Child of Benedict of Amber and Quirabi of Burgami

Personal Symbol:  Right half of a Golden Ring on a Black Background
Colors:  Gold and Black

Physical Description:
            Karambi is tall -- very tall.  She is 6'7" of wiry strength.  She has an athlete's leanness with large hands and feet.  Her skin is ebony black with blue highlights.  Dark brown eyes stare quietly out of a the face of a classic African beauty.  Her dark curly hair is worn close-cropped.

          Mannerisms:   Karambi is a woman of great stillness and sudden direct movement.  She has a serious mien and does not smile often.  Laughs even less so.  Despite that, her wicked and pointed sense of humor has often been felt by the less swift of her relatives.

            Attire:   Karambi favors traditional African style garb.  Most often that of a warrior.  She has no body shame and will often leave one or both breasts bare.  She
prefers to wear her colors of gold and black, often in pelts or furs.  She is fond of ornamentation made of feathers, teeth and claws.  And she is always, always visibly armed.

Psychological Description:
            Karambi is a still soul.  With waters running deep.  She considers herself very duty bound to her home and her family.  Her feelings about Amber itself are... well, mixed.  She makes herself available as a messenger to the reigning authorities but otherwise steers clear of her Aunts and Uncles disputes.
            Her bond with her twin sister is very deep though the two do not look like one another, talk like one another or pull any of the usual twin stunts.  Karambi is often deeply tuned in to her environment as well, feeling and hearing it on several levels at once.  She does not separate out the 'people' from the 'place' seeing them as one integrated whole, no piece more important than the other.

           Likes:   Hunting by stealth
                        Observing from a secure position
                        Lots of food, followed by a warm bath and a cat-nap
                        Lolling around on a warm day

         Dislikes:   Idiots
                            Over-thinking situations
                            Aesthetes
                            Rampant Waste

History:
            Karambi has been around for a while -- 500 or so years.  She learned quickly at a very early age that Benedict's daughter had better always be on her guard.  Especially around relatives.  This is a lesson Karambi has taken very much to heart and does not stray from.
            Her early years were spent almost entirely within Burgami.  Learning governance from her mother, war-craft from both of her parents, and learning the land from personal experience.  Karambi has always been a bit of a wanderer and even at very tender years would go for long walk-abbots into the wide open savannas of Burgami.
            Her twin, Durambi, was more of a stay-at-home studious type.  But occasionally, when the two wandered out together, Karambi learned some very interesting connections between various species and plants... and some even more interesting uses to which they could be put from her sister.
            The twins learned of their ability to shape-shift on one of these outings.  A minor flash flood in a formerly dry gully and -- *poof* -- Queen Quirabi had two crocodiles on her hands instead of two princesses.  Emergency messages were sent to their father.  Who returned from his campaigns just in time to return the twins before they were lost forever to humanity.  Afterward Benedict remained in Burgami for several years to tutor Karambi and Durambi in the ways of shape-shifting.
            Once he felt the two were secure enough, Benedict took them to walk the Pattern at Amber -- without notifying Oberon.  Karambi walked first as the -- slightly -- oldest.  It was one of the most terrifying and exhilarating experience of her life.  Durambi reacted less well and, though successful, swore off the Pattern forever.
            After the Pattern walk, both the girls were much more grounded in their abilities -- and somewhat less flexible in their shapeshifting.  His work done, Benedict returned to Shadow to continue his wars.
            However, Karambi's curiosity about the Pattern was not anywhere near appeased.  This curiosity Durambi did not share and for the first time, Karambi really did set out on a course of study on her own.
            After several 'sneak-ins' to Amber to view the Pattern, she was finally caught -- by her Grand-father's mad sorcerer, Dworkin.  Dworkin was rather taken with the young shapeshifting daughter of Benedict and an uneasy alliance developed.  Dworkin teaching Karambi about the Pattern, Karambi running various errands for the reclusive madman.
            After a number of years of this, it suddenly stopped.  Dworkin missed a scheduled meeting.  Instead Karambi's grandfather Oberon was there.  He informed the young princess that there had been an accident -- Dworkin was dead.  And as such, her experiments with the Pattern were too dangerous to continue unsupervised and for her own good, she was to stay away from the
Pattern in perpetuity.
            Karambi did not believe a word of it, but knew better than to defy Oberon in any way.  She fled Amber and did not return until well after Oberon's own disappearance.
            During this time, Burgami began to develop close economic and cultural ties with another Golden Circle Kingdom, Gol.  During diplomatic exchanges the young Princess of Gol, Singh, came to her and Durambi's attention.  And what a change Singh was from the usual stuffed shirts of the Golden Circle royalty.  Always up for a lark, Singh soon became the twins' favorite excuse for missing another boring meeting or dinner.
            Karambi and Durambi soon developed a 'big-sisterly' affection for the young Golian.  Though with an extreme sense of disquiet when they discovered that Singh could shadow-walk without an openly admitted parent of Amber blood.  However Benedict's daughters soon became aware that Singh did not have a treasonous bone in her body and *they* -- shapeshifters directly
descended from sssshhhhhh Chaos -- certainly weren't going to throw stones for a mysterious background.
            When the War for the Throne developed, Burgami found itself entangled by the Golden Circle treaties it had signed to support the current regent, Eric.  Despite its sympathies lying with the former Ambassador to the Golden Circle, Bleys.  As such Burgami sent only token forces against the invading Prince, some of which were led by Karambi.  The princess was under strict direction to
only harass the *men* of the invading force and to steer well clear of Prince Bleys and Prince Corwin themselves.
            Which Karambi did, but she never really got over the fact that she had had to lead forces against a favorite Uncle.  She came to blame Bleys and his "treason" for much of what befell Burgami afterward.
            The Black Road was particularly hard on Burgami and Karambi saw almost all of home die in the following four years.  During that time, she became increasingly bitter toward Amber in general and Bleys and Corwin in particular.
            It was with mixed feelings that Karambi joined the march to push the Black Road back to Chaos, while Durambi remained behind in Burgami to aid in healing the extensive damage.  Benedict was leading the push, and it was good to be serving under her father again.  But Bleys was there as well.  Karambi did her best to stay away from him and his troops entirely.
            Karambi was among and leading the front line troops as they pushed the Chaosians back toward the edge of the Abyss.  And she was there when she was overtaken by the Shadow Storm that swept down upon the battle-field.
            The Burgami will not speak of what happened then -- ever -- because it was one of the most deeply terrifying experiences of her life.  When Karambi was enveloped by the Shadow Storm, she lost all touch with the Pattern within herself and the world outside of herself -- and her shapeshifting nature went mad.  Encased in the whiteness of the Storm, she changed from shape to shape to shape rapidly, without control.  Her body following her slightest thought in uncontrolled abandon.  Once the Storm was turned back, it took her several minutes to regain even a rudimentary control.
            But by the time, Chaos had surrendered Karambi was based enough within herself to stand the strain of the shifting place.  Though it took all of her strength not to lose control of herself again.
            Karambi left Chaos as soon as she could and returned to the ruined and struggling Burgami.  Where she has mostly been ever since.