Session 21: Out of Depth

Session 21 picks up right where we left off with Session 20. The party, with the exception of Finndo, is at the bottom of a deep hole, several feet up from what would seem to be a volcanic pit, complete with bubbling lava pools and rank upon rank of green goblin soldiers (whom we believe to be the servitor class of Ildros).

No, I don't make this stuff up.

Previously, the Princes met Rilga, Sonnet's new body and persona, at Sonnet's funeral and took her on as Sonnet's replacement; Rilga and Sybil failed to get along with spectacular thoroughness. Oh, yes, and Sybil learned about mortality at last, resulting in a lot of wailing and one dead kitten in a pink bow. Speaking of education, the brothers researched Andros and the Dark Powers and learned, among other things, that the Lady in the Veronelle and the Knights of Andros had fought the Dark Powers of Eagle's Peak (previously Mount Doom) and the Lords of the Pale (the Fae). Naturally, both Benedict and Sybil attended Sonnet's funeral, a fitting gesture considering that we fed the Lady in the River Veronelle the false gift of the fake Sonnet corpse.

Back at the castle, Cyrus discovered the Hall of Mirrors and, more importantly, discovered that various people were using the mirrors in the castle as a byway and as a means to spy. Finndo responded to this with extensive paranoia and murderous traps: he set up card-guillotines in the mirrors. Unfortunately, he also discovered that the military trump deck - the deck with the place trumps of key locations across Amber - had been stolen, which necessitated a lot of swearing and more deadly traps.

Dulcea, the Queen's useless sister, was stolen through the mirrors and then Karm was attacked through them by a venomous snake native to Ildros. Cyrus intervened in time to a) pummel the snake and b) suck venom out of Karm and save the man's life. The side effects involved Karm sadly being in a coma and sustaining nerve damage and Cyrus being higher than a kite. Sonnet-as-Rilga attended to Karm's medical needs and thus got to spend quality time with her father at last... as someone else.

Benedict, meanwhile, was curt and gruff if polite to Rilga, since he was deep in the throes of murderous grief over the sad loss of Sonnet. Finndo decoded the note found on the sword that slew Sonnet. It was in Selm's handwriting and it stated: "Sometimes you have to sacrifice a queen to stay in the game. My apologies." From this, Benedict concluded that Selm should die and encouraged Sybil in throwing all of her resources into finding the man.

Finndo took everyone to his James Bond Villain shadow, ran them through a gamut of security checkpoint and biochecks and stripped them down and scrubbed them and gathered them in a completely clean room and had a very paranoid group discussion about the current danger of the mirrors and what to do next. What to do next, it seemed, was go kick some ass. The ass seemed to be in Ildros, since that was the native origin of the snake that nearly slew Karm. So off to Ildros we went. We broke into a sacred Ildros temple, glamoured, snuck and smacked our way into its secret heart, and jiggled the devices until we found the stairs down the well towards the power source. Down we went until we find ourselves where we pick up: crowded into a tunnel over a live volcanic pit staring at the legion forces of what seems to be an army of little green goblinoids.

As always:
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.

Warcraft III had recently come out and there was a great deal of enthusiastic geeking whenever more than one of the men was present (with the exception of Jarrod, who remains oddly immune to its charms). Session 21 started a bit late due to Warcraft III geeking, but it began with a nice holy war cry:

Jarrod to Fred: "You are SUCH a Mac user."

Christie is Fred's wife. Understanding your husband:

Fred: "Going through the Mac-mall catalog is like looking at porn."
Deborah: "How is it like looking at porn?"
Christie: "Cause you're turning the pages and drooling. Probably more so with that than with porn."

Getting around to game. Eventually (and with an unfortunate choice of words):

Lydia: "In what way were we fucked last session - oh right the hole."

See, not making this up:

GM: "Everyone but Finndo was in a hole in the ground with Goblin stormtroopers."
Shai: "Goblin stormtroopers."

This is making it easy?

GM: "Finndo was in his office making everything look normal. I'll make it easy for you, Finndo. There's a pop and a smell of roses and your vision is starting to blur. What are the first three things you try to do?"
Finndo: "First thing I do is drop the air elemental I carry and instruct it to clear the air."
GM: "Anything else?"
Finndo: "Next thing I do is trump the fuck out of the room."
GM: "And..."
Finndo: "And I will be holding my breath with a second trump in hand."

Leaving him there, the GM returns to the party peering out the hole at the endless stormtroopers. Benedict has been glamoured for invisibility by Sybil and has dropped to the ground to scout about. Taking time to fully understand the fuckage:

GM: "Benedict. You're glamoured and you're on the ground."
Benedict: "Spend a moment, just... counting."

Association and allegory are powerful tools - and goblin army is much less worrisome than Infinite Army of Short Green Men:

GM to Benedict: "One of the things that makes it difficult to get a count is that further away from you, the heat distortion gets in the way. It's really damned hard to get a count. The goblins don't appear to be affected by the heat. Assuming they're goblins -"
Rob: "We're going to call them goblins."
Jarrod: "The little green things."

Military busy-work:

Benedict: "They're just marching?"
GM: "They're not necessarily doing military exercise but they are definitely in military formation and none of them are particularly close to your landing site yet."

Benedict trumps Osric to tell him what there is to be seen. Is that your technical definition of the problem?

Osric: "Yeees?"
Benedict: "This is bad."
Deborah: "I love these tactical assessments."
Jarrod: "You get the flat look."

We're looking for tall non-puce sorcerous people, hello:

Benedict: "I estimate several thousand goblins down here."
Osric: "Do you see anyone leading them?"
Benedict: "Green men."
Osric: "Other than green men?"

That's never good:

Benedict: "No. What's your -"
GM interrupts: "Roll observation."

The GM *actually tries to be reassuring*:

Jarrod: "Oh dear."
GM: "Not alertness, observation."

And they don't buy it:

Scott: "No no. Observation bad, alertness bad."
Jarrod: "It's all bad."
Scott: "Okay, observation not nearly as bad..."

An excellent definition, for the record:

Rob: "Observation is you wanting the GM to tell you something. Alertness is the GM wanting to tell you something."

Don't tell us we don't ask you out to play:

Benedict: "Perhaps you should come down and have a look for yourself."
Osric: "You think so, do you?"

Osric gets a taste of his own medicine:

Benedict: "Oh, and be very quiet."
Osric: "How did you get down?"
Benedict: "I jumped." Telltale pause. "We have rope, I'm sure."

Uh oh. Qualifiers:

Osric: "Assuming I am invisible, then -"
GM: "Effectively invisible. Operationally invisible."

The trouble with lots of invisibly glamoured people is that they're all invisible to each other. Fine, then. We'll resort to logic:

Jarrod: "We could probably Marco polo it out, I guess. Then Osric will attempt to join him. And we're in trump contact, so - oh, you're by THAT rock."

Osric determines that an unknown number of regimented in some fashion goblins may or may not be about to head out soon. Jarrod keeps trying to query the GM. Jarrod spends all day arguing with Oracle. Persistence is a learned skill:

Jarrod: "How many in the nearest platoon?"
GM: "Oh, fifty or so?"
Jarrod: "How many platoons?"
GM: "Hard to say. Distortion."
Jarrod: "How many green wavy things?"
GM: "Hard to say."
Jarrod: "How big is this cavern, then..."

Thanks for the comforting thought:

Scott is eyeing Deborah.
Deborah, warily: "... what?"
Scott: "Benedict is /thinking/."
Deborah squints: "/Great/."

We're working out how to position and hold the climbing ropes in place. Retroactive justification and rationale make a beautiful team:

Lydia: "I could hammer in a piton -"
Deborah: "Won't that be loud?"
GM: "It would be loud if you didn't have sound dampening -"
Deborah blinks at the GM.
Deborah nods vigorously: "Oh, right, yes, that. I did that, too."

And to think our egos all fit down that tunnel:

Benedict: "Well. They [the innumerable goblin stormtroopers] are probably another diversion."
Osric: "Possible. But diverting whom from what?"
Benedict: "Well, us."

Summing up our problem narrowing down any villain to any misdeed at the moment (and leading neatly into our Just Kill Them All approach):

Osric: "Not necessarily. It could be meant to divert our father by causing unrest in remote kingdoms."
Benedict: "Which means it's distracting us because we're the ones sent to deal with it."
Osric: "Point, possibly. Problem is we can't narrow it down to who's involved in fire and lava because it's at least three people."

Confidence will carry you far:

Benedict: "Right. Shit."
Osric: "Is that your tactical assessment, brother?"
Benedict: "Yes. It's right, too."

We're a supportive group:

Jarrod: "I could be really mean at that point."
Deborah: "Pease do."
Jarrod: "First time for everything. But he doesn't say that."

Cutting to the endgame:

Osric: "Follow or kill?"
Benedict: "We don't know how long they'll be down here before they head out."
Osric: "You don't generally set them up like this before you're ready to go."
Benedict: "It doesn't matter because I have a feeling we're going to be dealing with them one way or another. So my preference would be to deal with them here. However, there could be nasty surprises waiting."

Well. Faith or buffer:

Osric: "I have every faith in you."
Benedict: "Six against five thousand. Hrm. That's quite a bit of faith."

And that brief impulse of reassurance has died a bloody, bloody death:

Rilga: "I gather there's no one coming down the tunnel to kill us."
GM: "Not that you'd notice."
Jarrod: "What a lovely answer. A lawyer's answer."

And this is the new, reliable, /sane/ one:

Rilga: "I am also stepping on Cyrus' piton to make sure it stays in the rock."
Rilga pauses.
Rilga adds, brightly: "If I was feeling mean, I'd kick it out, but. Well. No."

We're all still glamoured to be invisible. Except for the rope, which we just dangled down, because we were, uhm, thinking and no one told the Fae to use her head (you have to flip the on switch sometimes:

Rilga: "Sybil? M'lady."
Sybil, very unresponsive: "Mm?"
Rilga: "Is it possible to make a bit of rope invisible?"
Sybil: "How do you mean?"

Sybil is distinctly displeased with Rilga's arrival to take on Sonnet's duties. She is sullen and itching for a fight. Rilga is reasonable. Starting off on the wrong foot:

Rilga explains: "If you would look towards your right and down, you may see a bit of rope dangling into the pit."
Sybil: "You can almost hear the flat look you're getting out of her."
Rilga: "I believe Sir Cyrus utilized this rope to get down into the pit."
Sybil: "And if one of the Princes or someone with authority told me to, I might cover it up. Like Lady Sonnet."

And then twisting the ankle:

Rilga: "If Lady Sonnet were here, she would advise you to."
Sybil, indignant: "You don't know Sonnet, so you have no idea what she would say."

Then snapping it:

Rilga, very quietly: "I knew Lady Sonnet. On her deathbed."
Sybil snaps: "Great for you."
Rilga, thoughtfully: "She was very fond of you."
Sybil glares.

And, oh, look, there's the other foot:

Rilga: "You could always join her. In fact, she may have advised me to send you to join her in the afterlife."
Sybil glares.

Sybil took care of the rope (and kept arguing with Rilga). Rilga let out an exasperated sigh. Phrasing (the rope's not around Sybil's neck, afterall):

To the exasperated sigh, Osric says: "Problem?"
Sybil: "We had a rope issue for a moment; it's now been taken care of."

Benedict tries to trump Finndo, who does not answer. We're well past the logic and benefit of the doubt stage:

GM: "Well, he could just be busy."
Scott looks at him flatly.
GM, reasonably: "If I were not running such a paranoia worthy campaign, that would be a perfectly acceptable answer."
Scott sighs.

The quotes person is trying to catch up. Third person pronouns without antecedents:

Deborah: "What's going on?"
Shai: "They're being dumb."
Deborah: "What're the men up to?"

Cyrus has slipped off on his own and Benedict has found a ring of iron spikes around the paths away from the body of the pit. The iron will disrupt the Fae glamours that Sybil has laid now, which would expose everyone to the Goblin stormtroopers. The party stops to figure out how to get around this one. Putting to good use the resources available to one:

Deborah pipes up very helpfully: "Wait. If you insulate the iron, it's not as potent anymore, is it?"
GM: "Right. If you insulate the iron."
Shai: "I think she's suggesting flensing Rilga and using her to insulate the iron."

Cyrus wandered off on his own, invisible, to spy for Finndo (correct me here). Ah, rivalry, it never ceases:

Benedict: "Do you think Cyrus knows about the spikes?"
Osric: "I wouldn't think so."
Benedict: "And we have no way to contact him."
Osric: "No."
Benedict, cheerful: "Right."

Finndo has not given the brothers trumps of each other, thus retaining a choke hold on that form of information flow. This means that the brothers can't trump Cyrus to warn him. The man is _shameless_ (I leave as an exercise for the reader which man):

Osric: "You can thank our brother [Finndo] for that."
Rob: "It's not like anyone ever asks for those things."

Back at the castle, Finndo is responding to the emergency (that faint smell of roses followed by feeling himself start to go down; he trumped out of the room, you'll recall) by cheating in proper Amber style:

Finndo: "Gas masks. And four men, also with gas masks. They basically have halberds and swords and their job is to protect him."
GM: "Most of the castle appears to have passed out."
Finndo: "Immediate threat. Crack open a vial, air sample, close it, trump back, hand it off, analyze it as fast as they can, trump back."
GM to Finndo: "It does not appear to be a visible gas, just a hint of roses which you figure is innocuous enough that people go 'oh roses' inhale 'SNOOOOORE'."

Finndo correctly guessed that the castle had been infiltrated with knockout gas. It's still about. Ah, Shadow. Infinite dead storage, endlessly organizable, endless little boxes, neatly labeled:

Finndo: "Try smelling salts [on the sleeping guard]."
GM: "He starts to wake up, but -"
Finndo: "Then pass out gas masks. Pop back, grab literally a crate, pop back. Start out with going to the basement."
GM: "It takes a number of minutes - the smell of roses does permeate down to this level. There are guards up to the door and then it's pretty much no man's land."

Standard Operating Procedure:

Finndo: "We're loaded up with crossbows and we're in a shoot first ask questions later kind of mood."
Scott: "Oh, hello THUD THUD THUD."
Jarrod: "Oh, that's different how?"

For the reader's education (and none of the other players knew this at the time), Finndo had the door to the Pattern room bricked up. Because the Pattern is the source of Oberon's family's powers (and Dworkin, its creator, wants it back and everyone else wants to steal, destroy or remove it from play), Finndo didn't stop there. He had a titanium door installed in front of the brick face with twelve huge locks along it that cannot all be open at once - so even if you pick some of the locks, the others automatically are fastened shut. It's a red herring and mostly an alert that someone is moving towards the Pattern. He had five years of sitting around the Castle and he put them to use, but the rest of us don't know that, so we're just staring at Rob, puzzled by the display of paranoia over some strange 'contraption':

GM: "You get to the gigantic contraption and it looks like someone fiddled with it for a while but there's no one here."
Finndo: "Allright. Scatter iron."
GM: "Nothing reveals itself."
Finndo: "Tell some of the men - they've got the gas masks - resecure the castle. I'll take the core men, and trump to the cul de sac."

Oh, but wait, there's more paranoia that we don't know about! The GM and Finndo go back and forth and we all squint warily. WAUGH:

GM, verifying the facts: "And there are two more fail safes between the cul de sac-"
Finndo: "It's just death laden trap laden -"
GM: "Trying to remember if it's relatively close to the destination."
Finndo: "Traps are nastiest there, however."
GM: "I'll get back to you."

Benedict and Osric climb up back to the tunnel to consult.

Cyrus comes across the iron barriers. They did mean barrier:

Cyrus: "Look, somebody doesn't like Fae either! I like them! Hm. Can the iron be pried out, quickly?"
GM: "Not quickly and you'd have to come in enough contact with it that it might pop your bubble, as it were."
Scott: "How big were the spikes?"
GM: "Spikes is the wrong term for it. Imagine a cross hatch pattern worked into the rock so that you don't notice it."
Scott: "Would jumping over it -"
GM: "It's a fair distance, so that would be a trick. And it goes from bubbling lava pool to bubbling lava pool."

Even Sybil picked up on the paranoia:

Benedict: "Sybil."
GM to Sybil: "A bodiless Benedict voice says Sybil."
Sybil squints: "Maybe."

The elementalist equivalent of 'my cupholder broke!':

Benedict: "Do you sense any presences down here, fire, earth, all that - cause there's a lot of lava down there?"
Sybil sighs.

Make new friends, but keep the old:

Rilga: "Ah, politically inconvenient solutions."
Sybil: "We use those a lot. Did you have a suggestion?"
Rilga: "I'm not paid to think, M'lady."
Sybil blinks a lot. "What's your point?"

Finndo trumps Benedict. On prioritization, how to:

Finndo: "How much are you needed where you are now?"
Benedict: "We went down and found molten caverns with 5000 goblins with slingshots and looking like they're going soon."
Finndo: "Allright. Come through, hold your breath."

And motivation:

Benedict hesitates.
Finndo: "Knock out gas; they hit the whole castle."

Finndo pulls Benedict through into some sort of underground chamber. He proceeds to run Benedict and his own men through several Indiana Jones death traps and forks. (And we all /still/ don't know what's going on). Finding out:

Finndo explains: "We've got the advantage in that we know where the traps are; they have a head start."
Benedict: "Where does this [the tunnel maze and the traps] lead to?"
Finndo: "The Pattern."

Where are we going and why are we on rails?

Benedict: "What about the door with the twelve locks?"
Finndo: "They didn't get past it."
Benedict: "How did they get this far?"
Finndo: "They have the military deck [of trumps]."

What it takes in this family:

Benedict: "So you set up this trap with this elaborate -"
Finndo: "To kill people."
Benedict: "I'm impressed."
Jarrod: "You have such interesting hobbies, brother."

Rob eventually gives in and has to actually stand up and _draw_ _out_ the maze and the traps and the flowpath of death:

GM: "So you go through more traps and forks -"
Finndo: "With the spinning blades -"
GM: "And the last one is the one where the secret door is certain death -"
Rob: "Break out the white board."

Rob proceeds to draw the maze from the basement to the pattern room. Lifecycle charts never look like this at work:

Rob: "The maze contains a secret door from the dungeons that goes to a super secret armory stocked with stuff from shadow. That has a secret door that leads to the shrine. The shrine has a secret door and a door. Go out the door, DEATH. Going through [the shrine's] secret door leads to another room with a secret door and a door. [That] secret door is DEATH. At which point it gets to the long maze of tunnel full of death traps and unpleasant things, and one of  these is a cul de sac which Finndo has a trump to."

Which leads to a natural conclusion (having seen the Indiana Jones movies many, many, many times). Planning ahead for Indy:

Deborah: "They're using guinea pigs."
Rob: "Yes. There's enough traps to kill a LOT of guinea pigs."

Benedict is in charge of the Castle guard, remember. A pleasant day's work to sooth the soul:

GM: "It looks like the ones that could be figured out, they have; they're crafty enough. The corpses that are squished /are/ human. Looks like someone who used to be in the castle guard."
Scott: "Ooooh, Benedict is not happy about that."
Jarrod: "Is there anything that you are happy about?"
Scott: "Death death death death death LUNCH death death death afternoon tea..."

Three dots of Prepared:

GM: "There's a note tacked to the wall. It's in an envelope."
Rob: "Uh huh. Slit it from a safe distance. The card is doing the manipulation."
GM: "It's Selm's hand. It says 'Meet you downstairs.'"

And only me, Finndo means. The one guy Selm can't map is Improv Man:

Finndo: "Benedict, swap clothes with this guy right now. Carry yourself like one of these guys."
Benedict stares at Finndo.
Finndo enunciates: "Selm. And company. Expect ME."

Benedict wants Selm, very badly, for Sonnet's death. Very very very badly. Badly enough that I wouldn't trade roles with Selm for all the fudge points, chocolate and the biggest head start in the world:

Benedict, through gritted teeth: "Very Well."
Shai: "Defcon..."
Jarrod: "Ah, doom."

Actually, Benedict's not the only one who wants Sonnet's killer. Sybil also wants at him. The race to the exposed throat is over before it begins:

Benedict: "You know how I feel about Selm."
Finndo: "Yes. I do."
Deborah, indignantly: "Oh shit, HE'S going to get to kill Selm!!"

All politics is local:

Rob: "Remember, Finndo is the one person Selm cannot consistently second guess. For exactly this reason."
Benedict: "I get to kill him when you're done?"
Finndo: "Yes."
Benedict: "Excellent."

Deborah and Scott stare each other down. It has the air of waiting for a foot to twitch or a shot to be fired or someone to make a break for it. Mexican standoff:

Scott: "I don't know if you can get that expression."
Deborah: "What was that expression anyway?"
Jarrod: "Greyhound in the gate seeing the bunny."

Benedict dresses up as one of the castle guards (taking the uniform off one of the victims of Finndo's traps). Benedict is using his soldiering skills to fit the role of the guard convincingly. Bare is back that hath no brother:

GM: "It's a very specific kind of disguise. You can look like any soldier."
Scott: "I am Finndo's private guard now."

Quick on the uptake:

Deborah: "Doesn't he still look like Ben, though?"
Rob: "Yes, but that's why everyone's wearing gas masks."

Eventually, this maze does lead to the Pattern room, with guards outside the last door. Do you think they're trying to tell us something?

GM: "You get to about ten feet from that final door. It's ajar and there are two guys outside of it, slumped against the wall like this. Their throats have been slit."
Finndo: "Defensive card barrier up."
Jarrod: "Why isn't anyone ever pleased to see us?"
GM: "These guys were taken by surprise; someone got a blade out real quick and got their throats."

Waaaaiiiiit for it aka When will we rage?

Finndo: "Allright. Do not reveal yourself unless I say the word."
Benedict starts: "I -"
Finndo interrupts: "I know what you want and that you want it very badly."
Benedict starts again: "I-"
Finndo interrupts once more: "We can gain a lot more."
Benedict glares.
Finndo: "There are things _you_ may need to know."
Benedict breathes deeply.

That's one way to get new men onto the team:

GM: "There's a third body; looks like someone may have made it in the door, throat slit, just laid out, like he fell forward after getting diced up."
Scott: "Do I recognize any of these men?"
GM: "I rolled a 4. These are guys that you're pretty sure used to work with Selm."
Finndo steps gingerly around the bodies.
Jarrod: "Well, he's got head count opened up."

We know that Selm is the man who broke into the Pattern room (no one else would have had the patience to survive). Therefore Selm is the man on the Pattern.

GM: "There's someone 7 steps out on the pattern."
Finndo: "Step onto the start point."
Deborah: "Not again."

What, exactly, had he wondered about? Anyone?

Finndo calls out: "That explains what I've always kind of wondered about."

Downplaying Benedict ever so slightly ("Only the second deadliest man in the kingdom!"):

Selm: "Who'd you bring?"
Finndo, blandly: "As much support as I could."

Thanks for letting me know to lose interest in the answer since you've got a pat one in store:

Selm: "Your guardsmen are alive. My men are not. That should be enough."
Finndo: "Good start. Dare I ask why now?"
Selm: "I'm sure you would."

We really need to round up all the family and shoot anyone not in the party. Then we need to backtrack Oberon's passage for the last several millenia and slay all the children of all the women he's spoken with for five minutes. The knives in the back are getting complicated:

Finndo: "May I mention how dangerous that is untrained?"
Selm: "I got a few pointers."
Finndo: "I'm sure you did."
Jarrod starts laughing.
Lydia and Deborah: "Osrat."

Selm is walking the Pattern. The Pattern, among other things, imbues a person with the ability to walk and manipulate shadow. The process of walking it is difficult and takes willpower; it involves reliving one's life, as well. Chin up there, lad:

Selm: "I'll get back to your questions; I need a moment. Okay, the past experience thing I could do without."
Finndo: "It gets more fun as you go along."

What, trouble in paradise already?

Selm: "My options have become somewhat limited."
Finndo: "In that?"
Selm: "Hrm. I needed to break off from certain alliances."

Everyone (except for Finndo, who saved Sonnet and provided her the disguise of Rilga, and Rilga, who _is_ Sonnet) believes that Selm killed Sonnet (with the possible exception of Selm, who may or may not have thought it). So that's very sweet, Selm, but couldn't you have done that before the show of loyalty that, oh, KILLED SONNET? Apparently not, not that it helped:

Finndo: "Would've probably been wiser to do so before the queen's sacrifice."
Selm: "I needed that time with them."
Finndo: "Where does that put you now?"
Selm: "Five, maybe six moves from checkmate?"

Temper, Temper, mon Capitain:

GM: "Ben, you're getting pretty angry."
Scott (Scott!) bellows: "OH YEAH."

Benedict has Anger as an aspect on his sheet; it's what reflects his, er, temper issues. He can, as a player, invoke those aspects in play to give himself bonuses to his dice rolls - or the GM can invoke those aspects to drive the story. If an Aspect is invoked involuntarily - i.e. if the GM, not the player does it - the GM gives the player fudge points. The player can choose to refuse to have those Aspects invoked, however, and to do so must pay the GM the points instead. Now Fred, as a GM, keeps a jar of fudge points, rather like a fudge point piggy bank. Your deposit, sir:

GM: "You're getting a lot angry. You going to control yourself or not?"
Scott: "We'll pay to control it for the moment."
Shai: "Cause Finndo asked nicely."

Let's provide you some incentive to cooperate (and perhaps get in a bitter little dig of his own):

Finndo to Selm: "You know, with the Queen, there are more than a few who are, uh, inclined to kill you faster than anyone could tell them not to."

Selm is still walking the Pattern. It takes a while and has three veils, each of which require total concentration to broach. What a lovely opportunity to do what brothers do best when one of them is in a tough spot - talk behind his back:

Selm: "Okay, big sheet of flame up ahead, first veil."
Finndo: "That's about right."
Selm: "Okay, I'll get back to you."
Finndo to Benedict: "I have no idea; we have several veils to make this decision."

Establishing one's position straight up:

Benedict: "I have a bow and arrow handy; it's going right through his face after the final veil if nothing gets resolved."
Finndo: "I -"
Benedict: "He's not going to get away without answering."

Rob is fond of saying that the ultimate deciding factor in so many things is willpower  and willingness to follow through - which is what makes Finndo such a dangerous man. One of these two people is more willing than the other:

Finndo: "Only if we need to."
Benedict: "He _will_ answer for it."

Not so much smooth as powerbelt sander:

Scott to GM, intently: "I am preparing a bow and arrow."
GM, amiably: "I get that."

'Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.' (George Sewell) Keep anteing up, Selm:

Selm: "I've been thinking about that sacrifice."
Finndo: "Allright."
Selm: "I'd like to apologize for it."
Finndo: "That's a good start."

So much for wholehearted remorse:

Selm: "But, honestly, it was no different from being given an order of a suicide mission and those are in abundance."

I can only help you help yourself:

Finndo: "Look, give me something to work with here, man."
Selm: "That's the problem."
Finndo: "Oh, I assure you the problems are many more than that."

Trust, no. Homicidal rage, sure thing:

Selm: "I need you to trust me with this."
Finndo: "I'd like to, but the room is not full of trust at the moment."

The cost effectiveness of revenge:

Selm: "If I give you any more, you could betray me without intending to and I wouldn't want to cheat you of that intent."
Finndo: "I assure you I have enough lists of vengeance that I could afford that loss."

One extra setting for dinner, please:

Finndo: "Look, I think you might be able to guess that I made sure I wasn't the only one who came into this room."
Selm: "You brought friends. Which ones?"
Finndo: "At least one that might kill you before you finish this."

Enthusiasm is lacking:

Selm: "Oh him."
Finndo: "Yeah."

A suitable Amber lie - it never actually answers the question that wasn't properly asked:

Selm: "So I take it I didn't miss."
Finndo: "There are limits to what can be done."

I confess that I was rather fond of Selm, even with a touch of tarnish. I have issues with the _layers_ of grime and betrayal, however:

Selm: "Well. I had to gamble on someone; it had to be you."
Deborah: "Can we just kill him because he's being a sophist and a shit and he's lying?!"
Lydia, mockingly: "But he's cute and dashing!"

If he's going to say that, why doesn't he just say he's on a mission from Oberon?

Finndo: "I appreciate the attempt and I know how much you loathe taking risks without all the angles being covered."
Selm: "It's the nature of the _mission_."

It's like paying interest with no principle on a mortgage while the bank snickers with glee at your pain:

Selm: "I think I'm at the second veil."
GM holds out the fudge point cup to Scott.
Scott grimly pays up.
GM chortles.

Finndo is speaking swiftly and quietly with  Benedict while Selm is entirely distracted by the second Veil of the Pattern. Another Amberite lie - if Benedict ever finds out, do you think he'll appreciate the distinction of Finndo's ruthless conscience?

Finndo: "Sonnet's wounds were such that they were not precisely lethal. His strike was such that he very precisely missed the lungs and the heart."
Benedict: "Where is she?"
Finndo: "As far from danger as I could allow."

Equal opportunity rage:

GM to Benedict: "At that, actually, you don't have the aim you did."
Jarrod to Scott, helpfully: "Now there are two people you want to kill."

Dragons lie with the truth:

Finndo: "You know exactly why I couldn't tell you and why no one can know until this is over."
Benedict: "So she's alive and you're not lying to me."
Finndo: "I am not lying to you and I am not giving you all of the information. I am being straight up: until this is over and until she says so, I won't tell you where she is."

Osric has, throughout the campaign, been the middle ground between the party and various of their enemies. Would that be another rivalry, Jarrod?

Benedict: "So what are you going to tell him"
Finndo: "I don't know. Selm has played this from both sides from the beginning."
Benedict: "I'm not too happy about that."
Finndo: "No, but no one can do it better."
Jarrod lifts a finger: "I beg to differ."

Nature vs nurture, intent vs actions, paths to hell paved in gold and good intentions:

Benedict: "Can you find out if he intended to kill her?"
Finndo: "He didn't. There are exactly 3 swordsmen I know who could have pulled that off; 2 of them are in this room and one of them is her father."
Benedict sighs: "Allright. Go off of your lead."

Selm is technically one of two living heirs to the old kingdom of Andros that Oberon absorbed when he conquered Andros and her neighbors to form the new kingdom of Amber under his family's rule. What a nice way to call someone an opportunistic shit:

Finndo: "I did not know until -"
Selm: "It's like this. I don't really care about Andros. It's a cover."
Finndo: "Makes sense, considering the doors that are getting opened for you right now."

Generally never a wise thing to say to one of Rob's characters:

Selm: "Right. I'm sorry; that's all I can give you and I'll have to call your bluff. Kill me or let me go."

He'll fit /right/ in to the family bosom (where they keep the vipers):

Finndo: "Allright. Do you know where you're going next?"
Selm: "Yes."
Finndo: "Allright, sorry, let me clarify that. Do you have any interest in sharing?"
Selm: "No."

And this would be why you don't pull that stunt:

Finndo: "Allright, Selm. I'm going to take your call and raise."

Looking forward to the future:

Selm: "I'm listening for about ten more steps."
Benedict, flatly: "I'll be waiting."

The James Bond trump goes to Finndo's tech shadow where he is the James Bond villain who won (he just cut to the chase and capped the poor bastard). 'I won't hold back anything and I'll walk a way a fool or a king':

Finndo: "Finndo takes his James Bond trump and ties it to his dagger and underhands it to the center of the pattern."
Deborah: "Rob? What the fuck? Are you stupid?"

This is the only poker game where the bets are still being made long after the game has supposedly been called:

Selm: "Oh! Kevin there, by your feet. Check his pockets."
Finndo goes through.
GM to Finndo: "You find the tactical deck."
Finndo: "Ah. Very worth it then." He tosses it to Benedict.

Not exactly stepping up to bat:

GM: "There are a few ones out of the way; he [Selm] only took enough [place trumps] to make sure he could get to the four corners with some convenience."

Once again, Selm will not be able to eavesdrop while going through the last veil of the Pattern. Don't let the screen door hit you on the ass on your way out:

Finndo: "Good luck."
GM: "And the third veils go up. You guys have several moments to have a conversation."

Deciding factor - but for or against killing Selm?

Jarrod sings: "You could have killed him."
Scott: "I still actually could, theoretically."
Benedict to Finndo: "Is he working for Father?"

Finndo is the Crown Prince primarily out of a sense of overwhelming duty. Left to his own devices, Finndo would wander Shadow and travel. Because he has no older brother, duty compels him to serve Oberon in the capacity of eldest son. If there is an elder brother, however, Finndo has the option and hope (however tiny) of liberty. A sudden, new incentive to keep Selm healthy and in good standing:

Finndo: "I wouldn't be surprised [if Selm was working for Oberon]. That he's father's bastard - wait. This means I have an older brother."
Rob: "And Finndo gets a big shit eating grin."
Benedict, warily: "Uh huh."

Amber at its core:

Finndo, delighted: "/Fascinating/. We'll open doors as best we can. And he's family."
Benedict, firmly: "I have no problem killing him."
Jarrod, approvingly: "Ah, the proper attitude."

The theory goes that an Amber Prince has an ability to lay a powerful curse on his enemies while on his deathbed. What really keeps all those fratricidal urges in line - a man's field of vision:

Finndo: "I do [have a problem killing Selm]. Because it's as bad an idea as killing any of us."
GM to Benedict: "Oberon has at least indicated that the curse of a Prince of Amber is a powerful thing."

Benedict, on request, describes the goblin stormtrooper army under the swamp of Ildros to Finndo. Now,  Ildros is essentially one huge swamp. In other words, Ildros is largely composed of water with nowhere to go in a lateral sense. In a vertical sense, however, there is all kinds of potential, and everyone sees it:

Finndo: "This [the army] is under Ildros?"
Benedict: "Yes."
Finndo: "There's a large shaft going down to them?"
Benedict nods.
Finndo snickers.
Jarrod and Shai: "Funny you should mention that."

Osric and Sybil are way ahead of Finndo on this one: gravity and water pressure, in fact, are a beautiful, beautiful combination - and hey, agricultural benefits!

Jarrod: "Ildros may become real fertile real soon."
Benedict: "I asked Osric to begin working on that."
Finndo: "We don't even need that; all we need is a hole. "
Benedict: "Sybil, then."
Jarrod: "Funny you should mention that..."

Selm makes it through the Pattern to the center, from which he may teleport anywhere he pleases. Timing is everything:

Finndo to Selm: "Don't use it for a little bit because I need to make sure they don't kill you when you show up."

Which part, exactly, of your incredibly unpleasant activities are not entirely sanctioned by our father?

Selm: "Could you fail to mention this to your father?"
Finndo: "Any or all?"
Selm: "I'm in very deep cover here."
Finndo: "Right. You know what to do in the middle, right?"

It's always something:

Finndo: "Right. Let's go see about shutting the door and then I'll trump Osric."
GM: "No answer. I'll get back to you."

Cyrus has slipped off from the rest of the party and is scouting about, unable to move forward due to the iron laced stones that would undo the glamour keeping him invisible and the too-wide-to-jump pools of molten lava. Rock and a hot place:

GM: "Cyrus!"
Cyrus: "Yes."
GM: "You've been crouched in the sweltering heat for a while now and you're pretty thoroughly stewed. Whatcha doing from here?"
Cyrus: "Have the guys moved at all?"
GM: "Couple of the officers seem to be having a conversation some distance away."

Alternative terminology for 'arid intercourse without consent':

Rob: "We're going to drain Ildros."
Deborah: "No more malaria issues."
Jarrod: "We're helping."
Rob: "Excuse me. Civil engineering."
Jarrod: "Environmental remediation."

Taking the smug right out from under us:

Rilga: "Before we do what you've probably already decided we should do -"
GM: "Roll alertness."

Again with that vertical potential:

GM: "Those of you who got a superb or greater have enough time to react when the winds inside your tunnel pick up a great deal."
Jarrod: "Which way?"

Physical vs mythical reality:

GM: "Rilga falls."
Sybil: "Get a lock on the winds."
Osric: "Grab the ropes."

Ruustro needs to die, die, *die* at some point:

GM to Sybil: "It's that air elemental you sent down, you realize, as you're being lifted away."
Deborah: "Someone stole the - " She sighs. "Osrat."

Again with the falling and dying:

GM to Sybil: "You seem to be falling."
Deborah looks pained.

Sir? Sir, I'd like to escalate an issue to your attention:

Sybil: "Osric? Osric?"
Osric: "Yes."
Sybil: "We have a small problem."
Osric: "You noticed."
GM: "And that's when Kipwyn appears."

Sybil's just discovered that mortality is real. And now Sybil has a sword through her chest, which Kipwyn can solidify at any time and thereby kill her. So that's how you shut her up:

Kipwyn sticks an insubstantial sword through Sybil's chest. "Don't make me make this real."
Sybil freezes right where she is.

Bravado, empty gestures of:

Sybil blinks at him curiously. "That means your sister's here."
Kipwyn: "One of them."
Sybil: "Wendra couldn't find an air elemental if she blew out her nose _real_ hard."

Plan beforehand, act NOW:

Scott: "Well I believe that's your department, brother."
Jarrod: "Planning, planning, planning!"

Cyrus takes a pot-shot at Kipwyn (sweet gesture, except for the part where it could have killed Sybil). With family like this, who needs friends?

Cyrus takes a crossbow bolt to Kipwyn.
Kipwyn: "So," as the bolt flies through him, "You brought friends."
Sybil: "If that's what you want to call them."

On resignation:

Sybil: "What do you want from me?"
Kipwyn: "Your life, if it comes to that."
Sybil just spreads her hands.
Jarrod: "It's not like she can argue."

Cyrus, watching Kipwyn stalemate the party, trumps Finndo from behind his rock. Skipping the pleasantries:

Finndo: "Yes?"
Cyrus: "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK."

Ask an obvious question...

Kipwyn: "Osric, you there?"
Osric: "No."
Sybil snickers.
Kipwyn, sourly: "Always the clever one."

Case in point on why speculation on the game is pointless (and why we do it anyway):

Jarrod to Deborah: "Assume the worst, and you'll be right."
Deborah eyes Fred.
Fred smirks.
Jarrod to Deborah: "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO'S RUNNING THE GAME?"

Osric comes into view to speak with Kipwyn. From bravado to cowardice:

Kipwyn to Osric: "Ah. There you are. We have to talk."
Sybil: "And you're using me as a negotiating tool? He doesn't care if I die."

The non-subtle people understand each other:

Kipwyn: "You have a tendency not to talk first."
Osric looks puzzled.
Sybil explains to Osric: "I tend to kill first, talk later."

He could hardly be anything else:

Kipwyn to Osric: "You have a tendency to talk first. We like you. Not so much the other talker."
Osric: "I am, as it were, at your convenience."

Edgy trigger finger in Amber is like saying 'white male, 6', brown hair, brown eyes':

Kipwyn: "What about the edgy trigger finger?"
Osric: "Which one?"

What was that about playing both sides off the middle?

Kipwyn nods to the broken bolt on the ground: "We can't have him running around."
Osric: "That is a bit of a problem; I don't know where he is."
Kipwyn: "He's off that way."
Osric: "Oh. I'll see what I can do."

Sorry I've been an ass, but you deserved it before we met:

Kipwyn: "I don't believe we've met."
Rilga bows.
Kipwyn: "Apologies for the method of your entrance. Somewhat understandable considering the company you keep."
Rilga: "Understandable."

I expect that Kipwyn _likes_ people who take orders and shut up:

Kipwyn: "You're Draconic?"
Rilga: "Yes, my lord."
Kipwyn: "Good folks."

Sybil tries on courage, and starts silently working on the plan to drain Ildros while Kipwyn's got her dead to rights, so to speak. Kipwyn catches her at it, and Rilga helpfully offers to deal with the girl for Kipwyn by knocking her out. Threats and apologies and insults, oh my:

Sybil to Rilga: "You touch me and you will regret it when I wake - over and over and over and over."
Rilga: "It is better to be alive and asleep than awake and dead."
Sybil: "I wouldn't know; you'd have to ask Sonnet's mother."

Try on another woman's shoes, kid. That mysticism streak:

Shai: "That's an important quote because Sonnet's awake and dead."

Hey, that wasn't entirely sarcasm:

Shai: "She hit you across the mouth; she didn't break your nose."
Deborah: "Very considerate of her!"

As Sonnet, Rilga had to knock Sybil out for her own good (and everyone else's). Familiar patterns are comforting; one understands them:

Shai: "Good little Sybil. Pat Pat. She's going to kill me when she wakes up and I just saved her goddamned life."
Deborah: "It's so good to have the same relationship again!"

Gunboat diplomacy:

Deborah: "Is there any authority figure standing around?"
Jarrod: "Nope."
GM: "Yah. Kipwyn."

Osric finds Cyrus, still trying to get through to Finndo. All circuits are busy; please stand by:

Osric: "Cyrus..."
Cyrus: "Fuck fuck fuck. Answer your goddamn trump."
Osric, drily: "I take it he's not answering."

What else could he say, really?

Cyrus: "FUCK."
Osric: "Yes, well, uhm."
Cyrus: "FUCK."
Osric, patiently agreeing: "Yes."

Finndo trumps back to his James Bond shadow to pick up the antidote for the gas. Keeping them on their toes:

Finndo to Doctor: "And say hi to Marcia and the kids."
Doctor looks worried.
Lydia, gleeful: "Family friendly company!"
Scott: "VERY friendly family company."
Rob: "We know your kids and your family - and their addresses."
Scott: "Full dental."
Fred: "We like to identify our minions. Burned to a crisp."

Finndo hands the antidote to Benedict and tells him to chug it if he smells rose (the knockout gas Selm used). He tries to trump Cyrus back. Dealing with the telco, properly:

GM: "No answer. In fact you would say it's jammed."
Finndo: "Really. Try Quinn."
GM: "Barrier."
Finndo: "Really." Cheerfully, "SLAM it."
Shai: "You are calling from another unidentified number; please state your name."

Finndo has realized something is afoot and is trying to break Quinn's jamming of the trumps with sheer force. Speaking of itchy trigger fingers:

GM: "Describe the events as Benedict sees them, Finndo."
Finndo: "We're being jammed; I'm going to try to trump Quinn and slam through. Trump Osric."

Never a good question to have to ask:

GM: "What's your alertness, Benedict?"
Scott: "Epic."

Rethinking:

GM to Benedict: "You notice that the card he's looking at is starting to glow, like it's getting hot."
Benedict: "I take a step towards it."
GM: "There's a lot of energy feedback going on there, so Finndo just lets it go and it... hovers."
Benedict: "I take a step away."

Geek allegories:

Rob: "Finndo is smurf attacking Quinn."
Jarrod: "DOS."
Scott: "Ping ping ping ping."

The Cyrus version of a modem handshake:

GM to Finndo: "You have a very faint audio contact with Cyrus."
Cyrus: "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK."

Short, concise, to the point, conveys the emotion of the situation:

Finndo: "Describe the situation."
Cyrus: "Kipwyn five thousand goblins hot cavern doom."

Answering the question they wanted to ask but didn't:

Finndo: "People supporting Kipwyn?"
Cyrus: "Everyone."

Succinct as an art form:

Finndo: "Threat level?"
Cyrus: "FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK Ghost!"

Finndo's take is that if Kipwyn has something inside of /him/, then he can't solidify enough to become a real physical threat. This is what jiujitsu looks like:

Finndo: "Allright. Here's how you deal with Kipwyn; put something inside of him."
Cyrus: "How do you - ?"
Finndo: "Put a sword through him and keep him there. Get up; get them talking; I will try to listen through this."

Finndo is maintaining trump contact with Cyrus, who is still lurking away from the party being Finndo's eyes and ears. Cheating with style:

Rob: "I'm going to try to make him [Cyrus] trump sparkle for a moment."
GM: "Why would you do that?"
Rob: "Because if he sparkles for a moment, logic dictates that he's gone or that reinforcements have arrived."

The trouble with those sorcerous types:

Cyrus: "I am very still for a moment."
Finndo: "Good. He should think you're gone."
GM to Osric: "You don't think he's gone."

Two sides to every coin:

Osric: "Kipwyn. You said over here, right?"
Kipwyn: "Right."
Osric: "Allllright," and to the GM, "and I keep looking past him [Cyrus]."
Kipwyn: "Forget about him, we're going this way. "

Hey, I was being sarcastic:

Kipwyn pauses in front of the iron and speaks to the air [and thus presumably his sister Cymnea]: "Yeah, we're there. Okay." And he crosses the iron.
Finndo: "I assume there is no way to jump across."
Deborah: "Rebound off the lava."
Rob: "That's what the rope is for."

Cyrus's Aspect of Self-Destructive does tend to prevent him having self preservation instincts. What to do when your schtick is Violent Lack Of Common Sense and you're in front of a lava pool:

GM to Rob: "That would risk certain death."
Jarrod laughs: "This is Cyrus."

Lydia, as a player, tends to be very cautious and prefer to take her battles on from a nice, safe distance - preferably with a crossbow and several escape plans. The problem is that there's no guarantee Cyrus will make the jump and all her common sense probably told her that this would be a STUPID IDEA. Her character, on the other hand, probably thinks that charging into certain death five times over is a GRAND way to spend an afternoon. On polarization:

Rob: "And there is a ward in place, down for at least a moment. You'd have to go now."
Lydia hesitates.
The GM walks over with his fudge point bin. "This is a great plan; you want to try it!" Thunk thunk two fudge points land in front of Lydia.

I'm not the only player holding a grudge:

Rob : "Mmm, I love pinging Quinn. You know, I'm going to do this all the time, just to fuck with him. I'll set one up in my lab that just does this all the time. He's going to have a hard time possessing anybody."

Lydia rolls for Cyrus' jump across the large lava pool and makes it on a legendary 2. You can lead a man to jump but you can't force him to like it:

GM: "You barely clear that fucker."
Everyone applauds.
Cyrus: "And I hide behind a rock."
Shai: "And you hug the rock. That rock is your friend."

! no ip directed-broadcast:

Finndo: "Nice jump."
Scott to Rob: "You can't see him [Cyrus]."
Rob: "Well, I can hear him. All Finndo hears is Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Retail therapy:

Cyrus: "I need good springy boots!"
Shai sings the Indiana Jones theme.

From Benedict, that's a standing ovation. The Loyal Opposition:

Finndo to Benedict: "Kipwyn and company are headed back to the camp; Cyrus just managed to JUMP the iron."
GM to Benedict: "You're not sure you could have done that..."
Benedict: "Wow."

Several falling pennies behind (I hate that).

Finndo to Benedict: "If you remove those 12 titanium iron bars, the door will open from this side. Check if the guards are waking up; slap em around a bit, get them up. I need Cerano."
Deborah looks confused: "What?"
GM: "Ah."

The Duchy of Cerano is comprised largely of incredible vineyards laid down on remarkably inhospitable ground, irrigated and brought to fertility by generations of determined engineers. Cerano specializes in three things: agricultural engineering, wine and sycophancy. Most people remember only the last two. That's one way to open a sauna:

Jarrod: "Who?"
Deborah: "The wine duke."
Rob: "Not just the wine duke. The master of irrigation."
Scott: "We're going to irrigate the lava!"

Did Jeff get stuck as a guard in Amber Castle?

Benedict: "Right. I slap the guards around."
Guard: "What happened?"
Benedict: "You were put to sleep. On duty."
Guard: "Not my fault."

Working up that intimidation skillset:

Benedict, flatly: "I need to get a message to Cerano. As soon as possible."
Guard: "Summon - yes sir right away sir."

Cyrus, still in trump contact with Finndo, sneaks after the rest of the party being led by Kipwyn into the stronghold of the Children of Nod. They do say a woman's home reflects her:

GM: "You guys are led back back back, armies armies armies. Eventually you get to what must be a far wall of the cavern and there are gates, great big tall carved gates of things with limbs and horns."
Osric: "Since no one's talking to me I will continue pinging the power source."
GM: "You're real close to it, and it looks like it's carved out of obsidian and there's a great big stone gate.  As you guys get near, it lowers."
Shai: "Ah, creepy."
Deborah: "Ah, Cymnea."
Jarrod: "How nice."

If Oberon and Cymnea sat on people's shoulders arguing out what they ought to do as the classic devil and angel of conscience, they would both have tridents and be labeled Lesser Evil and Bigger Evil:

Kipwyn: "Walk forward."
GM: "You're inside what looks like a dark palace lit from distant sources of molten rock. There's this kind of reddish light from the walls."
Cyrus to Finndo through the trump contact: "Your mother has joined the ancient evil."
Jarrod: "What else is new?"

A lad just wants to travel, get out, see the world, map out his conquest:

GM: "You're inside a fortress with statues meant to remind you that big scary important people live here. And a lot of the walls have a faintly reflective property to them, as well, being polished volcanic glass."
Jarrod: "Osric will look all touristy."

We are a hedge. Move along, citizen:

GM: "You're led to an inner sanctum; your mom is on a throne, her siblings are with her."
Cyrus: I pick a shadowy alcove to hide in, just in case.
Shai: "And I just look like a dutiful servant!"

Maybe because you keep SUMMONING him:

Cymnea: "Osric."
Osric: "We do seem to keep bumping into one another."

Sybil is still out cold (from being slugged by Rilga, who may or may not have enjoyed it) and has been carried along with the party by Rilga. Someone remind me what Sybil ever did to Cymnea?

Cymnea: "I've met one of your friends. The unconscious one."
Osric: "A fact which gives you great pleasure, I imagine. The unconscious bit."
Cymnea: "Perhaps. Care to do introductions?"

Finishing school never explained what to do with one's fisticuffs victims while greeting a would-be traitor and ex-Queen that one is obliged to kill but would rather see succeed:

Osric: "Well, after recent events, my dear brother has needed a new secretary and this is she. "
Shai: "It's hard to bow with Sybil over my shoulder."

Extreme definitions:

GM: "Cyrus, you do not feel safe getting close enough to actually hear this conversation."
Cyrus: Safe in what sense?
GM: "You'd have to go through that oogy looking doorway into that chamber they've gone into."

You don't suppose the statues are guards, do you? Naaaaah:

Cyrus: "I go exploring, avoiding the oogy looking doors."
GM: "They're all oogy looking."
Cyrus; I look around for a guardsman.
GM: "You don't see any. There are an awful lot of statues, though."

The purloined woman:

Cymnea: "Pity bout that."
Osric shrugs.
Cymnea: "She was a nice enough girl."
Osric: "Seemed it."
Rilga: "Gee, I couldn't look more like a dutiful servant right now."

It's comforting to know that he does it to his mother, too:

Cymnea says musingly: "I had an interesting message from your brother some years back, something about fish."
Osric: "Allright."
Cymnea: "Bigger fish.  And the flying mountain did seem to shore that up a bit."
Osric: "Mm."

I leave as an exercise to the reader which one of us is joking:

Cymnea: "What do you suppose is next?"
Scott: "Two flying mountains."
Deborah: "Space invaders."

When Selm slew Sonnet, he said to her 'die well; they're watching'. Worse, this is only _one reason_ Selm said they're always watching:

Osric: "Subtlety, I should think. The bold frontal assault didn't seem to do so well."
Rilga: "Oh gee, this is why Selm said they're always watching."

Sunk cost equations in motion:

Cymnea: "We're willing to offer a truce because having a kingdom to overthrow is better than there not being any."

Can't a mother trust her son?

Osric: "We should be somewhere else."
Cymnea: "Should we?"
Osric: "Yes."
Cymnea: "Now why would you say that?"

Apparently not. Hunh:

Osric: "I could tell you when we are."
Cymnea: "Just you and me."
Osric shrugs: "Whatever you like."
Cymnea: "Wendra, watch the women."
GM: "And there's this big black sphere effect and both Osric and Cymnea disappear."

The glory and the ultimately satisfying reality of the food chain:

Osric: "You're not the only one with a reflective hobby."
Cymnea: "I see. Who else?"
Osric: "The bigger fish."

How's it feel, huh?

Cymnea: "Really?"
Osric: "Yes. Oh yes. I couldn't say so /earlier/."
Lydia: "He's wwwaaaatching you."
Osric: "I imagine you are doing just what he needed you to do for a while."

Speaking of putting you on the spot:

GM: "This puts her [Cymnea] into a very contemplative state and during that time you get a trump call."
Osric: "Hm."
GM: "What do you do?"
Jarrod: "That's an interesting question. Not this time."

For a time, Finndo had Dulcea locked up in a room because he assumed her siblings wanted her for nefarious purposes - probably the purposes for which they had intended Cyrus's 4 year old daughter, Aine, before Finndo sacrificed Aine to the mountain of Kolvir in return for Cymnea's father, Nod, remaining dead. The only person (besides Finndo) who knows Aine's fate is Sybil; Cyrus and everyone else believe that Cymnea has the child. It's no longer an endearing quirk when everyone's doing it:

Osric: "You spoke of a truce."
Cymnea: "Yes. We need Dulcea back."
Osric: "Mm."
Cymnea: "Apparently she's been intercepted by one of these..."
Rob: "Hobbyists."

When Dulcea was pulled through the mirror, the guardsman got a look at her insides. Nice way to travel:

Osric: "She may also have been dissected by them."
Cymnea: "Yes."
Osric: "Just going by what the guardsman said."
Cymnea: "Oh that, no, that would just be the visual effect."

Is there such a thing as 'involuntarily granted help', even from a sacrificial victim?

Osric: "Allright, then."
Cymnea: "That was one way. I thought it might be. Mm. Very tricky. Your uncle Kipwyn is not well."
Osric: "He seemed well."
Cymnea: "We need Dulcea's help."

Finndo's theory was that, as stated, Kipwyn needs blood or power to make him solid - otherwise he's just a ghost and one that's temporary at best. It's nice to know when one's correct - most of the time:

Rob: "Yeeessss. Finndo was right."
Scott: "Dulcea's "help"."
Lydia: "Right about what?"
Rob: "He [Kipwyn] needs something to make him solid."

It was well known, out of character, that Cynthia, Cyrus's wife, did not care for him - frigid bitch is rather the phrase that comes to mind. The woman permitted her husband to touch her once and only once a year. Aine's real fate is also well known by the players, of course. The characters have no idea. Someone's having trouble accepting that these little things happen:

Lydia: "That's right. They didn't get the blood they needed. Because you fed it to the MOUNTAIN."
GM: "But you [Cyrus] don't know that - to you, maybe they ran out of Aine's blood."
Rob: "Or it's possible Cynthia [Cyrus' wife] was having sex with someone she didn't abhor."

Leave a tender moment alone:

Osric: "Just her?"
Cymnea: "Well, you'd do."
Osric: "I'm sure I would."

It's always nice to know how far a lass won't go:

Cymnea: "So would Benedict or Finndo, but I expect all three of you would be resistant. Even up here in the sky, I won't try that."
Osric: "I'm relieved."
Cymnea: "I love Kipwyn as a brother, but even that will go only so far."
Osric: "I'm so relieved."

Why, Cymnea could be the bitch that was sister to a rat!

Cymnea: "We could always try your doppleganger but I'm not sure what effects that would have."
Rob: "Mmm, furry Kipwyn."
Osric: "Well he would never be cold."

Manfully resisting temptation:

Osric: "Do you know who has her [Dulcea]?"
Cymnea: "Well, my running theory had been Finndo up until this point."
Osric: "Mmm. No."
Cymnea: "Not clever enough?"
Osric says nothing.

Getting a little too emotionally involved:

Cymnea: "Or just differently clever."
Osric: "Lethally clever."
Deborah glares, "Much more clever than you, bitch."

Speaking of which:

Osric: "He's developed some hobbies of late, let's just say."
GM: "Another trump call."
Jarrod: "Not this time."

Well, yes, generally:

Cymnea: "Something troubling you?"
Rob: "Thoughts of Finndo..."

How nice to know no one will come looking:

Osric: "You spoke of a truce.  I have been missed."
Cymnea: "We expected that, all four of you."

When the party fought the undead dragon that ran wild after Piero raised it and lost control over it (by dying, admittedly), Cymnea and her crew tried to 'help' in order to steal the public credit for it. Gee. Thanks. You want to join up with us so we don't screw up the kingdom you have in mind to steal from us and then take all the credit. How could we possibly not feel complimented?

Osric: "What did you have in mind?"
Cymnea: "We have enough differences to make for an argument after things are done. But we believe this Dworkin to be a real enough threat that you might not handle it on your own."
Osric: "Your faith is touching."
Cymnea: "It's realistic. We think you'll have a much better chance with us helping."
Scott: "Like you tried to help with the dragon and steal all the glory."

Why be shy?

Osric: "That's different. Holding off the pointed philosophical discussions might be difficult."
Cymnea: "Those points. Right. What do you think it would take?"
Rob smiles: "Oh I know."

'I'm here to be of service, Ambassador. My associates believe that you are a person of great potential.' (Morden to Londo, Babylon 5)

Osric: "Quinn's head on a platter, most likely."
Cymnea: "I think Quinn would be one of our more useful allies in this fight."

Tangled webs:

Lydia: "I want my daughter back!"
Jarrod to Rob: "Which Osric thinks she has."
Rob: "Yes, Finndo's done this math."

Never stand and think. GMs seem to think it's an invitation to pour on armies of ninjas and other minor distractions to wake you up into motion:

GM: "What's your answer?"
Jarrod: "Doing calculus."
GM: "You're getting another trump call."
Scott: Dooooooot. Doooooooot. Dooooooooot.

One Without You:

Osric: "Could you give me a moment?"
Cymnea: "What kind of a moment would you like?"
Osric: "A brief one."

Very brief moment:

Osric answers the trump.
Finndo opens his mouth.
Osric holds up a finger: "Wait."
Osric hangs up.

Uh. Oh:

Osric to Cymnea: "I think returning Cyrus's daughter would go a long way."
Cymnea: "We never had her."
Osric: "Reaaaallly."
Cymnea: "Yes."

Yes, but which gestures of goodwill does he mean?

Osric: "You did for a time."
Cymnea: "True in that we had Cyrus's wife and daughter in attendance at a particular ritual. We though we might make use of her, but in the chaos that occurred at the time, we lost sight of both of them. Our departure was somewhat precipitous, then."
Osric: "That's very interesting. So much for the gestures of goodwill."

Please, take a survey. You'll get some enthusiastic responses:

Osric: "Given the anger of my brothers, I don't know what would quiet them."
Deborah, helpfully: "I do."

Yeah. That would be the gift in motion right there:

Osric: "I can ask. You seem to have a gift for pushing buttons."
Cymnea: "We have a means to take it to a fight that the armies only hint at. It would be good for both sides to avoid that, I think. That is not a threat. I just want to send you away with the full understanding."

Only an idiot fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would fight a war on twelve fronts (Londo to Lord Refa, Babylon 5):

Osric: "There is little glory in ruling rubble."
Cymnea: "I think I found myself saying that just the other day."
Osric: "I can make the effort. I am willing to help. But I can't guarantee it would work."
Cymnea: "At least this won't be inaction."

No one thanks you for breaking their snowball:

Osric: "I am afraid they don't trust me much more than they trust you but if I stand with you when you make the offer, maybe they'll listen to you."
Cymnea: "You think yourself unconvincing only because you spent so long in Finndo's shadow. You should shed that illusion."
Osric: "It seems to make him happy."
Cymnea: "I didn't say you should shatter his."

So much for grand subterfuge and sneakiness:

Cymnea: "So I'll be sending you back? All of you."
Osric nods.
Cymnea: "I'm afraid going back the way you came won't work."
Osric: "Didn't fancy that so much anyway. Contact me in two days."
Cymnea: "Allright."
GM: "Three of you disappear. Your contact, Finndo, cuts. Cyrus, you disappear. You guys have reappeared in the chamber of the well, all four of you, in Ildros."
Rilga: "And I set Sybil down before she decides to dig her teeth through my shoulder."

We have to fight a god, the near-gods that are our relatives and our father and oh yes the other enemies and the most minor thing we had to deal with today involved sneaking past an army of goblin stormtroopers surrounded by lava pools. Define 'safe', please:

Cyrus: "She blinkydiced."
Finndo: "Hrm. Going to need to do something about that. Is everyone safe?"
Cyrus: "In a manner of speaking."

Osrat (Osric's rat-based evil twin) steps out from around a corner when everyone else but Cyrus has stepped through to the Castle with Finndo. My boyfriend's back and there's gonna be trou-ble:

Osrat to Osric: "Got a moment?"
Cyrus: "I don't like Osrat."
Osric: "This might not be the best time."

Chains of command:

Osrat: "Well, he [Cyrus] can just go on through and we'll talk."
Finndo to Cyrus over the trump contact he has with Cyrus: "Oh no."
Cyrus stands there.

Not every man aspires to be Nixon:

Osrat: "I take it by your method of arrival that you've had your conversation with mother."
Osric: "One of many, I imagine."

Well, they believe it would be inconvenient if they had to fight Dworkin off without us for fodder:

Osrat: "Do they believe the significance of the threat yet?"
Osric: "Which they?"
Osrat: "Your mother and her friends?"
Osric: "Oh, that threat. Yes, I dare say so."

Something of an epidemic of late:

Osrat: "Good. I was hoping my correspondence with them would have some sort of effect. They're running into trouble, aren't they?"
Osric: "I'd say it's something of a stalemate."
Osrat: "Well. I'd much rather be in your corner than theirs."
Deborah: "There's too many third pronouns."

Is it narcissism or just raw conceit that Osric and Osrat get along so well?

Jarrod: "Yeah, I'm having that problem too [with the excess third pronouns]."
Rob: "Yes, Osric has to talk to himself."

Parts, batting practice, rocket fuel, deer lure:

Jarrod: "It seems to have worked to our advantage in the past."
Rob: "Plus you want to use him for parts."

The rope on your levitation trick is showing:

Osrat: "If my guess is right, and our guesses often are, they're offering some sort of deal."
Deborah: "That's your psychic prediction?"
Osrat: "I'll go even further. They're offering some sort of deal to deal with the threat of big scary Dworkin."
Osric: "Yes."

The alternatives being fighting Cymnea and Quinn and Kipwyn at the same time as Dworkin?

Osrat: "Rather strikes me as a fairly good plan of action."
Osric: "Leader of the alternatives, I'll grant."

The man's head is cubed and his face has four sides:

Osrat: "Suffice it to say I'll be around if you need the help."
Osric: "I'll be along to see you."

Cyrus is still standing there, with Finndo listening. Inconvenient witnesses:

Osrat: "Will you? Where?"
Osric hesitates.
Osrat: "As I said, he [Cyrus] could always go through."

At least he's a consistent snake:

Osric: "The same place as before."
Osrat: "Oh that one. Very well."
Rob whistles.
Finndo remarks, over the trump contact, to Cyrus: "Before. This is my shocked face."

Life does present challenges:

Cyrus: "Uh huh. Osrat needs to die."
Osric: "See, it's just that sort of thinking that makes my job much harder."

We can't always have what we want:

Osrat: "I'm going to be making my exit now and you have Lord Roseywood with you. Insurance. Pardon me."
Cyrus: "WHEN do I get to kill him?"
Osrat: "Soon enough, I'm sure!"

This is why one asks for forgiveness, not permission:

Finndo: "Ask Osric."
Cyrus to Osric: "When do I get to kill him?"
Osric: "You don't."
Cyrus: "Why not?"
Osric: "Because I said so."

'Come into my parlour', said the spider to the ... spider:

Osric looks expectantly at Cyrus.
Cyrus holds out his hand.
Rob: "And Finndo will take you both through. And smile."

'You used to call me paranoid':

Jarrod to Lydia: "No, you don't."
GM to Cyrus: "Osric said 'Leave me'. What do you do?"
Cyrus: "With that [Osrat]?"
Osric: "He's gone."
Cyrus: "No, he's not."

Osric has to go deal behind the third set of backs:

Osric: "Your concern is touching."
Cyrus: "Osric does not wish to return, Prince Finndo."

Playing at being a wishbone:

Finndo: "Fascinating. Well, tell him I hope his conversation was fruitful."
Cyrus to Osric: "He hopes your conversation was fruitful."
Osric: "Does he. Well, tell him more than he suspects. I have an interesting conversation to have with you as well."
Rob: "Finndo makes a note."

Here, kid. Have some string:

Cyrus: "Do tell."
Osric: "I'll tell you when I see you, which will be in a few moments."
Cyrus: "He says he'll be a few moments."
Finndo: "Very well."

The one thing that Finndo must prevent Cyrus from realizing is that Finndo was responsible for Aine's death. Covering His Ass:

Rob: "Finndo is sending Cyrus up the stairs and shutting the door from the inside. He makes sure the other door gets reshut and Finndo is now beginning a very fast commando mission. There is going to be a body, and it's going to be buried under rock and it's going to be decomposed by several years because we assumed she was dead so no one searched, really, under the mountain side."

Finndo had instructed Sybil to create tiny fire elementals that lived in very small metal casings and exploded on cue (in place of gunpowder, which does not work in Amber proper). In other words, Finndo has Sybil creating bullets. One little catch:

GM: "You're trying to create firearms that have mood swings."

Sybil has been eyeing Rilga with open suspicion. Finndo asks Rilga what the issue is now. Learning from one's elders:

Rilga: "I knocked her unconscious."
Finndo: "She's adapting well."

Finndo has a private conversation with Rilga in his private shadow - only now he uses the beta room, having given Selm the trump to the alpha room. Not putting it delicately:

Finndo: "I was obliged to inform Benedict that Sonnet is alive."
Rilga's jaw drops.

Not so much the other shoe as the other shoe rack:

Finndo: "I informed him that she is as far away and as safe as I and she would allow."
Rilga: "Oh good. Well."
Finndo: "Let me tell you the other detail."
Rilga: "There's more."

If there's an older brother, remember, Finndo might get out of being Crown Prince, and Osric has someone else to jostle with. Finndo is the most optimistic Amberite I've ever seen:

Finndo: "Yes. Whomever Selm's father was, isn't. Not shocking news, but Selm is apparently my older brother."
Rilga: "And aren't you just thrilled."
Finndo: "I oddly am."

She catches on fast:

Rilga: "But now here comes the bad news."
Finndo: "Oh, no. Well. The bad news is perhaps that I found this out while he was walking the Pattern."
Rilga: "And?"

Not so much dotting the i's and crossing the t's as desperately avoiding committing to either one:

Finndo: "Benedict was on hand. Full breakdown. Conversation with Selm convinced me that it was intentional that you did not die. This, I am sure, is not going to be very pleasant but to continue he has had a falling out with Cymnea and is playing a deeper game still; possibly Oberon knows, possibly not. Oberon definitely does not know that he walked the Pattern and may not know that he [Selm] is his son, but he [Oberon] may suspect, possibly not.

Wuv. Twue Wuv:

Finndo: "I was obliged to tell Benedict what I did so as to keep him from killing Selm in a bitter rage of vengeance."
GM in a girlish voice, imitating what Sonnet might be thinking: "Oh he /cares/."

Just another drop of evidence in the proof bucket:

Finndo: "Additionally, after your departure, Osrat appeared and he and Osric exchanged words and made it clear they had been communicating previously."
Rilga: "Are we surprised by this?"
Finndo: "No, but it is good to have confirmation. Judging from their conversation, Osric has had some understanding reached with Cymnea."

Never say Never:

Rilga: "What kind of deal did you cut with Selm?"
Finndo: "I allowed him safe access to this room and some trumps; there's a reason we moved to the beta room. And I'm taking a gamble on Selm at the moment."
Jarrod: "And I /never/ lose."

Speaking of confirmation:

Finndo: "That is about as much as I have; I am sure that we will have more news from Mother reasonably shortly. Anything I've missed, anything I should know about what went on with Osric and Cymnea?"
Rilga: "They disappeared after we entered this obsidian room; I was held under guard with Sybil on my shoulder, unconscious, and she had sense enough to - when she woke - not bite and fight me. Wendra was there, Dulcea was not, Kipwyn was there. Osric went to speak with his mother in private."

Legalities and distinctions:

Finndo: "That's allright, I continue to be amused by the fact that they have an army. Oh, I've contacted Cerano."
Rilga: "Oh, you're going to flood the cavern?"
Finndo: "I'm not going to flood the cavern, I'm going to drain Ildros. There's a difference."

We're from the government and we're here to help:

Rilga: "Might improve their economy."
Finndo: "I imagine Ildros would be quite fertile with drainage."
Rilga: "Could prove a renaissance."

Highest praise for the GM:

Deborah: "Can I just say now that this game is as bad as the books."
Scott: "It's worse than the books!"

Brain. Leaking. Out. Ears. And I have this suspicion they're going to use it in a stock pot:

Deborah: "AAAAAAAAGH! I'm breaking."
Jarrod: "Yes. Yes. As well you should."
Deborah: "Thanks for the support."

Osric, in his room, has gone to freshen up. Getting dressed, he looks in the mirror and finds that Piero's looking back at him. Piero lifts a finger to his mouth in a little 'shhhhhhush'. Gestures to the side; the scene behind him, which was Osric's room, wavers. Osric gets a picture of the nunnery next to the Veronelle with Eagle's Peak in the far distance. Then Piero ripples and is gone. Nice to know it's possible:

Jarrod: "Now I'm confused."

What, the Amber yellow pages?

Osric taps at the mirror.
Piero reappears and looks questioningly.
Osric points at the mirror.
Piero shakes his head, then has two little fingers walk by.
Osric: "Yes, I rather thought that."

A little too much kink:

Lydia: "So no unnatural sex acts in front of this mirror."
GM: "Why do you think it's at that angle?"
Rob: "This is Piero; I don't even want the natural ones."

The glee meter just swung hard all the way over:

GM to Jarrod: "Whatcha doing?"
Jarrod: "Wow. Decisions, decisions."

Osric goes to find Cyrus in order to summon the party together. An etiquette and proper procedure for being toasted:

GM: "Cyrus is there, slumped in a chair, with two bottles, just... drinking."
Cyrus: "Would you like a drink?"
Osric: "Not just now. I'd like you to stop as well."
Cyrus looks offended: "I have an entire half bottle left."

At least he makes a good practice audience:

Cyrus: "I listen to him."
GM, as Cyrus's thought process: "I've got a buzz, sure."
Cyrus: "Oh, you had something to tell me."
GM, as Cyrus's thought process: "I can't feel my lips."

Finndo has been spending the time leaving false evidence of Aine's corpse for Cyrus to find, just in case. Timing:

Jarrod to GM: "If Finndo's not there and the guards couldn't find him, I'll trump him."
Finndo to GM: "Am I done?"
GM: "Putting the last few rocks in place. You can pull a cartomancy trick to make it appear that you're somewhere else."

Finndo is of course not in the lab. Two can play at this game:

GM to Osric: "He's [Finndo] in the lab."
Osric: "Finndo."
Finndo: "Osric."
Osric: "I need to speak with you."

At least he didn't start out with leveraging synergies:

Osric: "Thank you all for coming. As you may or may not be aware, although I suspect most of you are, I have been for some time chatting with our adversaries."
Sybil, quietly and sarcastically: "Over tea?"
Finndo bridge shuffles.

Establishing a basic grasp of the issues:

Osric: "If you mean to kill me, be about it."
Finndo: "If we were going to kill you for that, we would have."

Reasoning with arrogance:

Osric: "Oh, I'm so pleased. In any case, most of the time this has come to our benefit and this is one of our times.  At the very least, Dworkin can see through the mirrors as can any number of other people. So. As I said I've been set an interesting proposition. Our mother and her siblings have realized that we have reached something of a stalemate. If we go at it toe to toe with them, there's likely to be very little left."
Finndo: "Mm."
Cyrus: "Of them."

Our influences have begun to show their colors:

Osric: "I'm here to tell you they have more resources than you think."
Finndo: "I'm sure they do. Vast resources, near infinite resources. That does not trouble me."

My enemy is the friend of my other enemy:

Osric: "Yes, whatever, Finndo. The point is they have offered to join up with us to fight Dworkin and set aside our battle for later."
Finndo: "And why would they do that?"
Osric: "The collateral damage."
Finndo: "I'm obliged to point out that, were I Dworkin, Mother would prove an excellent ally; all she has to do is offer him the pattern, he her power, and then he has a distraction from us."

A man's desires are simple things:

Finndo: "I want to kill Quinn."
Osric: "I mentioned that."

Unless you're greedy:

Cyrus: I want to kill Osrat.
Osric: I mentioned that."
Cyrus: "And Cymnea. And Kipwyn, except he's already dead. Oh, and Quinn. Oh and I forgot about Selm."

Or simply stubborn:

Sybil: "Selm's mine."
Benedict grows very still.

Setup:

Osric: "I did ask them for a show of faith."
Finndo: "Good."
Osric: "I asked them to return Sir Cyrus's daughter."

That, I didn't see coming:

Finndo: "And they said?"
Osric: "They never had her."
Cyrus lets out a cry: "THEY LOST HER."

Half empty, half full:

Finndo: "They say."
Cyrus: "They say."
Osric: "I have no reason to doubt them."
Finndo: "I have no reason to believe them."

I have a small suspicion this may have been Benedict's mental calculation of taking the goblins on one by one or just letting the engineers deal with it:

Benedict: "So were there five thousand troops down there or were there more?"
Osric: "Quite a few more."
Benedict: "Sit. Flooding's good."

So paranoid we can't trust our own hindsight:

Finndo: "I will be the first to admit that, tactically speaking, that if they were genuinely on our side, they would be able to bring a great deal to the table. They have among them Kipwyn and Selm's capacity for arms and they have the magic of Mother and Quinn."
Cyrus: "And they can use the mirrors just like Dworkin can."

Likeable is a relative thing:

Sybil to Osric: "Why didn't they just slit your throat and use you?"
Finndo: "Because they like him."
Sybil: "Because we're all of us so likeable."
Osric: "Some of us more than others."

Now there's a positive assessment:

Finndo: "He is a shit, but he is a smart little shit."

For someone who doesn't like the job so much, Finndo handles assistance poorly at best. Thanks for the support:

Osric: "Let me rephrase, then, Crown Prince. What would you like me to tell her?"
Finndo: "I would like you to tell her that we are delighted with and thinking about her offer. We are willing to take it under consideration, but in the absence of a demonstration of good faith, we cannot commit to more than non-aggression."
Osric: "Yet you have no suggestion as to what this gesture might be?"
Finndo: "That's your department. What do you think?"

But not the good sort:

Osric: "As I said to her at the time, I didn't think there were any possibilities."
Finndo: "See, I am a man who believes in possibilities."

Perspective is a very subjective thing:

Osric: "You're very closed minded."
Finndo: "When it comes to this."

Osrat, at Sybil's lest encounter, tried to /eat/ her. Not the kind of nibbling that a girl is likely to respond well to:

Sybil: "Osrat? The one who tried to eat me? I have a few issues."
Osric: "He just liked you."
Sybil: "Spare me from the affection, then!"

Denial takes work and copious amounts of alcohol:

Osric: "He's [Osrat] been quite helpful to me; particularly with the mountain."
Cyrus: "I need more alcohol!"

And now we break out the honesty:

Osric to Finndo: "Brother, do you consider me a worthwhile ally?"
Finndo: "I consider you a useful ally."
Osric: "That's not what I asked."
Finndo: "I do consider you free of fleas."

On Osrat:

Cyrus: "As long as death is the eventual result, anything... else is allright."

That doesn't help:

Finndo: "Again, let me reiterate: there is possibly no element that makes me so suspicious as someone not wanting something."
Osric: Well, Mother wants the throne.
Finndo: Well, there is that.

It's nice to have a structured sense of events:

Cyrus: "Well, that means we can expect to be betrayed at the last minute.
Osric: "Yes, probably."

After the meeting (in which Benedict stomps out when Sybil mangles her appeal to him and Finndo and Osric come a little too close to honest sharing with each other of the tense and disagreeable kind, Osric slips out to the convent by the Veronelle that Piero had indicated in Osric's mirror. Osric rides around until the background matches what he saw in the mirror and lifts the pocket mirror he brought along. Playing charades with the (mostly) dead:

Piero indicates the nunnery.
Osric mouths: "Who?"
Piero mouths something back, either "When" or "What".

Hey, I missed it too:

Osric: "Osric goes to the door and knocks."
GM facepalms.
Jarrod: "Or did I misinterpret - "

Now that's a line never used by male marauders to get into convents:

GM: "A woman in white opens the door."
Nun: "You're Prince Osric."
Osric: "Yes."
Nun: "How may we help you?"
Osric: "I seem to have found myself in need of somewhere to stay. Just for the night."

Pulling rank:

Nun: "Only women are allowed inside."
Osric: "Yes, well, I think you can make an exception."
Nun: "Give me a moment, please."

Not to make a guest feel unwelcome or anything:

GM to Osric: "You're led to a room and everyone is fricky wary of you, not just because you're male or a Prince. It's entirely possible they think you're an agent of Satan."
Osric: "Thank you. I sha'an't be leaving the room."
Nun: "Very well." The door shuts.

Osric gets his own medicine:

Osric: "Osric scratches out 'clarity would have been helpful' and holds it up to the mirror if he comes back."
GM: "You get the image of Piero just /looking/ at you."

More wars are won by the quartermasters than by any general:

GM: "Then you get an image of the pool you passed on the way in."
Osric holds up the paper again.
Piero gestures to the pool, pats himself down, holds out his hands.
Osric: "Insolent."
GM: "Yeah, like I've got a piece of paper and pen in the afterlife!"

Well, it is one way to pass the afterlife:

Jarrod: "Haven't you ever played charades?"
Rob: "Dead people playing charades is just creepy."

How about online text interfaces in the afterlife? YahooChat for the dead?

Osric mouths: "Is it safe to speak?"
Piero mimes being trapped in the mirror.
Osric: "Right. Well, so much for promises."

Never a good sign:

Jarrod to GM: "From the last time he was there, does the activity die down at any point in the courtyard?"
GM: "It wasn't particularly occupied at the time."
Jarrod: "Osric is going to sneak out to the pool in the courtyard."
GM: "Okay, what's your sneaky skill? Do you have one?"

The lengths to which men go for a little privacy:

GM to Osric: "You appear to have made it to the courtyard so far without incident. There are some statues around it of what are probably some pictures of female saint type figures or the Lady, maybe, or effectively mother superiors."
Jarrod: "He will go to the most secluded part of it he can and look into it."
GM: "You look into it and Piero resolves in the water."

Yes yes, do you mind before the nuns attack me for talking to the dead:

Piero, very softly: "Ah. This is about the last place anyone would look for me so I think it would do."
Osric: "Quickly, please."

Please, Uncle Piero, take the Darkness back!

Piero: "I need help getting back."
Osric: "Yes, I rather thought you might. "
Scott looks very hopeful: "Yes, come back."

Can I have this man's travel agent?

Piero: "It would probably involve that little corridor that some of you were in. If I can set up the right resonances with the right help from the other side, I should be able to come through."
Osric: "How did you get here?"
Piero: "I ... died."

From what? Lava pools to mirrors?

Osric: "For most people that's permanent."
Piero: "Oh, right, right. I kind of... re-pointed my afterlife."

It's never just 'x marks the spot', is it?

Osric: "Right. Who do you need the help from?"
Piero: "Well, the current Keeper of the gate."
Osric: "What do you need to tell him?"
Piero: "First off you'll need to relocate the corridor; I'm afraid I can't help you too much with that. It was a spontaneous event; I will certainly try to cause it to recur again but that will be tricky."
Osric: "Is it likely to be in the same place?"
Piero: "No. Certainly within the castle, but beyond that - I may even be able to pinpoint a time some few days hence."

The tried and true, apparently:

Piero: "He'll need to call upon the darkness."
Osric: "They seem to want him to destroy them."
Piero: "Oh, that old rot? Ignore it."

Define 'lost':

Osric: "I've been trying to tell him, but... I'm not sure how much control he has anymore."
Piero: "He has enough. Unless he's lost some of what he gained."

Can you buy three dots of an Aspect to get rid of it?

Osric: "He's been trying not to use it."
Piero: "Even better; he'll be fresh."

Apparently not:

Osric: "If this means they'll get their hooks out of him, I think it won't be hard to convince him."
Piero: "Oh! I can certainly try to help but I can't make any promises."

Tell me the lie I need to hear:

Osric: "Tell me you think it's possible."
Piero: "All things are possible, my friend."

Must be a Monday in Amber:

Piero: "Oh, and lady behind you with the quarter staff!" And he disappears.
Osric sighs: "Grand."

Osric ducks the first blow from the quarter staff. First, define the objective:

GM: "What are you doing?"
Osric: "Getting up and leaving."

Then execute:

GM: "How?"
Osric: "Getting up, first."
GM: "Are you dodging?"
Osric: "Yes, he doesn't want to get smacked with a quarter staff!"

While the woman is whacking away at Osric, he answers her charges as best he can. One begins to think this is Osric's universal please hold message:

GM: "She's growling things like ally of the darkness, friend of the keeper -"
Osric: "Working on it!"

It's the psychotic resoluteness:

Osric shouts: "I'm trying to destroy the darkness!"
Nun: "My debt is too great; I cannot turn my back and I will not trust your words."
Osric: "You needn't."
GM: "She reminds you a little bit of Lord Karm."

Osric gets back to Amber Castle. I wouldn't put it past Roseywood, no:

GM: "You hear a trumpet blare from the courtyard."
Jarrod: "Kazoos? We've started using kazoos."

And the doors of the courtyard open. Oberon rides through, home at last, and hauls Osric in his wake for a debriefing. Skipping the small talk:

Oberon: "Osric! It's great to see you."
Osric: "Well, it's like this."
Cyrus: "Fuck fuck fuck."

Oberon left after Rast was slain by Karm but before Sonnet was nailed by Selm. Osric does not slow down for him:

Osric: "Right. Soooo. It appears that Selm killed Sonnet, we had the funeral for Sonnet -"
Oberon: "What?"

First things first, isolate the murderous over protective father:

Osric: "It would appear that Selm killed Sonnet in her rooms right around the time you left -"
Oberon: "Where's Karm?"

Speaking of letting loose the dogs of war (what a nice way to be thought of by your liege):

Osric: "He [Karm] was supposed to have been in the dungeons, but he was attacked by someone and he's now in shadow in the hospital - one of Finndo's."
Oberon: "Good; keep him there."
Osric: I imagine Finndo has.
Oberon: "Shit. That's one less leash. We'll walk and talk; going to my room. Go on."

That, or Oberon needed a little less vanity:

Osric: "Odd thing happened with the mirrors. We found that at minimum Dworkin is watching us through them; Finndo seems to have done something with his cards to make that more difficult."
GM: "That's the point where you have gotten to his room; the guards salute, he opens the door and there are cards covering them.
Oberon: "You don't say."

Father, I regret to inform you that we are about to be attacked by mad keebler elves:

Osric: "Yes, rather like that. We took a trip to Ildros to see if we could locate your recently ex-wife and found an army under there."
Oberon: "An army."
Osric: "Yes, of uhm, green things about yay." He holds out a hand to indicate height."

Translation: we did not stick around to find out if the goblinoids could _aim_:

Oberon: "Hunh. Anything else? Did you figure out whose army it is?"
Osric: "Well, with reasonable certainty. It's Cymnea's."
Oberon: "Makes sense. Is it still there?"
Osric: "Well, the army probably is, unless she's moved it. We left rather precipitously."

Well, that did not go over well:

Osric: "And, uhm, she put a rather interesting proposition."
Oberon: "Go on."
Osric: "The proposition was that she offer a truce -"
Oberon laughs.

Not just divided loyalties, but tested loyalties:

Osric: "In order to defeat Dworkin and put our differences aside until that's done."
Oberon: "So what do you think of that?"
Deborah to Fred: "You are such an asshole."
Scott: "You are a bastard."
Jarrod: "Yeah, he is."

Which is rather the crux of the problem:

Osric: "I believe we can trust her [Cymnea] as far as she feels that her interests would be served, which is - she wants the kingdom as much as you."

Life's patterns are reassuring:

Oberon: "Right. Where are your brothers?"
Osric: "Actually, I don't know. Benedict stormed off rather angrily."
Oberon: "Okay, status quo."

Priorities:

Osric: "Finndo is working on security. Apparently, there was some sort of incident in the castle; hadn't got the details from him yet."
Oberon: "Gooooood. Good. So. Right. "
Osric: "In fact, I am about -"
Oberon: "Brandy."

Thanks for the advice, Dad:

Osric: "Yes. In fact I am to speak to Mother about our answer in the near future."
Oberon: "How near?"
Osric: "Day. About."
Oberon: "Allright. Okay. Well. Let me know how round 2 goes."

Well, then, chortle through it; Cymnea will:

Osric: "Anything specific you'd like me to say?"
Oberon: "Nothing publishable. I'm sure Finndo came up with something appropriate; use it."
Osric: "I'm not sure I can say it with a straight face, but I'll try."

Note that he's passing up saying hello or thank you or good job to his SON in favour of alcohol:

Oberon: "Good enough. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a deep personal relationship to develop with this bottle."

Oberon trumps Finndo as soon as Osric's out of sight. So that's where the brothers get it from:

Finndo: "Dad!"
Oberon: "So your mother showed her face."
Finndo: "Yes. Ildros."
Oberon: "What can you tell me that Osric wouldn't?"

Item one, item two, item three and there goes the spin:

Finndo: "Let's see. Seems the ground underneath of Ildros is volcanic and large, large enough to hold an army in the thousands. I'm having Cerano look into the feasibility of draining Ildros."
Oberon: "Okay. That deals with the army; what about them?"
Finndo, drily: "I did not witness the exchange but apparently they don't want anything."

Oberon and Ismerelda would make a fine pair. Votes?

Finndo: "Additionally, Osrat seems to want to throw his weight in behind us. I think he's a bucking vermin, but. This is not the first time Osric has spoken with Mother; this is not news but we have confirmation. Other news, you've been informed about Sonnet."
Oberon: "Yes. Keep Karm in Shadow."

No shit, Sherlock:

Finndo: "He's going to be there for a while; he's in a coma at the moment. He was attacked by a snake."
Oberon: "That would seem to have Ildros's fingerprints on it."
Finndo: "That's what sent us there."

So don't jerk off in front of the mirror, Dad:

Finndo: "The bad news is that there is some nerve damage. You've no doubt noticed the mirrors have become busy byways."
Oberon: "You've redecorated."
Finndo: "I am certain that both Mother and the Prince of Colors has access to them. I am fairly certain that Dworkin has access to them. Other parties may have. There is the possibility that Piero has access to them."

The word 'vulnerable' ought to come up in here somewhere:

Oberon: "Interesting. Well, he is the one with the dead tricks."
Finndo: "Dulcea vanished through one of the mirrors."
Oberon: "Where to?"
Finndo: "Interesting question. It's my assumption that Mother was responsible for trying to release her, but someone else may have hijacked her midway; this information I got from the Prince of Colors. Someone has been specifically watching your mirrors and the safe has been rifled."
Oberon: "Right. We had that talk."

And never mind how or who from the deck was recovered; Finndo may have lost an ounce of duty in there. That or the man can rationalize like no tomorrow:

Finndo: "I have recovered your deck. That is so far deviant from where we need to be right now, that -"
Oberon: "Right."

Misdirection, misdirection:

Finndo: "The castle was gassed. "
Oberon: "By what means?"
Finndo: Sleeping gas. I infer magical since my analysis from shadow - however, the security measures on the pattern room which seem to have been their objective were sufficient - that and the timely arrival of a great many gas masks."

And the normal state of affairs continue:

Finndo: Additional details: I have a new secretary; you'll have the opportunity shortly."
Oberon: "Where's she hail from?"
Finndo: "Draconis. Apparently Sonnet put out the messenger to hire her some time ago. Perils of a proactive secretary. Benedict has been surly, Osric mysterious and Cyrus drunk."

I don't know which appalls me more - that Oberon plans to assassinate his ex-wife and betray his son doing it, or that Finndo doesn't hesitate before he answers:

Finndo: "I am disinclined but I informed Osric that we would keep channels open with Mother -"
Oberon is shaking his head: "That's why we'll use our meeting with her to take them out. We'll have a pin point on her; she'll have a pin point on Osric, that's enough. Who can you get on board?"
Finndo: "Cyrus, Sybil, Rilga. Benedict would be incredibly useful but we can't take that risk."
Oberon: "Osric can't know."

Which begs the question of what else he has in reserve:

Finndo: "If we need another spellcaster, and we're willing to pay a price, I could bring in Ismerelda."
Oberon: "I have a binder and a summoner I can bring to bear; I've been keeping them in reserve."

I can't imagine _why_:

Rob: "For the next half day or day, Finndo is going to have the brush past conversations with Benedict to try to feel him out. Do we want to say yes, have the meeting, and use the opportunity to take them down?"
Benedict: "Tactically sound. I would expect them to be expecting a double cross, tho."

Insider trading:

Lydia: "Cyrus is looking into buying Ildrosi farmland. Why do you want to buy a square mile of swamp?"

Eloquently put:

Benedict: "Benedict would also make the point that [Cymnea and her siblings'] talents could be useful."
Finndo: "Yes, and it's exactly those talents that I don't want pointed at my back."

The problem is that we _know_ we can't trust them, but we're hitting them because Oberon told Finndo that we would:

Benedict: "The problem is that I don't think we can inherently trust them."
Finndo: "If we can find them, we're hitting them hard."

Query: does Oberon know about the clean rooms?

Rob: "Finndo, at a point when he knows Osric is out of the castle, is going to trump everyone and we're going to a clean room. In fact, different clean room, one that Osric has not been in. B. And as always, once one has been used, construction begins on C."

Et tu, Brute?

Finndo: "Allright, now I've got all you here, you'll notice an absence. Osric is going to go meet with Cymnea. As you know, Dad is back. We have been presented with an opportunity. Oberon is back and you'll notice he left on reasonably short notice thereafter. Preparations are being made and they are based on the fact that I can trust every person in this room for this task. We are taking them out. Oberon has some additional forces of the Piero and Rast caliber that he has been holding in reserve for specifically this. Between him and myself, we should be able to track Osric's movements and when he reaches them, we will strike."

Youth and idealism vs old age and treachery:

Benedict: "And he [Osric] doesn't know about this."
Finndo: "No."
Benedict: "We should at least let Osric know."
Finndo: "I don't think we should let Osric know. We'll let him know when we get there."

Pre-emptive betrayal was indeed what started the War of the Roses:

Benedict: "You're forcing him into a position where he is not going to look kindly on us for this."
Finndo: "And he looks kindly on us now."
Benedict: "He's been true to us thus far."

Divide and Conquer is so effective because it uses what makes most cold blooded sense:

Finndo: "I'm not comfortable with this; give me an alternative."
Benedict: "Tell him."
Finndo: "And if he betrays us or lets it slip?"

Declarations of loyalty:

Rilga: "May I ask a stupid question, Prince Finndo? Why did His Majesty want us to know? Or you to know?"
Finndo: "He didn't specifically ask for anyone; he's using me for tracking. I wanted you to know because in this room are the people I want on my side when this goes down."
Benedict: "If it comes to that, I'm going to protect Osric."

Rob is pre-emptively paying the GM fudge points to ignore the Aspects that would incline his character to behaving in a different fashion than Rob has in mind for this scene. Stepping up to bat:

GM: "Oberon arranges a place a few mountains away."
Rob: "Finndo's going through shadows a few steps and here is a fudge point for duty and two for rivalry. He is trumping Osric."

Osric is on his way to meet with Cymnea when Finndo reaches him. Speaking of loyalties and priorities:

Finndo: "This isn't a time to talk; come through."
Osric: "Needs to be brief."
Finndo: "Whatever you are in a hurry for, this is more important."
Osric: "As you will."

And taking a swing:

Finndo: "Divest yourself of /anything/ by which someone could be watching."
GM to Osric: "Tell me what you're going to divest yourself of."
Jarrod; The ring, the sword, any weapons -
GM, surprised: "You're really going to go to him unarmed."

Finndo has taken Osric to a secret locale where they can talk. It's safe because it's the grave of Finndo's fiancee, about whom Osric does not know. Grand, private gestures:

Finndo: "Lead him off into shadow for a bit. The point at which we stop is a lone grave that looks fairly weathered. Finndo stops and sits atop."
Scott and Deborah: "Wow."
Lydia: "Ouch."

Getting straight to the point:

Finndo: "If you meet with Mom, she and everyone else is going to be killed."
Osric: "Does that include me?"
Finndo: "No, it does not include you, to be explicit."

Keeping your eye on the real ball:

Osric: "It wasn't smart of you to tell me that."
Finndo: "I'm aware of that."

Gentled threats:

Osric: "She [Cymnea] may pick up on it."
Finndo: "I am taking what precautions I can. But the alternative was you finding out at the meeting."
Osric: "That would have been unfortunate."

Game theory never takes emotion and faith into account:

Finndo: "I think Oberon's right to do this. I think they are far more a danger to us. I think even if we managed to make some alliance with them now and they were not to turn their backs on us and ally with Dworkin, they would kill us afterwards."
Osric: "There's a flaw in your plan."
Finndo: "There are several. And that would be?"

Only one catch?

Osric: "You are going to have to kill them all."
Finndo: "That is true. Father is pulling in some additional Piero class resources on this matter. I have confidence that this can be made to happen. Here's the catch -"
Osric: "I thought there might be one."

I don't think Dworkin had to work all that hard at it in Amber:

Finndo: "Of all people, Sybil raised a very valid point. "
Osric: "And what was that?"
Finndo: "Dworkin operates by separating, causing internal conflict."

Case in point:

Osric nods: "We think."
Finndo: "If that is in keeping with his [Dworkin's] existing behavior and assuming Father was not lying about it -"

By definition, you cannot win a defensive war:

Osric: "You are destroying potential resources; this is a gamble."
Finndo: "Yes, it is, and ultimately I would like to have a reason not to have to."

Legacies:

Osric: "You seemed very set against the notion before; has something changed?"
Finndo: "This is my fiancee's grave."
Osric: "You get the Osric eyebrow."
Finndo: "I'm. I don't have much. I have a kingdom, I suppose someone would say that is a lot. I have a kingdom and I have some small amount of family. This is a very stupid thing for me to do."

What profits it a man...

Osric: "What? Speak to me?"
Finndo: "Yes."
Osric: "I did mention that."
Finndo: "Yes, and I agree completely. But I think it's necessary."
GM to Jarrod: "All you have to do is trade your mother's entire side of the family in order to get some brotherly love. Seems equitable!"

There is no prize equal to the One True City:

Finndo: "You, I do not doubt, have some way of contacting. I would suggest figuring something out; if you can give me something to work with. Look. They want a kingdom, does i