APPLICATION ~-~ taxonomites
Character name: Corwin Barimen
Genre (TV/books/etc): Books
Fandom: The Chronicles of Amber
Canon point: Corwin will be taken from just after the end of book five, The Courts of Chaos.
Why this Character and Canon point?: Of the many characters that come and go throughout The Chronicles of Amber, Corwin is one of the most fascinating in terms of his development and character. He begins as a rash, arrogant, entitled prince, and ends learning something of humility and wisdom- a rather stark contrast to the rest of his family who, for their parts, seem to retain the kind of distant supremacy that has served in family politics for centuries, though it has become rather useless. Corwin represents change in a largely unchanging family- change for the better and continuing change.
By this point in the story, Corwin has essentially finished most of the development that he was going to during the course of the novels. However, he is much more open to change because of this, and that makes this point one of the best to take him from. He has toned down his personality for the most part and is less blindly ambitious and conniving. Until this point, much of his existence had been aimed at obtaining the throne of Amber, however at the end of The Courts of Chaos he has learned that his ambitions lie elsewhere and he really has no reason to be chasing the crown. With this particular mellowing of his personality, he has left room for further development instead of being locked into one set of ideals as he had been through much of the story. Furthermore, Corwin has yet to replace his desires for the monarchy with another and is, therefore, searching for a drive as powerful as the one he has just forgone, and is much more open to suggestions in that area than he habitually has been.
Programmed Possession: Corwin will be bringing his sword, Grayswandir- The Night-Blade- with him. It was forged with his blood in the night-city, Tir-na-Nog'th and will come to him "if [he] call[s] it by...name."
The sword contains an image of a segment of the Pattern* that gives the blade certain peculiarities- Corwin is able to use it to speak to ghosts in Tir-na-Nog'th and to destroy them as well, the price being that they are able to harm him in return, though oftentimes the presence of the blade alone is enough to deter them from attempting to do so.
*The aspects and peculiarities of the Pattern are discussed later in the application.
Abilities/Weaknesses: In his own words, Corwin is the “third best” swordsman among his brothers, bested only by his elder brother Eric and his half-brother and instructor Benedict. Even in the “third best” position, though, he is a competent fencer, though he does often deviate from traditional patterns as circumstances require- whether switching into another style entirely or relying on improvisation, which is the skill that he stands out among his siblings for. Additionally, in the more physical aspects, Corwin and all his siblings possess an increased physical strength in comparison to others. This he applies most often to boxing and wrestling as they crop up in fighting circumstances. His centuries-long stint in several militaries has also honed his skills in that aspect, as well as refining his tactical knowledge- he is quite capable of commanding his own unit- or even his own army.
Most of the siblings have had fairly extensive medical training, and Corwin is no exception. His experience is mostly in military field medicine and first aid, though he does have at the very least a theoretical knowledge of surgical procedures, and it is hardly a stretch to assume that he has a practical knowledge as well. He is not, however, a doctor- nor does he wish to be one. If asked, he will acknowledge that he is able to patch people up, but will defer to a more medically inclined mind should one be present.
Corwin himself- like all his siblings- was born with an innate regenerative ability beyond that defined as normal. He is hardly invincible, though he heals quickly. A minor cut may vanish in two or three days, a deep gash or a broken bone in two or three weeks, where nerve tissue will take years. Corwin has regenerated his eyes in the past, though it took roughly four years to do so, and a past spinal injury that left him paralyzed was gone in just over a decade. Severe injuries are still severe and he is very much capable of dying just the same as anyone else, even going so far as to come close on several occasions. He requires medical attention like any other human being, but as long as he is stabilized, he gets over it a little faster.
Corwin also has a very minor ability in sorcery that often goes unused in favor of his blade. In most cases, he doesn’t acknowledge its existence and, in fact, he is only ever shown to use it once in an unsuccessful attempt to banish a lesser demon so it might also be assumed that it is not of any consequence. He cannot sense magic- unless it is extremely potent- nor can he create or enchant magical items or deal damage with magic.
He is, therefore, the most well-balanced among his siblings in terms of physical ability. Where he does stand out is charisma and leadership. He is the most likable, the most charming, the best commander. He is much more capable of finding and keeping his troops than his siblings, and is much more concerned with their well-being. He is more engaging, more charming, more approachable- while still maintaining that necessary distance between plain troops and the general.
Corwin’s unique ability, however, stems from a device called the Pattern, of which his family is the guardian. The Pattern is inscribed on a floor deep underneath the palace of Amber, and those of the royal blood are capable of walking along it. It is a massive and difficult undertaking, and afterwards they are capable of manipulating Shadow (to be described momentarily) and of using minor sorcery (which can be enhanced with training). The Pattern leaves a kind of invisible mark on those who endure the walk, and they use that image to manipulate their reality. Only those of the royal family- sons and daughters of Oberon- are capable of walking it and all others are destroyed in the attempt.
Shadow refers- collectively- to all of the realities outside Amber. The Pattern allows for royal Amberites to essentially pick a direction, imagine a place, and walk until they find it. Everything exists somewhere in Shadow, and all cities are a reflection of Amber- the origin of Shadow- at some past or future time in its development. There is some debate about whether or not the princes and princesses create these realities with the combined power of their mind and the Pattern, or whether the reality already exists and they simply find it.
***This ability will be nullified for the duration of Corwin’s stay within Taxon. It is mentioned, however, because it is an essential part of his history and has a significant effect on his personality.
Many of Corwin’s weaknesses fall more along the lines of the classical “tragic flaw,” the first being an incurable hubris and arrogance that are just as easily weaknesses as they could be strengths, should he get either under control. As far as he is concerned, he is greater than any of the lesser Shadow-beings, and they cannot harm him. This arrogance is easily manipulated by touching on the soft points and usually leads him to rash and dangerous actions- risking his life as he attempts revenge for the slight.
Additionally, Corwin tends to suffer from a particular target blindness and tunnel vision. Once he has a goal in mind, he pursues it relentlessly without often pausing to consider the consequences of his actions- for himself or others. This particular failing makes him blind to even his own desires- he pursued his father’s vacant throne relentlessly, only realizing once he had it that he did not actually want it. This tends to drive friends, family, and lovers away from him as he can, occasionally, be rather cavalier with the lives of others because of that weakness, in addition to hiding other potential problems from him. His mind is not easily changed once he is set in his ways.
In the area of more actual weaknesses, because of the years he spent in captivity in a cell, Corwin has developed an intense claustrophobia that he tries very hard to hide. In most cases, he can fight his way through it, though it is somewhat debilitating. Caves and small, dark rooms bother him immensely, though he would never admit it out loud. Corwin can also blame a crippling fear of the dark on that same experience. Being blinded beforehand has made him highly appreciative of his sight and being in the dark is intensely disturbing to him. As long as he is able to see at least the outlines of the things around him, he can work himself though it, though nervously. Complete darkness is entirely out of the question and is likely to incapacitate him completely.
Psychology/Personality: The first impression of Corwin- it seems universally- is one of supreme arrogance. Because of his peculiar- and rather privileged- upbringing, he can tend to lean more towards the entitled- he is used to getting what he wants, and if he can’t have it, he’ll fight for it until he can. He is very much driven by his own desires and what he perceives as his honor, although occasionally he might take a detour to come to the defense of a friend or an ally. Despite all of that arrogance, though, Corwin harbors an intrinsic and intense patriotism for his home city, Amber- even if he joined the squabbles for it. For the most part, he is very concerned for the city’s welfare, and, obviously, that meant that he needed to be the one on the throne. That has changed, however, as once he was offered it by his father, and because of his experiences in Shadow, he came to realize that he did not actually want it and instead offered to his brother, Random.
The product of a cold, distant father and intrigue amongst his siblings, Corwin is slow to trust and quick to accuse. With alliances constantly in flux among his brothers and sisters, he has almost a natural distrust of family members, and even more so of strangers, until they can prove to him otherwise. Once someone manages to make their way into his “inner circle,” though, his loyalty is all but unmatched. However, that loyalty comes at a certain price in that he does not take kindly to betrayal and a certain vindictive nature bred into him and cultivated since birth by familial schemes drives him to revenge for those slights.
Additionally, Corwin possesses a keen intelligence, tuned to family politics and military application- though he isn’t quite as gifted in that area as his oldest brother Benedict, a military career the equivalent of centuries long gives him a solid basis in tactical and combat knowledge. A born leader- charismatic and persuasive- he has no qualms in taking charge of a situation. He is a natural problem solver and often the “go-to” for a solution- among those who actually trust him. His answers are typically creative and are often delivered with a flair that is unmistakably his.
In addition to a practical knowledge, Corwin also has a vast philosophical and literary base to draw on. His position ensured the highest education possible, and he is very well-read in several areas; he is often able to bring obscure references into casual conversation. However, he has a particular fondness for Shakespeare- Hamlet, more specifically, for its parallels with his own family situation and his tendency to empathize with the Prince of Denmark. Beyond philosophy and literature, Corwin also has a functional medical knowledge (field medicine, for the most part), and a significant background of military history, accumulated throughout his extended life. On top of that, he speaks several languages fluently, including English, French, German and Thari (the language of his home “world”).
It is mentioned several times by his siblings and others that knew him that his personality has mellowed somewhat in the centuries since he fought with his older brother Eric and vanished into Shadow, leaving one to wonder how he was before. He seems to retain something of the cleverness, foresight, and ruthlessness that they remember, though in some circumstances it is more muted than it appears to have been in the past.
Like his siblings, Corwin has little reservation about sex. While not often actively searching for a relationship, should one present itself, he would rarely say no. Most of his encounters and relationships are either one time or entirely casual- his problems with trust in addition to his unique lifespan make him hesitant to form attachments or to fall in love. Seldom do his relationships move past the physical into the realms of the emotional. To that end, he is charming and smooth, usually able to earn at least the good graces of most women, if not win them over entirely. Still, he is something of a playboy, seldom tying himself to one person for very long. Despite this pastime, however, neither he nor his siblings have proved to be excessively prolific- which is well enough, as Corwin is not a very fatherly-type person, owing to his own less-than-ideal childhood. He even treats his own son more as a family friend than as his child.
History: Amber has been described as the Eternal City, the One True City, and the like. It is, essentially, the city that stands at the center of every universe. It casts what are called Shadows- essentially infinite variations of universes. Every city in every universe is a reflection of Amber at some point in its past or future development. Everything one can imagine exists somewhere in Shadow. Children of its regent, Oberon, are gifted with the ability to traverse these realities after they have walked the Pattern- an artifact inscribed on the floor in one of the dungeons that the family is tasked with guarding.
Corwin is the fifth in a line of princes and princesses- sons and daughters of King Oberon of Amber- and the first to be born undisputably legitimate. For a long time, he believed that this, among other reasons, made him the most worthy holder of Amber's throne. Unfortunately, most of his siblings also believed that they were the most worthy of the throne and all of them grew up in the midst of a competition for their father's favor. Oberon's children were essentially raised on political intrigues and underhanded motives.
During one of these quarrels with his brother Eric, at the time his most hated nemesis, Corwin was defeated and taken from Amber by Eric who left him in a plague-ridden London circa 1665 where Corwin contracted the disease. His subsequent recovery, however, came at the loss of his memory, and he became little more than a human oddity with increased strength, metabolism, and recovery rates.
The next 400 years he spent in relative anonymity under the pseudonym Carl Corey in various militaries and positions of leadership, never staying in one place for very long, though his progressing amnesia prevented him from entirely questioning his apparent extended longevity. During this time he was questioned and psychoanalyzed by such groundbreaking psychologists as Freud and Jung in an attempt to regain his memory, to no avail. He continued in his military endeavors, however, building contacts around the world and serving on active duty in several wars under such generals as Napoleon and MacArthur.
Eventually, Corwin retired from military service to a large estate in rural California. However, he was found by his brother Eric once more and Eric set their sister Florimel to watching over him to ensure that his memory never returned. It had started to come back to him in bits and pieces, and after a minor car accident, Corwin was institutionalized and subjected to electroshock therapy to erase the parts of his memory that had returned. After less than a week, Corwin escaped and suffered from a more major car accident when Eric became desperate and shot out his tires, sending Corwin's vehicle over a cliff and into a lake. He was rescued by a mysterious red-headed man (later revealed to be his brother, Brand).
From there, Corwin awakened prematurely from a drug-induced coma authorized by his sister and, after a definite struggle with nurses and orderlys attempting to narcotize him, freed himself from Greenwood Private Hospital, and tracked down his sister Florimel who was living in New York under the name Evelyn Flaumel. He managed to fool her into believing he had fully recovered his faculties- including his memory- by employing an instinctual suspicion and craftiness that he had learned throughout his childhood. He had intended to milk her for information as long as he possibly could, but after only a few days staying with her, another brother, Random, put in his appearance, being trailed by strange creatures. Corwin agreed to go with him back to Amber, but once they had made it through Shadow to the appropriate world, they discovere Deirdre- another sister and Corwin's favorite- being escorted back to Amber by Eric's men after she had fled the city. They rescued her and Corwin admitted that he had no memory.
Instead of returning to Amber, then, the three made their way to Rebma- an underwater palace in the sea and Amber's truest reflection- where Corwin walked the Pattern there, restoring much of his memory. A peculiarity of the Pattern allows those at its center to transport themselves anywhere they wish to go, and Corwin used this ability to appear in Amber, where he fought with Eric once more, narrowly escaping. Wounded, he turned to his brother Bleys who, after saving his life, asked Corwin to join his assult on Amber and Eric. Corwin readily agreed.
The assault was a catastrophic failure. Bleys was thrown from the side of Kolvir- the mountain on top of which Amber sits- during the fight up it and Corwin was taken prisoner, having only breached the city gates with a few hundred of his soldiers. He was forced to crown Eric as King of Amber, and subsequently blinded and imprisoned beneath the palace. Four years later, after he had regenerated his destroyed eyes, he managed to escape the dungeons and began plotting his revenge on Eric.
His first stop was his old haunt- a world he called Avalon. He was able to obtain a substance that there was used as a jewler's polish, but in Amber would function as gunpowder (as a traditional gunpowder became inert in proximity to the Eternal City). On the way, he met Ganelon, a former friend turned traitor that Corwin had abandoned in Shadow centuries before. He continued his recovery from his imprisonment there, while helping Ganelon to conquer strange enemies that came from a Black Road that led directly to the Courts of Chaos. After the dark army was defeated, Ganelon chose to accompany Corwin as a friend on his journey.
In Avalon, Corwin met his brother Benedict, who had stepped in to lead the people in Corwin's absence. Corwin also met Dara, a girl claiming to be Benedict's great grandniece. He took it upon himself to begin her familial education and showed her the Shadows, in which she seemed to take a keen interest. He made love to her and left, having obtained what he had come to Avalon for. However, he was pursued by Benedict and, Corwin assuming that this was over his relationship with Dara, the two fought, Corwin only winning by exploiting the strange vegetation involved in the Black Road- the grasses trapped Benedict's legs and held him while Corwin arranged for him to be taken care of. Several days later, Corwin learned that Benedict had no knowledge of Dara and was, in fact, angry because he believed that Corwin had murdered his servants and fled.
Once back in the version of the world that had served as his prison for four centuries (namely, ours), Corwin contracted arms manufacturers from amongst his old contacts and once they were completed, he left to recruit several hundred soldiers. They marched on Amber and arrived to find her already engaged in war with monsters from the Black Road. After several moments watching the battle, Corwin finally opted to aid the side of Amber, rather than attacking it. His firearms rapidly turned the tides of the fight in Amber's favor and the beasts were readily dispatched, though Eric was wounded and eventually died in the fighting. Dara then reappeared and dashed into the city. Corwin was unable to catch her until he found her traversing the Pattern, undestroyed. She revealed herself to be a creature from the Courts of Chaos and, declaring Amber's destruction, disappeared.
Now sitting in regency, Corwin was summoned to meet with another brother, Caine, and, finding him dead, he was attacked. Random recognized the creature as one of those that had been pursuing him when he appeared at Florimel's house in New York and revealed that they had been guards surrounding a tower wherein their brother Brand had been trapped; Random had been summoned to rescue him and had failed. Corwin then proposed another attempt be made and summoned all of his siblings that remained among the living to assist. Brand was stabbed in the effort, however, and the rest of the family adjourned to another room to assign blame. Though no satisfactory answer was achieved, the conference was broken up to allow for sleep.
Upon returning to his own room, Corwin was attacked and stabbed by an intruder, only managing to survive by inadvertently teleporting himself back to his old house in California via the Jewel of Judgment- an artifact worn by Amber's kings. Dying, he managed to make it outside and flag down a passing car, thankfully enough driven by an old friend of his uninclined to ask questions. He took Corwin to the hospital where he was treated, though he left nearly immediately when contacted by Random, who was attempting to wake him. Corwin returned to Amber and spoke with Brand who revealed that he, their sister Fiona, and Bleys were involved in a conspiracy to overtake the city and the throne and that there had been a falling out. Fiona had stabbed him when she realized that he would be rescued.
In an attempt to buy more time for his recovery (and to continue keeping his wound a secret), Corwin then visited Tir-na Nog'th- a ghost city with a reputation for being portentous- accompanied by Ganelon and Random. There he witnessed an image of Dara claiming to be Queen of Amber with Benedict at her side. He and Benedict's ghost fought, and Corwin escaped with Random's help. After a brief discussion, the three set off to return to Amber, but ended up in a different Shadow instead. However, this one was the true origin of all Shadows, and the Primal Pattern- the very original- lay in front of them, damaged by the blood of Random's son, Martin. This seemed to be the origin of the Black Road so troubling to Amber. After returning to the city and explaining what had happened, Random then left to find his son while Corwin remained behind.
After speaking briefly with Random's wife, Corwin returned to the dungeon he had been imprisoned in where he then met Dworkin- the crafter of the Pattern. Under the impression that Corwin was actually his father Oberon, Dworking revealed a way to repair the damage to the Primal Pattern and thus destroy the Black Road. Dworkin believed that it would be better to erase the Pattern and begin again, though that would mean the destruction of everything. Corwin favored repair and made up his mind to try it, but was forced out by Dworkin when he began to show signs of violent madness.
He ended up in the Courts of Chaos- Amber's polar opposite, though no less imposing. There he fought with one of the nobleman of that realm, killing him. Another rider approached at that point, warned Corwin of the danger to his person if he remained, and left. Corwin then contacted his brother Gerard and returned to Amber where he once again spoke with Brand, who tried to obtain the Jewel of Judgment from Corwin, ostensibly to stop Fiona from executing whatever her plan might be. They squabbled, but nothing serious came of the encounter.
Corwin then decided to take a ride through the city to clear his thoughts but was contacted by Ganelon and later Gerard, from whom he learned that Brand had left. Blaming Corwin for his disappearance, Gerard attacked Corwin, but with Ganelon's assistance, he was knocked unconscious. Corwin then followed Brand back to the Earth where he had hidden the Jewel of Judgment. He was contacted there by Fiona, from whom he learned that Brand was, indeed, the malefactor in their cabal, rather than Fiona. Brand had stolen the Jewel and was attempting to use its power to begin a war between Amber and Chaos. From there, he would erase the Pattern and remake the universe to be subservient to him. Brand made several attempts to attune himself to the Jewel using the Pattern, but was thwarted each time. After one attempt that he made in Tir-na Nog'th that Corwin and Benedict were successful in stopping, Corwin suggested they attempt to contact their father, despite that no one had been able to for years. They made contact, only to discover that he was disguising himself as Ganelon.
Corwin then took several days to breathe- and swear- in the castle library and, after a conversation with Random, he was called downstairs where he witnessed what he had seen in Tir-na Nog'th: Dara and Benedict sitting in Amber's palace proper. A barrier prevented entry into the room during their conversation, but once it had concluded, the barrier was lifted and Corwin entered the room and confronted Dara, who proceeded to inform him that she had born his son, Merlin. With Benedict's backing, Dara explained that the Amberites had descended from the Courts of Chaos- Dworkin was Oberon's father and they had both rebelled, forming Amber and the Patter with the Jewel of Judgment.
Continuing, Dara informed them that their father had orders for them, and had Oberon's signet ring to prove it. They were to attack Chaos at once. Corwin was able to contact his sister Fiona who was with their father at the Primal Pattern to verify the orders he had given, and he came to them where he snatched the jewel from his father who was considering how best to repair the Pattern as it would cost him his life and made a dash to repair it himself, but he was stopped by Oberon. Corwin was then offered the throne he had so desperately fought for, and he turned it down, saying that he no longer wanted it. Corwin was then given orders to ride to the Courts of Chaos and that the Jewel of Judgment would come to him along the way.
Corwin left immediately and fled the aftereffects of what repairing the Pattern had done to Shadow. The Jewel did indeed come to him, but at one point he was not certain if he could outrun the storm that seemed to be destroying reality in its wake that was always upon him. He stopped and crafted his own Pattern, then, to save the world that he knew, unaware that his father had completed repairs to the original.
He continued, then, to the Courts of Chaos, arriving in time to witness the end of the battle. Brand, however, had taken Deirdre hostage and threatened to kill her. He was shot and fell over the edge into Chaos, unfortunatley taking Deirdre with him. The marksman revealed himself to be the supposedly dead brother Caine, who had hidden in Shadow, trying to determine who was behind the plotting in Amber. Once the traitor Brand was dead, Random was named King of Amber as Oberon had died repairing the Pattern. Corwin was able to attune Random to the Jewel of Judgment, but fell unconscious from his efforts.
He awoke next to a fire and recounted his story to Merlin, his son, whom he now met, though Merlin hinted at being the warrior that had saved him in Corwin's first stint in the Courts of Chaos. After finishing his story, Corwin paused for a moment to reflect on the decisions he had made and the possible repercussions surrounding his creation of a second Pattern.
He was last seen riding into the Courts of Chaos to meet with their leaders to discuss terms of surrender.
Arrival Post (Third Person):
Goodbye and hello as always.
Maybe Corwin had always known that it was a trick- still wallowing in the mire of recent defeat, the Courts of Chaos weren't to be trusted- not that they ever had a time when they should have been. The antithesis of order under the rotational tetrachrome of what passed as sky. But there was still something of the march of order in it- of Amber.
This was their primal material, after all, their ancestry. The origin of Amber who cast her Shadows from one end of the universe to the other, the Order from Chaos. Irony at its extremest.
The frantic flight wasn't going to be enough. They were too close- close enough to follow him. He hadn't turned and run when he had the chance the first time and every time he shifted, they came with him, following in the wake he was all but forced to leave behind- a Hellride left its mark, after all.
The vague hint of a path running alongside cold blue rivers...Forests filled with silent, staring life...Glowing foreign plants under an orange nighttime sky...A room constructed of cold, alien metal...
-and stopped. Suddenly, the world was immovable, and he opened his eyes to a room that he hadn't seen before- one that he was only supposed to run through. And his horse was gone on top of it as he stood precisely in the center of it, blinking in confusion.
All he could do was blame a brother now dead; it seemed like they were always blaming each other. That one had done a little more to deserve it than any of the others, though, and even if he had passed beyond the edge of Chaos, it wasn't all that unlikely that he had planned this beforehand, that he still had his hand in holding him captive here.
Wherever "here" was.
Addressing no one wasn't going to help, but he couldn't resist. Who was to say that some incarnation of his brother wasn't listening?
"What the hell is this supposed to be, Brand? Irony? Sorry to put you to all the trouble, but the joke's lost on me."
No response came, but then, he hadn't really expected one. Even if this was a prison, Brand could never make it that easy. It had that dramatic flair of his, certainly, but he could never give it away that quickly. Corwin would have to work for his answers like always, delving for that last secret, that one final trump card that Brand always had up his sleeve.
"I thought you learned your lesson the last time, Brand. Holing me up in here isn't going to do you much good. I'm leaving- with or without your permission."
All he had to do was keep moving- walking in any direction. A circle was just fine, so a circle was what he walked with green eyes closed and concentration written quite plainly on his face.
There was a crack in the metal there, small green things growing up out of the exposed dirt, pale sunlight filtering in from another break overhead...
He opened his eyes to nothing but the same room as before.
Maybe it was an underwater palace, startled fish swimming their mundane way past a window of transparent crystal...
Nothing had changed.
Desert, then, with sand blowing in from the windstorm outside- blinding, gritty stuff that grated his skin and tore at his eyes while the heat oppressed him-
-nothing. Again. And he swore loudly, finally giving up on the hope of leaving that way. It seemed for the time being that he was going to stay. It wasn't as if he hadn't spent time in a prison cell before- darker and more sinister than this one.
"...go to hell, Brand."
Additional Third Person Sample:
He had certainly had worse beds than this. Memories of hard-packed dirt, stony earth, even that terrible straw mattress he had called a bed for four years in the dungeons underneath Amber came rather quickly to mind. This was something else entirely. Compared to most of those experiences, this was his own little piece of heaven, lying back on cool, lush grass and gazing up through the branches of an ethereal forest at the alien constellations above him. He may never get to know those stars, either, for he would be leaving them behind at dawn to find others that he had never seen before. It wasn’t as if he’d never slept under a foreign sky before.
A voice that was maybe distant or maybe a contrivance of his own mind drifted towards him, then, tantalizing him with his own name. Now close at hand, now hiding deep within the trees. Somehow, he couldn’t resist answering it, either, phantom voice or no.
“Corwin’s busy right now. Leave a message, he’ll get back to you.”
The whole thing was almost poetic in a strange, perverse kind of way. Ghost voices behind ghost faces hiding amid the haunted branches of what could very well be a ghost forest. And as Corwin rolled slowly over and raised himself into a crouching position, his hand fell against the hilt of the ever faithful Grayswandir and tinted the whole scenario a dark shade of ominous.
“So it’s to be ghosts then?” The soft steely hiss as Grayswandir came unsheathed in his hand seemed deafening in the silence that followed the question. No response came. Even the voices had fallen silent, and the lack of sound was eerie. Even the voices had fallen silent. Suddenly the darkness seemed to close, and it was almost tangibly crushing- it grew harder to breathe in each moment he thought of it. The Night-Blade had frightened the specters of Tir-na Nog’th, so why not these? Why should it not frighten the ones here that may or may not exist?
“You want to play? Bring it, asshole!”
A sudden crash echoed from the bushes behind him.
Genre (TV/books/etc): Books
Fandom: The Chronicles of Amber
Canon point: Corwin will be taken from just after the end of book five, The Courts of Chaos.
Why this Character and Canon point?: Of the many characters that come and go throughout The Chronicles of Amber, Corwin is one of the most fascinating in terms of his development and character. He begins as a rash, arrogant, entitled prince, and ends learning something of humility and wisdom- a rather stark contrast to the rest of his family who, for their parts, seem to retain the kind of distant supremacy that has served in family politics for centuries, though it has become rather useless. Corwin represents change in a largely unchanging family- change for the better and continuing change.
By this point in the story, Corwin has essentially finished most of the development that he was going to during the course of the novels. However, he is much more open to change because of this, and that makes this point one of the best to take him from. He has toned down his personality for the most part and is less blindly ambitious and conniving. Until this point, much of his existence had been aimed at obtaining the throne of Amber, however at the end of The Courts of Chaos he has learned that his ambitions lie elsewhere and he really has no reason to be chasing the crown. With this particular mellowing of his personality, he has left room for further development instead of being locked into one set of ideals as he had been through much of the story. Furthermore, Corwin has yet to replace his desires for the monarchy with another and is, therefore, searching for a drive as powerful as the one he has just forgone, and is much more open to suggestions in that area than he habitually has been.
Programmed Possession: Corwin will be bringing his sword, Grayswandir- The Night-Blade- with him. It was forged with his blood in the night-city, Tir-na-Nog'th and will come to him "if [he] call[s] it by...name."
The sword contains an image of a segment of the Pattern* that gives the blade certain peculiarities- Corwin is able to use it to speak to ghosts in Tir-na-Nog'th and to destroy them as well, the price being that they are able to harm him in return, though oftentimes the presence of the blade alone is enough to deter them from attempting to do so.
*The aspects and peculiarities of the Pattern are discussed later in the application.
Abilities/Weaknesses: In his own words, Corwin is the “third best” swordsman among his brothers, bested only by his elder brother Eric and his half-brother and instructor Benedict. Even in the “third best” position, though, he is a competent fencer, though he does often deviate from traditional patterns as circumstances require- whether switching into another style entirely or relying on improvisation, which is the skill that he stands out among his siblings for. Additionally, in the more physical aspects, Corwin and all his siblings possess an increased physical strength in comparison to others. This he applies most often to boxing and wrestling as they crop up in fighting circumstances. His centuries-long stint in several militaries has also honed his skills in that aspect, as well as refining his tactical knowledge- he is quite capable of commanding his own unit- or even his own army.
Most of the siblings have had fairly extensive medical training, and Corwin is no exception. His experience is mostly in military field medicine and first aid, though he does have at the very least a theoretical knowledge of surgical procedures, and it is hardly a stretch to assume that he has a practical knowledge as well. He is not, however, a doctor- nor does he wish to be one. If asked, he will acknowledge that he is able to patch people up, but will defer to a more medically inclined mind should one be present.
Corwin himself- like all his siblings- was born with an innate regenerative ability beyond that defined as normal. He is hardly invincible, though he heals quickly. A minor cut may vanish in two or three days, a deep gash or a broken bone in two or three weeks, where nerve tissue will take years. Corwin has regenerated his eyes in the past, though it took roughly four years to do so, and a past spinal injury that left him paralyzed was gone in just over a decade. Severe injuries are still severe and he is very much capable of dying just the same as anyone else, even going so far as to come close on several occasions. He requires medical attention like any other human being, but as long as he is stabilized, he gets over it a little faster.
Corwin also has a very minor ability in sorcery that often goes unused in favor of his blade. In most cases, he doesn’t acknowledge its existence and, in fact, he is only ever shown to use it once in an unsuccessful attempt to banish a lesser demon so it might also be assumed that it is not of any consequence. He cannot sense magic- unless it is extremely potent- nor can he create or enchant magical items or deal damage with magic.
He is, therefore, the most well-balanced among his siblings in terms of physical ability. Where he does stand out is charisma and leadership. He is the most likable, the most charming, the best commander. He is much more capable of finding and keeping his troops than his siblings, and is much more concerned with their well-being. He is more engaging, more charming, more approachable- while still maintaining that necessary distance between plain troops and the general.
Corwin’s unique ability, however, stems from a device called the Pattern, of which his family is the guardian. The Pattern is inscribed on a floor deep underneath the palace of Amber, and those of the royal blood are capable of walking along it. It is a massive and difficult undertaking, and afterwards they are capable of manipulating Shadow (to be described momentarily) and of using minor sorcery (which can be enhanced with training). The Pattern leaves a kind of invisible mark on those who endure the walk, and they use that image to manipulate their reality. Only those of the royal family- sons and daughters of Oberon- are capable of walking it and all others are destroyed in the attempt.
Shadow refers- collectively- to all of the realities outside Amber. The Pattern allows for royal Amberites to essentially pick a direction, imagine a place, and walk until they find it. Everything exists somewhere in Shadow, and all cities are a reflection of Amber- the origin of Shadow- at some past or future time in its development. There is some debate about whether or not the princes and princesses create these realities with the combined power of their mind and the Pattern, or whether the reality already exists and they simply find it.
***This ability will be nullified for the duration of Corwin’s stay within Taxon. It is mentioned, however, because it is an essential part of his history and has a significant effect on his personality.
Many of Corwin’s weaknesses fall more along the lines of the classical “tragic flaw,” the first being an incurable hubris and arrogance that are just as easily weaknesses as they could be strengths, should he get either under control. As far as he is concerned, he is greater than any of the lesser Shadow-beings, and they cannot harm him. This arrogance is easily manipulated by touching on the soft points and usually leads him to rash and dangerous actions- risking his life as he attempts revenge for the slight.
Additionally, Corwin tends to suffer from a particular target blindness and tunnel vision. Once he has a goal in mind, he pursues it relentlessly without often pausing to consider the consequences of his actions- for himself or others. This particular failing makes him blind to even his own desires- he pursued his father’s vacant throne relentlessly, only realizing once he had it that he did not actually want it. This tends to drive friends, family, and lovers away from him as he can, occasionally, be rather cavalier with the lives of others because of that weakness, in addition to hiding other potential problems from him. His mind is not easily changed once he is set in his ways.
In the area of more actual weaknesses, because of the years he spent in captivity in a cell, Corwin has developed an intense claustrophobia that he tries very hard to hide. In most cases, he can fight his way through it, though it is somewhat debilitating. Caves and small, dark rooms bother him immensely, though he would never admit it out loud. Corwin can also blame a crippling fear of the dark on that same experience. Being blinded beforehand has made him highly appreciative of his sight and being in the dark is intensely disturbing to him. As long as he is able to see at least the outlines of the things around him, he can work himself though it, though nervously. Complete darkness is entirely out of the question and is likely to incapacitate him completely.
Psychology/Personality: The first impression of Corwin- it seems universally- is one of supreme arrogance. Because of his peculiar- and rather privileged- upbringing, he can tend to lean more towards the entitled- he is used to getting what he wants, and if he can’t have it, he’ll fight for it until he can. He is very much driven by his own desires and what he perceives as his honor, although occasionally he might take a detour to come to the defense of a friend or an ally. Despite all of that arrogance, though, Corwin harbors an intrinsic and intense patriotism for his home city, Amber- even if he joined the squabbles for it. For the most part, he is very concerned for the city’s welfare, and, obviously, that meant that he needed to be the one on the throne. That has changed, however, as once he was offered it by his father, and because of his experiences in Shadow, he came to realize that he did not actually want it and instead offered to his brother, Random.
The product of a cold, distant father and intrigue amongst his siblings, Corwin is slow to trust and quick to accuse. With alliances constantly in flux among his brothers and sisters, he has almost a natural distrust of family members, and even more so of strangers, until they can prove to him otherwise. Once someone manages to make their way into his “inner circle,” though, his loyalty is all but unmatched. However, that loyalty comes at a certain price in that he does not take kindly to betrayal and a certain vindictive nature bred into him and cultivated since birth by familial schemes drives him to revenge for those slights.
Additionally, Corwin possesses a keen intelligence, tuned to family politics and military application- though he isn’t quite as gifted in that area as his oldest brother Benedict, a military career the equivalent of centuries long gives him a solid basis in tactical and combat knowledge. A born leader- charismatic and persuasive- he has no qualms in taking charge of a situation. He is a natural problem solver and often the “go-to” for a solution- among those who actually trust him. His answers are typically creative and are often delivered with a flair that is unmistakably his.
In addition to a practical knowledge, Corwin also has a vast philosophical and literary base to draw on. His position ensured the highest education possible, and he is very well-read in several areas; he is often able to bring obscure references into casual conversation. However, he has a particular fondness for Shakespeare- Hamlet, more specifically, for its parallels with his own family situation and his tendency to empathize with the Prince of Denmark. Beyond philosophy and literature, Corwin also has a functional medical knowledge (field medicine, for the most part), and a significant background of military history, accumulated throughout his extended life. On top of that, he speaks several languages fluently, including English, French, German and Thari (the language of his home “world”).
It is mentioned several times by his siblings and others that knew him that his personality has mellowed somewhat in the centuries since he fought with his older brother Eric and vanished into Shadow, leaving one to wonder how he was before. He seems to retain something of the cleverness, foresight, and ruthlessness that they remember, though in some circumstances it is more muted than it appears to have been in the past.
Like his siblings, Corwin has little reservation about sex. While not often actively searching for a relationship, should one present itself, he would rarely say no. Most of his encounters and relationships are either one time or entirely casual- his problems with trust in addition to his unique lifespan make him hesitant to form attachments or to fall in love. Seldom do his relationships move past the physical into the realms of the emotional. To that end, he is charming and smooth, usually able to earn at least the good graces of most women, if not win them over entirely. Still, he is something of a playboy, seldom tying himself to one person for very long. Despite this pastime, however, neither he nor his siblings have proved to be excessively prolific- which is well enough, as Corwin is not a very fatherly-type person, owing to his own less-than-ideal childhood. He even treats his own son more as a family friend than as his child.
History: Amber has been described as the Eternal City, the One True City, and the like. It is, essentially, the city that stands at the center of every universe. It casts what are called Shadows- essentially infinite variations of universes. Every city in every universe is a reflection of Amber at some point in its past or future development. Everything one can imagine exists somewhere in Shadow. Children of its regent, Oberon, are gifted with the ability to traverse these realities after they have walked the Pattern- an artifact inscribed on the floor in one of the dungeons that the family is tasked with guarding.
Corwin is the fifth in a line of princes and princesses- sons and daughters of King Oberon of Amber- and the first to be born undisputably legitimate. For a long time, he believed that this, among other reasons, made him the most worthy holder of Amber's throne. Unfortunately, most of his siblings also believed that they were the most worthy of the throne and all of them grew up in the midst of a competition for their father's favor. Oberon's children were essentially raised on political intrigues and underhanded motives.
During one of these quarrels with his brother Eric, at the time his most hated nemesis, Corwin was defeated and taken from Amber by Eric who left him in a plague-ridden London circa 1665 where Corwin contracted the disease. His subsequent recovery, however, came at the loss of his memory, and he became little more than a human oddity with increased strength, metabolism, and recovery rates.
The next 400 years he spent in relative anonymity under the pseudonym Carl Corey in various militaries and positions of leadership, never staying in one place for very long, though his progressing amnesia prevented him from entirely questioning his apparent extended longevity. During this time he was questioned and psychoanalyzed by such groundbreaking psychologists as Freud and Jung in an attempt to regain his memory, to no avail. He continued in his military endeavors, however, building contacts around the world and serving on active duty in several wars under such generals as Napoleon and MacArthur.
Eventually, Corwin retired from military service to a large estate in rural California. However, he was found by his brother Eric once more and Eric set their sister Florimel to watching over him to ensure that his memory never returned. It had started to come back to him in bits and pieces, and after a minor car accident, Corwin was institutionalized and subjected to electroshock therapy to erase the parts of his memory that had returned. After less than a week, Corwin escaped and suffered from a more major car accident when Eric became desperate and shot out his tires, sending Corwin's vehicle over a cliff and into a lake. He was rescued by a mysterious red-headed man (later revealed to be his brother, Brand).
From there, Corwin awakened prematurely from a drug-induced coma authorized by his sister and, after a definite struggle with nurses and orderlys attempting to narcotize him, freed himself from Greenwood Private Hospital, and tracked down his sister Florimel who was living in New York under the name Evelyn Flaumel. He managed to fool her into believing he had fully recovered his faculties- including his memory- by employing an instinctual suspicion and craftiness that he had learned throughout his childhood. He had intended to milk her for information as long as he possibly could, but after only a few days staying with her, another brother, Random, put in his appearance, being trailed by strange creatures. Corwin agreed to go with him back to Amber, but once they had made it through Shadow to the appropriate world, they discovere Deirdre- another sister and Corwin's favorite- being escorted back to Amber by Eric's men after she had fled the city. They rescued her and Corwin admitted that he had no memory.
Instead of returning to Amber, then, the three made their way to Rebma- an underwater palace in the sea and Amber's truest reflection- where Corwin walked the Pattern there, restoring much of his memory. A peculiarity of the Pattern allows those at its center to transport themselves anywhere they wish to go, and Corwin used this ability to appear in Amber, where he fought with Eric once more, narrowly escaping. Wounded, he turned to his brother Bleys who, after saving his life, asked Corwin to join his assult on Amber and Eric. Corwin readily agreed.
The assault was a catastrophic failure. Bleys was thrown from the side of Kolvir- the mountain on top of which Amber sits- during the fight up it and Corwin was taken prisoner, having only breached the city gates with a few hundred of his soldiers. He was forced to crown Eric as King of Amber, and subsequently blinded and imprisoned beneath the palace. Four years later, after he had regenerated his destroyed eyes, he managed to escape the dungeons and began plotting his revenge on Eric.
His first stop was his old haunt- a world he called Avalon. He was able to obtain a substance that there was used as a jewler's polish, but in Amber would function as gunpowder (as a traditional gunpowder became inert in proximity to the Eternal City). On the way, he met Ganelon, a former friend turned traitor that Corwin had abandoned in Shadow centuries before. He continued his recovery from his imprisonment there, while helping Ganelon to conquer strange enemies that came from a Black Road that led directly to the Courts of Chaos. After the dark army was defeated, Ganelon chose to accompany Corwin as a friend on his journey.
In Avalon, Corwin met his brother Benedict, who had stepped in to lead the people in Corwin's absence. Corwin also met Dara, a girl claiming to be Benedict's great grandniece. He took it upon himself to begin her familial education and showed her the Shadows, in which she seemed to take a keen interest. He made love to her and left, having obtained what he had come to Avalon for. However, he was pursued by Benedict and, Corwin assuming that this was over his relationship with Dara, the two fought, Corwin only winning by exploiting the strange vegetation involved in the Black Road- the grasses trapped Benedict's legs and held him while Corwin arranged for him to be taken care of. Several days later, Corwin learned that Benedict had no knowledge of Dara and was, in fact, angry because he believed that Corwin had murdered his servants and fled.
Once back in the version of the world that had served as his prison for four centuries (namely, ours), Corwin contracted arms manufacturers from amongst his old contacts and once they were completed, he left to recruit several hundred soldiers. They marched on Amber and arrived to find her already engaged in war with monsters from the Black Road. After several moments watching the battle, Corwin finally opted to aid the side of Amber, rather than attacking it. His firearms rapidly turned the tides of the fight in Amber's favor and the beasts were readily dispatched, though Eric was wounded and eventually died in the fighting. Dara then reappeared and dashed into the city. Corwin was unable to catch her until he found her traversing the Pattern, undestroyed. She revealed herself to be a creature from the Courts of Chaos and, declaring Amber's destruction, disappeared.
Now sitting in regency, Corwin was summoned to meet with another brother, Caine, and, finding him dead, he was attacked. Random recognized the creature as one of those that had been pursuing him when he appeared at Florimel's house in New York and revealed that they had been guards surrounding a tower wherein their brother Brand had been trapped; Random had been summoned to rescue him and had failed. Corwin then proposed another attempt be made and summoned all of his siblings that remained among the living to assist. Brand was stabbed in the effort, however, and the rest of the family adjourned to another room to assign blame. Though no satisfactory answer was achieved, the conference was broken up to allow for sleep.
Upon returning to his own room, Corwin was attacked and stabbed by an intruder, only managing to survive by inadvertently teleporting himself back to his old house in California via the Jewel of Judgment- an artifact worn by Amber's kings. Dying, he managed to make it outside and flag down a passing car, thankfully enough driven by an old friend of his uninclined to ask questions. He took Corwin to the hospital where he was treated, though he left nearly immediately when contacted by Random, who was attempting to wake him. Corwin returned to Amber and spoke with Brand who revealed that he, their sister Fiona, and Bleys were involved in a conspiracy to overtake the city and the throne and that there had been a falling out. Fiona had stabbed him when she realized that he would be rescued.
In an attempt to buy more time for his recovery (and to continue keeping his wound a secret), Corwin then visited Tir-na Nog'th- a ghost city with a reputation for being portentous- accompanied by Ganelon and Random. There he witnessed an image of Dara claiming to be Queen of Amber with Benedict at her side. He and Benedict's ghost fought, and Corwin escaped with Random's help. After a brief discussion, the three set off to return to Amber, but ended up in a different Shadow instead. However, this one was the true origin of all Shadows, and the Primal Pattern- the very original- lay in front of them, damaged by the blood of Random's son, Martin. This seemed to be the origin of the Black Road so troubling to Amber. After returning to the city and explaining what had happened, Random then left to find his son while Corwin remained behind.
After speaking briefly with Random's wife, Corwin returned to the dungeon he had been imprisoned in where he then met Dworkin- the crafter of the Pattern. Under the impression that Corwin was actually his father Oberon, Dworking revealed a way to repair the damage to the Primal Pattern and thus destroy the Black Road. Dworkin believed that it would be better to erase the Pattern and begin again, though that would mean the destruction of everything. Corwin favored repair and made up his mind to try it, but was forced out by Dworkin when he began to show signs of violent madness.
He ended up in the Courts of Chaos- Amber's polar opposite, though no less imposing. There he fought with one of the nobleman of that realm, killing him. Another rider approached at that point, warned Corwin of the danger to his person if he remained, and left. Corwin then contacted his brother Gerard and returned to Amber where he once again spoke with Brand, who tried to obtain the Jewel of Judgment from Corwin, ostensibly to stop Fiona from executing whatever her plan might be. They squabbled, but nothing serious came of the encounter.
Corwin then decided to take a ride through the city to clear his thoughts but was contacted by Ganelon and later Gerard, from whom he learned that Brand had left. Blaming Corwin for his disappearance, Gerard attacked Corwin, but with Ganelon's assistance, he was knocked unconscious. Corwin then followed Brand back to the Earth where he had hidden the Jewel of Judgment. He was contacted there by Fiona, from whom he learned that Brand was, indeed, the malefactor in their cabal, rather than Fiona. Brand had stolen the Jewel and was attempting to use its power to begin a war between Amber and Chaos. From there, he would erase the Pattern and remake the universe to be subservient to him. Brand made several attempts to attune himself to the Jewel using the Pattern, but was thwarted each time. After one attempt that he made in Tir-na Nog'th that Corwin and Benedict were successful in stopping, Corwin suggested they attempt to contact their father, despite that no one had been able to for years. They made contact, only to discover that he was disguising himself as Ganelon.
Corwin then took several days to breathe- and swear- in the castle library and, after a conversation with Random, he was called downstairs where he witnessed what he had seen in Tir-na Nog'th: Dara and Benedict sitting in Amber's palace proper. A barrier prevented entry into the room during their conversation, but once it had concluded, the barrier was lifted and Corwin entered the room and confronted Dara, who proceeded to inform him that she had born his son, Merlin. With Benedict's backing, Dara explained that the Amberites had descended from the Courts of Chaos- Dworkin was Oberon's father and they had both rebelled, forming Amber and the Patter with the Jewel of Judgment.
Continuing, Dara informed them that their father had orders for them, and had Oberon's signet ring to prove it. They were to attack Chaos at once. Corwin was able to contact his sister Fiona who was with their father at the Primal Pattern to verify the orders he had given, and he came to them where he snatched the jewel from his father who was considering how best to repair the Pattern as it would cost him his life and made a dash to repair it himself, but he was stopped by Oberon. Corwin was then offered the throne he had so desperately fought for, and he turned it down, saying that he no longer wanted it. Corwin was then given orders to ride to the Courts of Chaos and that the Jewel of Judgment would come to him along the way.
Corwin left immediately and fled the aftereffects of what repairing the Pattern had done to Shadow. The Jewel did indeed come to him, but at one point he was not certain if he could outrun the storm that seemed to be destroying reality in its wake that was always upon him. He stopped and crafted his own Pattern, then, to save the world that he knew, unaware that his father had completed repairs to the original.
He continued, then, to the Courts of Chaos, arriving in time to witness the end of the battle. Brand, however, had taken Deirdre hostage and threatened to kill her. He was shot and fell over the edge into Chaos, unfortunatley taking Deirdre with him. The marksman revealed himself to be the supposedly dead brother Caine, who had hidden in Shadow, trying to determine who was behind the plotting in Amber. Once the traitor Brand was dead, Random was named King of Amber as Oberon had died repairing the Pattern. Corwin was able to attune Random to the Jewel of Judgment, but fell unconscious from his efforts.
He awoke next to a fire and recounted his story to Merlin, his son, whom he now met, though Merlin hinted at being the warrior that had saved him in Corwin's first stint in the Courts of Chaos. After finishing his story, Corwin paused for a moment to reflect on the decisions he had made and the possible repercussions surrounding his creation of a second Pattern.
He was last seen riding into the Courts of Chaos to meet with their leaders to discuss terms of surrender.
Arrival Post (Third Person):
Goodbye and hello as always.
Maybe Corwin had always known that it was a trick- still wallowing in the mire of recent defeat, the Courts of Chaos weren't to be trusted- not that they ever had a time when they should have been. The antithesis of order under the rotational tetrachrome of what passed as sky. But there was still something of the march of order in it- of Amber.
This was their primal material, after all, their ancestry. The origin of Amber who cast her Shadows from one end of the universe to the other, the Order from Chaos. Irony at its extremest.
The frantic flight wasn't going to be enough. They were too close- close enough to follow him. He hadn't turned and run when he had the chance the first time and every time he shifted, they came with him, following in the wake he was all but forced to leave behind- a Hellride left its mark, after all.
The vague hint of a path running alongside cold blue rivers...Forests filled with silent, staring life...Glowing foreign plants under an orange nighttime sky...A room constructed of cold, alien metal...
-and stopped. Suddenly, the world was immovable, and he opened his eyes to a room that he hadn't seen before- one that he was only supposed to run through. And his horse was gone on top of it as he stood precisely in the center of it, blinking in confusion.
All he could do was blame a brother now dead; it seemed like they were always blaming each other. That one had done a little more to deserve it than any of the others, though, and even if he had passed beyond the edge of Chaos, it wasn't all that unlikely that he had planned this beforehand, that he still had his hand in holding him captive here.
Wherever "here" was.
Addressing no one wasn't going to help, but he couldn't resist. Who was to say that some incarnation of his brother wasn't listening?
"What the hell is this supposed to be, Brand? Irony? Sorry to put you to all the trouble, but the joke's lost on me."
No response came, but then, he hadn't really expected one. Even if this was a prison, Brand could never make it that easy. It had that dramatic flair of his, certainly, but he could never give it away that quickly. Corwin would have to work for his answers like always, delving for that last secret, that one final trump card that Brand always had up his sleeve.
"I thought you learned your lesson the last time, Brand. Holing me up in here isn't going to do you much good. I'm leaving- with or without your permission."
All he had to do was keep moving- walking in any direction. A circle was just fine, so a circle was what he walked with green eyes closed and concentration written quite plainly on his face.
There was a crack in the metal there, small green things growing up out of the exposed dirt, pale sunlight filtering in from another break overhead...
He opened his eyes to nothing but the same room as before.
Maybe it was an underwater palace, startled fish swimming their mundane way past a window of transparent crystal...
Nothing had changed.
Desert, then, with sand blowing in from the windstorm outside- blinding, gritty stuff that grated his skin and tore at his eyes while the heat oppressed him-
-nothing. Again. And he swore loudly, finally giving up on the hope of leaving that way. It seemed for the time being that he was going to stay. It wasn't as if he hadn't spent time in a prison cell before- darker and more sinister than this one.
"...go to hell, Brand."
Additional Third Person Sample:
He had certainly had worse beds than this. Memories of hard-packed dirt, stony earth, even that terrible straw mattress he had called a bed for four years in the dungeons underneath Amber came rather quickly to mind. This was something else entirely. Compared to most of those experiences, this was his own little piece of heaven, lying back on cool, lush grass and gazing up through the branches of an ethereal forest at the alien constellations above him. He may never get to know those stars, either, for he would be leaving them behind at dawn to find others that he had never seen before. It wasn’t as if he’d never slept under a foreign sky before.
A voice that was maybe distant or maybe a contrivance of his own mind drifted towards him, then, tantalizing him with his own name. Now close at hand, now hiding deep within the trees. Somehow, he couldn’t resist answering it, either, phantom voice or no.
“Corwin’s busy right now. Leave a message, he’ll get back to you.”
The whole thing was almost poetic in a strange, perverse kind of way. Ghost voices behind ghost faces hiding amid the haunted branches of what could very well be a ghost forest. And as Corwin rolled slowly over and raised himself into a crouching position, his hand fell against the hilt of the ever faithful Grayswandir and tinted the whole scenario a dark shade of ominous.
“So it’s to be ghosts then?” The soft steely hiss as Grayswandir came unsheathed in his hand seemed deafening in the silence that followed the question. No response came. Even the voices had fallen silent, and the lack of sound was eerie. Even the voices had fallen silent. Suddenly the darkness seemed to close, and it was almost tangibly crushing- it grew harder to breathe in each moment he thought of it. The Night-Blade had frightened the specters of Tir-na Nog’th, so why not these? Why should it not frighten the ones here that may or may not exist?
“You want to play? Bring it, asshole!”
A sudden crash echoed from the bushes behind him.