Of the time before Swayvill, there is little to add to the established histories, and the time of his reign, though fraught with change, also does not bear comment here...save the passing context of the Savior of Chaos, he whom we know as the Father of the Spider who Spun the Logrus, known to the those of Amber as Prince Shaenan.
Early in Patternfall, Benedict lay with a Hellmaid by the name of Lintra, and from her line came Dara Helgram, who would be mother to our Savior. She bore two sons by a rogue Prince of Amber, a man of great potential but little wisdom. She named her sons Merlin and Shaenan, and in augury it was revealed to her that one would rule in Chaos and one would be a disgrace to her. Mistakenly, she believed Merlin to be the favored one, and so she had Shaenan cast off into Shadow to find his own truths.
There he remained until he reached adulthood, near the conclusion of the Patternfall War.
In the Courts, times had become difficult. Emperor Swayvill was old and ailing, burdened by his failure to conquer Amber and by the death curse of Eric. Many of the Noble Houses had succumbed to despondency and had taken to worshipping icons of the 'royal' family of Amber, turning their eyes from the Serpent that had nourished and strengthened them for eons.
Sand had taken the throne in Amber, and Lucier Sawall was appointed Ambassador to Amber. A devious man, Lucier was sent to ascertain their weaknesses and to learn of a new threat that had destroyed Clitus Sawall, another son of Dara by Gramble Sawall. A new organization calling itself the Sufferers' Guild had arisen, and it had slain one member of House Sawall and made an attempt on the life of Merlin as well. Though those in Amber claimed that the organization had also targeted their own people, many in Chaos believed it to be a ruse, for it was known that the Amberites resented Dara's 'stealing' the blood of Amber and spreading it throughout Chaos.
Lucier's first act was to retrieve Dara's lost son, whom she feared might also be threatened by this Guild, and she was not mistaken. Lucier was able to rescue Shaenan from a mad daughter of Oberon's who called herself Mirelle, a member of that nefarious guild. Her presence only confirmed our beliefs that the Amberites were behind this, and so upon returning Shaenan to his mother, Lucier resolved to investigate the matter further, aided by his adopted sister, who is now nameless in our histories.
It was only much later that we learned that this sister was the true face behind the manifold plots against our people...for she, too, was of the corrupt brood of Amber.
Eventually, Shaenan, too, journeyed to Amber, and our information of what transpired in Amber over the time of Sand's reign is sketchy at best. We know that Shaenan was rejected by Corwin at his confirmation ceremony in Amber, and that this same ceremony became a blood bath when the Sufferers' Guild chose to attack. We know that he encountered the creature known as Leviticus, who would one day become his ally. And we know that Lucier was driven mad and attempted to assassinate the heir to the throne of Amber, Princess Emma.
At the same time, many changes occurred in the Courts. Gramble, Head of House Sawall, died...and passed his title onto Shaenan. Soon after, Swayvill died and Despil assumed the throne of Chaos with Mandor and Dara's backing. Merlin had long since disgraced himself in his mother's eyes and had fled with an exiled member of House Hendrake, a woman by the name of Gilva.
The cast-off remnants of House Barimen took charge of Lucier and brought him into protective custody in Tir-na Nog'th. In his absence, the adopted daughter of Sawall became the new ambassador to Amber for a time, but many suspected her of aiding Lucier in his plotting, and so soon she was replaced by Stead, son of the Emperor.
Queen Sand died, though we were not able to determine precisely what had transpired, and Princess Emma ascended to the throne. Recognizing that he would be unwelcome in an Amber ruled by Emma, Shaenan returned to Chaos and assumed his duties as Head of House with the assistance of his mother Dara.
Many years of peace passed on both ends of reality.
And then she returned.
Using the vile magics of her abyssal father, she corrupted the Logrus...this making the strongest of Chaos into her mindless thralls. Despil and his family fled from Chaos to preserve their lives and she assumed total control of the Courts of Chaos. At her command, the legions of Chaos threw themselves against Amber yet again. Every able-bodied man, woman and demon in Chaos was forced to aid her in her doomed endeavor, and so were they all destroyed on the opposite end of reality when she failed in her attempt.
At the conclusion of this battle, which those in Amber have called the Abyss War, the traitorous Abyss hag was finally destroyed, but in her death she cursed us all, and the connections between all Shadows were severed. Our lands became as islands floating in the Abyss.
These were hard times for us, but we rebuilt as best we could. And over time, the Shadows began to join again, thanks to the efforts of Leviticus, who had come to reside in Sawallways. Civilization in Chaos was reduced to a level that it had not known since well before Swayvill and his three predecessors.
Eighty-four years later, Shaenan emerged from Sawallways and journeyed to the empty ways of the Logrus...and created from the flesh of his body a new avatar of Chaos. Thus was born the Spider, whose first act was to spin the Logrus. Shaenan became an initiate of the new Logrus, and set about doing what he could to restore the Courts.
Soon the demons returned to our dwellings and resumed their former duties. Shaenan took temporary lordship of Chaos in Despil's absence, and through his efforts the major Shadows of Chaos were again joined. The great Houses were brought back to some semblance of their former glory, and Shaenan personally helped find those individuals who were best qualified to lead the great Houses. In time, he was able to restore Despil to us from his Shadow exile, and thus was Chaos reborn.
These are strange times. Despil has returned to rule, and he is a changed man. He feels the decimation of Chaos keenly, and wishes to lead the Courts to a Golden Age of growth and glory. Lord Shaenan has become our ambassador to Amber, for only he has the power to traverse the dark reaches of the Abyss, and only he has the cunning and skill to protect us from the treacherous machinations of the scions of Amber. Throughout Chaos, our people again have hope. We have our Emperor...our lands...and our Logrus again.
All text on this page is © 1997-2000 by Matthew Richardson and Kris Fazzari.
Last modified on August 28, 2000 by Kris Fazzari.
