GENERAL TIMELINE:
You were all born in the years following the Patternfall war. Some time within the first 2 years of your life, long before you have any concrete recollection of events, your parent gave you into Benedict's care. He raised you as a family and a team. He didn't insist on you all becoming "combat monsters", but he did insist you could all handle yourselves in whatever situation might arise.
He's told you all about your parents and relatives, though. Their Noble Deeds, and Valiant Efforts in Defending Amber.
Eric the Noble, who gave his life for the Realm
Corwin the Gallant, Philosopher of Amber
Caine the Canny, Admiral of Amber's Northern Fleet
Deirdre the Valorous, Warmistress of Amber, Taken most Untimely by the Abyss
Fiona the Wise, Initiate of the Pattern's Mysteries
Bleys the Dashing, Defender of the Unicorn
Llewella the Stalwart, Defender of Rebma
Brand the Gullible, Master Sorcerer of Amber, Fallen to the Wiles of Chaos
Florimel the Beauteous, Ever Attentive to the call of Duty
Julian the Stoic, Guardian of the Forest Arden
Gerard the Forthright, Admiral of Amber's Southern Fleet
Random the Brave, King in Amber
And, of course... the most reviled figure in Amber's history, excepting not even Deela the Descratrix and her foul son, Dalt... Merlin the Traitor, King in Chaos
One morning, Benedict was gone. He'd left each of you a note, ensuring that it reached only your eyes, even when the deaths of innocents were involved in order to guarantee such security. It stated that a time of crisis was now upon you all, and that you were to seek out Dworkin, and follow his instructions.
With no easy form of cross-shaodw trasport, you availed yourselves of the maps and resouces available, trying to find the most direct route to Amber. Or rather, to a Golden Circle shadow by the name of Aerie.
Shadow Wu, an Oriental Empire world, is where you were raised. You have only the certain knowledge that it IS possible to reach Aerie from here. From it, lead three shadow trails, connecting to:
Hyborea, a Howard-esque bronze age world where civilization fights to hold it's own against barbarism. Gothpunk, a high tech world where the
supernatural co-exists with advanced technology. Mod Earth, very similar to the world in which WE actually reside.
Upon a detailed search of BENEDICT's library, a map was found showing a fourth trail leaving Wu. The name of its destination was smudged beyone recall, leaving only the initial letter, 'A'.
This path was the one chosen by the group. It led through Desert, Forest, and Mountain. A sentient tree was found, and eventually communicated with, despite failure of initial attempts (involving fire-based communication). It had, however, little useful data on the journey ahead... Although it sounded as though you were suspiciously close to Amber.
A great mountain upthrusting from the plains, and by the sea, was found. The mountain matched all the descriptions of Kolvir, save only for the lack of the true city at its base, and the castle atop it (although a prank briefly made it appear that such a castle was, indeed, present). Reaching the summit, this was revealed to be an uninhabited duplicate of Kolvir, as near as anyone could determine.
A shift was made across a shadowveil to a similar mountain. Several things readily became apparent in this new shadow.
First, that a castle WAS present. Upon close examination, everything within the castle seems to be mirror-reversed from what details Benedict has given you of Amber.
Second, That a great battle had been held here, many years previously. The castle was a shell, gutted by fire and age, skeletons and dessicated bodies abounding. It seems the attackers had been based on a Viking model, and the defenders on a model not unlike that of Amber... Troops of reversed livery, and the rare individual, perhaps a prince or princess in this realm.
Third, that you were not alone.
The unknown arrival revealed himself to be Atone, son of Delwin of Amber. The name of Delwin was not unknown to you, but was not touched upon much by Benedict. To account for his arrival here, he had merely a scroll from Benedict, much as your own. Given the word of Benedict, he was accepted, and the exploration of the castle commenced.
The 'Pattern Room' was finally excavated and entered, after more than a little delay. It contained a pattern much as the great Pattern, only reversed as to direction. Every arc and switchback, the Grand Curve, all was laid out with the opposite orientation. This is unknown to you, even the patterns in Rebma and Tir-Na Nog'th have the same orientation as that in Amber. This became a topic of much debate, needless to say.
Johnathan performed an act of sorcery that disturbed you all more than a little when it became known. In one fashion or another, he raised from the dead one of the slain. A prince, or perhaps princess by the armor it wore (not unlike that of Deirdre, yet again, not the same). Restrained within a Glyph of Fire, it threatened Johnathan, and demanded the return of its weapon, taken by Johnathan for the spell. He demanded you leave him and his... creature, insisting upon his ability to deal with it. It seems, in fact, that he has come to some arrangement with it. At the least, it has stopped threatening him when any of you passed within earshot.
While almost all of the party's remainder was outside the castle, Azraphel and Nikkie continued to examine the Pattern. They chose to take certain actions without the knowledge of the rest of you. This ended with her walking it (successfully), and Azraphel Trumping to her presence in the middle. The last thing either of them recalls is Nikkie pronouncing her wish of transport, "Take us to Dworkin"...
