This reached a culmination today, as the Justiciar advanced to the Palace of Rebma, only to be inundated in the huge mass of detritus which has been hanging above the city for years, held up by Rebman Sorcery, after Amber’s policy of dumping its refuse down onto Rebma had continued unabated for at least a decade.
Most of the Justiciar’s own forces had already quit the field, ordered back by Justiciar Duke Harvey, recently returned to the campaign, and Justiciar Countess Lucinda. The stalwart few who were with Osric when the roof fell in on the city were Justiciar Countess Dhalia, Duchess Callista of Rebma, and Lady Savannah of Rebma. Their whereabouts are not known at this time.
In the final analysis, this conflict has to go down as a defeat for Osric. He has gained no territory except a now uninhabitable pile of detritus, at an ocean floor depth of 30,000 feet. He has also captured no murderesses, and brought no guilty parties to justice. The so called accused either managed a skillful vanishing act from right under his nose, or have also choked in a ritual suicide by effluent and pressure. This particular reviewer, while accepting that practices in Rebma may well have been brutal and barbaric, nevertheless is not of the view that they would all have fallen on their metaphorical swords. Wherever they are, they will have survived, and if Osric and his supporters managed to get out alive, then it is clear that what they are smelling of is definitely not roses.
Viscount Charles Wellesley, on site correspondent with the forces of Justice in Rebma.
What of the people of Rebma?
What indeed? As the forces of Justice moved into the city they encountered empty homes, empty shops, empty workplaces, and defenders falling back ahead of them in an orderly fashion. But falling back to where?
The Palace was empty upon arrival, and at certain key places in the city there were entirely empty lots, where a building once stood. Rebma clearly packed up and left.
Well, well, well. How did Charles Wellsley get on here?
As a Russian, I am all too aware of the scorched Earth tactic in Warfare, but never like before.
Does anyone know the status of the legal charges? As long as Mandor and Osric see fit to continue prosecution some things will have to remain secret.
(Purely speculative questions….
Wellesley seems to have missed out an important point in his analysis…the Rebman Pattern and the metaphysics involved.
People, buildings, and some fugitives can’t rank with a Pattern in terms of objectives.
“Keeping an eye on the Prize” Osric’s objectives are only part of the equation and it is unclear to what extent he has cooperated in the two pronged plot to see Rebma change hands. If there is still a Rebman Pattern under the muck, and Osric is nominally in possession of it…then the evaluation of objectives achieved may need to alter somewhat.
Some questions might be:
Is the Rebman Pattern intact under the debris?
To what extent is the relationship between the Amber pattern and its Rebman and Tir na Og altered?
Has the Rebman Pattern actually been moved? If so, how was that accomplished and again what affect might that have on the relationship between the three realms?
Can one expect the Rebman city to “reconstitute” as part of the described relationships in reality with the “Eternal City”?
To what extent is damage extant in Amber and Tir that reflect the mayhem below? Are there sympathetic affects?
At the very least, it is startling to hear Amber has been dumping 10 years of untreated effluent between the castle and Cabra. It must have made outdoor summer garden parties a bit wiffy to say the least. 🙂 And beach parties…not so much.
If Osric is in possession of either the Rebman Pattern or the ground on which it will reboot the “Reflection beneath the Waves”, the Wellesley analysis may be short sighted. Excrement smeared or no, a pattern is a pattern, which is a point an elder soldier is unlikely to miss or scruple at taking. His fugitives may have slipped the net for the time being, but he’d still be up by a realm.
What is the relationship between Osric and those who sued him in complaint? Surely Osric is too experienced not to see a conspiracy when he’s being asked to be its tool? Is he in for a cut? How will that shape up? Will he be standing there with Callista and Savanna when the Rebman pattern hits the reset button?
Osric has been around for quite some while, as has the Dragon Throne. It seems premature to declare defeat quite so early, particularly under circumstances such as these.
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I suspect that there are those that have more intelligence on this matter and do know the answers to questions posed. I offer that no one is under obligation to share that intelligence on this unsecured site.
I’m no Patternologist, but when describing Amber’s relationships to Rebma and that ghost city I’ve never heard anyone talk about sympathetic effects trickling uphill to the source. In fact…Amber seems pretty far from sympathetic.
About the rest…well…I dunno. I bought an interesting book at an estate sale recently, but I’ve yet to crack it open to see if it’s worth a read. It’s called Reflex and Reflection: The Will to Form in a Dynamic Multiverse. I doubt it’s family-penned, but stranger things have happened. Anyone ever heard of a Dr. Aleksi Dvorkin? 🙂
There didn’t seem to be any blowback that I could see in Amber proper. Even if there is, the Patternologists aren’t taking this lightly. I suspect things are in good hands and that Osric knows better than to cross that bridge.
As for that book, I might have to check it out myself. Whether enlightening or contextually amusing, it sounds like a good read.
I can say with some authority that Powers can move.
Is that an insight based on previous experience, or this particular example?
Now that you mention it perhaps both.