A Loonytic in the Court of King Random

[Ace Dreamer]

I don't see any reference elsewhere to this... Though "Lord of Light" was suggested, which is a good idea!
Unless you feel an Amber light prevents you from considering this idea! [grin]
Doug arrives in Amber, which is admittedly another multiverse in it's own right. For a fun arrival he pops in in the Pattern chamber under Castle Amber, on his bike, and rides to the centre of the Pattern, while still unconscious. (How and Why obviously raise interesting questions! [grin]) Someone has to go in and move him to somewhere more convenient (having a bike parked in the middle of the Pattern _might_ cause trouble!), which happens before he becomes conscious.
Doug wakes up in a bed in Castle Amber, with _lots_ of people wanting to talk to him about who his Amber ancestor is, which faction he will align with, and how he learned such an _unusual_ method of Pattern Walking! And, he has his bike, parked on the carpet, in the bedroom, with him, just to bemuse him.
Note that Doug's bike, being a high tech item (with his helmet) that would not normally work in Amber, is going to come in for considerable interest; has Doug involuntarily enchanted his bike at some point so it doesn't care about what the local laws of reality are?
Does Doug's magic work in Amber? I think so!
What are the consequences of him having Walked the Pattern? Does this maybe give him another way home?
Whoes secret plans are advanced by Doug being there? Or, interfered with?
Do the Amberites think he is another lost child of Oberon? [grin] Or, given the chaos that swirls around him, Dworkin? [bigger grin]
This is a setting that could really test Doug's political skills, and where his magic will not give him the edge it might elsewhere?
And, if Doug gets put in the position of trying to Walk through Shadow to get home, will he create a Shadow which is Warriors World, and how long before he starts to doubt it's true reality?
He could stumble through all sorts of strange Step-lets on the way, even the odd anime cameo!
And, once he leaves the Amber multiverse (probably via the Primordial Pattern, or the Abyss), do any fragments left of his command of Pattern do him any good, anywhere else?
And, what will it do to Doug, knowing a place in Shadow exists somewhere, where he could be the god of his own reality?
Just a few suggestions...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[drakensis]

> Though "Lord of Light" was suggested, which is a good idea!
Thanks
> For a fun arrival he pops in in the Pattern chamber under Castle Amber, on his bike, and rides to the centre of the Pattern, while still unconscious. (How and Why obviously raise interesting questions!
Since he should have gone up like a firework, yes.
> Doug wakes up in a bed in Castle Amber, with _lots_ of people wanting to talk to him about who his Amber ancestor is, which faction he will align with, and how he learned such an _unusual_ method of Pattern Walking!
Probably in convuluted ways that he doesn't really follow. Bear in mind that however petty they are Amberites are demi-gods and invariably past-masters of politics with a whole bunch of unspoken rules that Doug would know nothing about.
> Does Doug's magic work in Amber? I think so!
That close to the centre of things? I don't.
> And, if Doug gets put in the position of trying to Walk through Shadow to get home, will he create a Shadow which is Warriors World, and how long before he starts to doubt it's true reality?
Possible. the main arguement against Amber as a step as I see it, is that it's a one-shot home-run since any Amberite could take him directly home if they wanted to.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Ace Dreamer]

> > For a fun arrival he pops in in the Pattern chamber under Castle Amber, on his bike,
> > and rides to the centre of the Pattern, while still unconscious. (How and Why obviously
> > raise interesting questions!
> Since he should have gone up like a firework, yes.
Yes... Though a lot of Doug's combat abilities resemble those of an Amberite, though with less stamina.
"Who" is responsible is likely to be the interesting question!
> > Doug wakes up in a bed in Castle Amber, with _lots_ of people wanting to talk to him
> > about who his Amber ancestor is, which faction he will align with, and how he learned such
> > an _unusual_ method of Pattern Walking!
> Probably in convuluted ways that he doesn't really follow. Bear in mind that however petty
> they are Amberites are demi-gods and invariably past-masters of politics with a whole
> bunch of unspoken rules that Doug would know nothing about.
They do know how to deal with outsiders, who know little or nothing of Amber.
And, I never said life would be easy for Doug!
> > Does Doug's magic work in Amber? I think so!
>
> That close to the centre of things? I don't.
Sorcery seems to work just about everywhere. I don't see why Doug's magic doesn't fill in this catagory.
> > And, if Doug gets put in the position of trying to Walk through Shadow to get home, will
> > he create a Shadow which is Warriors World, and how long before he starts to doubt it's
> > true reality?
>
> Possible. the main arguement against Amber as a step as I see it, is that it's a one-shot
> home-run since any Amberite could take him directly home if they wanted to.
Only if the Amber multiverse of Shadows is the one Doug is native to. The Amber rulebook suggests that there may well be other Ambers, and other complete sets of Shadows (Corwin's Pattern is one joker in this respect). Also, another multiverse, like Doug's, might well not work on the same principle as Amber and its Shadows, which could make him just as real as any Amberite...
That is, assuming I have Bob's cosmology right, here.
Doug could get really upset if he thinks someone is trying to palm him off with a fake version of Warriors World... One give away might be what differences his Mage Sight would see if he looked at Hexe...
Anyway, I thought it might be worth discussing...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Bob Schroeck]

It's an interesting idea, but I think I'll be staying away from Amber. It's a fun read, and I've played Corwin in a couple of live action Amber games, but it doesn't really play to my strengths as a writer.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[zojojojo]

Maybe Ace can be the first to pen a DW meta-fanfic... or is that a fan-fanfic?
In any case, if it's that appealing an idea but not your strength, why not collaborate? Or be the technical resource for someone else to write a non-cannon DW fic set there?
Personally, I tried reading Amber and didn't like it... but I'm notably wierd...
-Z, Post-reader at Medium
----
If architects built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.

[offsides]

---

Maybe Ace can be the first to pen a DW meta-fanfic... or is that a fan-fanfic?

---

Too late - Nathan Baxter, aka Valles already has - see www.eclipse.net/~rms/dwxanth.html for "Doug in Xanth"...
Offsides
Drunkard's Walk Forum Moderator and Prereader At Large

[Bob Schroeck]

I wouldn't mind more, you know...

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ace Dreamer]

While I am flattered, my (distributed) fanfic output so far, consists on a "spamfic" called "Cute Dwarf" (an anime Red Dwarf x-over), archived on RAAC if anyone was mad enough to want to see it.
I would likely get on better with my "Pretty Soldier Sailor Skylark", an original SF set of stories (not generally distributed), set around an interstellar merchanter "The Skylark", in a world under threat from Universe Eaters (that's right, they eat universes!). While no doubt Doug could have fun with them and their problems, I don't think the universe would be of enough general interest for even a faux Step, seeing as the whole point (I think) is how Doug interacts with already known, mainly anime style, settings. On the other hand, how _would_ Doug get on with a starship crewed by eleven women, physically identical except for hair and eye colour? [grin] They _do_ have quite a high turn-over in their (male) captains! [grin]
I can see a few things that might be done in an Amber Step, particularly with rubbing a few people's noses into how stuck up and paranoid they are, but the really major consideration would be how screamingly unethical Doug would think almost all Amberites are. Personally I would rate Doug as about mid ranking in the Amberite power and skill stakes, though many will have a much wider range of skills than him. He does fall down on the endurance, though, not being demi-god like, and would have to make sure most fights didn't last very long.
I will think on this a bit, and I would be quite happy to at least discuss some ideas by e-mail.
Thanks, again.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind