The City of Arcadia
Arcadia, city of legend, city of steel, city next to which other worlds seem shallow and drab, like a charcoal sketch. She sprawls like some spiderweb, covering thousands of miles, a city the size of a country, dominated by a castle the size of a town. One can find anything one desires in Arcadia and many things no one has ever desired. It mirrors all creation, from the beautiful and the brilliant to the terrifying and obscene.
Recently, in view of stupendous changes to both the City and to its leadership, things have taken on a turn mainly in the direction of the neutral. Although large sections of the City remain without a set ruler and seem to be resisting the curse of Sethry, it is still impossible for anyone who has walked the Pattern to remain in Arcadia for more than a few months at a time without beginning to form a domicile around themselves. The deaths of Eris, Sansovino and Magdalene, as well as the disappearance of Faith, have made for a dramatic change in Arcadia's map.
Current subsections of Arcadia include: The Castle (ruled by Absalom), Darkmoore (ruled by Tamora), Elysia (ruled by Melchior), the Patchwork Court (ruled by Arayen), Acheron (an unrecognized portion of Draconis ruled by Magdalene's doppelganger), the Orchestra Pit (ruled by Leonard), and Funland (ruled ostensibly by no one though it is protected by Nadzieja and Wakerobin). A large section of Asherah as well as small parts of Draconis and Rose Arbor and the vast majority of Tir Na Nog remain unclaimed and risk returning to Shadow.
After Sansovino's death, many went to Tir Na Nog to try to take control (or to protect) the first Shadow of the Pattern. They found that some trick of Shadow Magic had only made it appear to be beneath Sansovino's House in the first place, and its whereabouts currently were very much in question.
The existing Council have returned to their states of sanity from before they sacrificed parts of their souls to imprison those who were bricked up. Arayen's three curses remain, so he is very much unchanged and Melchior was never inhibited by anything but his own ambitons, but Tamora has mellowed somewhat, and Leonard Alemane has taken back his once-legendary self control. Tamora has gobbled up much of what was once Tir Na Nog and absorbed it into Darkmoore. Having walked the Primal Pattern, the uncursed though somewhat limited version of Magdalene, who remains alive despite the death of her originator, has carved out a very small part of Draconis, namely where Eris' old capital of Acheron used to be. It is said this is also the base of the Shadow Sethry's operations, though it is only a rumor. It is also rumored that he has also found a way to walk the Pattern and restore some hint of his former power.
In the City, existence is balance. Good exists alongside evil, beauty alongside ugliness, chaos with order, and death with life. Despite changes in its structure, despite threats from within and without, and despite the dawn of Amber far to the east, this remains constantly true.
Recently, in view of stupendous changes to both the City and to its leadership, things have taken on a turn mainly in the direction of the neutral. Although large sections of the City remain without a set ruler and seem to be resisting the curse of Sethry, it is still impossible for anyone who has walked the Pattern to remain in Arcadia for more than a few months at a time without beginning to form a domicile around themselves. The deaths of Eris, Sansovino and Magdalene, as well as the disappearance of Faith, have made for a dramatic change in Arcadia's map.
Current subsections of Arcadia include: The Castle (ruled by Absalom), Darkmoore (ruled by Tamora), Elysia (ruled by Melchior), the Patchwork Court (ruled by Arayen), Acheron (an unrecognized portion of Draconis ruled by Magdalene's doppelganger), the Orchestra Pit (ruled by Leonard), and Funland (ruled ostensibly by no one though it is protected by Nadzieja and Wakerobin). A large section of Asherah as well as small parts of Draconis and Rose Arbor and the vast majority of Tir Na Nog remain unclaimed and risk returning to Shadow.
After Sansovino's death, many went to Tir Na Nog to try to take control (or to protect) the first Shadow of the Pattern. They found that some trick of Shadow Magic had only made it appear to be beneath Sansovino's House in the first place, and its whereabouts currently were very much in question.
The existing Council have returned to their states of sanity from before they sacrificed parts of their souls to imprison those who were bricked up. Arayen's three curses remain, so he is very much unchanged and Melchior was never inhibited by anything but his own ambitons, but Tamora has mellowed somewhat, and Leonard Alemane has taken back his once-legendary self control. Tamora has gobbled up much of what was once Tir Na Nog and absorbed it into Darkmoore. Having walked the Primal Pattern, the uncursed though somewhat limited version of Magdalene, who remains alive despite the death of her originator, has carved out a very small part of Draconis, namely where Eris' old capital of Acheron used to be. It is said this is also the base of the Shadow Sethry's operations, though it is only a rumor. It is also rumored that he has also found a way to walk the Pattern and restore some hint of his former power.
In the City, existence is balance. Good exists alongside evil, beauty alongside ugliness, chaos with order, and death with life. Despite changes in its structure, despite threats from within and without, and despite the dawn of Amber far to the east, this remains constantly true.
The Kingdom of Amber
Oberon's Amber is a legend, a memory so ephemeral that even those who lived through the Great Thousand Year War can barely deign to acknowledge was real. What has been resurrected is partly Dworkin's design and partly Random's, and both of their minds were damaged, tortured and unsure when they made the choice to enact this reparation.
Slowly, surely the City (a City with the bones of a castle, the architecture of the medieval era, and the sensibilities, the electric and neon roar, the technology of the most modern worlds) was rebuilt. Slowly, surely, Random and Gerard (and eventually Coral and Faith) brought in workers and artists, soldiers, scholars, doctors, builders, farmers, cooks, everyone and everything they could think of, everything they thought was needed, to build a city and let it prosper.
It is still a skeleton of what it could be, perhaps housing three hundred people at most. Dark corners and strange sights have been rumored, as if the entire place is haunted. The Hall of Mirrors has forsaken Arcadia and roams most freely here. Sometimes, if you see a street sign cut across an alley just so, or the hum of an electrical wire distracts you, a door can be cut out of the fabric of the Real and that door can lead anywhere at all. Be wary if you explore the uncharted areas of Amber, friend, for it is still wild, and even its progenitors, neither of whom are currently present, fully understand it.
After a long and convoluted argument over who should rule Amber, Gerard wrested it from Random, and currently rules with Faith. Random seems mostly content with this, having returned to his place in Shadow, but Coral is far from pleased, and she has been raising an Army as she heads across the Shadows toward the Great Wall of Chaos.
Slowly, surely the City (a City with the bones of a castle, the architecture of the medieval era, and the sensibilities, the electric and neon roar, the technology of the most modern worlds) was rebuilt. Slowly, surely, Random and Gerard (and eventually Coral and Faith) brought in workers and artists, soldiers, scholars, doctors, builders, farmers, cooks, everyone and everything they could think of, everything they thought was needed, to build a city and let it prosper.
It is still a skeleton of what it could be, perhaps housing three hundred people at most. Dark corners and strange sights have been rumored, as if the entire place is haunted. The Hall of Mirrors has forsaken Arcadia and roams most freely here. Sometimes, if you see a street sign cut across an alley just so, or the hum of an electrical wire distracts you, a door can be cut out of the fabric of the Real and that door can lead anywhere at all. Be wary if you explore the uncharted areas of Amber, friend, for it is still wild, and even its progenitors, neither of whom are currently present, fully understand it.
After a long and convoluted argument over who should rule Amber, Gerard wrested it from Random, and currently rules with Faith. Random seems mostly content with this, having returned to his place in Shadow, but Coral is far from pleased, and she has been raising an Army as she heads across the Shadows toward the Great Wall of Chaos.
Paris de Corbin
Corwin's Pattern was destroyed by the forces of Amber, particularly comprised of Julian, Jasra and Bleys. It has remained destroyed for these past millennia. According to the extant records and the tales of those few who now remember, it was a moody, bluesy landscape, full of flowers and silver-barked trees, cafes and dance halls, but with duels in the streets and intrigue lurking at every corner. A Noir flair melded with a Shakespearian sensibility, and above all, if it shared one thing with its predecessor, Amber, it was that you could not trust your brothers and sisters.
To anyone's knowledge, no one living seeks currently to restore this Pattern.
To anyone's knowledge, no one living seeks currently to restore this Pattern.
Atlantis
Atlantis was formed by Llewella's daughter Velucide in an attempt, when Patterns were being created left and right to stabilize Shadow, to make Rebma purely Real and therefore no longer subject to the sway or design of Amber and Amber's rulers. It was known to be a bastion of learning, particularly of music and art, and the sorcerous powers related to healing. It was the last Pattern to be created and the first to be destroyed, a casualty of the whims of Sethry Alemane and his new alliance with the Courts of Chaos through their Queen Coral.
Velucide remains at large, having been only vaguely spotted and never really dealt with since her escape. Whatever she's been doing in over ten years remains a mystery, though those that remember her are certain the end game will include restoring Atlantis.
Velucide remains at large, having been only vaguely spotted and never really dealt with since her escape. Whatever she's been doing in over ten years remains a mystery, though those that remember her are certain the end game will include restoring Atlantis.
The Courts of Chaos
The Great Wall of Chaos remains present, looming, a swirling mass of form and shadow, of blood and acid and fire, smoke and earth and water and things that have never had names. It has seemed to bend a little, seemed less foreboding, less thick, than it was before Amber came back into being. Some believe that it might be possible for a very very strong person, very strong in mind, to make it through to whatever lies on the other side.
Those who remember the Courts from before the time of the isolation are unsure if anything in fact lies beyond but the Abyss and the embrace of pure Chaos, since there has been no word from there in nearly ten thousand years and since it was known before then that time in Chaos moved faster than in Amber. If there is a society on the other side, no one can predict what it might be like.
Those who remember the Courts from before the time of the isolation are unsure if anything in fact lies beyond but the Abyss and the embrace of pure Chaos, since there has been no word from there in nearly ten thousand years and since it was known before then that time in Chaos moved faster than in Amber. If there is a society on the other side, no one can predict what it might be like.