MMII
The Continuing Story of Dexter, Prince of Amber, Steward of Arden, Horselord of KharevThis important historical account of the heroic life and times of Dexter of Amber continues thanks to the uncovering of a heretofore lost cache of information on the semi-mythical figure of Dexter.
When last we left the account, Dexter had fallen unconscious saving Amber from the evil Oscar (or Os-Kar as he is sometimes referred to in the ancient texts) during the fateful invasion of 620.
A Fateful Decision
Dexter awakens in Amber to find his sinister hand missing. Apparently, it was lost in the fight as Dexter finally succumbed to the overwhelming number of enemies that swarmed him after he successfully dispatched the evil Oscar.
Dexter was summoned to a meeting of the Royal Family then, at which he learned that Martin would be informing all of them of his fateful decision and that he had special orders for his favorite child, the good Prince Dexter.
Dexter and Martin spoke of the good times, and of how Martin had been meaning to take care of some things, but had put it off in order to spend more time with Dexter. He told Dexter that he had made arrangements so that, should the kindly old king not return within a year, Dexter would be provided with instructions on how to come after Martin. Martin was due to embark on a dangerous expedition and obviously realized that the only person capable of saving him would be the mighty Dexter.
Dexter promised not to try to follow his father until after the year had gone by and he recovered the instructions from Alexandria.
Shortly thereafter, Martin announced his intention to leave Amber. No one was left in charge in his stead.
The Evil One Lays Her Groundwork
The next six months in Amber were marked by sporadic activity, in direct contrast to the frenetic activity of the prior weeks. The Horselords of Kharev were brought to Memphis to punish those who helped in the invasion of Amber, shadows were enlisted to bolster the ranks of the army, and various members of the Royal Family went about meaningless tasks. The most important thing that occurred in this time which did not involve Dexter was the Progress of the Queen.
Elenora visited the various Golden Circle kingdoms for the purpose of gathering support to her side. She intended to usurp the power of Martin and his heir and take control of Amber itself. Never has a mere shadow been so evil, so duplicitous, or so egotistical as to plan such a takeover. As you will see later, she was nearly successful.
A Quiet Six Months Passes
Prince Dexter took the opportunity of the next six months to take care of various and sundry business. Dexter made perhaps the biggest mistake of his life, as he decided that the quantity of Rangers was more important than the Quality of the Rangers at this troubled time. Knowing that he was making a mistake, but not knowing how big of a mistake it would turn out to be, Dexter rode about in Shadow seeking replacements for the Rangers who had fallen in the Great Battle.
The other major piece of business Dexter undertook was the final settlement of the matter of Otanten, which is detailed in other sources under the title, “Return to the Tomb of Otanten.”
Of Mice and Men
One day, while Dexter was riding in Arden, he came upon the Princess Mirabelle being chased by giant rat-men. These Rat-men turned out to be lycanthropes, and although Dexter slew them handily, they managed to survive long enough to threaten both Arden and Amber and declare that they were already here in Arden.
After making sure that Mirabelle was ok, Dexter began hunting Rat-men in Arden. He soon found that the Rat-Men were allied with Giants. After a few skirmishes in which his Rangers were put at a disadvantage against the mighty Giants, Dexter decided to take more drastic action.
Dexter brought a small group of Rangers with him to track the incursion of the Rat-men. Dexter then managed to locate the Rat-man army, encamped just outside of Arden. After outwitting the Giant keeping watch, Dexter disguised himself as a Rat-man and infiltrated the camp.
Dexter attempted to infiltrate the command structure, hoping that it might be possible for him to take command of the Rat-man army. Unfortunately, Dexter was forced to fall back on Plan B and thus killed all of the commanding officers and destroyed their map and battle-plans.
Amber, Again
Dexter was trumped back to Amber, where he was treated quite rudely by his sister Mirabelle and informed Marshall Caitlin of the impending invasion of Giants and Rat-men. Knowing that he had other things to take care of, Dexter asked Caitlin to ride out into Shadow and find for him Cat-men and Giants to bolster the strength of our army against such atypical foes. Caitlin rode off to do Dexter’s bidding.
A Four-Color Process Pattern
Suspicious of Mirabelle, for she had been rude to him but also seemed to have some sort of agenda, Dexter decided to reassure himself of her identity. Dexter walked the Pattern.
After completing the Pattern, Dexter transported himself to as close an approximation of the place he had seen Mirabelle earlier (via Trump) as he was able. He found himself in a weird Shadow known as Cyan with many psychics. Dexter started Walking at Random, based on the theory that Mirabelle had been in her personal Shadow long enough that it would have become more real, and he would stumble into it if he wasn’t headed anywhere in particular.
This process worked out very well, and Dexter picked up a psychic ally along the way. Unfortunately, the people of Mirabelle’s personal shadow, Magenta, were very suspicious and mean. Although Dexter was there merely to make sure that the real Mirabelle was not still there, the evil psycho-witches of Magenta planned to take him prisoner for no reason.
Dexter was able to convince the psycho-witches of Magenta to let him go and send one of their own with him and his trusty sidekick back to Amber.
A Psychic Journey
During the trip back to Amber, the evil psycho-witch and Dexter’s “trusty” sidekick spent much of the time conversing telepathically, excluding Dexter and probably plotting against him. Unfortunately for them, as they approached Amber, their ability to do so failed them and they were forced to plot against him out loud.
Dexter, furious at the disloyalty of his sidekick (and is uselessness near Amber) and still peeved at the poor treatment the psycho-witches of Magenta had shown him, took this opportunity to bring the two of them to Arden, where he commanded the Rangers to have them executed for crimes against the Steward.
The First Great Treason
The Rangers let the psycho-witch and her co-conspirator go.
Interlude
Dexter saw about a few other, minor things and then returned to patrolling Arden.
{Editor’s Note: Accounts listed from here forward are possibly apocryphal and seem to have been written long after the events in question. The timeline does not always line up with other listed sources; however, we have decided to present the accounts as originally detailed nonetheless.}
The Second Great Treason
While Dexter was patrolling Arden at the side of a pair of Rangers, he was contacted via Trump. Accepting the contact, Dexter felt his mind overwhelmed by a superior force, his last waking sight being the smile of the Ranger by his side.
En Route
Dexter woke up and saw his sister Mirabelle. They were both in a carriage. He tried to talk to her, but she used her psychic powers to knock him out before he had a chance to talk to her. Dexter knew that there was no hope of settling whatever issue lay between them so long as he was kept unconscious. So the next time he awoke, Dexter just started flailing madly even before opening his eyes. Unfortunately, Mirabelle was able to sedate him again anyway. The journey continued in this manner.
Magenta
Dexter finally woke up strapped to a table in Magenta. He immediately broke free and tried to attack Mirabelle, knowing that he had no defense against her power other than a swift offense. Unfortunately, Caitlin was present. Caitlin was able to protect Mirabelle long enough that she should have been able to use her psychic abilities on Dexter. Dexter realized that Mirabelle was trying to end the situation, so he left with Caitlin.
Caitlin tried to mend fences, but to no avail. Mirabelle was upset and Dexter knew that the only way to keep Mirabelle from defeating him was to take her down quickly should they ever come near each other again.
Return to Arden
Caitlin brought Dexter back to Arden. While there, Dexter was made to understand the depths of the Ranger treachery to him. Filled with fury, but feeling some responsibility toward the Rangers, he resolved to try to stay away from the Rangers for their own protection.
Caitlin introduced Dexter to the giant Cat-men she had brought into Arden from out of Shadow. Dexter fought their leader for dominance and deputized them as Rangers.
Six More Months
Dexter spent almost all of the next six months away from Arden. Although the individual Rangers who betrayed Dexter all died mysteriously, there was no great purge at this time. Dexter spent the time studying what his father had begun teaching him and starting a new life as a horse lord of Kharev. It is at this time that Dexter meets Oberon.
The Evil One Makes Her Move
Just a day before Dexter was supposed to retrieve the message from Martin, the evil bitch-queen Elenora called the Royal Family to a meeting. She had brought Theodore back from Shadow and had been running the court of Amber with him at her side. Dexter and Galen contrived an ingenious strategy for stopping her.
First Dexter tried to postpone the meeting until after retrieving the note, so that all might know the intent of Martin. Unfortunately, the bitch-queen refused to be stopped.
The vile Elenora proposed that the lack of a King was hurting Amber and that at least a Regent needed to be appointed in Martin’s absence. Dexter argued with her, but to no avail. The course of the meeting was obviously being set. Dexter then abruptly switched tacks and commented that, in any case, whether he were to take up the Regency was obviously a decision for the rightful heir and asked Galen whether he was prepared for it.
Being easily suggestible, Dexter’s siblings and half-siblings fell into the assumption of primogeniture as Amber’s rules of succession. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that Galen would assume the post of Regent and everyone swore loyalty while Dexter made a half-hearted attempt on the evil bitch-queen’s life.
The Appointment was informally announced by both Dexter and Carton at the banquet Elenora had prepared for Theodore’s coronation immediately after the meeting.
The Package
With Alexandria’s aid, Dexter retrieved the message left for him by his father. It confirmed that only Dexter was qualified to follow in his footsteps and how he should go about doing so. It also highlighted the fact that Alexandria was from beyond the veil much like Amber’s enemies.
The Inquisition
Spurred on by Caitlin’s suspicions, Dexter arranged for Alexandria to be questioned. Dexter, Caitlin, and Mirabelle all questioned Alexandria, who was hardly forthcoming. Eventually, they decided to trust her anyway.
More Training
Dexter headed out to Kharev to continue his training for his attempt to pierce the veil. Villages were sacked, there was much pillaging. Dexter’s status as a demi-god was further entrenched.
A Good Deed
Dexter was contacted by his half-brother Gustav. Gustav needed help, naturally. Gustav was planning on assaulting the Tomb of Otanten and needed some competent backup. Dexter decided to help him despite the prophecy of doom he had heard.
The assault on the Tomb was a lot of fun. Dexter learned a good trick for keeping wizards from casting their spells and enjoyed fighting scorpions, mummies, and a flame-wielding wizard. Wanting to let Gustav have most of the fun, Dexter arranged for the wizard to knock Dexter out while putting the wizard in a position where Gustav could easily take care of him. This had the added benefit of fulfilling the prophecy with a minimum of damage.
Gustav carried Dexter out of the Tomb, then promptly collapsed.
Back to Amber
Dexter awoke in Amber with disgusting burns all over his body.
Dexter enjoyed the effect this had on the staff.
A meeting was called where the Royal Family discussed whether or not to attack Haven in retaliation for the kidnapping of Deirdre. Opinions were mixed, but no plans were made for an immediate invasion. Dexter and Galen decided to head down to the veil so that Dexter would know what he was getting into and headed off shortly after the meeting.
To the Veil
En route to the veil, Dexter and Galen stopped in at Kharev, where they participated in a raid and Dexter introduced Galen to Oberon.
Shortly thereafter, Galen introduced Dexter to the veil.
Dexter immediately realized that he had found a home away from home, as the veil presented the benefits of his old curse (constant attacks and hazards) without the drawbacks (bad luck in general). Dexter learned what he could, and then bid Galen adieu.
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