Session 22: Nothing Is

Session 22 picks up right after session 21, while everyone is still standing around staring. Not everyone, actually, to be fair. Osric was taking the moral high ground, or the better part of valor, or something that didn't involve either him or Osrat being part of the showdown with Cymnea and the Children of Nod.

That's right. Showdown.

If the reader recalls, last session began with the party, minus Finndo, standing in a volcanic pit absolutely overrun by a small goblin army (who weren't the real threat, appallingly enough). While the party figured out how to get out of that situation, Benedict counted noses and Sybil and Rilga continued to spectacularly fail to get along, Finndo stayed back at the castle.

Neither of these turned out to be wise. The party ran smack dab into Quinn, who plucked them all up and delivered them to Cymnea in her black citadel. Meanwhile, Finndo had other problems - namely that the castle was being gassed by Selm. Selm brought his men with him through the elaborate protections and traps Finndo had established around the Pattern and... walked the Pattern. Finndo managed to end run him into the Pattern room with a disguised Benedict, but could not prevent the Pattern walk (and had the unenviable task of talking Benedict out of a kill first mutilate later policy). Selm played for time, claiming to have intended to miss the killing blow on Sonnet and to have abandoned his alliance with the Children of Nod. An agreement was reached (of sorts) that sounded a lot like trust but ultimately came down to 'controlled paranoia'. Finndo provided Selm with a trump to his primary safe room; Selm returned the military deck. Finndo then had the lovely task of admitting to Benedict that Sonnet is alive - but failed to explain that she is alive as _Rilga_. Ah, deceit. From Finndo's perspective, the important detail is that Selm is older than he is. Finndo isn't the eldest son; Selm is. Which means that Finndo does not actually have a first born son's obligation to the Crown. Ah, /freedom/.

Back at the Citadel, Cyrus not only managed to avoid being picked up by Quinn but also managed to open a trump contact with Finndo. He tracked the party into the citadel where they were received by Cymnea. So Finndo overheard Cymnea's offer to Osric - alliance with Oberon against Dworkin. She wants just one thing: family blood. She'll take Dulcea. Osric warns her that Oberon and Finndo's pricetag is likely to be equally bloody - Quinn, at the least. Ideally, they would like the return of Aine, Cyrus's daughter, whom Finndo gave to Mount Kolvir (which only Finndo and Sybil know). Cyrus  - and everyone else - believes that Aine was slain (or kidnapped, or taken, or anything but death - remember this is Cyrus, Man of Denial) by Cymnea. Cymnea admits that she hasn't got Aine, encourages Osric to bring the possible truce to the Crown, and the game of divided loyalties and true colors is on.

Problems immediately emerge. Osrat approaches Osric with a similar deal, which conversation Finndo suspects but Osric will not share with him. Finndo has to invent an Aine-corpse, which he does. Osric's attempt to bring the truce to the family dissolves into bickering and accusations. Finndo dutifully brings the offer to Oberon, who uses it to betray everyone. He orders Finndo to tell Osric to represent to Cymnea that the family will accept the truth. Simultaneously, Oberon summons his more powerful minions - a Beast, a Summoner, a Binder - and plans an ambush for the Children of Nod when they can be found, located by Osric who is going to them to deal in moderately good faith.

More cracks in china: Finndo gathers everyone but Osric into a *new* entirely safe white room to lay Oberon's duplicity out before them. The conversation erupts in chaos; Benedict and Sybil insist that Osric be told. Accordingly, Finndo contacts Osric and arranges to meet him in a secure place that turns out to be the tombstone of Finndo's dead fiancee. The entire plan and betrayal is laid at Finndo's feet. Osric is not willing to entirely sign on with betraying either family; Finndo asks him for a sign, an indication, a reason to hold off the attack.

Osric can't provide it. He approaches Cymnea and warns her - and then stays out of the fight, himself. In the end, Oberon's minions summon the Children of Nod, and the party engages them. They win, and there the session ended and this one picks up.

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.

The GM developed fudge point currency - blue chits were worth ten single amber chits, each of which represented a single fudge point. A blue chit could be traded in to represent a skill at 'Fair'. Taking the concept of buying bits of soul a bit too literally (and Scott would be the one paying up, here):

GM: "Do you want to cash out that ten pointer, Scott?"
Scott: "That's probably a good idea. Dammit."

Why Why WHY do we persist in /asking/ these things? The answer is *never* pollyanna happy fluff:

GM: "I hadn't been giving fudge point out for a session or two, already. There is a reason for that: your luck has run out."
Lydia: "What exactly are doom points?"
GM: "Those are showing up next session and you each only get one."
Lydia: "How do you buy doom points?"
GM: "With pain."

I had hoarded my fudge points carefully in case I needed them - thinking I could get around the GM. Silly me. That said, I think Rob secretly still wants to have a showdown with the great big bad armed only with his wits, soap in a sock and a wheelchair. Maybe not the wheelchair, to be fair:

GM: "I expect this next session to have a lot of 'how many fudge points do you have? Do you want to spend all of them?'"
Deborah: "I am not spending 31 fudge points on anything!"
Rob: "That's for your mano a mano with Dworkin."
Deborah looks appalled.
Rob: "I want to shove this dull spoon through Dworkin's brain! I have 31 fudge points to do it!"

Game Starts. The Dildo of Fate points at... well. I'm not entirely sure who's more of the victim here, which about sums it up:

GM: "Everyone who isn't Osric, roll dice. This is against alertness; you're getting a trump call, Osric. This is where we left off last time."

Osric stayed out of the showdown with the Children of Nod. So did Osrat. The trouble is that loyalties and sides are grey - and ambiguity doesn't help with the trust:

Osrat: "You didn't go, did you?"
Osric: "It would seem not."
Osrat: "Good. It didn't go well."
Deborah: "Didn't go well for whom?"
Scott: "Yeah, exactly."

Osric warned his mother not to engage all the Children of Nod. Assumptions:

Osric: "Details?"
Osrat: "Well, there are only so many details I got close enough for you. I was going to say I think your friends won but I realize that that's also ambiguous. I think your brother has fared well. Wendra, not so much."
Osric: "Mm. They didn't listen, then. Hm."

Let's see. You warned me you were going to betray me if I did what I felt I should, I did it, you betrayed me, I didn't show up for the betrayal, seems to me it's your turn:

Osrat: "What are you going to do from here?"
Osric: "It would seem the ball's in their court, really."

What, /now/ you get defensive?

Osrat: "In that case, do you want me to continue to keep an eye on them?"
Osric: "Well, I rather thought you always did."
Osrat: "Don't be insulting."
Deborah: "Why is that insulting?"
Jarrod: "I don't get that either."
Rob: "I have a life!"

It's mildly comforting to see vague, profound, obvious declarations made by both of them at each other (for a change):

Osrat: "I could say the same of you but you and I both know it's not always that easy."
Osric: "I should imagine a great many things of import will happen very shortly."
GM: "And on that line, meanwhile -"
Shai: "Back at the battle."

Wistful suggestions:

GM: "The [folks with great alertness] are immediately aware that with Cymnea's laying at Oberon's feet, two things: one, Oberon does not seem to be standing steadily - "
Deborah: "There's this cliff nearby."

It's all in what you take out of a given situation. Priorities and caring:

GM: "Two, Cymnea doesn't seem to have any marks on her, such as from falling on the ground. Epic. Back to the east, you are several mountains west of Kolvir, a lot of fog has rolled in. Those who got Legendary and above, there's the Oberon thing, there's the fog thing, Quinn is lying at Rilga's feet, recently shot, appears to be bleeding. The blood doesn't look quite right. And that's when the belt flips off his pants and wraps around her neck. Oberon collapses on top of his wife; Karl and Sunter run after him."
Benedict: "They can deal with him: I'm going after Quinn."
Sybil: "Rilga's being strangled."
GM: "Yep."
Sybil: "Oh shucks. What about the fog?"

Thirty thousand times burned, twice shy:

GM: "It's alway possible it's a natural fog bank rolling in off the sea."
Deborah squints at the GM.
GM: "I'm just saying that it seems natural."
Jarrod: "We don't trust the weather; how sad is that?"

Rilga's strangling belt tightens as Cyrus tries to pull it off; Rilga pretends to be dead and it switches to Cyrus,who rips it away as it reaches for him. Self-destruction as a useful method:

Cyrus: "I use my boots, pull out a blade and cut it in half."

We should have known. They did listen to Osric. Great:

Benedict: "This isn't Quinn!"
Finndo: "Sybil, entomb the bodies."
Benedict stabs the moving creature under Quinn's shirt - a bunch of little pocket watches spread over the area.
Finndo: "I'm reasonably certain they're automatic; I can beat him on numbers." Finndo sends cards after the watches.

Generosity of spirit:

Deborah: "I have earth elementals swallow the bodies - minus Oberon, despite the temptation."

The pocket watches explode when the elementals touch them; the Beast is knocked off the plateau by it. Cyrus and Benedict leap free; the rest of the party are knocked down flat and wondering what the hell happened. Courage only goes so far before common sense intervenes:

Cyrus: "Were the pocket watches destroyed by the explosion?"
GM: "No. Maybe they're ticking faster?"
Benedict: "I sweep them off."
GM: "There's quite a few. How are you doing that?"
Scott hesitates.

On second thought (and getting very far into a male character's sense of priorities):

GM: "Cyrus is, I imagine, looking at his leg with some concern. He has a bomb in his shorts. Cyrus, what are you doing?"
Cyrus: "I grab it.'"
GM: "Like this?" He grabs his leg.
Cyrus eyes the GM's leg: "Uh. I. Uh. No. I cut the pants leg open."

Things I should avoid suggesting to the GM (and don't ask):

Benedict: "They're crawling on the ground?"
GM: "Ticketyticketyticketytickety."
Deborah: "Don't /do/ that! I have exploding cockroaches issues!"

Because brooms are just not as stylish anymore:

GM: "Benedict goes HA! and presses his hands to the ground. A sheet of blackness washes over the area. Cyrus, with a quick motion of the knife, draws no blood on himself and tosses the thing into the blackness. A lot of gears and springs shoot up as they encounter the pool. Sybil, you're coming to and there's this sheet of blackness not quite touching you. After this happened, despite the bodies looking more advanced into their decay than you'd expect, they start sinking into the ground bit by bit."

Osrat and Osric are awaiting that next move from the party. The GM enjoyed reading Glen Cook's 'Black Company' books, in which the soldiers play (and cheat at) a gambling card game by the name of 'Tonk'. Whiling away the seconds:

Osrat: "Yes, I imagine it is getting rather interesting."
Osric: "Evidence would suggest someone would call me shortly. Would you like to come along?"
Osrat: "I'd better come along, then."
Osric: "I'll pull him through."
Osrat: "So. Gin?"
GM: "Aren't you glad I didn't say Tonk?"
Jarrod: "Yeah. Thank you."

Not Enough Chocolate:

Osrat: "Want to scare up a ride?"
Osric: "Why don't you?"
Lydia: "Little tiny Osric choo choo train."

Unfortunate Continuity, AAARGH:

GM: "Two horses, one white, one black, come up."
Osrat: "Which would you like?"
Osric: "The black one."
GM: "And the hunter in white dons the white steed."

The bodies are entombed in the earth; the clock bombs are exploded bits of springs. Time to move on. There comes an hour in every boy's life when he realizes his parents are really just people:

GM: "The rest of you; you have managed to thwart the bombs."
Benedict: "Is that really Mother in there?"

Damsels. Distress. Dammit:

Finndo: "I'm taking them to my shadow; get back to the castle as quickly as possible."
Sybil: "What about that st -"
Finndo: "That's why I said get back to the castle."

We entomb Cymnea; Osric and Osrat ride out through Sabine towards Amber. Osric gets another trump call. How to explain?

Benedict: "Are you allright?"
Osric: "Yes, I'm fine. What happened?"
Benedict: "Uhm."
Deborah snickers.

You know how sometimes your cat likes to climb on the roof...?

Cyrus: "We might have killed Wendra."
Osric: "Long story, is it?"

The layers of who did what to whom who didn't do what they might have done and then - yah. Those tangled webs are getting thick:

Benedict: "Were they there, with you?"
Osric: "No. "
Benedict: "They weren't."
Osric: "Never quite got that far."
Benedict squints. "I - very well."
GM snickers.
Jarrod: "Just let me hit something with a sword! Don't wanna do this thinky!"

From Benedict's perspective, Osric wasn't warned and he, Benedict, has been party to betraying Osric's trust. How exactly do you tell big brother that you're all grown up?

Scott: "See, I don't know that Finndo had a chat with Osric. "
Jarrod, vastly amused: "No, you don't."

Ya don't *say*:

Benedict: "We set a trap for mother."
Osric: "This would be my surprised face."

He can't quite summon up the confession. And the poor guy can't even *hit* anything:

Benedict: "Well, apparently one of them wasn't with her. Quinn wasn't, dammit. But I think we, maybe, potentially - forget it. I'm going to assume Mother and the rest of her ilk are still alive. There's a storm of some kind bearing down on the castle."
Osric: "Rather coincidental."
Benedict looks chagrined. "I am... sorry I did not tell you. Finndo... said that it would have been ... they... "
Shai: "Benedict's clearly at a loss for words."

Wrong person asking the right question:

Osric: "Are you allright?"
Benedict: "No."
GM: "Benedict seems to have this black mark on the side of his neck; none of you seem to notice that."
Benedict: "Dad collapsed; Finndo is taking him. The Lady Rilga, Sybil, Cyrus and myself are heading back."

When 'not quite dead' is *good* news:

Osric: "I had a chat with Piero."
Benedict: "Really. And?"
Osric: "He wasn't quite dead."
Benedict: "Excellent!"

And that's my technical description of the problem:

Osric, conversationally: "He's actually rather keen to come back."
Benedict: "What can I provide?"
Osric: "He wasn't terribly clear on that. He's in the mirrors along with pretty much everyone else, but in order to get him out, we need to use your power, apparently. Unfortunately I don't know when it's going to reappear or where."

Speaking of that black mark on Ben's neck - just desserts:

Benedict: "Wonderful. Allright then." He looks sheepish, "I had ... to use the power in order to save all our lives."
Osric: "Mm. That would explain it, then?"
Benedict: "Explain what?"
Osric: "Nothing. Nothing just now, then."

Finndo trumps Sybil. The lovely thing about infinity is that it has degrees:

Finndo: "Everyone healthy?"
Sybil, cheerfully: "For certain values of healthy, sir. "

Sybil points the fog bank out to Finndo. Sarcasm falls on its face:

Sybil: "So I'm leery of using Ariel in case we get slammed into the castle and plummet to our deaths. Unless you have an alternate suggestion?"
Finndo: "Yes. Send something up high enough to make sure that's not steam."
Sybil blinks: "Good point."

Hey, things are looking up!

Sybil: "Benedict?"
Benedict: "Yes?"
Sybil: "We might have a small complication or three."
Benedict: "Only three? Excellent."

Cyrus rides ahead with the knights; Sybil sends up J. Random elemental to ascertain the nature of the fog and summons Caliban to bring along Cymnea's casket. They ride out for the castle. Finndo trumps through to Rilga. Remember this moment. Remember it well:

Finndo: "I need a horse. Lady Rilga, are you willing to ride double?"
Rilga: "Front or back?"
Finndo get in front of Rilga and turns the horse around: "I'll catch up to you."

By George, I think the universe might be falling apart! Really? I say, have you got any grey Poupon?

GM: "Osric, you are still north of the mountain range. You've gotten five miles off from where the fog bank seems to start. What's the first thing you are trying to do?"
Osric: "The first thing I will say to Osrat is 'that's oddly coincidental; seem natural to you?'"
Osrat: "Not entirely. I have a few theories."
Osric: "Any supporting evidence?"
Osrat: "Not yet."

Enlightened self-interest combined with picnic blankets:

Osric: "In Amber, which way do the winds tend to prevail from?"
GM: "Off the sea, towards where you are."
Osric: "Riding into that blind would seem tactically unwise."
Osrat: "I agree. Should we just wait it out then?"

Well, if it's going to much up *traffic*...

Osric: "I have a feeling it's not going to leave on its own."
Osrat: "Oh sure, I get that feeling all the time, but do you want to wait it out?"
Osric: "We might want to help it along."

Rilga is riding double behind Finndo. They are all alone. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

Rilga: "I think it's about time to shove a dagger into the Crown Prince's spine!"
Finndo: "Sure."
Deborah, stunned: "What?"
Jarrod: "Holy shit."
Scott points helplessly at the GM.

Benedict trumps Osric. Not quite the jaw dropping response we might have asked for, Alice:

Benedict: "That' not fog. That's steam."
Osric: "Curious."

Would you mind being our guinea pig? Again?

Benedict: "Looks like Dworkin has come back to play."
Osric: "How..."
Benedict and Osric: "... surprising."
Benedict: "Are you going to ride through it?"
Osric: "That would seem tactically unwise."

Not that you have reason to feel used or anything:

Osrat: "Finndo?"
Osric: "Benedict, actually."
Osrat: "Did he have anything useful to say?"
Osric: "Well, yes, actually, it turns out it's not fog at all; it's steam."
Osrat: "So where does he want us to go?"

Optimistically going through the motions:

Osric: "Back to the castle."
Osrat: "Do you think that will do any good?"
Osric: "Not directly."

Wah, wah wah:

Osrat: "Remind me again; did you all come up with the ingenious idea of flooding the secret chamber? Someone may have beaten you to it."
Osric: "That would be useful to know."
Osrat: "It's not exactly the place I want to be right now, seeing as how we might have the flesh scalded off my bones."

Empirical observation is your friend:

Osric: "Can't one of your little friends tell you?"
Osrat: "Possibly, but given the enchantments there last time -"
Osric: "Simply the fact that it's getting hotter should tell you."

Benedict trumps Logan. In-laws. They worry too much:

Logan: "Ben!"
Benedict: "Don't have a lot of time!"
Logan: "Big clouds!"
Benedict: "Things are coming to a head. We tried to take -"
Logan: "Which things?"

Nice boy, but he's always calling home about some new problem or other:

Benedict: "Well, let me explain. We tried to take out Cymnea's side of the family. We may have gotten a couple of them."
Logan: "Bravo."
Benedict: "We may not have. We didn't get Quinn. That's for certain. And now we have this fog bank, which is steam, starting to cover everything. Would you be a dear and put everyone on alert?"
Logan: "Of course, honey. If I have more news that pertain to things, I'll get back to you."
Benedict: "Yeah, thanks for the help."
Logan: "That's why I'm here."
Benedict: "Uh huh."

'Glib' could use improving:

Benedict looks at Logan expectantly.
Jarrod: "Talk faster."

Well, at least she's woman enough to call a knife a knife:

GM: "Hey, Rilga, whatcha been doing?"
Rilga: "What happened after I stabbed him in the back?"
GM: "He made some interesting noises and slumped forward."
Rilga: "I kick him off the horse so he lands pretty hard. Is he conscious?"
GM: "No."

Knowing when to back off:

Rilga: "I proceed to rifle him for his trumps."
Rob: "That is a good way to have a blade storm triggered."
Rilga: "That's why I'm wearing gloves."
Rob: "Blade storms are not for fingers; they're for bodies."
Rilga: "Unless I receive other direction."

Not that I'm bitter:

Shai: "This will probably hurt."
Deborah: "You deserve it. No offense."

And now we know what happened:

GM: "There's that shuffling sound you're used to and you roll away in time to have just a pants leg shredded, your calf bitten into and it formed a dome over the body."
Rilga: "Mental proposal that she injure herself so that she'll be free to try again. Undoubtedly they'll be watching me."
Quinn: "Of course."

Benedict trumps Osric. Timmy fell down a well, you say?

Osric: "Yes? God, you're impatient."
Benedict: "I wasn't calling about that. Can you get a hold of Finndo?"
Osric: "I suppose."
Benedict: "He rode off 20 minutes ago and I can't get a trump through to him."
Osric: "That's not terribly out of character."
Benedict: "Now? Under these circumstances?"

The party had come up with the happy idea of draining the swamps of Ildros using the engineers of Cerano (wine country that gets by on irrigation and determined engineers). The swaps would naturally drain into the caverns underneath Ildros and drown that inconvenient goblin army. What the party does not know is that Cymnea's citadel has left Ildros, thus creating a Great Big Hole and, well, draining the swamps of Ildros. Those eager beaver engineers:

Osric: "Yes. Something I should tell you about the source of the steam -"
Benedict: "Ildros."
Osric: "Yes. Unless Finndo's subcontractors got a little anxious..."

You reap what you sow:

GM: "Yes, the bad part about knocking Rob out is that he gets to sit there and think for a bit. "
Rob looks gleeful and twiddles his thumbs.

Just as they get into motion:

Osric looks to Osrat: "Hum. I think we do need to go."
Osrat: "Allright. By what means?"
Osric: "Come with me."
They trump through.
GM: "I'll get back to you."

High horses and stirrups:

Jarrod: "Oh shit."
Deborah: "Serves you right, too."
Jarrod: "What! What'd I do?"
Deborah sniffs: "Consorting with the enemy."

Frogs using scorpions (or is that scorpions using scorpions):

Jarrod: "He's [Osrat] /so/ far down the list."
Deborah: "Not on my list."
Lydia: "He's so far down the list because the list has grown."
Jarrod: "True, but he's helpful."
Deborah: "He tried to /eat/ me!"
Jarrod: "He's Scorpius helpful, but he's helpful!"

When you're caught, 'fess up:

Rilga: "I made it look like she got driven off by the blade storm, tripped, knocked herself out, because she knows he's smart enough to figure out who stabbed him "
Deborah: "Well, two people, one horse."
Rob: "And I've got her knife. In my back."
Jarrod: "Yeah. Math, not so hard. "

Sybil and Benedict find Finndo and Rilga and all the visual evidence conveniently laid out for them. For certain definitions of 'watch':

Sybil: "I told you she was untrustworthy! I told you we shouldn't trust her!"
Benedict: "Watch her."
Sybil: "Oh, I'll /watch/ her allright."

Sybil has recently finally figured out that death is permanent and mortality is real. Not adapting so well:

Benedict: "I'm going to go through the cards. Can I see the body?"
GM: "Yep."
Benedict: "Is it moving?"
GM: "Not at all."
Deborah: "And that's when Sybil does the math."
Shai: "Two people, one horse?"
Deborah: "No no. Finndo might be dead."

Benedict trumps Oberon. A fine example of why his sons lack ultimate confidence in the puissant King of Amber:

Benedict: "Dad. Dad."
Oberon: "Huh?"
Benedict: "Dad. I need you. This is important."
Oberon: "Huh?"

Oh, for /Finndo/, there's a swift response:

Benedict: "Finndo has been stabbed in the spine, I don't have any place else to send him, I need you to get him to his doctors."
GM: "Sybil, you see a hand reach through, grab Finndo, and he vanishes."

Beginning to notice a trend in the Sybil-management methodologies:

Deborah: "Are you holding Sybil back from going with him? She's clawing at you to get past to him."
Scott: "Oh yes."
Deborah: "And that's when the hysterics start. You killed him, what have you done, how could you kill him, I'm going to kill you, where is he..."
Benedict: "I knock her out."

And now she learns a little more about grief:

GM: "You at least have her down on the ground."
Deborah: "She's subdued into just whole hearted sobbing."

This is why we don't let Rob sit around and think:

Rob: "If nothing else, I have the 'Finndo takes a year off to kill Quinn plan'. Finndo goes to a religious shadow. A very religious shadow. And paints hundreds and thousands of icons of Quinn for people to pray to."
Scott stares.

No one tells me anything!

GM to Cyrus: "You completely take the prone forms of Osric and his captain by surprise."
Deborah to Jarrod: "What happened to you?"
Jarrod: "I don't know; I was here with you."

Because a bucket of water just isn't stylish anymore:

Cyrus: "I don't know the captain is Osrat. Oh well. I shake Osric and keep a knife out in case it's not Osric."
GM: "Osric, someone has a knife to your throat."
Cyrus: "Where did you come from?"
Osric: "Mom? That hurt. Why do you have a knife to my throat?"
Cyrus: "Didn't know if you were someone else."

The little dilemmas:

Cyrus: "Quinn?"
Osric: "No."
Cyrus: "Osrat?"
Osric: "No."
Cyrus: "Oh, no, can't tell you apart. Mom?"

Getting saucy:

Osric: "Where I came from?"
Cyrus: "Mom?"
Osric: "Originally, yes."

You'd think, not being a morning person himself, that Cyrus would sympathize:

Cyrus: "Where did you most recently come from?"
Osric: "Just outside of Arden; I thought I was going to the castle."
Cyrus: "You are quite close in fact. How did you get here from Arden?"
Osric: "Notice me just waking up."

Slow-cooked frog:

Scott: "And you know, I'm glad that I'm in the situation I'm in; isn't that scary?"

Please Please PLEASE stop making inventive suggestions to the enthusiastic people:

Rob: "Just hit everyone in the head with an iron bar."
Lydia: "What a great idea! NEAT! WHAM!"
Jarrod stares.

Quoting the Movie:

GM stares: "Did you just hit him in the head with an iron bar?"
Lydia: "He wasn't here to suggest that or I would have. Hit them with an iron bar and see who flinches!"
Rob: "You're not Fae! You hit me in the head with an iron bar! But you're not fae! You hit me in the head with a fucking iron bar!"

Pot, kettle, black, Mister stab a servant and conclude you must have done it:

Osric: "How did you get here?"
Cyrus: "I rode here, like a normal person."

Glad, was he? He does tend to keep picking the challenges with the insurmountable obstacles, doesn't he?

Benedict: "Attempt to comfort Sybil."
GM, vastly amused: "How's that working out for you?"

Not the paternal approval moment Benedict was looking for:

Benedict: "It appears Lady Rilga stabbed him in the back."
Oberon: "She dead yet."
Benedict: "Not yet."
Oberon: "Allright."
Benedict: "I won't be kind."
Oberon: "You're my son."

Benedict at long last gets to see all that Sonnet has to offer, and with Sybil's sanction, no less:

Scott: "Benedict is stripping her."
Shai: "Completely? Oh my!"
Deborah: "Sybil suggested it."
Scott nods.

Do you know how far over the speed limit you were, young lady?

Benedict: "You are in a lot of trouble."
Rilga grunts.

Excuses:

Benedict: "What's the last thing you remember?"
Rilga: "I was strangled."

Taking things personally:

Benedict: "So you don't remember riding off with Finndo."
Rilga: "I rode off with Finndo?"
Benedict: "And then you stabbed him in the back."
Rilga: "Is he getting medical attention?"
Sybil: "No, he's not allright, you traitorous little bitch." And she kicks her in the crotch.
GM: "Ow."

Life sucks. Then you stab them in the back and get over it:

Benedict gives Sybil the play along signal.
Benedict to Rilga: "No. He's [Finndo] dead."
Rilga: "Ow wow. You know Sybil didn't kick her again but she doesn't cry out in pain; Rilga does. That was a very sorrowful cry."

Jealousy is bitter sustenance:

Jarrod: "Even the people who stab him love him."
Deborah: "Doesn't it suck not to be the loved one?"
Rilga: "If she could move her head, she would probably be sobbing into the ground right now."

The boss may be a hopped-up cripple about to die, but he still has the dental records of the kids:

GM: "Finndo, right now your head is a balloon. You have so many painkillers in your system. As far as you are concerned, your head is a balloon."
Finndo: "Gah. Where?"
Guy in the EvilCorp costume: "Sir? Sir? He's awake! Sir?"
Finndo: "The man I brought in. The two people with him."
Guy in the EvilCorp costume: "Sir? Yes sir!"
Finndo: "Get the two people with him."

Cooperative spirits:

Benedict to Rilga: "So now the question is what to do with you."
Sybil: "I have some suggestions."
Benedict: "You've killed Finndo."
Rilga: "Kill me."
Sybil: "Allright!"

Taking all the fun out of it:

Benedict: "Why should you have an easy death?"
Rilga: "I shouldn't."

So. Let me get this straight: she stabs Finndo in the back, we /know/ she stabs Finndo in the back, she takes the first excuse out that /we/ provide her and we /believe/ her? Anyone else face palming here?

Benedict: "The reason you are still alive is that the possibility is that you were possessed when you did it."
Rilga: "I don't know. I don't know."
Benedict: "Because it was Quinn's belt that went around your throat and he is known to do that."
Rilga: "I read the dossier."
Benedict: "You remember nothing."
Rilga: "I remember that Cyrus touched the belt and it went to my throat and that is all."

I am entrusted with the systematic destruction of Her Majesty's enemies. It can take a long time for a man to die:

Benedict: "Sybil. Very well. Watch over her. Don't kill her yet."
Sybil smiles.
Shai: "And yes," Rilga thinks. "I did not have to play the Sonnet card."

The downsides of the upsides:

Benedict: "Rilga just stabbed Finndo in the back."
Jarrod: "Well done, then."
Osric: "Oh shit. I don't want to be Crown Prince."

Benedict trumps Sejak. Summing it up neatly:

GM: "No answer."
Benedict: "Ismerelda."
GM: No answer."
Shai: "Shit."

Our escalation chain is hobbling about on half a foot and thinking like a telco cloud; this isn't good:

Scott: "Right. Finndo, then. Again."
Rob observes: "One of the clouds looks like Benedict."

Not buying the damsel routine aka knowing who works for you:

GM to Finndo: "You're awake. Karl and Sunter are there with a nervous looking employee."
Finndo: "Is Rilga still alive?"
Benedict: "For the moment."
Finndo: "Render her unconscious as quickly as possible."

Every now and then, Karma lets you enjoy your job:

Benedict: "Sybil?
Sybil beams.
Benedict: "Done."

Time for a new chain of command, boys:

Finndo: "As soon as that is done, I'm passing through the two wizards; she is the best link to Quinn we're going to get. We need a repeat of earlier; can you handle him when you get him?" To Karl, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Karl: "We need to check with your father."
Finndo: "YOU NEED TO CHECK JACK SHIT. We don't have time."

And then sometimes Karma doesn't:

Benedict: "Sybil. We're about to go after Quinn again."
Sybil sighs.

Well, Sonnet's always been a flexible girl; she'll manage:

GM: "He gets out a box of paints and he starts painting designs on her body."
Shai: "This is not the evening I had in mind."

Impatient much?

Benedict: "Can you tell what it is and can you break it?"
Osric: "Well, I've had exactly eight seconds."

Putting things in perspective:

Karl: "He's [Quinn] descending."
Benedict: "And he's about to attack us."
Karl: "No - well, isn't everyone? He's bringing something with him."

Repossession that banks only wish they could do:

GM: "There's a large castle sized spider descending onto the castle. And the aura around the castle flares bright now and you see the underside of the citadel with spines that extend into the ground. It settles on top of Castle Kolvir."

Self-preservation instincts not an approved job candidate quality:

Karl: "You're asking me to bring the guy who steered THAT here?"
Benedict: "Yes."
Karl: "You realize that if that doesn't work, you're asking me to drop my pants?"
Sybil: "We haven't asked you to bend over yet."
Karl: "Kind of goes with the territory."

Two syllables. One order. Not that hard a concept to grasp:

Benedict to the mountaineer: "Get the army."
Mountaineer: "The entire -"
Benedict: "Yes."
Mountaineer: "It might help if we had the Admiral with us?"
Benedict: "Yes. Get him."
Mountaineer: "He's not here right now."
Benedict: "GET HIM."

Always good for a little vicious violence, never mind the details:

Benedict: "We're going to try to kill Quinn."
Cyrus: "Oh good. How?"

People are so easily distracted:

Osric: "We tried trumping into the castle; it didn't work. Remember how you found me?"
Cyrus: "You didn't say that."
Osric: "You were waving a knife at me; sorry; it slipped my mind."

Finndo is still drugged to the gills - several other people's gills, in fact. Osric trumps him in an effort to organize the upcoming battle. Query: don't you think this is what talking to Finndo _usually_ seems like to Osric?

Finndo: "Bunnies!"
Shai to Rob: "One of the bunnies looks like Osric."
Jarrod: "I am not a bunny."
Finndo: "Hello!"
Osric: "Finndo..."
Finndo: "Yes, that's me.  I'm a Prince!"
Lydia: "Will you be my friend?"
Osric: "Finndo, I need you to focus."
Finndo: "Hello!"
Osric: "We have a problem..."
Finndo: "Oooh, surprise!"
Osric: "...that requires your particular expertise."
Finndo: "That would be lying in bed."
Osric looks very pained.

Finndo must have realized that Osric told the Children of Nod about the attack. Not so drugged that his memory doesn't work and that he can't do the math. :

Osric: "We were hoping you knew a way round."
Finndo: "Yes, but they were warned."
He shuts the contact.

Finndo then trumps Benedict. So, when the GM bursts out with gleeful giggles, stop and consider your plan and ask yourself: do you really want to produce that response in your GM? Really? Truly? Are you SURE?

Finndo: "Hi. Don't make a face."
Benedict: "Very well."
Finndo: "Allright. There is a reason the children of Nod were prepared. If you have any plans at the moment that hinge around Osric, abort."
The GM dissolves into laughter.

Ah, arrogance:

Benedict: "What did you do?"
Finndo: "I am currently keeping myself awake by force of will, so please, if we can have the bitter exchange later."
Benedict: "This may be our only chance to get Quinn."
Finndo: "It won't be. Where can he go that we can't fill with a million men?"

It must be difficult taking orders from two older brothers who don't trust each other, especially when you're asking one to come along quietly and unarmed without explanation:

Benedict: "Abort."
Sybil: "Abort?"
Benedict: "Abort."
Karl looks relieved.
Osric: "Why?"
Benedict: "I'll tell you as soon as we're out of here. I feel that a conference is in order. Please do not have any weapons at the ready."

How to make my character a sadist in three steps or less:

Sybil: "Before we go, what about the traitorous little bitch?"
Benedict: "Yank it [the link to Quinn in Rilga's head]."
Sunter: "Yank it now? It'll be harder later."
Benedict: "Now."
Sybil: "Before you do, one last kick -"
Sunter: "Oh don't worry; this will hurt quite a bit."

They bring Rilga back to the Bond shadow where Finndo is convalescing, bound and guarded, for medical attention. Too much time spent with Sonnet and Cyrus in that order:

Doctor: "Can we get her different restraints? We can handcuff her to the bed, what have you, but -"
Sybil: "Handcuffing her to the bed works. Do you have any bored guards?"
Jarrod just shakes his head.

Finndo sends Benedict to the pattern room; this is the death follows you mission that he must have always wanted. (And I will disavow all knowledge of MI if questioned in the event that something should befall you...)

Benedict: "I need to get back to the city and organize -"
Finndo: "No, you don't. If they protected the castle, they may not have protected underneath."
Finndo: "Rilga is out, Osric is not to be counted on, Sybil is unstable. Here are the gas canisters; this is the really important trump; if you are in danger you are /ripping it up/; I hope you remember the way because if you can't, certain death."

Cyrus and Benedict sneak up through the castle, which has been taken. The guards protecting it are falling back and rather touchy about all the magic in the air. Not taking chances:

GM: "Benedict can hear someone breathing. Benedict, you step around, you grab the guy, you're looking up into four crossbows."
Guard: "Who goes?"
Benedict: "Prince Benedict."
Guard: "Can you prove it?"
Benedict: "How would you like me to prove it?"
Guard: "Scratch that, sir."

Sejak is brought back to talk to Benedict. Hey, alligators weren't on the project plan and other well known complaints:

Sejak: "I was backup. I was put here _just in case_. This appears to have been the main site. We have control of none of the castle as far as we can tell."
Benedict: "Who does have control?"
Sejak: "Walking suits of armor and little green men?"

The man who dealt with human-sacrificing druids doesn't like Ismerelda. What does this tell you?

Cyrus: "Where is Ismerelda?"
Sejak: "That's right, she was in residence, wasn't she? I did my best not to spend time with her; I don't know."

So much for the guillotine defense:

Benedict: "Did you get any estimate of how many goblins and suits of armor?"
Sejak: "We were a bit busy fighting for our lives to get an accurate count."
Benedict: "How did they come in?"
Sejak: "Through every mirror in the castle."

There's a reason the job requirements state 'adaptable' and 'agile':

Sejak to Cyrus: "So is working for the Princes always like this?"
Cyrus: "Yes. Sometimes it's worse."

Holding that carrot just a little too high:

Rob: "Yes, but here's the thing: when this is over, Sejak gets to make a wish."
Lydia: "Which is to never see you again."
Shai: "Hey, at least you get dental."
Rob: "The benefits package is great."

Being willing to have nothing to lose:

Rob: "Well, if we're willing to accept the castle as something that's lost and will have to be rebuilt - well things get fun then."

Benedict goes to the Pattern room, and gets the next surprise - and the next complication and the next reason that 'well, it can't get worse' is an actually measurable, quantifiable and recognizable state for this party, right down there around 0 degrees Kelvin:

GM: "You open up the door. The room is empty. The floor is blank."
Dead silence from everyone.

Theories, guesses and logic, all useless:

Benedict: "Huh. Hyh."
Lydia: "Not the real castle."
Benedict: "Move to where the start of the Pattern should be."
GM: "Nothing."
Benedict: "Try to call it to mind."
GM: "You've still got your innate sense of it. It's just not here."

So what do you do when the source of your family's power leaves? Run in circles, scream and shout - or. Just. Close the door and call home:

Benedict: "I close the door. Trump Finndo."

Striving for the bright side, here:

Deborah: "Actually, this is good. Because if the Pattern's gone, there's nothing to defend here that we must keep, so we can just bury the castle and Quinn and raze the fuck out of everything. "
Lydia: "Except that Dworkin would have the Pattern."
Deborah: "Frankly, if Dworkin has the pattern, we've lost everything anyway, so we my as well beat the crap out of Quinn and enjoy it."

Because it's never 'your kitten's stuck in a tree':

Finndo: "Yes? What is it? I'm almost conscious now."
Benedict: "Lot of bad news."
Finndo: "Allright."

Benedict brings Finndo (no more with it than before) up to date. Stop and mull his reply. See the evil:

Benedict: "Well. The good news is that Sejak is alive but he has a very small force. The castle has been overrun; there is a force of suits of armor and goblins up top."
Finndo: "Means of entry?"
Benedict: "Mirrors."
Finndo: "Fuckers. Ooooooh. Try /this/ when you finish the conversation - hall of mirrors."

First he loses his trumps, then he loses the Pattern...

Benedict: "Aaaalright. The Pattern is gone."
Finndo: "Gone. So. Gone. Allright."
Benedict: "The room is there."
Finndo: "Is empty."
Benedict: "There's no design upon the floor."
Finndo: "Right."
Benedict: "That might indicate that Dworkin and the children of Nod are in league."
Finndo: "You know, I can't work up the energy for a surprised face, so just imagine it's there."

Desperation is /wanting/ to talk to Ismerelda:

Finndo: "Was there any luck finding Ismerelda?"
Benedict: "She's missing in action."
Finndo: "Try her trump within the shield."

Benedict goes back to Cyrus and Sejak. Cyrus goes about trying to get reinforcements; Benedict goes to try to get to Ismerelda. Meanwhile, Sybil and Rilga are still at EvilCorp with Finndo, but in separate secure apartments. Sybil has difficulty understanding pictures, differentiating symbolism and television screens from the real thing and the learning curve is not unlike that of a particularly unimaginative cat:

Finndo calls Sybil on the telecom.
Sybil squints: "There's no circle."
Finndo: "This is something different."
Sybil: "Interesting. What do you - You're ALIVE!!!!! "
Sybil attempts to tackle hug the television.

No, you may still not have a pony:

Sybil: "Then can I kill Rilga?"
Finndo: "No. That's a longer story; it was Quinn."
Sybil sighs: "It's always some excuse."

These really are the end times:

GM: "There's a moment, a pause, and there's a sudden clarification and you see Ismerelda with her hand bleeding."
Benedict: "I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you."

Talk about investing in your environment:

Ismerelda: "The situation is not good."
Benedict: "We noticed that. What is your status?"
Ismerelda: "I'm in my room. No one has noticed it yet."
Benedict: "Excellent. We have two choices: we can take the castle now or we can get you out."
Ismerelda: "I am reluctant to leave this room; I have bled on it a bit."
Benedict: "Very well then."

Just what the man needs - chipper thermonuclear devices:

Benedict: "I thought I saw a Sybil."
Sybil bounces: "Prince Benedict! Finndo is alive, he's in one piece, and he sent me through to you to assist with the glamour and the mass destruction!"

What leads to the invention of modern alarm clocks:

GM: "Osric."
Jarrod: "Mmmhmmm."
GM: "You feel like you're paralyzed. You can't move your limbs; you're lying on something. It's very dark. A tall thin individual with a gemstone for an eye leans over you. "Wakey wakey.""
Osric: "Awakened he is."

Look, can we reschedule? We're under siege, the Pattern's gone, and my brother's being all pissy...

Piero: "Thank you."
GM: "And you wake up. And he's standing in the mirror."
Osric: "Yes? Is it that time?"
Piero "I need you to be in place. Please?"
Osric: "Yes. Well. Getting into the castle not so easy at the moment."

At EvilCorp, you don't ask. You just report the wacky:

GM to Finndo: "Someone walks over to you."
EvilCorp employee: "Sir; your brother's talking to a mirror."
Finndo: "Make sure the tapes are running and feed the circuit into here, please."

Damn protocol mismatch:

GM to Finndo: "You get none of Piero's side of it."
Lydia: "Technology picking up the dead not so much."

Imagine hearing only Osric's half of this conversation - when you already don't trust him:

Piero: "Your brother is there."
Osric: "Hm. Right. How long do I have?"
Piero: "The surge of energies was at its peak  few hours ago; I don't know how long they're going to last but a few hours at most."
Osric: "I'll do my best. Where in the castle - you said you might have some notion?"
Piero: "I think I can manage an entry near the King's quarters."
Osric: "Right."
Piero: "But that didn't seem to trouble Benedict very much."
Osric: "That would be best."
Piero: "You may have to move quickly."

The gloves come off (and Finndo adds to his Villain To Do List):

Finndo: "Speaker crackles to life." To Osric, "What exactly are you doing?"
Osric: "Getting what help I can." And he offers his hand to Piero.
Rob: "Gas the room. And dammit, I'm going to install electrical arcs into these rooms in the future."

Perspectives:

GM: "Benedict. You look at the corridor, the trump doesn't seem to work, you look up and you're in the corridor [hall of mirrors]."
GM to Jarrod: "Imagine being inside an intricately carved diamond. On one of those facets, Benedict walks back."

Magician's secret:

Piero: "You need to find the right mirror. Then you need to get Benedict to pour as much power as he can into it. But he needs to make it a creative force. This normally wouldn't work, but the mirrors have a tendency to reverse things. Outside of that, I'll let you in on a little secret: most of magic is winging it."
Osric: "I thought so."

Because after all we've been through, we should listen to the people in the mirrors?

GM to Benedict: "Osric is standing in one of them."
Benedict: "Oh this is a really strange place."
Osric: "Yes, it is."
Benedict: "Now you're freaking me out."
Osric: "I need to come there. Reach for me."

He just keeps touching that stove over and over again:

Benedict pulls Osric through.
Benedict: "You'll have to teach me that sometime."
Osric: "I had help."

What this family really needs is a group hug and an opportunity to get drunk to each other. No, dumbass, I *imagined* the gas flooding the room:

Osric: "Would you like to get Piero back? Finndo just tried to kill me, by the way."
Benedict: "I'm not surprised."
Osric: "Just thought someone should know."
Benedict: "Are you sure he tried to kill you?"
Osric: "You get the look."

I know you know I know you lied to me:

Benedict: "I would be more sympathetic but we have other things to worry bout. He /told/ you."
Osric: "He who?"
Benedict: "Finndo. Finndo told you. And they were ready, because you told them."
Osric: "Yes. He made it very difficult, actually. Perhaps I should clarify. You needed them all there. The only way I could get them all there without picking up on the lie was to tell them a selective truth."
Benedict: "I see. But it wasn't them. At least it wasn't Quinn."
Osric: "That I couldn't foresee."

Life Presents Challenges:

Benedict: "And we have no idea if the others are really gone."
Osric: "I imagine I'm a bit of  a liability to them now."

A glimpse of the future Benedict:

Benedict: "I do not envy you your current position. Very well. Let's go fishing for Piero, shall we?"
Osric: "A question, first, speaking in the line of questions we had been hoping to avoid asking each other: will you allow him to kill me?"
Benedict: "No."
Osric: "I'd hoped not. Let's find Piero, shall we?"

You'd think we'd learn to avoid the creepy:

GM: "Eventually you get to a mirror that just feels creepy to you."
Jarrod: "Oh good."

Repetition:

GM: "You get an image of Piero after a time."
Benedict: "I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you. I've been saying that a lot lately."
Piero touches his heart.

Use your powers for good! At least TRY!

Osric: "This is what you must do. You must call forth the dark powers and project as much energy as you can into the mirror. However, you must endeavor to do it in a different way and make it a creative force."

Semantics:

Scott: "Use it creatively, you said."
Deborah: "No no. Make it a creative force, not use it ingeniously."

Chips are down, cards are face up:

GM: "This is going to take three rolls, I'll tell you right now."
Scott just upends his bag of fudge points.

Cyrus trumps Finndo. Splitting hairs:

Finndo: "Osric just trumped through a mirror."
GM: "Escaped. Accurate, at least."

Liking this is Not Good:

GM: "This first is you gripping onto the mirror, asserting its boundary, framing it, owning it. The next is to increase the power carefully. You /like/ this."
Benedict: "Uh huh."

More ew than awe:

GM to Osric: "While you're watching this, that mark on his neck has become visible and is creeping across his face; his eyes have gone black. The darkness slides across the surface of the mirror. Every bit of goodness that is in the air around it has slid into that; it's like getting near something that has become very cold, but it's not cold, it's ickyness. Not evil so much as ick."

Not that we've developed a trained response or anything:

GM to Benedict: "Bit by bit, mote by mote, you put together Piero out of the dark surface that starts to rise forward from the mirror. You are barely keeping this shit in check. It wants to eat the mirror, eat Piero, eat Osric, eat the entire corridor, eat you... and in a final struggling moment you just cancel it, and bring it all back to you as quickly as you can as the seeming form of Piero falls forward and down to the ground at your feet. You are absolutely exhausted at that point."
Jarrod: "Osric will keep him standing."
GM: "The black figure on the ground slowly stands up."
Deborah: "And turns out not to be Piero."
Scott: "It's Quinn."

Hey, an ally! Welcome back!

Piero: "I don't suppose you brought a towel."
Osric: "Bit pressed for time."
Piero: "Just a moment." And the stuff recedes. "At least I know how to get it to pay attention at least."
GM: "And Piero is standing there, dressed in some kind of simple robe."

It does have that earmark, doesn't it?

Piero: "I'm not sure how alive I am yet."
Benedict: "Huh?"
Piero: "It's complicated; basically I redirected my afterlife to the mirror realm, brought myself there, I'm not sure how I'm running and I need to be very careful until I know. Which - where did all the mirrors go? Did - but - and that - I have a feeling your third brother had a clever plan."

Dulcea, we hardly knew ye:

Benedict: "Yeah, they're probably attacking the castle and taking it back. Were you aware it was taken by the forces of Nod?"
Piero: "Yes. Well. Wasn't much I could do about it. Now I'll never be able to return Dulcea to you. She's probably gone by this point, but I figured it was better than them getting to her."

What with the trying to kill each other complications to the relationship, sharing is pretty much out:

Piero: "So. You might want to find out what the plan is, don't you think?"
Benedict: "I'm going to be the one to have to do that."
Osric: "I don't think he's going to tell /me/."

Uhm. Ew? What is it with NPCs eating Sybil for lunch?

Benedict pulls Sybil's trump. Piero takes it, sniffs it, tastes it.

Nice to have things back to our definition of normal:

Sybil: "Piero. How interesting to see you alive."
Piero: "Technicality; I'll let it pass for the moment. "
Osric: "Working on it."

I just can't add to this one:

Cyrus: "I push the door open; I have the trump of Sybil between my teeth."
Jarrod to Deborah: "You feel someone licking you."

The castle is being attacked by walking giant suits of armor. Cyrus has snuck his way up into the occupied areas and encountered the armor in question. Sword envy:

Cyrus: "Is the gigantic armor sword cooler than mine?"
GM: "How cool is yours?"

Bad. Idea. Jeans:

GM: "It occurs to you that you could probably get inside that suit of armor."
Shai: "Uhm."
Cyrus: "It's me and my pal, the walking suit of armor."

Which means, of course, that Cyrus promptly tries it. And succeeds, using a slingshot to turn the armor's loyalty to him. He then trumps Sybil. At least one of us was being sarcastic:

Cyrus: "Pass a message along to Benedict and to Finndo for that matter. The slingshot things that turn elementals to our side, they work on things like suits of armor. So now I am a gigantic suit of armor and I would appreciate it if you did not kill me."
Sybil: "How would you like me to about that, Sir Cyrus? Inquire first?"
Cyrus: "If it answers, it's probably me."
Sybil: "I'll keep that in mind."

5 years of finishing school come to this response:

Sybil: "I've just about got all the mirrors; what else would you like me to do?"
Cyrus: "Just pass that along to Benedict; he'll know what to do next."
Sybil: "I'll just go back to my afternoon tea then, shall I?"

Benedict then calls Finndo. Gossip never was Benedict's strong point:

Finndo: "Grand Central."
Benedict: "Finndo."
Finndo: "Did Cyrus reach you?"
Benedict: "Huh?"

Insult to injury. Sniff:

Finndo: "No. Osric escaped through the mirrors."
Benedict: "Yes, he said you tried to kill him."
Finndo: "If I had tried to kill him, he'd be dead."

And what, exactly, does that... /mean/ for us?

Benedict: "We were in the corridor of mirrors; we've retrieved Piero."
Finndo: "Fill me in; is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
Benedict: "I'm not sure; he did say that he would help us out."

Technicalities:

Finndo, warily: "He's been dead."
Benedict, acknowledging: "Yeah."

When the GM says it all:

Finndo: "Fill me in on the middle step."
Benedict: "Don't know - well, he did say something about that. He's been in the mirrors."
Finndo: "Find out what he knows bout the obsidian citadel. You allright? You look like absolute hell."
Benedict: "I'm a little tired. You got anything like a pick me up?"
GM: "Because that's what we need: all the Princes exhausted but hopped up on Speed."

And the Finndo, still suffering from a spinal injury and higher than several cruising jets, calls Rilga (who is still bound in her room). Deja session 19, anyone? (When Sonnet was under trial in her head while on the operating table...) :

Finndo: "Good afternoon, Rilga."
Rilga: "Your highness."
Finndo: "My apologies for the extent of the restraints but I think you see the necessity."
Rilga: "It's quite allright; how are you?"
Finndo: "I cannot move from the waist down."

To him, she admits remembering the possession. Praising an employee's accomplishments:

Rilga: "I remember doing a very good job."
Finndo: "You did quite a good job."

Taking a LOT of things in stride, isn't she?

Finndo: "I feel allright, other than hurting like a son of a bitch, but the drugs are kicking in. So at the moment, Quinn has it seems mobilized the black chamber; that entire citadel is capable of flight."
Rilga: "This is my surprised face, Your Highness."

Remember who you work for:

Rilga: "So when's my trial and execution?"
Finndo: "Oh, if there was going to be trial and execution, I'd have had you killed in your sleep."

Helped a little too much already, don't you think?

Finndo: "For the moment, however, there is little that can be done, but we have increased security."
Rilga: "He knows who I am. It could be used against some people."
Finndo: "That's allright, since when this is over he's dead or we are."
Rilga: "I love working for this organization. Is there anything you would like me to do besides lay here in chains?"

Finndo contacts Benedict. Since the goblin army and the armor suits currently occupying Castle Amber will reverse the instructions on any elemental they encounter, Finndo comes up with an idea. This is what jiujitsu looks like:

Finndo's got a smile: "Tell Sybil to summon up elementals and send them upstairs with orders to protect the goblins."
Benedict: "What an excellent thought."
Finndo: "And summon up /lots/ of little wisplings, miniature elementals, no more than could give you a sunburn or muss your hair, and glamour them up to look like more significant elementals."

Tactical assessment in terms of size:

Benedict: "Cyrus."
Cyrus: "Yes."
Benedict: "We're about two and a half minutes away from taking down the barrier and assaulting."
Cyrus: "There are a great many suits of armor here. It's not the goblins you have to worry about; it's the suits of armor."

All in how you look at it, I suppose:

Cyrus: "How much of our strength do we want to expend fighting them as compared to fighting Dworkin?"
Benedict: "The strength we're expending is from a near limitless source."
Cyrus: "The pattern is protected though, yes?"
Benedict: "It's gone. Which leads to the possibility that they're in league with Dworkin."
Cyrus: "If they're not in league, they're doing an admirable job of protecting the castle."

On pattern walking expertise (and once again passing the talking box token):

Cyrus: "Done it once before."
Benedict: "However, I'm not sure. Right then, let me call Finndo and have him ask Dad."

Holding a grudge:

Benedict: "He's not... alert. He's been hopped up for several hours."
Osric: "He was awake enough to try to kill me."

The kind of job requirement for which you don't apply if you can help it:

Benedict: "How much of a distraction can you make?"
Ismerelda: "I can draw their attention to this place quite capably."
Benedict: "Would you like some reinforcements?"
Ismerelda: "How squeamish are they?"
Rob: "They work for EvilCorp."
Benedict: "They can handle it."
Ismerelda: "Send through the three strongest stomachs."

Pleeeeaaaaase can I have the car keys?

Benedict: "Oh, can you also ask if Dad moved the pattern again?"
Finndo: "Dad's still unconscious."

Finndo contacts Sejak to arrange more tactical fun. Making a list, and checking it twice:

Finndo: "What do you want?"
Sejak: "Chaos."
Finndo: "Shapeshifters?"
Sejak: "What?"
Finndo: "Do you want shapeshifters, rats, bats, bees, snakes, wolves -"
Sejak: "Do you know the worst enemy of a goblin?"
Finndo: "Stupidity."
Sejak: "Wolves will be fine."

Golden Parachutes ala Amber:

Karl: "Piero?"
Benedict: "Yes. I brought him back."
Karl: "I don't suppose you could put that clause in MY contract."

Time for the William Tell Overture:

Benedict: "We launch the attack."
GM: "The doors open; the ballista fires. Cyrus, what are you doing?"
Cyrus: "Kill them, take their stones."

Duplicitous is when the *GM* has to check:

Osric: "I am trumping Quinn, apparently."
GM stares: "That was by plan, right?"
Osric: "... yes."

Organized and cooperating - imagine what an effective project manager could do with this bunch:

GM: "So it's like this, ballista, elementals, wolves, invisible Sybil, and then Benedict starts the charge. Cyrus, you start windmilling behind the left flank of the goblins and turn then into flying green meat. The two suits of armor up ahead get slammed by the ballista; the elementals fly out and get rocks thrown at them and turn on the wolves who just rip through them. Piero stares at his arm and the goblins that Cyrus hasn't killed have their heads pop off."

The plan is to simultaneously nail the occupying force and assault Quinn while he's distracted by the ground attack. Well, it makes sense in an 'I don't trust it at all' sort of way:

GM: "The wolves not being assaulted by range weapons are pinning down the armor. The men come in behind them with crowbars and pry the armor apart. Osric, roll some dice."
Osric: "-2."
GM: "You're bouncing off something but he's got some other defenses up clearly. Since you're hitting something, it's possible he's feeling hit."

Finndo then gives the King of Colors a ring (since he knows that the King of Colors has visibility into the traffic around the mirrors and therefore might have an angle on Quinn). Pulling out everything we've got:

King of Colors: "Yes?"
Finndo: "Sorry about the interruption last time; the old Ildros folks have been hopping around some."
King of Colors: "Allright."
Finndo: "I didn't cause you any undue inconvenience."
King of Colors: "Not as yet."
Finndo: "Everything has been happening at an accelerated pace."
King of Colors: "As of half an hour ago, I stopped noticing anything."
Finndo: "I was wondering if you could see into the inner chamber of the citadel."
King of Colors: "Not yet."
Finndo: "I am setting up a mirror here. If you wanted to I am willing to discuss terms for a good look in."
King of Colors: "Call me in a little bit."

The occasional downside of having the undivided attention of a demon prince of hell is that, occasionally, you have the undivided attention of a demon prince of hell:

GM: "You would be flanked in a couple places except that Sybil is making it seem that there are targets that aren't there and it's causing mass chaos. Osric, your trump contact - now that you've got him, it's like he's not letting you go."
Jarrod: "I've got his attention."

Put your eggs in one basket - and Watch That Basket:

GM: "You guys hear, a few floors up from where you are, an awful lot of screaming."
Scott: "Yay Ismerelda!"
GM: "You've managed to pull the conflict into the throne room, Benedict, and gotten your ass surrounded. Sybil is doing everything she can to baffle them, and quite effectively. There are two throne rooms, forces that aren't, and you really hope she holds out because if she doesn't, you're surrounded."

Osric is still in contact with Quinn, trying to maintain the upper hand. Making an impression:

Osric: "Legendary +3."
Deborah: "Well damn. I think that makes a statement, how about you?"
Shai: "Or at least it says Avon calling."

So that's how she got the Barony of Savoy:

GM: "You guys see Ismerelda appear on one of the walls, surrounded by three guys watching her back, holding handfuls of goblin entrails in her hands. She lifts them, they flash red, and a third of the goblins fall over in pain."

We win the castle siege and defeat Quinn. How couples end up in counseling after the break up:

GM: "The citadel shudders up; it shakes. It's like lifting an exhaust powered vehicle where the pilot has died or something has gone wrong; it starts listing towards the city."
Deborah: "Try to redirect it."
GM: "You feel all the air in the area leave in a gust; the citadel leans over the ocean."
Deborah: "Oh dear. My old lover is not going to like that."
Lydia: "Tough shit."
Shai: "You dropped a ship on my house!"
Deborah: "You dropped a castle on my ship!"

So, yes, it really was all for nothing:

Piero to Osric and Benedict, privately: "We need to talk."
Benedict: "Yes we do."
Piero: "You want to stop being the Lord of Eagle Peak."
Benedict: "Yes. Did that title not pass hands when you came back?"
Piero: "No."
Benedict: "Shit."

This episode should have been called 'Twisting the Knife':

Piero: "I need you to hold onto the power for a bit longer."
Benedict sighs.
Piero: "But first, let's try my true face." His back crooks. His hair turns shock white. "Let's have a chat."
Scott drops his jaw.

For those of you still in denial:

Rob holds up a sign: "We're fucked. Betrayal."
GM: "Piero's Dworkin."

The penny drops. Hard:

Deborah: "Oh shit! We told Piero the Pattern wasn't there!"
GM: "The next one, episode 23, is Death Games."