"Sparking and bright in liquid light
Does the wine our goblets gleam in;
With hue as red as the rosy bed
Which a bee would choose to dream in."
     Charles Fenno Hoffman. Sparkling and Bright.

It all started seventy-three years before Oberon disappeared.  During one of his many jaunts into Shadow, Corwin drank the wrong bottle of wine and went to take a leak in the wrong circle of mushrooms.

What followed were the best worst seven years of his life.  A prisoner of Alsatia, a Fae Queen, Corwin was forced to commit countless acts of debauchery with all sorts of naked, frolicking woodland folk.  To the casual observer, this may not seem a cruel fate.  Nor was it for Corwin, save the fact he had been beaten.  Pride was a bitch, and Corwin was Alsatia's.  She was an understanding sort though, and once she had taken him for all she wanted she set him free. He was returned to Amber, not knowing seven years of trying had finally produced a child.

Sadly, it was a boy.  Alsatia decided against simply drowning the child in the lake. Instead, she named him "Romeo" after one of the stories his father told during a drunken revel.  She had hoped he would be useful in strengthening her blood line and her kingdom.  What he excelled at, however, was asking questions.  "Why am I so much bigger than the others?" or "What is it like outside the forest?" or "Who is my father?"  Questions an aloof Queen of Faerie grew tired of fairly quickly.  Alsatia delivered the boy to his father.  "You seem to have forgotten your son," was the message sent along.  Corwin was thrilled to find he had a son.  It was now ninety-two years since Oberon disappeared, and he was eager to sway as much family as he could to his banner.  Romeo was quickly recognized as a Child of Amber.

Ah, Amber. The Jewel of Creation. How Romeo hated thee.

The place was beautiful: a wonderful, bustling town; plenty of local color; more brothels than an eager young man could shake his...anyway. He was away from his home, from the forest he hated to admit he missed. Instead, he was in this place, with "family" who seem to have nothing better to do than backstab and one-up each other as they scratched and clawed their way up the ladder to gain the precious throne of Amber, while the Fae...

The Fae...

He was starting to forget.  He started a journal, inscribing all he could remember about the place.

Years passed, and he made friends with Rilga's children.  He and Caine often shared drinks and good times.  Gérard was an excellent sparring partner and confidant. And Julian...well, Julian went off into the woods eight years after Romeo was brought to Amber.  He wasn't coming back.

A decade passed, with Corwin growing less and less satisfied with Romeo's fealty.  In what was to be a turning point in Romeo's life, Corwin challenged him.  He demanded Romeo give him the respect he deserved and ordered Romeo to stop fraternizing with the enemy. Romeo responded simply and in no uncertain terms.

Fuck off.

He sided with Benedict's faction, adding insult to the injury he served up to his father.  Romeo loved it, but realized he and Corwin would no longer be able to live under the same roof.  Pride would soon overtake Corwin, and Corwin's thugs would soon overtake Romeo.

So he left.

He had always respected Julian.  He ventured into Arden, more comfortable in the pastoral surroundings and eager to make the forest his home.  It took some convincing, but Romeo proved he was dedicated to the proposition of making the Kingdom of Arden a reality free of Amber's sway.

Today, Romeo leads a quiet, happy  life.  He lives in a cabin miles from Craobh Beatha, training Julian's Hounds and tending his honeybees.

CHARACTER QUIZ

Two parter, sort of:
a) Describe your character's idea of the perfect date.

     One without pretense. Starts off late in the morning with a swim in a lake or pond…nothing serious, splashing around, having fun. Dry off and ride somewhere for nice light lunch. After lunch, walk around town for an hour or so, doing a little window-shopping, buy her a nice gift in the process. After the walk, a long ride through the forest, visiting local landmarks and such, marveling at nature’s beauty. Back into town or his cabin for a leisurely dinner, pleasant conversation the whole time. Spending the night is optional, though thoroughly appreciated.

b) And his idea of a perfect mate.

     Romeo’s perfect mate would be someone fun, funny, and intelligent.  She’s beautiful, naturally, but naturally beautiful…from when she wakes up in the morning until she goes to bed at night. She wouldn’t be afraid to get her hands dirty, and would be just as able to talk for hours as to share a comfortable silence.

Does your character do their own laundry?  Dump the job on someone else? Pay someone to do it?  or let it pile up in a corner until it crawls away under it's own power?

     Romeo does his own laundry, and often. He sorts his clothes into colors and whites, and uses a special oxygen cleaner he got as a gift from Hollikin as a joke. He washes the clothes, then runs them through a hand-cranked extractor to get rid of excess water. Once done, he hangs them from a line outside. Everyday wear is folded and neatly put away as soon as the load is dry. Hang-worthy clothes are hung up, organized by color, right after he meticulously brushes away any lint.

Has your character ever killed anyone/anything?  (Bugs don't count unless they were really, really big.)

     Oh, all the time. He often hunts boar with his trusty bow. He never hunts deer, however. He once killed a large black cat-beast that wandered in from Shadow. Its coat is now an impressive rug on his cabin’s main room floor.

Does your character live alone?  With a roommate or relative?  Describe your character's bedroom and house if they have their own.  (Be sure to include where the house is located: within city limits, out in the woods, waaaaay out in the woods, etc.)

     Romeo lives alone. Helives in a modest cabin, close enough to the city to hear the alarm bell in case of some calamity, but far enough away to be considered "in the middle of nowhere."

     A few acres of land were cleared for Romeo to build his home, and the fallen wood was used to create the cabin and most of the furniture it holds.

     Comfortable chairs sit on the front porch, while a large rope hammock (big enough for 4) sits on the back porch.

     The cabin's double doors open to reveal a large main room.  On the far right wall is a large fireplace, while the stairs leading upstairs and the door to the guest room are on the left.  Several large plush chairs, a matching couch, and a rug made of a large black cat skin occupy the main room.  Most of the furniture is made of fallen logs, it would seem, and wood abounds in the decor.  Beyond the main room is a roomy functional kitchen.

     The guest bedroom is small, but comfortable.  A stained wood bed (queen), wardrobe, night tables, and full length mirror make up the furniture, while paintings from nearby artists adorn the walls.

     Upstairs, there is one main loft room with a large closet and bathroom.  Curtains hang from the load bearing posts, creating a sitting room overlooking the main room, and a comfortable bedroom.  The furnishings upstairs are a bit nicer, with a dresser, a wardrobe, a desk and chair, and a large bed utilizing heavy fabric hung from a ring in the ceiling to create a canopy.

     There is also a good-sized cellar beneath the building.

Does your character collect anything?

     He collects mead bottles from around Shadow, full or empty. He stores the full ones in the cellar beneath the cabin, while the empty ones are one of the cabin’s main decorative motifs.

What is your character's profession?  Sure, Craobh Beatha's the capital of free love, but everything else is gonna cost ya. :)

     Romeo is quite the entrepreneur.

     He runs “The Blue Clover,” his label of liquor. He currently offers a Mead (Blue Clover Mead), a Honey and Molasses Vodka (Vodka Impérial), a Honey Liqueur (Blau Klee Honigvasser), and a Honey Wheat beer (Wild Boar Brew).

     He also owns “The Elysian Vineyard” Restaurant. The particular patch of land this vineyard was built on was no good for grapes, so the owner sold it off for new development. Romeo bought the vineyard building itself, however, loving its character. The building is comfortable with deep, rich woods and stained glass windows displaying pastoral scenes throughout. The enormous wine vats have remained; archways cut into them so they serve as small private rooms for eight to ten person tables. The wine list is the envy of the kingdom, sporting some two thousand different labels.

How would your character envision the embodiment of Death?  (ie, The Grim Reaper, Angel of Death, etc.)

     Death, in Romeo's mind, looks remarkably like Julian. A gaunt horseman, dressed all in black, wielding an enormous sword of some dark metal.

What does your character wear to bed?  Do they have any 'bedtime rituals'?

     He usually wears comfortable boxer shorts. He walks around the entire cabin while brushing his teeth, looking out the front and back windows as he goes.

Is your character superstitious?

     No. Not at all.

What was your character like at the age of ten?  How did he change when he entered his teens?

     Romeo was a little hell raiser. Playing practical jokes on people was a favorite pastime, and he excelled at it. The only thing that changed during his teens was bedding fae to his heart's content, as his mother expected it of him. Not that he minded, of course.

How does your character prefer to travel?  (On foot, on horseback, etc.)

     Romeo prefers horseback.

Does your character have any recurring dreams (ie.  you see yourself standing on a pyramid in sort of sun god robes with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you)?  If so, have they told anyone about them/tried to have them analyzed?

     Romeo's only recurring dream is that of his old home. He remembers little to nothing when he wakes up, but often wakes up with feelings of longing.

Which, if any, actor or actress does your character look like?

     Oded Fehr.

OOC: Any problems with sex, nudity, or adult situations?  Oh yeah, and foul language, my personal favorite.  This one's kind of important, as there's going to be lots of all of them.  :)

     Fuck no. I'm whackin' off *right* now.