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July 31, 2003 |
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Amber: The Pink and Sable Sands...
You stand upon the pink and sable sands on the shore of the great sea of Amber. To the north, mighty Kolvir, which has held Amber like a mother her child for all of time, looms into the clouds, the city like a bright jewel upon its breast. Perhaps a score of miles to the south of Kolvir lies Faiella-bionin, the stairway to Rebma, marked by a cairn of stones. You regard the wide, sloping, tiger beach with its sudden twists and rises of coral, orange, pink, and red, and its abrubt caches of shells, driftwood, and small polished stones; and the sea beyond: rising and falling, splashing softly, all gold and blue and royal purple, and casting forth its life-song breezes like benedictions. The color of the sea is very rich -- thick as paint, textured like a piece of cloth. In the distance you can spy the lighthouse of Cabra, welcoming her ships home.
The waves make a steady, calming rhythm against the sands.
Yosannah blinks once or twice in an effort to adjust herself to the lighting and the new location. She spins, slowly, taking in the area. Muttering softly, mostly to herself she says, "My god..." She looks out over the water and then back to Ryker, "This is beautiful."
Ryker spins a little too, though more in the head, steadying himself with a step. It's a long jump from Chaos to Amber, and he doesn't faint, but the drain of it lingers very slightly in his face and slouch for awhile. "Mmm? You've never been here?"
Yosannah shakes her head as she looks back out over the see at a passing skiff, "No. Just to the City, never this close to Kolvir that's for certain."
Ryker finds himself a suitable rock to sit on, jutting out of the sand. "Hell, it's the best part of Amber far as I'm concerned."
Yosannah crosses her arms over her chest, hair wisping over her mouth which she is forced to push away, "I have an obsession with shorelines." She looks over her shoulder at him, noting he has found a place to sit. She moves to join him, "Like the one in Vrokk."
Ryker explains, stretching his back, "In my early days of drawing, when I was still excited about growing my trump deck and having an image of every Shadow, I focused mostly on beaches and bars, since far as I'm concerned those are the key elements to place. Eventually I got over that, I for a long I focused more on strategic spots, dark alleys, hotel rooms, rooftops. Now, many years later, I barely carry any physical trumps around with me anymore. And though I once spent months on end memorizing the vast majority of my cards, I've forgotten at least half, and the ones that linger on, besides faces, pretty much consist entirely of bars and beaches."
Ryker an almost whimsical smile and shrug. Perhaps more close to one of surrender. "Right back to whereI started."
Yosannah sits on a rock very near Ryker's, "Memorizing them... how do you do that?" She tucks her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, interlacing her fingers as she does.
Ryker kind of sits there quietly for a minute, staring out at the coral.
Yosannah regards him for a briefly before interrupting his thoughts, "Ryker? You even here?"
Ryker gives you a faint scowl. "Of course I am." He gives up on whatever he was thinking of or doing. "To answer your question: I can't really answer your question. That is, unless you understand trumps themselves, and their creation, you can't get how to memorize them. Even most artists don't." A wave of his hand. "It's one of those things in life where it's difficult to make sense of, a tough learning curve, but once you do, it's easy."
Yosannah regards him for a moment and then, abruptly, reaches into her pocket and pulls forth a few tarots. She holds them out to Ryker, "I think I have something of an understanding. Here, take a look, I did most of those."
Ryker's scowl turns into raised brow. But he complies, reaching and taking. He merely murmur, "Is that so." As he turns a critical eye to the faces of the cards.
Yosannah nods and offers with a shrug as he inspects the cards, "I learned a few years back. Learned quite a bit from Damen. And then his Aunt, Alayne."
Ryker huhs, remarking distractedly, "I never knew Alayne was a daughter of Brand."
Yosannah nods, leaning into him, peering at the cards as he flips through them,"I don't even use many of these, actually. Some of those Pestilence acquired. I mean when am I gonna call an asshole like Dalt?" She motions to the card as you flip to it.
Ryker ehs. "I knew some, when she was Stone. She's an Amberite, she's a red-head. But since she was with Stone, I didn't dig too deeply on her. Nor did I see much cause to."
Yosannah shrugs at his comments on Alayne, "She was okay. Too..." She searches for the correct word, "stuffy for me. Dalt too, for that matter. In an entirely different way, though." She watches him for a moment, "I don't suppose you're gonna get back to my original question now. You know. Arion. Ada. Come on now, let's have at it."
Ryker frowns at Mariko's trump, lingering on it. Thumb tapping. Mentions, "If you get interested in trading some trumps, let me know. I've got a lot." He hands the stack back, pointing out then, "I had thought we were covering your question about memorizing trumps, but suit yourself. It never really occurred to me to point out Arion and Ada's relationship to you. Where is the need?"
Yosannah considers this and then reaches out her hand and takes the tarots, "The need? Tell me you're kidding. You know how important this is to me. I need to find him. I need to undo what he did, Ryker." She is insistant, "This is -my- life we're talking about." And then, "How long have you known who and what he is? Christ, half of fucking Chaos apparently knows but nobody saw fit to tell me" She indicates herself with her hands. "And you didn't see the need?"
Ryker gestures for you to calm down. "I know it's important to you. And as it turned out in somewhat incredible coincidence, I happened to be in right place twice to figure it out in pretty quick order. Before the half of Chaos you speak of. But even then, I only made the connection because I was thinking so much about it. It's not like someone was walking around saying, 'Hello, I'm the Pestilence, nice to meet you."
Yosannah shakes her head and closes her eyes, obviously fustrated. "This entiresituation is killing me." She bites at the inside lining of her mouth, "Ada's known right along, Ryker. I'm angry and I'm upset that others see fit to make decisions that directly effect my well being yet don't see fit to engage me in their actions." She exhales and swallows as her voice trails off. "I thought I could trust the people of the Church. I clearly can't. I need to trust you. If I can't trust the people of the Club, I'm gonna go insane."
Ryker offers vague support. "Well, you have a right to be upset in general. And at the very least, I wont lie to you. In truth, I was the one who pointed it out to Ada, as I she was there when I figured it. But that's misleading, because I'm still not certain. I pressed Arion about it soon after, once he surfaced. And though most of the fact seem to fit, he didn't cop to stealing Pestilence from you, or knowing where it was. He explained your encounter with him, and his effort to heal you of the diseases, plagues, whatever. But as for him /being/ Pestilence ... I haven't found any evidence on my own, yet."
Ryker says "That, the fact you don't seem to be dying, and the further fact that I have a lot of my own on my hands right now, is why I didn't tell you that I had a suspect. That Arion is Ada's brother /still/ doesn't seem relevant to me, I'll note."
"It is if she's pretending to be a trustworthy friend, knows my situation and is covering for him." She rubs her temples, "Then it most certainly is. And Arion is lying about healing me. I've never met Arion. Ada healed me." She sighs, audibly, "Jesus, they're both playing with me."
Ryker spreads his hands, looking at you with some pity. "Well, they're Chaosian, Yosannah. What do you expect. Ada is better than most, in my opinion. Akin to Nash. But that doesn't change what they are." Ryker wets his lips, "What you need to know most, perhaps, is that while Ada may like you a lot, she loves Arion. And she'll do a lot to protect those she loves."
Yosannah hehs, "I've heard some say the same of Amberites." And then, "If this works out for me, I'm going home for good. Earth home. And washing my hands of everyone and everything across shadow."
Ryker states, "I would say similar of Amberites myself."
Yosannah looks over her shoulder at Ryker, "Promise me if you learn anything else... promise me you'll let me know right away."
Ryker offers, "I don't like passing along rumors or guesses, but I will if you're desperate for them."
Yosannah stands at this, brushing the sand from her pants, "Your rumors and guesses, Ryker, are better then most people's facts." She purses her lips into a smile, "I have to get doing. Head back to Berkeley and then the City so I can get ready for work. Thanks for your time."
Ryker eyes you. "Work? Who works?"
Yosannah stuffs her hands into her pockets, "A person who is trying very hard to maintain some sense of normalcy."
Ryker says "Now there is an effort in futility if I've ever heard one."
Yosannah fishes out her cards and thumbs through them. Settling on one she offers, "To each his own, as they say. Good night, Ryker."
Ryker says "Until next."