Undertow - NPC development
Benedict
copyright Jesse Scoble and Simone Cooper
Benedict - Character Development
Benedict - vanity, avarice [Supreme Lord General of Amber] -- Benedict believes himself utterly necessary to Amber, just as he is. He would be willing to let Amber fall pretty far to prove that. He and Julian have a terrible rivalry. For some reason, Oberon sent Julian to the (then) petty realm of Arden and let Benedict have real commands. But Benedict suspects Julian may actually rival him in command ability, which drives him mad with envy. Most recently, Benedict had bullied Random into removing both Gerard and Julian from active command. His stay in Arden as Julian's replacement has not gone well...
-- REACTION to the Unicorn: When confronted with his part in the destruction of Amber, Benedict refused to see that he had contributed, but rather maintained that his strength and brutal efficiency were in service of Amber, rather than himself. He escaped the Pattern room by means of the Logrus as the Pattern weakened.
--Jesse:
Benedict IS Amber. He is the oldest of Oberon's get, and was born in Chaos, hidden away from Oberon's enemies until Amber was a safe and stable place. As such, he is one of the few who knows the corruption of the Logrus firsthand, and he knows how important Amber is, how much better Amber is, and how great Amber shall ever be. Even if they have to wade through a sea of blood and death to make it so.--Simone:
You also know for sure Finndo is dead. Osric is imprisoned and left for dead, stripped of the ability to access the Pattern ever, much as happened to Brand in the Abyss.As the first born of Oberon, Benedict is the true and rightful heir of Amber. This is not because of his skill (which is supreme) or his wits (for he is clever), but a sense of divine right. He was born in the hell and sin of Chaos, and was redeemed on the cross of the Pattern. None of his siblings have seen the true horror of Chaos, and he knows he is the Unicorn's champion in the final war.
And yet, not everyone in Amber understands this -- and he will punish them brutally if he must, in order for them to awaken to the fact that he is their saviour. He has suffered for Amber's service, but in the end if he must torture them to force them to open their eyes, he will do as he must. Others may need to be cast out into Shadow, or see Amber teeter on the brink before they realize his way is the true path. And if they still cannot see, well, it is better they be removed.
Benedict does not believe in long, drawn out combat. He is the master of the decisive strike, with or without the chopstick. His armies may battle for months on end - but that is an application of his Warfare. When he enters the fray, it is over in a stroke of lightning. If any can survive
long enough to stretch out a battle, he may falter.--Simone:
You can change just about anything except your recent removal of Gerard and Julian from their commands. In character you don't know anything about the Unicorn incident.--Jesse:
No, that's fine - I just didn't know. Was my write-up generally ok?And why did I remove them? (I can understand Julian, but less clear about the big man).
Also, what is the relationship of Benedict's forces in Amber to the Amber Expeditionary Army & Navy? Do Bleys & Caine technically follow my orders, or have they stolen the name of Amber for their forces?
--Simone:
While Random is technically "Commander in Chief," you are the number one guy -- Supreme Lord General -- of all Amber's forces. So you can deploy the fleets, armies, etc. Random must approve, and direct word from him would countermand you, but basically you are The Guy. Bleys and Caine (and Gerard and Julian) all technically follow your orders.--Jesse:
Ok - but didn't I read that Random is dead? Like when the Jewel exploded?In which case - when I escaped the Pattern Room before the final end - have I returned yet?
And what *is* the current situation in Amber?
--Simone:
The game will start only 3 or 4 days after the Pattern beast thingy. Castle Amber is a mess, with the west tower completely obliterated, trees and thick vines and roots intertwined with the stones, making many areas unstable. The city, however, seems to have survived quite well, and in fact there seems to be a sort of odd amnesia creeping across the populace where many of them are vague about the tremors and explosions. Some of them don't even recognize that the castle looks different, unless you point it out.
BLEYS
Benedict knows he has a secret force - how can he not? He has spies throughout the force, although likely far fewer than he'd like. There's undoubtedbly a game of misinformation and double and triple agents at work here. Similarly, Benedict scrutinizes his own people to a draconian degree. Currently, he believes Bleys to be one of the greatest threats to Amber.BRAND
Is nothing. In fact, his earlier plots undoubtedly let the family know how close to the brink they always are, and how important Benedict's role is.CAINE
Distrustful, but useful. A good savage warlord.CORWIN
Once the most dangerous brother in the game, he is nothing now. An empty vessel.FLORA
A perfect princess - yet her current actions have revealed steel beneath that velvet glove. Perhaps she is more capable than he ever thought.GERARD
He has been removed from power. No longer of consequence.JULIAN
Damn his eyes. I'll show him I can master Arden, if I have to burn down every last tree to do so.Assuming Arden is back in its place, and not overriding the castle, I imagine it's a Vietnam-style of conflict. He's losing massive numbers of forces, but unlike the US, he just pours in an unending stream from Shadow; they'll burn the bloody forest to the ground if they have to. I also imagine it a bit like Saruman vs. Isengard, but Benedict is a helluva lot better commander. If the trees start walking he'll cut Amber off with moats of fire and figure out a way to napalm the walking woods. He'll arm his troops with cold iron and unleash locust. Whatever it takes.
--Simone:
Napalm-type attacks are completely ineffective. The damn forest doesn't allow it. But the clear-cutting it can't resist as well, if you start that approach. Whole companies of men have just disappeared if you've tried this, though, leaving no trail in shadow. It's the damn fae, you're sure of it. Oberon should never have bargained with them.
other NPC character development: Benedict, Bleys, Brand, Caine, Corwin, Gerard, Julian