Saving Grace
The ‘War’ against the invaders was going well, Benedict’s plans were meticulous as usual and we’d pushed them back all the way to the Fire Gate. Their backs against the wall, we continued to push.
We’d thought that Benedict was just 'that good' and that nothing could stand in his way – and to be honest, other than that little spat with Corwin, no one had ever considered Benedict defeat-able in anything. But the feelings of elation and the cheers of victory were all too soon.
The curtain of… Crumbling Shadow… to our rear, the rapidly dwindling forces of Chaos to the front, the Black Road, no more than 5 miles long. A momentary distraction as Brand appears with the Jewel of Judgement and is shot by Caine.
And that’s when things took a turn for the worst…. Why? Who knows but it was at that moment that the Black Road unravelled. Power previous poured into the Black Road, now unleashed, rushed back into Chaos like an elastic band finally released from its pinions. The raw strength was exhilarating and petrifying as it passed over us, through us, and around us. And that’s when it dawned on even the slowest of us – this is what Chaos was waiting for…. They’d fought their rearguard action waiting for the return of their strength and drawn in our forces making us easy targets.
It was, magnificent and mind blowing. Raw chaos erupted from the ground as tendrils of energy ripped men limb from limb, the retreating chaos horde now stood its ground and pushed hard. A summoned demon host boiled out of the abyss, decimating our flanks. And at our rear, was the undeniable truth of the crumbling shadow that would spell our doom.
Many fell. The Pattern was simply too weak to withstand the concerted effort of the Lords of Chaos, so close to their home and so filled with Power. There was little we could do. What defence we could muster was being rapidly broken.
I’m not quite sure what happened next, but it was Corwin. He did something with Greyswandir, embedded it into the ground possibly. A moment’s silence where it almost appeared that the Universe held its breath – then everything went white… no, black… then… your room!
Summary:
Amber has lost the Patternfall War in a Big way and you’ve been deposited back into your rooms in Castle Amber. How, why, when, where, the others? Who knows, I’ll leave you to find this out. As always, our lives in the defence of Amber, the One True City!
The game is for 3+ players and will be run using traditional ADRPG rules and a home-brew Partial Powers system - and of course, NO DICE!
- Move to the Design For Living Pages.