out of them and coming up beneath him." Pause. "He doesn't seem to have noticed them."
Jarrod: "Oh shit."
GM: "The dragon has managed to scythe off a small chunk of the island and it goes tumbling downdowndown and there's a huge sound."

A sense of scale:

Lydia: "How big is the dragon?"
Rob: "It was inside the mountain!"
Lydia: "Are we talking Smaug or Small City?"
Rob: "We're talking Metroplex."
GM: "This is a big dragon The kind your mind quails when trying to grasp, charged with Piero Darkness Superpower as its breath weapon."

On Cynicism:

Jarrod: "It's to our advantage that he lives a little longer, so."
Shai: "Yes, but who is 'ours'?"
Jarrod: "God, I thought I was bad."

Finndo has checked back in with Cyrus to keep an eye on Oberon (all three of them are now back at Amber Castle - aren't trumps keen?). The players know, although the characters don't, that the 'red thing' is the Jewel of Judgement, an artifact of considerable power useful for, say, fine tuning or moving the Pattern, controlling the weather, destroying reality as you know it, that sort of thing. In a given Amber Campaign, the JoJ is often one of the commodities being murdered and mayhemed for. Convenient good intentions and respect for the King:

GM: "Oberon collapses, and the light goes away."
Finndo: "Stick the red thing on his chest back in his shirt - actually, no, I'm going to keep it for safekeeping. I'm manhandling his ass back into bed with Cyrus's help."
Cyrus: "I sling Oberon over my shoulder."

On the flying disk of the Sorceror's Club, being the deus ex machina cue card:

GM: "Anyway, Osric."
Osric: "Is the moon out?"
GM: "Yes."
Osric: "Okay, I'm going to concentrate and make them catch the light in such a way that he'll notice him. "
GM: "Interesting. He's got the swarm coming on him. He looks down slowly. The bat thing swoops away as he starts directing at it; more gouts of flame come off the island at this point. He's driven back around and out of sight around the side of the island. The dragon has repelled any number of gouts of flame directed at it but it has swooped around, banking, for a second pass."

Osric determines that the island is an extrusion from another reality into this one; in other words, it's poking into Amber from shadow, but is not really in Amber. This is why Pattern is Scary Stuff:

Shai: "There's a hole in my head where the rain gets in."
Osric: "What the hell, I'll give it a shot; I don't want it here so I'll push it away. Superb."
Scott: "And you want to throw in a fudge point and an aspect in there?"
Jarrod: "What an excellent idea. Legendary +1."

Pan to the forehead reality check:

GM: "You begin, trying to reach out for that - "
Jarrod: "Please, Wendra, don't shoot me in the back."
GM: "Quinn and Cymnea are just... looking sidelong at him."
Rob: "And suddenly oh my lord Osric IS playing in our league."

'Yeah. Wow. Didn't see that one coming. This is going to be a nice, organized raising of an undead dragon. This is going to go a little bit haywire on the end. Good idea.' -- Matt Allen.

GM: "There is a ripple. You've definitely disturbed that field. The dragon gets in a good deep swoop in there and more chaos! You can barely make out where the dragon is. You think you've probably been able to get ride of that disintegration effect; it feels like there's a little bit of a barrier there. If it makes sense, you've brought it closer, smoothed out the edges. And in the middle of all those gouts of flame, the dragon lets out this huge roar, not like what you've heard before, and tears off, flying away."
Osric: "It's LEAVING?"

Motivated tools not so much:

GM: "There's something - there's a lot of stuff falling off from where Piero got forced to. It's headed east."
Shai: "It's master's dead, it doesn't care anymore."
Osric: "They're [the rest of the party] east, aren't they?"
GM: "The entire kingdom is there."

Knowing where you stand - or sit:

Kipwyn: "Right. Back to its old devices then."
Osric: "What?"
Kipwyn: "Its master's dead or at least that's what I'm inferring. We've got a dragon loose, the only dragon this kingdom has heard of, a dragon that's been dead many thousands of years and about which many things have been said and all of them bad. Sister?"
Cymnea: "Yes brother. I deem the island Oberon's problem."
Kipwyn: "Excellent. However, as much as I don't like the man what with him killing me, it would be bad to have that dragon about."
Cymnea: "Well, then we should do something about it, then. Shouldn't we?"
Kipwyn: "Yes. As publicly as possible, I should think."
Cymnea: "Good point."
GM: "And they look towards you."
Quinn: "Will you be joining your brothers or staying with us? I imagine both circumstances are fraught with peril."

Summing up his view of the scenario:

Jarrod: "Ew."

Keeping your threats and promises equally vague:

Osric: "You'll find I'm full of surprises."
Quinn: "Yes, I imagine so."

They return him to the fort in Draconis. With family like this, who needs friends?

Osric: "Okay. I will go in and find myself."
GM: "You're noticed. From where you are somewhat not-visible, he walks around the corner. Your captain comes back around. Salutes."
Deborah rubs at her forehead.
GM: "Don't you love Osric's allies?"
Jarrod: "They're very handy! Come with a price but never mind that."
Scott: "Just as long as I never find out!"

Careful what you ask for:

Rob: "Benedict was wondering how well his powers would work against the darkness."
Scott: "They /are/ the darkness."
Lydia: "Benedict has always wanted to take on a dragon."

If wishes were horses, this party would have an undead herd:

Osric: "You've asked for me to be more forthcoming."
Benedict: "I'm going to regret that, aren't I?"
Osric: "Piero appeared to not fare terribly well."
Benedict: "How not terribly well?"
Osric: "I'm not completely certain, but possibly terminally. Point the second; That dragon. It's coming home."

Because who else would touch her?

Benedict: "That's the good news; what's the bad news?"
Lydia: "I saw Mommy!"
Rob: "Kissing Santa Claus..."

When the game necessitates Intervention (but they're so big and shiny and red!):

Rob to Scott, quietly: "What's controlling Eagle's Peak? What's holding it in check? What's preventing all those things of darkness from getting loose?"
Scott starts twitching.
Deborah: "Rob, you're not the GM; you don't need to press the buttons."

You can't _handle_ the truth!

Osric: "The dragon suddenly lost interest in doing what it was doing."
Benedict: "And it's headed back this way."
Osric: "As is a land mass. In the sky. I'll stop whenever you want."
Benedict: "I suppose this is when you say 'welcome to your world'?"
Osric: "Careful what you ask for."
Benedict: "Is there any more?"
Osric: "Oh yes."
Benedict: "Please continue."
Osric: "The land mass in question is not really here; it's protected by something. Piero for the most part was not able to get through and it's coming this way."
Benedict: "How fast?"
Osric: "Two or three days."

So is that 2.56734 metric tons of fuckage, or 2.56733 - do we round up or down?

Benedict: "So we have a dragon."
Osric: "Yes."
Benedict: "Who's undead."
Osric: "Yes."
Benedict: "Imbued by the power of darkness."
Osric: "Yes."
Benedict: "Headed this way."
Osric: "Yes."
Benedict: "Quickly."
Osric: "Yes."
Benedict: "Followed by."
Osric: "Yes."
Benedict: "A large unknown land mass which isn't really here."
Osric: "Yes."

When they look about toasty, take them off the heat. Not golden brown, or they'll be burnt by the time they cool down. You want that just so toasty flavor; your nose will tell you...

Benedict: "Two or three days behind. Are you leaving out anything?"
Osric: "I could go on for days."
Benedict: "Anything pertinent to the situation at hand that you care to share?"
Osric: "No, I think that's quite enough for now. Don't you?"

Conveying the proper sense of urgency:

Benedict: "Where's that Commander?"
Commander: "Sir!"
Benedict: "I need as many men as you have; I'm throwing out the general alarm."
Commander: "What, exactly, sir?"
Benedict: "The dragon's coming back."
Commander: "Sir. Is that all you have?"
Benedict: "No."
Commander: "Continue."
Benedict: "We're about to be invaded."
Commander: "Yes, by the dragon."
Benedict: "No, by something behind that, if we survive the dragon. Two or three days for the land mass after that, but we have to defeat the dragon first."
Commander: "Right."

Speaking of which:

Lydia: "How did they defeat the dragon the first time?"
Rob: "A legendary Siegried like hero defeated it in time out of legend."
Lydia: "WAUGH!"

Learning curves, flat:

Benedict to Osric: "I'm going to need your assistance."
Osric: "I'll do my best."

We need a more descriptive term than 'problem':

Finndo: "Hello."
Benedict: "We have problems."
Finndo: "Shocking."

Waiting for the right response:

Benedict: "Remember that dragon? He's coming back."
Finndo: "By itself?"
Benedict: Yes."
Finndo: "Where is Piero?"
Benedict: "Presumed dead."
Finndo: "Interesting."
Benedict: "Presumed."
Finndo: "Not good."

On planning and eloquence:

Benedict: "Oh, that land mass you spoke of? Two or three days off."
Finndo: "Delightful."
Benedict: "General quarters has been sounded; the range has been sent to -"
Finndo: "Short of artillery, there's not much they can do about a dragon."
Benedict: "Yes, but at least they have been alerted."
Finndo: "Can you do your trick on trebuchet bolts?"
Benedict: "Yes."
Finndo: "Just a thought. Well, crap."

Sarcasm a family trait:

Cyrus: "Would you care to elaborate?"
Finndo: "Yes. The dragon's coming back."
Cyrus: "And we're just going to ride out and take care of that, aren't we?"
Finndo: "Yes, I'll just get out my dragon slaying gear from the closet. Draconis is far enough out I might be able to get out my Surface to Air missile."
GM makes a so so motion at Rob.

Put it on your resume the ONE TIME and they always call about it:

Cyrus: "I don't suppose you could do the red light trick? You know, on the dragon."
Finndo: "I will investigate. However, Cyrus, I believe we are in need of strong brave men on the Draconis front."
Cyrus: "This would be the dragon slaying thing again, wouldn't it?"
Finndo: "Yes, it would. Benedict, make what preparations you can; I will do so here."

The important thing is to sound certain:

Benedict hands spyglass to Sonnet: "Let me know if the dragon sings out."
Sybil: "Do we have a plan beyond that?"
Benedict: "Yes, brother?"
Osric: "What's going on?"
Benedict: "Finndo says they'll be arriving shortly; we've got the western border; anything else you can think of?"

They send you to school, to Court, they make you wear clothes that match and they still won't let you do whatever you want to do:

Sybil to Benedict: "I have an idea."
Benedict: "Good." Pause. "No. No no no no. No, and no and NO."
Sybil: "I haven't even told you the idea yet!"

Appropriate conduct lessons:

Sybil: "Is this really a time to be cynical?"
Benedict just looks at her.
Sonnet: "Yes."
Finndo: "I can't think of a better time."

While everyone else frets over the dragon, Osric enlists Osrat in seeing what they can do about that island. Arguing with your own sense of self preservation:

Osrat: "What did you have in mind?"
Osric: "In sight of the island."
Osrat: "Oh. That could be very uncomfortable. I said I'd help: I didn't say I'd throw myself into certain doom."
Osric: "You could get out easily enough."
Osrat: "This is not something either of us have run into before."
Osric: "Mmmhmmm."

And we MEAN that!

Osric: "I have an idea."
Finndo: "Excellent. Against which threat?"
Osric: "The second one."
Finndo: "Allright."
Osric: "I'm going to be off for a bit; you can call me if you need me, tho."
Finndo: "Allright, then. Have fun. Don't get yourself killed."

The plan is thus: From the fort in Draconis, Sybil has raised a veritable army of air and earth elementals; she is going to try to drag the thing to the earth and swallow it there. Barring that, she's going to try to pin it in place and hold it in the air. Benedict has added his power to the trebuchets and to his heavy crossbow; they're going to unravel it by firing at it once they have it solidly in one place for a good shot. Sybil was going to use a glamour of the hero that slew the dragon to draw its attention, but Finndo has another idea. He decides to go out for a look and to play bait at the dragon. The Irish blood is showing:

Finndo: "Finndo gets out on a staircase of cards into the air."
GM: "It's windy here."
Finndo: "He'll get away from the wind."
GM: "It's /all/ windy."
Finndo: "He'll travel. West. Towards the dragon."
GM: "Oooohkay."

Methodology:

GM: "Finndo, it appears to be coming at an angle, headed south, not necessarily towards you."
Finndo: "I'm going to try to draw its attention - annoy it enough to draw it."
Jarrod: "Just talk to it really."

Running now!

Finndo: "The next barrage is bright, bright light."
GM: "There are these streaks or pulses of light that he's sending towards the dragon."
Finndo: "That's okay. Let me know when he's finished the arc and is committed to the course."
GM: "That's about now."
Finndo: "Trump back into the castle."

Backgrounds count:

GM: "It's coming in. It's getting seriously buffeted by the forces; they aren't managing to drag it down but they are slowing it down; it's getting forward in spits and spurts just by flaming them out -"
Deborah: "I keep the well supplied."
GM: "Dear god, this thing is indomitable; it doesn't stop. It just barely doesn't stop. The trebuchets are loosed; there's an anti explosion. And it doesn't seem to effect it at all."
Lydia: "We're using darkness against darkness."
Scott: "It was a risk."
Deborah: "Do we know any GOOD sorcerors?"

Now that's either spine or a lack of sense:

GM: "You're very afraid that the dragon is almost within reach of the walls with the breath weapon range."
Benedict: "Word is given."
Commander: "Stare it down or run?"
Benedict: "RUN!"

The attempts to hold it still are mainly preventing it from ravaging the countryside but the dragon isn't getting any more ripped apart due to it. Finndo goes back out, baiting it again, in an attempt to lead it into Shadow (and thus away from Amber). He tries to pull it along after him. Extreme measures to provide opportunity:

GM: "That bright light in the north is very bright. That's Kipwyn - and oh look that's Mother behind it."
Finndo: "You know if Kipwyn gets stuck in shadow, I'm not going to cry. I keep pulling on it."
GM: "It's like a rope being pulled tight as it tries to anchor itself in its home reality and you pull it in your wake and /that/ immobilizes the fucker. Benedict, you have an immobilized dragon now."

Several birds, one bow-shot:

GM: "Your mother arcs overhead, blurring, and there are these little red and black things that tumble off her towards the dragon. Explosions start off all along its spine. Kipwyn has meanwhile angled in on it, bright as a small sun, and you are riding up underneath the dragon at this time. What do you do."
Scott mimes drawing a bowstring back and firing into the sky. "The unravel is a legendary; the shot is a legendary."
GM: "Benedict comes in; there are a bunch of other guys setting in arrows around the bones; Ben draws back, fires, catches it just above the pelvic area, and the hindquarters of the dragon starts to tumble away - and then you realize you need to get the men out of here very fast. You also catch Kipwyn inside the dragon moving forward and then he disappears inside the dragon's head."

The dragon's breath weapon rips out parts of the fort's walls and renders the men it touches undead. (Cute, huh?) Cyrus and Sonnet and Sybil are on the walls with Benedict; they're left to cope with the new zombie pass. Demonstrations of force, consequence and practicality:

GM: "Cyrus wades in and it's just windmill time. Every pass he makes with a sword, at least one zombie falls in half. Sonnet's got out her saber; there are the things coming at Cyrus's flanks .. for a couple moments before she takes them apart. There's the occasional bit of fancy footwork that one shouldn't be able to walk on - lands and, well, dismantles. This leaves you in a mound of twitching bone and gristle of what were once the sizable portion of the force stationed here."
Lydia: "A /lot/ of letters of condolences."
Rob: "Excuse me, he's a little busy at the moment... and actually one of his trumps is to a Kinko's."

Only Cyrus could be patronizing to a woman standing in a mound of slaughtered zombie aka When the GM feels no need to add:

GM: "That's a good five to ten minutes of fighting with it being nothing but killing from moment to moment. You guys are left panting 'So, wonder how things are going out there?"
Cyrus: "At this point, we should go after the dragon. Except perhaps the lady should not go after the dragon; it might be unsafe."
Sonnet /looks/ at him.
GM: "I'll leave you guys there."

Better them than us:

GM: "Benedict, you get it right on the neckbone behind the head; the head shoots forward; Kipwyn emerges, realizing he's toppling forward, being pulled along, grabs at his chest and disappears - you realize it's falling apart behind you, Finndo."
Finndo: "It's falling apart across several shadows."
GM: "The head in one shadow, the chest in another..."
Lydia: "And there's going to be some shadows with those very strange legends about bones falling from the skies."

Finndo's trying to praise Cyrus. Cyrus is acknowledging fact:

Finndo: "Cyrus, that's a whole lotta killin'."
Cyrus: "Yes."

All that's left is finishing each other's sentences:

GM: "Meanwhile, at the island."
Osrat: "What are we doing here, exactly?"
Osric: "Convince it to pick one shadow or another."
Osrat: "Let's be about that, then."

Osric and Osrat are dealing with the island, and discover a resource problem. Getting your own answer in your teeth:

Osrat: "Dammit I need to find a source of water!"
Osric: "Yes, can't you do something about that?"
Osrat: "Working on it!"

Osric and Osrat yank the island into this reality, then fled (because the island took issue with that). Hey! No getting chummy with the evil twin!

Osric: "We seem to make for a good team."
Osrat: "Yes, Q E D."

After the dragon is defeated, the party gathers in Draconis and Finndo briefs everyone. In case you're confused:

Finndo: "Here's the skinny. There is a very old enemy of father's named Dworkin. Powerful wizard and possibly the guy who created the Pattern. Long time ago, Dad fought him, took the Pattern out of his hands, but lost it out in shadow, didn't manage to kill him, but managed to defeat him. Oberon's main reason for the invasion was the Pattern. That done, it seems Dworkin was still alive and is seeking vengeance. He is responsible for losing Tarraign. I believe the island coming this way is Dworkin's. Piero was distracting it so Dad could do whatever it was he was doing; he collapsed shortly thereafter; I do not know what or why he was doing."

Finndo is going to go talk to the Council of Oligarchs of Draconis to prep them for the island's invasion. Tell us how you really feel:

Benedict: "How long will you be?"
Finndo: "I expect it will take a while; the council is a bunch of curmudgeonly old bastards."

Whine whine whine:

Finndo: "I am about to go be political with the Council of Oligarchs."
Osric: "Oh you should enjoy that."
Finndo: "Oh immensely; nothing like a bunch of military men thinking they're good at politics."

Isn't anybody happy to hear about this guy?

Finndo: "The name of the man behind the island is Dworkin. He is an old enemy of Father's and he may be the man who created the Pattern."
Osric: "/Really/. Oh /shit/."

Get in LINE:

GM: "There is a note waiting for you, Finndo. With a handprint on it. Reads: 'It's gone. What exactly did you do?'"
Deborah: "What's gone?"
Rob: "The village."
Finndo: "Wish I knew. Hope you can find out. Looking into what I can. Invasion coming in the west. Busy for a little while."
Jarrod: "Taking over the universe; may be a little late for dinner."
Shai: "Still disembodied. Stupid Dworkin."

Sybil warns Benedict that the occupants of the Land had one direction to flee, and that's Homewood. As for Benedict, he trumps Logan, and gets an earful. That wasn't milk that went on his Wheaties:

Benedict: "Logan."
Logan: "What have you done to my forest?!"
Benedict: "What do you see on your end now?"
Logan: "It took a great big bath in a lot of red."
Benedict: "Yep. That was Dad."
Logan: "Riiiight."
Rob: "We think he killed all the faeries."

All's well that ends well, right?

Benedict: "Keep on the lookout for faerie type creatures. The Land out there... don't think it's out there anymore."
Logan: "Get some scouts on it; are they likely to get eaten?"
Benedict really hesitates: "Be careful."
Logan: "I'll put some good scouts on it."
Benedict: "We're about to be invaded; I'm on the western front."
Logan: "Oh, is that all."

Grandma, earplugs and sour eggs:

Benedict: "Yes. So you may want to raise the alert level just a little bit."
Logan: "Oh, I think we're already there."
Jarrod: "Sure, it's just a floating island fortress staffed by sorcerors."
Benedict: "I suppose you might be."
Shai: "We're at the oh fuck level."

Everyone's so /testy/, lately:

Benedict: "Seen anything strange since then?"
Logan: "Red light pretty much covering it. Say hi to your pops for me."
Benedict: "I'll let Dad know you send your regards."
Logan: "_Lots_ of em."

Relaying things delicately:

Benedict: "Tell Father that he might want to talk to Logan for a bit."
Sonnet hands a note to Cyrus: "'Homewood pissed; might want to chat at some point'."

Back at the castle, Finndo checks on Oberon. So _that_'s where he keeps it:

Oberon: "It worked. Need to conserve my strength."
Finndo holds up the jewel: "Great. Where should I put this?"
Oberon: "You haven't been wearing it, have you?"
Finndo: "Yep."
Oberon: "Ooh. Stop. Anyone know you have that?"
Finndo: "Probably."
Oberon: "Third stone on the left under the mantle."

After the Game Quotes:

After the game, we settled in to watch the Superbowl. On Cynics:

Christie: "So who's supposed to win?"
Rob: "The Rams are going to win, but by god, the Patriots better, because otherwise the terrorists win."

Dear god, because THAT's what we need:

Lydia: I have this image of zombies fanning out across the countryside, with Piero's broken body in tow, "The Master is broken. We will fix the Master..."
Fred: "We will make him better, faster, stronger, more creative."

Never say he was surprised:

Jarrod: "What did you say?"
Deborah: "Your wife - AUGH!"
Jarrod: "Said something, did she?"

Suddenly, one has so much more sympathy with the GM:

Deborah wails, "Why am I going to hate you? I HATE NOT KNOWING!"
Lydia: "Yes!"
Deborah looks at Lydia, "What?"
Lydia, happily, "I'm enjoying your pain!"