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The Story of Corwin
The story of Corwin of Amber is not a short one. For a time much of it was even lost to him, but for good reason. But to fully understand his history you must understand the past of his entire family and their relations. The history of the Royal Family of Amber is quite a shadowed one. At first there were only the Courts of Chaos. The Courts were symbolized by the Great Serpent, for this portrayed their nature and, though they were not aware of it, their personality. The Royal Family of the Courts of Chaos all had and have a similiar birthright, they alone are given the power and privledge to walk the magical maze known as the Logrus. The Logrus is a sentient maze, that when traversed and completed, opens the inherent abilities of the traveler's blood. However, it was designed for only the royal family to be able to traverse it, thus designed to be a sort of coming-of-age ritual. After traversing the Logrus an heir to the throne of Chaos may begin to learn the art of traveling through alternate realities, called Shadows, and Chaos Sorcery, the art of weaving strands of reality, and shifting them very precisely to obtain a desired result. This result can be anything from summoning a cup of water out of thin air to hurling a tremendous fireball at ones' enemies. But the progeny of the Courts was many, and there was a constant internal struggle over who would be the next heir should the king die, as such assasinations were not uncommon. The members of the Courts of Chaos also had one other unique ability, they had the power to change their form at will. However, it was customary for the royalty to choose two forms in which were their natural ones. The first form was their humanoid appearance, and the second they chose a monsterous form that symbolized their station in the royal rankings.
It came to pass that one such member of the royal family became rather disenchanted with the neverending plotting of his fellow family members. And so he took it upon himself to form a new house. His name was Dworkin. Dworkin made a temporary home in a far off shadow where he fathered a son whom he named Oberon. But Oberon was somehow different than his father. He was not born with the ability to harness the power of the Logrus. Concerned that his son would not recieve his birthright, Dworkin performed tests and delvings of Oberon's magical nature and the strength of his blood, to learn that with Dworkin's change in heart and his refusal to accept the harshness of the lifestyle in the Courts of Chaos, he had passed on a new magical pattern in the blood of Oberon. This pattern was the opposite of the Logrus, but like it in many ways. Setting off through Shadow Oberon sought to establish his own Pattern in the land, so that it may come to oppose the Courts of Chaos and what they stood for. Order against Chaos, to be the balancing hand in the overweighted power of Chaos. And so he did. He created the Pattern, which was symbolized by that of the Unicorn.
It may be said that it was the practice of the Courts of Chaos to construct magical Tarot Trumps, harnessing the power of the Logrus. These Trumps could be drawn to depict places and people, and when one of the royal blood concentrated the place could be reached or the person mentally contacted. This also, Oberon took with him. And after years of contstruction founded the City of Amber. This great city was the first to be established in the physical world. For where the Courts of Chaos did have structure..they existed in a place outside the physical world..in Chaos itself. Amber began the realization of the multiverse and all things physical that would be sustained and unfluctuating. Oberon inscribed the Pattern in the deepest dungeons of the castle and from this point on Amber began casting Shadows, or reflections across the multiverse. With each new reflection slight changes could be made, "what if" scenarios that could be played out endlessly, but were only figments of what might have been and not what truelly was. Having done this Oberon was pleased, as now the Courts of Chaos had a counterbalance. And so he desired a family, for while the blood of Chaos lives long, it does not live immortally. So he had many wives, and many children. Among the first were Eric and Corwin.
Thus our story shifts now to Corwin, the second eldest son of Amber. After the disappearance of Oberon, for unknown reasons, Corwin felt the immediate pull of power and the war for succession that would soon commence. Eric had the strongest claim, being the eldest, but Corwin felt he would not make a good king. He was an asshole, plain and simple. However there were plots being brewed that not even Corwin could imagine, and one of these took him by surprise as he was visiting his favorite Shadow one evening. Driving down a curvy mountain road a single shot rang out and punctured his tire, sending his car flying over a cliff. And yet he survived, though he was put into a coma for several months. When he awoke he knew nothing of himself, but he learned that he had been checked into the hospital and been ordered to be kept in a coma for the rest of his life by his good sister Flora. And so he broke out of the hospital and tracked his sister Flora down, who was staying in the same Shadow to keep watch over him and make sure he didn't wake up. His memory impaired, Corwin knew nothing of the family politics that were entrapping him, but being naturally untrusting and sly person that he is, managed to get Flora to admit that Eric was keeping him subdued while he made a play for the throne. To shorten this matter up, Corwin returned to Amber and walked the Pattern, which restored his memory. His memory restored he joined forces with one of his brothers to thwart Eric's claim and battle him for the right to the throne of Amber. He was defeated and his brother killed. Eric took Corwin prisoner and had him attend the coronation ceremony in shackles, and in a bitter twist ordered Corwin to place the Crown of Amber upon his head. Instead, Corwin placed it upon his own head and crowned himself king. For his troubles Eric had his eyes burnt out with a red hot poker and sentenced to life in the dungeon. Now, it is important to note that one cannot travel through Shadow if he or she cannot see to make changes to his or her surroundings. This is crucial...and so Corwin was trapped. Until something happened that no one counted on. The regenarative power of the royal blood...over a period of years, restored Corwin's eyes. And so he escaped.
While traveling away from Amber he met up with a Princess from Chaos, disguised, who had heard legend of Corwin and seduced him before running off in the night. She would give birth to Corwin's only son, Merlin, who would possess both the powers of Amber and those of Chaos. Where Amber's powers were more focused on the ability to travel through Shadow, Chaos' were of course focused on the manipulation of reality for sorcerous affects. Eventually Corwin returned to Amber to challenge Eric once more, only to find that Amber was already under siege from the armies of Chaos, who had finally taken notice of Amber and come to destroy it and return the world once more to ephemeria. During the battle Corwin joined forces with Eric and together they fought back against Chaos..but during the battle Eric was killed. As such Corwin took the throne and lead the forces of Amber against Chaos into their very homeplane. There the battle was brought to a sandstill when the Serpent of Chaos and the Unicorn of Amber made themselves known to both families to be actual sentient true Gods. A balance accord was set and boundaries were drawn, but not before many members of both families had been killed in battle.
After this battle Corwin vanished into obscurity, no one could fine him anywhere. This was because unbeknownst to anyone else, in order to keep the powers of the Unicorn and the Serpent from destroying everything in their power struggle, Corwin created his own pattern to oppose the both of them and act as a neutral balancing agent. No one found him that is, until his son Merlin went looking for him. And found him guarding his own Pattern against constant attack from both the Serpent and the Unicorn. Merlin used his leverage as being a user of both the Pattern and the Logrus to gain a hand over the Serpent and the Unicorn and force them to stop their attacks against his father. And so with this threat done Corwin was able to travel through Shadow once more, his mind now inscribed with the powers of both the Pattern of Amber, and his own Pattern, giving him unknown powers over Shadow. He has entrusted his son's tutelage to Fiona, his closest sister, and once lover (different mothers), who has done extensive study of the Logrus and communicates regularly with Merlin. It is believed that Corwin currently resides in his favorite Shadow, commonly called Earth.
My Custom Litesaber, Curtesey of Moonblossom
Corwin's Wishlist
Guilds Goddesses and their Protectors Guild
The Naughty Girls Club
New Gaian Veteran Soldiers
