The Design Of The Pattern?

[Uncle Twitchy]

Hi, folks -- longtime lurker, first time poster. I've been playing RPGs since '78, and run Amber DRPG campaigns off and on since the first printing in '91 (my first Attribute Auction was on January 7, 1992). I'm a graphic designer and cartoonist. I like long walks on the beach and Pepsi and hate hypocrisy. I'm a Scorpio.

Anyway, enough about me.

I've just started planning a new campaign, and I've got a number of players who've never read any of the books (I know, I know -- I'm working on 'em. Kids today with their loud music and funny hair). One of them asked me, "So what does this Pattern look like?"

Well, this has been a question that's stuck in my craw since I read the original books in high school back in 1980. So the first thing I did was look online. And while there's plenty of speculation and drawings of the geography of Amber (the other craw-sticker for me), I've seen no attempts to draw anything that matches what Zelazny describes the Pattern to look like.

So I went back to the original descriptions, noting that it was about 450 feet long and 300 feet wide, was a continuous line like the classic labyrinths (unlike the Logrus, which is clearly a maze, and a 3-D one at that), where the entrance was (far left corner, if Rebma's is a mirrored reflection -- and we know it is because Corwin says it is), that it's mostly curved lines, and we can assume, given the size, that there is probably about 8 feet or so between the lines (based on the notion that two people passing each other could still engage in swordplay). So, with all this in mind, this is what I came up with:



Here it is with annotations based on the appropriate lines of text from NPIA:

0) I strode forward, setting my left foot upon the path. It was outlined by blue-white sparks. Then I set my right foot upon it, and I felt the current Random had mentioned.
I took another step.
There was a crackle and I felt my hair beginning to rise. I took another step.
1) Then the thing began to curve, abruptly, back upon itself. I took ten more paces, and a certain resistance seemed to arise. It was as if a black barrier had grown up before me, of some substance which pushed back upon me with each effort that I made to pass forward.
2) I fought it. It was the First Veil...
...Each raising and lowering of my foot suddenly required a terrible effort, and sparks shot from my hair. I concentrated on the firey line.
3) Suddenly the pressure was eased. The Veil had parted before me, as abruptly as it had occurred.
4) I was well into the Pattern now, and the sparks flashed continually about my feet, reaching to the height of my knees. I no longer knew which direction I faced...
The currents swept through me, and it seemed my eyeballs were vibrating. Then came a pins-and-needles feeling in my cheeks and a coldness on the back of my neck. I clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering.
5) I took six more rapid steps, reaching the end of an arc and coming to the beginning place of a straight line. I set my foot upon it, and with each step that I took, another barrier began to rise against me. It was the Second Veil.
6) There was a right-angle turn, then another, then another. Another curve began, and it was though I were walking in glue as I moved slowly along it.
One, two, three, four... I raised my firey boots and let them down again.
It was tricky, so devilish tricky... Instinctively, I knew that to leave the Pattern before I'd completed it would mean my death. I dared not raise my eyes from the places of light that lay before me, to see how far I had come, how far I had yet to go.
7) I emerged from the filigree and marched along the Grand Curve.
I walked three more curves, a straight line, and a series of sharp arcs.
9) Ten turn which left me dizzy, 10) another short arc, 11) a straight line, 12) and the Find Veil
It was agony to move. Everything tried to beat me aside. The waters were cold, then boiling. It seemed that they constantly pushed against me. I struggled, putting one foot before the other. The spark reached as high as my waist at this point, then my breast, my shoulders. They were into my eyes. They were all about me. I could barely see the Pattern itself.
13) Then a short arc, ending in blackness.
One, two... And to take the last step was like trying to push through a concrete wall.
I did it.



What do you think, sirs?

[Arref]

I think that's a nice piece of work. I'm sure that the prayer labyrinths of Europe had some inspiration in Zelazny imagining the Pattern, and your design takes that approach.

I think your Pattern is too long a path and the first veil too close to the start, but that's just a note.

In another approach, I've always imagined the design as being more organic and erratic (though at a large scale.) After all, Dworkin scribes the Pattern while under assault of his senses and other Chaotic forces. I picture him weaving a bit.

In trying to determine a few 'narrative consistencies' for game play, I did my own sketch.

Found here:
http://www.skyseastone.net/itsog/shadows/005359.html

requires a pdf reader

[Nihilistic Mind]

Well, in my mind (and I'm just basing this on what I've remembered of Zelazny's description of the walk as opposed to actively using reasonning based on the clues he left for us), the Pattern looks a lot like the diagrams of particles blowing up in bubble-chamber of particle accelerator. Do a google search for "particle bubble chamber" and you'll find the pictures I've referenced below.

I wouldn't use any particular one to define the Pattern's design, but I would imagine that arcs, curves and nearly straight lines could be combined to form what the Pattern truly looks like. Plus the exciting fact that the Pattern itself could be the basis of our Earth's blown up particles is a cool thought as well.

In any case, check these out to see what I'm thinking of:











What do you guys think?
Where the arcs meet/concentrate could represent the veils to cross, where the lines offer more resistance etc...

[Uncle Twitchy]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm going to respond with what I hope you see as simple intellectual discourse and debate rather than reactionary defensiveness -- after all, since Zelazny never gave us the design anywhere, it's all just speculation, and every GM's interpretation of the work is going to be individualized to their personal aesthetic, which is one of the reasons why I love this game so much. None of us are right, and all of us are right -- in our own ways.

So, with that in mind...

I think that's a nice piece of work. I'm sure that the prayer labyrinths of Europe had some inspiration in Zelazny imagining the Pattern, and your design takes that approach.

I think your Pattern is too long a path and the first veil too close to the start, but that's just a note.

That was a concern of mine, too, but on the flip-side, it's 450 feet long and 300 feet wide and you can swordfight with people you pass. That suggests that the lines are close enough together for that to happen. And considering the line was drawn in Dworkin's blood, it can't be too terribly wide. This tightens up the curves and lengthens the actual line itself considerably.

As for the First Veil coming too soon, I think that's an interpretation left up to each individual reader -- it seemed to me that it occurred right away after that first double-back. Every time Corwin walks the Pattern, it seems to happen immediately. Merlin in Sign of Chaos, too.

Nihilistic Mind, remember that Corwin describes it as being like a spider-web with mostly curves, and that Dworkin used the Pattern to enscribe order out of chaos -- the things that you've shown suggest too much chaos for my taste. I do think, as Arref suggests, that the prayer labyrinths were Zelazny's inspiration, and considering how regular his description of walking the Pattern was, I'm sure he had a specific design that he referenced when he wrote about it. And I'm sure, after reading all the descriptions of people walking the Pattern, that there's only one line and that it does not cross or intersect.

Of course, I don't have any illusions in thinking that my design is even close, other than hopefully in spirit, to what that design he had in mind was -- it just fits the narrative description as I've shown, and even then imperfectly (because it's just a shadow ) -- I mean, I had a bitch of a time trying to figure out the three right angles right before the entrance to the Grand Curve, since what I did actually has four.

And there are times when I think 21 circuits -- as opposed to the nine Arref suggests in his design or the 14 I originally went with -- are too many, considering how quickly Brand and Corwin make it to the point where they can fight in Hand of Oberon -- but then I remember that they're Amberites. They may negotiate certain points and lines a lot faster than the narrative suggests.

And I think it's interesting that Corwin's Pattern is described as having an off-center end-point by Merlin. That suggests a totally different layout.

[RPGPundit]

Welcome, twitchy!

I agree that your pattern is much closer to how I imagine the Pattern to be in my mind than the other images we've seen thus far.

However, that said, it still doesn't seem to quite match what I envision it as, or based on the text.  I mean, we know that the pattern is "mostly curves", but also has long periods of straight lines, and "right angle turns".  I think you end up trying to jam the text into the image you came up with.  In particular the place you listed as number 6 just doesn't fit with what I see in my head when I read "There was a right-angle turn, then another, then another. Another curve began, and it was though I were walking in glue as I moved slowly along it."

But hey, its easily the closest image of the Pattern to what I envision. So good work!

Arref: I looked at yours, I don't see a single right-angle turn.
NM: you're so out in left field I can't even begin to list what's wrong with your ideas; for one thing, its very clear that the lines of the pattern do not cross.

RPGPundit

[Uncle Twitchy]

Welcome, twitchy!

Thanks! It's great to be here, and I've got a lot more that I want to contribute to what has easily been my favorite role playing game ever published (okay, 7th Seas is a reasonably close second).

However, that said, it still doesn't seem to quite match what I envision it as, or based on the text.  I mean, we know that the pattern is "mostly curves", but also has long periods of straight lines, and "right angle turns".

I've gotta agree.

I think you end up trying to jam the text into the image you came up with.

Though I did design it by following the text first and trying to visualize what Zelazny meant. But I see what you mean, to wit:

In particular the place you listed as number 6 just doesn't fit with what I see in my head when I read "There was a right-angle turn, then another, then another. Another curve began, and it was though I were walking in glue as I moved slowly along it."

Exactly. It bugs me, and I've struggled with coming up with a fix for some time now. It'll come to me eventually, but for now -- for the next campaign I run, which will start sometime in early January after I write up my Player's Guide -- it will serve.

[Trevelyan]

I don't see the Pattern as being entirely regular in the manner of Twitchy's design. That said, I imagine that it looks a lot more regular than the particle designs. Arref's design is closest to what I have in mind, although as Pundit mentions the Pattern constains a few right angles and straight lines.

IIRC the terminus is specifically described somewhere as being off centre, which would preclude a completely regular design.

[Uncle Twitchy]

The terminus of Corwin's Pattern is described as being off-center by Merlin in SoC, but I'm almost certain Dworkin/Oberon's Pattern's terminus is centered according to Corwin.

[Trevelyan]

The terminus of Corwin's Pattern is described as being off-center by Merlin in SoC, but I'm almost certain Dworkin/Oberon's Pattern's terminus is centered according to Corwin.

The comment I'm thinking of may well be Merlin's comment about Corwin's Pattern.

Even so, it introduces the possibility of an irregular design which I would apply to both Patterns equally.

[Uncle Twitchy]

Yeah, I could totally see that -- after all, Corwin was attuned and could walk the Pattern in his thoughts -- we see him hold the image of the Pattern in his mind as early as in GoA to tear through the Black Road -- and I'm sure he had the design in his mind when he drew his. Hmm. Good thought to ponder.

Of course, Merlin's "off-center" comment may be due to his Logrus-based schizophrenia...

[Arref]

"There was a right-angle turn, then another, then another. Another curve began, and it was though I were walking in glue as I moved slowly along it."

Arref: I looked at yours, I don't see a single right-angle turn.

Agreed. About halfway through the walk there are three described in close succession.

I suppose if I inserted them, I'd still do something that looked less mechanical.

[Uncle Twitchy]

There also needs to be the three curves, straight lines, ten dizzying turns, a short arc, and a straight line right after the Grand Curve.

[RPGPundit]

There also needs to be the three curves, straight lines, ten dizzying turns, a short arc, and a straight line right after the Grand Curve.

The term "Grand Curve" also suggests that the pattern is not as regular as your image, since "GRAND curve" would imply to me that its a curve that's bigger/longer than any of the other curves.

RPGPundit

[Uncle Twitchy]

I do have a Grand Curve -- it spans 2/3rds of the circumference starting down at the bottom at #7 and goes all the way around to near the entrance up at the top.

[gabriel_ss4u]

I like your anal thought processes, much like my own. lol

I'm a bit OCD & anal-retentive, I spend tons of free time on designing stuff for my Amber campaign, like your Pattern design, which I like immensely, and better than any I've ever seen.
I've attempted a representation upon paper once, colored and sparklie, but it was more an abstract piece and just to be able to keep me from 'having done nothing about it', in my binder of Amber info.
I will definitely be adding it to my horde of Amber info, and THANK YOU.
If you update it I'd be happy to have a peek.

Matter of fact, I copied and pasted it the day you posted it, I like it that much.

The few questions/comments mentioned by the others that you agreed with echoed my thoughts. (although more eloquently)
The Pattern posted by NM was.... chaotic. ...... I like the thoughts for possible Logrus or Eligy (look in my other posts on Scions of the Serpent) ideas. I enjoy checking out 'fractal' images and such in getting ideas for chaotic designs.
Has anyone - by the way - thought of applying the Pattern of Phi code to a representation of Pattern similar to Twitchy's???
Just a thought.