Because Because Because Because Because...!!! (Mint & Winnow)

Mint will check the places where torch holders exist in the original room and if they exist here and seem sturdy she will place and light torches. If they don't she will rig something up.

"I can use the spell in my mind to open a gate to somewhere with natural light, but I'm sort of saving it for an exit strategy at the moment."

"They think there's a witch queen down here. Dunno if they're right yet."

Once they have more light Mint will try to figure out how this thing died. She will look for wounds, dis-coloration, breaks, and other signs of damage. She also tries to get a sense of whether this Griffon was merely an impressive beast or something far more substantial.

"How did it get in here in the first place?"

Anything pulled from the griffin's mummified corpse will pretty much dissolve pretty soon into chunks of dust.

Beneath him/her/it, there is a carving in the floor, that somewhat resembles the Pattern in shape. However, it is just a carving. He feels no trace of power here, not in the carving.

Since not all of the griffin is accessible, Mint can find no specific wounds. On the other hand, the wings seem too small for the creature, as if they were stunted perhaps. Difficult to tell without another specimen for comparison. But the creature was at least twenty five yards from beak to the beginning of its tail.

Further examination will turn up the remnants of a human skeleton in pieces. Off in one corner they find a grimy, twisted tiara.

Mint carefully fills a sample phial with Griffin dust.

Upon discovery of the human corpse she say, "I think I found the Witch Queen."

"What a shame. We cannot preserve a token of this creature for those above, and there is no trace of Power left in the Patternlike inlay on the floor. Perhaps the dust will serve, or that crown." He sighs, somewhat melancholy at this scene.

He will search for any other openings of significance - doors, anything. If he finds nothing, he will say to Mint, "Well, I am baulked. I had hoped to make some discovery of significance. Shall we go talk to the priests above? Perhaps at least they will appreciate the knowledge of this chamber. "

"Then we have a ship to set right and a crew to sail her."

"I suspect that if they knew we were here the monks would not approve. I don't see any reason to inform them of this sad state of affairs."

Mint does not take the tiara, but she will not discourage Winnow from doing so.

Mint will check the rest of the sealed off area of the Castle for anything else of interest. If nothing more turns up she will cast the spell she has held in her mind and open a connection back to the room in Umbar.

Do they find anything else?

Winnow will take the tiara. While the pathos of the scene does resonate with him, it has nothing to do with the superstitions of the priests above, only the nobility and fate of the great beast. He has an intuition it may be of some use later.

He will follow Mint through the portal when they are done, then barring any incidents and accidents, he will desire to get to suprvising the refit of the Celeste. He finds great satisfaction in doing so, as all good sailors love a taut well-found ship.

Not long after, during preparations on the Celeste, a reaction from the people in the streets of Umbar gets Mint's and Winnow's attention. People are pointing up.

There, very high in the sky, flies a silhouette with a huge wingspan. The body's shape seems quite familiar. A lion's body for the most part. A griffin.

It soars literally from horizon to horizon, without stopping. The wings on this creature are far, far larger than upon the mummified creature the two had seen below ground, although the body itself is only a fraction longer.

"Back to work, you lubbers!" Winnow cheerfully bullies the the crew back to their duties, assuming they haven't collapsed in hysterics at the omen. He does ask the most senior of them how long it has been since a griffin was seen in these parts.

He will go find Mint and speak privately with her, making sure no crew can hear.

"A strange coincidence. The live one overhead's wingspan was sufficient to fly. Perhaps the ancient one in the cavern was stunted, or bound, in some way kept prisoner? Or perhaps it was a juvenile? Or a hybrid of some sort? Your thoughts?"

The most senior Umbarite reports a year without seeing the Griffin (one can hear the capital letter) isn't too odd, but two is almost unknown.

Mint speaks quietly to Winnow taking care to avoid any other overhearing.

"I mistrust coincidence. The two seem of a species. It would not surprise me if this one searches for the other. If it remains for an hour I can facilitate their reintroduction via a portal. Frankly I'm just pleased that such a fine beast is not extinct. The locals seem happy enough to see it as well. Do you think it is sentient?"

An Umbarian approaches the two. "Your pardon," he says. "I thought Captain Winnow might want more detailed information. My uncle works for an historian, and from him I've heard a lot more about Griffins than most. According to him, the greatest number of Griffin sightings was during the reign of good King Derek, three centuries past. That number was five inside a single year in the skies above Umbar. But that included the Griffin coming twice when the throne was vacated--when King Derek died in battle, succeeded by his brother Unwin who then abdicated at the end of the year for his half-brother King Chance the Great. But travelers insist Griffins have been seen in neighboring lands, about as often as here. Always near mountains though."

"Do you know how long such visits tend to last? Also are these magnificent creatures known for their intelligence or only as great and noble beasts?"

"Unless a new monarch is to be crowned, all we ever see is when they fly overhead. Then of course they land near the castle ruins and we see who among the royal family will be allowed to approach. As for intelligence," he shrugs. "They are beyond our ken."

Unless Winnow does something about the Griffon, Mint will allow it to fly away without interruption.

She divides her time until the ship is ready to depart between visiting Umbar, carving her half mask, and researching a new spell. She is available if Winnow wants her help with anything. She will make sure to acquire a single volume history of Umbar at a Book Seller before they depart.

Winnow thanks, then dismisses the helpful sailor. He does not want to interfere with the flying Grifin.

When they have privacy again, he says to Mint, "Derek - Eric, Unwin - Corwin, Chance - Random. And Chance the Great reigns still, though he is more of a figurehead, from what the port official said about the Grand Council holding most of the power. Still, even a figurehead can have good influence, and they wouldn't call him 'The Great' for no reason. And the Griffins are stand-ins for the Unicorn, though they seem more natural and perhaps live and breed in the mountains far from here."

"I wonder if there was an analogue of your father. And...something just occurred to me. My knowledge of Amber and its normal shadows' mythology is spotty, but I did spend some weeks devouring many recommended books of the Library...isn't there a myth of a Queen Titania of the faerie, and her lover or King, called Oberon? Yet none of our King Oberon's known wives was named so...but here we have a dead Witch Queen by that name, from ancient times, and a stunted Griffin laying on a Patternlike thing with no Power."

"I could imagine any number of scenarios, involving a lover of our Oberon, or of a shadow of him, shapechanging Griffins mating with humans here and either begetting Titania or their Oberon if such exists, or mating with those themselves, or some kind of conflict or fratricide. And the Griffins still remember something, whether by instinct or choice, and they select the kings here in turn."

"We could investigate the history of this place some more, to search for correlations with the real World. Or we could go try to speak to Griffins, to see if they are sentient and can tell us something. I have the tiara, which the priests and the griffins may remember, for good or ill. Or we could sail as soon as the Celeste is put to rights. My mind is divided, and I have no strong inclination. What are your thoughts?"

"As far as I can tell this is just a Shadow. It bears a close resemblance to Amber, but beyond that it has only the importance that we choose to give it. I'm not inclined to give it much. Give me a half hour to fetch a book on the local history and I'm ready to go."

"Its uniqueness lies in its close resemblance to Amber that has remained undiscovered, until now. The distortion to me indicates it is 'out of phase' or in some other way aside from the usual run of shadows. Thus its uniqueness is not of itself, but of its hidden position - perhaps a whole hidden fjord of shadows in a metaphysical crevice, that someone has had all to himself...and if that thing on the floor was a broken Pattern, then...then I am not sure what, but I feel there is something important to be learned. However, I have no idea how to proceed. Perhaps the investigations of our extended cousins have turned up something that will illuminate."

He slaps his hands together, then brushes them off, as if ridding himself of uncertainty. "I will arrange for your errand."

He calls over the sailing master [let's call him Franclen], who by convention is automatically second in command in the absence of any other appointed officer, and instructs him to send a cox'n and two hands to row Mint over to the wharf, and wait for her there. He will then ask Frankclen of the progress they have made and his assessment of how long it will take before they can sail safely, and well, including the state of the hull, rigging, and ship's stores. There should be at least a month's stores aboard, including food, water, and libations, as well as the usual run of spare sails, spars and rigging, cables and hawser, all the usual.

"If we want information from this side of the rift I would be more inclined for us to try to sail for the home of these strange Crimson Unicorn types than to spend time here snatching at Shadows. If this place ever had true power then only the dregs remain."

Mint makes the trip and returns with a purchased volume which provides a good overview starting with ancient legends and extending to relatively recent times. She also replenishes her personal stock of rope and torches.

Having never been it terrible shape, the Celeste is soon put to rights. After returning Mint to the ship, Franclen asks Winnow if they will be attempting to sell any of the cargo, which rumor says is some exotic herb?

A quick glance at her book tells Mint the current monarch of Umbar is Queen Thyme, granddaughter a couple of dozen times removed from Chance the Great. Her parents were Princess Brenda and a warrior named Malice.

Mint laughs at the mention of a local ruler named after a Spice, but otherwise focuses her energies on working on that new spell that she has begun researching. She leaves the business of the ship to Winnow and the new crew.

(OOC:exotic herb?)

Winnow will consult with Franclen about selling the root. First, will there be any legal issues? He has no idea if this stuff is intoxicating to the locals. Second, can it be done quickly? He wants to sail with the next tide, no more than a few hours. The ship can be warped up to the dock for unloading, and longshorement hired to unload, but can Franclen arrange for a buyer in cash, quickly? They don't need to get the best of prices, and Franclen can take a generous commission.

If there is some kind of easy-to-obtain commodity to load aboard ship at the same time, something unusual, even rare, and relatively portable (for example, spices or silks) he will be happy to take those aboard as part payment. More profit each way. The fact that Winnow could travel into shadow and obtain money doesn't come into it - it's the principle of the thing. Rather like an Amberite articist could obtain fabulous works in shadow, but that wouldn't be of as much value as making the artwork himself.

Bottom line, though, he does not want to delay much.

Winnow intends the money eventually to go to the former ship owners. If it turns out to be a great deal, perhaps he can buy the ship from them. It's a confirmed principle that sailors get attached to their ships, especially those they spend time and sweat on to sail and repair.

Before they sail Winnow will give the crew a short speech.

"Men, I'll make this short. We will be voyaging into unknown waters. There may be danger, though I am not seeking it out. But the Lady Mintabilia and I are looking to find a way back to our homes waters. You will be well paid, but I cannot guarantee you will ever see Umbar or your homes again. So if you have those here with whom you cannot bear to part, you have my leave and good wishes to depart, having been well paid for your service. But if you wish adventure, a seaman's life, and the possibility of riches under my command, I hope you stay and crew the good ship Celeste with me."

He will let anyone off that wishes, and then they will sail with the tide.

Mint will keep a small sample of the Mana Root in case they need it later. Other than that she stays out of the way.

Too little time to make those kinds of arrangements, which would need a day or two at least. Although Franclen believes the mana root very valuable indeed, having tasted a tiny sample. Turns out he's something of a cook and says selling this in almost any city should be relatively easy and quite profitable. He feels Umbar would be an excellent such port, but doesn't think there's time--high tide is in a mere seven hours.

Presumably Winnow had hinted at the kind of voyaging when recruiting a crew. The only ones even a little askance are the Estcarpi, but they're fatalistic. They've zero notion where Umbar is relative to their homeland anyway. From their perspective, everything they do at this point is rolling the dice. Not exactly happy about that fact, but resigned and somewhat hopeful.

Glancing through her book, Mint also learns that Queen Titania's flag was a red griffin on black. She sees other names scattered in the history that seem almost familiar--Fernando, Josephine, Abel, Florinda the Fair (this evidently was a cruel joke--the lady in question was a hunchback and considered the most cunning spymaster in history), Blaisdel, Benedictus, Julius, Prosper, Fergund, Reenia, Dorcon. A Shadow of Amber indeed, but including aspects of this mysterious other family, shuffled and altered.

When the Celeste heads out from Umbar, sunset is upon them. The moon is gibbous, the stars in constellations neither Winnow nor the Estcarpi recognize. Franclen points out the zodiacal sign of The Turtle, whose head points due south.

Mint feels a Trump contact. It is of course still somewhat garbled.