Session 48: You Don't Wanna Know (9/11/02)Merlin wants to invite a few people. Elayne is wary. He wants to bring Nicola, Phelan, Chatham, Yartrude, and Diamanta. Elayne is inviting Gabrielle and Darian. She adds Despil to the list. Elayne catches Darian before he gets his much needed sleep. He asks to trump her back. They agree to meet in the Gate of Clarissa's shadow. Elayne invites Darian and his wife. A few minutes later, Elayne gets a trump from Electra. Electra wants to know what color Elayne is wearing and has lots of questions of that sort. They talk for a while, but Electra says they will be there. Elayne has just arrived on Toril when Gabrielle trumps her, wanting to help with the wedding. She wants to bring Kynan along. Gabrielle has an armful of cloth when she arrives on Toril. They discuss a bit. Elayne notes that Gabrielle's bruises are starting to heal. Nicola trumps Elayne and also wants to help with the ceremony. Elayne invites her in to Toril. Nicola says that Lord Sawall was not annoyed by the theft of his fiancee but was intrigued by Gabrielle coming up with the trump technique on her own. They discuss how to annoy Dara. Nicola wants to relieve her of some private possession. They discuss other wedding and bachelorette details, like hot men and alcohol. Elayne shows them the sights. Elayne starts bitching about having to have Merlin's baby. This gives Gabrielle to launch into the women of Amber fertility lecture. Darian recovers fully and trumps Bleys. "Having completed stupid thing number one, I'm going to do stupid thing number two." He describes how he wants to drop Corwin in Phelan's realm. Darian then gets a trump from Phelan, inviting him to the bachelor party. Darian agrees to pass along the invitation to Sinclair and Kynan. Darian trumps Kynan, and relays the invitation. Kynan barely contains the laughter. Kynan wants a stronger declaration of truce, so Darian trumps Phelan to get it. (This is complicated!) Then he trumps Kynan back, and Kynan is willing. Then Darian trumps Sinclair and invites him. Sinclair doesn't contain the laughter. Elayne requests some trumps of herself from Gabrielle. Gabrielle offers to draw each of the bodyguards as well. Elayne asks Nicola about bodyguard protocols and gets a lot to think about. (Searching people who enter your presence, etc.) Gabrielle suggests using her position as a fashion setter to set what is rude and what isn't and to use that to full advantage. Nicola mentions that Mallory has arrived. And that she and Phelan keep referring to each other but don't want to talk to each other. Nicola is tempted to throw them in a room together and lock the door. Fast forward to the bachelor and bachelorette parties... Guys: Merlin, Darian, Phelan, Despil, Sinclair, Kynan, Chatham Phelan hosts. They get a little drunk. They have pretzels and peanuts. They start showing off with feats of strengths and attempts at seducing the dancing girls. Despil needles Merlin a bit, in a younger brotherly fashion. Darian harasses Merlin about what Elayne is going to have him wearing for the wedding. Merlin changes the subject to Elliot, saying something about giving him a bonus for punching Bleys. Kynan mentions that Bleys' nose was broken. Darian: "Here, Merlin, I've got a great idea. Crank trump call Gerard and pretend it's Corwin!" Phelan gets broody as he gets drunk. Kynan is convincing in acting much more drunk than he is. Sinclair is acting a little more drunk than he is, but he is wary about giving Darian away. There is a card game going on, but there is also a floor show. Merlin (tanked): Rebmans swim good Darian suggests that Merlin invite his mother. "What's the worst that could happen?" Girls: Alustrial, Elayne, Gabrielle, Nicola, Yartrude, Electra Nicola hosts. They have the coconut drinks. They have male dancers. Gabrielle gives Elayne sex toys and lingerie. Yartrude divulges that Eric wasn't great in bed. Alustrial says Bleys was easy and doesn't leave a woman hanging. Electra complains that Darian kept saying how young she was. Everyone bitches about Dara and Fiona. They plot to kill Dara. At the wedding... Traditionally, a wedding on Toril is called a "handfasting." It is not a state institution as it is on Earth. But they do have a society type wedding. There are three priests (who are actually the three gods, but no one knows that): Lathandar for new beginnings together, Oldimara for luck, Mystra for mages. (Recall that Lathandar is Quiron the Gold Dragon in human form, Mystra is Mika, and Oldimara is Julia.) The ceremony takes place in the garden inside the castle walls. Elayne has her dad walk her down the isle, but that is the extent of his participation. During the ceremony, the officiating cleric (Lathandar) asks each if they will bleed for each other, and they cut their hands. Then the cleric asks Gabrielle if she will support them and also asks a Phelan if he will support them. When the couple pledges their love for each other the priest throws up a platinum piece and asks Oldimara's (the god of luck's) blessing on the union. The platinum piece becomes a bright light that falls on them both. After ceremony, pyrotechnics and grand illusions will fill the sky. There are gryphon flower bearers. It's a sort of game to hinder the couple as they head for the reception, mostly by trying to stop them to talk. Elayne will turn them invisible so they can escape. The reception takes place in a great feast hall in Alustrial's castle. The reception will be filled with torchlight. There is lots of dancing, and the music will be provided by three bards (playing lutes, flutes, fiddles and the like). There is lots of food, including meat, veggies, fruit, and wine. There is also fey-wine, which is a drink more suited to Elves and Amberites than humans. It lasts into the wee hours, after which Elayne and Merlin will teleport to Castle Charm for their honeymoon. The ceremony goes off without a hitch. Despil gets into the game of preventing them from heading to the reception. Merlin dances with all the ladies from the bachelorette parties. Elayne does the same with the men of the bachelor party. Merlin and Darian talk about bring Electra to Amber. Gabrielle and Sinclair do a dance declaring their intentions for each other. Chatham explains that the change in plans at the ceremony was due to an expectation that Phelan's support to be more useful to Elayne and Merlin than Chatham's. Elayne graciously thanks him. Gabrielle dances with Kynan. Gabrielle explains that they are snickering less at him than at the other guys because he wasn't described as easy. Finally, Elayne is opening presents. She gets a tasteful present from Sinclair, Jasra, and Dalt. (Apparently it is in their best interest to support this marriage.) There is also a card. It invites Elayne and Merlin to "dinner for three" at a specified restaurant in Chaos. Signed, "your loving father." Elayne cringes. |