The weather around the fountain has improved markedly. Tiny fragments of ice still bob there, but it is useable as a fountain once more, although it is need of repair. At least it no longer freezes alcohol-water mixes.

Dirk pulls a card out of his pocket.

Amy is glad to be able to wander by the fountain without getting snagged and brought to an ice palace. She continues her usual routine of going from Inn to Hospital, continuing to take care of all the folks of the city as she trains others to be medical providers and also does her own fair share of triage, herb collecting, treating and so on. Currently she's on her way FROM the hospital up to the Inn. She pauses to look at the strange fountain.

The return to something like normality is heralded by Filinia coming to scowl at the makeshigt water delivery system. Her bag is on her shoulder, her scowl is on her face.

*makeshift

Danielle walks along with a mildly distracted air, though not the i'm going to run in to something right in front of me distracted . she gives amy a wave as she heads toward the fountain sticking her right ring finger(the one with somethyng special beneath)in the water

Dirk is walking near the fountain humming softly and looking tired.

Filinia stops a bit short of the fountain, sees who is there, shakes her head, and turns to walk away again.

Amy waves to Danielle, and steps back, to allow the other woman room to get to the water. "Hi Dani. Hi Dirk. Hi Filinia," she greets everyone. "How are things?"

Mortimer for the most part appears to be rested, his hair in less of a haphazard flop, might have even attempted to comb it as of late... Hands tucked behind his back as he comes down from the Entertainment District to the Lower City. A small grin for those that pass him as he stops to stare at the fountain with both curiosity to what it might try to do this time, or if he will be pulled to the frozen palace. His smile grows as he spots the others, "Hello ladies, and Dirk. It's a shame that we didn't get the phonograph from the palace."

Filinia winces when noticed. She freezes, considers, and then something catches her attention. "Phonograph?" Her brown-eyed brown-oil-stained gaze turns on the rather better dressed man.

Danielle withdraws her finger from the fountain and then concentates hard looking both at her finger and the fountaib

Amy smiles, turning her attention to Mortimer. "Hi Mortimer. How are you doing?" she asks easily.

Dirk pulls out a card and focuses on it. He chews on his lip a bit to help focus.

Danielle rolls with advantage 1 at difficulty 15, using occult, pattern initiate.
The result is a success.

Mortimer looks to Filinia, "Yes. Phonograph. There was a lovely piece, violin, that was playing in..." He points at the fountain, "There, at a frozen palace." His smile changes to one that looks like he's proud about it. "A lovely piece indeed, had a plaque next to it, written or performed by a Mortimer. we're not sure, though a good dance piece. Would have been nice to figure out how to bring it back." He shifts to Amy, "I am well. Been spending more time on the upper side of the city as of late. And you?" Then looking over to Dani, "Are you trying to drown your finger?"

To Danielle's sight, a couple of things happen as she concentrates. First, she sees the powers around this area, which are of course mostly full-on place of great magic... and she sees the tiny glow of power in her bone, directionally seeking the fountain, and then as Dirk concentrates it moves suddenly and with great force towards him, a dramatic flinging-out of magic. To everyone else's sight, Danielle is looking at her hand, her eyes glazed curiously, and then suddenly flings out her arm towards Dirk with a small crack just like a tiny bone breaking. Crunch!

Yes, Danielle, that DOES hurt rather, now you mention it...

Filinia was listening to Mortimer, and then there is an interested look in her eye as she obviously tries to work out how to transport machinery, and then there is a CRACK and she sags, brought back to the world.

To Dirk's sight, the picture in his hand moves and changes, and then the cold on it solidifies, and he is looking at a person. Red-headed, Striking features - a nose like a hawk, black robes, pale skin. Frost is forming on her even as she grabs for a staff and stands up. The connection is not yet strong enough to pull her through.

Amy is originally relaxed, but that crack catches her attention, just like ... magic. "That's not a good sound." Glancing around brings her attention to Dani and Dirk.

Dirk tries to stay focused on the Trump. "Shit"

"That..." Mortimer's attention snaps to the loud crack, "That did not sound pleasant."

Filinia knows what trouble is. She backs away, sets off, starts running. General direction: hell outta here.

Dirk is still fighting to keep contact.

Danielle screeches "Holy. Okay..I am seriously going to regret this" She says resting the hand with the "ring" and now fractured finger on dirk's shoulder

Amy takes a breath, and keeps an eye on Dani's finger now, reaching to hold the pattern in her mind as she does so.

Amethyst rolls with advantage 1 at difficulty 15, using occult, pattern meditation.
The result is a success.

Filinia flips a coin. The result is: Tails

Now Danielle can see the woman too. Intelligent eyes, a look of determination, and one hell of a lot of power in her. She speaks - and the speech echoes from the fountain as well as from her lips, so that Dirk and Danielle hear it in stereo. "You're going to need more to keep it ali- BLOODY HELL YOU GOT A TAG!" Danielle's finger does something exquisitely inhuman and horrific, and those who can see magic in its many forms see two things; there is a vertex of power going into that Trump, and the tiny little bright tag that was seated inside Danielle's finger blasts towards the card, falling into the vertex and fighting it, but ultimately failing and getting sucked in.

Dirk rolls with advantage 1 at difficulty 15, using combat, combat trained.
The result is a success.

"What in the..." Mortimer stares at Dani and Dirk. It's like train wreck, where you know you should try to help, and instead keeps staring at the commotion and that noise. "What is that noise? Is that from your finger?! Dani! Dirk?!"

Filinia is rapidly disappearing. And gone.

Danielle gives a grimace of pain and consternation but she has a question which she tries to ask "Is iy yours"

Naturally, the fountain freezes. So do several pigeons overhead, which is surprisingly horrific as they then crash-land. Then the vortex of power stabilises, and the woman says, now echoing through frozen pipes, "Yes. It's a marker to find me. If you're trying to punch through the fog, you'll need a lot more power. I never did go well with your family cards. Get closer. I'm still alive." All the magic in the area is still going into the Trump, but at least now it is stable. The image is getting no more solid, however. Although all of the water in the surrounding area is.

Dirk is hunkering down and bracing. his focus is on the card.

"Is a tag a good thing or a bad thing?" Amy wonders aloud.

Mortimer rolls with advantage -1 at difficulty 15, using no talents or gifts.
The result is a success.

Dirk asks "Who are you?" He is chewing his lip and drawing blood.

Those who can see the Trump's other end - Dirk and Danielle - can see that the woman is in a magical circle in what looks like a store-room. The magical circle includes several empty plates, empty wine bottles, and a scattering of what looks like coffee beans around a grinder. It's a big circle. Those who can hear her voice - everyone - can hear the name. "Tanya. Tanya Garin. Colonel. Ask Duke Benedict about me." Behind her (for those who can see) a penguin waddles up to the edge of the circle, and bounces off it, in a flurry of feathers. She looks briefly annoyed, but unfazed.

Dirk says, "Benedict of Amber? We don't know where he is?"

A silly smirk is plastered to Mortimer's lips. Just can't shake it. "Did the card... She say more magic is needed?" He is slow to get closer to the two, though reaches out with his hand to place it on top of Dani's upon Dirk's shoulder.

Danielle grits her teeth "The marker was sucked in how do we find you without it?"

Amy moves nearer as well, reaching her hand to touch the grouping and add to the (hopefully) strength joining in.

With that, four people bolstering it, the image becomes much stronger. The stereo effect fades somewhat, as the card's image gets more and more solid. "I'm in an icy place. I think it's a winter node. Something that has to keep arising. Yes. Benedict of Amber. It's in the fog, or beyond it. I'm pretty sure that it's got someone strong at the centre. Keeping it. If you've found a tag, you found a place where I was. I left a few where I travelled." She wipes rime frost from her skin. "You can live in the fog, for a while, but it starts to take from you. You need special ways to get through."

Dirk is keeping the contact open so.smarter people than him can figure things out.

Danielle hms "The man at the ice palace mentioned ships or something?"

Amy considers for a long time. "I think that makes sense. The ice palace we found - has a music room with a lot of family pictures, suggesting that it has ties to Amber. I don't think we've found any ships anywhere yet."

Tayna Garin, Colonel, shrugs. "I didn't get out that far. Not in this world. It's sodding cold out there if you haven't noticed." She takes a deep breath. "I think this is a place of contract. One of those that keeps the ways flowing. But it's cut off."

A falling pigeon fails to take out Mortimer. The colonel grimaces sympathetically as she sees it shatter.

Dirk is focusing "I managed to contact her before."

Danielle hms "is amber responsible for this mess?"

"Nicely done, Dirk," Amy says with a smile. She has a thoughtful look on her face. "We're in Amber, but the city is pretty much cut off from everywhere at the moment. We're - trying to figure out what to do."

"Not that I know of," the woman says to Dirk. "But people have been thinking weird things. Talking to people who don't appear again. Changing. But I don't think it's Amber. I think Amber's holding things together. Something bad went wrong, the King's missing, you can't get out beyond the edges of Arden, or couldn't when I left, and even the vampires are denying they did anything, and normally you'd get a Count coming in to deny it, but nobody. No gods, no nothing. I think... alright, state secrets on the line time here - I think your family's things I'm not allowed to know about are helping. But I think all the places of power are holding out well. I just haven't found any that I RECOGNISE yet. I've been travelling at least two months and I've had to hunker down here. No magic left and hardly anything's flowing."

"Wait, did you say you left Amber 2 months ago? Because we've been here ... well, nearly a year now," Amy says softly. Her eyes have widened, and there is a stunned expression on her face.

The penguin - or another - makes a determined attempt to waddle through the magic circle, making the colonel couch her staff as if to shoot it. Her ring finger, on her left hand, has a surprising bit of damage to it - like someone put magic inside it and then blasted it out of the end; the last phalange is missing, and the finger looks stiff and painful. "Well, crap." The colonel stares at Amy. "That's not a time ratio I can account for. It can't happen. I mean, in a well-maintained universe." There is a grimace, and a shrug. She knows that the universe is not well maintained.

Dirk asks "are you missing a signet ring?:"

Danielle nods "Time has definitely been a bit on the unstable side. Vampires?" Do you mean the spider fols?"

"I'm missing a lot of things, but not one of those. Never thought I'd miss the vampires, though. Tsar Vladimir - the compact with him is one of the magical nodes. If he hasn't been heard of, and he hadn't when I left, then Carpania might have fallen. Or they might all be eating each other. Hard to tell. But if the Captain's missing - Benedict of Amber - then that's more of a worry. That's BAD stuff." The colonel opens fire on an unfortunate penguin, a neat pulse of pure force from the staff that passes through her magical circle without harming it.

Dirk says, "why are you shooting penguins?"

Filinia says, "Because I'm in a bloody bad mood, and they keep coming in off the ice and crapping everywhere."

The colonel says, "Because I'm in a bloody bad mood, and they keep coming in off the ice and crapping everywhere."

Dirk says "Send them to Amber so I can train a penguin army."

"Oh, he's not the only one missing," Amy says. Why should they be the only ones to worry? "It's not just bad, it's VERY BAD."

"Yeah. To be honest, about the time the King went downstairs and didn't come back up, I bought a lot of brandy and some anti-ulcer char-" And then the connection starts to wobble. "Find me!" And then that's it. She's gone. And the entire square is cold.

Dirk shivers and blinks.