Some stuff about Amber
Beware of typos and grammar mistakes because I am writing this while half asleep.
Amber Lynne Wilder was born and raised in a small dairy community in Wisconsin called Merrill. Her family had been in the dairy business for a couple of generations, and when she was growing up the farm had roughly 200 head of cows. Her father was on the city council and extremely well respected in the community. Her mother was a farm wife who was happiest when there was a lot of people around to cook for. The farm always employed a number of hands who lived in, so meal times were always crowded and pleasantly noisy. Amber had a brother, Jody, who was younger than she by about 4 years.
She grew up a pretty typical mid-west girl. She was a cheerleader and active in school activites, particularly fundraising for good causes. Her family was church-going - generically Christain - and Amber thought she might like to go into missionary work when she grew up. Not so much to spread her religion, because she thought everyone had the right to believe as they wanted and good people would end up in Heaven regardless of what religion they practiced. No, she was more interested in helping others and had that youthful idealistic determination to change the world for the better. But, she was also a teenager, and as a teenager she worried about the usual stuff like whether or not boys at school liked her, and if she was going to be asked out for dates, and whether or not her Daddy would scare off potential suitors.
Amber came from Germanic stock. She was naturally blonde, with blue eyes, as was most of her family. She was happy to work on the farm, went out early every morning to help pitch hay off the back of the truck for the cows to eat, helped to raise the chickens, and loved to bake. She was strong and athletic with a highly developed work ethic. Everyone in the family and most of her friends called her "Amber Lynne" her entire life.
One night, when she was about 16 or so, she was driving home from town in one of the family's pick-ups with her younger brother, after having spent the evening at the youth center with friends. Unexpectedly, a meteor shot down in front of the vehicle and landed in a corn field, the impact shoving the truck off the road and nearly rolling it over. Amber and Jody got out and ran to check the damage, as this corn field belonged to a neighbor who was a good friend of the family. Plus, being kids, they were naturally curious and excited that something as unusual as a meteor had hit so close. The area around the impact was hot and on fire. It was too hot for Jody to stand, but oddly enough... Amber felt as if she were being drawn into the crater, as if she couldn't stop herself from walking right through the fires and into the incredible heat surrounding the meteor.
Within the crater, the space rock had split open and there was a beckoning red glow within. As Amber drew closer, walking unharmed through the inferno, called by the pulsing of the that glow, she saw a faceted red gem. Heedless of her brother's screams for her, from where he still stood in a panic back on the road, Amber reached down into the cracked rock and grasped the red gem.
Instantly, there was a massive explosion, which threw Jody backwards and this time did send the pick-up truck tumbling. At the center of that explosion was Amber, holding the gem, encased in brilliant white hot light. As she held the gem, it sent its energies throughout her body, changing the very structure of her DNA, marking her, and showing her rapid fire visions of other planets and wars and generations of fighting... too much for her to make any sense of. When the glow faded, Amber walked out of the fires, transformed. Her skin had turned yellow, and the side of her face had been etched with mysterious red markings. Jody, who was sure she must have perished in the explosion, was astonished to realize that, except for those changes, Ambre was completely unharmed.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Soon after, Amber discovered that she could manipulate fire. She was lucky enough to have a family which loved her unconditionally, and to live in a community that was close-knit and neighborly, so she was never shunned or feared, though she was regarded with some curiosity. And, driven by that same old desire to do good, help people, and change the world, she eventually left home and came to Paragon City to get her heroing license. Though she does not need it to sustain her powers - they appear to be permenant - she wears that red gem in her belt.
Okay. So, that's the story of how Amber Lynne became Amberfyre and where her powers came from. But... well, what's the deal with that gem, anyway? Where did it come from? What was the point in transforming Amber in the first place?
Good questions! Questions that I shall answer. Amber herself does not even know the answers to these questions, though naturally she's developed some theories. But here is the truth:
Out beyond our planet, amongst the galaxies and stars, there are good guys and bad guys. And one organization of good guys is a intergalactic policing force that has been in existence for many hundreds of centuries. Members of this force come from many many races and are dedicated to the preservation of peace amongst the inhabited worlds. They apprehend criminals, they have fought in wars, they have negotiated treaties, and they have served the greater good alongside other peacekeeping forces for all their long history. Positions in this force are often passed from one generation to the next, parent to offspring. Or from teacher to student. This is done through magical transference, where the powers, position, and rank of the previous officer are removed either by will or at death, and shifted into the prearranged successor.
However, sometimes things don't always work out as planned. The previous owner of Amber's powers died unexpectly in battle, without having chosen a successor, and millions of lightyears away from any other officers or the policing force's headquarters. In this case, the powers and rank of that officer had to seek out an appropriate host for itself. The magical transferance gem encased itself in rock, to protect it during its juorney, and set off through space in search of a compatable successor. It eventually sensed Amber, determined that she would be a good match genetically, morally and spiritually, and purposely crashed itself close to where she would be. When the powers were transferred to her, she was also marked with the rank of the previous owner, which is what the markings on her face actually are.
Amber keeps the transferance gem because it's meaningful to her and pretty, but it is actually a very good thing to do. Someday, when she passes away (and yes, Amber's extreme longevity is thanks to this... members of an intergalactic policing force would have to be long-lived for practical purposes, since space flight can be quite lengthy), her powers and rank will shift back into the gem and look for another appropriate successor, likely one of Amber's offspring, since that would be the most logical choice.
So, Amber got pretty lucky when she found that red gem from the stars. Thanks to the powers she gained from it, she was able to become a Hero and do good in the world, and she met people and friends she grew to love and call family, and it all eventually led her to Storm, whom she adores.
But... what if she hadn't been so lucky?
What if that red gem she picked up hadn't been an agent of good, but rather one of evil?
In a different reality, perhaps, in a slightly skewed version of our own reality... what if the magical transference gems belong not to a policing force, but to a cabal of darkness and destruction? What if those gems searched not for moral and true compatable hosts, but for opportunites to corrupt and twist, and establish the cabal on new worlds where they could start with one, and then slowly grow in power from generation to generation until their members are in control of all that world's power and resources?
What if Amber had picked up a gem like that instead?
In this twisted universe, instead of her desire to do good being heightened, Amber's personality changed... she was no longer the upstanding student or sweet wholesome girl next door. Instead, she began to hunger for naughtiness and fun mayhem. Her powers were not to be used to protect others, but to set things on fire! When she left home, it was not to become a Hero, but to purposely look for trouble to get into! She is powerful! She is a goddess of hellfire! ;)
And where has she settled, but in the Rogue Isles, on Pinnacle server. Yeah yeah... so the point of all this is that I made a new villain character, based on Amber. XD And she likes leather. And straps and buckles. And I've run outta writing steam, so I'm just going to post a couple pictures...
Close up:
Full body shot of the costume:
Oh yeah... you don't wanna mess with this little girl...
Her villainous name is Wild Fyre. I wanted Hellfyre, but all logical variations of that were already taken. Then I thought, well - her last name is Wilder, so having 'wild' in her name would make sense. And it fits this version of her, because she is determined to be as wild as she can be! I originally had her in just a body suit (with all the straps and buckles), but then I decided that she's just not Amber without a cute little skirt. There is one bit of symbolism in her costume, but I won't get into that because only I really understand it and it's a stretch anyway. But, so far she's adorable and fun to play and would probably get along great with thug!Ben, because she just wants to set things on fire! And giggle while they burn.
Anyway, so now you know more about both the heroic and the villainous versions of Amber and how she got her powers in both cases. And now I reeeeeeally need to go to bed. Ta!