ON THE UNICORN'S HORN

A Note from the Game Master

This campaign's time frame is taken directly out of Roger Zelazny's NinePrinces in Amber. At the beginning of the campaign, it is the middleof 1972 on the Shadow known as Earth. Prince Corwin has just regained hismemories, and travels toward Amber to settle a few scores with his siblings.The player characters, either children of the Princes of Amber or theirretainers, are confronted on Shadow Earth by some unknown menace from off-Shadow.And, as is usual in Amber, things just sort of go downhill from there...

Of course, since this campaign started, events have taken a noted departure from the plot of Nine Princes in Amber. Princes Corwin and Bleys lose the battle on the steps to Amber Castle, but Wakim's interruption prevents Corwin from "crowning" himself during Eric's coronation. And the actions of Jilly Coppercorn and Princess Deirdre have resulted in the premature freedom of the blinded Prince Corwin from his dungeon cell underneath Castle Amber. What will the players' actions do to affect future events? Will there even be a Patternfall War, as Corwin's fate has been altered? Only time (and the actions of the players) will tell...

 
 

Frost- The son of an unrevealed Amberite, he is a powerful sorcererwhose metabolism has been altered to the point where temperatures above 32 degrees Fahreneheit can become life-threatening. Keeping himself healthy with a combination of science and magic, he makes a living as a magical troubleshooter in Amber City. He has taken up the role as Page's magical tutor. He has also become one of Prince Wakim's more trusted advisors, specializing in questions of intelligence.

Idries Mustafa Ja'Aldrin Je'Erezai El-Musifir- Son of Prince Random of Amber, Idries is a very skilled jewel thief whose exploits havemade him a very wanted individual in certain law-enforcement circles. He has yet to be caught, and uses his ill-gotten gains to make the world a better place for the less fortunate, much like a cross between a sophisticated Robin Hood and the title character from Lovejoy. He seems to take a perverse pleasure in playing Amber and Theril one against the other. When on Shadow Earth, he splits his time between his home city of Casablanca and New York City. For some perverse reason, he seems to get along with Jilly best among the extended family of his own generation.

Jacqueline- Daughter of Prince Julian, Jackie (as she likes to be known) is a known Trump Artist and social dilettante. She has earned a reputation as sort of the younger generation's answer to Princess Florimel! What isn't so readily known is the fact that she is a quite accomplished art thief and big game hunter. She hob-nobs equally skillfully among the power elite of Amber and her father's foresters.

Jilly Coppercorn- Princess Fiona's only known surviving daughter,the only thing which seems to have been passed from mother to daughter is a passion and skill at Trump. Jilly is a superb artist and skilled Trump Artist, and she is, indeed, a redhead; this is where the similarities between mother and daughter end. Jilly has found contentment in the city of Newford in Canada, where she works as a part-time waitress at a local diner and spends the rest of her time painting. She seems to have a knack for making friends quickly, and rare is the time she doesn't meet someone in a given locale who doesn't give her a friendly word or a helping hand. Only recently was it revealed to her that her father is one Lord Mandor of the House of Sawall, from the realm known as the Courts of Chaos. She recently had an interesting insight into her mother's life, responsibilities, and business... whether this will affect her relationship with Proncess Fiona has yet to be seen.

Miyaka Miyamoto- An orphan who grew up in a Shadow similar to feudal Japan. She has spent her young adulthood as a travelling ronin, offering her swordarm in exchange for gold. It has recently been revealed that one of her parents is (or was) a child of Amber, so presumably she has the potential to walk Amber's Pattern and thus gain power over Shadow. She has only recently come to Amber, and is still trying to come to terms with this new world, this new family... Although she is still trying to find her place in this new family, she has at times allowed her services to be used by Prince Wakim.

Page- Raised as an orphan, all she really knew about her parents was that her mother died in childbirth, and then her grandparents diedin a traffic accident while she was still an infant. She grew up in orphanages in upstate New York until recently, when one of her roomates seemed to turn into a horrible monster and came after her. Saved by Florimel's bodyguard Da'ud, she was taken to the Flaumel estate not far from Albany, where it was discovered that she has the blood of the Amber royalty coursing through her veins. Her life has been topsy-turvey ever since, as she has been bounced from one strange encounter to another courtesy of her newfound family. Although her Amberite parentage is still up in the air, she has heard news that her mother (Amberite or not) wasn't all that she seemed at the time of Page's birth. Further investigations seem to be warrented in this issue...

Regnad K'cin- Peter Lorre... in Amber???? That's what he appears to be... Perhaps he is the One True Peter Lorre, of which all others are mere Shadows? At any rate, K'cin is the proprietor of the celebrated GoldenCircle, the premiere nightclub for the movers and shakers in Amber City. And most of the rumors and gossip which passes through the city sooner or later makes its way to K'cin or his agents.

Seth- The royalty of Castle Amber often needs special services provided to them while they are otherwise occupied. One of the specialists who fulfils this role is the shadowy Seth, a mystery man who was brought to Amber an unspecified time in the past by one of the Amber Royal Family. His specialty: finding things in Shadow. He's a sort of mercenary/bounty hunter/treasure hunter, whose ability to move at will through Shadow (using Pattern? Logrus? Magic? Something else entirely?) makes him a man whose skills are in demand indeed!

Wakim- Son of Eric I, King of Amber, Wakim has been raised in the exotic Shadow of Tenolochim as its God-King. He is a mightly warrior and a hero, as well as a sacrosanct divinity in the eyes of his people. When Eric was coronated, he made Wakim the Heir Apparent and gave him the title of Grand Protector of Amber. In this capacity, Wakim is responsible for the security of Amber city... a role he is determined to carry out with the same skill with which he once ruled Tenolochim. Recently, he has spearheaded a sting operation which uncovered a spy network within Amber city, whose members had been shape-shifters who had infiltrated a number of key areas of Amber.
 

Theril- No one is really sure who Theril is, though a few people probably believe they can make a few educated guesses about him. He seems to be the mastermind of the plot to keep the younger Amberites' movements under surveillance, at least on Shadow Earth. Thin and sinister, with long, silky white hair, he has been seen to change his shapes rather radically, much like some of his spy-agents have been observed to do. There have been rumors of Theril sightings as far away as in Amber itself... He acts as something of an ally to Idries and Jilly at times, and at others he acts as the antagonist against the entire family of Amber. His purposes and goals are, at this time, still a mystery.

Gemmy- To all appearences nothing more than a six-year-old who Jilly encountered first on Shadow Earth, then in an "Underground" alternate Shadow, Gemmy is in actuality an incredibly powerful being whose energies are siphoned and controlled in the "Underground" realm in which he lives (or is imprisoned?)... He is served by a number of strange beings, chief of whom is Nod, a roundish creature with spindly limbs who Jilly has befriended.

Mortimer- Another mystery man is the individual who abruptly appeared in Wakim's home shadow of Tenolochim, though it is rather obvious that he does not hail from that far away Shadow... He claims to be an oracle, able to predict the future. Indeed, he has apparently forecast King Eric's rise to the throne. He has also been seen in Amber during the celebration of Eric's coronation, during which he promised to provide to Wakim his services upon request.

Edgar- The young son of Lord Meachum of Cistercia, one of Amber's many vassal states, he caught the eye of Page during King Eric's coronation celebration. Young, inexperienced, and yet very enthusiastic, he is an untried quantity, although proving easy for the Family of Amber to intimidate (as Prince Caine proved...)

Fluffy- One of Julian's Hellhounds, Jackie considers him a pet. He's taken a number of wounds over the course of the story so far to help his mistress... all, apparently, without Julian really minding it. But is Prince Julian simply running up a tab for his canine's services? Only the future will reveal this...

Puck- Page's mysterious "servant", he simply appeared one fine day while she was trying to ascertain the powers of the ring she inherited from her mother. Puck claims that he is from the Land of the Fae, and that it is his mission to serve the wearer of the ring. Nothing more is known of this magical being, other than the fact that he tends to appear and disappear when he crawls under Page's bed in her chambers in Castle Amber.

Princess Fiona of Amber- Jilly Coppercorn's mother, she never was that close to her daughter. Recently, thanks to some sort of bizarre Trump effect that was later revealed to be caused by the devious trickster Dworkin, Fiona's mind was switched with Jilly's. Leaving Fiona trapped in Undershadow, where powers work differently, without her immense powers and trapped in Jilly's body... and Jilly, in normal Shadow, possessing the powers of an Elder Amberite and coping with the machinations of her admittedly Machiavellian mother. Although Dworkin later reversed this strange mind-switch when Jilly/Fiona refused to cooperate in the killing of Page, the repercussions of this personality-switch may not have all been observed...

Dworkin Bariman- The old magician who served as advisor to King Oberon and tutor for several of the King's children in subjects magical, he was recently released from his odd prison in Tir-na Nog'th by Jilly Coppercorn's actions. Later, he revealed his presence in Amber Castle and, claiming to be the cause of Jilly's mind-switch with her mother, offered her great power in exchange for her assistance in a plan which involved the ritual killing of young Page. When this plan was thwarted by the combined efforts of most of the younger generation and the sudden reappearence of Fiona's personality in her own body, he took an abrupt and possibly magical leave of Amber Castle. His whereabouts and future actions are a matter of conjecture at this point...

The Archons- Who or what are they? They don't look like much... normal people without too much style sense... but for some reason Fiona and Brand's allies from the "Courts of Chaos" are concerned with them... more on these people later, probably...