Ghyll:Oregano Amber
Oregano Amber was born on the ninth day of the ninth month in the year -99 EC. He is the son of Bouk Amber and Elki Hue Vallinger, the third of eight broodlings and the only boy. Though part of the Yall tribe whose core is made up of the Wallinger/Vallinger/Vallian/Yekhoto family bloodlines, he was not born into the more aristocratic Wallinger House. His mother’s first cousin Regg Wallinger, however, did spend a good deal of time with the boy in his Molting years as Ser Amber had his eye on Undivaggen and Ser Wallinger had but one frail son (whom he did fear would not last past Second Molting – though this did not prove true). Cousins Oregano and Latvi Reginal were raised almost side-by-side, at least during the extended second summer holiday.
Oregano was born during (so say some) the "ugliest days" of the Conflict That Is Not Happening. At age three, he was witness to what has since become known as the Endlessly Rising Staircase Movement (ERSM, though in -96 EC it was called the Carzcadet Battyles). One may wonder how a three year old grub born in Folktown could be witness to a destruction occurring in the Sarfelogian Mountains, simple: his parents brought him there! Ser and Seri Amber were fotonaturalists and could not resist the temptation to bring their fotoaparat up into those hills and create a lasting historical record. The expedition, however, was not all sugar and spice. The dyvil within the fotoaparat was unwilling to paint unless fed with rutberries. It took months for the family to trek down out of the mountains, gather enough of the plain-growing fruit, and then trek back up into the hills. Also, once a goodly number of fotos were painted by the minuscule dyvil, this fourth cousin to the pyxie complained of swollen wrists and harsh working conditions. Before the damnable imp could burst forth in complete and utter proletariate propaganda, the Amber’s packed up shop and returned back to Folktown. The fotoaparat is currently held by Ser Bela Wallinger (grand nephew to Bouk) while the dyvil has long since disappeared. The paintings of the early days of the ERSM are held by Bouk’s daughters and/or their families.
Oregano Amber is known as the guy who originally defined gentinality. But this denotation was made only after a lifetime of rearing and living and businessing. Whether Oregano was afraid of commitment (as some say) or addicted to it (as say others), this scholar cannot tell. But it is known that Oregano was highly impacted by the women in his life. His mother, Madame Elki Amber (nee Vallinger), was a woman proud of her heritage. She spent her later years berating her cou-, er, explaining the value of Undivaggen to her cousin Wallingers, but it would take a later generation to actually act upon her ideas and ideals. Oregano was made the man he came to be, too, by his sisters. Most important to him, as written in his memoir, was his elder sister Aria. Though many have called her a pushy, big-mouthed woman, he wrote of her as his muse. Aria Humm, may she rest in peace, made quite a name for herself when she joined the lichtmin in -60 EC and jumped off Pylfrum’s Peak (north of Marsh Gibbon) in the early dawn to surf the waves of light on boards made of phloqk wood. After having her wounds bandaged and her mandibles mended, she spoke of "the jump" as a complete high, better than, well, you know. Oregano wrote of this as a turning point in his own life as well.
Light began to play a large part in his life. Though formal study of light was (and is) controversial, he began observing it to a greater and greater degree. He wrote his observations in numerous notebooks but kept them all to himself for fear of being branded a pervert. Though these notebooks are still not in the public domain, the current holder - Oregano's youngest sister, Miss Alia Amber - has begun to reservedly describe their contents to the more reputable aurahanthropologists as well as to a few select oronauts (those daredevils, strongmen, and halfwits who ride the heavier-than-air light in boats of phloqk and sails of hempspin). Though most of his oro-fixation was secretive, he did also begin to have business dealings with the southern producers of Altoxian Bulbs and the northern manufacturers of Andelphracian Lights. This brought him once again, in -41 EC, into the Conflict That Is Not Happening. He was nearly killed by unknown assailants in -40 EC, and from that unsavory experience retreated to Shepenor in -39 EC. Oregano used his wealth and influence in the rebuilding of the fishing town (destroyed to almost the last shack in -42 EC).
Oregano did not stay there long enough; rumor has it he complained of strange dreams and the sound of patting feet in all hours of the night. Regardless, he moved in -31 EC. Only two months later, he was dead. It was a sad day during that rain-swollen winter that Oregano was found floating in a willow-shrouded creek, one of many zigzagging the Andelphracian River Valley. His death was deemed an "accident" by the authorities, but what part of accident could explain the presence of a blood-green chicken claw wrapped in chukan skin not even the local constable was able to address.
Citations: Andelphracian River Valley, Gentinality, Lichtmin.
--Nikos of Ant 01:29, 28 Aug 2005 (EDT)
