Eric's Heir

[RPGPundit]

One of the "choose your own adventure" books written for Amber supposed the reader in the position of being a son of Eric, after Eric's death, trying to claim his right to the crown of Amber.

So how likely would that be? What would happen in Random's court if a son of Eric showed up, claiming that he had a right to the crown of Amber?
Which elders would end up supporting him?
Which would want to manipulate him?
What do you think would be Random's response?

RPGPundit

[Trevelyan]

I tend to think that the selection of Random by unicorn as the next king sets a couple of interesting precidents.

First of all, it directly demonstrates that the many hours spent by the family discussing the proper order of succession were wasted, since Random was pretty much at the bottom of the list as far as most Amberites, including himself, were concerned.

More importantly, it suggests that the decision might not lie in the hands of the Amberites themselves anyway, or perhaps that no monarch can be confirmed in his position without the blessing of the unicorn.

While it's equally possible that the whole unicorn thing was a one off necessitated by the circumstances surrounding the death of Oberon, and perhaps the desire of the unicorn to limit further intra family strife, there is enough confusion surrounding the event that future plots for the throne have to take those factors into some consideration.

As a direct consequence, I'd say that Rondom's selection effectively cuts off any other Amberite who was alive at the time from the throne until Rondom dies. OF all the living Amberite, the unicorn selected Rondom, so only a new player might have grounds for claiming that he is better suited than Rondom. A son of Eric is probably out of luck unless he first removes Random. And I don't think that Benedict would take it that well...

[Ivanhoe]

Oberon clearly states in his last message that it is because his chosen heir didn't want the throne that he had to suspend the decision to the horn of the Unicorn.

In my campaign, the unicorn didn't chose anyone and fled with the Judgement Jewel. I thought it was more interesting this way for the players as I believe that were Random chosen by the Unicorn itself, no protestation would be acceptable. The alternative would be to kill Random. I have a player that plays a son of Eric. He is loud about his claim that he is the only son of the only officially crowned king after Oberon. At first the elder princes laughed. Now that he managed to prove himself worthy in combat, they begin to get more serious. Young as he is, he could still be trouble in the succession business. I wait to see if he manages to gather allies faster than enemies

[Trevelyan]

Oberon clearly states in his last message that it is because his chosen heir didn't want the throne that he had to suspend the decision to the horn of the Unicorn.

Oberon's exact words were "With my passing, the problem ofthe succession will be upon you. I had wishes in this regard, but I see now that these were futile. Therefore, I have no choice but to leave this on the horn of the Unicorn."

We know that Corwin turned down the throne when offered having decided that he himself was neither interested nor fit for it. Were Oberon's wishes regarding Corwin (with Dara and Merlin in tow) futile for this reason alone, or because the throne could never be delivered in such a way regardless of the wishes of the interested parties?

And who says that Corwin's disinterest alone was enough to prevent Oberon from having his own way? It's not like he was in any opther way concerned with obliging the whims of his children, and Corwin was showing himself to be pretty into the idea of duty at that time. If it was simply a matter of what he wanted Oberon may well have been able to command it, or he could at least have tried harder to pursuade Corwin.

Oberon's comment is suitably and typically nebulous enough to be read in a number of different ways.