Amberdrake is akestra'chern, a type of healer who focuses on healing both the body and mind. He has both the healing Gift and empathy.
He is a close friend of the gryphon Skandranon, as well as the hertasi Gesten, and a member of the council of White Gryphon. Amberdrake is lifebonded and married to the trondi'irn Winterhart. They have a daughter originally known as Windsong and later Silverblade.
Early life and training
Amberdrake's parents moved the family from the Kaled'a'in lands of Ka'venusho to the kingdom of Predain in order to aid the Clans with trade in the foreign kingdom, and so Amberdrake grew up in Therium, Predain.
When he was thirteen, his healing and empathy Gifts were discovered. His parents were delighted, and wanted him to have the best training possible, so they sent him to the Predain College of Chirurgeons, one of the foremost medical schools. Unfortunately for Amberdrake, the faculty of the college did not acknowledge the existence of Gifts, believing them to be folk tales. While Amberdrake was schooled in the finest conventional medical techniques, his Gifts were ignored, leaving him vulnerable to the pain and anguish surrounding him daily in the schools hospital facilities. He was continuously ill. Not knowing what was wrong with him, the school's instructors tried various remedies, which only sickened him further. This was the state of affairs when Ma'ar took the throne of Predain.
Ma'ar began a systematic campaign against all "foreigners" which included Amberdrake. He lost all freedom of movement, eventually confined to the campus of the medical school. The faculty did their best to protect him, but the school couldn't hold out forever. When Amberdrake was fifteen, word reached him that Ma'ar's forces were ready to 'clean out' the college. He ran away that night with little more than the clothes on his back. In the heart of winter he traveled on foot cross country, doing his best to avoid Ma'ar's patrols and steal enough food to eat. He reached Therium only a day ahead of Ma'ar's troops. The citizens were evacuating, and had no time or mercy to spare on the starved, feverish boy. He would have died if the town's resident kestra'chern, Silver Veil, hadn't taken him in.
Silver Veil nursed him back to health, then took him on as an apprentice. As they fled across Predain, she taught him everything she knew and completed the sexual aspects of his education. When her path southward toward the desert lands took her away from the direction of Ka'venusho, she passed him along to another kestra'chern, a mostly retired man named Lorshallen.
Like Amberdrake, Lorshallen had the Gifts of empathy and healing, and was able to train him in their use. He also did his best to heal Drake's heart and mind from his earlier trauma. Eventually they reached the Kaled'a'in Clans, but Amberdrake's family wasn't there, and the Clans could find no word of them. Most likely, they were killed by Ma'ar's troops. Amberdrake joined Clan k'Leshya, and when Urtho put out the call for volunteers, Amberdrake joined the armies.
Mage Wars
When Ma'ar scattered the nobility of Tantara began his invasion, Urtho put out a call for volunteers. At that time Amberdrake was living among the Kaled'a'in clans, but without a single relative, he felt completely alone. When Urtho called, Drake joined the armies. His skills, particularly in the healing of hearts and minds, were very much in demand. Due to his Gifts and extensive training, he was soon recognized as the highest ranking kestra'chern in the camps, making him the quasi-chief kestra'chern. The others looked to him for guidance and leadership.
While living in the camps, Drake met and befriended Skandranon, something that wouldn't have happened had war not thrown them together. The two became very close, and Drake regarded Skan and Gesten, Amberdrake's hertasi assistant, as his family.
During this time he also met his lifebonded, and later wife, Winterhart. He helped her heal from her childhood trauma, as well as the more recent problems caused by Ma'ar's attack on the Tantaran nobility.
White Gryphon
Amberdrake was one of the founders of White Gryphon, and served on its first Council. In addition to his infomal position as Chief Kestra'chern becoming official, he served on the Council as Chief of Services. In this position he was the general city administrator and head of utilities, seeing to common needs such as sanitation and recreation.
In the series
Amberdrake appears in the following works:
- The Black Gryphon, Mage Wars series, volume 1
- The White Gryphon, Mage Wars series, volume 2
- The Silver Gryphon, Mage Wars series, volume 3