I've been playing Amber for a while and it's a blast (thanks for those who recommended it to me). The GM seems to be having fun too, given that none of us poor little players has ever read an Amber novel. I'm now posting this to ask for some advise, though I feel that some background is in order. Bear with me for a minute, as this will get really fun, really fast.

To celebrate his first year as a king, Eric held a huge dinner at Castle Amber. The good hearted (and naive) part of me decided to try heal some family wounds so that we could all face together the rising threat of Chaos. I broke a deal between Eric and Bleys: the former would reinstate the redheads in the family (something that, by the way, would place Bleys as next in the royal line), while the latter would swear loyalty to the current king of Amber.

Dinner comes. Eric and Bleys trade greetings. Bleys swears loyalty and Eric reinstates the redheads as a legitimate branch of the family. Meanwhile, I earn the gratitude of both elders. Everything seemed to be fine...

Silly me.

Eric was so overjoyed with my recent string of achievements (I'm the family's "golden boy," though some would also call me a puppet and a treacherous lapdog ), that he decided to reward me while playing hell with Bleys at the same time. He announces that, in order to solve the royal line problem once and for all, he has chosen a heir. Bleys is all smiles, until we all hear Eric name me as his heir. The GM looks at me and, with a grin in his face, tells me my luck has really paid off this time...

Boy, I should have seen it coming from the beginning.

So now I have a royally pissed off elder Amberite and his allies after me, as he both sees me as an "obstacle" (his words) and as someone who set him up from the beginning. Most Amberites and player characters won't believe my character acted on good faith. I was, at that point, desperately looking for some strong support.

Now, my character is also quite the gambler, and he's been considering raising the game's ante to an all or nothing. Y'know, the best way to fight a redhead is another redhead, so why not making our lives *really* interesting...

I'm thinking of using my newly gained status to marry Fiona.

(...)

You may now stop laughing.

The way things seem to be, the best she could ever hope for is to be the power behind the throne... unless she becomes someone's Queen (ruling over her brothers and her "beloved" sister Flora are a major tease too). I secure my life (like, who would like to ruin Fiona's opportunity?) and, by the way, ensure that every single Amberite is interested in Eric having a very good health (unless they want Fiona ruling them, that is). Bleys is neutralized and I put a wedge between him and his sister. Incidentally, I could play hell with the lives of several player characters (including Fiona's son, who hates my character with a passion... oh well, he'll learn to love his new "dad" ).

There is the real danger of becoming Fiona's puppet, but I'm confident that I'll convince her it's not in her best interest to do so (I still have a few hidden aces, at least that's what I hope so). I know this is the rough equivalent of escaping the Lusitania and being rescued by the Titanic, but who said life should be boring?

Say, am I a gloriously deluded fool or am I just learning to play Amber?

I would say that you are a natural at playing Amber...

Then again, last time I GM'ed Amber, someone destroyed the throne-room of Castle Amber (and most of the players) while pretending to be a dinosaur. That was a throne-war where the two surviving players shook hands and both renounced all claim to the throne.

One question, and one comment.

Who's your Amberite parent? (I'm assuming you have one?) This could have a bit of an impact in why Eric would choose you as heir. (Of course, it could just be because Eric/the GM wanted to make your life hell, as you've suggested.) For instance, if you're Osric, Finndo, or Benedict's son, you might have a better claim than Eric to the throne.

Since you said you haven't read the books, you probably wouldn't be aware of this, but ... In spite of the Machiavellan nature of the Amber-verse, incest is rather frowned upon among the royal family. (If it weren't Deirdre and Corwin would have been together.) If you're Fiona's nephew, she probably wouldn't go in for that.

If I had a character that had ended up in your position, I'd probably try to get out of Amber for a while, and let things cool down. Preferably in some place "safe" where I could train for an extended period of time. Hoping all the while that those in power would be quietly forgetting about me.

Of course, plan B would be to track down a certain hunchback and ask him for sanctuary...

I'm Gerard's son, if that's what you're asking. I'm in good terms with every single elder Amberite we know of, except Bleys and Brand (who's been missing since before I was born). Technically I only have Oberon in common with Fiona.

We also have:

Benedict's daughter. She's Fiona's apprentice at the moment.
Brand's son. Working with Bleys at the moment. He's also the boyfriend of Benedict's daughter.
Fiona's son. Completely hates me (probably because I nearly killed him twice, KO'd him another and escaped every single time he tried to set me an ambush, while he's been rotting in jail for a year... oh, yes: I'm the jailer )
Julian's son. MIA after meeting some demons with Flora's son.
Flora's son. He's a shapeshifter whose father seems to be a charming, white haired demon. MIA and wanted for high treason.
An orphan that Caine met in a shadow. All I know is that Fiona mindraped him a while ago and yelled "Dworkin!" with wide eyes. MIA after said meeting with Fiona.