E L D E R S

and other Non-Player Characters from the Amber books



Unicorn Amberites

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Benedict Benedict Barimen: Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Cymnea, brother of Osric and Finndo, married to Magdalyn, father of Ariadne, Miranda, Bastion and Elliot, grandfather of Dara and Lyss, great-grandfather of Merlin, Despil, Jurt, Darby, Barton and Darwin, great-great-grandfather of Enver, Anan, Darniil and Modred. His symbol is a Sunflower, and his colors are orange, yellow and brown.

Trump thumbnail of Bleys Bleys Barimen: Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Clarissa, younger brother of Fiona, older brother of Brand, married to Viktoria, father of Oscar. He possesses one of the Spikards. His symbol is an open book, and his colors are red and orange.

Trump thumbnail of Brand Brand Barimen: Avatar of Trump, Prince of Amber, creator of the Star, son of Oberon and Clarissa, younger brother of Fiona and Bleys, widower of Jasra, father of Heather, Rinaldo and Grayson, grandfather of Emer, Jordan, Meredith, Adrian, Jasper, Nigel and Tristan, wielder of Werewindle. He possessed one of the Spikards during Patternfall, but Fiona removed it (and his finger) to break the geas he was under. Its whereabouts are currently unknown, although it may be the one in Fiona's possession. He also possessed the Eye of Destruction for a time, much to everyone's dismay, and wreaked quite a bit of havoc with it, including forcing Laughter to essentially turn herself over to Zane, who then held her prisoner for a year, and raping Ariana and fathering a son on her. How he lost the Eye is not currently known. He is suspected of leading the forces which attacked Nicholas and Zane at Ygg, and is responsible for the curse that killed Nimue, the destruction of the first Ygg seedling, and for erasing the minds of Foster and Laughter. As punishment for all of these things, his victims were given the chance to retaliate as they saw fit, then his Pattern was permanently removed and his memories were erased. He resided in Avalon for a time, under the care of Clarissa and Rinaldo, until the two halves of Trump merged and he was chosen by this new major power to became one of its Triumvirate, the three Avatars of Trump. His symbol is a falling star in a starry background, and his color is green.

Trump thumbnail of CaineCaine Barimen: Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Rilga, older brother of Julian and Gérard, father of Usires, Jackie and Lethe. He was among those who were trapped on the other side of the rift that separates Amber from Chaos, and passed 100 years there before being rescued. His symbol is a sea-gull against a stormy night sky, and his colors are black and green.

Coral: Supposed daughter of the Begman ambassador, Orkuz, and his wife, Kinta, rumored daughter of Oberon.

Skull Trump thumbnail of Corwin Corwin Barimen (deceased): Former Crown Prince of Amber, creator of the Rose, son of Oberon and Faiella, younger brother of Eric, older brother of Deirdre, former lover of Deirdre, father of Ahab, Arthur, Merlin and Meander, grandfather of Nicholas and Nimue, great-grandfather of Corbin, genetic grandfather of Lyss, genetic great-grandfather of Darby, Barton and Darwin, original wielder of Greyswandir. He was captured by Dara after her failed civil war, and kept in solitary confinement for 50 years, resulting in complete madness until the Unicorn cured him. He was killed shortly afterward by the Serpent, while attempting to retrieve the Jewel of Judgment, which the Serpent had reclaimed. His symbol was a silver rose, and his colors were black and silver.

Skull Dalt (deceased): Son of Oberon and Deela the Desecratrix. He attacked Amber on numerous occasions, and was finally executed by Ahab, under Oberon's orders, shortly after Oberon's return. His symbol was a lion rending a unicorn, and his colors were black and green.

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Deirdre Deirdre Hendrake (also known as "The Slayer"): Princess of Amber, Lady of House Hendrake, daughter of Oberon and Faiella, younger sister of Eric and Corwin, former lover of Corwin, married to Luther, mother of Ahab and Ishmael, grandmother of Nicholas, Nimue, Duncan, Daffyd, Clare, Finn and Reese, great-grandmother of Corbin, genetic grandmother of Lyss, genetic great-grandmother of Darby, Barton and Darwin. Deirdre was among those who were trapped on the other side of the rift that separated Amber from Chaos after Ygg was destroyed, and was supposedly killed when Nicholas walked the Logrus. In reality, she faked her death, both because she wanted to be free to fight Zane on her own, and because she wanted to force Fiona to raise Ishmael, not wanting to repeat the mistakes she had made with Ahab. Dressed in armor that concealed her appearance, she was called "The Slayer" in Chaos, due to the large numbers of Zane's supporters that she killed. She finally returned to Amber and revealed that she still lived after Nicholas killed Zane. Her symbol is a crescent moon, and her colors are black and silver.

Skull Delwin Barimen (deceased): Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Harla, twin brother of Sand, married to Lucretia, father of Alex and Teresa, possessor of one of the Spikards. He was assassinated during Dara's rebellion by Benedict, who was under Dara's control at the time. His colors were brown and black.

Skull & question
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Dworkin Dworkin Barimen (deceased?): Former lover of the Unicorn and Cymnea, father of Oberon and Ona, grandfather, etc., of countless descendants, formerly of House Barimen. He is believed to have been killed by Deirdre, in retaliation for all the years of misery he inflicted on her due to Ahab's incestuous birth, and he hasn't been seen since then, but can Dworkin ever really be killed? His symbol was the Pattern itself.

Trump thumbnail of Eric Eric Barimen: Prince of Amber, former Amber ambassador to Chaos, former Regent of Amber, son of Oberon and Faiella, older brother of Corwin and Deirdre, former lover of Lucretia, married to Leto, lover of Vixen, father of Ronan, Rénard, Sebastian and Prospero. His symbol is a pair of crossed fencing swords in front of a full moon in a totally black sky, and his colors are black and red.

Finndo Barimen: King of the Unseelie Court (also known as the Goblin King), Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Cymnea, brother of Osric and Benedict, married to Nicnivin. Finndo disappeared centuries ago and was believed killed in battle. It is rumored that Oberon knowingly sent him to his death, possibly to punish Cymnea for taking Dworkin as her lover, or because Osric killed three people from House Karm over the death of a relative of Cymnea's, although what Finndo's involvement in this was is unknown. He recently turned up as the new ruler of the Unseelie Court, making his presence known by stealing the Orb from Nicholas and helping Jack to destroy it. It is believed that he took the Faerie Ring during the time he was presumed dead, since his appearance is now that of an Unseelie faerie.

Trump thumbnail of Fiona Fiona Helgram: Princess of Amber, Countess of Clearwane in Helgram, former Avatar of Trump, daughter of Oberon and Clarissa, older sister of Bleys and Brand, former lover of Mandor, married to Suhuy, mother of Laughter, Alexandra and Whimsy, grandmother of Haris, Iseult, Paxon, Isaac, Elspeth, Arawn, Pwyll, Lethe, Thorn, Castor and Pollux. She possesses one of the Spikards, which may or may not be Brand's. She was among those who were trapped on the other side of the rift that separates Amber from Chaos, and passed 100 years there before being rescued. After the two halves of Trump merged, she was chosen by this new major power to became one of its Triumvirate, the three Avatars of Trump. She remained in this position for nearly five years, until Suhuy was freed from being the Avatar of the Logrus, at which point she broke from the Triumvirate. Her symbol is an inverted pentagram inside of an inverted pentacle, and her colors are green, lavender and purple.

Flora Sawall (also known as Florimel): Princess of Amber, former Queen of Chaos, daughter of Oberon and Dybele, widow of Gramble, mother of Lillian. She was captured during Zane's insurgency, but her life was spared, although the life of her unborn child was not. She had Lillian soon afterward, and although she refuses to identify the father, many have noted a resemblance between Lillian and Bill Roth. Her symbol is a Lotus flower, and her colors are green and gray. updated

Gérard Barimen: Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Rilga, younger brother of Caine and Julian, married to Isabeux, father of Felix, Vivienne and Gideon, grandfather of Foster, Crispin and Donal, great-grandfather of Haris, Iseult and Elspeth. His symbol is a chalice, and his colors are blue and gray.

Julian Barimen: Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Rilga, younger brother of Caine, older brother of Gérard, married to Flavia, father of Shard and Jewel, grandfather of Brendan. His symbol is a hunting hawk descending in attack, and his colors are white and black.

Llewella Jesby: Princess of Amber, former Lady of House Jesby, daughter of Oberon and Moins, lover of Gant, married to Barnabas, mother of Bartholomew, Brinnan and Llewellan, grandmother of Barton and Darwin. Her symbol is a dolphin against a watery background, and her colors are green, lavender and gray.

Martin Barimen: Duke of Amber and Rebma, former Crown Prince of Rebma, son of Random and Morganthë, younger half brother of Driscoll, older half brother of Vaughn. His symbol is a radiation symbol.

Trump thumbnail of Merlin Merlin Barimen: Duke of Amber, son of Corwin and Dara, younger half brother of Ahab, Meander and Arthur, older half brother of Despil and Jurt. His symbol is an upright pentacle, and his colors are gray and purple.

Mirelle Barimen: Princess of Amber, former lady of House Borge, daughter of Oberon and Paulette, younger twin sister of Random, widow of Zane, ex-wife of Fenar, mother of Ariana and Devlin, grandmother of Jalana, Morgan, Ana, Briana, Grayson, Bryan and Dorian, great-grandmother of Adrian, Jasper, Nigel and Tristan. Mirelle was abused psychologically and sexually by Brand as a child, and when she was nine, she found her mother's body, after Paulette committed suicide. This caused her personality to fragment, and for many years she had several distinct personas, none of which seemed to remember events that happened to the others. Oberon briefly fixed this, to some extent, such that she still heard the voices of her other personas, but they couldn't control her. Unfortunately, this didn't last long, and Mirelle's behavior became more erratic again, until Ariana and Lucien combined their efforts and managed to fuse her personalities together again. While this combined personality was still a bit frayed around the edges, in the end it proved far more stable than the previous fragmented ones. Mirelle's colors are red and yellow.

Skull Trump thumbnail of Oberon Oberon Barimen (deceased): King of Amber, son of Dworkin and the Unicorn, twin brother of Ona, married to Cymnea, Faiella, Clarissa, Rilga, Dybele, Paulette and Harla, lover of Moins and Kinta, father of far too many children to list. He was supposedly killed redrawing the Pattern at the end of the Patternfall war, but he turned up in Amber at the end of the Chaos civil war, claiming to merely have been working behind the scenes. He was believed to be in possession of the master Spikard, which he obtained from Sand before he had her executed. When he was mortally wounded in several places by Dara, he was placed in stasis until a way could be found to save him. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), Dara decided to finish the job by sending Benedict (who was under her control at the time) to sever Oberon's head from his body while he was still in the stasis field. He remained in stasis for a short time after that, until magic was turned off in Amber, and he died instantly. The location of the master Spikard remains unknown. His symbol was the five-sided Crown of Amber.

Skull Osric Barimen (deceased): Prince of Amber, son of Oberon and Cymnea, brother of Finndo and Benedict, father of Roderick, ancestor of the members of House Orsola. Killed in battle, it is rumored that Oberon knowingly sent him to his death, possibly to punish Cymnea for taking Dworkin as her lover, or because Osric killed three people from House Karm over the death of a relative of Cymnea's.

Random Barimen: King of Amber, former Steward of Amber, son of Oberon and Paulette, older twin brother of Mirelle, former lover of Dorienne and Morganthë, married to Vialle, father of Driscoll, Martin and Vaughn, grandfather of Hope, Eris, Paxon and Isaac. Random ruled Amber for a time after Patternfall, until Oberon returned and took back his throne. When Nicholas became Emperor, he appointed Random his Steward King in Amber, to rule when he was absent. Nicholas abdicated the throne of Amber to Random prior to his duel with Finndo. Random's symbol is a small drum set with drumsticks crossed above it, and his colors are orange, red and brown. updated

Rinaldo Barimen: Duke of Amber, son of Brand and Jasra, younger half brother of Heather, older half brother of Grayson. Rinaldo is 5'10" tall and weighs about 165 lbs., with red-gold hair and green eyes. He is larger than his father, and his hair is lighter. His symbol is a phoenix rising from flames, and his color is green.

Skull Sand Barimen (deceased): Princess of Amber, daughter of Oberon and Harla, twin sister of Delwin, former lover of Lucien, mother of Shannon and Vincent, bitch Queen of the Universe (at least the players thought so). She was responsible for the destruction of Castle Amber, and for holding various Amber children hostage in exchange for the Jewel of Judgment. When she was finally captured, her newborn twins were given to Ariana to raise, and she was imprisoned in Shadow for several years. She was freed when the Jewel of Judgment was shattered, but shortly afterwards was secretly imprisoned by Delwin, Alex and Teresa, and made the power source for the Spikards. She remained thus until Oberon's return, at which point he had Ahab execute her. Several years later, her ghost began appearing to Vincent in his dreams and offering to teach him Dream Trump, her specialty. This continued until Vincent was 12, when the reunion of the two planes of Trump gave Sand enough energy to transfer her spirit into Vincent's body, where she quickly took over. Unable to remove her without killing Vincent, Brand merged them together, leaving Vincent in control with all of Sand's skills and memories. Through an unusual sequence of events, five years later, Ariana caused Sand's spirit to leave Vincent's mind. Sand's soul is believed to have been reborn later in Ariana's son Dorian, giving her a chance at a happier life. Her colors were pale tan and dark brown. updated


Unicorn Feyans

SkullClarissa Barimen (deceased): Daughter of Merrick of Avalon, ex-wife of Oberon, mother of Fiona, Bleys and Brand, grandmother of Laughter, Alexandra, Whimsy, Oscar, Heather, Rinaldo and Grayson, great-grandmother of Haris, Iseult, Paxon, Isaac, Elspeth, Arawn, Pwyll, Lethe, Thorn, Castor, Pollux, Emer, Jordan, Meredith, Adrian, Jasper, Nigel and Tristan. She was killed by the surge of energy created when the two halves of Trump merged.


mermaid Rebmans

Trump thumbnail of Moire Moire: Queen of Rebma, formerly betrothed to Oberon, mother of Morganthë and Arthur, grandmother of Martin.

Skull Morganthë (deceased): Princess of Rebma, daughter of Moire, older half sister of Arthur, lover of Random, mother of Martin. She was abandoned by Random while still pregnant and committed suicide shortly after Martin was born.

Vialle Barimen: Blind Queen of Amber, married to Random, mother of Vaughn. Her symbol is crashing waves.


Serpent Chaosites

Trump thumbnail of Cymnea Cymnea Vetch-Barimen (also known as Rygat): Briefly Queen of Chaos, former Queen of Amber, younger sister of Lea and Laurent, younger twin sister of Lucien, former lover of Dworkin, ex-wife of Oberon, mother of Osric, Finndo and Benedict, grandmother of Ariadne, Miranda, Bastion and Elliot, great-grandmother of Dara and Lyss, great-great-grandmother of Merlin, Despil, Jurt, Darby, Barton and Darwin, great-great-great-grandmother of Enver, Anan, Darniil and Modred, formerly of House Vetch. Using the name Rygat, she killed Swayvill and took over Chaos for a time, using its forces to aid her war with Amber. She blamed Oberon for the deaths of Osric and Finndo, and since she could not wreak her vengeance on him, she instead attempted to destroy the city he'd created. The war ended when she was imprisoned in a Trump trap, the conditions of which were that she could not leave until she accepted the deaths of Osric and Finndo. She remained trapped in this fashion until Finndo contacted her after the destruction of the Orb. The knowledge that he still lived was enough to allow her to leave the Trump, and she has recently returned to Chaos. Her symbol is a foxglove plant.

Skull Dara Sawall (deceased): Former Queen of Chaos, daughter of Ariadne, older half sister of Lyss, ex-wife of Gramble, mother of Merlin, Despil and Jurt, grandmother of Enver, Anan, Darniil and Modred, formerly of House Hendrake. She was one of the primary leaders of the civil war against Gramble, and remained at large at the end of that war until her supposed capture by Brand, Bart and Lyss. At the execution, it was revealed that what they captured was actually a Logrus ghost of Dara, one of many she had running around in Shadow. Her alliance with the Logrus made her very dangerous, although there were some who said that she was actually under the control of the Logrus, rather than being its ally. She was killed by Ahab in combat, so whether she was an ally or simply a tool of the Logrus remains unknown. Although she is dead, one of her Logrus ghosts remains at large. Her symbol was a circle divided lengthwise, left side black and right side white.

Despil Sawall: King of Chaos, son of Gramble and Dara, younger half brother of Mandor and Merlin, older brother of Jurt, married to Mara, father of Enver, Anan, Darniil and Modred. Despil remained in Chaos when Mandor and most of House Sawall fled in the wake of Gramble's death at Zane's hands. Appearing on the surface to support Zane, Despil secretly opposed him, aiding the forces against Zane whenever he could. He openly sided with Nicholas when Nicholas invaded Chaos, and was appointed Steward King by Nicholas at the conclusion of the war, to rule when Nicholas was absent. He became King when Nicholas abdicated the throne of Chaos to him prior to his duel with Finndo. updated

Skull Gramble Sawall (deceased): King of Chaos, Head of House Sawall, ex-husband of Dara, married to Flora, father of Mandor, Despil and Jurt, grandfather of Laughter, Emer, Jordan, Meredith, Enver, Anan, Darniil and Modred, great-grandfather of Haris, Iseult, Paxon, Isaac and Elspeth. He was 5'11" tall and weighed about 155 lbs., with narrow violet eyes and shoulder-length red-brown hair, which he wore loose. He dressed impeccably, and exuded an air of grace and power. He was captured and killed by the Chaos insurgency led by Zane.

Trump thumbnail of Mandor Mandor Sawall: Former leader of Middlecourt, former Crown Prince of Chaos, son of Gramble, older half brother of Despil and Jurt, former lover of Fiona, married to Heather, father of Laughter, Emer, Jordan and Meredith, grandfather of Haris, Iseult, Paxon, Isaac and Elspeth. He managed to flee Chaos during Zane's insurrection, and established Middlecourt as a haven for Chaosite refugees. After Zane was defeated, and the destruction of the Orb made Shadows harder to control, Middlecourt was disbanded and Mandor returned to Chaos. His symbol is two chess pieces, a black Queen and a white Knight on their corresponding game squares.

Suhuy Helgram: Former Avatar of the Logrus, Count of Clearwane in Helgram, married to Fiona, father of Alexandra and Whimsy, grandfather of Arawn, Pwyll, Lethe, Thorn, Castor and Pollux. Suhuy is 5'10" tall and weighs about 160 lbs., with bright blue eyes and golden blond hair that has a touch of gray at the temples, which he tends to wear pulled back. He looks to be a man of middle age, but his large eyes have lost none of their brightness, and make note of everything. He was the instructor of all those who took the Logrus, until he fled to Middlecourt in the wake of Zane's insurrection. After the Chasm was mended, he was forced by the Logrus to become its new Avatar, a position he held until the destruction of the Orb made the Logrus too weak to sustain an Avatar. He returned to Chaos after Middlecourt was disbanded.

Skull Swayvill (deceased): King of Chaos, father of Zane and Kimdyl, grandfather of Ariana, Nicholas and Nimue, great-grandfather of Jalana, Morgan, Ana, Briana, Grayson, Bryan, Dorian and Corbin, great-great-grandfather of Adrian, Jasper, Nigel and Tristan. The last remaining member of his house at the time of his death, he was a direct descendent of the Serpent. He was killed by Cymnea when she took the throne of Chaos from him after Patternfall.


Shadow dwellers

Skull Deela the Desecratrix (deceased): Mother of Dalt, enemy of Amber, she attacked Amber and various Golden Circle Shadows, and desecrated many Unicorn shrines. Subdued once by Oberon, who raped her, she continued her attacks until she was killed by Bleys' army during a battle.

Skull Jasra Barimen (deceased): Married to Brand, mother of Rinaldo, killed in the destruction of the Star.


OF Unicorn
"Outrageous Fortune"
PCs | Elders
Avalon | Amber | Shadows | Faerie | Chaos
Artifacts, Creatures & Places of Note


All Trumps displayed on this page, or in the Elder description pages, are the work of Wendi Strang-Frost, and are © by her. Please contact her before reproducing them in any fashion. For more examples of her work, check out her web page, her online comic "Johnny Public" or the "Wavedancers" story in Elfquest.

All text on this page is © 1997-2002 by Kris Fazzari, with the exception of the quotes in the Elder description pages, which are taken from Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles and are © by Roger Zelazny.

All characters listed on this page are from Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles and are © by Roger Zelazny.

Last modified on November 26, 2002 by Kris Fazzari.


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