From: ydobyns@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (York H. Dobyns)
Subject: Re: (amber question at bottom)  about Chaosites
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 16:45:19 GMT

In article <darknite.714026978@camelot> darknite@camelot.bradley.edu (John S. Novak III) writes:
>[...]The whole deal with the Chaosites' (Courtesans'?)

 Merlin calls himself a Chaosite when he's referring to that aspect of
his heritage, so that seems to be the appropriate term.

>stats seems unfair to me.  The Courts are supposed to be as
>'real' as Amber, and every bit as powerful.  Why is Chaos rank
>lower than Amber rank?

Because Chaos may be as real as Amber, and the Logrus may be
metaphysically as powerful as the Pattern, but individual persons
are not. Consider: Natives of the Courts are terrifically long-lived,
but they do appear to age. Ditto citizens of Amber. The royal family,
on the other hand, seems to be genuinely immortal; -all- of the Princes
and Princesses appear to be in their early thirties regardless of actual
age (and Random is apparently only a few centuries old, subjective time,
whereas Benedict has lived for millenia.) Oberon looked middle-aged
but showed no signs of deterioration; Dworkin looks old (sometimes) but
likewise shows no signs of decrepitude. Suhuy, on the other hand,
despite being Master of the Logrus and apparently in some way Dworkin's
counterpart, looks -and acts- like a very old man. Even his Chaos form
looks like an aged demon. King Swayvill eventually dies of something
that looks for all the world like "natural causes", and that the Courts
seem to accept with appropriate equanimity, despite peripheral
suspicions about Eric's death curse having helped matters along.

Granted, this is just addressing one aspect of physical prowess:
lifespan. But it does seem a clear indication that on the individual
level, the royal house of Amber -is- physically superior to the
inhabitants of Chaos, even the royal family. (Of course, there's a
lot fewer of the Amberites. And in Amber, there's a very clear
distinction between the royals and Everybody Else; something that
doesn't appear to obtain in the Courts, given the number of different
houses jockeying over the succession. And, of course, Amber's
citizens and nobles do seem to eventually age, just as the Chaosites
do.)

>Personally, if'n I were to run a game, I'd change the stats
>systems to Ranked, Family, and Citizen, rather than Ranked,
>Amber, and Chaos.  Family rank being the standard for members of
>both ruling families, and Citizen being the rank for a citizen of
>either place.

From the considerations above, it seems plausible that Chaos Rank
applies to non-royal Amberites and -all- Chaosites of any (social)
rank. Amber Rank is the natural condition for descendents of
Dworkin, only. (Presumably the same would be true of Corwin, as
he is also the creator of a Pattern; but since Corwin is already
Dworkin's grandson, the question is moot.)

>I'd also make the Logrus powers equal the Pattern powers in both
>points and abilities.  But that's just me.

If Logrus were equal to Pattern, walking the Pattern wouldn't be
such a big deal for those Chaosites who have the right ancestry.

York Dobyns	ydobyns@phoenix.princeton.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc