Aember is a character of mine that is almost as old as Three. I invented her about eighteen years ago as a character for a friend of mine to play in the old Palladium TMNT game that used to exist. You rolled dice to get race and background stats and such, and she ended up as an escaped lab animal that was part vulpine, part mustelid (complete with the rapid metabolism of one) and enough human dna to be... well... capable of walking and talking and such. She played the character for two or three sessions and then the group fell apart, but I really liked the design so I kept it and made it my own.

Her name is often spelled both ways, Amber and Aember. The reason the 'e' was added was because "Amber" was taken on FurryMuck. She used to have a brother named Anton (or Aenton) but I made the mistake of letting a horny friend play him and lost all interest in the character after he became nothing but a vessel to virtual sex people with.

I trunked her for awhile and just did occasional drawings of her, and although my style evolved her design remained largely unchanged. She kept her dark eyes, markings, and the only thing that really changed was she got a wardrobe and wore more than one outfit constantly.

Her current incarnation is a narcissistic nightclub owner in Brackton City in my Blood From a Stone project.

Now, when I create characters I let them evolve and become what the circumstances I gave them make them become. I am not advocating or supporting them, but the world is populated with all sorts of personality types, and if I want to be realistic then I need to create a menagerie of characters, many of whom live lifestyles I wouldn't want to or who have beliefs I don't. I don't make characters as megaphones for my own morals and opinions, nor do I make them as escapism fantasies. They're just people, for good or for bad.

Aember was born to a mistress of a very wealthy businessman, who paid mother and child off handsomely to not say who daddy was. Mom didn't particularly want to settle down either and Aember spent most of her childhood in the hands of nannies and caregivers. She was not abused and saw a lot of the world growing up, but never experienced much in the way of stability or long term bonds.

Her mother died when Aember was twenty (car accident) and inherited the remainder of mom's mad money as well as her own trust fund set up for her by daddums to not tell anyone who daddums is/was. She invested her mother's money into a nightclub and now does surprisingly well on her own, even managing to open up a few franchises around the state to keep up with interest. All of this was sheer luck on her part, but she also has a certain charisma that helps her get her way.

All of this has resulted in a very sure of herself, very agressive, and very used-to-getting-her-way young woman. Aember is still very energetic and hyper and has very little patience with people who can't keep up with her. She has boyfriends and girlfriends around town (yes, she's bi) but if you're looking for someone to settle down with you're barking up the wrong tree with her. She's not obscenely wealthy, but her trust fund plus the income from her clubs makes a tidy sum for her. So she makes enough to live comfortably and flash cash around when it helps her get what she wants. But she isn't in mansion and private jet levels of wealth.

She knows that she is attractive and has also had plastic surgery to enhance it. (For critters this means her ears were shaped, her nose was made symmetrical, and her skin was tweaked to make her cheek ruffs upsweep.) So she's extremely vain and has difficulty coping with people who don't find her attractive or who don't return her advances.

She has no sense of personal space and will stick her nose into anything she can get away with. She is on the tall side at 6'2" and works out, so she is and knows she can be physically intimidating. She is also blunt, tactless, and tends to "share too much". She enjoys making people squirm by finding that one thing that embarrases them and prodding at it. She doesn't care if it burns bridges or makes people not like her because there's plenty of other people who kiss her fuzzy tail constantly.

Aember has a last name, but she doesn't use it. If someone did a background check they might locate it (and it will be her mother's with no father listed on the birth certificate), but that's the only way someone will know. She says since she doesn't have a father she doesn't have a last name. No, she won't tell you. She is also true to her childhood agreement and has never said who her father is or even made airs that she's the child of a wealthy businessman.

And finally, Aember has some involvement in the criminal world simply because when you own three popular nightclubs you have to deal with that sort of thing. She drinks but with her metabolism she doesn't stay drunk or even tipsy for long. She dabbles in drug use but avoids hardcore things or heavy use on account of not wanting to become a slave to a dealer or ruining her looks. But she knows who to go to for things she wants, who to pay off to keep things running smoothly, and who to do things for in return for special favors. She is not a crime boss by any means, but simply has had enough experience in the nightclub life to know how to play the game.

The saddest thing I think about her is that Aember is actually very intelligent and were she to focus herself on something other than having fun she could do great things. But she's used to having things done for her and has been a party girl since the age of thirteen. Unless her ways change I expect her to be mostly used up by her fourties, and a complete waste before she's fifty. Maybe she'll change, maybe she'll crash and burn. Her story isn't finished yet though.

Copic marker and gelpen on canvasboard. The image is available for sale.