Juki Klavier

After spending a day out and about the city you return home to the orphanage and you mother looks forlorn. You go about helping Tik and Wako make dinner while your mother continues to stew off to the side. Once everyone has eaten you work at putting the younger children to bed and once they are all asleep you settle in next to your mother and ask her what is wrong.
"Oh, I don't want to worry you Juki. There was just a letter from the castle nothing that I can't deal with."
You try to push for some more information, but she continues to dance around the subject leaving you frustrated and tired.

The next morning while you are straightening up your bedroom, you hear voices coming from the front room arguing and yelling. You run to the front room and see your mother standing toe to toe with what appears to be a city guard.
"He is not leaving with you he is my son!"
"You know that I hate to do this Emilia, but the king is adamant. All those suspected of having royal blood are to be brought to the castle at once, and Juki displays to many traits tied to the family. He has to come with me."

Juki is stunned for a few moments as he thinks about what the guard is telling his mother. Royal blood? Him? It's true that he does have some unusual traits, but he doesn't see how he could be royalty. For one thing, he hasn't exactly lived a life of luxury. But his mother was definitely hiding something from him last night. And Juki really wants to know more about what's going on, so he makes his presence known by addressing the city guard.

"Why would the king think that I, a lowly peasant, would have royal blood?"

"Stories of your strength and stamina have reached the ears of those close to the king. Also you bear a striking resemblance to one of the king's missing brothers. Now, as I have tried to assure your mother, the king is a kind and fair man and only wants to meet with you and see if he can't figure out once and for all if you are family or not. If you are it would mean a suite in the castle and access to resources that you could never hope to lay hand on otherwise. Will you come with me Juki?"

He doesn't see any real problem with just going and getting checked out to see if he's royal blood. But if he is of royal blood, he does have one objection...

"I'll come along to find out if I am or not. But I'm not so sure about staying in the castle when I'm needed here. I hope that something can be arranged should that be the case."

Your mother sits in the corner horrified at you decision to leave tears pouring down her face.
"Juki be careful. There are people in the palace who may not be a welcoming as the king."
She manages to climb to her feet and wipe the tears from her red and puffy face. She crosses the room to stand in front of you and holds out her clenched hand.
"Take this with any luck it will help protect you in the coming days and discourage those who might wish you ill. It is a ring that your father left with me for this day. I have dreaded the moment when I would have to give it to you."
You take the ring and look at it laying in your palm. It is an ornate gold band with a large sapphire. As you roll it over in your hand a feeling of calm and warmth seeps in to your being.
"Juki it's time to go the king is expecting us."
The guard steps toward the door and the two of you leave for the castle.
Upon arriving a beautiful woman meets you at the door and introduces herself as Flora.

"Thank you, Mother, I promise I'll be careful."

Upon meeting Flora, Juki bows his head down a bit and introduces himself as well.

"My name is Juki. Nice to meet you."

Flora seems to stare at you for a moment as if considering something
"If you'll follow me I'll show you to a guest room where you can freshen up dinner will start shortly."
She seems lost in thought as she leads you through the twisting halls and magnificent stairs before depositing you in front of a large oaken door.
"Inside you will find a basin for washing and some fresh clothes. I'll send someone around shortly to collect you for dinner.

While they walked to the guest room, Juki noticed that Flora seemed to be lost in thought. He left her to her own devices until they reached the guest room.
"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, are you okay? You seem just a little...out of it."

"It's not a problem. You just remind me of someone. I'll see you at dinner Juki."
She glances back at you one time as she makes her way down the hall, but doesn't stop or return. Soon, she is out of sight and you are left to your own devices.

"Yup, see you then."

He walked into the guest room, getting himself ready for dinner. He needs to look his best, he is going to be around royalty after all. While he gets ready, he starts to wonder if he might've met this person Flora was referring to. Nothing was coming up in his mind though.

"Eh, no point in worrying about it. Maybe this person is in the castle though and we'll meet. It'd be cool if he was a fan of fruit juice..."

He grinned as the image in his mind appeared. Juki and someone who looks just like him, sitting at a bar, sipping on fruit juice in wine glasses. Surely someone with such delightful tastes in beverages would have good stories to exchange. He's going to finish getting ready and fantasize about this concept until someone comes in to get him for dinner.

Time passes as you are lost in your thoughts. You hear some one at the door and realize that you are in fact ready to meet the king and you are lead to a large dinning hall there are many people there that you recognize as members of the royal family that you have seen out and about town.
"I am glad to meet you at last Juki."
You look around for the voice and the most unassuming of men stands before you. If it weren't for the crown on his head there would be no way to identify him as king of all Amber.

Juki can't help but look a bit surprised at who the king of Amber is. He was expecting someone who looked, to say the least, more king-like. But this man has the crown, and since he's never met the king before, he has little reason to doubt the ruler. He shakes off his surprise and bows politely.

"It is a pleasure, Your Majesty."

"The pleasure is all mine. It is always good to meet another member of our family. Dinner is going to start in a few minutes, so why don't you sit here by me at the head of the table so that we can discuss a few things during dinner."
The king motions to a chair to the left of the head of the table.
"The whole family will be here tonight to witness your induction into our family. A word of warning, There are those among us that are less than scrupulous. Make your alliances and friendships carefully."
As the king and you sit down family members fill in and sit around the table. conversations spring up all around you.

The king's words about how he's going to need to choose alliances and friendships echo through Juki's mind. Since he's mostly been raised and helped raise others in the orphanage, Juki wasn't really aware that there were conflicts in his new family.

"I will keep it in mind...Thank you."

As he sat down in his assigned spot, Juki decides to listen in on any potentially interesting conversations. Granted, this wouldn't take much for the new red-headed member, but if he's going to fit in here, he figures he should pick up on as much information as he can. Especially since this family doesn't get along.

Flora takes the seat immediately next to you. As you glance around the table you feel her hand on your knee.
"I know that the family can be a little daunting at first. If I can help you in any way while you're here at the catle let me know. For now though, do you have any questions about the people here?"

Juki looked at her once she touched him. He thought for a moment, trying to decide the best way to phrase his question.

"I was told that there's some conflict going on with the family. Why aren't people getting along?"

A small smile spreads across her face and a light twinkles in her eye.
"Oh, no conflict just the usual divisions, petty feuds, vendettas and the like. You deal with any group of people for long enough and you will invariably find a reason to distrust or despise them it comes with the territory, but at the end of the day we're all family. Nobody really goes to far with any of it. Think of it more as a game than a conflict. You'll enjoy it more."

Her answer brought a smile to his face. The way she put it made him think back to how he was the one responsible for settling arguments and such back at the orphanage. Of course, these were more simple things, like who got to play with Mr. Stuffums the Teddy Bear next or who got to jump in the center next in jump rope. He started to wonder how things were faring there without his assistance.

"Family...I understand what you mean. I'm glad to hear things aren't as bad as I had imagined them to be. I'm interested to hear about some of these problems at some point."

He put a hand on his chin as he contemplated something else to ask. Well, not really ask, but something that's been in the back of his mind.

"I hope that I am a member of this family. I wouldn't want to be wasting everybody's time over nothing..."

"If anybody has time to waste it's this family. Besides, your strength, your stamina, your recuperative abilities, you are one of us. There is no doubt. Think of tonight as more of a welcome and an initiation."
Her voice loses some of its cheeriness in the last sentence, but her warm smile never fades. Her body language shifts to be slightly more serious.
"After tonight you will understand better I'm sure."

Juki took note of the sudden change in her voice. Still, she did have a point. He was unnaturally stronger compared to other people he did meet in the orphanage, and he was able to perform most tasks without a hitch because of his strength and his lack of getting tired easily. He chuckled, then spoke.

"You're right. And this is quite the set up. No point in letting it all go to waste!"

It's been a few times now that he's heard about an initiation. He wonders what all he'll have to do in it, but at the very least he figures they'll be testing his strength somehow.

"As for the initiation, all I can do is my best. Everything will be cleared up in due time."

Random stands at the head of the table.
"I'm sure that many of you had to travel some distance to be here tonight. To you I offer my sincerest apologies. Joining us tonight is a young man from about town named Juki. He has displayed many feats of strength and stamina about town lately and I believe him to be of our blood. Before proceeding I would like to offer an opportunity to all present. If the boy seated next to me is yours or if you are familiar with his mother speak now and we may all go about our business after the meal is over"
The room grows silent as family members look around wondering if on of the others will rise to claim the boy. None do.
"If he belongs to non of you here tonight then we are left with only one recourse. This evening, after we have enjoyed this lovely meal, we shall all descend the stairs and Juki will attempt to navigate the Pattern."

Juki looks at and listens to Random. Juki finds himself looking curiously at the various family members, wondering if someone would claim him. He looks a bit disappointed that no one does, but figured it probably wouldn't have been so easy to find out who his father is. The stairs? Pattern? Well, he figures he'll learn soon enough. Or try to at any rate.

Once Random finishes speaking, Juki sits there, waiting for somebody to do something. He'd feel weird making a sudden move when there were so many unfamiliar eyes on him.

A few eye linger on you for a brief period but eventually everyone returns to their dinner conversations. As you start to relax you feel Flora's hand on your leg.
"Try to relax. Your evening is about to get a great deal more trying, but for now to to enjoy the meal and have another glass of wine."

As dinner winds down to a close, Random stands at the head of the table straightening his clothes. “I know that we are all excited to meet our new nephew/cousin, but it is time to head downstairs and put young Juki to the test.”
With a few mutterings and murmurings, everyone gathers at the door to the dining room and sets off down the halls of the ancient castle. As you wind down the halls and pass by chambers the air and mood of the group becomes solemn and tense. Julian and Fiona make occasional statements about items hanging on walls or tell stories about events that happened in various rooms. Finally the procession reaches the top of a tall staircase, the bottom so far down that you can’t see it form the top.
The journey down creates a new definition of the word silence. As each floor passes the temperature drops and it becomes darker and darker. After what feels like an eternity, you all reach the bottom and grab lanterns that hang on hooks before moving down an ominous hallway. A feeling begins to creep into your bones. Power, you realize, true power lies in these dungeons.
Random stops and opens the door to a chamber that has an eerie blue light shimmering under it. “Juki, I will tell you what we were all told at one point. In this room lies the pattern. It is the source of our families strengths and once you have transversed it you will gain dominion over the shadow realms, and we will know once and for all that you are of our blood, for those not descended from our line may not set foot upon it without being destroyed. The task will challenge you physically and mentally, breaking you down and rebuilding you in the pattern’s image. Of all the advice that I have heard given over the years there is only one piece that is truly vital: Keep walking. Now, step forward and claim your birthright.”

So, pretty much in Juki's eyes, it's either he's going to successfully walk on the pattern path that's presented before him, or the pattern is going to end up destroying him. Sounds like it'll be a good time for everyone. Well, if he's not family, he hopes that it's a quick death because a slow painful one doesn't sound very pleasant to him. Either way, he figures he's led a productive life and that these people didn't come out all the way here just to see him not go through with this. Juki looks over at Random and gives a small nod.

"Thanks...So, just keep walking. Got it."

With that, he steps out into the blue shimmering doorway, ready to confront whatever trials his mind and body are about to go up against.