Understanding Alex
Sometimes I don't understand my own characters. In MK's Amber game I play Alexander. "Hangs out with the wrong crowd" is probably the best way to describe Alex. The son of Corwin he was raised on an Earth created when Corwin created his pattern. When he was about 16 he ran away from home. At that time the date was about 1918 CE. He started running numbers in Harlem. Later, he moved to Detroit where he smuggled Rum from Canada. He worked his way up the ranks of the mafia quickly. Eventually he was shot down by Feds in an ambush that to this day he believes his brother, Sebastian was responsible for. He "miraculously" survived the shooting and was sent to jail. While in prison he found religion. More to the point, he discovered several of them. He studied many of the religions of the world.

Eventually Alex left "the box." He travelled to the Courts of Chaos to find someone to teach him how to shapeshift. Alex had learned Shamanism on the shadow earth and had been a natural at shapeshifting in his vision-quests. He wanted to be able to shapeshift for real. He apprenticed to Nestor who also taught him about the Logrus and how to feed off the emotions of others. Alexander had become a form of psychic vampire.

Alexander can be a bit of a contradiction. One minute he is very spiritual, the next he is ruthlessly executing his enemies and enjoying their suffering. Last night, Carla and I were watching "The Sopranos" an there was a great scene that helps explain Alex. Tony Soprano was asked by Dr. Melfie if he thought he would go to hell. Tony told her he didn't. He isn't the type of person who goes to hell. She asked him what king of people deserved hell. He said murderers, child molesters and all the "real sick fucks." He's not like that. He's a soldier and he's in a war. The people he kills are also soldiers. They know the risks when they get involved.