Logrus
the MindThreads of the Serpent
"As we came to know the Sinister Path, we raised up a Great Working in the Serpent's name, and that Spirit did come amongest us once again and saw this thing that we had made. And the Serpent spoke, 'Great Tools still require great minds to guide them. Remember this, and call this Tool your Logrus, so it does not become your folly.'"

-from the House of Helgram, attributed to the Lost Book of Great Workings, as recorded in the New Mentat Order of the Church of the Serpent-

Logrus is such as essential part of the Merlin series of Amber that it is hard for me to discard it as some GM's do.

Yet, I am not satisfied that Amber DRPG portrays Logrus in a satisfying fashion. It seems to have been reverse-engineered from Pattern abilities. While I can follow the rational for this (i.e., Dworkin was working on Logrus v2.0) I've always thought that Chaos should be defined by the differences of their tools.

Logrus seems to be the essential opportunity to do this. In the process, Pattern becomes a truly unique and powerful element and the actions of Dworkin become as radical as they seem to be in Chaosian memory. So rather than discard Logrus I want to fulfill its potential.

As the Pattern defines Amber, I look at the culture of the Courts of Chaos and try to imagine how the culture conforms to the implications of Logrus as the major power over the course of thousands of years.

Where Pattern powers are far reaching and seem to radiant from Amber, the strength of the Courts of Chaos could be pictured very differently. Powers that are strong in place. Powers that stretch and umbilical across Shadow in response to crafted effort.

We see several strong elements of the Courts that are not mirrored precisely in Amber:
In many ways, the Logrus shown in the Amber DRPG follows this template. But nothing in canon gives examples of Shadow manipulation. If Logrus has significant powers over Shadow, why would the Shadowmaster's guild grow to a separate power? Take away manipulation of Shadow and Logrus has the following game powers:

Tendrils as a physical element - (ribbon power)
Tendrils as an arcane element - (ribbon power)
Racking spells (arcane ribbon structures)
Travel thru Shadow (Merlin's statement as evidence; he notes it is hard to do)

So a partial powers layout might be:

LOGRUS ::shapeshifting required:: 45
[10] Imprint: Summon the Sign of the Logrus : recover from mental stress : 

      recovery is days to months

[5] Logrus Rack Arcane Forces : through Sign

      racking spells, using Logrus to power minor magic

[5] Summon/Control Prime Tendril of the Logrus

      manifest tendril, distance limited to sight

[5] Logrus Mind Touch : through Sign

      manifest tendril, distance unlimited

[10] Tendril Magic

      manifest tendril, conduct arcane force

[5] Logrus Defense

      use the summoned sign as a shield

[5] Shadow Travel

      lay down a tendril
And walking/flying a Black Thread would be the only method of travel through Shadow. Considerably less useful than Shadow walking with Pattern. I see this as forcing a path in front of you as you go. It may involve traveling over the actual topography of Shadow and is a good reason why flyers and winged demons are considered better mounts and messengers. Distances would be huge with this method of travel.

Logrus tendrils require Strength and Warfare skills to manipulate them and are always visible (black).

This description and reasoning is not radical departure from what Zelazny lets us see.

As for the functions of Advanced Logrus, why not a tool of conquering and controlling the environment and things of Shadow and the Abyss. Demons are enslaved how? Demonology and Sorcery are imperfect tools for this. Advanced Logrus takes the threads and ribbons of Logrus and increases their power by insinuating them into persons, creatures, items, shadows, and other powers. Binding these targets is the greater power of Logrus.

Every known power in the universe has reason to bow down to the Logrus.

Except the one designed to counter it.

Advanced Logrus is of greater power and usage, but still involves thread effects. MetaTendrils require Psyche and Endurance to manipulate them and are visible (red) only to arcane detection:

ADVANCED LOGRUS ::Logrus required:: 

[5] Prime metaTendrils :2 /Chaos rank

      metaTendrils are visible only to arcane probes

[5] metaTendril Bind Servants :1 day/pt 

      working the arcane threads into the lattice of a person/creature

[5] metaTendril Bind Artifact :1 wk/pt

      working the arcane threads into the primaries of a Artifact

[5] metaTendril Bind Shadow :1 wk/pt

      working the arcane threads into the primaries of a Shadow

[5] metaTendril Bind Powers :1 mon/pt 

      working the arcane threads into the nature of a Power
Special Note:
The Pattern was designed from the beginning to seal itself against Logrus metaTendrils. The violent reactions between Pattern and Logrus are one indication of this protection. Logrus can not Bind Pattern, though it can seal a Shadow against Pattern by Binding the Shadow. Pattern is not an offensive power against Logrus, though it can cause Psyche shock to the Logrus user who tries to assault a Pattern user with Pattern Defense.

Once a Logrus user has used metaTendrils to Bind a Power, such as Sorcery. All sorcery of that particular type is vulnerable to Logrus control without the long insinuation time. Your GM will tell you how many types of Powers may be Bound and how many types of each Power there are.


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