The Origin of the GenCon Amber Campaign

We began the scenario at GenCon in 1986 by being in prison! Every one of the players were approached, either while in Amber or in Shadow, and captured and locked away in the dungeon. All of our items of power were taken from us, and we were left to wonder and fume at our predicament. Also locked up in the center of the cell was Julian, raving mad.

Finally Fiona and Caine entered. It seems that Amber was under attack from unknown sources, and we were being held, not exactly under suspicion, but just as a precaution. We all protested our innocence, but we were told that until we were cleared, we would remain imprisoned. If there was another attack, then we could be considered innocent. Oh, and by the way, they were in charge: Random and many others had left Amber, and no one knew where they were (or were talking.) Then they left.

Later that night, Bronwyn was able to Shadow Shift enough (I know we are very close to the Primal Pattern in Amber, but that is a measure of her power) to get the keys to the manacles. Silently, we passed keys around, while keeping a watch on the guards outside.

Suddenly a troll-like creature appeared before the guard, savagely killing him. The other guard fared no better. Two of our group managed to tear the manacles from the wall, while the rest of us escaped using the keys. The troll broke open the cell door and entered. Some tried to attack the troll, but were shrugged off easily. The troll seemed intent on killing Julian, but Bronwyn attempted to rescue her father, and I stepped between them and was rapidly knocked aside. The troll then tore Julian apart before our eyes.

Just then the troll shimmered and melted into the shape of Julian! The slain Julian was a Shadow double, and Julian was making it seem as though he were dead. Bronwyn verified that it was her father by her sensitivity to the Pattern which he shared. He forced us to go along with his scheme while locking ourselves back up. We promised that we would be in touch. He Trumped out.

When Fiona and Caine and the guards finally arrived, they found us partially knocked about but still chained and Julian dead. The troll creature that we described was similar to those that had been attacking Amber, so we were out from under suspicion. We were released to go our own ways. Most of us stayed in Amber to find out what was going on. We had no luck contacting anyone by Trumps who was not in Amber, and all of our sources of information couldn’t tell us very much, either.

Bronwyn and I had a long discussion as to what we could or should do: we were not very pleased with Caine and Fiona running things. We decided to try to contact Corwin, and convinced three others, including Lance, to assist us. We had not had any success contacting any of them singly, so we decided to try a group contact. We were also concerned about someone eavesdropping the Trump contact. One of us had the brilliant suggestion about using the Pattern to shield and focus the contact, so all five of us cramped into the center of the Pattern and Lance contacted Corwin.

Success! Corwin was on a Hellride, and asked for us to pull him through. Unfortunately, what we pulled through was a tentacled creature which immediately began to eat away at the Pattern. Bronwyn tried to shift it away, but it was focused on Lance and could not be moved. Two others Patterned out. I grabbed Lance and (hopefully) the creature, and Patterned to the Vale of Arden. At least I got Lance away, but the creature stayed. Lacking a focus, however, it was quickly Patterned away by Bronwyn (into Fiona’s bedroom) where it destroyed later.

Unfortunately the destruction of the Pattern continued. Bronwyn was only able to slow the deterioration, until finally Caine and Fiona arrived to assist the reconstruction of the Pattern.

After recovering from the fight, Lance and a friend used a Trump Corwin had given Lance long ago of a Texaco station. Upon arriving they found the station beside a black road, at the literal edge of a Shadow. The owner of the station recognized Lance and presented him with a low black automobile called a Shadowcar. It seems this vehicle carries part of the Pattern as a motor, and travels the black roads (I was reminded of “Roadways” here) among the Shadows. These Shadows seem to be the ones formed by Corwin’s Pattern, and that car is the only means of entering this Pattern.

The rest of us had dinner with Caine and Fiona, where we finally heard the full story. It seems Corwin (it had to be Corwin, although it was not said whose idea it was) had become convinced that Deirdre was still alive in the Abyss, and convinced Random, Benedict, and Gerard to help him search. Thus they were out of Trump contact. To make matters worse, Random took with him the Jewel of Judgement. They left Fiona and Caine behind in charge of things (which was asking for trouble, if you ask me.)

About this same time the attacks on Amber had started, and no one could say why. No one in the Courts of Chaos seemed to be responsible, so we were left wondering.

About this time the game broke up. It was almost six o’clock, and I was looking at a six-hour drive back home Sunday evening. I was only planning to stay until 3:00, but I was having such a good time that I kept putting it off until we were finished.

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