Arwen - This tome contains information I thought you might find useful, or at least interesting. --Delwin Amberites in a network: Barda (Caine) Tavin (Caine) Aphrodite (Llewella) Beatrice (Bleys) Panthea (Osric) Piper (Finndo) Shannon (Delwin) Thorne (Gerard) Notes: I believe these eight form some sort of network along the lines of an underground society. Its ends are not clear, but they seem involved in keeping themselves little-known to those who commonly reside in the Palace. There are, admittedly, a few exceptions. Barda and Tavin are well-acquainted with Sand and her son Aidan, and have been for some time. While I have not actually met my daughter, my other daughter Tsia has, and is attempting to give her sister a favorable opinion of me, on my advice. Beatrice was in close contact with Bleys, and Aphrodite had contacted Bleys just before his death. It seems certain members of this group wish to become known in Amber, but on their own terms; this may be part of their purpose. Shae, Carissa, Bernadette Notes: It is unclear what purpose these three serve. Bernadette is no danger; she has not yet been acquainted with her heritage. She seems to possess little to no curiousity about her father. Carissa and Shae, on the other hand, could be dangerous, especially Shae. Carissa seems to have little fear of anything and anyone, but much of her time is spent practicing her dancing and... other arts. She is apparently disinterested in other pursuits. Shae is, by far, the most dangerous of the three. So little can be discovered about her past, even with the help of others I enlisted, that I fear she is at least as old as Benedict and Corwin, and possibly as old or older than Father. I have seen evidence that she is accomplished at Trump Artistry, beyond what I thought possible for anyone except Dworkin. She also appears to be a shape-shifter, a sorceress, and a conjurer. Her long disappearances into areas I cannot look into makes me apprehensive; she could only be at the Primal Pattern or the Courts of Chaos, and either place makes me fear for the universe. Too much mischief can be created in the Courts, as the redheads proved, and the gods only know what she could be doing with Dworkin and the Primal Pattern. Broken Pattern: Caleb (Dalt) Corbett (Eric) Malachi (Brand) Notes: These three concern me less than do those others listed before. Caleb is useless as anything other than a mercenary like his father, and not even a particularly good one. I am not certain Corbett even knows what he has; to him, walking the Broken Pattern was an initiation rite, and Obsidian (one of my sister's Hellmares) is nothing but a smart horse he helped to raise. Nonetheless, I would not consider him harmless; he is an accomplished fighter for an Amberite of his inexperience, and, at times, he has his father's manners. Malachi is the most dangerous of those with Broken Pattern, by far. I fear he has inherited much of his father's vices and little, if any, of his virtue. Given a little tutoring and a walk on the Pattern, he could easily become a Trump Artist -- and another Brand. Name: Aphrodite Amber Parent: Llewella Normal Parent: unknown Shadow of Birth: Rebma Childhood: Stolen from her bed in Rebma while a small child. Twin to Manannan and daughter of Llewella. She has been missing for many years. Mandor and Fiona stole her originally, with the intention of creating her as a puppet to the Rebman throne. However, she despised her captors, and, once she was old enough, escaped. Luckily, Fiona had her hidden not far from Amber -- on the islands to the south, where Clarissa came from, in an old townhouse. Adulthood: She walked the Pattern in Tir-na Nog'th, and has been off in Shadow somewhere, hiding. Name: Barda Amber Parent: Caine Normal Parent: Grace Shadow of Birth: Amber Childhood: Twin to Tavin. Raised by their mother, although they did see Caine fairly often. Very interested in more warlike pursuits; learned mostly from mercenaries. Adulthood: She currently works for her brother in some sort of less-than-legal pursuit in Amber. She has walked the Pattern, and may have a child, though this is unclear. Name: Beatrice Amber Parent: Bleys Normal Parent: Katharina, Lady of a minor House in Karm Shadow of Birth: Karm Childhood: Raised as a Lady in Karm. Quiet and studious as a child, concerned with effects of magic, and with nature. Especially fond of doves, flowers, and ornamental ponds. Adulthood: Discovered, purely by accident, by Bleys on a rare diplomatic mission after Random's coronation. Bleys trained her and took her to the Pattern, then trained her some more, all in secret. Once her training was complete, she found her Shadow, Idyllus, a place of ornamental ponds and extensive gardens. She has lived there since, not even venturing out when Bleys died. Name: Bernadette Amber Parent: undiscovered Normal Parent: Lady Laureli Shadow of Birth: Simera Childhood: Her childhood consisted of endless rounds of lessons in everything from etiquette to fencing, horseback riding to poisoning. She wasn't young for long. Adulthood: Bernadette is one of the most successful "Ladies of the Flower", as her profession is called, in Simera. She is paid high fees for her conjuration skills (among other things). Her palfrey Bravissima is a recent acquisition, as horses are reserved for the extraordinarily wealthy. She has not been to Amber. Name: Caleb Amber Parent: Dalt Normal Parent: unclear Shadow of Birth: Earth Childhood: Raised by a pair of single women rooming together to save money. They were living in California at the time, and later packed up the child and moved to South Africa, just for the climate. Caleb spent most of his childhood there. Adulthood: Some time during his late teens, he became involved with both a group of mercenaries and a sorceress girlfriend. She took him to the Broken Pattern, and taught him quite a bit before a rival band of mercenaries discovered her and killed her. Caleb took over his group and killed the rivals, then left his home Shadow to travel to a nearby one, where he has been since. Name: Carissa Amber Parent: undiscovered Normal Parent: Lady Miranda Shadow of Birth: Lorraine Childhood: Apparently apprenticed to an exotic dancer of some sort at about age eight. Otherwise unremarkable childhood. She may have a twin brother, but if so, he was not at all prominent in her life. Adulthood: Disappeared from Lorraine some time after her twentieth birthday; apparently walked the Pattern at that time. She then returned to her home Shadow for a time. Now somewhere in the environs of Amber, possibly with portions of the army. Name: Corbett Amber Parent: Eric Normal Parent: Nicolle Shadow of Birth: K'tu Childhood: The Shadow is a harsh place, mostly desert. Children have little childhood freedom before being expected to show responsibility among the nomad tribe Corbett and his mother belonged to. Just after his tenth birthday, Nicolle died. Adulthood: Corbett quit his tribe as soon as he was considered adult in the few existing cities. He joined up with a set of renegades who made him walk the Broken Pattern as an initiation ritual. He spent the following years learning all he could before leaving to become a lone rider, which he still is. His horse, Obsidian, is a Hellmare stallion he helped raise after the colt's mother died giving birth; the father, an unnamed stallion everyone called wild, stayed around until Obsidian was fully adult and trained to ride, at about age eight. Name: Malachi Amber Parent: Brand Normal Parent: Nimue Shadow of Birth: Lavedi Childhood: Apprenticed to a painter from a very young age. Rarely saw his mother. Adulthood: Some time during his late teen years, he was discovered engaging in... less than scrupulous... acts with the daughter of his painting master. Kicked out of the only trade he knew, he eventually persuaded a rich socialite to take him in as a painter. Her household magician discovered Malachi's potential and began to teach him; Malachi returned the favor by learning everything he could and then killing the man in an "experiment." During this period, he discovered the Broken Pattern and someone to take him to it; he rarely uses its power to travel, instead concentrating on controlling his home Shadow. Name: Panthea Amber Parent: Osric Normal Parent: Rebecalla, daughter of General Lewis of Amber Shadow of Birth: Northern Plains of Amber Childhood: General Lewis settled with his pregnant daughter just south of the plains, in a frontier town, right after the war finished. He had earned retirement and took it and the pension, beginning a life of gardening with his daughter. This provided sufficient income to keep both Rebecalla and her daughter Panthea in high style. Panthea's childhood was spent gardening, and traveling to the memorial built to her father and his brother. She always knew she was a child of Amber. Adulthood: After the death of her grandfather, her mother wasted away and died as well. Finding nothing else to bind her to her home, Panthea set out for Amber, determined to find a way to walk the Pattern. She did, by taking the ghostly Pattern in Tir-na Nog'th with no knowledge of how to do it, except that gleaned from a ghostly version of her father. She traveled then, out of Amber and into Shadow. Name: Piper Amber Parent: Finndo Normal Parent: deceased, no name known Shadow of Birth: Northern Plains of Amber Childhood: Raised by assorted members of the armed forces stationed in the fortresses at the edge of the Plains. Knew she was child of an Amberite, and heard rumors about what to do if she ever got to Amber. Adulthood: On her eighteenth birthday, she was given a letter written by her father, containing instructions on how to walk the ghost Pattern. Told her quite a bit about Amber, as of his death, and encouraged her to walk the Pattern and not stay in Amber. She followed his advice. Name: Shae Amber Parent: undiscovered Normal Parent: Aleanor, daughter of an assassin-friend of the king Shadow of Birth: Al-Rassan Childhood: Little is actually known about her childhood. This indicates either that she is extremely old, or has managed to obliterate all who knew her then. Adulthood: Hard to say. She seems to spend much of her time in Shadow, but disappears from view for long stretches. There are only two places she could be during these times: the Primal Pattern or the Courts of Chaos. Name: Shannon Amber Parent: Delwin Normal Parent: Tellura Shadow of Birth: Unnamed Shadow with Greek architecture, modern clothing, democracy, and Renaissance technology Childhood: Displeased with all the men she had thus far encountered, Tellura latched on to Delwin as an appropriate father of her child, as she had no interest in marriage. Once he left, not knowing she was pregnant, she bought a home atop a mountain plateau to raise her child and study science. She did so, and discovered Shannon shared her interest in science, though in different fields (astrology, study of birds, geography). Adulthood: Shannon kept the home up even after her mother's early death. When Tsia arrived in the Shadow, she recognised Shannon as her sister and took her into Amber, to the Pattern. Shannon only walked it because her sister was there urging her on. She then returned to her home Shadow, and has stayed there since. Name: Tavin Amber Parent: Caine Normal Parent: Grace Shadow of Birth: Amber Childhood: Twin to Barda. Raised by their mother, although they did see Caine fairly often. Very interested in the techniques to running a business, but also in such other activities as thievery and assassination. Adulthood: Currently runs an organization of some sort; its exact purposes are unclear, but it is definitely illegal in Amber. His sister acts as his bodyguard. He has apparently walked the Pattern at some juncture; exactly when is unclear. Name: Thorne Amber Parent: Gerard Normal Parent: Janice Shadow of Birth: Bios Childhood: Raised in and around boats and wharves. His mother was captain of her own ship, a fact which Gerard did not know until later. She was also a very shrewd woman, something Thorne learned from her. She was also quite aware that Gérard was a Prince of Amber. Adulthood: His mother was lost at sea, but not before she used ties in Rebma to sneak her son into the Palace and to the Rebman Pattern. He had not met his father at the time of Gérard's death. After his mother died, he got control of her ship, the Bedlam, and took up her business -- that of borderline piracy.