Nathaniel Carter was born in Nottingham, England on the Shadow Earth. Local time, the date was 11th October 1973. His mother raised Nathaniel alone, always telling Nathaniel that his father was a good man who was 'misunderstood'.
Nathaniel never knew his father, and by the time he was 8, realised that he probably never would. Seeking to fulfil the emptiness of his missing father, Nathaniel sought out comfort in various hobbies. He was a talented and intelligent child, head of his classes for the most part, so his mother indulged his wishes.
Nathaniel took classes in judo, and excelled. His instructor was impressed with Nathaniel's ability to quickly grasp and understand the concepts of judo, and within his first year, Nathaniel was the instructor's prize student.
By the time he was 12, Nathaniel had won the European Under 15's Championship Title. But while his instructor wished to push him further, Nathaniel had grown weary. He wanted more, something different.
He studied Wing Chun Kung Fu at the age of 12, and found he took to this surprisingly well also, but the martial arts still left him wishing for something else. Something was missing from his life.
Nathaniel discovered what was missing when he joined a Medieval Re- Enactment society. At first he was a young squire to a Knight, but when he turned 16, he was trained in the use of a sword himself. Like the martial arts he had learned, swordplay came to him easily. By the time he was 19, he was the star of the Nottingham Arthurian Re-Enactment Society.
He never lost a joust, or a battle and would train others who joined the society. His education, in the meantime, turned to Philosophy, and he attended Nottinghamshire University. He was particularly interested in Plato, and his writings on the Forms. Plato had concluded that all man perceived was not real, but merely a shadow of what was real.
While at University, Nathaniel took an interest in Judo once more, and was hailed as a possible Olympic competitor. He trained regularly, and at age 23, attended the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He defeated all comers, and on July 23rd defeated the 'unstoppable' Polish favourite, Pawel Nastula to claim the 'light-heavyweight' gold medal for Britain.
Nathaniel returned home a hero, and was dissappointed to find that he had still not filled the void within himself. He began to wonder if that void would ever be filled.
And on Thursday, February 13th, 1997, the first step towards filling that void was taken. Nathaniel stepped out of his apartment, on the way to his mother's house. He had finally decided to ask her where his father was, and this time he would not take no for an answer.
As he crossed the road in front of his apartment, he was lost in his mind, wondering who his father truly was. And by the time the sound of the horn came, Nathaniel realised it was too late to get out of the way of the bus that was coming towards him.
He turned to move, and was distantly aware of his Organizer beeping, as he tripped and fell......... onto grass.
He looked up and realised that something highly unusual had happened. He was sitting in an open field, and instead of a bus coming towards him, he saw twelve men on horseback. His Organizer still beeping, Nathaniel, almost in a state of panic, turned and fled. He crawled into some nearby bushes, and opened the Organizer to turn it off, lest its beeping attract the men on horseback.
The Organizer had been given to him for his previous birthday. His mother had claimed that his father had left it for him, and this suddenly occured to Nathaniel as he opened the digital organizer.
"It's about time," the Organizer's electronic voice said. "Now, pay close attention to the screen, concentrate on it."
Nathaniel, shocked that the electronic device had spoken, looked at the screen. He could see a vague image on it. As he looked at it, he could make out the vague image of a man, but no details, when suddenly he found himself falling and splashing about in water.
Moments later, he had been pulled aboard what appeared to be a galleon of some kind and was confronted by a man calling himself Prince Gerard.
And the rest, as they say, is History..........
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My very first encounter with the World of Amber was the Diceless RPG. One evening, while sitting and talking with a friend of mine, discussing various RPG's, he mentioned Amber. Intrigued by the possibility of a Diceless RPG, I agreed to create a character for his game. And so, Nathaniel Carter was born. Since that fateful day I have read and reread the Chronicles of Amber. I woke up unaware of my identity with Corwin. I had my eyes put out with him, and endured imprisonment for three years with him. Roger Zelazney blessed the world with the gift of Amber. And Erick Wujcik blessed the world with the gift of the AmberDRPG. For both of these people, and for my friend Lee who first introduced me to this world, I am eternally grateful.
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