What’s happened ere the game?
All ten novels, none of the short stories, plus about a decade or two. Random has had time to learn Trump Artistry, something that is known because he’s had people sit for him. Merlin is ruling in Chaos, but has resisted the Flowing Crown. Corwin’s Pattern is known, but sits quietly and keeps to itself. The spanking Merlin, Luke, and Corwin gave the Powers in the last book stuck; things are, for now, quiet.
Who’s alive, who’s around?
I just sent out a list of Live Family Members and Dead Ones to react to; some of the dead ones have been dead before without much effect. I make no promises on their status. Those lists refer to common knowledge of their state. To recap, the Dead Amberites are: Osric, Finndo, Eric, Oberon, Brand, Dierdre, Caine. Corwin is known to be alive, but at large. He hasn’t been heard from since Merlin sprung him from Chaos stir.
What’s Chaos stir ?
Stir is slang for jail.
What’s up with the Noble Houses in Amber? Are they just to look pretty?
Nope. If an Amberite lives in a shadow for a long while, the shadow strengthens , and things there become more real. Read that as tougher. The Pattern counts as sort of a uber-Amberite for this purpose. Amber level stats are, well, the level of Amber natives. You live that close to the hearth, you get warm, you know?
So. Amber natives are more real than shadow folk, and if the entire Amber Family got aced, someone from a Noble House would be installed as King. There are, currently, 28 Noble Houses. I’ll post the known facts of the top ten or so, soon . Nobles, therefore, have a vested interest in the running of Amber, and the royal house doesn’t ax a noble just for fun. They don’t mind doing it, and can certainly clean up whatever political mess ensues, but.... Okay, like this. It might be fun to throw eggs against the floor, listen to the splat , watch the puddles form and splash, but you might not do it every day, cause you don’t lik e to clean the kitchen. That might be a good analogy; I don’t want to analyze it very carefully, though.
And the Golden Circle? Are they as tough as Noble Houses, then?
Less so. Random needs the Nobles to run his kingdom. Losing one or two is acceptable but expensive. He needs GC shadows to finance his kingdom, via trade plied from one to the others by means of Amber’s navy. The trade routes are extensive and diversified enough that losing a stop on the way hurts that stop more than it hurts Amber. Think of ‘em as customers for a large corporate body; if you lose one, you can always replace it.
GC shadows are not the only shadows Amber trades with. They’re just the ones that have become such good/convenient customers that Amber has a special contract with ‘em.
Who knows that Amber/Chaosites are special?
The average Amber and Chaos citizen knows. Nobles could, with some help or magical aid, and certainly with the jewel of Judgment, walk the pattern, so the royal family is unique in part because they’ve made it that way; getting to the Pattern is not something everybody can do. GC states may or may not have common knowledge of reality and shadow, depending on that particular state. Certainly sorcerers in the GC and surrounding shadow are far more clued than those from the boonies of shadow, like Earth.
Why don’t Amberites just Psyche everybody into doing things their way?
It isn’t that easy, unless you want to concentrate on it all the time. Fiona might bully someone into agreeing with her, and they would do so in actuality, using her psyche. However, when she stopped forcing her will, the victim would begin, slowly or quickly, depending, to return to his own mind.
There are ways to enforce your will over time through magic means, which basically strengthen your psyche’s effect.
And, then, if you go about town hijacking people’s minds right and left, eventually you’ll get noticed and spanked, or noticed and attacked, or noticed and assassinated. That’s why dictators here on Earth don’t shoot people for fun too often (see the egg thingie above); sooner or later someone finds it offensive.
What are the Elders official positions?
Most don’t have any, as most don’t want to be a)tied down like that, and b)subservient to anyone else. Gerard holds the navy, Julian Arden, and Random Amber, but that’s because they like the work, the area, or not pissing off the Unicorn, respectively. The rest of the Elder’s generally don’t give orders to the Noble Houses, don t sign treaties, don t ma ke policy, and try not to cross Random. This is mostly, again, because of bother. It can be assumed that at any given time, if Random were to drop dead, there would be a quick dozen candidates volunteering for the throne. It s just that right now, no one wants to openly oppose Random to do it.
Now, what s going on not-openly? Go find out.
What are the known powers of people?
Fiona is a demonstrated sorceress, Random has been seen with the Jewel and drew a bunch of Trumps for the family, Gerard is widely acknowledged as stronger than garlic breath, and Benedict is known to be able to take out armies with a hard glance. Beyond that, most of the family are supposed to have some power...the specifics of which most of them keep quiet about. Luke, for instance, has never publicly demonstrated sorcerous ability.
How does Amber get along with the Courts?
Okay. There are no close ties, to trade to speak of, and no immanent wars.
How are things in the Courts?
Go there and find out. Or ask someone who has recently. Do you suppose that this stuff is in the newspaper?
What is known of the Courts of Chaos by the general population?
That Amber had a big fight there. The Redhead Betrayal is known by the family, but not by everyone else, generally. Most Amberites probably don’t know of the Logrus, and the only personage from the Courts who is known well and widely is Merlin.
What are the known sources of power? Are the Powers known? Does acquiring these powers, or dealing with the Powers, confer status?
The Pattern, Logrus, and Trumps are known to confer power in a major way. Sorcery, Broken Pattern, Conjuration, and the like are known, but often pooh-poohed as being lesser, and therefore not significant. Of course, .22 caliber guns are pooh-poohed around here as insignificant, but I don’t know anybody that wants to be shot with one. There are obviously sources of power in shadow, like the keep, but they aren’t generally known, and are, again, considered a poor second.
Having a major power gives you status in the same way that owning a handgun gives you status. If you wave it around a lot, you get notice and a certain kind of respect. If you don’t have a handgun (or a power), it does not mean you are unarmed. Or, hell, that you really don’t have a handgun. Maybe you keep it concealed. So, no, no status is conferred with the acquisition of a power, but status is earned by how you demonstrate the power.
Consorting with the Powers (the Unicorn and the Serpent) is...well, it depends on who you’re talking to. The followers of the state religion, the Church of the Unicorn, if devout, will be impressed. Most others might look twice at you, and still others probably don’t believe such critters exist. It is...unpleasant to consider that a god could walk up your street and play with what he finds there, so most don’t.
I want Abyss Power!
Great, go get it. If it exists, and I won’t tell. You ain’t starting with it, though.
Well, then, I want jeweler’s rouge gunpowder.
Sorry, Random gets pissy if firearms are used in Amber. Things are hectic enough without gunfights in the bars. So, naturally, that means that none of the royal family plays with guns.
Ahem. Of course they don’t.
Are we all the Amberites there are? Why did Oberon get so many kids, and nobody else did?
Well. Oberon knocked out (I think) 47 kids before he died. We can assume that there are some offspring of the Elders running around. But you guys are the known ones, or the claimed ones, or...okay, you guys are the ones that are officially recognized to the extent that you get some attention, and that wish to associate with Amber. Not everyone would want to. Sand and Delwin didn’t. (Oops--add them to the list of Living Relatives. And no, no one knows where they are or why they left.)
For amberites, procreating is more than just the, er, intimate act. It is also an unconscious (or deliberate I guess) intent that moves their ability to Shape Shadowstuff. They might not be thinking "Gee, I want a kid," but the treating of their partner as more than an object might move them to want more than mere body fluids from their partnering (I'm running out of euphemisms), and that desire sometimes manifests as progeny. If you want this clarified, ask.
How are you going to get my Trump?
Send it to me at
Scott Shanks
223A NW 15th St
Corvallis, OR 97330
Um. In the USA. Don’t mean to be provincial, but I don’t know how to address to me from outside the US.
