07.07x: Refuge of Dreams (Part II)

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"I'm pretty sure it is. I've been learning a new sort of magic since going there. I still feel like an apprentice though. Just when I was starting to become accomplished with the magic of this world, all the rules change and I have to start over! Rasanam's still much better than I am but he makes learning much easier." Lyra shifts a bit awkwardly trying to decide what to start talking about. "So our plan is to try and free you from this place physically like we discussed when we were here last. There have been a few interesting changes that you should probably know about though that might effect when we decide to go looking for Chaos." Lyra will relate to him a summary of the evening's events, particularly about Odin and the meeting with him tomorrow.

[Joshua]

Nate will ponder this. "Odin... I am not familiar with that name, but I do know his clan. They are, or were, knights. Loyal to those in charge, although some believed they served the Serpent of Chaos itself. Chaos, uh.. our ancestor, didn't go by that name there. Sometimes you refer to yourself as your homeland."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"Do you think you could give me a bit of a history lesson about uh...Chaos, both the place and the person? Alys only gave us the most basic of descriptions of the place and it's history. It might help put the current situation in better perspective for me."

[Joshua]

Nate settles down, pulling up a chair fore each of you and explains. "The Clans of Chaos go back... farther than time does in this shadow. And there's been 17 or so ages, depending on how you count here. In Chaos, new ruling clans are the counter for ages, and most who take the power rule for millennia. I have no idea how far back it goes. I've been told that it started when the first sentient creatures clawed their way out of the Abyss, but I have no idea. What role the Serpent of Chaos plays in that I am unsure, but what is known, is that those who have the Serpent's Favor are lead through the Labyrinth to gain the power of the Logrus.

"The serpent chooses the most evolved and worthy to lead. However, every once in a great while... a new clan will achieve greatness sufficient enough that the serpent changes his mind. The transition tends to be terrible. After the first of the new clan gains the power, the rest hunt down those of the losing clan with Logrus to take their blood and power.

"I have not been home since the age of dragons, and the titans I mentioned were weapons designed to protect the remains of the dragon clan from the wrath of the angels."

He thinks for a while. "Regardless of what it is now, these things are constant. It is massive. If you were to put together all the people in this shadow, and multiplied them by ten, perhaps you would have the equivalent of the clans. It is chaos. Survival of the fittest with dozens if not hundreds of new forms being tried out at a time. Again, if you took this entire world, multiplied it by ten, you might get an idea for the number of cultures and aspects of power within it. We were the originators of sorcery and conjuration, few do it better, and the link to the Logrus just makes it stronger. Some are civilized; some are primal; but all are old, with traditions being honored, even as new methods are tried.

"The worlds that make up the clans are malleable, shifted to the liking of the owners. That's how time flows differently here at your direction. Time in the clans is a weapon. Slow time to skip past rivals, fast time to age heirs to where they can threaten usurpers. From what Alys said, this will likely be a time of great upheaval. It will be very dangerous."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"Then since we don't know exactly where Odin stands and what his goals are precisely, It's probably best to keep you a secret. I'd like you there when we meet with him if possible, but not if it will put you in direct danger or show our hand to him."

[Joshua]

"It likely will. He probably has a similar amount of shapeshifting as I do. He might even be better. On the plus side, he likely doesn't have my knowledge of shadow magic or the artifacts I've managed to acquire. Which includes the shard of this world's divinity." He sighs. "It's been so long. I wonder if I'll even recognize my old world."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra looks intrigued. "Shard of this world's divinity? What's that?"

[Joshua]

"I'm a god here. Well, demon-prince. It's local magic that's focussed on me. The privilege it grants doesn't last all that far into other shadows though." he shrugs. "It means if we meet him here, I can take him, but if he flees into shadow that's another story. Lots of primal planes are similar in that regard."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"Well hopefully there won't be any need for a fight with him. Odin seemed very civilized in his discourse and I don't imagine he'd have gone into the lion's den so to speak if he was planning on causing trouble. If there is some sort of balance that needs to be restored after what Dworkin did, eh may have some key information. Apart from relying on what Odin has to say, do we have other ways of getting current information about what is going on in Chaos? The current state of Houses and the power structure there?"

[Joshua]

"Uh... I have no idea how hard it would be to walk from one to the other. You'd want a guide of some kind and it might take weeks, or months to travel between them." He thinks. "Well, is there anyone else from Chaos in this Amber? Like Alys, although she didn't seem that up to date either... Chaos uses slow and fast time as a weapon. Toss someone into a slow-time shadow and they stay the same as the world changes. Toss an heir into a fast time shadow, and you have adults ready to wrest control of the throne in days, instead of years. It's ... hard to describe. And harder to get clear answers."

He sighs. "Besides, if there was a quick way between them, they'd have invaded you by now."