The Duke of Amber was a Childe of Mithras, the Cainite Prince of London, that had fallen from his sire's grace.
Biography[]
As a mortal, the duke was a member of one of the oldest royal families in England. He was polished, intelligent and active – seemingly perfect candidate for Embrace by the Ventrue. He and his wife came to Mithras' attention and he Embraced them in the hope that they would prove to be his greatest childer. In secret, Amber plotted to usurp his sire and gain the princedom himself.
Despite warnings from Lord Camden, Mithras entrusted Amber and his wife with several duties. When Camden was assassinated by Giovanni in 1514, Mithras made the Duke his new Seneschal. While Amber's tenure seemed unimpressive, he was one of the first Cainites within the domain to focus on the mercantile class. In his tenure fell the unrest of the Reformation and the war with Spain, which sparked numerous Brujah uprisings. When Mithras was occupied with these affairs, Amber cut a deal with the Scottish Toreador, which allowed them to gain power over the royal family in 1602 after James IV became king. In a fury, Mithras demoted Amber and installed Valerius as his Seneschal.
Their demotion estranged the Ambers even more from their sire, and in 1666, it was discovered that both the Ambers enjoyed hunting other vampires (young Caitiff or Anarchs of lower generation) for sport in the Crimson Bacchanal – an elite hunters' club that served the bored and jaded Kindred aristocracy in London. Mithras dealt with them and remarked that the Ambers would not be present in his Court for quite some time.
Appearance and Personality[]
The Duke of Amber and his wife are as withered a pair of mummies as you are ever likely to meet. They even smell old. While outwardly beautiful, they are emotionally dead. They are the worst stereotype of the Ventrue and look a lot like each other. They wear moth-eaten finery that is at least three centuries out of date.
Roleplaying Notes: you are the aristocracy of English Kindred and you know it. Most are afraid to face you because of your age and generation. All the challenge long ago ebbed from your life. The hunt is the only thing that quickens you. And hasn't even that gotten a little routine lately? You play the loving couple, but your affection for each other is dry as bone.
Equipment: A sword and fine but outdated clothes.
Trivia[]
The Duke of Amber was embraced long before Norman conquest. In Anglo-Saxon England, where the Roman political divisions were largely abandoned, the highest political rank beneath that of king was ealdorman, and the first ealdormen were referred to as duces (the plural of the original Latin dux) in the chronicles. The title ealdorman was replaced by the Danish eorl (later earl) over time. After the Norman conquest, their power and regional jurisdiction was limited to that of the Norman counts.
England contains a borough named Amber Valley, within the county of Durbyshire. Buried in Durbyshire are several kings of Mercia, a kingdom which dominated England for three centuries, including the period of the Duke of Amber's embrace. Those kings well may have been the royals that the Duke and Duchess would have been scions of, given that they where embraced prior to the actual royal families of England.
The Amber valley is named after the River Amber, a pre-Celtic name of unknown meaning, and is thus not related to the modern English word "amber" which derives from Arabic.
Character Sheet[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Giovanni Chronicles II: Blood & Fire, p. 89-90
- VAV: London by Night, p. 28
