Liam
An Amber character played by Franklin W. Cain
Liam is a character I play in an Amber campaign. The Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game is based on the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, and is produced by Phage Press. The specific campaign wherein I play Liam is called "When the World Was New" and is run by Jeremy "Bolthy" Zimmerman.

If you are playing a character in this campaign, then you should NOT be looking at this!!!


Character Write-Up:

Attributes:

Psyche:   Rank "11.5"   [2]
Strength:   Chaos Rank   [+10]
Endurance:   10th Rank   [1]
Warfare:   7th Rank   [1]

Campaign Unique:

Birth Order: 7th Rank   [1]

Position: Oberon's Spymaster   [62]


As the Spymaster, Liam has hundreds of agents at his command. He has secretly integrated the "command and control" heirarchy of these agents with his Trump super-computers (Loki and the "booster stations"; the exact way in which they are integrated into the Amber spy network is detailed elsewhere). Further information on these agents is contained within a separate document.

Powers:

Pattern:

Shape Shift:

Trump:

Magic:

Faerie:

Items, Allies, Shadows, (etc.):

Liam's Trump Decks   [4]

These are mass-produced Trump decks that Liam has given to friends and allies.

Liam's Weapons   [2]


This is a small group of "blade" weapons: a heavy, edged rapier with a matching main-gauche, and four or five (concealed) throwing knives. Each of these weapons are "decorated" similarly: their grips, guards, and pommels are "silvered", and have been set with gems of green and blue.

Quicksilver, Liam's "Steed"   [8]


Quicksilver is a metamorphic synthezoid (a shape-shifting, sentient "robot" built from semi-organic super-technology) that Liam acquired while visiting a Shadow of superheroes (and villains). Quicksilver's usual appearance (when in "horse" form) is of shiny (almost liquid) metal, as though the horse had been chrome-plated.

Faerie Friend: "The Puck" (Robin Goodfellow), a mischievious faerie   [2]


Puck is one of Liam's uncles (on his mother's side of the family). In exchange for providing Liam with an elf family to (secretly) serve as Liam's housekeepers (for his suite in Castle Amber), Liam gave Puck some Trumps, to include a Trump of Amber itself (midway between the City and the Castle, just inside a small group of trees). Puck's (mis)use of these Trumps is detailed elsewhere.

Chaos Court Devotee: Galen Helgram   [4]

Construct: Loki   [8]


Loki is a Pattern-charged Trump computer. His actual instrumentation (his "body", if you will) is inside the gas giant Loki-3 in the Loki system (in Olympus Prime).

Constructs: Loki's "Booster Stations"   [2]


Each of these Constructs is also a Pattern-charged Trump computer. These Constructs were designed and built jointly by Liam and Loki both.

There are seven of these "booster stations" (at least, that Liam knows about; Loki has secretly built another four, for a total of eleven "booster stations"). They were designed and built to assist Loki in the performance of his duties. Thus, listing a particular duty below does not mean that Loki himself doesn't also perform that duty. It just means that he can delegate his tasks, increasing his overall efficiency.

The identities (names) and duties of these "booster stations" are listed elsewhere.

Personal Shadow: Olympus Prime   [0]


Olympus Prime is a Shadow of the Realm of Faerie. (See Loki above for the cost structure of the Shadow.)

This Shadow is high-tech, virtually non-magical (psionics only), and extremely fast-time (500:1 vs. Amber). This Shadow is somewhat difficult to access via the Pattern, and is completely impenetrable to the Logrus. One could use the Pattern to shadow-walk ("shadow-fly" would be more accurate) to Olympus Prime, but one could not just walk the Pattern and have it teleport you there (not without instantly killing you, that is). You see, the only point of inter-shadow access is the planet Loki-3 itself. . . the super-jovian gas giant planet Loki-3, whose atmosphere is deadly poison (hydrogen, helium, ammonia, methane, etc.) at extremely high pressure at "sea level" (the altitude where the atmosphere has condensed into liquid), with an incredibly high gravity, harsh radiation, intense electro-magnetic activities (i.e., continuous thunderstorms), and extremely powerful gale-force winds going hundreds of miles per hour.

Personal Shadow: ______   [0]


______ is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-One (aka Borric; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is ... and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

xxx

Personal Shadow: ______   [0]


______ is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-Two (aka Brandon; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is high-tech, high-magic, and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

This is a place of "techno-magic" or "magi-tech", with cyber-mages, industrial enchantments, automated conjurations, forensic necromancy (a disgusting means of interrogation), and so on.

Personal Shadow: Europa   [0]


Europa is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-Three (aka Bruno; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is moderate tech (but high-tech potential), non-magical (not even psionics), and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

This world is dominated by a continent of competing nation-states whose rivalry occassionally flares into war. The level of technology ranges from Victorian to WW I. Picture the Age of Imperialism with WW I-style dogfights, "Air War Over Europa".

Personal Shadow: Atlantean Empire   [0]


The Atlantean Empire is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-Four (aka Brianne; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is low-tech (but high-tech potential), low magic, and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

(Recently, archeologists and astronomers working together have come up with evidence suggesting that an advanced (though non-industrial) civilization existed here on Earth around 10,500 BC, about the time of the end of the last ice age. This civilization appears to have had an amazing command of mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and navigation.)

xxx

Personal Shadow: Gaea-Selene   [0]


Gaea-Selene is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-Five (aka Bethany; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is high-tech, non-magical (not even psionics), and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

This is an interplanetary (yet pre-stellar) civilization based on a habitable garden world with a large moon (similar in relative sizes to the Earth and the Moon).

Personal Shadow: ______   [0]


______ is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-Six (aka Bjorn; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is ... and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

xxx

Personal Shadow: Metropolis   [0]


Metropolis is the Personal Shadow that empowers Beta-Seven (aka Bryan; one of Loki's "Booster Stations"). This Shadow is high-tech, high-magic, and slightly fast-time (3:1 vs. Amber).

This is a world of comic book-style superheroes. (This is also the Shadow from where Quicksilver originated.)

Miscellaneous:

Good Stuff   [10]

Reserved for Future Advancement   [0]

Personal Diary   [+10]

Personal Stories   [+10]

Donations from Other Player Characters   [+4]


History / Background Info (Supplemental):

Before Walking the Pattern:

During Liam's childhood, he learned of his fae heritage (Faerie Powers, plus some Magic) from The Puck (Robin Goodfellow). Liam has not yet completely mastered his fae heritage. Eventually, he will be able to transform into a pixie-like being (his eventual "Basic Form" for Shape Shift).

During Liam's "teen years" in Amber, he learned about the Pattern, Trump Artistry, and some Magic from Dworkin. After Liam learned how to travel through Shadow, he eventually encountered Galen Helgram (his Chaos Devotee), and from Galen's wife, Ysabella (nee Barimen), Liam also learned some additional Trump Tricks.

After Walking the Pattern:

Liam knows the insides of Castle Amber almost as well as the Captain of the Guard, the backstreets and alleys of Amber City almost as well as the Sheriff, the ins and outs of every city and town in every kingdom of the Golden Circle almost as well as the Admiral (and/or whatever PCs owning any particular GC kingdom), and every trail and landmark in Arden almost as well as the General of the Forest Patrol. (Remember the character, Silk (Prince Kheldar), from David Edding's The Belgariad and The Mallorean?) And, if that weren't enough, what he himself doesn't know about these areas, Loki can find out for him!

Liam has spent centuries living and adventuring in various fast-time Shadows, many of them high-tech, where he has been a burglar, a secret agent, a diplomat, an interstellar scout, a comic book-style "superhero", a cyber-tech "trouble shooter", an officer in an interstellar navy, and many more exciting occupations than can be listed here. He is an accomplished scientist and engineer of many different disciplines (ala Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and Doctor Doom, from Marvel Comics). He has spent over thirty years learning medicine and surgery, just as "preliminary research" for a "Trump Implant" he wants to invent someday.

Unresolved Concerns:

Liam has questions about why Oberon left behind his Trump (which, incidentally, was drawn by Dworkin). Obviously, he wanted Liam to someday contact him and come to Amber, but Liam is uncertain as to Oberon's motivations for wanting Liam to eventually contact him. Was it the normal paternal instinct, a father wanting to see his son? Or was it a "fail-safe", a second chance for Oberon to acquire any Elven magics that his son may have learned that he himself did not?

Oberon's time in Underhill most probable occurred just after his separation (divorce?) from Ellevana (after the birth of Neville and Kyle, but before the birth of Amadan). If this is so, then Oberon may not have been interested in Elven magics (or, not exclusively interested). He may well have had the ulterior motive of ensuring he'd have a child born by another wife after his separation from Ellevana, to prevent any further children from his union with Ellevana from having any claim on Amber.


© 1999 by Franklin W. Cain