Rutter Study

Cordelia lets Merlin lead and shortly the now-50-percent-larger duo is on the landing. There is a light seeping underneath the door. She speaks as they reach the vantage point, and smiles her brittle smile at the evidence of her past skirmish written on the walls. "The door is not heavily guarded, but a small watch is there, to raise the alarm. I cannot use magics here, for some reason, but we should try to be quick if we can't be quiet."

Celina cocks an ear and listens for the waves of Order from Paris. She wonders again at what Art is practiced where Cordelia was born. Spectral? Passion?

Since Merlin and she have already been working magics near here, Celina takes lead again and slips up to the door. She listens. People don't enjoy silence and boring duty watches even moreso. She measures the Takhi of the voices and bootsole drags of men shifting their bodies. She runs fingertips over the door judging its Density.

Celina whispers over her shoulder to her Family. "Door vaporized in 3, 2, 1..."

Celina bolts through the dissolved barrier reaching for a large table or item to clobber/tangle a couple of men.

Celina flips a table into two unsuspecting guards, who go down in a pool of their own chins.

Merlin is right behind Celina and also handles two guards with ease. The last one is standing, staring at Cordelia, who has her eyes locked with his. "Take him out, please, he's not going to move until I release him."

The room is similar to the watch room above, and there is evidence that the guards here were also not overly concerned that they'd be overrun. It's unadorned and simple but functional furniture, now somewhat smashed by Team Celina's assault. No one would call these monks rich.

Celina moves to the paralyzed guard. Avoiding stepping into the line of gaze between Cordelia and the soldier, Celina takes him by the throat and lifts him until his boot toes just support some of his weight. "You will see tomorrow if you help me today. Blink once for no and twice for yes."

He gurgles and blinks twice.

Celina eases him to the floor. "Confirm the number of monks here and who is in charge." Celina still has a light grip in place on his neck.

Merlin is apparently getting a Trump call, because he says "Who calls?" Cordelia looks at Merlin with some curiousity. More than she's shown before, in fact.

"I'm a guard, my lady. There are a few dozen monks, and they're in charge. They don't tell us anything."

"Today you saved your life by quick wits. Believe that despite their disrespect of your worth that they tell you things with no words." Celina eyes Cordelia and Merlin. "I propose you work for me. I'll tell you every time I'm putting you in harms way. Or you can run very far away now."

Celina looks him in the eyes. "Decide."

The guard nods. "It's how I came to work for--" but he trails off and Merlin speaks.

Celina keeps watch on the now chatty guard.

"We are safe, Ossian," Merlin says, distracting the guard from the intense looks of Celina and Cordelia, "and have with us a previously unknown kinswoman. We are underground, beneath the Martyrium of Paris, and may have passed out of the realm itself. We are returning through the monks' lair, which we circumvented on our way down. Would you or Jerod or Vere like to come to us?"

Cordelia smiles, as if she's confirmed something she long suspected.

Celina steps past the guard to listen at the path upward. A small pause, then she quietly eases back to arms length within the guard's blind spot.

If Merlin starts to Trump someone in Celina is prepared for the guard to change sides again.

"We are currently sneaking up through the monks' territory to return to Paris. But given that we are trying to leave, perhaps a direct departure would be best?" Celina feels that question is aimed at her.

Cordelia also seems to be waiting for her decision, and the guard is likewise keeping a low profile.

Celina hesitates. "We do have a responsibility to see Cordelia to safe Family. But I'm concerned that finding her was our good fortune. It's not like she was a prisoner. So who else are they holding? Still the spell did bear the Trident mark and never wavered from a path to her."

Realizing Merlin will abide by her choice, she agrees, "Well, Cordelia would you like to meet some variety of Family?"

Cordelia fiddles with her parasol. "I think you may underestimate the monks, and their belief in their own ability to contain me. I am, after all, only free of my cell, and not yet the prison grounds. It's possible that they or your sources fundamentally misunderstood what it took to capture me, and believe my entombment was unescapable. And yet still, I do not think they indend to allow me to leave freely if they can prevent it."

Celina pokes the guard with her finger, "Did you decide? Was that nod a 'yes'? If you are working for me now I need your name."

He flinches. "Yes, Lady. I am Frais. I am your loyal servant."

Celina nods once.

Merlin says, "Let us go to them, then. Cordelia, would you like to go first?"

Celina inclines her head to Cordelia, her expression an invitation. And she steps closer, showing rather than telling how to integrate with Merlin's Trump call and step through to elsewhere.

Cordelia takes Merlin's hand and steps through, as if she's hopping between rocks.

It's telling that Celina has turned her back to Frais to do this. She makes enough of the motions and process that Frais has a good idea of what to do before she turns to indicate he goes second.

Frais looks alarmed, but follows the instructions.

Then Celina thanks Merlin. One last look around the stones and she moves through Trump to Ossian.

Vere has traveled only a couple of blocks through night-time Paris when he feels the Trump contact. He glances around to be certain there are no possible threats anywhere nearby, then steps into an empty alley. With his back against the wall he opens his mind to the contact.

"Who calls?"

The contact with Ossian is crisp as ice. "Ossian, with Jerod and Regenlief. Will you let us through?"

"Happily, cousin." Vere stretches out his hand to pull the three of them through to a dark alley in Paris.

Regenlief comes through sandy but smelling more of seawater than sewage. She is dressed in the remnants of her Reman gear, having left her boots and her outerwear behind to dry in the sun. She's probably indecent by Paris standards, but nobody seeing her sword is going to call her on it. Also, she's got the box with the rutter in it.

Jerod follows along next, wearing a bit more given the advantage of being able to manipulate reality to remove unsightly stains or unpleasant odors.

"Cousin." he says simply as he surveys their surroundings, an eyebrow raised slightly and inquiringly. "Late night?"

"Cousin Jerod," Vere gives a nod, and a friendly smile. "I only just finished speaking with my sister. That meeting went well. I hope your efforts have been successful?"

Regenlief holds up the box. "Yes."

"We need to get this secured." Jerod says, motioning to the box. "And Ossian has some work with figuring stuff out so we can proceed. We'll want to bring others up to speed on what we've got.

"Any news on the other fronts? Celina, Merlin, Conner?"

Ossian steps through last. He is grinning, but waits for Vere's answer.

"Celina and Merlin are scouting known strongholds of the Klybesians, discreetly was the plan. Aunt Florimel and Connor are looking into the ambush point on the river." Vere shakes his head. "No news of them since we split up on these separate missions. The arrangement was to make the Eiffel Tower our rendezvous point." He glances back the way he came briefly, before resuming. "An order whom my sister describes as 'banker-knights' owns the property that my sister has made her embassy, and she has been negotiating with them for the purchase of it. It may be that this was the source of the rumor that she had dealings with the Klybesians. It is also possible that they are subtly sounding her out to see if she was a potential ally or stooge, or seeking to subvert priestesses further down in the hierarchy. Her consort is meeting with them at the opera tonight, I had thought to surreptitiously observe them, to see if I could determine if they were indeed Klybesians." He shrugs. "I am not certain how useful such an observation would be, and am happy to entertain other suggestions."

"If you have a name for this order," Regenlief offers, "I might be able to tell you something about them. I know a number of different Klybesian sub-orders. But I don't think Reman sewer-exploring gear is suited to the Paris opera." She sounds only mildly disappointed about this.

Jerod looks down at his legionnaire outfit. "I don't know...the right opera and we could fit in as stage extras." he says.

"Assuming we have Klybesians at the opera, would there be action to be taken? Or simply to observe for later action?" he asks. "I've already shown up once and cause a disturbance. Keep it up and I'll develop a reputation."

"I did not get the name they are using here," Vere tells Regenlief. "Merely that they are the owners of the Abbaye-aux-Bois, and that my sister seemed to feel their calling was more worldly than spiritual." He turns his attention to Jerod. "The opera would have been purely observational. Information gathered for Celina and Connor, to be shared when we met." He smiles slightly. "More because I was at loose ends after speaking with my sister than because I thought it would produce important information. I did not expect that either of them would have finished with their missions yet, and did not wish to spend several hours sitting alone at the Tower."

Ossian grins. "Since we are not dressed for the opera, I think we need to get to the palace. But we are only a Trump call away if you need us.

"Or you can skip the opera and help us look through the book in the box. That's a lot of info about the Klybesians in it."

Regenlief doesn't say "opera is boring" but everyone in the group can tell she's relieved to be going back to work and not to the theater.

Jerod is equally relieved, though not because opera is boring but rather that you can't eat during the show and he's hungry.

Vere nods. "The opera was purely because I had no better lead to follow at the moment. I would be delighted to assist you, instead. Shall we head for the palace?"

"Great" Ossian says. "For once it doesn't feel like we are a step behind those monks."

At the palace Ossian and Jerod will need "some" food. After that Ossian suggest that they take a closer look at the rutter.

Assuming there are no further issues once at the palace, Jerod makes sure to obtain food to quarters in sufficient quantities for everyone involved, but once that is done, he wants everyone sifting the rutter to be relatively undisturbed...meaning quarters or a work area that permits lots of discussion, writing of notes and general back-and-forth for ideas discussion without anyone eavesdropping.

Because the biggest threat from Klybesian is still that no one is sure who is working for them...

The group has no trouble getting back to the castle. Florimel and Conner have gone to Le Havre and aren't expected back for a few days. Celina and Merlin are trying to find their quarry in the Mysterium under one of the churches in Montmartre.

Alice makes sure they're assigned rooms and a parlor with a large table for whatever's in the box. (Regenlief is nice to Alice, and grateful for her help, but there's no way she's telling anyone what's in the box, thanks.) There's also food and drink sent up, according to the needs and desires of the group, along with any other supplies that are requested.

Regenlief asks for paper and ink and pens.

Once the group is settled in, and the doors secured, Regenlief opens the box and pulls out the rutter. She shows Vere the information she showed Ossian and Jerod: the information, the names of agents, the symbols, their meanings, the whole lot. There's a lot of information there. This is a gold mine, so big that the three Amberites can spend a long time decoding it.

Given how much information exists in the rutter and how long they could be bogged down in dealing with it, Jerod thinks that a basic categorization of the data would be best first. This is going to get disseminated to the various Kings and Queens who may have differing priorities so having an idea what is in the rutter is a good start.

Ossian has a few priorities for the first inspection of the rutter.
-Does the ruttter give any information about which places are connected by shadow paths?
-Which places of major interest to the Family (like Gateway, Texorami, Uxmal) have the monks infiltrated?
-Are there any easily identified major hubs?

Basically the major crossroads shadows that Ossian checks (places like Gateway, Reme, and Heerat) all have Order presences of one sort of another, as do a number of the old Golden Circle shadows. There are definitely places they don't know: no immediate references to Uxmal, for one. There are definitely some hubs, one of which (Deep Halls) seems to be the one that Jerod blew up.

Abford gets a mention, though the information in the rutter seems to pre-date Huon's takeover of the shadow. Tyrell seems to be a likely new hub, and they're definitely interested in Shadow Earth.

Once that is done, his preference, a very strong preference, would be identifying agents with an eye to identifyng their locations so they and any operatives they may have can be verified. He's not interested in immediately neutralizing them but merely knowing where they are and letting other rulers in suitable positions decide their fate. Getting rid of them all has a strong chance of revealing that they've been compromised back to their handlers and it would be better to either turn them, or feed them false data. Either of these aids in blinding the Klybesians for a period of time, forcing them to adapt and giving Family time to take action.

At an early point (after Ossian's had a chance to put forward his preferences), he's going to suggest that Random and Corwin be notified. Since this is Ossian's baby he can either do the comms or take charge of the deep dive for data (his plan, his credit).

Ossian furrows his brow "I wonder how long it would take to analyse this in a meaningful way. Any guesses? " he asks his cousins.

"Depending on what we find here we can decide on the best strategy. But I guess isolation will be a part of it. How hard is it to break a shadowpath, Jerod?"

"We'll want others involved to break the work down." Jerod says, in regards to time required to analyze the data. "Just us will take days minimum, plus we may not have enough references from our travels based on what the rutter says.

"As for breaking one? Depends on if it is natural or artificial. If artificial who made it, how recently was it reinforced, and how much time do we have?" he says. "I can break an artificial one, given enough time. Never done that to a natural one so I'm not sure the implications of doing so. For those it might simply be easier to put a big nasty block on them so anyone travelling them has really unpleasant experiences....you know, plague, disasters, death."

Vere gives a small smile of quiet delight at the prospect of all the research that lies ahead of them. He retains enough presence of mind to inform Alice that he, Celina, and Conner had made loose plans to meet at the Eiffel Tower, and suggests that someone be sent to wait there in case one of the others eventually shows up. He'll follow Jerod's suggestions in prioritizing the analysis of the available data.

Alice and Bill make sure that someone is waiting at the Eiffel Tower and send for any word from Celina and Merlin. After a couple of hours word comes back that Celina and Merlin have gone deep into the Martyrium and nobody on the surface has heard from them in a while.

Jerod frowns when this piece of information comes up. "Was there a cut-off point for them to return?" he asks Vere. "Or a way to make contact if they were in trouble?"

Vere shakes his head. "No such plans were made," he says. "My impression was that Celina and Conner were confident they could improvise as needed."

Ossian frowns. "Let's see if I can get hold of them."

He draws Merlin's card from his Trump deck and tries to open contact.

"Who calls?" Merlin is in a stone passage somewhere, and it's not well lit.

Vere is listening to Ossian's conversation, but continues concentrating on his work with the rutter.

"Ossian here. With Vere and Jerod. We want to check that you are safe."

"We are safe, Ossian," Merlin says for Celina's benefit, "and have with us a previously unknown kinswoman. We are underground, beneath the Martyrium of Paris, and may have passed out of the realm itself. We are returning through the monks' lair, which we circumvented on our way down. Would you or Jerod or Vere like to come to us?"

"Cousins, and mother. " Ossian says "Merlin and Celina are safe, underground, but are planning to go through the 'monk's lair' on their way to the surface. They ask if any of us wants to join them.

"Is that a plan for mayhem or sneaking?" Ossian asks Merlin.

Jerod looks up but says nothing, clearly awaiting Merlin's response on the preferred approach, given that sneaking around can be somewhat difficult if they start loading up on a big party. Mayhem however requires lots of bodies and sharp stabby things.

He is comfortable with either course of action, plus remaining to check on the rutter, though he is curious as to Celina and Merlin's choice of continuing into the monk's territory with their hitherto unknown kinswoman, given that the original objective was to get said kinswoman out of the monk's territory. Either she is capable in her own right, or there is a perceived need to continue onward.

Vere smiles very slightly. "As always, I want to do both. I would like to join them, however..." he gestures at the research, "...we cannot leave this unguarded."

"We are currently sneaking up through the monks' territory to return to Paris. But given that we are trying to leave, perhaps a direct departure would be best?" Ossian feels that question is aimed at Celina and whoever she and Merlin are with.

Ossian offers his hand: "You'll sneak quieter through the Trump, cousin."

At that indication that they were about to be joined Vere stops splitting his attention and directs his full attention to Ossian and his trump connection.

As does Jerod, writing implements going down as he awaits developments.

Merlin says, "Let us go to them, then. Cordelia, would you like to go first?"

Ossian will draw her through, smiling at the arrival of a new cousin.

"Greetings, I'm Ossian."

Cordelia is slender, pale, and dark haired. She's dressed in what would be considered a plain day dress in Corwin's Paris, perhaps a bit outdated. (Think 1905 instead of 1910.) She's looking around warily, but says, "Hello, Ossian."

Next, after her, comes a fellow dressed in the sort of clothes Ossian would expect on a local street tough. He looks like he didn't even know what a Trump was, never mind what it was like to be shoved through one.

Right on the heels of this street tough is Celina, in atypical disarray. Her dress is gone. Her chemise is dirty and damp. Her normally regal updo hair is instead half falling down with two wicked hat pins sticking out. She nods to all.

Finally, Merlin steps through the contact. "Thank you, cousin."

Cordelia looks around at Ossian and Vere and Regenlief and Jerod, focusing on each in turn. She stops at Jerod, taking all of his appearance in: his clothes, his colors, his expression. "Are you Prince Jerod of Amber?" she asks.

Jerod watches as each person comes through the Trump contact, but barely recognizes the appearance of any of those following Cordelia's arrival, his attention instantly directed to her once the rainbow effect fades around her.

He remains standing by the table as she looks at his cousins, watching as she notes their appearance before stopping with him. He hears the question as she poses it, but it seems distant, an echo that shivers through his mind as his thoughts race. The voice is familiar to him, but not the same, as the appearance is familiar, but not the same. His breathing accelerates and he takes a moment to control it, visibly.

He briefly looks at Celina before returning his gaze to Cordelia, a strange...questioning look on his face, along with something Celina's never seen Jerod express before...he looks like he's seen a ghost.

"I am." Jerod says after a moment, his gaze flicking over Cordelia, her hair, eyes, the pale skin. He recognizes, instinctively even without seeing them, the fangs. Too much alike, but different from his memories...memories that come to the fore of his thoughts screaming at him, memories of sorrow long buried.

"Who are you?" he asks.

Celina's smile fades when she parses Jerod's unlikely reaction. "Jerod, this is Lady Cordelia. Cast into darkness below Paris and assaulted by Klybesians, I believe she is Family."

Vere rises as the newcomers begin to come through, and smiles in welcome at first. When he perceives Jerod's reaction the smile disappears and his face becomes expressionless as he watches the interplay, ready to react to whatever happens next.

Ossian is on his way to say something to Merlin, but snaps his mouth shut. Developments. He watches both Cordelia, Jerod and Merlin. Does Merlin at all catch what is going on here?

Merlin has an idea something is going on here but he has an expression that Ossian has learned to read from Merlin as 'confusion'. Whatever is happening, it's unexpected as far as Merlin is concerned.

Cordelia bows, "Thank you your majesty," she says to Celina. "I am Cordelia. You, ah, knew my mother, Marissa, I believe."

Jerod's breathing slows a bit though the tension remains. "I knew a woman named Marissa...many years ago." he says. "I met her while travelling...a land of perpetual twilight, where no sun had shone for millenia and the world had adapted to this state of affairs."

He holds out his hand palm up while looking at her, waiting as she accepts it. He breathes just a bit more deeply as he senses the coldness of her skin, affirming what he already knew from his other senses as he lets her hand go.

"She was vampyr, like you are." he says, a creeping tension entering his voice, the tone level but with a feeling of brittleness, like the cracking of ice. "She was already three centuries turned when I met her that day. And she had no children, none living from her former life."

He looks over at Celina for a moment, remembering her statement that Cordelia was Family, returning to look back at her, the striking blue eyes, such a deep radiant blue color...just like Marissa.

"Celina says she believes you to be Family...so you'll understand if I am...confused. Vampyr cannot bear children...for fairly obvious reasons. Marissa could not have had children in the time I was with her because she..." and he stops, the word caught in his throat as the memory from that terrible day strangles his voice, a moment of grief to intense to give expression to.

He swallows once...twice...crushing the grief down, a ritual he has done for years, for decades...one he is all too familiar with before he finishes his sentence.

"...because she died."

Vere remains still and watchful as the encounter plays out before them.

Celina is very still. This conversation dances in and out of bloodsparked nightmares yet fresh for her. She's never seen Jerod speak so carefully. Celina thinks to step near to him in support. But no, Jerod is a fortress and Cordelia is not. Cordelia is unsure and pressed nearly to flat mundanity by her long durance.

Celina cannot speak for Cordelia but she moves her focus, her will, to breathe Order and Substance to all present. She looks straight at Cordelia. Her still blooded hand clenches as Celina wishes Cordelia to find the right words.

Ossian is fascinated. "Jerod will and needs to handle this," he whispers to Merlin, while sizing up the fourth person that came through. (The street tough).

Merlin was about to say something when Ossian comes over to him. He looks at Jerod and nods.

Cordelia takes his hands. Hers are not as cold as he expected. She's not exactly like Marissa, for all that she is in many ways like her. "I regret to tell you that she did, in fact, pass beyond the veil and cannot return. But she bore and raised me. I was told of you and your time with Mother. And that I would never see you, or your world.

"I watched the world beyond the veil dissolve in a rain of black nothingness. And I was thrown far from home. I awoke in a land far from both my home, and far from where Celina found me. They buried me, with honor.

"That was the start of my travels."

If Jerod was a fortress, as Celina might have thought, then one of the walls crumbled at Cordelia's words. He does not let go of her hands as he listens, a part of him dying as accepts what has taken so many years to be faced. A faint, barest hope had flickered when Cordelia had claimed her parentage...even with her background perhaps Marissa lived...she had arisen again. But that flicker died with Cordelia's words...that Marissa was gone and there was no further denial possible.

He listens to her words and nods once at her description of the black rain, of the sudden changes to her surroundings and her new world.

"The black rain you speak of was the remaking of reality..a time of great calamity for our Family...and all things in general." Jerod says after a moment. "There will be a great deal to teach you of that, and to show you our home, though I think that will be for a later time."

He motions to chairs at the table, signalling to everyone. To Ossian he nods to the rutter to take care of it as he sees fit. "And while I would very much like to hear of your tales, and your earlier times, that is also for a later time." he says, letting her seat herself before taking a chair close by.

"Of greater importance is what you can tell us of your more recent travels, how you came to be found by Celina and Merlin, and your contact with the monks," he says. "I would know why they held you prisoner...that crime alone is one that must be answered for on their part."

His cousins would recognize his tone even as he moderates it...that he's more than willing to be the one to make the monks answer for their crime.

Celina relaxes a bit. She envys her nephews' control. She may never have anything like it. The disquiet of her failure with Khela is still in the room. She cannot sit at ease.

Celina moves to food and drink and listens.

Vere relaxes, although it is so subtle that few would notice any change in his demeanor. He nods a greeting to Celina and sits, watching Cordelia with interest.

Ossian closes the rutter. He watches and listens.

Ossian having quieted his speech, Merlin turns his attention to the street tough Frais, who is dressed like a working man of Paris, not one of the monks. He goes to the door, where Ossian, Celina, and Vere, who are not completely distracted by the discussion with Cordelia, hear him summon guards to arrange for Frais' custody.

Frais himself is a sturdy fellow, and this situation is so clearly way over his head that he's figured out he ought to keep his mouth shut and not move. He's watching Merlin, too, though the interplay between Cordelia and Jerod has a share of his attention.

Cordelia looks at Jerod. "I'm not pleased with my captors, but I am not looking to have someone come in and take vengeance on my behalf, even if it is my father who wants to do so. I don't know how I was taken from the strange, bright place I'd been buried to an underground cavern. I suspect magic was involved, but it wasn't clear to me how it was done. I was resting, as my mother's people do, and I was not very interested in the world.

"When I woke, I went to leave my mausoleum, and found it locked. I broke out and found the that there were soldiers dedicated to keeping me prisoner. We fought. I was able to defeat them, but they had magics to prevent me from leaving. It was enough that I was able to achieve a stalemate. I was not able to leave, and they were not able to approach me.

"We need to go through their stronghold to find out why, I think."

Jerod nods. "I would never deprive anyone of the opportunity to take vengeance on those who had harmed them. My parents taught me that such behaviour is very rude," he says, in a tone that suggests he's being very serious in a dead-pan sort of way.

Cordelia looks like either she's not getting Jerod's point or he's not getting her point, but she doesn't say anything.

He looks over at Frais for a moment, then back to Celina since Merlin is busy arranging for custodial care. His look is vaguely inquiring as to Frais' reason for being here but he says nothing, confident that his purpose will be revealed soon....or he'll be given to Cordelia to deal with.

Celina registers the look. She nods once. She makes a sign with both hands, looping her first finger with a thumb and then interlocking them like cuffs.

Merlin may or may not have managed to understand the gesture, but he clearly saw it and nodded.

He returns his gaze back to her at that moment. "Do you know what magicks they used to forestall your departure? And can you provide any further details on the stronghold, the occupants, its nature and design, if it had another function beyond acting as some form of security to prevent your movement?" he asks, and he motions to both Ossian and Regenlief and to the rutter...maybe there's something there based on what Cordelia might know.

Vere rests his elbows on the table and steeples his fingers together as he listens and begins assembling facts.

Cordelia goes from an aggressive posture to something less Icertain. "I'm... not sure. I would start to leave, sometimes even get to the surface, and the next thing I knew, I was back in the tomb. I don't know that it won't happen tonight. It does tend to give me a disincentive to fall asleep."

Celina waits for Merlin's attention to return to the scene as Frais departs. Merlin will know better if Celina missed some major working they had to break in order to get to Cordelia. Except for the barriers they overcame, she recalls no heavy spellwork or ritual.

Merlin, having transferred Frais into the custody of the Royal Guard--with significant instructions, including 'nowhere near Bend'--turns his attention back to the group. "I am sorry," he says, "was there a question for me?"

Meanwhile, Regenlief has taken up the rutter and is flipping through it as if she thinks she might be able to find a Shadow that meets Cordelia's memories of where she had been buried.

Celina summarizes Cordelia's 'elastic confinement' experience and then adds that Jerod wished to narrow down how it might have been done. Celina finishes with, "It sounds like a Pattern trick actually. Keeping someone in a circular loop of not changing location."

Jerod frowns for a moment, looking at Cordelia. "If you had fallen asleep, it might perhaps have been a geas of some type. Your mother and I ran into something like that during our time together on Mount Csillag...it forced her into slumber as if the sun had risen. But she would have remembered what happened to her. This has a different feel to it.

"Did either of you detect anything at work? Anything latent?" he asks to Celina and Merlin.

Ossian follows the conversation with interest, but stays quiet.

Celina shakes her head to reiterate the negative. She looks to Merlin and encourages him, "There was that 'patched flavor' you noted."

Merlin frowns, in a gesture that is remarkably like Martin's. "Our father's city is a pole of order. My sorcery here is unreliable. If I attempt to exceed the limits imposed, it causes failures. I wonder whether the proximity to the pole was what broke their sorcery. We are metaphysically heavy, and there were three of us instead of merely Cordelia."

Cordelia is watching and trying to piece together what Merlin means.

Vere shifts his eyes away from any of the people in the room and opens his Third Eye, then slowly turns his attention back to Cordelia. He wants to get a look at her, but he also wants to see if there is any sign of a sorcerous binding surrounding her.

Vere starts to open his third eye but some sense of caution keeps him from opening it fully without testing things. Paris, the city of light, is painfully bright to his third eye, and he shuts it almost immediately, reflexively. Merlin sees him wince and leans in. "Not in the Louvre. Too close."

Jerod smiles slightly at Merlin's comments but says nothing. Learning is its own reward as his parents told him...repeatedly, as he considers the comments made, pondering Merlin's other comments.

"It's possible our Pattern background might have helped, plus the Trumps may grant an escape route past whatever magicks were in in effect." he says. "But I'd be curious about this place in that case."

He looks at Cordelia. "You said the world beyond your veil dissolved...and you were thrown far from home. You awoke...were buried and thus began your travels.

"How did you get to where Celina and Merlin found you?"

Vere nods and smiles a bit ruefully in response to Merlin's comment. He opens his physical eyes and resumes watching Cordelia and Jerod. Out of curiosity he searches for signs of physical similarity between them.

Ossian frowns. "It could also be some time weirdness, as I and Brita experienced underneath Rebma."

Celina raises an eyebrow. She makes note to ask Ossian later.

She does, indeed, look somewhat like him. But also somewhat like Cambina. Like her putative father, she does tend to wear a lot of black.

"Magic. The place where I was was moved here. Even the underground parts. Only magic could do that. And then I managed to not leave until your cousins found me." Cordelia doesn't release his hands.

"In Rennes," she says, pronouncing it like" wrens", "I was considered as if I were the daughter of a God." She nods at Jerod. "Here they wanted to experiment on me, then attack me, then ignore me."

Jerod's grip on her hands twitch slightly as he parses certain pieces of data. The reference to being related to a god saddens him slightly...gods are so easily manipulated, so quickly killed...as are their offspring. His parents taught him the dangers of godhood early on...a lesson he will impart to Cordelia soon enough.

When she mentions experiments his hands twitch just slightly...his self-control imposing itself so his hands do not clench into fists. It is surprising that he has not yet let go, especially given his famously...or perhaps infamously...enforced personal space.

"Rennes..." he says, sifting the word, looking at Celina and Merlin. "That has the feel of your father and his affinity for Paris and France. A place to check."

He looks over at Regenlief, making sure she is aware of the word, to check for references in the rutter.

Regenlief doesn't see Jerod's look, because she's already searching the rutter.

"I don't want to ask this question, because I don't want to hear the answer...but I need to ask it because we need to hear them." he says to Cordelia. "What kind of experiments?"

Vere leans forward ever so slightly as he awaits the answer to this question. He has slowly been building up an image of the Klebesians in his mind as information has become available, and he wants to consider carefully how this matches up with previous data.

Celina listens and pays particular attention to the body language between Jerod and Cordelia.

Ossian is also listening. Somewhat smug. They really need to eradicate those monks.

Cordelia looks slightly smug, not unlike Ossian. "They came to get blood samples. They ended up being blood donors."

Celina sniffs in a way that suggests she thinks the outcome suited the crime.

Jerod nods, privately thankful at the news, thinking for a moment. "This would fit with other encounters we've had with the monks in the past....looking to learn about us...our powers, what...makes us tick if you will." he says.

"I have other questions, but they're for private talks, at another time." he says to Cordelia, as he reluctantly lets go of her hands.

"Thoughts, opinions." he says simply. His voice has not raised an iota, but the tone changes subtly. Ossian and Vere would recognize it from the time of the Sundering, when Gerard tended to gravitate to Jerod to handle more...unpleasant situations, the old habits of command and court...directed to everyone at the table to give their viewpoint and their insights...including Cordelia.

"What have we learned? Both for Rennes and where Cordelia was found...is there further benefit to returning for investigation? Do we run risks the monks may be ready, or do we go and burn it down after digging through it? Do we want to see how much more we can learn from that before trying..." he asks, pointing at the rutter that Regenlief is sifting through.

"And what about Bend?" he asks, looking at Celina. "How much do we think she really knew...and how much was she holding out?"

Vere frowns slightly. "What we have learned indicates a cell structure, isolated groups, with only the very upper leadership having an overview of what is going on. They have been active for a very long time, under many different guises, and I think it would be impossible to locate and destroy every cell at this point. Something has changed recently, perhaps Oberon's death, leading some of the cells to take a more aggressive stance than in the past. Endgame is to locate and neutralize the leadership, end their ability to travel through Shadow, and leave the individual cells isolated so that they eventually fade away on their own."

He taps the table thoughtfully before continuing. "Immediate action depends on how short term and long term goals work together. Burning this group out of Paris and the Shadows close to it is attractive, but using them to gain more information is probably more useful. Going on a strong offensive now risks warning the leadership that we are on the warpath. Subtlety at this point may be more effective for the long term goal."

Celina nods at Vere's telling points. She answers Jerod's last question, "Bend always holds out something. This time around I think we got inside part of her resistance because the Monks are repulsive. It's important that we got Cordelia out of there. I'm willing to give Bend credit for helping. Also I'm in agreement Corwin should play a longer game to undo these Klybesian parasites."

Cordelia looks from relative to relative. "I have personal reasons for wanting to do harm to these monks, and probably less patience than you all imagine. While I appreciate the rescue, I was under the impression that we would have a fight on our hands, and that was a fight I am looking for. What is the protocol here? Do I need to ask someone for permission to enact justice?"

"If you do, it would be my father--and Celina's--and in his absence I am inclined to give you leave to pursue it. Although my experience of Prince Jerod is that you may have to take your vengeance swiftly if you want to find anything left to take vengeance on." Merlin smiles pleasantly at Jerod and Cordelia and maybe his teeth look a little sharper than usual.

Jerod nods to Merlin when he is finished, making sure that the acknowledgment of the hierarchies that Cordelia has been introduced to now is clear.

"I understand your desire to take vengeance." he says. "I share it...and I've taken considerable amounts already upon the monks in the past. They will know my name well enough...and that I will kill them without the slightest hesitation.

"But right now I need you to understand that there are events unfolding of which you are not aware, and that you need to be. While it may be advantageous to pursue the monks who are here and eliminate them, we must now think first before we make that decision. As Vere has indicated, they operate in cells, independent of each other to prevent widespread loss if one is found...like guerilla soldiers.

"But they also learn from the losses we inflict upon them...they adapt, they evolve. Once they know you have escaped your confinement...they will evolve. The monks have been in existence for centuries and recently have begun becoming bolder, taking greater action against the Family...a Family you are part of now.

"They wanted blood samples from you...I would be not surprised if they had found someone less capable that they might have gone further...much further." and he pauses for a second to let that sink in for everyone.

"But the very act of wanting your blood begs a question that I need an answer to." He leans a bit as he speaks. "I have not spoken your mother's name since she died," he says. "It is written in no journal, it has been confided to no partners. There is only one image of her..." as he pulls an intricate metal locket from an interior pocket, a silver chain attached, and places it on the table.

Celina would recognize the metal carving work on the casing, a distinct Rebman influence. Pain stakingly etched, with most having unique, and very capable locking mechanisms to keep them secure.

"....and I've shown it to no one." he finishes. "So how did they know about you? How would they know to go and look and to want your blood? That is a question that needs to be answered. So while I am very inclined to go back to where you were found, to investigate, and to see to the process of vengeance regardless of whomever may be its instrument...we need to do it right."

With that he looks at everyone at the table. "So...how do we do it right?"

Ossian, who has been quiet, frowns. "This comes down to a guessing game. We can be pretty sure they are monitoring our activities as well as they can. We have taken action against them here and there. If we become less aggressive against them, they might actually get suspicious.

"Thus, I think some retribution might actually be wise."

Vere nods. "An excellent point." He frowns slightly. "I am not as experienced in the management of Shadow paths as many of the Family. Is it possible to temporarily cut an area off from Shadow travel? If we could prevent them from using such paths to escape it would make capturing their leaders simpler." He taps his fingers on the table as he thinks. "Trying to go in from multiple locations, to cut off retreat, might also be a useful tactic."

Celina nods once. "Conner went out to come at them from shadow. The Monks were using some shadow path in the Havre area. He needs to know what we are about once we settle on a plan." Celina looks at Cordelia.

Celina smiles. "These scavenger monks run fast when attacked. Perhaps it is time to use that. They collect blood. It seems we could track them by that blood if we could filter out our own signatures."

Merlin knows Celina has done half that already once.

Celina adds, "I mean they grab their treasures when they run. So could we treat the Family blood as a tracking focus and climb up through their cell structure?"

Cordelia laughs. It's not the laugh of someone who is amused. "I would be happy to climb up through their cell structure, individually or collectively."

She turns to her father. "I'm not sure they knew who you are, or which of your cousins, uncles, or other relatives is my parent. I was somewhat legendary, perhaps, or my survival of an all-encompassing black rain tipped them off, or who knows? Maybe I just smell like you, and not just because we've been in the combination catacombs/sewers together.

"They may have checked into me as a policeman follows up on a lead, and decided to do so in the comfort of their own basement.

"There should be some answers in that basement."

It's plausible, but it's also clear that she's wanting that attack to happen.

Jerod listens to each in turn, weighing the options as they are described, not latching on to any of them. There is good advice in all their comments.

Cordelia's twig some insight for him, remembering his own encounter with the blackness years ago and how he fought it using the Pattern. If the monks do have extensive knowledge of the family, the resistance to the Black Road and the rains that Pattern granted would not be unknowable. Not to mention if one of the blood was working with the monks, that would make such insight even simpler.

But her comment about being legendary does generate just a touch of a smile. Like mother, like daughter he thinks, though Marissa's fame in her world was a bit darker in nature. The smile fades though, memories of better times outnumbered by the years of loss.

That Cordelia wants to return to wreak her vengeance does not surprise Jerod, rather his own reaction to not wanting to see her return to a possible trap, an irrational and very new fear, of losing her to something outside of his control. It is curious he realizes for this to happen, despite having virtually no knowledge of her, no chance to develop a relationship yet. It is disconcerting to feel this way, and yet it is oddly...right.

"Shadow can be influenced or disrupted, depending on its make-up." he says in response to Vere's question. "Given some effort, we could attempt to prevent a rapid escape. As for tracking those that may head down their rabbit hole, if the blood, or whatever they might have, has properties of our Family, it may be possible to track it, but no guarantees. I tried something similar recently in trying to find Trumps...the method showed some promise but it required more experimentation.

"Ossian's right about backing off...Family behaviour is one of attack and control when we think we have an enemy to fight. Given the rutter in our possession, we use its contents to arrange a wide-spread disruption, selecting targets of opportunity and maximizing our benefits before they can adapt. But that is for the future and for all Family who can be roped in.

"For today..." he says, looking at Cordelia. In that instant before he continues, he realizes the great fear he faces, of losing someone more precious than life just as he did all those years ago. But like with her mother...he knows in some things, he cannot say no.

"....today we go back. Find what we need...and burn the rest to the ground."

Vere nods. "Use me as you think best in this." He directed that comment somewhere halfway between Celina and Jerod.

Celina says, "I am with you." Then she does a long recap of everything Merlin and she did to wend into the catacombs and find Cordelia. She comments the skills of the hired guards (adequate) and the Paris friction to spellwork (stiff).

Celina ends with, "The man, Frais, I've taken under wing. He has wit and knows something of the Monks' habits. Also he nearly said something about how he found employ by the Monks. As if he was dragoon'd by a traveler. Vere might see to his equippage and question him on that. A hunch he's useful for our return to burn."

Cordelia seems satisfied with this plan, in part because she considers herself part of the 'we' that will 'return to burn'.

Merlin agrees with Celina. "This close to a seat of order, we will be hard pressed to keep them from retreating via Trump, if they have any. They will have difficulty with shadow paths, but we will be relying on martial powers rather than Sorcery or the manipulation of probabilities. " He hesitates, then adds: "We should consider carefully the consequences of significant fires in the catacombs. Our father would not be pleased if it got out of hand."

Celina nods.

Jerod smiles, an actual smile it seems as well. He likes Merlin...Martin's good taste in friends is re-affirmed.

"I would agree with the idea of not burning the catacombs." he says. "Thankfully my comment is more an expression rather than an actual plan of attack. Think rather that our plan will be to ensure that whatever we encounter has no chance to reconstitute itself.

"I think it may be advised that you give him a quick update, should you be able to get through to him. In the old days, it was better to beg forgiveness than ask permission...but given my recent rant at the meeting about cooperation and mutual respect and trust...well, we might want to let your father know what we're up to, so he knows we've got a reasonable plan and we're not planing to blow his city up while he's away. I'm sure he'd be very annoyed at that.

"Vere...Celina's comment is good. Her new...employee...may have useful information. I'd suggest turning your rather considerable observational talents on him to see what we can acquire...there is no one better for the task. He is most likely just a low ranking individual, but he may have information he doesn't realize he possesses...their activities, comings and goings of individuals, strengths and weaknesses."

He points to the rutter, including Ossian and Regenlief. "We definitely need to skim that, see if there is anything on where we're going. Even scraps will do." he says. His voice isn't demanding, but there is tone that implies the seriousness he puts to the comment, of importance of the task they have.

After that he looks at Celina. Everyone at the table has talents and skills, perhaps exceeding hers in various ways, but she's still the Queen, and the insight that leadership grants is something Jerod never discounts.

"We'll need to keep in mind our objectives...and the point when we realize we need to fall back if things get too dicey too fast." he says. "We also need to consider what we do if we reach a point where we find something so important that we can't fall back, and we have to chase it down, no matter the cost. We'll need a clear head for that...I think we both realize once we engage, my perspective may become...clouded."

He pauses to make sure Celina understands what he is saying, before he looks at Cordelia.

Celina knows Jerod has a measure of her temper. He was there when she was dropped into Family ways. But she hears something in his voice and nods her assent.

"You're coming, and you'll get to fight. But let's be clear. We must assume the response of the monks remaining will not be how they were acting when they faced you alone. That they put an outpost literally on the doorstep of Paris, their father's city..." pointing to Merlina and Celina. "...makes me wonder as to their thinking. King Corwin may have a number of character flaws, but he is not to be trifled with. They would know that, and the dangers of detection. So if they realize we're coming, they may not be so limited in their responses."

"My parents taught me that the title of father is earned...it's not just biology. I do not intend to miss that opportunity. So if anyone here who comes along tells you to run...you listen to them."

"Are we good with that?" he asks.

Vere stands and nods. "I will speak with Frais, and learn what I can from him. An important point will be whether he has friends and comrades among the guards of the monks. I do not believe it is fair nor wise to ask a newly turned man to slay his old associates if there was any comradeship there. We may find it wiser to leave him behind."

"Thank you, Vere," Celina says.

Ossian nods "We'll look at the rutter. How fast do we need the information?" He is already moving to open the book again. "Also - if we find any computers we should try to get someone to look closer at them. Preferrably before destroying the place. I think Conner might be of some help there, but we should also need someone with hacking... eh... computer manipulation skills."

"Conner had the most range to cover of our reconnaissance but he'll contact me if he finds anything. We may benefit if the Monks go running as Conner is checking their back door and will not be easy to surprise."

Merlin nods. "Perhaps Bill or Alice Roth have those skills. I have always wanted to investigate the intersection of computational machinery and the recondite arts, but I have done no more than make some notes."

The rutter is best described as a list of place names and vectors. A place, a landmark, a direction. Charting a path is a matter of linking the various points. The Reman portion is clear.

"From the Ara Pacis, head in the opposite direction from Caracalla's Bath, taking a sharp right onto a dirt path when the road veers left. If the road does not resume, backtrack and try again. Persevere and you will reach Laureshamense Monasterium, called Laurissa." This is followed by notations, such as a capital A in a circle and some stars, which a modern reader would take for ratings.

It will take some time to sort this out, and each step assumes enough local knowledge to know where to start. It's somewhat fragile, both as a set of instructions and as a physical object.

And also, as Regenlief reminds the group, dated from before the Black Rain.

Celina speaks to Cordelia, "I'm going to change into something more durable. Do you want weapons or armor? Do you need anything?"

She shakes her head. "My parasol is sturdy enough. I don't want to get slowed down."

Celina nods with a big smile and departs to work with Lance and Alice.

When Celina returns shortly, she is washed and her hair tied up. She has a loose leather tunic with a chain mail overtunic and coif. The gear may have come from a museum but it looks loose enough that Celina will have Takhi motion. Her belt is full of a lot of knives of different sizes. One belt pouch has three Celina blood samples in metal vials and a couple of mirror compacts from Alice's collection.

She helps out wherever needed but she's ready.

Jerod is not surprised at the rutter's contents, having been exposed to the naval version for a number of years. He knows it is a long shot, but even bits and pieces are useful.

Apart from the rutter review and anything that Celina or Merlin need, since they are the guides initially, followed by anything Cordelia can provide, then Vere would appear to be the remaining piece to be fulfilled prior to departure.

During the various segments where Ossian and Regenlief are perusing the rutter, Jerod steps away to collect some things, aay for perhaps an hour.

When he does return, he still has his spear but his attire has changed significantly. He has two short swords on either hip and a bandolier that has pouches for throwing darts...a lot of throwing darts. The swords have guards for blocking in close quarters and the hilts are intricately crafted of some kind of black metal. They are functional, artistic and have the feeling of being very old.

Gone also are the lighter tones that he had been wearing the last year or so. In their place is all dark clothing, pants with dark and very servicable riding boots. His shirt is black and collared and over that is a priest coat, with a hood. Initially the coat appears plain but on closer inspection there is a pattern stitched across the upper chest, an intricate weaving of runic symbols, none of them being immediately recognizable.

And like the swords, the coat has the feeling of being very old.

"We really need to plot out this information in a less flat manner." Ossian says. "But that is not for today. " he also sends a message to Bill Roth asking about computer skills. Is there anyone in Paris competent in computers?

He also pauses for twenty minutes to gather equipment for himself and his mother. (He will ask her what she wants, not assuming anything). Fot himself he chooses a black leather jacket, a shorter rapier than usual and a rope with a wicked looking hook at the end. (He has two replacement hooks, one of them non-sharpened)

Regenlief is happiest with a spear, and just happens to have the one she likes with her. She spends her spare time reciting prayers to the gods. Even if they are dead or not relevant to this place, she knows how to prepare for a battle and this is the way.

Merlin has his sword, and does not wish to venture upwards, lest he end up returning with a phalanx of guards, bent on keeping between him and trouble. "That would not be useful to us."

Before the sneaking and fighting begins, Ossian will find a safe place to store the rutter. If Lance is available, that's secure enough. Or if Bill Roth has a safe in Paris. Other than that, he is ready for action.

Lance takes the rutter and tells Ossian he will hold on to it for him.

Vere will ask to be given access to an office, something slightly luxurious but also conveying a sense of businesslike formality. He'll ask about where Frais has been kept, and what the conditions have been, before having him brought to the office. He will have a few file folders on the desk, which he will occasionally tap during the coming interview, but never actually consult.

He will have Frais brought to the office, and then have the guards leave, so that only the two of them are present.

Vere will be using his speciality of Discern Motivation during this interview. He is interested in the answers Frais gives, but just as much in what is going on in Frais' head. He's looking for any inconsistencies, any hesitancies, anything at all out of place.

He'll begin by asking for information on who Frais is, where he comes from, who his family is, etc. This is information Frais can't claim not to know, so it helps establish a situation in which Frais answers questions, which will hopefully carry over as the questions get more difficult. It also gives Vere a base of presumably truthful answers on which to judge later, possibly equivocal ones.

From the basis on who Frais is he will move to how he was recruited by the Monks, and from that to what he knows about them. Vere will ask the same questions many different ways. He expects that Frais probably knows more than he thinks he knows, from gossip among his fellows, observing the standard routine and any breaks in it, and so on.

He'll then move on to Frais relations among the monks, his fellow guards, and any support staff. He's looking for information on Frais' level of dedication to the monks, and for friendships among the people he worked with.

Finally, there will be questions about what he understood the mission of the monks to be, including any speculation among the guards about it, and what they knew about Cordelia.

Unless something truly unexpected turns up Vere will then mention that Queen Celina now considers that Frais has become her man. He's watching carefully to see if Frais had realized that it was the Queen of Rebma that he surrendered to, and what his reaction is if he had not known that before.

Frais is happy to talk; he's Parisian, but he wasn't born here. Once he starts talking, he's hard to shut up.

He's from somewhere out in the country, but it wasn't a suitable life. His parents and brothers are still there, for all he knows. He worked in the city as a laborer, making enough to get by, but not to do very well, until one of his friends found them a job as guards. It turns out that it was for criminals, but he didn't ask questions and they paid better than digging graves had.

He was a good guard, and eventually enforcer, and eventually found himself guarding people who needed to know that someone was between them and trouble. Sometimes in the city, and sometimes in the catacombs.

Most of the gossip was about what the monks kept below the catacombs. Was it really the undead monstrosity that the stories told, or was there some deeper mystery and that was just a story to keep the guards from going looking for treasure? Frais didn't have an opinion before, but now he does.

He did his best to pay no attention to the monks or why monks were criminals instead of staunch supporters of the state. He felt he was being paid to not ask those questions, but he seems to have switched his loyalty entirely.

He agrees that the Queen is his employer. She protected him when the vampire killed everyone and seemed to have an ability to fend that creature off. The only question Vere has is if someone else could buy his loyalty for a better paycheck.

Vere will try to put together a rough map of the facility based on what Frais knows of the place, with special emphasis on possible exits. Names and numbers of the monks currently in Paris and any high ranking military officers and staff will also be noted. He'll also inquire about any contacts Frais knows about between the monks and Parisians or foreigners of note.

Vere gets what he's sure are low-level guard contacts. Frais was never ambitious and he's pretty sure he was being paid extra to not ask questions, and he was good at that. The monks were all named foreign names, such a Brother John, Brother Rabbit, and other such names, but their silver was good. Clearly they knew someone in Paris's criminal underworld, because Frais himself was recruited. He thought that was more a matter of the criminals offering services than the Monks having a criminal enterprise. But there were rumors that some of the criminal gangs were more religiously observant than other Parisians.

Vere will also casually mention that he has no doubt of Frais' continued loyalty to Queen Celina, since now the King of Paris and his children know Frais' name, "and you know how they feel about betrayal."

He looks suitably impressed.

Vere will turn Frais back over to the guards after that, with orders that he be given better weapons and gear and then brought to Queen Celina.

He will then rejoin the others to report on what he learned.