The following is part of a piece I wrote for the venerable gaming APA ‘Alarums & Excursion’ regarding the GenCon Amber campaign and the first two game sessions at GenCon with Erick Wujcik.
The only character I am really familiar with is my own, so I will start with him. His name is Damarian, the son of Fiona. He was born in a Shadow out close to the Courts. The Shadow he is from is a psychic-ruled matriarchy, a sort of Darkover gone sour. Just the place Fiona would fit in quite well. Men are tolerated but not given many responsibilities or much power. As a result, Damarian became a musician while developing his psychic powers secretly. Finally his mother returned to the Shadow, saw his development, and brought him to Amber, where he walked the Pattern. Whenever he is not enjoying a life of ease in Amber, Damarian wanders Shadows, seeking songs and music.
Damarian is above average is Psychic ability and Combat, while average in the other abilities. He also has the ability to Walk Shadow. He doesn’t care for the political games of the court, and prefers his music above all else. His best friend in the court is the Court Musician, an old jamming friend of Random’s. The only thing that makes him angry is threats to the structure of Amber itself, especially the Primal Pattern. He also believes that the only people who have the right to kill Amberites are other Amberites, and will help protect his relations against outside attacks. (That last characteristic won him a friend, I believe.)
Another character is Lance. Lance is one of the children of Corwin born on the Shadow Earth. (I think Lance is probably the best name for a child of Corwin that I can think of.) He is as stubborn as his father, and much like him in other ways, as well. He spent most of his time on the Shadow Earth, and does not like to become involved in the constant Amber political games.
Finally, there is Bronwyn. Bronwyn is, I believe, the daughter of Julian, and is a powerful sorceress in her own right. (I wouldn’t pit her against Fiona yet, but give her a few centuries, and she could give Mother a run for her money.) She has the Advanced Shadow ability, so can do tricks with the Pattern that even those of us with normal Shadow Walking cannot do, like retrieve objects from far-off Shadows without having to physically go there, She is also quite weak (by Amber standards) at only Human level, so relies on her Psychic ability for protection (or friends.)
There are another six or eight players, whose characters I do not remember very much about. I have fleeting remembrances of them, but nothing definite, especially names (I am notoriously bad at remembering names), so I will not try to explain them.
Personal Links