In the short span of time since our group discovered Amber there have been many universally dramatic events. There has been Eric's creation of an entire new universe, the damaging effect extra patterns have had on Ygg, the destruction of Eric' universe, and the shift of Corwin's universe towards total chaos. Throughout this we have had a role in the forefront, but other forces loom safely in the background. One of these forces calls themselves The Watchers.

After the nearly fatal attempt on Merlin's life, while he lay in suspended animation in Castle Amber, an agent of The Watchers by the name of Julia Barnes infiltrated the castle and kidnapped the body. Locke, Jessica, Quinn, and I hunted her down (with a little help from Julian) before she could escape. When we tried to question her she tried to commit suicide. Such rash behavior! This made me certain that she was hiding something big. We took her to the dungeons where I made mental contact and read her mind.

Before I go on I'd like to point out an observation. There are people in Amber who view the forceful extraction of memories as a base and defiling act akin to rape. I fear that some may view me as a monster for this act. Others are not so judgmental. My feelings on the subject are that it was necessary to know the secrets in Julia Barnes' mind. We could have extracted the information through torture, but I feel that would have been far worse. As it was, my intention was to minimize Julia's trauma. This being the first time I've encounter resistance to reading a person's thoughts the process was not as smooth and subtle as I had envisioned it, but I learned a few ways of going-with-the-grain in a mental sense that should lead to less disruption in future situations.

What I learned from Julia was somewhat vague. I doubt I got the full extent of her knowledge on the subject of The Watchers. Many of her contacts in The Watchers were either unknown to her or unrecognizable to me. I was able to catch glimpses of Merlin, Luke, and Jasra. I also learned that members of Chaos were also involved. The Watchers were formed after Patternfall and are dedicated to preserving the Pattern. They had kidnapped Merlin so his blood would not be used to destroy or damage Corwin's Pattern. A noble cause, but unusual and convoluted methods. I also sensed that Julia had emotional ties to Merlin.

Recently, after returning from Corwin's universe, I found a stone on my bed. When I held it the stone activated a message asking me to release Julia Barnes from the dungeons. I saw no problem with that and gained Vialle's permission. Julia was very wary of her spontaneous release and refused my offer of assistance in traveling shadow. No doubt she simply contacted another agent of The Watchers who was able to move return her.

Of course I was still curious. I cast Visions from the Posterior of the Mind on the message gem. My expectation was that the stone would be overlooked in The Watchers elaborate web of secrecy. Alas the vision gave me little or no useful information. I am beginning to doubt the utility of this facet of my most powerful spell. Perhaps I should make more efforts to predict the future and fewer to divine the past. Although, truth be told, my effort to do such at the battle of MoonAmber was totally unsuccessful. Maybe my divining days are behind me.