Undertow — Dartmouth Character Quiz
Dartmouth, Son of Brand
© 2004 John Lees
1) How do you feel about the fact that your parent is extremely powerful compared to yourself and, even moreso, compared to shadow dwellers? Have you adopted their attitudes or rebelled against them?
Dartmouth understands that his Amber Parent is more powerful than he is and accepts it as a given. This is simply the way that things are. One can either complain about it or work to solve the problem, and he will work to solve the problem. Sorcery is his initial path to power, but he will eventually learn that sorcery - while very useful - is also very limited when compared to the power of Pattern and Trump, and he will then re-direct his efforts (which is why he never had the patience to learn Conjuration).Interestingly enough, the fact that he is more powerful than most shadow dwellers does not give Dartmouth a particularly heightened opinion of himself i.e. he does not consider them 'worms beneath his feet'. The fact that they are not as powerful as he means that they are not a challenge for him and therefore he kind of ignores them for the most part.
Also, his curious brand of morality definitely asserts that they are deserving of minimal respect at the very least unless they prove themselves unworthy of said respect. He will go to great lengths to protect those under his charge and will not allow others to harm regular shadow dwellers needlessly. As a ruler (which he is not yet), he would be curiously fair and yet somewhat harsh.
2) How do you feel about the fact that Amber is denied to you, at least "until you're ready?"
He feels like this is a kind of test, it does after all represent not only the status quo (something he will want to change) but the sort of challenge he feels that he can deal with.
3) If your Amber parent could be different than they were, what one thing would you most like to change about them?
They can be different?
In a more serious vein, the fact that his Amber parent (whomever they might be) is sometimes difficult to deal with is a challenge for him. He would not want them to be easy, that wouldn't be very much fun.
4) What would you most like to do with your Amber parent, in an ideal world?
Challenge them and win, even if only he knew about it.
5) Do you respect or fear your Amber parent?
I respect my Amber parent because I fear my Amber parent. That fear is the thing that makes them more challenging and thus more interesting, and that is deserving of respect under his code of ethics.
6) What do you want most from your Amber parent?
Freedom. The freedom of shadow and the freedom of trump.* * *
other writings: Background, Quiz, "Dartmouth and Brand", "Dartmouth and Rio", Undertow conclusion,