The Fiona Affair

Welcome to The Fiona Affair, an ADRPG game to be run at The Black Road convention in 2008!

GM: Paul Weimer

Introduction:

An Amber game inspired by Jasper Fforde and John Myers Myers.

It begins with a strange letter to King Random. A missive from an unknown potentate, explaining that Fiona of Amber has now permanently become a part of the court of the "Crimson King".

Random smells a rat, or worse a trap, especially since Trumps to Fiona go unanswered. And her son doesn't seem to be available, either, to shed a light on the subject. This situation cannot and will not be tolerated.

With only the additional clue that she was last seen in a known holding of hers in shadow, the player characters are off in pursuit, and soon find themselves dealing with fictional characters and literary worlds in a search for Fiona in...The Fiona Affair.(henceforth abbreviated FA)

The Fiona Affair was last updated Sunday, May 25, 2008

The World of The Fiona Affair(hereafter referred to as FA)

General Information
The Milieu
Building a Character for FA
Characters are designed as (mostly) ADRPG-rules characters with 150 points. See the Character Creation page for more details.
Contacting the GM
My email address is jvstin@gmail.com
Amber, the Eternal Realm
Amber Geography
Amber is at the pole of the universe, the very icon of order. The size of Amber itself is roughly that of a moderately large Earth Nation.
The centerpiece of Amber is Mt. Kolvir, the largest and tallest mountain in the range which bears its name. The City of Amber and the Castle Amber nestle against its eastern flank, bordering the sea. Amber's harbor is legendary, and its lifeline.
Arden Forest is the domain of Prince Julian and covers much of the land west and south of the city. Most if not all shadow paths by land either end in the tangle of the mountains of Kolvir, or most commonly wind up passing through Arden.
To the east of Amber City are the counties and shires of the Kingdom. Small towns and farming communities such as Bayle make up the bulk of the open land. Although Amber does import some foodstuffs, this is the 'breadbasket' of the Eternal Realm. Toward the north of this region, the fertile land gives way to rolling hills more suited for livestock than crops.
Rebma, the City under the Sea lies about 10 miles southwest of Amber. The sole land entrance is at the Staircase known as Faiella-Bionin.
The Isle of Cabra lies about 30 miles southwest, in a shallow bay known for its rocks and shoals, a hazard to ships which must necessarily pass through it to go to and from Amber Harbor.
The Golden Circle
No kingdom is an Island, and Amber is no exception. The Eternal Realm has trading and alliance treaties with a group of shadow realms which lie on the outskirts of Amber. This group of shadows is known as the Golden Circle.
Examples of Golden Circle Shadows can be found at the Shadowwalker's Guide to the Golden Circle.
How Things Work in Amber
Amber is a realm which resists and indeed was created to oppose chaos. Raising the Logrus is difficult to do without attracting a lot of attention. Sorcerers must account for the effects of the Pattern in their spells, as they tend to wither away from the energies of the icon of Order.

Technology seems to be at the early Renaissance level, despite efforts of some of the royal family to experiment with more advanced technologies.

Ironically enough, using the Pattern is difficult in Amber. An initiate must move physically away from Amber for miles before shadowshifting becomes practical. Likewise, powers such as probability manipulation and the like do not work as well in Amber as they do in Shadow.

Who's Who
The Elders
Random
The King of Amber. His reign has been mostly peaceful, despite tensions with the Courts. It's unbelievable that the once young punk of the family would actually have any ability at running the kingdom. The Love of a good woman does wonders.
Benedict
The General of Amber's Armies. Ever since the Patternfall War, he's been engaged in training his troops, and himself, to better suit them in combat against the varied and unusual forces of Chaos. He's skirted the treaty border many times, never crossing, but sampling the opposition in those Shadows. His is a presence not often seen in Amber as a result. Although there is peace between Amber and Chaos...Benedict seems to know something...else.
Bleys
Along with his missing sister Fiona, the magic-user of the family. Unlike Fiona, he is the dabbler...preferring to be, as they say, second best in everything.
Brand
The Mad Sorcerer, he who would have destroyed the universe or rebuilt it in his own image. Dead, in the endless fall of the Abyss.
Corwin
Ever since the tragic death of Deirdre, the Silver Rose has several things to keep him interested and busy--namely, his own Pattern and Universe. Not seen in Amber that much as a result...but still, well remarked upon when he does appear.
Deirdre
Dead. Tragically fell into the Abyss with Brand.
Fiona
The Sorceress Supreme of Amber. Barely 5 feet tall, the acid tongued mistress of magic always knows what is going on...and possibly knows what you are thinking before you do. So what has happened to her is indeed a mystery...
Gerard
He is one of the few elders who truly puts Amber and the people in it above his own personal gain. As long as you are loyal to Amber you have nothing to fear from this gentle giant but if you betray Amber.....well then you will find out what it is like to go against a Mack Truck.
Julian
The conservative Lord of Arden

Julian's self control and coldness are legendary. He truly is open and loving only with those he trusts...Gerard, perhaps. Offspring, perhaps, too. That is about it. to all others, he is the man in white armor. The man with the hounds.

His knowledge of his world, Arden, is as much as a human can know. His hounds, his Rangers rule the paths, the roads and the spaces between.

Vialle
Amber's Rebman Queen. By no means the weak half of the relationship between herself and Random. She is known to have some magical talents of her own, expressed through her sculpture.
Florimel
After the revelation of her role in the events that surrounded her daughter's Asteria near abduction last year, she has decided that the climate of Amber is not to her liking. She has not been seen in Amber for nearly the entire year that it has been since her daughter's fateful party.
LLewella
Usually seen more often in Rebma than in Amber, LLewella has very strong ties to her half sister Moire. It almost seems as if she actively prefers the World Below to the World Above.
Amber NPC Cousins
Asteria, daughter of Flora
Daughter of Florimel, Asteria is very much in the model of her mother: elegant and charming. She is not particularly known for any sort of unusual abilities.
Her casting call is Naomi Watts as seen in King Kong.
Hadrian, son of Caine
Amber's youthful and skilled Trump Artist. The son of Caine and a noblewoman from the glacial, fjord dominated world of DuMarque is far less sneaky and sinister than a son of Caine might lead people to believe.
His casting call is Billy Crudup.

Lorius, Son of Fiona
As short as his mother, and possibly possessing a significant fraction of his mother's skills, Lorius is acid tongued, arrogant,sarcastic, amused, curious, supremely self-confident and self-aggrandizing, and a general pain in the neck. The fact that he has disappeared might be cause for a sigh of relief, except for the fact that it may very well tie in with the Fiona situation.
His casting call is Seth Green
Other People to Know
Lord Henden
The irrepressible and unflusterable Chamberlain of Castle Amber. A fixture from the days of Oberon, Lord Henden continues his eternal fight to maintain the orderly running of the Castle Amber...even if he grates on the nerves of many, and rarely ever backs down from anyone of lesser rank than the King. However, if one would want to requisition supplies from the Castle in an above board manner, he IS the man to see.
Commander Rylac Gerison
The commander of the guards in Amber Castle, a red haired, skilled swordsman still in the prime of his career. The independent all-female guards called the Valkyries are a permanent thorn in his side that he does not dare to remove...a legacy and a memoriam to the lost Princess Deirdre.
Michael
The head of the Amber Kitchens, sometimes called (behind his back) the "Second King" of the Castle for the regimented and complete control he has over his domain. Even Lord Henden rarely challenges the portly salt and pepper bearded man in his element. On the other hand, with a judicious amount of flattery, he can be a great ally...when one wants a special meal or a midnight snack. Or perhaps for provisions for a long journey...