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Aisling (Katarina Witt) [deceased]
Late Knight-Commander of the Ruby
Played by Madeline Ferwerda
Daughter of Madoc, descendant of Benedict, Aisling served as a spy for her father in Amber for some years. Oberon discovered her and turned her, and she fought for Amber at the Battle of the Abyss. Even though she swore fealty to Random, some members of the family still resented and suspected her for her previous work against Amber. Following her failure to disclose key information to Caine, she vanished and was not seen again in Amber. Later, Saeth appeared in Clarissa, claiming to be Aisling's daughter.
Some of my seniors who still smart at Dworkin's having created Amber in the first place are really seeking a return to the days before this happened. Total Chaos, from which all things arose. I see the present condition as preferable and I wish to preserve it.
-- Dara, The Courts of Chaos
Clarissa, what have you done to my daughter?
Nothing, dear brother, except getting her out of a very sticky situation. She was in a pocket shadow, unable to get out. I helped her. Unfortunately, the locks on the shadow were hard to break. I slipped her out between the bars, as it were. There were some pieces left behind. I'm sorry.
-- Madoc and Clarissa
Ambrose (Toby Stephens)
Feathered Serpent of Uxmal
Your cousin Ambrose, Brand's youngest son, was raised under close watch in Uxmal by his father and cooperated with Dara to make his chance at walking the Pattern; when that failed, he took custody of Brita from her. Ultimately, with his brother Brennan's assistance, took oath to Random. He lost his long-term war with his sister Chantico for the possession of Uxmal, and brought the survivors to Xanadu. Now he spends much of his time decoding Brand's remaining papers with the surviving Uxmali code wheels, which only a handful of people can use.
What is their strength, anyway?
An endorsement of higher education. Fiona and Brand paid attention to Dworkin while the rest of us were off indulging our assorted passions in Shadow. Consequently, they seem to have obtained a better grasp of principles than we now possess.
-- Random and Corwin, Sign of the Unicorn
Ambrose gambled. Rather audaciously, at that. And while I am not without pride in my brother for the attempt, it went sour; there were circumstances he could not have foreseen, and Brand's allies are neither mine nor Ambrose's.
-- Brennan
Cambina (Winona Ryder) [deceased]
Late Knight of the Order of the Card
Your cousin Cambina was the daughter of Eric and the half-sister of your cousin Jerod. A scholar, Cambina was known in intellectual circles for several books she had written, including a well-received history of your grandfather's reign. Within the family, she was well-known for her mystical talents, such as her gift for reading the Fortunes, and for interpreting the signs she received on her frequent visits to Tir-na Nog'th. After the Return she grew close to your cousin Brennan. Cambina died by falling from Tir on the night of a full moon, and there is increasing suspicion she was murdered by the Queen of Air and Darkness.
I had come to the place where the ghosts play at being ghosts, where the omens, portents, signs, and animate desires thread the nightly avenues and palace high halls of Amber in the sky, Tir-na Nog'th.
-- Corwin, Sign of the Unicorn
And if you did not get to know her I am even more sorry for your loss, because she was kind in her blunt way - at least to me, and she would have cut through things to get us to our goals much faster than we have. That's a gift too. She was a historian as well. I don't think she only saw the future. I was taught time moves in a loop, so that makes sense to me.
-- Hannah
Chantico (Fernanda Tavares)
Serpent Skirt of Uxmal
Your cousin Chantico is the daughter of Brand and one of the goddesses of her home shadow. She has conducted a long war to drive out her brother Ambrose and supplant him as the ruler of Uxmal, and ultimately warred with Edan and Lilly, who allied with Ambrose. She was last seen in Shadow and none know where she now dwells: in the remnants of Uxmal or elsewhere.
Out of every life a little blood must spill.
-- Corwin, Sign of the Unicorn
Chantico, by name. Feisty. It's not clear if the petty godlette that bore her lived to regret it.
-- Brennan
Cneve [deceased]
Wielder of Belagamon
Your cousin Cneve lived so long ago that only Benedict remembers him. He was the illegitimate son of Osric, and little is known of him save that he bore the Rebman Pattern blade in the great war against the Tritons millennia ago. His death drew his father and your uncle Finndo into that war, which the Rebmans ultimately won. His tomb was lost until Khela located it and retrieved the blade; she died without revealing its location.
Cneve was before my time. Rumor had it he was somebody's by-blow and that's how Osric and Finndo got dragged into the war with the Tritons. At the time, nobody thought of any of the blades that way; it was just a part of his legend. The story is that it was buried with him.
-- Caine
Cneve bore my greensword, naming it Belagamon the Sea Sword. It was his death with Belagamon that brought his father into the battles in Rebma.
-- Weyland
Daeon / Adonis (Adam Ant) [deceased]
Fertility God of Arcadia
Played by Sheldon Stevens
Your cousin Daeon, Julian's son, was a fertility deity from Arcadia, a shadow on the borders of Arden. He appeared as a goat-headed antlered wildman to fight under Benedict against the Courts of Chaos; as a handsome youth he returned to Amber and dallied with Paige, fathering her twins; and ultimately he sacrificed himself to save all his children from the power of the Arcadian Dragon.
Upon the couch, I gave her her ballad. Her lips replied without words.
-- Corwin, Nine Princes in Amber
I believe we should put aside our weapons in our dealings with each other for are we all not of one blood?...is it not time we learned to love each other for what we all are, to love each in spite of our faults, even because of them?
-- Adonis, after the battle
Dara (Keira Knightley)
Duchess of Chaos
Dara is the distant descendant of Benedict; she was recruited by Oberon and Martin into the conspiracy against Brand. She bore Merlin to Corwin but before that, to prove she could, bore Meg to Martin. After the Battle of the Abyss and the death of her father Borel at Corwin's hands, she turned against Amber. She attacked the Coronation celebration and kidnapped Brita, and since then has engaged in various campaigns against Amber and Xanadu. Her current whereabouts and status are unknown.
I doubt there is anything of my new allegiance left for me to renounce.
-- Dara, The Courts of Chaos
Dara's a lot tougher than she looks. A terrible pity Uncle Caine's aim was off last night.
-- Jerod, to Brennan
Dione (Anna Kournikova) [deceased]
Late Goddess of Arcadia
Daughter of Julian, twin sister of Adonis, Dione was the embodiment of innocent delight in nature. She lived all of her life in Arcadia. Unlike her brother, she was incapable of defending herself against the demons of the Black Road when they attacked Arcadia, and was slain by them. Daeon joined his father at the Battle of the Abyss to avenge her death.
Then there was a forest.
And what a forest!
I had never seen trees such as this, mighty and majestic, of a deep, rich green, slightly tinged with gold. They towered, they soared. They were enormous pines, oaks, maples, and many others which I could not distinguish. Through them crept a breeze of fantastic and lovely fragrance, when I cracked the window a bit.
-- Corwin, Nine Princes in Amber
There is a ragged, Dione-shaped hole in Arcadia and the place is unbalanced by the lack.
-- Daeon, observing conditions in Arcadia.
Jovian (D.B. Sweeney) [retired]
Knight-Commander of the Order of the Ruby
Played by Mark Stein
Your cousin Jovian is Julian's son from Calusa, a shadow where telepathically-bonded dragons are ridden to war. Jovian led four wings of dragons against the wyverns of Chaos at the Battle of the Abyss, and was named a Knight-Commander of the Order of the Ruby for his command of the King's First and Last Air Corps. His time with the dragons was ended when his own dragon died in battle against Huon's artillery. The psychic damage left Jovian mad, and he's now running wild in Shadow.
[I] went aloft, and caught a proper current. It seemed a neat way to do it.
I don't know whether you've ever glided through Shadow, but--No? .... In a hurry, I depopulate--or, rather, go the elemental route. At that altitude artifacts would have been distracting.
-- Random, Sign of the Unicorn
It would be nice to be free of responsibility for a little while, to just explore the expanse of Shadow - never flying the same sky two days running. But I don't suppose we'll return to an Amber settled enough to allow us the luxury.... All I know for certain now is that I don't want to be a warrior, if I can avoid it.
-- Jovian
Khela (Taraji P. Henson) [deceased]
Late Queen of Rebma
Llewella's daughter Khela was exiled from Rebma for her part in the Libertist movement and her advocacy of Triton freedom. Many years later, while in exile, Khela helped Celina with her awakening powers. Many years later, when Celina had learned her own ancestry, they were reunited, and Celina joined Khela's quest to overthrow Moire. When they took Rebma, Khela essayed the Pattern against all advice, and perished on it.
Khela was always more passionate, more violent, than I was.
-- Martin
Khela and I have unfinished business of the heart. When that riddle cyphers shall there be a terrible force upon me and such strengths to answer broken dreams. Moire and Khela have warred over and around me for years, trimming away at my choices and bending my love. Before long I shall know which of them deserves death by my hand.
-- Celina
Lucas St. Cyr (Alan Cumming) [deceased]
Late Knight of the Order of the Card
Played by Mel Mason; originally created by Jeremy "Bolthy" Zimmerman
Born in France on Shadow Earth during the eighteenth century, your cousin Lucas was an indolent, bitchy, spoiled foppish rake according to most of his friends. His wit and fashion sense, inherited from his mother Florimel garnered him invitations to all the best parties anyway. Others point to his improbably happy marriage to the delicate Solace Vesper, and his role as a devoted father to his two children, Hope and Philippe. Others might mention his hard work during the Regency, within the city and trading in Shadow. But until his death, apparently at the hands of Queen Moire, very few knew about a darker side of Lucas: his studies with Brand and his hidden abilities as a trump artist.
So far as I knew, there was no Trump for me.
-- Martin, Sign of the Unicorn
Well, I have a confession to make. Something I promised Lucas not to talk about, but I do consider that promise void now. Anyway. Lucas's wife Solace has had fainting spells. The second one was me trying to Trump her. I did not intend to hurt her, I didn't know at the time...that some people are hurt by Trump calls. There were rumors. Lucas wanted to determine if she was family, and asked me if I secretly could paint a Trump of her...
-- Ossian
Marius (Ioan Gruffudd) [retired]
Knight-Commander of the Order of the Ruby
Played by Meera Barry
Secretly the son of Deirdre, Marius served in the Amber Navy for many years. He served with distinction in the Battle of the Abyss but was struck down by Brand just before Brand dragged Deirdre into the Abyss with him. Since his recovery, he's met his sister Signy and learned his father was Weyland Smith. He's also taken the Chaosian Cloudeater as an affine, and ultimately lost control of it after it consumed the Hob and became the Eater. Of late he's spent much time in Xanadu, working with the Knights and serving as an aide to Queen Vialle.
I felt myself smiling. I was about to become a hero.
-- Corwin, The Guns of Avalon
I worry that I may be changed, but I must admit, sometimes I'm worried more that I am not.
-- Marius
Martin (Matt Damon)
Heir Presumptive of Xanadu and Amber; Knight-Commander of the Order of the Card
Your cousin Martin was notoriously abandoned by his father Random and survived Brand's attempt on his life. After working with your grandfather Oberon and your cousin Dara in the plot against Brand, he served the Regency Council during the interregnum. After he saved his father's life during the attack on the Coronation Masque, he was named the first Knight-Commander of the new Order of the Card. Still serving as an agent of the Crown, Martin juggles his interests in Amber, Xanadu, and Rebma with his marriage to Folly and his paternal duties to their daughter Lark, complicated by the discovery that Dara bore a daughter, Meg, from their liaison. In his copious spare time, Martin plays a mean bass guitar.
The muscles in his jaw had tightened and his eyes narrowed. For a moment, all of our faces fled across his, like a riffling of the family cards. All of our egoism, hatred, envy, pride, and abuse seemed to flow by in that instant -- and he had not even set foot in Amber yet.
-- Corwin, The Hand of Oberon
He still is sweet, sometimes. He's just.... He's no longer a boy. He walked into the enchanted forest and found out it's full of monsters.
-- Folly
Meg (Eve Myles) [retired]
Played by Claire Bickell & Dorothea Salo
Your cousin Meg was raised in the same orphanage that Ossian was rescued from, but where he was adopted by Brand, she only knew that she was superior to those around her. After Huon invaded her home of Abford, a circuitous journey brought her to Amber, and to the attention of Dara, who claimed to be her mother--making Martin her father.
HAVE A QUOTE
-- WHO SAID IT, SOME BOOK
I'm sorry. I'm angry. He's stolen my son, blithely reshaped my home, and I haven't yet worked out how to crush him like a bug. It's frustrating.
-- Meg, on Huon
Merlin (Ben Affleck)
Prince of Chaos, Heir Presumptive of Paris
Your cousin Merlin, Corwin's son by Dara, arrived in Amber for the first time with Benedict's returning army. He's a Trump artist, a sorcerer, and a shapeshifter, and has no sense that he's among the most powerful of your generation. He's had some difficulty adapting to Ordered life -- particularly around issues of reproduction -- but he's made many new friends among your cousins, the closest of which is his sister, Celina.
I have not lived long enough to have done too much.
-- Merlin, The Courts of Chaos
But true Chaosians consider Merlin and Aisling to be Ordered beings, however Chaotic they may appear to us.
-- Vere
Reid (Christian Bale) [deceased]
Crown Investigator, Member of the Regency Council
Played by Chuck Ivy
The only legitimate son of Osric, Reid was Dworkin's student and Brita's teacher. He lived for many years in Shadows far removed from Amber, returning with Brita during the Regency. He served the Regency Council with honor and investigated some important cases for the Crown before turning his attention to finding his mother's home Shadow of Clervaux. How he died is unknown, but the Klybesians buried him among their people before his body was ultimately returned to Amber.
I stepped forward, but my foot did not descend into the fire.
-- Corwin, Nine Princes in Amber
I've attempted to contact Reid by trump and been unable to reach him. I have no sense that he was blocking, but he didn't answer.
-- Fiona, after Lucas' funeral
Silhouette (Monica Bellucci) [retired]
Preceptor of the Grand Design
Played by Jason Fryer
Your cousin Silhouette, an artificer and arms dealer in the service of the Grand Design, came to Amber as an ambassador for Huon. Having proven her heritage on the Pattern, she now seeks to prove her identity as the long-lost daughter of Florimel, and to learn who convinced Florimel she was killed. Silhouette has also involved herself deeply with Rebman politics, because of Huon, because her brother Lucas was killed by Moire, and for more personal reasons involving Queen Celina.
In the mirrors of the many judgments, my hands are the color of blood. I am a part of the evil that exists in the world and in Shadow. I sometime fancy myself an evil which exists to oppose other evils. I destroy [murderers] when I find them, and on that Great Day of which prophets speak but in which they do no truly believe, on that day when the world is completely cleansed of evil, then I, too, will go down into darkness, swallowing curses. Perhaps even sooner than that, I now judge. But whatever ... Until that time, I shall not wash my hands nor let them hang useless.
-- Corwin, The Guns of Avalon
Enlightenment or Death suits me well. I've never been one for grey areas
-- Silhouette
Solace Vesper St Cyr (Anne Heche)
Lady of Amber and Paris
Long rumored to be Eric's daughter, Solace became pregnant by Lucas and he married her. She bore him two children, Hope and Phillippe, before his death. Now she lives in Paris under the protection of Florimel. Since Lucas' passing, it has come clear that he attempted to prove her bloodline by making Trumps of her, causing her headaches and serious injuries that suggest she does indeed bear the royal blood, if not enough to essay the Pattern.
But I liked her. I did not think I'd actually feel that way when I asked her out that night because, as I said, liking her was not what I had in mind.
-- Corwin, The Guns of Avalon
Well, I have a confession to make. Something I promised Lucas not to talk about, but I do consider that promise void now. Anyway. Lucas's wife Solace has had fainting spells. The second one was me trying to Trump her. I did not intend to hurt her, I didn't know at the time...that some people are hurt by Trump calls. There were rumors. Lucas wanted to determine if she was family, and asked me if I secretly could paint a Trump of her...
-- Ossian, after Lucas' funeral