Summary with varying degrees of detail.
Started with a discussion of how to acquire the needed 100 lbs of uru to get the hammer to lift the spell to visit Mother to fetch the things to make the potion to go to the Festival… wait, no, that's Into the Woods. To get the hammer to free Oberon (if he really is…) from Ygg. Natasha says she has the Stone of Seeing the troll king wanted, doesn't really want to talk about how she got it. On the way to Ymir from the troll kingdom after making the exchange, the others figure out that she traded her Pattern sword for the Stone.
At Ymir's forge, they trade the uru for the hammer. Quite unexpectedly, Gerhardt almost passes out after what Isabelle remembers as an increasing frequency of dizzy spells originally written off as him working himself too hard. The twins stay behind while the other three journey on to the World Tree.
Ymir expresses concern over Gerhardt's condition, and offers to take a look. After a bit of rough surgery that Isabelle is too squeamish to watch closely, it's revealed that Gerhardt's gear heart (hah!) is wearing out. There's a brief discussion about the origin of the mechanical heart - which is similar to the work of one of Ymir's former apprentices - which Gerhardt apparently made to replace the one he gave to Queen Mab(!). Ymir makes some repairs, but suggests that he might want to look at getting the original back.
Meanwhile, the intrepid adventurers utilize clever tactics to free Oberon without drawing the serpent's attention. Jericho and Silas use the portal to the Grove of the Unicorn to quickly get Oberon to Amber, while Natasha goes to return the hammer to Ymir.
** Some details are learned about uru during this sequence of events: The Pattern swords are made of it. Once forged it is eternal; it cannot be melted down and reforged, so they're stuck with a bunch of bit nails. Really heavy nails, because they also learn that uru is extremely heavy. Jericho, who is no slouch in the strength department, can barely lift the hammer. **
In Amber, a sniper attempts to take out Oberon as they're leaving the Grove. Jericho, through his superior tactical awareness is able to recognize the set up just in time to interpose himself between Oberon and the sniper. The bullet, fired by a high-powered rifle, still manages to pass through Jericho and Oberon, though the damage is inconsequential compared to what it would have been had Jericho not acted. Silas goes to ground with Oberon while Jericho shapeshifts into a form (that it's likely good Isabelle wasn't around to see) that allows him to tunnel through the ground, in the hopes that he can ambush the sniper.
He arrives at the sniper hide, but the assassin is already gone, and has done a remarkably good job at cleaning up the scene. Not good enough, as Jericho's training - with his wolf's assistance - allows him to locate the trail…which circles around back to the Grove of the Unicorn and the portal there. Whoever the sniper might be, they're very well prepared, as Jericho discovers falls trails leading into each of the Shadows the portals connects to, including Corwin's. He spends the most time there, hoping it's the real trail, but he only discovers that it was a false trail, and had been laid out quite a few hours in advance. Jericho finally finds what he thinks is the true trail, heading into Tir-na Nog'th. It's here that he receives a fateful Trump contact.
Silas, on the other hand, has Trumped Random, and given him a summary of events as well as Oberon's unconscious body. They take him to the infirmary in the castle, where Silas initially goes to keep an eye on him.
Natasha, having returned the hammer to Ymir, stops to ask his advice on how to get her sword back, or failing that, if he can make her a new one. This is where she learns that the metal cannot be reforged, so having the nails doesn't help any there. Ymir wants to get back to his work, and any further advice wouldn't be free - and Natasha wants to check on Oberon - so Natasha leaves the nails there for the time being and prepares to Trump Jericho.
Gerhardt and Isabelle, on the other hand, have returned to Erewhon. Isabelle to rest and check on her pets, and Gerhardt to do some research on what might prompt Mab to return his heart. She ends up in a conversation with her mother, which goes about as well as those usually go until they agree to look at Isabelle's new griffin hatchlings. Gerhardt has found references to an artifact called the Heart of Winter, which strikes him as being poetically appropriate. It's currently in the possession of a Jotun jarl called Lokir, who may or may not - you know how legends go - be the father of Nidhoggr and similar monsters. Further research gives him information on how to reach the Jotun, and the sorts of traps and tricks he should be on the watch for.
In the Tir, Jericho accepts the Trump contact. No, it isn't Natasha (I did say it was fateful, didn't I?). It's Corwin. He's pointing a gun at Jericho's head and demanding to know what he was doing in his land. Jericho being Jericho, rather than answering his question decides the best course of action - since breaking the contact is unlikely to succeed - is to leap through the Trump and attack Corwin. The gun goes off next to the head rather than in his face, and the fight is on!
NOW, Natasha's call reaches Jericho. Not surprisingly, he ignores it. Rather than pushing it, she calls Silas, who does answer the call. While they're catching each other up, Silas - who has unconsciously been fiddling with the trump ring, has a sudden vision of Corwin and Jericho fighting. Not unreasonably, given what he knows, assumes this means Corwin is the sniper. They have a quick conference call with Isabelle, by the end of which she is in Amber observing via Trump as they go to Avalon to help Jericho.
Jericho and Corwin have been having a grand old time trying to kill each other, and through luck as much as skill Jericho has been holding his own in the fight. He's actually less wounded than Corwin, which is a good thing because Corwin can take a serious beating. A score or so of Corwin's guards have shown up by this point, but so far they're just standing around watching. Silas begins to sneakily line up a surprise shot on Corwin, while Natasha - not wanting to see family kill each other - decides to Trump Dworkin to ask his assistance in stopping the fight. Amazingly, he answers the call. Even more amazingly, he agrees to help, though it's possible she could have worded her request a little better…
Silas, noting Dworkin's arrival, drops his attempt at a sneak attack, and instead tries to talk to Dworkin. Unfortunately, the old man doesn't seem interested in talking, which Silas discovers when he is picked up and thrown into the middle of the fight. Jericho jumps out of the way of the human projectile, taking a nasty cut from Corwin, who is stunned by his collision with the diplomat.
Isabelle, suddenly frustrated with the way the fight is going, steps through to make a psychic attack on Corwin. She succeeds, causing him more injury and letting Jericho get back in and gut Corwin with his sword. By which point, Dworkin has arrived. Wading into the melee, he grabs Corwin and Jericho and slams their heads together. This ko's Corwin, and stuns Jericho, who is then promptly rendered unconscious by Dworkin's psychic command. Dworkin then turns his attention to Isabelle, who by attacking Corwin has been shifted into the 'combatant' category. He takes over the Trump contact, which she immediately severs with no small effort, but is aware she has been "Marked by Dworkin." Dworkin next knocks out the guards with a telekinetic blast, thanks Natasha for the fun, and starts to walk off. She tries to enlist his aid in getting her sword back, but is brushed off as that's her problem and not his. Nonplussed, she picks up the unconscious bodies of Silas and Jericho, and carries them through the portal to Amber.
Jericho wakes up in the infirmary, where a official investigator is waiting to interview him to get the details - not for any legal action against Corwin, mind you - just for the official record. Jericho does clarify that Corwin was *not* the sniper; but elides over some other minor details, claiming that Corwin had simply Trumped him and attacked for no obvious reason. That's his story, and he's sticking to it. And that's where things end, for the nonce…
**
And because OOC discussions can be amusing, a couple of snippets:
1. On the discovery that the uru nails are nails until the end of eternity, there is discussion on what might be done with them. This leads to a conversation about nail guns, and musings about the possibilities of Trump-powered targeting scopes.
2. Matthew once played Defender for 9 hours on a single quarter.
3. Andrew, unfortunately, could never get anyone to believe he got high scores on video games, because his initials are AAA. Kristin suggests that it might mean the opposite, that he has high scores on games all across the country.