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Courts of Chaos
Chaos is hard to get to - it is out of normal
Trump range (though there are Trumps which allow people to get there and back, and it is possible to go via several 'bridging' Trumps), and it takes several months of shadow shifting through many dangerous and unstable shadows (on the other side of Ygg) to reach the Abyss.The last barrier is a range of mountains, beyond which lies a plain the other edge of which is the Abyss itself. This plain, particularly near the edge of the Abyss, is dotted with large metal fortresses assembled there by forces from
Amber to keep watch on the Courts.Distances and Barriers in chaos are a tricky thing. So is spatial comparisons. It must be considered that the distances involved in Chaos, and in shadow, are vast beyond comprehension. In each shadow is a complete universe of worlds, vacuum, space, stars, and distances that are intergallactic in scope. Uncounted numbers of shadows contain these things. Chaos appears to have lost no size by the creation of Amber. If the vast shadowlands did not decrease the size of Chaos then its own size must be vast beyond the reach of mathematics and imagination.
"Where? The senses are such uncertain things, and now mine were strained beyond their limits. The rock on which I stood ... If I attempted to fix my gaze upon it, it took on the aspect of a pavement on a hot afternoon. It seemed to shift and waver, though my footing was undisturbed. And it was undecided as to the portion of the spectrum it might call home. It pulsated and flashed like the skin of an iguana. Looking upward, I beheld a sky such as I had never before set eyes upon. At the moment, it was split down the middle - half of it of deepest night-black, and the stars danced within it. When I say danced, I do not mean twinkled; they cavorted and they shifted magnitudes; they darted and they circled; they flared to nova brilliance, then faded to nothing. It was a frightening spectacle to behold, and my stomach tightened within me as I experienced a profound acrophobia. Yet, shifting my gaze did little to improve the situation. The other half of the sky was like a bottle of coloured sands, continuously shaken; belts of orange, yellow, red, blue, brown, and purple turned and twisted; patches of green, mauve, grey and dead white came and went, sometimes snaking into belthood, replacing or joining the other writhing entities. And these, too, shimmered and wavered, creating impossible sensations of distance and nearness. At times, some or all seemed literally sky-high, and then again, they came to fill the air before me, gauzy, transparent mists, translucent swaths or solid tentacles of colour. It was not until later that I realised that the line which separated the black from the colour was advancing slowly from my right while retreating to my left. It was as if the entire celestial mandala were rotating about a point directly overhead. As to the light source of the brighter half, it simply could not be determined. Standing there, I looked down upon what at first seemed a valley filled with countless explosions of colour; but when the advancing darkness faced this display away the stars danced and burned within its depths as well as above, giving the impression of a bottomless chasm. It was as if I stood at the end of the world, the end of the universe, the end of everything. But far, far out from where I stood, something hovered on a mount of sheerest black - a blackness itself, but edged and tempered with barely perceptible flashes of light. I could not guess its size, for distance, depth, perspective were absent here. A single edifice? A group? A city? Or simply a place? The outline varied each time it fell upon my retina. Now faint and misty sheets drifted slowly between us, twisting, as if long strands of gauze were buoyed by heated air. The mandala ceased its turning when it had exactly reversed itself."
...
"Once again, I beheld the chaotic colours. From my right, the darkness herded them. The land they danced above was rock-cropped and cratered, no sign of any life within it. Passing through its midst, however, from the far horizon" "through a broad pass in the mountains" " somewhere to the right, inky and serpentine, ran what could only be the black road."
'The Hand of Oberon', Chapter VI
Over the Abyss (also known in Chaos as the 'Sea of Stars', from its appearance) hangs the black mass which is the Courts of Chaos, linked to the edge of the Abyss by the seemingly insubstantial shifting bridges known as 'filmies':
"As I continued to stare, fascinated, across the chasm, it was as if my eyes adjusted or the prospect shifted once again, subtly. For now I discerned tiny, ghostly forms moving within that place, like slow-motion meteors along the gauzy strands. I waited, regarding them carefully, courting some small understanding of the actions in which they were engaged. At length, one of the strands drifted very near. Shortly thereafter I had my answer."
'The Hand of Oberon', Chapter VI
Inside, the Courts are a three-dimensional labyrinth of glistening black and red buildings closely packed and intertwining almost organically around tunnels, halls and plazas, with planes and angles which seem just ... wrong. The material of the place shifts and wavers when looked upon, though remaining solid (like the plain at the edge of the Abyss), and this has had serious effects upon susceptible minds. Balconies and windows look out over the Abyss from the belly of the city, a highly disturbing view to one of
Amber. The labyrinth that is the Courts seems to shift and change from time to time, when no-one is looking. Soldiers have been lost in these shifts.The entire Courts of Chaos exude an air of vast age.
Society in Chaos seems to be divided into various noble Houses or families, who dwell in realms knitted together from shadows and parts of shadows, and, apparently, very well defended.
From
Merlin, who really only seemed to know about the Royal House in which he was raised, the rulers of the Courts, a families realm can contain whole worlds, often with wildly varying conditions, environmental and magical, within them, knitted together by or around something very similar to a Black Road which loops and twists through multiple dimensions and links back to its starting point (eventually). Fiona and Bleys, who allegedly had contacts in Chaos during the War (though not, of course, any more, oh no), claimed they knew nothing more than this.
"It was well over six feet in height, with great branches of antlers growing out of its forehead. Nude, its flesh was a uniform ash-grey in colour. I appeared to be sexless, and it had grey, leathery wings extending far out behind it and joining with the night. It held a short, heavy sword of dark metal in its right hand, and there were runes carved all along the blade."
Strygalldwir, in 'The Guns of Avalon', Chapter Two
'"...Women," Ganelon said. "Pale furies out of some hell, lovely and cold. Armed and armoured. Long, light hair. Eyes like ice. Mounted on white, fire-breathing steeds that fed on human flesh, they came forth by night...'"
Ganelon on Hellmaids, in 'The Guns of Avalon', Chapter Four
"I beheld a naked rider on a hairless horse, both deathly pale, rushing in my direction. The rider brandished a bone-white blade; his eyes and the eyes of the horse both flashed red. ... His long white hair shed tiny sparkling motes, and when he turned his head I knew that he was coming for me, for I felt his gaze like a cold pressure across the front of my body."
Kwan, in 'The Hand of Oberon', Chapter VI
"A horned rider on a great black horse was bearing down upon me, something like firelight glowing in his eyes."
An un-named Chaosite, in 'The Courts of Chaos, Chapter 10
"He was waiting for me as I rounded a bend in the depression, a big, corpse-coloured guy with red hair and a horse to match. He wore coppery armour with greenish tracings, and he sat facing me, still as a statue."
Borel, in 'The Courts of Chaos, Chapter 10
The Great Abyss
The Great Abyss is a massive crevice that spans worlds. The origins of the Abyss are cloaked in ancient Chaos history. It is believed that a large number of Lords, styling themselves the Abyssal Lords, had similar ways and had combined them into a vast collection. When Amber was constructed the Rock Kolvir was near the Abyss.
It is difficult to say if the Abyss surrounds Amber of Chaos. What is known is that at the rim of Chaos is the Abyss, no matter where one attempts to cross from Chaos to Amber. By some function of Shadow, those coming out of shadow to Chaos seem to arrive at the same place, The Fane of Zila, also known as the field of the Battle of Patternfall.
The style of Ways that had been combined by the Abyssal Lords were all of the darkest sorts. Hellish, violent, murderous, and terrifying. They were the worst that chaos could muster. Since they all had similar hobbies they all gathered together.
The creation of the pattern multiplied the power of the Ways, raising them to near primal levels themselves. They were ripped from the control of the Lords. They became powerful lords in the Abyss and their allegiance to Chaos was strained and in many cases broken.
Another element of the Abyss that was affected by the creation of Amber is a wide range of magical artifacts, ritual places and forges of creation that were strewn throughout the ways. They were dramatically effected. The simplest and most inconsequential of them were raised to artifact levels of power. Needles to say, the most powerful of them grew proportionally. The Rim Divers who delve the depths of the Abyss for artifacts.
Gutsedvem is a chaotic world of morphing creatures. Its main selling point as a chaos wold in the Black Zone that is friendly to visitors. It is a hospitable world with a wide range of entertainment from mild drama & musicals to extreme orgies and euphorics. They have specially designed a series of methods for shadowdwellers to transport to their world. Portals, shadowtrails of a wide variety of styles, trumps, passage jewels, etc.
This world frequently hosts diplomatic missions. There is a overlaying impulse against violence that permeates the world.
While technically a Black Zone world it has frequent interaction with worlds across shadow, including many in the Golden Circle. They have even recently applied for Ambassadorial status in Amber herself. Its inclusion in the newest Amber Family trumps is seen as a great step towards this.
The Rim
The Rim is a series of mini-ways or 'summer places' belonging to the Lords of Chaos that overlook the Abyss. Many of these are members of of a loose organization called the Rim Divers, who dive in to the depths of the Abyss and come out with treasures and artifacts.
Those who have such laces form a loose faction called the Rim Lords, which has frequently acted as both advisers to the High Lords as well as conduits for merchandise out of shadow.
This is a wide range of realms expanding out from the Abyss that Chaos has frequent exchanges and commerce with. This is the same as the Golden Circle of Amber.
This is the actual capital of the Courts of Chaos. It is a vast, sprawling building comprising halls, chambers, dungeons, temples, hallways, balconies, vistas, museums, and a million other areas. Every lord of chaos, nearly every noble and an uncountable number of gentles and citizens of chaos have private suites and residences in Teldane.
The center of Teldane is the Hall of All. It is the throne room of chaos. Like the same room in Amber it is vast, but nearly everyone within can see and hear the throne. Millions of forms of observation from deep into Chaos and Shadow look in on the doings of the Court.
The Ways of Hendrake
A military fortress of unparralled size. Perhaps the greatest military construction in all shadow.
The
House Hendrake is a military house and the backbone of the military of Chaos.
The Fane of Zila
The Fane of Zila is a greekish collonaded temple that sits the edge of the Abyss. It is also on what is commonly called the fplain of ht Battle of Patternfall.