Cousins

The Cousins

In the Jeweled Amber Campaign the term Cousins became a common usage slang for the children of the Elders.

For diverse reasons, in the 50th year of his reign, Random, fed up with new relatives showing up either hat in hand or bearing grudges and leading armies, decreed that all his siblings, now in fealty, would bring their hidden children to Amber to be reconciled with Felicity and be recognized by the Crown. He further decreed that he was making it a mission of the realm to locate those of the blood and determine thier standings, issues, complaints or needs. These were not welcomed decrees. Benedict, Marshal of Amber, was heard to groan grumpily benath his breath. Caine, Spymaster of Amber, frowned. Bleys, a playwright and, at the time, an habitual drunk, laughed.

Sheepishly, and not without a fair bit of worry, they did so.

Random met them, assigned Fiona to over see their magical instruction, Gerard to over see their martial training, and Bleys, despite his adamant and ultimately pointless refusals, was to be who the Cousins sought out with questions of other natures.

In time Random swore them to Amber, saw that they assayed the Pattern, gave them a set of his new Trumps, and wished them well on there adventures.

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Cousin did not mean strictly the children of the Elders. The term "Kinsman" was also commonly used. Cousins came to refer to anyone of the blood of Amber, able to walk the Pattern, and not a child of Oberon. So though Coral and Martin were of somewhat the same age, Coral was an Elder, and Martin was a Cousin. In Time Martin was to become sort of the acknowledged senior of the Cousins, with Merlin a close second.