Suhuy
The Abyss harbours pure Chaos. Primal Chaos is a spinning complex maelstrom of pure destruction, pure fury, the essence of change. On the fringes of the Abyss are small regions of habitability. Shards of worlds, shreds that are not stable, but constantly changing, appearing and disappearing.
Only Shape Changers can survive in these places, those who can continually adapt to ever-shifting worlds.
These beings have an unknown history. Eventually their kingdoms became The Courts of Chaos, placed around the Abyss. Their rulers, Nobles of Chaos, can control and direct the powers of the Logrus, a representation of Primal Chaos. They discovered many strange arts and powers, including Sorcery, the casting of spells, and Trump, the use of artistic images to communicate across Chaos and between worlds. They were the masters of the universe.
Eventually, Dworkin, one of their number, rebelled against them. He somehow found, forged or stole a very special artefact. A magical device of unknown properties called the Jewel of Judgement.
With the blessing of the mythical Unicorn, against the violent raging of his elders, Dworkin remade the universe. He inscribed a force that opposed Chaos.
In his own blood Dworkin drew, or wrote, or conjured, the Primal Pattern. The Pattern was an imposition of a different kind of power onto the universe. Where all is fluid and changing near Primal Chaos, order and stability dwell in Pattern realms.
Between these two great symbols, of chaos and of order, of Logrus and Pattern, there came to be an infinite number of Shadows. Each Shadow is a possibility, a slightly different mirror image. Each Shadow, each potentially an entire physical universe, is somehow a combined reflection of the Primal Pattern and of the Logrus. Everything that might exist can be found somewhere in Shadow. The powers of Pattern and Logrus can be used to manipulate Shadow, travel through it, or even destroy it.
Surrounding the Primal Pattern is an area of great power. Following those apocalyptic days, a kingdom was formed there. That kingdom was Amber. Its ruler, Oberon (some say a son of Dworkin), initiate in the ways of the Pattern, fought wars, built a dynasty, fathered heirs, and founded a castle, also known as Amber.
This is a summary for players. Your character may know, or have heard, a different version of history. Many of the terms in the Glossary and this summary may be unknown to your character, or understood differently. The SG will inform you of any details during the character design process.
Which is the truer account? That may be revealed during the campaign. You can be sure only that neither you nor your character know all the answers.
Oberon had sons and daughters, each of who had a measure of their father's power. In each was born the power to walk the Pattern. These Princes and Princesses of Amber each carry in their veins the blood of Amber. Having walked the pattern they can move through the Shadow universe, and shape Shadow itself, to their own ends. Theirs is the power of life and death, creation and destruction.
And then the children of Oberon bickered and fought amongst themselves....
Was it because they were the children of a rebel's child? Or were they manipulated, set one against another, by their father? We'll probably never know.
They plotted against each other, and against their father. And one of them, Brand, even dreamed of remaking the universe.
That evil, or insane, brother calculated that the Primal Pattern could be erased. He predicted that Oberon's blood, the blood of any of Oberon's children, or Oberon's children's children, could be used to black out the Pattern, damage it and ultimately destroy it. With the original Pattern gone, it would be possible to draw a new Pattern, a Pattern more to his liking, a Pattern where he would have absolute power.
Brand did not inform his family of his intentions. He did, however, form a secret alliance with Fiona and Bleys to take the throne. Somehow these three contacted one or more Nobles of Chaos, who were only too happy to arrange for Oberon's disappearance.
In seeking to gather more siblings to his banner Brand let Caine in on part of the secret. Eric, Julian and Caine then formed an open alliance to prevent Brand and his unknown partners from taking the throne.
Brand, Bleys and Fiona then had a falling out. Brand intended further deployment of their allies from Chaos to take the throne against all opposition. The other two thought that the price would be too high.
Eric and his allies sought to hold Brand in Amber. However, Brand had gained strange and formidable powers from somewhere in Shadow, and proved difficult to restrain.
He visited Tir-na Nog'th, and saw there that the return of the long-lost brother Corwin would be Brand's undoing. Corwin's memory had been lost years ago. It was gradually returning. Brand found him and tried to kill him, but failed.
[It is at this point that Corwin's Chronicles begin.]
Corwin's memory continued to return, and Corwin made his way to Amber with Random's help. He walked the Pattern in Rebma, and got his full memory back.
Eric and Corwin had long been enemies, and when Corwin, knowing nothing of any secret machinations, learnt that Eric intended to become regent, he desired the throne himself. Corwin teamed up with Bleys and assaulted Amber. They fought Eric's troops all the way up Kolvir, Bleys vanished after Corwin threw him his Trumps, and then Corwin was thrown into the dungeons with his eyes burnt out.
Brand attempted to erase the Pattern with the blood of Martin, Random's forgotten son. He partially succeeded. Martin escaped, and Brand could destroy only a portion of the Pattern. This partial erasure had its reflection in every Shadow: a Black Road now stretched all the way from Amber to the Courts of Chaos! Armies of Chaos began to traverse this road.
In the meantime, Oberon had returned but was not yet ready to reveal his continuing existence. He intended Corwin succeed him, and made secret preparations.
After four years Corwin recovered his eyesight, and escaped. Oberon disguised himself as a figure from Corwin's past, one Ganelon, and accompanied Corwin. Corwin knew the secret to making gunpowder burn in Amber, which none of his siblings knew. He gathered an army in Shadow and assaulted Amber again.
He arrived in time to defeat the onslaught of the demon armies of Chaos. Eric died in the assault, and Corwin was unofficial King in Amber. Dara, following Corwin and claiming to be Benedict's great-granddaughter, entered Amber and walked the Pattern. She then declared ''Amber will be destroyed!'' before vanishing.
Caine's body was discovered soon afterwards, with suspicion falling on Corwin, as Caine came after Corwin in line for the throne. Gérard beat Corwin to a pulp in a wrestling match as a warning against murder. Corwin managed to bring Brand out of captivity, suspecting that there was more going on than he knew about. Someone ambushed Corwin in his quarters, and the Jewel shifted him to safety in Shadow. Corwin abandoned the Jewel there and returned to Amber.
Oberon, as Ganelon, sped things along by introducing Corwin to the Primal Pattern and the dark stain of blood erasing part of it. Corwin also visited Tir-na Nog'th and retrieved a silver forearm from the ghostly image of his brother Benedict. Benedict had earlier lost his real forearm fighting the armies of Chaos.
Ganelon hinted that someone might be eavesdropping on Trump conversations. Brand disappeared, and Gérard accused Corwin of killing him. Oberon, as Ganelon, fought Gérard to a standstill to give Corwin time to chase Brand.
Brand then captured the Jewel and attempted to walk the Pattern in Tir-na Nog'th with it. Despite being partially attuned to the Jewel, Benedict's silver arm was able to stop Brand and recover the Jewel. Oberon then revealed himself, and that Martin and Dara were his allies, and ordered an assault on the forces of Chaos. An apparition of Corwin removed Benedict's silver arm.
While his sons and daughters led armies against the Courts of Chaos, Oberon would redraw the Pattern using the Jewel. Knowing he would probably die in the attempt, Oberon offered Corwin the throne of Amber.
But Corwin's experiences had changed him. He declined the crown that he had fought Eric for, and twice invaded Amber for.
So Oberon used some of Corwin's blood to create a bird that could follow Corwin through Shadow. The bird carried the Jewel to Corwin after Oberon had either succeeded or failed to redraw the Pattern.
The path from Amber to the Courts of Chaos is long and strenuous. As well as the natural hazards of Shadow, emissaries of the Courts tried to delay, mislead, devour, confuse and seduce Corwin on his journey. Brand tried several tricks as well. Eventually, Corwin, tired, far from home, and being overtaken by the storm of Primal Chaos that the redrawing of the Pattern had unleashed, decided that Oberon must have failed.
So Corwin did the only thing he could. He used the Jewel to draw a new Pattern!
Exhausted, he collapsed at its centre, where Brand was able to steal the Jewel. Corwin followed him to the scene of the battle beside the Abyss. Brand was using the Jewel against the armies of Amber. Several of the children of Oberon gathered to oppose him.
One was Caine, who had only faked death in order to uncover the traitor amongst his siblings. Caine had been eavesdropping on Trump conversations in order to find out who the family traitor was. When Corwin rescued Brand, and Brand was stabbed, Caine assumed Corwin had wielded the dagger. So Caine tried to kill Corwin when he returned to his chambers. Later he revised his opinion.
Another was Bleys, returned from hiding.
Corwin used his partial attunement of the Jewel to distract Brand, and Caine fired two silver arrows into Brand's chest. Brand, with the Jewel, fell into Abyss, and snatched sister Deidre down as well. Corwin, who loved his sister dearly, was restrained from throwing himself after them.
Soon afterwards, Dworkin led an immense funeral procession of magical and mythical beings arrayed around Oberon's body into the Courts. Oberon's face appeared in the sky and he relayed his last blessings upon Amber, and directed the succession onto the horn of the Unicorn.
The Unicorn arose from the Abyss, carrying the Jewel. It looked into the eyes of each Amberite present, and bestowed the Jewel on Random, who is the present King of Amber.
[Corwin's Chronicles end here, as Corwin finishes reciting his adventures to Merlin, his son and Dara's. This crisis is known as the PatternFall War, or PatternFall. In Amber, Brand is generally blamed for it all.
Merlin had grown up in the Courts, and was a student of Sorcery, Trump and the Logrus. His subsequent adventures are the subject of another five books by Zelazny.]
|
Friday, August 29, 1997 Suhuy |
|
Get your own Free Home Page