Vance's Description:
	He stands just below six feet in height, with a wiry build.
Though his features are more hawkish than handsome, he nevertheless
carries himself with a quiet dignity.  His auburn eyes match the color of
his hair, while sharp cheekbones give him a bit of a roguish likeness.
His calm, appraising expression belies this, instead giving him the
appearance of an academician.
	His apparel appears to be that of a well-off guildsman, or a minor
noble. A royal blue tunic extends down his arms, becoming enveloped at the
elbows by long black gloves.  Black trousers extend upward from high
boots of a similar color, to be seperated from the tunic by a dark belt
lined with silvery edges.  A fine cloak drapes from his shoulders, held
by a simple metal clasp.  A slender scimitar is held in a leather scabbard
on his belt, testimony that even academics are not totally defenseless.  

Vance's Background:
	Though Vance's bloodline is noble, his upbringing is not.  A coup
in Kashfa during his youth had him barely escape the Palace with his life,
and he grew up on the streets.  Thievery came easily to him, and he did
not hesitate to kill when his survival was at stake.  He recieved a wide
variety of martial training during his formative years - the Captain of
the Guard implanted the basics of sophisticated combat starting when he
was but 5 years old, and the post-coup years enrolled him in the School of
Hard Knocks.  He was a natural at both fighting and theft, but poor luck
kept him from moving beyond living day-to-day.
	A few years after coming of age, he turned to contract killing as
the means to better himself.  His targets were all of the upper-class, for
the political landscape was still extremely unstable.  Leader after leader
rose to power, only to fall in a short span of time.  Some were Vance's
employers, while others proved to be his victims.  His skill was unmatched
- but, again, his luck was poor.  He was nearly captured several times; 
considering that Kashfa's policy is to execute assassins immediately and
without trial, he was indeed walking the razor's edge.  Twice, he poisoned  
the wrong target, giving him a less than desirable reputation.
	His lucky break finally came, as he stalked a Kashfan nobleman
traveling on the Kashfa-Eregnor border.  The nobleman had come upon a
hidden valley, where he captured a lone figure standing vigil besides a
large, glowing design inset upon the bare rock, under an open sky.  As the
captive made his move to freedom, Vance's crossbow sang, killing the
nobleman.  Caught between a captive who fought like a demon, and a sniper
hidden among the rocks, the nobleman's subordinates fled.
	The captive believed Vance had acted to save him.  Finding out the
man was actually a Prince of Amber, Vance saw no reason to alter that
perception.  To his surprise, Vance actually became friends with the
Prince, and he decided that it was time to move to a new profession.
	The Prince, who called himself Ashlin, had been studying the magical 
design in the Valley, which he called a distortion of Amber's Pattern.  
Vance found out that the distortion could grant a measure of power not 
unlike those wielded by the Amberites, and eventually convinced Ashlin to 
show him how to traverse it.  Afterwards, the pair traveled through 
Shadow, looking for similar manifestations.
	Ashlin discovered rather quickly that Vance had more than his
share of bad luck.  After nearly perishing to the Dark Well for the second
time, Vance was given a pair of black gloves by the Prince.  The gloves
minimized the risk from the Flaw, and probably saved Vance's life several
times over as he slowly made the transition from initiate to Adept.
	Ashlin was something of a seer, and had not been on good terms
with the rest of his family.  He had left Amber after humiliating one of
his brothers, who had sworn revenge.  That revenge came via the point of a
crossbow bolt - ironically, it was a Kashfan assassin who fired the shot.
After killing the assassin, Vance came back to the Prince to try and save
his life, but Ashlin refused his aid.  He knew that if he lived, the
feud with his brother would throw Amber into civil war, leaving Amber open
to attack from its ancient foe.
	So, in his final moments, Ashlin gifted Vance with his Blood
Blessing, and charged him with keeping the Broken Patterns safe.  For,
said the Prince, their presence would one day save Amber from destruction.
Vance never did tell Ashlin about the circumstances of when they met,
but it was revealed in the Prince's final moments that he had known all 
along, and an unspoken acceptance occurred between the two.  As Ashlin's 
last request, Vance contacted Flora, whereupon she conveyed her dying 
brother to her via Trump.  Thus passed the one true friend Vance has ever 
had.
	In the centuries that followed, Vance traversed the other eight
Broken Patterns, and began molding the groups controlling them, making
them unified so they would be able to defend them from attack.  He did not
bother to lead any of these groups - he had too many Patterns to watch
over, and such leadership would have to be renewed with each successive
generation.  Instead, he cultivated the reputation of the 'Master of the
Flaw', an ageless, mysterious figure whose power with the Broken Pattern
was unmatched.  Few could agree on the figure's appearance, for Vance
would use a new disguise each time.
	During this time, he took a few apprentices, placing them in
positions of importance in these societies.  Then, he made the mistake of
teaching Jasra.  She learned everything she could, and then turned upon
him.  Both barely escaped with their lives - Jasra shaken from a close
brush with the Flaw, and Vance carried off by his one surviving apprentice
after feeling Jasra's paralytic bite.
	Jasra undermined much of his work, and introduced the Kashfan
Sorcerer's Guild to the 'prime' BP in Eregnor - the one Broken Pattern he
had kept hidden from all but a few trusted apprentices.  Vance, in turn,
backed the noble Kasman, who successfully staged a coup against Jasra.
Vance then turned the Kashfan Sorcerer's Guild against Jasra, though it
cost him his one surviving apprentice in the process.  Kasman, meanwhile,
had discovered Jasra's other power base, and began attacking the Keep of
the Four Worlds in a futile attempt to kill the one remaining threat to 
his rule.  Vance was forced to kill Kasman in order to prevent Kashfa's 
military from being weakened to the point of ineffectiveness.  From that
point onward, Kashfa was ruled by a military governor with a tenuous
blood claim to the throne.  Recently, Jasra's son Rinaldo has managed to 
take hold of the throne of Kashfa.  Vance has also recieved a 150-year old
letter from Ashlin, instructing him to seek out and gather those of power 
in Shadow, for they will be needed.

Brief Kashfa note:
	I see Kashfa as a mostly european medieval society (as it's so
close to Amber), but the name hints at Arabian influences.  This is why
Vance uses a scimitar for a weapon.  My take on things is that Kashfa used
to be much more Arabian in nature.  It gradually evolved into its present
state due to the influences of its neighbors during the many coup attempts
and political changes.  

Current Events:
	Vance is currently fencing with Jasra over control of the Broken 
Patterns.  He's also begun to research deeper into the powers of his 
gloves, the underlying nature of the Broken Patterns, and other similar 
manifestations of power.  Furthermore, he would like to build a cadre of 
people he can use against Jasra - if nothing else, he feels the cannon 
fodder will keep her distracted long enough to solidify control over the 
remaining Broken Patterns.

Vance's Character Sheet:
Stats:	15 PSY, 21 WAR, 0 END, 1 STR
Stuff:	10(!) Good Stuff (Blood Blessing)
Powers:	Broken Pattern Adept (40), Ritual Magic (5), Sorcery (5)
Items:	Gloves (20) - See writeup below.
Contacts: Court of Power - Broken Patterns (3).  He doesn't control 
	access to any BP, but his reputation as the enigmatic 'Master of 
	the Flaw' gives him some influence over each area - enough to 
	gain access for himself, in most cases.
Contributions:  Diaries (+10), ShadowCaster GM (+10)

Gloves of the Dark Well:
	They appear as a pair of black gloves, slightly cold to the touch.
While they initially appear normal to magical sight, looking closer will
reveal that there is a total lack of energies where the gloves are - even
including what would be normal for the Shadow.  The wearer can consciously
damp down the above manifestations, if he so chooses (doing so takes some
concentration and effort).
	The gloves are of unknown origin, but it is apparent that their
powers are linked at least in part to the Broken Patterns.  When both are 
worn, they have the following powers:
	* Master the Flaw - Worn by an initiate of the Broken Pattern, the
risk of drawing the Flaw is reduced by an order of magnitude.  Threat
becomes inconvenience, while a full Adept wearing the gloves could go for
long periods without even a hint of the Dark Well lurking nearby.  The
flip side of this power can bring the Flaw closer.  This makes it much
more likely for anyone in the area using the Broken Pattern to draw the
Flaw - even Broken Pattern variants with little risk can be subject to
this effect. Those taken by surprise by this are certain to perish.
	* Shards of the Pattern - An Adept who has walked the 'prime'
Broken Pattern can distort that image within himself, mimicking the basic
powers granted by any other Broken Pattern.  To do so, the Adept must have
previously walked the Pattern in question (to know in what way the imprint
needs to be distorted).  Advanced powers can (in theory) be mimicked, but
they must be extensively practiced, as if the Adept was actually learning
them himself.
	* Filling the Endless Void - Just as a Spikard can draw forth
nearly limitless levels of energy, the gloves can dissipate nearly any
amount of energy that contacts them.  An object striking the gloves would
simply stop - not as if hitting a wall, for there is no leftover energy to
'rebound' a strike.  For example, if the wearer interposed himself in
front of a speeding car, using the gloves to absorb the impact, the car
would simply stop, leaving the occupants unharmed (though probably
disoriented).  With both gloves worn, the dissipation is absolute, and
none of the energy will be transferred to the wearer.
	Note that for the energy to be absorbed, it must be affecting the
gloves in some fashion.  Touching the side of a car as it passes by would
not bring it to a halt.  It is also a reactive effect - pushing the side
of the car in the above example would not absorb its energy.
	The gloves also extend this energy-dissipation to affect energy
not being exerted upon the gloves, though this takes time and is much less
absolute.  A lamp could be extinguished, or a person's heart could stop.
	* Summon the Dark Well - A power of last resort, the wearer can
actually summon forth physically something akin to the Dark Well that is
an everpresent threat to any initiate of the Broken Pattern.  This
darkness is not as virulent as Primal Chaos, but can cause considerable
damage to a Shadow (and anyone unlucky enough to be in the vicinity).
	When only one of the gloves is worn, the above powers are limited
in scope.  Master the Flaw simply reduces the risk of drawing the Dark
Well somewhat, and cannot be used to draw the Flaw.  Filling the Endless
Void still functions, though it is no longer absolute - some of the energy
will 'leak through' to affect the wearer, though it will be distributed
over the body instead of all at the point of impact.  Finally, Shards of
the Pattern and Summon the Dark Well are both too complex to be done with
a single glove.