Important NPCs

Actors on a Stage of Shadows...

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Wyvern
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Important NPCs

Post by Wyvern »

Starting with a quick summary of the Amberites:
  • Oberon
    King of Amber for at least the past eight hundred years - accurate histories older than that are hard to come by. Currently missing; he departed into shadow seven years ago with neither warning nor explanation. It is possible that a PC who has been around Amber longer than that could have met him, but most will know him only by his towering reputation.
  • Finndo
    Deceased - Unlike his brothers, Finndo turned on Oberon when his mother's marriage was annulled ab initio. The resulting spate of warfare was ugly at best, and led to Finndo's death on the battlefield. Unlike Osric, Finndo's tomb is small and out of the way and rarely visited.
  • Osric
    Deceased - he was judged guilty of murdering Caine and, after executing a prison break, tracked down and killed somewhere in shadow. When Caine turned up a few decades later, decidedly not dead, Osric's conviction was retroactively overturned - not that that helped him any. Osric's Tomb is a notable tourist attraction in Amber.
  • Benedict
    Exemplar of Quick and Focus; Master of arms and warfare. Laconic. Has little patience for family politics, but is devoted to the defense of Amber. Benedict can typically be found out in shadow, fighting, though he does visit Amber every few years.
  • Eric
    Exemplar of Craft in the sense of crafting deals and plans and treaties. Generally acts the role of the quintessential nobleman. Has a strong rivalry with his younger brother Corwin. Eric is acting as Regent in his father's absence, and thus spends most of his time in Amber.
  • Corwin
    A brooding loner, Corwin matches his older brother Eric in any field of conflict... save that of making friends (or at least allies). Currently spends his time ruling a shadow called Avalon, somewhere far beyond the reach of the Dragon Lines. Generally considered one of the more casually murderous Amberites; approach with caution.
  • Dierdre
    Pretty much the third-best Amberite at any sort of personal-scale combat, after Oberon and Benedict (or, for more strength-based endeavors, after Oberon and Gerard.) Typically less brooding than Corwin, but still a loner; her current whereabouts are unknown.
  • Caine
    Exemplar of Sneak; Caine is shifty and conniving and treacherous, with a habit of playing both sides of any given conflict. Currently responsible for the Black Line, though he prefers to spend his time sailing in Stygia with only occasional visits to double-checking on troop positions in Dwarrodelf.
  • Fiona
    Exemplar of Focus, and (arguably) the best sorcerer among the Amberites. Certainly the one with the largest bag of tricks; she's sought out and claimed a vast number of Sources of power outside of Amber.
  • Bleys
    Exemplar of Flair, Bleys is at his best when showing off or living larger-than-life. He's also well-known as a master swordsman, even by Amberite standards; in a fair fight with blades alone he is, at worst, an even match for any of his siblings... but don't expect him to fight fair.
  • Llewella
    Enigmatic and all too easily overlooked, Llewella spends most of her time in Rebma. If she has any attributes of note beyond the favor of the people of Rebma, she's managed to keep quiet about it.
  • Brand
    Exemplar of Power - of the sorcerous variety. He doesn't have the breadth or subtlety of Fiona, but makes up for it with raw power and a few unique tricks Dworkin never taught to anyone else.
  • Florimel
    Exemplar of Flair - but in the opposite respect from Bleys; where Bleys uses dramatic action, Flora simply stands there with a quiet smile, using her beauty and charisma to achieve her goals. In some respects, she seems the least dangerous of all her siblings - certainly she's the least obviously combatitive.
  • Julian
    Warden of the Forest of Arden, and responsible for the safety, maintenance, and expansion of the Grand Trunk and the blue/green/white lines it splits into. Julian's specialty is Craft; it's widely acknowledged that he was involved in the original design and construction of the iron dragons, and his personal equipment is a cut above what the rest of the Amberites can field.
  • Gerard
    Exemplar of Power - of the physical variety. Also - at least as long as you're not a threat to Amber - the least murderous of the elder Amberites. Gerard is the Admiral of Amber's navy, and spends much of his time at sea.
  • Random
    Exemplar of Quick, Random is well known as something of an immature jerk. Almost as dangerous to be around as Corwin - and certainly much better at running from his responsibilities - or his mistakes.
(Note that Dworkin is not on this list; while the regular Amber setting has him as Oberon's father, that's not true of this game.)
Wyvern
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Re: Important NPCs

Post by Wyvern »

Dworkin: A dwarven engineer, presumably from Dwarrodelf, made famous as the original designer of the Iron Dragons. Tends to hang around in Amber and... tinker with things. The Amber royal family also knows him as the creator of their Trump decks, though he's been fairly reticent about sharing the techniques involved. Ceridus' Collegitat considers him an honorary Magister, though he's never attuned to any of their powers. He has, however, attuned to Balcone's Arc, and has the lightning-scars to prove it.

Speaking of Ceridus:
Bishop Lazarus (his name is Bishop, he is not a bishop... probably), Magister Astrological. A callous, obstinate, lithe man strongly tied to Frost, the Void, and Stars. His primary course is on astrology specifically, and how the placement and pattern of stars can enhance or detract from various aspects of magic, both native and in separate shadows, as well as teaching astronomy, generalized divination, the higher properties and "true calling" of Frost Sorcery, and philosophy. He is Always Right, even when hes wrong, although - as his philosophy course is more on "proper structure, support, and ethical arrangement of debate" - he doesn't grade you too badly for being wrong.

Beatrice Firwal (fear-vail), Magister Biological. She is a woman who submitted for her thesis the concept that "everything burns". She proved it by setting a fire Elemental on fire before the jury. No, nobody has been able to replicate the feat. She teaches Botany, Anatomy, and Medicine, with live theaters featuring flame-enchanted obsidian scalpels. The pain is said to be agonizing.

Bentwick Flexwhistle, Journeyman. A brown-scaled kobold with darkened goggles and a dapper little coat full of pockets, recently graduated from the Apprenticeship Programme of the College. He is currently working there to pay off associated debts, as well as practicing for his Thesis, which he has not yet decided upon. Easily flustered, probably very overworked, "but it's fine, right? I'm sure it's fine. Of course it's fine. I'm not drowning!"
Wyvern
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Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:50 pm

Re: Important NPCs

Post by Wyvern »

Some additional notes on the Elder Amberites:

There is very little available canon information on Oberon's wives and mistresses. Some of them are described as powerful sorceresses, so it seems for this game likely that each one had at least one non-Pattern Power. Additional details are subject to declaration if anyone decides it's important to them.

The first was Cymnea, who bore Finndo, Osric, and Benedict (in that order - the original canon order is unclear, but this will do for this game). At some point Oberon became dissatisfied with her and had his marriage declared void, removing Cymnea's children from the official succession. It is still widely believed that, were Oberon to perish, Benedict would be able to claim the throne by force of arms if he wanted it. (Benedict, for his part, has no interest in - or patience for - the politics of this, or of hearing about "his siblings' respective bastardy proceedings". Best not to bring the topic up around him.)
Cymnea's ultimate fate is unknown; she left Amber and is generally assumed to have perished of old age.

Faiella was second; she bore Eric before marrying Oberon, and Corwin and Dierdre after. Eric was never officially recognized, which is part of his feud with Corwin; Eric thinks he's first in line for the throne because he's the older, while Corwin thinks he's first in line because Eric was born out of wedlock.
Faiella died in childbirth with Dierdre.

Clarissa was third, with 'the redheads': Fiona, Bleys, and Brand.
She was eventually divorced (though the records aren't clear on whether this was Oberon's choice or her own), and - much like Cymnea - her ultimate fate is not known. Unlike the divorce with Cymnea, this wasn't a retro-active declaration of the marriage having never been legitimate, so these three are still in the official succession.

Lady Moins of Rebma bore Llewella - the result of an affair while Oberon was still married to Clarissa. While Oberon never married Moins, he did officially recognize Llewella after he divorced Clarissa. Corwin counts this as a point against Eric's legitimacy.
Moins may or may not still be alive; if she is, she's still living in Rebma.

Dybelle bore Florimel. I have no further information on Dybelle, leaving her entirely open for declarations.

Rilga bore Julian, Gerard, and possibly Caine. Very little additional information is available - it seems likely that Caine has gone out of his way to remove relevant historical records and generally confuse matters. Presumably she was actually married to Oberon, as there is no indication of any of her children (or maybe-children for Caine) being considered out of the line of succession. In the novels, Corwin claims that Caine was just after him in the line of succession. How this lines up with anything else is unclear.
Rilga's eventual fate is not declared.

Paulette bore Random, and might still be alive and resident in Amber? Unclear. If she is, she is likely highly resentful of Eric taking on the role of Regent... though there's not a lot she could do about it.
Edit: It's been declared that Paulette is, in fact, still around - though she tends to spend more time in Balcone than in Amber.

There are additionally rumors of other dalliances out in Shadow; supposedly a woman named Harla bore twins named Sand and Delwin. For context of this game, these rumors may or may not prove true.
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