Undertow — Guillaume's Background
Guillaume "Guy," Son of Gerard
© 2005 Jeff Trumitch, Cal Rea and Simone Cooper
--Simone
So, given that he had grown up completely isolated from Amber, Guillaume clearly has no Pattern ability. He would have decent warfare and decent strength at least, and possibly enough psyche to effectively weild the Trump sword, should Gerard give it to him.He has the personal loyalty of about 50 or 100 Bedouin-like warriors that these folks were able to rescue as Osric's realm collapsed. They view Guillaume as the heir of their King, and will follow him to the death.
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BACKGROUND
The situation in brief was that Gerard (for reasons unexplained to Guillaume as of yet) decided to return to Osric's prison shadows and return the Trump Greatsword he had stolen -- that he had, in effect, traded Guillaume to get. Three PCs accompanied him, Blade, Laertes (Gerard's other son) and Meridian (Flora's daughter).When they arrived, the barrier around Osric's prison shadow had become more permeable, which was great if you wanted to escape, but terrible if you were Osric, for whom the smallest influence of the Pattern's power was poisonous. By the time these folks got in, Osric was dying...
--Cal:
Since I played/GMed as Gerard last year, and Guillame was pretty much my plot device (well he would have been the character I played if I had not jumped over the GM side) Simon wanted me to drop you a line and see if I could help with what feeble background I had for Guillame.
You know the basics: Guillame was raised by Osric in his prison Shadow. He was given the role Gerard had had before he ran off. Incidentally leaving his mother with Guy. Guy and Gerard before him were Osrics general/assassin/problem solver. Not a job where nice was any good.
Osric's shadow was an Arabian style desert only less pleasant. Guy was the military leader of a pretty nasty in-fighting set of warrior clans. He came in to make sure the fighting did not get too out of hand, usually by bringing in troups from clans not involved or challenging the main troublemaker into allowing himself to be butchered... err, I mean, single combat, or just assassinating him.
Gerard's Trump Sword is pretty damn nice. And still has power (maybe even more now Osric is the Gryphon and he made it?)
The situation at present (as I remember it): Guillame is in Amber with the remnants of a force of lethal desert guerilla warriors. Your "father" is some kind of king, though not man enough to take the realm. All of the people seem like him. Soft, weak. Except Your REAL father is dead or ascended. You saw him change into something. You saved what you could, but most of your people are dead.
I guess xenophobic and pissed off sums it up.
Oh yeah, and it did not appear he spoke Thari last time. Though he could have been fooling. Having people think you are an ignorant savage has some definite advantages.--Simone:
I would like to put a bit of a rein on this, because it will be much more interesting both for you, Jeff, and for the other players if there is some ambiguity here. Remember that 1) Osric was dying _before_ Gerard and the three other youngsters arrived; 2) while it was hard for Guy to tell exactly what was happening, it did become clear that they were trying to heal Osric; 3) Gerard came close to giving his life holding the Trump rift open so more of your people could escape (and would have, if Blade hadn't forced him through; 4) at least some of the people in this Amber (like Blade) could kick Guy's ass, which gives any warrior a thoughtful pause or two.Also, I agree with Cal that Guy can probably speak Thari, if a little slowly.
Again, since Guy is a relative unknown, we can spin this practically anew if you wish. The Trump Blade may not be yours for the taking, but it is certainly something you might covet, and since it belonged to Osric, you may feel it should now belong to you.... something to talk to Gerard about.
-----QUOTE:
The cavalry came down upon them and demanded that the four Amberites accompany them to Osric's camp. The four complied and soon were facing a dying Osric lying upon a massive bed, surrounded by his followers and attendants. Seeing the dying man, Meridian decided to try to use the healing power of her music to revive him. The music began to course through her and then took up a life of its own as it poured itself into Osric.At first, this appeared to be helping the old man, but it was quickly apparent that too much energy was flowing into him. Meridian could not slow the flood of power that was now coursing through her and Laertes. Noting this, Guillaume, Gerard's son raised as Osric's, moved to attack her. Blade quickly intervened and protected Meridian. After Guillaume shattered his sword on Aurynmere (Blade's sword), he snatched up a second weapon and renewed his assault. Again, Blade fended off the attack and broke the weapon. Blade moved to sever Guillaume's hand to prevent him from launching yet another attack, but Gerard, seeing Blade's intention, stepped into the fight.
Blade quickly realized two things. The first was that Gerard was clearly intent on preventing any serious harm to his estranged son-though he did not attack Blade, he did try to block blows aimed at Guillaume. The second thing Blade noticed was that Gerard was no longer his better in personal combat. Was it an effect of Patternstain on the elders or had Blade simply trained long and hard enough to beat his foster father? Blade didn't know, but he did realize that he could kill his hated uncle here and now if he so willed.
In a flash, Blade considered his options. This was something that he had once longed for: the opportunity to slay the beast and end his hideous emotional nightmare. And yet, he could not honestly say that he really wanted Gerard's death now that there seemed a chance of healing the wounds. There was no time for a protracted debate about the issue. It took only a second for Blade to reach a decision and kick Gerard across the room and out of his way. Blade then turned his full attention back to Guillaume and shouted for Gerard to stay out of the way-Blade would not harm Guillaume.
The fight did not last much longer, however, for Meridian and Laertes finished their chorus and the full extent of Harmony's power had poured itself into Osric who had been consumed in a blinding light. Out of the brilliance emerged the Gryphon-and Osric was no more. Then, the shadow began to crumble. Using his great sword, Gerard tore a hole through the air that emptied back out into Amber. At Meridian's insistence, the evacuation of Osric's realm began. Blade supervised the process, relaying orders through Osric's interpreter as Laertes and Guillaume helped Gerard keep the portal open.
Eventually, things became too unstable in Osric's realm to hold the tear open any longer. Seeing that there were only moments left before Osric's realm collapsed entirely and took everything there with it, Blade looked up fiercely at Gerard and shouted in anger. "Don't you dare die on me, you bastard! We have unfinished business!" Gerard grunted and leapt through the portal at the last possible moment with his sons. Those who were left behind in Osric's realm at that point were lost.
Then the elders arrived and a general council was convened to discuss Amber's future in light of the fact that Random had died while Gerard and company had been in Osric's realm. Corwin proposed that a Regent be appointed for a twenty year period, followed by a new Sovereign being named from among the third generation. Gerard was nominated and the votes were cast. Not able to bring himself to actually vote for Gerard, Blade abstained.
-----END QUOTE--Jeff:
Guillaume is currently "pretending" not to speak Thari, if this is the case then I will continue that trend. If he indeed does not speak Thari well, he will definitely downplay his vocabulary. I also get the feeling that Guillaume is a pretty dark guy himself; playing a real jerk has never seemed to be a problem for me....Anything else you think?
--Simone:
I don't have a specific quiz tailored to Guillaume, and of course some of the questions aren't relevant, but for my information and Joe/Gerard's, could you give us your take on your current and past situation?--Jeff:
Past Take: Not knowing exactly why Osric was in a prison shadow or why Gerard ended up there, I will give you my best: Guy would consider his father (Gerard) to be a traitor and a thief at best. Certainly not worthy of my attention or my service. Considering he ran out on us, Guy would have no guilt. He considers Osric to be his father and will continue to try and forward Osric's goals. (Which I don't currently know)Current Take: Being in unfamiliar territory, it would seem prudent to stick to the background and gather information. Using my current troops, I would also endeavor to place them in and around crucial Amber areas. (wherever they might be able to do significant damage to the kingdom if needed.) His personal goal now would be to pay back Gerard for his transgressions. Currently his loose plan would be to get into Gerard's good graces and take advantage. Eventually he will leave Gerard in a vulnerable and weak position and also take with him Gerard's most prized possesion. (whatever that may be) He intends to screw Gerard heavily.
--Simone:
Osric's "crime" was the uprising against Oberon he and Finndo attempted. Oberon and Benedict together were able to put them down. Finndo was killed; Osric "innoculated" against the Pattern -- it became poisonous to him -- had thrown in the one-way shadow prison that Oberon devised with the Jewel.As far as you can tell, or as far as Osric ever told you, Gerard initially came there either out of curiosity or out of a desire to cultivate Osric as a potential ally against his father and siblings. Finding Osric more than a little insane and unable to leave the confines of his prison in any case, Gerard's roving eye then settled on the Trump Sword as a worthy prize.
What Guillaume can't figure out at all is why Gerard came back. I mean, if he hadn't, Osric would have died anyway, along with most of the denizens of his shadows -- yourself included, most likely. Gerard had his prize, why return to you and Osric at this late date?
--Jeff:
I think he would assume that Gerard was coming back to take advantage of Osric further, especially knowing he would be dying soon. OR possibly to steal something else from him. In any case, the situation is a bit confusing to Guy and he is definately wanting to uncover some answers.--Simone:
As far as you can tell, some kind of official to-do occurred almost immediately after you arrived. A servant showed you to a room... with running water! With a tray of fruit and meat and yeasted bread!In the immediate aftermath of your arrival, your men were deployed to and are holding various positions around the central hall of the Castle, but have no complex orders beyond, "Don't lose sight of one another and defend yourselves if attacked." One of them reports to you that Gerard seems to have been given some kind of honor by the others here. They also report that while there aren't a lot of other troops here, the others do seem well-disciplined and trained. Any open engagement here in this castle would be brutal, though not necessarily suicidal.
Could I get you to send me a brief physical description of Guillaume -- maybe what he looked like at first arriving through Gerard's Trump gate, and now that he's cleaned up?
Osric's colors were peacock blue and gold.
On arriving, did Guy wash his own clothes in his sink or tub, or will he wear clothes the castle servants offer him? The servants are solicitous and offer him his preference among at least a few styles of garments, though they say it will be a day before they can make anything custom. Unless Guy waves them away (or gives away that he speaks Thari better than he has so far) they will just bring in a wardrobe for him and let him choose something.
Among the people you brought through, I'm guessing you have a body servant / military valet type man or woman who could also assist you.
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other writings: Background, Ebb Tide diary