Other Cast Pages:
"Professor" Fuyutsuki (Birthdate unknown, but predates the Pattern)
"I am the great Giacomo, King of Jesters and Jester to Kings!"--Fuyutsuki
"You can learn a lot from Great-Grandpa."--Mutsumi
"Imagine if the Oracle of Delphi lived her entire life without ever
getting off the big fume-spewing crack in the ground. That's Fuyutsuki."--Ambassador
from Uila.
Drawer of Pattern, spinner out of fate, complete loon. If you know sorcery or trumps or advanced pattern, you probably studied under him. He's a fruitcake, but he's a powerful, knowledgeable fruitcake. Watch out for his hat. He's your great-grandfather, but no one is sure who or what he had sex with to produce Gendo. Rumors claim it was the Unicorn, but surely the Unicorn has more taste.
Fuyutsuki lives in a suite of rooms down in the dungeons under the Palace. He has a very large lab, which the front door opens into; no one is sure if he has a bedroom or just sleeps there. He also has a painting gallery connected to it, most of which are trumps. All of your family are depicted, along with other people and places you've never seen.
Fuyutsuki married Shaft's ex-wives, the Kasumis, during the Herald Crisis. Lady Kasumi lives in Amber with him while Leather Knight Kasumi stays in ShAmber; he spends a lot of time there for obvious reasons.
Rumor has it that he's contemplating making a new Unicorn Spikard, in order to match the seven of Chaos.
King Gendo I (Dead--0/100 AY?-1262 AY)
"Take this sword, march to the top of Okila pass, and kill everything
that tries to pass you. Now."--King Gendo
"My husband was the best man I have ever known. He sacrificed everything
for what he loved."--Dowager Queen Anthy
"She doesn't mention WE were among the things he sacrificed."--Saionji
Your Grandfather, the ruthless bastard. He only ever cared about one thing in the universe: Amber. Everything else came second, especially anyone's personal feelings. Luckily, he probably died before most of you were born. His mother was rumored to be the Unicorn, but it remains uncertain as to the truth of that allegation.
Gendo's early years are shrouded in legend. He was born some time between 0 and 100 AY, but his mother remains unknown, and so does the exact date of his birth. Between 100 AY and 200 AY, he was off in Shadow gathering the peoples who would form the original population of Amber. It was at this time that he fought a duel with 'The Dragon of Chaos', and in which he gained his sword, 'Justice'.
After his coronation in 200 AY, he ruled Amber for several hundred years alone, although he had many lovers during this time. The history of Gendo is largely identical to that of Amber, so it will not be discussed in detail here.
King Gendo is still dead, just in case you were wondering.
King
Tylor I (430 AY-Present)
Son of Gendo and
Sakura
Tylor says, "Well, it looks like this crisis is over. And you know what that means." Juri of Avalon glances at Tylor. "Party?" Tylor says, "It's time for us to go back to what's left of the castle and PARTY!!!!!"Tylor opens a Pattern Gate with the Eye of Metal, right to the Party Chambers he put together in the Dungeons. "Okay, let's go!" Corrine glances at Tylor. "You think of -everything-, don'tcha?" Corrine grins, despite it all. Tylor says, "That's why it's GOOD TO BE THE KING!" He picks up Yuriko and spins her around as she laughs.--After the end of the Second Day of Darkness
"After a thousand years of Gendo, he's a breath of fresh air in a stuffy palace. He's a king you can like."--Guard Commander Misato
"'Do what you want' is not a viable philosophy for a king. He's lazy and ignorant, and if his wife didn't do all the work for him, Amber would in shambles by now. I can't see how she puts up with him."--Queen Jasra of Kashfa many years ago (before her overthrow and flight into...wherever she is now)
It's hard to believe your grandfather somehow produced Tylor. Tylor is open, friendly, cheerful, helpful, and impossible to believe he came from the same genetic stock as most of your relatives. Tylor has a great reputation as a naval hero, and apparently it's actually all true. At least to some degree. Mostly, Uncle Tylor seems to just stumble through life, trusting to luck and the Unicorn to save him. Unbelievable as it is...it seems to have worked for him so far.
King Tylor, is known to possess a mysterious jewel which may be the legendary Jewel of Judgement, but only wears it on certain ceremonial occassions, keeping it locked away in the vaults the rest of the time.
Tylor has explored Shadow more thoroughly than many of siblings, wandering off many times to explore its distant reaches.
King Tylor suffered a lot of pains in his side, and had spells of extreme sickness after the Annadil Crisis for forty years, believed to the result of some mysterious injury he suffered during it. Yet he remains for the most part cheerful and kind. He is known to have practically raised Prime Minister Keitaro Orkuz of Begman himself as a foster-child and seems to regard him as a son, and is known to spend much time with Prince Beowulf. He enjoys excellent relations with the monarchs of Ember, Rebma, and Arcadia.
King Tylor is fast friends with Baron von Munchausen, and has had several beatings from Yuriko when he has vanished into shadow with Munchausen without so much as even mentioning he's taking off. Or when he dragged her into it.
King Tylor also seems quite friendly with Prince Orien, Princess Random, and Prince Aburatsubo.
Tylor is currently bodyguarded by Spike Spiegel.
Tylor seems quite unhappy over the death of Telemain, Nanami, and Mikage
in the recent battle in shadow.
Queen Yuriko Star I
Daughter of Queen Moire of Rebma and Count Yamato
"Stop slouching, husband,"--whispered by Queen Yuriko at a reception
to her husband.
"She's a woman I can respect and do business with. She gets
things done and keeps the royal government efficient and effective.
The perfect match for Tylor,"--Horatio Walpole, ex-head of the KTC.
"Even my best pratfalls don't work on this woman. I think
she sold her sense of humor to the Narwhale for power or something"--Krusty
the Royal Fool
Yuriko is the hyper-efficient daughter of Queen Moire of Rebma, now married to King Tylor. They form a good pair, as her efficiency counters his laziness, while he keeps her from becoming so tightly wound that she explodes. She has yet to successfully produce any children, which has caused some grumbling at court. Queen Yuriko has extensive military experience in Rebma's underwater navy, and met Tylor during a joint military operation.
Queen Yuriko is bodyguarded by Vash. She is a full partner of her husband and weilds vast authority, especially when he is sick. This is known to irritate some of the nobility. She is known to be on good terms with Prince Kentaro and Ambassador Sumire, and on fairly good terms with most of the rest of the Herald-era generation. She has been known to lecture Jacqueline about being more careful, Lily about wearing more clothing, and Mitsune about causing less trouble, though. Like her husband, she has spent a lot of time with Lord Keitaro, and seems to largely treat him as if he was her son.
Offered the throne of Rebma at the end of the Herald Crisis, she refused it on the grounds that she couldn't keep Tylor out of trouble if she ruled Rebma too.
Queen Yuriko is known to find Orien useless, Random quite aggravating, and to favor Asuka and Kaname. Queen Yuriko really, really can't stand Baron von Munchausen. She tends to become twitch-tastic when in the presence of Setsuna for long.
Many in Amber grumble because she has yet to produce an heir, but her position remains safe for now...it's not as if the family doesn't have enough princes to take over if Tylor does die.
Yuriko seems quite unhappy over the death of Telemain, Nanami, and Mikage
in the recent battle in shadow.
Touga, Special Agent of the Crown
Son of Gendo and Sakura
"Old age and treachery will always defeat youth and skill."--Touga
"I still don't understand why he believed in me when few others
did, but I am grateful."--Princess Juri
"Back-stabbing, lying, worthless bastard. How he produced
Shizumaru, I'll never understand."--Princess Nanami
Take Bleys, remove his good nature, but keep the rest, and transplant Caine's sneakiness into him. That's your uncle Touga. You can't trust him, but you can rely on him to do almost anything fairly well, if not quite anything the best. Except being a total and utter bastard. He spent decades in exile, having been exiled by Gendo for reasons known only to Touga and Gendo.
Touga returned to Amber during the Annadil Crisis, seeming much mellowed by his time in shadow, and much more relaxed. He participated in Drake's raid on Rebma against Embra-Derith, and demonstrated powerful skills of sorcery.
Yuriko appointed Touga as commander of Amber's western armies which became involved in Talma/Uilan/Singh conflict. Touga was been fairly successful until the Red Death swarmed over the area, devastating it. He vanished into Shadow for a few months after the fighting was over, then resurfaced seeming very subdued. After several decades spent studying with Wakaba and Anthy, about ten years ago, he became a special agent of the crown and now pops in and out of court, frequently gone for weeks or months at a time.
He has strange relations with his old lover, Lady Hisame Atsuko, mother of Shizumaru; they become quite strained in his presence, but he is openly known to be Prince Shizumaru's father. He and Shizumaru are not generally believed to be very close. He also seems to become intensely uncomfortable in the presence of his granddaughter, Akari, and has been known to teleport away at her approach. The reasons for this is unknown.
Touga played a very active role during the Herald Crisis, if sometimes behind the scenes. He seems to have grown closer to his brothers in the aftermath of that, and even achieved a tentative reconcilliation with Princess Nanami. Everyone hopes the truce will last.
Many members of the family consider Touga likely to be covertly the head of Amber's spy network, but he isn't talking. He seems to work very closely with his son Haru, but has mixed relations with Aburatsubo, who seems to disappoint him. He is known to be very affectionate with his wife Suu, though they are usually at opposite ends of the universe. He seems to regard most of the current generation with mild favor, though he may simply be hiding his opinions as usual.
Touga is currently off in Shadow for reasons unknown.
Drake--Lord High President
of the Harad City War Academy
Son of Gendo and Sakura
The White Star rises into the air with Drake piloting.
Touga says, "You know, Drake, I just thought of something we should
have had for this."
Drake says, "Another exploding corpse of Father?"
Touga nods.
Drake says, "Sadly, Father could only be flung from a catapult once
and exploded to sink a Black Fleet."
Drake says, "That's why I collected Mother's body, rigged it to
explode, and loaded it into the bomb bay."
Touga stares at him.
Kanna just arches an eyebrow at this.
Kanna . o O (Aunt Nanami must never, ever be told.)
Touga says, "Nanami will kill you for this."
Drake says, "No she won't. Sakura was in YOUR body when she died,
remember."
Drake says, "Nanami will give me a medal."
Touga says, "You just think of everything."
You pour out of the ship and confront Hel herself, along with Wu-Corrine,
Wu-Gil-Galad, Wu-Juri, Wu-Drake, Wu-Eowyn, and Wu-Van.
Hel's gaze sweeps across your ranks, and she laughs. "I see you
forgot someone."
Drake says, "I see you forgot most of your Wu... oh, wait, WE KILLED
THEM ALL."
Drake says, "I see you forgot to stop looking like a two-mug whore
from the Dead Unicorn too. So how much hair gel does it take to make your
hair stand straight up like that? Going to shout Kamehameha at us?"
Kuonji Ukyou says, "Surrender, Hel. You cannot defeat Drake's mouth."
--
Drake on the Day of Darkness
"So the assassins are pouring through the windows, but Drake just draws Werewindle and wades into the middle of them. One dies with every thrust, while he dances about, causing them to stab each other as they lunge at him. Finally, the last of them fell dead, and he used the man's hair to clean his blade of blood. Then he sighed. 'Too easy,' he said."--Deputy Lord High Chamberlain Nabiki
"Self-centered prick who takes on too many jobs at once then leaves others to do the boring parts. Plus he has an ugly beard."--A clerk in the Lord High Chamberlain's office
Drake was the youngest child of Gendo and Sakura, born shortly before she left Gendo. He grew up to become a great military leader, and has served several terms as Marshal of Amber. He held the office of Lord High Chamberlain for many years, up until his disappearance during the Annadil Crisis. He spendt a lot of time away from Amber, leaving the work to his assistant Nabiki, the Deputy Lord High Chamberlain, studying the ways of business and technology in Shadow. Drake is known for taking on too many duties at once and not quite managing as a result to do any of them as well as might be desired. When he turns his mind to one single thing, though, he becomes a nigh-unstoppable force. Given he possesses Werewindle, one of the legendary Pattern Blades, this is often no mere metaphor. He is said, indeed, to have MADE it. In fact, he also forged a new Greyswandir after the destruction of the old, and has that too.
During the Annadil Crisis, Drake outsmarted a shadow Derith by tricking him into stealing a fake Werewindle, then led the raid which freed Rebma from Shadow-Derith's control, cut off Shadow-Derith's arm, and took Magnus the Unseen for himself.
At the height of the Annadil Crisis, someone (apparently believed to be Derith by Drake) tried to murder Drake with an exploding fake Jewel of Judgement. Drake swore vengeance on the guilty party, and passed his keys to his second in command, Nabiki, and vanished into Shadow. He remained missing until quite recently.
Drake resurfaced during the Herald Crisis with Werewindle, but Nanami seems to have acquired Magnus the Unseen. This doesn't seem to please Drake. He was held captive for decades by the Cyberope, Jean Malraux, an Outsider cultist, and was rescued by a horde of his relatives led by Moriya and Beowulf.
Upon his return, Drake resigned his post of Lord High Chamberlain and urged the King to give the job to Nabiki. Drake married Nabiki late in that same year. Sumire Kanzaki of Ember is now known to be their daughter. After the crisis ended, Drake became head of the Harad City War Academy, and has spent the last century beating would-be officers into shape.
Drake is known to have great regard for Asuka, and to approve of Random's skills, if not her general behavior. He seems to have a personal interest in Nanami Minor, though he can also be very harsh with her. Drake despises Aburatsubo, and seems to regard Telemain as one big failed experiment. He often seems rahte personally disappointed by Orien and Deirdre. He seems to view Shiori and Kaname with mild favor, seeing both as competent naval commanders, though he has little personal interest in naval strategy. Drake has a very high view of Lord Sousuke and Lady Melissa, and seems to find Nanbara funnier than Krusty. Drake is known to have once recommended to Mitsune that Miroku be spayed for his own good. He is known to have been rather pleased that Kanako went missing. He does not seem very pleased she's come back.
Drake is still obnoxious.
Drake seems to take the viewpoint that Telemain got what he deserved
for screwing up what should have been a glue box of a mission, but regrets
Nanami and Mikage's death.
Van--Warden of Uberwald
"You shall not destroy this village while I draw breath!"
-- Prince Van
"My brother is the greatest hero who ever lived." -- Prince
Saionji
"Van was a complete idiot, and I'm surprised he hasn't killed himself
off again." -- Princess Kozue
Van was Saonji's elder brother. He rode forth to challenge a dragon that was raiding the Golden Circle. Neither he nor the dragon was ever seen again, and his trump was cold and dead for centuries.
However, he resurfaced during the Herald Crisis, having apparently been in the clutches of Hel, Queen of the Dead, all these centuries. Saved from destruction and freed of her control, he and Saionji moved to Arcadia, and he took up the duties of Warden of Uberwald, where he still serves, bearing the Arcadian Patternblade, Dragonslicer.
Your generation has seen little of Van, but he still seems to be a rash,
impulsive man with a strong heroic instinct. (ie, Heroic Stupid).
He and Saionji are very close.
Saionji--Marshal of Arcadia
Son of Gendo and Yvette
"What a vision of loveliness I behold, almost equal to my own beauty."--Saionji
"Grandfather has served Arcadia well this past century; he is truly
a great general."--King Thoric
"I heard he added a new wing to his mansion to accomodate his ego."--Princess
Kozue
Green haired. Considers himself an honorable warrior, although his honor seems to have some cracks in it when it comes to women. Indeed, he is quite the playboy, enjoying stringing women along. He spends a lot of time out wandering around shadow fighting things. He and Touga used to fight a lot--it's unclear to you if this was a friendly or hostile rivalry, and possibly unclear to them as well. Saionji served as the leader of Amber's armies since Juri's retirement, after a brief period in which Drake held both the office of Marshal and that of Lord High Chamberlain. He is Michelle's father.
After Saionji's humiliating defeat at the hands of the Harad revolt during the Annadil Crisis, Saionji resigned the office of Marshal. For a time, he vanished in shadow with Prince Shizumaru and his daughter, then went out into Shadow alone, but then 20 years ago, he returned and assumed the role of commander of the Southern Fleet. He has served well in this capacity.
Saionji is known to have personally trained Motoko and to admire her as much as he's able to admire anyone who is not himself. He's provided extensive personal training to his daughter, Prince Ramon, and King Thoric, and is on fairly good terms with all three. In recent years, he seems to be on better terms with Kozue, perhaps as a result of their naval collaborations, and he's known to approve of Kozue's daughter Shinobu Major, and her grand daughter, Naru. He tends to simply laugh disdainfully at everything Kentaro does.
Saionji surprised many in the family by delivering an articulate, wise, non-lustful eulogy at Moriya's funeral. This came in the middle of his many woes during the Herald Crisis. Repeatedly kidnapped, brain-washed, cursed, set on fire, and unable to get any sex in a time of growing harems, he accepted Jacqui's offer and moved to Arcadia to become her Marshal. He continues to serve in that capacity, and is little seen in Amber these days.
Saonji bears Coinspinner, the Arcadian Patternblade of Air.
Eowyn--Commander of the Air Fleets of Amber
Daughter of Gendo and Haruka
"Who wants to live forever? DIVE!!!!!" -- Princess
Eowyn
"Brave, honest, forthright. She is like a mother to me," --
Princess Nausicaa
"I see you can murder the innocent and still get your family to
love you in Amber," -- Lord Hatlin of Alars
The biggest surprise of the Herald Crisis (well, for some people), was the revelation of the survival of the long-lost Princess Eowyn, eldest princess of House Harad. Long trapped in a prison shadow, she eventually escaped, only to be brainwashed by the Serpent's Horn. Captured by Princess Kanna, she was freed of her brainwashing (rumor has it the Pyricorn was responsible, others speak of the Serpent, and a few say that Morgenstern pumped the power of Funk into her brain to drive out the brainwashing) shortly thereafter, and helped Princess Motoko at the battle of the Courts of Chaos during the Day of the Dead. She apparently joined some sort of victory orgy which followed, during which she concieved her daughter, Asuka. Her father remains unknown.
She has become the commander of the Air Fleets of Amber, in which capacity, she has served Amber well.
Eowyn is very mercurial in personality, sometimes moody, and flickering from cheer to gloom at a moment's notice. This reminds many people of Morgan, leading a few to speculate she is actually Morgan in disguise, though she has yet to change sex.
Princess Eowyn, Prince Mikage, and Princess Nausicaa are known to be very close to each other, almost like a family, though Eowyn and Mikage are not thought to have a romantic relationship. She is also very close to Juri and Corrine for obvious reasons, and is quite friendly with Prince Demetrius, Princess Kanna and Prince Beowulf. She has very stormy relations with Asuka, and they fight frequently. She seems uncomfortable around Drake, but is quite friendly with Dowager Queen Anthy. She seems to regard Princess Motoko very, very highly.
Eowyn is known to regard Captain Hanajima as somewhat of a protege, and has been known to visit Tir'na'nog with her. There are a few rumors of them having been lovers (or even that Hanajima is somehow Asuka's father or mother, which is chronologically and physically impossible). She gets along well with Random and Kaname, and is known to be quite friendly with Baron Munchausen.
Eowyn is known to have helped Drake with the arrest of Shinobu Major.
Juri--Ambassador to Ember
Daughter of Gendo and Haruka
"I lay down my sword and take up this pen to fight a different kind
of war"--from the introduction of Juri's Thoughts on the Nature
of Reality
"Her help was invaluable to me in my early years as King, and I
miss having her near my side. Still, she makes a great ambassador
as well, and I know she will serve Amber well in Ember."--Prince Miki
"Every dyke in shadow is a reflection of her. How she spawned,
I'll never know."--Prince Saionji
Quiet and reclusive, Juri is a noted master of the sword. In 1258, she retired from the job of Marshal to do some writing and meditating, and wrote a history of her time as Marshal. She is noted for her dislike of politics and her disbelief in miracles--this has frequently led to squabbles between her and many High Priests of the Unicorn. She is red haired, tall, and wiry. She is Hiko's mother.
Juri went missing for 40 years after the Annadil Crisis, after last being seen in the vicinity of the Rebma-Whirlpool. A few Amberite sailors spread tales of a Ghost Fleet commanded by her, which sometime saves lost travellers from monsters. Kanna and Lian found her in Cathuria and delivered Merehallow to her. She led Cathuria's armies to the aid of Amber on the Day of the Dead, and slew Hel with Merehallow; she now bears said blade. Juri also has a magical fork, said to be a potent anti-order weapon.
Juri spent the twenty years after the Herald Crisis serving as Marshal of Rebma, until sufficient Rebmans had been trained up that she wasn't needed any more. She was frequently very gloomy and depressed during this period. Juri then vanished into shadow for five years, and returned seeming much more cheerful than she had been when she left. Tylor appointed her Ambassador to Ember on her return.
Juri now serves as Ambassador to Ember, continuing to write books and enjoying the peacefulness of her work. Every few years, she teaches special seminars at the Harad City War Academy and the Amber City Naval Academy. Juri also often takes up the work of Special Agent of the Crown, heading into shadow to deal with various threats (at times in the company of Princess Kanna and/or Princess Eowyn and/or Princess Asuka). She has also spent a huge amount of time training many members of the younger generation, to the point that many of her siblings of the second generation teasingly call her 'Professor Juri' these days.
Juri, for reasons unknown, seems to take great delight in teasing Prince Demetrius; this playfulness confuses many used to her usual coolness. Prince Demetrius seems to respond by coming unglued at the seams; perhaps this is why she does it. This same playfulness seems to come out when she's around Prince Miki. The two of them are quite close. Juri is also known to be quite fond of Queen Mutsumi of Arcadia, Miki's daughter. Unfortunately, Miki's wife, Queen Madoka, doesn't seem to like Juri very much. Juri is very close to Eowyn and Corrine, and also is on very good terms with Prince Beowulf, Princess Kanna, and Princess Naru. Juri seems to become uncomfortable around Princess Motoko, Princess Moonshade, Duchess Mitsune, and Duke Davros. It is generally believed this is because of the death of Hiko and Morgan while under Princess Motoko's command at the Battle of the Courts of Chaos on the Day of the Dead.
Juri is known to be very close to Random, perhaps to the point of being lovers. She helped to raise Princess Shiori, and seems very proud of her. She is also very friendly with Prince Haru, Prince Aburatsubo, and Yomiko. She respects Asuka's skills, but Asuka's temper drives Juri off. The same can be said of Princess Nanami Minor. She is known to have some respect for Melissa and Sousuke, and to play along with Setsuna's rantings.
Juri is known to have visited Arcadia with Random recently, and then
to have fallen prey to Nemuro Hall along with Random. She seems very shaken
up and guilty by her part in all that.
Corinne--Queen of Ember
Daughter of Gendo and
Haruka
"If both of you had lived and resolved this someway that didn't involve
freeing Brand, etectera, perhaps you would have made peace. Perhaps
not. I cannot say, and to try and predict the future is futile.
But I can -hope-, and dammit I WILL keep holding onto that hope, for all
our realities."--Corrine to a Darako in the Cave of Worlds.
"A good woman, a good sister, and a good queen."--King Tylor
"You will not find a more sanctimonious goody-goody in all of Shadow
no matter how hard you try. Although her taking a harem at least
makes her a little more like a real human being."--Kozue
Corrine is one of the strongest, perhaps the strongest of her generation, a great dark haired woman said to have once picked up a lion and broken its back over her knee. Dark haired and blue eyed, she's a little shorter than her sister Juri, and somewhat stockier. She is also noted as a skillful painter and Trump Artist, happily providing Trumps for anyone who asks, though these days, she is often too busy. Corrine seems to get along fairly well with most of your relatives, although their intrigues easily exasperate her. Corrine has a pet dragon named Sparky who she inherited from Gendo. She is known to be one of the few people who actually understand Chef Bork when he speaks.
Phil wrote a story that sheds some light on bits of Corrine's past exposed in one of the final adventures of TAMD, called "Fractures".
Corrine vanished into Shadow multiple times during the Annadil crisis, returning with a shadow of Juri and two men who claimed to be Princes of Amber from other universes--Gideon and Roderick. Rumor has it they formed her personal harem; certainly she was known to be amazingly intimate with Juri for a recently met shadow of her sister. Indeed, a few whisper she snapped when Juri vanished and sought out a replacement. Such whispers are a good way to get beaten up, though... Corrine is definitely known to have begun a relationship with her current husband, the Red Knight of Ember, at this time.
Corrine also became Queen of Ember, the Fire Pattern, during the Annadil Crisis, and whatever her love life, she provided noble service to Amber during this crisis, battling a child of the Serpent of Chaos during the Second Day of Darkness. Indeed, some say she somehow blew its head open with fire from her eyes. It is generally assumed the Serpent will come gunning for her some day for revenge. An attack by another Child of the Serpent in Ember during the Herald Crisis ended with her destroying said child with a mere wave of her hand. Or so they say.
Corrine served as a pallbearer at Moriya's funeral. On the Day of the Dead, she is known to have charged across Hel's Primal Pattern to grapple Wu-Fuyutsuki. It remains unclear how she survived this, but many assume that her creation of a Pattern has given her powers on the level of those of Fuyutsuki. But not the madness, thankfully.
Corrine is known to carry a huge crossbow that fires flaming bolts of death, modelled after Whalekiller and a large number of other devices which also rain down flaming death. She sometimes gives these instruments of destruction to her friends. She also seems to have taken up music more in recent years, and is known to sometimes perform duets with Mikage or Miki.
Because of her role as Queen, Corrine has had little direct interaction with most of the current generation or previous, although she's known to be very proud of her daughter Kanna, and obviously has some degree of approval of Sumire, given she appointed Sumire as Ember's ambassador. She is known to be close to her neice Hiko and her nephew Shizumaru as well. She has mixed relations with her illegitimate daughter Keiko, who is rather more greedy and manipulative than Corrine likes, but she favors her son-in-law, Prince Ramon. Corrine seems to get along very well with her illegitimate son Demetrius, apparently the child of her and the 'Roderick' of the Annadil Crisis (it remains unclear where her harem currently is...). As he does with Juri, Demetrius often seems to come slightly unglued around Corrine, though with less reason, although they get along well. Corrine enjoys excellent relations with King Miki, King Tylor, Queen Jacqueline, Queen Mutsumi, and King Thoric. To a degree which would probably make Gendo die again of sugar overdose.
Corrine seems proud of Princess Shiori, and is known to have many of
Random's recordings. In fact, she is thought to have trained both
Random and Kaname in trump arts. She has a copy of 'Secret History
of the Cone People' on her coffee table, right next to the copy of 'Pienetics'
which Nanbara gave her. Careful observers would notice the dust layer.
Makoto--Castellan of Castle
Amber
Son of Gendo and "Charlotte"
(Sakura)
"Pull my finger."--Prince Makoto
"Always a kind word for everyone, even those who deserve to be set
on fire and rolled down Kolvir instead. He has a warm smile and a
friendly laugh, and when I'm with him, I can forget all my pains."--Nanami
"Name one great deed he's ever done. I heard he was down in
the basement with a chambermaid the whole Second Day of Darkness.
Loser."--Duke Dalt, Ambassador from Kashfa
Makoto is an amiable sort, a friendly guy who always has a kind word for the younger generation...and a joy buzzer. He has a bit of a tendency to be a prankster, pulling stunts like tricking people into hellriding into shadows full of jello and falling buckets. He's also a skillful warrior, which earned him his position as Castellan of Amber Castle. He performs these identities quite efficiently, which seems to give him a lot of free time to cause trouble in.
During the Annadil Crisis, Makoto is known to have gone on a quest into shadow with Prince Ota and Duchess Yumi to recover Justice, King Gendo's old patternblade. This quest was a mixed success; it recovered the sword, but also led to Gil-Galad the Traitor Prince being freed from the prison he had been trapped in by the mysterious shadow dieties known as the Valar. To the confusion of observors, King Tylor doesn't seem to hold this against Makoto, perhaps because Makoto atoned by freeing the legendary bad ass Stagger Lee from his imprisonment in Shadow, a turn of events crucial in the salvation of Amber from the Black Moon, Annadil, and the Deep Ones.
Makoto spent most of the Herald Crisis in Castle Amber, running the castle in peace, though he assisted Beowulf's assault on Leng. Makoto has had a stormy romance with Misato ever since the Herald Crisis; it is constantly on and off again, and it remains unclear if they will ever marry or just squabble until the end of time.
Makoto continues to serve as Castellan when not annoying people with practical jokes. He has been seen quite a bit with the Lady Yumi over the last two centuries, and remains very close to his sister Nanami as well, though perhaps not quite as close as in some times past. Makoto is known to have provided personal training to Ramon in the distant past, and slightly more recently to Keitaro, in the arts of management and castle defense. He seems to be on very good terms with Lily and Kitsune, and has sometimes teamed up with Kitsune to cause trouble. He's generally on good terms with most of the Herald-era generation, though he's known to especially favor King Thoric and Queen Mutsumi and to somewhat frown on Kentaro and Lady Sumire.
Makoto seems quite fond of Yomiko, and is known to be on good terms
with all of the other Captain Special Agents of the Crown as well.
He is known to egg Setsuna on to ever greater heights of delusion.
He and Baron von Munchausen get along very well, and he seems fond of Akari.
Corey, Wandering Loud Mouth
Son of Gendo and Lady Daria of House Salisbury
"Ahh, there you are, Uotani. C'mere, I haven't beaten the crap
out of anyone today, and I'm bored." -- Prince Corey
"I love him very much, except when I want to kill him."
-- High Priestess Edith of the Turtle
"He's always yummy!" -- Maeve the Hagling
"PUNK ASS BITCH!" -- Captain Uotani, about to get her
pay docked again.
He was another of Gendo's bastard children. He was legitimized after Sakura's treason was revealed, and made Nanami's young life hell. An overbearing bastard who wrote bad poetry, he insulted the wrong ambassador and was cut in half.
Said Corey is revealed to have been a blood clone made by Gendo as part of a plot to provoke Therin into war. Due to some complications, the real Corey was left hidden in a secure shadow for hundreds of years (which was then lost completely after Gendo died), until Hel's agents found him and brainwashed him. He was saved by Edith, a Blessed of the Unicorn, who unbrainwashed him with the help of Prince Demetrius and Queen Mutsumi.
Corey has become a sort of tactical nuke for the family; tell him some force insulted him and he goes and destroys it violently. He is known to be dating Edith, High Priestess of the Turtle in Arcadia, and splits his time between the universes; usually he comes over to this one after he and Edith have a spat, stays a few years until he misses her too much, then goes back to Arcadia until he drives her insane and she throws him out of the universe again.
Many have compared him to Drake, if you stripped away every vestige
of civilization. He gets along well with Ramon and seems to like
Nanami Minor in his own way (ie, he made her life hell when she was a kid,
and now gets in periodic massive brawls with her, but doesn't draw the
big-ass-sword he carries everywhere). He and Captain Uotani also
enjoy beating the crap out of each other. He has a great liking for
Miroku and Kurz, as they can go get drunk and laid together. He's
also quite friendly with Cho in a violent sort of way. He also seems
to like Munchausen, as he has a liking for good stories. He's known
to hate Asuka, and periodically announces he's going to find that shadow
she rules and burn it to the ground. But nothing seems to ever come
of it. He periodically invades the Chaos Embassy, just to force Yuki
and Kyou to get in a brawl with him; this seems to amuse Shigure, rather
than anger him, though Yuki and Kyou are getting sick of the man.
Miki--King of Rebma
Son of Gendo and Rei of Rebma
"I'm sure we can find a peaceful settlement."--Miki
"Rebma could not have found a better monarch, nor I a better brother."--Princess
Juri
"I hear he's having a menage-a-trois with his sister and his wife
every night"--Countess Lucrezia
Miki is a talented pianist and a fencer of some repute. Friendly and open, almost everyone likes him. He has publically announced he has no interest in the throne. Ironically, he has since become King of Rebma, mostly against his will... He also turned down the offer of the job of Admiral of Shalomar, pointing to his lack of naval experience despite his Rebman ancestry. Carries a stopwatch and times things frequently. He spends a lot of time trying to keep his sister Kozue out of trouble. Miki spent many years as Master of the Revels, then after the Annadil Crisis, become of one of Amber's main diplomats, rising to the position of head of the Diplomatic service. He has since become the King of Rebma.
Miki now possesses the patternblade Withywindle after a complex series of events detailed in Motoko's entry.
Shortly before the Annadil Crisis, Miki became engaged to his long time love, Madoka, the Court Bard. This resulted in a rose duel between Madoka and Kozue during which Kozue lost her hand and an attack by the Embrans effectively began the Annadil Crisis. Kozue, having lost the duel, went into exile. During the Annadil Crisis, Miki was captured during a scouting mission to the Keep of the Five Worlds led by Princess Hiko, along with Greyswandir, loaned him by his brother, Derith. He was rescued by some sort of experiment which flooded the castle, but also resulted in reconciliation between Miki and his sister Kozue. (Certain castle wags claim there was some sort of four way orgy involving Miki, Kozue, Madoka, and the Shadow-Juri of Corrine's harem. And possibly Corrine too, for good measure. Of course, some of these same people say they've seen Gendo's ghost, so...)
During the Herald Crisis, Miki engineered alliance with the Courts of Chaos, culminating in the joint Amber/Chaos alliance against the Serpent's Horn and the Chaos Expedition on the Day of the Dead. Emerging triumphant from this, he was then called upon by the remaining leaders of the Rebmans to become King of Rebma. He reluctantly agreed only after Juri offered to serve as his Marshal.
Miki and Madoka are known to be incredibly proud of their elder daughter Mutsumi, despite not really approving of her double marriage. Miki is also known to have been an important influence on Prime Minister Keitaro, training him in the arts of Trump. He remains friendly with Michelle, who he taught to play music, and is on fairly good terms with the Herald-era generation, especially those musically inclined. He and Thoric were known to have late night musical sessions (sometimes joined by Michelle, Mutsumi, and Madoka). Such jam sessions are very rare now, but still happen once a year.
Miki is generally believed to be Prince Nagisa's father, and is known to go periodically to Cabra to visit Nagisa. He is on very good terms with Princess Shinobu Minor and Gabrielle as well.
Miki and Madoka have a mixed relationship with Kaname; they are usually
proud of her, but sometimes her temper flares and stupid arguments ensue.
Miki is known to look favorably upon Orien and Random and Akari.
He also seems quite fond of Kurz, Melissa, and Sousuke, who have performed
several missions for Rebma in the past. There are, in fact, rumors
that Miki and Loewen have discussed engaging Kaname to Sousuke. Miki
seems to view Shiori with favor as well.
Kozue--Admiral of the Pearl Fleet of Rebma
Daughter of Gendo and Rei of Rebma
"I suppose Tylor will probably appoint Roberts the Admiral of the
Northern Fleet next. What it is with this whole thing of recruiting
people who ought to be in JAIL???"--Kozue
"My sister is the most determined woman in the universe. Whatever
she does, she doesn't give up until she gets what she wants. I often
wish I could be so strong-willed."--Miki
"Even more of a bitch than Nanami, who at least isn't a two mug
trollop. Probably wins her battles by bribing the enemy commander
with sex. Too bad she's all tease and no performance."--From
the Amberite 'Famous Last Words' collection.
Kozue is Miki's female twin. She is sly and manipulative, driving her brother insane with her reckless behavior. She seems to have very bad taste in men, but some say that is just a front to help drive her brother crazy. She seems to dabble in a little of everything, from swordsmanship to sorcery. She long served as Admiral of the Northern Fleet, and has shown a remarkable knack for naval combat...perhaps her Rebman heritage shining through. She doesn't seem to be so good at the organizational side of things, however.
After the loss of her hand and Magnus the Unseen, during her rose duel with Madoka, Kozue withdrew to Shalomar, only returning to Amber in the last days of the crisis to help rescue her brother from Annadil. She has reconciled with the pair and seemed quite content at their wedding.
During the Herald Crisis, she led her fleet nobly and well in battle, although she was apparently kidnapped by the Black-Unicorn War Train at one point. She piloted the Soyokaze on the Day of Darkness, and was congratulated publically by Tylor for her good work.
She then moved to Rebma and became commander of the Pearl Fleet for her brother, Miki, when he became King.
She was known to dote on Mutsumi, and worked hard to spoil her when she was little. Mutsumi's marriage to Jacqueline turned this sour; they now see little of each other. She and her son, Nagisa, get along fairly well these days, and she's a frequent visitor to Nagisa's lighthouse. She dotes upon Shinobu Minor as well. Her relations with her daughter Shinobu, and her granddaughter, Naru, are more mixed. She and Shinobu Major fight constantly, and she's known to disapprove of Naru's bad temper, carefully ignoring her own bad temper. She's also disappointed that none of her descendents seem to desire to go into naval combat. Said disappointment has been to the benefit of Princess Shiori, who recieves a lot of favor from Kozue for the simple reason that she shows an interest in Naval Combat. Prince Demetrius likewise has a fair amount of Princess Kozue's approval. While Kanna is no naval person, Kozue seems to get along well with Kanna and her husband, Commodore Ruka, as well.
Kozue is believed to be trying to hide from Michelle and Atsuko's new man-whore, Damask, who is apparently the son of her equivalent in the Avalon-Amber universe, supposedly. (Many believe he is probably the result of the Miki/Juri/Madoka/Kozue/Corrine tryst during the Annadil Crisis. Or possibly a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong. Or some sort of sentient potato.)
Most of the younger generation has been spared many dealings with Kozue,
though she's known to view Sousuke as a moron, Melissa as having some potential,
Asuka as being a punk, Akari as being utterly and completely useless, and
Uotani as a thug who needs to be hurled off the top of Mount Kolvir onto
an iron spike fence. (Uotani is known to have responded by calling
Kozue 'The Great Whore of Rebma' and offered to King Miki to command the
Pearl Fleet for a year in order to prove that anyone could do a better
job than Kozue does. This got Uotani docked two weeks pay, and a polite
rejection of the offer from Miki .) Her hated of Uotani pales compared
to her hatred of Haru, who she seems to have adopted in stead of Jacqui
as 'Person I most hate', perhaps because Jacqui is mostly gone these days.
She is known to periodically play chess with Random, despite Random's heritage.
Utena--Commander of the Northern Fleet
Daughter of Gendo and Dowager Queen Anthy
"Beat me in this game of basketball, and I won't stand in the way
of your wedding, son."--Utena
"Brave, strong, wise, just, beautiful. I have to admit I envy
her sometimes"--Wakaba
"La la la, look at me, I'm so nice I give people cavities, la la
la, it's such a beautiful world, la la la. Feh. She's
had such a happy life, she can't understand anyone else's pain. No,
we should all forget our pasts and be shining goody-goodies like her.
The past is not a garment we can discard, Utena. You'd do well to
remember that."--Nanami
The pink-haired, boyish goody goody of the family. She is also one of the best among the elders, perhaps the best at feats of arms, although many would argue Juri and Drake are superior to her at leading armies. Utena served both Gendo and Tylor as bodyguard and judicial champion for many years. She then resigned the post to Prince Ramon, and became commander of Amber's new Air Fleet, in which capacity she's been known to work closely with Wakaba and Beowulf in airship design. She also has trained Princess Kanna in bodyguarding, and has been seen many times playing basketball with Kanna, her son Ota, and Jacqueline (usually against Jacqueline's will). She's known to dote on her grand daughter and to be very protective of her.
Utena seems to have become friendly with Touga, since his return from exile, and is known to have gone on several missions into shadow with him. Utena is on very good terms with Thoric and Mutsumi, though the whole horde of Jacquis and multiple spouses issue seems to make her a little uncomfortable. She also seems to enjoy the company of Motoko, though they don't interact much, and has become fairly friendly with Prince Ramon. She's known to carry a Morgenstern manifestation, from which boogie music sometimes plays, and is also on good terms with Princess Naru. She and Sumire feud for no clear reason, and she has been known to berate Kentaro when he's on one of his more arrogant kicks. She and Wakaba remain very close. For a time, she was believed to be Prince Shizumaru's mother, and is known to be fond of him, his wife, and his daughter, Akari. Utena is no fan of Bust Rimururu.
During the Herald Crisis, Utena, along with most of the rest of the Tenjous, was imprisoned by the Gaunt Man and had to be rescued. There's also rumors she was seen running around CAFAM in a chainmail bikini with Moriya, Davros, and Motoko (while the other three were all wearing pointy hats...). She then vanished into Shadow on a long sabotage mission with Wakaba against Hel's forces, resulting in the destruction of Hel's Amber via Logrus Squid.
After the Crisis, Utena accepted command of the Northern Fleet after Kozue's resignation, and handed over the Air Fleet to Eowyn. Utena and Eowyn have become quite friendly, in fact. She seems very fond of Random, though sometimes frustrated with her, and seems to have great affection for Princess Makoto and for Minako. As she was with Ota Major, she often seems exasperated with Ota Minor. She tries to get along with Asuka and often succeeds. She and Kaname have had several fights over the issue of House Helgram, as she looks upon Kaname's friendly dealings with that house as a huge mistake. She spars regularly with Kuonji, who she is on very good terms with. She also spars regularly with Setsuna, and tries to convince him to stop worrying about the Cone People. She has a high regard for both Haru and Aburatsubo.
She also is the current guardian of Justice, though she will likely
yield it up to whoever turns out to be the next Child of Metal.
Wakaba--Mistress of
the Revels
Daughter of Gendo and
Dowager Queen Anthy
"That's a lovely dress you're wearing today, although you'd look
better in rose pink, I think. Want me to adjust it for you?"--Wakaba
"Mother is the very epitome of grace and poise, behaving as truly
fits a princess of Amber. I could not have asked for a sweeter, kinder
mother. Unlike my step-mother, who seems to have stepped right out
of 'Snow White'."--Prince Kentaro
"Adulterous bitch who ensorceled my husband to murder his mother.
I'd have been next if we hadn't lost, leading her to sell Kashfa down the
river. And her son's an arrogant prick. I'll strangle on my
own vomit before he sits on Kashfa's throne. Even Kozue's less of
a two mug whore than she is."--Queen Coral of Kashfa
It's hard to think of Wakaba as a princess of Amber. Her hair is an ordinary brown, pulled back into an elaborate hairstyle that probably takes her an hour each morning to put up. She dresses fashionably, and worries more about her love life than power or politics. Still, she is one of your aunts and a noted sorceress. She and Utena are very closely allied. Even after centuries, she's still the baby of the family, at least to her siblings. Wakaba acted for several decades as bodyguard and judicial champion for Queen Yuriko Star.
After being captured with Yuriko in Kashfa during the Annadil Crisis, Wakaba was rescued by Prince Ota, and remained largely in seclusion, probably from embarrassment, for a time. (In part also due to her discovery of her pregnancy) In the aftermath of the crisis, she seems to have become quite friendly with Prince Touga, who to the amazement of many people, takes her advice very seriously. She also seems to be on quite good terms with Mutsumi, Naru, and Thoric, and very kind to Shinobu Minor. She doesn't seem to like Sumire much, though she attends Sumire's parties.
Wakaba is very kind to her niece, Jacqueline, and is on fairly good terms with both of her children, Beowulf and Kentaro, though she's known to favor Beowulf because he doesn't have Kentaro's arrogance. Her relationship with Rinaldo is strained; they're known to both be still quite fond of each other, but he's married, and she is now sensible enough not to intervene (It remains unclear as to the circumstances of their fling, although it's assumed to be consensual, despite her captivity of the time, given she's never called him a rapist and acted to protect Kashfa from Amber's wrath after the Annadil Crisis. Queen Coral is known to HATE her).
Wakaba had to be rescued during the Herald Crisis with the rest of the Tenjous. She caused some surprise when she attended the Marching dinner and ball with Duke Dalt as her escort. She joined Utena in a mission to sabotage Hel's Ember, and fought at the Day of Darkness, where she was set on fire and nearly died.
Wakaba has since taken up the job of Mistress of the Revels of Amber.
Unlike many members of the family, Wakaba is on very good terms with
Kuonji, despite Kuonji's dislike of her son, Beowulf. Wakaba dotes
on Setsuna to a degree which embarrasses him (and has spawned some mild
speculation of her being his mother). She's known to have come to
approve of Lily, and dotes on her grandson, Telemain. She has sometimes
been seen with Orien on social occassions. She seems to like Random,
Shiori, and really, most of the new generation. She was seen kissing
Munchausen after a party some years ago, and it's thought they may have
been lovers for a while.
Vash the Stampede, Special Agent of the Crown
Parentage Unknown (Possibly Corrine and 'Gideon' or else Gendo
and some Shadow Woman)
"Love and PEACE!!!"
"What, you mean that's the Pattern?"--Vash
"Vash is very kind and fun to be around. Taking oneself too
seriously just makes you old before your time."--Dowager Queen Anthy
"I wouldn't put this man in charge of guarding the dip at a party,
let alone defending the Queen. I keep expecting daily to hear he
accidentally shot her."--Rally Vincent
Vash wandered out of shadow during the Annadil Crisis, acting as a bodyguard for Robert Blake. He walked the Pattern after Crusty double dog dared him to do it, and to the shock of observers survived it. He seems to be a complete idiot, though in Amber that probably means he's a genius. He bears a strange resemblence to Gideon, who was one of Corrine's harem boys (but who hasn't been seen in decades. Make of that what you will).
After over a century in Amber, Vash remains an idiot, though he's an idiot who has the Metal Spikard in a big gun. He is known to be on good terms with King Thoric, as they both appreciate not being shot and a good party. He greatly enjoys crashing Kentaro and Sumire's parties, turning them into utter disasters, which has resulted in both of them banning him from their residences for life, a measure which only seems to encourage him. Kind to all in a goofy way, he is on good terms with Jacqueline and Shinobu and Mutsumi, finds Beowulf vastly amusing, and has been known to team up with Kitsune to cause trouble. He is also known to be on very good terms with Anthy, Lily, Yumi, and Bill Vincent. In fact, there are rumors of a secret romance between Vash and Anthy, though it remains unclear why they keep it a secret.
Strangely, Vash seems to very much dislike Prince Demetrius, for no apparent reason, though usually he just avoids him.
Vash assisted in the rescue of the Tenjous, and in the battle against the Black Unicorn Family at Mechanus. He helped defend ShAmber on the Day of Darkness.
After many years as Royal Bodyguard, Vash resigned to begin decades
of adventures in Shadow (sometimes with Orien). He is not seen too
much these days.
"It's never too late to go shopping." -- Keiko
"My wife is probably the most beautiful and the most intelligent
woman in the universe. I can't imagine being married to anyone else."
--
Prince Ramon
"Gold-Digging Bitch." -- Lord Walker
Keiko was originally believed to be from Lipun, although during the Annadil Crisis, she walked the Fire Pattern of Ember and was revealed to be Corrine's daughter. Before this revelation, she served well in the City Watch of Amber, eventually rising to head the investigation department, during which time, she fought several battles against Makoto the Mad. She demonstrated her talents well during several missions with Prince Ota and Prince Ramon during the Annadil Crisis, after which she struck up a romance with Prince Ramon, eventually leading to their marriage.
During the Herald Crisis, she went on many missions, culminating in her defense of ShAmber and the mission to attack Hel's Primal Pattern, where she is said to have rained down fire with the aid of both Gabrielle and Morgenstern.
Originally rised in Lipun, Keiko seems to have completely assimilated and never mentions her homeland. Her skills at the use of magic for conducting investigations is quite reknowned. She is generally a pleasant person. Once a terrible guitar player, she has practiced for a century, and moved from bad to mediocre to decent to good to great, and now sometimes has been known to join in the so called 'Royal Jam', which happens once a year in Rebma (So called because Miki, Madoka, Mutsumi, and Thoric are all royalty now).
For reasons unknown, Keiko's Haradian heritage seems to have manifested itself strongly over the last century. She has gone from a short, willowy woman who looked about as Haradian as, say, Anthy, to a still short, but now rather more solidly built woman, putting on large amounts of muscle mass and having enhanced curves. Once weaker than the average chambermaid, Keiko is now strong enough to have once punched out Ota Minor. (She has been known to augment this strength with magic, becoming strong enough to take on Nanami Minor and win when she does so). The cause for this is believed partially due to her beginning a training regime with her husband, but even her physical features look more Haradian, and it can be seen clearly that she is Corrine's daughter.
She is Motoko's mother, and has had a stormy relationship with her daughter, although she seems to have come around to accepting Motoko's unusual relationships. In fact, she seems to rather revel in Motoko's position as Bride of the Dragon, and has been known to be able to bully the Logrus into doing her will, calling on her authority as the Logrus' grandmother. After years of squabbling, she and Moonshade have made peace, though it is unlikely they will ever be very close. She seems to like Davros, and alternates between good relations with Mitsune and wishing to kill, kill, kill her. She seems fond of Deirdre, aggravated by Miroku, confused by Kanako, and dismissive of Nanbara. She and Nanami Minor have a poor relationship, ever since Nanami Minor's teenage years. She has fairly good relations with most of the current generation, especially the mages. She is known to have provided some training to Captain Hanajima, and to have gone on a wild shopping adventure with Captain Tomos and the Logrus some years back.
Many observers are quite baffled by her relationship with Captain Uotani. She first met the Captain by being punched out in a boutique by her (for reasons unknown to the general public), and for many years seemed quite irritated with Ramon for his favorable treatment of her. Over the years, she gradually softened, and after the 1395 incident in Wroland, she made a sharp 180, and has moved to showing Uotani an amount of favoritism which quite irritates many other guardsmen and baffles many other people. They go shopping together, she tried to teach Uotani sorcery (and did teach her power words), and she continues to work on smoothing away Uotani's rough edges with mixed success. Uotani seems to show up a remarkably large number of Belgalad family gatherings where one might not expect a simple guardswoman to appear. This has led some to speculate that Uotani quietly shares Ramon and Keiko's bed, though Uotani becomes violent when people ask this, and Keiko just laughs at anyone who suggests it. Ramon simply glares. Others speculate that she is an illegitimate child of one or the other of them, though given that no one else seems to bother hiding their bastards, this seems unlikely.
Keiko, Chloe, Kaname, Kanna, and Nanami Minor recently were involved
in a raid against the Untouchable Trio (plus one) and seem to have been
rather successful.
Michelle
Daughter of Saionji
and Paulette
[Sound of violin music]--Michelle
"Mother gave me a love of music and a love of peace which abides
with me still. I can never repay her that gift."--King Thoric
"Why can't I have a harem too?"--Saionji
Michelle is of medium height with long aqua-green hair which is somewhat wavy. She always dresses elegantly. Unlike her father, she is slender rather than athletic, artistic rather than militant. She is reknowned for her skill with the violin, and is a somewhat skillful sorceress. Her mother, Paulette is long dead, one of Saionji's lovers out of Shadow (Gaul), and she is technically illegitimate. She trained musically with Miki for a time, and usually seems closer to him than to her own father. She bears a strong resemblance to Michiru, a woman whom rumors claimed was Queen Haruka's lover. There is probably no connection, however.
During the Annadil Crisis, Michelle provided aid to Prince Shizumaru, and it is rumored they were lovers for a time. However, he left her for Rimururu, and she seems to have acquired a large harem of men from somewhere, which she shares with his mother, Lady Atsuko. This leads to all sorts of rumors too numerous to list here, but Thoric is generally thought to be the result of one of her liasons with her harem (which she keeps in Shadow to avoid Yuriko hanging her from a yardarm).
Michelle loves Thoric, her son, very much, and is incredibly proud of him. She is also very fond of his wives, Mutsumi and Jacqueline, and of her niece Shinobu Minor. She is on good terms with Kentaro (who is rumored to wish he had a harem himself, though one of women, of course). She and Sumire snipe at each other rather viciously. She is on good terms with Motoko, Moonshade, Mitsune, Davros, Shinobu and Jacqueline. She gets along well with Beowulf, and she's developed a friendship with Yumi and her daughters (all of whom are rumored to have free access to Michelle's harem).
During the Herald Crisis, Michelle's estates were levelled by the Serpent's Horn, and much of her harem was slain. The Horn held her prisoner for a week, until she was finally rescued by the joint Amber/Chaos force that destroyed the Serpent's Horn. She apparently briefly went mad and tried to slay King Ishmael for no apparent reason, but came back to her senses.
Michelle appeared at Moriya's funeral with her new man-whore, Damask, who rumor has it is a Chaosian from another universe or possibly the love child of the Miki/Juri/Corrine/Kozue/Madoka tryst during the Annadil Crisis. Or a strange living fungus.
Either her new lover, or perhaps her repeated misfortunes lit a fire under her feet, and after forty years of mostly playing with her harem and sometimes helping Tylor with odd jobs, Michelle took it upon herself to found a magical academy. Sort of.
The Monde-Hisame Academy for Young Sorcerors is in some ways best described as Harem 2.0. Avoided by more reputable families, it's generally believed (and probably true) that the instructors, and part (maybe most) of the student body teach and study by day, and act as Michelle and Lady Atsuko's harem by night. The academy provides excellent instruction in Magic, Broken Pattern, Shapeshifting, Music, Etiquette, History, Estate Management, Swordsmanship, and all the arts necessary to produce fine young, mildly sex-crazed noblemen. Michelle, Atsuko, and Damask lead yearly field trips into shadow, which have ranged from glorified picnics to the storming and sacking of some threat to Amber in shadow by the student body.
Whatever is exactly going on, Princess Michelle carries herself with a renewed grace and determination, and seems to take great pleasure in every diploma she grants and the end of every successful field trip. She seems for the moment, to have put her fears behind her (if not her sex drive). She's also taken to offering private lessons to any member of the family who desires to learn more of music, manners, or the ways and byways of shadow. Random seems to have taken her up on this in the past, and they remain close. She also seems very friendly with Baron Munchausen, who attended her school many years ago.
Michelle, Mitsune, and Moonshade are all known to collapse laughing
hysterically whenever 'Bust Rimururu' is mentioned. Many wonder if
they know something the rest of us do not.
Kaworu Nagisa, Keeper of the Lighthouse of Cabra and Court Mage of Rebma
TAMD PC played by "Scriviner"
| Age: | 21--Physical Appearance
391--Age in Amber Time 572--Experienced Years |
| Height: | Five Foot and Eight Inches |
| Weight: | 125 lbs |
| Eyes: | Red |
| Hair: | Blue |
| Skin: | Pale |
| Parents: | Not publically known, but generally rumored to be Kozue and Miki |
"I like music, don't you?"--Nagisa
"Quiet, polite, gentle, kind. Makes it easier to believe Miki's
his father than that Kozue is his mother."--Princess Wakaba
[minutes of silence and staring blankly] "There, that's my
Nagisa impression"--Krusty the Royal Fool
Background:
Kaworu arrived in Amber at the beginning of the Annadil Crisis, having apparently been raised in an alternate Amber known as Ambre. He has demonstrated substantial skills as a magician and as a musician. His heroic deeds during the Annadil crisis are too numerous to describe, but can be found in the TAMD timeline.
Prince Nagisa was recently revealed to have been secretly married to Princess Gabrielle of Ember, and Shinobu Minor is their daughter.
Between the Annadil and Herald Crises, Nagisa largely focused on trying to find the Demi-Jewel of Water in order to create a new Rebma and end the problem of the Rebma vortex once and for all. He's also built and maintains the Lighthouse of Cabra, a powerful construct which uses various items of power he has collected to maintain safe shadow travel paths to Amber and Rebma.
During the Herald Crisis, he helped fix Morgenstern after Morgenstern's fit of insanity, had a very public fight with Prince Lucien at Marching, rescued Prince Lucien from Bloc Rebmaquois despite that, and nearly died at the hands of Prince Saionji. At the Day of the Dead, he had to fight Hel with the Demi-Jewel of Water, and nearly died. He has since become the keeper of the Demi-Jewel of Water.
Nagisa is rarely seen at Amber's court, but does stay in touch
with Miki and Kozue (his parents), Madoka (his step mother and sometimes
musical partner), Shinobu Minor (his daughter), and Shinobu Major and Naru
(his half-sister and neice respectively). He is on fairly good terms
with all of them, although he's often embarrased by Kozue, Shinobu Major,
and Naru's fits of temper, or Kozue's mercurial nature. He also is
on very good terms with Lady Yumi. He seems to be on good terms with
Kaname, and to view her friends Melissa, Kurz, and Sousuke with favor.
He's somewhat afraid of Baron Munchausen, and is known to intensely dislike
Asuka.
Ramon,
Personal Trainer of Amber and Possibly Strongest Man in the Universe
Son of Nanami and Tsuwabuki
(most likely, anyway, as Ramon calls him 'Dad')
"I am NOT A HUMAN SHIELD! Okay?!?"--Prince
Ramon
"So, the chair breaks over his head, and he just stands there, shaking
his head, saying, 'You really need to go home before I have to arrest you'.
The guy punches him in the gut three times, and he just sighs. Then
the guy kicked Ramon in the balls, and he just winced and said, 'Last warning'.
I was already tossing drunks in the wagon by then. So the guy picks
up the bartender and tries to use him as a club, and Ramon wrestles away
the bartender and then shoves the guy's head under a beer faucet and turns
it on, holding the guy's mouth open under it. 'You like beer?
Here, I'll buy you a round for the house just for yourself'. Haven't
seen that guy around making trouble since."--Prince Ota
"How did someone as sharp as Nanami produce someone as stupid as
Ramon?"--Lord High Chamberlain Nabiki
It remains a mystery as to how two short people like Nanami and Tsuwabuki managed to produce a hulking man like Ramon. He's tall, with short dark hair and bulging muscles. He tends to wear martial arts clothing, and is noted for his skill in those arts. Ramon is an easy going guy and somewhat easily exploited, which usually results in his mother lecturing him. He bickers constantly with his mother, who has been known to use him as a human shield.
During the Annadil Crisis, Ramon assisted Prince Ota on several missions into Shadow, one of which led to his love affair with Keiko, to whom he is now married. Their love may not inspire epic love songs, but one hundred and forty years of marriage is nothing to sneeze at either. In recent years, he and Keiko and Captain Uotani work out together most mornings, and he seems to be very proud of his wife's growth in strength. He and Keiko are Motoko's parents, and while neither of them really understands her, they both are known to care for their daughter quite a bit. He is also Nanami Minor's father, and is known to care for her quite a bit, although her temper frustrates him.
Ramon's house in Shadow is generally open for anyone who wants to come and party, much to Keiko's annoyance at times. Just clean up after yourself, please.
During the Herald Crisis, Ramon fell into the hands of House Darios, resulting in his being held hostage until Moriya and Motoko engineered an operation to rescue him. He also delivered a heart-felt if not very well written eulogy for Prince Ota at the Marching ceremonies. On the Day of the Dead, he is known to have killed some six or seven of Hel's Wu, more than any other member of the family, an act which seems to have greatly elevated his status in the eyes of Drake and Shinobu Major.
Ramon is a very easy-going guy, and is on good terms with just about all of the younger princes and princesses, though he seems to especially favor Kanna (who he is known to have trained), Jacqueline (who he seems to treat as his own daughter), Thoric (who he enjoys wrestling with), and Moonshade (ditto). While he doesn't see her much, he and Shinobu Major are on good terms as well.
In recent years, he seems to regard Captain Uotani of the Watch as a protege, and spends a lot of time helping to train her in unarmed combat. In fact, he's on rather better terms with her than he is with Nanami Minor, and almost certainly sees her more often. Uotani seems to show up a remarkably large number of Belgalad family gatherings where one might not expect a simple guardswoman to appear. This has led some to speculate that Uotani quietly shares Ramon and Keiko's bed, though Uotani becomes violent when people ask this, and Keiko just laughs at anyone who suggests it. Ramon simply glares. Others speculate that she is an illegitimate child of one or the other of them, though given that no one else seems to bother hiding their bastards, this seems unlikely.
Ramon has trained an immense number of people in unarmed combat over
the last century, and generally cemented his position as quite possibly
the strongest man in the universe. He is known to have won best three
out of five rounds against Lady Suroth, generally considered the strength
champion of Chaos. Tylor has appointed him 'Royal Physical Trainer
of Amber'. He seems to view Orien quite favorably, and Random as
well, along with the rest of the Arcadians, especially Makoto Minor.
Ramon sparred with Kanako at times before her disappearance. He seems
to view Deirdre and Miroku as if they were his own grandchildren.
And to lecture both of them, as if that was the case. He seems utterly
baffled in every way by Nanbara.
Major General Shinobu, Commander
of the Amber Cavalry Corps
Daughter of Kozue and Lord Briaros
"Now you've made me REALLY angry!"--Shinobu
"Now here's a woman I can respect. I've seen her lead troops,
and it's pretty damn impressive. And she fights like a hurricane
in a duel."--Duke Dalt
"Is she a Princess of Amber or a troll?"--Khunta Kol, Ambassador
of Ashante
Shinobu has short black hair cut in her mother's style and a rather bulkier figure, inherited from her father's side. She got picked on a lot because she was an ugly little kid, so she got tough fast and learned how to fight very well. She has a legendary temper, during which she seems to get impressive bursts of strength. She has an uneasy relationship with her mother, who is sometimes affectionate and sometimes distant and usually manipulative. She was raised by her father, Briarios, in Sethfor as a result; he is an easygoing man, tall, dark haired and bulky. Most observers remain confused as to why Kozue had a fling with him in the first place.
During the Annadil Crisis, Shinobu ran wild over the Therins, crushing them. She then commanded the expeditionary force which crushed Lipun, and directed its reconstruction. She married a minor Lipunese nobleman, Inaba, a friendly, but not always very competent sorceror, noted for his odd magical rabbit suit. She now spends most of her time in Harad, breeding horses and training cavalrymen. She's known to be somewhat disappointed in her daughter, Naru, who has abandoned a promising career in the cavalry to pursue trying to get into Panopticon University under the influence of the Royal Tutor, Seta Noriyasu. She challenged Seta to a rose duel, but he set the weapon as unarmed combat and pounded her into the ground. She's known to really, really hate him.
During the Herald Crisis, after the loss of Hiko, Shinobu acted as Warden of Arden until a more permanent appointment could be made. She assisted in the destruction of the Red Death in Arden and in the war on the Serpent's Horn. She commanded the assault on Hel's Primal Pattern with great success.
Tylor offered her the job of Admiral of the Southern Fleet after Saionji's resignation, but she refused the job, citing a lack of naval experience.
Shinobu once had great respect for Motoko, but her increasing puritanicalness has caused her to reject all of the various harems of the Herald-era generation. She's known to have taught Keitaro how to ride a horse, and is known to have great respect for Thoric despite his harem membership; his performance in the Herald Crisis enabled many people to finally understand why. She and Prince Ramon are known to get along pretty well. She is known to rather dislike Marshal Tsuwabuki; jealousy of him getting the job she wanted is considered the cause. She is known to like Asuka quite a bit.
Shinobu rarely comes to court, and is usually either off at a war, or off training her men. Rumor has it she's quite irritated at not being appointed Marshal when the job came open after Shaft's death.
Hisame Shizumaru, Warden of Arden and Master of the Keep of the Five Elements
TAMD PC played by Andrew Huang
| Age: | 56 |
| Height: | 5 foot 6 inch |
| Weight: | 140 lbs |
| Eyes: | Red |
| Hair: | Auburn |
| Skin: | Tanned |
| Parents: | Touga and Hisame Atsuko |
"Gomen nasai. Mou ikimasu."
( I am sorry. I must go now.)--Shizumaru
"My favorite pseudo-nephew."--Juri of Avalon
"Traitor to our land and our ways. He will soon perish as
will all foreign dogs."--Part of a manifesto circulated in Daikyou.
Background:
Hisame Shizumaru is a young man--a boy, really, even moreso
because of his small stature. He is known to be the son of Touga and a
minor Lipunese noblewoman, Hisame Atsuko. She has raised him more or less
by herself, as Shizumaru was conceived out of wedlock--Touga seduced her
when passing through this land, and left soon thereafer--and was banished
to the countryside by her family.
Having been relatively isolated all his life (his mother chose to live outside the nearest village, rather than in it) and largely shunned by family, Shizumaru is overall pretty shy and withdrawn. He did not Play Well With Others, especially since he was an outsider. Instead, he spent most of his time with his mother, and when he got a little older, by himself out in the woods and fields. In his wanderings, when he was ten, he bumped into a man named Haohmaru, a master swordsman and martial artist. Haohmaru saw talent in him and decided to train him to fight, with his mother's approval. Shizumaru eventually became quite adept with a sword and, for some reason, a bamboo umbrella, learning to fight with one, the other, or even both at the same time. He also learned barehanded combat. In his fourteenth year, Haohmaru showed him the Broken Pattern, near his home. The master had walked it himself sometime before, and told Shizumaru that he would be able to walk it as well. About a year later, Shizumaru did walk it, and Haohmaru added the techniques of the Broken Pattern to his training repetoire.
This life was pretty idyllic. Almost boring. And then, one day, a man with a silver arm showed up at his house and tried to kill him. Shizumaru managed to fight the man off, with the help of Utena, but his mother vanished mysteriously at the time. Shizumaru has sworn to find her--and his father, though that is an older promise he made to himself--and came to Amber along with Utena and Corrine. And so, he plunges into the story....
Shizumaru is a quiet and polite young man; there's often a sort of melancholy, brooding air about him. He's inherited his father's good looks (and red hair, though it is somewhat spikier, and worn in a ponytail). He seems to dislike conflict, but is ready to fight whenever needed. He has some amount of anger toward Touga for having abandoned his mother, but is not hateful; They seem reconciled since the Annadil Crisis, but are not close. He seems fond of Utena and Corrine, as the former was the one who chased off the man with the silver arm, while Corrine especially seems concerned about him and his mother. For a time he believed himself Utena's son, and in many ways, this seems more plausible than his true parentage. They remain good friends. His umbrella seems to be everpresent, no matter what the weather is.
His heroic deeds during the Annadil crisis are too numerous to describe, but can be found in the TAMD timeline.
Shizumaru is now happily married to a former Miko, Rimururu, who served the Kami Frostspire. He mostly dwells in Arden, where he serves as Warden. Shizumaru seems to be on good terms with all the members of his generation, though he is not known to seek out Mikage's company. He seems especially close to Michelle, who it is rumored was briefly his lover, with whom he has shared many adventures into shadow. To the amazement of many, he is on very good terms with his aunt Nanami (indeed, rumors state they made out on the roof of City Hall during the final hours of the Second Day of Darkness, but if you listened to such rumors, you'd have to believe the entire royal family had a giant orgy up there...), who seems to greatly respect him. He is known to have trained her granddaughter, Motoko, and has great respect for her. Shizumaru didn't have a lot of contact with the Herald-era generation, though he is known to have provided some training to Prince Thoric, who unfortunately, turned out to be rather a disappointment for a long time. (Some point to the fact that Thoric was born six months after a five month long journey into shadow by Michelle and Shizumaru to find Shizumaru's mother, and say he is Thoric's father. Others point to the presence of Saionji on that trip and find it rather unlikely he just would have sat back and watched. No, don't take it THAT way either. And if you then try to claim...just don't.)
Shizumaru is the master of a center for training in the Elemental Powers, the Keep of the Five Elements, watched over by his elemental Construct, Kafuin. What time he does not spend in Lipun, Arden, or Amber is usually spent there.
Prince Shizumaru and his wife both vanished during the Herald Crisis; Rimururu seems to have fallen into the hands of Malraux for a time, while Shizumaru apparently went down to Chaos. There, he was put on trial for the death of twelve Knights of Hendrake, and convicted, sentenced to 50 years imprisonment for manslaughter. Shizumaru was briefly paroled to attend his son's funeral and to fight on the Day of the Dead. He served out his term, and after he was released, was appointed Warden of Arden, where he now dwells. He now has a daughter, Akari.
Most of you have not seen much of Shizumaru, although he's known to
be very friendly with Yomiko, and to be on good terms with Violet and Kaname.
He seems to try to avoid Setsuna at all costs, and he's known to generally
disapprove of every single child of the Quartet, as well as Ota Minor and
Minako(rumor has it that Minako told him he ought to marry Bust Rimururu
as well). He seems able to get along with Random and Makoto, however).
The Fourth Generation of Amber
Beowulf Kohl,
D.PLH, Panopticon University
Son of Wakaba and ?
UnS Player Character (Travis
Butler)
Beowulf asks, "Lian, you said you had disguises for us? I'll be Ringo, Kanna can be John... would you rather be George or Paul?" --Dread Pirates and their Dread Disguises
"Beowulf is very sweet and gentle with good taste in clothing. And he always gives people very nice presents. And I love to hear him talk about all his adventures, even though you have to pry, because he doesn't like to brag."--Queen Mutsumi
"So, we're in Five Mirror City; Beowulf asked me to come along with him to help him pick out some nice Hang-Kung porcelain for his mother's birthday, and since I know the place better than he does...anyway, we're in the porcelain shop, when one of the tables starts making this weird whooshing noise. I'm looking around, and I see a bunch of men in purple jump suits somehow step OUT of the table. I point this out to Beowulf, who simply says, "Probably just someone from Panopticon wanting porcelain." Doesn't even bother to look. Given the men are brandishing laser pistols, me, I'm a little more worried. Especially when this older guy, dark clothing, dark hair, dark moustache, radiating 'I AM EVIL' from fifty feet away, steps out.
So I pull out a trump card of Mom, preparing to get the hell out, and I tug Beowulf on the shoulder, "I don't think he wants porcelain, Beowulf."
Of course, Mr. Creepy then says, "Beowulf, where is the Porcelain Goddess?"
And I just lost it. Who wouldn't? I just start laughing at the guy. Beowulf STILL doesn't turn around. He picks up a porcelain plate set and checks the bottom of the plates one by one, and replies, "I think the idols are over by the east wall. I'd suggest asking one of the clerks.
"Do not make fun of me, Beowulf," the man said. "Where have you hidden the Porcelain Goddess?"
I couldn't help myself. I should have just shut up, or just kept laughing, even though the man was glaring at me. So I said, "Have you checked the bathroom?"
So he sends some of his men to the bathroom. Well, I just lost it completely. I'm rolling around on the floor, laughing my head off. Which I guess annoyed him because he pointed a ray at me and turned me into a doll. Well, that finally got Beowulf's attention. He turns around and frowns at Mr. Creepy, and says, "That wasn't very nice."
Mr. Creepy says, "I tire of this game. Tell me where you have hidden the Porcelain Goddess, or I will finish the job on your hyena-like friend." That made me mad, but there wasn't much I could do as a doll.
"Hold on, it's in my bag," Beowulf said, taking off his backpack, and pulling his whip out of it. Crack! He grabbed the doll-ray device. The man orders his minions to fire, but their weapons didn't work. So he runs and somehow jumps into one of the tables, which then makes whooshing noises again and briefly blinks out of existence, then comes back, while Beowulf is beating down the goons.
Fortunately, the doll-ray thing had a setting to turn people back to normal, or I'd probably be in Mutsumi's collection.
I'm never going anywhere with Beowulf again."
--King Thoric
"Caught with his arm thrust into a bag nearly up to his shoulder,
a tall, thin man gazed into space with that odd expression people get when
they're digging around inside something. Small round spectacles were
sliding down his nose, revealing his cheerful hazel eyes. He rather
reminded me of a magician having trouble with a trick. A stage magician,
that is. He wore a respectable tan suit in the style of twentieth
century Shadow Earth; the jacket was casually folded over the top of a
chair, and a fedora and a whip sat on a table nearby. I wasn't sure
if he was going to produce something really nifty or just finally extract
his bagel."
--Beowulf's Trump
Age:
A short biography of Beowulf Kohl
Ah, very well... if you wish, I'll tell you something about my childhood. Though I still don't see why it would be particularly interest-- Ow! Please, dear lady, I have already agreed; there is no need to resort to such measures.
<Ponders for a moment.> Mother... well, to understand about me, you have to understand Mother. She's always had romantic notions about masterful heroes and daring rescues -- so when she discovered herself with child, she decided to take me someplace where I could be raised right, to be a hero. I... well, I'm afraid I disappoint her somewhat.
So, to make a long story short, I was born and raised in Lucas. Now, Lucas is a wonderful place to grow up in; all the adventure and excitement a child could want, delivered right to your doorstep. Mother apparently hoped that this would rub off on me, and that I would choose to be a great warrior, or the leader of an elite squad of government agents. At the end, she finally had to settle for encouraging me to become an archeologist, following (hopefully) in the footsteps of the great Dr. Jones. Alas, I'm afraid that none of this quite worked out; while I didn't end up assigned to alligator control, I'm really not much better than average.
Perhaps it was because Mother wasn't around a lot of the time. While she certainly cared, and my time with her was always wonderful when she was around, she spent a lot of time away from home. I don't *blame* her for it, I hasten to say -- either then or now -- but it did make things more lonely than they might have been. As she explained it when I was growing up, she worked at a rather sensitive government post, and had to go on a lot of trips for the government. And indeed, as I learned later, this was completely true -- it was simply the Amber government that she was working for. After I'd made it out into the wider world, she also explained that she kept me hidden from the court of Amber -- and did not expose me to it -- because she was disgusted by the behavior of some of the Amber nobles, and didn't want me to be corrupted by it. But I'm getting ahead of myself here...
In any event, she would visit me every few months as I was growing up, stay for a few weeks, then have to leave again. As I approached adulthood and was getting ready to graduate from high school, Mother started dropping hints about taking me on a very special trip to meet our relatives after I graduated, and not to make too many plans about college -- I would undoubtedly see a few things that might lead to adjusting those plans. So graduation rolled around. Mother had made elaborate plans, had said she'd be there a few days before so we could get ready... and never came.
After a month of waiting during the summer, and still no Mother, I had to assume that she was dead; she'd always warned me that she was in a somewhat risky line of work, and there might be a point when she might not come back. I cried for a few nights, then sighed and decided how to go on with my life. College was still what I wanted to do; although it was too late to get into any of the best schools, I was able to enter a rather nice state university. I went into archeology; while it wasn't my primary interest, it's what Mother would have wanted.
Several years passed. I went through college with a decent if not exactly spectacular career, graduated, got a graduate degree, and joined an expedition into the heart of Deepest Africa.
And then Mother returned...
I admit, it was rather surprising to be in our base camp -- hundreds of miles away from the nearest outpost of civilization, let alone the nearest city -- and see Mother walk into the clearing. A charitable description of my expression at this point would probably have to include words like 'fish,' 'gaping,' and 'goggle-eyed'. Honestly.
The first thing she did after spotting me was run over, nearly strangle me with a hug, cry into my shoulder and ask me how I was doing. The next thing she said was, "Bey -- I know I wanted you to go into archeology, but really... where's the evil temple? I don't see any mystic ruins anywhere near here, do you?"
"I... but Mother, I... we're going to be there in a couple of days, I'm sure --"
"I'm sure. Now pack up your things, son; we need to go."
"But, Mother! What about my companions here --"
"I've arranged for a replacement for you. Gourry? Could you come over here..."
And so she dragged me away from Deepest Africa, and brought me to Amber. I admit, at first I was not entirely sure whether this was any better; even considering the number of Children of Amber who come walking out of Shadow, the new kid on the block often comes in for a fair amount of sharp teasing. Fortunately, it did not take long for me to settle in and start making acquaintances, and I now count a number of people here as good friends. Mother brought me to Panopticon University for a look, and the rest -- as they say -- is history.
Um... could you put the feather duster down now?
Note: A large proportion of the Shadows in the 'Beyond the Golden Circle' Page are from Beowulf's perspective, extracts from various of his scholastic writings, kindly donated to the Library of Castle Amber.
Relations with siblings:
Beowulf, in general, is on pretty good terms with all of his relatives. He spends a lot of time with his mother, Wakaba, and has been known to play cards with King Tylor regularly. Beowulf and Kentaro are half-brothers, but aren't very close, though they seem to get along reasonably well. Beowulf is especially close to Mutsumi, and the two of them carry on as if they were full siblings most of the time. He and Naru and Juri all seem to get along very well, and enjoy having academic debates with one another. He has come to be on very good terms with Thoric and Jacqueline over the years, and has done many services for their Kingdom. He's been known to drop in on Prime Minister Keitaro and offer him advice, and he and seems to enjoy Lady Sumire's parties, though he is no aristocrat. He is now married to Countess Lily and he and Kitsune take great pleasure in playing complicated pranks on one another with good cheer. He gets along well with Moonshade, and has spent some time tutoring her in the arts of Conjuration. While Kuonji still doesn't like him, he always greets Kuonji with a friendly smile which only sends Kuonji into more conniption fits. Beowulf is especially close to Kanna, and there are frequent (but probably untrue) rumors of he, Kanna, Lily, and Ruka sharing a bed during visits to Ember.
Beowulf is also known to be on fairly friendly terms with Lord Franich (the court historian), Lady Haruna, and Travis the Librarian. He and Seta, the Royal Tutor, both went to Panopticon at the same time, and Beowulf recommended him for the job. Beowulf has also become rather friendly with the Shadow Mage Spellvis in the aftermath of the Herald Crisis.
The most skillful warrior of his generation (at least most successful surviving member), Beowulf is noted for his ability to prevent people dying and for his great conjuring and artificing skills. Beowulf carries the potent staff Morkeleb, which does great damage and is able to both break spells and store them for later use.
Beowulf's heroic deeds during the Herald Crisis are too numerous to mention, but can be found in the UnS Timeline.
After spending time in setting up the Museum of Shadow and raising his son Telemain to teenagerdom, he set out in 1347 with his wife and son to Arcadia, where he spent thirteen years helping to make the Arcadian Patternblades. Telemain returned in 1355, before his parents did.
In 1371, in Sailoon, the Cult of Shuma-Gorath nearly frees their dark god. Ambassador Amelia assembles a strike force of Beowulf, Kanna, Nausicaa, Kaede, Naru, Kentaro, and Sumire. They arrive in time to discover that someone has already slaughtered the cultists and prevented the ritual. They spend some time rampaging through Sailoon, slaughtering monsters, just to make the trip not a complete waste. This leads to the infamous 'tea with goblins' disaster, of which none of them will speak (though there are rumors of Kentaro having been stuffed in Beowulf's bag and used as a club. Most discount these, as Beowulf wouldn't be so cruel). Gourry makes his first appearance in over a century, rescuing them all with the help of Naga the White Serpent, Kitiara, and Pirotess. Much embarrassment ensues. Beowulf hires Gourry as head guard for the Museum of Shadow.
From 1372-1400 AY, Beowulf went to Arcadia, and worked with Thoric, Mutsumi, Jacqui, Dr. Jacqueline, and the Bride of the Jewel in forging the Turtle Spikards. His essential good nature (or perhaps the fact that the Turtle Spikards won't work back in his home universe) prevented him claiming any for himself, although one of them is reserved for his use during his visits there.
Happily married to Countess Lily, Beowulf now has a son Telemain who is known to be quite proud of. He spends much of his time running his Museum of Shadow, teaching at Panopticon, or exploring Shadow. For a while, Princess Moonshade studied with him, learning the arts of Conjuration. In recent years, he and Lily have spent most of their time in the Jacquiverse, exploring its infinite Shadow.
Two ex-members of 'Lucien's Ladies' now work for Beowulf, running the
Museum of Shadow during his absences (Kitiara and Pirotess). Beowulf,
being a fairly amiable person, seems to like most of the current generation,
though he's been known to lecture Random and Miroku. Especially Miroku.
Some years ago, Asuka punched him in the face for no discernable reason;
neither will comment on it. It is noteworthy that Kaname's temper
seems to evaporate entirely in his presence. His neice, Deirdre,
seems exceptionally fond of him, and he's known to have long talks with
Setsuna and Yomiko (both fellow Panopticon graduates), even though they
often disagree.
Prince
Demetrius, President of the Amber City Naval Academy
Son
of Corrine and some Harem-Boy (Probably 'Roderick')
UnS
Player Character (Matt Giglia)
"Mr. Nelson, engage the engines." -- Prince Demetrius
"Captain Demetrius played a crucial role in our victory on the Day
of Darkness, fighting on almost every major front. He's a valuable
asset to the family, and Corrine should be proud of him." --
Prince Drake
"Miserable incompetent little @%$@%@#$%@#$^%$^!!!!!!"
(Saionji now begins to gibber incoherently) -- Prince Saionji
Born to Queen Corrine and one of the members of her mysterious harem (allegedly recruited from other universes), Demetrius is dark haired and clean cut, a splendid military figure, except when his mother or Aunt Juri is teasing him and he begins to unravel. He is an excellent warrior and a noted master of the mysteries of the Abyss, said to have taught many secrets to the White Knight, who seems to be his lover (in fact, he made his appearance on the scene by rescuing the White Knight from the Abyss). He has a psychotic sister Ryoko, who thankfully hasn't been seen in a century, having apparently been sent off to be imprisoned somewhere, from which she will hopefully never return.
Prince Demetrius commands the Radiant, one of the Great Ships, a powerful Abyss cruiser. He is assisted by three mysterious figures from Shadow: the living skeleon named T, the red-haired trickster Bogdozan, and the tiny-brained Vaprak, who is said to have once eaten a spikard, a Wu-Lord of Chaos, blood clones of Tylor and Corrine, and an Animal God, all in the space of a month.
Demetrius' heroic deeds (and amazing screwups) during the Herald Crisis are too numerous to mention, but can be found in the UnS Timeline.
After the crisis, Demetrius was given an MVP award by King Tylor and appointed President of the Amber City Naval Academy.
Demetrius, despite early difficulties with Motoko, and the continuing hatred of Prince Saionji and Princess Michelle, he seems to have adjusted well to family life, and gets along with all of the members of House Harad. Corrine and Juri treat him especially well, and he is known to be quite friendly with Princess Shiori (who calls him 'Uncle Demmy'). He is also close to Queen Anthy. (There are certain strange rumors which claims Anthy and Demetrius periodically merge together into some sort of rampaging uberpowerful Abyss Monster which is then turned loose on Amber's enemies. Most people place these roughly on a level with the claim that Davros is actually King Gendo in disguise.)
Demetrius has not had many dealings with non-Harad family members and their allies in the last century, unless they became involved in naval affairs. He does seem to approve of Melissa and Kurz, however, and he is known to have taken a special interest in both Shiori and Kaname when they attended the ACNA. He's also rumored to have fought some sort of strange naval duel involving swan gondolas with Allen von Munchausen, but Munchausen _probably_ made the whole thing up. He's come to have frequent dealings with Sumire and Utena and grown friendly with both of them, and is on good terms with Kozue and King Miki as well.
For no discernable reason, Demetrius seems to be attacked once a year by poorly designed giant robots; since it always happens on exactly the same day, he's learned to adjust to it (For those wishing to know when to avoid him, it's always July 21st, a day of no known significance.)
Many people wonder why Damask runs away from Demetrius, and this is considered to probably be a bad sign. Or something.
He also breeds and sells Abyss Kittens to anyone who is interested.
With a stern warning about how they can bite off a man's leg if provoked.
Queen Jacqueline
Tenjou of Arcadia
Daughter of Prince Ota "Shaft"
Tenjou and Lady Kasumi Tendo
UnS Player Character (Rod Malapitan)
aka "Fleet-Crusher"
"aaah! er.... your room might not be suitable for all audiences! w-wait!"--Jacqueline
"Oh crap. I've got Destiny." -- Jacqueline Tenjou, informed that she's The Bride of the Jewel.
"To be the lover of a living goddess is both ecstasy and terror."--King
Thoric
"She is kind and gentle and full of love. I could not ask
for a better lover."--Queen Mutsumi
"Ignorant. Clumsy. No control of her powers. Acts as lowborn as her mother and as her father tried to be. Oh, and ugly too. If she comes near the fleet again, I'll hang her from the yardarm!!! Worthless little... [censored] [censored] [censored]!!!!"--Princess Kozue of Amber.
"Dressed in a formal kimono, a young woman kneeled facing the viewer,
performing a tea ceremony. She looked nervous, though she was making
no obvious errors. Her short, light pink hair hung down freely, accenting
her tanned skin and dark blue eyes. Her complexion was perfect, her
makeup without an error. A broom leaned against a wall nearby, and
steam rose from the tea. The shadow of a man, her father from the
shape of it, fell across her and the tea set."
--Jacqueline's Trump
Age: 39 Amber years, physically 19, unknown
'lived' years.
Height: 5 feet 5 inches
Eyes: Dark Blue
Hair: Light Pink
Skin: Slight tan
The daughter of Ota Tenjou and Kasumi Tendo. Soft spoken, shy, and very uncomfortable in large social affairs, she is rather friendly and very gentle once you get to know her. There does seem to be a sort of sadness to her, something hard to describe and harder to see unless you look carefully. It often seems as if she's constantly afraid of messing something up or offending someone.
With her father often absent in the line of duty for Amber, she has been raised mostly by Kasumi and it shows in her demeanor -- adept at domestic skills, such as cooking, cleaning and serving a great cup of tea. She has shown brief but with small flashes of an adventurous streak in venturing out of the castle on her own, just to see what's out there. Despite her curiosity, she has done so very infrequently, and also seems as frightened by the world out there as she is curious. Her father's influence manifests itself in her awkward attempts at learning the arts of the sword, often asking to wield her father's Pattern or Logrusblade. Thus far, despite her father's, her grandmother's, and other various family members' attempts, she seems to have sword skills inferior to those of the standard castle guards. Despite this, her father tries to encourage her to become a better swordswoman. This makes her birth-mother fret slightly, as it seems to her a bit unladylike. She also bemoans the nicknames her father has given her, "Jackie" and "Lady Jaq", believing they sound far too much like names for boys. Her other mother, the (in)famous Leather Knight, is greatly amused.
Living in the castle meant she interacted with many magic users, those of the family and the staff, and as a result she has picked up some skills. However, after accidentally sinking a large portion of her Aunt Kozue's fleet, including the boat Kozue was in, the opinion of the family regarding any further magical education is mixed. Her father generally facepalms and breaks out the painkillers whenever the topic of magic and Jacqueline come up.
In terms of real battle experience, nobody can recall her having any. In practice sword matches, her valor varies, from putting on a brave face despite trembling arms to something just short of the astonishing cowardice of her cousin Thoric. She is, in fact, the only person Thoric fared well against in a practice match.
The only turbulent period in her life when she was nine years old, when she disappeared from the castle for the first time. Her father and mother knight went in search for her, returning much, much later, but neither they nor Jacqueline will say what happened, and will dislike being questioned about it. Despite the length of their absence, Jacqueline seemed to hardly have aged at all. It was after that incident that Jacqueline's bravery intermittently dipped to Thoric-like levels. She's recovered since, but still has bouts of severe anxiety.
Her relationship with her family is largely a good one, as she really does put effort into being nice to her aunts, uncles and cousins. She is very good friends with her cousin Shinobu, who many say are almost like sisters in their behaviour. She's also known to be on very good terms with Duchess Yumi, who is Jacqueline's godmother and instructor in all things magic. Her father's construct, Morganstern (otherwise known as the Notorious Mo G, Snoop Mo, and Morgansteinz) is like a deranged, wacky uncle to her. She is generally fearful of her Aunt Kozue, who openly loathes Jacqueline and still hasn't forgiven her for the Fleet Sinking Incident, and will flee at the very sight of her. Her relationship with her mothers has been strained since they took up with Fuyutsuki. She is on fairly good terms with Prince Ramon, who often acts as if he was her own father, and Princess Keiko, his wife.
Jacqui is both the most disaster-prone and most able to bounce back from catastrophe member of her generation.
Jacqui's heroic deeds during the Herald Crisis are too numerous to mention, but can be found in the UnS Timeline.
Jacqui has become the Pattern-Drawer of the universe of Arcadia, and
is part of the Triumvirate which rules it, along with her spouses, Thoric
and Mutsumi. Rumor has it that she has created an army of clones
of herself to assist herself in performing her duties, or perhaps all of
her Patternknights are aspects of herself. Still, she seems very
happy and cheerful as long as her father's death or the Logrus aren't mentioned.
Her position in the 'Jacquiverse' has prevented her having much interaction
with many of the current generation, though Princess Kaname is known to
have come to the Jacquiverse and trained with her and Mutsumi and Thoric.
(As is the wont with such things, many rumors claim she shared their bed
as well, but this is usually discounted just like the rumors that the Triumvirate
and Motoko's Quartet get together every year for a giant magical orgy).
Kanna, Princess of
Ember
Daughter of the Red Knight and Queen
Corrine I of Ember
UnS Player Character (Phil Moyer)
"Somewhere, -somebody- is probably getting their jollies about seeing me butt-naked at the end of adventures. I need to hunt them down and slap them silly into the stratosphere." -- Kanna gets rare insight into the nature of her universe.
"Eeyyyah, two short swords stabbed through them by the same guy would count as a kidney 'failure', yah, mom."--Why Kanna needed a kidney transplant
"So then she vaulted off the roof into the back of the speeding truck. One swipe of that staff of hers broke out the back windows, and the second blow knocked out both of the men in the cab. Unfortunately, the truck was still moving and promptly smashed into a wall. I thought she was gone for, but she just crawled out of the wreckage, wiped her brow, then started dragging the men out before it could blow up. I'd have just shot out the tires myself." --Princess Utena of Amber
"Hi, big lady!"--Lady Suu of Alars (age 10)
"Like her mother after someone bleached out the redeeming qualities. I have to wonder if the Red Knight of Ember was a gorilla instead of a human being. Given the woman is known to keep a harem, I can't imagine why she didn't breed with something more handsome."--Marchioness Lucrezia of Florence
"The next trump portrayed a woman; but oh, what a woman! She was a giant with deeply tanned skin, at least six and a half feet tall, with thick red hair chopped into a careless wolf cut. A white headband held the hair away from her blue eyes, the ribbons trailing down her back. The span of her wide shoulders were barely contained by the yellow gi and red low-cut spandex top she wore, tied at the waist with a wide black belt. Her legs were long and well-defined, sheathed within black tights with red psuedo-cherryblossom starbursts on them. Despite her powerful build, she wasn't unfeminine, nor did she look surly; instead, her face was graced with a proud, smug smile, her right hand curled and lifted in a thumbs-up gesture. Her other hand rested on her hip. She stood in the middle of the Royal Gymnasium, a large staff with a golden sphere on the end slung on her back.
Her pose expressed the sort of solid good cheer that one often found
in particularly large, powerful people, the easiest alternative to such
people during their formative years being a bullying surliness. We
had our differences, but we still got along most of the time. She
was Kanna, Princess of Ember... and she was my younger sister."
--from Gabrielle's Trump of Kanna:
Age:
Kanna is the second daughter of Corrine I, Queen of Ember (or the first, if you don't count Gabrielle. Few don't.), and the first child of Corrine's to be actually physically born. She was conceived soon after the Annadil Crisis, as folks were recovering from the Golden Circle Revolts and the Lava Circle invasions. Kanna was born into a relative time of peace, as Ember began to make its presence fully known in Shadow and Reality, assisting Amber in their reconstruction efforts.
Kanna was raised, for the most part, in Ember proper, but she came along with her mother whenever she visited her old stomping grounds in Amber. This allowed her to develop some good connections with the rest of the family, to at least be familiar with them in an extended family way. It soon became evident that Kanna was going to inherit her mother's strength; therefore she began training in the arts of combat (both armed and unarmed) from her mother, her cousin Shizumaru, her cousin Ramon, Bodyguard Misaki, and Aunt Utena, It didn't hurt that she -liked- the training, seeing it as a way to live up to her family members (especially the stories of her long-missing Aunt Juri and Other Aunt Juri). Besides, it was fun, and gave her the opportunity to flit down to Amber more often. When puberty hit, it also became obvious that Kanna was going to inherit her father's muscle mass, so she redoubled her training, honing her body and spirit into a lean, mean fighting machine.
By the time she turned twenty-one, Kanna was already well-known through the kingdom of Ember as a girl whom you didn't want to piss off. This renown wasn't -as- known in Amber, but her frequent training around the castle helped make up for it. Fortunately for many, Kanna turned out to have a pretty decent disposition, filled with good cheer and easily capable of making friends. She parlayed her people skills and her combat training into an off-again/on-again Military/Police career, much in the same mold as Cousin Shaft, Amber P.I.; a semi- freelance investigator often sent on missions for the kingdoms, save without as much Macking around. She's also done a turn of duty as an Arden Ranger, applying her mother's teachings to help her older Cousin Hiko (though she did need to be told that yes, the trees were NOT supposed to be on fire, and this was their natural state, so stop asking Gabrielle to try to make them otherwise).
Kanna's temper can, and does, flare up at times; this is a source of some concern for her mother, but at the same time Corrine doesn't censure it, since she easily sees those same threads in herself and her other daughter. Most of the time, Kanna just vents it in extra-intense sparring sessions. But woe be it to somebody who, during an investigation, manages to piss her off -- Kanna is -fiercely- protective of her friends and family members, and does not take abuse of them lightly.
Kanna is also somewhat self-concious about her size tending to intimidate most men, but she is rather flamingly -Straight-, and is capable of flirting with the best of them. One day she may find a True Love like her mother did, but not today. She has some skill at dancing, from long nights at various diplomatic receptions and the more modern steps from out in Shadow. Her mother's diplomatic training has also rubbed off on her, though she shares Corrine I's similar distate for politics in general.
Kanna has received instruction in various of the Trump Tricks her mother has refined over the years; while she'll never be a Trump Artist, she's at least capable enough to use her own deck to determine who's calling her. She's got some artistic talent, but not enough patience to pull off the several-day-long painting sessions beginning Trump Artists have to endure to make Trumps. She also walked the Fire Pattern of Ember on her twenty-first birthday; in the decades since then, she has made forays out into Shadow to see what's out there, becoming more experienced and more capable of kicking butt each time she returned home.
Kanna's everyday wear tends to be tights, with shorts over them on occasion, a tank top, and a karate gi. During most formal affairs, she'll wear a red military jacket with white cravat and gold braid, and white pants with red shoes. She rarely wears dresses (when she does, they're enginnered much like her mother's with the removeable skirts and pants underneath), but she looks absolutely stunning in a Kimono. She oftentimes can be mistaken for a native Lipunese in such a costume -- that is, if the Lipunese grew to six-foot-six and could shot-put engine blocks.
Kanna is without a doubt the strongest member of her generation of Amberites, though Thoric certainly comes close. Nanami Minor and Captain Special Agent Uotani are close on her heels, and sometimes beat her in sparring matches. (Though Kanna could turn either of them into a fine spray with Beryllina, her weapon-of-all-trades, which is rumored to be the sharpest blade in the universe). For a while, Kanna was seen toting a giant butter knife around, but seems to have passed it on to Naru, after a shared adventure in shadow (which apparently involved cleaning up some loose end from the Herald Crisis, and also involved Juri, Wakaba, Utena, and Eowyn.)
Kanna's heroic deeds during the Herald Crisis are too numerous to mention, but can be found in the UnS Timeline.
Kanna continues to act as a special agent of the crown of Ember, and sometimes as Regent, having held the office for a five year stretch while her mother vanished into shadow with Princess Juri.
She has married Commodore Ruka of the Amberite Navy, and they have a lovely daughter, Shiori, who seems to usually delight them. Usually. She's also on very good terms with Orien, and seems to view Kaname with favor as well. Asuka and her have a stormy relationship. She seems fond of Telemain and Yomiko.
Keiko, Chloe, Kaname, Kanna, and Nanami Minor recently were involved
in a raid against the Untouchable Trio (plus one) and seem to have been
rather successful.
Prince Kentaro,
Ambassador to Therin
Son of Wakaba and King Rinaldo
of Kashfa
"He's so regal and gracious and handsome. I wish he'd look at ME like that. I hear he has a magical mansion where every day is a formal ball. I'd love to go there."--A lady in waiting describes Kentaro
"Selfish, stuck-up, self-centered prick. And he's the result of adultery. So he's a Prince of Amber. Big deal. Do I care? Okay, maybe I care a little, but..."--Begman Prime Minister Keitaro Orkuz describes Kentaro
"Tall and handsome with short
cropped light brown hair, he struck a handsome figure in his crimson and
blue formal court dress. He held a fencing foil in his right hand
with the stance of a professional, and a confident smile lit his face.
He had his mother's eyes and his father's confidence and poise. Everything
about him screamed 'I am a Prince of Amber, fall at my feet all ye lesser
mortals and despair'."
--Kentaro's Trump
Age:
Kentaro is a bundle of contradictions. To the ladies, he is gracious and generous. To rival men, he is an obnoxious, stuck up punk with an inflated sense of self-worth. He is perhaps the most eligible bastard in Amber, the result of an adulterous fling between Wakaba and King Rinaldo of Kashfa. Certain rumors whisper Wakaba ensorceled Rinaldo, while others say he did something to her. The exact chain of events remains a mystery, but it's clear he was concieved during the Annadil Crisis. He dwells in Amber, tending to reject his Kashfan heritage, although his father wants him to come home soon to prepare for the day when he must take up his duties as King of Kashfa. The fact that his step-mother, Queen Coral, hates him hasn't made him eager to go home.
Among the oldest of the current generation, he is quite skilled in the social graces, having attended Ohtori Academy. He is more known for strength of mind than of body, though he is a notable fencer and adept at horseback riding. He's known to have some skill at alchemy, having studied with his mother, and to throw very good parties, probably due to his training from King Tylor.
Kentaro is known to have a magical mansion which follows him around shadow. There is always a formal ball about to start, and invitations to his parties there are much in demand.
Kentaro's heroic deeds during the Herald Crisis are too numerous to mention (well, not really, but I'm lazy), but can be found in the UnS Timeline.
For a few years after the Annadil Crisis, he dated Anna Unruh, the assistant librarian. Until she dumped him in 1338 after catching him with another woman.
In 1343, Demetrius IV finally snapped. He executed his daughter, Princess Alexandra, who had been seeing Prince Kentaro. Kentaro responded by calling out Prince Alexander, Demetrius' favorite son, to a duel. Too proud to refuse, Alexander went to the duel, and Kentaro
